Here's a more updated version of the story. I'm including the entire story in
case ya missed the first two postings. Just skim down to the part ya last read
up to. Enjoy :)


Jefffrey "OneShot" Wong

Ranma 1/2: Sentenced to life


     Ranma's life had been totally destroyed. Utterly and totally destroyed.
Framed for a murder he didn't commit, he had been sentenced to a life behind
bars with no eligible chance for parole. 
  Ranma looked down at his trayful of food, and it looked absolutely disgusting.
  "What the fuck are you lookin' at, asshole?!" someone gave Ranma a vicious
stare. The man was seated in a chair, but he soon got up, he size dwarfing
Ranma's. 
  "N-nothing" he said meekly. This was the first day in the penetentary, and he
had no idea how much trouble he was in.
  The man knocked Ranma's trayful of food into Ranma's face, the mashed potatoes
singing Ranma's face. Ranma didn't know what to do as he stared up at the man.
At a moment like this, Ranma would have gotten angry, but for some reason, he
didn't. He took a step away.
  "I think you need to be taught a lesson" the man said. He grabbed Ranma by his
jail shirt. He cocked his arms back...
  Before Ranma knew what happened, he found himself lying on the cold hard floor
of the cafeteria, blood gushing from a large gash on his face. He sat up to wipe
the blood off with his hand, but his arm wouldn't move. He tired to move it, but
it wouldn't respond. 
  He felt someone give him a kick on his back "Get up" It was one of the
corrections officers. The officer looked at Ranma with a cold heartless stare.
  Ranma wanted to get up, but he couldn't, his legs not responding. He tried
again, using his arms to bring himself up, but the pain prevented him "I-I
can't" He looked up at the guard meekly.
  "Get the fuck up!" Ranma heard before a club rained down on his back. The pain
was excruciating. Another shot struck him again, but this time on the back of
his neck. Luckily for him, it was hard enough to knock him unconscious.
   Ranma's unconscious body was dragged off as all the other prisoners watched
stoically. Things like this happened every day. It was all part of the system.
  
  Shortly after waking up the next day, Ranma finally realized just how much
trouble he was in. He sat alone in his tiny jailcell, not daring to move. He
knew if he moved, massive bolts of pain would surge through his body. 
  "Okay, time for the morning cell check" an officer, a young female officer. As
she opened his cell door, she regarded Ranma with soft eyes. She was the only
corrections officer in the entire penetentary that showed some form of remorse.
Although Ranma was in no shape to move, she still regarded him rather
cautiously.
  Ranma slowly looked up at the young girl, tears streaming down his cheeks. It
wasn't from the pain that caused those tears, but from the realization that he
was all alone. He gazed up at the young officer through a one swollen eye and
spoke "I-I don't think I can"
   The young officer was still cautious "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to"
She was looking at the newest addition to the penetentary, and deep down inside,
he looked like he didn't belong there. She remembered his name was Ranma.
Although she had been there for no more than a year, there had been no prisoner
that looked more innocent than this young man she was looking at.
   "I really suggest you do so, or the other officers are goin' to beat you" she
said matter-of-factly. She hated the way the penetentary was run. The entire
place was corrupted. All the officers abused their authority.
  Ranma gritted his teeth as he slowly got to his feet. The pain was too much
for him for he fell forward to his knees.
  The young officer had instictively stepped forward to grab a hold of him, but
she managed to keep herself from getting too close. Who knows? He might have
been faking it. She stepped back, still watching him cautiously.
  Ranma cluched at his ribs and moaned. He must have had a few broken ribs. But
he gritted his teeth again as he tried to get up. Through extreme pain, he
managed to finally stand upright "N-now what?" he said softly. His words were
barely heard. Every breath he took hurt.
  "Just step forward out of your cell and wait for the other officers to check
it" she said, stepping back and out of Ranma's way. She made sure she was far
enough away from him so that she would be able to react quickly incase Ranma
attempted to bumrush her, which was most unlikely.
  Ranma stepped out of his cell and gave the young girl a weary look "N-now
what?"
  "Just stand there" she said. She gave Ranma one more look before she headed
off toward her superior officers as they walked down the small corridor that had
cells to each side. Ranma watched he intenly as he noticed her pet the dog that
burly officer was holding the leash to. When she had walked past him, he could
smell the faint scent to her perfume. 
  Ranma watched as the burly officer and the young girl were headed his way. He
noticed the dog entering each cell and sniffing around for narcotics. The dog
took about two minutes before the officer moved onto the next cell. As he stood
there, he looked down the corridor and the line of inmates standing uniformly in
front of their individual cells.
  "What are you looking at?" the burly officer said as he caught sight of Ranma
watching him "Didn't you learn your lesson back in the cafeteria the other day?"
Ranma said nothing. He looked down at the officer;s knuckles and noticed they
were bloody. It was probably from beating the other prisoners.
  "Hey, boy, speak when you're bein' spoken to" the officer grabbed Ranma by the
collar of his blood stained shirt and shook him once. The dog began barking
loudly, its bark echoing throught the corridor. None of the oher prisoners dared
to gaze in their direction.
  "I-I was lookin' at nothing, sir" he said weakly through clenched teeth. All
that jostling was causing his ribs to hurt.
  The young girl watched quietly, not knowing what to say. She wanted to tell
her superior officer to stop the harassing, but that would easily mean her job
and she really needed the money the job provided. As she watched, she noticed a
small blood stain forming around Ranma's chest. She gasped as she realized that
one of his ribs must have punctured his skin.
  She had to do something before Ranma got hurt even more. He was in bad
condition as it is, and there was no need for his conditioned to be worsened.
She reached forward and placed one of her hands on the burly officer's shoulder
"Y-you don't need to do that"
  The man turned toward her "Of course you do" he said "You hafta show 'em whose
boss" He turned toward Ranma and gave him a nasty look "In here, they're nothin'
but garbage, and that's how they deserve to be treated"
  "I-I'm aware of that...b-but you don't have to be so rough" she said. For the
first time since she started her job here, she was glad that she had good looks
because the man she was talking to seemed to have a soft spot for pretty women.
Even though she hated, no, detested the leers she got from the inmates, she was
now glad that her looks could do much more than get sexual looks. Although none
of the inmates dared to say anything toward her, she knew what they were
thinking. And judging by how the officer looked at her, she knew his thoughts
weren't any different from the inmates.
  The officer pushed Ranma off to the side as he let the dog sniff through his
cell "You're lucky today, boy. If she hadn't said anythin'..." he didn't bother
to finish his sentence. After a few moments, he went on to check the other
cells.
  The young girl stayed behind for a moment "A-are you okay?"
  "Y-yeah, I-I'm fine" he said weakly, still holding his ribs. He bowed polietly
out of respect "T-thanks"
  She was a bit surprised by Ranma's politeness, but she mangaed to say "Don't
worry about it, Ranma" She wanted to kick herself for saying out his name when
she noticed Ranma cock an eyebrow up. She had always made it so she would never
get to know the prisoners' names, yet when she came across Ranma's picture, she
had to know his name for some reason.
  "You know my name" he said. It was a statement, not a question "But I don't
know yours"
  The young girl thought for a moment, wondering if it was all right to give him
her name. When she looked up into his soft, warm eyes, she felt commpelled to.
She smiled warmly, which seemed to make Ranma's day brighter, for he smiled back
every bit as warmly.
  "My name's Ukyo"

  Ranma sat by himself as he ate quietly in the cafeteria. He had been in there
for a few days already, but his wounds had healed quite a bit. He was no longer
experiencing any form of pain. 
  A frail young man, somewhere around Ranma's age, sat down next to him "Is it
all right if I sit down next to ya?" Ranma regarded him for a second but said
nothing. The young man looked like hell. He had a black eye and several bruises
were quite visible on his face. It looked as if he had been beat up just
recently.
  "I'm Ryuichi" the young man said as he scooped up some indiscernable food and
put it in his mouth. The site of food he was eating made Ranma want to gag "I
saw what happened to you the other day. So, what are you in for?"
  Ranma looked up "I'm Ranma, and I was framed. I don't belong here"
  Ryuichi chuckled "That's what everyone says. Everyone's innocent in here. But
in here, it doesn't matter if you're innocent or not. All that matters is
protecting yourself"
  Ranma looked at Ryuichi curiously. The man was very skinny and frail. There
was no way in hell that man could defend himself. Except for Ranma, every inmate
must have outweighed the man by a hundred pounds. And judging from the bruises,
it was obvious he didn't know self-defence "How do you defend yourself in here?"
  "I get someone else to do it" he said. When he noticed Ranma looking at his
face full of bruises, he continued "The person who was supposed to protect me
was stabbed last night so he couldn't protect me"
  Ranma gasped as he realized how violent this place was. He wondered how a man
this small and frail managed to survive for so long.
  "Well, I won't be worryin' about that. I can protect myself" Ranma said. He
turned his gaze toward that inmate that had beat him up the other day. The man
was on the other side of the entire cafeteria, chatting with his buddies. Ranma
clenched his fist. He's going to pay for what he did.
  "Maybe you got hit in the head too hard," Ryuichi said "but you were beat
pretty bad. I didn't see you tryin' to defend yourself" He took another mouthful
of food from his tray.
  "I had somethin' on my mind" Ranma replied. He turned his attention back onto
Ryuichi "He took me by surprise. That's all"
  "Well, whatever" he said "In here, you better know how to fight. That's the
only way your ever going to get respect from the guard and other inmates. Hey,
look at that, it looks like there's another new addition to our family. It seems
your....friend....is welcoming him"
  Ranma turned his attention toward where Ryuichi was pointing. His gaze rested
on the same man that had beat him up the other day. The man looked like he was
picking on a new inmate. He was holding the new guy by the collar. Ranma cluched
his fists as he got up off his seat "What's with that guy? Why's he like that?"
  "He's the local tough guy. That's all" Ryuichi replied "He seems to get a
hard-on from picking on people"
  Ranma cracked his knuckles "Well, it's about time someone taught him a lesson"

  "Hey, what do you think you're doin'?" Ryuichi managed to say to Ranma's back.

  Ranma made his way past all the other inmate. He felt a surge of adrenaline
flow through his veins as he made his way toward the man. He didn't know what he
was going to do once he got there, but he wasn't going to allow that man to
continue on with his ways. Someone was going to have to teach him a lesson and
it seems Ranma was going to be the one to do it.
  Ukyo was pacing back and forth on the balcony that overlooked the cafeteria.
She was hodling a mandatory shotgun in her arms. Today was definitely one of her
better days. Only one fight had broken out earlier and it was only between two
prisoners over something as petty as a drink at the water fountain. She was the
first one to arrive at the scene and the prisoners easily backed down when they
caught sight of the shotgun she was carrying. That had happened early in the
morning, nothing else occuiring since then.
 She sighed when she noticed Riko picking on the new prisoner that had been
transferred into the penetentary. She hated that man. All he ever did was pick
fights with prisoners. Ukyo sighed. That man belonged on death row. 
  "Hey!" Ranma shouted at the man, his voice echoing throughout the cafeteria.
Everyone, who was minding their own business, turned their attention toward
Ranma and the man.
  "Well well well, it seems our new ho is back for more" the man said, causing
the room to burst out in laughter.
  Ukyo looked down at the source of the commotion. When her eyes rested on
Ranma, her heart lept. She watched intently from the safety of balcony as Ranma
stood faced to face with that tower of a man. She noticed that Ranma's head only
reached up to the man's shoulders. 
  Ranma said nothing. All he did was stare directly into Riko's eyes.
 "Well, aren't you going to say something?!" Riko said with a smirk. He grabbed
Ranma's collar like he did the other day.
  "You got lucky the other day" Ukyo heard Ranma say "I had a lot on my mind at
the time" 
  Ukyo felt a bit of concern for Ranma. He had no idea what kind of man Riko
was. Riko wouldn't hesitate to kill Ranma then and there. But it wasn't only
Riko that was vicious, but also his buddies. His buddies would most likely
bumrush Ranma and hold him down while Riko rained blows down on him. And by the
time the other guards managed to make it there in time to break up the fight,
Ranma would had been beaten into a coma by then. 
  Ukyo took the walkie talkie off her belt and talked into it "Umino, you better
get your ass to the caefeteria. Hurry! Someone's going to get killed" She was
the closest to the two men, but there was no way she could intervene. She wasn't
trained to deal with fights and was physically too weak to fight anyone off if
she were to ever get attacked in the heat of battle.
  Ukyo turned her attention to the fight, just in time to catch sight of Ranma
landing a vicious blow to Riko's jaw. She watched in disbelief as Riko's
unconscious body was thrown backwards several yards fromt he shear impact.
  "Watchout!!!" she screamed noticed two guys ruch from the crowd behind Ranma. 
  As if on instinct, Ranma's landed two vicious kicks on each of the inmates'
chin, knocking them out. Several more inmates bumrushed him, only to get the
same treatment as the three before them. After a dozen people had attemped to
rush him, meeting the same fate as their fallen comrade, did the fight stop, no
one wanting to attempt to knock Ranma down.
  The commotion had ended within seconds. A circle had formed around Ranma,
everyone not knowing what to do. They just stared at him. Ranma stood there,
awaiting for the next incoming attack. After a few tense moments, the crowd
parted as three guards with clubs made their way to Ranma.
  One of the guards looked down at the doxen of unconscious inmates before he
turned his attention up toward Ukyo "What happened?" the guard asked her.
Without receiving an answer from her, the guard turned his attention toward
Ranma "You're in deep shit for this"
  
  Ranma used on of his arms to cluch at his ribs again as he sat upright in the
bed he was in. He surveyed his surrounding, realizing that he was in the
infirmary. He brought his hand upto his face to feel for any cuts. There weren't
any. He took a deep breath and winced in a little bit of pain. Some of his ribs
must have been bruised. He was in a lot better condition than last time. It
would be better within a day or so.
  He was about to get up off the bed, but he realized that one of his arms was
chained to the bedpost. He gave it a quick jerk, knowing that if he really
tired, he could break the chain, but he chose against it. It would make people
think he was trying to escape. He sighed, lying back down on the bed again.
  A few hours passed before someone entered the room. To his delight, it was
that young woman he had met this morning during the cell check. He remembered
her name was Ukyo. There was no way he would forget a name like that.
  Ukyo sat down in the chair next to the bed, a chair that wa just far away
enough that there was no way Ranma could reach her if he tried to attack her.
Even though he was in no condition to move, she still had to be cautious. She
sat crossed her leg as she grabbed a notepad thattook a pencil from her shirt
pocket and began to talk.
  "What happened?" she said. She knew what happened, but it was standard
procedure to have the incident written down for the records. The incident where
the guards had beaten him into unconsciousness would have been left out.
  "He got it comin' to him" Ranma said. He eyed her rather fondly. He had never
seen a woman as beautiful as her. She was absolutely gorgeous "I just paid him
back for what he did to me earlier"
  Ukyo giggled. She liked Ranma's reply. She knew that Riko had it coming to him
sooner or later. It was just a matter of time. She was just glad that she was
there to witness someone beating some sense into that man. She was also glad
that it was Ranma, it made watching all the more enjoyable. Even though she
didn't like seeing human suffering, she knew Riko deserved it.
  Ranma smiled a bit. He liked the way she laughed. It gave him a warm feeling,
something that he could definitely get used to. He adjusted himself so that he
was one his side facing Ukyo, his head propped up by his free arm.
  Although she wasn't looking at him, Ukyo could feel Ranma's gaze on her. It
made her feel a bit nervous. She knew how everyone looked at her. They always
looked at her licentiously. But when her gaze met his, she noticed  nothing but
kidness in his eyes. For some reason, it made her more nervous because of the
way her body seemed to respond to his eyes. She noticed that he heart seemed to
have sped up.
  "Thanks" he said warmly after a few silent moments. He was still regarding her
with warm eyes.
  "For what?" she asked curiously. She had no idea what he was thanking her for.
  "For what you did back there" he said "Thanks for tellin' me about those guys
behind me. They would have caught me by surprise if it weren't for you" Ukyo
wondered exactly what would had happened if she had never told him to look out.
If she hadn't, they would had easily overwhelmed him and he would be in a coma
by now, most likely on the verge of death.
  Ukyo smiled a bit. She was glad that she could help. It was just too bad she
couldn't do anything when the guards were beating him. All she could do was
refuse to hit him. She would had quit a long time ago if it weren't for the fact
that she needed the money.
  "Okay, back to the subject" she began again, her tone a bit more seriously
"What happened back there?"
  Ranma stopped for a moment to think of a good answer "He beat me up the other
day, and I'm just paying him back for it. And yes, I started the fight"
  "Do you know they're going to do to you?" she said. She wished this wasn't
happening. Ranma didn't deserve this. It was Riko that deserved this. But just
because the guards like Riko because they enjoyed watching him pick fights with
oother prisoners, Riko wouldn't get into any trouble. Ranma, on the other hand,
was in a heap of trouble.
  "No" he said. He had absolutely no idea.
  "They're going to put you in solitary confinement for at least a week" she
replied, cluching her notepad tightly.
  "What's that?" Ranma asked.
  "You're going to be put in a tiny cell without any human contact" she replied
"There's going to be no light. Nothing. The only light you'll ever see is when
they open a tiny grate to give you food"
  "It seems a lot better than where I am now" Ranma remarked. He laid back down
on the bed, looking up at the bland ceiling "At least I won't have to worry
about the guards"
  Ukyo clenched her hands into fists. She knew Ranma was right. The guards were
worse than the prisoners. But she knew Ranma had no idea what he was getting
himself into. Prolonged periods of time in solitary confiment usually drove
people insane. 
  "It doesn't matter though" he began "Even though I don't belong here, there's
nothing I can do about it. If they're going to give me solitary confinment, I
can't do anything about it. If I refuse, I'd probably get shot. Am I right?"
  Ukyo said nothing. He was abslutely correct. 
  "How come you're not like them?" he asked.
  "W-well," she began. She didn't really know if it was all right to tell him.
She hesitated for a moment. She wasn't like them because she detested seeiing
human suffering. She would never get pleasure from seeing someone get hurt,
especially by her own hands.
  "Maybe you better not tell me" he said "I don't want you to get in troble or
nothing"

  Ranma looked like he lost several pounds when he was finally released from
solitary confinement. But aside from that, he looked okay. He even managed to
crack a smile toward Ukyo when he was escorted with several guards toward his
cell. Ukyo was the only one who saw. She couldn't believe he did something like
that. If the other guards had caught sight of him smiling after leaving solitary
confinement, they would had thrown him back in and kept him in there for another
week just to get rid of his smile.
  After a few days had passed, Ukyo noticed Ranma had gained back his weight,
and was looking healthy again. When it was her turn to take her post on the
balcony that overlooked the cafeteria, she couldn't help but notice that she was
stealing more glances toward Ranma than she wanted to admit. For some reason,
she couldn't keep her eyes off him. 
  She found herself wondering what Ranma was saying when she noticed someone sit
down next to him.
  "You look better" Ryuichi said.
  Ranma nodded "I feel better now" He started to eat some of the slop that the
cafeteria staff gave him. It looked like runny mashed potatoes. His finished
that it in several bites "Man, this stuff's disgusting"
  Ryuichi's eyes widened "Hey, if you don't want it, I'd be glad to have it"
  Ranma turned his attentioned away from his meal and onto Ryuichi. He noticed
several new bruises on the frail man's face "Where'd you get those from?"
  "My boyfriend hit me" he replied, not bothering to looked up at Ranma.
  Ranma spit out some of the milk he was drinking "W-what didja say?"
  "Remember when I said I have others to protect me?" he said. When he receieved
a nod from Ranma, he continued on "Well, I give sexual favors to the man to
protects me, and he hit me a couple of times when we were...."
  "Oh man, I never knew things like that happened in here" Ranma said, his
stomach churning. But he managed to hold down his lunch when logic pushed his
way into his mind "Waittaminute. I don't get it. If you're getting beaten up by
the person protecting you, then that ain't what I would call protection"
  "Would you protect me?" Ryuichi said, pleading in his eyes "I'll do anything"
  Ranma couldn't believe Ryuichi was going through something that horrible. He
would had helped him out anyway. Ryuichi should had come to him first and asked
for his help. Even though they rarely talked to each other, Ranma considered
Ryuichi as close to a friend as he was ever going to get.
  "I'l protect you" Ranma said. He believed that no one should suffer. He
couldn't stand seeing the weak being taken advantaged of.
  "Thank you" Ryuichi said. He looked like he was about to cry, but he kept his
tears under control. He knew if the other inmates saw him cry, that he would get
a whole heap of trouble and so would Ranma since he was with him. He didn't want
to bring Ranma any trouble. Besides, if Ranma expected to stick to his word, he
would be doing a lot of fighting on Ryuichi's behalf.
  Ranma took a another bite of his lunch when he noticed Ryuichi's face wince in
pain.
  Ryuichi tried to say something, but ntohing was coming out of his mouth. All
the blood seemed to drain from his face as he tried desperately to speak. With
all his strength, he pointed at somone.
  Ranma looked over at what Ryuichi was pointing at. His gze rested on a man
walkign away from the two of them. He noticed that the man was stuffing
something into the sleeve of his jail shirt. Ranma realized that the man was
trying to conceal a knife. He turned his attention back onto Ryuichi, only to
see him slump forward, blood pouring from his mouth. He looked like he was still
trying to say something. 
  Ranma realized what Ryuichi was trying to tell him. Ryuichi had just been
stabbed and was trying to tell Ranma that that man he pointed twoard was the one
who did it. Without thinking twice, Ranma jumped out of his seat and caught
Ryuichi before he fell to the ground. He gently laid his friend down "I'll get
him for you"
  Ranma turned his attention toward the man. He clenched his hands into fists
"Get back here!!!" he yelled. His eyes flared with anger. The man turned around,
noticed Ranma looking directly at him, and then hurried his pace away from them.
  Ranma ran after the man, shoving a man whome happened to have stepped in front
of him, out of his way. Several other people semed to have accidentally stepped
in front of him, but Ranma knew they were trying to slow him down. Knowing the
assailant was going to get away, Ranma knew the best way to get him was either
through the people, which there were too many of, or by jumping up on the
tables. Rnama took the latter approach.
  Ukyo watched the whole thing from above. She watched as he hopped onto the
tables, food splattering everywhere, mostly onto hapless inmates, as he hopped
from one table to another, coming closer and closer to the assailant. Once he
was close enough, he lunged forward and onto the man, knocking him down to the
ground with a well placed kick to his back. 
  He quickly climbed onto of the man as he tried to fight back. The man
attempted to pull the knife out to stab Ranma, but Ranma quickly knocked it
away. Ranma then punched the man in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
As soon as the man managed to catch his wind, Ranma punched him in the gut
again. By now, a circle had formed around Ranma and the man, and they were
cheering for Ranma to kill the man.
  Two men rushed forward from the crowd, clubs in their hands, ready to club
Ranma. Ranma was forced to get off the man to protect himself. He managed to
deflected the first club, but the second one caught him square on the back. That
seemed to have angered Ranma more than anything else. He picked the man off the
ground and threw him into the two attackers, hitting them so hard that all three
were knocked out.
  "Break it up! Break it up!" one of the four guards shouted as he shoved
prisoners out of his way. He walked up to Ranma, his club at his side "Well,
look who it is?"
  Ranma pointed toward one of the three unconscious men "That man ober there,"
He then opinted toward Ryuichi, whom was lying still on the ground, a small
puddle of blood forming around him "he stabbed that guy"
  "Where's the weapon?" the guard asked.
  "I don't know. I knocked it out of his hands when he tried to stab me with it"
Ranma replied. He looked over at the spot where he last remembered where the
knife had landed, but the knife was no longer there. He clenched his teeth,
knowing that someone must had picked it up and had hidden it to hide the
evidence.
  "So where is it?" the guard asked, obviously showing his impatience. 
  "It was just there a second ago" Ranma said.
  "Sure it was" Ranma last heard before a club rained down on his head.

  Ranma woke up in the infirmary again. This time, he wasn't in any from of
pain. Although he was hit in the head, he had faked being knocked unconscious.
Although he could easily endure the onslaught of attacks, he would rather have
less than more, and faking unconsciousness was the best way to avoid it. He felt
angry, angry at what had happened earlier. He never managed to catch the person
who stabbed Ryuichi. But he knew he would be able to identify the man if he saw
him, and when their paths crossed...
  Ranma noticed Ryuichi lying in the bed next to him. He noticed his chest
rising and loweirng, meanign he was still alive and breathing. Although Ryuichi
seemed like he was okay, Ranma had no idea how bad his friend's condition was.
  "I'm sorry. I couldn't catch him" Ranma said softly, tears slowly forming
arond his eyes. He couldn't believe he had just let his friend down. Ranma sat
upright, realizing once again that his arm was chained to the bedpost. He wanted
to break the chain, which he could easily do, and rush to Ryuichi's side, but he
knew the guards would have a ball with him if they noticed that he had broken
the chain.
  "You okay?" Ukyo asked as she entered the room once again. She closed the door
behind her and sat down in a nearby chair. This time, she wasn't as far away
from him as last time. 
  Ranma looked at Ukyo for a few moments before turning his attention toward
Ryuichi "Is he all right?"
  Ukyo looked at Ryuichi for a second before replying "He'll be all right" She
couldn't believe how compassionate this man was. Here he was, lying in bed with
his own injuries, and he was worried about someone he had only met a short while
ago. Men like this didn't belong in places like this. They belonged on the
outside, with loving families, with children and wives. Ranma definitely
definitely didn't belong here.
  "Man, I'm in here more than my cell" he joked, which made Ukyo laugh. He sat
up and looked at the chain confining him to the bedpost "Do they have to keep
this on? It's very uncomfortable. It makes me feel like I'm some kinda animal"
  "Yeah," she replied "it's all a part of the procedure. They don't want inmates
roaming around free after they wake up" She looked at Ranma's arm. She had the
keys to the lock on the chain, but she wouldn't allow herself to do something as
stupid as unlocking his chain just because he was uncomfortable or felt like an
animal. Sure, it must be degrading, but it was for her and the other guards'
safety.
  "Well, I suggest you use stronger chains" Ranma said guesturing toward the
ones attached to his arm "These are pretty old and they would break if ya give
'em a good yank like this" Ranma was just trying to show her something, but it
turned out all wrong. The chain broke, the locked lock falling to the floor
right next to Ukyo.
  Ranma looked at Ukyo "Oops. I didn't mean to do that"
  Ukyo's heart leapt up into her throat. Here she was, in a room with a loose
inmate. She was the only person in that wing of the penetentary, meaning if
Ranma decided to rush her and attempt to rape her, no one would hear her
screams. She had never felt so scared in her life. Her heart was racing,
threatening to explode. At that moment, she was very keenly aware of just how
vulnerable she was. The only form of protection she had was the tiny can of mace
that was attached to her belt.
  She quickly fumbled for her can of mace before he managed to have time to rush
her. But because she was doing it in a state of panic, she accidentally dropped
the can and it rolled underneathe the bed Ranma was on. At that moment, she
realized that the door to the room was closed, and she wouldn't have enough time
to open it and make a break for it before Ranma gets next to her.
  Ukyo felt dizzy as she realized she was at the mercy of this man. She felt
lightheaded. Her world was spinning. Before she knew what happened, she could
see Ranma rushing toward her just as everything went black.

  Ukyo slowly woke up. She had no idea where she was. She soon realized she was
in a bed. When she sat upright, she noticed a wet cloth fall down into her lap.
She picked it up and looked at it. Why was there a cloth on her head? Then,
suddenly, she realized where she was. She was in the infirmary.
  "W-what happened?" she asked herself. 
  "You fainted" came a voice. Ukyo turned toward it, and her gaze rested on
Ranma. At that moment, she realize what had happened. She remember seeing Ranma
break free from his chain, fumbling for her can of mace only to drop it, and
then seeing Ranma rushign toward her before all went black. She cluched at her
chest, not wanting to believe what he might have done to her while she was
unconscious. She looked down and noticed that she was still wearing her clothes,
that her shirt was still buttoned. She looked over at Ranma and noticed that he
was in his chains again.
  "I managed to catch you before you hit the floor after you fainted. I put you
on the bed and placed the wet cloth on your forehead" he said "I took you keys
and unlocked the lock. Since I only broke a few links to the chain, I managed to
salvage it. I locked myself back up and threw the keys to you"
  Ukyo checked for her keys. It was nowhere to be found. She did, however, find
the can of mace hooked back on her belt.
  "It's under the bed" Ranma said meekly "I kinda have lousy aim. I was aiming
for the bed, but I missed. It slide under you bed" 
  Ukyo checked under her bed, and there it was. She picked up her keys and
hooked it up to her belt "I don't get it. Why'd you do that? You could have
taken my keys and made a break for it"
  Ranma laid down and looked up at the ceiling "No thank you. They'll think I'm
trying to escape, and I would probably get shot. Besides, I'd just get hunted
down like some dog"
  Ukyo said nothing. She couldn't believe Ranma did something like that. He
could had easily escaped. He had the keys to the control booth meaning he could
had disabled the security systems, and he would had made easily vanished into
the night since all the guards would be overwhelmed by the security systems
going down.
  "Ukyo, I'm innocent" 

  Ukyo placed her keys on the table as she entered her livingroom. She was dead
tired, but she knew she wasn't going to have a good night's sleep tonight, not
after what had happened today. The scene played over and over in her head, the
scene where Ranma had managed to break free from his chain. The scene played in
slow motion as she remembered seeing Ranma rushing toward her. Before everything
had went black, she remembered looking directly into Ranma's eyes and she
remember seeing concern in them, not malice. 
  She sat down on the couch, her heart still beating rapidly. If the chain had
broken free for any other man while she was in the room, she would had been
raped. But it had happened to Ranma, and he didn't do anything like that. He did
the one thing no inmate would do. She would had been helpless if he wanted to
rape, and she knew it. 
  She was still playing the scene over in her head. She had been always cautious
all her life, and no matter how cautious she was, she it wouldn't had saved her
if it had been another inmate in that room. She placed her face in her hand as
she began to cry. She could had been raped. Her life would have been destroyed
if something like that had happened. But because of Ranma, it never happened.
Because Ranma happened to be unfortunate enough to be hurt and placed in the
infirmary, she was never raped.
  She continued to cry into her hands "Ranma"

  Ranma was eating quietly by himself in the cafeteria when Ukyo noticed him
from the balcony above. All the inmates seemed to be eyeing him cautiously, very
aware that he was someone not to be recoked with, especaially after yesterday's
incident.
  She was quite surprised that he wasn't put in solitary confinement like last
time. Afterall, he had started a fight, just like he did yesterday. Maybe the
guards were finally giving a bit of respect. But still, Ukyo thought bitterly,
they didn't have to beat him. 
  She sat down on a nearby stood, her shotgun resting on her lap, as she rested
her arms on the landing, her chin resting on her forearms. She sighed as she
focused on Ranma. His back was turned toward her, and she wondered what he was
thinking about. 
  "Hey, Ukyo, what's up?" Shinku said as he leaned against the wall behind her.
He was a middle aged man that Ukyo viewed as the father she never had. Her own
father had died of a heartattack several years ago, and he seemed to have taken
his place.
  "Nothin' much" she said, not bothering to look up. She sighed.
  "Looks like ya took a likin' to one of 'em inmates" he said, bringing his head
down next to hers to follow her line of gaze. His gaze rested on Ranma also "If
I remember correctly, he's the new guy that came in about two weeks ago. I think
his name's Ranma...Ranma Saotome"
  Ukyo nodded "Um, do you know what he's in here for?"
  "Murder" he said, matter-of-factly. He then began counting the people he
killed on his fingers "He was accused for murdering his father, his uncle and
his uncle's three daughters, and a friend from his old school. I remember
readin' about that in the newspapers a few days ago. It gave me the chills that
someone could do somethin' like that in cold blood. And what's weird is that
there was no reason for him to kill them. At least that's what it seems like in
the papers. They disected the guy's life and could find no reason why he would
do it. But hey, people could be fine one day, and the next day, they snap"
  "Do you think he did it?" Ukyo asked curiously. It didn't really matter what
the other guards thought, but she did value Shiku's advice and opinions.
  "Him?" Shinku said "Not really. It just doesn't add up. The guy has his whole
life ahead of him. There was no reason for him to throw it away. Also, as soon
as the bodies were discovered and a warrent was put out for his arrest, he
surrendered. He keeps claiming innocent, but a witness testified and he was
convicted. You know what's also weird, the witness seems dubious. I remember
about hearing the witness changing their testimony a few times" He shrugged his
shoulders "I personally feel the justice failed where it shoulda prevailed.
That's what I think"
  Ukyo looked up at Shinku "How do you know all this?"
  "C'mon Ukyo, you should keep up with the times more often. It's been in the
papers for weeks" he said "It's kinda strange how ya could miss somethin' with
that much coverage"
  "Well, I do kinda lead sheltered life" Ukyo said. And she did. She lived
alone, away from human contact. She preferred to live alone. Even though that
meant she never had a boyfriend, she still preferred to live alone.
  "You should get out more, honey" Shinku said "There's a lotta stuff out there
that ya would want to experience, and it'd sure be a shame if ya miss out on it.
Hey, me and my wife, we plan on takin' out kids the the amusement park tomorrow,
and I know ya have the day off. How'd ya like to go?"
  "I don't know" she sounded skeptical. 
  "C'mon, ya might even find a nice man" he teased, placing his hand on her
shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze "What do ya say?"
  "I better not" she replied "I don't want to impose"
  "Okay, it was just a suggestion" he said. He stretched his arms out from his
body "Well, I better get to work now. If you ever change your mind, jus' lettme
know. Bye"
  "Bye" she said. She waited a few moments for Shinku to leave before she turned
her attention back onto surveying the cafeteria for trouble. When she looked
over toward Ranma was last sitting, she realized that he was no longer sitting
there. She quickly glanced around for him, but she didn't see him. She felt a
bit disappointed that she still couldn't see him. She wondered where he was. She
finally caught sight of him among a large crowd that was forming around two
people.  They were surrounding around him and another man. She picked up her
walkie talkie "Ukyo here, it looks like there's going to be some trouble in the
café again" Having called in the guards, all thse could do was wait.
  "What do you want?" the man pleaded.
  "What do you think?" Ranma said "You stabbed my friend the other day"
  "Yea, so?" he said "Wat's he's got to do wit' you?"
  "So?! Well, you're gonna pay for that" Ranma said. He clenched his hands into
fists. His eyes were firey with anger. There was noway he was going to let the
man who stabbed Ryuichi get away. Not this time "He was my friend" 
  Ukyo watched as Ranma closed the gap between them in one step. The man swung
at Ranma, only to have his punch easily dodged and counter attacked with a hook
kick to the chin. Ukyo winced as she noticed several teeth flying free from the
man's bloodied mouth. The man fell to the ground cluching his mouth.
  Before Ukyo had a chance to tell Ranma to lookout, two guys bumrushed Ranma
from behind him, both of them taking him to the ground. Ranma easily got them
off him and got back up. She noticed him take a defensive stance and slowly
started to scoot back toward the wall. Once his back touched the wall, he
managed to duck out of an incoming punch, grabbing the attacker's hips and
throwing him over his shoudler into the wall. The man fell to the ground
cluching his back in pain.
  With two men down, there was only one left. Ranma turned his attention toward
him "You want what your friend just got?" The man hesitated in attacking. After
a few moments, he turned and ran.
  Ukyo watched intently as she saw Ranma pick up the first guy by the collar,
the blood from his mouth bloodying his shirt. Ranma shoved him against the wall
and punched the concrete wall behind to him "I suggest you leave my friend alone
from now on" He released the man so he could scurry away.
  By now, the guards had arrived. Ranma stood up to face them. It looked like he
was bracing himself for their attack. One of the guards struck him in the back
of his legs, his club breaking from the impact. Ukyo noticed that the attack
didn't affect Ranma all that much, but he did pretend it had affected him enough
to cause him to topple down in faked pain. None of the guards noticed he was
acting.
  Another club was rained down on Ranma head, Ranma falling down onto his back
unconscious.
  Once Ranma's unconscious body was dragged from the scene, Ukyo still noticed
the group of inmates still standing in the same area. In most cases, the group
would have dispersed, but it didn't. She noticed that some of the inmates were
pointing toward the wall Ranma had punched.
  Ukyo squinted as she looked at the wall. To her disbelief, she noticed a hole
the size of a fist embedded into the concrete.

   Ranma turned his attention toward Ryuichi, who was still lying unconscious in
the same bed he was in the other day. Ranma looked concerned over the well-being
of his new friend.
   "He's okay" Ukyo said "He's doin' much better than the other day. He should
be up and running within the week"
  "That's good to here" Ranma sighed as he decided to change the subject "Man,
this is getting ridiculous. What's them always hittin' me. It's not like it
hurts or anything. It's more annoying than anything else" He looked down at the
chain around his arms "At least you finally changed the chains. They must be
brand new. I guess the suggestion worked"
  He gave the chain a good jerk. To his surprise, the chain broke again "Oh man,
not again"
  Ukyo started to panick again. She quickly fumbled for her can of mace once
again. This time, she didn't manage to drop it. He aimed it directly toward
Ranma's eyes. Although she had good aim, her hands were shaking so furiously
that she dubted that she would hit him in the eyes. If she missed, then she
would be in real trouble because he would definitely be angry.
  "Man, this place's got cheap chains" he said, picking up the broken links, he
threw the broken links al the way across the room, landing them in the garbage
can. He looked over at Ukyo as she aimed the mace toward him "Ukyo, you're
shaking a mile a minute. You're goin' to faint again if you continue on like
this. Just relax. Take a deep breath"
  Ukyo did as Ranma suggested. She took several long breath. It helped calm her
down, albeit little. 
  "It doesn't matter if you aim that towards me" he said, lying back down on the
bed "The safety's on"
  Ukyo gave her mace can a quick glance. To her surprices, the saftey was on. If
she had pressed the button, nothing would had come out. Shhe quickly snapped the
safety off, but that had taken several precious seconds. Ranma could had easily
rushed her within that short time.
  When Ukyo turned her gaze back onto Ranma, she noticed he was still lying back
down on the bed, his arms behind his head "I don't want to really get in trouble
if someone comes in. Can you please put the chain back on?"
  Ukyo wondered if she should. Maybe she should quickly make a break for it and
let the guards deal with him. But she knew if she did that, the guards would
beat him, and she didn't want that. That meant she should help him out, but what
would happen if he grabbed her. Byut then again, even if she did make a break
for it, he would definitely catch her. She wasn't that great of a runner. She
would most likely trip and that would be it.
  "Hey Ukyo, ya in there?" Shinku said, his head peeking into the room. Ukyo
couldn't believe her luck. This was the first time he had even decided to check
up on her, and now couldn't have been a better time. She quickly jumped up and
ran to Shinku's side "W-what's goin' on, Ukyo?"
   "His chain broke" she said, pointing toward Ranma's free arm. Ranma sat up in
surprise.
  "Hey, waitaminute" he said "It was by accident. I didn't mean it"
  Shinku took out his club "Stay back, Ukyo" He was clearly every bit as nervous
about the situation as Ukyo was. His hands were shaking, his breathing faster
all of a sudden.
  "I'm not tryin' to make any trouble" Ranma said "It was by accident"
  While Ranma was trying to explain the situation, Shinku seized the
soppertunity and struck Ranma in the head, the blow powerful enough to knock
anybody out. Ranma, on the other hand, just winced in pain "Hey, that hurt!" But
all of a sudden, his eyes went blank as he fell over backwards unconscious.
  "Are you okay?" Shinku said, dropping the club and cluching her by her
shoulders.  When Ukyo nodded, he turned his attention toward Ranma "Man, I wish
I didn't have to do that. I really didn't want to do something like that. It
goes against every fiber of my body. But as long as you're all right, it was
worth it"
  She looked over at Ranma and noticed a small trickle of blood running down his
forehead. She felt absolutely horrible something like that had just happened to
him. He didn't deserve this kind of treatment. No one did.
  Shinku picked up the broken chain as he whistled in awe "Damn, he broke out of
this?"
  Ukyo nodded.
  "Whoa. This guy's gotta be some moster. This chain as as strong as they come,
and they were brand new" he stated "They're made of hardened steel which is
about as strong as titanium. How'd he managed to break somethin' like this"
  "I don't know" she said, still trying to calm herself down "All I saw was him
jerk his arm and the chain broke free"
  "His arm?" Shinku said "You mean he used just one arm to break this?! Whoa,
that's inhuman. Ya gotta be as strong as an ox to break these" He walked over to
a nearby closet and took out several chains. He wrapped two of each set of
chains around each of Ranma's arms "That oughta keep him down"
  At that moment, Shinku's walkie talkie sounded into life. He picked it up and
listened for a second "Oh man, it looks like a fight jus' broke out in section
four. You okay. Can you handle him now?"
  Ukyo nodded. She would have to handle it now. Although she would feel much
better if he stayed, she knew she couldn't do that "I'll be all right. Thanks
for your help. You go on now"
  "Okay, bye"

  Ranma opened his eyes several minutes after Shinku had left. He turned his
head to look at Ukyo "Is he gone yet?"
  Ukyo was wetting a cloth by the sink "I'm sorry about what happened. I didn't
expect him to hit you like that. Are you okay? That looked like it really hurt"
She walked up to Rnama and placed the cloth over the top of Ranma's heard, where
he was bleeding from. Ranma smiled up at her.
  "That?" Ranma said "That didn't hurt that much. I was expecting him to hit me"
He went to sit back up but soon realized that both arms were chained to the
bedposts "Man, dontcha think he went a little bit overboard?"
  Ukyo couldn't help but giggle. Her giggled died when he saw Ranma flex his arm
a bit, the bedpost creaking loudly, threatening to break. This time, it wasn't
the chains that where threatening to break, but the bedposts. He heart started
to race.
  "Don't worry" Ranma siad softly "I'm not going to break them. I'm too tired. I
just want to sleep" He closed his eyes.
  Worry started to overwhelme her "No don't?" She reach out and touched Ranma's
shoulder. She was scared that he had a concussion. She knew that if he closed
his eyes, there might be a chance he would slip into a coma.
  Ranma opened his eyes "How come?"
  "You might have a concussion" she replied. 
  Ranma laughed a bit "I'll be fine. If I didn't go into a coma from when I
first got here, then there's a good chance I won't go into a coma from something
like that"
  "I just want to be on the safe side" she said. She got up and walked over to a
nearby draw, opening it and producing some gauzes. She then walked over to Ranma
and proceeded to wrap them over his head. When her gaze caught Ranma's, she
noticed his warm smile, and that seemed to relax her quite a bit. 
  "It's nice that someone in here's concerned about me" he stated to no one in
particular. Ukyo didn't really know how to react to a statement like that. She
had always cared about people, but she wondered if she should be like that
toward someone who might be a mass murderer.
  But for some reason, the comment made her smile.

  Ukyo's heart was racing as she looked down at the anarchy that was in the
cafeteria from her balcony. Three days had passed and nothing had happened, and
then all of a sudden, a riot broke out. And what was worse was that it all over
someone tripping someone else. A fight had broke out between the two inmates,
and when both of their friends and jumped in to intervene, everyone else began
fighting. Tables were being overturned, food was being thrown, and people were
being bloodied. Almost everyone had gotten into the act. Only two people
remained in their seats. Those two were Ranma and Ryuichi. The two of them were
standing in the corner, watching all the chaos unfold before them.
  "Hey, Ukyo, you better come with us" Shinku said "We need all the help we can
get" Without saying another word, he turned around and left. Ukyo quickly picked
up the shotgun and cicked it once. As she followed behind Shinku, she silently
prayed that she would be all right. She had never shot the shotgun, and she
prayed she never would.
  Ukyo was the last of the reinforcements to enter the cafeteria. She watched
from behind as her fellow guards struck the inmates and shot mace in their eyes
in incapcitate them. It helped very little. Before she knew it, once of her
fellow guards was being overwhelmed. 
  She quickly ran forward and pointed her can of mace directly into a few of the
inmates eyes and sprayed. She managed to get the prisoners off the guard as he
slowly and unsteadily made his way back onto his feet. He had several cuts on
his face from the punches that were rained down on him.
  "You okay?" Ukyo asked, only to receive a slight nod from the guard. She
placed his arm over her shoulder and tired to help him toward the cafeteria
entrance. She had to get him to the infirmary.
  "You two need help?" came a voice. Even though the background was full of
shouts and yelling, Ukyo knew whose voice it was. It was the same voice that she
could hear in her dreams. She turned around to face Ranma.
  Ukyo shook her head. Her heart lept as she realized just how close he was to
her. She had no idea how he managed to break past the line of guards that made a
semi-circle around the cafeteria entrance. As if on instinct, she quickly
scooted backwards to get some distance away from her and Ranma. Unfortunately,
she slipped on a piece of thrown meat and her shotgun went off. The blast caused
several of her fellow guards to turn around to see what happened, only to become
overwhelmed by the inmates because of the distraction.
  "Shinku!" Ukyo screamed as she saw her old friend fall victim to the mob of
prisoners. She tried to make her way toward him, but the weight of the guard she
was helping was holding her down. She looked up at Ranma and noticed him gaze
toward the person she was reaching out for.
  "Jus' get him to the infirmary" Ranma said. I'll go help your friend.
  Ukyo didn't argue. Ranma was the best chance she had. She slowly made her way
to her feet with the guard and proceeded toward the door. Before exiting the
cafeteria, she glanced back. She managed to catch sight of Ranma as he started
to punch and kick several inmates off her old friend. But as soon as Ranma
managed to knock them off, another inmate jumped ontop of Shinku. 
  Swallowing her fear and praying that her old friend would be all right, Ukyo
made her way toward the infirmary.

  "I'll be right back" Ukyo told the young guard. She had managed to get him
into the infirmary where he would be taken care of in a litle while. 
  The guard nodded toward her.
  Just as Ukyo was about to exit throught he door, one of the inmates entered
the room. Ukyo quickly stepped back cautiously. The young guard tried to get to
his feet, but it was futile. He was in noe condition to help.
  "Well lookit wat we got here" the burly prisoner said, licking his lips. Ukyo
knew exactly what the man was thinking. It was her worst nightmare. She was
going to be raped. She reached for her can of mace but dropped it out of shear
fright. The man inched toward her, his arms outstretched, ready to catch Ukyo if
she made a run for it toward either direction.
  "I'm gonna have fun wit' you" the man said. He was removing his shoes so he
could take off his pants "I've been wantin' to fuck you since I first saw yous.
Now yous all mine" Ukyo was defineseless. There was nothing she could use to
protect herself. She had back herself into a corner.
  Ranma entered the room, Shinku slung over his shoulder and holding a shotgun
"Hey, Ukyo, you left this back in the café" He looked over at the burly man
"Hey, get away from her"
  "Ya gotta wait. Yous get your turn once I'm finished fuckin' her" he burly man
said "Not unless you want us both to do her now"
  Ranma's voice sounded threatening "Perhaps you didn't heard what I said. I
said get away from her, and I'm not going to say it again" Ranma gently placed
the Shinku down ont he floor, his back against a wall. He then looked menacingly
at the burly man.
  The man looked at Ranma "And like I said. You gotta wait yer turn" Before he
could react, Ranma's hard fice collapsed the man's face in. The man's head
jerked back from the impact of Ranma's punch, several teeth flying free from the
confines of his mouth. The man fell the the ground, his head hitting the cold
hard floor with a deafening thud.
  "You okay?" Ranma said as he walked over to Ukyo. He placed a both hand on her
shoulders as he looked into her eyes. Ukyo didn't know why, but she started to
cry. She was so thankful Ranam was there. She coduln't believe what horrible act
she might be going through now if he didn't show up at the perfect time.
  Ranma embraced her tightly, Ukyo's face pressed up against his chest. As Ukyo
was held there, she could hear Ranma's steady heartbeat, and his bodyheat was
warming her. For some reason, being in Ranma's arms felt right. It just felt
right. She wanted to close her eyes and remain there forever. But she knew she
couldn't.
  She broke away from Ranma's warm embrace as she looked behind him at Shinku.
  "He's okay" Ranma said "He got banged up a bit, but he'll be all right. He'll
most likely have a helluva headache the next day"
  Ukyo looked at Ranma and wanted to thank him for all that he had done, but her
gaze fell on Ranma's bloodied knuckles. He must have caved a few dozen faces for
his knuckles to get that way. There were chunks of skins that dnalged from his
knuckles.
  Ranma looked at his bloody hands "I guess I overdid it" he gave a light chucke
but soon stopped. Now was not a time to be joking. Before he realized, Ukyo was
standing next to him, his hand in hers, as she looked at how damaged his hands
were. Ranma was so close to Ukyo that he could smell the faint scent of Ukyo's
shampoo. He had noticed it when he had hugged her, but this time, it was a lot
harder on him for some reason.
  "We better get that bandaged up" Ukyo said. She walked over to a draw and took
out the gauze pads. She then proceeded to wrap them around his hands. 
  Once his hands were wrapped, Ranma walked over to Shinku and picked him up
"Where'd ya like me to put him?" When Ukyo guestured to the open bed, he nodded
and placed him on it. He then walked over to the shotgun that was leaning
against the wall and picked it up.
  A lump fromed in Ukyo's throat as she saw him pick up the shotgun. But it went
away when he held it out for her to take hold of "Ya dropped this back there" he
said. When he noticed that Ukyo was looking at him rather catiously before
taking it "Don't worry. I have no idea how one of these things work"
  "T-thanks"

  The riot had died down the as quickly as it had begun. Shortly after it had
begun. The other guards managed to subdue the prisoners through the use of clubs
and mace. There were no longer shouts and scream echoing throughout the prison. 
  Ranma was sitting quietly in a chair as Ukyo attended to Shinku and the other
guard "I guess I better get back to the cafeteria before the guards think I'm up
to no good" He proceeded toward the door, but Ukyo stopped him.
  "Ranma," she said softly, getting up and walking up to Ranma "w-why'd you help
me?" There was no real reason why he should have helped. He could have easily
turned his head and walked away, but he didn't. She wondered what had compelled
him to help her out and Shinku.
  "Why not?" he said shrugging his shoulders "Even,if I wasn't in this place, I
would have done the same thing. I know you don't want somethin' like that to
happen to you, as much as I wouldn't want that to happen to, say, my own
daughter or wife"
  "Y-you're married and you have children?" she asked. She felt her heart
plummet. She knew someone like this would have been taken.in the outside world. 
  "No" he said "I was engaged to a girl, but she was one of the people I was
accused of murdering. Even though I knew the relationship would never work out,
she shouldn't have been murdered"
  "Do you do it?" she had to ask. She didn't really know why, but she had to
hear him say it.
  "What does it matter anymore?" he said softly "It's not like anyone's really
care. I pleaded innocent every step of the way, all the way till the day of my
sentence, but the system still failed me. And here I am, my life down the drain.
The only person who could get me out, was also murdered. I guess the government
wants to make their citizens rest easy at night, so they throw me in here and
say they finally caught the Nerima Killer"
  "Did you do it?" she asked again. She wanted to hear him say it, wanted to
hear it from his own lips.
  Ranma turned toward Ukyo. He stepped forward and cupped one of his bandaged
hands up to her cheeks. There were some tears around his eyes, one of them
trckling down the side of his face, down to his chin. Even though he was
touching her, Ukyo never pulled away. Somehow, she felt herself instinctively
pressing the side of her face forward into his hands.
  "No. I didn't do it" he said. He then turned around and left.
  
  Ukyo was twisting and turning in her bed. She once again, she couldn't sleep
at night. This time, it wasn't over the scene where she could have been raped,
but of Ranma's visage as he proclaimed his innocence. She had never seen a man
cry, but it shook her terribly to see Ranma doing that. It meant the penetentary
hadn't molded Ranma into some stoic monster. 
  She didn't stay awake over that either. It was over when Ranma had touched
her. She could still feel his arms gently holding her pressed against his chest,
could still hear his steady heartbeat. She remembered how warm he was pressed
against her, a feeling she had never experienced. There was something to him
that mde her nerves stand on edge, and it wasn't from fear. It was this nervous
feeling. Every time she saw him looking at her, she couldn't really help but
turn away blushing.
  She recalled seeing him holding the shotgun that she had dropped earlier. When
she saw him hold it, he was actually looking at it a bit cruious, as if had
never seen something like that. What had surprised her was when he handed it to
her. There he was, holding the most powerful gun in the penetantary's immediate
arsenal, and he was giving it back to her. He could had easily wiped out all the
guards because all he need was a shot in their general direction, not even
needing to aim. But he never did that. He just handed it to her as if he was
handing her a book she had dropped.
  She turned again, wondering how Ranma had managed to get past the guards. A
wall of guards had formed around the entrance to the café yet he still managed
to get past them, and she had no idea how. He never knocked any of the guards
out because she would had seen them on the ground. The only thing she could come
up with was if he jumped over them, which was impossible.
  A noise could be heard echoing through the house. It sounded like a window was
being broken. Ukyo sat upright in her bed, her heart already racing. She was
being robbed. She quickly got to her feet and cursed that she was dressed in
nothing but panties and a t-shirt. She was about to goto her closet and quickly
throw on a pair of clothes, but that would have taken precious time. Without
bothering to get dressed, she opened one of her draws and pulled out a gun.
  She swallowed the lump in her throat as she slowly opened the door to her
bedroom. The gun in her hand was shaking as she held it. She had never shot a
gun before, and she was scared tonight would be her first. She slowly made her
way down the stairs, careful not to make a noise. She could hear rustling noises
coming from the livingroom. She peeked her head in and she gasped silently as
she caught sight of the robber. She was indeed being robbed.
  Her heart was racing, and she had no idea what she was going to do. All of a
sudden, she wished Ranma was there with her, was there to protect her like he
did the other day. But he wasn't. He was still back in the penetentary. There
was no way he could help her out. She swallowed the lump again and hopped forwad
into the middle of the doorway, her gun pointed directly toward 
  "D-don't move!!!" she shouted, her hands trembling.
  Before she knew what happened, she saw the robber turned his attention toward
her, his eyes meeting hers, just as she pulled the trigger.

  Ukyo didn't show up for work for about a week, and when she came back, Ranma
noticed that she wasn't acting herself. She looked depressed. From down below in
the cafeteria, he noticed how Ukyo seemed rather detatched to the scene below
her. That concerned him. It had concerned him that something bad might have
happened to her since he hadn't seen her for a week, but her odd behavior
further aroused his concern. He wanted to talk to her. No, he had to talk to
her. Not only was he concerned for her, but he also wanted to hear her angelic
voice.
  "Hey, where're ya going?" Ryuichi said as he noticed Ranma getting up off his
seat.
  Ranma turned toward his friend "I want to talk to someone. That's all. I'll be
right back"
  Since Ukyo wasn't paying attention to anything in particular, she was caught
off guard when she heard Ranma's voice from below her. She had been staring at
her one of her hands, the same hand that pulled the trigger that had killed a
man. 
  "Hey, Ukyo, you okay?" she heard Ranma's voice. She quickly got up off her
seat and looked over the railing. Below her, leaning against the wall just below
the balcony, was Ranma. He was looking up directly at her, concern in his eyes.
  Ukyo said nothing.
  "Hey, Ukyo, you okay?" he repeated. When he noticed one of the guards glace in
his direction, he went about his business, pretending he was just resting up
against the wall. When the guard turned back away, he called out for Ukyo "Are
you okay?"
  Ukyo looked down at Ranma "Yeah, I'm fine" she lied. She wasn't. She was still
in disbelief that she had done soemthing like kill a man. She had prayed that
she would never have to use a gun, and when she finally did, it had taken a
man's life.
  "You look like ya killed someone" he joked, but he wished he never said that
when Ukyo winced as it struck a soft spot "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to I say
that"
  "Hey, whatcha doin' talking to her?!" one of the guards noticed Ranma. 

  "Man, we gotta stop meetin' like this" Ranma said to Ukyo as he sat up in the
infirmary "It's bad for my health" He looked at the one chain that held his arm
to the bedpost. It seems the guards weren't aware that he was capable of
breaking it with ease. But he had no reason to.
  Ukyo was seated in the chair when he awoke.  She had been seated there for
several minutes before he opened his eyes "You're not fooling me, Rnama. I know
you're faking it"
  Ranma scratched the back of his head as he gave a weak laugh "I guess you're
on to me"
  Ukyo cracked a small smile.
   "I haven't seen ya in a while" Ranma started softly "Did something happen to
you?" He regarded Ukyo with warm eyes. As he sat there, he noticed Ukyo look
down toward the ground in shame. He was bout to reach forward to hold her, but
the chain prevented him. He would have broken it just to hold her, but he knew
sooner or later, he would get into deep trouble so he stayed where he was.
  "Something did happen" Ranma said. He wanted to know what had ahpped that
caused Ukyo to act this way.
  "I didn't mean to do it" she said, looking back up at Ranma, this time her
eyes full of tears. Ranma just nodded his head.
  "I'm sure you didn't mean to do it, whatever it was" he said. 
  Ukyo got up off her seat and sat down on the bed right next to Ranma. She
didn't care anymore if Ranma was supposed to be dangerous. If he was, he could
had easily taken advantage of her many times before. Ranma placed his free arm
around over her shoulder as she tilted her head into the crook between his neck
and shoulder. She stayed there for several moments before she just broke down
crying. 
  Ranma just held her tightly, his arm holding her close to him. It tore at him
to see Ukyo hurt so much, and he felt defenseless to do anything about it. He
would have done anything to get rid of her pain. He held her for several minutes
before Ukyo slowly pulled away, feeling a bit better after a good cry.
  "T-thank you, Ranma" siad said wiping the tears from her eyes "I-I really
needed that"

  Ranma paced back and forth in his tiny cell. He couldn't believe what Ukyo had
told him earlier. He had listened in disbelief as she explain how she had killed
that would-be burglar, and how she had to deal with the burden that that man's
death was on her hands. Luckily, through some carefully chosen words, Ranma
managed to dull her pain by telling her that it wasn't her fault, that it was
all in self-defense.
  He punched the concrete wall. He pulled his hand from the wall "Man, what
kinda dump is this place?" He looked at the small hole in the wall. He just
shrugged his shoulders. There was nothing he could do to hide it. All he could
do was pray that none of the guards would notice it.
  As he continued to pace, he knew that he didn't want Ukyo to suffer like this,
that he wanted to be by her side always. And the only way to do it was if he was
set free, which was impossible. He had no one that could help him out on the
ouside. The only person that could help him was him, and he knew what that
meant. He cared for Ukyo, and he didn't want Ukyo to work or spend the rest of
her youth in some horrible place like this. He wanted to take care of her, free
her from this place.
  If he could get out of here, he would bring Ukyo with him. He wanted her to be
with him. He had saved plenty of money of the years of being a sensei, and it
would easily be enough to buy themselves a nice home and perhaps start a family.
But this was only if she wanted to go with him, which was most unlikely.
  Unfortunately, he had other things to worry about, like how to prove his
innocence.

  In the past two months since Ranma had arrived at the penetentary, Ukyo had
grown quite fond of him, so fond, that she enjoyed coming to work just so she
could see him. Even though she didn't talk to him every time their paths
crossed, she was just glad to be breathing the same air he was. And even though
she carried a shotgun, she felt much safer knowing that Ranma was always nearby.
  Ukyo walked up to Ranma's cell, and peered in. Inside, Ranma was reading a
book he had asked her to bring him. At first, when he asked, she didn't know
whether or not to do so, but she saw no harm in it so she granted him that one
favor. Before the day ended, he had finished the book and was already asking if
she could get him more.
  "Hey, Ranma, it's time for your cell check" she said with a small smile.
Although she did this every day, she found herself enjoying checking up on Ranma
more and more as time passed. Pretty soon, she started looking forward to it. It
always allowed her to talk to him since it usually took quite some time before
the guards got around to checking his cell.
  "I can't believe I've been in here for two months" Ranma said as he jerked his
thumb over his shoulder toward the lines on his vell wall. He had been keeping
track of the days, scribbling a single line for every day passed.
  Ukyo gave a small smile as he handed her the book. There were very few books
that could be found within the pententary, and most of the outdated. When he had
asked her if she could get him some more recent books, she found herself taking
books off her own shelf and bring them in for him. He had litterally read over a
dozen books over the past two weeks since they had last talked in the infirmary.
Ukyo didn't knew that Rnama did indeed read those books because he would always
mention something about it that no one would be able to pick up, not unless they
read it entirely.
  "Man, I can't believe Benson got shot in the end" Ranma said "He didn't
deserve to die. It was the chip that NPS shoved into his head that kept pushing
him over the edge. They shouldn't mess with the mind like that. And that part
where Dr. Ross turned on the microwave was absolute genious. I can't remember
Benson's girlfriend's name for some reason. I remember her first name was
Angela, but I can't recall her last name though"
  Ukyo nooded. She had thought the same thing about the book. She had enjoyed
the book as much as Ranma seemed to have. She gave him another book, but this
time, Ranma refused.
  "Not today, Ukyo" Ranma said "I won't be needing it"
  Ukyo looked down at the book she was about to give him "Oh, okay" She wondered
why Ranma would refuse all of a sudden. He had read a book everyday for two
weeks straight, and now he decided to stop. It was kind of odd.
  
  Ukyo entered her house and walked upto the shelf to put the two books away.
She usually put one book away since Ranma would have taken one of them to read,
but not today. She put it away and sat down on her couch, sighing, glad that her
day had come to an end. She was tired and she wanted to goto sleep. But before
she did, something kept knawing away at her. Why did Ranam stop reading all of a
sudden? 
  She recalled what he had said about the book. She tried to think of the name
Ranma was trying to remember, but she couldn't remember it either. Since she had
the book in her possession, she might as well look it up. That way, she could
tell Ranma the name tomorrow. It should make him happy.
  She walked over to the shelf and took the book out, quickly skimming through
it. As she did, she caught
sight of some writing in her book. There was never anything written in her book
when she first read it. She read the tiny message.
  "Ukyo, you're the only one I trust" she read aloud "Please meet me at Hyaku
Park by the water fountain tonight at midnight. Ranma"
  Ukyo's heart almost stopped. She knew exactly what Ranma had intended to do.
He was going to break out of prison. She looked at watch, and it read just
fifteen minutes till midnight. Anxiety started to creep into her. She didn't
know what to do. Ranma would be there in a short while. What was she going to
do? Should she call the authorities? Should she go? Should forget about it and
just hope he never gets caught. But then again, if he never got caught, she
would never see him again. Or worse, what would happen if he got gunned down.
  Ukyo grabbed her jacket and raced out of her home, grateful that she lived
close to the park. It would only take twenty minutes by foot. She knew she
couldn't call the authorities on him. He had helped her out on several
occasions, and now was her turn to return the favor. She didn't care about
regulations, and how she should report in any information on an escaped convict.
All she knew, what that she wanted to see Ranma again before anything happened
to him. Maybe if she was lucky, she could persuade him to surrender, and he
wouldn't get hurt or killed. That was the best course of action.

  Ranma was already waiting by the water fountain when Ukyo had arrived. He was
sitting on the ledge, reaching over and splashing the water, watching the
ripples form. When he heard her footsteps, he turned around and faced her, not
bothering to get up.
  "Hello, Ukyo" he said in a soft voice "I'm glad you could make it"
  "H-how'd you manage to get out?" she said between gasps. She was out of breath
from running so hard. She hunched over and placed her hand on her knees, taking
in deep gasps of air.
  Ranma placed his hand forward and showed her his bloodied knuckles "I broke
through one of the walls. The place is crumbling to pieces. I just punched the
walls several times and it broke"
  Ukyo didn't bother to say anything. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Ranma had just punched his way out of jail. She knew it was the walls that were
weak, but the fact that Ranma's punches were incredibly powerful. She had
realized that he was a lot stornger that he looked when he had broken some steel
chain by accident, simply by giving them a quick jerk. Ranma didn't seem to know
his own strength.
  Ukyo stepped forward and looked at Ranma's hands. They were in bad condition
and bleeding  profusely. They needed to be tended to "We better get you to a
doctor before this gets infected" she said, only to have Ranma pull his arms
away from her.
  "Don't worry, I'll be perfectly fine" he said. He looked eeply into Ukyo's
eyes "Ukyo, can you please let me stay at your place for the night? I need a
place to stay"
  Ukyo looked shocked. She couldn't have this man in her house. She had never
had a man in her house to begin with, and she was certainly not going to let an
escaped convict in for starters. There was too much at stake. He would be in her
house. She would be sleeping under the same roof as him. Actually, with Ranma in
the house, there was most likely a chance she wouldn't be able to sleep, what
with the thought of Ranma just being there.
  "I-I can't" she said, taking a step back. She was starting to believe that she
had made the wrong choice. She should have called the authorities "Please, don't
do this to me"
  Ranma didn't bother to argue. His heart seemed to have shattered. He realized
that Ukyo didn't want him near her. If she did, she would have let him stay with
her. His entire world collapsed on him as her realized that his dreams of
spending a future with her would never happen. She only cared for him when he
was a prisoner, nothing else. His guess that she might have liked him was not
true. This proved it.
  Ranma looked down toward the ground "I'm sorry you feel that way" he said.
Several silent moments ensued "Are you going to call the authorities on me?"
  "I-I have to" she said, tears starting to form.
  Ranma now had no reason to go back to jail. The only person he cared would no
longer be there for him. Even if he did go back, he now knew that Ukyo didn't
care for him in an intimate sort of way.
  "Please don't" Ranma said softly "I need some time. I have to prove my
innocence. I don't belong in there. You know it and I know it. I'm going after
the guy who framed me. I'll be back here at six. I'll have the evidence to prove
my innocence by then. But if I don't, then there's a good chance I was killed in
the process"
  Ukyo couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't want to hear something
like that. She didn't want Ranma to die. She wanted him by her, near her,
holding her. She started to cry "Please, don't do this" She fell to the ground,
sobbing "Please"
  Ranma knelt down before her, his face coming inches within hers. Ukyo looked
up and their gazes met. For a brief moment, time had stopped. Everything from
Ukyo's world had disappeared. Nothing mattered. All that mattered was the man
whose eyes she was looking into.
  "Ukyo, ever since I saw you" he said softly "I knew you were special. You were
the girl I was looking for all my life. You would probably never believe this,
but I...I love you" he leaned forward and brough his lips down on Ukyo's lips.
He cupped both of her cheeks with his hands and he kissed her passionately. The
kiss had lasted only moments, but Ukyo knew she would never forget that moment
for the rest of her life. She had dreamed someone would kiss her like that,
would tell her that they loved her, but why did it have to be this way? It was
no fair. She had fallen in love with Ranma, and there was a chance he would
never see him again. Or worse, a chance that he would be killed.
  Ukyo just watched, unable to discern what had happened, as Ranma ran off into
the night. When her mind finally cleared up, Ranma was long gone.
  "I love you"
  

I'll probably post this story up one more time. The next time, it'll most likely
be the finished version. Anyway, tell me whatcha think :)

-OneShot
Jeffrey Keith Wong: jeffwong@li.net
http://www.rit.edu/~jkw7063/fanfic/index.htm
http://www.li.net/~jeffwong/index.htm
The latter site has been updated on Aug 4th.