Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or any of its characters.
Ten days earlier...
Sitting on the small ledge, he threw another rock into the distance. He watched intently as it flew through the air, becoming a minute dot in his vision until it finally disappeared beneath the canopy of the forest far below.
It seemed that it was his lot in life to be miserable.
He picked up another convenient rock.
Ranma didn't deserve all the things that he had been given. A roof over his head, free meals, a home, a family, getting to wake in the same place to same people each day, he even got to have her.
It galled him no end. How could the world be so ridiculously unjust? How could someone so shallow and crude be the fiancé to someone so perfect? It should be Ranma out here, lost and alone. His fist clenched tightly as he glared at the intolerably blue sky.
He leaned forward and screamed his resentment into the valley below until his throat was soar.
Sitting back, he made to throw the rock in his hand but the sandstone had crumbled. The pieces fell free from his hand and tumbled down onto steep slope below. The smallest of pieces were carried off by the wind as tiny flecks of dust.
He broke into a fit of laughter, a mirthless laughter dripping in bitterness.
Finally he pulled himself together and looked around at the breathtaking landscape, huge rolling hills covered in luscious greenery as far as the eye could see. Life seemed to ooze out of every crack and pore.
All this beauty but it was all worthless, seeing as he had no one to share it with.
Maybe one day he could bring Akane here.
He snorted at himself in disgust. Like that would ever happen. He couldn't even ask her out. Every time he tried, he would stumble in his efforts and end up changing his mind. Of course, he knew why he couldn't ask her. He was afraid, afraid that she would say no. He wouldn't be able to deal with such an answer. He didn't want to think what it would do to him.
He slammed his fist into the ledge beneath him in frustration at his inability to act upon his desires.
And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions
He smirked derisively at himself as the line from some long forgotten book floated to the surface of his mind to mock him.
Then quite out of nowhere he felt the ledge beneath him give way.
He found himself tumbling, his vision alternating between a picture perfect blue sky and the dirty yellow ground. Eventually he came to a stop thanks to a tree. He rubbed the back of his head, sore from all the rock it had met on the way down.
It was his own fault really. What had he expected? He was Ryoga Hibiki; the ledge was bound to collapse beneath him. Then again, he probably wouldn't have been so angry if it wasn't for Ranma, and if he wasn't so angry he wouldn't have hit the ledge, and it wouldn't have broke.
He was just about to grumble something about how it was all Ranma's fault when he heard ominous rumbling and crashing noises coming from behind him. He turned away from the tree to be greeted with the sight of a rather large boulder hurtling towards him. Before he could gather his wits enough to move out of the way, his vision was filled entirely with the brownish surface of the boulder and he felt an immense impact against his body as it crushed him against the tree. He quickly succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness.
--
Present...
Ryoga opened his eyes. He immediately regretted doing so. The transition from absolute darkness to the bright light of the ceiling light was a painful one. He closed his eyes quickly and opened them more slowly this time, allowing them to adjust to the light. He knew at once where he was, there was that unique smell of synthetic material and antiseptic; it was a hospital. He blinked until his vision cleared. How had he gotten here? His mind was still groggy and it took some time for his latest memories to filter back in.
Ryoga groaned as last nights events became clear.
Ranma had probably saved his life. He knew that he should be grateful for it, but it just felt like another reason to hate him. He didn't want to be indebted to anyone, especially Ranma. He hadn't really wanted to be saved either.
He became aware of another presence in the small room. Sitting on chair at his bedside was a red head leaning against the side of his bed, her head resting on his leg, and a hand resting on his wrist. She was obviously asleep. It would have been a comforting sight, to know that someone had cared enough to stay at his bedside, but for the fact that this someone was Ranma.
He immediately felt repulsed by the contact and quickly removed his arm from under her hand. For a few moments he was lost over what to do with his leg, and how to extricate it from beneath the head of the sleeping girl without waking her. Then the realization hit him again; this was Ranma, why should he care about waking her or not? He pushed his leg up swiftly, his knee impacting the side of the Ranma's head and sending her sprawling onto the shiny lino floor.
Ranma appeared to wake up at that and sat up on the floor in a slight daze from the impact.
'Geez, what was that for?" groggily she rubbed her eyes with her hands
"Your head was on my leg" he replied as he lowered his leg cautiously. The abrupt movement having caused him a quite a bit of pain.
"Huh?"
"Your head was on my leg"
"So?"
"I DIDN'T WANT YOUR HEAD ON MY LEG," Ryoga roared.
"You didn't hav'ta knee me in the head," she scowled as she rubbed the side of her head.
He didn't reply to that, she was probably right. It was just that it always felt good to see Ranma suffer. He wasn't going to tell her that though, so he just turned away from her.
"Not feeling too good aye P-Chan?"
P-Chan. Even with his back turned to her he could just picture the arrogant smirk on Ranma's face. It made his blood boil. He had been prepared to just ignore her but he couldn't let this one go, Ranma had hit one of his sore spots.
"PREPARE TO DIE!" he shouted with conviction as he turned around. He tried to push himself up off the bed but found himself in a world of pain as every part of his body screamed out against his actions. He slumped back down to his bed in frustration. He settled for a simple glare in the direction of Ranma, who was now back in her seat. Ryoga's was a little surprised to find the usual smirk wasn't there; perhaps she wasn't finding humour in his misfortune…this time.
"I guess it'll have to wait," she said with an unreadable expression. "So how you feeling?"
"I feel like shit"
"Well you look the way you feel."
Ryoga clenched his jaw at the comment, but looking at Ranma, she looked rather serious about what she said. Perhaps this was a new way Ranma had concocted of insulting him. Insulting him in such a way that it looked like she wasn't insulting him…
He mentally slapped himself.
He was being paranoid, just like the lady had said, and he had caught himself in the act; when had he gotten so bad? Ryoga pushed the troubling thoughts out of his head and decided to take a look at his condition for himself. Pushing down the bed sheet, he pulled down the hospital gown a little and looked down at his arms and torso. It wasn't a pleasant sight. He was covered in numerous scabs, scratches and bruises, and he noticed several tubes going into his arms. He did look like shit.
Ryoga sighed; he could feel a headache coming on as the light continued its assault on his eyes.
"Want me to turn the light off?" Ranma spoke up.
"Yea"
Ranma rose swiftly from the chair and moved to the wall where she turned off the offending light. Ryoga felt an immediate relief to the pressure that had been building at the front of his skull. Now there was only the soft daylight streaming in through the window. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Thanks"
There was a short silence, and the look on Ranma's face spoke of a surprise.
"No problem" she finally responded, closely scrutinizing him as if she were searching for something wrong with him.
"What?" he asked indignantly. Was it so hard to imagine him expressing his gratitude?
"Nothing," Ranma stopped looking at Ryoga and shifted her gaze to the wall on his right.
Right at that moment a knock sounded on the door, and shortly afterwards a tall middle-aged man in a white coat strode into the room.
"Well good morning Miss Hyrosue, I hope you slept well," The man said pleasantly. As he closed the door behind him he looked up and must have noticed Ryoga was awake because he came to a standstill with a look of surprise.
"And good morning to you too " he said finally, but without any of the cordiality in his voice he had when greeting Ranma. Ryoga wondered what exactly he had done to deserve such a frosty welcome.
"Hello" said Ryoga plainly, not really sure what was going on.
"My name is Dr Ichimoto, I've been handeling your care since your arrival. It's good to see you finally awake," he said as he came over and started examining Ryoga's eyes. "How are you feeling?"
The doctor pressed the cold metal of his stethoscope against Ryoga's chest.
"Just a little sore, not too bad"
"Take nice deep breaths for me please"
Ryoga complied.
The doctor moved the stethoscope to another position on his chest "Cough please"
"How long have I been out?" Ryoga asked after coughing several times.
"Approximately four days," The doctor let go of his stethoscope and started to methodically look over Ryoga's arms, torso and legs. "To be honest we weren't expecting you to wake up".
"Oh," was all that Ryoga managed to get out.
"Of course your sister didn't believe that."
'Sister?'Ryoga thought in astonishment. He didn't have a sister. Finally he put two and two together and looked at Ranma, but Ranma was still staring intently at the wall as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.
After the examination the doctor moved away from him and grabbed the clipboard hanging from the bottom of his bed, proceeding to write on the other side.
"Well you have some residual bruising, but your cuts are healing up far better than expected." The doctor said whilst writing.
"Does that mean I can leave?"
"I would like to keep you in for a few more days of observations in case of any complications." he said whilst levelling a gaze at Ryoga that said there was no room for negotiation.
The doctor finished writing and hung the clipboard with the charts back at the bottom of the bed.
"So, would you like to tell me how it is you got in such a condition?" There was an edge to the Doctor's voice as he spoke. Ryoga remained silent; he wasn't prepared to talk about it him or anybody else. The Doctor stared at him expectantly, but it didnt didn't sway him.
"Well I gather from your reticence, that you do not wish to share the details," the man said icily. "I will send a nurse shortly with something for the pain"
With that said the doctor turned sharply and headed for the door. However, upon reaching the door he stopped and then turned back round.
"Actually, Miss Hyrosue could you step outside for a moment? I would like to speak with your brother." Ryoga had a feeling that the doctor had intended to this from the start, and it wasn't the sudden decision he made it out to be.
Ranma remained motionless in her seat, facing the doctor, so Ryoga couldn't see the look on her face.
"Don't worry," the Doctor smiled warmly at her. Ryoga thought he was going to be sick with revulsion. Ranma certainly had a way with men. "It's nothing serious, I just wish to speak with him privately"
"Sorry," Ranma said contritely before getting up and heading for the door. Ryoga wasn't sure if she was addressing him or the doctor. It was probably the doctor. Ryoga turned his attention back to the doctor, whose hard gaze was now locked with his; he could detect the man's anger barely hidden beneath the calm veneer.
'Oh boy' He thought dryly. 'I bet this is all your fault Ranma'
--
The Doctor finally left and Ranma came back in.
"What did he say?"
"Nothing important" Ryoga responded, not really knowing if he was lying or not. He could see that Ranma wasn't happy with the answer but he didn't want to talk about it, he didn't feel like talking about anything. He felt too tired. He shifted to his side on the bed so his back was to Ranma as she sat back down. Thankfully she didn't bother him any further about what the doctor said. Perhaps she was just glad Ryoga hadn't asked her about the whole sister thing. He would hate to have Ranma as a sibling.
For a long time they remained like that, silent in the dim light of the room. He longed to be out of this place, hospitals only held bad memories and the smell was driving him crazy.
"I hate hospitals," he muttered to himself.
"Yea me too" Ranma added sullenly. "They make me feel sick"
Ryoga shifted onto his back and couldn't help but chuckle at her statement and her grim expression. A wry smile appeared on Ranma's face as she too realized the irony of it.
Ryoga's chuckle quickly turned into full-blown laughter, not just at what had been said but at the whole ridiculous situation. He winced as his actions caused sharp pains in his sides.
Ranma's expression turned to one of concern.
"Ryoga, you gonna be ok?"
"Yea" he replied with a tired smile, feeling better despite the pain.
"Want me to get you outa this place?"
"It would be appreciated" He didn't bother to ask how Ranma would do it.
--
Ranma tiptoed into the house from the open door to the back garden. She then placed Ryoga on the couch as if he were made of glass. This irritated Ryoga, who didn't take kindly to being treated as if he were weak. His irritation had been growing steadily at have the indignity of being carried by Ranma all the way from the hospital. They had stopped halfway to buy some sandwiches but had left quickly as Ryoga's hospital gown had drawn a lot of stares.
"What the hell's wrong with you? I'm not gonna shatter into a thousand pieces!" he quipped angrily
Ranma raised an eyebrow and looked at Ryoga as if he were a petulant child.
"Don't look at me like that!"
Ryoga tried to punch Ranma in the face but the movement hurt and the punch came out slow and sloppy. Ranma caught his arm easily and pushed it back to his side.
"Hey man, take it easy."
Ryoga huffed in frustration. It was useless; he couldn't do anything now. "Just you wait Ranma," he muttered, "When I'm healed up your going to pay."
Ranma cocked her head to the side and smirked. "Whatever you say P-Chan."
Ryoga narrowed his eyes at her in a scowl. Ranma chuckled and raised her hands in mock surrender.
"Ok, ok I'll leave ya alone," she got up to leave, or rather she started to get up but never quite made it to standing. There was a loud thwack as wood hit head and Ranma lay on the floor looking slightly dazed.
"Ranma you jerk! What have you done to him?!"
"I didn't do any..."
"Why do you always have to pick on him, huh?! What has he ever done to you?"
"But I didn't do…"
"I don't want to hear your lame excuses! You go missing for days without telling anyone you're going. Then you waltz back in here and have the nerve to pick on Ryoga." She raised her mallet again, ready to strike Ranma down again with her righteous fury.
For a moment Akane, bathed in her anger fuelled battle aura, looked like a fiery goddess of war come to serve justice against those who had sinned. Ryoga's heart beat faster as he gazed at her beauty in awe. But then Ryoga caught a look at Ranma's face, as she lay there on the floor protesting her innocence.
'That's right', he thought suddenly, snapping out of his idolization. Ranma was innocent. She had been with him for the last few days and apart from calling him P-Chan a few times she hadn't really done anything. He looked back up at Akane and in that split second, the image of Akane that he was so in awe of shattered and was replaced by something far less attractive: a person blinded by their anger, face twisted in rage, in many ways a reflection of himself.
Ryoga suddenly felt very nauseas and had an inexorable urge to empty out the contents of his stomach, which was exactly what he did. He proceeded to lean over and vomit, not wanting to get anything on the sofa, which was unlucky for Akane since she was standing in front of the sofa, right in the firing line.
Akane stopped mid swing. She took one look at the lumpy multicoloured mess that had found its way onto her dress and her hand and turned green. Her anger and her mallet were quickly forgotten as her other uncoated hand came up to cover her mouth and she ran for the stairs, no doubt heading for the bathroom. Moments later there was audible slamming of a door.
Ranma sat upright, still rubbing the back of hers head.
"Thanks," she said solemnly. " I thought I'd had it for sure that time, with you in such a state and all."
"No problem," Ryoga responded in an equally solemn voice. he stared at the space that Akane had vacated seconds before with a feeling of guilt for unintentionally causing her such distress. However, there was also a sense of relief intertwined with that guilt for he was unsure if he would have done the right thing and intervened on Ranma's behalf had the act of throwing up not driven Akane away. Most likely not.
For a while there was heavy silence, and the image of Akane as she had been in that moment of anger lingered in his mind like a bitter aftertaste refusing to leave the tongue. Yet, Ryoga knew in his heart that what he had seen wasn't the real Akane. No, the real Akane was kind and gentle, with a smile that made you forget how much life really sucked.
I guess you just bring out the worst in people Ranma.
"You gonna be sick some more?" asked Ranma, finally ending the silence.
"No" Ryoga looked at the mess and recognized various bits from the sandwich he had eaten on the way back 'So much for that sandwich' he thought mournfully. "Not anytime soon."
Ranma got up and surveyed the scene with a frown. She left the room momentarily and came back carrying a glass of water, a mop and a bucket.
He handed the water to Ryoga who quickly drained it of its contents, savouring the feel of the cool water on a throat that felt raw from throwing up. He put the glass down on the nearby coffee table and watched as Ranma quickly mopped up the mess. She took the bucket and mop back to the kitchen and returned with a washcloth with which she proceeded to clean up what had gotten onto the bottom of the sofa.
Ryoga leaned over to have look and saw his handiwork being wiped away.
"Is that all gonna come out?" He didn't like the idea of dirtying the house, which Kasumi worked hard to keep so clean.
"Yea" Ranma replied wrinkling her nose "You know your breath stinks pretty bad. Come to think of it, the rest of you smells pretty bad too, and you look kinda dirty" Ranma said matter-of-factly.
Ryoga's eyebrow twitched.
"I think a wash and a soak in the furo would do you good, certainly makes me feel better when I'm all battered and bruised."
"Probably." he replied, unscertain now if he should feel angry or not over Ranma's remarks.
"I'll take that as a yes," she left the room and returned without the washcloth. She came over to him and tried to scoop him up off the couch.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Ryoga asked irritably as he resisted being lifted. "I don't need your damn help, I can walk on my own two feet!"
Ranma gave him a doubtful look, but backed of and gave him enough room to stand by himself.
Slowly, Ryoga swung his feet off the sofa and onto the floor. Even that small act of getting himself upright made him feel dizzy.
"Give me a hand," he said resignedly, though he didn't like it one bit.
Ranma grabbed Ryoga's hand and hauled him to his feet. Ryoga put his arm around her shoulder and used her as a support as he began to shuffle towards their destination.
--
Quite a while later they arrived at the furo. Walking, even with Ranma's help had been a slow and laborious process.
"You know, we coulda got here a lot faster," Ranma said dryly.
"If you were me, wouldn't you rather walk?"
Ranma opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, but closed it again without a sound.
"I thought so," said Ryoga as they went through the door, though he was feeling to tired to act smug about it.
"I'll go grab some clothes," said Ranma as he left Ryoga sitting on the side of the furo.
Ryoga started to strip down; thankfully he was only wearing a hospital gown and some socks. It was relatively easy getting the gown off but the socks were an entirely different matter. His fingers felt clumsy, and bending over to pull at the socks made him hurt all over. Despite this he grabbed hold of the socks as best he could and tried very hard to pull them off. He tried several times but the damn things wouldn't come off. Eventually his patience ran out and the sheer frustration of it made him want to yell. He really wanted to break something.
"Need some help?"
Ryoga looked up to find Ranma was back. She was carrying a pile of clothes that looked like her usual gear, two red silk shirt with wooden ties and two sets of black pants.
"No" he replied flatly.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, and placed the clothes on the nearby counter.
Ryoga, feeling slightly calmer, decided to make another attempt at sock removal. He bent over and tried to pull one off but it didn't comply.
"Stupid socks!" he shouted grabbing both socks and pulling them up violently. Both socks tore into pieces, which fell off his feet with ease. However, the unexpected momentum carried him backwards and Ryoga could feel himself falling backwards into the furo. He closed his eyes ready for the splash down but he never hit the water; his movement came to a halt as a hand grabbed one of his flailing arms and pulled him back from the brink.
Ryoga exhaled in relief. "That was close"
"Yea, coulda contaminated the water."
Ryoga decided to just ignore that comment. He got up and started filling a bucket with water. He lifted the bucket slowly ignoring the pain in his arms and upended it over himself. The cold water came crashing down onto his body. For a moment he felt great that he hadn't experienced the change he had come to expect with cold water. However this feeling was quickly crushed as he remembered the price he had paid for it.
"So, you gonna tell me how you got cured?" Ranma asked from behind him. Ryoga turned his head and found Ranma staring at him, with a look of anticipation on her face. Ryoga smirked inwardly; this was probably why Ranma was being so reasonable, she was just after the cure.
"It's not a cure," he said bluntly, while turning back to refill another bucket. "Its only temporary, I've had it for a week and I've only got a few more days left of it. Once it wears of I wont be able to use it again."
"Oh" said Ranma, sounding dejected. "Ah, it's not like I expected a cure to come so easy anyway". Ryoga turned back again to look at her. She tried to sound like she didn't care, but the disappointment was obvious.
Ryoga, as he lathered himself up with soap, began to feel a little bad about shooting down her hopes. No doubt she had been building it up for days. He may not have liked Ranma very much but he was in a unique position to understand what was going through her head. The hope of one day finding a cure was something that both of them needed to maintain, every disappointed was a painful blow, and it made keeping that hope alive that much harder.
Ryoga upended the bucket of water again, washing away the soap, then stepped into the furo. He sank down so the water came up to his chin. He could immediately feel the effects as the warmth of the water started to diffuse into his tired body, beginning to erase the tension from his muscles and making him feel incredibly drowsy. Ranma was right; this was already making him feel a whole lot better.