[Ranma][FanFic] Ukyou's Other Woman 2/3

[The Sebastians]

This is the second of three parts. Anyone who missed the first one
can check the archives or e-mail me at<sebas...@earthlink.net>
Comments can go here, too.

Ukyou's Other Woman 2/3
by Trisha Sebastian

[insert standard disclaimer here; Megumi is my character. Any use
of her in a fanfic can only be done with my permission.]

CHAPTER THREE

After Akane and Ranma left to go see Ukyou, I moped around the
house. Kasumi offered to show me the market, and Nabiki wanted to
go shopping, but I declined. After what Akane told me yesterday, I had
a lot of things to think about.

I remember running out of the restaurant, berating myself, for
immediately jumping to conclusions. Ukyou Kuonji is a guy, therefore,
that woman is not Ukyou. It didn't dawn on me until later that the
woman knew who I was or that she responded to the nickname. All I could
remember were her words to me: "I'm not the Ukyou Kuonji you remember."
The words hammered themselves into my brain until I stopped running.

Akane and Ranma found me at the bridge overlooking the canal. They
said that they were friends of Ukyou's and that they told Ukyou what had
happened there at the restaurant. Akane assured me that I didn't embarrass
the owner of that restaurant at all and that Ukyou insisted that I stay
with them for the evening. I accepted, knowing full well that I didn't
have any other place to go for the night. To tell the truth, I really
didn't know what to expect once I did find Ukyou. Ranma ran off to tell
the family that there was going to be a guest, and Akane and I walked
home together.

The curious side of myself asked the question before I even knew
I was asking it. "You're a friend of Ukyou's right?" Akane nodded
in the affirmative. "Has he ever mentioned me?"

Akane stopped. I saw a look of indecision on her face before she
answered. "No," she said, "Ukyou never talked a lot about his past."

I laughed. "And don't I know it! He was always so quiet and
secretive. It took me over two days to figure out where he lived!"

Akane gave me a piercing look. "So you know nothing about his
past or his... childhood?"

I looked her straight in the eyes and said, "No. He never told
me anything about his past. Every time I tried to bring up the subject,
he would clam up and change topics." I paused slightly before continuing.
"I do know this: what ever happened, he was tormented by it until the
very last day I saw him."

Akane swallowed nervously. "How can you tell?"

I affected a light tone. "Oh, lemme see... The last time I
saw Ukyou, he was training for a challenge duel." I paused, wondering
how I should put this. "You know how good Ukyou is. I knew that he
was a good martial artist, and that he was strong." I looked over at
Akane, and she motioned at me to continue. "There was a large tree
he was squaring off against. The trunk was about three feet
in diameter. Ukyou sliced through it like it was nothing."

I turned to Akane and I saw that she looked uncomfortable under
my gaze. My heart felt like it was breaking. "Akane, you must know
the people he was fighting against." I brandished the letter.
"He said he was seeking peace. Ukyou said that he'd always miss me.
It's like he's telling me that he'd never see me ever again. The look in
his eyes that day was a look of pure rage. My gut feeling is that
either Ukyou is severely hurt or dead or in jail for murder." I grabbed
Akane by the shoulders. "Tell me that this isn't true!"

Akane sighed with relief and said, "No, Ukyou's fine. He's
not dead, and he's a little hurt, but he didn't kill anyone. Just severely
hurt one of them."

"One? I asked, my eyebrows raised. "He had a challenge match
against two people?"

"Yes," she said. "They were father and son."

I could see that Akane didn't want to talk about it, as if she
knew who the people were and was defending them. I let the subject drop.
I didn't want to know about the matter from any other person but Ukyou.

We walked on a couple more blocks, and then Akane asked me a
question. "Why did you decide to follow Ukyou all the way here?"

I thought about it for a while. "When I got the letter, I felt
this sense of fear that I'd never see him again. And I knew that it wasn't
right for him to go away without at least telling me." I looked down at
the ground. "I was afraid for him, and I was angry at him." I laughed
a little harshly and Akane jumped back a little. "And that's when
I figured out that I had fallen in love with him."

Akane looked uncomfortable. "How do you know?"

I smiled. "It's a feeling that you never forget when it hits you.
All of a sudden, you want to be with the person you love all the time.
You find yourself fantasizing about what might have been, or what might be.
And most importantly, you feel as if you'd protect this person under any
circumstances." I stopped in my tracks, turned around and looked back
in the direction of the restaurant. "I think I love Ukyou. I would follow
him to the ends of the earth. And though I don't think I could kill,
anyone who has ever harmed Ukyou will have to deal with me." I looked
at Akane. "You feel that way about Ranma?"

Akane's reaction surprised me. "That baka?" she replied, incred-
ulous. "Of course not! I'm not in love with that insensitive jerk!
We're not even going out!"

"But he lives with you?"

She stopped walking to look at me and I shrugged. Akane started
to smile and then she laughed. "Well, yeah, he lives with me. You see...."

Akane proceeded to explain the circumstance of Ranma and his
father living with them at their house, the martial arts school, and the
promise their drunken fathers had made. I, in turn, explained all about
how I met Ukyou and our friendship. By the time we had reached the dojo,
we were good friends. I got to match faces with names, but I was very
tired from the my trip. So after dinner, I begged off a bath and
went straight to sleep.

I looked at the clock in the living room. Kasumi was cleaning
up the dining table and Nabiki was in her room. Tendou-san and Saotome-
san were playing shogi on the porch. Akane and Ranma were still out; they
had missed lunch. I got up hurriedly and went to the front gate. No
sign of either of them. I walked slowly back to the living room and
was about to plop back down on the rug when Kasumi stuck her head in the
doorway.

"I have found that a tranquil work out will always calm my
nerves when I'm worried about anything," she suggested. She gestured
towards the dojo. "You are free to use it, as our guest."

I looked up in surprise. I hadn't noticed it much, since it
was well after dark when we got here, but then I remembered that Akane
said it was the part of the house she was the most proud of. I bowed
in gratitude and hurried off to change.

I entered the dojo somewhat cautiously. From what Akane
told me, and from the looks of the fight outside this morning, the
dojo took a lot of beatings. This morning, Ranma had narrowly
missed falling into the koi pond by crashing through the side of the
dojo instead. Saotome-san called a draw at that point, because as he
punched Ranma towards the pond, he had to turn sideways to absorb Ranma's
kick. As a result, he sent himself sprawling across the porch.

I bowed to the shrine, and started my work out. Usually it
calms me, but as I kicked and punched, I realized that much of my
routine was full of things that Ukyou had taught me. There was a spare
2 x 4 on the floor, and picking it up, I went through the katas again,
swinging it around like one would a spatula. As I finished up with a
vaulting spin kick, I heard the door slide open. I turned towards the
door to find Ranma watching me.

"Not bad," he said, as he entered the dojo. He was dressed in
his Chinese shirt and trousers. "Mind if I join in?"

"Of course not," I said, out of breath. "It's your dojo, or
at least it will be."

Ranma flushed and looked down at the ground. I instantly regretted
the words as they came out of my mouth. "Sorry, Ranma," I apologized.
"I didn't mean to stick my foot in--"

He interrupted me with a brief shake of his head, and said, "It's
okay, Megumi." He started up with an intricate kata that defied description.

I tried to breach the silence again. "I mean with the kind of stuff
you can do, it would be a shame if you didn't have a dojo to teach in."

He looked up at me in surprise, and then continued with the kata,
his face wiped of all expression.

I turned to leave. "I don't want to bother you."

"Wait!" he said. I turned back around to find him looking at me
strangely. "I got a question."

"What's it about?"

"It's about Ukyou."

I gave him my full attention. "Go ahead."

Ranma put his hand behind his head, and scratched it for a while.
He opened his mouth, thought better of it, then closed it again. His foot
traced a pattern on the floor and then he turned away. "Nah, never mind."

He went back to his kata, leaping spectacularly across the dojo,
landing on one foot, turned and punched from the position. Then he dropped
to one knee, swept his foot out and rolled over onto his feet.

I shrugged. "If there isn't anything else--"

"You love Ukyou, don't you?" Ranma was still engrossed in the kata,
kicking and punching and leaping, but the air was heavy with the inquiry.

I gave that question a lot of thought and I said, "Yes, I do."

"Well, what if... he don't love you?"

I paled. I hadn't thought of that before. I slumped against the
the sliding door, and slid to the floor. In all the conversations we
had together, Ukyou had never mentioned loving any one, much less liking
any one. In fact, there was this one girl he told me about who kept
pestering him with gifts and letters. The look of disgust on his face
told me that Ukyou didn't go for the hearts and flowers routine. The
intensity in his eyes told me that if he ever did like anyone, it would
be with a quiet passion. Then it hit me.

I lifted my head towards Ranma and said, "He's engaged, isn't he?"

Ranma turned back towards me so quickly that he lost his balance
and crashed into the wall. I continued on quickly, so I could get the
words out of my mouth. "That's why he came here. He had to fight for
this girl, fight for her hand in marriage. And that's why he didn't want
to see me last night. Because he's ashamed to face me, because he didn't
tell me before. And now I can never see him again...." I ran out of the
dojo, my eyes filled with tears. I stumbled across the lawn, into the
house and up the stairs. I passed Akane in the hallway and she grabbed
me shouting, "Megumi! What's wrong?"

I hiccuped and sobbed, "Ranma said... Ukyou's engaged...."

Akane set her face in anger and tore down the stairs. I heard the
door slam and as I ran into her room, I heard the sounds of shouting and
crashing coming from the dojo. I threw myself across the bed and sobbed.
Last night when I unpacked my things, I had taken out the one picture I
had of Ukyou, at my brother's birthday party. My dad had one shot left,
and he had grouped us hastily together. My arm was around Ukyou and his
head was tilted towards mine. We were happy in that picture. I was
miserable right now.

Akane called me down to dinner several times, and once I heard
Ranma's hesitant step outside the door, but I made no answer. I just
kept staring at that picture, wondering how foolish I could have been
to follow a person I barely knew all the way across Japan. My eyes were
red and puffy when I heard a knock at the door. "Come in," I replied,
listlessly.

The door opened behind me, and a voice I hadn't heard in a while
said, "Hello, Megumi."

It was Ukyou.

CHAPTER FOUR

I closed the door behind me. Megumi swiveled around and she
gasped. "Ukkun?" she asked, her voice unsteady. "Is it *really* you
this time?"

I gave a short nod. "It's really me."

She got up from the bed and walked over to me. She gave me a
long scrutinizing gaze, then hugged me. I hugged her back, and
supressed the urge to blush when I felt her hands probing at my shoulders,
feeling for a bra strap. There would be none of that; I made sure I
wound the bindings tighter than usual.

Megumi stepped back and gave me a wry smile. "Funny, the last
time we were together, I didn't think that I would ever get to see you again."

I nodded sheepishly. "I guess you're a bit mad at me, aren't you?"

Megumi turned away from me, her shoulders trembling. A choked sob
wracked her body. I reached out to touch her when she whirled back, ex-
ploding with anger. "Hell, yes! I'm mad at you! Did you know how worried
I'd been about you! Did you even care? Right after you got that letter
from home you started moping about, brooding and snapping at everyone. I
wanted to help you, but you kept pushing me away. And then, there was that
tree thing and you disappear!" She grabbed my hand. "It's not that I have
a right to pry into your life--" Megumi stopped abruptly and cocked her ear
at the door. "Did you hear that?"

I nodded towards the door, mouthing the words, "They do this all
the time." With a silent maneuver, I slid toward the door as Megumi
sat down on the bed and yanked the door open to find Ranma, his dad, Tendou-
san and Nabiki all clustered by the door, glasses in hand, trying to scurry
away. Akane was standing behind Ranma and she had an embarrassed grin on
her face. I gave them all a withering glance and they scooted off, mut-
tering excuses.

I closed the door and shook my head ruefully. Megumi laughed.
"They really are a close knit bunch, aren't they?" She had a smile
on her face, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"A real bunch of comedians. Wanna go for a walk?"

Megumi nodded, her false smile mocking me. I reached
out for her hand automatically, and she looked at it briefly before
placing her hand in mine. As soon as I helped her up, she dropped
my hand abruptly. We looked at each other silently, and I opened
the door for her. We walked down the hall, down the stairs, past the
curious glances of the Saotome and Tendou clan. Kasumi called out,
"Don't be out too late!" and I turned to her and gave her a reassuring
nod. We left the front gate and walked down the street. I kept stealing
glances at Megumi, trying to gauge her mood, but she kept her face
neutral. When we reached the bridge over the canal, she turned to me,
her eyes alit with determination.

"Listen, Ukkun, like I said earlier, I don't have a right to pry
into your life, but I do have a right to know what's going on." Her eyes
blazed into mine. "Or am I wrong? Do I have a right to know what's
going on?"

I turned to her fiercely, "Of course you do! You're my best
friend!"

She laughed mirthlessly. "Am I? I'm starting to wonder about
that. There's so much you never told me, so much I'm starting to realize
now."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't need to say anything, Ukkun. I already know."

I felt a twinge of panic and I managed to ask, "Know what?"

"I know you're engaged already to someone from your past
and you had to fight to regain your honor." Megumi turned away.
"I just feel stupid for not realizing it earlier."

I felt an icy grip seize my heart. "How did you figure that
out?"

"I was talking to Ranma," she replied. I turned and started
walking back to the Tendou dojo. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to kill Ranma." I was about to start running when I
heard a startled cry behind me. I turned around to find Megumi staring at
me with an expression of shock on her face, her hand trembling by her
mouth. I rushed to her side. "What's wrong now?"

She looked like she was in deep thought. Her eyes were looking
at me, but it was like she wasn't even seeing me. Instead she was seeing
something that startled her to the bone. I shook her shoulders and waved
my hand in front of her face. "Meg-chan?" I ventured. She walked away
from me, towards the edge of the bridge. Megumi's eyes were unfocused
and she was mouthing something to herself. I went over to her, my heart
pounding with fear and curiosity. She finally looked up at me and
murmured, "Ranma, this is the day you die."

"Huh? Meg-chan, are you sure you're all right?"

Her eyes searched my face. "That's what you said, right before
you sliced down that tree. "You said, 'Ranma, this is the day you die.'
That's a name you don't forget. I could tell from the way you were training
on that day that you were up against a real tough opponent." The words spil-
led out of her mouth and she started to pace. "I watched Ranma this morning.
He's good. I mean real good. His father could barely touch him, and he
could barely touch his father. They're both real, real good. You're good,
too, but not in his league. From what I've seen of both of your styles, you
could do well against him, but he'd eventually win."

She turned around and headed back towards me. "That's what
happened isn't it? You fought Ranma and Ranma beat you That's why your
honor is gone." She stopped pacing and giggled. "I was way off on that
fiance thing."

I started to interrupt her, but she continued. "That explains
one part-- why you didn't come back. But why did you go in the first
place? And why did he ask me about...?" she paused, a blush stealing
across her face.

My head whirled with confusion. "Wait a second, Meg-chan, what
exactly did Ranma say to you?"

"We were in the dojo and he asked me if I..." she paused, looking
at the ground, unsure as how to continue her thought.

"If you what?" I was really confused at this point.

"HeaskedmeifIlovedyou." She let out a huge breath and looked up
at me with worried eyes.

I reeled. "Love me? Why would you love me?"

Megumi gave a short bark of laughter, "That's what I keep asking
myself. You're stubborn, you slurp your drinks, your main topics of
conversation are okonimiyaki and martial arts and you never tell people
anything, especially when they care about you. But yes," she paused and
a determined gaze settled on her features, "I love you. Don't ask me how
or why, but I love you." A small hopeful smile was on her face. "Well,
say something."

I couldn't believe she actually said it. "Megumi, you can't be
in love with me. We barely know each other--"

"Hah! We spent a whole school year together and every
day we talked about everything." She shrugged. "Okay, well almost
everything. Don't even tell me that I don't know you."

"But you don't." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, settling
it on the back of my neck and scratching. My mind was made up; I had to
tell her now, before things got out of hand. All I'd have to say was, "See,
Meg-chan, there's something I've got to tell you." Before I could say it
though, Akane came barreling down the street. "Hey you two! It's getting
late! Kasumi was getting worried." She paused, noticing the looks on our
faces. "Is anything wrong?"

Megumi shook her head and gave me a careful glance, "No, I don't
think there's anything wrong; I think I've just given Ukkun a lot to think
about."

I nodded listlessly. Megumi put an hand on my shoulder. "Can we have
lunch tomorrow? I want to see where you work."

I nodded again. "Okay," she said, "pick me up around 11:30 and
we can have a lunch date." I winced at the word 'date' but I don't think
Megumi noticed. She turned and headed for the dojo. Akane remained
behind and she asked worriedly, "What's wrong, Ukyou?"

I shook my head and murmured, "I'm fine." I started walking across
the bridge back to my restaurant. Akane called out after me, and hearing her
voice, I broke into a run. I didn't stop until I reached my restaurant.
I flung aside the mailbox that blocked the door, and I heard Tsubasa yelp
in surprise as he made contact with the wall. I tore through the dining area
and up the stairs to my room.

As I slammed the door, my mirror canted and fell to the floor,
landing heavily with a thud. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and
bile started to rise in my throat. I tore off my school uniform, and rip-
ped off the bindings until I lay on the floor, panting, dressed only in my
tank top and my underwear. A whisper escaped my lips, "Megumi loves me."
Panting, I rolled over, looking at my reflection in the mirror, seeing my
limbs and bosom uncovered by the stiff, starchy manly uniform. "And I am
a girl."

I jumped to my feet and grabbed my spatula. I went through my closet
and got out all my school uniforms. The one from my grade school went first.
Shorts and a white dress shirt, the little cap covering my short, short hair--
all torn to bits. My junior high uniform was next. I had put on the bind-
ings for the first time in my aunt's house, her face mildly disapproving as
she wound the fabric around me tighter and tighter, obscuring all hint of my
femininity. I ripped the bindings in two, then again until they lay on the
floor, then the uniform joined it, buttons flying across the room. The
Furinkan uniform was next. I remembered that first day of school, my face
blushing bright red when I heard Ranma say that I was cute. Then, my blush
fading as I looked over to see Akane, her pretty dress and her pretty face,
comparing her full beauty to my flat-chested ugliness. As I ripped the
jacket in two, I screamed to the ceiling, "I AM A GIRL, DAMNIT!"

My eyes flew to my dresser drawer and I rifled through it, taking
out all my boy's clothes and tossing them to the floor. I reached
down into the second drawer and was about to fling those clothes out when my
hand ventured on a picture frame hidden at the bottom of the drawer. I with-
drew the picture and noticed that it was one of me and Megumi at her
brother's birthday party. Something white was stuck to the back, a piece
of paper, creased with many folds. I unfolded it to reveal a letter whose
words I knew by heart:

Kuonji Ukyou--

I am writing to inform you that your mother
has just given birth to a baby boy. I release
you from your obligation to uphold the family
honor. I renounce your claim as the heir
to the family dojo.

Kuonji Hiro

I cried myself to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED......