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Disclaimer: I don't hate Ranma. Really. He just looks bad in this story because Ryoga hates him. Please don't throw things at me. Also, Takahashi Rumiko owns the Ranma 1/2 characters, I don't. So again, please don't throw things at me, like lawsuits. After buying all those Christmas presents, I don't have any money anyway. Ryouga's Christmas Wish "I made it! I finally made it!" Ryoga looked mournfully up at the old-style Japanese house that he - or rather, P-chan - called home. "Just, why did it have to be today?" It doesn't snow much in Japan, but as if to honour this special day, a light dusting of powder drifted lazily from the sky and coated the Lost Boy's umbrella. Angry shouts made him turn to see Akane and Ranma, obviously on their way home from school. Ranma ran lightly alone the top of the fence, still in his male form, as the snow was not quite thick enough to trigger the Jusenkyo curse. Ryoga took no chances, though, especially with the love of his life present; the umbrella stayed up. Said love of his life was currently screaming in anger at Ranma, waving her school bag and a fist. Ranma kept glancing back, obviously continuing to taunt the girl. Ryoga clenched his fist, his anger rising. :Why does he have to be so mean to her all the time?: As they drew closer, their words became audible. "You pervert! Why do you always have to be such a jerk? Ranma!" "Hey, at least he didn't *mean* to look up your skirt like that." "Well, you didn't have to trip him!" "Yeah, well if you were less of a tomboy, you would've been standing with your feet together and it wouldn't have mattered, would it?" "Why you- oh, hello Ryoga." At the sight of the boy, Akane abruptly lost interest in fighting with her fiancé, a fact probably intended to further infuriate the pigtailed boy. Suddenly bereft of a sparring partner, Ranma jumped down from the fence and waved. "Hey Ryoga. We got your letter sayin' you were comin' back, but I didn't expect you to make it until sometime next year at least. How's it goin', man?" Akane smiled up at him. "Yes, it's been such a long time, Ryoga. How are you?" Ryoga forgot his ire as he drowned in the dark depths of Akane's eyes. He fidgeted slightly. "Uh, fine, Akane. How are you?" She cast a glare at Ranma, who affected an innocent expression. "I'd be better if this *pervert* wasn't around." Ryoga matched her glare. :Yeah, me too,: but Akane was only just warming up to her rant on her favourite subject. "...I mean, it's not enough that *he's* a pervert, he's got to encourage *everyone* else to..." Ryoga chuckled uncomfortably and interrupted before the two could start fighting again. "Heh, heh, well, I'd better be off, then. Got places to go, people to see..." "Oh?" said Akane brightly. "Where are you going, Ryoga?" Ryoga reddened. "Well, uh, that is to say..." he stammered. Akane seemed to mentally slap herself. "Oh, of course, it's Christmas. You must be going home." "Well, no, not exactly..." The snow was starting to come down harder now and all three shivered as the wind picked up. "Well," Akane said decisively. "You can come in for a while, anyway. It's freezing out here and it looks like it's going to snow hard." :No, I don't want to.: "Uh, thank you Akane, that's very kind of you." :Damn.: Ranma had watched the preceding exchange with a glower. Now he brightened, clapping Ryoga on the back. Despite the excessive force of the blow, the strong martial artist didn't flinch. "Well, I know *I'm* going inside before the snow gets thick enough to turn me into a girl. Isn't that a good idea, P-chan?" "Who're you calling P-chan?" Ryoga snapped without thinking. Akane blinked in confusion. "P-chan? I haven't seen him in ages. Where is he?" Ryoga flushed, but Ranma just swept by into the house, laughing. Akane looked after him and shook her head. Snowflakes were caught in her black hair, melting into little beads of water like diamonds. "He's so... weird," she said. "Come on, Ryoga, let's go inside."
Nabiki met them as they came inside. "Welcome home you two, oh, and hello Ryoga. Kasumi's cooking the turkey. She said she'll be finished in about an hour." "Does she need any help?" asked Akane hopefully. A look of terror passed over Ranma's face, but thankfully Nabiki shook her head. "No, she said she's fine. In fact, she said she'll be better off just doing it all herself." Ranma let out an exaggerated sigh of relief and Ryoga broke his carefully schooled neutral expression to shoot him a contemptuous look. Sure Akane's food was basically toxic and inedible, but you'd never catch *him* letting her know he thought so. They sat at the dinner table while Nabiki went upstairs. Soun and Genma were playing Go in the corner, seemingly utterly absorbed in their game. "So, Ryoga, you aren't even going home for Christmas? How come? In fact, I don't think I've *ever* heard you talk about home." Ryoga looked down at his hands. "There's just no point in even trying to go home," he said. "Even if I could find it, my family is as lost as I am all the time. Chances are, no one would be there." "Oh, you poor thing!" exclaimed Akane. "Yeah, Ryoga, it really sucks not to have any family at Christmas," seconded Ranma, in a rare burst of sympathy. "You should stay here, then, with us. We'll be your family for Christmas, Ryoga." Ryoga thought he might faint. :She wants me to stay. To include *me* in her family affairs!: he thought, glowing. "I-I don't want to be any trouble-" "Oh, it's no trouble at all, Ryoga," came Kasumi's voice as she entered with dishes to set the table. "I've made more than enough food, and there's room with Ranma and Mr. Saotome for you to sleep." "Yeah," said Ranma. "And, I mean, you're here so much anyway, you're practically part of the family as it is." Ryoga glared at him and Akane shot him a confused look before turning back to him. "So you'll stay, then?" "I, uh," he grinned. "If you really don't mind, Akane, I'd love to." She smiled. "You're always welcome here, Ryoga." "R-really?" "Of course!" "Good thing, too," said Ranma. "eh, P-chan?" Ryoga growled at him, but managed to gain enough control over himself to recognize that making a big deal out of the comment would only make matters worse. He resisted the urge to deck him with an effort. "Ranma, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" he said. "Huh? Uh, sure."
Ryoga sat on Ranma's futon, cross-legged, eyes closed, trying to regain control. Ranma crossed his arms and leaned nonchalantly against the door. "So, Ryoga, what did ya want to talk about?" "Ranma, for all the time I've known you, I've endured your teasing without comment. I've tried to be civil with you in front of Akane, despite the hell you've put me though." Ranma snorted, but he ignored him. "But if I'm going to stay here tonight as myself, not as P-chan, this has to stop." He raised his head to look at the other boy. "Just stop with the P-chan jokes, okay? I don't want to have to ruin Akane's Christmas by killing you." The pigtailed boy scoffed. "You couldn't kill me anyway, so why shouldn't I call you P-chan, P-chan?" "I'll be sleeping in the same room as you, won't I?" Ryoga said dangerously. "You wouldn't kill me while I'm asleep! What happened to your martial arts honour? I thought you took that stuff seriously." "I do take it seriously, but to keep from hurting Akane, I would even compromise my honour. And don't tell me that it wouldn't hurt her to find out that her little pet pig was me all along!" He jumped to his feet, determined to win this exchange. "If you care about Akane at all, Ranma. If you have even a shred of real feeling for her, then leave me alone tonight!" Ranma shrugged. "Sure, okay." Ryoga stopped in mid-rant and stared. "What?" "I said sure, I'll lay off ya for a day. I mean, it's Christmas, man!" Ryoga blinked in bewilderment, still not believing that he'd succeeded. "Uh, thanks." At that moment, Kasumi's gentle voice drifted up the stairs to them. "Boys! Nabiki! Dinner's ready!"
Dinner was, as usual, a boisterous affair, as Genma kept stealing food off of Ranma's plate and sparking yet another battle. These battles usually ended up with one or both falling in the pond, and Kasumi kept plenty of hot water available both to change them back into their normal forms, and to cure the near-hypothermia caused by the dunking in the frozen pool. Ryoga spent the whole meal in a happy daze. :Is this what having a family is like?: he thought dreamily. :I mean, if I had to pick a family, it wouldn't include Ranma, but I guess you can't pick your family, right? Maybe this is what it would be like to be married to Akane. On Christmas, we'd get together with the family, and Kasumi would cook Christmas dinner.: In his daydream, Akane turned to him, love shining in her dark eyes. "You don't mind going to visit your in-laws, do you, Ryoga?" "Of course not, dear. You know I love your family," he replied, wrapping an arm around her waist and holding her close. "Oh Ryoga..." "Hey, Ryoga!" Ryoga was startled out of his reverie by Ranma's voice. He was waving a hand in front of his eyes. "What do you want, Ranma?" he said irritably. "Just makin' sure you're awake, pal," Ranma replied. Dinner had been cleared away and the family was simply sitting around an empty table. Ryoga wondered if he'd eaten anything. He wasn't hungry, but he didn't remember much of the meal. "Well, Merry Christmas, everybody," said Soun. "Is it time, then?" asked Kasumi brightly. Soun nodded gravely. "It's time." Ryoga looked around. "Time for what?" "The Tendo family has a Christmas tradition. After dinner, we sit around the table and tell each other what our biggest Christmas wish is for the coming year," explained Akane. Ranma nodded. "Yeah, we did this last year, too, after the big party," said Ranma. "It was kinda fun." Kasumi explained. "It's partly a way of getting closer together as a family, because we know each other's deepest desires." "Oh, okay," said Ryoga faintly. He didn't mind watching this ritual, and it seemed like they didn't want him to leave, so he sat back and waited. "You go first, Daddy," said Nabiki. Soun cleared his throat, thinking, then. "I wish that Ranma and Akane would get along better in the coming year." Akane and Ranma both glowered, but said nothing. That was probably part of the rules: don't criticize someone else's wish. Genma was sitting on Soun's left, so he went next. "Well, you took my first wish Tendo, so my wish is that Ranma get his head together and decide what he wants, instead of stringing along three fiancées." Ranma shook his head, but kept his peace. Next was Kasumi. She cocked her head to the side and looked up at the ceiling for a few moments, then said. "I wish that if there is anyone who loves me, that they would tell me." Ryoga felt a twinge of sympathy. :At this rate, it'll be a cold day in hell when Dr. Tofu gets up the courage to tell her how he feels.: Nabiki cleared her throat. "I wish that I will make at least 1 000 000 yen this year, thereby increasing my net profits by 20%." "That's a stupid wish, Nabiki!" said Akane. "You can't wish for money." Nabiki replied in a somewhat bored tone. "Oh, you say that every year Akane. Get over it." "Akane, Nabiki can wish for whatever she wants," scolded Soun. Everyone looked at Ryoga, seated beside Nabiki. The silence stretched out and Nabiki nudged him. "It's your turn, Hibiki." "What?" "Yes, make a wish," urged Kasumi. Ryoga looked around at the expectant faces. "You mean, I'm included, too?" "Of course, silly," laughed Akane. "I told you we're your family tonight, didn't I?" Ryoga turned completely red and swayed slightly. "Well I, uh, that is..." "Well, son, what do you wish for?" said Soun gently. Ryoga looked down at his hands in his lap and stammered. :The truth is, I know what I want to wish for, and I can't say it, here.: "I don't know..." he said softly. Suddenly a warm hand squeezed his shoulder and he looked up into Akane's eyes. "It's okay, Ryoga," she glared at everyone. "He doesn't have to make a wish if he doesn't want to." Ryoga squeezed his eyes shut. :I wish that I could kiss Akane, just once.: Akane released his shoulder. "I wish that Ranma would stop being such a pervert all the time," she said matter-of-factly. "Gee, everybody pick on me with their wishes why don't you," muttered Ranma. "Make your wish," Akane hissed. "I wish that my curse will be lifted, and I could be a normal guy again," he growled. Soun stood. "Well, then, good wishing everybody. Let's trim the tree, shall we?" Everyone, including Ryoga, had a hand in erecting the plastic tree and hanging dozens of ornaments from its branches. Despite his earlier, embarrassing display, Ryoga found himself smiling and laughing along with the Tendos and Saotomes. After the tree was lit up with sparkling lights, and so covered in ornaments that every bough was sagging, they all gathered together to eat shortbread that Kasumi had baked, and sing Christmas carols until they were hoarse. Finally, Soun announced that it was time to go to bed. Genma had already collapsed from too much eggnog, and been carried to the room he shared with Ranma - and tonight, with Ryoga. Nabiki and Kasumi were cleaning the kitchen and dining area of the remnants of the cookies, which left Ryoga, Akane, Ranma and Soun together in the living room. Soun, having put his foot down, disappeared into his room. Akane and Ranma stopped in mid-argument, shrugged, and started heading upstairs. On the first step, Akane paused. She turned and smiled at Ryoga, heading towards him. "So, Ryoga, was it nice having a family for Christmas-" She tripped on a raised corner of a mat on the floor. Ryoga leapt forward to catch her and - missed - slightly. To his amazement, Akane's face bashed into his, and their lips met, just for a moment. It lasted only a fraction of a second, but the kiss left Ryoga reeling. :My wish came true! It came true!: Akane held onto Ryoga's arms and righted herself, blushing frantically. "Gee, sorry Ryoga. I was pretty clumsy." That was when Ranma's voice cut through the air. "All right, that's it!" Startled, Ryoga and Akane, Akane still held in a light embrace, looked up to see the pigtailed boy. He was glaring daggers at Ryoga and, as they watched, a red glow began to halo his body. He began to slowly pace towards him, his hands clenched into tight fists. His whole body seemed to be vibrating with anger and power. "That's it. That's the last straw," he said. His voice was low and even. Deadly. "I've tolerated you coming into this house, and I haven't said a word about you to Akane. I think I've been pretty nice to you this whole time, especially considering the fact that you attack me at the slightest provocation, for the stupidest things. But if you *ever* touch Akane, *ever* again, I will kill you." His eyes narrowed. "For now, I'll just be content with beating you to a bloody pulp, and spreading your precious secret all over town." Ryoga's heart stopped beating. He stopped breathing. Desperately, he let go of Akane and raised his hands, backing away from the murderous boy. "W-w-wait, Ranma, it's not what it looks like. Please, I can explain." "Explain this!" Ranma yelled, pulling an arm back. Several possibilities flashed through Ryoga's mind, and none of them looked good. All he could hope for was that, if he let Ranma beat him up, the boy would be content with that and not tell Akane his secret after all. He lowered his hands and closed his eyes, prepared to take whatever Ranma dished out. "Wait, Ranma, stop!" Akane cried. "What are you doing, Akane?" Ranma replied, and Ryoga opened his eyes as the blow he expected failed to land. Akane was holding Ranma's arm, pulling with all her might to keep it immobile. Tears were leaking from her eyes and Ranma was staring at her with an expression that was three parts shock and one part helplessness. "W-what're you crying for, Akane. He kissed you, I thought you'd be mad-" "You idiot!" she cried. "It was an accident! He didn't mean to do it." She looked up at Ryoga. "Did you, Ryoga?" "N-no, Akane. I-I'd never do anything to hurt you." She let go of Ranma's arm and placed herself between him and the Lost Boy. "You see? You have nothing to be jealous about, Ranma. So stop this, now!" Ranma pulled back. "What do you mean 'jealous'? Why would I be jealous?" "You *are* jealous, aren't you? Admit it!" "Ah, he can kiss you all he wants," he said. "I just thought you didn't want him kissing you, but if you want him to, why should I care?" :Hmph, why should you care, indeed,: thought Ryoga. :I guess I should say something.: "I-I'm really sorry, Akane," he said quietly. She smiled. "It's okay, Ryoga. I know you wouldn't do something like that on purpose. Now, let's just go to bed, okay?" "Okay," he said. Ranma grunted a noncommittal reply. Akane's eyes narrowed. "Now, are you two going to be all right sleeping in the same room?" Ryoga sneered at Ranma, his earlier resolution not to antagonize him forgotten. "I know *I'll* be fine." "Yeah, yeah."
Genma was snoring. Loudly. Ranma and Ryoga lay side-by-side in the dark, staring up at the ceiling. "You owe me, pig-boy. Bigtime," said Ranma. "I consider it more of a down payment on all the pain you've caused me by making me fall in that spring in the first place, Ranma." Ranma grunted. "Ya really love her, don'cha?" "Yes, I do. But I really didn't mean to kiss her like that. Believe me." Ryoga shook his head. "Though, I don't know why I have to apologize to *you*. It's not as if you have a claim over her or anything." "Hey, man, she's my fiancée. That means something, you know." "Does it? To you? You have three fiancées, and I don't have any, and you treat Akane, who I love more than anything else in the world, like dirt. Where's the justice in that?" There was a period of silence, then Ranma said quietly. "Hey, it's not as bad as all that. We just like to fight a lot, that's all." "Have you ever asked Akane if *she* liked to fight? Or is it just you who likes to fight with her because it's easier than admitting your feelings?" Ryoga shot back. Then he sighed and continued before Ranma could come up with an answer for that one. "But I'm not going to fight with you anymore tonight, though. Because, you know what?" He grinned, his fangs flashing in the darkness. "*I* got *my* wish, and no one can ever take that away from me. Not even you, Ranma. Good night." He turned over, placing his back to the boy. He heard Ranma fetch a sigh and he closed his eyes. :It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for me. And maybe next year, I'll wish something a little bolder,: he thought contentedly as he drifted off to sleep. | |
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