Chapter Text

Rivals’ Kiss

PROLOGUE

Lost

“Ryoga, over here!” a tearful girl's voice caught his attention. He had almost walked past, so focused was on his goal of finding Ranma, and finding the way back to Itabashi.

He swiveled suddenly to the side the voice came from, clipping his shoulder on the nearby brick wall of the building with a loud crack. The damage was minimal, and Ryoga barely registered the impact, so he just ignored it and focused on who exactly was calling for him… The voice was familiar, after all.

The girl was dressed in an unusual looking school uniform for Hokkaido. The girl had short wavy brown hair, wore a simple white button up shirt top and a dark skirt. She had a simple tote bag over her shoulder. Her face was red and eyes a little bloodshot. She’d clearly been crying.

Who hurt her? Ryoga couldn’t see anyone else nearby. His heart already ached for the girl’s tragic fate, whatever it was.

Then, suddenly, recognition struck.

He knew who the girl was - Ranma’s girlfriend from the all-girls school next ward over. What was she doing in Hokkaido?

Ryoga took another look at his surroundings. No, he was no longer in Hokkaido, he must have missed the moment he crossed the river.

While approaching the girl, he’d stepped right into the abandoned lot.

This was where they agreed the fight with Ranma would take place.

He made it! Finally!

Ryoga looked around once more. He could see no sight of his rival. He focused back on the girl, who was turned so her stuffed tote bag was like a protective barrier between him and her. Her expectant gaze was quite intense, but Ryoga still managed to look her in the eyes.

Mostly.

“Ah-,” Ryoga stammered out. “Where's Ranma?” he asked lamely. “Oh, and - er - are you alright Makoto? What happ-”

It was as if the sorrow in the girl's eyes was tossed aside in a split second after him opening his mouth. Her eyes suddenly lit up, gaze doubling in intensity.

“Aww, your very first words here were about your rival !” the girl all but shouted out in a sudden burst of excitement. 

Ryoga flinched back half a step. He’d never learned how to exactly speak with this girl, whenever they met without Ranma. Sometimes he felt a little overwhelmed by her even when Ranma was around to mediate.

She was always a little too… everything. Ryoga sighed. “Ah - well - we agreed to-”

“Oh, Ryoga-kun, I’m so sorry, you missed him by a couple of hours,” her voice shifted again in tone, growing sadder, but Makoto was still speaking a bit too quickly for his taste. “Ranma's father got him! You should have seen how Ranma fought him for that last chance to take you out! But that old-” She rubbed her face, and grimaced. “He just doesn't understand! You should have-” Makoto stopped suddenly and  scrambled to find something in her bag. “Wait! I can show you!”

Ryoga’s short lived anger spike about Ranma gloating how taking him out of the fight would be easily was undercut by the news.

“Ranma's dad did what?” he asked, a little lost. “But Ranma promised he’d wait for me, even if I was late!”

“He did wait! Look!” Makoto took a step forward and pushed something small and rectangular into his hands. And then, she did the thing that unsettled Ryoga the most about Makoto. She dropped her tote bag on the ground and started staring intensely right at him. The girl even clasped her hands together, and a strange excited grin played on her face.

Silently.

He looked at the little photograph.

Ranma was pictured there, in their school uniform, sitting on the edge of the half-broken wall, staring into the distance. In his hands there was a single white camellia flower, casually held at heart’s height, so the little white blossom was visible from afar contrasted with the dark colors of the uniform.

In short… Ranma was being his usual weirdo self and posing! 

There was also something about his eyes that was darker… more intense… maybe just the lights…

The photo had a tiny date printed on it, marking it as two days old.

Ryoga resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the whole thing. He offered the photo back, but Makoto shook her head.

“Keep it, he’d want you to,” she said. “I’d give you the flower too, but Ranma's dad kinda stepped on it when they fought so it's ruined now. Kinda like our whole plan.”

“Why would Ranma-” Ryoga sighed again. Clearly, Makoto had given Ranma the flower. What could be a reason for Ranma to dispose of it? Did they break up?

The girl once again dove into her bag. “Wait, don't put it away yet!”

Ryoga grumbled but complied. “When are they getting back?” he asked.

“They're not.” Makoto took out a cheap camera out of her bag… and froze up. Her voice changed for the third time.“I don't know…” she said slowly, for once not racing against herself to say everything she wanted, in short, speaking normally. Makoto sighed. “Ranma beat him back once yesterday, but… he didn't wanna sleep in case he missed you, and I know he stayed the whole night waiting… I had to run home and back, and I only got to see him fighting again before getting dragged off...” She put the camera back into her bag and slumped on the ground next to it. “It's so unfair!”

Ryoga sighed to himself, took a few cautious steps forward, and couched closer to Makoto. 

He didn't know what to do... Makoto was always - a little weird and distant, but now… “Er-” he said and offered her the photo back again.“Maybe you want to keep it after all? Ranma was your-” he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. Maybe he shouldn't bring up their break up so soon…

“No, really, you have to keep it, Ryoga,” she said slowly. The edge of her lips twitched a little after saying his name, but it was gone quickly and she was once again rummaging her backpack, this time for tissues. However, even as she had them ready, she didn’t use them. Instead, she shook her head and continued, “you have to have pictures of your rival with you!”

“I - fine.” Ryoga put the picture into his pants back pocket.

“Dummy,” Makoto said softly and chuckled quietly. “It will bend if you carry it like that. Don't you at least have a chest pocket or something to keep it close and safe?”

“Makoto-chan.” Ryoga tried again, fighting a little blush on his cheeks, due to being close to a girl, even if she was Ranma's… even if her heart was now broken by Ranma's cruelty…

“I know,” she said. “We knew it wasn't gonna last. It's still unfair! Ranma was my friend! He was your rival! We spent the whole week planning for this date!” She brushed a tissue quickly under her eyes, hiding it behind herself right after. “What a loss,” she finished with a sigh.

“What?” Ryoga blinked a few times. “My challenge got in the way of your date with Ranma? I didn't know!” 

Ranma broke up with Makoto right before their date? Unforgivable!

“Ryoga.” Makoto suddenly looked straight at his blushing face. “You know that me and Ranma are just friends! We told you that! Ranma was free to be your rival, and I… I wouldn't be so cruel to date any boy and take him away from his true calling!”

“I thought-”

“Ranma was all about you , Ryoga.”

“And now we won't even have our fight,” Ryoga grumbled, once again a little lost in the conversation. “What do I even do now?” Avenge Makoto's broken heart?

“What fight?” Makoto asked. “What are you talking about, Ryoga-kun?”

“The challenge letter?” Ryoga replied, scratching at his head. “The one I gave Ranma last week after school? He said he would make up for all the bread he stole, remember? You… were there, taking pictures of him accepting the challenge letter from me, remember?”

“Oh, Ryoga,” she said, and then mouthed something voicelessly. Then, she reached up to pat his shoulder twice. “Ranma would have made up for it all, yeah. That was the whole point! I'm sure he'll return to you! He has to! You're his rival, after all!”

“Maybe I can still catch up to them?” Ryoga said suddenly. “Sure, they’ve got a couple of hours of headstart, but maybe I could...”

Makoto smiled at him with a sudden, blindingly brilliant smile. “Yes!” she said. “Oh, this is perfect! Separated by Ranma's evil guardian, you have to go and find your destiny together!”

“Ranma!” Ryoga announced to the heavens. “I will find you wherever you go, and we will have our duel yet!”

There was a click from Makoto’s cheap camera, which had suddenly appeared back in Makoto's hands, capturing his overly dramatic pose.

Ryoga looked at her, one eyebrow raised. He supposed Makoto must have liked it when people posed, otherwise she wouldn’t have ever gone out with Ranma in the first place.

“Don't mind me,” Makoto said simply. “You were saying things about Ranma. Please, continue.”

“I- That was it?” Ryoga said. “Unless you want me to escort you home before I go after them..”

“Oh, no, no, my house is right there, you can see the edge of the roof from here,” Makoto pointed to the opposite side of where Ryoga imagined her home ward was in relation to Itabashi. “I'll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“Good,” Ryoga said, and stood up, dusting himself off. “You said they went that way, right?” He adjusted the backpack and started the run. He couldn’t waste time here, not if he wanted a chance to catch up quickly!

“No, wait, I didn't, you're going-”

But Ryoga didn't really listen anymore… He needed to catch up to Ranma, force an apology out of him for all of the stolen bread and even more importantly, for breaking Makoto's heart so much she was now sworn off boys all together!

It would be nearly two years until he saw either Ranma or Makoto again.