Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its characters. I simply own the characters that I created, which may or may not be present. All based on the reader's point of view. =)

Enjoy ~

Chapter 1 – Swim deeply

Sometimes she would ponder; anytime, anywhere. She had a lot of time on her hands really, although one may not believe with all the crazy commotions around that pondering would be possible. She pondered a lot actually, what with her nonchalant exterior and all; people didn't really care to bother her. That's the payment for traveling alone all these years and building such high walls. It was probably more worthwhile this way anyways; one won't get hurt as easy.

She was a deep person really. It was just that no one ever took the time to even try to figure her out. Maybe it was because she devoted so much time in her business and academics (surprise, surprise) that people didn't think she would have time for them. I don't know…I don't know what to do anymore… Very often would she get drowned into such thoughts and be lost in a whirlpool of emptiness and hopelessness. It was such a hard trap to get out of.

But right now, she had more dire issues at hand than her pathetic excuse of living. Even so, she was still pondering. When will this person stop crying? When will his psychotic frenzy of tears stop?? It's been passed nearly two whole hours, and he still had the energy to continue his rant.

At first, it was understandable and durable. She wasn't cold hearted. She had emotions too. She understood the pain and agony one felt when the one you had feelings for, not only did not return such emotions with the same passion, but those feelings were clearly directed at someone else.

Only a blind and stupid person would believe that whatever transpires daily between them is platonic or even hatred. Sure, they were a bit violent in their ways of communication, but who wasn't in this city? Many times she felt a strong sense of anger, frustration, and hatred, but all directed at whom?

The person who she liked? Perhaps. How could he not see her for the girl that she was? Sure, she would not describe herself as breathtaking, but she did not think she was ugly. There were probably worse looking people out there. She cooked well, clearly independent, capable of taking care of not only herself but him and his father, dedicated; loving…genuinely cared for him deeply… She knew that she would devote so much time, energy, and attention to him and would sacrifice to the best of her abilities in exchange for his happiness. What does that girl whom he currently shares a home with had to offer?

Her own listed went on and on, but what about that other girl? Sure, she was considered attractive by the majority of the school and some of the past strange visitors, but she wasn't breathtaking either. There were certainly better looking girls out there. Did he like that, at best, average looking girl because of her "tomboy" quality? For goodness sakes, she spent a majority of her own childhood with boys because of him; how much "tomboy" did he want in a girl? She of all girls would understand how a boy behaves.

Not only that, she fought better than that weak excuse of a "skilled" martial artist. She should be the best candidate out of his list! She was the one that matched what he wanted! How can that girl's current relationship with him compete with the friendship and connection that she had with him? No one could understand and build such a bond with their amount of history. Impossible.

Perhaps it was a hidden charisma that she failed to see because she was a girl and not a boy. She could not understand what people saw in that girl. So what if she had a pretty smile? She was simple minded enough and blind enough not to see that her fiancé and an extremely emotional boy cared for her. Well, that's probably what all guys wanted…a decent looking girl with half a brain who was not obviously stupid that it would seem like she was a bimbo...although boys probably wouldn't mind if she was a bimbo anyways…

You could find any girl like that off the streets! Stupid boys…always falling for girls like that…They deserved to be abused and suffer. It was his fault for not picking the obviously better choice…Right, the blasted curse for all males – stupidity, blindness, and shamelessness. How sad. How pitiful. A fitting curse for a gender that's doomed to failure anyways. If she had the power to determine gene traits and destiny, she'd bestow upon them a lot worse. Sadly, she was not God.

How she hated him…How she hated her…The two of them were despicable together. Why must her eyes, mind, and heart be tortured with the sight of them together walking down the streets together and talking or whatever they considered themselves to be doing? How she wished she could take up her loyal weapons, flatten the two of them, and then separate them by throwing one to the mountains and one to the sea. She hated their communication style. Their emotions were so subtle that they were actually unsubtle and sickening to the eyes.

However, she still fought and longed for him. She pretended as if she did not see their exchanges every time and continue to approach him with kindness and care, hoping that one day, he would value her existence and importance. Denial was a close friend, followed by feigned ignorance. Feigned ignorance was still ignorance. Wasn't the saying "ignorance is bliss"? That's right, anything for happiness. If only there was such thing as genuine bliss. Bliss… what a concept, simply pathetic and unrealistic. How could anyone feel bliss in this corrupted world where life is considered a game?

She realized that she was sounding very much like the boy next to her at that moment when that particular train of thought entered her mind. He always had such a pessimistic point of view on life, and as much as she hated to show it to the public, privately she felt that way too. It seemed that it was only lately that she was able to show optimism outwardly, but that could be because she did not want a particular male to think that she was depressed and boring all the time. That certainly would not win his heart over from all those undeserving girls fawning over him.

She understood the poor weeping boy. If anything, she shared some of the pain and sufferings he felt. Of course, right now, he probably felt that no one remotely knew what he was going through. She agreed. If anyone was to walk in right now and tried to decipher his words, it would be essentially impossible as they were coated with sniffles, tears, coughs, sobs, and occasionally wails.

Even in this type of condition, she still had pondered about her own little world. It was useless to show any sort of physical reaction anyways. She didn't have much empathy left after the first hour. She did all she could. She offered comfort food, encouraging words, soothing tea, and a soft towel instead of flakey napkins to wipe his tears. It was really a wonder that he had accepted those material objects, because he seemed so enclosed in his realm of sadness and all things negative that connection with the outside world would seem like an incomprehensible concept. There was nothing more for her to do except to continue to support him by staying by his side to listen and give him the required time and space for him to settle down.

Just as she was about to offer him a cup of warm milk, and possibly some sleeping pills to go with that, his tears began again along with his poor attempt of trying to apologizing for his behavior. That was what she thought he was trying to do anyways. It would have been truly heart breaking to witness such a scene, a grown boy crying to such an extent, if the hours weren't approaching midnight.

Author's Note: More along the way! Please anticipate!