Here we go one last time

Replaced
Thom Keehn
zinyadel@hotmail.com

Exclusive rights to all Ranma1/2 characters and places belong to Rumiko 
Takahashi and are used herein without permission.  This material is not to 
be used for commercial gain or in any other way that is profitable.

----

Hiroshi walked side by side with Daisuke down the streets in Nerima, 
enjoying the fine weather of a sunny afternoon in summer.  Hiroshi could 
think of many better ways to spend his vacation but the beach really wasn't 
an option today.  Ranma had gone there and as entertaining as the chaos that 
would ensue was, Hiroshi would rather hear about it tomorrow than see it 
today.

"Hey, man," his friend said, giving a nod towards a woman walking in the 
opposite direction on the sidewalk across the street.  "What ya think of 
that one?"

Hiroshi glanced at the woman.  She wore a summer dress with floral patterns 
that alternated between yellow and white blossoms.  The dress had yellow 
trim along the edges and hung well past the girl's knees.  The skin of what 
little of her legs he could see was smooth and tanned.

Hiroshi let his eyes wander back up.  The young woman sported her long brown 
hair tied back in a ribbon, cascading down her back in a free fall.  A soft, 
brown hat with a white ribbon tied about it, rested upon her head.  Her 
green eyes stared straight ahead, a look of sheer determination in the soft 
features of her face.

"I dunno," Hiroshi stated.  "I don't recognize her from school.  Think she's 
from out of town?"

"Maybe," Daisuke said, shrugging his shoulders.  "We can follow her for a 
little while."

Hiroshi felt very uneasy about his partner's suggestion.  "She looks mad," 
he noted.  "I'm not interested in finding out she's a martial artist the 
hard way."

"C'mon, man.  We could cheer her up if it comes to it," Daisuke suggested.  
"Besides, I'm hungry and she's headed in the direction of Uuchan's."

Hiroshi was about to say he wasn't hungry when his stomach growled.  He 
sighed.  "I guess we can tag along but you're not to say a word to her," 
Hiroshi warned.  "I'm hungry but I'm not suicidal."

Daisuke smiled and steered him around.  "Look at it on the bright side," 
Daisuke said cheerfully as they began to follow the dress.  "She might be 
going to Uuchan's too and we could buy her lunch."

Hiroshi didn't feel any better.

*****

Tsubasa hesitated in front of a familiar shop.  It had been months since he 
last visited his Ukyou and it had not exactly been a friendly parting.  He 
wondered how things were going for his friend, while hoping she hadn't 
succeeded in her pursuit of Ranma.

Tsubasa clenched his fists at the thought of Ranma Saotome.  Ranma had 
tricked him into caring for him, had toyed with his emotions.  After so many 
rejections from Ukyou, he had acted upon a momentary weakness and paid for 
it dearly.  Tsubasa had let himself care about someone else, only to 
discover it was the same culprit that was trying to steal his Ukyou from 
him.

The entire encounter had not gone well and Tsubasa had fled Nerima, not 
wanting to return.  But here he was again despite his convictions.  Despite 
betraying Ukyou, Tsubasa was not about to give up on her.  If only Ranma 
hadn't been there to screw things up, Ukyou would have been his.

Again he grimaced at the thought of Ranma.  The mere mention of the 
pigtailed martial artist angered him to no end.  There was no way he could 
compete with Ranma for Ukyou's affections.  Ranma was everything Tsubasa 
wanted to be: a man who could be a woman.  And what angered him even more 
was that Ranma didn't stop to consider the curse as a blessing.

"'Scuse me," a voice called out to him.  Tsubasa turned and frowned at a 
pair of boys standing near him.  Well, one was standing while the other was 
busy dying of embarassment.  "I couldn't help but notice ya standing there.  
May we buy you lunch?"  The speaker thumbed to Uuchan's.

Tsubasa got this kind of reaction a lot.  Well, the being asked out for 
meals part.  If he had been short on money he would normally take up such 
offers.  "No thanks," Tsubasa declined.

"May I at least have your name and number then?" the young man asked 
hopefully.  The other one was beginning to make gasping sounds.

"Kurenai Tsubasa," Tsubasa declared.  "And my number could change at any 
given day, if my Ukyou decides to become mine."

"What?" the intelligible man shot out.  The other boy had fallen to the 
pavement, still choking and wheezing.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to propose to my Ukyou," Tsubasa said 
defiantly.  Tsubasa glanced at the young man that was pounding fists against 
the pavement.  Tsubasa blinked.  "I suggest you get your friend some help.  
I think he's having convulsions or something."

With that said, Tsubasa quickly took leave of the two, cursing himself for 
standing outside the Uuchan's too long.

****

"Get a hold of yourself," Daisuke ordered.  Daisuke helped Hiroshi to his 
feet.

"I thought I told you not to speak to her," Hiroshi said, without the 
slightest bit of anxiety in his voice.  Sure it may be cowardly to pretend 
you are unable to fight, but Hiroshi wasn't about to go down with his friend 
if things got ugly.

"No harm done," Daisuke said lightly.  "I guess those rumours in school are 
true about her."

"About Ukyou only wanting Ranma because he's a girl half the time?" Hiroshi 
ventured.  "Hey, to each her own."

"Actually I was referring to Ukyou having relations with that cute waitress 
of hers," Daisuke corrected.  "It would make sense as that girl is never 
interested whenever I try asking her out."

"Has it ever occurred to ya that noone is interested in ya?" Hiroshi stated 
sourly.

"Just means I haven't found the right one yet," Daisuke countered.  "Shall 
we go in?"

Hiroshi shook his head emphatically.  "If those rumours aren't true, there's 
going to be a fight," he reasoned.  "I'm not that hungry."

****

Tsubasa hesitated a couple paces into the room.  Ukyou was standing behind 
the counter tending to the grill.  She was so beautiful, standing there, her 
face a mask of concentration.  It had been so long that he had nearly 
forgotten how wonderful she was to look at.  His knees weakened.

Ukyou flashed her soft brown eyes up at him.  The look of annoyance that 
crossed her face tore through him more painfully than any razor sharp 
spatula could.  "What do you want, Tsubasa?" she demanded.

His mouth opened but no words could come out.  Instead the master of 
disguise decided to take a seat at the counter before his legs gave out.  He 
slipped into his seat, staring at her, feeling light-headed.  She glowered 
at him, but returned her attention to the food frying on the grill.

"I ... I wanted to," he started, not able to sort through his words.  'I 
want to take you home with me,' he mentally finished, but knew saying that 
would endanger his health.

"I have paying customers that could use that space," Ukyou remarked coldly 
without looking up.  "Make an order or get out."

"Fine," he sighed.  "I'll have a pork and shrimp okonomiyaki."  He watched 
her pour an almost perfect circle of batter on the grill.  "It's been a long 
time since I said anything to you."

"Not long enough," Ukyou returned curtly.

"Ukyou, I never wanted to hurt you," Tsubasa declared softly.

"Hurt me?!" Ukyou huffed incredulously.  "You couldn't hurt me if you tried, 
Tsubasa."

"Well then why else would you be so upset?" Tsubasa asked.  He pulled 
himself out of his own little world for a moment to consider what things 
could possibly make Ukyou upset.  "Did Ranma dump you?"

A spatula stopped short of his throat by mere inches.  "Don't you dare 
pretend to know what's wrong with me!" she growled.  The sudden exchange 
caused many customers to silently pay for their meals and excuse themselves 
from the restaurant.  A young waitress happily told each customer to come 
back anytime.

Tsubasa gulped nervously.  For a long pause he said nothing, allowing the 
room and his head to clear up.  The master of disguise knew that saying the 
wrong thing would be answered with a very painful reward, so he chose his 
words carefully.  "I'm only trying to help," he meekly offered.  The spatula 
left its threatening position as Ukyou returned her attention to the grill.

"I don't need your help," she grumbled.  "I dealt with Ranma and if he 
doesn't want to speak to me again, that's fine by me.  It's not like I'm the 
one leading people along and suddenly attempting to get married without 
personally letting my supposed 'best' friend know beforehand.  As far as I'm 
concerned, he's dead to me."

She served up his okonomiyaki on a small plate. Tsubasa nodded graciously.  
This was the best news ever.  He was so happy, food was entirely forgotten.  
He wanted to hold her this very moment to better cherish the point in time 
when they could finally be together.


"I guess that means that you wouldn't mind me ..." he started, reaching out 
for her. A small spatula was slammed down, pinning his meal to the counter 
surface and shattering the plate underneath. Tsubasa snatched his hands 
back, looking up meekly. He swallowed nervously. "I guess not."

Ukyou's bottom lip quivered.  Tsubasa tensed up, expecting to be launched 
all the way back home but it never happened.  Instead Ukyou broke out in 
tears and fled the room.

Tsubasa blinked, confused.  The waitress sighed and slid up behind the 
counter to tend to the grill in case any more customers happened to come in. 
  Tsubasa let his worries about whatever Ukyou was upset about slip away, 
preferring to take note of the waitress instead.  It wasn't like he could 
change whatever Ukyou was upset about if she didn't tell him.

Tsubasa smiled at the girl, not knowing what else he could do.  She had 
long, raven black hair and deep brown eyes.  She was wearing a simple dark 
blue kimono with white trim and crimson red flowers arranged about the 
material to draw an onlooker's eye to specific places.  She was quite 
beautiful, though a bit old-fashioned for Tsubasa's tastes.

"Hi," he said.  "I'm a friend of Ukyou's, Kurenai Tsubasa.  I don't believe 
I've ever seen you before."

"I'm Konatsu," the girl replied softly.  "Ukyou-sama has taken me in to be 
her waitress in exchange for room and board."

"Ukyou-sama?" Tsubasa echoed.  He frowned.  He supposed it was probably the 
way she addressed everyone.  'There was no way my Ukyou would be ....'

"Yes, she has been ... troubled ever since Ranma-sama and Akane-sama almost 
married," Konatsu informed him.  Konatsu arched an eye at him inquisitively. 
  "She didn't seem to happy to see you."

Tsubasa sighed in relief.  His concerns on Ukyou's preference faded with the 
realization that the waitress did address everyone the same way.  It was 
even better news that Ranma had finally broken Ukyou's heart.  Now there 
were no obstacles to stand between him and his Ukyou.

Tsubasa realized the waitress was waiting for him to respond.  "Oh, well 
Ukyou's my girlfriend," Tsubasa stated.  He then thought about whom he was 
saying this to and decided to amend, "well at least I would like her to be 
my girlfriend.  She's probably just upset that I left her here some time ago 
and haven't talked to her since."

The master of disguise let out a breath slowly, realizing how close he had 
came to upsetting Ukyou even more.  He knew how girls liked to talk and had 
no doubt that this pretty waitress would inevitably relay this conversation 
to Ukyou.

Tsubasa slipped out of his thoughts, noting the appalled expression on the 
girl's face.  "But Ukyou-sama is Ranma-sama's fiancee," the girl protested.  
"Ukyou-sama likes men."

Tsubasa guessed what was distressing the girl.  The poor waitress was now 
worried that her employer had ulterior motives for taking her in.  "Oh don't 
worry about that," he stated evenly, patting the girl's slender hand. "I'm 
really a guy."

"Really?" Konatsu asked. "How intriguing."

Tsubasa frowned.  That wasn't the reaction he had expected.  "What do you 
mean?" he asked, confused.

"Well, I'm also a guy," Konatsu declared.

The world spun beneath Tsubasa's feet.  He nearly lost his grip on the 
counter, which surely would have rattled his head off the countertop.  
Instead he staggered backwards off the stool, sending it spinning off along 
the floor into the wall.

"What's wrong?" Konatsu asked, vaulting the counter in one swift motion.  
The expression on her, no his, face was filled with concern.  She, no he, 
approached him, reaching out to him with a slender hand.  Tsubasa backed 
off, horrified.  It was all too much for the master of disguise to deal 
with.

Tsubasa turned and bolted out of the shop, fumbling with the door for only a 
moment.  He dashed down the streets, his sandaled feet slapping furiously 
against the pavement, with only one thought rambling over and over in his 
mind.

'My Ukyou has replaced me.'

*****

"What's this?" Ukyou demanded, holding up a piece of paper that had been 
pinned to the counter.  She read the note slowly, her anger building with 
each word.

"Oh, it's just a challenge letter Tsubasa left for me," Konatsu called 
merrily from where he was cleaning up tables.

"The nerve!" she cried out, crumpling the paper and tossing it into the 
trashcan.  "I'm not some prize to be one over some duel!"

"Of course not Ukyou-sama," Konatsu agreed.  "I would only fight him as 
honor demands.  I wouldn't think of forcing you to fulfill the agreement."

"Oh so you're agreeing to this?" Ukyou demanded.  "Konatsu ...!"  She 
paused, noting that the trashcan was steadily making its way to the door.

"That's unusual," Konatsu commented.

Ukyou hefted her battle spatula and leapt over the counter.  "Tsubasa, you 
come back here!" she shouted.

The trashcan got up on two legs and hastily made its exit.  It ran down the 
street at full tilt, an enraged Ukyou not far behind.

"How dare you!" Ukyou screamed, catching up to the trashcan and smashing it 
in with a heavy blow.  Hurting Tsubasa felt better than anything she had 
felt these past weeks since Ranma's attempted marriage.

She hit him again when he tried to get up.  "Stay down!" she ordered.  "I'm 
only going to say this once, Tsubasa.  Thank you.  Thank you for giving me 
something better to do than crying over Ranma."

*****

Tsubasa hobbled down the street battered and broken.  He still wasn't going 
to give up.  He would win Ukyou from this Konatsu, just as soon as he felt 
better.

Tsubasa looked through one eye at his bruised body in a mirror at a store 
and he smiled.  Today he had achieved victory over Ranma Saotome.  Today he 
had helped Ukyou forget Ranma Saotome and she had thanked him for it.

-----

Thank you.  I hope you like the changes.







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