In case your wondering, these characters aren't mine. I don't have 
*that* much imagination.

Chapter 3

Ryoga Hibiki had been travelling for a while now. He had planned to go 
north to Hokkaido but found himself back in Tokyo for a third time that 
week.

He drew a deep breath and let out a long, sobering sigh. This had gone 
on ever since he was born. Ryoga, like his mother and father and even 
more ancestors before him, had the world's worst sense of direction. It 
wasn't forgetfulness. He could remember which locations and stores and 
houses meant what to him. Focusing on the where of these places was his 
stumbling block. Streets of cities or layouts of houses, they were no 
different. He couldn't remember directions from moment to the next. It 
was like an episode of Outer Limits where the phrase "Out of sight, out 
of mind" took on a terrible, new meaning. And it did not feel like the 
problem would be correcting itself in the near future.

He looked down for an inspection.

His mustard-yellow shirt was mottled with dirt, torn at the left elbow, 
and the cuffs had frayed. It was also starting to dampen with his 
sweating brought on by the heat. His black jogging pants were in 
slightly better condition. Just dusty from the hundred-some kilometres 
he must have walked. He took special care with his shoes, checking to 
see if there were any holes. Inspecting the garters, he was satisfied 
that he did not have to change them.

His mother had told him once, "Make sure that your pants are too long. 
That way you can grow into them if you can't find the house." Then she 
tied on the garters to keep his feet exposed and to keep him from 
tripping.

He looked at the cuff of one leg. It was no longer tucked underneath 
anymore, but he doubted that he would still grow. Yet he didn't untie 
the garters. He had grown to prefer them and he felt that it was a link 
to his mother, the only link to a family that he barely ever saw.

Pushing those thoughts out of the way, for the moment, he decided to 
rest for a while. Removing the backpack from his shoulders, he 
unsheathed the bamboo umbrella from the straps on top. He then set the 
pack down against the wall of the building he had stopped beside. After 
he sat on the ground, he opened up the umbrella and held it to provide 
shade from the sun.

He had barely settled down before he thought he heard someone, off in 
the distance, calling to him.

"Hey, Ryoga," came the faint call. He looked down the street but saw no 
one he recognised.

"Hey, Ryoga," came the call again. It was louder and he was now able to 
identify that it was coming from the other direction. 

Turning around to confirm his suspicions, he saw Ukyo walking up to him. 
He hung his head and began to curse at himself for his non-existent 
sense of direction.

"Hey, Sugar. What's wrong?"

"I'm back in Tokyo. That's what." He was not in the mood for this. He 
had better things to do.

"So?"

He looked over and saw that her face already showed the realisation of 
her verbal slip but he was a little too angry to let it slide.

"*So?* I can *never* find my way out of this fucking city! It's like I 
have a *double* curse over my head!" He stared at her as if daring her 
to give him a reason to attack. With his breath coming in heaves, some 
part of his brain told him that it was enough but Ryoga remained angry.

"Woah. Calm down," she said. "I'm on your side, remember? Anyway, I'm 
glad I found you. I just got a call from the Tendo dojo." Her voice 
lowered. "There's a problem."

Immediately, all signs of anger vanished. Fear danced through his eyes 
as his jaw clenched. He knew it had to be Akane. She'd been hurt or 
mugged or something awful. "Well, then?" he yelled. "What are you 
waiting for?" He grabbed her by the hand and took off for Akane's house. 
Well, at least where he thought it to be.

"Ryoga," she called out from behind him. "Ryoga, you jackass!"

He wasn't listening, concentrating on avoiding any source of water he 
could. At least then he wouldn't have to worry about changing into a 
small black pig before he made it to Akane's. Finding none, he picked up 
the pace. 

He had to find Akane. He knew she was in danger. His mind was spinning 
with the dozens of possibilities bombarding his imagination.

Just then, he felt a different sensation. Wind was rushing toward him. 
With that little a warning, he was struck in the head by the pizza 
shovel that Ukyo carried around with her.

Stopping, he turned around and faced its wielder. "*What the fuck was 
that for?*" he bellowed.

She was unable to answer at first. She just stood staring at the dent 
his head produced in the six-foot spatula. Replacing the weapon behind 
her back, she steeled herself against his glare. "That," she said, "was 
to get your attention. The dojo is that way." She pointed her thumb over 
her shoulder.

He looked over her at the horizon. His jaw fell open and he collapsed on 
the sidewalk. Repressing a giggle, she brushed the dust that his running 
sprayed her with off her white dress shirt. He collected himself and 
took time to shoulder his backpack while she straightened the last of 
the pleats on her brown slacks.

She hooked her arm around his. "Come on." She said. "Let's try again. 
And don't worry. Even if it is Akane, I'm sure she's not in that much 
danger."

"It's that obvious?" he asked. He blushed noticeably.

As a pig, Ryoga was subjected to the most terrifying experiences. He had 
been attacked with all forms of evil. People and animals hunted him 
whenever he was lost in the forests of Japan. The cities were not much 
better because he would have to dodge cars, avoid children who would 
want to play with him--he learned to despise the term, "tossing the 
pigskin"--and be chased by more animals, usually stray dogs or Cantonese 
chefs. But when he met Akane as a pig, she was kind loving. She saw a 
poor, defenceless creature that needed the warmth of a happy home. From 
that day he knew she could never exit his heart.

What he didn't know was the role she'd eventually occupy in it. For 
months, he'd had the wildest crush on her. He would purposefully get 
lost-not that it was a hard thing to do-so he could travel Japan to find 
the most exotic types of souvenirs. But, over time, it somehow changed. 
Unnoticed, unspoken, but eventually, his crush lessened to a point where 
the love he felt was platonic. No, he corrected himself, more like 
familial. Akane became like a sister to him, her romantic love having 
been confided to Ranma, but it was the best thing she could have done.

He had always been in agony that she would reject him one day, either 
finding out that he was a pig--he admitted he'd done some 
less-than-honourable things himself in that form--or being attracted to 
Ranma and forgetting him. When she had shown the latter, he feared the 
worst, but it never came. She hadn't tossed him out on his ass; in fact, 
she was talking with him *more* often. Granted, most of the 
conversations tended to steer towards Ranma, but she was sensitive 
enough to know when to change the subject.

He should have been enraged when Ranma won, but, to his surprise, he 
wasn't. Like an epiphany, he saw that losing to Ranma no longer 
mattered, it was losing Akane he feared most. The bond he and she shared 
was altered--instead of owner-pet, it was now friend-friend--and it was 
strengthened by it.

Akane had given him a gift: the freedom to finally be a true friend to 
her, and the conviction to throw away his crutch of pig-dom.
Her pet pig whom she had called P-chan disappeared from the dojo that 
day, never to return. She was concerned for a while, sure, but she 
consigned him to fate, happy that her little pig had found his place in 
the wild again.

But it had been done; their friendship was no longer tainted by secrets. 
Over the next few months Ryoga believed it to be the single most 
refreshing experience he ever had. If she was happy, he was happy.

But then, *it* happened...

"Ryoga," Ukyo said. "You've crushing my arm."

Ryoga blinked his eyes. He looked at Ukyo; she was grimacing from the 
pain. "Sorry," he said quickly but flatly, releasing the pressure on her 
arm.

"You're thinking about Ranma again, aren't you?" she said, looking 
ahead.

"And why shouldn't I be?" He stopped walking and turned her towards him. 
"He's probably the reason Akane's hurt."

"I told you," she said, her anger rising again, "I don't know exactly 
why we're going over there. The caller just asked me to stop by. And why 
would Ranma hurt Akane at all?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Ryoga asked right back. "What stopped him last time?"

"You don't have to be so cruel, you know," she said.

He shrugged his shoulders and readjusted his backpack.

"That was a mistake, an accident."

He glared at her.

"Come on, she said pushing him a little. "The faster we get there, the 
faster I can get back to my restaurant."

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