Kasumi stared in silent horror at the scene before her. She had simply left to get some tea for the grieving boy, and had thought everything would be fine until she returned. After all, what could happen in the span of a few minutes?

But this was Nerima. Major events can happen in mere seconds here.

Especially when those events hinged on the emotions of certain martial artists. In this case, Ranma's jealous streak involving other men associating with Akane. Or more to the point, Akane's apparent interest in men other than Ranma himself.

Even so, Kasumi would never have expected THIS.

She could see Akane out of the corner of her eye, futilely calling out to Ranma, telling him to stop. If anything, it was spurring on his jealous rage even more. Kasumi wished she could call out, stop this somehow. But she'd never really been the confrontational type, and now she was paying for it. Or rather, Ryoga was.

ooOoo

Stupid stupid stupid STUPID! Ukyo silently berated herself as she raced towards the Tendo dojo. HOW could I have forgotten about Ranchan? If he doesn't know the situation, he'll probably try to taunt Ryoga into fighting him, and that's something Ryoga does NOT need to deal with right now.

I only hope I can get there before Ranchan does anything stupid.

ooOoo

"Ranma, stop it!" Akane yelled futilely. "STOP IT!"

But of course Ranma didn't stop.

It had started innocently enough... well... innocently enough for Nerima. Ranma had come up to Ryoga, called him a few names and threw him across the yard. Usually this precipitated an all-out battle with Ranma grinning like a child as he dodged Ryoga's fists.

But this time, Ranma wasn't smiling. He was furious.

He was attacking Ryoga with everything he had, hurling insults as well as punches.

And Ryoga...

Ryoga wasn't doing anything.

ooOoo

Why isn't he fighting back? Ranma asked himself as punched Ryoga in the gut. He had redoubled his efforts, but Ryoga still stood there with this blank look on his face. It was if he didn't really believe this was happening.

"Fight back, pig boy! Or are you too stupid to remember how to punch!" Ranma yelled out as he socked Ryoga in the jaw. Pig... boy... I gotta idea! Ranma grinned as he began to herd the lost boy towards the koi pond. This'll make sure Akane hates him!

Ryoga didn't seem to notice.

By now, Ranma had formed a plan of sorts. Once Ryoga was at the edge of the pond, he would insult him one final time before elbowing him in the face. Then Ryoga would fall back into the pond, and Akane would find out just who her precious little piggie really was.

And he even had the perfect insult all picked out...

Just a little but more... He said to himself as Ryoga stepped back. Just a few more steps...

ooOoo

"Ryoga! Ryoga, fight back! RYOGA!" Something is really wrong. Akane said to herself as she watched the two boys fight. Ranma's never said so many mean things to him before. And Ryoga... she glanced at the lost boy Ryoga's never acted like this before either.

"Ranma you jerk!" Akane called out.

Then she heard Ranma say it.

"I'll bet your parents just pretend to get lost so they don't have to deal with the likes of you!"

Akane gasped, and behind her she could hear Kasumi gasp as well.

As for Ryoga...

These words seemed to cut through him like a knife. His head snapped up, the vacant look in his eyes replaced by an intense pain as Ranma's elbow headed for his face.

He didn't block or dodge the incoming attack, instead he caught Ranma's forearm in his mouth, and bit. Hard.

Now this wouldn't be a major event except for two details. The first being the force of Ranma's thrust. Even after Ryoga bit down, Ranma's arm kept moving. The second point was that Ryoga has very sharp teeth.

Akane watches as Ranma fell to his knees clutching his arm, blood seeping through is fingers.

As she started to move forward, Ryoga caught her eyes with a silent message. I don't blame you. Then he turned and ran.

ooOoo

"Ryoga you bloody pig! That was a cheap shot!" Ranma cursed as he watched Ryoga leave. "Don't you ever come back here, ya hear? I don't EVER want to see your ugly face again!"

He tightened his grip on his arm, trying to stop the flow of blood. Hearing a crash behind him, Ranma turned.

Kasumi stood in the doorway to the house, her face pale, still holding the tea tray. But that was all she was holding. The teapot and all the cups had slid off the tray, shattering on the floor. Ranma watched in fascination as the tea tray itself slipped from her fingers as well.

Then Kasumi stepped over the mess, ignoring it in a very un-Kasumi like fashion, and walked over to Ranma.

"Ka... Kasumi..." Ranma stuttered as he stood up, still clutching his arm.

That was all he had time to say as Kasumi lifted up her hand, and slapped him.

ooOoo

Ukyo arrived to see a scene of total confusion.

Ranma was standing, dazed, clutching his arm to his chest. Blood seeped through his fingers and blended with the red of his shirt. Akane was partitioning her attention between loudly informing Ranma what a jerk he was and casting worried glances at Kasumi. Kasumi, for her part, was calmly cleaning up some shattered cups.

And Ryoga... Ryoga was gone.

"Ukyo! You won't believe what this jerk here did to poor Ryoga!" Akane practically spat out as she walked over to the okonomiyaki chef. Ukyo grimmaced internally, silently dreading what she would learn.

"He just attacked him for no reason, calling him every name in the book while beating on him! But you know the weird thing?" Then Akane's voice softened, her eyes taking on a sad look as she continued. "Ryoga didn't fight back. Not at all. He didn't even react until Ranma said... well..." She trailed off.

The dread Ukyo had been feeling intensified.

"He said something about how Ryoga's parents didn't really get lost, that they were just avoiding him or something." Akane finished in a rush.

"Why that... that..." Ukyo stuttered, practically shaking with rage. She walked stiffly over to her fiancee.

"Ranma you JACKASS!" She yelled, punctuating herself by slamming him over the head with her battle spatula. He staggered a bit, but remained standing. "How COULD you!" Another slam from the spatula. "Don't you know what HAPPENED?" A third hit left him seeing stars, but he remained standing. Ukyo gripped her spatula hard enough to turn her knuckles white, trying to block out what she has seen in the forest.

"Ryoga's parents were murdered!"

This time Ranma did fall over, and without the help of the spatula too. Ukyo could feel Akane coming up behind her. "Which way did he go?" she said curtly, cutting off any questions the other girl may have. Akane started a bit, then pointed over one of the fences.

With one last disapproving glance at Ranma, Ukyo left.

ooOoo

Ryoga ran.

No, it was more than that. He was pushing his body beyond its limits with each step, trying to outrun painful memories and harsh words.

your parents just pretend to get lost so they don't have to deal with the likes of you!

it will be all right... I love you... Ryoga... dear...

Ryoga bit back a sob and pushed his body even further.

your parents just pretend to get lost

I love you... Ryoga... dear...

Ryoga stumbled and fell to the ground, gasping for breath. He dug his fingers into the earth beneath him and shook silently as tears flowed unchecked down his cheeks.

I love you...

ooOoo

Where could he have gotten to? Ukyo asked herself for the hundredth time since leaving the Tendo Dojo. She had asked Akane which way he had went, true, but that would have only worked in normal circumstances. When someone heads in one direction, and you follow later, there's a chance you can catch up to them.

That's assuming straight lines.

Never assume, it makes an ass out of you and me. That was what her father was fond of saying. Corny advice, but how true it was in this case.

Ryoga rarely traveled in straight lines. He could run for hours on end and wind up less than a block from where he started, or he could try to cross the street and wind up in another city. This made locating him at any given time nearly impossible.

For all I know, he's back under the bridge where I found him. Ukyo sighed to herself. Being near the bridge anyway, she decided she might as well check.

Ryoga was there.

Conflicting emotions suddenly ran through Ukyo. Half of her wanted to ask for Ryoga's forgiveness for putting him in that situation, the other half wanted to throttle him for making her run all over the city.

But as she headed down the embankment, she caught sight of his face. Raw pain was reflected in it, worse than it had been that morning. Her internal conflict was gone, replaced instead by a single thought. Comfort him.

"Ryoga..." Ukyo began hesitantly as she knelt beside him. "Ryoga, I'm..."

"I'm sorry."

Ukyo blinked, taken back by that comment. "Wha..." She was the one who was supposed to be apologizing here. Not meeting her gaze, Ryoga continued.

"I'm sorry you saw what you saw in the forest... I'm sorry my... my mom... did what she did to you without asking..." He took in a shuddering breath. "And I'm sorry, but I won't be able to stay at your place. I just... I don't want to stay... don't want to see..."

"You want to avoid Ranma." Ukyo finished for him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I heard what happened."

Ryoga nodded silently.

"Ukyo, could you... I mean... could I leave my father's pack with you... cause you already have my mother's... and... and..."

"Sure." Ukyo gave his shoulder a squeeze. "But in return you have to do something for me." Ryoga looked on in confusion as she fished out a business card and wrote something on the back.

"Write to me." She said, handing the card to Ryoga. "Just so I know you're OK."

"That's it?"

"That's it, sugar." Ukyo smiled at him, standing up. "And if you wander through Nerima, you have a place to stay."

"Um... I do?" Ryoga asked confused. He stood up and looked at her. "Where?"

"My place, silly." She replied, tapping him on the forehead. "Don't forget."

"I won't." He said softly. "Thank you." With that he hefted his pack over his shoulder and left.

Ukyo waited until he was out of site before walking to his father's pack, laying on the ground beneath the bridge. She grasped the straps and gave it a mighty lift.

It didn't budge an inch.

Perhaps I should have thought this through a bit more.

ooOoo

"You say Ryoga did this?" Dr Tofu asked as he stitched up Ranma's arm. The bite had left a pair of parallel slashes roughly three inches long.

"Yeah." Ranma replied. "But I don't really know why we were fighting. I mean, he wasn't even defending himself but I just kept goin' at him."

"That's because you're a jerk." Akane informed him, lifting him up by his pigtail. "Not only that, you're... huh?" Akane blinked a few times, then twisted a protesting Ranma's head around until the back of his neck was facing the doctor. "Dr. Tofu, what's this?"

"I'm not sure, Akane." He peered at it through a magnifying glass. "It looks almost like an insect bite, but these red lines worry me." He prodded the spot with a pair of tweezers for a bit, then removed something resembling a sliver. He frowned.

"It's a dart."

ooOoo

When Akane and Ranma returned to the dojo, they were treated to the sight of a man and a panda in bee masks stalking the yard with cans of Raid.

"Yo, Kasumi, what's up with them?" Ranma asked, absently scratching the bandage that covered his stitches.

"Oh, I got stung by a bee and father and Mr. Saotome are just overreacting." Kasumi replied, moving her hair to the side. The spot on her neck did in fact look like a bee sting, except for the faint red lines spiderwebbing from it.

"The poor thing even left its stinger behind."

ooOoo

Author's notes. Hah! Betcha thought Ryoga was going to live with Ukyo! Well, I don't want to become too predictable. So I leave you with more questions. The dart. The people in the forest. And one helluva big secret Ryoga's keeping from everyone. Do keep reading.