JUST BECAUSE I USE THESE CHARACTERS IN MY OWN LITTLE FANTASY WORLD THAT I MAKE YOU PEOPLE READ DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY ACTUALLY BELONG TO ME. THEY BELONG TO THE GODDESS TAKAHASHI-SAMA AND ANYONE SHE HAS GRANTED PERMISSION TO USE THE RIGHTS OF HER CHARACTERS. I HAVE NEITHER THE TALENT NOR THE TIME TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING NEARLY AS AWESOME AS RANMA 1/2. DON'T GIVE ME ANY CREDIT BECAUSE I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING SPECIAL.

P-Chan was furious. Now he was not only still in Nerima, but now he had wasted all that valuable time, was tired from running, and was in the last place he wanted to be in at this time. To make matters worse, he was a pig. Of all the possible forms that he could have gained, a pig would have been last on his list. Even a duck or a cat had some useful traits, and the yeti-riding-bull-while-holding-eel-and-crane thing was strong at the very least. But a pig… how much lower could he sink? Slugs maybe, but he wasn't sure one could drown. He heard the sound of a door being opened near him and looked up to see Kasumi just leaving for an early shopping trip. Acting on instinct, he quickly bolted inside as the door was opened. When he heard her shut it again he realized he had just trapped himself. Great. Now there were more wonderful things to add to his already wonderful day. Speculating as to where this sudden bout of sarcasm had sprung from, he wandered along the hallway until he made his way to the bathroom. He softly pushed the door open slightly with his snout, and entered. Inside he noted that Kasumi had changed the bathroom décor to match Akane's room. It even had Akane's bed in it. With Akane.

Apology

Chapter 4

A fan fiction by Frictionx42

Akane heard her door creak open slightly. At first she attempted to look like she was asleep in case it was Ranma so she could tease him about sneaking into her room while she was asleep, but after a minute or so nothing happened, so she opened her eyes to see what was going on. Her eyes fell upon P-Chan, shivering on the floor. She immediately jumped out of bed, grabbed P-Chan by the bandanna (it had always looked so good on him) and thrust him beneath the covers with her to help him warm up. After a little while, P-Chan began to relax.

Ryouga awoke in the dark to a soft warm pillowy feeling all around him. He blinked several times then opened his eyes fully so that he could see where he was. He looked up to see Akane's smiling face beaming down at him. His heart leapt, and he felt it fill to bursting with joy. This was what he lived for; and now here he was again, lying next to his beloved, and she was happy. He "Bweed" In delight, knowing that Ranma hadn't managed to pervert the heart of Akane against him yet if she could still be that happy to see him. After all, Ranma hated P-Chan didn't he? And if Ranma had any control over Akane, he would have made her hate P-Chan too, just to spite him. That bastard Ranma will pay! Ryouga thought, and then lost himself in Akane. He snuggled up to her, snout brushing against her neck, letting her know that he was there and that he would protect her. Akane reacted by giggling, and then looked down at Ryouga with the happiest expression on her face Ryouga had ever seen. Ryouga felt like he had entered heaven. She must have found out about my curse and realized it was me the whole time and she doesn't care! That must be it! She's happy that I am P-Chan because she really loves me and she's seen how I protect her from Ranma and…

"P-chan, Ranma and I kissed for the first time last night! Isn't that great? It was the best night of my life, and then he stayed here with me until morning! This is so exciting!"

Looking up into her face, Ryouga could see her cheeks were flushed with the excitement, her eyes sparkling, and she was practically glowing with happiness. It was obvious to Ryouga she was telling the truth, and he fainted dead away.

Soun and Genma were still at the shogi board, doing what they did best: plotting to get their children together. They both knew that if they could just provide the right push, the two would finally admit their feelings for each other, Ranma would get rid of those other girls following him around, and they would marry like their fathers knew all along was best for them. They knew they could provide a well-grounded and suitable reason, but they just had to come up with one. Genma had even shifted into panda form to help him think. He said the fur in his ears helped to muffle sound and he could concentrate better. Indeed, Saotome, you are concentrating better. I haven't seen you play this well in years. Truly, his friend had to be coming up with something brilliant that was sure to succeed. It was only a matter of time before he managed to think it through fully and tell him. So Soun waited.

I wonder when lunch is? Was all Genma-panda had running through his head.

Kasumi was going to visit Doctor Tofu today. That thought always filled her with joy. That man was so nice, but it was strange, he was very much alone. He really ought to settle down and get married one of these days, Kasumi thought to herself, Then his mother wouldn't have to worry so much. Plus, he's such a dear sweet man; he deserves to have someone around to make him happy. Until he finds someone, I guess I'll just keep bringing him food and keeping him company. Kasumi smiled subconsciously at the thought. She liked helping people, and even if Doctor Tofu acted strangely sometimes, he had helped Akane and Ranma out more times than she could count. I owe him at least a little visit every now and then, just to keep him from being too lonely. That thought made her smile.

Ranma loved mornings like this, when he could just sit back and relax. They had come far and few between in the last ten years as he had traveled with his father, but he had learned to enjoy them when they came. This peaceful morning was particularly well timed, as it permitted him to ponder over his new relationship with Akane. Ranma was fairly certain now that he did in fact love her, yet every time he tried to say it- even to himself- he always tripped over the words and they wouldn't come out. He wondered idly if he had said them to Akane at Jusendou, like she had said he did, and he had in fact forgotten about the whole thing. Ranma had to admit it was a distinct possibility. Oh well, he'd be able to say it to her before too long, he was sure. He daydreamed for a while about life with Akane, noting with pleasure that his future actually looked pretty good, so long as he never let her cook. He grinned at that, and it served only to lighten his mood further and make him feel more at peace with the world.

The idyllic feeling was shattered quickly. A small shriek of "P-Chan! P-Chan what happened?" cut through the air from upstairs. Ranma recognized the voice instantly as that of Akane's, and hurriedly dashed out of his room and down the hall to find out what was going on. He arrived there only to hear the water running in the bathroom. He ran in, and burst through the door just in time to see Akane about to plunge a very familiar small, black piglet into the steaming water of the bathtub. Time moved in slow motion as Ranma moved at a snail's pace to intercept the pig's descent into the water. His normally lightning reflexes and speed seemed more like lead weights as he launched himself at the disaster he was about to see unfold in front of him. The image of the pig slowly approaching the water was burned into his mind, almost as if his brain wanted him to remember with absolute detail what would most likely be his last moments on earth. If Akane found out about Ryouga and P-Chan, then she would probably kill the both of them.

Ranma caught sight of P-Chan's eyes snap open just as he was about to submerge. Time moving as slowly as it was, he could see the abject terror spread slowly across the little piglet's face as it discovered its current location and where it was headed. If Ranma lived through this, he was certain he would have nightmares about that face for the rest of his life. P-Chan squealed in abject panic and he struggled to escape her grasp, but was powerless to stop what was about to occur. Akane noticed none of this, and continued in her task to warm up P-Chan in an effort to revive her little pig. *SPLASH! * The deed was done.

Ranma's heart recoiled in terror as he realized what was about to happen, and he slowly sank to the ground, his mind reeling with thoughts of what was about to happen. Finally, he gave up trying to guess and slipped into a dark unconsciousness instead. As he fainted the last thing Ranma remembered seeing was Akane's eyes open wide in shock and terror.

Author's Notes: Glad for all of the positive reviews, thanks again. Here we'll take a brief rest from the WAFFiness. Don't worry, the story's gonna end happy (at least it's currently scripted to, I have made some small changes to my notes from 6 years ago, and there may be more later.) Things may get a bit darker for the next couple chapters, I cannot keep the level of happy-wonder-time up forever, I need some kind of event, some drama. Know what I mean? Anyhow, I'm tired as heck right now (couldn't sleep a wink last night. Literally stayed up the entire night because I couldn't get to sleep. Got me in a little trouble in class today, but not much) so I'll let you all have a crack at this chapter and let me know what you think!