Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )
[ 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: 10.18.2001 | Updated On: 11.07.2004 | Pages: 5 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 383 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Mystery / Comedy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.18.2001 | Updated On: 11.07.2004 | Pages: 5 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 383 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is not mine cretins! *shakes fist*
Contact Info:
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/
----
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days
Chapter 6
----
Ukyou sipped her soda idly and settled back against the couch. The
stars had not yet faded from the early morning sky, leaving her
living room illuminated only by the small TV in the middle of the
room. Ukyou usually tried to catch the morning news before the
breakfast rush. It always helped to calm her nerves, even if it
was always bad news. The kitchen segment was good for a couple of
laughs. The silly fool, how could you have food and not fighting?
The two went hand and hand. It was so very wrong.
The television flashed as the anchorman appeared on the screen.
"Today, authorities arrested the long-sought-after Doppelganger
killer. Police received an anonymous tip late last night, and
found the suspect unconscious and tied to a lamppost. We should
have more on this breaking story at noon. In other news..."
"It's nice to know there are still people like Ranma-honey out
there." She took a bite of her experimental American okonomiyaki
and grimaced. Putting potato chips, cheese, and a couple of other
American foods together had sounded like a good idea on
paper...but in reality, it was a small, flat heart attack on a
plate.
With a deep sigh, she picked up her half-eaten breakfast, turned
off the television (that damn cooking show was on again), and
walked to the restaurant area. The freshly mopped and scrubbed
countertop and floor welcomed her with a wave of lemon. She might
have overdone it a bit with the cleaner...
She wrinkled her nose and went to prepare the restaurant for the
morning rush.
She envied the other kids at school. Most of them would be still
asleep, in their nice warm beds ... like Akane... It wasn't fair.
Where did her damn childhood go?
She shook her head. It wasn't good to dwell on the past. She did
that for ten years and look what it got her, an empty restaurant.
Granted, things could be worse. She wasn't on the streets or
anything. Hell would freeze over before she let that happen to
herself.
What was she even doing here? Ranma loved Akane, proving that love
was blind... and deaf... and apparently no longer had any feeling
from the neck down. She had no reason to be here, save her
restaurant. Maybe she could move...
Nah, she had come to know people here. Some of them were very
scary people but still... normal was so boring. If all of the
crazy people just disappeared from Nerima, it just wouldn't be
home anymore.
She paused.
Well she could always do without Happosai. But wishing for
something never made it true.
---
Somewhere in a remote location in Japan...
"What a haul!" The ancient pervert known as Happosai laughed to
himself as he trudged through an abandoned wheat field. The night
sky was pitch black and void of stars, save for one lone ball of
light that twinkled in the distance.
It had been nearly two months since he'd been back to Nerima. Oh!
How the pretty ladies must miss him!
"Don't worry, sweetums! I'm coming back! Nothing can stop me!
Nothing can keep me away from the pretty ladies!"
Unnoticed by Happosai, the distant star moved.
"Ahh my pretties." He swung his bag of underwear playfully.
"Akane, here I c--
Happosai blinked as a bright light illuminated his face.
"What the--Aaahh!" He felt suddenly his body being ripped to
pieces and seized by some kind of beam. A blinding flash of light
illuminated the area for a brief second.
Abruptly as it had appeared, the star in the sky vanished. A large
bundle of underwear fell to the ground in the empty field.
Happosai, the lecherous pervert that had tormented thousands of
women throughout history, was never seen again.
And the world was a better place.
---
"If wishes were fishes." Ukyou laughed to herself and started up
the grill. Wishing was a nice pastime for long-haired princesses
in towers, but it never got anything done. Besides, she had things
to do before she could make major life decisions, like explain to
Ryouga that the girl he was in love with was in love with someone
else, his mortal enemy no less, and that he was going to have to
move on with his life, like it or not.
Gee, life sure was fun.
She had to break it to him gently. Maybe she could take him
shopping? The boy could use more than one pair of clothes. Didn't
he ever get tired of yellow? And that headband... it did NOT match
everything, despite what he may think. The mountain man hairstyle
was not working either.
Perfect! She'd take him to the mall, have lunch, get a haircut,
and then crumble his hopes and dreams into dust.
Ukyou wrinkled her nose.
"Well I guess you can't have everything." She paused and stared
out the window at the rising sun. It was a good plan but it had
one tiny snag...
She had to FIND him first.
---
The sun rose slowly over the mountains, bathing the forest
clearing in a soft-orange light. Shadows slithered from nooks and
crannies like reptiles as if trying to escape back from the
morning's rays.
Ryouga went through the graceful movements of a simple kata. Sweat
dripped off his body like rain. His bad leg burned as he executed
a slow side-kick.
Focus.
Punch. Kick. Sweep. Breathe.
His muscles wouldn't do what he wanted them to. Just a few months
ago, he could have preformed the kata with ease, not even breaking
a sweat. Now he felt like he was in a stranger's body. His muscles
felt alien and weak.
HE HATED TO FEEL WEAK!
"Bauksai tenketsu!" A boulder exploded into tiny shards before his
eyes. At least some things still worked. He slid to his knees,
breathing heavily.
"I'm never going to be able to defeat Ranma now." But that's what
everyone expected, wasn't it? It was the way the universe worked.
Ranma was best, and Ryouga was allowed to be second best
sometimes. We couldn't let Ryouga win. Oh no. Then Ranma wouldn't
be the best and the whole damn world would explode.
"I've got a sense of direction now and what can I do with it? I
can find Ranma, but I can't beat him. Akane wouldn't be impressed
by something I was already supposed to have, and I still had this
damn curse..." Ryouga froze and looked up suddenly. Why hadn't he
thought of it before?!
He ran and grabbed his bag.
"Ranma Saotome!" He raised his fists in the air. "I'm going to
Jusenkyou ! AND I'M NOT BRINGING YOU BACK ANY DAMN WATER
EITHER!!!"
Five minutes later...
Ryouga stopped and frowned.
"Uh... how do I get to Jusenkyou anyway?"
---
The sun had already set by the time Ryouga set foot in Nerima
again.
His plan was simple; sneak into Akane's house as P-chan, steal
Genma's map, and get out. He wasn't too happy about having to
steal. But, there were probably plenty of things Genma had gotten
away with that he needed punished for. And all Ranma had to do was
ask Cologne for one. Or Shampoo. He might even have the stupid map
memorized. Besides, he wasn't going to keep the map forever. He
was just borrowing it... for a very long time.
He walked under a bridge, casting his body into shadow. A fog
rolled off the water, obscuring the path... Discarded beer bottles
littered the ground like urban flowers. A hobo must have been by
here. Ryouga glanced over his shoulder. Whoever it had been was
long gone.
He shifted the weight of his backpack. Something glittered on the
surface of the water for a moment. Dismissing it as the moonlight,
he continued on.
The light flickered briefly again. It looked almost like thin
hands reaching from the depths of the water... thin... human hands
"Shit." He rushed forward. The mud next to the bank squished
underneath his shoes. Careful not to slip, he peered over into the
murky depths. The mist cleared for a moment, revealing a slightly
decayed human body caked in slime. The current slowly turned the
body on its side, exposing its lifeless brown eyes.
Ryouga stepped back and blinked in shock. What the--? But when he
opened them again the body was gone. The water flowed serenely on
as if nothing had ever been there. Maybe it hadn't?
He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and took a cautious
step backward. Mist clung to the ground in a death grip. All was
still save for the soft sound of running water. He could hear his
own heart thumping loudly in his ears. Thump... Thump... Thump...
He backed up to the concrete sides of the bridge. There was a
strange pricking feeling in his brain like someone was poking his
mind with a needle. Shit, what the heck was going--
His world inverted and ripped apart.
Ryouga grabbed the edge of the wall tightly. His fingers left
indentations in the concrete surface.
"Ah hell, not again."
bUrnINg bReAD . . . A rEd rIGht hANd . . . 5232 . . . nEvEr tRusT
tHe rEd oNly tHe bLuE . . .THerE wAs aN oLd MAn oN tHe BRiDge . .
. yOu Can oNly bE pUshEd sO fAr BeForE yOu hAve noThing leFt . . .
Ryouga released the wall slowly. A large piece of concrete fell
from his hand and onto the rocky ground. He cradled his head in
his hands as the sense of vertigo slowly receded.
"I don't care," he muttered softy into his hands. "This isn't my
problem. I don't care." Stupid visions, he wasn't going to jump
when called! He had freewill damn it! Some weird brain aneurism
wasn't going to tell him what to do!
His head raised and he tried to compose himself. Shifting his bag
on his shoulders, he turned and headed away from the bridge.
Let someone else be heroic. Ryouga had his own problems.
Besides, he wasn't nice enough to be heroic. In fact, he was
often a jerk? Do jerks save people? No way! Jerks mind their own
business!
And yet, Ryouga felt himself turn around and begin to walk back to
the bridge.
"No I don't care at all." His voice sounded lame even to his own
ears. He scowled at the ground. Damn conscience... where did he
get one anyway?
He slowly made it to the top and indeed, there was an old man
standing on the edge of the bridge, looking down to the depths
below. What was left of his hair was gray. His clothes were
disheveled as if they had been slept in. His wrinkled face was
impassive and cold.
Ryouga stopped. He waited for the man to notice him for a few
moments. He shifted his weight from foot to foot. When it became
evident that the man was oblivious to the outside world, Ryouga
decided to try a different tactic.
"So um... what are ya doing?" Ryouga winced. He's trying to kill
himself you moron! What do you think he was trying to do? Knit him
a sweater?!
The man turned and gazed at Ryouga. Their eyes met for a brief
moment. Age clashed with youth as the bandanna-clad boy held the
eye contact. The old man's brown orbs seemed depthless. Ryouga was
struck again with a feeling of wrongness as when he saved the
street girl. But, the situation didn't feel like a play as
before. Ryouga could sense the old man's emotions were sincere
and yet...
"Please, leave an old man to his final business. I have to do
this..." The old man shrugged his shoulders.
Ryouga had the irrational feeling that the old man had strings
attached to his arms and legs like a puppet. And somewhere,
invisible hands held the strings, dictating his every movement.
Ryouga shook the feeling away and approached the man slowly. "Ah,
come on old man you have lots to live for." Hopefully, he wouldn't
ask for examples.
"Like what?"
DAMN!
"Uh um... things and uh stuff um... lots of stuff!" The bandanna
clad boy laughed nervously. He tried a lame attempt at a smile,
only to succeed in a kind of half grimace. He was more likely to
scare the man into jumping than succeed in saving him. Then again,
what was he saving him from? The mental image of a puppet on
strings just wouldn't leave Ryouga's mind.
The man raised a single gray eyebrow, amused despite himself.
"You're not very good at this are you?"
"I'm trying! You um... uh... err... uh... DAMN IT!" Ryouga shook
his head violently. "I can't take all this stress!"
The old man's eyes widened in a flicker of sincere emotions.
Ryouga continued to clutch his head, in the middle of a mini panic
attack.
He had to think of something! ANYTHING! Think stupid! The old man
had been around a long time. He'd probably done a lot in his life.
But Ryouga had never really done much... The old man probably had
a wife, kids, grandkids, and a home. Not like Ryouga. All Ryouga
had was an empty house that wasn't really a home anymore. He
didn't have a girlfriend either and he didn't want to have any
kids yet... but that was beside the point! What was he doing? He
had no purpose in life... unless this was his purpose in life...
then he was totally screwed. ARGH! HE WAS SUCH A LOSER!... And he
supposed to grief counsel someone?!'
"FINE! I'M KILLING MYSELF TOO!" Ryouga jumped up on the ledge,
landing next to the man, almost knocking the old guy off in the
process.
"That's not what you're supposed to do..." Life suddenly rushed
back into the old man's eyes as if the strings had suddenly
snapped. "GET OFF THE LEDGE STUPID!"
The old man had completely come to life, as if his soul had been
on vacation visiting relatives and had just arrived back home.
"What?" Ryouga looked back at him innocently. His fangs made it
rather hard to pull off that expression correctly. "I don't see
your name on this ledge."
"Get off the ledge!"
Ryouga shrugged and looked over the edge himself. It seemed miles
down to the bottom. If he didn't have his curse, he could probably
survive the jump. Little piggy bones weren't as strong as his
human ones. But hey, what are ya gonna do?
"I SAID GET OFF OF THE--" The old man abruptly paused and looked
suddenly thoughtful. "There was something important I was supposed
to remember..." The man leaned forward absently. "It was
important. And I think it was about a stone cat."
A cat? What was wrong with this guy?
Other than the whole "being suicidal business" of course.
"Huh..." The old man jumped down from the ledge and started to
walk away looking thoughtful.
What the hell?
"Huh? Are we done killing yourselves now?" Ryouga jumped down off
the ledge in confusion. What was with the sudden change in
attitude?
"Hmm? Oh yes..." The old man looked over his shoulder. "And you
are?"
Ryouga bowed, hesitantly. "Ryouga Hibiki."
"Hibiki? Come with me...yes, that's what you're supposed to do."
The man put a hand across his shoulders in a friendly gesture and
began to lead him away. They faced toward the commercial district.
What the hell was going on? He should probably be running the
other direction, but he decided to play along. Besides, it's not
like the old man could actually hurt him. If the old man freaked
out on him, he could always kick his senior citizen ass.
"You're not going to chop me up and bury me in your basement are
you?"
"Ha ha ha. What kind of question is that?"
Ryouga mentally frowned. That wasn't a "no" either.
----
Contact Info:
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/
Contact Info:
ashez2ashes@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ashez2ashes/
----
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days
Chapter 6
----
Ukyou sipped her soda idly and settled back against the couch. The
stars had not yet faded from the early morning sky, leaving her
living room illuminated only by the small TV in the middle of the
room. Ukyou usually tried to catch the morning news before the
breakfast rush. It always helped to calm her nerves, even if it
was always bad news. The kitchen segment was good for a couple of
laughs. The silly fool, how could you have food and not fighting?
The two went hand and hand. It was so very wrong.
The television flashed as the anchorman appeared on the screen.
"Today, authorities arrested the long-sought-after Doppelganger
killer. Police received an anonymous tip late last night, and
found the suspect unconscious and tied to a lamppost. We should
have more on this breaking story at noon. In other news..."
"It's nice to know there are still people like Ranma-honey out
there." She took a bite of her experimental American okonomiyaki
and grimaced. Putting potato chips, cheese, and a couple of other
American foods together had sounded like a good idea on
paper...but in reality, it was a small, flat heart attack on a
plate.
With a deep sigh, she picked up her half-eaten breakfast, turned
off the television (that damn cooking show was on again), and
walked to the restaurant area. The freshly mopped and scrubbed
countertop and floor welcomed her with a wave of lemon. She might
have overdone it a bit with the cleaner...
She wrinkled her nose and went to prepare the restaurant for the
morning rush.
She envied the other kids at school. Most of them would be still
asleep, in their nice warm beds ... like Akane... It wasn't fair.
Where did her damn childhood go?
She shook her head. It wasn't good to dwell on the past. She did
that for ten years and look what it got her, an empty restaurant.
Granted, things could be worse. She wasn't on the streets or
anything. Hell would freeze over before she let that happen to
herself.
What was she even doing here? Ranma loved Akane, proving that love
was blind... and deaf... and apparently no longer had any feeling
from the neck down. She had no reason to be here, save her
restaurant. Maybe she could move...
Nah, she had come to know people here. Some of them were very
scary people but still... normal was so boring. If all of the
crazy people just disappeared from Nerima, it just wouldn't be
home anymore.
She paused.
Well she could always do without Happosai. But wishing for
something never made it true.
---
Somewhere in a remote location in Japan...
"What a haul!" The ancient pervert known as Happosai laughed to
himself as he trudged through an abandoned wheat field. The night
sky was pitch black and void of stars, save for one lone ball of
light that twinkled in the distance.
It had been nearly two months since he'd been back to Nerima. Oh!
How the pretty ladies must miss him!
"Don't worry, sweetums! I'm coming back! Nothing can stop me!
Nothing can keep me away from the pretty ladies!"
Unnoticed by Happosai, the distant star moved.
"Ahh my pretties." He swung his bag of underwear playfully.
"Akane, here I c--
Happosai blinked as a bright light illuminated his face.
"What the--Aaahh!" He felt suddenly his body being ripped to
pieces and seized by some kind of beam. A blinding flash of light
illuminated the area for a brief second.
Abruptly as it had appeared, the star in the sky vanished. A large
bundle of underwear fell to the ground in the empty field.
Happosai, the lecherous pervert that had tormented thousands of
women throughout history, was never seen again.
And the world was a better place.
---
"If wishes were fishes." Ukyou laughed to herself and started up
the grill. Wishing was a nice pastime for long-haired princesses
in towers, but it never got anything done. Besides, she had things
to do before she could make major life decisions, like explain to
Ryouga that the girl he was in love with was in love with someone
else, his mortal enemy no less, and that he was going to have to
move on with his life, like it or not.
Gee, life sure was fun.
She had to break it to him gently. Maybe she could take him
shopping? The boy could use more than one pair of clothes. Didn't
he ever get tired of yellow? And that headband... it did NOT match
everything, despite what he may think. The mountain man hairstyle
was not working either.
Perfect! She'd take him to the mall, have lunch, get a haircut,
and then crumble his hopes and dreams into dust.
Ukyou wrinkled her nose.
"Well I guess you can't have everything." She paused and stared
out the window at the rising sun. It was a good plan but it had
one tiny snag...
She had to FIND him first.
---
The sun rose slowly over the mountains, bathing the forest
clearing in a soft-orange light. Shadows slithered from nooks and
crannies like reptiles as if trying to escape back from the
morning's rays.
Ryouga went through the graceful movements of a simple kata. Sweat
dripped off his body like rain. His bad leg burned as he executed
a slow side-kick.
Focus.
Punch. Kick. Sweep. Breathe.
His muscles wouldn't do what he wanted them to. Just a few months
ago, he could have preformed the kata with ease, not even breaking
a sweat. Now he felt like he was in a stranger's body. His muscles
felt alien and weak.
HE HATED TO FEEL WEAK!
"Bauksai tenketsu!" A boulder exploded into tiny shards before his
eyes. At least some things still worked. He slid to his knees,
breathing heavily.
"I'm never going to be able to defeat Ranma now." But that's what
everyone expected, wasn't it? It was the way the universe worked.
Ranma was best, and Ryouga was allowed to be second best
sometimes. We couldn't let Ryouga win. Oh no. Then Ranma wouldn't
be the best and the whole damn world would explode.
"I've got a sense of direction now and what can I do with it? I
can find Ranma, but I can't beat him. Akane wouldn't be impressed
by something I was already supposed to have, and I still had this
damn curse..." Ryouga froze and looked up suddenly. Why hadn't he
thought of it before?!
He ran and grabbed his bag.
"Ranma Saotome!" He raised his fists in the air. "I'm going to
Jusenkyou ! AND I'M NOT BRINGING YOU BACK ANY DAMN WATER
EITHER!!!"
Five minutes later...
Ryouga stopped and frowned.
"Uh... how do I get to Jusenkyou anyway?"
---
The sun had already set by the time Ryouga set foot in Nerima
again.
His plan was simple; sneak into Akane's house as P-chan, steal
Genma's map, and get out. He wasn't too happy about having to
steal. But, there were probably plenty of things Genma had gotten
away with that he needed punished for. And all Ranma had to do was
ask Cologne for one. Or Shampoo. He might even have the stupid map
memorized. Besides, he wasn't going to keep the map forever. He
was just borrowing it... for a very long time.
He walked under a bridge, casting his body into shadow. A fog
rolled off the water, obscuring the path... Discarded beer bottles
littered the ground like urban flowers. A hobo must have been by
here. Ryouga glanced over his shoulder. Whoever it had been was
long gone.
He shifted the weight of his backpack. Something glittered on the
surface of the water for a moment. Dismissing it as the moonlight,
he continued on.
The light flickered briefly again. It looked almost like thin
hands reaching from the depths of the water... thin... human hands
"Shit." He rushed forward. The mud next to the bank squished
underneath his shoes. Careful not to slip, he peered over into the
murky depths. The mist cleared for a moment, revealing a slightly
decayed human body caked in slime. The current slowly turned the
body on its side, exposing its lifeless brown eyes.
Ryouga stepped back and blinked in shock. What the--? But when he
opened them again the body was gone. The water flowed serenely on
as if nothing had ever been there. Maybe it hadn't?
He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and took a cautious
step backward. Mist clung to the ground in a death grip. All was
still save for the soft sound of running water. He could hear his
own heart thumping loudly in his ears. Thump... Thump... Thump...
He backed up to the concrete sides of the bridge. There was a
strange pricking feeling in his brain like someone was poking his
mind with a needle. Shit, what the heck was going--
His world inverted and ripped apart.
Ryouga grabbed the edge of the wall tightly. His fingers left
indentations in the concrete surface.
"Ah hell, not again."
bUrnINg bReAD . . . A rEd rIGht hANd . . . 5232 . . . nEvEr tRusT
tHe rEd oNly tHe bLuE . . .THerE wAs aN oLd MAn oN tHe BRiDge . .
. yOu Can oNly bE pUshEd sO fAr BeForE yOu hAve noThing leFt . . .
Ryouga released the wall slowly. A large piece of concrete fell
from his hand and onto the rocky ground. He cradled his head in
his hands as the sense of vertigo slowly receded.
"I don't care," he muttered softy into his hands. "This isn't my
problem. I don't care." Stupid visions, he wasn't going to jump
when called! He had freewill damn it! Some weird brain aneurism
wasn't going to tell him what to do!
His head raised and he tried to compose himself. Shifting his bag
on his shoulders, he turned and headed away from the bridge.
Let someone else be heroic. Ryouga had his own problems.
Besides, he wasn't nice enough to be heroic. In fact, he was
often a jerk? Do jerks save people? No way! Jerks mind their own
business!
And yet, Ryouga felt himself turn around and begin to walk back to
the bridge.
"No I don't care at all." His voice sounded lame even to his own
ears. He scowled at the ground. Damn conscience... where did he
get one anyway?
He slowly made it to the top and indeed, there was an old man
standing on the edge of the bridge, looking down to the depths
below. What was left of his hair was gray. His clothes were
disheveled as if they had been slept in. His wrinkled face was
impassive and cold.
Ryouga stopped. He waited for the man to notice him for a few
moments. He shifted his weight from foot to foot. When it became
evident that the man was oblivious to the outside world, Ryouga
decided to try a different tactic.
"So um... what are ya doing?" Ryouga winced. He's trying to kill
himself you moron! What do you think he was trying to do? Knit him
a sweater?!
The man turned and gazed at Ryouga. Their eyes met for a brief
moment. Age clashed with youth as the bandanna-clad boy held the
eye contact. The old man's brown orbs seemed depthless. Ryouga was
struck again with a feeling of wrongness as when he saved the
street girl. But, the situation didn't feel like a play as
before. Ryouga could sense the old man's emotions were sincere
and yet...
"Please, leave an old man to his final business. I have to do
this..." The old man shrugged his shoulders.
Ryouga had the irrational feeling that the old man had strings
attached to his arms and legs like a puppet. And somewhere,
invisible hands held the strings, dictating his every movement.
Ryouga shook the feeling away and approached the man slowly. "Ah,
come on old man you have lots to live for." Hopefully, he wouldn't
ask for examples.
"Like what?"
DAMN!
"Uh um... things and uh stuff um... lots of stuff!" The bandanna
clad boy laughed nervously. He tried a lame attempt at a smile,
only to succeed in a kind of half grimace. He was more likely to
scare the man into jumping than succeed in saving him. Then again,
what was he saving him from? The mental image of a puppet on
strings just wouldn't leave Ryouga's mind.
The man raised a single gray eyebrow, amused despite himself.
"You're not very good at this are you?"
"I'm trying! You um... uh... err... uh... DAMN IT!" Ryouga shook
his head violently. "I can't take all this stress!"
The old man's eyes widened in a flicker of sincere emotions.
Ryouga continued to clutch his head, in the middle of a mini panic
attack.
He had to think of something! ANYTHING! Think stupid! The old man
had been around a long time. He'd probably done a lot in his life.
But Ryouga had never really done much... The old man probably had
a wife, kids, grandkids, and a home. Not like Ryouga. All Ryouga
had was an empty house that wasn't really a home anymore. He
didn't have a girlfriend either and he didn't want to have any
kids yet... but that was beside the point! What was he doing? He
had no purpose in life... unless this was his purpose in life...
then he was totally screwed. ARGH! HE WAS SUCH A LOSER!... And he
supposed to grief counsel someone?!'
"FINE! I'M KILLING MYSELF TOO!" Ryouga jumped up on the ledge,
landing next to the man, almost knocking the old guy off in the
process.
"That's not what you're supposed to do..." Life suddenly rushed
back into the old man's eyes as if the strings had suddenly
snapped. "GET OFF THE LEDGE STUPID!"
The old man had completely come to life, as if his soul had been
on vacation visiting relatives and had just arrived back home.
"What?" Ryouga looked back at him innocently. His fangs made it
rather hard to pull off that expression correctly. "I don't see
your name on this ledge."
"Get off the ledge!"
Ryouga shrugged and looked over the edge himself. It seemed miles
down to the bottom. If he didn't have his curse, he could probably
survive the jump. Little piggy bones weren't as strong as his
human ones. But hey, what are ya gonna do?
"I SAID GET OFF OF THE--" The old man abruptly paused and looked
suddenly thoughtful. "There was something important I was supposed
to remember..." The man leaned forward absently. "It was
important. And I think it was about a stone cat."
A cat? What was wrong with this guy?
Other than the whole "being suicidal business" of course.
"Huh..." The old man jumped down from the ledge and started to
walk away looking thoughtful.
What the hell?
"Huh? Are we done killing yourselves now?" Ryouga jumped down off
the ledge in confusion. What was with the sudden change in
attitude?
"Hmm? Oh yes..." The old man looked over his shoulder. "And you
are?"
Ryouga bowed, hesitantly. "Ryouga Hibiki."
"Hibiki? Come with me...yes, that's what you're supposed to do."
The man put a hand across his shoulders in a friendly gesture and
began to lead him away. They faced toward the commercial district.
What the hell was going on? He should probably be running the
other direction, but he decided to play along. Besides, it's not
like the old man could actually hurt him. If the old man freaked
out on him, he could always kick his senior citizen ass.
"You're not going to chop me up and bury me in your basement are
you?"
"Ha ha ha. What kind of question is that?"
Ryouga mentally frowned. That wasn't a "no" either.
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