[Ranma][Fanfic] The Week Love Came to Town Part 6

[drew]

The Week Love Came to Town

Chapter 6: The Cook, The Student, Their Fiance and His Letter
or
Live From Ucchan's, It's Saturday Afternoon!

by
Richard Lawson

Ukyo burst into her restaurant, ran up the stairs, and quickly
changed into her chef's outfit, dropping her bookbag in the
process. Why she still went to school was a mystery to her. She
was doing fine with the restaurant, when Konatsu wasn't trying one
of his more... innovative sales techniques.

She grinned as she ran behind the grill and began heating it up.
She knew why, of course. Ranma went to school, too. Akane lived
with him, and there was nothing Ukyo could do about that. But at
least she could continue to fight for him by being in his class
and trying to be as nice and sweet and friendly as possible and
hoping the scales would fall from his eyes and he'd see what a
harridan Akane was and how terrific Ukyo was and he'd finally
confess his love to Ukyo and they'd get married and it would be
*so* great...

Ukyo finally ran out of mental breath and shook herself. That all
would eventually happen. For now, she had to get the shop ready.

"Konatsu! Did you clean out the freezer like I asked?"

"Yes, Ukyo-sama. Everything is ready. Shall I open the shop?"

Ukyo looked around, making absolutely sure. Konatsu's intentions
were always good, but sometimes his methods left a little to be
desired. Everything seemed okay. Her eye spied a pile of mail.
She picked it up and sorted through it. Invoice, invoice, you-
may-have-already-won, advertisement, junk... hmm. Simple letter,
no return address, handwritten name.

Immediately alarm bells went off. Something about strange
letters...

She tapped the letter against her chin, thinking. Then she

shrugged and set the mail aside. Something to deal with later.
Right now she had a business to run.

***

Akane stalked home, furious. Ranma was walking on the fence beside her,
an "I-know-you're-angry-but-it's-not-my-fault-so-I-don't-care" look on his
face. That really infuriated her. She
fantasized about running him through with a katana, and that made
her feel better.

"Just what the hell were you and Ukyo doing anyway?"

Ranma sounded bored. "Just like I told you. Trying to figure out
why you had gone all gooey over that skater guy."

"I was *not* all gooey!"

"Then what were you doing there with him, hmm?"

Akane grit her teeth. She actually had no idea how she'd gotten
to the restaurant, which made her even angrier. Somehow, it all
had to be Ranma's fault. "And what were *you* doing all dressed
up? It sure looked to me like you were on a date with that...
that... cook!"

Ranma shrugged. "She wanted to help me figure out what your
problem was. She's a nice girl, Akane, cut her some slack."

'Nice girl', indeed. Akane fumed. Ukyo was out to get Ranma for
herself, and would resort to whatever underhanded, sneaky thing
she could think of to get him for herself. The woman had helped
*destroy* Ranma's house; couldn't Ranma see through her?

She suddenly turned around and started heading towards Ucchan's.
She ignored Ranma's startled yelp and fantasized about running
Ukyo through with a sword, too.

***

Ukyo scooped up the okonomiyaki and sent it flying, where it landed
perfectly in the center of the police officer's plate. He grinned and
bowed his head in appreciation before digging in. Ukyo glowed; she was
the best okonomiyaki chef in the world. No one could do the things she
could with okonomiyaki.

Someone burst into the shop. Someone who fairly glowed with
anger. Ukyo was not at all surprised to learn who it was. She
gave her a friendly smile, knowing that it would infuriate her
further. "Akane! Would you like to place an order? I'm running
a special..."

Akane stormed up to the counter. "You stay away from him!"

Ukyo looked at her innocently. "Stay away from who?"

"Him!" Without turning, Akane pointed behind her to where a
somewhat embarrassed Ranma was entering the restaurant.

Ukyo kept the bulb at dim wattage. "My fiancČ? Why should I stay
away from him?"

"He is not *your* fiancČ!"

"Oh? I seem to remember our fathers making an agreement. No one
else wants him, do they?"

"I... he... they..." Akane was spluttering, as usual trapped by
her own inability to admit any feelings for Ranma.

Ukyo grinned, savoring her victory. She wanted Ranma, she wasn't
afraid to say it. Akane *was* afraid, and was therefore giving
Ukyo the inside track. All Akane could do was get angry, and all
that did was help Ukyo and hurt Akane.

Akane continued spluttering, while Ukyo watched her with a
friendly smile. This, Ukyo decided, was working out very well.

***

Ranma watched as Akane continued to make an idiot out of herself
in front of Ukyo. He also watched Ukyo bait Akane, which he
didn't much care for either. He decided he was going to run away
to America and wander around the Old West looking for his half-
brother. Or anyone with a little common sense.

His eyes moved around the restaurant while he waited for his two
'official' fiancČes to finish arguing. He fervently hoped that he
wouldn't find an unofficial fiancČ or two or ten hiding somewhere.

His eye rested on a letter atop a pile of mail. It looked
familiar. Frowning, he walked up to the counter, reached in front
of Ukyo, and picked it up. He opened the letter and began to read
it.

"Hey, Ranchan, that's mine!" "Stop that, Ranma, that's rude!"

The two women grabbed the letter out of his hand at once.

Each holding on to the letter, they glared at each other.

"This is my letter, Akane. Let it go!"

"Yeah, right, like anyone writes to *you*, Ukyo."

Ukyo flinched slightly. "It's my property, Akane. Do you want me
to call the police?"

"Call whoever you like, I don't care!"

Ranma watched the fight with interest. They each had taken a
great deal of interest in holding the letter all of a sudden.
"C'mon, what's the big deal over a stupid letter? I mean, it
might only be junk mail, after all."

The two women stared at him for a second. Then they looked down
at the letter and began to read it.

As Ranma watched, their expressions softened. Akane sighed
gently, a smile appearing on her face. Ukyo gave a little shriek
of joy and began to cry. They leaned into each other across the
counter, wrapping their arms around each other as they read the
letter.

Finally Ukyo lifted her eyes. "That's the most beautiful thing
I've ever read, Ranchan."

Akane looked up as well. Ranma was startled at how pretty her
face was. "I... can't tell you how much... you've touched my
heart, Ranma."

They each began to move towards him, but were brought short by the
fact that they were each holding onto the letter from different
sides of the counter.

They turned to look at each other, and their expressions grew
ugly. "This is *my* letter, Akane." Ukyo's voice was soft with
menace.

"Ranma obviously wrote it to *me*. He could never feel that way
about *you*. Give me the letter or die, Ukyo."

Ukyo gave her a hard smile while she reached for one of the
throwing spatulas she had strapped around her.

Ranma decided enough was enough. This letter had caused too much
trouble already, if - as he suspected - it was the same letter
Akane had received earlier. He snatched it out of their hands.
"All right, break it up."

As he thought would happen, they immediately began to blink, as if
waking up from a dream. They looked around, confused. Which is
just as well, Ranma thought as he looked down at the letter. This
damn thing had caused too much...

Sometimes, in a seldom-used corner of Ranma's mind, a voice cries
out and tries to tell Ranma when he is about to do something
incredibly stupid. The voice begs and moans and tears its hair
out in frustration, for it *knows* it could make Ranma's life
*much* better if he would only listen to it once in a while.
Despite repeated past failures, it desperately tried to get
Ranma's attention. As Ranma began to read the letter despite its
best efforts, the voice decided enough was enough. It locked
itself away and promised never to speak again until Ranma came to
it on his hands and knees, begging to have a normal life. In the
meantime, it amused itself by writing stories about how different
Ranma's life would have been if he had only listened to the wise
and wonderful voice of reason.

***

Akane looked around confused. What had just happened? She had
begun reading the letter, and then...

She looked over at Ukyo, who seemed similarly confused. Ukyo was
looking at the throwing spatula she had in her hand, as if
wondering how it had gotten there.

A kind of moan made them both look at Ranma. He was reading the
letter, and his eyes were wide and moist. His mouth was open and
he was breathing heavily. After a moment, he folded the letter
and put it inside his shirt.

His eyes locked on Akane, and the grin that covered his face
immediately indicated that the lights were on but no one was home.

"Akane-chan." Ranma took a step towards her. "I never knew... I
never saw... you're beautiful."

Akane's mouth dropped open. Her heart started beating rapidly.
At the same time, another part of her brain was wondering what
horrible thing Ranma was up to now.

"I'm so lucky we're engaged." Ranma took another step towards
her. "I can't wait for us to be married. You'll make a wonderful
mother."

"Ranma!" This shocked her to the core of her being. Because she
didn't know how else to react, she slapped him. Hard.

His head was knocked to the side, where his gaze fell on Ukyo.
"Ucchan!" He took a step towards her. "You're sweet and helpful
and wonderful... I'm so lucky you're my fiancČ."

Ukyo blushed. "Ranchan... I... you..." Suddenly her eyes
narrowed. "What about Akane?"

Ranma looked at Akane, then back at Ukyo. His head moved back and
forth as he considered each of them, his neck seemingly having
acquired the resiliency of elastic as it bobbed his head to and fro.
"I... I cannot decide."

Suddenly, he flung his arms open. "I MUST HAVE YOU BOTH!" He
rushed forward.

A combination of female feet sent Ranma flying through the roof.
As he approached escape velocity, the words "my beloveds!" came
floating down into the restaurant.

Akane lowered her leg and turned towards Ukyo just as she was
lowering hers. Akane could see the shock she felt reflected on
Ukyo's face.

Akane swallowed. "Something's wrong with him."

Ukyo nodded. She crossed her arms and tapped her nose with her
forefinger. "I... I think it's that letter. Ranchan said that
you started acting strangely when you received a letter. I think
we were affected by it too, just now. When Ranchan read it, he
started acting weird."

Akane chewed her lip thoughtfully. "You think that whoever reads
that letter falls in love with the person - or persons - who gave
it to him or her."

"Not just fall in love. Become obsessed with."

"Kinda like that brooch."

"Or the fishing rod."

"Or those pills from the bracelet."

"Or Passion Spice."

"What's Passion Spice?"

"Oh, uh, never mind. A recipe I got from Australia." Ukyo shook
her head slightly. "So, what do we do?"

"I don't know. Pound him until he comes to his senses?" Akane
smiled in anticipation.

"That won't work." Ukyo thought some more. "You know, it seems
that the spell was broken when the letter was taken from whoever
was under its influence."

That made Akane slightly uneasy. "But... won't that make who
takes it fall in love with Ranma?" Even as that thought sickened
her, she flirted with the idea of volunteering for the job.

Ukyo shook her head. "I think that as long as we don't read it
we'll be unaffected."

Akane nodded, relieved and disappointed all at once. "Okay.
Let's find him, quick."

Ukyo nodded back. "Konatsu!" She leapt over the counter. "Watch
the store. I'll be back in a while."

Konatsu went behind the grill. "Yes, Ukyo-sama."

Together, Ukyo and Akane ran through the door.

The police officer finished his okonomiyaki and turned to face
Konatsu. "Does this kind of thing happen often here?"

Konatsu nodded. "Almost daily."

The officer smiled. He put down a generous tip. "See you
tomorrow."

Konatsu smiled and bowed. "Tomorrow, Officer."

***

Ranma landed with a... well can you guess what he landed with? It
wasn't with a *thud*. Or a *crunch*. It doesn't take much
experience with the Ranmaverse to realize that Ranma almost always
lands with a *splash*.

Ranma surged to the surface of the pond and shook her head. What
had just happened? She had no idea.

She struggled out of the pond, frowned, reached inside her shirt,
and pulled out a koi. It wriggled frantically. She examined it
for a second, then tossed it back into the pond.

She walked into the house, wondering how she had arrived here.
Most likely Akane. It was almost always Akane. Uncute tomboy
that she was.

The doorbell rang. Ranma looked around, then shrugged. May as
well answer it.

***

Tatewaki Kuno slightly adjusted his gi. He was wearing his finest
garb and held a bouquet of red roses. Time to discover which of
his loves had finally discovered within herself the unbound
devotion that Tatewaki so richly deserved. He rang the doorbell
again.

~*~

Author's afterword:

I kinda went back to the very first chapter, where it was
necessary for the recipient to read the letter for it to affect
them. Also, since we seem to have gone away from the "day of the
week" format, I left this hanging in the middle of the day.

I hope this is okay. Humor is not my forte. The rest of you are
doing a much better job. :)

Before anyone asks, Japanese schools run six days a week, so Ukyo,
Ranma, and Akane would all have school on Saturday.

Anyhoo, I can't wait to see how this ends. I myself have no idea.
^_^

-Richard
ste...@sprynet.com

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