Chapter One: The River Flows

The Ryouga & Ukyou Chronicles, Volume One

Disclaimer:
Ryouga Hibiki and Ukyou Kuonji are not my creation and are both copyright of Rumiko Takahashi. I’d like to thank Takahashi-sensei for her great series. I once again claim no credit for their creation, however, some of the characters are my creations (aka Migi & Hidari, Ryu, Prince Ito, Ukuji, Kangeio, Shogu) and I do claim them, so there!

I

Ukyou Kuonji sat in the relative silence of her now-empty okonomiyaki shop. Her deep brown eyes glimmered with inflection. They remained motionless, gazing out into the Nerima night with an air of melancholy about them that was almost palpable. They were the eyes of a deeply troubled person. Sure, we’ve all seen people with those eyes before, she’d told herself several times that night, but she had just never seen them on her.

They looked terrible.

Grumbling, she tossed her unbound brown hair aside, and resumed thinking. Thinking about...things. Lots of things. The whole world seemed to be spinning around her in a chaotic, swirling oblivion. Everything had changed so suddenly.

She had just returned from the wedding ceremony. The ceremony. It was official now. Ranma and Akane were wed, for better or for worse. It was over. She knew she couldn’t ever possibly have Ranma now. To seek him after he was married, well, that just wasn’t right. And Ukyou desperately wanted to do the right thing. She hardened herself, her determination and resolve holding up as best she could muster them.

Well, she thought with a hint of melancholy, Time to move on. Life goes on, right?

She smiled weakly at that thought and looked up to see Konatsu standing in the doorway. He was wearing male clothing for a change, and did in fact look somewhat like a guy. Not that that made much difference. He was still Konatsu, after all. Besides, the "guards" at the service that Nabiki had hired on to control the ‘mayhem’ (of which there was actually surprisingly little) wouldn’t let Konatsu in when they found out ‘her’ little secret.

"Ukyou-sama, are you going to be okay?" he said, absently wiping off one of the tables.

Ukyou nodded, only dimly aware that her eyes had been watering. Konatsu’s eyes spoke his concern, but he continued cleaning nevertheless. Ukyou stood and turned to walk out of the still open shoji door, onto the empty streets. Konatsu glanced up as she slipped out.

"Where are you going?" He said so suddenly it made her jump. She turned on him with a somewhat agitated expression.

"Just outside for a moment, that’s all." She said, annoyed. "Is that okay with you?"

"Okay then." Konatsu said motherly. "Just be careful, okay?"

Ukyou scowled at him visibly. He shrank away.

"I can take care of myself, thanks." She sneered. Konatsu said nothing, and he resumed cleaning.

Ukyou turned and walked out into the cold Nerima night. She shivered slightly as a strong wind cut a swath down the street, blowing her long, auburn hair behind her. She cursed herself for not tying it up with a white ribbon, like she usually did, and considered going back in for one. But, for some reason, she decided not to. She didn’t know why, and another cold breeze cut her thoughts short. It was late fall, and the weather reflected how she felt. Cold. Her whole life had, up until this point, been guided. The path had been straight and the goals clear. Before she came to Nerima, it was revenge. After that, it was love. Or, at least, what she had thought was love. Now it was neither. Her whole life had suddenly been flipped over in one day.

As she strolled down the street, her mind drifted back to the wedding ceremony. Ranma had looked so handsome in his tuxedo. Akane looked good, too, as much as Ukyou had hated to admit it. Konatsu had cried. Ukyou hadn’t. She’d been ready for this. Somehow, distantly in her mind, she knew it would end like this. She supposed she'd always known. Ranma and Akane belonged together. Sadly, she surmised, she was bound by the cruel fate of God, or whatever thing determined these types of things, to be alone. She turned down the street and continued to stroll in the chilled night, her face to the wind.

Nerima. The City of Broken Dreams, she mused. Sighing, she looked at the place she’d called home for so long. Before tonight, it had offered her so much promise for the future: A handsome, strong fiancee, friends, a good school, and a thriving business. But now, things were different. The bleak, silent buildings were cold too. They only reminded her of her loss and her failure. This place wasn’t home anymore. Suddenly, Ukyou found herself wanting to leave very badly. She wanted to just go away. Away from all of this, away from the pain and sorrow. She felt the warm tears sliding down her cheek and she choked back her sobs. Just to go away...

Go Away...

"Um, excuse me, but I was wondering if you could tell me how to leave town from here ?" a deep, male voice said from behind, and Ukyou jerked. She had been wallowed in her self-depreciating thoughts in the middle of the street. Geez, she thought, spinning around, That’s pretty depressing. Before she even turned around, she knew who it was. Somehow, she just knew.
"Hello, Ryouga." She said as she turned to face him, trying her best to act cheerful.

He looked the same as he always did. Long sleeved yellow shirt that opened across the left breast, green pants tied at the ankles, and an orange and yellow bandanna partially covered by his thick black hair. His blue eyes sparkled with the same sadness Ukyou imagined hers must have looked like, only there were no traces of tears. He grinned politely at her and she couldn’t help but notice his fangs.

"Oh, Ukyou, hello." He said cheerfully. "I didn’t realize it was you..." His voice seemed to trail off. A look of either confusion or concern patched his face. "Have you been crying?" he asked.

She smiled weakly. "Oh, it’s nothing, sugar. Don’t worry about it." He nodded. She felt he understood why she was weeping.

"Okay," he said, "If you’re sure..."
"Positive. It’ll pass. I always cry at weddings." She said, smiling.

"Right." He said, but she detected no sarcasm in his voice. "I get you. Sorry to trouble you..."

"N-no! That’s...okay..." she said suddenly, with a speed that surprised her. Ryouga, who had been turning to go God-knows-where, looked at her, more than a little confused.

"Are you...sure you’re okay?" he said, facing her.

She decided to change the subject. "So, where are you headed off to?" She asked, noting the large backpack he was carrying. Then again, she reminded herself, he always carried that thing around. Well, at least it was a new topic. Ryouga gazed out to the horizon, and the wind slithered by again, tussling his hair slightly.

"Oh, I don’t know." He said finally. "Somewhere. China, maybe. Or Korea. Or even Taiwan, I guess. I want to get out there, you know? See the world." He sighed, as if the weight of his words were burdening him. "I think I want to just...just..."

"...Go away?" she finished, and he turned to her. He nodded with a certain sense of finality.

"Right." He said sadly. "Away. This place is full of too many bad memories, you know?"

"The city of broken dreams..." She muttered under her breath. Ryouga raised his eyebrow, a look of confusion resting on his face.

"Huh? Sorry, I didn’t hear you." He said.

She offered him a slight smile. "I was saying I know what you mean. I was thinking the same thing myself...about going away for a while, I mean."

"Really?" Ryouga said, smiling to show his little fangs.

Peculiar, Ukyou thought to herself. I’ve never noticed those before. Kinda cute, in a weird way. She shook that errant though back to whatever crevasse of her psyche it had crawled from.

"Ummm, so, where are you going to go then?" Ryouga asked, smiling at the turnabout of the situation. This time it was Ukyou’s turn to look away, choosing to glance down at her feet.

"Not really sure. I never thought about it before, you know?" she said distantly. " I...always assumed I was gonna settle down here...with Ranchan..." Ryouga nodded.

"Yeah, me too..." He said. Ukyou shot him a quizzical glance. He thought for a moment, then waved his arms in an emphatic "Its-not-like-that" gesture. "N-not with Ranma! I mean...with someone else...Eh heh heh..."

"Anyway," he said, trying desperately to veer the conversation away from making him look dumb, "What I MEANT was that you never really know where you’re going. You just go, and fate does the rest. It’s like..." He seemed to wrestle with it for a moment. "Like...like falling in a river, I guess. It flows. You just have to follow along and hope there’s a branch somewhere along the line you can grab onto..."

There was a wisdom in his words, she noticed, somewhere hidden among the stuttered and bumbled phrases and half-phrases. She never knew whether or not it was there, but this was the first time she’d caught it. He seemed different, somehow. She guessed the realization that Akane really did love Ranma did it to him. He was definantly more mature, at any rate. Still watching him blunder through this conversation with her seemed to her eerily reminiscent of Akane and Ranma’s few nonviolent conversations. It was unsettling, to say the least.

"Say, sugar." She said with a sudden clarity that caught him off guard. "Wandering around like that all the time, does it ever get lonely?"

Ryouga sighed. He supposed it would be, now. Plans for winning Akane from the womanizing Ranma and inflicting some kind of permanent bodily harm to him had always been enough to occupy his mind before, but what about now?

"Yeah." He said finally. "I suppose it will...er, does. Traveling out in the mountains or woods, there really aren’t that many people to talk to, you know? Animals...they don’t talk that much..." He chuckled halfheartedly at this statement. Ukyou smiled a little. She could picture Ryouga sitting by a campfire laying on his woes to some poor wolf that had just happened to walk by.

"You know," she said coyly, looking up at him, "If you were looking for a traveling companion, I think I’d like to tag along." Ryouga looked stunned at first, then confused, then it shifted to a little of both.

"Y-you mean it?" He said, looking down at her. "Are you sure? It’s not a very fun life. I don’t think you’d be cut out for it."

"What is that supposed to mean?!?" she shouted angrily. Ryouga cringed reflexively, waving his hands in a frantic "It’s-not-like-that-either" gesture.

"I-I-I-I-" he stuttered helplessly. "I m-meant...er...I...um...If you want to..."

She looked up at him, and perhaps for the first time noticed how beautiful his eyes were. They sparkled in the moonlight, and they were full of something, something unspoken but grand in scope. Innocence perhaps. The pure innocence of youth. She nodded.

"As long as you promise we’ll go away from this place." She said thoughtfully. "Besides, we can make it fun. There’ll be two of us from now on. Besides, I’m sure you get tired of eating roots or dirt or whatever it is you wandering martial artist-type guys eat whenever you’re...wandering. I am a pretty good cook, after all. So, what’dya say, sugar?"

Ryouga nodded to the pretty brown haired girl who now stood, smiling, in front of him. Could this really be happening? Why did she all of a sudden want to come away from here? Didn’t Ukyou live here? Then, looking at her, he realized something. She must feel the same way he did after he saw Akane and Ranma wed. She probably wanted to get away from this place and the Tendo Dojo to forget all the things they did to get the affections of the people who would never really love them. She wanted to forget the person she had become, and become a new one. Reflecting on this, he couldn’t say no, could he?

"Far away." He said somewhat dreamily. "I’m not always sure I know where I’m going, so we could end up here by mistake again sometime. But, we wouldn’t have to talk to anyone. We could just turn around and leave, or..."

His voice trailed off again. She smiled at him, and something about her smile made him feel happy. He returned it. He knew how unhappy she was when he’d found her here, and talking to her made him feel better, and seemed to make her smile. That was good, because she was sort of cute when she smiled. In a weird way.

"Come back to the restaurant with me tonight." She said. "I’ll need to settle a few things before I go. Say my good-byes and all, you know?"

Ryouga nodded. "Gotcha." He replied. The two turned and began to walk back to Ucchan’s, the cold winds licking their backs. He began to veer off slightly and she reached over, almost without thinking, and grasped his hand to guide him.

He stopped.

"What’s wrong, sugar?" she said, looking back at him. He blushed furiously and glanced at their interlocked hands. Ukyou blushed herself, then immediately cursed herself for it.

"Don’t read more into that than there is, pig-boy." She snapped sarcastically. " I just don’t want you wandering off on me." She turned back around and continued to lead him forward. Ryouga went without a word.

II

"Leaving?" Konatsu wailed. "No, Ukyou-sama, you can’t go away!"

Ukyou frowned at the feminine boy in front of her. She knew this was going to be hard before she even began. She had considered not even saying anything to him, but she had a feeling that Konatsu would probably come looking for her if she were to just leave. Knowing her luck, he’d probably find her.

"Was it something I did?" he cried pathetically, on the brink of tears. "I’m sorry! I’ll make it up to you, I swear!"

Ukyou shot a glance at Ryouga, who stood silent in the doorway, arms folded across his chest. He said nothing. Apparently he felt this was something she could handle. She made a mental note to get him back for that later.

"No, no, it’s not that." She said, trying to sound sympathetic. "I just need to get away for a while, that’s all. I need time to clear my mind."

"I’ll come with you." He said suddenly, with great determination. Ukyou frowned inwardly. She definantly didn’t want to be traveling with Konatsu for what could be a very long time. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Konatsu; He was a great employee and a sympathetic friend. But, the fact that he felt a certain way for her always made her...uncomfortable. She just didn’t see Konatsu as a boyfriend. She shook her head and thought she could hear the boy’s heart drop. Then, her eyes brightened. She new exactly how to get him to stay behind.

"No, you have to stay here." She said softly, yet sternly. "Watch the restaurant. I worked very hard for it, and I’m not going to see it just fade away to nothing. It’s yours now, Konatsu. Please, do that for me." She looked him dead in the eyes, waiting for a reply. He seemed shaken, but nodded.

Ukyou-sama giving up her restaurant?? He thought. "You’re really serious..." He said meekly. He hesitated for a moment, then cleared his throat. "I want you to be happy, Ukyou-sama. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, you know. If this is what you want, then I’ll do it."

Ukyou smiled and hugged him. A friendly hug. And, perhaps for the first time, Konatsu knew that was all that it was. He accepted that she didn’t love him like he loved her, and now he was sure. He’d always held a little hope in the back of his heart that maybe someday she would. But he was smart. He’d seen what that type of thing had done to Ukyou regarding Ranma on many occasions. As always, he adapted. Like any respectable Ninja, he adapted.

"Thank you. You’re a true friend, Konatsu-san." She said, releasing the hug. He smiled at her.

"Will you come back to visit, then?" He said, and his voice sounded somewhat stronger. Less,.... well....less like a girl. Ukyou glanced at Ryouga, who bowed his head. She smiled at him and then turned back.

Note to self, she thought, scratch that revenge note from earlier.

"Of course." She said happily. "After all, I have to check in on my restaurant to make sure you haven’t driven it into bankruptcy."

Konatsu grinned ever so slightly. "Of course." he said meekly. She gave him one last hug.

"Because, if you have," she added, smiling, "I’ll kill you."

Not sure whether or not she was kidding, Konatsu smiled and chuckled uneasily. Ukyou smiled back obliviously and then turned back to Ryouga.

"I need to get a few things, sugar." She said. "Money to buy supplies, things like that."

"Money?" He frowned. "We don't need money." He said. "We have more than we could ever need in the wilderness."

She shrugged. Ryouga had seemed to stay healthy out there, so he must know what he was talking about. Smiling slightly, she turned and scurried to her bedroom at the back of the restaurant. Ryouga walked over to where Konatsu was still standing, and put a hand on the ninja’s shoulder.

"That was quite a thing you just did, Konatsu." He said. "I know how hard it is to let go of someone you love." Konatsu looked up at him with tearing eyes.

"Just be sure to take care of her, or I’ll find you and kill you." He said, sniffing. Ryouga smiled.

"I promise." He said. "Besides, she’s a pretty good fighter. I’m sure she can take care of herself." Konatsu glanced back at the back of the restaurant.

"Indeed," he agreed. "She’s quite a woman, Ryouga. I could only hope to be half the woman she is someday."

Ryouga reflected on this for a moment after staring quizzically at Konatsu for a few seconds. Come to think of it, Ukyou was a woman. He’d never really noticed before.

Well, he surmised, I guess it’s good I realize that now, since we’re gonna be spending so much time together.

"I suppose she is, Konatsu." He said finally. "I suppose she is..."

Konatsu shot him a concerned glance. Ryouga noticed it, but put his hands up defensively.

"Hey, we’re just friends." He said. Konatsu nodded, although he seemed unconvinced. Plus, there was this strangely unsettling deviousness in the shine of his eyes that Ryouga didn’t care for. He shook the feeling off as he saw Ukyou emerge from the back room with a moderately sized backpack on.

The large combat spatula she used as a weapon was strapped onto it, as was a portable okonomiyaki grill. She wore a traveling outfit not unlike the clothes Ranma wore, but hers were more tailored to her (now that he actually looked at it) slim yet well-proportioned body. Her shirt was dark blue, too, instead of Ranma’s usual red color. She grinned at the two men in front of her.

Geez, I haven’t worn this getup since I got here... her mind commented offhandedly, as some minds tend to do. Is it just me or is it a little tight? Nevertheless, the boys seemed impressed. Well, Ryouga at any rate. Inwardly, that made her smile. She wasn’t even trying to be sensual, on top of that.

"Well, I’m ready." She said. "Shall we?"

Ryouga nodded. Ukyou walked over to Konatsu and gave him one final hug. He wanted to hold her tightly, but he let her release him without resistance. Dully, he noted Ryouga was right. Letting go was hard.

"Goodbye, Konatsu-kun." She said.

"Goodbye, Ukyou-sama." He said. "Take care of yourself."

"Oh, don’t worry." She said. "Ryouga’s with me. If worse comes to worse, I’ll just push him in the way."

Ryouga frowned. "Hey, wait a minute-"

She turned and smiled deviously at him. Then she walked out into the Nerima night. Ryouga scowled and then extended his hand to Konatsu, who took it and shook.

"Goodbye, Konatsu." He said. Konatsu nodded.

"Sionara, Ryouga-san." He said in a very male voice, somewhat uncharacteristic for him. "Good luck."

Ryouga disengaged the handshake, and, with a final look, turned and walked out after Ukyou, careful not to get lost. Konatsu sighed as the door closed behind them. He looked around the restaurant, his hands on his hips.

"Konatsu’s." He said with some small self-satisfaction. "I like it."

And, with that, Konatsu let go. And he felt free. It was a wonderful feeling. He began to wipe off the counter, whistling to himself. Adapting wasn’t so hard. His masters would have been pleased.

III

Ranma struggled to snap out of the sea of sleep he had been swimming in only moments ago. It was a warm, nice, happy place. No tomboy wives tried to hit him with extradimensional mallets there. He wanted to be back there very badly. He stood shakily, then checked to make sure he was still a guy. With his luck, one never knew. He took one uncertain step forward, then another, nearly kicking the panda sleeping beside him. He was at least glad Pop hadn’t forced he and Akane to sleep in the same room yet. He figured the old man wanted to give them time to adjust before pulling a stunt like that. Then, he remembered what had gotten him up in the first place. Someone was knocking on the door.

Crap, he thought absently as he headed downstairs, who the hell could that be at this time of night?

He got to the door and rested his head on it for a moment before opening it up. Today had been a living hell for him. Luckily, the wedding ceremony hadn’t turned into a gigantic brawl, as Nabiki had predicted. That was good, at least. Plus, Akane had looked good in that wedding gown. No, not just good, he thought. Beautiful. She looked very beautiful. He told her, too. That was definantly weird, given that he generally wasn’t very good at that kind of thing. But, he’d done it, nonetheless.

And she’d blushed.

He smiled at the thought of that. She really liked him. A lot. And he liked her. He supposed it was somewhat of a moot point now, being that they were married and all, but still...

No, wait, he thought, that isn’t right.

He considered it for a moment, then his mind pulled the curtain of doubt away. He liked her a lot. He’d have to remember to tell her that sometime, like when there weren’t any heavy objects around. When he tried to say things like that, those objects seemed to have a knack of hitting him. His thought train, still desperately trying to pick up steam, was interrupted by another knock, hammering at the headache he already had.

"Ranma, who’s at the door?" He heard Kasumi’s voice drift down from the stairs. Ranma sighed and rolled his eyes. He slid the door open angrily.

"Yeah, what the he-" He began irritably, but stopped when he saw Ukyou there.

She wasn’t wearing her okonomiyaki chef’s outfit, though. She wore a dark blue shirt like his and some form-fitting black pants. Her spatula was attached to a backpack. Ryouga (of all people) stood behind her, a stone cold look on his face. Ukyou, however, smiled cheerfully. Ranma groaned inwardly.
Here it came. The brawl Nabiki had predicted. He braced himself.

"Ucchan...P-Chan?" he said stupidly, at a loss for any other words. "What’s...wrong?"

Ryouga gritted his teeth and reflexively leapt at Ranma, snarling at the mention of his accursed alias, but Ukyou quickly stepped in the way, forcing him to a stop.

"I...we...just came by to say goodbye, Ranchan." She said sweetly, but sternly. Ranma paled, somewhat shocked by this. He had expected a fight, not this. Ukyou was leaving?

"Goodbye?" He whispered. "We?" Ukyou nodded.

"Ryouga’s going to travel the world, and I’m tagging along. I don’t know when I’ll be coming back, or if I ever am. I gave the restaurant away, to Konatsu. He’s not as good a cook as I am, but I’m sure he’ll do okay. Be sure to throw your business his way." She said, looking down at her feet.

"I hope you and Akane are very happy together." She blurted out, as if it were a rehearsed line. Ranma stood stupefied, only vaguely noticing Ryouga’s now placid hand squeeze Ukyou’s shoulder comfortingly. She reached up and laid her own hand on his, glancing at him and smiling in gratitude. She was glad he was here. He certainly was a lot nicer than she thought. Sweeter, anyway. More sympathetic. She’d assumed he was more...shallow than that. First impressions do not lend themselves too well to being lasting impressions, she surmised.

"Are you sure about this, Ucchan?" Ranma said, his face stern. She nodded.

"I’m letting you go, Rancha-, Ranma." She said softly. "I want you to have a happy life. This place...this town...is full of bad memories. I want to get away. I don’t like the person I became when I tried to make you love me. I want to be someone else. Someone...better. I hope you understand."

Ranma nodded wordlessly. Then, he looked over to Ryouga. "What about you, P-Chan?" he said. "You coming back?"

"I thought you heard, Ranma," Ryouga said, a slight twinge of annoyance in his voice. "We don’t know."

Ranma nodded. Ryouga returned it. Distantly, Ranma felt as if a great weight were suddenly lifted from him. Maybe he wasn’t going to have as many gray hairs as he thought he would. Or at least, he’d have more ribs than he thought he would. Good ones, at that. Things were definantly looking up.

"Take good care of Akane, Ranma." Ryouga said.

"Same to you, P-Chan." Ranma sneered. "You better make sure nothing happens to Ucchan, or else."

"Understood." Ryouga said. There was a moment of silence. Ryouga swallowed hard, preparing himself for what he wanted to say next. What he had to say. What he’d give anything not to have to say.

"Thanks." he choked out finally. Ranma looked at him quizzically. Ryouga continued, undaunted.

"Thanks for...everything. You always made me so mad, I'd never be as good a martial artist as I am if it weren't for you, Ranma."

Ranma was silent, letting this sink in. Ryouga was actually thanking him for something?

"You know, Saotome," he said, looking Ranma dead in the eye, "You may not realize it, but you were one of the closest things to a friend I've had. I...just wanted you...to know that."

"No problem." Ranma said, grinning slowly. It was all he could do to keep his jaw from going through the floor. "Thanks to you, too. You kept me on my toes. Hell, I actually enjoyed it, sometimes."

Ryouga nodded in agreement. "Sometimes." He extended his arm, and Ranma took his hand and shook after some hesitation.

"But not often..." Ryouga added.

"No." Ranma agreed.

"Geez," Ukyou giggled, breaking the somber tone of the moment, "Isn’t this sentimental? Why couldn’t we have all done this sooner?"

There was silence. No one really knew the answer. Finally, Ryouga spoke up.

"Ranma, tell Akane goodbye for me."

Ranma smiled. "Sure thing, P-Chan."

Ryouga grinned a little, showing his fangs. "Damn." he muttered, in a slightly ironic tone, "I’m actually gonna miss that nickname."

"I’ll call you P-Chan every once in a while, if you really want me to." Ukyou said. Ryouga shot her a menacing glare, and she smiled. She waved at Ranma one last time. "Have a good life, Ranma."

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Ranma said. She looked up for a moment, then smiled.

"Yes. Name your first daughter after me." She said. Ranma’s eyes widened, but by then she had already turned away. Ranma was left staring at Ryouga, who was struggling for the proper thing to say.

"Don’t...uh, don’t die, I guess." Ryouga muttered under his breath. Then, he and Ukyou turned and walked off into the night. Ranma watched them until they disappeared into the cold, inky black, and then slid the shoji door closed with a heavy sigh. He turned to see Kasumi standing on the stairs.

"Ranma, who was that at the door this late?" she said sweetly.

"Just someone looking for directions." Ranma said with a twinge of sadness. Better not to bring this up tonight, he thought.

"Oh." Kasumi said cheerfully. "You should have invited them in. It’s very cold tonight." Ranma sighed. He often wondered how she could be so nice and still be sane.

"Well, I hope they find what they’re looking for." She said sweetly as she began to climb the stairwell.

Ranma smiled. "So do I." He said softly.

Distantly, he hoped whatever had come over the two of them was affecting Shampoo and Mousse similarly. He dismissed that thought. After all, he didn’t want to press his luck.

IV

Ryouga stared out at the entrance to Akari Unryuu’s house, not moving. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead, and a lump hung heavy in his throat. He looked at Ukyou, who returned his glance with concern.

"Ryouga, are you sure about this?" she said. "She could just assume you wandered off and disappeared. She’d never know. She’d get over it, eventually."

Ryouga shook his head, his resolve iron-forged. "I wouldn’t." He said. "I...couldn’t do that. She...She has to be told. She has to know...so she can move on and...and be happy." He grimaced and looked off into the nighttime sky.

Ukyou nodded and placed a hand on his arm. He looked at her and smiled warmly before going up to the door and knocking. A few moments later, a sleepy yet cute girl with light brown hair and two pink streaks in it answered the door. Upon seeing Ryouga, her expression brightened and she leapt onto him, wrapping herself around him tightly. Ukyou smirked. Ryouga, unsure of what to do, blushed fiercely.

"Oh, Ryo-chan," Akari purred. "I’m so glad you came by! You must be tired and hungry! Come in and I’ll cook you something nice while you take a warm bath."

"Um, Akari-" Ryouga began to say, but stopped when he noticed she was now staring at Ukyou with an unusual look. She hugged Ryouga tighter, almost protectively.

"Ukyou!" She said cheerfully, although Ryouga could hear something else in her voice. Something... unusual. Something not too nice.

"Whatever are you doing here so late? Did you guide Ryouga here?" she said. "Thank you!"

Ukyou looked at her feet, unsure of what to say. Akari became visibly concerned. She looked up at Ryouga, still attached to him.

"Ryo-chan, what’s going on?" she said seriously. "Is there something wrong?"

Ryouga sighed and gently detached the affectionate girl from him, placing her on the ground. He took her hands into his own and swallowed. Hard.

"A-Akari, I-I have...I have to go...a-away..." He said, his voice breaking slightly. "I...I don’t know when I’m coming back, either..." Akari’s eyes began to well up with tears. Her lower lip began to quiver. Nevertheless, Ryouga pressed on.

"...I may never b-be."

That did it. Akari felt her knees go weak and suddenly give out, and she fell against the man she loved, weeping into his chest. He held her, afraid she may fall were he to let go. Finally, she looked up at Ukyou with an expression that could only be pure hatred.

"Shameless hussy!" She shouted, sniffling. "Tramp! Floozy! You did this to him, didn’t you?"

Ukyou turned bright red, but with anger or embarrassment Ryouga couldn’t tell. He hoped it was the latter.

"No, Akari, it doesn’t have anything to do with Ukyou. I-" he began, but was cut off when Akari shoved him off of her. He stumbled back, but managed to retain his balance.

"Fine, then!" She shouted at the two of them. "You want him? He’s all yours! I’m not going to go on loving a man who always puts me second to something or someone else!"

"Akari, wait, it’s not what you-" Ryouga began, but was cut off by the slamming of her front door.

"-Think..." He finished in what was almost a whisper. The two of them stood outside for a few moments in silence. Ryouga sank to his knees, a stunned look on his face. He turned and looked at Ukyou with distant eyes. To her, they weren’t so beautiful now. She considered mercy-hugging him, but decided not to show so much open affection for a man she barely knew. Instead, she patted his shoulder comfortingly. He shrugged it off.

"Let’s go." Ryouga said coldly, starting off towards the high school grounds. Despite his attitude, Ukyou couldn’t help but smile. He really had no clue where he was going. She ran up to him and grasped his hand with her own. Dully, she noted that his hand was very warm, comforting. She began to lead him out of town, opposite the way he had been heading.

"It’s this way, sugar." She said. Ryouga, despite his emotional state, smiled.

"Uh, thanks." He said, trying not to sound stupid. "I...appreciate it."

She turned and smiled at him. "Hey, what are friends for, right?" she said playfully.

Indeed, Ryouga thought. This is going to be very interesting.

As they walked out of Nerima together into the great unknown, hand in hand, Ukyou thought the same thing. Distantly, the cold wind eased, if only for a moment.

End of Chapter One.

© 2004 horiuchi_tetsuro_1@yahoo.com