The Pursuit of Love

Ukyou Kuonji at eighteen was still tall and slim; she was just taller now. Her restaurant was thriving, but she was still single. She had had a few boyfriends since she and Ranma had parted ways and another fiancée who had recently ditched her for her cross-dressing. She blushed as she wrote yet another apology note to return an engagement present. She dashed hot tears out of her face as she thought about the final fight that broke the camel’s back.

Flashback

“I can’t be married to someone who dresses as a man and carries a giant spatula around!” Jiro cried. “People think you’re a dyke and I can’t have that for a wife!”

“You knew this about me when you met me!” she cried back.

Jiro was a handsome brunette with dark eyes and a well honed body, he was older then her and a police officer “I thought you’d out grow it by now. When are you going to stop this foolishness and grow up? I want to run for office so I’ll need a wife who looks respectable, not some cross dressing boy-girl who hates being her own gender. I’m sorry, but I have to ask for my ring back” he said in a sympathetic tone of voice.

In a rage Ukyou flung it at him “fine, I guess if you’re threatened by my masculine way of dressing, then you’re not man enough for me! Go put on a dress Jiro” she screamed.

He bent and picked up his ring from the dirty street “no Ukyou, you go put on a dress. No one’s going to want your gender bending ass if you don’t, unless she has tits. This isn’t Halloween, dressing up is cute when you’re young, but gets stupid when you get old enough to know better” he said coldly.

“Fuck you, I’m done with love, it’s never done me any favours nor have you” she screamed.

End Flashback

Now here she was arranging to return all the engagement presents that people had sent ahead of time for the party that was supposed to have taken place that night. She rubbed her tear burned eyes and went back to writing apologies. She had already called everyone to cancel. When she heard footsteps on the stairs, she called out “please let me know your name, what item it is and I’ll find it” she said, not even bothering to see who it was.

“Mu Tzu from China, as for the item; I’m not sure what to say” he said as pulled off his sunglasses. “Don’t you recognize me?” he asked. She just sat there stunned, drinking him in. He wore a black long sleeved t-shirt and black jeans instead of his usual robe-pants combination, he wasn’t wearing his glasses and his hair was secured back in a low ponytail. Mousse had grown taller and filled out a little more; if anything he had gotten sexier, but it was still him.

“Mousse!” she cried and ran into his arms to hug him.

“That’s more like it” he said in a happy tone of voice.

“You look great! Where are your glasses, what have you been doing?” she asked all at the same time.

He laughed “1. I got laser surgery at Shampoo’s insistence and I’m glad I did. 2. I’ve been travelling for over a year and now have enrolled in the University of Nerima and shall be staying here for a while” he explained, taking the chair beside her. “How is everyone? Do Ranma and Akane have a bundle of joy yet?”

“Yes Gaori, she’s one year old and damned if she doesn’t look just like female type Ranma; she’s got us all wrapped around her little finger. I’m her Aunt” Ukyou said with a smile. “Where’s Shampoo, I missed that girl. I guess you probably have a bundle of joy of your own by now” she declared, glancing at his wedding ring.

Something in his eyes shut down “she died a couple months after we got married. There was festival coming up and she wanted a rare type of flower to wear in her hair. I had a fever, so she insisted that I rest while she fetched them from the mountain top that they grow on. A poisonous snake bit her, she never stood a chance. I climbed the mountain myself when she didn’t return. I had to carry her all the way down it, our bundle of joy died with her. I doubt she even knew she was pregnant, she was really early on. It was too soon to even tell if it was male or female.” he said sadly.

“Mousse, I’m so sorry” Ukyou said hugging him again, she could feel his breath hitch as he struggled against his tears.

Then he seemed to pull himself together “look at this, I’m not even here for five minutes and I’m already whining at you. Why don’t tell me about yourself, you can start with all this” he said in a falsely bright tone as he indicated to the boxes. “Are you planning to have a yard sale?” he asked.

Ukyou blinked tears back and explained about her broken engagement, Mousse frowned and held her hand while she did. “What a jerk!” he cried in outrage. Ukyou nodded. “Nice of him to wait until the last possible minute. So what are you doing then?” Mousse asked.

“I’m making a list of all the gifts that I received, I’m putting a number on each one and then sending an apology note asking how they would like to receive them back” she explained.

Mousse pushed up his sleeves and said “then let me help you”

Couple of hours later, they were down to the last present “Dear Mrs. Toyohashi, we really would like to thank you for the gift of a really ugly vase that you sent us. But we fear that we shall never have children to blame for it getting smashed. Too bad, it would have looked great tucked into the back of a closet. Please let us know how you would like it returned. Yours, Ukyou. P.S. If you choose to have it sent to you, are you sure we should include packaging? That way you can claim insurance for the hideous thing” Mousse dictated as he held onto the ugly object in question.

Ukyou laughed “Mousse you can’t say that!” she declared.

“It’s the truth” he said, frowning at the vase.

She just started laughing again. “Would you care to stay for dinner?” she asked.

“Only if we have okonomiyaki, I haven’t had a decent one of those since I was last here. I got addicted to them when I used to hang out with you” he explained.

“Humm, I think I can manage that” she said with a smile.

After they were done eating, Mousse insisted on doing dishes. He hefted up the bottle of dish soap “you seem to be out, do you have another bottle?” he asked.

“Downstairs in the commercial kitchen” she replied.

“I’ll get it” he insisted.

Ukyou picked up his wedding band and noted that it was fairly scratched up, indicating an active lifestyle of the wearer. It was a thick gold band with an oddly small ring size for a man. She smiled at how slim his fingers were; it almost looked like it could fit her. Curious, she tilted to the light to see if it had an engraving. She gasped when it read Ranma Saotome. “She bought it a long time ago, it was meant for Ranma. The ring I buried her with reads Mrs. Saotome” Mousse said from behind her. He didn’t bother to disguise the bitterness in his voice this time.

“But why didn’t you insist on getting a different ring?” she asked confused.

“Wedding rings aren’t even customary where we’re from. She demanded that I wear it and I agree to, even though I knew it would mark me for what I was; a substitute for the man she actually loved. Heck, I was so desperate to marry her I probably would have agreed if she wanted me to wear a pink dress and put my hair in pigtails” he replied.

“So she never got over Ranma?” Ukyou asked in sympathy.

“No, she only married me because she thought it would make her look more mature to assume leadership and she wanted to have children. I was a blind enough to believe that she had finally come to love me” he said bitterly, his eyes were so full of pain that Ukyou felt like crying.

“Mousse, why didn’t you call me? I could have helped you through this. I got your letters at first and then they stopped” she said.

“I was too ashamed to admit what everyone but me already saw was true, it would have been too humiliating. For thirteen years I managed to convince that I loved her enough for the both of us. My marriage was based on a lie, she didn’t want me; she wanted Ranma. Yet I slept beside her every night, wore his ring and listened to her cry his name everytime we made love. She seemed to like me a bit at first and then I would find her staring at other guys; I knew she was going to renounce our marriage because she wanted a stronger man. Someone she felt worthy of her, someone more like Ranma. I would have lost her even if she had lived. At least if the baby, I didn’t even know about had survived; it might have loved m....” Mousse said and then broke into sobs. “I’m sorry, I’ve never told anyone about this” he stammered through sobs. Ukyou put her arms around him and led him to the couch. She sat on his lap and held his heaving body against her own.

Afterwards she pushed him down, so that his head was in her lap. He told her the rest of his story; her heart went out to the broken man. “After Shampoo died, I had to leave the village; too many people were saying it should have been me. Cologne had surprised us by dividing, what turned out to be a considerable fortune and leaving half to Shampoo and half to me. I’ve no idea why she did that. I gave Shampoo’s half to the village and took to travelling; I went a lot of places and saw many things. I almost rejoined the circus, but that seemed too cheerful a place for a new widower. Then I remembered that last place I was happy was here. So I spent the summer with a tutor to get my grades up, attended alternative school to get my diploma and then applied to the University of Nerima and was accepted. That’s how I came to be here” he explained.

“You’re always welcome. You have friends here” she said and stroked his soft dark hair.

“No I don’t, I was an annoying pathetic dork back then who everyone hated and I don’t blame them one bit” he said.

“That’s not true, you were nice, polite and look at how wonderful you were to me that time when I was upset” she retorted.

“Well if there was ever a person who knows what’s like to cry in the street while everyone ignores you, it’s me” he said sarcastically.

“Mousse, no one ever thought badly of you” she soothed. “I bet that they would love to see you again. Kuno and Nabiki are engaged, Kasumi married Dr. Tofu and they have twin boys, Ryoga has a girlfriend, Kodachi ran off with the male half of the golden pair, Mikado Sanzenin and Ranma runs the dojo while Akane’s preparing for law school. Shall I call them up so that we can all get together?” she asked.

“You really think that they would like to see me?” he asked.

“Get the old gang back together, heck ya. Any excuse that we can think of, we’re all friends now” she assured him. “Is there a girlfriend or a wife you would like invite along?” she asked causally.

Mousse’s eyes went hard again “I gave up on dating long ago, after I realized that my love was based on a lie. There have been girls coming on to me since Shampoo’s death, some nice girls who ask me out for coffee and others who crudely say that they want to get into my pants. I fall so easily that I don’t trust myself to be with anyone. I gave up on love a long time ago, it isn’t worth the pain it causes” he said.

“But you can’t give up, you always told me never to do that. Besides, you still wear your wedding ring, that has to count for something” she said, showing it to him. She was sad about how bitter the passionate young man had become.

He took it from her and firmly slipped it onto his finger “And I was wrong to tell you that. The ring is to remind myself not to be such a fool again” he replied.

Confused, Ukyou called Akane to tell her of Mousse being in town. Akane was thrilled and invited them to dinner for the next night, with a promise to invite the rest of the gang to see their long absent friend. Akane listened in sympathy to Mousse’s sad story; he and Ukyou had decided to let everyone know about it ahead of time to avoid awkward situations. Ukyou turned to him after she hung the phone “dinner’s set for tomorrow night” she said “everyone’s looking forward to seeing you”

He looked somewhat dubious about this, but nodded “well, I should go. I have to find a hotel room until I can find an apartment” he said.

“Bite your tongue Sugar. I have a spare bedroom, so you’re staying here, mister. Besides, we have a lot of catching up to do” she said sternly.

“Okay, twist my rubber arm” Mousse said, feeling a little more cheerful now, happy to spend time with an old friend. He felt better then he had in years.