Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Being Lost: Ryoga's New Beginning ❯ Numbness, Shock, Pain, and Gain... ( Chapter 2 )

Ryoga and the well are the creations of the Anime-Goddess Rumiko Takahashi and belong to no one else. The feudal era of Japan is the creation of the Japanese people, and is apparently up for grabs. Everything else, I made all by myself. Because I'm a Big Boy now! Oddly enough, the formatting of this site is weird, I would usually use Asterisks to show the passage of time but they wont show up on this site so just try to stay aware of what is going on until I figure out what to do. Anyway the characters I have made here I have copyrighted for myself as of 9/12/05, just in case. Enjoy!

-Tury

"Spoken words"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 2: Numbness, Shock, Pain, and Gain

`Running… always running. I never stop running. I run from place to place, I run into challenges, I run from my problems, my fears. I'm just, always running. I'm not a man, I'm weak, I'm… nothing.'

 

Ryoga's footfalls pounded through the empty streets. Years of transforming from one form to another had programmed his body to dress itself. People slept peacefully in their beds taking no notice of the half-naked lost soul charging aimlessly through the neighborhoods.

`I have no friends; I haven't seen my parents in the last 10 years. No real home… I… have nothing. All these years of chasing Ranma because of bread; what do I have to show? Lost time, lost fights, lost… lost love?' Ryoga's largest driving force through the years had been the hope that Akane would learn to love him like she loved P-chan, but now even that was gone. `She never even really loved P-chan. I was just a comfort, nothing more.' This sudden realization slammed mercilessly into his tattered psyche; all strength left his body and he was sent sprawling forward. A weathered stone stairway was waiting to break his fall. The hot tears running down his cheeks burned like lava, refusing to let him forget the pain of the truths he had long held at bay with his once boundless hope.

A nearby streetlamp flicked on and off, illuminating the area for a split second like a flash of lightning. Down the street a dog knocked over a garbage can while chasing a cat creating a loud resonating boom not unlike thunder.

This sudden intrusion caused Ryoga's head to jerk up in surprise. Before the light had a chance to completely fade he spotted a well sized (and fairly ornate) hut atop the steps as his mind began to shut itself down. Longtime instincts took hold of his thought process. “Going to rain again soon, best get inside…” he said emotionlessly to no one, his eyes stared blankly into the darkness as he began to crawl up the steps.

As he reached the hut he hauled himself to his feet, mumbling 'Musn't change back, can't let Akane know…” fresh tears pouring down his cheeks. The door slid open easily and he stepped inside; closing the door behind him. “Hello?” he called in a weak voice “Anyone in h-“his words were cut off as he stepped forward onto nothing. A short trip down a flight of old stairs followed and he was deposited onto a dirt floor that was currently trying its hand at being mud.

He sat up slowly, to slowly. His blank eyes began to adjust to the darkness and an old well came into view. `No home, no friends, no victory, no respect, no honor, no love… they won't notice I'm gone, will they? Not until my letters stop coming, then they'll just think I just think I gave up and went to a home I don't have anymore.” A hopeless grin spread across his face, the kind reserved for soldiers with no escape and no other alternative but fight to the death. Except that Ryoga had no one to fight.

He rose to his feet and pulled the straps of his backpack around his shoulders for added weight. “Better for everyone…” he said while staring into the well's black abyss. He turned around and sat on its edge, taking one last breath before the end. “I wish… that I had someone… to say goodbye to.” he said aloud in a final lament. Slowly he leaned back, intending to let the weight of his pack do the work. The well was not as big as he thought, however, and as his body tipped backward his head banged against the opposite side.

Ryoga's world went black, as his body plunged into nothingness.

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Outside, the streetlamp flicked on once again; illuminating a small sign hidden in the bushes to the right of the stairs.

Higurashi Family Shrine - Visitors Welcome

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The trees of the thick forest stretched across the land, seeming endless and perfect representations of the beauty of nature. The waves of sunlight that illuminated the area cascaded down from the heavens at a leisurely pace; slowing to gently move around the leaves and branches in a gesture of politeness. Birds sang songs of testament to their happy little place in the world, and all seemed good for once.

A young girl, seeming to match the pace of the friendly rays of light, moved along a small and beaten path that was leading her home. She wore a traditional kimono (in a liberal sense) blotched with numerous stains of equally as many colors. The base color was a watery blue with the visage of falling sakura blossoms. The tree of their origin made its home in the area of the dress-robe that covered her upper back. One sleeve was torn off at the elbow and the threads have been left to unravel over the passage of time. That same elbow was supporting a small poorly woven wicker basket that was currently filled with flowers and herbs of all different kinds. Well worn gata sandals separated her feet from the ground, with no socks as to add protection from the rough wood. The girl herself was fairly slender. Her form was well-worked, yet malnourished. Almost dangerously slender, yet toned enough to compensate. A bust of perfectly formed B+ cups that would seem to guarantee the men would come running, and hips just slight enough to limit any resulting offspring that kept the men hesitating were her blessing and curse. Her hair was a strikingly amazing mixture of pale yellow and gold; and seemed to have a glow all its own. Tied up in a completely random fashion, as it was, gauging its actual length would be next to impossible. It could very well be anywhere from three inches to three feet long. Her face betrayed none of her beauty, and her expression abandoned it all to the wind. Her large eyes, topped with above averagely sized eyebrows, were a shade of brown that bordered on being red and contained no life; her nose was small and her mouth seemed to be no more than a straight line below it. Most notable of her face was the complete lack of person. If one were to look at her they would instantly believe her to simply float from one day to the next. Doing the motions every day and going to sleep every night with no expectations of the next day.

Halfway home and not caring in the slightest, she just kept walking. Unaware of the admirer she had, watching her from atop the branches of the trees she walked under. Moving like a shadow only when necessary to obtain a better view of the object of it's desire. For weeks he had watched her, thinking and waiting, watching and planning. And the time was finally at hand. In two short leaps it was ahead of her and ready to act. `Now or never…' he thought to himself; and lowered himself from a low hanging branch into view.

A slight rustling of leaves caught her attention and she craned her neck to identify the source. An abomination of nature entered her sight and, deep inside herself, she recoiled in disgust. His toes were long and multi-jointed, legs that seemed to poses no muscle and 3 knees attached his feet to his disgustingly visible pelvis. A small pot belly sagged over it and narrowed down sharply to form his skin to his spine. That rose into a rickety ribcage that bobbed visibly with every heartbeat and doubled in size with every breath. No neck was visible through the numerous flaps of skin that seemed to be melting off his skull. The creatures lower jaw extended a good three and a half inches past his upper lip. A hooked nose, bloodshot dark green eyes, and patches of hair topped this horrendous form. The girl stopped and stared, one thought entered her head `Demon!', but she said nothing…

“Hey girlie…” the creature slobbered, “Names Kithra… you want I can show you `round my woods; and maybe a good time while were at it.” He said, stifling a chuckle. To which the girl flatly replied, “No thank you, I just want to get back with these herbs.” Kithra looked genuinely disappointed, “Aiight… have it your way…” he drooled before rising back into the trees. The girl resumed her walking and found herself not twenty feet further before a loud thud sounded behind her. She turned slowly around and found Kithra standing there, a large sickening grin across his face. “Too bad about your choice girlie; guess I'll be the only one having fun.” And he began to quickly advance on her.

The girl turned and ran for all she was worth; the gata's went flying as her legs pumped hard to flee her deranged (would-be) rapist. Tree branches, bushes and rocks shot past in a blur and she quickly lost sight of the path. `Villagers can protect me! Must get back home!' her mind screamed. All around her she could hear his deranged laughing though the trees as he toyed with her, savoring every moment of her terror. A deformed hand reached out of nowhere and grasped at her kimono, tearing off the remaining sleeve.

In a happening as predictable as her expression, she stumbled; but unlike others that might find themselves in such a situation, she recovered and began running faster. Again a hand reached from behind to grab her, but this time was only rewarded with air. She craned her head to see how close he was and immediately regretted it. No more than 3 feet away, and obviously not exerting himself, Kithra seemed to behaving the time of his life. As she turned her head the girl entered into a small clearing without noticing and her lower half slammed into a small wooden-toped well. The world suddenly shifted itself around her and she was deposited on the other side of her recent obstruction. Her vision spun as she struggled to stand; then she felt saliva begin to coat her shoulder... In a desperate burst of long dormant emotion she screamed…

“HELP ME!”

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“Am I dead yet?” Ryoga thought to himself as he slowly returned to consciousness. He quickly looked around and took stock of his current setting. Stone walls on each side with a dirt floor above him and sunlight below him… `Wait… that's not right… Am I upside-down?' he thought to himself. His large pack propped him up at an awkward 60 angle. His legs were bent up towards his head and were wedged near his ears and against the wall because of gravity. In essence, he was stuck. Suddenly his overly sensitive ears picked up the sound of desperate footfalls. Shortly after he heard a thud and the light above him was cut off for a moment. Ryoga flexed his feat and placed them on the bottom of the well; he then pushed off form the ground with his hands and slipped his arms through the straps of his backpack. In a moment, he was standing upright. He reached down and retrieved his previously restricting pack when a desperate cry for help resounded down the well.

Ryoga reacted instantly, he leapt straight up as high as he could and caught himself from falling back down by digging his fingers directly into the walls, the stones caved like warm sand in the wake of his superhuman strength. From here he threw himself up further, “Once more… ALMOST THERE!”

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The girl's vision cleared and she looked up, Kithra stood atop the well staring down at her. “Thanx fer the foreplay girlie… but now I think it's time I get to the really good part!' He extended his foot to step down, but was stopped while it was still in midair. At that exact moment a dark figure shot up out of the well, landed with its feet on either side of the frame and grasped his exposed spine. Kithra had a mere moment to feel surprise before he was torn in half and thrown in 2 opposite directions. Black-purplish goo shot from either end of his form and coated this new arrival. Unnoticed by all, a large bag flew out of the hole just behind the figure, arced through the air, and landed behind him with a thick and heavy “Thud”. The girl stared numbly as the bandana-clad figure gazed down at her and said “Where is Furinkan High…” before passing out, and falling forward and landing on his face.

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Ryoga awoke many hours later, the now noon day sun beat down relentlessly on the once paradise-like forest. Almost like punishment for the trees harboring such an affront to creation within its borders. His eyes, coated in partially dried demon blood, needed to be pried open and immediately snapped shut again at the sudden flood of light. They opened again a few moments later, slowly this time. The world came into focus and he lifted himself up from the ground. The strange blood trailed off his face and hands' making sure their presence was known.

“What is this stuff?” He wondered aloud, his eyes passed over Kithra's two halves. “What the heck is…? Where am I?” He shook his head in frustration, “I guess that fate wants to have more fun at my expense. Maybe I should go back to my old house… I might actually find someone there.” Ryoga forgot about his pack and walked off into the trees.

`Wait. Wasn't that well inside a building? Wasn't I in Tokyo?' He wondered to himself. `Whatever. There must be something around here somewhere.'

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Chaos reigned in the miniscule streets of the nothing nearby town. About an hour prior, one of its less noticed residents had run in from the forest, soaked in demon blood and screaming about monsters. It took awhile for anyone to notice, and then suddenly everyone in town needed to help. They crawled out of the woodwork and began offering their opinions to anyone they saw. In the confusion, the girl had disappeared, and now that the citizens had nothing to focus their attention on, everyone had something that desperately needed to be done. On one side of the street, a woman and her children ran frantically to their home, while across the street a man stumbled in the opposite direction; pieces of heavy cloth and lacquered leather falling off his body. One man brought out a katana, then two more appeared, then four. Suddenly a town militia was formed, and named as their leader was the young headmen of the town. His name was Jun'ko Yone. His hair was tied in a traditional Japanese Top-Knot and the color of ashes, his bushy eyebrows were a perfect match and his eyes were dark brown. His body was well nourished and highly toned, the kind of body you get from working in fields all your life. Lacquered armor that obviously did not belong to him was strapped to his body haphazardly with random ropes and pieces of cloth. Currently, he was attempting to organize the men of the town into a defensive wall against the unknown terror of the forest. 22 men stood eleven abreast in two semi-straight lines.

“This ain't a sword, it's a STICK!” someone yelled.

“Whaddaya do wid' da pointy end?” A man wielding a fencepost yelled to no-one.

“Are we getting' paid for this?” A third man asked.

“Stop being IDIOTS, and get into…” All movement and questioning stopped suddenly and abruptly when all eyes locked on a lone figure that was exiting the forest. It was roughly 5 1/2 feet tall. Its hair was black and shaggy, its eyes were brown and downcast, clad in a yellow shirt and dark pants. It omitted an aura felt by all the villagers, who were currently at lest 100+ yards away. Most notably, it was oozing dark blue blood.

“DEMON!” Jun'ko cried.

This was all the permission the newbie-militia needed and the sky was filled with arrows.

The eternally lost boy reached a hand up and pulled a branch out of way with a shaky hand. Having (quite literally) walked in circles for two hours he had finally seen light beyond the trees. In a desperate fit of brilliance he forced himself to walk away from the light. So, naturally, he went straight to it. What greeted his eyes was a wide open field and a row of soldiers; who were, apparently, completely absorbed with watching the woods behind him.

“A TOWN!” He began to walk towards the men in the distance, a straight line. “That's weird. Why would I be going straight to them?” In the distance someone screamed “DEMON!” and a hail of arrows filled the sky and began to tear apart the woods behind him.

“DEMON?”

Ryoga broke into a flat run.

Arrows began to pelt the ground around him.

“HE'S CHARGEING! SLAY HIM!” An ashen haired man screamed.

`Oh CRAP!' Ryoga screamed to himself. “He must be right behind me!” He began to pump his legs for all he was worth.

“SWORDS!”

The line of men responded to their commander and immediately the air was awash with the flash of Japanese steel.

“CHARGE!”

The men hesitated and took only a few tentative steps forward.

“Woe that I should spend the last moments of my life amongst such cowards.” Jun'ko murmured to himself. Acting quickly he ran ahead of his men to pose as an inspiring example, turning for a moment to call out “CHARGE!” The men, emboldened by his courage, began sprinting after him.

“Better get out of the way of these guys.”

An unusually tall rock ahead of him appeared to be an excellent launching point to get behind them. Acting on there own, Ryoga's legs chambered themselves and propelled him upward. He extended a leg and landed on the rock, only to re-chamber his legs and leap clear over the line of charging men. “Strange. That was an awfully soft rock.” Landing with ease he turned to watch the battle, “This oughta' be good.” He said, smiling to himself. It took him a moment to notice that the soldiers had turned and were now looking at him.

“Such an agile demon!” One of the men said.

“Oh NO!” Ryoga whispered to himself, “It's still behind me!” He snapped around into a fighting stance and reached for his umbrella and retrieved nothing. `I forgot my things in the well!' He quickly scanned the field and saw nothing. “Don't turn your back to me you vile demon!” Not coming out of his stance, Ryoga turned his head `What the heck is he talking to?' The man with the ashen hair stood between him the men. “Who are you talking to? And why do you have a footprint on your face?” The man turned red with anger and numerous veins were visible on his forehead. “You jumped on me you vile creature!” He yelled back. “Now DIE!”

The pupils of Ryoga's eyes shrank violently as the truth finally dawned on him. “Uh ooooohhh…” The man who had been yelling at him reached Ryoga first. His finely crafted katana flashed gloriously in the sunlight as it arced toward his targets heart. `Is he serious?' Ryoga thought to himself. He spun with incredible velocity and swatted the sword out of his assailants grip with his right hand. The sword tumbled through the air and landed with its blade stuck in the dirt. Following through with his momentum his leg swung around and crashed into the side of the young man's ribs, sending him skidding across the grass. He completed his circle and ran headlong into the soldiers. A tightly balled fist pounded into the face of the first unfortunate man to get within range. He flew back with such force that he took out the other man behind him. Once again following the flow of his energy, he turned to his left. Swinging his leg outside and behind him his foot smashed into the side of another man before swinging forward and connecting with the chin of the third. He then brought the leg down to cross in front of the other in a quick step to the right. Whipping his right leg around this time he took the legs out from under the next man. Before he had a chance to fall, Ryoga's elbow shot down into his solar plexus; forcing him down. The next man in his path lunged at him with what appeared to be a fencepost. Ryoga grabbed the man's hand with his left and brought his right in an upward half-circle into his elbow; easily reversing the joint like snapping a toothpick. The man's hand opened and Ryoga caught the makeshift club as it fell. He quickly pushed off the ground while throwing the stick at the head of another soldier, and twisted in midair to kick off the back of the reversed-arm-man's head, shoving him into the ground and Ryoga channeled the force into another back flip. While completely upside-down he caught the armor of the next man and landed neatly behind him. Bracing his legs into the ground he easily lifted the man over his head and swung him in a circle taking out another three men and let go just as quickly when no other people were in range; not caring where the body landed.

Thirty feet away, Jun'ko slowly began to haul himself to his feet. One of his men came flying out of nowhere and slammed into his already sore chest; knocking him down, and out of consciousness once again.

Back at the battle, Ryoga sprung upward again and snapped both his legs out at a 135 angle; connecting his feet into the faces of the two remaining soldiers on that end of the line. He spun without hesitation and leaped over the 13 recently flattened men and landed on the face of the 14th. He was again faced with another two men, he yanked their helmets from their heads and smashed them both in the face with these new makeshift gauntlets. As the men were forced down by the blow, the leather helms slipped from his grip and landed on the ground. He leaned forward fluidly and placed his hands inside them. Swinging his body up and extending his legs outward into the shape of a Y. His heels contacted another set of two men in the throat, pulling them down as he bent his legs forward. He spared them the extra damage that landing on them would cause and turned his feet away from their necks as they all hit the ground. Now in an arching position, he was completely exposed and the two new men in front of him capitalized. They swung their swords downward at his legs and stomach respectively. `Just what I expected.' Ryoga thought, grinning to himself. He quickly jerked his upper body forward into a crouching position and blocked the blades with the helms still on hands. He ran them down the length of the blades and shoved the tips through a weakened fold in the leather. Grasping the unsharpened side he effortlessly bent them inward towards each other. He then twisted the blades out of the hands of their shocked owners then jerked them upward violently to hit them in the soft-spot of each of their jaws, dislocating them both. They dropped like rag dolls.

The last two men stood before him, the one on the left shaking violently with fear. The one on the right cried out “DIE you PIG!” and, gripping the sword with only one arm, tried to skewer him through the stomach with it. `PIG!' Ryoga's mind screamed. He dodged inward and caught the man's right arm with his left. Yanking him in close he flattened his right palm and struck the man in the armpit repeatedly until he felt the joint give way. He then ducked under the arm and pulled the body it was loosely attached to under him. With all his might he leaped upward, pushing the man up with him. Ryoga straightened his body and the unfortunate soul rolled off his back. The bandana clad warrior brought his leg up, spun in mid-air, then snapped it back down into his targets back; sending him crashing down onto the ground. Ryoga landed, quickly looked around, and spied the final man running like hell for the town.

“What is he running fr…? Oh! Yeah…” He strode over to where the sword from the first man had landed in the ground. The handle was painted red and wrapped in ceremonial fashion with black leather. The blade was perfectly polished and had a bloodletter running the length of the perfectly curving blade. On one side, near the hand guard the kanji for “Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire” were engraved into the metal. On the other side was the kanji for “Strength, Manner, Honesty, and Control,” `Nice weapon' he thought to himself while pulling it out of the ground. Propping it on his shoulder, he then walked over to the boy with the ash-colored hair and nudged his face with his foot. “You alright?” He asked.

Jun'ko opened his eyes slowly and gazed upward. The inhuman thing from the forest gazed down upon him. His clothes were tattered and worn and most all his body was coated with that same purple liquid and sweat. His brown eyes were friendly and free of any hatred of malice and fangs shone through his smile. Jun'ko then realized that this thing was carrying his own sword in a ready position. “T-take the sword, just don't kill me!” he said, shielding his face with his arms. Ryoga's face blanked for a moment, “Alright… whatever you say.” Jun'ko peered through his arms at this terrible thing. “What is it you want!” he pleaded. Ryoga gazed down at him for a moment before responding, “Where is Furinkan High school?”

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Ryoga spent awhile moving the men to a place where they could get medical care while being careful not to injure them further. A fact that did not go unnoticed by the towns residences. One hour later the town physician pronounced himself the wealthiest man in town, and a young man suddenly took up indigo dyeing as his new profession. Ryoga sat in the middle of the field admiring his new weapon while surrounded by a circle of terrified and heavily bandaged men. Further back was a larger circle created by the towns other residents. `This will have to do until I get my umbrella back.' The man with the ashen hair sitting across from him had introduced himself as the leader of the town once he had regained the ability to breathe properly. “So… you come from where?” he asked. “Nowhere really, I don't really have a home and I am always getting lost. Which way is it to Tokyo?” Jun'ko stared blankly back at him. “Toe - key - owe? Is that food or something?” Ryoga stared back just as blankly, “Never mind. Anyway, it's getting late; I don't suppose you have a spare hut around do you?” Jun'ko's eyes flashed with anger. “You attack our village and then have the audacity to ask for lodging! As headman of this village I demand that you leave immediately you pathetic demon!” Ryoga glared back at him before breathing a heavy sigh. `Not wanted anywhere…' He rose to his feet and brushed off his pants. “Fine I'm leaving!”

With that he turned and made to step past the terrified soldiers. But a young boy covered in purple paint jumped up and blocked his path. “You can't leave!” He said, his eyes focused but tearing from fear. “How do you expect to stop…?” He was cut off as the boy step past him to address the group. “This person bested all of us with merely a fraction of his effort, including you Jun'ko! Even more so, he spared all our lives after we all tried to kill him. Just looking at him I know he could have done worse, even to you Kusona!” he shouted pointing at a man with a dislocated shoulder, misaligned spine and numerous fractured ribs. “And after all the things we called him and tried to do to him, he still greets us warmly. We can't just let him leave!” A murmur of agreement ran through the crowd. Jun'ko turned pale; things weren't going well for him. “Better for us yet, has no home! Our village has been without protection since our real warriors went off to war! Obviously we can't protect ourselves. Even our leaders can't defend us!” Jun'ko's feared his face would explode with all the pressure of the rage he felt. He wanted to scream until his lungs imploded, beat the boy senseless, and remove the head of this RIAGA or whatever his name was. But he could barely move as it was, and his throat was strangely dry.

“I say it is a time for change!” the crowd was really behind the kid at this point. “I say as our atonement, and for our secure future, we make this person here our new HEADMAN!” With this thunderous climax he thrust his tiny fist into the air; and the crowd erupted with cheers of approval. Not one person was apposed to the thought of being under the protection of the “Kurete Onimori” (Kindly Demon of the Forest) as they had already begun calling him.

Ryoga's pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints and became whiter than a ghost. This was the last thing he would ever expect and he was having a hard time comprehending what was happening. There was lots of cheering and nervous laughter. Before they new it, a party had sprung up and those who didn't have injuries to remind them, had seemingly forgotten the whole thing. Jun'ko just sat there staring at him. Ryoga was to shocked to do anything and just let everything around him keep going.

After the sun went down and the food was gone the boy who had seemingly sealed his fate walked up to him smiling and holding a scroll and an oil lamp. “Here you go Onimori-sama, you can live here. It's the home of the old headman, before Jun'ko. His name was Masakimon Haigo. He and his son went off to war and haven't come back yet. His wife recently died of an illness and his daughter was taken by slave traders.” Ryoga looked at the scroll warily. `I don't wanna' have to be the one to tell that guy what has happened when he gets back.' “Uh… thanks. Can you… um… take me there?” The boy looked confused for a moment then smiled again. “Sure!” As he turned to walk away, Ryoga put a hand on his shoulder for assurance.

“So… what is your name?” The boy turned his head back for a second and replied, “Juronai… Juronai Mada! Nice to meet you.” Ryoga grinned back, “Nice to meet you too.”

It wasn't long before they arrived at the house; Ryoga quickly realized that the house was (by the standards of the day) a mansion. It was almost 40 feet long on each side and 2 stories tall. “Something about the forest makes the trees stronger than usual; Haigo-san was the only one of us patient enough to try something like this. Sleep tight!” With that, he handed Ryoga his oil lamp, turned and ran off home. "It does look comfortable... I guess I'll get this all straightened out in the morning." Ryoga was close enough to the door to make it through safely; but as he slid the door closed behind him the wind blew out his lamp. `Feh, probably wouldn't help me anyway. He placed his hand on the wall and started walking. `If I keep my hand on the wall like this I should eventually reach a bedroom. After 2 hours and having to climb back in through a window of the house 4 times he made it to a bedroom. Not the master bedroom that he had been looking for, but he was too tired to care. Strangely, the bed had no frame. It consisted of a thin mattress directly on the floor, thin sheets and no pillows. `Like something out of the feudal era' he thought. As he began to remove his clothing he realized that he still had to get all the demon-blood off of his body and clothes. `I'll get to it tomorrow…' He thought sleepily. He stripped down to his underwear, folded the clothes quickly and placed them at the head of the bed for a pillow. (He had lost far too many pieces of clothing by carelessly casting them aside and throwing them too far. There are fewer things more embarrassing than getting lost while picking up your own clothes.) `Like wandering around a city for 5 hours in your underwear before you have a policeman lead you to a clothing store.' He laughed to himself.

He lifted the covers and slid under them in one motion. `A real bed for once; the last time I was in a bed was when I was with…' tears formed at the corner of his eyes, `with Akane.' Dozens of memories came flooding in from his past; of feeding time, play-time, sleepy-time… `That was my favorite…' He let the good memories envelop him like a blanket. He could remember the sound of her breathing, the beat of her heart. He could almost smell Akane's flowery perfume, and feel the soft touch of her perfect skin. He quickly drifted off to sleep and the memories were becoming reality. Heaven, it seemed, was mere inches away. If you were to ask him right then, he would have sworn by all that he ever had that he was reliving those very moments. In the darkness of the bedroom of his new house a soft voice lightly call out the words “big brother”. He then realized that he actually could feel soft skin touching his. His eyes snapped open violently and his vision (freshly adjusted to the dark) showed him the face of a beautiful young girl who was sleeping quietly while snuggled closely against his chest. His arms, it seemed had wrapped themselves and he was holding her tightly. He did then what he would always do in a situation like this.

“AHHHHHHHHH!”

He screamed…

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” the girl replied.

They both scrambled out of bed and to the opposite sides of the room. Ryoga groped for the lamp and, creating a spark with his Ki, lit the oil and filled the room with light. Across the room from him, a half-naked, well-worked yet malnourished girl with impossibly blonde hair and near-red eyes stared back in terror.

 

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Across the room a half naked and incredibly muscular young man with shaggy black hair, brown eyes and a bandana sat against the wall. Staring at her in shock and surprise.

They both, at the same exact time, raised their arms and pointed at each other and yelled…

“YOU!”

End of Chapter 2

Author's note

Thanks go out to the 3 people who were kind enough to review chapter 1! Sorry if I made you wait! I'm planning on making a series of stories out of this plot line and am really excited to see where it will go! I never meant for Ryoga to loose his umbrella, it just kind of happened. But don't worry, I'll be sure to get it back to him… eventually. Remember to review, flame if you want! I won't listen. LOL!

Higurashi family shrine - the home of Kagome Higurashi, main character of InuYasha. The sacred well her family watches over has the power to transport certain people through time.

Kimono - The traditional dress-robe like clothing of Japan.

Sakura trees - Also kown as cherry blossoms. They bloom on sakura trees at a specific time every year. Renowned for their beauty, they are an integral part of Japanese culture.

Ryoga possesses the Baksai Tenketsu, or “Breaking point” technique. Designed to shatter rocks in a quarry by miners, he has adapted it to be a powerful fighting technique and a useful climbing tool.

Ryoga spent years asking people how to get to “Furinkan High school” so he could fight Ranma. At this point, it is as natural to ask someone that as it is for someone to blink.

The “top-knot” is the traditional hairstyle for men of the time. The hair is never cut, and it is all bound tightly in a “knot” on “top” of the mans head.

A Bloodletter (I probably misspelled that) is the long, oval shaped groove on most combat knives. It's purpose is to allow more blood to flow out of a victim while stabbing them.

A Headman is basically the mayor. He is in charge of all things that happen in the town, and is charged with it's protection.