Before warned, this post is so raw, being composed at sometime like 6:00 AM,
has been declared a TAPEWORM health risk.... if ya get the point........






Chapter 9: Ukyo.

     "Ranma Saotome!  I've waited all my life for this moment.  Be
forewarned, I will kill you  before sunset tomorrow!  I will make you pay
for all the pain I've had!"  A boy leaped out of the shadows, and Ranma
tried to follow.

    "Coward!  Stay and fight me!"  As Ranma passed Genma, Genma tripped him,
and sat on top of Ranma.

    "I can not allow you to follow."  Ranma struggled, and managed to lift
up his father.  

    Throwing his father to the side, he shouted.  "What do you mean?  I
could have beaten him easily!"  Genma turned his head, and walked away.
Genma clenched his fist as he walked off.  'I can not tell him the truth.
The truth will hurt him.'

* * *

     Ranma walked up to his father, who was trying to meditate upside down.
Ranma kicked his father, and knocked him right side up.  "Ok Pop!  I'm going
to ask you nicely, once.  Who was that person?"  Genma stubbornly assumed
his upside down position and tried to ignore Ranma.  Ranma frustrated, bent
down and started to shake his father vigorously.  "Ok!  That does it.  If
you won't tell me, then maybe I can ask Mom to convince you."

    Genma paled, and he grabbed Ranma.  When he had heard Ranma's threat, he
wanted at all costs avoid telling Nodoka anything about that boy with the
spatula.  "Ok, Ranma."  Genma's body slumped.  "I will tell you, but I warn
you, even the first syllable of what I say will hurt you."

    Ranma started to tap his foot impatiently.  Genma took a deep breath,
and shouted as loud as he could into Ranma's ear.  Ranma fell backwards
temporarily deaf.  Genma turned away and left the room.  "See Son?  It pains
me to see you hurt, so I can not tell you the rest."

* * *

    Akane sat at the dining room table, thinking what she had heard.  'That
boy called Mr. Saotome "Pop."  Does it mean that Ranma has a brother?'
Kodachi walked into the room, surprising Akane completely.

    "Hey Akane, what are you doing here?  Is Ranma back?  He left rather
quickly awhile ago."  Kodachi smiled friendly at Akane, and Akane felt that
she needed to tell Kodachi about the mysterious boy with the spatula.
Kodachi recoiled backwards in shock, after hearing Akane's tale.  'Ranma has
a half brother.  I'd never thought that Mr. Saotome would actually cheat on
his wife.  Ohhh! I feel sorry for Mrs. Saotome.'

    Kodachi grabbed her ribbon, and stormed off.  "Is that so?  I'm going to
go give Genma a piece of my mind."  Kicking the door open, Kodachi walked
into the room, only to find Genma and Ranma brawling on the floor.

    "Pop!  Why don't you tell me anything!"  Ranma shouted as he grabbed
Genma in a headlock.  Genma struggled for a minute, and he succeeded in
throwing Ranma off of him.  Landing on his feet, Ranma launched himself at
Genma, and started to seriously give his father a good pounding.  Calming
himself down, Ranma stood up disgusted.  "Well, it's not worth beating you
for it.  I learn about it eventually."  

    Ranma walked away, and he slammed the door behind him.  Kodachi was
thinking about using her ribbon, but she agreed with Ranma, and followed him
out of the room.

    Akane stood up, when Ranma walked into the dining room.  She approached
Ranma, and decided to tell him something.  "Ranma, I think I know what your
father's trying to hide."  Ranma looked at Akane, and seemed interested.

    "Really, I can't wait to hear what he did this time."  Akane tiptoed,
and lest Nodoka should be listenning, whispered into Ranma's ear.  At first
he seemed to be taking it well, but he suddenly stiffened, and fell onto the
table.

    Kodachi grabbed Ranma, and pulled him up, as he started to laugh
nervously.  "Who would have ever thought that my old man had it in him."

* * *

    Kodachi and Ranma were running to school together, both of them
balancing perfectly on the fence.  As they neared the school, both landed on
the ground, and continued on foot.  Kodachi ventured to ask Ranma a
question.  "So Ranma, what does it feel to learn that you have a brother?"

     Ranma shrugged his shoulders, as he and Kodachi carefully picked their
way through the giant tangle of boys left by Hurricane Akane.  "I don't
know.  I've seen my father do tons of things, and I'm not surprised.  With
him, you can never be surprised."  Kodachi's mouth formed a small o as they
entered the school.

    As the couple raced down the hall, they passed Akane, and Ranma waved.
"How was the fight this morning?  I trust that you clobbered everyone."
Akane blushed slightly as she saw Ranma, but her face hardened when she saw
him with Kodachi.  

    "The fight went well.  Did you hear, we have a new student today."

    Ranma looked surprised.  "Really?"

* * *

    The teacher watched Ranma, Akane, and Kodachi charge into their seats a
second before the morning bell rang.  'Those three always coming in just in
the nick of time.'  He turned to the class, and pointed to a boy that was
standing in the front of the room.  "Well, class it seems that we have a new
student, Ukyo Konji.  He's moved to Nerima after a brief trip to China, so I
hope all of you can give him a warm Ni Hao.  And he has a gift for all of us."  

     Ukyo started to rapidly cooked on the hot gridle in front of him, and
he started rapidly launching okanimyaki to every student.  Akane leaned
over, and tugged on Ranma's sleeve.  "Ranma!  That was the person who beated
your father!  I'm certain of it!"  On hearing Ranma's name, Ukyo's looked up
from his work, and grim smile surfaced onto his face.  With a flourish, he
composed an okanimiyaki, and tossed it to Ranma, who caught it in his mouth
and ate it.

     Ranma remembered the taste, and he jumped up.  "Ukyo!"  He leapfrogged
over a few rows, just as four mini-spatulas imbeded themselves into the
chair that Ranma was sitting in.  He landed in the front of the classroom,
and gave Ukyo a noogie.  "Ucchan!  Long time no see!  So what brings you to
Nerima?"

     With an injured dignity, Ukyo pushed Ranma away.  "I've come back to
turn your life into a nightmare!"  He brandished a spatula, which Ranma
easily deflected and sent into the chalkboard.  

     "So Ukyo?  Still trying to beat me?  I can tell you've gotten a lot
better!"  Ranma nodded, genuinely impressed with Ukyo's choice of weaponry.
"Not a lot of people can easily paste my father!"

    Kodachi nudged Ranma.  "Ranma, it seems that Ukyo is very angry!"  Ranma
laughed as if that was a fake.  "And how did you meet Ukyo?"

    Ranma broke out into a huge story.  "Well, when I was young, father took
me on a training trip in Japan.  Well, we got lost, and after awhile, our
food ran out."  Ranma smirked remembering how Genma gorged himself.
"Anyways, we would have probably starved, but Ucchan was there to help us!
Everyday we'd have a fight, and everytime I'd get a free okanimiyaki for
successfully beating him."  Ukyo stiffened slightly.  'He didn't know?'

    "Anyways one day I had to leave, and I could remember crying and crying
while I waved goodbye toUkyo on the top of Ukyo's father's yattai.  Anyways,
it's good to see you Ucchan!"

    Akane who had walked up behind Ranma, asked.  "Ranma what were you doing
on her father's yattai?"  Everyone watched Ranma look blank for a moment
while he suddenly realized that the yattai wasn't his or his father's.

    Ranma looked shocked.  "You don't mean that my father stole the yattai!
Why that thieving bastard.  He's attempted to sell me for food, and he's
stolen food from a bunch of strange Amazons.  But him stealing a friend's
yattai!  I'd never think that he'd dare do that!"

    Genma mysteriously popped up in front of Ranma, causing Ranma to fal
backwards.  "You're wrong son!  That yattai was given to me fair and square!
You made the decision to leave Ukyo behind!"

    Ranma jumped up, and grabbed his father by the throat.  "What!  You
didn't tell me!"  Ranma was going to continue shouting at his father, but a
giant okanimiyaki that landed on his face silenced him.  Genma turned around
and saw Ukyo, and he did a doubt take.  'That's Ukyo?'

    Ukyo gathered his cooking material, and he walked out of the room.  At
the doorway, he turned his head, and his voice was level.  "Ranma, I
challenge you!  Meet me at the second field at 4:00 pm."  Ranma was
struggling with the giant sticky okanimiyaki that stuck to his face like
superglue, but he was eventually able to pull it off.

    Ranma glared at Genma, chunks of half cooked dough still stuck to his
face and hair.  "Why do I always have to suffer for what you have done!"

* * *

    Ukyo grumbled as he waited impatiently on top of a giant dueling ring,
that somewhat looked like a giant boxing ring.  A giant crowd of students
had surrounded the"Where's that Ranma?  If I had known that he was a
coward..."  He was interrupted by a cheerful voice.  Spinning around with
his spatula ready he saw Ranma sitting in the corner.

    "Hi Ucchan, so you still want to fight?"  Ranma smiled.  "Well, let's
get it overwith, and maybe you can come to my place afterwards..."  Ranma
wiped the smile off his face, as he leaped upwards to avoid the spatula.  He
landed behind Ukyo.  "Hey!  Are you trying to kill me or something?"  'Yup.'
He thought as he easily dodged Ukyo's spatula.

     "Why don't you just stand still and take a hit?"  Ukyo shouted as he
thrusted his spatula repeatedly.  Ranma as slippery as ever, managed to
dodge everything, but as he landed on his hands on the edge of the ring, he
felt a searing pain shoot through his arm.

    "Shit that's burning!"  Ranma shouted as he tried to cool off his hand.

    Ukyo smiled.  "It's a nonstick cooking surface, and you're about to be
flambe."  Reaching into a giant pail that was conveniently sitting next to
her, she grabbed a huge glump of batter, and tossed it at Ranma.  Ranma
dodged the batter, but walking into another pail filled with more batter.

    Ranma grimaced as he found himself stuck to the batter.  "Hey, it's
sticky!"  Working very hard, Ranma managed to extract his right leg, and
bring it out of the pail.  He struggled with his left leg.

    "Well, here!  Have some explosive flour!"  Ukyo heaved bag after bag of
flour which exploded all around Ranma.  Kodachi and Akane, who were in the
crowd gasped.  Kodachi leaped into the ring, brandishing her ribbon, ready
to revenge Ranma.

    "How dare you hurt my friend!"  Kodachi shouted, but her challenge was
soon ignored.  When the smoke from the explosions cleared, Ranma could not
be found.  Even Kodachi stopped and stood gaping at the emptiness.

    Ukyo looked puzzled for a moment, and she looked around cautiously.
"Hey!  I've just had about enough of your attacks!"  Ukyo looked up just in
time to see Ranma, his clothing in tatters, land on him.  Ukyo fell to the
ground, and Ranma, who was pretty angry, easily lifted him off the ground.
"I've been trying to be nice with you, and I'm getting the impression that
you really have a grudge against me!"  Ranma heaved Ukyo far out of the ring.

    Ranma leaped into the air after Ukyo, and was dismayed to see the
Furinken pool appearing below.  A stunned Ukyo crashed into the pool,
moments before Ranma, shouting a long string of expletives, crashed in after
him.

    The shock of cool refreshing water woke Ukyo to his senses, and he
watched another person crash into the pool.  Swimming hard, he could only
think.  'Ranma!  I will make you drown!'  But his thoughts were instantly
stopped as he watched the metamorphosis that took place in front of him.
The changes were more vivid, since Ranma's torn up clothing gave a more
intimate view of the changes that occurred.

     Ranma fought his way to the surface, and pulled himself over the edge
of the pool, coughing up water.  He saw Ukyo sitting next to him, his
spatula in a lowered position.  Ukyo stared at Ranma.  "What happened to you
Ranma?  I don't remember seeing you like this before."

    Ranma shouted at Ukyo.  "It's none of your business!"  Ranma was angry,
cold, and wet.  "I just need to get some hot water."  Ranma stood up,
unashamed of the lewd display that his shredded clothing provided, and he
walked off.  

    Ukyo gasped, grabbed Ranma, and knocked him on the head hard.  "Don't
you have any feminine modesty!"  Ukyo was going to continue, when she
noticed that strange change that came over Ranma.

    Ranma-chan looked down at her clothes, and at Ukyo.  She started to
scream.  "Pervert!  Pervert!  What do you think you're doing watching me
like that!"  Ranma-chan tried to hid herself behind her arms.  She also
started to inch away from Ukyo.

    "Ranma!  Ranma!  Where are you?  I have some hot water!"  Ranma-chan
heard Kodachi's voice, and she shouted out "I'm here."   Kodachi and Akane
easily leaped over the fence that surrounded the pool.  Kodachi was carrying
a pot of steaming hot water, which she poured over Ranma-chan.  

     Ranma looked at Ukyo, and began to wallow in his own selfpity.  "So
there, you've seen it.  Are you happy now!  See, I've been suffering too!
And my father, he's showed me horrors you haven't seen."  Ranma showed Ukyo
the scar on his right arm.  "So don't start blaming me that your life wasn't
fun!"

    Ukyo gritted his teeth, and grabbed the teapot from Kodachi and dumped
the remaining contents over his head.  Ranma took a step back, completely
shocked, what he saw was a girl.  Ukyo dropped her spatula, and grabbed
Ranma by the throat.  "What do you call abandoning your fiancee?  I was
supposed to marry you!  You bastard.  And because you left me, I became the
laughingstock of my town.  And not a single boy ever dared to ask me out!"

     Ranma stared at Ukyo, "Ukyo I never knew...  Jusenkyo?"

    Ukyo grumbled, as she picked up her spatula, and prepared to brain
Ranma.  "Yes!  And on top of all my pain, I have my stupid curse!"  She
swung the spatula at Ranma, but he ducked low, and picked her off the ground.

    "I hate it when you get so stubborn!"  Ranma leaped over the fence with
a struggling Ukyo fighting to break free.

    Ranma landed in a field, and he dropped Ukyo on her feet.  Ukyo started
to claw at Ranma and tried to gouge out his eyes.  Ranma thought it a shame
that Ukyo be such an angry person.  She definite was cute, and it should be
easy for her to snag a new boyfriend.  Ranma pushed Ukyo back, and he
commented.  "Hey, it's a shame that no one asked you out.  You're really
cute you know.  Well, maybe I can see you around, when you're not angry of
course."  Ranma leaped out, leaving Ukyo behind.

* * *

    Ranma sat on the porch tired from his workout.  Kodachi was sitting in
the yard, writing down some verses in a notebook as they came to mind.
Genma had invited Soun over to the Saotome dojo for a change, and the two
were locked in a shogi match.

    Genma laughed as he placed down his white piece.  "Well, Tendo, try to
get out of this one."  Genma sat backwards, as Soun started to tug at his
hair in frustration.  Soun glanced, trying to think of a distraction, but
luckily, he didn't have to think of one.

    "Ranma!"  Ranma groaned as he looked up to see Ukyo walk into the yard.
Fortunately, she wasn't carrying her spatula at all. "I've come to ask
forgiveness for my rash behavior."  Ranma stopped tensing up, and he
dismissed Ukyo with a wave of his hand.

    "Oh it's no problem, really.  I just like to know that you're not mad
with me or something."  Ranma leaned against the doorway, and he closed his
eyes.  He felt Ukyo sit rather close to him, uncomfortably close.

    "And I would like to eventually marry you."  Ranma's eyes snapped open.
Genma jerked his head away from the game, giving Soun the openning to change
a few pieces around.  Kodachi looked warily at Ukyo.  Ukyo smiled, and she
looked at Genma.  "You do remember the promise you made to my father.  Well,
I hope you will honor it."  Kodachi angrily walked into the house, not
wanting to hear what Genma would say.

    Genma stared at Ukyo his brain completely numb.  Fortunately, Nodoka
walked into the room, and grabbed Genma by the collar, and pulled him into
the kitchen.  She glared at Genma.  "What did you do this time?"   Genma
paled, thinking of what his wife was capable of doing to him, and he
struggled to make an answer.

* * *

     Ukyo watched Nodoka with a slight interest.  It was obvious that Ranma
took after his mother, rather than his father.  Nodoka poured Ukyo a cup of
tea, and she sat, staring.  Ukyo shifted uncomfortably.  "So Ukyo, you seek
to marry my son."  Nodoka cursed herself, for Ukyo seemed to be a decent
girl.  She had manners, she had the looks, and she obviously loved Ranma.
"I have nothing against this, but will you allow my son to decide?"  Nodoka
for a person thought that even though that Ranma should marry a Tendo, he
had the final say in this matter.

     Ukyo thought about it and was reluctant to agree.  It seemed that
Nodoka was finding a way around Genma's promise, and Ukyo wanted Genma's
promise to be fully held.  Besides, judging from all the other women who
appeared to help Ranma when he fell in the pool, it seemed that he already
had a crowd of admirers, making chances for an easy marriage out of the
question.  Ukyo frowned.  "You're not trying to get Ranma with someone else.
I was hoping that you would honor Genma's promise!"

     Nodoka ignored Ukyo's demand, and she decided to ask Ukyo a question of
hospitality.  "Anyways, do have a place to stay?"  It was certainly a good
question, because Ukyo didn't like sleeping under the stars.  Ukyo shook her
head.  Nodoka smiled, and she led Ukyo off.  "Ah, well, we have another
guest room availible.  Kodachi's in the other room."  Ukyo remembered the
other girl, the one with the lithe and slim body, who was pretty close to
Ranma.  She couldn't help but feel quite displeased.  'But I still get to
live very close to Ranma.  That should be pretty nice.'

* * *

    The next morning was hectic to say the least.  Kodachi and Ukyo were in
the kitchen trying to prepare a separate meal for Ranma.  Nodoka and Genma
winced as they heard taunts and complaints being shouted in the kitchen.  

     "Hey!  Give me some room!"

     "Out of my space!"

     Genma groaned, and he turned to Nodoka.  "Did you really have to do
this?  I mean, you can't go into your own kitchen without getting hit with
something."  

     Nodoka glared at Genma.  "Do remember this thing was your own fault!
You had to make that promise to that poor girl!"  Genma didn't like the idea
of Nodoka breathing fire down his neck, and he gave up.  Ranma came walking
down the stairs, appearing quite cheerful after his usual morning workout,
and shower.

    Upon reaching the kitchen, he was surprised by the noises that were
coming from the kitchen.  Venturing a peek, he slowly openned the door, to
find both Kodachi and Ukyo trying to ignore each other as they prepared two
very different dishes.  He groaned, and wondered how women could easily be
so competitive over something like cooking a meal.  He remembered his
duties, and decided to spend some more time in the dojo, leaving Kodachi and
Ukyo to themselves. 

* * *

     "Here, Ranma!"  Ranma paused in the middle of his exercises to see two
dishes shoved into his face.  Kodachi was holding one, Ukyo the other.  Both
girls immediately started to fight.

     "Ranma wants to eat my okanimiyaki!"  Ukyo tried to push Kodachi away.  

     "No!  He wants to eat my meal!"  Kodachi tried to give Ranma her dish.  

    Ranma was bewildered as he watched the two girls tear into each other,
and he decided to end their fight.  "Why don't you let me decide?  I'll take
a little of both, thank you."  Ranma took both dishes, and walked over to
the dining room, where he ate sizeable portions of both dishes.  Both girls
stared at him expectantly, as if he were to pass judgement on them.  Ranma
placed his chopsticks on the table.  "That was quite good!  I'd like to have
more, but I have to practice."  Ranma went back to the dojo.

    Ukyo stared strangely as Ranma purposefully walked into the dojo, and
she thought to herself.  'This is not the Ranma I knew.'  Ukyo thought to
her childhood, and remembered a more cheerful Ranma, one who was always
playing and willing to have a little fun, besides doing his work.  Ukyo
decided to confront Ranma later.  

     Surprisingly, Kodachi was having similar thoughts, ever though she
hadn't been a childhood friend.  She had that innate gift of empathy.  She
had rarely felt Ranma's emotions, as if they had been bottled up within him,
and concealed from the world.  Both Ukyo and Kodachi sighed simultaneously.

     "What are you thinking?"  Ukyo's voice slightly raised, as she didn't
really want Kodachi to have thoughts of Ranma, at all.  She was surprised
when Kodachi really didn't fire off a retort back at Ukyo.  It seemed that
most of the time, Kodachi was hard to anger.

     "Well, I was worried about Ranma.  He always seems to have his duty."
Kodachi started to clear the table.  Ukyo helped, and both walked into the
kitchen with the dishes, most of which Genma had left on the table.

    Ukyo voiced her agreement.  "You're right.  I remember Ran-chan when he
was young.  We were the best of friends, and he was so eager to have some
fun."  Kodachi managed a smile, as she thought of her own childhood, which
wasn't so bad with her mother around.  She shuddered to think what would
have happened if her mother had died earlier.  Ukyo stared at Kodachi
weirdly.  She had been expecting her reference to being a close childhood
friend of Ranma would have evoked jealousy or anger.  Kodachi hadn't really
emotionally responded.  "Hello, are you ok?"  Ukyo shook Kodachi, waking
Kodachi from her dream of her mother.

     Kodachi smiled, an action which completely mystified Ukyo.  "Yes, I'm
fine.  Will you excuse me."  Kodachi calmly walked away, to her room, where
she laid in bed, sadly reminising her mother and her almost normal childhood.

* * *

    Ukyo stood there, not sure what to do.  Minutes passed by, and Ukyo
tried to think of something else.  However, she could not, and she walked to
Kodachi's room, and knocked on the door.  It took a minute or two, but
Kodachi eventually openned the door, her eyes had a hint of pink, suggesting
that she had been silently crying.

     Ukyo walked in with Kodachi, not knowing what to feel.  She wanted to
take every advantage of this situation, but remembering at least how
considerate Kodachi was in the kitchen, she couldn't.  'If we weren't going
for Ranma, we'd be good friends.'  Ukyo lamented.  

    "Are you ok?"  Ukyo kind of felt worried for Kodachi, but she didn't
really want to admit it.  

    "I'm fine."  Kodachi's voice was slightly hoarse.  "I was thinking of my
mother.  She passed away when I was six."  Ukyo had left her family when she
was fourteen.  It was her decision, year after year, the embarassment that
Genma had caused had been a thorn that prevented her from having true
happiness.  Her family didn't mind, because her father had money to cover
the loss, but she couldn't forget, at least not until now.  She felt the
tinges of rapport for Kodachi, and she tried to comfort Kodachi as best as
possible.

    Ranma-chan poked her head into the room.   Unlike her male counterpart,
she was quite the opposite.  She liked to go to the mall and have a little
fun.  She recognized the importance of her duties, but she didn't devote
100% of her life to them.  "Hey, you two want to come out with me?"  

    Ukyo still wasn't quite used to Ranma's duality, like herself.  "Ranma
what happened?"

    "Oh, father tried to attack me, and he pushed me into the pond.  I
couldn't hit him if I had to."  Ranma-chan's started to look pouty.  Kodachi
laughed at Ranma-chan's description of the events.  She knew that Genma had
tricked Ranma before shoving him into the pond.  "Anyways, any of you want
to come out?"

     Later in the mall, Ranma grumbled as he walked with Kodachi and Ukyo.
To outsiders, it appeared that three very good female friends were out
shopping.  In reality, it was two girls who were worried about Ranma.  "Why
did I have to come?"  Ranma mumbled.  "I still haven't practiced for six
hours today."  Kodachi smiled, and wrapped her arm around Ranma's shoulder.  

     "Come on, relax."  Ukyo briefly, gave Kodachi a sharp stare, and she
did likewise.  Her arm went around Ranma's shoulder, and both girls kind of
played a tug of war with Ranma