Minako's True Love; Ryoga's Confusion
Part One

"Where am I?" Ryoga asked himself as he wandered the empty streets of a small town. He knew that he was probably miles away from Akane and the others, and wondered if they were worried about him.

Earlier that day, he had been on his way to the Tendo Training Hall, where Akane Tendo, the girl whom he loved more than anything, lived. But unfortunately, he'd never arrived. Somewhere along the way, he had gotten lost.

Ryoga sighed, and continued walking, hoping that he was going in the right direction, and also hoping that his friends were anxious for him to come home.

* * * * *

Minako Aino brushed out her silky blonde hair, and eyed her reflection approvingly. "I look lovely," she told herself. "But why can't I get a boyfriend?"

That night, Minako and her four best friends, Ami, Rei, Mako, and Usagi had gone to the skating rink. All the girls had brought dates, all except Minako. She'd pretended that it didn't matter to her that no boy had been her date, but it did. Minako had sat on the sidelines for most of the night, watching her friends and their respective dates skating with one another. Afterwards, when they went to the ice cream parlor, Minako was the only one not sharing a milkshake with a boy.

"It's not fair," she complained aloud. "I want someone to care about me, like Mamoru cares about Usagi and Yuuichiro about Rei."

But she knew that the chances of her getting a steady boyfriend were slim, as most boys she knew thought of her as a boy-crazy flirt who wasn't interested in a serious relationship. Which deeply hurt her, more than any of them could ever know.

"Oh, why can't I fall in love?" Minako cried mournfully, a single tear trickling down her cheek. "Why won't the right boy come along and rescue me from a life without love?"

* * * * *

Ryoga stood outside, and stared at the picture of Akane that he always carried with him. "Oh Akane," he lamented. "Why won't you give your heart to me? Why won't you come and rescue me from a life without love?"

It's Ranma, he thought angrily. Ranma Saotome, my lifelong rival, has stolen the heart of the one girl I could ever truly love.

Ryoga sat down on the nearest bench, and wept on Akane's picture. He hated Ranma more than anything, for taking Akane away.

* * * * *

Minako looked out her window at two white birds who were nesting on a branch. "It's beautiful," she sighed. "But then again, love always is."

Just then, Minako spotted a dark figure sitting outside on a park bench. Very often, she saw people who had run away from their problems, and she had always pitied them for feeling they had no other way out.

"Artemis," she called, waking up her small white cat, one of the guardians of the Sailor Senshi. "Artemis, wake up!"

"What is it, Minako? It's late!" Artemis grumbled, glaring at her, irate that she had woken him from his peaceful slumber.

"I see someone sitting outside," she told him urgently. "D-Do you think that maybe I can help him? He looks like a run-away!"

"Go to sleep, Minako," Artemis yawned. "You'll just embarrass yourself if you go down there in your nightclothes."

"I'm going to help him," Minako said defiantly, and slipped on her pink robe and matching slippers.

She raced down the stairs, hoping that this guy wasn't suicidal or anything. Secretly, she'd always wanted to be a psycologist. Although she'd never tell her friends, all she wanted to do was cheer people up and make them happy.

"Hey you!" she called, running over to the boy. "What are you--"

She stopped talking, seeing that he had tears in his eyes. A picture of a pretty girl lay in his lap.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Minako asked, bravely sitting next to him on the bench. "How come you're outside so late?"

He stared at her, startled. "I'm lost," he said truthfully. "I went to go and see a girl, and I guess I took a wrong turn or something."

"Lost?" Minako questioned, surprised. Before she could stop herself, she started giggling. She had thought this guy was a run-away, and had been worried that he was suicidal, or smothing worst. But he was lost!

"What's so funny?" he asked, frowning for a second. Then he started to laugh too. "It is kind of funny," he admitted.

"Why are you crying, though? And what's your name?" Minako queried, smiling at him. She had a knack for getting people to open up, and she knew it.

"I'm Ryoga," he told her. "But I don't think you want to hear my long story. It'll take awhile to tell, and it's not very interesting."

"Oh, please tell me," she begged, genuinely interested in what he had to say.

"Here goes," Ryoga began. "I grew up in Japan...this is still Japan, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's called Juuban, and it's a little area in Japan," Minako told him, hiding a smile. She thought it was so incredibly...cute that he didn't know where he was.

"Anyway," he continued. "I grew up doing martial arts, and now I guess I'm as good as I'm going to get. But there's this guy named Ranma Saotome..he's twice as good as I'll ever be, and he always comes out on top."

"You know Ranma?" Minako asked in excitement, remembering the article in her magazine that sopke about the 'strongest boy in Japan'. They had shown a picture of him, which Minako had torn out and posted on her wall.

"Yeah," Ryoga sighed, suddenly deflating a little. "You've heard of him?"

Sensing that Ranma was not a good subject to bring up with this guy, Minako hurriedly said, "Oh, only in a magazine, that's all."

"Okay," Ryoga said. "Well, Ranma and I are rivals. Ever since we were younger, he's tormented me by stealing my bread. And then when I grew up, I found the girl of my dreams named Akane Tendo. And who should she be promised to but Ranma Saotome! And that is the cause of my woe."

"Wow," Minako replied sympathetically. "That must be really hard for you, isn't it?"

"You don't know the of it," Ryoga moaned. "There's a lot more to tell. Would you like to hear it?"

"Definately!" Minako exclaimed eagerly, already loving the sound of Ryoga's voice. She wanted to stay there and listen to him talk forever.

* * * * *

The next morning, Artemis woke up to see that Minako's bed had not been slept in. "Minako?" he called, looking around. "Minako, where are you?"

Suddenly, he remembered Minako going out last night, to help some poor boy she thought had run away. "What has he done with Minako!" Artemis roared, tearing out of the room.

* * * * *

"And that's about the sum of all my troubles," Ryoga finished, looking at Minako. He had talked all night about his problems and surprisingly, Minako hadn't been bored or tired once.

She found herself disliking Ranma for making Ryoga's life miserable, and thinking that Akane was dumb not to realize how incredibly perfect Ryoga was.

"Oh Ryoga," Minako breathed, beaming at him. "Thank you for sharing with me! You're so articulate!"

He stared at her in surprise. "It's the truth!" Minako continued. "You should write an autobiography about yourself!"

"Uh, thanks," he replied, overwhelmed by her praise. "That's...nice of you to say, Minako."

"And all of that creativity!" she gushed. "You actually made your story about turning into a pig named P-Chan sound believable! Wow!"

Ryoga blushed. "It's true," he insisted, embarrassed. "I do turn into a pig. It's an ancient cur--"

Minako continued to smile at him. "And I think it's so neat that you're a martial arts pro," she continued. "I wish I was half as good as you!"

"You're a martial artist?" Ryoga yelled, jumping up. "I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"Uh, yeah," she said, looking at the ground. "I'm the best there is, around here. But nowhere near as good as you, probably."

"Wow!" Ryoga cried. "I think I'm going to stick around here for a day or two. With girls like you, this should be an interesting place!"

Then he got up and walked off, leaving Minako staring after him. "See you around, Minako!" he called, waving at her.

When he was out of sight, she stood up, starry-eyed. "He's the one!" she shouted. "That's the guy who I'm going to make my boyfriend!"

Artemis, who had just arrived, groaned.