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LeeKing Works proudly presents:

Ryouga's Valentine's Day
     By  Lynch

]
It was a depressing day, the most depressing of days�. Valentine's day, a
day for couples, a day which people spend with their significant others;
society does not even show mercy to those who have none. Usually people who
are alone on this day have nothing left but to either feel sorry for
themselves or wallow in depression.

 Guess which Ryouga was doing?

"I hate this day!" said Ryouga to himself as he trudged on through the
town, where everything seemed to show a decoration commemorating the
celebration of this special day, this� Valentine's day. 

Ryouga sighed to himself as he tried to ignore all the decorations around
him, the sight of all the sickening red hearts, of all the cupid drawings,
all the fluff and pomp which only served to remind him of his lack of a
significant other, his lack of a loved one.

 Sure he loved someone, but that didn't count, because he knew that she
didn't love him back.  For her, he may as well not even exist, except as a
little black pig.

A little black pig� the thought of his curse depressed him even more. He
knew Ranma was the cause of this, he had said so many times, tried to kill
him and beat him and tried to destroy the engagement between the two,
between Ranma and Akane. He had failed all those times. 

He had sworn to continue, to fight on for his loved one, throughout
everything he had done for her sake,  thinking that Akane didn't want
Ranma, that she hated him. How wrong he was. 

She loved him, he knew that now. He knew, and still he could do nothing, he
still loved Akane, despite the fact that she loved Ranma, his opponent, his
enemy, his rival.

Yet, he couldn't really bring himself to hate Ranma, that was the funny
part. Throughout everything they had done to each other, all the fights,
the insults and the adventures, they had actually formed a kinship. A bond
as only fellow competing warriors could. Yes, they were rivals, but they
were also friends.   

Oh, he had hated Ranma before, especially after the curse, but over the
time he had known him, he had realized that, through it all, Ranma actually
thought of him as a friend. An honorable friend. And that had changed him,
changed him from the psychotic fighter intent on revenge, into a friend and
rival. Life could be funny sometimes.

And life was even funnier now, the girl he loved was in love with the very
same rival he could not bring himself to hate. Oh, he wanted to hate Ranma,
God knows, he should, but he just can't. He just can't. And because of
this, he avoided them now, both Akane, his love, and Ranma, his rival and
friend. 

And so here he was, all alone and lost on Valentine's day. With nearly
everyone around him seemingly celebrating this accursed holiday. All he
could see around him, aside from the many valentine decorations, were
couples, strolling together, cuddled up or all over each other. This only
served to drive home the fact that he was alone, all alone, with no one to
love him, no one who cared, no one to make him feel special. Nothing. 

"With my luck�." thought Ryouga "Ranma and Akane are probably together
right now, enjoying each other's company." Ah, how he hated this, this day,
this life of his, everything, he hated everything. 

He kept walking.

When he finally looked up from his wanderings, he noticed that, for one of
the few times in his life, the place he was in actually looked familiar.

Hmm, Where was he?? How could this place look and seem so familiar and so
comfortable at the same time?

It wasn't the Tendo Dojo, because if it was, Aka-  some people he knew
would be there.

So where was he??

The house looked very, very familiar, the big door, the lamp post beside
the house,  Mt. Fuji kind of near it, in the background,

Eh? What's this, a note on the door?

Lets see�.

	Dear Ryouga, if you are reading this, you actually made it home! This is
our house, the Hibiki residence, and only a Hibiki can get inside this
house! Congratulations on making it home!! There's some food and
refreshments in the fridge so help yourself, we should be home sometime
soon. 

			Love,
				Mom and Dad


Home?

He was home! 

His home, his own house! 

No wonder this place looked familiar!

Well, somewhat familiar, a lot of things have changed since he was last
here. 

Now when was that? Hmmm.

No, don't want to think about that.

Let's see, how to open the door. 

With that thought, Ryouga grasped the door handle and noticed that the door
was unbelievably heavy, even for him. He could barely open it up, and even
then it took several tries.

No wonder mom said that only a Hibiki could get in, thought Ryouga, as he
remembered how nearly every member of his family had his strength. Now that
he thought about it, Ryouga was one of the weaker ones, the strongest among
their clan being his cousin who once wrecked Tokyo Tower by accident. 

Chuckling at the memory of that incident, Ryouga also remembered some of
the other members of his far-flung family; from his mom, who loved to cook,
to his dad, who was an insurance salesman all over the world, to another of
his cousins, Dan, who liked the color pink and was a pathetic fighter.

Ryouga got inside the house, and noticed that it was rather dusty.
Evidently, his parents have been gone for a while. 

Looking around, Ryouga saw even more things that kind of jogged his memory.


That painting, he made that back when he was three. Until now, he still
thought it was ugly, it had been the first gift he gave to his mom, and so
she had it framed and placed in the living room, for everyone to see. Or
for anyone who managed to get here anyway. 

Then there was the table with the big dent when he had banged his  head on
it when he was seven. He hadn't cried because of hitting the table, but he
had cried when his dad spanked him for ruining it. Dad sure knew how to use
an umbrella, thought Ryouga idly. 

Seeing as how dusty and stuffy the place was, Ryouga decided to open a
window to get some fresh air. When he did, something caught his eye.

 He sat down, and just stared, looking at the view that the window
presented to him. A nice normal view, one could see the backyard from this
window, bushes, some trees, lots of grass, the bright sun in the
background. And let's not forget the couple strolling down slowly, hand in
hand. 

For some unknown reason, something about this particular couple caught his
interest. They  seemed different. They weren't like all the other couples
he had seen earlier, who had mostly seemed to be together only to show
others that they weren't alone on Valentine's. They weren't even pawing
each other in public. They were just together. 

No, something about this couple seemed very different. There was a feeling
of contentment between them. As if their being together was all both of
them wanted, and that they didn't care that this was Valentines. All that
mattered to them was that they were together. 

The guy looked wishy-washy, not quite handsome, but passable, and he looked
to be totally devoted to the girl beside him. He wasn't strutting around
like most other guys with girlfriends would. 

And the girl, she was very beautiful, breathtaking in fact, with long
lustrous black hair that seemed to shine and highlight her  lovely face.
And she had the same look of contentment on her  that the fellow did.  

They were just walking slowly, basking in each other's company, practically
oblivious to the world. They didn't even notice Ryouga, who was pretty much
staring at them. 

Seeing the girl so happy, Ryouga began thinking about Akane, something he
didn't want to do, but which he did anyway.

Ryouga was thinking: Now why can't I have a relationship like that? Why
can't I have Akane?

As the couple strolled out of sight, Ryouga began to lose the good mood he
was in, and slowly regained the depression which had been plaguing him
earlier. 

Stupid Valentine's day! Stupid stupid valentine's day. 

Ryouga continued to just sit there, looking out the window, staring at
nothing in particular now. Lost in his own depressing thoughts. To him, the
world was now a dark and lonely place.

Time passed. 

The sun set. 

Night fell. 

Ryouga didn't stir, just continued to sit there, looking out the window.
Getting more and more depressed. Soon, the dark and lonely thoughts running
around his head began to cause energy to channel around his body. His chi
began to energize, flowing through and around his form. Ryouga didn't even
notice this. 

The chi continued to flow unabated, building up to a crescendo. Ryouga was
glowing brightly now, the light alarming some passers-by of the house.  The
effects of this one would be great indeed. At the seeming climax of the chi
output, just as Ryouga felt like he would explode in a fiery blast of death
and destruction, the phone rang.

RIINNNGGG!!!!!

Ryouga blinked at this. 

"Huh?" No one ever called this place, there was usually no one around to
answer it. 

Shrugging, which caused some stray mini energy blasts to spark off his
broad shoulders and scorch the sofa, Ryouga got up and walked towards the
phone, which was in plain sight. Never wondering why it was so bright even
though it was night already. 

He picked up the receiver, and put it hesitantly to his ear. 

"Hello?"

"Ryouga?"

"Akane?"

"Happy Valentine's day Ryouga!"

Suddenly, all was right with the world. 

The End


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 "Death is lighter than a feather, Duty heavier than a mountain."
                                              -Borderland Saying