For the Love of Sauce

Sosu soai (ソース相愛) is the 195th chapter of the manga it is also the second chapter of the Sauce of Ten Years Arc.

The tension is high as Akane tries to bear Ukyo living with Ranma and Ranma tries to prevent Ukyo from finding out the truth.

Continued from Previous Chapter
Akane recalls the events of last night while preparing her morning practice and takes her anger out on a tree wrapped in straw. Out of the tree falls Ranma who appears to have slept in the tree the previous night. Ranma admits that he spent the whole night in the tree and tells Akane that he plans to do so until Ukyo feels better. Suddenly they are overcome with a horrific stench coming from the house.

The entire family ensembles to the entrance to Tendo Dojo to find Ukyo attempting to cook with her failed sauce. She plans on punishing herself by eating her failure. Before she can eat the okonomiyaki laden with the diabolical sauce, Ranma steps in and snatches it from her and eats it whole. The onlookers are stunned as Ranma swallows the okonomiyaki and succumbs to the sauce.

Why So Nice?
In school, Ukyo ponders the morning events. She looks across the room at Ranma now sick to the stomach and wonders why he was so willing to sacrifice himself. Ranma meanwhile tries to keep himself together as he tries to recover from the sauce that he created. He tells himself that he must not let Ukyo know of the terrible secret. Akane is also wondering about the events but she now fully suspects that Ranma is hiding something from both of them. She asks Ukyo privately if she can remember if something happened between them.

Ukyo recalls a memory that had long been forgotten. After she sealed the sauce jar, she told Ranma that he can have the first taste, and asked if he is willing to take care of her for the rest of his life if the sauce is good enough. Child Ranma promises to do so, woefully oblivious to what he had just committed to do. Ukyo thinks that Ranma must have remembered the promise, but falls to her knees knowing her sauce was a failure and Ranma will inevitably dump her. Akane now believing she's learned the truth about Ranma, thinks what an irresponsible promise that was.

The Forgotten Promise
The class of 1-F are relaxing when they hear a scraping noise. Ukyo comes into the classroom and sets up her grill and prepares to cook. She makes a quick okonomiyaki and dabs her dreadful sauce on it, the stench of which is enough to twist the bodies of everyone in the room. Remembering their forgotten promise Ukyo becomes more disappointed with her failed sauce and attempts to eat the okonomiyaki as a punishment. Ranma again jumps to his feet and snatches it from her and gobbles it down. The taste is so horrible his face briefly pulls a Henohenomoheji before falling on the floor. Ukyo falls to her knees and cries from her bad sauce, but Ranma gets up with sweat on his face and tries to reassure her. She strikes him out cold after not being able to accept his sympathy, as she's a chef first and a woman second.

In the the infirmary, Akane is next to bedridden Ranma about the situation. She attempts to get the answer out of him and hints that she knows the events that transpired between them as kids. She is of course referring to the promise he made to take care of her, but Ranma believes that Akane figured out that he was responsible for the sauce. He tells her that he won't hurt Ukyo's feeling, unaware that they are talking about two completely different events.

Ranma suddenly catches a flying okonomiyaki glazed with his special sauce. Ukyo tells him that if the sauce is bad he should simply admit it, thinking that if he does she can forget about the promise. Ranma forcefully eats it whole and attempts to smile as he mutters that the sauce is delicious. Ukyo takes this as a sign that Ranma is willing to go through any obstacles to be with her, even a failed sauce. She embraces Ranma who is simultaneously hit with the sauce jar by Akane who is close to tears and shocked that he is going for Ukyo. Ukyo is glad to be a woman first and chef second. Ranma is thoroughly oblivious and does not understand what either of them are talking about.

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Akane Tendo
 * Ranma Saotome (male)
 * Ukyo Kuonji
 * Nabiki Tendo
 * Kasumi Tendo
 * Soun Tendo
 * Genma Saotome (panda)
 * Hiroshi and Daisuke