AUTHOR NOTES
Hi everyone! Back with a new chapter, this is the longest I have written so far. The title should give you a clue of what's coming.
I really hope you enjoy it.
The sun bathed the streets with its warm caress, while a crowd of people were going back and forth, minding their own business. People going to work, students going to school, the usual routine for a Monday morning. This streak of days with good weather were appreciated by the people in general, but more enthusiastically by a girl in particular. Shampoo thanked the lack of rain because otherwise doing her errands would be a pain if she had to be constantly worrying about being transformed in a cat. She was riding her bicycle, on her way to get some ingredients necessary to prepare the Cat Café menus. She saw in the distance a group of girls in the Furinkan uniform that without a doubt were going to school. Shampoo sighed. She would love to go to school too, instead of having to work every day at the restaurant, and enjoy the normal things a girl her age would do. But she didn't have that luxury. She had to help her great grandmother with the restaurant to help pay for their expenses while they are here in Japan.
When she was passing by the girls, she overheard that they were talking about Ranma, which seemed strange to her, but couldn't discern the subject of the conversation. It looked important though. She turned the bicycle around and started to follow them at a close distance from where she could hear the chatting.
"Ranma punched Jiro in the face because he called him faggot." Said one of the girls with long brown hair gathered in a ponytail.
"That Jiro never was very bright." Replied another girl with short black hair.
"And Takeo told me that Kenzo and a few others refused to shower with him in the locker room, and told him to get out while they showered. They feared that Ranma could peep them while… you know… they were naked." Said the third girl, who styled her dark blue hair loose and falling below her shoulders.
'Ranma a faggot? He could peep other naked boys? What the hell was going on?' asked herself Shampoo, startled from what she was hearing.
One of the girls noticed that the amazon was following them and warned her friends, who stopped to face the blue-haired girl.
"Why are you following us?" asked the amazon the short-haired girl.
Shampoo got down of the bicycle, and got close to them. "You talking about Ranma Saotome right?" She asked them.
"You know him?" Asked the dark blue haired girl.
"Of course, he's my Airen. Why idiot boy called him faggot?" Questioned the confused amazon.
"You don't know? It turns out that Ranma is gay, and he's dating that strange boy with the yellow and black bandana. They say they're in love." Explained the girl with the ponytail.
Shampoo looked at them in all seriousness. A hint of a smile began to form on her mouth, and then she began to laugh out loud. What they were telling her was so absurd that sounded like a bad joke. "My Ranma gay? In love with stupid pig boy?" she managed to say before laughing again.
"It's true! There were photos all over the school of them kissing. Miyuki has one. Show her Miyuki." Said the short haired girl to the one with the ponytail.
Miyuki opened her schoolbag and took a photo from it. She handed it to Shampoo. The blue haired amazon felt like a knife pierced her heart. There was no doubt. The photo showed Ranma in girl form and Ryoga kissing, in the lips, and rather passionate. But why? Ranma never had done something like this for one of his schemes. Nothing was making any sense. It had to be that pig boy. He had done something to her Ranma and turned him gay.
Shampoo was fuming at the sight and the thoughts that assaulted her. She put the photo in her pocket, and mounted her bicycle, riding as fast as she could to the Cat Café.
"Hey! That photo is mine!" screamed Miyuki.
Shampoo ignored her yelling and kept pedalling. After asking for counsel to her great grandmother, she was going to find her 'Airen' and demand an explanation. How could Ranma, an example of manliness, fall in love with another boy? And Ryoga on top of that? It was surreal. She needed answers, and when she got them, she was going to kill that stupid pig boy for defiling her precious Airen.
Ranma was running as fast as her legs allowed her. Ryoga started work at 7:00 p.m., and the pigtailed girl had to leave at 8:00 p.m. so she could get in time to school from her new home. Therefore, Ranma needed to wake up on her own, and she had overslept. Didn't have breakfast to not waste any time, and after quickly changing to her male form, the then pigtailed boy run as fast as he could. The problem when you run at full speed is that you have little reaction time to unforeseen events, especially if you're not paying attention to your surroundings, like when a big sinkhole filled with water appeared in front of him. The water covered him just above his ankles, but was enough to trigger his curse, and thus she was now female again, with her feet and bottom part of her pants wet.
Finally, she could see the school gate. Several students were running too, not wanting to be punished by the principal. Unfortunately for her, Kuno was at the gate as well, wearing a bouquet of red roses.
'Damn, not again! This guy never gives up.' She thought depressed.
When she reached and passed the gate, Kuno received her with his usual verbiage.
"Oh, the most beautiful among the beautiful, my pigtailed goddess! Let me save you from the clutches of that unworthy peasant that has bewitched your mind. Let me embrace you and allow my love to release you from the spell that torments you!" recited Kuno, offering her the bouquet of flowers.
The first impulse Ranma had was punch the idiot to the stratosphere, but since she was already inside the school and there was no danger of being grounded, she could spare a few minutes and tried a different approach.
"Kuno, listen carefully. I'm not under any spell. No one is forcing me into anything. Can't you understand that I don't love you nor I want to date you? I have no interest in you! Put that inside your thick skull!" she tried to reason. "Please, stop this daily harassment. You won't get nothing of it."
"I see that that peasant must have been aided by the foul sorcerer Ranma Saotome, because the spell he cast on you is so strong that those words are not yours, but his. Fear not, my delicate flower, I Kuno Takewaki, the Blue Thund…" Kuno was interrupted by a punch to the face from Ranma that send him a few meters away until he crashed against the closest tree, and fell to the ground unconscious.
'I'm starting to lose the hope for my plan to snap this guy out from his delusions. He has a peanut instead of a brain.' Ranma thought while she run to her classroom. When she was about to enter the main building a familiar voice called her from behind.
"Ranchan!" called Ukyo. "I thought I wouldn't make it in time." She said stopping by Ranma's side, trying to catch her breath.
"Good morning Uchan! Nope, you made it just in time." Said Ranma smiling.
"I saw you trying to reason with Kuno. You know that's a lost battle honey." Said Ukyo with certainty.
"I know, but I wanted to try one last time. In the end, a waste of words." Ranma told her resigned.
"Why are you in your girl form?" asked Ukyo.
"Oh, I stepped into a sinkhole filled with water." Said Ranma shrugging.
"Ok, the usual I see. Let's go to class before it starts or we'll get grounded." Hurried Ukyo.
The two friends walked hastily to their classroom. All their classmates were already there, including Akane, and Hiroshi and Daisuke. As soon as they noticed the martial artist, the whole classroom went silent and stared at her. The two boys walked quickly to meet Ranma, and when she saw their faces she knew something was wrong.
"What's happening?" she asked.
"Ranma, someone has done something to your desk. It's…" Said Daisuke with a worried expression, but couldn't continue.
"Something to my desk?" Ranma asked, and walked to her desk decisively to see what had happened.
When the pigtailed girl saw it, her blood froze. There was a drawing on the desk, apparently made with a permanent marker. It was a caricature of her, as a boy or as a girl, it was hard to tell, sucking a big penis. Below the drawing they had written 'The cocksucker of Furinkan'.
Ranma's face couldn't get any redder, both of embarrassment and anger. She turned and looked at her classmates. They all were staring at her. Many of them were giggling, others were chucking, and others averted their gaze when it met Ranma's. Akane looked to her, but there was only sympathy in her gaze. The pigtailed girl never had dealt with something like this, this bullying. Suddenly she was having a hard time breathing, and anxiety was taking over her body, which felt like a giant rock was crushing her chest.
In that moment, professor Imamura, literature teacher, entered the classroom, and noticed that something was happening when she saw that the whole class was silent and staring at Ranma.
"Everybody, get back to your seats!" reclaimed professor Imamura. "Ranma, is something wrong?"
Ranma looked at her, not knowing what to say. The difficulty to breathe was increasing each passing moment, and the weight on her chest was unbearable. She couldn't take it anymore, and run to the classroom exit.
"I need to go to the restroom, professor!" she cried before disappearing past the door.
She run, not sure to where. It was too much. The pressure on her chest, the trouble to breathe, the overwhelming embarrassment and humiliation. Everything was too much for her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry. She needed to get that weight off her chest that wouldn't let her breathe. Then she saw the sign for the boy's restroom. She entered there, and slumped to her knees on the floor. She stared at that floor, not seeing it. She could only see that drawing of her, and her classmates chuckling and giggling. The contempt and animosity from them poured over her soul. After a moment, she started to cry. Tears forming in the corner of her eyes began to roll down her cheeks. She cried out loud, desperate, inconsolable, defeated. Ranma Saotome did lost. She lost to… a caricature. No… she lost to what that caricature represented. The hate many classmates felt towards her, their disdain and lack of empathy. Their intolerance. And she felt powerless to fight it, because this was something that she couldn't solve with her fists. How could she fight something like this?
Ranma kept crying. She couldn't stop. A lot of accumulated tension and stress in the past days was pouring out of her. She never had felt so hated, so despised. It was too much to handle, and she had exploded. Then she heard the door opening and panicked. This was the worst moment to be seen by another classmate. Luckily, Akane showed at the door, a sad and compassionate look on her face. The young Tendo girl kneeled beside her, and Ranma looked at her with her eyes filled with tears. The black haired girl embraced her in a tight hug. Ranma felt the warmth of her body, the strength of her arms holding her, and felt a little comforted. She remembered when Ryoga appeared in the Tendo's that night and hold her tightly too.
"It's ok Ranma. Please, calm down." The black haired girl said trying to soothe the pain and anguish her ex-fiancée was feeling. She couldn't believe that this hurt and vulnerable girl could be the same Ranma she had always known, but understood that anyone under this kind of pressure would feel the same.
After a couple of minutes, the weeping gave way to sobs, and the redhead started to calm down.
"I'm sorry Akane. I'm sorry I hurt you." Said the redheaded girl between sobs.
"I know. I'm sorry too. I'm responsible as well of what happened between us. And I hate what this people are doing to you. You don't deserve any of this." Said Akane rubbing the redhead's back.
Ukyo, Daisuke and Hiroshi appeared at the door too, worried about their friend.
"Oh Kami Sama" said Ukyo, heartbroken at seeing Ranma in such state. "I swear I'm going to pound whoever did this. How is he Akane?"
"A bit better. But he shouldn't get back to class now." Replied the Tendo girl.
"You're right. Take him to the school yard. Some fresh air will do him good. We'll explain to the professor." Said Ukyo.
Akane nodded, and helped Ranma, who was still sobbing, to stood up. The two girls walked out of the restroom under the concerned look of their other friends, and went downstairs to the school yard, while Ukyo, Daisuke and Hiroshi returned back to the classroom.
When the three students returned to their classroom, Ukyo went to talk with professor Imamura, and explained her that Ranma had an anxiety attack and that she needed some fresh air. The teacher understood it perfectly, and said that it wouldn't be any problem. She could skip the class until she was better. Then Ukyo asked her to say some words to the class. Imamura guessed what it could be, and allowed it.
There was a big murmur, with everyone gossiping with everyone about what happened. Ukyo had little patience in that moment, and couldn't contain herself.
"Silence!" she yelled as strong as she could, getting the whole class to suddenly shut up. She then continued. "Shame on you! Shame on you for treating Ranma like that, like… a freak! How many times has he defended us? How many times has he fought for his classmates? Even for our school? When has he ever said an ugly word to someone? And this is how you repay him? Treating him like garbage? You should be ashamed!" Said Ukyo out loud with tears in her eyes. Then she went to her desk and sat down, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. The class remained dead silent.
Meanwhile, Ranma and Akane were sitting on the grass under a tree's shadow, far away from the main building and from any of the students that were in that moment beginning their PE class. The redheaded girl was still sobbing, but at least the pressure on her chest was better. Akane was at her side, a hand on her shoulder and rubbing her back with the other, trying to console her, to calm her down.
"You can't let them hurt you like that Ranma. You need to be stronger than them, and more clever. If they see that they can hurt you, they'll keep doing it." Said Akane to the girl at her side.
"I know. But after what happened on Saturday, this was too much to bear." Ranma said between loud sobs.
"What happened on Saturday?" asked concerned Akane.
"Ryoga and I were taking a walk close to his home, and Mikado Sanzenin showed up. You remember him, right?" started to tell the pigtailed girl, a little more calmed.
"Yes, I remember him. From the skating challenge. My Kami, that was more than a year ago. What did he want?"
"He was who put all those photos of Ryoga and me. He told us that I ruined his skating career when I beat him, and that now he wanted to ruin my life. He insulted me, and when Ryoga tried to pound him, he drew a Taser gun and electrocuted him. It was horrible Akane, I've never seen Ryoga in such a pain. I still shiver when I remember." She told Akane, still trying to forget what she lived that day.
"I can't believe the guy. I always thought that he was a jerk, but I couldn't imagine that he was a psycho too." The black haired girl reflected.
"Yeah. The thing is, just as he was about to shoot me too, Ryoga's battle aura flared up, he ripped the wires from that gun out of his skin and gave Mikado the beating of his life. I had to get Ryoga off of him or he would have killed him." She remembered.
"Is Ryoga ok?" Akane asked, fearing that he had some permanent damage from the Taser gun. She couldn't care less about Mikado.
"Yeah, he's ok. You know how he is, tougher than a bull." Said Ranma with a timid smile.
Akane smiled too, and was relieved at seeing Ranma's mood improved, at least a little.
"Akane…" continued Ranma. "I never wanted to hurt you. Things weren't going well between us. Despite how much I loved you, we kept fighting, arguing. I didn't know how to talk to you. I'm sorry I failed you." She said with watery eyes.
"I failed you too Ranma. I never thought our fights would take you away from me. Kami, we've been fighting since the first time we met. But, no healthy relationship should be like that. I knew you loved me, but I thought that was enough for our relationship to work. I was wrong. Now I've lost you." Akane explained with teary eyes.
The pigtailed girl felt a great empathy for her ex-fiancée. She embraced her, holding her tight. Her own anxiety forgotten, at least for now. "You never lost me Akane. I'll always be your friend, and nothing will ever change that."
"Thank you Ranma." Said the black haired girl, squeezing the pigtailed girl. She wanted to say the same to the redheaded girl, but she was still hurt, and despite that she knew that she still considered Ranma a friend, she wasn't ready to say it out loud yet. She wasn't ready yet to leave what happened behind. At least, she felt that the first stone had been set to rebuild their trust and friendship.
When Akane didn't said that she was also a friend to hers too, Ranma couldn't help to feel disappointed, but she understood. Akane needed more time to cope with all of this, and she didn't mind to wait. She thanked greatly that at least they were talking again, which was huge to the martial artist.
"Now, what do you want to do? Would you like to get back to the classroom?" Akane asked her.
"Can we stay here for a little longer? I don't feel like facing them right now." Ranma replied pleading.
"Of course." Said Akane smiling. "We can get back later."
There was a tense silence in the dining room of the Cat Café. Shampoo, Mousse and Cologne were sitting around one of the tables, each one lost in thought. The elder matriarch was pondering what her great granddaughter had told her minutes ago. Her not-so-future son-in-law apparently was in love with his long-time rival Ryoga Hibiki, and they were dating. The photo Cologne had in her hand left little room to doubts. She did not foresee this outcome. She had noticed that the two young martial artist's rivalry had decreased notably in the last months, and the few occasions she had seen them together, they looked close. But to think that their new found friendship could lead to love? That was something she did not expected. This made her presence in Nerima pointless. She came here to help her great-granddaughter to marry Ranma, and despite his engagement to Akane, he never expressed an unmistakable preference for her or any other of his 'fiancées', so she had hope in convincing him to choose Shampoo. A strong warrior like him would prove an invaluable addition to the tribe. All that means nothing now. He had chosen, unmistakably, leaving Shampoo and any other out of the game. That Hibiki boy had surprised her. Who would have thought that he, among all the other suitors (and he even wasn't one of them to begin with), would end up winning the heart of the pigtailed boy?
"I will hunt down that stupid pig boy and I'll kill him. When he's dead, there will be no obstacles between me and my 'husband'." Was saying Shampoo in mandarin, visibly angry.
"Are you out of your mind Shampoo? He's our ally. He helped us in several occasions. Hell, I almost consider him a friend. And how do you think Ranma will react if you kill him? He will hate you, forever. You can't solve this situation with violence." Mousse was trying to reason with the blue haired amazon. This was the chance he had waited for a long time. With Ranma out of the market, once Shampoo accepted the new situation, he could finally try and make her love him, so he would help the new couple of young martial artists in any way he could.
"You won't do such a thing, Shampoo." Ordered the elder matriarch. "No one is going to be killed. You lost your chance. We must accept it." She said sighing.
"No, I won't! I love Ranma. I won't let that pig boy steal him from me!" she said with anger, and left hastily the Cat Café, willing to find Ryoga and make him pay.
"Shampoo!" screamed Mousse, and stood up to bring her back, but Colgne raise her cane and stopped him.
"Let her go Mousse. She must learn the painful truth by herself." Said the elder amazon.
"But what if she kills Ryoga? Ranma will hate her. He will hate us all." Replied the short sighted boy.
"Don't worry. The Hibiki boy is way over her level now. She won't be able to defeat him, let alone kill him." Reassured him Cologne.
Mousse wasn't totally convinced. He knew that Shampoo could be really resourceful. He better would keep an eye on her in case she crosses the line and really try to hurt Ryoga.
2 hours earlier.
Ryoga was dialling the phone number of the taxi company he found the other day, and when they answered the call, he gave them his home address and they told him that a taxi cab was going to pick him up in 10 minutes. The Lost Boy took a look through one of the windows. It was still dark outside. He sat down on the couch and waited. Ranma was still sleeping upstairs, and he worried about how this day was going to go for her at school. He wanted to accompany her of course, but she wouldn't let him, and now that he had a job, he couldn't even if she wanted, at least if he wished to keep the job. He hoped that at least, whatever the day reserved for her, she could handle it.
Suddenly, he heard a car outside. It had to be the taxi cab. Ryoga took a look through the window, and it was indeed, so he went outside, closing with care the door behind him, trying not to wake the sleeping redhead upstairs.
10 minutes later, he was at the entrance of the carpentry where he was about to start working. Ryoga was amazed. It did work. His idea to not get lost was working. If he would have tried to find the carpentry by himself, it would have taken him several days, if lucky, but with the taxi cab, 10 minutes.
He paid the taxi driver and exited the car. He looked around to locate the place, and saw a sign that read 'Hirata Wood Works'. The door to the carpentry was closed, so he knocked it a couple of times. After a few seconds, the door opened and a small man with dense grey hair that should be about 55 or maybe 60 years old greeted him. It was Yuzuru Hirata, the owner of the business. Ryoga already talked to him the first time he came here looking for work. He had given Ryoga the impression of being a very gentle and patient man.
"Good morning Ryoga. You're very punctual." greeted Mr. Hirata with a friendly expression. Ryoga couldn't believe that the day would come when someone would call him 'punctual'.
"Good morning Mr. Hirata. Thank you." Replied Ryoga timidly.
"Please, come in. I'll give you a quick tour and I'll present to you your co-workers." Said Mr. Hirata. Once Ryoga was inside, the older man closed the door, and walked a short hallway with lots of wooden planks leaning to the walls, with Ryoga following him.
As they passed the hallway, they entered a large room where Ryoga assumed the main business activity was to be conducted. There were several workbenches in different zones of the room, a big machine that seemed to be used to cut large boards, and tens of tools hanging from the walls. More wooden planks of different sizes were piled in several places. They seemed to be pretty well equipped for their job, and the place was clean (at least as clean as a carpentry could be) and well organized.
There were two men and a woman already there, picking tools and getting prepared to start the working day. Mr. Hirata called them to be introduced to the new guy. They stopped what they were doing and approached their boss and Ryoga.
"Guys, this is our new co-worker, Ryoga Hibiki. He'll start as an apprentice, but he seems to already have previous experience working the wood." Explained Mr. Hirata to his employees.
"This is Akio Eguchi. Our most veteran worker and an expert crafting furniture. His experience will prove to be very valuable to you while you're learning." Akio seemed to be on his fifties, a tall and little overweight man with broad shoulders and strong arms. He bowed to Ryoga and the Lost Boy did the same to him.
"This young man here is Katsuro Nomura. He's being with us over a couple of years now, and he's in charge of house construction, whichever piece needed: roof rafters, studs, ceiling joists, etc." Katsuro was in his twenties, not too much older than Ryoga. Slim complexion, he had his hair dyed to a light brown, almost blonde. The young man bowed, and Ryoga bowed too.
"Last but not least, my dear daughter, Reiko. She is very experienced, and like Katsuro, she specializes in construction parts. She's my greatest hope to keep the business running when I'm gone." said Mr. Hirata smiling.
"You still have a lot of years ahead of you Dad." Replied Reiko, smiling too. Then she bowed to the Lost Boy, him returning the bow to her. The young woman was close to 30, and had a slim figure and long black hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"A pleasure to meet you all." Said Ryoga timidly to his co-workers.
"See, our orders have increased to almost double in the last few months, and the four of us can't keep up with the demand. That's why we need a pair of extra hands, your hands, Ryoga." Explained Mr. Hirata.
"I'll do my best to learn quickly, Mr. Hirata, and I'll work my fingers to the bone." Ryoga said before bowing to his employer.
"Good. This is a hard job, but we treat everybody like family. Work hard and you'll have a future here. Ok, you can return to your work guys. You'll have the chance to know each other during the lunch break." Said Mr. Hirata to his employees. "C'mon Ryoga, I'll explain to you some basics." Told him his boss, and then proceeded to teach Ryoga how some of the tools he was going to use worked. It took him a while, and after that, he explained that the Lost Boy was going to help Akio with the furniture crafting and repairing, which satisfied him greatly. That was what he enjoyed the most the occasions he had the chance to repair or craft some furniture during his travels. Ryoga was looking forward to start. To him, this job seemed like something he could appreciate, and would help him and Ranma with their expenses, so to the Lost Boy, it was a win-win situation.
When Ranma and Akane returned to class, the redhead was fearing to have to attend the rest of classes in her desk seeing that horrible caricature, but to her great surprise, Hiroshi had cleaned the drawing with alcohol and now there was no trace of it. She was so grateful that she hugged him affectionately, causing the boy to blush and earning many stares from her classmates, but she didn't care.
Finally, it was lunch break, and Ranma, Ukyo, Hiroshi and Daisuke went to some quiet spot to eat their food. Akane joined them too, since she had finally made amends with her ex-fiancée. They found a big shadow under a tree and sat down on the grass there, away enough from the rest of students out in the school yard. They noticed some of them were looking at the group of friends, and Ranma grew a bit uncomfortable feeling like being watched.
"Don't worry for them Ranma, let them stare all they want. They'll get bored sooner or later." Said Akane to Ranma, trying to ease her nerves.
"Yeah, you're right Akane. I should ignore them." Replied the pigtailed girl.
"Who do you think did that drawing on your desk Ranchan?" asked Ukyo. "When I find out, I'm gonna smash their skulls with my spatula."
"I don't know. Seeing how many are treating me, the list could be long." Replied Ranma.
"I bet it was Jiro. He must still hold a grudge against you since you punched his face. And he was smiling when you saw your desk." Said Daisuke while eating a rice ball.
"It's probable. I don't want to think about that anymore for today. Can we talk about something else?" asked Ranma.
"No problem. I understand how upsetting this is for you." Replied Ukyo. She had something in mind that wanted to ask her friend. "Ranchan, I noticed that you're still in your girl form, while months ago you would have changed back to your male form by now. I wondered why."
"Yeah, that." Said Ranma, her cheeks getting pink. She knew that this was something that would end up coming up, and that she had to explain. "I didn't change back because… because I don't feel the need to do it anymore." She tried to explain while blushing.
"I don't understand." Replied Ukyo. The others wondered the same as Ukyo, so they were listening very carefully to what their friend had to say about it.
"I mean that I feel comfortable in my girl form. I'm starting to li… to like being a girl." She said, her face as red as her hair.
Her friends' mouths went agape to such reveal. Had they heard correctly? Ranma liked to be a girl? The redhead, seeing their expressions, tried to elaborate.
"I still like to be a boy, but I'm totally ok with being a girl too. Since some time now, I've been more and more comfortable when I'm a girl, and I have finally accepted the fact that this is part of me too. I guess that you think I've gone crazy." Ranma said looking at the ground.
They all negated with their heads. "Not at all Ranma." Quickly said Ukyo. "You're not crazy. From what you're saying, I understand that you grew so accustomed to your curse, that had become an essential part of yourself. You don't feel it as something alien to you. It's what you are now. I bet that you don't see it as a curse anymore."
"You're right Uchan, to me it's not a curse anymore, though sometimes can cause me trouble." Replied the redheaded girl. She looked at Akane, who seemed lost in thought, like if her revelation impacted her deeply. "Akane, are you upset with this?" she asked her worried.
Akane snapped from her trance, and stared at Ranma confused. "Upset? No Ranma, I'm not upset. Why would I?"
"I don't know." Replied her ex-fiancée. "You used to get mad with me when I did something girly."
"It's true." Akane admitted with a sad smile. "And look to where that led us, to drift away from each other. I don't want to be mad with you anymore Ranma. I want to listen to you, to understand you. What you just told us, it left me speechless, I admit it, specially getting so accustomed to the way you felt about your curse before, and how fiercely you defended your manhood in the past." Said Akane looking at Ranma directly in the eye. "But if that's how you feel now and you're okay with it, I have to accept that." Then she chuckled. "It still amazes me how much you've changed in the last few months. I can tell now."
"Thank you Akane. Yeah, I understand that this may shock you, remembering how I was. I'm just glad that I left all that behind. That misogynist crap my father put into my head, I couldn't bear it anymore. Each time I changed into a girl, that bullshit was driving me crazy with doubts and remorse." Ranma reflected.
"Your father… what a moron. I'm glad that you realized how stupid were all that macho speech." Said Akane. Ranma nodded, agreeing with her. Her life would have been much easier and her relationship with Akane would have been much better without the brainwash her father did to her, not to mention his stupid ideas, like throwing her into a pit filled with hungry cats.
"Ranma, then, you liking being a girl, I guess that means that you're ok with wearing girl's clothes too?" Asked Hiroshi.
"What are you thinking about Hiroshi?" asked Ranma with a mischievous smile. That made her friend to blush intensely.
"No, I didn't mean…" Hiroshi said waving his hands defensively.
"Easy man. I'm just messing with you." Ranma said giggling. "Yes, I'm ok wearing girl's clothes. I don't feel self-conscious with them anymore. That doesn't mean that I'm ok wearing them in my male form, so if I get splashed with hot water while being a girl and wearing them, I would die of embarrassment, like I always did the few occasions it happened." Explained the redhead, still feeling flushed about revealing this type of thing to anyone. But these were her friends, her true friends, and she could trust them with personal stuff like this. "Luckily, being splashed with hot water is a lot harder than with cold water." She added.
Suddenly, the bell rang, announcing the students that they should get back to their classrooms. Ranma and her friends picked up their food leftovers and stood up, walking to the main building, chatting on their way to there. Ranma wished that the rest of classes would pass quickly. She really wanted more than anything to be home, with Ryoga.
The school day had ended, and hundreds of students were leaving the school to return to their homes. Ukyo had left in a hurry since she had to work in her Okonomiyaki business, and Hiroshi and Daisuke had already left too. Only Ranma and Akane were still together, walking peacefully to home. Luckily the anxiety attack had passed, and Ranma was feeling better, though she still couldn't forget what had happened in class this morning. It lightened her mood that at least Akane and her were talking now, and she felt that their friendship was still there, despite the fact that Akane couldn't say it out loud yet. The pigtailed girl had something in mind that could improve their relationship. It was something she wanted to do since a couple of days before, but now could be a perfect time.
"Akane… I'm… I'm thinking that my female wardrobe is pretty limited. Some of my clothes are just disguises, and… I wanted to do some shopping. Would you like to come with me?" asked the pigtailed girl sheepishly.
Akane smiled at the offer. This was something new too: Ranma asking her to go shopping. "Of course I'd like Ranma. When do you plan to go?"
The redhead thought for a moment. "How about this afternoon? I really need new clothes."
"Ok, this afternoon then. And where do you want to go?" asked the Tendo girl.
Ranma blushed a little. "I… I was hoping that you could choose for me. I don't have a lot of experience at this."
Akane smiled again to her friend's timid expression. This clearly wasn't Ranma's natural environment. "Don't worry. We can go somewhere close. The Hikarigaoka Mall is a good place, and it's here in Nerima. Will Ryoga come with us?"
"I haven't told him yet. I'm not sure if he'll like to go shopping for clothes. To tell you the truth, I'm not a fan either, but at least now I don't see it as torture." Ranma said while chuckling.
"I understand you. I remember when we went with your mother to buy clothes for Ranko. You had a tough time the entire time we were shopping." Recalled Akane with a smile. She contributed a little to make the experience harder for her ex-fiancée because she was pissed at her that day. "Well, I'll pick you up at Ryoga's at… say 5:30 p.m.?"
"Perfect! Thanks Akane. I really appreciate it."
"Don't mention it. I'm glad that we can do things together again." Said Akane.
"Me too. Ok, I have to go this way. I'll see you this afternoon." Said Ranma with a warm smile.
The two girls said goodbye and then took separate ways to their respective homes, each one with a lot to think about, not knowing that certain young amazon was scouring every last place in Nerima to find a certain Lost Boy.
After saying goodbye to his co-workers, Ryoga was outside the carpentry waiting for the taxi cab that would take him back to his home. He was really satisfied with how the day went. Mr. Hirata was impressed at how quickly Ryoga had gotten the hang of using the tools and repairing and fixing furniture. And Akio, Katsuro and Reiko were good people. He got to know them a little during the lunch break. Akio had two sons, one still a teenager and the other one starting college, a bit older than Ryoga. Katsuro was saving money to get married with his betrothed, Eiko, and hoped to persevere in the carpentry. Reiko on the other hand, was single, and had no interest in boyfriends or marrying for now. She wanted to learn as much as she could her father business so she could continue his legacy. She was Mr. Hirata only child and he had high hopes on her.
Finally, Ryoga's transport arrived, and he got into it. The taxi driver apologized for the delay, explaining that there was some heavy traffic at this hour, and it could take them a little longer to get to Ryoga's home. The Lost Boy didn't mind. Any delay was insignificant compared to how long it would take him to get home on his own.
Nearly 20 minutes later Ryoga was inserting his key in the front door's lock of his house, and a moment later he was inside.
"Tadaima!" he called.
"Okaerinasai!" Ranma's masculine voice greeted him from the kitchen. The pigtailed boy appeared in the kitchen's door and then went to Ryoga and hugged him tightly. "I missed you. I'm so glad you're here."
Ryoga hugged him back, then tenderly took his chin and forced the boy to look at him. "Of course I'm here. I told you my plan would work, silly."
"I know, I know. But I was worried that something could go wrong and you would get lost. I can't bear the idea of losing you, not knowing when I'll see you again. Not anymore." Said Ranma, and then approached his lips to Ryoga's and claimed them, giving him a demanding kiss that asked for reassurance and comfort. Ryoga gave him that and more, showing him how much he cared for him and how much he understood his concern. When they parted lips, Ryoga noticed that Ranma was crying.
"Ranma please, there's no need for that. You're not going to lose me. Even if I get lost, I will always come back to you." Said the Lost Boy, trying to soothe Ranma's fears. But Ranma didn't calm down. Tears kept falling down from his eyes, and Ryoga realized that this was due to something else. "Ranma, There's more, right? Something else has happened. In school?"
The pigtailed boy nodded, but kept silent. Ryoga insisted. "My love, please tell me. What they have done?"
"They… they hate me Ryoga, and it's tearing me apart. They drew something on my desk… it was… me, sucking a… a c-cock, and they wrote 'the cocksucker of Furinkan' below." Ranma explained between sobs, remembering how he felt. Ryoga's face was turning red with anger. "When I saw it, and they saw my reaction, they laughed and giggled. I never felt so humiliated and embarrassed in my whole life. I couldn't breathe and my chest felt like a car was crushing it… I run away to the restrooms and collapsed there."
"Bastards! Why they have to do this? I'll smash their heads with my bare hands" said the Lost Boy, barely containing his rage.
"I don't know who did it Ryoga! And I don't want you to fight my battles." Said Ranma, staring at Ryoga's eyes.
"But I can't stand seeing you hurt! You can't ask me to do nothing when you're going through this alone!"
Ranma remained silent for a moment, understanding Ryoga's frustration.
"I'm not alone. When I get back here, you're with me. I have you. Being with you ease my pain. And right now I don't need a vendetta. What I need right now is that you hug me tightly. I need you… to kiss me..." The pigtailed boy said to his irritated boyfriend with pleading in his blue eyes.
Ryoga brought his lips close to Ranma's, touching them tentatively and then locking them in an affectionate kiss. Ranma stroked the dark hair of the Lost Boy, feeling his locks between his fingers. Ryoga reached his hand to caress the pigtailed boy's neck, the skin was soft under his hand. The Lost Boy realized that Ranma's male body shared that with his female body, the softness of his skin. Then Ryoga focused again on the kissing, on feeling Ranma's lips and his warmth.
Getting intimate when both were guys was something that made them a bit uneasy, but right now, they forgot about it completely. The only thing that mattered to them in this moment was that they needed each other.
When they separated, Ryoga hugged Ranma affectionately, with the pigtailed boy resting his head on the Lost Boy's shoulder.
"You're right. You're not alone. Because no matter how far I am, I'll always find my way to you." Said Ryoga with love in his eyes.
Then Ranma, still embracing his boyfriend, separated a bit so he could see his face. "And no matter how long you're lost, I'll always wait for you." He replied. Ryoga smiled. 'I'll always get back to him, and he'll always wait for me. It's a good deal.' The Lost Boy thought.
The pigtailed martial artist remembered his shopping afternoon with Akane, and asked his boyfriend. "Changing subject, would you like to come shopping with me and Akane this afternoon? I have very few clothes, and I thought that I could buy a few more."
Ryoga blinked a couple of times, not sure if he heard well. "Did you say with Akane? So you talked to her and it went well, right?"
Ranma nodded, smiling. "When I had the anxiety attack and run to the restrooms, while I was crying slumped on the floor, Akane appeared and hugged me, helping me to calm down. She couldn't be angry with me anymore. She's still hurt though, but we're making progress."
Ryoga couldn't be happier, and kissed Ranma again. He knew how much the pigtailed boy cared for Akane, and that his conscience was nagging him for hurting her.
"That's great! That's a first step Ranma. Of course I'll go with you. She's my friend too and I want to apologize properly and be on good terms with her. Are she coming here?" asked the bandana boy.
"Yeah, at 5:30 p.m. Let's sit down on the couch and wait for her. I'm dying to know how your first day at work went."
Ryoga explained to his curious boyfriend how his day went, describing the workshop, telling him about their co-workers and his boss, and how impressed he was with his learning of the tools and his experience. Ranma was glad that his boss was happy with him. He knew from the times they had travelled together that the Lost Boy was quite handy with tools and manual labour.
The young couple stayed on the couch for a while, chatting lively while waiting for the youngest Tendo girl. When it was a little after 5:30 p.m., the doorbell rang.
"That must be Akane." said the pigtailed boy, who stood up and went to open the door.
Indeed, Akane was there when the door opened. She looked beautiful in her floral sundress and dark brown short boots. A pink headband decorated her dark hair. She smiled as soon as she saw Ranma.
"Hi Akane!" greeted Ranma cheerfully as he smiled. "You look great. Please, come in."
The young Tendo girl walked inside, and Ranma gave her a tight hug. She hesitated for a moment, but hugged him back. When they separated, she asked him. "How are you Ranma. Feeling better?"
"Yeah, I'm better now. Thank you for being with me this morning. It meant a lot." Answered the young martial artist.
"I couldn't stay there watching you suffering and do nothing, Ranma."
Then, Akane realized that Ryoga was there too, waiting to greet her. She walked to him, noticing that he was a little nervous.
"Hi Ryoga. How are you?" She said with a timid smile.
"I'm fine. I… I'm glad to see you." Greeted Ryoga sheepishly. "Akane, I wanted to… apologize for how things ended up. I know you must feel…" he struggled to find the correct word.
"Yes, I do…" Interrupted Akane, knowing what he meant. "But I'm doing my best to accept the new situation. I blame myself too for what happened. Just give me some time, ok?"
"Of course Akane." Replied Ryoga with a sympathetic look.
"Well, Ranma needs new clothes, so let's focus on that." said the young Tendo girl. For now, she just wanted to enjoy a nice afternoon shopping. There will be time to talk about their problems another moment.
"You're right Akane, let's go do some shopping." Ranma said, in a very female voice. She was coming from the bathroom drying her red hair with a towel.
"You're coming as a girl?" asked curious Ryoga while picking up his wallet and keys.
"Yep. I need girl clothes, so it will be easier this way. You don't expect me to try them as a guy, right?" Answered the damp redhead with a playful grin.
"Yeah, silly me." Said Ryoga, embarrassed for not realizing that. He could be a little dense sometimes.
"Shall we go then?" asked the Tendo girl.
"Of course!" replied in unison the young couple.
Many people walking down the street was startled at seeing a girl with blue hair and two chuis jumping from one rooftop to another with ease. Shampoo had been searching for the Lost Boy for hours now, and there was no trace of him. She had no idea that his parents had a house in Nerima. She didn't know either that Ranma had been cast out from the Tendo residence, so she was totally ignorant that the couple were living in Ryoga's house. She just assumed he should be camping in some empty lot or park, so she went to every one of them she knew of. No luck in any, and she had gone to the Tendo's just in case he was there with Ranma, but none of them was there. They had to be together somewhere. The sole idea of that stupid pig boy touching lovingly or kissing her 'airen' made her blood to boil.
She was near Nerima Subway Station and didn't know where else to look. Suddenly, a struck of luck. From the rooftop where she stood, she saw Ranma's unmistakable red hair, and with her were Akane and Ryoga. Finally! She now could make him pay for what he had done to Ranma, but the redhead was with him too. That could make things difficult. Fortunately, she brought a bottle of water just in case things with Ryoga got rough and that way turn him into a piglet. He would be way easier to kill in his cursed form.
"Shampoo wait!" called Mousse behind her, startling the amazon.
"What are you doing here Mousse? Get back to the restaurant and don't interfere!" Shampoo told him in mandarin.
"What are you going to do? You're not planning to kill Ryoga, aren't you?" he replied in mandarin too.
"Of course I'm going to kill the stupid pig boy. He stole my 'airen', and when he's dead, there won't be more obstacles between me and Ranma. And if Ranma doesn't love me, at least I'll get satisfaction for my honour." Replied the angry amazon.
"What honour? No law from our tribe allows you to do this. Are you listening to yourself? This is madness! You're not thinking straight." Tried to reason Mousse with her, and he jumped in front of her, blocking her path to her target.
"Stay out of my way Mousse!"
"No! I won't let you do it! Think of the consequ… cuaaack, cuaaaak!" Shampoo splashed the amazon boy with the bottle of water she had before he could react, transforming him into a duck, and then she knocked him with one of her chuis.
"Sorry Mousse. You don't understand how I feel." She said, leaving the unconscious duck on the rooftop and jumping to other one to get closer to the three friends. She decided that she would wait until Ryoga would be alone before attacking him. She didn't want to face Ranma, and definitely she would be in disadvantage against both of them.
The three youngsters entered the subway station, and Shampoo followed them close enough to not lose them, but not too close they could spot her. They entered one of the subway wagons, and the blue haired amazon entered the train too, two wagons behind theirs. She now had to be patient to succeed in her plan and finish off their absurd idyll.
After taking the subway at Nerima Station, the young couple and Akane got off at Hikarigaoka Station, just a few minutes from the mall. The plan was to get a couple of dresses and a couple of everyday clothes. That was for her girl side, because for the moment, Ranma felt that she didn't need more male clothes, but now that she was going to spend more time in her girl form, she needed to expand her female wardrobe. 'When I became such a flirt?' she thought.
The mall was a succession of corridors and shops of different types, with a huge central space with escalators to go to the second floor. The couple of martial artists, being the first time they were there, noticed a predominance of clothing shops, but there were grocery stores, restaurants and some souvenir shops as well.
They went to get first the everyday clothes. Akane was leading. She had been there before with her friends and even with Kasumi, and knew well the place. They entered a shop specialized in everyday wear that would suit perfectly Ranma's needs. Lines and lines of garments were exposed in hangers and in multiple mannequins. The trio could see trousers, jeans, shirts, t-shirts, jackets and many other garments that attracted the attention of the young redhead.
After some browsing, Ranma and Akane, with Ryoga following closely, picked several possible candidate garments to try them in the dressing rooms. The Lost Boy, after promising several times to the girls to not move from there, waited patiently at the entrance of the dressing rooms, wondering when Ranma had become so picky with her clothes, considering that up until they started dating, she only wore Chinese style clothing. Maybe this was something she wanted to do for some time, but never dared because if frightened her what other people, including Ryoga, could think of her. Or maybe she just wanted to try new things. Anyway, she looked happy doing it, and to him, that was all that mattered.
After 15 minutes, the two girls got out of the dressing rooms with Ranma holding a small pile of clothing that Ryoga assumed were the chosen ones, and Akane with another pile that had to be the discarded ones. After paying at the checkouts, they exited the shop with a bag filled with clothes. Ranma was aware of their limited budget, so she only picked a few garments, but she was very satisfied with the chosen ones, so they went upstairs to the second floor to get the dresses.
As soon as they arrived to the second floor, they started to do window shopping, looking for something close to what Ranma was looking for.
"What kind of dresses do you have in mind Ranma?" asked Akane.
"Well, a sundress would be nice, now that summer is getting closer, with the skirt not too short and not too long, and sleeveless. I want a cheongsam too. You know that I love Chinese clothing." Answered the redhead beauty.
Ryoga imagined his girlfriend in the cheongsam, tight-fitting her body, enhancing her figure, showing her beautiful long legs, and nearly had a nosebleed.
The pigtailed girl noticed her boyfriend reaching his hand to his nose, guessing why he had that reaction and smiled. "Are you ok ho…Ryoga?" she quickly corrected. Ranma didn't want to be too affectionate with Ryoga while being with Akane, at least for now. Though the Tendo girl was better, she was still hurt and the redheaded girl didn't want to add salt to the wound.
"Ye… yeah, I'm fine." Replied the Lost Boy embarrassed.
"I think I know the perfect store for that Ranma, and it has good prices. C'mon." said Akane, grabbing her ex-fiancée's hand. A gesture that warmed Ranma's heart, and that didn't go unnoticed to Ryoga, who smiled.
A couple of minutes later, they were in the shop Akane had in mind. This one was a little smaller than the other one, but it had a more elegant look. It had exposed sundresses, night dresses, party dresses, cheongsams, lingerie and underwear in different mannequins. They even had shoes to go with the dresses. It appeared that they could find everything here, so they started to browse.
When Ranma had several outfits to try, they went to the dressing rooms. Just like in the other shop, Ryoga waited outside the room and Akane went inside with Ranma. But then, unlike in the other shop, Ranma came out of the dressing room with a dress on, a very colourful elescat sleeveless sundress.
"What do you think?", she asked her astonished boyfriend.
Ryoga took a good look. The skirt of the dress reached mid thighs, exposing a good portion of her pretty and long legs, her slender arms were exposed as well, and the cleavage showed just enough to not be provocative. She looked stunning, and the Lost Boy went agape at the sight. "Emmm… yo… you look beautiful." Said Ryoga with wide eyes. The redhead giggled at her astonished boyfriend.
"Good. I like this one too." She said still smiling.
Ranma went inside again and came out a couple more times with two other sundresses, which looked equally stunning on the redhead. The three youngsters concluded that the first one was the best. Then it was the turn for the cheongsam, and Ranma had only picked two to try. One of them was red with beautiful floral pattern which skirt reached below the knees. It was very elegant and suited the pigtailed girl like a glove accentuating her beautiful figure. Ryoga liked it a lot, again making him sweat a little at the beautiful sight... until Ranma came out with the second one. It was white with floral and bird print, but with a mini skirt that exposed much of Ranma's legs beautifully. And to further accentuate the voluptuousness of the dress, it showed a generous open neckline that closed at the neck with a golden brooch, deliciously compressing the redhead's chest. The outfit was topped off with a pair of beautiful red high heels. The whole dress screamed sensuality and elegance.
The Lost Boy could only think in that moment that he had in front of him the most beautiful and sexy woman he had ever seen in his entire life, and how lucky he was that she loved him. A nosebleed was threatening again to happen and he had to look to one side to avoid an embarrassing situation, blushing intensively. Ranma saw the dark haired boy reaction, and felt a mix of flattering and flushing, satisfied that the dress had the effect on Ryoga that she was looking for, but wondering if it maybe was too much provocative.
Akane was observing the two youngsters and how they looked at each other, and saw the love they professed. She understood that she and Ranma could not have reached that kind of love, nor they never had such complicity. She sighed with sadness, realizing how blind she was during so much time.
The three martial artists got out of the shop after paying the dresses, each one of them carrying a bag, and looking for the stairs to go downstairs and exit the mall to get back home. While walking, Ryoga saw a litter of puppies at the window of a pet's shop that reminded him of the time Shirokuro had her own puppies, and he and Akane went to his house to attend them. He smiled remembering how a jealous Ranma, disguising herself as his fake sister, tried to boycott his attempt to hit on the Tendo girl, and the mayhem they caused. He then wondered if Ranma was really jealous of him or of Akane, and that maybe then, the redhead already had some feelings for him without knowing. Unaware of where he was heading, he took the opposite direction to his companions. Ranma and Akane didn't notice, because they were chatting about the dresses they just purchased and weren't aware that Ryoga was getting away from them.
"…Both dresses are really nice. And the everyday clothes will come in handy. I only had handful of outfits I can wear for my girl side. The rest were directly ugly, or ridiculous." The redhead beauty was telling Akane. "Don´t you think Ryoga?" she asked, and turned to look at her boyfriend, but he was not there. "Ryoga!?" she stopped and looked around trying to find him. "Oh no, no, no!"
"Where has he gone? He was just beside us!" said Akane concerned.
Ranma started to feel again the pressure on her chest. She knew that this could eventually happen, but after several days together, she didn't take it seriously. "Ryoga! Ryoga please! Where are you!?" she yelled, trying to get him to hear her and looking desperate in every direction.
"Ranma let's separate. We'll meet here again in 15 minutes." The redhead nodded and the two girls took different directions walking hastily trying to find the Lost Boy, who unfortunately was now honouring his nick name.
Ryoga cursed his damned imprudence. Now he had no idea about how he was gonna find Ranma and Akane. At least he knew he still was in the mall. 'No matter what, don't leave the building Ryoga, or you may end up in another city.' he told himself. But what should he do? His best option was stop moving and stay where he was. That way, they may find him eventually. He looked around in case he saw his girlfriend or Akane, to no avail. He sighed. So lost he was in this thoughts, that couldn't sense a fast chui strike coming directly to him from behind. The impact was brutal, hitting him in his back, and sent the Lost Boy flying towards a near shop window, breaking the glass and getting him several cuts in arms and legs. Luckily, his skin was so hard that the cuts were not too deep. With difficulty, feeling the pain in his back and from the cuts in his limbs, he stood up, and saw Shampoo in front of him, armed with her characteristic twin chuis and an enraged expression in her face. People around were looking with a mix a fear and curiosity, moving away to a cautious distance.
"Shampoo, what are you doing!? Have you lost your mind!?" yelled the Lost Boy to the angry Amazon.
"Shut up! You stain my Airen, so me make you pay, stupid pig boy!" yelled back Shampoo, who was changing into an offensive stance.
Ryoga had to think fast. He could not use ki attacks here with so many people, or someone could get hurt. Even without ki attacks, the possibility of hurting someone was really high. He had to take Shampoo out of the mall to open ground.
"Shampoo, if you want to fight, we'll fight, but not here. There's too many people that can get hurt!" He tried to reason with the amazon.
"Shampoo not care for people. Shampoo only care to kill you!" and she jumped towards Ryoga at incredible speed with her chuis ready to strike again. The Lost Boy dodged a first hit rolling to one side, the chui impacting in the floor and leaving a big hole where Ryoga stood an instant ago. However, Shampoo expected his movement and she reached his other chui directly towards his face in the direction he dodged, impacting him straight on his cheek, sending him flying again outside the shop towards the passage, where he rolled several times on the floor before he could stop and kneel, placing his hand on his sore cheek. Then he realized that he had lost the bag with Ranma's dresses. Before he could take a look around to search the bag, Shampoo rushed to him again waving one of the chuis to smash his head, but he saw it in time and rising his arms, he blocked the strike, quickly hitting her legs with a sweeping kick, and before she could touch the ground, he launched a powerful punch that hit the amazon directly on her chest and send her crashing into a vending machine nearby.
In another part of the mall's second floor, Ranma kept searching for her lost boyfriend, when she saw groups of people running and heard an intense ruckus. 'What the hell is happening?' she thought, and decided to find the source of such mayhem.
Shampoo was trying to stand up, holding herself to the vending machine with difficulty due to the intense pain in her chest. Ryoga saw that he didn't had much time before she attacked him again, and tried to bring the battle outside.
"Shampoo, if you want to keep fighting, fine by me, but you'll have to follow me out of here!" he yelled, hoping that his plan could work. Then run away in the opposite direction to the amazon.
"You come back, coward!" she yelled, still a little dazed. A few seconds later, she started to chase the Lost Boy.
Ryoga realized one thing. He had no idea of how to get out of the mall. To him, the succession of passages and corridors looked like a maze. He kept running in random directions, trying not to collide with the people there, and hoping that by chance he could find an exit.
Shampoo kept chasing the Lost Boy, still at some distance, puzzled by the apparent meaninglessness of his runaway. "Stupid pig boy, stop already and face Shampoo!"
Then Ryoga had a stroke of luck. An emergency exit was beside a coffee shop, and he run directly to it, opening the door bluntly almost reaping the door out of its hinges. A moment later he was outside, in what looked like an elevated parking lot. Lines of cars parked were spread throughout the zone. He then run to the space with less cars he saw, and stopped, waiting to finally face the vengeful amazon, not averting his eyes from the emergency exit.
A couple of seconds later Shampoo appeared through the exit, and she saw him. The amazon then jumped from the roof of a car to another, until she landed in front of the bandana boy, a few meters away.
"Shampoo, can we talk this peacefully!?" Ryoga tried again to reason with her.
"Shampoo not here to talk. Here to kill!" shouted the blue haired amazon. Then she closed the distance between them in a split second, and threw a roundhouse kick aiming to Ryoga's head.
The young martial artist blocked the kick with his arm, and grabbed Shampoo's leg. With all his might, he threw Shampoo away, who flew through the air at an astonishing speed. She crashed into a van, plunging the bodywork of the side with a loud bang. He did not wait for her to recover though. Ryoga wanted to finish the combat as soon as possible and then, maybe, try to reason again with her. He jumped to her, a fist ready to strike, but a second before he could land his attack, the amazon threw one of her chuis with all her strength to him, hitting his face violently, and threw him a few meters to the side. The impact was really painful, considering that the ball of this weapon was made of steel and weighted several kilograms.
Ryoga felt like the world around him was spinning, and sensed something warm falling down the side of his face. He touched it and when looking at his fingers, he saw that it was blood, his blood. The chui impact caused a deep cut on his right eyebrow, and the blood was entering his eye, losing the vision from it. He cursed his stupidity, launching himself so recklessly to his opponent. The Lost Boy tried to wipe the blood from his eye with the sleeve of his sweater, but with the other eye he could see that the crazed amazon was standing up with some difficulty, and it wouldn't take her too much time to attack him again.
Ryoga tried to stand up and adopt a defensive position, since he was still stunned and the vision from his right eye was blurry. Shampoo looked at him, and smiled seeing her chance to end his opponent. She was ready to attack him when someone yelled at them, calling her name.
"Shampoo! Please stop this! Stop fighting!" Ranma shouted, running to them with Akane right behind her.
The Amazon didn't listen. Her thirst for revenge had overtaken her will. She rushed towards the dazed black haired young man, who was having trouble standing. 'He's mine.' Thought Shampoo with her right hand in chopping position ready to strike and break Ryoga's neck. When she was almost over him, the Lost Boy crouched and touched the ground in front of him with his index finger, shouting "Bakusai Tenketsu!".
A huge explosion launched hundreds of small and medium-sized fragments of pavement directly at the astonished amazon at great speed, digging into her skin, causing cuts and bruises all over her body, and the blast sending her a few meters backwards, until she hit the ground with a resounding thud. A big hole rested where Ryoga executed his technique and a lot of dust was suspended in the air.
Ranma and Akane arrived in that moment to where Ryoga was. She felt a shivering when she saw the cut and the blood all over Ryoga's right side of his face.
"Oh Kami Sama, you're injured." Said the redhead with a lump in her throat, as she held Ryoga, making sure he didn't collapse to the ground. "Akane, please, hold him for a moment." She asked to her friend. Then Ranma tore off the sleeve of her Chinese shirt, and folding it to create a bandage, pressed it over the cut on Ryoga's eyebrow, trying to stop the bleeding. She took a look at Shampoo, who was still lying where she landed without moving. Then she turned again to her boyfriend.
"Are you ok Ryoga? Please tell me you're ok." Asked the redheaded girl with worried eyes, still pressing the makeshift bandage over the Lost Boy's wound.
"I'm ok, just a bit dizzy. The cut looks worse than it is." He said reaching his hand to her cheek. She embraced him tightly.
"When we saw the damage inside the mall, the worst things came to my mind. Thank goodness that you're ok." She said. "I expected some kind of reaction from her, but I couldn't imagine something this violent."
"Me neither. She was like possessed. I've never seen Shampoo so angry." Said the Lost Boy to his girlfriend.
"Guys, she's moving." Akane warned the couple, who instantly turned their heads to the beaten amazon, who was indeed making some movement, and they heard her groaning. "You think she'll want to keep fighting?"
"The Bakusai Tenketsu hit her squarely. She should be in no condition to fight anymore, at least for a while." Told them Ryoga.
"I didn't think that technique could kick so hard." Commented Ranma.
"Normally? No. But this time I focused the whole blast in her direction with my ki, multiplying its strength."
Ranma nodded, rising an eyebrow. "We should check on her. Make sure she's not badly wounded." Said the redheaded girl.
"Ok, but be careful." Ryoga asked her. "I'll be right next to you."
Ranma walked to where Shampoo was laying, surrounded by a field of debris. Multiple cuts could be seen all over her body. The blue haired amazon was trying to sit up. Ranma kneeled beside her and helped her.
"Shampoo, are you all right?" asked the young redhead.
"Airen? Is it you? Where's stupid pig boy?" Shampoo said reaching a hand to her head.
"He's here, but you're done fighting, ok?" said Ranma more like an order than a petition.
"Why? Why you date a boy? Why you date him and not Shampoo?" asked still confused the beaten amazon.
"Because I love him, Shampoo. We've been through a lot, and in the last months we got really close." Tried to explain the redhead.
"But you like girls. You don't like boys. You were always telling you so manly." Said the amazon in her broken Japanese.
'Not this crap again' Ranma thought rolling her eyes. "Shampoo, I like girls, but I like him too. Being manly has nothing to do with this. I'm sorry that this is hurting you. I know it's hard to understand, but you have to. I love Ryoga, and nothing will ever change that."
The amazon girl stared at her 'Airen', tears rolling down her cheeks. She couldn't understand what could Ranma see in someone like Ryoga, and why he suddenly liked men, and that frustrated her deeply.
Ranma embraced the crying girl, and the amazon thanked the warm hug. It comforted her a little that at least Ranma was showing her some empathy, instead of hating her for trying to kill Ryoga.
"C'mon Shampoo, will take you to the Cat Café. The old ghoul will treat those cuts and the one Ryoga has on his eyebrow." Said the ponytailed girl, helping the bruised girl to stand up.
"Thank you, Air..Ranma" said the blue haired girl with teary eyes.
Akane watched all the scene, and couldn't help but feel sympathy for the amazon. Being in love with Ranma, this was a bad pill to swallow, and she could understand better than anyone, how hard was all this to accept. She wouldn't had tried to kill Ryoga, of course, but for a crazy amazon with crazy tribal laws and customs, something like this was totally plausible.
The group started to walk to the exit of the parking lot. Some people there was staring at them with frightened expressions. The group of martial artists wanted to get out of there before the police arrived a started to make questions about all the destruction caused, and what it was worse, make them pay the bill for it.
A moment after they started walking, Ryoga realized something. "Oh shit! I lost the bag with the dresses. I'll get back to the mall to get it back."
"And how do you plan to find the place where you lost it without getting lost yourself?" asked Ranma stating the obvious.
"Oh, right. I'm sorry I lost it Ranma." Said Royga, looking at the floor ashamed.
"You don't need to be sorry Ryoga, we found the bag when we were looking for you." Said Akane smiling and rising her hand holding the missing bag.
The Lost Boy left out a long sigh of relieve. "Thank goodness."
"You just worry about pressing hard that bandage over your wound, lover boy." Said Ranma with a playful smile. "Don't you dare to faint on me."
END CHAPTER NOTES
I've never worked at a carpentry, so I had to look some info and photos about how it would look like who it would be to work there. I hope I did not messed it up too much. Apologies for any mistakes made.
For the anxiety attack that Ranma has, I based it on one I had a long time ago, so the symtoms are totally real. I wish nobody had to experience something like that.