Ranma groaned in pain as Shampoo ran to him and hugged him tightly. He could feel Akane staring daggers at him, but couldn't find the strength to speak; Shampoo's hugging was crushing his ribs. Finally, he was able to squeak something out.
"Sh... Shampoo... You're crushing... me..." Ranma managed to say. She then released him, gasping as girl-type Ranma took a deep (and very painful) breath. However, he could feel something bad was about to happen. Something very bad. And he couldn't have been more right. Suddenly, Ukyo burst into the room and ran to Ranma, pushing Shampoo aside, apparently their team effort gone now.
"Ranma, I've been looking for you!" said Ukyo. "You missed the rest of our Couples' Day, so I was hoping we could-..." Ukyo stopped as she looked Ranma up and down, staring blankly at all his bandages.
"Ranchan, what happened to you?!" Ukyo semi-screamed, putting her hands on Ranma's shoulders. "Did that brute Akane do this to you because she was jealous that you were with me all day?!" She glared at Akane, her hands still on Ranma's shoulders. He sighed, knowing this wasn't going to go smoothly...
"ME?! JEALOUS?! AS IF!!!" screamed Akane. "AND I AM NOT A BRUTE!"
"You is too brute!" exclaimed Shampoo. "You has short temper, you has figure of stick, and you like beat people! You. Is. Brute!" By this time, Ranma hoped that he wouldn't end up in the middle of this three-person catfight. He was injured enough...
"Gah! I don't have time for this!" Akane stormed out. However, she poked her head around the corner to say something to Ukyo and Shampoo. "And besides, you can have Ranma for all I care! He's nothing but a senseless, stupid, insensitive JERK!" This seemed to really annoy Ukyo and Shampoo, as they began to clench their fists and glare at Akane.
"Nobody, and I mean nobody talks about my Ranchan that way!" Ukyo exclaimed as she began to chase down Akane.
"Yes! Nobody say thing like that about Shampoo husband!" said Shampoo as she also gave chase.
"What? Your husband?!"
"Yes, he be Shampoo husband, not spatula-girl's!"
"As if!"
"WOULD YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP?!"
"NO!" "NO!"
Ranma sighed in exhaustion and relief as the three went running out of Tofuu's office, fighting. He just wished he could leave here with Hikari... He shook his head, trying to erase the thoughts from his mind.
No, no, no, no! he thought. How can I be falling in love?! I'm engaged to multiple women after all! He sighed at the thought of the girls finding out about his feelings toward Hikari. He could just see the scrunched up, almost devil-like face of Akane...
Ranmaaaaa... WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH MY BEST FRIEND?!
He shook the image from his mind as he shivered in his bed, and began to imagine Ukyo, the tears running down her face...
...But... Ranchan... I thought we... had something... s... special...
Ranma waved his hand to dismiss the scene. He knew he wouldn't be able to stand seeing Ukyo like that. And he could only imagine what Shampoo would do to Hikari if she found out...
Great-grandmother, I finish! When give to pink-hair girl, she die of poison, and Ranma be all for Shampoo!
"NO!" he shouted, finally realising it was only a fantasy. Looking around, he made sure nobody else heard him, and sighed, laying back in bed, hoping for the best...
"...Ranma-kun, are you in there?" knocked someone. Ranma wondered who else it was to torture him now...
"Yeah, I'm in here, come in," he sighed. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the girls to suddenly burst in and get him even more hurt.
"Ranma-kun, does it hurt that bad...?" said the person. He slowly opened his eyes to see Hikari leaning over him with her usual, kind eyes. Feeling himself blush, he shaked his head and Hikari smiled and stood up straight before sitting in the chair next to Ranma's bed.
"I thought you had things to take care of..." said Ranma. Hikari smiled and sighed lightly.
"I took care of them pretty quickly," she said. "By the way, I brought something that might be nice..." She held up a pot of hot water, and Ranma smiled thankfully as she poured it on him, reverting him back to his male state.
"Thanks, I don't think sitting shirtless in bed with only bandages to cover me up would be very womanly, now would it?" he laughed weakly, smiling. She laughed too, which made Ranma happy. Looking at her smile, he could feel himself blush madly and then... he couldn't help it. He thought of it, and his nose began to bleed again. Hikari looked at Ranma curiously, and he tried to hide it with his hands, but she pulled them down.
"Ranma-kun... Is this...?" she said quietly. His face still a bright pink color, he nodded slowly. He then got another bad feeling... This one of impending doom... He looked past Hikari, and he could feel his throat drop into his stomach. Akane, Ukyo, and Shampoo were all standing in the doorway, hands on their hips, staring at Ranma and his bloody nose.
"Huh? What is it, Ranma-kun?" Hikari looked behind her, noticed the three, and looked at them in confusion. "Hey, um... Something wrong?"
"I'll say something's wrong," said Ukyo. "Ranchan seems to be a bit aroused around you, pink-hair." Akane looked to Hikari with sad eyes, who looked from the group to Ranma, then back again.
"Ranma, you be cheat! You love other girl, not Shampoo!" said Shampoo, looking at Ranma angrily, much like Ukyo. However, when Ranma looked to Akane, he didn't see her face of anger that he was so used to.
"Ranma, you jerk..." Akane began to say as her hands dropped from her hips and her eyes began to fill with tears. "...How could you...?" It was then that Ranma said his usual lines:
"Akane, it's not what it looks like!"
"Then what is it, Ranma?" she asked him, the tears beginning to pool out. "...What is it?"
"...I... I don't know..." he muttered. "I just don't know..." He put his face in his hands, ashamed of what he had been feeling.
"I... don't know why this is happening, but..." Ranma said as he shook his head in his hands. "...I can't stop it... When I do... it just gets stronger and stronger..." Akane walked over to Ranma, put her hand on his shoulder, and sighed. Hikari also sighed and walked out, motioning for Ukyo and Shampoo to follow. Reluctantly, looking at the pitiful Ranma, did so.
"Ranma... I'm actually not all that surprised..." Akane said. Ranma suddenly lifted his head from his hands, and looked to Akane. She looked sadly at him, a bit of awe mixed in; she noticed he had just been crying. She never saw Ranma cry before...
"...What do you mean...?" he said. Akane sighed again and sat next to him on the bed.
"I mean, it's usual for guys to fall in love with Hikari," Akane said. "Not one guy at our school didn't like her before she left." Ranma looked at Akane, dumbstruck. Every guy?
"But I thought you-" he began to say.
"I wasn't the object of every guy's desire at our school until Hikari left," she said. "She was always better than me at martial arts. She even graduated from my dad's dojo at the age of 13 and headed off to America to train with a master of martial arts." She sighed, looking softly at Ranma. He'd never seen her look to him like that before; it was almost as if he were looking into Hikari's eyes...
"Anyways, I'll give it three days," she said, standing. "You'll be over it before you even get out of here." Ranma wondered how it would be possible as she waved goodbye to him as she left, motioning for the other three girls to come with. Well, he thought. Might as well wait it out like Akane said...
Ranma got over it even quicker than Akane said he would; he was getting more and more used to how she treated him and he could feel his feelings for her lessen. And once he fully recovered, he felt more refreshed than ever.
"Well, I'm over it all, and I'm back in the game!" he said as he stretched outside of Dr. Tofuu's office.
"I'm glad to hear that," Dr. Tofuu said. "Just try not to get so hurt again, otherwise it could be permanent next time. Nodding, Ranma walked back to the dojo, over his crush on Hikari and waiting for the next incident to forward his deveopment into insantiy... or was he?
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(Posted Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:19)
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