Ukyo's Secret Sauce, Part 2

 (Itsuwari Fūfu yo Eien ni..., 偽り夫婦よ永遠に...) is the 20th episode in the sixth season, Random Rhapsody, of Ranma ½ and the 132nd episode overall.

Relation to the Previous Episode
Continues on from where the previous episode left off, with the opening of this episode recapping the events of the previous episode. Soun makes mention of the background of how Ukyo became one of Ranma's fiancés, which were first mentioned in Ranma Gains Yet Another Suitor.

At Furinkan High
The lunchtime bell rings, to the delight of some of the male students. Ranma asks Daisuke if he wants to go grab a bite to eat, to which Daisuke gladly agrees. However, Akane comes running up to Ranma saying that she brought him lunch. This reminds Ranma that he has to pretend to be married to Akane. Ranma then reluctantly says that he's sorry as he's remembered he brought lunch.

Ranma walks to Akane and tells her he's glad she brought lunch, causing the male students watching to wonder if Ranma's being controlled by Akane. Akane then tells Ranma that she made the lunch just for him, hearing this Ranma becomes worried given Akane's inability to cook. Seeing how hesitant Ranma is acting, Akane reminds Ranma that they're married and hits him with a chair. The male students present hear that Ranma is now married to Akane and feel sorry for him.

This causes Ranma to try and tells them that it's not what it looks like, but he then looks a Ukyo silently sat at her desk, waiting for the two to reveal that this "marriage" is a lie. Akane then begins to twitch her eye and asks Ranma if they are married, to which Ranma agrees that they are. Daisuke says he doesn't believe this, while Hiroshi asks for someone to pinch him.

Ranma Eats Akane's Lunch
Akane then lifts the lid of Ranma's lunch and comments on how appetising it looks. Akane continues by feeding the food to Ranma, who reluctantly accepts the food as he's got to eat. When asked by Akane how the food tastes Ranma under his breath says it's putrid, causing Akane to force Ranma to give a different, more husband-like, response; Ranma lies and says the food is delicious.

Continuing the married couple routine Akane offers Ranma another piece of the lunch, but Ranma declines and when Akane questions why Ranma tells Akane that her love alone has filled him up. Akane thanks Ranma for his kind words, to which Ranma laughs and, under his breath again, comments on the convincingness of Akane's performance. The male students look on and talk about how strained the two seem and maybe they don't really get along.

Meanwhile, Ukyo turns back to face forward at her desk and thinks about what Akane and Ranma being claiming to be married. Ukyo then thinks to herself that Akane must be putting Ranma up to this and declares she's not going to give up without a fight.

After School
In the Garden of the Tendo Dojo, Ukyo has collected all of her Okonomiyaki cooking equipment and placed in a cardboard box, surrounded by a pink cloth. Ranma then asks Ukyo why she's giving up being an Okonomiyaki chef, to which Ukyo replies that she's shutting down her Okonomiyaki shop because a real woman only cooks for her man.

Ukyo then looks at Akane and asks her if she catches her drift, flames then appear around the two which burn Ranma. Some time passes and Ukyo and Akane are now preparing a meal for Ranma in the kitchen, while Ranma stands bemused at the situation.

Once the food has been made, Akane and Ukyo begin trying to feed it to Ranma before the other does, with Nabiki, Kasumi, Soun and Genma watching the event. Soun then talks about how all this stems from Genma agreeing to make Ranma marry Ukyo for an Okonomiyaki cart, he then turns to Genma for a response, but Genma has turned into his panda form so can't say anything.

That Night
The sign on Akane's door has now gotten a little piece of paper added to the corner of it so it now says "Akane (& Ranma)". Akane asks Nabiki what she's doing here, to which Nabiki explains that if they're going to play "the married couple bit" they're going to have to share the same room. Akane and Ranma are set aback by this, and after sharing glances with each other begin arguing about how and why they'd want to share a room with the other.

Ukyo then walks up and asks if they're splitting up, this causes the two to panic and decide to go along with having to share a room. Ukyo thinks that they must be joking, to which Nabiki says there's only one way to find out and asks Ukyo for ¥1,000.

Inside Akane's room and Ranma opens a window, this causes Akane to ask Ranma what he's doing to which Ranma replies he's going to sleep on the roof. Akane tells Ranma he doesn't have to, surprised Ranma turns around and asks Akane if she was hoping for something. This angers Akane slightly so she tells Ranma to give her a break.

Ranma chuckles and begins to argue with Akane, but the two are soon stopped when Nabiki pops up from outside of the window and tells them that they'll blow everything if they're not careful. Nabiki continues by revealing she brought a bucket of water with her, which Ranma can have for ¥500 a bucket. Ranma believes that this will solve his problem because if he's a girl there'll be no problem with him sleeping with Akane.

Ranma is still thinking about whether he should take Nabiki's offer, when Ukyo appears next to Nabiki and says she still doesn't believe that Ranma and Akane are married. Ukyo's sudden appearance spooks Ranma who in a panic to convince Ukyo drinks the water instead. Meanwhile, Akane asks Nabiki who's side she's on, to which Nabiki replies she's on the side with cash.

Later that Night
Nabiki and Ukyo have both left, leaving Ranma and Akane on their own reading at other sides of the room with a high tension between them. Outside the room and Nabiki, Ukyo, Soun and Genma are trying to listen in to what's happening, but Ranma opens the door and despite acting innocent Ranma asks them what they think they're doing and hits them.

Angered, Ranma shuts the door and says that the situation is ridiculous he then continues by suggesting to Akane that they turn in. Akane agrees since they can't stay up all night.

After a moment of silence Ranma tells Akane there's no reason for her to think he'll anything since she ins't his type. Annoyed by this comments, Akane sarcastically replies that there's no way he can scare her. This angers Ranma, who pushes his sleeve up and causes Akane to hold up a wooden sword to Ranma. The two then say that the other is getting on their nerves.

Some time later, Ranma and Akane finally go to bed, with Akane in her bed and Ranma on the floor. As Akane lies sound asleep, Ranma can't sleep and is annoyed by Akane sleeping like a baby. Ranma then gets up and looks at Akane asleep, but before he knows it, Akane reaches her arms out and grabs Ranma's head, mistaking it for P-chan.

Eventually Ranma manages to get free of Akane's grip, he then walks away from the bed, slaps himself and says that he can't take this.

Next Morning
Ranma walks slightly angrily down the hall and tells himself he's got to get rid of Ukyo before he goes crazy. However, when he walks into the living room, Ukyo is kneeling before him saying that his breakfast is ready and he should have it before it gets cold.

Still concentrating on getting rid of Ukyo, Ranma says that they need to talk, but Ukyo tells Ranma that if it's about last night then it's alright since every man has an affair or two. Hearing this, Ranma panics and tells Ukyo nothing happened, but Ukyo replies that she doesn't want to hear his excuses. Ukyo continues by telling Ranma not to think she's not hurt by his actions.

Ukyo then falls to the floor crying, making Ranma panic more and tries to make Ukyo feel better but she continues to cry. Eventually, Ukyo stops crying enough to explain that she's upset since Ranma's being with Akane when she gave up her Okonomiyaki shop to be with him, believing he'd look after her for ever. Ranma decides he's got to get himself out of this mess and tells Ukyo he'll keep his promise no matter what. Unfortunately for Ranma, an angered Akane appears behind him and beats him up, leaving Ukyo happy about how far a few tears can go.

Ranma's Plan
While out shopping, Ukyo comments on how she'd better finish soon as she doesn't have much time to make Ranma's dinner. Just then Ukyo sees a man making some and before she realises, Ukyo is trying to make Okonomiyaki with the batter. After some prompting by the man who was making the Takoyaki, Ukyo remembers she retired and runs away in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Ranma is stood on a Dojo roof thinking about how he's going to get rid of Ukyo. Ranma quickly settles on a plan involving him agreeing to luck after Ukyo and then being the worts husband in the world, forcing her to leave. As Ranma thinks about his plan, he begins to sneeze and (jokingly) thinks he must be allergic to Ukyo.

Later that day, while Ukyo is preparing dinner for Ranma, Kasumi asks her what her best dish is. Ukyo immediately answers that it's Okonomiyaki, but adds that she can cook anything. Kasumi then turns to the food Ukyo prepared earlier and notes to Ukyo that her cooking certainly has a unique style to it, referring to the fact that every dish has been fried and covered in Okonomiyaki sauce. Realising her mistake, Ukyo calmly notes that she'll have to start over. In Akane's room, meanwhile, Nabiki questions Akane about her choosing not to stop Ranma, but Akane explains to Nabiki that she's sick of him. Nabiki then attempts to change Akane's mind by first listing all his bad qualities and outweigh them to his good ones, but when she tries to think of any good qualities Ranma has, none come to mind so she tells Akane that she's better off without him.

Shortly after everyone has sat down for dinner, Ranma walks in and asks if Ukyo made dinner for them. Once Ranma learns that Ukyo did make the food, he puts his plan in motion and flips over the table and ruins all the food, causing Ukyo to run off in tears. Unfortunately, in reality, the food was caught by the others and Ranma is subsequently sent flying through the roof for seemingly wanting to waste food (something Soun states is forbidden in the Tendo Dojo).

After Ranma's forced departure, the others begin to enjoy Ukyo's meal. All goes well, until Ukyo watches as Kasumi passes Soun the Soy sauce and her inner Okonomiyaki chef takes out again and she begins to treating like the food like Okonomiyaki batter by putting sauce over it, followed by flipping it over. Ukyo soon recovers and sits back down again in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Ranma decides he'd better move onto "Get Dumped Plan B"...

Trivia

 * When Akane places the chopsticks next to her face after Ranma compliments her, instead of appearing in her hands still the chopsticks simply disappear.
 * The size of the pot that Ukyo's Sauce was in changes considerable from being rather small when on the floor to being larger than almost Ranma's whole body when he begins to consume it.