At first glance, this fanfic might appear to be merely a novelization
of the Ukyou secret sauce story.  However, it will diverge quite
drastically as time goes on. :)  In this fanfic, I'm attempting to
get inside the character's minds, and of course, the small changes
that I made in the very beginning start to really add up by the end
of this part :).  I already have the subsequent parts sketched out
roughly in my mind, and by the time you get towards what would be
the end of the Secret Sauce story arc, some things are definitely,
very, very, different. ^_^ 


The Promise
by
David H. Lee

davelee@mail.princeton.edu


The early afternoon sun shone in through the windows of Ucchan's
Okonomiyakiya, dimly illuminating the top of the grill and casting 
a shadow on the open floor panel.  The lunch rush was over, and the
few stragglers that remained were politely yet firmly ushered outside.  
"Today's the day I get to see how that sauce I bottle ten years ago
turned out," she said to herself, as she looked downward into the 
secret space underneath the floor.  Ukyou bent over the ceramic pot 
ensconced comfortably in that space and firmly planted her hands 
on the sides of it.

"I wonder how this sauce will taste," she said softly to herself, 
grunting as she hefted the heavy pot up out of the hole. Quickly she 
undid the seal and removed the covering from the top of the pot.  She 
pulled out a small ladle, gently dipped it into the sauce, and brought 
it to her mouth.  The horrible taste overwhelmed her body, causing her
to lose consciousness.  A few moments later she opened her eyes, and
the full meaning of what had just happened hit her.  She had devoted
her entire life to being an okonomiyaki cook, yet she had failed at
that horribly.  Ten gallons of evidence was sitting in the dark brown
pot in front of her.  If she couldn't be a good cook, then what was
left for her?  

Ukyou began to feel weak, depressed by her failure to mix together
a decent okonomiyaki sauce ten years earlier, and slightly poisoned
by the noxious concoction that had passed her soft lips.  <I've got
to get some help,> she thought, <being sick alone and depressed like
this, I don't know if I'd even get better...  Maybe I'd even ... >
She kicked herself mentally at the thought of suicide, knowing that
she couldn't betray her Ranchan like that.  "Ranchan, I know I can
count on you," she said softly, thinking about their friendship 
together, and wishing it were more than just that.  Ukyou felt a 
small respite from her depression, encouraged by the thought of her
childhood friend, and motivated herself to get up and walk over to
the Tendo residence.  

			*	*	*

"Ne, Ranma? What happened to Ukyou today?  Did she say she was taking
the day off or something?" Akane asked as they left school a bit after
three in the afternoon. 

"Don't look at me," Ranma replied with a hint of suspicion, "it's not
as if I know what's she's doing all the time."

"Well it certainly SEEMS that way sometimes," she replied with a slight
edge in her voice.

Ranma, seeing where the conversation was headed in an unusual burst of
insight, chose not to pursue the matter, and the two managed to walk
the rest of the way home in relative silence.  He thought a bit about
Ukyou, realizing that there was some truth to what Akane had said.
<But isn't Ukyou my iinazuke as well?> he thought, <and besides, we've
been friends since we were little.>  Despite his rationalization of
the issue, he still felt a tinge of guilt as the two arrived at home.

Any guilt that he felt over his relationship with Ukyou, platonic as
it was, was promptly replaced by concern as he found her lying on a 
futon in the Tendo's living room, apparently sick.  "What's wrong
Utchan?" he asked with a look of concern on his face.  Akane fought
back a hint of jealousy that was working out of her unconscious mind,
and sat calmly, concerned for Ukyou's health as well. 

"It's this sauce," Ukyou replied weakly.  "Here, taste it," she said
as she sat up and ladled some of it out of the pot and held it out
to Akane and Ranma.  Both of them cautiously tasted it, and reacted
violently.  Their lips puckered in a reflex action as their eyes 
tried to work themselves out of their sockets.  "I made that sauce
ten years ago by myself from one of my dad's recipes.  I had to steal
it from him for a while to do it," she told them.  

"You mean, this is your sauce?" Ranma asked incredulously, knowing
how good a cook his friend was.  "Are you sure you didn't accidentally
mix it up with something Akane made or somethin'?"

"Ra-n-ma!!!" Akane intoned in a voice that implied impending pain
and suffering. "Just what do you mean by that!"  Her battle aura
began to flare and grow with her anger, but subsided as Ukyou cut
in.

"I've failed, Ranchan... All this time, I've tried to be the best
okonomiyaki cook I could be, but I've failed..."  Ukyou said, on
the verge of breaking into tears.  

Suddenly the memory of that time when Ukyou had made that particular 
sauce came back to Ranma, as well as the incident shortly thereafter
when he spilled the whole pot as he tried to sample it in secret. 
Images of his throwing various ingredients into the pot randomly in
an attempt to cover his tracks floated around his mind.  His hand
floated to the back of his head and began scratching as he let out
a few sickly laughs, "Heh heh... this is that sauce from ten years
ago? heh heh..."  A flood of guilt assaulted him at the sight of
his childhood friend being dragged into depression as a result of
something that wasn't even her fault, yet he couldn't bring himself
to tell the truth.
   
Meanwhile, Akane had gone off to the kitchen to fetch something.
She stumbled ominously in the doorway as she entered the room 
carrying a tray with a covered ceramic bown and a plastic spoon.
"Hai.  I brought you this soup, Ukyou.  Hope you like it," Akane
said cheerfully as she presented a bowl of what appeared to be miso
soup.  

"How nice of you," Ukyou replied, taking the tray from Akane.  She
opened the cover and picked up the spoon.  Slowly, she dipped the
spoon in the soup, brought it to her mouth, and passed out as soon
as it reached her tongue.  Ukyou dropped the spoon and fell solidly
to the futon with a THUMP. 

			*	*	*

Ukyou, Akane, Ranma, Souun, and Genma-Panda sat casually around the
dinner table as Genma-Panda sipped his tea.  "You know, Ukyou-kun, 
it's not a good idea for you to be alone while you're sick.  Why 
don't you stay with us for awhile?" Souun offered.  

"That's so kind of you," Ukyou replied demurely, "But I don't want
to be a bother."

"But Utchan!  You're sick, and on top of that you ate some of Akane's
cooking!" Ranma interjected. 

"What did you say, Ranma?!" Akane shouted in anger at the implied 
insult to her culinary skills.

Ukyou thought quickly, realizing that she'd have an opportunity to
be close to Ranma.  Attempting to defuse the situation she tried to
placate Akane.  "Akane-chan, it'll just be until I get a bit better."

"Sorry," Akane replied, starting to feel slightly embarassed that
her temper had gotten out of hand again.

<I got her into this mess,> Ranma thought to himself, <I guess I
have to do something to make up for it.  I guess I won't mind
spending a little more time with her... Gah I should stop thinking
like that, I'm engaged to Akane, and besides she's just my friend,
nothing more...>  <You're engaged to Utchan too you know,> came 
another voice inside his head.  Ranma mentally shook it off, and
said, "I'll do anything I can to help you out, Utchan."

"Ranchan," she said, taken aback by his sudden change, "why are you
being so nice all of a sudden?" 

"Well, uh, you know," Ranma started, unable to say anything.  An image
of various random ingredients being thrown into a sauce pot filled
his head suddenly strengthened his resolve.  <This is my chance to
make it up to her.> he thought.  <And I can't let her know that I
did that...>  "Baka," he said, "we have a good relationship with each
other, don't we? Isn't that reason enough?"

Ukyou stared back in shock, her eyes glistening with tears as Ranma
took her hands in his. "Ranchan..." <He does love me after all,> 
she thought to herself.  <I hope he meant what he said...>

			*	*	*

"You can put that right over there, Ranchan," Ukyou said, directing
Ranma over to the corner.

"Hai," he responded, carrying one of her suitcases.  Several futons
and packages were littered around the room, obviously belonging to
Ukyou.  

"Geez, you'd think she's moving in here for good," Nabiki commented
wryly as she looked at the large assortment of furniture and clothing
that Ukyou had brought.  <Then again, maybe she _does_ think she's
moving in permanently,> she thought.  <I wonder if I can make any 
money off of this.>

"Oh my," Kasumi said, standing next to her little sister, "I wonder
why she brought all this stuff with her."

"Ukyou, is it reaaally necessary to move into Ranma's room?"  Akane
asked, the strain in her face evident as she affected a fake smile.

"Masaka... You don't think that I'm trying to steal Ranma or anything?"
she replied in defense.  <I'm hoping that he'll come to me willingly,>
she thought.

			*	*	*

"Ranma, what's going on here?" Akane asked, standing outside next to
a thoughtful Ranma, who was perched on a birdhouse.  "When did you
become such a generous guy?"  <And so damn nice to that Ukyou... I
wonder if he really does like her?> she thought.  <Stop worrying
youself, they're childhood friends after all.>

"What the heck are you talkin' about?  I've always been like this,"
Ranma replied.

"Yeah right," Akane said, not believing a single word.  "There's
something about the past that you're not telling me, isn't there?"
she said, continuing to pry at Ranma, slightly annoyed by his recent
warm relations with Ukyou.

"W-what makes you say that?" he said nervously, as he began to lose
his balance, falling from his perch atop the birdhouse.

"Hah! So I was right!" she said triumphantly. 

"All right you win," he said with a sigh.  "Utchan and I have had
this thing hangin' over us for ten years.  You wouldn't understand
it." 

Akane felt the whole world crash down around her as she heard those
words.  <Ten years?> she thought.  <How can I compete with a girl
who's had that kind of a head start?>  Akane began to feel despair,
something that she had never felt before.  Each time she was in 
danger, or was kidnapped, she had known that Ranma would come to
save her.  But this time, she was on her own.  She walked back into
the house leaving Ranma to lie on the ground by himself, and climbed
onto her bed in her room, hugging her knees to her chest, wishing
that she had Ranma there instead.  <Ranma...  I love you.>

			*	*	*

Ranma sat in the bathtub, relaxing in the hot water.  The soothing 
heat loosened his tight muscles and cleared his mind.  <What am I
going to do,> he thought to himself.  <I can't hurt Utchan, but at
the same time, how can I keep lying to her?>  He sighed at his
dilemma.  <I'll just take it as it co-> "URK!"  Ranma submerged 
himself in the water as he spotted Ukyou entering the bathroom. 

"Ranchan?  I'm here to wash your back for you!  It's the least I
could do, after you've been so nice to me and all," she said while
holding a sponge in her hand.  

"Er no! I mean, I'm fine as it is, thanks!" he replied hurriedly.
<Why is she doing this?  Is she just trying to be nice, or does
she really ....  Besides I'm engaged to Akane, I can't let her
see me naked...>

Akane suddenly appeared in the bathroom, shinai in hand, as her
battle aura flared out from her body.  Ranma cowered and Ukyou
stood back in shock as Akane brought the wooden instrument down
on Ranma's head repeatedly with force.  Ukyou was reduced to tears
as she watched her beloved Ranchan get hit over and over.  
<My god, how can she do that to him and still claim him as hers,>
she thought, <the nerve of that girl, hitting my Ranchan like that.>
Unable to take the sight any longer, she fled from the bathroom
and went upstairs to wait for Ranma.

Any pleasant thoughts concerning Akane that had entered his mind
just as quickly left as the first blow landed.  <What a kawaikunee
tomboy,> he thought.  Mentally he compared the two girls in front
of him as he continued to take physical punishment.  <Utchan, why
are you always so nice to me?  It has to go beyond simple friendship.>
Akane had finally finished beating him up.  Surprisingly it didn't
really hurt anymore, the pain receptors in his head having long since
been worn out from overuse.  He could feel the bruises however as
he struggled out of the bath, got dressed, and stumbled up the stairs.

<That Akane, why the hell does she always have to do that,> he thought
as he slid open the door to his room.  Still brooding over the incident,
he automatically walked over to his futon, and got under the covers.

A pair of arms hugged him from behind, causing his stomach to leap
into his mouth.  <What the!?>  "Who ..."

"It's me, Ranchan," came the soft voice.  "We used to sleep like this
when we were kids you know."  <Oh god, I hope he likes me...>

Ranma turned slowly to face Ukyou, looking into her glistening eyes,
and her mouth curled into a pleasant smile.  "T-that's different," he
said, "besides I didn't even know you were a girl then."  Butterflies
invaded his stomach as nervousness overcame him.  <I can't do this,
I can't do this... I'm engaged to Akane... She'd KILL me...>  

"Ranchan, don't you love me?" she asked innocently, her voice full 
of longing.  Ranma's heart melted at the sound of her voice, and his
mental protests evaporated.  He thought about how Akane had treated
him earlier in the evening, and the tears that had streamed down Ukyou's
face as she looked on.  But before he could respond, a mallet landed
firmly on his head, propelled by Akane's tomboyish hands. 

"Ranma!!  What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she screamed 
at the top of her lungs.

Ranma broke a world speed record as he disentangled himself from
Ukyou and sat up.  "N-nothing!  I didn't do nothing!"  he said in
protest.

"Well you were certainly ABOUT to do something!"  she screamed back.
She wound up for another, more powerful strike.  "Ranma," she pulled
her mallet back; "no," the mallet began its swing forward; "BAKA!!!"
she finished as the head of her mallet made contact with Ranma, sending
him flying across the room to land in a heap in the corner.  Seething
with anger, she stormed out of the room.  

Ukyou hastily scrambled out of her blankets and ran over to the badly 
bruised Ranma, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.  She 
cradled Ranma head in her arms and sobbed.  "Ranchan, are you ok?" 
she asked softly in between sobs.

Ranma reached up weakly and took Ukyou's hand in his.  "Yeah, I'm 
used to it," he said.  "Please don't cry."  <Utchan looks so cute
right now,> he thought.  He watched her face as she continued to
hold him, and began to understand how deep her feelings for him were.
He scrambled to his feet, holding onto to both of Ukyou's hands, and
walked over to the double futon that Ukyou had laid out for them.
He straightened out the covers, and got in with her.  "I'll stay
with you tonight, Utchan, but we can't do, you know..." He knew 
that there would be hell to pay with Akane, but he couldn't bring
himself to hurt Utchan any more after what she'd been through.

"That's okay, Ranchan... Just hold me." she replied.  Ranma put
his arms around her, and cuddled her until she fell asleep. Then
carefully, he untangled himself from her, and snuck out the window.
Once outside, he climbed a tree and fell asleep on one of the lower
branches.  

Akane was crying by the time she reached her room, unable to 
understand why she had just hit Ranma.  <Why do I always lose my
temper like that?  Why can't I just listen to him for once!>
she thought, angry at herself.  <Every time I end up hurting
him... I know he's used to it, but sooner or later, he's..> 

She broke off that line of thought, refusing to consider what
might happen.  She started to become concerned about how Ranma
was after taking that last mallet blow.  She tiptoed up to his
room and peered in.  She saw Ranma on his back, with his head
in Ukyou's arms.  Ranma grabbed Ukyou's hand, stood up with 
her, and led her over to the futon.  Slowly they got in together,
and Ranma put his arms around her.  Akane stood there in shock,
and slowly turned away from the room.  

She walked back to her room, closed the door behind her, and then 
leaned back against the wall for support.  Slowly, her legs gave 
out, and she slid down to the floor, her eyes wide open, staring 
out at absolutely nothing. <He's... He's gone... I've lost him...>  
"Ranma..." she whispered out loud; "Ranma..." she said again, eyes 
squinting as tears began to run down her face; "Ranma no baka!!!" 
She finally broke down completely, and buried her face in her hands.  
A half hour later, still sitting in the same spot, she finally cried 
herself to sleep.

			*	*	*