"Dear Akane"
Started:  7-23-98
Finished: 7-28-98

Most of the characters within the story are from the Anime Series, Ranma
1/2 and are property of Rumiko Takahashi, and whoever else may own the
rights. I write this without permission and do so with no attempt to
profit off of the marvelous works. Rather, I do so for everyone's
benefit. Please enjoy and tell me what you think.



A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction: Dear Akane
	A few days in Ryouga Hibiki's life
		by Ryan Erik



	"Dear Akane," the black-haired young man recited, reading from a
yellowed parchment. He dipped his feather pen into a black inkwell and
scratched the back of his head as he thought. "What's up?"
	"No, no!" he mumbled in irritation, tearing up yet another unfinished
letter to his beloved. "It has to be from the heart!" A deep sigh passed
his lips. "Dear Akane," he said, writing what he spoke aloud. "I'm sorry
that I've been away so long, but my training has been keeping me from
you." Dipping his pen in the inkwell again, he smiled. The right words
to describe his love for Akane rarely came to him, if ever. "As soon as
fate allows it, I will return to your side. I have something important
to tell you when we next meet." Biting his lip, he strained not to ruin
this parchment. "Your faithful friend, Ryouga," he said, scribing at the
bottom.
	He placed the finished document in an envelope, sealing it. Standing
up, he gazed upon all the shreds of paper strewn about on the floor. It
took him many hours to complete it, but the finished product was more
than worth the time spent. Hugging the letter to his chest, he left the
small cabin in search of a post office. It may take him a week to find
one, but sooner or later he would.

	Humming a song he heard his mother sing once, he marched through a
grassy plain. Dawn greeted him with the warmth of the morning sun, but
its beauty failed to impress him, his heart lost to images of Akane
Tendo, the goddess of his life. The sky clear, the day promised to be a
good one, though practically any day free of rain was a good one.
	His right boot landing hard on the ground, he winced, realizing he had
acquired a rock somewhere along his travels. He didn't want anything to
shatter his abnormally good mood, so he sighed heartily and sat down,
removing his right boot.
	"Wow, that's one big rock," he remarked, seeing the size of the object
he procured from his boot. He casually tossed it away before putting his
boot back on and continuing his journey. There was nothing worse than
walking around with a rock the size of large marble in your shoes.
	Pulling a map from his pack, he studied it, squinting. "From the
position of those mountains," he said, looking in between his map and
the snow-capped mountains over his right shoulder. "I'd say I'm less
than fifty miles from Hokkaido." That would put him fifty miles closer
to civilization and fifty miles closer to mailing his letter.

		*		*		*

	Walking down one street or another, Ryouga looked at his map of
Hokkaido, wondering why he hadn't found the post office yet. He had
followed the directions the nice floral shop owner had told him, but
instead of being in front of his destination he stood in the middle of a
large plaza.
	"What, you're still around?"
	He spun and found himself face to face with the tall floral shop owner.
Putting his hand behind his had, he laughed, embarrassed by his poor
ability to follow directions once again. The large man put his hands on
his hips, waiting for his reply.
	"Could you tell me again?" Ryouga asked politely.
	"Yeah, sure kid," the man answered, shaking his head in disgust.
"Okay," he said, pointing down the road Ryouga had arrived from. "You
walk straight down the street your on now, and follow it until it takes
you to the post office. It will be on your left."
	"Thanks again, sir." Holding his breath, Ryouga marched towards his
destination yet again.


	"Baka," the storekeeper muttered, watching the boy with the
black-spotted yellow bandanna take a side street instead of following
the one he was on. "What part of straight doesn't he understand?"
	Concentrating on sweeping the entrance to his store, the man paid
little attention to his surroundings. He desperately needed to move out
of this martial artist cluttered district and move somewhere more
peaceful, like Juban. What could possibly be worse than crazed martial
artists tearing up every building within a fifty food radius of the
fights between themselves? They'd have to have some sort demon creatures
that prayed upon innocent victim's energy to match this.
	His task finished, he looked up and barely jumped aside as an old man,
the size of a large ball, came flying by him.
	"What's your problem, ya old geezer?!" he yelled at the departing
figure. Shaking his head, yet again, he propped his broom up against the
wall of his store and wiped sweat from his brow. A rumbling from the
earth took his attention from the heat. "Huh?" he managed to say right
as he was trampled by a mob of girls in various stages of dress,
obviously in pursuit of the old man he saw but a few seconds ago.
	He picked himself from the cement and dusted himself off, after making
sure nothing was broken. What else could possibly annoy him more today?!


	Taking a few more turns, Ryouga squinted at his map, trying to make out
the lettering on it. "This isn't even written in Japanese!" he
exclaimed, getting frustrated. "It's almost night and I haven't found
the post office yet!"
	"That map's upside down," the comment came from a voice below.
	His attention taken from his cursed map, he looked down and found
himself in the middle of four girls. He looked around finding himself
standing in a park very close to a pond and in the middle of a group of
agitated teenage girls, not a very good combination.
	"Would you mind getting off our picnic basket?" one of the girls said,
more than a little irritation in her voice.
	Backing away cautiously, he waved and stuttered in apology. Working up
some courage, he asked, "You wouldn't happen to know where the post
office is?"
	"Yeah, it's right over there," a cute girl with short brown hair told
him, smiling.
	"T-thanks," he said, trying to get as far away from the pond as
possible.

	"I think I'll ask directions in here," he said to himself. Without
looking at what store he entered, the jingling of a small bell sounded,
marking his entrance. He walked up to the counter and faced the cashier.
"Can you tell me the directions to the post office?" The growl emitted
by the storekeeper made Ryouga take a large step back.
	"OUT!" the man yelled, picking up his broom threatening.
	Warding off the incoming attack, Ryouga put up his hands up, guarding
his face. Dodging a few swings of the broom, knocking over an isle and
effectively covering himself with various types of flowers, Ryouga fled
the shop. Needless to say, he was more than a little confused.
	"What the hell was his problem?"

	His head hung low, Ryouga trudged aimlessly down another street. His
patience was running thin as he had spent most of the day searching,
accomplishing absolutely nothing. A sigh passed through his lips and he
muttered, "Why me?"
	Holding his letter to Akane tightly to his chest, he walked without
watching where he was stepping, dreaming of his next meeting with his
beloved, how his mere presence would bring joy to her life. He imagined
her arms spread wide as he came running up to her in greeting. He wanted
to tell her his love for her and that he never wanted to be separated
from her. He wanted to be able to tell her anything, but all he could do
was squeal. She would hug him to her breasts, and he would feel loved, a
love like none other. Unfortunately, it was but the love for a pet.
	Accidentally walking into someone brought him out of his dream-state.
He looked down at the small figure sprawled out before him, a mail
carrier. He apologized to the man, helping him to his feet and handing
him his bag. Before he could walk away, Ryouga held out the letter still
clenched in his fist. It was finally mailed, through a chance of fate.

		*		*		*

	The next day, Ryouga still found himself still lost within the city.
Though he had enough money to buy himself food, he truly disliked to do
so, preferring to catch his own food to be away from the bustle of the
civilization. It unnerved him to be near so many people at once, but he
usually had little choice in the matter. Only when he found himself in
Nerima did he enjoy the polluted air of Tokyo.
	"Yo, Ryouga," the familiar voice sounded.
	Not even needing to look up to see who it was, he responded, "Hello,
Ranma," and continued on in his aimless travels. Wait! Ranma was here?!
He turned and confirmed it, staring at the pig-tailed boy's back. That
only meant one thing; he was in Nerima. He could see Akane this very day
if luck was with him!
	"Uh, Ranma, wait up!" he yelled, but it was too late. Ranma had already
turned a corner and was out of sight. Anger coursing through him, he
clenched his teeth at the boy's treatment of him. Though he did not
outright insult him, his presence itself always seemed to make Ryouga
mad. The constant teasing on Ranma's part was most likely the reason, in
addition to their past rivalries.

	Frustrated, Ryouga kicked a rock skidding harmlessly across the empty
streets of Nerima. With dusk approaching, Ryouga had little choice but
to find somewhere he could eat to appease his growling stomach. He would
have given anything to be able to find Akane's house and eat there, but
he knew through all of his pride that he wouldn't make it there, at
least not today.
	Pushing open the doors of the first restaurant he came across, he
walked in and took a seat at the bar, not noticing who he sat across
from.
	"Ryouga?" a cheerful voice asked.
	Ryouga looked up to find himself face to face with Ukyou Kounji, whose
apparent happiness was in drastic opposition of his foul mood. She was
dressed in her usual clothes, chest bindings and all, making her look
rather masculine, but he could knew the truth by finding out first
handed when he slashed open her shirt the first time they met. Just
thinking about that incident made his nose want to hemorrhage.
	"Uh, hi," he said.
	"Long time no see, hon," she greeted, smiling. "What can I get you?"
	"Anything without meat," he replied, holding his stomach in a vain
attempt to ward off his hunger pains. Though he may have preferred to
eat in the open, it didn't necessarily mean he liked the food better,
just the company. There was hardly any food that matched Ukyou's
okinomiyaki, and few that came close. Roots, rabbits and berries were
hardly on the same plane of existence.
	"One veggy special coming right up!" she cried, enthusiastically. He
watched her quick wrist action as she began to prepare his dinner. The
fluidity of her motions always made him wonder how she became so good.
Never really getting a straight answer from anyone besides Akane as
P-chan, he always received information about current events second
handed. He vaguely remembered hearing something about Ranma ditching
Ukyou when they were children.
	Almost all of his thoughts always ended up on Ranma or Akane, his two
conflicting goals. Most of the choices that he made revolved around
them. Whether it was trying to defeat Ranma or court Akane, everything
always backfired, making thought of them difficult.
	"Here you go, sugar," Ukyou said, handing him his finished dinner.
Before leaving, she told him, "After you eat, want me to take you to the
Tendo dojo?"
	His eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously, his mouth full at the moment.
He would make it to there today after all!

	After finishing off his fourth okinomiyaki, he paid Ukyou for his
dinner. The happy chef told him to stay in one place while she finished
serving her customers. He did so with little complaint and after ten
minutes they were ready to leave.
	"Are you sure it's not too much trouble?" Ryouga asked, hoping she
wasn't going out of her way just for him. He knew she was a busy person
and had very little time to show him to the dojo, which she seemed to do
in the majority of their meetings.
	"I wouldn't have offered if it was, sugar," she replied. "I'm bringing
Ranchan some dinner anyway."
	The one fault that he could see in Ukyou was her crush on his most
hated rival. Though they often were allies, working together for their
own ends, occasionally they were enemies and all of it was Ranma's
fault. Not only did he string along Akane, but he also took this kind
okinomiyaki chef along for the ride, not to mention a half a dozen other
girls.

	They arrived at the gate to the Tendo residence fairly quickly, in
Ryouga's point of view. It was not quite dark yet when they entered the
yard and walked up to the door where Ukyou knocked.
	"I'll get it!" they heard Kasumi yell from within.
	"Try not to start a fight with Ranma-honey," Ukyou reminded, but he
failed to listen, his thoughts on Akane. He really didn't have any
intentions to fight Ranma today, or much of ever anymore for that
matter, but it certainly crossed his mind often.
	"Good evening, Ukyou!" Kasumi greeted, her usual smile held firmly in
place. "Oh, hello, Ryouga-kun. I didn't know you were in town! Come in,
both of you." She ushered the two of them in, closing the door behind
them.
	Smells of something freshly cooked assaulted their nostrils as they
made their way into the dining area. Angry shouts echoed throughout the
house, leaving no doubt to who the offenders were. A bit of anger
surfaced in Ryouga's thoughts. Ranma had most likely made Akane angry
again.
	"Stupid tomboy!" the cry was heard.
	"Die, Ranma!" a second cry, quite a bit more angry than the first,
sounded.
	Clenching his fists, Ryouga walked into the dining room in time to
watch Ranma go flying straight into the koi pond. Knowing Ranma got what
was coming to him, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
	"Hello, Ryouga!" Akane said warmly, her anger forgotten.
	The bare mention of his name on her lips caused him to freeze up, not
knowing what to do now. A list of things he wanted to say appeared in
his mind, but he could only stutter, "H-h-hello, A-Akane!" which was
followed by one of his silly laughs.
	"What brings you here?" she asked, a smile blessing her beautiful face.
"Ryouga?"
	'I love you, Akane; want to go on a date?' was what he wanted to tell
her, but the words would not - could not - form in his mouth. Why did
his nerves fail him every time he had the chance to profess his undying
love for her? It felt as if someone or something held him back from his
one and only chance at happiness.
	"Let's go on a date, Ryouga!"
	His head shifted to look his one and only love straight in her eyes.
Did she just ask him out? Could it be that she liked him too?
	"Oh, why don't we just get married right now?"
	Ryouga's heart leapt from his chest and butterflies fluttered in his
stomach. Was this really happening or was it just a dream, a beautiful
and utterly perfect dream? He went to take Akane's hands in his own but
was cut short when she turned her back to him and looked down.
	"Ranma..." Akane growled in anger.
	"Do you really mean it, Akane?" Ryouga asked, completely oblivious to
the beating that Akane was going to inflict upon Ranma. He looked at
her, her back turned to him and staring down towards... Ranma in his
girl form.
	"How dare you impersonate me!" Akane yelled, causing everyone near her
to cower away from her very impressive battle aura. "You *pervert*!"
	"W-wait, Akane!" Ranma stuttered, backing up cautiously. "It was just a
joke! Can't you take a joke, stupid tomboy?!"
	"ARGH! RANMA NO BAKA!"
	Ryouga closed his eyes tightly, not wanting to witness the death of the
redhead. The sickening crunch, followed by the loud scream made him
wince. He looked up and out a Ranma shaped hole in the ceiling. "Ouch,"
he whispered under his breath.
	He heard Soun sobbing in the background, muttering about how his
families would never be united; Nabiki counting on her fingers how much
this new damage was going to cost; and Kasumi simply say, "Oh my!" Ukyou
took off after her "Ranchan," and Genma was no where to be seen.
	"What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Ryouga?" Akane asked, her
battle aura dissipated and smile returned. Ryouga was thanking all that
was mighty that he wasn't in Ranma's shoes right now.
	"Um - hehe - you know," he frantically searched for words to tell her,
but nothing came to him. Whether he was near her or not, he probably
couldn't say the three simple words he desperately wanted to tell her.
"I-I..." Instead of *those* three words, he said three completely
different ones. "...brought you something!" Already in his hands, he
held out a small stuffed... pig?! Where in all of hell did he pick that
up?!
	"Oh, Ryouga!" she exclaimed grabbing the black stuffed pig to her
chest, like she did with her pet pig. "It looks just like my little
P-chan! Thank you, Ryouga."
	"Oh! It was n-nothing!" Though it brought him much joy to see her
happy, his own disappointment at his failure to do what he came to do
brought his mood down. The stupid stuffed pig that he gave her, which he
honestly did not remember purchasing, further pushed the memory of his
curse down his throat.
	"Do you want some dinner?" Akane asked, offering up Ranma's untouched
plate. Untouched might have been a poor adjective, when he thought about
it. The plate itself looked like it was being *grabbed* by the food on
it! Most of the disgusting slop on it was a strange orange color and
smelled of extremely hot peppers and vinegar. "I made it myself!"
	"No thanks, Akane," he responded, thanking the gods that he ate
already. "I ate at Ucchan's."
	"Okay, guess I'll have to dump it out again." The look of pure sadness
that he saw on her face completely melted Ryouga's heart and will.
	"I guess there's a little more room in my stomach!" he announced,
bringing the cheer back to her face. Unfortunately, he probably just
signed his death certificate when he offered to eat it. How he would get
through one bite was question enough, let alone a full plate of that
stuff.
	Taking the plate from the cheerful girl, he examined it careful,
sitting down at the table. Not noticing that everyone was gathering
around to see his reaction to the food, he cautiously picked up the
chopsticks from the table and gathered some of the melted slop onto
them. With one last look at Akane, he knew it would be worth sacrificing
his own life to make her happy.
	The instant the 'food' touched his tongue, his watering eyes opened
wide in the shock of first contact with the matter in on the chopsticks.
"HOT!" he yelled, bounding over the table and dunking his head straight
into the koi pond, uncaring at the consequences.
	His first reaction to his body changing shape and getting lost within
his clothes was of relief and getting away from the horrible monster
that was Akane's latest cooking creation. His second though, was fear.
Akane obviously saw him change right in front of her eyes, and seeing
P-chan crawling out from Ryouga's clothes would only finalize his death.
	In a moment of panic, he fled into the night.


	Akane stared in shock after Ryouga's hasty departure.
	"Guess he wasn't hungry after all," she said with a heavy sigh.

		*		*		*

	"P-chan!"
	Ryouga's eyes opened slowly, wondering where the hell he was now. His
eyes blinked, startled at someone's sudden appearance. The deep brown
eyes that greeted him, surprised him utterly. Akane was above him, arms
on either side and she seemed very happy.
	"Bwee!" he cried out, trying to tell her of his love. "Bwee?" He sighed
as depression rushed into him, gnawing at the core of his existence.
Once more he would be her pet. Though he often admitted to himself that
it was not such a bad thing, he definitely could think of better places
to be.
	Akane scooped the small black into her arms and pressed him to her
breasts, causing the startled piglet to pass out cold.

	"Are you okay, baby?"
	Ryouga regained consciousness in his beloved's lap, her hand firmly
stroking his back. He bweed in pleasure, soaking up her attention. She
giggled and hand fed him some of Kasumi's wonderful cooking.
	"I'm so glad your home, P-chan," Akane told him. "You have to stop
running away!" She picked him up and adjusted him in her arms, as if
cradling a child.
	"Hello, Ryouga," Ranma greeted in a very feminine and flustered voice.
	"Bwee!" he called back, glad that he was in Akane's arms, safe from
Ranma's threatening presence.
	"You leave P-chan alone, Ranma! He just came home and I won't have you
scaring him away again!"
	"Hey, Akane," Nabiki said, taking their attention off fighting. "Letter
for you." She handed her sister a very familiar crumpled envelope.
	"To Akane," Akane read out loud. "Oh, it's a letter from Ryouga!"
Taking it out, she immedeately began to read its contents. A smile, so
beautiful only his angel could produce, appeared on her face.
	"This is post marked two days ago!" Ranma announced. "You actually made
it before the letter did this time, Ryouga!"
	"Bwee!"
	"Where's Ryouga?"
	"You're holding him, stupid!"
	"You care to repeat that, Ranma?!"
	"Bwee!"

	As usual, the two 'lovebirds' got into a horrible argument around
Ryouga's presence as P-chan and caused excessive amounts of property
damage. Unfortunately for Ryouga, he was set down before Akane went on a
rampage and found himself lost. Fortunately, he found himself lost in
the bathroom.
	Not caring who was using the tub at the present time, he jumped in,
emerged and left. His clothes, clean and dry, were placed in the
changing room, ready for use. Ready to leave, he found his way out -
after an hour of asking directions from Soun, Kasumi and Genma, and
paying Nabiki 2,000 yen.

		*		*		*

	Wiping sweat from his brow, the lost boy looked at the fresh parchment
in front of him, wondering how he should begin his new letter. In
frustration, he crumpled up the unused paper and tossed it behind him.
	"Oh, forgot to write something first," he said dryly.
	Putting his feather pen to his lips, he frowned, storming his brain for
something intelligent to write. He didn't want it to sound too forward,
but at the same time, not too casual. If he wrote the wrong one, all
would be for not.
	"I got it!" he exclaimed happily, writing the header. "Dear Akane..."

________________________________________________________________________

Author's meaningless babble:

Thank you for reading my pointless Ryouga fanfiction. Though I myself am
not a heavy Ryouga fan, I do like the lost boy's naive personality and
unmatched strength. I pondered adding a fight scene or two to spice the
story up, but the main point behind it was to show a few days in his
life. Hopefully you saw the point to this story (in this case - there
was none!). Putting yourself in his position, wouldn't you say that life
would be a bit frustrating? I can honestly say that I am not an Akane
fan for two reasons: 1. She beats on Ranma, often times for no reason;
2. She can't see Ryouga's blind love for her.

If you liked the story, please tell me because it will certainly
surprise me. I just felt the need to write something besides my main
project and this fit the bill exactly - short. If you thought it sucked
or was boring, you can tell me if you want without worrying about
hurting my feelings. ;) - and no, it wasn't supposed to be funny. Pretty
lame huh? ;)


Ryan Erik
ryanerik59@hotmail.com or
magusbloodstone@hotmail.com