Though he was too embarrassed to ever admit it, Ranma had actually forgotten about the letter from Ukyo by the time he got to school the next day. In his defense, he'd spent the walk to school that morning hand-in-hand with Akane, instead of walking on top of walls on things like usual. Both of them were a little awkward about it at first, but with time it became more normal, and a genuinely comforting part of their mornings. Of course, Ranma also wasn't looking too closely at Ryoga as they walked, and thus did not notice his reaction.

But as they reached the gated entrance to the school, Ranma immediately noticed someone standing in the courtyard, someone who was both familiar and foreign to him. This student stood out anyway, a girl with long silky brown hair flowing down her back and long bangs in the front. It was her clothing that really caught people's eyes: she had mixed and matched. Namely, she was wearing the boy's uniform below the waist, black slacks that fit her legs well, and the school's girl's uniform on top, a white blouse with a light blue jacket. It was certainly a striking look, which also perfectly described the stare she was giving Ranma back as he entered the area. "Ranma, is that you?"

The voice had certainly changed in the last seven or so years, but Ranma still knew the voice of his oldest friend. "Ukyo!" he replied, smiling widely, and they two walked over to each other. For a second, Ranma tried to give her a high five or a handshake, but Ukyo brushed those aside and gave him a tight hug, which he tried his best not to be embarrassed by. Once they broke apart, Ranma turned to his other friends, who had just walked up to the pair of them, looking interested. "Akane, Ryoga, this is Ukyo Kuonji. She's one of my oldest friends." For some reason, Ukyo smiled at Ranma, tears in her eyes, when he said that. "Ukyo, this is my girlfriend, Akane, and my friend, Ryoga." His voice wavered a little, calling Akane that, but her smile widened even as her blush deepened, so Ranma was happy he'd done it.

Ukyo looked at each of them in turn as they were introduced and inclined her head. "It's nice to meet you." Then, she elbowed Ranma lightly in his ribs, while looking at Akane. "I leave you alone for a few years and you find a girlfriend, huh? Funny coincidence about the name." Then, before anyone would ask what she'd meant, she looked more at Ryoga. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're a martial artist, same as them?"

The scraggly-haired guy nodded, almost sheepishly, but it was Akane who spoke up next. "How did you know I practiced martial arts?" The question didn't sound pointed, instead full of genuine curiosity as Akane looked at Ukyo with a smile.

The sudden attention from Akane made Ukyo's cheeks turn just the slightest shade of pink, and she made a hand motion as if to brush off the question. "I've got a good sense for those things. Probably from knowing Ranma and his Dad so long." Turning her attention back towards Ranma, she asked him, "So, how is your scumbag of an old man, anyway?" The fun atmosphere disappeared in an instant, and Ukyo noticed right away. "What did I say?" The bell for first period rang, breaking up the conversation.

It turned out Ukyo was in a different homeroom class from everyone else, and they had to split up there. It wasn't until lunch break that Ranma asked Akane if she'd be okay with Ranma and Ukyo spending that time catching up, to which Akane claimed it would be fine, and thanked Ranma for the communication. For their hang out spot, they debated a bit, and ended up going with Ukyo's idea, the roof.

"I love the wind up here," was the first thing Ukyo said, as the two sat on the edge of the roof. She wasn't looking at Ranma, but out in the distance, at the horizon. "It makes me feel like I'm free." Then, remembering how things had been cut off that morning, she gave Ranma a side-glance. "So, what's going on with your dad?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Ranma tried to think of the best way to explain it all, without getting too much into the stupid details. "I mean, you know my dad, right?" She nodded, it was hard to forget a guy like that. "Well, we were living with Akane's family, and they started to realize how he'd been treating me. When Akane tried helping, he just got worse about it. Finally, they kicked him out, and let me stay." It still felt weird talking about it, and he was sure that conflict could be heard in his voice. Sure, he and his dad had never gotten along...but he was also his dad.

Looking out of the corner of his eye, Ranma didn't see any reaction to what he'd said on Ukyo's face, but then she surprised him by lightly punching his shoulder. "Don't go crying about it, Ranma. Your dad has always sucked. Hell, when we were kids, all you'd ever do was whine to me about him. How he made you dress, how he talked to you, all that crap. Honestly? Good riddance, I never liked the guy."

That wasn't a big surprise to Ranma, he still had hazy memories of Ukyo chewing his dad out, even when she was a six-year old. Of course, that had just led to his dad chastising Ranma later, for letting someone else fight his battles for him. Comparatively, Ukyo's dad had always been a lot nicer. A bit old-fashioned, sure, but a chef with great food who was willing to put up with Ranma's dad. "What happened with you and your dad?" Ranma asked, almost without thinking about it first.

The second the question was out in the air, Ukyo sucked in some air through her teeth. "Ugh," she grumbled, looking like she'd eaten some disgusting food. "It started a few years after you stopped coming back. He 'didn't like my attitude'. The fights were rare, at first, but they got worse when I stopped even pretending I was going to live my life the way he wanted. Finally, he told me I could either be the person he wanted me to be, or leave. So I left."

Ukyo said it like it had been simple, but Ranma knew it was anything but. Hell, his own struggles with his father had made that clear to him. Not wanting to overstep himself, he still couldn't help asking, "So, then, where are you staying?" He wasn't going to offer her a place at Akane's without asking first, but it was a big house, and maybe they'd be up for it?

She threw him a rude hand gesture, one that broke any tension and made Ranma start laughing. "Take your generosity and shove it, Ranma," she told him, but no offense was taken. "I already have all of that taken care of. There's this rundown place, a few blocks from here, and I used my savings, plus a loan, to buy it. I'll be opening up my own okonomiyaki place, and I'm living there too." It sounded like a big risk to Ranma, but also the exact kind of thing Ukyo would do.

Ever since he'd known her, she was the kind of person who did what she wanted, and she'd figure out a way to make it work. "I'll have to bring everyone by sometime, just let me know once you're open." Of course, depending on her prices, someone else might have to pay for Ranma. He'd blown quite a bit of his money on that date with Akane. The lunch bell rang, and the two went back to their respective classrooms with just a wave goodbye. It felt pretty good, Ranma thought, to have his old friend back.

After a long day at school, an afternoon spent training with Ranma and Ryoga, and a quick shower, Akane could no longer pretend that she was fine. Logically, she knew she should be. After all, she and Ranma were dating, and it was going really well. Like, a million times better than she could have anticipated. He seemed to be actually doing his best, and they were figuring things out, together. They even walked to school holding hands, which had been great.

But then Ukyo had showed up. At that thought, Akane did her best to change her mental direction. Quickly leaving the bathroom, she went to her room, got dressed in sleepwear, and then went down to the kitchen. She didn't know what she was going to do once there, but that didn't matter. All she needed to do was keep her mind occupied on Tasks, so it couldn't think about stupid things that didn't matter.

Only, it turned out someone was already in the kitchen, Ryoga. He was doing dishes, and turned his head to offer her a smile as Akane entered. They greeted each other, he went back to his chore, and Akane dug through the fridge. She still felt a little hungry, having eaten no breakfast and a light lunch, so she decided to just scramble herself some eggs. More than anything, it was just Something To Do.

Sadly, it turned out as well as any time Akane tried cooking something. The eggs ended up somehow being so moist they tasted undercooked and burnt black at the same time. Still, she ate it all, since the utterly bizarre taste was something to distract her brain. Once her plate was cleaned, she went to the sink to clean everything she'd dirtied, only to find Ryoga already had the skillet soaking and was ready for her plate and silverware. After a short internal debate, she handed them to him and leaned her back against a counter, letting out a sigh as she did so.

While Ryoga carefully scrubbed and cleaned her plate, he asked, "Everything okay, Akane?" Ever since he'd become their friend, it had surprised Akane how different he was with her, compared to how he talked to Ranma. When those two traded words, even now, it was like a sporting event. Ranma did his best to annoy Ryoga just enough to get away with it, while Ryoga was stuck trying to manage his temper. It had mostly lost any sort of violent edge, and just become a bickering back and forth. But with Akane, Ryoga was always shy, open-hearted, and just plain nice. Basically, he was just the same as when they'd first really spent time together, when he'd been Ino.

She did enjoy having someone around like Ryoga, but at times like this, it proved a double-edged sword. After all, it wasn't like she could lie to him. That would be like kicking a puppy. Hesitantly, she told him what had been on her mind. "It's stupid." That's all she said at first, letting the words hang there in the air for a little bit. After wrapping her arms around her face like a protective shield, she tried to say more. "I know it's really stupid, and it's nothing, and I'm being an idiot." She waited for Ryoga to jump in and say something, but a quick peek past her elbow showed he was still waiting for her to continue. "I think I'm jealous of Ukyo."

When she'd imagined telling anyone this before, her mind had conjured the image of the other person laughing away her concerns, telling her it was ridiculous. But that wasn't what Ryoga did. In fact, he looked pretty serious. After thinking it over for a little while, he asked, "Why do you think you feel that way?"

On weird footing now that how she'd imagined the conversation failed to align at all with the reality, Akane said what came to mind, "Well, she and Ranma seem really close. They apparently have known each other a long time, and he spent his lunch with her." By any metric, it did seem like they really were just old friends. But there was still that nagging voice in her head, wondering what if.

"I know what you mean," Ryoga told her, nodding his own head. That response was weird, especially with how calm and oddly reasonable he sounded. "I mean, I've known him longer than you, and I'd never heard about Ukyo either." Akane decided not to bring up the fact that most of said past with Ranma was spent as blood rivals. But the attention focused back on Akane, and Ryoga asked her, "Do you think Ranma is interested in her? Do you think he'd cheat on you, or break up with you?"

"No!" It came out, right away. Akane didn't even have to think about it, she just knew it was true. "Ranma...he wouldn't do that, I don't think," she said, as if putting together her thoughts as she said them. "Plus..." Akane went back over the day, thinking back to how Ranma had acted with her. "Ranma didn't seem to think of her like that." It was just a gut feeling, but Akane believed in it.

It looked like Ryoga did too. "Yeah," he mumbled. Then, he said something else, so quiet that Akane couldn't even be sure she heard him right. "We don't need to worry about Ukyo." Then, he seemed to realize he'd been talking out loud, and his cheeks flushed. Looking down and realizing that there was nothing left to clean, Ryoga turned the water off and quickly walked out of the room. "Night, Akane," were his last words to her before exiting. Akane didn't know what to make of that, but she went off to bed. Her anxiety hadn't gone away, and as much as she hated to admit it, neither did the jealousy. She knew it was irrational, she knew there was nothing to worry about, but feelings like that had nothing to do with what a person knew. Logic was useless. Akane had yet to realize the root of her dread came not from Ranma, but from herself.