Disclaimer - The usual disappointing face that I do not own Ranma 1/2.

Sorry once again for the wait. One of these days I will get ahead again.

Chapter 15 – Finding Home

Akane was lost in her own thoughts as her friends debated the merits of their favorite ice cream flavors. Ice cream sounded good right now but she couldn't help but think of her trips to the ice cream parlor with Ranma. Smiling to herself and shaking her head in wonder, I can't believe he actually thinks he has to be a girl to properly enjoy parfaits and sundaes. Rounding the corner she crashed into a very solid mass of muscle. Strong hands caught her and set her to rights quickly before releasing her.

"I'm so sorry miss…" The young man stood in shock looking at the girl in front of him.

"I wasn't looking where…" Akane gasped, "Ryoga?"

He immediately looked down at the ground and took a few steps back, "I didn't see you there, I promise."

"You aren't in Nerima to see me are you?"

Akane's friends silently watched the exchange. They were all confused; Akane usually was excited to see the boy in the yellow bandana. They all thought he was a little overly dramatic and frankly it had always been obvious to them that he liked Akane. Once or twice they had even tried to hint to her that he liked her and would treat her nicer than Ranma but Akane always insisted they were great friends. With his propensity to go missing for long periods of time none of them ever bothered pushing the issue.

Akane wasn't sure how to react to seeing Ryoga again after finding out he had a Jusenkyo curse. She stood in front of him uncomfortably and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him, he looked so pathetic. "What are you doing in town?" She watched his shoulders slump but he didn't answer. "Are you lost again Ryoga?"

He only nodded, he didn't trust himself to speak for fear he would say the wrong thing and make her mad again. He really wanted to show her he never meant to hurt her but he wasn't sure how much anger she still harbored towards him. It had been many weeks since that fateful day he had encountered Ranma and Akane training a short way up the mountain. Of course she hadn't stayed mad at Ranma, she never did.

Akane closed her eyes and counted to ten. It wasn't worth getting mad at him again, besides he had stayed away from her for a really long time. She hadn't explained anything to her friends and she hoped that Ryoga didn't start trying to apologize again. "Where are you trying to get to?"

He finally look up at her, she wasn't smiling but she didn't look angry either, "Um… well…" He scratched his head and blushed, "you see I need to find…" He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes tightly, "my house."

Yuka gasped behind Akane, "You can't even find your own house? How is that possible?"

Akane took pity on him and offered a small smile, "I remember where your house is, we can take you there." She turned to her friends, "Ryoga lives in the next town but it really isn't very far from Mrs. Saotome's house. Is that okay with you guys?"

"Really?" Ryoga stumbled over his words as he saw the other girls nod in agreement, "You… would do that? You don't still… hate me? I'm sorry."

"Yes I will do that," she looked at where she was and started taking the road to her left. When no one immediately followed her, she stopped, "We have to go this way. We can get ice cream before we drop off Ryoga, there is a cute little place near here that Ranma and I sometimes visit together."

Yuka and Sayuri drifted back from the group, Yuka leaned in to whisper to her friend, "We are failing miserably at our mission. So far everything we do ends up reminding her of Ranma."

"She doesn't seem that upset about it. Maybe our mission just needs to be to keep her busy until he get back and explains himself."

"I'd still like to hang him up by his pigtail for standing her up today."

Ahead of everyone, Akane walk beside her former friend. "Do you think your parents will be home?"

Ryoga shrugged, he never knew if they would be home, his other curse ran in the family. "You really don't have to change your day with your friends to take me home."

"Will you get there if I don't?"

"Eventually."

She gave him a sideways glance and continued walking, "Where have you been?"

"Um… well… technically a lot of places but I made it to Akiri's farm and stayed there for a long time and helped her. Her grandfather is ill and she was trying to do everything herself." He actually liked helping out at the farm. He was mostly good at it and Akiri made him keep one of her trained pigs with him all the time. They all knew how to find their way home so all he had to do was follow it and he didn't get lost for long.

"I like Akiri, I think she is very sweet. I'm sorry to hear that her grandfather isn't doing well." Akane wanted to avoid the topic of P-chan but she didn't want another girl to be tricked like she was, "Um… does she know, you know, about your curse?"

He cringed and hung his head, "Yes, she knows about P-chan."

"You know you don't have to call yourself P-chan, it is still you in there."

Ryoga shrugged, "I got used to it I guess."

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the little shop. Ryoga checked his pockets to make sure he still had the little bit of money that Akiri made him bring with him. He had tried to assure her that he was good at traveling with little or no money but she had insisted. Now he was particularly thankful that he wasn't broke. He wasn't great at math but he was pretty sure he had enough to pay for Akane's too but when he offered she politely declined.

Akane was glad her friends hadn't mentioned her birthday or Ranma yet. She was actually a little afraid he would offer to find Ranma and defeat him for her… yet again. They found a table large enough for the six of them and ordered. Akane noticed that Ryoga order a simple chocolate ice cream, "I'm sorry Ryoga I should have asked first if you wanted to join us for ice cream. I sorry you had to use your money unexpectedly."

"Um… well actually… by helping me you are probably shaving a couple of days off my trip at least so I won't have to worry about food before I get to my house." He really hoped one of his parents had been shopping recently enough and put food in the pantry.

"Oh well… I thought that since you ordered just a small ice cream cone that maybe you were low on money."

"Well guys can't order that other stuff. That fancy ice cream is for girls."

All the girls blinked at him in surprise before Akane burst out laughing. "I tell Ranma he is an idiot for thinking that."

"Ranma ordered a parfait at the waterpark!" Yuka argued.

Akane smiled, "He was a girl at the time remember?"

Yuka blinked several times. She had actually forgotten, "You're right. That is really funny."

Ryoga frowned, "Where is Ranma? He never misses a chance to get a snack."

Makoto piped up first, "He ditched her on her…"

"He had something important to do today, so we are having a girls' day out." Akane felt rude for interrupting her friend but she didn't want the conversation to turn to why Ranma is a bad boyfriend right now. Makoto seemed more irritated about it than was necessary and even Yuka, who had always rooted for Ranma and her as a couple, was being a little too vindictive today.

"Oh..." Ryoga cocked his head to the side, "have you had fun?"

"Yes, we went shopping and then had lunch with Ranma's mother." Yuka explained, "This fulfills our ice cream plans and I guess now we take you home."

"Thank you again, I am very sorry to mess up your day."

Sayuri smiled at the lost boy, "It just adds to our adventure for the day. By the way, where are we going?"

Akane related some basic directions to the group and then they headed out of the shop. Makoto pulled Akane behind the group while Yuka took the lead out of town. "You know Akane, we could leave you with Ryoga. Going out on a date with him would be a great way to make Ranma miserable for deserting you."

"No, I'm not interested in going on a date with Ryoga." She had done that sort of thing in the past when Ranma made her mad but now the idea of spending time alone with Ryoga turned her stomach.

"Oh come on, can you imagine Ranma's face if you kissed him!"

"I wouldn't do that to him. If I don't like his explanation for being gone today I will beat him up with my mallet but I am not going to cheat on him with another guy." Akane was appalled at her friend's suggestion. Makoto was acting very strange lately; she was going to find a chance to mention it to Yuka.

"Have it your way but when a guy is a jerk he deserves something bad to happen to him."

Leaving it alone for now Akane grabbed Makoto's wrist and pulled her along, "Come on let's catch up to the rest of the group." Yuka gave her a questioning look as they caught back up but Akane waved it off with a small smile.

Akane gave directions again as they reached the town limits, "We need to turn on the next street," quiet snorts and movement from Ryoga's backpack drew her attention, "Ryoga… um… your backpack is possessed."

"Huh, oh right," He removed his backpack and opened the top. Sitting inside on a little blanket was a tiny pink pig. "Akiri and I have been training her."

"Isn't she awful small for sumo wrestling?" Akane smiled down at the little pig.

"Yeah, she is a runt and can't be trained like the others but she never gets lost so Akiri thought she would make a great homing pig." Ryoga patted the little pig and dug out some food to give her. "She does a really great job of always finding Akiri's farm, even from pretty far distances." He pulled out a map drawn for him by his fiancé, "Akiri's maps are really helpful but I still manage to get turned around like I did today. This way I can at least make it back to the farm as long as I follow Chibiko."

The girls cooed over the little pink pig for a few minutes as Ryoga let her out to stretch and get some exercise. Ryoga winced a little as they had all made similar noises and comments unknowingly to him in the past. Before things got too awkward for him he pick up Chibiko and replaced her in his backpack. "I can let her out in my yard when I get home. That will be better than here near the street."

Akane took the lead as the group crossed into the next town. It didn't take her long to find the right street and spot Ryoga's house. "There it is!" She smiled at their little troupe, "Ryoga has a really cute dog named Checkers too." She wondered if Checker's puppies would still be there, they would be a year old by now so maybe his parents had found new homes for them.

Ryoga pulled open the door and was surprised to see no mail stacked up and the entryway looked recently dusted. "Mom… Dad… anyone home?"

"Ryoga is that you?" A sweet voice called from the back of the house.

Ryoga smiled broadly and ran through the house. A few minutes later Mrs. Hibiki arrived at the front door frowning at the guests waiting. She was trim woman with toned calves that showed below her skirt. Her hair was dark like her son's but her skin was lightly tanned, "I'm sorry I thought I heard my son's voice. Can I help you?"

"We are friends of…."

"MOM!"

"Oh he is here, it sounds like he is in the living room. Excuse me." With that the woman turned and walked upstairs.

Ryoga made it back to the front door with a confused look on his face, "I can't find her." All four girls pointed up the staircase. Frowning, "Why would she go that way?" He looked around a few times and turned toward the kitchen.

Akane took a fortifying breath, "I will find his mother, Yuka you find Ryoga and we will meet in the living room." Yuka nodded and the other three girls moved toward where the living room should be.

Sayuri laughed, "Well today definitely hasn't been boring."

Finally everyone was together in the living room and Mrs. Hibiki pulled her son into fierce hug that had him blushing from embarrassment. "I'm sorry dear, it has been a long time. You look well. Sit and tell me about your travels and introduce me to your friends."

Ryoga wasn't sure how to handle the situation, he didn't actually know the other girls very well. "Um… well this is my um… friend… Akane." He relaxed a little when Akane sent him a small smile when he stumbled over the word friend. Whew, she isn't going to tell my mother that she doesn't think of me as a friend anymore.

Akane smiled brightly at Mrs. Hibiki, "I'm so sorry we intruded. These are my friends from school, Ryoga doesn't know them very well. We were coming from lunch at Ranma's mother's house when we ran into Ryoga and he invited us to come and visit Checkers."

Ryoga was surprised at the lie but appreciated her attempt to not highlight that he was lost again. He looked up when he mother laughed.

"Let me guess, he was lost?" She smiled kindly and brushed her son's hair out of his eyes affectionately, "It isn't worth being embarrassed about; love helps us find our way home eventually."

Ryoga blushed again but a scratching at the doorway caught everyone's attention. "Checkers!" Ryoga knelt down to catch the black and white dog as it leapt into his arms. A chorus of 'awes' followed from all of the girls as the move forward to pet and play with the affectionate canine. Checkers stopped and sniffed the air, poking her nose into Ryoga's backpack. "Oh you must smell Chibiko." He pulled the pig out and let the two animals meet.

They watched the two sized each other up as Ryoga told his mother about staying at Akiri's farm and the little pig's training. "Oh Ryoga," Mrs. Habiki gasped and gripped her hands together, "This girls trained a pig to help you find your way back to her? She sounds wonderful; I would love to meet her."

Ryoga scratched the back of his head, "Well that is kinda why I'm here. Her grandfather and she want to invite you and Dad to visit the farm."

"That is so nice of them. Let's see your father left for Kyoto last week so he probably won't be back for a couple of months at least. Would you like to wait that long or go without him?" She picked up Chibiko and nuzzled him as she waited for her son to decide.

"Um… I'm not sure."

"You think on it a moment dear." Turning to Akane, "How do you know Ryoga?"

"Well…" How best to put it? Your son spent months trying to kill my fiancé and pretended to be my pet pig! That probably is the best thing to say, she seems really nice… "Ryoga found Ranma Saotome, who is…"

"You weren't trying to fight with him again were you Ryoga?" Mrs. Hibiki scolded him.

"Yeah sorta, he deserved it."

"He was often irritated with Ranma during middle school before the boy moved away but I think he was just a little boy that needed someone to care about him. He liked to stop by and play with Checkers." She stopped when Ryoga looked somewhat ashamed of himself. "Please continue Akane."

"Oh well you see, Ranma is my fiancé. Our fathers' arranged a marriage between our families years ago." Akane tried to smile pleasantly as if this were perfectly fine with her.

"And these are your friends from school you say? Where do you attend high school?"

"We go to Furinkan High School in Nerima. We are all in our second year." Akane petted Checker affectionately when she rubbed against her leg. "Where are your puppies?"

"The last two are with Ryoga's father who is giving them to friends of his, the other have found nice families here in town." She patted her knee and the dog immediately came to her, "You took very good care of them until I got home. Didn't you girl?"

"I'm so glad to hear they are all going to have nice families." Akane turned to Ryoga, "You should visit with your mother and we should be going. Thank you for letting us play with Checkers and I hope you have a safe trip back to Akiri's farm."

"It was so nice to meet one of Ryoga's friends. Thank you for coming with him today."

"Bye Akane, thanks again."

"Goodbye Ryoga," Akane hesitated as she turned to leave. "May I use your phone? I need to check in with my sister."

"Of course dear, there is one near the door."

Akane's friends made their way towards the door and patiently waited outside while Akane placed her phone call. Akane rejoined the group after only a few minutes looking dejected. "Ranma still isn't home and Kasumi hasn't heard from him about when he might return. Can we do something else? If not, if you guys need to get home it is fine."

"Of course we can do something else. Right girls?" Yuka remark was met with a chorus of affirmatives and they continued on their way back to Nerima.

Shikako checked her wallet, "I am almost out of money. Our next idea should be cheap."

"How about movies at my place?" Saiyuri volunteered. She turned and hugged Akane. "You know that we are here for you as long as you need us to be." She rolled her eyes and huffed loudly, "I really can't believe that after Yuka and I made sure Ranma understood how important it was that he make sure your birthday was special and romantic that he disappeared. We really tried to make sure he couldn't screw it up this year Akane."

"Oh … well um… thanks," She tried to shrug as nonchalantly as possible, "but you know Ranma. He can mess any plans up." Akane thought she now had a fairly good idea how Ranma had learned when her birthday was.

Everyone nodded and discussed what to watch as they traveled. A couple of hours later they were crowded around Saiyuri's television with popcorn and sodas.

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AN: This wraps up Akane's day, next up will be a longer chapter wrapping up Ranma's day. I never hated Ryoga as a character and didn't want to leave his friendship with Akane in permanent peril but didn't want automatic forgiveness either. I have enjoyed trying my hand at a couple of minor OCs and drew inspiration for Ryoga's mother solely from the note she left him in the manga story where we get to see Ryoga's house. She just seemed nice and loving, unlike several of the other parent figures in the Ranma verse. R&R as you like!