Disclaimer: Ranma, Ryoga, Akane, and even Nerima aren't mine. The poem isn't mine. The story is.
A/N: This is the revised version of this fic. I added some things, clarified a few points, and generally cleaned up the writing. Hope you all enjoy.
Success Is Counted Sweetest...
I killed him. He's actually dead. It's unbelievable but true. After all this time, I finally killed that thrice-cursed pig, Ranma Saotome. I should be thrilled, I should be elated, I should be dancing with joy.
So why do I feel like throwing up?
Ever since I discovered I loved Akane I had daydreams of the time I would win her forever. They were, well, fun. It gave me pleasure in that far-off kind of sense. I was positive they would never come true, but to dream... In my fantasy, I always found Ranma doing something that would ruin his honor and forever hurt Akane. The location changed, the time of day changed, even the crime changed some. But always there was a crime. A terrible one against my beloved Akane. I would discover them just before things went too far. Then I would challenge the fiend. Ranma vs. Ryoga, the final fight. Who will win Akane, and who will go home in shame? The battle would be fierce, both of us giving our all. Of course, I always won in these dreams. I would rescue my fair maiden, and we would live happily ever after.
And then... then I wasn't dreaming. My fantasy played out around me exactly as it had so many times before in my head. I knew just what to do.
"The Tendo Dojo has to be around here somewhere!" Ryoga cried out. From his numerous trips to the town, he had finally learned to recognize that he was, in fact, in Tokyo. He was reasonably sure he was in the Nerima district, even, although the jury was still out on that. But that one dojo remained hidden from him.
"I could have sworn it was just around this corner," he muttered. Ryoga turned left into an alley and stopped dead. In front of his eyes was a sight that chilled his blood. Akane lay on the concrete, unconscious, the neck and sleeve of her dress ripped, exposing her shoulder and cleavage. There were bruises on her upper body. Ranma kneeled next to her, hands reaching out to touch her. Ryoga had no doubt in his mind what was going on. The cur had finally let his true colors show! As quickly as it had frozen, Ryoga's blood began to boil.
"Ranma..." he snarled, his battle aura flickering to life around him. Ranma looked up, startled. 'Caught in the act is more like it,' Ryoga thought abusively.
"Ryoga!" Ranma cried out.
Ryoga's eyes narrowed. "Get away from her, you... you...!" Suitable words failed the lost boy. "I never thought you would stoop so low."
"What are you talking about?" yelled Ranma, standing up. "Akane..."
Ryoga's rage was almost tangible. "Shut up!" he screamed, aiming a fist at Ranma's face. The other boy barely managed to dodge the punch, but lost his balance on some guy passed out behind him. He fell backwards.
"Ryoga, calm down! I didn't..."
"I said SHUT UP!!"
Ryoga lunged again. His foot got a solid hit to Ranma's midsection. As Ranma doubled over in pain he realized that this wasn't like their usual fights. Ryoga was out for the kill, consumed in his bloodlust. He rolled out of the way of the next kick just in time, using the momentum to sweep Ryoga's legs out from under him. Taking the opportunity, Ranma jumped to the roof of the building next door.
"You're not getting away, Ranma!" Ryoga yelled, rising to his feet and leaping after the other teenager in one motion. He caught up with the pigtailed martial artist on the third roof, using the momentum of his jump to add power to the fist aimed at the retreating form. Ranma barely had time to turn and block before Ryoga hit. The force of the blow sent Ranma crashing down, breaking through tile and roof into the room below. The startled residents had just enough time to register black hair and a pigtail before Ranma was out their window and back on the roof. Ryoga was preparing to follow him through the hole, his back to his opponent. Ranma sent out a sweeping kick to Ryoga's head, followed by a short amaguriken burst. This stunned the teen long enough for Ranma to start moving again. Infuriated, Ryoga pursued him. They met again a few rooftops later where a similar battle took place until Ranma again broke away.
The two battled over most of the city in this manner-meet, fight, break, travel, meet, fight, break, travel, each combatant receiving and delivering just a few hits before Ranma would scramble away to the next rooftop. A few times he tried to talk to Ryoga, to calm the other boy down, but he was quickly silenced. Most often by a fist or foot aimed at his head.
Well over an hour later the rooftops ran out and they found themselves in a dilapidated warehouse surrounded by signs marking it for demolition. By now Ryoga was starting to feel nervous. Ranma was less winded than the lost boy, and more of his punches were connecting than Ryoga's. There had to be a way to end this quickly. Then Ryoga spotted the two beams supporting the tottering roof-one on his side of the building, one on Ranma's side.
"Prepare to die, Ranma Saotome!" cried Ryoga. "Bakusai Tenketsu!!"
Ranma looked confused. "What are you talking about? That doesn't work on living..." Ranma stopped as he spotted the beams as well, recognizing their importance and what would happen if one gave way. There was no way out. He was too tired to fight much longer, and Ryoga was standing in front of the only door. Ranma grit his teeth in frustration, but as he watched Ryoga demolish the support frustration mutated into shock as the Eternal Lost Boy lived up to his name and sense of direction. Ryoga was frozen, staring in grim fascination as his death approached. 'How stupid of me,' he thought with a strange calm. 'I destroyed the wrong pillar.'
And then he was no longer looking at the ceiling. Something plowed into his side, driving the breath out of his body and knocking him clear of the destruction. When the dust settled, Ryoga saw a single hand sticking out from under the rubble of the ceiling. Nobody else had been around. There was only one person that hand could belong to...
Hesitantly, fearful of something he couldn't define, Ryoga reached out his own hand towards the exposed one. His mind raced as the distance closed. 'What was he doing? What if he's still alive? There's no way. Not even Ranma could be alive under there. But what if he is? What if he's not? It was all his fault, pushing me out of the way like that. He can't be alive, there's no way.'
'But what if?'
Ryoga's hand closed the gap. Under his questioning fingers, there was a faint, fluttering heartbeat.
Without fully realizing what he was doing or even why, Ryoga tore through the wreckage, trying to get to Ranma. It seemed to take hours. Reality tried pointed out it was only a minute or two before he finally he uncovered Ranma's head and upper body, but reality didn't seem to have much influence on Ryoga's mind. He checked the wrist and again felt the faint heartbeat, even weaker than before.
Ranma's eyes flickered open as the light from the setting sun hit them. He looked up, staring at Ryoga yet never seeming to see him. Ryoga bent closer as he started whispering, his voice so soft it could hardly be heard.
"Ryoga? Make sure... Akane's... all right... that they didn't... hurt her... bad... 'kay?"
With his words ringing in Ryoga's shocked mind, Ranma Saotome took one last shuddering breath and died.
And then in my mind I saw the truth. I saw what my stupid, childish fantasies had blinded me to. There was Akane on the ground, unconscious and prone. There was Ranma, crouching beside her in what I had rashly assumed was his heinous crime. And there were the street thugs, bleeding and unconscious, partly hidden by the shadows.
But only partly hidden. Not hidden enough to be any kind of excuse. Ranma had even tripped over one of them. I should have seen them, recognized what had really happened. I should have, but I didn't... because I didn't want to. I wanted my dreams to come true. I didn't want to believe what was right in front of me. Ranma hadn't hurt Akane. He never would have. Never in his... in his life. No, Ranma had saved her. And now I've killed him for it. But it's what I'd been trying to do for so long. I finally succeeded. He's gone forever. I've killed my rival, my bane...
...my friend.
What in heaven's name have I done?
SUCCESS is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory,
As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear.
-Emily Dickinson
End