Disclaimer: The characters of Ranma ½ belong to Rumiko Takakashi
Tears of Anger
Ranma ½
By Acetalon
Chapter 2: One Can Only Take So Much

	The yell and ensuing explosion could be heard from all over
Nerima.  A sound so painful and heartwrenching that no one would
forget it.  Glass everywhere broke at the sound.  The explosion itself
was nothing special, this being Nerima, but the shockwave emitting from
the Tendo Dojo was.  The only ones unaffected were Soun, Genma, Nabiki,
and Kasumi since they knew what this kind of fight could escalate to.
They all decided to go out for a bit.  They didn't know just how far it
would go.


	(Ranma, slightly glowing a dark red and looking around at the
unconscious figures around his feet)

	"They shall pay, all of them," he thought, no longer rational
or sane at the moment.  "Everyone, they all had a part in this."

	He glared at Ryouga.

	"You've been ruining me life, using my honor against me."

	A glance towards Mousse.

	"Attacking me for a dream you'll never attain."

	He spotted the Kuno's out the the corner of his eye.

	"The delusional Kunos, fighting for my affections at one moment
and trying to kill me the next."

	His eyes passed over Shampoo.

	"Fighting for a lost cause, like the blind boy."

	A small brown figure caught his attention.

	"Happousai, half the reason my life is a living hell."

	His cold as ice gaze fell over Ukyo.

	"My first friend, a friend who also tried to ruin my life."

	His gaze softened as he saw Akane.

	"Akane, someone who I thought I could love."

	His gaze hardened once more.

	"Akane, the person I 'THOUGHT' I could love, but decided that
she didn't care and just hurt me more."

	Someone groaned and caught Ranma's attention.

	"Oh? So what I just did wasn't enough, was it?" he chuckled.
"Well, I can fix that.  Its time for them to feel the pain that I'VE
had to feel."

	He grinned and raised his hand, feeling the warmth of his ki
filling it.  He liked this.  It felt good.  Nothing before ever made
him feel good.  It was time to REALLY show them his anger.  He cupped
both his hands and let a ball of ki fill it, deciding that he would
remove each figure on the ground that hurt him in the past one by one.
No one would hurt him again. Ever.  He scanned the room and chose a
random victim.

	It was then as he was about to shoot that two figures,
Rationality and Sanity, decided to make their entrance at that moment at
pop up to assault his mind with questions and problems that would occur
if he went through with this.  With each question he had an answer.

	"What would happen after you killed everyone who hurt you?

	"I would make a new life away from anyone else that could hurt
me."

	"Would this make your life any easier?"

	"Of course! Without them my life will no longer be a living
hell!"

	"These people are your friends, they wouldn't intentionally
hurt you."

	"Could have fooled me, the way they constantly try to kill me
or marry me, treating me like dirt."

	"How would you feel afterwards?

	"Satisfied."

	None of these things would have stopped him then.  Even as he
was about the fire, his whole being clouded in anger, the last question
hit him hard.

	"Do they really deserve to die?"

	"I-I..." He faltered and felt only darkness.  "Damn," was his
last thought before reality had hit him full in the face and
slumped over in submission.  When Kasumi, Genma, and Soun returned and
saw what had happened, it was summed up in two words:

	"Oh my."


	When he awoke, nobody was there.  Even the rooms were fixed.
"Strange, where is everyone?" he wondered.  He found a letter which
read:

	Dear Ranma,
We are sorry that we bothered you today.  You must have been under a
great deal of stress from school, your father, and Mr. Tendo.  We'll
drop by later to see how you are doing.
			From,
		Ryouga, Mousse, Tatewaki Kuno, Kodachi Kuno, Shampoo,
Ukyo, and Happousai

	Ranma snorted.  He didn't remember exactly what happened but
he was damn sure it wasn't from school stress.  Stress from Mr. Tendo
and Oyaji was part of it though.

	The next day, no one was talking at the table.  Kasumi looked
like her normal self except she wasn't speaking.  Nabiki looked a
little nervous.  Soun and Genma were visibly shaking and looked as if
to bolt out of the room at that very moment.  Akane gave him a look
so cold it could freeze lava.  Ranma noticed all this but decided not
to say anything, though this radically different treatment he was
receiving from everyone was starting to get to him.


	(Ranma and Akane are walking to school.  Ranma is on the fence
as usual and Akane is silently fanning the flames of her anger about
last night)

	"There he goes again, showing off," she thought.  "Just like
last night when he hit everyone with that attack! That's all he ever
does is show off.  He could have hurt someone but he didn't think
about that did he? The stupid jerk."

	Completely missing the reason to why Ranma did what he did
yesterday, she continued to fuel her jealousy the whole day.

	At school nothing was the same.  No longer just nervous,
other students were downright afraid.  They would take go down other
hallways or wait until he passed before they walked by.  Though afraid,
fear could not stop the flow of gossip that poured in.

	"Did you hear what happened to Ranma?"

	"Well, I heard from Nabiki that he tried to kill everyone but
didn't get to do it."

	"Nah, he probably did that to scare everyone."

	"I wouldn't be surprised, he's not his usual self today."

	"You sure? Today he seems pretty normal."

	"I heard he totally cracked and killed everyone!"


	Some of the things said about him were pretty outrageous, like
trying to destroy all of Nerima before he was stopped by Akane, but
thats always how gossip was.  Though Ranma was used to gossip, it
hurt him to hear that people actually thought he killed people.

	Finally, unable to take the silence any longer, he shouts
"What's wrong with everyone!?! Why is everyone avoiding me?!"

	Everyone stops and looks at him.  Only one voice sppeaks out.

	"Isn't it obvious, baka?  That stunt you pulled yesterday has
everyone afraid of you."

	Akane stepped out of the crowd, looking at Ranma straight in
the eye.

	"Another display of power from you.  This time you took it too
far."  Her eyes were like daggers, aiming straight at Ranma's heart.

	"This time, you hurt everyone.  Your always showing off!  You
just can't take it, not being the best."

	Her face was so full of anger of hate, it seemed that these
feelings had been bottled up for a long, long time.

	"Well I hope your happy, dammit!  You can now have that title.
Nerima was a better place before you came to it.  You brought all the
troubles here with you.  The troubles always centered around YOU."

	Akane clenched her fist.

	"Just go away.  Your nothing but trouble.  A freeloading
jerk whose got a bottomless pit for a stomache.  This town would be
a lot better without you."

	She stalked away.  Ranma's gaze did not leave her until
she passed around the corner.

	He did not say anything.  He could not say anything.  He
expected plenty of people to tell him to go away, but Akane was the
last one he thought would say that.

	He ignored everyone and walked away.  It was the end of the
day, but everyone waited until they were sure he was gone before they
left for home.


	When Ranma got to the Tendo Dojo, he went straight to his
room and shut the door.  Everyone who was injured the day before was
watching Ranma carefully.  None of them felt any different except to
be a little more wary of his feelings.  They were all trying to find
a way to figure out what was wrong with Ranma, so they could get back
to their original routine of trying to kill/marry him.  Ukyo spoke
up.

	"I wish I knew what was wrong with Ranchan, then I could help
him through whatever it is."

	Mousse laughed.

	"Its obvious whats wrong with him.  He can't take the fact that
I can now beat him in combat for Shampoo's hand and is hiding so he
doesn't get beaten."

	Shampoo clocked him in the head.

	"Stupid Mousse! If that what wrong with Ranma, then there
no be reason for him to hide.  He just train a little and get better.
It something serious."

	Things started to get out of hand until Nabiki came out and had
a proposal.

	"Attention, everyone.  I just might know of a way for all of
you to find out why Ranma acting different."  She smiled, thinking
about the large sum she was about the aquire.  "Now, if all of you
would like to find out, the price is 10,000 yen each."

	Eager to find some answers, the money was quickly pulled out
and handed to Nabiki.

	"Thank you everyone. Now go up to my room and wait there until
I come in."

	Everyone quietly went up the stairs to Nabiki's room.  Nabiki
went to the kitchen to find Kasumi.


	(Kasumi is cutting vegetables, making the rice, and doing
whatever needed to be done to make dinner.  Nabiki walks in the room
and asks Kasumi if they can talk a little bit).

	"Why, of course, Nabiki.  Lets go to the table."

	Kasumi turns down the heat on the water and sits across from
Nabiki to hear what she has to say.

	"Sister, you've been noticing Ranma's strange behaviour lately
haven't you?"

	"Yes I have.  Its not something easy to NOT notice."

	Kasumi's voice sounded worried.

	"He's been getting less talkative and he seems depressed when
he came home."

	Nabiki nodded her head.

	"Remember when everyone came here yesterday?  How the room was
damaged?  Well,  it wasn't from any big fight.  Ranma did it all.  He
got angry and attacked everyone."

	Kasumi stayed quiet so Nabiki continued.

	"I would like to ask you to please talk to Ranma and find out
why he was so angry."

	"But Nabiki, wouldn't Akane be a better choice, since she's his
fiancee?"  Nabiki shook her head.

	"Our younger sister blew up in Ranma's face at school and said
some very nasty things to him.  I don't think that would be a good
idea."

	Kasumi pursed her lips.

	"Ok, if I talk to him I may be able to help him with his
problem."

	Nabiki smiled.

	"Thank you sister, I appreciate your help."


	(Kasumi knocked on the door to Ranma's room.  When no answer
came forth, she opened the door)

	(Speaking hesitantly) "Ranma?  Are you in here?"

	No answer yet again.  When she had a good look inside, she saw
that Ranma was sitting in the corner, not moving, not hearing, and not
looking up.  Kasumi spoke a little louder, thinking that maybe he
didn't hear her.

	"Ranma, whats wrong?"

	Without looking up, Ranma spoke in a soft, low voice.

	"Whats wrong?  Look around.  My life is a complete mess.
Nothing has ever gone right.  I can't remember the last time I had a
single day of peace without fighting or getting hurt.  I had been able
to endure it all in the past.  I endured it all."

	He finally looked up and Kasumi saw in his sunken eyes the fire
that usually burned brightly was no longer there.

	"I can't take it anymore.  It has been too long since I last
had hope of ever untangling this web of chaos I am wrapped in.  Its
been eating away at my control for a long time.  I actually lost
my self control once already and everyone nearly paid the price."

	 "He's serious," she thought as she said, "Its ok Ranma, none
of them meant to hurt you-"

	Ranma's eyes flared brighter than the sun.

	"Meant to?  MEANT TO!?  THATS THE PROBLEM!"  he shouted.  With
a great deal of difficulty, he started to speak in a barely normal
voice.  It was filled with so much pain that it made Kasumi want to
cry.

	"That is the whole problem." He said, trying to keep his voice
low.  "That is the reason I can't hate them.  I can never get revenge.
I can never permanently harm them.  Because none of them MEAN TO," he
said, the last two words with a great deal of venom.  "Ryouga doesn't
mean to hurt me when he turns into a little black pig and jumps into
Akane's arms.  Mousse doesn't mean to hurt me when he accuses me of
trying to do something dishonorable to Shampoo.  Neither the Kuno's
ever meant to hurt me when they chase after me as a guy and girl.  Ukyo
never meant to hurt me by disregarding my feelings."

	He turned away, not wanting Kasumi to hear the last part of his
ranting, but she still heard it as he whispered it.

	"Akane doesn't mean to break my heart every time she hits me
with the mallet.  Today, after the incident at school, I can't feel
anything in my whole body except for a dull pain where my heart should
be."

	This whole time Kasumi was shocked.  She never knew that so
much had happened to Ranma.  She never knew that Ranma ever felt this
way.  He was always so confident, so cheerful.

	"What happened at school?? she asked, afraid of the answer.

	"Not much. Akane just decided to let out her feelings,
thats all.  All she did was tell me how much he hated me and wished
that I would go away, shouting it all right in front of the whole
school."

	Ranma turned to Kasumi.

	"Sorry bout that.  I didn't mean to bother you with all my
problems." He gave a weak smile.

	Kasumi was glad he was at least trying.  She knew he had
probably had been through a lot that day.

	"Its no problem Ranma,"  she said soothingly.  "I'm here if
you need me."

	"Thanks Kasumi."

	Just then, then door next to his room crashed.

	Ranma walked out and saw everyone, everyone who he had just
been talking about, tumble out of Nabiki's room.  It was obvious why
they were there.  With Nabiki's equipment, she could hear anyone in the
house.  Everyone cringed, sure that he would get angry.  Instead, he
just looked at them and said in a very neutral tone, "Now you know my
feelings," and turned to head back into his room.  The only other sound
was the the sound of the door closing.  No one moved an inch, afraid of
what he might have done.

	That was the last time anyone saw Ranma in Nerima.