D: I don't own Ranma ½

Chapter 9: "Telling the truth"

It was around midday when Ranma stopped by the restaurant. He'd been paying short visits to Ucchan since their little talk, and even managed to get into conversations with Ryouga without violence. More so, for some odd reason he seemed to be more inclined to talk to him than before; as if he suddenly started to… stop hating him. That was why it'd been so hard to have that talk with the lost boy, but Ukyou had given him a chance to clarify himself, and he wasn't gonna waste it.

When he entered the restaurant, he couldn't help but smile. Ryouga had insisted on helping around, and he seemed happy about it. He had to admit that his two friends made a great team, specially when they weren't scheming to get him and Akane apart.

Trudging to the counter, he sat on a stool and sighed. Ukyou greeted him as usual, with her big sunny smile and her 'specially cooked for him' okonomiyaki. Ryouga was waiting the tables, his hands busy with orders.

Ranma finished his food gratefully and waited for his friend to finish cleaning the grill. Finally lunch rush was over and he could have his talk with Ryouga. The look he gave to her told her everything before she even asked. He had finally decided to confess.

Good.Ukyou thought. It was about time. I just hope they don't blow my restaurant up.


They were sitting on the Ucchan's rooftop, looking at the sky. Ryouga was getting a little nervous, Ranma had said that he needed to tell him something, that it was very important and that it couldn't wait any longer. That had been an hour ago.

"So?" Ryouga began, tilting his head in question at Ranma's prolonged silence.

Ranma started, he seemed to be lost in his thoughts when Ryouga spoke.

"So what?" He asked nonchalantly.

"What did you have to tell me?"

"Well…You know we never talk that much…"

He was evading him? But he's the one who wanted to talk. What's going on?

"Yeah?"

"So why don't we keep it that way?" He smiled sheepishly and prepared to jump off the roof when Ryouga grabbed his arm. He stopped abruptly. Apparently, Ryouga wasn't very conscious about his own strength.

"Ranma…" He said encouragingly.

The pigtailed boy sighed and sat next to him again.

"You're not gonna like this."

"Try me."

Ranma nodded. There was no easy way out of this conversation, but there had to be an easy way to start it.

"Ok…" He searched his brain for something to begin, maybe if he explained the situation first, Ryouga would understand. "You know about your curse, right?"

The lost one nodded.

"And you know," Ranma flinched, "that you used to sleep in certain bed when you were cursed…"

Ryouga nodded again, blushing furiously.

"Well, you know that this certain bed belongs to my fiancée…"

P-cha- I mean Ryouga nodded a third time, smirking. So this was it was all about. He's jealous about his fiancée…He probably knows how I felt about her.

"Well, the thing is…"

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, Ranma." He cut him off, his tone serious.

"Huh?"No way Ucchan already told him, right? She'd told me if she did so… "Whatcha talking about?"

"I'm not interested in your fiancée anymore, Ranma." He said solemnly. Saotome's eyes bulged out.

"Really?"

"Yup. So, if that's the reason why we fought so much like Ucchan said, maybe we can be friends now."

Ranma looked at his tentative smile and his sincere eyes and flinched. Ryouga was offering him friendship?

"A-are you sure?" He asked, maybe Ryouga didn't hate him anymore; maybe he had a chance to make it up to the lost boy, for Jusenkyou, for the bread… For Akane.

"You're Ucchan's best friend, she cares about you. And now that you're not engaged to her anymore, I don't see a reason for us not to be friends…"

Ranma's eyes were two saucers.

"You like Ucchan?"

"Ilove Ucchan," Ryouga corrected, smiling sheepishly.

The pigtailed one broke into a big grin.

"That's great man. I mean it… So, friends?" He asked, stretching out his hand, still a little shaken about the sudden revelation.

Ryouga nodded, taking Ranma's hand in a strong shake. "Friends."


They sat in companionable silence until Ranma remembered the real reason why they were up there. Taking a long breath, he fidgeted with his pigtail and tentatively looked at his friend. I don't think he'd want to be friends again after this. Ranma bitterly thought. It was a shame, really, 'cause he did want to be Ryouga's friend. The only reason stopping them to become friends, real buddies as he thought they could be, was Akane. And now she wasn't standing in the middle anymore. Now he hadn't to worry about the tomboy liking Ryouga. Not that it really mattered to him, anyway. It was just that he didn't want the lost boy to deal with her horrible cooking, her incredible short temper, her huge mallet…her cute smile, her warm eyes, her rich laughter--

Stop! I do not like that tomboy! Quit thinking like that!

Maybe if he told him how he felt about Akane-- I mean how he definitely not felt about Akane, he'd understand. After all, it had just been a typical fight between them, with the only difference that this time it was Ranma who fought in blind rage, not Ryouga.

Gathering all his courage, he cleared his throat, catching the other boy's attention.

"There's something else, Ryouga."

He looked at his new friend with interest.

"What's that?"

"Well… I know I shoulda told you earlier, but… It's kinda hard… Ucchan said I had to tell you myself or she'd do it, so she gave me some time… I still feel the same way as before, but I guess you deserve to know… More so now that we're friends."

"Go on, Ranma. You can tell me." He patted Ranma on his shoulder; a small, friendly gesture that made Ranma feel even guiltier. The first time in Ranma's life that Ryouga offered his trust and friendship to him and it didn't last ten minutes before he blew it all away.

Here goes nothing…

"The thing is…"


It had been horribly quiet for an hour or so, Ukyou'd thought as she cleaned the grill, the restaurant closed for its afternoon break. She'd asked Konatsu to stay along just in case. She'd told him about the situation, the kunnoichi nodding in understanding. He'd known all along that Saotome had something to do with it. There had been one or two laughs, silence again and then they could hear Ranma's aggravated voice talking carefully.

"I'm scared, Natsuchan." The pretty chef admitted, placing two cups of tea on the counter, motioning to Konatsu to stop sweeping and have some tea.

"You should be, Ukyou-sama. We don't know how's he gonna react. Old Ryouga would try to kill Ranma in a blind rage, cursing loudly and getting himself lost. Or maybe a huge Shi Shi Hokoudan. We don't know what this Ryouga would do."

"That really, really freaks me out, Natsuchan. I'm afraid of what Ryouga can do. He'll react in pure instinct."

She sighed unhappily, taking a sip of her tea.

"Do you think--"

/ WHAT/ Came from outside. Sharing a look of comprehension and dread, both of them bolted to the backyard.


Ranma never thought Ryouga's aura could shine that bright, or that intense, for that matter. It put Akane's on her best day to shame. It was the one that always preceded the Shi Shi Hokoudan, he realized with fear. This one was gonna be a big one; wisps of rage and hurt trailed in waves towards Ranma. It hurt more than any hit the lost boy could give him. They were standing facing each other, Ryouga's hands had became fists, his fingernails digging into his palms. His eyes were hard, fixed upon the eyes of his… no, he couldn't call himself a friend any more. Not after hurting him like this. A real friend would never try to hurt another friend. He'd already hurt Ucchan, his best friend. And now this. Ranma realized then that he deserved anything the Hibiki boy would throw at him. Maybe even more.

"H-how could you?" He shakily asked, his voice too thick. Ranma flinched at his tone.

"It was a-an accident… I never w-wanted t-to…"

"What? Kill me?" He spat ironically. Ranma flinched.

"Ryouga…"

Ukyou looked up to see an oncoming disaster.

"Natsuchan, I need to do something. Look at Ryouga's aura."

"Shi Shi Hokoudan?" Asked the kunnoichi, a worried frown on his face.

"Yes… But I'm not sure if he remembers how to pull it out. It could kill him." She realized stunned. A sudden wave of dread washed upon her. "I need to do something."

"I trusted you." He started to breathe heavily. Something was happening. He felt something surrounding him, and he could tell it was something familiar to him. There was a lump in his throat, there was a ball in his chest and it commanded release. His arms tingled, they wanted to stretch forward. His legs trembled. The ball in his chest was getting bigger by the minute.

"Ryouga…" He repeated, then added, "I know you don't believe me right now, but I never meant to hurt you this bad; you should try to calm down."

"Calm down?!!"

His aura increased in size, sparks flying off.

Ranma tried to approach him, taking cautious steps towards the lost boy; his arms spread in a placating manner.

"Ryouga…"

"Stay back!" He ordered. Ranma could see in his eyes the anger and hurt and… Fear? He's scared? Ranma suddenly realized that Ryouga wasn't the angry, vengeful martial artist that always fought against him. It was a boy with no memory and no control whatsoever in the current situation. Of course he would be scared, he didn't know he could kill Ranma with a huge blast or break every bone in his body. As far as Ryouga knew, Ranma was a great martial artist; maybe the best, and he didn't know at what level he was in. Hell, Ukyou had told him that the lost boy didn't even remember the basic katas. Of course he'll be terrified standing in front of a definitely skilled martial artist, with no defence at all, and who actually tried to kill him and was responsible of his lack of memory.

Hearing the hurt and dread in the lost boy's voice, Ukyou jumped on the roof, landing in front of him, her arms stretched to the sides.

"Ryochan? Please calm down…"

Ryouga's eyes focused on the object of his affection, surprised. She was blocking, no, protecting Ranma?

"Ucchan?" She flinched at his hurt tone, "what are you doing?"

Ukyou could see tears forming in his eyes. She could feel her own threatening to fall.

"I don't want you to hurt anybody, Ryochan; or yourself for that matter." She whispered pleadingly. They knew a Shi Shi Hokoudan of that magnitude could kill them instantly, but Ryouga didn't. He didn't understand the gravity of the situation. The thought of hurting someone never crossed his mind, he didn't even considered try to hit Ranma cause he knew he'd loose. And there she was, asking him not to hurt her? HER? How could he hurt her? He loved her!

"C'mon Ryouga, snap outta it!" Came Ranma's voice. "You gotta help me out here, Ucchan!"

"I'm trying Ranchan, keep quiet!" She hissed above her shoulder. Konatsu had dashed inside to call an ambulance, just in case.

"Why are you taking his side? He's the one who…" Ryouga stopped when Ranma's voice rang in his head.

"Ucchan said I had to tell you myself or she'd do it, so she gave me some time…"

He closed his eyes, the ball in his chest threatening to explode. He felt those tears finally falling on his cheeks, though he didn't mind anymore. The feeling that awoke inside of him was indescribable. It was a mix of sorrow, pain, loss, reject, fear, loneliness, and shame, along with other things he didn't want to know what they were.

She knew all along. She still loves him. She was using me.

"Ryochan?"

He didn't respond. He didn't even hear her anymore. Ranma gasped as he saw the small circle of chi around Ryouga's feet.

"Ucchan, it's a Perfect Shi Shi Hokoudan. We're not gonna make it if he pulls it off." He hissed in Ukyou's ear.

"I know Ranchan…How do we stop him?"

"We gotta knock him out." He answered regretfully.

"We can't… His head… He's not recovered yet, it could hurt him!"

"I know!" He yelled in frustration.


Black, black, black. That was all he could see. Voices in his head. Ranma's. Ucchan's. Laughing. Mocking. Hurting.

"Because I love you!"

"I do love you, please know that."

The ball in his chest kept getting bigger, stronger. Those horrible emotions washing over his whole body. He needed to release them. He needed to let them out.


"We need to hurry!" Ranma spat, his eyes widening as the circle of chi and dust became stronger around Ryouga's feet.

"Ranchan, we can't. We might hurt him!"

Just then Ryouga caught his head between his hands, growling, his eyes shutting tighter.

"Oh damn! Ucchan, he can't take it anymore, we need to help him! I gotta knock him out!"

"No, Ranchan, please!" She pleaded, taking his arms.

"Ukyou he's suffering!"

"It might kill him if he doesn't release the chi!"

"It might kill us if he does!"


Black, black, black. Darkness surrounded him, the pain was getting unbearable. He could feel the hot sphere growing inside, threatening to explode his ribcage in pieces. He wanted to release, release, let it all out, out, out!


Ryouga clutched his chest in agony; his legs finally gave in and he fell on his knees, bracing himself. He cried out in pain, causing Ukyou to turn around to face him. Ranma took his chance and grabbed Ukyou's spatula from her back, swinging it powerfully to connect with Ryouga's skull. Ukyou stood very still, frozen with shock. The hard blow made the lost boy fly off the roof, luckily Ranma was quick in reaction and lunched himself towards the lost one, embracing him from behind and turning around to land on his own back.

Saotome landed on his back, an unconscious Ryouga on top of him. The dark aura almost burned him, he could actually feel the pain and despair coming from his friend. Grunting heavily, Ranma stretched out the other boy's arms towards the sky, taking his hands with his own. Gathering all his courage, Ranma concentrated on the chi that now surrounded both of them, and released it.

"Shi Shi Hokoudan!!!"

The bright column of light speared through the sky, and exploded like a firework. Ranma gasped for air and sat up, amazed that he was able to do that; he released Ryouga's hand and hugged him tightly, rocking back and forth.

Ukyou landed beside him, crying. She was yelling at him for being stupid or something like that, he really couldn't make out her words. Then she wrapped her arms around both of them, hugging them tightly.

It had taken a lot of effort to pull out that Shi Shi Hokoudan. The only time he tried it, he'd developed the Moko Takabisha because he couldn't get himself depressed enough. He thank the gods for that. He'd never known, until then, how much depressed Ryouga needed to be for a blow like that. Ranma was amazed, and more than rotten, that Ryouga was able to pull Shi Shi Hokoudans at will. Maybe he wasn't just being melodramatic all the time. It had taken only a second for Ranma to contrast the other one's hot chi and pull it out; he'd used the Soul of Ice for that. It had occurred to him in a moment after the blow, when he launched himself. It had worked out. Of course, he had to make contact with Ryouga's heavy chi, therefore his emotions, to accomplish his plan. That meant that, only for a second, Ranma felt what Ryouga was feeling.

Ranma tightened his grip on the lost boy's unconscious body, burying his nose in his hair.

"I'm so sorry." He wailed.

They could hear the ambulance sirens getting closer.

Ranma didn't bother to brush the tears off his face. He deserved to cry.


A/N: Ok, I don't know about this one…Tell me what you think…

Thanks to all of you who reviewed!