Ranma ½: Something More
What if..... a million possibilities and infinite choices. An Altraverse by Blitz
Strength and Honor
It happened just as any tragic event does, fast, horrible, and unexpected. This is how a change has caused the entire universe of Ranma ½ to take a major wrong turn for the worst.
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Ranma ½ or ANY of The Characters..... I am using them WITHOUT permission.... so sue me....
Genma walked into the small convenience store with his son Ranma to purchase some more food supplies. His five year old son; Ranma, decided to make things difficult for him by tugging at the pant leg of his Gi while demanding candy. The elder Saoutome tried to gently shake his son from his leg as he made his way through the isle's, hunting for the third most important thing in his life, food.
Genma looked down at his very stubborn child "Ranma let go!" he demanded. Ranma just looked up at him and shook his head "candy..." Genma sighed in exasperation and pulled a stuffed panda bear off a nearby shelf. He handed the bear to his son and said "candy is bad for a martial artist. How about this nice bear instead?" Little Ranma hugged the panda and nodded "thanks Oyaji."
The convenience store they were walking through was owned and run by a small family. The wife and husband stood behind the counter while their young daughter played with a doll on the floor. Genma smiled when he found what he had been hunting for and was approaching the counter with several bags of rice, to make his purchase, when the door flew open to admit three masked men with various guns in hand.
Genma watched the men target the innocent people and store owners with their high powered weapons. He found himself unconsciously moving between them and his son. One of the shoppers, an overweight man, made a run for the door, and one of the men, wearing a black baseball cap over his black mask, opened fire. The overweight man dropped to the ground, a painful moan escaped his dying corpse.
Genma shook his head to clear it and allowed his martial arts training to access the opponents he currently faced in this life or death situation. His first instinct was to grab his son and run for his life, but what little honor he had wouldn't allow it.
Another gunshot and the store owner's wife fell to the ground, badly injured, but possibly still alive.
'It is the duty of a martial artist to protect the innocent' Genma thought to himself as he ran at full speed towards one of the three thugs, grabbing an arm and using it to pull the enemy towards his fist. The robbers head snapped back at an interesting angle.
Genma, the dark horse, than turned to the other three. He felt the bullets enter his chest and gut, one even grazed the side of his head. The black horse released a cry of anguish and rage as he charged the remaining two opponents. Using his remaining power and skill Genma quickly dispatched the first gun wielder while the second was still trying to target him. A blast and scream later Genma looked behind him to see that his son, Ranma, had been struck in the chest with a bullet.
He dodged to the side and felt his ear being blow off by a shot that was too close for comfort. His adrenaline rush gave him tunneled vision and greatly increased his strength. Genma charged into a hail of bullets that was too fast to dodge and launched his fist.
* * *
Ranma ignored the pain, as his father had taught him to do, while he watched his father finally fall to the ground after the long deadly battle. Ranma approached his fathers motionless body and couldn't keep the tears from his eyes. Somehow he knew. He knew that his father wouldn't be getting up again.
Ranma's head felt light and his chest was burning as if on fire. "Oyaji?" he asked in a weak voice that came out as barely a whisper. It was then that he realized he could barely breath and there was red blood everywhere. Ranma would gladly relearn the cat-fist a hundred times over, rather then having 'this' happen. Genma's head rolled to the side to face his son "R-ranma...y-you make me p-round b-boy....Th-eres s-s-omething im- portant I h-h-hav' ta tell y-ya b-boy." Ranma nodded. Genma's eyes glazed over through his broken glasses "t-the life o-of a-a m-martial artist is f- fraught w-ith......" Ranma never heard the end of the sentence, but he already knew it by heart. It was one his father had told him often. Ranma grabbed his fathers bloody Gi and began to tug on it "Oyaji, wake up....Oyaji?" The little pigtailed boy chocked out a sob and passed out from blood loss and pain.
* * *
It was late at night when Ranma parked his motorcycle in the parking lot and walked towards the decided meeting spot behind a small grocery store. As he got closer he could make out the group of thugs in the shadows. "Do you got it?" he asked as he approached. One of the men stepped forward. He had hair died orange and held a paper bag in his hand "of course." Ranma nodded and smiled.
He pulled a large wad of case from his pocket and exchanged it for the bag. Looking inside the bag he found everything there and nodded once more before walking back towards his bike. The man called after him "hey Ranma, don't use it all at once." The pigtailed boy pocketed the bag of magic mushrooms and called back "yeah, sure, whatever..... c ya later."
* * *
Nodoka was worried about her son as she sat on the couch in the living room. It was very late at night and she didn't like her son outside at this time. The television was on, but she paid it no attention. Nodoka didn't know how to relate to her child, which is part of the reason she had agreed to let Genma raise the boy. Thinking of her husband brought back painful memories and a tear to her eye. Her child had been injured and her husband killed.
Ranma couldn't even practice the art anymore, not after collapsing a lounge and piercing the other one. It seemed that Ranma had died with his father that day and all that was left was a shell of her little boy. It saddened her to see Ranma struggling for every breath he drew. She could barely even look at what her son had become anymore. Sometimes she wished that he had of died all those years ago.
* * *
Ranma parked the bike a block from his house, his mother didn't want him riding a motorcycle because she thought it was too dangerous. At least that's what he told himself. In actuality he was fairly certain his mother didn't give a dam about what he did. The real reason he figured was that he didn't want to explain to his mother how he had 'acquired' the bike in the first place.
Ranma walked quickly towards his home, huffing for breath. Sometimes....or rather most of the time, Ranma thought that he should have died as well as his father "that" day. He'd heard his mother say pretty much the same thing one day when she didn't know he was around.
The pigtailed boy remembered every second and every detail of his fathers death, his wound served as a constant reminder of something he didn't think he'd ever forget. Ranma pushed the door open and glanced into the living room to see his mother passed out on the couch. He turned away and walked towards his room. He was never really close with his mother, she just seemed to be a person that was always there. Someone that was saddened by his presence and tried to avoid him.
* * *
Ranma was dressing for school in his favourite uniform when his mother called out "RANMA! We have guests!" The pigtailed boy shook his head and wondered who could be visiting. He sighed and quickly finished dressing, he then caught his breath and quickly made his way down stairs to the living room.
He found himself staring at a tall man with long black hair and mustache, gathered around him were three girls that looked to be in their late teens. "Ranma?" the man asked, the pigtailed boy nodded and found himself engulfed in a hug. "C-can't BREATH!" he chocked out. Soun released his grip and held the boy out at arms length "Ranma! I was an old friend of your fathers." Ranma was still recovering his breath so could only nod his head.
The man pointed to his three daughters "pick one son and she'll be your fiancee." Ranma paused, his breath caught in his throat and looked from the man to the three girls. The first and youngest was cute, but also growling angrily. The second seemed disappointed while the third was smiling cheerfully and had a vacant look in her eyes, as if she weren't all there. He looked back at the middle aged man and could only say one word "huh!?"
* * *
After Soun Tendou had explained the arrangement between the families he'd invited Ranma to stay at his dojo so he could get to know his daughters. Ranma reluctantly, under both his mothers and Soun's pressuring, agreed and said a short good-bye to mom before leaving.
He had decided to stay away from Akane, she was a very strong martial artist and seemed to always be angry, which was never a good combination.
The pigtailed boy wasn't sure how he felt about the whole situation, but he also knew that there was no way any of these girls would want to marry him. He wondered why he had accept Soun's invitation and figured maybe it was because in some way it involved his father.
* * *
Ranma was sitting on the couch staring at the television when Akane's entered the room. He watched her walk over towards him and tried his best to smile. The youngest Tendou sat down beside him. "Just so you know, we're not getting married" her voice dripped with venom.
Ranma shrugged indifferently and turned his attention back to the television, he watched a lot of tv at home, it was his closest family and best friend all in one. Akane growled "I will not be ignored, you are a guest here so you HAVE to listen to me!" The pigtailed boy turned to look at her, a confused look on his face "you mean you actually want 'my' attention?"
Akane leaned away from the pigtailed boy as she tried to mentally process what had been said while dealing with a small circuit overload simultaneously. Ranma leaned towards her and smiled shyly, "you wanna be friends?" Akane slid of the couch and began to stiff leggedly walk towards the rooms closest exit. Ranma stared after her for a moment "oh well.... might'a been nice to have a friend....never did have one before." He turned his attention back to the television trying to escape into the world of fantasy that he'd trade his crappy life for in an instant.
A smile tugged at his lips as he remembered the brown paper bag he had in his pocket. Later he'd be free, even if it was for just a little while....until he could buy more anyway.
* * *
Ranma closed the door to the guest room and walked over to the lose floor board he'd found earlier. He'd decided to use the small cove under the board for stashing his "special" stuff. Ranma quickly removed the paper bag from his pocket and opened it up to reveal a Beretta 9mm hand gun along with a small handful of magical mushrooms. The pigtailed boy took out some of the drugs and then put everything under the floor board before closing it up again.
Walking over to his pack he had brought with him Ranma opened it up to retrieve his futon as well as the stuffed panda bear his father had giving him on that last day. The panda brought back memories of his father that always made his eyes water and throat hurt. It seemed that his father was the only person that ever gave a dam about him, and now he was dead.
After rolling out the futon Ranma tucked himself in and gulped down the mushrooms. He'd be up for a long while tonight, waiting for the hallucinogen to take effect. Staring into the black room Ranma hugged the panda close to himself. * * *
The next morning Akane woke with a yawn and following her normal, everyday routine, she got up, picked out her school uniform for the day, and walked towards the bathroom. Nabiki and Father were still sleeping this early and Kasumi was preparing breakfast and school lunches so Akane always had first shot at the bathroom. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. During her momentarily blindness resulted from rubbing her sleepy eyes she failed to notice the occupied sign on the door.
Akane slid open the inner bathroom door to the furo and saw Ranma just getting out of the furo. She stepped back and dropped her cloths as she took in the sight. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the boy's manhood and she blushed a deep red. "Had a good enough look yet?" the boy asked coldly.
Akane started to look up to his face but was startled by his chest. It was covered with scars long straight scars, one of them was circular. Ranma got out of the furo and turned around, showing Akane his back. She noticed the circular scar was also on the pigtailed boys back as well, only larger and seemed to be in a star pattern as if something had ripped out of his back. "Ranma....?" she asked.
Ranma looked over his shoulder at her "stop staring at me! And get the hell ought'a here!" he shouted at the blue haired girl. Akane instantly snapped back to reality and quickly left the room. A moment after Ranma was sure she was really gone he sat down on the stool and began dressing. 'Hope she doesn't ask 'bout the scars' he thought to himself 'cause I won't tell.'
* * *
Akane quickly ate her dinner, she wanted out of the house and away from Ranma as soon as possible. She was still having trouble believing that what happened in the bathroom had indeed actually happened. 'Ranma most think I'm a pervert' she thought 'but then again, since when do I care what that freak thinks.... and what was with those freaky scars?' She pushed her plate away and stood up.
Getting her lunch from Kasumi, Akane began moving quickly towards the door, only to be stopped by her father and Ranma. 'Oh god, he told father!' her mind screamed in panic 'now he'll engage me to that idiot for sure.' She felt like throwing up at the thought of marrying the pigtailed boy. Ranma smiled timidly and Soun put a hand on his shoulder "Akane, would you mind showing Ranma the way to school?" Akane breathed a mental sigh of relief and weakly nodded "sure I guess...."
* * *
Akane glanced over at the pigtailed boy walking beside her, than looked down at her watch. Her face paled and heart thundered as she realized that unless they ran for it they'd be late. She turned to the pigtailed boy and yelled "Hurry up or we'll be late" she then started to run down the street.
Akane was glad she'd spent all that time jogging every morning. She looked behind her to see Ranma barely keeping up, he managed to gasp out "'Kane! St-op!" The youngest Tendou slowed and shook her head, "I can't believe you! You're gonna make us late!" Ranma continued working on catching his breath and ignoring his burning lounge.
Akane turned her back on him and began jogging, she called over her shoulder "well I'm not going to be late because you can't keep up with me!" Ranma shook his head and in a hoarse voice, almost a whisper, said "its not my fault." He waited a moment for the tunnel vision and spots of light to disappear before thinking of what to do now as Akane was long gone.
Sometimes he wished he wasn't so dam pathetic, then maybe people would like him, and wouldn't leave him behind in the middle of no where. Ranma looked around for some place he could ask directions and eventually saw a small, friendly looking clinic across the street.
* * *
Ranma walked through the door, still breathless, he looked around the empty waiting room. The pigtailed boy felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see bony white fingers. Ranma screamed and scrambled away. Already having been oxygen deprived screaming like a scared little girl had definitely NOT been a good idea. The pigtailed boy felt the room spinning and his head flying.
When Ranma woke he saw concerned brown eyes looking down at him "welcome back. I apologize for scaring you like that, can you forgive me" Ranma looked around the room and nodded "yeah whatever... I was wondering if you could give me directions to the school?" The man breathed a sigh of relief "Furinken High right?" The pigtailed boy shrugged "I think so...." The doctor nodded "you must be new around here. I'm doctor Touffu and you're?" The pigtailed boy sat up "Ranma Saoutome, I'm staying with the Tendou's." The doctor smiled "the Tendou's are good people, if slightly unusual, so how are you getting along with them?" Ranma shrugged and looked away "I dunno....not to well I guess..." Touffu patted Ranma's shoulder "you want to talk about it?" Ranma shook his head and stood up "I better get going, I'm gonna be late as it is." Touffo nodded "maybe some other time then. Now for the directions. To get to the school take a right out the door and walk to the end of the street before turning le......."
* * *
Ranma arrived at school during lunch time, he found Akane sitting under a tree and approached her. He almost stopped when she started sending glares his way, but was feeling too angry at her to stop and let her get away for what she did earlier.... even if he did deserve to be left behind for being weak..
She DID just leave him in the middle of a strange town to find a school, which he'd never been to before, all by himself. He glared back at Akane with double the intensity and felt good when she flinched.
"Ranma! What the hell took you so long to get here!" Akane shouted. The pigtailed boy yelled back "maybe if you'd had'a waited a minute and listened to me you'd know!" Akane shook her head "why should I! Its not my fault your too out of shape to keep up with me!" Ranma looked down at the ground and mumbled "you'd be oughta shape to if YOU had only one lounge full'a holes."
"What was that?" Akane asked, Ranma looked up at her then at her friends. "We need to talk in private." Akane's friends looked at her then angrily at Ranma. The pigtailed boy avoided their stares and waited Akane's response. Finally the youngest Tendou stood up and grabbed Ranma's arm, pulling him off to a secluded spot under a nearby tree.
* * *
Ranma sat down in the tree's shade and looked over at Akane "we need ta talk." The youngest Tendou sat down beside him "what about?" He looked her in the eye "the way you just left me this morning was really mean." Akane shook her head "it was your own fault!" Ranma lifted up his shirt to reveal the scars "you know what that is?" he asked pointing at the circular scar. Akane blushed and shook her head. Ranma blushed as well and quickly put his shirt back down. "That scar is from a gun shot wound. I've got only one working lounge and its full'a small little holes from the debris cause by the bullet."
Akane nodded weakly. "I...uh....guess I'm sorry Ranma?" she said quietly and quickly left. Ranma stared after her for a moment wondering if maybe one day she or anyone else could ever like him and want to be his friend. But that was next to impossible.
* * *
Ranma stood in front of the class as the teacher introduced him, then sent him out into the hall to hold buckets of water for being very late. The pigtailed boy had a lot of time to think out here. At least he did until the idiot in the stupid looking Kendo uniform came running down the hall. He grabbed Ranma's shoulder and pinned him against the wall, splashing the bucket of water. "Where is Ranma Saoutome!?" he demanded. Ranma frowned "Uh....he's....uh...." The pigtailed boy pointed down the hall "he's that a'way." The Kendo freak nodded his thanks and ran off in the direction Ranma had indicated. The pigtailed boy shook his head, muttered "what an idiot", and went back to his thinking.
* * *
Ranma was walking home by himself, Akane and Nabiki had left ahead of him. The pigtailed boy frowned as he thought about the Tendou sisters. The only one that didn't seem to be ignoring him was Akane. He had thought about going home, but the thought of mom made him want to stay away from that house forever.
Ranma constantly questioned himself. He asked himself if this was all that he was and all he would ever be, or if there was something more to life. Ranma stopped at the canal he came to when he realized he must have taking a wrong turn and was lost. He climbed over the fence to stand by the water. The pigtailed boy saw a large splash in the calm water and turned around to see the person who had thrown the rock.
"Hey" he said as he looked at the odd boy wearing a black and yellow bandana and large pack with red umbrella on it. The boy looked over at him and grunted before throwing another rock into the canal. "Bad day?" Ranma hazarded. The boy nodded and hopped over the fence.
"I'm Ranma. Saoutome Ranma." he said. The bandana wearing boy turned to him "Ryouga. Ryouga, Hebiki." The pigtailed boy sat down and dangled his legs over the side of the canal. "So you lost or something?" he asked, noting the expression on Ryouga's face. "How'd you know?" the lost boy asked looking at Ranma stunned. The pigtailed boy shrugged "you have the look on your face of someone who doesn't know where he is, or where he is going." The lost boy sat down "so what are you doing here?" Ranma looked up at him "can't you tell?" The bandana wearing boy shook his head and Ranma grinned "your not the only one here that's lost."
Ryouga looked up at the sky, "looks like rain." Ranma had never heard anyone put so much depressing and loathing into such a simple sentence before. The pigtailed boy nodded and stood up "well I better find my home, you wanna come with me?" Ryouga chuckled "I guess, not like I have anything else to do." Ranma shrugged and started walking down the street. Ryouga hurried to follow "so where do you live?" The pigtailed boy looked up at the sky, then down at the ground. "Currently with the Tendou's at their dojo."
Ranma looked over at the lost boy "you wanna be friends?" Ryouga paused for a moment and shook his head "I don't know." They stopped when they came to an intersection. The eternally lost boy turned to Ranma and asked "what way?" The pigtailed boy shrugged "pick a direction." Ryouga weakly nodded and nervously said "o-okay, but it is NOT 'my' fault if we end up in China." Ranma grinned "you get lost a lot don't you?"
Just then it began raining and Ranma stepped back, startled to see Ryouga disappear, leaving behind only his cloths and pack. He walked over to the cloths and pulled out a small black piglet "Ryouga?" he asked. The pig 'bweeed' and nodded. "I gotta lay off the mushrooms" the pigtailed boy mutter to himself as he picked up Ryouga's stuff and continued walking down the street.
* * *
Ranma walked through the front gate of the Tendou dojo and set Ryouga's stuff down in front of the house. He opened the door and walked inside, setting the black piglet down on the floor, who promptly got lost. When he stood up he found Akane glaring angrily down at him "Where the hell were you Ranma!? You missed dinner!" Ranma shook his head "I got lost is all." Akane frowned "twice in one day? Isn't that a little suspicious?" The pigtailed boy pushed past her "only if you' re a paranoid tomboy named Akane." The youngest Tendou turned to face the boy, red faced, but he was already out of sight.
* * *
Soun watched his youngest daughter; Akane, enter the room and walked over towards her. "Akane could you show Ranma the dojo? If he's going to be taking it over one day he'll have to be taught the art." Akane frowned "I am NOT going to marry that idiot." Soun shook his head "Akane...." The youngest Tendou recognized the tone of voice used and responded by sighing and walking towards the stairs.
* * *
Akane slid open Ranma's door without bothering to knock and found the pigtailed boy was in the middle of undressing. The half dressed boy smiled "hey 'Kane." The youngest Tendou turned away to avoid staring at the boy and said "hurry up and finish so I can show you the dojo." Ranma's face was joyful and held a hint of hope "really!? You wanna show me the dojo?" Akane frowned "my father ordered me to." There was a pause before Ranma replied "oh....maybe I'll look at the dojo later then."
Akane turned around to see the now dressed pigtailed boy looking out the window over the koi pond. For some reason Akane found herself feeling guilty "you want to go out for some ice cream or something?" she asked. Ranma turned back with wide eyes "really?" Akane looked at the excited boy and said "uh....yeah... sure."
* * *
Ranma had never been asked to go anywhere with anyone before, not even once. This was the happiest day of his life. He walked down the street behind Akane and wondered if just maybe one day she just might wanna be his friend. Ranma shook his head to clear it of useless thoughts. No point in getting his hopes up, besides its not like he needed friends. Ranma couldn't help but smile as he stared at the back of Akane's head.
* * *
Akane looked across the both as Ranma slowly ate the bowl of vanilla ice cream in front of him. The youngest Tendou frowned "can't you eat any faster?" Ranma looked up at her and took the spoon out'a his mouth. "If I eat any faster I can't breath, and if I can't breath I cant eat now can I?" AKane shook her head and looked down at her own ice cream "you know that I don't want to marry you right?" Ranma nodded "ya that's fine, I don't exactly want to marry anyone right now anyway."
Akane looked up at him confused "then why are you here?" Ranma avoided her searching eyes "cause I needed a change." Akane shook her head "sounds like a pretty stupid reason if you ask me." Ranma nodded and turned his gaze back to Akane "its kind'a hard to explain, but have you ever looked at your self and your life. Taking a really long hard look, and wanted to throw up at what you saw?"
Akane shook her head and took another bite of her ice cream as she contemplated the strange pigtailed boy sitting beside her. She noticed Ranma was looking out the window and decided to keep the conversation going. "So Ranma, what was your old school like?" The pigtailed boy turned to face her "uh....it was okay I guess." Akane noticed how nervous the pigtailed boy looked at the simple question and just had to ask "you didn't like your school?" He shook his head and looked past Akane "some things I don't like talking about." Akane frowned "then what 'do' you like talking about?" Ranma shrugged his shoulders "Whatever you do, as long as it doesn't involve my life."
He focused on Akane "what do 'you' like to talk 'bout?" The youngest Tendou frowned and stood up, looking annoyed. Ranma felt his heart stop as he thought 'good one Ranma, now you've driven her away just like all the others.... what the hell is wrong with you...oh yeah..thats right... EVERYTHING.'
Akane looked down at Ranma "I don't think this conversation is going anywhere so I'll be going home now.... You'll be able to find the way back right?" Ranma blinked a few times and nodded weakly when all he wanted to do was beg her to stay so he wouldn't be alone.....ignored.......... like always.
* * *
Ranma took his time walking home, as he looked to the west at the sunset he wondered if maybe he should just pack everything up and travel to the main land. He wondered what kind of adventures and people he'd find in China. Ranma found himself once again at the canal, the one where he had found Ryouga, and felt it would be appropriate to contemplate his life, but was just too tired and decided to continued on his way.
* * *
Akane arrived home to find her father and sisters gathered around the table in the family room. Before she could ask what everyone was up to Soun beamed at his daughter and said "Akane. Since you've been getting along so well with Ranma we've decided that you are the one to be engaged to him."
The youngest Tendou shook her head in disbelief and managed to ask "what?" Soun nodded "well you did just go out with him, and since you're the martial artist in the family it's only right that you're the one to unite the schools and continue the Tendo family martial arts style."
Akane shook her head in denile "b-but..." she was cut off by her sisters who started to congratulate her. Akane was feeling trapped and knew that no matter what she did the engagement would stick. 'This is all that stupid idiot Ranma's fault. I bet he planned all this.' she thought to herself as she stormed off to her room. In her room she was surprised to find a little black piglet. She picked the pig up in her arms and cuddled it to her chest "your cute, I'm going to name you P-chan. 'P' for pig and 'chan' for cute."
* * *
Ranma made his way dejectedly up the stairs after being informed of the engagement, he hoped Akane wasn't mad at him, but that seemed very unlikely. He heard a "bweee'ing sound coming from Akane's room and wondered if maybe Ryouga would want to talk to him. For some reason Ranma figured that if people liked him then that would mean he wasn't so worthless after all. And if he wasn't worthless people would pay attention to him instead of ignoring him so he wouldn't always be alone.
Ranma knocked on the door and a moment later it was opened by Akane. "What do 'you' want?" she asked with narrowed eyes. He looked at the black piglet in the dark haired girls arms and asked "can I have Ryouga back?" Akane looked down at the pig in her arms "no, 'P-chan' wants to stay with 'me!'" She then slammed the door in his face. Ranma looked up at the ceiling as if asking the gods "why do I have to live this crappy life?" The door opened and Akane added "by the way there is 'no' way that I'll ever marry you so why don't you just go home already!?" Ranma turned around and walked to his room.
* * *
In one hand he held the magic mushrooms, a drug that would free him from this crappy life for a night, in the other hand he held a gun, his ticket to eternal freedom from this crappy life. Ranma couldn't decide between the two. He looked to the mushrooms and saw a picture of his mother, if he walked down this path he would have to go back to her and be ignored as he always was. He looked to the gun, he saw an image of his father smiling down at him.
Ranma felt tears in his eyes and threw the mushrooms at the wall, across the room. The pigtailed boy stood up and slid the gun into his pocket, hiding the handle of his 9mm Beretta with the top of his shirt. He walked into the family room. Kasumi was dusting, Soun was reading the paper and Nabiki was two inches from the tv screen.
Ranma walked into the middle of the room, trying to think of something to say. "Uh.... good-bye" he said. After a moment of waiting for a reply and not getting one he walked through the door. After a few moments Ranma found himself at his destination, the canal. Looking around he saw the glowing sign of Doctor Touffu's clinic and wondered why he hadn't noticed the clinic was so close to here before.
Ranma pulled the Beretta 9mm from his pocket and found his gaze being pulled towards the water flowing down the canal. The water seemed to tug at his memory, as if he knew it from another life. He heard a noise and turned to the fence lining the side of the canal. He could see a ghost like image of himself and an old man wearing a gi battle on top of the fence. The bald man looked a lot like his....father. Ranma wondered if maybe all the drugs he'd done had giving him brain damage, or if he was seeing something.....magical. When his father was knocked off the fence a panda bear emerged from the water looking a lot like the stuffed animal his father had giving him on 'that' last day.
A moment later and Mr. Panda had sent his ghost image into the canal, what emerged was a red haired girl. Ranma collapsed to his knees as he felt his brain was overloading. When he looked back up the night had a surreal feeling to it, as if anything was possible and nothing was real. He realized the ghosts had disappeared and wondered if he'd just seen an image of what 'could' have been if things had been just a little bit different.
Ranma walked over to the canal and looked into the black water to see a red haired girl staring back at him. He reached out and touched the water only to have the image disappear to be replaced by a pigtailed boy with the look in his eyes identical to that of a lost man who doesn't know where he is or where he's going, and just didn't care anymore, or maybe he cared too much.
Ranma looked down at the gun that was still in his hand and pointed it at the reflection "is this all that I am? Just a messed up little boy with a messed up life and nothing more?" He aimed the gun at his reflections forehead and squeezed the trigger. The gun shot resounded off the canal walls, echoing down the street. Ranma was sparyed with water caused by the bullet, and the reflection became distorted by many ripples. After the ripples were gone, so was his reflection.
Ranma pointed the gun at his temple and mutterd "I guess thats all I am....nothing." He started putting pressure on the trigger when he heard a familiar voice. "Ranma!? Is that you?" it was doctor Touffu's voice. Ranma slowly turned around, the gun still pointed at his temple. "Hello Doc" he said, focuseing into the doctors startled eyes.
Touffu's eyes gazed over the gun "why don't we go to my clinc for a nice cup of hot tea?" he asked. Ranma grinned, a few tears falling from his eyes, "I wouldn't want to trouble you." The doctor held up his hands and made negative gestures "no trouble at all." The twisted laugh that escaped the pigtailed boys lips even scared himself "sorry, but I don't have the time.... You see I'm planning on taking a trip."
The doctor slowly sat down, "and what prompted the need for this trip?" he asked nervously. Ranma's eyes slightly turned upwards "I'm so sick of all this...." Ranma took a step back "I tried, I really did..." another step back so he was on the edge of the canal.
"What did you try Ranma?" the doctor asked in a gentle, concerned voice. Ranma smiled weakly "I tried to make people notice me, I tried to make friends, I tried to get my mother to have one single crappy conversation with me, I tried to be something more than I am and I failed."
The doctor shook his head "you only fail when you give up." The pigtailed boy nodded "but you can only give up when you had something to begin with." Ranma smiled a twisted smile, his eyes wide like that of a wolf, "you see no one will care if I'm gone, I even heard my mother herself say she wished I'd died all those years ago....."
The doctor slowly stood up "I'm sure there are people that care for you." Ranma lost the twisted smile and became expressionless "why are you here doc?" Toffou stepped back "because I think your making a horribal mistake." Ranma slightly shook his head "my whole life has been just one big giant mistake, and now I....I've realized I can't ever fix it, but I can end it."
The doctor held out his hands "Ranma please, give me the gun." Ranma grinned "why? So you can take it and walk away. Ignore my like everyone else does once this is all over with?" Ranma put pressure on the trigger "I'd rather die and not be alone then be alone and not die." The doctor took a step forwards, Ranma's vision became blured by the water escapeing his eyes, water that glistened off his cheeks. "Hear that doc?" Touffu slowly shook his head "its the sound of failure", the pigtailed boy pulled the trigger.
*******s
To Be Continued........
What if..... a million possibilities and infinite choices. An Altraverse by Blitz
Strength and Honor
It happened just as any tragic event does, fast, horrible, and unexpected. This is how a change has caused the entire universe of Ranma ½ to take a major wrong turn for the worst.
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Ranma ½ or ANY of The Characters..... I am using them WITHOUT permission.... so sue me....
Genma walked into the small convenience store with his son Ranma to purchase some more food supplies. His five year old son; Ranma, decided to make things difficult for him by tugging at the pant leg of his Gi while demanding candy. The elder Saoutome tried to gently shake his son from his leg as he made his way through the isle's, hunting for the third most important thing in his life, food.
Genma looked down at his very stubborn child "Ranma let go!" he demanded. Ranma just looked up at him and shook his head "candy..." Genma sighed in exasperation and pulled a stuffed panda bear off a nearby shelf. He handed the bear to his son and said "candy is bad for a martial artist. How about this nice bear instead?" Little Ranma hugged the panda and nodded "thanks Oyaji."
The convenience store they were walking through was owned and run by a small family. The wife and husband stood behind the counter while their young daughter played with a doll on the floor. Genma smiled when he found what he had been hunting for and was approaching the counter with several bags of rice, to make his purchase, when the door flew open to admit three masked men with various guns in hand.
Genma watched the men target the innocent people and store owners with their high powered weapons. He found himself unconsciously moving between them and his son. One of the shoppers, an overweight man, made a run for the door, and one of the men, wearing a black baseball cap over his black mask, opened fire. The overweight man dropped to the ground, a painful moan escaped his dying corpse.
Genma shook his head to clear it and allowed his martial arts training to access the opponents he currently faced in this life or death situation. His first instinct was to grab his son and run for his life, but what little honor he had wouldn't allow it.
Another gunshot and the store owner's wife fell to the ground, badly injured, but possibly still alive.
'It is the duty of a martial artist to protect the innocent' Genma thought to himself as he ran at full speed towards one of the three thugs, grabbing an arm and using it to pull the enemy towards his fist. The robbers head snapped back at an interesting angle.
Genma, the dark horse, than turned to the other three. He felt the bullets enter his chest and gut, one even grazed the side of his head. The black horse released a cry of anguish and rage as he charged the remaining two opponents. Using his remaining power and skill Genma quickly dispatched the first gun wielder while the second was still trying to target him. A blast and scream later Genma looked behind him to see that his son, Ranma, had been struck in the chest with a bullet.
He dodged to the side and felt his ear being blow off by a shot that was too close for comfort. His adrenaline rush gave him tunneled vision and greatly increased his strength. Genma charged into a hail of bullets that was too fast to dodge and launched his fist.
* * *
Ranma ignored the pain, as his father had taught him to do, while he watched his father finally fall to the ground after the long deadly battle. Ranma approached his fathers motionless body and couldn't keep the tears from his eyes. Somehow he knew. He knew that his father wouldn't be getting up again.
Ranma's head felt light and his chest was burning as if on fire. "Oyaji?" he asked in a weak voice that came out as barely a whisper. It was then that he realized he could barely breath and there was red blood everywhere. Ranma would gladly relearn the cat-fist a hundred times over, rather then having 'this' happen. Genma's head rolled to the side to face his son "R-ranma...y-you make me p-round b-boy....Th-eres s-s-omething im- portant I h-h-hav' ta tell y-ya b-boy." Ranma nodded. Genma's eyes glazed over through his broken glasses "t-the life o-of a-a m-martial artist is f- fraught w-ith......" Ranma never heard the end of the sentence, but he already knew it by heart. It was one his father had told him often. Ranma grabbed his fathers bloody Gi and began to tug on it "Oyaji, wake up....Oyaji?" The little pigtailed boy chocked out a sob and passed out from blood loss and pain.
* * *
It was late at night when Ranma parked his motorcycle in the parking lot and walked towards the decided meeting spot behind a small grocery store. As he got closer he could make out the group of thugs in the shadows. "Do you got it?" he asked as he approached. One of the men stepped forward. He had hair died orange and held a paper bag in his hand "of course." Ranma nodded and smiled.
He pulled a large wad of case from his pocket and exchanged it for the bag. Looking inside the bag he found everything there and nodded once more before walking back towards his bike. The man called after him "hey Ranma, don't use it all at once." The pigtailed boy pocketed the bag of magic mushrooms and called back "yeah, sure, whatever..... c ya later."
* * *
Nodoka was worried about her son as she sat on the couch in the living room. It was very late at night and she didn't like her son outside at this time. The television was on, but she paid it no attention. Nodoka didn't know how to relate to her child, which is part of the reason she had agreed to let Genma raise the boy. Thinking of her husband brought back painful memories and a tear to her eye. Her child had been injured and her husband killed.
Ranma couldn't even practice the art anymore, not after collapsing a lounge and piercing the other one. It seemed that Ranma had died with his father that day and all that was left was a shell of her little boy. It saddened her to see Ranma struggling for every breath he drew. She could barely even look at what her son had become anymore. Sometimes she wished that he had of died all those years ago.
* * *
Ranma parked the bike a block from his house, his mother didn't want him riding a motorcycle because she thought it was too dangerous. At least that's what he told himself. In actuality he was fairly certain his mother didn't give a dam about what he did. The real reason he figured was that he didn't want to explain to his mother how he had 'acquired' the bike in the first place.
Ranma walked quickly towards his home, huffing for breath. Sometimes....or rather most of the time, Ranma thought that he should have died as well as his father "that" day. He'd heard his mother say pretty much the same thing one day when she didn't know he was around.
The pigtailed boy remembered every second and every detail of his fathers death, his wound served as a constant reminder of something he didn't think he'd ever forget. Ranma pushed the door open and glanced into the living room to see his mother passed out on the couch. He turned away and walked towards his room. He was never really close with his mother, she just seemed to be a person that was always there. Someone that was saddened by his presence and tried to avoid him.
* * *
Ranma was dressing for school in his favourite uniform when his mother called out "RANMA! We have guests!" The pigtailed boy shook his head and wondered who could be visiting. He sighed and quickly finished dressing, he then caught his breath and quickly made his way down stairs to the living room.
He found himself staring at a tall man with long black hair and mustache, gathered around him were three girls that looked to be in their late teens. "Ranma?" the man asked, the pigtailed boy nodded and found himself engulfed in a hug. "C-can't BREATH!" he chocked out. Soun released his grip and held the boy out at arms length "Ranma! I was an old friend of your fathers." Ranma was still recovering his breath so could only nod his head.
The man pointed to his three daughters "pick one son and she'll be your fiancee." Ranma paused, his breath caught in his throat and looked from the man to the three girls. The first and youngest was cute, but also growling angrily. The second seemed disappointed while the third was smiling cheerfully and had a vacant look in her eyes, as if she weren't all there. He looked back at the middle aged man and could only say one word "huh!?"
* * *
After Soun Tendou had explained the arrangement between the families he'd invited Ranma to stay at his dojo so he could get to know his daughters. Ranma reluctantly, under both his mothers and Soun's pressuring, agreed and said a short good-bye to mom before leaving.
He had decided to stay away from Akane, she was a very strong martial artist and seemed to always be angry, which was never a good combination.
The pigtailed boy wasn't sure how he felt about the whole situation, but he also knew that there was no way any of these girls would want to marry him. He wondered why he had accept Soun's invitation and figured maybe it was because in some way it involved his father.
* * *
Ranma was sitting on the couch staring at the television when Akane's entered the room. He watched her walk over towards him and tried his best to smile. The youngest Tendou sat down beside him. "Just so you know, we're not getting married" her voice dripped with venom.
Ranma shrugged indifferently and turned his attention back to the television, he watched a lot of tv at home, it was his closest family and best friend all in one. Akane growled "I will not be ignored, you are a guest here so you HAVE to listen to me!" The pigtailed boy turned to look at her, a confused look on his face "you mean you actually want 'my' attention?"
Akane leaned away from the pigtailed boy as she tried to mentally process what had been said while dealing with a small circuit overload simultaneously. Ranma leaned towards her and smiled shyly, "you wanna be friends?" Akane slid of the couch and began to stiff leggedly walk towards the rooms closest exit. Ranma stared after her for a moment "oh well.... might'a been nice to have a friend....never did have one before." He turned his attention back to the television trying to escape into the world of fantasy that he'd trade his crappy life for in an instant.
A smile tugged at his lips as he remembered the brown paper bag he had in his pocket. Later he'd be free, even if it was for just a little while....until he could buy more anyway.
* * *
Ranma closed the door to the guest room and walked over to the lose floor board he'd found earlier. He'd decided to use the small cove under the board for stashing his "special" stuff. Ranma quickly removed the paper bag from his pocket and opened it up to reveal a Beretta 9mm hand gun along with a small handful of magical mushrooms. The pigtailed boy took out some of the drugs and then put everything under the floor board before closing it up again.
Walking over to his pack he had brought with him Ranma opened it up to retrieve his futon as well as the stuffed panda bear his father had giving him on that last day. The panda brought back memories of his father that always made his eyes water and throat hurt. It seemed that his father was the only person that ever gave a dam about him, and now he was dead.
After rolling out the futon Ranma tucked himself in and gulped down the mushrooms. He'd be up for a long while tonight, waiting for the hallucinogen to take effect. Staring into the black room Ranma hugged the panda close to himself. * * *
The next morning Akane woke with a yawn and following her normal, everyday routine, she got up, picked out her school uniform for the day, and walked towards the bathroom. Nabiki and Father were still sleeping this early and Kasumi was preparing breakfast and school lunches so Akane always had first shot at the bathroom. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. During her momentarily blindness resulted from rubbing her sleepy eyes she failed to notice the occupied sign on the door.
Akane slid open the inner bathroom door to the furo and saw Ranma just getting out of the furo. She stepped back and dropped her cloths as she took in the sight. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the boy's manhood and she blushed a deep red. "Had a good enough look yet?" the boy asked coldly.
Akane started to look up to his face but was startled by his chest. It was covered with scars long straight scars, one of them was circular. Ranma got out of the furo and turned around, showing Akane his back. She noticed the circular scar was also on the pigtailed boys back as well, only larger and seemed to be in a star pattern as if something had ripped out of his back. "Ranma....?" she asked.
Ranma looked over his shoulder at her "stop staring at me! And get the hell ought'a here!" he shouted at the blue haired girl. Akane instantly snapped back to reality and quickly left the room. A moment after Ranma was sure she was really gone he sat down on the stool and began dressing. 'Hope she doesn't ask 'bout the scars' he thought to himself 'cause I won't tell.'
* * *
Akane quickly ate her dinner, she wanted out of the house and away from Ranma as soon as possible. She was still having trouble believing that what happened in the bathroom had indeed actually happened. 'Ranma most think I'm a pervert' she thought 'but then again, since when do I care what that freak thinks.... and what was with those freaky scars?' She pushed her plate away and stood up.
Getting her lunch from Kasumi, Akane began moving quickly towards the door, only to be stopped by her father and Ranma. 'Oh god, he told father!' her mind screamed in panic 'now he'll engage me to that idiot for sure.' She felt like throwing up at the thought of marrying the pigtailed boy. Ranma smiled timidly and Soun put a hand on his shoulder "Akane, would you mind showing Ranma the way to school?" Akane breathed a mental sigh of relief and weakly nodded "sure I guess...."
* * *
Akane glanced over at the pigtailed boy walking beside her, than looked down at her watch. Her face paled and heart thundered as she realized that unless they ran for it they'd be late. She turned to the pigtailed boy and yelled "Hurry up or we'll be late" she then started to run down the street.
Akane was glad she'd spent all that time jogging every morning. She looked behind her to see Ranma barely keeping up, he managed to gasp out "'Kane! St-op!" The youngest Tendou slowed and shook her head, "I can't believe you! You're gonna make us late!" Ranma continued working on catching his breath and ignoring his burning lounge.
Akane turned her back on him and began jogging, she called over her shoulder "well I'm not going to be late because you can't keep up with me!" Ranma shook his head and in a hoarse voice, almost a whisper, said "its not my fault." He waited a moment for the tunnel vision and spots of light to disappear before thinking of what to do now as Akane was long gone.
Sometimes he wished he wasn't so dam pathetic, then maybe people would like him, and wouldn't leave him behind in the middle of no where. Ranma looked around for some place he could ask directions and eventually saw a small, friendly looking clinic across the street.
* * *
Ranma walked through the door, still breathless, he looked around the empty waiting room. The pigtailed boy felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see bony white fingers. Ranma screamed and scrambled away. Already having been oxygen deprived screaming like a scared little girl had definitely NOT been a good idea. The pigtailed boy felt the room spinning and his head flying.
When Ranma woke he saw concerned brown eyes looking down at him "welcome back. I apologize for scaring you like that, can you forgive me" Ranma looked around the room and nodded "yeah whatever... I was wondering if you could give me directions to the school?" The man breathed a sigh of relief "Furinken High right?" The pigtailed boy shrugged "I think so...." The doctor nodded "you must be new around here. I'm doctor Touffu and you're?" The pigtailed boy sat up "Ranma Saoutome, I'm staying with the Tendou's." The doctor smiled "the Tendou's are good people, if slightly unusual, so how are you getting along with them?" Ranma shrugged and looked away "I dunno....not to well I guess..." Touffu patted Ranma's shoulder "you want to talk about it?" Ranma shook his head and stood up "I better get going, I'm gonna be late as it is." Touffo nodded "maybe some other time then. Now for the directions. To get to the school take a right out the door and walk to the end of the street before turning le......."
* * *
Ranma arrived at school during lunch time, he found Akane sitting under a tree and approached her. He almost stopped when she started sending glares his way, but was feeling too angry at her to stop and let her get away for what she did earlier.... even if he did deserve to be left behind for being weak..
She DID just leave him in the middle of a strange town to find a school, which he'd never been to before, all by himself. He glared back at Akane with double the intensity and felt good when she flinched.
"Ranma! What the hell took you so long to get here!" Akane shouted. The pigtailed boy yelled back "maybe if you'd had'a waited a minute and listened to me you'd know!" Akane shook her head "why should I! Its not my fault your too out of shape to keep up with me!" Ranma looked down at the ground and mumbled "you'd be oughta shape to if YOU had only one lounge full'a holes."
"What was that?" Akane asked, Ranma looked up at her then at her friends. "We need to talk in private." Akane's friends looked at her then angrily at Ranma. The pigtailed boy avoided their stares and waited Akane's response. Finally the youngest Tendou stood up and grabbed Ranma's arm, pulling him off to a secluded spot under a nearby tree.
* * *
Ranma sat down in the tree's shade and looked over at Akane "we need ta talk." The youngest Tendou sat down beside him "what about?" He looked her in the eye "the way you just left me this morning was really mean." Akane shook her head "it was your own fault!" Ranma lifted up his shirt to reveal the scars "you know what that is?" he asked pointing at the circular scar. Akane blushed and shook her head. Ranma blushed as well and quickly put his shirt back down. "That scar is from a gun shot wound. I've got only one working lounge and its full'a small little holes from the debris cause by the bullet."
Akane nodded weakly. "I...uh....guess I'm sorry Ranma?" she said quietly and quickly left. Ranma stared after her for a moment wondering if maybe one day she or anyone else could ever like him and want to be his friend. But that was next to impossible.
* * *
Ranma stood in front of the class as the teacher introduced him, then sent him out into the hall to hold buckets of water for being very late. The pigtailed boy had a lot of time to think out here. At least he did until the idiot in the stupid looking Kendo uniform came running down the hall. He grabbed Ranma's shoulder and pinned him against the wall, splashing the bucket of water. "Where is Ranma Saoutome!?" he demanded. Ranma frowned "Uh....he's....uh...." The pigtailed boy pointed down the hall "he's that a'way." The Kendo freak nodded his thanks and ran off in the direction Ranma had indicated. The pigtailed boy shook his head, muttered "what an idiot", and went back to his thinking.
* * *
Ranma was walking home by himself, Akane and Nabiki had left ahead of him. The pigtailed boy frowned as he thought about the Tendou sisters. The only one that didn't seem to be ignoring him was Akane. He had thought about going home, but the thought of mom made him want to stay away from that house forever.
Ranma constantly questioned himself. He asked himself if this was all that he was and all he would ever be, or if there was something more to life. Ranma stopped at the canal he came to when he realized he must have taking a wrong turn and was lost. He climbed over the fence to stand by the water. The pigtailed boy saw a large splash in the calm water and turned around to see the person who had thrown the rock.
"Hey" he said as he looked at the odd boy wearing a black and yellow bandana and large pack with red umbrella on it. The boy looked over at him and grunted before throwing another rock into the canal. "Bad day?" Ranma hazarded. The boy nodded and hopped over the fence.
"I'm Ranma. Saoutome Ranma." he said. The bandana wearing boy turned to him "Ryouga. Ryouga, Hebiki." The pigtailed boy sat down and dangled his legs over the side of the canal. "So you lost or something?" he asked, noting the expression on Ryouga's face. "How'd you know?" the lost boy asked looking at Ranma stunned. The pigtailed boy shrugged "you have the look on your face of someone who doesn't know where he is, or where he is going." The lost boy sat down "so what are you doing here?" Ranma looked up at him "can't you tell?" The bandana wearing boy shook his head and Ranma grinned "your not the only one here that's lost."
Ryouga looked up at the sky, "looks like rain." Ranma had never heard anyone put so much depressing and loathing into such a simple sentence before. The pigtailed boy nodded and stood up "well I better find my home, you wanna come with me?" Ryouga chuckled "I guess, not like I have anything else to do." Ranma shrugged and started walking down the street. Ryouga hurried to follow "so where do you live?" The pigtailed boy looked up at the sky, then down at the ground. "Currently with the Tendou's at their dojo."
Ranma looked over at the lost boy "you wanna be friends?" Ryouga paused for a moment and shook his head "I don't know." They stopped when they came to an intersection. The eternally lost boy turned to Ranma and asked "what way?" The pigtailed boy shrugged "pick a direction." Ryouga weakly nodded and nervously said "o-okay, but it is NOT 'my' fault if we end up in China." Ranma grinned "you get lost a lot don't you?"
Just then it began raining and Ranma stepped back, startled to see Ryouga disappear, leaving behind only his cloths and pack. He walked over to the cloths and pulled out a small black piglet "Ryouga?" he asked. The pig 'bweeed' and nodded. "I gotta lay off the mushrooms" the pigtailed boy mutter to himself as he picked up Ryouga's stuff and continued walking down the street.
* * *
Ranma walked through the front gate of the Tendou dojo and set Ryouga's stuff down in front of the house. He opened the door and walked inside, setting the black piglet down on the floor, who promptly got lost. When he stood up he found Akane glaring angrily down at him "Where the hell were you Ranma!? You missed dinner!" Ranma shook his head "I got lost is all." Akane frowned "twice in one day? Isn't that a little suspicious?" The pigtailed boy pushed past her "only if you' re a paranoid tomboy named Akane." The youngest Tendou turned to face the boy, red faced, but he was already out of sight.
* * *
Soun watched his youngest daughter; Akane, enter the room and walked over towards her. "Akane could you show Ranma the dojo? If he's going to be taking it over one day he'll have to be taught the art." Akane frowned "I am NOT going to marry that idiot." Soun shook his head "Akane...." The youngest Tendou recognized the tone of voice used and responded by sighing and walking towards the stairs.
* * *
Akane slid open Ranma's door without bothering to knock and found the pigtailed boy was in the middle of undressing. The half dressed boy smiled "hey 'Kane." The youngest Tendou turned away to avoid staring at the boy and said "hurry up and finish so I can show you the dojo." Ranma's face was joyful and held a hint of hope "really!? You wanna show me the dojo?" Akane frowned "my father ordered me to." There was a pause before Ranma replied "oh....maybe I'll look at the dojo later then."
Akane turned around to see the now dressed pigtailed boy looking out the window over the koi pond. For some reason Akane found herself feeling guilty "you want to go out for some ice cream or something?" she asked. Ranma turned back with wide eyes "really?" Akane looked at the excited boy and said "uh....yeah... sure."
* * *
Ranma had never been asked to go anywhere with anyone before, not even once. This was the happiest day of his life. He walked down the street behind Akane and wondered if just maybe one day she just might wanna be his friend. Ranma shook his head to clear it of useless thoughts. No point in getting his hopes up, besides its not like he needed friends. Ranma couldn't help but smile as he stared at the back of Akane's head.
* * *
Akane looked across the both as Ranma slowly ate the bowl of vanilla ice cream in front of him. The youngest Tendou frowned "can't you eat any faster?" Ranma looked up at her and took the spoon out'a his mouth. "If I eat any faster I can't breath, and if I can't breath I cant eat now can I?" AKane shook her head and looked down at her own ice cream "you know that I don't want to marry you right?" Ranma nodded "ya that's fine, I don't exactly want to marry anyone right now anyway."
Akane looked up at him confused "then why are you here?" Ranma avoided her searching eyes "cause I needed a change." Akane shook her head "sounds like a pretty stupid reason if you ask me." Ranma nodded and turned his gaze back to Akane "its kind'a hard to explain, but have you ever looked at your self and your life. Taking a really long hard look, and wanted to throw up at what you saw?"
Akane shook her head and took another bite of her ice cream as she contemplated the strange pigtailed boy sitting beside her. She noticed Ranma was looking out the window and decided to keep the conversation going. "So Ranma, what was your old school like?" The pigtailed boy turned to face her "uh....it was okay I guess." Akane noticed how nervous the pigtailed boy looked at the simple question and just had to ask "you didn't like your school?" He shook his head and looked past Akane "some things I don't like talking about." Akane frowned "then what 'do' you like talking about?" Ranma shrugged his shoulders "Whatever you do, as long as it doesn't involve my life."
He focused on Akane "what do 'you' like to talk 'bout?" The youngest Tendou frowned and stood up, looking annoyed. Ranma felt his heart stop as he thought 'good one Ranma, now you've driven her away just like all the others.... what the hell is wrong with you...oh yeah..thats right... EVERYTHING.'
Akane looked down at Ranma "I don't think this conversation is going anywhere so I'll be going home now.... You'll be able to find the way back right?" Ranma blinked a few times and nodded weakly when all he wanted to do was beg her to stay so he wouldn't be alone.....ignored.......... like always.
* * *
Ranma took his time walking home, as he looked to the west at the sunset he wondered if maybe he should just pack everything up and travel to the main land. He wondered what kind of adventures and people he'd find in China. Ranma found himself once again at the canal, the one where he had found Ryouga, and felt it would be appropriate to contemplate his life, but was just too tired and decided to continued on his way.
* * *
Akane arrived home to find her father and sisters gathered around the table in the family room. Before she could ask what everyone was up to Soun beamed at his daughter and said "Akane. Since you've been getting along so well with Ranma we've decided that you are the one to be engaged to him."
The youngest Tendou shook her head in disbelief and managed to ask "what?" Soun nodded "well you did just go out with him, and since you're the martial artist in the family it's only right that you're the one to unite the schools and continue the Tendo family martial arts style."
Akane shook her head in denile "b-but..." she was cut off by her sisters who started to congratulate her. Akane was feeling trapped and knew that no matter what she did the engagement would stick. 'This is all that stupid idiot Ranma's fault. I bet he planned all this.' she thought to herself as she stormed off to her room. In her room she was surprised to find a little black piglet. She picked the pig up in her arms and cuddled it to her chest "your cute, I'm going to name you P-chan. 'P' for pig and 'chan' for cute."
* * *
Ranma made his way dejectedly up the stairs after being informed of the engagement, he hoped Akane wasn't mad at him, but that seemed very unlikely. He heard a "bweee'ing sound coming from Akane's room and wondered if maybe Ryouga would want to talk to him. For some reason Ranma figured that if people liked him then that would mean he wasn't so worthless after all. And if he wasn't worthless people would pay attention to him instead of ignoring him so he wouldn't always be alone.
Ranma knocked on the door and a moment later it was opened by Akane. "What do 'you' want?" she asked with narrowed eyes. He looked at the black piglet in the dark haired girls arms and asked "can I have Ryouga back?" Akane looked down at the pig in her arms "no, 'P-chan' wants to stay with 'me!'" She then slammed the door in his face. Ranma looked up at the ceiling as if asking the gods "why do I have to live this crappy life?" The door opened and Akane added "by the way there is 'no' way that I'll ever marry you so why don't you just go home already!?" Ranma turned around and walked to his room.
* * *
In one hand he held the magic mushrooms, a drug that would free him from this crappy life for a night, in the other hand he held a gun, his ticket to eternal freedom from this crappy life. Ranma couldn't decide between the two. He looked to the mushrooms and saw a picture of his mother, if he walked down this path he would have to go back to her and be ignored as he always was. He looked to the gun, he saw an image of his father smiling down at him.
Ranma felt tears in his eyes and threw the mushrooms at the wall, across the room. The pigtailed boy stood up and slid the gun into his pocket, hiding the handle of his 9mm Beretta with the top of his shirt. He walked into the family room. Kasumi was dusting, Soun was reading the paper and Nabiki was two inches from the tv screen.
Ranma walked into the middle of the room, trying to think of something to say. "Uh.... good-bye" he said. After a moment of waiting for a reply and not getting one he walked through the door. After a few moments Ranma found himself at his destination, the canal. Looking around he saw the glowing sign of Doctor Touffu's clinic and wondered why he hadn't noticed the clinic was so close to here before.
Ranma pulled the Beretta 9mm from his pocket and found his gaze being pulled towards the water flowing down the canal. The water seemed to tug at his memory, as if he knew it from another life. He heard a noise and turned to the fence lining the side of the canal. He could see a ghost like image of himself and an old man wearing a gi battle on top of the fence. The bald man looked a lot like his....father. Ranma wondered if maybe all the drugs he'd done had giving him brain damage, or if he was seeing something.....magical. When his father was knocked off the fence a panda bear emerged from the water looking a lot like the stuffed animal his father had giving him on 'that' last day.
A moment later and Mr. Panda had sent his ghost image into the canal, what emerged was a red haired girl. Ranma collapsed to his knees as he felt his brain was overloading. When he looked back up the night had a surreal feeling to it, as if anything was possible and nothing was real. He realized the ghosts had disappeared and wondered if he'd just seen an image of what 'could' have been if things had been just a little bit different.
Ranma walked over to the canal and looked into the black water to see a red haired girl staring back at him. He reached out and touched the water only to have the image disappear to be replaced by a pigtailed boy with the look in his eyes identical to that of a lost man who doesn't know where he is or where he's going, and just didn't care anymore, or maybe he cared too much.
Ranma looked down at the gun that was still in his hand and pointed it at the reflection "is this all that I am? Just a messed up little boy with a messed up life and nothing more?" He aimed the gun at his reflections forehead and squeezed the trigger. The gun shot resounded off the canal walls, echoing down the street. Ranma was sparyed with water caused by the bullet, and the reflection became distorted by many ripples. After the ripples were gone, so was his reflection.
Ranma pointed the gun at his temple and mutterd "I guess thats all I am....nothing." He started putting pressure on the trigger when he heard a familiar voice. "Ranma!? Is that you?" it was doctor Touffu's voice. Ranma slowly turned around, the gun still pointed at his temple. "Hello Doc" he said, focuseing into the doctors startled eyes.
Touffu's eyes gazed over the gun "why don't we go to my clinc for a nice cup of hot tea?" he asked. Ranma grinned, a few tears falling from his eyes, "I wouldn't want to trouble you." The doctor held up his hands and made negative gestures "no trouble at all." The twisted laugh that escaped the pigtailed boys lips even scared himself "sorry, but I don't have the time.... You see I'm planning on taking a trip."
The doctor slowly sat down, "and what prompted the need for this trip?" he asked nervously. Ranma's eyes slightly turned upwards "I'm so sick of all this...." Ranma took a step back "I tried, I really did..." another step back so he was on the edge of the canal.
"What did you try Ranma?" the doctor asked in a gentle, concerned voice. Ranma smiled weakly "I tried to make people notice me, I tried to make friends, I tried to get my mother to have one single crappy conversation with me, I tried to be something more than I am and I failed."
The doctor shook his head "you only fail when you give up." The pigtailed boy nodded "but you can only give up when you had something to begin with." Ranma smiled a twisted smile, his eyes wide like that of a wolf, "you see no one will care if I'm gone, I even heard my mother herself say she wished I'd died all those years ago....."
The doctor slowly stood up "I'm sure there are people that care for you." Ranma lost the twisted smile and became expressionless "why are you here doc?" Toffou stepped back "because I think your making a horribal mistake." Ranma slightly shook his head "my whole life has been just one big giant mistake, and now I....I've realized I can't ever fix it, but I can end it."
The doctor held out his hands "Ranma please, give me the gun." Ranma grinned "why? So you can take it and walk away. Ignore my like everyone else does once this is all over with?" Ranma put pressure on the trigger "I'd rather die and not be alone then be alone and not die." The doctor took a step forwards, Ranma's vision became blured by the water escapeing his eyes, water that glistened off his cheeks. "Hear that doc?" Touffu slowly shook his head "its the sound of failure", the pigtailed boy pulled the trigger.
*******s
To Be Continued........