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Subject: [ffml][Ranma]Catching the Butterfly v2 (2nd 1/2) chap17
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Ukyo stared at the canvas ceiling before turning and glancing at the blond woman across the tent. "You awake, Mihoshi?" she
asked after a while.
"Yeah."
She rolled over. "Whatcha thinking 'bout, sugar?"
"Nothing," she replied quickly.
_Too_ quickly. Ukyo frowned. "Why do you like Ryoga, anyway?" she asked curiously. "It's not like you've known him long."
"Juliet didn't know Romeo for long," Mihoshi retorted.
"That's because they topped themselves within a week of meeting each other." Ukyo lay on her front and rested on her elbows.
"Go on then, why do you like him?"
Mihoshi blushed. "I-I-I...."
"Come on!" Ukyo grinned at her. "I promise I won't laugh or anything."
"Promise?"
"Sure, I promise."
"He's cute..."
"Cute isn't everything!"
A short glare shut Ukyo up. "Would you let me finish?!"
"Sorry. So, he's cute." *Have to agree. No way am I saying I agree though!*
Mihoshi took a deep breath and looked skyward. "He's awfully kind, he's sweet, generous, caring, considerate, he's always
leaping to your defence, he's strong, he always eats Akane's food even though it's more toxic than Ayeka's so he doesn't hurt
her feelings and he's so shy it's adorable.... I'm babbling, aren't I?"
Ukyo blinked. "You are, rather."
"Bet you think I'm a real idiot," Mihoshi said defiantly.
*She's right.... He is nice..... maybe he's mean to me sometimes because he's _scared_ to be nice....* Ukyo thought about the
few times he'd let slip with a comment about her being cute then quickly passed it off as demonic possession or temporary
insanity or mind altering alien death rays. "No.... I think you might be right."
Mihoshi stared at her. "Huh?!!!! You think I'm right?!!!"
Ukyo blinked. "I said it aloud?! Oops!"
There was quiet for a while before Mihoshi spoke again. "Why do you keep trying to set him up with Akane?"
Ukyo sighed. "Because he loves her."
"WHAT?!?!" Mihoshi sat up in amazement. "You're kidding me!"
"'Fraid not, sugar. He's head over heels for her." For some reason she couldn't fathom, this came out in a spiteful sounding
tone. She clenched her fists tightly.
"He didn't seem that enthusiastic to be around her today," Mihoshi began.
"Huh?! He didn't?!"
"Not really. She was practically ignoring him the entire time. He made a game of what kind of stupid statement it would take
to get her to notice him." She giggled at the memory. "It was fun."
Ukyo frowned. She'd done that with Ranma, telling him that she was going to commit suicide by jumping out of the window of
her apartment as soon as she finished dinner (which was ridiculous - from that height, she'd barely get a bruise!) and he'd
just continued to rant about how Mr Tendo wanted him to marry Akane before any more demons attempted to demolish the place.
In the end she settled for laughing loudly at every opportunity to make Akane jealous. *Guess it worked.*
Mihoshi continued. "In the end he just gave up talking to her." She squinted at Ukyo. "Are you sure he's really in love with
her? He flinched every time she spoke."
Ukyo contemplated the thought. Ryoga _not_ in love with Akane? That line went into the Nerima X-Files next to 'Ranma loses a
fight,' 'Akane cooks edible food,' and 'Ukyo gets sick of cooking okonomiyaki.' Naaaaah. Not possible. But if he didn't love
Akane, how was she going to split up Ranchan and Akane? Or.... If he could fall out of love with Akane, then maybe it was
possible that she'd fall out of love with Ranchan....
She stood up quickly.
"Where are you going?" Mihoshi asked.
"For a walk. I need to think."
Ryoga leaned against a boulder that happened to be conveniently near to the dying remains of the bonfire and tried to collect
his thoughts, clutching his blanket tightly around him.
One week.
Seven days.
One hundred and sixty-eight hours.
Ten thousand and eighty minutes.
Six hundred and four thousand, eight hundred seconds.
That was the exact amount of time he had to kiss Ucchan.
It wasn't long enough.
It would _never_ be long enough. He couldn't kiss her, just thinking about it made him feel faint. There was no way he'd be
conscious long enough. The only thing was, would he faint first or would she beat him unconscious? She'd never let him kiss
her voluntarily and there was no way he'd force her, no way on hell. Besides, he wouldn't know what to do. Granted, he'd been
kissed by Shampoo. But he'd only been conscious for... let's see now.... 1.64846 seconds. He was definitely not an A grade
kisser. But if she ever did let him kiss her, then that would mean she liked him _that_ way and he didn't know if he liked
her _that_ way but if he didn't and she let him kiss her and she found out, she'd kill him. Sloooooowly. In great pain. In
interesting ways, over a long period of time.
No.
There was absolutely NO WAY AT ALL that he could kiss Ucchan without anyone getting hurt. Which meant the only option left
was to leave Nerima for good.
A hand tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, sugar."
"AAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!! DEATH!!!!" Ryoga jumped about twelve feet high and whirled around, expecting to see the Grim Reaper
or something similar. *Worse. It's Ucchan.* He sat down again and glared at the sky. *Somewhere up there, one of you hates me
and is laughing a lot.*
Sure enough, somewhere up there was a god who hated him and was laughing a lot. Fate and Destiny glanced at each other for a
moment, before dragging him away and locking him in a broom closet.
"You're awfully jumpy, sugar," Ukyo commented, sitting down next to him. "Can't sleep?"
"Something like that. What about you?" Ryoga asked, trying to edge away from her in a none too obvious way.
"Something like that too." Ukyo snuggled up to him. "It's cold out here," she commented.
He swallowed hard and tried to wriggle away again. "Y-y-you c-can borrow m-my b-b-blanket ify-youwant..."
"This is nicer," she pointed out, in no mood to move away. He draped the blanket over her shoulders anyway and she murmured
in appreciation. They sat like that for a while, neither saying anything.
Ryoga broke the silence first. "Ucchan.... do... do you like me?" he whispered shyly.
Ukyo thought for a moment before quietly replying. "Yeah... I like you." Ryoga relaxed a little, although she still decided
he looked like he was about to bolt like a frightened deer. She opened her mouth to question him, but he spoke first.
"Look! A shooting star!" He pointed to the sky.
Ukyo gazed at it in awe. "Wow.... It's so pretty!" *Ranchan never pointed out the stars to you* she thought. Then she
realised he was unconsciously carrying out her suggestion to charm Akane - on her! "Hey, Ryoga?"
"Hmm?" He glanced down at her.
"Do you still love Akane?"
He visibly tensed and gripped the blanket tighter. "I-I don't know... I'm just not sure anymore. She's nice.... but she is
_so_ paranoid." He lowered his head slightly. "I-I'm sorry."
"Hey. It's not anything to be sorry about, sugar," Ukyo assured him, slipping an arm around his waist. "I guess you're just
realising she's human too. She has her bad points, just like everyone else." She sighed. "Just like Ranchan."
Ryoga slid an arm around her and gave her a quick, reassuring squeeze. "Yep. I'm afraid Ranma is human too and not the
missing link we thought he was." He instantly winced, expecting the moment to be shattered with a shout of "RYOGA, YOU
JERK!!!" and a quick midnight flight to the beach. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that...."
Ukyo giggled. "Idiot."
There was no anger in her voice, Ryoga was relieved to note. Maybe he was dreaming. He hoped he wasn't, he wanted to remember
this and feel happiness and not anger/ pain/ depression/ any other negative emotion, which usually happened when he thought
of events. "Did you know this island is made from three extinct volcanoes?" he asked suddenly.
"You're pulling my leg." Ukyo rested her head against his arm and looked up at him. *Mihoshi's right.... He _is_ cute!*
"It's true. The statues are made from tuff, which is a volcanic rock. They quarried it from one of the craters... Rano
Raraku, the crater's called."
"You're a walking encyclopaedia! The volcanoes aren't dangerous, are they?" she asked cautiously.
"Nah. The volcanoes are extinct. Can't hurt anyone," Ryoga reassured her, looking down at her. *She looks so pretty in the
moonlight!* "You may want to watch out for the stone men though," he teased.
Ukyo looked eagerly at him. "You know something about them?"
Ryoga shook his head. "I know a _story_ about them. I never believed it when I was younger... but I just don't know anymore."
"Will you tell me the story? Please?" she asked in a sugar-sweet voice.
"Well.... OK then." He relented. "Many years ago, when the island first formed and the volcanoes were still active, a tribe
lived here," he began in a soft voice. "They created giant stone men to help the tribe with their daily tasks and to guard
them from danger. The giants were as gentle as kittens with the tribespeople, trusted with even the youngest child. But
whenever any threat approached they became hostile and would destroy everything that was a danger."
Ukyo found her eyelids drooping in spite of herself and she tried to force them open. "What happened to them?" she asked.
"How did they get the way they are now?" She yawned.
"Remember I told you the volcanoes were still active back then?" Ukyo nodded sleepily and Ryoga continued. "One day a volcano
erupted. The tribe fled the island in terror. The giants tried to follow them to sea, but they were too slow and got
engulfed, right up to the torso, in molten lava. And when the lava cooled down, they were stuck there forever, looking out
over the sea where their owners disappeared." He looked at the dark, shimmering ocean. "Maybe they _were_ real..." he
whispered softly. "Who am _I_ to doubt the existence of magic?" He glanced at Ukyo again. She was almost asleep, her head
leant against his chest. *I'll let her sleep, then I'll carry her back to her tent,* he thought with a yawn, leaning back
against the boulder. He allowed himself one last look at Ukyo. *She _is_ cute...* he silently admitted to himself. He thought
back to the challenge Ranma had made. *I've got one week. Surely it can't hurt to try....* With that thought, he closed his
eyes.
End Part XVII
Final Song - One More Night
Member 30 of SSoAGMA, Deadly Everyday Object Weaponary Technique, Dragon Warrior Style
Mousse no miku; Generally dangerous English otaku; Supporter of cliched pairs;
Member of the Chan club; WoS; SCG; COURT; SOotCiP;CotMHW - Launderer of the Robes of Death;
Head Castrator of the Hotnit Feminisation Project; Keeper of the Moneybags for the Hotnit Fan Club;
4th Gen. EOE; Image Consultant For "That Guy"; #WASHU#;AKPReSS, Gen. Div.; SLAP;
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