Ryoga sat in a chair and watched himself twiddle his thumbs. He knew he was blushing, but he couldn't make it stop. Why did his debt have to be paid by taking Ukyo and Kire out to the mall to try on clothes?

Ukyo came out of the changing rooms wearing a strapless red dress and a pair of high heels. "Well, sugar? What'cha think? Would Ran-chan like this?"

Ryoga's eyes nearly shot out of his head, mainly because Ukyo was the epitome of 'tomboy' in his mind. Covering the blood that started to eek out of his nose, he looked back down and mumbled, "Are you guys almost done?"

"Nonsense!" Ukyo replied. "I'm having fun!" With that, she hopped back into the changing room.

Ryoga, having gotten his nose under control, put his face in his lap. This was the last time he would agree to 'anything'. Looking up cautiously at the sound of footsteps, he saw Kire coming out wearing a pair of loose black pants and a red sleeveless shirt. A few more pairs of pants and half a dozen shirts hung over her arm. Thankfully, she hadn't come out in anything that may have put him into hemorrhagic shock. She plopped down into the chair next to him, putting the clothes in her lap.

"So," she said after a minute, "is Ukyo always like this?"

"Are you kidding?" Ryoga asked. "She's usually a tomboy like no other. I don't know what's gotten into her, but she's been coming out in nothing but dresses, asking me if I think Ranma would like it. I think she's lost her mind." He gave a weak sigh. "I don't know how much more of this new Ukyo I can take."

Kire snickered. "Well, I think she's almost done, so you'll be outta here soon." She nudged him with her elbow and smiled. "And thanks for buying me some clothes. The hand-me-downs weren't really my style."

Ryoga blushed slightly. "Uh... no problem..." He shook his head a little. "So, uh... how are you settling in at the dojo?"

Kire shrugged. "Pretty good, I guess. I help Kasumi out with the chores while Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki are at school so I don't feel too much like a moocher. Not to mention my animal instincts are receding, so I'm adjusting easier. Generally, it's not bad." She thought for a moment. "I've been meaning to ask you... How have you been getting to the dojo everyday without getting lost?"

Ryoga looked down in embarrassment. "I've been sleeping a block away in the park and making sure not to wander out of the city limits so I make it there at least every day."

Kire sweatdropped. "Look, Ryoga... I appreciate you stopping in to make sure I'm doing okay, but you don't have to every day. Not if it's causing you to sleep in a park."

Tapping his fingers together, Ryoga shrugged. "Honestly, I'm used to worse. Besides, I'm the reason you're here. I wanna make sure you're not completely miserable."

That statement took Kire off guard a little. She wasn't used to people actually caring about how she felt. Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked up at the ceiling lights. "Yeah, well I don't want you to be completely miserable, either. Like I said, you're the only friend I've got."

"That's a lie; I'm your friend now," Ukyo interrupted. Kire and Ryoga looked up, only to see that Ukyo had come out of the dressing room wearing a black halter dress with long slit up the side of the leg. She smiled slyly. "How 'bout this one?"

Ryoga's chair had fallen over backwards and the lost boy lay on the floor, blood pooling around his head.

------------------------------

Ukyo was laughing hard. "Wow, I never thought girly clothes could be so much fun! Not very effective for martial arts, but definitely fun for dress up." She looked back over her shoulder smiled evilly. "Don't you agree, Ryoga?"

Kire rolled her eyes as she continued down the road with Ryoga. His blood loss had made him weak in the knees so, with his arm around her shoulders, Kire was helping him walk. "You're awfully chipper for having almost killed the poor guy," she said to the okonomiyaki chef.

Ukyo merely put her arms behind her head and shrugged. "Picking on him always seems to make me feel better. Don't know why."

"You're cruel and unusual," Ryoga grumbled. "Why are you still trying to impress Ranma anyway? Haven't you already tried everything in the book?"

"Not everything," Ukyo replied. "These girly clothes might just do the trick. Now how to get him alone..."

Ryoga sighed heavily. "That's the Ukyo I know," he said to Kire. "She's mean and conniving and manipulative."

"You can be all those things when you want, too, sugar," Ukyo said over her shoulder. "It's not just me."

Kire arched a brow at Ryoga.

"She lies," Ryoga murmured quietly.

"Hey, at least I wasn't easily possessed by a giant cat," Ukyo called back.

Kire's face quirked. "Say what now?"

Ryoga's eyes went wide. "How do you know about that?" he asked Ukyo, standing up straighter.

"We know all the same people," Ukyo responded. "It's hard to keep a secret in this city."

Kire stopped walking, causing Ryoga to halt as well. "Okay, everyone, hold up," she interjected. "What's all this possession via cat about?"

"Not via cat," Ukyo corrected, turning around to face them. "By a cat. Maomolin is a ghost cat that's about seven feet tall with a big bell around his neck. We've had run-ins with him before, but one time, he managed to possess our weak-willed Ryoga."

"I am not weak-willed," Ryoga growled, standing up of his own accord. "My will power had nothing to do with it! I got no say in the matter at all!"

"Anyway," Ukyo cut in, "Maomolin possessed Ryoga, and ended up proposing to Akane, because Maomolin needs a bride. Don't quite remember why... It was all pretty funny, from what I hear." She smiled cheerily.

Kire blinked a few times. "Please say that's just the condensed version of this tale."

"Oh, of course," Ukyo answered. "But like I said, I'm second party to this. If you want all the fun details, ask Ryoga."

"Useless," Ryoga said quickly. "I don't remember anything about the whole ordeal!" He turned on Ukyo, momentarily forgetting the redheaded girl next to him. "What made you bring that up, you cretin? There wasn't even a segway into that."

Ukyo shrugged and smirked. "Like I said, picking on you makes me feel better. Besides, shouldn't Kire, who is you friend, know these things?"

Ryoga had no comeback. Instead, he stood in the middle of the sidewalk with his mouth hanging open.

Kire sighed and scratched her head. "Oh, I'm gonna like it here..."

------------------------------

The trio finally made it back to the Tendo dojo. In that short span of time, Ukyo had managed to mention every embarrassing situation Ryoga had ever been in. Every situation she could remember, anyway. The poor misdirected martial artist was practically catatonic from mortification.

Ryoga stumbled into the foyer of the Tendo home, eyes unfocussed and staring straight ahead. He didn't dare look behind him, for fear of what Kire may say or what he might do to Ukyo. Girl or not, Ryoga was tempted to leap head-on into a brawl with the chef.

Ukyo snapped her fingers. "Oh! And then there was the time –"

In a blur of motion that most human vision couldn't follow, Ryoga spun around and had Ukyo by the shoulders. "Will you stop that?!" he yelled.

Ukyo seemed unfazed by the unholy red aura that was snaking around Ryoga. "Oh calm down, sugar. I'm just playing around."

"I don't think he's playing along anymore," Kire murmured to Ukyo. Sidestepping the rivaling martial artists, Kire took off her shoes and continued into the house, heading towards the kitchen, where she knew Kasumi would be. "I'm back," she called, nearing the doorway.

"Hello, Kire," came Kasumi's gentle greeting. "Did you have fun today?"

"Um, you could say that," Kire replied.

A second later, there was a sudden bone-jarring smash that seemed to shake the house to its very foundation, then a scream of absolute terror.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Ryoga cried as he went racing past the kitchen.

Ukyo was right on his heels, her giant battle spatula raised in a menacing fashion. "Oh you're gonna be sorry when I'm through with you!"

Kire sweatdropped.

"Oh, Ryoga and Ukyo are here," Kasumi noted. "How nice of Ranma's friends to stop by." She gave another cheery smile, then went back to slicing vegetables.

Sensing that Ryoga may be in dire need of some assistance, Kire excused herself from the kitchen and went tearing down the hall after Ukyo. What she was going to do against an angry spatula-wielding martial artist, she didn't quite know, but she couldn't bring herself to sit by and listen to him get thrashed.

Meanwhile, out in the yard, Ryoga was dodging the giant metal cooking utensil Ukyo was slashing at him with. He didn't even remember what he'd said to make her want to kill him; the cause of the forming bruise under his hair seemed to have knocked it out of his memory. Who knows, maybe he hadn't even said anything offensive, and Ukyo just wanted to clock him. That wasn't too farfetched.

Shit, he really shouldn't drift into thought when in the middle of a fight.

With a surprised bark, Ryoga brought his arms up to block the sheet of metal that was mere inches from his face. This was going to hurt... Huh?

He found himself stumbling backwards as someone grabbed his collar and pulled him out of the spatula's path. Catching his balance, Ryoga looked behind him to see who's spared him some unnecessary head trauma.

Kire stood next to him, a slight scowl on her face. "Now honestly, can't you two play nice?" she muttered.

Ryoga stumbled for words to explain himself, while Ukyo simply threw out, "He started it."

Kire gave a slightly bemused expression. "Come on, Ukyo. Can you really take anything this guy says seriously?" She reached up and snagged Ryoga's bandanna, shaking his head slightly.

"Hey," Ryoga grumbled, shooing Kire's hand away. "How do you know it was my fault, huh?"

"Because it usually is," she said, then winked and smiled. She reached up and pushed him to sit in the grass and waggled his head again for the fun of it. However, his bandanna came off in the process... leaving another bandanna in its place. Kire blinked a few times, glancing from the bandanna in her hand to the one around Ryoga's forehead. "Erm..."

Ryoga rolled his eyes. He was used to this kind of reaction. He didn't expect Kire to reach over and snag another bandanna from his head, though. She continued to blink at the two bandannas in her hand, then at the one he was still wearing. Ryoga sweatdropped.

Ten minutes later, Kire was sitting next to him, a decent-sized pile of yellow and black bandannas surrounding her, while one was still inexplicably tied around Ryoga's head. It seems that the laws of reality were slightly bent in Nerima... Dusting some of the headbands off her legs, Kire frowned in thought, then plucked one off the ground and tied it around her own forehead.

Ryoga stared. It was weird seeing anyone else, let alone a girl, wearing one of his trademark bandannas, but he couldn't deny that a part of him liked what he saw. He found himself chuckling as Kire, perplexed as ever, pulled the bandanna back off and felt around for one that didn't magically reappear.

"Give it up, Kire," Ukyo sighed. "You're not gonna get it. None of us do."

Kire huffed and tied it around her head again, pulling it back off with the same reaction as before; nothing.

Ryoga couldn't help but laugh. "You can just ask me how it works, you know," he said.

Kire scratched her head and stared at all the bandannas scattered everywhere. "Can you explain it?" she asked.

"Probably not."

Kire frowned. "Then why offer?"

Ryoga shrugged. "It's not like they're permanently affixed to my head," he said. "See?" He easily pulled off the piece of cloth, letting his thick bangs fall into his eyes. He held out the bandanna for Kire to inspect.

Taking it from his outstretched hand, Kire examined the seemingly innocent piece of fabric. It was just... a bandanna. And just one, by the looks of it. She shook it out, half-expecting more to simply fall out of omni-space. Nothing happened; just a simple bandanna.

Looking back up to Ryoga, Kire was about to come off with a witty remark, but stopped herself short. Taking a long look at her friend, she realized that with his thick black hair lying haphazardly in his face, he looked like a completely different person. It made him look more predatory, focus going to his forest green eyes instead of to the yellow dappled strip in his hair. There was a small tweak in Kire's stomach before she handed his bandanna back. "Put this back on. You look... not like you..."

Ryoga smirked and retied the bandanna around his head, ruffling his hair up slightly.

"Why do you need so many?" Kire asked, picking up a handful from around her. "These can't all be just spares."

Picking one up from beside him, Ryoga held it by the end and easily twirled it in his hand. With a quick flick of his wrist, he sent it soaring. The bandanna-made-buzzsaw made a high arc through the air, then promptly went slicing clean through the training board in the Tendos backyard. After a moment, the top half of the plank went tipping sideways and clattering into the grass.

"Wow," was all Kire could manage.

"It must be pretty useful to have a never-ending supply of weapons at your disposal," Ukyo muttered.

"It comes in handy," Ryoga replied.

The call of, "We're home!" resounded through the Tendo home and into the backyard. A moment later, Ranma and Akane stepped out onto the back parch. Ranma blinked at the three people sitting in the backyard. "Did we miss a party or somethin'?" he asked.

"Hi everyone," Akane said, interrupting Ranma. "We didn't see you at school today, Ukyo."

Ukyo shrugged. "I do have a business to run," she replied casually. "But today ended up being slower than usual, so I went out with these two."

Ranma eyed the large pile of bandanna scattered around. "Uh... is everything okay?"

Ukyo smiled disarmingly. "Don't worry about it, Ran-chan. We're not all gonna gang up on ya. Ryoga was just showing Kire some of his many tricks."

Kire suddenly looked like a kid in a candy shop. "There's more?" she asked with a grin. "Show me!"

Ryoga sighed, then turned to his rival. "Care for a spar, Ranma?"