Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma
PS: I live in Ireland, so I use English spelling, not American, so don't beat me for that!
Ranma- Love at last!
Chapter 5- Upsets and Surprises
A/NBear with me! It may seem like I hate Ukyo in this chapter. I don't. I like her! She is one of the better characters. It's just I need her to do this. It sets up most of the story that I'm going to have for her. Don't worry she has a good reason and will redeem herself in later chapters, and then some.
I LOVE all your reviews, believe me there is nothing a writer likes more than someone complimenting their work. So please "keep 'em comin'"
Nerima Mall: Monday after School
KLONG
" How DARE you Ranma!"
Ukyo, clad in her full blue Okonomiyaki outfit stood behind the barely conscious Ranma with her steel spatula gripped firmly in her hands. Akane looked on in shock as Ranma groaned slightly from his bowl. Barely conscious, Ranma managed to turn his head ever so slightly to avoid drowning in the melting ice cream.
Ukyo clenched the grip of her spatula and gritted her teeth before glaring at Akane and then Ranma. Finally finding her voice Akane shouted,
" UKYO! What the hell are you doing?"
Ukyo continued to glare at Ranma as if Akane hadn't said anything. Gritting her teeth Ukyo continue.
" I SAVE you from HER and wait for you to come by my place all today. When you didn't come I thought they might be trapping you to marry again so I came looking for you. And what do I find? You're having the time of you life on a date with Akane."
Ranma didn't answer as he was currently trying to hold onto his consciousness, but Akane jumped to her feet knocking down the chair she was sitting on with a clatter.
She shouted loudly
" WE ARE NOT ON A DATE UKYO! WHY WOULD WE BE? WE'RE JUST EATING SOME ICE CREAM"
" Leave… her alone… Ukyo"
Akane looked down to Ranma who was beginning to stir slowly,
" Please… Ukyo… I'm sorry… but please…. Just leave her be"
Ukyo's eye's practically glowed and she snarled,
" Leave THIS be Ranma"
With that she swung her spatula in a wide arc that made the gathering crowd back away a few steps she hit Ranma squarely in the chest with the flat of the blade. Ranma groaned as he flew several feet to the left. Skidding to a halt, his head hit the ground as he finally slipped into unconsciousness with a soft groan.
" RANMA!"
Akane jumped up instantly. Completely ignoring the enraged chef, she pushed her way through the crowd to see Ranma's downed body.
Running forward, she skidded down next to Ranma. Gently shaking him she cried,
" Ranma! Please get up! Please!"
Gently picking up his head she cradled against her chest and cried,
" Ranma please don't leave me! Please! Don't go!"
Akane was still crying when a shadow covered the two of them.
Looking up she saw Ukyo standing in front of her in complete shock. Her spatula was hanging limply at her side. Blankly looking at Ranma she took a step forward.
Akane quickly shifted so that she was between Ranma and Ukyo and clutched his head closer to his chest.
Ukyo stopped. Akane looked up at her with pleading eyes and said,
" Please Ukyo! Leave him be!"
Ukyo opened her mouth to speak but both her and Akane stopped when they heard a strained, muffled voice coming from Akane's chest,
" Lucky your breasts are so small or I would have suffocated the way you're holding me this tight"
Akane ignored his comment and quickly pulled his head away from her chest.
She smiled when saw his eyes were open, if a little dazed.
" It'll take a lot more than that to put me down!"
Akane smiled and cried as she saw Ranma talk. She whispered lightly
" Ranma!"
Ranma opened his eyes and looked dazedly at Akane. Coughing a few times and clutching his chest where Ukyo had hit him he quietly mumbled,
" Lets go home Akane."
Akane smiled and slowly began to help the dazed Ranma to his feet.
She didn't get far though as Ukyo's spatula came around in a wide arc hitting into Akane's side and sending her tumbling to the floor.
Akane jumped to her feet and held her numb arm. If she hadn't sensed the spatula and managed to move ever so slightly she was certain it would have caught her squarely in the side of the chest. Painfully taking up a defensive stance she shuffled slowly forward to Ranma. He had managed to prop himself up against a small, wooden bench that was right beside where he had landed when Ukyo had hit him.
Ukyo was standing opposite Akane and was again in a battle stance,
" Get away from my Ran-Chan Akane!"
Akane looked on in disbelief at the crazed Okonomiyaki chef. Akane couldn't believe it. She considered Ukyo a friend, this just wasn't her. This couldn't be the friendly Okonomiyaki chef that they all knew. Something else just had to be going on.
" WHAT ARE YOU DOING UKYO? THIS ISN"T YOU!"
Ukyo sneered,
" It isn't? Are you sure?"
Akane shook her head,
" Yes I am! I know my friend couldn't do this!"
Ukyo's angry expression fell with this statement and she stared with a shocked expression at Akane.
Akane dropped her stance slightly as she saw the expression on Ukyo's face.
Suddenly Ukyo burst into tears. Akane was shocked and dropped her stance. Tentatively she took a few careful steps towards Ukyo.
She stopped suddenly as Ukyo, still crying, raised her spatula above her head and shouted between sobs,
" Leave Akane!…sob… He's go-go-gonna marry me or I'll b-bloody kill him!"
Sobbing, Ukyo began to move towards Ranma. Akane took up her stance again and moved to intercept her but she was too late, Ukyo had already reached him and was bringing down her spatula. Akane simply screamed
" NOOOO……."
What happened next Akane didn't quite register until it was over.
A coloured blur flew past her and slammed into Ukyo, hard, taking both her and the person rolling and tumbling to the floor.
Ukyo's steel spatula clattered loudly to the floor beside Ranma where Ukyo had let it go.
Akane ran to Ranma's side and knelt down beside him. Ranma was staring over to Ukyo and the person who had saved him.
Akane looked over as well and saw the two of them struggling.
It was a girl clad in a brightly coloured kimono struggling with Ukyo. She currently had her back turned to Ranma and Akane. She was sitting on the struggling Ukyo's chest and was pinning down her arms. Ukyo began kicking and screaming until the girl bent over and said something to her in a hushed voice.
Ukyo slowly calmed and the girl slowly released Ukyo's pinned arms and carefully stood up allowing Ukyo freedom of movement.
Ukyo looked up at the girl for a moment through tear filled eyes. Turning slowly to her side to a foetal position she let out a wail and began crying and sobbing again
Standing in front of Ukyo, the girl looked down for a few moments and quietly said something else to Ukyo.
Ukyo violently shook her head and promptly curled up into a tighter ball. The girl looked over her for a few seconds before turning around slowly.
Akane could see her, or rather his face now,
" Konatsu?"
Konatsu smiled weakly and walked towards the downed Ranma and the kneeling Akane. Akane watched him warily. Suddenly she grabbed the barely conscious Ranma's hand and clutched it in both of her's for protection.
Ranma blushed furiously as she did this. Akane however, was still watching Konatsu warily and didn't really notice what she had done or why Ranma was blushing.
Ranma's blushing and Akane's hand holding did not go unnoticed by Konatsu though. He looked at them for a few moments.
Snapping out of it he bowed slightly and began,
" Miss. Tendo, Ranma, I am terribly sorry about all this."
Before Konatsu could continue, Akane angrily replied
" You shouldn't be sorry! SHE should! She could have put Ranma in hospital or worse!"
Konatsu bowed again apologetically before continuing,
" Do not worry Miss. Tendo, she truly regrets what she has done and promises it will never happen again."
Akane glared up at him,
" It better not!"
" W-what happened to make her do this?"
Akane looked down at the blushing Ranma who had just said that in a very feeble voice. Finally realising why he was blushing she blushed herself. But instead of leaving go of his hand she hesitantly held onto it before she gave it a little reassuring squeeze and smiled nervously.
Konatsu's expression changed. He looked sad and remorseful before replying,
" It's not my place to tell... She received something this morning and it upset her greatly. Had I not seen it also I would not have followed her and wouldn't have been able to stop her."
He paused for a few moments before continuing,
" Please understand this, she got a great shock at what she received this morning and she… she is very sorry, and I promise that this will never happen again."
A silence descended upon them as they all looked at the floor,
" R-Ranma?"
All three looked up and saw Ukyo standing beside Konatsu. Her cheeks were still glistening with tears but she had stopped crying. Silently she dropped to her knees and made a bow to Ranma and Akane.
" Ranma, Akane I'm sorry for what I did! I… I need to talk to you Ranma… alone! C-can you come over to mine after school tomorrow?"
Ranma breathed deeply a few times before answering,
" Yeah… Try anything funny though and I'm leaving straight away though."
Ukyo nodded her understanding. Tears were welling in her eye's again and she was threatening to burst out.
Konatsu gingerly picked up Ukyo's spatula that was lying on the ground in front of Ranma. He then gently took Ukyo's arm and lifted her to her feet.
Ukyo managed a very feeble
" C'ya Ranchan"
Konatsu nodded at the two before he and Ukyo turned to leave. He was supporting her while she walked.
Akane watched them until they disappeared through the crowd, which itself slowly dissipated now that the action was over. Hearing a quiet groan she turned to Ranma.
He winced as he shifted himself trying to get up.
Akane left go of his hand and helped him sit up on the wooden bench. Making sure he was steady she got up and sat beside him.
Turning to him she said in a worried voice,
" Ranma, are you okay?"
Ranma winced lightly and turned to her,
" Yeah, I think so. No permanent damage done. My chest hurts like hell though. It's sore to move my arms or legs. I'll be alright in a little while."
Akane gave him a reassuring smile and gave him a gentle pat on the leg,
" I'm sure you'll be fine."
Smiling Akane got up and went back to the table where they had eaten their ice cream. She picked up her own bag, followed by Ranma's. She pulled a tissue out of her back while walking back to Ranma.
She placed the bags beside the bench and sat down beside Ranma.
She leant over and began cleaning Ranma's face from the ice cream. Ranma blushed at their proximity.
Akane blushed as well and pulled back, she looked at the floor before saying,
" Can you get up? Because we'd better head home. Father will be worried that we're so late."
Ranma stayed silent as he tested his legs before answering,
" Yeah. Might be sore to run though."
Akane smiled, picked up her and Ranma's bags and stood up. Taking his hand she gently pulled him up to a standing position.
" We don't have to be home that early."
Still holding hands the two slowly walked out of the mall and headed home.
Tendo Dojo: Half an Hour Later
It was a slow walk back to the dojo. Ranma and Akane spent it hand in hand. Neither said anything the whole way.
Ranma was very tense just like the time he held her hand after leaving Shinnosuke's forest. Akane on the other hand was smiling and lightly blushing, but still enjoying the walk.
Finally arriving at the Dojo gate Ranma and Akane entered and headed up the garden path. Feeling Akane's hand squirm in his as if to leave go, Ranma turned to Akane and asked,
" What's wrong Kane?"
Akane paused and looked at him with a slight look of sadness and said,
" You'd better leave go or our fathers will have a double stroke and won't leave us alone for an age."
Ranma gently opened his hand allowing Akane to slowly take it away,
Blushing they both walked up the garden path.
Opening the front door they entered and kicked off their shoes.
" Father we're home, sorry we're so late!"
No answer…
" Hey Pops! Where are ya?"
Finally an answer came in the form of Nabiki standing, hands crossed at the chest at the living room door.
" Bout time you two came home! Come on in! Everyone is waiting. Have we got something to tell you!"
Ranma and Akane glanced at each other with puzzled and slightly worried faces. They were then quickly ushered into the living room.
Everyone was sitting at the dinner table but there was no food.
Soun was as usual sitting at the head of the table with a very serious look on his face. Kasumi was sitting at one side of the table with a very un-Kasumi like face, she was smiling smugly!
On the other side of the table sat Nodoka clad in full kimono with her katana very visible at her side. She had a serious look on her face but didn't seem to be upset of angry like Genma. He was sitting beside her, visible pouting and in a bad mood.
Soun looked up at the entering pair followed by the others. Soun began,
" Ahh come in! Nabiki and Kasumi have brought something to my attention to something and kindly…suggested something."
He audibly strained the word "Suggested" causing Nabiki and Kasumi to smugly grin.
Gesturing to Nodoka, Soun continued,
" It affect's Ranma the most so I believe it best for his mother to tell him."
Nodoka looked at Ranma. She smiled slightly,
" Ranma… We got a call from the contractors this morning… Our house has been repaired"
Nodoka paused for a moment and sadly looked at the table. Ranma's expression changed to confused.
Genma looked like he was about to complain about something, but he was cut short by Nodoka who deftly pulling her katana a few inches out of it's scabbard before slamming it home again,
Looking up again Nodoka looked into Ranma's eye's and put on a strained smile,
" We… We're going home Ranma!"
Both Ranma and Akane's jaws dropped.
Another Cliffy! I know. Bad me. Next chapter up next week sometime ( Hopefully)