On the Road
Ryouga Yagami
Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi
Ranma Saotome defeated Tatewaki Kuno easily. He walked some blocks and put Mousse out of his way, without any sign of sweat. Appearing of nowhere, Kuno tried his luck again to find he was in a bad luck day. Though Kuno put everything in his attacks, Ranma leapt over easily. When Kuno let a breach, Ranma didn't waste the opportunity and kicked the swordsman on several spots. After a minute static, Kuno met the floor. Ranma nudged him and Kuno responded in a groan, 'Out of combat', Ranma sighed and continued to walk.
Five ninjas, two martial artists and a giant bull later, Ranma finally reached his destiny, the okonomiyaki restaurant, Ucchan's. Ranma stepped in and was greeted by the okonomiyaki chef behind the grill.
"Hi, Ranchan!", Ukyo said cheerfully and turned her grill on to prepare some okonomiyaki for her fiancé.
"Hi, Ucchan", Ranma replied in a bored tone. He sat down on a stool with a face that matched his voice.
Ukyo noted Ranma's strange behavior, "What's wrong, Ranchan? You don't seem yourself"
"Huh?", Ranma perked up then looked at the grill, "It's nothing really"
Ukyo stared at Ranma concerned, "Ranchan, you can tell me. Did Akane do something? Or that chinese bimbo? Did I do something?"
Ranma shook his head in a no, "Everything is the same. At least almost everything"
"Almost?", Ukyo asked.
"Yeah", Ranma paused then perked up again, "Ucchan, have you seen Ryoga lately?"
"Ryoga?", Ukyo sat down and sighed. Probably it was the same question she was asking herself lately, "I don't see him in...", she paused to think, "two months to be exactly", there was a silence, "Why are you asking about him?"
Ranma rested his head on his palm, "I don't know. You will think I'm crazy, but I miss the guy"
Ukyo studied Ranma for a moment. He was serious about that, "I miss him too. I mean, he was always around, and suddenly he disappears"
"Yeah", he paused trying to organize his feelings, "Well, he is... kind of a friend. And he was always challenging me to a fight. Then I trained and beat him, but our fights are always hard. But since he disappeared there were no good fights, just Mousse and Kuno, but they are not like Ryoga. Damn, I can beat them in my female form. Even Akane asked about him this morning. She thinks I did something to him"
Ukyo put an okonomiyaki on a plate and gave it to Ranma, "I understand. It's like not having nobody to give you a real challenge", in another situation, Ukyo would think that Ranma was in his overconfident mode. But she knew he was right. Even Nabiki was losing money because nobody would bet on anyone that fights Ranma.
Ranma looked at the okonomiyaki and read 'He will come back. I know' wrote in sauce. He smiled, "I didn't know you had something for him, Ucchan"
Ukyo flushed, "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing, nothing", Ranma urged to say. Then he looked to the front window of 'Ucchan's', waiting for any sign of the lost boy.
---
"Well, hope you find your way, young man", an old man said and left.
"You too, mister Ichizaki", Ryoga said good-bye and walked to other way. After two months away from Nerima and all the craziness, the directionless Ryoga Hibiki didn't find his destiny. This time Nerima was not even in his mind. Sometimes, when he was camping, he reserved a moment to think of Akane, Ranma, Ukyo, Mousse and Shampoo. He missed them, a feeling that he could swear he would just feel for Akane. But when organizing his backpack, Ryoga found, hidden in the middle of his things, a picture taken in an unknown moment. The first thought that came in his mind when he saw the picture was, 'Me and my friends'.
Friends. This was something that he was not used to. After being lost in wilderness almost all his life, Ryoga had little experience in making friends. Sometimes Ryoga talked to some travelers that were occasionally on the road. All of them were men, what explains, in part, his shyness around woman.
But it was different in Nerima. He was shy around Akane, but she liked him. Ranma was his archenemy, but at the same time something close to a friend. Ranma was his reason to train in martial arts, get stronger and better. And he was a good guy to talk, though Ryoga would never confess this for him or anyone. Ukyo was a good friend, though sometimes he wondered if she just thought about him to help in her break up schemes. At least he was not very nervous around her. Mousse and him talked sometimes, made jokes about Ranma and discussed about other things like music. Shampoo was not very close and Ryoga thought she was obsessive. "I can't accuse her for that". He felt like he was very obsessive in beating Ranma too. 'Hell, everyone is obsessive in Nerima', he concluded.
Ryoga was walking on a place full of trees. He stopped to watch the petals of all colors dance in front of him. He didn't know when he left the road, but he wasn't worried about that. On the road, he didn't know where he was, so out of it would not make any difference. It was spring and just now he realized that. He let himself smile at the scene. Some petals landed on his hair and after sometime he brushed them off. 'I'm almost there. I can feel it', he thought and continued on his way.
---
"Three months", Ukyo muttered to herself. She looked at a calendar and crossed out another day. She didn't know why, but she was worried about Ryoga. After turning the grill on, she decided to work, so she would forget him. But every okonomiyaki she cooked, she wrote 'He will come back' on it. It was almost a mantra. Sometimes, when nobody was near, Ukyo pulled out of her pocket a small picture of her and Ryoga in the Tunnel of Lost Love. She sighed over the picture and walked out of her restaurant. Ryoga was not in the surroundings. She sighed again, 'Where are you, jackass?'
Mousse was in peace after a long time. He worked all day and since Shampoo smashed him on the ground again, he decided to listen to music to relax. It was a cd Ryoga gave him on his birthday. Of course Ryoga was two months late, but he remembered after all. The cd was Led Zeppelin IV, a cd they commented in one of their talks about music. Mousse was hearing 'Stairway to Heaven'. 'Even if existed a stairway to heaven, Ryoga would get lost in it', he thought and smiled.
After getting rid of Mousse, Shampoo thought that it was better to see if the 'stupid blind duck' learned his lesson. But when she was near Mousse's room, she heard a song from the cd Ryoga gave Mousse sometime after the "duck's" birthday. She couldn't say that Ryoga was close to her, but he was someone that was always around, adding fuel to the raging fire. 'Stupid pig lost boy be back or things not go well'
Akane was finishing her homework. Sometimes she stopped and rested her head on her palm, thinking in a way to cheer Ranma up. Since Ryoga left, Ranma got less talkative. He had always a bored expression every time someone challenged him to a fight. But Akane missed Ryoga not just because of this. Ryoga was a friend and was always on her side when Ranma tried to tease her. Their last fight was because of something Ranma said about her and Ryouga demanded him to take what he said back. 'He always comes back. But now he's very late'
Ranma had just finished his training. He looked around then took one of Ryoga's bandannas out of his shirt. The yellow cloth with black stripes that Ryoga used as a mortal weapon. The last fight he and Ryoga had was the best in a long time. And it was because of something stupid. Actually it was because Ranma teased Akane about being fat. It was a lie, but he knew Ryoga would get angry. Not so angry as Akane later, obviously. They fought for good thirty minutes until Ranma finally beat him. And later Akane put him out of combat without much effort. Saying a woman was fat was really dangerous after all. 'Better prepare myself. I bet he is learning something new to use', he smiled, encouraging himself to train more.
---
"Ok, this looks familiar", Ryoga mused as he walked on a street. Three months, he didn't know he would take so much time to find it. He had time enough to think about his life and the way things were going. 'Well three months are more than sufficient to almost anything. I'm doing nothing, except walk, walk, walk... and walk', something rolled near his feet.
"Hey, the ball!", a boy asked from the other side of the street. Ryoga kicked the ball back to the boys and watched them playing. When he was a kid he liked to play on the streets with the other boys. He was teased because of his direction sense, but they always guided him back to his house. Unfortunately he only played with them sometimes. It was not every day that he had someone to guide him. While watching the boys, Ryoga remembered a small moment hidden inside his mind.
Physical education class in the school he and Ranma fought for bread. Ranma and other boy were selecting their teams for the soccer game. Ryoga was always the last one to be chosen as he was always getting lost during the match. Ranma had the right to choose first. He studied the boys waiting to be picked and saw Ryoga looking away.
"Ryoga is in my team", Ranma said and the other boys looked puzzled.
"Ryoga? Are you crazy? You know he is useless", another boy said.
Ryoga sighed and was going to sit down and wait to be the last to be picked again.
"I don't care, I'm taking him. Come here, man", he gestured to Ryoga to stand up.
How did he forget this? Ranma put him as a goalkeeper, so he wouldn't get lost easily. And they even won that match, thanks to Ranma's goals and Ryoga's defenses. Ranma believed in him when nobody gave him a damn.
'And I'm trying to beat him because of a curse', as he finished to think it, he didn't feel it was right, 'No, this has nothing to do with curses or bread or Akane', he stopped to walk and put a hand under his chin, 'This is because of martial arts. This is because we are growing as men and martial artists... or at least this is the way it should be', he looked up to see where he was going when he saw what he was looking for.
"My house...", he said, but he heard two other voices joining his. He turned to see his mother on his left and his father on his right.
"Dad... ... mom...", Ryoga stuttered, his voice sounding more emotional than he wanted. But at that time he didn't care.
"Ryoga!", his parents ran to him and they embraced, not carrying about the people around. Then they looked at their house.
'We did it'
---
After two weeks Ryoga and his parents talked about their lives. For some reason, Mr. and Mrs. Hibiki weren't separated for a long time. "It's the power of love", Mr. Hibiki joked. The largest space of time that the couple was not together was a week. Ryoga seemed happy that his parents managed to live together after all problems. Their direction problem didn't seem to be a real one. Ryouga told them what happened to him in the last year and his parents seemed happy after he finished his narrative.
"Oh, that's great, Ryoga!", his mother said.
Ryouga looked at her puzzled, "Great? My life has been hell and you think it's great"
"Your mother is right, Ryoga"
"You too, dad?"
His father stood up and put a hand on Ryoga's shoulder, "Look, we are sorry that you now change to a pig"
"The cutest one for sure", his mother smiled.
"You are not helping, dear...", Ryoga's father remarked.
"But it's so true", she said as her eyes glinted. The men sweat dropped.
"Anyway, we are sorry about that, but look at the bright side. Now you have lots of friends, a rival to beat and a place where you can be happy. We are proud of you, son", he hugged his son and soon Ryoga's mother joined the sweet moment.
"Well, now what are you waiting, son?"
"Waiting? What do you mean, mom?"
"Your friends must be worried about you. Why don't you go back?"
"But..."
"Ryoga, don't worry about us. We will be fine"
Ryoga smiled at his parents and stood up, "So, I'll get ready", he walked and suddenly stopped, "Eh... could you help me to find the way?"
"Eh... sure, son...", Ryoga's father looked at his wife, "So, where dear?"
"Are you asking me? I don't have a clue"
Ryoga sighed. 'It had to be my family'
---
It would be another normal day at the restaurant. It was almost four months and nothing of Ryoga. Ukyo was making another okonomiyaki when the telephone rang, "Ucchan's okonomiyaki restaurant. Ukyo is my name okonomiyaki is my fame, what can I do for you?"
"This is a long speech, Ukyo"
There was a silence. Then Ukyo recognized the voice.
"Ryoga! It's good to hear you again! Where are you, jackass?"
Ryoga blinked for a moment, "Uh... I'm happy to hear you too. About where I'm..."
"Don't need, I know you are lost", she giggled, "But it's nice to hear about you after a long time. Everyone miss you here"
"I miss all of you too", Ryoga said, "Uh... I just called to say that I'm going back"
"How did you find the restaurant's telephone?", she asked.
Ryoga put a hand on the back of his head, "I had a card from the restaurant on my backpack"
They talked for thirty minutes until Ryouga said that he was running out of time.
"Ok, Ryo-chan, I wait you here. I'll make a special for you"
"Uh... thanks, Ukyo. I'm looking for that. Bye"
---
Ranma after hearing the good news from Ukyo, waited everyday outside the dojo, hoping to see Ryoga. But a week passed and nothing. He was losing hope and decided to go to Ucchan's. Akane was with him, and they talked about other subjects. She was eager to see Ryoga again. Everyone was. Curiously the restaurant was empty and Shampoo and Mousse were there too. Shampoo and Ukyo were already in a stare match. Akane just joined. Soon bomb would explode and chaos would be everywhere. Ranma and Mousse watched the girls remarking about each other when the front door opened.
"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!", everyone turned to look at who said it. All of them recognized this sentence anywhere, but when they saw who was, they were disappointed.
The man had a long black hair and was wearing a red shirt with black spots on it. His pants were white and he had a broom on his hand.
"Oh, great, another came-here-to-kill-you-for-making-my-life-hell guy", Ranma said and stood up from the stool. There was just one guy that could blame him for that.
"So, what's your name?", Ranma asked in a bored tone.
"My name is Ryo Sanjou. And..."
"You are on my way", someone said behind Sanjou, who turned to meet a fist. "And that was my line", the person added finally showing himself.
Ranma smiled as he recognized the man, "At least someone that is worth a fight. Nice to see you again, P-chan"
"Don't call me that!", Ryoga demanded and then saw that everyone was there, "Uh... hi everyone", he put a hand on the back of his head embarrassed.
"Lost boy back!", Shampoo said.
"Ryoga Hibiki is back in town", Mousse adjusted his glasses and smiled.
"It's nice to see you again, Ryoga-kun", Akane said.
"Hey, jackass, no fighting in the restaurant!", Ukyo yelled. Then she flushed, "It's good to see you again, sugar"
"Well, our fight can wait", Ranma jumped and landed next Ryoga. He got Ryoga's head with his arm and gripped, "Let's see if you got better, P-chan"
Ryouga managed to release himself from Ranma's grip and twisted Ranma's arm, "Well, I'm sure will have a lot of fun this time, girl"
Ranma jumped away, "Who are you calling girl, Charlotte?"
"Who are you calling Charlotte, lady?"
Ukyo sighed. Any try to separate those two was useless. She smiled and put the 'closed' sign in front of the restaurant. That was a day to celebrate. Everything would go back to normal... 'or almost everything', she thought and went to make more okonomiyakis.