Disclaimer:  All characters portrayed in this story are the property of
Rumiko Takahashi and co.

This story takes place after volume 38 of the manga.  It draws ideas
from both the anime and the manga.

C & C welcomed.  Flames not.

I Like Ucchan

By

Donny Cheng

 "Akane was trying to cook again this morning.  I said something that
upset her and she punted me out of the house."  Ranma winced.  He could
still remember the taste.

 "Well, her cooking does leave a lot to be desired.  You should come and
eat with me more often."  Ukyo commented, without looking up from her
grill.

 "I crossed Shampoo's path as I walked home.  She noticed that I was
alone and wanted to date me.  She chased me halfway across town."

 "That Chinese bimbo.  Can't she get anything through to that head of
hers.  Why would you date with her, when you could go out with me?"  She
replied as she busily prepared an extra special deluxe okonmiyaki for
her betrothed.

 "Right at the moment Shampoo caught up to me, Akane showed up looking
for me.  There was a misunderstanding and I ended up getting hit by both
Akane and Shampoo."

 "They're both such violent girls.  They could never be as understanding
of you as I am."

 Ukyo nodded absently as Ranma continued to ramble on about his
problems.  She carefully put the finishing touches on the okonomiyaki.
Every once in a while, she would give him a sympathetic look.

 Ranma sighed as he received his okonomiyaki from Ukyo.  The sauce was
again shaped to look like a heart.  "Uuchan, you haven't been listening
to a word a said have you."  He saw Ukyo blush at his accusation.
"Never mind.  I came here to talk, but I can see that you have other
things in mind.  All I want is someone to listen to me.  Is that too
much to ask?�  Ranma looked very tired as he got up and left.

 Konatsu walked past Ranma as he came in from sweeping the sidewalk.
"Ranma sure seems to be in a bad mood today, Ukyo-san.  Who is he sore
at?  I could hear him muttering about a girl.  How she was probably
never the friend that he thought she was."

 Ukyo froze at Konatsu's comment.  Was Ranma talking about her?  Ranma's
last words were that he just came here to talk with her.  What was this
about her not being his friend? Her mood dampened as she thought about
Ranma's words and of their relationship.

* * * * *

Ukyo tossed at turned in her bed.  She could not sleep.  Her thoughts
kept on replaying her conversation with Ranma this afternoon.  She was
his friend, wasn't she?  No, she answered herself.  She saw Ranma as a
fianc� more than a friend and treated him accordingly.  That meant she
was very biased whenever she talked with him.  She could remember her
responses to some of the things he had griped about.  She had painted
herself to be a saint and the others to be evil incarnate.  That was not
exactly what a real friend would have done.

But that could not be helped.  Ranma was just too important to her.  She
could not imagine her life without him.  The time she spent in Nerima
this past year was the happiest of her life.  Sure, she had lived
without his presence for ten years and could probably survive without
him for the rest of her remaining years.  The question was, did she want
to live without him being in her life?  No, she did not.  Whether she
was his wife or not in the end, Ukyo knew that she did not want to ever
leave his side.  She loved him too much to ever give up on him.

Ukyo had noticed that Ranma had changed little since she had known him
as a child.  He was still as out going, innocent, and stubborn as ever.
However, there was one change in him that she noticed.  He got angry and
sad much more often.  In her heart, Ukyo knew why he was like this.  He
did not have any friends that he could confide and share his feelings
with.  Though all of his fianc�es treated him very well at times, they
never let him forget that they were engaged.  From what Ranma had said
this afternoon, it was clear that he was lonely.  Right now, Ranma
needed a friend more than he needed a fianc�e.  With that thought in
mind, Ukyo made a decision.  She would create the perfect person with
which Ranma could be comfortable around.  Tears flowed down Ukyo's
eyes.  What she was about to do tomorrow, may well end her chances of
marrying Ranma.

   * * * * *

 Ranma awoke groggily as his mother gently shook him.  "What is it,
mom?"

 "Ukyo's at the door.  She asked if you wanted to go out and play, since
it's Saturday."

 "No, I don't want to go out on a date.  I want to rest."

 "Actually, Ukyo told me to tell you specifically that it wasn't a
date.  She just wanted to hang out, to talk.

 Ranma jolted awake at this.  Ukyo wanted to talk.  Was there something
wrong?  He was instantly worried.  Getting dressed quickly, he rushed
down to meet with her.  The moment he reached the doors, a flying body
tackled him.  It was Ukyo.  She gave him a mischievous grin.  "Boy,
you're getting slow.  I can't believe that I hit you."

 "What!?  You fluked out.  If this was for real and I was fully awake, I
would have easily dodged such an obvious attack."  Ranma grinned at
Ukyo.  He was relieved to be wrong about Ukyo having problems.

 Ukyo grinned back at him.  "Excuses, excuses.  Anyway, the reason I
came was that I wanted to tell you I was sorry about not listening to
you the other day.  I wanted to treat you to an okonomiyaki to make up
for it.  But since I just beat you right now, I'm going to have to
charge you half price for it."

 "That shouldn't count.  I wasn't ready and I would never hit a girl."
Ranma was slowly beginning to get puzzled at Ukyo's behavior.  She had
not glomped onto him at all.  The tackle she gave him was not at all
intimate.  Now, she was charging him for okonomiyaki.

 "Quit whining.  Come on.  Let's go to my shop.  Konatsu can only handle
so many customers by himself."

 "Whining!?"  Ranma's thoughts were interrupted as he tried to catch up
to his giggling friend.

   * * * * *

 Ranma could only stare in shock at his okonomiyaki.  A plain, beef one
with a smiley face a drawn in sauce.  Nothing special, nothing fancy,
and no heart shaped designs on it.  Just like when they were kids.

 "What's the matter Ranchan?  You haven�t even touched your food yet.
If you don't want it, I could always give it to Konatsu."  Ukyo giggled
as Ranma immediately sucked up his plate.  "Do you want to tell me again
what was bothering you yesterday?  I'm ready to listen now."

 Ranma could not believe the change in Ukyo.  She was treating him
exactly like she did when they were little.  She had not said anything
about their engagement the whole day.  Maybe she had given up on him and
found another person that she liked.  Maybe it's Ryoga.  They did seem
to get along during that trip to that tunnel of love.  Oh well, as long
as she was still his friend, he didn't really care.  He had his Uuchan
back.

   * * * * *

 Ranma had a silly grin on his face as he entered the dojo.  Today had
been perfect.  He got many things that were bothering him off his
chest.  He rediscovered the friend he had thought he had lost in Ukyo.
Also, there was that delicious okonomiyaki.

 Akane was in the dojo practicing when she noticed Ranma entering.  He
sure looked like he was happy.  "Ranma, what are you grinning about."

 Ranma's eyes twinkled.  "Oh nothing.  Just thinking about food."

 "That would make you happy."

 "You can't imagine.  Anyway, I'm tired right now.  I think I'll turn
in.  Have a good nights sleep."

 Akane stared at Ranma.  What just happened here?  She and Ranma
actually had a pleasant conversation after they had a fight that just
happened a day ago.  Not one single insult was thrown.  Looking outside
she could see that the moon had not suddenly turned blue.  Ranma must
really be in a good mood.  The only time they could ever talk with each
other after they had an argument was when they had both calmed down.
This usually took more than a day.  I wonder what he ate today and if he
brought any back with him.

   * * * * *

 Ranma easily dodged the twenty or so spatulas being thrown his way.
"Who�s getting slow now, Uuchan?"  Ranma shrugged off Ukyo as she
tackled him to the ground.  In less than no time, Ranma was able to
reach his goal.  An okonomiyaki.  "Wahoo!  I get it for free today."

 Ukyo mock growled at Ranma.  "I'll get you next time, Saotome."

 Ranma laughed at Ukyo's impersonation of Kuno.  Actually, it could have
been an imitation of Ryoga.  Could it be Mousse she was impersonating?
Ranma shook his head.  He sure had many enemies.  "Well, Uuchan.  Have
you decided what you want to do today?"

 "I don't know.  What do you want to do?"

 "I don't know?  Do you want to just hang around and talk.�

 "Sure.  I have nothing better to do.  Konatsu can handle the counter
for awhile."

 Ranma usually spent his weekend with Ukyo at Uuchan's.  He did not
really have anything to do during his days off from school.  Akane
usually went out with her classmates.  The fights he was challenged to
did not happen very often.  He was not interested in hanging out with
Hiroshi and Daisuke.  All they wanted to do was scope out girls.  Ranma
had enough problems with girls.  All this meant was that Ranma ended up
having inane conversations with Ukyo while she worked, every weekend.
It was better than sleeping the day off.  Ranma smiled at that thought.
It was much better.

   * * * * *

 Hiroshi and Daisuke quickly grabbed Ranma as school ended.  Hiroshi was
looking at him conspiratorially.  "Ranma, I've heard that you've been
spending a lot of time with Ukyo.  Does that mean, Akane's now free?"

 "What are you talking about?  Me and Ukyo are just friends."

 Daisuke gave him a lecherous grin.  "How can the greatest womanizer of
them all be just friends with a girl?"

 "Ukyo is a very old friend of mine.  She's comfortable to be around."

 "You mean like a boy?"  Hiroshi was quickly losing interest in this
talk.  He guessed that Akane was not free after all.

 "Uh... Yeah.  Like a boy."  Ranma stuttered.  As soon as those words
left his mouth, Ranma shuddered.  Those words had a strange effect on
him.  They galled him.  They galled him to no end.

   * * * * *

 Ukyo could not stop the tears that streamed down her face.  She hid
behind the corner as she heard Ranma continue to talk with Hiroshi and
Dasuke.  'Like a boy.'  Those words reverberated through her brain.  She
wiped back her tears.  She should not have been surprised.  She knew
what the consequences of reverting to the way she treated Ranma when
they were children would be.  Ranma did not at all see her as a girl
when they were children and he did not see her as one now.  In trying to
make Ranma a little happier, she had given up her only chance at being
Ranma's wife.

   * * * * *

 Ranma could not sleep.  His thoughts kept on going back to what he said
about Ukyo.  He had been lying when he said that he felt comfortable
around Ukyo.  Lately, his heart quickened, his body sweated, and his
mind went numb whenever he saw her.  Needless to say, that their
conversations became strictly one sided.  Ukyo did not seem to mind.
She told him of her adventures while she roamed Japan in search of him.
Her life was almost an exact copy of his.  She never stayed at any place
for long, never made many friends and always trained in the art of
okonomiyaki cooking and fighting at every possible moment.

Somehow, over the past few weeks, Ranma had come to see Ukyo in a very
different light.  He discovered many things about her that he didn�t
know before.  He had been ashamed to learn that he didn�t know so much
about his so-called best friend.

Frustrated, Ranma got out of bed.  He couldn�t get what he said about
Ukyo out of his mind.  �She's comfortable to be around� Like a boy.�
The words felt very wrong to him.  Although Ukyo hadn�t been there,
Ranma felt the need to apologize to her.  He had to see her or he would
never get any sleep.

   * * * * *

 Ranma ran as fast as he could away from Uuchan's.  He could not get the
image of Ukyo out of his mind.  The image of Ukyo crying herself to
sleep.  When he had got to the restaurant, he had climbed up to Ukyo's
window and looked in.  He had wanted to talk to her without waking
Konatsu.  However, he lost all thought of talking the moment he looked
inside the window.  He could still hear the words she had mumbled in her
sleep.  'Ranchan, I love you.  Don't leave me.'  Repeatedly she said
those lines.  Ranma had seen and heard enough and fled as fast as
possible.

   * * * * *

 Ranma could only look in despair as Ukyo chatted happily with him.  How
she could keep the illusion up when it was obviously hurting her so
much?  Ranma had pieced together what was happening that night he caught
Ukyo crying.  How could he have been so stupid?  He should have noticed
that there was something wrong with Ukyo when she stopped chasing after
him.  There had been no new person in her life as he had guessed.  The
moment she stopped forcing herself on him had been the same day he
stormed out of Uuchan�s.  He had told her then that he wanted a friend.
Apparently she took what he said to heart and gave him what he wanted.
She was doing everything entirely for his benefit.

 Ranma could feel his heart crack everytime he looked in Ukyo�s cheery
face.  Looking carefully, he could see heavy makeup applied under her
eyes.  No doubt, this was done to conceal the fact that she had recently
cried.  Again, Ranma berated himself for being so stupid.  How could he
call himself a friend, when he couldn�t even tell if Ukyo was happy or
not.  He had been so self-absorbed in his own happiness that he
neglected to see how Ukyo was feeling.  Ranma could not stand it
anymore.  Before Ukyo could say anything, Ranma grabbed her and dragged
her out of the restaurant.

   * * * * *

 �So, you know.�  It was more of statement than a question.  Ukyo
sighed.  Ranma had brought her to the top of her restaurant so that he
could talk with her in private.  There he had told her of what he saw
and heard the other night.

 Ranma fidgeted.  �Yeah.  I know.�

After a long silence, Ukyo finally spoke up.  �You were so sad and
lonely that day.  It was then that I noticed that you didn�t really have
anyone to turn to. Therefore, I changed myself.  I changed myself to
become the perfect friend for you.  That meant that I would have give up
on any thought of marriage.  I knew that a real friend would never put
any of that type of pressure on you.�

 �I never asked you to do this.�

 �I know.  I just wanted you to be happy more often.  If that meant
giving up my own hopes, then so be it.�

 Ranma looked worriedly at Ukyo.  She was so depressed.  Ranma was
beginning to get angry at the whole situation.  �Stop it, Ukyo.  Stop
what you�re saying right now.  I don�t deserve all this kindness from
you.  I haven�t really treated well enough for you to do all this for
me.  It would be dumb for you to make yourself unhappy over someone like
me.�

 �I guess I�m not very smart.  I love you, you idiot.  There is nothing
that I would not do to make you happy.�

 �Uuchan, do you really think that I would be happy knowing that you
were so depressed all the time.  The only thing that would make me happy
right now is to see you smile.  A real smile, not the fake ones you have
been giving me recently.  I want you to go back to the way you were
before.�

 Ukyo knew when she was beat.  Ranma knew everything was an act.
�Alright, Ranma.  But, we can still be friends can�t we?�

 Ranma could not say no to Ukyo�s pleading eyes.  This meant very much
to her.  �Of course, silly.  I didn�t mean what I said that day.  I will
always consider you to be my friend, even if you are more than a little
harsh whenever you talk about Akane or Shampoo.�

 Ukyo breathed a sigh of relief.  �You know what?  It wasn�t all an
act.  I really did enjoy our time together.�

 Ranma couldn�t help but smile at his Uuchan.  Ranma then remembered the
reason he wanted to see Ukyo the night he discovered her secret.  �Ukyo,
I wanted you to know didn�t really think of you as just one of the
guys.  I was very much aware of you being a girl and I don�t mind that
in the least bit.�

 Ukyo gave Ranma a sultry look.  �Oh REALLY!  I thought I felt a little
touching in wrong places during our scuffles together.  Or maybe I
should say, in all the right places.�  Ukyo laughed as Ranma blushed
furiously.  �Just kidding!�  Ukyo laughed again as she jumped down and
went back into the restaurant.

 Ranma smiled.  �That�s my Ucchan.�  He followed her back inside.

   * * * * *

The End.