Chapter 3:

Ryoga was still partially submerged when Ranma/Kazuya got up from the bath. She smirked when he flailed and eventually got himself turned around so he could try and preserve her decency. She found it both amusing and somewhat endearing, and it helped reinforce in her mind that he had probably very rarely taken advantage of either Akane or Akari in his porcine state.

She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, smirking to herself at the way he tensed, "Thanks, Ryoga, for being a good man and friend."

Ryoga deflated slightly, "Do you really think of me as a friend?"

Even though he couldn't see her she nodded, "I do."

Ryoga almost turned around with an incredulous look on his face, "How? I mean, my curse is probably the most accurate one out of all of us."

Ranma/Kazuya shook her head, "Nope, mine is, and you said you have been doing everything you can to make things right with Akane and Akari. I will only hold this over you, Ryoga. If you are truly serious about becoming better, than once we get Akane's soul back you are going to tell her everything."

Ryoga sighed, "I know, I should have told her long ago, but…"

Ranma/Kazuya shrugged as she removed her hand from his shoulder, "Fear is a powerful thing, and, Ryoga, this stays between you and me. A lot of what I did while in Nerima was powered by fear. Fear of being thought to be like my Pops. Fear of being seen as a girl when I physically was one. Fear of losing those who had come into my life. Fear of losing my manhood…"

Ryoga sighed and said, "And fear of being seen as weak. For what it is worth, Ranma, I am sorry."

Ranma/Kazuya smirked, "Apology not accepted."

Ryoga stood up and spun around, his surprise, anger, and hurt doing a good job of narrowing his focus to her head, "What do you mean?"

Ranma/Kazuya waved her hand in the air, the smirk still present on her face, "The only apology I will accept is you swearing to be my friend and not my rival or my enemy from now on."

Ryoga blinked as her trademark smirk melted into a genuine smile, then he grinned as well, feeling a burden of guilt wash away in a manner that no bath could ever remove, "I can live with that."

Ranma/Kazuya held out her hand, "Friends?"

Ryoga nodded as he took her hand and shook it, "Friends."

Ranma/Kazuya nodded quickly, and then moved her hands behind her back, "Then call me Kazuya from now on. I actually like the sound of it better Ranma or Ranko after thinking about it for an hour."

Ryoga blushed slightly, wondering if this was even still his former rival, "Alright, Kazuya."

Kazuya's smile turned slightly into a small smirk, "By the way, Ryoga, I think you might need to see a doctor soon."

Ryoga blinked, uncomprehendingly, "Huh?"

Kazuya motioned down with her eyes, "Your 'leg' is swollen."

Ryoga yelped once he understood what she was talking about and quickly dove under the water. Her laughing that reached his ears as he saw her get out of the bath dissuaded any thoughts he had about her not still being the annoyance he had known since middle school. He quickly turned away from her with a frown and a blush on his cheeks. She was so going to pay for that.

Kazuya was still snickering as she used one of the large towels there to dry off. It subsided though when she had to concentrate on drying off her wavy silver hair. There was so much of it and it was a pain. Even before the dragon whisker soup she had always had longish hair and had had to use a comb to help get the water out and keep it from becoming a tangled and knotted mess. She went looking around the bathroom and was only able to find a rather girlishly pink hair-brush. She also found a pink bath-robe and figured she would have to spare Ryoga any potential blood-loss and put it on.

She went back to sit in the seat in front of the mirror and called back to Ryoga, "Ryoga, it is safe for you to come out now, unless you already know that cause you were peaking the whole time."

Ryoga's answering growl reached her ears as she heard the splash of him leaving the bath, "I wasn't peaking, Kazuya. I am not a pervert."

Kazuya rolled her eyes, "I may not be a guy naturally, but for a long time I did still have a guy's brain. So I know how your brain is wired, Ryoga. The fact that you didn't peak speaks more to your honor and self-control than to whether you are a pervert or not. Though, we are fiancé and fiancée in this game, so it is probably all right for you to look."

Ryoga's eyes bulged out of their sockets, "That doesn't have anything to do with real life, though, and that type of thing should only happen after marriage you weirdo."

Kazuya grinned as she watched him hastily tie the towel around himself when he saw that his clothes were gone, "I wish my fiancées and Happosai had taken some lessons in morality from you, Ryoga. I would have avoided so many problems if they had even half of your moralness."

Ryoga raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her, seeing her sitting there in a pink bathrobe brushing her hair with a pink brush was really reinforcing the idea in his mind that she wasn't actually a guy, "How do you mean?"

Kazuya shrugged, "Even though I don't think we are actually out of Nerima yet, it is a miracle that I have gotten to this point with my virginity intact. There were a few times, especially when Kodachi or Shampoo tried some new drug or love potion on me, that I thought I wouldn't be making it to marriage and giving my virginity to my spouse and only my spouse. There is also the fact that if Happosai were moral then probably half the times I have gotten booted into LEO by Akane wouldn't have happened."

Ryoga shook his head, "I know I already said sorry, but again, I'm sorry for contributing to that."

Kazuya waved the hand holding the brush in the air, "It is fine Ryoga."

Ryoga figured this would be a good point to try and get Kazuya back for her earlier stunt, "By the way, why all the girly stuff? You going to turn into a damsel on me?"

Kazuya smirked and put her face closer to his, "So what if I am?" She started laughing when he sputtered disbelievingly and backed away with a blush on his face, "Stop getting all flustered Ryoga. This stuff was all that was here, my art is based on adapting to changing circumstances, and I am a girl. If they were red or black I would like them better, but I am not gonna complain about something I have no control over. Everyone, including me sometimes, did enough of that in Nerima."

Ryoga grumbled under his breath about her getting one over on him when he was trying to get her back, but he did have to concede that she was right.

Kazuya shook her head at him and turned back to her task of getting the water out of her hair. She started humming while brushing it, and Ryoga couldn't help but be mesmerized by her voice and looks. He had known that she could sing since the Christmas party he had attended at the Tendo Dojo, but somehow this setting made it all that more apparent to him. His eyes widened, because he recognized this feeling of his. He was falling for his former rival. His eyes gathered with tears as he plopped himself in the corner of the bathroom, and he didn't notice Kazuya stop humming upon noticing his downcast mood.

She got up and walked over to him, concern shining in her eyes, "Ryoga, what is wrong?"

He looked up at her and said, "I am a pig. That is what is wrong."

Kazuya knelt down in front of him, "No you aren't, now tell me what is wrong."

He looked at her, the tears gathering in his eyes, "I keep falling for pretty girls, that is what is wrong. Why can't I ever be satisfied?"

Kazuya raised an eyebrow, "I don't think it is a matter of satisfaction, Ryoga."

He blinked at her in confusion, "Well what else could it be?"

Kazuya scratched her cheek; she was no good at this stuff, "Well… Do you view the girls you fall for as objects or possessions?"

Ryoga shook his head rapidly at the accusation, "No, how could you even suggest that?"

Kazuya held up her hands in surrender moving so she was perched on her knees in front of him, "I didn't. I was merely wondering what you mean by falling for someone."

Ryoga blushed as he buried his head in his arms, "I think them to be prettier than the rest."

Kazuya smirked, "Well, I thought that about some of the girls in Nerima, though I don't think I ever truly fell for them."

Ryoga looked up at her in confusion, "I don't understand…"

Kazuya shrugged, "I don't think I really do either considering I don't think I have ever truly fallen for someone, but I think one of the components of it is wanting to spend time with them and wanting to put their happiness and welfare before your own, and…" She held up a hand to forestall his arguments, "Let me finish. I don't mean that you are protecting them because your martial arts code says you should do it. What I mean is that you are protecting them because you want to and their life is precious to you. That is part of how I realized I hadn't actually fallen for Akane. No matter who had been changed by Saffron's flames I would have done the same thing."

Ryoga's eyes widened, "Even me?"

Kazuya nodded, "Even you."

Ryoga took a few seconds to process all of it and then asked, "Even when I was screaming for your head?"

Kazuya nodded again with a chuckle, "Even then."

Ryoga stared at her, and he felt like it was for the very first time, "Who are you?"

Kazuya smiled unsurely at his question, "Kazuya Aki, the girl who just recently became your friend."

Ryoga shook his head in amazement at her, "You are always pulling off the impossible, aren't you?"

Kazuya smirked, though she didn't realize quite what he was referring to, "I try my hardest." She got up and extended her left hand to him while using her right hand to hold her bathrobe closed, "Let's get outa here and get some clothes on, and try not to have a tent while walking through the building where the maids might see."

Ryoga accepted her hand with a growl of private outrage, "Just who do you think I am?"

Kazuya smiled, "The eternally lost boy, Ryoga Hibiki."

Ryoga growled as he was hoisted to his feet, "I didn't get lost on my way here from the room I was in."

Kazuya looked at him in confusion, "…"

Ryoga blinked, "I didn't get lost." He blinked again and a grin from ear to ear split his face, "Kazuya, I didn't get lost!"

Kazuya shook her head in confusion, "You always get lost though."

Ryoga started crying and hugged her in happiness, "I didn't get lost!"

Kazuya awkwardly pat his back, "That is great for you Ryoga, and I get that this is a happy occasion for you, but could you please let go of me?"

Ryoga moved back a little, "Why?"

Kazuya sighed, "Your towel dropped and you were messing up my bathrobe."

Ryoga almost teleported away from her wrapping his towel around himself as fast as he could, he gulped when he took in the sight of her messed up bathrobe almost revealing what lay beneath it. He bowed low to the ground, "I am so so so so sorry!"

Kazuya fixed her bathrobe and sighed, "It is fine Ryoga, I get that you were excited and happy, just please be more careful in the future." She opened the door and walked out, a blushing and sorrowful Ryoga following her like a kicked puppy. She opened the door to her room and noticed that he was still behind her, "I may have to rethink my opinion of you if you are going to follow a young woman into her room to watch her change clothes."

Ryoga started waving his hands around, "Nonononono. That isn't what this is?"

Kazuya leaned against the doorframe in her open room, "I was teasing you, Ryoga, but what is it?"

Ryoga sighed, "I just wanted to say sorry again. Both for what just happened in the bathroom and for what I have done to you before this."

Kazuya shook her head in amusement, "It is fine Ryoga, and for future reference…"

Ryoga paused looking at her face in confusion as she moved to close the door, "Huh?"

Kazuya smiled at him, "Your apology would seem more sincere to people if your towel wasn't on the floor."

The last thing she saw before the door shut was the horrified look on his face as he bent down to pick up the towel again. She heard the steps in the hallway as he beat a hasty retreat to wherever his room was. She chuckled as she pulled off the bathrobe and threw it on the bed. She had always gotten a kick out of teasing Ryoga, and she grinned like the Cheshire cat wondering what else she could do to throw him for a loop.

She sighed as she cracked her back, "Hey, Satsuki, where did you go?"

The little spirit faded back into existence, though he was turned away from her, "I am right here."

She sat down on the bed, "Why did you disappear from the bathroom?"

The spirit shivered, "I have been programed with a childish male personality, and if you are gonna be doing indecent things, I don't want to stick around to see them."

Kazuya rolled her eyes, "Nothing happened between me and Ryoga while we were in the bath. Get your brain out of the gutter you stupid little fairy."

He spun to look at her, his rebuttal dying on his lips, and he turned back around again, his face a nice shade of fiery red, "What are you waiting for? Get some clothes on!"

Kazuya shook her head at him, "That is just it, I don't know where they are at. This isn't actually my room. I also don't know how this game works, for all I know all clothes are summoned magically or something."

The poor little sprite sighed, "All the cosmetic items, that you either spawn in with as part of your story or that you buy while out and about it the world, go here in their proper drawers. You can pull them out whenever you feel like it and change them like you would ordinary clothing."

Kazuya nodded, "Thank you. That is what I wanted to know."

She walked over to the dresser and pulling out the drawers saw that each of the three drawers contained the three different kinds of undergarments she would need. She smirked, knowing that this was the way to throw Ryoga for a loop, but something about it bothered her, "Is there any difference between any of these?"

The fairy on her bed shook his head, "Nope, the only real difference is in what they look like, not their functionality."

Kazuya grinned like a shark and grabbed the most lacy looking black combo she could, she put them on and admired herself in the mirror, "Underwear is all well and good, but what about the rest of my clothes?"

The fairy didn't dare turn around but he motioned towards the double door off to one side, "All your shirts, skirts, dresses, and shoes should be in there."

Kazuya opened it and started leafing through the selection that had been provided because of her story status as a rich-man's daughter. She took maybe a minute to find what she wanted and was quite pleased with herself when she pulled out a female-cut version of her favorite red Chinese silk shirt with a gold embroidered dragon on it, a black skirt that went down to her knees, a pair of black wrist bracers, and a nice pair of black slippers that looked like they would be easy to move in. She took them out and put them on. She had to admit that it didn't exactly fit the image of a rich-man's daughter, or that it matched well with her hair color, but she liked what she liked. She also knew that seeing her wearing female versions of her old clothes would really send Ryoga's brain spinning. She picked up her fairy and exited the door; she was ready to throw herself at a new world.

Sayuri and Yuka sighed as they walked through the hospital halls. They had gotten word of what happened to Akane, and when they showed up to give the family their support, they were surprised to find that the doctor had kicked the family out of her room. He was such a kind man and had helped both of them when they had gotten some injuries from playing a sport at school.

Yuka looked to her friend beside her, "With everything she has gone through, how could it have been a car that did her in?"

Sayuri shrugged, "I don't know… karma?"

Yuka glared at Sayuri, "How could you say something like that?"

Sayuri gave her friend a are-you-kidding-me-right-now look, "I am her friend too, but I am not blind to her faults, Yuka."

Yuka sighed, "I know… I wish she would return to the way she used to be, before Kuno got to her."

Sayuri nodded, "I know what you mean."

They walked in silence and when they got to the door to Akane's room, they opened the door. The two of them stepped in and were surprised to see Ranma and Ryoga on either side of Akane sleeping while each were holding on to one of her hands. Yuka was about to try and wake them, but got stopped by a hand crossing over her stomach.

Sayuri shook her head, "It won't do any good, look."

Yuka's eyes widened on seeing no golden bracelet on Akane's wrist, but saw two of them on the wrists of the boys, "They're in the game."

Sayuri nodded dangling her own bracelet, "Indeed, we need to get in there and find them before our enemies do. This means Akane is out of commission and those two are our only hope now."

Yuka looked pained by the prospect of leaving Akane before they could even check on her, "Are you sure?"

Sayuri nodded, "Let's get home, fast."

Both of them rushed out of the room, eager to get home and hop into the game in a safe environment. If they had stayed for even just a few moments more they would have seen Ranma's hair start to lighten and turn silver as his form became muddled.