A.N.: Hello faithful readers!! I'm really sorry I didn't write a note for my first chapter! I think I was caught up in the moment of posting my very first fan fic! I also forgot the disclaimer...OOPS!! It's so exciting! Well, I'm really excited!! I've already written like ten chapters, and I was really eager to post! Sorry about the flashback-it was really long and I didn't make paragraphs-yes I hate that, so I'm sorry. I hope you like the story so far! I plan on making it way better and I gave it the rating because of future "happenings." Enjoy! Please- I looked for typos, but I am a little blind. If there's anything wrong, tell me! Happy reading!!
Disclaimer: Sorry!! I totally forgot about the disclaimer!! OMG!! I hope I'm not sued! Well I'm sorry to say—they aren't mine!! But they are so cool I put them in a little story! Yep—all the cool characters belong to Rumiko....
Chapter 2: Ryoga
It was still in the early afternoon when Ranma and Akane walked into the house together. Their giggling at something Ranma said caught the attention of Nabiki and Kasumi, who were baking treats in the kitchen.
"What has you two in such a good mood may I ask?" Nabiki said with an interrogating look. Akane and Ranma snapped out of "lovey-dovey" mode and quickly said "Nothing-nothing at all."
"And what's in the bags?" Kasumi asked leaning over the counter and looking at the couple quizzically. "Nothing! Stop butting into my business!" Akane snapped at the two. "Oh and does your business involve what Ranma's holding also?" Nabiki added. "Maybe I made Ranma carry the heavy bag huh? He's got muscles to spare! So what if I put him to work!" She said, now fuming.
"So you two did meet up in town huh? Akane its wrong of you to take advantage of Ranma like that! You should know-" "Maybe I offered to help!" Ranma said, finally including himself in the argument. "Oh, I see." Nabiki said, realization dawning on her face. "So you two are-" "No we're not! Don't go assuming things when you don't know any details!" Akane burst out. "Well then spill!" Nabiki yelled, anger and jealousy now becoming more apparent. "I'm sorry, but we have homework to do. We'll be upstairs. Bye-bye now!" Ranma said, saving Akane from any more verbal abuse from her sisters. He took hold of her shoulders, making Nabiki raise an eyebrow, and steered her up the stairs. Once they were all the way up and out of view of the other Tendo girls, he put his arm around his fiancée's shoulder.
"Calm down. It's ok. We're not gunna say anything until tomorrow night."
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for backing me up down there. My sisters can be very pushy when they want to know something." "Yeah, but now they probably won't give us any treats!" He said, pouting. "Oh, so you care about treats more than you care about me? Ha ha, well we'll have to do something about that!" Ranma placed a kiss on Akane's mouth and said, "I think I like you more than treats-you're sweeter, and tastier, and better, and so delicious!" he made a funny face and Akane giggled and blushed. Ranma loved making her blush. It just lit up her face, and made her even more beautiful than she already was. He kissed her forehead, and they went to do their homework in Akane's room. Ranma and Akane sat across from each other at the table. They both started doing their homework, when Akane's door opened. Akane and Ranma both looked up to see who was there, no one was standing in the doorway. They jumped in shock when they heard a loud "SKWEEEE!!"
"P-Chan?" Ranma and Akane said at the same time. P-Chan saw Ranma and ran from the door, leapt up, and smashing down on top of Ranma's head, and jumped into Akane's lap. "Oww! You stupid pig-that hurt!" "Oh Ranma-he's just a pig! He doesn't know any better, he's sorry. P-Chan, why don't you apologize. Ranma didn't do anything to deserve that." She held out P-Chan to Ranma and Ranma tapped it on the head, rather roughly, with a sly smile, eyeing the pig suspiciously. "Akane, why don't you tell Ry-um-P-Chan to stick around until Saturday for the party?" The small pig jumped at this.
"Yeah!" Akane said bringing him back into her arms. "P-Chan, I would love for you to come to our party on Saturday night! No one knows about it yet though. We're going to tell them all tomorrow. I can't even tell you because it's a surprise! I'm so excited!" Akane said smiling. "Yeah P-Chan, you hear that? Akane wants you to come to her party Saturday night, so don't get lost! This means a lot to her, don't you let her down." Ranma said, seriously. "Hey P-Chan, why don't you go downstairs, my sisters are baking some treats, you can pig out." Akane said putting P-Chan down on the table.
He looked sad that he was leaving Akane, but with Ranma right there, he didn't want to try anything to upset him. So he was content to receive an invite to Akane's surprise party, and left to go bother Nabiki and Kasumi for some Treats. He had gotten lost on a midnight stroll the night before Akane started having the dreams, and just found his way back home, feeling exhausted, and wanted to see Akane's beautiful face before going to find some food.
"Ok, so can you help me with these problems, Ranma? I really have no clue what I'm doing." Akane said, looking back at her work. Ranma obliged and got up. He walked up and sat behind her so she was sitting in between his legs. He pressed his chest against her back, giving her the implication that he wanted her to lean on him. She did, as he wrapped his left arm around her waist, and said "There! Now I'm comfortable." He kissed her temple, which was the closest part of her to his lips, and started explaining the math. Ranma had always been smart, and he loved Akane's reliance on him at the moment. They stayed this way, doing their homework for a while until Kasumi called up the stairs for them to come down for dinner.
"Have we really been here that long?" Ranma asked stretching and getting up, so Akane could also. "I guess so." She said, also stretching. "I wonder if P-Chan is still here." "Well we asked him not to get lost so he could come on Saturday." "Yeah I hope he comes. He's such a good pet." "Hm...yeah I wonder if we have any guests for dinner." Ranma said as they made their way down stairs. "Oh, you guys, look who paid a visit! Its Ryoga!" Kasumi said. Ranma And a shocked Akane greeted him. "Ryoga how are you? It's been a while!" Akane said, hugging Ryoga. "Yeah, how long has it been Ryoga? Like two hours?" Ranma mumbled, putting on a fake smile. Their hands started turning red from the other trying to crush it. "It's really nice to see you too, Ranma!" Ryoga said putting on another fake smile so Akane could see him and Ranma were getting along. Ryoga never wanted to make Akane unhappy, so even around his nemesis, he always wore a smile, whether fake or real. Everyone sat in silence eating dinner until Nabiki said, "So Akane, What did you and Ranma buy while you two were in town, together, today?" This was Akane's punishment for not telling her earlier. Since Nabiki didn't get what she wanted when she wanted it, she tried to get it now, in front of everyone.
"Nabiki, I thought I told you it was none of your business!" Akane said, her tone getting a little sharper. "I mean, you said you made Ranma carry the heavy package, so what was so heavy Akane?" she pressed again. "Akane, you and Ranma were in town together? I knew today was a happy day! Our schools will soon be unit-" "Dad! Stop crying! You look like a fool in front of our guest!" Akane interrupted. Ranma noticed that pretty soon, Akane was going to have to be rescued from this interrogation before anything slipped.
"Alright I'll tell you what it was!" Ranma cut in. "I mean I was walking home after eating my lunch, by myself, and she snuck up on me and dumped that package in my hands! It was just some more girlie clothes to make her look less-uncute!" Everyone was surprised that Ranma cut in, but Nabiki still wasn't satisfied. She was about to add more when Ryoga took over.
"My god Ranma! How much of a child can you be?! When will you ever stop calling her "uncute" and realize how beautiful she is!" Everyone was dumbfounded at this except for Ranma who jumped up and said, "Do you wanna take this outside?" Ryoga jumped up as well and said "Sure, why not! Let's go!" "Wait! Now who's acting childish?! You two should be ashamed! I don't want any fighting from either of you, or else you'll have to pay the consequences!" Akane said in a stern tone.
Ryoga realized he did what he was trying so hard no to do. He made Akane upset. He apologized, and sat down. Ranma did the same, and continued to eat. He didn't intend on really fighting Ryoga, but thought threatening to fight would go nice with the argument. Both Ranma and Akane were happy after this, because Nabiki lost her nerve and didn't ask any more questions.
When dinner was being cleaned up, Ryoga said his good-byes and left through the back door. Akane was worried that she didn't invite him to the party. "Ranma, the party. Can you catch Ryoga and tell him?" She whispered. Ranma smiled and said "Don't worry about it Akane-he'll be there. Why don't you work some more on the homework and I'll be up shortly? I just want to get a breath of fresh air." Akane nodded at this and went upstairs. Ranma stepped out onto the back porch and shut the door behind him. He walked out and sat on the edge of the fountain.
"So what's this party about?" Ryoga asked, hopping down from the roof.
"Why don't you just go, and stop asking stupid questions." Ranma said. "I want to go but I might get lost. There's a lot of time between now and Saturday to get lost!" Ryoga said a bit annoyed. "Its Akane's party? Like a birthday party?" he asked, still trying to find out what it was about. "Just shut up about the party ok? No one else knows about it. You're the only one who knows so far." "Then how the hell do you know if its her party?!" Ryoga said. "Just drop it Ryoga! God! If you're worried about getting lost, then just listen to what the woman says and stay put! And no more of that crap where you sleep in her room, or else I'll take you out myself and lock you in a cage." "Fine, I'll stay, but –wait. Woman? Woman! Since when do you-OH MY GOD! RANMA YOU SICK BASTARD!! I'LL KILL YOU!!" Ryoga lunged at Ranma, but Ranma moved and Ryoga fell into the fountain. "SKWEEEEE!!!!" "Ryoga, stop acting like such an ass! The truth is probably not as bad as you think it is!" Ranma said picking Ryoga up out of the fountain. Ryoga splashed some water on Ranma, causing him to become Ranma-Chan. "Listen, we're together."
Ryoga tried to scratch and bite, but couldn't so he gave up and started wallowing in self-pity. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this. I know you had feelings for her and I'm sorry about that. You were right. The party is our party. Our engagement party. She wanted you there as her friend, Ryoga. You are the first person who knows, so you can't tell anyone. We're going to tell everyone tomorrow night at dinner. Lets get you in some hot water." Ranma stuck her hand in the fountain's cold water and fished out Ryoga's clothes. Ranma-Chan started walking inside, holding P-chan in one arm and Ryoga's clothing in the other. "Man I can't wait until we break the curse!" Ran-Chan said, and got an oink of agreement from the little black pig in her hand.
Ran-Chan turned the shower on, stepped under the water and put Ryoga down next to her. When the water finally got hot, Ranma and Ryoga turned back to their natural forms. They both stepped out and grabbed towels to dry off.
Ryoga and Ranma went to Ranma's room for dry clothes. While both were dressing, Ryoga said "Snice when, Ranma...?" Ranma looked up and saw the hurt in Ryoga's eyes. "Since when... what?" "Since when have you been in love with Akane?" Ryoga said with the pain in his eyes becoming more apparent. "Since a few months ago. I realized that I had feelings for her, feelings in my heart. I found out that those feelings meant I loved her. I worried about her, and it was painful to say those mean things to her. I realized that I wanted to be the one she relied on, the one she loved in return." Ranma said very seriously. "And since when has she loved you?" Ryoga asked, his pain making it hard to speak. "Since about the same time-a couple of months ago." Ranma said. "Then why were you two fighting all the time-leading me to believe that you hated each other?" "Because we were scared alright? We were sacred of letting our feelings out, scared that the other didn't feel the same way!" "So what changed Ranma? What happened to make you-dammit!" Ryoga couldn't even finish his question. This had been painful for him to begin with. He hated the idea of Akane with Ranma. He put his head in his hands, attempting to make the world stop spinning.
"Well, it started the night after you got lost. Akane started having really weird dreams that kept her awake for most of the night. It got so bad, yesterday she almost got run over by a truck! I was so scared, so I confronted her about it when she woke up at one again. She really didn't want to say anything because she was afraid, and I saw the look in her eyes, and I couldn't hold back my feelings anymore. Everything just got sort of blurted out and we were swept away in tornado of feelings-good feelings-happy feelings-feelings like we'd never have to worry about anything again." Ranma's eyes were now a little glossy and Ryoga's eyes were filled with tears. "Congratulations, Ranma, you win. You won her heart, and everything. Don't worry, I'll come to your party, but I better clear out for a few days and think about everything. Thanks for respecting me enough to tell me first." He said offering his hand to Ranma to shake. Ranma shook it and said "You know, you're a good friend to Akane, whether you're P-Chan or not. And, even though we're enemies, I've considered you a friend, when we're not fighting. Thank you for looking out for her while I couldn't. Ryoga, Will you be my best man?" Ryoga was shocked. "You're kidding" seemed to be the appropriate answer, but "Yeah, ok." was the only thing he could say. "You know, maybe I'll stick around and give you some support with the party arrangements. And who knows? You may need more help covering up this little 'unity' before tomorrow night." "Thanks man." Ranma said with a smile.
"Perhaps, I should give her my congratulations. Is she still doing homework?" "Yeah I think so. Lets go." Ryoga nodded and followed Ranma to Akane's room. Ranma gave a small knock, but there was no answer, so he opened the door a little. "Ha, Akane..." Ranma walked in and Ryoga peeked his head in. Akane had fallen asleep at the table. She looked so peaceful. Ranma went over to her and picked her up. He carried her over to her bed, and placed her under the covers. Making sure she was comfortable, Ranma placed a light kiss on her forehead and whispered something sweet into her ear. He straightened back up and walked back over to where Ryoga was leaning in the doorframe. "Hey, you wouldn't mind watching over her while she sleeps would you? I mean, I don't want to be found missing from my bed before anyone else knows about us. I trust you, and I guess it'll be sort of your last night protecting her from harm." He said. "You know Ranma, all this time when I would watch over her, I was trying to protect her from you, but I guess I failed didn't I?" Ryoga said. "But, I guess it was inevitable, right?" "Yeah, I guess it was inevitable. One way or another..." "Yeah, she felt the same for you."
A moment later, P-Chan reentered Akane's room, and Ranma leaned the bedroom door on, incase Ryoga had to leave for something. Ranma left for his bedroom, and Ryoga hopped up on Akane's fluffy bed. He wondered what Ranma had whispered to Akane after he covered her up. P-Chan shrugged, and placed a little kiss on Akane's cheek. He then curled up on the pillow next to her. Before he fell asleep, he heard Akane whisper a gentle "I love you too, Ranma." And was very happy that, even though it wasn't him, Akane was in love with a man who loved her back with all his heart.
