That's 1/2 My Goddess. Part 4/9
(Sore wa Nibonuichi Megamisama)
PART IV: Of Warm Hearts and Cold Shoulders.
"So, Ranchan, any luck?" asked Ukyou as Ranma and Akane
entered Ucchan's. It was eight in the evening and the dinner crowd
was barely starting to thin out.
"Nope. Still nothing." muttered Ranma as he and Akane put on
their aprons, "Everybody either wants too much or the rooms are too
small for one person, much less three..."
Ukyou smiled faintly, "Oh, well..."
"We're checking out another place tomorrow, though," said
Akane brightly.
Ukyou merely nodded absently.
When they finally had a quiet moment, an hour or so
later, the three settled down behind the counter.
"Where's Ranko?" asked Akane. She needed to have a long talk
with her cousin... communication done by way of hammer...
Ukyou frowned, "Wasn't she with you? She called and told me
something about not being able to make her shift," she shrugged, "I don't
pretend to understand Ranko, Akane."
"Me neither," replied Akane, as she stood up to clean up one
of the tables.
A ragged voice from the door suddenly asked, "Where am I?"
Standing in the open doorway was the bedraggled form of
Ryoga. He'd been walking since early afternoon and the last place he
clearly remembered had a lot of snow and penguins... but he knew he
was supposed to find... glove? dove? Something... when he got there...
"Ranma, isn't that your friend from school?" asked Akane.
"Hey, Ryoga... what are you doing here?" asked Ranma before
he realized that Ryoga didn't have any idea either.
A look of astonishment crept over Ukyou's features,
"R-r-r-Ryoga..?"
"Who? Wha--?" Ryoga looked up and saw Ukyou's face. He had a
blank expression on his face as no recognition dawned. Then he looked
at Ranma and asked, "Ranma, what are you doing here?"
"I work here you idiot! You got lost again, huh?"
"Who says I get lost--?" said Ryoga.
Ukyou suddenly pulled out a gigantic spatula the size of
snowshovel from the broom closet and rushed towards Ryoga, with murder
in her eyes.
Ryoga managed to get out of the way as Ranma caught the
spatula on the down swing and embedded it into the floor.
"Ucchan, what are you doing?!" asked Ranma.
"I'm going to kill that jackass!!" she said shooting Ryoga a
venomous look.
"Excuse me, do we know each other?" asked Ryoga bewildered.
Ukyou let go of the spatula's handle and grabbed Ryoga by
the shirt front, screaming sarcastically in his face, "Do we know
each other?! DO WE KNOW EACH OTHER!?!"
"I asked you first," said Ryoga peevishly.
"We were engaged for two years before you left me at the
altar, you jackass!!" said Ukyou enraged.
A look of shock passed over Ryoga's eyes as he said, "Ukyou?
But you're a guy, Ukyou's not a--"
"You bet your ass, I'm Ukyou, sugar..." she said ripping
open the top few buttons of her shirt, showing Ryouga a bit of cleavage.
Ryouga's eyes focused there for a few seconds before he finally managed
to bring his gaze back up to her face. Tears were forming at the corners
of his eyes... and blood was threatening to come out his nose...
"Now you're going to pay!" Ukyou screamed as she tore the
spatula free from the floor.
"Ukyou! It is you! I've been looking for you for years!"
Ryoga said suddenly hugging her and crushing her to him. As Ryoga sobbed
into Ukyou's shoulder, you could almost hear her ribs cracking under
the strain. Unable to breathe, Ukyou released her hold on the giant
spatula out of surprise which Ranma promptly kicked a discreet distance
away.
"Excuse me, er... Ryoga, right?" said Akane.
Ryoga looked up from Ukyou's shoulder and said in a puzzled
tone, "Yes?"
"Maybe you should let go of Ukyou now. I don't think she can
breathe..." continued Akane.
"Huh?" asked Ryoga, now looking at Ukyou and surprised to
find that his beloved's face was a ghastly bluish purple color. He
quickly let go saying "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" as Ukyou fell to the
ground, struggling for air.
"Are you alright?" Ryoga asked Ukyou.
The color had finally come beck into her face, "No thanks to
you, you jackass..."
Ukyou's cut herself off in mid sentence as she and Ryoga
stared at each other. Ukyou's gaze was full of anger and outrage and
pain. Ryoga had a worshipful look on his face. Almost as if he'd been
in darkness all his life and had finally found the light. They
continues staring at each other for several minutes and the painful
silence dragged on.
"Ranma," whispered Akane, "Do you know what's going on?"
"I have no idea," he whispered back, "Although I didn't
realize that these two even knew each other, much less were
fiances..."
"Maybe we should give them some privacy..."
"Heck, no! I want to see how this turns out..."
"Ranma..!" Akane whispered fiercely.
The silence continued. Ranma and Akane eventually picked the
two up off the floor and seated them at a booth, to keep them out of the
way of the customers. The entire time, they continued staring at each
other. Eventually, the customers had eaten their fill and left, Ranma
was in the process of putting away the money in the cash register, and
Akane was washing the dirty dishes in the back, when Ryoga finally said
hesitantly, "So this is where you are-"
"Yes," Ukyou snapped coldly.
"I tried to find you after the wedding-"
"That wasn't a weddong it was a farce." Ukyou returned in a
brittle voice.
"Um... nobody would tell me where you'd gone-" Ryouga tried
to continue.
"I didn't want to be found," she replied. You could have
frozen ice cubes with that voice, "Especially not by you."
Ryoga finally noticed Ranma who was making himself as
inconspicuous as possible behind the counter. He had already
finished with the cash register and was trying hard not to make it look
like he was eavesdropping.
Ryoga suddenly said, "Ranma, do you mind? This is a private
conversation--"
"No, Ranchan. Stay," interrupted Ukyou, "I've got nothing to
discuss with this jackass that can't be said in front of my best
friend."
Ryoga's eyes suddenly lit up with anger, "What did you call
Ranma?!"
"Ranchan," said Ukyou coolly, "You remember... my best
friend from high school. I'm pretty sure I mentioned him once or twice.
How do you know him?"
"You mentioned him practically every other day," Ryoga
snarled, "You mean to tell me that your 'Darling Ranchan' was Ranma
all along?!" Ryoga turned to Ranma, "We lived under the same roof for
two years and you never mentioned this once?!!?"
"Hey!" said Ranma stepping back. He'd fought with Ryoga
before and he knew he was better, but Ryoga had the edge when it came
to strength and endurance, "You never said anything about Ukyou! All
you ever did was mope about how your fiance left you! You mean you were
Ryochan?"
"What a coincidence, Ryoga," she said his name with the same
inflections one would use for referring to a maggot, "You used to live
with Ranma... now he's living with me," she said with a cruel smile.
Ryoga's head swiveled back and forth between the two. Ukyou
was coolly unreadable and Ranma had a look of panic on his face. You
could almost see steam rising from Ryoga's head as he rushed Ranma,
screaming, "You already have a fiance, but you're living with my Ukyou!
I will not have it Saotome! Prepare to die!!"
Ryoga crashed through the counter and nearly smashed into
Ranma. Ranma easily stepped to one side and delivered a strike to the
back of Ryoga's neck which should by rights have dropped him. All it did
was make Ryoga angrier as he began to take wild swings at Ranma, which
Ranma easily blocked or avoided.
"Ryoga! Calm down man, it's not what you think!" said Ranma
desperately. He knew full well that when Ryoga was this steamed, he was
virtually unstoppable... short of ramming him into a steel wall and even
that wasn't guaranteed to work.
Akane stepped out of the kitchen area to see Ranma and Ryoga
tearing up the counter and some of the tables. Ukyou was sitting in one
corner looking as though she were just about ready to break down.
Akane was the Goddess of Conflicts, and she could feel a massive
conflict of emotions within Ukyou...
"What is going on out here?!" she said. Unfortunately, she
picked the wrong time to say it. Ranma was momentarily distracted
allowing Ryoga to get his hands on Ranma's neck and pick him up like a
rag doll.
"Gotcha! Now you will pay Saotome!" Ryoga's voice was
already bordering on the irrational, "For ruining my life and for
stealing my Ukyou!!"
Akane didn't even hear him ranting, she saw her Ranma being
attacked and she acted immediately. Pulling out her mallet, she swung
back and hammered him across the back, sending both him and Ranma flying
towards the open front door. Unfortunately, Ranko was just on her way
in, humming a happy tune.
Ranma and Ryoga slammed into Ranko. Ryoga lost his grip on
Ranma at roughly the same moment that Ranma made contact with Ranko,
resulting in his transformation. All three were not hurt beyond simple
bruises, but Ryoga was a little stunned by the hammer blow. He
shook his head to clear it, looking around desperately for Ranma, who
had disappeared. "The little coward's run off again," he snarled as he
stood up.
At his feet, a pair of attractive redheads, twins no doubt
he thought, cowered, "Where'd he go?!" he snarled at the one with the
shorter braid. She raised a trembling hand and pointed down the street.
With a nod, Ryoga took off heading in the opposite
direction. The two redheads blinked in confusion, as he
disappeared in the distance.
"What's going on?" asked Ranko, trying to disentangle
herself from Ranma.
"Do you really think I know?" said Ranma, irritated. She
surveyed herself and muttered, "I never thought this
transformation thing could come in handy."
Akane stepped out of the door and saw them on the ground,
trying to pick themselves up, but still locked in what appeared to be
some sort of a hug. She made a small snarling noise at the back of her
throat which was echoed by distant thunder.
Ranko noticed her and said suddenly in a coy voice, "Oh,
Ranma! We mustn't! What if Akane were to catch us?! Besides we're both
women!"
"What are you babbling about!?" said Ranma, who had finally
managed to get her arms free. She noticed a shadow falling on her created
by the light of Ucchan's doorway... she looked up into the seething
face of Akane.
Akane picked up the two and easily separated them, "Ranma, I
can appreciate that you had to get away from Ryoga... but at least
have the decency not to look like you're enjoying yourself..."
Ranko glomped onto Ranma, transforming him again, "Ah, but
my darling cousin, if he so desperately wants me why should you stop
him? You can't really blame him.. er... her... Akane, it's your own
fault, you know..." she said airily. Ranko snuggled up to the now
female Ranma some more and said, "Stop being so shy, Darling..."
Ranma gently tried to pushed her away and said, "Will you
stop that!?!"
Akane picked Ranko up by the collar and tossed her over her
shoulder, "What's going on Ranma!? Why was Ryoga trying to kill you?!"
"Stop trying to maul my beautiful body you violent
maniac..." said Ranko as she slowly picked herself up.
"Why does everyone keep asking me?" asked Ranma, "I'm the
innocent bystander here..." she leaned himself against the wall next to
the door and rubbed at her injuries. Those were going to be sore in the
morning.
Ukyou stepped out of the restaurant herself. Akane, thinking
fast reached out and tagged Ranma on the chest, turning him back into
his male form.
"So where did Ryoga go?" she asked in a brittle voice.
"Gone... he wandered off." replied Ranma.
Ranko took one good look at Ukyou's emotional state and was
surprised by what she found... she hid a smirk from the others and
simply declared, "Well, I'm exhausted. I'm going back up to the room to
sleep," as she walked into the restaurant, she said, "By the way, Ranma,
Tate-kun sends his regards..."
Ranma frowned, "Tate-kun? Who's Tate-kun?" he asked
himself, but at the moment it was less important than Ukyou's problem...
"Ucchan, do you want to talk about it?" he asked Ukyou.
"We're your friends Ukyou. Please let us help," Akane
pleaded.
"I'm not sure you can," Ukyou said with a small sad smile,
"Maybe it's already to late."
"It's never too late," said Akane with a certain sense of
authority, "Nothing is ever totally irrevocable..."
Ukyou sighed and shook her head sadly, as she gestured them
into the restaurant. Ranma and Akane looked at each other,
shrugged and followed. They went through the motions of closing up the
restaurant before Ukyou finally sat the two of them down at one booth
and talked...
"Ranma, do you remember my last letter to you?" Ukyou began.
"Yeah. I still have it around here somewhere..." he said
thinking about rooting through the various junk he had piled in his room.
"No, don't bother. Do you remember what I said there?"
"Yeah. That you were getting married to this guy you met and
that you two were really happy. I called you on the day of the wedding
but your roommates told me you'd moved out already. They never told me
why," Ranma's brow furrowed in thought, "Your fiance was Ryoga?"
Ukyou nodded. "We were supposed to get married on
Valentine's Day, I had the wedding hall and the reception and
everything was ready."
"What happened?" asked Ranma.
"Then he disappears. I waited at the wedding hall for six
days for him. He never showed up... I was so humiliated! My entire
family was there... my friends..." Ukyou's voice was laced with
bitterness and tears were forming at the corners of her eyes.
"That's so sad," said Akane laying a hand on Ukyou's
shoulder.
Ukyou smiled faintly in Akane's direction then asked, "This
part was always one of the hardest to tell Akane... Could you please
get me some water?"
Akane nodded and headed towards the kitchen.
"Since that day, I've tried to forget that I was a woman,"
Ukyou continued now addressing only Ranma, "I started dressing like a
man, acting like one... I didn't want to take the chance of having my
heart broken again. I left Tokyo, moved out here where nobody knew
me... then I just sort of reestablished myself as Ukyou Kuonji, a
practical person who doesn't care about love or sentiment... At least
until a few weeks ago."
"Why? What happened then?" Ranma asked.
Ukyou blushed and gave a shy smile. For the first time since
she realized who Ranma really was, she looked very feminine... "You
came back, Ranchan. My best friend in the world came back."
"Here's your water Ukyou," said Akane, suddenly stepping out
of the kitchen.
Ranma had a look of confused shock and Ukyou was blushing
red. Akane looked at the two, as she sat and asked in a puzzled tone,
"Is something wrong?"
"Nooo... nothing's wrong at all..." said Ranma incoherently.
"Anyway," said Ukyou without missing a beat, blushing
furiously, "I was probably just wishing... it would probably never
have worked out. Him being already engaged to someone else and all..."
"Yeah... I guess..." said Ranma, suspiciously, "I never
realized, though..." he managed to stop himself in time when he noticed
that Akane was here.
"Um... are you talking about Ryoga?" asked Akane, unclear.
"No," said Ukyou clearly, "Ryoga was someone I never
expected to see again. I never want to see him again," she folded her
arms and her mouth became a thin hard line.
"Ucchan..." Ranma said, "Maybe if you talked to him
first... Get his side. He's not that bad a guy--"
"There can be no forgiveness. If he shows up around here
I'll put him in the hospital," she said, cracking her knuckles.
Akane said, "I agree with Ranma, Ukyou. I saw the way he
looked at you. He's still in love with you..."
"Hmph," Ukyou sniffed, "Maybe he just realized how much he's
lost..."
"You know that might be it..." said Ranma slowly.
"What do you mean?" asked Ukyou.
"Maybe Ryoga got lost on the way to the wedding hall."
Ukyou frowned, "The hotel we were staying in was right next
to the wedding hall, how can you get lost on his way there?"
Ranma smirked, "This is Ryoga we're talking about. He gets
lost going across the street. It takes him to hours to find the
bathroom in a one bedroom apartment. The man has the world's most
pathetic sense of direction."
"He wasn't like that when I knew him... Nobody's sense of
direction could be that bad..." said Ukyou dubiously.
"His is. Trust me. You can ask anybody at the University.
How else do you explain the fact that this place is only a few blocks
from where he lives, but he's never been here before? We didn't used
to let him leave the dorm alone because it usually took him weeks to
get back.
"No matter. I don't care what happens to that jackass
anymore as long as he doesn't show up here," she said bitterly as she
stood up, "I'm going to bed now, guys. Just turn out the lights when
you turn in, Okay?"
"Sure thing, Ukyou," said Ranma.
Ranma and Akane watched as Ukyou climbed up the stairs to
her apartment. Ranma was a little confused by what Ukyou had said...
He'd always considered Ukyou a friend, but never did he think that she
felt that way about him. And Ryoga, while a rival, was also a friend of
his... There was only one thing that could be done.
Akane noticed Ranma's look of distraction and said, "You
want to help them don't you?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"A little. So, what do you think we should do?"
"I don't know yet... maybe if we got Ryoga's side we might
have something more to work with..."
"Say no more..." she said brightly as she dragged Ranma out
of his seat, "Follow me, we can still catch up to him."
"Where are we going?" asked Ranma.
"The bathroom."
"What? How's that going to find Ryoga?"
"I need water to move through, silly..."
"Oh, yeah... you mentioned that."
She nodded as they entered the bath. Akane filled a bucket
of water and set it down in front of them.
"Do I have to hold my breath?" Ranma asked looking
incredulously at the bucket.
"No, just hold onto me..." she said putting her arm around
Ranma's waist.
"Er... like this?" he said putting a tentative hand to hold
her shoulder.
Akane frowned at him, "Hold on tighter, Ranma if you don't
want to get stranded in between."
"I'm holding already, I'm holding..."
"Erhk! Not that tight, you idiot!" she squeaked as Ranma
released his grip, "That's better. Here we go!"
Akane jumped into the bucket, pulling Ranma in after her.
Ranma didn't even have time to register what he saw during the
journey. One moment, he was in Ukyou's bathroom, the next he was
standing waist deep in a public bath. The women's section.
Most of the women currently had their backs to Ranma which
was a good thing. Considering how vigorously they defended their own
virtue against peeping toms. Case in point. Ryoga Hibiki.
Ryoga, when his rage had finally run out, had fallen into
the black pits of depression. He had wandered into the baths by
accident. In his state of mind, he'd failed to notice precisely where
he was and was only snapped out of it finally by finding himself in
the center of screaming circle of women who were pitching wooden
buckets, plastic chairs, and anything else which came in handy with
uncanny accuracy. Ryoga had managed to avert his eyes quickly enough to
avoid a nosebleed, but with his eyes closed, he couldn't find his way
out either. Some of those bucket strikes were starting to hurt too...
Screams of "Pervert!" "Pig!" Get out of here!" were already
echoing through the baths. So Akane's sudden shout of "Stop looking
you, pervert!" at Ranma when she realized where they were was hardly
noticed.
Ranma on the other hand didn't bother to avert his gaze. He
quickly dashed past the women and grabbed Ryoga by the collar, hauling
him out of there as quickly as he could. Of course this resulted in a
fresh series of screams and thrown items.
Shouts to the effect of, "Another one!", "Get him!",
"They're probably in cahoots!", "Isn't that Ranma?"
Ranma sprinted out at full speed. In the back of his mind he
mused that his reputation was probably ruined... Somebody was going
to pay for this. Following close on his heels, Akane finally
managed to catch up with him.
"Why didn't you tell me we were going to end up in a women's
bath, you idiot?!" asked Ranma.
"How was I supposed to know your idiot friend would wander
into one!?" she retorted angrily.
"Is it safe to look now?" Ryoga asked worriedly as he was
dragged along.
"Shut up!" Ranma and Akane said simultaneously.
As they finally ran out of the baths, they turned the corner
and entered an alley. They finally stopped, breathing hard.
"I think we lost them..." said Ranma.
"Where are we?" asked Akane.
"It looked like the bath of the women's dorm..." muttered
Ranma.
Akane frowned, "How would you know what the women's bath
looks like?"
"Er... I mean the outside, Akane."
Akane merely glared at him.
"Is it safe to look now?" repeated Ryoga in the same tone of
voice, his eyes firmly screwed shut.
Ranma sighed, "Yeah, its safe, you idiot."
Ryoga frowned at the voice before he opened his eyes.
When he saw Ranma he immediately went into a wild lunge at
him, "I'm going to kill you Saotome!"
Ranma quickly borrowed Akane's mallet and easily hammered
him into the ground.
"I just saved your bacon in there, Ryoga! Doesn't that count
for something?"
"Do you think pulling me out of a women's bath can take away
all of the pain you've caused me?" Ryoga asked angrily as he picked
himself up.
"What are you babbling about?" asked Akane, grabbing her
hammer back from Ranma.
"You must have been laughing the whole time, Ranma," he said
bitterly, "Ukyou always talked about her Ranchan... her best
friend... she was always comparing the two of us, you know... She always
said Ranchan was her best friend, but she made you sound more like an
old boyfriend..."
"I didn't know, Ryoga. I only found out about this now. We
were just friends..." complained Ranma, "And if its any
consolation, when she did write to me, she'd keep going on and on about
her Ryochan--"
"Enough talk Ranma it won't save you--" he paused as the
words finally reached his brain, "You mean she used to call me Ryochan
in her letters?"
"Who else could she be talking about? She mentioned fangs,
bandannas, hideously strong... how many guys answer to that
description?" Ranma shrugged.
Ryoga's face darkened again, "That still doesn't change the
fact that you're living with her... she said so, Ukyou doesn't lie..."
"We're living with her..." said Akane suddenly.
Ryoga looked at the two of them, "Huh?"
"Ranma is living with her, but so am I and so is Ranko,"
Akane continued.
"After you kicked me out of the dorm, I didn't have anywhere
to stay... it was just lucky I ended up there and she offered us a place
to stay for the night," Ranma thought about it, "That was about three
weeks ago..."
"You mean... you two aren't living together living
together... you're just staying under the same roof?" said Ryoga in a
puzzled tone.
"Precisely," answered Akane, "You've got nothing to be
jealous about there."
"But, she's really mad at you, you know..." said Ranma.
Ryoga suddenly slumped to the ground, "I know, I know... I'm
not even sure I can make her listen to me... but if she did, I
could explain everything..."
Akane smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm
sure you could Ryoga-kun... but we've got to find a way to make her
listen. We'll help you if we can..."
Ryoga couldn't help but smile back at her, "Really? Thank
you. Thank you very much..." he got back to his feet.
"So what really did happen?" asked Ranma.
"Let's talk about it on the way to the dorm..." he said
starting off in a random direction. Ranma blinked as he steered Ryoga
in the proper direction and gestured to Akane to follow.
"Basically," Ryoga said as they walked, Ranma and Akane on
either side of him to keep him on the right track, "We were going to be
married. Her family liked me and said it was a good match. Her dad
even promised to give me the family's restaurant as a dowry... The
night before the wedding, we had an argument... I don't even remember
what it was about... Anyway, I went on a walk that night, wondering
about my marriage, about how things would change... you know, trying to
sort things out in my head... the next thing I know its 2 A.M. in the
morning and I'm in some place called Kansas."
Ranma and Akane shared incredulous looks.
Ryoga shook his head at the memory, "It took me two weeks to
get back... by then Ukyou had disappeared. No one would tell me where
she went and her family wouldn't even talk to me anymore..."
he continued sadly, "I haven't been able to find my way around properly
since. I ended up coming here to continue my education again. That's
what happened."
They walked on in silence as Ryoga's two companions
mulled over his story. "Well, that's what I told her... that you'd
gotten lost... but she didn't buy it," said Ranma finally.
"Do you really think you can help me?" asked Ryoga
desperately as they dropped him off at the dorm.
"We can help you," said Akane with conviction as they
guided him to the front door, "Count on it."
Ryoga bowed and thanked them both, as he stumbled into the dorm.
It was highly likely that he would take the better part of the evening
looking for his room, but at least he was there. As he disappeared into
the building, Ranma turned to Akane and said skeptically, "Do you really
think we can help him?"
Akane smiled, "We live with the goddess of affection, I'm sure
Ranko would be glad to help..."
Ranma still looked doubtful, "Ranko? Help? Of her own free will?
"
"She likes Ukyou. She'd probably be glad to do it."
Ranma got a strange look on his face as an idle thought crossed
his mind, "She... likes... Ukyou?"
Akane noticed the look and gave him a knock on the head, "Not
like that, you pervert!" she calmed down a little, "She likes the fact
that Ukyou's an independent woman. She almost respects that..."
"I suppose..." he replied, still doubtful.
Akane gave Ranma a warm smile as she took his arm, "Come on,
we've still got that other place to check out tomorrow. We want to get
plenty of rest."
Ranma nodded and looked around, "How are we getting home anyway?
Its a pretty long walk..."
"Same way we got here, you big silly," Akane laughed, dragging
him to a puddle of water that had collected at a nearby faucet.
"Aw, man..."
They did indeed check out the other place the following day...
for a change, all three of them.
"Is this place what I think it is, Akane-chan?" asked Ranma
incredulously.
"Looks like it," Akane replied, also slightly stunned.
"I like it!" said Ranko with conviction, smiling broadly as she
surveyed the grounds.
"Can we afford this?" asked Ranma finally, his surprise still
plain on his face.
Akane turned to him and said, "This was actually the cheapest
place so far... its got an even lower price than that apartment
downtown..."
Ranko had already wandered off to explore the garden.
"Why are they renting this place out so cheap? It's huge! It's
got its own grounds and everything, but it costs less than a fleabag one
room apartment? There's gotta be something wrong with it," said Ranma a
little uncertainly.
"Nothing I could find, Ranma. I guess people just generally don't
want to live here..." said Akane.
"I can't really blame them," he replied, glancing up at the
somewhat derelict old structure...
"We'll take it!" said Ranko enthusiastically, bouncing back to
the two.
"I've still got my doubts about this..." said Ranma putting a
hand at Akane's shoulder...
Akane smiled at him, "No... this place feels right, Ranma."
"Aw c'mon, Saotome!" said Ranko happily, "This is perfect! Where
else would you expect a pair of goddesses to live but at a temple?"