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Ryoga was out of breath when he finally caught up to Ranma. Ranma was standing in female form, with her back against a tree, staring at Ryoga. Ryoga had grabbed her by the shoulder so she couldn't run away. His face was so close to Ranma's that she could feel his breath on her face as he said,
"You can't escape me." And that's exactly how Ranma felt.
Until now, Ranma had always avoided thinking directly about Ryoga. Whenever they had met, he had immediately gone on the attack, because then he didn't have to think, only act. And whenever they had spoken to each other, it had been on the level of jokes and silliness. But since he had noticed this strange spot on his chest, something had forced him to deal with his feelings for Ryoga. At first, he thought he had become the victim of some magic again, but he felt that the feelings he had were not something that had been hexed onto him from the outside. It was just that he was somehow forced to deal with it now.
His heart was beating so fast that it was pounding in his ears, and Ryoga was still so close to him. Ranma didn't know what to do or think anymore. He just knew that he was completely confused. So he said softly,
"Do what you want with me." What else was he supposed to say? If Ryoga were to attack him, so be it? Then he would at least possibly end up unconscious and be rid of these tormenting thoughts. But if he didn't... What else could Ryoga possibly want from him? They had been enemies since the bread incident, and that would never change for Ryoga.
Ryoga looked him in the eye, but Ranma avoided his gaze. He couldn't stand it. He knew that if he looked into his eyes now, those deep brown eyes... Okay, enough, Ranma told himself. But Ryoga answered already,
"You can bet on it."
But shortly thereafter, he said nothing more, as Akane's blow with a spade to his head knocked him out. Ranma leaned against the tree and stared into space as his heart raced. He suddenly remembered what it was like when he lost his strength. Ryoga had stubbornly refused to fight him. He had been so upset to see Ranma like that that he had even said it to his face. And he had let Ranma hit him so that he could recover.
Suddenly, Ranma became aware that someone was calling his name. Confused, he looked up from his thoughts and saw Akane waving some kind of paper in front of his face.
"Are you okay, Ranma?" she asked. He almost answered with a clear 'No' but instead he wordlessly grabbed the paper and could hardly believe what he read: it was the instructions for a so-called 'love fishing rod' It left behind only a small spot that then grew into a fish and supposedly awakened the love of the person who caught it. On the back was a footnote: The fishing rod only strengthens existing love; it cannot force anyone to fall in love with you.
Ranma let the paper fall and knelt where he was. When Akane asked,
"Ranma, what's wrong?" he could hardly hear her anymore. He could only think: existing love... How could that be?
Suddenly, he heard Akane exclaim,
"My God," and when he looked up, he saw that she had the paper in her hand again, staring at the back. So she had seen it now too.
"Ranma, I..." she began after a while.
"It's okay, I'm pathetic. You have every right to look down on me." he was so confused at that moment.
He needed space, time to think. So he just started jumping over the rooftops: the best place to think.
Akane sat next to the still unconscious Ryoga in the schoolyard, muttering only,
"Ranma..." but he was already sitting high up on one of the roofs above the city.
On the way, he had gotten hot water, which he now poured over his head. Thoughtfully, he looked at his distorted reflection in the teapot. The female body couldn't have affected him that much. But he had known Ryoga even before this thing with the spring happened to him. And if he were completely honest with himself, he had always had these feelings. He just never let them get close to him. He knew he was under a spell at the time, but he also knew it would never be the same as before. Because even if he had avoided looking directly at Ryoga, he couldn't have missed what was going on in Ranma.
And when he thought back to that, 'You can bet on it,' he suddenly wasn't so sure what Ryoga had meant.
He put his hands over his face. Admitting these feelings to himself, Ranma, who cultivated and maintained his macho image like no one else, was harder to bear than the girl's body. Because it was a part of him, and there was no hope of healing, no miraculous, 'I don't love men' spring. How could he ever face Ryoga again? It would be best if he disappeared, right now. So that no one noticed. Who would miss him?!
Even a blind person must have noticed by now that Akane wasn't interested in men, and who else would want anything from him? Kuno maybe? He just wanted a girl whose body happened to have his soul in it, and Shampoo? She was still trying to fulfill the vow based on the holy laws of her country. He had never believed that she really loved him. Ukyo... Ukyo was also only bound to him by such a stupid engagement promise, but he believed that her affection for him was real. But he could never reciprocate it. And he thought she knew that in her heart. That's why she wasn't as fanatical about hunting him down as the others. Maybe he should leave her a message... just so she wouldn't worry. But the others would find out sooner or later. So he would just go, without telling anyone.
He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice someone sitting next to him at first.
"Leave me alone, Akane," he said without looking up. But the voice that said,
"Let's talk, Ranma," was not Akane's, it was Ryoga's. Ranma looked up in alarm; he had just needed Ryoga to start talking to him.
"What do you want?" he asked, trying to sound as dismissive as possible.
"You don't have to say anything. I just want you to listen to me," he said, and when Ranma answered with silence, he continued,
"I'm sorry about the fishing rod. I didn't know... I didn't mean to hit you with it."
Since Ranma still didn't move, he said, sounding desperate now,
"Damn it, Ranma... I don't know what to do either." Ranma raised his head and said sadly,
"Why don't you ask me? Why don't you ask me how it feels to be such a twisted black sheep?" This time Ryoga, more confused than anything else, started to speak,
"Ranma I..." but Ranma interrupted him:
"Don't make it worse. Don't you realize that it pains me to be near you?" and with those words Ranma got up and tried to leave.
Suddenly Ryoga realized that if he didn't do anything now, he would never see Ranma again.
He would never see Ranma again, he thought, and all of a sudden he realized he couldn't bear it. He wasn't quite sure what he felt for Ranma, but he had definitely grown accustomed to him and had always enjoyed their fights. It had always been clear that they would only meet in this way, they had just become too used to it, but deep down he could never really hurt Ranma. Their fights had been nothing but games... training.
He couldn't bear to see Ranma suffer. It had almost torn his heart apart when he had seen Ranma so weak and vulnerable back then. Because in the end it had always been Ranma's strength that he had admired and needed so much. No one else was his equal, except Ranma.
So he got up, grabbed Ranma's shoulder, and felt Ranma shudder and tense his muscles under his touch, ready to jump. If he didn't do something now...
"Ranma, what should I do?" Almost without thinking, he grabbed Ranma's other shoulder and pulled him around with a jerk. What he saw then shook him deeply. Ranma's face was stiff and unmoving, as always, but it was just a mask, as Ryoga saw when he looked into his eyes. And what he saw in Ranma's eyes was nothing but pure despair. He had never seen Ranma like this before. Not even when he was being chased by a horde of cats. He didn't want Ranma to suffer like this because of him. Impulsively, driven by this thought, he pulled Ranma towards him. He wanted to protect him. Protect Ranma, how strange this thought was. The strong Ranma, who couldn't be beaten, and I want to protect him? Ranma had never given anyone a glimpse so deep into his soul, only me.
I should... I should... And he couldn't go on with his thoughts as he felt himself do something he didn't yet fully understand why. But at the latest when his lips touched Ranma's, he stopped thinking altogether. He simply enjoyed the feeling of being so close to Ranma in this way. It wasn't normal, it wasn't right, but it felt so good, he thought. Too good to ever want to miss it again.
When they finally parted, Ranma looked dreamy and said,
"You..." but he couldn't finish his sentence as Ryoga, as usual, had a massive nosebleed. I mean, he, Ryoga, had taken the initiative. He, who hadn't been able to confess his feelings to Akane. But Ranma quickly produced a handkerchief and stuffed it in Ryoga's nose. To top it off, he had even raised his arm to show acute embarrassment.
"My God, Ryoga," said Ranma after a while, when the bleeding just wouldn't stop, not to mention the redness in his face.
"What? Go ahead, make fun of me."
"I'm not making fun of you," replied Ranma, shaking his head and pouring the remaining lukewarm water over Ryoga's head.
"I hope that helps, I couldn't use cold water."
He grinned.
After a while, Ryoga sat down and muttered softly,
"What have I done?" Ranma had gone down on his haunches in front of him and looked at him sideways as he said,
"You have..."
"I know what I did, but why?" he didn't let Ranma get a word in. Ranma decided not to waste any more time and prevented Ryoga from talking and thinking by gently pulling him towards himself and taking his breath away with a second kiss.
After a while, it felt like they weren't alone. But he didn't care, he didn't care about anything as long as he was with Ryoga. But since Ryoga was still bleeding from his nose and slowly starting to have acute difficulty breathing, he reluctantly let him go. He noticed Akane standing next to them, apparently frozen and throwing her limbs away in typical horror. She stuttered,
"Ranma, you... I..." before Ranma knew it, Ryoga was already up and gone. He was just too shy. Ranma looked up at Akane, who had recovered from her initial shock and now said,
"I won't tell anyone." Ranma stood up too and just said, before he left,
"Thank you."
The next day, Akane came early to Ranma's room and said excitedly,
"There's a big martial arts exhibition in Osaka. Everyone is going. Your father is coming too. What about you?"
"No thanks, I already have something else planned."
"Kodachi and Kuno will be there too," she continued to chatter cheerfully before she came to the real reason she wanted to talk to Ranma,
"If you stay here, could you take care of P-chan?" Oh, she didn't know what she had said and was frankly a little surprised at how slyly Ranma said,
"I'd be happy to." So she added cautiously,
"But don't tease him."
When everyone had left, Ranma went into Akane's room where he found P-chan sleeping. He didn't want to wake him up, so he picked him up carefully and carried him towards the bathroom.
When Ryoga slowly woke up, the first thing he noticed was that someone had grabbed him, so he was about to bite. But when he took a breath, he noticed something familiar, yes it smelled like Ranma. If Ranma was carrying him, it wouldn't be a danger. So he kept his eyes closed and snuggled up to him.
Ranma quietly opened the door to the bathroom, in which he had already let warm water run into the tub.
"Ryoga, are you awake?" he asked softly as he set P-chan down on the edge of the tub.
He now opened his eyes and looked at Ranma sleepily. Just at that moment, Ranma pushed him into the water, from which he soon surfaced, coughing and gasping, but in his normal body.
"Did you want to drown me?" he coughed. Ranma smiled as he said,
"Do you think I'd kiss a pig?" and pulled him towards himself.