An Intervening Strategy, Part I [Ranma 1/2, Ryouga/Ranma/Akane, R]
Title: An Intervening Strategy: Part I
Author: rosethornli
Rating: NC-17 over all, R for this part
Pairing/Characters: Ryouga/Ranma/Akane, Nabiki, Soun, Kasumi, Genma
Word Count for this Part: 2885
Summary:Ryouga is confused, Akane has a plan, and Ranma has a little help getting what he wants.
Post Chapters 243 (Carpe Deum) and 244 (Quit Carping!)
Prompt: 19 - Ranma 1/2, Ryouga/Ranma(/Akane): Waking up gay(/bi)--"It's the curse! It must be part of the curse!"
A/N: I’m sorry this is late! D: I-it just wouldn’t stop. T_T There’s another part, yes, which should be up by the end of the month! Thank you for your patience.
“rosethornli”---
Ryouga had been gone longer periods of time than this, but somehow, coming back just then, it was as if everything had changed. It was so confusing.
Returning to Nerima was supposed to go like this: find Ranma (by asking someone to lead him to the Tendou Dojo or Furiken High), fight Ranma and either, a) defeat him in combat or b) be tricked by his cowardly, deceitful ways, and repeat. If he arrived in the area as a pig, Ryouga would first spend several days in the comfortable existence as P-chan and then declare a battle.
Ranma and Akane-san should not be walking down the street hand in hand and laughing together like they were on some sort of d-d-date! Especially because Ranma-kun was now Ranma-chan and wearing a skirt and blouse and looking comfortable.
‘He’s swinging his hips,’ his dumbfounded mind noted while another part muttered right after, ‘What a great ass.’ But Ryouga was good at a thing called denial and barely noticed.
Anger relieved him of any sense of reason he may have had. Ranma and Akane-san were not a couple, no matter that they were ‘engaged’; Ranma had plenty of fiancées that he was playing around with!. What had Ranma done to Akane-san? Because everything, every injustice in the world, was all Ranma’s fault.
A hand clenched tightly on his umbrella’s handle, he withdrew it from his backpack’s straps and made ready to charge in, spouting death threats and destroying property.
Only to freeze, mid-strike, when Akane-san said his name.
Kicking the opposite wall in order to reverse his flip, Ryouga handed on a telephone pole, umbrella open and poised for balance. The wire in front of him was positioned like a tightrope, but he dropped down the ground instead, landing silently, and stowed his umbrella, for the moment. He peered around the pole, the sign exclaiming: ‘This is a no stalking zone; The Concerned Citizens of Nerima’ going unnoticed above his head.
‘They’re talking about me! Oh, Akane-san, have you finally come to your senses?’ he wondered hopefully, tears at the corners of his eyes.
Maybe Akane-san was showing Ranma the joys of womanhood to convert him from his perverse ways into a pious life as a woman. It would suit his eternal rival, to live out his days as a housewife to one of the many men he had wronged instead of running wild and destroying other lives.
‘Ranma-chan in a apron, garter belt and black lace panties was asking him, “What would you like first: dinner, a bath, or…” Her breasts were right in front of him, so near they nearly brushing his chin. Seductive blue eyes gazed coyly up at him, and in a husky whisper, Ranma-chan finished, “me?”’
Blood stained his upper lip, dribbling down from his nose. He wondered if he was getting a cold, and wiped the mess away with one of his many bandanas. The ruined fabric was pocketed as his ears once again perked up at the mention of his name.
“Ranma-kun, you haven’t seen Ryouga-kun?” Akane asked, sounding concerned. “It’s been nearly two months. Shouldn’t he be back by now?”
Akane-san was worried about him! Light feelings burst in his chest, and he could hear bells chiming and angels singing and smell roses in the breeze. Oh happy day!
Like always, Ranma just had to ruin his moment of joy.
“Nah, he can take care of himself. Don’t need tah worry ‘bout him, Akane,” Ranma replied in his rough way of speaking. Very unlady-like. How were people fooled enough to think he was a real girl? He was better as a guy.
“But, Ranma--” Akane was pouting, just a little, at the edge of irritation. She was one comment away from balling up her fists and refusing to listen.
“He’s fine, aright?” Then Ranma glanced over his, er, her shoulder and looked him right in the eye, sending a shock wave through the lost boy’s body and freezing his muscles. Ryouga couldn’t move under that burning gaze. “In fact, I’m thinkin’ he’s pretty close by.”
“What? Where?” Akane-san glanced around futilely, trying to sense the surrounding ki but only coming up with civilians in the surrounding homes and Ranma’s (admittedly) vast reserves.
Ranma still had his eyes locked with Ryouga when he said, “Well, he should be around here somewhere,” and finally, after what seemed like years and maybe a few lifetimes, looked away.
Ryouga spun around and pressing his back up against the cold metal pole, heaving to catch the breath he had somehow lost under that stare. ‘W-what was that?’ His heart was pounding in his chest, trying to burst free and run, run very far away. But he was no coward! He wasn’t going anywhere!
Those eyes, heated and knowing, reverberated in his mind.
Okay, so he was going somewhere, but no because of Ranma! No, he just had better things to do. Like convince his weak knees to start moving so he could (run very far away) get going.
---
That night, he set up camp in a vacant lot somewhere in what he thought was Kyuuhu and had a meager dinner of ramen noodles and jerky. He ate in silence, finishing quickly, and cleaned his pot with water from his flask. It would air dry overnight.
After making sure that yes, all of the coals were out and there was no chance of a fire, Ryouga retired to his tent and went straight to bed. It was easier on him when he slept in his cloths; one never knew what could happen out in the wild!
Zipped up tight and warm in his sleeping bag, Ryouga drifted off soon after, letting out faintly snoring breathes in the real world, and waking to something quite unexpected in his dreams.
‘Ranma-chan in a silky red dress, low cut and showing her assets, hugging her curves and leaving nothing to the imagination, stalking toward him, slow and deliberate. The moonlight coming in at just the right angle from the balcony of some expensive hotel room to shine on the woman, lighting her from behind. White marble floors and white marble walls and thin, silky drapes swaying in the breezy night air brought in from the open glass doors; so expensive and glamorous and sparkling clean .
A smile on her lovely face, lips dark and luscious, tauntingly kissable, leaning toward him. Ranma-chan saying in a husky voice, like a low purr (which didn‘t make sense, since his rival was so terrified of cats), “Ryouga-kun, what do you want?”
Him unable to reply, so stunned by her beauty, overwhelmed by her charm.
A hand caressing his chest, feeling the hard muscle underneath jacket of his suit. (Why was he in Western clothes?) Red hair tickling his neck as the sensuous young woman leaned forward, molding her curves against solid frame, whispering breathily in his ear, “Do you want me, Ryouga-kun?”
Soft and yielding, the flesh beneath his hesitant hands, cradling her slim waist. Thin arms around his neck, a husky voice in his ear, questioning.
Something wasn’t right about the body against his. So very nice: a willing, wily woman playing at seduction was a dream come true to any healthy young man; but something, something just wasn’t working, it wasn’t--
The molded softness turned to hard planes of muscle, those thin arms becoming stronger, thicker, more defined, complete with boarder hands fisted in his hair. Ranma-chan turned into Ranma-kun and she, now he, pulled his head away from Ryouga’s neck so they were face to face, the man now taller by an inch.
Heated blue eyes (not just drawn from his imagination, but from his memory) boring into him, translating longing and desire into his be fumbled mind. Ranma, his rival, looming over him with a self satisfied expression, holding their bodies tightly together, an arm around his waist keeping him pressed close, a hand slowly sliding down his back and along his spine with increasing intensity, another between his legs.
Ryouga, blushing a bright red from his ears down to his neck, glowering up at his hated rival.
“Do you want me, Ryouga-kun?” Ranma purred again, face too close, blurring in his eyes. That promising hand finally reaching its mark, squeezing and kneading his ass cheek.’
Waking up hot and sticky but unsatisfied in the middle of the night, Ranma’s looming face burned into his mind’s eye, a gasping ‘yes’ on his lips.
It took a few minutes of stunned silence until Ryouga was able to pull himself together and angrily shout his thoughts, “Ranma! This is all your fault!” The lingering disappointment he pushed back, shoving it roughly away into the part of his mind that held doubts of his claims for vengeance. In a fit of flailing, he cursed the day Ranma had been born, tearing at the covers. In the end he only managed to tangle himself up in his sleeping bag even further, the more he wrestled to escape.
Two blocks away, Ranma sneezed in his sleep, and grumbling, turned back onto his side.
---
It was Ryouga’s decision to go on a training mission, to somewhere as far from Nerima as possible, that had led him into the middle of the woods. He’d scouted the place out and noticed an abundance of small game, enough to feed him for several weeks, added to his supplies. The layout of the trees and sparse clearings was familiar somehow, but he shrugged that off, know that even with his sense of direction he could be anywhere twice.
Deserted but for the game, it was most clearly the perfect stop, and he didn’t have to worry about seeing that bastard any time soon! Ignoring the faint twinge in his heart, Ryouga finished setting up his tent and stowed his bag inside, leaving the umbrella to practice with.
Kata came to him as naturally as breathing; he went through the movements fluidly, repeating them and drawing from the repetitiveness a sense of peace. The only time his thoughts did not plague him was during practice sessions. He held no anger in the forms, or any kind of sadness, becoming one with the movements and loosing all sense of individuality; there was his body and the art, nothing more, nothing less.
Widening his stance and diminishing it, shifting smoothly from foot to foot, raising and low arms and legs in perfect, practiced motion. To an observer it would be beautiful.
A twig snapped some hundred yards away, pulling his mind back from wherever it wandered and putting his instincts on alert. Someone was close, he could tell; someone with training, by their footsteps.
Ryouga shifted into a defensive position, irritation building slowly toward anger. Who dared interrupt his practice?!
“Hello? Is anyone there?” a female voice called out nervously. “Hello?”
Akane-san?
His irritation evaporated, confusion replacing it. What was she doing in the wilderness? Was she lost? Had something happened?
“Excuse me?” she called again, a maiden lost in the woods. Of course he would have to help her!
Stampeding in the direction of her voice, Ryouga broke hanging branches and expertly sidestepped roots to get to her.
He burst through the foliage right behind her. “Akane-san!” he cried, arms outstretched to embrace.
Akane-san turned around and smiled at him, a sparkling aura appearing before his eyes. “Oh, Ryouga-kun, there you are.” She was heavenly in the light of the sun, shining through the leaves just to add to her radiance.
His love was truly an angel from above! He stopped in his tracks in order to thanks the Heavens for gifting the Earth with such a divine being, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Akane-san cleared her throat.
His eyes snapped toward her, all signs of his worship relapsed immediately by attentiveness.
“It’s good to see you, Ryouga-kun,” she said. “Have you been back very long?”
Akane-san had missed him! Oh happy day!
“N-no,” he replied nervously, fiddling with his belt. Inwardly he cheered and cried happy tears at her words, overcome with by her mere presence. Ryouga couldn’t think straight, half caught up in a happy fantasy where they lived happily ever after (without a Ranma to be seen).
“Oh,” she said, hands behind her back, eyes toward the ground. “Do you want to come over for dinner?”
“Yes!” he burst out.
The high school freshman rewarded him with a happy smile. He made to follow her.
Then she said, “But shouldn’t you put out your fire first?”, pointing to the smoking rising above the trees.
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah! I’ll go pack my camp! Be right back!”
Poor Ryouga took off in the opposite direction.
Akane called out, stopping him in his tracks, “Ah, let me show you the way!”
“Okay!” he said happily, grinning widely. She took his hand and he followed obediently, basking in her simple touch.
Only a small part of his mind wondered where he was, and why Akane-san was out here in the middle of nowhere with him. But Ryouga didn’t question it, because the woman of his dreams was talking to him, honest to goodness touching him. That was enough to shut down any rational thinking brain cells he had.
---
Dinner turned out awkward.
“So, how are your travels, Ryouga-kun?” Nabiki-san asked with a smirk, head propped up on her hand by her elbow. He could swear she was snickering.
“F-fine, thank you,” he stammered nervously. Akane-san passed him a bowl filled with rice, sitting to his left. Ryouga took it gratefully and began eating, glaring at his rival out of the corner of his eye. Ranma sat on his other side, calmly devouring his meal as if Ryouga wasn’t there at all.
Ignoring him.
Ranma, that jerk, was just plain rude! With an irritated snort, Ryouga wondered, Why should I care? Well, I don’t! Just another black mark on Ranma’s manners, not that the slob had any in the first place. Poor Akane-san.
A voice interupted his tense thoughts, and he glanced up. “Where have you been recently?” He would have thought it a polite query if it hadn’t come from Nabiki’s mouth.
“Nowhere, really,” he muttered into his food, eyes downcast.
Not only was Ranma pretending he didn’t exist, but Saotome-san kept glaring at him. Next to him, Nabiki looked smug and kept a smirk on her face, not the usual ‘I know what something you don’t’ but more of a ‘I know something about you and I’m not telling’, like whatever it was that concerned him amused her to no end. Tendou-san was lost in thought, staring blankly at the table with no expression, and Kasumi-san had disappeared into the kitchen.
This was getting even weirder. Everyone was acting strange! Was he missing something here?
For a few moments he stared awkwardly at the table, fidgeting with his chopsticks, careful not to break them. Then, Kasumi asked politely from over his shoulder, “Would you like some more tea, Ryouga-kun?” She was carrying a tray of steaming clay mugs.
“A-ah, yes, thank you,” he said in a small voice. He trade his empty glass for the mug, blushing at the bright smile directed at him. The Tendous always had the best green tea; he took a sip and smiled back shyly.
Akane-san’s oldest sister nodded her acknowledge of his thanks. She carried onto Ranma, and Ryouga’s eyes resumed their former position: studying the color and shape of his food.
He felt eyes on him and glanced up side long. Now Ranma was staring openly at him, something unreadable darkening his eyes, and the heat of Saotome-san’s glare doubled. Their combined stares killed any lingering confidence for conversation he’d had left.
Instead, Ryouga concentrated on his food and drink and tried to ignore the goings on around him.
It didn’t work too well.
Akane-san, right next to him, leaned over to refill her plate before that jerk Ranma ate it all and her arm brushed his hand and he could see down her shirt and really it wasn’t his fault he was looking down. He couldn’t fight the blush, turning bright red from the tips of his ears to the back of his neck, or the thin line of blood trickling from his nostrils.
Kasumi leaned over from her stop at the table, frowning in concern. “Oh my, are you all right?” She tried to get a better look at his face.
Mirroring her expression, it was a miracle Akane wasn’t shouting about perverts. “Ryouga-kun?”
He couldn’t meet her eyes, face still doing an impression of a fire engine.
They were worried. “You don’t look so good,” Akane-san said, reaching out a hand to check his forehead.
Ranma took that moment to grab his wrist and before Ryouga could audibly protest, drag him out of the room, saying, “C’mon, lost boy. I’ll get you somethin’ for that.”
“There are towels in the cabinet!” Kasumi called after them, rising from her kneeling position. More softly she continued, still frowning, “I do hope Ryouga-kun is alright…”
Saotome-san grumbled angrily, muttering something about proper behavior and ‘that damn boy’. The Tendos ignored him, Akane glowering at Ranma’s behavior and Nabiki snorting in amusement. She was looking forward to how all of this would play out.
Part II- NC-17 or R
Author: rosethornli
Rating: NC-17 over all, R for this part
Pairing/Characters: Ryouga/Ranma/Akane, Nabiki, Soun, Kasumi, Genma
Word Count for this Part: 2885
Summary:Ryouga is confused, Akane has a plan, and Ranma has a little help getting what he wants.
Post Chapters 243 (Carpe Deum) and 244 (Quit Carping!)
Prompt: 19 - Ranma 1/2, Ryouga/Ranma(/Akane): Waking up gay(/bi)--"It's the curse! It must be part of the curse!"
A/N: I’m sorry this is late! D: I-it just wouldn’t stop. T_T There’s another part, yes, which should be up by the end of the month! Thank you for your patience.
“rosethornli”---
Ryouga had been gone longer periods of time than this, but somehow, coming back just then, it was as if everything had changed. It was so confusing.
Returning to Nerima was supposed to go like this: find Ranma (by asking someone to lead him to the Tendou Dojo or Furiken High), fight Ranma and either, a) defeat him in combat or b) be tricked by his cowardly, deceitful ways, and repeat. If he arrived in the area as a pig, Ryouga would first spend several days in the comfortable existence as P-chan and then declare a battle.
Ranma and Akane-san should not be walking down the street hand in hand and laughing together like they were on some sort of d-d-date! Especially because Ranma-kun was now Ranma-chan and wearing a skirt and blouse and looking comfortable.
‘He’s swinging his hips,’ his dumbfounded mind noted while another part muttered right after, ‘What a great ass.’ But Ryouga was good at a thing called denial and barely noticed.
Anger relieved him of any sense of reason he may have had. Ranma and Akane-san were not a couple, no matter that they were ‘engaged’; Ranma had plenty of fiancées that he was playing around with!. What had Ranma done to Akane-san? Because everything, every injustice in the world, was all Ranma’s fault.
A hand clenched tightly on his umbrella’s handle, he withdrew it from his backpack’s straps and made ready to charge in, spouting death threats and destroying property.
Only to freeze, mid-strike, when Akane-san said his name.
Kicking the opposite wall in order to reverse his flip, Ryouga handed on a telephone pole, umbrella open and poised for balance. The wire in front of him was positioned like a tightrope, but he dropped down the ground instead, landing silently, and stowed his umbrella, for the moment. He peered around the pole, the sign exclaiming: ‘This is a no stalking zone; The Concerned Citizens of Nerima’ going unnoticed above his head.
‘They’re talking about me! Oh, Akane-san, have you finally come to your senses?’ he wondered hopefully, tears at the corners of his eyes.
Maybe Akane-san was showing Ranma the joys of womanhood to convert him from his perverse ways into a pious life as a woman. It would suit his eternal rival, to live out his days as a housewife to one of the many men he had wronged instead of running wild and destroying other lives.
‘Ranma-chan in a apron, garter belt and black lace panties was asking him, “What would you like first: dinner, a bath, or…” Her breasts were right in front of him, so near they nearly brushing his chin. Seductive blue eyes gazed coyly up at him, and in a husky whisper, Ranma-chan finished, “me?”’
Blood stained his upper lip, dribbling down from his nose. He wondered if he was getting a cold, and wiped the mess away with one of his many bandanas. The ruined fabric was pocketed as his ears once again perked up at the mention of his name.
“Ranma-kun, you haven’t seen Ryouga-kun?” Akane asked, sounding concerned. “It’s been nearly two months. Shouldn’t he be back by now?”
Akane-san was worried about him! Light feelings burst in his chest, and he could hear bells chiming and angels singing and smell roses in the breeze. Oh happy day!
Like always, Ranma just had to ruin his moment of joy.
“Nah, he can take care of himself. Don’t need tah worry ‘bout him, Akane,” Ranma replied in his rough way of speaking. Very unlady-like. How were people fooled enough to think he was a real girl? He was better as a guy.
“But, Ranma--” Akane was pouting, just a little, at the edge of irritation. She was one comment away from balling up her fists and refusing to listen.
“He’s fine, aright?” Then Ranma glanced over his, er, her shoulder and looked him right in the eye, sending a shock wave through the lost boy’s body and freezing his muscles. Ryouga couldn’t move under that burning gaze. “In fact, I’m thinkin’ he’s pretty close by.”
“What? Where?” Akane-san glanced around futilely, trying to sense the surrounding ki but only coming up with civilians in the surrounding homes and Ranma’s (admittedly) vast reserves.
Ranma still had his eyes locked with Ryouga when he said, “Well, he should be around here somewhere,” and finally, after what seemed like years and maybe a few lifetimes, looked away.
Ryouga spun around and pressing his back up against the cold metal pole, heaving to catch the breath he had somehow lost under that stare. ‘W-what was that?’ His heart was pounding in his chest, trying to burst free and run, run very far away. But he was no coward! He wasn’t going anywhere!
Those eyes, heated and knowing, reverberated in his mind.
Okay, so he was going somewhere, but no because of Ranma! No, he just had better things to do. Like convince his weak knees to start moving so he could (run very far away) get going.
---
That night, he set up camp in a vacant lot somewhere in what he thought was Kyuuhu and had a meager dinner of ramen noodles and jerky. He ate in silence, finishing quickly, and cleaned his pot with water from his flask. It would air dry overnight.
After making sure that yes, all of the coals were out and there was no chance of a fire, Ryouga retired to his tent and went straight to bed. It was easier on him when he slept in his cloths; one never knew what could happen out in the wild!
Zipped up tight and warm in his sleeping bag, Ryouga drifted off soon after, letting out faintly snoring breathes in the real world, and waking to something quite unexpected in his dreams.
‘Ranma-chan in a silky red dress, low cut and showing her assets, hugging her curves and leaving nothing to the imagination, stalking toward him, slow and deliberate. The moonlight coming in at just the right angle from the balcony of some expensive hotel room to shine on the woman, lighting her from behind. White marble floors and white marble walls and thin, silky drapes swaying in the breezy night air brought in from the open glass doors; so expensive and glamorous and sparkling clean .
A smile on her lovely face, lips dark and luscious, tauntingly kissable, leaning toward him. Ranma-chan saying in a husky voice, like a low purr (which didn‘t make sense, since his rival was so terrified of cats), “Ryouga-kun, what do you want?”
Him unable to reply, so stunned by her beauty, overwhelmed by her charm.
A hand caressing his chest, feeling the hard muscle underneath jacket of his suit. (Why was he in Western clothes?) Red hair tickling his neck as the sensuous young woman leaned forward, molding her curves against solid frame, whispering breathily in his ear, “Do you want me, Ryouga-kun?”
Soft and yielding, the flesh beneath his hesitant hands, cradling her slim waist. Thin arms around his neck, a husky voice in his ear, questioning.
Something wasn’t right about the body against his. So very nice: a willing, wily woman playing at seduction was a dream come true to any healthy young man; but something, something just wasn’t working, it wasn’t--
The molded softness turned to hard planes of muscle, those thin arms becoming stronger, thicker, more defined, complete with boarder hands fisted in his hair. Ranma-chan turned into Ranma-kun and she, now he, pulled his head away from Ryouga’s neck so they were face to face, the man now taller by an inch.
Heated blue eyes (not just drawn from his imagination, but from his memory) boring into him, translating longing and desire into his be fumbled mind. Ranma, his rival, looming over him with a self satisfied expression, holding their bodies tightly together, an arm around his waist keeping him pressed close, a hand slowly sliding down his back and along his spine with increasing intensity, another between his legs.
Ryouga, blushing a bright red from his ears down to his neck, glowering up at his hated rival.
“Do you want me, Ryouga-kun?” Ranma purred again, face too close, blurring in his eyes. That promising hand finally reaching its mark, squeezing and kneading his ass cheek.’
Waking up hot and sticky but unsatisfied in the middle of the night, Ranma’s looming face burned into his mind’s eye, a gasping ‘yes’ on his lips.
It took a few minutes of stunned silence until Ryouga was able to pull himself together and angrily shout his thoughts, “Ranma! This is all your fault!” The lingering disappointment he pushed back, shoving it roughly away into the part of his mind that held doubts of his claims for vengeance. In a fit of flailing, he cursed the day Ranma had been born, tearing at the covers. In the end he only managed to tangle himself up in his sleeping bag even further, the more he wrestled to escape.
Two blocks away, Ranma sneezed in his sleep, and grumbling, turned back onto his side.
---
It was Ryouga’s decision to go on a training mission, to somewhere as far from Nerima as possible, that had led him into the middle of the woods. He’d scouted the place out and noticed an abundance of small game, enough to feed him for several weeks, added to his supplies. The layout of the trees and sparse clearings was familiar somehow, but he shrugged that off, know that even with his sense of direction he could be anywhere twice.
Deserted but for the game, it was most clearly the perfect stop, and he didn’t have to worry about seeing that bastard any time soon! Ignoring the faint twinge in his heart, Ryouga finished setting up his tent and stowed his bag inside, leaving the umbrella to practice with.
Kata came to him as naturally as breathing; he went through the movements fluidly, repeating them and drawing from the repetitiveness a sense of peace. The only time his thoughts did not plague him was during practice sessions. He held no anger in the forms, or any kind of sadness, becoming one with the movements and loosing all sense of individuality; there was his body and the art, nothing more, nothing less.
Widening his stance and diminishing it, shifting smoothly from foot to foot, raising and low arms and legs in perfect, practiced motion. To an observer it would be beautiful.
A twig snapped some hundred yards away, pulling his mind back from wherever it wandered and putting his instincts on alert. Someone was close, he could tell; someone with training, by their footsteps.
Ryouga shifted into a defensive position, irritation building slowly toward anger. Who dared interrupt his practice?!
“Hello? Is anyone there?” a female voice called out nervously. “Hello?”
Akane-san?
His irritation evaporated, confusion replacing it. What was she doing in the wilderness? Was she lost? Had something happened?
“Excuse me?” she called again, a maiden lost in the woods. Of course he would have to help her!
Stampeding in the direction of her voice, Ryouga broke hanging branches and expertly sidestepped roots to get to her.
He burst through the foliage right behind her. “Akane-san!” he cried, arms outstretched to embrace.
Akane-san turned around and smiled at him, a sparkling aura appearing before his eyes. “Oh, Ryouga-kun, there you are.” She was heavenly in the light of the sun, shining through the leaves just to add to her radiance.
His love was truly an angel from above! He stopped in his tracks in order to thanks the Heavens for gifting the Earth with such a divine being, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Akane-san cleared her throat.
His eyes snapped toward her, all signs of his worship relapsed immediately by attentiveness.
“It’s good to see you, Ryouga-kun,” she said. “Have you been back very long?”
Akane-san had missed him! Oh happy day!
“N-no,” he replied nervously, fiddling with his belt. Inwardly he cheered and cried happy tears at her words, overcome with by her mere presence. Ryouga couldn’t think straight, half caught up in a happy fantasy where they lived happily ever after (without a Ranma to be seen).
“Oh,” she said, hands behind her back, eyes toward the ground. “Do you want to come over for dinner?”
“Yes!” he burst out.
The high school freshman rewarded him with a happy smile. He made to follow her.
Then she said, “But shouldn’t you put out your fire first?”, pointing to the smoking rising above the trees.
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah! I’ll go pack my camp! Be right back!”
Poor Ryouga took off in the opposite direction.
Akane called out, stopping him in his tracks, “Ah, let me show you the way!”
“Okay!” he said happily, grinning widely. She took his hand and he followed obediently, basking in her simple touch.
Only a small part of his mind wondered where he was, and why Akane-san was out here in the middle of nowhere with him. But Ryouga didn’t question it, because the woman of his dreams was talking to him, honest to goodness touching him. That was enough to shut down any rational thinking brain cells he had.
---
Dinner turned out awkward.
“So, how are your travels, Ryouga-kun?” Nabiki-san asked with a smirk, head propped up on her hand by her elbow. He could swear she was snickering.
“F-fine, thank you,” he stammered nervously. Akane-san passed him a bowl filled with rice, sitting to his left. Ryouga took it gratefully and began eating, glaring at his rival out of the corner of his eye. Ranma sat on his other side, calmly devouring his meal as if Ryouga wasn’t there at all.
Ignoring him.
Ranma, that jerk, was just plain rude! With an irritated snort, Ryouga wondered, Why should I care? Well, I don’t! Just another black mark on Ranma’s manners, not that the slob had any in the first place. Poor Akane-san.
A voice interupted his tense thoughts, and he glanced up. “Where have you been recently?” He would have thought it a polite query if it hadn’t come from Nabiki’s mouth.
“Nowhere, really,” he muttered into his food, eyes downcast.
Not only was Ranma pretending he didn’t exist, but Saotome-san kept glaring at him. Next to him, Nabiki looked smug and kept a smirk on her face, not the usual ‘I know what something you don’t’ but more of a ‘I know something about you and I’m not telling’, like whatever it was that concerned him amused her to no end. Tendou-san was lost in thought, staring blankly at the table with no expression, and Kasumi-san had disappeared into the kitchen.
This was getting even weirder. Everyone was acting strange! Was he missing something here?
For a few moments he stared awkwardly at the table, fidgeting with his chopsticks, careful not to break them. Then, Kasumi asked politely from over his shoulder, “Would you like some more tea, Ryouga-kun?” She was carrying a tray of steaming clay mugs.
“A-ah, yes, thank you,” he said in a small voice. He trade his empty glass for the mug, blushing at the bright smile directed at him. The Tendous always had the best green tea; he took a sip and smiled back shyly.
Akane-san’s oldest sister nodded her acknowledge of his thanks. She carried onto Ranma, and Ryouga’s eyes resumed their former position: studying the color and shape of his food.
He felt eyes on him and glanced up side long. Now Ranma was staring openly at him, something unreadable darkening his eyes, and the heat of Saotome-san’s glare doubled. Their combined stares killed any lingering confidence for conversation he’d had left.
Instead, Ryouga concentrated on his food and drink and tried to ignore the goings on around him.
It didn’t work too well.
Akane-san, right next to him, leaned over to refill her plate before that jerk Ranma ate it all and her arm brushed his hand and he could see down her shirt and really it wasn’t his fault he was looking down. He couldn’t fight the blush, turning bright red from the tips of his ears to the back of his neck, or the thin line of blood trickling from his nostrils.
Kasumi leaned over from her stop at the table, frowning in concern. “Oh my, are you all right?” She tried to get a better look at his face.
Mirroring her expression, it was a miracle Akane wasn’t shouting about perverts. “Ryouga-kun?”
He couldn’t meet her eyes, face still doing an impression of a fire engine.
They were worried. “You don’t look so good,” Akane-san said, reaching out a hand to check his forehead.
Ranma took that moment to grab his wrist and before Ryouga could audibly protest, drag him out of the room, saying, “C’mon, lost boy. I’ll get you somethin’ for that.”
“There are towels in the cabinet!” Kasumi called after them, rising from her kneeling position. More softly she continued, still frowning, “I do hope Ryouga-kun is alright…”
Saotome-san grumbled angrily, muttering something about proper behavior and ‘that damn boy’. The Tendos ignored him, Akane glowering at Ranma’s behavior and Nabiki snorting in amusement. She was looking forward to how all of this would play out.
Part II- NC-17 or R