Starting Over: Do You Want to be Friends?
Chapter 15
Written by Senshi of Valis
Ranma ½ created by Rumiko Takahashi
Card Captor Sakura created by Clamp
I don't own any of these series or the character in each.
Ranko quietly walked down the hallway back to her room through the darkness of the early morning as she carried her prize carefully. After closing the door and turning on the light she sat down on the floor and leaned back against her bed looking at the unsheathed tanto in her hands. She was so sick of living, messing up everything she touched. She was filth and ruined everything.
How to do it though? She could just plunge the blade into her stomach but she didn't know how effective that would be. If she remembered correctly, that was why a second was needed in seppuku so the person wouldn't suffer long. She heard of people slitting their wrist which seemed likely to work if cut deep enough through the veins and artery there probably wouldn't be any way to stop the blood in time before she would bleed out and die.
Slowly and shakily, Ranko brought the blade to her left wrist but couldn't put any pressure to it. For some reason she couldn't even do that right. The blade was sharp though and it did cause a small cut across her wrist as it slid across leaving a small line of red forming as blood welled up and trickled slowly down her bare arm.
For several minutes she watched as the blood slowly crawled its down and around her wrist leaving behind a small streak of red. It fascinated her for some reason as she watched it, realizing that her life was like the small river of blood, slowly slipping farther and farther.
"Ranko!" Kero gasped, groggily as he flew towards Ranko. "What do you think your doing?"
"I want to die, Kero." Ranko sobbed, "I mess up everything!"
"No you don't." Kero said, pulling the blade from Ranko's unresisting fingers.
"Yes I do, I messed up Akane's party and now she's mad at her friends." Ranko sobbed, "I can't even do this right! Please…Please let me die! God, just let me die…"
Nabiki couldn't sleep for some reason she just couldn't stop that nagging feeling that something was wrong. With a defeated sigh she climbed out of bed and slipped her robe on and quietly slipped out of her room to go get something to drink and maybe something to eat…hopefully something chocolate.
As she was passing Ranko's door she noticed that light was spilling out from underneath it. Then she heard an unfamiliar voice call Rank's name. When she heard Ranko crying and saying she wanted to die and then about messing up the slumber party Nabiki opened the door and her jaw dropped. There was a flying stuffed animal taking a tanto away from Ranko.
"Killing yourself will NOT solve anything Ranko." The stuffed animal said, "And it'll hurt a lot of people."
"They'll be better off without me." Ranko cried.
"No we won't, Ranko." Nabiki said sternly as she walked over and sat next to Ranko.
"N-Nabiki?" Ranko sobbed as Nabiki pulled the girl into her arms.
"Yeah, Ranko." Nabiki said, "And you are wrong, none of us will be better off without you."
Nabiki noticed the stuffed animal quickly drop to the floor and act like a stuffed animal.
"Thank you for stopping her." Nabiki said to the stuffed animal who sweat dropped.
"Would you believe me if I said this was a dream?" The stuffed animal asked.
"Your kidding, right?" Nabiki asked.
"No one ever falls for that, Kero." Ranko cries.
"Ranko…please promise me you won't try something like this again." Nabiki said as she pulled Ranko's wrist out to look at it. It wasn't bad really, Nabiki had seen worse on Akane after breaking blocks at times. She realized Ranko must not of pushed down on the blade or it would have been a lot worse than it was.
"I-I'm sorry, Nabiki." Cried Ranko as the stuffed animal pulled a small first aid kit over to Nabiki.
"Thank you…Kero?" Nabiki said, taking the small plastic box and dug through it for what she wanted. She cleaned the cut on Ranko's wrist and bandaged it. "Everything will be okay, Ranko, I promise. As for the rest of tonight, how about I sleep in here with you."
"N-No…please, don't…I'll get you dirty…" Ranko cried.
"That's bull, Ranko." Nabiki said sternly, "You are not dirty or worthless. There in nothing wrong with you."
"B-But…" Ranko sniffed.
"No buts, Ranko, you are not dirty. If…If your dirty, then so am I." Nabiki said with a sigh, "Ranko…not long after mom died, I got in some trouble with one of my bets. I tried blackmailing the wrong person and him and a couple of his friends…they raped me Ranko…"
"N-Nabiki?" Ranko asked, shocked. "Are you s-serious?"
"Yeah, I am Ranko…" Nabiki said, "I don't want anyone else to know though, especially my family, okay?"
"W-Why not?" Ranko asked.
"Ranko…if they found out that I was hurt like that trying to help them…I don't want them blaming themselves. I didn't want to tell anyone about it, but I want you to know…I want you to know because I truly want to help you. I go to a support group every week and I know you don't have your appointment for a few more days but tonight…tonight I want you to go with me. It really helps, Ranko." Nabiki said, "I know it hurts, Ranko…I wish I talked to you sooner about it but…but I thought you was strong enough to get over it easier than I did. But you shouldn't have to be alone like I was…I'll be there for you. And the support group will help if you let us. Unlike the shrink, the group is free."
"I'll try." Ranko sniffed, "Thanks Nabiki."
It had been a long morning for Shampoo as she worked the morning then lunch rushes in a foul mood. To think a tainted piece of trash humiliated her time after time and then pretended to be a boy to string her along. To say she was mad was an understatement and it must of showed seeing how even Mousse left her be for once.
It was finally time for her to quit for the afternoon until the evening rush started and she intended to get a little payback. She had her bonbori and scimitar in her subspace pocket as she left to hunt for that little trash who dishonored her. It was time to end this once and for all.
It took several hours but she finally found something that could lead her to the filthy outsider. It was the outsider's fault she had to track all the way across China and Japan to find her and only to lie about being a guy making her return to the village in shame. Then she was forced to come back and stay in this barbaric country and be humiliated time and time again and treated like she was a…plaything…
Shampoo sighed…what kind of humiliations did the red head go through being forced to do that with her own father. What did Ranma…Ranko feel about her own humiliations.
"Great…" Shampoo grumbled, "Now Shampoo starting feel sorry for Ai…Ranko."
No, she had to get revenge for what happened…didn't she. This was starting to frustrate her, all morning she was so angry. But why…she could have been forced to do that herself…those stupid laws that said she had to marry who she once thought was Ranma. She didn't know him and sure didn't want to sleep with him when she found out yet if he made her, she had no choice as village law dictated.
Women were the leaders of the village but if one of their warriors were defeated by an outside male the village pretty much forced the warrior to have children by the male until a daughter was born. It had nothing to do with love or marriage as after that happened the warrior was free from the male unless she wanted to stay with him.
To fail at producing an heir with the outsider though brought serious dishonor to the warrior. To Shampoo though, it was nothing more than raping the warriors who was bested in combat with the village's approval and it always sickened Shampoo which is why she strove to be the best so it would never happen to her.
Then it did happen, she was beaten and the village was forcing her to return under Cologne's guidance to bring back her 'Airen.' She didn't want to be with Ranma but as she got to know him she really did grow to care a great deal about him, maybe even loved him. She decided that at least if she had to that it was with him and not some cruel, sadistic monster.
And now she learned the truth and the girl was tainted as village law dictated, god she was starting to hate her home more and more. She was growing less and less angry and more and more confused. It was the same thing basically so why would Ranko be tainted by something out of her control, something that could happen to Shampoo or any other members of her tribe.
She was beginning to see the dark side of her village more and more, not only was males more or less the slaves of the village but the younger warriors were slaves for the elders.
Shampoo sighed and noticed her target was gone, Kasumi Tendo had vanished while Shampoo was deep in thought. She decided maybe she just needed to lay done for awhile and possibly think a little more about everything. She wasn't sure what to feel or believe at the moment.
Ryu walked slowly down the street, he personally didn't like the motorcycle that his counterpart seemed to love. It was weird how close the two's friendship has grown as the affected each other. Bakura grew less and less nasty and cruel while Ryu started gaining more confident in himself and a little more rutheless..
In fact Ryu remembered Bakura once scoffing at the idea of love but Ryu was sure Bakura was at least very attracted to that red head of not in love. And Ryu could sense it wasn't because of her looks either though he admitted that the girl was gorgeous. Bakura could see into people's souls and see what the person was like and he saw that the girl was some kind of avatar as well as being strong, courageous, gentle and loving. There was a deep depression there though that had bothered Bakura and when they found out why, Ryu for once wanted to kill Genma just as much as Bakura.
Killing…Ryu didn't really approve of that kind of thing but after being taught how to see the souls of people, what he was believed was also known as auras and how to read them, he colud see the darkness in peoples souls and some of them was so dark that Bakura had a point, they were irredeemable.
Ryu didn't need to see Genma to know he was irredeemable, to do the things he did, to hurt someone as much as that. For once, Ryu was the one doing the hunting and he was going to find his prey.
Ranko followed Nabiki through town until they was at the outskirts, stopping at a small community building. Nervously Ranko followed into the building and through the hall until the stopped at a room with a sign next to it saying 'Rape Support Group: Saturdays 7pm.'
"This is it, Ranko" Nabiki said, her hand resting on the door handle. "You ready?"
"Not really." Ranko said, "But…I need this, right?"
"It'll help." Nabiki said, opening the door and allowing Ranko to enter before following.
Ranko looked around the room nervously at several other women varying in age and stopped in fear at the sight of Naomi who was walking straight for Ranko.
"I'm sorry, I'll leave…" Ranko said but was stopped as Naomi grabbed her hand, a sad look in the girls eyes.
"I-I'm sorry, Ranko…I-I thought you was really a guy…I thought you was trying to sneak in…I was scared, Ranko, I'm so sorry." Naomi said, half crying, "Please stay, all we ask is that you don't tell anyone who's all here unless they say its okay. Many girls still don't want to talk to anyone else but coming here helps them. Right, Nabiki?"
"Right…and thank you Naomi." Nabiki said, squeezing Ranko's shoulder.
"Th-Thanks, Naomi." Ranko said.
"You didn't?" Naomi gasped, seeing the bandage on Ranko's arm.
"I-I'm sorry." Ranko whispered.
"It wasn't major." Nabiki said.
"That's good but cutting yourself doesn't help anything." Naomi said showing her wrist which had several scars running across it. "I-I used to but everyone here helped, especially Nabiki. She introduced me to this place."
"Me to." Ranko said. "I have an appointment to see a doctor and a counsler this week."
"That's good, Ranko." Naomi said, "Maybe sometime we can have another party and this time I want you to stay. I really am sorry about last night.
"Thanks." Ranko said, "I'd like that."
"It's about time to start girls." An older woman said softly as she came up and offered Ranko her hand, "Hi, I'm Doctor Samantha Gaines."
"Hi…I'm Ranko…Sao…I'd rather not use my last name." Ranko said.
"It's okay dear, a few girls here uses fake names because of one reason or another." Samantha said, "You don't have to talk about anything though umtil your ready."
"Th-Thanks." Ranko said as everyone took a seat in the circle of chairs.
AN: Hi everyone, I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't too good. My leg was killing me today and made it a little hard to concentrate at times. I'll probably come back to it and add some more stuff to it and polish it up as well as a few other chapters I've noticed. Also I learned that my line breaks wasn't showing up so I had to change them from my old ones to this I hope these will work.
Review Responses:
Dragon Man 180: Bakura may help perfect the cat fist and Genma will be punished severly. I'm not really too sure who would win between Li and Bakura though, its kind of hard for me to decide that. I kind of like Bakura myself so I might be biased if it came down to it.
RubberNeck: Thank you and no problem, I know how hard it is to decide what to say.
Calamite: I've never played that before but thanks, I do try and get one out a day because I made a promise to someone I would. Just days like today can get hard for me but I wanted to make sure I got it done. I used to play Ragnarok as I think it was Hotaru-Chan, I was an archer then hunter. Thanks.
Mgsaintz: Thank and yep, that's the reason though like you said its not really original, I just wanted them pretty much sane for this story and its sequel which I have already have planned out some. Ranko's first day back at Furinkan as a girl, there reactions and several new faces as well as changing the cards.
TheWhiteMonk: Thanks, and I wanted a sane Kodachi and I need Cologne to be able to separate her beliefs from laws for what I've finally planned out for her. It does seem cliché but as you said a good one. Thanks for the Yugi info and yep, thank you for the idea. She will have some problems when she returns to school most likely. As for those boys, I'd like to see how they feel after being forced and humiliated.
Lerris: Thanks, and Ranko will start to feel better as time goes buy.
Smith: Yep, he was calling her kitten because of Bast. And don't worry, I have plans for Mousse and the certainly don't involve Ranko any farther than friends. Thanks, most of the girls there knew of the curse but didn't know about Ranko being Ranko and not Ranma. As for Kodachi, I'm not sure how she will react completely but I have some ideas and it will come in the next chapter or 2.
Masaki Yang Yi1: Thanks, and Bakura will probably be instrumental in the final punishment of Genma.
Badgerwolf: Thanks, and she still does have her martial arts, its just that to much is going on right now for her.
Den Scurman: Thanks, I try my hardest to update it everyday. Though somedays it can get a little hard to write for several reasons like today though I still try very hard to work through it and write a chapter. Kodachi's hobbies became very dangerous for her hurting both herself and Tatewaki. More with the amazons and Ukyo will be coming up soon. And the slumber party, a lot of girls don't hate Ranma but they was angry with him trying to sneak into a slumber party before they knew the truth. Thanks about the Bakura stuff, I think they would make a good pair though so would Li and Ranko and again Ryoga and Ranko.
Brother Angelon: Thanks, and your right, nothing will truly make up for Rank's pain but he will have a lot more punishment than sitting in jail, he'll have something a little more permanent.
Borg rabbit: Thanks and it's a very good possibility.
Vixen2: Thanks, and I'm not a die hard fan myself but I do like if, Bakura being my fave. Thanks, I never knew any of that about Yugioh. It figures though the amount of chopping they do to put some anime on television in the U.S.
Firehedgehog: Thanks, I will.
Ss4-link: Thanks, hope you liked this one.
Isumo 1489: Thanks, I never knew that and I don't want to make all of those souls destroyed or hurt by destroying the ring. About the card games, I'm not sure if I'll do too much but I probably will make at least one and I would love your help when I decide how its going to be the stakes involved. Thanks, I want to cure her fear of cats completely sometime and give her a bit more of a normal life in some respects but being the mistress of the cards and a very good martial artist won't make it too normal.
Thanks for the reviews everyone and thank you everyone for reading.
Until Next Time,
Ja Ne