Chapter 10 - The Stage is Set
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Shampoo stood in the kitchen of the Cat Café, speaking to her grandmother, while Mousse attended to the few customers in the restaurant. She attempted to remain stoic as she related the details of her encounter with Ranma, as well as the challenge. However, as she progressed, Cologne’s scowl deepened to the point where Shampoo was sure it would be able to curdle milk. By the time she finished, it was all Shampoo could do to keep herself from flinching.
“That was incredibly foolish granddaughter,” Cologne barked.
“Very sorry, great-grandmother,” Shampoo said, hanging her head in shame. She stood there for several moments, waiting for her grandmother to continue her tirade. It came as a surprise when she heard a sigh instead.
“However,” Cologne continued in a melancholy tone, “son-in-law has made his intentions quite clear. And the insult to you and the tribe could not be ignored. You do understand that you cannot beat him right now?”
“Yes Grandmother,” Shampoo replied. “That why Shampoo ask for extra time to prepare.”
“That was a wise decision,” Cologne mused. “Do you understand what’s going to be required of you this next month?”
Shampoo nodded. “Yes, Shampoo do anything to win Airen.”
“Excellent child,” Cologne said. “Please go put up the closed sign and tell the customers we’re closing early. We shall pack tonight and first thing in the morning we’ll leave for a month long training trip.”
“What about Mousse?” Shampoo asked worriedly. ‘Shampoo don’t want idiot distracting me.’
Cologne must’ve caught her meaning, because she cackled as she responded. “I will not allow him to accompany us. In fact, if he tries, I’ll lock him up in his cage and let him slowly starve to death. However, he won’t be able to run the restaurant by himself, so he’ll have to find a way to entertain himself while we’re gone.”
Satisfied with her grandmother’s response, Shampoo headed out into the dining area to carry out the old woman’s instructions.
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Unbeknownst to Cologne and Shampoo, Mousse had heard the majority of what they’d talked about. When Shampoo had first come in crying, and he’d heard it was because of Ranma, Mousse was incensed. At the time he’d still been in his cage, so there was nothing he could do. As Shampoo began to explain, Cologne had released him, made him get dressed, and sent him to wait on customers. As he listened to what Shampoo told her grandmother, Mousse found himself faced with conflicting thoughts. Part of him wanted to be furious with Ranma for hurting Shampoo. ‘Maybe this is all just some sort of elaborate scheme to win Shampoo.’ It didn’t take very long for him to see how absurd the thought was. ‘He’d have to lose to Shampoo, and there’s no way Saotome would throw a fight,’ he’d thought with a snort. ‘Besides, why would he bother? It’s not like he couldn’t just say yes to Shampoo and be hers.’ It began to dawn on him that Ranma was serious about this challenge. ‘This is my chance,’ Mousse had thought gleefully. ‘If Saotome can win that fight, Shampoo might be hurt a little bit. But then she can’t chase him anymore and then she’ll be mine.’ |
“Mousse,” came Cologne’s harsh voice from the kitchen.
Strolling into the kitchen, Mousse regarded the old woman, who was standing on the counter holding her walking stick. “What do you want you dried-up mummy?” he asked, receiving a whack on the head in return.
“Shampoo and I are going to be leaving for a month on a training trip. Since you’re too inept to run the restaurant by yourself, you’re going to have to find some way to entertain yourself.”
“Why can’t I come along?” he asked, feigning ignorance of the conversation he’d overheard.
“Because I said so,” Cologne snapped. “I don’t want you distracting Shampoo and making a general nuisance of yourself.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Mousse replied calmly, knowing full well it was a lie.
Cologne’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Don’t toy with me boy. I’m telling you as an elder of the tribe that you cannot come along because it will interfere with the training of a warrior who’s beyond your station. If you interfere, I won’t hesitate to enact the strictest of punishments. Do you hear me?”
He’d gathered from earlier that she’d been serious, but now she was practically threatening to kill him if he defied her. ‘As much as I hate the fact, I know she could kill me and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.’ Still, he needed to try to maintain some small measure of pride.
“Whatever,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. Unfortunately, both he and Cologne noticed that his hand was shaking when he’d done so.
Giving him an infuriatingly smug smile, Cologne nodded. “I’m glad we understand one another.” With that, she hopped off the counter and began to head up to the upper level where their living quarters resided.
‘One of these days...’ he thought angrily. ‘So what am I going to do? Saotome is sure to win that fight, so maybe I should spend the month training so that I can challenge Shampoo afterwards.’ A small smile crept to his face.
Just as quickly though, it dissipated. ‘But what if the old mummy does something that enables Shampoo to win?’ The thought that her and Ranma would be married immediately afterwards if she won made his stomach churn. ‘Dammit! And Saotome is probably too cocky to even bother training. He should win, but with Cologne...’
Mousse held no illusions that the old woman wouldn’t use every trick at her disposal to make sure Shampoo won the fight. The problem was that she was so crafty, and that nobody really knew exactly how many secret techniques she had. ‘What if she teaches Shampoo something that allows her to win?’
The thought of losing her galvanized Mousse into action. He didn’t even bother cleaning up the kitchen like he knew he was expected to. He left the restaurant and made his way towards the Tendo compound.
‘I’m going to make sure he takes this fight seriously. Even if I have to beat some sense into him!’
Ranma was pulling her hand away from her mouth, still somewhat in shock at the kiss that Kasumi had given her. ‘And in my girl form no less!’
Despite the distraction, she was able to see the small black shape leaping at her from one of the shadows in the dojo. However, her mind was still in enough of a fog that she didn’t react in time to the attack. One moment her hand had been descending fine, and the next moment it was in agony as Ryoga’s teeth dug into it.
“Yow!” Ranma screamed in sudden pain. She tried shaking her hand to dislodge the irate pig, but wasn’t having any success. The pain was enough to clear her mind though, so she made her way towards the wall and starting smashing the pig into it until it let go.
As soon as Ryoga hit the ground, he immediately leapt at Ranma again. The pig-tailed youth was alert now and was able to dodge without too much effort.
“What the hell are you doing here,” Ranma hissed, trying to keep his voice down. “If Akane sees you, you’re as good as dead.”
She’d hoped that might calm Ryoga down, but the mention of Akane’s name merely sent the pig into a greater frenzy. The tempo of the attacks began to increase, and it was only the increased speed of Ranma’s girl form that kept her from receiving another set of teeth marks.
“What’s your problem?” Ranma demanded, starting to raise her voice in anger. She didn’t really expect a reaction since Ryoga couldn’t currently talk, but she’d hope he’d at least slow down.
Suddenly Ranma understood what was going on. ‘He saw me with Kasumi.’ She let out a sigh.
“Dammit Ryoga, I ain’t engaged to Akane anymore if that’s what you’re all pissed about.”
This seemed to finally penetrate Ryoga’s mind. He’d been mid-jump though and he lost all control as he suddenly fell to the ground. From that position, he looked up at Ranma suspiciously.
Seeing that Ryoga wasn’t going to immediately attack again, Ranma relaxed slightly. “Look, after Akane punted you that day, she broke off our engagement for good. It was Kasumi’s idea to take over the engagement, so now she’s my fiancée.”
Looking down, Ranma saw that Ryoga was still giving her that suspicious look. She blew out a breathe. “Look, why don’t I go get some you some hot water and clothes and we can talk,” Ranma said, to which Ryoga let out a small growl.
“Look, I swear that I won’t tell anyone you’re here,” Ranma promised. After a few moments, Ryoga just nodded.
Ranma left the dojo and snuck back into the house. He had to be careful not to be seen, or else someone would ask why he had the water and what he was doing with the extra clothes. Fortunately, the only ones who seemed to be around were the two fathers, and they were too engrossed in their Shogi game.
| As she made her way back into the house, Kasumi thought she heard Ranma scream out in pain. She nearly turned around to check on him, but then she figured she’d misheard. As she continued stepped inside, she was barely aware of Nabiki on the couch and the two patriarchs playing their game. ‘I can’t believe I kissed him. Um, her. Well, him really.’ Her mind was working in overdrive as she tried to analyze why she’d done that. She believed what she’d told Ranma, but it just seemed out of character for her to do such a thing. ‘It felt so nice,’ she couldn’t help thinking as she made her way up the stairs. ‘But I don’t want Ranma to get the wrong impression.’ Kasumi replayed the scene repeatedly in her mind. She remembered exactly how soft Ranma’s skin had felt when she’d taken his face into her hands. ‘His skin was even softer than when he’s a guy,’ she thought, acutely aware that she was blushing a bright crimson. Entering her room, Kasumi sat on the edge of her bed as her brain began to focus on the kiss. She put her hand up to her mouth again as she focused on what the exact texture of Ranma’s lips had felt like. The moment of contact kept replaying itself until she was broken out of her reverie. “Kasumi!” Nabiki practically yelled from the doorway. This caused the older sister to nearly fall off the bed in surprise. It took her a moment to straighten herself and gather her composure. “Nabiki,” she chastised, “that’s not very nice. You shouldn’t try to scare me like that.” “Scare you?” Nabiki asked, rolling her eyes. “I’ve been trying to get your attention since you came back into the house, but you’ve been in your own little dream world.” |
 |
“Uh huh,” the middle sister replied. She stepped into the room and closed the door. “So what’s going on?”
“W-what do you m-mean?”
“Come on Kasumi, remember who you’re talking to here. I want to know what happened between you and Ranma.”
A flicker of hesitation passed through Kasumi. ‘It’s so embarrassing. I really don’t want anyone else to know. But since it’s Nabiki, she’ll probably find out anyway.’
Apparently her sister saw the indecision. “Listen Kasumi,” Nabiki said, “You and I both know I’ll manage to get it out of Ranma if I really want to. So why don’t you save us both the effort and tell me?”
After a few moments of wavering, Kasumi finally gave in. “Okay Nabiki,” she said in a defeated tone. “I’ll tell you what happened, but you need to promise me that it won’t leave this room.” She eyed her sister expectantly.
“You have my word,” Nabiki replied seriously.
“Well, as you know I went out and talked to Ranma about what happened. I was feeling pretty conflicted. Part of what I was feeling was anger. So the first thing I did was slap him.” Kasumi looked clearly ashamed that it had happened.
Nabiki’s mouth was agape. “You... slapped him?”
“Yes,” the elder Tendo daughter replied in a near whisper. Then her voice picked up a little. “I didn’t mean to; really. It just sort of happened.”
“Wow!” Nabiki said, clearly having trouble fathoming the situation. “How did Ranma react?”
“Well, I told him what I was feeling. About how angry I was that he’d risk his life and freedom like that. I think he understood somewhat.”
A small nod was all Nabiki was capable of. Then she spoke up again. “You said that was the first thing. Do I even want to know what the second one was?”
Kasumi stared down at the floor and felt her face heating up again. “W-well, I was angry like I already said. But there was another part of me that was flattered that he’d do those things for me. No, not just flattered, it felt... wonderful. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Intellectually,” Nabiki said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “So what did you do?”
“I... that is,” Kasumi said, before dropping to a near whisper. “I kissed him.”
“You what?!” Nabiki yelled, eyes going wide.
“Shhh!” Kasumi said, glancing worriedly at the door.
“Okay, okay,” Nabiki said quietly. She moved next to Kasumi, sat on the bed too, and continued speaking in a quiet tone. “I think I must have something stuck in my ears. I could swear that you just told me you kissed Ranma.”
“Uh... I... I...” Kasumi tried to say, finally settling for a nod of the head to answer her sister.
“Oh, my, God!” Nabiki said in a fierce whisper. “Give me details woman.”
“W-well,” Kasumi said in an embarrassed tone, “after I slapped him, and told him how I felt, he just stood there looking so pitiful. Then I remembered that he’d done those things for me and the wonderful feelings swelled up again. So I took his face into my hands and kissed him on the lips.”
“Wait. Was Ranma still in his female form?”
“Yes,” Kasumi replied softly.
“Wow. Jeez sis, I didn’t know you had it in you. Didn’t it bother you that he was a girl at the time?”
“Not really,” Kasumi said after a moment’s contemplation. “Because of the engagement, I’d already been giving this some thought. In the end, it’s Ranma on the inside. So if we’re ever going to have a relationship, I know I better get used to the idea that he might never get cured.”
Nabiki shook her head. “You really are amazing sis, I’ll give you that. So what was the kiss like?”
“Well,” Kasumi said, her face getting all red again, “his skin was so soft. And his lips were to. It didn’t last very long, but it still felt very... nice.” She let out a small sigh.
Nabiki sat watching her sister, having a hard time believing all these things were happening. ‘It’s only been a day since she took over the engagement and she’s already gotten farther with Ranma than Akane did. Sure Ranma and Akane have kissed, but it was always something stupid like the neko-ken that caused it.’
“Don’t you think things are moving a little too fast?” Nabiki asked her sister.
“I really didn’t mean for that to happen,” Kasumi said. “I never intended to slap or kiss him. Both just kind of happened.”
“Just be careful,” Nabiki said. “I know Ranma would never intentionally hurt you. And that’s always been his problem. If he’d been willing to tell all the girls how he felt up front, things probably wouldn’t have gotten as bad as they had. If you’re going to continue this, just make sure you’re one-hundred percent clear where he stands.”
“I will,” Kasumi said seriously. Then she put on a small, mischievous smile. “You know, it almost sounds like you care. What would people think?”
“Well,” Nabiki said with a small snort, “let’s just keep that between you and me okay?”
“Your secret’s safe with me sis,” Kasumi said with a laugh, before reaching over and hugging her sister.
Nabiki had never really been good with physical contact, even before her mother died. However, she found herself melting into her sister’s arms and after a few moments returned the embrace.
“I know it is sis,” she said quietly. After a minute the two broke away from one another.
“Well, I need to go get to my homework,” Nabiki said, standing up and heading to the door. Before she reached it though, she remembered something she’d been curious about earlier.
“Oh,” she said, turning back to face Kasumi, “I meant to ask you. Do you know what’s going on with Akane and Dr. Tofu?”
The way in which Kasumi’s eyes went wide, coupled with the fact that she started blushing again, only made Nabiki all the more suspicious.
“Not entirely,” Kasumi said cautiously. “But I really don’t think it’s my place to tell you what I saw. I really think you should talk to Akane about it if you want to know.”
Nabiki thought about pushing the issue further, but she knew Kasumi well enough to know that she’d never willingly divulge anything Akane wanted to keep secret. ‘And what did she mean about seeing something? What in the world is going on?’
“Okay sis,” she said, turning to leave the room. ‘Dammit, I’m going to find out what’s going on around here if it kills me.’
 |
Ryoga didn’t have to wait long for Ranma to return. His rival hadn’t turned back into his male form, but instead just brought out the water and some of Ryoga’s spare clothes that were left at the Tendo home. After a few moments, Ryoga was human again and fully dressed. He then glared at Ranma. “Now what in the hell is going on?” he demanded. “Boy you’re dense,” Ranma said. “Fine, here’s the deal. First, right after Akane sent your ass flying the other day, she lit into Mr. Tendo and me. She said that the engagement was off for good. No chance, end of story. So I’m sure that makes you real happy.” In fact, it made Ryoga ecstatic. ‘Even if she’ll never love me, she deserves better than Ranma.’ “So why were you kissing Kasumi then?” Ryoga asked suspiciously. “Jeez, didn’t ya listen to any of the conversation before that happened?” Ranma asked, turning red at being reminded of the kiss again. “Uh, I kinda found myself here right as that happened.” “That figures,” Ranma said sarcastically. “You always did have the worst timing. Okay, I’ll pick it up from where I left off. After Akane’s announcement, I started thinking about what was gonna happen next.” “You? Thinking?” Ryoga said derisively. “Listen pig boy, you wanna hear this or not? Or should I go tell Akane that you’re out here?” |
“Anyway, I figured that 'cause of what Akane said, her dad and pops were just gonna try to engage me to Kasumi or Nabiki. They know what I think about Nabiki, so I figured they’d try to force me and Kasumi together. I didn’t want to put Kasumi in that position though. So at dinner I told everyone that I thought pops and I should leave. Then Kasumi up and announced that she wanted to take over the engagement.”
“Oh get real Ranma. You expect me to believe that?”
Ranma started walking towards the door. “Why don’t you wait here while I go get everyone so they can explain it to you before you get unmanned?”
“No,” Ryoga said with a little laugh containing no humor. “That’s okay.”
Stopping just before the door, Ranma turned around and walked back to his previous spot. “Then keep yer trap shut while I finish the story. Anyway, of course our dads were all ecstatic about the idea. I told 'em all that they were crazy. None of them seemed to understand what might happen if one of the other girls found out. Can you imagine what might’ve happened to Kasumi?”
Ryoga shuddered at the thought. The idea that any harm might come to Kasumi was a bitter concept.
“Then Kasumi said she doesn’t care and our dads still wouldn’t listen. I finally came out here 'cause I couldn’t take it anymore. Then Kasumi came out and we talked. I must’ve said something that made her happy, 'cause at the end she hugged me. Of course Akane showed up right then and accused me of me of taking advantage of Kasumi or something like that.”
“Probably because you’re such a perverted jerk,” Ryoga said under his breath.
“Oh really,” Ranma said angrily, obviously having heard. “This coming from the guy who was taking advantage of his curse to get into Akane’s bed.”
“I only did that to protect her from you!” Ryoga snapped.
“Bullshit,” Ranma growled. “You were barely ever here. The only time I ever went into her room when she was sleeping was to try to get you out. You’ve been around enough Ryoga. You heard all Akane’s little secrets. Tell me about any one time that you heard about me trying to sneak into her room when you weren’t in there.”
Ranma folded her arms across her chest as she waited for Ryoga to respond. It didn’t take long before Ryoga realized that there wasn’t any such incident that he’d heard about. But he wasn’t about to give up that easily.
“Never mind that, what about all those times you walked in on her in the bath?”
“Oh please,” Ranma said, rolling his eyes. “Most of the time it was her walking in on me. And the few times I ever did, it was because she forgot to put the sign out. I mean, why would I wanna look at that macho chick anyway?”
Ryoga started to get upset again, but before he could act on it Ranma cut in. “Anyway, what did I say about interrupting? Should I go get Akane for you?”
After Ryoga shook his head, Ranma continued. “Where was I? Oh yeah. Akane comes in all pissed, and tries to hit me. Unfortunately, Kasumi jumped in before we realized what happened and Akane knocked her out.”
As much as he wanted to defend Akane, Ryoga couldn’t think of anything to say at that moment. He was about to berate Ranma for not protecting Kasumi, but Ranma went on.
“So I took Kasumi to see Dr. Tofu, he fixed her up, and we talked some more. She told me she really wanted to try the engagement and I... I just couldn’t say no to her. So after we got home I tried to figure out ways to get away from the other girls so that Kasumi doesn’t get hurt again.”
Ranma blew out a big breathe before continuing. “I talked to Ukyo and tried to get her to let me out of the engagement. I told her that she was my best friend, but that I couldn’t marry her. I said that if she forced me I’d end up hating her for it. She still wouldn’t listen, so I pulled out a tanto that I’d brought and told her that I’d commit seppuku since that was the only honorable option she was leaving me.”
“Y-you what!?” Ryoga bellowed, before remembering that he needed to keep his voice down.
“Hey, if it came down ta that, or Kasumi getting hurt because Ukyo let herself get caught up in some crazy scheme, I’d take seppuku.”
The matter of fact tone that Ranma used shocked Ryoga. ‘He’s serious. I... I can’t believe he would’ve done that.’
“Anyway, she let me out, though I know it hurt her some. I gotta talk ta Kasumi ta see if she can help me smooth that over. After school, I went and found Shampoo and challenged her. I got her to agree ta leave my family and the Tendo’s alone if I win.”
“And what happens if you lose?” Ryoga asked, expecting Ranma to give one of his usual cocky answers.
“If I lose then I have to marry Shampoo immediately and go back ta China with them peacefully.”
Ryoga felt his mouth fall open. Not only did the terms of the fight shock him, but Ranma actually seemed worried that it might come true.
“Shampoo demanded a month to prepare. If we fought today, I wouldn’t be too worried about it. But who knows what the old ghoul will manage ta do with Shampoo in a months time. Anyhow, Kasumi found out what happened with Ukyo and Shampoo earlier and came into the dojo before you did. The first thing she did was slap me 'cause she said she was angry with me for risking my life and freedom like that. Then she up and kissed me and told me she did it for the same reason. I swear I’ll never understand women.”
“I...” Ryoga began, and then stopped. He wasn’t really sure what to say. ‘This is really unbelievable. It sounds pretty farfetched. He looks serious though.’ Ryoga looked into his adversary’s eyes and had to admit that as far as he could tell, Ranma appeared to be telling the truth.
“So,” Ryoga started again, “what are you gonna do about the challenge?”
“Well,” Ranma said, “I haven’t told anyone yet, but I’m planning on taking the time off school and training for the entire month. I’m gonna leave the day after tomorrow and come back the day before the fight.”
“Why the day after tomorrow?”
“'Cause I deal with Kodachi tomorrow,” Ranma replied.
“Ah. Are you going alone on this trip?” Ryoga asked.
“No.” The voice came from just outside the door to the dojo, which then opened and someone stepped through. “No, he won’t.”
Mousse had been standing outside the door to the dojo listening to the conversation between the two rivals, waiting until the appropriate time to interrupt.
“No. No, he won’t,” he said as he opened the door to the dojo and stepped in.
“Mousse!” both Ranma and Ryoga said in surprise. Ranma immediately dropped into a defensive stance.
“Peace, Saotome,” Mousse said, holding his hands away from his body in an exaggerated fashion. “I’m not here to fight. In fact, I’ve come to offer my aid.”
Both young men regarded him with a measure of incredulity.
“Uh huh,” Ranma said sarcastically.
“I’m quite serious,” Mousse said. “I have a vested interest to make sure that you win your fight against Shampoo. We’re both aware that you’re going to need to train hard to deal with whatever Cologne comes up with. So I’m willing to come with you on this trip to assist.”
“And try ta kill me while we’re out there alone,” Ranma said.
“Look Saotome,” Mousse said, gritting his teeth. “I’m loathe to admit this, but none of my attempts to deal with you have worked in the past. I think we both know that it wouldn’t make any difference this time. If it makes you feel any better, I do have an ulterior motive.”
“Such as?” Ryoga interjected, raising his eyebrows.
“Well, Shampoo and the old mummy are going to be gone for the next month training too. So I need to find something to do. Helping Saotome train keeps me occupied, and it’ll help him win against Shampoo. That means she’ll be free and won’t have any grounds to refuse a challenge. Training with Saotome will also help me prepare for challenging Shampoo, which I intend to do after she loses.”
Ranma visibly relaxed his stance as he pondered everything Mousse had said. Meanwhile, Ryoga just looked back and forth between the two in confusion. After several minutes of silence, Ranma finally nodded his head.
“Okay Mousse,” he said. “As long as you promise ta help your hardest, and not try ta purposefully kill me in my sleep or something, I’ll let you tag along.” Ranma held out his hand to Mousse.
Mousse looked at him for a moment, a bit perturbed at the idea that he was ‘tagging along,’ but he let it slide. Finally, he took Ranma’s hand in his own and they shook. “I give my word as an Amazon that I’ll go with you to help you train and will not seek to kill you.”
“Fine,” Ranma said.
“What about him?” Mousse said, indicating Ryoga.
“What about me?” Ryoga asked, still looking confused.
“I think you should come along to help Saotome train as well.”
“Are you crazy? Why in the world would I do something like that?”
“If I understood what the two of you were talking about in here, it seems like you have a stain on your honor regarding the Tendo family.”
“You were listening?” Ryoga growled.
“Of course. I had to be sure that Saotome was sincere. But that’s really irrelevant. The fact is that you took advantage of the Tendo family after they showed you kindness and respect. By helping Ranma, who is trying to protect the eldest Tendo daughter, you have the chance to repay some of the debt you owe them.”
Ryoga seemed to consider that for a minute. Ranma was surprisingly quiet the whole time, just standing there regarding Ryoga. The lost boy finally spoke.
“Even if you’re right, which I’m not saying you are, Kasumi will have to marry Ranma if he wins. And I don’t care what she’s said, I can’t believe she wants that.”
“Wrong again, pig boy,” Ranma said wearily. “Kasumi made our dads agree that if we don’t wanna get married after I graduate that they’d have to break the engagement. And I told Kasumi that even if I decided I wanted ta marry her, that I wouldn’t do it unless she wanted to.”
Ryoga looked about ready to throw out a retort, but clamped his mouth shut instead. Mousse fought a sigh. ‘It would be really nice to have him there to. Not only would it help Ranma get better if he had to fight against both of us, but it would help me too.’ He decided to give Ryoga another nudge.
“Well, I understand. Ranma was willing to kill himself and is willing to fight Shampoo to save this Tendo girl. You, who says he loves her sister, isn’t even willing to help him protect her. It makes me wonder who really has more honor.”
“You bastard,” Ryoga growled. “Fine. You can count me in.”
Ranma gave him a dubious look. “Look Ryoga, I don’t got time for games here. If you wanna help, I ain’t gonna complain. It’ll actually be good to have another training partner. But if you’re gonna be this way the whole time, then forget it.”
After grinding his teeth for a moment, Ryoga responded. “I’ll do it. Just don’t mistake me. I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for Kasumi. Are we clear?”
“Perfectly,” Ranma retorted, before holding out his hand to Ryoga.
Ryoga studied the hand as if it were a snake. Finally, he reached out his own and clasped Ranma’s.
Thank you for taking the time to read Aijou & Aitou. I hope you have enjoyed yourself. I would love to hear all feedback, positive or negative (as long as it’s constructive). Please take the time to leave a review on fanfiction.net or send me an email letting me know your opinion. Thanks.
