Children: Chapter 7
"Wake up, Ranma... Wake up..." A voice said.
Ranma heard this, and her eyes began to flutter open slowly. Standing over her bed, was her mother. Akane was nudging her daughter's side gently, as she called. Finally, Ranma turned over and yawned, answering her mother. "Alright, Alright, I'm up..."
"That's good. You need to hurry and get dressed, you have swimming practice this morning, remember?" Akane said.
Ranma sighed and flopped back over in bed. Of course she remembered, but it was still very early in the morning. Were her father and Akama even awake yet? "Too early." Ranma mumbled.
Akane pulled the sheets and blankets swiftly off of Ranma's bed, leaving a very shocked and startled girl in the bed. "Get up, dear. You have somewhere to be." Akane said.
"Aah! Mom! What'd you do that for!?" Ranma shrieked. It was *very* chilly wearing only her cute red pajamas. Ranma jumped out of bed and went to her closet, pulling out a robe to wrap herself in. Once the robe had been secured around herself, Ranma took her backpack from another place in the closet, packing several things into it for the day, placing her water-drop printed swimsuit on top. 'At least Taiiku is going to be there.' Ranma thought. She smiled softly, and moved to the bathroom, where she shed her robe, pajamas, and undergarments, stepping into the shower. Twenty minutes later, Ranma hopped out, wrapping herself in a large towel. She hurriedly went back into her room, after grabbing up her pajamas. Another twenty minutes would pass before a slightly drowsy redhead emerged, dressed in the traditional school uniform.
"You're up early..." Akama said, passing her sister in the hallway.
"Yeah." Ranma said, yawning, "Swimming practice."
"Oh. Well, have fun. Don't let those snotty swimmers bug you either, Ranma. You have as much right to swim as they do. If that doesn't change their minds, just tell them I'm going to beat them up or something." Akama smirked, half joking, prompting a small smile from Ranma.
"Thanks, Sis. Heh.. I'll be sure to tell them." Ranma said. She walked into the kitchen, where her dad was busy cooking breakfast. Ranma tried to sneak over behind her father, and even though Ranma Sr. knew she was there the whole time, he acted surprised when two slender arms wrapped around his waist in a loving greeting.
"Oh! Good morning, Ranma. I didn't notice you there." Ranma Sr. said, turning around to hug his daughter in return. A small smirk hung on his face however, and Ranma giggled.
"You knew I was here before I did, Dad. Thanks for pretending though." Ranma said.
"Any time, dear." Ranma Sr. said, ruffling his daughter's hair just slightly. "Sit down, breakfast is almost ready." He said.
"Alright, Dad." Ranma said, sitting down.
Meanwhile, Akama was busy in her room, getting changed into her training outfit. She'd thrown away the uncomfortable, tight bandages that she used to wrap around her chest, ever since the day she'd had her weird dream. She found it even more uncomfortable to wear nothing on her chest, so under the training outfit, she'd began to wear a sports bra, on her mother's recommendation. "Stupid thing doesn't help much with getting the guys to stop staring at me... At least it's better than nothing." Akama said. As she walked into the kitchen, Ranma was just finishing her breakfast.
"See you later, Sis!" Ranma said, as she grabbed her backpack, and rushed out the door. Ranma didn't hear her sister's reply, as she was in far too much of a hurry. Ranma rushed to school, eager to be early and make a good impression on the coach. As she approached the school's gates, a familiar voice called out to her.
"Hey, Ranma!" Taiiku said, smiling brightly. "Good morning!"
"Morning.. Taiiku... How are ya?" Ranma said.
"I'm pretty good.. A bit sleepy though. Let's go on in and get changed before everyone gets here, we'll have a little time to... um.. talk." Taiiku said, taking Ranma's hand.
"Yeah, let's." Ranma said, smiling a bit as well. She couldn't help but blush just a little when Taiiku took her hand, 'Feels nice to hold her hand.' Ranma thought. Then, the possible interpretation of this came to her mind. "Taiiku, um.. I don't think we should hold hands like this, people are going to start saying stuff about... well.. i just don't want you to start getting that too, just because of me."
"Ranma, They can talk all they want. I want to hold your hand." Taiiku smiled a bit brighter, and gently squeezed the delicate hand in her grasp.
"Ok, Taiiku." Ranma said. Her other hand went behind her head, scratching at her neck nervously. "It's just... I mean... well... I'm a girl right now. It... it's gonna look bad."
"It's gonna look bad for me to have a friend?" Taiiku said, smirking.
"No, I guess not... Heh.. Let's go in, huh?" Ranma replied. The two of them walked into the school, and made their way to the pool area. The coach was still in her office, they assumed, as she wasn't anywhere around the deck of the pool. Ranma and Taiiku continued into the locker room, where the next problem came up. Changing clothes.
As Taiiku started to unbutton the shirt to her uniform, she looked over to the motionless form of the other girl present, and said, "Ranma, you can't swim in that, silly."
"Well... um.. I know. It's just.." Ranma sighed heavily, starting to unbutton her shirt too. "I'm gonna have to get used to changing in front of people. You know they're all going to stare at me, right? Half of them think I'm lying about my curse, the other half think... I don't know, that I'm some sort of pervert, I suppose."
"I'm the only one here right now, Ranma. We can always keep coming early together, if you want to. That'd make you a little more comfortable, right?" Taiiku asked.
"A little... There's still you, though." Ranma said.
"Ranma, you don't have to be embarrassed about me. I'm going to be too busy changing myself, to worry about you." Taiiku said. "Now turn around and get changed, ok?"
"Sure..." Ranma said, turning around. She undressed and changed into her swimsuit, worrying the whole time about actually undressing in front, or behind, as it were, of another person.
Taiiku changed into her swimsuit as well, still smiling. Ranma was so adorable, Taiiku thought. Ranma's shyness was very sweet, but her embarrassment around other people would have to come down a bit, for her to be on an athletic team. Taiiku turned toward the door as the other girls on the team began to stream into the room. The second they saw Ranma standing there, they all stopped exactly where they stood.
One girl stepped out, apparently the leader of the group. She said, "What is *she* doing here? She's not even a real girl. I'm going to talk to the coach about this." Turning to the other girls, her back to Ranma, the leader continued, "Don't worry, girls. This freak will be gone by tomorrow."
"Shut up, Umi." Taiiku said. "Ranma is not a freak, and if she's not a girl, why would she be on the *girl's* swimming team?"
"I..I don't want to cause problems..." Ranma said, shrinking back as she usually did in the face of torment. 'Why'd I ever do this, I knew it would be a huge mess.' Ranma thought.
"You sure screwed that up, you freak." Umi said. "Can't you even be quiet correctly?" All the girls behind their leader, started giggling hysterically.
Taiiku sighed heavily, walking over to comfort Ranma. Taiiku put her arms around the red-haired girl who seemed to have retreated into her shell. Taiiku whispered into Ranma's ear. "Ranma.. Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Ranma blushed bright red as Taiiku comforted her. Feelings of despair and sadness mingled with awkward contentment at such a loving embrace. A new feeling began to well up, however, when the focus of the teasing became Taiiku. "Hey, Taiiku, What're you doing hugging her like that? I mean, there's nice, and then there's... 'nice'," Umi said. The girls behind her obviously caught what Umi had meant to imply, and burst into another round of laughter.
"Be.. Be quiet." Ranma said, stuttering slightly. Unfortunately, that brought an imitative taunt from the slender bully.
"S..s..sorry, f...f..freak." Umi said, forcing a stutter to further add insult.
"I don't care if you make fun of me... But leave Taiiku out of it." Ranma said.
"Ranma, you don't have to..." Taiiku began, before being cut off by the rude swimmer's continued taunts.
"Maybe I was right." Umi said, "The freak has a crush on you, Taiiku. You know that, right? What're you going to do about it?"
Taiiku simply smiled to the crowd of swimmers, as the coach burst in through the doors, angry as usual. "What are you ladies doing? Get dressed and get out there! We have a lot of work to do!" The coach said. After the girls dressed, they filed out through the door. However, the coach put a hand on Ranma's shoulder, and held her back. "Saotome. Just what is your situation? You seem to be registered at school as a male AND a female. Surely this is some administrative error, or computer glitch or something. You look like a girl to me." Coach said.
"I...I'm sorry, Coach. You see... i.. i.." Ranma's face flushed several shades of red as she began to try to explain her complicated life. The coach's harsh exterior was eventually wore away by the stories of Ranma's childhood and adolescence with the curse.
"I don't know much I can do to help ya, Saotome. I'll say something to the girls today." Coach said.
Ranma smiled faintly, speaking up. "Thanks." She was unaware, however, that this small amount of instruction would not protect her in any way, in fact making the taunting worse. The coach and her went from the locker room, Ranma found her way beside Taiiku, and the coach stood in front of the assembled girls.
"Listen up, ladies! We've got a new girl today, Ranma Saotome. I've heard you talking about her, and I don't like it. We will *not* have disunity on this team. Do you understand?" Coach said.
The group sounded its agreement, although Umi shot an intensely hateful glare back at Ranma, as she sat by Taiiku. Ranma, thankfully, didn't see it, leaving Taiiku to notice the continued animosity. Taiiku sighed somewhat, as she whispered again into Ranma's ear. "I don't think that helped any, Ranma. I'm certain that some, if not most, of the girls don't believe what Umi says. They're just afraid of being unpopular."
"I'll deal with it, Taiiku." Ranma said. "I just don't want you to..."
"Shh, Ranma. I know what you're going to say." Taiiku interrupted. "No, I don't.. Like girls like that. I'm not going to react when she says something like that though."
"I understand." Ranma said. The rest of practice continued without incident, the girls swam quite a few laps in the pool, and also practiced a bit on diving technique. Once the coach told them all that the practice was over, they returned to the locker room. Ranma shyly changed her clothes back, utterly terrified of the other girls seeing her in her undressed state, as much as that might do to put to rest any suspicions that she was not really a female. Having changed back into her school uniform, Ranma went out of the locker room, and started out of the pool area.
Taiiku was not far behind, and as she approached Ranma, she looked as if she had something to say. "Ranma.. Ranma, wait up, please!" Taiiku called.
Ranma slowed down considerably, letting Taiiku catch her. As the two came side by side, a bright blush could be easily seen on Ranma's face. "I... they all saw me..." Ranma said.
"No one was looking at you, Ranma. I promise." Taiiku said, smiling brightly.
"Taiiku, I'm sorry to run off like this, but I really would feel more comfortable as a guy right now. Will I see you at lunch?" Ranma asked.
"Sure, Ranma. It's ok. I'll see you at lunch." Taiiku answered, smiling. Her smile was mostly fake, but she did a good job hiding it. 'Ranma, I'm sorry I can't do more...' Taiiku thought.
Ranma quickly ran off to the janitor's room, where he was allowed to store a spare uniform. After locking the door, Ranma undressed and filled a small dish with water from the janitor's faucet. The water was from a pipe that connected to the boiler, so it was still pretty hot once it reached that faucet. Ranma splashed the small amount of water on herself, and suppressed the exclamation that wanted to come forth when the water hit. Finding that she had become 'he' again, Ranma changed into his spare male uniform and continued to class. Unfortunately, Ranma bumped into a certain antagonistic swimmer as he exited.
"Watch it!" Umi screeched, before realizing who it was that had bumped into him. "Freak... You really must be like they say, You look nothing like a girl now." She said.
"It's not my fault... I was born this way.." Ranma said, shyly looking down.
"Wait a second.. You're a guy now, but there's no way you weren't a girl then... We all got undressed around you because there was *no way* you weren't. You pervert! You used your freakishness to stare at all of us!" Umi accused.
"No, I didn't... I never looked at anyone..." Ranma said. He internally cursed himself for not standing up for himself more, but the years of torment taught him to just retreat into the shell and wait for the insults to be done.
"I don't believe you." Umi said, slapping Ranma full across the face, "Pervert. Don't let me catch you at out practice again, or I'll do more than slap you."
Ranma stayed silent, not letting the tears come, however desperately they wanted to. He also carefully kept his hand from touching his stinging cheek, as he knew that'd only make it feel worse. Putting his backpack onto his shoulders, he continued down the hall, muttering to himself. "I'm such an idiot..." He said.
"Hey! Don't mumble, pervert! I'm serious, I'm going to kick your ass if I see you there tomorrow!" Umi shouted, as Ranma walked away to his class.
As Ranma walked into class, early as usual, the teacher saw the bright red mark on Ranma's cheek. "Ranma, What happened?" The teacher asked.
"Nothing. I just got slapped by a girl, it's nothing." Ranma said. He took his seat and the day progressed on slowly, until finally it was time to eat lunch. Carefully, Ranma retrieved his lunch and made his way out to his usual spot underneath the lonely tree. He looked down when he spotted the group of swimmers, save Taiiku, glaring at him. There was no doubt in Ranma's mind that Umi had told them all that he was a pervert, and gotten them firmly into disliking the 'freak' again.
Soon enough, Taiiku would join Ranma under the tree. She sat down, crossing her legs and tugging at her skirt, before opening her lunch. "Hey, Ranma." Taiiku said, smiling over to him warmly.
"Hey..." Ranma responded, flatly, leaning back against the tree. His lunch sat to the side, unopened, and if that weren't enough to get Taiiku worried, there was still the lingering redness that seemed to form a hand print.
Taiiku blinked a few times, looking at Ranma's sadder than usual expression. She had a nagging feeling that something more had happened after Ranma had walked off to change. "Ranma... What's wrong?" Taiiku asked.
"Nothing, alright... Just.. Nothing." Ranma's hand came up towards his face. He was going to rub his cheek, but that would have betrayed his claim that nothing was wrong, so he put his hand back down.
"Sure doesn't look like nothing, Ranma. Your cheek is bright red." Taiiku said.
"A girl slapped me. Nothing unusual for my life." Ranma said.
Taiiku frowned. Not only did they have to make fun of him, now they were even hitting him. She knew the weight that popularity held at this age, having been both outcast from, and included in, the social circle. "Was it..." Taiiku asked, unable to finish her question due to Ranma's acknowledging nod.
"Yeah. Listen, Taiiku... The only reason I even wanted to be on the swim team was to spend time with you. I don't want to make more problems, ok? I'm gonna just quit... I'm not going to be the cause of you getting the same treatment I do." Ranma said.
"You're right. That..." Taiiku restrained herself from saying something very rude about Umi, before continuing, "...And her bunch of followers are."
"Taiiku..." Ranma started to call up the strength to argue against her, but given his current depression, it just wasn't there. Instead, he let out a rather pronounced sigh, and hung his head.
"You have as much right to be there as anyone else, Ranma." Taiiku said.
"And they have every right not to want a... Freak like me there." Ranma spat out the last few words in his sentance, anger beginning to build up in him. As usual, the anger would only be compressed and packed away, never dealt with.
"So what are you saying, Ranma? You're going to just let them win?" Taiiku asked.
"I wanted to be there to get closer to you, Taiiku. We're going out on a date tonight, i'd say my mission was a success. I don't need to stick around and get made fun of too... What am i doing swimming anyways.. It's not like i'm really a girl.." Ranma said all of this, carefully avoiding looking directly at Taiiku.
Taiiku sighed, scooting a little closer next to Ranma's side. "Ranma, I don't think there's anything wrong with the way you are. You can't just let them run you off. You can't let them have that much control over your life." Taiiku said.
Ranma laughed shortly, before speaking again. "Why not? I don't even have control of what gender I am...."
"Ranma..." Taiiku said, putting an arm around his shoulder. "I know it must be really hard for you, but I can tell you one thing for sure. You're a nice person. Guy or girl, i'm still your friend." The bell started to ring, ending the lunch period. Taiiku placed a light kiss on Ranma's red cheek, and got up. "See you tonight, Ranma. I'm looking forward to it." Taiiku said.
"M..Me too.." Ranma mumbled, blushing an adorable shade of pink. He felt this heat on his cheeks, and his hands shot up to cover them. Unfortunately, his slapped cheek was still raw, and it stung a bit as he touched it. "Smooth, Ranma." He said, walking back into the school building to finish off the rest of the day.
The rest of the day went as smoothly as could be expected, Ranma recieved what he'd grown to accept as common teasing from the students in the halls, but nothing else happened. He'd been slightly distracted from his thoughts in class, by that little kiss Taiiku gave him, though. Ranma soon remembered that it wasn't the first time Taiiku had kissed his cheek, and upon remembering, he felt a familiar warmth begin to slip over his cheeks. Luckily, the bell rang just as he was about to hide his head in his books. Ranma gathered his things and hurried out the door to meet up with Akama and walk home, as he usually did. Upon meeting her brother in the hall, Akama smiled. "Hey, Ranma. What's up?" Akama asked.
"Heh.. Nothing, Sis. Wow, You look nice today..." Ranma blinked a few times, looking over his sister. Ranma had been long gone before Akama was awake, so naturally he hadn't had a chance to see her. What he did see was quite a shock. Akama was apparently following more in the de-tomboyizing trend she had been set on, and as such, she was not only dressed properly in the female uniform, but Ranma also could make out a silver necklace around her neck, and silver clip-on earrings in her ears.
"Heh... Thanks, Ranma. I didn't overdo it, did i? I mean... So I know i'm a girl and everything. I should act like it, I suppose... And the uniform is just something that has to be done. The necklace though, and the earrings.." Akama stopped herself halfway through, noticing the smirk widening on her brother's face. "Alright, Ranma, what's that goofy smirk for, huh?" Akama said, traces of annoyance registering on her face.
Ranma's smirk slowly turned to a smile, as he wrapped his arms around Akama's waist gently. He hugged her tightly, smiling the whole while, before commenting as he let her go. "Hey, i've always said the Saotome girls were heartbreakers. I'm just glad there's more than one of us now." Ranma said.
"Oh, be quiet." Akama said, whapping him lightly with her book bag. Ranma turned around, and started walking towards the doors of the school. Akama sighed relievedly at this, because she felt a very uncomfortable warmth building up on her cheeks. Yup, she was blushing. "I'm glad there's more than one of us too, Ranma." She said, walking a bit faster to catch up with her brother. Once she got there, she put her arm around his shoulder. "Thanks." Akama said.
"No problem, Sis. And don't worry, if you start acting like one of those airheads, I'll make dad teach me how to kick your butt." Ranma answered, smirking.
Akama laughed, and added, "If I start acting like that, I might just have to let you." The two siblings walked home, and remarkably, Ranma would arrive home the same gender that he left school as.
"Weird..." Akama said, as they passed the water tossing old lady's house, with not a drop being poured out the window.
"Yeah, that's almost scary." Ranma agreed. They walked for a short distance more, rounding the last corner before the street their house was on. As they drew closer to their house, Ranma tripped. This wouldn't have been important, except the thing he tripped on, had squealed when he did.
"Look, Ranma. You tripped over a piglet." Akama said.
"Weird..." Ranma said, picking up the piglet by its tiger-striped collar. "No name tag, but it has to be someone's pet, you don't see too many pigs wearing collars in the wild... And you don't see many pigs around here, period."
"I think it's sort of cute, Ranma. We have to atleast take it home to see if it's hurt from you tripping over it." Akama said.
"Yeah, you're right, Sis. We can't just leave it here." Ranma agreed. The two of them walked the remaining distance back home, and upon opening the front door, the piglet squealed loudly and jumped out of Ranma's arms. It ran out the door as fast as either of them had ever seen a piglet run, although, oddly, it was back at their doorstep moments later.
"Guess it realized we could feed it, Huh? Now we know it's a pet." Akama said. She took the piglet up in her arms, and went into the kitchen. She held the piglet in one arm, while she opened the refrigerator with her free hand. "Hey, what're you supposed to feed a piglet, anyways?" Akama asked.
Ranma walked into the kitchen and blinked. How was he supposed to know what to feed a pig? Thinking for a second, he came up with what he thought was a reasonable idea. "Give it a bowl of milk or something, I don't know. What do I look like, a zoo keeper?" He said.
Akama was in the middle of filling a small dish with milk, when Akane came in, and saw what they were doing. "Ryouga? How in the world did you get here?" Akane asked.
Both Ranma and Akama blinked simultaneously, and exclaimed, "Ryouga?!"
"Yes.. One of your father's friends. He's a Jusenkyo victim too, sadly. Spring of drowned black piglet, as you can see. The bandana is a dead giveaway." Akane explained, carefully leaving out the part about her not being able to tell for years, that her pet piglet was actually Ryouga.
"Wait.. Dad's told me about Ryouga... He had a crush on you, didn't he, Mom?" Akama asked.
"Yeah, he did, but we'll talk about that later. Ranma, go run some hot water for him, and get some of your father's clothes for him to wear." Akane said. "And don't let him run off, he could get lost in a cardboard box!" She shouted, as Ranma walked off, down the hall.
Ranma had taken the little black piglet by the bandana as his mother instructed, and he carefully took it to the bathroom. As a convenience for his own curse, Ranma always had a thermos of hot water under the sink, so he set the piglet in the bathtub, and poured the hot water on it. Sure enough, in a few seconds, an adult man was sitting there, stark naked. "Ugh.. Glad i'm not naked when I change," Ranma said. He dashed into his father's room and grabbed a pair of black workout pants, some underwear, a t-shirt, and a towel. As he came back, he saw Ryouga looking himself over in a mirror.
"Ahahaa... I'm a man again! aha.. ahahha.." Ryouga was laughing neurotically, like something had snapped in his brain. Ranma laid the clothes out on the sink, before introducing himself.
"Hi, um.. Ryouga." Ranma said.
Ryouga looked over, and replied flatly. "Oh, Hi Ranma. Boy, you sure have aged well, old man."
"Aged well? Huh? I'm Ranma *junior*. My dad's name is Ranma as well.." Ranma said.
"Ranma had children... Wow. Well, you could have fooled me, boy. You look just like your father. I actually made it back here.. And i'm a man again.." Ryouga said, before falling into neurotic laughter again.
"Just how long has it been since you got changed last?" Ranma asked, as Ryouga dressed.
"I lost track..." Ryouga answered. "I'm just glad I can say something other than 'bwee' for once."
"Heh.. Well, My mom and sister are waiting for us back in the kitchen, if you're done getting dressed, let's go." Ranma said.
"Sister? Oh, that other girl, i suppose.." Ryouga mumbled, as he was led back to the kitchen. A long discussion followed, when they were all re-united, about how Ryouga had been wandering around the world much as he usually did. He had found a cure of sorts for his directional 'curse', but it only affected his human form. One stray splash of water, and he was stuck as a pig again. He didn't exactly know how long it had been, but he did know that he was overjoyed to be back among friends... Could he still call them friends? They'd definitely had their problems in the past, the last time they'd seen each other was several years ago. Ryouga purposefully got lost about a week after he'd told Akane about his curse.
"I can't believe you kept that from me!" Akane screamed, slapping the wet male face infront of her, "I let you sleep in my bed.. Watch me change!"
Ryouga hung his head in shame. There was no excuse for his actions, but the least he could do was try to restore some of his honor. "Akane... I'm sorry." Ryouga said.
"Oh, this is way past a simple apology. Why don't you do like you always do and just GET LOST!" Akane screamed, running off to seek comfort in the first person she found. Come to think of it, that was one of the major turning points in the relationship between Akane and Ranma. He had found her first, and explained how he'd knocked Ryouga in the spring. Akane seemed to understand that it was only the right thing to do, when you were the cause of a problem, to not worsen it. Akane also began to realize the little hints that Ranma had continually dropped, despite his agreement. "Oh, Ranma..." Akane sighed, "Why was i so blind?"
"You had a cute little pet pig. Girls are suckers for cute pets." Ranma smiled that broad, handsome smile of his, and it only got wider as the blush swept over Akane's face. This wasn't *the* event that had brought them to the realization of their feelings, but Akane was comforted greatly by the fact that even when things looked terrible, Ranma was still there. Comforting her. Holding her. Making her blush.
"Heh... Cute pets, huh?" Akane laughed, trying to hide her blush, only to find herself laying against Ranma's rather muscular chest.
"Yup. I'm just glad you're not a certain figure skater, or else you would have named him 'Pierre', or something like that." Ranma said.
The days that followed that one were increasingly difficult for Ryouga. He kept trying to apologize and kept getting utterly rejected. The final day that he would stay there, he had atleast come to an understanding with Akane. She didn't hate him, that got out of her system after a few days. She didn't, however, feel like she could totally forgive him. Failing to achieve that last objective, Ryouga gathered up his pack. "Goodbye, Akane..." He said, walking depressedly out the door. That was the last time any of them had seen Ryouga.
"Ryouga? Hello? Yo! P-chan!" A voice said.
That voice belonged to a certain person, a very familiar person, Ryouga thought. He blinked a few times, snapping from his trip into his memory. "Akane?" Ryouga said.
"Finally got you back, huh?" Akane said, smiling faintly.
"Yeah.. I was just... Thinking." Ryouga said, smiling lightly as well. It had been so long since he had seen Akane, much less her smile, and she was actually being nice to him.
"That really was an interesting story... About you wandering and all... I guess i should be glad that i just turn into a girl, huh?" Ranma said. He pondered the consequences of always getting lost, and always being chased after for food, deciding that he didn't think being female was nearly as hard.
"You should." Ryouga said, smiling a little. It was good to know that Ranma and Akane had gotten together and worked things out. Ryouga always knew that it could very well turn out like this, and now that he looked back, he could see that it was a good thing. He only had one more issue to solve. "Could you two let me talk to your mother in private?" Ryouga asked.
Ranma and Akama knew it wasn't a question, as much as a statement. They did appreciate the courtesy though, and eventually Ranma would answer. "Yeah, sure." He turned to Akama, and continued, "Hey, sis, want to come help me pick out something to wear tonight?"
"Not really." Akama said, before catching a harsh glare from her mother, and walking off with her brother to his bedroom.
Ryouga cleared his throat, and looked at Akane. He'd been waiting for so long to find the right words to apologize to her again, but nothing seemed to ever fit. Perhaps simplest was best. "Akane... I'm sorry." Ryouga said.
"Ryouga..." Akane pulled out a chair and sat down. "Ryouga, you've apologized enough. I've had a lot of time to think over what you did to me. It was very dishonest of you to take advantage of me like that, but then i think over the nice things you could do when you weren't trying to get close to me. You were always right beside Ranma, ready to save me from anything..."
"I never meant to hurt you... I just didn't know how to tell you." Ryouga said.
"Idiot..." Akane said, starting to tear up a bit.
"I am an idiot. You and Ranma were meant for each other before either of you were born. I had just hoped i could share a little of that, before you two realized it." Ryouga said.
"You could have just told me, Ryouga. You could have just said it... I know i wasn't the most rational person when i was younger, but you could have told me." Akane said.
Right about then, Ranma Sr. walked in soaking wet, "You'd think that all this water would have somewhere else to go than *on me*." She complained. Continuing to walk into the kitchen, Ranma saw a person that he was almost sure he'd never have seen again. "Ryouga? Wow..." Ranma said, taking a towel from her convieniently waterproof backpack. She dried herself off, then took a seat at the table.
"Yeah, Hi... Akane and I were just talking." Ryouga said.
"Yeah, apparently he got lost in his cursed form, and somehow ended up back here." Akane said.
"Well, Ryouga, if Akane agrees, I'd love to have you stay here for a few days. It's been a long time since i've seen ya." Ranma said, smiling. "Heh.. I've got a lot of things to tell you too."
Akane sighed. She still was upset at what had happened, but the past did have to be left in the past sometime. Ranma seemed so happy to see an old friend, too, how could Akane turn her husband down? "I suppose... It's ok if he stays." Akane said.
"Great!" Ranma said, patting her old friend on the back. "Man, i've got some stories for you, Ryouga. Hey, you want to go have a little match?"
"I was waiting for you to ask." Ryouga said, his fanged grin appearing for the first time in a long time.
"Men..." Akane said, laughing. "Oh, don't mind me, i'll just take care of the children. Maybe cook dinner." A large grin spread across Akane's face as she said 'cook dinner'.
"We'll only be out there for an hour or so, Akane. Don't worry about cooking anything." Ranma smiled and kissed Akane's cheek gently, before walking out to the dojo with Ryouga.
"Wake up, Ranma... Wake up..." A voice said.
Ranma heard this, and her eyes began to flutter open slowly. Standing over her bed, was her mother. Akane was nudging her daughter's side gently, as she called. Finally, Ranma turned over and yawned, answering her mother. "Alright, Alright, I'm up..."
"That's good. You need to hurry and get dressed, you have swimming practice this morning, remember?" Akane said.
Ranma sighed and flopped back over in bed. Of course she remembered, but it was still very early in the morning. Were her father and Akama even awake yet? "Too early." Ranma mumbled.
Akane pulled the sheets and blankets swiftly off of Ranma's bed, leaving a very shocked and startled girl in the bed. "Get up, dear. You have somewhere to be." Akane said.
"Aah! Mom! What'd you do that for!?" Ranma shrieked. It was *very* chilly wearing only her cute red pajamas. Ranma jumped out of bed and went to her closet, pulling out a robe to wrap herself in. Once the robe had been secured around herself, Ranma took her backpack from another place in the closet, packing several things into it for the day, placing her water-drop printed swimsuit on top. 'At least Taiiku is going to be there.' Ranma thought. She smiled softly, and moved to the bathroom, where she shed her robe, pajamas, and undergarments, stepping into the shower. Twenty minutes later, Ranma hopped out, wrapping herself in a large towel. She hurriedly went back into her room, after grabbing up her pajamas. Another twenty minutes would pass before a slightly drowsy redhead emerged, dressed in the traditional school uniform.
"You're up early..." Akama said, passing her sister in the hallway.
"Yeah." Ranma said, yawning, "Swimming practice."
"Oh. Well, have fun. Don't let those snotty swimmers bug you either, Ranma. You have as much right to swim as they do. If that doesn't change their minds, just tell them I'm going to beat them up or something." Akama smirked, half joking, prompting a small smile from Ranma.
"Thanks, Sis. Heh.. I'll be sure to tell them." Ranma said. She walked into the kitchen, where her dad was busy cooking breakfast. Ranma tried to sneak over behind her father, and even though Ranma Sr. knew she was there the whole time, he acted surprised when two slender arms wrapped around his waist in a loving greeting.
"Oh! Good morning, Ranma. I didn't notice you there." Ranma Sr. said, turning around to hug his daughter in return. A small smirk hung on his face however, and Ranma giggled.
"You knew I was here before I did, Dad. Thanks for pretending though." Ranma said.
"Any time, dear." Ranma Sr. said, ruffling his daughter's hair just slightly. "Sit down, breakfast is almost ready." He said.
"Alright, Dad." Ranma said, sitting down.
Meanwhile, Akama was busy in her room, getting changed into her training outfit. She'd thrown away the uncomfortable, tight bandages that she used to wrap around her chest, ever since the day she'd had her weird dream. She found it even more uncomfortable to wear nothing on her chest, so under the training outfit, she'd began to wear a sports bra, on her mother's recommendation. "Stupid thing doesn't help much with getting the guys to stop staring at me... At least it's better than nothing." Akama said. As she walked into the kitchen, Ranma was just finishing her breakfast.
"See you later, Sis!" Ranma said, as she grabbed her backpack, and rushed out the door. Ranma didn't hear her sister's reply, as she was in far too much of a hurry. Ranma rushed to school, eager to be early and make a good impression on the coach. As she approached the school's gates, a familiar voice called out to her.
"Hey, Ranma!" Taiiku said, smiling brightly. "Good morning!"
"Morning.. Taiiku... How are ya?" Ranma said.
"I'm pretty good.. A bit sleepy though. Let's go on in and get changed before everyone gets here, we'll have a little time to... um.. talk." Taiiku said, taking Ranma's hand.
"Yeah, let's." Ranma said, smiling a bit as well. She couldn't help but blush just a little when Taiiku took her hand, 'Feels nice to hold her hand.' Ranma thought. Then, the possible interpretation of this came to her mind. "Taiiku, um.. I don't think we should hold hands like this, people are going to start saying stuff about... well.. i just don't want you to start getting that too, just because of me."
"Ranma, They can talk all they want. I want to hold your hand." Taiiku smiled a bit brighter, and gently squeezed the delicate hand in her grasp.
"Ok, Taiiku." Ranma said. Her other hand went behind her head, scratching at her neck nervously. "It's just... I mean... well... I'm a girl right now. It... it's gonna look bad."
"It's gonna look bad for me to have a friend?" Taiiku said, smirking.
"No, I guess not... Heh.. Let's go in, huh?" Ranma replied. The two of them walked into the school, and made their way to the pool area. The coach was still in her office, they assumed, as she wasn't anywhere around the deck of the pool. Ranma and Taiiku continued into the locker room, where the next problem came up. Changing clothes.
As Taiiku started to unbutton the shirt to her uniform, she looked over to the motionless form of the other girl present, and said, "Ranma, you can't swim in that, silly."
"Well... um.. I know. It's just.." Ranma sighed heavily, starting to unbutton her shirt too. "I'm gonna have to get used to changing in front of people. You know they're all going to stare at me, right? Half of them think I'm lying about my curse, the other half think... I don't know, that I'm some sort of pervert, I suppose."
"I'm the only one here right now, Ranma. We can always keep coming early together, if you want to. That'd make you a little more comfortable, right?" Taiiku asked.
"A little... There's still you, though." Ranma said.
"Ranma, you don't have to be embarrassed about me. I'm going to be too busy changing myself, to worry about you." Taiiku said. "Now turn around and get changed, ok?"
"Sure..." Ranma said, turning around. She undressed and changed into her swimsuit, worrying the whole time about actually undressing in front, or behind, as it were, of another person.
Taiiku changed into her swimsuit as well, still smiling. Ranma was so adorable, Taiiku thought. Ranma's shyness was very sweet, but her embarrassment around other people would have to come down a bit, for her to be on an athletic team. Taiiku turned toward the door as the other girls on the team began to stream into the room. The second they saw Ranma standing there, they all stopped exactly where they stood.
One girl stepped out, apparently the leader of the group. She said, "What is *she* doing here? She's not even a real girl. I'm going to talk to the coach about this." Turning to the other girls, her back to Ranma, the leader continued, "Don't worry, girls. This freak will be gone by tomorrow."
"Shut up, Umi." Taiiku said. "Ranma is not a freak, and if she's not a girl, why would she be on the *girl's* swimming team?"
"I..I don't want to cause problems..." Ranma said, shrinking back as she usually did in the face of torment. 'Why'd I ever do this, I knew it would be a huge mess.' Ranma thought.
"You sure screwed that up, you freak." Umi said. "Can't you even be quiet correctly?" All the girls behind their leader, started giggling hysterically.
Taiiku sighed heavily, walking over to comfort Ranma. Taiiku put her arms around the red-haired girl who seemed to have retreated into her shell. Taiiku whispered into Ranma's ear. "Ranma.. Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Ranma blushed bright red as Taiiku comforted her. Feelings of despair and sadness mingled with awkward contentment at such a loving embrace. A new feeling began to well up, however, when the focus of the teasing became Taiiku. "Hey, Taiiku, What're you doing hugging her like that? I mean, there's nice, and then there's... 'nice'," Umi said. The girls behind her obviously caught what Umi had meant to imply, and burst into another round of laughter.
"Be.. Be quiet." Ranma said, stuttering slightly. Unfortunately, that brought an imitative taunt from the slender bully.
"S..s..sorry, f...f..freak." Umi said, forcing a stutter to further add insult.
"I don't care if you make fun of me... But leave Taiiku out of it." Ranma said.
"Ranma, you don't have to..." Taiiku began, before being cut off by the rude swimmer's continued taunts.
"Maybe I was right." Umi said, "The freak has a crush on you, Taiiku. You know that, right? What're you going to do about it?"
Taiiku simply smiled to the crowd of swimmers, as the coach burst in through the doors, angry as usual. "What are you ladies doing? Get dressed and get out there! We have a lot of work to do!" The coach said. After the girls dressed, they filed out through the door. However, the coach put a hand on Ranma's shoulder, and held her back. "Saotome. Just what is your situation? You seem to be registered at school as a male AND a female. Surely this is some administrative error, or computer glitch or something. You look like a girl to me." Coach said.
"I...I'm sorry, Coach. You see... i.. i.." Ranma's face flushed several shades of red as she began to try to explain her complicated life. The coach's harsh exterior was eventually wore away by the stories of Ranma's childhood and adolescence with the curse.
"I don't know much I can do to help ya, Saotome. I'll say something to the girls today." Coach said.
Ranma smiled faintly, speaking up. "Thanks." She was unaware, however, that this small amount of instruction would not protect her in any way, in fact making the taunting worse. The coach and her went from the locker room, Ranma found her way beside Taiiku, and the coach stood in front of the assembled girls.
"Listen up, ladies! We've got a new girl today, Ranma Saotome. I've heard you talking about her, and I don't like it. We will *not* have disunity on this team. Do you understand?" Coach said.
The group sounded its agreement, although Umi shot an intensely hateful glare back at Ranma, as she sat by Taiiku. Ranma, thankfully, didn't see it, leaving Taiiku to notice the continued animosity. Taiiku sighed somewhat, as she whispered again into Ranma's ear. "I don't think that helped any, Ranma. I'm certain that some, if not most, of the girls don't believe what Umi says. They're just afraid of being unpopular."
"I'll deal with it, Taiiku." Ranma said. "I just don't want you to..."
"Shh, Ranma. I know what you're going to say." Taiiku interrupted. "No, I don't.. Like girls like that. I'm not going to react when she says something like that though."
"I understand." Ranma said. The rest of practice continued without incident, the girls swam quite a few laps in the pool, and also practiced a bit on diving technique. Once the coach told them all that the practice was over, they returned to the locker room. Ranma shyly changed her clothes back, utterly terrified of the other girls seeing her in her undressed state, as much as that might do to put to rest any suspicions that she was not really a female. Having changed back into her school uniform, Ranma went out of the locker room, and started out of the pool area.
Taiiku was not far behind, and as she approached Ranma, she looked as if she had something to say. "Ranma.. Ranma, wait up, please!" Taiiku called.
Ranma slowed down considerably, letting Taiiku catch her. As the two came side by side, a bright blush could be easily seen on Ranma's face. "I... they all saw me..." Ranma said.
"No one was looking at you, Ranma. I promise." Taiiku said, smiling brightly.
"Taiiku, I'm sorry to run off like this, but I really would feel more comfortable as a guy right now. Will I see you at lunch?" Ranma asked.
"Sure, Ranma. It's ok. I'll see you at lunch." Taiiku answered, smiling. Her smile was mostly fake, but she did a good job hiding it. 'Ranma, I'm sorry I can't do more...' Taiiku thought.
Ranma quickly ran off to the janitor's room, where he was allowed to store a spare uniform. After locking the door, Ranma undressed and filled a small dish with water from the janitor's faucet. The water was from a pipe that connected to the boiler, so it was still pretty hot once it reached that faucet. Ranma splashed the small amount of water on herself, and suppressed the exclamation that wanted to come forth when the water hit. Finding that she had become 'he' again, Ranma changed into his spare male uniform and continued to class. Unfortunately, Ranma bumped into a certain antagonistic swimmer as he exited.
"Watch it!" Umi screeched, before realizing who it was that had bumped into him. "Freak... You really must be like they say, You look nothing like a girl now." She said.
"It's not my fault... I was born this way.." Ranma said, shyly looking down.
"Wait a second.. You're a guy now, but there's no way you weren't a girl then... We all got undressed around you because there was *no way* you weren't. You pervert! You used your freakishness to stare at all of us!" Umi accused.
"No, I didn't... I never looked at anyone..." Ranma said. He internally cursed himself for not standing up for himself more, but the years of torment taught him to just retreat into the shell and wait for the insults to be done.
"I don't believe you." Umi said, slapping Ranma full across the face, "Pervert. Don't let me catch you at out practice again, or I'll do more than slap you."
Ranma stayed silent, not letting the tears come, however desperately they wanted to. He also carefully kept his hand from touching his stinging cheek, as he knew that'd only make it feel worse. Putting his backpack onto his shoulders, he continued down the hall, muttering to himself. "I'm such an idiot..." He said.
"Hey! Don't mumble, pervert! I'm serious, I'm going to kick your ass if I see you there tomorrow!" Umi shouted, as Ranma walked away to his class.
As Ranma walked into class, early as usual, the teacher saw the bright red mark on Ranma's cheek. "Ranma, What happened?" The teacher asked.
"Nothing. I just got slapped by a girl, it's nothing." Ranma said. He took his seat and the day progressed on slowly, until finally it was time to eat lunch. Carefully, Ranma retrieved his lunch and made his way out to his usual spot underneath the lonely tree. He looked down when he spotted the group of swimmers, save Taiiku, glaring at him. There was no doubt in Ranma's mind that Umi had told them all that he was a pervert, and gotten them firmly into disliking the 'freak' again.
Soon enough, Taiiku would join Ranma under the tree. She sat down, crossing her legs and tugging at her skirt, before opening her lunch. "Hey, Ranma." Taiiku said, smiling over to him warmly.
"Hey..." Ranma responded, flatly, leaning back against the tree. His lunch sat to the side, unopened, and if that weren't enough to get Taiiku worried, there was still the lingering redness that seemed to form a hand print.
Taiiku blinked a few times, looking at Ranma's sadder than usual expression. She had a nagging feeling that something more had happened after Ranma had walked off to change. "Ranma... What's wrong?" Taiiku asked.
"Nothing, alright... Just.. Nothing." Ranma's hand came up towards his face. He was going to rub his cheek, but that would have betrayed his claim that nothing was wrong, so he put his hand back down.
"Sure doesn't look like nothing, Ranma. Your cheek is bright red." Taiiku said.
"A girl slapped me. Nothing unusual for my life." Ranma said.
Taiiku frowned. Not only did they have to make fun of him, now they were even hitting him. She knew the weight that popularity held at this age, having been both outcast from, and included in, the social circle. "Was it..." Taiiku asked, unable to finish her question due to Ranma's acknowledging nod.
"Yeah. Listen, Taiiku... The only reason I even wanted to be on the swim team was to spend time with you. I don't want to make more problems, ok? I'm gonna just quit... I'm not going to be the cause of you getting the same treatment I do." Ranma said.
"You're right. That..." Taiiku restrained herself from saying something very rude about Umi, before continuing, "...And her bunch of followers are."
"Taiiku..." Ranma started to call up the strength to argue against her, but given his current depression, it just wasn't there. Instead, he let out a rather pronounced sigh, and hung his head.
"You have as much right to be there as anyone else, Ranma." Taiiku said.
"And they have every right not to want a... Freak like me there." Ranma spat out the last few words in his sentance, anger beginning to build up in him. As usual, the anger would only be compressed and packed away, never dealt with.
"So what are you saying, Ranma? You're going to just let them win?" Taiiku asked.
"I wanted to be there to get closer to you, Taiiku. We're going out on a date tonight, i'd say my mission was a success. I don't need to stick around and get made fun of too... What am i doing swimming anyways.. It's not like i'm really a girl.." Ranma said all of this, carefully avoiding looking directly at Taiiku.
Taiiku sighed, scooting a little closer next to Ranma's side. "Ranma, I don't think there's anything wrong with the way you are. You can't just let them run you off. You can't let them have that much control over your life." Taiiku said.
Ranma laughed shortly, before speaking again. "Why not? I don't even have control of what gender I am...."
"Ranma..." Taiiku said, putting an arm around his shoulder. "I know it must be really hard for you, but I can tell you one thing for sure. You're a nice person. Guy or girl, i'm still your friend." The bell started to ring, ending the lunch period. Taiiku placed a light kiss on Ranma's red cheek, and got up. "See you tonight, Ranma. I'm looking forward to it." Taiiku said.
"M..Me too.." Ranma mumbled, blushing an adorable shade of pink. He felt this heat on his cheeks, and his hands shot up to cover them. Unfortunately, his slapped cheek was still raw, and it stung a bit as he touched it. "Smooth, Ranma." He said, walking back into the school building to finish off the rest of the day.
The rest of the day went as smoothly as could be expected, Ranma recieved what he'd grown to accept as common teasing from the students in the halls, but nothing else happened. He'd been slightly distracted from his thoughts in class, by that little kiss Taiiku gave him, though. Ranma soon remembered that it wasn't the first time Taiiku had kissed his cheek, and upon remembering, he felt a familiar warmth begin to slip over his cheeks. Luckily, the bell rang just as he was about to hide his head in his books. Ranma gathered his things and hurried out the door to meet up with Akama and walk home, as he usually did. Upon meeting her brother in the hall, Akama smiled. "Hey, Ranma. What's up?" Akama asked.
"Heh.. Nothing, Sis. Wow, You look nice today..." Ranma blinked a few times, looking over his sister. Ranma had been long gone before Akama was awake, so naturally he hadn't had a chance to see her. What he did see was quite a shock. Akama was apparently following more in the de-tomboyizing trend she had been set on, and as such, she was not only dressed properly in the female uniform, but Ranma also could make out a silver necklace around her neck, and silver clip-on earrings in her ears.
"Heh... Thanks, Ranma. I didn't overdo it, did i? I mean... So I know i'm a girl and everything. I should act like it, I suppose... And the uniform is just something that has to be done. The necklace though, and the earrings.." Akama stopped herself halfway through, noticing the smirk widening on her brother's face. "Alright, Ranma, what's that goofy smirk for, huh?" Akama said, traces of annoyance registering on her face.
Ranma's smirk slowly turned to a smile, as he wrapped his arms around Akama's waist gently. He hugged her tightly, smiling the whole while, before commenting as he let her go. "Hey, i've always said the Saotome girls were heartbreakers. I'm just glad there's more than one of us now." Ranma said.
"Oh, be quiet." Akama said, whapping him lightly with her book bag. Ranma turned around, and started walking towards the doors of the school. Akama sighed relievedly at this, because she felt a very uncomfortable warmth building up on her cheeks. Yup, she was blushing. "I'm glad there's more than one of us too, Ranma." She said, walking a bit faster to catch up with her brother. Once she got there, she put her arm around his shoulder. "Thanks." Akama said.
"No problem, Sis. And don't worry, if you start acting like one of those airheads, I'll make dad teach me how to kick your butt." Ranma answered, smirking.
Akama laughed, and added, "If I start acting like that, I might just have to let you." The two siblings walked home, and remarkably, Ranma would arrive home the same gender that he left school as.
"Weird..." Akama said, as they passed the water tossing old lady's house, with not a drop being poured out the window.
"Yeah, that's almost scary." Ranma agreed. They walked for a short distance more, rounding the last corner before the street their house was on. As they drew closer to their house, Ranma tripped. This wouldn't have been important, except the thing he tripped on, had squealed when he did.
"Look, Ranma. You tripped over a piglet." Akama said.
"Weird..." Ranma said, picking up the piglet by its tiger-striped collar. "No name tag, but it has to be someone's pet, you don't see too many pigs wearing collars in the wild... And you don't see many pigs around here, period."
"I think it's sort of cute, Ranma. We have to atleast take it home to see if it's hurt from you tripping over it." Akama said.
"Yeah, you're right, Sis. We can't just leave it here." Ranma agreed. The two of them walked the remaining distance back home, and upon opening the front door, the piglet squealed loudly and jumped out of Ranma's arms. It ran out the door as fast as either of them had ever seen a piglet run, although, oddly, it was back at their doorstep moments later.
"Guess it realized we could feed it, Huh? Now we know it's a pet." Akama said. She took the piglet up in her arms, and went into the kitchen. She held the piglet in one arm, while she opened the refrigerator with her free hand. "Hey, what're you supposed to feed a piglet, anyways?" Akama asked.
Ranma walked into the kitchen and blinked. How was he supposed to know what to feed a pig? Thinking for a second, he came up with what he thought was a reasonable idea. "Give it a bowl of milk or something, I don't know. What do I look like, a zoo keeper?" He said.
Akama was in the middle of filling a small dish with milk, when Akane came in, and saw what they were doing. "Ryouga? How in the world did you get here?" Akane asked.
Both Ranma and Akama blinked simultaneously, and exclaimed, "Ryouga?!"
"Yes.. One of your father's friends. He's a Jusenkyo victim too, sadly. Spring of drowned black piglet, as you can see. The bandana is a dead giveaway." Akane explained, carefully leaving out the part about her not being able to tell for years, that her pet piglet was actually Ryouga.
"Wait.. Dad's told me about Ryouga... He had a crush on you, didn't he, Mom?" Akama asked.
"Yeah, he did, but we'll talk about that later. Ranma, go run some hot water for him, and get some of your father's clothes for him to wear." Akane said. "And don't let him run off, he could get lost in a cardboard box!" She shouted, as Ranma walked off, down the hall.
Ranma had taken the little black piglet by the bandana as his mother instructed, and he carefully took it to the bathroom. As a convenience for his own curse, Ranma always had a thermos of hot water under the sink, so he set the piglet in the bathtub, and poured the hot water on it. Sure enough, in a few seconds, an adult man was sitting there, stark naked. "Ugh.. Glad i'm not naked when I change," Ranma said. He dashed into his father's room and grabbed a pair of black workout pants, some underwear, a t-shirt, and a towel. As he came back, he saw Ryouga looking himself over in a mirror.
"Ahahaa... I'm a man again! aha.. ahahha.." Ryouga was laughing neurotically, like something had snapped in his brain. Ranma laid the clothes out on the sink, before introducing himself.
"Hi, um.. Ryouga." Ranma said.
Ryouga looked over, and replied flatly. "Oh, Hi Ranma. Boy, you sure have aged well, old man."
"Aged well? Huh? I'm Ranma *junior*. My dad's name is Ranma as well.." Ranma said.
"Ranma had children... Wow. Well, you could have fooled me, boy. You look just like your father. I actually made it back here.. And i'm a man again.." Ryouga said, before falling into neurotic laughter again.
"Just how long has it been since you got changed last?" Ranma asked, as Ryouga dressed.
"I lost track..." Ryouga answered. "I'm just glad I can say something other than 'bwee' for once."
"Heh.. Well, My mom and sister are waiting for us back in the kitchen, if you're done getting dressed, let's go." Ranma said.
"Sister? Oh, that other girl, i suppose.." Ryouga mumbled, as he was led back to the kitchen. A long discussion followed, when they were all re-united, about how Ryouga had been wandering around the world much as he usually did. He had found a cure of sorts for his directional 'curse', but it only affected his human form. One stray splash of water, and he was stuck as a pig again. He didn't exactly know how long it had been, but he did know that he was overjoyed to be back among friends... Could he still call them friends? They'd definitely had their problems in the past, the last time they'd seen each other was several years ago. Ryouga purposefully got lost about a week after he'd told Akane about his curse.
"I can't believe you kept that from me!" Akane screamed, slapping the wet male face infront of her, "I let you sleep in my bed.. Watch me change!"
Ryouga hung his head in shame. There was no excuse for his actions, but the least he could do was try to restore some of his honor. "Akane... I'm sorry." Ryouga said.
"Oh, this is way past a simple apology. Why don't you do like you always do and just GET LOST!" Akane screamed, running off to seek comfort in the first person she found. Come to think of it, that was one of the major turning points in the relationship between Akane and Ranma. He had found her first, and explained how he'd knocked Ryouga in the spring. Akane seemed to understand that it was only the right thing to do, when you were the cause of a problem, to not worsen it. Akane also began to realize the little hints that Ranma had continually dropped, despite his agreement. "Oh, Ranma..." Akane sighed, "Why was i so blind?"
"You had a cute little pet pig. Girls are suckers for cute pets." Ranma smiled that broad, handsome smile of his, and it only got wider as the blush swept over Akane's face. This wasn't *the* event that had brought them to the realization of their feelings, but Akane was comforted greatly by the fact that even when things looked terrible, Ranma was still there. Comforting her. Holding her. Making her blush.
"Heh... Cute pets, huh?" Akane laughed, trying to hide her blush, only to find herself laying against Ranma's rather muscular chest.
"Yup. I'm just glad you're not a certain figure skater, or else you would have named him 'Pierre', or something like that." Ranma said.
The days that followed that one were increasingly difficult for Ryouga. He kept trying to apologize and kept getting utterly rejected. The final day that he would stay there, he had atleast come to an understanding with Akane. She didn't hate him, that got out of her system after a few days. She didn't, however, feel like she could totally forgive him. Failing to achieve that last objective, Ryouga gathered up his pack. "Goodbye, Akane..." He said, walking depressedly out the door. That was the last time any of them had seen Ryouga.
"Ryouga? Hello? Yo! P-chan!" A voice said.
That voice belonged to a certain person, a very familiar person, Ryouga thought. He blinked a few times, snapping from his trip into his memory. "Akane?" Ryouga said.
"Finally got you back, huh?" Akane said, smiling faintly.
"Yeah.. I was just... Thinking." Ryouga said, smiling lightly as well. It had been so long since he had seen Akane, much less her smile, and she was actually being nice to him.
"That really was an interesting story... About you wandering and all... I guess i should be glad that i just turn into a girl, huh?" Ranma said. He pondered the consequences of always getting lost, and always being chased after for food, deciding that he didn't think being female was nearly as hard.
"You should." Ryouga said, smiling a little. It was good to know that Ranma and Akane had gotten together and worked things out. Ryouga always knew that it could very well turn out like this, and now that he looked back, he could see that it was a good thing. He only had one more issue to solve. "Could you two let me talk to your mother in private?" Ryouga asked.
Ranma and Akama knew it wasn't a question, as much as a statement. They did appreciate the courtesy though, and eventually Ranma would answer. "Yeah, sure." He turned to Akama, and continued, "Hey, sis, want to come help me pick out something to wear tonight?"
"Not really." Akama said, before catching a harsh glare from her mother, and walking off with her brother to his bedroom.
Ryouga cleared his throat, and looked at Akane. He'd been waiting for so long to find the right words to apologize to her again, but nothing seemed to ever fit. Perhaps simplest was best. "Akane... I'm sorry." Ryouga said.
"Ryouga..." Akane pulled out a chair and sat down. "Ryouga, you've apologized enough. I've had a lot of time to think over what you did to me. It was very dishonest of you to take advantage of me like that, but then i think over the nice things you could do when you weren't trying to get close to me. You were always right beside Ranma, ready to save me from anything..."
"I never meant to hurt you... I just didn't know how to tell you." Ryouga said.
"Idiot..." Akane said, starting to tear up a bit.
"I am an idiot. You and Ranma were meant for each other before either of you were born. I had just hoped i could share a little of that, before you two realized it." Ryouga said.
"You could have just told me, Ryouga. You could have just said it... I know i wasn't the most rational person when i was younger, but you could have told me." Akane said.
Right about then, Ranma Sr. walked in soaking wet, "You'd think that all this water would have somewhere else to go than *on me*." She complained. Continuing to walk into the kitchen, Ranma saw a person that he was almost sure he'd never have seen again. "Ryouga? Wow..." Ranma said, taking a towel from her convieniently waterproof backpack. She dried herself off, then took a seat at the table.
"Yeah, Hi... Akane and I were just talking." Ryouga said.
"Yeah, apparently he got lost in his cursed form, and somehow ended up back here." Akane said.
"Well, Ryouga, if Akane agrees, I'd love to have you stay here for a few days. It's been a long time since i've seen ya." Ranma said, smiling. "Heh.. I've got a lot of things to tell you too."
Akane sighed. She still was upset at what had happened, but the past did have to be left in the past sometime. Ranma seemed so happy to see an old friend, too, how could Akane turn her husband down? "I suppose... It's ok if he stays." Akane said.
"Great!" Ranma said, patting her old friend on the back. "Man, i've got some stories for you, Ryouga. Hey, you want to go have a little match?"
"I was waiting for you to ask." Ryouga said, his fanged grin appearing for the first time in a long time.
"Men..." Akane said, laughing. "Oh, don't mind me, i'll just take care of the children. Maybe cook dinner." A large grin spread across Akane's face as she said 'cook dinner'.
"We'll only be out there for an hour or so, Akane. Don't worry about cooking anything." Ranma smiled and kissed Akane's cheek gently, before walking out to the dojo with Ryouga.
