Okay, this is my first Ranma fic, so please bear with me here. First, random disclaimer stuff: Ranma & co. belong Rumiko Takahashi, I’m not making any money off this, etc. etc. The song “Everything You Want” belongs to Vertical Horizon and their record label.
Ryoga Hibiki, the Eternal Lost Boy, sat perched atop the Tendo dojo, staring down into the courtyard. Akane, beauteous Akane, sat there, arguing with Ranma....her fiancee.
Ryoga grimaced. Fiancee. It wasn’t fair. Somehow, despite her outward hatred for Ranma, Akane seemed to care deeply for him. A caring she had never had for Ryoga, except when he was P-chan. No matter how hard he tried.
He could’ve left. There really weren’t any ties keeping Ryoga in Nerima, even in Japan. His parents were around somewhere, but they had the same sense of direction that he had and could never be found. Ryoga was a wanderer himself, always lost and simply settling down briefly whenever he got tired of walking.
But he stayed. For Akane, he stayed. He loved her, loved her more than life itself. Ever since she had innocently picked up a little black piglet sitting in the rain, he had loved her. No one else had ever shown him so much kindness.
But it was an empty kindness. Akane thought that P-chan was just a pig and nothing more. She didn’t understand that his love ran deeper than that. He had listened to her for hours on end, sharing in her deepest secrets and giving her his silent understanding. He was her loyal pet and confidant, always.
So why didn’t Akane love him?
It would be easier, Ryoga supposed, if Akane would reject him outright. His heart would be shattered to be sure, but even knowing for certain that he could never have her was better than watching her and Ranma together, and wondering if he had a chance.
Ranma. He never let Ryoga get near Akane. It wasn’t fair. Ranma had no real claim on Akane as far as Ryoga could see. They were held together by an engagement planned by their fathers, not ties of love. But this flimsiest of ties seemed to make Ranma think that Akane, who he often insulted and ridiculed, was his and his alone.
But what was Ryoga to do? As long as Ranma kept him away from precious Akane, there was no way to win her affections. He didn’t even know if Akane thought of him as a friend, much less as a potential boyfriend! It just wasn’t fair. Ryoga had a deep, all-consuming love for Akane. He would never insult her, never call her ‘uncute.’ But Ranma did, and he still got to marry her.
So why didn’t Akane see in Ryoga what she saw in Ranma?
And so, Ryoga waited. Every night, he shared Akane’s bed as P-chan, her loyal pet, and every day he perched on rooftops and wondered if he should leave. Wondered if maybe one day Akane would stop looking for the love hidden from her and notice the one right in front of her.
Ryoga could never talk to Akane about his love. Every time he tried, he was either interrupted by Ranma or overcome by shyness and nosebleeds. No one sympathized with him. He hid his longing deep inside and watched from the rooftops, as he always did.
But Akane never cared. No matter how long he waited, he sometimes wondered if she ever would.
The rain began to fall, mingling with Ryoga’s tears. He didn’t bother wiping them away, and he didn’t much care when he changed into a little black piglet. He tumbled off the roof and landed in Akane’s arms.
“There you are, P-chan!”
Ryoga snuggled into her warm arms, basking in the tenderness of her smile. He could only hope that maybe, one day, she would hold him like this and look at him like that when he was in human form.