Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½. The only things that belong to me is the story and my own characters.
This is a Generation Fanfic, by the way. I know it's been a concept that's been done before, but I thought I'd take a shot at making my own. Hope it's different from any other ones you may have seen before.
Chapter 2: The Taste of Friendship
His mother had tucked him in bed about an hour ago, despite his boasting proclaims that he wasn't even the least bit sleepy. He had snuck out, once he was positive that he wouldn't get caught for going against his mother's wishes for him to sleep. As he made his way down the dark hallway, making sure that each step he made didn't make a single sound, an accident giggle slipped from his mouth. He'd always feel the need to laugh, whenever he was doing anything that fueled up his excitement.
He held a hand firmly over his mouth not wanting to risk anymore sounds escaping. There was no way he was going to let himself get caught, when he had avoided bedtime plenty of times before. However, unlike those previous times he already had a destination in mind. It was the usual place he'd go to ever since he found the thing in a battered up box behind Uncle Tofu's clinic. He brought it home without both of his parents knowing a thing, and they still had no idea that he was using the unoccupied guestroom as it's temporary home.
He was proud of himself for how well he had hidden it behind his parent's backs, especially since his father had such a terrible fear over the things. The first thing he needed before visiting the kitten would be to drop by the kitchen to fetch it some snacks. The last time he had fed it was last night, and by now the poor thing was probably starving. He could hear overhear a conversation going on between his parents as he went by their room. Lately, his father was having a lot more yelling contests with his mother.
"It's not a big deal, Ranma!"
In response, a rude snort came from his father. "It's not a big deal?" he repeated with venom. "You can think that it isn't Akane, but I think it's definitely worth something to make a big deal out of!"
A loud exasperated scream came from his mother. "You're overreacting!"
His father's voice was louder. He had a hunch that his father was going to win this contest this time around. "The only reason I'm overreacting is because you don't seem to care!"
There was a sound of something being thrown and then glass breaking. Curiosity got the better of him as he crept closer towards their door that was left slightly open. He peeked inside the crack to see his father pacing around the room. He saw that the vase that Grandma Nodoka had given his parents as an anniversary gift wasn't on the nightstand anymore that was located next to their window, which was now broken.
His mother was sitting on the edge of her bed, her hands set on top of her lap and grabbing at the material of her pajama bottoms. Her eyes focused on the pieces of glass in front of her feet. "How can you say that I don't care?" she sounded so exhausted. "You think that I don't care about my own son? Our son?"
His father stomped his foot down on the hard wood floors, the impact from the hit cracking the flooring and making the shards of glass dance in the air momentarily before landing. "Akane," he murmured softly. "He wasn't supposed to…"
"Wasn't supposed to what?" his mother asked him, unfazed by his hit to the floor. His hung his head down, while his bangs shielded his eyes away blocking the emotion that was flaring. He balled his hands into angry trembling fists, and his shoulders began to shake. She carefully avoided the glass, and embraced him. "It'll be all right, Ranma. I promise it will."
He gently broke the contact between them. "How can you say that?" his voice broke off towards the end. "I only want him to be happy."
"Who says he isn't happy?"
"You don't get it, Akane. He's just a kid now," his father muttered. "But when he grows up, he'll have to deal with the same crap that I still have to deal with," he put his hands on her shoulders. "Why does this stuff keep happening to me? I don't know how much more I can handle."
"Ranma, he's not you, you don't know how he'll act," she sighed. "Can't we not think of the future? Let's focus on what's happening right now."
"Every since I found out about it, all I've been thinking about is the future! You wouldn't understand unless you were in my shoes!" his father exclaimed. "You'll never know how it feels, Akane. And I wanted the same thing to happen to Ryuku. But just like always that can't happen to a guy like me! Something always have to go wrong with my life, otherwise I'm not Ranma Saotome!"
"Ranma…"
"Akane," this time it was his father who pulled his mother into a hug. "I really wish he could have gotten something else from me."
Ryuku's eyelashes fluttered a bit before he opened his eyes. His vision was slightly blurred from having just woken up from his nap. When his eyes adjusted the first thing invading his eyesight was a catlike grin. He was already regretting losing touch with his subconscious mind. He groaned and turned away from the grin, while shutting his eyes in hopes of falling back asleep. A childish whine was heard above him, and then a hand with a strong grip took hold of his arm and began to roughly shake him.
"I know you're awake!" he forced himself to snore obnoxiously. "As much as I'd like to stay and watch you sleep, I only came to remind you that my mother expects you to be at the Cat Café an hour earlier then usual," she knew he was pretending that he had fallen back asleep, and greedily took the opportunity to leave a quick kiss on his cheek. "That was my thank you gift. Ever since you started working for us, business has gotten so much better! I have to go now; my mother wants to me return for deliveries!"
He rose up once she was sure she had left, and wiped the cheek she had kissed with the back of his hand. A gentle breeze blew past, tossing his already disheveled hair about somewhat. He glanced up at the calming sky above him, but found the serene colors and scenery doing nothing to calm him down from his dream. A wistful sigh went past his parted lips, before he flopped back down on the ground. He settled down against the grass with his arms underneath his head, prepared to spend the rest of his lunch with no more distractions. However, the only way he could achieve that was if he got rid of the other distraction that was watching his earlier exchange with his co-worker.
"Are you going to keep hiding there all day?"
With a startled squeak, Ayano peered out from her hiding spot, which was a tree, located closely where Ryuku was resting. Ryuku let his eyes shut, and was tempted to take another nap. Not knowing what else to do, Ayano retreated from behind the tree and slowly approached him.
"You're really nosy."
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop!" Ayano was quick to assure him. He snorted in disagreement, and turned his head to nestle the side of his face against his uniform sleeve. The only reason she had stopped by was to ask him a quick inquiry. "…did you have a talk with your sister lately? Possibly a conversation about those awful rumors about you?"
Ryuku lifted his head up to glare at her. "If I answer you, will you leave me alone?"
"O-Of course!"
"I may have heard some things," he answered carefully. "But I don't know why you even bothered visiting. I've always had to deal with those stupid rumors, so you're little speech on trying to—I don't know, get me to like you—was pointless," he rested his head back onto the grass and added. "People can believe what they choose to believe, as long as I know the truth I'm happy. And when that day comes where I actually care about what people think about me, I'll be sure to let you be the first person to know."
He could sense her feel the need to say something, but he interjected with a sneer. "This is the part where you follow your end of the deal and get the hell away from me."
Her heart wasn't slowing down, but that was understandable considering that it felt like she recently ran a marathon. She hadn't meant to run away from him, it was like her legs had a mind of their own when she suddenly broke into a sprint. The unevenness of the tree bark pressed onto her back made her resting spot less comfortable, but she ignored it choosing instead to focus on catching her breath and to make her head quit pounding.
Ayano didn't think that she would ever get used to how intense his stare was. Every time he spared a glance in her direction, it was as if he was brutally murdering her using only his cold blue eyes as weapons. Without warning, hands were grasping onto her shoulders with a fierce grip.
"What is wrong with you?" Naori hissed through her teeth. Hesitantly, she lifted her head up to suffer from her sister's fury. "Lately all I've been hearing is people gossiping about you and that freaky Saotome kid! I thought it was all bullshit until I saw you trying to engage into a conversation with him! God, why did I have to get such a stupid sister like you?"
"N-Naori, I didn't—"
"When I told you to leave me and my friends alone, and to go make some friends of your own," her grip on Ayano's shoulders tightened. "I didn't mean for you to make friends with someone that sends people to the hospital!"
"Naori," Ayano squeaked out. "You're hurting me."
Behind them, doing nothing but watching the scene before them was three of Naori's friends. The only one that Ayano could name was the girl in the middle, who was named Kazuko. She knew Naori the longest out of the three, and was also the nicest. Around Furinkan Kazuko was labeled as a huge tomboy due to her short boyish black hair, her brash personality, and the fact that she only time she wore a skirt was when she wore her uniform.
Kazuko came over towards them and ruffled Naori's hair up until it was slightly puffed up in the back. "Don't be so mean to her," she flashed Ayano a smile over Naori's shoulder. "At least she has the guts to talk to the guy. We have to give her props for that."
Her grip loosened on Ayano, as she turned to face Kazuko. "Stop supporting her stupidity! The only thing I'll give her props for is the lack of brain that she has!" she shot her sister a disgusted look, and shoved her away. "Weren't you complaining that you were hungry, Kazuko?"
Kazuko raised an eyebrow at Naori, who was fixing her hair that she had messed up. "Didn't you say you were broke?"
This time Naori shot Ayano an expectant look. "I'm sure Ayano has something she can give you."
"I'm not going to take stuff from your sister!" Kazuko protested. She saw much to her dismay that Ayano was already searching through her schoolbag. "My stomach can wait until school is over."
Ayano blocked out the conversation going on between Naori and her friends, her eyes vacantly stared at the bento that she was going to offer to Kazuko in her hand. She was particularly proud of her ability to cook. It was the only thing that her father and sister complimented her on, and she treasured those compliments more than anything. Ayano walked to the other side of the tree, Ryuku was right where she had seen him last laying on the grass and most likely sleeping. She stared back down at the bento.
Maybe there was another shot at getting on his good side after all.
Ryuku didn't understand why she was bothering him again, especially during lunch where people knew better then to invade his usual lunch spot. He was faking that he was taking a nap, his ears picking up the sounds of her nervous breathing and irregular heartbeat. He cracked an eye open, seeing her standing much closer then he expected.
"What now?" wordlessly, she dropped something on his chest. He sat upright, hands grabbing at what she dropped and brought it up to his face. It was a bento, wrapped up nicely with a pink handkerchief and a pair of chopsticks on top. Confusion washed over his face. "…I don't get it." No one has ever given him one of these things before (unless those failed attempts from his mother counted).
"You eat it," Ayano informed him. "Well, you eat the food inside it."
Ryuku refrained himself from throwing the bento at her face. "I know what it is!" he snapped defensively. "What I meant was…" he exhaled through his mouth, calming himself down. "Why are you giving this to me?"
Ayano simply spun around and ran with a departing demand. "Just eat it!"
He leapt onto his feet, bento still in hand, and ran after her. The chase itself was pathetic, since he caught up to her with no problem at all. He jumped up and used a nearby tree to leverage himself up higher into the air and landed right in front of her. Ayano shrieked in surprise, while falling ungracefully on her butt.
He tossed the bento on top of her lap. "Running was pretty pointless." He turned to leave, but she stopped him by taking hold of the bottom of his uniform jacket. "Don't you know what: leave me alone means?" he glanced over to see her down on her knees, looking uncharacteristically determined. "Are you going to keep bothering me?"
Ayano picked up the bento. "Please take it. Think of it as an apology for me eavesdropping on you last time."
Ryuku wasn't going to give in. "I'm not very hungry—" as if on cue; the sounds from his stomach rumbling loudly contradicted his statement. He pressed a hand against his stomach looking as if it betrayed him. When he heard a giggle, he gave Ayano a glare when he saw her lips curl into an amused smile. "Give me the damn thing."
He snatched it from her, and ripped the handkerchief off with one hand while his other broke the chopsticks apart. After mumbling a few words of gratitude under his breath, he tentatively started to dig in. With his cheeks slightly puffed up from the food shoved in his mouth, he stopped eating. A blank expression was on his face, as he posed his chopsticks over his lips and several grains of rice that didn't make it on his mouth stuck on the edge of his lips.
"What's wrong?" Ayano asked. "Does it taste bad?"
Ryuku shook his head and chewed a few more times before swallowing the food in his mouth. Ayano must have been imaging things when she saw tears slowly start to form in his eyes. "…what the hell?" he blinked back his tears. He noticed the weird looks he was getting from Ayano, and shut his mouth. Awkwardly, he handed the bento back to Ayano.
Ayano was confused. Did that mean he liked it? "Why don't you eat the rest?" She placed the bento back in his hands.
He only stared down at the food, and quickly finishing it off. He sheepishly gave her the empty bento. "Um, thanks, I guess."
They stood in place for several seconds with an uncomfortable silence suffocating them. Ryuku started to walk away when he noticed a glint in her eyes that rubbed him off in the wrong way. Ayano scrambled onto her feet, brushing the dirt off her knees as she did so, and went after him. She had already succeeded with the first part of her plan, and wasn't about to stop the plan was completed.
"Wait!" she shouted. "I have an offer for you!"
Ryuku reluctantly turned around to face her. "What do you want now?" he spat out irritably. "Don't think that we're friends now that I ate your food."
"You mentioned that you don't eat lunch," she said. "What if I make lunch for you from now on?"
He stared at her like she'd grown two heads. "…why the hell would you want to do that?"
"Think of it as a way for me to show my gratitude for when you saved me."
Ryuku rolled his eyes. "You still going on what about that?" he asked. "If I knew how much a pain in the ass you were going to be, I would have just left you there."
"Please," Ayano begged. "Just let me do something for you. This is the only way I know how to show how grateful I am."
His gaze dropped to the empty bento she was holding onto, and his stomach hummed in appreciation. "…fine," he gritted out. "But that's all you're doing for me. I don't need any friends."
At the sound of the dismissing bell, everyone quickly gathered their things and made their way out of the classroom. Each person was looking forward to heading back home after a day of hard work. A boy who had started putting his things away a bit later then the others, got out of his desk and noticed something laying on the floor.
He slipped his schoolbag onto his back, and bent down to pick it up. Immediately, he recognized the dropped item as the top that belonged to one of the cute waitresses at the popular restaurant called the Cat Café. His mind drifted off on who the top could have belonged to. Most of the girls in his class didn't have the right figure to pull the uniform off, or the cuteness that enticed more and more customers to come each day.
A chill went down his spine. He could already tell that something bad was about to happen from how tense the air suddenly felt around him. When a hand plopped down on his shoulder, he stiffened. His legs began to shake uncontrollably, and he knew that sooner or later he'd have to look to see who the hand belonged to. With a gulp, he fearfully turned his head and let out an unmanly shriek.
"Do you always take people's things?"
The boy stuttered an incoherent sentence. He was flipped around so that he was facing Ryuku. When he started walking towards him, he clumsily stumbled back a few steps. He tried keeping one eye on Ryuku and used the other to make sure he wouldn't crash into anything behind him. His back bumped against the cabinet in the back of the classroom, and found much to his horror that he was now cornered with no where else to escape. He clenched his eyes, waiting for the brutal beating and trip to the hospital. Maybe if he was lucky enough, he'd be passed out for most it.
Ryuku was disgusted when he saw that he had peed himself. He plucked the top from his hands, and exited the classroom not wanting to know what else he did in his pants.
"Have you guys seen Ryuku?"
The small group that Ayano had caught leaving a classroom each gave her identical stares. They all looked as if they were staring at a maniac. She was searching all over the school for any sign of him, since she had skipped lunch for the day from volunteering to help a teacher out with grading tests. She didn't want him to think that she was breaking her own promise to him by not giving him his daily bento.
One of the boys finally asked. "Why the hell do you want to find him?"
"Do you know where he could be at?"
"He's probably in the bathroom," the boy in the middle answered. "That's where he usually goes afterschool to wash off all the blood on his knife."
Ayano thanked them and then dashed over to where the boy had told her. She leaned back into the wall behind, standing next to the boy's bathroom door and waited patiently for the red head. Inside she heard the water from the sink turned on to full power. When the door swung open, Ayano took out the bento and bowed down apology already leaving her lips.
She tilted her head back and her eyes landed on the face of Ryuku's sister. Like the last time she had seen her, she was wearing the same apparel as before. Drops of water fell from her black tresses, and she was holding onto the handle of Ryuku's schoolbag so that it was over her shoulder. Ayano stepped inside the bathroom, prepared to slide the bento under a stall if she had to, only to be dragged back outside by a frantic Ryuku's sister.
"What are you doing?" she stood in front of the door acting as a roadblock when Ayano made another attempt to go inside. "Are you an idiot? That's the boy's bathroom!"
"I know that," Ayano said. "I wasn't going to do my business in there. All I need to do is give this to your brother."
She remained where she was. "I'll give it to him."
"Why is it ok for you to go in?" Ayano asked the shorter girl suspiciously. She wasn't being entirely serious, but couldn't help but mention something. "In case you haven't noticed, you're not a boy either."
"I am a—" she stopped herself, forcing herself to calm down. "That's not the point here. You came here to give that to Ryuku, and I told you that I'd do it for you."
Ayano laughed. "I'm sorry," she said. "I was only joking with you." Ryuku's sister grabbed the bento from her with a scowl. "It was so nice to see you again."
She tucked the bento under her arm so she could flick her damp bangs out of her eyes. "How long are you planning on loitering in front of the boy's bathroom?"
Her cheerful mood vanished just as soon as it started. "I was only making conversation."
"Well, don't," Ayano blinked. That harshness sounded eerily familiar. "How many times do I have to tell you this? I don't need any friends." She abruptly covered her mouth with her hand, only to remove it a second later to hiss. "F-Forget what I just said!"
To herself, she murmured while her eyes trailed after her retreating figure. "…I can see the resemblance."
"So," Ryuku looked up from the patch of grass he was staring at. "Your sister looks to be about our age. Why doesn't she go to our school?"
Ayano was pulling at the strands of grass in front of her, creating a small mountain of grass next to her shoe. He refused to make small talk with her, and focused on finishing the rest of his lunch. The same thing happened every day: Ayano would take a seat not to far away from him after handing him his bento, then attempt to get him to start talking. He'd reply by quickly engulfing the meal down and send her off with her empty bento, his stomach already thinking of the food for the next day.
He lowered the bento from his mouth to set it down on his thigh, and swiped the rice off his chin with his thumb. "Well, I'm done," he grunted. He threw the bento in front of her, destroying her grass mountain. "See you tomorrow."
"Can't you at least answer me before I leave?"
Ryuku shook his head.
"What if I gave you more than one bento?"
"Are you really trying to bribe me with…food?" when she nodded, he laughed. "Wow. You must be desperate," Ayano dejectedly picked up the bento. "Ok. I'll answer you just this once."
She beamed with excitement. "Really?"
"Yeah," he said. "Don't get used to it though." She promised she wouldn't. "Ok. You ready for my answer?" this time she nodded with enthusiasm. "Here it is: it's none of your business. Now leave."
Ayano spent most of last night working on filling up seven bentos for Ryuku. The whole time she daydreamed of how he'd be so touched by her spending the time to put in more effort with providing lunch for him, and would spill everything that she asked him about. She knew that her expected reaction from him was ridiculous, but that didn't stop hopes from being crushed just yet.
When the bell for lunch rang, Ayano picked up the paper bag that she had put Ryuku's lunch in and made her way through the people choosing to eat lunch in the classroom. Once she left the classroom, she was attacked several pairs of hands grabbing her and then yanking her into an empty classroom.
She was shoved onto the teacher's chair. "W-what's going on?"
"We should be the ones asking you that."
A group of at least six people were crowding around her, making Ayano think back to the time when a crowd had gathered around her desk and demanded to know about what occurred during her first encounter with Ryuku. A girl who seemed to be the group's leader with the way she stood with a rebelling defiance.
Her hand shot out and grabbed the front of her uniform. A nasty scowl was on her lips that were smeared with lip gloss and had two lip rings on her bottom lip. "We've been watching you," she sneered. "You're always bringing that freak lunch and shit. What are you his bitch?"
"N-no—"
"Hey," she shook Ayano around to quiet her. "I'm the one that's talking now. Not you. You got that, Bloody Knife Saotome's bitch?" her eyes narrowed on Ayano. "I don't get what a fuckup like him could see in a chick like you. You're practically bones just waiting to collapse."
"I'm not—"
"Didn't I tell you that it's my turn to talk?" the girl snarled. "The rumors going on right now are that you and him are somewhat of an item. Now, even though you're his bitch, you don't seem like the type that'd jump into anyone's bed. Anyway, I just came here to tell you something," her group started to cackle. "And I don't mean to burst you're bubble, but you know, I heard that he raped someone."
A smug smirk played across her lips when she saw Ayano's eyes widen in horror. "Yeah, some poor chick that used to babysit him," she told her. "He really liked that chick. But the problem was that she had a boyfriend, and he hated his guts. So, you know what he did to the guy?"
Ayano saw that the group had moved away from the door. She attempted an escape but was shoved back down. "Well, you could always ask him what happened. But I don't think you'd get much out of him, since he's still in a coma." she snickered. "Man, she was so fucked up after it happened that she got the hell out of Nerima. You never know when he might do the same to you, so I suggest you leave while you still have the chance."
"That's great," everyone stiffened at the intruder's voice. "Is story time over?"
The girl scrambled away from Ayano as if she was made of poison, and went to her group. Ryuku never looked happy, but the current expression on his face told everyone that he was out looking for blood. Ayano wasn't sure if she should go over to him, or go hide with the others.
He walked over to Ayano and took the paper bag away from her. "Thanks for the food." And she was so tempted to stop him from leaving to make him tell the truth, so the rumors would stop altogether.
But the only problem was that she was having a hard time deciding if what she was just told was the truth or not.
And that's the end of this chapter! Thanks for everyone who took the time to review! The girl that kissed Ryuku on the kiss will be more properly introduced in a later chapter. Hope it was somewhat enjoyable (even though rape is not something to laugh about that stupid girl), and I also hope you look forward to whatever happens next! Oh and be sure to tell me if you spot any mistakes!
boomwarrior13: I'll definitely explain what happened to Ranma! Don't worry! Anonymous: Thanks for the correction! And how Ryuku's reputation got to be that will be told eventually! Shadowalker666: Well, Ranma won't be coming back for a long time. But hopefully his cameo in this chapter made up for it a little bit! James Birdsong: Thanks! You're cool too! ;) ziggi92: whatever happened to Ranma will be told eventually! It would be fun if he was locked in his female form as punishment for leaving Akane and Ryuku. inu-yusukekaiba102: Here's that update! ;)
