Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Bitter Heartbreak ❯ Struggling Against Love ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2 okay? Jeez!

Bitter Heartbreak

Ranma was still sleeping in his newfound shelter: a tree. It was still early in the morning with fog and moist in the air. He snored lightly with one of his arms off to the side of the tree, twitching and clenching his fist the whole time. His face was contorted into pain and anguish with tears on his face. It was like he was having a nightmare. All of a sudden, a squirrel came up the tree and looked at Ranma before wandering over to him and sniffing at his face. Ranma suddenly growled and brought his arm up to shoo away the little critter because he wanted to sleep. It ran away instantly, but awoke Ranma in the process.

Ranma groaned when he saw that it was morning time and that today was a school day. He quickly noticed the wetness on his cheeks before grunting and wiping away at them furiously. `Damn it all to hell! A dream! I don't have time for this!' he thought into his head. `I almost forgot that it's a school day…………Damn! And Akane's probably still mad at me. But I still have to get my bag.' Ranma sighed before walking off in thought.

`That dream was weird. Sorta scary actually…….' Ranma thought back to his dream while walking back to the Tendo Dojo.

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Ranma's Dream (Ranma's P.O.V)

I looked all around me and saw that I was in the Tendo Dojo. Once I pushed the slide to get in, I saw that Akane was sipping at some tea……………..With Shampoo? Akane turned her head to me slightly with a glare before turning back to Shampoo.

I then gazed at Shampoo. She had that expression that I rarely ever saw on her face: melancholy. She slowly turned her head to me before sinking her head low to the table and quickly averting her eyes. I looked at her confused for a moment then looked at Akane for help. She didn't seem to pleased with me, but then again when has she? Neither one of them would talk to me. All they did was sip at their tea while occasionally looking over at each other.

I bit my lip and walked over to them. Suddenly both Shampoo and Akane got up and looked at me. Akane with fiery passion with a tint of embarrassment and Shampoo with melancholy lost eyes. Again, I was amazed by how Shampoo looked, but Akane also amazed me too. They seemed really……………….. Out of character. It got me into further confusion.

Then they looked at each other before Akane came forward. I noticed that Shampoo looked away. Akane grabbed the side of my shirt and for a second there I thought I was gonna get pummeled. But instead I found myself in a lip lock. I didn't know what to do as always, but I guess that's to be expected. Especially since Akane always seemed to hate me………….

I found that I was going to kiss back, but she ended it. She backed away out of breath, as was I. Then I remembered what I was just about to do. I blushed before realizing that Shampoo was also here. I slowly almost fearfully, looked at her. She looked back at me with pain in her eyes before she too stepped forward…………..

End Ranma's Dream and P.O.V

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Ranma shook his head out of his thoughts as he heard Kasumi call for him. Ranma looked at Kasumi. She as always was working. Ranma looked over near the pond and found that Soun and Genma were playing Shogi.

He shook his head again before walking towards Kasumi. "Morning Kasumi." Ranma said, a little disturbed because he didn't know what that dream meant.

"Why, good morning Ranma. Where have you been?" Kasumi asked him motherly. Ranma smiled at that. Whenever he needed a mother, she was always there………………. Then his smile turned to a frown when he thought of what he did last night. `Shampoo………….' Ranma thought miserably. `I'm so sorry for what I did last night. Whatever I did………' Ranma quickly tuned himself in again.

"Um…….. Where's Akane?"

"Oh. She left a little while ago to look for you."

"She's looking for me?"

Both fathers looked at each other before suddenly appearing right beside Ranma. Soun put his hands on Ranma's shoulders and spun Ranma around so Ranma faced him. Ranma sweat dropped.

"My boy, you should look for Akane! She is waiting for you right now!" Ranma looked at Soun dumbfounded before Genma grabbed him by the shoulders.

"That's right son! Do your father proud!" Genma said excitedly. Ranma's eye started to twitch. Then he jumped away from the two fathers before taking a step forward.

"ARE YOU CRAZY!!!!? I AIN'T LOOKIN FOR THAT DUMB TOMBOY!!!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE DID LAST NIGHT? I DIDN'T HAVE A PLACE TO SLEEP, SO I WENT T- `Yikes! Can't say that I was with Shampoo for a while.' I was err……….. At the park……. YEAH!!! I WAS AT THE PARK LAST NIGHT BECAUSE THAT STUPID GORILLA OF A TOMBO- OOF!' A mallet to the head cut Ranma off. He was acquainted with the ground.

Akane stood beside Ranma with her trusty mallet in hand. Her glare could have probably bore holes into someone if it was not Ranma. He just got back up again.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!!" Ranma practically screamed in Akane's ears. She retorted equally as angry.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU LAST NIGHT?!!" Akane all but screamed at him.

Ranma backed up nervously at that. `What the hell?' "Waddya mean `Where was I?' I was out of the house you stupid tomboy! You should remember cause you're the one who knocked me out of the house and told me not to come back IDIOT!!" Ranma yelled out. He could already see in the back of his mind that Akane was going to hurt him, but he ignored it as always.

Akane felt her veins and blood start to boil. `That JERK!!! This is what I get for looking for him this morning?! Jeez! And he made me feel sort of guilty last night too!' Akane felt her aura go ablaze. Ranma backed up a bit, but didn't do anything.

Then in his mind, he replayed what he said to her last night. *I can't stand you anymore! All you ever do now is abuse me! And I shouldn't have to take that! I always have to rescue you or help you with sumthin' and this is all I ever get in return!! Well, I'm SICK OF IT!!!!* Ranma felt his own blood boil. `She always does this. But…… Not this time….'

Akane finally blew up. She took out her mallet and swung it at Ranma. She hit her intended target……or so she thought. Ranma caught her mallet between his hands. Akane was shocked by this development. Whenever she needed to blow off her steam, he was always there as a target…… But it seems as though her target has finally broken. Akane looked at Ranma in the face. What she saw shocked her. He was angry, yes, but the way he looked at her…… She felt like her veins just grew cold. Yes, Ranma was VERY serious this time. And she just set him off.

`I've never felt like this before… I'm angry…. I'm angry at Akane…..Real anger…..Not petty anger…….No, I'm very angry…… I need to get away before something else happens….. I can't go to school today like this…..' Ranma thought in his head. His vision was already turning red. `I need to get away from here and regain my composure…'

And so, without another word, Ranma ran off…….And he punched Akane's mallet in the process. Akane just looked at her mallet…… there was Ranma's fist indented on it. Then Akane looked to where Ranma just ran off to……

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Meanwhile

While all that was happening, Shampoo got up from her couch. Last night after she had a good half hour of crying on the floor, she went back to her little den…….. and cried herself to sleep there. Shampoo groaned when she woke up. She had a splitting headache. Reason: She went into a sake cabinet before she went to her den and cried.

Shampoo looked up at the ceiling from her couch, but didn't get up. She smiled wistfully at the ceiling thinking of Ranma. She even thought she saw his face on the ceiling. `I must've had too much to drink last night……….that's good.' When you're drowning your sorrows you really can't tell what's right or wrong. And right now, she didn't really care that she was underage to drink.

Shampoo finally sighed when she remembered that it was time for her to go back to the cruel real world. Then her eyes shot open in remembrance. ` Great-grandmother will be home in a couple of hours with the new supplies! AAYAAH!!!' She quickly got up from her couch. And doing so, she felt the room start to move around. She was clearly dizzy.

Shampoo fell to the ground and kneeled there for a while. "DAMN! Just when I do something I want to do, I remember that Great-grandmother's coming back! And I'm a mess! I just hope that she isn't home yet!" Shampoo cursed again for her stupidity before unsteadily walking up the stairs. She was praying that her Great-grandmother wasn't back the whole time. Only….. Luck didn't seem to be on her side.

Cologne was serving a few customers before she sharply turned her head to see her Great-granddaughter looking like a cat coming out of an alley. Cologne eyed her heir warily before turning back to her customers. `I'll talk to her in a minute and see what this is all about….' Cologne thought.

Shampoo on the other hand froze on the spot when she saw her Great-grandmother. `Oh god! She knows now!' Shampoo moaned in her mind. Shampoo was very careful as to not let her Great-grandmother find out about what's been REALLY going on with her. She finally let her guard down with a bottle of sake and BOOM! She was caught. `Two months wasted……… Two fricken months wasted……. Damn my life……' Shampoo thought miserably.

Shampoo sighed before going upstairs on unsteady legs. Cologne watched her heir go with a quizzical look and sighed. `What's been going on with my Great-granddaughter I wonder..…' Cologne gave one last quizzical look up to where her heir was a few moments ago before going back to her work……

Meanwhile, Shampoo was up in her room looking at herself in the mirror. She had already dressed and looked like she usually did, except for the fact that she had a dead look in her eyes. Shampoo's once bright red wine colored eyes with cheer and gayness now held sorrow and pain.

Shampoo looked at herself furiously and……. Slapped herself hard. Her face was turned from the impact, but she slowly looked back at the mirror. In her reflection she saw a glowing red mark on her cheek. Shampoo smiled sardonically at herself. `Yes. This is pain, but it is nothing at all like I feel inside….. This pain is far too dull.'

Shampoo slapped herself again and again, looking for that pain she felt inside. By the time she was done, she had a bruise on her right cheek. Shampoo looked at her reflection again. "I'm ugly…." was all she said. Then she punched herself…… Once she picked herself up, her face was bleeding. She smiled again. `This is still not it…' Shampoo felt a sticky substance run down her chin. She grinned wickedly.

Cologne took that chance to come in through the door. Her eyes scanned the entire room, landing her gaze on Shampoo. Or rather, Shampoo's bruised cheek. `So this is what she's been doing to herself………self abuse because of a torn heart.' Cologne thought somberly.

Shampoo froze again when Cologne hopped over to her and put her hand to Shampoo's cheek. Shampoo suddenly felt very self-conscious and backed away from the touch. That is, until Cologne tore her gaze away from Shampoo's new bruise. Her eyes were hard and stony. Shampoo unconsciously shivered at the cold hard gaze.

"What did you do to yourself Great-granddaughter?" When she received no reply, her usually calm exterior broke down. She snapped. "I said WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF?!" Cologne noticed that Shampoo lowered her gaze to the floor and was starting to shake. Then she answered her Great-grandmother in a low whisper.

"I can't take it anymore Great-grandmother…….. It hurts all over……. I-I need to go…." Then Shampoo's head snapped up with tears brimming her eyes. She averted her eyes quickly from her Great-grandmother's gaze and jumped out a nearby window. Cologne watched as her Great-granddaughter jumped from rooftop to rooftop trying to run away.

Cologne's eyes held a softness as she saw her heir go. "I am sorry that you have to go through this Shampoo. But running from your problems with a smile to cover yourself won't make them go away…..You're a fool for doing this to yourself…….Letting Ranma worm his way into your heart. I told you it would be better for him to love you first. You fell into his trap…… Now the predator is the prey……" Cologne sighed and shook her head before hopping over to the door, so she could help her customers……

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Shampoo ran. She ran throughout the whole town with tears in her eyes. And she didn't seem to want to stop. `Dammit all! I want to leave here. I want to leave this place if my legs will let me….. I could run away….. but I can't. Great-grandmother will surely find me…..' Shampoo thought bitterly. "I WANT TO LEAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed at the sky as she stopped in the middle of……….A park?

Shampoo looked around to make sure that she was indeed in a park. Once she found that out, she walked over to a large hill where a large tree was found. Shampoo sighed and looked back to the park. `This place is isolated……' She thought idly before reaching the tree. Shampoo looked up at the tree. It was covered with leaves so it was hard to tell what was up on the branches. `This is a great spot for shade…..but, where am I? *Sigh* Aww, who cares…As long as I'm away from them…..' She thought.

Shampoo sat down and leaned against the tree before she brought up her legs. Shampoo winced as she felt her knee connect to her cheek. Then she circled her arms around her legs and started to silently cry.

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Ranma started to slow down when he entered a park. He looked all around him. There were a few swings and a slide, but that was about it. `No wonder this place is isolated…..' Ranma thought. He growled at himself. `I can't believe I got THAT mad at Akane! Even though she deserves it, I should have been in control the whole time! DAMN!!!!!!' Ranma swore to himself.

Ranma looked around again and noticed the big hill with a huge tree. `This should be a nice place to rest at……With all that's been going on between me and Akane…………… and…..Shampoo……………DAMMIT!!! I forgot all about her! Shoot! Now I bet I made her feel even more worse than she was before I talked to her………Hmm……I wonder what she's doing right now?……..' Ranma thought questioningly. `Aww, forget it….I can talk to her later……After I rest for a while…But still….…'

Ranma started to walk towards the tree. He looked up at the sky without even paying attention to what he was doing. Once he tripped on a root and fell on something……Or someone…….. He came back down to earth. Ranma looked up to see Shampoo. She stared back at him with a tear stained face before suddenly she looked at him shocked.

`What the HELL is he doing HERE!? I thought I was away from them all…Now…….Now he sees me like THIS?!!!!' Shampoo thought miserably.

Ranma noticed that his head was on her lap and quickly blushed, but didn't move an inch. `This is sorta comfortable actually……..' Ranma thought, thinking about the warmth that he felt when he was on her lap. He came back down to earth again when Shampoo started shifting. A second later, His head was in the air. Not for long though because his head came crashing down to the cold grass.

Ranma rubbed his aching head while it was still on the ground. `Damn… I coulda gotten' comfortable that way……' Ranma thought angrily. He looked at Shampoo angrily, who was watching him by the side, before realizing his mistake. Shampoo quickly averted her eyes as more tears started to fall.

`There he goes again…….Making me feel like more of a fool…..' She thought hopelessly.

Ranma was by her side in an instant.

`Dammit Ranma!! You're such an idiot! You should be comforting her for whatever you did, but NOOOOO!!!! You act like a jerk just `cause she made you get out of that…………very comfortable position…….' Ranma blushed horribly. `THERE I GO AGAIN!!!! What's wrong with me?!! Did Kodachi poison me with something that I don't know about?!!' Ranma practically screamed at himself. `GO COMFORT HER YOU IDIOT!!!!!!'

Ranma blushed again and put his arms around Shampoo. He noted that she jumped just like she did when he put his arms around her the first time, but this time after she got over the shock, she stiffened at his touch.

`Leave me alone Ranma………Y-you don't know what you do to me…………please leave me alone……….' Shampoo thought desperately.

Ranma frowned at that and pulled her closer to him. `I'm just doing this to comfort her…….Yeah! That's all I'm doing……There's nothing wrong with this……..Nothing…..at all….' Ranma thought that last part out intoxicated. `She smells good…..' He thought dreamily.

Shampoo stiffened even more. "I don't know how much more I can take………….. Leave me alone before my control breaks Ranma…………please…….." Ranma froze when Shampoo said that to him. And, noticing that she said that out loud, Shampoo also froze.

The two of them stayed in Ranma's embrace, stiffened. Ranma looked at Shampoo in the eyes. And when she gazed back at him, he moved his head forward. Ranma looked at Shampoo expectantly. Shampoo's eyes glazed over when she felt Ranma's breath on her face. She was about to close her eyes until she remembered something. `He loves Akane…….He's going to be with Akane…….I'll just be a fling……' Tears started to prick at her eyes, but she stubbornly wouldn't let them flow. Then, Shampoo broke off the contact. She shoved Ranma, and when he wouldn't let her go, she slapped his face………….

Shampoo looked at her reddened hand and then to Ranma. He looked shocked and the glowing imprint on his cheek made her feel worse than she already felt. Shampoo started to let her tears run freely when she saw what she had done. "I'm sorry……" was all she said, before she ran off crying.

Ranma just watched her leave until he suddenly felt a sting on his cheek. Ranma gingerly touched it while gazing off to where Shampoo ran off to, thinking. `I just almost kissed Shampoo……………….and I wanted to…………' Ranma thought distantly.

To be continued………

A/N: Okay, sumthin bout my other fic on here…It's goin to be edited in a different format and it'll make a little more sense……Anyway, back to this fic. Yeah I know I'm a weirdo, but I just had an urge to do sumthin awful to Shampoo….I do feel bad for makin her do that though…. I think I'll get flamed for this part….Ah well, at least bein flamed ain't that bad….And the one part with Ranma's dream as a POV….Well it's his dream so hopefully you understand that….I dunno if it has a point right now *Shrugs*……..Bein flamed is better than nuthin. It's not like you people are go- uh nevermind….*Sweat drop* Well uh review and tell me how I'm doin and stuff. It's appreciated.