Another Rainy Day in Nerima
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any related characters in any way, shape or form.
Author's Notes: technically, the "Ranma returned the Kiss of Marriage" oneshot got enough reviews to come before this… but we'd already started on this oneshot so it was nearly done by the time that choice climbed to its current level. I'm pleased that everyone who reviewed the last chapter, with the exception of Ozzallos, enjoyed it though. And his reaction doesn't trouble me, because I was worried about that chapter myself.
Dumbledork: out of curiosity, how were you able to submit two reviews to the same chapter? I'm glad I didn't offend you with my refusal- I'm sorry I had to do so, but such stories just don't work, in my opinion.
An evil fox: Natsume isn't valid for a 'default' choice, as the time this story is set in is before she shows up. Nevertheless, she just might show up in one of the choices, so keep an eye out.
Teturo: the previous chapter was all original design.
Scott Pike: this story focuses on Ranma having the lesson rammed into his head. The sequel will be about Ranma putting what he's learned into practice and trying to change his life.
Ozzallos: I'm sorry you feel that way about it being closed off, but, really, such ideas just don't work. Especially seeing as how it's canon that Ranma finds the idea of being in a girl/girl couple quite repulsive- see the Tsubasa storyline, where Ranma is grossed out by Tsubasa (remember, that he's really a transvestite doesn't come out until the end of that story) and is even willing to try and seduce "her" in his male form simply so he doesn't have to put up with "her" trying to get into his female-side's pants.
Materia-Blade: I'm pretty sure that I actually said back in the first chapter that this story was for Ranma/Non-Akane ideas, but, nevertheless, you have a point. However, I feel I should warn you that, while I will depict a chapter focusing on Ranma and Akane, I will also still maintain the flow of this story thus far.
Chapter 11: Road Trip
Ranma-Prime idly flipped the mirror in his hands as he considered where to look now in the threads of time and the tapestry they formed before a thought came to him. What would happen if he lost key fights ever since he came to Nerima? Curious, he started looking.
The results of his searching served to give Ranma a reason never to lose any fights in the future; from getting killed straight off the bat where he fought Shampoo immediately after getting the Kiss of Death and holding back, the consequences only got worse and worse as Ranma saw himself ending up maimed, crippled and unable to perform the Art, married off to various fiancées that Genma had cheated payment out of, and even several situations where Ranma had been locked in his girl-form, nearly all of those situations ending in Ranma going insane or suicidal.
But what caught his attention was a lone situation where he simply left Nerima, after he had lost to Kodachi in the Rhythmic Gymnastics battle.
The change here was actually quite small, as changes went, but still dramatic all the same. Rather than complain about Akane's salvation of Ranma (and, unbeknownst to either girl, Ryoga), Kodachi had simply cut off the water immediately, giving Ranma-chan no opportunity to 'swim' back into place and thus causing 'her' to fall to the outside of the arena.
Ranma-Prime, naturally, was expecting this to be another timeline pairing himself with Kodachi, but this wasn't the case, much to his surprise. With no 'softening' in his counterpart's eyes, Kodachi remained as unappealing as ever- even worse, due to his anger at both losing and overreacting to Akane's slightly clumsy attempts to comfort him. Ranma didn't react well to being pushed at the best of times- in his present mood, the end result of Kodachi's attempts to push herself on him was for him to push back. In the form of sneaking out of the Kuno estate and heading for China at the first presented opportunity. Curious, Ranma-Prime decided to continue following this timeline; he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he'd left by stealth at such an early point. Surely that meant he'd avoid all of the trouble that had come looking for him, right?
Ranma-chan sneezed, then groaned and wiped her nose with a damp handkerchief. "Ugh, why is it always raining?" She groused to herself. Surprisingly, it wasn't the rain that had induced the transformation this time- it was a deliberate choice on her part. As Kodachi and Tatewaki both were ignorant of his male and female forms being the same person (in Kodachi's case because he'd never tried to spell it out for her), since his flight from the Kuno Estate, he had been frequently shifting back and forth between forms in order to throw off any possible pursuit by either them, or their flunkies. She hadn't actually seen any trackers yet, to be honest, but that was the whole point.
A growling from her stomach cut off any further musings, and the embarrassed aquatransexual put a hand to her belly and a sheepish expression on her face. She'd been so busy trying to stay hidden today that she hadn't had a chance to eat yet. Looking around revealed a traveling okonomiyaki cart, and she made a beeline for it, hoping that the owner was still doing business for the evening. Fortunately for her, the owner, a rather bishonen guy with long brown hair, was still open. "Hey there, what'll ya have?"
"One family-sized calamari, thanks." Ranma replied. Before leaving, she'd taken the liberty of "borrowing" some cash from the Kuno vaults- any guilt was dealt with by pointing out to him/herself that s/he'd only taken enough to get by, not much more than a couple of thousand yen. True, that would run out eventually, but Ranma was used to making a relatively little cash go a long way. By the time she was out of money, she anticipated being in China where her Japanese currency would be worthless anyway. The owner didn't say anything, though he did quirk an eye at the obviously unusual event of a petite girl on her own asking for a family-sized meal, instead turning to the grill and whipping together the requested purchase. Ranma grinned widely, eagerly savoring the impending meal, and dug in hungrily- only to slow down as the taste registered memories.
"Somethin' wrong?" The vendor asked. His voice was rather weird for a guy, but Ranma was in no place to notice.
"No, it's just... I swear that I recognize this recipe." She said, chewing slowly and thoughtfully as she tried to place the taste in her recollections.
"Well, the Kuonji family is famous for its okonomiyaki recipes; maybe you've had some before?" He suggested.
Ranma's eyes opened wide. "Kuonji? Ukyo Kuonji?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's me." The vendor replied.
Ranma's eyes promptly lit up. "Oh man, I can't believe I didn't recognize you sooner! It's been a long time, Ucchan!"
"Excuse me, but I don't believe I know you that well." Ukyo Kuonji replied in an icy tone of voice. What was some random stranger doing addressing her in such a familiar fashion? And using the very name that he had used for her? The redhead looked confused for a second, then grinned happily.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot how much I'd changed since we were kids together. It's me, Ucchan; Ranma Saotome!"
"R-Ranma!?!" Ukyo spluttered, eyes open wide and jaw dropping in disbelief. This girl, this petite redhead with the way-too-generous bust, was claiming to be Ranma Saotome? Her fiancé- well, ex-fiancé? Then reality sank in. "Hold on, wait a second, you can't be Ranma! Ranma's hair was black... not to mention that Ranma was a boy!"
Ranma blanched visibly; his curse was a real sore spot, and explaining it to one of his old (and very few) friends... Weakly, he tried to pass it off as being a matter too complicated to explain, at which Ukyo openly scoffed in mockery.
"Yeah, sure. Alright, I'll play your little game; if you're really Ranma Saotome, then tell me something only he would know!"
"...Remember before me and the old man had to leave? You 'n' I swiped your dad's special, secret, okonomiyaki sauce recipe that had been passed down through your family, because he said you weren't ready to make it yet, so you were determined to prove him wrong. You remember that?" Ranma finally supplied after momentarily wracking his (currently her) brains.
Ukyo was speechless; only someone who was there could have known that. But, that meant that this girl really was Ranma Saotome... her fists clenched tight enough that her nails began to cut into the flesh of her palms. "Genma Saotome, you son of a bitch..." She hissed to herself. He knew! That fat bastard had known all along that his 'son' was really a tomboy like her and simply played up her Ranchan's masculine acts to fool the both of them that Genma had a son, just so he could swindle Ukyo and her father out of a Okonomiyaki cart! If Ukyo had felt pissed off before, then she was experiencing a new height to it as her mind screamed at her to demand where Genma Saotome was so she could murder him, unknowing that she was starting to quiver visibly.
Ranma promptly looked at her in concern. "What? Did the old man do something to you, Ucchan? I swear, if he hurt you, I'll help you kick his ass from one side of the country to the other." She vowed.
Ukyo blinked as her thoughts turned from the scum known as Genma to his son, or rather daughter it seemed. 'And she has no idea that her father took advantage of mine by pretending to engage us as children! Or… does she…? No, she can't; she wouldn't be so candid with me if she knew what her father her done.' The realization that the girl in front of her likely only remembered her as her childhood friend was shocking, but Ukyo hid it well before smiling pleasantly.
"Oh, don't worry about it Ranchan, but thanks for the offer." Ukyo glanced at her watch, "Looks like its closing time for me. Tell you what, why don't come back with me to my apartment and you can tell me about how your life's been going on since we last saw each other?" She noticed Ranma's happy smile as she nodded and decided that she made a right decision in not telling the girl.
The apartment was modest, but well within Ukyo's budget and from the way Ranma acted, it was clear she was used to worse. The girl had been talking non-stop about how her training trip with Genma had progressed after they left Ukyo and the disguised girl shook her head at the harshness of it all. It was when the story got to China that Ukyo suddenly blinked and asked, "Could you repeat that?"
Ranma shrugged and repeated with a perfectly straight face, "I said I got cursed at some freaky springs in China called Jusenkyo and whenever I get hit with cold water I turn into a girl and hot water I turn back into a guy."
Ukyo blinked. "That's what I thought you said." She then playfully cupped one of Ranma's breasts, enjoying the squeak and embarrassed blush that appeared, "But, somehow, I don't think any guy would have these, would they?" She laughed as Ranma pouted as they entered the bathroom.
Ranma shrugged, "I guess I'll have to show you won't I?" Ukyo was about to make another playful comment when Ranma filled up the nearby bucket with hot water and, without any preamble, doused himself in steaming water. Ukyo's voice died in her throat as, with almost a slight shimmer, gone was a petite red-head and there was a taller –and, from what Ukyo could see with a visible blush, very well built- teenage boy with familiar black hair.
Ranma turned casually, ignoring the fact Ukyo was gaping like a brain-damaged goldfish to make his point, "See? It's all part of that stupid curse. Cold water turns me into a girl and hot water turns me back into a guy like you."
Registering that fact caused Ukyo to snap back to reality, another piece of the puzzle falling into place as she did so. Ranma thought she was a boy, and probably only remembered her as a boy for the last fifteen or so years. Ukyo sighed as she averted her eyes, "Only one problem with that Ranchan; I ain't a guy."
Ranma blinked, "Huh?"
Ukyo felt kind of bad for doing this, but since Ranma obviously never knew from the start, this had to be done to avoid anything more embarrassing in the future. Even with this in mind, she still couldn't repress a blush as she undid her shirt and slipped it off to reveal her bound chest, restoring her outer layer of clothing only after she was sure Ranma had gotten a good look at it.
'If it wasn't so serious, the look on his face right now would be hilarious.' Ukyo couldn't help but think to herself. Blushing as brightly as Ranma was, she finally broke the awkward silence that had swallowed the bathroom.
"Guess we got a lot to talk about… huh, Ranchan?"
"They certainly do." Ranma-Prime mused to himself. He was quite intrigued by this scenario; he'd always wondered why it had taken Ukyo so long to find him in Nerima in his timeline, given that even Shampoo had gone back to China, gotten cursed, and come back and reestablished herself in Nerima before Ukyo had arrived. So his counterpart running into Ukyo like this was weirdly coincidental… but then again, bigger coincidences had happened in Nerima before.
He watched as the two talked, Ranma revealing to Ukyo that he had 'parted ways' with his father over a week ago and that his engagement had been called off, and why was she asking anyway? Ukyo, for her part, hid her questioning behind a veneer of having heard rumors about Ranma, and explained her own state as being on a personal training journey as a family tradition, and the clothing as being a habit she'd gotten into as a kid. When Ranma had told her about his intention to go back to China for a cure, she had insisted on coming along, refusing to be deterred.
Deciding he didn't want to waste his time with them arguing, he instead skipped ahead to when they were finally at the coast and ready to leave…
"Now you've really done it." Ranma groused.
"She was trying to kill us- what was I supposed to do, just let her go right ahead?" Ukyo snapped. "And just how do you know her anyway?" She asked suddenly, eyes narrowing in a glare directed firstly at Ranma, secondly at the object of their 'discussion'; an unconscious, blue-haired Chinese girl, currently sprawled on the dock with two chúi lying nearby, knocked out courtesy of a blow from Ukyo's trusty combat spatula. Said girl had approached them asking them something about "girl name Ranma", only to attack when Ranma had reacted to her presence with sudden nervousness.
"She belongs to this crazy village of martial artists pop 'n' me rolled into shortly after we got our curses. Long story, we ticked her off, she challenged me to a match, and I beat. Course, the stupid guide never warned us about the 'Kiss of Death', oh no, that would have made our lives much easier. And now she's gonna want to give you one." Ranma said.
"Kiss of Death?"
"Basically, a vow to get revenge, even if she has to chase you to the end of the earth to get it. Of course, by 'revenge' I mean 'your head on the end of a pointy stick', so you can see why I tried to pretend I didn't know her- she's never seen me as a guy, not 'til today."
Ukyo groaned as the realization sank in. "Oh, great, that's all we need; some crazy chick chasing after the both of us."
Shampoo chose that moment to groan and stir, pushing herself to her feet as Ranma and Ukyo both got into battle-ready stances. She looked directly at Ukyo, then smiled and suddenly lunged- Ukyo screamed in instinctive anticipation of pain, only for it to die instantly when she realized that Shampoo had merely latched onto her in an affectionate hug. The urge to scream returned in force when, after a brief bit of Chinese, she promptly latched onto Ukyo's mouth in a passionate kiss.
(In both timelines, Ranma found their hands instinctively clasping their noses, and wondered why.)
"You never said anything about the Kiss of Death working like this!" Ukyo shouted at Ranma, currently trying to pry herself free of Shampoo's amorously tenacious grip.
"I didn't know! All I got was a kiss on the cheek." Ranma protested. The faint hint of envy in his voice (alright, she might have been imagining it, but…) gave Ukyo the strength to shove Shampoo off at last so that she could get into a combat ready stance.
"Alright, sugar, bring it!" She snapped, a wonderfully cheesy, if not original, battlecry. Shampoo merely looked at her in a vaguely puzzled way, then glomped back onto her again.
"Gah! What are you trying to do, hug me to death? Get off, ya damn bimbo!" Ukyo complained. "Don't you speak Chinese, Ranchan? Can't you make her let go?"
"Not a word, I'm afraid- it's one of the reasons why we had such problems in China." Ranma admitted. Seeing the look on Ukyo's face, he quickly added, "But I'm sure there's someone around here who does! Maybe they can help us sort this out."
True to Ranma's words, they did find a dockworker who spoke Chinese. Neither was very happy when he revealed what the deal was.
"Married!?! Uh ah, no way! I don't swing that way!"
Finally, they managed to persuade Shampoo that Ukyo was really a girl (the Chinese Amazon was just as squicked to discover she had done her best to French Kiss another girl), then to call off giving a Kiss of Death to Ukyo by offering up the location of "girl-type Ranma". Neither felt even the slightest guilt in misdirecting her; they figured that by the time she finally figured she had been tricked, they would have cured Ranma. Ranma had wondered why they hadn't simply told Shampoo the truth about his gender, but raising the possibility that this could have gotten him a Kiss of Marriage in its place had made him clam up. That problem sorted, the two had finally managed to book passage on a cheap cargo ship that was heading for China; they had to agree to work for their passage, but it wasn't anything either of them was unequipped to handle.
The two watched from the back railing as the ship slowly pulled out of the harbor, watching the port recede into the distance. Ukyo stretched her arms and cracked her neck. "Well, we're on our way at last. I trust there won't be any more nasty surprises waiting for us in China?"
"Of course there aren't." Ranma replied, sounding rather offended. "Do you think I try to tick people off wherever I go?"
As Ukyo apologized, Ranma-Prime shook his head. "They're walking right into trouble, aren't they?" He asked the Eye. In answer, the Eye began to show him brief scenes that proved that, yes, they were indeed heading right for chaos.
Ukyo ducked and swore vehemently as a 9mm round bounced off the hull near her head, pulling behind the makeshift barricade she and Ranma had hastily erected. The reason why they were hiding instead of fighting was simple; martial arts were all well and good, and at their level they would easily mop the floor with the almost stereotypical crooks currently shooting at them… if they could get into hand-to-hand. While a martial artist would eventually become bullet-resistant, that was quite a bit out of their league just yet. Ranma looked steadily from the barricade to the railing, and Ukyo felt a mingling of admiration and envy that the boy-turned-girl could look so calm about all of this.
"No choice; we'll have to jump and swim for it."
"Are you nuts? It's twenty miles to China!"
"You want to stay here with them?"
As the barrage of bullets trickled off, their enemies frantically reloading, Ukyo groaned aloud but joined Ranma in racing for the railing and leaping over it, plunging into the cold water below. Gasping for breath upon reaching the surface, she joined the redhead in swimming away from the ship, the gunmen firing a few parting shots that missed them easily. Ukyo watched the ship mechanically draw away, and internally swore that if she ever met any of those goons in a dark alley, she was going to be the one they ran from! She almost shrieked when something bumped into her, turning around to find the apologetic face of her (unbeknownst to him/her) fiancé looking back at her.
"Come on, we better get swimming." She said, and Ukyo groaned as she started to do so.
"Twenty miles…"
"Count your blessings that it's only twenty miles; me and the old man swam the whole way there and back." Ranma replied in a conversational, if absent, tone of voice.
"You mean this isn't the first time you ran into goons who wanted you as a prostitute?" Ukyo asked in disbelief.
"What? No, he was just too cheap to buy tickets."
Later, in China…
"Beat 'im to a pulp, Ranma-honey! I don't wanna be stuck here slopping pigs!" Ukyo called.
Ranma didn't answer, his attention currently fixated on the muscle-bound brute currently locked into a fighting stance. Not for the first time, certainly not for the last, he cursed Genma for his greed and thievery. He had to get a cure, dammit! He didn't have time to be stuck in some farming village working off some debt his old man had wracked up!
After that…
"I'm only going to ask you this once. Where is the scroll?" Snapped the old man, currently backed by a half-dozen or so snarling, vicious-looking dogs.
"What scroll?" Ranma asked.
"The one you and your no-good father stole from my temple! That scroll!" The old man screeched.
"…Oh, you mean that scroll about that weird mushroom?" Ranma finally suggested.
"Yes, that's it! Give it to me!"
"No can do; pops hocked it at a pawnshop."
The old man froze, then started to tremble in fury as, behind Ranma, Ukyo slapped her forehead and groaned aloud. Finally, the old man exploded.
"Boys! Sic balls!"
One scene of horrible carnage later… Ukyo dumped the last unconscious and heavily beaten dog onto the pile, coincidentally burying the old man, then took several practice swings of her spatula before bringing it around golfer-style to send the whole pile flying into LEO.
"Thanks for the help… but… why did you seem to take it so personally?" Ranma asked.
Ukyo stiffened, a blush affixing her cheeks and forcing her to keep her head turned away from Ranma. "B-because… because it's not right that he try and hurt you so bad for something your old fool did." She stuttered.
It was only there for a moment before he masked it, but there was an expression of deepest suspicion on Ranma's face. He wasn't quite sure what Ukyo's motivation was, but he knew that it wasn't anything so innocent. Could she…? No, she couldn't, they were just old friends… weren't they?
Even later in China…
Ukyo crept stealthily through the dark tunnels, in search of Ranma and the creature that had kidnapped him. Hearing the sound of voices, she followed them to an opening, halting just at its lip- which meant she was in perfect position to hear Ranma's voice when he spoke up.
"Let me get this straight; you're gonna boil me up into a potion… to solve your bedroom problems!? There's a thing called Valium that they sell for that, ya know!!"
Ukyo promptly facefaulted. An understandable reaction, but not the brightest one, as it drew the monster's attention and caused it to come roaring out of its lair to defend its "prize".
After that…
"Let me get this straight… your dojo lost to my old man? And now you want revenge by defeating me in battle?" Ranma asked in disbelief.
"That's right! Now, will you shut up and fight!?" Snapped the female martial artist.
"…Are you sure we're talking about the same Genma Saotome?" Ukyo finally asked.
"Die!" She shouted, hurling herself at both of the traveling Japanese.
Later yet…
"Foolish boy! The woman is my bride! You cannot defeat me! Say your last words!"
Ranma stared defiantly at his opponent, the moth demon that had abducted Ukyo with the intent of marrying her, then looked past him to the girl in question, currently bound in place by streamers of silk and wearing a wedding dress. Not wasting any time on fancy words or gestures, he instead shifted into a combat stance. His aura literally blazed into life, pulsing and crackling with an appearance like ghostly flames. He smirked at Ukyo's kidnapper.
"You want a last word? Alright, try this: Hadoken!"
As he said this, Ranma's arms rose up and then twisted back down so that his hands were pressed wrist to wrist, a globe of flaming ki forming in the cupped space and then erupting forth, exactly like that 'move' that Happosai had used when he had first declared his intent to unseal his Happo Fire Burst. Unlike with Happosai, however, what came forth was not a harmless wisp, but a roaring bolt of flame that struck the demon square in the chest and proved that, regardless of origin, a moth burns easily. It shrieked and howled, plunging erratically to and fro as it tried to put out the flames or, failing that, to take Ranma with it as it finally crashed to the earth, a blazing corpse.
Ranma paid it no attention, instead leaping to Ukyo's side and helping her to free herself.
"Thanks for that, sugar. I tell you, that guy was such a jackass- no wonder he couldn't get a she-demon to marry him. I got just one question."
"What's that?"
"Couldn't you think of a better name for that move than 'Hadoken'?"
"Well, I was originally going to go with Fire Burst, but that just felt wrong for some reason."
Ukyo shrugged as she finally got both arms free, allowing Ranma to take charge of freeing her legs. "Well, it's kind of a dumb name anyway. And don't go looking up my dress."
"Wouldn't dream of it. Besides, it does nothing for you."
He flashed her a brief smile and a blush, with Ukyo answering in kind.
Back in the real world, Ranma-Prime addressed the mirror again. "This is all well and good, but do they actually make it to Jusenkyo?" He wouldn't have been surprised if they didn't- had he and his old man really left that much trouble in China? Or was part of it the whole 'knack' he seemed to have in every life for drawing problems? The Eye obliged his curiosity, wiping its previous scene and preparing a new one for him to view.
"Greetings, sir and woman. Welcome to famous training ground of cursed springs, Jusenkyo. How may this humble guide help you?"
Ranma and Ukyo, both tired and dirty looking, gave the guide a polite bow. "Honorable guide; Ranma seek Nanniichuan water to cure Nyanniichuan curse." Ranma replied in crude and heavily accented, but understandable, Chinese- he and Ukyo had both been learning the written and spoken variants on their travels, as it made things easier if they could actually understand what was going on around them.
The guide looked puzzled and blinked. "Nyanniichuan? Honorable sir has been to Jusenkyo before?"
Seeing Ranma twitch in a way that heavily implied he was ready to start shaking the bumbling Chinaman like a dog with a rag doll, Ukyo hastened to interject. "He has. Please, bring water for cure?"
"It guide job to help poor customers get cured when they ask, and you smart girl to ask guide to go get Nanniichuan- nice girl please go far away from young sir now? Guides can manage Jusenkyo magic somewhat, but it still mischievous; make matching set give it much fun."
Ukyo and Ranma both blanched and Ukyo promptly retreated back the way she had come, to the extent that she was barely a spot on the horizon. Ranma didn't think that much distance was necessary, but decided not to bother speaking about it. Instead, he waited for the guide to go and fetch the requisite cask of water. By the time he got back, Ranma was practically dancing with impatience, straining against the urge to race over and grab the cask from the guide's hands to pour it over himself and end this long humiliation. But restrain himself he did, and when the guide gave him the cask, he took it with all the care and gentleness of a father with his first newborn. For all of his apparent dignity, Ranma was truthfully suppressing the urge to cackle like a madman. He wasted no time on fanfare or celebration, or even a short speech; he just dumped it over himself until the casket was completely drained. Then he started laughing and celebrating.
Ukyo shook her head as the Guide looked askance at her, prompting a rather short explanation of, "After everything we've gone through to get here... frankly, this is a little anti-climatic."
From his position looking through the mirror, Ranma-prime quietly agreed with Ukyo's opinion; after going through all of that trouble, you'd think that some sort of 'ultimate bad guy' would appear at that point before he shrugged, he'd take an antic-climatic ending if it meant getting cured. But now, he couldn't help but start wondering; what would happen if he left now to China to get cured? He shuddered; better not think about what sort of madness that would bring, at least until he was certain he could escape without notice. He figured that the mirror was done showing him things from this timeline, and was about to resume delving into the mists of time, but, to his surprise, the Eye apparently wasn't done yet, instead depicting that evening after his counterpart had gotten his cure…
Ranma sighed and stretched in contentment as he stared at his surroundings. While not precisely what anyone would deem a sensitive person, he did have an appreciation for beauty, and his and Ukyo's camping site for that night was that. He could understand why Ukyo had asked them to set up here… true, it was unusual for her to think about that at such an early point in the evening, but Ranma was in no great hurry. With his curse cured, he really had no goal to reach for. True, there was "become the world's greatest martial artist", but that was a life-goal, something that would take him all of his life to pursue, if not accomplish. Now, he had no immediate goals, nothing to chase after.
"Ranma honey?"
Ranma looked in Ukyo's direction, and was mildly surprised to say the least. She had traded her usual worn and frankly rather masculine clothing for something that looked brand new, and was emphatically feminine to say the least. She had a look on her face, at once embarrassed, nervous, and determined.
"What's with the getup, Ucchan?" Ranma finally asked. He hastily amended himself at the hurt look on her face. "Not that it's not nice or nothing, it's really pretty actually, but why are ya wearing it here?"
Ukyo took a deep breath. For her, this was the now or never moment, that one moment where she could have the ultimate expression of happiness and love if she took the chance.
"Ranchan, there's something I need to tell you." Ukyo approached Ranma and deciding that it was time to bear her soul.
"I've had a lot of fun traveling with you, and sometimes I've been pretty annoyed by some of the things you and your old man left behind. But I've always enjoyed being with you through it all… and… well..."
Ukyo paused, trying to get the right words together as Ranma sat there, waiting patiently and somehow knowing that this was really important to his best friend when Ukyo dropped to her knees and simply said out loud, "Ranma Saotome, I love you. I've loved you every step of this journey and I want us to be more than friends…"
Ranma fought to keep his jaw from dropping in shock. "Ucchan... I... I don't know what to say." He finally managed to say.
Ukyo shook her head, "All you need to say is an answer to my question..."She pulled from a pocket a small box and gently opened it to reveal a ring, "Ranma Saotome, will you have me, Ukyo Kuonji, as your wife?"
Ranma was silent and as several minutes passed and Ukyo's resolve began to crumble, he gently took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto Ukyo's ring finger with a whisper of "Sure Ucchan."
Okay, hands up; who thought we were going to go for another Ranma/Kodachi with this story? Didn't want to get into a predictable little rut, so we thought we'd mess things up a little. Now, originally, we were planning to keep Ranma-Prime's Akane-related divings for off-screen, but Materia-Blade's review made me curious, and so we finally decided that we might as well try a once-off for the next chapter. Don't worry; voting will resume as normal after that, and your votes from this chapter will be counted. Below is the list of oneshots yet to be; remember, the more votes that a oneshot has, the higher the priority is placed on it. Akane fans be warned; my stance, and that of Gideon020, on Akane and the Ranma/Akane matchup has been made quite clear before now. Do not complain about what is made.
Now, here are the remaining oneshots. On a semi-related topic, would calling the sequel to this story, where Ranma decides to start shaping his life in reaction to what he's seen, something along the lines of "After the Storm" be too cheesy?
What If…
Ranma kissed Shampoo back when she gave him the "Kiss of Marriage"?
Votes: 21
Kaori won the Takeout Race?
Votes: 14
Ukyo managed to actually get her "talk" with Ranma during the Great Girly-Girl Gambit episode?
Votes: 10
Ranma told Shampoo he loved her during the Reversal Jewel?
Votes: 10
Ranma blurted out to Akane that when he said "I love you", he thought she was Nabiki?
Votes: 8
Ranma and Shampoo failed to kiss before Maomolin rang the bell for the 108th time?
Votes: 8
Shampoo resisted the urge to go back and fight with Ukyo during the hotsprings race, so she and Ranma won the trip to Jusenkyo?
Votes: 7
Ukyo had been the one to jump into the tornado for the chart?
Votes: 7
Ranma finds out how much Ukyo is hurt after "Swimming with Psychos"?
Votes: 6
Shampoo thought to get Ranma to sign her marriage license in secret during the Red Thread of Fate affair, so they were still legally married after Akane cut the thread at the last second?
Votes: 6
Ryoga decided to try and hook Ranma & Shampoo up when Shampoo first came to Nerima?
Votes: 5
Shampoo figured out Ranma was lying about really being a girl instead of going back to China?
Votes: 5
When Ranma beat Ling-ling & Lung-lung, they replaced Shampoo as his Amazon bride?
Votes: 4
During the Ten-Year Sauce mess, Ukyo actually threw away the sauce like she said she was going to do?
Votes: 4
Ranma thought to ask Shampoo to have their date after he beat the Dojo Destroyer?
Votes: 4
When Ranma ate Akane's love-predicting sakura-mochi, an X appeared on his face?
Votes: 3
Akane hadn't gone to Yumogi Valley?
Votes: 2
Shampoo snapped her fingers before the cat sneezed when using the Kirahashi Mushroom?
Votes: 2
Ranma tasted Ukyo's sauce without spilling it?
Votes: 1