Mourning for Ukyou
(yes, inspired by Alan Harnum's story)
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by HK Miller
17 March 2000 - FFML draft
Major characters copyright Rumiko Takahashi and licensees:
Shogakukan in Japan and Viz Communications in the USA.
No disrespect is intended by my unlicensed usage.
- - - - -
Rain fell gently but steadily onto the grave of Kuonji Ukyou as
the few mourners slowly departed. Kuonji Konatsu sobbed
helplessly into her hands, kneeling beside the new gravestone in
which her husband's ashes lay. Behind the widow stood Saotome
Ranma, holding an umbrella over the two of them.
Akane put a sympathetic hand on the bereaved wife's shoulder and
murmured a few words. Then, with a last glance and nod at Ranma,
she shepherded the Saotome and Kuonji children out. As she left,
little Keiko asked if this meant no more of Uncle Ukyou's
okonomiyaki.
"So long, Ukyou," said Ranma to himself, standing behind and
holding an umbrella over himself and Konatsu. "Ryouga and I'll
hoist a few brews to you at our next guys' night out. They won't
be the same without you."
Dead at thirty-eight: much too young, Ranma thought. It had been
a simple heart attack. Ukyou had been too busy working to get
enough exercise, and the men of the Kuonji family, it turned out,
had a history of heart trouble. Ukyou had put on a lot of weight
after turning thirty, eventually resembling a clean-shaven version
of his father.
Ranma uneasily shifted the umbrella from hand to hand, shrinking
from a slight patter of drops. Ukyou: dead and gone. The child
Ranma brawled with; the youth Ranma adventured with; the man Ranma
drank with, played shogi with, commiserated about women with.
Gone for good.
"Ukyou-sama," whispered Konatsu once more, "you shouldn't have
exerted yourself like that! You were no longer young."
True, Ranma thought, but Ukyou always had been protective of
Konatsu. The former female ninja's skills were formidable, but
she didn't have the will to use them in her own defense. Once,
Ukyou wouldn't have even been breathing hard after leaping over
the counter of his restaurant, rolling up the sleeves on his thick
arms, screaming about jackasses, and clobbering the man who'd
attempted to pinch his wife. This time, the unaccustomed strain
had proven fatal. Of course, Ranma wasn't exactly young himself,
either; his balding head and the shallow bulge around his waist
testified to that.
"I miss you," Konatsu murmured, "I miss you so much it hurts.
Never... never again to feel your arms around me, your breath on
my neck, your fingers in my hair... And the children..."
Yeah, Konatsu was going to have it tough by herself, with two kids
still in school. He and Akane'd help out where they could, sure;
but they weren't well off either.
Ranma grinned momentarily as one memory in particular crystalized.
They'd been thirty or so, all over at his and Akane's place.
Ryouga, Ukyou, and he had been on the veranda with a beer apiece,
the wives had been in the kitchen fixing dinner, and the kids were
off in the dojo playing. Pantyhose had appeared out of nowhere
with more Drowned Virtuous Man water, chasing Happosai, who'd been
laughing his fool head off. Ryouga, the hothead, had immediately
leapt to his feet and raced off to protect Akari. When Ukyou saw
the direction Ryouga was running, he'd laughed so hard he'd fallen
over backwards off the veranda and onto the ground, hitting his
head on the stone lantern. Ranma had started laughing too, but
stopped at the scream and loud splash from the kitchen. Ukyou'd
actually beaten Ranma to the kitchen, spatula out and furious.
Luckily, it'd been Konatsu, and not Akari or Akane who'd been
splashed, but Ukyou'd been livid over the damage to Konatsu's
kimono. Ranma chuckled at the memory of the lumps Happosai and
Pantyhose had carried on their heads for the next few days.
Ranma shook his head and sighed. One more memory to keep of a
friend now gone.
"Why, Ukyou-sama?" whispered Konatsu. "Why did you have to die?"
Why indeed? Few men, Ranma thought, deserved death less than
Ukyou. He'd been a good father and husband, of course, working
hard, raising a family and keeping them fed; but Ranma could say
that about many acquaintances. Ukyou had been more: a staunch
friend, ready to fight to defend what was his, or his friends'.
Uneasy, Ranma switched the umbrella to his other hand. He knew
he'd never been good in situations like this, but Akane had been
insistent in pointing out what they both knew: someone really had
to stay with Konatsu for a while. The kunoichi was quite capable
of catching lethal pneumonia from being too depressed to come in
out of the rain.
Konatsu was just a beautiful now at thirty-eight as she'd been at
sixteen. Only a wrinkle or two around the eyes gave away
Konatsu's true age. They'd made a good couple, though: the
brawny, rough-speaking husband and the modest, soft-spoken,
kimono-wearing wife. In private, Akane sometimes wished she had
Konatsu's looks.
"What would you say to me, were you here, Ukyou-sama? How can I
go on? What must I do?"
The sun chose that moment to peek through the clouds. A few
tears, clinging to the smudged lipstick on Konatsu's cheek,
gleamed briefly. Konatsu slowly stood, looking up and slowly
raising a clenched fist to just below her chin. "Ukyou-sama... I
promise I will keep the restaurant going! I promise I will raise
our children so that you will be proud of them! Only then will I
consider joining you!"
Ranma raised the umbrella slightly; somehow, he was always
surprised that Konatsu was as tall as he was. Akane'd be happy
that Konatsu made this vow, though; they'd been half-afraid
Konatsu would follow Ukyou and leave the children in the Saotome's
care. But Ranma knew that once Konatsu made a vow like this,
she'd stick to it. You just had to be around to offer some
practical advice once in a while.
The clouds were starting to disperse as Konatsu dried her tears.
Ranma put one arm around his friend's widow shoulder and carefully
helped her from the cemetery.
The End.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Notes:
This was inspired by Alan Harnum's story "Mourning Becomes Kuonji"
(and its own inspiration, in turn; I'll admit to a mischievous
desire to outrage certain parties). I've had in mind this version
of the future Ukyou and Konatsu for a while, but I'd never found
the appropriate story vehicle. Obviously, I made a conscious
choice in my use of personal pronouns and adjectives for the
couple.
My other motivation was that I thought Alan's opening scenario
should have had a different thematic treatment than he gave it,
and a more formal structure. He was happy with his story, so I
tried it myself. I'm not completely satisfied with the results,
so maybe Alan was right after all.
At any rate, this was a departure for me, and I'm interested in
feedback on tone and style.
This and my other stories are posted at:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/5058
(
geocities.com/tokyo/dojo) (
geocities.com/tokyo)