Happily Married
by Kirinin
Disclaimer: As you might expect, these characters don’t belong to me. Or to you. So there!
Two: I Like You, Too
Ranma dodged another sloppy punch. “Ya might actually hit me one of these days, P-chan,” Ranma opined, leaping back to avoid Ryoga’s follow-up roundhouse kick. “But not today.”
Ryoga was beyond furious. He was incensed. “Hold still and DIE!”
Ranma chuckled to himself. “Fat chance, pig-boy. Besides, even if I was standin’ still, your fist’d get lost on its way to my face.”
Akane stood on the Tendos’ back porch, a tired and irritated expression adorning her features. “Ranma, stop encouraging him!” She turned to face the Lost Boy. “Ryoga, don’t let him make you lose your temper!”
“I’ll take care of this, Akane,” Ryoga sneered.
“I’m getting tired of this,” the youngest Tendo intoned ominously, slouching to seat herself on the wooden slats of the back porch, her shapely bare legs dangling off the edge.
Nabiki stood in the doorway to the house, fanning herself with her hand. “Really? Will wonders never cease!”
Akane glared daggers at her elder sister, but bit her tongue. She watched the two boys fight, a gathering storm of anger visible on her face. “I mean it,” she added quietly. “If you two won’t stop fighting, I’ll...”
Nabiki’s ears perked up. “What will you do, Akane?”
“Are you two listening to me!” Akane demanded, springing to her feet. “Or are you too full of testosterone to listen?”
Ranma smirked as he blocked Ryoga’s uppercut. “No, that’s you, Akane.”
The youngest Tendo bristled, going stiff. “If you feel that way, then I’m sure you’ll like what I have to say. If you two won’t stop going at it in my backyard like a pair of dogs, then I’ll... Ranma, I’ll tell my father that the engagement’s off and I don’t want you here anymore.” She paused, to allow this to sink in. “Ever. Again.”
Ranma froze. “Wait. What!”
Ryoga’s follow-up move, a right hand uppercut, caught Ranma right under the ribs, and he went flying.
Holy kami-sama! Ryoga thought. I hit him! I actually hit him; all thanks to Akane’s distraction! Dear Akane, how I owe you... Ryoga realized at the last second that Ranma was headed for the koi pond. Serves that jerk right. Instant girl – just add water!
Ryoga’s grin of triumph began to dissolve as he re-examined Ranma’s flight path. Wait a minute...
Ranma wasn’t simply tipping backwards; his trajectory meant he was falling through the air upside-down, his head angling for the rocks that surrounded the calm water of the Tendo koi pond.
Ryoga could hear shouting from far away. Someone was calling Ranma’s name, but it sure was taking them a long time to get through the two syllables. Ranma seemed to be falling through the air in slow motion.
I’ve killed him. The thought ran through Ryoga’s mind like water at first, falling away without taking hold. Something (Akane’s voice?) threw him into action, and he started toward the falling martial artist. I can do it. I can pull him back.
You’re too far away!
No! I can pull him back. I can do it. Like a chi attack. Focus! Ryoga found himself pulling on his depression chi, picturing Akane’s tear-streaked face if something did truly happen to Ranma.
“Ryoga, how could you stoop so low? I’ll never speak to you again!”
There it was! Ryoga used the energy to pull, and –
At the last second, Ranma remembered to scream. He tried to turn his head away, managed to look at Ryoga and lock gazes with him.
Shi shi hokodan, Ryoga thought. He clenched his outstretched arm.
To his surprise, he could feel Ranma’s hand in his! It’s working!
Ryoga jerked his arm back, and –
Ryoga winced as Ranma’s head hit the rocks.
What?
Akane was crying, and furious. Ryoga had seen her crying before, and furious before, but never both. “If he’s hurt I’ll never speak to you again,” she snapped when Ryoga tried to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Nice one, Hibiki,” Nabiki commented as Akane stormed out of the room. “So what was it this time? Business as usual, or something more serious?”
Ryoga shook his head. “Bad luck I guess,” he replied, flexing his hand. He was still puzzled. He’d been certain that Ranma’s fingers had caught onto his own for a moment; and yet, judging by the distance, that was impossible. “At least I tried.”
“It was a valiant effort, Ryoga-kun,” Kasumi admitted from her position at Ranma’s head. She shifted the cool cloth that she’d placed on the younger girl’s brow.
“And why did you make such an effort, hmm?” Nabiki wanted to know. “Aren’t you the one who’s always shouting, ‘Ranma, prepare to die!’?”
Ryoga frowned, puzzled. He didn’t really understand this himself. He’d felt something strange as Ranma headed for the rocks: a tightness in his chest and a nervousness in his stomach.
“Be nice, Nabiki,” Kasumi admonished. “Perhaps Ryoga-kun is still smarting from the koi-rod episode.”
Nabiki nodded wisely while Ryoga fumed. “Won’t anyone ever let up about that?” he demanded. “It was a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding!”
“Whatever you say, Hibiki-chan, whatever you say.”
Ryoga sighed, the tension leaving his body. It was pretty much useless to argue with Nabiki. He decided to offer them a rationale that he, and they, could understand: “Akane would hate me if I’d really hurt him.” That in and of itself was hard to admit, though. Why Akane continued to worship the ground Ranma walked on when all the pigtailed martial artist gave her in return was insults – that was beyond the Lost Boy.
Ranma moaned and turned on her side.
“Well, Ranma is over the worst,” Kasumi announced. “Your friend is asleep now rather than unconscious. Why don’t you go and talk to Akane, Ryoga?”
Ryoga heaved a sigh and stood, moving from Akane’s bedroom in search of the youngest Tendo. He searched all throughout the house and had almost given up when he heard the sound of sobbing.
Slowly, Ryoga peered around the furo door, but saw no steam. Akane wasn’t taking a bath.
She was in the bathtub, though. Akane was hunched in the furo, holding her knees tightly to her body and sobbing into her folded arms. Ryoga considered leaving her to cry herself out. From experience as P-chan, he knew that she felt a lot better after she’d had a cry – something that, as a guy, he hadn’t really experienced first-hand. Although, come to think of it, he really felt a lot better after fighting Ranma. Maybe the principle was the same.
Then she uttered a particularly pathetic keen and he found himself beside her without a clear idea of how he’d gotten there. “A-Akane?” he managed.
Akane’s face jerked up to his. “Ryoga!” Surprise gave way to pain. “I’m sorry I yelled...”
“No, no, please don’t cry over that, Akane-san!” he pleaded, wanting nothing more than to have her in his arms; but he knew that his privileges as her friend didn’t quite extend that far.
“I just... if something were to happen to Ranma... I don’t know what I’d do!”
Ryoga’s heart sank as he perched on the edge of the tub. “O-oh. Uh... I’m s-sorry, Akane. I- I know it worries you; and Ranma and I are too advanced to be fighting one another so seriously. Maybe if we talk to him together, we can convince him to go a little easy.” Ryoga shifted uncomfortably on the hard porcelain of the tub – that would certainly be an awkward conversation, one he wouldn’t look forward to. He could see it now: gee, Ranma, if you could just go easy on me in our sparring matches from now on, I’d really appreciate it! Still, for Akane, he’d do it.
Akane’s tear-stained face rose again, and her eyes met his. “Really, Ryoga? You’d do that?” She threw her arms around him. “Thank you so much! Oh... I don’t know what I’d do if Ranma was really hurt... because... because...”
Ryoga closed his eyes tightly against the inevitable, doing his best to focus on the feel of Akane’s arms around him.
“...because I think I love him.”
The Lost Boy’s eyes clenched closed more tightly yet. Don’t cry. Don’t cry in front of her! “Y-you d-do?”
Akane drew back. “I’m sorry, Ryoga.”
She knows! Even better... Ryoga wanted to go someplace to die.
“B-but if... I mean, Ranma might mind, but I don’t... if you want to stick around...” She offered him a shy smile. “I’d miss you if you went away. You know that, right?” She wiped away her tears and gave him a wry chuckle. “Who else would I cry to? I can’t cry in front of anybody else but you.”
Ryoga found himself holding her again, tightly, pressing her to him. “I won’t leave you, Akane.”
Akane drew back with her best sunny smile, although the tears on her cheeks did a lot to dampen that shine. “Thanks so much, Ryoga. You’re the best, you know that?”
He smiled tightly. “Yes, I know. I’m the best.” Second-best, anyway.
“I’m going to go check on that idiot, see if he’s still got all his brain cells. You remember what happened last time he got hit on the head, don’t you?”
Ryoga frowned. “No. What happened last time?1”
Akane’s eyes widened. “Geez. You never heard this story? Well, I guess it’s no wonder; I doubt Ranma’s all that eager to tell it.”
Never mind the fact that we don’t really tell one another storiesRyoga thought to himself with a hint of good humor.
“On second thought, it is embarrassing,” Akane admitted, “and Ranma made me swear not to tell. But I would have guessed that Nabiki sold that secret a long time ago.”
“Embarrassing? I’ll have to ask him about it later.”
Akane giggled, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. “C’mon, silly. Let’s go see how he is.”
Ryoga followed Akane out of the furo, steadfastly telling himself not to scream or cry. Kasumi met them at Akane’s bedroom door. “I’d suggest letting the poor dear sleep a little while longer,” Kasumi suggested mildly. “He’ll wake up when he’s ready, and meanwhile, we shouldn’t disturb him.”
“Did you call Tofu-sensei?” Akane inquired.
Kasumi smiled sweetly. “Not this time, dear. With all the bumps and bruises around here, I’m hardly inexpert!” She frowned briefly. “Besides which, I haven’t seen him around Nerima lately.”
“Me neither,” Akane admitted, a puzzled frown on her face as she and her sister descended into the kitchen.
Ryoga waited until the two girls were at the base of the stairs before slipping quietly into Akane’s room.
Ranma was snoring loudly, curled into a tight ball. She’d managed to gather all the blankets around her small frame tightly. Ryoga blinked. Ranma always slept sprawled out like a cat basking in the sun. He should know; he’d tried to attack Ranma in his sleep often enough.
“Ranma,” he whispered. “Ranma!”
The redhead stirred and muttered his name, but didn’t wake.
“You’d better not blame me for this! It’s your fault for getting distracted. And I tried to stop...” Ryoga grimaced. “This time I really did, so you’d better not go telling Akane that I’m a bully or anything!”
Ranma murmured unintelligably, then blinked in surprise and sat up. “Ugh... I feel awful. Did it work?”
“Whew!” Ryoga exclaimed. “I thought I’d really gotten you that time.”
The redhead sighed with a hand pressed to her chest. “Thank goodness.” She reached out for him.
Ryoga frowned, but approached. “You don’t need help up, do you? I didn’t do that much damage, did I?” Akane’ll be furious.
Ranma’s arms slipped up behind his head and she pressed her lips to his.
Ryoga froze. What is he doing! Of course, it was very obvious what Ranma was doing, and doing well. The Lost Boy began to struggle, attempt to push her away, but Ranma was strong, even in her girl form.
And the worst of it was that part of Ryoga’s brain and definitely all of his hormones were informing him in no uncertain terms that a girl’s lips were maneuvering against his, and that a pair of beautiful breasts were pressed against his chest, and... and her hips were... were touching...
When Ryoga came to himself, he had his arms around Ranma Saotome and was kissing her back. When he surfaced for air, he stared into her face, thinking how beautiful...
...wait...
...and loving and man was she good at that...
...stop!...
...and... and was that Ranma!
...that’s Ranma kissing you like that...
“Ranma!” His voice came out softer and huskier than he’d thought, and the sound of it brought him to an almost instant panic.
She stared at him, still so close that their noses were almost touching, her blue eyes wide and surprised. “Ryoga...? Ryoga, what’s wrong?”
Ryoga managed to pull himself from her arms and back up slightly. He backed his way out of Akane’s bedroom door, out of the Tendos’ front door, and out their gate and into the town of Nerima without letting his brain go much farther than blank.
Then, Ranma. Ranma! RANMA! I kissed Ranma!
No... Ranma kissed me. Why would Ranma kiss me!
He’s not right in the head. Wow, he’s gonna be pissed off when he comes to. Ryoga winced, unable to keep from recalling how well Ranma had dealt with rejection during the koi rod episode. He’ll be beyond furious.
Him! What about me? That was my first real kiss! And it was with Ranma! Maan...
Ryoga stopped under a convenient awning and slipped to the ground, his shoes crunching against half-crumbled asphalt. He was attempting to grasp at being furious, but couldn’t seem to manage it. He was still so surprised that the world around him seemed blurry, half-formed.
So it was that he was quite surprised when Nabiki, panting, slid to sit next to him. “I’ll trade anything I’ve got for why Ranma kissed you,” she said abruptly.
Ryoga blinked at her. “Huh?”
“You heard me.”
“Why don’t you ask Ranma?” Ryoga replied, burying his face in his arms in a very similiar position to the one in which he’d found Akane. “I’m dead right now. Call back once I’ve revived.”
“You’ll see why not later on,” Nabiki replied mysteriously. “Now spill.”
“I told you, I’m dead. I feel like I’m about to implode.”
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll tell Akane about her little piggie,” Nabiki threatened.
“Huh?” Ryoga wondered.
“P-chan!” Nabiki snapped. “I’ll tell her about P-chan!”
“Huh?”
“Oh...” Nabiki sighed, all of her nervous energy seeming to leave her with that breath. “I guess I’ll talk to you once you’ve regained your sanity.” She paused, considering. “You hungry?”
Ryoga frowned at her, puzzled, as though she’d asked him the $1,000 question.
“Oh, just come on,” Nabiki demanded, dragging Ryoga into Ukyo’s okonomiyaki shop.
Because that’s where they were, of course.
It took three okonomiyaki before Ryoga was able to speak, and speak coherently. “Weird. It was weird,” he replied finally.
“Weird. Thank you for your expert interpretation. I know it was weird; I assume it was weird. Give me more.”
“No,” Ryoga countered, gesturing with his chopstick, “weird in other ways. He said...” Ryoga blushed. “I’ll get through a sentence better if I say ‘she’.” The Lost Boy cleared his throat. “She asked me if it’d worked when she woke up.”
“Worked?”
“Yeah, and then... then was all surprised at my... my reaction, after.”
“Did she know who you were?”
Ryoga nodded. “She called me Ryoga... twice.”
“That makes no sense.”
Ryoga declined to reply. Instead, he stuffed his mouth with okonomiyaki.
“You can’t give me anything more than that?”
“Didn’t sleep right,” Ryoga added after a moment’s pause. “Was all curled up in a ball.”
Nabiki took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “I won’t even take that bait. I assume you know how Ranma sleeps because you’ve attempted to attack him or something equally inane?”
“And I’ll assume you know because you were taking pictures of Ranma while he was asleep,” Ryoga mumbled, “instead of betraying your little sister.”
Nabiki’s eyes flashed. “Then we understand one another. You should know that I’d never do that to Akane. She loves that idiot, though only kami-sama knows why.”
“She loves her privacy, too, I’d think,” Ryoga countered, feeling reckless, “but you sell pictures of her to those perverts that Furinkan calls students.”
“Which you yourself have taken advantage of more than once!” Nabiki snapped. “Why are you trying my patience?”
Ryoga paused with his mouth open to retort. “I don’t know,” he finally replied, quieting. “Maybe because I’m feeling more suicidal than usual.”
Nabiki seemed to absorb his calm. “I see. So what do you want in return for this information?”
Ryoga rubbed his closed lids with his thumb and middle finger, meditatively. “Uh, let me think about that. My brain is... on fire.”
“I see.” The middle Tendo’s lips quirked. “Then I’ll see you later?” She grinned. “Don’t stay away too long, or Akane will start to get ideas about your integrity.”
Ryoga flinched; then his eyes widened. “Wait. I’ve got it! In return, you... you can’t sell anything I told you or anything you saw about this incident.”
Nabiki growled. “Now just wait one moment–”
“You said ‘anything’,” Ryoga countered just as harshly.
The older girl winced. “I did, didn’t I? But just because I can’t sell the information, don’t expect me not to profit from it.”
“Of course,” Ryoga replied, blindingly grateful that he’d managed to dig himself at least halfway out of the pit he saw yawning beneath him.
Nabiki rose and offered out her hand, her slender arm rigid and unyielding.
Briefly Ryoga saw the hand of another girl reaching for him...
Closing his eyes tightly, he shook Nabiki’s hand and exited the shop.
“Nice doing business with you,” Nabiki called after him.
He didn’t reply.
Ukyo slid into his seat.
“So, you heard that, huh?” Nabiki inquired of the okonomiyaki chef.
“Every word,” she replied.
Nabiki considered. “Can I buy the information from you?”
Ukyo winked. “Don’t think so, sugar. Play by your own rules.” She paused. “So, this is Ranchan’s latest flirtation with womanhood?”
“Where have I heard that before? What is this – his sixth?”
“Seventh, depending who’s counting,2” Ukyo replied gamely, sipping on Ryoga’s half-finished soda. “Poor Ryoga seems to have gotten the worst of it again.”
“He usually does when Ranma takes it into his head to play this old game,” Nabiki tacked on. “It’s my personal, Freudian opinion that little Ranma represses his feminine side so badly that it has to break out every now and again. Having a girl body just makes it that much easier.”
Ukyo made an understanding noise.
“And furthermore, that Ryoga is the masculine equivilant of my little sister: they’re both strong, stubborn, and relatively blind when it comes to certain facts they’d rather not admit to.”
“And both very sweet when they wanna be.”
“What?”
“And both very sweet when they want to be,” Ukyo replied, slurping slightly as she finished the Lost Boy’s abandoned cola. “I know that little sisters can be annoying, but you have to admit that Akane can turn on the charm.”
Nabiki shrugged and nodded begrudgingly. “Okay, given. Anyway, it’s natural that when Ranma goes on these feminine binges, he attaches to Ryoga instead of Akane.”
“Your logic is flawed in one way.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re assuming Ranchan likes Akane better than me... or Shamps.”
“Shamps?”
“It’s insulting to call the girl a hair-care product,” Ukyo defended. “I mean, her name’s Chinese, and I don’t even know what it is: Shan Pu, Xian Pu, Xiam Pu or what. So...”
“Ah.”
“So anyway, your thinking is flawed.”
“I don’t think so. I know Ranma likes Akane best, and you’d know it too if your entire feminine existence didn’t hinge on it.”
“My ‘feminine existence’?” Ukyo inquired dryly. She was dry, come to think of it, and got another soda.
“You know what I mean. Ranma leaving you meant that you weren’t girlish enough. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. When you got here, you acted so boyish you even had me fooled. Akane sort of guessed, but – you know, she has more experience with cross-dressers.”
Ukyo snorted, but she couldn’t help but grin. Thinking about her Ranchan as a cross-dresser was more than a little amusing.
“So now, if you wanna be a girl again, you feel like you’ve got to get Ranma to like you.”
“Thanks, Sigmund,” Ukyo replied.
“It’s no psychoanalysis because it’s no secret,” Nabiki countered. “You practically said it outright when you first came to Nerima.”
“So?”
“So you might be able to accept Ranma as a friend if someone else could convince you that you were a girl,” Nabiki tacked on, as if her conclusion were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Does that even make sense?”
Nabiki’s chin lifted. “Don’t scorn free advice from a Tendo,” she snapped.
Kasumi was tenderly and carefully examining Ranma’s skull. “There’s definitely no fracture... just a little bit of swelling. It’s a bump is all, Ranma.”
Ranma nodded. “Oooh! Owww...”
“Don’t do that, if it hurts,” Akane advised.
“Gee, thanks,” Ranma whispered. “This must be the worst headache in the history of the world,” she tacked on just as softly.
“Akane, dear, would you fetch Ranma some painkillers?”
Akane slipped out the door and made for the furo’s medicine cabinet.
“Where’s Ryoga?” Ranma asked Kasumi in that same, quiet voice. “I did something stupid. He didn’t run off, did he?”
“Something stupid?” Kasumi quoted, puzzled. “I saw him run out the door earlier. He did appear to be very preoccupied. Did you two have a serious argument?”
Ranma shook her head, then winced again. “I didn’t do something all that outrageous... uh, by some people’s way of thinking. Still, he was real upset.”
“Should I look for him?” Kasumi wanted to know.
“Oh!” Ranma exclaimed, then paused, pressing a hand to her head again. “Oh, no, Kasumi,” she whispered again. “You’ve got enough to deal with, right? Uh... maybe... maybe Akane will help me find him?”
“Perhaps,” Kasumi filled in, wondering why the redhead’s tone was so questioning.
“If she isn’t... uh, too busy...?” Ranma tacked on, noting Kasumi’s confusion.
“Busy? Akane? Why, no, Ranma, I don’t think she is.”
Ranma nodded, a look of intense concentration on her face.
“Ranma, dear, is something wrong? Other than the headache, I mean,” Kasumi wanted to know.
“Wrong? Uh...” Ranma’s eyes fell to her lap. “Nothing that can... I mean...” The redhead’s eyes shut tightly, but tears began to leak through.
“Ranma!” Kasumi exclaimed, drawing the redhead into her arms.
Ranma gently but firmly extricated herself from the eldest Tendo’s embrace, wiping her streaming eyes roughly. “It’s nothing that can be helped, so it’s nothing to cry over. Besides, I don’t want you to worry about me. I really don’t.”
Before Kasumi could open her mouth to counter Ranma’s well-meaning but misplaced concerns, Akane returned with the aspirin and some cold water.
“Here you go, Ranma,” Akane said cheerfully, placing the pills in Ranma’s hand. “Are you okay?” she inquired, noting the redhead’s shiny eyes.
“It just... it really hurts,” Ranma replied. “Do you guys mind, uh, leaving, and turning off the lights? The lights are hurting me.”
“Of course not, Ranma!” Akane was quick to reply. “Come on Kasumi, let’s let him rest a little, okay?”
Kasumi nodded, backing away from the room, wondering what kind of pain the redhead was really going through.
Some of the pain in Ranma’s head eased immediately after the lights were dimmed, and she breathed a sigh of real relief; but once she felt that relief, everything else rushed in. Her body became so tight that she began to coil into herself until she was in the position Ryoga had first found her. She screamed into her blanket, took a couple of jagged breaths and started to cry. Then she screamed again.
Then for a long time, she was quiet. Her head throbbed. Her stomach roiled. She felt like she had the mother of all hangovers.
Nabiki poked her head in.
Ranma managed to hide her eyes half under the blanket, allowing that blanket to absorb some of the moisture. The dark was her friend. “Hi, Nabiki,” she said hoarsely.
“So, you kissed Ryoga,” Nabiki replied.
Ranma knew Nabiki couldn’t see her lips, but the crinkle in her eyes showed her smile. “Guess I did. Threw you for a loop, right?”
Nabiki rolled her eyes. “So what is it this time? What’s your new version of events?”
“My new what-now?”
“Okay. Let me rephrase. What is your name? What is your quest? What is your favorite color?”
Ranma stared at her, blinking rapidly. “Saotome Ranma; to be happy; red! Monty Python – King Arthur and the Quest for the Holy Grail.”
Nabiki frowned. “Uh... yeah, that’s right. But isn’t that middle one wrong?”
Ranma sighed. “Fine, fine. Saotome Ranma; to be the greatest martial artist in all the world; red! But the other is more important.”
“Do you mind answering what gender you are?”
The redheaded girl underneath the covers squirmed. “Tough one, Nabiki. Let’s say that physiologically I’m female right now. Normally I’m a guy. Are we done?”
“Not by half. Why did you kiss Ryoga-kun?”
Ranma shook her head. “Nothing doing, Nabiki. Sorry.”
“Come on, Ranma, it’s a simple question.” Nabiki’s eager expression shifted to something a lot like worry. “If you say to me that you were just confused after being bumped on the head, I’ll believe you.”
Ranma smiled a little bitterly. “I can’t tell you that.”
“But you’ve already told me everything!” Nabiki said with a grin.
“Blah, blah, never argue with a Sicilian when death is on the line,” Ranma tacked on. “Princess Bride.”
Nabiki blinked. “Damn it, Ranma.”
Ranma smiled, a real smile for the first time. “Heh!” She shrugged. “Sorry I can’t satisfy your curiosity, though. Maybe some other time.”
“I’ll tell Akane all about this,” Nabiki warned, without much heat.
“Oh, you wouldn’t do that,” Ranma disagreed dismissively. “I know you won’t. So, did you talk to Ryoga? Is he all right? Angry?”
“Angry? No... uh, still in shock, I think,” Nabiki replied in amazement. Since when was Ranma so good at reading people? Normally, the volatile redhead would be begging Nabiki not to say a word or attempting to bluff by saying that she didn’t care what an uncute tomboy thought.
“That’s good, I guess.” Ranma curled up again. “What the hell was I thinking?” she demanded of her pillow.
“Yeah, well, I can’t really tell you that,” Nabiki commented.
“You’re so supportive.”
Nabiki shrugged. “I do my best.” She examined the redhead’s dissheveled state. “If there’s anything I can do... until you come back to being Ranma... let me know.”
Ranma blinked. “Er...”
“Yes, more like that,” Nabiki advised with a wink. “You know; brash, unsophisticated, stupid...”
“Nabiki!”
“...charming, naive, and good at martial arts.” She examined Ranma minutely. “You can do martial arts, can’t you?”
“Of course I can! What are you asking me that for?”
Nabiki tilted her head to one side, considering. “The last time you hit your head, you said that you couldn’t.”
“No, I said that I didn’t want to,” Ranma countered. She frowned. “You asked me that just to see if I remembered, didn’t you?”
Nabiki shrugged. “Caught me.”
“Anyway, this isn’t like last time,” the redhead mumbled. “If only. D’you mind? I really hurt and I want to try and get some sleep.”
Nabiki nodded. “Oh, well.”
“Do you mind if I ask what you’re getting out of this?”
The middle Tendo daughter flashed her sharklike grin. “I don’t know, Ranma. I kind of like you, this time around.” She moved to Akane’s bedroom door and started to slip out.
“Uh, Nabiki?”
Nabiki turned. “Huh?”
“I... thanks.” The redhead smiled tiredly. “And I like you, too.”
Author’s Notes:
Well. This sure is interesting. I found out that I’d written a whole ‘nother continuity for this story, diverging at the head bonk. I’d totally forgotten about it! I’ve decided to blend them; I think that each has what the other lacks.
I’m also releasing a WAFFy holiday oneshot called ‘Shelter’, so tune in! Thanks for C&C last time, everybody!
1 Okay, for those clueless, here goes: Akane knocks Ranma into the rocks by the koi pond. When Ranma awakens, he thinks he’s a girl; not just any girl, but what is probably Ranma’s idea of a real girl. In other words, he refuses to practice martial arts because it’s too violent, and likes to cook and arrange flowers in his spare time. Cooincidentally, this ‘girl’ also is constantly verbally abusing Akane for not being womanly enough. Whoooo boy. The entire incident culminates when Akane, thinking it best to ‘force’ Ranma into acting like a boy, takes boy-Ranma on a shopping expedition. The result is that Ranma acts like a flamingly gay man, embarrassing Akane in several devilishly humorous ways. If I didn’t know that Ranma isn’t smart enough for this, I’d assume that he was playing a trick on Akane for being too violent.
2 I’m sure not. At least, that sounds about right, but I’m not sure it’s been seven times. I just liked the way that read.
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