Here's something new. I came up with this at 1 am and finished at nearly 4 am. Most probably it would remain as a one shot as originally thought out but who knows...
She vanished long ago. Nearly three years now and no one knew why. Everyone just woke up to find that she was no longer there. Initially they assumed that she had already left for school. But then they learned of her disappearance when she was not seen for the entire day. The first thing they did was to search her room to see whether she had left any clue at all.
It was strange that her room was neatly kept. Her things were all in their usual places. There was nothing missing from her wardrobe either, apart from one that she would have supposedly wore on that morning – one of her school uniforms. No notes stuck on her desk. No hidden clues lay around the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except of course the absence of herself.
Soon began the frantic search of every possible place she might have gone to. They covered nearly a 3-mile radius around the house. They searched the parks, the schools, the many restaurants and stalls but there were no signs of her. No one they asked had seen her.
The family did not give up though. They intensified their search, even asking help from others and created a web of contacts in various places. Their network began to spread and it grew to cover nearly all of Tokyo. Every day they hoped for news on anything that might lead them to her. But many times they were disappointed by unconfirmed sightings and false alarms.
Agitation and despair grew day by day. They increasingly got frustrated to the point they began turning on themselves – blaming each other to be the reason she had disappeared. The house began to crumble. Unfortunately, one day the family tore apart and each person went separate ways, establishing their own networks to find their lost member.
The past three years were depressing for each of them. They searched and waited endlessly and continued being disappointed by false leads and mistaken identities. They were slowly losing their composures.
Their search had gone well past the bounds of Nerima. Some even moved on into other prefectures. None of them knew of each other's current whereabouts of course. They had not been in contact ever since they left the house.
… … … … …
It was a rainy Saturday evening. Okutama citizens regarded it as a blessing for it had been quite a hot year. The sun was covered but the downpour was light that people still walked the streets and roadside stalls were still open.
Ranma was annoyed by the rain though as a splash of a puddle or a sudden gust could change him into his cursed girl form. He still had to come out though so he put on a hooded jacket. He had promised himself and the family that she would be found despite the family itself already broken. It had been painful to see them slowly faltering like that. He felt he had a share of the blame of ripping them apart. Suddenly finding her was more important now as it could mean bringing the family together again.
He had swept the town from one end to the other and he had done so with much scrutiny. Still there had not been a single indication of where she might be. And since he had been doing this for so long he no longer felt disheartened. Instead he now seemed like a cold young man who had gone through unimaginable pain. It was good though to have his emotions blocked, leaving room for more rational thinking. There was no need to cater to his emotions as there are more important things to be concerned about.
He figured that today would be his last day in the town. Tomorrow he aimed to reach the adjacent prefecture of Yamanashi. So besides finding clues of her location, Ranma was out today to gather up necessary supplies. He had done various jobs during his search period which provided him with some money to sustain himself. He was extra careful with the money he had and often went with whatever he could find lying around. It was a surprise that he was still able to go about healthily, though his physique was not as good as it had been before.
Ranma was walking on the pavement that had shops along it. His pace was slow and he kept glancing at the things in the shops, in case he found anything useful. His primary goal currently was to find food. He also stole some glances at the people walking towards him, hoping that maybe he would get lucky.
Soon he came to a shop selling affordable food that could last him a while, primarily bread. Ranma went in and chose a few while at the same time sticking to his strict budget. He paid and stuffed them all in the bag he carried and then went out.
Just as he stepped out, someone accidentally bumped into him.
"Sorry," she said and hurriedly walked away.
Ranma was slightly annoyed, more towards her taking off just like that. Irritation subsided and suddenly he found the voice rather familiar. He played it again and again in his head, making sure that it was indeed her voice. In fact, he could have sworn that he had caught a glimpse of her iconic bluish hair.
Ranma walked quickly, weaving around the people, walking in the direction the girl had gone. His heart was beating fast. His mind was playing out possible scenarios of them meeting if it had really been her. He felt excited and very much hopeful too.
He saw the girl just a few paces ahead of him. Ranma quickened his stride and caught up to her and extended an arm to pull the girl at her shoulder.
"Ow, hey!"
Crushed! Ranma could only stare at the girl with a blank expression. She sounded unlike her and she definitely did not resemble her. The only thing similar was the bluish hair and even that did not have the same hue as she had.
"You're not the girl from before?"
"Before? What are you talking about?"
No, it was not even the girl that had bumped into him either. That at least meant that the girl before could have been her.
"Sorry, I mistook you for someone else."
The girl then gave him a sympathetic smile, almost as if understanding what he was going through.
"I'm sure you'll find the person you're looking for."
Ranma was stunned and before he could say anything, the girl left. He stood there, watching as the girl went on ahead. He hung his head and closed his eyes. He began to wonder whether he would ever be able to find her. Could it be that she would never be found? Or maybe she did not want to be found? He also questioned whether he was going mad because of all this.
No! He was not going to succumb to those kinds of thoughts. They were a weakling's musings and he was not one. He would continue the search even if it took him five, ten, twenty years. At the very least, he would find out what had happened to her. Then, maybe he could put an end to the struggle his mind had gone through for so long.
Ranma inhaled deeply and raised his head. Thunder boomed from afar signaling the possibility of a heavier downpour. Ranma then hastily moved to find a place to take shelter before continuing on his journey.
So, there you go. I feel that it may have not been very well written but I guess it's alright for a short one shot. If you all are wondering, I am still working on the next chapter of The Curse of Jusenkyo. I'm already halfway actually but I keep worrying about this wall I'm going to hit in future chapters. Yeah, I'm having a little problem in advancing the plot but I'll have it sorted out.
Anyway, hope this bit was worthwhile! This story was very much influenced by a recent book I just completed reading.
P.S. I gotta stop getting distracted from my writing. Haha.