Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )
[ 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: 01.26.2003 | Updated On: 11.07.2004 | Pages: 9 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 354 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Mystery / Comedy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.26.2003 | Updated On: 11.07.2004 | Pages: 9 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 354 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma. I just like to steal the story and
butcher it sometimes.
Contact Info:
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/
----
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days:
Chapter 13
---
The hospital was dark.
The master didn't mind. He was used to dark, dreary places. What
he really couldn't stand was the incessant beeping monitor beside
him. He knew his heart was beating, he didn't need to be reminded
of the fact over and over. His multiple broken bones and
contusions were reminder enough that he was alive.
Clouds drifted by the waning moon, cutting off the small amount of
light it could have given. The master glanced over at his bedside
clock. It was nearly midnight and he still couldn't fall asleep.
As soon as he was well enough, he was going to hunt down that
bandanna kid and rip his entrails out. That pretentious bastard
was going to pay for humiliating him. And those looks his woman
had given him! How DARE she look down upon him! That bitch would
pay too!
The Master was so involved in his musings, that he didn't notice
the door to his room creak open or see the dark figure in a long
black jacket step through. The figure puffed on a cigarette,
waiting for the broken master to notice him.
The Master looked up after several minutes, jolting suddenly and
yanking the IV out of his arm.
"S-sir! What are you--" He cut off as he noticed the glint of
metal sliding out of the figure's coat.
"Wait! I-I can make it up to you! Please!" The master yanked out
his IV, and sat up. "Please don't... please--"
His pleas were cut off as his head was severed from his shoulders,
rolling uselessly to the floor. The mouth moved for several more
seconds...
Warm blood flowed out of the severed corpse like a fountain.
With one fluid motion, the figure poured liquid onto the bed from
a small container. He then flicked his cigarette onto the bed.
Flames quickly began to engulf the room.
"Heh. Cannon Fodder." He smirked as he lit up another cigarette
and walked away at a slow leisurely pace.
And the monitor? Well... it stopped beeping.
----
Ryouga woke up with a gasp.
What the hell was that? Man, he felt sick. The master, and... his
head getting cut off and all the blood... Was it a vision? A
nightmare? Premonition?
One thing was for sure, that was the last time he allowed himself
to fall asleep in the bathtub.
The bath water wasn't cold yet. He hadn't been asleep for long.
The figure's face had been shrouded in shadows. Had it really
happened? It had felt so real... He had felt the fire, smelled the
blood. Of course, that could be because he'd spent a half an hour
scrubbing blood off of himself...
He supposed there was nothing he could do about it either way.
Also, the master had been an evil bastard, he shouldn't give a
damn if he was dead.
Heh, yeah. Only fools have pity for their enemies...
Not feeling like getting up, he pushed the hot water knob with his
foot, letting the warm water heat up the tub again. No one was
ever around to actually use the hot water, so he could use all he
wanted. When the water finally felt hot, he turned the knob off
again with his wet foot.
He winced and slid down further into the warm water, letting it
relax his tired muscles and wash over his naked body. He rubbed
his shoulder muscles, careful not to jar the stitches in his
palms. Giving himself stitches had been a rather... unpleasant
experience. He knew he should have gone to a doctor, but he didn't
want to go back to a hospital for as long as he lived.
Ryouga grumbled and tried to force himself to relax and failed
miserably.
It had been rather easy to get to his house. He had never realized
how... close it was to Nerima. There were no jungles, deserts, or
secret military installations anywhere in between the two!
Of course, there had been that evil cult that tried to kill him,
but compared to what he had previously thought, the route was a
walk through the cherry blossoms.
He was the only one in the house currently. Usually the
housekeeper was there, but even she had stepped out for a few
hours. She was paid to live in the house and clean it so when a
wayward Hibiki member actually made it home, they wouldn't have to
wade through buckets of unopened mail, among other things. Ryouga
had no idea how old the lady was, but he knew she was REALLY old.
When he was younger he often wondered if she was the first woman
EVER.
Ryouga had never been very fond of her, mainly because of her
penchant for never remembering his name, and getting television
confused with reality... sometimes both at once.
It was disheartening, but coming home to an empty house wasn't
anything unusual for him. He could count on his fingers the number
of times he had met someone else in the house other than the
housekeeper. When he had been younger, he had run into more
extended family members wandering about.
For some reason, once he got older, they all seemed to stop
coming...
Ryouga snorted. He had to stop feeling sorry for himself all the
time. It never got him anywhere.
He gazed at the ceiling for a long moment, trying to think of
nothing. However, his mind refused to corporate, and images of a
certain okonomiyaki chef seeped into his consciousness. He was
sure he must have the title 'Number One Jackass' in her mind right
now.
How could he ever have a girlfriend, or love, or a wife, or
anything like that, if he couldn't even keep a girl as a friend?
Ryouga idly counted the floral patterns on the ceiling...
Did Ukyou have any other friends?
He held back a laugh. Of course, she did. A pretty, smart, strong
girl like her must have lots of friends. Right? She was loyal
too... Well, as long as you didn't go around sleeping in girls
beds in the guise of a little pig. Girls tend to get angry when
you sneak into their beds... Unless your name is Shampoo and the
guy is Ranma...
Shampoo had always seemed a little loose in his opinion.
---
Miles away in the Cat Cafe, Shampoo sneezed as she slammed a large
butcher knife into a hunk of pork over... and over... and over...
---
Anyways...
Ukyou was a great person. She wasn't ugly either. Not that she was
perfect; nearly everyone in the area had some kind of odd quirk.
Slight cross dressing and an obsession with cooking were
definitely on the lower end of the scale.
Yeah... Ukyou had other friends. Everyone at Furinkin High
couldn't be that stupid. She had tons of friends.
Ryouga sighed and got out of the tub.
"Come on Mr. Jackass, can't stay in here all day..."
--- -
A bright shiny countertop is a must for any business. The fresh
lemony scent invigorates the customers and lets them know that
cleanliness is top priority. A business woman must always be
vigilant in keeping her restaurant in tip top shape.
Ukyou sighed and scrubbed the clean countertop for the seventeenth
time.
It was especially important when your job was your whole life.
The restaurant was fairly busy today. The small space was crammed
with customers. Business was good. She had spent the day listening
to the customer's conversations. Usually they were boring, but
sometimes they were like live soap operas.
Currently, a group of high school students were gathered about the
countertop. They were talking about who liked who, clothes, and
makeup. It was like an alien language to Ukyou. You wore clothes
that were decent and fit, and makeup was a waste of money. As for
who liked who... there had always been one guy, one goal in her
life. Dating and searching seemed very... complicated.
She was fairly sure they all went to Furinken, but she didn't know
their names. Glancing through the corner of her eye, she watched
as they laughed and giggled. Maybe she should try to talk to them?
No, that was silly. There was nothing she could say to them. Other
than not to take little pigs home and sleep with them in their
beds...
She blinked and pushed her thoughts aside as a customer walked up.
Now was not the time to waste energy on sappy emotions. They never
got her anywhere. She turned on her brightest, fake smile.
"Hello! Welcome to Uccha--"
She paused as she recognized her customer.
"Hi... Ranma."
----
Ryouga wasn't sure where to go. He hoped he wouldn't run into the
housekeeper. Maybe she didn't work for them anymore? But, it was
hard to believe that she wasn't around. Sometimes he thought she
had come with the house. It had been two years since he had last
seen her. She hadn't been around when Shirokuro had her puppies...
As if on cue, seven full-grown black and white dogs tackled him.
"Ack!" He frantically grabbed the nearby table to catch his
balance as a wall of fur and wagging tails enveloped him on all
sides. A very bad memory of the time he was mauled by rabid dogs
in Osaka flashed before his mind. He desperately grabbed a piece
of beef jerky from his backpack and threw it blindly. The jerky
did an amazing curve and zipped through three different rooms.
Since food is much more important than love, as most dogs
realized, the Shirokuro hoard bounded off toward the jerky.
Ryouga breathed a sign of relief. Someone really needed to give a
few of those dogs away.
Sighing, he looked about the room and suddenly realized what table
he had been leaning on.
His eyes swept the surface, stopping where a note from his mother
lay. He picked it up, smiling sadly, and stared at it for a few
minutes. It was a ritual whenever he got home. He knew it was
silly, he had read it so many times he knew it by heart. Holding
the note like delicate silk, he turned it over in his hands,
feeling every crease of the paper.
The sound of a door closing brought him out of his trance. He sat
the ten-year-old note back in its place and continued looking
around.
Damn it! The turtle lady was here!
He waited for her reach him... and waited.... and waited...
Ryouga decided to just walk over. He figured he might as well get
it over with. Every once in awhile, she had something important to
pass on to him.
"Hey, Kameko are you here?"
The Hibiki's house keeper lurched slowly forward, stopped, and
poked her head out of her large turtleneck sweater. Her ancient
wrinkled face split into a grin.
"Master Lupin welcome home!" She cackled.
Ryouga tripped and fell flat on his face.
"My name's not Lupin..." He pulled himself to his feet.
"Oh I'm sorry hee hee, you're so much taller! How's school? Has
your teacher Onizuka been keepin ya on your toes?"
"Who?" Ryouga felt a bead of sweat run down his neck. Sometimes it
was best just to agree. "School's great. Yep. I love school."
"I've been feeding Doremon for you." She wiggled her cane around.
"It's Shirokuro, and Doremon wasn't a dog..."
"You get a haircut?" She creeped over and began to pick at him.
She couldn't remember his name, yet she noticed his hair... great.
"Yeah. Listen Kameko was there any--"
"What happened to your hand boy?" She grabbed his bandaged hand in
concern. The white bandaged was dotted in blood.
Ryouga frowned at the blood. He must not have done the stitches
properly.
"Um..."
Evil Cult? Fight to the death? Nah, he didn't want to explain
that. He frowned... actually, why not?
"I was drugged and forced to fight to the death in an underground
arena that is run by crazy cult members."
"Ah that used to happen to your mother all the time."
"Huh?????" No, it was best to ignore that. Crazy Kameko just got
lucky that time.
Kameko smirked. "Be a good boy and clean the basement." She
wiggled her cane again.
Ryouga blinked. "We have a basement?!"
"Eh? Why wouldn't we?"
"Where?"
Kameko pointed her cane behind Ryouga. He turned around. Behind
him was a large wooden door with the words 'BASEMENT' carved into
it in large letters.
"Oh." He shifted his pack. "And why do I have to clean it?"
Kameko looked at him like he was the crazy old turtle lady
instead. "Because the negative energy from Rosuto-sama's shrine
will begin to overflow with negative energy and break the seal. It
is very unstable. Enemies lurk on every side..." She glanced from
side to side in a 'paranoid crazy old lady way'.
She popped back into her sweater. "And I can't reach the higher
shelves."
"Uh huh."
"Weeel I'm gonna go now. Hee hee." Kameko slowwwwwwllllllyyyyy
walked away to go water the sidewalk.
Ryouga shrugged as he watched her walk away. Why not? It couldn't
hurt to at least take a look down there.
He opened the door and started down the steps.
----
Her plan to avoid them forever had failed.
Ranma shifted from foot to foot, nervous for some reason. Ukyou
had no idea why, but really didn't care. Akane stood next to him
looking worse for wear. Ukyou pushed down the urge to laugh. What?
Did the little princess get kidnapped again? If she were Akane,
she'd train harder so that wouldn't happen again. But no, Akane
wouldn't even try.
"Ukyou, have you seen P-chan?"
Ukyou let a small laugh sneak out. And here she thought it was
about something important.
"You know?" Ranma piped up, "The little porky to go menu on legs?"
Akane punched him in the ribs. "Don't say that!" She sniffled. "He
could be really hurt and all alone somewhere..."
Ukyou almost dropped her sauce brush.
"Aw Akane, don't go crying on me."
"I am NOT crying."
"Yes you are. Tomboys can't be crybabies too ya know."
Akane punched him in the ribs again.
"Ow..." Ranma rubbed his side, noticed what he was doing, and then
puffed up. "I mean, not ow. That didn't hurt."
Ukyou flipped another okonomiyaki and concentrated on the grill.
It was painful to watch their old married couple routine. She
wished they'd just leave. "He probably got lost. Don't worry about
it."
Akane sighed. "Don't be silly. P-chan's not Ryouga something--"
"OF COURSE'S HE'S NOT!" Ranma paled and began to make wavy hand
gestures, bumping into a few customers.
Ukyou looked up.
P-chan eh? A bitter smile flashed across her face. The small bit
of mirth faded quickly.
"You know how it is Akane. Little boy pig with hormones wandering
around... He must be looking for a girlfriend." Ukyou smirked.
"You should have him neutered."
Ranma covered his mouth as a sort of half-scream came out.
"I suppose you could be right." Akane looked thoughtful. "He might
stay home more often if we do..."
"No!" Ranma put his hands on Akane's shoulders. "You can't do that
to him Akane!"
"I thought you didn't like P-chan?"
"I don't, but no man deserves that!"
"Man?" Ukyou picked up the sauce and spread it across another
okonomiyaki. "I thought he was a pig?"
"HE IS! HE IS!"
"Why are you freaking out for?" Akane lightly brushed Ranma's
hands off her shoulders. "He's just a little pig."
"YEAH! YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT!"
Ukyou had to duck behind the counter to hide her laughter.
Unexpectedly, she began to cry in the middle of laughing. She
wiped the tears from her cheeks. Why was she crying and laughing
at the same time?
She had to get herself together...
On the other side of the counter, Ranma and Akane argued as they
always did. Didn't they love each other now? She had waited weeks
for some declaration to come from the two of them that would set
all hell loose. But... there was nothing.
What was going on?
"I didn't say I was going to go through with it Ranma, calm down.
It's not like I'm going to get YOU fixed."
They act like nothing had happened, what were they afraid of?
"That's not funny, uncute tomboy. If that's what's waiting for
him, he's never gonna come back now."
There were idiots. Stupid freakin idiots. And she was more jealous
of them than anything she had ever been in her entire life.
"Whatever, pervert! Maybe we should get you fixed too. That'd
solve a lot of our problems." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Yeah but that'd ruin all the fun--errr uh I mean, who are you
calling a pervert?!"
They were faking!
Those cowards!
If she had it, she wouldn't be afraid. She wouldn't waste it.
Damn... how she wished she could have it. It wasn't fair!
"As if I'd want to look at YOU." Her eyes lingered a little too
long before she turned away.
To have someone that would love and die for you... and they waste
it on petty arguing?! How dare they waste something like that!!
"UNCUTE!"
"PERVERT!"
Ukyou stood up.
"STOP IT!!!"
Akane, Ranma, and the rest of the restaurant froze in surprise.
Ukyou clutched her spatula, tears running down her face.
"DO NOT DESTROY MY RESTAURANT BECAUSE OF ONE OF YOUR LITTLE LOVERS
QUARELLS!"
Ranma and Akane could only gape in surprise. The rest of the
patrons grabbed their food in hand and left as fast as they could.
"THIS RESTAURANT IS THE ONLY THING I'VE GOT, DAMN IT!" She grasped
her spatula handle so hard it bent. "YOU AND YOUR STUPID LOVERS
QUARRELS'! I KNOW YOU LOVE EACH OTHER!"
She pounded on the countertop for effect.
"YEAH, I SAW YOU KISSING THE NIGHT RYOUGA GOT HURT! YOU LOVE EACH
OTHER! WHY ARE YOU PRETENDING YOU DON'T?!"
She ripped her apron off and stomped toward them. "IS IT COLOGNE
AND THAT HUSSY?! WELL YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO FIGHT THEM!"
She stood in front of them, unaware of the tears streaming down
her face. "SO WHAT ABOUT YOUR PARENTS?! SAY NO! SOUN AND GENMA ARE
WIMPS!"
She shook them both. "YOU'RE BEING COWARDS! STOP_BEING_COWARDS!!!"
Ukyou went silent and hung her head.
Ranma and Akane's brain functions' ceased for a few brief seconds.
They opened and closed their mouths, but no sound came out. After
several minutes of staring at the walls, the ceiling, and all the
pretty dust mites... Akane regained her senses. Ranma's system was
still a few checks away from rebooting.
Akane tentatively put a hand on Ukyou's shoulder. "Ukyou are you--
"
"YOU'RE GOING ON A DATE!"
Ranma and Akane jumped.
Ranma blinked. "We... we are?"
"RIGHT NOW!"
"Uh..." was the best the two could manage.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!!" Ukyou grabbed them both by the
shirt collar and shoved them outside.
The two stood outside on the sidewalk, wandering where reality
went.
"GO NOW AND HAVE FUN OR I'M KILLING YOU BOTH!!"
Ranma and Akane reluctantly walked off toward a... date? Well...
the crazy okonomiyaki chef was quite scary and it was best to do
what she said.
The two faded off into the distance.
Ukyou slumped and dragged herself inside, laying her head on the
countertop.
"That was fun..." She coughed. "My throat hurts..."
But at least, someone would be happy. Her friend would be happy.
Of course, there would be battles to fight... Kodachi was a minor
problem... but the Amazon hussy wouldn't go down easily. But,
she'd help. They'd be happy. Maybe they'd let her babysit when
they had kids?
Ukyou forced her tears to stop. She was tired of moping. She
wasn't some weak little girl that would sit around crying over
some lost love. She REFUSED to be. It was time to heal. It was
time to get over the jackasses.
She wiped her tear streaked face and gazed about her restaurant.
"Oops, I chased all the customers away."
Broken hearts were very bad for business...
----
In another part of Japan, in the Hibiki basement...
Ryouga shivered. For some reason, he felt this sudden sense of
impending doom.
He shrugged. Oh well. He was quite used to doom.
Each step Ryouga took, enveloped him in a cloud of dust. Cobwebs
stretched across the rafters, and disappeared into the depths of
the ceiling. The walls were made of old stone, way older than his
house actually was. Ryouga sneezed. This place was HUGE.
"How long have we had this?!"
Damn. There was NO WAY he was going to clean this place. How many
rooms had he never noticed his house had?
Ryouga sneezed and walked over to a large shelf. He glanced down
at the different items. Some were labeled with tags, while others
were in pieces, barely distinguishable from each other. Souvenirs
from generations of Hibiki wanderers.
He walked over and read a label on a rusted sword lying near the
wall. "Tetsusaiga... ow!" Ryouga pulled his hand back and shook
it. Damn thing shocked him. Must be static electricity or
something...
"Ok gonna leave that alone."
He searched a few more shelves.
"Let's see... Nemicromicon, Ark of the Covenant, Claire Bible,
Jewel of Four Souls, Mcgruffin Device, One Piece, The Idiots guide
to the Illuminati, big trunk labeled Jimmy Hoffa... I'll never
find anything important in all this junk!"
Ryouga sighed after thirty minutes of searching. He was getting no
where. Sighing, he walked over to a dusty trunk and sat down. He
leaned back against the door...
Now, it's times like this when you're bored, relaxed, and you're
mind is blank that you're not really expecting the floor to
collapse and cause you to fall twenty feet into an unknown
mysterious cavern.
Which is probably why it happened to Ryouga... but he was used to
it.
Ryouga fell through several layers of cobwebs until he slammed
into hard rock. It didn't feel too great, so he decided to lie on
the ground for ten minutes, watching all the pretty dust fly to
the ground.
"Gah..." After several minutes, Ryouga decided to be fully
conscious again and pushed himself off the hard rock surface. He
squinted his eyes against the stinging dust and looked around.
Ryouga blinked.
It was some kind of shrine... Ancient carven images wove
themselves about the cavern. Small dust laden statues, some
crumbling from age lay in piles. Tapestries stretched across a far
wall.
But most unusual of all was the giant statue in the middle of the
room. Its' face was set in a permanent scowl. A... very familiar
scowl.
"Is that... me?"
-----
Please send C&C. I've been working on this story for nearly 4
years and I'm starting to get burnt out here...
Contact Info:
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
ashes: Ha ha, you got used for fanservice, Ryouga.
Ryouga: S-shut up!
Ranma: Think about it, tons of people saw you naked!
Ryouga: x_x
ashes: Ah! You killed him!
Next Chapter: Why is Ryouga's face on that statue? Do those
numbers mean ANYTHING? Will Ryouga have to take another bath? Will
Ashes find her plot in time? Tune in next time. It should be
finished before the sun burns out.
butcher it sometimes.
Contact Info:
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/
----
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days:
Chapter 13
---
The hospital was dark.
The master didn't mind. He was used to dark, dreary places. What
he really couldn't stand was the incessant beeping monitor beside
him. He knew his heart was beating, he didn't need to be reminded
of the fact over and over. His multiple broken bones and
contusions were reminder enough that he was alive.
Clouds drifted by the waning moon, cutting off the small amount of
light it could have given. The master glanced over at his bedside
clock. It was nearly midnight and he still couldn't fall asleep.
As soon as he was well enough, he was going to hunt down that
bandanna kid and rip his entrails out. That pretentious bastard
was going to pay for humiliating him. And those looks his woman
had given him! How DARE she look down upon him! That bitch would
pay too!
The Master was so involved in his musings, that he didn't notice
the door to his room creak open or see the dark figure in a long
black jacket step through. The figure puffed on a cigarette,
waiting for the broken master to notice him.
The Master looked up after several minutes, jolting suddenly and
yanking the IV out of his arm.
"S-sir! What are you--" He cut off as he noticed the glint of
metal sliding out of the figure's coat.
"Wait! I-I can make it up to you! Please!" The master yanked out
his IV, and sat up. "Please don't... please--"
His pleas were cut off as his head was severed from his shoulders,
rolling uselessly to the floor. The mouth moved for several more
seconds...
Warm blood flowed out of the severed corpse like a fountain.
With one fluid motion, the figure poured liquid onto the bed from
a small container. He then flicked his cigarette onto the bed.
Flames quickly began to engulf the room.
"Heh. Cannon Fodder." He smirked as he lit up another cigarette
and walked away at a slow leisurely pace.
And the monitor? Well... it stopped beeping.
----
Ryouga woke up with a gasp.
What the hell was that? Man, he felt sick. The master, and... his
head getting cut off and all the blood... Was it a vision? A
nightmare? Premonition?
One thing was for sure, that was the last time he allowed himself
to fall asleep in the bathtub.
The bath water wasn't cold yet. He hadn't been asleep for long.
The figure's face had been shrouded in shadows. Had it really
happened? It had felt so real... He had felt the fire, smelled the
blood. Of course, that could be because he'd spent a half an hour
scrubbing blood off of himself...
He supposed there was nothing he could do about it either way.
Also, the master had been an evil bastard, he shouldn't give a
damn if he was dead.
Heh, yeah. Only fools have pity for their enemies...
Not feeling like getting up, he pushed the hot water knob with his
foot, letting the warm water heat up the tub again. No one was
ever around to actually use the hot water, so he could use all he
wanted. When the water finally felt hot, he turned the knob off
again with his wet foot.
He winced and slid down further into the warm water, letting it
relax his tired muscles and wash over his naked body. He rubbed
his shoulder muscles, careful not to jar the stitches in his
palms. Giving himself stitches had been a rather... unpleasant
experience. He knew he should have gone to a doctor, but he didn't
want to go back to a hospital for as long as he lived.
Ryouga grumbled and tried to force himself to relax and failed
miserably.
It had been rather easy to get to his house. He had never realized
how... close it was to Nerima. There were no jungles, deserts, or
secret military installations anywhere in between the two!
Of course, there had been that evil cult that tried to kill him,
but compared to what he had previously thought, the route was a
walk through the cherry blossoms.
He was the only one in the house currently. Usually the
housekeeper was there, but even she had stepped out for a few
hours. She was paid to live in the house and clean it so when a
wayward Hibiki member actually made it home, they wouldn't have to
wade through buckets of unopened mail, among other things. Ryouga
had no idea how old the lady was, but he knew she was REALLY old.
When he was younger he often wondered if she was the first woman
EVER.
Ryouga had never been very fond of her, mainly because of her
penchant for never remembering his name, and getting television
confused with reality... sometimes both at once.
It was disheartening, but coming home to an empty house wasn't
anything unusual for him. He could count on his fingers the number
of times he had met someone else in the house other than the
housekeeper. When he had been younger, he had run into more
extended family members wandering about.
For some reason, once he got older, they all seemed to stop
coming...
Ryouga snorted. He had to stop feeling sorry for himself all the
time. It never got him anywhere.
He gazed at the ceiling for a long moment, trying to think of
nothing. However, his mind refused to corporate, and images of a
certain okonomiyaki chef seeped into his consciousness. He was
sure he must have the title 'Number One Jackass' in her mind right
now.
How could he ever have a girlfriend, or love, or a wife, or
anything like that, if he couldn't even keep a girl as a friend?
Ryouga idly counted the floral patterns on the ceiling...
Did Ukyou have any other friends?
He held back a laugh. Of course, she did. A pretty, smart, strong
girl like her must have lots of friends. Right? She was loyal
too... Well, as long as you didn't go around sleeping in girls
beds in the guise of a little pig. Girls tend to get angry when
you sneak into their beds... Unless your name is Shampoo and the
guy is Ranma...
Shampoo had always seemed a little loose in his opinion.
---
Miles away in the Cat Cafe, Shampoo sneezed as she slammed a large
butcher knife into a hunk of pork over... and over... and over...
---
Anyways...
Ukyou was a great person. She wasn't ugly either. Not that she was
perfect; nearly everyone in the area had some kind of odd quirk.
Slight cross dressing and an obsession with cooking were
definitely on the lower end of the scale.
Yeah... Ukyou had other friends. Everyone at Furinkin High
couldn't be that stupid. She had tons of friends.
Ryouga sighed and got out of the tub.
"Come on Mr. Jackass, can't stay in here all day..."
--- -
A bright shiny countertop is a must for any business. The fresh
lemony scent invigorates the customers and lets them know that
cleanliness is top priority. A business woman must always be
vigilant in keeping her restaurant in tip top shape.
Ukyou sighed and scrubbed the clean countertop for the seventeenth
time.
It was especially important when your job was your whole life.
The restaurant was fairly busy today. The small space was crammed
with customers. Business was good. She had spent the day listening
to the customer's conversations. Usually they were boring, but
sometimes they were like live soap operas.
Currently, a group of high school students were gathered about the
countertop. They were talking about who liked who, clothes, and
makeup. It was like an alien language to Ukyou. You wore clothes
that were decent and fit, and makeup was a waste of money. As for
who liked who... there had always been one guy, one goal in her
life. Dating and searching seemed very... complicated.
She was fairly sure they all went to Furinken, but she didn't know
their names. Glancing through the corner of her eye, she watched
as they laughed and giggled. Maybe she should try to talk to them?
No, that was silly. There was nothing she could say to them. Other
than not to take little pigs home and sleep with them in their
beds...
She blinked and pushed her thoughts aside as a customer walked up.
Now was not the time to waste energy on sappy emotions. They never
got her anywhere. She turned on her brightest, fake smile.
"Hello! Welcome to Uccha--"
She paused as she recognized her customer.
"Hi... Ranma."
----
Ryouga wasn't sure where to go. He hoped he wouldn't run into the
housekeeper. Maybe she didn't work for them anymore? But, it was
hard to believe that she wasn't around. Sometimes he thought she
had come with the house. It had been two years since he had last
seen her. She hadn't been around when Shirokuro had her puppies...
As if on cue, seven full-grown black and white dogs tackled him.
"Ack!" He frantically grabbed the nearby table to catch his
balance as a wall of fur and wagging tails enveloped him on all
sides. A very bad memory of the time he was mauled by rabid dogs
in Osaka flashed before his mind. He desperately grabbed a piece
of beef jerky from his backpack and threw it blindly. The jerky
did an amazing curve and zipped through three different rooms.
Since food is much more important than love, as most dogs
realized, the Shirokuro hoard bounded off toward the jerky.
Ryouga breathed a sign of relief. Someone really needed to give a
few of those dogs away.
Sighing, he looked about the room and suddenly realized what table
he had been leaning on.
His eyes swept the surface, stopping where a note from his mother
lay. He picked it up, smiling sadly, and stared at it for a few
minutes. It was a ritual whenever he got home. He knew it was
silly, he had read it so many times he knew it by heart. Holding
the note like delicate silk, he turned it over in his hands,
feeling every crease of the paper.
The sound of a door closing brought him out of his trance. He sat
the ten-year-old note back in its place and continued looking
around.
Damn it! The turtle lady was here!
He waited for her reach him... and waited.... and waited...
Ryouga decided to just walk over. He figured he might as well get
it over with. Every once in awhile, she had something important to
pass on to him.
"Hey, Kameko are you here?"
The Hibiki's house keeper lurched slowly forward, stopped, and
poked her head out of her large turtleneck sweater. Her ancient
wrinkled face split into a grin.
"Master Lupin welcome home!" She cackled.
Ryouga tripped and fell flat on his face.
"My name's not Lupin..." He pulled himself to his feet.
"Oh I'm sorry hee hee, you're so much taller! How's school? Has
your teacher Onizuka been keepin ya on your toes?"
"Who?" Ryouga felt a bead of sweat run down his neck. Sometimes it
was best just to agree. "School's great. Yep. I love school."
"I've been feeding Doremon for you." She wiggled her cane around.
"It's Shirokuro, and Doremon wasn't a dog..."
"You get a haircut?" She creeped over and began to pick at him.
She couldn't remember his name, yet she noticed his hair... great.
"Yeah. Listen Kameko was there any--"
"What happened to your hand boy?" She grabbed his bandaged hand in
concern. The white bandaged was dotted in blood.
Ryouga frowned at the blood. He must not have done the stitches
properly.
"Um..."
Evil Cult? Fight to the death? Nah, he didn't want to explain
that. He frowned... actually, why not?
"I was drugged and forced to fight to the death in an underground
arena that is run by crazy cult members."
"Ah that used to happen to your mother all the time."
"Huh?????" No, it was best to ignore that. Crazy Kameko just got
lucky that time.
Kameko smirked. "Be a good boy and clean the basement." She
wiggled her cane again.
Ryouga blinked. "We have a basement?!"
"Eh? Why wouldn't we?"
"Where?"
Kameko pointed her cane behind Ryouga. He turned around. Behind
him was a large wooden door with the words 'BASEMENT' carved into
it in large letters.
"Oh." He shifted his pack. "And why do I have to clean it?"
Kameko looked at him like he was the crazy old turtle lady
instead. "Because the negative energy from Rosuto-sama's shrine
will begin to overflow with negative energy and break the seal. It
is very unstable. Enemies lurk on every side..." She glanced from
side to side in a 'paranoid crazy old lady way'.
She popped back into her sweater. "And I can't reach the higher
shelves."
"Uh huh."
"Weeel I'm gonna go now. Hee hee." Kameko slowwwwwwllllllyyyyy
walked away to go water the sidewalk.
Ryouga shrugged as he watched her walk away. Why not? It couldn't
hurt to at least take a look down there.
He opened the door and started down the steps.
----
Her plan to avoid them forever had failed.
Ranma shifted from foot to foot, nervous for some reason. Ukyou
had no idea why, but really didn't care. Akane stood next to him
looking worse for wear. Ukyou pushed down the urge to laugh. What?
Did the little princess get kidnapped again? If she were Akane,
she'd train harder so that wouldn't happen again. But no, Akane
wouldn't even try.
"Ukyou, have you seen P-chan?"
Ukyou let a small laugh sneak out. And here she thought it was
about something important.
"You know?" Ranma piped up, "The little porky to go menu on legs?"
Akane punched him in the ribs. "Don't say that!" She sniffled. "He
could be really hurt and all alone somewhere..."
Ukyou almost dropped her sauce brush.
"Aw Akane, don't go crying on me."
"I am NOT crying."
"Yes you are. Tomboys can't be crybabies too ya know."
Akane punched him in the ribs again.
"Ow..." Ranma rubbed his side, noticed what he was doing, and then
puffed up. "I mean, not ow. That didn't hurt."
Ukyou flipped another okonomiyaki and concentrated on the grill.
It was painful to watch their old married couple routine. She
wished they'd just leave. "He probably got lost. Don't worry about
it."
Akane sighed. "Don't be silly. P-chan's not Ryouga something--"
"OF COURSE'S HE'S NOT!" Ranma paled and began to make wavy hand
gestures, bumping into a few customers.
Ukyou looked up.
P-chan eh? A bitter smile flashed across her face. The small bit
of mirth faded quickly.
"You know how it is Akane. Little boy pig with hormones wandering
around... He must be looking for a girlfriend." Ukyou smirked.
"You should have him neutered."
Ranma covered his mouth as a sort of half-scream came out.
"I suppose you could be right." Akane looked thoughtful. "He might
stay home more often if we do..."
"No!" Ranma put his hands on Akane's shoulders. "You can't do that
to him Akane!"
"I thought you didn't like P-chan?"
"I don't, but no man deserves that!"
"Man?" Ukyou picked up the sauce and spread it across another
okonomiyaki. "I thought he was a pig?"
"HE IS! HE IS!"
"Why are you freaking out for?" Akane lightly brushed Ranma's
hands off her shoulders. "He's just a little pig."
"YEAH! YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT!"
Ukyou had to duck behind the counter to hide her laughter.
Unexpectedly, she began to cry in the middle of laughing. She
wiped the tears from her cheeks. Why was she crying and laughing
at the same time?
She had to get herself together...
On the other side of the counter, Ranma and Akane argued as they
always did. Didn't they love each other now? She had waited weeks
for some declaration to come from the two of them that would set
all hell loose. But... there was nothing.
What was going on?
"I didn't say I was going to go through with it Ranma, calm down.
It's not like I'm going to get YOU fixed."
They act like nothing had happened, what were they afraid of?
"That's not funny, uncute tomboy. If that's what's waiting for
him, he's never gonna come back now."
There were idiots. Stupid freakin idiots. And she was more jealous
of them than anything she had ever been in her entire life.
"Whatever, pervert! Maybe we should get you fixed too. That'd
solve a lot of our problems." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Yeah but that'd ruin all the fun--errr uh I mean, who are you
calling a pervert?!"
They were faking!
Those cowards!
If she had it, she wouldn't be afraid. She wouldn't waste it.
Damn... how she wished she could have it. It wasn't fair!
"As if I'd want to look at YOU." Her eyes lingered a little too
long before she turned away.
To have someone that would love and die for you... and they waste
it on petty arguing?! How dare they waste something like that!!
"UNCUTE!"
"PERVERT!"
Ukyou stood up.
"STOP IT!!!"
Akane, Ranma, and the rest of the restaurant froze in surprise.
Ukyou clutched her spatula, tears running down her face.
"DO NOT DESTROY MY RESTAURANT BECAUSE OF ONE OF YOUR LITTLE LOVERS
QUARELLS!"
Ranma and Akane could only gape in surprise. The rest of the
patrons grabbed their food in hand and left as fast as they could.
"THIS RESTAURANT IS THE ONLY THING I'VE GOT, DAMN IT!" She grasped
her spatula handle so hard it bent. "YOU AND YOUR STUPID LOVERS
QUARRELS'! I KNOW YOU LOVE EACH OTHER!"
She pounded on the countertop for effect.
"YEAH, I SAW YOU KISSING THE NIGHT RYOUGA GOT HURT! YOU LOVE EACH
OTHER! WHY ARE YOU PRETENDING YOU DON'T?!"
She ripped her apron off and stomped toward them. "IS IT COLOGNE
AND THAT HUSSY?! WELL YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO FIGHT THEM!"
She stood in front of them, unaware of the tears streaming down
her face. "SO WHAT ABOUT YOUR PARENTS?! SAY NO! SOUN AND GENMA ARE
WIMPS!"
She shook them both. "YOU'RE BEING COWARDS! STOP_BEING_COWARDS!!!"
Ukyou went silent and hung her head.
Ranma and Akane's brain functions' ceased for a few brief seconds.
They opened and closed their mouths, but no sound came out. After
several minutes of staring at the walls, the ceiling, and all the
pretty dust mites... Akane regained her senses. Ranma's system was
still a few checks away from rebooting.
Akane tentatively put a hand on Ukyou's shoulder. "Ukyou are you--
"
"YOU'RE GOING ON A DATE!"
Ranma and Akane jumped.
Ranma blinked. "We... we are?"
"RIGHT NOW!"
"Uh..." was the best the two could manage.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!!" Ukyou grabbed them both by the
shirt collar and shoved them outside.
The two stood outside on the sidewalk, wandering where reality
went.
"GO NOW AND HAVE FUN OR I'M KILLING YOU BOTH!!"
Ranma and Akane reluctantly walked off toward a... date? Well...
the crazy okonomiyaki chef was quite scary and it was best to do
what she said.
The two faded off into the distance.
Ukyou slumped and dragged herself inside, laying her head on the
countertop.
"That was fun..." She coughed. "My throat hurts..."
But at least, someone would be happy. Her friend would be happy.
Of course, there would be battles to fight... Kodachi was a minor
problem... but the Amazon hussy wouldn't go down easily. But,
she'd help. They'd be happy. Maybe they'd let her babysit when
they had kids?
Ukyou forced her tears to stop. She was tired of moping. She
wasn't some weak little girl that would sit around crying over
some lost love. She REFUSED to be. It was time to heal. It was
time to get over the jackasses.
She wiped her tear streaked face and gazed about her restaurant.
"Oops, I chased all the customers away."
Broken hearts were very bad for business...
----
In another part of Japan, in the Hibiki basement...
Ryouga shivered. For some reason, he felt this sudden sense of
impending doom.
He shrugged. Oh well. He was quite used to doom.
Each step Ryouga took, enveloped him in a cloud of dust. Cobwebs
stretched across the rafters, and disappeared into the depths of
the ceiling. The walls were made of old stone, way older than his
house actually was. Ryouga sneezed. This place was HUGE.
"How long have we had this?!"
Damn. There was NO WAY he was going to clean this place. How many
rooms had he never noticed his house had?
Ryouga sneezed and walked over to a large shelf. He glanced down
at the different items. Some were labeled with tags, while others
were in pieces, barely distinguishable from each other. Souvenirs
from generations of Hibiki wanderers.
He walked over and read a label on a rusted sword lying near the
wall. "Tetsusaiga... ow!" Ryouga pulled his hand back and shook
it. Damn thing shocked him. Must be static electricity or
something...
"Ok gonna leave that alone."
He searched a few more shelves.
"Let's see... Nemicromicon, Ark of the Covenant, Claire Bible,
Jewel of Four Souls, Mcgruffin Device, One Piece, The Idiots guide
to the Illuminati, big trunk labeled Jimmy Hoffa... I'll never
find anything important in all this junk!"
Ryouga sighed after thirty minutes of searching. He was getting no
where. Sighing, he walked over to a dusty trunk and sat down. He
leaned back against the door...
Now, it's times like this when you're bored, relaxed, and you're
mind is blank that you're not really expecting the floor to
collapse and cause you to fall twenty feet into an unknown
mysterious cavern.
Which is probably why it happened to Ryouga... but he was used to
it.
Ryouga fell through several layers of cobwebs until he slammed
into hard rock. It didn't feel too great, so he decided to lie on
the ground for ten minutes, watching all the pretty dust fly to
the ground.
"Gah..." After several minutes, Ryouga decided to be fully
conscious again and pushed himself off the hard rock surface. He
squinted his eyes against the stinging dust and looked around.
Ryouga blinked.
It was some kind of shrine... Ancient carven images wove
themselves about the cavern. Small dust laden statues, some
crumbling from age lay in piles. Tapestries stretched across a far
wall.
But most unusual of all was the giant statue in the middle of the
room. Its' face was set in a permanent scowl. A... very familiar
scowl.
"Is that... me?"
-----
Please send C&C. I've been working on this story for nearly 4
years and I'm starting to get burnt out here...
Contact Info:
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
ashes: Ha ha, you got used for fanservice, Ryouga.
Ryouga: S-shut up!
Ranma: Think about it, tons of people saw you naked!
Ryouga: x_x
ashes: Ah! You killed him!
Next Chapter: Why is Ryouga's face on that statue? Do those
numbers mean ANYTHING? Will Ryouga have to take another bath? Will
Ashes find her plot in time? Tune in next time. It should be
finished before the sun burns out.