Chapter Four

Ranma entered the kitchen the next morning, finding Akane leaning against the counter and drinking a glass of water, wearing her jogging clothes and looking slightly sweaty from her morning run. She looked over at Ranma, who had slept in the guest bedroom for the second night in a row. They hadn't exactly made up from their fight yesterday, not that either one of them had made a big effort to do so. He didn't meet her eyes as he entered the kitchen, saying only a small good morning before grabbing things for breakfast. Akane watched him work, looking at his clothes with wide eyes.

"That's the shirt I bought for you," Akane said suddenly. "and those jeans. I got those ages ago and you told me you didn't want them. Why the change of heart?"

Was he trying to make it up to her? Was this his silent way of apologizing for yesterday? Wearing the clothes she'd given him? Ranma simply shrugged as he cracked an egg into the frying pan.

"Just felt like a change, I guess. My old stuff is startin' to get a little tight in places." he replied.

"Are those clothes okay? You never go with me to get clothes for you so I just have to guess your size on everything, and what you might like." Akane said, running her finger around the rim of her glass.

"They're fine. Perfect fit." Ranma muttered, trying to make his egg sunny-side-up, but he spilled the yolk out and cursed under his breath, quickly mending the broken egg the best he could.

Akane smiled, and set her glass on the counter. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him from behind. She felt his back tighten, then slowly relax.

"You look good in that. I haven't seen you in clothes like these since..." Akane trailed off, realizing what she'd almost said. Ranma didn't have to hear the whole sentence to know.

...Since four years ago, when you were with Ryoga.

Then I stopped wearing them and went back to my old Chinese shirts so I could properly live my lie.

Ranma closed his eyes tightly, shutting out that impossible voice of reason he'd come to hate so much, even though it was his own voice. Yet it sounded so much older, for some reason. Wiser...as if it knew some big secret and was keeping it from Ranma, and mocking him for being such a naive child. Ranma frowned deeply at this thought.

Akane bit her lip, her arms still wrapped around him. She reached up high on her tip-toes to lightly brush her lips on the back of his neck.

"Eggs'r done." Ranma mumbled. "You having some?"

Akane smiled. "Sure," she said. "but c'mere for a second..."

She turned him around, reaching up and kissing his lips slowly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, gently moving her lips along his. She broke away, and gave him a sweet smile, her eyes liquid chocolate in their softness.

"The eggs'll burn." Ranma said simply, turning around and scooping all the eggs onto a plate. Akane glared at the eggs, which weren't close to being burnt. She took a step back, her eyes digging into his back. He didn't seem to notice, taking out some pieces of fish and then going to make some toast.

Akane muttered under her breath about going to wash up before breakfast, then walked out of the kitchen. Ranma waited in silence for the toast to be ready, drumming his fingers on the counter and feeling a small weight on his chest, pressed against his bare skin from the inside of his new shirt. Ranma's fingers felt around the collar of his shirt, touching the golden chain hidden underneath, his eyes far away.

Then the toast popped up, and Ranma quickly jerked his hand away, realizing what he'd been doing.

After breakfast, Ranma went along with Akane to get groceries. The excursion was fairly quiet, aside the occasional reply to certain questions or remarks. As Akane went to grab something at the end of the aisle, Ranma quickly snuck a carton of ice cream into the cart, darting his head around to see if she'd caught him. At the register, when Akane pulled out the extreme double chocolate ice cream (with brownie peices) Ranma looked away, pretending to be interested in the silly celebrity scandals on the magazines.

When they got home it was nearly time for Ranma's adolescent class in the dojo. He went upstairs to get changed into his gi. Standing in just his white gi pants, he looked down at the chain around his neck, holding the golden band, twinkling up at him almost teasingly. Ranma frowned down at it, considering taking it off for his lesson. He pinched the ring between his first finger and thumb, holding it up. Ranma sighed loudly, and threw on his gi top, tying his black belt aroud his waist. Then he went down to the dojo to set up for his class.

After about twenty minutes his students arrived and he started with a warm up, then made them start on the kata he'd been teaching them. He walked around the training hall, commenting here and there, making corrections in form and posture. When the long exercise ended, he told the class to take a breather, which they eagerly accepted. The throng of teenagers went to grab their bags for bottles of water or snacks, chatting amongst each other. A boy came up to Ranma, looking flushed from his work out.

"What's up, Chiaki?" Ranma asked.

"Washroom, sensei?" the boy, Chiaki, asked.

Ranma nodded, telling him the directions to the bathroom, and the boy thanked him and left. Ranma went to grab a towel to wipe the sweat from his brow, talking to a group of enthusiastic boys who were wondering if they were going to have sparring matches today.

"Saotome-sensei?"

Ranma looked up at the call, which came from the entrance to the dojo. There stood Chiaki, his face confused and slightly freaked out. Curious, Ranma walked over to the boy, who kept looking over his shoulder at something while Ranma walked up to him. The dojo was starting to quiet down, low murmurs floating around while Ranma padded across to Chiaki.

"What is it, Chiaki?" Ranma asked.

"Um, there's a man here, sensei. He, er...he kinda...um, leapt over the wall, and when he spotted me he ran over and asked for you. He's waiting outside." Chiaki replied.

"That so? Okay, thanks." Ranma said, brushing past the confused boy. The murmurs intensified as Ranma walked out, wondering if this anonymous man was a challenger or dojo destroyer, come to face the great Ranma Saotome.

Ranma senced a presence as soon as he exited the dojo, and looked to his right. His chest tightened as he saw Ryoga standing there on the small porch outside the dojo. He was wearing his large travel pack, had some dirt stains on his yellow shirt, and his hair was a little frazzled. Ranma took in the sight of him, and calculated that Ryoga had most likely left the vacant lot yesterday, after he'd run off. Then he got lost in a forest somewhere all night, and just made it to the dojo now. Though this was an impressive feat; Ryoga usually got himself lost for a week or more.

Ranma crossed his arms over his chest, and kept a short distance from Ryoga, which Ryoga either didn't notice or didn't care about. Ranma shifted on his feet, feeling uncomfortable. It still felt like the pig was feeling him up with his eyes alone, the way he stared at him. The gaze was so intense Ranma could feel it tingling his bones. Ryoga's hazel eyes were lit with something that Ranma felt shouldn't be in the eyes of his rival. Something that made Ranma feel like Ryoga was looking right through him, looking into the very core of his being and grabbing onto his soul.

"What're you doin' here?" Ranma bit out sharply, flicking his braid over his shoulder with his hand. He caught the tiniest smile flash across Ryoga's features before he quickly covered it up. Ranma frowned, wondering why he'd suddenly smiled.

"I came here to-" Ryoga began.

"I'm teaching a class right now, man." Ranma cut in bluntly. "Can't this wait until later?"

Ryoga shook his head, and took a step closer. "No, this can't wait. Otherwise I'm going to chicken out." Ryoga said. "Look, Ranma, I came here to give you something. That's all. After that, I'm leaving right away, I promise."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Give me somethin'?" he echoed. "I don't think you've got anythin' I'd want, pighead. If yer handin' out souvenirs go see Akane. Ya always used ta give her stupid little gifts. I don't want any."

"This isn't a stupid little gift, Ranma. It's very important. It's a memoir of trust and loyalty. A tie between two people that can never be severed. A promise to-"

Ranma held up his hand. "Alright, enough. Yer startin' with the whole melodrama bit." Ranma said. "So, what is this thing, if it's so important?"

"This," Ryoga said simply, reaching into his shirt collar. It was a old string, but hanging at the end of the string was a shiny golden band. Ranma's eyes widened at the sight of it, and his throat closed up, leaving him unable to speak. He could feel the ring against his skin, as if it was searing his flesh. As if on instinct Ranma reached up and pulled his shirt more tightly closed, hoping the golden chain around his throat hadn't been visible.

"...So what is that?" Ranma asked stupidly, feigning ignorance.

"It's my wedding ring." Ryoga told him, pulling the string up over his head. He walked up to Ranma, holding up the ring. "I've kept it with me this entire time, of course. You and I always wore our rings around our necks. I did it so I wouldn't lose it, you because you didn't like it around your finger."

Ranma could feel the little circle pressing into his hand which still held his gi top tightly closed. Ranma didn't even try to argue they had never been married, and that Ryoga was telling lies. Somehow, that just seemed too stupid, even for him.

How can you deny it with the truth tied around your neck?

"So you're sayin' you're going ta give this to me?" Ranma asked, keeping himself stone-faced.

"Yes, I am." Ryoga replied. He chuckled nervously, and a forced smile pulled his lips. "Although, I really don't want to."

"Well, how the heck does that make sense?" Ranma blurted. "If ya don't want to give it to me, don't give it ta me!"

"I have to." Ryoga said, closing his eyes. "I have to."

"Now you're not makin' any sen-hey!" Ranma suddenly cried out as Ryoga grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand up. In his other hand, he held the string. The ring dangled over Ranma's upturned palm.

"I want you to hold onto this for me, Ranma." Ryoga told him quietly. "Take care of it for me. When the time comes, give it back to me."

"Whaddaya mean, 'when the time comes'?" Ranma asked, very confused.

"When you've made your choice." Ryoga said. "You either give this back to me...so that I can have something to remember us...or, you give it to me so I may proudly wear it to show that I'm yours."

Ranma went red at this and opened his mouth to yell at him, but suddenly the cool ring was dropped into his open palm, and Ryoga closed his fingers around it. Before Ranma could do anything, Ryoga bent down and kissed the knuckles on his closed fist, and gave his hand a squeeze in both of his. He looked up at Ranma, his eyes a mixture of many things that Ranma was still trying to decipher long after Ryoga dashed off and jumped over the wall again.

Ranma stood still, looking down at his closed hand. Opening it slowly, he stared at the shimmering golden ring lying in a bed of old ragged string. His lips pulled into a tight line, a pout, a frown. Then he sighed roughly and pulled the string over his head and tucked the ring inside his shirt. Then he walked back inside to resume his class.

Later on, after Ranma was finished his class, he went upstairs to take a bath, sweaty from his workout. He stripped out of his gi and threw the clothes in the hamper, and was standing in his boxers filling a pail with cold water when he realized he was still wearing the necklaces. Looking in the mirror, he noticed that the chain and string were wound up in each other, and Ranma brought his hand up to pull the two strings apart.

A tie between two people that can never be severed.

Ranma's hand stopped as the voice rolled through his head. He watched his reflection in the mirror as emotions rolled across his face, then down at the rings. Ranma pulled off both necklaces at once, then untangled the strings. Then, he undid the latch on the gold chain of his necklace, and looped it through Ryoga's ring, then clipped it back together again. He held up the necklace, which now held the two gold rings at the end, one overlapping the other. It looked as if they were looped around each other, held by two seperate strings.

A tie between two people that can never be severed.

Placing the necklace on the sink, Ranma got himself ready to enter the bath.

"Why couldn't you propose to me with somethin' I can actually work with?"

Ryoga looked up from a magazine he was reading, seeing his fiance looking very agitated by the doorway to Ryoga's bedroom. Ryoga closed the magazine and sat up in his bed, looking confused.

"Like wristbands," Ranma said suddenly. "I can wear wristbands."

"I'm not following you." Ryoga said.

Ranma huffed, walking further into the bedroom. He held up his left hand and pointed at the gold band around his third finger.

"This bloody thing!" he snapped. "It just gets in the way!"

"You've never worn a ring before. You're just not used to it." Ryoga told him calmly.

Ranma crossed his arms. "I can't get used to it. I just tried to do a work out, and when I punched the practise dummy, I nearly broke my finger because I forgot the damn ring was on it!" Ranma whined, tugging off the ring and frowning at his hand. He stormed up to Ryoga and showed him his hand.

"Look! It's brusied and I can barely move it!" Ranma complained, demonstrating by trying to move his ring finger, but the finger merely twitched.

"Ouch. It is brusied." Ryoga said, taking Ranma's hand in his and running his thumb over the damaged finger. He gave it a small kiss. "Better now?"

He looked up to see Ranma struggling to frown at him, a deep blush on his face. He sighed loudly and plopped down beside him on the bed, Ryoga still holding his hand.

"No." he grumbled.

"Really?" Ryoga kissed his finger again. "How about now?"

Ranma tried to keep the frown on his face, but wasn't doing well. "No..."

"Now?" Ryoga kissed it again.

"Ryoga!" Ranma laughed, shoving him away and pulling his hand free. Ryoga chuckled, sitting back up and looking at the ring in Ranma's hand.

"I guess we'll have to do something about this, huh?" he asked. "We can't have your ring hurting you all the time."

Ranma snorted. "No, we can't. I'm not going to just not wear the ring, though. I mean, I wanna wear it, but..."

"I know. Why don't we wear them in a different way? Hey, they could be toe rings!" Ryoga suggested brightly.

Ranma punched his arm. "Ryoga, be serious!" Ranma said with a laugh.

"Hey, I was totally serious. Okay, why don't we wear them as necklaces. We can find something to hold them with. You wouldn't even have to wear it all the time, and you could wear it under your shirt. Easy to take off, and you'd never lose it." Ryoga suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea..." Ranma said quietly, nodding along as he placed his ring on the bedside table. He flicked his braid over his shoulder with his thumb.

Ryoga chuckled, and Ranma looked up at him and raised his eyebrows.

"You always do that," Ryoga explained. "flick your pigtail over your shoulder. It's one of your little habits. I don't know why, but it's sort of like a weird turn-on when you do that."

Ranma gave him an odd look. "You weirdo."

Ryoga laughed lightly, leaning closer to his fiance. "I don't do little unconscious things that secretly arouse you?" he asked, in the huskiest voice he could muster. Ranma stuck his lip out at the voice, his cheeks going a little pink at the twinkle in Ryoga's eye.

Ryoga watched Ranma as his eyes darted down and his brow furrowed, his thinking face. Another thing he did that always made the butterlfies stir in Ryoga's stomach. Ryoga smirked at this thought as he watched Ranma.

"You twiddle your fingers." Ranma mumbled suddenly.

Ryoga barely heard him, he'd said it so quietly. "What?"

"You twiddle your fingers." Ranma said in a clearer voice. "When you get nervous, or put on the spot, or you're having trouble saying something, you start to play with your fingers."

Ranma was bright red.

"You did it when you confessed to me." Ranma added quietly. "That you liked me."

Ryoga leaned over and kissed Ranma's cheek. Ranma looked at him, his face asking what the sudden kiss had been for. Ryoga just shook his head, smiling, and pushed Ranma onto his back, straddling the pigtailed boy's hips and covering him with kisses. Like usual, things got very hot very fast, and clothes got in the way.

Ranma groaned as Ryoga kissed down his neck, his breath hitching as Ryoga found the right place inside of him. Ryoga made sure to hit the same place again, nibbling on Ranma's collarbone. Ranma bit down on his lip, groaning in his throat, but the intensity built and he opened his mouth and

Ryoga's eyes shot open and he instantly groaned in disappointment, realizing it had all just been a dream. He sat up in his sleeping bag feeling something inside demanding to be taken care of, not pleased Ryoga's dream had ended so abruptly. Ryoga shut his eyes tight, his fangs digging into his lip.

His mind brought back the image of Ranma standing in front of him, wearing his gi. His face was agitated, his eyes fierce, his mouth in an angry pout. His mouth formed words but there was no sound. He flicked his braid over his shoulder with a quick snap of his thumb.

Ryoga groaned. Why did he have to be so sexy when he was mad?

Ryoga flopped back down and stared up at the ceiling of his tent, his face set in a deep frown. It was a start. At least, now it seemed like Ranma didn't deny their relationship like he used to so vehemently at first, at the mere mention of it. That was a sign of progress. Somewhere, deep down, he was getting through to his Ranma. When Ryoga had pulled his ring out, he'd seen Ranma's expression. How his eyes widened, how he stared at the ring. That was his Ranma. Slowly but surely, he was breaking through Ranma's barriers and getting through to him. He just needed to push a little further. Once he'd successfully broken down all of Ranma's mental walls, it was up to Ranma himself to make the final decision.

Ryoga thought deeply about what he should do, as the image of Ranma flicking his pigtail played again and again in his mind.

Meanwhile, Ranma lay in his futon, once again sleeping in his old bedroom. He'd been doing this unconsciously the past few nights, never once considering his wife down the hall in her bed, wondering for the third night in a row why he wasn't in bed with her.

He played with the rings around his neck, twirling them around in his fingers as he stared up at the ceiling. His face set in a deep, concentrated expression he thought about the events of today, his emotions, his actions, all of it. Over and over the feeling of Ryoga's lips kissing his hand, the ungaurded expressions on his face, came to his mind. Ranma sighed deeply, thinking to himself about what on earth he should do.

When he finally fell asleep, he had a very vivid, uninterrupted dream about wedding rings, habits, and a very sudden but satisfying lack of clothes.

Author's Notes:

Holy hell, what a short chapter. :I

I want to hopefully to keep this story under ten chapters...although I'm not making any promises to myself. However I've got a lot of things I want to cover in the next few chapters, so I'll probably be making them longer so I can cover more ground in fewer chapters. I just needed to get this chapter out of here, because at this point Ranma is in a balancing act, on the cusp of deciding his feelings, and if they are for Ryoga or Akane. After this chapter, he starts heading more in one direction, which will ultimately drive the plot for the remaining chapters of the story.

So, what will Ryoga do next? Find out in Chapter Five of Vow!

Till next time,

Jadells