Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 14 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: ashez2ashes 
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Mystery / Comedy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.19.2004 | Updated On: 11.07.2004 | Pages: 7 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 384 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Mystery / Comedy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.19.2004 | Updated On: 11.07.2004 | Pages: 7 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 384 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2. If I did, there'd be a hell of
a lot less typos in this story.
Contact Info:
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/
9/16/03 - My Goal is to finish this before the end of the month.
Here I go...
10/16/03- Goal SO not met.
11/11/03 - I suck and life is meaningless.
12/04/04 - Goal maybe met. Revising...
12/08/04 - Nooo! Need to rewrite half of the chapter! x_x
3/01/04 - Redoing the whole damn fanfic.
3/23/04 - Retooling up to chapter 10 done...
4/13/04 - ROUGH DRAFT DONE!
4/18/04 - Retooling completely done.
4/19/04 - FINALLY DONE! *shakes fist*
----
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days
Chapter 14
---
Somewhere in the heart of Tokyo, lies Sakura Long-Term Health
Facility. The hospital was worn down and long in need of a
renovation. The paint and floors were cracking, and the third
floor elevator was out of order more often then it worked. Lights
in an unused ward were never replaced, and the employee's bathroom
sink had never worked as far as anyone knew.
The long name was simply a ruse, to make the building sound more
politically correct and hide it's true nature. Everyone who
worked there knew what it really was. The neighborhood kids
walked a mile detour to school everyday to avoid it. Heck, even a
few of its residents knew the harsh truth:
It was an insane asylum.
It was a place where unwanted relatives were dumped when they were
no needed. Within the hospital's old walls, entire lives were
forgotten, by those inside and out.
Still, most of the under funded staff were generally good people
who tried to make the best out of what they had and help their
patients. Unfortunately, if you were bad enough off to be in
Sakura Long-Term Health Facility to begin with, you were not going
to get better. The hospital was the last stop for hopeless cases.
The only way to leave was generally through the grave.
There was a stamp for non-death discharges in the discharge
nurse's desk. However, as far as she knew, no one had ever used
it.
It was a Monday in this not so cheery hospital when Mr. Tanuki
started his third month of community service. The man was
resigned to his fate, and was rather grateful community service
was all he had been sentenced too.
On a fateful night a few months ago, he had drunken one too many
beers on the job and had hit some kid with a semi. One minute he
was drunkenly singing along to a pop idol song, the next minute
the kid was there and he was swerving madly across the road...
He could vividly remember sitting in the police station, wondering
if he had become a murderer or not...
Mr. Tanuki shook his head as he walked down the dimly lighted
hall. That boy had only been sixteen and he had nearly taken it
all away in one moment of stupidity. Damn, when he was sixteen he
hadn't experienced _ANYTHING_! No motorcycling till the crack of
dawn, no hot women, no booze filled nights (on second thought,
maybe he should have stayed away from the booze), no bar fights;
no nothing!
Luckily, the kid survived. Mr. Tanuki was shocked when the kid he
hadn't even pressed charges. He owed that kid, big time. The
least he could do was work a little community service until he
could find the kid and repay him somehow.
The job sucked, but he felt he deserved a lot worse, all things
considered...
The rounds were the same everyday. Give the patients who could
feed themselves their meals, clean the toilets, clean the floors,
and it was onto the oh-so-delightful job of cleaning the bed pans.
Mr. Tanuki grimaced. Yes, that had to be the MOST fun part of the
day. The middle-aged man sighed and shifted the food tray to his
other hand. The first task was almost done for the day. All that
was left was room #5232.
He wished it wasn't so far away. It was beyond him why they kept
that one patient apart from the others. As far as he knew, she
wasn't particularly violent (he hoped they would tell him those
sorts of things). She was pleasant enough, for someone who rocked
back and forth all day, muttering the same phrase over and over.
But she must have stopped at some point in the day to eat, the
tray was always empty when he made his rounds on the way back.
It was sad really. She was a pretty brunette in her thirties. At
one point in her life, she had been somebody's daughter, wife, or
even mother. Now all she could do was mumble "I couldn't find
them to save them" over and over and over for the past ten
years...
Mr. Tanuki switched the tray to his other hand again. This place
was getting to him. He was all "thinking deep thoughts" lately.
It couldn't be good for him.
"Finally..." Mr. Tanuki stopped abruptly in front of room #5232,
took a deep breath, and walked in.
Suffice to say, Mr. Tanuki was a little more than surprised when
today, the occupant of room number 5232 looked up, smiled
pleasantly, and asked, "May I have a cup of coffee?"
----
Ukyou woke up with a mission.
Everything was suddenly clear. All her problems, hardships,
troubles with Ranma; everything had crystallized into one fine
perfect point.
Today was the day she got herself a life.
And it wasn't going to be one of those 'curse spring - fianc‚e
chasing - heart breaking- gorilla girl better than her - icecream
eating late at night -- pig boy's a jackass--life just sucked'
sort of life!
No! It was going to be one girl uniform wearing - school club
going - bento eating under the sakura blossoms - love diary
exchanging - freakin rose colored high school life if she had to
kill half of the student body to make it happen!
If her life was going to try to collapse on itself, she was going
to MAKE it come together!
Ukyou stomped up to the gates of Furinken High school. The skirt
of her girl school uniform ruffled in the breeze. She clutched
her normal bento tightly in one hand, and held a clipboard to her
side with the other. She glanced calmly at the incoming idiot
hoard of dumbass Furinken men and smiled softly. It was beyond
her why they felt the need to maul her just because of a change of
outfit.
With the end of the summer break, came the birth of her new life.
Her first task was dealing with the idiots. She turned and
watched the incoming hoard, calmly. Bring it on. She was ready
for them.
"Ukyou! I love you!" said a hockey player.
"Ukyou go out with me!" said a basketball player.
"Marry meeeeee!" said a tennis player.
"Your okonomiyaki stole my heart!" said a soccer player.
"Ukyou, you're the one for me!" said... some other sports team guy
in typical cheap valentine fashion.
Today the idiots were going to get what they deserved.
"Ok! Everyone, line up!" Ukyou brandished her clipboard in front
of her like a Roman gladiator shield.
The Furinken hoard stopped abruptly, and used their combined two
brain cells to look confused.
"I said line up maggots! If you want to date me, your going to
have to..." Sunlight glinted off Ukyou's clipboard as she held it
high above her head. "FILL OUT MY SURVEY."
The idiot hoard blinked again. One of the basketball players
borrowed the other brain cell and used it to speak. "Uh, why?
Can't we just go out and have a nice time?"
"Feh, nice time! I'm a working woman with goals and dreams! I
can't waste my time on men who are only looking for a "nice time"!
What do you take me for? A ramen-selling hussy? No! A woman needs
stability in her life! She needs someone who will still be there
at the end of the day! She needs someone who is serious!"
Three men wandered out of the group.
"High school isn't that much longer! I need someone whose in it
for the long haul! I need someone who would be willing to run the
restaurant with me. I need an engagement ring and a really big
wedding!"
A dozen men walked off briskly from the group.
"I need a father of my future children!"
Half of the men ran for their lives. The rest of the men blinked
in fear, but nevertheless seemed rooted to the spot.
Ukyou laughed nervously and started to hand out the surveys.
"Heh, got a little carried away there."
The group stared blankly.
"Anyways! Please fill out these surveys and bring them back to me
at lunch time! I will have a foldout table set up near the
swimming pool to collect your answers."
The group looked confused.
"What's your problem? Go! Fill them out!"
The assorted loser Furinken guys shuffled away looking at their
papers like gorillas in the zoo. Some of them were turning them
over and over. Ukyou frowned as one of the retreating members
turned his survey into a paper airplane as several other guys
pointed to it and made some grunts.
Oh well, there had to be some decent normal guy in the lot.
Then one guy tried to eat his survey.
"Dude! I told you I could fit the entire thing in my mouth!"
Ukyou cringed. Well, everything would probably work out...
----
Things were going pretty well for Ranma Saotome.
All of the pretending had ended. He had finally confessed to the
girl he was in love with and vice versa. IN LOVE WITH... it
sounded kinda nice. He was aware he was slowly turning into one
of those love struck idiots who didn't roll their eyes at love
songs (as is the proper manly thing to do). In fact, if it was
possible, he'd probably kick his own ass for acting like such a
pansy.
But still... this whole love thing wasn't half bad.
Sure, he was still fighting with Akane, but they weren't the same
kind of fights. Instead of words that went straight for the
vitals, the insults had been reduced to superficial wounds. Most
of the time, the fights felt like verbal sparring. Besides, the
making up afterwards was more than worth it.
Ranma was aware of the stupid lop-sided grin stretching across his
face, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
Yesterday, he had gone shopping with Akane to the local mall.
He'd been in such a good mood that day, he'd even let her pick him
out some clothes. That... had been a very bad idea. Akane with a
handful of cash and too much time on her hands was a very horrible
thing to behold. He was sure she could turn her skills into some
kind of "scare your boyfriend with shopping martial arts" but the
techniques would be too horrible to ever release into the world.
The clothes she had finally picked out were all right. He'd
bought black pants and a plain muscle shirt. Akane had tried to
get him to buy this hiking boots, but what kind of idiot would try
fighting in those clunky things?
He'd even allowed Akane to drag him to get a hair cut. The
hairdresser had cut his bangs pretty well; turning them slightly
spiky with two long pieces falling across his forehead. However,
he hadn't let her touch his ponytail. Not bad. He could see
better in a fight now.
Everything in his life was coming together; it was like some kind
of cosmic refund for all of the shitty stuff that had ever
happened to him!
There were still a few hurdles to overcome. Ukyou had given up on
him and seemed to be on some weird personal quest. It sucked that
she had been avoiding him lately, but he really couldn't blame
her. As long as she had really given up and showed no signs of
going on a mindless rampage with okonomiyaki bombs, he couldn't
complain.
Ranma's grin wavered.
Speaking of mindless rampages, a certain purple haired weapon of
mass destruction could go off any day now. Shampoo had learned of
Akane and Ranma's relationship recently, but she hadn't done
anything yet. Ranma knew it was only a matter of time, and the
more days that passed peacefully the more nervous he became.
He should be able to handle Shampoo by herself. He hated hitting
girls, but if Akane's life was at stake... Ranma's blood turned to
ice. Just the thought of someone seriously hurting her made him
so... so... Well, he wasn't sure what the emotion was, but it
scared him with its intensity.
The ghoul was an even bigger problem. Cologne wouldn't give him
up without a fight. She was using this time to think up something
BIG. What was she planning? The wait was killing him. But
whatever the old hag threw at him, he'd get through it.
He WAS Ranma Saotome after all.
Ranma shuffled his feet and looked around the school yard. It was
lunchtime and his stomach was rattling the bars of its cage. He
was SOOOOO hungry. Akane had gotten a note from a girl buddy of
hers asking for tutoring help so today he had to eat alone. Maybe
he'd go for a bread run to the corner convience store.
Ranma's eyes lit up as he saw Ukyou making her way across the
school's front lawn. Even better! Okonomiyaki would really hit
the spot right now.
"Hey Ucchan!"
Ukyou turned around with some difficulty, dragging a folding
chair, clipboard, and table behind her. "Eh?" Her gaze darkened
as she recognized who he was.
"How have you been Uch--"
"Hold up you!"
Huh?
"You don't get a survey!"
A what?
"You had your chance buster, but the Ukyou train has left the
station! Go back to Akane railways where you belong!" Ukyou stuck
her tongue out and walked away, much to Ranma's absolute
amazement.
"Did I just get... snubbed?" Impossible! Ranma Saotome does not
get snubbed!
...right?
---
Mousse was a very desperate man.
The old crone's plans would soon reach a point of no return.
Mousse knew he had to do something to keep Shampoo away from the
bastard Saotome. Fueled by his desperation, the near sighted
martial artist had come up with a plan of his own. A plan that
crossed a line that most men weren't willing to cross.
With this new clarity, Mousse had finally realized he had been
going about his war with Saotome all wrong. He didn't need to
defeat Ranma. The real reason the old crone wanted Shampoo to
marry Ranma was because he'd father lots of strong children. The
plan was so simple, so brilliant. Why hadn't he thought of it
before? Mousse knew what he had to do...
He held up a tiny hammer in the air.
He was going to make Ranma Saotome... IMPOTENT!
"Bwhahahaha!"
Ah, nothing like a good maniacal laugh to clear the head! But he
had to be quiet now...
Mousse sunk lower into a bundle of dark green bushes. Any minute
now, the pigtailed womanizer would be walking this way past him.
Mousse had been able to divert Akane with a false letter from a
friend so she wouldn't be in the way.
Any minute now... Yes! There he was!
Mousse tensed up to strike...
"Bread! FREE bread!"
Ranma abruptly switched direction and ran toward a bread stand
across the street.
Mousse gaped. That bastard! Didn't he realize the danger he and
Ranma jr. was in?! This was not a time to be eating!
The bread store owner seemed unfazed as Ranma began to devour
every free sample on the poor man's cart. Mousse glared ahead as
Ranma stuffed his face. The disgusting bastard, did he have no
manners at all?
Then something happened that would brighten Mousse's mood for days
to come.
Abruptly, and suddenly, Ranma passed out.
This in itself was enough to get a chuckle. Then, something else
hilarious happened.
The so called nice and innocent bread stand owner began to laugh
manically. Then two girls jumped out of the bushes and screamed
something. They argued for a bit, then seemed to come to an
agreement which also involved smacking Ranma's unconscious body
around.
Mousse started to laugh so hard his sides ached.
Then, as if this wasn't already the bestest day ever--
He got dragged away by strange hooded cultists. Freakin. Hooded.
Black robed wearing. Evil looking. Cultists.
Today was just wonderful.
---
Well... Ryouga's psyche was beginning to feel a bit bitch slapped.
Light peeked through cracked floorboards and trickled down to the
ground. The light created a halo around the arcane site. The
area around the shrine tasted stale and dead. A slight breeze
blew from... somewhere. Ryouga wasn't sure where. The only sound
he could hear was the beating of his own heart.
The lost boy slowly shook off the dust from his hair. Gee, it was
a good thing he had taken a bath before coming down to the
basement. Heaven forbid he stay CLEAN for too long. It was like
the pig curse was speaking to him. 'Bwee. It's fun to wallow in
the dirt Ryouga. Bweeee. Joooiiin Uuuuuusss in the muuuuud.
Bweeeee.'
Nothing in his life ever came to him easily.
After brushing his pants off, Ryouga gave the area a good once
over. The large tapestries that hung from the wall were wrinkled
and crumbling. Faint red ink was barely identifiable; the
characters long since faded. Beneath the hangings, a small ledge
was carved from the rock. Within, sat three ancient candles, a
mirror, and several miniature dragon statues. The face of the
statue was reflected in the mirror's dusty surface. Ryouga's eyes
spotted a faint pattern carved into the rock. He step back and
revealed a twenty foot Chinese dragon carved into the wall.
"Whoa." Did his family know this was down here? There was
something seriously wrong when you had so much junk you forgot
about the evil shrine in your basement. Then again, it's not like
he could give the stuff away to the needy.
'Here you go orphanage! Candles made out of human flesh!
Gee golly, thanks Mr. Ryouga, sir!'
Nope, that wouldn't work.
Ryouga walked around checking the other tapestries and items. The
dragon statues were made of simple stone, nothing very interesting
about them. However the mirror was the old type of mirror where
designs appeared on the back when the light shown on it. Ryouga
could remember learning in elementary school that people used to
believe mirrors held the owner's soul. What was it doing down
here? The thing should be in a REAL shrine or a museum vault, not
collecting dust in his basement.
As for the statue of himself, Ryouga didn't really know what to
think. It sure looked like him, albeit, a feudal era him. The
hair and dress were different, but the face was the same. The
statue had the same eyes that glared at the world. The same mouth
that hardly ever smiled. There was even tiny frown creases carved
at the corner of the mouth. The piece was a work of art. And
very, very--
"Creepy."
The lost boy stood in front of the statue, comparing his height to
its. It was an exact match. He stood back for a moment and tried
to mentally lower the creep out factor. So what if people were
making very handsome statues hundreds of years ago? Wasn't that
just good taste?
"Damn it!" Denial wasn't working either! Stupid creepy statue!
Ryouga's gaze unconsciously slid toward the mirror. The thing
freaked him out, too. Goosebumps rose on his skin. Chills did tap
dances down his spine. The closer he got to the mirror, the more
the wind around him began to sound like human whispers... He knew
he was being superstitious again, but he couldn't help it.
It was odd. He didn't know why, but he has this overwhelming urge
to break it. And the more he stared, the more his whole body
screamed out to smash it into a thousand pieces.
He could feel it in his blood. Hear it in the wind.
Smash it... smash it...
But it was disrespectful. What if a mirror really could hold
someone's soul, what would breaking it do?
SMASH IT. SMASH IT.
He took a step forward, walking past the stone image of himself.
The whispers became louder. His right hand seemed to clench of
its own accord.
SMASH IT. SMASH IT.
The god damned voices were really starting to get annoying.
But... maybe if he just LOOKED at it... He wasn't going to do
anything, just look.
SMASH IT! SMASH IT!
Where the hell were those voices coming from? They kept getting
louder and more intense, speaking so fast their words were running
together.
SmAshItDEstRoyitleTmeoUtsMasHit!
He stepped closer.
SmAsHiTsMASh...
Finally, he realized he was standing a few feet from its smooth
dusty surface. The voices were screaming themselves hoarse now,
the wind was whipping at his hair. The shadows on the rock walls
had begun to look like grasping hands...
With his heart thumping in his ears, he turned and gazed at the
mirror.
"What the hell?!" That wasn't his own reflection!
He jumped back and bumped the mirror with his right hand.
The mirror fell to the ground in slow motion, shattering into tiny
shards. The wind whispers abruptly vanished. Silence reigned
supreme within the room. Ryouga stared, transfixed at the pieces
scattered on the ground.
He could see red at the edge of his vision... a red right hand.
The hand gripped his shoulder.
Then all hell broke loose.
----
ashes: There you go, you're in the story now! ^_^
Ranma: You SUCK.
Contact info:
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/
aol instant messenger: ashes chan
Next Chapter: Ukyou continues her slightly misguided quest for the
perfect high school life, and Ryouga has one hell of a vision.
a lot less typos in this story.
Contact Info:
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/
9/16/03 - My Goal is to finish this before the end of the month.
Here I go...
10/16/03- Goal SO not met.
11/11/03 - I suck and life is meaningless.
12/04/04 - Goal maybe met. Revising...
12/08/04 - Nooo! Need to rewrite half of the chapter! x_x
3/01/04 - Redoing the whole damn fanfic.
3/23/04 - Retooling up to chapter 10 done...
4/13/04 - ROUGH DRAFT DONE!
4/18/04 - Retooling completely done.
4/19/04 - FINALLY DONE! *shakes fist*
----
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days
Chapter 14
---
Somewhere in the heart of Tokyo, lies Sakura Long-Term Health
Facility. The hospital was worn down and long in need of a
renovation. The paint and floors were cracking, and the third
floor elevator was out of order more often then it worked. Lights
in an unused ward were never replaced, and the employee's bathroom
sink had never worked as far as anyone knew.
The long name was simply a ruse, to make the building sound more
politically correct and hide it's true nature. Everyone who
worked there knew what it really was. The neighborhood kids
walked a mile detour to school everyday to avoid it. Heck, even a
few of its residents knew the harsh truth:
It was an insane asylum.
It was a place where unwanted relatives were dumped when they were
no needed. Within the hospital's old walls, entire lives were
forgotten, by those inside and out.
Still, most of the under funded staff were generally good people
who tried to make the best out of what they had and help their
patients. Unfortunately, if you were bad enough off to be in
Sakura Long-Term Health Facility to begin with, you were not going
to get better. The hospital was the last stop for hopeless cases.
The only way to leave was generally through the grave.
There was a stamp for non-death discharges in the discharge
nurse's desk. However, as far as she knew, no one had ever used
it.
It was a Monday in this not so cheery hospital when Mr. Tanuki
started his third month of community service. The man was
resigned to his fate, and was rather grateful community service
was all he had been sentenced too.
On a fateful night a few months ago, he had drunken one too many
beers on the job and had hit some kid with a semi. One minute he
was drunkenly singing along to a pop idol song, the next minute
the kid was there and he was swerving madly across the road...
He could vividly remember sitting in the police station, wondering
if he had become a murderer or not...
Mr. Tanuki shook his head as he walked down the dimly lighted
hall. That boy had only been sixteen and he had nearly taken it
all away in one moment of stupidity. Damn, when he was sixteen he
hadn't experienced _ANYTHING_! No motorcycling till the crack of
dawn, no hot women, no booze filled nights (on second thought,
maybe he should have stayed away from the booze), no bar fights;
no nothing!
Luckily, the kid survived. Mr. Tanuki was shocked when the kid he
hadn't even pressed charges. He owed that kid, big time. The
least he could do was work a little community service until he
could find the kid and repay him somehow.
The job sucked, but he felt he deserved a lot worse, all things
considered...
The rounds were the same everyday. Give the patients who could
feed themselves their meals, clean the toilets, clean the floors,
and it was onto the oh-so-delightful job of cleaning the bed pans.
Mr. Tanuki grimaced. Yes, that had to be the MOST fun part of the
day. The middle-aged man sighed and shifted the food tray to his
other hand. The first task was almost done for the day. All that
was left was room #5232.
He wished it wasn't so far away. It was beyond him why they kept
that one patient apart from the others. As far as he knew, she
wasn't particularly violent (he hoped they would tell him those
sorts of things). She was pleasant enough, for someone who rocked
back and forth all day, muttering the same phrase over and over.
But she must have stopped at some point in the day to eat, the
tray was always empty when he made his rounds on the way back.
It was sad really. She was a pretty brunette in her thirties. At
one point in her life, she had been somebody's daughter, wife, or
even mother. Now all she could do was mumble "I couldn't find
them to save them" over and over and over for the past ten
years...
Mr. Tanuki switched the tray to his other hand again. This place
was getting to him. He was all "thinking deep thoughts" lately.
It couldn't be good for him.
"Finally..." Mr. Tanuki stopped abruptly in front of room #5232,
took a deep breath, and walked in.
Suffice to say, Mr. Tanuki was a little more than surprised when
today, the occupant of room number 5232 looked up, smiled
pleasantly, and asked, "May I have a cup of coffee?"
----
Ukyou woke up with a mission.
Everything was suddenly clear. All her problems, hardships,
troubles with Ranma; everything had crystallized into one fine
perfect point.
Today was the day she got herself a life.
And it wasn't going to be one of those 'curse spring - fianc‚e
chasing - heart breaking- gorilla girl better than her - icecream
eating late at night -- pig boy's a jackass--life just sucked'
sort of life!
No! It was going to be one girl uniform wearing - school club
going - bento eating under the sakura blossoms - love diary
exchanging - freakin rose colored high school life if she had to
kill half of the student body to make it happen!
If her life was going to try to collapse on itself, she was going
to MAKE it come together!
Ukyou stomped up to the gates of Furinken High school. The skirt
of her girl school uniform ruffled in the breeze. She clutched
her normal bento tightly in one hand, and held a clipboard to her
side with the other. She glanced calmly at the incoming idiot
hoard of dumbass Furinken men and smiled softly. It was beyond
her why they felt the need to maul her just because of a change of
outfit.
With the end of the summer break, came the birth of her new life.
Her first task was dealing with the idiots. She turned and
watched the incoming hoard, calmly. Bring it on. She was ready
for them.
"Ukyou! I love you!" said a hockey player.
"Ukyou go out with me!" said a basketball player.
"Marry meeeeee!" said a tennis player.
"Your okonomiyaki stole my heart!" said a soccer player.
"Ukyou, you're the one for me!" said... some other sports team guy
in typical cheap valentine fashion.
Today the idiots were going to get what they deserved.
"Ok! Everyone, line up!" Ukyou brandished her clipboard in front
of her like a Roman gladiator shield.
The Furinken hoard stopped abruptly, and used their combined two
brain cells to look confused.
"I said line up maggots! If you want to date me, your going to
have to..." Sunlight glinted off Ukyou's clipboard as she held it
high above her head. "FILL OUT MY SURVEY."
The idiot hoard blinked again. One of the basketball players
borrowed the other brain cell and used it to speak. "Uh, why?
Can't we just go out and have a nice time?"
"Feh, nice time! I'm a working woman with goals and dreams! I
can't waste my time on men who are only looking for a "nice time"!
What do you take me for? A ramen-selling hussy? No! A woman needs
stability in her life! She needs someone who will still be there
at the end of the day! She needs someone who is serious!"
Three men wandered out of the group.
"High school isn't that much longer! I need someone whose in it
for the long haul! I need someone who would be willing to run the
restaurant with me. I need an engagement ring and a really big
wedding!"
A dozen men walked off briskly from the group.
"I need a father of my future children!"
Half of the men ran for their lives. The rest of the men blinked
in fear, but nevertheless seemed rooted to the spot.
Ukyou laughed nervously and started to hand out the surveys.
"Heh, got a little carried away there."
The group stared blankly.
"Anyways! Please fill out these surveys and bring them back to me
at lunch time! I will have a foldout table set up near the
swimming pool to collect your answers."
The group looked confused.
"What's your problem? Go! Fill them out!"
The assorted loser Furinken guys shuffled away looking at their
papers like gorillas in the zoo. Some of them were turning them
over and over. Ukyou frowned as one of the retreating members
turned his survey into a paper airplane as several other guys
pointed to it and made some grunts.
Oh well, there had to be some decent normal guy in the lot.
Then one guy tried to eat his survey.
"Dude! I told you I could fit the entire thing in my mouth!"
Ukyou cringed. Well, everything would probably work out...
----
Things were going pretty well for Ranma Saotome.
All of the pretending had ended. He had finally confessed to the
girl he was in love with and vice versa. IN LOVE WITH... it
sounded kinda nice. He was aware he was slowly turning into one
of those love struck idiots who didn't roll their eyes at love
songs (as is the proper manly thing to do). In fact, if it was
possible, he'd probably kick his own ass for acting like such a
pansy.
But still... this whole love thing wasn't half bad.
Sure, he was still fighting with Akane, but they weren't the same
kind of fights. Instead of words that went straight for the
vitals, the insults had been reduced to superficial wounds. Most
of the time, the fights felt like verbal sparring. Besides, the
making up afterwards was more than worth it.
Ranma was aware of the stupid lop-sided grin stretching across his
face, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
Yesterday, he had gone shopping with Akane to the local mall.
He'd been in such a good mood that day, he'd even let her pick him
out some clothes. That... had been a very bad idea. Akane with a
handful of cash and too much time on her hands was a very horrible
thing to behold. He was sure she could turn her skills into some
kind of "scare your boyfriend with shopping martial arts" but the
techniques would be too horrible to ever release into the world.
The clothes she had finally picked out were all right. He'd
bought black pants and a plain muscle shirt. Akane had tried to
get him to buy this hiking boots, but what kind of idiot would try
fighting in those clunky things?
He'd even allowed Akane to drag him to get a hair cut. The
hairdresser had cut his bangs pretty well; turning them slightly
spiky with two long pieces falling across his forehead. However,
he hadn't let her touch his ponytail. Not bad. He could see
better in a fight now.
Everything in his life was coming together; it was like some kind
of cosmic refund for all of the shitty stuff that had ever
happened to him!
There were still a few hurdles to overcome. Ukyou had given up on
him and seemed to be on some weird personal quest. It sucked that
she had been avoiding him lately, but he really couldn't blame
her. As long as she had really given up and showed no signs of
going on a mindless rampage with okonomiyaki bombs, he couldn't
complain.
Ranma's grin wavered.
Speaking of mindless rampages, a certain purple haired weapon of
mass destruction could go off any day now. Shampoo had learned of
Akane and Ranma's relationship recently, but she hadn't done
anything yet. Ranma knew it was only a matter of time, and the
more days that passed peacefully the more nervous he became.
He should be able to handle Shampoo by herself. He hated hitting
girls, but if Akane's life was at stake... Ranma's blood turned to
ice. Just the thought of someone seriously hurting her made him
so... so... Well, he wasn't sure what the emotion was, but it
scared him with its intensity.
The ghoul was an even bigger problem. Cologne wouldn't give him
up without a fight. She was using this time to think up something
BIG. What was she planning? The wait was killing him. But
whatever the old hag threw at him, he'd get through it.
He WAS Ranma Saotome after all.
Ranma shuffled his feet and looked around the school yard. It was
lunchtime and his stomach was rattling the bars of its cage. He
was SOOOOO hungry. Akane had gotten a note from a girl buddy of
hers asking for tutoring help so today he had to eat alone. Maybe
he'd go for a bread run to the corner convience store.
Ranma's eyes lit up as he saw Ukyou making her way across the
school's front lawn. Even better! Okonomiyaki would really hit
the spot right now.
"Hey Ucchan!"
Ukyou turned around with some difficulty, dragging a folding
chair, clipboard, and table behind her. "Eh?" Her gaze darkened
as she recognized who he was.
"How have you been Uch--"
"Hold up you!"
Huh?
"You don't get a survey!"
A what?
"You had your chance buster, but the Ukyou train has left the
station! Go back to Akane railways where you belong!" Ukyou stuck
her tongue out and walked away, much to Ranma's absolute
amazement.
"Did I just get... snubbed?" Impossible! Ranma Saotome does not
get snubbed!
...right?
---
Mousse was a very desperate man.
The old crone's plans would soon reach a point of no return.
Mousse knew he had to do something to keep Shampoo away from the
bastard Saotome. Fueled by his desperation, the near sighted
martial artist had come up with a plan of his own. A plan that
crossed a line that most men weren't willing to cross.
With this new clarity, Mousse had finally realized he had been
going about his war with Saotome all wrong. He didn't need to
defeat Ranma. The real reason the old crone wanted Shampoo to
marry Ranma was because he'd father lots of strong children. The
plan was so simple, so brilliant. Why hadn't he thought of it
before? Mousse knew what he had to do...
He held up a tiny hammer in the air.
He was going to make Ranma Saotome... IMPOTENT!
"Bwhahahaha!"
Ah, nothing like a good maniacal laugh to clear the head! But he
had to be quiet now...
Mousse sunk lower into a bundle of dark green bushes. Any minute
now, the pigtailed womanizer would be walking this way past him.
Mousse had been able to divert Akane with a false letter from a
friend so she wouldn't be in the way.
Any minute now... Yes! There he was!
Mousse tensed up to strike...
"Bread! FREE bread!"
Ranma abruptly switched direction and ran toward a bread stand
across the street.
Mousse gaped. That bastard! Didn't he realize the danger he and
Ranma jr. was in?! This was not a time to be eating!
The bread store owner seemed unfazed as Ranma began to devour
every free sample on the poor man's cart. Mousse glared ahead as
Ranma stuffed his face. The disgusting bastard, did he have no
manners at all?
Then something happened that would brighten Mousse's mood for days
to come.
Abruptly, and suddenly, Ranma passed out.
This in itself was enough to get a chuckle. Then, something else
hilarious happened.
The so called nice and innocent bread stand owner began to laugh
manically. Then two girls jumped out of the bushes and screamed
something. They argued for a bit, then seemed to come to an
agreement which also involved smacking Ranma's unconscious body
around.
Mousse started to laugh so hard his sides ached.
Then, as if this wasn't already the bestest day ever--
He got dragged away by strange hooded cultists. Freakin. Hooded.
Black robed wearing. Evil looking. Cultists.
Today was just wonderful.
---
Well... Ryouga's psyche was beginning to feel a bit bitch slapped.
Light peeked through cracked floorboards and trickled down to the
ground. The light created a halo around the arcane site. The
area around the shrine tasted stale and dead. A slight breeze
blew from... somewhere. Ryouga wasn't sure where. The only sound
he could hear was the beating of his own heart.
The lost boy slowly shook off the dust from his hair. Gee, it was
a good thing he had taken a bath before coming down to the
basement. Heaven forbid he stay CLEAN for too long. It was like
the pig curse was speaking to him. 'Bwee. It's fun to wallow in
the dirt Ryouga. Bweeee. Joooiiin Uuuuuusss in the muuuuud.
Bweeeee.'
Nothing in his life ever came to him easily.
After brushing his pants off, Ryouga gave the area a good once
over. The large tapestries that hung from the wall were wrinkled
and crumbling. Faint red ink was barely identifiable; the
characters long since faded. Beneath the hangings, a small ledge
was carved from the rock. Within, sat three ancient candles, a
mirror, and several miniature dragon statues. The face of the
statue was reflected in the mirror's dusty surface. Ryouga's eyes
spotted a faint pattern carved into the rock. He step back and
revealed a twenty foot Chinese dragon carved into the wall.
"Whoa." Did his family know this was down here? There was
something seriously wrong when you had so much junk you forgot
about the evil shrine in your basement. Then again, it's not like
he could give the stuff away to the needy.
'Here you go orphanage! Candles made out of human flesh!
Gee golly, thanks Mr. Ryouga, sir!'
Nope, that wouldn't work.
Ryouga walked around checking the other tapestries and items. The
dragon statues were made of simple stone, nothing very interesting
about them. However the mirror was the old type of mirror where
designs appeared on the back when the light shown on it. Ryouga
could remember learning in elementary school that people used to
believe mirrors held the owner's soul. What was it doing down
here? The thing should be in a REAL shrine or a museum vault, not
collecting dust in his basement.
As for the statue of himself, Ryouga didn't really know what to
think. It sure looked like him, albeit, a feudal era him. The
hair and dress were different, but the face was the same. The
statue had the same eyes that glared at the world. The same mouth
that hardly ever smiled. There was even tiny frown creases carved
at the corner of the mouth. The piece was a work of art. And
very, very--
"Creepy."
The lost boy stood in front of the statue, comparing his height to
its. It was an exact match. He stood back for a moment and tried
to mentally lower the creep out factor. So what if people were
making very handsome statues hundreds of years ago? Wasn't that
just good taste?
"Damn it!" Denial wasn't working either! Stupid creepy statue!
Ryouga's gaze unconsciously slid toward the mirror. The thing
freaked him out, too. Goosebumps rose on his skin. Chills did tap
dances down his spine. The closer he got to the mirror, the more
the wind around him began to sound like human whispers... He knew
he was being superstitious again, but he couldn't help it.
It was odd. He didn't know why, but he has this overwhelming urge
to break it. And the more he stared, the more his whole body
screamed out to smash it into a thousand pieces.
He could feel it in his blood. Hear it in the wind.
Smash it... smash it...
But it was disrespectful. What if a mirror really could hold
someone's soul, what would breaking it do?
SMASH IT. SMASH IT.
He took a step forward, walking past the stone image of himself.
The whispers became louder. His right hand seemed to clench of
its own accord.
SMASH IT. SMASH IT.
The god damned voices were really starting to get annoying.
But... maybe if he just LOOKED at it... He wasn't going to do
anything, just look.
SMASH IT! SMASH IT!
Where the hell were those voices coming from? They kept getting
louder and more intense, speaking so fast their words were running
together.
SmAshItDEstRoyitleTmeoUtsMasHit!
He stepped closer.
SmAsHiTsMASh...
Finally, he realized he was standing a few feet from its smooth
dusty surface. The voices were screaming themselves hoarse now,
the wind was whipping at his hair. The shadows on the rock walls
had begun to look like grasping hands...
With his heart thumping in his ears, he turned and gazed at the
mirror.
"What the hell?!" That wasn't his own reflection!
He jumped back and bumped the mirror with his right hand.
The mirror fell to the ground in slow motion, shattering into tiny
shards. The wind whispers abruptly vanished. Silence reigned
supreme within the room. Ryouga stared, transfixed at the pieces
scattered on the ground.
He could see red at the edge of his vision... a red right hand.
The hand gripped his shoulder.
Then all hell broke loose.
----
ashes: There you go, you're in the story now! ^_^
Ranma: You SUCK.
Contact info:
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/
aol instant messenger: ashes chan
Next Chapter: Ukyou continues her slightly misguided quest for the
perfect high school life, and Ryouga has one hell of a vision.