Hello all! With this fanfic, I am undertaking a very large project. A story with multiple chapters and multiple parts to each chapter. The story's title is "The High Cost of Loving." It will explore how high the cost of love can be to the characters in Ranma 1/2. This was inspired by the number of responses to "The Money Pit" and "The Visit." Here is the basic ground rules for the stories: 1.) This series starts after V35. 2.) Nodoka has not discovered Ranma's curse. 3.) V36, V37 and V38 of the manga do NOT occur (these stories take their place). The only exception is V36c11 where Ukyou has a cold and Konatsu tries to help her out. ============================================ Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction "The High Cost of Loving" "Chapter One - The Hero" by Suds-kun (suds1964@tir.com) ============================================ Ranma 1/2 characters are created by and copyright Rumiko Takahashi. Published by Shogakukan Inc. and VIZ Comm. Story copyright Shaun Schillinger. Intended for the sole non-profit use of R.T. fans. ============================================ Ukyou wiped the sweat from her forehead as she cleaned the griddle. She looked up and watched Konatsu clean the tables. "He sure is a hard worker." she thought as she continued scraping. "He did help out quite a bit when I was sick. He needs to learn more about money management, though." She grimaced at the memory of the 500 yen hidden in the okonomiyaki promotion. "Are you feeling o.k., Ukyou-sama?" Ukyou blinked her eyes and smiled, "Just thinking, Konatsu. Are you done?" "Hai! Everything is put away." They both turned their attention to the knocking at the door. Konatsu went to the door and looked out the window, smiled and opened the door. In walked Ranma and Akane. "Ran-chan! Akane! What are you doing here?" Ukyou quickly finished cleaning her scraper and put it away. "Yo, Uc-chan! Are you closed up yet?" Ranma said, avoiding the question. "Hai, I was getting ready to clean up and relax." Ukyou turned to Akane. "Well, since _he_ won't tell me, what about you, Akane. What brings you two here this late?" Akane elbowed Ranma and scowled at him. "Ite! O.k. Uc-chan, Akane and I were going to a late showing of a Jackie Chan film and were wondering if you and Konatsu would be interested in going with us." "Oh! I've seen him on t.v.! I've never been to an eigakan before! Ukyou-sama! Let's go!" Konatsu was almost jumping up and down with joy, his long hair slightly bouncing. Ukyou looked at the kawaii face, then Akane's and then Ranma's. "Well, it _has_ been a while since I went out." she replied. She smiled as her mind began to wander. "Besides, I'm not going to pass up the chance to set beside Ranma in a dark Eigakan." === As the foursome stepped off the train, Akane noticed the headlines on the newspapers for sale. "Another gas attack? I hope they catch those sickos!" Ranma noticed Akane's hands were clenched tight and beginning to shake. "The police will catch them, Akane. I understand it's some crazy cult that is trying to take over the world, or something like that. Don't let it bother you so much." Ranma reached for her hand and pried her fingers open. "Were here to have fun, Akane. I don't want you to be upset." Ranma smiled at her and Akane returned a week smile at first and then relaxed. "You're right, let's go!" she grabbed his arm started down the street. Ukyou looked on in shock. "What is going on here?" she thought. "These two sure are acting strange." The foursome commented on the different shops they passed as they made their way to the Eigakan. Konatsu pointed out some kimonos that he thought looked kawaii. "The one you've got on is beautiful itself." Ukyou looked at him and noticed that he did have pretty good taste in clothing and make up. "I'll have to ask him where he gets that red lipstick." she thought. === "Hahahahahah" *gasp* "Hahahahah!" Akane's laughter rang out through the Eigakan, tears were streaming down her face. A very serious Ranma poked Akane in the side. "What's so funny? This scene is very serious! It's training!" Ukyo sat between Konatsu and Ranma, with Akane on the other side of Ranma. Both her and Konatsu smiled, it was quite obvious that Akane thought Jackie Chan was doing a pretty good impression of Ranma. The scene on the screen was that of Jackie Chan and an old man. They were fighting over a piece of meat from their lunch. They each were using their chopsticks to grab the piece and fend off the other. === Jackie was shoveling rice into his mouth, ala Ranma, when the old man pointed at him. "Don't eat that rice, eat this." He pointed at the plate of dried meat. Jackie grabbed a piece and as he picked it up, the old man grabbed the chopsticks with his chopsticks and slid them down, dropping the meat back onto the plate. Jackie grabbed the piece and the old man again slid it out of his grasp. Then picked it up himself and popped it into his mouth. Jackie humphed and went back to his rice. As he continued to shovel, he looked down at the plate of meat. He quickly grabbed another piece and the old man slid it off the sticks and into an empty bowl. Jackie picked up the meat and the old man slid it off the sticks. The piece fell into the old man's hand. Jackie kicked his hand and sent the meat into the air and towards his mouth. The old man snatched it out of Jackie's mouth. Jackie tried to use his sticks to slide the meat of the old man's chopsticks, but the old man let the meat slide down the sticks toward his hand and pinched Jackie's nose with the other end of the sticks. The action increased with Jackie constantly chomping at the piece of meat and the old man faking him out or switching the meat with a stone. Eventually the old man took pity on the starving Jackie and let him have the piece of meat. === As the scenes changed and the eiga continued on to a more quiet moment, Ukyou looked around. "Konatsu really is involved in the eiga. Ranma looks just as interested, but what is he doing?" Ukyou narrowed her eyes to look at Ranma and Akane. "He... he's got his arm around Akane! What does that baka think he's do..." Realization suddenly hit her between the eyes. "This was a DATE! They asked Konatsu and I out on a double date!" Ukyou was angry at first and was ready to punch Ranma, but hesitated when she saw Akane. Her head was resting against his arm and shoulder. Ukyou slid down in her seat, her eyes becoming moist. "What a fool I am! They're trying to hitch me up with Konatsu! I want Ranma, not Konatsu. Yeah, he's cute and treats me nice, but he's not Ranma!" She looked at Konatsu, "Sorry, Konatsu, but my heart belongs to Ranma." She wiped the tears from her eyes and noticed Konatsu doing the same. "Nani?' she thought. "Can he read my thoughts?" She looked around and saw Akane wiping her eyes. She looked at the screen and saw Jackie kissing a woman. "Oh, it's the eiga. What a relief." Ukyou flinched a little as Konatsu laid his head against her shoulder. She looked at him and turned back to the eiga. "Oh, why not?" she thought, as a small smile crossed her face. === The foursome entered the train station. Ranma and Akane were in an animated discussion. "I don't act like that!" Ranma shouted. "Yes, you do!" Akane retorted. "You'd fight over food, just like they did." "Well, I _am_ going to try some of his moves with the chopsticks. Pop won't have a chance!" The four stopped dead in their tracks. The hair standing on the back of their necks. Time began to slow to a crawl. Ranma and Konatsu moved towards Akane and Ukyou. The girls turned their backs towards the boys as they tried to protect them from the explosion. A rush of screaming people headed towards the exits as an ominous cloud of gas emanated from a far corner of the station. Ukyou felt Konatsu grab her hand and pull her to him, she noticed that Ranma had done the same to Akane. The crowd of people was small and quickly made their way to the exits. Ukyou felt Konatsu let go of her hand, "Konatsu!" she yelled as she watched him dash towards a group of children. Ranma was immediately beside him. Konatsu tossed a child into Ranma's arms, he then tossed the child to Akane, and she to Ukyou. Ukyou handed the coughing child to someone else who then ran out the exit. As each child was passed to her, she could smell the gas getting stronger. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized that Ranma and Konatsu were closer to the source of the gas. She watched as Ranma grabbed Konatsu's arm after tossing the last child to Akane. The two of them were looking pretty ragged and stumbled towards the exits after her and Akane. "My akachan!" shouted a hysterical woman. Ukyou looked in the direction she was pointing. A little girl stood by herself, crying. Ukyou watched in slow motion as Konatsu broke free from Ranma's grip and leapt towards the child. He quickly tossed the child to Ranma who in turn tossed her to Akane. Konatsu turned to look for more victims when a second, smaller explosion occurred. Gas from the explosion caught him full in the face. "Konatsu!" Ukyou screamed as Ranma jumped to Konatsu and picked him up and jumped back. Akane grabbed both and dragged them to the exit. Ukyou looked around and could see that they were the last to leave. Ukyou laid Konatsu's head in her lap as she stroked his hair. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She could hear people screaming for help and looked around. Her eyes came to Ranma and Akane. He was laying on his side and coughing. Akane hovering over him, crying. Ukyou looked down at Konatsu. His face was puffy and his breathing was very shallow. He struggled as he raised his hand to her face and lightly touched her chin. "U...kyou...sa...ma...su...ki...da." His hand fell back to his chest and Ukyou felt his body go limp. "Nooooooooo!" she cried as she rocked back and forth with him in her lap. === Ukyou walked into the empty room. There was a dresser against one wall and a low table in the middle. There was an empty place near the table large enough for a futon. She kneeled at the table and looked at the newspaper laying there. The newspaper was a week old. The headlines read, "Gas Attack Kills Young Man" "He Went Back to Get My Akachan" As Ukyou stood, a flash of color caught her eye. A bright blue bow had fallen behind the dresser. She picked it up and looked it over. She held it to her chest and then removed the white bow from her hair. She tied the blue bow around her hair and closed the door as she left. ============================================ A few notes: I have a video montage of fight scenes from a bunch of Jackie Chan's movies, "The Best of Jackie Chan." Two hours of non stop fight scenes! As you can tell from the story, one of the scenes made me immediately think of Ranma and Genma. ^_- The first gas attack in the Tokyo subway occured on March 19, 1995. It was the action of Shoko Asahara and his cult AUM Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth). Approximately 565 people were injured and five died. There were other attacks over the next four months. A pipe bomb and "mysterious fumes." Shoko Asahara used a 25 year old karate expert, Yoshihiro Inoue, as an enforcer. What do those words mean? Ite = Ouch, Ow Nani? = What? Eiga = Movie Eigakan = Movie Theater Akachan = Baby Ukyou-sama, suki da = Lady Ukyou, I love you The next chapter is "The Money Pit" there are five parts. I am rewriting each part and it should have a different feel than the originals I released a couple weeks ago. You can find them at the URL below. C&C is most definately requested! -- suds-kun (Shaun Schillinger) suds1964@tir.com http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/8222/ "THIS time, we didn't forget the graaavy!" Cat & Mouse to Dog