[FFML] <Ranma 1/2><FIC>Second Chance at Love chapter 3

ject:
Hi.

I have not have this chapter proof read. So there might be a few
mistakes that I missed. Comments are very welcome.

Standard disclaimer
Ranma 1/2 and all related characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Viz communications(and it's parent company). I make no claims to ownership.

Single quotes are used to indicate a character's thoughts.

Second Chance at Love
Chapter 3:What Do I Do Now?

After his shower, Ryoga got out of the bathroom. He had his face in a towel, he was drying his hair, and he wore a towel. He was blushing slightly. Despite everything, he was still a bit shy. He
had not gotten out of shape, so he looked good. Too bad Ukyou wasn't there to notice.

"Ukyou, I never realized how much I missed you." He said.
(Actually he stuttered it a little at first and it came out like
"U..k..you� I ne..ver real..ized how much I missed you.") He knew
that he had missed her but if he had not seen her again, he would not
have known how much he missed her. He had given up on the idea of ever seeing her again. At one time he though they might meet again at their high school reunion. However, he decided that he would not go to the reunion. Except for Ukyou, he had so few friends in high school that he would have felt silly going if she hadn't been there.

When he did not hear an answer he took the towel from his
face and saw that he was alone in the hotel room. This was not
good. For a few moments he waited for her to return. He hoped that
she went out to get them breakfast. 'I wonder if she still cooks.
No one could cook like her.' After twenty minutes, he decided that
she was not coming back and he became depressed.

(It never occurred to Ryoga to check the contents of his
wallet. He trusted her so he didn't check. She had not even looked
at his wallet or in it.)

'Have I lost her again?' He could not let that happen. He
did not know what to do but he had to find her. Without her the
hotel room looked and felt very empty. 'Sort of like my life.'

He called some of the escort services and asked for Ukyou. He had no luck. One girl on the phone said, "For the right amount of money, I'll be whoever you want me to be."

The phone calls were unsuccessful and Ryoga wondered what to do. He had to find her. However he had other things to do too. He had to divorce Akari. He felt sad about that but he had to do it. He was not happy in the marriage and he suspected that Akari was not that happy either. Thankfully they did not have any kids, so that would make the divorce a little easier.

He never should have married Akari. She loved him and at the time she made him feel wonderful. He was depressed and lonely at that time, so he let himself believe that he was in love with her.
They got married and the first few years were good but the next few
were not. He did not hate Akari and he still cared for her but he
did not love her. Also he did not want to hurt her.

After some more thinking, Ryoga came to the conclusion that he had already hurt Akari. The last few years of their marriage had not been happy, Akari had to know that . She might have even blamed herself for it. It did not help matters that Ryoga went on business trips as often as he did. Akari might have suspected that Ryoga enjoyed being apart from her. He did in a way.

Ryoga left the hotel room and checked out. He decided that he was going home to divorce Akari. Then he would find Ukyou. This time he would not fail.
<Flashback Nerima>

Ryoga and Ukyou were together again at her restaurant. They were going to try to break Akane and Ranma up again. The movie plan did not work. He was not too sure that this scheme would work either
but he knew that he had to try.

"We will give Ranma and Akane these love potions and they will fall in love with the person that gives them the potion. It's
simple." Ukyou said.

It sounded simple. "If this is such a simple plan, why do
you need me?" Ryoga asked.

"If I give the potion to Ranma honey, Akane will be alone.
You wouldn't want that, would you Ryoga sugar?" 'Also if Akane falls
for you she won't try to win Ranma back'.

Ryoga blushed slightly and said "No."

'He looks cute. What am I thinking?' Ukyou quickly pushed those thoughts aside.

Ranma and Akane would show up in an hour or so. Akane was not sure that a private dinner with Ryoga and Ukyou was a good idea. At one point Akane thought Ukyou and Ryoga were dating but Ukyou still seemed overly friendly to Ranma. Ranma was always ready for free food.

"Ryoga, you give the drink to Akane. She will fall for
you. I will give the drink to Ranma and he will fall for me." Ukyou
said. The idea was to have Ryoga and Ukyou sit on one side of a
table and to have Ranma and Akane on the other side. Ryoga and Ukyou would hand the drinks and food to Ranma and Akane. The love potions would cause Ranma and Akane to fall in love with the first person of the opposite sex that they saw.

An hour later, Ranma and Akane came into the restaurant.
Akane and Ranma sat down. 'Akane looks beautiful today.' Ryoga
thought. 'How can Ranma call her uncute?'

'Ranma looks very handsome today.' Ukyou thought. Ukyou gave
Ranma his drink and the food. Ryoga gave Akane her food and drink.

"So Ucchan, are you and Ryoga dating?" Ranma asked after taking a drink.

"No, we're just friends." Ukyou said. She waited for the
love potion in the drink to work. It did not seem to be working.
Ranma looked at her the way he always did, like his friend. His best
friend perhaps but nothing more.

Akane had already eaten some food and had some of her
drink. She did not seem to be falling in love with Ryoga.

"Ukyou, your food is good as always."

"Thank you, Akane." Ukyou looked happy. She loved to cook.

The scheme was not working and Ryoga was in torment. Yes, it was nice to be having a casual dinner with friends but he wanted more. (For Ryoga this little dinner meant a lot.) He wanted
desperately for the scheme to succeed.

He turned to look at Ukyou. He wanted to blame her for
this. He looked at her and saw for the first time that she was
beautiful. She had such beautiful dark blue eyes and such beautiful
long brown hair. She had a cute nose too. 'Oh no, I gave myself
Akane's drink. I took the love potion. What do I do now?'

Before he could help himself, Ryoga said "'Ukyou, you look
beautiful tonight." He said without stuttering and without looking
nervous. 'Why haven't I been able to say anything like this to
Akane?'

'That idiot took the love potion.' Ukyou thought. However
it was very nice to hear Ryoga say that she was beautiful. No one
had ever said that before, not even Ranma. (He had called her
"cute".) She looked at Ryoga and noticed that he was cute, maybe
even handsome. Did I take the love potion?

Ranma and Akane left. "Let's leave the love birds alone."
Akane said. Akane looked surprisingly happy. Ranma took some of the food as they left. Maybe Ryoga loves Ukyou.

"Ramchan don't leave." Ukyou said. It was too late. Ranma and Akane were gone. Ryoga, feeling unworthy of Akane, fled. This was a not a new experience for him.

'Damn.' Ukyou thought. She went to check to see if she had any of that love potion left. She did. She still couldn't figure out what
had gone wrong, the scheme seemed so simple. She checked Ryoga's glass and noticed that it did not have the love potion in it. Her glass did not have any love potion either. The love potion must be a fake.

Ukyou then realized that Ryoga thought she was beautiful. That
was interesting. She also realized that she thought he was cute.
She wondered what that meant.

A few days later Ukyou told Ryoga that the love potion was a
fake. "Really?"

"Yes. " Ukyou said.

There was some awkward silence for a moment. 'If that love potion
was a fake, why did I tell her that she's beautiful?'

"There is always another scheme, isn't there?" He asked.

Ukyou smiled and for a moment Ryoga thought his nose was going to bleed because she looked so beautiful. "There always is."

'She is more beautiful than Akane.' Ryoga could not believe it
<End Flashback>

Ryoga, thinking about the failed love potion scheme, could
not believe that it took him so long to notice that Ukyou was
beautiful. He must have been blind. 'Nah, that was Mousse. He was blind as a bat. I wonder whatever happened to Mousse and Shampoo?'

Ryoga decided to end the business trip and go home. He would
figure out how to find Ukyou and how to divorce Akari.

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