Ukyo looked at Ranma with a frightened expression on her face. She still couldn't believe that she has to face Ranma now! But if she faces him now then.. then how'd their plan would work?! This can't be happening to her..! No.. Just moments ago she was sure that she would have a happy ending of her life with Ranma. But now She could clearly see her life shattering in front of her own eyes. Now what would she do? How is she going to face Ranma's rage? How is she going to answer all his questions?
"Ya haven't answered my question yet, Ucchan; where are ya going?"
Ranma asked her as he slowly started walking towards her. His face has no emotions in it. He just kept looking at her unblinking, as he slowly made his way towards her.
Ukyo gulped hard as she nervously began to walk backwards ; not knowing how to answer him. Then when she noticed his cold eyes, she got goosebumps as she said in a trembling tone,
"Why.. why are you here, Ranchan?"
"Where... are... ya ...going, Ukyo?"
Ukyo couldn't walk furthermore as the wall blocked her escape. She took a deep breath and tried to act as cool as possible,
"This is none of your business , Ranchan. Now get out of my restaurant.."
"I didn't come here to leave without your answer.."
"I am not obligated to give you any answers, Ranchan..!!"
"Then who gave you the obligation to PLAY with my DAMN LIFE!!!" Ranma said in a heated tone.
Ukyo was sweating hard as she said in denial,
"Why… Why would I play with your life!! You are not making any sense, Ranchan. Are you drunk or something? Go back to your home, I think you need rest.."
Ranma stopped walking as he reached her side. He looked at her eyes and said in a harsh tone,
"The only rest I will get is in here, Ucchan!! Why don't you give me one of your special foods, which might help me to sleep through the days snd rest peacefully!!"
Ukyo's eyes went wide with surprise as she gulped and quickly replied to him,
"What are you talking about, Ranma? Why would I give you sleeping pills?"
Ranma smirked humorlessly as he said, . "I haven't even accused ya of doing such a crime, U-cchan!!"
Ukyo growled in irritation and snapped at him saying,
"You FOOL!! I have been taking care of you despite your rough behaviour towards me and this is how you are repaying me, you ungrateful jerk!!"
"Oh no!! I came here to repay all your hard works you have done for me, Ucchan! How could I not repay ya?."
"Awww!! Just SHUT UP!! And get out of my place..!! You are sick, Ranma!! I don't want to talk to you!!"
Ranma shook his head at her and asked her,
"So tell me, when are ya planning to return? After one month or two? I have to prepare myself well ya know, because I know you are going to come back here with the news of you being pregnant with my child, right?"
Ukyo's whole body got cold; she dreadfully looked at his direction as no words came out of her mouth,
Ranma balled his fists tightly and asked her in a tightly control tone,
"Tell me, Ukyo.. Just by wearing my shirt without my permission, is this enough to make ya PREGNANT with my child?"
Ukyo started breathing hard as she protested hard,
"WHY WOULD I WANT TO WEAR YOUR SHIRT!! STOP ACCUSING ME!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TALK TO ME LIKE THIS!!"
"THEN WHO THE HELL GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO LIE TO AKANE?"
"I HAVEN'T LIED TO HER!!"
"SO DO YA WANNA SAY THAT YA HAVE FORCED ME WHEN I WAS UNCONSCIOUS!! BECAUSE I AM SURE AS HELL THAT I HAVEN'T TOUCH YA WHEN I WAS CONCIOUS!!"
"STOP BLAMING ME, DAMN IT!! I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING LIKE THAT!!"
"THEN HOW COME AKANE SAW YA WEARING MY SHIRT THAT NIGHT!!"
"SHE HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING!! SHE IS THE ONE WHO IS A DAMN LIER!!"
"STOP BLAMING HER, YA LIER!!!"
Ranma had enough of Ukyo's endless denial behavior; he punched all his frustration out on one table and broke it into pieces. Ukyo got scared at his sudden outburst, she cried out in fear as she averted her eyes from looking at Ranma's deadly eyes. The sound of the breaking table made Akio and Konatsu enter the place as they looked at the scene with fearful eyes. At that exact moment Ukyo looked up in disbelief and noticed Konatsu standing at the doorway. It didn't take her long to understand the whole scenario after that. She growled loudly and snapped at him in hatred filled tone ,
"KONATSU!! YOU TRAITOR!!"
"HE IS NOT THE TRAITOR, YOU ARE THE ONE!!" Ranma roared angrily.
Ukyo got restless and began to say in a shaky tone,
"Ranchan; please don't believe this traitor!! He is ganged up with that damn AKANE!! THEY WANT TO SPLIT US APART!!"
"I HAVE ENOUGH OF YAR CONSTANT LYING, UKYO!! JUST KEEP YAR MOUTH SHUT!! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!" Ranma warned her in a deadly tone.
Konatsu quickly came forward to them and said in a trembling tone,
"Please Mistress, don't lie to him anymore.. You are right; I am a traitor! I.. I have told Ranma everything.. I am sorry; please forgive me.."
Ukyo couldn't say anything anymore, she rested her back on the wall and started sobbing hard.
"Why.. Why did ya do that to me? I thought.. I thought you are my friend.." Ranma asked her in a hurt tone.
Ukyo sniffed and looked up at Ranma's eyes; then she said in between her tears,
"Because I love you, Ranma.. I have done it out of my love for you!! WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND, DAMN IT!!"
"AND IF YA CALL THIS LOVE THEN.. I DON'T WANT TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING RELATED TO IT.."
Ranma lowered his tone and moved closer to Ukyo. He laid his hand on her cheek and made her look at him and he said in a low calming tone,
"Ya know what hurts most, to think that my most closest friend has betrayed me like this.. You were the dearest to me, because we shared our childhood with each other. That's the only reason I could never tell ya face to face that I don't have any romantic feelings for Ya. But I did tell ya that night, but ya still tried to force me to love ya. In my heart I always used to wish that, maybe after everything would settle down, you would forgive me and we could be friends again. But after this incident;I am not sure if I want to see ya ever again.."
"Ranchan please.."
"Ya have killed yar Ranchan, Ukyo.. If Shampoo had done all this to me, I would have understood. But it's not her; it's you! My most closest, dearest childhood friend, Ucchan.."
"Ranchan.."
"Don't call me that again. After today, I don't know what is waiting for me in my life;but whatever it is, I don't want to see your face. And if you have little bit of respect left for our childhood memories, then stay away from me..You understand what I am trying to say? Goodbye… Ucchan.."
Saying that he left her hot cheek and started walking out of the restaurant. On his way out, he looked at Konatsu and asked him in a lower tone,
"Don't leave her alone. Stay by her side and... thank you, man!! I owe ya big time.."
Konatsu nodded his head and wiped his tears with his rob. Then suddenly Ranma felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned and look at Akio's worried filled face. He was looking absolutely nervous as he said in a panic-filled tone,
"We have to hurry, Ranma..!! We have to stop Akane from leaving.. She is.. She is at the airport.."*
Konatsu saw them leaving the place in haste. It's like, all of a sudden all the chaos has halted, leaving only silence behind it. The only sound that came out from the room was the heartbreaking sobbing sound of his Mistress. Who is now sitting on the floor as she hides her face over her bent knees. He released a big sigh and slowly went to her side.. He sat down beside her and tried to approach her as calmly as possible..
"Mistress…"
"Why…Konatsu…why?" Ukyo started with a broken tone, she slowly looked up at his face and asked him in a broken tone, "Why did you betray me like this? What was my fault? I have trusted you blindly! But you ruin everything for me.. Why Konatsu.. Why did you destroy my future like this? Tell me…"
"Oh mistress, I did it because I love you! I did it because you are the only family I have in this entire cruel world! I can not see my sister destroying her life with her own hand! You are not like this, mistress!! But for some reason, you have been working and acting out of character for so many days!! I blame myself for that, because I never stopped you or warned you before. And that Genma is making you take some evil steps which will affect your life in a very bad way!! I don't know much about love and stuffs; but one thing I can tell is, you can not force people to love you back. Ranma-sama loves you as his friend, you should respect it, mistress!"
Ukyo hold his hands tightly and said in a shaky tone,
"But he hates me now, Konatsu! He said he don't want to see my face.."
Konatsu smiled at her and said while wiping her tears from her cheeks,
"Let's just give him some time to cool down for now, okay? Believe me, you don't wanna lose a friend like Ranma.."
Ukyo nodded her head in agreement and said in a low tone,
"I don't want to lose his friendship, Konatsu.. He will forgive me, right?"
" I really hope so!!. Don't worry.. He will forgive you.."
"Oh Konatsu, thank…"
"DAMN IT!!! WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW THIS TIME..!!"
Konatsu and Ukyo looked at each other with surprise in their eyes, but they immediately recognized the voice which just roared from outside of their restaurant. Ukyo sighs tiredly and asked Konatsu politely,
"Can you please bring him inside, sugar..? That Ryoga must have gotten lost again.."
Konatsu brightly smiled at her and said,
"I think this is the first time he has come to the right place at the very right time!"
"Huh!! What do you mean to say?."
Konatsu stood up excitedly and said,
"Oh nothing!! I am bringing him in.. Let's welcome him .."*
Akio looked at Ranma with uneasiness.. They are currently riding a taxi to reach their destination. To him, it was looking like if Ranma had power in his hands, he would have flown this taxi to reach the airport as fast as he could. But he knows that it's not possible at all. They need this ride to reach there as fast as they could.
When he first told Ranma about Akane's departure, the way this guy ran was way too quick for him. It took him so long to reach him and when he did, he was completely out of breath. Ranma is acting completely restless after that. He had to practically beg him to understand the reason to take a taxi ride to Airport.
After they had taken a taxi ride, Ranma had become even more restless.. He could understand his situation, but looking at Ranma's disturbed state, it is also making his nervous system to break down even more. In his nervousness, Akio didn't even dare to check his watch. Because he knows the time he would see there will definitely tell him that they are late! And now, this is the least thing he wanted to think!! Because if Akane leaves without knowing the truth about Ranma, he don't know how he will be able to handle Ranma..
His heart started to beat hard as he peeked at Ranma's troubled face. The poor guy looked so tensed, it's actually so heartbroken to witness. He still can't believe how that woman played with their feelings!! And today, if Konatsu hadn't come to tell them the truth then… Akio shivered slightly as he dismissed thinking about the possibilities of what might have happened that time. If they haven't found out the truth then this poor guy might had to pay for something that he never did..! This is not right and he will make sure to help Ranma out of this situation as soon as he can.
After some moments of riding, they finally reached their destination. And as soon as the taxi stopped, Ranma got out of the car and he started running like a crazy person.Akio again had a hard time coping with him. Ranma was rushing towards every gate, but security was stopping him whenever he tried to get inside the gate without any papers in his hands. Ranma was acting completely insane, at one point he started to verbally arguing with a security guard and if Akio hadn't reach there in time, the security was ready to handle Ranma in a different way. Akio pushed Ranma hard and told him in a panicked tone,
"What the hell are you doing, man!! You arguing and fighting with people won't take us to anywhere!! It will create more problems for us..!!"
"THEN WHAT DO YA WANT ME TA DO, HUH!!" Ranma snapped at him furiously as he started breathing hard. Then taking a deep breaths he said with his hoarse tone,
"She is leaving me, Akio!! Leaving me because she is thinking that I have betrayed her!! Me, Ranma.. How could she even think that!! Damn damn damn, why is this happening to us, Akio!! What is my fault!! WHAT IS OUR FAULT!! Why do we have to suffer all the time, man!!"
Akio came forward and told him in a assuring tone,
"Look, man, I am sorry.. But the way things happened; it made everything messed up .. But, please, you don't have to worry about anything now! I know all the truth and I will explain to her everything!!"
"What if I don't get any chance to explain to her that I am innocent!! What if I won't get a chance to tell her how I feel about her!!"
Akio laid one hand over his shoulder and said,
"You WILL get a chance!! Don't worry about it.. And for now we have to think before we take any action. This is an airport, Ranma! We have to go with their rules!! We have to be very careful!! You understand what I am trying to say to you, Ranma?"
Ranma ruffled the back of his head restlessly as he nodded his head. Akio took that as a sign of ' yes', he told him to follow him as he went to the customer help desk of the airline Akane is supposed to go with.
"Hello sir, how may I help you?"
"Hi mam, actually today my friend was supposed to go with your airline and I don't know if they have boarded or not.."
"Sorry sir, but we can not give information about our customers to anyone like this.."
"Akane is my fiance!! I am not just anyone!!" Ranma intervenes in the middle, his eyes pleading, his features completely broken. He looked at her with a helpless expression and asked her, "Please.. Please help us find her.. Please.. I need her, please.."
The woman sighs and looks at Akio and asked him,
"I have to take some information first to check if you really know them.."
"Okay.. Ask me.." Akio replied confidently.
The lady asked him about some airline-related stuffs. Like the flight they were supposed to take, their names, address and the time of the flight.. The lady got surprised when she heard about the timing, she looked up at Akio in annoyance and asked him,
"Sir, you should know that the flight is already gone by now!!"
Ranma took a sharp breath of surprise as he looked at the lady with a horrified look on his face. Akio looked at Ranma and told him.
"Wait Ranma; don't lose hope, let me handle it.." He turned to face the lady and pleaded to her, "Look mam, it's just, I know the timing and everything ok!? But, our situation is different!! Now I am hoping that the flight might have been delayed or our friend missed their flight!! Just anything!! Any possibility will help us!! You understand what I am trying to say, right? Please, only you can help us in this situation… Believe me, this guy needs this very badly!!"
She looked at Ranma's state and for some reason she felt pity on his wrecking state. She sighs and nodded her head.
"Okay, please give me some moment; let me check with my colleagues .."
"Thank you!" Akio smiled appreciatively and nodded his head.
After some moment when she finished talking over phone, she grimy looked at Ranma and then to Akio, then she said in a soft tone,
"Sir, The flight was on time today and the Tendo's have also boarded the flight as well. There is nothing we can do now. I am sorry.."
Akio's all hope died down on the spot. His shoulder dropped in defeat as he politely thanked the lady and turned to face Ranma. He didn't find him behind him, waiting for his reply, he knew he might have heard the answer from the lady and understood that nothing can be done now.
Akio started looking for Ranma and thankfully, he didn't have to search for him for a long time. Ranma was sitting in a seating area, his shoulder slumped, his every feature telling him how badly broken he is at that moment. Akio doesn't even know how to approach him anymore. This is not as simple as he thought it would be. He had never seen anyone so devastated like him. It's like his very soul has left him. Ranma was looking completely lost ; his eyes has become lifeless and his face has become pale. Akio sighs and tried to approach him as casually as possible,
"Hey man!! Why's this face for? Don't worry buddy, she hasn't gone to another planet! We could contact her as soon as she lands, okay..?"
Ranma didn't say any word to him, and neither did his expression changed. It worried Akio even more as he laid his hands over his shoulder and shook him hard to bring his consciousness back. Ranma didn't even flinch, he kept looking down, and his whole body lost all the power to react. Akio growled in irritation and said,
"I SAID she WILL come back to you, man!! PLEASE!! Please buddy, don't lose hope. I will call her and once I will tell her everything, I know she will come back to you..!! Please you have to hold yourself until then, buddy.. Don't give up one me! I promise you, I will make everything right again.."
Still no reply came out from Ranma. He kept looking down with a lost expression on his face.. Akio sighs tiredly and stood up. He forced him to stand up by pulling his arm and started dragging him to walk alongside with him,
"Let's go, buddy.. I will take you to your home now.You badly need a proper rest..."*
Nodoka was still sitting in her living room. Her heart was feeling way too heavy for her to go and take rest in her room ,alone. For some reason her heart was beating so hard and she was beginning to feel restless. She rested her head over the table and after a long struggle, her tired eyes finally got heavy and she closed her eyes to rest. But she could rest for only some seconds as suddenly, she awakes with shock as she hears her doorbell ringing. She laid her shaky hand over her wildly beating heart, she gulped nervously and stood up to answer the door. She knows that this must be her son or her husband.. But now, at her state, the only person she wants to see is her son. She is not in a position to deal with her naive husband right now. With the hope of seeing her son again, she slowly opened the door.
Nodoka took a sharp breath of surprise when she saw who was standing in her doorway. Her hand instantly went to her opened mouth as she whispered in complete disbelief,
"Oh Kami!! Akane!! My child, is that really you..!!"
Akane smile at Nodoka with her trembling lips as she nodded her head and whispered back,
"Yes obasama.. I had to come to you and see you .. I just can't leave you alone like this..!"
Nodoka let out a sob of happiness as she tightly hugged Akane with all the power she have. Akane was smiling through her tears as she returned her hug with the same force. After some moment, when Nodoka had managed to calm down, she slowly broke their hug and asked Akane with a motherly warm tone,
"But I don't understand.. Last time when I talked with Suki, you were about to board the plane..!"
Akane slowly nodded and started to explain to her about what happened after the phone call…
"Let's go, Nabiki. We don't have much time left.. And please give Akane her hand luggage. She will need to keep it here with her.." Suki said smiling.
Nabiki looked confused as she asked her,
"Need it here! What do you mean to say, aunt Su? She is also coming with us, right?"
"Mom?!" Akane called her, still not understanding anything.
Suki slowly turned to face Akane and laid both her palms over her cheeks as she said,
"My baby, I asked you to hold your emotions, right? Please do it for me again. You see, after talking to Nodoka I don't know why I am feeling so guilty about this whole situation. This whole situation is not your fault and not Nodoka's as well! But that poor woman is suffering all alone!! She is not as strong as she shows us, honey! She needs support too.. Ranma still hadn't returned to her and she was saying something like 'wanting to rest peacefully' to me! I am really scared for her now! I don't want to take any risk, baby. We Tendos can't act selfish; because we are not selfish. If I could, I would have stayed back too. But for now, you have to take responsibility, my child. Kasumi will return tomorrow night and you can shift to her as soon as she returns. But for now, my heart is not letting Nodoka to stay alone for one whole night. She is not in the state to stay alone anymore, I don't trust her.. You understand what I am trying to say, right?"
Akane sighs and nodded her head,
"Yes, mom! You are right.."
"So? You will take care of her until her son returns? Can you make your heart to do it? Are you ready to do this adventure by yourself?"
Akane bits her lower lips and said,
"I will do it for my obasama! She needs me, mom! Thank you for understanding."
Suki's eyes filled with tears as she pulled Akane towards her and kissed her on her forehead..
"I am proud of you, my daughter!! I love you.."*
Nodoka laid her hand over her beating heart as she said while sniffing,
"Oh my Suki! I will always be thankful to her.. And to you too my dear.."
Akane smiled back at her and said,
"I can never leave you alone, obasama! You don't have to worry at all!" Suddenly her smile vanished from her face as she nervously looked inside the house.
Nodoka understood her mind as she told her in a warm tone,
"I am still alone, Akane. No-one is here with me. And I don't think anyone will come anymore. You can come inside without any hesitation, dear.."
Akane give a big sigh of relief and nodded her head. Nodoka circled her arm over her shoulder and slowly started to take her inside,
"Come on, dear.. I will make you a quick snack! I am sure you are hungry!! Welcome home, sweetheart…."*
Half an hour later…
A taxi just stopped outside at the Saotome residence. Akio sighs and pays the driver. Ranma was still silently sitting on the taxi, no movement from his side. Akio tried to grab his attention by jerking him gently as he announced to him,
"Hey Ranma, we are home.."
A/N: Are you guys ok?! :D!! please don't forget to leave your review for me!! Hopefully see you guys soon!! :D