I got one review for the last chapter. one.

But thanks to the emotional support of my family and first rate psychiatric care I

still managed to finish this chapter

right on time for St. Valen- uh, Patri- um...

heh heh. +sweats+

Yeah...

I don't own Ranma 1/2

No Depression

Chapter the eighth

Love Lives Again

In the silence that followed, Ukyo's mind raced. What had he meant to say? He was going to ask her something, and she couldn't help but feel that it had been something important, but at the last minute, he'd chickened out. She sank deeper into the water. Why couldn't he just be a man and tell her, instead of sitting there stuttering like a jackass? She sighed, then something struck her. Wait, stuttering, that was important. Did Akane just walk in? She looked around, just to make sure. No, nobody was there besides him and her, alone, in a hot steamy room, kind of romantic really, if you thought about it. She blushed faintly. No, she couldn't get distracted. She reviewed her salient points, Akane, stuttering and romance, usually when Ryoga stuttered he was trying to talk to Akane, she made him nervous because he... loved…

OH MY GOD!

0-0

Ryoga decided it was all in his head. There was no way any woman—much less one as together as Ukyo—would be interested in a mess like him. His shoulders drooped despondently. He was reading things that simply were not there. So she was nice to him, so what? That was part of her job; she was nice to nearly everyone. Did she take a bath with nearly everyone? He shot her a suspicious glance. No, probably not. She was dirty and uncomfortable, that’s all. Still, she could have left him outside, but had made a special effort to get him in here. She only did it so he wouldn't get lost. But that meant she wanted him around for some reason. Ah, yes, she’d said she had a plan, that's why she wanted him here. She had been crying earlier, when she thought he had left. He didn't have an answer for that. And she kept touching him, and she seemed so concerned when he told her about Akari. He was so confused.

0-0

Ukyo was stunned. Ryoga liked her. No, that couldn't be right. She wasn't anything special; she didn't have a body like Shampoo, or...whatever it was Akane had. She was just boring old cross-dressing, okinamiyaki-obsessed Ukyo.

“Ryoga?” she turned to him. He looked upset, and for some reason wouldn't turn and face her. “What's wrong?”

“N-n-nothing, I-I'm f-fine.” He did!

Ryoga.

Hibiki.

Liked.

Her.

Not Shampoo, not Akane, but her! She felt... kind of strange, actually: a heady blend of anxiety and anticipation. She'd never had someone like her back before. She doubted he had either. She couldn't wait to tell him. Maybe it would cheer him up a bit. He was always so down; hard to blame him, really, with the kind of life he had, but this was good, right? She could help him—it was obvious somebody needed to. She'd felt so lonely these past few weeks. Ranma hadn't been coming around as often and when it came down to it she didn't really have any other friends. She pushed those thoughts away, now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself. How would she tell Ryoga? She could cook for him! No, wait, she did that already. She needed something less subtle. She sat in thought for a while.

She blinked.

She couldn't do that, could she? No, that was too bold, almost Shampoo-like in its shamelessness. She grinned. It was perfect. Slowly and silently she rose from the water and made her way behind the lost boy.

0-0

Ryoga was still brooding over his latest failure as a man, when, much to his surprise, a naked okinamiyaki chef attached herself to his back.

“U-Ukyo?” he stammered.

“Hey Ryo-chan.” she purred. It was just like she had imagined, Firm and warm and quite pleasant overall. Her hands explored his muscular torso. Ryoga's breath caught in his throat when her gentle fingers wandered dangerously low on his abdomen.

“S-stop.”

“Mmm... don' wanna.”

Oh god! It was just like he imagined! Next she would go after his ear, then he would turn to pull her into his crushing embrace and... He vividly recalled how that fantasy had ended—with Ukyo squashed to death in his grip. He needed to get away! When she started nibbling on his ear he lost all semblance of composure and shoved her away, maybe a little harder than he meant to.

Ukyo started to tear up. Had she misread him that badly? Was there something wrong? Was she not pretty enough? Why did this keep happening to her?

“W-why?”she sobbed. Seeing that he had hurt her, Ryoga quickly tried to explain.

“Uh…” he fumbled for words. “It's not you, it's me.” 'That was good.' he thought congratulating himself. “See, Ukyo, it's not your fault, it's mine, so you can stop crying.”

She turned away, she didn't want him to see her tears, her shoulders shook with suppressed sobs.

Ryoga was confused, that should have made everything okay, but it didn't. He reached out with a comforting hand. Ryoga's next words were chosen with a level of precision normally reserved for the disarming of high explosives.

“Ukyo,” he began, then swallowed nervously. “I, I'm, I…”

'He's going to say he just wants to be friends,' she thought bitterly.

“I-I think I like you,” he paused, blushing and lowering his eyes, “I-in a more-than-friendly way.” She stopped crying. “But I don't want you to get hurt.” Something in the way he said it made her think he didn't mean emotionally, so being the clever girl she was, she asked.

“Hurt me? What do you mean?” It was supposed to hurt at first, wasn't it? That had better not be what he's talking about—what kind of girl did he think she was?

'The kind that would molest him in the bath?' supplied her subconscious.

She ignored it.

“I'm very strong, Ukyo,” he nervously poked a few holes in the tile, “and I'm afraid of... breaking you.” She wanted to laugh, to tell him that it was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard, but then she remembered earlier, struggling to breathe as his powerful arms tightened around her.

“...Ah.” He had a point. She started to tear up again. No, this was beatable, she just needed to think. She could tie him up. She blushed. That might work.

“Ukyo.”

She pictured it in her mind. Ryoga, helpless, at her mercy, she could do anything she wanted...

“Ukyo.”

It was tempting, but no, that would get old pretty quick. He needed to be able to reciprocate, for it to be a mutual experience.

“Ukyo.”

“What?”

“I had an idea, but I don't think you're going to like it.”

“Well?”

“You're really not going to like it.”

“Just tell me, Jackass!”

“Learn the Breaking Point.”

“That's it? What's so bad about that?”

“It's a very dangerous and difficult technique, and to be honest, you're not really ready to learn it.” Ukyo was a bit insulted, but before she could protest, he continued.“Wait, hear me out. You're used to blocking with a weapon, so you don't have the body hardening and conditioning you'll need.”

“So teach me.”

“It'll hurt," he warned. "a lot.”

“I'm not some delicate little flower, Ryoga. I don't care about that.”

To say that Ryoga was surprised would be an understatement; totally gob-smacked would be a more accurate description.

“She must really like me,” he mumbled unconsciously.

“Yup,” said Ukyo, before grasping his head in her hands and gently pulling his lips onto hers. Ryoga's vision started to gray, but through a tremendous effort of will, he managed to stay conscious as the rest of the universe faded away, leaving just the feeling of her lips on his.

“Ahem.” Reality snapped back harshly. They both blushed deep red. The proprietress continued, slightly amused.

“When you and your boyfriend are done, you owe me another three-hundred yen. No rush.” she said, not unkindly, then left the couple to themselves.

“Huh.” Ukyo grunted. She turned to a wide-eyed Ryoga. “So, where were we?”

“Um, maybe we should go,” he replied timidly. Ukyo sighed.

“I suppose.” Ryoga tried not to stare as she toweled herself off, tried being the operative word. She pretended not to notice.

0-0

The walk back home was slightly awkward. This was not helped by the fact the she was wearing his underwear; her clothes were still full of grit, and, well, his boxers had fit her, and it wasn't that far, just a couple of blocks. She held his hand the whole way.

Upon returning to the empty restaurant, Ukyo sat him down in one of the booths and went upstairs to put on some clothes. When she came down again she was wearing one of her old school uniforms, carrying a book and a small travel chess set.

“Have a quick look through this while I fix us something to eat.”

Ryoga took the book and looked at the cover: 'Chess for Complete Morons'

“Hey!” Ukyo rolled her eyes.

“Oh relax, it's just a book.” she smirked at him and continued, “Besides 'Chess for Jackasses' was sold out.” She struggled not to laugh at his expression.

She failed miserably.

0-0

After a quick lunch, Ukyo set up the board.

“Why are we playing chess?” Ryoga asked, slightly confused.

“Training.” she answered, cryptically

“Training?”he questioned.

“Training.” she confirmed.

“Explain.” Ukyo sighed.

“Why does Ranma always beat you?”

“He cheats!” Ukyo sent him a hard glare.

“He does!” She narrowed her eyes. Ryoga gulped, she was kind of freaking him out, it was like she could see his soul or something.

“Cut it out.” She narrowed her eyes some more.

“Ukyo...”

“Why does Ranma always beat you?” she repeated. Ryoga hung his head and mumbled something under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Because he's better than me.” he mumbled just loudly enough that she could hear. She gave him a kiss.

“The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one, Ryo-chan. Now why is Ranma better than you?” He shrugged and gave her a “how the hell should I know” look.

“It's because you don't have a plan.”

“I have a plan!” he protested.

“'Kill Ranma' is not a plan.” she clarified.

“Okay, but whats that got to do with chess?”

“It help develop strategic thinking,” she opened the book. “See how all the pieces can only move certain ways, you have to be able to think ahead and force your opponent into a position where he has no choice but to surrender, just like in a fight.” Ryoga said he understood and they started to play.

15 minutes later:

“Checkmate”

“Dammit!”

30 minutes later:

“Checkmate”

Two hours later:

“Ha! King me!”

exasperated sigh+

'This might take a while' she thought.

A/N: I know, they should be playing shogi or go or something, but I don't know how to play (death before research!) and besides, the joke wouldn't work. So suck it up and suspend your disbelief, dammit. oh and before I forget again, I'd like to thank tigerdreams for beta-ing the last few chapters for me, Thanks!

next chapter?

Bad things man, Bad things...

Search and Destroy.

see you then.