Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ A Big Help ❯ An Old Friend Returns ( Chapter 9 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

By: mykon1

A Big Help

A Ranma one half/Sailor Moon crossover fanfic

By Michael A. Ivins

Mykon and Jora are my original creations so I request that nobody uses them without permission. The rest of these characters are the property of their creators, publishers, anime production companies, etc. I write this for fun and make no profit off it.

Chapter 9

An Old Friend Returns

Time passed and with it some of the craziness that Ranma attracts. This included the Martial Arts Restaurant Takeout race. Ranma learned about Martial Arts Tea Ceremony. (Is anyone else sensing a theme here?)

In the mountains outside of town there was a cave. Someone had pushed a boulder up against the entrance of the cave, blocking it very effectively. There were enough gaps that air could get in and maybe some water from rain, but not much else. Strangely, the boulder was also tied about with numerous spirit wards and other means intended to contain evil. One would think a terrible oni or evil spirit was trapped there.

During a storm lightning struck the boulder and smashed it, also destroying all of the spiritual protections. A figure emerged from the rubble of the destroyed stone. It was a small figure, about the size of a child. The figure walked a few steps out of the cave then fell over, asleep. After a short nap the figure got up and continued on.

Back in Tokyo in the Tendo dojo the family shrine fell from its shelf. This sort of thing had long been known to be an omen of bad things to come. Genma joked that it must mean a demon was awakening. Soun was not amused by the joke.

Elsewhere several girls from gym class were out for a run when the diminutive “demon” called out the name “Akane” and leapt onto the girls, fondling their breasts or buttocks. The girls tried to hit the tiny man but he moved too fast, bouncing from one girl to another.

Akane was walking by and heard the commotion. She went to see what was going on. One of the girls saw her and said, “Akane?”

The tiny old man paused in his actions and looked over at the black haired girl. “Akane?”

The little man suddenly leapt toward the girl shouting, “Akane, It's me, it's me.”

The youngest Tendo daughter intercepted the old man's leap with her book bag and one of the other girls ask her, “Do you know this guy?”

Akane looked puzzled as she asked, “Um, do I know you?”

The tiny old man looked hurt as he asked, “Don't you remember me?”

As Akane struggled to remember, the old man turned away and started to cry.

In an effort to stem the flood of tears Akane promised, “I'll try to remember.”

The old man told her, “Don't concern yourself about me. Just allow me to have a good cry… in your bosom!”

Again the old man was intercepted, this time by Ranma-Chan's foot. She asked, “Who the heck is this?”

The old man seemed to have trouble focusing. It was probably a lingering aftereffect of having been cooped up in a cave for a long time. He looked at her face for a few moments before launching himself onto her chest to fondle her breasts.

After Ranma-chan finally beat the old man off he stepped back and said, “It's no wonder you don't remember me, we've never met.”

“You old freak,” said Ranma.

The old man said, “You're Tendo Soun's daughter all right. So high spirited.”

Akane stepped forward, “You know my father?”

“What? You mean you really are Soun's daughter?”

Akane frowned, “I think you've got to do some talking.”

They made their way back to the Tendo dojo. Ranma cast a dubious look at the old man. She had not been favorably impressed. She'd been looking for a great martial arts master and found a shriveled up pervert. Maybe there was more to this guy that appeared on the surface. It seemed unlikely there could be less.

When they got to the Tendo home Soun and Genma (in panda form) both looked shocked.

The little man said, “Hello, Soun. It's been a long time.”

The tall martial artist hesitated a moment then rushed forward to embrace the little man, saying, “Master, Thank heaven you're safe.”

“Master?” Asked Akane.

The old martial arts master said, “I'm just as healthy as ever.”

Soun tried to get in a punch to the back of the old man's head but it was intercepted and Soun tossed across the room. On the other side of the room Genma was playing with a beach ball and an old tire, trying desperately to look like a regular zoo-type panda and not a transformed martial artist.

The old man wasn't buying it. He headed over and called out, “Well, Saotome Genma.” The panda held up a sign that said, “I'm just an ordinary panda.”

The old man told the Panda, “You haven't changed a bit, have you?' He laughed.

Sounding angry, Soun said, “Saotome. You think you can run and leave me to face this alone.”

Ranma and Akane shared a look and asked, “What's going on here?”

Soun began to relate the story of the training he and Genma had endured under the master Happosai. The training had included thievery, laboring to pay off debts incurred by the master and being starved.

After a lot of this abuse they hatched a plan. They obtained a large amount of sake and after the master passed out from overindulgence, they put him into one of the empty casks and bound it tightly shut with chains. The tied dynamite to the cask then lit the fuse and threw the bundle into the cave as they pushed the boulder over the entrance of cave.

They left the cave with the sincere hope that they would never see their master again.

Happosai criticized, “You made one big mistake, you didn't finish me off.”

“Yes, yes,” Said Soun. “Quite right,” agreed Genma.

“Well, it's not too late, “said Soun as the two attacked the old man. The two martial artists made a pathetic showing against their master. In short order both of the fathers were in a tangled heap on the floor.

Weakly Soun said, “We were only joking.”

The old man said, “Ah, of course you were. Don't worry, I didn't come for revenge.”

“You didn't?”

“I'm getting old. It's getting time to train the true heir of my `Anything Goes Martial Arts' school.”

He looked up to find both Soun and Genma making preparations as if to leave on a long journey. Happosai asked, “Where are you going.”

Soun replied, “I just remembered, I have to move to China.” Genma said, “I have to do some training.”

Ranma, seated on the floor, commented, “Feh, shivering and shaking over this old man.”

Genma grabbed Ranma by the shoulders and pushed her forward. “There, you see? Here is the true heir to your school.”

Ranma said, “What?”

Ranma again found herself being aggressively groped by the surprisingly energetic little old man. Happosai said, “I can't train a girl.”

The older men all ignored Akane's protest, “Hey, I'm a martial artist too.”

There was a small cloud of steam as hot water was poured and Ranma changed back to male. Genma told the old man, “No need to worry! As you can see, my son is quite manly.”

Ranma pulled the old man off his chest and yelled, “Why you dirty old man.”

The old man had hooked his pipe over Ranma's arm and was ready to use one of his devastating techniques when he suddenly shouted, “Wait a minute!”

Everybody looked at the old man with puzzled expressions. He jumped back out of Ranma's reach then asked, “Genma, did you say your son?”

“Ah… yes. That's what I said.”

The old man took another look at the boy. “So you're Ranma?”

Cautiously Ranma said, “Yeah… Do I… know you?”

The old man said, “We never met before today, but I've heard about you. You could say we have some `friends' in common.”

Ranma's eyes widened. He dropped out of his ready stance.

Happosai turned to the others. “Would you boys give us some privacy? Akane, I'll have to ask you to leave too.”

Soun and Genma left, grateful to be out of the master's presence. Akane was grumbling about being kicked out of her own family's dojo.

They stood outside the dojo, not quite sure what was going on. Genma pressed his ear to the door of the dojo but couldn't hear anything more than the murmur of quiet conversation. The words said were spoken too quietly for them to be heard from outside the building.

After about ten minutes there came the sounds of blows being exchanged. The blows came fast, sometimes coming so close together that the listeners couldn't tell how many blows were being landed. This continued for about ten minutes. After a pause the sounds of fighting resumed but interspersed between the sounds of punches and kicks there were small explosions.

At one point there was a louder explosion and with a crash, pieces of the building's roof went flying. Soun stepped forward as if to enter the dojo to protest the destruction being worked on his training hall.

Genma put a hand on Soun's arm to restrain him. “With the strength of the Ki that's being thrown around in there it would be a bad idea to go in. You could get hurt.”

“But they're wrecking my dojo!”

“It can be rebuilt.”

There came another crash from the back wall of the building. From some spots on the roof there could be seen what looked like blindingly bright beams of light that punched holes in the roof. Then there was something invisible that made more holes in the building like bullets penetrating. For a time there was a peculiar humming punctuated by sounds like electric sparking.

Finally silence fell and the doors of the dojo opened. Ranma and Happosai both looked like they had been through a really serious battle. Their clothing was torn, punctured in spots and burned in other spots. Happosai seemed to be favoring his left arm while Ranma was limping. Ranma had a bruise on his face.

When the two fighters got to Soun and Genma, Happosai said, “Sorry about your dojo, Soun. I'll see to it that it's repaired.”

Ranma bent down and rubbed at his knee. He told Happosai, “That last move you pulled was great. You almost had me.”

Happosai was laughing. “Thanks for little concession to my ego. Your friends have trained you well.”

Soun and Genma were at a loss for words. Akane asked, “Does this mean Ranma won the fight?”

Happosai actually smiled. “No, he didn't beat me. We fought to a draw. With a few more years and more training he would be able to beat me.”

Ranma nodded. “So, what do you say…? A rematch in one year?”

Happi grinned. “Agreed. The next time we need to fight someplace a little less confining. A place like this dojo is great for training beginners but it's not really suited to a serious battle.”

The old man paused in thought for a moment. “I'm going to have the papers drawn up to have Ranma declared a master of the Anything Goes Founding School. He isn't ready yet to be the Grand Master but I don't think that will be too long in coming.”

“WHAT?” demanded both Soun and Genma.

“I'd congratulate Genma on the job he did training the boy, but I know he didn't do it. Genma may have started him out but others have finished the job and others will continue it. I may know a trick or two that he doesn't already know, but not many.”

“But master, are you saying…”

“If you're asking is he better than both of you, then yes.”

After they passed out of earshot of the others Ranma looked at the elder and said, “What was that with groping me? My friends told me they had fixed it so you don't need do that anymore.”

With a somewhat sheepish smile the old man said, “Uh… Yeah, sorry about that. It's true that I don't need to absorb female ki to survive anymore…”

Ranma snorted. “But you're still an old perv who likes touching pretty girls?”

The tiny old man chuckled. “You wouldn't deny an old man his few remaining pleasures in his declining years, would you?”

With a sigh Ranma said, “Could you at least tone it down a bit? Some of the squeezes you gave me were hard enough to hurt.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I'd been cooped up in the cave so long that I got a little… over enthusiastic. I would never want to damage such beauty as your female form's assets.”

Ranma wasn't sure how to take that. “Uh… thanks, I think. You do realize that I look on that form as a curse that I want to be cured of, don't you?”

The old man sighed sadly. “I know. Could I ask that you not be in such a hurry to get rid of the girl form? There's not enough beauty in the world. Your girl form is beautiful.”

The teen martial artist sighed as well. “As much as I would like to be cured today if I could, there is no known cure. My girl form is likely to be around for a long time.”

More time had passed and more of the typical craziness of Nerima had happened. After a fiasco with Akane in her Home Ec class, Ranma had decided it was time to help his fiancé learn to cook. The cookies she had baked had almost sent Ranma to the hospital.

Akane was acting sullen as they went to the dojo. “Are we going to cook in the dojo? What does this have to do with cooking?”

Ranma pointed to the sign that said, “I-ro-ha.” What does that mean?”

Now sounding confused she said, “It means one must master the basics.”

“Exactly! Before you go on to the more advanced techniques you must master the basics. That doesn't just apply to martial arts.”

“You're saying that applies to cooking?”

Ranma nodded. “That's true for anything. I've watched you and I've seen the problems you have.”

Akane just glared. Ranma sighed, “Can you try to take this in the same spirit as you take instruction on martial arts?”

Akane's expression softened a bit. “I promised I'd try.”

“There are 3 things that you need to keep in mind. I'll tell you the last one first. Before you give any food you've prepared to anyone else you must taste it yourself. Even chefs in fancy restaurants keep spoons handy so they can taste what they are making. When they do it, they are checking to see if the seasoning is right or if it has cooked long enough, that kind of thing.”

“You have seen how people react to things you have made in the past. To avoid that happening in the future you must taste the food.”

“But…”

Ranma held up a hand to cut her off. “The next thing is to read the labels on the ingredients. An experienced chef can often identify the ingredients by the color, texture and smell of a spice or other ingredient. You don't have enough experience to do that, so read the labels.”

Ranma paused and looked at Akane to be sure she had heard him. Finally he nodded and told her, “The last thing is the recipe. Until you have mastered the basics, you should stick the recipe exactly. I've noticed that sometimes you can get in trouble even when you follow the recipe because you try add something to `liven it up.' Until you can prepare the dish in the recipe according to the instructions there should be no additions or substitutions.”

“But I like to…”

Again he held up his hand to cut her off. He pointed to the sign. “The basics. Until you can produce edible food and do it consistently, there must be no `spicing up,' `livening up' or any other changes to the recipe to make it `more interesting'. This is important. If you can't do those things, then you'd better not try to fix anything more complicated than instant ramen.”

Ranma sighed. “Akane, I've watched you. You look like you really enjoy doing stuff in the kitchen. But if you keep doing things the way you've been doing them you're going to make someone sick or you're just going to waste food.”

Ranma sat and thought for a moment. “I don't claim to be a great cook. Just left to my self I can make rice or other basic stuff. If I really want take time and put some effort into it I can follow a recipe. With the right cookbooks, I can make really good stuff.”

Further thought followed then, “You should only ask another person to taste your cooking if you have tasted it yourself and want a second opinion. The sort of thing I mean there is like does it need more salt, did I put in too much garlic, that kind of thing.”

Akane looked skeptical. At Ranma's request she recited back the three rules she had been given. “Follow the recipe, don't add or subtract, read the ingredient labels and taste it before letting anyone else eat it.”

There followed several sessions in the kitchen where Ranma stood watch to make sure Akane didn't just grab stuff without looking at the label. He insisted that she measure her ingredients. Many times Kasumi would watch and she would also be another watcher to be sure that no ingredients were used without Akane looking at the label.

What resulted from that were some meals that were edible. When Akane tried to cook unsupervised she didn't always remember to measure and sometimes forgot to read the labels, but she did get better. She was able to produce edible if not delicious meals.

Sometime later Ranma got home and was told that his father had gone in response to a challenge letter he had received. It was a most unusual letter in that the words were written in sauce on an okonomiyaki. The message was to meet at the empty lot at 4:00.

Ranma quickly roof hopped to the site and found his father sprawled on his back looking like he had been dealt a beating. Ranma roused the man but before he could get any information out of the bald man something came flying toward him. It landed and embedded itself partly in the ground. It looked like an oversized spatula of the type called a baker's peel. On the blade of this was the message, “Ranma, next it's your turn to pay.”

Standing on the wall overlooking the vacant lot there was a person standing there with a mask over his face and wearing a long apron with the word “Okonomiyake” on it. Although the person was dressed as a man there was something in the person's stance that made Ranma question that. The person said, “You got that?”

Ranma started to go charging after the person who had beat up his father but Genma tripped him before he could get going. The older Saotome advised, “Just let it go, for your own good.”

After they got back to the dojo Ranma couldn't stop thinking about the encounter with the mysterious stranger. There had been something familiar about him. At that moment Ranma once again got the far away look in his eyes. When he turned eyes back to his current surroundings. Ranma directed a glare at his father.

Genma noticed and demanded, “What?”

Ranma shook his head and turned away. “Nothing.”

Thinking to himself, Ranma sighed. His father was an idiot, but then he'd known that for a long time. Now he had another mess to deal with. Hmm, how best to handle this…

Back at the Tendo home Akane called Ranma out to the yard. She had heard the challenge when Ukyo had issued it. The “boy” had shouted, “Feel the wrath of the child you left behind.” Genma had pleaded, “Forgive me! I was poor I could barely feed myself and Ranma.”

From that exchange Akane jumped to the conclusion that Genma had an illegitimate child that he'd left behind.

When Akane told Ranma her theory he looked skeptical. “With my Dad's looks, I find that hard to believe. Knowing him I'm guessing it's a lot more complicated.”

At school the next day the teacher introduced a new student. The person was a slender one dressed in boy's clothing. On the Teacher's desk there was a grill set up. The new student said, “My name is Kuonji Ukyo. My hobby is making okonomiyake.” He poured batter on the grill and began to apply toppings. He moved fast and efficiently and quickly had a “Japanese pizza” with sauce used to draw a kind of smiley face.

The cook threw the finished food product at Ranma who caught it easily. The cook had called out, “It's been a long time, Ranma.”

The picture drawn in sauce clinched it for Ranma. The pigtailed boy seemed not to notice the sharpened spatula weapons being flung at him. He just dodged them and ran up to the `boy' and shouted, “Ucchan, it's been forever. How've you been? I haven't seen you since we were kids.”

Ranma had been looking at the cook and seemed to notice something. A bit hesitantly he asked, “Uh… have… you always been a girl?”

The frown on the girl's face deepened. “What do you mean, have I always been a girl? Of course I've always been girl! Are you trying to say you didn't know?”

“Well, when we were kids I thought you were a boy. Although I can admit that I was pretty clueless back then.”

“With the way I'm dressed, how could you tell I'm a girl now?”

Ranma leaned his head back and tapped a finger on his throat. “You don't have an Adam's apple. A policeman once told me that's a pretty good indicator that a person is a woman even if she is dressed like a man. Most guys have them and most women don't.”

Ukyo rubbed the front of her throat for a moment. “What about the last time we saw each other?”

Ranma appeared to think about that for a moment. “I remember sitting on the top of the cart with my dad pulling it and you running behind us, crying. I thought you were saying goodbye.”

“And what were you doing with my father's cart?”

Ranma's expression was puzzled. “My pop said your dad gave the yattai to us.”

The girl looked astonished. “Are you really that big of an idiot? My dad gave the cart to your dad as a dowry for you to marry me. You were supposed to take me with you.”

“Marry you? My dad never told me anything about that. Back then I didn't even know you were a girl.”

Ukyo considered this. “He never told you?” Ranma shook his head.

“What happened to the yattai?”

Ranma thought about that. “I don't know. After we used up all of the supplies on it we made camp. He left me there and took the cart away. When he came back he didn't have the yattai with him. He told me it had fallen off a cliff and we'd be going on without it.”

“He ditched it?!”

“I guess so. Back then I didn't really know how bad a liar my Dad could be. If I'd known you were supposed to come with us I would have made a pest of myself until he went back to get you. I could be a serious pest when I put my mind to it.”

Ukyo looked stricken. “You really didn't know?”

Ranma looked sad. “Ucchan, I'm so sorry. You were left by the side of the road?”

“My father found me about half a day later. He declared that because I had been rejected for marriage I could no longer live as a girl. He had me registered as his son and I have spent all of the time since then studying okonomiyaki and learning martial arts to get revenge on the Saotome's.”

Ranma looked depressed. “It sounds like your life was as messed up as mine was.”

“What do you mean?”

Ranma sighed. “My Pop and I were on the road for 10 years. My Pop tells me that he has a contract with my mom that I was to come back as a `man among men' or both he and I would have to commit seppuku.”

“Ranchan, I had no idea. You always seemed like such a happy, cheerful kid.”

Ranma looked depressed. “That was close to the start of the training journey. At the time it was all a big adventure to me. It was before my father started to use some of his weirder training methods. He almost killed me in training several times since then. It's a minor miracle that I'm still sane.”

Ukyo looked shocked. “Then why do you still live with him?”

“I don't know where else to go and I can't go back to my mom. He's still my dad. I'd say I owe him, though it would be more accurate to say that I really owe him a severe beating. If it's any consolation to you I understand now why you beat him up at the empty lot yesterday. I'd say you had a really good reason.”

“You're not going to try to avenge him?”

“If I'd know why you were attacking him yesterday, I would have helped you. I won't kill him, but I have no objections to him feeling pain.”

Ukyo shook her head. “I'll have to say, this isn't what I expected when I thought about meeting you again.”

The teacher chose that moment to speak, “As touching as this reunion of old friends may be, we are trying to conduct a class here. Would all of you get back to your seats?”

Ukyo whispered, “Ranchan, could you help me with something out in the school yard during lunch?”

“Sure, no problem.”

Out in the schoolyard there was set up a most unusual fighting ring. Around the outside of it was a flat metal surface. Inside of that was the usual mat. Ranma leaned on the metal surface and asked, “Was this where you were going to fight me?”

Ukyo turned and noticed where Ranma was leaning. “Ranchan, what are you doing!”

When he just looked around with a confused expression, she rushed over and pulled his hand off the metal. She looked at the palm of his hand and could see no trace of any injury. Puzzled she tentatively touched the tip of a finger to the metal then yanked it back. “How did you do that?”

Now looking even more puzzled, Ranma asked, “Do what?”

Ukyo frowned. From the supplies she had gathered she took an egg and cracked it so that it dripped onto the metal. Ranma cringed when he heard the sound of the sizzle as the egg met the grill. “From leaning on that grill, your hand should be fried now.”

Ranma got a sheepish look on his face. “It goes back to something called a phoenix pill. I had been hit on a pressure point that made me super sensitive to heat. The pill didn't just cure that, but made me almost fireproof. I honestly didn't notice the heat.”

Ukyo's eyes were practically bulging out of her head. Maybe it was a good thing they were renewing the friendship instead of fighting. If he were as heat resistant as she had just seen, she would have been at a distinct disadvantage fighting in this ring.

The girl who was dressed like a boy directed, “I need to get this thing disassembled. Would you start turning off the burners and I'm going to pack up these supplies. Oh, leave that one section on there, I want to cook some lunch on it.”

Ranma grunted and followed instructions. After he got all of the sections of the grill turned off with the exception of the requested section, he began to lift off parts. He didn't wait for the metal to cool off, not needing to worry about getting burned. He made a neat stack of the parts that he was working with.

They took a break to eat some squid and shrimp okomiyaki, then went back to work. With the two of them working together they had the whole thing disassembled and ready to take away before the end of lunch period. The one section of grill that stayed hot got lots of use as students came up and bought lunch from the cook.

Ranma commented, “You know you ought to think about opening a restaurant. I always thought you made the very best okonomiyaki ever. I bet you could make good money if you did.”

Ukyo looked a bit skeptical. “I don't know. Running a restaurant and going to school would really take up my time.”

Ranma shrugged. “Just a suggestion.”

As they finished taking apart the last of the ring Ranma looked at Ukyo. He commented, “You know, it's a shame.”

“What is,” asked Ukyo?

“That whole `renouncing your femininity' thing. If you wore your hair loose and dressed more girlish, you'd be really cute.”

The girl froze. She thought, “Cute? He thinks I'm cute? Nobody ever said that to me before.” She felt a whole range of unfamiliar emotions passing through her. In addition to those she became conscious of something that was in the back of her mind. Ranma was really a handsome boy. In fact he was something of a hunk.

She'd been living as a boy for almost ten years. Why was she noticing things like that now? She chided herself, “You're not supposed to be thinking about stuff like that.”

They had to go back inside to continue classes. Ukyo wasn't paying very close attention to her teachers. Ranma had given her a lot to think about.

When Ranma got home he gave Akane the whole story.

“Another fiancé? What was that idiot father of yours thinking?”

Ranma shook his head. “I don't think he was thinking. At least now we know why she wanted to beat him up.”

“What are you going to do about this fiancé?”

Ranma shrugged. “For now I'm just going to hope I can convince her to be a friend again. When we were kids she was my best friend. I've heard it said you can't have too many friends.”

Akane nodded. “That's certainly true.”

Ranma said, “I think I managed to diffuse the whole anger/revenge issue. I guess I'll have to wait and see if she's willing to resume the friendship. She seemed friendly enough at lunch. I think it helped when I told her about some of the crap my father put me through.”

“Misery loves company?”

“I guess.”

“Uh, Ranma?”

“What?”

“Since you and I are just friends, I won't mind if you want to pursue the fiancé thing with her.”

Ranma felt surprised. “That's very generous of you.” He wasn't sure if he should feel happy or sad about that. “Considering how he was with the Shampoo problem, I don't know how your father would react.”

Akane smiled. “Let me worry about my Dad. As your friend I want to see you happy. If Ukyo can make you happy, then you should go for it.”

“Hmm. I only just found out today that she's a girl. For the last ten years I thought she was a boy and my best friend. It will take an adjustment to think of her as a possible romantic prospect.”

That sobered Akane. “I've heard that romance can sometimes ruin a friendship. I don't know what to tell you. My best guess would be to try and rebuild the friendship first and then see how you feel about taking it farther.”

Ranma smiled, “Thanks Akane. You're a good friend.”

Inwardly Ranma was unsure of his feelings. On the one hand he was glad to have a friend who was concerned for his happiness. Still, there was a part of him that wanted the relationship with Akane to go beyond friendship.

A thought occurred to Ranma. “I'd better let her know about the curse right away. She might not want to be friends.”

At lunch the next day Ranma talked to Ukyo. “I need to talk to you. There is something about me that I need to tell you.”

The chef said, “I guess so. I've heard some strange things about you. There is this really unbelievable story going around that you have a magic curse that turns you into a girl.”

“That's not just a story.”

The girl looked at her friend and said, “You don't expect me to believe something like that without proof.”

“I can give you proof. I only need hot and cold water.”

“Hmm. You know how you were saying that maybe I should open a restaurant?”

“Yeah,” said Ranma.

“It seems my Dad agrees with you. He got in touch with a real estate agent and rented a restaurant for me. I need to go there after school and work on getting it ready to open. Would you be willing to come over and help me work on it?”

“All I ever did in a restaurant besides eat was wait or bus tables and wash dishes. A lot of the time I would get stuck doing that when my dad skipped out on the check and left me behind to deal with it.”

“Your Dad's a jerk.”

“Tell me something I don't know.”

After school Ranma walked with Ukyo to the site of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki. The restaurant was an open fronted place with a counter that ran across the front of the kitchen. Across one of the narrow ends were two booths and room for six tables in two rows of three each between the booths and the end of the counter. Under the front awning there was a roll-up metal grate that would block the entrance when it was time to close.

From the back of the kitchen one could access storage rooms and stairs that went up to an apartment and additional storage. There were additional rooms in the basement. As soon as they got there food deliveries started and Ranma helped to put away foods into the storage rooms and coolers. He helped set up the kitchen.

Finally after they had been working for hours, they took a break while Ukyo cooked up some shrimp Okonomiyaki for herself and Ranma. When the chef had dished up their dinner, Ranma had put a kettle of water on to heat. After they finished eating he went and fetched the kettle along with a pitcher of cold tap water.

Setting the kettle and pitcher down on the table, Ranma said, “You asked for proof, I'm going to give it to you. To prove it's not just a trick, I'll let you pour the water. Since I'm a guy now, we can start with cold water. It doesn't take much, a half a cup would do. Be sure to keep your eye on me so you can't think someone came in and substituted with me.”

Ukyo picked up the pitcher and poured on Ranma's head. She set the pitcher back down and walked around the red haired girl. “Does it hurt when you change?”

“No, I just feel a kind of tingle that doesn't last very long.”

“You're shorter as a girl.”

“Yeah, I don't like how short I am in this form.”

Ukyo tugged gently on the pigtail then asked, “Is that hair color natural?”

“Yep, completely natural. Looks almost like someone out of an anime, doesn't it?”

Shrugging, Ukyo said, “Maybe, but you're really pretty as a girl. The bright red hair makes you look kind of exotic. If you didn't have Japanese features you'd look almost like a gaijin.”

“Yeah, other people have told me that too.”

She didn't comment further but picked up the kettle and poured some of the hot water and carefully observed the change back to a boy. She tugged on the pigtail again as if to assure herself that it was actually attached.

After looking Ranma over a while longer she picked up the pitcher again and poured the cold water to see the change to girl again. This time she held onto the pigtail and watched the color change while in her hand.

Ukyo observed, “You have bigger boobs than I do.”

Ranma looked at her friend's chest and replied, “They way you bind them down, that's kind of hard for me to judge. I've been told mine are pretty big but older women sometimes tell me that when I get a little more growth that they will be better in proportion.”

Ukyo poured more hot water then cold and repeated several cycles of male to female and back changes. She kept going until she used up all of the water in both kettle and pitcher.

When it the chef picked up the water containers and looked like she was going to kitchen to refill them, Ranma told her, “You know the 20th change isn't going to look any different from the first.”

Ukyo put down the pitcher and kettle. “Ok, as much fun as it was changing you back and forth, why did you come here to show me this?”

Ranma explained, “If we're going to be friends again I wanted there to be no question that I was doing anything under false pretenses. People can get upset if they find out that something like that was being hidden from them.”

The chef looked thoughtful. “I guess so.”

He shook his head. “I have to admit I don't think I've had anyone react to my curse the way you did. I've had people just sort of accept it and others who seem to think that it makes me the worst kind of pervert in the world. I think you are the first person who thought it was cool.”

Ukyo took a moment to think seriously on the situation. “When you change into a girl, you're still the same person inside, aren't you?”

“Yes.”

“Were you a pervert before you got the curse?”

“No!”

“Then I don't see why changing into a girl would make you a pervert.”

Ranma nodded. “I found that confusing too. I guess some people think that behavior that's normal for a boy would be perverted for a girl.”

“Hmm. When you're a girl do you chase after other girls and try to kiss them and fondle them?”

He blushed and admitted, “I'm kind of shy around girls. I don't even do that kind of stuff when I'm a boy. I think some people believe that I would fondle myself when I'm in girl form.”

“Even if you did fondle yourself when you're a girl I don't see why that would be anyone else's business. I mean I've heard of girls who were born that way who do that kind of thing regularly and nobody calls them perverted.” A thought occurred to her and Ukyo asked, “Has turning into a girl helped your shyness?”

“I do find it easier to talk to girls now that I can change into one.”

“So the curse has actually made your life better at least by that much.”

“I never thought of it like that. Thanks Ucchan. But at least now that you've seen how I change you should understand why I can't go see my mother.”

“You mean that `man among men' seppuku contract you mentioned?”

“Yeah. I can't very well claim to be a man among men if I turn into a girl part of the time. If I show my face at her house before I can get a cure, I'm pretty much dead. I guess I'll have to stay away from her and stay with my Dad.”

“With your dad being such a jerk, I don't envy you. So you want to be friends again?”

A bit shyly Ranma told her, “I've heard it said that you can't have too many friends. You used to be my best friend. I'm hoping we start the friendship going again.”

Ukyo thought it. “Since I found out what happened wasn't your fault, I think I'd like that. At school I heard people say you were engaged to Tendo Akane. What's that about?”

“It was a marriage arranged before either of us were even born. Neither of us is comfortable with the arrangement so we agreed to be friends. I am also her martial arts sensei.”

Ukyo looked impressed. ”You're good enough in martial arts that you're teaching?”

“Yeah. Akane's a really good student. When I first met her she was more of a bully than a martial artist. She was strong and used a brute force approach but had poor defense. Now she's still strong but she has a good defense, is getting faster and is learning to use her ki. I'm also teaching a class on ki techniques for some of the jocks at school.”

The chef's eyes got large. “You're teaching ki techniques?”

“That's what they asked me for, but they have so far to go before they're ready to even try using ki.”

“So why were they asking to learn ki techniques?”

Ranma produced a thermos bottle out of nowhere. “They saw me do that and wanted to learn.” He made the thermos vanish again.

Ukyo asked, “Was that a magic trick?”

“Hidden weapons technique.”

“Oh, I've heard of that.”

“Because a bunch of the girls at school have asked me about it, I'm going to be starting up a class on self defense for girls. They want to be able to defend themselves against muggers and rapists. I'll be in girl form to teach that one.”

Ukyo fell silent for a moment. “When I talked on the phone to my Pop I explained that you weren't to blame what happened. He said he'd be willing to forgive you for running off, but that you would still have to honor the marriage agreement. I'm sorry, but that's what he said. I don't want to force you into anything.”

Ranma sat and considered that. “Yesterday Akane told me that because she and I are only friends that she would be Ok with it if I wanted to pursue the engagement with you.”

Ukyo's eyes got wide. “Really? That's a very… liberal attitude.”

Ranma nodded. “I'm going to offer you the same deal I had with her. I'm not ready to get married yet. I'm still only 16. I think we should get reacquainted and see how we really feel about each other. In a year we could decide we don't want to get married. If that happens I'd like to hope we can still stay friends.”

“That sounds fair. Ranchan, did you mean it when you said I'm cute?”

“Of course. It just seems a little weird that someone I used to think of as a boy when we were kids grew up to be such a cute girl. I'm sorry, but it may take a while for me to get used to that.”

The chef blushed. “Thanks Ranchan.”

Ranma glanced at his watch and said, “I've got to get back. I promised Akane a lesson on ki techniques. After we get done with that I have that class with the jocks. The only reason I keep on with that class is that they are paying. Only one of them shows any promise of learning ki manipulation and he would have to work very hard to accomplish it. I think it would be harder than he's willing to work.”

“Maybe he'll surprise you.”

“Maybe.” He sounded skeptical.

Author's Note: Yes, Happosai is OOC. While he was in the cave he was visited by the same friends who have been helping Ranma. In this AU Happosai has found other ways to get his life sustaining energies besides fondling women and stealing lingerie. The only reason he still does it is habit and (as a dedicated pervert) he still likes it.