Omiyage:
Osaka II
By
Ninnik Nishukan
Author's note: Lime warning. Also, I gave Ukyo's father a name. He's Kuonji Masahiro.
"My e-engagement?" Ukyo could feel the colour draining from her face, her heart thumping wildly. This must've been why her dad had been so insistent about her coming to visit. And now she knew that this was what Grandma hadn't been telling her in Nagoya. Grandma had known that her son would have something to say about her granddaughter's engagement!
What could it be, what did her father want…? Surely he wasn't going to tell her she had to—
"Yes." Her father nodded. "You see, the thing is that I talked to Saotome Genma a few months ago, and he agreed to start paying me back for the yatai he stole from us all those years ago."
"What?" For a brief moment, she felt so completely relieved; she'd been soafraid that her father was suddenly going to push her to go through with a wedding with Ranma! Something like that would've caused all sorts of unpleasant reactions from a whole lot of people; she'd have Shampoo wanting to smash her head in with a bonbori, Kodachi trying to poison her and the entire Tendo family breathing down her neck, trying to talk her out of it, not to mention Ranma himself probably fleeing for the hills— and just when her life was going so well, too!— and if she'd been put in a position where she was supposed to be a bride-to-be, she would've been forced to ask Ryoga to move out, which she really didn't want to have to do—
—now, though, she was simply confused. What was this all about?
"Why would Mr. Saotome…?" She began tentatively.
Masahiro cleared his throat. "He's started the down-payment on the yatai in exchange for me breaking your engagement to his son."
Ukyo gaped; how could he do something like that without asking her first? "You can't be ser—"
"You can tell Saotome Ranma about it yourself, because he doesn't know it yet, but as far as I'm concerned, the engagement is now officially over." Masahiro said, every syllable clanging into place with immovable finality.
"How can you—"
Her father sent her a solemn look, cutting her off. "I have to say that I would rather not see you engaged to Saotome Ranma. For obvious reasons, the Kuonji family hasn't wished to be joined with the Saotomes for a long while."
What could she say possibly to that? She knew that. Grandma had certainly commented on it, too. Ukyo studied her father's face for a moment before speaking up.
"How did you even get that old creep to pay up? Didn't think he had any money,"
Masahiro got an odd expression on his face, a mixture of both pride and embarrassment. "I threatened to sue."
A bark of shocked laughter escaped Ukyo. "What?"
He just shrugged. "It was the only thing I could think of to do."
Despite the fact that she was deeply annoyed with her father for arranging this behind her back, Ukyo had to laugh. That had to be the silliest thing he'd ever come up with! "Maybe we should've sued, huh?" She grinned malevolently. "Might've been able to get more than whatever the yatai was worth, you know."
"If I'd thought he was good for it, I might've done it," Masahiro smirked, pleased that she didn't seem to be too mad. "Lawyers cost too much money, though."
Ukyo laughed a bit more, but then it was as if her smile simply evaporated as her laughter died away. "Dad…you could've done this differently," she said, looking at him with a stern, yet hurt expression. "You should've asked me first."
"Ukyo…" Masahiro was put off balance by the sudden drop in temperature.
"I mean it, dad." She said quietly, looking at her feet.
Her father looked chagrined. "Ukyo, please listen…I've regretted that damn deal since day one and I've wanted to break the engagement for a long time, but I waited for you to find the Saotomes so we could both have some peace of mind. And then when you finally found Ranma again, you seemed so happy about it that I couldn't tell you that you had to end it. But now it's been well over a year and there's been no change in your relationship, so I thought it was time for you to end it with your dignity intact. You're not going to end up marrying the Saotome boy, Ukyo, and I don't want you to waste any more of your life on him, and certainly not because of some stupid deal that I made years ago."
Ukyo was silent for a few moments after listening to her father's speech. When she finally looked up, her expression was carefully blank.
"I'm gonna go out for a while and think about this, okay?" She told him, ignoring his helpless expression.
"Ukyo, please, you're my only child—"He began, sounding just a little fearful; what was she planning to do? She didn't hate him, did she?
"Even more of a reason for you to be honest with me," Ukyo said firmly, looking him straight in the eye.
With that, she left, her father gaping after her.
Ukyo drew a deep breath as she leaned heavily against the door to her father's study. For the first time since she was six, Kuonji Ukyo was single.
It felt like a big joke, though; she'd always been single, just not on paper.
"Ryoga, I'm going out for a while," She told him as she passed the kitchen, where he was eating breakfast.
"Mmphhh…!" Ryoga tried to ask her where she was going and when she'd be back but his mouth was stuffed full of rice and she was already leaving.
Ukyo went into the hallway, slipping into her sandals and grabbing her handbag as she went. With each step out the door, she felt like she was letting Saotome Ranma go with a sense of finality that she hadn't felt before.
When she got back, she found Ryoga in the living room, reading the newspaper. Ukyo stood up straight and smoothed down her hair a little, clearing her throat loudly to get his attention.
"Ahem!"
"Huh?" He looked up from the newspaper, blinking at the girl in the doorway.
Ukyo grinned and did an experimental twirl, her now much perkier ponytail all but cracking like a whip. "You like?"
"What's this?" Ryoga asked, indicating her hair, which she seemed to have cut about a third or more of; the hairdresser had taken sheers to her bangs as well, softly moulding them around her face.
"Hair therapy." Ukyo smiled lopsidedly.
"Huh?"
"It's a girl thing." She gestured dismissively, but then furrowed her brow. "Or it's probably not girl-specific, actually. Anyway, it's what you do when you want to feel a little…new. Different."
"Oh." He tilted his head at her. "Looks good." It really, really does, he thought, enjoying this opportunity to more or less stare openly at her.
"Thanks." She pulled at her hair a little. "It's really hot out and I guess I got tired of wearing my hair so long that it felt like I had a carpeted back."
"So why did you need, um…'hair therapy'?"
She hesitated a bit. "Well…"
Ryoga put the newspaper aside, getting up from the couch. "Does it have anything to do with…I mean, is it okay if I ask what your father wanted to talk to you about?"
Ukyo smiled. "Ask away."
There was a pause.
"So, um…what was it?"
Ukyo laughed in a reserved manner. "The thing is, you see…dad…he's arranged for us to get a refund from the Saotomes because Genma stole our yatai that time."
"Really?" Ryoga looked at her curiously. "Well…that's good, right?"
She grinned quirkily at him. "In exchange, Mr. Kuonji would do Mr. Saotome the favour of terminating the engagement between one Kuonji Ukyo and one Saotome Ranma." She told him in an ironical tone.
As the words hit him, his eyes widened and his mouth fell slightly open; he wanted to cheer over what was— in his opinion— very good news, but the thing was that while she didn't seem sad, exactly, there was just something about the way she spoke about the matter that told him that whooping with joy really wouldn't be very appropriate right then. It was hard to tell what she was feeling about it, and he got the impression that like his failed Moko Takabisha that day, it could be explained by the fact that she had to be feeling so many different things.
"You mean….?" He began carefully, not knowing what else to say, asking her to elaborate.
"Yeah. We're not engaged anymore." Ukyo confirmed.
Ryoga walked hesitantly up to her. "How are you doing?"
She gave him a one-shouldered shrug before opening the door to the backyard, walking out and sitting down at the engawa, staring into the middle distance. "Been better." She finally said.
He stood in the doorway, shuffling his feet a little as he tried to figure out what to say; this was a difficult task seeing as he didn't even know quite how he felt about all of this. It was great, certainly, but did it actually change anything for them? As far as he was concerned, the only change that the end of her engagement brought would be that she was now officially single; if she didn't have any of the same feelings for him as he did for her, there would be no real change, would there? "How...how do you feel?" He finally came up with; the best approach would probably be to figure out what she felt first.
Ukyo shook her head slowly. "I dunno. Scared. Confused. Numb. Relieved. Kinda free. "
"Free?" Ryoga tilted his head curiously at her; this he hadn't expected.
Ukyo laughed a little. "Yeah, y'know? Like I could do anything, go anywhere, take a trip to China tomorrow if I wanted to—"
"No problem! Just follow me, and we'll get there!" Ryoga joked. "Eventually, anyway." He added after a pause.
Ukyo regarded this young man trying to cheer her up and was overwhelmed by just how much she'd suddenly come to need him in her life; it wasn't about being dependant upon somebody— she had her own trade, she was well on her way to graduating high school and she'd never been helpless— no, this was about some strange emotional need that had rooted itself deeply within her during these last few months. She knew she was probably wrong for thinking it, but she had to admit to herself that one of the very first thoughts that had popped into her head when she'd gone out walking after speaking to her father about the end of her more than a decade long engagement had been—
Ryoga.
The thought had been a counterbalance of sorts; he was there, in her life, and somehow she couldn't bring herself to get as upset about the broken engagement as she probably should've been. What had actually made her mad about it all wasn't the fact that she was no longer Ranma's fiancée, but the fact that her dad had deemed it necessary to go behind her back like that, to simply decide things for her, as if she was still six years old! And to make it even worse, he was the one who'd gotten her into this mess in the first place!
She'd taken up the family trade— not that she didn't love it, but that wasn't the point— and she'd let her father choose her fiancée for her— sure, she'd liked her Ran-chan and she still did, but what did a six-year-old know about marriage?— and her father might've meant well, but wasn't it time for her to be able to make her own decisions about things like that?
What she did feel about not being Ranma's fiancée anymore was…well, the idea just seemed kind of alien to her, because ever since she was six, she'd never been anything else than Ranma's Fiancée. And she guessed she had to wonder what she was supposed to be if she wasn't that anymore.
Simply trying to be Kuonji Ukyo might be nice, though. Not 'Ucchan', not 'Ran-chan's Cute Fiancée', not 'Spatula Girl' and certainly not 'the Okonomiyaki Transvestite' or 'that Kuonji weirdo'.
Just Ukyo.
"Ryoga…" She murmured, giving him a long look, asking for closeness; the need for which she couldn't vocalize.
"What's wrong?" Ryoga asked, a concerned frown appearing on his face as he stepped over to her; Ukyo sighed in relief as he finally sat down by her side and she didn't have to ask him to do it.
"I don't know…" Ukyo shook her head, waving a hand vaguely, trying to find a way to express herself. "I...I feel so weird...like I should feel happier, but at the same time like I should feel sadder." She glanced up at him sort of shyly. "Am I making any sense?"
Ryoga nodded seriously. "I think you are. "
She let out a long breath. "I just…I feel like I'm finally my own person, in a way, and that's good because now I feel I have the freedom to explore other…relationships…" She ground slowly to a halt as she realized exactly what she was sitting there saying, exactly what he might interpret it as; a sharp burst of panic driving through her heart, she backtracked quickly.
"B-but at the same time I feel like it's been so…I mean, when I think of all the wasted time, I just want to—"She gritted her teeth, her fists clenching before she sighed. "It should never have happened this way. I should never have been engaged to him like that. I didn't lose a friend and gain a fiancée, I just lost a friend…and I got bitter…" She put her head in her hand, resting her elbow on her knee. "I mean, it was all so stupid, too, wasn't it? How can you be engaged to someone when they don't even know about it?"
"Do you…do you wish you were still engaged to him?"
He looked so anxious to hear the answer that she felt warmth blossoming in her chest; it made her want to tell him something significant. "You know what, Ryoga?" She said softly. "I don't think I would want to marry him now even if he asked me. I just…I don't. I'm too young to get married, and besides, I…I don't love him…not like that. I don't even have to think about it, because I can just feel it." Ukyo sighed. "And it feels nice, really, being sure of something for once."
Ryoga could feel his throat constrict, his mouth going dry. She doesn't love him! She doesn't love him! She doesn't love him! His brain chanted mercilessly at him, again trying to urge him into letting loose a joyful exclamation. "R-really…?"
"Really." She sent him a crooked grin. "And I bet there's a few girls back home who would be happy to hear it, huh?"
"Yeah," he nodded dazedly, "Akane would really— yeah."
Ukyo sighed and shook her head. "And Shampoo and Kodachi…and who knows? We've been gone for a few days, right?"
His mouth quirked into a slight smile as he caught on. "Yeah, who knows, maybe he's already got a new fiancée?"
She shrugged. "Some divine power must've heard the news and sent him a new one to even things out by now."
Ryoga laughed. "It's only reasonable."
Ukyo laughed a little as well, but he suddenly noticed that the laugh wasn't as steady as it should be, and that her expression was a little troubled; it was obvious that she didn't take it all as lightly as she pretended to.
"Ukyo?" He leaned forward, his hand hovering above her shoulder. "You don't have to joke, you know…you can be sad if you want to."
Again, she gave an odd, shaky laugh, her brows knitting. "It's so unfair, that's the worst part…" She began, her voice a little breathy. "…it just makes me feel so young, you know, to have my father decide for me like that…but I guess I really am young." Ukyo bit her lip. "I mean, I'm only eighteen…so I probably shouldn't even be engaged, should I? And I definitely shouldn't have been engaged at age six!" She added, scoffing.
"No, probably not," Ryoga said quietly.
"It's this kinda thing that makes me wish that mom was still around…'cause, well...it'd be nice to know what she would have had to say about this whole mess." Ukyo said, picking absently at her new hairdo. "And who knows? Maybe…maybe then I wouldn't even have been engaged in the first place…"
Ryoga cleared his throat, uncertain if he should be asking the next question or not. "What, um…your mother…how did she…?"
"Car accident," Ukyo said promptly, and that seemed to be all the explanation he was going to get. Ryoga got the distinct feeling that it would be inappropriate to press her about the subject, so he didn't. Ukyo certainly didn't need to deal with her broken engagement as well as memories of her deceased mother.
"I just hope that old idiot Genma hurries up and actually pays us back for that yatai." She went on, seemingly unfazed. "I don't want Ranma to feel even guiltier for what his old man did to me, and I just want this whole thing to be over and done with in a proper way so nobody feels like they owe anybody anything."
"That…that would probably be for the best, yeah." He said vaguely, more to have something to say than anything else.
Ukyo was silent for a while before she let out a heavy breath. "Did I ever tell you about the time when I lived at the Tendo house?"
"No…?"
"There was this whole thing with this secret okonomiyaki sauce I made ten years ago and—"Giving an annoyed grunt, she waved her hand dismissively. "Well, that's not important. Let's just say that Ran-chan had done something he felt bad about when we were little and that it made me lose my faith in my own cooking abilities, okay?" She sighed. "The thing was…I was feeling kind of down and he was feeling kind of guilty and I ended up staying at the Tendo house 'until I felt better', you know. And I gave up okonomiyaki for him, dedicating myself to becoming a good wife because I thought I was losing my abilities as a chef and because he'd made some thoughtless promise when we were six that he'd take care of me for the rest of my life and what the hell was that? What was I thinking? I was so unhappy when I couldn't do what I loved and why the hell was I trying to be some simpering little housewife to some guy who didn't even love me?"
Ryoga could only stare at her, not fully comprehending her story since she'd left out so many details. Apparently the end of her engagement had brought up a whole bunch of bad memories, and he wasn't sure if she was even talking to him right then; she seemed to be scolding herself more than anything, and he just happened to be there.
"I mean…me? A house wife?" She snorted. "It's okay for those who enjoy it, but it just wasn't me. And I wasn't just a housewife, I was the housewife to end all housewives, you know? And it really, really wasn't me. So why did I act like that?" She screwed her eyes shut. "Grandma would've been so disappointed. She's always wanted me to be strong and independent and never take any crap from guys."
The corners of Ryoga's mouth quirked up into a grin. "Really? I can't imagine."
Ukyo giggled briefly. "Grandma really scarred you for life, didn't she?"
"Nah, I'll probably be over it by the time I hit middle age." He joked in a mock-nonchalant tone of voice.
"I'll look forward to that." Ukyo giggled again.
Ryoga's eyes misted over a little as his mind ran away with him, picturing himself and Ukyo as middle-aged; having her around in about thirty years didn't sound too bad, really, and even more so, he realized with not a small amount of astonishment that he had in fact simply been assuming that she would be. It wasn't that he was taking her for granted, it was more the fact that she had so very quickly become such a natural part of his life, a soothingly constant factor in an otherwise crazy world, and now he suddenly couldn't imagine his existence without her; that would be the past, and his past was too depressing to think about.
How long would she put up with him, though? Until she got a boyfriend? Until she got married? Until she had children? When would he be evicted from her life?
Suddenly the thought of her with somebody else than him, even if he'd never even met whoever it was going to be, was utterly unbearable—
Ukyo took that exact moment to lean against him, though, looping her arm through his to steady herself, so he didn't get to finish his thoughts because his mind went into overdrive and he couldn't move nor think.
Ukyo let out a heavy breath and sagged against his side, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. "Life is weird, isn't it?"
Ryoga made some non-committal sound, somewhere between a squeak and a grunt, and she glanced up at his face to see what was up; he looked absolutely petrified. Taken aback, she released his arm and stopped leaning against him.
"S-sorry…" She mumbled, embarrassed over herself. "I didn't mean to…I mean, just because I'm feeling a bit strange, I have no right to…"
It was her turn to let out an odd, squeaky sound as one strong arm shot out and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her towards him until she was once again nestled against his side. His arm still wrapped around her back, he glanced down at her and his mouth twitched as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't as he meet with her round, astonished eyes.
Her expression turning serious, she slipped her arm around his waist.
They sat in companionable silence for a beat or two.
"S-so…you were saying…?" He said, somewhat hoarsely; what he'd just done had felt like one of the bravest things he'd ever done, and he didn't quite understand how he'd even managed to do it.
She breathed out through her nose, once; a brief, soft sound like a squelched laugh. "I was saying how life is weird."
"I'd have to agree." He replied solemnly.
Again she made that almost inaudible little nose-laugh. "Yeah…"
"Weird…" He nodded.
She drew a breath, bracing herself to ask the one question she wanted to know the answer to the most right then. "Ryoga? Do you think this is a good thing? Me not being engaged to Ran-chan anymore?"
He looked into her eyes and found he couldn't lie. Even if it meant she might give him a scary follow-up question that began with why. "Yes, I do." He said quietly. "I think it's good."
Her eyes looked round and surprised again and even slightly timid as she regarded him, but to his own surprise he noticed that her lips were now slowly forming a small smile.
"Maybe it is."
Looking into his eyes, Ukyo suddenly felt as if they were hovering on the brink of something; it was the same hot and cold sensation she'd gotten when they'd been so close together out on the field that day after the failed Moko Takabisha. There was something unspoken between them now, something to do with how they both thought it was a good thing that she was single now.
Ryoga's form by her side calmed her like nothing had before, even if they were just sitting out on the engawa, talking. The familiar rhythm of his breath, his scent, his voice...and the best thing of all, if he would turn to her and look her in the eyes, smiling that cute, slightly impish smile that made the skin on her neck and back tingle. Those eyes were even worse than the smile, though the smile made her think of what it would be like to kiss him.
Now, as Ryoga was starting to get a grip on himself and grow less awkward, Ukyo noticed with almost startling intensity that Ryoga was indeed more than a "goofy sweetie"; she was actually slightly disturbed at how much he attracted her. But even if she should be happy that he was fairing better— that he'd dared to pull her back against him again like that was a definite sign of improvement— she was still delighted each time he blushed at something she said or did. But he drew blushes from her with a frequency that startled her, too.
Warm, affectionate feelings were mixing with feelings of another nature now, and she knew she was probably beginning to touch him more often than you were supposed to do with just a friend; a playful slap on the shoulder here, a hug there, a holding of hands here, a kiss on the cheek there…
Not being engaged to Ranma anymore was actually becoming quite a scary concept, because it made her realize that now she no longer had any solid, valid reasons why she shouldn't be kissing Ryoga. Nobody had a claim on her anymore, and so she could do whatever…she wanted…right?
It was true that she'd contemplated kissing him before, when she was in fact still engaged, but now, for some reason, the idea seemed more real, more possible than the thoughts she'd been able to brush aside before.
When would she cross the threshold and put her mouth on his? Would he? Would he even want to?
The only thing stopping her now was herself and her own fears. If she actually dared to kiss him and he rejected her, she would be devastated.
Then she would have nothing left.
During his prolonged stay at her apartment and after, Ryoga had recognized on Ukyo's face some of the expressions and lines that he himself possessed, things that showed they had both had to grow up too fast. Something hardened, something cynical, yet hopelessly romantic.
Akane had a whole family around her, and Ranma at least had his annoying father— and his mother, even if right now, that whole relationship was a can of worms preferred unopened— and he was living with Akane and the rest of the Tendos, but Ukyo, like Ryoga (even if she had her father in Osaka, and he had his parents…somewhere…) was alone when she was in Nerima. But not anymore; Ryoga was determined to stay in her life if she would have him. Each time he made Ukyo laugh or smile, he felt like the greatest man in the world, and he was sure he would never get tired of it.
It didn't hit him like a sledgehammer to his conscience; it rather snuck up on him slowly, sliding its metaphorical hands across his mind. It had been there for a while, he realized, in one form or the other, but nothing as clear or concise as this, nothing like this pure, undiluted thought that now appeared in him.
Nothing this certain.
It had been friendship, it had been like, it had been fondness, it had been affection, it had been attraction…and now it had all come together, filtered through his various jumbled thoughts to form a single one.
I love you.
And as if in a dream-like state, he felt his arm tighten around her almost possessively without him ordering it to, and for a short second he was terrified she'd take it the wrong way— or the right way, more likely— but then she sighed and put her head on his shoulder and he really, really didn't know what to do as it dawned on him exactly what he'd thought about her and what the consequences of this might be.
She seemed to be calm, cheerful, confident and in control of the situation most of the time, but she really got flustered when you came too close...and then her femininity flared up and you saw the soul that was afraid to be hurt and each time you were floored by how beautiful, how stunning good ol' cutie Ucchan could be. And then you lost your nerve, because you were so afraid to tread wrong.
Ryoga liked how it had all progressed. The slow progress made it seem more real somehow. First they were scheming partners, then friends, then they lived and worked together and it seemed as if they had become even better friends...but now what?
Yes, now you were petrified of taking a wrong step.
Oh, gods, he thought as his brain finally kicked back into speed, I love her! I'm in love with her!
What am I supposed to do?
Okay, he thought desperately, okay, you can handle this, it's not so bad…it's not so bad…!
His heart thudding, Ryoga remembered how Ukyo would always make him feel better by somehow managing to point out the bright sides of things, and so he began to take inventory to prove to himself it wasn't as bad as it seemed.
For one, he supposed the current situation was more favourable than the last time he was interested in a girl.
Ukyo knew about his curse and had accepted it. That was one thing he didn't have to worry about that much.
And as far as he'd understood it, he was not only Ukyo's friend now, but it felt as if he was in fact her best friend. That was certainly a step up from being, in the eyes of his desired partner, just some nice and polite but weird guy who kept showing up in the neighbourhood.
And when they got back to Tokyo, he would still be living with her in her apartment and working with her in her restaurant, which meant he basically had access to her twenty-four-seven, except when she was at school, and therefore had all the chances in the world to figure out if she felt the same and how to let her know how he himself felt about her.
Also, there was the hard-to-ignore fact that he was now sitting in her father's garden with an armful of Ukyo, who wasn't objecting to being held against his side, and who was leaning her head against his shoulder and who had her own arm around his back—
His mind flickered off for a second as she pressed just the teeniest bit closer, a soft, unintelligible murmur in her throat as she stroked his back a little, his shirt moving gently under her touch.
He wanted to be there for her, he wanted to protect her, wanted to make her laugh— but he didn't just want to be the boy who admired the girl from afar again, he couldn't bear just being all noble again, loving her with all of his heart and doing whatever he could for her, sacrificing everything—
This time he wanted to get something in return, he wanted to know that his feelings were reciprocated; he was going to be eighteen in a few months and he wasn't satisfied with silly crushes anymore. He wanted her to be his and he wanted to be hers.
The only problem was that she was his best friend, the only truly bright spot in his otherwise dark world, and if she didn't feel the same…well, once upon a time, he would have been heart-broken by a rejection from Akane, but a rejection from Ukyo would destroy him. She was his life now, and that wasn't even an exaggeration.
He had never had such a close relationship with anyone except for his parents, and if he lost it—
She had so much power over him now, and it made him so scared. And she didn't even know.
Look at her, Ryoga thought as he glanced down at her out of the corner of his eye. She was brilliant in the sunlight, her eyes closed and her expression looking so serene, her body soft yet firm against his own…and she probably had no idea what she was doing to him.
And he could choose to let her keep her ignorance about the matter, or he could confess.
Either option frightened the living daylights out of him.
Ranma sighed. The stomach ache had been bothering him all day, and he was sure it was what had made him distracted around Mousse, who'd obviously been training lately. Served him right for trying to be nice by eating Akane's cooking.
The guy was getting pretty damn strong, too. Theoretically, Mousse should be able to defeat Shampoo by now, and Ranma had to wonder why he hadn't. But then he supposed Mousse would first have to win over him before he could challenge Shampoo again.
When the sliding doors to his room opened with a soft swish, he didn't even bother looking to see who it was, only groaning as he shifted a little. Whoever it was, he hoped they would just leave if he played dead. He wanted to be left alone.
Akane bit her lip as she studied him from the doorway. The window was open, and she could tell he'd snuck in through there so nobody would notice that he was home and so nobody would bother him.
She supposed it made sense, considering how exhausting her family, his father and the old pervert could be, but she really wished he still would have come to her when he was feeling like this.
He looked completely exhausted. He was simply lying on the tatami mats, not even having bothered to get out his futon, and he was still in his girl form, too tired to go take a bath. His wet clothes had been dropped in a messy pile in the corner and he was only wearing his undershirt and boxers.
She didn't mind, though. She'd seen him in it countless times, and the hot weather didn't really allow for much clothing, anyway.
Taking a few tentative steps forward, she kept her voice soft when she spoke to him. "Ranma? What's happened?"
He kept his eyes closed when he answered her. "Mousse and Shampoo again."
That seemed to cover everything; she got the point, anyway. No matter what had happened, she knew that there was a basic formula to the events. Shampoo tried to hug him or give him food, Ranma tried to back away, Mousse got mad over the attention Shampoo was paying to Ranma and tried to attack him—
And so it went.
"How did you get wet this time?"
"Mousse threw a bucket of water at me," He said tightly, and she could hear the anger in his voice.
Akane's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Wow…he must've been really mad, huh?"
"Tell me about it." Ranma mumbled.
Sighing, Akane closed the sliding doors behind her to give them some semblance of privacy and walked over to him, resting on her knees beside him. "Ranma…why don't you just let him win?" She asked him hesitantly.
Ranma flung an arm across his face, groaning a little again. "It's a little hard to just 'let him win' when he's using blades and is trying to chop off my various body parts, Akane." He told her ironically.
"Why don't you just challenge him to a fist fight, then?" Akane suggested hopefully.
He was quiet for a long while before he sighed heavily. "Maybe I should."
She frowned at him worriedly. "I know you don't like losing, but you know how he feels. He doesn't care about honour at all as long as he can be with Shampoo." She cleared her throat. "And if you're losing on purpose, it's not actually losing, is it?"
"I don't like it, but I guess not." He shrugged weakly, finally looking up at her. She was wearing jeans and a nice, yellow tank top, and the sunlight from the window caught her face and hair at a very good angle; where before he would've gulped with nervousness, he now sent her a small smile. He was suddenly very glad it was her and not his dad or someone who had come to see him.
She smiled back tryingly and put her hand over his on the tatami mats. It was odd to hold his hand when he was a girl. It was softer than usual and it was actually a little smaller than her own. No wonder, either; everything on Ranma's girl form seemed to be smaller than herself, including her height and her waist— except for her breasts, of course, a fact always sparked just a little insecurity in her, only enhanced by how Ranma had teased her for being 'flat-chested' for almost as long as they'd known each other. It was only during these recent few months that he'd stopped calling her that.
Ranma began to turn his palm over for her so they could hold hands properly, but his fingers twitched as he gasped with another stomach spasm from the food poisoning. His brows knitting tightly, he clutched his stomach with one hand, gritting his teeth against the pain.
When she realized what was wrong, she swallowed hard; that wasn't just from the fight, was it?
Suddenly she felt kind of sorry for him. He'd been attacked, drenched and…well, he'd eaten her food.
"Ranma?"
"What?"
"You really do have a stomach ache, don't you?"
Ranma looked up with a fearful expression under his now red bangs. "Uh…"
"It's okay." Akane leaned forward, prodding his stomach.
Ranma was trying not to wince, but Akane still caught it. "Indigestion, huh?" She smiled sadly. "I try so hard, but it's never any good, is it?"
"Well, I…Akane," He began, apologetic yet determined, "I won't…I can't eat your cooking anymore. Your curry's okay but the rest of it just makes me sick, like really, really nauseous!" It all came blurting out now, and somehow he just couldn't stop himself even if he knew he would be clobbered for it. He just had to explain to her how he felt. "I'm not making it up, okay? It's like someone poured lead into my stomach, it hurts so bad, makes me feel so dizzy, like I can't even stand on my feet—"
Finally he paused in his ranting when he caught the look on her face. She looked like someone had just had P-chan for a Sunday dinner or something, like the world was coming to an end and she was responsible.
Akane frowned deeply, her mouth trembling and her nostrils flaring slightly as if she was trying not to cry. "I know it's horrible. I have tasted it, after all."
"Akane, I'm sorry—"
"Listen, Ranma, I need to tell you something." She said, settling down on her side next to him. "The thing is…you know how you always insult me…"
"Um…"
"I used to think that insulting my cooking was just part of the same rude act as when you insulted my looks and my clumsiness and those kinda things, so I guess I was just really sad when I discovered that my cooking really does stink." She sighed. "I know now that you don't really think I'm so bad after all, I know you don't think I'm ugly or anything, but I also know that my cooking is awful, and it's just…I work so very, very hard at it and I can't understand why it turns out so toxic…and when you reject my cooking, I feel like you don't appreciate me, like you're rejecting all the effort I put into it, like you're rejecting…rejecting me." She sniffled just a little, and his heart broke at the sound.
"N-no, Akane…I just hate the food, not you…" He froze as soon as the stupid words had left his mouth, bracing himself for anger.
She giggled a bit brokenly. "I know, but I just want you to like both, I guess…"
Ranma blinked up at her; she wasn't going to yell at him? "Akane…" He began uncertainly, but she didn't seem to expect an apology.
There was a moment of silence, and he slowly began to relax again.
When Akane suddenly started pulling up his undershirt, however, Ranma balked. "Oi, Akane, whaddaya think you're—"
"Shh…" She whispered calmingly, and he dropped his head back down, but he was still peering at her warily. Placing a hand on Ranma's belly, she started to gently rub it in circles. "How's that?" She asked, smiling just a little at him.
"That's…it's working, a little…" Ranma said, wonder in his eyes, before he grinned up at her. "Keep going."
Akane giggled softly as she laid back down, still stroking his stomach soothingly.
She kept doing that for a while, watching his contented face, and eventually found herself leaning closer to it. "Ranma…?" She began in a small voice. They hadn't kissed since that first time up on the roof, and she was starting to feel like she wanted to do it again.
Ranma caught the odd tone in her voice and noticed how close her face was; his eyes widened considerably. "A-Akane?"
"Can I…?" Akane said, gently asking for permission.
"B-but I'm a girl!" Ranma objected. Did she really not care about that?
"No, you're not," Akane retorted, her breath hot on his face as she leaned closer yet, their lips almost touching—
"Ranma! Are you in here, boy? Ranma—"
Ranma and Akane slowly turned their heads towards the doorway, both wearing similar, frozen expressions.
Genma's eyes went big with the shock of finding his best friend's daughter leaning over his only son in what was a very intimate way, but the shocked expression was replaced with a cheerful leer as he realized that even though his son was currently in his girl form, the whole thing could still be considered a very definite step in the direction of the Tendo-Saotome-joining that he and Soun so desperately hoped for.
First he'd managed to call off Ranma's engagement to Ukyo— and now this! Things were working out so well, for once!
"Good on you, boy!" He grinned hugely, giving his son a thumbs up before turning on his heel, joyfully bounding down the hallway. "Tendo! Tendo, you won't believe what's happened…!"
Ranma and Akane let out twin sighs, both heavy with exasperation.
It seemed that now, Shampoo and Mousse were only the least of their troubles.
"Oh gods, no…" Ranma groaned, sitting up to cradle his head in his hands.
Akane pinched the bridge of her nose as if she was getting a headache. "Sometimes I can't wait to get old enough to be able move out of this house…" she mumbled.
Nodding, Ranma got to his feet. "I'm gonna go take a bath."
"Sure…" Akane sighed.
She was surprised when Ranma suddenly turned on his heel, pulling her to him by his arm. "We got interrupted," He said simply before he placed his lips over hers, kissing her gently. Akane sagged with relief; apparently, the fact that their parents now knew about the progress they'd had in their relationship hadn't made him change his mind about her.
That was all she needed to know for now. They'd deal with their parents later.
"Ryoga?"
"Huh?" Ryoga looked up, distracted from his practice. Ukyo, knowing that he'd been itching to get some punching practice in but had nothing to hit, had taken him to the back of the garden, which was rather more spacious than the one back home at the Ucchan's and had showed him the padded pole she and her dad used for practice, much like the one the Tendos had in their backyard.
"Don't break it now," She'd sent him a fond smile before she announced that she was going out jogging. He wanted to practice because it usually cleared his mind, but his mind was so full of images and impressions and feelings right then that not even a massive case of amnesia could have wiped them all away. What did it mean, what did it mean, what will happen, what will happen, he asked himself over and over again as he attacked the pole while trying not to break it; it was quite hard not to do as he was so wound up he felt like he could've punched through reinforced steel right then. Telling himself it was a good practice of self-control, he tried to keep his breathing even as he pulled his punches just enough to leave the pole vibrating under the pressure, almost but not breaking. And he did all this while trying not to think about what Ukyo had told him and what she'd done and how he felt—
But now, her father was coming out to the garden, and Ryoga only needed to take one look at him to know that it was going to be a serious conversation.
"Y-yes? What is it?" Ryoga asked hesitantly, wiping the sweat from his brow as he suddenly felt self-conscious. He'd been trying to tone his usual mode of training down so he wouldn't disturb Mr. Kuonji's neighbours, but he still wondered what it had looked like to Mr. Kuonji and for how long he'd been watching. Hopefully he wouldn't tell him he had to stop. And hopefully, Ryoga thought, paranoid for a second, he won't be able to read my mind and see what I'm thinking about his only daughter…!
"Did you talk to Ukyo?" Ukyo's father seemed reluctant to ask, yet eager to know.
"Y-you mean about the engagement, right?" Ryoga asked, anxious even if he knew it couldn't really be about anything else.
Masahiro nodded. "What did she say?"
Clearing his throat, Ryoga shifted his weight a bit nervously before he answered. "No offence, Mr. Kuonji, but…maybe you should ask her that yourself?"
Mr. Kuonji didn't say anything for a while, simply looking at him solemnly; Ryoga half-expected him to get offended, but was put at ease when the older man's face suddenly broke into a pleased grin.
"Good answer, good answer." Masahiro rumbled, walking over to slap Ryoga on the back.
Ryoga blinked; the man had an arm on him like a steel bar wrapped in steaks. He wasn't very tall, he was heavyset and in his late forties; Ryoga got the impression that Mr. Kuonji had fooled many an opponent into thinking he was as slow on his feet as he looked. And he was also one of those men who looked a bit chubby because of their stocky build, but were really solid muscle.
"Now…" Masahiro began. "I wager I can give you a bit more competition than that," He said, pointing at the padded pole. "So…you want to do some sparring?"
Ryoga brightened. "Sure!"
He hadn't had a fight with Ranma in ages, and he certainly hadn't had one with a new opponent.
This was going to be interesting.
And he supposed that considering the circumstances, it couldn't hurt to get Ukyo's father to like him.
When she got back to the house from her jog, Ukyo was surprised to find Ryoga and her father in the backyard, obviously just finishing up a sparring match. It had been a while since she'd seen her father in action, and him having his skills tested against someone as powerful as Ryoga was a real treat to watch. Not to mention it was a real treat to watch Ryoga sparring in only a muscle shirt and pants, the sun and the sweat making his skin glisten, his dark hair flowing like waves, muscles bunching under his skin— it was like she finally understood the meaning of poetry in motion— gods, she wanted to spar with him— why hadn't she yet?
Anyway…! Ukyo shook her head fiercely, trying to compose herself when she realized she was starting to think in unbearably corny ways.
Ryoga had better stamina than her dad, who had reached middle age, but her dad had better experience and more than a few tricks up his okonomiyaki uniform sleeves, and finally he feinted before he caught Ryoga with a quick, low, sweeping kick he hadn't been expecting.
As he helped the boy to his feet, Ukyo applauded the show, causing them both to look at her in surprise and Ryoga to turn a nice, red colour.
"Ukyo…?" Her father began uncertainly.
"Yes, dad?" It would've been so easy to make him sweat a little, make him grovel for what he'd done, but she supposed he'd had the best of intentions, so she really couldn't bring herself to be that cruel.
"Um…" It was easy to see that he was trying to figure out how to ask if she was still mad. "How are…I mean, are we…"
"I'm not angry anymore, dad," She said finally, grinning just slightly. When he looked relieved, though, just to keep him on his toes a little she added: "Not as mad as I was, anyway."
Masahiro deflated a little, sighing heavily. "I'd better go make us some dinner, then, huh?"
"Yes, you'd better," Ukyo said happily, starting to enjoy herself. "And take Ryoga with you," She prompted, pushing the boy forward.
"Wh-what?" Ryoga stammered.
Masahiro only chuckled; he knew his daughter. "Fine, I get it. Come on, Ryoga," He said, putting a friendly arm around the Lost Boy's shoulders, ushering him into the kitchen.
Ukyo sighed. It was always nice to talk to Ryoga and her father, but now she craved a shower after her jog and five minutes to herself after everything that had been going on. She had a lot to think about.
Especially concerning Ryoga.
Ukyo was just about to step outside to throw out the trash when she heard a terrible racket from the kitchen, followed by a short burst of cursing and then eerie silence.
When she carefully entered the kitchen, the first thing she noticed was the fact that she was stepping in water, the toes of her socks immediately soaking. Second, she saw the shocked expression on her father's face and third, she saw Ryoga's clothes, lying in a pile on the floor.
Trying to ignore her father's gawking and the icy feeling in her gut, she hurried forward to scoop up Ryoga, who was wriggling frantically as he tried to free himself of his clothes so he could escape.
"Ryoga," She gave a sad little sigh as she picked him up, cradling him against her side. The piglet cast his eyes down in defeat, going limp in her grasp. And everything had seemed to be going so well, too! She could tell that her father had started taking a liking to the boy, but now he was staring at Ryoga as if he was some kind of alien life form that had been found growing through his kitchen floor.
"Th-that's…that's Ryoga?" Her father asked hesitantly, looking quite shell-shocked.
Ukyo only nodded.
"Wh-what in the world is going on here?" He demanded, a little shakily.
"I'll explain it later, okay?" Ukyo promised evasively, backing out of the kitchen. "Right now I have to go make him human again."
"M-make him…?" Masahiro stuttered in disbelief as he stared after his daughter, who was making a quick getaway from the kitchen with a wet piglet under her arm.
He was silent for a moment as he tried to gather his wits.
Then he drew a deep breath as he grasped at the only thing that could make any sort of sense in the situation for him.
"And who's gonna clean up this mess?" He yelled after her, pointing accusingly at the soggy pile of clothes on the kitchen floor.
Ukyo was silent as she drew the bath, and Ryoga was starting to feel more and more unnerved. Somebody was going to ask him to leave. Whether it would be Ukyo herself or Mr. Kuonji, it didn't matter. The result would be the same.
It didn't matter now that Ukyo herself accepted his curse, he thought miserably, because her father didn't, and while Ukyo was independent, he knew that the opinion of her only remaining parent mattered a lot to her.
He didn't stand a chance with Ukyo now— Mr. Kuonji would probably sooner have his daughter engaged to Ranma again than have her have some pig for a boyfriend.
How could this happen right after he'd figured out he loved her? He hadn't even recovered from that yet!
When the bath was ready, Ukyo was still silent as she picked him up to drop him carefully into the hot water. Her silence almost made him want to just stay underwater so he wouldn't have to meet with her disappointed gaze, which would be much worse than the horrified look he'd gotten from her father.
It would probably be considered rude to drown himself in her father's bathtub, however.
When he resurfaced, he kept his head down, not looking at her, his mind feeling as naked as he was, a faint blush of shame spreading across his skin.
"I'm…I'm so sorry." Ryoga apologized in a small voice while he sunk further down into the tub until the water nearly reached his shoulders. He didn't quite know what he was sorry for, exactly, since he'd already apologized to her for having this stupid curse and since it was Mr. Kuonji who had accidentally splashed him with a saucepan full of water, but right then he just felt ashamed and sorry in general. Sorry for having his curse revealed to Ukyo's dad in such a humiliating way, causing trouble for Ukyo. Just basically sorry for being Hibiki Ryoga.
"It's okay, Ryoga," Ukyo told him gently, her back turned for modesty. "I think you just really surprised him, you know?"
"What…what will he say?" He asked anxiously.
"I…I don't know." Ukyo bit her lip, wishing she could tell him something more reassuring, but she felt so oddly sad and nervous about it all, too. She didn't know why, but she felt as if it was very important whether her father approved of Ryoga or not. If he told her he didn't like the boy, she didn't quite know what she would think or feel or say.
All she knew was that she was determined to keep him in her life this time; she couldn't stand it if they were separated again and it was her fault. Not after everything that had happened the last few days— she couldn't stand it if he left and she would have to deal with all of those odd, confusing feelings by herself. There were some things she knew; she cared for him, she liked spending time with him, she was a little attracted to him and she felt better when he was around, but beyond that, she wasn't quite sure how she felt or what she wanted, and she needed for him to stick around if she was supposed to be able to figure it out.
"Sorry," Ryoga repeated quietly, hugging himself as if he was cold. "Do you think I should leave…?"
"Leave?" Ukyo spun around; she looked distressed, suddenly, a deep furrow appearing on her forehead, her voice rising in pitch. "You're gonna leave? Again?"
Oh no, oh no, nononono, her mind roared at her in a deafening choir. This was just not happening, not now, not now—
Ukyo was starting to panic, and she really didn't like it. How could this fill her with such fear?
"D-don't you think—"
"No! No, I don't think! I don't think you should leave! Don't be such a coward!"
"I'm not bei—"
Ukyo punched his arm, hard. The wet smack of her fist against his skin reminded her of the fact that he was naked, but she was too agitated to care. She'd be damned if he was just gonna leave like that!
"Oh, right!" She spat sarcastically. "And running off into the sunset with your tail between your legs at the first sign of trouble, that's what? Not cowardly?"
Ryoga stared at her, vaguely noticing the way his arm was throbbing in the spot where she'd hit him. She had a surprisingly strong punch when she was mad, he realized, and he hadn't really known this because before, she'd usually only used her spatula on him. It was going to leave a nice, multi-coloured bruise. He could tell that she was her father's daughter.
"Ukyo—"
"I can't believe you're gonna just ditch me like that—"
"Ukyo!" He exclaimed, grabbing her hands. "I…I don't want to leave, but— your father…he's gotta want me gone now!" Swallowing, he dropped her hands as if he suddenly thought he wasn't worthy of holding them. "Don't you want me gone?"
Ukyo blinked. "What?"
Ryoga averted his gaze, looking discomfited. "I mean, how are you gonna explain to your dad…?"
"The usual way, you stubborn jackass!" She scoffed loudly. "I'll just tell him the story of a guy who accidentally got knocked into a cursed spring at Jusenkyo. What else can I say?"
"Ukyo…" He breathed shakily as he took in the air of relentlessness around her— did she actually intend to fight for him?
She hesitated. "You want to stay…don't you?"
"Y-yes…" His heart swelled when he caught the note of concern in her voice. Of course I do, I love you. She actually wanted him to stay despite everything? He still stood a chance?
"Ryoga, please," Ukyo said, her voice soft as she leaned forward to embrace him, pulling him up from the tub a little so she could wrap her arms around his warm, wet frame. The front of her shirt was dampening, but she didn't mind. "I think you should stay," She told him defiantly, her face set in determination as she rested her cheek against his wet neck.
"U-Ukyo…!" He stammered, trembling in her arms, his hands hovering above her upper back, not daring to settle. "Y-you shouldn't— I'm…I'm naked and…!"
"It's okay," She murmured, clutching his shoulder. "I can't see anything, anyway." Sighing, she let go of him. "Feel any better now? Are you gonna stay?"
Ryoga only stared at her, her face and shirt wet because of the way she'd been leaning against him, and he couldn't get out a single word, only a strange sort of muffled whimper. How was she able to do something like that? How could she be so unabashed? Whenever he got the impulse to do something like what she'd just done, he felt completely and utterly paralyzed.
Of course, since she was a girl, she probably wouldn't have reacted very positively to him trying to hug her while she was naked in a bathtub, but the point was that it probably wouldn't even occur to him to try. It would've only earned him a spatula to his head or a slap to his face. So why could she do something like this and get away with it?
Well, it could have something to do with the fact that he basically never minded it whenever she got a whim to touch him, whether it was something as simple as a handshake or something more intimate, like a kiss on the cheek…
He answered her question with a nod. He'd stay. What else could he do when she actually went and hugged him like that even after what had just happened? What else could he do when she kept sending him all these signals that made him hope that things might not have to end in heartache for him this time?
"I'll talk to dad, okay?" She told him encouragingly, smiling at him. "It's gonna be fine."
"Whatever you say," Ryoga agreed. "Just…just hand me a towel, okay?"
When Ukyo came downstairs, her father was still in the kitchen, sitting in a chair. The mess had been cleaned up and he looked as if he'd composed himself a little, but he was still looking a little paler than usual.
Taking a deep breath, Ukyo began to tell the story.
"What kind of person have you brought home with you, Ukyo?" Her father said eventually, his voice quiet and a bit harsh.
Even after explaining everything about Ryoga's curse to her dad, he still didn't seem any more inclined to settle down.
"Dad, please—"
"You're telling me he's got some sort of bizarre curse that— that— and he's got no sense of direction? Who is this boy?" Her father's voice was rising in volume now, broadcasting just how upset he was over the news. He usually never yelled. Ukyo had always been told she'd inherited her temper and her powerful set of lungs from her late mother.
Ukyo sighed in frustration; she hadn't wanted to, but after she'd told her father about Ryoga's Jusenkyo curse, he had demanded to know if there was 'anything else wrong with the boy', and she'd supposed it would be best to just get his navigational problem out of the way. "Dad, it's just like the Jusenkyo curse that Ranma has that I told you about, right? And it doesn't matter if he's—"
"I don't think I like—"Masahiro began angrily, but was interrupted by his daughter.
"Well, you should like him!" Ukyo snapped, finally getting fed up. "You should like him a lot!"
"What?" Her father looked utterly flabbergasted now.
"Because he is the only reason why I can actually feel good about the fact that you've ended my engagement with Ranma!" She blurted forcefully.
Masahiro halted, blinking. "Ukyo…?"
Ukyo gritted her teeth in determination. "I've got my restaurant and I've got a nice apartment, but I've been alone a lot, dad, because of that stupid deal you made all those years ago, but I'm not alone anymore, and if you think you can—"
Her father cleared his throat then, obviously trying to start over in a more diplomatic way, the volume of his voice lowering. "Ukyo, I'm…you know I'm sorry for what I did, but do you really think you should…I mean, do you actually know this boy?"
"Yes." Ukyo smiled.
"And how do you know him?" He asked with concern.
She hesitated a little. "Well…the thing is, we've been living together in Nerima…"
Her father's face went even paler than before. "Living together…?"
"It's not like that!" Ukyo objected. "It's just because he's working at Ucchan's! He has to live with me, or he'd just get lost and wouldn't be able to get to work!"
"But it's not just…I mean, he's not just your employee, is he?" He asked apprehensively.
Ukyo reddened. "I don't know, dad. He's my friend, okay? My best friend."
"Ukyo, you two haven't…?" Her father leaned across the kitchen table, looking worried. "Have you?"
Ukyo closed her eyes, sighing a bit irritably. He would ask a question like that! "No, dad. We haven't." Gods, he was probably afraid of getting a litter of piglets for grandchildren or something, wasn't he?
"Okay, that's good, at least." This seemed to calm him down a little, as he slumped back into his chair. "But Ukyo, you have to answer me one question. Has this Hibiki ever managed to do a perfect Shi Shi Hokodan?"
Ukyo gave her father a long look before nodding reluctantly. "Yes, he has."
"Do you have any idea of the amount of depression that has to exist in the human mind in order for that to work?" Her father asked her gravely.
"I know," Ukyo said quietly, "But I've also seen it first-hand that he's not able to do it anymore."
"Why not?" He asked, mystified.
"Because he's not depressed enough anymore," Ukyo said firmly, looking into her father's eyes. "He's not even depressed enough to do a regular Shi Shi Hokodan, if you have to know."
"And why isn't he depressed?" Masahiro asked, just a tad suspiciously.
"I think it's because…" Trying to gather her thoughts, she hesitated slightly before trying again. "He's not depressed because he's starting to feel happier. Because he's not alone. Because he's got me."
Her father went silent for a while before his mouth tightened with determination. "But Ukyo… if you're the thing that keeps him from getting depressed…if you ever break up with him, don't you see that the Shi Shi Hokodan would probably be worse than ever?"
Ukyo bit her lip, looking down. "We're not together like that, dad, so I can't 'break up' with him. And I'm not leaving him like a friend, either. I like having him in my life."
"Ukyo, the boy is nice and everything, it's not that, but…" Masahiro shook his head. "But I just hope you know what you're doing."
"Dad, I'm not sure if you understand what I'm trying to tell you…" Ukyo took a deep breath. "After me and Ryoga came to be better friends, and he started working for me, we just…I feel like the quality of my life has increased so much— and not only that, I feel like I'm doing the same thing for him." She clasped her hands in her lap. "I'm not alone anymore, I have someone. Life is fun again, it's exciting. Life is really worth living. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, I do." Masahiro said, his gaze moving inquisitively across his daughter's face. I think I understand it a whole lot better than you think you do, actually, he added to himself, shaking his head almost imperceptibly at what he saw there. It seemed like he would have to make up with this strange boy whether he liked it or not, because by the looks of things, he would be around his daughter for a very long time.
As Masahiro got up to continue making dinner, he wondered if he had been that blind when he was young.
"You better go get Ryoga again if you want to eat dinner tonight," He told his daughter, sending her a small smile over his shoulder. Ukyo's eyes widened in perplexity, but then she grinned broadly, her eyes practically sparkling with joy like a small child at a midsummer festival fireworks display.
"Thank you, dad!" She exclaimed happily, lunging at him to give him a bone-crushing hug, followed by a peck on the cheek. "You won't be sorry," She giggled, "Ryoga's a pretty good cook, actually!"
He smiled in a reconciliatory manner. "If he cooks anything as well as he fights, he should be pretty good,"
Ukyo sent him a relieved, slightly tearful smile as she let him go. "Thanks, dad— really! You don't know how much this means to me!"
Masahiro shook his head. "You're embarrassing me," he joked, making shooing motions at her. "Now run along and get the boy before we all starve."
"Okay!" Ukyo said giddily before she shot out of the kitchen, thudding up the stairs to her room.
Masahiro sighed, feeling resigned. He'd figured out exactly how much it meant to her— otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to give Ryoga a second chance like that. And he owed it to his daughter, after all he'd done. He was also forced to feel a little sympathy for the boy since, like Ukyo, he'd had the unfortunate experience of having the Saotomes mess up his life in one way or the other.
"I suppose she could've picked a worse one…" He mumbled to himself as he started selecting some vegetables from the fridge. The boy was weird, yes, but it was better to be weird than some rotten bastard, which he knew from his experiences out on the road that there existed many of in the world.
"Ryoga!"
She'd left him in her room while she talked to her father, and he looked a little forlorn and quite anxious where he sat on her bed in a new change of clothes from his backpack. She guessed he'd heard some of the angry shouting and none of what had come later, and had come to his own conclusions about what was going to happen.
One look at her happy expression seemed to be enough, though, and he looked hopeful as he stood up, crossing the floor to meet her halfway. "Wh-what happened? What did he say? Do I have to go?"
"No! No, you can stay!" She smiled excitedly, looking like she was about to burst. Ryoga's heart caught in his throat when she suddenly moved forward to hug him, squeezing him in an enthusiastic way, again reminding him that while she wasn't as strong as himself by far, she was still unusually strong for a girl; even for a martial artist girl. "Oh, Ryoga!" She breathed. "I'm just…I'm so relieved! I thought dad was gonna— wait, you know what? I don't even wanna think about it!"
"Me, neither," Ryoga mumbled as he buried his nose into her hair. This was absolute heaven, wasn't it? He could stay with her, he still stood a chance with her, he still had time to try to work out how to tell her how he felt. "Thank you, Ukyo," He said whole-heartedly when they parted from the quick hug.
"Come on, dad's waiting," She said urgently, ushering him out of her room and down the hall.
"Uh…" Ryoga started to feel just a little sweaty with nerves. "W-wait! Sh-should I really— does he still want me to—"
"Don't worry," Ukyo told him reassuringly, squeezing his hand briefly. "I'll help make dinner too, okay?"
"O-okay…" He agreed reluctantly; he hadn't been much good at refusing her things before, but now that he'd realized he loved her, it was an even more impossible task.
When they walked into the kitchen, Ukyo's father turned and gave them a short, welcoming smile before turning back to the counter, where he was chopping onions. "Ryoga, why don't you start by chopping some broccoli for me, okay?" He suggested without any preamble. "And Ukyo, if you two haven't eaten the uiro that Ryoga bought from Grandma's shop yet, why don't we have that for dessert?"
Ukyo exchanged a bewildered glance with Ryoga before smiling a little. "Sure, dad."
Her father had obviously chosen to apply the good old let's-forget-it-ever-happened approach to the problem, but Ukyo supposed it was okay for tonight. If she knew her father right, he'd bring up the subject sooner or later anyway.
They'd put it off for as long as they could, but now Kasumi had called them down to dinner and they couldn't hide anymore without being rude. Pausing in the hallway, they took a moment to collect themselves before facing the inquisition they knew would be waiting for them. Taking a deep breath, Ranma starting moving towards the dining area.
"Ranma?" Akane stopped him with a hand on his arm. "If they start nagging us about marriage, let's just pretend we're deaf, okay?" They'd talked about it, and they'd both agreed they weren't really ready to get married yet— they weren't even out of high school, for goodness' sake!
Ranma blinked at her in surprise, stared at the small grin on her lips. "Akane…do you…are you…" He cleared his throat a bit self-consciously. "What do you think we should tell them?"
She shrugged. "That it's our own business, I guess."
His own mouth quirked into a grin as well at that. "And do you think they'd buy that?"
She shook her head. "Nope."
"And what if…you know…um…" He looked down at his feet, not looking forward to asking the question. "What if they force us to sleep in the same room?"
Akane blushed at the unexpected question, but soldiered on. "Well…would you really miss your father's snoring?"
Ranma's eyes went the size of teacups. "Wh-what?"
Akane stepped closer to him, lowering her voice. "Look, Ranma…all I'm saying is that maybe, you know…maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for us to share a bedroom. We don't have to…uh…we don't have to do anything, it's just…maybe then they would leave us alone?"
Ranma looked as if he was going to break into a cold sweat. "I wouldn't try anything, anyway!" He blurted, looking pale.
Akane's eyes narrowed, and she yanked him to her by his shirt collar, snarling. "How can you— are you still trying to insult me like that even after—
Shaking his head profusely, he put his hands on her shoulders, leaning into her face. "No, I was just— if we ever tried to…uh…you know…then Nabiki would be around to take pictures and make videos and audio tapes and gods know what!" He whispered hurriedly. "She'd probably put it all out on the internet, too, if she only thought it'd make her any money!"
"Oh." She said flatly, letting go of his shirt. That was a truly horrifying thought, enough to turn even the most infatuated young man off.
"Yeah," He nodded, relieved that he'd been able to prevent a big fight; he was getting good at that lately, he'd noticed. Everything was just a little bit easier when he could say some nice things to her without having to worry about what she'd interpret them as— now she wouldn't interpret them as hidden insults, and now he wasn't afraid of her interpreting them as compliments anymore— and because now, he was even allowed to apply a little physical contact to gently steer them away from a quarrel.
"You could sleep on the floor if you wanted to, I don't mind." She looked away, fidgeting. "And we could maybe get to talk a little, couldn't we? At night, I mean. We could get some time alone without having to sneak around…"
Ranma took another deep breath in an attempt to compose himself. "W-well…I guess…if they ask us, but…they wouldn't let us share a room unless we were married, would they?"
Akane shrugged, her cheeks red. "I suppose…I suppose I could talk to dad about it…"
Ranma raised a critical eyebrow. "Oh, sure, because he's so reasonable, right?" He said sarcastically.
Akane pursed her lips in irritation at his description of her father, but she was determined to keep her voice down. "More reasonable than your dad, in any case," she hissed back.
"Oh, yeah?"
They glared hotly at each for a moment, their fists cocked, before they both deflated.
"What was I even thinking, defending my honourless excuse for a dad?" Ranma scoffed. Must be the sexual frustration talking, he added miserably to himself. "Both our fathers are insane,"
"Yeah…" Akane mumbled wearily.
"But I guess we should at least try to talk to them, huh?" He went on.
She nodded in agreement, and they walked down the hall and stepped into the living room. The chorus of cheers that met them was almost deafening in its intensity.
Genma was dancing around and cheering, Soun was cheering and crying at the same time, Happosai was cheering while showering them with confetti shaped like tiny panties, Nabiki was taking pictures while cheering and Kasumi had prepared the biggest festive dinner ever to be seen within the walls of the Tendo house.
Worst of all, everyone seemed to be dressed in their finest attire, and the two victims of all this thought they could see a two traditional kimonos, one intended for a bride and one for a groom, displayed on hangers at the back of the room.
This was going to be difficult.
"Maybe if we just keep eating, we don't have to answer any questions," Ranma muttered to her out of the corner of his mouth.
Akane had to grin at that, just a little. "Tempting, but I think the time has come to speak our minds…" She whispered back.
Ranma groaned. "I was afraid of that…"
It was a hot day, made even hotter by the fact that Ukyo had been outside, having herself a long morning jog. Ryoga was going to the construction site today, but he didn't have to be there before eleven, apparently, so he was in the backyard, doing whatever he did to keep in shape. Ukyo made a mental note to join him the next time, so she could get a better look at how he trained— or maybe she could suggest that he could join her for her morning jog?
Her father was visiting some neighbour for an early lunch or something, but he'd promised to drive Ryoga to work. Ukyo made another mental note to thank her father again later. That was really rather decent of him, how he was trying to patch things up with her by being nice to Ryoga.
Ukyo stopped by the kitchen to get herself a drink of water; her top clung to her like a second skin, her bangs plastered to her forehead. She was longing for a shower as she stretched herself, trying to work out all the kinks in her back and shoulders as she walked upstairs.
Stepping into the bathroom, she started peeling off her top and her bra before kicking off her socks and then going to work on her shorts. As she got to her panties, however, she halted, slowly turning crimson. They felt...moist. Still blushing, she shrugged the discovery off.
This happened sometimes when the weather was really hot; that she turned wet without really noticing and without...um, stimulation. Ukyo grabbed for her towel, but as she picked it up, it accidentally brushed against one of her breasts, teasing the nipple. This small gesture, however, made an unreasonable amount of arousal course through Ukyo's sweaty body. She froze, breathing heavily.
Without thinking, she dipped her hand down between her legs, breathing heavier as she felt the slippery wetness, her fingers brushing over her clit and entering her for a moment before teasing her button again. Her legs shaking, she stepped into the shower stall.
She knew Ryoga was home, but he was in the backyard, and he'd promised not to walk off somewhere and get himself lost before she came to get him, so he wouldn't be able to hear her if he was still back there, and her father wouldn't be home for another hour or so.
No longer caring, Ukyo started tending to herself. Judging from the positively electric reaction a mere brushing of fingers had elicited, it had been far too long...
Right before she reached her destination, an image flashed across her brain of him, kneeling in front of her in the shower, using his tongue where she was—
"R-RYOGA!"
The name had escaped her before she knew it, her body trembling harshly as the pleasure took her.
For Ukyo, the world seemed to stop, although the showerhead, unfazed by the shocking utterance, continued to pour warm rain over her body. Ukyo stood perfectly still, as if set in stone, her jaw slack, eyes horrified and her hand still resting between her legs. After a while, she quickly began to wash her hair and body.
When she had finished rinsing herself off, however, unfortunately her brain started working again.
"I...I just...I was doing that...and I...his name...while I was...his name..." She muttered aimlessly as she got out of the shower stall with stiff movements, starting to towel herself off. "I— can't— believe— this..."
There was an abrupt, loud pounding on the door. "UKYO!"
Ukyo gasped and jumped, almost tripping over her own feet, knocking down her make-up, some toothbrushes and various other toiletries with her elbow as she spun around to face the door.
"Ukyo! What's wrong?"
Oh gods, it was Ryoga…!
"Wh-what?" She stuttered, her hands shaking as she grabbed her bathrobe and started pulling it on.
"Are you okay in there?" Ryoga leaned anxiously forward, putting his ear to the door in hopes of finding out what was going on; what if she'd cut herself or hit her head or something and was too dizzy to think straight?
"Yes!" Ukyo replied, panicking. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I heard you screaming!" Ryoga tried the handle of the door, but it was locked, and he didn't want to get on Mr. Kuonji's bad side again by breaking the door, but her tone of voice didn't sound right, and he was getting just a little frightened for her. If he really had to, eventually he would break down the door for her sake. "I got here as fast as I could," He explained, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot, "I-I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, I— are you sure you're okay? What was that loud crash just now?"
He heard me…! That's when she realized that the bathroom window was in fact partly open. Ukyo felt sick, swallowing against the dizziness as she watched the door handle jiggle with his attempts to get in. He heard me…! "I…I just thought I saw a spider!" She called out thickly, busying herself by gathering up the things that had fallen down.
"Ukyo?" He sounded so worried; he obviously wasn't buying her cover story. No wonder, either, considering the state of her voice, and it was apparent that he wasn't going to let up until she opened the door.
So she did, a cloud of steam following her out into the hallway, her terrycloth bathrobe on crooked and her wet hair hanging limply around her shoulders. "Uh…hey…"
Ryoga stared. Now there was a vision: Ukyo fresh from the shower, her hair still dripping wet, her face flushed, almost beet red, you might say…and she looked a little hazy, her eyes bright…absolutely beautiful…
He cleared his throat. "What happened?"
"There was just…this spider…or this thing that looked like a spider, anyway…" she mumbled lamely.
Ryoga frowned. "You sounded like you were in pain,"
To her own horror, Ukyo felt tears prickling her eyes; she hadn't planned on this! She hadn't planned on calling his name! It had just slipped out! And she almost never masturbated, anyway, so wasn't it just her luck that he'd heard it when she actually did do it? How loud had she been exactly? And he thought she sounded like she was in pain? Had she really sounded that awful?
How much more humiliated was she supposed to get?
"I…I…I was just scared, okay? I hate spiders!" She exclaimed desperately, her fists clenching as the embarrassment, shame and guilt suddenly melted into anger.
"U-Ukyo…?" Ryoga shrank back, bewildered by her odd mood.
"Just…just leave me alone, okay? Everything's fine!" She barked.
"Ukyo—"
She felt bad for yelling at him— as if her perverted thoughts were somehow his fault— but she just couldn't calm herself down. "Just go away! Go a-away!" She shouted, her voice breaking as she shoved him roughly aside to get past him.
"B-but—"
Choking on a sob, she fled down the hall to her room, slamming the door in his face when he tried to follow after her.
Ryoga stood miserably outside her door, listening to her crying for couple of minutes before he finally decided to simply leave her be. Whatever it was that was wrong with her, he figured, she probably needed a little time alone.
And he really, really hoped it wasn't because of something he'd done.
She couldn't deny it now.
She'd known she was attracted to him, but she hadn't known— that was— that was just too much! That hadn't just been her thinking he was cute, or wanting to give him a peck on the lips, that hadn't just been some sort of random fantasy; that had been something that she wouldn't mind happening in real life.
But it had been too real! Just too damn…real…!
Maybe she'd been aware of it at some sort of level before, since she liked how he looked and since the casual touches she'd started to allow herself to give him had only increased in numbers— from a silly holding of hands to a kiss on the cheek to actually hugging him while he was in the bathtub, for goodness sake!— but this had been so blatantly obvious even to her that there was no denying it, which was why she now found herself lying face down on her childhood bed, crying her eyes out with confusion.
After what had happened in the bathroom, her world had been spun around, turned sideways and shook backwards and forwards until her head rattled.
She really, really hadn't expected to call out his name. And especially not that loudly.
What was she supposed to do? Would it actually be smart to enter into an actual relationship with Ryoga? And who was to even say that he felt the same? What if he wasn't attracted to her in that way at all, what if—
You stupid, stupid girl, you know better than that! Have some confidence!
The boy went to pieces if she sent him a cute smile and he'd gotten a nosebleed just because she'd kissed him on the cheek—
That could be any girl, though, any girl could get that reaction out of him. It doesn't have to mean it's me. Why did he kiss me on my forehead that time when it must've been plain to see that I wanted to be kissed on the mouth?
She'd told herself, later, that the thing in Nara had just been a dud. It had just been the intense emotional situation that had made her want to kiss him like that, right?
But she'd quickly discovered she was just fooling herself.
She sat up on her bed, staring blankly at the floor, chewing at a fingernail. There were so many things screaming at her in her in her mind, telling her that she didn't have to worry, that he felt something for her as well, but she didn't dare to listen to it, didn't dare to remember, because she had no way of being sure, and for every memory that appeared in her mind that proffered some evidence of how he was attracted to her, another cold, reasonable thought would jump out at her, denying it all. And she was still so confused about what she herself was even feeling.
After a while, she got up and started walking around in her room, still the blank look on her face. Stopping in front of the mirror, she looked at herself, at her crooked bathrobe, her tangled hair and her face, puffy and pink from crying.
"I look awful," She told her reflection, flinching at how thick and hoarse her own voice sounded. And that was what she'd looked like to him, not even ten minutes ago. How could he possibly be attracted to her?
Right then, there was something awfully tempting about dressing up in a completely figureless sweat suit and let her hair hang in her face, hiding herself from the world as she'd done during her worst times when posing as a boy— this whole situation had suddenly got her feeling like that melodramatic, hormonal fourteen-year-old again.
After she'd dried her hair and put on her underwear, Ukyo was frantic as she searched through her wardrobe. What was she supposed to wear?
Finally, she chose an ordinary pair of jeans and a white T-shirt that wasn't too tight. If she looked casual enough, he wouldn't be able to see through her, right?
Yeah, right.
Her hand shook as she went to open the door to her room.
Her father had been right in his worries. She really didn't know what she was doing.
When she came downstairs, he saw that the skin around her eyes were a bit red and swollen, and when he anxiously tried to meet her gaze, she looked away. He swallowed; he never liked not knowing the reason why she was upset, and this time it was particularly bad as he couldn't ever remember hearing her cry before, not like that.
Ukyo noticed him stand up when she walked into the kitchen, like some kind of Victorian gentleman politely standing up when a noblewoman entered the room or something, and she clasped her hands in embarrassment, staring at a spot on the floor.
Then he seemed to get very busy, rushing forward to pull out a chair for her and bustling around the kitchen looking for something. She reluctantly accepted the chair and watched in bemusement as he prepared some cold tea for them with jittery movements, constantly glancing back and forth from his work and her.
"I went to get rid of the spider for you, but I couldn't find it." He said eventually.
"Spider?" She asked, confused.
"The one you said you saw in the bathroom…?"
Ukyo's face broke out in a forceful blush. "I…I didn't actually see a spider, I just thought I did…"
Ryoga watched her red face in bewilderment. "Oh."
"Yeah…"
"Ukyo?" His gaze went serious as he sat down on the chair opposite hers, handing her a cup of tea. "Are you okay?"
"I…I don't…" Ukyo mumbled, looking away again.
"Is this about your engagement?" He asked fearfully; he certainly wasn't going to ask her if it had anything to do with her mother. He didn't dare to, for fear of upsetting her further. "D-do you regret not being with…?"
Ukyo gave him a long, absolutely crestfallen look before bursting into tears. He still thought she cared about that? "N-no!" She sobbed, crying because it was so horribly sad that he couldn't see how she felt, but also crying because she felt relieved that he couldn't see it, crying over the memory of the humiliation she'd suffered today, crying because she felt so utterly confused and crying simply because of the emotional overload of it all. "It's not about th-the stupid e-engagement, for fuck's sake!"
"U-Ukyo…?" The look he gave her was so raw with concern and helplessness that her breath hitched in her throat in a way that had nothing to with crying. It was the shock of having someone look at her like that, having Ryoga look at her like that, like his world was falling to pieces simply because she was bawling like a child in her father's kitchen.
His fingers were brushing against her arms in a tentative, skittish way, as if he was afraid he'd break her or something, and her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she stared at him through a haze of tears, stared at him hovering around her, trying to reach out, trying to touch her, help her, and not daring to, and somehow she couldn't stand it—
When she collapsed into his arms and he caught her sobbing form, it felt so frighteningly natural, and she felt so stupid.
What do you think, Kuonji? Why do you think you're so upset? Why do you think you're crying your heart out? Do you think it's for no reason whatsoever?
She knew why; it had been mercilessly and brutally honestly carved in stone in her consciousness.
It's because I love you, she thought, and for a second she was deathly afraid she'd said it out loud, but for some reason, the relief of finding it wasn't so only made her cry even harder. She supposed it was meant to be a happy occasion to find out you loved somebody, but it was so overwhelming, so different than anything she'd ever felt before that she had no possible way of controlling herself.
Wasn't this completely irrational? Ukyo wondered to herself as she just couldn't stop crying. Wasn't it extremely silly to be seeking comfort with the very person who had indirectly caused her to cry? The only person to whom she couldn't explain why she was crying?
Why don't I have any friends? Ukyo wondered in half-hearted bitterness as she clutched Ryoga's shirt in her fists and pressed her weeping eyes to his warm, fabric-covered chest. Why don't I know any nice girls I could ask for advice or something?
Oh, right. I'm an okonomiyaki-obsessed, workaholic cross-dresser, that's why. I forgot.
"Ukyo, Ukyo…hey, Ukyo…?" Ryoga murmured continuously, trying to soothe and shush her. "C'mon, don't cry," He begged softly.
She said nothing, only gave a sort of hiccupping little sob and buried her face further into the now damp front of his shirt.
"Ukyo…It's really hard to comfort somebody when you don't know what's wrong," He told her gently but meaningfully. When I have no words, all I can do is touch you, he added to himself, swallowing as he was barely holding her shoulders while she clung to his shirt, sobbing. And I don't know how I'm allowed to touch you before it's wrong…
If he held her closer, was that within the bounds of friendship? If he kissed her hair, was that okay? What about kissing her face? What about picking her up so she could rest on his lap? What about inviting her to put her face against his neck?
What about anything but standing there like a wimp, holding her shoulders like they were hot potatoes, not even managing to hug a grieving friend properly?
"Tell me something, Ukyo. Tell me what I can do." He went on, starting to feel oddly calm in the face of her heart-wrenching sobs and shaking frame; he needed to be calm if she couldn't, he knew that much. This was not the time for stuttering or blushing or falling to pieces even if she was clinging to his shirt, her face warm and soft and wet against his chest. If ever there was a time to prove he could exercise self-control, this was it. She needed him.
"I…I…" She sniffled a little, her voice thick. "I c-can't…I don't know…"
And that seemed to be all he was getting out of her. Sighing slightly, he pulled her closer, into a real hug, and sighed again as he felt her relax a little, her shoulders descending and the shaking and the sobs slowly retreating. His hand started rubbing a calming circle-eight pattern on her back out of its own volition, and as he heard her let out this tiny, encouraging groan, he leaned down, pressing a kiss into her hair.
"Ryoga…" Ukyo whispered tremulously as she felt the painful tension start to leave her body along with her fit of crying. Oh gods, how was this happening to her? How was she able to stay like this against him for so long, to have him treat her with such care?
And if she wrung some more tears out of herself, would he keep holding her?
Ryoga stroked her hair as he held her close. He still didn't know what was going on, but at least she wasn't mad anymore, and he was going to keep holding her until she felt better. It was the least he could do. "You can tell me some other time," He offered softly, his lips finding her cheek, moving out of their own accord. For a second, he was terrified he's gone too far, but then she felt the muscles of her face bunching under her skin against his lips, as if she was smiling a little, and she tilted her face up slightly, pressing her cheek into his lips.
He let out a relieved breath. Apparently a kiss on the cheek wasn't out of boundaries.
Ukyo swallowed, deep in thought as she leaned against him. What was she supposed to do? He didn't seem to be demanding an explanation anymore, so she supposed she could just leave it at that, but if she said nothing, wouldn't he think she was mentally unstable or had some sort of hormonal imbalance or something if she just went on crying sprees for no good reason?
But if she didn't want to admit that she'd just done something as careless as calling out his name while masturbating when he wasn't far away…well, then she didn't actually have anything to say. He didn't buy the spider story then, and he certainly wasn't buying it now when she'd just been crying her heart out against his shirt.
So what could you do?
You had nothing to do but bide your time…
She swore she was almost falling asleep on her feet against him, completely emotionally exhausted, when he finally spoke again.
"Ukyo? Uh…I'm sorry, but I have to leave for work soon."
That jolted her out of her reverie; not only had she been holding on to him for too long, but if he had to go to work soon, it meant that her father would be home any minute. "Oh…right." She disentangled herself from his embrace, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands and patting her hair and clothes self-consciously. "Would you like something to eat before you leave?" She asked, trying to sound as if she'd recovered from her little episode.
"You don't have to—"
"Don't be silly," She brushed away his objections, "It's no trouble."
"Okay, I guess…um…" Ryoga said reluctantly, glancing again at the clock on the kitchen wall. "How about a sandwich or something? I don't really have time—"
"Sure!" Ukyo said, too brightly. "One sandwich coming up! No ham, right?" She added as an attempt at a joke, cringing at how tremulous her chuckle sounded.
Ryoga ate the cheese and salad sandwich quickly, looking at the back of her head a bit mournfully as she stood by the counter fixing herself some lunch. He felt really bad for leaving her like this when there was obviously something wrong with her, but he had promised his superior at the construction site that he'd be there today, and he needed the money. He could always get money from his parents, now that he could actually call them, and in any case they put some money into his account every month, but it was the principal of the thing. He was getting older, and he wanted to be able to provide for himself, showing his parents they could rest easy.
Washing the rest of the sandwich down with a gulp of tea, he stood up from his chair determinedly, getting ready to give her a promise that he'd try to make her feel happy again no matter what it took—
"Hi, kids!" Masahiro said jovially as he entered the kitchen, feeling cheerful after his social visit to the neighbour lady, who like himself had lost her spouse several years ago, though her loss was more recent than his. Hasegawa Rika was a nice, middle-aged woman, surprisingly attractive for her age and with a kind of cynical humour he could really appreciate.
Better yet, they'd both known each other's spouses when they were alive, so talking about them came easier than talking about them with somebody else, who would just ask how they felt after the loss of their spouses; with Rika, he could also talk about the good times without feeling guilty, as if he wasn't being a 'proper' widower.
Rika had been living abroad for the last two years, so they'd had lunch to catch up on things and had talked for a long time, agreeing to meet again the next day since it was Golden Week and they had taken the week off from work, both because they'd been expecting visits from their children. Rika was a few years older than him and so her two sons were older than Ukyo and had already moved out. Rika had been quite impressed to hear that Ukyo had started her own branch of the family business in Tokyo at the tender age of sixteen.
He wasn't quite ready to tell his daughter about Rika yet, though, since he'd just dumped that whole engagement thing in her lap, but even more so because he wasn't quite sure if he and Rika had anything to be called a romantic relationship yet.
"So," He grinned, "did I miss anything while I was gone?"
Masahiro was met with two identically dumbfounded faces.
He blinked. "What?"
TBC.
Author's note: I'm not sure if I even have anything to say this time, except that the next chapter also has a slight lime warning.
I've re-written parts of Omiyage. Again. I've had to correct a few logical flaws concerning characters' physical strength, time issues and one where I wrote that Ukyo was upset about almost running on a green light, afraid that she could've killed a pedestrian with her car— and running on a green light would of course only have been wrong if she was driving according to BIZARRO WORLD traffic rules!
Sigh.
Oh, and by the way…this chapter is TWENTY-EIGHT PAGES LONG, not including this author's note! A NEW RECORD! This is just getting completely out of hand, isn't it?
Ninnik
