Hello all!

Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction
"The High Cost of Loving - Chapter Two"
"The Money Pit - Part Two"
by Suds-kun (suds1964@tir.com)

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Ranma 1/2 characters are created by and copyright Rumiko Takahashi.
Published by Shogakukan Inc. and VIZ Comm.
Used without permission.
Intended for the sole non-profit use of fans.
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"And that's the last time I saw her." Ranma said as he finished his
second okonomiyaki.

Ukyou looked at him and tried as hard as she could to keep from
jumping up and down and screaming in joy.  She only allowed a small
smile to come to her lips.  "And that was how many days ago,
Ran-chan?" she asked, trying to make it look like she was really
concerned for him.

"One week ago." he said, as he dug into his third okonomiyaki.

"Where have you been staying?" she asked with genuine concern.

"Oh, sometimes up in a tree, or wherever we could set up a camp.
This past week has been a real nightmare." Ranma rolled his eyes for
emphasis.  "Happosai took pop and me on one of his 'training' trips.
We went to this remote town where there was an old hot spring.  You
can probably guess what happened.  Pop and I got out alive and left
the old letch to face his 'admirers'."  Ranma laughed as Ukyou set
another okonomiyaki in front of him.

"I'm just glad your back, Ran-chan." her smile grew a little.  "Now
that your training trip is over, where are you going to stay?"

Ranma swallowed his mouthful of okonomiyaki, "Pop and I basically
stay anywhere there is a place for us, just like we are on a training
trip.  Trees in the park, empty lots, stuff like that.  We're going
to be some place close to school, though.  I've got to catch up on my
school work."

"Well, you can stay here with me, Ran-chan."  Ukyou beamed at Ranma,
who completely missed the beam.

"You mean that pop and I can stay with you for a while?  Great!"
Ranma gulped down the last of his meal.

"Uh, yeah, you and your dad can, um, both stay here."  Ukyou replied,
her smile not as bright as it was.  "BUT, you and your dad are going
to have to help in the work here."

"Pop still has his job at Tofu-sensei's and can help that way.  I can
help serve and bus tables and"

"Then it's settled," Ukyou interrupted cheerfully, "you and your dad
can move in here tonight!"

Ranma stood up and was going to leave when he stopped and turned to
Ukyou.  "Uhm, Uc-chan?"

"Hai, Ran-chan?"

Ranma fidgeted a bit.  "I do have a request.  Remember when you were
sick and you stayed with us at the Tendo's?"

"Hai."

"Well," Ranma scratched the back of his head, "you snuck in bed with
me.  Uhm, could you not do that this time.  I'd really appreciate
it."

Ukyou sighed, "O.K. Ran-chan, I promise."

"Arigatoo, Uc-chan!" Ranma smiled and waved as he left to find his
father.

"There goes THAT plan." Ukyou said to herself.  Then she started to
smile.  Her smile grew bigger and bigger until she started to dance
around.  "YES!" she said, over and over.

===

Ukyou opened the door to the room and sighed, dust was everywhere.
She walked over and opened the window, then turned to the low table
in the middle of the room. She picked up the yellowed newspaper and
looked over the headlines. "I should go and tell him about this," she
thought, "but right now I have to make this place ready for
Ran-chan." She set the newspaper on the floor outside of the doorway
and picked up a bucket of soapy water, a brush, mop and other items
to begin the clean up. "I never would have thought that Konatsu's
room would ever have gotten dirty like this. Well, the table is
first." Ukyou started cleaning, a look of determination on her face.

===

"Time to wake up, sleepy head!"

The bright and cheerful voice broke through Ranma's sleepy haze.
Rubbing his eyes, Ranma looked around and saw Ukyou poking here head
out from behind the door.  "Good morning, Uc-chan."  he said
groggily. "What time is it?"

"It's 5:00 a.m.  Time to get up for school!"  She replied cheerfully.

"5:00 A.M.!"  He shouted, waking his father.  "Why so early?"

"Because we have to leave school early for the dinner crowd,
Ran-chan." Ukyou smiled.  "Hurry up, or we'll be late."

Ranma slowly got up and made his way to the bathroom. The panda
"humphed" and went back to sleep.

===

Ranma leaned against a tree as he sat and watched Ukyou prepare some
okonomiyakis for lunch.

"Here you are, Ran-chan!" An okonomiyaki flew from the blur of hands
and spatulas and headed for Ranma.

Ranma easily caught the twirling lunch and had devoured it before
Ukyou had turned around with her own lunch.

"Ran-chan! Couldn't you have waited for me?" she scowled at him and
then laughed. "At least I know you enjoy my cooking." She sat down
beside him and started to eat her lunch. She watched him with a small
smile as he was busy working on one of his makeup assignments.
"Ran-chan? I want to stop somewhere on the way home, o.k.?" Ranma
nodded and mumbled "O.k.", not really paying attention to the
question.

Ukyou looked around the school yard as she finished her lunch. She
noticed Akane walking with a group of girls. The girls pointed out
Ukyou and Ranma to Akane. Ukyou waived when Akane stopped and looked
at them. After a second, she returned the wave and continued with her
friends.

===

Ranma looked around at the tombstones as he followed Ukyou. He
started to speak, but stopped when he saw her come to a new monument.
He bowed his head when he recognized the family name on the front of
the stone. Ukyou poured water over the top of the monument, then
knelt down, clapped her hands and quietly prayed.

Ranma turned around and quietly took a few steps away. He was
fiddling with his fingers when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Ran-chan, I had to stop and tell Konatsu what's been happening
recently. Especially since you moved into his old room."

"Have you, uhm, been visiting him a lot?"

Ukyou noticed the concern on Ranma's face. "Don't worry, Ran-chan."
she said as she punched him in the arm. "I don't come here every day
and pine about Konatsu's death." She grabbed his arm and walked with
him out the cemetery. "Actually, this is the first time I visited his
grave. I guess I've avoided it, until now. He deserves to be
remembered and not forgotten. You helped me remember him, Ran-chan.
Yesterday was the first time I had opened the door to his room, since
his death."

"Uc-chan."

Ukyou let go of his arm and started to run ahead of him. "We better
hurry, slow poke, the customer's will be wondering what happened."
She smiled at him and then started to sprint. Ranma smiled himself
and quickly caught up with her.

===

Akane jogged into the dojo, her afternoon run just completed.  She
quickly changed out of her jogging attire and into her gi. After
finishing her warm up stretches, she went through her kata. She then
turned her attention to the stack of cement blocks, taking two blocks
and setting them up. "Hiyaaa!" she screamed as her fist broke through
the blocks.

With a sigh, she tossed the broken pieces into the wheel barrow and
headed for the yard. "Maybe I should talk to him tomorrow. He's back,
now, and I could apologize for the way we parted." Akane dumped the
pieces of blocks onto the large pile already there. "Hmph, he was
busy studying with Ukyou at lunch, though. Maybe I should wait, he
always has a hard time with his homework assignments." Akane smiled
as she remembered the times she helped him with his homework.

===

"Baka!" she yelled at Ranma and hit her over the head.

"Nani sunde?" onna-Ranma yelled back.

"Can't you and your father keep the fighting outside?  You're going
to destroy my store!"  Ukyou was glaring at onna-Ranma and the panda.
She then looked at the two demolished tables and the broken window.
"That's TEN tables, FOUR windows and one door.  In just one week,
you two have demolished almost half of my store!"

Onna-Ranma and the panda looked at the floor.  "Gomen, Uc-chan." she
said quietly.  She looked at the panda and elbowed him in the side.

The panda held up a sign that said "Gomen."

Ukyou's face softened a bit. "Just clean up this mess, so that we can
start serving the dinner customers when they come in."  Ukyou turned
back to her preparations as onna-Ranma and the panda began the clean
up.

Onna-Ranma gave an icey stare at her father as she started picking up
pieces of the broken tables.  The panda waived a sign that said,
"It's a good thing that Ukyou got such a good deal on tables
yesterday!"  onna-Ranma humphed and set about to finish the cleanup.

===

"Ran-chan!"

Ranma turned towards the voice.  "Uc-chan!"

They hugged each other and began to kiss.  A kiss that seemed to last
forever. Ukyou broke the kiss and whispered in his ear. "I'm glad
were living together, now all we have to do is get married to make us
legal."

"You're right, Uc-chan, let's go do it now!"  Ranma then grabbed
Ukyou's hand and began to walk down the street.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Akane sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes wide and mouth open.  She
covered her face with her hands, thinking of what happened earlier
today.  She had finally talked to Ranma.  Oh, she had seen him at
school since he returned from that training trip, but had never had a
chance to talk with him.  She stopped him when lunch began.  That's
when he told her.  Him and his father were staying at Ukyou's!  For
the past week and a half, yet!

"I guess it must have bothered me more than I thought." Akane mumbled
to herself.  "The baka can marry her, if he wants.  It feels too good
without him, than it ever did with him around here."  Akane closed
her eyes and searched for sleep, sleep that seemed quite elusive.

===

Ukyou stared at the ceiling, thinking.  "Ran-chan only thinks of me
as a friend.  Well, promise or no promise.  I'm going to make Ranma
mine. Ever since Akane talked to him a couple days ago, he's been
distracted. Well, I'm just going to have to show him how much better
a cook and woman I am than Akane. She kicked him out of her life and
now I've got him. I'm going to make sure he stays in my life. Heh,
the best okonomiyaki chef in Tokyo and Ranma as my husband. I'll have
the best of everything then." She closed her eyes and fell asleep,
the smile on her face never fading.

===

"Umph!" Akane grunted as she dumped the remains of ten cement blocks
at the bottom of a very large pile of broken blocks. "Only two more
loads of these blocks and I can take a bath." Akane made way back to
the training hall, not noticing that she was being watched.

===

After watching Akane make her third trip to the block pile, Kasumi
stepped back into the dojo and made her way to the kitchen.  A look
of concern over shadowed her usual smile. She started to slice and
dice the assorted vegetables that she had purchased earlier in the
day. Her furrowed eyebrows slowly relaxed until she stopped chopping
and smiled broadly. She started to hum as she resumed her dicing.

===

Ranma cleaned the dishes off of the table as the last of the
customers for the day left.  He looked around and felt a little proud
at how well everything looks.  All of the windows have been repaired
as well as the tables and the door.  "That insurance agent didn't
look too happy when he was talking with Uc-chan." Ranma thought as he
brought the dishes to the kitchen.

One of the tables followed Ranma towards the kitchen.  He stopped and
turned.  "Somebody's watching me," he thought.

Just then, Ukyou came out of the kitchen and the table jumped towards
her.  "Ukyou-sama!"  It shouted in a kawaii voice.  With lightning
reflexes, Ukyou knocked the table backwards with her giant spatula.

"Tsubasa!"  Ukyou and Ranma yelled in unison.  Ranma opened the door
as Ukyou tossed the table out through the doorway. He closed the door
and made his way to Ukyou.

"Persistent, isn't he?"  Immediately after Ranma made the statement,
a coffee machine broke down both doors to Ucchan's.

===

The panda watched the doors open and a table fly out. It yelped as it
landed. The panda took the little black pig it was carrying and set
it on the ground. He produced a kettle and poured hot water on the
piglet. The panda tossed some clothes at Ryoga and watched a coffee
machine rush the doors to the Okonomiyaki-ya. He then noticed Ryoga
turning towards the street.  He grabbed him by the shoulders and
pointed him toward the gaping hole where the doors used to be.

===

Ukyou's face turned to a mask of red hot anger.  "Tsubasa!  I can't
  afford to replace those doors every week!"  Ukyou ranted as she
pounded on the coffee machine.

"Ranma, now you die!"  Ranma turned towards the voice.  Ryoga was
standing in the doorway.

"You will pay for the humiliation that I suffered at the hot springs.
I followed you to exact my revenge and I was attacked by murderous
women.  It's all your fault, Ranma!"  Ryoga let fly five bandanas.

Ranma dodged the bandanas and watched as three tables became fire
wood.  Ryoga charged, throwing a series of punches at Ranma's body
and head.  Blocking the blows, Ranma jumped over Ryoga and pushed him
headlong into two more tables.

Ukyou stared in disbelief as Ranma and Ryoga systematically destroyed
every table in the restaurant.  "Oh, no." she said, barely audible.

Tsubasa looked through the little door of the coffee dispenser.
"Uh,oh." was all he could say as Ranma flew backwards into the coffee
machine.  They continued on until the wall stopped their momentum.

"My shop..."  Ukyou said as she saw Ranma knock Ryoga into the last
table.  Pieces of broken wood flew up and shattered the last unbroken
window.

Ranma glared at Ryoga.  "Why did you come here, 'P-chan'?  Akane is
probably wondering where her 'widdle piggy' is."

"Enough!  It ends right here!" Ryoga yelled. "Shi Shi Houkoudan!"

Ranma grabbed a table leg and threw it at Ryoga, causing him to
stumble backwards.  The off target ki blast destroyed one whole wall
of Ukyou's shop and part of the roof.

Ukyou stared in shock at the humongous hole in the wall. "My shop ..
my work .. my life," she thought over and over. She came back to
reality when a panda walked through the hole.

In a flurry of motion, Ukyou scooped up coffee machine Tsubasa and
tossed him out the "new" door. The panda ducked the high speed
projectile.

"I have had enough!"  Ukyou screamed as she flattened a surprised
Ryoga. She then tossed him out the "old" door way.  She then came
after Ranma and was ready to pound him with her spatula when she
stopped short.

"Out."

Ranma looked at Ukyou, surprised and a little afraid.

"Get out, Ranma."  Ukyou stared at him, her giant spatula
shaking in her hands.  "I.. I can't afford to have you and your
father living here anymore.  My insurance will cover this one, but I
don't know about the next time."

"Uc-chan?"  Ranma looked into her eyes.  She was angry, but the pain
from her stare burned into his heart.  "Hai.  Gomen, Uc-chan.  I'll
clean up what I can and then leave."

Ukyou watched Ranma arrange piles of broken tables, then headed
towards her room in back.

===

After filling the dumpster outside Ucchan's and erecting a temporary
barrier where the wall used to be, Ranma walked towards Ukyou's room.
As he drew near, he could hear Ukyou crying.  Bowing his head, he
turned and left.


============================================

Thanks to the following for their comments and C&C:
Kun-chan
Sebastian Weinberg
Raphael See
Don Wang
Peter Schell

--
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