Chapter 54 Consequences

Akane watched as her husband slumped wearily in his chair, waiting for the bell to ring to signal the start of school. Neither of them had gotten as much rest as they would have liked, as they had been rudely awakened well before the alarm normally went off. First, by the sounds coming from the bedroom next to them, sounds that managed to sneak through the soundproofing in the wall that they had added, and then by the unceremonious way that D-chan had decided to announce her presence by first jumping into the middle of the bed, and then barking at what turned out to be absolutely nothing.

Ranma rested his head against the back of his chair, his eyes gazing absently at the desk that Ukyo should be occupying. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle seeing her today, not after what happened.

Akane smiled suddenly as she watched Hiroshi escort Sayuri into the classroom, her hand firmly grasped by his, a silly grin on both of their faces. She nudged Ranma, rousing him from his stupor and hissed, "Well, at least one thing worked out. They must be back together."

Ranma gazed at his friends, and a smile crept onto his face. "Yeah, they certainly look happier now. And it looks like they didn't waste any time. Look at her lips; don't they look a little puffy?" he said.

"Poor Souta, though. He just can't catch any breaks with the girls, can he?" Akane suddenly asked.

Ranma shrugged and replied, "No, doesn't look like it. He'll be okay though."

"What are you going to do about Ukyo?" Akane asked.

Ranma shook his head and replied, "I haven't a clue. For now, I'll just treat her like I would any of the other students in class that we aren't friends with. It won't be easy, but I'm not gonna be rude to her or anything. Frigid politeness, I guess, is the best thing to do."

Yuka walked in, with Daisuke carrying both of their bags, his face showing the strain. As he made it to her desk, he gratefully set her bag down on the floor, and straightened up with a wince as he rubbed the small of his back. "What are you carrying around in there?" he asked.

"Just my books," Yuka replied. She noticed Hiroshi dancing attendance on Sayuri, and squealed in excitement. "Are you two back together?" she asked, excitedly.

"Yes, I came to my senses last night," Sayuri replied, her cheeks lightly pink.

"Good, we're happy for both of you," Daisuke said, as he slapped Hiroshi on the shoulder.

Yuka rubbed a lock of her hair, nervously for a moment, and then said, "Sayuri, I was wondering. Would it be all right with you if Dai and I went over and talked to your mom after school? Maybe if we talked to her, she'd understand things better."

"I can't ask you to get involved in my problems," Sayuri began, only to stop as Yuka and Daisuke glared her into silence.

"We are your friends, and friends help out. YOUR problems are OUR problems," Daisuke said forcefully.

"What he said, that comes from us too," Ranma said, "I meant what I said the other day about you being family." He stopped for a moment and realized how that might sound. "Hey, that goes for the three of you as well," he added a bit awkwardly.

"Good save, Ranma," Akane said, as she grinned at him, "And for what it's worth, I agree with him about that. You four are just as much family to me as my sisters. So, Sayuri-chan, don't think that your problems are any less important to us."

"But, you two have so much to worry about right now," Sayuri protested, "What with the whole Ukyo thing and all."

"What Ukyo thing?" Daisuke asked.

"Not now, she just walked in," Akane hissed.

"And it looks like she doesn't have a care in the world," Sayuri said.

Ranma closed his eyes suddenly as his anger spiked. 'How could she toss away our friendship,' he thought angrily.

Akane reached across and laid her hand on his shoulder and said, "Calm down, Ranma, calm down."

Ranma took a deep breath and let it out. Schooling himself, he hoped his face was impassive as he turned to look at Ukyo.

Ukyo stopped suddenly in the doorway as Ranma turned to look at her. It was almost like walking into a brick wall, the sheer look of utter indifference in his eyes stopping her in her tracks. 'How dare he look at me like that? I'm the injured person here,' she thought angrily to herself, 'He's the one who hid the truth from me.' She sniffed and walked into the room, and sat down in her chair, ignoring the puzzled looks from the rest of the class, when she didn't greet her friends in her normal manner.

Ranma frowned briefly at Ukyo's back and then sighed. 'I guess she was serious,' he thought, 'This is going to be so awkward. Poor Konatsu, I wonder how he's holding up, being caught in the middle of this mess.' Suddenly, he gave a wry grin as he thought, 'At least this is better than what happened the first time. I don't even want to think about Akane's reaction if Ukyo had moved in with us. Though, her trying to share our bed would have been a lot more difficult.'

Akane glanced over at her husband and saw the wry grin on his face, and wondered what he was thinking about that was causing it.

Ranma saw the curious look that Akane was giving him and quickly scribbled a note and slid it over to the edge of his desk.

Akane scanned it quickly and saw that it read, 'I'll tell you later. It's about what happened before.' 'Well, that was amazingly cryptic,' she thought, vowing to find out what had happened with the sauce the first time.

Miss Morisato finished calling the roll, and then closed the class roster. "Good morning students," she said.

"Good morning, sensei," the students replied more or less in unison.


The lunch break barely came soon enough for Ranma and Akane. The chill coming from the girl in front of them had been less than enjoyable. The two of them quickly walked out the door with the rest of their friends, and ran into Nabiki chatting with Souta.

"Is is okay if I still sit with you guys," Souta asked, shyly.

Sayuri smiled uncertainly as Ranma replied, "Sure, why not? That is if it's okay with you two."

Sayuri and Hiroshi traded looks and nodded. "We don't have a problem," Hiroshi replied.

With a relieved expression on his face, Souta fell in with the group, staying on the other side of Nabiki from Sayuri. The group sat down under their tree, and began opening up their bentos.

"Guys," Ranma said, soberly, "there's something that you need to know. Ukyo has decided to stop being my friend. The reason really doesn't matter, but it was important enough to her to make that decision. I won't tell you what to do, but don't turn on her just because of me."

"Ranma, what she did was inexcusable! Saying that you had no honor, when all you did was tell her that you had ruined her sauce back when you where six. When on earth were you supposed to tell her? You didn't even remember about the sauce until she mentioned it yesterday, and at your earliest opportunity you told her," Akane exclaimed, glaring at him, "None of it was your fault."

"Her reaction wasn't my fault, and I certainly didn't expect her to blow up like that, but the fact that I ruined her sauce ten years ago and wasn't man enough to tell her then is," Ranma replied.

"Shit, Ranma, you were six," Nabiki said, "Don't be so damn noble about it. Stop blaming yourself for something that pretty much isn't your fault. She's the one who screwed up and you know it."

"The sad thing is, if she came over and apologized right now, you'd forgive her," Akane added.

Souta said, "I know it's not really any of my business, but in my experience of your husband, that is one of his better traits. His ready forgiveness and refusal to hold a grudge are part of what makes him who he is."

"Ranma is a good man, and Shampoo is very proud to call him friend, and, well, Amazon sister," Shampoo added.

Ryoga grinned showing his fangs and said, "They're right, Ranma and you know it. Hell, you even managed to convince me that we should be friends."

"We always were, buddy, it just took a while for you to realize it," Ranma said, with a rusty laugh. He turned serious and said, "Just don't shut her out. She'll eventually come to her senses, I hope. If not for her sake, then for Konatsu. After all, she is marrying into my family unless she decides to break his heart too."

Sayuri reached out and grabbed his arm. "Ranma, I saw what she did to you when you got home last night. You were a wreck. No one does that to my family. Calling you dishonorable, bullshit, you are the most honorable person I know. As far as I'm concerned, she is dead to me, and I will have nothing to do with her until she apologizes to you and performs some penance," she said, fiercely.

"But," Ranma began.

"But nothing, what did you say in the classroom before it started. 'Your problems are my problems,' isn't that what you agreed with? Well, it works both ways, brother, it works both ways," Sayuri said, her eyes blazing.

"Just don't do something that you'll regret later, that's all I can ask, then," Ranma said reluctantly.

The bell rang again, so the group gathered up their belongings and headed toward the classroom. Each of them made a point of snubbing Ukyo as they walked by, each snub causing Ukyo to get paler.


"As you may remember from our last lesson, I have scheduled a major project for Political Science. You will have a partner in this project, and it will count for a large portion of your grade for this term," Miss Morisato said once the final bell had rung for the beginning of the afternoon session. She watched as everyone straightened up and began to pay attention. "Since there are an equal number of girls and boys in this class, you will be teaming up with one person of the opposite gender. In this bucket, I have slips of paper with all of the boys' names on them, and I will have the girls draw out their partner's name," she continued. She began walking through the class, holding the bucket up, starting with the first girl, which happened to be Shampoo.

Shampoo reached into the bucket, and a sound of rustling paper could be heard. Soon, she pulled out a small slip of paper and read it. She chuckled and said, "Shampoo lucky. Get to do project with husband. Be too too much fun."

"That's not what was supposed to happen, but I guess that's the way it goes," the teacher said, "Just don't forget to do the project." She walked around to each of the next few girls, who all drew names, and read them out loud. Ranma didn't pay much attention since none of his friends' names, or his had been drawn yet. Then the teacher reached Ukyo.

Ukyo reached in, and pulled out a slip of paper. She glanced at the name and blanched. "Miss Morisato, I can't work with this person," she whispered.

The teacher looked at the name and then looked at Ukyo with a puzzled expression on her face. She said, "I thought the two of you were friends."

"Were is the operative word, sensei," Ukyo said.

"I'm sorry, but there are no second chances, Miss Kuonji. You will work with him, or fail for the term, your choice," Miss Morisato replied.

"If you drew my name, Kuonji, I can work with you. We don't have to be friendly toward each other," a voice interjected.

Ukyo glared back at Ranma and spat, "Yeah, Saotome, I drew your name." She looked at him for a moment, her eyes cold and said, "I guess I fail then." She gathered up her books, and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Miss Morisato asked.

"Home," Ukyo snapped.

The teacher said, "I didn't say you could leave."

"I don't think you understand," Ukyo said, "I don't plan on coming back here."

Akane said, "Ukyo, now you're just being foolish."

Ukyo spun on her heel and said, "Don't pretend you care, girl." She walked quickly to the door and opened it. After she walked through the door, she slammed it behind her, shattering the glass pane.

Ranma jumped up and asked, "Miss Morisato, can I talk to you, outside, please?"

The look of entreaty on the young man's face made all the difference. The teacher replied, "Certainly, Mr. Saotome." The two of them walked out of the room.

The rest of the class sat there, a buzz of conversation rising as they tried to figure out what had just happened.


Ranma slammed his fist against the wall, and cursed under his breath.

"Mr. Saotome, what on earth was that all about?" Miss Morisato asked.

Ranma blushed and bowed. "I apologize for my words, sensei," he said, "You weren't meant to hear that."

"Just explain what just happened in there. I thought the two of you were friends," the teacher said.

"We have some issues that we need to work out, that just cropped up yesterday, and well, I ask that you overlook what just happened with Kuonji, please. I don't know how quickly this will straighten itself out, but it will," Ranma said, quickly.

"I can't overlook her behavior," Miss Morisato replied, "but if she returns to class soon, and makes up all her work, I'll not penalize her too severely. However, she is still your partner in the project. And if she doesn't help, your grade will suffer."

Ranma sighed, and said, "Oddly enough, there are more important things than grades to me. But, thank you for your concern. I'll muddle through somehow."

"What are you going to do about the situation?" his teacher asked, not unkindly.

"I don't have a clue," Ranma admitted, as he clenched his fists in frustration. He sighed heavily and said, "I'm a martial artist. If this was a foe I could fight, I know what to do. This has to do with emotions, and I'm not good at that kind of thing. I hurt her badly, and she said some things that wounded me. And right now, neither of us wants to talk to the other person and work things out."

"Don't let it drag out too long. She can't miss too many days of class without it impacting her education," Miss Morisato said, sternly.

Ranma shook his head and said, "You don't understand, not that I can blame you. You don't know all of the details. Her education isn't the thing that concerns me, it's the fact that she works with my mother at the café, and she's supposed to be marrying my brother in just a couple of weeks. That's what I need to keep from screwing up."

"You do have a tangled mess to clean up. I don't envy you in the slightest," his teacher said, frowning.

Ranma smiled wryly and said, "This isn't too bad. I've been in worse messes." He started to return to class, and then asked, "If it's okay with you, I can take her classwork to her. My brother can give them to her and then bring them here the next day."

"I'll allow that for a few days, but that's all I can do," Miss Morisato said after a few minutes. She listened for a moment to the noise coming from the classroom and sighed. "I'd better get back in there, before all hell breaks loose," she said.


Konatsu looked up in surprise as the door to the café opened and Ukyo rushed in, her eyes red from crying. Ignoring the handful of customers, the distraught woman brushed past the curtain covering the opening to the stairs, and disappeared from view. Konatsu looked at Nodoka, who nodded at the curtain, and ran up the stairs after his fiancée.

Konatsu opened the door to their apartment to find Ukyo collapsed on the futon, sobbing. "What happened? I thought you intended to apologize to Ranma for what you said. Did he say something mean to you?" Konatsu asked.

"No, I didn't get that far. When I walked into the classroom this morning, he looked at me as if I were a total stranger, and then he turned all of my friends against me, and then I was partnered with him in a project, and then I just, I just," Ukyo replied.

Konatsu rushed to her and scooped her up in his arms, and let her cry on his shoulder, while he rubbed her back. "That sounds like you had a really shitty day," he finally said.

Ukyo pulled her head away from his shoulder and stared at him in disbelief. "You cursed!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

Konatsu grinned at her and said, "I do know how."

"But, I've never heard you before," Ukyo protested.

"Of course not, it wouldn't be ladylike," Konatsu retorted.

"I just don't know what to do!" Ukyo wailed.

Konatsu replied, "You need to get some rest, is one of the things you need to do. You barely slept last night, don't think that base is hiding the shadows under your eyes. Why don't you go take a long hot bath?" His eyes twinkled for a moment and said, "And if you want, I can come in and scrub your back."

"I thought we agreed to wait until we got married," Ukyo said, with a sad smile. Suddenly she frowned, "Oh no. The wedding! He's your brother, and he hates me. How can we go through with it?"

Konatsu hid the sudden pang in his heart. "You don't want to marry me?" he asked, plaintively.

Ukyo squeezed him hard and replied, "You know I do. Somehow, I fell in love with you, and can't wait to be your bride. It's just, he's the head of the Saotome clan, and he might not want me to be in it."

"Ranma-sama isn't that sort of person and you know that, my love," Konatsu said gently, "And I'm sure he doesn't hate you. He may not like you right now, but you did hit him where it hurts the most. Ranma-sama prides himself on his strong sense of honor, and you did accuse him of being dishonorable."

"Are you taking his side in this?" Ukyo asked suddenly, jumping away from him, her eyes showing her sense of betrayal.

"Kami NO!" Konatsu exclaimed, "Just trying to help you see how he feels, that's all."

Ukyo looked down at the floor and said, in a little girl voice, "I just don't know what to do, Ko-chan. I've screwed up so badly and I don't know how to fix things. What I said was wrong, and I knew it as soon as I said it, but I felt so betrayed."

"I know. What really needs to happen is the two of you need to sit down and talk about what happened," Konatsu said. 'Their damn pride is going to keep getting in the way,' he thought.

"He doesn't want to talk to me; you should have seen the way he looked when I walked into the classroom. I could feel the hate coming from him," Ukyo whined.

"What did he say when you were partnered with him?" Konatsu asked.

Ukyo blushed and said, "That he could work with me."

"Then I don't think he hates you," Konatsu repeated. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment and said, "Go take that bath, and I'll be back up in a bit to check on you, okay?"

Ukyo walked back over and kissed him gently. "Yes, dear," she replied, slightly sarcastically, "I do like the way you take care of me."

"Always," Konatsu said with a slight smile, "Now scoot." He mock glared at her until she gave him a half-salute and vanished behind the door to the bathroom. He walked back down the stairs to find Nodoka waiting expectantly for him.

"What's wrong with my daughter to be, son?" Nodoka asked.

Konatsu asked, "Will you let me handle the situation? You shouldn't get involved."

"That bad, huh?" Nodoka asked, arching her eyebrows in surprise. She frowned and replied, "I don't like her hurting like that. I want to find out who did it so I can have a discussion with them."

"That's the worst thing you could do, Mom," Konatsu said.

Nodoka stared at her adopted son and realized how serious he was. "Okay, I'll let you take care of it. Besides, I have a wedding to organize," she said.

"That'll be a big help to her. Now, what's wrong is she had a big fight with Ranma and isn't talking to him," Konatsu said, "And before you ask, neither one of them have very clean hands." He sighed again, and said, "I love her dearly, but Ukyo overreacted badly. Remember how bubbly she was the last day or so, about that secret sauce of her father's that she was about ready to taste?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Nodoka asked.

Konatsu pulled out a small sample from a bottle that Nodoka hadn't seen before. "Try it," he said simply.

Nodoka dipped a spoon into the cup that he had handed her and tasted it. Her mouth puckered in distaste and she said, "That's horrible. This is the sauce that she made? I thought she was a better cook than that. Maybe it just didn't age well; the cask wasn't sealed properly or something."

"No, the truth is Ranma was around when she made back when they were both about six. He wanted a taste, so while she wasn't around, he opened the cask, but spilled it. He tried to coverup by remaking the recipe, but he obviously failed. Ukyo wasn't very happy when he admitted what he had done yesterday, and she, well, she frankly went insane. She accused him of being dishonorable, and you can imagine how well that went over with him."

"Oh dear," Nodoka gasped.

"And that's why you need to stay out of it, Mom," Konatsu said.

Nodoka grimaced. She said, grimly, "I hope she hasn't thought through what she said at least."

Konatsu nodded sadly. "For all our sakes, I hope she hasn't either. Calling him dishonorable stains the entire Saotome clan," he said, "The clan she is about to marry into."

"Strictly speaking, because of her insult to my son, I should forbid the wedding," Nodoka said, sadly, knowing the pain that this would cause, "In fact; I should challenge her for the insult to me, since calling him dishonorable reflects poorly on me."

"I was afraid that you might react that way," Konatsu said quickly, "Can you at least let Ranma and me work this out with her? Pretend that nothing is wrong?"

Nodoka shook her head, and replied, "I'll let you two work it out, but I can't pretend nothing is wrong. I need to go home. If I see her, I'll say something I'll regret. But, mark my words, if she doesn't retract what she has said to my son, she will not be my daughter."

"I understand, Mom," Konatsu said, as he watched her strip off her apron, and then walk out the door of the restaurant. He glanced around, and saw that the last of the customers had left, so he went outside and took down the banner. He walked back into the café and locked the door behind him. Then he trudged wearily up the stairs to find his fiancée. He knocked on the door to the bathroom, and said, in a defeated voice, "We need to talk. There's a problem and it's a big one"

Ukyo called, "Come on in, I'm more or less decent."

Konatsu took a deep breath and opened the door. When he walked in, he saw Ukyo lying in the tub, covered with her bubble bath. He frowned slightly and said, "Yeah, mostly less."

"Oh stop that, in not quite two weeks you'll see all of me, and you've seen me topless before, anyway," Ukyo said, as she took another drink from the wineglass sitting on the side of the tub.

"How many glasses have you had?" Konatsu asked.

Ukyo replied, "This will be my second. So, what's so important?"

"Mom wanted to know why you were home so early, and obviously upset," Konatsu replied, "And I can't lie to her."

"So she knows that Saotome and I are no longer friends," Ukyo said, rolling in the tub to look at Konatsu.

"Yeah, that too. I had to tell her what you said to him," Konatsu admitted.

Ukyo sat up in the tub, the bubbles dripping off her breasts, and glared at him. "So she knows I called him dishonorable," she hissed.

Konatsu hung his head and said, "I'm sorry, Ukyo-sama. She's the closest thing I have to a mother." He hesitated, and then went for broke, and added, "I asked her to let Ranma and I work things out with you, but she's not happy with you." He tried to look anywhere but at the pink buds sticking out from the bubbles.

"How not happy is she?" Ukyo asked, her voice carefully flat.

Konatsu replied, "Unless you apologize to Ranma for calling him dishonorable, she won't accept you as her daughter-in-law. She feels that what you did was an insult to the entire clan."

Ukyo sank slowly into the tub and crossed her arms over her breasts. She turned to him, her eyes stricken, and asked, "And what do you think?"

"You are going to be my wife," Konatsu replied, firmly, "The, um, mother of my children, and my best friend."

Ukyo blushed prettily, which was very obvious through the bubbles, and asked, "But what about Nodoka?"

Konatsu sighed heavily, and rubbed his hands through his long hair. "I don't know. Well, that's not exactly true. I've already left one supposed family because of you; I can damn well do it again. It'd hurt to lose them as a family, and friends, but you're certainly worth it. So I'd do it in a heartbeat."

Ukyo surged out of the tub, and hugged him hard, soaking him in the process. "You don't know how good that makes me feel hearing you say that," she breathed.

Konatsu brushed the wet hair from her face and said, "I think you can tell exactly how good you're making me feel at the moment." At her blush, he added, "It's not every day that I'm holding a nude, wet girl in my arms, but I hope to repeat."

At that moment Konastu heard someone banging on the front door. "I'd better see who that is," he said, "It's just us here right now."

"Okay, go see who it is and then we need to finish this talk," Ukyo said.

"Don't get too dressed, I'd like to continue from where we left off," Konatsu said, as he stood up and walked out the door.


Ranma stood at the front door to the café, shocked to find it closed this early in the afternoon. After a few minutes from the time he had arrived, the door finally opened, and Konatsu stood there. Ranma grinned at his brother and asked, "Did I interupt something? You seem to be a bit, um, damp."

Konatsu glanced down at his kimono and saw the massive wet spot on his chest and blushed. "None of your business, little brother," he snapped. After a moment, he grinned, and said, "Though I intend to get back to it. So what are you doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to drop off these assignments for Kuonji," Ranma said, holding out a satchel, "That way, she won't be too far behind when she comes back to school." He hesitated and asked, "What happened? Why is the café closed? And where's Mom?"

Konatsu sighed and backed away from the door. "You might as well come in," he said graciously.

"Thanks," Ranma said dryly, "I wasn't too excited by the look of the sky anyway. Looks like rain clouds."

After the two of them sat down at the grill, Konatsu replied, "Ukyo came rushing in from school, all distraught, and ran upstairs. I followed her and we talked for a moment, but when I came back down, your Mom wanted to know what happened. I told her what I knew, and she got upset. Especially about Ukyo calling you dishonorable. She as much as said that the marriage was off."

Ranma started cursing then, impressing Konatsu, who didn't hear him repeat for several minutes. Finally, Ranma wound down. He turned to Konatsu and said, "I'll talk to Mom, but there's no way the two of you aren't getting married. I'm not letting you get hurt because of my stupidity."

"That means a lot to me, Ranma, and I'm sure Ukyo will appreciate it," Konatsu said, warmly.

"You two are good together, that's the end of it. So what if my sister-in-law hates my guts. Just means my family is dysfunctional. Big deal. I'm a big boy, I can deal with it," Ranma said.

"Big words, sounds like someone has been paying attention to class," Konatsu teased. He sobered and said, "Ukyo was all prepared to apologize for what she said when she got to class this morning."

"Then why didn't she?" Ranma asked, confused.

"Not really sure. I guess because she thinks you hate her," Konatsu replied.

"I don't hate her, I don't even dislike her. I'm upset with what she said, but that's about it," Ranma said slowly, "Akane, Nabiki and Sayuri are madder about it than I am for some reason. I'm not sure that they would accept just an apology from her now."

"Akane I can understand, but Nabiki and Sayuri? Why would they care?" Konatsu asked, looking puzzled.

"Family," Ranma replied as if that explained everything and after a moment of reflection, Konatsu realized that it probably did.

"So if Ukyo apologized for what she said, you'd be fine?" Konatsu asked.

"Of course," Ranma replied, "It's just as much my fault as it is hers. I just didn't expect her to blow up the way she did, or I would have tried to handle it better. Not that I know how I could've, though. I just didn't want her to feel like she was a failure at the thing she does best. She didn't ruin that sauce, I did, and I told her as soon as I remembered that it was me. Though you know how much my honor means to me, and hearing her call me dishonorable hurt. But sure, an apology about saying that will do it for me."

"But Akane probably won't?" Konatsu asked.

Ranma shrugged and replied, "I doubt it. I was pretty upset about losing Ukyo's friendship, and Akane didn't like that. She blames Ukyo for how I nearly fell apart last night, and it's going to be very hard for her to forgive Ukyo."

"Let me talk to Ukyo, and we'll work things out," Konatsu said.

Ranma replied, "That's fine. Just don't take too long. Miss Morisato is being pretty understanding about school, but if it drags out too long things won't be as easy to fix. And there is a wedding in a couple of weeks that needs to happen."

"I'll come up with something. Don't be surprised if I show up at your home one morning. If I do, just follow my lead," Konatsu said.

Ranma nodded and then said, "You'd better get back to Ukyo, then. And get out of those wet clothes. It can't be good for you."

"Oh, I fully intend to be out of this as soon as you leave," Konatsu said.

"In THAT case, I'd better go," Ranma said, with a bit of a smirk. He walked to the door, and opened it, letting in the rain. "Oh well," she said, resignedly.

"See you later, little sis," Konatsu said, with a grin.

Ranma shook her fist at him, ruining the affect with her grin, and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Konatsu locked the door once more, and climbed the stairs to their apartment. When he opened the door, Ukyo was sitting on the futon, dressed in a short robe; one that made it pretty obvious that she was the only thing underneath it. 'Kami, give me strength,' he thought as he walked over to join her.

"Who was at the door?" Ukyo asked.

Konatsu dropped the satchel on the table and sank down into the futon. He replied, "Ranma, he came by to drop off your schoolwork, and to talk for a bit."

Ukyo crossed her arms over her chest, spoiling Konatsu's view, but also making it easier for him to concentrate. "So what did Saotome have to say?" she asked, icily, the venom in her voice causing him to wince.

Konatsu sighed, and said, "He wanted to know how you were doing."

"Why should he care? He hates me," Ukyo spat.

"No, actually he doesn't. He's unhappy that you called him dishonorable. If he hadn't told you the truth, then you might have a point. But he didn't want you to think that you were a failure at the thing that you were the best at, especially for something that wasn't your fault. But what he's mostly upset with is losing your friendship. It means a great deal to him," Konatsu said, hoping that his words would get through to her.

"Then why did he react the way he did, and why did he turn all my friends against me?" Ukyo asked, choking back a sob.

"We really didn't get into that, and he's not the one who's the most upset anyway. It sounds like you really hacked off Akane, Nabiki, and for some reason Sayuri. From the little he said, it must be those three that are turning everyone against you," Konatsu replied, "Ranma even said that he wants us to get married; that he doesn't care if you hate him, that our happiness is too important. He's even planning on talking to Mom about that."

"Oh," Ukyo breathed, for the first time feeling a little better about things. She turned and laid her head on his shoulder, so he wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her tight. She sighed, and asked, "How do we fix this mess then?"

Konatsu shrugged and replied, "He'll be fine with an apology, and having your friendship back. You know him better than I do, but he just flat doesn't hold a grudge, at least not very much of one. And I'm sure he'll tell you he's sorry for ruining your sauce and not telling you about it. But, you do need to cut him a little slack about it. He was only six at the time."

"I can do that," Ukyo said, her eyes downcast, "That'll take care of Ranma, but what about the women? Akane will probably forgive me if I show I'm sincere, but Nodoka might take a bit more convincing. And I don't even want to think about Nabiki. She not only holds grudges, but is a firm believer in the idea that vengeance is a dish best served cold."

"Let's cross one bridge at a time. If we can get Ranma and Akane back, then the rest will eventually work itself out," Konatsu replied.

Ukyo frowned slightly and then said, "I guess you're right. One problem at a time, I suppose." An impish smile flashed across her face and she turned and straddled him, sitting in his lap. "Speaking of problems," she said, her tone light, "I believe you said something about naked, wet girls?"

"I thought we were waiting," Konatsu replied, closing his eyes, as he relished the feel of the barely clad girl in his lap, and the thin layers of material that he was wearing.

Ukyo laughed wickedly, a sound that caused a shiver to run up Konatsu's spine. She lightly kissed his neck, and said, "I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of the teasing, and the flirting. I'm tired of us both going to bed hot and bothered and not doing anything about it. And I'm really getting tired of the cold showers." She deliberately ground herself against him, as she felt how happy he was having her where she was.

Konatsu pulled back to look deeply in her eyes. The fire blazing there almost scared him. He asked, "Are you sure this is what you want? We've waited this long, another couple of weeks won't kill us. At least I don't think you can die from frustration."

"Damn it, Ko-chan!" Ukyo exclaimed, "How much more obvious do I have to be? I'm sure. I've never been surer of something in my life. I want to forget about everything that went wrong this week, and I want to do it in your arms. And finally, you're mine, and I want the universe to know it."

Konatsu wrapped his arms around her and stood straight up, the strength in his arms surprising her. "You don't have to ask me again," he said, in a husky voice, as he walked through the bedroom door, carrying her, with her legs wrapped around his waist.


Nodoka stepped back in surprise as she saw who was shivering in the cold April rain outside her door. "Come in, Ranma, before you catch your death of cold!" she exclaimed, "Let's get you to the furoba so you can get out of those wet clothes." She nearly dragged her redhaired daughter down the hall to the recently renovated bath.

"Mother, I can take care of myself," Ranma said in a half-amused, half-exasperated tone.

"Right, that's why you came here in the rain, without a coat, without an umbrella, and don't tell me that you aren't shivering," Nodoka said, rapidly, as she started unbuttoning her daughter's shirt, "Now, stop talking and get out of those wet things. Once you're in the furo, I'll find you something to wear while these things are in the dryer."

"MOM, I'm seventeen, nearly eighteen, and married. I'm pretty sure I can take my clothes off! I don't need your help," Ranma exclaimed, her cheeks marred by two little dots of pink, as she attempted to fend off her mother's fingers.

"Well, I certainly hope Akane helps you take your clothing off," Nodoka said in a huff.

"Only when I'm going too slow," Ranma mumbled, "Lose more buttons that way."

Nodoka unbuttoned the last button, and said, "But you're still my little boy, and"

Ranma finished taking her shirt off, and dropped it untidely on the floor, making it blatantly obvious that she wasn't a little boy. She stopped and stared at her mother, as she chuckled, and asked, "What?"

Nodoka didn't reply, as she suddenly gazed intently at her daughter.

Ranma started to undo her trousers, only to stop at her mother's gasp and then silence. She looked up as her trousers slid to the floor, and asked, taking in her mother's pale face, "What's wrong?"

Nodoka's eyes were filled with tears as she saw the fine tracery of scarring on Ranma's body, the fine white lines covering much of what was visible. "What happened to you?" she whispered, her face ashen, tears hanging from her eyes.

Ranma looked at herself for a moment, and shrugged. "Neko-ken training, mostly," she replied, "though a few of them were from zigging when I should have been zagging. It's the price I paid for being who I am, Mom. Akane has her share, too."

"Oh my child," Nodoka said, gathering Ranma up in her arms, "What did I do to you?"

"It's all water under the bridge, Mom, there's nothing we can do about it. Now, about that bath, and those dry clothes," Ranma said.

"If I'd known," Nodoka began.

"Not important now, so skat, let me have a pretense at modesty," Ranma said, with a half-smile.

"Yes, my darling daughter," Nodoka retorted.

Ranma rolled her eyes, and turned to preserve her modesty. She slipped off her boxers and walked into the bathing chamber proper, closing the door firmly behind her.


Ranma grumbled slightly as she sat down in the kitchen and watched her mother fix a quick meal. After seeing the robe his mother had available, a quick change of gender was necessary to avoid looking ridiculous. The barely hidden smile on her mother's face was all the clue that Ranma had needed to know that her mother was teasing her.

"So, not that I'm complaining, mind you, but why have you come to visit?" Nodoka asked, as she quickly shredded the vegetables for the stir-fry she was preparing.

Ranma hesitated and then replied, "I came from Ucchan's, Mom. Where you're supposed to be working."

Nodoka turned and leaned against the counter, her eyes cool. "I couldn't stay there after I heard what she said to you. Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, her tone slightly chill.

"Because it was my problem, not any one else's," Ranma said simply, crossing her arms under her breasts, and gazing stoically at her mother.

"She insulted your honor!" Nodoka exclaimed.

Ranma smiled grimly and said, "I am the judge of my honor, no one else. And while she may have been a bit over the top, she wasn't completely wrong. I did do something dishonorable in spilling her sauce, and trying to hide the fact." She shrugged and added, "The fact that I was only six may be an excuse, but it doesn't hide the fact that I did something wrong. In all fairness, I did tell her as soon as I remembered it, but I can't fault her jumping to a conclusion like that."

"You are much more forgiving than I am," Nodoka said.

Ranma quirked an eyebrow at her and said, "Perhaps, only time will tell. But to be honest, that's not the reason, or at least not the only reason, I stopped by. I'm disappointed in you, Mother."

"Mother?" Nodoka asked, in some trepidation.

"Why did you tell Konatsu that you are reconsidering his marriage?" Ranma asked.

"You have to ask after the insult that the Kuonji girl gave you, gave our family!" Nodoka exclaimed, "I thought better of you."

"Careful, Mother," Ranma said, her tone getting colder, "Konatsu loves her dearly. And while I am annoyed at her for the moment, I still love her. They belong together, and I support them getting married."

Nodoka gasped, and asked, "How could you? That egregious insult to our honor!"

Ranma slapped her hands down on the table and half-rose. "Mother, if I decide to overlook it, that's my business. If she makes even an attempt at an apology, I'll accept it. She may not be totally blameless, but I am the one who caused the problem, and I WILL NOT see either of them hurt by that ancient mistake," she thundered, "Or do you not care that your son loves her?"

"Why should that matter? There are other women for him," Nodoka replied, carelessly.

"I see, so the adoption was in name only. You don't care for him, for his feelings. Then remember these points. One, he's older than I am, nearly twenty in fact, so soon he will be of age, and your control of him will be over. And two, remember he has already left one family to follow her, why do you think he would do anything less with you?" Ranma said. She stood up and said, "I'm sure my clothing is dry enough, Mother." She stormed out of the kitchen and headed for the laundry.

"Ranma, get back in here!" Nodoka called.

Ranma growled back, "No, we've finished talking. I'm leaving."

"Ranma, I'm sorry!" Nodoka exclaimed, racing after her daughter, "That's not what I meant. You know how important honor is to me." Her only answer was the sound of the front door slamming. Nodoka slumped against the wall.


Mrs. Sato walked briskly down the street, carrying a heavy basket from her trip to the local market. She was still roughly ten blocks from her home, and beginning to feel a bit of strain from the load, when she was approached by a young couple coming the other way down the sidewalk. As they neared, she recognized the girl as Yuka Amiya, her wayward daughter's best friend, and decided the young man must be her fiancé Daisuke. A momentary flash of anger appeared on her face at the sight of the couple that had led her daughter astray, but she quickly regained her composure. After all, it would be shameful if one of her neighbors saw her looking that way in public, and above all, she refused to lose face because of what her daughter had done. As far as the neighbors knew, Sayuri was just off visiting friends.

"Hello, Mrs. Sato," Yuka said, as they stopped in front of her. She smoothed her skirt down with her empty hand in a nervous gesture.

"I don't think we've ever been formally introduced, Mrs. Sato, but I'm Daisuke Ito," Daisuke said as he bowed politely to her. He saw the heavy basket, and in one of the gallant gestures that Yuka loved about him, he reached out and captured the basket. "Let me carry that for you," he said, politely, "This is much too heavy for you to carry the rest of the way home."

"I really don't need the company," Mrs. Sato began, only to frown at her bad manners.

Yuka frowned quickly, and then said, "I'm sure that I'm not your most favorite person right now, but we needed to talk to you to set to rest whatever rumors you might have heard. Shall we head to your house? You don't have to invite us in."

Mrs. Sato nodded her head, reluctantly, and led them back the way the two of them had come, setting an extremely brisk pace.

"First of all, in case you were worried about Sayuri, she's in good health, and reasonably happy, except for missing you, of course," Yuka began.

"Then why isn't she at home then?" Mrs. Sato asked, "Instead of staying who-knows-where and getting her head stuffed full of nonsense."

"Because while she loves you and misses you, she's also very angry with you. She's trying to straighten out the mess her life is in right now, and frankly you and your husband are part of that mess," Daisuke said, his tone flat.

"And she is staying in a good home, with a set of friends that care for her. Surely you've heard of Kasumi Tendo, or more accurately now, Kasumi Ono? And I know you know her husband, Tofu Ono, since he has treated Sayuri several times. Anyway, almost everyone in Nerima knows about how kind Kasumi is," Yuka said, almost hastily, "Well, Sayuri is staying at the Tendo compound."

Mrs. Sato replied, as if the words had to be dragged from her mouth, "Everyone I know says that Mrs. Ono is a saint, and I have to admit that the few times I've met her, she struck me as remarkably kind and considerate. With an extremely large heart."

"That's Kasumi, all right," Yuka said. She paused for a moment and then contined, "Sayuri said that you think that I'm pregnant and that's the reason Dai asked me to marry him."

"That was what I was told by several of my friends," Mrs. Sato admitted.

Daisuke smiled grimly and said, "Well, if she is, it'll be the first virgin birth in a very long time. We haven't been intimate, and plan on waiting until our wedding night to change that."

"There are just too many things that we have to do before we're ready for that, any way," Yuka said, "None of my friends are pregnant, even the few that are married."

"I'm just scared that being around so many married couples might encourage my daughter to do something she will regret later," Mrs. Sato said, tiredly. 'Like I did,' she thought.

"Sayuri is a good girl, and Hiroshi won't press her, you know that," Yuka said, gently.

"Hiroshi? I thought she was dating Souta Higurashi," Mrs. Sato said, in surprise.

"They got back together today," Daisuke replied, "But, Souta is the one who let her go. He could tell that she wasn't happy."

"Sayuri did like Souta, but both of them were dating more because you and his mother encouraged it, more than anything else. She moped around any time she saw Hiroshi," Yuka said.

"The reason they broke up in the first place was because he was trying to get her to stop being friends with the Saotomes," Daisuke added, "And that made her angry. She didn't want him telling her who her friends should be."

"Just like I did," Mrs. Sato breathed. She looked up and realized that they were at her front door. "Please, come in, and tell me how she's doing?" she begged.

The young couple traded a smile and walked through the door.


That evening, Akane looked everywhere for her husband after dinner was over. He was nowhere to be found, or at least, until she noticed the window in their bedroom was open. With a smile of remembrance for all of the times that the two of them had spent talking on the roof, looking at the stars in the sky, she clambered out onto the first floor roof and turned.

"Hi, I was wondering when you would find me," Ranma said quietly. He was sitting on a blanket on the roof above their bedroom.

"Mind some company?" Akane asked, her eyes dancing.

"Yours? Of course not," Ranma said, "You're always welcome."

Akane jumped up lightly to the roof, and sat down next to her husband, who wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Yen for your thoughts," she asked after several comfortable minutes passed, just relaxing in each other's company.

"Channeling Nabiki are we?" Ranma teased, enjoying the feel of the passionate girl by his side. He chuckled lightly as she elbowed him in the side, and added, "Just worrying a little about Ukyo, and Mom's reaction. This wasn't the way things went the first time, you know."

"So things aren't the same this time?" Akane asked.

Ranma snorted and replied, "Not even close, thank Kami for that. As bad as things are now between the two of us,it was a real fiasco before. I had hoped that telling her upfront that I ruined her sauce would make things better, but it obviously didn't work."

"You really didn't answer the question, Ranma," Akane said, a slightly dangerous glint in her eye.

"No, I suppose I didn't," Ranma said, "Well, several things are different. One of course is that we're married this time, and that changed a lot of the dynamics between all of us. Before, you were just one of the fiancées. Though in my own mind, you were the only one that counted. Not that I had managed to admit that to myself much less anyone else. But Ukyo and I were close. And aside from the occasional jealous outburst from you, you were friendly with her too. But now, well, I'm really better friends with the Four Musketeers, than I am with her."

Akane snorted in amusement and asked, "Four Musketeers? I can't believe you think of them that way. And since when did you read that book in the first place?"

"English assignment, third year in college," Ranma replied, absently, "And Yuka, Sayuri, Hiroshi and Daisuke are pretty good friends. I guess that makes us D'Artagnan."

"Very impressive, Ranma," Akane said, just before she broke out laughing.

"Okay, exactly what was so funny about that?" Ranma asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Just a mental picture of me in one of those outfits, that's all, rescuing the damsel in distress. You looked so cute in those ruffles," Akane replied.

"Ha, again I say ha," Ranma said. He grinned at her and added, "Though, I guess you did rescue me already, didn't you?"

"So what else happened?" Akane asked, still curious.

Ranma gazed into the darkened sky for a moment. "Wow, a shooting star!" he exclaimed. After a moment he said, "Well, like you've figured out, I didn't tell Ukyo the truth about her sauce. She thought she ruined it herself, and decided that she was no longer fit to be an okonomiyaki chef. Stupid thing to think, really, but there you go. She was so depressed, that she closed her café, and your father invited her to stay here. And that's when things went to hell in a handbasket. I couldn't tell her the truth, but I started acting real nice to her because I was feeling so guilty. She wanted to do things for me out of gratitude, I guess."

"What? What kind of things?" Akane said, loudly, only to subside at his panicked look.

"Nothing like THAT ever happened," Ranma said, quickly, "Just, she would pop up while I was in the furo, and offer to scrub my back. Then she decided that we should share the same bed. You really didn't like that, and I wasn't real thrilled about it either. Especially since I was always on the losing end of one of your mallets. And I wasn't even doing anything."

"I'd apologize, but that wasn't me," Akane said, trying to keep calm. 'Sleeping with my fiancé, bathing with my fiancé, just who the hell does she think she is,' she fumed to herself.

"I spent at least one night up on the roof avoiding her, and then when I finally broke down and told her the truth, she didn't believe me. She just thought it was a lie that you were forcing me to come up with. Then Nabiki had the bright idea that you and I would pretend to be married, and to have us sleep in the same bed," Ranma said.

"Um, I bet I wasn't too excited about that, was I?" Akane asked, dryly.

"Nope, not a bit. So now you see why I was so bound and determined to tell the truth this time. I figured if nothing else it would be less painful," Ranma replied, with a rueful smile.

"Yeah, as hard as this has been on both of us, that would have been worse. It wouldn't have played out the same though because we were already married," Akane said.

Ranma frowned and said, "Well, I left out a piece. Apparently I had made a promise that if the sauce was good, that I would take care of Ukyo for the rest of my life. If I hadn't told her the truth, and pretended it was good, she might have tried to force me to take her in because of that promise. Though, now that I think about it, I did pay for her café, so she owns half of the building it's in. That might've been enough to fulfill that promise."

"I wouldn't have been too happy about that, either," Akane said, with almost a feral growl in her voice.

"Didn't think you would have been. You've made it pretty clear that you're not intested in sharing, thank Kami for that," Ranma said, with a look of gratitude, "You don't know how happy I am about that."

"Really, Ranma? A lot of guys would love to be in that position," Akane asked.

"Akane, there's a reason why the Chinese pictograph for trouble is two women under the same roof," Ranma replied, "This household is a little different, because you and I are a couple. If we were a trio, I don't even want to think about how many problems that would cause. No, this is so much better the way things are between us."

They sat there for a while longer, just gazing at the sky, as the stars finished coming out, once the sun had completely sunk into the horizon. Ranma broke the silence finally, and said, "We may have a problem with Mom. She was pretty upset when she heard what Ukyo said, upset to the point of calling off the wedding."

Akane gasped, and asked, "What did you do?"

"Blew up at her and scorched her ass in leaving, basically," Ranma admitted, a bit sheepishly.

"Oh Ranma," Akane said, "You didn't?"

"Yeah, I did. She was raging about the insult to my honor, to the family honor. I know how important that is to her, Kami knows I do, carrying around that katana everywhere she goes, but if Konatsu really is my brother in something other than name only, she should have thought about how he feels. There are things that are more important. Love, for example," Ranma said, "And it just made me angry that she could so totally disregard his feelings for Ukyo. Hell, I still love Ukyo like a sister myself, and I'll be damned if I let this ruin their relationship."

"Even if it costs you a good relationship with your mother?" Akane asked.

Ranma grew quiet and said, in a tired voice, "She still shouldn't have done that. If she's not careful, she'll end up destroying any relationship with Konatsu, and what she said showed me that she doesn't care about his feelings, and perhaps mine. That only her sense of honor is what matters. If that's true, then eventually we would have had issues over something. At least this is worth it."


The family had just settled down for breakfast, Saturday morning. At that moment, they heard someone knocking at the door.

"I'll get it," Hinako exclaimed as she set her tray down and raced out of the family room.

Hinako walked back into the family room and said, "Ranma, you have a visitor."

Ranma looked up from his breakfast, and asked, "Who is it?"

"Your brother, Konatsu," Hinako replied. She stepped out of the way to let the kuniochi past, dressed in his most formal kimono, his face an impassive mask.

"Ranma-sama, Akane-sama, I need to beg a favor of you," Konatsu said.

Ranma's face grew stern, and he asked, "What is it?"

Konatsu bowed and replied, "I humbly beseech that you come with me to meet with my fiancée."

"What does she want?" Akane snapped.

"It is a matter of honor, Akane-sama," Konatsu replied, his voice expressionless.

Ranma asked, "Where is she?"

"She is at the café," Konatsu replied, "She was unsure of her welcome, so she sent me. Please, she wishes to speak to you both. If not for her sake, then for your own, I beg that you come."

Ranma looked uncertainly at Akane. "What do you think?" he asked.

Kasumi replied, "Remember what I asked you the other day, Ranma? This may be an olive branch."

"Then we don't really have a choice," Akane said firmly, "We really can't let things stay the way they are."

Ranma finished the last bite of food on his plate and then nodded. "Let's do this, then," he said simply, rising smoothly to his feet and extending a hand to help Akane up.

They grabbed their bookbags and followed Konatsu out of the house. The three of them walked silently down the street until Ranma finally had to ask, "How is Ukyo?"

Konatsu frowned slightly and replied, "She is not well. But, please, ask me no more questions. She asked me not to say anything other than what I have said." When Akane wasn't looking, he winked at Ranma.

"Ranma," Akane hissed, "Do you see what he's wearing?"

"Yeah, Akane," Ranma said, sotto voce, "His best kimono. I really don't like the look of that." Sooner than they wanted, they reached the café.

Konatsu opened the door to the restaurant, and bowed them in to the brightly lit room. Once they entered, he followed and shut the door and locked it behind him. "She's upstairs waiting for you," he said, his voice somber.

Ranma turned to look at him, and saw Konatsu staring impassively back at him.

Akane grabbed her husband's hand and pulled him up the stairs to the apartment door. She pushed on it and it opened. The two of them reluctantly entered to find Ukyo waiting for them, sitting on the floor, in a white kimono, a red sash tied around her waist. A parchment was sitting on the floor next to an ink set, with elegant script in black ink on the beige paper. Her battle spatula was sitting next to one of her throwing spatulas, both of them gleaming evilly in the light streaming through the window.

"What's this all about, Ukyo?" Akane asked.

"This is between Saotome and me," Ukyo replied, in a tired voice. She gazed at him dispassionately and said, "Thank you for coming, Saotome-sama. I humbly beg that you act as my second so I may restore my honor." She picked up her battle spatula and tested its edge with a hair from her head.

Ranma sank to his knees, his face pale. "Why are you asking this of me?" he whispered, horrorstruck at the sight.

"In accusing you of being honorless, I defiled myself, I defiled my family. Your friends have made that clear. Your mother has forbidden my becoming part of the family, and therefore I am without honor. I am a pariah because of my action," Ukyo said, tonelessly, "And because of that, I must restore what is left of my family honor."

Ranma bowed his head and said, "Ukyo, you have done nothing that is dishonorable. You were distraught, angry, feeling betrayed. I don't blame you for what you said."

A momentary spark appeared in Ukyo's eyes and then she said, "I still went beyond the pale calling you honorless. How can I atone for that?"

"By being my friend once more. By not forcing me to break my brother's heart. By not doing this," Ranma said, his chest heaving with emotion, "I don't even require an apology from my oldest friend. As I said, you DID nothing wrong." He looked up, his eyes burning with a fierce light and said, "I know what dishonorable behavior looks like. I have seen enough of it in my life, but you did nothing more than lash out in anger. If that was all it took to be dishonorable, much of Japan would be a charnel house."

"If you cared for me you would do this," Ukyo said.

"Damn it, Ucchan," Ranma screamed, "It's because I care that I can't! You are too precious to me, to us, for things to go this way!"

Konatsu said from the doorway, "I've tried talking sense to her, my brother, but I couldn't get through to her."

"Ukyo, you can't do this!" Akane exclaimed, "Ranma, don't do this!"

Ranma thought for a moment, trying to figure out a way to break through to Ukyo. Finally, he stiffened and spat, "Coward! You are just afraid to live because you made a mistake."

"Coward!" Ukyo growled, missing the slight smirk on Ranma's face.

"Yes, coward. You're too afraid to admit that you screwed up. It's easier to run away than to face your problem, that's what this is all about, isn't it?" Ranma sneered, "You're just afraid to live."

Ukyo reddened in anger, and stood up. "Those are fighting words, Ranma. You can't say that about me," she snarled.

"Then prove me wrong by living," Ranma said, rising to his feet.

"Jerk," Ukyo growled.

"So, you knew that before," Ranma smirked.

Ukyo glared at him for a moment, and then her shoulders slumped in defeat. A wry smile flickered across her face for a moment, and she said, "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Are you done being a drama queen?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo tossed her spatula down and walked to Ranma. She pulled him into a hug and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Ranchan. I don't know what got into me the other day. I didn't know what to do."

"It's okay, Ucchan," Ranma said fervently, "You weren't the only one to mess up."

"But I called you dishonorable!" Ukyo cried.

"Well, dumping out your sauce and trying to hide that fact wasn't the most honest thing that I've ever done," Ranma began

"Yeah, but you were only six," Ukyo protested, "And if I'd thought instead of reacted, I would have realized that you told me the truth as soon as you remembered."

"I still shouldn't have done it, though, so I'll beg you for your forgiveness," Ranma said.

"Only if you forgive me too," Ukyo said.

"Of course I will," Ranma replied, "Friends?"

"Yeah, friends," Ukyo replied, her eyes shining.

"That's better," Akane interjected, her eyes suspiciously moist.

Ukyo glared at her, and said, "I'm still not too happy with you."

Akane said, defensively, "I was protecting my man. You would have done the same in my place, now wouldn't you?"

Ukyo dropped her eyes and whispered, "Yeah, I would. But, you wouldn't have jumped to a conclusion like I did."

Ranma unsuccessfully attempted to suppress a snort of disbelief, causing Akane to glare at him. He mouthed, "Sorry."

"Akane, please, don't be mad at Ukyo any more, for my sake if nothing else," Konatsu pleaded. Akane nodded her head, and smiled uncertainly at Ukyo.

"We'll let everyone know that things are back to normal, or at least what passes for normal in Nerima," Ranma said.

Akane walked over and hugged them both. "Don't you ever do anything like this again, sister-to-be. I need you almost as much as these two idiots," she said, unshed tears in her eyes.

"I love you, too, Akane," Ukyo said, grabbing her arms.

Akane sighed and said, "I'm so sorry for the way I was behaving, Ukyo. I wasn't helping to get you two back together. I was so angry at what happened, I couldn't see past my own pain."

"Hey, I was the one who screwed up, sugar. Don't beat yourself up about it," Ukyo said, gently. She smiled and added, "You take care of this idiot, now, you hear?"

"Of course, that's my full time job. After all, he is a guy," Akane replied with a smirk.

"Hey, I'm still here you know," Ranma objected, amused in spite of himself. He hesitated and then said, "I still think I owe you something for ruining your sauce all those years ago and not having the courage to tell you then."

Ukyo thought for a moment and then said, "Tell you what, sugar, why don't I make you a special okonomiyaki. You know, one with my special sauce that I waited this long to use."

Ranma gulped and said, "That sounds reasonable."

"I'm sorry, Ukyo, dear, but I dumped it out. It was a shame I did, too, because it did a real good job of clearing the drains in the sink, and the sink itself has never looked cleaner," Konatsu interjected, with an apologetic look at his fiancée.

The sigh of relief from Ranma made everyone chuckle. Ukyo grinned evily, and said, "In that case, I guess I'll have to come up with something else. Hmmm, what could that be? Oh, of course. Konatsu has been working so hard the last few weeks; he could use a break before the wedding. Why don't you come spend a couple of hours each afternoon waiting tables for me?"

"I can do that," Ranma said, flashing a look at Akane, who nodded. "Besides, I wouldn't want him to tired that he couldn't enjoy the honeymoon," he added with a smirk.

Konatsu flashed a grateful look at Ranma and whispered, "Get the hell out of here, okay?"

Ranma smiled briefly and said, "You two have a lot to work out. I don't expect to see you in school today, Ucchan. If I do, I'm going to very disappointed in you, Konatsu."

"I think you can count on me to keep her distracted," Konatsu said, waggling his eyebrows in a lascivious manner. He walked over and took Ukyo into his arms.

"Hm, why do I think something's changed?" Akane asked, arching her eyebrow in an inquisitive manner.

"Out," Ukyo said, laughing, her cheeks rosy. She smiled at Ranma and said, "Be here right after school. I'll have your waitressing uniform waiting for you. You'll look s-so cute, sugar."

Ranma shook his head at her and walked out smiling.


Akane turned to her husband, once they had left the café behind and asked, "Okay, exactly how much of that was real, and how much was for my benefit?"

Ranma hemmed and hawed for a few moments and then gave up. "The apologies were real," he admitted, "But the rest of it was more an act than anything else. You know I would have just settled for both of us saying we were sorry. But you were acting like you were out for blood."

"I'm just so protective of you, I guess," Akane said, "And you didn't see the way you looked when you came home. So downcast, so unhappy, it broke my heart to see you that way, and for her to have done it so callously over such a trivial matter, I wanted her to pay dearly."

"I was afraid of that. It was my problem, not yours," Ranma said, holding up his hand to still her instinctive protest, "But it showed your concern, and that was nice. It made me feel good inside that my family cared so much that you girls got angrier about the situation than I did. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that."

Akane shrugged and said, "You're welcome, but like you said, that's what family is for. I know you better than anyone else, so when you hurt, I hurt. It's as simple as that."

"Are you okay with how things worked out?" Ranma asked.

"Wouldn't have hugged her if I wasn't," Akane replied, "She's our friend again, and that's all that matters."

"She never wasn't our friend," Ranma said quickly, "She just needed to remember that."

"That's deep, especially for you," Akane teased.

"Hey, it's what passes for my philosophy." Ranma shot back, "You want deep thoughts, you've come to the wrong guy." He grinned at her as she laughed, glad to see that he was happy once more.


Author's Note: Once again, Gentle Readers, thank you for continuing to read this tale. As always, your comments are appreciated. I think I have responded to most of the signed reviews, and I will continue to strive to do so. For those of you following my other story, fear not, it has not been abandoned, it is merely that my muse is much more active with this story. Until next time, read and enjoy.