Note: WW, you can put this up on the remailer if you have time...
arigatou :)

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A Lesson in Love
Chapter 9: Confessions

        "Akane, she knows. Nabiki knows about my falling asleep
in your room last night," Ranma said after closing Akane's door
behind him.
        "WHAT?!" Akane asked, shocked.
        Ranma nodded and walked over to sit on Akane's bed. She 
sat down next to him and looked at him worriedly.
        "How do you know that?" she asked.
        Ranma sighed and said, "Well, I was walking out of the 
bathroom today and she was coming in, and she had this HUGE smile on
her face and she said something like, 'Have fun last night, Ranma?'"
        Akane just gaped at him. She finally managed to say, "What 
are we going to do? You know Nabiki... this is going to be all over
the place before lunchtime."
        Ranma nodded and added, "And... knowing her... she probably
took lots of pictures to sell."
        To Ranma's surprise, Akane stood up, her face red and
furious, and yelled at him, "I know you don't like her much and I 
know that she can be sneaky, but she would never to that to her 
sister!!"
        Ranma stood up and yelled back, "Oh YES she would! That girl
don't have ANY morals at ALL!!"
        Akane slapped him.
        Ranma, so shocked that he could no longer stand, dropped to
the bed. How could she hit him after all that had happened between
them?
        He started to get angry and said, "Fine, Akane. Fine. Believe
what you want. But I am going to get that film from her before school
starts, just you watch. THEN you will believe me."
        Akane started to cry and Ranma walked stiffly from the room.

******

        Ryouga woke up to someone hitting him on the head.
        Repeatedly.
        He thought it was his imagination at first, and began to wave
his hands to brush off the imaginary attacker. Then he heard the
voice yelling at him.
        "RYOOOOOOO-GAAAA!! Wake up, dammit!" someone shouted.
        Ryoga sat up quickly, blinking his eyes, and muttered a
confused, "HUH?"
        Ukyou sighed and put her hands on her hips, looking at the
eternally lost boy and shaking her head. She finally gave him one
more whap for good measure and yelled, "Get UP, STUPID!!!"
        Ryouga finally fully opened his eyes and looked up at Ukyou,
who was still dressed in her pajamas and a thick robe. He said,
surprised, "Ukyou?" He started to look around the room and added,
"Where am I?"
        Ukyou hung her head in frustration and said, "Ryouga, you
can be SUCH a moron. You are in YOUR room at MY store, REMEMBER?"
        Ryouga's mind began to catch up with the situation and he
finally said, "OH!" He smacked his head and laughed an uncomfortable
laugh, blushing a bit.
        Ukyou gave him another disgusted look and then said, "Get up.
We have to get the restaurant ready before we go to school. When I
come home to serve the lunch crowd everything needs to be ready."
        Ryouga muttered something incoherent and started to get out
of bed. Ukyou, her task completed, turned and left the room.
        "Damn, that was weird." Ryouga thought. "She is so...so...
BOSSY!"
        He stood and walked over to his dresser, taking out the
new uniform and slowly putting it on. He instinctively also grabbed
his bandana, deciding that he didn't care WHAT Ukyou thought... if
she could carry her stupid spatula to school, then he should be 
allowed to take his bandana. After all, it wasn't just an accessory:
it was a weapon.
        He walked over to the small sink in the corner, brushed his
teeth, and did his best to comb out his somewhat unruly hair. Feeling
somewhat ready, he took one last glance in the mirror.
        He stopped for a moment and just looked at himself. He
wondered what girls thought when they looked at him. He only 
really had personal experience with four girls to speak of: Akane,
Akari, Ukyou, and Shampoo. Shampoo mostly just ignored him, Ukyou
always yelled at him, Akane had never noticed him, and Akari...
well Akari had seemed to like him.
        He wondered how she was doing.
        It had been a while since he had seen Akari. He was so filled
with determination after Ranma and Akane's "wedding" to find her
that he had searched for weeks.
        Nothing.
        "DAMN!!!" he said, slamming his fist out into the mirror,
cracking it.
        He paused, trying to control his anger and depression, not
wanting to release his ki energy and destroy Ukyou's store. He took
in several deep breaths, trying to shut out thoughts of loneliness
and despair. 
        He hated that he couldn't find his way anywhere. He hated his
curse. But most of all, he hated that he was so indecisive and unable
to say what he felt to the people he cared about.
        If he could find Akari now, he would tell her. He would tell
her that he loved her.
        But how was he supposed to find her with his 'ailment' ?
        Ryouga slowly pulled his fist away from the mirror, small
shards of glass falling into the sink. He turned on some warm water
and washed his slightly bloody hand, watching the red swirl away
down the sink. He pulled off one of his excess bandanas and wrapped
it tightly around his hand, thankful that the pain was minor.
        Unlike the pain in his heart.
        Ryouga had lost Akane to Ranma, and Akari to his own stupidity.
        It was laugable actually. Ukyou was right about him. Ryouga
turned and picked up his new school bag; it was filled with a few of
Ukyou's older schoolbooks, as he had placed a year behind the others
as far as academic proficiency. Not surprising, considering he had
skipped out on school for the past three years while chasing after
Ranma.
        Another of his mistakes.
        He managed to make it to the door and moved out into the 
hallway. He closed his eyes, concentrating, and then opened them to
look down the hallway.
        "The way is clear, you just have to recognize it." Ryouga
thought to himself, quoting a self-help book he had picked up not
too long ago.
        He started walking, not letting his concentration wander.
He reached out and opened the new door before him, certain that this
was the correct door to the dining room.
        He opened it.
        "ARRRRRRRRRRRGHGHHGHGHHHHH!!! RYOUGA!!! What the HELL are you
DOING?" Ukyou screamed, holding a towel up to her chest.
        Ryouga's nose spouted a new fountain and he fell to the floor,
twitching. His only thought was, "Wrong door. Wrong door." Then, "Damn
self-help books!"
        Twenty minutes later (Ukyou having cleaned Ryouga up and 
dragged him into the dining room, sat him down with some breakfast,
and then returned to her room to finished getting dressed) Ryouga
finshed setting up the restaurant in anticipation for the later 
lunch crowd.
        He sat down at one of the tables and began to rythmically tap
his fingers, waiting for Ukyou. He thought back to her in that
towel...
        "Wow." he thought, "She sure is attractive when she isn't
so distant..."
        He smacked his head, and then winced. "Damn, forgot about
the hand...." He sighed. And, by thinking of Ukyou, he had also 
forgotten about Akari. Just as when he was after Akane, he had
*thoughts* about Akari, and about Ranma when he fooled him with those
stupid, albeit convincing, disguises of his. It was THAT which 
prevented him from finding someone to love: his indeciseveness and
ability to be easily distracted.
        His tapping fingers went down a little hard at that negative
thought, and he stared blankly at the new hole he had made in the
table.
        "Whoops!" he thought. He decided to move one of the napkins
slightly over the hole, barely covering it. He jumped up and moved to
a different table, hoping that Ukyou wouldn't notice.
        "Where IS she anyway?" he thought, looking up at the clock
on the wall and noticing that they only had fifteen minutes left to
get to school.
        As if on cue, Ukyou walked into the room. She spun around,
getting Ryouga's attention, and asked, "Well? How does it look?"
        Ryouga felt his nose heating up again.
        "What, are you trying to kill me today or something?" Ryouga
asked, holding his nose.
        "Huh?" Ukyou asked, looking blankly back at him.
        She was dressed in her typical uniform-- but with a new
twist. She had put on slightly tighter pants, probably an older pair,
and her jacket wasn't completely unbuttoned, revealing a tight
white t-shirt underneath. Ryogua noticed, his face reddening, 
that she had obviously given up on binding her breasts and made 
use of those bras she had bought the day before.
        Ryouga felt like he was going to explode. He couldn't believe
that such a small change could make her look so.... gorgeous.
        She looked at him strangely, and asked, "What? I mean, it
is only a little bit more feminine than what I usually wear." She
stood there looking puzzled at Ryouga's reaction.
        Ryoga managed to say, his voice a bit nasal (as his nose was
still plugged), "You...you...you..."
        "Yes?" Ukyou asked, impatient.
        Finally Ryouga got out, "Wow. You look really good. I mean,
you don't have to wear a dress to look feminine."
        Ukyou smiled at that and came over to give Ryouga a small,
quick, hug. He paled.
        "What's wrong?" she asked.
        "Uh... just haven't got a lot of hugs from girls, you know?"
        Ukyou patted him on the back, grabbed and tossed him his
schoolbag, took his hand, and started to walk out the door. She 
looked back over her shoulder at him and said, "Thanks, Ryouga...
again."

*****

        Nabiki grinned, a roll of film in her hands. She held the 
most... VALUABLE... pictures of her career clutched tightly to her
side. She had woken up this morning, wondering if her luck had all
been a dream; instead, she had found the camera still sitting on
her dresser, the LCD screen reading 36. She HAD taken those pictures.
        She grinned again. Nabiki was so happy that she didn't even
notice Ranma until she had run right into his chest. He stood in 
front of the stairs, blocking any way downward.
        "What do you want, Ranma-kun?" She asked, surprised but wary.
        Ranma held out his hand.
        "What?" she asked again.
        "Give it to me." Ranma said, coldly.
        "Give WHAT to you?" she asked.
        "The film."
        "What film?" Nabiki asked, blinking her eyes.
        "I don't hurt girls; don't make me make an exception in your
case," Ranma said quietly.
	Nabiki gave a careless laugh and started to push Ranma aside
so that she could walk down the stairs, and said over her shoulder,
"I have NO idea what you are talking about, Ranma-kun."
	Ranma grabbed Nabiki by the shoulders and slammed her up
against the wall, shocking her and causing her to let the film drop
from her fingers.
        "No idea, huh?" he said as he leaned down and picked it up.
He crushed it in his hand and let the remains crumble to the ground.
Ranma turned and looked at Nabiki, his eyes filled with disgust.
Nabiki shivered and sank down the wall, still horrified that Ranma
had actually pushed her.
        Ranma said, quietly, "Nabiki, you're such a bitch. I thought
about it this morning... and I realized that there was no way you 
could have missed what was going on between Akane and me last night,
not with you being so nosy. And I just KNEW you couldn't resist
such an 'opportunity.'"
        Nabiki looked up at him, her eyes wide.
        Ranma added, "It just disgusts me. I didn't want to believe
it was true. I mean, selling me out is one thing, but selling PICTURES
of your own SISTER and her fiancee is just... just..." he struggled for
a word and finally said, "low."
        Somehow, though his words were far from earth-shattering,
Ranma managed to get through to Nabiki. Her icy demeanor fell, and
tears began to roll down her cheeks. She looked at the crushed film
and at Ranma's disgusted face, and thought about the implications of
what she had been about to do.
        Ranm said, sharply, "Just don't EVER think of doing it again.
Our personal life is just that now... PERSONAL. And you better not
tell anyone what you saw... Akane and me will tell them, GOT IT?"
         Nabiki started to choke on her tears, she was crying so hard.
         Ranma was about to say something more, but Nabiki stood up 
too quickly and ran back to her room.
        Akane moved out from the half-shut closet where she had
stood listening to the conversation between her sister and her
fiancee. She ran into Ranma's arms, tears trickling down her cheeks,
and said, "Ranma... I'm sorry I didn't believe you...."
        He held her close to him and said, "It's ok Akane... I'm sorry
too..."
        Akane looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and asked,
"Should I go talk to her?"
        Ranma shook his head, looked down the hall at Nabiki's
closed door, and said, "No... I think she needs to do some serious
thinking about herself right now...."
        In her room, Nabiki sat and looked at her money and sighed.
She wondered if money was so important to her because she didn't have
someone like Ranma to love her... all she had to love was cold, hard,
cash. She reached up and wiped away the tear that trickled down her
cheek.

*****

        Breakfast went normally, Akane being too upset to deal with
anyone was her normally grouchy and snappish self, and Ranma devoured
his food with his usual gusto and to the exclusion of everyone else.
        Akane sighed with relief as they walked out of the Tendo 
fence and said, "Well, looks as if we have kept our secret a little
longer."
        Ranma smiled, and, when they were out of sight of the Dojo,
slowly took Akane's hand in his own and pressed a small kiss to her
forhead.
        He said, "I do love you. Sorry about this morning."
        Akane said, "I love you too. And, you know, the more I think
about it, the more I realize that this experience may have been good
for Nabiki."
        Ranma nodded, thinking, "Well at least I don't have to worry 
about Kuno getting a hold of those pictures." He shuddered. He could
just imagine it, "RAAAANNNNNNNMMMMMAA!! You have defiled my beauteous
Akane!!!!" Ranma shuddered again.
        Akane just looked up at him and smiled. And Ranma realized
that everything was going to work out, somehow.
         
*******

        Ukyou and Ryouga came around the corner, she was dragging him
at full speed, and he was doing his best not to notice what EXACTLY
moved differently when she ran dressed in this new outfit. Suddenly,
Ukyou halted.
        Ryouga found his face planted into the ground as he lost his
balance due to the suddeness of her stop. He sat up and growled, 
"WHAT'RE you DOING?"
        Ukyou just looked forward at a distant point. Ryouga followed
her line of sight and then he saw it. Coming toward them, hand in
hand, were Ranma and Akane. They stopped and Ranma placed a kiss on 
Akane's forehead.
        Ryouga stood up and slowly took Ukyou's hand and squeezed.
He didn't know what else to do. He looked at the happy pair and did
his best not to start screaming, "NOOOOOOOOO!"
        And, somehow, his heart and mind reminded him that it was 
inevitable.
        Ukyou just stood there, not a word, not a sound, not a tear.
        Then she turned and ran.
        Ryouga was unsure as to what he should do; he wanted to run
after Ukyou, but he knew that he would only get lost. So he stood
there and waited for them to walk up to him.
        Ranma and Akane did not see Ryouga until they were right in
front of him, so interested were they in each other. Akane was the
first to see Ryouga and stopped, and her eyes clouded.
        Ranma, still chatting about something, noticed Akane's halt
and looked up.
        There was silence for a few minutes.
        "Uh.... Good morning..." Ryouga tried.
        Akane looked up at him with dewy eyes and said, "Ryouga."
Then Akane turned to Ranma and said, "Go on to school, Ranma. I want
to talk to Ryouga for a few minutes."
        Ranma looked questioningly at her, but finally nodded and
squeezed her hand before he turned, hoped up on the fence and ran
off.
        Ryouga looked at Akane, unsure as to what was going on, and
asked, "Uh... Akane?"
        Akane reached out a hand gave Ryouga a soft-slap against his
face... no sound ... no pain... but a slap nonetheless.
        She looked up at him and said, softly, "Why didn't you tell
me?! WHY?! How COULD you?!"
        Ryouga's eyes widened and he choked out, "What...what....
WHAT do you mean?"
        Akane sighed and said, "I know, Ryouga. I know about P-chan.
I know about your curse."
        Ryouga paled in degrees, finally so white that he looked
as if he was going to expire on the spot. It was his worst nightmare
come true.
        Akane added, "I know that you were in love with me too... So
WHY did you lie?! I TRUSTED you!!!"
        That stabbed Ryouga the deepest. She knew he had loved her 
and she had still gone for Ranma. He felt his heart, already only
barely in one piece, shatter.
        He growled, "Did RANMA tell you? DID HE? Did he break his
code of honor?!"
        Akane shook her head and said, "No no... I guessed. It all 
just added up when Ranma said that the two of you were going back to
China...."
        Ryouga clenched his fists and shut his eyes.
        Akane said soothingly, "Ryouga... I DO care about you... you
are one of my best friends... and I don't mind about the curse... 
though I wish you had told me... but...."
        Ryouga had heard this speech before, but it had been Ranma
telling it to Ukyou. He wanted to scream. He pulled away from Akane
and opened his eyes. He said, tears streaming down his cheeks, "I
AM sorry, Akane. SO sorry. I... just wanted to be close to you. I
do love you... I always will... I'm SORRY!"
        Then he turned and ran.
        Akane shouted, shoucked, "RYOUGA!!!! WAIT!!!! Please, PLEASE,
don't leave!! You'll get lost!!" 
        But Ryouga was too fast for her, knocking down anything that
got in his way, and Akane had to stop to take in a deep breath. She
sank back against one of the walls of a nearby building and thought,
"Ryouga. First Nabiki, and now Ryouga. What an awful start to a day."
        She looked off into the distance where Ryouga had disappered
and thought, "I hope you are alright Ryouga... and PLEASE come back..."

*****

        Ryouga fought his way through several bushes and brambles,
desperately trying to find his way SOMEWHERE. Where was he going?
Home? Which home? It was even worse being lost if you had no place
that you were trying to find. He knew he couldn't go back to Nerima.
        How long had he been lost this time? It seemed like days, but
it could have been weeks. He growled, knocking down a particularly
large tree which stood in front of him.
        What was Ukyou thinking? Was she worried because he had never
come home? Was she O.K., despite the fact that Ranma and Akane were
together? Maybe he should go back, just to tell Ukyou that he was
alright and to check on her.  Maybe....
        Ryouga's musings halted as he suddenly found himself falling
off of a large cliff. He looked down at the rapidly approaching
ground and noticed that it was.... MOVING?!
        Ryouga landed with a splash of mud and looked around at the
figures surrounding him. PIGS.
        Ryouga groaned and said, "PIGS?! Why does it ALWAYS have to
be PIGS?!!!!"
        He sighed and slowly started to stand up.
        Suddenly a voice cried, "STOP! Who are you and what are you
doing in my pen?"
        In front of him stood a pretty girl and a large white pig. 
Ryouga's jaw dropped and then he said, cautiously, "A...A...Akari?!"
        The girl took a closer look at the muddy figure and noticed
the bandana. She smiled and jumped over the fence, throwing herself
into his arms and shouting, "RYOUGA-SAMA!!!!"
        And they stood there, among the pigs, embracing.


End of Chapter 9 
Marisa Price
marisa@gladstone.uoregon.edu
Anime Page!!! http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/
Mermaid Saga WebPage!!
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/mermaid.html
Member of COR and UDIC.