Title: A Little Challenge
Author: Lian Mei
Part: 1 of ? (It just begs for a continue, but I don't have one in mind yet. )
Warnings: Based on Ranma 1/2. i.e. may be OOC, or contradict with cannon, but I don't care.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 concept created by Rumiko Takahashi, copyright Shogakukan, Inc. US rights held by Viz Communications, Inc. I recognize I have no rights versus these entities.
Summary: A little fluffy beginning.
Pairing: Ranma/Ryouga.
Archive: Yes.
C&C: OK.

A Little Challenge

An exhausted Ryouga sat staring into his campfire. He had done a lot of walking today just to find a good campsite. Vacant lots were getting harder and harder to find even in the suburbs these days. Well, at any rate he was in Japan. He was even, from the local accent, near Tokyo. He might even be in the Nerima district. Suddenly he felt two warm hands on his shoulders. He was in Nerima.

"Ranmaaa..." he growled, "Stop it."

Ranma, in female form, slid down to sit next to Ryouga and latched on to his arm. She looked up into his face and made a pretty smile. "What s'matter Ryouga? Aren'cha glad to see me?"

Ryouga glanced down at Ranma out of the corner of his eye. "You think that you can play these games with me? " He looked back at the fire. "Since that last attempted wedding, I haven't bothered you any more. No more P- chan, no more fights. Why do you keep hounding me? It's an insult to Akane. She'd beat your head in if she saw you flirting with me again."

"I heard you turned Akari down. I thought'cha might be lonely."

"That's none of your business, Ranma."

"Hey, just makin' sure you didn't end up in somebody's cookpot."

"No thanks to you." Ryouga snatched his arm back, and Ranma looked a little downcast.

"Akari'd've kept track of ya," Ranma said softly.

Drawn out by Ranma's quiet tone, Ryouga admitted, "I don't like pigs. It's bad enough I turn into one. I don't need to spend all my waking hours with them as well."

"But didn't 'cha like Akari?"

"No. Yes. I don't know! She's just a pretty girl who was nice to me just because I passed her test. But in the end, there was nothing there. I remember the last time I saw her, I stood on her porch to say goodbye. She stood there expectantly, like she wanted me to kiss her, just once, just as a way of saying goodbye, but I just couldn't, that feeling was never there. Anyway..." The fire crackled as a slight breeze came up. "...did you ever wonder why I gave up on Akane?"

"Um, 'cuz ya finally got smart and realized you didn't have a chance? Or you finally realized she's an uncute tomboy"

"Ranmaaa!" Ryouga warned in a low voice. He continued, "You know neither of my parents are ever home."

"Yeah, so?"

"Maybe you're too stupid to realize it, but my mother is a Hibiki by marriage and not by birth."

"Whoa. You mean . . ."

"The Hibiki curse is passed through the male line. A woman who marries a Hibiki receives the curse, and so do all their children. So, no Hibiki male has kept a wife long enough to have a family without using some kind of love magic." He paused. "But it's not right, after the koi rod, I couldn't do it. Not to any girl that I've ever liked, not anyone. Not that I've ever gotten very far. Feh, you're still the only person I've ever kissed when I wasn't a pig."

"That's not even true, Ryouga, I may have kissed you, but you've never kissed me. You're too chicken to kiss anybody. You'd pass out before you finished puckering," Ranma taunted.

Ryouga suddenly got a determined look in his eyes and turned towards Ranma, who leaned away a little, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her firmly on the lips. Ranma was stiff with surprise at first, but quickly relaxed into it, feeling the tingle reach all the way to the toes. He broke the kiss and looked into Ranma's eyes. There was an instant of softness in Ryouga's expression, but then his face twisted into a grimace and he shoved her away. He got up to stand on the other side of the campfire.

Momentarily stunned, Ranma touched her wet lips. "So, you do like me after all," she said quietly.

There was a heavy pause. "Get away from me Ranma, stop messing with my life. Why don't you go torture Kunou or something?" Ryouga burst out.

"Kunou's an idiot. Besides, I think you don't mind that I'm really a guy," she said slyly.

"This is some sick joke you're playing on me. I know you, Ranma, always saying stuff to manipulate people. All those things you say to Akane just to piss her off for the fun of it, or the way you called Ukyou cute just so she'd stop fighting you. The way you lead everybody on."

Ranma sobered a little. "And if I wasn't?"

"I don't know. It's not even that I can't trust you, you could be under the effect of a potion or a spell, given all the funny stuff that goes on here in Nerima"

"I see. Anyway, I brought you something to eat." Ranma held out a package.

Ryouga just looked at her for a few moments, but took the package and unwrapped it.

Somehow relieved, Ranma enthused "I remembered your favorite . . . hey, I didn't ask for fish. The man must have got the order . . ."

"Meow!"

" . . . wrong . . ." Ranma sat bolt upright and glanced behind her. Attracted by the powerful fragrance of the deep fried fish, a glittering pair of eyes regarded her from the darkness. Then another. She turned back around, but another pair of eyes was already in front of her.

"Gaaaahhhh", Ranma headed for the nearest high ground, which, since they were in the middle of an empty lot, was Ryouga.

"Ack, Ranma! Get off! I can't see." Ryouga yelled as he staggered about with the fish in one hand and Ranma's legs firmly wrapped around his head, muttering "Ca..ca..ca..cat" There were now a number of cats mewing and milling about Ryouga's legs. Eventually he tripped, sending Ranma sprawling, and of course the fish landed with a splat right on Ranma's face. The cats converged on the fish, and Ranma lost it.

Ranma the cat chased all the other cats off and claimed the fish as her own, which she delicately brought over in her mouth to share with Ryouga. Meanwhile, Ryouga had set a pot of water on the fire hoping that the hot water change would return Ranma to his senses, but as chance would have it, it began to rain, sending Ryouga scurrying for his tent and extinguishing the campfire. Ranma the cat, also being adverse to rain joined Ryouga in the tent.

Ryouga tried to light his little camp stove at the mouth of his tent as Ranma the cat rubbed against him and interfered as only an attention demanding cat can. Ryouga felt pity for Ranma and anger at Genma Saotome for this humiliation that Ranma had to endure. But those feelings were re-directed somewhat when Ranma started methodically shredding his sleeping bag.

By the time Ryouga had a tin of water steaming, his sleeping bag was in tatters and Ranma was deep in a catnap with her head nuzzled against Ryouga.

"Finally!" Ryouga exclaimed when he began to see the steam rise. He grabbed the tin and turned towards Ranma.

Ryouga's sudden shout and movement had woken Ranma, who looked around in groggy confusion.

"Ryou? . . ." SPLASH ". . . ga!"

"Hey! Wat'cha do that for?"

"Think about it."

"Huh?" Ranma's brow wrinkled in concentration. He remembered giving Ryouga the food, which had turned out to be a fish and then . . .. He shuddered. "Um, why are my pants wet like this?"

"You tried to mark my tent."

"Oh." The color rose in Ranma's face. "You wouldn't have anything for me to wear, would'ya?"

Ryouga rummaged for a while in his pack and pulled out some black karate pants. Still blushing, Ranma quickly squirmed into the pants in the tent's enclosed space and wadded his soiled ones into a ball. The pants were a little large for Ranma, fitting him in the baggy fashion that his guy pants fit on his girl form. Ryouga found this interesting and disturbing and turned away to watch the rain out the tent flap. They sat for some time until Ryouga finally broke the silence.

"You say turning into a girl hasn't changed the way you think."

"Well, you don't fantasize about mud baths and slop, do you Ryouga?"

Ryouga gritted his teeth and mostly ignored the comment. "You never act like you like me when you're a guy."

"Aw, c'mon Ryouga, that's just too embarrassing. Guys don't act like that. I just can't . . ."

"Humph. I've always said you were a coward, Saotome."

"I'm not, it's just that things are complicated!"

"Alright, if you really like me, then prove it. The next time I come to the Tendou Dojo, go on a date with me. As a guy."

As soon as the words came out of Ryouga's mouth, he couldn't believe he'd let himself say such a thing. Well, he consoled himself, even if Ranma agrees he'll probably chicken out when I show up on his doorstep, and I won't really have to worry about it.

But Ranma had that determined look he reserved for martial arts challenges, "Okay, it's a deal," and before Ryouga could think of some way out of this situation or even fully panic, Ranma jumped up. "Hey, I gotta go. Thanks for everything." Ranma crawled out of the tent, but a moment later Ranma-chan poked her head in. "Don't get too lost P-chan, I'll be waiting," she winked, and then disappeared.

(owari)