Disclaimer:
The characters in this story aren't mine. They are the property of Takahashi Rumiko, the creator of Ranma ½. This is a totally non-profit bit of prose also known as a fanfic. I am writing this for the enjoyment of other Ranma ½ fans and myself. If the great Takahashi Rumiko says she doesn't want her characters used in this way it will be deleted immediately. Any who... onward into the story.
The Days After: Ryouga's Journey
By: Eric Evans
Chapter 5: The City
Before the sun had risen Ukyou was up and had rekindling the fire and started breakfast. She hadn't slept very well, she was too excited about sparring with Ryouga for some reason, but she wasn't sure why. Once the meal she had been preparing was almost finished cooking she decided it was time for her to wake Ryouga, but before she could even stand Ryouga unzipped his tent and climbed out.
"Good morning, Ryouga."
Ryouga looked very well rested, "Good morning. Ukyou. You're up early."
"Yep, I thought I'd fix breakfast early so we can spar longer before we have to leave," Ukyou served Ryouga a breakfast-okonomiyaki.
"Heh, I was wondering when you where gonna make okonomiyaki."
"Are you complaining about my cooking?" Ukyou asked indignantly.
Ryouga stuffed his mouth, and continued after swallowing, "No, it just didn't seem right. You not making okonomiyaki and all."
Ukyou giggled, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
The pair finished the two okonomiyaki apiece that Ukyou had prepared and quickly cleaned up the dishes. Ukyou picked up her battle spatula and turned to Ryouga, "Well, you ready?"
Ryouga grabbed the umbrella from his pack and nodded.
After searching for a suitable spot, one with little undergrowth, the two faced each other.
"Shall we get started?" Ryouga asked lightly.
"Yep let's go," said Ukyou dropping into her fighting stance as Ryouga did the same.
The two circled each other for a while until finally Ryouga took several bandanas from his head and began to spin them. Ukyou matched his move by pulling several spatulas from her bandoleer. After circling a couple more times Ukyou got impatient and threw her spatulas. When she did Ryouga jumped to the side and threw his bandana-shurikens low but spread out forcing her to jump over them or be hit. As she jumped Ryouga charged at her and swung his umbrella towards her head. Ukyou blocked the blow with her combat-spatula, but was knocked backward and landed off balance from the force of the blow. Ryouga quickly dropped into a straddle stance and focused his heavy ki towards Ukyou.
"Shishi…." he stopped and rose from his stance as Ukyou toppled over having not been able to regain her balance.
Ukyou was annoyed by the fact that Ryouga had had to hold back. Rising back to her feet Ukyou brought her combat-spatula to the ready, and charged at Ryouga. As Ukyou began to swing her spatula Ryouga calmly touched the ground with a single finger. "Bakusai Tenketsu," was all he said. Ukyou was once again knocked stumbling backwards off balance, but this time she didn't fall down. Just as she regained her footing Ryouga, who had discarded his umbrella, ripped her combat-spatula out of her hands tossing it aside, and grabbed her wrist. Ukyou knew she had no chance of breaking free of the iron-grip that felt like it was crushing her petite forearms, but far too late she realized that Ryouga had reared back for a head-butt as he grabbed her wrist.
Luckily for Ukyou he stopped himself, but it wasn't easy for Ryouga to hold back. He usually only fought with Ranma or the occasional person who was trying to kill him for whatever reason. Either way he had no need to pull his punches. With Ukyou however he had to be very careful not to go too far.
Ukyou was angry with herself for being so out classed by Ryouga, and quickly began to take it out on him. "Don't hold back Ryouga! I may be a girl but I can still fight, so go all out. Got it?"
"No."
"What do you mean, idiot?"
"I won't do it."
"Why not? Think I'm too weak for big bad Ryouga? Afraid of fighting a girl, because you might hurt me, you sexist pig!?!" Ukyou screamed angrily.
Ryouga's face hardened. Ukyou had hit a nerve. He didn't like being called a pig of any kind. Fine! If that's the way she wants it…. Ryouga dropped into a straddle-stance with his arms crossed in front of him, and he began to glow. Ukyou just stared in wonderment as the glow grew brighter and brighter his hair and clothes blowing about in a tempest she couldn't feel. Finally he bent down until his shoulders were almost to his knees and threw himself back up his arms pulled to his sides and his head thrown back as if to open his heart up upon the world. "Shishi Houkoudan," a pillar of light and energy exploded around him.
Ukyou retreated as fast as she could, her eyes glued to the dark silhouette engulfed in the deadly column of ki. Once he stopped glowing his arms fell limp at his sides and his head drooped forward. Still moving away as fast as she could Ukyou watched as the gigantic ball of heavy ki descended upon the earth and her. It crashed down splintering trees as it went. As it finally hit the ground Ukyou had only made it out of ground zero by inches, and collapsed frightened as if she had nearly fallen from a cliff. The ground buckled, and once the energy had dissipated a huge crater and Ryouga was all that was left in its wake. In the middle of the now desolate clearing stood Ryouga staring, his eyes cold, at Ukyou's collapsed, shaking form.
Unlike Ranma's precise controlled forms Ryouga's techniques are centered on doing massive damage. As Ukyou stared into Ryouga's eyes she thought she could see them glowing with the sorrow and anguish he had just unleashed. He fought to push it back to the depths of his soul where he kept it sealed. At that moment she felt like little more than a moth caught in the headlights of an oncoming tractor-trailer.
Ryouga collected his umbrella and headed back to their camp.
Later that day, after they had gathered up their belongings and began their way down the road once again, Ukyou was still shaken by the power of Ryouga's depression blast.
Ryouga, for the most part was busy hating himself for what he had done that morning. Damn it!!! What was I thinking!?! I could have hurt Ukyou, and for what? My stupid pride!?! She probably hates me now…. Heck even I can't stand me, how could she…. I've got to apologize…. I don't deserve her forgiveness, but she deserves to at least hear me say that I'm sorry. More importantly, in the back of his mind he felt that if he didn't apologize he would be no better than Ranma. Finally he marshaled up his courage and turned his eyes to his traveling companion, "U-Ukyou…."
Ukyou didn't answer, but he decided to continue anyway, "Ukyou, I… I'm really sorry about this morning…."
Ukyou turned to look at him slightly surprised, "W-what…?"
Ryouga's eyes returned to the ground, "I… I'm sorry… I wasn't thinking… I just…." Ryouga didn't know how to continue. Damn! I should have thought about this a little longer first!
Ukyou sighed, "Oh, Ryouga… I'm the one who should be sorry…. I started it by taunting you, I was pushing you to fight me all out and I got what I wanted but… I guess I didn't realize how scary fighting you for real could be."
Ukyou's words hurt him like daggers plunged into his heart. "I didn't realize how scary you could be." She's right… I'm just a monster… I could have killed her….
Ukyou watched, confused, as Ryouga's face grew darker with shame. "Oh come on, Ryouga, I forgive you already…. Heck, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I wanted to prove that I could help you train, but… I guess I'm just to weak…."
Ryouga looked at her surprised, "Wha…? You're not weak."
Ukyou's gazed dropped back to the ground. "Yeah right, if you hadn't been holding back you could have easily killed me." What's worse is that I didn't even realize it…. "I could never help you train… I'd just be in the way."
"What?!? That's not true! It doesn't matter if I'm better than you or not, you are still a good fighter. Even if I did hold back, this morning's bout was a lot better training than I could ever have gotten doing my morning kata. Besides, control is what I need to work on the most aside from speed."
Ukyou turned back to Ryouga smiling slightly, "Thanks, Ryouga."
The pair continued to walk down the road in silence, but both were feeling much better.
As the day wore on the pair eventually came upon a fair sized city. Ryouga wished they could have avoided it, but it was much quicker to go through it than around. Ukyou, however, was glad to see civilization again. As they entered the city an idea came to Ryouga's mind. It would be faster if we were to take a bus, or train for a while. Plus there would be less chance of me getting lost. "Hey, Ukyou."
Ukyou looked over at him, "Hmmm?"
"What do you think about taking a bus or train as far as we can go toward the temple? It would be a lot faster, and you look like you could use a break."
Ukyou blushed slightly. He was right she was already exhausted and sore. "Sure, I guess."
The two walk through the city looking for a bus station for a while before they found one. Ukyou looked at the various destinations thoughtfully. Finally she picked the one she thought would be the closest to where they wanted to go.
"Hmmm… It looks like the next bus doesn't leave until tomorrow morning," Ryouga stated looking over the departure schedule.
"Well that's not to bad…." Ukyou said sitting down on a nearby bench and leaned her head back closing her eyes.
Ryouga sat down next to her watching her rather depressed expression, and began to think. Hmmm… Ukyou looks a lot more comfortable now that we have gotten back into the city, but still... she looks so sad…. She's probably not enjoying this trip very much… He sighed. How could she…? She's with me. I really ought to do something for her….
After sitting in silence for a while Ryouga thought of something, "Hey, Ukyou."
Ukyou opened her tired eyes and turned her head toward him, "What's up?"
"Well I was wondering," he began to fidget nervously, "since we have all this time and all… of course you don't have to if you don't want but… I was just kinda thinking that you might kinda… well… that it might be nice if… ummm…."
Ukyou giggled to herself as she watched Ryouga play with his fingers trying to gather up the courage to finish what he was saying. "What is it all ready?" she said trying to sound annoyed.
"Ummm… wanna go shopping… errr something in the city?" Ryouga felt like a complete idiot after finally asking her. Man, that was a stupid idea.
"Really, Ryouga?!?" Ukyou had already jumped up and started trying to pull Ryouga up. "That would be great."
They rented a locker in the bus station and placed their packs inside along with Ukyou's combat spatula and Ryouga's umbrella. Ukyou hadn't wanted to carry them all over the city although it wouldn't have bothered Ryouga at all. The two started to walk around the city but it didn't take long for Ukyou to find a shopping mall and drag Ryouga inside.
The first store Ukyou went into, which happened to also be the first one she saw as she walked in the mall, was a women's fashion store. Ryouga followed her in blushing brightly. Ukyou bounced through the store happily looking at all the different clothes. After a while Ukyou had picked out several things she wanted to try on, and followed one of the salesladies into the dressing room, leaving Ryouga standing out side the dressing room doors.
Ryouga was doing his best not to look at anyone or anything except his shoes. I feel so stupid. He looked up for a second. Oh geez! I just looked at the women's underwear! He quickly returned his gaze to the floor. Everyone is gonna think I'm some kinda pervert! He raised his eyes for a second to see if anyone had noticed. Damn! That lady just saw me looking at her! Now she is really gonna think I'm a pervert!!! I gotta think clean thoughts! Clean thoughts. Clean thought. Clean thoughts. Clean thoughts. Absent-mindedly he began to fidget nervously with the closest thing he could find. After a minute and a closer inspection he realized, Oh god!!! I'm messing with some sorta lingerie!!! I am a pervert!!! Clean thoughts!!! Don't touch anything!!! Clean thoughts!!!
Luckily at that point Ukyou came out of the fitting room along with the cheery saleslady to save Ryouga from himself, "So what do you think?"
"I'm not doing anything!!!" Ryouga shouted. He turned even darker red as people turned to look at him, "Errr… I mean…." He started to laugh nervously until he finally noticed Ukyou. His heart skipped a beat and he stared in awe for a moment at the beautiful young lady standing in front of him. "W-whoa…" was all he could manage to say as a bit of blood trickled down his lip from his nose.
Ryouga's heart started pounding as he gazed at Ukyou. She was wearing a dark blue mid thigh length Chinese-style dress with a very low cut neck and long sleeves along with a pair of black shoes with white cotton soles. Her long chocolate hair had been unbound and fell loosely over her shoulders. "You… you…. Wow, Ukyou…. You look really great." Ryouga realized he was staring, but he couldn't stop.
Ukyou blushed, "Y-you really think so?"
"Y-yeah."
Ukyou smiled brightly, and then sighed as she turned to go back into the changing room, "Well… it's to bad I can't afford it…."
"W-wait a sec!" Ryouga said reaching an arm out towards Ukyou.
Ukyou turned back around the smile gone from her face having been replaced by a touch of sadness, "Give me a sec Ryouga I gotta go get changed back then I'll be done." She turned back around and started to the changing room.
"N-no… I meant you don't have to change if y-you don't want to…. I'll buy it for you…." Ryouga was once again staring at his shoes. He began trembling he was so nervous, and even his hands were red from his blush.
"W-what?" she turned back around. "No. You don't have to Ryouga."
"B-but… I really want to. You look… wonderful…. If you like it… I want to buy it for you…." His gaze remained on his shoes.
Ukyou stared in wonder at him for a moment before she finally smiled, "Oh thank you, Ryouga." She jumped over to Ryouga delighted and wrapped her arms around him hugging him as tight as she could. Ryouga stiffened and his eyes grew wide for a few seconds before he fell over unconscious, and Ukyou sighed.
The saleslady who had been standing beside Ukyou rushed over to check on Ryouga as a few other people walked over to check out the commotion. She began to laugh, "I wish I could get that kind of reaction out of my boyfriend. Heck, I can't even get him to go shopping with me. You're really lucky to have found someone like him… where did you get him?"
Ukyou blushed, "Uhhh… well we're not… I mean he's not… not really my boyfriend."
The lady looked at her surprised, "Really?!? Does he know that?"
Ukyou didn't like the question, "Of course!"
"Oh, I'm sorry… but it's just the way he… reacted to you being around him. He got completely flustered when…. Well, whatever, but don't let your chance slip away… he sounded so sweet…. You might want to think about it before you lose your chance."
Finally Ryouga began to groggily open his eyes. Ukyou leaned over to help him up, "Oh, Ryouga, you're hopeless."
Ryouga got up and tried to ignore all of the girls who where glancing over at him giggling, and turned to the saleslady, "So how much do I owe you?"
After Ryouga paid for Ukyou's new clothes, they left the store. Ukyou was enjoying wearing something feminine for once. Ryouga followed her carrying a bag with her old clothes. They walked until they found a fairly nice place to eat and went inside. A waiter welcomed them and began to show them to a seat by the window. Unfortunately Ryouga had somehow gotten lost and was in the kitchen trying to figure out what just happened. After a little searching and Ukyou leading Ryouga back by his hand, they sat down and looked at their menus. Soon the waiter returned and took their orders and then left them alone once again.
Ukyou was thinking about what the saleslady had said to her. "Think about it before you lose your chance." Ukyou sighed. Ryouga is pretty sweet, but that's not why I'm here. I don't need a relationship right now. I'm still trying to get over… Ranma…. Besides I bet Ryouga doesn't really want a relationship either. She looked at Ryouga who was sipping his water. When he noticed her looking into his eyes Ryouga quickly shattered his glass. Luckily he had already finished the water. Ukyou looked back down at her hands. A little voice in the back of her mind reminded her of Akari. "Ummm… Ryouga?"
Ryouga finished gathering the broken glass and dumped them into the ashtray, "Uh, yeah?"
"Well I was wondering… what ever happened to that girl who loves pigs… Unryuu Akari?"
Ryouga turned his gaze to the window, "What do you mean?"
Ukyou could see he didn't want to talk about it, but pushed anyway, "You know. What happened with you and her?"
Ryouga sighed, "Well… not much…."
"Oh come on."
Ryouga looked over at Ukyou for a moment and then back out the window. "It's a long story…."
Ukyou stayed firm, "We've got time."
Ryouga's gaze turn to the table and he sighed, "Well… after I received the wedding invitation from Akane and Ranma I decided I was going to go visit her. Of course, I got lost on the way over there and ended up accidentally helping to wreck their wedding." He stopped for a little while thinking, "After that I started off to Akari's farm again. After traveling around for a while I finally made it and Akari was there waiting for me with open arms. I told her about everything that had happened and she was sad for me, but couldn't help but be happy that I had finally given up on Akane. I stayed there with her and her grandfather for a while, but eventually I found out about the temple…." The waiter walked up and handed them the food they ordered and Ryouga began to eat immediately.
Ukyou took a couple bites of her meal and pushed Ryouga to continue his story, "Okay, then what?"
Ryouga reluctantly stopped forcing food into his mouth and swallowed, "Well… I told her I had to leave to find the temple, and she got really upset. She told me to decide which was more important to me, her or the cu… temple…." Ryouga's eyes sank into depression as he recalled what had happened.
Ukyou, who had been eating while listening anxiously, took a sip of water and asked, "And you choose the temple? Why? What so important about that temple anyway?"
Ryouga only stared at his food for a minute then finally he decided to continue, "She told me if I left to find the temple she couldn't promise me she would be waiting when I got back…. I told her I was sorry, but that I had to go…. She ran to her room crying… it almost killed me to leave… but I had too…." He paused for a minute his features contorted with grief. "She didn't wish me luck or even see me off…. Not that I can blame her I guess…. I wrote her letters after I left, we had been pen pals for a long time but she wouldn't write me back…. Not that it's easy to get a letter to me when I'm traveling, but she had always at least tried before…. Finally I did get a letter from her. I never thought she would really leave me… but she did… the letter said simply that she had met someone named Kumon Ryuu, and that she wasn't going to wait for me anymore…. She said I would have liked him… that we had a lot in common…. Anyway he had beaten Katsunishiki… so he was just as good a choice for a husband as me… and he…." Ryouga couldn't continue. His heart ached from remembering the letter that he kept hidden in a small wooden box in his backpack along with every other letter Akari had ever written him.
Ukyou was filled with sympathy as she listened to his story, "Oh, I'm so sorry Ryouga…."
Ryouga relaxed his clenched fist, and his face, which had been contorted in anguish, once again returned to his regular depressed scowl. "Well… it happens… I didn't deserve her anyway…. I hope I get to meet this Ryuu guy some time though…. If he's a jerk or doesn't treat her right I'll…." His face had changed once again but this time anger and contempt were all that could be seen on his features. Soon Ryouga regained himself and calmed down. He sighed, turning his attention back to his meal.
Ukyou just sat staring at Ryouga shaken by his sudden burst of anger. She returned to eating as well, not being able to form any words.
After a short time Ryouga had finished his food and calmed back down completely, and he could tell that Ukyou was still a little disturbed by his outburst. The air seemed to lay thick between them and he felt he needed to do something. "So uhhh… what about you and Konatsu or uhhh…. Tsubasa?"
Ukyou looked up at him forgetting what had happened before as anger crept on to her face at hearing those names. "What do you mean? Those two are just a couple of perverts!"
"Well, yeah, but… uhhh…."
"But what? That's all they are to me. Tsubasa is a cross dressing psychotic, and Konatsu is…." The anger drained from her face, "Well Konatsu is a friend but… he is so… so… feminine…. He gets on my nerves."
"Oh… I thought you two would make the perfect couple… he dresses like a girl… you dress like a guy… same with Tsubasa."
Ukyou started to grumble, "Yeah, well, we aren't. I want a relationship with someone…." Ukyou relaxed a bit, "I want someone who I can rely on… someone who makes me feel like a woman… someone who can hold me in his arms and make the world go away…." Ukyou sighed lost in thought.
Ryouga began again interrupting her thoughts, "You know I was wondering… why didn't you have Konatsu run Ukchan's while you are gone instead of closing?"
Ukyou snickered, "The last time I let him run the place I nearly went bankrupt. He's a great employee, but he's too much of a cheapskate to run the place." She thought for a minute, "Besides I had already talked to him about taking a vacation. I figured we both could use one, but I couldn't tell him I was actually going or I would have never have been able to leave him behind."
Ryouga smiled slightly as he watched Ukyou finish eating. It's great taking to Ukyou like this…. She sure is cute in that dress too. He started to blush again.
After Ryouga paid the check, Ryouga and Ukyou once again began to wander the mall. They stopped at several gift shops where Ukyou bought some post cards, a food store where they restocked their supplies, a kitchen supply store where Ukyou got a couple new spatulas and Ryouga got a spork just for laughs, a bookstore where Ryouga bought the latest issue of the "Inu Yasha" manga and a martial arts supply store that Ryouga just had to drag Ukyou into. Ryouga and Ukyou where both really enjoying themselves. As the day turned into evening Ukyou found another store she wanted to go into.
"Hey, Ryouga."
Ryouga turned to look at Ukyou, "Hmmm?"
"Let's go in there," she said pointing at another clothing store.
Ryouga shrugged, "Oh, okay."
As they entered the store Ryouga noticed this store was a lot different than the clothing store they had visited early that day. Ukyou once again started to bounce around the store picking out clothes. Ryouga just looked the store over. Finally he realized, W-wait… this is a men's clothing store! Ukyou bound over to the confused Ryouga carrying a pile of clothes.
Ryouga turned to her, "Uhhh… Ukyou…?"
Ukyou shoved the clothes she was carrying into his arms, "There you go."
Ryouga looked puzzled, "Huh?"
"It's your turn, silly."
"W-what?"
Ukyou started to look annoyed, "Go try them on."
"Who… m-me?"
"Of course you. Why did you think we came in here?"
"Well… uhhh…."
"Well go on and try them on," she said pushing towards the changing room, "and come out when you get changed I want to see you in them."
Ryouga sighed. Oh man….
A little later Ryouga walked out of the dressing room wearing a pair of loose fitting blue jean and an untucked long-sleeved blue pull over shirt with a large yellow strip around the middle and of course his bandana. Ukyou giggled when she saw him because he looked so uncomfortable.
"Wow, you look good, Ryouga," she said smiling at him.
Ryouga just tugged at the shirt.
"Don't like it, huh? Well go try on the next one."
As Ryouga reluctantly went back into the changing room Ukyou chuckled to herself. This is really fun… It's like having a life-sized dress up doll. She giggled. I never really played with dolls when I was little… I never knew what I was missing, and Ryouga's so cute. Ukyou's eye's got big. Where did that come from…? Before she could think about it Ryouga came back out.
He was dressed much like Ranma usually did with a red Chinese-style shirt and black pants. This time Ryouga looked much less than happy.
Ukyou looked at him holding back a laugh, "Sorry, Ryouga, I should have known you wouldn't like those."
Ryouga scowled at her and went back into the dressing room, and soon came back out wearing an open black jacket with a plain white t-shirt underneath and black slacks.
"Those are nice."
"I feel like I should be going to work in these'" he said disapprovingly.
"Yeah… or maybe to class. I bet you'd look good in a school uniform. Let's see what else we've got."
Ryouga blushed and went back in. I feel like an idiot… but Ukyou is enjoying this so I guess I can handle trying on a few more…. He quickly took off his clothes and put on some more, and stepped out again.
Ukyou looked him over. He was wearing a pair of loose fitting kaki cargo pants and a collarless cuffless green long sleeve shirt with an opening running half way down from the neck held shut by Chinese frog buttons. "Wow, Ryouga you look really good."
Ryouga blushed and looked at her, "Yeah these aren't too bad…. They're pretty comfortable… and I don't feel too stupid wearing them…."
Ukyou giggled as Ryouga returned to the changing room. Ryouga tried on several more new sets of clothes. Finally after he had shown Ukyou the last of them he changed back into his clothes and came out carrying the pile of clothes he had just tried on.
Ukyou walked up to him, "So what do you think."
Ryouga thought for a second, "Heh… Yeah, I like these."
Ukyou looked at him excitedly, "Which ones?"
A smile came over Ryouga's face, "The ones I have on."
Ukyou frowned, "Oh, come on Ryouga. You can't wear the same clothes for everything."
Ryouga sighed, "Actually, the green shirt and kaki cargo pants weren't too bad."
Ukyou perked up, "Really? Then you should get them!"
"Why? What would I ever need them for?"
"Oh, come on Ryouga. Who knows you might go somewhere that you want to dress up a little for. You could wear them for the rest of the day too since we are just spending the night on the town."
Ryouga didn't know why but he could tell how much Ukyou wanted him to buy the clothes and he sighed, "Oh, okay, I guess."
Ryouga went and changed into the clothes they had picked, and they put the other clothes back where Ukyou had found them. As they left the store Ryouga paid for his new clothes. Ukyou couldn't have been happier.
Ryouga and Ukyou left the mall shortly after they bought Ryouga's new clothes. Afterwards they began to once again wander the streets.
Ukyou was looking at the shops as they walked past, "So are you having a good time Ryouga?"
Ryouga was staring off into the distance, "Uh huh. You?"
"Yeah. I'm really glad you asked me."
"Me too. I haven't had this much fun in along time."
Ukyou looked up at Ryouga, "Me either…. You know it's strange…."
Ryouga looked over at Ukyou, "Hmmm?"
Ukyou looked a little embarrassed, "Well… I have never really done anything like this before…. I've never had a chance to do the things normal high school girls do. When I came to Nerima I got caught up in trying to get Ranma and running my restaurant I've never had time for a normal life…. Kinda feels like life just past me by…. All that time… wasted…."
Ryouga watched as Ukyou's face become sullen. He knew what she meant. His life had been the same way. Heck, I don't even go to high school…. Ryouga struggled desperately to find someway to cheer Ukyou up, and he noticed they were walking by a movie theater, "Hey!"
Ukyou looked at him.
"Ukyou, do you want to go watch a movie?" he asked pointing at the movie theater.
Ukyou's face brightened, "Sure, I guess. What's playing?"
They walked over to the building and looked over a list of the movies that were playing. There were a couple of foreign film and a Jackie Chan movie playing. They quickly decided to see the Jackie Chan movie and went inside.
A couple of hours later, after the sun had set well below the horizon Ukyou and Ryouga walked out of the movie theater laughing and talking about the movie. As they talked they began to once again head down the street. After awhile they came upon an expensive French restaurant.
"Hey, Ukyou, wanna try this place?"
Ukyou looked at the restaurant, "I don't know it looks kinda expensive…."
Ryouga looked at it again, "Hmmm… you might be right…." He looked over at Ukyou and noticed she looked a little disappointed, "Oh, who cares? We've had such a good day, what better way to finish it off?"
Ukyou's face lit up, and the two headed into the restaurant after Ukyou stopped Ryouga from heading down an alleyway.
Elaborate chandlers dimly lit the restaurant, and a slow soft music filled the air. The seats that the waiter had shown them to were in an intimate booth near the corner of the restaurant next to a window and with intricately carved wooden partitions separating them from everything else except the small hall that lead to the booth and a couple others like it. The waiter had politely introduced himself and handed them their menus and left to let them decide on their orders.
Ryouga stared at his menu in confusion, "Uhhh… do you have any idea what any of this is?"
Ukyou chuckled as she opened her menu, and quickly realized she had never heard of most of it either, "Ummm… well, not really."
They both ended up randomly picking something from the menu when the waiter returned. The waiter took their order and left them alone once again. Ryouga had begun staring out the window.
Ukyou wanted to talk with Ryouga, and she could see Ryouga wasn't going to start the conversation, "So, Ryouga, do you have any idea what it is we ordered."
Ryouga turned to look at her blushing slightly, "No idea…."
Ukyou laughed, "Oh, well, at least neither of us knows." Ryouga didn't show any indication of making a comment so Ukyou continued, "Are you sure you can afford all of this? I mean I don't want you to go broke because of me."
"No, it's okay. I don't carry a lot of money around with me, but I can get some out of my family's bank account if I need to."
Ukyou looked at him a little surprised, "Oh. Is that okay with your parents?"
Ryouga shrugged, "Yeah, that's what the account is there for. My family is always lost, and you never know when you are going to need some money when you are traveling. Besides we have quite a bit of money."
"Oh really? I figured your parents would be kinda poor… being lost all the time and all…."
Just then the waiter returned carrying two rather large plates of food, which he sat down in front of them, "Enjoy." He smiled at them and walked away.
They both eyed their plates skeptically. Ryouga's appeared to be some sort of steak covered in a red sauce, and Parmesan cheese, along with fried potato slices covered in cheese as well as very well spiced corn. Ukyou's wasn't nearly as recognizable. It appeared to be some kind of squid or some other sea life covered in a limp green vegetable that she guessed was probably boiled spinage with several oysters on the side.
Ryouga fumbled with his silverware and finally took a bite of his and smiled, "Hey this is really good! How's yours?"
Ukyou reluctantly cut off a portion of hers and gingerly placed it in her mouth. Her eyes grew big as she began to chew, "Oh, god! What is this?!? It tastes horrible!" She quickly swallowed the bite she had in her mouth and took a drink of water.
"Let me try it."
Ukyou pushed her plate towards him and he took a piece and stuck it in his mouth. The taste was definitely not something he enjoyed, but it wasn't the worst thing he had ever tasted. "Hmmm… yeah, it's not very good is it?"
"Not very good it's horrible!" Ukyou complained.
Ryouga sighed, "Well, I guess we could trade, but I wanna keep the potatoes and corn."
Ukyou smiled happily, "Great, I want to keep the oysters anyway."
They exchanged main courses and began to eat their new meals. Ukyou ate happily on her steak, and Ryouga ate his new dish reluctantly, pushing each bite down with a bit of potato or corn, and occasionally with a sip of water.
They didn't say much as they ate. Ukyou was to busy enjoying her meal. She popped open one of her oysters and quickly ate the contents noting the strong taste of wine. After a few of the oysters she began to feel warm and tingly all over.
They finished their meals and the waiter returned to take there plate and showed them the desert cart. Ukyou quickly picked out a banana split thickly covered in chocolate and cashews. Ryouga, who had started to wonder if he had enough money to cover Ukyou's expensive appetite, decided not to have anything else.
Ukyou began to eat her banana split with delight, and Ryouga contently watched her with a smile growing on his lips. She sure looks happy. I'm glad I could do something for her. Ukyou got a small smudge of chocolate over her lip, and Ryouga laughed to himself. She sure is cute too…. He sighed, the smile giving way to the depression that was setting back into Ryouga's heart. Oh, what am I thinking about.… Today has been great, but she would never care about a guy like me….
Ukyou finished her desert and wiped her mouth, "Well, I guess we had better get going, huh?"
Ryouga noticed curiously that her words sounded a bit slurred, but nodded at her, and got out his wallet.
After leaving a rather large tip for the waiter, Ryouga paid for their meal, and the two left the restaurant. As they once again began walking down the street, Ryouga noticed Ukyou was having difficulty walking. "Well, it's getting pretty late I suppose we should go back and see if we can't get some rooms at the hotel at the bus station."
Ukyou looked at Ryouga warmly through bleary eyes, "Okay, if you think we should." Ukyou stumbled and started to fall, but Ryouga caught her. He put one of her arms over his shoulders and started to walk again. Ukyou leaned heavily onto Ryouga, and began to nuzzle his side absentmindedly.
Ryouga's face turned bright red. He shook his head trying to clean his mind, "Ummm… w-which way is the bus station anyway…." The feeling of Ukyou pressed up against him was quickly becoming more than he could bear.
Ukyou looked up at him with a playful cat-like smile, "What, you don't know?"
Ryouga swallowed hard trying to concentrate, "N-no, I'm n-not sure w-where w-we are…."
"You know I think there was some alcohol in my oysters," Ukyou said mater-of-factly.
Ryouga sighed, "You're not gonna be able to find the way back until morning are you?"
Ukyou wasn't paying attention to him. She was exhausted and she could barely keep her eyes open, "Can we sit down on that bench for a little while? I'm so tired…." She said pointing at a nearby bench in a wooded park with a large pond in it.
Ryouga led Ukyou over to the bench and sat her down, and then sat down next to her. Ryouga looked over at Ukyou and found that she was looking at him and their eyes locked. As he stared into her eyes he couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. Ryouga's face stung with the blush that covered his whole body, and he fought the light-headed feeling that was threatening to overwhelm his senses.
Ukyou smiled as her eyes slowly threatened to give in to her weariness, "Thank you, Ryouga. Today was great." She laughed quietly as a thought came into her rather hazy mind, "I couldn't have asked for a more perfect first date."
Ryouga's mind reeled at the thought. Am I really on a date with Ukyou!?! Could Ukyou really be happy to be with me?!? Could Ukyou be the one I've…. His thoughts were interrupted and his eyes grew wide when he felt Ukyou's lips press against his. He filled with a warmth that he had never before known, and his mind went silent. His every thought was drawn into Ukyou's tender kiss. The rest of the world disappeared.
Ukyou smiled at Ryouga blushing and laid her head in his lap. Ryouga only stared blankly at the dim light reflecting off of the pond from the moonlight that managed to peak though the clouds for a long time. Finally his mind cleared and he looked down at Ukyou's peaceful sleeping form. He gently placed his hand against her cheek and she nuzzled against it. He smiled as he drifted of to sleep watching her breath.