Ranma ran with all his power . He was running completely blindly, not caring to see or think where he was heading towards. His heart was banging so badly that it felt as if it would come out of his mouth anytime now.
He left the park and ran past Dr Tofu's Street. He blindly turned a corner in haste and surprisingly, got bumped by a passerby. The hit was so hard that he and that other guy both pushed back on opposite sides and fell on the ground.
"Oh no!! Are you alright ?" Ukyo cried out worriedly as she went to help Ryoga up.
"HEY!! LOOK WHERE ARE YA GOING, MAN!" Ryoga said in an angry tone but stopped when he recognized the person he had bumped into, "Ranma!"
"Ranma?!" Upon hearing his name, she quickly turned to look at him. She took a sharp breath of surprise as she quickly left Ryoga's side and went to help Ranma, which made Ryoga fall on the ground again.
Ryoga growled hard in pain as he rubbed his butt annoyingly .
"Gee.. thanks for nothing, Ukyo.."
She ignored him completely and helped Ranma up on his feet and asked him in a worried tone,
"Ranchan, are you hurt anywhere? What's the matter with you? Why were you running in such a hurry?"
Ranma forgot his pain for the momentum , he hastily grabbed Ukyo's shoulder tightly as he cried out happily,
"UCCHAN! UCCHAN! You won't believe what I have just seen!"
Ukyo yelped in shock when she saw his state. He was practically shaking with excitement, his eyes wide and glossy, a big goofy smile adorning his face,
"Uhhh okay?! What is it?"
Ranma shook his head and said in a thrilled tone,
"I saw her, UCCHAN!! I SAW THE REAL HER!!"
"Huh! Her? Who her!?" She asked, still confused.
Ranma paused for a second and took some deep breaths to gather his thoughts and then said in a more calmer tone,
"Her, Ucchan! Her! That girl I always see in my dream! I saw her RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY DAMN EYES!!"
Ukyo eyes went wide with surprise as she asked him in an uncertain tone,
"Are you sure you didn't fall asleep while waiting for us?"
"Or maybe ya hit yar head somewhere,man!" Ryoga joined the conversation, rubbing his butt to reduce his pain.
Ranma shook his head wildy and said while pointing at the park,
"She was there! RIGHT THERE! I SAW HER THERE!!"
"But Ranchan, this is impossible!"
"I don't know if it's possible or not! I just know that I saw her with all my subconscious mind and both open wide eyes! And she even talked to me!" Ranma said breathlessly.
"Oh man, I was right!" Ryoga started with a shaky tone. "I told ya this is a ghosty place! I don't wanna be here anymore!"
"SHUT UP,MAN! She is not a GHOST, she is just a SHE!" Ranma said in an angry tone.
Ukyo laid her hand on Ranma's shoulder and said,
"Look, Ranchan, I trust you and everything, but to be honest, you are really freaking me out!"
Ranma growled and said in a defeated tone,
"You have to believe me , Ucchan, please!"
"NO, UKYO, DON'T BELIVE HIM! I AM SURE HE SAW A GHOST THERE!" Ryoga cried out in panic.
"I TOLD YA SHE IS NOT A GHOST!" Ranma yelled, frustrated.
"THEN WHY DID YA COME HERE RUNNING LIKE YA SAW A GHOST OR SOMETHING, HUH!"
"He has a point , Ranchan! You sure did ran as if you had seen a ghost there!"
"No! No! No! Damn it! I don't even know why I ran like a fool! She was right infront of my eyes! Oh Kami, she looked so beautiful! More than I had ever imagined she would be! She was doing everything that I saw her doing in my dream. She was even practicing katana with a wooden sword!"
"But how could you be sure that she is your dream girl! There are lots of other girls in here who practice katana in our town."
Ranma sighs defeatedly and said,
"I saw her eyes, Ucchan! I can never forget her beautiful brown eyes. She was looking at me. She was concerned for me! She asked me if I was okay!"
"And what you replied to her?" Ukyo asked.
Ranma smacked his face and said in an angry tone,
"I TOLD YA ALREADY , I RAN OUT OF THERE LIKE A FOOL!"
"Oh no! You did mess up big time then.." Ukyo said , shaking her head. She saw Ranma looking down with a miserable face. He looked so heartbroken at that moment and guilt was evident on his whole feature. She felt pity for him; she sighed and tried to cheer him up as she said,
"Oh honey, don't feel bad about it! It's okay what you did! You obviously weren't expecting that to happen out of nowhere! Anyway, we are actually wasting our valuable time arguing about this. If you saw her , that means you saw her! I trust every word that you have told me. So , let's not waste any more time standing here and let's go to that place again and see if she is still there or not.."
Ranma's foul mood instantly brightened up as he quickly nodded his head,
"Wait a MINUTE! HAVE YA GUYS GONE NUTS? WHY WOULD YA WANT TO GO AND SEE A GHOST?!" Ryoga asked them, shaking with fear.
"SHUT UP, RYOGA!" Ukyo and Ranma both cried out, feeling frustrated at him. Ukyo shook her head and said in a strong tone,
"LOOK honey, stop insulting my neighborhood, I have lived half of my life in this neighborhood and I know for sure that there is NO ghost or anything like that here! Anyway, me and Ranma are going there and it's final! If you don't want to come with us, it's fine, you can either wait for us here or go back to your apartment, it's your own choice. Now come on, Ranma.."
"But.."
Ryoga tried to make a point again, but they didnt give him any more chance and saw them running towards the park hand in hand.
"Oh come on! This is too much! I ain't going there! No way!"
A howling wind blows at that exact moment, making a moaning sound of the wind. His whole body became tense as he began to shake in fear.
"HEY! WAIT FOR ME! DAMN IT!!"
And he ran with all his force to reach his friends. *
They reached that area at a record speed and found the place to be completely empty. Ranma started to look around, not ready to give up, as Ukyo asked him in an uncertain tone,
"Ranchan, are you sure this is the right place?"
"Yes, Ucchan! She was right here!"
"Man, I am sure ya must have fallen asleep and dreamt 'bout this!" Ryoga said, suspiciously looking around their surroundings.
Ukyo sighs tiredly and said,
"Ranchan, I am sorry, I don't think.."
"WAIT!"
Ukyo stopped in the middle as she heard Ranma interrupting her and running towards a bench.
"LOOK, UCCHAN! This is the bottle she drank water from!! And I SAW HER DRINKING FROM IT!! I told ya I saw her!" Ranma declared happily, showing the bottle to them as if he had gotten a trophy.
"Huh! But it could be anybody's! It doesn't prove anything, buddy!" Ryoga said while scratching his scalp.
Ranma growled at him and said in a harsh tone,
"I aint came here to prove anything to anyone! I know what I saw!"
Ukyo took the bottle from his hand and examined it. She smirked to herself and said,
"Hey Ryoga, look, she even has your picture in her bottle! Strange!"
"What! Really? Show me, show me!" Out of curiosity, he ran to her side as she showed him the black piglet's sticker attached to the bottle and started laughing out loud. Ryoga growled loudly and pouted at her,
"HAHAHA!! Very funny!"
They started passing silly comments to each other and on other hand, Ranma stood there with a distant expression on his face. After sometimes, Ukyo noticed this as she sighs and went to his side. She handed him the bottle, which he silently took and looked at it sadly,
"Ranchan, don't look so sad."
"You don't understand, Ucchan! I found her and I lost her at the same time! She was right infront of me.. damn it!"
She rubbed his back and said,
"You know, this town is very small, people who lives here always bump into each other one way or another. Don't worry, honey; we will look for her and we will definitely try to find her, okay?"
Ranma sighs and nodded with a small smile on his face,
"Yeah, I really hope so.. Or else, I will never be able to forgive myself for being a coward.."
"It's ok, let's go, sugar.."
Saying that , she hugged his arm and started walking towards their apartment .*
THREE DAYS LATER
For the last three days all Ranma did was looking for the girl of his dreams. It's as if she has vanished into thin air! He had searched almost every corner of this town with Ukyo by his side. But no luck, they couldn't find her anywhere!! He even went to the park every night to see if she had returned there! But she didn't come there either! Leaving an anxious frustrated Ranma to blame himself mercilessly for the stupidity he did.
Ryoga kept making faul comments on his situation. At first Ranma used to get angry at him, but as the days passed, he began to question his own sanity as well. Unlike Ryoga, Ukyo kept supporting him and encouraged him to never give up. But , he could still tell that she was doubtful about this too, and maybe she is being nice to him to make him feel better. That thought alone made him more upset and angry at himself. He stopped talking, his mood always annoyed, and the adoring smile vanished from his face too.
Ukyo was worried about his change of behavior, she wanted to help him the fullest and she would continue to do so. But things have to wait for some moment as they have to deal with the situation at their academy, where her father would tell them if he is ready to help them or not.
The three of them are now sitting at her father's office. They are waiting for him but he still hasn't come to his office. Ranma, still with his faul face, sits on his chair as he kept examining the table for no reason. Ukyo notices this and bumped her shoulder with him encouragingly,
"Cheer up, Ranchan!"
"Oh yeah, damn man, stop moping around and focus! We need to discuss this clearly with her father! We can't mess it up, dude!" Ryoga said , looking tense about the interview.
Ranma sighs and shook his head angrily ,
"Look, I am focused, okay! Don't distract me! Or else I will just leave.." Ranma spats , angrily.
"Leave, without greeting your dearest uncle!!"
They all looked at the door side as Ukyo's father entered the room with his arms open.
"Father!!" Ukyo stood up and went to give him a hug. "What took you so long, we have been waiting for you for quite a long time!"
"I am sorry, dear! I just had to finish some important work before coming here." He looked at Ranma as he stand up with a big smile on his face. He quickly went to his side and grabbed his shoulders tightly,
"Welcome my son, welcome , welcome! You made your uncle wait for a long time!"
Ranma smiled and said,
"I am sorry, Uncle! You know how my parents are!"
He made a face upon hearing about them, making Ranma laugh to see him mocking his parents. He then slapped Ranma on his shoulder as they all sat at their respective positions.
"So, father, what do you think of my plan?"
Mr Kuonji considered the plan for some moment , he carefully looked at all of them and said in a serious tone while looking at Ryoga,
"Do you really think this guy can act like Ranma?! Don't take me wrong, son; You know what I mean to say.."
Ryoga smirked and said,
"I may not be born at a millionaire's house; but my heart is made to be a billionaire, sir! Please don't underestimate me.."
Ranma smirked at that and said,
"Yeah Uncle, he can act more like me then I can.. Actually, I am tired of acting now. I just want to live like a normal person, that's it.. And please I need your help!"
"Aww, my poor honey!" Ukyo said as she hugged his arm.
Mr Kuonji nodded his head and started thinking again.
"Uhh, give me just a moment! You know its not an easy thing to decide.. Especially, if your parents finds out about it , this will cause a big trouble for me, you know how your parents are.."
"Father!!" Ukyo said, whining as she stood up and went to stand beside him. Then she said, pouting, "Please, I know you can handle this! And if anyhow, we get caught, you can take a little scowling for me, can't you?"
"I can.. but honey.."
"No ! No please! I want you to do it for me and especially for my Ranchan.. You can't say no!"
"Ucchan, if uncle is feeling doubtful then.."
"No, he is not!!" Ukyo gave her father a puppy dog's eyes look and said, "Please father.. please.. I promise that we will be careful all the times? Right guys?!"
Ranma kept silent as Ryoga forcefully nodded his head, his eyes begging him to say yes.
"Please Sir, I promise you if you give me this chance I will always act like a millionaire! I won't give you any chance to complain!"
Ukyo shook her head in annoyance and said while crossing her arms over her chest, "And one more thing father, it may benefit you in future too!"
"Benefit me, how so?"
Ukyo gave him a sly smile and said,
"I know you are being secretive about a Saotome studying here and I guess you did it because you don't want to cause Ranma any trouble! But if by any case, any bad guy finds out about it and wants to kidnap Ranma, then our real Ranma would always be safe here!"
Mr Kuonji's face lits up, he banged the table hard as he said excitedly,
"OH YES! That's a brilliant idea! Why didn't I think about this possibility!!"
"WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY KIDNAPPING!!" Ryoga said in a panicked tone.
Mr Kuonji smirked and replied,
"You wanted to act like billionaires, right? So , you have to take all the risks as well , boy!"
"But… but I.. I.." Ryoga started stuttering, ready to cry any time.
Ranma couldn't suppress his laughter anymore as he burst out laughing loud. Ukyo and her father also joined him laughing, making Ryoga more anxious than before as he tried to laugh alongside with them and asked in a shaky tone,
"You guys are joking, right?"
Ukyo shook her head and said,
"Of course it's true, dummy! Why would we joke about it?"
Ryoga stopped laughing and said while pouting,
"My life is in danger and ya guys are laughing! How cruel!"
Ranma looked at him and said,
"Don't worry, I will give ya half of my allowance!"
Mr Kuonji stopped laughing and said,
"Oh don't worry, boy! There is no danger here. Believe me, this town is extremely safe and very peaceful!"
"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!! OHOHO!!"
"STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM ME! AND FACE ME LIKE A REAL MAN!!!"
The nerve-wracking yell came from downstairs as Ryoga said in a mocking tone,
"Huh, very quiet! Indeed! What is it, a kindergarten school?!"
"Shut up , Ryoga." Ukyo glanced out from the window and what she saw made her face brighten up with happiness, "Oh my goodness, they are here! Does that mean they got the scholarship again, father!"
Mr Kuonji smirked and puffed his chest proudly and said,
"Is it a surprise, my dear?! I knew they would get it! No surprise for me! Anyway, I think they are coming to meet me, and I am really looking forward to see my sweet child, so can we talk later, please ?"
"Yeah , sure, Father. But first, tell me your answer.."
He stood up from his chair and said,
"Ofcourse, I will do as my princess has asked me! Don't worry , Ranma my boy! You can live your life fully as long as you stay with me!"
"Thanks, Uncle! I really appreciate that.." saying that he stood up and bowed in front of him.
They started walking out of his room , but Ranma paused for a moment and looked at his uncle.
"Uncle Kuonji.."
"Yes, my son?"
"I don't want to change my name. I want to stay as Ranma, but not Saotome! You can give Ryoga the Saotome tag with his name."
"Are you sure, honey?" Ukyo asked a little hasitately.
"Yea I am sure!"
Mr Kuonji smiled at him and said,
"Okay, son; I will introduce you as Ranma. Don't worry, there are lots of other students here who don't want to use their surnames to keep it confidential , so it's not a big deal for me! But as lots of professors already know that a student joining us from the Saotome family, I have to introduce someone as Saotome. So, I will call Ryoga, a Saotome. Problem solved!!"
"Thanks, Uncle.."
Ranma smiled and nodded his head at him and left his office with his friends by his side.
"MY LIFE IS AT RISK AND YOU ARE GIVING ME A FIFTY PER CENT OF YOUR ALLOWANCE AS IT'S COST! IS THIS HOW YOU VALUE MY LIFE, BUDDY!" Ryoga said, fuming angrily.
"Oh move on, Ryoga! Ranchan has a big heart that's why he is offering you this, if it was me then I wouldn't have given you a single penny!"
"OH REALLY!!"
"YES REALLY!!"
"Stop arguing guys!" Ranma said annoyed as he gave them an irritated stare, "Look, I am going out at that park, maybe she is there right now?"
"Uh? Ranchan have you gone crazy! Our class will start soon.."
"Not until an hour, Ucchan! I know I still have time!"
"But Ranchan.."
"Please don't stop me! I promise you I will return within half an hour."
Ukyo sighs and said,
"Okay, don't be late, please! And you should start running now if you want yo be on time, honey.."
Ranma gave her a goofy smile and said,
"I was planning the same thing, Ucchan! Thanks!"
Saying that he hastily turned and started running in the hall.
"NAH NAH! YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!"
"I SAID STOP TEASING ME,AKIO!"
Everything happened so quickly after that. It was as if in a blink of an eye everything changed and his every plan crashed in one second. As Ranma turned to start running at the hall, a figure passed by his side in a blurry motion and before he knew what was happening, his quick running got interrupted in the middle as his body surprisingly clashed with a soft bundle of fury.
That unexpected incident led him to lose his balance as he ungracefully fell backwards on the ground with the person on top of him. Everything happened so unexpectedly that everyone in the hall was left with wide mouths and dumbfounded expressions on their faces as they looked at the prone bodies' clashed together on the ground..
They moaned in pain, but Ranma took most of the whack. He kept his eyes closed as he unknowingly tightly pressed the shoulder of the other body to take some support from it. She moaned again and upon realizing what just happened, she hastily looked up in panic and said in quick motion,
"Oh Kami! I am so sorry, are you okay? Are you hurt…? I am really sor.. hey.. wait a minute.."
The moment he heard her voice, he immediately forgot his pain and forced himself to look at the person he had clashed with. He eyes went wide with surprise, his mind began to swirl in excitement , his heart beating fast as he looked at her face so close to his and heard her voice asking him, Kami knows what! He was so focused on her face that, he didn't even heard what she was asking him and only got his sense back when he heard her growling in annoyance. No words were coming out from his mouth as he kept looking at her, unblinking. But looking at her angry eyes, he said in a whisper-hush tone,
"It's you.."
"IT'S YOU!!"
Both of them said the same thing in unison, only the difference was the tone of it. Ranma's tone was filled with wonderment and she sounded so furious.
"HONESTLY, YOU ARE STILL STARING AT ME! STOP STARING AT ME LIKE THAT, YOU JERK!"
Saying that, She tried to move from his grip, but she got surprised when she felt him holding her tightly to him and preventing her from moving.
"HEY!! LEAVE ME, YOU PERVERT!"
Ukyo was the first person to brake that spell of shock as she ran to them in urgency. She tried to help her to get out from his grip, but she became too sirprise when she saw the force Ranma was putting onto her to hold her close to him.
"Ranchan! Leave her..! What are you doing..!"
With Ukyo's help they sat up into a sitting position which gave her the privilege to push him hard to leave her. She hastily stood up as Akio joined her side quickly.
"Hey , are you okay? You are so clumsy, my God!"
"Shut up, Akio!" She turned her fuming face to Ranma and growled as she realized he was still looking at her, dumbfoundedly.
"Stop staring at me like that!"
"Oh honey, don't get angry at him, I think he is still dealing with aftershock, he wasn't looking forward for this accident, you know!" Ukyo said while shaking Ranma to make him respond in some way.
"Dont worry , Ukyo!" Akio started saying, "You know how tough she is, it must be so hard on him when she fell over him! Poor guy!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!"
Akio didn't stay there any longer as he ran out of fear of her in a rush. She turned her fuming glare to stare at Ranma again as she said in a warning tone,
"And you Mr, I don't know what your problem is! You are lucky that I am in a hurry to meet Mr Kuonji. If not, I would have given you a piece of my mind!"
Saying that with a hard tone she turned on her heels and ran to Mr Kuonji's office.
Ryoga kept looking at her with awe as he said in an amazed tone,
"Wow, man! She is hot!"
Ukyo kept on shaking Ranma to make him talk to her as she said,
"Ranchan, come on, what is wrong with you? Are you okay? Come out of your stupor!"
"It's her!" he said in a hushed whisper tone as he kept looking at her direction,
"Huh! What do you mean by "it's her?!!"
Ranma turned to look at Ukyo with wide surprised eyes and a bright smile on his face as he said,
"IT'S HER, UCCHAN! This is the girl I was looking for! IT'S HER!!"
"WHAT?! Really? Are you sure!"
"OF COURSE I AM SURE!"
Now Ukyo looked at him dumbfoundedly , after some moment of shock has passed, she slowly turned to look at Akane who just hit Akio on his head and now waiting for her father to open the door to let them go inside his room. Then releasing a surprised breath , she asked him again,
"You mean to say, Akane is the girl of your dream.?"
"Her name is.." Ranma asked again, to nervous to think clearly.
"Akane.." Ukyo looked at Ranma and gives him a wide smile, "Tendo Akane!"
"Akane!?"
He turned to look at the girl again. For some reason he saw her stopping at the open door for some moment, as if she had heard him calling her. She turned and look at him with a blank expression on her face, then shaking her head at him she mouthed a word to him then she entered the room. He understood what she said to him and started laughing.
"Hey ! Why are you laughing, Ranchan? I think she mouthed a word to you, did you understand what she meant to say?"
He nodded his head with a goofy smile on his face.
"So, what did Akane tell you?"
He smirked as he looked at the closed door and said with a big dreamy sigh,
"Baka!"*
A/N: Oh my God! I am enjoying every moment of this fic. Touchwood!! I wish i could write more faster ;p. I hope you guys are enjoying this fic as much as me! Don't forget to review guys, it really encourages me to try harder :D!! Because if you guys dont tell me , how can I understand. You enthusiasm will increase my speed of writing more :D!! Thank you to all of you who reviewed me on my last chapter! It really means a lot to me! Thank you so much!
If you want, you can follow my page name "Mrs Impaitience" . I always post my new updates and sneak peek as well :)!! Hope to see you all soon!!! :)
