On Sat, 19 Feb 2000, Rod M wrote:
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 00:08:40 -0500 (EST)
From: Rod M <rpm@thekeep.org>
To: ffml@fanfic.com
Subject: [FFML] [new][Ranma1/2] The Pursuit of Happiness Act 3 Part 3
The Pursuit of Happiness
Act 3
Home
Part 3
Awkward Goodbyes
"Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh..."
Heh.
As mentioned before, indent paragraphs please.
Akane repeatedly muttered the phrase, a mantra to keep her
sanity, as she quickly put on her clothes in the upstairs
restroom of Ucchan's. She'd spent the night far more drunk
than she should have, and ended up in Ukyou's bed the next
morning, in her ARMS then next morning.
What had happened overnight was... not entirely clear. She
remembered kissing... lots of kissing... and definitely lots
of groping...
She groaned and buried her face in her hands. "What on
earth have I DONE?!"
Did they do what it seemed they did? How far did they go?
Why did she start? Why would she and Ukyou...
Ukyou.
She began thinking about the girl, suspicions risiing.
Ukyou never did shake the habit of dressing as and acting
like a boy.
Akane wondered... exactly how much of a boy was Ukyou? Did
she... did Ukyou actually...
LOL. surprisingly, that's -not- a fanfic cliche.
Well, she did get along with Ukyou better than she did with
all of her other rivals. There was certainly less hostility
between the two at the moment than any of the others. And
then there was the free okonomiyaki any time she happened to
be in Ucchan's.
Was this all planned by Ukyou from the start?
Was Ukyou... in love with her?
Akane blushed and thumped her head on the wall. If it
weren't her in this situation, she'd find the whole thing
kind of funny.
As the reader does.
-*-
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh..."
Ukyou chanted the phrase over and over as she paced around
her bedroom, wringing her hands nervously.
She'd just slept with her ex-fiancee's girlfriend.
Of course, defining "slept with" was a bit tough at the
moment. At least they weren't totally naked when they woke
up.
But... how? And... why? Thinking back to the events of
last night weren't much help. Her head was still cloudy
with a hangover, but what she could remember was mainly
kissing... and groping... and...
She couldn't help but blush at that point. Perhaps,
thought Ukyou, it would be best to forget last night.
heh.
Except the question still remained.
How did this mess happen?
Ukyou wasn't... well... that way, and Akane wasn't...
It should be obvious. Akane thought Ukyou was Ranma, Ukyou thought Akane was
Ryoga.
Or was she?
Thinking back, she remembered the stories told around
Furinkan about how she had absolutely _hated_ boys,
rejecting every boy who'd approached her.
Always known for being a tomboy, boyish, like a boy...
"I hate boys!" was her battle cry for so long... until Ranma
came around. Ranma, who turned into a girl when hit with
cold water. A girl.
Actually, I seem to remember that being Akane's view even after Ranma appeared.
And if it had changed when Ranma arrived, how did Ukyou know about it at all?
She remembered how Akane had always been the most civil of
her rivals for Ranma, even friendly. An unusual thing for a
rival, she thought.
So.... could Akane... did she...
Ukyou stared at the mirror. A very tired looking
okonomiyaki chef stared back at her. She shook her head
sadly.
"One messed up love triangle we've gotten into, sugar."
"That's what I was about to say, actually," said Akane,
walking nervously into the room.
"Oh! Um, er, hi Akane," said Ukyou, grinning nervously.
"Nice morning, ain't it?" Stupid thing to say, she thought
to herself. Stupid stupid stupid. That'd only be leading
Akane on. Stupid.
"Um, yeah, nice morning," replied Akane, also smiling
nervously. Shouldn't have smiled. Nono. Stop being
nervous, it'll only give Ukyou the wrong impression.
"Um, about last night," they both said, then paused and
managed to have a brief and embarassing moment of eye
contact.
In moments of great stress and nervousness, the human
condition tends to lean towards mindless babbling and fast
talking, and of course not enough patience to let the other
person make a complete sentance.
This is, of course, how many misunderstandings take place.
It's how all of the silly ones do, anyway.
"Akane, about last night-"
"Ukyou, we need to talk about our, er, relationship-"
"Akane, I don't think I want-"
"I really feel that we-"
"No, listen, you can't-"
"Ukyou, I know how you feel but we really-"
Suggest: "word --" not "word-" for all these.
"Just stop a minute and think about this."
The both of them paused, rethinking their strategies.
'She's just not listening!' they both sighed mentally.
Perhaps a more gradual escalation was called for.
"About last night," began Akane carefully.
"Er, last night, yeah," said Ukyo. She couldn't help but
shudder at the bits of memory at that night, and barely
supressed a frown.
Akane stared with wide eyes at Ukyou. Was that a shudder of
pleasure she just saw?
Eep. If Ranma were seeing this, he'd be rolling on the floor laughing. He's
usually the victim of misunderstandings, not some innocent bystander.
Ukyou blinked, then noticed Akane staring at her. Did she
do something wrong? She wondered if she hadn't supressed
that frown after all. Did she offend Akane? No, bad thing,
didn't wanna hurt her feelings.
"It, er, wasn't bad, no," said Ukyou apologetically.
That line alone brought another massive onslaught of
embarassed silence.
"Ukyou... have you ever been with... um... a woman before?"
Akane blushed, twiddling her fingers, wondering why on earth
she asked THAT question.
Ukyou blushed as well, wondering what on earth Akane was
thinking. "N-no, you were the first."
Okay, thought Akane, now to gently steer her towards the
idea of other, um, relationships.
"Well, I'm sure there will be other... y'know..."
It was Ukyou's time to stare at Akane. Other?! OTHER?!
She wanted MORE of last night? Ukyou shook her head
vigorously. "NO Akane, I don't think so."
"Oh, I'm sure there will be, Ukyou," said Akane
comfortingly. "Really!"
Unnoticed by the girls, the sound of footsteps faded away as
one pig-tailed fiancee felt his head spinning with a second
dose of shock.
Oh-shit.
Ukyou looked Akane in the eye, firmly, with an iron
resolution. "Akane, you're not serious are you?"
Taken aback by Ukyou's stare, Akane took a step back and
frowned. "Ukyou, I-I'm sorry, but I really feel-"
"Jeez, Akane! No! Okay? No!"
"Ukyou, calm down. Please?"
"We are NOT taking this relationship any further!" yelled
Ukyou. "Hey, you weren't such a bad rival, you're a good
friend, but I DON'T want THAT."
Akane blinked. "Um, what?"
"Look, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings about this, but
you've already got Ranchan, don'cha? I mean, you get the
best of both sides with him, if y'know what I... hey, why
are you laughing?"
-*-
Convincing yourself that you didn't see what you thought you
saw, while often an automatic process in the mind, sometimes
isn't.
Obviously, this is the second case.
"I'm tellin ya what I heard! They were talkin' like they
were dating or something!"
"No way! It... was just the weird punch going to your
head!"
"And why'd spiked punch make me see _that_ and hear _that_?"
"Becuase... you're a pervert!"
"Oh shut up!"
For the boys, it was a rocky process indeed.
For Ranma, the whole situation made sense in a ridiculous,
twisted sort of way. All the pieces were there for him to
see, but they'd only come together just now.
Akane hated boys. She said so the day they met. She hated
him when she found out he wasn't a girl.
Ukyou lived as a boy for years. Ate, drank, breathed, slept
in the mindset and manner of a boy for so long.
It all made sense.
Strangely, it does. Even to the reader.
Ranma shook his head sadly. "My best friend is having an
affair with my fiancee."
"Stop saying that!"
Ryouga, on the other hand, was streaking desperately for
denial but not quite getting there. He found himself in the
absurd and ironic position of being jealous of Akane.
It was enough to knot his mental processes.
Granted, the fact that he was jealous should have been a
revelation of sorts as to how his love life was going to go
next, but Ryouga's brain never was meant to handle complex
situations. Alas, the keen observation was lost, and the
only things occupying his mind were jealousy and
astonishment.
He just hoped Ranma wouldn't pick up on it.
"Y'know, this is kinda ironic, ain't it?"
"What is?" asked Ryouga.
Uh.... DUH.
"Kinda puts you in a position to be jealous of Akane, don't
it?"
"SHUT UP!"
The sound of footsteps approaching halted their impending
arguement and day-long fight, and the two turned to face,
with lots of awkward feelings, the girls. It wasn't a good
sign, thought the boys, that the girls were giggling
slightly and smiling.
"G'morning, guys," said Ukyou.
"Hi Ryouga, hi Ranma," said Akane, walking by them. She sat
next to Ranma and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Slept well?"
"Um, hi," said the boys at the same time.
"How'bout breakfast?" asked Ukyou.
Akane nodded, and the boys replied in assorted nods and
mumbles. Ukyou went to the back rooms to get the cooking
supplies, leaving Akane with the two boys.
"Akane, I'll be right back. Gotta ask Ucchan somethin'."
Ranma, uncomfortable with the new situation of him -not- being the victim of
the misunderstanding, decides to correct the situation.
And without waiting for any kind of response, Ranma quickly
left.
-*-
"Hey, Ucchan, we need to talk."
The okonomiyaki chef froze like a deer caught in the
headlights as her old friend and former fiancee stepped into
the back room.
"R-Ranchan, yeah, what's up?"
Ranma hopped up and took a seat on a nearby counter,
twiddling his thumbs. "Well, y'see, I dunno how to say
this..."
"Ranchan-"
"I walked in on ya this morning."
Ukyou turned pale.
"Ranchan, it's not... I... we didn't..."
"Ucchan... er... she's mine."
OOC.
Ukyou blinked. "Huh?"
"Look, Ucchan, you're a good friend, you're my oldest
friend, but I ain't sharing my girlfriend."
Ukyou's eyebrow began to twitch and the sound of grating
teeth came from her lips along with a low level growl.
"So, Ucchan, I hope y'-"
Suggest: ".. hope y--"
*CLANG*
"IDIOT! JERK! Is THAT what you think of me?!"
"Hey! You two were in bed together! What was I SUPPOSED to
think?!"
"Why yes," said Ukyou sarcastically. "Of course, one kiss,
I gasp and turn lesbian. Right. IDIOT!"
"So what were you two doing?!"
Ukyou sighed. "Ranma, I was wearing your clothes and had my
hair in a pigtail like yours last night. We all got a bit
smashed. Now what do you think happened?"
Ranma stared at Ukyou, shocked. "You... you thought you
were me?"
LOL!!!!!!!!!
IDIOT!
*CLANG*
"IDIOT!"
I just said that.
-*-
"A-akane," stuttered Ryouga, thumbs twiddling nervously.
"Yes, Ryouga?"
"Um, a-about last night... er... I s-saw you and... er..."
The both of them blushed terribly, Akane's eyes widening in
alarm. He _saw_ them? Oh no! Did he tell Ranma?
"I-I can explain," stammered Akane. "I think."
"Are you and Ukyou... er..."
"No! Nonono! We're not- I'm not- I mean, it's not like
that!"
"I-it's okay if you-"
"No, really! We're not!" she said, waving her arms around
for emphasis.
"You're not?" asked Ryouga, genuinely puzzled.
Akane sighed. "Ryouga... I don't remember much of what
happened last night, but I do remember that I _thought_ I
was with Ranma."
"With... Ranma?"
Akane's blush deepened as she nodded.
"And, well, Ukyou never did take off Ranma's clothes, and
she had his pigtail, and then we had that punch, so..."
Ryouga, dense as ever, tried to follow what she was saying.
He didn't get it. "So...?"
Akane bit her lip and looked at the
floor. "IthoughtshewasRanma."
"What?"
"I thought she was Ranma."
It took a while, but comprehension finally crawled through
Ryouga's mind. "Oh. Ooooh."
"So, I just wanted to make it clear, we're not... y'know...
like that."
"Oh, of course not!" said Ryouga, laughing, though a bit
nervously. "I knew there had to be a reason why you kissed
her."
"Um, yeah" said Akane, also beginning to laugh nervously.
"And who knows? Maybe she thought I was you?"
Ryouga's eyes bulged. Akane didn't notice.
"I mean," she continued, "I was wearing your clothes and
all. Wouldn't that be funny?"
I QUOTE: "Doesn't Ryouga have brown hair when he's a girl?"
"Aheh," laughed Ryouga, though he didn't sound amused.
"Yeah, funny."
-*-
Sensibility would have told Ranma that this line of
questioning shouldn't be pursued, but if there was one thing
Ranma Saotome was, he was dense.
"So, um, what happened, exactly, between, um..."
Ukyou ignored the question as she rooted through her shelves
for various cooking supplies.
"I mean, did she like it better... um... with... y'know..."
She continued to ignore him as she rooted around for some
flour and eggs.
"I'm just wondering, 'cause me and Akane... we haven't...
y'know..."
They haven't?
Ukyou calmly hefted a flour bag, walked up to Ranma, and
slapped his face with it.
*POOF*
"Will you please DROP IT!"
"So, um, that mean y'don't wanna talk about it?"
*POOF*POOF*POOF*
LOL!
"Take a wild guess!" Ukyou stalked out of the back room,
grumbling, "no wonder Akane calls him an idiot."
-*-
Much later...
And so it came to this, the four of them waiting in the
station for the next train to Kyoto, Ukyou pacing around
while the others shared a bench.
It all seemed to be terribly lacking in something, thought
Ryouga. This felt like an _end_ to something, and yet it
was all wrapping up so quietly. It shouldn't feel that way,
though, since Ukyou said she'd only be gone a short while.
And yet...
Why, when he looked in her eyes lately, why did there seem
to be a certain kind of sadness in them?
-*-
"Hey Akane," whispered Ranma. "He's staring at'er again."
Gram: ".. at 'er .."
"I know," whispered Akane. "Cute, isn't it?"
-*-
It seemed too soon to Ryouga, as the train to Kansai finally
pulled in. People flowed out of the train, then in, but
Ukyou lingered in place, just staring at it.
The ride home.
She took a deep breath, then picked up her luggage. "Guess
I'll be going now."
"Y'need any help with the bags?" asked Ranma.
Ukyou shook her head. "No, I'm fine."
She took a step towards the train, then hesitated. "Hey,
Ryouga."
The often-lost boy blinked. "Yeah?"
She turned and gave him a smirk. "Y'gonna be all right
without me?"
Ryouga frowned. "I'm not that helpless."
This is better in-character then the previous times when he admitted that he
was.
"Heh. Bye."
Quickly, subtly, unnoticed by Ranma or Akane, she reached
out and squeezed his hand.
And then she left, becoming one with the masses, until she
was just a small face in a very large crowd, a smile and a
waving hand behind a window as the train rolled away and out
of sight.
-*-
Ranma and Akane stood a few paces behind Ryouga as the lost
boy stared at the train, now only a sliver in the distance.
Akane frowned. "He didn't hug her goodbye," she whispered
to Ranma.
"Well she didn't either," he whispered back.
"That doesn't seem right. He should've hugged her. She
should've hugged him. Something more than 'good-bye'."
Ranma shrugged. "Maybe there ain't anything between'em
after all."
Akane sighed. "I really thought there was something there."
Not really. It just makes her more comfortable to think that Ukyou has a
relationship with a guy.
-*-
Ryouga sweated nervously.
They were talking about him again.
Best to just let it pass, he guessed. They were talking
about THAT, and he really didn't feel comfortable about
talking about it.
"So, um, I guess that's that," he said, smiling and
scratching the back of his head. "So, um, let's go!"
The three walked, Ryouga in front so that they could keep
track of him, winding through the sidewalks and suburbs, and
occasionally the fences.
"So," said Ryouga, "Where am I staying, anyway?"
"Our place, stupid," replied Ranma, quickly followed by a
whap to the head from Akane.
Who'd Akane hit?
"I know THAT, jerk," grumbled Ryouga. "What ROOM am I gonna
stay in?"
The trio hopped over a fence, over a rooftop, and slowed
down again by the sidewalk.
"Um, Akane? Where IS he staying?" asked Ranma.
Akane laughed nervously. "Actually, I have no idea."
Ranma and Ryouga skidded to a stop. "WHAT?!"
It was Akane's turn to laugh nervously. "I, aheh, really
didn't think about it. But there's no probem, right? I
mean, Ryouga can stay in your room, right Ranma?"
"Us sharing rooms? No way!" yelled Ranma. Ryouga nodded
vigorously in agreement.
"Will you two just cut it out?" asked Akane. "You're just
being silly. I know you two are good friends-"
Suggest: use ".. good friends --" and make Akane less ignorant.
"But he's a jerk!" protested Ryouga.
"He's an idiot!" yelled Ranma.
Akane tsked. "I don't understand how two guys that are such
good friends can act like you two. Now c'mon, let's go home
and set things up."
"But Akane-"
"Ah-ah, no buts, move it!"
Living with the Tendos... under the same roof as Akane... it
was ironic that it was happening now, when that particular
dream was nothing more than a memory of the past.
Ranma caught up to Ryouga, walking by his side, and
said quietly, "hey, Ryouga."
"Hm?"
"Just wanna remind ya, touch Akane and I kick your ass."
*WHAM*
LOL!
Akane laughed apologetically as she put away her mallet.
"He just gets so jealous sometimes."
-*-
Ukyou watched the scenery of Tokyo blur by, going, going,
and gone, just like her peace of mind seemed to be.
She wanted to tell them why she was leaving, but if she did
then there was no telling how they'd all react. Ranma would
feel responsible, Akane might.... well, it was hard to say
what Akane would feel, though she'd definitely offer to
help. Akane, being who she was, was likely to make matters
worse.
And Ryouga...
Ukyou sighed.
However Ryouga might react, that lunkhead was bound to make
things worse too. She certainly didn't want him to meet
_them_.
No, this was something she just had to deal with on her own.
Resting her forehead on the train window, she closed her
head and sighed.
"I miss the dummy already."
(all together now) Which one?
- end part 3 -
--
RST;G! a?16 d? e*- h! r++ s: t tv++ b+++>++++ w--- x+ C++ D? DI+ E--- G K+++
L++>+++ M+>- o O? P+ PE PGP-- PS+++ UL++++ V-- W- X- Y?;beka.thomas@yahoo_com
"i'd just like to say that i've .sigged this before anyone nicks it..." -iain
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