You'll See II




Based on characters and situations created by Takahashi Rumiko, Ranma ½, 
characters, and plot devices are all copyright of Shogakukan, Kitty Animation 
Circle, and Takahashi Rumiko. 
This story copyright 1999/2000 - Rebecca A. Catanzaro 


Genre/Rating: This part of 'You'll See' contains some violence and some suicide, 
but hey! It's all good. This chapter, like most, is also great for those of you 
who, like Becka, hate Genma. There is some shipping with someone besides Akane, 
but it doesn't last. Also, there are morals! Yes, Becka has thrown away her own, 
just so she could present you with morals! 


***** ## *** ## ***** 

Meanwhile, back in the Tendo Dojo, the -original- Tendo Dojo in the -original- 
universe, Nabiki was busy sorting through her list. 
They'd been at it for about a half an hour now. Nabiki would call out the name 
of some obscure ingredient, Cologne would check off her supplies, sometimes 
finding the item, sometimes not. If Cologne didn't have it, she told Nabiki the 
most likely place it might be found. Kasumi actually had one or two of the 
ingredients in her kitchen, and Dr. Tofu was able to supply a few more. Ryoga, 
of course, had picked up many oddities in his travels, and even Cologne was 
surprised at what hidden wonders could be found in his massive backpack. Mousse 
had a few ingredients, some of the more obscure metals, within the folds of his 
sleeves as well, and Kodachi supplied all of the more poisonous substances. 
Whatever they did not have went onto Nabiki's paper. 
Nabiki looked up at those who watched her, then she folded the list. She smiled 
a little, "That's it. Out of 200 or so reagents needed, we have about 
seventy-five percent. We still need…" She quickly counted, "… oh, forty five 
items more. Of those, twenty are found in China; fifteen are in Japan; five can 
probably be found in curiosity shops; and the last five are either mythical 
legends, require a demon to be summoned, or only exist in the Kami plane." 
Akane looked expectantly at her sister, "We'll get them." 
Nabiki smiled a little, "I don't doubt. Here's my plan. Shampoo and Mousse go to 
China, because they are most familiar with the area, and they have friends 
there. Kodachi and Kuno search in Japan. Ukyo, go with them to make sure they 
behave, would you? I'll look through the curiosity shops…" She smirked, "I could 
use a good bargain to cheer me up. Ryoga just walks. It doesn't matter where, 
because the stranger the place you get lost in, the more likely you are to find 
something we need. Cologne can summon any demons, devils, or spirits, using Dr. 
Tofu if she needs any help. Akane…" 
The youngest Tendo daughter managed a half-hearted smile. Nabiki continued, "Go 
with Ryoga. Searching with him is the best thing you can do right now, because 
you obviously want to help." 
Akane nodded, "Hai." 
Nabiki looked around, then stood abruptly, "Let's move it, minna." 
***** ## *** ## ***** 
Ranma had died, yet again, though this time he'd been drowned. He'd been surfing 
(yes, he now knew how to surf), when a monstrous wave had come out of no where 
and capsized his board. Normally, he would have been fine, but he was weaker in 
girl-form. His legs had been tangled in a bit of seaweed, and he'd inhaled too 
much water. Actually, it had been an interesting experience for him. When the 
water filled his lungs, it didn't hurt, in fact, it had tickled as it sloshed 
around inside his body. What hurt was not breathing, especially when the oxygen 
no longer reached his brain. 
His body went through the familiar tingling sensation, almost as though he'd 
been splashed with cold water, then he found himself in another body, another 
time, and another dimension. As soon as he realized he was no longer underwater, 
the question, 'Where am I?' popped into his mind. The answer followed, of 
course. He was in his room at the Tek. 
'The Tek?' The Tek was a hideaway for all gang members who belonged to 
'VENGEANCE'. The building itself was in a run down part of Nerima, the Party 
Town. 'Gang?' VENGEANCE was the strongest gang around, and it only had one rival 
who could offer any competition. 'Whose the rival?' A group know as DIRECTION, 
led by Ryoga Hibiki. 
Ranma had to laugh a little at that. 'So, who am I in all this? A member of 
VENGEANCE?' A member, boss? You're the founder. 
After he searched his newest mind a little, he shook his head. In this lifetime, 
his mother had raised him. One day, a cute little boy named Ranma Saotome had 
gone home to find a man with a gun standing over his mother's broken body, 
grinning like a psychopath. The man had laughed down at the frightened little 
child, then backhanded him savagely across the mouth, and beat him. He'd left 
Ranma for dead, but Ranma had no such plans. He swore on his mother's blood, as 
he'd stubbornly hauled himself to his feet, that he would find her killer, and 
he would make him suffer. 
So he'd called one of his neighbors and told them in his young five-year-old 
voice that his mother was dead. He'd stayed to see her buried, then he'd snuck 
out of his bed room window with only a little bit of money and a second set of 
clothing. Imagine the surprise of the big bad street roughs when a little boy, 
no more than five years old, came to them and told them he wanted to learn how 
to fight. One of the crueler boys, a seventeen year old who had killed his first 
at fourteen and fucked his first the same night, sneered down at the child. "You 
want," he'd said, "to learn to fight, huh? Well first, you gotta' learn to take 
pain." 
He'd hit Ranma hard, sending him sprawling on the ground, and they'd all 
laughed. Then one of them noticed something. The kid with the innocent face was 
slowly standing up, blood trickling from one corner of his mouth. He'd spoken 
softly, "If all I gotta' do to learn is 'take pain' then, please, keep giving 
it." 
And they had. The first hit him again and again, harder and harder, but Ranma 
refused to give up. Even when his face was puffy, one eye swollen shut, and 
blood running from his mouth, nose, and temple, he still stood up and asked for 
more. Finally, the roughs looked at each other and then boy whose will was the 
only thing keeping him standing. One of them stepped forward and asked, "Why 
don't you just give up kid? Go home to your mother." 
The little boy smiled, and it was a terrible thing to see on a face as young and 
innocent as his, because it was a twisted grin that they'd only seen on the 
faces of grown men. One that appeared just after they knew they lost and just 
before they died. "Mother?" the kid asked. "How can I go home to mommy? She's 
too far away for me to reach now." 
The roughs looked at each other, and one of them offered, "We'll… we'll take you 
to her, kid. How do you get there?" 
Ranma toddled forward, dizzy from the beating he'd taken. He pointed to the 
man's gun, his face tilted to one side, "She on the other side of that, where 
it's all bloody and painful." 
"Your mother's dead, kid?" 
Ranma nodded, his eyes transfixed on the gun. Finally, an older of them stepped 
forward, blocking the boy's view. "Alright, kid," he'd said, "I'll teach you how 
to fight, if you think you can take it." 
The little boy looked up, and they all saw that terrible expression in his eyes, 
the crazy deadly kind. With that kind of look, he didn't need to answer. 
Here was the result of that conversation, eleven years later. He'd learned how 
to fight, and he'd used his knowledge to create a gang dedicated to its 
namesake. He still hadn't found his mother's murderer, but he was confident he 
would soon. Ranma closed his eyes, remembering the face of his nightmares. A 
word, to softly spoken for any to hear issued from his lips. 
"Genma." 
<^>*<^>*<^>*<^>*<^> 
The next day, Ranma sorted through his rather interesting wardrobe. Curiously, 
he separated his leather chaps, trying to find something comfortable he could 
wear. He finally settled on a loose pair of black pants that resembled the ones 
he normally wore. Next, he chose a shirt that he deemed the most 'normal' of all 
of them. It was a tight white tank top, made for a man and most commonly known 
as a 'wife-beater'. 
Ranma had chosen it because it was normal, but what he didn't know was how it 
made him look to all single, and not-so-single, females. He started to get an 
idea when a very buff Kodachi, clad in what appeared to be a leather gymnast 
outfit complete with knee high boots, flung herself into his arms with her usual 
cry of 'Darling! 
Ranma looked down at the girl who clung to his chest, looking at him with wide 
beautiful eyes. He blinked. Twice. 
'Kodachi!' his mind screamed. 'Why the hell is Kodachi…?' His mind answered him. 
It seemed that in this life, he only had one fiancé and love, and she went by 
the name of Kodachi. He'd never met Akane or Shampoo, and Ukyo was a member of 
DIRECTION. And the scary thing about that was, his mind told him he didn't care. 
He was perfectly content to love Kodachi in this life. In fact, in this life, 
she was -normal-. Her father had died when she was young, and she and her 
brother had lived on the streets. Ranma and Kuno had met up, becoming the best 
of friends, and when Tatewake had introduced his breathtaking sister, he'd 
fallen for her and fallen hard. When he'd found that the attraction was mutual… 
let's just say that he and Kodachi wasted -no- time. 
Ranma closed his eyes. Akane wasn't here, but his self in this life loved 
Kodachi. The least he could do would be to keep her happy before he died. He 
held his breath, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to her cheek. She smiled 
lovingly up at him, wrapping her arms around his waist as they walked. It was 
amazing, the differences between his Kodachi and this one. And though he loved 
Akane totally, he found himself wondering what it would have been like if 
Kodachi had been a little less crazy in his reality. 
She beamed up at him, "Are you ready, darling?" 
"For wha'?" He blinked, surprised at his tongue twisted his words around, 
forming some very broken Japanese. Street Japanese. 
She laughed, resting her head against his chest, "The fight, of course! You'll 
win, won't you?" 
Before he could answer that with an affirmative, Kuno appeared at his side, 
grinning madly at Ranma. "Today we answer their challenge, Saotome. Think you 
can beat that sniveling coward, Hibiki?" 
Ranma grinned back, rather excited at the chance to use some of the attacks he'd 
learned in his past life. Though he was a little bit put off by Kodachi's 
attitude and Kuno not wanting to kill him, he still smirked, "Ya' might jus' be 
su'prised, Kuno." 
They trio, followed by the rest of VENGEANCE, made their way to the place 
between the Tek and the Hyat, DIRECTION'S hideaway. This place, deemed 'Neutral 
Ground' seemed like the best spot for the fight between the two young leaders. 
He was surprised that, despite Kuno and Kodachi's attitudes towards Ryoga, the 
four of them were really good friends. The only reason the two gangs opposed 
each other was for a little challenge and excitement. Ranma and Ryoga had fought 
in the past, but it was just for fun. 
Ryoga was already waiting in the center of the fighting circle, wearing his 
normal black pants, yellow shirt, and spotted bandana. Ukyo stood at his right 
hand looking determined, but her eyes softened a little as she saw Ranma. 
Each girl in the crowd sighed softly with longing at the visage of the somber 
and powerful boy, with eyes dark as midnight and a heart hard as steel. Ranma 
stepped into the circle, his eyes on Ryoga, "Hey, man. How've ya' been doin', 
Ryoga?" 
Ryoga offered him a not-quite smile, "You know how it is… so, are you ready to 
fight? Winner takes the title?" At least for this week. 
The pig-tailed boy nodded, extending his hands in a simple defense. Everyone 
moved forward, eagerly lining up along the edge of the circle as it began. Ranma 
and Ryoga exchanged a few mock blows, testing each others defense. Ryoga was 
surprised, wondering how Ranma had improved so greatly. And there was no doubt 
that he had improved. He ducked and dodged Ryoga's blows with an ease that 
bellied itself. His speed and grace was flawless, and the fluency with which he 
moved made Ryoga feel like a boy facing a master, rather than a man. 
Other people started to notice that Ranma wasn't really fighting, just 
skillfully dodging blows that broke the cement at their feet. He did it without 
blinking. Ryoga stopped; so did Ranma. 
"Fight me for real, Ranma. You owe me that much." 
The boy in question shrugged, returning to his defensive position. Ryoga punched 
again, and this time Ranma didn't dodge. He just brought his hand up, catching 
Ryoga's fist as though the punch was thrown by a baby, rather than a formidable 
man. Again and again, Ryoga tried to hit him, and again and again, he caught 
Ryoga's fist. Finally, just when they thought the fight couldn't get any 
stranger, Ranma changed his tactics yet again. He started to switch from 
defensive to offensive. Knocking Ryoga off balance with a solid kick or a punch 
to fast for the eye to see, Ranma proceeded to show them just how good he was. 
Suddenly there was a call from the back of the crowd, "Nice moves, kid. Real 
fancy against a boy… but can you take on the man?" 
Ranma didn't slow down, but he did call back, "Depends who's askin', now don't 
it." 
The crowd parted to reveal a fairly tall man whose hair was going white with 
age. His dark eyes reflected a cruel spirit and his mouth parted in a feral 
smile. Ranma turned to look at his second challenger's face, and froze. Ryoga 
swung a fantastic punch at Ranma's face, hitting him fully in the jaw. Ranma 
didn't move; he didn't even blink. 
Ryoga staggered back, clutching his hand in pain. 
Ranma's fist clenched. His voice was deceptively soft, "You're going to die." 
The man hopped lightly into the circle. His grin was sickening. Ranma hit Ryoga 
hard, once, and the bandana boy flew into back into the crowd. 
Genma giggled, a sound that sent chills through the spines of all present, 
"Hello, boy. Miss me?" 
Genma got a reaction, though it wasn't quite the one he was hoping for. Ranma 
lighted into, unleashing a furious wave of fists into his father's stomach. 
"Why'd you do it, you stupid bastard? Why'd you kill her? Why'd you come back? 
How'd you find me? Answer me, damnit!" 
Ranma slammed the man who had killed him too many times to count into the 
ground, forcing his face to grind against the cement. Genma giggled again, a 
high pitched and sickening noise. "You remember me, boy? I'm honored! I…" 
Ranma shut him up, slamming his head into the cement again. He gritted out, 
"Talk." 
Genma seemed unconcerned for a man who is being forced to eat concrete, "Well, 
boy. You see, your mother and I had a thing going… she knew I was…" Genma made a 
face, his eyes bulging out unnaturally, "PYSCHO!" 
The crowd backed up, watching in horrible fascination as the scene played out 
before them. Kodachi, Kuno, Ryoga, and Ukyo all stood nearby, having fully 
realized who the mad man was. Almost. 
"She didn't care much; she thought she loved me. And then, just when I was 
growing tired of her, she told me about you. How much fun! So I left her alone 
for a few years and then I came back… and her blood marked the way to a new era… 
your era. And now, your era is over with. Now I finish the game I started! Who's 
gonna' win, son?" 
Ranma had grown considerable paler, and so had his friends. Genma had planned it 
that way actually, and the moment that Ranma's grip loosened, he spun, pulling 
out a small hand gun. With a dark smile, the newly discovered 'father' shot him, 
using an entire clip in the blink of an eye. The shots rang out loudly, giving 
none of them any time to react. 
There was silence and Ranma slowly looked down. Blood, darker than sin, covered 
the front of his white shirt, flowering outward. Almost in slow motion, his eyes 
widened in understanding, and he stepped back. Kodachi let out a scream and the 
spell, if spell it was, was broken. Ranma toppled backwards, arms outstreched. 
His head landed in the cradle of Kodachi's arms as she caught him, sobbing his 
name. 
Then the fireworks started. Ryoga, Ukyo, and Kuno each pulled out their own 
artillery, sleek rifles that every member owned a large number off. The three of 
them pulled the triggers, pumping the man who had killed their friend and leader 
full of cold hard metal. 
Genma staggered back, that cold grin frozen on his face. 
That laughing face was the last thing Ranma saw before his eyes glazed over and 
his mind faded to blackness. 
***** ## *** ## ***** 
Ranma blinked, finding himself in another of his seemingly infinite bodies. His 
mind was a little bit muzzled, but that always happened when he died. Especially 
as he remembered -how- he'd died. His father had killed him again, and he'd 
laughed about it, just like he'd laughed about his mother's death. Then Ranma 
looked up. 
He was relaxing near the pond, and a stern looking Akane and Ryoga stood in 
front of him. He blinked again, trying to absorb several facts. The first and 
most prominent was that Ryoga and Akane held hands and were pressed close to one 
another in what appeared to be a loving embrace. 
"Ranma, I have something to tell you." 
Ranma looked at Akane, figuring that this was not a good way to start out his 
life. She continued, "I… I really didn't want to talk to you like this, but we 
both think it's best if you find out now." 
Ranma started to get a sinking feeling in his stomach, one that had nothing to 
do with his recent body jump. 
"We, that is, Ryoga and I… well, we love each other. We're going to be married." 

That sinking feeling slammed down hard to hit the pit of his stomach. This 
couldn't happen. His only reason for living couldn't be in love with… he 
swallowed hard. This wasn't his reality. This wasn't real. But gods, it -hurt-. 
Unable to stand the pitying look Akane was giving him, Ranma spun. He jumped 
over the wall to the Tendo Dojo and speed off down the street. 
Akane blinked, looking after him. A little noise caught in the back of her 
throat. The noise tickled its way along her throat, and finally it exploded from 
her mouth. She doubled over, laughing, "Oh my goddess, that was a performance. I 
can't believe that dolt actually thought we were serious! You'd think he'd 
remember April Fools Day…" 
Ryoga laughed too, but his eyes where above the fence where Ranma disappeared. 
Akane hadn't really been paying much attention to anything else other than the 
little prank the two of them had agreed to play on Ranma. This was not the case 
with himself. He'd seen Ranma's face pale, and he'd seen the undisguiseable raw 
pain that had haunted Ranma's eyes in the moment before he'd turned and fled. 
For the first time, Ryoga wondered if this little joke might now have been such 
a good idea. 
<^>*<^>*<^>*<^>*<^> 
Ranma stood on top of one of the many tall buildings in Nerima. It was midday; 
perhaps a half an hour of so after Akane had professed her undying love for 
Ryoga. Not that long at all really, since he'd been transported into this body, 
but enough time for his heart to be broken. 'Why now?' his mind screamed. Why 
now? Why here? It hurt that she loved Ryoga. It hurt a lot. So, how to wake up 
out of this horrible reality? Hah! That was the easy part. 
He stood on the roof of an executive building, strands of his hair drifting in 
the breeze as he stared morosely out over his 'home'. A few people were beneath 
him, having finally noticed the pigtailed boy. More and more people gathered in 
the crowd as they stared up at him and waited for the show to start. 
"Hey, kid…" 
Ranma looked over beside him to see a middle aged police officer on the ledge 
with him. He shook his head ruefully; this man had probably been called by one 
of the spectators. The man would give the old routine of trying to get 
heart-broken boy away from the ledge and into a psychiatric ward where he could 
be studied at leisure. 
The man, for his part, was not particularly worried. He was an old hand at 
sweet-talking jumpers away from the ledge. He'd been doing it for years, so he 
knew every trick in the book. Hell, he'd even written the book. In his honest 
opinion, jumpers didn't really want to die. Deep down, they knew that this was 
the only life they were going to get, and they wanted to keep it. 
However, this pigtailed boy seemed to be made up of entirely different subject 
matter. He was not worried, nor did he look unstable. Quite the contrary, he 
wore a calm pensive expression on his face as he stared out over the vast city. 
"Yeah?" Ranma answered, his eyes still thoughtfully contemplating the sky. 
The officer, Hatsuru Sensuko, inwardly blinked. The young boy's voice had not 
shown any concern for where he was or what he was doing. Oh well, looks like he 
was going to have his work cut out for him tonight. Might be interesting, 
because he hadn't really had any challenge in his job lately. 
Hatsuru sighed and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, offering them to the kid, 
"You smoke?" 
Ranma turned from the sky to face the officer, his eyes tired and sad. And for a 
moment, looking into the boy's eyes, Hatsuru felt as though he were standing 
beside a man who'd seen a thousand life times rather than some uppity stripling 
who thought he had a death wish. "Nah," the kid answered, "At least… not in this 
life time." 
The cop shrugged, pulling out a cigarette for himself. He slipped the pack back 
into his pocket, and fumbled around for his matches. He found the box and pulled 
it out, but after opening, he saw that there were none left. Hatsuru snorted, 
"Eh, it figures… kid, don't suppose you got a light?" 
The boy yawned once, extending his hand forward in front of him. His eyes 
focused on his palm as he gathered a little bit of fiery chi into his hand. 
Hatsuru's eyes widened, and he tried to back up a pace, but he found that his 
legs were frozen in place. What -was- this boy? God, he needed back up. He 
wasn't prepared to deal with someone out of one of his kids' action cartoons. 
Ramna leaned over, removing the cigarette from the other man's nerveless 
fingers. Lazily, he used the chi he had summoned to light it before dispersing 
the power he had called. After taking a slow and practiced drag on small smoking 
white role, he handed it back to Hatsuru. The kid then looked out at the sky 
again, "My name's Saotome. Ranma Saotome… not 'kid'." 
Hatsuru stared at the… at Ranma. His voice sounded too high to his own ears, 
"What… what -are- you?" 
Ranma laughed softly, but the noise held no mirth. "Me? Just a guy, remember?" 
The officer's mouth opened, hanging comically slack jawed as he tried to form 
some kind of coherent noise. "I mea.. how did you… what did you…?" 
"Oh, you mean this?" Ranma extended his hand again, summoning his chi. Wide 
eyed, the man nodded. Ranma snorted, "I'm a martial artist. It's not that hard 
to do really once you learn how. Shit, I've had a couple lifetimes to learn…" 
Ranma regarded the astounded man, reaching one hand out to carefully close his 
jaw, "You probably don't believe me, right? You just think I'm crazy." 
Hatsuru mutely shook his head, his voice distant, "No… no, I believe you…" And 
he did. 
The boy thoughtfully tilted his head to one side, "Do you know what it's like to 
die?" 
He continued, leaning forward a little more to stare at the crowd below, "It's 
pretty strange the first time it happens. Did you know that death isn't always 
painful?" 
Hatsuru blinked, but Ranma continued as though this was a typical conversation 
about the weather that they were discussing over a cup of tea, rather than on 
the ledge of a towering building. "Nope," he said, "death ain't always painful 
at all. It's sometimes kinda' nice… like when you drown but you're not 
panicking. It's tickles from the inside as your lungs fill up. And if you get 
shot right here," he indicated the center of his forehead, "The pain only lasts 
for a second, and then it's over." 
Ranma yawned, one hand toying with his pig-tail, "Actually, death seems pretty 
good when you think about the alternative of living. What is there really to 
live for? Love?" 
He snorted, "Yeah… sure. Love. You meet here, and you tell me that she loves me 
when she rips my heart out of my chest…" 
Hatsuru cleared his throat, trying to find a something to say. The kid held up a 
hand, his voice quiet, "Look, I just want you to do me one little favor. Find 
Akane Tendo and Ryoga Hibiki, and tell 'em… tell 'em it's better this way. Ain't 
no one who's gonna' miss me in this life, and I'd just be in their way. Tell 
'em…" Ranma smiled softly, "Tell 'em I'm sorry I'm such as jerk, would ya'?" 
The officer who thought he'd seen it all, until now, nodded mutely. Ranma turned 
around, his back facing the open air. He gave a genuine smile to Hatsuru, "Hey, 
it's been nice talkin' to you, but I got an appointment with destiny, and she 
doesn't wait around for anybody. Look me up if you're in the cemetery sometime." 

Hatsuru stepped forward, "Wait!" 
He shook his head, "Sorry, but no can do. All those people down there are 
waiting to see me jump, soar, and splat. Hell, I never could disappoint a crowd. 
Later." 
Ranma winked once at Hatsuru, then extended his arms, and jumped away from the 
edge. He soared away from the edge, oblivious to the shouts of encouragement and 
fear. A small smile crossed his lips, and his last thought in this lifetime was, 
'I've never jumped off a building before. This is probably going to hurt like 
h…' 
Splat. 
<^>*<^>*<^>*<^>*<^> 
Akane, Ryoga, and the rest of the Tendo family, along with Genma Soatome sat at 
the supper table, laughing about the joke. 
Ryoga laughed along with them, but his thoughts strayed towards the expression 
he'd seen on Ranma's face, and he couldn't shakes the nagging feeling that 
something was wrong. Still, he'd laughed. 
They all laughed. 
There was a knock on the door and Kasumi stood, walking out of the room to 
answer it. She left the mirth filled table with a grin on her face and answered 
the door. 
But when she walked back into the room, followed by a middle-aged police 
officer, she wasn't smiling. 
The officer entered the room slowly, his hat tucked politely beneath his arm. He 
was a shade pale, and when he spoke, his voice sounded shaken, "Is there an 
Akane Tendo and a Ryoga Hibiki present?" 
Akane and Ryoga stood, smiling curiously at the man. Akane answered him, "Yes, 
that's us. Is something wrong, officer?" 
The man looked down, "My name is Hatsuru Sensuko. I work for the Police 
Department. Earlier on this morning, I was called to talk a young jumper down 
from the ledge of an executive building." 
His words were met with silence, and Ryoga stared incredulously at the man, 
"Who?" 
Hatsuru spoke quietly, "Ranma Saotome. I was unable to convince him to step 
down, though before he… died… he asked me to relay a message to Akane Tendo and 
Ryoga Hibiki. 'Tell them,' he said, 'that it's better this way. And tell them 
I'm sorry I'm such a jerk.'" 
Akane slumped to the ground in utter shock, and Ryoga closed his eyes. Everyone 
was staring at Hatsuru, and Soun spoke up hesitantly, "Did he… say anything 
else…?" 
The officer nodded, "He did. He said talked a little bit about death with me, 
and he seemed like he was… special, you know? He seemed… noble. It was an odd 
feeling to get about someone while they're hanging from a cliff edge, but that's 
the best way I can describe it. He seemed like he was someone who could have 
anything he wanted… so, do any of you have an idea why he jumped?" 
No one spoke. Hatsuru looked around at them, "I'm sorry, but I'm trying to find 
out why a young man with so much would destroy it all. Do any of you know?" 
Ryoga's voice was a hoarse shadow of its former self, "April… Fools…"