Tales of Honor
Book 1: Lost

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by SkyDragon2083

Disclaimer: None of these characters or situations are my property. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, and whoever owns Ranma 1/2 in Japan. That said, I am a very poor college boy with no life, no money, and poor grades; therefore, suing me would be a futile effort on the part of any of these persons.

Chapter the Third: Ukyou's Obsession

Ukyou slowly trudged home, supported by Konatsu.

It had taken an hour, and the sound of a shrieking Nabiki, to rouse her from her shocked stupor. She'd spent around half an hour crying onto Konatsu's shoulder after that. And she barely had the strength to move now.

With Ranma being disowned like that, her whole life seemed to crumble to dust. She'd spent ten years training for revenge, and another two pining for love. And with Ranma's disownment, all that proved to be for naught.

But could she toss aside her feelings for Ranma that easily?

She had her answer fairly quickly, as she spotted Ranma trudging along, carefully inspecting empty lots and alleyways. His whole demeanor spoke of a brokenness, as if his unflappable pride had been rocked to the very core by his mother's proclomation. Her heart constricted painfully, and she couldn't help but want to pull him close.

"Ranchan," she called out plaintively as she gently pushed herself away from Konatsu. Ranma stiffened at her pet name for him, causing Ukyou to cringe slightly, before turning to face her.

"Yes... Kuonji-sama..." He grimaced. "Is there something you need?" Need, not want... Why couldn't he just love her the way she loved him. She knew the spark was there...

She frowned. "If you need a place to stay..."

"No," he cut her off with a sharp gesture. "I won't stay at Ucchan's Okonomiyaki. I won't stay with anyone who might try to claim a relationship of any sort with me. I especially won't stay with someone who's been chasin' me for the past two years claimin' to be one of my fiancées!" He'd shouted the last part and glared at her. Her frown grew into a strong scowl.

"Ranchan..." she started, only to be cut off with wave.

"Don't 'Ranchan' me. I've had it up to here..." He put his hand up by his temple. "...With people tryin' ta marry me, marry Akane, or control other people's lives. If you think ya' ain't one of those who have, then think again! Don't think I don't know 'bout those schemes you've had to break me an' 'Kane apart!!! Now go away and leave me alone!!!" Flushed red from his outburst, Ranma turned back to his search.

Ukyou saw red. How dare he!?! How dare he try to tell her off like that after he made her life a living nightmare!!!

She drew her battle spatula and charged, intent on knocking him into low Earth orbit. But just when she began her swing, she found her spatula missing. Blinking in confusion, she turned her head to find it embedded in a wall across the street.

"Try to hit me again, and I won't hesitate to hit you back, Kuonji." Ukyou could barely supress a small shiver at Ranma's deadly serious tone. However, her anger returned quickly. Rising to her feet, Ukyou pulled out a few throwing spatulas out of her bandoiler, as well as the one bomb she had left from the wedding.

"Yeah, right. Saotome Ranma doesn't hit girls, remember?" She threw the bomb. Only then did she see the cold glint in Ranma's eye.

"I'm not Saotome Ranma." Ukyou's eyes widened in fear as he casually batted the bomb back with his hand. The bomb exploded, kicking up dust all around her. Then her world exploded in pain.

I knock the bomb back at Ukyou with a simple, ki-enhanced backhand, and watch momentarily as it explodes, filling the area in a cloud of dust. Sensing that she hasn't been knocked out, I store my pack in my stuff-space, the same place where Mousse keeps all his weapons, and move in with a roundhouse kick to her stomach, followed by a quick palm-strike to her forehead before she can fly back from the force of the kick.

Before I can perform the merciful knockout blow, Konastu attacks me with a kodachi blade. He hadn't had it before, but that doesn't matter to me. He is attacking me with it, so I don't have much choice but dodge or be skewered. Luckily for me, Konastu quickly falls into a noticable pattern. I grab the hilt of the blade in one of the few defensive holes and plant a solid side kick to his sternum, knocking him backwards without the weapon. I quickly stash it away in stuff-space and only just barely manage to catch the throwing spatula Ukyou threw.

"Back off, I don't wanna fight ya guys." I can't help but try to convince them to leave of their own accord. "I won't hold back if you try attackin' me again!"

The dust cloud is still obscuring my sight, but I can hear as Ukyou and Konatsu meet up outside the cloud. Hoping that they'll just leave, I wait. I don't wait long, as my battle sense goes off like a foghorn next to a megaphone, and I find myself under attack from two separate directions.

I don't bother trying to talk sense into them anymore. Ukyou has her battle spatula again and Konatsu has a wakizashi now.

Even with the advantage they get from the weapons, my unrestrained speed keeps me from being even so much as scratched. Duck, spin, parry, hop, air roll, parry, clang! The two are thrown off balance momentarily by the meeting of their weapons, and I take the brief instant to deliver a punishing side kick just below Ukyou's sternum, putting her outta the fight almost instantly.

I have to fight off the wince when the sound of a crack comes from her upon landing.

Disarming Konatsu a second time, I grab the wakizashi outta mid air and jump away from the makeshift battlefield. Konastu doesn't give chase immediately, instead casting a glance at the unconscious form of Ukyou, nearly three meters off. I throw a glare at him when he looks back my way.

"Take her and go, Konatsu." He hesitates, so I give him one last push. "Tell her that I won't give her such mercy the next time."

The kunoichi nods minutely at me, then picks up Ukyou and carries her off over the rooftops.

I watch them go, then turn my attention back to the battlefield. Near where Ukyou had landed, her battle spatula lays forgotten. Probably too much of a burden for Konatsu to carry with an unconscious and possibly injured Ukyou.

Frowning slightly, I pick it up and give it a once over. There's a single nick in it, near the leading edge, probably from when it collided with Konatsu's weapon, but it's otherwise in perfect condition. Glancing down at the wakizashi in my other hand, I can't find a single scratch on it.

I school my face in impassiveness as I drop both weapons in stuffspace and retrieve my pack.

There's no time for me to dwell on my thoughts here... I still need to find a suitable place to set up camp for the night.

End Chapter the Third

Notes in Brief:
First off, sorry about my absense. I don't really have an excuse, save to say that I haven't really adjusted to college life that well.
Second, it looks like Ranma just delivered his message of intent to Ukyou and Konatsu. This didn't quite come out the way I wanted it to (it was supposed to have more of a crushed hope charge than the angry gun-ho that it does), but it will suffice for the plot. Perhaps I'll go back and rewrite it at another time.
You'll note, looking at my profile, that I drew up a list of the stories (complete with descriptions) I have in the works. I also made some brief notes on the ones I've already released. Among the mess of new content, you'll notice that Tales of Honor is currently plotted out as a three book story, with the major plotline taking place over the course of the second and third volumes. You'll find most major plotline notes there.
Still, you should feel free to make suggestions for the second and third books, but they'll be somewhat down the road for now. Keep in mind, it's not going to be a crossover if I can help it.
Final note... perhaps calling Ranma a ronin isn't quite right, but I'm using a more archaic meaning of the word. Plus, he's been cast out of his clan. Ranma doesn't even really bear the name Ranma, anymore, it's just used because that's what everyone is used to calling him. Traditional Japanese culture has a specific caste for people who don't even have names.

Released 12/10/06