It's in His Kiss - Part One

"So," Ranma winced as he rubbed at the new bruise on his forehead. "What were we talking about?"

Sitting cross-legged in front of him, Ryoga grimaced a bit and gingerly tested his arm to make sure it wasn't broken. "I don't really remember. Something about how screwed up your life is, I think."

"Riiiight," Ranma nodded. He eased himself down until he was flat on his back, staring up at the beams of the dojo ceiling. "Then Akane came in to tell us lunch was ready, and you slugged me when I said that if she had cooked, I'd better phone the coroner ahead of time."

A faint smirk of amusement drifted around Ryoga's mouth. "I had to. She was right there, and she expects me to defend her honor."

"I know, but cripes man! Did you have to hit me so hard?" Ranma opened and closed his mouth several times experimentally. "I'm surprised my jaw didn't break."

"I'm surprised my arm didn't. You didn't have to fight back, you know," Ryoga retorted, with a tone of mild disgust in his voice. He leaned forward a bit, making sure that Ranma paid attention to his next statement. "Ranma, you can not go on like this. Sooner or later, something is going to snap and people are gonna get hurt."

"Yeah, I hear that." Ranma sighed hard, folding his hands behind his head. "Shampoo's last potion was no joke. Someone could have died."

"No kidding! The next time someone says, 'If you don't want it, just feed it to P-Chan,' I will be -so- out of here. What does Kasumi think I am, anyway? Some kind of garbage disposal?" The bandanna'ed boy shivered a bit at the memory of how close he had come to death. If Ranma hadn't found out about what Shampoo was doing and rushed home in time to stop him, Ryoga could have very well been dead. The potion had been made specifically for Akane, to put her into a coma, and had been slipped into an order of take-out ramen. But Akane, pouting because no one had wanted the food she'd made, refused to eat and offered her order to P-Chan. The amount of potion in the food would have been too much for him in his pig form.

"What am I suppose to do, Ryoga?" Ranma frowned, glancing at him. "I know I gotta make a decision here eventually, but I ain’t even sure how I feel anymore. I mean, I was pretty dead set against marrying any of them just a couple years ago, but now that we're older . . . I guess its time to think about settling down. Problem is, they all got their good points. How am I suppose to chose?"

Ryoga drew his legs close to his body and wrapped his arms around them. He looked faintly disturbed by this line of conversation, though Ranma couldn’t imagine why.

"Well, you could just do what your father and Tendo-san want and marry Akane," Ryoga suggested.

"I don't want to marry someone just cuz they say so. If I chose Akane, I want it to be because that's what I want. No one is gonna tell me who to pick, that's something I have to decide on my own. After all, I'm the one who's gonna be living with the decision for the rest of my life."

"True," Ryoga nodded.

"So, what should I do? How do I pick?" Ranma rolled onto his side and pounded his fist once against the wooden floor for emphasis. "C'mon man! You're my best friend, help me out here. Give me some ideas."

"I'm probably the very last person you should be asking for advice in this department, Ranma," Ryoga pointed out, grumbling.

"Yeah well, you're the only one here." Thoughtfully looking through Ryoga, Ranma began to keep track of a mental list with his fingers. "Lessee . . . I've already tried everyone's cooking and that was inconclusive. I know what kinds of fighters they all are, and they're each top of the class in their own discipline, but I can't very well base a marriage on whether or not my wife can kick my ass. They're all kinda cute, but I wouldn't want to decide by looks anyway. I mean, how shallow is that?"

"All kinda cute?" Ryoga asked skeptically. "Even Akane? You're always going on about how uncute she is."

"Every now and then, when the light hits her just right, she's not too bad looking," Ranma smirked. "So how else can I compare them? There must be some way to come to a decision, one thing that would set one apart from all the others. And you know, this isn't even taking the guys into account."

Ryoga choked, his eyes widening with shock and surprise. He turned several rapid shades of red and fell all over himself trying to get the next sentence out of his mouth. "G - g - guys?! Wha - what are y - you t - talking about?!"

Ranma's grin widened at his friend's reaction. He laughed quietly. "Geeze Ryoga, don't tell me you're blind as well as directionless. You mean to say that you haven't noticed that I'm not exactly straight?"

The Lost Boy seemed to be having a problem breathing. "Y - you mean y - your g - g - girl half . . . ?" he squeaked.

"Nah. My girl-half don't have nothing to do with it."

"You're - you're g - g - g - . . . . "

"The word is gay, P-Chan. Spit it out!" Ranma beamed, clearly enjoying how uncomfortable Ryoga was. "No, I'm not gay. I've found myself attracted to both girls and guys. I guess I'm bi. Which only complicates things even more. I mean, how do I know I shouldn't be chasing after Kuno or Mikado? I don't want to overlook any possibility, so what basis should I use to make my decision?"

Still not quite over his shock, Ryoga was fidgeting with his fingers, looking as if he wished he were any place else other than where he was. But he glanced up rather sharply at Ranma’s mention of the two young men. "Kuno and Mikado?" he asked.

"Well yeah. You know, I've kissed both of them. It was a bit startling, but not entirely unpleasant," Ranma told him, wondering about the expression on his friend's face.

"I can't believe that I'm hearing this . . . " Ryoga muttered, lowering and shaking his head in disbelief. There was silence for a long moment, both boys caught in their own thoughts, then Ryoga looked up again. "Kiss . . . there's an idea that might work, Ranma."

"What?" Ranma asked eagerly, rolling up to sit cross-legged.

"Well, my father once told me that he knew he loved my mother because the first time he kissed her, he felt like the entire world lit up and like he had been set on fire. So, I guess you could go around and give each of your . . . " he grappled for the right non-gender specific word. " . . . interests . . . give each of your interests a kiss and see if one of them affects you like that."

Ranma pondered this for awhile, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm . . . kiss them all, huh?"

"All except Kuno and Mikado. You've already kissed them, and they did nothing for you, right? So, no need to do it again." Ryoga seemed rather relieved by that idea for some reason.

"Not so fast, now. Like I said, those first times were rather startling. I'd have to do it again, just to be absolutely certain." Ranma grinned, apparently not at all disturbed by the idea. The fresh blush that spread over Ryoga’s face was priceless. The Lost Boy drew his mouth down into a little pout dot, looking very unsettled.

"Ryoga," Ranma slapped his fist into his palm. "This idea has merit! It’s not quite as shallow as judging by looks, it will be fun and interesting for me at least, and it makes sense. I can't spend the rest of my life saddled with someone who doesn't spark anything in me, so this will be the perfect way to decide. One of them is sure to stand out over the others."

Unable to take any more, Ryoga rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. "Let me know how it comes out," he said, heading for the doorway to the dojo, flipping his hand in a wave. "Later."

"Just where do you think you're going, P-Chan?" Ranma scrambled up and bounced after his friend, tackling him around the neck from behind. "You ain't abandoning me!"

"Hiiiy!" Ryoga grabbed Ranma's wrists and threw his weight forward, neatly flipping the pig tailed boy over his head. He landed on his back with a *THUD* that shook the entire dojo floor.

Ryoga glared at him, folding his arms over his chest. "I'm really not interested in tagging along on this one, Ranma."

"Ouch," Ranma groaned, rolling onto his stomach to peer at Ryoga. "Aw, c'mon Ryoga. This will be fun, you'll see. Besides . . . " he grinned sheepishly. "I ain't got the guts to do it alone. If one of them decides to kill me, I'm gonna need you to come to my rescue."

"I oughta just let them all pound you into paste." Ryoga raised a hand to scrub his face in exasperation, then gave in reluctantly. "Oh, all right. I'll come. After all, if they do try to kill you, it will be fun to watch."

"Oh, you are just loads of support, aren't ya?" Ranma grumbled, getting to his feet. "Let's go get started. I want to get this whole mess decided for once and for all."

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