Title: Ranma 1/2-Different life, Different love
Author:
Part: 5/?
Warnings: Strong R, yaoi, implied yuri, spoilers for the manga
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, and heaven forbid she find out what I've been doing with them.
Summary: This part covers the skating rink and some relationship stuff. I thought Shampoo was going to show up in this chapter, too, but it turned out to be a lot longer than I expected. Still some scenes taken from the manga, but very few.
Pairing:Ryouga/Ranma (mostly)
Misc. Author notes:

//-indicates flashback
** Indicates thoughts

*****************************

It was a dark and stormy night, (Obligatory dramatic bolts of lightning and thunder included.) and the Tendo dojo could barely be seen through the steady downpour. Ryouga-wolf dragged his soggy self and his equally soaked belongings inside and up the stairs.

Of all the times for his umbrella to break in two, it had been in another fight with that bastard boar. He'd been able to defeat it with his bare hands, but still, he carried that bamboo umbrella around for a reason.

He entered the upstairs bathroom as Ranma-chan came out of Akane's room, all flushed and sweaty.

Ryouga pawed at the hot water knob until the faucet turned on. While he was waiting for the bath to fill, his wolf nose twitched, and Ranma-chan walked into the room.

"Hey, I thought I smelled wet dog. How's it been, Fang?" Ranma said cheerfully.

The wolf's ears flattened and he growled. That tomboy female was invading his territory! He could smell her all over Ranma.

"There's no reason to snarl, man," said Ranma, totally clueless as usual. "I think Fang is a great *pet* name." The martial artist smiled and stuck her tongue out.

The human part of Ryouga reasserted itself enough to get him into the bath. Ranma followed right after, splashing his best friend as he emerged in human form. Without warning, Ryouga grabbed the other young man and shoved him up against the side of the bath, biting him hard on the front of the neck. He had been in his other form for the better part of the month, so his wolf instincts were particularly strong and made him desperate to mark his territory and reassert his dominance over his mate.

"Shit, OW! Ryouga, cut it out! You're in human form now, remember?" Ranma shoved him away as best he could, helped by the fact that the lost boy did come to his senses and let go.

"I-I'm sorry Ranma. My instincts got a little out of control, I guess."

"No sweat, buddy. A little blood, though. That's going to leave a mark," Ranma said with a lopsided grin to show he was teasing.

"You've got a lot of other marks, too. Where'd all these bruises come from? I don't know anyone besides me who can get close enough to hit you," Ryouga said, fingering one of the hickeys.

Ranma blushed. "Uh, 'kane and I've been fooling around a bit. You know, the way you and I do sometimes, but with kissing."

Ryouga blinked, too confused for jealousy to kick in. "And you've been hitting each other at the same time?"

"No, no. If you suck really hard on one spot for a while, it makes a bruise, silly."

"Oh." Ryouga watched Ranma lean back and relax against the side of the tub. His eyes widened slightly as the long-haired martial artist reached down and touched himself.

Ranma always found himself hard after he changed back into a guy after making out with Akane, and he'd discovered that jerking himself off was the best way to deal with it. (Though he didn't know that was what it was called.) He closed his eyes and started to stroke slowly, in long, leisurely strokes. Oddly enough, he would've been to embarrassed to do this in front of anyone but Ryouga, but for some reason he felt completely and utterly comfortable with the lost boy.

Said lost boy was watching his best friend rubbing himself off with his mouth slightly agape. Ranma looked so incredible like that, with his legs slightly spread as he stroked the length of his shaft, his head thrown back. Soft breath escaped between his slightly parted lips, cherry colored from arousal. Muscles clenched slightly as the pleasure intensified and Ranma quickened the pace of his stroking. With a gasp and a soft moan, he came, spilling himself into the bath. Ryouga thought he had never seen his friend so handsome and desirable.

Ranma opened his eyes and smiled. "Mmm...that felt pretty good." He noted Ryouga's flushed face. Then he looked further down and smirked. "You need help with that?" He asked mock-sweetly.

Ryouga followed his gaze down and realized he had gotten pretty hard himself. "S-sure, I guess..um..."

"Here, stand up," Ranma said, grabbing him by the arms. "I wanna try somethin'. It's amazing what you can do with your mouth," he grinned mischieviously as he made Ryouga lean up against the side of the furo. The lost boy was bewildered. What was Ranma doing?

It didn't take him long to find out. Ranma knelt in front of him and grabbed his hips before beginning his oral assault. Ryouga gasped at the sensation of a wet tongue exploring his balls, followed by a gentle sucking. He pulled Ranma's hair out of its binding and intertwined his fingers through the long, silky strands with one hand while holding himself up with the other.

Ranma turned his attention to Ryouga's hot, red member. Slowly, he licked it up and down, sweetly torturing his friend. Finally, he took just the tip into his mouth and sucked on it.

"Ah, yeessss..." Ryouga breathed, barely a whisper. Ranma took that as encouragement and tried to take him all the way in, hampered by his inexperience and the other boy's sheer size.

Ryouga had to move his hand from Ranma's head to the tiled side of the furo, for fear of crushing his friend's skull like a melon in the heat of passion. As it was, tiles were cracking under the pressure. Ranma had no idea what he was doing, but that was okay, since Ryouga didn't have any experience either, and therefore nothing to compare it to. As far as he was concerned, his entire world consisted of the wet heat enveloping him, setting his groin on fire. He suddenly groaned and came, spilling hot seed into his long-haired friend's mouth, catching him by surprise. Ranma tried to swallow it all, but choked slightly, causing the hot, white liquid to dribble down his chin.

Ryouga slid bonelessly back into the bath. Ranma wiped the cum off of his face and jumped into his buddy's lap, laughing and wrapping himself around Ryouga's stockier frame in a warm hug. Dazed, Ryouga could do little more than return the embrace.

"Mmm...you don't taste half-bad, Ryo-kun," Ranma purred.

They stayed like that for a bit, enjoying the closeness. After a while, Ryouga's brain finally caught up to him and he realized which form Ranma had come into the bathroom in. "Uh, Ran-kun? Can I ask you something kind of personal?"

"Anything, buddy." Ranma's voice came from the vicinity of his shoulder.

"Were you, um, kissing Akane in girl form?" he asked hesitantly.

"Um, yeah." Ranma paused and lifted his head. "Come to think of it, I don't think she's kissed me as a guy, yet. That's odd."

"You didn't think that was weird before?"

"At first, yeah, I did. But it felt good, so I didn't think about it."

"But isn't that like two guys kissing?"

"Oh. Er..." The truth was, Ranma wanted to kiss Ryouga, but he knew that was way wrong. Which meant... "I hadn't thought of it that way. Um, I guess I should have a talk with 'kane sometime." Ranma got out of the tub, lost in thought. How had he never noticed before? Was it possible Akane wasn't interested in him as a guy? But she knew he was really a guy, so why would she have anything to do with him if she *really* didn't like guys?

Ryouga watched him get dressed, trying not to be obvious about it as he got into his own pajamas. He had hoped that Ranma wouldn't think it was wrong to kiss him, but it was obvious now that he did. He also knew he should point out that what they were doing was probably cheating on Akane, but he couldn't bring himself to. He knew that once Ranma became aware he was doing something wrong, he would stop and tell his fiancee what happened as a matter of honor. Ryouga would die of shame, not to mention they wouldn't have any more of these little encounters, which in spite of himself, he didn't want to give up.

"Come on, let's go to bed," Ranma said, pulling Ryouga along with him. "'kane want's to go to the ice rink tomorrow."

*****************

"I can't believe you guys don't know how to skate!" Akane said to a wobbly Ryouga and Ranma-chan.

"If it didn't have anything to do with martial arts, my old man didn't teach it to me." Ranma-chan said, hanging on to her fiancee for dear life.

"That explains a lot about you, then," Ryouga teased.

"Why you-!" Ranma let go of Akane and lunged for him, succeeding only in grabbing the front of Ryouga's yellow tunic in a desperate attempt to keep from falling. Akane watched the wobbly couple try to stay upright with barely concealed amusement.

"Hey Akane!!" Akane turned to see several of her classmates coming toward her.

"Hi everyone! I didn't see you earlier."

"Oh, we just got here," Michiko said, "Eiko had trouble finding her skates."

"Before I forget," Eiko said, "the skating team is looking for more members, and I thought I'd let you know, since you're so good at it and all."

"I'll think about it," Akane said.

"Isn't that the girl who fought Kodachi?" Another girl, Asuka, asked, pointing at Ranma.

Akane nodded.

"She's such a lucky girl, to have such a handsome boyfriend."

Akane facefaulted, but recovered quickly. "They're not dating. As far as I know, Ryouga is available."

"Really? They look like they would make such a cute couple."

*I suppose they would, if Ranma were a real girl.* Akane thought, and then turned, as she thought she heard one of them hit the ice. She was half-right. Ryouga was face down on the ice, and Ranma-chan was speeding backwards, out of control.

"YAAAAAAA!!!!!" Ranma screamed. This was definitely not her element. Just as she thought she was definitely in for some serious pain, someone lifted her into the air from behind.

"Say, that's Mikado Sanzenin, of the Golden skating pair," Michiko said.

"What a dream!!" Asuka giggled.

"Isn't he supposed to be some kind of girl chaser?" Akane asked.

"Are you all right?" Mikado asked, not knowing what he held in his arms.

"Uh..." Ranma just nodded.

"Would you like me to teach you to skate?" He asked seductively.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm doing fine with my friends. Will you leggo of me, please?"

"Really? Too bad. But at least, you can thank me for the rescue." Making that announcement, he leaned her back and thoroughly kissed her.

Ranma couldn't believe it. How dare he!! Only Ryouga could get away with pulling a stunt like that on him! Tears welled up and spilled from her eyes as she fled the rink.

"Wait!" Mikado said. "What an innocent girl, to weep like that."

*I would feel like crying too, if I got kissed by a guy.* Akane thought.

"Oh, what a lucky girl," Asuka said from behind her. Akane just about lost her balance.

"HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO RANMA!!!" Ryouga yelled, and charged at Mikado.

"He's awfully jealous for a guy who isn't dating her." Eiko commented.

Mikado didn't even blink an eye. "Ah, making her weep with joy with just one kiss. I'm ashamed of myself."

"I'll make you pay for humiliating my best friend! PREPARE TO DIE!! Oh sh--" Mikado easily glided out of the way, and Ryouga found himself going top speed toward the other side of the rink. A moment later there was a Ryouga-shaped hole in the rink wall.

"Hmph. Amateur." But Mikado wasn't in the clear yet.

"SANZENIN!" Ranma was back, in male form, and very pissed off. "PREPARE YOURSELF- I CAN'T LET YOU LIVE!!"

"Hey Akane," Michiko whispered. "Is that girl Ranma's cousin or what? They look related."

As for Mikado, he was truly confused now. "Who are you? You come out of nowhere and-"

"For the first time...in my whole life," Ranma growled, "I'M REALLY MAD!!" He punched the ice for emphasis. A giant crack formed between him and the hentai skater.

Mikado was still nonplussed. "I don't know whate you're angry about, but for the sin of damaging the sacred rink, you must die!!"

"Great," Ranma muttered to himself. "I'll make you pay for the humiliation you've given me, with your life!" He launched himself into the air, aiming straight for the skater's face. It was the same mistake Ryouga made. Mikado once again skated out of the way, and Ranma planted his face in the ice.

To Mikado's shock and surprise, the martial artist picked himself up and tried again. Unnerved by the other young man's tenacity, Mikado resorted to using the 'Dance of Death' on him. To everyone watching, it seemed as though Ranma was getting the crap beat out of him. Yet, the long haired martial artist managed to pick himself up afterwards, but Mikado was frozen in mid-swing, completely unconscious.

Akane skated over. "Are you alright?"

Ranma snorted. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You hit him 518 times." She accused.

"You were counting? That's impressive." Ranma made his way unsteadily to the edge of the rink with her help.

"Don't you think that's overkill?"

"No. He's still breathing, isn't he? 'Sides, how would've you reacted if it had been you instead of me?"

*The same way, actually.* "I see what you mean. Let's go home; I don't know about you, but I've had enough excitement for one day."


"Sounds good to me. Hey, where'd Ryouga go?"

"Who cares? Let's go, he's probably gotten himself lost again." *I wish he would get lost permanently.*

"Yeah, you're right." Ranma said, after scanning the area. He put an arm around his fiancee's shoulder, and she promptly shrugged him off. He looked at her, hurt, and the doubts in his mind increased that much more. When they got home he was going to ask Kasumi some relationship questions, no doubt about that. With one last glance around the rink for the lost boy, he followed his inaazuke outside.

**********

Meanwhile, Ryouga had wandered all the way across town. "Where am I now?!!" He hollered to no one in general. A flock of startled pigeons took off with a great flapping of wings, but otherwise he was ignored.

**********

TBC, as always.

I figured this was a good place to stop. This chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I was expecting, but oh well. Hopefully I'll get to Shampoo next, but it looks like Ranma and Akane are going to have their relationship problems earlier than I originally planned. Hey, I didn't originally plan the lemon scene for this chapter, either, but hopefully y'all aren't complaining, ne? ~-^