A Lesson In Love
By Marisa Price

Part III: Okonomiyaki and Jealousy

	Ukyou looked at Ranma and Ryouga in surprise. It was strange
enough that both had shown up TOGETHER, of all things, into Ucchan's
about ten minutes before, and even more shockingly, they seemed to be
actually getting along. The restaurant was quiet, all the patrons from dinner
had disappeared at least an hour before, and Ukyou was cleaning up the
tables and dishes when the pair walked in through Ucchan's door. Ukyou
had quickly set them down at a clean table and made them each an
okonomiyaki, and then sat down with the two as they munched happily
and hungrily. Then, Ranma had asked the question which so surprised her.
	"You... you... you want a -JOB-, Ranchan?" she stuttered out.
	Ranma, his mouth full, just nodded. Ukyou still looked surprised,
and turned to Ryouga, asking, "You too, Ryouga?"
	Ryouga nodded too.
	Finally Ukyou got out, "You two want to work... HERE....
together?!"
	Ryouga and Ranma looked at each other, wondering if they
hadn't been clear enough. Ryouga swallowed and then smiled at 
Ukyou and decided to add, "Well... Ranma here mentioned that Konatsu
had gone off and found himself a new job.... and the two of us have
found that we really need to get some money together."
	"What could you possibly need money for? Do you owe
some debt to Nabiki? And what could make the two of
you start being so friendly to each other?" Ukyou wanted to
know.
	Ranma gulped down the last of his okonomiyaki and 
took a few slurps of water from his glass before he answered
Ukyou. He began by telling Ukyou that he and Ryouga and
probably Mousse, Shampoo, and Genma, were thinking of going
back to China to find out if there were any other cursed pools
or cures for curses besides Jusenkyo.
	Ukyou put her elbows on the table as she listened to
Ranma and Ryouga's plan, cupping her face with her hands.
She nodded once or twice as Ranma talked, and afterwards
turned to look curiously at Ryouga.
	"Ryouga," she asked, "Why on Earth do -YOU- want
to go on this journey? I mean, you aren't cursed, and Ranma
has never exactly been your favorite person..."
	Ryouga gulped, started to twiddle his thumbs together, turned
bright red, and started to stutter out, "I.... I..... I..."
	Ranma finally sighed, grabbed the half-full glass
of water he had been drinking with his snack, muttered, "Sorry
to do this to you, man, but if we are going to work here we need
to tell her the truth," and poured the cool liquid on the incoherent
Ryouga.
	"Bwee!!!!" Ryouga screamed, now P-chan, and started
to chomp on Ranma's hand. Ranma just let him do it, ignoring
the pain, and turned to see Ukyou's reaction.
	She had her hands over her mouth, obviously in shock,
and went from a pale white to a bright red. Ranma wondered
if she was going to faint or scream or something. She did
neither: instead, she burst out laughing.
	Ukyou giggled and gasped and pointed her finger
at P-chan, shouting, "Ryouga... YOU are P-CHAN?!!"
	Ryouga stopped chewing on Ranma's hand, and
sank to the table in despair. Small tears formed at the corner's
of his eyes. He looked miserable.
	Ukyou noticed Ryouga's tears and tried to calm herself,
but it was difficult. She got out, "Oh....Ryouga....I am so-so-sorry!
But it is SO funny!"
	She burst out laughing again and Ranma and Ryouga 
shared a look of bafflement. Every time Ukyou would start to calm
down she would turn her eyes to P-chan and simply start laughing
again. She said, finally, "No WONDER Ranma always called you
P-chan... No wonder he got so mad considering you were cuddling
up to Akane all the time!"
	Suddenly, Ukyou stopped laughing, stopped giggling, and
looked serious. Both Ryouga and Ranma exchanged a look of 
puzzlement before Ukyou asked quietly, "Ranchan?"
	Ranma looked worried and said, "What?"
	"Does this mean you were jealous of Ryouga all this time?
Does this mean you really DO love Akane?"
	Ranma turned a bit red and glanced down at the table. Finally,
he looked up, his eyes a bit sad, and nodded. He got out, "Uh....
Ucchan...I...uh...I don't know how to tell you this, but I have thought
a lot about it... and I... uh...I think I...."
	"Love her?" Ukyou supplied.
	Ranma just turned his gaze to the table again.
	During this little heart-to-heart, Ryouga decided to go find some
hot water. He looked over to the grill and noticed a pot of water being
heated. Ryouga got up from his pile of clothing, went over to the grill
and dumped the pot of water on himself. He was a bit red and scalded
when he walked back over to the table, and nude (covering his private
parts though, of course), and grabbed his clothes.
	Neither Ranma nor Ukyou noticed either Ryouga or his nudity;
Ranma was too busy contemplating the table and Ukyou was even
busier contemplating Ranma.
	Ryouga shrugged (as best he could while still covering his 
essentials) and began to look for a door, any door, to a room where
he could go change. Ryouga decided to try the big door with the 
red curtains. Suddenly, Ryouga saw sunlight. And people staring
and pointing at the nude boy walking out of Ucchan's. Ryouga
turned bright red when he realized he was standing in the street,
and turned to run back into Ucchan's where he hid behind the
grill and changed.
	Ryouga finally heard Ranma say to Ukyou, "It isn't that
I don't care about you, Ucchan. You are one of my best friends...
I do care about you... a lot..."
	Ukyou interrupted with, "You just love her more."
Ukyou's eyes dropped and she decided to contemplate the 
table herself. Suddenly, a single tear fell with a splash to the
table. Ranma shuddered, hearing the drop magnified a thousand
times, and reached one of his hands out to cover Ukyou's.
	"Please don't cry, Ucchan."
	She looked up, her eyes shining with tears, but still
gave him a watery smile. She sighed and said quietly, "I...
understand. I can't say that I am happy for you, or that I
am not jealous and hurt, but I understand."
	Ranma smiled back at her, knowing she was hurting,
but thankful that she wasn't going to be persistent like 
Shampoo. Of course, Shampoo and Ukyou were as different
as two women could be.
	"Thank-you, Ucchan."
	"You are welcome, Ranchan."
	Ryouga decided that it was time to stop eavesdropping
and coughed loudly to remind the two that he was there.
	Ranma turned and looked at Ryouga and asked,
"Where have you been?"
	"I went to go get dressed, idiot. SOMEONE turned
me into a pig if you remember..." Ryouga growled.
	"Uh... sorry."
	"Humph."
	Ranma looked to Ukyou who was starting to look
better, her eyes were drier. Ukyou smiled and asked,
"So, do you two still want jobs? I COULD really use some help,
but the pay won't be much."
	Ranma grinned and said, "No problem. Sure beats 
working at the Nekkohantan."
	Ryouga looked happy too, but then his smile faded.
	"Ranma..." Ryouga began.
	"What?"
	"Uh.... Where am I gonna stay, Ranma? I mean... my usual
place isn't exactly practical anymore...." Ryouga paused and looked
up at Ranma cautiously. Ranma was looking more than a little
peeved at Ryouga's reminder of a certain P-chan's sleeping habits.
	Ranma growled, "And your point is....?"
	"Well... uh... If I try to get back to my house you might not
see me for a few months or more... and I can't just camp out in some
park for several months..." Ryouga continued.
	"I have an idea."
	Both boys turned to Ukyou, who had a small smile on her face.
She said, "Ryouga. Why don't you move into Konatsu's room? I mean
it isn't exactly luxurious, but at least it is warm and dry and it would be 
pretty hard for you to get lost on your way to work."
	Ryouga gaped at Ukyou and finally said, "Wha...?"
	Ranma was practically bouncing up and down. "What a GREAT
idea, Ucchan!"
	Ukyou flushed.
	Ranma added, "But it isn't going to be easy having him around,
Ucchan! I mean you will have to keep an eye on him constantly... or else
he might get lost or become Cantonese style pork....."
	Ukyou giggled.
	All Ryouga could say was, "RAAAAAANNNNNNNNNMMMMAAA!"
	Ranma let Ryouga chase him around a bit before he finally said,
"Shouldn't we be working or something?"
	Ryouga stopped and muttered, "Uh. Yeah. So, Ukyou.... when do
we start?"
	Ukyou smiled and ordered, "Right NOW! Start cleaning those 
tables! I will show you to your room when this place is SPOTLESS!!"
	Ryouga and Ranma frantically began to clean and Ukyou just
sat down and sighed in contentment, glad to be off her feet for once.
	
********

	Ranma was LATE. VERY late. Akane didn't understand it.
Ranma was never late. He had missed snowcones, and Ranma NEVER
missed food. It was now 11:00 PM, way past bedtime, and both of them
school tomorrow. That was also not like Ranma. He would never give
up on sleep unless he had a really good reason. After all... Ranma's
favorite things in all the world were sleep and food.... only beat out
by martial arts, and even that didn't beat out sleep and food ALL the time.
In fact, several of Ranma's battles were OVER food and sleep.
	Akane was starting to get worried. She hated worrying.
ESPECIALLY about a no-good hentai jerk baka with no brain whatsoever.
Akane looked at the clock again and sighed. 11:04. Where WAS he?
	Suddenly, she heard someone knocking at her window. She looked
out over her desk and saw the dark head and bright blue eyes of the
baka she had been wasting time worrying about. Akane strode over
to the window and slammed it open and Ranma bounced in. Akane 
placed her hands on her hips and said fiercely, "You better have a
GOOD reason for being so late."
	"What, are you my mom?" Ranma asked, surprised at her
behavior. He wondered what was wrong, and guessed that she could
still be mad about the kiss in the bathroom. He stared at her,
confused.
	Akane looked like she was ready to hit him and shouted,
"Shut UP!!!"
	Suddenly, it dawned on Ranma, and he said quietly, "You
were worried about me."
	Akane turned bright red and said sharply, "I was NOT! You
take your..."
	Then she realized how quietly he had said it, as if he was
GLAD she had worried about him; he wasn't just using her caring
against her as he usually did. He had made a statement, not a 
taunt.
	Akane looked slowly up at Ranma who was staring at
her with a strange light in his eyes.
	"Ranma....?" She asked, a bit surprised.
	Ranma just looked at Akane who looked beautiful in a 
pale yellow nightgown and he could tell her hair was still slightly
wet from taking a bath or shower. He could smell a soft, sweet
scent like lilacs coming from her. He sighed, and said, "Akane,
you look really nice tonight."
	Akane looked shocked, and began to alternate from 
white to red, a flush blooming on her cheeks. Suddenly, 
Ranma was there, and he put his arms around her. She looked
up into his eyes and saw something there that could be....
might be.....was it? was it love?
	Then, Ranma kissed her.
	It wasn't quite as awkward as earlier, as Ranma was prepared
this time, and both were not quite as scared as before. He started
first to kiss her lightly, enjoying the soft petal-like quality of her
lips. His eyes closed and he drew her closer to him, reaching his hand
up to stroke her soft hair. Akane stroked her hands down his back,
enjoying the feel of his slightly tense muscles. It was wonderful.
Suddenly Ranma deepened the kiss, and Akane jumped a bit, not
used to the feel of his tongue in her mouth, and also a bit shocked
by the intimacy of what she was experiencing with Ranma. It was
so unusual... she could even taste a certain flavor in his mouth,
not a bad flavor, more like.....
	Suddenly, Akane froze. She might be the worst cook
in all of Japan and not know table salt from baking soda, but
she prided herself on knowing the flavors and tastes of several
different kinds of foods. She could tell a fine meal from a bad
one, which was why she usually didn't try her own food, and 
could identify flavors as second nature. And she knew exactly
what she tasted with Ranma.
	Akane's hand flew back and suddenly slapped Ranma
soundly across the cheek. Ranma's hand flew to his face and he
looked shocked. "What didja do THAT for?" he wanted to know,
looking more hurt on the inside than on the outside.
	Akane yelled at him, "Get OUT of my ROOM! Go BACK
to Ukyou's!! That is where you have been all evening, RIGHT?
You IDIOT! I could taste the okonomiyaki! If you prefer her company,
leave ME alone!!!"
	Ranma began to babble, "No. NO!! Akane, you are SO
wrong! That isn't it at ALL...."
	Akane would hear none of it and punted Ranma out the
still-open window. She heard a splash as Ranma landed in the
pond below and leaned out the window to shout, "And LEAVE
ME ALONE!! I, unlike SOME people, need to get my sleep for
SCHOOL!!" Akane slammed the window shut and fell to the 
bed, the tears starting again. She reached up and touched her
lips; they felt strange still from Ranma's kiss.
	"Ranma no BAKA!!" she muttered, before going to 
turn the light off and crawling under the covers. Sleep was
bound to be difficult after this strange day. However, after
a bit of tossing and turning, Akane sank into the depths of
slumber.
	Ranma-chan climbed out of the pond, wringing out his/her
shirt. He/she wanted to go explain to Akane. Ranma wanted to tell her
he/she was sorry and to tell her the truth. He had to admit it: he also
wanted to kiss her again. He put his hands to his lips and
sighed... wishing it hadn't ended the way it did. He looked up
at the moon, but all he saw was how Akane had looked in her
nightgown with her freshly washed hair, superimposed over the
cool white globe.
	Ranma smiled at the image and said quietly, "Kawaii....."



End of Part III


Part IV: Who does Ranma Love? Akane vs. Ukyou? Ryouga's love!
All coming in the next part of "A Lesson in Love!"

P.S. There will be 8 parts to this fanfiction.

Part    I:   The Kiss
Part   II:   Learning to Love
Part  III:   Okonomiyaki and Jealousy
Part   IV:   Lost Loves Found
Part    V:   Confessions
Part   VI:   Absence and Lonliness
Part  VII:   The Beach at Night
Part VIII:   The Road We Travel
Marisa Price
marisa@gladstone.uoregon.edu
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/
Member of COR and UDIC.
Anime otaku forever, Medieval Studies and English major.