Sheesh.  I don't know what the problem is, but this still doesn't seem to
be getting to the ML.  So I'm trying again.   If this turns out to be a repost, I
apologize in advance.  There is no change from this version and the one I
attempted to post yesterday and this morning.

****************************

Well, after posting that "Real Woman" crap on the ML, I figured I couldn't
let that be my sole
contribution to the ML.  So following is a "real" story.  I had originally
though I would try to
write a lighthearted fic.  While the following is not a darkfic (I don't think I
could write one
anyway), it's kinda sad, I think.  Well, without further ado.  Hope you like
it.  It's kinda rough,
this being only marginally revised as I don't have a lot of time to spare
(plus I'm leaving the
country on business for two weeks on Saturday and wanted to get a
draft of this out before then). 
Suggestions for improvement are welcome.  "You suck" messages do
not fall into said category.

Note: The events described herein occur shortly after the "Akane's
Dougi" story in manga
volume 32 (for lack of a better title for it.  It's the one where Akane gets
that dougi that makes
her stronger than Ranma).  Also note that, for purposes of this fic, I've
altered the outcome of
that storyline some.  How it has been altered should become obvious.

Ranma 1/2: Runaway

Autumn approaches.  I can see the leaves changing as the train rushes
by.  I gaze out upon the
landscape.  It is mostly trees and mountains.  Periodically, we pass by a
small town: small
houses, the occassional tenement, some businesses, perhaps a
graveyard.  Every time we pass the
latter, I stare at it and can't help but wonder who's buried there.  What
did they do in life?  What
kind of people were they?  How did they die?  It strikes me as somewhat
ironic that I should only
seem to care about people who are now beyond all cares.

I am Saotome Ranma.  I boarded the shinkansen bound for Sendai (1)
nearly two hours ago.  For
a long while all one could see were the constant buildings of Tokyo and
its environs.  But then
we left the city behind.  I wonder if I shall ever see it again. 

I glance around the train car.  I had sized up the situation pretty early on:
not much.  The train is
not particularly full today, and there's only a few passengers in this car. 
The monotony is broken
only by the beverage vendors and the ice cream ladies pitching their
wares in that chirpy voice
they have.  I wonder briefly how they get their voice so high, but quickly
brush that thought
aside.  It's not important.  

Nothing seems very important now anyway.  I was, by a magical dougi,
of all things, in a
moment at once dispatched of my home, family... and fiancee.  I had
finally told Akane my
innermost feelings.  But.  But.  It didn't matter.  She wouldn't listen.  I had
gotten her alone.  I
needed to seduce her to get rid of the dougi.  OK, I admit it was a pretty
rotten thing to do, but
it's not like I was happy about it.  After the truth came out, though, I told
her my true feelings,
and she rejected me.  I had never imagined that such pain was possible. 
If this is where love gets
you, perhaps I am better off without it.  She had called me an idiot, and
tried to beat me up, as
some sort of punishment, but I had run away.  I feel rather ashamed of
doing that, but I have no
desire to fight Akane.  Even though she used to hit me fairly regularly, I
don't think I could hit
her under any circumstance, unless perhaps by accident.

I glance out the window again.  I wonder where we are.  How close are
we to Sendai?  For
perhaps the first time in days, I smile.  I wonder if this is what Ryoga
feels like?  If so, I guess I
can see why he wants me dead.  Well.  Perhaps he's right.

Now we are passing by some crop fields.  The crop's already
harvested, but I see that that
doesn't stop one farmer from puttering around out there.  I can't make out
what he's doing,
though.  I only see him for a few seconds and then he's gone.  We pass
over a river.

There's that damn ice cream lady again.  She smiles at me, but I wave
her off.  I guess I can't
really afford to spend what money I took with me on things like ice
cream.  After a bit I turn
around to look at her.  Now that I realize that I shouldn't buy any, I also
realize that I really want
some ice cream.  I know that it's expensive, and that you only get a few
spoonfuls, but I can't
help it.  I turn around to call her back, but then check myself.  I can't really
afford to lose my
discipline now.

I feel the train slow down, and the robotic voice over the PA announces
"Sendai".  My stop.

******************************

I wander down a thoroughfare by some restaurants and shops.  Night's
approaching and the
shops are closing, but it's still fairly busy.  Probably for the restaurants, I
suppose.  I glare at the
restaurants, hungry, but figure I shouldn't go in.  Instead, I stop at a
Lawson's.  I look around and
settle on a couple of curry-man (2).  I change my mind.  I get three.  And
a candy bar.

I stop in a park and sit down on a bench to eat my dinner.  It's getting cold
out as I sit under the
cool halogen glow of a street lamp.  Not many people are out at this time. 
I check my pocket and
realize that I don't have enough funds to stay somewhere overnight.  In
fact, it's almost
laughable how little money I have left.  I probably should have taken some
cheaper means to
travel than the shinkansen, but I didn't think of that at the time.  Plus, I
wanted to get away fast. 
I stare up at the stars for a while, thankful that it isn't raining, for once
less so for my curse than
for the fact that I am probably going to have to sleep out here.  I see a
shooting star but don't
make a wish.  I figure it's a little late for that now.  

******************************

It's morning.  I walk along a residential street.  For breakfast I went back
to that Lawson's and
bought a couple of rice balls, old and left over from the previous day. 
They're pretty
unappetizing but better than going hungry.  I pass by a school, full of
young kids.  Younger than
me, anyway.  It's recess and they're all out there playing, cheerful
despite the chill.  I look at
their happy young faces and wish I could be like them.  Not a care in the
world...

I stop after a while and think about what I'll do to raise some money.  I
hadn't really thought
much about what I'd do when I got out of high school.  I guess I figured
I'd teach martial arts or
something.  Now I dunno.  I've always loved martial arts, but, as I reflect
on my life, I realize
that they are all I've ever known.  I don't really know if I like anything else.
 As I think about it,
it seems like all martial arts has really done for me is gotten me into one
fight after another. 
Maybe it'd be better if I considered something else as a vocation and
practiced martial arts as a
hobby.  I doubt I could ever give them up for good, even if I wanted to.  

I resume walking, and make my way downtown.  The streets are jammed
with cars and people in
a tumult that's hard to conceive of without being there.  All these people
going places, going
somewhere.  And me.  All these people have somewhere to go.  I just
wander.

I pass by a construction sight.  A new office building being put up, I
suppose.  Then I see the
sign.  They're hiring workers.  Not what I'd consider an optimal job, but I
don't think I can be
choosy at this point.  Plus, the pay's not bad.

I talk to the foreman about the job.  He looks at me suspiciously and asks
how old I am.  I lie and
tell him eighteen.  He glares at me for another moment but then relents. 
The job's an all day
affair, and done on a day-to-day basis.  You report for work at dawn,
work until dusk, clock out
and get your day's paycheck.  This sounds pretty good to me, at least as
temporary work, as it
means I can sleep indoors tonight.  However, since I came in well after
dawn, I won't get a full
paycheck today.  I guess I can live with that.

The work proves to be mind-bendingly dull.  Not that I have ever been
one to enhance my
intellectual skills at every opportunity, but, even though I didn't get great
grades at school, I'm
not stupid.  I believe I could have gotten As or high Bs if I had tried
harder.  Certainly if I had
applied myself with the same enthusiasm as I had for martial arts.  In any
event, after a few hours
of this I begin wishing I was stupid so the work wouldn't seem so dull.  I
also think that perhaps
only the stupid are ever truly happy, because they don't know any
better.  I dismiss that thought,
though, as useless pessimmism.  I don't need to go any further down. 
We got a lunch break, but
I didn't have a lunch, and couldn't afford to go anywhere.  By the end of
the day I was nearly
ready to eat my hard hat.

Despite the fact that I didn't get a full paycheck, it turned out to be larger
than I had expected. 
One of my coworkers, who noticed my surprise, commented on how
these are standard wages in
this part of Japan and I shouldn't expect any more.  I stammered that he
was mistaken, that it was
more than I expected.  He smiled and offered to take the difference if I
didn't want it.  I declined. 
He then said something about the pay being higher than other menial jobs
because of the danger. 
I thought about what he said.  Danger.  I hadn't considered this line of
work dangerous.  As long
as you pay attention and take a little care, construction work isn't all that
dangerous, or so it
seemed to me.  Of course, I'm used to getting attacked on a regular
basis, so my perspective is
perhaps not wholly unbiased.  

After work I checked into a nearby hostel.  I had to share a room with
some gaijin, from India, I
think.  What he was doing in Sendai I couldn't guess, but because he
spoke no Japanese and I
knew no Indian, I couldn't ask him.  After a bit I went out to a ramen shop
and got the cheapest
thing they had.  I always liked ramen, so, even if it was fairly plain, it was
very good.  Especially
since I hadn't had lunch.  I also went to a store and bought a few items,
like toothbrush,
toothpaste, a comb, a cheap alarm clock, and the like.  I left Nerima so
quickly I hadn't thought
to bring much of anything with me.  Finally, I went to a public bath,
returned to the hostel and
went to sleep.

******************************

Work wasn't much better the next day.  I think I can safely rule out
construction work as an
occupation I wish to pursue.  Fortunately, I got friendly with some of my
co-workers.  Strange
thing is, some of them are pretty bright.  I can't see how they stand doing
this.  One guy, Kingao
Shintaro, wasn't much older than me, but he already had a wife and two
children.  He's smart. 
Smarter than me, anyway, or at least that's how it seems to me.  Why is
he doing this?  It seems
strange that he can't do any better.  He's invited me to his apartment for
dinner on Friday. 
Figuring I wouldn't have anything better to do, I accepted.

After work I went to an arcade and played some video games.  Video
martial arts isn't the same
as the real thing, though, so I left pretty quickly.  I stopped and picked up
some manga on the
way home so the evening wouldn't be too boring.  There's no TV at the
hostel, and, as I've said,
the gaijin is no great conversationalist.  

******************************

After work the next day I stopped by a library to do some reading.  I
figure if I don't want to do
this the rest of my life, I'd better figure out my options.  After a while, I
realize with some
dismay that, aside from martial arts instruction, menial work is about all
I'm suited for.  I'd
better figure out some way to get into college.  However, I still don't
know what I'd want to do if
I got in, or what I'd do after I graduated.  I can't really see myself as a
salaryman.  

I think about going back to Nerima.  Do they miss me?  I know I miss them.
 Most of them, at
any rate.  Even Akane.  Especially Akane.  But she made it pretty clear
what she thought of me, I
guess, so there's probably no point in going back now.  I also wondered
about Ryoga.  Would he
go after Akane, now that I'm gone, or would he stay with Akari?  Though
I love Akane, I think
Ryoga would be better off with Akari.  Though my experience in such
things is admittedly small,
I don't think I've seen a more well-matched couple than Ryoga and Akari. 

I leave feeling considerably more depressed than I was before.  My
future looms out before me
and I haven't the faintest idea what to do.  I guess my options are rather
limited, so I decide I
should probably try to find work as an instructer at a dojo somewhere in
the area, if I can.  That
would certainly be the easiest way.

******************************

It's Friday night.  I get back to the hostel after work.  I go to take a bath
before I go to Kingao-san's apartment.  I can't really get dressed up, so I'll
have to go as I am.  As I get to within a few
blocks of the tenement, however, I notice that something's wrong.  I hear
a commotion up ahead,
and presently I see flashing red lights and a crowd around the tenement. 
It's on fire!  I hear
sirens as more fire trucks pull up.  I run the rest of the way.  I see that
the building's pretty
involved.  Probably going to be a total loss.  Thankfully, I soon see
Kingao-san and his wife and
child.  I run up to him. 

"Kingao-san, you're all right!" I said.  He turned to me, and I have never
seen such a look of
anguish on any man's face, not even on Ryoga.  "What's wrong" I asked.

"Shizuko!  Shizuko's still in there!" he cried.

"Who's Shizuko?"

"My daughter!  Shizukoooo!"

The implication of his words struck me as though it were a physical
blow.  Though I had known
Kingao-san for only a few days, it was actually painful to see him like
this.  And to think of that
poor little girl.  Damn!  I had forgotten that he had two children.  "What
apartment  is she in?"

"What?" 

"I said, what apartment is Shizuko in!"

"Uh, 413, but..." he was cut off as I ran toward the building.  Great, she
was on the fourth floor. 
Why couldn't they have lived on the ground floor?  This wasn't going to
be fun.

A fireman saw me and tried to block my way.  "I have to get in there!" I
shouted.  "Look, you
can't go in there!  Look at it!  Nothing could survive in that!"  he shouted
back.  I smiled and
said "Watch me."  With that, I leapt up over him.  I heard the crowd gasp
in amazement at my
feat.  I smiled even more.  That was nothing.  

I reached the front door.  It had been torn down, probably by fleeing
tenants.  I ran in and looked
for the stairs.  I found one set of stairs, but they were completely
engulfed in flame.  I ran to the
other end of the building.  The heat of the fire in the halls was
indescribable.  I could feel my hair
and eyebrows being singed as I ran down the hallway, and my lungs felt
as though they were
dissolving from the hot air.  But that didn't stop me from noting the
location of room number
113 as I ran by.  413 should be at the same location on the fourth floor.  

I reached the other set of stairs.  They were on fire, too, but not as bad. 
I ran up the stairs, but, as
quickly as I moved, I could feel my clothes begin to burn and it felt as
though my skin began to
melt.  I hoped that wasn't actually happening, but there was no time to
think of that now.   I
reached the fourth floor, and ran to where I expected 413 should be. 
Sure enough, there it was. 
The flames were not as bad here for some reason as they were on the
ground floor.  I had thought
they would be worse, as my understanding was that heat rises.  Well, I
wasn't going to question
my good fortune.  I kicked the door down and immediately cursed my
luck.  The apartment was
well involved in flames.  I shouted Shizuko's name, but got no reply.  At
that moment, I heard a
noise above me, and I leapt into the apartment as the roof of the hallway
collapsed.  And I hadn't
thought it was bad...  

The heat was searing and I could feel my energy beginning to run out.  I
was moving slowly
now, but I ran through the main room to one of the doors at the other end
of the room.  A closet. 
Great.  I didn't have time for this.  I tried one of the other doors, it was a
bedroom.  Jackpot.  It
was a little girl's room.  I called for Shizuko once again, but still got no
answer.  She was being
awfully quiet for someone whose life was in danger.  I figured that could
only mean that she was
unconcious or...  Well, let's not dwell on that.

The flames weren't bad in here yet, but the smoke was terrible.  I looked
around but couldn't see
her.  I looked under the bed.  Ah ha!  Got her.  I pulled her out.  She
seemed to be uninjured and
breathing.  Thank God.  Now, how to get out.  I couldn't go back the way
I came.  The window it
is, then.  I opened the window and looked out.  I could see the crowd,
but they were,
understandably, standing well back.  I grabbed Shizuko and, as there
was no fire escape, made to
jump out the window.  At this point someone in the crowd noticed me
and a great shout erupted
from the crowd.  I jumped out.  Though four floors up, with my martial
arts training, I was able
to bounce down from windowledge to windowledge, and finally to the
ground.  A cheer came up
from the crowd and a rush of people ran up to me.  I passed Shizuko to a
paramedic as other
paramedics began to tend to me.  They led me to an ambulance.  The last
thing I saw before the
ambulance doors close was Kingao-san's family reunited, and the look of
joy on Shizuko's
parents' faces as she woke up.  Then the ambulance left to take me to
the hospital.  Despite the
pain I couldn't help from grinning.  I had never felt so alive.  One of the
paramedics in the
ambulance with me said he had never seen anything like that before.  I
explained that it was
martial arts training.  He said he'd have to learn, and asked if I could
perhaps show him a few
moves when I was better.  I nodded assent, then laid back and closed
my eyes.  I thought back to
what I had done this night and thought I would burst with pride.  I had
never felt like this, not
even when mastering a new and difficult technique.  I felt pretty good. 
Yeah...

******************************

Endnotes:

(1) Sendai is a city north of Tokyo along the east coast of Japan.  The
shinkansen is the bullet
train.

(2) Curry-man is like a nikuman but filled with curry.  They're cheap and
not bad.  Lawson's is a
convenience store chain, similar to 7-11.  I've seen them in Tokyo and
Osake.  I'm making the
presumption that they have them in Sendai.  

Author's notes: Well, whaddya think?  Is it OK or did it lay an egg?  As
you can tell, I don't go
in for real long fics.  I should note that I recently saw Quadrophenia for
the umpteenth time, and
that was sort of the impetus for this story.  Not that I compare Ranma,
even at his worst, to
Jimmy.  As an end to the story, I borrowed a little bit from the Outsiders. 
That scene where they
save the kids in the burning church has always had an impact on me,
somehow, and I certainly
was not going to write a suicide fic, so I took some artistic license.  I
realize that Ranma is fairly
OOC in this, particularly with the diction, but I figure, hey, I gotta write
what I want to write. 
Well, let me know what y'all think.

Tom Schauer