[FFML] [Rnm1/2 & PrncssTt]A Moment Preceding the Beginning

For those interested, 'A Place Between the Ending and the Beginning' is set before 'A Moment
Preceding the Beginning'.

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My scribblings are found at my webpage:
http://ca.geocities.com/troythomas1/

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A Moment Preceding the Beginning
By Troy Thomas - troythomas1@yahoo.ca

My other stories are located at the following address:
http://ca.geocities.com/troythomas1/

Princess Tutu and its characters are the creation of Ito
Ikuko and property of Hal Film Maker. Ranma 1/2 and its
characters are the creation and property of Rumiko Takahashi.

***

The camera clicked, but it was a useless gesture as the face
of he whom he least wanted to capture with his camera had
just been the subject of the last picture.

"You gotta give it up, man!" said Ranma, shaking his head,
looking at Gosunkugi with both pity and slight distrust.
"You're kind of beginning to freak me out.... You're starting
to obsess, you know?"

"You think so?" Gosunkugi asked, his voice filled with a bit
of fear and annoyance. He wanted Ranma out of the way! Akane
Tendo was playing soccer, and he really wanted a picture of
her in action, but that damn Ranma was being a total bother!

"Oh yeah, man. You're following her around all the time....
Taking pictures of her whenever...." Ranma scooped the
digital camera out of Gosunkugi's hands. "I bet every picture
on here is of Akane." Flipping through the controls, Ranma
brought up picture after picture of an unsuspecting Akane.

Finished with the camera, he casually tossed it back to
Gosunkugi, who fumbled with it before finally managing to
actually hold it steady. "You're turning into a total
stalker, man...." He sat down next to Gosunkugi. "Like a
Hollywood movie or something, where you go totally off the
hook and start killing people."

Damn Ranma!

Gosunkugi felt himself blushing, as Ranma was touching on
something he was slightly worried about himself.... Was he
overdoing it? It had always seemed he enjoyed Akane's
presence, but there were others who did so too and he had
always considered himself less... obsessed than them. He
never went around smashing things up, anyway.

"If you say so, Ranma," said Gosunkugi. He checked his
camera, and noted with silent fury that all the pictures had
been deleted. He clenched the camera in his hand, and didn't
worry about whether he might break it with all the pressure
he was applying to it, as he just didn't have that kind of
strength.

"You okay, man?" asked Ranma, staring right at Gosunkugi.
"You look sick. At least, more than usual anyway."

Leaning away, feeling invaded, Gosunkugi stared right back at
Ranma. "I'm okay. There's nothing wrong." Except you! You're
the one who's... who's.... 'I hate you, Ranma Saotome!' he
thought.

"Nah, you don't look good at all! You're sweating." Ranma
placed his hand over Gosunkugi's forehead. "Wow! You're
almost on fire."

"Don't," said Gosunkugi. He stood up, and sat down a little
further away from Ranma. "Maybe I've caught something, but I
don't feel sick. I'll be okay."

"All right then. It's your body, so you know best," said
Ranma. He leaned back, laying his back against a tree. "Get
lots of water, okay? Maybe it'll be gone if you drink lots."
He closed his eyes, and almost immediately began to gently
snore.

'Trying to be my friend, Ranma?' thought Gosunkugi,
disgustedly. He looked to Akane, playing soccer on the field.
He raised his camera, and snapped a quick picture. He'd take
home at least one photo.

***

"I'm home," he said. He didn't know why he was still saying
that when entering his house, since there was no longer
anybody to hear him.

The silence greeted him.

Walking into the living room, he stared at the empty space in
front of the television. His father would've been lying
there, even a single month ago. He intently listened to the
stillness that filled the space which would've been filled by
his mother's bustling in the kitchen.

Suddenly, he felt angry.

Running through what Ranma said to him earlier, he brought up
one good rebuttal after another.

"I'll never give up!"

"And you're the freak, you half-man!"

"And of course I'm obsessing! That's cause I love her, not
like you who treats her like crap!"

"And you're her fiance, but...." Gosunkugi stopped speaking.
Ranma Saotome was Akane Tendo's husband-to-be. And Gosunkugi
always had to settle for taking pictures of the girl, from a
distance, without her even knowing how he felt or what he
did.

Granted, be never really ever had any chance to have Akane
for his own before Ranma ever showed up, but still, in some
cosmic and mysterious way, it just wasn't right!

He almost instantly stopped thinking about Ranma - that
ticking he had been hearing every so often lately was there
again! Just on the edge....

But it was already gone.

He brought his handkerchief to his forehead, and realised
that he really was badly sweating.

The ticking.... Wasn't it really close to how a clock
sounded?

***

"Man! You're looking even worse today!" said Ranma.

Gosunkugi had to look up to see Ranma, who was atop a stone
wall looking down at him. "You think so?"

"Hey, come on man! Don't be like that. I'm jus' tryin' to be
nice," said Ranma.

What would you know about being nice?

Gosunkugi frowned, and then began walking to school. He shook
his head - Ranma had to try to be nice, which wasn't
surprising.

"You look like you didn't even get any sleep!" Ranma said.

You bastard! Don't follow me!

"You did sleep last night, right?" asked Ranma. "You gotta do
that, or you'll jus' fall apart!"

"Yes, I slept last night," replied Gosunkugi. If Ranma
wouldn't leave him alone, he'd instead be rude. "I went to
bed at ten, like I always do!" He heard Ranma sigh in
frustration.

"I go to bed at nine," said Ranma. "Gotta sleep a lot, or
I'll be sleeping all the time. Or more than I all ready do, I
mean." He stopped speaking for a moment, as though thinking,
an act which Gosunkugi felt to be rare for Ranma. "But man,
I'm serious. You don't look good. In fact, you're lookin'
like you jus' crawled outta an accident or somethin'." Using
his athletic skills, Ranma ran and then hopped down in front
of Gosunkugi. He reached up, and grabbed Gosunkugi by the
shoulders, stopping him from walking. "You should go home and
get some rest. Take a day off."

Let go!

Gosunkugi off shook Ranma's hands. "Excuse me, but I'm going
to be late for school."

You don't understand, idiot! I don't want to go home.... Not
to that silence. Not anymore.

***

It was obviously a dream, because it had already happened,
him standing before the grave markers that explained how two
people rested there, never again to wake.

There were others who were also alive there too, but not to
pay any final respects but for the look of it.

Everybody but Gosunkugi eventually left, as he was really the
only one who cared. Some had mumbled their 'sincerest'
apologies, but that was to be expected, he supposed.

His hand hurt.... Did it hurt back then? Maybe it was from
real life, outside of the dream.

But why would it feel stressed, like he was writing with it,
and it was cramping from extended use?

Movement caught his attention, and he looked into the
distance and saw Akane nonchalantly trying to observe him.

She saw that he had noticed her, so she awkwardly began to
walk towards him.

When she was near, she simply stood beside him, saying
nothing, for which he felt grateful.

It was always an incredible feeling when she spoke to him,
but today.... It'd be wrong to feel so elated. It was a time
for contemplation.

Eventually, he had to leave the graves behind.

She walked him to the exit, where waiting for her was Ranma,
which only raised a tinge of jealousy in Gosunkugi. He then
walked away, towards home.

But... he could Ranma and Akane clearly speaking, as if they
standing right beside him.

"I was surprised you asked me to come out here," said Akane.

"Well, it would'a meant somethin' to him, I think," said
Ranma.

"That's surprising," said Akane. "You sound like you're
actually thinking about someone other than yourself."

"Maybe I grew up a little... back then," said Ranma.

Gosunkugi stopped walking. He didn't have to anymore since
that dream was over. Now, he was standing in strange
landscape, with giant clock gears spinning about, whirling
around, and buzzing all over.

Right! So it was Ranma who got Akane out there for him!

Gosunkugi began to laugh. "That's so stupid! Yeah right, what
a dumb dream!" He wiped the tears from his eyes it was so
hilarious.

Something fell onto the gear he was standing on. It was the
sound of he associated with gym class, and a body falling
face-first onto the floor - usually his.

Turning, he saw a grotesque body. Reddish fur, human limbs,
and tails - it was a single body but there were so many
tails! Thankfully, nothing was moving.

However, Gosunkugi still felt a little on edge, as it seemed
as if that body might move, at any moment. He watched it for
a long moment, and then after considering the body would
never move, he wiped away sweat from his forehead.

That's when he noticed the string on his wrist. It was
somehow connected to his wrist, but not tied - it was like a
limb! It rose far above him, into darkness.

And it wasn't the only string tied to his body....

***

He opened his eyes, wondering for a moment about who he was.
He ran through a mental checklist.... Name's Gosunkugi.... At
home.... Living room....

Living room? Didn't he go to sleep in his bedroom?

That's what was with all the confusion when waking up....
Fall asleep in one room, and think you're in another when
waking....

His wrist was tired. Flexing his hand, and shaking his hand,
he tried to loosen the built up tenseness.

He saw in the middle of the room his journal.

That's right! Was up late writing, last night.

He blinked, and cleared the fog from his eyes. Time for
school.

***

Ever so gently, he closed the door behind him. He dropped his
bag to the floor, and then leaned on the door. He listened to
the house's silence close in on him.

You didn't just see that!

He wiped sweat from his forehead. There was a massive amount,
and his whole palm was wetted.

No! No! No!

In his uncertain hand, he held his camera. He worried about
dropping it, so he brought it up to his face. But with it
there, he could see the screen for previewing the photos.

When he saw what was on it, he threw the camera against the
wall.

It almost shattered the silence, too.

***

Static on his bed sheet suddenly jumped to life as he ran his
fingertips over top, to and fro, back and forth.

They were just holding hands. It wasn't like they were
kissing. No need to be so worried. Just hands.

They were doing it in private though, when they thought they
were alone.

Was it always that way, now?

He couldn't help but smell his bed, stinking of old and dry
body odour, of him, really, from days and weeks since then,
the funeral.

Sliding out of bed, he decided there was no sleep for him -
he just couldn't close his eyes - the silence was way too
loud, and it let him think too much.

Just overreacting. That's all. Need some water.

The wood floor was cold to the touch of his bare feet, so he
quickly dressed them with his slippers.

And there it was, that ticking. But this time, it didn't hide
away into the muteness. It actually seemed to be... beckoning
him. Every tick collided with the silence, and echoed away
into his ears.

Anything to forget the hands.

Walking out of his room, he found the sound to be coming from
the living room.

Slowly, following the sound, it grew louder as he crept
closer.

Almost there. Perhaps... maybe he wasn't....

Keep going....

No! Go back-zura!

He stopped. Zura?

Come!

The feeling was sudden and instant, like he was pulled
forward by his fingertips. He looked, and saw silvery string
attached, as though part of his body.

It was almost natural, his movement. It was also slightly
jerky though, like he was a puppet....

He was in two, his body controlled by some outside force.
Nothing he did was because he willed it.

He walked to the journal, in the middle of the room.

The ticking of the clock was coming from it.

He picked it up.... He flipped to the first page.... And his
eyes read the first line.

"Once upon a time, there was a fox with nine tails. He
enjoyed watching humans. In fact, as time passed, he came to
envy humans, as they possessed a relationship with each other
he had never before known.

"He did not understand it, but he wanted it.

What was this?

Gosunkugi tried to drop the book, but he instead read every
line, and flipped every page.

He then came upon his own name.

"Gosukugi was a young man with little confidence. He was
afraid of being hurt, yet always hurt himself by hiding away
in the shadows away from those he envied.

"He had a desire to use magic, but could not, as he did not
possess any talent for it. In this desire, as in every other,
he was hopeless.

"However, he had a gift, of which he did not know. He could
make what he wrote come true.

"With this gift, he soon came to the attention of a man, who
was dead.

"The dead man was clever. He had Gosunkugi's forehead covered
in a substance unbreakable that would feel as sweat, but was
really like wetted spider silk. In this manner, he soon came
able to control the boy.

There, the story stopped.

"Or rather, does it there begin?" asked a voice.

"Who's there?" asked Gosunkugi. He looked around, but saw
nobody. There was the presence of someone though.... Somebody
in the shadows behind him!

He turned, but saw nobody, but the feeling of a person behind
him was still there!

"Oh, he is in fear! Afraid of that he can't see! Oh dear!"
said the voice. "What can he do? Is he able to do anything?"

Laughter began to echo through the house. "Or perhaps he can
do nothing but that which he now must!" The laughter
continued. "Oh, the trials to come for this young man, who
before lived no worthy life, and must now live as a puppet!"

"How shall he fare, watching the world he envied and stole
away with his camera crumble apart due to his own hands?"

And then Gosunkugi saw him, the dead man. Or rather, he saw
the man's face, taking over the whole of a shadow.

"Tragedy," said the man, his face covered with a glow, his
lips turned upwards in a mad grin, and his eyes seeing to a
future Gosunkugi did not wish to know.

***