The Ryoga/Ukyo Chronicles
By Jeremy Sumerlin (aka the Girthman)
Disclaimer:
Ryoga, Hiroshi, Daisuke, Tatewaki Kuno, Sasuke, and Ukyo are not my creations and are all copyright of Rumiko Takahashi. I’d like to thank Takahashi-sensei for her great series. I once again claim no credit for their creation, however, some of the characters are my creations (aka Migi & Hidari and Ryu Itzuyo) and I do claim them, so there!
Chapter Six: A Rose Dying, Part 2
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He found her in a small alley at the end of the village. She was
seated on a barrel, watching the landscape. He thought he heard her
sniffling as he approached. Sensing he was near, she glanced at him over her
shoulder with red eyes.
"Oh, hey, P-Chan." She teased, but Ryoga could hear her voice cracking under
the demeanor. He smiled nervously. She turned and gazed back out into the
evening sky. There was a beauty about it she found comforting. The reddening
sun was slowly sinking into the distance, and the pinkish clouds drifted in
the dull, orange sky. All in all, it was a magnificent sight to her.
"Hey yourself, Ucchan." He said, sitting down on another barrel beside hers,
dangling his legs over the edge of it. She looked him over and noticed the
bloody cuts on his side, as well as the drips that leaked between his
clamped hands. She knew what had happened. Inwardly, she smiled.
"So, I see you talked with Kuno." She said wryly, pointing to the cut in his
abdomen. Ryoga flushed, but maintained a stern demeanor, and nodded.
"We came to an understanding." He said coldly, but with a certain sadistic
twist. Ukyo smiled at him.
"You didn’t have to." She said. "I could have handled it, you know." He
frowned.
"Of course I had to." He said, looking into her eyes. "He was a real
bastard."
Ukyo chuckled slightly, and wiped her face off. "Yeah." She said wryly. "He
was."
"Besides," Ryoga said, looking out into the horizon. "He made you cry."
She frowned. So, he had seen her.
she thought with spite.
"Well, I..." she began, but then sighed and decided not to try and jerk him
around. "I didn’t want to...I mean, I didn't mean to...I..I didn’t want him
to have the pleasure of watching me affected by him...But, I was... weak..."
Ryoga sighed. She thought she was weak? As far as Ryoga could
remember knowing her, Ukyo was one of the strongest women he’d ever met. Not
to say that other women were weak, but she had a very strong spirit. That
was one of the reasons why he liked her so much, he surmised.
"You’re not weak." He said sternly. "Never think that. Everyone cries
sometimes."
"You haven't." she said sarcastically. He frowned, furrowing his brow.
"That's different." he said. "I am a warrior. Warriors don't cry."
Scowling, she smacked his shoulder. He winced and looked over at her,
confused.
"Pompous jerk!" she said angrily. "So I'm not a warrior now?"
Ryoga scowled at himself inwardly. He guessed he'd said that in a way
that made it seem bad. He wasn't very good at this kind of stuff. Now she
was mad at him. Distantly, he wondered if that was how Ranma felt when he
was talking to Akane. As P-Chan, he'd been witness to Ranma's feeble
attempts to display true feelings for her on numerous occasions. Ryoga had
ignored it for the most part, of course, assuming that Akane naturally had
no feelings for him. But, then again, there were those times when she was in
her room at night, and she'd cuddle with P-Chan and tell him things.
Personal things, mostly wishing how Ranma would be less of a jerk and show
how he really felt for her. Idly, Ryoga wondered how he could have ignored
that. but, he found a way. Love always seemed to have a way to make the most
perceptive man blind.
"I didn't mean that!" he snarled, rubbing his shoulder. It didn't hurt, but
the anger she was showing did. "Of course you're a warrior! I meant...well,
I..."
She watched him, her face frowning with respite, waiting for a
response. He scowled.
"Dammit!" he shouted. "I'm no good at this!" He turned and looked her in the
eyes. "What I meant was, well, everyone cries at some point in their life.
It's what reminds us that we're not invincible. It reminds us that
we're...well, human."
Ukyo looked over at him, and saw he was deathly serious. She nodded.
He seemed somewhat relieved by this, and ran his unwounded hand through her
hair gently. She flinched; No one had ever done that before. He did it with
a look of something in his eyes she couldn’t’ quite determine. Whatever it
was, she felt wonderful he was looking at her like that.
"I’m sorry." He said sincerely. "About the rose."
"Hey, I’m the one who should be sorry, remember?" she said, still loving the
feel of his hand running through the thick auburn strands. She wanted to
close her eyes and just lose herself in that feeling. It was an
unconditional feeling. The kind of feeling you don’t feel for just anyone.
"Nonsense," he continued. "You looked really pretty with it, too."
She blushed slightly, much to her further embarrassment and to his pleasure.
Maybe he wasn't as bad at this cheering up thing as he thought.
"Well, now I don’t have anything to wear in my hair." She said sourly. "Not
even a damn ribbon. That really makes me mad, you know? I could kill that
pompous windbag right now..." she sniffed, wiping her cheek with the back of
her hand. Looking around, he couldn't see another rose nearby. Plus, he'd
given everything he had of value to the rose vendor already. Then, it hit
him. He knew just what to do, or at least he thought so. He hoped so,
anyway. He untied his bandanna and offered it to her. To her amazement,
there were no more underneath. He looked strange without it. Strange, but in
a good way. A handsome way. She smiled and took it, tying it into her hair
much like her ribbon. It worked perfectly.
"There." He said with satisfaction, "Good as new."
She hugged him tightly, the tears threatening to pour down again.
This time, she fought them off. She felt his powerful, warm arms encircle
her, loving the feel of his embrace, even if it was a friendly one. Then
again, she pondered, hugging him tighter, perhaps it was more than that.
"Ryoga," she said, her face half-buried. "Why are you such a good man?"
He smiled and looked down at her.
"Why are you such a good woman?" he said teasingly. Smiling, she took his
hand and began to lead him back to the others.
"C’mon, sugar," she said with slight cheerfulness, "Let’s go see whether or
not you killed poor Kuno back there."
Distantly, she noticed his grip on her hand was a little tighter.
she thought idly as they walked back,
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End of Chapter Six.
Comments and criticisms welcome!
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