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.
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*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 you're 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 Juuban. 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 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..."
Ryan Erik
ICQ: 2561463
ryanerik99@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ryanerik99