A Lesson in Love By Marisa Price Part III 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, but 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 had been 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. Ukyou watched as they munched happily and hungrily, wondering what was going on. 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 also. The look of amazement just wasn't fading. 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?" Both Ryouga and Ranma looked surprised, and then Ranma said, "Uh... not exactly." "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. Ranma 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 Ranchan 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 his now half-full glass of water, and 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 shocked and 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 sickly pale to a bright blush. Ranma wondered if she was going to faint or scream or something. She did neither: instead, she burst out laughing. Ukyou giggled and choked and pointed her finger at P-chan, gasping, "Ryouga... YOU are P-CHAN?!!" Ryouga stopped chewing on Ranma’s hand, and sank to the table in despair. Small tears formed at the corners of his eyes. He looked miserable. Ukyou noticed Ryouga’s tears and tried to calm herself. It was, to say the least, difficult. She got out, "Oh....Ryouga....I am so-so-sorry!" Then she giggled again. "But it is SO funny!" Tears of laughter started to stream down her face, 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 becoming a bit more coherent, "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 completely, 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 care about 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. It was nice that all of Ranma's friends were always prepared with hot water for situations just like this. Ryouga got up from his pile of clothing, went over to the grill, managed to knock the teapot over and splash the hot water on himself. He was a bit red and scalded when he walked back over to the table, also completely nude (covering his private parts though, of course), but needing to get his clothing. 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 who had just wandered 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. His face flaming, Ryouga looked over to see Ukyou and Ranma still absorbed in their conversation, and he finally decided it would be safe enough to hide behind the grill and change. Not meaning to eavesdrop, but deciding it was unavoidable lest he get lost again, Ryouga 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 wood surface. 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're welcome, Ranchan." Ryouga decided that it was time to interrupt this little touching interlude, and coughed loudly to remind the two that he was there. Ranma turned and looked at Ryouga and asked, curious, "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 Nekohantan." 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, as Ryouga expected, 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. "Why not? You do it all the time!" "RANNNNNNMMMMAA!!" "I have an idea," Ukyou interrupted quietly. 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." Ranma chuckled at that and said, "You would be surprised, Ucchan..." Ranma then ducked, expecting to be decked by Ryouga. Ryouga, however, was still gaping at Ukyou and finally said, "Wha...?" It hit Ranma that this meant the Ryouga would be out of his hair in BOTH forms around the Tendo dojo, Ranma was practically bouncing up and down. "You know, this is 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, she had heard about Shampoo's little "lunch" for Ranma, made an even funnier story now that she know that Akane's pet pig was RYOUGA. Ryouga, tired of bing put down, could say only "RAAAAAANNNNNNNNNMMMMAAA!" at that point. 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! Ranma! You can go home when you finish. Ryouga! 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 had 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, Akane realized, 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? She thought back to the kiss they had shared earlier. She still hadn't figured out what it meant. One minute he had kissed her back, and the next minute he went to hide in the bathroom. "Coward," she muttered. She had looked for him around the dojo after that, but there was no sign of him. She figured he had run off somewhere, but she didn't have the inclination to go wandering about in the dark looking for him. Was he mad because she had kissed him? Did he not like her? No, that couldn't be it. He had obviously responded to the kiss. She sighed. Where WAS he ANYWAY? Baka. The least he could do would be to come TALK about it. Suddenly, she heard someone knocking at her window. She looked out over her desk and saw the dark head and bright blue-grey eyes of the baka she had been wasting her 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. Akane looked like she was ready to hit him and shouted, "Shut UP!!!" He wondered what was wrong, and guessed that she could still be mad about the kiss in the bathroom. But mad about WHAT? SHE had kissed HIM. He stared at her, confused. 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 soft glow in his eyes. "Ranma....?" She asked, a bit cautious. Ranma just looked at Akane. She 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 blush, the pink flush blooming on her cheeks. Suddenly, Ranma was coming toward her, and he slowly 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 his eyes closed, and so did hers. She waited, anticipating his next move, but not quite believing it was going to happen. But it did. Ranma slowly lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. It wasn’t quite as awkward as earlier, as Ranma was prepared this time, and both were not quite as scared. He started at first by kissing 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 she was experiencing with Ranma. It was too new... and a bit frightening... and so different from anything she had ever shared with Ranma... different from anything she had shared with ANYONE as a matter of fact. At first, she was a bit disgusted by this intimate act, but she began to enjoy it. The sensation send chills up her spine. She thought about the kiss and Ranma, finding it so strange that 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. She 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 still felt strange 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 her shirt. He wanted to go explain to Akane. Ranma wanted to tell her he 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!