Not much to really say except that I'm sorry for the really late updates and also that from January to July next year I probably won't be posting as I will be in another country for those months. But here is hoping that in my time away I will have written the next few chapters, so when I come back I will have lots of post to put up. It's only a wish though people so don't hold your breath. I might even be able to update my other 'Naruto' stories, even if I have hit a writers block on one of them.

" " Speaking

' ' thoughts

flashbacks

Our Little Problem

Chapter 5

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"Pour out 2 grams of powder and…SNIFF IT! What do they think we are? Druggies!" Ranma gapped in surprise, as she once again read over the instructions.

"I can't believe that we have to do this." Ranma mumbled to herself, as she measured the right amount and stared down at the white powder disdainfully.

"Oh suck it up Ranma, be a man about it." Ryoga, totally missing what he had just said, bent down to carry out the instructions of his little pile. Ranma watched horrified as the white powder slowly disappeared from the table. A feeling from deep down in her stomach told her to stop him, but her brain wouldn't take the message to her hands.

"There. Your turn." Ryoga turned to see Ranma sneakily tiptoeing to the door.

"Don't think your getting away Ranma. Get back here." Ryoga stretched to grab Ranma's ankle before he could leave. Ranma, thinking quickly turned around, and gave the best excuse he could think of.

"What happens if that… that… stuff hurts the baby?" Ryoga stared up at him for a few minutes, with a few blinks mixed in for good measure.

"Ah… that's… that's not what I meant, I mean… um…" Ranma seemed to be only digging a deeper hole for him to climb in.

"Don't you want to know why you're… pregnant?" Ryoga had Ranma there. He really wanted to know what happened that night, and so he gathered all the manliness he could, while being a pregnant girl, and strode over to the table and proceeded to 'suck it up', as Ryoga said.

"Good. Now all we have to do is go to sleep, and our memories of that night will come to us as a dream"

They both quickly slipped into the futons that they had laid out before and went to sleep.

Going to bed, and going to sleep, are two very different things. Both Ranma and Ryoga realised this, when after an hour of lying in their futons, neither seemed to be tired, let alone dreaming about that night a few months ago. Not being one for little action, the silence was starting to get to Ranma.

"Psst, Ryoga, you awake?" Ranma felt is safest to whisper to Ryoga even though his eyes were open. You never know what kind of sleeping habits the lost boy had, and sleeping with eyes open might have been one.

'Maybe for survival.' Ranma's idea was soon shot down when Ryoga turned his head to face him, with a bored look in his face.

"What kind of question is that? Do I look awake to you?" Ryoga, deciding to take the option of speaking at a normal level, rolled over so his body was facing the only other occupant in the room.

"Well, sorry. Its just that I'm so bored. Hey, I know, do you want to spar? That always makes me feel a bit tired." As Ranma's suggestion went to his head, he attempted to stand up, only to be dragged back down into a heap on Ryoga's lap. The only sign that it hadn't been an accident was that tanned hand that was connect to Ranma's left wrist.

"Don't even think about it Saotome. You will not be doing any strenuous work in your condition." Ranma looked up from where he was making himself comfortable against Ryoga's chest.

"I'm just so bored. Why do you care anyway?" Ranma felt the body underneath him tense up for a bit before returning to it previous slack state. He wasn't quite sure if it was because of the question or the position that they were in. He was almost laying on top of the other boy.

"Why do I need a reason to care? That's a life inside you, it's not something you can take lightly Ranma." Even with Ryoga looking up at the ceiling, Ranma still got the feeling he was being told off.

"Alright fine, I'll take it more seriously from now on ok? It's just that I'm so bored, what else can I do?" Ranma snuggled deeper into the soft fabric covering the defined abs underneath.

"How about reading a book?" The suggestion from Ryoga made Ranma's eyes open wide from their previously semi closed state.

"A book? But I don't have one though." It seemed the Ranma was just full of excuses. Thinking the conversation was over Ranma's eyes started to droop close once again.

"I have on in my pack. Go and get it, its down near the bottom. Ranma?" The soft tone of Ryoga's voice, added with the rumbling of his chest as he talked, finally got Ranma to sleep.

Not wanting to wake the body laying over him, why he let Ranma stay there was still a mystery to him, Ryoga shuffled around for a bit, until he found a more comfortable position to sleep in.

With his arms wrapped around the younger boy in a girls body, Ryoga too, was swept into the land on nod.

flashback/dream

All the way back from the bar Ranma was having problems remembering where she was meant to be going. After a few bites from the black pigs in her arms, she would remember which way to go. This pattern went on until they finally reached the dojo.

Managing to get his keys out after a few tries, it took even longer for Ranma to get the keys in the door and to get it open. Surprisingly, between the two of them, no one woke up to the constant giggling and 'breeing' of a drunken girl and her pig.

Sliding the dojo door open, Ranma gently put P-Chan onto the floor, and slowly slid him inside, telling him that she would be back with hot water in a minute.

Slowly easing the door open, so as not to make a sound, Ranma quietly made her way towards the kitchen, being careful to step over any objects that might have been lying on the floor.

Once she got to her destination, she set about putting the water on the stove to boil. Trying her best to move around the kitchen, Ranma was finding it hard due to everything moving, but eventually she had the hot water and made her way back to the dojo, quickly grabbing the rice cooker that had some left over rice in it.

Quietly she opened the door peeking her head around to try and find the black piglet in the darkness of the dojo.

"Oi, Ryoga I've got the water and I managed to pick up some rice for us to eat." Ranma never thought that what she said would have a black blur that could only be P-Chan launch itself at her. Bringing both her arms up that were each holding the rice cooker and the kettle to block the piglet, the blur hit the kettle and landed with a grunt on the floor only to be soon covered in mildly hot water and a kettle on a young mans head.

The rice cooker not fairing much better landed upright on the ground with most of the rice left inside the cooker. Ryoga wasted no time in grabbing some rice and stuffing it into his mouth, attempting to help keep the alcohol down.

Ranma watched for a few minutes quietly giggling to herself as she watched some lone rice gains stick to Ryoga's face.

"No wonder you're a piglet Ryoga, look at the way you eat. What a mess." Ranma bent down to get a better look at the damage only to look up into big brown eyes looking at him confusedly.

'Lick him, you know you want to.' The small voice in the back of Ranma's head seemed to have the right idea to him. Bending down the little extra space Ranma stuck her tongue out to lick up the rice grains on Ryoga's right cheek. Pulling back, Ranma giggled again at the look she received from the naked boy who seemed to be in shock from the touch.

"You've got some on this cheek too." Ranma bent down to once again lick Ryoga only this time on the left cheek and closer to the stunned boy's lips. Getting no reaction from the lost boy Ranma decided to try her luck. Shifting her head to the side, she lightly licked over the other boys slack lips before pressing her own onto his. This action alone got a reaction out of Ryoga, but not the one that Ranma was expecting.

Startled by the hands that wrapped themselves around her waist and the tongue that was suddenly invading her mouth had her moaning and melting into the touch. Tangling her hands into the soft locks above her head, she used the hair as a lever to drag the other body down so he was lying on her.

At one point in their make out session Ranma lost the little clothing she had on and was in the process of trying to get Ryoga to take it to the next level, to which he finally agreed.

(Sorry no lemon, I just couldn't do it. I'm sorry. bows)

Just as both teens climaxed the first rays on sun shined through the curtain in the room that the two sleeping bodies in the one futon resided in, slowly waking them from their drug induced dream.

end flashback/dream

Ranma was the first to wake up and she looked at the ceiling for a few minutes just waiting for it all to sink in. For some reason it didn't seem to bother her what she had seen in her dream. At least she knew who the father was, and the fact that it was someone she liked was also a bonus. The secret dread that it might have been a random stranger or even worse, Kuno's was gone and a nice floaty feeling was left in it's place.

"So it's mine eh?" the soft husky voice laced with sleep and the strong arms the wound their way around her waist to settle just on her stomach, brought Ranma out of her contemplating to the present and the issues that she had to deal with.

"So, what should I do?" Ranma pulled herself out of Ryoga's arms and prepared herself for the response.

"What's with the 'I', it should be 'we'. What are WE going to do? I won't let you go through this alone Ranma, this might have been an accident but I'm going to take responsibility for it." Ryoga missed the flinch that came from Ranma when he said the word 'accident'. Ranma knew it was Ryoga's sense of honour that had him staying by her side and it brought tears to her eyes. Ryoga caught the light sniffles coming from the small red head and rushed over to see what was wrong.

"Ranma, Ranma what's wrong? What's happened?" the lost boys efforts in trying to get the crying girl to open up had the opposite effect then what he wanted. Ranma beat Ryoga's helpful hands away and ran out the door and headed off to the bathroom to cry in peace, leaving a worried and confused boy in her wake.

Akane was just putting her most resent batch of cookies for the cooking contest in a container when she heard the bathroom door slam, soon to be followed by a timid knock and her oldest sisters voice come floating down the stairs asking if everything was alright. Her curiosity getting the better of her she made her way up the stairs to see what was going on. As she passed by Ranma's room, she glanced in to see a worried Ryoga pacing the room, steering clear of any doors. Quietly knocking on the open door, so as not to frighten the frazzled looking young man, Akane slowly stepped inside the room to see if she could help Ryoga.

"Hey Ryoga what's wrong, was that Ranma that ran into the bathroom?" Over the past few weeks Akane had learnt to keep her short temper in check when it came to the young woman who was currently in the bathroom. Never knowing when the pregnant teen might snap, had been wonderful for helping the youngest Tendo daughter to mature a little. She learnt to no longer demand people to tell her things and also, how to approach certain 'subjects' with care. Although occasionally she would revert back to her old ways. But she was getting better.

Hearing the soft knock and the clearly worried voice of his former crush had Ryoga feeling more at ease with the new knowledge he had gained over the night. Contemplating wether or not to tell Akane this knowledge gave his mind a break from wondering why Ranma had just run away from him. He looked at her for a moment as she stood just inside the doorway, he finally decided that she would have to know sooner of later, as would everyone else, and maybe if the news received a good reaction form Akane, she might be able to give support when it came to telling the others.

"Yeah, that was Ranma; I did or said something to upset her. Don't really know what though. Last night…We ah…found out who the father is." The last sentence had Ryoga turning away from Akane and looking out the window.

"Don't worry about Ranma Ryoga, he's been like that for a few weeks now, you know, getting all emotional for whatever reason. He'll cry at the drop of a hat now, it's almost funny to watch." A slow, almost non-existent nod was her reply followed by a few seconds of silence. Akane waited for Ryoga to tell her who the father was, but it looked like she needed to do some prodding.

"So…who is it? The father I mean." Akane noticed the stiffness the overcame Ryoga's body as she mentioned the word 'father' and her mind came to a very quick reason as to why that happened, but still she wasn't quite sure.

Ryoga turned back about to give Akane an almost guilty look. This was all that was needed to confirm her earlier thoughts. Even if she thought she might have known who it was the words still helped to make it hit home.

"Um…I'm the father." The words had her reeling, trying to find something positive to say. The only thing that seemed to come to find was 'fuck' and 'what the hell were you thinking'. Again the room was filled with a tense silence. Eventually it was broken.

"Right…Well…Congratulations I guess. So, how are you guys gonna…um…you know…" The rest of the sentence was left hanging silently in the air, but Ryoga didn't need to hear it to know what Akane was trying to say. Was he going to stick around to help with the situation that he created? Ryoga felt a bit disappointed that Akane would even try to ask that question, he thought that she of all people would know how highly he thought of family and fixing his mistakes. Not that he thought that getting Ranma pregnant was a mistake and that the baby was either but,…he knew he had to stop thinking along those lines or else he thoughts would end up in a circle. A small shuffle from Akane that he saw out of the corner of his eyes brought him out of his confusing thoughts.

"Were in this together. I think." He had started off with the sound of conviction in his voice, but that soon turned to uncertainty, which Akane was quick to pick up on.

"Why do you say that?" Walking closer to the man she gave a slight tug on one of his arms, getting him to sit down with her on the floor. This kind gesture helped, she hoped, to show Ryoga that she was willing to listen and help in any way she could. She hated to see her friend and now 'former' fiancée in trouble.

"Well, we were just; I mean I was just talking about how I was going to take responsibility for…"

"You didn't happen to say any word that would make it sound like it was a hassle to you or anything like that did you?" Akane's interruption had the lost boy thinking back to what exactly he had said to the hormonal teen. Realisation came over his face and he looked back to Akane with a sheepish look on his face.

"I might have a word like 'accident' when referring to him getting pregnant. Which I take was probably not the best word to use." Akane's look of shock told Ryoga that he was defiantly right is his assumption on what had Ranma running to the bathroom crying her eyes out.

"Yeah, that would be it, but don't worry this is an easy problem to fix, trust this happened once while you were away, Kuno had said… never mind. Now, all you have to do is go to the bathroom and tell Ranma that how even though you didn't plan, and you have to use the word plan here, on having a family with anyone at this age, you will still put in 100 to make sure that everything goes fine for the pregnancy and that you are behind her all the way. In your own words. Just makes sure to put the word 'plan' in, I can't stress that enough."

The whole time Akane had been talking, Ryoga had been making himself a mental checklist in his head to the things he should say to Ranma, underlining the word 'Plan'. Standing up with new determination and a quick 'thank you' over his shoulder to Akane who was still sitting down Ryoga stalked his way over to the door, and walked out.

Only to come back when he realised he had walked into the cupboard.

"Can you take me…" Akane's smile was all Ryoga needed, to know that Akane would take him to the bathroom. Standing up and dusting off her backside, Akane linked arms with Ryoga and started off down the hall, feeling generally happy that she had helped someone.

Once they got to the right door they could see Kasumi still trying to get Ranma to unlock the door. Who knew that Kasumi was ever that stubborn, Ranma had been in there for half an hour now, and still Kasumi was specking to her in a calm and soothing voice.

"If you just open the door Ranma, I'm sure I'll be able to help. It really can't be that bad can it?" It seemed that even the soothing voice of the lovely Kasumi couldn't get Ranma to stop feeling depressed, and the slight crease in her normally relaxed face noted that even she was feeling a bit uncertain about how to cheer the boy up.

A short 'Go away' was her reply.

"Let me try Kasumi." Kasumi looked up into the big, brown eyes of Ryoga, who had been the one just whispering to her. She gave a soft nod and then walked back down the hall to the stairs that led to the kitchen. She knew that when Ranma did come out he would be hungry, so she decided to help by making a big meal.

Both teens watched as Kasumi's back disappeared as she softly talked to herself about what she was going to cook.

Ryoga looked back again at Akane for a last reassurance, which he received in raised eyebrows and hand movements, telling him to hurry up. He took a deep breath before knocking softly on the door and clearing his throat.

"Ranma, it's me Ryoga. Can you open the door I want…no, need to talk to you." A rattle behind the door was his answer, which at last proved that Ranma was listening to him.

"You can say it from out there." Ryoga almost yipped for joy at the fact the Ranma was now talking.

"But it's really something that needs to be sad face to face, so can you just open the door." His only reply was silence.

"Please." It seemed that word had the desired effect, because soon there was the definite 'click' sound of a lock being unbolted. The door slid open a tad and was left that way. Taking the hint that Ryoga had to walk through the door, Akane steered him towards it, and pushed him through, having the door close just as quickly as it opened.

Akane, feeling satisfied with her medalling, wandered off down to the backyard to get some training in.

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Ok, well that's the end of that chapter. It's just under a full 7 pages too. Yay for me. Although that is short compared to how long you had to wait for this chapter.

I would like to express how sorry I am if Kasumi seems a bit OOC. It has been a while since I last saw an episode of Ranma 1/2. it was, unfortunately, deleted from my computer, and the person I got it from, is no longer available to talk to.

Cry for me people, I have no Ranma episodes to watch, none at all.

I would also like to point out the Akane might seem a bit OOC too, same reason as above, plus I think having a pregnant, hormonal Ranma would help to make Akane rethink a few of the ways she deals with people. It would be like treading on eggshells for her.

Remember to blah blah blah. Look if you don't want to leave a review, fine I'm not gonna have a fit over it, or beg like some cheap school girl. If you want to leave one fine, if not, that's cool too. Reviews do make me happy but why should I place the responsibility of how I'm going to feel on the readers. What would you guys care about my insecurities?

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