Ok, here's the second chapter. I don't like reading the first chapter of a story that may or may not continue so I decided to continue this one for a bit. Also, I was feeling depressive again – my mind works better as Ryoga than Ranma. Unlike "Down the Well" this story is more character oriented rather than action: again my experimentation with writing. So anyway, tell me if it works! Later.
The morning's first rays of light shot out from the round cabin window and fell directly onto P-chan's sensitive eyes. Opening his eyes grumpily Ryoga saw that Ukyo was still sleeping peacefully on the bed. Besides the steady breathing of a sleeping person, P-chan could not sense anything around him and decided to hop down onto the floor to find his way out.
Wandering for several minutes, the bandana clad pig started to wonder if the door had vanished. The ceiling had also suddenly become lower, only barely allowing P-chan to walk around.
"Now what is it with you and the area under my bed?" P-chan realized that he was dangling in the air, held up by Ukyo, who had apparently woken up. "What should I do with you now?" she wondered aloud, "it probably wouldn't be a good idea to bring you to Ucchan's... should I leave you in the room?" she frowned at that, "and let you do your business all over the floor? No thanks!"
In the end, Ukyo decided to bring P-chan to Ucchan's anyway and make sure Konatsu wouldn't cook him. With that thought she changed into her chef clothes and equipped herself with her favorite spatulas. She didn't notice how P-chan politely turned to look the other way.
It was a restaurant near the lobby of what Ryoga now realized was a large luxury cruiser. Ukyo had probably decided to move her business onto this ship for a while and from what Ryoga could see, she was doing very well. At the moment, he was sitting on the counter next to the okomanoyaki grill, it was a very dangerous position. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the morning crowd, Ryoga's ears perked up when he heard Konatsu saying something.
"...you really think that Ranma has a chance to be cured?"
"I really hope so." Ukyo's voice sighed, accompanied by the sizzling sound of okomanoyaki.
"What do you think about his chances though, Ukyo-sama?"
"I know that he won't stop until he's found it, he'll tear every mountain in the world down with his bare hands if he has to." Ryoga was glad that somebody shared his opinion of Ranma, he would stop at nothing to get cured.
"But what do you think?"
Konatsu was answered only by more sounds and smells of cooking okomanoyaki. Several minutes passed and Konatsu must have decided to drop the subject.
"Konatsu?"
"Ukyo-sama?"
"Is that a smile on your face?"
"No, Ukyo-sama."
P-chan felt tears well up in his eyes. One of Ranma's best friend did not think that Ranma had any hope of being cured. By extension, that meant that neither had Ryoga. He imagined a future of being a pet, to be forever treated like an animal instead of a human being. He felt a sudden surge of jealousy towards Ranma, realizing that he was stuck as a pig, while Ranma, although stuck as a girl, remained human. Ryoga had another vision of him being cooked over a slow fire, knocked out and unable to do anything before being served in a dinner plate.
"Hey! Whats happening to you?" Ukyo's voice caused P-chan to snap back to reality. Looking at himself he realized that he was glowing as he released an aura of sickly green chi.
"Isn't that what happens to Ryoga before he does the shi-shi hokodan?" Ukyo asked suspiciously.
P-chan tensed, ready to be discovered anytime soon and dreading having his shameful secret known to more people.
"You know, that bandana is the same as the one that Ryoga wears as well..." the chef continued.
It was all the little black pig could do to keep himself from trembling. The green aura which had faded due to the sudden fear, slowly came alight again.
"You know, you seem like a really smart pig... I know!"
Ryoga waited.
"You must be Ryoga's pet!" P-chan keeled over from shock.
"It makes sense! I think Ryoga's girl-friend trains sumo pigs or something and he probably helps as well. You must have been one of the better ones, so good in fact, that you learned the shi-shi hokodan as well!"
Whiling lying on his side on the counter Ryoga thought it over, actually that was quite a believable reason.
"Well, that means that when we get back to Nerima I should hand you over to the Tendos, Ryoga always manages to get there for some reason." With that, Ukyo shifted her attention back to her business.
Ryoga desperately wanted to know when they would get back to Nerima, but was obviously unable to ask such a question. Still, he decided that sitting there looking at the patrons at Ucchan's was somehow comforting - a horde of people, each person with their own thoughts, their own problems, their own dreams. Most people would try to overcome their problems, strive for their dreams. Like Ryoga himself. His problem was the current lock on his curse and his dream was to get together with Akane or Akari. Yet he may not be able to overcome his problem, Ryoga thought, he might be stuck as a pig. His dreams shattered. The rest of the world would not know, probably would not care.
The world was truly a dark and lonely place and somehow, Ryoga no longer felt comforted looking at the patrons.
Ukyo pulled out a book and started to write in it, forgetting about P-chan who was sitting on the floor by her side. Seated at the table as she was and writing furiously, Ryoga thought that she looked very diligent. They were back in the cabin after what was probably an exhausting day for Ukyo. When Ukyo finally finished her writing, and flopped down on her bed to get some sleep, P-chan curiously jumped up onto the table to look at what it was. Although he could potentially be reading somebody's personal thoughts, Ryoga reasoned with himself that he needed to know when he got back to Nerima.
Luckily, it was an accounting book for Ucchan's. The figures on the pages made Ryoga realize how much effort it must take to run a business. He then realized that Ukyo would never be willing to give up her business. An image of Ranma as a house father playing with children while Ukyo managed a restaurant popped into his mind and P-chan gave a snort of laughter. No, Ranma would never stand for that. Turning back to look at Ukyo he decided that Ranma would never be hers.
Shrugging the pig looked back at the book and noted that it was only dated forward by two days. That meant that he would get back to the Tendo dojo in about two or three days. He had waited longer. So with a small amount of hope left, P-chan curled up to sleep. Ryoga just hoped that this hope would not be shattered when he met Ranma again.