A Piggy Error
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic by June "KaraOhki" Geraci
February 24, 2002
Revised March 11, 2002
Ranma 1/2 was created by Rumiko Takahashi, and
belongs to her. This story was written just for
fun, and not for commercial purposes. Feel free to
enjoy it, and share it.
This story is the result of one of FFIRC's monthly
hour challenges. My thanks to everyone in our
group who commented on it, and to everyone on FFML
who sent their comments.
------------
*Okay, this wasn't one of the most brilliant ideas
I ever had, was it?*
The sound of pounding steps behind me is enough to
make me stop chastising myself and run for all I am
worth. I mustn't let him catch me. If only I had
thought this through. Given all the information I
had about the cursed ones, I should have known
better. A curse was just that--a curse, and there
was nothing fun about it.
I must keep running; keep far enough ahead of him
until I can get to Nerima. I pass by the fields
and farms, concentrating only on my goal. Then my
heart sinks as I hear a train whistle. It's
coming, and I need to get across the tracks before
it does, or he will catch me. In desperation I
leap forward, straining to get across the tracks.
I trip over the first rail and go flying across the
tracks, bruising myself terribly. I scramble to my
feet and turn. If I have succeeded, I'll run on.
If not, there is no way to keep him from catching
me. It is better to face my fate.
He is approaching the tracks, the light of triumph
and desire in his eyes. Now I can no longer see
him. The train has come between us. I quickly
look down the tracks. It is a very long train. I
cannot see the end of the line of cars. This will
give me time to get far ahead of him. I run on,
and once again I berate myself for my foolishness.
*****
"I hate this curse!"
This wasn't something I hadn't heard before. An
adorable black pig had shown up at my door, and as
always I had brought him inside and run a warm bath
for him. When my love emerged from the bathroom,
he was human again, and quite depressed. All of my
efforts to cheer him up were a waste of time, and
he soon wandered off and got lost again.
Once I realized that Ryoga was gone again, I sat
down to think. He was never going to be happy
until he rid himself of his curse. Perhaps I
should help him.
The very next morning I was on my way to China.
*****
"This very dangerous place, Miss Customer! You be
careful!"
I'd lost count of how many times the guide had
informed me of the danger. All I wanted to do was
get some water from the Spring of Drowned Man and
bring it home. How hard could that be? The guide
pointed out the proper spring, and I began to pick
my way between the other springs.
I hadn't counted on the mud. My right foot
slipped, and before I knew it I was in one of the
springs, and the waters closed over my head. The
feeling of change was overwhelming, but being
caught in my clothing was even worse. I was
certain that I was going to drown, but the guide
fished me out with a small net. What was I?
Evidently the guide knew what I was thinking,
because he brought me home and held me up in front
of a mirror. Then my fear turned to great joy. I
had fallen into the same spring as my love! Now we
had something to share! My intentions of bringing
a cure home to Ryoga vanished.
The trip home seemed to take forever. I had to
find Ryoga, and show him my "cursed" form. Cursed?
As far as I was concerned, it was a blessing.
*****
It didn't occur to me until I got home that finding
Ryoga might be more difficult than I imagined.
When he got lost, he could end up anywhere. The
collection of gifts he had given me was testimony
to that.
After sticking around the house for a few days
hoping that he would find me, I decided to go to
Nerima. Ryoga spent a lot of time visiting Ranma.
I dressed with special care, and put a ribbon that
Ryoga had given me into my hair.
"Be good, Katsunishiki, and watch the house for me.
I won't be gone long." I patted my pet pig on the
head and headed for the front door. Several things
happened at once. The phone rang, Katsunishiki ran
between me and the door, and I crashed into him.
He always did hate it when I left him alone.
I bounced off my pet, and careened into a small
table, which held an arrangement of flowers. The
flowers went flying, and I was soaked with the
water from the vase. The next thing I knew, I was
a pig. That didn't really bother me. It would be
easy enough for me to get to the bathtub and change
back. Then I was distracted by my answering
machine picking up the phone call. I could hear
who was on the other end of the phone.
"Akari? You home? Look, I'm in Nerima. I wanted
to apologize for the other day, and I really need
to see you. Can you come get me? I'm going to try
to find the Tendo Dojo. Please try to meet me
there."
I squealed my agreement at the answering machine
and began to turn toward the door. Then I began to
sense some sort of danger. I whirled, and found
myself nose to nose with Katsunishiki. He was
sniffing at me in the oddest way, and for some
reason it made me shiver. I backed away, and he
followed. Then my pig senses informed me of
something. My pet had just realized that I was not
only a pig, but a female one, and he had something
on his mind that made me feel physically ill.
I don't think I will ever figure out how I leaped
out of the open window, but I did. Katsunishiki
was not slow to follow. Now I had to get to
Nerima. Fast.
*****
I can't hear the train behind me any longer. That
means that he will be chasing me again. I'm sure
he can smell me. That frightens me more than words
can describe. I must find Ryoga! I've finally
left the countryside behind me. I'm tired. It was
much easier traveling to Nerima on Katsunishiki,
rather than being pursued by him.
It must be a miracle! I can see Ryoga about a
block ahead of me. I push my tired little legs to
their limits and run after him, kweeing loudly. He
turns, and I run up to him and collapse onto the
sidewalk, exhausted. My sweetheart picks me up.
"What the hell?" Ryoga does look very confused. I
look exactly like him, except that I am wearing my
hair ribbon around my neck instead of a bandanna.
I hope desperately that he will recognize it, but
he doesn't seem to notice. He does hold me up to
check my gender, and blushes profusely. I don't
know whether to laugh or bite him. Can pigs laugh?
"Ryoga, what are you doing with my P-chan?" The
voice of Akane Tendo makes me stiffen, and Ryoga
whirls around. She is standing there holding out
both arms. "Were you bringing him home to me? I
haven't seen him in ages!"
As she speaks, Akane snatches me from Ryoga's arms
and hugs me. I can't breathe.
"Um, Akane, that's not P-chan. That's a female."
"Well so it is! She's just adorable!" Akane
smiles at Ryoga in a way that would make me very
jealous, but I know the truth. Akane loves Ranma,
and Ryoga loves me. Then I hear what I have been
running from. Katsunishiki is coming, and he jumps
directly at me, even though I am in Akane's arms.
She screams, and Ryoga gets between us and my pig.
"Katsunishiki, what is the matter with you?"
He doesn't listen. He is completely focused on me,
and tries to get around Ryoga. The next thing I
know, my sumo pig is out cold, thanks to Ryoga's
umbrella. He leaves the pig lying there to tend to
Akane, who is rather shaken.
"Why did he do that? Did he want to hurt this
little pig?"
Ryoga is bright red. "I...um...think he had something
else in mind. She IS female, right?"
Akane is just as red. "He mustn't! She's much too
small. Let's take her to my house. She'll be safe
there."
"I was going to ask you if I could go there. I'm
expecting Akari to pick me up."
*****
Kasumi welcomes us in, and snatches me from her
sister's arms. "How cute! She's wearing a ribbon!
Too bad P-chan isn't here. He would just LOVE
her!"
"He's not the only one." The tone of Akane's voice
gets Kasumi's attention, and she puts me down to
find out what the trouble is. I take the
opportunity to brush against Ryoga's leg. He looks
down at me, and I start in the direction of the
bathing room. After a few steps, I stop and look
at him. He gets the hint, and follows.
The furo is full. I leap in, and am myself again.
Ryoga collapses with a nosebleed. I grab his
backpack and put on some of his clothes. Then I
revive Ryoga and drag him back to the main part of
the house. He is still too stunned to speak,
although I can't tell whether it's because he just
saw me naked, or because of the curse.
*****
We find Akane and Kasumi seated at the table,
sipping tea. There is a cup waiting for Ryoga.
Akane's eyes widen as she looks me up and down.
"Akari? When did you get here? And why have you
started dressing like Ryoga?"
I blush, and shake my head. No one presses me for
an answer. Kasumi invites the two of us to have
some tea, and we accept. After a minute or two,
Akane looks around.
"Where did the little pig go?"
Ryoga reddens a little. "I don't know. I guess
she wandered off." Then he turns to me. "I think
we should go home now. Thank you for the tea,
Kasumi."
My boyfriend holds very tightly to my hand as we
leave the house. We walk in silence for a few
blocks, and then he stops. "What the hell is going
on?" He doesn't sound angry. He does sound very
confused, and more than a little upset.
"It's a long story." Before I can begin,
Katsunishiki comes racing up to us. He seems very
glad to see me, but as a friend, and not a possible
mate. Ryoga doesn't seem to be taking any chances.
He gets between us.
"Do you think it's time that we found him a new
home? I think that three is a crowd."
I can't help but agree.
----------------------------
thank you for reading. Comments are always welcome
--------------------------------------------------
http://karaohki.anifics.com
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You could turn this way,
I'm also lonely
this autumn evening
Basho
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