Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )
[ 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: 10 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 374 | 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: 10 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 374 | Status: Completed
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----
Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days
Chapter 8
----
He was surprised he had lasted this long. He was usually splashed
at least once a day, or MORE. But after the accident, he'd went
over two months without turning into P-chan. Granted, there had
been many close calls but to completely avoid it...
"Bwee." Ryouga snorted in his little piggy form. He had a lot to
make up for.
"Oh! Look at the cute little piggy!" A girl giggled and pointed to
his pig form. Wait... girl?
Ryouga glanced around his surroundings. He was in a bathhouse
lined with girls. Naked bathing girls... Ryouga gulped. Why hadn't
he been paying better attention?! He had just walked into the
first door he had seen... damn it! Steaming baths lined every
direction but his to right, where a screen separated the men's and
women's sides. Dozens of eyes turned toward him. Girls set down
their towels and stopped washing their hair.
Choruses of 'Oh how cute!' and 'Ooooh I want to hug him!' oozed
out of the crowd of girls that began to surround him.
"Come here little piggy!" A short haired girl wrapped in a towel
got on her hands and knees. "Come here, we won't hurt you!" She
beckoned him with her hand.
He had to get away! Ryouga desperately searched for a way out.
Both exits were blocked. He was trapped. There was no way out.
They were going to find out his secret and hate him... like
everyone else would... He was DOOMED.
The short haired girl picked him up. "Oooooo let's give him a
bath!"
The other girls in the room nodded in agreement. Ryouga
desperately struggled to get out of the girl's grip, but for some
reason he couldn't move. The hot water got closer and closer until
it morphed into a large gaping pit. Infinite blackness reached
down into eternity as Ryouga was held over the abyss. A red hand
reached out from the darkness toward him.
He had to get out. It couldn't end like this. Everyone would know.
Akane would know. She'd hate him! Everyone would hate him. Ukyou
would hate him. His only friend would hate him... No he couldn't
let this happen! NO!
She dropped him.
"Noooooooooo!"
Ryouga sat up from his futon.
What the? It... had been that dream again.
His clothes and blanket were drenched in sweat. His shivered in
the cool night air. The images of his dream seemed burned into
his mind. Someday that dream would end up being reality, he was
sure of it, except it would be Akane dropping him into the pit of
despair...
---
Ukyou knew she was going to have to apologize to him. But how was
she going to find him? And what was all this crap about having a
sense of direction? Next thing you know Genma will get the father
of the year award, Kuno will become a priest, Nabiki will be
helping orphans (for free!), and Ran-chan and Akane will run away
and get married.
A horrified expression crossed Ukyou's face. Ranma and Akane could
really do that... She shuddered uncontrollably. That thought was
going to give her nightmares for a couple weeks.
Gah, and then they'd have kids; little pigtailed psychopaths
wielding hammers, moving faster than the eye can see. They'd
probably get her to baby sit too. For free!
She slammed her spatula violently on the counter, spraying a
nearby customer. Who was she kidding? She glared at the slightly
splattered okonomiyaki and sighed. If they were Ranma's kids,
they'd probably be cute too...
Oh never mind. There was nothing she could do about it now. She
had to bow out gracefully. If he was happy without her, than
that's all she cared about. All her dreams didn't really matter in
the end...
Why was she worrying about this anyway? It hadn't even happened
yet. She needed to deal with the problem at hand, mainly Ryouga.
She'd just have to find him, walk up and say--
"Ukyou, I'm sorry."
No, that's not it. She'd say-- ...huh?
"Ryouga?" She looked up and was welcomed with the site of Ryouga
wiping batter off his face.
"Listen Ukyou, I'm sorry about overreacting last week. I should
have stayed and faced my problems like a man." Ryouga's face was
grim like a man facing his death sentence head on. Obviously, the
poor boy had spent too much time around Akane.
"Um..." Ukyou blinked, performing an accurate impression of an
animal caught in the headlights of a car. The expression should
have been obvious to Ryouga, but as usual he was oblivious. Ukyou
recovered and smiled.
"That's all right Ryouga. I forgive you."
"R-Really?" Ryouga frowned. This was suspiciously easy.
"Sure! Forgive and forget and all that."
"I guess." This coming from a girl that started on a quest for
revenge at age five...
Ukyou laughed, reached behind the counter, and turned off the
grill. As soon as the grill clicked off, she scanned the
restaurant. Only an older couple was left, and they were already
picking up their coats. Perfect.
"Hey Ryouga, are you doing anything today?" She walked out from
behind the counter and flipped over the open sign to closed.
"I suppose not." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Why do
you ask?"
He had a bad feeling about this.
"Good!" Ukyou winked. "Because I'm taking you shopping!"
Ryouga gulped. And today had looked like such a nice day...
---
Ryouga had thought he'd known true fear. After all the hardships
he had endured during his life, he had been sure that nothing
could faze him, but now he knew the truth. NO ONE, absolutely NO
ONE has known true fear until they've went shopping with a girl.
They had only just arrived and already he was afraid. There were
all these people laughing and giggling, milling about in tight
cramped herds fighting for the right for the best bargain in a
cruel economic world. Stores upon stores lined either side of him
like tangled masses of commerce. That week he had been lost in the
jungle had nothing on this place... mainly because the jungle
didn't have dozens upon dozens of giggling girls.
"So Ryouga, ready to cut loose and have fun?" Ukyou smiled at
Ryouga, slightly amused at his bewildered expression.
"No, not really."
"Well too bad! I'm going to get a smile out of you today if it's
the last thing I do!" Ukyou exclaimed with the same vigor someone
says 'Give me liberty or give me death!'. If they ever got into a
war, Ryouga hoped he would be on Ukyou's side.
"Sugar you know..." She had to put this delicately. "You need a
haircut. You look kinda scruffy. When was the last time you got
one anyway?"
"Hey! I've had this haircut since junior high there's nothing wr--
"
"Exactly my point! Come on! We're going to get you spruced up."
She grabbed his hand and dragged him in front of a nearby store.
Double automatic glass doors slid aside as Ukyou walked in,
dragging the reluctant Ryouga behind her.
Loud chirpy pop music hit them like a wave. Posters of movie stars
and various hair care products lined the walls. The floor was
covered in a black and white checkered pattern, with little
strands of hair on the ground that had missed the broom. On a far
shelf, a row of mannequin heads stared back at the customers like
a cosmetic shop of horrors.
Ukyou grabbed Ryouga by the collar before he could get away.
"Welcome!" A lady brandishing a pair of scissors stepped out of a
back room. She wore jeans and a trendy T-shirt with American
writing. Small silver clips kept a few strands of purple hair
splattered to her head, while other strands flew loose in a
gravity defying dance. Either that, or a furry purple creature had
crawled into her head and made a nest. "How may I help you today?"
Ukyou lightly shoved Ryouga forward. "We're here to get him a
haircut. I apologize ahead of time if your scissors snap while
cutting his hair."
The hairdresser laughed good naturally and stepped up closer to
her customers. She stopped a few feet from Ryouga and gave him a
scrutinizing glance. "Wow. You're right. Maybe I should unpack the
machete for this one."
"Hey!" Ryouga felt a lump forming at the bottom of his stomach.
She was kidding right? Yeah, who in their right mind would cut
someone's hair with a machete? Kidding... yeah that was it.
Although this was Nerima... They had martial arts ping pong for
crying out loud. But she wouldn't get any business if she
decapitated her customers all the time! But... Ahhh! What if those
mannequin heads WERE previous customers?!
"Ukyou! Wegottagetoutofhere!
Orwe'llgetdecaptiatedandturnedintomanakinsand--"
Ukyou smacked him in the head with a magazine. "Stop that."
"Yes ma'am."
"Darling I was just kidding!" The hairdresser put an arm around
Ryouga's shoulders. "Calm down sweet cheeks. I'm not going to ruin
your hair." She winked. "I'd never do that to the cute ones."
Having Ryouga significantly subdued, and with possibly 98% of
brain function temperately stopped, the hairdresser led him to a
chair. Ukyou's eyes narrowed slightly at the hairdresser as Ryouga
stumbled to his seat.
"So what kind of hair cut does your boyfriend want?" The
hairdresser looked back at Ukyou. After all, the man's opinion
really didn't matter. He probably couldn't form sentences right
now anyways.
"He's not my boyfriend." Ukyou handed her a picture she had gotten
out of a magazine. The clip had been one of many that she had
struggled over. It was a shorter cut but not too drastic. She
still wished she could have used the one with the clip on pigtail,
but Ryouga never would have gone for that.
"Yeah sure, whatever." She looked down at the picture and smiled.
"Not bad. I can swing this." She swung the salon chair so Ryouga's
back was to the sink. "Lean back so I can--"
Life instantly returned to Ryouga's eyes.
"GAHHH! NO! YOU CAN'T! WATER NO NO WATER err I mean..." The
bandanna clad boy laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his
neck.
The hairdresser blinked at the hysterical boy and looked at Ukyou.
"What's wrong with him?"
"I have no idea."
----
An hour later, Ryouga and Ukyou walked out of the salon. Ryouga
touched his newly cut hair in trepidation. It felt so... weird. It
had been thinned out and shortened considerably. While not enough
to be called a buzz cut, his head felt lighter. The hairdresser
had turned it slightly spiky, with two long pieces falling by each
of his eyebrows.
The hair cut really wasn't that bad. The shorter length allowed
him to see better, even with his bandanna. He was still wearing
his favorite piece of yellow and black cloth, much to the
hairdresser's annoyance. He didn't need it anymore, but he
couldn't stand not wearing it. Without it he felt... naked, not
exactly like himself.
It wasn't the worst of his problems, though. After his refusal to
get his haircut unless they used hot water, Ukyou seemed
suspicious. He'd tried the perfectly logical excuse that he hadn't
wanted cold water because it would have given him a cold and then
he'd get sick with malaria and die, but Ukyou didn't seem to buy
it. She had said something about malaria coming from mosquitoes
and DRINKING water... whatever. Had she had malaria? How was she
supposed to now?
But she kept staring at him, like he had done something wrong.
Could she know? No! There was no way she could know! She hadn't
tried to stab him with anything sharp and jagged or strangle him
so she couldn't know. There was no way she could know about P-
chan... Still, she kept giving him these odd looks from the corner
of her eye.
She might suspect, but she couldn't know anything. He could just
have aqua phobia. He could of uh... almost drowned as a kid! Yeah
that would work! He could have almost drowned in an uh... ice cold
pool in the middle of winter?
"Hey, Ryouga." Ukyou looked up at him and smiled, dragging him
from his reverie. For some reason, Ryouga felt his throat catch.
Maybe he was getting a cold after all...
"Y-Yeah?"
She brandished another of her cute girl smiles. "Wanna get
something to eat?"
"But..." Ryouga scowled. "Listen Ukyou, you've been really nice,
but I couldn't impose on you anymore and--"
"That's why you're paying for it." She winked unnervingly at him.
"Friends help each other out right?"
"I guess." Friends also didn't force each other to get haircuts
they didn't want. Then again, he wasn't entirely sure. He didn't
have much experience to look back on.
"Ok. What should we eat?" Ukyou turned a corner, followed closely
by Ryouga. They entered in a large eating plaza. Different
restaurants, lined the walls. Ryouga didn't really care where they
went.
"I dunno, just as long as it has nothing to do with bread or
pork..." Ryouga shrugged his shoulders.
"Man, Ryouga who died? You always sound so grim." Ukyou rolled her
eyes. Could Ryouga possibly be more of a drag?
"Um... _I_ almost did." Ryouga's face soured even more.
Ukyou sighed. "Were you always this bad?"
Ryouga's eyes glazed over slightly as his mind flashed to an image
of his six year old self, running up to his mother to give her a
flower. She had looked so peaceful that day, so full of life. It
wasn't fair...
"Ryouga?" Ukyou's concerned voice cut through his reverie. His
eyes refocused to find Ukyou's concerned face glancing at him from
his right.
"Oh sorry. I got distracted." He pointed to a random restaurant to
his right, hoping to change the subject. "How about we eat there?
It looks ok."
Not waiting for her answer, he turned and walked toward the
restaurant briskly. Ukyou gazed at his retreating form for a
moment then jogged back up to his side. Ryouga was acting
strangely, even for him. But then again, she didn't really now him
that well... Perhaps, this was who he really was?
This boy that she had been hanging around with all day... he
seemed nothing like the powerhouse of destruction she had known
before. Had he changed that drastically in such a short period of
time? Or was the person she had thought she'd known before only a
shadow of the real Ryouga Hibiki? He acted so differently when he
was around Ranma or Akane... or when he was fighting something.
He wasn't that bad of a guy when he wasn't trying to kill someone
or ruin a relationship. Or both at the same time...
"Um, this is ok isn't it?" He stopped in front of the entrance and
looked back at Ukyou. He thought he was supposed to ask her
opinion. He ate by himself mostly so the situation felt really odd
to him.
"Sure! Looks great." She stepped through the entrance and into the
restaurant. The restaurant was fairly plain, with western style
booths and tables. Ukyou picked a booth next to the window and sat
down. Ryouga sat down opposite to her, awkwardly.
A moment of silence stretched between the two like a valley.
Ryouga picked up his menu and glanced at it. The food listed was
mostly average Japanese foods with a few western dishes thrown in.
"Excuse me." A waiter cleared his throat as he approached their
table. "May I take your order please?"
"Yeah, I'll have a number three." Ukyou handed her menu to the
waiter.
"I'll have that too." Ryouga sat his menu on top of Ukyou's. It
didn't really matter to him what he ate, just as long as it didn't
turn him into anything or have any mind altering effects as food
from Nerima was ought to do. Besides, after having eaten so many
of Akane's meals, food didn't taste the same as it used to...
The waiter turned and walked back to the kitchen, leaving the two
alone. Another uncomfortable silence ensued.
"So..." Ukyou idly traced the wood grains of the table with her
finger, which Ryouga deftly tried not to watch. The tension in the
room was almost liquid in its intensity. "What um... are you going
to do now?"
"Now?" Ryouga blinked.
"Well, you've got a sense of direction now don't you?" She rested
her chin on her hand. "Aren't you going to... I dunno start your
life anew or something?"
"Start my life anew? How can I possibly put my life back together
after Ran-"
Ukyou held up a fork in a threatening manner. "Stop it. I don't
want to hear it."
"But-"
"No."
"Just lis-"
"No."
"Hey! Stop tha-"
"No." Ukyou's grin spread wider in mischievous glee. This was fun!
He was getting all flustered. It was really empowering.
"Did you know you're evil?" Ryouga pouted. Although, he considered
the expression to be an intimidating glare, only wusses pouted.
"You didn't answer my question." She waved her fork like weapon in
the air. "What are you going to do with your life?"
"I... don't know." His gaze drifted away. "I just... never thought
about it seriously."
"Getting a sense of direction must mean something right? Maybe the
Gods have something else planned for you?" Ukyou's smile faded as
she noticed something in Ryouga's eyes. It glinted in his green
orbs for only a second, but had been there. It was... pain and a
speck of fear. His scowl quickly fell back into place, so she
couldn't be sure...
"I don't believe in the Gods. No ethereal beings are controlling
my destiny."
Ukyou shrugged. If he was going to act like this, there was no
reason to keep egging him on. She didn't know how he could think
that, after all they'd seen and experienced. Curses, evil ghosts
etc., they'd seen it all. What other reason could there be for it
but as a big joke by the Gods?
"Well how about going back to school? I know you could get into
Furinken." A psychotic monkey strapped with explosives could get
into Furinken. If Ryouga studied, he could probably get in.
"I'd like that, but there are a couple of things I have to do
first."
Ukyou couldn't resist any longer. "Like jump into the Spring of
Drowned Man?"
Ryouga's heart fell down to his ankles.
"What?! I d-d-don't know what your talking about!" Ryouga heart
jumped back into his chest, shattered, and reformed itself. He
forgot to breathe for a few minutes. The lights dimmed. The world
inverted. In other words, some serious shit went down.
Ryouga looked around frantically. She needed to be distracted!
Yeah! Something! Anything!
Like a beacon of light on a dark and stormy night, the waiter came
out of the back room carrying their orders on a tray. Never has a
fat Japanese guy looked more like a heaven sent savior. Well,
Buddha comes close.
"Look! It's the waiter guy!" The slightly crazed bandanna clad boy
jumped to his feet. "Thank you waiter guy!"
The poor waiter fell to the ground as Ryouga ripped the tray from
his hands and hopped over his prone body. He sat down the tray as
fast as he could, jumped back into the booth, and began to stuff
his face.
"Can't eat and talk at the same time!... Gosh darn it. Guess I'll
just have to stop talking." Ryouga snapped his fingers in mock
grief and resumed stuffing his face very slowly, it wouldn't do to
finish his food before his curious companion did.
Ukyou narrowed her eyes. "Uh huh."
Ryouga rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously.
----
Ryouga experienced many things in his sixteen years of life. He'd
seen places that few men alive have beheld, mystical magic and
supernatural occurrences, experienced things that defy logic, and
push the boundaries of human existence. He'd even eaten Akane's
cooking and still lived.
But all that meant nothing, when faced with a young woman who,
deprived of feminine things throughout most of her childhood, was
suddenly given a life sized Ken doll to play with... Hopefully she
wouldn't pop off his head or anything.
"Hey Ryouga!"
Ryouga grimaced as Ukyou threw another pile of cloths at his face.
"Try these on too ok?" Ukyou, temporarily overcome by the haze
that is mall shopping, piled a few more clothes for Ryouga to try
on upon the ever growing mountain of men's clothing.
"A-All of these?!"
The mountain of clothes threatened to bury Ryouga and everyone
else within a fifty feet radius.
"Yeah, come out and show me each one after you try them on." Ukyou
smiled and shoved him toward the changing rooms.
Enough was enough! She couldn't keep pushing him around like this!
"Ukyou I-"
"Please?"
"O-ok." Damn it! She did it again!
Downcast, Ryouga shuffled back to the changing rooms.
Three minutes later...
"I don't like this." Ryouga looked at himself in the mirror. "I
don't look like myself."
His reflection, wearing a black shirt, camouflaged pants, and
combat boots, glared back at him. Something wasn't right... he
looked really weird... almost like someone else. Ukyou glanced
over at the mirror and grimaced.
"You're right. Don't know what I was thinking." Ukyou shrugged as
Ryouga walked back to the increasingly familiar room to try
something else on.
Outside the store on an escalator, Ryu Kumon did a double-take,
tripped, and fell face down to the bottom floor.
Three minutes later...
Ukyou sat a magazine she had been reading down as Ryouga
approached.
"Wow Ryouga! You look great!"
"..."
"You don't like it do you?"
"..."
"I probably should have known you wouldn't like a Chinese shirt
huh?"
"..."
"Oh stop pouting... big baby. Fine, go try something else on."
"..." was Ryouga's eloquent reply as he shuffled back to the
changing rooms like a man on his last legs.
----
Four Hours later...
"I forgot how much fun shopping can be." Ukyou breathed in the
cool, fresh night air. The summer breeze ruffled her hair and
tickled her face, bracing her for what she had to do next. It was
such a shame too, this day had been nearly perfect.
It was hard. She hadn't expected to have such a good time. What
had started out as charity had turned out to be... something more.
She had never had that many friends. Ranma had been one of a very
few, especially when she went to that all boys school. She
couldn't get close to anyone for fear they'd find out her secret.
Before that, all her time was taken up training and taking care of
her father.
Shopping had actually been fun, maybe there was something to all
that girlie stuff after all.
Ryouga for his part looked like a man that had barely escaped
hell. He was REALLY overreacting. His attitude had been rather
embarrassing. But after awhile, he had stopped complaining out
loud and Ukyou could see that he wasn't as miserable as he was
trying to put on. When they had went to the arcade and cleaned out
the UFO catcher machine, she could have sworn he had almost
stopped scowling.
It didn't sound like much, but Ukyou had decided to count it as
progress.
The two walked side by side, Ryouga wearing his new clothes. The
large bag of plushie Ukyou had won, swished by her side as she
walked.
As for Ryouga, he too was going over the days events.
After awhile, he had been able to relax more. He wasn't sure when
it had happened, but somewhere between trying on all those damn
clothes and eating bad mall junk food, he stopped being miserable.
He wasn't going to let Ukyou know that of course. That might ruin
his angry anti-mall image and he couldn't have that. Heh, It was
almost like him and Ukyou had gone out on a date or something...
but they didn't! Gah! No no no! They didn't. Ukyou was a friend...
it had been just friends going out and spending money on the
Hibiki platinum gold Visa card.
Heh, his dad was going to kill him when he saw the bill... if he
could find him that is... which he can't... heh heh heh.
Ryouga smiled softly.
His cloths felt weird. He missed his trusty yellow shirt and green
pants, even his bandanna was gone. It mysteriously vanished... He
suspected foul play, but the evil okonomiyaki chef wasn't talking.
But that was fine, he had copies of the same outfit at his house.
Maybe he'd go back there sometime soon. After all, he could find
it now.
The bandanna that he had decided to buy was a simple white
bandanna with black lettering. A Chinese character for the future
was printed in neat script on the cloth's surface. At least, he
_thought_ that's what it said. He wasn't very good at Chinese...
if it said something like 'jackass' he was going to get angry.
He admitted to himself grudgingly, that he did like the cloths.
His new black leather boots were small enough not to hinder his
movements, but sturdy enough to work as good hiking boots. His new
pair of black pants fit perfectly, not too tight or too baggy. The
material was flexible enough for him to kick a certain pigtailed
boy in the head if he needed to without ripping a seam. His new
shirt was just a plain white muscle shirt, but it was comfortable
and cheap. It felt great to let his arms be free in the cool late
spring air. When the weather changed he would need to get a
jacket, but for now he'd revel in the feeling of the breeze
brushing against his arms.
Life was... almost not bad.
The two companions turned a corner, entering into a small park. An
old, rusted swing-set lay solitary in the middle of a green field.
Trees clustered along the path, their green leaves glistened with
newly fallen dew.
Impulsively, Ukyou walked over and sat in one of the swing-set
seats. Wrapping her hands around the rust coated chains, she let
herself gently swing and gazed at the ground.
"What's wrong with you?" Ryouga walked over and sat in the swing
next to Ukyou, feeling like an oversized kid. Another moment of
silence followed. Uncomfortable with the lack of conversation, he
decided to employ the Hibiki conversation technique: Start
babbling incoherently and hope your companion takes pity on your
pathetic self and intervenes.
"I uh, thought it was weird that you ate something other than
okonomiyaki. Maybe you're like that Pickle Prince guy... what's
his name, and you're having some kind of reaction... uh... or not.
Eh... or you could have swallowed one of those mind altering pills
that Happosai had... what ever happened to him anyway? Haven't
seen that sadistic bastard for awhile... maybe he died that would
be nice or-"
"Ryouga..." Ukyou broke into his rant, her voice strained with
emotion. "R-Ranma loves Akane."
Ryouga blinked. "What?"
"Akane loves Ranma, Ranma loves Akane. I saw them on the night of
your accident. Damn it, they love each other Ryouga. It's not just
an infatuation either. They're truly, madly, deeply in love;
sacrifice your life for each other kind of love."
Ryouga watched in a daze of unreality as tears began to stream
down Ukyou's cheeks.
"And there's nothing we can do about it. They love each other and
they're going to die loving each other. Hell, I don't even want to
break them up. I just-" Ukyou swallowed as her emotions began to
overwhelm her. "I just wanna see Ran-chan happy... even if it's
not with me."
She choked on a sob and fell silent as her salty tears ran down
her face and onto the ground.
Ryouga sat numbly in shock, unaware of... everything. This
couldn't be true. It couldn't be! Akane love Ranma?! No! Maybe
Ranma could love Akane... he had always suspected it deep inside,
but Akane could never love him back! She hated him! It couldn't be
true! Nonononono!
It made no sense! She never acted like she was... well there were
those times when she'd be looking at Ranma when she thought no one
was paying attention... and sometimes when she'd talk to P-chan
about him her voice sounded so sad... oh god no! Why?! It wasn't
fair! He was never nice to her, or treated her with respect...
Why... how could she love Ranma?! It wasn't fair!
He clenched his fist tightly and felt the cold sting of metal
biting into his palms. Above him, the mocking stars shone
brightly. He really hated those things.
As if hearing his thoughts, dark clouds rolled in from the west
blocking the stars out... dark black rain clouds...
"Oh shi-"
A downpour started, soaking Ukyou to the bone. She turned to ask
Ryouga if he was ok-
But he wasn't there... only...
"... R-Ryouga? YOU'RE P-chan?"
"Bwee?"
----
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 8
----
He was surprised he had lasted this long. He was usually splashed
at least once a day, or MORE. But after the accident, he'd went
over two months without turning into P-chan. Granted, there had
been many close calls but to completely avoid it...
"Bwee." Ryouga snorted in his little piggy form. He had a lot to
make up for.
"Oh! Look at the cute little piggy!" A girl giggled and pointed to
his pig form. Wait... girl?
Ryouga glanced around his surroundings. He was in a bathhouse
lined with girls. Naked bathing girls... Ryouga gulped. Why hadn't
he been paying better attention?! He had just walked into the
first door he had seen... damn it! Steaming baths lined every
direction but his to right, where a screen separated the men's and
women's sides. Dozens of eyes turned toward him. Girls set down
their towels and stopped washing their hair.
Choruses of 'Oh how cute!' and 'Ooooh I want to hug him!' oozed
out of the crowd of girls that began to surround him.
"Come here little piggy!" A short haired girl wrapped in a towel
got on her hands and knees. "Come here, we won't hurt you!" She
beckoned him with her hand.
He had to get away! Ryouga desperately searched for a way out.
Both exits were blocked. He was trapped. There was no way out.
They were going to find out his secret and hate him... like
everyone else would... He was DOOMED.
The short haired girl picked him up. "Oooooo let's give him a
bath!"
The other girls in the room nodded in agreement. Ryouga
desperately struggled to get out of the girl's grip, but for some
reason he couldn't move. The hot water got closer and closer until
it morphed into a large gaping pit. Infinite blackness reached
down into eternity as Ryouga was held over the abyss. A red hand
reached out from the darkness toward him.
He had to get out. It couldn't end like this. Everyone would know.
Akane would know. She'd hate him! Everyone would hate him. Ukyou
would hate him. His only friend would hate him... No he couldn't
let this happen! NO!
She dropped him.
"Noooooooooo!"
Ryouga sat up from his futon.
What the? It... had been that dream again.
His clothes and blanket were drenched in sweat. His shivered in
the cool night air. The images of his dream seemed burned into
his mind. Someday that dream would end up being reality, he was
sure of it, except it would be Akane dropping him into the pit of
despair...
---
Ukyou knew she was going to have to apologize to him. But how was
she going to find him? And what was all this crap about having a
sense of direction? Next thing you know Genma will get the father
of the year award, Kuno will become a priest, Nabiki will be
helping orphans (for free!), and Ran-chan and Akane will run away
and get married.
A horrified expression crossed Ukyou's face. Ranma and Akane could
really do that... She shuddered uncontrollably. That thought was
going to give her nightmares for a couple weeks.
Gah, and then they'd have kids; little pigtailed psychopaths
wielding hammers, moving faster than the eye can see. They'd
probably get her to baby sit too. For free!
She slammed her spatula violently on the counter, spraying a
nearby customer. Who was she kidding? She glared at the slightly
splattered okonomiyaki and sighed. If they were Ranma's kids,
they'd probably be cute too...
Oh never mind. There was nothing she could do about it now. She
had to bow out gracefully. If he was happy without her, than
that's all she cared about. All her dreams didn't really matter in
the end...
Why was she worrying about this anyway? It hadn't even happened
yet. She needed to deal with the problem at hand, mainly Ryouga.
She'd just have to find him, walk up and say--
"Ukyou, I'm sorry."
No, that's not it. She'd say-- ...huh?
"Ryouga?" She looked up and was welcomed with the site of Ryouga
wiping batter off his face.
"Listen Ukyou, I'm sorry about overreacting last week. I should
have stayed and faced my problems like a man." Ryouga's face was
grim like a man facing his death sentence head on. Obviously, the
poor boy had spent too much time around Akane.
"Um..." Ukyou blinked, performing an accurate impression of an
animal caught in the headlights of a car. The expression should
have been obvious to Ryouga, but as usual he was oblivious. Ukyou
recovered and smiled.
"That's all right Ryouga. I forgive you."
"R-Really?" Ryouga frowned. This was suspiciously easy.
"Sure! Forgive and forget and all that."
"I guess." This coming from a girl that started on a quest for
revenge at age five...
Ukyou laughed, reached behind the counter, and turned off the
grill. As soon as the grill clicked off, she scanned the
restaurant. Only an older couple was left, and they were already
picking up their coats. Perfect.
"Hey Ryouga, are you doing anything today?" She walked out from
behind the counter and flipped over the open sign to closed.
"I suppose not." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Why do
you ask?"
He had a bad feeling about this.
"Good!" Ukyou winked. "Because I'm taking you shopping!"
Ryouga gulped. And today had looked like such a nice day...
---
Ryouga had thought he'd known true fear. After all the hardships
he had endured during his life, he had been sure that nothing
could faze him, but now he knew the truth. NO ONE, absolutely NO
ONE has known true fear until they've went shopping with a girl.
They had only just arrived and already he was afraid. There were
all these people laughing and giggling, milling about in tight
cramped herds fighting for the right for the best bargain in a
cruel economic world. Stores upon stores lined either side of him
like tangled masses of commerce. That week he had been lost in the
jungle had nothing on this place... mainly because the jungle
didn't have dozens upon dozens of giggling girls.
"So Ryouga, ready to cut loose and have fun?" Ukyou smiled at
Ryouga, slightly amused at his bewildered expression.
"No, not really."
"Well too bad! I'm going to get a smile out of you today if it's
the last thing I do!" Ukyou exclaimed with the same vigor someone
says 'Give me liberty or give me death!'. If they ever got into a
war, Ryouga hoped he would be on Ukyou's side.
"Sugar you know..." She had to put this delicately. "You need a
haircut. You look kinda scruffy. When was the last time you got
one anyway?"
"Hey! I've had this haircut since junior high there's nothing wr--
"
"Exactly my point! Come on! We're going to get you spruced up."
She grabbed his hand and dragged him in front of a nearby store.
Double automatic glass doors slid aside as Ukyou walked in,
dragging the reluctant Ryouga behind her.
Loud chirpy pop music hit them like a wave. Posters of movie stars
and various hair care products lined the walls. The floor was
covered in a black and white checkered pattern, with little
strands of hair on the ground that had missed the broom. On a far
shelf, a row of mannequin heads stared back at the customers like
a cosmetic shop of horrors.
Ukyou grabbed Ryouga by the collar before he could get away.
"Welcome!" A lady brandishing a pair of scissors stepped out of a
back room. She wore jeans and a trendy T-shirt with American
writing. Small silver clips kept a few strands of purple hair
splattered to her head, while other strands flew loose in a
gravity defying dance. Either that, or a furry purple creature had
crawled into her head and made a nest. "How may I help you today?"
Ukyou lightly shoved Ryouga forward. "We're here to get him a
haircut. I apologize ahead of time if your scissors snap while
cutting his hair."
The hairdresser laughed good naturally and stepped up closer to
her customers. She stopped a few feet from Ryouga and gave him a
scrutinizing glance. "Wow. You're right. Maybe I should unpack the
machete for this one."
"Hey!" Ryouga felt a lump forming at the bottom of his stomach.
She was kidding right? Yeah, who in their right mind would cut
someone's hair with a machete? Kidding... yeah that was it.
Although this was Nerima... They had martial arts ping pong for
crying out loud. But she wouldn't get any business if she
decapitated her customers all the time! But... Ahhh! What if those
mannequin heads WERE previous customers?!
"Ukyou! Wegottagetoutofhere!
Orwe'llgetdecaptiatedandturnedintomanakinsand--"
Ukyou smacked him in the head with a magazine. "Stop that."
"Yes ma'am."
"Darling I was just kidding!" The hairdresser put an arm around
Ryouga's shoulders. "Calm down sweet cheeks. I'm not going to ruin
your hair." She winked. "I'd never do that to the cute ones."
Having Ryouga significantly subdued, and with possibly 98% of
brain function temperately stopped, the hairdresser led him to a
chair. Ukyou's eyes narrowed slightly at the hairdresser as Ryouga
stumbled to his seat.
"So what kind of hair cut does your boyfriend want?" The
hairdresser looked back at Ukyou. After all, the man's opinion
really didn't matter. He probably couldn't form sentences right
now anyways.
"He's not my boyfriend." Ukyou handed her a picture she had gotten
out of a magazine. The clip had been one of many that she had
struggled over. It was a shorter cut but not too drastic. She
still wished she could have used the one with the clip on pigtail,
but Ryouga never would have gone for that.
"Yeah sure, whatever." She looked down at the picture and smiled.
"Not bad. I can swing this." She swung the salon chair so Ryouga's
back was to the sink. "Lean back so I can--"
Life instantly returned to Ryouga's eyes.
"GAHHH! NO! YOU CAN'T! WATER NO NO WATER err I mean..." The
bandanna clad boy laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his
neck.
The hairdresser blinked at the hysterical boy and looked at Ukyou.
"What's wrong with him?"
"I have no idea."
----
An hour later, Ryouga and Ukyou walked out of the salon. Ryouga
touched his newly cut hair in trepidation. It felt so... weird. It
had been thinned out and shortened considerably. While not enough
to be called a buzz cut, his head felt lighter. The hairdresser
had turned it slightly spiky, with two long pieces falling by each
of his eyebrows.
The hair cut really wasn't that bad. The shorter length allowed
him to see better, even with his bandanna. He was still wearing
his favorite piece of yellow and black cloth, much to the
hairdresser's annoyance. He didn't need it anymore, but he
couldn't stand not wearing it. Without it he felt... naked, not
exactly like himself.
It wasn't the worst of his problems, though. After his refusal to
get his haircut unless they used hot water, Ukyou seemed
suspicious. He'd tried the perfectly logical excuse that he hadn't
wanted cold water because it would have given him a cold and then
he'd get sick with malaria and die, but Ukyou didn't seem to buy
it. She had said something about malaria coming from mosquitoes
and DRINKING water... whatever. Had she had malaria? How was she
supposed to now?
But she kept staring at him, like he had done something wrong.
Could she know? No! There was no way she could know! She hadn't
tried to stab him with anything sharp and jagged or strangle him
so she couldn't know. There was no way she could know about P-
chan... Still, she kept giving him these odd looks from the corner
of her eye.
She might suspect, but she couldn't know anything. He could just
have aqua phobia. He could of uh... almost drowned as a kid! Yeah
that would work! He could have almost drowned in an uh... ice cold
pool in the middle of winter?
"Hey, Ryouga." Ukyou looked up at him and smiled, dragging him
from his reverie. For some reason, Ryouga felt his throat catch.
Maybe he was getting a cold after all...
"Y-Yeah?"
She brandished another of her cute girl smiles. "Wanna get
something to eat?"
"But..." Ryouga scowled. "Listen Ukyou, you've been really nice,
but I couldn't impose on you anymore and--"
"That's why you're paying for it." She winked unnervingly at him.
"Friends help each other out right?"
"I guess." Friends also didn't force each other to get haircuts
they didn't want. Then again, he wasn't entirely sure. He didn't
have much experience to look back on.
"Ok. What should we eat?" Ukyou turned a corner, followed closely
by Ryouga. They entered in a large eating plaza. Different
restaurants, lined the walls. Ryouga didn't really care where they
went.
"I dunno, just as long as it has nothing to do with bread or
pork..." Ryouga shrugged his shoulders.
"Man, Ryouga who died? You always sound so grim." Ukyou rolled her
eyes. Could Ryouga possibly be more of a drag?
"Um... _I_ almost did." Ryouga's face soured even more.
Ukyou sighed. "Were you always this bad?"
Ryouga's eyes glazed over slightly as his mind flashed to an image
of his six year old self, running up to his mother to give her a
flower. She had looked so peaceful that day, so full of life. It
wasn't fair...
"Ryouga?" Ukyou's concerned voice cut through his reverie. His
eyes refocused to find Ukyou's concerned face glancing at him from
his right.
"Oh sorry. I got distracted." He pointed to a random restaurant to
his right, hoping to change the subject. "How about we eat there?
It looks ok."
Not waiting for her answer, he turned and walked toward the
restaurant briskly. Ukyou gazed at his retreating form for a
moment then jogged back up to his side. Ryouga was acting
strangely, even for him. But then again, she didn't really now him
that well... Perhaps, this was who he really was?
This boy that she had been hanging around with all day... he
seemed nothing like the powerhouse of destruction she had known
before. Had he changed that drastically in such a short period of
time? Or was the person she had thought she'd known before only a
shadow of the real Ryouga Hibiki? He acted so differently when he
was around Ranma or Akane... or when he was fighting something.
He wasn't that bad of a guy when he wasn't trying to kill someone
or ruin a relationship. Or both at the same time...
"Um, this is ok isn't it?" He stopped in front of the entrance and
looked back at Ukyou. He thought he was supposed to ask her
opinion. He ate by himself mostly so the situation felt really odd
to him.
"Sure! Looks great." She stepped through the entrance and into the
restaurant. The restaurant was fairly plain, with western style
booths and tables. Ukyou picked a booth next to the window and sat
down. Ryouga sat down opposite to her, awkwardly.
A moment of silence stretched between the two like a valley.
Ryouga picked up his menu and glanced at it. The food listed was
mostly average Japanese foods with a few western dishes thrown in.
"Excuse me." A waiter cleared his throat as he approached their
table. "May I take your order please?"
"Yeah, I'll have a number three." Ukyou handed her menu to the
waiter.
"I'll have that too." Ryouga sat his menu on top of Ukyou's. It
didn't really matter to him what he ate, just as long as it didn't
turn him into anything or have any mind altering effects as food
from Nerima was ought to do. Besides, after having eaten so many
of Akane's meals, food didn't taste the same as it used to...
The waiter turned and walked back to the kitchen, leaving the two
alone. Another uncomfortable silence ensued.
"So..." Ukyou idly traced the wood grains of the table with her
finger, which Ryouga deftly tried not to watch. The tension in the
room was almost liquid in its intensity. "What um... are you going
to do now?"
"Now?" Ryouga blinked.
"Well, you've got a sense of direction now don't you?" She rested
her chin on her hand. "Aren't you going to... I dunno start your
life anew or something?"
"Start my life anew? How can I possibly put my life back together
after Ran-"
Ukyou held up a fork in a threatening manner. "Stop it. I don't
want to hear it."
"But-"
"No."
"Just lis-"
"No."
"Hey! Stop tha-"
"No." Ukyou's grin spread wider in mischievous glee. This was fun!
He was getting all flustered. It was really empowering.
"Did you know you're evil?" Ryouga pouted. Although, he considered
the expression to be an intimidating glare, only wusses pouted.
"You didn't answer my question." She waved her fork like weapon in
the air. "What are you going to do with your life?"
"I... don't know." His gaze drifted away. "I just... never thought
about it seriously."
"Getting a sense of direction must mean something right? Maybe the
Gods have something else planned for you?" Ukyou's smile faded as
she noticed something in Ryouga's eyes. It glinted in his green
orbs for only a second, but had been there. It was... pain and a
speck of fear. His scowl quickly fell back into place, so she
couldn't be sure...
"I don't believe in the Gods. No ethereal beings are controlling
my destiny."
Ukyou shrugged. If he was going to act like this, there was no
reason to keep egging him on. She didn't know how he could think
that, after all they'd seen and experienced. Curses, evil ghosts
etc., they'd seen it all. What other reason could there be for it
but as a big joke by the Gods?
"Well how about going back to school? I know you could get into
Furinken." A psychotic monkey strapped with explosives could get
into Furinken. If Ryouga studied, he could probably get in.
"I'd like that, but there are a couple of things I have to do
first."
Ukyou couldn't resist any longer. "Like jump into the Spring of
Drowned Man?"
Ryouga's heart fell down to his ankles.
"What?! I d-d-don't know what your talking about!" Ryouga heart
jumped back into his chest, shattered, and reformed itself. He
forgot to breathe for a few minutes. The lights dimmed. The world
inverted. In other words, some serious shit went down.
Ryouga looked around frantically. She needed to be distracted!
Yeah! Something! Anything!
Like a beacon of light on a dark and stormy night, the waiter came
out of the back room carrying their orders on a tray. Never has a
fat Japanese guy looked more like a heaven sent savior. Well,
Buddha comes close.
"Look! It's the waiter guy!" The slightly crazed bandanna clad boy
jumped to his feet. "Thank you waiter guy!"
The poor waiter fell to the ground as Ryouga ripped the tray from
his hands and hopped over his prone body. He sat down the tray as
fast as he could, jumped back into the booth, and began to stuff
his face.
"Can't eat and talk at the same time!... Gosh darn it. Guess I'll
just have to stop talking." Ryouga snapped his fingers in mock
grief and resumed stuffing his face very slowly, it wouldn't do to
finish his food before his curious companion did.
Ukyou narrowed her eyes. "Uh huh."
Ryouga rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously.
----
Ryouga experienced many things in his sixteen years of life. He'd
seen places that few men alive have beheld, mystical magic and
supernatural occurrences, experienced things that defy logic, and
push the boundaries of human existence. He'd even eaten Akane's
cooking and still lived.
But all that meant nothing, when faced with a young woman who,
deprived of feminine things throughout most of her childhood, was
suddenly given a life sized Ken doll to play with... Hopefully she
wouldn't pop off his head or anything.
"Hey Ryouga!"
Ryouga grimaced as Ukyou threw another pile of cloths at his face.
"Try these on too ok?" Ukyou, temporarily overcome by the haze
that is mall shopping, piled a few more clothes for Ryouga to try
on upon the ever growing mountain of men's clothing.
"A-All of these?!"
The mountain of clothes threatened to bury Ryouga and everyone
else within a fifty feet radius.
"Yeah, come out and show me each one after you try them on." Ukyou
smiled and shoved him toward the changing rooms.
Enough was enough! She couldn't keep pushing him around like this!
"Ukyou I-"
"Please?"
"O-ok." Damn it! She did it again!
Downcast, Ryouga shuffled back to the changing rooms.
Three minutes later...
"I don't like this." Ryouga looked at himself in the mirror. "I
don't look like myself."
His reflection, wearing a black shirt, camouflaged pants, and
combat boots, glared back at him. Something wasn't right... he
looked really weird... almost like someone else. Ukyou glanced
over at the mirror and grimaced.
"You're right. Don't know what I was thinking." Ukyou shrugged as
Ryouga walked back to the increasingly familiar room to try
something else on.
Outside the store on an escalator, Ryu Kumon did a double-take,
tripped, and fell face down to the bottom floor.
Three minutes later...
Ukyou sat a magazine she had been reading down as Ryouga
approached.
"Wow Ryouga! You look great!"
"..."
"You don't like it do you?"
"..."
"I probably should have known you wouldn't like a Chinese shirt
huh?"
"..."
"Oh stop pouting... big baby. Fine, go try something else on."
"..." was Ryouga's eloquent reply as he shuffled back to the
changing rooms like a man on his last legs.
----
Four Hours later...
"I forgot how much fun shopping can be." Ukyou breathed in the
cool, fresh night air. The summer breeze ruffled her hair and
tickled her face, bracing her for what she had to do next. It was
such a shame too, this day had been nearly perfect.
It was hard. She hadn't expected to have such a good time. What
had started out as charity had turned out to be... something more.
She had never had that many friends. Ranma had been one of a very
few, especially when she went to that all boys school. She
couldn't get close to anyone for fear they'd find out her secret.
Before that, all her time was taken up training and taking care of
her father.
Shopping had actually been fun, maybe there was something to all
that girlie stuff after all.
Ryouga for his part looked like a man that had barely escaped
hell. He was REALLY overreacting. His attitude had been rather
embarrassing. But after awhile, he had stopped complaining out
loud and Ukyou could see that he wasn't as miserable as he was
trying to put on. When they had went to the arcade and cleaned out
the UFO catcher machine, she could have sworn he had almost
stopped scowling.
It didn't sound like much, but Ukyou had decided to count it as
progress.
The two walked side by side, Ryouga wearing his new clothes. The
large bag of plushie Ukyou had won, swished by her side as she
walked.
As for Ryouga, he too was going over the days events.
After awhile, he had been able to relax more. He wasn't sure when
it had happened, but somewhere between trying on all those damn
clothes and eating bad mall junk food, he stopped being miserable.
He wasn't going to let Ukyou know that of course. That might ruin
his angry anti-mall image and he couldn't have that. Heh, It was
almost like him and Ukyou had gone out on a date or something...
but they didn't! Gah! No no no! They didn't. Ukyou was a friend...
it had been just friends going out and spending money on the
Hibiki platinum gold Visa card.
Heh, his dad was going to kill him when he saw the bill... if he
could find him that is... which he can't... heh heh heh.
Ryouga smiled softly.
His cloths felt weird. He missed his trusty yellow shirt and green
pants, even his bandanna was gone. It mysteriously vanished... He
suspected foul play, but the evil okonomiyaki chef wasn't talking.
But that was fine, he had copies of the same outfit at his house.
Maybe he'd go back there sometime soon. After all, he could find
it now.
The bandanna that he had decided to buy was a simple white
bandanna with black lettering. A Chinese character for the future
was printed in neat script on the cloth's surface. At least, he
_thought_ that's what it said. He wasn't very good at Chinese...
if it said something like 'jackass' he was going to get angry.
He admitted to himself grudgingly, that he did like the cloths.
His new black leather boots were small enough not to hinder his
movements, but sturdy enough to work as good hiking boots. His new
pair of black pants fit perfectly, not too tight or too baggy. The
material was flexible enough for him to kick a certain pigtailed
boy in the head if he needed to without ripping a seam. His new
shirt was just a plain white muscle shirt, but it was comfortable
and cheap. It felt great to let his arms be free in the cool late
spring air. When the weather changed he would need to get a
jacket, but for now he'd revel in the feeling of the breeze
brushing against his arms.
Life was... almost not bad.
The two companions turned a corner, entering into a small park. An
old, rusted swing-set lay solitary in the middle of a green field.
Trees clustered along the path, their green leaves glistened with
newly fallen dew.
Impulsively, Ukyou walked over and sat in one of the swing-set
seats. Wrapping her hands around the rust coated chains, she let
herself gently swing and gazed at the ground.
"What's wrong with you?" Ryouga walked over and sat in the swing
next to Ukyou, feeling like an oversized kid. Another moment of
silence followed. Uncomfortable with the lack of conversation, he
decided to employ the Hibiki conversation technique: Start
babbling incoherently and hope your companion takes pity on your
pathetic self and intervenes.
"I uh, thought it was weird that you ate something other than
okonomiyaki. Maybe you're like that Pickle Prince guy... what's
his name, and you're having some kind of reaction... uh... or not.
Eh... or you could have swallowed one of those mind altering pills
that Happosai had... what ever happened to him anyway? Haven't
seen that sadistic bastard for awhile... maybe he died that would
be nice or-"
"Ryouga..." Ukyou broke into his rant, her voice strained with
emotion. "R-Ranma loves Akane."
Ryouga blinked. "What?"
"Akane loves Ranma, Ranma loves Akane. I saw them on the night of
your accident. Damn it, they love each other Ryouga. It's not just
an infatuation either. They're truly, madly, deeply in love;
sacrifice your life for each other kind of love."
Ryouga watched in a daze of unreality as tears began to stream
down Ukyou's cheeks.
"And there's nothing we can do about it. They love each other and
they're going to die loving each other. Hell, I don't even want to
break them up. I just-" Ukyou swallowed as her emotions began to
overwhelm her. "I just wanna see Ran-chan happy... even if it's
not with me."
She choked on a sob and fell silent as her salty tears ran down
her face and onto the ground.
Ryouga sat numbly in shock, unaware of... everything. This
couldn't be true. It couldn't be! Akane love Ranma?! No! Maybe
Ranma could love Akane... he had always suspected it deep inside,
but Akane could never love him back! She hated him! It couldn't be
true! Nonononono!
It made no sense! She never acted like she was... well there were
those times when she'd be looking at Ranma when she thought no one
was paying attention... and sometimes when she'd talk to P-chan
about him her voice sounded so sad... oh god no! Why?! It wasn't
fair! He was never nice to her, or treated her with respect...
Why... how could she love Ranma?! It wasn't fair!
He clenched his fist tightly and felt the cold sting of metal
biting into his palms. Above him, the mocking stars shone
brightly. He really hated those things.
As if hearing his thoughts, dark clouds rolled in from the west
blocking the stars out... dark black rain clouds...
"Oh shi-"
A downpour started, soaking Ukyou to the bone. She turned to ask
Ryouga if he was ok-
But he wasn't there... only...
"... R-Ryouga? YOU'RE P-chan?"
"Bwee?"
----
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