Eternal Sleep:? Part Nine

Written by: Liz Donovan



Ranma ½ Homepage
Eternal Sleep?: Part Ten


The steam wafted faintly in the air, rising from the slowly cooling bathtub. A slight breeze blew into the bathroom, rustling the curtains and drifting the stream about. Akane Tendo stood on the chilly tile, dressed in only an undershirt. She held one hand to her chin, almost afraid. She watched the tub where a small black piglet dropped into the nice steamy water.
Ryouga didn’t breath. He clenched his eyes tight together. He would not breath. Perhaps if he died before transforming he’d die as a pig. He tried to stop his heart, to prevent it from beating, but it was futile. Moments before transforming, he stuck his hoof out and tried to ‘Bakusai Tenketsu’ the bathtub, but all he managed to do was release one final ‘bwee’ before plunging, head first, into the hot tub of water.
Ryouga kept his eyes tightly shut, hoping for death. Perhaps he could drown himself, or crack his skull on the bottom of the tub. Anything to kept Akane from learning about his secret. Then it dawned on him, as his lungs began to ache for air, now that he and Akane were dating, she might not care that he was P-chan. In fact, he thought, she might think it was sexy. With that brief flicker of assurance, he released his breath, and his body shuttered. He returned to his human self, and sat up, spinning to face Akane in the bathtub.
Akane didn’t say anything. She looked at Ryouga, almost confused, and then she bit her lower lip. Ryouga sunk back in the water, not sure what Akane was thinking. She slowly narrowed her eyes at him. Ryouga swallowed hard.
"RYOUGA?!" Akane squealed deafeningly.
"Akane-san, I-" Ryouga began. He was cut off as Akane reached back, into Hammerspace, and retrieved the largest mallet she could find. She pulled back and then slammed forward, smashing Ryouga and the tub. Ryouga moaned, and Akane hit him again.
"You PERVERT! You were P-chan!? The entire time?! The ENTIRE TIME?!" she screamed. Ryouga winced, tears forming in his eyes. "I don’t believe this! You…you…ANIMAL! The ENTIRE time?! How COULD you?!" she continued her face flustering and her anger rising. "I TRUSTED you! How DARE you…I don’t believe this! I just don’ believe…RYOUGA!!!" she cried, not able to cope with the fact. "You…you…P-CHAN?! You’re P-CHAN!?" she thought of all the times she’d talked to P-chan about her problems, and how he always seemed to understand and listen to her. She had told him a lot of secrets that she’d never told anyone else. He’d SLEPT in her BED. Akane’s eyes flared with hate. "You JACKASS!" she screamed, tears running down her face. She looked at Ryouga.
His heart shattered. He was numb with shock, blinking in confusion. He tried to butt in, and he tried to explain. Akane only screamed at him. It wasn’t what she said, but the way she said it. Her hot tears of anger tore him apart. She was yelling, and she was yelling at him. He began breathing harshly, not wanted to burst into tears. Akane glared at him icily.
Akane pointed to the door, taking a deep breath. Tears still falling she tried with no avail to contain her anger. She blinked and cried. "Out! GET OUT! I don’t want to see you AGAIN! You lecher! GET OUT!! GO!" she screamed. Ryouga dazedly got to his feet, dripping water, he looked at Akane, with her tears streaming down her face. He wanted to comfort her, to make things better. "OUT!" she bellowed. "I can’t believe you would do something like this! You…asshole! I hate you! Get the Hell out of here before I KILL you!" she retorted. "Go!" she wept, unable to see Ryouga past her tears.
Ryouga gasped. The world faded around him and his emotions came out. He began crying openly, unable to see straight. His entire body ached, but not from Akane’s mallet, it was from her words. He screamed in pain. His heart clenched in his chest and he gasped, wanting to just die. Tears blurred his vision, and he realized he was running. He smacked into Soun who grabbed him harshly by the shoulder. Ryouga pushed the grown man aside, and blindly ran down the stairs. Nabiki and Kasumi watched as Ryouga streaked by them, concerned by Akane’s screaming. Ryouga ran through the house, somehow getting out. He was free, and his bare feet ran over the sharp gravel. He felt none of it, only the dull empty ache of his heart being crushed. He was very dimly aware that he was running into things. People, trees, light poles. None of it affected him. He slammed into a fence, and seeing no way around it, he grabbed it, tore it apart, shredding his hands, and plowed onward.
Day turned to night and he didn’t slow. He couldn’t. Not until he ran himself to death, or he was killed. He had no reason to live. His arms were dead weights, tingling in the cold night air. The water had quickly dried on him and the night air chilled him, making him colder than he already was. His entire body was so numb from pain, that he didn’t realize the cold. Didn’t feel the sharp icy winds that blew through the night. His bare feet bled from the sharp gravel, his eyes stung from the cold and ached from the tears still falling. He stumbled and rose, his knees scraping the ground, banging onto the pavement. He tore off the road and took to the forest.
The canopy of trees blocked even the smallest amounts of starlight and Ryouga ran as hard as he could. Twigs snagged at his flesh, and tore into his hair. His feet crossed over the dry leaves and broken twigs. The canopy was so thick that even the rain hadn’t reached the soil. Pine needles stuck to his legs, and to his feet. He hit a tree on his side and winced from the pain of the blow. He turned and ran the other way, greeted with a trunk in the face. He stumbled and got up, tripped over a log, rolled and flailed to his feet. He lowered his head and then heard a sickening crack. The forest vanished and he fell down, unconscious.

Tendo Dojo

Soun, baffled, allowed himself to be pushed aside by Ryouga. He was more concerned about his daughters immediate health. Judging by the way Ryouga was dressed, or lack thereof, he supposed Akane had walked in on him bathing. What happened after that, he didn’t know, and perhaps didn’t want to know. Nabiki followed her father quickly, while Kasumi watched Ryouga run around blindly. She grabbed his arm, and opened the door, letting him go outside. He didn’t seem to be aware of any of it. Kasumi sighed, and went to get a mop to wipe up the water Ryouga had dripped.
Nabiki went into the bathroom before Soun, as it wouldn’t be right of her father to enter the bathroom if Akane were nude. Akane sat by the tub, on her knees. Her hands clutched the bathtub, and were white from crunching. Her face was streaked with tears, and her breathing was ragged. She had only a white undershirt on, and that was nearly soaked. Nabiki picked up a towel, and draped it over Akane. Then she kneeled next to her sister. Soun came in shortly after, and looked at his two daughters.
"Akane, are you hurt?" Nabiki asked, looking her sister over. Akane bit her lip, shaking her head no. Nabiki looked at the tub, filled with steamy water. She looked at Akane. Then she looked to her dad. Nabiki made it clear that she wanted to talk to Akane alone, and Soun, starting to cry, exited the room.
Nabiki sat next to her sister for a moment, thinking things through. She realized Akane was still crying. "Come now Akane." Nabiki softly said. She knew Akane wouldn’t be crying if something terrible hadn’t happened. Judging by the way Ryouga had been running out of the bathroom, in the nude, and Akane kneeling here weeping, Nabiki pieced together what probably happened. Or almost happened.
She sighed. Then she reached for her sister, and pulled her next to her, awkwardly wrapping her arms around Akane. The younger girl remained stiff, inhaling air sharply. "I always knew that Ryouga-kun was a jerk." Nabiki whispered. Akane only cried more. Nabiki looked about, still holding Akane. She expected to see blood on the title somewhere. She frowned a little when she didn’t. She looked at Akane. "Did Ryouga rape you, Akane?" she bluntly asked. Akane blinked the tears back, and looked at Nabiki. She shook her head no. Nabiki’s head spun. If he hadn’t raped her…why were they both almost naked? And why was Akane crying like a baby? What had happened here?
The bathroom door flew open and Soun stood there furious. "He did WHAT?!" Soun cried. "If he TOUCHED my daughter…I’ll…I’ll…" Nabiki rolled her eyes.
"Daddy its okay. Akane said he didn’t rape her." Nabiki said. Akane shuttered. Soun didn’t seem to hear.
"Where is he?! I’ll KILL him!" Soun cried. Then he sobered, and knelt by his daughter. "Akane…did Ryouga tell you where he was going?" Soun asked almost kindly. Akane gritted her teeth. She pulled away from Nabiki, and stood up. The towel draped around her shoulders held up, and she wiped at her eyes.
"Don’t talk about that…jerk!" Akane screamed. She turned, slipped on the wet tile, skidded to the door, and ran out of the bathroom. Both Soun and Nabiki looked at each other in shock. The silence was broken by Akane slamming her bedroom door closed.
"What was…that?" Nabiki mused. Soun looked at the door, and then burst into tears.

Somewhere in the Forests of Japan

The forests were silent save for the sound of a few animals crying. Very small patches of sunlight streamed in through the thick overhanging layer of leaves. The ground was littered in pine needles, dried leaves, various ferns and bushes. Trees stood tall and proud, withstanding years of weathering. The trunks were thick and the bark hard and dry. The lowest branches began at five to six feet up, and spread so far that they seemed to join into other nearby trees. All seemed peaceful, quiet and going on as nature so often does.
Ryouga released a painful moan as he came to his senses. He fluttered his eyes, wincing in pain. Things remained blurred quiet sometime. He realized he was laying on his back, rather uncomfortably. His right leg was pinned beneath him, and his left leg was turned inward. One of his hands draped over his chest, and the other was above his head. He was laying on something incredibly uncomfortable, like a rock or small bush. Finally the trees came into focus, and Ryouga winced. His entire body was waking up, and with that his aches and pains were renewing. His strength was gone, so gone to the point that he couldn’t move. He blinked, and discovered his face hurt as well. He assumed both his eyes were black, and his nose was broken, or bleeding.
He remembered fleeing the night before, and barely remembered smashing into trees, and walls, and other obstacles. Finally he lifted his hand from above his head. The pain flaring through his arm told him he was hurt there. His hand was covered in blood, and riveted with gouge marks. The blood was dried, but nonetheless it hurt. As he came to his bleary senses he slowly lifted his other hand, much in the same condition. Slowly, oh-so-slowly, he sat up. His head reeled as the blood rushed inside his head. He put a hand to his brow to stop the world from spinning, and recoiled in intense pain. He got his pinned leg from under him and looked himself over carefully.
His arms were torn by thorns and branches. His hands were bloody and caked. His legs were marred by twigs and branches. His knees scraped by gravel and the rough bark of the trees. His feet were terrible, the bottoms torn to pieces by the spiky gravel. He sighed. His back ached and he looked to where he had fallen. Behind him was a crumpled bush, void of leaves. The sharp prickly branches poked at him, and scratched him, some cuts leaving him bleeding. Ryouga shuttered, noting the coldness of the woods, and the emptiness of his heart.
He remembered why he was here. He remember how he arrived here, and he wished his wounds were more serious. For the damage he had caused the only one he loved, he deserved to die. He looked at his mauled hands and feet. Perhaps he could starve to death: slowly and in remembrance of Akane.
Even the thought of the name brought tears to his eyes. He clenched his hands into tight fists, regardless of the flaring pain. The newly formed scabs cracked, and began bleeding again. He shut his eyes tightly, and his head seared with white hot pain. The tears could not fall, but they formed anyway. He sat on the forest floor, and his body shuttered violently.
Akane had discovered his darkest secret, and she now hated him for it. He clenched his teeth, and the tears dripped though his tightly shut eyes. He opened his hands, and felt the blood drip onto his thighs. He hunched his back, and bowed his head painfully. The world became dark and closed in, and even the cold of the air seemed to dull. All he could hear was the throbbing of his heart. Beating despite the fact he should be dead. It tortured him. He couldn’t go on living. Not like this. Not anyway. There was no reason to. He had caused the ultimate pain, and he could never live a life again. He released his breath, and cried, still trying to lock his jaw.
He turned his hands at the wrist, so that his fingers pointed at his abdomen, and the palms of his hands nearly touched. Then his spread his fingers, and they tensed. He took one final breath, and the tears dropped from his eyes. He got to his knees painfully, still awkwardly holding his hands, pointing at his chest. He held his breath and allowed his ki to build. It was time for his death, and if suicide was the worst, then he deserved it. He wanted more, he knew he rightfully earned more punishment, but he felt weak. He couldn’t live like this. He shuttered. He was weak, killing himself to end his pain. Hopefully he would go to Hell, and end eternity in suffering. That was here he truly belonged. His fingers curled, and he released his breath issuing one final cry into the silent forest.
"Shishi Höködan!"
The forest illuminated in eerie florescent light. As the kinetic energy ball expanded, the forest shriveled up. The thick trunks withered away, and the leaves burned up. The ground melted into ash and beyond. For a huge radius the forest evaporated leaving a crater large enough to be seen from plane. The entire woodland was gone, leaving nothing but swirling smoke, and a powerful breeze expanding each direction, knocking over several small trees in its wake.
When the smoke cleared and the debris lifted it was obvious nothing could have with stood a blast of that magnitude.
Nothing. . .

To Be Continued…



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