Well, after posting that "Real Woman" crap on the ML, I figured I couldn't
let that be my sole contribution to the ML.  So following is a "real" story.  I
had originally though I would try to write a lighthearted fic.  While the
following is not a darkfic (I don't think I could write one anyway), it's
kinda sad, I think.  Well, without further ado.  Hope you like it.  It's kinda
rough, this being only marginally revised as I don't have a lot of time to
spare (plus I'm leaving the country on business for two weeks on
Saturday and wanted to get a draft of this out before then).  Suggestions
for improvement are welcome.  "You suck" messages do not fall into said
category.

Note: The events described herein occur shortly after the "Akane's
Dougi" story in manga volume 32 (for lack of a better title for it.  It's the
one where Akane gets that dougi that makes her stronger than Ranma). 
Also note that, for purposes of this fic, I've altered the outcome of that
storyline some.  How it has been altered should become obvious.

Ranma 1/2: Runaway

Autumn approaches.  I can see the leaves changing as the train rushes
by.  I gaze out upon the landscape.  It is mostly trees and mountains. 
Periodically, we pass by a small town: small houses, the occassional
tenement, some businesses, perhaps a graveyard.  Every time we pass
the latter, I stare at it and can't help but wonder who's buried there. 
What did they do in life?  What kind of people were they?  How did they
die?  It strikes me as somewhat ironic that I should only seem to care
about people who are now beyond all cares.

I am Saotome Ranma.  I boarded the shinkansen bound for Sendai (1)
nearly two hours ago.  For a long while all one could see were the
constant buildings of Tokyo and its environs.  But then we left the city
behind.  I wonder if I shall ever see it again. 

I glance around the train car.  I had sized up the situation pretty early on:
not much.  The train is not particularly full today, and there's only a few
passengers in this car.  The monotony is broken only by the beverage
vendors and the ice cream ladies pitching their wares in that chirpy voice
they have.  I wonder briefly how they get their voice so high, but quickly
brush that thought aside.  It's not important.  

Nothing seems very important now anyway.  I was, by a magical dougi,
of all things, in a moment at once dispatched of my home, family... and
fiancee.  I had finally told Akane my innermost feelings.  But.  But.  It didn't
matter.  She wouldn't listen.  I had gotten her alone.  I needed to seduce
her to get rid of the dougi.  OK, I admit it was a pretty rotten thing to do,
but it's not like I was happy about it.  After the truth came out, though, I
told her my true feelings, and she rejected me.  I had never imagined that
such pain was possible.  If this is where love gets you, perhaps I am
better off without it.  She had called me an idiot, and tried to beat me up,
as some sort of punishment, but I had run away.  I feel rather ashamed
of doing that, but I have no desire to fight Akane.  Even though she used
to hit me fairly regularly, I don't think I could hit her under any
circumstance, unless perhaps by accident.

I glance out the window again.  I wonder where we are.  How close are
we to Sendai?  For perhaps the first time in days, I smile.  I wonder if this
is what Ryoga feels like?  If so, I guess I can see why he wants me
dead.  Well.  Perhaps he's right.

Now we are passing by some crop fields.  The crop's already
harvested, but I see that that doesn't stop one farmer from puttering
around out there.  I can't make out what he's doing, though.  I only see
him for a few seconds and then he's gone.  We pass over a river.

There's that damn ice cream lady again.  She smiles at me, but I wave
her off.  I guess I can't really afford to spend what money I took with me
on things like ice cream.  After a bit I turn around to look at her.  Now that
I realize that I shouldn't buy any, I also realize that I really want some ice
cream.  I know that it's expensive, and that you only get a few
spoonfuls, but I can't help it.  I turn around to call her back, but then
check myself.  I can't really afford to lose my discipline now.

I feel the train slow down, and the robotic voice over the PA announces
"Sendai".  My stop.

******************************

I wander down a thoroughfare by some restaurants and shops.  Night's
approaching and the shops are closing, but it's still fairly busy.  Probably
for the restaurants, I suppose.  I glare at the restaurants, hungry, but
figure I shouldn't go in.  Instead, I stop at a Lawson's.  I look around and
settle on a couple of curry-man (2).  I change my mind.  I get three.  And
a candy bar.

I stop in a park and sit down on a bench to eat my dinner.  It's getting cold
out as I sit under the cool halogen glow of a street lamp.  Not many
people are out at this time.  I check my pocket and realize that I don't have
enough funds to stay somewhere overnight.  In fact, it's almost laughable
how little money I have left.  I probably should have taken some cheaper
means to travel than the shinkansen, but I didn't think of that at the time. 
Plus, I wanted to get away fast.  I stare up at the stars for a while,
thankful that it isn't raining, for once less so for my curse than for the
fact that I am probably going to have to sleep out here.  I see a shooting
star but don't make a wish.  I figure it's a little late for that now.  

******************************

It's morning.  I walk along a residential street.  For breakfast I went back
to that Lawson's and bought a couple of rice balls, old and left over from
the previous day.  They're pretty unappetizing but better than going
hungry.  I pass by a school, full of young kids.  Younger than me,
anyway.  It's recess and they're all out there playing, cheerful despite
the chill.  I look at their happy young faces and wish I could be like them. 
Not a care in the world...

I stop after a while and think about what I'll do to raise some money.  I
hadn't really thought much about what I'd do when I got out of high
school.  I guess I figured I'd teach martial arts or something.  Now I
dunno.  I've always loved martial arts, but, as I reflect on my life, I realize
that they are all I've ever known.  I don't really know if I like anything else.
 As I think about it, it seems like all martial arts has really done for me is
gotten me into one fight after another.  Maybe it'd be better if I considered
something else as a vocation and practiced martial arts as a hobby.  I
doubt I could ever give them up for good, even if I wanted to.  

I resume walking, and make my way downtown.  The streets are jammed
with cars and people in a tumult that's hard to conceive of without being
there.  All these people going places, going somewhere.  And me.  All
these people have somewhere to go.  I just wander.

I pass by a construction sight.  A new office building being put up, I
suppose.  Then I see the sign.  They're hiring workers.  Not what I'd
consider an optimal job, but I don't think I can be choosy at this point. 
Plus, the pay's not bad.

I talk to the foreman about the job.  He looks at me suspiciously and asks
how old I am.  I lie and tell him eighteen.  He glares at me for another
moment but then relents.  The job's an all day affair, and done on a
day-to-day basis.  You report for work at dawn, work until dusk, clock
out and get your day's paycheck.  This sounds pretty good to me, at
least as temporary work, as it means I can sleep indoors tonight. 
However, since I came in well after dawn, I won't get a full paycheck
today.  I guess I can live with that.

The work proves to be mind-bendingly dull.  Not that I have ever been
one to enhance my intellectual skills at every opportunity, but, even
though I didn't get great grades at school, I'm not stupid.  I believe I could
have gotten As or high Bs if I had tried harder.  Certainly if I had applied
myself with the same enthusiasm as I had for martial arts.  In any event,
after a few hours of this I begin wishing I was stupid so the work
wouldn't seem so dull.  I also think that perhaps only the stupid are ever
truly happy, because they don't know any better.  I dismiss that thought,
though, as useless pessimmism.  I don't need to go any further down. 
We got a lunch break, but I didn't have a lunch, and couldn't afford to go
anywhere.  By the end of the day I was nearly ready to eat my hard hat.

Despite the fact that I didn't get a full paycheck, it turned out to be larger
than I had expected.  One of my coworkers, who noticed my surprise,
commented on how these are standard wages in this part of Japan and I
shouldn't expect any more.  I stammered that he was mistaken, that it
was more than I expected.  He smiled and offered to take the difference
if I didn't want it.  I declined.  He then said something about the pay being
higher than other menial jobs because of the danger.  I thought about
what he said.  Danger.  I hadn't considered this line of work dangerous. 
As long as you pay attention and take a little care, construction work isn't
all that dangerous, or so it seemed to me.  Of course, I'm used to getting
attacked on a regular basis, so my perspective is perhaps not wholly
unbiased.  

After work I checked into a nearby hostel.  I had to share a room with
some gaijin, from India, I think.  What he was doing in Sendai I couldn't
guess, but because he spoke no Japanese and I knew no Indian, I
couldn't ask him.  After a bit I went out to a ramen shop and got the
cheapest thing they had.  I always liked ramen, so, even if it was fairly
plain, it was very good.  Especially since I hadn't had lunch.  I also went
to a store and bought a few items, like toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb, a
cheap alarm clock, and the like.  I left Nerima so quickly I hadn't thought to
bring much of anything with me.  Finally, I went to a public bath, returned
to the hostel and went to sleep.

******************************

Work wasn't much better the next day.  I think I can safely rule out
construction work as an occupation I wish to pursue.  Fortunately, I got
friendly with some of my co-workers.  Strange thing is, some of them are
pretty bright.  I can't see how they stand doing this.  One guy, Kingao
Shintaro, wasn't much older than me, but he already had a wife and two
children.  He's smart.  Smarter than me, anyway, or at least that's how it
seems to me.  Why is he doing this?  It seems strange that he can't do
any better.  He's invited me to his apartment for dinner on Friday. 
Figuring I wouldn't have anything better to do, I accepted.

After work I went to an arcade and played some video games.  Video
martial arts isn't the same as the real thing, though, so I left pretty quickly.
 I stopped and picked up some manga on the way home so the evening
wouldn't be too boring.  There's no TV at the hostel, and, as I've said, the
gaijin is no great conversationalist.  

******************************

After work the next day I stopped by a library to do some reading.  I
figure if I don't want to do this the rest of my life, I'd better figure out my
options.  After a while, I realize with some dismay that, aside from martial
arts instruction, menial work is about all I'm suited for.  I'd better figure out
some way to get into college.  However, I still don't know what I'd want
to do if I got in, or what I'd do after I graduated.  I can't really see myself
as a salaryman.  

I think about going back to Nerima.  Do they miss me?  I know I miss them.
 Most of them, at any rate.  Even Akane.  Especially Akane.  But she
made it pretty clear what she thought of me, I guess, so there's probably
no point in going back now.  I also wondered about Ryoga.  Would he go
after Akane, now that I'm gone, or would he stay with Akari?  Though I
love Akane, I think Ryoga would be better off with Akari.  Though my
experience in such things is admittedly small, I don't think I've seen a
more well-matched couple than Ryoga and Akari. 

I leave feeling considerably more depressed than I was before.  My
future looms out before me and I haven't the faintest idea what to do.  I
guess my options are rather limited, so I decide I should probably try to
find work as an instructer at a dojo somewhere in the area, if I can.  That
would certainly be the easiest way.

******************************

It's Friday night.  I get back to the hostel after work.  I go to take a bath
before I go to Kingao-san's apartment.  I can't really get dressed up, so I'll
have to go as I am.  As I get to within a few blocks of the tenement,
however, I notice that something's wrong.  I hear a commotion up ahead,
and presently I see flashing red lights and a crowd around the tenement. 
It's on fire!  I hear sirens as more fire trucks pull up.  I run the rest of the
way.  I see that the building's pretty involved.  Probably going to be a total
loss.  Thankfully, I soon see Kingao-san and his wife and child.  I run up
to him. 

"Kingao-san, you're all right!" I said.  He turned to me, and I have never
seen such a look of anguish on any man's face, not even on Ryoga. 
"What's wrong" I asked.

"Shizuko!  Shizuko's still in there!" he cried.

"Who's Shizuko?"

"My daughter!  Shizukoooo!"

The implication of his words struck me as though it were a physical
blow.  Though I had known Kingao-san for only a few days, it was
actually painful to see him like this.  And to think of that poor little girl. 
Damn!  I had forgotten that he had two children.  "What apartment  is she
in?"

"What?" 

"I said, what apartment is Shizuko in!"

"Uh, 413, but..." he was cut off as I ran toward the building.  Great, she
was on the fourth floor.  Why couldn't they have lived on the ground
floor?  This wasn't going to be fun.

A fireman saw me and tried to block my way.  "I have to get in there!" I
shouted.  "Look, you can't go in there!  Look at it!  Nothing could survive in
that!"  he shouted back.  I smiled and said "Watch me."  With that, I leapt
up over him.  I heard the crowd gasp in amazement at my feat.  I smiled
even more.  That was nothing.  

I reached the front door.  It had been torn down, probably by fleeing
tenants.  I ran in and looked for the stairs.  I found one set of stairs, but
they were completely engulfed in flame.  I ran to the other end of the
building.  The heat of the fire in the halls was indescribable.  I could feel
my hair and eyebrows being singed as I ran down the hallway, and my
lungs felt as though they were dissolving from the hot air.  But that didn't
stop me from noting the location of room number 113 as I ran by.  413
should be at the same location on the fourth floor.  

I reached the other set of stairs.  They were on fire, too, but not as bad. 
I ran up the stairs, but, as quickly as I moved, I could feel my clothes
begin to burn and it felt as though my skin began to melt.  I hoped that
wasn't actually happening, but there was no time to think of that now.   I
reached the fourth floor, and ran to where I expected 413 should be. 
Sure enough, there it was.  The flames were not as bad here for some
reason as they were on the ground floor.  I had thought they would be
worse, as my understanding was that heat rises.  Well, I wasn't going to
question my good fortune.  I kicked the door down and immediately
cursed my luck.  The apartment was well involved in flames.  I shouted
Shizuko's name, but got no reply.  At that moment, I heard a noise above
me, and I leapt into the apartment as the roof of the hallway collapsed. 
And I hadn't thought it was bad...  

The heat was searing and I could feel my energy beginning to run out.  I
was moving slowly now, but I ran through the main room to one of the
doors at the other end of the room.  A closet.  Great.  I didn't have time
for this.  I tried one of the other doors, it was a bedroom.  Jackpot.  It
was a little girl's room.  I called for Shizuko once again, but still got no
answer.  She was being awfully quiet for someone whose life was in
danger.  I figured that could only mean that she was unconcious or... 
Well, let's not dwell on that.

The flames weren't bad in here yet, but the smoke was terrible.  I looked
around but couldn't see her.  I looked under the bed.  Ah ha!  Got her.  I
pulled her out.  She seemed to be uninjured and breathing.  Thank God. 
Now, how to get out.  I couldn't go back the way I came.  The window it
is, then.  I opened the window and looked out.  I could see the crowd,
but they were, understandably, standing well back.  I grabbed Shizuko
and, as there was no fire escape, made to jump out the window.  At this
point someone in the crowd noticed me and a great shout erupted from
the crowd.  I jumped out.  Though four floors up, with my martial arts
training, I was able to bounce down from windowledge to windowledge,
and finally to the ground.  A cheer came up from the crowd and a rush
of people ran up to me.  I passed Shizuko to a paramedic as other
paramedics began to tend to me.  They led me to an ambulance.  The last
thing I saw before the ambulance doors close was Kingao-san's family
reunited, and the look of joy on Shizuko's parents' faces as she woke
up.  Then the ambulance left to take me to the hospital.  Despite the pain I
couldn't help from grinning.  I had never felt so alive.  One of the
paramedics in the ambulance with me said he had never seen anything
like that before.  I explained that it was martial arts training.  He said he'd
have to learn, and asked if I could perhaps show him a few moves when
I was better.  I nodded assent, then laid back and closed my eyes.  I
thought back to what I had done this night and thought I would burst with
pride.  I had never felt like this, not even when mastering a new and
difficult technique.  I felt pretty good.  Yeah...

******************************

Endnotes:

(1) Sendai is a city north of Tokyo along the east coast of Japan.  The
shinkansen is the bullet train.

(2) Curry-man is like a nikuman but filled with curry.  They're cheap and
not bad.  Lawson's is a convenience store chain, similar to 7-11.  I've
seen them in Tokyo and Osake.  I'm making the presumption that they
have them in Sendai.  

Author's notes: Well, whaddya think?  Is it OK or did it lay an egg?  As
you can tell, I don't go in for real long fics.  I should note that I recently
saw Quadrophenia for the umpteenth time, and that was sort of the
impetus for this story.  Not that I compare Ranma, even at his worst, to
Jimmy.  As an end to the story, I borrowed a little bit from the Outsiders. 
That scene where they save the kids in the burning church has always
had an impact on me, somehow, and I certainly was not going to write a
suicide fic, so I took some artistic license.  I realize that Ranma is fairly
OOC in this, particularly with the diction, but I figure, hey, I gotta write
what I want to write.  Well, let me know what y'all think.

Tom Schauer