The two walked home in silence, worn out from their sparring match. At least, that was how Ranma had come to see it... and he wasn't entirely wrong. The animosity and contempt Ryoga once had for him had waned considerably with time. Of course, the Lost Boy could say the same of his "sibling" were his mind not elsewhere at the moment. Sure Ranma was given to teasing him, now and then, but he usually didn't mean anything by it. In his mind, it was all in good fun.
The problem was Ryoga was the serious type, and sensitive. He was always brooding and kept things bottled up until something happened that to set him off. And usually that something was Ranma. It wasn't intentional, at least not in most cases. It's just that Ranma had a knack for either saying or doing the wrong thing at the right time (or having things come out that way), even though his intentions were good.
At the moment, both boys were in their respective girl forms. One a was readhead. The other, a brunette. Ranma walked with her hands clasped behind her head, which was her usual manner. She was worried as Ryoga hadn't said much of anything since they'd started back. The other girl walked with her shirt slung over her shoulder, the thumb of her other hand, hitched in the waistband of her pants. She gazed down at her feet, her eyes lost deep in thought. The silence lasted awhile longer until the redhead felt the need to say something.
"So" she began, rolling her eyes a bit, "you tell her yet?"
"Tell who what?" Ryoga asked, her voice deadpan like her expression.
"You know who." Ranma told her. The question hung between them, til she looked at Ryoga as if to say "Well...?" It was obvious Ryoga was still lost in thought, cause she failed to understand what Ranma was getting at. Seeing this, Ranma scoffed incredulously, "You know..."
Ryoga stopped walking and stared blankly at the shorter girl. "No, I don't." she said genuinely confused, which caused Ranma to slap a hand to her forehead and groan. "Natsume, stupid! You know, the girl you've been ga-ga over since that whole mess over the Tendo Dojo?!" Ranma reminded her. At the mere mention of the girl's name, Ryoga blushed and stared shyly at her feet as they ressumed walking.
"What about her?" Ryoga asked absently, trying desperately to resist the urge to indulge by fantasizing about the long haired beauty in her purple jumper. Ever since they'd met her and her sister, Kurumi, she was all Ryoga could think about. They were wanderers, just as he'd been before Nodoka had taken him in. And Soun had done the same for the girls.
For Ryoga, it'd been a dream come true. Imagine sharing the same roof as the object of his affection! ...unfortunately she had absolutely no idea how he felt and barely seemed to know he existed. A large part of that had to do with the fact that that the boy was too shy to tell her and was so intimidated by her looks that he became a stuttering idiot each time he tried.
"Don't play dumb." Ranma was saying, "I mean did you tell her? About the you becoming a girl, I mean." she clarified.
Ryoga's expression became sullen again as she answered, "No. And I rather she didn't. It... it's hard enough as it is."
"Oh." Ranma said simply. She supposed that made sense. After all, it was forever before he'd been able to confess her own feelings for Akane. And Lord knows how many mishaps, misunderstandings, and near breakups they'd suffered along the way before that had happened.
"Anyway, we're here."
Ryoga looked up, seeing they were now outside the Tendo Dojo. The sun had begun to set by the time they arrived and the smells coming from the kitchen told them Kasumi was busy with tonight's dinner. Ranma nudged Ryoga from behind, smiling cutely as she made a light head motion for them to go inside.
Ryoga hesitated for a moment, then followed.
See other episodes by NyteFlite
(Posted Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:14)
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