The following fic is part of the unsuccessful "Reunion" author
collaboration series... Full details will be given at the end of the fic.
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RANMA 1/2: REUNION
based on a manga by Rumiko Takahashi
series concept by Erin Mills
UKYOU:
Confession
by Erin Mills
--"UCCHAN'S CAFE", NEW YORK CITY--
Ukyou stared at the envelope. She'd been doing so for over an hour,
reading the same words over and over;
Ukyou Kuonji
c/o Ucchan's Cafe
New York City, NY, USA
And in the corner:
Ranma & Akane Saotome
Nerima, Tokyo, Japan
The had found her. She had no idea how, but they had found her.
After nearly two years...
She swallowed and forced herself to open the envelope. The card
inside was brightly colored. She read over the text printed on it. When
she finished, she dropped the card on the table, stood up, took down a
photo on one wall of the cafe and her combat spatula from the other wall,
hung up the 'closed' sign, went into the kitchen and headed up the back
stairs to her apartment.
Malcolm Davis strolled down the street towards the cafe. He'd just
come from Tiffany's with a very special gift for Ukyou. He was going to
do it. After a year, he was finally going to ask her to marry him. His palms
felt moist. He wiped them off on his pants, and tried to keep the butterflies
doing the lambada in his stomach to stay still. He patted his jacket pocket,
the weight of the ring box giving him renewed confidence.
He allowed himself a smirk.
<Ironic,> he thought, <I, Malcolm Davis, the guy everybody at work
refers to as "Captain Courageous," am scared to death of asking the
woman of my dreams to marry me.>
He stopped at the window of the cafe and ran a hand through his
flame red hair, checking his reflection. Satisfied, he proceeded to the
door. Which was locked.
Malcolm frowned. It was only three in the afternoon. Ukyou never
closed this early. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the set of keys
Ukyou had given him. Unlocking the door, he called for Ukyou.
"Ucchan?"
There was no answer. While Ucchan's had become one of the most
popular cafes in New York, during the day it was usually dead between
the lunch and dinner rushes. In fact, Ukyou insisted on running the place
by herself during the day, saying that since she had managed a
scholastic career and her old restaurant back in Japan with no help,
running this one full time couldn't be much more difficult.
But even during the dead time, Ukyou could usually be found behind
the grill that dominated the center of the room, experimenting with new
types of okonomiyaki.
Not today. Malcolm frowned, something was wrong.
Then he noticed the envelope and card on the table. He walked over
and picked up the card, and read the hiragana printed on it.
Dear Ukyou,
We are holding a reunion for all of our friends from the old days
and would like it if you would come. It will be held on June 25 at the
Saotome Dojo. Please come, we would love to have you here.
Ranma and Akane
Scrawled underneath the printing was a handwritten footnote.
P.S. We understand that you have found a "close friend" in New
York, by all means bring him along. We'd love to meet your 'Prince
Charming.'
Akane
Malcolm grinned at the reference to him, then the names triggered
something.
<Ranma and Akane? Weren't those the names of the couple in that
wedding photo?> Malcolm turned to look at the picture which had been
the first thing he'd noticed when he first walked into the cafe.
It wasn't there.
He also noticed that the four-foot spatula on the opposite wall was
also missing. His frown returned.
<Ucchan never takes that thing down. She doesn't like anyone even
TOUCHING it. Same with the pictures. What's going on?>
He crossed into the kitchen and headed up to the apartment they
shared occasionally.
The kitchen of the apartment was destroyed. Broken dishes lay
scattered about the floor. The countertops had ugly gouges in them. The
refrigerator had been pulled forward, propped up by the island counter in
the center of the kitchen, the contents spilling out and adding to the mess.
Amidst the chaos, Malcolm found the giant spatula lying abandoned
under the fridge. His frown deepened.
"Ucchan? Ukyou!"
A loud bang from above answered him. He looked up at the ceiling
<The roof?> he thought. <THE ROOF!>
Fear overtook his face. He dashed out of the apartment's main door,
down the hall and to another door marked "Roof Access."
Throwing the door open, he ran up the stairs to the roof of the
building.
Ukyou looked out at the city skyline, then at the wedding picture she
held.
<Not again,> she thought, <I can't do this again. Ranma, how can you
be so heartless?> A breeze came up through the cavernous streets,
causing her hair to blow out behind her. She set the picture down, and
placed her hands on the concrete edge in front of her, looking down at
the street below.
<What do I do now?>
Malcolm burst through the access door. He looked across the roof and
saw Ukyou looking down off the edge of the building.
<She isn't-->
Not pausing to think, he speeded across the space and tackled Ukyou
to the ground. They rolled across the roof, acquiring a fair number of
bumps and scrapes as they did so. After they stopped, they both sat up
and looked at each other.
"What the hell are you doing?" they demanded.
Malcolm was the first to respond. "I'm keeping the woman I care about
from doing something stupid."
"What could I pos--" realization crossed the chef's face. "You thought I
was going to jump, didn't you?"
"What else was I supposed to think? I come over, the cafe's closed, the
apartment's destroyed and I come up here to find you looking like you
want a close up view of the sidewalk!"
"Oh, Mal-chan," Ukyou closed her eyes and shook her head. "I just
came up here for some air, and to think." She turned away. Malcom's
expression softened and he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
Ukyou turned back to him, tears glistening in the corner of her eyes.
"Let's go downstairs."
In the cafe, Ukyou rehung the wedding picture and sat at a table with
Malcolm.
"I've told you about my life in Japan, right?"
"Up until Ranma's fight with Saffron."
Ukyou sighed and nodded. "What I didn't tell you was that Ranma
Saotome was my fiancee."
She began to tell Malcolm about the bizarre set of circumstances that
led to Ranma's having at least three fiancees and twice that many suitors,
up to and including the Jusenkyo curse.
"After the fight with Saffron, Ranma and Akane's parents decided to
force them into marriage PDQ. The wedding was set almost immediately."
"So, they got married?" Malcolm asked, feeling that there was more to
the story.
"Unfortunately, no. On the day of the wedding, a leigon of Ranma and
Akane's suitors crashed the Tendo dojo and, as usual, all hell broke
loose," she swalloed painfully. Her next words came out as a whisper.
"Shampoo and I nearly killed Akane."
Malcolm's eyes widened. Ukyou continued.
"I was angry. I'd heard that Ranma decided to choose Akane over me.
Shampoo came to me with the idea. Luckily for everyone concerned, no
one was hurt more than was standard for us and the chaos subsided.
"The emotional scars came later..."
Ukyou was cleaning the griddle at Ucchan's. It was a week after the
disasterous wedding. Ranma had not been by in all that time. Not a visit,
not a phone call, not a letter.
Initially, Ukyou hadn't cared. He had hurt her, so she hurt him back.
That was justice as far as she was concerned. But as the week wore
on, she became lonely. Konatsu was gone on a trip to visit his family, so
she only had her business.
And it couldn't be overlooked that business had dropped off since the
wedding. No one from Furinkan High seemed to want to come by
anymore.
So she served the customers that did arrive, and went to school as
usual. Day after day, the same routine. And another work day was over,
another part of the regimine.
The door to the restaurant slid open.
"We're closed," Ukyou said without looking up. "Please come back
tomorrow."
"Ukyou," a familiar voice replied.
Ukyou looked up and her expression brightened.
"Ran-chan! Grab a seat. What can I get for you?" She began gathering
her ingredients.
"Answers, Ukyou." Ranma said.
The words stopped her cold. 'Ukyou,' not 'Ucchan', 'Ukyou.' She
turned to look at Ranma. He had a dark look on his face. Pain, anger and
betrayal vied for control of his emotions.
"Why?" he asked. "Why did you do it, Ukyou?"
Words failed her. "I-I don't know."
"You don't know?" Ranma snorted. "I think you do. I think you know
exactly why you did what you did."
"Yes," Ukyou hung her head. "I love you."
"Yeah, right."
Ukyou looked up sharply. Rage was clearly etched on Ranma's face.
"You love me." he said coldly. "God, you're so pathetic. Ever since
you two showed up, you and Shampoo have been acting like I'm some
sort of prize to be fought for. I'm sick of it, Ukyou. Sick and tired.
"I'm tired of all the little plots and games that go on around here. I'm
sick of being put on a pedestal by you, Shampoo, Kodachi and even
Kuno. I'm tired of dealing with the old ghoul and fighting Ryouga whenever
he shows up.
"I've had it. And I'm putting an end to whatever I can. I may not be able
to get the Kunos or Ryouga off my back, but I can do something about you
and Shampoo."
"R-Ran-chan...you don't mean--"
"I choose Akane. And don't ever call me by that name again."
"You love her?"
"Does it matter? At least she doesn't put me up on a pedestal. So
long." Ranma turned to leave the restaurant. Ukyou felt the tears well up.
Then she decided that she'd be damned if she was going to let him end
it this way. As Ranma was about to leave, she placed one foot on the
griddle, pushed herself up and leaped into the air, combat spatula at the
ready.
She swung it down for the blow. Ranma's hand shot up, grabbed the
handle of the oversized cooking implement just above the blade and
plucked it from Ukyou's grasp.
Ukyou somersaulted in mid-air, landed on her feet and watched as
Ranma tied a knot in the handle and dropped the spatula on the floor.
"You asshole!" Ukyou cried, rearing back with a punch. Ranma spun
around, caught the punch, and raised a hand as if to strike her.
Ukyou winced, preparing for the blow. When it didn't come, she
opened her eyes to face her ex-fiancee.
"I don't want to see you for a while, Ukyou." Ranma said quietly. "In
time, maybe we'll forgive each other. But not in any future I can see."
He released her and left the restaurant.
"Did you ever reconcile?" Malcolm asked.
"Not for a while. Every time one of us would be ready to apologize, the
other would keep their distance. Then we'd get mad at each other all over
again. We were both pretty stubborn."
"So what happened next?"
"I finally came to my senses and started dating Konatsu. It was
originally a rebound thing, but after a couple of months I grew to return
the love he gave me. But then it all changed again."
"What happened?"
Ukyou's eyes began to water. It still hurt, after all these years.
"One of those things that shouldn't have happened, but did anyway..."
She paced the hallway for the umpteenth time. He'd been in there for
nearly three hours now. Occasionally, a nurse would come out of the
room but he or she would brush off all of Ukyou's questions with a
generic "We're doing all we can."
She pounded a fist against the wall. Damn him, why didn't he look
where he was going? Why wouldn't anyone tell her anything? What was
going on?
"Ukyou?"
The cook turned to see the sisters Tendo behind her. Nabiki was
speaking on a cellular to someone, while Akane and Kasumi were looking
at her with compassionate eyes. Akane came over and hugged her.
Ukyou returned the embrace. Akane had forgiven Ukyou a while ago, and
with Ranma no longer an obstacle, the two were becoming close friends.
"We just heard." Kasumi said.
"I'm so sorry, Ukyou." said Akane. "Have you heard anything?"
Ukyou broke from Akane. "Not a goddamned thing. They keep giving
me the runaround. I was lucky enough to get this close to the operating
room, after I told them I no idea how to contact his family."
Nabiki finished her call. "So, what happened?" she asked pointedly.
Ukyou's expression changed from anger to sorrow.
"He was coming back from the restaurant from the market. We were
planning a nice, quiet evening together." She lowered her face. "He didn't
even see the car coming."
"Didn't he cross with the light?"
"Nabiki!" Akane and Kasumi exclaimed, shocked at their sister's
surprising lack of tact.
"Yes," Ukyou answered. "The driver was trying to beat the light." Her
expression returned to the anger the Tendos had seen when they
arrived. "The son-of-a-bitch didn't even stop. He just peeled out like
nothing had happened! When I find him--"
Akane put a hand on the enraged chef's shoulder.
"Let's get some coffee. It'll calm you down."
"I AM calm!" Ukyou protested.
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