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RAGE
by
Ashes2ashes: slayer0@Zoomnet.net
AsheRhyder: ashrhyder@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is owned by people other than me. I own nothing and
claim no rights to the show.
**C&C, public or private, is appreciated. Since most of the fic is already
written, we prefer grammar help. If you have a burning desire to give other
C&C though, we will take it with a smile.**
---
Chapter Five:
Akari stared blankly at the phone as it rang for the sixth time. Her house
was still a mess. Her hands still hurt. Only Kastunishiki had been moved,
thoughtfully buried outside the house in the graveyard her family had made
for their loyal pets.
A seventh ring. Whoever was calling certainly wasn't about to give up . . .
She didn't want to answer. It could be Ryouga, whom she eternally hated for
his violent attack against her and her pet. But it also could be the
doctor, or the constructor.
Gingerly, she removed the receiver from its cradle.
"Unryuu residence." She spoke softly, her voice all but dead. "Akari
speaking."
"Hey, Akari? This is Saotome Ranma," came the brash voice on the other end
of the phone. "Have you seen Ryouga lately?" That name! It haunted her,
hunted her, and tortured her! Would she never be free of him?!
"I NEVER WANT TO HEAR THAT NAME AGAIN!" She screamed, slamming the receiver
down.
Ranma stared at his receiver as the other end of the line went dead, greatly
shocked at the outburst from the usually polite and demure young woman.
"Ooookay...." He gently replaced the phone, and turned to Akane, Ukyou,
Cologne, and Ryouga. "She's not in the best of moods right now . . ."
The lost boy's glare caught him like a deer in headlights.
"Why should she be?" he muttered miserably, the blue glow surrounding him
increasing in size. "After all, I probably ruined her life. And on top of
it, I don't even know how!" His aura fluctuating uncontrollably, the
bandanna wearing boy let it concentrate into a small sphere . . .
"NOT INSIDE!" Ukyou smashed him upside the head with her spatula. Ryouga
blinked, then fell off the table he had been sitting on.
"Ow . . ."
The lost boy sat up and glared at her, but she took it in stride, and bashed
him again when he wouldn't stop.
"Stop looking at me like that!" she yelled.
"Like what?!"
"Like I'm a piece of meat hanging in the window of a butcher's shop!" she
snapped back. Ryouga scowled, then crossed his arms.
'Okay, let's sum-up our screwed-up life, eh, Hibiki?' He thought to himself.
'One, you've just screwed up your only chance with a girl who accepted you
and your curse. Now she not only never wants to see you again, but she also
hates your guts. Great. Two, you've jumped headfirst into trouble. Again.
And this time, you've not only endangered yourself, but you've put your
friends in danger, too. . . . Friends? What am I thinking? These people,
friends? No . . . they don't care at all. They just want to protect their
own lives . . . that's the only reason they're still here.
'Face it, Hibiki.' Ryouga felt his depression swell. 'You're screwed!'
'Nobody cares, I'm all alone, no one knows what to do, or what I'm going
through, my life is ruined, and it's all my fault . . . I'm a danger to
those I've grown to care about . . . I can't live like this!' Seeing that
his three 'friends' were occupied talking to Cologne, he slipped his hand
into the pocket of his pants and gripped the handle of his pocket knife.
'None of them will miss me, I'm better off dead. I won't be able to hurt
anyone then . . . No . . . None of them will miss me, and they'll be safe .
. .'
Ryouga stood silently, his hand gripping the handle so tightly he almost
feared it would shatter. The others were so engrossed in their discussion,
they didn't notice him slip out the door . . . and directly into the storage
closet.
"Figures," he muttered, almost silently. "I can't even get lost to take my
life . . ."
'Oh well, here's as good a place to die as any other . . .' He sat down on
the floor of the closet and flipped out the blade. It was almost too dark
to see the blade, but Ryouga had very good eyes.
A mere slit horizontally across the wrist wouldn't do it, the cut had to be
deep . . . he'd have to be untreatable, in case they found him before he was
quite dead. Steeling his nerve, he locked his jaw, and carved a jagged 'T'
in his arm with the sharp edge. Blood streamed down his arm in a beautiful
crimson fountain . . . then stopped, as the fountain dried up. "What the .
. . ?"
He whispered, not believing the speed at which his wound had healed. Again,
he tried to slice open his veins, and again, it healed, the blood welling
up, only to be cut off by the regenerated flesh.
His bright blue aura now provided him with enough light to watch the healing
process, but he took no notice of his glow.
"NO! KAMI DAMN IT!? WHY CAN'T I DIE?!" he screamed at the top of his lungs,
bursting from the closet, past the startled Akane, over the now trampled
Ranma, and through the front door. Once in the street, he leapt directly in
front of a speeding car, only to have it crash into him with the same effect
had it hit a tree, instead.
"No bones broke, not even a scratch . . ." The lost boy's wide green eyes
swept over his unharmed form, and took a step to the right, just as a large
delivery truck tried to hit the breaks. There was a loud thud, but Ryouga
got right back up, not even winded.
"This isn't right!" he screamed, dashing down the road. "Why is this
happening to me?!"
He plowed over Kodachi, who had been on her way to hunt down her Ranma-sama,
and nearly tripped over Tsubassa, who had been masquerading as a lamp post.
Five trailers, Four cars, three trucks, two bottles of rat poison, Akane's
leftover cookies, and a partridge in a pear tree later, Ryouga found himself
at the edge of a deep ravine.
"You again?" He muttered to the chasm. "Why is it you always appear when I
need you most?" He received no answer, not that he had been expecting one,
so he shrugged, and prepared to jump.
"RYOUGA!" Ranma yelled from behind him.
"Don't do it!" Akane added.
"COME BACK HERE, JACKASS!" Ukyou shouted.
"So long, Ranma." The lost boy smiled grimly, then leapt.
"NO!" the three cried out at once. "RYOUGA!"
A little less than a minute later, the ground shook as Ryouga hit the floor.
The trio remained silent, then began to turn around.
"DAMN IT!" an angry voice screamed from the floor of the ravine. "Why can't
I just die and get it over with?!"
"Ryouga?" Akane called down into the darkness.
"Sugar, are you okay?" Ukyou leaned over the edge.
"Unfortunately, yes." Ryouga grumbled, the echo reaching them.
"You gonna come up, or are you hurt?" Ranma asked.
". . . Do I have a choice?" was the annoyed reply.
"Well, either you come up, or I'll come down. Which is it gonna be?"
". . . I'll come up . . ." Ryouga sighed. "Maybe next time, my neck will
break."
"WHAT?!" Ranma about had a coronary right then and there.
"Just a thought." A moment later, Ryouga climbed over the edge of the deep
chasm, looking little more worse for wear. His clothes were tattered, and
he was extremely dusty, but there wasn't so much as a bruise or a scratch on
him.
"Damn it don't do that!" Ranma grabbed him by the collar and dragged him
away from the edge. "You almost scared me to death!"
"That would make an interesting headline." Ryouga dead panned. "Nerima's
greatest martial artist killed today by a fatal heart attack."
"Please don't scare us again like that, Ryouga." Akane sighed, relaxing.
"What, like this?" Ryouga back-flipped into the ravine a second time,
causing the girls to scream, and Ranma to fall down out of pure shock.
There was a resounding crash.
"Guess it didn't work that time, either." Ryouga yelled up to them. "But
hey, third time's the charm!"
Ranma twitched.
---
Ryouga lay in the basement of the Nekohaten chained to a wall. The room was
dark and musty and the walls were dirty and crusted with scum. Various
trinkets lay about the room, left over from the previous owners.
He yanked on the chains irritably. Cologne had used some kind of variation
of the moxibustion technique which stripped him of his strength . . . but
only temporarily. The effect lasted for only two days but it still was very
annoying.
'I still don't understand why I have to stay down here. I can't be _THAT_
bad when I'm in berserker . . . what did they call it again? Berserker
rage, mode, stage err . . . damn I forgot again.' His nose twitched
irritably wanting someone to scratch it.
'Well at least they gave me a TV . . . but they could have least turned it
to a decent channel! I've been watching this damn Sailor Moon marathon all
day, and if I didn't want to kill myself before, I sure as hell do now!'
The lost boy growled and pulled at his chains harder.
'I don't need cold water to go berserk! Maybe I could dislocate my joints
or something.' He contemplated this for several moments but was saved by
the basement door opening.
He squinted his eyes against the light that flooded from the door and looked
up at a fully armored samurai emerged from the basement.
"Oh no he's found me! Listen, I'm really sorry about your sporting goods
store! I wasn't watching where I was going and-"
The samurai opened up a small flap on its helmet and looked at him with
annoyed brown eyes.
"What are you talking about jackass?"
A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"Heh . . . heh never mind. I never said that." He looked up at the samurai
questionably. "Uh . . . Ukyou?"
The samurai nodded as much as her heavy metal helmet allowed.
"Yeah its me."
"Ukyou, I didn't know you gave up okinomiyaki arts to become a samurai."
She tripped and barely kept herself from plummeting to the ground. Good
thing too, she never would have been able to get back up again. She
recovered and glared at him, since it was obviously his fault.
"No, Ryouga, I'm going to take you to some training grounds." Ryouga
crinkled up his eyebrow in confusion. Something about this didn't seem
right.
'Why is Ukyou all alone? Why isn't . . .oh.' He smiled knowingly, but the
expression held no mirth.
"Why are you alone?"
Ukyou averted her eyes.
"Akane was supposed to come but--" She bit her lip.
"She was afraid of me wasn't she?" His head sagged, the weight of the world
baring down on his shoulders.
"Akane afraid? Are you kidding?" She laughed half heartendly. Ryouga
nodded. He knew.
"Aren't you afraid the wild animal will turn on you too?" He looked up and
met her eyes. She felt unable to look away from the pain filled green orbs.
"Ryouga how could I ever be afraid of YOU?" She smiled. She was scared as
hell but he still needed her help . . .
He knew she was lying but he still felt grateful. He smiled softly.
"Thank you for lying, Ukyou."
"Anytime Sugar, anytime. So Ryouga, why are you down here?"
He blushed and shifted in his chains.
"Cologne said she was the best to watch over me and they wouldn't let me sit
in a spare room because of this incident I had."
Ukyou shrugged and went to undo the locks of the chains.
"Did you get hit with cold water or what?"
Ryouga blushed, as the chains fell off his hands and feet. He sat on the
floor and rubbed his wrists, trying to get rid of the lingering feeling of
metal.
"Um . . . no I got lost on my way to the bathroom, they really shouldn't a
labyrinth in a restaurant, and there was this wall . . . how was I supposed
to know it was a support beam?! . . . and err," Ryouga trailed off as he
noticed Ukyou staring at him.
Ukyou blinked a couple times before finally abandoning trying to figure out
how a labyrinth, support beam, and the Nekohaten would have to do with
Ryouga tied up in a basement watching Sailor Moon. Whatever it was it had
to be horrible to have to endure such torture.
"So what's been going on?" Ryouga asked as Ukyou ducked back through the
door and came back with a hand full of rope.
"Well, Happy finally came back. He looks horrible! He's all scarred up and
everything! It was neat." Ukyou smirked. It was Happosai after all.
---
Somewhere in the Tendo Dojo . . .
A small figure clad in a red and green striped shirt idly scratched the wall
leaving deep gashes in the wood.
Finally, he stood up and lifted a bra into the air.
"Ryouga Hibiki you shall pay for what you've done to me! Happosai is dead!"
Thunder and lightning struck in a clear sky for know apparent reason,
lightning up a scared face. "Long live--
THE LECHER!"
---
Ryouga sneezed.
Ukyou walked up to her companion who was sitting on the ground and uncoiled
a link of rope. Ryouga's eyes widened and his face blushed a deep crimson.
"Hey listen Ukyou! I may not be chasing after Akane anymore or anything . .
but it doesn't mean I'm going to do THAT or anything! I'm glad that your
over Ranma but we're just friends!"
Ukyou blushed. "YOU IDIOT! Its to tie you up with! Uh . . I mean
restrain you! Err I mean . . . Damn it! IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"
Ukyou looked for the nearest implement to hit him with. Unfortuantley, he
had already done the job himself and was passed out on the floor in a pool
of blood. She walked up to him and kicked him a few times.
"Wake up! This is harder to do when you're not awake!" He blinked,
realized what she just said, and passed out again.
"Argh! Get your mind out of the damn gutter! I was going to tie you to the
wheelbarrow so you wouln't fall out! Remember the moxubustion thing? Your
legs don't work right now you idiot!"
He lifted his head and opened one eye cautiously and then other. Finally he
sat up and laughed nervously.
"Oh THAT'S what you meant."
"What did you think I was talking about?" Ukyou glared at him with "scorned
women glare of death 892" guaranteed to send many a man running in fear.
Unfortunatley, she also got it confused with look 102 the 'catch cute man in
chinese shirt' alluring gaze. She was really going to have to work on that.
"Nothing ma'am, nothing at all."
"Good." She tied up his arms and helped him into the wheelbarrow. "Are you
made up of metal or what?" She wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Uh sorry?" He blinked as a thought occurred to him. "If your job is just
to take me there then why are you wearing all that armor?"
"Ranchan said suggested it. The wheelbarrow was his idea too." She sighed.
"He always has such good ideas." Ryouga rolled his eyes.
"Well gee Ukyou, I wish I could be as smart as Ranma someday," Ryouga
deadpanned.
Ukyou glared at him.
"When did you start to use sarcasm?"
Ryouga shrugged.
"I dunno, being a danger to society kind of brings out the negative feelings
in you."
"And you were all sunshine and giggles before huh? Whatever. Don't insult
Ranchan anymore or I'll send this wheelbarrow off a cliff, got it?" She
turned the wheelbarrow around and wheeled it up a ramp located next to the
stairs.
"I tried that already remember?. . . Wait . . Ranma told you to use the
wheelbarrow? So the only reason your taking me is because Ranma asked you
to?"
"Sit back and enjoy the ride jackass." She smirked.
---
The green, rolling hills flourished with vegetation and wildlife . . . and
were about to be decimated.
Two figures rested amidst the beauty of nature, one who had seen it many
times before and never was not inspired by it, and another who's heart was
far too damaged to appreciate it anymore.
Ryouga sat in the midst of the wonders of nature, and his dark aura spread
like wildfire as he watched the beauty that surrounded him that could never
touch his heart. His aura of depression spread slowly, like oil on water, a
black shadow stretching over the-- WHAM!
"OWW! What the hell was that for?!" Ryouga scowled at the Amazon matriarch.
"You're getting distracted, boy." Cologne shook her staff at him.
"Concentrate on your inner equilibrium."
"And how am I supposed to do that? Weigh myself?"
WHAM!
"Don't you sass me, boy. Sarcasm doesn't suit you."
Ryouga twitched irritably, his scowl darkening.
"Please don't mention suits . . ."
Cologne threatened to bash him with her staff again, so he closed his eyes.
A minute later, he opened them again, looking infinitely more cross.
"I can't do this!" he snarled irritatedly.
"Ranma could do it." Cologne prodded. Ryouga's scowl deepened again, and he
once more closed his eyes.
"Mantra?" Cologne poked him. The lost boy nearly lost it right then and
there, but slowly inhaled and began the long and wordy mantra she had taught
him.
"Everything in the universe has a point of equilibrium. This point is the
balance center for all life. All life must have a balance. Without this
balance, there is chaos. And within chaos, there is destruction. Within
balance, there is order. There is destruction in this order, but there is
also creation."
Ryouga's expression relaxed slowly as he repeated the mantra, and laxly, his
aura receded.
"I must achieve a balance within myself," he whispered. "I must find the
calm within the storm, and encompass the yin and yang."
"HEY PORK BUTT!" Ranma's voice yelled loudly next to his ear. Ryouga's eyes
snapped open, and his battle aura flared into life around him. WHAM!
Cologne's staff connected with the back of his skull again.
"Don't be distracted!" She snapped.
"But--" Ryouga started, but another bash stopped him.
"Do you want to gain control of this or not?" The Chinese matriarch
scowled. "If you are going to gain any small amount of control over this
rage, then you will not allow that to distract you."
"Whatever . . ." Ryouga sighed. "Everything in the universe has a point of
equilibrium. This point is the balance center for all life. All life must
have a balance. Without this balance, there is chaos. And within chaos,
there is destruction. Within balance, there is order. There is destruction
in this order, but there is also creation. I must achieve a balance within
myself. I must find the calm within the storm, and encompass the yin and
yang."
"I SAID, HEY PORK BUTT!" Ranma's taunt again hit home, breaking Ryouga from
his trance.
"RANMA, PREPARE--" WHAM. And so the process continued several more times.
By sunset, Ryouga had gone through the mantra seventeen times, each and
everyone loosing his temper. Once, he came very close to blocking out the
distraction, but Akane's voice had called out: "Ryouga, you're such an
asshole. Get over yourself!" And he had been forced to Shi Shi Hokoudan the
whole area.
Cologne had not been pleased.
For one week, the cycle went on. After a week, the park ran out of green,
rolling hills, and they were forced to resort to the mountains. Not as much
fun, but there was more for Ryouga to take out his anger on before blowing
everything to kingdom come.
Three days into the second week, Ryouga got lost.