The Lost Boy's Lost Love

AN: Awwe shit; here comes the angst-train.

Chapter 10: Plan B

Ranma was irked with himself for not having foreseen this. He should've known - he just should've known. He'd gone and gotten himself all riled up over what a sick pervert Ryoga was, but he had forgotten that at heart, he was still dealing with a timid little choir boy. Now that Akane was actually paying attention to him, he must've felt some weird obligation to her, and it was putting a very bothersome dent in Ranma's plan. He would only have Nabiki's camera for another day, and he was all out of ideas. If his last display hadn't worked, then he figured nothing would.

Ranma seethed at the thought; he didn't appreciate when things didn't go his way, and he appreciated being wrong even less. Alright, P-chan, he thought to himself; you win this round. But he still wasn't letting this go. Just because the guy was a dedicated pervert didn't make it right. Ranma wasn't sure he could live with himself if he just stood-by and continued to watch as Ryoga took advantage of Akane's incredible, mind-boggling naivety. She was too dumb to figure things out on her own; something had to be done. The question was what.

An idea came into his mind that he was surprised he hadn't thought of before. Maybe he could talk to Soun, tell him the whole deal, and he'd do something about this. Yeah, that might work - but he didn't start getting excited just yet. Maybe it stemmed from having been raised by a criminal father, but the thought of ratting Ryoga out to an authority figure bothered him almost as much as breaking his word and just flat-out telling Akane what was up. Still, he thought it the lesser of two evils.

So now that his master plan had - perhaps unsurpsingly - failed, it was time to go to plan B: get help. But he decided to make one final attempt to avoid the chaotic aftermath. He'd have a talk with Ryoga, man to man - no fists, no wigs. After all, it was clear now that the eternally lost boy did have some semblence of honor after all. All he had to do was appeal to it.

Ranma changed, went home and waited for Ryoga to show up, certain he would eventually. Indeed, it wasn't long before he heard the door open and an irritatingly-cheery greeting pass between Ryoga and Akane.

"Not at all, c'mon," Akane was saying as he came downstairs. "You can help me look for P-chan. I swear, I need to get him a leash."

Ranma snorted a laugh. Akane and Ryoga looked over at him.

"Ryogaaa, buddy," Ranma said as he mosied over and locked an arm painfully tight around the other boy's neck. "So glad you're here. You and me need to have a talk."

Ryoga pursed his lips. He was pretty sure he knew what that meant. "Actually," he said, "You're right. Err..." He glanced to Akane. "Excuse us..."

A worrisome frown appeared on Akane's face. "Ranma..." she said gravely. Ranma turned to look at her. "Play. Nice," she said.

"Eh, cool it, would ya?" Ranma said as he dragged Ryoga off down the hall. "I ain't gonna do nothin'." He hissed to Ryoga when they were far enough out of earshot, "Long as you cooperate, that is."

"What are you on about?"

Ranma released him with a push and glared. "You know exactly what I'm on about. This has to stop."

"Look," Ryoga said, back to the wall as he stared him in the eye. "I'm sorry," he said instead. "I know what you must think of me. But I swear, it's over; I'm... putting P-chan behind me. I won't infringe on her trust any longer. Things are going to be different, I promise you."

Ranma drew his head back as he contemplated this. Nope; still not satisfied. "Fine. Good," he said. "But that's not enough. You wanna hang out with Akane, fine, but you better come clean with her. If you don't, I will."

Ryoga was visibly struck with fear, his brow curling over dire eyes. "No," he said, "You promised."

"For fuck's sake, Ryoga!" Ranma spat. Ryoga winced as his voice rose. "This is wrong. That girl in there thinks you're just the sweetest most innocent thing in the world, but you're swine, is what you are."

"You don't understand. She'll be... she'll be hurt. I can't do that to her."

"No, YOU'LL be hurt!" Ranma corrected. "You're afraid. And you know what? You damn well should be. If you tell her the truth and she never wants to see you again, then good for her. If she doesn't... then you guys can live happily ever after for all I care. But you better give her a chance to see the real you before I let her make this mistake."

Ryoga shook his head. His eyes were starting to sting. "You can't," he pleaded, "Please... I won't... I can't lose this."

Ranma was momentarily speechless. He huffed a breath. "...You're unbelievable," he said.

Ryoga lowered his head, saying, "I know I've done wrong. ...Try to find it in your heart to forgive me... Akane and I are finally just getting to know each other, and I'm going to change. I have changed."

"So, what? You think that makes everything okay? You think now that you have a chance of getting some real ass, you can put all this two-faced bullshit behind you and that's just fine?" Ranma's eyes glinted with malice. "You're a real selfish prick, you know that?"

Ryoga didn't say anything, so Ranma went on. "You don't love her. You love yourself, fucking bastard."

"I do love her," Ryoga said, voice quivering. His hands balled into fists. "Don't you dare question that."

"Well, you know what? She doesn't love you," Ranma blurted out. "And she is NEVER going to. She doesn't even want you. You know that, don't you? How could she? Look at you, you're a sad sack of shit."

"You're wrong," Ryoga said, head hanging. The drop of a tear fell from his eye to the floor.

Ranma scoffed, said, "Am not. She told me herself. She takes pity on you, that's all." Sure, the words weren't entirely true, but they were meant to hurt. He deserved to feel bad, and maybe if he felt bad enough, he'd confess. Not to mention how good it felt to just tear into the guy. So he kept going. "Anyway, she's already engaged to me. What would she want a dirty, lying pig like you for?"

Finally Ryoga looked up and glared at the other boy through shining eyes, nostrils all aflare. What possessed him to speak next was much like what possesses a cornered animal to lash out at its attacker. Desperate, and without much at all to defend himself in this verbal beat-down from his most hated enemy, Ryoga spat at him the only proof he really had that Akane truly did love him.

"Oh yeah?" he said, nose curling, the corners of his mouth quirking with hesitant amusement. "Whose name do you think she whispers at night?"

Ranma's jaw hung open at the sneer on Ryoga's face as the vile question spilled off his lips. His voice fell to something dangerous. "You shut the fuck up," he warned. "...You're lying."

Ryoga shrugged.

Of course he was lying. And what a filthy lie to tell, too. "YOU'RE LYING!" Ranma shouted and lunged forward to take a swing. He had no right...

Ryoga caught the fist just inches from his face, muscles trembling as he held it. He blinked backed the tears and for several seconds, neither moved. The apathy of his features coupled with the confident look in his eye sent a tremble through Ranma's whole body. He felt himself go weak, let his arm drop and backed away. He slumped against the wall and stared at the other boy; just stared.

"...fucking liar..." Ranma muttered one last time, but Ryoga's last word had taken effect. He was floored.

Foosteps. Both boys turned their heads. Ranma stormed passed her when he saw her coming; their shoulders bumped in his haste, and Akane turned and frowned at him, then looked to Ryoga.

"...What was that all about?" she asked.

Ryoga swallowed, took a few steps toward her and shook his head. He felt numb. "Who knows? ...You know how he is."

"Is he bothering you again?" Akane rolled her eyes and sighed. "I am so sorry. He's a nut, he really is." She squinted her eyes at him and somewhat skeptically referred to his bruise, "...Did you really get that from a pole?" she asked.

A second passed before Ryoga nodded.

"Geez," Akane said sympathetically. She decided to change the subject. "Well, I couldn't find P anywhere. It's like he knows you're coming. Oh! But you know where I found him last night? Come here," she said, gesturing and leading him up to her room.

She walked over to her window and slid it open. "The window was closed," she said. She set a hand down on the outer sill. "And he was sitting right here. Just looking in at me. Can you believe that?"

"Heh... That's... pretty strange..."

"I know! I was like, P-chan! What the hell, man? He's so tiny, I have no clue how he managed to get up there. I'm telling you, he's like a little ninja pig," she said, turning back to him with an exasperated shrug. "Maybe he's here right now and I don't even know it."

Ryoga nodded and pretended to cough. Gnawing, biting guilt.

"Anyway, sorry. There was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Ryoga cast his eyes down. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about, too, actually..."

Akane's eyes lit up curiously. "Okay, you first."

"Um," Ryoga started, but his mind was blank. "...You first."

"Alright. This might be a little... I don't know, just tell me if you'd be okay with it or not," she said. "I was wondering if you'd train me."

"...Train you?" He sounded a little puzzled, but his brow rose in interest.

"See, I know I'm not as good as you and Ranma are," she explained, "And I've been trying to get him to teach me, but... well, like you said, you know how he is. He won't even take me serious. He just evades everything and I do, and then he's all, durrrr, what's the matter? Makes me so mad. But you're almost as good as he is, and I'm sure you wouldn't be such a jerk about it."

Almost. The word passed under his radar as Ryoga gushed with excitement. "Yes," he said immediately. "I would love to."

Akane grinned happily. She'd been a little apprehensive about asking; had he said no, she wasn't sure she would've been able to control her ensuing temper. She hated it when boys treated her like a dainty little thing.

Meanwhile, Ranma had taken his rage outside and was filling a kettle of water from the pond. Screw that asshole; he was done trying to save him any shame. Soun could stay out of this. He had no mercy left. He was putting a stop to this today.

He happened to look up and notice Akane's open window. A closer look, and he could clearly see Ryoga standing inside, talking to her. Ranma's heart started pounding at the sight of this ripe, perfect opportunity.

He scrambled over to grab the hose. The faucet squeaked as he turned it on and cold water surged through its coils. Ranma got in position, pointed it up and took aim.

~~~
RAEDE

ps. it's always a kettle, i don't fucking know why

pps. oh, and sorry for the tease, folks x) like i says, it's a pretty long fic, and i refuse to rush into the sex. i'll be writing plenty of oneshot lemons in the future, believe you-me; but this one's for my pleasure~