Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Boy Chronicles ❯ Lost Boy ( Chapter 1 )

Title: Leaving Never Never Land: The Story of “The Lost Boy”

Parts: 1 of ?

Rating: Don't know. Will probably get to R

Pairing: None yet. Ryoga/Kuno

Warnings: It's yaoi. There's some violence. Don't know exactly what to put here.

Disclaimers: I don't own Ranma 1/2 or any of the characters. I wish I did, because that'd be really cool. But I don't own them and I'm using them without the real owners, Rumiko Takahashi's permission. I'm not doing this for money either. So don't bother trying to sue me, because I have no money what-so-ever.

Notes: Okay, first of all, this is my first fan fiction. It takes place in an alternate universe. For my intents and purposes, Kuno's first name IS Kuno and his last name is Tatewaki. There is no such person as Kodachi. Not that I don't love the loon, she just doesn't fit in with my plan.

~Indicates thought~ “indicates speech”

Feedback: Please. I'll beg you to give it to me if I have to

 

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Chapter 1: Lost Boy

 

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The city was as it had always been, with it's high buildings catching the sun. The windows taking the rays and flashing them back like a mirror. All in all, it was an example of prosperity.

 

The rays of light did not seem to invade into the alleyways. In the poorer side of town there seemed to be a void of light. This unparallel darkness hung over the neglected buildings. It was not a happy sight. This was the part of town the “Lost Boy” called his home.

 

The large, muscular teen had been living here since as long as he wished to remember. The alleyways had become accustomed to the “Lost Boy”. His tattered cloths and yellow bandana were a common sight. Again, this had always been this way.

 

In the back of his mind, he had vague memories of a home. A real place with four solid walls and a stable family. He also remembered that something very bad had happened. What that event was remained thankfully hazy. The events were not clear, but a clear voice in his mind was screaming, “Run! Get out of here, Ryoga! Run and don't stop.”

 

The scrummy teen pushed the faded past to the back of his mind. The memories of a child were not his. This squalid existence at the age of nineteen, that was real. It was his, and there were times that he detested it.

 

He hated the fact that this town had taken away his only friend. He had been terribly hurt when Ukyo had been brutally murdered in the gang riots two years ago. He still wasn't over it. Ryoga couldn't count the times that he wished he'd been in her place. He had also once harbored wishes that Ukyo and himself might one day become more than friends. It obviously never happened. A place like this ate dreams quickly. To live here, one had to grin and bare it.

 

Except for the times he hated it, Ryoga bore the hardships pretty well. He knew he didn't look as if he'd lived on the streets his whole life. He had St. Mary's Mission to thank for that. The priests and nuns took in everybody they could find. They rarely turned a person away. These kind missionaries fed and clothed the citizens of the streets. They created special programs to keep people out of gangs or drugs or both. They were a tiny beacon of hope in the vortex of everyday life. They were the ones that had labeled him “Lost Boy.” Ryoga supposed that the nickname was a kind of honor. He really didn't know when people started to refer to him as that, but he knew he'd earned the title one of two ways.

 

When he was a child, he had come to this part of town. Here he had run into a very violent man. The man attacked him, and Ryoga thought that he should have died right them and there. But a priest got in the way. He took the young boy's battered body to the mission. There, Ryoga began the healing process. His bogy healed up quickly, and Ryoga had taken it upon himself to be stronger than everybody else. As he was now, he could probably take on three men and still win without getting to injured himself.

 

But while his body healed, his soul did not. Ryoga was prone to strong bouts of depression. The longest went on for two months, right after he had found Ukyo's body. During that time, and other time as well, he battled his inner demons. He became unreachable to the outside world. Nothing would get through to him. He became truly lost.

 

There was a more pleasant reason for the name. When he had first come to the mission, he had read quite a bit. But his favorite book was Peter Pan. Even now, he's still pull out the tattered copy and read it.

 

In many ways, he was like the children in the book. Sometimes it seemed that Ryoga had refused to grow up completely. In a sense, it was true. He was often the target of harmless pranks. He had a tendency to take things literally. He was also incredibly shy. A strange trait in one so big. When he spoke to people, he would often stammer and blush. Sometimes he fidgeted. Usually, his words still came out a mess, if at all. But that only happened when Ryoga was happy.

 

When Ryoga was angry, everyone in the vicinity knew it. Age had calmed him down quite a bit from the temper tantrums of childhood. But now, when the teen was overly angry, mass destruction of anything breakable followed. Ryoga was just so blinded by anger that he didn't realize he'd grabbed the large wooden chair or broken that flower vase. Once he calmed down though, he would survey the damage he'd caused and cry. Unlike most men his age, Ryoga felt no need to hide his tears. All these things together earned him the epithet o f “Lost Boy .” But these things also made him a very easy target.

 

“Hey Lost Boy!” Ryoga heard a voice and put down his book. The voice belonged to Tarou. Tarou was from one of the gangs. Normally, Ryoga would have just ignored him, but today Tarou had the rest of his gang with him. Herb with her bleached hair. She was Tarou's girl. Then there were Herb's brothers, Lime and Mint. Then twin's best friend Saffron was also present.

 

“What do you want, Tarou?” Ryoga demanded, testily.

 

Herb smiled cutely. “How'd you like to hang with us, Lost Boy? There's gonna be a party and...” She trailed off and waited for her boyfriend to finish. When he didn't, she continued. “We wanted to invite some new people. So hows about it?”

 

~A party!~ Ryoga thought. He'd never been to one. His curiosity got the better of him. Looked everywhere but straight at the gang, he blurted out, “Yeah! That'dbegreat. Thanks for the party, I've always wanted to go to an invitation.” Ryoga winced at what had just come out of his mouth. ~Oh damn! That was brilliant. You're just a big idiot, aren't you, Ryoga.~ He thought to himself.

 

Tarou's gang was snickering. They knew better than to laugh outright at Ryoga. They knew it would lead to a lot a pain very quickly. Though very oddly stated, they understood that the other teen meant.

 

“Here's the address.” Saffron gave him a grimy slip of paper. “Tonight. Don't be late.” He rejoined the pack. Then Tarou's gang was gone, leaving a furiously embarrassed Ryoga to think.