Chapter 11:
Day 10:
The Tendo family and Mr. Saotome, and of course their new family member, Akira, sat at the table eating their breakfast. It was quite delicious this morning, although it's like that all the time.
"Oh, the last fish cake is mine!" Ranma declared as he reached for the last piece with his chopsticks, but his met a very familiar pair of chopsticks.
"Watch it, boy! That last piece is mine." Genma threatened as they had a battle with their chopsticks over the fish cake.
"It's mine, ol man!" Ranma retorted as they continued to go at it.
"Does this remind anyone else of something?" Akane asked the group as they watched the pair fight over their food like children.
"Uh huh." Nabiki nodded.
"It's just like how Genma was with Ranma." Kasumi spoke everyone's mind.
"Actually, the last piece is mine." Soun declared as he snatched the last piece and began to take a bite.
"Hey!"
"Tendo, you're supposed to be on my side." Genma complained, as Ranma sulked.
The girls just laughed it off.
"Oh, Dad? Can I go hang out with my friends today?" Akane piped in.
"I don't see why not." Soun answered.
"Thanks, dad."
"What's poor Akira gonna do if you're not here?" Genma raised the question.
"He'll be fine." Akane assured.
"Uh..yeah, I'll be fine."
Ranma walked the streets of Nerima aimlessly, like a lost puppy, looking for it's owner. Ranma didn't know what to do without Akane. He felt it was boring when she wasn't around. If this had been before his death, he would've been fine. He would've trained, or hung out with his friends, but now Ranma sucks at martial arts, and he has no friends, except Gosunkugi, but he would rather not spend the day with him.
Ranma eventually made his way to a familiar shop, Ukyo's okinomiyaki shack, "Uchan's".
"Hey, I can go talk to Ukyo." Ranma said as he headed in to the shop.
"Oh, sorry! We're not op-" Ukyo began, until she seen Ranma. "Oh, it's Akira, right? You're staying with the Tendos."
"Yeah. And, you're Ukyo?" Ranma asked, already knowing the answer of course.
"Yeah."
"So, can I get one shrimp okinomiyaki?" Ranma requested as he sat down at the counter.
"I'm sorry, I'm not open anymore." Ukyo replied.
"But, it's within your business hours." Ranma pointed out.
"I know, but I'm on a break right now, so my shop won't be open again, for another two weeks." Ukyo informed Ranma.
"Oh..Why?"
"Because, I'm still grieving a loss, so I'm taking some time off." Ukyo told him.
"Oh. Ranma?"
"Yeah. You know him?" Ukyo asked.
"Well,...not really, but I've heard lots about him." Ranma lied. "I can see why you're grieving him. He seemed like a great guy."
"He was. He was also my fiance." Ukyo added.
"He was?"
"Yeah, but he had other fiancees too." Ukyo replied.
"Really?" Ranma replied trying to sound surprised.
"Yeah, the one's back in China, and the other...well, I think you know her."
"Akane?"
"Yeah, her."
"She's pretty cool." Ranma replied.
"She is?"
"Yeah, of course. I think you're probably pretty cool too, though." Ranma tried to make Ukyo feel better.
"You think?" Ukyo asked looking up at Ranma, before sighing and replying with, "It's no use. The only person's opinion that mattered to me was Ranma, and he's not here anymore."
"You know, if he was here, you know what I think he'd say to you?" Ranma replied.
"What?"
"Here. Pretend I'm Ranma."
"It'll be difficult." Ukyo expressed.
Ranma sighed," Just pretend."
"Okay." Ukyo agreed.
Ranma placed his head down, to get in to character, before lifting his head and looking in to Ukyo's eyes, "Uchan?"
Ukyo looked at Ranma attentively. "Yeah?"
"You're pretty cute, y'know."
Ukyo started to blush, making her put her hands up to her face, to cover her rosy hue. "No way, you're just sayin' that."
"No way. You're really really cute." Ranma told Ukyo making her face redden slightly more. "You know, you should open up your shop again. It's what you love, right? That, and my good friend Akira is really hungry."
"I can't. I've lost my passion." Ukyo admitted. "I might just quit all together."
"What?" Ranma asked shocked. "No no, you can't. I-..Ranma-I mean, me..I mean if I was Ranma, I'd strongly advise against that. You said that the only opinion that matters is Ranma's, and I happen to know what his opinion on this matter is."
"You do?"
"Yeah. You need to keep going, Ukyo. You can't let his death stop you from doing what you love. Do it for Ranma. He loves okinomiyaki, every time you make it, make it in his memory."
"Really? You really think he'd want me to keep going?" Ukyo asked, looking in to Ranma's eyes.
"Of course, I know for a fact." Ranma assured.
Ukyo turned away from him, "No way! How would you know all this stuff, if you didn't even know him?"
"Because,...I have connections." Ranma answered making Ukyo give him side eye.
Ukyo then turned to face him again, "Really?"
"Yeah, a person can know a lot about someone without meeting them. Like how we know so many things about celebrities, and from what I've heard this Ranma dude was pretty much famous around here." Ranma told Ukyo. "Things spread, Ukyo. Like butter on toast."
"I guess you have a point."
"I mean, what do you think Ranma would say to you?"
"That I'm strong, so I should keep fighting." Ukyo said thinking about her fiance, making tears start in her eyes.
"Exactly."
Ukyo wiped the tears away, and stood up, "You wanted a shrimp one, right?"
"Huh?"
"Your okinomiyaki?" Ukyo asked as she put on her apron, and got behind the counter.
Ranma smiled at Ukyo, and answered, "Yeah. Thanks, Uchan."
"Anything for you, Ranchan-" Ukyo stopped herself, remembering she wasn't talking to Ranma anymore. "I'm sorry, I mean Akira."
"That's okay, I'm a good actor, aren't I?" Ranma said playfully. "You know, Akira-chan doesn't sound so bad."
"In your dreams, buddy." Ukyo replied.
"Okay okay."
"You know, I was enjoying my vacation, until you showed up and convinced me to work again,..you jackass." Ukyo teased.
"At least I know I'm good for something." Ranma said as Ukyo and him looked each other in the eyes, and shared a smile.
Akane and her friends were headed to the market, to see what kind of goodies they could find. They happened to pass by Ukyo's shop.
"Is that Ukyo's voice?" One of Akane's friends asked.
"Well, yeah. The shop might be closed, but she does still live there." Another friend answered as they continued on passed it.
Akane stayed back, and continued to listen.
"Akira?" Akane thought she had heard the voice of her new friend, making her get closer to the shop.
Akane got near the entrance, and peered in. She was taken aback by what she saw. She felt her heart drop, but she didn't know why.
"Akane, you coming?" One friend called back.
"Yeah, I'm coming!" Akane called back, before heading off to rejoin her friends.
Akane sat on her bed in a huff, and then pulled the covers over her aggressively. She closed her eyes in hopes that she'd fall asleep, but they just shot back open.
"This is so stupid." Akane said in frustration. "Why do I feel this way. No way, I'm not jealous. I'm not. If Akira wants to be with Ukyo, then I should be happy for them. He's just my friend, it's not like I...love him."
Akane just sat there thinking about what she had seen. "It's not even that serious. They were literally just looking at each other. And smiling,...like they were some happy couple, or something." Akane said to herself, not understanding why she was so affected by what she saw. "Why am I so bothered by it. It's not like they kissed, or..did anything else. Even if they did, why would I care? Akira has his own life."
Akane felt a way she hadn't felt in along time. Jealousy had built itself up in her. She didn't understand why she felt this way. This reaction would be expected if she had seen Ranma and Ukyo looking endearingly into each other's eyes, but not Akira and Ukyo. Unless...
*knock knock knock*
"Akane?"
"Akira?" Akane sat up to greet Ranma who entered her room.
"Do you have an extra blanket I can use?" Ranma asked.
"Oh, yeah. Here, use this one." Akane said as she got up, and handed Ranma the blanket.
"Thanks. It's kind of cold tonight." Ranma told Akane.
"Yeah, I think winter might come early."
"Yeah, maybe. Well, goodnight." Ranma said going to leave.
"Akira?" Akane said making Ranma stop.
Ranma looked back at her, "Yeah?"
"Do you know, Ukyo?"
"Yeah, of course. I went to see her today." Ranma answered making Akane look down at the ground somberly.
"Oh?"
"I mean, I went to her shop today to get something to eat. We met, and we talked, and then she made me some okinomiyaki." Ranma explained. "She's going to open her shop again, I kinda helped with that, not to brag or anything."
"Do you like her?" Akane asked, feeling she needed to find out if there was something between them.
"Huh? Yeah, she's a good friend." Ranma answered, not quite understanding Akane's question.
"I mean, do you like like her?" Akane asked.
"Hum?" Ranma thought about it for a bit, "Oh! You mean, do I like her like that?"
"Yeah."
"I mean she's cute, and cool, and she's a great cook." Ranma went on, making the jealousy just rage more in Akane. "But, I don't have a crush on her or nothin'. I never did."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Hey, why're you askin' me this?" Ranma questioned.
"I was just wondering, like you said Ukyo's pretty cool, she might make a good girlfriend." Akane suggested.
"Nah, she's more like a best friend, you know. One of the guys, I could never imagine her being my girlfriend, not that she wouldn't be a good one, just not for me." Ranma confessed, making the previous feelings of jealousy and anger that Akane had before vanish. "I'm sure there's somebody out there for her, but it's not me."
"Is that so?" Akane replied with satisfaction. "Well, goodnight, Akira."
"G'night, Akane." Ranma left Akane's room, leaving her with a smile on her face.
Akane got back into bed, and was now able to drift off to sleep right away.
*Author Notes*
Hey everyone! Thanks once again for reading my story! It means a lot to me.
I thought for something fun this update, I would tell you guys a list of my absolute favourite Ranma 1/2 episodes! (Not including OVAs) So, let's go:
1. "The Abdution of P-Chan" (Actually all the episodes in this arc, so ep. 19-21)
2. Ep. 39, "Kissing is Such Sweet Sorrow! The Taking of Akane's Lips"
3. "Sneeze Me, Squeeze Me, Please Me! Shampoo's Recipe For Disaster", Ep. 43
4. "Ryoga the Strong... Too Strong" (Ep. 79-80)
5. Ep. 100, "The Frogman's Curse!"
6. Ep. 102, "Ranma the Lady-Killer"
7. "Nabiki, Ranma's New Fiancée!", Ep. 110
8. Ep. 131-132, "Ukyo's Secret Sauce" - Part 1 and Part 2
9. Ep. 127, "Akane Goes to the Hospital!"
10. "Akane's Unfathomable Heart", Ep. 135 (Fun Fact: This was my favourite episode when I was a child, not exactly sure why.)
11. Ep. 145, "Let's Go to the Mushroom Temple"
12. "Wretched Rice Cakes Of Love", Ep. 149
Matthew 19: 26
"But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."