Actions & Reactions
By Jai-kun

"Ryouga... is P-chan…"

Akane stared dumbly at Ranma, large wide eyes blinking before melting into a look of annoyed skepticism. "Oh, come on, Ranma, stop making up stories! There's no way Ryouga could be P-chan!"

"Isn't there?" Ranma's eyes refused to meet hers. He was trying, she could tell he was trying, but something kept him from it. Finally, gritting his teeth so hard the muscles in his jaws threatened to explode, he turned his gaze to hers. "I mean... with all ya seen, with al ya know about me and Pop and Shampoo... don'tcha think there IS a way?"

Akane opened her mouth to retort, when it hit her, like a mallet to the head. All the times P-chan had disappeared and Ryouga had suddenly entered the scene. All the times Ryouga had done the same, leaving a little black pig... the ways P-chan only seemed to come by after Ryouga had been found wondering where he was outside of the Tendo dojo. And the time at the three legged race, when Ranma and Ryouga had been over the water... Ranma had changed, and P-chan had appeared…

"Why didn't you tell me..?" Her eyes were beginning to cloud over with tears, her voice shaking softly. She was too stunned and upset to be properly angry.

Ranma put a hand on her shoulder, voice uncommonly soft. "What was I s'posed to say, Akane? 'Hey, yer pet pig is really my arch-rival fer yer affections, but if ya were any smarter you'd already know it-' HEY, DON'T CRY!"

She had put her face in her hands and was sobbing, turned away from him. "You're right, you're right, I'm so stupid! I should have seen it a long time ago!"

Ranma frantically tried to think of how he could get her to stop crying, hands cutting the air as he tried to pacify her broken heart. "Ya ain't stupid, ya just couldn't see the most obvious thing in the world! NO, I mean, I kinda, that is, I didn't, we were hiding it, I mean Ryouga and me, 'cause I promised I wouldn't tell, and all them other times, we c'n be clever when we want, an' 'sides, ya didn't expect ME ta hide it from ya, didja- Whaaaat?!"

Akane was glaring at him, still on her knees, arms crossed. "That's right, you knew! And you were hiding it from me?! Why? Why would you hide it?!"

"Cause it's kinda in a way sorta my fault…"

Never had she had to show so many emotions in such a short period of time. Her eyes widened, her mallet fell from suddenly limp fingers. "Your fault? How is it your fault?"

"Well... ya remember we were supposed to fight, right?"

"Yes, but he didn't show up for three day-"

"Lemme finish, geez! Like I said, when he didn't show up, we took off fer China... an' he followed us."

Akane's brow furrowed, then she gasped as the implications struck her. "Oh, no, you don't mean he-"

"Yup," Ranma nodded grimly. "A girl chasin' a panda knocked him right inta the spring of Drowned Black Piglet, an' he's blamed me ever since…"

Akane's brow furrowed again. "But... why would he blame YOU... it was the girl and the p-"

Just then Genma walked by, looked at them and held up a sign. Good Morning

"Oh my lord, I really AM stupid…"

Ranma chuckled. "Nah, I did the same thing when I first found out."

Akane put her face in her hands and muffled her cry. "Oh my LORD, I REALLY am stupid."

"Nah, like I sai-... HEY!"

Akane giggled and looked up, sticking her tongue out at him. Ranma scowled, but he didn't seem to really be angry. "Does this mean yer not upset no more?"

Akane sighed, sitting down fully on the ground. "I don't know... I REALLY thought he was a pig... I guess I just wanted one thing to be normal in my life…"

"A black pig who don't wanna take baths is normal?"

Akane stuck her tongue out. "More normal than a guy who turns into a girl!"

"That's low!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"... OK, it is, but it's still true... I just can't believe he didn't tell me... or that you didn't tell me sooner…"

"... Man, are YOU gonna feel dumb again."

Akane tilted her head, one eye twitching. "What do you mean?"

Neither of them noticed the small black piglet coming toward them from the gate, dragging a box of dried soba.

"Ryouga's got the total hots for ya, Akane."

"I know."

"I mean, li- you KNOW?!"

Akane nodded, watching his eyes. "I've always known. All the times he tried to ask me out... it was pretty obvious."

Ranma folded his arms, plopping down, legs crossed. "Well, don't THAT just figure."

Akane shrugged. "He's a nice guy, too, Ranma... I mean, he's sweet, in a clumsy, sad kind of way…"

The piglet jerked as if shot. Akane, still not seeing him, continued. "To tell you the truth, he kind of scared me. He was so... eager," she said, sweatdropping, "and with his strength, he would have crushed me like a bug…"

P-chan hung his head and turned to go, the string falling off his body. As he left, Ranma asked, "So why didja go on all them dates with him..?"

"To... to make you jealous."

P-chan sobbed, and the two martial artists jerked their heads to look.

"Aw, man... how long you been there?"

"Ryouga, I-"

P-chan looked up, a look of shock in his eyes, looking from Akane to Ranma and back. Akane put her hand to her mouth, then looked him in the eye. "Ranma told me... H-"

Before she could finish the piglet launched himself at Ranma, tears streaming from his eyes. Ranma swung wildly, knocking him through the bathroom window with a splash.

"Aw, crap, now I done it…"

"What do you mean?"

"Unless yer pop's takin' ta cold baths, I'd say we got trouble in about 3 sec-"

"BAKUSAII TENKETSU!!!!!"

The wall exploded, revealing Ryouga Hibiki. He glowed a pale yellow, dressed only in a pair of brown pants that seemed both too short and too wide for him. "RANMAAAA!!!" Was his only utterance as he charged, fist cocked.

Ranma blocked rather than dodge, bruising his arm but keeping Akane safe. Akane, in the meantime, dropped and swept Ryouga off his feet, where he lay, tears running down his face.

"You told her... I can't believe you to-"

"C'mon, man... what was I s'posed ta do, letcha keep sleepin' with her? I only made that promise 'cause I didn't think you'd take advantage of it."

Ryouga didn't answer, simply lay there as Akane and Ranma looked down. Then it began to rain.

Akane watched, for the first time, as Ryouga shrunk and changed, a split second process that was no less unsettling to watch that Ranma's first transformation had been. She shuddered, and P-ch-... Ryouga, scrambled to his feet, streaking toward the gate and out it before either could reach out for him.

"Poor Ryouga…"

"Poor RYOUGA?!" Ranma cried shrilly. "He just attacked me, he's been sleepin' with ya as a pig fer kami only KNOWS how long, an' you say 'poor RYOUGA?!'"

Akane sighed, looking down. "I know that, Ranma, but... I just can't be mad... he never DID anything."

"How would you know, you sleep like a brick."

WHAM!! "Hmph!"

He had wandered for what had seemed like an eternity, letting the rain soak him, not caring now if h was chased by dogs or run over or found by a local restaurant owner and made into Pork Buns or Pork Fried Rice or anything like that. He just didn't care any more.

"Hey... what are you doing out here in the rain, little guy?" The voice was soft, but familiar, and Ryouga stopped, wincing. "Here, piggy-piggy-piggy!" With a sigh, he started to continue on. "Wait a minute, sugar! Akane's probably worried sick about you, P-chan!"

Footsteps splashed up to him, and gentle hands picked him up, carrying him back to the restaurant. He didn't struggle, just let it happen. Ukyou carried him to the kitchen and started running water in the basin, waiting until it filled her large industrial sized sink. "A little bath will warm you right up, then I'll call Akane."

Ryouga still didn't struggle. She was the last one to know, there was no sense in hiding it any longer. His life was already over. Maybe he'd just stay under and drown.

Ukyou plunged him into the water, which was icy cold. With a jerk, she yanked the wide eyed piglet out of the frigid bath. "What in the-?!"

I'm quite awake now, thanks!

Ukyou carried the poor dripping piglet to the utility closet, mumbling and kicking the water heater. A rusted pipe fell from the back of it, spraying them both with cold water. "GACKTHPTPTPT!!" Ukyou reached up and yanked the cutoff valve closed. "Well, dammit, now I'm cold and soaked too... C'mon, sugar, let's at least get you bundled up."

She took him upstairs and wrapped him in towels. As she did so, Ryouga began to relax. This is nice... almost like when Akane first… with a sigh, he slumped. Ukyou picked up the bundle and scratched his ears, wandering into her bedroom. "Poor little guy... you must be exhausted. I'll call Akane to pick you up-"

BOOM! With a crash, lightning struck the utility pole outside, cutting off the power. Ukyou swore softly, picking up the phone. "Dead too... just great... well, I'm not going out there in this weather..." She lifted Ryouga over her head, smiling up at the little piglet. "Looks like you're going to have to spend the night!" She beamed up, and Ryouga felt his heart expand.

An hour later, Ukyou was in a long nightshirt. She had giggled when P-chan had turned to give her privacy. He hoped Akane remembered that much, that he'd never once willingly looked at her while she was dressing. Ukyou scooped him up, removing the towel. "There, nice and dry. Come on, let's go to be... I'm sleepy."

Suddenly, he didn't want to do it. Not again. But what could he do? As he lay, snuggled in Ukyou's arms, he made a decision. Then he fell asleep.

WEEKS LATER

"So, anyway, Ranchan... I'm GLAD you finally told Akane. She deserved to hear it. I mean, if it were me..." Her eyes looked just the teensiest bit sad, "I would have been waiting for it..."

Ranma smiled softly. "Hey... yer still my friend, right..? I mean... I guess I just don't wanna lose ya 'cause I don't love ya like... like ya wanted me to."

"Don't worry about that, Ranchan... I guess it was pretty silly of me..." She put her hand on his, briefly, and smiled. "So, do you want beef or chicken?"

"What, no pork? I don' get it..."

Ukyou simply blushed and started to make the 'yaki the way he liked it. As Ranma watched her hands, a small oink pulled his attention away. Ukyou, too, looked up. "P-chan!"

The little piglet squealed softly, his eyes closed in a smile. Ranma growled. "Why you.. I won't letcha do that to Ukyou!"

P-chan backed into the wall, eyes wide, as Ranma launched himself to punt the piglet out the window. He was stopped short, however. SPANG

"Ranchan, leave Ryouga-honey alone!"

Ranma lay in a heap, three things vying for the right to come out of his mouth: "OW! That HURT, yanno!" "Ryouga-HONEY?!" and "you mean you KNOW?!"

The last thing made it.

Ukyou giggled. "Of course I know, Ranchan... He told me the day after he started staying here instead of Akane's... he said he didn't want to "mess it up" this time... isn't that right, P-chan?"

P-chan nodded, casting only the slightest sideways glare at Ranma. Ranma looked back, then picked him up. "So... you and him are..."

Ukyou and Ryouga nodded in unison.

"Well who'da known?! Congratulations!"

Akane walked in, smiling, as Ranma put P-chan down. "Congratulations for what?"

Ukyou, Ranma, and a soon to be restored Ryouga sat with her, telling her the good news.