D: I don't own Ranma ½
Chapter 10: "Awakening."
Ryouga sat on his bed, gazing through the window; it was such a nice day and he was jailed in that hospital room.
It had been that morning that he woke up, surprised at finding himself alive. He didn't know what had happened with the Shi Shi Hokoudan; the last thing he remembered was being on the roof, holding his chi inside because he didn't know how to release it. After that, everything went numb.
Apparently, there had been a hard blow to his head, cause he found it bandaged and throbbing. The irony of it was that thanks to that blow he had recovered his memory.
He started to analyze the situation. What he remembered first was that Akane knew about P-chan. He'd been stupid enough to tell her himself! A wave of relief washed upon him when he recalled her reaction to the news. She'd laughed. Ok, she'd flattened him to the floor with her mallet first, but then she'd laughed. It was such a wonderful feeling to finally get it off his chest… She'd said she forgave him, but he had to remain silent about it; she wanted to tease Ranma. And he wasn't against it, of course.
Then, there was Ranma. Ryouga tensed up, getting mad. He'd been the one responsible for the whole mess. He took his time to consider things calmly, (maybe it had to do with the sedatives the doctor had gave him…). Looking intently into the fight in his mind, he realized that it had just been a stupid mistake. And Ranma was sorry about it, he'd said so himself on the roof that day. Ryouga believed him; he knew his rival wasn't one to actually go killing people when he was mad. He'd been angry and he'd been trying to vent, but he'd gone a little overboard, letting anger control him, what caused him to fight blindly. If it hadn't been for that sock that made him slip, he would have blocked the kick and probably would've connected a punch or two afterwards.
Of course, he wasn't going to let Ranma get away with it easily. After all, he'd lied. He never told anybody about what had really happened, he'd said it'd been just an accident. Part of it was true, but not as Ranma explained it. He couldn't believe that people actually thought that he was stupid enough to knock himself out hitting his head on a wall. Honestly!! Saotome didn't need to make it look like that! Oh, he was going to pay…
I can't believe I've even asked him to be friends…
Ryouga thought miserably.
Although, it hadn't been that awful when the pigtailed one shook his hand happily, eager to become friends. But that wasn't the point!
And then, she came to mind. It was heartache's turn to stumble upon him. She'd known all along, and she'd never told him. She just wanted to side up with Ranma; she just wanted to make him jealous, or maybe to get back at him for breaking up the engagement. She just used ol' stupid Ryouga again, not worrying about his feeling, like always. He'd known that day, on the roof, what her real intentions were.
Because I love you!
Her voice rang into his head, a wave of familiar depression crashing against his chest when he remembered the first time she had said it.
He could take betrayal from Ranma, he was used to it; they'd be in normal terms again after a good beating. With Ranma, he just had to kick his ass. But with her…
I don't care who I loved before, all I care is what I feel now. And that's to be with you, ok?
He heard his own voice saying it to her that time, and he realized how true it was. Maybe that was why it hurt so much. He had to admit that he still cared for Akane, but with Ucchan was so different. After a long consideration, he discovered that he was truly in love with her, as hard as he could fall for someone, and she just had used him. Maybe to get back at Ranma, maybe to try to make him come back. Whatever the reason was, she'd taken advantage of his new feelings for her. Something that had blossomed so beautifully inside him, when he saw her as what she really was, a beautiful woman, inside and outside. He'd never felt that way for anyone. Not even Akane. He used to see Akane as something unreachable, something perfect and angelic… Ukyou was like a goddess, awakening… uh, thoughts… that he never even considered of having. And she made him feel like he was walking on clouds. Yup, he was totally in love with her.
What hurt the most was how much real everything had seemed. Her kisses; her hugs; their time together, laughing, talking, enjoying themselves; her soft voice saying 'I love you' into his ear… Ok that stung.
Stop thinking about her! She doesn't love you! It was all a lie!
He didn't bother to stop the tears, it hurt so much. He'd thought that finally he'd had a chance to be happy, to be loved and to love in return. But faith had slapped him on the face, again.
The worst part of it all was that he couldn't shake the feelings off. He longed for her. He wanted to hold her to his chest, where that horrible emptiness had erupted; he wanted to kiss her so badly that his lips almost hurt; he wanted to make her his so desperately that it was driving him crazy. And that scared the hell out of him. He wanted her to lovehim! He wanted her to feel the way he was feeling, to hear those wonderful words into his ear again and to believe it…
Why had she been so cruel? Why had she played with his feeling like that? Didn't she have a heart at all? Didn't she stop to think that he would fall into her, that he would want to die after finding out that she was just pretending?!
Hugging his knees to his chest, Ryouga cried.
A/N: I know it's too short, but I thought I should end it there. I was getting too sentimental… Next time I'll describe Ukyou's POV and I'll try to make a longer chapter! Please review!
Oh, and thanks to all of you who reviewed to the other chapters!