Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Hold Fast To Dreams ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Ranmaverse except a pair of battered ballet slippers and a carp. If you sue me, you will acquire nothing but my bills, as that is all I have to my name.

Mitsukiro comes from my own twisted imagination.

Warning: This is yaoi, which means male/male relationships. If you don't like that, I don't see how you made it this far.

-^-Hold Fast To Dreams-^-

_Chapter Two_

When Ryoga opened his eyes, he found himself staring directly into soft dark blue ones. The sensual storm-colored orbs closed, and it was only then that he realized someone's lips were pressed to his. When the mouth opened, and a tongue that tasted pleasantly like brown sugar touched his, Ryoga let out a small, involuntary moan. His hands, against his will, were intertwining themselves in a thick, silky head of hair.

The kiss broke, and Ryoga felt a blaze of heat as the mouth kissed fire down his neck and onto his bare shoulders. He panted and gasped with passion as he felt the assault move lower onto his chest, fingers grazing his naked sides, exploring.

Ryoga's hands gripped the head that continued ever lower. It was only when the line of kisses was directly even with his navel that Ryoga felt the pigtail.

He bolted wide awake.

Panting and nearly delirious due to the strong emotions coursing through him, Ryoga sat up in the bed and looked over at his bunkmate. Ranma was splayed out, covering all of his futon (and much of Ryoga's), and snoring lightly.

'It was just a dream,' the Lost Boy realized, his heart slowing a bit from its rapid-fire pace. His mouth suddenly felt dry, so Ryoga got out of bed and walked over to the water pitcher on the low dresser. Pouring some into a tumbler, he took a long drink.

The chinking of the glass as Ryoga set it back down roused the pigtailed martial artist. Blinking into the darkness, Ranma blearily spotted his rival moving to his pack by the door. "Ryoga?" he queried, rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing? Come back to bed," he said, patting the now-empty futon next to him rather groggily.

"Uh, no, I think I'm just gonna, uh..." Ryoga trailed off, inching out the door with his pack strapped to him. "I thought, it's, uh, such a nice night, so I thought I'd sleep outside," he finished, thinking quickly.

Ranma mumbled something incoherent as he drifted back off into sleep. Ryoga slipped from the room and breathed a sigh of... relief? Or was it disappointment? He wasn't sure.

--

"Ryoga..."

The Lost Boy squinted in the bright sunlight that shone down from high windows directly across the opening to the room he had found himself in last night. He could make out Ranma's silhouette in the glaring brightness, leaning against the doorjamb. He groaned.

"You never cease to amaze me with the places you end up sometimes. A closet? Come on, Ryoga," Ranma said, offering his hand to the stockier boy. He hauled Ryoga up and helped the Lost Boy gather his things. "It's pretty late in the morning. I've spent about half an hour looking for you, ya know. Why did you leave anyway?" Ranma thought to ask as they headed down the hallway. When he looked sideways at his friend, Ranma was surprised to see Ryoga blushing furiously.

"N-no, reason," he stammered, fiddling with the strap of his bag. "I just wanted to sleep outside, like I told you."

Ranma looked at Ryoga for a long moment, before stopping and gesturing at the door behind the directionless boy. "That's the washroom. I'll wait for you here," the pigtailed boy said, leaning on the wall across from the door easily, folding his arms across his chest.

When the pair finally made it down to breakfast, they realized that they were the only ones left out of their group. Checking with the innkeeper found that the rest of them had long gone out on individual journeys, either hiking, shopping in the neighboring village, or embezzling (as Nabiki was want to do since the moment they arrived). Since the boys had the gorgeous day to themselves, they spent it as best they could think how: they watched t.v. in the sitting room and read a stack of mangas that Ryoga had in the bottom of his pack.

"Man, I've read this one already," Ranma complained, chucking down yet another manga.

"Yeah, and there's _nothing_ to watch on t.v.," Ryoga sighed, flicking through the meager channels. "They need to get cable out here. Or at least a decent satellite dish."

"What do you know about what's on t.v.? Aren't you out in the woods, lost somewhere most of the time?" Ranma retorted, shooting the boy a desultory look.

Miffed, Ryoga opted not to say anything and instead got up off the couch and stretched. His long arms nearly brushed the ceiling and Ranma realized for the first time that the Lost Boy was getting taller than him, if even only by an inch or two.

"Hey, what's this?" Ranma queried as he pulled a thick manga from beneath the pile still in Ryoga's backpack.

Ryoga glanced at it. "Oh, I got that at this one place in downtown Tokyo. It was free, some kinda promotion or something. There were rainbows everywhere..." Ryoga stared off into space, contemplating, then shrugged. "I dunno. I haven't read it yet."

Ranma glanced at the cover, which showed two very bishounen males on it, one standing behind the other. He flipped to somewhere in the middle while taking a long gulp of soda. What he saw made him spit the liquid back out. "R-ryoga?!"

"What?" the Lost Boy countered, annoyed, looking up from his resumed television watching.

"Have you ever actually _looked_ at this one?" Ranma continued, flipping through a few more pages, alternately cringing and laughing his head off at the impossible positions.

"No, not really," Ryoga said slowly, wondering what Ranma was talking about. He scooted over to where he could see over the pigtailed boy's shoulder and looked down at the pages.

It only took two frames to make the nosebleed start. "Oh, Kami-sama," Ryoga said, which sounded more like "Ob, Kabi-thaba."

"You had no idea what this was, did you, P-Chan?" Ranma looked up at him grinning. Then a thought occurred to him as he flipped further into the periodical. "Hey... these are all guys! Ryoga, _where_ did you say you got this?"

Ranma glanced over to where the Lost Boy had been, but found him instead fainted dead away.

--

A very indignant "Bwee!" sounded out of the bathroom as Ranma threw some cold water on the fainted boy to revive him. Just as the pig tried to scamper away, Ranma scooped it up and walked out to the hot springs. There he unceremoniously dropped his porcine rival into the hot water. Sputtering, Ryoga's head surfaced. "What'd you do that for?!" he yelled, gripping the side of the pool.

"Isn't that my line?" Ranma wondered absently before throwing a towel Ryoga's way. "C'mon, man, get out. You fainted, I had no choice."

Rubbing his face with the towel, Ryoga was halfway out of the spring when he asked, "How come I..." he trailed off as memory came flooding back. His mouth made an O shape, and he hurriedly wrapped the towel around his midriff.

"I hafta say Ryoga, I'm surprised by your reaction to that yaoi comic, I mean, its just a bunch of guys," Ranma rambled as they walked inside. "Or..." he paused, thinking. 'Is Ryoga really into that stuff?' he thought, sneaking a glance at Ryoga and his near-nudity. 'Nah, he's too gone over Akane, he'd never even _look_ at another person, female _or_ male.'

As Ryoga was getting dressed, Ranma wandered about the first floor of the inn. He came upon a dusty, seldom-used part of the dining area; in the corner of the darkened room sat a piano. Not knowing how to play, but always willing to try anything once, Ranma sat down and plunked a few keys. By the time Ryoga made his way in, still drying his hair with a towel, Ranma had been thoroughly enjoying himself making some 'unique' arrangements.

"Hey, I'm surprised you found me so easily," Ranma commented, taking a break from his horrible playing.

"Well, I didn't have a hard time with that racket sounding through the whole place," Ryoga grinned, flashing fang. "Though my instincts told me to walk the other way."

He sat down on the bench as Ranma huffed, crossing his arms. "I'd like to see you do better."

"OK," Ryoga said, scooting more to the center of the bench, thus scooting closer to Ranma. He placed his long fingers on the keys, took a breath, and then launched into Beethoven's 'Piano Concerto No. 3'. The fanged boy's fingers flew across the ivories, hitting each note to perfection. Ranma watched, mouth agape. He never knew the Lost Boy was so... so _talented_. When Ryoga finished, he looked directly at Ranma, a challenge in his eyes.

Speechless, Ranma could only open and close his mouth for a few seconds. He finally managed, "I never knew you could play the piano."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Ranma," Ryoga said quietly. Lightening up a bit, he added, "I can also play the guitar and I've taken voice lessons... er, when I could find the place, that is," laughed Ryoga nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"You can sing?" Ranma asked, awestruck. "Well, go ahead, play me somethin'." He gestured toward the keys.

"Well, I don't know if I'm _that_ good," Ryoga flustered.

"Aww, come on, Ryoga, pretty please, for me?" Ranma clasped his hands together and batted his eyes.

"You know, that's not half as effective when you're a guy," Ryoga commented. When Ranma continued his kawaii assault, the Lost Boy laughed and conceded. "Alright, alright. I'll play something. Just don't make fun of me." He took a deep breath and began playing a slow, somber ballad.

"I walk the streets alone at night/ A shadow in the city light/ I never knew that love could hurt/ How little broken hearts are worth"*

Ryoga stopped, blushing. "Oh, I can't go on, it's too embarrassing."

"No, it's not. I really liked it, Ryoga," Ranma protested. In truth, Ranma didn't want Ryoga to know how much he really DID want him to continue. Ryoga's voice was like warm, rich satin rubbing against Ranma's skin, making his lower abdomen tight and suggesting things in a caressed whisper.

Glancing disbelievingly at the pigtailed martial artist, Ryoga sighed and continued.

"All that we had/ gone forever/ the things that we shared/ it will never be/ living without you/ don't bother me"

Seeing the dreamy smile on Ranma's face and mistaking it as the pigtailed boy's way of making fun of him, Ryoga stopped and got up.

"Fine, I know I'm horrible, but you don't have to ridicule me," the Lost Boy said loudly, hurt evident in his voice.

"Ryoga, that's not what I think, I already told you, " Ranma admonished. He reached out to the stockier boy, but Ryoga pushed his hand away.

"I don't know why I did that, I don't know why I gave you more ammunition against me," Ryoga said, a quiet fury building inside him. "So what are you going to do now? Tease me about playing the piano, just like you tease me about everything else?" He clenched his fists and glared daggers at the pigtailed boy, his battle aura flaring up around him.

"No, Ryoga, I--" 'Why is he doing this?' Ranma thought, looking away from Ryoga's penetrating gaze. 'Wait, why do I care so much? I never used to care about Ryoga's feelings before, at least not like this.' He fiddled with the piano lid, pensive.

"Go ahead, do whatever you want. Just don't expect me to take it!" Ryoga bellowed as he launched a punch at Ranma's head.

Dodging it, Ranma tried once more at diplomacy, however futile. "Ryoga, will you stop--" he ducked as the Lost Boy's fist punched the wall near his head, "just for a minute--" he jumped quickly as a roundhouse kick came at his person, "let me explain--" he dodged again, just barely missing being flattened by another punch, "RYOGA, QUIT IT, WILL YOU!?!"

The directionless martial artist paused for the briefest of seconds. "Alright, go on," he nodded at Ranma. Before the pigtailed boy could have his say, however, the innkeeper rushed into the dining area, yelling at the boys.

"You no fight inside inn! Take outside if so mad at each other!" he exclaimed, banging pots together in their general direction.

The fanged boy glanced at the old innkeeper, then looked back at Ranma. "Fine," he said, as he stalked out of the room.

Following the Lost Boy's aimless wanderings in the forest surrounding the inn, Ranma tried once more to talk sense into him. "Come _on_, Ryoga, I wasn't making fun of you. You're just so sensitive sometimes. It was really good, I promise!"

"Whatever, Ranma. Either fight me or just leave me alone; I don't want to hear your babbling right now."

"Alright, then let's fight," the pigtailed martial artist said, taking a defensive stance.

"Not here, you dimwit," Ryoga seethed. Ranma blinked at him, surprised by the sudden insult. "What kinda fight would it be, out here with the trees surrounding us, and no maneuvering ability whatsoever," the Lost Boy finished.

"OK, then we'll go to that clearing. Would _that_ be enough maneuvering ability for you?" Ranma answered with equal venom in his voice. He turned around abruptly, pigtail flying, as he made off in

the direction of the open space. He glanced back to see Ryoga still standing where he left him. "You _might_ want to keep up, or risk not reaching the clearing until we've already left this place." With

that, the pigtailed martial artist walked on, not bothering to see if Ryoga was following.

They reached the open area, Ryoga begrudgingly following his rival, hating the fact that Ranma was right. If he hadn't followed the pigtailed boy, Ryoga most certainly would have gotten lost. Taking

up a position in the center of the area, Ryoga beckoned Ranma forward. Ranma hesitated, scowling at the Lost Boy. "We don't have to do this."

"You sound like a broken record, Ranma," Ryoga sighed. "Fight me or leave me alone."

Ranma's anger was fast abating. "I wasn't making fun of you, I swear," he protested, taking a small step towards his rival. "I don't know what you thought you saw, but I was really impressed. You have an amazing talent, I wish you could see that."

Ryoga searched the other boy's eyes, his gaze stripping away whatever pretenses Ranma had left, however small. He took a deep breath, body shuddering.

"Ranma, I--"

"Ranma. Ranma... Saotome, is it?" said a voice from the edge of the wide clearing. Both boys turned to look at the origin of the intrusion.

A young man walked calmly into the area, his long blonde hair pulled into a lax ponytail that hung midway down his back, swaying with his movements. He wore a pair of loose, earth-toned pants and an expertly-cut golden tunic, which opened halfway down his chest, revealing rippling stomach muscles. The bands on his arms glowed softly, as did his golden-hued eyes.

"Yeah?" Ranma nearly growled, keeping his stance despite his body screaming at him to run away and never look back. Something about this boy was putting all of the pigtailed martial artist's keen

senses on high alert.

Stalking closer to Ranma and Ryoga, the stranger turned abruptly, at the same time bringing his hands up in a basic offensive stance. The two boys turned with the young man, each taking a different position, unconsciously complementing each other.

"Who are you?" Ryoga questioned, breaking the heavy silence. The golden boy flicked his ethereal gaze to Ryoga briefly, then resumed his observation of Ranma.

"Glad you asked," he said easily, his melodious voice wafting through the air. "My name is unimportant, but my mission..." he paused, contemplating. He nodded, "That you can have. My mission is to kill you, Ranma Saotome."

Ranma gaped. "Another one?" he retorted, annoyed, dropping position. "Look, man, get in line. I have enough people trying to kill me as it is. This one tries on a daily basis," he said, jerking his thumb at Ryoga.

Ryoga looked a little indignant, but kept his stance. He, too, felt the warnings emanating off the strange boy.

"Well, Ranma Saotome, I think you will find me a different challenge altogether. However, as I have honor to think about, I will not attack you now, unlike your surly companion." Ryoga bristled at this,

but still kept his body at the ready. "For now, I give you something to think about," the golden boy finished, brandishing a glowing piece of paper. He threw it forcefully in Ranma's direction, and Ranma

reached out to grab it, reflexively. His fingertips had barely brushed the paper when an electric jolt of ki energy shot through him.

"Ow!" Ranma yelped, grabbing his wrist, the paper fluttering to the ground. Both boys looked from the paper to where the golden boy had stood; he was no longer there. "Where--?" The pigtailed martial artist looked around, confused.

Ryoga knelt down, picked up a small twig, and prodded the piece of paper. "Hey, I think its a drawing," the Lost Boy said, tentatively picking it up between his thumb and forefinger. "I guess that was a one-time zap, I don't feel anything."

Ranma lowered himself so he could better see the drawing. "Hey, isn't that...?!"

Ryoga looked at the pigtailed boy grimly. "Akane."

----

To Be Continued...

*song: "Living Without You," Shotgun Messiah, album: Second Coming (lyrics may not be completely right, I lost this album years ago and had to resort to my horrible memory; but I'm sure they're mostly right)