"I hope this works out," said Ryouga, walking behind Ukyou as they
made their way through Nerima en route to the Tendo Dojo. 

    "Just stick by Akane, no matter what.  Got that?" nagged Ukyou.

    She continued walking onward... then realized Ryouga had never
answered.  Muttering a curse, she turned around, jogged back a bit, then
dragged Ryouga by his shirt.

    "Wrong way, stupid!"

    "Hey, don't pull so hard!"

    "Don't you get lost on me tonight, you jackass," snapped Ukyou, poking
Ryouga in the chest roughly.  "Are you ready to say what you need to say
to Akane?"

    Ryouga blinked numbly.  "Say?  Say what?"

    "Tonight you're telling her how you feel, remember?!"

    "Wait a minute!  Since when was this part of the plan?" asked Ryouga,
feeling himself go cold.

    "Well, how ELSE do you expect to get anywhere with her, stupid?"

    "But it's, I mean, I can't, too soon, not sure, what if she, I mean,
maybe not yet, I-"

    *CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG*

    "Snap out of it!" yelled Ukyou, peeling her spatula from Ryouga's
head.

    "S-sorry... I guess I lost my head there for a moment."

    "Ryouga... _can_ you tell Akane how you feel?" wondered Ukyou.  "You
HAVE to tell her tonight, you know."

    "But... but I don't know if I can... I mean..."

    "What's your problem?" wondered Ukyou.  "It's easy to do!  Just say,
'Akane, I love you!', or 'Akane, I care about you!' or something like
that."

    "But..." said Ryouga, looking flustered.  He did a brief imitation of
a goldfish, his jaw flapping as he tried to find something to say to argue
the point, then he sighed and turned away. 

    "I don't understand how you do it," said Ryouga, "you, Mousse,
Shampoo..."

    "Do what?" wondered Ukyou.  She wasn't sure what to make of it at the
moment, but if the comparason of her and *SHAMPOO* went too far, she
silently declared she'd maul the Lost Boy.

    "Throw yourself at the person you love," answered Ryouga.

    "Oh... well... I mean... I just love him," answered Ukyou, not sure of
what else to say.

    "Aren't you afraid?" asked Ryouga.

    "Afraid?  Afraid of what?"

    "Afraid..." he hesitated as he looked up at the stars that slowly
began to decorate the night skies, "afraid they might not feel the same
way." 

    Ukyou watched, fascinated, as Ryouga showed a side of himself she had
never seen before.  She'd seen the revenge-driven berzerker, the babbling
love-struck fool, and the nervous-because-I'm-with-Akane Ryouga... but not
this one.

    This Ryouga before her was... he was scared, vunerable, and lonely.

    "Sugar, you've gotta try," said Ukyou, putting a hand on Ryouga's
shoulder.  "C'mon, practice it a little."

    "Akane, I... I l-lo.... I love... ah...."

    "Okay, maybe using the word _love_ might be a bit too strong at this
point... try something like 'I care about you'."

    "Akane, I ca... I..."  Ryouga turned around, facing Ukyou once more,
and sighed.  "Aaagh, it's no use!  I just can't do it!" 

    "Dammit, Ryouga, it's not that hard!" yelled Ukyou.  "Ranma, I love
you.  There, see?  Easy."

    Ryouga merely turned away and grumbled.  This was a bad thing to do
at the time, especially with Ukyou's patience wearing thin. 

    Without warning, she grabbed him by the collar and shook him
violently, yelling, "SAY IT!  SAY IT!  SAAAAAAAAAAY IT!" 

    "I CAN'T!" whimpered Ryouga loudly.

    "SAY I LOVE YOU!  COME ON!  SAY IT!  I LOVE YOU!"

    "I LOVE YOU!  NOW STOP CHOKING ME!"

    "Um... Ucchan... Ryouga... hope I ain't interrupting something."

    Ukyou froze, wide-eyed.  Ryouga winced.

    They were in front of the gates of the Tendo residence... and they had
an audience.  Ranma just looked kind of confused, as did Akane.  Miyabi
was wearing a _very_ large grin.  Nearby, Doctor Tofu was politely looking
elsewhere, Shampoo was smirking, and Mousse seemed to be as surprised as
Ranma. 

    "Ranchan!  That... was not what it looked like," said Ukyou, blushing
badly. 

    "A-A-Akane!" stuttered Ryouga.

    "What'd I tell you guys?" said Miyabi.  "Those two, they were meant
for each other."

-end teaser-

Converging Series Act 4: Under Construction :)
http://www.uh.edu/~rpm/fanfic.htm