Here, there be dragons!
Disclaimer: I don't own a dragon, nor do I own Ranma ½.
Ukyo's POV
To say I was nervous would have been a gross understatement. Due to what the Panda had done, I hadn't even entertained the idea of dating anyone after forsaking my femininity. Now I was thrown headfirst into the dating scene with a boy I had come to see as a friend in the time I had been in Nerima. Was I adverse to the idea of it becoming something more? I didn't have the answer as I anxiously watched the clock on the wall of my restaurant.
I knew full well that Ranma, Ranko at the time, had played me like a fiddle when he had set Ryu and me up on a date, but I couldn't find it in me to begrudge him for it. He hadn't been entirely wrong when he suggested that I was maybe letting my restaurant take up too much of my attention. Okonomiyaki was my first love, but now that I was older and had reconciled myself with the fact that I was actually a girl, I had vaguely started to crave something more and I could now put a name to it: I wanted romance.
In the week following Ranma setting us up, I had spent most of it wondering if I could find that romance with Ryu. As Ranma, as Ranko, had pointed out, Ryu was cute and certainly dependable, but he could also be very intimidating when he was of a mind to be. He could also be somewhat conniving when he needed to be. However, he was also fiercely loyal and would stand up for what he believed was right no matter what. Was that the kind of person I could fall in love with? I didn't even know if we shared any interests, although I supposed that was part of what dating was about.
My heart leapt into my throat as I heard a knock on the door. It was finally time for the date.
Ryu's POV
If left to my own devices, I probably would have never dated anyone. But Ranma had hit upon an uncomfortable truth: I was, at least a little bit, lonely. Before Ranma had shown up and shaken up all our lives, I had been able to live in blissful ignorance of that loneliness. But as I watched Ranma and Scarlet grow closer and the secrets of my own life began to pile up like never before I felt a sense of isolation that refused to be ignored.
Now I was going on a date with Ukyo. I didn't entertain the idea that any kind of 'relationship' would last beyond one or two dates. I was fully certain that after that, we would part on amiable terms, continue to be friends, and I would go back to my carefully guarded secrets and isolation. I perhaps should have known better than to think I would be unaffected by the passionate young woman known as Ukyo Kuonji.
As I walked towards her restaurant in a polo shirt and slacks, I thought for sure nothing would come of this date. I would learn to never bet on a sure thing.
Ukyo's POV
As we agreed, we walked towards the movie theater. Neither of us knew what was playing and we had decided to pick something on the fly. We wound up picking a kung-fu flick that we could probably get a few laughs at. As we sat down and the pre-screening started, Ryu bent towards me to whisper in my ear.
"So, how long do you think before Ranma and Scarlet or some chaos related to them interrupts us?" I laughed.
"I'll be amazed if we get past the first course of dinner," I whispered back. As it turned out, I was going to be pleasantly surprised.
Ranma's POV
Akane and I just barely managed to slip in the door before the movie Ryu and Ucchan were watching started. It was mostly my fault, because I had wanted popcorn and the machine went on the fritz. In the end, I got my popcorn, but we almost missed the door because of it.
As Akane and I settled into a suitably dark and distant area of the seating to spy from, I started munching away on my popcorn. Then a familiar voice interrupted me.
"Pass the popcorn," I held out the bucket to the seat beside me before I registered whose voice it was. I only barely stopped myself from shouting.
"Shampoo, what're you doing here?!" I hissed. Shampoo popped some popcorn in her mouth before answering with a cat-that-caught-the-canary grin.
"Shampoo can't want to enjoy too too silly movie?" I didn't believe her for an instant.
"You better not try and mess up Ryu and Ukyo's date," Akane snarled.
"Why would Shampoo want do that?" Shampoo asked innocently. Akane and I looked at each other and silently agreed to keep an eye on Shampoo just in case. But she did raise a good question. Why was Shampoo interested in Ryu and Ucchan's date? I didn't have a clue and that just frustrated me.
Whatever her plans, the movie started and everything seemed to be going well. Ryu and Ucchan were both occasionally whispering in the others ear and it seemed like they were having a good time. I had meant what I said when I said I wanted Ucchan to be happy. I didn't know if Ryu would be the one who could do that, but I did believe it was a good place to start if nothing else.
As the movie progressed, I found my attention torn between the two dating and Akane. Since spending the day as a girl a week beforehand, I had gotten some time to think. I know, Ranma Saotome, thinking; what a shock. But given I had set our two best friends up on a date; I couldn't help thinking about my own relationship with Akane.
Ever since we had agreed to completely ignore the deal our dads had made during the Cat's Tongue incident, I knew we had started coming closer. Now I was just wondering if I wanted to ask her on a date. But that train of thought brought me to the problem sitting on the other side of me.
If I was being completely, 100% honest with myself, I would admit that I found Shampoo attractive, and not just for her figure. Despite her broken speech, she had an undeniable cunning intelligence and she was also very driven. But at the same time, she could be too driven, to the point of frightening single-mindedness. She was also very clear about how she felt about me. Or at least how she said she felt about me. I just didn't know her well enough to tell if she was lying about that or not. However, given how she had reacted when Ryu and I tricked her into think I was a girl, I was inclined to believe she felt something for me.
When I hit my head and became Ranko for the day, it had given me a whole new perspective. Now that I was back to being Ranma, I knew I couldn't just forget about that perspective. I had always known that all of Pop's 'engagements' meant nothing to me and the sooner Kodachi left me alone the happier I'd be. However, the situation with Shampoo was directly my fault, even if I didn't know the laws at the time.
That left me with Akane, who I've spent most of the time since I came to Nerima with and has proven herself a good friend, or Shampoo, who I didn't really know anything about. I wouldn't be like that idiot Kuno and just lust after both of them and not put any real action into wooing either of them. But I was also aware now that I was still young. There was time to go on dates, get to know them both better, and then go steady with whichever I chose.
The only real question left, then, was if I had the courage to go through with it. Just asking Shampoo alone on a date was filled with potential trouble. But I had grown addicted to the feeling of having some control over my life in the short time I was Ranko. I knew if I wanted to feel that way again, I would have to man up and take action. So, as the movie came to an end and we snuck out of the theater before Ucchan and Ryu could see us, I started making plans of my own.
Akane's POV
Since we had no evidence of any ill intent on Shampoo's part, we couldn't find a good reason to get rid of her, so she tagged along, much to my irritation. So together we slipped into the restaurant they had chosen to have dinner at.
"Spatula Girl and Ryu look too too cute together," Shampoo gushed as she peered over her menu. As much as it annoyed me, I agreed with her. From the distance, they looked just like a couple in love. But a part of me was worried that Ryu was just humoring Ukyo. Not being able to see his eyes, not being able to gauge how serious he was about this date was bothering me. I quickly found something bigger to worry me.
"Where am I now?" Three head snapped towards that voice.
"Aiyaa, is pig boy! What he doing here?" Shampoo wondered.
"I know what he's not doing, and that's interrupting this date!" Ranma exclaimed and hopped out of his seat, snatched Ryoga by the arm, and dragged him out of the restaurant before he could start making a scene. Shampoo and I quickly followed.
"What the hell, Ranma?!" Ryoga roared once he realized what was going on.
"Ucchan and Ryu are in that restaurant on a date and I'll be damned before I let you, or anyone else, interrupt them!" Ranma shouted back.
"What?! Why are they on a date?!" Ryoga's volume control seemed to have been broken, along with his sense of direction.
"Because I set them up, stupid!" Ranma snapped.
"Why'd you go and do a thing like that?" Ryoga wondered.
"Why do you care?" Ranma shot back.
I was about to enter the conversation when I was grabbed from behind.
"Shampoo! At last I've found you!" Just our luck.
"Shampoo over here, stupid duck boy!" Shampoo growled at Mousse. I planted an uppercut to his jaw.
"Wear your goddamn glasses!" I shouted at the blind boy.
"Just what we don't need," Ranma sighed.
"I've come to save my Shampoo from your evil clutches, Saotome!" You can probably guess how it devolved from there.
Ukyo's POV
As the second course arrived and not hide nor hair of any trouble showed up, I allowed myself a sigh of relief. When dessert came and went I felt pretty astonished. As Ryu walked me back to my restaurant and we were unmolested, I felt like I was experiencing a real life miracle. In any case, I had honestly enjoyed our date. It may have been just the stereotypical 'dinner and a movie', but talking to Ryu about what we enjoyed, thing we didn't like, and other such things, I felt like I wanted to give a relationship a real shot. But I wasn't quite sure yet. So there was only one thing to do.
"See you again next week?" I asked as we came to a stop outside my restaurant. I almost giggled at how off guard Ryu seemed to be at this question. He quickly snapped out of it.
"Uh, you want to go on another date?" I did giggle at how mystified he sounded.
"Sure, unless you don't want to?" I asked leadingly.
"Oh, uh, yeah, sure…maybe a picnic?"
"Sounds great, we'll talk details later. Good night, Ryu," I bid and headed inside my restaurant. I was tired and headed right to bed.
Ranma's POV
Somehow we had managed to keep all the chaos away from Ucchan and Ryu. Akane and I were both exhausted. Everyone had come out of the woodwork, from Happosai to Kodachi. I could only hope the date had gone well, but there would be plenty of time to find out the next day. Our running interference was appreciated, but we all decided that, as a walking chaos magnet, I try and stay well away from any future dates.
One Week Later
Ukyo's POV
I had my picnic basket packed with various foods and headed out to the park to meet Ryu. We had agreed to both bring baskets with our favorite foods in them, with one exception. I wasn't allowed to bring okonomiyaki. Now, contrary to popular belief, I can cook things other than okonomiyaki. Which is exactly why I imposed this limit upon myself; this date was a good excuse to get the rust off of some of my lesser used skills.
When I did get to the park, I was met with a reminder that not everyone is well acquainted with the culinary arts.
"Soda pop, pizza, and a macaroni casserole…" I felt vaguely offended, but couldn't figure out why. We had agreed to bring our favorite foods, so I don't know what I was expecting. I guess it wasn't what Ryu had brought, however.
"I will concede that the pizza and soda are somewhat of a cop-out, but given I'm a bachelor living alone, I feel they're reasonable. I did, however, make the macaroni casserole from scratch. Noodles and everything. I just hope Koga doesn't look at the roof when he comes home today…"
"Do I even want to know?" I asked hesitantly.
"No. I can make edible food, but there is a reason Kasumi banned me from her kitchen. It tends to get a bit…messy." I couldn't help myself. I started laughing and soon Ryu, despite a valiant attempt to remain stony faced, joined in.
"It's really not that funny," Ryu groused when we calmed down.
"Maybe that's what makes it so funny," I replied as I grabbed a slice of pizza and started eating. While I was preoccupied with that, Ryu took the opportunity to investigate the contents of my basket.
"PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY?! You get on my case over soda and pizza and you bring PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY?!" I'm lucky my mouth wasn't full, because I fell completely to pieces. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?" I could only nod. Maybe it was for the best that I had filled the rest of my basket with things that required a bit more culinary talent. I was particularly proud of how my chocolate Crème brûlée turned out. I hadn't made it in years, but it still turned out beautifully. It was one of the few dishes my father had taught me after the Panda made off with our cart.
"You know, my PB&J is considered a delicacy. My father told me so,"
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry for the pizza! I bow before the holy okonomiyaki gods and shall never partake of pizza again!" Ryu pledged, down on his hands and knees.
"That's why I felt vaguely offended earlier! The evil pizza mocks all that is good and pure about okonomiyaki. I just can't stand its mere presences!" We then both completely lost it.
"We sound cheesier than a Saturday morning cartoon," Ryu complained afterwards.
"I'm not even going to dignify that," I replied.
"Touché. Our daily lives do have a cartoonish quality," Ryu observed. I looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "Ok, our lives are basically a derailed rom-com manga."
"And we're the backup characters who look on and wonder 'what the hell'." I sighed.
"Man, being genre savvy is depressing." We said at the same time.
"But it does have its perks. We manage to keep headaches to a bare minimum. Maybe." Ryu remarked.
"Are you always such a barrel of sunshine, or is it only when you're with me?" I teased him.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ryu replied while wagging his eyebrows. Our back and forth continued until the food was gone and the sun was getting ready to set and we walked back to his house.
"Thanks for today. I had a lot of fun," Ryu said as we stood outside his door.
"I had a lot of fun too," I said and then mustered up my courage and pecked him on the cheek. I turned to make my escape, I could feel my face going red, but Ryu called out to me.
"Ukyo, wait," I turned back around to see Ryu looking conflicted, "I need to tell you something. Something I should have told you all a long time ago. Only now I might have a reason to stop being such a coward." He opened the door and beckoned me in. I followed him in and sat down. Ryu popped into his room for a moment and came back out with a recording device and he turned it on.
"I don't want to say this more times than I have to. If you hate me after I'm done, then I'll accept that, but please, until I'm finished, don't say anything."
"Why on earth would I hate you?" I was understandably confused.
"Please," He sounded almost like he was begging.
"Alright, I'll be quiet." He took a moment to collect himself.
"On October 10th 1996 at 5:26 PM Ryu Tomoe was born. On October 10th at 5:34 PM Ryu Tomoe was declared dead of birth complications."
Cliff Hanger, hanging from a cliff, and that's why he's called Cliff Hanger!
But all memes aside, this chapter more or less played out how I planned it…except for Ranma's introspection. Personally I believe it's best when the author becomes just a conduit for the characters to express themselves. I certainly had no idea Ranma was even going to entertain the thought of dating Shampoo. I guess the Ranko incident had a bigger impact on him than I thought.
This autonomy of character means something's working as intended, in my opinion. It's also why I will never forgive J.K. Rowling for what she did to Harry Potter, but that's a rant for another time.
Anyway, I'm curious to know what you fellow writers think. Is it a good thing when the characters write themselves? Or are they meant to be ruled with an iron fist? Leave your thoughts in the reviews.