Ikioi - Part One

"Ranma! Leave poor Ryoga alone, you pervert!"

"Ranma? Rannnnnmmaaaa! Prepare to DIE!!"

"Ryoga! Calm down! YIKE! You wouldn’t hit a girl would you?!"

With a vicious growl of frustration, Ryoga Hibiki slammed his fist into the surface of the stone wall behind Ranma’s diminutive form, shattering it into a brief spider-web pattern that immediately crumbled into rubble. Ranma Saotome sprang away from the impact, managing to avoid the rain of debris, landing in a position of momentary safety on the top of a nearby mailbox.

"Hold it a minute, willya?!" Ranma yelped, her feminine voice squeaking a bit.

"You did it to me again!" Ryoga was not interested in listening to whatever she had to say. A strangled battle cry tore from his throat as the mailbox met the same face as the wall and Ranma was forced to jump away again. "Damn you, Ranma Saotome! What pleasure does it give you to taunt me like that?! Why do you keep hurting me?!"

"Lemmee explain!" Ranma requested hastily, only to dodge another powerful punch thrown by the irate wandering martial artist.

"I don’t want to hear it!!" Ryoga snarled, tears now starting to form in his angry brown eyes. He broke off fighting abruptly, aborting another punch to dash his hand across his eyes furiously. Watching the battle on the sidelines, Akane Tendo and Ukyo Kuonji exchanged startled glances with each other and there was a low murmur from the crowd that had gathered to observe and wonder over the confrontation. Ryoga glanced up, as if becoming aware of the audience for the first time, and he paled as his gaze fell on the two girls.

"Oh . . . " he breathed, a stricken expression crossing his face. Turning suddenly, the young man drew in a sob and dashed off, pushing his way through the crowd.

"Ryoga, wait!" Ranma called from her perch on top of a chain-link fence. She straightened to her feet immediately and, in an astonishing display of balance, began to run along the fence in pursuit of the retreating Ryoga.

"Ranma, you jack-ass!" Ukyo snapped as she and Akane also began to follow.

"Yeah!" Akane huffed, pulling ahead of the other girl. "What is your malfunction when it comes to Ryoga, anyway?" Without waiting for an answer, she called Ryoga’s name and tried to close the distance between them before they lost the young man.

(( My malfunction?! )) Ranma thought bitterly as she put on a little more speed. (( Damn it, Ryoga! When are you gonna get it? There’s a reason why I keep disguising myself in my girl-form to come onto you! You moron! )) Her angry scowl softened as she gazed at Ryoga’s running form, at the slender lines of his body and the way he lowered his head as he ran, not watching where he was going. Perfection in pain. Damn it all. (( I’m sorry Ryoga, I’m sorry, I’m sorry . . . ))

Ryoga didn’t hear them calling his name, and would not have turned back even if he had. He wished he could run forever, that he could just keep going until he collapsed and died. Anything to stop the pain. He shut his eyes briefly as he sprinted, blinking away tears which fell away behind him, each drop sparkling in the afternoon sun. (( I know no one likes me! I -know- that!! So why does he have to keep shoving it in my face?! Why does he have to keep hurting me?! Is he so blind?! So malicious?! ))

He leapt over a wall, in an attempt to put more distance between himself and his pursuers. Landing hard, he paused for a second to get his bearings, was momentarily aware of the fact that he had jumped into a small ornamental pond in a park, and then the world shifted in a manner that was at once familiar and hated.

The other three arrived a moment later; Ranma in the lead as she ran along the wall that Ryoga had jumped. Akane and Ukyo came around the wall and all three looked bewildered as Ryoga was no where to be seen.

"Damn it!" Ukyo grumbled, tucking a fist onto her hip and scanning the pleasant little park with narrowed blue eyes. "Where in the world did he go?"

"This is all your fault, Ranma!" Akane glared up at the red headed boy-turned-girl. "Why do you do things like that? Ryoga wasn’t bothering you at all! He and I were just taking a walk together and he was telling me about his most recent trip to Shikoku, that’s it! Why do you dislike him so much?"

(( I don’t, that’s the whole freak’n problem! )) Ranma frowned hard and was about to open his mouth to issue a scathing reply when their attentions were caught by a sad little bwee-ing sound coming from the ornamental pond near the wall. They all looked to find a soaking wet black piglet dragging himself out of the water.

"P-Chan!" Akane exclaimed, hurrying forward.

"I swear, that pig turns up in the strangest places," Ukyo mused. Ranma shot her a nervous glance as she hopped down from the wall and followed Akane.

P-Chan looked up at the sound of Akane’s voice, and his eyes widened. Before she could reach him, he took off running, leaving a spray of water in his wake.

"P-Chan, wait!" Akane called. The piglet came to a halt in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at her, an expression of wounded sadness on his snouted face. Ranma winced in sympathy and bit her lower lip.

(( That’s right, )) she thought, her inner mental voice sounding almost as sad as the pig looked. (( It’s okay. Go running to Akane like you always do. Even if she only loves you because you’re her pet, at least she’ll be able to comfort you. I know you love her. I wish you didn’t . . . but I know you do . . . ))

"C’mon, P-Chan!" Akane knelt down in the soft warm grasses, calling encouragingly and holding her hand out toward the animal. P-Chan blinked slowly and looked away, hanging his head. He paused for a moment longer, then continued to run, disappearing quickly into a row of bushes.

Akane and Ranma were both too shocked to give further chase.

"He wouldn’t come to me," the dark haired girl moaned, clasping her hands to her chest and staring in the direction her pet had run. "He’s never run away from me like that before."

(( No, he hasn’t . . . )) Ranma swallowed hard, her throat and mouth suddenly feeling very dry. (( Kami-sama! He’s really upset this time . . . I’m sorry, Ryoga. Damn it all. I’m sorry . . . ))

********************************************

"Now where the hell am I?" Ryoga muttered to himself, glancing around at the busy street and all the attractive little shops and restaurants that lined it. It didn’t look terribly familiar, but then - nothing ever did. Sighing softly to himself, the young man slung his pack off his shoulders and slid his back down the wall of the closest building until both he and the pack had dropped heavily to the ground.

He was tired, as usual. Ryoga had been traveling non-stop for at least a week . . . probably longer. He wasn’t entirely sure as he had a tendency to lose track of time when he was upset, and he had been feeling particularly miserable ever since the last time he’d seen Ranma. Letting the back of his head thunk hard against the wall, Ryoga shut his eyes and fought down the hurt that wanted to surface again at just the thought of what had happened.

He’d been enjoying a nice talk with Akane, not stuttering too much and walking side-by-side, when Ranma had shown up to disrupt everything. Of course, Ryoga hadn’t realized it was Ranma at the time, as was par for the course. (( I’m such a blind idiot . . . )) She’d claimed to be a long-lost iinazuke, and for a moment Ryoga had allowed himself to believe her ridiculous claim. Having a girl show interest in him was a very rare event indeed, and perhaps he’d known on some deep level that it was just Ranma, but the wandering young man was ready to pounce on any show of affection, no matter what spirit it was offered in. When it did turn out to be only Ranma again . . . Ranma teasing him, taunting him, brutally pointing out how undesirable he really was . . . Ryoga had simply exploded. It was bad enough that no one liked him, but to be given hope like that only to have it savagely dashed was absolutely devastating.

Absolutely. In the week that had passed, the pain had not lessened in the least.

Ryoga shivered, despite the sun that was shining brightly overhead. He was lonely, desperately lonely, and loneliness made for a very cold dark existence.

"Well, well. Konnichi wa, sugar," a familiar voice broke into his thoughts. Ryoga looked up to find Ukyo standing in the doorway of the building he sat by, smiling down at him with a concerned light in her eyes. "I knew it would only be a matter of time before you showed up again."

Ryoga blinked. "Hmm?"

"We’ve been kinda worried about you since you ran off, Ryoga-kun. Where’ve ya been?" She crouched down beside him.

"I don’t know," he replied, because it was the truth. "Who’s ‘we’?"

"Me and Akane and Ran-chan, of course. Ranma even went looking for you, but you certainly have a knack for disappearing, don’t you? Why don’t you come in and I’ll make you something to eat? On the house, okay hon?"

Ryoga considered for a moment then nodded, a small almost-smile creeping onto his face. "Hai," he agreed, standing and grabbing his pack to follow Ukyo into her restaurant. He kicked off his shoes at the door and sat cross-legged on his usual stool, sighing at how good and familiar it felt to be someplace that he recognized. And though Ukyo wasn’t exactly a friend, she was at least being nice to him for the moment, and he cherished moments of that sort, as they had a tendency of being very rare in his world.

"Ranma looked for me?" he asked incredulously as Ukyo took her place behind the grill.

"Sure did. I think he was really sorry about what he did. And . . . " she paused for a moment as she brushed some oil out on the surface of the grill. "Well . . . I’m sorry too, okay?"

"Sorry? You have no reason to be sorry," Ryoga frowned.

"Yes I do. I’m the one who told Ranma that you and Akane were taking a walk together in the first place," she admitted sheepishly, continuing her work but glancing up at him through her bangs.

He glanced away, feeling hurt once more. "I see . . . "

"I really am sorry, Ryoga-kun. I didn’t think about what might happen. I guess I was just . . . " she trailed off, obviously fishing for the right words and looking a little pink.

"I’m afraid I don’t understand, Ukyo-san." Ryoga looked puzzled. "I mean, you want Ranma for yourself, right? So wouldn’t Akane and I spending time together be a plus in your book?"

"Uhm . . . " Ukyo hedged. "I suppose . . . "

She was spared having to explain herself as they were interrupted by the aforementioned Akane ducking into the restaurant. "Ukyo," she began. "Have you seen - - " She stopped up short upon noticing that Ryoga was there, and broke into a pleased smile.

"Ryoga! Oh, I’m so glad to see you! We’ve been so worried!" Akane came forward and surprised the young man with a firm friendly hug, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tightly. "When did you get back?"

Ryoga experienced his usual reaction to Akane, a warm bittersweet feeling of affection and desire which collided in his head and made all of his nerves stand on edge. Somewhere beneath that was the hurtful knowledge that she didn’t really feel the same way toward him, that she loved him only when he was in his pig-form, but for the moment he worked diligently to forget that. It felt so nice to be hugged, to actually be touched by another human being. The delight short-circuited his thoughts and he was pretty much incapable of forming a coherent sentence in her presence.

"Uh . . . well . . . I . . . " he stammered, fidgeting with his fingers nervously as she pulled away and cast a beautiful smile in his direction. "I . . . I . . . broughtyousomething . . . " Ryoga turned away and dug briskly into his pack, quickly laying his hands on a pretty little silver brush and mirror set that he’d picked up somewhere with her in mind. It had always rather bothered him that he’d been responsible for the loss of her long beautiful hair, as he really thought hair like that was a pretty feature on any girl, and he was always thinking about how he could make it up to her.

"Oh Ryoga! What a beautiful set, thank you!" Akane beamed, examining the brush and mirror with a delighted shine in her eyes. "You’re always so thoughtful!" She rewarded him with another hug, and he was addled by it enough that he didn’t notice the cool look in Ukyo’s eyes as she watched the exchange, nor did he see the very forced smile that briefly crossed her face.

"Yeah, that’s really nice of you, Ryoga," she said tightly. Akane glanced up at the tone and looked briefly puzzled.

There really wasn’t time to think about that, however, as another person chose that moment to step into Ukyo’s place of business. Her slight shadow stretched into the room and fell over Ryoga as she paused in the doorway, brilliant aquamarine eyes gazing at first the two girls in turn, and finally settling on the young man. She smiled, warmly and sweetly, the expression lighting up her small round face and making her very beautiful.

She wasted no time lingering, but stepped right in and went to Ryoga, long thick black hair drifting down over her back and shoulders as she moved. She was extremely petite, and her diminutive stature was only enhanced by the elegant flowing black and purple kimono she wore. Stepping around Akane, the young girl took Ryoga’s hand and gazed at him with unmistakable love in her eyes.

He stared at her, shocked and mesmerized. She was beautiful! Oh Kami, but she was beautiful! And she was looking . . . looking at . . . looking at -him-?! It didn’t seem possible, but she was. She was! She was so small and perfect and delicate . . . her smooth white hands around his were cool and soft and sent a jolt to his heart that was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Mouth suddenly dry, he could only sit dumbfounded, drawing in breaths as though each were his last, heart pounding hard and painfully in his chest. (( She’s looking at me! Touching me!! Oh, this has got to be a dream . . . it has to be . . . ))

"Who are you?" Ukyo voiced the question that they all wanted to ask, forgetting to sound professional to a potential customer.

At first mildly miffed at being pushed aside, Akane frowned heavily at this strange girl, feeling a bit protective over her easily hurt friend. It was obvious that he was already falling for her - for the love that was reflected so plainly on her small perfect face - and falling hard. Akane’s first thought, typically enough, was that this had to be Ranma playing another trick on poor good-hearted Ryoga; because, as handsome and sweet as he was, for some reason girls simply didn’t act like this towards the nomadic martial artist. Well, with the exception of Akari, but Akane had always been of the private opinion that Akari was a bit of a flake to begin with.

But even Ranma wasn’t this petite, and was usually far more boisterous with his entrances. The shape of the stranger’s face was different enough to dispel any doubt, as were her striking blue-green eyes. No, this wasn’t Ranma, but Akane had a peculiar uneasy feeling just the same. Something didn’t sit right about this, and as a martial artist, Akane had long ago learned to trust in her first instinct.

"Yes, who are you?" she echoed Ukyo’s question, placing a hand on her hip and leveling a mild glare at the girl.

She turned and regarded Akane and Ukyo with her brilliant eyes, which looked momentarily cool and calculating, then smiled again, warmth easily replacing the cold. She did not let Ryoga’s hand loose, and for some reason that bothered both Akane and Ukyo. It was as if she were already claiming possession of the young man.

As it turned out - she was. "My apologies," she offered with a formal bow. "I should have introduced myself first, but I was too happy to have found him at last."

"Found him?" Akane’s eyes shifted to Ryoga, who was now looking faintly puzzled as he recovered from his shock.

The girl nodded. "My name is Ikioi Kaitou, and I am Ryoga’s iinazuke."

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