"Fast As I Can: Part 1"
by Jennifer De Salme a.k.a. Mercedes matoko_hibiki@excite.com
http://www.oocities.org/Tokyo/Springs/4862

DISCLAIMER: To get the official stuff out of the way first... Konatsu, Ukyou, Ryouga, Akari, Ranma, Akane, and anyone I may have missed, belong to Rumiko Takahashi. The exceptions are Yasubi Ichikawa and, later on, Matoko Hibiki; those two belong to me. Ukyou's father makes an appearance in here somewhere, as do Ryouga's parents, but I'm not really sure whom they would belong to. I'm using a mixed manga/ anime timeline, the same one used in the "Future of Nerima" RPG on the above web site.

This story does contain some MATURE CONTENT, in the form of some light swearing, possible violence, and a lime scene later on. Repeat, lime, NOT lemon. Actually, this story will probably have a rating somewhere around PG to PG-13 here in the States.

Note: 'text' = thoughts, _text_ = emphasis, *text* = noise/action
******
Timeline: Three years and approximately 5 months after manga volume 38, or the last episode of the anime.

***
Somewhere

Ryouga was depressed.

Not that this would seem like anything new to most people, but to anyone who knew about his life for the past year and a half, it would almost come as a surprise. When Ryouga finally relinquished his claim on Akane to Ranma, the lost boy left Nerima in search of the other woman he loved, Akari Unryuu. After a few weeks of wandering, the unusual happened and she found him.

Until recently he had been almost deliriously happy. He loved Akari with all his heart and she loved him back, despite his faults. Ever since Ranma and Akane's wedding, however, things had begun to crop up between them that made Ryouga doubt his feelings for the pig-training young woman.

After the wedding and the curing en masse of all the local Jusenkyo victims, himself included, Ryouga had been truly happy for the first time in his life. He was cured! No more turning into a pig every time he was hit with water and having to worry about people trying to cook him for dinner. No more worrying that Akane would someday find out about his curse and mallet him into orbit. He didn't even mind that he had Ranma to thank for it. In his mind, it nearly made up for all of the hell that Ryouga had gone through because of Ranma.

Akari, however, appeared to be less than overjoyed at his change in cursed status. She seemed happy enough for him, but a little frown always seemed to appear on her face whenever he had been splashed with cold water since then. She looked almost disappointed that nothing happened and he remained human.

He'd shrugged it off, thinking she would become used to him being human all of the time. After a few months, though, that little frown had not disappeared from her usually cheerful demeanor.

On top of that, Ryouga had started to become restless with Akari's sedentary life. He had spent most of his life traveling, never in one place for longer than a few weeks. Even before Ranma and Akane's wedding he had managed to get lost enough times to make having a stable home with Akari a relief. Since the wedding, though, Akari had been keeping a closer eye on him and had prevented him from wandering any further than the farm's perimeter fence unless he was with her or her grandfather. He hadn't been wandering in months and his feet were itching for the open road and the freedom he felt when he traveled. He wouldn't be going anywhere, if Akari had anything to say about it.

His uneasiness grew as the weeks rolled by. Akari immersed herself almost entirely into training her family's sumo pigs. It got to a point where he only saw her at meals and right before they went to bed at night. The few times that they had a moment alone together she appeared to be perfectly happy, but there was a sad regret lurking behind her loving gaze.

In a last desperate move to salvage a relationship that seemed to be crumbling as he watched, Ryouga crept into her room one night a couple of weeks previous to talk to her. He couldn't quite remember how it started, but one thing led to another, and that somehow had led to the two of them in bed together, naked. They made love for the first time that night, but it was like two people clinging to a sinking boat in a storm, trying desperately to bail water from a vessel broken beyond repair. There was little emotion in their actions, only the frantic need to hold together the pieces of the love they had once shared.

The next morning, before even Grandfather Unryuu awoke to take care of the pigs, Ryouga slipped out of Akari's arms and, through some miracle, managed to make it to his own room in a matter of minutes. He changed into his traveling clothes and shouldered his backpack and umbrella. The gods decided to allow a second miracle to happen as he found his way out of the house in less than twenty minutes.

With a final glance behind him, the lost boy lived up to his nick-name and promptly disappeared into the forest surrounding the farm, knowing that it was unlikely that he'd ever be able to find it again. The emotions he had felt the night before had decided him that this was the best course of action, however. He still cared for Akari, but he had realized that night that he didn't love her.

It wasn't long before Ryouga also discovered that he had no where left to go. Always before he had been searching for someone, whether it was seeking out Ranma for revenge, or Akane and Akari for love. The first two people were married and he had forgiven Ranma for most of his crimes anyway after Ranma had cured the Jusenkyo victims of Nerima.

He had just managed to effectively eliminate the third person on that painfully short list. Even if he could find his way back to the Unryuu farm, he wasn't sure if he wanted to.

So, he fell back on what he had done before even his vendetta on Ranma. He wandered and let himself sink into the black depression brought on by the total unfairness of his life.

Without him noticing, Ryouga's misguided sense of direction led him out of the countryside and into the crowded streets of a city.

****
Ucchan's Okonamiyaki

"Ukyou? Ukyou, the dinner rush has started and we could really use your help."

Ukyou looked up from her book and blinked at Konatsu in the failing light. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced at the darkening sky beyond the window.

"When did it get so late?" She mumbled to herself. Standing, she looked back at her "waitress," and waved him towards the door. "Go back and make sure that Yasubi hasn't ruined any orders. I'll be down in a minute."

He nodded and left her bedroom, closing the door behind him. She stared at it for a moment, then, marking her place in her textbook with a scrap of notebook paper, she began to change into her chef's uniform. As she pulled the tee shirt she'd worn to classes that morning over her head, she thought back on how her life had suddenly managed to get so complicated.

After she graduated high school, she had signed up for courses at one of the area colleges. As she had done in high school, Ukyou took all of her classes in the morning and returned to "Ucchan's" in the afternoon to help Konatsu and Yasubi with the lunch and supper rushes. The difference, however, came in the fact that she had to take classes nearly year round to make up for the ones she would have taken in the afternoon and evening. It left little time for a social life.

Not like she'd had much of one to begin with.

She still had some close friends, Ranma, Akane, and a few that she had made at college. The latter group she rarely saw out of classes since they all lived on campus. The former two were too busy with their own college classes to visit the restaurant, not to mention the fact that they attended a different school then her. Then, of course, there was all the time they spent enjoying their newly wed status.

The chef grimaced mentally at that last one as she closed her bedroom door. It had been six months since the wedding, over a year since Ranma had formally proposed to Akane, and yet it still hurt her to think that she had lost him. After spending over a decade of her life obsessing about him in one form or another, stopping was proving to be quite a challenge.

'All this time and my thoughts still lead back to him, one way or another.' Ukyou sighed inwardly and headed down the stairs towards the restaurant section of the building.

As she pushed the door-curtain aside and entered the dining area, she was mildly surprised at the number of customers. All of the tables were full and a couple of people sat at the counter in front of the grill.

Yasubi Ichikawa waved to her from behind the grill where she worked on the restaurant's side dishes. After the disaster that had occurred last time Ukyou allowed the woman to try making okonamiyaki, side dishes were all she was allowed to cook. She was good at her job and Ukyou had done well to hire her, but Yasubi had a dangerous habit of getting recipes mixed up.

Konatsu smiled at as he slid by his employer, hands full with the orders he had just finished. He'd become a competent okonamiyaki chef over the years, but still couldn't do anything fancy.

Ukyou took her place behind the grill and let herself fall into the familiar rhythm of cooking. As she settled into her work, her sordid thoughts from earlier drifted to the back of her mind. She'd think about her personal life later. Right now, the only things that were important were the customers and the grill in front of her.
***
That night

Ukyou yawned as she put away the last of the dishes. It was late, almost three hours past closing, and she'd sent Yasubi and Konatsu home over an hour ago.

After wiping her hands dry on the dishtowel, she poured herself a cup of tea and moved out into the dining area. The building was quiet at night now that Konatsu was living with Yasubi. Ukyou usually treasured that silence as opposed to when Konatsu had been fawning over her. Tonight, however, the silence only made her feel more lonely.

She sat down at one of the tables next to the window and looked out into the night. The street was empty since most people were home asleep by this time of night. She sighed and tried to ignore the tightening in her throat that usually heralded tears. It was nights like these that made her feel as if she was the only person on earth.

Ukyou shook her head and took a sip of her cooling tea. Thoughts like that had been unusual for her, but they seemed to be coming more often nowadays, usually when the loneliness hit her the worst. She stared down at her teacup for a moment, clearing her mind. When she looked up, the street was no longer empty.

A man stood in the light cast onto the street through the restaurant's windows. His back was turned to her, so she couldn't see his face, but something about him tickled her memory. A huge backpack rested easily on his shoulders; a red bamboo umbrella strapped to the top. He wore a ragged cloak with the hood pulled down revealing scruffy black hair tied back with a black and yellow bandanna.

'Wait a minute, I know that bandanna!' Ukyou got to her feet and moved quickly to the door as the man began to move away. She opened the door and walked out into the street.

"Ryouga?" She called. "Is that you?"

He stopped and turned to face her. He blinked at her wearily for a moment before answering.

"Ukyou? What are you doing in Osaka?"

Ukyou rolled her eyes. "You're not in Osaka, Ryouga. You're in Nerima and you're standing in front of my restaurant."

"Oh," he replied, his voice thick with exhaustion. "Sorry, I'll move." He started walking again.

The chef frowned slightly. He looked the most depressed she'd seen him in months. Besides the listless responses, his clothes were dust covered and he looked a bit unsteady on his feet.

"Ryouga, wait."

He stopped, but didn't turn around. Ukyou walked over to him.

"Would you like to come inside? I can make you up something to eat and you can rest for a while."

He smiled down at her gratefully and she led him into the restaurant, seating him at the table she had been sitting at. He set his pack down with a creak of the floorboards and rested his arm on the table, leaning his head wearily onto his hand. After a moment, he closed his eyes.

Ukyou went into the kitchen for the recently cleaned cooking utensils and to get the okonamiyaki batter from the fridge. When she returned, Ryouga was snoring softly, his head still propped up on his hand. She shook her head slightly and walked behind the grill. 'Poor guy must have been exhausted.' She thought as she cooked.

A few minutes later, the smell of hot food brought Ryouga out of the doze he had fallen into. Ukyou set the plate of okonamiyaki and a cup of tea in front of him and took the seat across the table from him.

As he hungrily dug into the meal, she gave him a questioning look. "So, sugar, what are you doing wandering around alone? I would have thought you'd be with that Akari girl you were all cozy with at the wedding."

Ryouga stopped eating, but continued to stare at his plate. "We-- we broke up."

"Oh." Ukyou winced sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right." He shrugged and took a bite of okonamiyaki. "I've been kind of avoiding thinking about it since I left."

"How long ago was that?"

He looked blank for a moment then glanced up at her. "Um...what's today?"

She rolled her eyes and told him.

"About a month, give or take." He turned his attention back to the food in front of him. Although she couldn't see his face through the curtain of his bangs, the chef noticed his shoulders slump slightly.

Ukyou debated silently whether or not to continue the line of conversation. It was obviously a painful topic for him still, but she was really curious as to why two people who had seemed to be totally enamored with each other would suddenly break up. As he cleaned the last bites of okonamiyaki off the plate, curiosity won over.

"Why did you break up?" She asked carefully, remembering suddenly how dangerous Ryouga could become if talking about this served to make him more depressed then he already was.

He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, holding the cup of tea in his hands. He met her eyes for a moment before staring down at the cooling drink.

"Something changed in the way we thought about each other..." Taking a sip of tea, he slowly told Ukyou about the months after Ranma and Akane's wedding. How Akari seemed to become so distant towards him, yet went to great lengths to keep him confined to the farm. Ukyou had a feeling that Ryouga was leaving something out when he evaded her question about why Akari began to act like that, but she didn't press him. He was eager enough to talk to someone about what had gone wrong with his and Akari's relationship, despite his earlier hesitation, and Ukyou seemed willing to listen to the confession.

Silence fell between them as he finished his tale. It wasn't the empty, lonely silence of before, but one of contemplation.

"So, sugar, what're you going to do now?" She asked quietly after a few moments.

If possible, Ryouga began to look even more miserable. "I don't know. Always before when I... went traveling... I was searching for Ranma, Akane, or Akari. Now..." He shook his head. "I have nothing left to search for."

Ukyou's heart went out to the lost boy. The heavy sorrow in his voice echoed her own aching loneliness. She watched him silently as he finished off his tea and set the cup down. He stood and picked up his pack, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Thanks for the meal, Ukyou." He bowed to her politely and turned to leave the store. "Maybe we'll see each other around sometime."

"Wait a second, Ryouga." Ukyou stood, her thoughts whirling. His final statement and his obvious exhaustion had given Ukyou an idea that would be beneficial for both of them. "You really shouldn't be out wandering around in your condition. You look like you're going to fall asleep on your feet at any moment and I have a sneaky suspicion that you just ate your first decent meal in a while."

The slightly guilty look on his face gave Ukyou the only answer she needed. Not only had he not been eating well, but he probably hadn't slept for more than a few hours in days.

"Look, why don't you stay here for a few days and rest up." She put on her best 'cute fiancee' smile. "I have the extra room now that Konatsu's moved out and it won't be any problem feeding you, so long as you don't eat like Ranma-honey does."

Ryouga bit his lip for a moment, one fang poking out over his lip as he thought it over. "Are you sure it would be okay?"

"Would I be suggesting it if it wasn't?" She replied.

"All right." He nodded and gave her another weary smile. "Thank you."

She grinned again and gestured for him to follow her up to the living quarters. She pointed out the bathroom on their way past it, not like she thought he'd be able to find it without a guide anyway, and left him to collapse on the bed in the spare room.

As she turned off her bedside lamp, she thought, 'Well, if nothing else, I'll have some company for a few days.'
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*G* Good start, ne? Originally, this was just a teaser for the fic, but I've gotten such a great response to it that I've decided to mark it for what it is: the first part of a fic that is going to take me months to finish. Hey, thanks for the great C&C, everyone! Keep sending me mail, I work good under pressure!

-Mercedes matoko_hibiki@excite.com