Chapter Twelve: Ryoga's Darkest Hour

Ryoga didn't want to get lost so he sat down on the largest stone surrounding the Koi pond and waited for Ranma and Akane to finish their private conversation. He absentmindedly began poking holes in the rock as his mind recalled the events he had experienced just hours before. He ran his battle with the Warrior over and over in his mind up until the point where he lost consciousness and visibly shuttered at what had almost come to be his fate. The part that irked him the most was that he couldn't think of any point in the battle that he could have gone back and redone to change the outcome. The simple naked truth was that he had been completely outgunned and outclassed.

That galled him more than anything else. He raised his hand and looked down at it, staring as if in wonder. My strength wasn't enough.

This amazed him. He had fought stronger opponents before, such a Lime, Herb's personal guard, but his own strength had always risen up to a greater level to help him win in the end. The fact that he was trashed so easily today scared him. This was one opponent his stubborn determination wouldn't save him from. He had meant every word he had said to Akane and in a week's time he would bravely go out to do battle once more. But it took more than bravery to win a fight, and it was a lacking in these other essential categories that his fate would be decided the second he stepped onto the field of battle once more.

As he turned to face the closed screen door, he felt a little peeved that he had been thrown out of the discussion prematurely. He rightfully felt like a part of the situation! Hell, he had risked his life to save Ranma, so discussing the matter at hand without him felt like a slap in the face. Clearly, Ranma was just trying to keep her to himself!

He heard them talking in subdued tones. I wonder what their talking about?

A Koi jumped out of the water then dove back into pool's clear depths. The little splash created ripples that Ryoga turned to gaze at. It had a hypnotic effect on the boy, temporarily soothing his mind. He stared into the moving water and reflected on the events that had occurred since his coming to Nerima. They had been interesting times to say the least, and it had all nearly come to an abrupt conclusion just one hour ago.

A small shutter ran down his spine as he remembered how close he had come to getting his head crushed in. He was still suffering the effects of post battle induced stress. The near death experience was eating away at him inside and it would take a while for him to fully recover. His mind continued to dwell on the past and he went with the flow, thinking, and thinking… falling deeper into himself…

He had been in training almost all of his life, spending years perfecting his own variation of the art, often training in complete isolation from other people. After all this effort and training, how could he have lost not just once, but twice in one week! Being defeated in battle by Ranma was bad enough but when a mysterious person was trying to kill you... that added a whole new dimension to it! A fight with Ranma left a bruise on the ego. A fight with the Shadow Warrior would leave you dead.

Worst of all, this life and death experience was already causing him to cross examin himself. He often shouted at Ranma, telling him how he wanted to kill him. Had he ever actually meant any of it? If he had beaten Ranma to within an inch of his life, would he actually throw that last, life ending-punch? He wasn't so sure anymore, not after having his life threatened in so brutal a fashion. It was long overtime he reevaluated himself, he decided with a nod. After this whole mess was settled, there would be plenty of time for such things.

He continued to wait patiently until he heard a shout and further commotion coming from inside the house. Silently, he crept forward and opened the screen door an inch, succumbing to his curiosity. In the span of thirty seconds his life came crashing down around him. Not fifteen minutes after Akane had discovered his horrible curse and a nightmare had been closed forever, a new one had come into existence! Ryoga felt faint and staggered back a few steps, wishing he could make himself go deaf so he wouldn't have to hear any more.

He listened on in stunned horror as Akane brought her lips up to meet Ranma's as a small moment of passion consumed them, their outlines visible through the closed screen door. The darkness took him then, shrouding his mind like a dark veil. He staggered backwards again, clutching his forehead in agony. He didn't even have any time to prepare for the situation, it just happened! Suddenly the world started to spin around him at a sickening rate. His head spun rapidly in tune, throwing off his balance.

Akane loves Ranma! She kissed him! There's no other explanation for it! He's beaten me for her affections! How did this happen!? It can't be true…. It can't be true! I refuse to accept this! His heart of glass shattered and fell into the darkness. His very soul tore itself in two and he screamed with inhuman agony.

The screen door slammed open as Ranma and Akane dashed out, fearing an attack on the Lost Boy. Instead, they saw him standing in the middle of the backyard with no trace of emotion present on his face. Black ki swirled around him, sparking with raw, unconstrained energy. The grass around him singed against the whisper of dark power and turned black instantly. Even the air itself felt heavier than usual. A crackle of electrical energy surged through the air, charged with depressive energy.

"Ryoga, what's wrong!?" Akane tried to run towards him.

Ryoga's vacant gaze turned to look at them as if he had just noticed their existence for the first time. Staring at Akane, his face twisted horribly into a mask of pain. He clutched his head and screamed again, his mouth parting wide as tendrils of power whipped about his legs. The intense noise shot harmless traces of energy in all directions. A wild, almost tortured look appeared on his face and he knew he had to get away, far away from the object causing his pain. He had to run, before he lost himself completely. He jumped over the large stone wall and disappeared down the street that lay before him.

Damn, Ryoga must have been spyin' on us! I gotta' go after him! Who knows what he's liable to do when he's like this! Clenching his fist, Ranma started to run towards the wall.

Akane held out her arm. "Ranma, wait! I'll-"

"Akane, I want you to stay here! I have to go after Ryoga alone!" He took a solid leap, hurtling over the wall, and began tracking down Ryoga.

"But Ranma, I..." It was far too late; Ranma had already gone, his impressive speed aiding him as he tore through town.

Standing there by herself, Akane stared at the wall with a mixture of fear and confusion, clutching her hand tightly to her chest. I hope you're ok, Ryoga. Oh, why was he so upset?! I thought I had been overly kind after finding out about his curse and forgiving him. What could have hurt him so badly?

She fell to her knees in concern. Abruptly, the wind picked up and brushed gently across her face and hair, as if it were bringing a soothing caress to her worried mind. As if the Shadow Warrior wasn't enough to worry about. Today was doing its best to shatter her sanity.

She sighed and stared up into the blue sky, her gray eyes desperate. It was too much to deal with, on top of everything else that had occurred today. The emotional rollercoaster brought on by the appearance of the Warrior, then the discovery of Ryoga's curse was bad enough, but now she had this to deal with as well. All she could do was wait and hope that Ranma knew what he was doing.

Ranma, please bring him home safely!

A gulf of emptiness conflicted with a gnawing pain, seemingly without end or any traces of relent within the confines of the mind of Ryoga Hibiki. Timeless suffering with no escape hounded him, and his mind was a jumble of feelings mixed in with depression.

He ran down the street at a dead sprint, taking no notice of those around him or which direction in which he fled. His mind dropped into a violent sea of despair in which he couldn't escape from. It enclosed around him like steel bars, like a cage around his heart and soul. His entire world had been based around his love for Akane. But now that she openly showed her true feelings for Ranma, his purpose ceased to exist. The carefully constructed world around him tumbled and collapsed like a pillar cracked beyond repair. His sanity was torn into shreds within the confines of his tattered heart and he realized then, at that moment, that there was nothing left for him. This made him sob and tears of sorrow formed in his eyes. Just as quickly as they fell, however, he angrily wiped them away. That wasn't how a man was supposed to act.

At least, at the very least, he could still cling to that principle.

He continued to flee from that in which there was no escape from. His legs continued to carry him along without a clear purpose. He saw the entrance to Furinkan High as he passed it on the right and time seemed to slow down, his run turning into an almost dead halt in the middle of the road. That was where his new life had truly begun, that fateful day he had tracked Ranma to this place. If he had known how things would turn up, he would have stayed home that day two years ago, and forgotten about Ranma and his desire for revenge.

Suddenly, a seemingly brilliant idea occurred to Ryoga, one he hadn't thought about before, not even in the blackest part of his mind. The idea burned brightly in his mind, amongst his dead, burnt out joys and sorrows. It soothingly offered him escape, an access route away from this pain. Everything made sense to him at last and he began to act, turning toward the gate. His destiny shone before him like a road leading to infinity, the bright idea shining on, lighting his way. He had no choice other than to follow it!

With a minute nod of acceptance he back-tracked his steps and ran through the school's closed gate, breaking the metal fence in half. He had one last task to complete and his vacant eyes looked skyward, to the tallest part of the school.

It was time to end things, once and for all.

"Ryoga!" Ranma ran down the street, calling out for his rival. Panic gripped him once again as he replayed over and over in his mind the doomed, dead look Ryoga had shown on his face moments before. He had never seen his rival in such a hopeless state before, not even after beating him in the worst of their battles. He could admit, at least to himself, that he was scared for Ryoga, maybe even scared of him. Ryoga had almost seemed... insane.

Where in the hell did you go Ryoga!? Breezing past startled people on the streets, he searched every alley, the water canal, every place he thought Ryoga could possibly be. He had no doubts that he would find the tormented boy in time; his rival was not one for subtly. Destroyed property or a mighty Shishi Hoko Dan shooting skyward would surely show him the path to travel in no time.

His searches of the various places around town were fruitless and he paused in the middle of the street to ponder his next move and catch his breath. By chance, he happened to look across the street as Furinkan's clock chimed off the hour and he saw the destroyed gate,

Why would he go to Furinkan? Ranma hopped over the closed fence, calling out Ryoga's name again as puzzlement creased his face. His searching blue eyes looked skywards, and he saw a figure standing on the roof above the huge clock. It didn't take a genius to figure out was happening. This knowledge fueled him even as it left a sickening feeling in his stomach. At that instant he was in motion, his strong leg muscles propelling him forward.

Oh shit! He's going to... He dashed into the school, slamming open every door he crossed. Reaching the stairs, he leapt a flight at a time, pushing his speed to the limit. His trashed body screamed for him to rest, but he refused to give in!

He mashed his teeth together, driving his body into a frenzy of speed. Please, please, please let me get there in time!

Ryoga stood on top of Furinkan and took a deep, soothing breath, finally allowing the last of his rage to die away. The wind picked up sharply, rustling his unruly hair. He knew that what he was about to do should cause him to be afraid. But he felt nothing, so there was no fear or panic. All his emotions had gone away, leaving only a cold, dark hole in the place where his heart once beat.

His thoughts drifted to Akane and memories flash before him. He still remembered the night she had adopted him as her pet and how she had held him in the Tunnel of Lost Love, and that one time when Ukyo had once set up a date between Akane and him only to have her plans unsettled as Ranma came crashing in, interfering as usual.

Ranma... Ryoga was sure that the thought of his rival would send him into a berserk rage. After all, wasn't it Ranma who had caused most of his problems? No, deep down he knew all along that Akane loved Ranma. He couldn't blame Ranma for that; it was his own fault that he hadn't confessed his feelings to her months ago. Now it was too late and the last bit of meaning his life had crumbled and died away. He knew what he was going to do, what he had to do. He felt no fear.

Ranma, take care of Akane… He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for the last time and leaned forward, letting his body fall freely as a sigh of finality escaped from his lips.