DEATH'S SOFT EMBRACE
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by C. "Snively" Gavlas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All characters mentioned or appearing in this story are the
undisputed property of Takahashi Rumiko, except for
Tomoe Hotaru, (she's just mentioned) who is the property of
Takeuchi Naoko.
Do hand it around, don't ask for money,
you know the drill.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTES: Okay, this is my first RANMA fanfic ever; it focusses on a
character that is never strongly focussed on in the manga or anime.
It's pretty serious, and NO, NEITHER RANMA NOR AKANE ARE
KILLED IN THIS STORY... just in case you thought that...heh...
Well, for all of you who don't know him, the protagonist in this story
is a boy named "Gosunkugi Hikaru" who appeared exclusively in the
manga. Sasuke took his place in the anime, but he did appear in
the fourth(?) nettohen series, first in episode #96. He's the skinny
boy with the voodoo dolls and the candles tied to his head. If you
have anything constructive to say, or any praise, then write to:
and I'll get back to you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was an unusually dark night; the moon lay in hiding
behind a thick mantle of cloud. The only light was from a few
streetlamps, but they failed to cast any sufficient illumination upon
the large building that seemed to force its shadow into the night.
This was a school, built like myriad others, and about thirty
years old. Being a weekday night, little noise circulated out from the
surrounding streets into its cloistered grounds; most people were
asleep by this hour of the night. But should there have been a
careful observer looking upon the school from, say, a nearby
balcony, or perhaps from inside the school itself, he would have
noticed a figure moving around about its archaic gates.
At first glance, the boy would seem to be perfectly ordinary;
the black hair, "yellowish" skin, and furitive manner inherant in his
race. A closer examination of his person would have revealed that
there was something quite wrong with him. First of all, he was taller
than average, probably about 5"7"; this was somewhat concealed by
his hunched posture. His neck, face, and hands, the only visible
parts of his body, were horribly emaciated; his face looked
downright skeletal, cheekbones protruding, a small, upturned nose,
and sunken eyes. His horrible eyes! They were emphasized by
their watery appearence and moreso by the dark
lines under them. His pupils seemed unnaturally small; this was
because the iris around each was yellow in color. He paced around
and muttered to himself.
"So, what is there now....... My life, what kept me from this..... this...
for all these years. Feh." He looked through the bars of the gate at
the schoolyard and snorted. "Hphh. Not school. But why? Is this
my curse? I'm so pathetic....."
He fought with his emotions. I can't break down.. he
thought, not now. This is final, and after I'm done, I'll never be sad
again. He laughed a hollow, cracked laugh, and added, "I'll never
be anything again. What was me....... will be gone forever...."
That afternoon; it had been the last straw. That older girl,
she was Akane's sister, wasn't she? He'd been minding his own
business, and she just had to come up and start hankering him,
didn't she? He thought about it for a second.
"And what are you doing?"
"Ano.... whaddo you mean, by, uh, that?"
She smiled a rather sarcastic smile. "Don't tell me you're
after Akane too..."
"Uhhhhh......." He could feel himself start to sweat. She
smiled again. "You know, you boys should really give up on her.
She's already engaged to someone anyways."
"Err...... You-you mean to Saotome-kun?"
"Who else?" she eyed him up and down, and added, "And
what makes you think that Akane would like a pitiful boy like you?
I'm surprised you don't blow away in the wind, you're so skinny..."
He'd stood there for the rest of the lunch hour, thinking
about what she said; finally, he accepted that Akane would never
love him, no matter what. Akane had been what made him get up
in the morning, he'd spent so many hours dreaming about her; her
gentle brown eyes, her grace and strength....... And it was over.
He looked at his watch. "I suppose I'd better get on with
this..." he said quietly. There was almost an air of hope in his voice,
as he organized his tools. The rope, his headband and candles....
With some difficulty, he climbed the gate, and scrambled
over the top. He slipped, and fell in a heap on the other side.
Groaning, he lurched to his feet and creeped across the schoolyard.
There was a tall flagpole in the center of the yard; a recent addition
to the school's fanfare. The flag, a "rising sun", had been taken
down and deposited somewhere by the janitor, so the pole was a
bare spire, rising out of the ground and up into space. He walked
up to it and gauged the height of the notch, then swung the rope
over it. It fit snugly in, and he smiled a bit as he dragged a garbage
can from its vigil at the door to the pole. He pushed the can over,
then set it upside down and climbed up on it. He tied his headband,
securing the tapers behind his ears; I suppose this really isn't
necessary, he thought, but it should make me a bit more
memorable, if anything. He fixed the rope around his neck, and
kicked the garbage can out from underneath him. His body fought
for survival; a few choking breaths were its best effort, and his final
recollection was a sulphury smell as the wind extinguished his
tapers........
Morning came; the sky cleared, letting radiant sunlight
warm the chilled earth and all its inhabitants. As Akane and Ranma
neared the school, it became obvious that something was up.
Police cabs and an ambulance were gathered around the gates of
the school, and a large body of people were milling about.
"What's happening?" Ranma wondered aloud, "I thought
that nothing interesting ever happened at Furikan High......." Akane
looked perplexed.
"Maybe we'd better hurry up and find out....."
When they reached the schoolyard, they found Akane's
older sister, Nabiki, talking to a police officer. One of Ranma's
friends, Hiroshi, was in the crowd as well, trying to catch a glimpse
of what lay beyond a wall of police tape that had been hastily
erected. He was in casual clothing, instead of a school
uniform.
"Hey, whassup?" Ranma said, pushing in beside him. He
looked over, noticing Ranma. "Oh, hi," he replied, then added,
"Don't tell me you don't know already..."
"Eh?"
Hiroshi pointed to the flagpole, where some more officers
were examining it; a garbage can lay on the ground nearby, its contents scattered
haphazardly about. He said in a
matter-of-factly voice, "Well, some kid killed himself last night. He
hung himself on the flagpole."
"Who?" Ranma exclaimed, shocked. Hiroshi shrugged.
"Dunno," he said, "I think he was in our homeroom..." Ranma stood
in thought for a second, then said, "What's with the clothes?"
"Oh? Yeah, heh... Well, school's been cancelled; I'm
surprised that you didn't already know."
Someone tapped Ranma on the shoulder. He turned
around, and saw Nabiki.
"Hi, Ranma," she said, "Do you know that one of
your classmates killed himself?" Ranma scowled; how could she
be so flippant about all this? Why the hell would someone want to
just up and die like that........?
"Yeah," he muttered, "Do you know who it was?"
Nabiki thought for a second, and then replied, "I think it was
that wierd boy; what's his name...... Oh, that's it! Gosunkugi!"
Well, that would explain a little.... Ranma thought sullenly.
He scanned the crowd until he saw Akane, then called to her.
"Yeah, what is it?" she called back, coming towards him.
Ranma said, "I guess we should go home. Nothing's gonna happen
around here anytime soon.........."
Akane nodded, and they left in silence. When they got
home, Ranma went to his room and shut the door behind him.
Something about this irritated him; the idea of someone wanting to
die intentionally; especially a teenager. Why did he do it? How
could he just go out there, knowing that he was going to die at his
own hands? A thousand questions like this passed through his mind, and
disturbed him greatly. Akane thought about it too; he'd been so nice,
even thought a little strange......... Always following her around; He must have
liked me, she thought. Could he have killed himself
because of her?
"NO!" she almost exclaimed aloud. He had a crush on
me, but he wouldn't have.... because......
Akane found herself fighting back tears. If I'd been more friendly
to him, would he still be alive? No, It's NOT MY FAULT! It isn't! Maybe he
had a bad family life; or marks maybe..... but not me.......
During lunch, Kasumi noticed Akane's listlessness. "Akane," she
said in her usual gentle tone, "Is something wrong?"
Akane looked almost venomously at her. "NO."
Kasumi sighed, and continued serving. Ranma wondered vaguely what
had gotten into Akane; he just hoped that she wouldn't blame it on him like
she usually did. In a way, it was comforting for him to have a distraction;
anything to get his mind off of...well...that.
"Well, what is it, boy?"
Ranma turned to face his father. "Whaddo you mean, Uiyajii?"
Genma snorted. "You don't think I havn't noticed your lack of
concentration, do you?" Ranma sighed, and said, "I guess not...." He rubbed
one of the bruises that colored his body black/blue. Genma said, "Well?"
Ranma bit his upper lip, concentrating, then muttered, "It's nothin'....."
"Nothing?"
"Yer..... nothing."
Genma nodded. "Okay, then...... FIGHT!!"
Ranma leaped into battle in his typical style. The Saotome Ryu of
Martial Arts teaches you that it's better to just avoid your opponents blows
instead of blocking them, as this is less likely to result in injury. As well,
should your opponent be of a more passionate sort, this will infuriate him
to no end, and he'll be more likely to foul up. As Genma dodged his son's
blows, he bantered to him.
"So, I heard that one of your classmates killed himself."
Ranma snarled, and executed a double kick on his father.
"Missed meeeee!" Genma sneered, then added, "What made
him commit suicide?"
Ranma attempted a throw, and Genma floored him. "Heh," he
laughed, "So much for that, boy! What was his name?"
"I don't want to talk about it!" Ranma yelled, planting his
instep on the center of Genma's face. He fell over onto his butt, cupping
his hands over his nose, and bleated something that sounded like, "Buu
dozz... thgk his birkdd...." and Ranma walked off, fuming.
That evening, Nabiki went to a movie with some friends;
Kasumi had come with Genma to Dr. Tofu's clinic, to visit the good doctor,
leaving Akane to cook supper. When Soun asked her to, she first
refused outright, then accepted the task gingerly. When Akane finally
cooked supper, it was with hardly her usual vigour; after setting it on the
table, she retired to her room for the evening. Ranma and Soun were left
to examine it; somehow, both seemed reluctant just to throw it out.
"Hmm," Ranma muttered, "Boiled potatoes and ramen. Wonder
what's up with Akane......"
"Hello...." Nabiki called, coming in. She looked over at the other
two, and commented, "Some dinner. Oh well, I guess it's probably not
lethal."
Ranma shrugged. "Well, we'd better eat it," he said, jabbing a
potato with his fork. When Ranma experienced no adverse effects, Soun
and Nabiki tried some.
"It's a bit, umm, bland," Nabiki said, then added, "But apart from
that, it's better than anything she's cooked before......."
Akane sat on her bed, cradling a dark, bristly ball in her arms.
"P-chan," she mumbled, feeling one of the piglet's ears. 'P-chan' looked
up at his mistress, and squealed quietly. <<What is it, Akane?>>
he wondered, looking into her eyes. <>> He felt a surge of anger, anger directed at
Ranma for the way he abused his iinazuke.
<>>
There was a knock on the door. Akane said, "Who is it?" in a
quiet voice, to which the reply of, "Uh, it's me, Ranma. I just wanted to say
thanks for cooking supper. It wasn't half-bad......".
The sound of footsteps retreating down the hall. Akane sighed,
and looked at P-chan, lifting him up to eye-level with her.
"Do you think that he..... really?.... heh........"
She smiled, and hugged the little pig.
He awoke to find himself enshrouded in darkness. Recalling his last
memories, he wondered why he still felt, in all respects, alive. It was dark,
but he could still make out his own form. He brought a finger up, and touched himself gingerly on the nose. He jerked it away again, almost surprised. God, it's cold..... he thought, shivering. He buttoned up his collar, and tried to penetrate the darkness with his eyes.
Frig! Didn't I have a flashlight?
He cursed silently, finding that it was no longer on his person. Oh bugger. he thought, Now what am I gonna do?
Suddenly, he noticed a flickering of light in the distance. He started
walking towards it, hoping that there was at least something there.
The next day, it was back to school for everyone. Needless to say,
the whole school was abuzz with gossip over the suicide; it's an abnormal
behaviour, and something that isn't much discussed in society, archaic as
that is. Akane still felt unhappy about it, and all the talk didn't help.
"Hey, Akane!" one of her friends called. She stopped picking at her
bento and looked over.
"What is it?" she replied. The girl beckoned for her to come over,
saying, "I have something to tell you..."
"Uh, yeah, Makoto?" she said, taking a seat. Makoto giggled, and
said in a hushed voice, "D'you know what I heard? I heard that Gosunkugi-kun
commited suicide because he couldn't get a date with you! Isn't that the
stupidest?"
Akane sighed. "Well, uh, it's not really nice to speak ill of the
dead..." she muttered, "I mean, that's what my father always says....."
Noriko, another girl looked confused. "Akane, are you all right?"
she said, noticing Akane's general crestfallenness. "You're not sad because
he killed himself, are you?"
Akane got "that look", and Noriko continued, "Because, if you are, I
mean, well, it is pretty sad. He always was so... so meloncholy......."
Akane looked over at her. "I guess it's disturbing me a bit; I mean, why
did he kill himself?"
Another girl piped in, "I think it's awful! Someone told me he did
it because he didn't have any friends....... I just wish he'd gone for
help instead of....well........"
Ranma spent lunch on the school roof, mulling over thoughts. It was
quiet up there, and no-one else was usually around; he usually went there
when he needed some time alone. It was unusually warm for that time of
year, the sun beamed bright over the city and its countless districts, and,
as well, onto Ranma. I guess I shouldn't really care about that
little wiener; after all, if he wanted to die it's his own fault. But still,
he thought, I wonder what made him do it; I mean, sure he was a loser,
but suicide's a bit drastic... Can't say I'll miss him, that's for sure.
Now he was nearer to the source of the light. There was something
disturbing about the way it flickered; as he came closer, it seemed to multiply,
until his surroundings, now obvious as a forest, became quite illuminated.
Then he saw something that he positively did not like.
Amongst the lights, were a series of short planks sticking out
of the earth. As he neared them, their identity became quite clear, and
he shuddered in fright. "Bo-bochi..... desho..." he stuttered, "It's a graveyard..."
Seeing a figure moving about the grave markers, he hid behind a tree, daring to
look over again. But nothing was there. The lights that had seemed to dance
eerily were just some candles and blue paper lanterns, and he cautiously walked
towards the graveyard again.
As he came to the gates he hesitated once more, but his romantic side
took over, and he thought, Maybe this is my destiny. If I don't come in,
then I'll never find out what I was born to do. He certainly couldn't
recall anything in his religion books about coming to a bochi after
death, so he figured this must be special. He almost smiled, wondering if
the fates had a special job for him in mind. In the bochi, there were a few
small benches near a shrine, and he sat down in front of it and took a prayer
stance.
"I am here, and at your service," he said softly to whatever deity
had summoned him, "What have you for me to do? What is my charge?"
He waited for something to happen. After a few minutes, he opened
his eyes and looked around, hoping for some sign that he had been recognized
and was not destined to spend eternity in this little graveyard. Nothing he
at least could register had changed, and eventually he stood up and started
examining the markers. Some of them were ancient; barely even able to stand,
they creaked as the wind blew past them. Others were more recent, and he
could read the names on them.
"Watanabe, Mitsubachi, Aso, Yuki," he read the names aloud as he walked
softly through the rows of markers. Suddenly, he came upon a name that was
quite familiar to him.
"Gosunkugi...Akira..." He looked at the monument quizzicaly, then
smacked his hand into his palm and muttered, "Of course! I had a great-grandfather
named Akira."
He looked, and noticed a few other markers bearing his family name.
None he actually recognized as those of people he'd met, but they were pretty
old. As he read them, he half-expected to come across his own. But he never
did. Eventually he got bored with reading the names; after all, there was no
other indication of who these ancient Gosunkugis had been, and he sat down on
a bench and napped.
He awoke suddenly. It was still night, and he was still in the same
bochi, but there had been a passing of something. He had sometimes believed
that he could feel a powerful aura, and now that he did, the sensation was almost
overwhelming. Dizzy and frightened, he got to his feet and tried to figure
out from where the aura was coming. A dark spot was slowly forming in front
of him, converging out of the blackness of the night. He backed off, horrified,
as it took the shape of something vaguely human; tall and dark, with no obvious
face or limbs, but the shape suggested a person. With a shriek it raced towards
him and enveloped him, and he struggled for breath before slipping into unconciousness.
You've disappointed us.....
Gomen..nessai....
You are a wasterel. And you have decided
your own fate with wasteful actions....
Huh? What do you mean?
You will never feel the soft embrace of death. You
couldn't if you wanted to.
Wh-what?
"Your charge," you say, is as a collecter of human
carrion. You are to service death.
Death?
When you return to your realm, your service will
begin. You will work for eternity, as a harbinger to those who have lead
lives like yours.
Mine...?
Futile, selfish lives.....
He jerked back into conciousness as if from a nightmare, and cursed when
his head banged against the ceiling of a morgue cabinet. It took him a minute to get
oriented, and then he slammed his feet against the end of the cabinet, popping
the lid open. He heard a shout, and sat up in time to see a janitor turn white
with shock at his sudden revival and flop onto the floor, unconcious.
He took in a breath. "I...guess I'm alive..." he thought,
moving his arms and hands around a bit. He put a hand to his chest, and felt
his heart beating. Then he got up, and, wrapping himself up in the sheet from
his cabinet, he walked out.
Some people walked down the hall, most of them police, so he guessed
that he was (probably) in the police station. There were a few offices along
the hall, and after a few minutes he made his way to what looked like the lobby.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he started around.
"Excuse me," a shiny-eyed secretary enquired, "But are you one of the
kids from that yachting accident? Yes? Well, perhaps you'd like to phone
your parents and ask for a ride home? No? Well, okay. You might want to
phone them for a change of clothes, though, unless you want to walk home in
wet ones. It is rather windy out, today- well, I suppose you would know
that already...hee hee...."
She turned around and went off, leaving him with a rather hard question:
how the hell was he going to get home in nothing but a medical sheet?
It made perfectly fine coverage, but he realized that he'd draw a lot of stares-
especially if someone who recognized him noticed. "Oh god....." he
whined to himself, What am I going to do now?
He pondered this for a while, before deciding he really had no choice.
He was just going to leave, when a doorsign caught his attention.
RECOVERED PROPERTY
Seizing the opportunity, he slipped over and went in. There were a set
of keys that someone had left in the door, and the door itself was open. He noticed
this, and guessed that it meant you weren't supposed to go in there, but he
figured that he had little choice.
He looked around before noticing something that looked like clothing,
laying among piles of electronics and other goods. A boy's school uniform was
in the pile; not a Furikan one, and a little wide for him, but he figured that
it would be inconspicuous enough and put it on. After finding some shoes, he
went to the door. It slammed shut in his face, and he heard it lock.
"Y-Y- Yoroooooooooouu!!!!!" he almost shrieked. He looked
frantically for another exit, and noticed a small window. He opened it, then
looked out to see how high it was. He cringed again, and cursed aloud.
"Godammit, will my bad luck never end?!" he yelled, watching the people
down below, almost ant-sized from his vantage. He leaned out to see if there
was any possible foothold; there was a rim along the window-ledges
that looked wide enough to stand
upon, as well as some small, stone knobs sticking out a few feet from the
window. Muttering an oath, he slowly climbed out, and made his way along the
side of the building.
Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down, he thought,
edging along. Now that he was outside, with the wind blowing across his back,
he realized that he was probably about 20 stories up. He whimpered a little,
then, as if by instinct, looked over his shoulder to gauge it.
He made a little exclaimation of, "Yeh!" then shrunk against the wall,
willing himself not to retch. It passed, but he was now even more deathly
afraid then before. He could feel his eyes welling up with tears; he was
shaking so much he wondered that he hadn't already fallen off. He screwed up
all of his courage, (which really wasn't that much) and stood up again, continuing
his long trek along the side of the police building.
An unusually strong gust of wind made him falter, and he lost his grip
and dropped like a stone from the ledge, towards the street below.
Kuonjii Ukyo surveyed the room around her. It had been a brilliant
idea to open a new location of "Ut-chan's" nearer to the center of Tokyo.
Everyone, especially businessmen and women, appreciated fast, good food during
their lunch-breaks, and she was sure to get plenty of business. "Expansion
is the key to better business, as my father always says," she exclaimed,
clearing some industrial wiring off the new counter and putting a large
okonomiyaki box on it.
"Hey, everyone, it's lunchtime!" she yelled to the people working in
back of the shop. When no-one came, she stomped into the kitchen to round
them up. The kitchen was empty!
"Alright, I'm gonna get to the bottom of this......" Ukyo growled,
scanning the vicinity. Outside, she heard some talking, and noticed a crowd
of people congregating in the street. She left the shop to see what was going on.
They were gathered in a circle around something on the ground. As
Ukyo fought her way to the center, she heard some talk.
"-Fell from a building?"
"Maybe he was one of those "Human fly" people..."
"It's so gross."
"-someone called an ambulance?"
"Well, it's right in front of the precinct."
"What's happened?" she asked a bystander. The person looked over at her
and said, "Someone just fell off the building. No-one recognizes him, and
he's in pretty bad shape"
Grossly fascinated, Ukyo pushed further into the crowd, until she
reached the center. A lady was leaning over him, and someone had laid a
blanket over the victim, a skinny boy about her age. He seemed kind of familiar, but-
He shuddered, then lurched suddenly to his feet, prompting screams and exclaimations from the crowd. "Oh
my God!" someone yelled, and the lady fainted. Ukyo watched, disgusted, as
the misshapen boy walked out of the crowd and down the street. No-one tried
to stop him as he staggered away in a daze.
"Now where do I go, he wondered as he went along. He searched
the pockets of the uniform, now torn and stained with a bit of blood, and was
surprised to find a subway token. "I might as well go home..."
No-one spoke to him or asked him questions when he got onto the subway,
and nor did anyone else as he made his way home. When he got to his house,
he slammed the door behind him and sat down on the floor. His parents didn't seem to be home;
he wasn't sure exactly how to approach them, anyways. He had a shower, to get
the blood off, then put on his pajamas and went to sleep. It had been a long
day, and he figured that if he was to get any answers, he wouldn't get them
while concious.
He awoke the next morning from a dreamless sleep. The alarm clock
said it was a Monday, so he guessed that he might as well go to school. He
got dressed, then crept down the hall to see if his parents were asleep. They
were, and he resolved not to wake them; he'd yet to figure out how to tell
them that he wasn't actually dead. They'd probably just chide him for the
suicide thing, anyways. Somehow, he didn't really care about suicide, or Akane;
he just felt bored and disenchanted. He gathered his books, and went to school.
Akane yawned and slowly got out of bed. "Another Monday..." she muttered
to herself, as she went down the hall and into the kitchen. As usual, Kasumi
was happily making breakfast; no-one else was up yet.
"Ohayou, Akane-chan," Kasumi greeted her, "Would you like to help me
make breakfast?"
Akane nodded happily, and set to work at making......well, um......
something.......
Ranma and the others slowly got up and congregated at the table. "Akane
helped me with breakfast this morning," Kasumi mentioned, prompting everyone
to get up; Akane's venomous glare was enough to make them sit down again and
eat. Ranma and his father fought over Kasumi's wa-gashii, Soun brought
out his old "Go" board and blew the dust off it for another round against the
(as-yet) undefeated Genma, Kasumi cleared up the house, and Ranma and the two
sisters set off for school.
As Mr. Sakamoto, the homeroom teacher for class F-e, was sick that day,
Ranma and his fellow students had a supply teacher instead. She greeted
herself as, "Miss Midori" and declared how she hoped that the students would
have the best day of the school year, then began reading out attendance
"Oh brother," Ranma muttered, rolling his eyes skywards. Everyone
else seemed about as incredulous to her, and a few people snickered.
"Gero?" A hand raised.
"Girameon?" Someone muttered, "Nope, I'm not here."
"Gosunkugi?"
"Um, excuse me, miss," Daisuke said, "But he's-"
"Here."
Go here for the rest....(My html editor
refused to work it after it got too big, so I had to cut it short..... #^_^)