Ranma 1/2: Ranma/Ryouga/Akane
Title: Outed
Author: forgottenlover
Rating: PG
Warnings: Not really
Word count: 1155
Summary: Ryouga finally gets outed as being P-chan.
The argument was picking up as it tended to, Ryouga clutched to Akane's chest protectively as Ranma helplessly tried to get it across that he wasn't doing a thing wrong when he'd tried to kick 'P-chan' out of her room. Akane, of course, was having none of it, stubbornly fussing over the little creature as her fiancé tried to figure out how to make his point without giving away any secrets.
In all, it was a sadly typical situation in this household, and Nabiki had had just about enough of it. Her sister could be stupid sometimes, and it was her prerogative if she wanted to sleep with a pig, but she was not going to let her sister give Ranma bruises a few hours before a performance. Not that Akane knew about that, but that wasn't the point.
Moving forward, she did what she should have done months ago and doused all three of them with heated water. "Figure it out."
Stunned silence was left in the woman's wake, the two boys looking at each other as Akane's grip went lax in shock and Ryouga landed on the ground with a dull thud.
While Ryouga usually tried not to believe in Akane's temper, he knew it existed, and the way the girl's mouth was working and her face was turning red did not bode well for either of them. But… she didn't yell. No, her voice was deadly soft. "Ryouga? P-chan is Ryouga?!"
The tone was still enough to send the boy on the ground skittering backwards, knowing he had no defense for being in disguise for so long without saying anything. He knew her view on perverts, he just never thought that it might possibly be turned on him. While slow sometimes, he wasn't stupid, and she was furious. Ranma didn't say anything either, hesitating to speak when he wasn't, yet, the target of her wrath.
"All this time… Ryouga how could you? You, you, you pervert! You've seen me naked! I hugged you in my sleep! And you're a man?!"
Her volume slowly rose, and Ryouga's back hit a wall. He didn't want to go through the wall, as he sensed that would make things much, much worse, but thankfully her focus moved from him to Ranma.
"And you! You knew didn't you?! The two of you spent all this time scheming together against me, didn't you? Didn't you?! That's why you two are getting so friendly all of a sudden, you two were trying to figure out how to humiliate me with this!"
Her fists were clenched, but Ryouga took a deep breath, not having had the fear of her beaten into him like the blue eyed boy had. Ranma looked… hurt. That was unnerving, and since they'd resolved their issues, he'd been paying more attention, so he was pretty sure it wasn't a look he'd seen recently. "No, we weren't Akane."
Her gaze whipped to him instantly, hands flexing in agitation at her sides. "Why should I believe you? You're a liar!"
The lost boy cut in to draw attention back to himself. He had to speak up for himself, at least this once. "No, he's not. I'm not either, I'm just a coward." He pushed himself up the wall, glancing hesitantly to Ranma before looking to Akane again. "I was scared to tell you I was P-chan."
"Then why have you and Ranma been sneaking around, huh? Why've you been whispering to each other all the time? Don't even say you haven't been, I've seen you!"
"…It's not about you Akane." Ranma's voice was quiet, and when she looked at him again, he didn't twitch, just meeting her furious stare. "What we talk about… it isn't you. It doesn't have anything to do with you."
"Then what's it about, huh?"
"We used to be friends once. Before. We're working on being real friends again, okay? It doesn't have anything to do with you. It has to do with us. It doesn't have anything to do with this."
She shook, showing impressive restraint in the fact that she hadn't tried to physically attack either of them. That could have been because she couldn’t decide who she wanted to hurt more, or because she genuinely had learned not to do it. Neither could really tell. "Why didn't you tell me then Ranma? You can't tell me you didn't know! You must have known all this time! It's why you always hated P-chan, isn't it?!"
He braced, then took a deep breath and shook his head. "I promised I wouldn't say anything."
She stared at him, trembling a little. "You promised? You let him spy on me, when you knew, and it was all because you promised? What about me Ranma? How could you do that to me?"
Ryouga stared at her, a bit stunned that she would even think to go in that direction. Couldn't she see how the guy took his honor seriously? It's what caused the problems between him and the other teen in the first place! "He made a promise Akane."
She turned back to him, eyes watering a bit, and took a deep breath. "You lied to me. You both lied to me and you did it on purpose! Perverted bastards!"
"We didn't lie Akane! We just… we just didn’t tell you, that’s all!" Ryouga stared at her despondently and shook his head. "That's all, I swear."
"You swear? You swear?!" She shook her head hard and looked back to Ranma, then to Ryouga again before turning her back on them both. "You should have told me." Taking a deep breath, she shook her head again, voice having quieted significantly. "I'm going to be in my room."
She left then, and the two boys looked at each other a bit helplessly.
How could they go about fixing this now? Everything had finally, finally started to calm down, and now this? Ryouga had thought they were both thinking that… but it apparently wasn't the case.
Ranma reached out and caught the lost boy's wrist before starting down the hall. "Well we can't just stand here. C'mon."
"Ranma? What…?"
"She keeps calling us perverts, right? Says we were scheming. Well, we weren't. She wants a pervert. Maybe if we go and you tell her, really tell her, that you like her uncute self, then maybe she'll forgive you."
"And what about you?"
The blue eyed boy shook his head. "We'll figure that part out later. You just get her unmad at you first. Then we'll work on the rest, got it?"
There was a hesitance, then the lost boy laced his fingers through the other teen's. "Yeah, sure. Whatever works I guess."
Decision made, Ranma knocked on the door. Come what may, they would get this worked out, once and for all.
If the outcome was more stunning than expected… good.
And if it hurt... Well, nothing new there.
Author: forgottenlover
Rating: PG
Warnings: Not really
Word count: 1155
Summary: Ryouga finally gets outed as being P-chan.
The argument was picking up as it tended to, Ryouga clutched to Akane's chest protectively as Ranma helplessly tried to get it across that he wasn't doing a thing wrong when he'd tried to kick 'P-chan' out of her room. Akane, of course, was having none of it, stubbornly fussing over the little creature as her fiancé tried to figure out how to make his point without giving away any secrets.
In all, it was a sadly typical situation in this household, and Nabiki had had just about enough of it. Her sister could be stupid sometimes, and it was her prerogative if she wanted to sleep with a pig, but she was not going to let her sister give Ranma bruises a few hours before a performance. Not that Akane knew about that, but that wasn't the point.
Moving forward, she did what she should have done months ago and doused all three of them with heated water. "Figure it out."
Stunned silence was left in the woman's wake, the two boys looking at each other as Akane's grip went lax in shock and Ryouga landed on the ground with a dull thud.
While Ryouga usually tried not to believe in Akane's temper, he knew it existed, and the way the girl's mouth was working and her face was turning red did not bode well for either of them. But… she didn't yell. No, her voice was deadly soft. "Ryouga? P-chan is Ryouga?!"
The tone was still enough to send the boy on the ground skittering backwards, knowing he had no defense for being in disguise for so long without saying anything. He knew her view on perverts, he just never thought that it might possibly be turned on him. While slow sometimes, he wasn't stupid, and she was furious. Ranma didn't say anything either, hesitating to speak when he wasn't, yet, the target of her wrath.
"All this time… Ryouga how could you? You, you, you pervert! You've seen me naked! I hugged you in my sleep! And you're a man?!"
Her volume slowly rose, and Ryouga's back hit a wall. He didn't want to go through the wall, as he sensed that would make things much, much worse, but thankfully her focus moved from him to Ranma.
"And you! You knew didn't you?! The two of you spent all this time scheming together against me, didn't you? Didn't you?! That's why you two are getting so friendly all of a sudden, you two were trying to figure out how to humiliate me with this!"
Her fists were clenched, but Ryouga took a deep breath, not having had the fear of her beaten into him like the blue eyed boy had. Ranma looked… hurt. That was unnerving, and since they'd resolved their issues, he'd been paying more attention, so he was pretty sure it wasn't a look he'd seen recently. "No, we weren't Akane."
Her gaze whipped to him instantly, hands flexing in agitation at her sides. "Why should I believe you? You're a liar!"
The lost boy cut in to draw attention back to himself. He had to speak up for himself, at least this once. "No, he's not. I'm not either, I'm just a coward." He pushed himself up the wall, glancing hesitantly to Ranma before looking to Akane again. "I was scared to tell you I was P-chan."
"Then why have you and Ranma been sneaking around, huh? Why've you been whispering to each other all the time? Don't even say you haven't been, I've seen you!"
"…It's not about you Akane." Ranma's voice was quiet, and when she looked at him again, he didn't twitch, just meeting her furious stare. "What we talk about… it isn't you. It doesn't have anything to do with you."
"Then what's it about, huh?"
"We used to be friends once. Before. We're working on being real friends again, okay? It doesn't have anything to do with you. It has to do with us. It doesn't have anything to do with this."
She shook, showing impressive restraint in the fact that she hadn't tried to physically attack either of them. That could have been because she couldn’t decide who she wanted to hurt more, or because she genuinely had learned not to do it. Neither could really tell. "Why didn't you tell me then Ranma? You can't tell me you didn't know! You must have known all this time! It's why you always hated P-chan, isn't it?!"
He braced, then took a deep breath and shook his head. "I promised I wouldn't say anything."
She stared at him, trembling a little. "You promised? You let him spy on me, when you knew, and it was all because you promised? What about me Ranma? How could you do that to me?"
Ryouga stared at her, a bit stunned that she would even think to go in that direction. Couldn't she see how the guy took his honor seriously? It's what caused the problems between him and the other teen in the first place! "He made a promise Akane."
She turned back to him, eyes watering a bit, and took a deep breath. "You lied to me. You both lied to me and you did it on purpose! Perverted bastards!"
"We didn't lie Akane! We just… we just didn’t tell you, that’s all!" Ryouga stared at her despondently and shook his head. "That's all, I swear."
"You swear? You swear?!" She shook her head hard and looked back to Ranma, then to Ryouga again before turning her back on them both. "You should have told me." Taking a deep breath, she shook her head again, voice having quieted significantly. "I'm going to be in my room."
She left then, and the two boys looked at each other a bit helplessly.
How could they go about fixing this now? Everything had finally, finally started to calm down, and now this? Ryouga had thought they were both thinking that… but it apparently wasn't the case.
Ranma reached out and caught the lost boy's wrist before starting down the hall. "Well we can't just stand here. C'mon."
"Ranma? What…?"
"She keeps calling us perverts, right? Says we were scheming. Well, we weren't. She wants a pervert. Maybe if we go and you tell her, really tell her, that you like her uncute self, then maybe she'll forgive you."
"And what about you?"
The blue eyed boy shook his head. "We'll figure that part out later. You just get her unmad at you first. Then we'll work on the rest, got it?"
There was a hesitance, then the lost boy laced his fingers through the other teen's. "Yeah, sure. Whatever works I guess."
Decision made, Ranma knocked on the door. Come what may, they would get this worked out, once and for all.
If the outcome was more stunning than expected… good.
And if it hurt... Well, nothing new there.