Ryoga, Come Home

Ryoga ie ni kaeru (良牙 家に帰る) is the 103rd chapter of the manga and the first chapter of the Ryoga Goes Home Arc.

Ryoga sees a news report about a dog looking for it's master. He realizes that it's his dog, Shirokuro and she has had puppies. Ryoga hears Akane saying that she'd love to see his puppies, so he invites her to his house.

The Plea of a Dog
The Tendo sisters are watching the television when the programme they're watching goes to it's "People Search" segment. They then watch as a the presenter about the dog Shirokuro Hibiki, who wishes for her master to come home and see her new puppies. Akane is overwhelmed by the cuteness of the puppies and wishes that she could hold one.

Later that day, Ryoga (who'd watched the broadcast as P-chan with Akane) thinks to himself about it's been a long time since he went home. He then imagines himself asking Akane to come to his home and then through the puppies he would be able to express his feelings to her. Ryoga becomes giddy at the idea and begins to destroy several walls. After calming himself down, Ryoga practices asking Akane if she'd like to come round on Sunday, only to notice that Akane is right behind him.

Ryoga's shyness around Akane soon kicks in and he mixes up his words and asks her if she'd to "come to his puppy to hold his house". Ashamed of his mistake, Ryoga decides to not bother and starts to walk away. Akane, however, stops him and asks Ryoga herself if she can come and see the puppies on Sunday, which Ryoga is obviously delighted with.

Returning Home
The next Sunday, Ryoga manages to make his way to the Tendo Dojo, but learns from Kasumi that Akane has already left. This is devastating for Ryoga as he'd planned to have Akane help him find his house as with sense of direction he'll never be able to get home. With no other alternative, Ryoga violently wakes Ranma up and angrily asks him if he knows the way to his house. Ranma states that of course he knows since he's had to take Ryoga there about three hundred times when he gets lost.

Ryoga then punches Ranma in the face and tells him that if he wants to pay him back he'd better get to his house as soon as possible. Ranma, however, jumps on Ryoga's head and says that he'd rather settle the score here and now, but Ryoga lunges out a kick and demands they settle it at his house. Ranma then kicks Ryoga back and asks Ryoga that he's basically asking him (Ranma) to take him (Ryoga) home.

Meanwhile, Akane gets off the Bus and notes that Ryoga lives in the next town. She then has a look at the map that Ryoga gave her, but it's so vague she can't make any use of it. Back at the Dojo, and Ryoga becomes more panicked about getting home since at this rate Akane will get there first. Ranma asks Ryoga why he's so anxious to get home and adds that if the reason's good enough he might decide to take him home. Ryoga believes that this means Ranma doesn't know about Akane coming to visit and lies by saying that Shirokuro isn't doing so well after the birth. Ranma decides this to be a more than worthy enough reason and agrees to take Ryoga home.

As they rush to Ryoga's house, Ryoga thinks to himself about how once they get there Ranma will just get in the way, so decides that once they arrive he'll stuff Ranma in a bag and throw him in the river. At that moment, Ranma jumps onto a fence and when questioned by Ryoga, Ranma explains that he's taking a shortcut to Ryoga's house.

After using increasingly over-the-top routes on the shortcut, the pair begin to cross a river on some wooden pegs. As they cross, Ranma suddenly remembers something and tells Ryoga to avoid the fifth peg as it's rotted the whole way through. Unfortunately, Ranma's warning came to late and Ryoga has landed into the cold water of the river.

Akane Arrives
Downstream, Akane has gotten lost and ended up at a bridge when suddenly P-chan appears and runs towards her. Just as Akane begins to wonder how P-chan got here, Shirokuro appears with an overjoyed look in it's eyes. Akane looks on as Shirokuro hugs P-chan, but can't understand why Shirokuro is so happy to see him. Shirokuro then carries P-chan away and Akane follows to see where Shirokuro is taking P-chan.

Akane soon loses the pair, but just as she begins to search the streets, Ryoga's voice shouts out and says hello to Akane. Ryoga waves at Akane and notes that he was beginning to worry about her. Akane explains to Ryoga how worried she was that she'd get lost, and Ryoga welcomes her inside. Meanwhile, Ranma secretly watches from an adjacent rooftop and realises why Ryoga wanted to take him home. Ranma decides that if that's how Ryoga wants to play it, then it's his turn now. He then proceeds to pour some cold water over himself to turn into his female form and begins to laugh, whilst some locals wonder what's going on.

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Kasumi Tendo
 * Akane Tendo
 * Nabiki Tendo
 * Shirokuro (debut)
 * Ryoga Hibiki (P-chan)
 * Ryoga Hibiki (human)
 * Ranma Saotome (male)
 * Ranma Saotome (female)

Trivia

 * This is chronologically the first story arc without an anime adaptation.
 * However, Ranma can be seen in a Yoiko Hibiki disguise in the Earth Orchestra opening theme.