The Truth About the Truth

Honto no honto (本当の本当) is the 196th chapter of the manga it is also the third chapter of the Sauce of Ten Years Arc.

Ranma had completely forgotten about his old promise to Ukyo, but now feels he must live with it without her finding out.

Misunderstandings
When they return to the dojo, Ukyo puts on a and bows to Ranma, promising to be his. Ranma is surprised that he uttered such promise, but cannot bring himself to admit that he simply forgot. Hearing the news from afar, Soun confronts Ranma using his ghostly head but quickly dissipates with a single stroke of her awful sauce. She then comments that his love for her must be true for having liked her sauce despite being terrible; as she says this, Ranma is busy dodging swipes from angry Soun's.

As the thrashing continues, Akane is outside breaking blocks in frustration. She imagines a scenario where Ranma follows through on his promise and is briefly apologetic, but quickly remembers that she does not need to apologize.

Just then Ranma falls out of the sky covered in rubble. He begins bowing down and apologizing to Soun until he realizes he's in front of Akane. He tells her the truth about the okonomiyaki sauce. He also admits to forgetting about the promise he made with Ukyo. With Akane's insistence he goes to Ukyo to tell her the truth.

Untruth
When Ranma goes to his room where Ukyo is staying, he finds that she prepared special dinner just for them. She is so happy about the notion of being husband and wife that Ranma can't even get a word in. Ukyo begins feeding him and Ranma can't mentioning the sauce out of not wanting to hurt Ukyo.

Akane sees this and demands Ranma to tell the truth. They gather around and Ranma finally confesses to ruining her sauce. He bows down to Ukyo to apologize, but she remains quiet. She then asks Ranma if Akane coerced him to tell such a story, almost convinced that this is the case. Ukyo then turns to tell Akane that she is also engaged to Ranma and will not fall so easily for such tricks despite Ranma insisting that it's the truth.

They are suddenly interrupted by Nabiki, who was standing at the doorway and listening to the conversation. She walks up to Ukyo and tells her that their engagement is actually a lie, that they are already married and merely pretending to be engaged. Ranma and Akane are bewildered and Ranma instantly begins denying it. Nabiki tells her sister that it's the only way for Ukyo to give up and Akane understands. She quickly hugs Ranma in front of her sisters and Ukyo before dragging him into the hallway. She convinces him to play along and Ranma finally understands.

Ukyo is keen on their acts and follows them. The couple tells her that they're just having a lovers' quarrel, but Ukyo doesn't buy it. Soun and Genma are overjoyed by this as Ukyo plans her next move.

Cast in Order of Appearance

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

Trivia

 * The text in the chapter title page is an example of