Kasumi 1/2
Life As You Like It
Sidestory
It was the end of another beautiful day at the Ucchan's, its owner and
manager Ukyou Kuonji felt. Ranma would most certainly come to his senses
that night and realize that Akane was all wrong for him. Not only that, but
he would figure out where his heart wanted to be, who he really loved, and
who he would marry. And that lucky girl would be...Ukyou!
She giggled, her cute face beaming. After a moment, she looked at the
restaurant door forlornly. She had said the same thing yesterday and the day
before and the day before...
'Why won't Ranchan just leave Akane behind?' she mused to herself. 'She
brutalizes him on a regular basis and doesn't care about his cries of
innocence. She never listens to his side of the story, and she is uncute
like Ranchan says she is. She could never love him and would end up killing
him because he's just so stuck on his honor. The jackass.'
Ukyou sighed and cleared away a set of dishes. Just then, the front door of
her establishment pulled open. She looked up, expecting a few customers,
though it was a little too late for them to come into her restaurant.
"Yo."
Her heart skipped a beat. "R-Ranchan?"
"The one and only. Whatcha doin' now?"
"Um...just closing..."
"Good, 'cause I gotta tell you some things, okay? It's kinda important."
"Sure, Ranchan, just let me clean up. Pull up a chair."
Ranma nodded and sat down at an empty table. Ukyou wiped her hands on a dish
towel. Why is he here, she thought to herself. Then a silly smile grew on
her face. Maybe he's really came to his senses and is going to marry me!
Then the grin fell into a frown. Or maybe he just wants a meal; Akane said
she was going to be cooking dinner at their place tonight. Well...
"Hey, Ranchan, want me to fix you up an okonomiyaki while you wait? The
grill's still hot."
"Uh, no, that'll be all right, Ukyou. I'm not really hungry right now."
She perked an eyebrow. Ranma, not hungry? What's going on? Then she
realized that he had just called her Ukyou, not Ucchan. Her heart
jackhammering in her chest, she wiped her hands quickly, then pulled up a
chair. "What's going on?"
"Well...it's all these engagements..."
Ukyou could feel the blood draining from her face. "Wh-What about them?"
"Um...well, this mornin'...I was just thinkin'. Been thinkin' for a while
now, really, 'bout all these problems I've got 'cause of oyaji, an'
everythin'. ...Well, this mornin'...I...I decided to do somethin' 'bout them
all."
The okonomiyaki chef wrung her hands beneath the table. Ranma, making
decisions about the engagements? What would he decide to do? Honor one of
them? End them all? Marry someone else? Her eyes widened, and her pounding
heart was quickly going into overdrive. She silently pleaded with whatever
god was listening to her to let it be the first choice; at least she would
still have a chance. "So, ah...what did you come up with, Sugar?"
Ranma sat there quietly, not looking in any particular direction. Ukyou
couldn't tell what was running through his mind, but a feeling in her bones
told her it wasn't going to be good. He finally spoke. "...This mornin', I
broke the engagement with Akane."
Ukyou almost shouted her joy to the top of Mount Fuji. So he finally came
around!
"...I also broke off the engagement with Shampoo. Was she ever ticked
off...me an' Mousse had to tie her down 'cause she went nuts."
Wait a second. Why would Ranchan bother to break anything off with the
purple-headed bimbo? It's not like he had taken their supposed marriage
seriously at all. Uneasiness crept beneath Ukyou's skin, bringing out a
slight shudder.
"Then, I ended whatever relationship me an' Kodachi had an hour ago."
The girl blinked in surprise. It couldn't be! Was this Ranma's way of
saying that he...that he...no, that's not what it means! He...he...he...
"And now, here I am. I'm sorry, but I don't wanna be 'engaged' to you
anymore just because oyaji says I am."
...he's leaving me? Ukyou thought numbly. So great a state of shock she was
immersed in, her mind refused to accept the fact that he had just broken
their engagement. It's just a bad dream. I'm hearing things. He's being
mind controlled. Genma took possession of Ranma's body and is breaking off
her engagement so he can force her Ranma to marry Akane after all.
Even she could not believe that last one.
Her heart stopped beating. So, he really did it...
How...? why...? who...?
Tears began to shimmer upon her bottom eye lids, as she stared forlornly at
the pigtailed martial artist who seemed to be looking for something on the
floor. He stood up from his chair.
Ukyou's mind went into overdrive. Oh, god, he going to leave. He's really
going to leave--! He's going to walk out of the front door and out of my
life forever! I...I can't let his do that! Not after ten years of looking
for him! I...I can't let him--!
Quicker than the blink of an eye, the okonomiyaki chef was upon Ranma, her
arms clutched around his waist in a bearhug born of desperation. Tears
streamed down her cheek as she gazed up into his surprised expression.
"Don't go!"
"Go?" he asked, perplexed.
"You can't! You...you just can't...leave me alone again! I...I won't let
you!"
"Ukyou..." Ranma tried to pry her arms from around his waist.
She only clung tighter in response to his efforts. "Stop it! Why are you
doing this?! Why are you pushing me away?!"
The pigtailed one tried to squirm free. "Ukyou..."
She scissored his legs with her own, pinning them together. "Why are you
doing this, Ranchan?! D..don't you...don't you want the engagement?"
"But-"
"I can understand why you got rid of Akane and Shampoo. I don't know about
Kodachi, but me? Why me? I'm the cute fiancee! I'm the one who listens to
you when you got problems. I'm the one who will never hit you." She thought
for a second, then amended herself. "...without a really good reason to do
so. Anyway, I...I'm the one...w..who...who..."
Blood flooded her cheeks as she tried to make the words come out even as her
courage drained away... She sweated as her face glowed hotly. Though she
hadn't relinquished her hold on Ranma, behind his back, her index fingers
pressed together, then slowly twirled around each other.
"Look, Ukyou, I can't be the fiance oyaji forced me to be."
"Why not?!" she snapped at him, her reluctance forgotten. He blinked in
surprise as new determination set her on fire. "You jackass, I love you!!
Doesn't that make a difference at all to you?!"
A smile creased the corners of Ranma's mouth. "I love you, too, Ukyou."
"Doesn't tha..." Ukyou's eyes widened, the rest of her words instantly
forgotten. "Y-y-you do?"
"Yep." Ranma pulled her arms from around his waist, then stood her up.
Inside, Ukyou's heart began to beat again. 'He loves me!' she thought
victoriously. 'He's finally came around! Yes! Yes!! YES!!' Then she
blushed, her index fingers giving chase to the other again. "Bu...but, if
you lo...love me, why are you...leaving me?" she asked hesitantly, the deadly
fear she had tangled with seconds ago minutely creeping in.
"I ain't leaving."
"But you just said-"
"I said I can't be the fiance oyaji forced me to be. I never said anythin'
about not wantin' to be the fiance I wanna be for you."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "But...what about the nickname you gave me?"
"Huh? What about it?"
"You...haven't called me 'Ucchan' since you came in..."
"Oh, that." Ranma rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it's...kinda a
reminder, you know?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I called you Ucchan back when...when I thought you were a guy."
"Yes, you have. What does that mean?" Ukyou gave Ranma a confused look.
"Um...well...I...I don't want you to just be my best friend 'Ucchan.'"
Her heart came dangerously close to stopping again. "Wha...why?"
"Um...er...well...ah..."
Ukyou could plainly see her heart's desire was beginning to sweat profusely.
'What's gotten Ranchan so nervous all of a sudden?' she wondered.
"Ranchan..."
He blinked. "Huh?"
"Just say what's on your mind, okay, Sugar?"
"Um...yeah...ah...could you sit down first?"
"Okay..." Ukyou wasn't quite sure where this was going, though a voice in
the back of her was whispering in gleeful hope, "Finally." She pulled up a
chair and sat down in it. Before Ranma was...she blinked her eyes to make
sure she wasn't seeing things.
"Um...Ukyou...ah, I'm not good at these sort of things..."
"Er, Ranchan, why are you kneeling in front of me?" Her pulse quickened in
anticipation of the answer. No way, this has got to be a dream, she thought.
It was highly doubted that Ranma watched foreign shows.
"This is how you s'pose to do this sort of thing, right?"
"Do what sort of thing?"
"Ah...well...ah...uh..."
When the stammering stopped, Ranma fished an object out of nowhere,
presenting it to the Kansai girl so fast, she jerked back in surprise. Upon
closer inspection, she saw it to be a ring with a small diamond held in place
by the lone facet. A ring, she thought. Everything suddenly fell into
place. Ranma ending all of the engagements. Ranma not calling her 'Ucchan'
and saying that he didn't want her to just be his best friend. Ranma on his
knees before her. And now... Her heart skipped several beats as she grew
dizzy with giddiness. "Ra...Ra...R-R-Ran...ma..." Her voice and body was
shaking badly, she was so excited and nervous. "I...Is...? Do you...? Is
this...?"
"Shh! Ya know, this ain't an easy thing to ask. Um...wouldja...wouldja
marry me?"
"Yes, I would!!" She plowed into Ranma and clung tightly to him. Tears
flowed freely down her face while she laughed. "Oh yes, Ranma... Yes..."
He smiled to her. "I love you, Ukyou." His head tilted up towards her lips.
* * * * *
Inside of the Ucchan's, in the bedroom up the stairs, its owner turned over
in her sleep, giggling. "...I love you, too, Ranma..." she mumbled happily,
kissing her tightly held pillow. "I've dreamed of this day for so long..."
End
This should have been out last month, but I got caught up in some things, and
I hadn't had time to check over it. Guess I'll have to make it up to you
people by dropping in Kasumi 1/2 Chapter Five by the end of the month, ne?
Well, we'll see about what we can do about that.
Some updates...
Kasumi 1/2 Chapter Five is, so far, halfway finished (yay!). A Twisted Fate,
Chapter Four is still being planned out. I decided to not continue Akunen
because the whole tone of the story was ruining my writing of Kasumi 1/2 (I
have been told that this was a very bad thing); if anyone wants the story and
the ideas for its continuation, just email me with "Akunen continuation" in
the header, and I'll send it to you. Another thing, I have an original
fantasy story, borrowing characters from Ranma 1/2, slowly brewing in
development. I showed the ideas to Tom while talking about the fate of
Akunen, and he seems really ecstatic about what I've told him. If everything
goes well, I might even get a helping hand to write some of the story.
Let's see, what am I forgetting...?
Now I remember! My archived works are at
http://lwf58.tripod.com/fan_fiction/raemowse/index.html
Thanks to my prereaders Thomas Hackwood, Larry Fortante(sp?), Harold Ancell,
and Ranma Dragon.
Keep on reading,
Rainman