As usual, all characters/places/whatever are the
property of their respective owners. In the unlikely
chance that anyone who owns the rights to said
intellectual property decides to sue... well, the laws
will probably have changed and this won't matter one
bit. 

Hm.

The three previous chapters can be found at:
http://www.rakhal.com/florestica/lone_wolf/index.html
And then if you want some good stuff...
http://www.rakhal.com/florestica/

A brief synopsis for the temporially challenged:
Furinkin had a Colomunbine-esque experiance. Ranma
died. Ryoga got thrashed by a subsequent explosion.
The Tendos went nuts and Genma ran. Ryoga's stuck with
trying to put everything back together again. He just
got back from seeing Gosunkugi, one of the three
shooters. During the trip, he met a mysterious figure
with green eyes.

And now, on with the show.

-----

  The machine beeps, counting her heartbeat. If it
stops, she dies. If she dies... I don't know what'll
happen.

  She looks so calm. So peaceful. They cleaned the
blood off her face when she came in. 

  My vision blurs as I try to blink away the tears.
"Akane--" 

  She smiles in her sleep, unaware of anything. Blood
loss, they said. She'd survive, but would sleep for
days. Then, she'd be handed over to the police.

  The needed to know about the murders.

  "...oh, god akane..."

  I'd returned to the Tendo home after seeing...
dreaming?... about Gosunkugi. I heard her laughing
like
an innocent child even as I left the taxi. It was a
beautiful moment... absolute salvation. I ran to it,
and there she was, with her sisters, full of smiles,
laughing.

  Whale meat... I thought it smelled like whale
meat...

  And then she rose, and I saw the blood. Kasumi
rolled to one side, and Nabiki's head fell from her
lap. I could see a trail of blood--Soun's--leading
back into the family shrine. I saw the knife in her
hands, the blood on her face, her hands, her dress... 

  She smiled at me, completely, and I could see
something... different about her eyes. They looked...
wrong. Like they were someone else's... 

  She spoke like a child, so certain, so happy...
"Hello, Ryoga. Did you want to see Ranma too? Everyone
else has already left to see him, so we can all be
happy again. Do you want to be happy, Ryoga?"

  I didn't know what to do... I couldn't think...
Akane, the most pure, innocent, beautiful thing I've
ever known, and she... "wh--what have you done?"

  "You'll be so happy to see him, Ryoga. Everyone will
be. It'll all be perfect again, and we'll be happy
and--"

  I grabbed her, trying to find anything of the Akane
I remembered... "STOP! Akane, look at what you've
done!"

  I couldn't see anything beyond those eyes. They were
stone walls. "Don't you want to see Ranma again? Don't
you want us to be happy and perfect and--"

  I let go, staring at her, unbelieving. "no... oh god
no..."

  She snapped. "WE'LL BE PERFECT AGAIN!" the blade
flashed in the air, nicking my arm, drawing more
blood, "WE'LL ALL BE WITH RANMA AND HAPPY!" she
slashed at my neck, screaming, "I WON'T LET HIM LEAVE
US AGAIN!" she tried to stab me, and then just
stopped, looking like a confused child. "you... don't
want to see Ranma?"

  I fell to my knees, trying to reason with her,
"Akane, please--stop this. I can get you some help, we
can find Tofu, anything--"

  She smiled at me, like a mother to her child, "It's
alright, Ryoga. You can come and visit when you're
ready. We'll be waiting."

  And then she slit her wrist.

  The knife hadn't hit the floor before I'd caught her
and raced out the door. I don't know what spirit was
watching that night, but I found the hospital before
she'd died. 

  They said it took two orderlies and an ounce of
seditives before they got me to let go of her.

  She looks so peaceful...

  "Indeed she does, Mr. Hibiki. Just like an angel."

  That voice... I can feel those eyes burning into me,
but I won't look away from her. "Go away."

  His cane rapped the floor. "Really, Mr. Hibiki. Are
you always so rude to those that would offer your
heart's desire?"

  She is my anchor. I won't let him hurt her. I won't.
"Leave."

  "I suppose a demonstration is in order..." I heard
him snap his fingers, and she stirred, the smile
fading. Her eyes open slowly, and she looks around,
confused. 

  "...ryoga? Where--what am I doing..." I remember
those eyes,
those same eyes that looked at me so lovingly for so
long... and I watch them remember. "...no..." 

  "Akane?" I stumble from my chair, running to her. I
want to hold her, protect her, make it better...

  Her scream broke that dream. She wails for a minute,
thrashing, the machine shrieking right along with her,
until it stops, and she falls silent, the machine
resuming its beeps.

  "Sufficent, I hope." I'll kill him.

  I whirl, hunting that green-eyed demon, but see
nothing. The door is closed, latched. 

  "I do hope you're done posturing now, Mr. Hibiki. We
have business to conduct." The voice doesn't come from
any place... it's all around me...

  "Leave us alone!"

  "In due time, Mr. Hibiki. For now, I think there's a
more beneficial arrangement to be made. What would you
say if I could make all of this just--go away?"

  He's lying. He has to be. "I don't believe you!"

  "Really? After restoring her mind with a snap of my
fingers? After making the entire hospital ignore that
lovely little scream of hers? And that's not even
mentioning our earlier trip."

  He couldn't do it. He couldn't. Nothing could.

  "Lovely fellow, Nothing. Rather big chap, though.
Not horribly subtle either. But, yes, Mr. Hibiki, I
can. Well... that is to say, WE can."

  "We?"

  "Indeed. I'll give you one chance to make everything
all nice and happy again, and you-- well, let's just
say you'll be in my debt for a time, as payment."

  "What do you need me for?"

  "Mm... that would be telling, Mr. Hibiki. But
consider this... what do you have to lose? We both
know suicide is next, unless Akane is acquitted and
somehow blocks out every recollection of Ranma and her
family. And really, what does this place have to
offer you, even in that unlikely situation? Don't you
want to make the world a better place?"

  I want to say no. I want to leave this thing and try
to start again. I want to just get out of here...
but... her eyes. Her scream... "what do I have to do?"


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