A night at uchans

Main characters Ukyo and Konatsu

Closing time, Finally. It had been another busy day. Nobody ever said running a business and attending school at the same time was easy. Let alone whatever the whole situation with ranma had turned into. After the wedding fiasco she had been giving him some space. Her on and off again friendship with Akane was also on the rocks at the moment.

"Miss Ukyo, shall I clean up for you?" Konatsu said. Ukyo shook her head. The fiancée wars could wait, she needed to close up. Konatsu was competent help sometimes but the Kunoichi still needed supervision due to his background. At least she could trust him; In Nerima trust seemed In short supply.

"Just wipe down the griddle and take out the garbage. I'll lock up."

"Yes ma'am!" Konatsu said, and Immediately set to work. Ukyo sighed. At least he was dedicated.

She locked the register and doors, then changed out of her dirty clothes, took off her bindings for the night, and headed back to finish cleaning up.

Stepping back in the restaurant part of the building, she found it spotless as usual. Konatsu had cleaned the whole room unprompted. She really should be paying him. While it was true that she gave him room and board, he really went above and beyond sometimes. Sure he ended up costing her money sometimes but that was becoming less and less frequent as he slowly became more used to life outside an abusive household.

He appeared to be fiddling with the karaoke machine again.

"whatcha up ta there?" She asked

He blushed as if caught in an act. "Oh, miss Ukyo! I was just um… making sure there was no dust on the karaoke machine. I hope that's alright."

She shook her head.

"I've told you before sugar, if you want to use the Karaoke machine after hours you're more than welcome to as long as I'm not asleep."

"Oh miss Ukyo, you're too kind." Once again she felt guilty. She really did need to start paying him. Hopefully she could afford that. He had dealt with enough abuse from his step family, and she couldn't help but recall that time Ranchan of all people had pointed out she was taking advantage of Konatsu.

That reminded her of something.

"Hey Konatsu, I have a question if you don't mind me asking."

He blushed again and smiled. "Of course Miss Ukyo, I'd be glad to answer!"

"How come you never ran away from your step family? I mean I get that they were your family and all but surely you knew better than to stay."

Konatsu froze. "I uh… I well…"

Ah crud she had probably overstepped.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't-" "No it's ok!" Konatsu interrupted her. Then he seemed to realize what he'd done. "Oh I'm so sorry Miss Ukyo, I meant no offense. Please forgive me!"

And there was the guilt again.

"Don't worry Hun, I know you didn't mean anything by it. So if you really don't mind me asking, how come you never left?"

Konatsu frowned. "I did… once." She raised an eyebrow at this.

"It was about a year or two after Father passed away. I began to go through the first changes of puberty and my step sisters and mother began trying to force me to act like a man."

"Why was that a problem, You're a guy right?"

"I… You know… it's hard to explain but I've never wanted to be a man. It feels wrong. Viscerally disgustingly wrong. I've always wished I was born with the body of a woman. It's why I dress like this. When I was young it was easy for my step family to pass it off as a phase."

"So you… see yourself as a woman? I don't quite follow that line of thought." so he wasn't just crossdressing… She had to admit he was very different from her experiences with other cross dressers. Though perhaps Tsubasa wasn't the best example. "Still I don't see how puberty would change that."

"Miss Ukyo… you are aware that you've never seen me without makeup on, correct?"

"I guess not now that you mention it. Why do you…" she trailed off as Konatsu pulled out a rag and wiped off their face. They looked more tired, their jaw appeared more defined, and… well…

"You have stubble."

Konatsu winced. "This is my shame. I didn't have any idea how to shave or apply makeup back then so I couldn't hide it. It was the last straw for my step mother. She ripped up my clothes and insisted I wear men's clothes… so I ran. I could handle almost anything after father's passing but not being a man. I suppose I'm a bit pathetic in that regard."

"But then how did you end up back at the teahouse again?"

"I wasn't being facetious when I met you and said you were the kindest person I had ever known. Nobody was willing to help a boy that thought he was a girl, so eventually I had to go back as a matter of syrvival. Luckily for me my step family had just about as much spine as I did, so I ended up getting to be me. Serving them hand and foot of course, but it beat starving in the streets. Over time I learned how to hide my inborn shame, and then I met you and Master Ranma, and Miss Akane."

Ukyo nodded. This went far deeper than she had thought. "I have another question then… If your shirt hadn't been ruined… would you have ever told me?"

Konatsu sunk his head. "I… I honestly don't know… I must admit, if I could gain Master Ranma's ability to change his body with water I would do so at the earliest possible moment. It is only out of loyalty to you that I have not asked elder Ke Lun about it. Doubtless she would attempt to use it against you."

So Konatsu… wanted Ranma's curse. She couldn't deny she had been fascinated herself, having spent much of her life pretending to be a boy, but actually being one would be a step too far. To willingly take that on. And what's more Konatsu hadn't gone to the one person who could have helped soley out of loyalty to Her. That settled that then.

"You know Konatsu… I've met a lot of People in my life who didn't meet up with society's expectations of em. Besides, If Ranchan can be a boy when he's stuck in his girl body, I don't see why you can't be a girl."

"You really mean that?" Konatsu appeared on the verge of tears.

"Of course Natsuchan. Besides, come to think of it, the only person I can even think of more feminine than ya is Tendo Kasumi."

Konatsu broke down sobbing and hugged her. "Thank you, Miss Ukyo. You really are the kindest person I've ever met. I never thought anyone would understand."

Ukyo smiled and hugged her back.

"Honestly sugar, you don't need to keep calling me Miss Ukyo. We're friends ain't we?"

"Oh I couldn't possibly be so informal! What would people say?" Ukyo chuckled

"Honey, I don't know if you've noticed but most people aren't nearly as formal as you. Not even Ranchan's wannabe Yamato Nadeshiko ma would be this formal with someone who's basically her roommate."

"Oh If you truly insist, Mi- I mean… Ukyo." Konatsu's face was tomato red. Clearly she was scandalized.

"Well then. I believe you were going to use the karaoke machine, if you're still up for it I'd enjoy that too."

Konatsu beamed and turned back to select a song.

They ended up singing all night long. It was the best night either of them had had In years.

Thanks for reading. It bothers me how Konatsu didn't get nearly as much development as she deserved in the manga because of how late they were was introduced. For those of you who only read ranma fanfics she only appears in 2 storylines and the ending. She's not ever confirmed to be trans but if there's any character in fiction that's trans without explicitly having it stated it would probably be her. Very curious how the reboot will handle it assuming they get that far. It also bothers me how Ukyo tends to take advantage of her and this is partially my attempt at addressing that. I don't know that I managed to really nail down the charicerazation but given I don't have much to go off with between their dinamic and Konatsu as a character to begin with I'm happy with it! Any feedback is welcome! Byeeeeee