I seem to have too much time on my hands these days.  Oh, well.  Hope
you enjoy.

Disclaimer:  All characters portrayed in this story are the property of
Rumiko Takahashi and co.  I don't own any of them.  Please don't sue me.

This story takes place after volume 38 of the Ranma manga.  It draws
ideas from both the anime and the manga.  This is a sequel to I Like
Ucchan.  You need not have read it to enjoy this story as both could be
read separately.

C & C welcomed.  Flames not.

I Like Ucchan:  Part 2

By

Donny Cheng

	Ms. Hinako did her best to glare at the kids before her.  Despite the
fact that it ended up looking like her cute little face was only
squinting, the students quailed in their seats at it.  Experience has
taught them all that you do not go against the wishes of the seeming
child in front of the class.  "You all know about the dance tomorrow
night.  I want you all to be on your very best behavior.  If you still
haven't gotten a date yet, you better hurry or else you'll be alone. 
Everyone will be there, right?"

	Ukyo scowled at the teacher.  Hinako-sensei had a distinct lack of
tact.  There was no way she was going to be alone tomorrow night.  She
and Ranma were going to be there.  All that was needed for that to
happen was for Ranma to ask her to it.  She turned to smile at him from
across the room.  He was not smiling back.

	Ranma wanted to pound his head onto the desk.  Why did the stupid
school have to hold a stupid dance anyway?  He knew for a fact that
Hinako didn't want anyone missing the dance that she was personally
supervising.  She wouldn't be happy if her number one target skipped out
on her.  He didn't like the prospect of fighting her off every day as
that meant he had to touch her certain places that made the rest of his
suitors see red.  He blanched as Ukyo smiled at him.  He paled even
further at the faint aura of darkness the surrounded Akane.  He needed
to find someone to take Uk... one of the girls off his hands.

	Akane pointedly did not look at Ranma.  Why hasn't he said anything
yet?  It wasn't as if she wanted him to ask her, but she wouldn't say no
if he did.

	Ukyo did not like the looks Ranma and Akane were passing to each
other.  She passed if off as the both of them having gas.  After all,
hasn't Akane told Ranma enough times that she didn't want him?  Time to
put the plan into action.

			* * * * *

	"H... Hi, Ukyo.  Nice weather we're having, right?"  Man, he must be
slipping, Ranma thought to himself.  She caught him off guard and he was
backed up between the okonomiyaki chef and the wall.

	"Ranchan, about the dance tomorrow..." Ukyo said demurely.  She slowly
leaned in further towards the flustered boy.  She was so close she could
feel the tension in his body.

	Ranma tried his best not to freak out.  The only way to get free was to
forcibly push her away.  Any thought of doing that was lost to him when
he saw her innocent looking face.  She probably talks this close to
everybody.  "Yeah, about that dance, I was wondering if..."

	"If I would accept your invitation?  Of course, silly.  Thanks for
asking me.  Pick me up at seven okay?"  Ukyo abruptly straightened up
and smiled winsomely at Ranma.  Let's see him turn me down now.

	"That's not what I meant."  Ranma quickly tried to explain.

	"You didn't..." Ukyo made sure to add a little quavering to her lips as
her voice broke.

	Was she going to cry?  She looked awfully sad.  "No... I meant that
seven thirty would be a better time."  Damn.

	"Oh, okay."  Ukyo immediately found her smile again.  "I'll see you
then.  It's time for my gym and I have to get to the field."

	Ranma hung his head in shame.  Boy, he was weak sometimes.  He did not
feel like telling Akane of his choice.  Maybe, he could keep it from her
until the last minute.  Fat chance, knowing his luck.


			* * * * *

	Ukyo frowned as she watched Ranma sit on the sidelines.  Gym was
usually his favorite class as it was the only subject that allowed him
to use his physical prowess.  He didn't look happy.  Why shouldn't he be
happy?  He just asked me to the dance.  She ignored the little voice in
her head that told her that Ranma maybe wanted to ask someone else.

	He asked her and that was all that matter.  Her frown deepened as she
saw Ranma's gaze turn towards a group of girls at the baseball diamond. 
Akane was at bat.  Akane looked quite irritated.

	Tough luck!  All was fair in love and war as the saying goes.  She saw
Ranma's dejected head sink lower.  NO!  She won't give in.

	Ranma raised a hand to his eyes and rubbed.

	Was he crying?  No... She got him fairly.  Akane should have asked him
earlier.  Ranma was still rubbing his eyes.  No... Damn it, who was she
kidding?  Ukyo ignored the gym teacher's ranting as she headed over to
the boys' side of the field.

			* * * * *

	Ranma rubbed his eyes furiously.  How much sand could have gotten into
his eye with that little gust of wind?  When he was finally able to see
again, he saw a sad Ukyo in front of him.  "Ukyo!  What are you doing
here?  Isn't your class over on that side?"

	The redness of his eyes broke whatever hope Ukyo had of ignoring her
feelings of guilt.  "I'm not feeling very well.  I think I'm catching
something.  I'll have to cancel that dance tomorrow, okay?"

	"Sure!"  Ranma couldn't believe his luck.  "I hope you get better,
Ucchan.  I'll come by and see you tomorrow if you need help around the
restaurant before the dance."

	Ukyo grimaced.  He didn't have to be so enthusiastic about it.  She
didn't think she could bear it if she saw him tomorrow.  She didn't want
her face rubbed into her stupid decision even further.  "No, Konatsu
should be able to do it by himself.  Most customers are students anyway
and I don't think there'll be many tomorrow."

	"Okay.  I'll see you later then."  Ranma leapt up to his feet and raced
towards the baseball diamond.  Already the lines he was going to say
popped into his head.  If you're not doing anything and I know that a
tomboy like you probably didn't get asked, you want go with me?  That's
perfect.

	Ukyo didn't even watch as Ranma left.  She could guess where he was
headed but denying it helped her gain a hold on her sanity.  Slowly, as
if her feet suddenly grew heavier about a hundred pounds, she walked
home.

			* * * * *

	Dance.  The word curiously struck Ukyo in the heart.  Hard.  All
through her life she had never gone to one.  Gone to one as a girl that
is.  Dance was often a requirement in some of the gym classes she had
been in.  Never once had she danced with a boy growing up.

	Not that she minded at the time.  At least that was what she had felt
until she reunited with Ranma.  Her revenge on Ranma overpowered any
emotion that remotely resembled a female's.  With her obsession with
revenge gone, she gradually began to regret all the things she missed
while growing up.  One of them was dancing with a boy.

	It was silly in this modern age of growing feminism, but she couldn't
deny the urge was there.  In all her fantasies of dancing, her male
partner was always Ranma.  She could imagine him leading her through the
steps even now.  Him leading her, while she followed.  At times far
apart and at others close together.  Very close together.

	She sighed at another lost chance.  A chance that she had foolishly
given away.  She really hadn't cared if Akane wanted to go with Ranma or
anyone else that mattered.  Just the look on his face was all that was
needed to make her decision.

	Why?  Because he called her cute?  Because it wasn't really his fault
for leaving her behind?  Because he didn't forget her?  Perhaps, it was
all those reasons or perhaps not.  What mattered was that Ranma was the
one that gave her back her femininity.  She supposed the dance was to be
proof of it to everyone, to Ranma, and most importantly herself.  If
Ranma had a dilemma, it would only be fair of her to help him out.  It
did not mean she had to like it, however.

	Ukyo looked up from her thoughts as saw her restaurant a block away. 
Another lonely night, it would seem.  The last block seemed even more
difficult to walk.

			* * * * *

The next day...

	Ranma held out an arm shyly as Akane stepped down the stairs to greet
him.  Akane did not look at all uncute to day.  Not uncute at all.

	Akane smiled as she took hold of Ranma's arm and whispered
conspiratorially.  "Let's get out of here, fast.  Kasumi and Auntie is
holding the parents at bay in the living room."

	"Yeah, knowing them, we'd have to beat them off with a stick before
would could get them to shut up about the wedding."  The both of them
quietly snuck out of the house.

			* * * * *

	"Saotome, you cad!  How dare you take advantage of the lovely flower
that is Tendo Akane?  Have at you."  Kuno stared at the evil sorcerer,
enraged at the what he saw.  He immediately struck out with his bokken. 
Everything within the range of the wodden sword was crushed with the
onslaught.  Unfortunately, this meant also the punch bowl on the snack
table.

	<Splash>

	Ranma shook the punch out of her hair.  The stupid jerk Kuno!  "I'm not
taking advantage of her, you idiot.  You're supposed to stand close for
that song."

`	"Pigtailed girl!  Where did you come from?"  That was the last that he
could say as Hinako pulled out a five yen coin and drained the modern
samurai of his battle aura.

	"I told you.  There is to be no disruption while I'm here."  Hinako's
throaty reply to the scared looks she was receiving turned half of them
to looks of lust.  This caused some bruised heads as their partners
whacked the boys looking.

	Ranma turned disgustedly away from hole in the ceiling and gave his
attention once again to Akane.  She had a funny expression on her face. 
"What is it?"

	"Aren't you going to turn back?" Akane asked.  Already she could hear
the whispers going around her.

	"The rest of the school is off limits.  The principal got a lot of flak
the last time we roamed around at night.  The water in the bathroom here
isn't near hot enough to change me."

	"Well, we can't dance with you looking like that."  She did not want
that ugly rumor of her to resurface at all.

	"Why not?  Everyone here knows that I'm a boy."  It was true.  It was
hard to hide a secret like that from an entire student body for a year.

	"Think of what it looks like." Akane nearly shouted, but kept her voice
low.

	"Well, what can I do about it?" Ranma asked her with growing
irritation.

	"Maybe, you can go to Dr. Tofu's and get some hot water.  It's not that
far from the school."  Anything was better than dancing the whole night
with him like that.

	"Okay, okay.  I'll be back in a sec."

			* * * * *

	Damn.  Dr. Tofu isn't home.  There is no way Ranma was going to the
Nekohanten, the next closest place, dressed in a tux.  It'll have to be
Ucchan's then.  She could see how Ukyo was doing that that sudden virus
in the meanwhile.

			* * * * *

	"Ucchan?"

	Ukyo looked up from the grill to see a red-haired girl dressed in an
oversized tuxedo.  "Ranma?  What are you doing here?"

	"I could ask you the same question.  You're not supposed to be up if
you're sick.  Remember the last time?  Do you really want Konatsu to run
the restaurant for a whole week?"

	"Um... I'm feeling much better now.  See?"  Ukyo brought her face close
to Ranma for inspection.

	Ukyo's face was a little pale and red around the eyes, but otherwise
seemed normal enough.  "Okay, then.  As long as you take it easy. 
Anyway, I need some hot water.  Kuno splashed me with some punch and I
couldn't get hot enough water at the school," Ranma explained.

	"Okay, wait a moment.  I'll get Konatsu to heat some up right now."

	The ninja nodded politely and headed for the went about preparing what
Ranma needed.

	"Thanks, Konatsu.  Looks, pretty quiet tonight."  Ranma said as he
tried to strike up a conversation while he waited.

	"Yeah, looks like nearly every student went to the dance or at least my
regulars.  How is it going by the way?"

	"So, so."  Ranma said non-committedly.

	Something was wrong, Ukyo could tell.  "What's the matter Ranma?"

	"Nothing," Ranma lied and rather poorly at that.

	"If it's about Akane, I promise I won't say anything badly about her." 
They had both agreed not talk about the other suitors, as it tended to
get in the way of their friendship.  But, Ukyo didn't like how Ranma was
acting and decided to chance it.

	"It has nothing to do with her.  Well, maybe a little.  It's just that
after I finally start to accept this stupid curse, I hate it again.  It
gets in the way of what I want to do.  It doesn't look right dancing
with a girl as a girl."

	"But doesn't everyone at the school know that you're a girl?"

	"Yeah, it still looks weird."  That was the reason he had given Akane,
but he had to admit that to others it did look weird.

	"Weird?  I'll have you know that I danced with girls before and I had
to live with it."

	"That's when you were living as a guy.  You mean you wouldn't care if
you had to dance with me as a girl?  Everyone knows you're a girl now,
despite what you dress like."

	"No, I wouldn't care.  It doesn't matter what you look like, it's
what's on the inside that counts."

	"You do know how cheesy that sounds, right?"

	"Hey, don't knock it.  It works on most to the students that come here
after being dumped.  You wouldn't believe how enticing a warm
okonomiyaki and a good ear could be.  I'll prove it to you.  May, I have
this dance?"  Ukyo stepped from around the counter and held out a hand
to the flushing boy, currently in girl form.

	"Ucchan, now you're being silly.  It might be slow in here, but you
still have customers and they know you're a girl too."  Ranma did not
like how the conversation had changed direction.

	"What?  The great and fearless Saotome is really a chicken?"  Ukyo
laughed at Ranma as anger flickered across her face.

	"Chicken!?  I'll show you.  Come here."  Ranma grabbed Ukyo and held
her a half an arms distance away.  As if waiting for some imaginary
music to start, Ranma slowly stepped into the dance steps he had learned
during gym class.

	Ukyo nearly laughed as she felt herself wanting to lead.  She stifled
it as she knew Ranma wouldn't like it.  If she could only see how she
looked.  A smaller girl in a tuxedo leading a girl dressed in men's
clothes.  Not exactly how she envisioned her first dance to be.

	Ranma tried not to panic as Ukyo closed the gap between them.  Ukyow
wasn't having any problems with this?  Two girls close together in the
middle of her restaurant slow dancing.  Ranma smiled as she could feel
the other girl clearly fighting with herself.  Ukyo must be used to
leading.

	Ukyo was surprised to find her head looking over Ranma's shoulder while
her arms were wrapped around the very slim waist.  If only he was a guy
right now.

	"Ahem... Ukyo-sama, the water is ready."  Konatsu held out a kettle of
steaming water.

	Ukyo reluctantly let go of Ranma.  Even if he was in girl form at the
time, it was still a very nice little dance.

	Ranma found herself regretting that she had to leave soon and rejoin
Akane.  It had been nice.  It made her forget why she wanted to get rid
of the curse if only for a moment.  She upended some of the hot water
over herself, now himself, and poured the rest into a thermostat that
Konatsu had thoughtfully provided.

	"I guess, I'll see you later, Ranma," Ukyo glumly said as she started
to go back around the counter.

	Boy, she sounds sad.  She must have really wanted to go to the dance
with him, Ranma thought.  One more shouldn't hurt.  "Um... before I go,
do you mind if I have another dance.  It was different dancing as a girl
and I got used to it.  Another dance in my guy form should clear that
problem."

	Ukyo could not believe how at the same time, words could sound so fake
and wonderful.  "Sure, that's what friends are for."

	Ranma held out his hands and surprisingly didn't even flinch this time
as Ukyo and him did another slow dance.  Ukyo didn't even try to lead
this time.

			* * * * *

The end.  (maybe)