Disclaimer: Characters property Rumiko Takahashi. Work of fanfiction, not for profit.
Inspired by the fics "Changing Viewpoints," "Happily Married," and "Estrogen Dreams."
"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die! How dare you impugn Akane's -" Ryoga's fist whistled through the air like a freight train.
Ranma sidestepped casually, gripping Ryoga's wrist and following the path of his arm. With a slight tug, he overbalanced Ryoga into a waiting knee.
"- Honor – Oof!"
"Ranma! Are you fighting with Ryoga again?" Akane grabbed the carefully arranged flower vase that Kasumi had set in the hallway. Cold water sluiced through the air.
Ranma shoved Ryoga's head to the ground and stepped on his neck to keep him there.
"Thank me later, pig-breath," he muttered as the splash of cold water hit him. This was no time to let Akane know that Ryoga turned into her pet pig with cold water. Ranma, meanwhile, felt the transformation wash over him, so to speak.
"He started it," Ranma whined, her voice now girlishly high.
"A likely story," Akane huffed. Then, in a gentler tone, she inquired, "Ryoga, are you all right?"
Ryoga pushed Ranma's foot off of his head. "Yes, Akane. I'm sorry if our fighting upset you." He glared at Ranma. "But Ranma-"
"Why, hello, Ryoga," Kasumi cut in, smiling, as she poked her head through the doorway to the kitchen. "You are staying for dinner, aren't you?" Without waiting for a response, she continued blithely, "Akane, would you help me set the table?"
"Ranma, behave yourself," Akane hissed as Kasumi ducked back into the kitchen. She turned to Ryoga, "No, Ryoga," she said, "your fighting such a jerk doesn't bother me at all, just as long as you don't get hurt." She turned on her heel and followed her sister into the kitchen.
Ryoga stared after Akane with shining eyes. "She worries about me!" he breathed.
Ranma opened her mouth for a smart comment, then shut it, smirking.
Ryoga eyed him. "What are you smiling about?"
"Nothin'," she said. Her pert girl's face stared unnervingly at Ryoga.
"Ranmaaa," growled Ryoga. "Quit looking at me like that."
"Heh." Ranma smiled. "Just thought I should let you know – I figured it out. You love Akane."
"Shh!" Ryoga looked around furtively. Then, seeing that no one was near, he dropped to one knee. "Of course I'm in love with Akane." Ryoga planted an elbow on the ground and bowed his head. "She is the most kind-hearted, lovely woman, who is completely wasted on betrothal to a –"
"Aw, stuff it, pork-brains. You sound like Kuno. I get it, already. But you're wrong. You're not in love with Akane, you *love* Akane."
Ryoga looked up. "That's the same thing, isn't –"
" – like a mother."
Ryoga had sat in a tree for days, contemplating Ranma's words, after having dinner with the Tendos and then attempting, and failing, to wipe the smirk off of Ranma's face.
Well. A mother? Ryoga had a mother...he fingered his mother's latest postcard, with a picture of the Eiffel Tower, a cheery "Hello from Hawaii!" and a postmark from Minsk. Yeah. It had been a long time since he had seen his equally directionally-challenged mother.
Much as he hated to think it, Ranma's teasing observation had rung true. Ryoga was always defending Akane's honor. He had this rabid desire to defend her. But...he really didn't want to see her naked, or any of that. They had gone on one date, and she hadn't had anything much to say to him. This wasn't enough to bump her into "mother" status, but there was certainly something there. He wondered if it was his pig-brain that had made him so attached to Akane. She'd been so *nice* to his pig-form that first night he'd challenged Ranma. She'd been so comforting, and warm, and she'd hugged him...
"Thought about it, porkchop?"
Ryoga swung his umbrella at the infernal face, which ducked and laughed. Ryoga flipped heavily out of the tree, evading Ranma's kick on the way down.
"What the heck are you doing in the Ozarks, Ranma?" he spat.
Ranma sighed. "I live here, Ryoga."
Ryoga looked around, dazed. "You live in the Ozarks?"
"No, Ryoga," Ranma said patiently. "This is the park a few blocks from the Tendo dojo."
"Oh. Well..." Ryoga tried to conjure up the burning rage again.
"Nice that you're in town again. It's been pretty dull around here."
Ryoga stared at the back of Ranma's head.
Ranma looked back. "Aren't you coming? Akane and the others'll be glad to see you."
"No, I can't," Ryoga answered slowly. "I haven't brought any gifts this time. I was going to pick up some crystals or something from a cave."
Ranma grinned. "I'll walk you to your house. You can get something out of that souvenir store you call a room, and say it's new."
Akane was indeed pleased with the pointy wooden shoe, even though there was only one of it and it didn't fit her. "I'll put it right in my window," she said, tromping upstairs.
"Gift for dear old mum, eh?"
"Die, Ranma!"
Ranma rode the parabola of the punch easily, and dropped into the koi pond with a resigned sigh and a splash. She walked out wringing her clothes. "That all you've got, bacon-butt?"
Ryoga charged.
Ranma winced. "It's nothing, Kasumi."
Kasumi made a tsking sound. "Hold still. You have a very pretty face when you're a girl, and I wouldn't want it to scar."
"I don't know about that, Kasumi," Nabiki remarked. "A single scar like that could be very mysterious."
"Serves you right for baiting Ryoga," Akane snorted. "Ryoga, don't feel bad. Ranma had it coming to him."
Ryoga ducked his head. Akane's words did make him feel better, but he was more than a little ashamed of himself. He replayed the scene in his head.
"That all you've got, bacon-butt?"
Ranma sank into a guard stance as Ryoga charged, and Ryoga said the first thing that came to mind.
"Prepare to die, pretty girl!"
Ranma's face screwed up into a look of affront and she launched at Ryoga in a fast combination.
Ryoga stumbled as his eyes caught up with his brain and relayed it a message: Ranma is a pretty girl.
No, Ryoga had shouted back to his mind. Ranma is not a girl. Anyway, I would never hit a girl. So Ranma can't be a real girl.
"Dinner!" Kasumi had shouted.
This was always their cue to stop fighting. Ranma turned her head towards the door, her perfect high girl-cheekbone shining in the sunset.
If she's not a real girl, then why are you staring at her?
Ryoga could lie to himself and say he'd simply lost his grip on his bandanna, but he knew better. Ryoga had wanted to make that voice stop. He had wanted to get rid of the pretty vision before him. He'd thrown that mutable razor-edged bandanna, knowing that Ranma had his guard down – and Ranma had let out just a very little shriek, like a girl.
Ryoga stared at his hands.
"Why aren't you inside making nice to Akane?" Ranma asked.
Ryoga looked up. Ranma was doing pushups in a handstand, the wad of gauze taped to his cheek shining garishly white in the moonlight.
Ryoga smiled slightly. Ranma always did things gracefully. "I don't know." He couldn't apologize. Ranma was a martial artist; pain came with the territory, and this was merely a scratch. But, he wanted to atone for it somehow, and keeping Ranma company seemed like an honorable thing to do.
Ranma's eyes flicked up towards Akane's brightly lit bedroom window. "She's probably studying anyway," Ranma said.
"Yeah," Ryoga replied.
There was silence for a while, punctuated only by Ranma's steady inhales and exhales.
Ryoga leaned back, resting his head on his rucksack, and looked up at the stars.
After a few minutes, Ranma spoke again. "Hey, pork-butt, I've been thinking – "
"Don't call me that."
Ranma stopped mid-handstand and blinked. "Okay," he said. "Ryoga. I've been thinking, physics, you know, those equations, they don't make much sense-"
"Since when are you interested in school?" Ryoga snorted.
"I don't know," Ranma answered. "Maybe since Akane is," he said, although he didn't look up at her window again.
Ryoga wondered why he felt a pang of sourness in his stomach. "Okay," he said quickly. "Okay, they don't make sense. So what?"
"So there's this field, on the west side, and I thought, maybe if you could punt me over the field, and I had a stopwatch, we could get this x – y thing right. It might take a couple of tries, though."
Ryoga stared at him. Leave it to Ranma to think of a bizarre idea like that. Then he started to smile. What could be more fun than kicking Ranma repeatedly over a field? It wouldn't be like the bandanna incident – Ranma was like rubber. He'd only bounce when he came down. It'd be fun to watch. Maybe it would help Ryoga with his own correspondence courses, too.
Ranma saw the smile, and grinned back. "Like the idea?"
Ryoga smiled up at the stars. "When do we start?"