BANG! The gun was ruined. Ryoga had clamped his hand down and crushed the barrel of the weapon as it was being fired. The shock sent Lum backwards to crash into the cabinet. Ryoga dashed forward to help her up. He hadn't meant to hurt her. But his effort was rewarded with a hard slap across the face. "Hands off, psycho!" Lum jumped up and assumed a fighting stance. Ryoga recognized the foot posture and slightly facing palms as a Tai Chi form, a good martial art for using an opponent's strength against them. His face stung a little, and he didn't appreciate being called a psycho. "Now see here! I was only trying to..." he was cut off by Lum charging him and throwing fluid punches that were only too easy to block and dodge for a person of his skill. However, anytime he tried to be gentle and push her into a sitting position to calm her down, he wound up tottering off balance from his own momentum being turned against him. That's enough, he thought, I have to end this. All he had to do was show a little excessive strength, and she'd back off. Then he would make his exit. He didn't like to leave bad blood between people who were basically good, but she was leaving him with no choice. He let his ki get heavy and cried, "Shishi Hokodan!" releasing a Lion's Roar Blast through the open kitchen window, purposefully missing his opponent and keeping the size of his energy bomb small enough to avoid doing any damage to the house. Lum's eyes widened in fear, but she held her ground. She was trembling, but unwilling to give up on protecting their home. It was foolish, but admirable. Ryoga was about to shoulder his pack and take his leave when Mikhan walked between the two young people with a tray set with three mugs and a kettle. "Join us, won't you? We were just going to have a cup of tea." he offered as though nothing unusual had happened.
"What?" Ryoga and Lum asked together. "Unless I'm mistaken, you've visited the cursed springs at Jusenkyo. Am I correct?" Mikhan asked. Ryoga nodded in surprise. "Y-yes, sir. You know of Jusenkyo?" "What the hell is Jusenkyo?" Lum asked, still high strung from the fight. "Calm yourself, Lum. Perhaps this young man would be kind enough to share his story. There's no sense in fighting. After all, he hasn't really caused any trouble tonight, has he?" Lum looked down at the floor in embarrassment. That was true enough. He had been in the house for several hours, and had done absolutely nothing wrong. If Mikhan knew something about why he was the way he was, maybe he could be trusted enough to have tea with. As much as Ryoga wanted to leave this uncomfortable misadventure behind him and just go, he also felt that these people deserved an explanation. Up until just a moment ago, they had shown him only kindness and hospitality.
"I was pursuing Ranma Saotome, a rival of mine. He and his father stopped to train at the cursed springs, and I was knocked into the spring of drowned pig. Whenever I'm doused with cold water, I take the form of a young piglet. When doused with hot water, I return to my original state. I've been living with it for some time now. I'm sorry for alarming you, but I was traveling back to Tokyo after a training journey and it began to rain very suddenly. I had no time to retrieve my umbrella to stave off the transformation and... well... I guess you caught me by surprise by the river." Ryoga began to blush furiously at the memory of Lum's nearly bare body. She didn't really seem to mind. Lum nodded slowly. "Well, that explains a lot. How bizarre. I'm awfully sorry about what just happened. You must think very poorly of me now." she said. Ryoga's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, no! Not at all! I mean, heh, you took it a lot better than most people have." He laughed a little and scratched the back of his head in a good-natured manner. Lum allowed herself a little smile. "That's very kind of you, um..." "Oh! I'm sorry! I am Ryoga Hibiki. It's an honor to officially make your acquaintance, ma'am." he said. "This is Mikhan Somoro, and I'm Lumjoi Tamari. You may call me Lum, everyone does. And yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ryoga." Lum said.
They sat in silence for a moment sipping their respective cups of tea. This is a little less embarrassing, I suppose. At least I was able to clear things up before I left. They're nice enough people, Ryoga thought to himself. When the tea was finished, he stood and bowed his appreciation. "Thank you for your kindness. I will be going now." he said. "Nonsense!" Mikhan laughed. "It's pouring out there. According to the weather report, it's going to be torrential for the next two days, actually. It's nearly impossible to navigate these woods in bad weather, and I can only imagine what it would be like for a little pig to try and make it through while this storm is going on. No, you'll stay here with us until it clears up on Monday." he announced. "Yes, and I can lead you out when I head into town for my classes." Lum added. "Oh, no. I couldn't possibly..." Ryoga protested. He didn't want to take advantage of these people any more than he already had. "None of that, lad. We have spare futons and plenty of space." Mikhan held up a hand to silence any rebuttal that Ryoga had waiting and retreated down the hallway to set up a guest room for the young man. It was useless to argue. Ryoga reluctantly sat his pack down against the wall again. He knelt beside the table and awaited permission for his next action.
Lum walked into the kitchen to fetch a small box which turned out to be a first aid kit. When she returned to the living area, she sat very near to Ryoga and pointed to his right hand. "Let me see." she said in a soft, but firm tone. He was confused. "Your hand." she insisted. He looked down at his right hand and noticed that it had a slight burn from the gun barrel going off. It was so minor to someone with his sturdy nature that he hadn't even noticed it. He didn't want to upset Lum, so he obligingly gave his hand over to her. When she closed her fingers around it to bring it a little closer, the soft touch sent a tingle through Ryoga's entire body. There's a girl holding my hand, he thought. She unfolded his fingers and gently applied a cream to soothe the burn. She pretended not to notice how hard he was blushing while she rubbed his hand and wrapped it with a bandage. She found his innocence adorable. She smiled and released his hand. "All better?" she asked. "Y-yes. Th-thank you very m-much." he stammered. He did everything he could to keep from looking into her eyes, but somehow his own betrayed him with a single quick glance. She had icy blue eyes that were cold and warm at the same time somehow. They stood out nicely against her pale skin and deep auburn hair. They were mesmerizing, even in small doses. He scolded himself internally. It was shameful that he should have an attraction to anyone while his heart belonged to Akane. That sort of thing was despicable. Not to mention that she was clearly older than he was, at least by three or four years. If she caught him looking at her like that, Lum would probably think that he really was a pervert.
Ryoga gave a small yelp of surprise when Mikhan tapped his shoulder lightly to let him know that his room was ready. He bowed his thanks again and bid the pair goodnight. When he had his door safely closed, Ryoga changed into a pair of pajamas from his pack and settled himself under the covers. It was nice to get a chance to sleep in a real bed for a change. He spent so much time on the road that it was a very rare thing indeed to enjoy comforts like warm meals and comfy places to sleep. If he could just figure out how to push aside his shy nature around this group of people, this had the potential to be a very enjoyable visit. He laughed a little at the idea that the children were likely to be at least a little disappointed when they realized that the new piglet was gone. He turned on his side and sighed. Maybe it would actually be better to stay in P-Chan's form while he was here. A random stranger in the house might be slightly alarming to the little ones. Perhaps he would discuss the idea with Mikhan or Lum in the morning. As it was their house, they would be better at making the call on what was appropriate than he was.
He looked down at his new bandage. He could still feel Lum's soft fingers on his lonely rough hand. It had felt so... pleasant. Akane's hands were tender like that when she held him as P-Chan, but any time she had happened to touch him in his human form, it was always very reserved. He was just a friend. Even when they had been set up on a date, Akane had kept him at a slight distance. As much as they fought and tried to deny it from each other, Akane and Ranma had a much more intimate relationship. How she could see anything in that disrespectful lummox, Ryoga could never guess, but it burned his heart with jealousy and remorse. Surely she knew his feelings for her. There were more than enough clues. He wasn't really the type to be blunt about things like that. He hoped every day that his actions spoke louder than words and she would figure out how much he adored her, but it always seemed that she didn't quite get it. It wasn't her fault. She had been so used to hoards of people at school fighting over her, then being set up with someone like Ranma... conflicting scenarios like that might have jaded her perception of what puppy love was. Or... well... in this case, piggy love. If only she could hold him in the same loving manner as a man, rather than as P-Chan. Still. He would enjoy tonight. Even if it was only the kindness of a beautiful stranger, tonight... someone cared for him.