Ikioi - Part Two

"You’re his -what-?" Akane and Ukyo both gasped in unison.

"My . . . my . . . iinaz . . . " His brain apparently jump-started by the diminutive girl’s proclamation, Ryoga yanked his hand out of Ikioi’s grasp, nearly fell off the stool he was sitting on, and attempted to form a coherent question while grabbing onto the counter for support. "You - you’re my . . . my iinazuke?!"

"Oh dear," Ikioi looked from the girls to Ryoga, obviously upset by their reactions of shock. "Gomen nasai," she apologized with another proper bow. "Perhaps that was not the best way to introduce myself."

"I’ll say." Ukyo’s glared at the girl, grip tight around the spatula she held, as if she were simply looking for the excuse to throw it. Though she didn’t exactly count Ryoga as a friend, he was one of their own and Ukyo would be damned before she would allow this Ikioi to hurt him.

Akane was startled but pleased to see that Ukyo seemed to share her own uneasy feeling about this girl. She glanced back at Ikioi, crossing her arms pointedly. "Yes," she agreed. "Would you care to explain that statement?"

Ikioi edged slightly closer to Ryoga, who had succeeded in straightening himself, though whether it was because she felt intimidated or not was hard to say. Her pretty face was held in a carefully neutral expression.

"Hmmm . . . " she regarded first Ukyo, then Akane, her brilliant gaze lingering on the youngest Tendo daughter just slightly longer. "Ryoga-san is very lucky to have friends who are obviously so concerned for his welfare," she began, and somehow the pleasantly pitched comment managed to sound a bit derogatory, at least to Akane’s ears. "But, I believe that he and I should discuss this between ourselves before we go any further." She smiled sweetly, lifting a small elegant hand and placing it on the young man’s arm.

Ryoga leaned as far away from her as he could manage without tipping over again. Looking at once bewildered and terrified, he was shaking like a cornered rabbit. "B - but . . . " he stammered. " I - I don’t have a . . . "

"I’m not surprised that you weren’t told about me," Ikioi nodded understandingly. "But please, please, Ryoga-san . . . give me the chance to talk to you and explain." She gazed up at him pleadingly, aquamarine eyes glistening softly.

Akane and Ukyo exchanged uneasy looks, as Ryoga was obviously entranced by those beautiful eyes, and was capable only of staring back at Ikioi, cornered rabbit now being frozen in place by the hypnotic gaze of a snake. Neither of them liked the feel of this one bit.

"Ryoga-san?" Ikioi prompted.

Shock and nervousness slowly melting away under the hopeful warmth in her gaze, Ryoga slowly reached up and removed her hand from his arm and held it between his own. "All right," he agreed quietly.

Ikioi smiled with relief and the beauty of the expression nearly took Ryoga’s breath away. Could it be? Could this fantastic creature really be interested in him? It didn’t seem possible, but right now Ryoga was incapable of questioning. He simply drowned in her smile, and it took a gentle nudge from her to break the spell she’d so effortlessly woven. He was oblivious to the twinkle of satisfaction in her eyes as he somehow managed to stand and gather his pack.

Akane and Ukyo, however, were not.

It so happened that Ranma chose that moment to duck into the restaurant with a cheerful greeting of, "Hey Ucchan, you seen - oh there you are, Akane!" Apparently not immediately noticing the tension in the establishment, he poked his iinazuke in the back. "I’ve been looking all over for you. I thought you were gonna help me with that homework . . . " He trailed off when it became obvious that no one was listening to him, and that gave him the opportunity to finally notice Ryoga.

"Hey!" the pig tailed boy beamed, stepping around Akane to put himself in the middle of whatever was going on. "Ryoga! You’re back!" Privately, Ranma acknowledged a sense of relief. He’d never have admitted it to anyone, of course, but he’d been very worried about the nomadic martial artist.

Ryoga glanced up as he slung his pack onto one shoulder. His eyes darkened and he pointedly took up Ikioi’s hand again. "I was just leaving," he replied coldly.

"Uh . . . " Ranma didn’t miss the tone of voice. Obviously Ryoga was still pissed at him, which wasn’t terribly surprising. Ryoga was always mad at him for some reason. But neither did Ranma miss the hand holding. (( What the hell is this? )) he thought, covering his expression of surprise like a pro. Ryoga had a girlfriend? Since when? His attention shifted to the attractive young woman and he met her striking eyes with a rather uncordial light in his own.

She was pretty . . . extremely pretty, possibly even more so than either Akane or Ukyo, if not Shampoo as well. But despite that, Ranma experienced a strange sense of . . . something . . . something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. A wrongness . . . and it was obviously originating in the aura of this girl who was holding hands with Ryoga. Ranma’s eyes narrowed and he felt the hair on the back of his neck standing up, reacting to a sense of danger which seemed to have no source.

But it did have a source, and Ranma was looking at her.

Ikioi tipped her head slightly, as if listening to music that only she could hear. Her gaze stayed firmly locked with Ranma’s, and he felt the faint sense of a challenge being issued. "Ryoga-san?" she asked lightly, almost sounding amused. "Who is this?"

Ryoga froze, dread gripping his heart. He hesitated, gripping Ikioi’s hand tighter and casting a look between the expression of interest on her face and the developing scowl on Ranma’s. (( She . . . she wants to know who he is . . . )) Ryoga thought miserably to himself. (( She didn’t ask about Akane or Ukyo, but she wants to know who Ranma is . . . she’s smiling at him . . . smiling at Ranma . . . ))

"Ranma Saotome," the pig tailed youth introduced himself when it became apparent that Ryoga wasn’t going to say anything. "Who the hell are you?" (( And why does Ryoga look like he’s gonna faint? ))

"Ranma!" Akane snapped, stepping forward. Obviously Ranma didn’t like this girl any more than she or Ukyo did, but that was still no reason to be impolite. "Don’t be rude, you moron."

Ikioi laughed gently, a silvery sound that chimed gently in the air. "Oh, it’s all right, Akane-san," she said dismissively.

Still behind the grill, Ukyo blinked and straightened, redoubling her interest in what was going on.

Ryoga looked stricken, wincing and lowering his head. He could almost feel the disappointment building within him, like black tendrils that were reaching up through his body to strangle him from the inside out. (( She laughed . . . laughed for Ranma . . . why? Why does every girl in the world seem to like -him- so damn much?! She’s obviously already falling for him . . . why? Why?))

(( Ryoga . . . )) Ranma blinked, wondering about the waves of unhappiness and despair that were filtering through the young man’s aura. He wasn’t given much time to think about it, however, as Akane drew his attention back to the girl.

"Ranma, this is Ikioi Kaitou. She’s Ryoga’s . . . uhm . . . " Akane fished for the right word.

"Friend," Ukyo suggested in an extremely uncharitable tone.

"Iinazuke," Ikioi corrected politely, drawing slightly closer to Ryoga and leaning her head on his arm.

"-What-?!" Ranma blanched.

Ryoga audibly let out the breath he’d been holding, tensing and gazing down at Ikioi as if she’d suddenly appeared there out of nowhere. (( She said . . . she said it again . . . iinazuke! Does she . . . maybe she’s not interested in Ranma? Maybe she really does like . . . me? ))

"Come, Ryoga-san, we have much to talk about." Ikioi tugged on him and carefully pulled him after her, smiling when he followed willingly. She paused briefly beside Ranma and cast a glance up at him. "A pleasure to meet you, Ranma Saotome," she purred.

Everyone shifted uncomfortably and Ryoga looked rather upset again.

"Of course it is," Ranma replied automatically. "But hold it right there." He raised a hand and poked it against Ryoga’s chest as Ikioi attempted to draw the young man out of the restaurant. "You ain’t going nowhere until you tell me what’s going on."

Ryoga’s eyes narrowed and he slapped Ranma’s hand away. "Back off," he hissed. "This is none of your business."

"Like fun it ain’t - - "

"Ranma," Akane put a steadying hand on her iinazuke’s arm and squeezed tightly. "Ryoga is right, it’s none of your business. Now, get out of the way. He and Ikioi-san have a lot they need to talk about."

"They can talk right here," Ranma continued to hold a glare with Ryoga.

"That’s a very generous offer, Ranma Saotome," Ikioi smiled, though her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "But I think it would be best for Ryoga-san and I to go to his home where we can have some privacy."

Ranma didn’t like how she stressed the word ‘privacy’ just a bit. (( Just what is going on here? What the hell do you want with Ryoga, you little - - ))

Ryoga broke off the glare and his expression melted into sheepishness as he glanced at Ikioi. "My home? Uhm . . . well, I’m afraid I - I don’t really know . . . "

"That’s all right, Ryoga-san. I know how to get there." She graced him with another brilliant smile which completely erased any thoughts he might have been having, and pulled him out of Ucchan’s, pausing barely long enough for him to slip his shoes back on.

(( Ryoga! )) Ranma winced to himself as he went to the doorway and watched them disappear around the corner up the street. (( What’s wrong with you? Can’t you feel it? Something ain’t right with her . . . )) He wanted to go after them, ready to fight if necessary to get the wandering martial artist away from the origin of that bad feeling, but when he glanced back and saw both Akane and Ukyo gazing at him speculatively, Ranma realized that he couldn’t.

After all, how could he explain his concern? At least whenever he disrupted Ryoga and Akane, he had the ready excuse that Akane was supposedly his iinazuke, but that was not the case here. Akane was right - this was none of his business. He could come up with no plausible reason for going after Ryoga and that little harpy. . . not without admitting something that he really didn’t think he was ready to.

Sighing heavily within, Ranma cast one last look in the direction Ryoga had gone, and then turned back into the restaurant, moving over to take up the stool that Ryoga had vacated.

"Akane-chan," Ukyo began, looking thoughtful as she slid Ryoga’s food pointedly in Ranma’s direction. "Did you notice that Ikioi called you by name?"

Akane blinked, looking up from running her fingertips carefully along the shiny surface of the mirror Ryoga had given her. "So?"

Ukyo tapped the blade of a spatula against the grill, and though her words were directed toward Akane, her eyes were on Ranma.

"You never gave her your name, Akane."

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