Days passed. A week. Two weeks. A month, until Ryoga returned by combined chance and design (as is often the case) to Nerima.
Akane and Ranma were getting on far better those days, because of the koi rod incident. Not only had Akane been there for Ranma when the redhead needed her, but Ranma's infatuation with Ryoga took the pressure off of Akane entirely. Without any sort of relationship stuff going on between the two of them, they had some relationship stuff going on.
Ryoga showed up at their door with six layers of mud, a disgusting smelling flower, and a highly satisfied expression.
Kasumi was surprised to see him, and aggrieved at the sheer amount of filth, but invited him inside and ordered him to take a bath, directly.
Ryoga agreed, handed the smelly flower to Kasumi, and stomped up the stairs to the furo.
"Thank you. I think?" Kasumi called up after him, and put the smelly flower in some nice water, where it proceeded to foul the water and stink up the kitchen.
Akane and Ranma flew down the steps, talking a million miles a minute, headed for the refrigerator and an afternoon snack.
"Ryoga's upstairs taking a bath," Kasumi informed them serenely. "He brought us a flower."
"Eek! It stinks!" Akane exclaimed, pinching her nose with one hand and waving the air in front of her with another.
Kasumi nodded. "I'm certain it was the best he could do."
"Why, how sweet of him!" Ranma exclaimed, stars in his eyes. "Wait, did you say *taking a bath*?"
Akane bonked him on the head.
"Akane, opportunities like this come once in a blue moon. No *way* we're passing it up."
"You're making me nervous. At least change to a girl before you talk like that."
"And how! I need a dress. Akane, you *have to help me*!!!" Ranma grabbed a hold of his fiancée's hand and flew back up the stairs at the speed of light.
Kasumi clucked to herself and went into the backyard to cut some sweeter- smelling flowers. So her kitchen would not smell quite so skunk-like.
Upstairs, Ranma and Akane crept towards the furo door.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Akane hissed to Ranma.
The redhead giggled. "You have to see it sometime, Akane, or you'll be all shocked. Besides, Ryoga likes you, and *I've* seen him before. I don't think he'll mind."
Akane snorted at this, about to voice a last ditch protest, but they were already at the furo door. Ranma leaned over and cracked the door open slightly.
"What's going on?" Akane demanded.
"I can't see. Too much steam," the redhead replied. "Now that we've opened the door a bit, the show should start soon, though."
Akane glared at her. Together, they waited.
"What's going on, girls?" Nabiki queried from behind the pair.
Both of them jumped. "SHHH!" they hissed.
Nabiki blinked at them. "What's so interesting that's in the furo?" she whispered, and leaned in. "Ooohhh, male flesh! Who is it?"
"It's Ryoga," Ranma said in adoring tones.
"Oh, *that* again," Nabiki said flatly. "Wait! He's turning around."
"SHHH!!!" they exclaimed.
Nabiki leaned a bit closer, standing while Akane and Ranma crouched, so they could all see. It was finally revealed that Ryoga was just dipping into the furo. Now all that the trio could see was blurred flesh tones beneath the water. You could barely make anything out. Nabiki, Ranma, and Akane all let out a small sigh of disappointment.
"We can still wait until he gets out," Ranma said hopefully.
Nabiki nodded, and readied the camera that was hanging around her neck.
"Girls, what are the three of you doing out in the hallway?" Kasumi queried.
Everybody jumped. "Eh heh," Ranma laughed nervously.
"We're spying on Ryoga," Nabiki said without remorse.
"But Ryoga-kun's in the bath!" Kasumi protested.
"That's right, oneechan," Akane replied wickedly. Everyone turned back to observing Ryoga, who was standing up out of the bath.
"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed quietly, standing behind Nabiki. "He really is quite the boy, isn't he?"
The three girls nodded appreciatively. Akane's mouth was open in a little surprised 'o'. "I didn't know they came that big!" she whispered scandalously.
"What's everybody doing out in the hallway?" Soun demanded. "Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane, Ranma?"
Kasumi jumped, bumping into Nabiki, who bumped into Akane, who slammed into Ranma, who banged into the door. To make a long story short, a four-girl pileup crashed at Ryoga Hibiki's feet.
************************
"How many times do we have to say we're sorry?" Ranma complained, her smile and her eyes still adoring him, no matter what her voice said. "We were just a little curious, that's all."
Ryoga growled. "Ranma, you don't have to be curious! You've got everything I have!"
"I'm not sure *any* boy has quite what *you've* got, Ryoga-kun," Kasumi protested, handing Ryoga a sandwich. When Ryoga refused to accept it from sheer shock, Kasumi placed his plate in front of him and moved back to the kitchen counter without missing more than a beat.
"You should eat," Ranma told him. "Keep your strength up."
Ryoga's eyebrow twitched, but he bit savagely into the sandwich.
"Don't mind Ranma, you know how she is around you," Akane advised, taking a bite out of her own sandwich.
"So," Nabiki said, walking to the table and sitting down with her plate. "What brings you back to Nerima?"
Ryoga nodded. "I think I finally found a cure for Ranma."
Ranma blinked. "A *cure*? Did you try it out, first?"
"Try it out--?" Ryoga sat for a moment, confused. "No-not *that* kind of cure, stupid! A cure for the koi rod!"
Akane shook her head at him. "Ryoga, I can't believe you did such a thing in the first place. If you wanted a girlfriend, there are plenty of friends of mine I can think of. Sayuri's looking for a date right now. Why'd you have to trick Ranma?"
Ryoga opened his mouth angrily, shut it, looked down, stammered.
Ranma shrugged and winked at the other girl. "Well, let's have it, loverboy."
The lost boy winced, but handed the stinky flower to Ranma.
"Oooh, for me! How thoughtful!" The redhead beamed happily at him.
Ryoga began to twitch and murmur under his breath, before gathering ahold of himself. "You're supposed to smell it. I'm supposed to hand it to you and then you're supposed to smell it. So? Smell it, damn it!"
Ranma took a deep breath. "Oookay." She leaned down and took a deep whiff. "ACK!" she screeched. "Well, Ranma?" Nabiki asked flatly. "Any better?"
Ranma shook her head, still coughing. Kasumi brought her a glass of water and stood, patting her on the back until she could breathe again. "Nasty!" she exclaimed. "Worse. than. Akane's cooking!"
Akane grimaced. "Well, there you have it, Ryoga. Nothing doing, I think. And you still didn't answer me. Unless you were simply fooling around with the fishing rod?"
Ranma looked at Ryoga, who appeared stricken. "I'm sure that was it, Akane," she said quickly.
"I don't understand it," Ryoga finally said, one hand to his forehead. "The old guy on the mountain said this would work for sure."
"I'm sure it would work in any ordinary situation," Ranma soothed. She took the flower in her hands gently. "I'm going to go press this." She planted a kiss on Ryoga's cheek and moved upstairs.
"ACK!"
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(Posted Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:20)
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