Permanent part 13: Ryoga returns.

	Akane flipped through the mail as she entered the home and sighed
lazily. She had just returned from a long day at school and Ranma was
following behind her. Ryoga sat in the living room waiting patiently for
them to return. He immediately began to follow the red head around like a
dog. Akane watched fascinated as the pair went from the room to the bath
and then down to the kitchen. This continued for most of the day, when
ever Ranma went anywhere in the home Ryoga followed. They even had their
bath together. Had almost run into them when they emerged from the
bathroom clad in towels and headed for Ranma's room. Neither of them
spoke to each other while doing so and neither appeared to notice each
other.
	Later that evening Nabiki snorted and sat down in front of the
television and ignored the pair as they passed her on the way to the
dojo. "What is the point of curing him if he's just gonna act like he did
before anyway?" she said after they were out of earshot.
	Akane gasped, Nabiki was right. Ryoga was acting exactly like
'Mr.P' did when Ranma had first moved in, before he started to follow her
around instead. "Maybe it's a habit?" said Akane after a moment of
thought. "Do you think we should say something?" 
	"Please Akane, that is more than a habit. I think he's got
something to get off his chest the way he's following -her- around." said
Nabiki calmly.
	"You think he's in love with her?" gasped Akane in shock.
	"Quite possibly." said Nabiki without looking away from the show.

	Ranma began his Kata in the dojo and Ryoga started his own on the
other side of the dojo. "How long you gonna follow me around Mr.P?" she
said idly as she kicked her leg out in a loose kick.
	"I'm not leaving until you find a cure for yourself." said Ryoga
mechanically as he punched at his won invisible opponent.
	"Well if your gonna stay you might as well make yourself useful.
C'mon, lets spar a little." said Ranma as she stopped her exercise and
faced him.
	"All right." said Ryoga with a sigh as he put his hands up. "I'm
a little rusty..." he said and ducked under Ranma's kick.
	"You'll do all right, come on." said Ranma eagerly with a small
grin.
	Ryoga straightened up and put his hands in front of his face. He
charged at Ranma and swung missing her head by millimeters. He knew she
was going easy on him, of course, but it still felt good to come so
close. 
	Ranma punched and kicked at Ryoga at speeds she knew he could
dodge well, testing his abilities. The truth was, she had never really
fought with him before. The thrill of a new opponent excited her, he was
very good and with a few weeks practice he might become a decent sparing
partner. He was far above Akane's level at any rate. Ryoga connected
lightly with a punch at her mid section while she was in thought. Ranma
steeled herself and frowned. She jumped over his head and kicked the back
of his neck lightly letting him know the match was over. 
	Ryoga sat down on the dojo floor still breathing pretty lightly
and looked at her coolly. "I've got to practice. I shouldn't be so winded
now." he muttered.
	"Good, now you'll have something to do while you wait for me to
come home after school for a while." said Ranma as she sat down across
from him.
	"I still haven't forgiven you for what you did to me you know."
said Ryoga a little bitterly. 
	"Then stop following me around until you get lost or
some...thing...." Ranma trailed off as she looked at Ryoga closely. He
shrank back uncomfortably from her gaze and swallowed. 
	"You!" cried Ranma in shock. "I know you! Your the guy from my
old middle school! Your -that- Ryoga?!" she said in amazement.
	"You mean...you didn't know?" he stammered in equal surprise. "I
followed you to China after you ran out on our duel!" he cried in shocked
anger.
	"Ryoga 'lost boy' Hibiki. Wow, who'd a thunk it? You were him all
along Mr.P." she muttered half way ignoring him.
	"How dare you forget about me Ranma!" cried the boy angrily as he
swung at Ranma again.
	The girl smirked and grabbed his head and arms in a complicated
leg lock that brought him to the ground helpless. "I waited three days
for you to show up. I figured -you- ran out on me, you cute little
piggy." she said with a sweet girlish smile.
	"Don't you grin at me like that Saotome! I suffered to meet up
with you! Do you think I was on a casual stroll for three days?" he
growled angrily as he struggled to free himself from her grip.
	"So, you followed me to Jusenkyo?" asked Ranma with her face
becoming sullen all of a sudden. It had turned an ashen gray.
	Ryoga stopped struggling and looked at her suddenly. "Yea." he
muttered looking ashamed. "You knocked me off a cliff and into one of the
springs when you were chasing your father. He managed to fish me out of
the pond and brought me home to make dinner out of me after a couple of
minutes. You know the rest of the story...." said the boy a little
bitterly	
	"I knocked you..." said Ranma looking dazed.
	"And then you saved my life, as far as I'm concerned we're even
for that. You've saved my ass more times than I can even count since
then, there is no way I can repay you." said Ryoga firmly.
	"I'm...sorry Mr.P." she said as she lay back on the floor of the
dojo with a sad gaze on her face. "How many other problems have I caused?
What else could I have missed in my macho brainless jock youth?" she
thought to herself with a few bitter tears in her eyes. "Damn you old
man, why did you have to raise me to be such an insensitive prick?"
	"Ranma?" said Ryoga quietly as he noticed her face.
	"Yea?" she said weakly.
	"Look I love you like a brother. Your a part of my family now ya
know." he said quietly.
	Ranma just looked at the ceiling and said nothing.
	"Could you please let me go now?" whispered Ryoga.
	"Why would she do that? You should be honored, I know boy's who
would give a million yen to be in your position Ryoga-kun." said Nabiki
from the dojo doorway.
	Ranma sat bolt upright and looked at her in embarrassed shock.
"It's not what..." she stammered.
	Ryoga just turned beet red and stared at her in surprise.
	"Relax guys, you two were making allot of noise that's all." she
said with a smirk.
	"What's going on?" said Akane as she walked up behind her. She
took a single glance at Ranma and Ryoga and blushed almost as badly as
Ryoga did. She turned wordlessly and exited the room.
	"Akane!" called Ryoga as he flailed in the dazed Ranma's grip.
"It's not what it..."
	Ranma was just dazed and finally let go of Ryoga's head and arms.
The both of them looked over at Nabiki in unison.
	"Oh no, you two are on your own for this one I'm afraid. Unless
you can some how come up with a million yen?" she said as she raised an
eye brow and looked at them greedily. "I didn't think so. Ja!" she
chirped as she exited the room.
	The pair sat in the center of the Dojo for a while and said
nothing. Finally Ranma spoke up. "Ryoga, go home."
	"What?" said the boy with a look of horror on his face.
	"Take a few weeks off. Go find your family or at least your
house. When you get back I'll let you stay with me until I find a cure.
But you need a break. Enjoy being human for a while, go on a training
trip or something, when you get back you have to start school." she said
to him with a friendly smile.
	"At least I'm not behind." he muttered as he remembered that he
would indeed have to return there at some point. Especially if he had
Ranma to lead him there.

	A few minutes later Ranma sat in the living room with Akane and
her family around the dinner table. "Ranma we need to talk." said the
girl.
	"What is it Akane?" said Ranma after she had been lead away from
the table and onto the porch overlooking the koi and the dojo.
	"I realize that you are happy to see Ryoga and all, you two must
have had a hard time being a pig and all...but you could be a little more
secretive about it..." she whispered.
	"What the hell are you talking about Akane?" said Ranma in
confusion.
	"Well I sort of understand and all but Kasumi is a little old
fashioned." said Akane.
	"Huh? You mean..." said Ranma looking a little sick.
	"Well, little things like the bath and changing together." said
Akane as she tried to calm her a little.
	"Akane, this is Mr.P were talking about here. He'd get lost if I
didn't lead him around. It took him three day's to find the bathroom in
my apartment once, and it only had three rooms." said Ranma looking at
her queerly. "Besides, he's seen me lots of times. He's not some sex
crazed pervert."
	"You are being safe about it aren't you? I'd hate to see you get
pregnant. Your too young for a baby." said Akane in a hoarse whisper.
	"What do you mean? I don't know any spells that would cause that.
Even if I did there would be a counter sp..." Ranma turned completely
red. "I AM NOT SLEEPING WITH MR.P!"
	The shout was heard in the living room and Soun glared at Ryoga.
"What's this about young man?" 
	Ryoga had frozen in terror and turned red once again. "I didn't
do anything I swear." he whined pathetically.
	Nabiki only smiled and munched on a potato chip casually.

	Kodachi Kuno had not come out of her lab in a week. She glared at
charts and graphs. She had mixed countless compounds and elixirs and
still had come up with no explanation for her brother's condition. She
growled low and tore at the folder that contained yet another failure.
"This will drive my poor school girl heart to madness!" she said sweetly
as she looked in a nearby mirror. Her mannerism changed instantly as she
turned away from it and ground her teeth in frustration. "I know! I have
it! The perfect solution!" she said as a look of joy appeared on her
face. She turned and hugged the table that had once held her notes. "I'll
ask my brother!" she cried looking proud of herself.

	Kuno sat in his room on a large backless chair with a pair of
reading glasses on. He was holding a book of the great works of
Shakespeare up to the light and reading quietly. "Ah, but the great
bard's words make my soul sing!" he sighed as he used his wings to flick
another log into the large fireplace that he sat in front of, he was
becoming quite adept at using them. The book he held was immense and held
all of Shakespeare�s works. It was about three feet long and bound in
heavy leather, it looked to weigh about a hundred pounds. [It was made to
be used on a book stand.] Kuno held it up to the fire light easily in his
clawed hand and casually flipped the pages with his other. Kodachi
stormed into the room and stood before her brother.
	"Sister dear, did you not know it is the custom to knock before
you enter the chambers of another?" he said with an exasperated sigh.
	"Where? How? Where did you get those accursed wings?" she
demanded with a maddening gaze.
	"Funny that you should call them cursed." snorted Kuno as he
ruffled them and folded them back into their most relaxed position. He
used to fear his sister a little, not much but enough to stay generally
out of her way. Now he didn't fear much at all. 
	"Tell me brother or I shall..." threatened Kodachi with a
maddening glare at the boy.
	"Or you'll what? I doubt seriously that you could do much to me
any longer sister as I am far stronger and more skilled than you now. I
take my own meals and trust you not. Therefore I see no real reason to
partake in any of your delusional questions. I have no wings, any fool
can see that, tis just another fit of your madness." said Kuno casually
as he returned to his reading.

	Kodachi frowned and glared at him with almost homicidal rage she
shook with anger and resentment for her sibling. "Fine if that is how you
want to be, I shall leave you." she said with her voice shaking in
frustration.
	Kuno peered at her from behind his book and a conflict arose in
his mind for a moment, a small pang of guilt burned in his stomach. "If,
and I say IF, I had wings...which, I add, I do not. They could only be
the product of magical workings. Be content with that sister." he said
finally just as she was about to exit the room. He smiled as the guilt
vanished and returned to his book.

	Kodachi froze in place and looked over to him with an
expressionless face. She turned wordlessly out the door and into the
hall. "Magic? Is such a thing possible?" she thought bitterly as she
entered her bed chambers. "Sasuke, I have a task for you." she said to
the ninja who had appeared from the shadows at his name. 
	"Yes, my mistress?" he said reluctantly. He had found that he
enjoyed working for the elder Kuno much more as of late. Unfortunately
they rotated possession of his services, and this was Kodachi's week.
	"I want you to go to the sorcerer Gosunkugi's home and inform him
I have a use for his services. I wish to know if this 'magic' has any
merit to it." she said with a cold smile.
	"Yes, mistress." sighed the ninja as he went into the shadows
again.

	In Kushu...

	A young boy climbed up a hill with a large pack on his back. He
was dressed in casual traveling clothes and had his long hair tied back
with a long white ribbon. "Damn you Ranma, when I find you you'll pay for
what you did to me." he muttered as he reached the top of the hill. He
gazed into the town below and prepared himself for another long search.
"I'll find you no matter what it takes." he thought darkly. As he
traveled down the hill a small glint of metal could be from a gap in the
bag, where something too large had been stuffed into the bag. The
traveler pressed on and walked towards the sun into the city to search
again for the person he hated most in the world.	
	But his tale must wait, For Kodachi Kuno is about to set in
motion events that will change her life forever.

	Don't ya hate it when I say:
	TBC....

	About Ranma's sudden case of cluelessness. I just wanted to let
you know that no matter how moody and serious she has become because of
her curse, she is still Ranma and is just as clueless about some things
as the cannon version. 
	Things really start going here. Who is the mysterious traveler?
What does he want Ranma for? We won't find out next time! Nope, first we
have to deal with Kodachi! That was just a really cruel teaser! You'll
learn all about him after the Kodachi story arc! BWAHA HA HA HA HA HA
HAAAA! 
	What will Gosunkugi do when he is confronted with the Kuno family
ninja? Will he help the clever Kuno girl? What ever happens you can bet
that  her plans won't be good for Ranma.
	Also, Why is Ryoga back so early? He went on a trip to find his
parents and his home only to return in less than a week? Perhaps he just
couldn't find his way out of the dojo and spent a few day's on the roof?
	Finally we learn the fate of Mousse! He's still running around
and has plenty to do with his new punishment duties; taking care of
Shampoo that is, but why then isn't he very unhappy? [Don't worry I'm not
a pervert, you dirty minded heathen.]	
	All this next time!
C&C to:Catbert25@juno.com

Catbert25 The evil lord of fanfics!

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