Part 4: The Dark Horse
Ranma knew better than anybody that although Ukyo was, for
example, a somewhat more pleasant person to date than
Shampoo, Ukyo was also far more annoying to have to live
with than a hundred Shampoos.
Ukyo was lively and entertaining, but her devotion to Ranma
was disturbing.
Ukyo had entertained suitors by the hundreds, to be sure.
Many of them were like Tsubasa Kurenai--who was a very
strange girly-boy. To her, those boys all seemed like
dangerous and perverse idiots. Many of the others were
extremely normal, and Ukyo's passion for martial arts
okonomiyaki had been something to which they could never
hope to relate.
Then there were others who--like Konatsu Kunoichi--were
somewhere in between these two extremes. Ukyo was
thoroughly bored with people like them, however, and she
dismissed them from her mind the quickest.
Ranma, however, had seemed to take pity on her when they had
first met--and Ukyo had been charmed by his abrupt manner in
doing so.
So, of course, there was no reasonable opportunity that Ukyo
would pass up to make some impression on Ranma, and Ranma
was beginning to realize it. He was also beginning to
realize that Ukyo's idea of romance was more like Stockholm
syndrome than like a Shakespearean sonnet.
And though the prospect of having to live with Ukyo for the
rest of his life was like plunging into the depths of hell,
Ranma smiled and seemed eager to go. It was nothing
compared to the thought of being truly cut off from the
Tendo home.
Something had gone out of him at the thought of never seeing
Akane again, and Ranma began to realize that this had been
in keeping with his two previous transformations. And just
as he realized that, he also noticed that he had become a
she again.
"Ah, crap," Ranma said, looking at herself.
"Finally noticed, huh?" Genma said.
***
Genma had never been a very ponderous man, but if he had, he
might have noticed that he'd been very anxious for ten years
over something that had turned out to be a matter of about
five minutes of regret.
In fact, he was a bit grateful to Ranma for being the one to
explain it all, and to be there to help blunt some of the
heat he might otherwise have to take himself. He didn't
need to admit it, and Ranma was free to imagine it, if she
so chose.
Now, it was the future that was worrying him. Genma stopped
at a crossroads between a major road and the road that led
toward Ukyo's shop. For nearly five whole seconds, Genma
stopped and found himself unequal to this task.
"Hey, Pop," Ranma said. "Ain't we going to Ucchan's?"
"Ranma, my boy," Genma answered, "I need you to listen very
carefully. Which do you like better? Ukyo or okonomiyaki?"
Ranma was stunned for a moment, then she laughed and said,
"Pop, I think I already answered that, like ten years ago."
"I need you to be serious, Ranma," Genma insisted, "and give
me an answer. Or is that still your answer?"
"I don't know," Ranma replied, not really thinking.
"Is it?"
"I don't know. Can I think about it?"
"What's to think about?"
"I don't know!" Ranma then scratched her head and sat on
the fence, thinking.
"So, you like Ukyo better?" Genma guessed.
"Geez," Ranma said. "What's gotten into you, Pop? What's
with this stupid question? How do you expect me to answer
if you won't explain the reason why you're askin'?"
"I want a straight, simple answer, Ranma," he explained.
"Nothing more. If it's something you can't decide, then
I'll have to assume what your answer is, and that'll be it."
"Whoa," Ranma said softly. "Serious..."
"This is serious, Ranma." Genma then sighed and added, "The
next ten years is riding on your answer."
With that little revelation, Ranma was stunned into a kind
of unthinking silence. Looking at the expression on her
father's face, however, she knew that she needed to give an
honest answer, and soon.
Genma and Ranma said, together, "Okonomiyaki--"
"Yeah," Genma said. "That's what I thought. Okay, let's
go."
And, having said that, Genma started toward Ukyo's shop
again. A few moments later, Ranma got up and strolled along
the fence top after her father.
"What was that about?" Ranma asked.
"It's about friendship, Ranma," Genma answered. "I've come
to value my friendship with Akane's father quite a lot,
recently."
"Uh huh," Ranma said. "Does this loop back around to that
question at some point?"
"I'm getting there," Genma muttered. "Now, where to begin?"
Genma then stopped and pondered for a moment, then said,
"Right. Let's go back a bit. Just a few weeks ago, I
asked Soun about our friendship."
***
In fact, this event to which Genma was referring was between
the time when they had received the invitation and the time
of the wedding of Ryoga and Akari. One evening, over tea
and a game of go, Genma happened to be casually musing.
"Seeing how Ranma and Ryoga are still friends," Genma
guessed (since he wasn't really sure that they were
friends), "really makes me wonder."
"It's inspiring, isn't it?" Soun said.
"Yes," Genma said, after a moment of hesitation. "Anyway, I
was thinking that Ranma and Ryoga wouldn't let a little
thing like marriage stand between them."
"Ah, yes," Soun agreed. "A true friendship. A thing to be
admired, Saotome."
"I envy them," Genma said.
"So do I," Soun casually agreed.
After a few more moments, Genma asked, "So, if Ranma and
Akane don't really work out...?"
Soun laughed for a few moments, then looked suddenly grim
and stated, "Don't even think about it, Saotome."
***
"I knew right then," Genma said to Ranma, "that if Ukyo was
standing in my way, I would have to choose the more
difficult path, eventually. However, I needed to know
whether that was true."
"The more difficult path?" Ranma asked.
"A return to training," Genma stated.
Ranma wasn't sure what Genma meant by all this, but she knew
in simple terms what Genma was implying. "Well, if you
think I've decided to marry Akane, forget it! I'll make up
my own mind when I'm good and ready."
"Right," Genma said, a little humoringly. "Just keep in
mind that I never said you couldn't."
This had the subtle tone of hedging, and it made Ranma
curious about what Nodoka had told Genma. Try as she might,
though, there was just no getting from him what Nodoka had
told him.
All Genma would tell her was, "Your mother is a woman of
high standards," which was nothing new to Ranma.
In retrospect, Ranma realized that she should have been
content with that, but something about it just seemed all
wrong, at the time.
***
For her own part, Ukyo felt that this situation was too good
to be true, but at the same time she didn't want to upset a
good thing. So, when Genma and Ranma showed up at her shop
door that night, she had some difficulty pretending to be
surprised and acting like she was going out of her way to be
helpful and obliging to them.
She wanted to be annoyed--and she certainly had every right
to expect annoyance in her mood--but her heart was soaring
much too high for this to happen.
And just when it seemed that one of Ranma's snide remarks
would send her over the edge into being slightly miffed, she
began to notice something that Nabiki had told her a few
days ago. Ranma had really changed, and it showed.
Ranma's face--usually a blend of puckish deviousness and
childish innocence--was starting to turn statuesque in its
distinctive features. For a moment, Ukyo merely felt as if
Ranma had become taller and more impressive, then she
realized that it was just the effect of Ranma's face. And
though she understood that it was just the subtle change in
proportions, she was nevertheless made speechless with awe
at the change.
When Ranma became casually curious about why Ukyo was
staring, Ukyo started and promptly brought back a pot full
of hot water.
Genma amused himself with helping, as Ukyo dumped pot after
pot of hot water on Ranma--wondering why Ranma suddenly
wasn't changing back to male-type.
***
Over the next few days, Ukyo continued to be blissfully
unaware of the events that were about to take place, and
Akane was her usual angry self. There was little that could
have occurred between the time when Ranma moved out of the
Tendo home and into the new house.
Nodoka, who had made extensive notes toward writing an
autobiography, never bothered to publish such a document, so
we can only speculate as to what had happened. In any case,
it was probably in keeping with what had gone on before.
Ranma surely continued to attend Furinkan high school--it
was the same high school that Ukyo attended, after all--and
he probably encountered Kuno and Kodachi several times. All
this was simply part of a normal day for Ranma.
The only thing that had changed, other than the fact that
Shampoo had mysteriously returned to China, was that when
Ranma left school, he now went to Ucchan's.
What Ranma and Akane said or did while at school, however,
was something they never discussed later. It seems unlikely
that they said anything to one another, in spite of the many
rumors to the contrary.
In her diary, Ukyo was very detailed about the things she
said and did over that time, but these were mostly just
quaint reflections on things that had happened to them ten
years ago.
One interesting note that Ukyo made was that Genma never
bothered to unpack. She overheard this in a conversation.
Ranma asked him, "Aren't you going to unpack?"
Genma replied, "No need. We're just going to have to pack
it all up again, anyway."
"You think so?" Ranma said.
Genma then paused, (and Ukyo never bothered to record
whether he was amused or irritated) and said, "Ranma,
perhaps..."
"What?" Ranma asked.
A few moments later, Genma said, "Never mind."
Perhaps he'd been about to suggest that Ranma start packing
up Ukyo's stuff as well as his own, but even Ukyo didn't
find out about this until a few days later.
***
"I knew it was too good to be true," Ukyo muttered to
herself.
On the way to the new house--to which Ukyo had been invited
to come, of course--Ranma and Genma led the way, as Ukyo
lugged most of the bags.
It was mostly her own stuff, actually, but Ukyo had thought
that maybe Ranma or Genma might be persuaded to help carry
them. After all, they were pretty heavy.
Ukyo was so busy straining and sweating that she became
preoccupied with being miserable, and she was just starting
to think that at least it wasn't raining when a sudden
downpour began.
Ranma and Genma, who considered rain to be a very light
matter, merely shrugged it off and continued strolling down
the street as if nothing in the world were wrong with
walking in the rain.
Ukyo, meanwhile, could count the raindrops striking her
head--as if they were all sent to her personally to annoy
her. She sighed and continued to follow Ranma and Genma.
It was at this moment that she realized she had always been
following those two as long as she could remember, and they
had always been just ahead of her, always threatening to
leave her behind.
Thinking this way had always brought the memory of that
terrible day when Ranma and Genma had abandoned her, leaving
her choking on the dust of her father's own portable
okonomiyaki shop. Even worse than the initial shock of
being left behind was the lingering humiliation that awaited
her, wherever she went, afterward.
Ukyo could still feel the sting of that humiliation, but
thought how appropriate it was that Genma had only been the
author of his own humiliation at Ukyo's hands. Ukyo began
to laugh, thinking grimly that you reap what you sow when
she also noticed that she had been completely left behind,
again.
"Ack!" she exclaimed. "Wait! Come back! Don't forget me!"
***
Nodoka, aside from being a woman of high standards, was also
a very considerate mother, and she had soon found a new
house where Genma and Ranma would come to live with her.
It was a little old, but it was affordable and cozy. Best
of all, it was conveniently located--not too far from Ukyo's
shop.
Ranma and Genma immediately liked it, the moment they
entered--thinking that its slightly rustic charm gave them a
familiar and comfortable surrounding to live in. They
scarcely had furniture, but there was already a table in the
living room and the smell of food in the air--and that was
really all Ranma and Genma needed to call a place home.
Nodoka entered from the kitchen with some food already
prepared, and was more than happy to finally have what she
could call a real family event.
Ranma and Genma had worked up a ferocious appetite, and they
were soon finished eating. Afterward, they sat around for a
few hours, merely chatting about this and that. None of
them could remember having ever had such a pleasant meal,
right about the time Ukyo appeared--looking a little haggard
and extremely irritated.
"Oh my!" Nodoka declared. "I just knew we forgot about
something!"
***
Ukyo had spent most of the day searching for Ranma and Genma
in vain, asking people who were rarely helpful, then finally
giving up hope of ever finding the house--weeping in misery,
as the rain continued pouring.
Then she remembered that, sometime yesterday, she had
overheard a bit of what Genma had told Ranma about how to
get to their new house. She then spent another half an hour
searching her soggy diary for that entry and used it to find
the location where she did, in fact, find Ranma and Genma.
"How dare you neglect your own fiancee!?" she cried, giving
Ranma a nasty glare, then finally dropping her bags in
disgust, exhausted with having carried them all day.
"Oh," Ranma said. She then thought for a moment and said,
"Oops?"
Ukyo glowered at her with a furious look, then frowned--
deeply disappointed. "Oops? That's all you have to say?"
"Umm," Ranma said, thinking for a moment, "sorry?"
"You're killin' me, Ranma," she said. "Please, just try for
once to see things my way, okay?"
Ranma seemed to be sizing up that request, then said, "Well,
okay. Although, I don't really see what you're complaining
about. It ain't my fault you can't keep up."
Ukyo then rolled her eyes and passed out, unable to
withstand the usual routine from Ranma.
"Ranma, my boy--" Genma started.
"Oh my," Nodoka said, catching Ukyo.
"It pays to have a little tact," Genma said, "when dealing
with normal people. Not everyone has an iron constitution."
***
When Ukyo awoke, she was momentarily terrified that she'd
been abducted, then she remembered.
Nodoka had found a new house for her and her family, to
which Ukyo had been invited to stay, as a guest. After a
miserable day spent finding this place, she was relieved
to find herself still here.
Ukyo briefly thought about all the troubles in her life and
she began to count herself lucky that she had arrived at
this place and time. All things considered, there were as
many bad as good things to remember, but as long as the good
things always happened last, that would be okay.
For example, if she only needed to contend with a few
harmless setbacks before getting married to Ranma, that
would be good, too. She then sighed and lay back, imagining
the kind of life she would like to have with Ranma and
thinking that she was getting closer, if not actually right
there, yet.
Ukyo was just starting to think that the main problem right
now was the mystery of why Ranma was still girl-type when
she heard a knock at the door, and Ranma entered.
"Is it okay if I come in?" Ranma said.
"Fine, fine," Ukyo said, noticing that she'd been dressed in
pajamas by some thoughtful person--she preferred to think
that it wasn't Ranma or Genma who had done so.
"I'm very sorry about yesterday," Ranma said in that casual
way that never failed to anger Akane.
Ukyo merely smiled and waved away his apology saying, "Hey!
Hey! Forget about it! I'm here, and that's what counts,
right?"
Ranma, not completely adjusted to Ukyo's forthright
attitude, was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said,
"Ah, sure!"
Ukyo got up from her bed and looked around at the unfamiliar
room--bare floor aside from the soggy bags which she had
carried with her from the shop. There was a nice, wide
window, and Ukyo opened it, getting a nice deep breath of
fresh morning air.
"Good morning!" she exclaimed, thinking how miserable the
sky had become, yesterday, and how clear it looked now.
Ranma joined her next to the window, and Ukyo had a nervous
moment to realize that the love of her life was standing
right next to her, and--aside from being the wrong sex--
there wasn't a thing in the world stopping them from being
together as lovers. She had to stop thinking about it,
though, and calm down for a moment, because she wasn't used
to the idea.
Ranma surprised her by folding her arms and snidely
remarking, "Morning is overrated."
Normally, Ukyo never tired of these obtuse discussions of
life and its relationship with nature--these had, in fact,
filled many hours of their time together as children. Now,
all she could say was, "Ranma, you need your head examined."
Ranma chuckled and said, "Not a bad idea, considering."
Ukyo leaned on the window sill and said, "So, you agree."
For a few long moments, Ranma kept her arms folded, then
said, "Sorry. I'm just not myself."
Ukyo took a moment to ponder that and then asked, "Ranma,
how is it that you've become like this? Do you know?"
"You mean," Ranma said, "about not changing back?"
"No," Ukyo replied. "I mean, what is it that made you
change your attitude? You never changed in all the years I
knew you, but now..."
As hard as it was for Ranma to take anything seriously, she
knew there was no escaping this, and she said, "It's in
keeping with something that happened to me, not too long
ago. I'm not exactly sure how, but every time I feel like
someone has really left me, I become more of what I am,
now."
"So," Ukyo surmised, "if I were to go away..."
"Oh," Ranma answered, "you don't need to worry. Only people
who have been affected by magic seem to do it."
"So," Ukyo said, "this is it."
"No," Ranma said. "There's one more."
Ukyo was about to ask Ranma who it was, but then she heard
an awful commotion from below her window--and she just
happened to notice Genma running toward the house in panda-
form. Ukyo then looked away from the window in irritation
and asked Ranma, "Ranma, are we really living next door to
the Tendos?"
Ranma smiled and took a quick look out the window, then
said, "Ah, it seems that way..."
***
Without anyone having realized it--including Nodoka,
strangely enough--they had, indeed, moved in next door to
the Tendos. There were perhaps never two families in Japan
who were more appropriately located, though there were
plenty of reasons to make them want to live on different
continents.
The first person to have discovered this was Genma, who
immediately saw the convenience in having a familiar bath,
koi pond and refrigerator he could raid.
The second person to discover their proximity was Akane, who
(coincidentally enough) also discovered Genma in the process
of raiding their refrigerator.
Akane had nothing personal against Mr. Saotome, but seeing a
giant panda in her family's kitchen that early in the
morning was a tremendous shock to her, and she wasn't
completely sure at first that it was Genma.
Almost immediately, Soun and Akane were in pursuit of Genma
(who still had a big slice of watermelon), and Kasumi
watched as Genma leaped the barrier and Soun followed.
Soun and Akane did not have far to travel. Once across the
street and over another barrier, they found Genma entering
another two-story building, and they just assumed he was
invading someone else's residence.
They were completely surprised to discover that Nodoka had
evidently joined him in committing trespass. Unable to
fully picture Nodoka this way, they soon realized the
inevitable--that Ranma and his parents were living there.
Once Soun realized this, he merely laughed and joked about
how warm the weather was. He then grimly informed Genma
that he now owed Soun a watermelon.
Nodoka was eager to invite them in, but Soun politely
excused himself. Akane was reluctant, but her curiosity
took over, and she took the tour.
Their house was very similar to the one Akane knew well--the
entrance-area stairway leading up to bedrooms on the second
floor and the well-worn area of the hallway between the
living room and the kitchen were enough to make Akane wonder
how many of these types of houses there were in the
neighborhood.
The only real difference, besides the fact that the end of
the house stopped at a fenced tree-line between them and the
other neighbor's house instead of a dojo, was that the
Saotome's had a modest wooden bridge that crossed over a
faux stream. The sense of Zen at this image was completed
when Ranma appeared next to her and said, "I'll bet you're
jealous."
Ranma chuckled as Akane turned and immediately said, "I am
not!"
Seeing Ranma holding a bowl of food in her usual nimble way
made Akane sentimental for a moment, and she was anxious to
finish touring the house with Nodoka.
Akane had a hunch what she would find in the guest room, and
so she was not too surprised to find Ukyo unpacking there.
What Ukyo wrote in her diary about that moment is frankly a
little hard to believe, but her diary is the only one that
goes into detail about this encounter:
Ukyo said, "Well, if it isn't the ex-fiancee!"
Akane frowned and said, "Ukyo? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I live here," Ukyo replied, she then cleared her throat
and added, "As a guest, of course."
"Just a guest?" Akane said. "I'd have thought you two would
have been married by now."
"Well, I am the 'cute' one," Ukyo agreed.
Akane then laughed and glanced at Nodoka--who was fretting
at the state of Ranma's room (just next door to Ukyo's), and
she said, viciously, "If you lay a finger on Ranma, I'll
kill you."
"Oh my," Ukyo said, feigning shock. "How scary! I'm
shaking already." Ukyo then laughed and went back to her
unpacking.
In her own diary, Kasumi only mentions that Akane took one
look at the smug expression on Ukyo's face and immediately
continued on her tour. While a bit more plausible, it seems
equally unlikely.
Both accounts, however, do agree that this was the one time
that Akane visited Ukyo at the new place, so it's just a
pity we can't get a more accurate picture of what happened.
Nevertheless, Ukyo did get her share of visitors over the
next few days, and though they failed to give her any death
threats, they certainly did amuse Ukyo. Nabiki, for
example, had plenty to say about the new pictures of Ranma
she was selling, and how Ranma was more than happy to be
busy posing (tastefully, for once).
Kasumi found time to visit, as well, and found that Ukyo's
skill at cooking--while unpleasantly aggressive and
barbaric--was far above her own. Ukyo's talents, her
creative flair and her adaptiveness with cooking implements
were beyond what Kasumi had dreamed possible. Best of all,
Ukyo was unaware of her talent--and therefore (unlike most
other talented cooks) she was not an effete snob. To the
contrary, she enjoyed showing off her talents to an
appreciative audience.
Kasumi made a point of visiting frequently, mostly because
of her intense disappointment with Akane, and because she
preferred to be the one who was learning rather than trying
to teach.
Genma returned to the dojo with Ranma, although they had to
go through the routine of having Happosai give his word that
Ranma would not fail the honor of the Tendo dojo. Soun made
it clear to them that, while he would still welcome them in,
they were outsiders. It was odd that Happosai was
conveniently still Soun's master, although it seemed that
they would only regret that fact all the more in the near
future.
Meanwhile, Nodoka found herself more busy with making notes
toward books she would never publish than with making meals.
Nodoka was said to take extremely detailed notes of many of
the casual discussions between Ukyo and Kasumi, and Akane
later swore that Nodoka kept a detailed account somewhere of
all the training sessions that Genma and Ranma held.
One thing was fairly certain. Very little had actually
changed between when Ranma had been living at the Tendo's
and now that Ranma had moved next door. Ukyo still spent
the evenings working at her shop, and Nodoka was often
invited along with Ranma and Genma to eat at the Tendo's.
Akane and Ranma often sat right next to each other nearest
the windows, as they always had, just as if they were still
intended, and if Ranma was more casual than ever, Akane was
more tense than ever about this situation.
The major difference between then and now was that Akane was
nearly always angry with Ranma and now Akane had simply
become nervous.
***
One evening over a game of shogi, Soun and Genma took the
opportunity of the relatively mild weather to catch up on
the events of the past week and to mull over (as Nabiki put
it) their new strategy regarding what to do about Ranma and
Akane.
Genma stated and they both agreed that things were
progressing nicely in spite of having been forced to do away
with the arrangement. Genma further stated that having
removed the arrangement was even more convenient in that it
provided Ranma with no excuse to think of a relationship
with Akane as a burden.
Soun mused over this, perhaps thinking that Ukyo was even
less of a burden to Ranma or just wondering what Genma meant
by referring to Akane as a burden in the first place.
In any case, Soun still wanted to renew their arrangement,
and although Genma now said that it was quite impossible, he
assured Soun that it would change nothing.
"Soun, my friend," Genma said. "You don't seem to
understand. Ranma always hated that arrangement, and I'm
pretty sure Akane did, too. Ranma hates being told to do
anything. Now that it's all on his own shoulders, I'm sure
he'll do the right thing."
Soun then frowned and said, "I just hope you're right,
Genma."
The wind chimes played right on cue for them and the scene
would have been perfect had Happosai--sitting next to them--
not been making an inventory of the stolen bras and panties
in his sack.
***
As the days went by, Ranma found that making conversation at
supper was becoming easier, and despite being stuck in girl-
form and technically an outsider, the others still seemed to
think of her as family. In fact, Nabiki and Kasumi never
enjoyed a conversation more with Ranma than they did now.
Ranma seemed more easy-going than ever, and there was never
an issue to which she lacked some delightful opinions.
Sometimes Nabiki would say something overly capricious, and
Ranma would become irritated at it--but never more than long
enough to let them know she was irritated. Kasumi was
sometimes too judgmental, and Ranma would ignore those
remarks.
Gone were the rude and cynical Ranma, the grumpy Ranma, the
insulting and defensive Ranma, and even the tacky
simpleminded Ranma. If they appeared, they only made the
occasional cameo appearances.
What was very strange was that, although Akane surely had
much to say and would have gladly spent many hours
discussing things before, Akane had gone strangely quiet.
Akane had become so quiet, in fact, that it came as a
complete surprise when she told Ranma one evening after
supper that she wanted to speak with her.
To the disappointment of the others, they spoke in Chinese,
but Akane later shared every word of it.
Akane wasted no time, but asked Ranma right out, "Ranma, do
you like me?"
Anyone would be stunned at this question, and Ranma was no
exception. Akane cleared her throat and tried again.
"What I mean is," Akane said, "I... I think we got off to a
bad start."
Ranma chuckled and said, "No kidding."
"I mean," Akane floundered (and Kasumi noted here that she
witnessed Akane for the first time poking her own fingers
with embarrassment), "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel
about all this. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Ranma said.
"No," Akane objected. "I am sorry. It's all my fault for
getting jealous."
When Akane later said this to Kasumi, Kasumi was very
surprised and Kasumi wrote, "Had Ranma been more perceptive,
he might have become very upset when Akane told him that."
Instead, Ranma merely smiled wistfully at everything Akane
said, even as Akane continued, "I'm just a complete idiot,
and I've never treated you fairly. I'm very very sorry."
And then, to everyone's complete surprise, Ranma gently
reached out and hugged Akane, and Akane softly cried. Ranma
then softly said, "It's okay, Akane. I'm more sorry than
you."
***
So, now there was no longer any mystery at all about how
Akane and Ranma felt, and although Ranma was clearly not
going to return to male-type any time soon, they felt no
qualms about expressing these feelings any old time of the
day they chose.
At school, for example, they were often seen making eye-
contact or sometimes holding hands or even just sharing some
wordless smiles.
Some of their fellow students said it was just like Ranma to
fall in love with Akane in girl-form, and others sometimes
remarked that it was appropriate--seeing how Akane never
really liked guys, anyway.
Kuno, naturally, was distraught that his ineptness as a man
had driven the two girls he was in love with to "turn into
lesbians."
A few of the more insightful students remarked that becoming
Ranma's fiancee was surely a horrible curse, and they made
sure they did so outside of Ukyo's hearing.
Whether Ukyo heard it or not, she surely felt it. Ranma and
Akane didn't hide their feelings from Ukyo, and Ukyo soon
became upset with the situation--though she did manage to
hide how she felt for a little while.
Ukyo was still a guest at Ranma's house, but it seemed to
her that she was a stranger there. Ranma never spent any
time with her--and the one time she did, she complained
casually to Ukyo that Akane was still far too shy.
This remark in particular had made Ukyo extremely upset.
She was briefly tempted to destroy her own shop with her
bare hands when she realized that there was still one last
chance for the situation to change.
Ukyo recalled Ranma telling her that there was "one more,"
to go. She had surely meant her own father--Genma. With
Genma out of the way, there would no longer be a reason for
Ranma to feel any pressure to make up with Akane, and Ranma
would experience the final transformation--which could
revert her back to her usual Akane-hating, obnoxious self.
But no matter how Ukyo tortured herself with thoughts of how
Genma had ruined her life in the first place, she just
couldn't bring herself to murder the old guy. Ukyo knew in
her guts that nothing less than murder would do, but at the
same time, she felt that she just didn't have quite enough
hatred to be able to do it.
On top of that, if Ukyo did kill the old man, how would
Ranma react to her except in stunned horror? It was a
terrible dilemma, no matter how she turned it around in her
mind.
***
That night, Ukyo had nightmare after nightmare, and in every
one of them, Genma was the villain--taking away her father's
livelihood and leaving her behind in misery and humiliation.
As the nightmares repeated, the vision of her father's shop
slowly transformed into Genma carrying Ranma away from her
until Ranma at last abandoned her in her disgrace.
In the very last dream just before dawn, Ukyo was lying on
the ground, unable to move or even turn away as the others
laughed at her and ridiculed her--even Genma and Ranma, who
were now calling her a pitiful and gullible fool.
Ukyo had been denied sleep because of these dreams, and the
visions of her dream had become so intense that it denied
her of sanity.
Shortly afterward, Ukyo found herself still in a dreamlike
state, but now carrying a very real knife and intending to
use it. She found Genma soon enough, sitting at the doorway
to their new backyard, watching as Ranma went through her
usual morning workout. The scene was perfect.
The only thing that it lacked was a dead body, stabbed many
times in the back--lying in a pool of its own blood.
Ukyo brought up the knife to strike, but she hesitated, and
the knife quickly fell from her limp fingers. No matter how
angry or driven to insanity, there was just no way she was
capable of outright murder. She knew it for a fact, deep
down inside.
Her whole life, she had been living for revenge, but she had
also been living with purpose. That purpose had forced her
to pretend to be a guy and to cook at a level far beyond
what others could achieve. It had taken so much pain and
sacrifice, and she couldn't just throw all that away.
The knife had scarcely hit the floor when Ukyo realized that
she was completely drained. Nothing mattered anymore. She
only had time to think that at least she had the grim
satisfaction that Ranma would never become a guy, when Ranma
suddenly attacked Genma--kicking him in the head in a way
that would paralyze or kill an ordinary man.
Ranma smiled and said, "Yo, Pop! Get up! Don't tell me
that love-tap actually hurt you?"
Ukyo looked down at Genma's unmoving body and her mind
totally failed to register that this had any significance.
Ranma, however, was quickly at Genma's side, slapping him in
the face, and begging him to get up. It didn't matter,
though. His body would never move again. Ranma called for
his mother and screamed something about calling for a
doctor, as Ukyo realized with some amusement that Ranma had
transformed to a guy again.
Ranma didn't realize this until much later, and when Nodoka
appeared, she seemed shocked at first, but then she frowned
and said, pointing, "Ranma, don't scare me like that! Put
that doll away, would you?"
"Doll?" Ranma said, a little outraged. "I'm not holding a
doll!"
Ranma then looked down at what he was holding, and it was,
indeed, a doll.
"Whoa!" Ranma exclaimed. "Pop!?"
Ukyo blinked in astonishment, suddenly realizing that the
dead body of Genma had actually been a cleverly constructed
doll, and her head swam.
A moment later, Ukyo passed out.
Epilogue: Hold Your Horses
About a week later, Ranma and Akane had a wedding
celebration, and everyone said it was a huge success in
spite of not have the father of the groom on hand. Genma
wasn't dead--although he might have prayed for death when
Nodoka got a hold of him, later on--Genma was just romping
around in his usual panda-form, getting into trouble, as
usual.
Genma showed up for the reception--held at the Cat Cafe, of
course. He showed up, looking a little somber, and when
Ranma asked him what that was about, Genma shoved a letter
in his face and said, "Here's the proof. Read it yourself."
Ranma read the letter. "Sorry for the confusion. Hope you
enjoyed your abduction." At the bottom of the letter it was
signed, "chi."
"Who da heck is 'Chi?'" Ranma asked him, and Genma snatched
the letter back.
"I don't know," Genma replied. "I wish I did, though."
Genma secretly wanted to thank whoever it was that had
abducted him the morning of his "murder." Genma had awoke
to find himself in a pastry kitchen, and he promptly ate as
many of them as he could. His story had been--like many of
his stories--extremely hard to believe, so Genma now made a
point of proving to Ranma that it was the truth.
Ranma, however, was not in the frame of mind to believe it,
and he said, "Bah! I still say you made it up!"
Shampoo appeared at that point, and said, "Shampoo believe.
Shampoo got letter just like what panda man get."
"So, where is it?" Ranma asked.
"Me throw away," Shampoo said.
Ranma laughed and said, "Ah, you see? I don't believe it!
It's just another one of Pop's stories."
Shampoo then frowned and left the room, saying, "I go find
letter and show you."
Akane, still somewhat radiant in her outfit, cleared her
throat and said to Ranma, "Actually, Ranma, I got one of
those, myself."
"Really?" Ranma said. "How come you didn't tell me?"
"Well," Akane replied, "I thought it was just weird, at the
time."
Akane promptly produced her letter, and Ranma read it.
"Congratulations and best wishes for the future. Please
forgive me for ruining a good dinner." At the bottom of the
letter was just the symbol "i."
"Whoa," Ranma said, "now that's creepy."
Just about then, Ryoga finally showed up, having intended to
go to the wedding, but getting mixed up and naturally
ending up at the reception by mistake. After a few
obligatory words of congratulations to Ranma and Akane,
Akari--who had already been to the wedding and the
reception--began pestering Ryoga.
Meanwhile, Shampoo appeared and produced the letter she had
alluded to. "Here," she said, holding it out to him.
Ranma immediately read it, "Sorry I mixed up the glasses. I
know the old saying, but I couldn't help myself. Is that
wrong?" This one was signed "no."
Akane trembled and said, "I just got a shiver up my spine,
but I'm not sure why."
"That was weird," Ranma remarked, giving the letter back.
"I wonder what glasses it's referring to."
"Shampoo not know," Shampoo said, and promptly left the room
again.
Just then, Ryoga appeared, and Ranma said, "Don't tell me
you got one of those weird letters, too."
Ryoga said, "Now that you mention it, I was going to ask you
about this..." Sure enough, Ryoga produced a letter.
All it said was, "I'm sorry." At the bottom, it was signed
"ku."
Ranma thought about it for a moment, and then hit his hand
in realization. "Of course! It's so obvious!"
"What?" Ryoga asked.
"The same person wrote all four of those letters!" Ranma
declared, causing everyone to face-fault except Nabiki--who
merely said:
"Well, duh."
THE END