Chapter 27 The Return of Konatsu
Ukyo was working at her grill, supervising Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung as they learned the fine art of okonomiyaki cooking. During the several months they had stayed with her, she had grown to love the two girls as if they were her own real younger sisters. 'It's amazing,' she thought to herself, gazing around in contentment at her domain, 'I've gone from being the lonely daughter of a revenge-obsessed man to a daughter in a large family filled with love.'
The door to the restaurant opened and a tall, bishonen man walked in. His face looked strangely familiar, but Ukyo couldn't place who he reminded her of. He moved gracefully to the grill and sat down on one of the stools. Ukyo went over to greet him, saying, "Hello, sugar. Welcome to Ucchan's. What can I get you?"
The man smiled and said, "Hello, Mistress Ukyo. Have I changed that much in two years?"
Ukyo's eyes widened in surprise. She ran around to the front of the grill and hugged him. "Konatsu, I've missed you. How've you been?" she said excitedly.
"It's a long story, Mistress. Could you use a waiter for your restaurant?" he replied.
Ukyo grinned at him and said, "Sugar, as long as I have a restaurant, you'll always have a place. You're welcome to stay here in the apartment upstairs. No one has used it since you left. But no more talk about that." She turned to the two girls and said, "Girls, you two are on your own. Konatsu and I are going upstairs. We've got a lot of catching up to do!" She grabbed Konatsu's hand and half-dragged him to the upstairs apartment.
Even though no one had lived in it for the two years he had been gone, Konatsu saw that Ukyo had maintained it and kept it clean. "Now, sugar, you can't disappear for this long and then expect to waltz back in here without telling me why you left. Especially, since while I was cleaning up in here, I found and read your journal."
Konatsu smiled shyly. "Once I saw that you were going to be okay after Ranma disappeared, I did some serious thinking. I had been drifting for some time until you rescued me and gave me a job here. That was wonderful, but I finally decided that wasn't enough anymore. I had to find out who I really was. I had watched you change. Remember, you stopped wearing men's clothing as often, and started wearing dresses. You reclaimed your womanhood completely and I realized that was the right thing for you to do," he said slowly, searching for the correct words to express what he had thought.
"That still doesn't explain why you left, Konatsu," Ukyo said, puzzled.
"You know that I had been raised by my step-mother and step-sisters to think of myself as a girl, right?" Konatsu asked. Ukyo nodded. "Well, I had developed an attraction for you a long time ago. If you read my journal, I guess you know that. That attraction only grew stronger as you began to act more womanly. That scared me enough that I needed to get away until I could come to terms with who I really was. As long as you had acted masculine, I could be comfortable acting and dressing like a girl. But once you changed, I began to realize that what I was doing was just an act. That I needed to become comfortable being a man," he continued.
Ukyo listened, stunned by the outpouring of his heart. "Konatsu, I knew that you cared for me, and I appreciated that. I guess I didn't realize that it was that intense. Your journal really didn't show me that. It meant a lot to me the way you took care of me when Ranma told me he thought of me as a sister," Ukyo said.
Flashback
Ukyo couldn't believe what she had just heard. Sitting here in her own restaurant, the man she loved with all her heart had just said he thought of her as a sister, not a lover.
She looked at Ranma for a second, tears streaming down her face. Then she kissed him passionately. Ranma pulled away. "You didn't feel anything when I kissed you, did you? No sparks, no fireworks, nothing?" Ukyo said sadly.
"No, not what you wanted me to feel," Ranma replied with a sigh, "I'm sorry I led you on for so long, but I can't love you that way."
"Thanks, Ranma. I guess I always knew that was the way you felt, I've seen the way you look at Akane; you've never looked that way at me. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. Does this mean you've picked Akane?" she asked.
"No, I just decided I didn't want to lead anybody on anymore. It's time for us to all get a life, I guess," he replied.
"Ranma, I don't know what I want right now, I need to be alone with my thoughts, just leave, okay," Ukyo said.
Ranma looked at her for a second, then carefully reached over and hugged her. "Ukyo, just think about what I said, ok. You deserve to be happy, but I ain't the right guy for you, you know, sorry, Ucchan," he said. He started walking out the door, then turned, "Konatsu, take care of her." The cross-dressing ninja nodded his head in agreement.
Ukyo stared in dismay as Ranma walked away. Her tears fell harder. Konatsu went outside and took the sign down, signifying that the restaurant was closed. He came back inside and locked the door. By that time, Ukyo had crumpled to the floor. He gently picked her up and carried her upstairs to her apartment, holding her tenderly against his bosom. Once he got there he set her down on the futon in the living room and allowed her to cry on his shoulder. She clutched at him in desperation, trying to gain some of his strength. Finally, she stopped crying. She grimly walked over to a cabinet in the living room, and came back carrying a bottle of sake and two saucers. She poured herself a drink and offered the bottle to Konatsu.
"Mistress Ukyo, is that really wise?" he asked after he refused the offer. She glared at him for a second and then drank the sake in one gulp. She refilled the saucer several times, each time drinking it down. The next time she tried to pour a drink, he stopped her and took the bottle out of her hand. "I think that's enough," he said sternly.
She turned and looked at him owlishly, and then reached over and kissed him desperately. He pulled away and said tenderly, "I know that isn't wise, Mistress."
"Why, Ko-chan? Why didn't he love me? I'm the cute fiancée after all, he told me so himself," she said, drunkenly, "Am I not attractive?"
Konatsu just held her in his arms and said, "Mistress, you are very attractive. Who knows why Ranma couldn't return your love. He probably doesn't know himself." Finally she fell asleep in his arms. He sighed as he looked tenderly down at the woman he cared for. He carefully picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. After taking her slacks and blouse off, he put her under her covers. He gently reached over and kissed her forehead. He stayed there watching her sleep for several minutes, and then left for his lonely bed downstairs.
The next morning, Ukyo woke up with a massive hangover. Her eyes were bloodshot, her head was pounding, and her body was sore. She staggered into the bathroom and splashed water in her face. After taking a painkiller, she showered and walked into her bedroom and stared at the clothing in her closet. She finally pulled out a cute sundress, and put it on. Leaving her hair loosely tied back, she made her way downstairs, where she found that Konatsu was already working on breakfast. The dress he was wearing this morning made him look particularly attractive.
"Good morning, Mistress," Konatsu said, as he eyed Ukyo, wondering how she was feeling.
She growled at him in response, "What's so good about it?" She winced at how angry she sounded and at the pain the noise had caused in her head, and said, "I'm sorry Konatsu. I shouldn't take this out on you. You don't deserve it."
"Mistress, I understand. Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings," Konatsu replied.
She stood there lost in thought and then said, "Thanks for putting me to bed last night. I don't remember too much of what happened after that fourth drink. About the only thing that I do remember is trying to throw myself at you. Thank you for being wiser than I."
"A fool's wisdom perhaps," he said gazing at her with eyes filled with compassion. If she had looked closer, she might have seen them also filled with love. "What do you plan on doing?" he asked as he served the breakfast okonomiyakis.
She sat down on a stool at the grill and began to eat. After a few minutes of thought, she said, "I don't know, Konatsu. I can't think straight right now. My head hurts too much."
He reached out and put his hand over hers. "Mistress, if you chase after him after he has told you his feelings, it will only drive him away. If you wish him to remain your friend, you have to let him go. I know it hurts, but you are strong enough to survive this," Konatsu said.
She bowed her head, holding it up with both hands and said, tiredly, "I know Konatsu. He made his feelings toward me perfectly clear. I just don't know what to think. My heart wants to say he belongs to me, but my head tells me its over. I just don't know if I could stand being his sister when I wanted so much more."
Several weeks went by. Finally, Ukyo came back into the restaurant after being gone all morning. She was actually looking at peace with herself finally. Konatsu smiled to himself, thinking, 'She must have made a decision."
Ukyo smiled at her friend, and employee, admiring how he had matched the eye shadow he was wearing to the color of the dress he was in. "Konatsu, you've been wonderful. I'll be moving in to the Saotome home soon, would you like to stay in the apartment after I'm gone?"
Konatsu said, "I assume that means you decided to become Ukyo Saotome, the daughter of Nodoka and Gemna?"
Ukyo said, "Yes. I decided to take Nodoka up on her offer. She's looking forward to having two daughters living with her, so she asked me to move in as soon as possible. She'll take care of the adoption paperwork as soon as she can."
End Flashback
Konatsu smiled gently at her. "I knew that as long as you loved Saotome, you would never look at another man, especially one that dressed up as a woman. That's why I couldn't tell you before he left. Then afterwards, I didn't know how to tell you how I felt. I just had to get away for a while to become someone you might look at once he was gone. It just took me longer that I expected to come to terms with being a man, and changing all of those years of thinking. Don't worry, I don't expect to come here after all this time and sweep you off your feet," he said wryly.
Ukyo laughed gently at that. "Sugar, it's good to hear that you're a realist." She slapped him on the cheek, and said, "That's for running off the way you did." Then she kissed him and said, "That's for coming back."
Konatsu looked confused. Ukyo giggled and decided to let him off the hook. "Ko-chan, I had a lot of time to think after you left. I realized that I really missed you, especially after I started having dreams about you. I discovered that I really cared about you," she said. Then she grinned, and added, "Tell you what Sugar, you and I are going out tonight. We'll see what happens after that."
The next morning, Ukyo slowly woke up. Her bleary eyes remained unfocused as she slowly sat up in the bed, clutching her throbbing head. As she sat up moaning in pain, complaining about her hangover, she realized two things. One, she wasn't wearing any clothing, and two; she wasn't alone in the bed. In fact, she wasn't in her bed at all, but instead was in the bedroom of the apartment above her restaurant. She turned and looked at who was with her. She saw an extremely confused Konatsu staring up at her in shock. Ukyo looked down at herself, and said, "Eek!" Blushing, she grabbed the covers and pulled them up to her neck.
As she stared wildly around the room, trying not to look at Konatsu, her eyes were drawn to an official looking document lying on the ground, next to a pile of discarded clothing. With great dignity, she got out of bed, dragging the covers with her and wrapping them around her. She walked over and picked up the document and began reading it. Then she said, shakily, "Congratulations, Ko-chan, it looks like you and I are married. I know this is my signature on the marriage contract, and I suspect this is yours as well." Then she read down further and saw who had signed for the witness.
"Nabiki!!" she shrieked, "How could you let this happen?" She turned toward the bed to show Konatsu the paper, when she realized she had taken all of the covers with her. She was surprised to see how muscular Konatsu was. "You hid all of that under a dress, Ko-chan?" she said with some surprise. She began laughing hysterically, and then she began to cry.
"Ukyo, are you all right," Konatsu asked, gently.
Ukyo threw herself back onto the bed and held onto Konatsu, who awkwardly hugged her. Finally, she cried herself out. She lifted her tear-streaked face and whispered, "This isn't the way I wanted to get married. Remind me to never try to match drinks with Nabiki again."
Konatsu caressed her hair with one hand, and said, "Ukyo, we don't have to stay married. We can get it annulled."
She smiled sadly, and said, "Well, based on the way I'm feeling, we can't use the grounds that we didn't consummate the marriage. We definitely did that. I just wish I could remember my first time. Knowing Nabiki, I'm sure the news is all over Nerima by now that we're married as well, so we can't pretend it didn't happen." She leaned over and kissed him. "I'm going to take a shower," she said. She got out of bed, leaving the covers behind. She grabbed her clothing off the floor, and headed into the bathroom. Konatsu stared at the firm body swaying in front of him. He shook his head, wondering how she had ever hidden those curves and pretended to be a boy.
Konatsu crawled out of his bed and threw on a bathrobe, waiting for Ukyo to finish her shower. He walked into the living room, where he saw to his surprise a suitcase sitting next to the door leading downstairs. On top of the suitcase, was a large manila envelope. He walked over and opened the suitcase to discover it was full of woman's clothing.
He closed the suitcase and carried it and the envelope over to the bathroom door. He knocked on the door and heard Ukyo answer, "I'm almost done, Ko-chan. I'll be out in a minute."
Konatsu cleared his throat and replied, "There's a suitcase full of your stuff, if you'd rather have fresh clothing. And also an envelope from someone." The door opened and Ukyo walked out, wrapped in a towel. She took the suitcase and the envelope and headed towards the bedroom to change.
Konatsu watched until she closed the door between them, lost in thought. Finally, he shook himself and went into the bathroom to clean up. After he was done, he walked back to the bedroom and knocked on the door. Ukyo opened it and allowed him in. It was obvious she had been crying. Konatsu held out his arms, inviting her in. She hesitated and then hugged him. He pulled her close to him, feeling her silently sobbing in his arms. Finally, she pulled herself together, and Ukyo said, "Sugar, obviously we need to talk. Come downstairs after you get dressed and we can talk over breakfast." She gave him a quick kiss and went downstairs.
After Konatsu made his way downstairs, he found Ukyo cooking miso soup and rice in the kitchen. "The envelope had a letter from Nabiki and vouchers for a honeymoon in Hawaii, as well as some spending money. She wishes us the best in our marriage. She wrote that she plans on having everyone over at her house around noon so we can make the announcement," Ukyo said.
"Ukyo, you're being awfully calm about all of this. How are you managing to be that calm? I'm still in shock, myself," Konatsu said.
"I'm not that calm, Ko-chan. I'm actually scared to death. So long as I concentrate on what I'm doing I'm all right, but as soon as I stop, my mind starts running in circles," Ukyo replied, "What are we going to do sugar? Oh, under the circumstances, why don't you call me Ucchan, okay?"
Konatsu smiled briefly. "Okay, Ucchan. I have to admit the thought of being married to you sounds wonderful to me. You know I love you, at least I hope you do. I had hopes that once I came back, that this would eventually happen. Having said that, I wish I knew how it did. We were having a good time last night, especially after we ran into Nabiki and her husband at that nightclub. I didn't think I had that much to drink, myself, but apparently I did. I vaguely remember us getting in a car and leaving the club, but that's the last thing I remember," he replied.
"You never said you loved me. I wish you hadn't told me that now. That makes this situation easier in some respects, and harder in others. I don't know if I want to stay in this marriage," she said, stopping as she saw his face fall. "On the other hand, I don't know that I don't, either. You just came back into my life yesterday, and suddenly we're married. We don't really know each other anymore, or how much either of us has changed."
"So where do we go from here, Ucchan?" Konatsu asked.
"According to the airline tickets, the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The flight leaves tomorrow morning," she said giggling. Then she sobered and said, "What are we going to tell everyone, Ko-chan? Do we pretend this didn't happen, or go along with it? I'd like to get to know you better, sugar. If it's all right with you, I'd like to move back in here. I can sleep on the futon in the living room."
"Why would you want to go along with this?" he asked, confused.
"Well, I don't use birth control, and I didn't see any evidence of protection," Ukyo said, "Just in case something happened, I want you there."
"I guess we go to the Kuno's then, and act like we're married," Konatsu said.
Meanwhile, in other part of the ward of Nerima, the pleasant sounds of the birds chirping was interrupted by Shampoo being violently ill in the bathroom. Ryoga was standing outside the bathroom door looking extremely worried. Finally, a pale Shampoo walked out, and drank gratefully from the glass of water that Ryoga handed her. He said, "That's the third morning in a row that you've been sick. I called Tofu. He's coming over to check on you, and I'm not listening to any argument."
Half an hour later, Tofu showed up at the Saotome home and checked on Shampoo. She smiled at the doctor and asked, "How pregnant am I, Tofu?"
He looked startled for a moment, and then said, "Well, I can't be positive. You're right, though. I'm sure you're a couple of weeks along. Congratulations. Turns out, you aren't the only one. Looks like Ranma and Akane are going to be parents again."