a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Ukyou Kuonji...

ONION TEARS
Part II.  Continuation 


I stood there in the kitchen as Ukyou-sama and Nabiki wept and 
embraced.  Nabiki, newly aware of Ukyou-sama's pain at losing Ranma, 
had just made a solemn oath to stop tomorrow's wedding at whatever 
cost.  Ukyou-sama sobbed with joy at Nabiki's pronouncement.  I could 
only stand there, helpless.  I had a nagging feeling that something 
was wrong with this, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it 
was.  But at any rate, the atmosphere in the kitchen was getting 
uncomfortable; I decided to return to work.

I pushed open the door, and was stunned at the sight before me.  
Everyone was still bawling their eyes out; no one had left, and no 
one had finished the okonomi-yakis before them.  Some people had 
joined the salarymen in loudly singing a number of maudlin love 
songs.  When they saw me emerge, one of the salarymen called out to 
me.  "Hey, cutie... c'mere... can we have another round?"  He was 
waving a 10,000 yen bill, more than enough to cover another round. 
I walked over to the table.

"Shouldn't you guys being checking in with the office?"

"Ahhh... we called 'em again and tol'em t'fuck off.  We ain't going 
in today.  C'mon, honey... another round, ne?  Please?"  As sad as 
they looked, only Tanaka-san still reflected the true agony of lost 
love.  By now, the others had pretty well managed to drown their 
enchanted sorrows; in fact, they were starting to get a little 
belligerent.

This did *not* look like it was going to be a good day after all.

"Fine.  One more round.  But I really think you gentlemen," and I 
resisted the urge to put a sarcastic edge to my voice on that last 
word, "have had just about enough.  It's not even noon yet; it's far 
too early to be getting drunk, you know."  I turned on my heel, 
without even bothering to take the proffered bill -- I knew it would 
still be there when I returned with the drinks.

I suspected there was going to be a confrontation when I returned to 
their table, so I put it off as long as I possibly could.  I checked 
at each of the tables to see if any of the other customers needed 
attention.  What they all really needed were tissues; other than 
that, nobody needed much.  Finally, the burliest of the salarymen 
called out to me: "Hey girlie... we're not gettin' any younger over 
here!" 

Fine, fine...

I took six more sake bottles from the cooler and placed them on my 
tray.  As I wove my way to their table, I noticed the burly one 
whisper something to the fellow who had offered the money for this 
round.  

"I'm sorry about that, sirs," I said as I set the bottles down in 
front of each of them.  "Had to attend to the others.  Been 
neglecting 'em a bit, now, haven't I?"  I forced a smile as best 
I could, but as I straightened up, the burly one rose from his 
chair and strode heavily (so as not to fall over, I suspected) 
over to me.  He was holding the Y10,000 bill.

"Yerr doin' a good job, here, cutie-pie... herezher ten grand..."
He put his arm around my waist and carefully, deliberately stuffed 
the money in between the padding on my chest, patting each mound 
once for good measure.  The only good thing was that he was far too 
deeply into his cups to notice they were fake.  "Y'know, therez more 
where that came from.  Whaddya say you come with us and help us 
cheer up our ol' buddy, Tanaka, huh?"  The others were starting to 
grin, and I was beginning to feel as if I had been set up.

"Please, sir.. this is Nerima, not the Yoshiwara.  Why don't you go 
to Soapland or somewhere like that if you need it that badly?" 

"Hey, you said it yourself, girlie... it's still morning.  Soapland's 
pretty much shut down right now, ain't it?  C'monnn..." at which 
point, he quickly wrapped his other arm around me.  "We all could 
use some cheering up; whaddya say, fellas?"  The responses from his 
colleagues ranged from the glum look on Tanaka's face, to a diabolical 
leer on a skinny younger man, to a hoot of enthusiasm from an older 
man in a rumpled suit.  "And seein' as yer the cheeriest one in this 
place, we thought you might be able t'come with us, hmm?" 
His grip around me was getting tighter, and I was forced to hold my 
hands in the air as he closed in. 

"I'm not that kind of girl!  Let me go!"  I brought my hands down; 
I intended to rabbit-punch him in the chest -- even when I fight, I 
feel I ought to do so in a feminine fashion -- but as I did, there 
was a hollow sound of bone against wood.  The man suddenly dropped 
me, and then dropped, himself.  There was a considerable knot on 
his head.

It was at that moment that I realized I had a mallet in my hand.  
<So... *this* is how Akane does it...>

"Ahh..!"  So did the other salarymen.  "Look what she did to 
Kotegawa!"  Well, it sobered them up in a hurry.  Even poor 
Tanaka-san, who I really did feel sorry for, rose with the others 
and bolted out the door, leaving Kotegawa pretty much at my mercy.

Well, I decided to show him mercy.  Ukyou-sama might have scooped 
him up with her spatula and thrown him out to the trash, but I 
figured that would be a little excessive.  It had been a hard day 
for all of us.  I simply dragged him outside, and propped him up 
against the building in  the alley next to the restaurant.

Once I walked in, all eyes, tear-stained as they were, were on me. 
I put on a big (admittedly fake) grin.

"Okay..." I said with a slight sigh., "I think we've had enough 
excitement for one day.  In fact, I think the Ucchan will be closing 
early today.  I'm very sorry about this, but if you all will be so 
kind as to finish up..."

I hardly needed to say more.  Slowly, everybody got up from their 
tables and stools, laid money down by the places, and left into the 
bright mid-afternoon sunshine.  It pleased me to note that the sun 
was out, and shining brightly; maybe it could offset whatever damage 
those onions may have done to our customers.

After hanging out a sign mentioning that the Ucchan was closed for 
the day (with an apology for the inconvenience, of course), I tallied 
all the checks the customers had left behind, and compared it to our 
receipts.  Even as short as the working day had been, it had been one 
of our most profitable days for as far back as I could remember.  
Must have been the drinks -- we don't usually sell a lot of liquor, 
and the profit margin is much better on it than on the food.  Not to 
mention the tips!  Still, that incident with the salarymen just went 
to show *why* we rarely push the drinks.  Truly, I would rather 
have peace and a morsel than bounty and episodes like this that it 
brings about.

***

Now that I'd taken the liberty of shuttering the Ucchan for the day, 
I figured I had the responsibility of informing Ukyou-sama of what 
I'd done.  I really didn't know how she'd take it; I guess I figured 
if she wasn't happy about it, I could just, well, show her the money.

The kitchen was empty.  Somehow, in the bustle of closing down, the 
two of them had slipped out on me.  I sighed.  I have been told that 
I have the talent to be a genius, a super-ninja.  I'd love to believe 
it.  Most of the time, I feel more like an idiot savant.  Emphasis 
on the 'idiot' side of the equation.  This was one of those times.  
There were no tracks to follow, no way to figure out where they'd 
gone.

On the other hand, I knew what their objective was.  So once I 
finished locking the restaurant, I headed off to the Tendo's house.
Most likely, that would be where I could find them.  And even if 
they couldn't be found there, Ranma and Akane needed to be warned.

***

I decided not to announce my presence when I arrived at the dojo as 
I had done that last time.  Instead, I leapt up, onto the roof -- and 
nearly crashed into Ranma himself.  Indeed, if he hadn't rolled to 
avoid me, I probably would have landed right on him. 

He righted himself, and stood in a fighting stance, ready for 
anything I might throw at him.  Then, he got a good look at me, and 
nearly facefaulted.  "Konatsu?  What the heck's the idea?"

I decided the best way out of this was to apologize.  Profusely.  
I fell onto my face before him.  "Ranma-sama!  I'm so sorry!  I 
had no idea that you'd be up here!  Please forgive me!"

When I looked up, Ranma actually looked rather amused.  "Relax. 
Accidents happen, now, don't they?  And please, don't call me 
'Ranma-sama,' okay?  This whole wedding thing's crazy enough 
without you putting thoughts of Kodachi in my head.  And speaking 
of the wedding, c'mon... where *else* didja think I was gonna be, 
huh?  I don't wanna be in the middle of all that fooforaw.  Between 
Mom and Kasumi trying to fit my tux and Pop and Mr. Tendo trying to 
get me drunk, the roof's the safest place t'be -- at least, until 
you came along.  Anyway, get up, will ya, and tell me what's going 
on.  Aren't you s'posed to be at the Ucchan?"

"Well, that's true, Ranma-san.." He nodded... evidently that form 
of address was preferable.  "But Ukyou-sama's left, and something's 
really strange with the ingredients today, so I decided to close the 
shop down for the day.  Besides, I came to warn you that there's 
probably going to be an attempt made on the wedding."

I guess I should have expected his reaction, under the circumstance, 
but at the time, it took me by surprise: Ranma simply snorted at the 
news.  "Someone's gonna try and break up the wedding, huh?  Well, 
*there's* a news flash.  I think we can handle it."

"No, I'm serious, Ranma-san."

"So am I.  It's not like it hasn't happened before, Konatsu.  And 
sure, this might delay things again.  But everything will work out. 
None of the usual suspects ever tries to kill anyone," <Oh, no?> ran 
through my mind at that... "so we'll be fine.  Don't worry about it, 
'Natsu-chan."

"At least listen to me, Ranma-san.  I'm telling you, you won't be 
ready for this."

Now his temper was starting to flash.  Accusing Ranma of insufficient 
skill or preparation was probably the worst thing I could have done. 
"And I'm tellin' ya, we're gonna be FINE, okay?  So just shut up and 
leave me alone."

Damn.  Now I *knew* he wouldn't listen. 

"All right, Ranma-san.  I'm going.  Please forgive me for bothering 
you."  I put on a happy face, much the way Ukyou-sama does whenever 
Ranma walks into the Ucchan.  "Good luck tomorrow, then... big fella."

Once again, Ranma's face took on an amused look at my (deliberately) 
poor attempt at macho camaraderie.  "Yeah, sure, whatever.  Uh...
see you at the wedding?"

My voice was as flat as I could make it.  "Oh, yeah.  Sure.  Wouldn't 
miss it for the world."  And I stepped off the roof, landing lightly 
in the courtyard of the Tendo compound.

I looked up at the residence.  Dusk was slowly creeping over the 
sky, and the lights were beginning to come on in the Tendo girls' 
bedrooms.  One of the rooms was brilliantly lit, with shadows moving 
back and forth across the light emanating from it: that had to be 
Akane's room, with all the preparations going on.  Two windows 
down, the room was dark.  It stood to reason that this was Kasumi's 
room -- after all, she'd be in with Akane and (most likely) Mrs. 
Saotome; why would she (or anyone else, for that matter) need to 
be in her room?

Which meant the middle room had to be Nabiki's.  The light seeping 
from her window was an eerie blue glow, as if aliens had landed in 
her room (which would come as no surprise to anyone living in Nerima 
these past few years, but why would they pick Nabiki's room?)  There 
was no discernible movement going on -- the light shone with a steady 
luminescence.  Despite that, I had a bad feeling that something was 
afoot.  I skibbled up the side of the house, up to where I could 
cling to Nabiki's windowsill.  I lifted my head just enough to see 
what was going on...

The eerie glow was coming from Nabiki's computer, which I could 
see clearly.  Judging from the uniform which she hadn't bothered to 
change out of, Ukyou-sama was sitting at the keyboard, with her back 
to me.  Nabiki, on the other hand, was in profile; evidently she was 
talking with Ukyou-sama about her plan.  She looked pained, as if 
bearing up under a severe migraine headache.  I pressed my ear to 
the glass to discover whether I could listen in.  The voices were 
muffled, but audible.

"How did you learn how to do this, Nabiki?  It all seems so... 
complicated."

"Hardly.  Cut-and-paste is a simple procedure; the only difficulty 
is in moving an *irregular* shape like Ranma-kun across the photo 
like so..."

"Oh, wow!"  Evidently, she liked what she was seeing.  I removed 
my ear from the glass so that I could see the computer screen.  
Unfortunately, Ukyou-sama's head was blocking my view, so I couldn't 
tell exactly what she was looking at that she liked so much.  What 
was clear was that the two girls were doctoring photographs.  It 
seemed rather late to try and blackmail Ranma out of this wedding; 
and after all, why was Nabiki doing this? 

Suddenly, she paused and put a hand on Ukyou-sama's knee.  I set my 
ear to the glass again.  Nabiki's voice sounded like it was coming 
from under a crushing weight.

"Ukyou... I gotta ask you... how do you deal with this?"

"Deal with what?"  Ukyou-sama's response was cheerful and perky. 
The prospect of calling off Ranma and Akane's wedding had so lifted 
her spirits as to render her unaware of Nabiki's pain; or rather, 
Nabiki's reflection of Ukyou-sama's pain.

"With Ranma-kun.  How do you deal with the fact that he's supposedly 
getting married tomorrow, and not to you?  You know you've got every 
right to him; as much as Akane and maybe more.  You sure seem to 
*want* him more than she does.  And yet, it looks like she's gonna 
win.  I mean, it's gotta hurt -- in fact, I know full *well* it does. 
This is unbearable, and I've only been dealing with it for a few 
hours.  You've been living with this for what?  Eight, ten years?"

"Twelve."  Ukyou-sama's voice had turned somber.  "You get used 
to it, Nabiki.  I have my okonomi-yaki to take my mind off my 
troubles.  I suspect you'd be able to drown it out, too.  You've got 
your businesses, your gambling, your..."

"Yeah, yeah... I guess.  But man, this really hurts.  I just want it 
to end."

I thought I heard a derisive snort, and then Ukyou-sama spoke up 
again: "It never ends, Nabiki.  Never.  Either you live with it, or 
you overcome it."  Then, it brightened.  "And we're gonna overcome 
it tonight, eh?  This looks like a great plan.  Now, we need some 
latex..."  I heard a chair scrape.  Uh-oh.  I let go of the portion 
of the wall I was clinging to and dropped back to the ground.  It 
would do me no good to be spotted when those two got up.

I hid myself in a bush as I mulled over the situation.  So who's 
harmed by Ukyou-sama finally getting her man, after all?  Nabiki 
will be feeling much better, or at least that's the conclusion she's 
come to.  Ukyou-sama will certainly consider herself better off, 
and I'd have to agree with her that she is ideal for Ranma-san.

But what about Akane?  Maybe I should ask her...

I stood up.  The brilliant light was still shining from her window, 
while the glow from Nabiki's room had been extinguished.  I didn't 
consider where the two girls might have gone, but simply scrambled 
up to Akane's window.  Peeking in, I noticed that she was alone in 
the room, at least for the moment.  An opportune time to approach her.

I shunted the window aside and slipped in as quietly as I could.  
I suppose, what with the lights on and all, any secrecy to my 
movements was a waste of effort.  But old habits die hard.  Actually, 
Akane was still looking at herself in the mirror, admiring the 
Western-style gown she had on, and so didn't notice my entrance; 
at least, not until I rose to my feet and coughed to get her attention.

I got it, all right.  She nearly jumped a foot in the air.  Then, upon 
realizing it was me, she relaxed considerably.  "Konatsu!  You gave 
me a start.  What are you doing here?"

I held a finger over my lips, and then walked over to her and 
touched her.  "Please... not so loud, Akane-san.  I don't want your 
sister to know I'm here.  She and Ukyou-sama might not appreciate 
this..."  Her eyes popped wide open at the suggestion that Ukyou-sama 
was *here*, at the dojo, and that one of her sisters might be in 
league with her.  "Uh.. I realize this is a bad time for you, but we 
haven't much time to lose..."

Akane shook here head rather violently; evidently in an attempt to 
clear it and digest this information.  Then she looked up at me 
brightly.  "Why, no, not really.  I'm finished getting fitted for 
this gown, and the kimono's done, too."  There was something behind 
her eyes that belied the chirpy tone of her response.  "I think 
Kasumi and Auntie Saotome went looking for Ranma.."

"He's on the roof."

"Yeah, that's what I told them, too.  So they're probably fitting 
him for his outfits for tomorrow.  Let me change, and we'll go 
somewhere where we can talk."

"How about the Ucchan?"  She gave me a very strange look; I waved 
my hands in front of me.  "Look, Akane-san.. You've got to trust me 
on this one.  The restaurant's closed, but you and I can go there 
and talk privately."

I guess she believed me.  "All right, Konatsu.  Just a moment... 
where are my jeans?  Oh, and can you get these hooks on my back?" 
I walked over and unfastened the back of her gown.  It tumbled to 
the floor, leaving her standing in a white camisole and panties.  I 
backed off hurriedly and covered my face.  Akane reacted with a 
measure of surprise until she remembered who I was.  "Oops.  Sorry 
about that, Konatsu."  She headed behind a screen to finish changing, 
still chattering away:  "You know, you really ought to dress more 
like the man you are, Konatsu.  I keep forgetting you're not a girl, 
and I get too comfortable around you..."

"I'm sorry, Akane-san.  I'll try harder to do that.  But old habits 
are hard to break.  And everybody seems to like me as a girl."

"Yeah, but the first guy that tries to take you out on a date is in 
for a nasty surprise.  Unless, of course, you and he are both, uh..."

For once, I found myself smiling at what she was trying to say.  
"No fear, Akane-san.  I've had guys ask me out.  It's a waitress' 
occupational hazard.  A few words to the wise tend to be sufficient."

She came out from behind the screen, casually attired in T-shirt 
and jeans.  "Ah, that's better."  She looked up at me, still smiling. 
"And a knee to the groin works pretty well for the unwise, eh?"

"Don't know about that.  Did you ever use that on Kuno-san?"

"No, but it wouldn't have worked on him.  All you can do with Kuno 
is put as much distance between you and him as possible.  That's 
when ya gotta punt."

Even despite her eyes, her affected attitude was contagious.  I was 
unable to suppress a grin.  "I'll keep that in mind.  Though I think 
Kuno actually knows I'm a guy."

Akane's smirk was genuine, albeit a bit surprised at the news. 
"Really.  Now if only he'd wise up to his 'Osage-no-onna'."

***

Tokyo as a whole may not ever go to sleep, but the Nerima business 
district at night was a dark, quiet and rather spooky place.  As we 
walked through the streets to the Ucchan, I felt Akane's hand in 
mine more than once.  And as I felt it resting there, searching for 
security and comfort in the darkness, I also felt a slight twinge 
inside of myself.  This is the hand, or so I was told, for which the 
entire male population of Furinkan High School once fought... 
regularly.  And here it was... in mine.

"You know... this is really strange..."

"Mm?  How's that, Akane-san?"

"Well, it's different to be walking along next to a boy who's not 
looking down on me from the fence rail.  It's kinda odd to be 
actually holding hands with somebody...  And it's *really* weird 
that it's not Ranma."  At this, I dropped her hand, quickly -- maybe 
she'd rather not do so.  She picked it back up and patted it a 
couple of times.

"It's okay, Konatsu... really.  I said it was strange, not bad.  
Besides," and she looked around through the dark paths we were 
taking to the Ucchan, "I still need you to lead me along.

"Anyway, what's the story with your boss and my sister?  Why'dja 
need to drag me out here in the dead of the night so that they 
wouldn't know what you were doing?"

So I told her everything I knew.

***

Akane was sitting on a stool alongside the grill, right next to the 
cash register.  After hearing about the onions, she insisted she try 
one.  At the very least, she wanted to see if they would help her to 
understand how Ukyou-sama was feeling.  "The one thing I don't get, 
though, is..."

"Gomen nasai, Akane-san.  Could you hold that thought?  I've gotta 
head into the kitchen for the batter."  She nodded, and I headed for 
the kitchen, and the walk-in cooler.  I opened it up, and checked the 
stainless steel bowl that held the oniony batter.  After having sat 
all afternoon and evening, the eggs had separated from the rest of 
the mixture.  I'd have to mix up the entire bowl before it would be 

ready.  I decided it would be easier to just whip up a single-serving 
size batch instead.  So I merely grabbed one chicken egg and one 
quail egg and stepped out of the cooler.

Let's see... bag of flour, cup of stock... okay, that should be enough 
for now.  I pushed open the door to the dining area with my back, as 
my hands were full.  "Alright, then... you were saying?"

Akane looked up from where she was staring at a spot on the grill.

"Huh?  Oh... I forget.  Sorry.  No, wait... you said Nabiki offered 
to help stop the wedding?"

I nodded.  "Uh-huh.  Said she couldn't take Ukyou-sama's pain.  And 
you know something?  I think she's still feeling it.  I suspect she 
figures that by getting Ranma-san and Ukyou-sama together, that 
pain will go away, because Ukyou-sama's will go away, for sure."

I began opening the cabinets below and around the grill, looking for 
a small mixing bowl.  "I don't know whether to be happy about the 
situation or not, to be honest.  I mean, this has been Ukyou-sama's 
life goal, to marry Ranma-san; unlike you, the engagement between 
them was her idea.  And I think Ranma-san really does like her; she 
is, after all, the closest thing to a friend he's got, no?  Isn't 
that supposed to be a *good* place for a marriage to start?  As 
friends?"

"Well, I guess so..."  Something was wrong with Akane's voice.  As 
soon as I got my hands on the mixing bowl, I stood up to look at her. 
Her face wore a look of utter defeat.

"Akane-san..?  Is something wrong?"

There was a momentary flash of fire in her eyes; then, she lowered 
her gaze.  "What do *you* think, Konatsu?  I'm getting married 
tomorrow... or rather, I'm *supposed* to get married tomorrow.  
I really do care about that idiot, and I always  dreamed that he 
might care about me... someday.  But there's always somebody who's 
a little bit better than me somehow or another who wants him as bad 
as I do.  And while I always had the advantage of a good, solid, 
stable, loving family as my ace in the hole, now even that's starting 
to fail me."  She looked up, the fire having returned to her eyes.  
"So of COURSE there's something wrong!"

"I... I'm sorry, Akane-san... I didn't mean to offend you."

The fire dissipated as quickly as it had come.  "Oh, that's all 
right, Konatsu.  I shouldn't lose my temper at you.  It isn't as if 
this was *your* fault, after all."

"Well, I guess it *was* a rather dumb question..."

She grinned weakly.  "Yeah, it was."  There was a long pause during 
which we just stared at each other, trying to collect our thoughts. 
Finally, Akane spoke up: "Anyway, you said you had mixed feelings 
about this whole thing, right?"

Her voice snapped me out of my reverie, and I began to mix the 
okonomi-yaki batter as I replied.  "Well, you see, the thing is 
that I think the she and Nabiki may be going about it the wrong 
way.  I don't know what the right way would *be*, but trickery and 
blackmail -- Nabiki's stock in trade -- would *definitely* be 
uncalled-for."

Azusa's onion was still sitting there by the grill where she had 
dropped it this morning, and I picked it up.  I took a large knife 
out of a nearby drawer, and readied myself to attack the onion 
before it had a chance to affect me.  As I chopped, I began to 
think about the other reason I was concerned about what Nabiki 
and Ukyou-sama were planning, a reason sitting right in front of 
me.  Where would this leave her?  I had heard all of Ukyou-sama's 
arguments before, about how she would be the perfect wife for Ranma, 
and I admit I believed them... mostly.  It made sense, really.. the 
dojo was really supported by the three girls: Kasumi the domestic, 
Nabiki the financial, and Akane the martial artist of the three.  
Even on a practical level, this made Ukyou the perfect candidate,
as she had expertise in all three realms.

But despite all her denials all this time, Akane had obviously 
grown to love Ranma, and I would imagine that her love would to 
some extent have been reciprocated.  What would happen to that? 
And while Ranma would have Ukyou-sama, what would happen to Akane?

And then there's this betrayal by her own sister.  Now granted, it 
would seem as if Nabiki can't help herself on this, but still... 
the first emotion she ever experiences besides greed, and it pits 
her squarely against her little sister.  Such crushing news.  
All at once, it didn't seem too good of an idea to prepare this 
okonomi-yaki for Akane.

"Wow, Konatsu, that was really fast!"  Was I done with the onion? 
I hadn't noticed a... WHOA!  The smell rose up from the finely 
chopped onion pieces; it had finally caught up with both of us. 
Akane covered her eyes with her eyes.  "Ow.  I see what you were 
saying about it being strong."

I squinted and blinked tears from my eyes as I dumped the onion into 
the batter.  "Yeah; that's why I have to chop it up so fast.  Once 
that acid stings your eyes, you're in trouble.  Ukyou-sama looked 
awful this morning after about a half-hour of this.  Of course..." 
and my voice dropped a bit as I recalled, "she didn't look all that 
good when she got up first thing, either."

Akane looked a bit sad at this comment.  "I suppose Ranma's Tenshin 
Amaguriken technique would be invaluable under the circumstances," 
she murmured.  I sighed.  No matter who wound up with Ranma, someone 
was going to get hurt -- badly.  I didn't want it to happen to either 
of them, but I didn't know how to change that.  I decided to change 
the subject.

"So... whaddya want on your okonomi-yaki, anyway?"

***

It wasn't long before I had a beef okonomi-yaki sizzling on the grill. 
Akane shifted on her stool.  "So tell me, Konatsu, what about you 
and Ukyou?"

"Hm?  What about us?"

"Well, don't you have a thing for her?"

I shrugged as I flipped the okonomi-yaki over.  "That's true, but..."

"Ha!  So you have an ulterior motive for trying to stop her, 
don't you?"

"Well... maybe.  I don't think so, though.  All I really want is 
for Ukyou-sama to be happy.  And if that means she's happy if she's 
married to Ranma, then so be it.  I just don't think she'd be happy 
to win him by less than honorable means.  And I always thought..." 
and I presented the finished okonomi-yaki to her with a slight 
flourish, "that she'd try and make sure there were some acceptable 
alternatives for you.  She's always tried to be on reasonably good 
terms with you, after all.  She wanted to be your friend, too, 
believe it or not.  Remember that time she tried to set you and 
Ryoga up?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"She's told me.  I've heard a lot of stories since I started working 
here, Akane...

"Eat up, now... or it'll get cold."

She responded with a sardonic grin.  "You sound just like... like 
your mistress, Konatsu."  On the verge of disaster, and she can 
still make jokes.  An incredible woman...

She took a piece with her chopsticks and brought it to her mouth. 
I watched her intently; thankfully, she was too busy studying the 
okonomi-yaki to be offended at my staring at her.  She took the bite, 
chewed, and swallowed...

She took a deep breath as the onions began to take effect.  "Gosh, 
'Natsu-chan, you've really improved at this!  This is terrific..."

and then the chopsticks fell from her suddenly numb hand, and 
clattered onto the plate.  Her forehead grew wrinkled with lines, 
and she began to return my own intense stare.  But not a tear fell.

We stared at each other for what seemed like an hour. I was waiting 
for some kind of reaction from her; I had no idea what she was 
searching for in my face... until she spoke:

"Konatsu... what's going to happen to you?"

Hunh?  "What was that?"

"I mean.. if Ranma marries Ukyou, what happens to you?  If they set 
up housekeeping here at the Ucchan, that sorta leaves you out in the 
cold, doesn't it?  Where are you gonna go?"

I hadn't thought about it, to be honest.  It wasn't the sort of thing 
that crossed my mind.  I had been too worried about Akane and her 
feelings to think about the possibility of eviction.  "I don't know, 
Akane-san..."

"I mean, you can't go back to the teahouse, now, can you?"

I considered this.  "Well, I suppose I could..."

"But you'd be putting yourself back in slavery to your step-mother! 
You can't *do* that to yourself!"

I shrugged.  "Akane-san... I'd lived like that for years.  I can go 
back to it if I really have to."

She shook her head sadly.  "There's got to be a better way.  Maybe we 
could put you up at the dojo for awhile.  At least until we can get 
you back onto your feet or something."

"That's very kind of you, Akane-san, but I'm more concerned about you 
right now.  Is there anything I can do for you?"

Her eyes took on a sort of glazed look.  "Yeah... I think I need 
somewhere to crash.  Today has been *so* busy.  I'm just... tired."

"Well, I guess... come on."  I took her by the hand and led her 
upstairs to Ukyou-sama's apartment.  A voice in the back of my mind 
was screaming at me how utterly *wrong* this was... taking a girl, 
who was about to marry someone else, back to my quarters, and then 
taking her into a bedroom that not only wasn't my own (not that I 
*have* a bedroom to speak of), but that belonged to my boss, the girl 
that I truly loved.  But I argued back that I didn't have any designs 
on Akane, and she really was starting to look as if she could collapse. 
The day must have been truly hectic, and the emotional strain those 
onions put on her -- it still amazed me that she never shed a tear; 
such control! -- had quite clearly taken their toll.  There was no 
way she'd make it back to the dojo in her condition.

In fact, it turned out, she couldn't even make it up the stairs. 
I wound up carrying her up there, Rhett Butler-style.  As I did, 
I could hear Akane's voice in my mind's ear...

"Whatever shall I do?  Wherever shall I go?"  Trouble was, I *did* 
give a damn.  And for the moment, she didn't.

***

She lay on the bed, looking around the room at all the pictures of 
Ranma on the walls and ceilings.  "Kami-sama..." she murmured, "this 
girl's got it bad for him."  I nodded sadly.

"Yeah.  It's a wonder she ever gets to sleep around here.  Maybe she 
doesn't.  In fact, I *know* she hasn't for the past week now.

"Anyway, you rest well.  I'll wake you in the morning, and we'll head 
to the dojo about dawn, okay?"  I began to walk out of the room and 
turn the lights out.

"Please... don't go."

"What?  Well, what do you want me to do?"

Her voice was growing faint and she drifted away.  "Please... could 
you come here?"

I walked over and stood by the bed.  "Okay, Akane-san.  I'm here."

"Hold me... please?"  Ulp.

Ooo-kay.  I climbed into the bed, and put my arms around her.  
"Is that better?"

"Uh-hnhn..."

"How long do you want me to hold you, Akane-san?"

"..."

"Akane-san?"

"..."

Asleep, evidently.  And lying on top of one of my arms; I wouldn't be 
able to get out of this with out waking her.  I should have known this 
was going to happen.  Now I was stuck here; guess I'll just have to 
make myself comfortable.  Still, she seemed content enough, and that 
was what really mattered, right?

That was my last thought as the darkness came and enveloped me as well.

***

Oh my...

As usual, this story is not going anywhere I planned for it to, 
originally (Then again, I didn't actually *have* a plan when the 
Introduction was released, now, did I?)  But to cast Ukyou in a 
somewhat villainous light, and possibly linking Akane and Konatsu...? 
Fiction is stranger than fiction, or so it would seem.

I have a few sketches prepared for both the Conclusion and the Epilogue, 
but it still may be a while before they're fit for human consumption. 
Still, it is a relief to have this section taken down, and I really 
hope you all like what's happening.  Even if it is a bit strange.

Please, as always... comments, criticisms, flames even can be sent to 
me at:

ukyoukwnji@aol.com

I really need to get a feel for what and how well I'm doing.  And 
there's more to come yet, so stay tuned.  Until then, ja!

Itsu mo,
Ucchan   ^_^