Chapter 9: Without answers for myself… still

Ryoga looked at the almost finished Dojo, a sense of pride creeping over him.

“It’s marvellous, P-chan.”

“Heh, they’re teaching you big words already?”

“Oh so funny, piggy.”

Ryoga smirked.

“It’s getting late Saotome, Akane’s gonna kill you if you miss dinner again.” He said picking up his tools from the floor.

“Aww, she knows I’m here. She’s not jealous anymore, she knows Ucchan’s yours now.” He mocked, causing Ryoga’s face to blaze.

“I-it’s not like that! You know it!”

“Alright, chill!” Ranma laughed, messing up with him was always so funny; “but she’s still your fiancée. You should get used to it, it has been, what? Three months already?”

“Yeah… And I’m still alive. Go figure.”

Ranma chuckled, shaking his head; “you know it’s worth it, P-chan; so stop complaining.”

“Yeah, yeah… Whatever.”

“How’re things with her, anyway?”

“Well, I guess.”

“And she treats you better?”

Ryoga shrugged, “at least we talk a bit more.”

“Good.”

“Yeah… Where were you yesterday, by the way? She wanted to go to some girly thing with Akane but we couldn’t find you at the Dojo.”

“Oh, we were running away from Shampoo. The usual.”

“Right.” Ryoga nodded, shaking his head; “that girl just wont give up, huh?”

“Hardly. So, I’m gonna run home, probably the panda’s stuffing his mouth already; see ya tomorrow!” He punched the other boy’s shoulder and took off at high speed.

“Ranchan left already? I thought he was having dinner with us.” Ukyo asked, stepping out of the house.

“Nah, he went home,” Ryoga said as he walked towards his fiancée, taking in her softened features barely touched by make-up, “why he keeps coming back is beyond me.”

“You know how obsessed he is with martial arts. He wants to be a part of this.” She shrugged, walking in beside him.

He couldn’t help to smell her sweet, faint perfume; “Probably.”

“C’mon, let’s go to dinner.”

He followed her silently, wondering if she was looking so good just for Ranma’s sake; it startled him just how much that annoyed him.

It was one of those moments in life, especially in the Nerimians lives, when you feel that something terrible is going to happen. Or worse, something terribly annoying. Ukyo was feeling the latter as she sat in the living room, trying to finish that goddamned book. It was getting stronger as the minutes passed by, making her feel uneasy and annoyed.

“What can possibly happen now?” She asked the heavens (well, the roof actually, since she was inside the house), regretting her question the second it left her mouth. It was like asking ‘what else can go wrong?’ when you definitely know there’s going to be something that goes horribly wrong and you want to kick your own behind for asking that stupid question.

DING-DONG!

“And there’s my answer,” she shook her head, obviously upset.

“Nihao!”

She surely wasn’t expecting to find HER in the door, but life was always full of surprises, wasn’t it?

“S-shampoo? What are you doing here?”

“Shampoo come visit friend!”

“Huh?”

“Ukyo dear, who’s at the door?” Her mother in law asked sweetly as she approached them.

“It’s uh…Shampoo.”

“Aren’t you going to invite your friend in?” Aiko motioned for the girl to step into the house.

“Thank you, nice nice lady.”

“I’ll go make some tea.”

The Amazon bounced in, looking all around.

“So,” Ukyo cleared her throat, still bewildered; “you said you’re here because…”

She motioned for the girl to finish off that sentence.

“Shampoo come visit friend.”

“And your friend is…?”

“Spatula girl!” She shouted giggling, thinking it was a game.

“Right!... Since when?”

“What you mean since when? You no obstacle anymore, so you friend now.” Shampoo shrugged.

“Just like that? We’ve been hating each other since we met, and suddenly you want to be my friend ‘cause I’m not Ranma’s fiancée anymore?!”

“Yes.” Shampoo nodded affirmatively, wondering why her new friend was making such a big deal out of it.

“Did you ever stop to think that maybe I don’t want to be your friend? You’ve been a pain in the ass for almost two years! I can’t just pretend everything’s alright in the blink of an eye!”

“Shampoo do.” She said emotionless.

Ukyo gaped at the Amazon, as she stood near the couch, smiling back at her.

“Why?”

The purple haired girl blushed then, looking down sheepishly, “Shampoo always think you nice girl, maybe if airen not in middle we be good friends, yes? Shampoo have lots of friends back in village, but Shampoo have no friends here. There stupid Mousse, but not the same.”

“Oh.” Ukyo stood stunned, she had never, ever expected something like that coming from that girl. “So, what you’re trying to say is that you actually want to leave the past behind and be friends? Just forget about all the fights and insults and be friends? Just like that?”

“Yes.”

“Just like that.”

“Yes.”

Ukyo pinched the bridge of her nose. Ever since that night at the fair, when Shampoo found out about her engagement, the Amazon girl had been trying to be friendly with her whenever they met, especially during lunch time in school, when she’d pop up to bring Ranma lunch. To say that this of course irritated both Akane and herself was an understatement. She hadn’t mind not fighting with the girl anymore, but this was just too much.

“Look, Shampoo… I can’t be friends with you after all we’ve been through. I’m amazed we’re talking calmly right now.”

“Shampoo understand…” The Amazon looked down and sighed, walking dejectedly towards the door.

“Good.” She said and closed the door after the Amazon left.

Sitting again in her favourite spot in the couch, she picked up the book and tried (being the keyword here) to resume her reading.

DING-DONG!

The pretty okonomiyaki chef blinked a couple of times before going to the door again.

“Uh…”

“Hello, me Shampoo, Amazon from China. Shampoo eighteen year old. Shampoo live with Great Grandmother in Nekohanten, Shampoo cook too too delicious ramen. Nice to meet spatula girl, spatula girl and Shampoo friends now, yes?”

Awkward silence.

“What part of ‘no’ didn’t you understand? Was it the ‘n’?”

“Shampoo not know what you mean.” The lavender haired girl shook her head.

“I told you we can’t be friends after all we’ve been through.”

“But Shampoo and spatula girl just meet!! Shampoo meet nice nice lady at restaurant, she your grandmother; she say you great chef, so Shampoo come to meet!” The Amazon announced cheerily, clasping her hands in front of her chest.

Ukyo looked at the Chinese specimen in her front door, contemplating the chances of spatulating her into the stratosphere. She knew Shampoo’s skull was almost as hard as her own fiancée’s, and that she wouldn’t give up until she got what she wanted. Was Shampoo really offering friendship? Could she really forget all the fights, backstabbing and sabotages of the last two years?

Hell no!

“The tea’s ready! Oh darling, what are you doing outside again? Come in, let’s have tea.” Mrs. Hibiki hushed the Chinese girl into her home, missing the fearful look her daughter in law shot her.

Closing the door for the second time, the pretty chef let out a long, heartfelt sigh.

“It’s gonna be a loooooong day…”

Finding his mother having tea in their living room with friends was something Ryoga hadn’t been used to. Hell, he even hadn’t been used to finding his mother in their living room, period. But since three months ago, that had become something normal.

What was definitely not normal, improbable and even unnatural, was finding his mother having tea in the living room with Ukyo and Shampoo, at the same time; and with no signs of property damage or high-pitched yelling, to boot!

“Uuuuhhh…” He exclaimed intelligibly as he stood near the front door, his gaze fixed on the girls (who, for some reason, kept staring at each other. Well, Shampoo stared, Ukyo more like glared.) I get Ukyo’s glaring, but why is it Shampoo smiling at her?

“Oh son, say hello to Shampoo! I believe she’s your friend too?”

“What?”

“We talked about her in the kitchen that day too, remember? When we were talking about Ukyo? I just realized it’s the same girl! How come you’ve never invited her here before?” His mother giggled.

Uh-oh… The glare was suddenly directed at him, what did he do?!

“So, Ryoga… What have you been saying about Shampoo?”

“Uh… I …. Hey! It’s Ranma!”

“Huh?” Both girls looked at where Ryoga was pointing.

“Ranma’s not there, you big-” But he was gone. “That jackass.”

“What not lost boy say about Shampoo?” The Amazon asked curious, earning a glare from her new friend (to her, anyway.)

“Oh, nothing really… If I remember correctly, he just said that Ukyo could reach your level at martial arts if she trained a little more.” Aiko gestured vaguely, taking a sip of her tea.

“Shampoo think same,” she smiled at the chef, who was planning of having pork for dinner, completely missing the compliment.

“Anyway, Shampoo, it was nice having you here;” Ukyo stood up and grabbed her arm, “but it’s already getting late and I have to help mom with dinner.” The amazon nodded her head in agreement.

“Shampoo have to help great-grandmother with restaurant, too. Thank you for tea! Shampoo come back soon!”

“I’d rather you don’t!” The chef shouted but the purple haired girl had already disappeared through the rooftops.

“Ukyo dear, you seemed not to like your friend’s visit that much; is there something wrong?”

“She’s not my friend, mom. I don’t know who put that stupid idea in her head. We’ve never gotten along, and we never will.”

“Aw, just give her a chance, she seems nice enough.”

“Yeah… seems…” She shook her head and headed towards the kitchen, her mother in law smiling after her.

It was later that night, when they were already in bed getting ready to sleep; (well, she was; her fiancée already snored peacefully), that she remembered what Aiko had said. Ryoga had been talking about Shampoo and her with his mother before she moved in; what could he possibly have been talking about her? It wasn’t like he knew her that well or anything; they were barely acquaintances before they got engaged. He’d probably told his mother how much he’d rather marry Shampoo than me, she thought, surprisingly bitter. And what were the possibilities that he actually picked her instead of the sexy, blindingly feminine Amazon? None. For some reason, this realization pained her a lot. Another rejection, probably.

Had he been angry at that time, about finding out that it was her the one he was supposed to be engaged to? She knew she was outraged when she found out herself, so why would it be any different for him? After all, he was in love with Akane still, right?

She stole a quick glance at his sleeping face. Was he still in love with Akane? It’s been almost a year since she found out about P-chan, and she seemed to have forgiven him for the whole issue; furthermore, she’d said they were friends again; but what were his feelings about it? She had asked him if he still felt that way, once; he’d said yes, but that he loved his family more. And that’s how they gotten into this mess. It’d been over three months since that conversation. Could he be over Akane now? She considered waking him up to ask him right away, and felt an inexplicable urge to do so. She jumped a little at that; why was suddenly so important for her to know if he was over the other girl?

She looked carefully at him, in case her little start had woken him up. This caused another realization followed up by another little jump. Why was she being able to look at him? Shouldn’t there be the screen between them? Why wasn’t it? She froze when the fact that she hadn’t unfolded it registered in her mind. Ryoga had gone to bed, and it was her who always put the barrier between them, and she hadn’t done so. Again.

Lately, more than one time she had woken up (thankfully) before him, and found herself facing him closely, feeling his even breath on her face. Terrified, she’d gotten up quickly and unfolded the screen, as she should have done the night before, so he wouldn’t notice.

But why, again tonight, hadn’t she done it? Ryoga didn’t seem to mind if the screen was there or not; after all, it had been her whine. So why, indeed? Doing a little insight, she realized that the reasons were more disturbing than the question itself. She was getting used to his presence, she was getting used to him. Used to his peaceful face; used to the warmth of his body under the covers; used to his little fangs peeking out his slack mouth as he slept…

She tugged the blanket up to her chest, a small lump forming inside. It grew bigger, as she comprehended that the fights involving trespassing the sides of the bed had always started because it’d been her who’d been on his side, and never vice versa; but somehow she always found a way to make it look like it was his fault. But it was always hers. Maybe her mind had been too sleep-fogged to notice.

Another horrifying question popped up in her mind; why had she been on his side of the bed, sometimes even crawling under the screen? She searched the answer with her eyes, travelling across him. She remembered finding a similar sight the fist morning with him; it had mesmerized her how good looking he’d seemed under the sunlight. Now he was resting on his back, his head tilted towards her, his soft black hair sprawled across the pillow; blanket barely up his chest, his arm extended as if to reach her.

There was her answer. How could she not reach for him when he was so openly inviting her? Mutely asking her to join his warmth, to rest her head on his shoulder and loose herself in his scent. Making her skin almost ache, because it yearned to attach itself to his perfect body. And yes, she admitted blushing as her eyes travelled across him again, shamelessly; he had the perfect body of a martial artist; green eyes, cute fangs and all, he was utterly attractive from head to toe, and had nothing to envy of Ranma. But, of course, he was so shy and bashful that he probably had no idea of that.

What was this irrational desire to join his side? Ryoga shifted, resting on his side. His hand slid slowly towards her pillow, almost reaching it. She felt the urge again, and jumped off the bed. Maybe sleeping on the couch would help her clear her thoughts.

Hey there, it's been a long time, ne? Well, here's chapter nine, I hope you all like it! I know I haven't updated in a while, and I apologize, but I wanted to continue this story the right way, you know? And I finally regained inspiration, hopefully this is good enough. Hugs to all. Next update will be sooner. I promise.