Kore wa Koi Janai (This is Not Love)

Disclaimers: I do not and will not ever own Ranma ½ in anything other than book form. All characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi, not myself.

Warnings: Uhm. Shounen ai, and slightly twisted at that. There may be some language, and almost definitely some lewdness. Somewhat depressing theme throughout, I think... Yeah.

Notes: I guess this is where it starts to get weird. ;;; I dunno. depends on what you think of weird. It is definitely weird in my head. Maybe not so much when I write it. Read on. :3

Stay With Me

Looking at the girl sprawled on his bed, Ryouga decided that he had no idea what had led to this. This girl, who he hadn't even recognized, had stayed over. He took in her flowing hair and sprawled figure, smiling a little. Whether or not he was confused, the girl was cute. If a space hog.

Amazedly, he took stock of himself. Yes. he was definitely happier than he had been for a while. His room itself seemed to glow with her mere presence. Turning away from the sight, he walked out to the kitchen and set some water on to boil. He mechanically took what he needed out of the cupboard - tea, cups, a tray - not even really realizing what he was doing. He was stunned, almost mortified to realize that he was so happy so soon after the one he had 'loved' had just died. He must have been mistaken about how he felt about Akane. . .

He was confused. What he had was irrational happiness; they hadn't even. . . well. . . done anything the previous night. They had both just needed some comfort. Just sleeping with someone warm, even, had been very comforting to Ryouga. He supposed. . . just talking about it - Just having someone . . . be there.

Ryouga had never really gotten any affection. From anyone. Ever. His parents were always gone, as lost as he was. Akane had never seemed to feel anything more for him than friendship, and he was reluctant to even try to get close to anyone but Akane. Of course, he had been too shy to get really close to her either.

The pot whistled; Ryouga was again startled out of his thoughts. He stood and retrieved the pot from the burner, setting it on the tray along with the tea, cups, and various other tea-making implements he had gathered. With that, he carried his collection toward the room. His room. Her room.

Well, whatever the reason for his happiness, he decided to accept it. When he passed the through doorway, he saw the girl sitting up and rubbing her eyes and smiled.

She started at his entrance, dropping her hands from her face and looking up. She seemed - on guard, almost, but only for a moment. Then she smiled, hesitantly, and glanced at what he was carrying.

"Ah," Ryouga began, embarrassedly. "I hope that you like tea. This stuff, I brought home from China."

Her smile broadened, and she nodded. "Of course I like tea! How could I not?" She got up on her knees, looking at the packets. "Ooh! I love that stuff!"

Ryouga smiled. Having a person around in and of itself was a novelty, but having someone as energetic and cute hanging around him was practically addictive. But - "Huh? Where have you had this before? They only have it in a small town in China. . ."

Looking startled momentarily, the girl was quick to recover. "Oh yeah! That is, when I was over with Akane, her. . . fiancée. . ." the girl paused momentarily, looking saddened, but plowed on momentarily. "Her fiancée brought some back from China with his father. We had it a couple times." She smiled broadly yet again.

But Ryouga had not missed the pause. It wasn't when she had been talking about Akane, but about Ranma. He was filled with sullen anger; what the hell was with Ranma? He always took what was rightfully Ryouga's, always ruined things for him, and now he had successfully stolen the love of the only two girls he had cared for. Both before he had even had the chance to get really interested. He didn't even know this girl's name yet, oddly enough. And the worst part was that he always seemed to do it unintentionally. After all, he hadn't even known this girl before yesterday, and Ranma had already stolen her from him.

He tried to wipe the angry expression off of his face and looked over at the girl. She was staring at him, a little sadly, and seemed to search for words momentarily. "That's not it," she said quietly. Ryouga mentally slapped himself, realizing that he had been talking out loud. The girl sat in silence now. They both stared at each other, Ryouga with traces of anger and resentment, though not toward her, and the girl with contemplation and something that seemed almost to approach fear.

"What is it, then?" Ryouga said, finally breaking the silence. The girl, startled, shook her head and smiled weakly.

"Never mind. . . it's no big deal." She reached over and grabbed a cup of tea, sipping on it thoughtfully, seeming to concentrate on it. Yet again, the room seemed to be engulfed in an uncomfortable silence.

"Well," the girl began, and Ryouga was the startled one this time. "I suppose I should tell you, huh. Especially since you practically already confessed your love to me. I owe you this." She stood abruptly and decisively, walking in front of Ryouga, and staring up into his face intensely. "I don't love Ranma," she said. She put her hands on his shoulders and leaned against him, kissing him softly.

Ryouga was stunned, staring at the beautiful nameless girl, still staring into her eyes. . . so oddly familiar. He put one hand on the back of her head gently, trying to decipher her sadness. She did it for him, soon enough.

The girl looked as though she was going to cry as she lifted the teacup over her head and spilled its contents.

"I love you," she -he -Ranma? -whispered hoarsely, releasing Ryouga's shoulders and walking out of the room.