Ranma giddily jumped from rooftop to rooftop, laughing in near hysterics the whole way. He kept going though all the things that would be different now that he was cured… he’d be able to go swimming in trunks! He wouldn’t have to be afraid of the rain, or dodge water thrown by that old lady anymore! Best of all, he’d no longer have to fear the embraces of Kuno or Happosai… he shivered a bit from the mental images, then smiled, imaging the look on the “Master’s” face the next time he tried to turn him into a woman.
Suddenly, Ranma heard a noise coming from his stomach. With all of the excitement, he had forgotten to eat his regular snack before leaving! He was in a hurry to get back to the Dojo with the good news… but then he remembered Akane’s cooking skills. His face paled, and he mentally went though his options. He could go to the Neko Hanten, but Shampoo would likely react to his cure by drugging his food with some strange love potion… and the old ghoul was sure to try something sneaky. The only other trustworthy restaurant he could think of was…Ucchans. Having made up his mind, he veered his direction a little and headed towards the restaurant.
Ukyo was having a fairly decent day. Right now, the place was empty except for her and Konatsu, but she was still cleaning up from the lunch crowd. Business had been good this morning, as the high-school crowd had almost filled her restaurant both during the normal lunch hour and before school had begun. “I guess those ads I put up really did pay off!” she thought to herself. She hadn’t seen them herself, but they sure attracted business! She did wonder, though, why most of her customers seemed to be male. In addition, a lot of them seemed to stutter when they placed their orders, with their eyes averted, while others had blatantly gazed at Ukyo’s… assets. Once the first few of those perverts had been launched into orbit via her kick-ass spatula though, the rest of the crowd was generally well behaved. “Konatsu? Can I have a look at those ads you placed?” asked Ukyo. “Right away, Ukyo!” the ninja replied cheerfully, as he zipped up the stairs and came back down within a few seconds, handing her a piece of paper.
Ukyo took it and stared at it for a few moments. There was no doubt that the design was professional. The background showed a well-captured photograph of the restaurant, with its logo overlapped on top of it in the center. What really caught her attention, however, what the photo of Konatsu in the center of the logo. He was dressed in a very feminine manner, flashing a peace sign in a most kawaii pose. “Um, Konatsu, where did you get the idea for the ads from?” Ukyo hesitantly asked. “Oh, Nabiki helped me with them! She said that with this design, we would make at least triple our normal profits! I’m not sure why… perhaps it’s easier for people to find us since there’s a photo of the restaurant?” Ukyo just looked at Konatsu in stunned silence. Konatsu went back up the stairs to practice his stealth tactics.
Suddenly, the doors burst open and Ranma ran in, gasping out of breath. “Ranma! Are you okay?” Ukyo asked, running over to him. Ranma sat down at the counter. “I’m fine Ukyo… just ran to get here, that’s all. Can I get your best okonomiyaki and a ice-cold glass of water?” “You bet, sugar! Just sit tight; I’ll have one cooked up just for you in a few minutes.” Ranma smiled, and when the meal was ready, quickly finished it off. However, he didn’t drink any of the water. Ukyo noticed that Ranma had a very wide grin on his face, and realized that he had had the same grin on him when he had first entered. He also seemed to be staring off into space and sighing a lot. “Ranma, what’s going on? You seem… calm. Almost content… did Kodachi drug you or something?”
Ranma just laughed. “No, I don’t think any drugs could make me feel as happy as I do now.” Ukyo felt a shock of fear for a second at those words. Was it possible that Akane had declared her love to him, or vise-versa? She quickly shook her head. Of course not! That was just silly; the two of them were always fighting and had nothing in common. “So, why are you so… happy? You didn’t win the Takara-kuji, did you?”
Ranma laughed even harder at this statement. Finally, after calming down, he made eye contact with Ukyo. “I think it would be easier if I just showed you.” He declared. He picked up the glass of ice water and dumped it over his head in one fluid motion. Ukyo gasped. “Ranma! I just got done cleaning this place up after the lunch crowd, I don’t need you spilling ice water all over the floor! Now I have to find the mop and clean… wait a second… that was ice water… but… you’re still… a guy…?” Ranma smiled and nodded his head. “You’re… still a guy! The curse… it’s gone! Oh Ranma-chan, congratulations!” Ukyo squealed in delight and rushed up to Ranma, catching him in a tight embrace. “T-thanks, Ukyo… but could you loosen up a bit? It’s kind of hard to breathe.” Ukyo gasped, and quickly let go, a light blush forming on her face. “Sorry, sugar… I just got so excited. Is it permanent?” Ranma nodded, causing Ukyo to let out another squeal of delight. “Oh Ranma, this is so exciting!” “I know, I can hardly believe its real… well, thanks for the meal… I better get home and tell Akane the good news.”
Ranma turned and started to head towards the door, when suddenly he felt someone grab his arm. He turned around to see Ukyo holding on to his right arm with her hands. “Ukyo, what…?” He started to ask, but stopped when he saw Ukyo’s face. Her lips were trembling in nervous spasms, her black pupils seemed to have enlarged, and her eyes were visibly dampening. “Ranma… I need to ask you something. It’s very important, and I need for you to be honest… remember, no matter what the answer is, I promise I won’t be mad, and we’ll still be friends as long as we know each other…”
Ranma felt his heart rate increase. He couldn’t ever recall having seen Ukyo actually cry. Whatever was bothering her had to be very serious. He couldn’t just leave her like this. “Ukyo, it’s okay, please don’t cry… tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll try to help you in any way I can.” This caused Ukyo to sob audibly for a few seconds, as she held her head in her hands. She then looked up at Ranma. “Ranma… what do you think of me?” “Huh?” replied a puzzled Ranma. “What do you mean by that?” “I mean, I’ve seen how you are with Akane… I’ve tried to deny it to myself… but it’s obvious she loves you. What I don’t know is if you return those feelings for her.” Ranma started to speak, but was cut off by Ukyo. “Wait, let me finish… Ranma… even back when I was a little kid… part of me liked you, very much. Even now, today… I’d totally devote myself to you if you let me. I care about you very deeply… I’ve always hoped you would tell me you shared my feelings one day, out of the blue… but you only ever seemed to be interested in my cooking. What is it that I’m missing? Ranma… I need to know. Do you love me? Do I have any hope of actually being with you? Or… is it time to move on? Please, be honest… I don’t think I can stand anymore pain from not knowing for sure.”
Ranma gulped. He looked at Ukyo intently, and thought for a few minutes. Finally, he started to speak…
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(Posted Wed, 08 Nov 2006 03:51)
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