Ranma 1/2 A Saiyan tail.
Part 6
How I met Ryoga.
Ranma sat with Akane at lunch. She glared at him with an untrusting gaze
as he began the story he promised to tell her.
"In order to tell you about Shampoo you have to know about someone else.
Me an' this guy go way back, Ryoga Hibiki was his name. It started
between us in middle school, it was part of the reason I started training
outside of Japan with my father in the wilderness, of course I didn't
realize it at the time though..."
Ranma wandered the halls of the school aimlessly. He had been feeling
sick all day. Then he came upon what he needed to see so badly, the hoard
by the lunch counter.
"Last meat bread of the day!!" cried the cafeteria lady as she tossed
the roll into the air.
Ranma shot up and snagged it out of the air just as another boy grabbed
for it above the crowd. This was a daily occurrence, the boy decided he
had finally have enough.
"Ranma Saotome, I challenge you!" he growled angrily.
"Hun?" said Ranma as he stuffed the bread into his mouth absently.
"Meet me after school behind the vacant lot near your house in one week
Saotome!" cried the boy angrily.
"You want to fight?" said Ranma in surprise.
"Your darn right! I can't take this anymore!!" roared the boy angrily as
several students held him back. He drug them along easily never stopping
his pace towards Ranma.
Ranma smiled, the boy was strong, probably a martial artist too. "All
right," he replied. Ryoga turned away and stormed off. "I wonder why he
was so mad?" said Ranma in confusion. All he knew he was angry, but he
wasn't sure why. If things went well he might even get a new friend out
of this.
"You dope, You get to the bread before him every day. He was the best
fighter in school before you came along," said one of the boys.
"Yea, He's a real jerk," muttered the other boy.
Later in the last class of the day; Ranma watched the overhead screen as
the teacher wrote some things on it absently. "The moon causes tides to
change and effects the gravity of our planet. It has four major
phases..." she placed a chart on the screen. It was a photo of the four
phases of the moon.
"I always thought there were only three," muttered Ranma absently as he
looked at the projection in surprise. His eyes fixed on the last photo,
the full moon. It was as if he could not turn away from it; it pulled at
his eyes like a gigantic magnet. His heart raced and he felt the blood
rushing through his veins.
Then the bell rang, the teacher looked at her watch and flicked her
wrist shutting down the projector sending the class into darkness for a
moment. The lights came on and the students began to file out of the
room.
"Hey, Saotome you all right?" asked one of the boys noticing his far off
gaze.
"Ranma I want you to stay after class," said the teacher with a frown.
The boy snapped to attention suddenly. "Yes sir," he muttered
dejectedly.
A few moments later the teacher looked at him sourly. "I don't know
what's coming over you. We've been on this chapter for over a week now,
every time I turn around your staring off into space lately. It's not
like you to fall behind like this. Is something bothering you?"
"N-no sir, I just..." stammered Ranma in confusion. He didn't know what
he did but he knew he was in trouble. It was a new experience for him, he
hadn't really gotten in trouble at school before. "The moon has four
phases?" he asked suddenly looking unsure.
"There are many things I don't tolerate, one of them is a wise ass. Take
this referral and go to the principals office Ranma," said the teacher as
he jotted down some things on a sheet Ranma had seen in the hands of
other students, students who were in trouble.
Ranma walked towards the office on the other side of the school with his
head hung low. The halls were mostly deserted as the day had ended. He
wondered if the principal would even be in his office right now. "What
did I do?" he wondered out loud as the weight of the situation crushed
him. "What am I gonna tell mom and pop?!" he thought suddenly as a panic
hit him. A cold terror formed in his heart as he thought about what might
happen when his parents found out about this.
Ryoga wandered the halls in his usual after school activity; trying to
find his way out of the building. He growled as he wandered, sometimes he
could just follow someone out; that was how he got to school and his
various classes. He found a student he recognized and followed them.
Today, however, he had been in the bathroom when the day had ended. He
had to take opportunities for that sort of thing as they came to him. Now
he probably wouldn't even see school for a week once he found his way
out. He only hoped he could find his way home after he finally left, if
he didn't he wouldn't be able to beat the crap out of that punk Ranma. He
turned another corner to see the boy wandering in front of him. The kid
looked like someone died.
Ryoga looked around and frowned, he was angry at Ranma, but his
situation was desperate. The boy didn't look like he was leaving anytime
soon. Maybe he could show him out; that is if he wasn't angry at him for
blowing up earlier. Ryoga just stared at the boy and his maddeningly slow
pace. He wanted so badly to pound him for his disrespectful treatment,
but he also wanted to get home before the summer break started. He
prepared to swallow his pride and ask directions when he saw something
that frightened him. Saotome was glowing, and it was getting brighter.
Ranma's face had contorted into a mask of anger and he raised his hands
into the sky and the world around Ryoga went completely white.
He awoke several hours later and groaned as every part of his body
ached. He struggled to his hands and knees and looked around in the
darkness as his eyes adjusted. He felt the side of his face burn with
pain and he instinctively reached up to test it. It was sticky and hot.
He brought his hand away and looked in horror at the blood that covered
it. He gasped as he finally notice the horror of what surrounded him. The
hallway he was standing in when Ranma seemed to explode was sitting
around him in ruins, along with most of the building. Ryoga staggered to
his feet finally and wandered through the smoldering mess. All around him
the sound of emergency crews working filled his ears and he staggered
around a wall into a large crowd.
"Look it's another one!" cried a voice as several search dogs tackled
him to the ground and licked at his face. He felt someone place a blanket
around his shoulders and lead him into a mess of reporters and cameras.
He shielded his eyes to the lights and noise as they led him to a nearby
ambulance.
People bombarded him with questions and he just glanced around in a
daze. "Where am I?" he muttered almost reflexively.
"Your all right son, there was a bomb, everything is gonna be fine,"
said one of the rescue people that hovered around him.
He caught a glimpse of a sullen looking Ranma standing beside his father
with a single bandage on his forehead. He was watching in confusion and
the elder Saotome was looking at him with a worried expression.
The memories flooded back to Ryoga and he realized that there was no
bomb. It had been Ranma, and judging by the look on his father's face he
knew it was true. "Ranma! This is all your fault! I'll kill you for this!
Damn you Ranma!" screamed Ryoga as he charged the boy through the crowd
after tearing away from his rescuers. Just before he reached his target
he lost sight of him and emerged on the other side of the crowd with
paramedics chasing after him. He screamed in anger and ran off into the
night. He would meet Ranma at the appointed place in a week and destroy
him for what he had done. He would find a way to beat him if it was the
last thing he did.
A week and three days later Ranma stood in the lot waiting. "Ranma we
have to leave, it isn't safe for you to be here," said his father as he
stood next to the boy who waited patiently.
"I promised pop, I have to be here," said the boy with a determined
gaze.
"I understand Ranma, but it's been three days, he isn't coming," said
Goku calmly.
"I...Your right pop, lets go," said the boy sadly as he walked over and
retrieved a large traveling pack from the corner of the lot.
With that Ranma and his father floated off into the sky towards the
wilderness. "Don't worry son we'll find a way to control that power of
yours and be back before you know it," said Goku cheerfully.
"I sure hope so pop."
TBC...
What has this got to do with Shampoo? You'll find out soon enough! This
is a pretty big story that sets up a lot of stuff later on.