Where was he!? Akane had been searching for Ranma for going on ten minutes now, to absolutely no avail. She and Nabiki had both run after the idiot after Ryoga threw him, but the two boys ran so fast, and Akane ended up losing sight of them. And then she lost sight of Nabiki, and… and now she was running around in the pouring rain, her clothes and hair completely soaked through, in some neighborhood she wasn't familiar with. She'd definitely taken a wrong turn at some point… it would her take a while to find her way back.
Sighing, she finally admitted to herself that this was pointless. Heading toward the nearest house with an overhang, she took refuge from the rain, her body shivering as her mind took stock of exactly how cold and wet she was. But before she could get comfortable — or as comfortable as it was possible for someone in her situation to be, at least — movement caught her eye, a little ways down the waterlogged street. A small black something was running around, zig-zagging about as though it was unsure of which way to go. She couldn't quite make out what it was from this distance, but she felt sure it was some kind of animal. More than that, she was sure it needed her help.
Stepping back out into the downpour, she ran for the animal, which didn't seem to notice her approach. The closer she got the more obvious it became that it was a sad, wet puppy, which only made her heart swell more. Scooping the confused, soggy mess up into her arms, she held it close, ignoring its yelps and hoping her love would help warm it even if her drenched clothes would not. Then she ran for another overhang, where she and her new little friend could wait out the rest of the storm.
Once she was clear of the rain, she held the puppy up to get a good look at it. Its black fur was clearly supposed to be fluffy, but because of the rain, it hung downward like a ragged mop, swaying slightly as the puppy shivered from the cold. Staring into the puppy's big brown eyes, she saw a great sadness, as though this poor, soaked pup had been through much tragedy in what had to have been a rather short life so far. Overcome with emotion, she smooshed it back into her chest, trying to avoid squeezing it too hard and arguably not succeeding. This dog was hers now. It had no collar, or anything else that might indicate it had an owner, and thus she was going to take it home with her. She vowed to ensure that the rest of this puppy's life was filled with nothing but happiness.
Ten minutes or so later, the rain finally let up, and Akane made her way home. It took her a bit to figure out how to get there, but she managed just fine. Her only worry was that, on the way, her new puppy started sneezing. Once she finally found her home, she headed straight for the furo, determined to give the puppy a nice warm soak and hopefully cure its sneezes.
Strangely though, when she entered the washroom to start filling the furo up, the puppy immediately started to whine and wriggle around in her arms. That wasn't so bad initially, but once she returned to the changing room to pull her wet clothes off, the puppy's struggling made things difficult. It only seemed to panic more and more as she stripped, and by the time she was actually walking into the washroom again, it was literally howling as it desperately tried to squirm away. She knew that some dogs didn't like being washed, but this was ridiculous.
Fed up with the wriggling wet mess, Akane decided to skip the washing part and go directly to the soaking. Holding the dog away from her to avoid an accidental scratch, she plopped it into the water with a small splash.
To Akane's utter shock and horror, what emerged from beneath the steaming water was not a cute little puppy dog, but the head of a very naked and embarrassed Ryoga. Scrambling backwards, Akane had only just thought to try to cover herself when the door to the room burst open, sending her already thumping heart into overdrive. What rushed through the door was a dog - not a puppy, but a large adult dog, with wet, dripping fur that was black on one side and white on the other.
This newcomer leapt right at Ryoga, knocking him back into the warm water, which splashed over the sides of the furo and onto Akane's feet. Her panic started to recede slightly when Ryoga sat back up, laughing and smiling as the dog eagerly licked at his face. But then she realized she was still naked, and she scrambled to grab a towel that she could wrap around herself.
Pushing the dog off him, Ryoga finally looked back at Akane, seeming relieved that she'd managed to cover herself. "S-sorry," he said, smiling sheepishly, his face crimson. "Here, um, I'll get a towel, then I can explain…"
Though Akane very much supported the idea of him getting a towel, Ryoga didn't seem to have thought about the fact that stepping out of the furo to get one would still involve him being naked right in front of her. Fortunately, she did, and thus she managed to avert her eyes in time to avoid seeing more of Ryoga than she particularly desired to see.
"Hey, wha-!? Shirokuro!" Ryoga cried, prompting Akane to look back at him. Still naked, he was being pushed roughly away by the big dog, apparently named Shirokuro, towards the door. Akane sighed in relief that Shirokuro was covering everything that she didn't want to see, allowing her to watch in confusion as Ryoga was forced out into the changing room and then out into the hall. Scrambling to her feet, she ran after them, throwing on some spare pajamas she kept in the washroom. She caught up with the pair in time to see Shirokuro push Ryoga back outside, where, unfortunately for Ryoga, it had started to rain again. Tall, naked Ryoga quickly shrunk back to an adorable black puppy, which Shirokuro grabbed by the scruff and flipped onto its back before starting to walk away.
Grabbing an umbrella, Akane hurried after the two dogs, determined to have a talk with Ryoga about what exactly was going on... once they got to wherever it was Shirokuro so eagerly wanted to go.
The three of them walked for a good half hour, at least, mostly through various Tokyo neighborhoods. This determined dog had apparently walked quite a ways to find its owner. Fortunately, Akane didn't have to follow at a distance - Shirokuro seemed quite happy to have someone else to walk with, and was very receptive toward petting.
Finally, the three of them reached their destination. Or, at least, Akane had to assume as much when Shirokuro started walking up to a random house's door, pushing its way inside. Quickly following and closing the door behind her, Akane watched as Shirokuro brought puppy Ryoga over to a giant dog bed, where a bunch more puppies wriggled around, making adorable little noises. Akane felt her heart swell at least two sizes. For a moment, she thought Shirokuro was about to place puppy Ryoga with the other puppies, but instead the larger dog plopped the transformed boy down right next to the bed. Assumedly, these puppies were Shirokuro's, and she was just a proud mother that wanted to show them off.
Tentatively, Akane approached, kneeling down to gaze in wonder at the puppy pile. She slowly reached a hand out, wordlessly asking Shirokuro if touching the puppies was allowed. The big dog didn't seem to mind. Absolutely thrilled, Akane pet each and every puppy multiple times, and even picked one up to cradle in her arms. Most of the pups were half white, half black like Shirokuro. But there were also two pure-white puppies, and one that was pure black.
Out of the corner of her eye, Akane noticed that little puppy Ryoga hadn't moved, and was in fact staring right at her, with an expression that was difficult to read, given it was on a dog. But whatever Ryoga's intent, the effect was that Akane realized that there were more important things to deal with right now than snuggling puppies, despite how amazing an activity snuggling puppies was.
Setting the puppy she had been holding down, Akane stood and searched for Ryoga's kitchen, which she found with ease. It didn't take long to find a kettle to brew some hot water in. Once the water was boiled, she grabbed the kettle, returned to the main room, and grabbed puppy Ryoga, who didn't protest.
"Where's your room?" she said, feeling a little strange about asking a puppy a question, even though she knew it was Ryoga in there. His little puppy head gestured toward the stairs, and so Akane went that way, moving up to the second floor. Fortunately, Ryoga's room was one of the first ones to be found up there - it was clearly labelled with his name. Briefly, she wondered if labelling his room like that helped him at all with finding it. She'd have to ask him later.
Stepping inside, she looked about the room, which was different than she'd expected. The walls and shelves were absolutely covered in all manner of souvenirs, many from Japan, but quite a few from elsewhere around the world, too. But she could look at them more closely later. For now, she set the kettle and puppy Ryoga down on the ground, then stepped back toward the door.
"I'll give you a second to change," she said, looking back at the adorable puppy on the ground. "Just let me know when you're done, so we can talk."
Once she was outside she closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a big sigh. What a strange turn of events. She hadn't managed to find the fight, but she did manage to find Ryoga, who was apparently cursed, just like Ranma. Being completely naked when she discovered that had not been ideal. The sound of heavy footsteps met her ears, followed by the sound of a drawer being pulled open and rummaged through. At least she hadn't seen all of Ryoga, while he was naked… but she wasn't sure the same was true for him, about her. She decided not to think about it.
"Okay, I'm ready!" called Ryoga's voice through the door.
Heading back into his room, Akane was mildly amused to see him wearing virtually the same outfit she'd seen him in the last few times they'd met. Did he have multiple copies of the same outfit? A question for a later time, perhaps. Given how embarrassed the boy looked already, she imagined questioning him about his fashion practices might just destroy him.
"S-so I'm really, really sorry about… all of that," he said, his eyes flicking about the room but refusing to look directly at her. "I tried to get away so I didn't see… and I didn't! Or, well… mostly. I tried not to, but I might've seen some-"
"Ryoga, it's fine," Akane said, trying not to laugh, or to think about it too hard. Though she'd been furious at Ranma for his accidental viewing of her naked body, there was something about Ryoga that kept her from feeling that same anger now. Probably the fact that Ryoga, even as a puppy, had tried so hard to avoid it, while Ranma had taken a big look the moment he got the opportunity. She chose to ignore the fact that she had stared at him just as much. "I know you didn't mean to, so no need to keep apologizing."
"O-okay," he said, still refusing to look at her. "Um, so, as you saw, I have a curse…" Akane nodded, but stayed silent, especially since Ryoga finally looked directly at her. "But I don't want Ranma to know, so please don't tell him!"
Cocking an eyebrow, Akane said, "Sure, I won't, but… why? He's got a curse too, which I assume you saw when it started raining" Though she hadn't been around them when it began to rain, she assumed they had been together when it happened. Though given the fact that Ryoga didn't think Ranma knew about his curse… maybe that hadn't been the case? Hopefully she hadn't just ruined Ranma's secret.
Ryoga's expression turned dark for a moment, as he peered off to the side at some nondescript point. "Yes, I… I noticed." Relief flooded Akane's system, though she tried not to show it. Ryoga stayed silent a few more seconds, before finally looking back at her. "Still, please don't tell him. My cursed form is so… weak. I don't want him to think less of me, especially since I've still never managed to beat him in a fight."
He hadn't? Not ever? Akane knew Ranma was strong, but she'd figured Ryoga was a pretty even match. Afterall, his weapon was an umbrella so heavy that it had broken a hole in her dojo's floor. ...Could Ranma use it too, if he wanted? An intense feeling of inadequacy gripped her. She'd known for a while now that Ranma was a better martial artist than her, given he'd had so much more opportunity to practice the art, but she hadn't realized just how gargantuan that gap was.
"A-akane?" Ryoga said, looking at her in confusion. Realizing she was scowling, Akane plastered a smile on her face, not wanting to bother Ryoga with her own insecurities. It seemed like he had enough to deal with on his own.
"I'm fine, sorry! But yeah, I won't tell him, don't worry." As she spoke her mind wandered again, this time in a completely different direction. Ryoga seemed to care a lot about impressing Ranma… there was a time, not that long ago, that she wouldn't have thought much of that. But lately, with the whole Kuno situation, and Akane's struggle with her own feelings… well, there was a whole world that existed that Akane was suddenly much more aware of. And because of that, she couldn't help but wonder if Ryoga's feelings were perhaps not entirely based around his own insecurities, but also around, well, feelings. For Ranma.
Realizing that they'd been sitting in silence, and that Ryoga was staring at her again, Akane tried to find the best way to phrase her question. Finally, she settled on, "Ryoga, are you… interested in Ranma?"
That confused look returned to Ryoga's face. "Interested? Like, in fighting him…?"
She shook her head. "No, I mean… romantically."
Eyes growing to the size of dinner plates, Ryoga waved his hands frantically, his face beet red. "What!? No! No, nononono. Of course not! I- We're-"
Waving her hands in a pacifying manner, Akane said, "Okay! Sorry I asked, didn't mean to embarrass you more."
Still looking incredibly flustered, Ryoga said, "Wh-why would you even think-?"
"Well, I mean, you just seem a little obsessed with him…"
"Only in fighting him!" Ryoga shouted, shaking his head from side-to-side. "I just- I have to prove myself, prove I can beat him!"
"Okay, I believe you!" she said, half meaning it. He was either telling the truth, deeply in denial, or in the middle of figuring himself out, like she was. Regardless, pressing him on it was almost certainly not going to help. ...But… Ryoga's desire to fight Ranma was clearly not going to go away until he won a fight. Which meant he was going to keep showing up at random moments in Akane's life, like he had been, which was far from ideal. What if there was a way to prevent Ryoga from getting lost? A way for him to be nearby whenever a good opportunity for a fight presented itself? A way that would ensure Akane always knew where he was, so she didn't have to keep getting surprised by him?
"Ryoga," she said, getting his attention and stopping the flustered muttering he'd fallen into while she'd been thinking. "I've got an idea. Your cursed form is a puppy... and I've always wanted a pet." His eyes went wide again, but she pressed on before he could say anything. "What if you stay with me at my house, in your puppy form? For a little while, at least. That way you won't get lost for weeks on end, and you'll be able to fight Ranma whenever you want!"
As she'd gone on, his expression had shifted from shock to cautious interest. "You would do that for me?" he said, as though he scarcely dared to believe it.
"I would!" she said with a smile. "I can buy you a little doggy bed, and you can stay in my room! I'll just have you go out into the hall whenever I change."
Though he still seemed a bit nervous, Ryoga nevertheless agreed. "Okay, yes! Let's try it!"
"Oh! You'll need a name, though. A dog name," she said, her mind immediately casting about for good options. Since none seemed forthcoming from him, she started voicing her thought process. "I've been calling you 'puppy Ryoga' in my head." She said the word 'puppy' in English, which just seemed to confuse Ryoga.
"Poppy Ryoga?" he said, pronouncing the English word as though the feel of it made his mouth uncomfortable.
"Pupp-y," Akane corrected, pronouncing it as two separate sounds. "It's a cute English word for a baby dog. So I could just call you that, maybe?"
He didn't look enthused about the idea.
"Or, okay, how about… Puppy-chan? Pup-chan?" She frowned, not entirely pleased with either of those. Finally, the perfect choice came to her: "P-chan!"
"P-chan," Ryoga repeated, smiling as he said it. "That seems fine!"
Decision made, silence took over, as Akane sat there wondering what to talk about. Finally, she said, "So, Shirokuro… that's your dog?"
Smiling again, Ryoga said, "Oh, yes! She's a sweetheart. A very loving dog. I think she just really wanted me to see her new puppies."
"They are adorable," Akane said, with a small laugh. Silence started to take over yet again, and so she pushed on with a new topic of conversation. "Your room, though! You've got so many things in it!"
Chuckling, Ryoga said, "Yeah... Well, whenever I find this house again, I put all the souvenirs I found along the way in here…"
"Where's that one from?" she said, pointing at a little clay figure of a tiger.
"Oh, well, that's a bit of a story, actually…"
"Do tell!"
Beaming, Ryoga launched into a tale about a disastrous day he spent in a small town Akane didn't recognize the name of. It got the both of them laughing at multiple points, and when it was done, they continued talking casually for another hour or more, enjoying one another's company. It was an unexpectedly lovely afternoon.
That evening, when Akane and "P-chan" returned to the Tendo estate, someone was waiting for them. Leaning against the wall in the house's entryway was Nabiki, a smirk on her face and a few photos splayed out in her hand.
"We need to talk," she said, an intimidating gleam in her eye. Gaze traveling from Akane to the small puppy in her arms, Nabiki added, "All three of us."