Disclaimer:  All characters portrayed in this story are the property of
Rumiko Takahashi and co.  Please don't sue me.

This story takes place after volume 38 of the manga.  It draws ideas
from both the anime and the manga.  I hope you like it.

C & C welcomed.

                             I Like Ucchan

                                  by

                              Donny Cheng

        "Akane was trying to cook again this morning.  I said something
that upset her and she punted me out of the house."  Ranma winced.  He
could still remember the taste.

        "Well, her cooking does leave a lot to be desired.  You should
come and eat with me more often."  Ukyo commented, without looking up
from her grill.

        "I crossed Shampoo's path as I walked home.  She noticed that I
was alone and wanted to date me.  She chased me halfway across town."

        "That Chinese bimbo.  Can't she get anything through to that
head of hers?  Why would you date with her, when you could go out with
me?"  She replied as she busily prepared an extra special deluxe
okonomiyaki for her betrothed.

        "Right at the moment Shampoo caught up to me, Akane showed up
looking for me.  There was a misunderstanding and I ended up getting
hit by both Akane and Shampoo."

        "They're both such violent girls.  They could never be as
understanding of you as I am."

        Ukyo nodded absently as Ranma continued to ramble on about his
problems.  She carefully put the finishing touches on the okonomiyaki.
Every once in a while, she would give him a sympathetic look.

        Ranma sighed as he received his okonomiyaki from Ukyo.  The
sauce was again shaped to look like a heart.  "Ucchan, you haven't been
listening to a word a said have you."  He saw Ukyo blush at his
accusation.  "Never mind.  I came here to talk, but I can see that you
have other things in mind.  All I want is someone to listen to me.  Is
that too much to ask?"  Ranma looked very tired as he got up and left.

        Konatsu walked past Ranma as he came in from sweeping the
sidewalk.  "Ranma sure seems to be in a bad mood today, Ukyo-sama.  Who
is he sore at?  I could hear him muttering about a girl.  How she was
probably never the friend that he thought she was."

        Ukyo froze at Konatsu's comment.  Was Ranma talking about her?
Ranma's last words were that he just came here to talk with her.  What
was this about her not being his friend? Her mood dampened as she
thought about Ranma's words and of their relationship.

                               * * * * *

        Ukyo tossed and turned in her bed.  She couldn't sleep.  Her
thoughts kept on replaying her conversation with Ranma this afternoon.
She was his friend, wasn't she?  No, she answered herself.  She saw
Ranma as a fiancé more than a friend and treated him accordingly.  That
meant she was very biased whenever she talked with him.  She could
remember her responses to some of the things he had griped about.  She
had painted herself to be a saint and the others to be evil incarnate.
That was not exactly what a real friend would have done.

        But that could not be helped.  Ranma was just too important to
her.  She could not imagine her life without him.  The time she spent
in Nerima this past year was the happiest of her life.  Sure, she had
lived without his presence for ten years and could probably survive
without him for the rest of her remaining years.  The question was, did
she want to live without him being in her life?  No, she did not.
Whether she was his wife or not in the end, Ukyo knew that she did not
want to ever leave his side.  She loved him too much to ever give up on
him.

        Ukyo had noticed that Ranma had changed little since she had
known him as a child.  He was still as out going, innocent, and
stubborn as ever.  However, there was one change in him that she
noticed.  He got angry and sad much more often.  In her heart, Ukyo
knew why he was like this.  He did not have any friends that he could
confide and share his feelings with.  Though all of his fiancées
treated him very well at times, they never let him forget that they
were engaged, even Akane.  From what Ranma had said this afternoon, it
was clear that he was lonely.  Right now, Ranma needed a friend more
than he needed a fiancée.  With that thought in mind, Ukyo made a
decision.  She would create the perfect person with which Ranma could
be comfortable around.  Tears flowed down Ukyo's eyes.  What she was
about to do tomorrow, may well end her chances of marrying Ranma.

                               * * * * *

        Ranma awoke groggily as his mother gently shook him.  "What is
it, mom?"

        "Ukyo's at the door.  She asked if you wanted to go out and
play, since it's Saturday."

        "No, I don't want to go out on a date.  I want to rest."

        "Actually, Ukyo told me to tell you specifically that it wasn't
a date.  She just wanted to hang out, to talk.

        Ranma jolted awake at this.  Ukyo wanted to talk.  Was there
something wrong?  He was instantly worried.  Getting dressed quickly,
he rushed down to meet with her.  The moment he reached the doors, a
flying body tackled him.  It was Ukyo.  She gave him a mischievous
grin.  "Boy, you're getting slow.  I can't believe that I hit you."

        "What!?  You fluked out.  If this was for real and I was fully
awake, I would have easily dodged such an obvious attack."  Ranma
grinned at Ukyo.  He was relieved to be wrong about Ukyo having
problems.

        Ukyo grinned back at him.  "Excuses, excuses.  Anyway, the
reason I came was that I wanted to tell you I was sorry about not
listening to you the other day.  I wanted to treat you to an
okonomiyaki to make up for it.  But since I just beat you right now,
I'm going to have to charge you half price for it."

        "That shouldn't count.  I wasn't ready and I would never hit a
girl."  Ranma was slowly beginning to get puzzled at Ukyo's behavior.
She had not glomped onto him at all.  The tackle she gave him was not
at all intimate.  Now, she was charging him for okonomiyaki.

        "Quit whining.  Come on.  Let's go to my shop.  Konatsu can
only handle so many customers by himself."

        "Whining!?"  Ranma's thoughts were interrupted as he tried to
catch up to his giggling friend.

                               * * * * *

        Ranma could only stare in shock at his okonomiyaki.  A plain,
beef one with a smiley face a drawn in sauce.  Nothing special, nothing
fancy, and no heart shaped designs on it.  Just like when they were
kids.

        "What's the matter Ranchan?  You haven't even touched your food
yet.  If you don't want it, I could always give it to Konatsu."  Ukyo
giggled as Ranma immediately sucked up his plate.  "Do you want to tell
me again what was bothering you yesterday?  I'm ready to listen now."

        Ranma could not believe the change in Ukyo.  She was treating
him exactly like she did when they were little.  She had not said
anything about their engagement the whole day.  Maybe she had given up
on him and found another person that she liked.  Maybe it's Ryoga.
They did seem to get along during that trip to that tunnel of love.  Oh
well, as long as she was still his friend, he didn't really care.  He
had his Ucchan back.

                               * * * * *

        Ranma had a silly grin on his face as he entered the dojo.
Today had been perfect.  He got many things that were bothering him off
his chest.  He rediscovered the friend he had thought he had lost in
Ukyo.  Also, there was that delicious okonomiyaki.

        Akane was in the dojo practicing when she noticed Ranma
entering.  He sure looked like he was happy.  "Ranma, what are you
grinning about."

        Ranma's eyes twinkled.  "Oh nothing.  Just thinking about
food."

        "That would make you happy."

        "You can't imagine.  Anyway, I'm tired right now.  I think I'll
turn in.  Have a good nights sleep."

        Akane stared at Ranma.  What just happened here?  She and Ranma
actually had a pleasant conversation after they had a fight that just
happened a day ago.  Not one single insult was thrown.  Looking outside
she could see that the moon had not suddenly turned blue.  Ranma must
really be in a good mood.  The only time they could ever talk with each
other after they had an argument was when they had both calmed down.
This usually took more than a day.  She wondered what he ate today and
if he brought any back with him.

                               * * * * *

        Ranma easily dodged the twenty or so spatulas being thrown his
way.  "Who's getting slow now, Ucchan?"  Ranma shrugged off Ukyo as she
tackled him to the ground.  In less than no time, Ranma was able to
reach his goal.  An okonomiyaki.  "Wahoo!  I get it for free today."

        Ukyo mock growled at Ranma.  "I'll get you next time, Saotome."

        Ranma laughed at Ukyo's impersonation of Kuno.  Actually, it
could have been an imitation of Ryoga.  Could it be Mousse she was
impersonating?  Ranma shook his head.  He sure had many enemies.
"Well, Ucchan.  Have you decided what you want to do today?"

        "I don't know.  What do you want to do?"

        "I don't know?  Do you want to just hang around and talk."

        "Sure.  I have nothing better to do.  Konatsu can handle the
counter for awhile."

        Ranma usually spent his weekend with Ukyo at Ucchan's.  He did
not really have anything to do during his days off from school.  Akane
usually went out with her classmates.  The fights he was challenged to
did not happen very often.  He was not interested in hanging out with
Hiroshi and Daisuke.  All they wanted to do was scope out girls.  Ranma
had enough problems with girls.  All this meant was that Ranma ended up
having inane conversations with Ukyo while she worked, every weekend.
It was better than sleeping the day off.  Ranma smiled at that thought.
It was much better.

                               * * * * *

        Hiroshi and Daisuke quickly grabbed Ranma as school ended.
Hiroshi was looking at him conspiratorially.  "Ranma, I've heard that
you've been spending a lot of time with Ukyo.  Does that mean, Akane's
now free?"

        "What are you talking about?  Me and Ukyo are just friends."

        Daisuke gave him a lecherous grin.  "How can the greatest
womanizer of them all be just friends with a girl?"

        "Ukyo is a very old friend of mine.  She's comfortable to be
around."

        "You mean like a boy?"  Hiroshi was quickly losing interest in
this talk.  He guessed that Akane was not free after all.

        "Uh... Yeah.  Like a boy."  Ranma stuttered.  As soon as those
words left his mouth, Ranma shuddered.  Those words had a strange
effect on him.  They galled him.  They galled him to no end.

                               * * * * *

        Ukyo could not stop the tears that streamed down her face.  She
hid behind the corner as she heard Ranma continue to talk with Hiroshi
and Daisuke.  'Like a boy.'  Those words reverberated through her
brain.  She wiped back her tears.  She should not have been surprised.
She knew what the consequences of reverting to the way she treated
Ranma when they were children would be.  Ranma did not at all see her
as a girl when they were children and he did not see her as one now.
In trying to make Ranma a little happier, she had given up her only
chance at being his wife.

                               * * * * *

        Ranma could not sleep.  His thoughts kept on going back to what
he said about Ukyo.  He had been lying when he said that he felt
comfortable around Ukyo.  Lately, his heart quickened, his body
sweated, and his mind went numb whenever he saw her.  Needless to say,
that their conversations became strictly one sided.  Ukyo did not seem
to mind.  She told him of her adventures while she roamed Japan in
search of him.  Her life was almost an exact copy of his.  She never
stayed at any place for long, never made many friends and always
trained in the art of okonomiyaki cooking and fighting at every
possible moment.

        Somehow, over the past few weeks, Ranma had come to see Ukyo in
a very different light.  He discovered many things about her that he
didn't know before.  He had been ashamed to learn that he didn't know
so much about his so-called best friend.

        Frustrated, Ranma got out of bed.  He couldn't get what he said
about Ukyo out of his mind.  'She's comfortable to be around... Like a
boy.' The words felt very wrong to him.  Although Ukyo hadn't been
there, Ranma felt the need to apologize to her.  He had to see her or
he would never get any sleep.

                               * * * * *

        Ranma ran as fast as he could away from Ucchan's.  He could not
get the image of Ukyo out of his mind.  The image of Ukyo crying
herself to sleep.  When he had gotten to the restaurant, he had climbed
up to Ukyo's window and looked in.  He had wanted to talk to her
without waking Konatsu.  However, he lost all thought of talking the
moment he looked inside the window.  He could still hear the words she
had mumbled in her sleep.  'Ranchan, I love you.  Don't leave me.'
Repeatedly she said those lines.  Ranma had seen and heard enough and
fled as fast as possible.

                               * * * * *

        Ranma could only look in despair as Ukyo chatted happily with
him.  How she could keep the illusion up when it was obviously hurting
her so much?  Ranma had pieced together what was happening that night
he caught Ukyo crying.  How could he have been so stupid?  He should
have noticed that there was something wrong with Ukyo when she stopped
chasing after him.  There had been no new person in her life as he had
guessed.  The moment she stopped forcing herself on him had been the
same day he stormed out of Ucchan's.  He had told her then that he
wanted a friend.  Apparently she took what he said to heart and gave
him what he wanted.  She was doing everything entirely for his benefit.

        Ranma could feel his heart crack every time he looked in Ukyo's
cheery face.  Looking carefully, he could see heavy makeup applied
under her eyes.  No doubt, this was done to conceal the fact that she
had recently cried.  Again, Ranma berated himself for being so stupid.
How could he call himself a friend, when he couldn't even tell if Ukyo
was happy or not.  He had been so self-absorbed in his own happiness
that he neglected to see how Ukyo was feeling.  Ranma could not stand
it anymore.  Before Ukyo could say anything, Ranma grabbed her and
dragged her out of the restaurant.

                               * * * * *

        "So, you know."  It was more of statement than a question.
Ukyo sighed.  Ranma had brought her to the top of her restaurant so
that he could talk with her in private.  There he had told her of what
he saw and heard the other night.

        Ranma fidgeted.  "Yeah.  I know."

        After a long silence, Ukyo finally spoke up.  "You were so sad
and lonely that day.  It was then that I noticed that you didn't really
have anyone to turn to. So I changed myself.  I changed myself to
become the perfect friend for you.  That meant that I would have give
up on any thought of marriage.  I knew that a real friend would never
put any of that type of pressure on you."

        "I never asked you to do this."

        "I know.  I just wanted you to be happy more often.  If that
meant giving up my own hopes, then so be it."

        Ranma looked worriedly at Ukyo.  She was so depressed.  Ranma
was beginning to get angry at the whole situation.  "Stop it, Ukyo.
Stop what you're saying right now.  I don't deserve all this kindness
from you.  I haven't really treated well enough for you to do all this
for me.  It would be dumb for you to make yourself unhappy over someone
like me."

        "I guess I'm not very smart.  I love you, you idiot.  There is
nothing that I would not do to make you happy."

        "Ucchan, do you really think that I would be happy knowing that
you were so depressed all the time.  The only thing that would make me
happy right now is to see you smile.  A real smile, not the fake ones
you have been giving me recently.  I want you to go back to the way you
were before."

        Ukyo knew when she was beat.  Ranma knew everything was an act.
"Alright, Ranma.  But, we can still be friends can't we?"

        Ranma could not say no to Ukyo's pleading eyes.  This meant
very much to her.  "Of course, silly.  I didn't mean what I said that
day.  I will always consider you to be my friend, even if you are more
than a little harsh whenever you talk about Akane or Shampoo."

        Ukyo breathed a sigh of relief.  "You know what?  It wasn't all
an act.  I really did enjoy our time together.  Just like old times."

        Ranma couldn't help but smile at his Ucchan.  Ranma then
remembered the reason he wanted to see Ukyo the night he discovered her
secret.  "Ukyo, I wanted you to know didn't really think of you as just
one of the guys.  I was very much aware of you being a girl and I don't
mind that in the least bit."

        Ukyo looked at Ranma seductively.  "Oh REALLY!  I thought I
felt a little touching in wrong places during our scuffles together.
Or maybe I should say, in all the right places."  Ukyo laughed as Ranma
blushed furiously.  "Just kidding!"  Ukyo laughed again as she jumped
down and went back into the restaurant.

        Ranma smiled.  "That's my Ucchan."  He followed her back
inside.

                               * * * * *

Chapter 2

        Ms. Hinako did her best to glare at the kids before her.
Despite the fact that it ended up looking like her cute little face was
only squinting, the students quailed in their seats at it.  Experience
had taught them all that you did not go against the wishes of the
seeming child in front of the class.  "You all know about the dance
tomorrow night.  I want you all to be on your very best behavior.  If
you still haven't gotten a date yet, you better hurry or else you'll be
alone.  Everyone will be there, right?"

        Ukyo scowled at the teacher.  Hinako-sensei had a distinct lack
of tact.  There was no way she was going to be alone tomorrow night.
She and Ranma were going to be there.  All that was needed for that to
happen was for Ranma to ask her to it.  She turned to smile at him from
across the room.  He was not smiling back.

        Ranma wanted to pound his head onto the desk.  Why did the
stupid school have to hold a stupid dance anyway?  He knew for a fact
that Hinako didn't want anyone missing the dance that she was
personally supervising.  She wouldn't be happy if her number one target
skipped out on her.  He didn't like the prospect of fighting her off
every day as that meant he had to touch her certain places that made
the rest of his suitors see red.  He blanched as Ukyo smiled at him.
He paled even further at the faint aura of darkness the surrounded
Akane.  He needed to find someone to take Uk... one of the girls off
his hands.

        Akane pointedly did not look at Ranma.  Why hadn't he said
anything yet?  It wasn't as if she wanted him to ask her, but she
wouldn't say no if he did.

        Ukyo did not like the looks Ranma and Akane were passing to
each other.  She passed if off as the both of them having gas.  After
all, hasn't Akane told Ranma enough times that she didn't want him?
Time to put the plan into action.

                               * * * * *

        "H... Hi, Ukyo.  Nice weather we're having, right?"  Man, he
must be slipping, Ranma thought to himself.  She caught him off guard
and he was backed up between the okonomiyaki chef and the wall.

        "Ranchan, about the dance tomorrow..." Ukyo said demurely.  She
slowly leaned in further towards the flustered boy.  She was so close
she could feel the tension in his body.

        Ranma tried his best not to freak out.  The only way to get
free was to forcibly push her away.  Any thought of doing that was lost
to him when he saw her innocent looking face.  She probably talked this
close to everybody.  "Yeah, about that dance, I was wondering if..."

        "If I would accept your invitation?  Of course, silly.  Thanks
for asking me.  Pick me up at seven okay?"  Ukyo abruptly straightened
up and smiled winsomely at Ranma.  Let's see him turn me down now.

        "That's not what I meant."  Ranma quickly tried to explain.

        "You didn't..." Ukyo made sure to add a little quavering to her
lips as her voice broke.

        Was she going to cry?  She looked awfully sad.  "No... I meant
that seven thirty would be a better time."  Damn.

        "Oh, okay."  Ukyo immediately found her smile again.  "I'll see
you then.  It's time for my gym and I have to get to the field."

        Ranma hung his head in shame.  Boy, he was weak sometimes.  He
did not feel like telling Akane of his choice.  Maybe, he could keep it
from her until the last minute.  Fat chance, knowing his luck.


                               * * * * *

        Ukyo frowned as she watched Ranma sit on the sidelines.  Gym
was usually his favorite class as it was the only subject that allowed
him to use his physical prowess.  He didn't look happy.  Why shouldn't
he be happy?  He just asked me to the dance.  She ignored the little
voice in her head that told her that Ranma maybe wanted to ask someone
else.

        He asked her and that was all that mattered.  Her frown
deepened as she saw Ranma's gaze turn towards a group of girls at the
baseball diamond.  Akane was at bat.  Akane looked quite irritated.

        Tough luck!  All was fair in love and war as the saying goes.
She saw Ranma's dejected head sink lower.  NO!  She won't give in.

        Ranma raised a hand to his eyes and rubbed.

        Was he crying?  No... She got him fairly.  Akane should have
asked him earlier.  Ranma was still rubbing his eyes.  No... Damn it,
who was she kidding?  Ukyo ignored the gym teacher's ranting as she
headed over to the boys' side of the field.

                               * * * * *

        Ranma rubbed his eyes furiously.  How much sand could have
gotten into his eye with that little gust of wind?  When he was finally
able to see again, he saw a sad Ukyo in front of him.  "Ukyo!  What are
you doing here?  Isn't your class over on that side?"

        The redness of his eyes broke whatever hope Ukyo had of
ignoring her feelings of guilt.  "I'm not feeling very well.  I think
I'm catching something.  I'll have to cancel that dance tomorrow,
okay?"

        "Sure!"  Ranma couldn't believe his luck.  "I hope you get
better, Ucchan.  I'll come by and see you tomorrow if you need help
around the restaurant before the dance."

        Ukyo grimaced.  He didn't have to be so enthusiastic about it.
She didn't think she could bear it if she saw him tomorrow.  She didn't
want her face rubbed into her stupid decision even further.  "No,
Konatsu should be able to do it by himself.  Most of the customers are
students anyway and I don't think there'll be many tomorrow."

        "Okay.  I'll see you later then."  Ranma leapt up to his feet
and raced towards the baseball diamond.  Already the lines he was going
to say popped into his head.  If you're not doing anything and I know
that a tomboy like you probably didn't get asked, you want go with me?
That's perfect.

        Ukyo didn't even watch as Ranma left.  She could guess where he
was headed but denying it helped her gain a hold on her sanity.
Slowly, as if her feet suddenly grew about a hundred pounds heavier,
she walked home.

                               * * * * *

        Dance.  The word curiously struck Ukyo in the heart.  Hard.
All through her life she had never gone to one.  Gone to one as a girl
that is.  Dance was often a requirement in some of the gym classes she
had been in.  Never once had she danced with a boy growing up.

        Not that she minded at the time.  At least that was what she
had felt until she reunited with Ranma.  Her revenge on Ranma
overpowered any emotion that remotely resembled a female's.  With her
obsession with revenge gone, she gradually began to regret all the
things she missed while growing up.  One of them was dancing with a
boy.

        It was silly in this modern age of growing feminism, but she
couldn't deny the urgent need for a man's arms around her.  In all her
fantasies of dancing, her male partner was always Ranma.  She could
imagine him leading her through the steps even now.  Him leading her,
while she followed.  At times far apart and at others close together.
Very close together.

        She sighed at another lost chance.  A chance that she had
foolishly given away.  She really hadn't cared if Akane wanted to go
with Ranma or anyone else that mattered.  She had needed only the look
on his face to make her decision.

        Why?  Because he called her cute?  Because it wasn't really his
fault for leaving her behind?  Because he didn't forget her?  Perhaps,
it was all those reasons or perhaps not.  What mattered was that Ranma
was the one that gave her back her femininity.  She had thought that
the dance would prove it to everyone, to Ranma, and most importantly
herself.  If Ranma had a dilemma, it would only be fair of her to help
him out.  It did not mean she had to like it, however.

        Ukyo looked up from her thoughts as saw her restaurant a block
away.  Another lonely night, it would seem.  The last block seemed even
more difficult to walk.

                               * * * * *

The next day...

        Ranma held out an arm shyly as Akane stepped down the stairs to
greet him.  Akane did not look at all uncute today.  Not uncute at all.

        Akane smiled as she took hold of Ranma's arm and whispered
conspiratorially.  "Let's get out of here, fast.  Kasumi and Auntie are
holding the parents at bay in the living room."

        "Yeah, knowing them, we'd have to beat them off with a stick
before we could get them to shut up about the wedding."  Both of them
quietly sneaked out of the house.

                               * * * * *

        "Saotome, you cad!  How dare you take advantage of the lovely
flower that is Tendo Akane?  Have at you."  Kuno stared at the evil
sorcerer, enraged at the what he saw.  He immediately struck out with
his bokken.  Everything within the range of the wooden sword was
crushed with the onslaught.  Unfortunately, this meant also the punch
bowl on the snack table.

        <Splash>

        Ranma shook the punch out of her hair.  The stupid jerk Kuno!
"I'm not taking advantage of her, you idiot.  You're supposed to stand
close for that song."

        "Pigtailed girl!  Where did you come from?"  That was the last
that he could say as Hinako pulled out a five yen coin and drained the
modern samurai of his battle aura.

        "I told you.  There is to be no disruption while I'm here."
Hinako's throaty reply to the scared looks she was receiving turned
half of them to looks of lust.  This caused some bruised heads as their
partners whacked the boys looking.

        Ranma turned disgustedly away from hole in the ceiling and gave
his attention once again to Akane.  She had a funny expression on her
face.  "What is it?"

        "Aren't you going to turn back?" Akane asked.  Already she
could hear the whispers going around her.

        "The rest of the school is off limits.  The principal got a lot
of flak the last time we roamed around at night.  The water in the
bathroom here isn't near hot enough to change me."

        "Well, we can't dance with you looking like that."  She did not
want that ugly rumor of her to resurface at all.

        "Why not?  Except for Kuno, everyone here knows that I'm a
boy."  It was true.  It was hard to hide a secret like that from an
entire student body for a year.

        "Think of what it looks like." Akane nearly shouted, but kept
her voice low.

        "Well, what can I do about it?" Ranma asked her with growing
irritation.

        "Maybe, you can go to Dr. Tofu's and get some hot water.  It's
not that far from the school."  Anything was better than dancing the
whole night with him like that.

        "Okay, okay.  I'll be back in a sec."

                               * * * * *

        Damn.  Dr. Tofu wasn't home.  There was no way Ranma was going
to the Nekohanten, the next closest place, dressed in a tux.  It would
have to be Ucchan's then.  She could see how Ukyo was doing with that
sudden virus in the meantime.

                               * * * * *

        "Ucchan?"

        Ukyo looked up from the grill to see a red-haired girl dressed
in an oversized tuxedo.  "Ranma?  What are you doing here?"

        "I could ask you the same question.  You're not supposed to be
up if you're sick.  Remember the last time?  Do you really want Konatsu
to run the restaurant for a whole week?"

        "Um... I'm feeling much better now.  See?"  Ukyo brought her
face close to Ranma for inspection.

        Ukyo's face was a little pale and red around the eyes, but
otherwise seemed normal enough.  "Okay, then.  As long as you take it
easy.  Anyway, I need some hot water.  Kuno splashed me with some punch
and I couldn't get hot enough water at the school," Ranma explained.

        "Okay, wait a moment.  I'll get Konatsu to heat some up right
now."

        The ninja nodded politely and headed for the went about
preparing what Ranma needed.

        "Thanks, Konatsu.  Looks, pretty quiet tonight."  Ranma said as
he tried to strike up a conversation while he waited.

        "Yeah, looks like nearly every student went to the dance or at
least my regulars.  How is it going by the way?"

        "So-so," Ranma said, attempting to wave off the question.

        Something was wrong, Ukyo could tell.  "What's the matter
Ranma?"

        "Nothing," Ranma lied and rather poorly at that.

        "If it's about Akane, I promise I won't say anything badly
about her."  They had both agreed not talk about the other suitors, as
it tended to get in the way of their friendship.  But, Ukyo didn't like
how Ranma was acting and decided to chance it.

        "It has nothing to do with her.  Well, maybe a little.  It's
just that after I finally start to accept this stupid curse, I hate it
again.  It gets in the way of what I want to do.  It doesn't look right
dancing with a girl as a girl."

        "But doesn't everyone at the school know that you're not really
a girl?"

        "Yeah, it still looks weird."  That was the reason he had given
Akane, but he had to admit that to others it did look weird.

        "Weird?  I'll have you know that I danced with girls before and
I had to live with it."

        "That's when you were living as a guy.  You mean you wouldn't
care if you had to dance with me as a girl?  Everyone knows you're a
girl now, despite what you dress like."

        "No, I wouldn't care.  It doesn't matter what you look like,
it's what's on the inside that counts."

        "You do know how cheesy that sounds, right?"

        "Hey, don't knock it.  It works on most to the students that
come here after being dumped.  You wouldn't believe how enticing a warm
okonomiyaki and a good ear could be.  I'll prove it to you.  May, I
have this dance?"  Ukyo stepped from around the counter and held out a
hand to the flushing boy, currently in girl form.

        "Ucchan, now you're being silly.  It might be slow in here, but
you still have customers and they know you're a girl too."  Ranma did
not like how the conversation had changed direction.

        "What?  The great and fearless Saotome is really a chicken?"
Ukyo laughed at Ranma as anger flickered across her face.

        "Chicken!?  I'll show you.  Come here."  Ranma grabbed Ukyo and
held her a half an arms distance away.  As if waiting for some
imaginary music to start, Ranma slowly stepped into the dance steps he
had learned during gym class.

        Ukyo nearly laughed as she felt herself wanting to lead.  She
stifled it as she knew Ranma wouldn't like it.  If she could only see
how she looked.  A smaller girl in a tuxedo leading a girl dressed in
men's clothes.  Not exactly how she envisioned her first dance to be.

        Ranma tried not to panic as Ukyo closed the gap between them.
Ukyo wasn't having any problems with this?  Two girls close together in
the middle of her restaurant slow dancing.  Ranma smiled as she could
feel the other girl clearly fighting with herself.  Ukyo must have been
used to leading.

        Ukyo was surprised to find her head looking over Ranma's
shoulder while her arms were wrapped around the very slim waist.  If
only he had been a guy right now.

        "Ahem... Ukyo-sama, the water is ready."  Konatsu held out a
kettle of steaming water.

        Ukyo reluctantly let go of Ranma.  Even if he was in girl form
at the time, it had still been a very nice little dance.

        Ranma found herself regretting that she had to leave soon and
rejoin Akane.  It had been nice.  It made her forget why she wanted to
get rid of the curse if only for a moment.  She upended some of the hot
water over herself, now himself, and poured the rest into a thermos
that Konatsu had thoughtfully provided.

        "I guess, I'll see you later, Ranma," Ukyo glumly said as she
started to go back around the counter.

        Boy, she sounded sad.  She must have really wanted to go to the
dance with him, Ranma thought.  One more shouldn't hurt.  "Um... before
I go, do you mind if I have another dance?  It was different dancing as
a girl and I got used to it.  Another dance in my guy form should clear
that problem."

        Ukyo could not believe how at the same time, words could sound
so fake and wonderful.  "Sure, that's what friends are for."

        Ranma held out his hands and surprisingly didn't even flinch
this time as Ukyo and him did another slow dance.  Ukyo didn't even try
to lead this time.

                               * * * * *

Chapter 3

        Akane stared into the mirror.  Her thoughts wandered back to the boy
that always seemed to be lurking in the deep recesses of her mind.  Was
he thinking about what she was?  She could still hear her friends
teasing her about the English assignment.

                        * * * * *

        "You're so lucky.  When you and Ranma marry, the both of you are going
to be living in such a nice home.  You'll both be teaching in the dojo
and taking care of your babies at the same time," Yuka sighed.

        "I'm not only going to be teaching.  I want to perform on stage too...
and who said anything about marrying Ranma!?"

        Sayuri giggled.  "You didn't deny it outright.  So you must have been
thinking about it.  This assignment is going to be a piece of cake for
you."

        Yuka and Sayuri then began to sing while they ran away from their
friend.  "Ranma and Akane, sitting in a..."

        "Hey!" Akane yelled out as she chased her two giggling friends.

                        * * * * *

        Akane looked into the mirror again.  Damn.  She just couldn't stop
blushing.  She sighed and decided to just give up and face the music.
After trying unsuccessfully to compose her features again, she got up
and walked out of her room to Ranma's room in the dojo.  She walked in
to see him sprawled on the floor, biting his pencil with a look of
frustration on his face.  Her heart became flustered as Ranma turned and
smiled as he looked up at her.

        "Great, you're here Akane.  You've got to help me with this dumb
assignment."

        Akane was slightly disappointed that he only smiled because of that.
Not to be put off from her good mood, she walked over to sit where he
was and put her own books down on the floor.  "You should really learn
to do your homework yourself, Ranma."

        Ranma wouldn't have complained if he had seen Akane's face.  He would
have seen that she didn't mean what she said at all.  "Aww, you know
this stuff is harder for me.  You stop going to school for almost a year
and they suddenly change everything on you."

        "Anyway, wh... what are you having problems with?" Akane asked, though
she already knew the answer.  She hoped Ranma wouldn't notice the
wavering in her voice.

        "The English assignment.  'Write your plans for the future using only
English in a short paragraph'.  My worst subject and of course it would
have to be Ms. Hinako that teaches it."  It really wasn't worth the
effort to touch his teacher's pressure points as he would invariably be
pounded on anyway.  But, his pride wouldn't let his teacher get the
better of him.  It usually resulted in him bruised and sore from attacks
by any and usually all of his various suitors afterward.  None of them
liked him touching Hinako in any way.

        "Here, why don't you write it out in Japanese first and then we'll
translate it after?" Akane asked helpfully.  The blood rushed to her
face as she continued.  "I could show you mine as an example."

        "Hey, would you?  That'd be great.  Here let's see.  This is what you
wrote in Japanese first?"

        Akane nodded slowly, afraid to speak.  She fought it off and finally
found the nerve to recite what she had written.

        "I plan on finishing high school.  I will follow up with a degree in
performing arts when I get to university.  After that, I plan to have a
career on the stage and later acting.  I hope to make room for the other
interest in my life which is teaching the Tendo-ryu half of anything
goes at my family's Anything Goes Dojo."

        Akane finished and managed to risk a glance at her fiancé.  She had
deliberately kept the name of the dojo different.  Her eyes met Ranma's
for a moment.

        Ranma suddenly found himself staring into Akane's eyes.  The dojo and
the engagement.  Without even meaning to, Akane had reminded him of his
inheritance.  Their inheritance.  It seemed this business about the
fiancées popped up more frequently ever since his near marriage to
Akane.

        In truth, he really couldn't decide on what his feelings on the matter
were.  He knew that he would like to eventually marry HER, if he could
only find away to do it without hurting the others too much.  His
thoughts on his half of the dojo, however, were another matter
entirely.  On one hand, he loved it.  It was nice to be able to train in
one place once in awhile.  The dojo would always be here for him.  His
parents and friends lived here.

        However, he could never think of it as his own.  His mind would
remember back when he first came here.  His father had engaged him to a
Tendo in hopes of uniting the two schools.  In hopes of this
inheritance, Ranma was also sure.  He would be master of the dojo simply
because of a simple engagement made so long ago.  He felt it cheapened
his relationship with HER.  That reason alone made him sick of it.

        Also, somewhere deep in his mind a question and a face rose up whenever
the dojo popped up in his mind.  What did he really want?  Another girl
besides HER started appearing more and more in his mind in the recent
weeks.  He felt very content about this girl, almost as content with the
girl in front of him.

        <Growl>

        Akane blinked.  Her eyes broke contact with the warring emotions on
Ranma's face.  Trust Ranma to ruin the mood.  "I didn't know it was so
late.  Auntie and Kasumi both had plans today, so everybody else is
fending for themselves tonight for dinner.  I'll go make something for
us to eat."

        Ranma panicked.  Though, Akane had improved slightly because of his
mother's influence, four times out of five she messed up.  Without
supervision, he hesitated to think what would happen.  "Oh, wait Akane!
This will be the third time in a row you cooked for me.  It's not fair
of me.  I should help out once in awhile.  Besides, I've got some free
coupons Ucchan's."

        Akane frowned suspiciously, but couldn't find a reason to get angry
with that.  It was funny in a way that Ranma would need coupons now.
Ukyo had taken to charging Ranma for all the food he ate and giving him
a free meal only when he ate enough to cover the expenses.  Maybe Ukyo
was starting to get the idea that Ranma was taken.  She wondered what
brought that change about.

        Seeing that Akane didn't disagree with him.  Ranma headed out the
door.  "I'll be back with the orders soon."

                        * * * * *

        Ukyo tried very hard to remain optimistic, but was finding it
increasingly difficult.  She had seen the look on Akane's face and was
not at all happy about it.  She had heard Yuka and Sayuri's teasing of
their friend very clearly.  They had been right.  Akane did not deny her
engagement to Ranma as fast as she would have liked.  She was normally
confident that she would win out over Akane in the fiancée race, but
lately that had begun to change.

        For some reason, Ranma seemed to a much nicer person these days and did
not insult Akane as much.  As a result, Akane hardly hit Ranma anymore.
They got along very well when she watched them together which caused the
pain she felt in her heart to become more acute as well.  The look on
Akane's face was one of confidence, much like she once had.  She groaned
and wondered if she was reading too much into things.

        She then noticed Ranma walking outside of her window.  She looked down
at the homework, Hinako had assigned.  She wished that she could be as
confident as Akane had appeared.

                        * * * * *

        Ranma grinned warmly as he walked into Ucchan's.  With the initial
dinner rush over, the number of people in the restaurant dwindled to
only a few people.  Ranma liked the quiet atmosphere of the cozy place
best.  Konatsu was behind the grill and was handling the orders.  Ranma
had to hand it to the ninja's speed in learning the fundamentals of
okonomiyaki cooking.  He gave his order to Konatsu before looking for
his old friend.

        Ukyo sat by one of the stalls, no doubt doing her homework.  Ranma
shook his head admiringly.  He still wondered how she was able to go to
school, manage a restaurant, and train in the art.  "Hey, Ucchan!"

        Ukyo's spirits lifted as she watched her fiancé walk up to her.
"Ranchan!  I was wondering when you would come and redeem those
coupons.  Wasn't like you to give up a free meal."

        Ranma grimaced.  "Since you started charging me for food, I've had to
save every coupon I got.  Came in handy too.  Mother and Kasumi are out
shopping.  We're left finding food for ourselves.  Anyway, what's up?
You looked liked someone died when I came in here."

        Ukyo spirits fell again as she remembered her problem.  "It's this
stupid assignment.  I can't think of what to write."

        Ranma was surprised.  He remembered all the gossiping after class was
finished.  It seemed everyone in the room had big plans.  Hiroshi and
Daisuke planned to be hentai manga artists.  Akane's two friends all
wanted to join his fiancée in acting.  There were talks of doctors and
engineers floating around.  Ranma had felt a slightly uncomfortable when
talk turned to how he was going to become some big time trophy winning
martial artist.  He gagged at the thought.  "What?  I thought you would
have it easy.  Become a world famous okonomiyaki chef and run a chain of
restaurants."

        "Not you too?  Everybody had been assuming that the whole day.  It
sounds like a great idea, but I personally don't care for it."

        Ranma blinked.  "Why not?  I thought okonomiyaki was your life."

        Ukyo's face became wistful as she thought.  "It is my life.  I want to
be the best okonomiyaki chef in the world.  Having a chain of
restaurants doesn't prove that.  Before me, I always believed my father
was the best.  He didn't even own a restaurant.  We traveled throughout
Japan selling okonomiyaki with only the yatai.  Everywhere we went
people would flock up to him and proclaim him the best."

        Ranma flinched at the mentioning of the yatai.  It was something he
knew he could never repay Ukyo.  "That's what you plan to do?"

        "Maybe.  Staying in this one place means I would only be able to touch
a few people with my food.  With a chain of stores, more people can
enjoy it.  But at the same time, I would never be sure.  I can't be
everywhere at once.  Here, I can at least supervise Konatsu and know
that he is doing a good job.  So my best bet I think would be to hit the
road with my husband when I get married."  Ukyo blushed red as she
looked at Ranma.

                        * * * * *

        "This is the best okonomiyaki I ever tasted."

        "Thank you.  My husband made that one.  He's almost as good as me now."

        "Really?  Give me a couple more made by you."

        "Ranchan, don't feel bad."

        "Don't worry Ucchan.  You're the best!"

                        * * * * *

        Ranma, of course missed Ukyo's not so subtle prodding.  "That's a nice
thought, Ukyo.  My idea is almost the same."

        Ukyo was slightly disappointed in Ranma's less than preferred reaction
to her words.  She was happy nonetheless that he had planned the same
type of future.  "Oh?  No trophies and expansion of Anything Goes?"

        Ranma made a face at that.  "Have you seen some of those guys on TV?
It wouldn't even be a challenge.  I'd probably get laughed at by Ryoga
and Mousse if ever sank that low.  As for teaching, I haven't learned
everything myself yet.  I still have a long way to go before I even
think of opening up a dojo."

        Ukyo's hopes raised even more at the sound of this.  "Really?  So what
exactly are your exact plans?"

        "Now, don't laugh at this.  I figure I'd drag pop back on our training
trips.  No, not a ten-year long one.  Ones that last a few months so
that we can visit mother every once in a while.  Or maybe we'll take her
with us.  It's not like she's never traveled before.  Probably go down
to china again or follow Ryoga on one of his training routes."

        Ukyo didn't like the sound of that.  How long would it be until Ranma
decided to settle down?  "That's it?  Just training?"

        "Actually, I just got that right now from talking with you.  Expanding
Anything Goes won't prove that I'm the best.  There are other arts out
there.  Being the biggest doesn't mean you're the best.  I want to train
against all the other arts out there and maybe when I'm ready, I'll
develop my own style just like pop and Happosai did."

        Ukyo decided to try again, but the wistful look on Ranma stopped her
short.  She imagined he looked as she did when she talked about her
goal.  "I... I wish you luck, Ranma."

        "Hey, thanks Ucchan!  Maybe we can see each other on the road and
travel once in a while together," Ranma grinned.

        Ukyo smiled back.  Not the admission she wanted from Ranma but Ukyo
didn't feel like it was all that bad.  She held Ranma's eyes as she
whispered back, "I'd like that, Ranchan."

        Ranma gulped as he tried to look away but found that he could not.  The
abrupt change in the mood did not go unnoticed by him this time
amazingly enough.  The way she caressed his name with her voice
fascinated him and made him wonder about what his 'cute' fiancée
intended to do as she leaned in closer to him.

        "You're okonomiyaki orders are ready," Konatsu said as he crept up
softly towards his Ukyo-sama's table.

        Ukyo suddenly found herself looking at the back of Ranma's head.  She
briefly considered firing Konatsu.  She secretly wondered if the ninja
was deliberately messing up the moments of closeness between her and
Ranma.  "Um, I guess I better get writing on my assignment."

        "Er, yeah, me too," Ranma said, all the while avoiding Ukyo's eyes.
His mind toyed with the idea that Kuno was starting to rub off on him,
but he quickly squashed any of that nonsense.

        Ukyo gazed at Ranma's retreating back thoughtfully.  She then looked
back at the piece of paper on the table.  She jotted a few words down.
She read it again carefully for mistakes.  Finding none, she smiled and
went to help at the grill.

        Konatsu moved unnoticed towards Ukyo's empty seat.  He passed his eyes
quickly over the paper on the table.  His keen eyesight caught the neat
printing on the paper.

        "I plan to cook okonomiyaki."

        Konatsu went back to his cleaning.

                        * * * * *

        "I plan to train in the art."

        Akane read Ranma's homework again.  "That's it?  It's not even a
paragraph."

        "Yep!  Now that I'm finished, I think I'll go and get pop to train some
more."

        Akane continued to sit there looking at the one line sentence.  Well,
at least he didn't say that he was going to marry Ukyo, Shampoo, or even
Kodachi.  That was something at least.  Wasn't it?

                        * * * * *

Chapter 4

Ukyo looked in the mirror and wondered if she should have tried the other
dress.  This one was a bit modest, but elegant.  The other one showed off
more of her body.  She thought better of it as she considered who she
would be wearing this for.  He would probably bolt the minute he caught a
hint of cleavage.

Ukyo glanced about the room one last time.  Everything was in perfect
order.  The soft sound of music could be heard playing in the background.
The lights were dimmed slightly to enhance the atmosphere.  Most of all,
the dining area was devoid of a single soul.  She had closed Ucchan's for
the night and given Konatsu the night off.  There was no way she would let
any outside interference mar this evening.  Tonight was the night she
would ask Ranma the question that had been plaguing her for almost an
entire year.

She had always been sure she knew the answer to it.  After all, she was
his 'cute' fiancée.  But lately doubts had begun to pop up in her mind.
The more time she spent around Ranma, the more she noticed little things
about him that suggested otherwise to her musings.  Though there was an
unspoken agreement between them that the topic of the engagements would
not come up in their conversations, there was no such agreement on
conversations about his other suitors in general.  The girls figured into
their lives so much it was impossible not to think of them whenever they
talked of their days.  This was the main cause of her concern.

Whenever Akane's name was mentioned, it would always draw some sort of
reaction from Ranma.  Laughter at her clumsiness, but there was never any
malice to it.  Anger at her stubborness, which he would promptly forget
after a moment.  Sadness at her angry face, which often lasted a very long
time.  Last of all, guiltiness.  It tore Ukyo's heart when his eyes
started to roam Ucchan's for any sign of Akane whenever he came here
alone.

However, if the name being mentioned was that of some other girl, like
Shampoo's, Ranma's face drew an utter blank most of the time.  Ukyo's
greatest fear was that outside of this restaurant, Ranma's face also
pulled a blank if her name was ever to come up in his presence.  Before,
she had been content to wait for Ranma to make his decision in his own
time, but events beyond her control were happening much to fast.  She had
to find out now whether or not she was right.

She wondered if she was making the mistake of her life as she waited for
Ranma to show.

                        * * * * *

"Here you go, Ukyo," the grocer said as he passed to her a bag of
vegetables.  "Making something special for you and Konatsu tonight?"

Ukyo grinned good naturedly, "Heh, a happy worker works harder and forgets
that he's being paid the lowest in the district."

The owner nodded knowingly, "A good business sense.  Hard to find that  in
one so young.  You'll make that Saotome boy a wonderful wife."  He
prudently moved to the side as Ukyo's huge spatula narrowly missed his
back.  A good girl and all, but she really needed to learn how to accept
compliments better.

Ukyo blushed beet red as she put her spatula back into place and
mock-punched the man in the shoulder instead.  "Oh, you!  We're still
young.  I mean, anything can happen in these next few years."

"Next few years?  Oh, hadn't you heard yet?  I just had a conversation
with Mrs. Saotome just this afternoon.  That woman just can't seem to wait
to have grandchildren.  She was considering on making plans with her son
to come up with a plan of action by the end of the school year."

Ukyo froze.  Ranma hadn't said anything to her about this.  "Auntie
Saotome was here, today?"

"Yeah, she and Kasumi often take turns buying the groceries.  She was off
on one of her favorite rants again.  You know the one.  A conspiracy by
the government that stops her son from being manly.  I really don't know
how she can expect the government to allow the boy to have four wives.  It
seems she's now turning to the idea of just marrying one woman and making
mistresses of the rest.  Not that I can ever see that Tendo girl, Kuno
girl, or even that amazon consenting to that..."

Ukyo turned a deaf ear to the grocer as thoughts of her own raced through
her mind.  Ranma loved his mother.  If she wanted him to marry a girl by
the end of the year, he might actually do it.  The question was, who would
he choose?  Well her of course, Ukyo strongly felt.  She was the 'cute'
fiancée.  Who else could he chose?

                        * * * * *

Ranma's danger sense immediately started to wildly warn him of impending
doom the moment he stepped into Ucchan's.  Instinctively he dropped to the
floor and rolled away from the doorway and into Ucchan's.  He glanced
around and after a brief moment of looking around, he was satisfied Akane
had not followed him.  For a moment there he had thought he was in danger.

"Oh, you came, Ranchan!" Ukyo exclaimed as she rushed to him and gave him
a friendly hug from behind.  It was then that she noticed Ranma's clothes
where ripped and shredded in some places.  "What the heck happened to
you?"  

Ranma's fear rose up again almost immediately, causing him to forget to
answer her.  Ukyo was not wearing her chest wrap.  Afraid, Ranma removed
himself from Ukyo's arms, turned to look at her and stared.  A dress.
Ukyo was wearing a dress.  A modest one that someone like Kasumi
habitually wore, but a dress nonetheless.  Ukyo definitely looked like a
girl, he couldn't help but notice.  "Uh..," he muttered intelligently as
he pointed at her.

Ukyo quickly detected the fear in Ranma's wildly roaming eyes.  She
sighed.  She would have to do it the hard way.  "Oh, this thing?  It was a
present from my mom.  It just arrived today.  Might as well make her happy
and tell her that I wore it once at least."

Ranma lowered his guard slowly.  "Hehehe!  I should have known.  I haven't
seen you wear many different clothes other than that okonomiyaki outfit.
Where the heck are all your customers or Konatsu for that matter? You'd
think this was a date or something.  I mean just the two of us eating
alone."

"Didn't I tell you over the phone?  Since finals are coming up in a month
most of the students are home studying at nights.  I figured, I'd close
the restaurant down once every other night to save on salary and expenses.
That's why Konatsu has the night off.  He didn't want to spend it here so
it made all the food I made go to waste.  That's why I called you."

Ranma laughed nervously at nothing in particular.  "I guess the dimmed
lights and music just gave me a scare.  Because you know Akane.  And
Shampoo and Kodachi of course.  If any of them caught word of a date, who
knows what might happen."

"Yeah," Ukyo muttered as she thought frantically of an excuse.  "Well,
since it was just the two of us, I didn't want to open all the lights.
Costs money you know.  The stereo is busted and will only play music from
this channel.  I was trying to get the news station, but I gave up after
awhile.  I'll try again after dinner."

A grin finally found it's way on to Ranma's face as his worries subsided.
"So, when do we eat?"

                        * * * * *

"So that was why you looked afraid when you came in the door?" Ukyo asked.

Ranma glared indignantly at Ukyo, "I was not afraid!  Just cautious.  Like
a bunch of shool boys could ever make me scared.  If Happosai hadn't
dumbed a pail of water on me and then destroyed most of my clothes with
that stupid bomb technique, I wouldn't have ran from those jocks.  Man,
and I thought Happosai was lecherous.  Those boys could give him a lesson.
Every time I hit them, they would just come back for more.  Now I know
what Akane felt like."

Ukyo couldn't help but laugh out loud at Ranma's plight.  "It was just
your luck to be in a part of town that didn't know about your curse."

"Tell me about it.  Why do these things always happen to me?" Ranma
sulked.

Ukyo looked at Ranma closely and imagined he was a girl.  With his clothes
in such a disarray and his face all pouty, he would have looked very
provactive the the average hormonal teenaged boy.  Even in boy form right
now, he looked so pitiful and vulnerable.  It made her just want to wrap
her arms around him and...

"Hey, pervert!" Ranma yelled out to get Ukyo's attention.  He
self-consciously held his tattered clothes closer to himself.  The look
Ukyo was giving him right now was exactly the same he had received earlier
from those boys.

Ukyo blushed furiously, "I am not!  Listen to yourself for crying out
loud.  I'm the girl right now, remember.  You're the guy that's half
naked.  I should be the one saying that."

"Er, yeah.  I forgot," Ranma said, sheepishily scratching the back of his
head in that all-too-familar gesture of his.  Plainly embarrassed, he
started to laugh nervously at his situation.  Ukyo soon followed suit and
added her own throaty chuckle to the sound.

Seeing that Ranma was starting to lower his guard even more, Ukyo decided
to go in for the kill.  "You know, Ranma, I've been thinking of us
lately."

Ranma stopped laughing.  He didn't like the direction the conversation was
heading.  "What about us?"

"Well, the future in general.  That assignment we got a week ago got me
thinking more and more.  Heh, the stupid thing was that I forgot to put in
the person I intended to marry," Ukyo said in a tone of voice that left no
mystery as to who that person was.

Ranma slowly backed his chair away from the table.  If he pushed just a
little bit farther, he would have a clear path to the door.

Ukyo narrowed her eyes at the sight of her prey looking as if it might get
away.  She had to slow him down.  She decided to try to shock him into
immobility.  "Stupid, right?   Wondering what brought this on?  Well, to
tell the truth, I was feeling a bit naughty just a second ago."

"W-what!?" Ranma stopped backing up and stared at Ukyo.  Her face was calm
and composed now except for her eyes.  They stared at him with the same
intensity as before.  "Haha, Ukyo.  Very funny."  But Ukyo didn't laugh
with him this time.

"I mean, why not?  We have known each other for about a year now and we
are engaged.  It's natural for me to have these feelings for you.  I mean,
don't you?" Ukyo asked directly and was inwardly shocked at her own
forwardness.  Just a moment ago she had been too shy to even wear so
modest a dress in front of him while she was finding something to wear for
this special night.  It was just that the mood was so romantic.  Both she
and Ranma were having a good time and she felt so at ease with him.

Ranma found himself rooted to the spot.  Ukyo's eyes seemed to drain every
ounce of energy from him.  Her frankness and the speed at which she was
taking things were playing hard on his current state of mind.  The truth
was, he did fantasize.  However, the girl he often thought of had shorter
hair.

Ukyo seized on Ranma's stunned reaction.  Time to finish him off.  Slowly,
she walked over to his chair and lowered her head to where his was.  A
soft whisper escaped his lips as she neared them with her own.

Ranma fought off the dizzyness.  He thought of something, anything, to
say.  Without thinking he plucked the first thing in his mind.

"I like okonomiyaki."

                        * * * * *

Ranma stepped out of the restaurant.  He looked at the night sky.  It was
clear out tonight and he could make out a few stars.  Damn.  How was he
going to hide this hand print on his face?

Wearily, he started on his way home.  He felt a drop of water land on his
hand as he walked.  Touching his cheek and avoiding the red hand print
imbedded in his face, he felt more water. Funny, the night sky had seemed
to be clear to him.

                        * * * * *

Chapter 5

        The sound of the door opening and closing was all that anounced
the return of Ranma to the dojo.  Akane sat in the couch throughout,
silently listening to Ranma's trek into the house, across the hallway, and
into the dojo where his room was.  He hadn't said a word to anyone the
entire time.

        "Wow, that's a first.  He didn't even come in to the living room
and give one of his pathetic excuses for being out so late.  I wonder if
something happened between him and whoever he was with," Nabiki wondered
aloud.

        "How should I know!?" Akane asked angrily before realising that
her sister hadn't directly asked that question and was only baiting her.
A look of pure mischief on Nabiki's face confirmed it.  Akane scowled and
decided to ignore Nabiki by going up to her room.  The silent treatment,
while a bit childish, was the best defense against Nabiki's teasing.

                        * * * * *

        Akane sighed as she stared up into the ceiling of her bedroom.
What had happened between Ranma and Ukyo, Akane wondered for the hundredth
time.  She had pretended to get a drink of water after she was sure Nabiki
was not downstairs.  She had looked through the kitchen window to see
if she could get a glimpse of anything at all that could tell her about
Ranma's strange behavior.  All she could see was the lights of the dojo
on, but no signs of movement.  It was strange that Ranma would let a nice
night like tonight go to waste.  He usually took advantage of peaceful
nights to get some training in without interuption.

        Akane was starting to get worried.  Though they saw each other
every day, Ranma would often talk with her at night, even if it was
just to say goodnight.  The rare times he did not were when she was very
angry with him or when he was hiding something.  She suspected the latter.
It was just like the big crybaby to withdraw into himself when things went
wrong.  For the life of her, she couldn't think of what could cause a rift
between Ranma and Ukyo.  A more likely theory was that Ukyo made a move on
him and he didn't want her to know.  Or maybe... arrgghh!  This was
getting nowhere.  The best thing to do was to ask him herself.

                        * * * * *

        Akane knocked on the door again for the third time.  Was he
asleep?  He couldn't be.  The lights were still on.  Again, the knocking
failed to get a response from Ranma.  She opted for the more direct
approach.  "Ranma, I know you're not asleep yet.  Is something wrong?  You
didn't even eat the leftovers Kasumi saved for you."

        "Yeah, I guess I ate a little too much at Ukyo's place," came
Ranma's voice from inside.

        He was not going to open the door?  "Oh.  Are you okay, Ranma?  I
mean you didn't even say goodnight to m... Auntie and Uncle."

        "Yeah, I'm okay.  Just very tired."

        His voice sounded tired, that was for sure.  "If you're sure."
What DID happen?

                        * * * * *

        "Ranma take Shampoo on date, yes?" Shampoo asked in her cutest
voice possible.

        "Let go of her, Ranma.  Shampoo, will you quit?  We're going to be
late for school!" Akane growled.

        Nabiki frowned as she walked from about a distance of about ten
feet from the arguing duo.  Did either of the two girls notice?  If they
did, they weren't saying anything about it to each other.  There was
something seriously wrong with Ranma.  Usually, he would put up
some sort of struggle to free himself from Shampoo and of course explain
ineffectually that the situation was not his fault to Akane.  However, this
morning he hadn't said a thing since they woke him up.  Actually, the
entire morning had been weird.

        Ranma hadn't had his daily sparring routine with Uncle Saotome.
He had hardly ate any breakfast at all.  The strangest thing of all had been
when Auntie Saotome had hinted at merging the two households soon,
Ranma hadn't even blinked.

Nabiki turned her head and watched the three teenagers behind
her.  Akane and Shampoo were still at it.  Ranma was still silently
following along.  She quickly turned around again when Ranma's eyes met
hers.  A chill came up her spine.  His eyes were vacant, almost as if he
was dead to the world around him.  Nabiki shivered again and unconsciously
walked at a faster pace away from Ranma.

                        * * * * *

        "Finally!  You were starting to freak us out, Ranma," Hiroshi
said after he and Daisuke finally got their friend to laugh.  Now what was
that joke that finally broke Ranma's shell?  Damn, he should have kept
notes.  Might make a useful pick-up line.

        Daisuke nodded in agreement.  Both he and Hiroshi had known
something was wrong with Ranma after only a few moments of seeing him.
For one thing he had been awake during English class the whole time.  It hadn't
been until lunch that they could get a chance to talk with him.  He had barely
acknowledged their existence when they grabbed him and brought him over to
their usual spot where they ate lunch and watched chicks.  After a dozen
tries to get Ranma to say something the both of them had given up and just
talked with each other instead.  It had been after Daisuke had noted that Ukyo
was not in school today that they got their first real reaction from
Ranma.

        Ranma had smiled and actually let out a small laugh.  His face had
lit up so bright, one would never had known he had been depressed in
the first place.  However, it had been immediately replaced with a look
that, if Daisuke didn't know better, was suicidal.  Ranma's entire face had
suddenly paled and looked as if he was about to throw up his lunch, not
that he had eaten any, which further proved something was wrong.  Seeing that
Ranma was again unresponsive, Daisuke shrugged and went back to gossiping
with Hiroshi.

        Ranma blinked and shook his head.  He felt as if the deep fog that
had been covering his head had suddenly lifted.  He hadn't been able to
think, sleep, or eat in the past day at all.  All because of last night.
It all came rushing back to him as the mental blocks he had put up came
crashing down with a simple word.  The mental blocks he had put up to ease
the pain he felt so deep down that it hurt simply to breathe and to live.
It took only one word to destroy the wall he had spent an entire night
sleeplessly putting up.  Ukyo.

        How could that be?  He already made his choice.  Flustered with
himself, he easily brought up the image of a short-haired girl in a gi.  The
same image he had seen the night before.  As always, it brought a smile to his
face.  He then brought up Ukyo's face in his mind.  He couldn't fight off
another smile coming to his face.  Desperately, he thought of something
else.  'I like okonomiyaki'.  Ranma threw up.

        Ranma, sickened, left Hiroshi and Daisuke sitting there gaping up
at him like fish.  "Tell the teach, I'm sick.  You guys go back to class
without me."  The thought of going back to class and staring at that empty
seat did not sit well with him.  His lack of sleep was starting to get to
him.  Yeah, that was why he wasn't feeling well.

                        * * * * *

        "Ucchan!"

        "Ranchan!"

        "If you like it, you have to take care of me the rest of my life."

        "I like okonomiyki better."

        "I think you're cute."

        "She's comfortable to be around... Like a boy."

        "It would be dumb for you to make yourself unhappy over someone
like me."

        "I guess I'm not very smart.  I love you, you idiot.  There is
nothing I would not do to make you happy."

        "You mean you wouldn't care if you had to dance with me as a
girl?"

        "No, I wouldn't care.  It doesn't matter what you look like, it's
what's on the inside that counts."

        "Hey, thanks Ucchan!  Maybe we can see each other on the road and
travel once in a while together."

        "I'd like that Ranchan."

        "I like okonomiyaki."

        "I like U..."

        Ranma woke up.  He could think clearly again.

                        * * * * *

        "Okay, Ranchan!  I'll have it ready for you in a second," Ukyo
said as she quickly started on a plain beef okonomiyaki.

        "Um, Ukyo-sama?  Who are you talking to?" Konatsu asked worriedly.
This was the tenth time Ukyo was talking to the seat in front of her.  The
cause for worry was the fact that no one was in said seat.

        Ukyo blinked.  A day ago, tears would have soon followed when
reality hit, but her tears had dried up now.  Why couldn't she wash that
man out of her hair?  Anger welled up in her as he appeared again in her
mind.  How dare he do that to her?  She had half a mind to go over to him
and give him what for.  The thought vanished as soon as it came up.

        No, she wouldn't do that.  If she did that, he would tell her for
real.  Idiot.  Hadn't that been real enough?  He said the one thing that
would prove he didn't have any feelings for her at all.  Did he really
have to make it clearer?  Did he have to say, 'I hate Ukyo!' before she
would finally give up?  Yes, she thought sadly.  He owed her that much.
Each time the door to Ucchan's opened and the chimes blew, a little bit of
her heart died.  She couldn't decide if she was hoping that he would show
up and get it over with or that he would never show up again.

        "Hello, welcome to Ucchan's.  How can I help you today, Ranma?"
Konatsu asked as the boy with the familiar looking pig-tail opened the
door.

        Ranma waved Konatsu off and went over to the counter, to his
favorite seat right in front of Ukyo.  "Nothing, right now.  I'll order at
the counter."

        Ukyo's first instinct was to grab the battle spatula in on her
back.  She wouldn't let him end it this way!

        "Hey, Ukyo.  One beef okonomiyaki, please," Ranma said softly, his
eyes not meeting the girl before him.

        No 'Ucchan', Ukyo noticed along with a sharp stab that pierced her
heart.  He hadn't come here to apologize.  It must mean he came here to
end it once and for all.  She felt that last bit of hope along with her
strength start to disappear.  Her grip on the spatula weakened and it
dropped to the floor with a clang.

        Ranma winced when Ukyo did not answer him back.  The sound of the
spatula hitting the ground reverberated throughout the restaurant.  What
was happening?  Was she going to hit him?  Ranma pushed through his
confusion and tried to find something to say.  "You know, I've been
thinking about us since I left here last night."

        Ukyo forced her body to respond.  No!  She won't go through the
same thing she went through all those years ago.  A hidden catch under her
sleeve brought forth one of her mini-spatula's into her hand.  She would be
the one that ends it this time!  She summoned all of her anger and stared
at the wretch that was going to ruin her life for the second time.  Only, she
couldn't find any.  None.  Even now as she was about to be dumped once
again, she could not find it within herself to hate him.

        "I did most of my thinking at an okonomiyaki shop on the other
side of the district.  I seem to do my best thinking on a full stomach,
heh," Ranma joked lamely.

        Ukyo finally let out a sigh.  If it was going to end, she would
hear it from his mouth.  Anything less, she feared that she would never
break the hold Ranma had held over her since she was five.  She used what
little strength her sleep deprived body had left and made Ranma's order.

        "As I was eating, I discovered something.  I didn't like
okonomiyaki at all.  I think I've eaten too many of them over the past
year.  I must have eaten about a dozen a week since you showed up in
Nerima."  Ranma took the plate Ukyo handed to him.  It was devoid of any
special messages.  He poked at the food, not bringing any of it to his mouth.

        End it!  Just end it, will you, Ranma.  Each word was like another
arrow into her already shattered heart.  He chose okonomiyaki over her and
now he didn't even like it?  Was she that much of an anoyance to him?

        Ranma finally stopped playing with the food and brought a small
piece to his mouth.  He sat there eating the food slowly until he was
done.  "Mmm... delicious.  I'm sad to see it gone.  It might be the last
I'll ever eat from you."

        Ukyo held herself still.  She could take it and she would survive it.
She should have been relieved that this chapter in her life would end with just a
few seconds more.  Relieved, she said to herself over and over as if it
were a mantra.  No more worries.

        "You must think I'm an idiot now.  Scared of not being able to eat
something I don't like very much anymore.  But that isn't the truth
exactly.  I do like it.  I like okonomiyaki... that my Ucchan cooks."

        For the second time in one night, Ukyo dropped a spatula.

        "Probably think my ego is too big right?  My Ucchan.  Like I have
any right to say that."

        "N-No..," Ukyo somehow in her shocked state tried to say.
However, she quickly lost her voice again as a wave of jumbled emotions
overwhelmed her thoughts.  No, you have every right to say it, Ukyo
wanted to say, but her mouth couldn't find the words.

        Ranma's hopes sank.  She said no.  Did he have to say the words?
Was it too late for even that?  "I like Ucchan... I like Ucchan's
okonomiyaki."  Coward, Ranma thought furiously at himself.

        Ranma's face suddenly became blurry.  Ukyo fought against the
waves of feelings that threatened to incapacitate her once again.  She
managed to bring her hand up to her face and rubbed away the tears that
she had thought would never come again.  "Ahh..."  I understand, Ukyo
wanted to say, but the words came out like as a groan.

        Ranma never knew what it felt like to die, but right then he knew
it couldn't have been more painful then what he was feeling at the moment.
He had gone too far last night.  "Sorry, for bothering you with my
thoughts again, Ukyo.  If you want, I'll never bother you again.  I just
wanted to say that I like... oh never mind."  Ranma wearily turned around
and headed for the door.

        "Stupid jackass!" Ukyo finally managed to force the words out as
she jumped over the counter.

        Hey, she didn't have to resort to name calling if she didn't
like...

        <Glomp>

        So warm.  Ukyo's arms around him made him feel so warm.  
"U-Ucchan?"

        "Ranchan," Ukyo replied to the implied question.  She turned Ranma
around and looked his eyes.  She wondered if her face was as blurry to him
as his was to her.

        Did he say it?  No, but did she understand what he wanted to say?
Her eyes told him that she did.  Oh, man.  Where did they go from here?

        Ukyo could see both happiness and confusion in Ranma's face.  Her
fiancé's face.  We take it one step at a time from here, Ranma.  For now,
all they could do was enjoy each other's presence.

                        * * * * *

The End. (maybe)