Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Crystal Hearts ❯ Where the Heart Is ( Chapter 3 )

Crystal Hearts
By Esor

Chapter 3: Where the Heart Is

[Monday]

Ryoga wanted the torture to end. He wanted it to stop, and time was running out. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take much more of this. His eyes blurred as he began to lose consciousness. Damn! He couldn't pass out, not now. He had to fight it. He had to be ready to make his escape at the first opportunity. But the frayed edges of awareness continued to slowly flutter out of his grasp.

Then, the bell finally rang.

"Yes!!" Ranma shouted as he bounded out of the front door of Furinkan High School. "Sure feels good to get the heck outta there!"

"I know what you mean. I hate Mondays..." Akane replied, falling into step beside her fiancé.

Just behind Akane and Ranma came Ukyo and Ryoga. Ryoga was adjusting rather well to returning to school after a three year absence. Although the Lost Boy remained rather shy and awkward when it came to social interaction, academically, he was at the same level as the rest of the class. During the years spent wandering the Japanese countryside, Ryoga tried his best to continue his studies on his own. Not the most orthodox of educations, but effective nonetheless.

Ryoga had been living with Ukyo for nearly two weeks now, working as a waiter and dishwasher in her restaurant. Through the mutual comfort and support of their friendship, Ryoga and Ukyo were steadily working past the pain of lost love. Recently, they both decided that it was time to start healing the relationships with the former objects of their affection. The four now made a habit of walking to school together every morning, as well as walking back in the afternoon.

"Hey Akane, Ukyo, why don't you two go on ahead? I gotta talk to bacon boy for a bit." Ranma said.

Ukyo favored Ranma with a rather skeptical look. "Okay. Just make sure he makes it back to the restaurant on time..."

Ryoga scowled at Ranma as Ukyo and Akane walked away. He did not need anyone, least of all this arrogant jerk, to babysit him. Ukyo kept telling him that someday he would have to learn how to get along with Ranma, but Ryoga considered that day to be a long way off.

"What do you want Ranma?" Ryoga snarled.

"Whoa, chill out Ryoga. I just wanna talk to you about something." Ranma said.

"What?"

"Did you know that Ucchan's birthday is this Friday?"

"Her birthday?" Ryoga said, the surprise obvious in his voice. "No, she never said anything about her birthday coming up..."

Ranma rested his chin on his palm, looking thoughtful. "Thought not. She didn't say anything to me either. Nabiki so...uh, told me yesterday." He looked up and gave Ryoga one of his usual triumphant smirks. "But don't worry, I already have a plan."

"Oh great." Ryoga rolled his eyes.

"We're gonna throw her a surprise party!" Ranma said, grinning. "Akane's in on it too. She's gonna invite Ukyo over to the dojo Friday evening to work on a class project or something. Then the rest of us are gonna set up at the restaurant and wait for 'em to come back."

"What's with the sudden interest in Ukyo's birthday?"

"Well...I wanna do something nice for her. Ucchan's my best friend, and I kinda owe her for everything she went through these past couple years..." Ranma said solemnly, a look of remorse crossing his features.

This was quite possibly the first time Ryoga had seen Ranma look remorseful for something he did. Well, the first time he looked remorseful without being beaten senseless first, that is. "You know something Ranma? Sometimes, just sometimes, you're not half bad..."

"Hmph. At least I'm not a lunchtime snack, P-chan." Ranma retorted.

"I take it back, Ranma!" Ryoga replied. He pulled his ever present umbrella from atop his equally ever present backpack and swung at Ranma, who simply leapt backwards to avoid it.

"You want me pork butt? Come and get me!" Ranma hopped onto the nearby fence and began running. But when he finally glanced back over his shoulder, an empty street was the only thing he saw.

"Aw crap..." Ranma muttered, slowing to a stop. "Ucchan's gonna kill me..."

*****

[Tuesday]

Ryu Kumon groaned quietly as he began to regain consciousness. The first sensation he became aware of was pain. He silently cursed himself as he remembered what transpired just a few moments ago. Two strangers approached Ryu in the middle of the woods, demanding something. Never having been very fond of robbers, he attacked. In retrospect, that was a mistake. After losing to that bastard Saotome over a year ago, Ryu stopped training, allowing his body to grow clumsy, slow, and weak. He was beaten. Badly. He opened his swelling eyes slightly and looked towards the pair of blurry and indistinct figures standing several feet away.

"What the hell do you mean that's not the guy!?" Ryu heard one of the strangers shout.

"I guess I...was wrong. That's not him..." Another voice replied.

"You're useless, Yagami! Totally useless!"

"Look, it was an honest mistake. They look a lot alike. Black hair, bandanna, huge backpack..."

"Shut up, just shut up." The first stranger interrupted in an annoyed tone. "Let's get back on the trail. The sooner we find that guy and the pendant, the better."

Ryu tried to get up, ignoring the pain wracking his body, but his world spun around him. He collapsed back onto the ground, disoriented. With one final look to what were now nothing more than wavering shadows, he once again lost himself to the warm embrace of unconsciousness.

*****

[Wednesday]

The Hibiki household was one of the oddities of it's neighborhood. Children could often be found sitting on the sidewalk in front of the house telling each other stories about the practically abandoned building. They talked about the how family that once lived in the house were all slain by an escaped murderer who spared every other person living on the block during his bloody rampage across Tokyo. They talked about the weird woman who was obviously an evil, devil worshiping witch, not a maid as their parents claimed, who visited the house at least every other day. And sometimes they talked about the sounds that resembled barking dogs, but had to be the wailing of every soul in Japan that had been drawn to this magnet of supernatural activity. Today, however, they were all enthralled by the strange teenager who wandered up to the door and entered the house, never to be seen again until.

Ryoga couldn't believe the sheer dumb luck of it all. After two days of trying to make it back to Nerima, he wound up at his house. Over a year had passed since his last visit and everything was practically unchanged. Immediately upon entering, Ryoga was besieged by Shirokuro and her puppies. He was glad that the maid his parents hired to look after the house in their absence also took care of the dogs. They seemed happy and healthy as they scampered around his feet, barking excitedly.

Ryoga would have loved to simply sit down and spend hours playing with the faithful canines, but there was something else he needed to do at the moment. Despite the fact that they hardly ever spent any time at their house, the Hibikis always paid their bills on time and in full. Now that he had access to a working telephone, he could call Ukyo and get her to bring him back to Nerima. Of course, he actually had to find the phone first.

Employing tried and true Hibiki methods, Ryoga began his search for the phone. It was just a matter of time. The house only had so many rooms, after all. First stop, living room. No phone. Next, he tried upstairs. His parents room? No. The closet? Of course not. His room? Nope. The closet? Wait, been there already. Bathroom? Nobody used the phone while in the bathroom. Save for the last door, a china cabinet or something which was locked, Ryoga checked the entire second floor. Nothing. That left one place, the kitchen. Ryoga headed back downstairs and made a right in the living room. Then he stopped and looked around. Grass, sunlight, strange kids staring at him from behind a bush. Great, now he was outside. No problem, all he had to do was turn around and quickly walk straight back inside. So he did. And wound up across the street. Damn.

*****

[Thursday]

Lunch time at Furinkan High school was nowhere near as interesting as it used to be. Ever since the resident centers of activity, Ranma and Akane, finally decided to get married of their own accord, things hadn't been the same. There were no enraged rivals causing massive property damage on school grounds. No jealous love interests hatching crazy schemes to get that special someone to look their way. There were, of course, a few rumors going around about the new student who always wore that strange backpack and the bandanas. But much of the student body still felt almost as if some type of balance had been thrown off. Everything seemed downright...normal.

Ukyo sat alone by a tree, eating her okonomiyaki. She looked towards the school gates, almost hoping that jackass Ryoga would come walking through at any moment. For her, it was different than when he used to wander in and out of town at his own leisure. Everyone knew that he would be back to fight Ranma again, so nobody gave his periodic absences much thought. But now that she depended on him for something, she couldn't help but worry. Plus, there was the nagging little voice in the back of her mind saying Ryoga wasn't coming back. He would leave her all alone just like Konatsu did. Ukyo pushed those annoying thoughts out of her mind as she saw Nerima's favorite couple approaching.

Ukyo smiled slightly at the sight of Ranma and Akane holding hands, much to Ranma's discomfort. She felt a pang of guilt at the fact that she had yet to tell them about her upcoming birthday. It wasn't due to the fact that she felt uncomfortable around them. In fact, the once piercing pain of losing what she thought to be her one true love had mostly faded. A dull ache surfaced on rare occasions, but she was genuinely happy for her friends. The reason Ukyo told no one about her birthday was because she honestly didn't see it as all that important. She hadn't celebrated the day of her birth for over ten years, what did it really matter anymore? But she knew that the others would make a big deal about it and feel hurt that she hadn't trusted them enough to tell anyone. The last thing she wanted to do right now was hurt anybody's feelings, especially now that they were just beginning to grow close again. So she decided to simply say nothing and deal with the situation next year.

"Hey Akane, hey Ranma." Ukyo said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Hi Ukyo." Akane said. "You've been kinda quiet all day...we just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a little worried about Ryoga, I guess..."

"Don't worry about it, Ucchan. Ryoga can take care of himself. He's been lost hundreds of times, but he always finds his way back." Ranma said.

"Ranma's right Ukyo. I'm sure Ryoga is fine." Akane chirped.

"I know, I know." Ukyo glanced up at the large clock on the front of the Furinkan High School building. "Well, lunch is almost over. Time to head back inside." She stood, gathered her books, and began walking back to school.

"Hey Ukyo, are you still coming over tomorrow night to work on Ms. Hinako's report?" Akane asked.

"Yeah. We can head over right after school. The restaurant won't go out of business from being closed for one night." Ukyo smiled and walked back inside the school building. Ranma and Akane, meanwhile, simply grinned broadly. Nearly everything was going according to plan.

*****

[Friday]

Ryoga thanked whatever fickle gods which had decided to reward him, or just pity him. He now stood on the street just outside of Ucchan's restaurant in the Nerima district of Tokyo. Judging from the setting sun in the distance, it was somewhere around eight o' clock. He smiled as he stepped up to the door and pulled out his key. It felt good to finally be home. During his week long trek across Japan, Ryoga had lots of time to think. It felt good to stop by his house and see Shirokuro again. But he realized after leaving that the house was just that. A house. He still loved his parents, but they were out there wandering Japan. Home was the place where the people you cared about were, where you felt you belonged. Somewhere along the line, during all of those fights with Ranma and attempts to proclaim his love for Akane, Nerima had become his new home.

Everything was dark and silent as Ryoga walked into the restaurant. "Three...two...one..." He whispered.

"SURPRISE!!!!" The lights came on and a small group of people burst into the room, shouting.

"Oh wait...it's just Ryoga..." Ranma said dejectedly.

Ryoga took a moment to admire the decorations adorning the walls of the restaurant. This must have set Ranma back quite a bit. He probably now owed Nabiki the next ten years of his life to get all of this done in time. He also took notice of just how many people had come to wish Ukyo a happy birthday. Nabiki leaned back onto the counter, smirking at the disappointment written plainly across Ranma's face. Just beside the middle Tendo sister stood Kasumi, smiling pleasantly, as usual. Yuka, Sayuri, Daisuke, Hiroshi, and a few other people Ryoga recognized from school were also in attendance. But perhaps most surprising of all, Mousse stood off to the side, pointedly avoiding Ranma.

As everyone else began to relax, Ranma rushed over to the window, looking for the true target of their ambush. "Hey, I think I see them. Everyone, get back to the hiding place!" The lights went out and Ryoga followed everyone as they packed themselves into the small area behind the Ucchan's grill. A few minutes later, there was the sound of the lock being opened as Ukyo and Akane entered the room.

"SURPRISE!!!!" Everyone, with the exception of Ryoga, said for the second time that night. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UKYO!!"

Ukyo was frozen in shock. Just yesterday she worried about telling everyone about her birthday, and here they were throwing her a surprise party. It didn't even matter how they found out, she just couldn't believe that they all cared this much. Everyone was there, even Ryoga somehow found his way back. And they were all there for her. Ukyo allowed Akane to lead her to a table near the front where a large birthday cake awaited, while the others began singing "Happy Birthday". As the last verses of the song died down, Ukyo briefly closed her eyes and blew out the candles. When her eyes opened again, they practically shone with unshed tears of joy.

"Thank you, guys...I...I don't know what to say..." Ukyo said in a voice thick with emotion.

"Don't worry about it, Ucchan! We're just happy we had the chance to do this for you." Ranma said. "Now c'mon, it's time to open your presents! He pulled a large box from beneath another table and handed it to Ukyo. "This one's from me and Akane! " She stripped off the wrapping paper to reveal a used, and slightly dented color television.

"Let me guess." Ukyo said to Akane. "Ranma's idea?" Akane laughed and nodded slightly.

Then, Mousse stepped up. Not even Ranma and Akane were entirely sure why he was there. No one at the party had spoken to Mousse or Shampoo since Ranma told her of his choice in fiances. Other than Kodachi, who always had a habit of overdramatizing everything, the Amazon warrior reacted the worst to the news. She withdrew to her room for several days, speaking only to Cologne and Mousse. When she finally reappeared, she seemed to be back to her old self and returned to her duties Nekohanten. But many suspected she was merely putting on an act for the sake of her warrior pride.

"Shampoo, Cologne and I would like you to have this." The young Chinese man said.

With a sweep of his robed arm, Mousse produced a brand new combat spatula. Ukyo handled the gleaming metal weapon reverently, admiring the exquisite craftsmanship.

"Despite your...past differences, Shampoo respects you as a warrior. You have been a worthy opponent and, at times, a valuable ally." Mousse said. "She would have come to tell you this herself..." He shot a cold glare in Ranma's direction. "...but she was not feeling well."

"Thank you Mousse." Ukyo said, while testing the weapon's weight with a few practice swings.

"My pleasure." Mousse said, inclining his head. "If you'll excuse me, I have to return to the Nekohanten. Happy birthday, Ukyo." With that, he smiled and left the restaurant.

Once Mousse was gone, Ukyo turned to Ryoga. Under the scrutiny of his friend, Ryoga laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Lemme guess, you didn't have the chance to get her anything, did you Porky?" Ranma teased.

"Shut up, Ranma!!" Ryoga shot back. He pulled a small, silk wrapped bundle from his pocket and handed it to Ukyo. "Here...I, um, don't really know very much about this stuff...but I hope you like it..."

Ukyo opened the bundle and removed a beautiful, tear shaped crystal pendant on a long silver chain. Her eyes widened at the thought of just how much this had probably cost Ryoga. On impulse, she swept the boy into a tight hug, causing him to blush slightly.

"Oh my god, it's so beautiful! Thank you Ryoga!" Ukyo squealed, releasing the rather embarrassed young man. "I'm gonna put it on right now!" She swept her hair back and clasped the pendant around her neck. A light shiver ran down her spine as the chain came into contact with her neck, but Ukyo payed little attention to it amidst her excitement.

*****

The people of Tokyo went about their nightly business, whether it be sleeping, working, or even celebrating. Unbeknownst to anyone, a figure stood just beyond the outskirts of the city. He stood silently, almost as if waiting for something or someone. When all this started, it seemed simple. Find some guy and a pendant. Easy. And although he hated the fact that his only description of either came from some worthless two bit hood, it was all he had to go on. Now, after spending over three weeks crisscrossing Japan, the trail led here. Whoever this guy was, he was good. But not quite good enough. With nowhere left to hide, sooner or later, he would be found. In the darkness, the figure smirked slightly. Then, this merry chase would be at it's end.

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Author's Notes:

Hey! I finally finished chapter 3! Whoo! First up, I don't own Ryoga, Ukyo, or any other characters from Ranma ½. But you all new that already. Second, I want to thank all the people on ff.net who reviewed my story! It really helped me get my butt in gear to finish this chapter. So what's next, you ask? Well, the action's gonna pick up a bit as Ryoga comes face to face with the shadowy "figure" at the end of this chapter! Thanks for reading! Ja ne!