So, I'm going to try things a little differently this time! Firstly, I am going to put warnings at the top stating any "inappropriate content" that might offend people. I will also put a disclaimer, and anything that I think I need to tell you guys about (like this paragraph).
I am also holding out on making this fanfiction rated M. Like I said, I don't write lemons, but things get pretty limey and there are "suggestions" of events, both past and present. I would like as many opinions as possible, please!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or any of its characters!
Warnings: Attempted rape, swearing, homophobia
Sneg Ulitse, Khabarovsk, Russia
"Stupid, stupid Ranma!" hissed Ryoga, kicking a snowdrift violently as he passed it. The cold air swirled around his frame, making him shiver violently and curse his stupidity. How could he have lost his jacket? It was the middle of winter, and northern Japan could get startlingly cold.
At least, Ryoga hoped it was northern Japan, but with his luck, it was probably someplace halfway around the globe. It wouldn't be the first time something like this had happened.
Suddenly a back door opened, spilling a yellow glow into the snowy night. A hand pushed several drunken men out the room, and then quickly shut the entrance. Ryoga stiffened. He could tell these men were trouble. They were large, buff men, laughing like idiots and stumbling around. He began to back away, almost slipping on a pile of snow. One of the men looked up.
"Посмотрите, есть ребенок!" The man laughed, pointing a finger at Ryoga. The others looked up, and seeing Ryoga, began to laugh even harder. Somewhere in his mind, Ryoga registered that they were speaking Russian. That could mean that he was very far from home, or quite close.
"Он такой крошечный! Как вы думаете, что он китайский?" asked the biggest one of them all. The others shrugged, and one of them grabbed Ryoga by the collar and examined him. Ryoga could smell the vodka on his breath.
"Довольно мило, для мальчика." He stated. By now, Ryoga was thoroughly spooked. The last place he wanted to be right now was right here. Tugging away from the man, he turned and began to quickly walk away. He didn't run, lest they decided that it would be a great game for them to chase him.
"Иди сюда, мальчик, ты не хочешь играть с взрослыми?" A man called after him, and the rest laughed. Ryoga ignored them, picking up his pace. Suddenly, a thick arm wrapped around him, choking him slightly.
"Let go!" Ryoga screamed, kicking the man awkwardly on the shins. Although the man couldn't understand, he no doubt got the general message.
"Если вы не хотите играть, то я боюсь, что мы собираемся сделать вам." The man growled, moving his free arm down Ryoga's torso. When he reached Ryoga's beltline, he began to tug harshly.
Ryoga heard himself scream as he hurled the man over his shoulder. His mind had gone completely blank, and he could barely register the punches and kicks he delivered to the drunken men. They staggered back, one of them screaming something over and over again. Ryoga almost laughed at the men as they scrambled away, fear in their eyes. Instead, he fell to his knees and retched, over and over again.
'They touched me,' he finally thought, 'oh my god, they tried… tried to…'
Furinkan High School, Nerima, Tokyo
The sky was a crystalline blue, fluffy white clouds dancing across its surface as though in a stereotypical wallpaper of a child's room. Ranma stood admiring the picturesque moment. Why had he never noticed the beauty of the sky before?
"… Hello? Earth to Ranma?" A voice snapped him out of his doze, and he glanced over to his ex-fiancée, who was looking a little put off by his failure to pay attention to her.
"Uh… right. What were you saying?"
"I was asking if you were feeling okay. We can wait a while to come back…" Ranma shook his head vigorously. It had already been more than a week since that fateful bargain in the Cat Café, and Ranma didn't want to be seen as more odd than he already was. Besides, if he fell back into habit, he may not think about Ryoga punching him so much. Maybe.
"I'm fine. I just want to get this mess over with…" Akane nodded. That would be a relief for everyone. "Hey, I've been thinking, and maybe I should talk to Ukyo, you know." Akane almost snapped at him, before she remembered she didn't need to be jealous anymore.
"Right. If we could get conformation, then that would be great."
Ranma glanced around, scanning the lawn for any signs of the spatula-wielding girl. There were a few glances his way, some curious, some menacing, but no Ukyo. "Huh… have you seen her?"
"No. She's probably too busy beating up Shampoo and Kodachi for competition over you know that Ryoga's out of the picture."
Ranma whirled around, gripping Akane's shoulders. "What do you mean, out of the picture? What happened! Are you not telling me something?"
"Calm down! I just meant that he's not in town anymore, or if he is, he isn't in our area." Akane yelped, pushing the crazed boy off her. If they hadn't been getting weird looks before, they certainly were now.
Ranma seemed embarrassed by his outburst. "Er… right." He muttered, "Anyways, if she doesn't show up, I'll probably make a stop-"
"RANMA SAOTOME!" Screamed an all-too familiar voice from behind them. Ranma whipped around, prepared to fend off an attack from the Kendo master. What he was not prepared for was Kuno dropping on his knees, sobbing violently.
"Whoa, dude, calm down!" Ranma yelled, waving his arms around like a demented monkey. Akane thought that the movements were not helping the situation, but she didn't comment. "What's up? Got your ass kicked or whatever?"
"Oh, Ranma Saotome, I never knew how noble you were!" cried Kuno. Ranma did a comical double-take in surprise. Kuno was calling him noble? "You pursuit true love despite it being forbidden! I am truly inspired by your bravery!"
Ranma's eyes widened and he slapped a hand over Kuno's mouth. "Okay man, it's great that you admire me and shit, but can you have your mental breakdown somewhere else? People are starting to stare, and not at you." It was true. Despite the upperclassmen's antics, it was not Kuno people were interested in.
Kuno nodded, getting to his feet. "Ranma Saotome, if you ever require my assistance, I shall ever be at your service." With that, Kuno dramatically turned and ran off.
"What the hell was that about?" Ranma muttered, "'if I ever require his assistance?' Assistance with what?" Akane was silent. Though Kuno wasn't the sharpest katana in the arsenal, even he had managed to discern the truth in the text. No doubt every student, teacher and alumni knew the truth about Ranma's sexuality. Most probably wouldn't care, but there were always the homophobes, the haters, the hapless victims forced to play along or get hurt. Ranma no doubt knew this too, and was putting on a brave face for the cameras. Figuratively, of course.
"Never mind that, we should get to class before the principal decides that today is a great day for a haircut." Ranma nodded in agreement, and the slipped into the building just as the bell rang.
Homeroom 1-F, Furinkan High school, Nerima, Tokyo
The scrap of white paper slid into Ranma's field of vision as he pointlessly checked over his answers. They were all right, curtsey of a few extra yen to Nabiki when Ranma's weekly payment came up. Of course, it was a bit pointless now that everyone and their dog knew about Ranma's crush, but it never hurt to keep the ice queen happy.
Leaning down as if tying his shoelace (even though he was wearing Chinese shoes without laces), Ranma nonchalantly picked up the piece of paper and glanced around. Everyone was going over their math answers before they turned them into the teacher. No one gave him a sly look or a wink, or even a menacing glare. Ranma sat back up again, slipping the paper into his binder and opening it.
Ranma couldn't say he was surprised to see the words "How's the boyfriend, fag?" carefully printed so that the handwriting couldn't be easily identified. Angry, but not surprised. Crumpling the white paper in his fist, Ranma tossed the note in the trash can that was at least ten feet away. There were a few 'oohs', but they were quickly staunched by the atmosphere as Ranma's anger began to seep into the air, just to let whoever wrote that know that if he caught them, there would be hell to pay.
Tour bus, outside of Kyoto, Japan
Nodoka sighed, stretching her legs as she walked around the wooded area that was where the bus had broken down. Her samurai sword was, as always, tied to her waist, but she seemed to be getting more than a few stares for something she had begun to consider normal.
Most of the stares were emanating from a noisy American couple. The two children were especially curious. One of them, the younger boy, walked up and asked her something (Nodoka had no idea what, not being able to speak English), pointing to the sword. Nodoka didn't really mind. They reminded her of the times when she had lived with Genma and baby Ranma. That seemed so long ago…
"Mrs. Saotome?" Kasumi called, walking over.
"Yes?"
"Well, I was sitting by your bag, and I couldn't help but notice that there was a buzzing noise coming from inside one of the pockets. So I glanced in there, and I realized that there was a phone! I thought I'd bring it to you." Kasumi handed Nodoka her bag, smiling cheerfully.
Nodoka flipped open one of the pockets, and pulled out the glittery cellphone inside. The phone wasn't hers, but a friend had loaned it to her just in case an emergency came up and they needed to phone home. Who could have called her? Flipping open the phone, Nodoka was surprised to see a text.
She began to scroll through the list of forwards. Normally, she wouldn't even consider reading another person's text, but this didn't seem like it was directed anyone in particular. No doubt Nodoka herself would've gotten it if she had owned a phone.
Finally reaching the bottom of the text, Nodoka began to read.
Hallway, Furinkan High School, Nerima, Tokyo
"Ranma!"
The boy in question did not glance away from his locker. No point, really. He'd just get another glare, or someone mouthing "gay", or "fag" or some other incredibly creative insult. Normally, Ranma would just beat anyone who dared insult him, but normally the only ones who were brave enough to insult him were strong martial artists. If he attacked a fellow classmate, he could hurt or even kill someone.
"Ranma!" A hand was placed on his shoulder. Looking around, Ranma was surprised to see Hiroshi standing at his side, with Daisuke close behind him. "Jeez, Ranma, why didn't you turn around? It's not like you to ignore us."
Ranma was suddenly filled with an appreciation for his friends. Among all this chaos, Hiroshi seemed to act like nothing was wrong. Daisuke, too.
"I'm so glad to see you guys, but we should talk after school, okay? I'm already enough of a freak without spilling my guts in the hallway," Ranma whispered, patting them on their backs. They gave each other a glance, before nodding and turning away. Ranma returned to the task of taking out the right books for science. Finally, something to look forward to.
Soccer field, Furinkan High School, Nerima, Tokyo
Ranma paced back and forth on one of the bleacher rows, his brow a thunderhead of moody concentration. Watching him was Akane, Hiroshi, Daisuke, and, for some strange reason, Kuno. Ranma figured that he could ask Akane about the Kendo master later.
"Well, okay, I don't know if you guys are expecting some big speech or whatever, but I don't have one, so you're just gonna have to bear with me, 'kay? Basically, the rumors are true; I'm in love with another guy, which makes my life shit, blah blah blah. I don't need you to stand by me or whatever, but if you do, you're probably going to get almost as much as hate as I'm getting, so I don't need you guys complaining about that." Ranma paused, glancing at his audience. Akane seemed slightly exasperated at his choice of language, but otherwise there were no complaints.
"Okay. Now, there's this epic story behind what happened and why the text was sent out, but I'm not in the mood for explaining. If you're really dying to know, ask Akane. She seems to know more about it than me, anyways." Ranma glanced back again. This time, Hiroshi was raising a hand, like he was back in class. Slightly thrown by this, Ranma nevertheless asked "Er, yes, Hiroshi?"
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, who are you in love with?" Ranma frowned. He did mind Hiroshi asking.
"Does that really matter?" Ranma snapped, "This isn't some tabloid news, okay? Besides, I don't want to drag him into this." Kuno stood, an expression of outrage on his face.
"I object, Saotome! How are we to help you on your quest for true love if you do not tell us who the object of your affection is?" Ranma froze, looking at Kuno with an expression of incredulity on his face.
"'Quest for true love'?" Ranma gaped, "What the hell are you talking about, dude? What quest for true love?" He glanced around at the rest of the crowd, but they seemed equally mystified. Was this just one of Kuno's stupid shenanigans?
"Well, we must get you into a relationship with your lover, of course!" Ranma sighed at this statement. Kuno's real motivation was obvious. He just was glad Ranma was out of the way so he could claim Akane and the "pig-tailed girl" for his own. If Ranma was actually in a relationship with another person, then it just strengthened that reassurance that he wouldn't go back to Akane/pig-tailed girl.
"Kuno, even if it were your business, which it isn't, I still wouldn't share that personal information with you! God, you're so pushy. The only reason I'm having this 'meeting' or whatever is to tell you guys that I don't need you backing me up and getting hurt!" Ranma huffed, crossing his arms. His expression clearly showed that he thought this conversation was over. Unfortunately for him, no one else thought so.
"It's Ryoga, isn't it?" Daisuke blurted suddenly. "I mean, even though you're rivals and whatever, you guys have such a bromance. I mean, come on! After that shi-shi hokkodan battle, you were practically pining over him! I thought you two were going to start making out or some… thing…" he trailed off, suddenly aware of the daggers Ranma was glaring at him.*
"So it's the Hibiki boy!" Kuno cried, jumping atop the bleachers and waving around his "sword" like it was a leek glow stick at a Hatsune Miku concert, "Excellent! All we need to do is find him and convince him of his love!"
"Good luck with that," Akane snorted, "he ran away after Ranma kissed him. He's probably in Hokkaido by now."
"Ooh, you kissed him?" Hiroshi cried delightedly, clapping his hands together. "How'd it go? How far did you get? Did he seem like he ran away because he liked it?"
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Ranma yelled, covering his hands with his ears. "Holy crap, you people, can't a guy just explain himself without you all nit-picking like reporters?" he flopped down on the bleachers, groaning.
"I think it's time we should all go home," Akane said, and everyone immediately, fervently agreed.
Author's Notes: *That sentence was awful. Be happy that I left it in for your amusement.
Forgive this poor soul for being awful at updating.
Again, I'd love it if you would answer the questions from the previous chapter, especially question 2. I have decided to at least make Akane be with someone, but I haven't decided who.
HIROSHI IS A YAOI FANBOY~ 3