DISCLAIMER: Ranma ½ is the registered trademark of Viz Communications,
Kitty Films, and Rumiko Takahashi.
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Inspired by Adrian D. Moten's "Kasumi 1/2"
A N E W D I R E C T I O N T A K E N
by Michael "TheZorch" Haney
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Chapter 1
Tendo Kasumi looked out the kitchen window and out into the back yard. She watched "him" as he danced around his father's blindingly fast kicks and punches, "he" shifted from the defensive to the offensive and moved with a speed that was simply super human. To anyone who did not know Saotome Ranma intimately they would have considered him to be something beyond the extraordinary. In truth, Ranma was a prodigy in the martial arts, unequaled among others of his generations, and perhaps generations before him. The young pigtailed boy of 17 that Kasumi watched with rapt attention had fought some of the most powerful martial artists in the world and won each challenge. He had even confronted a god face to face and walked away alive.
The eldest Tendo sister let her memories drift back over the oceans of time. The past six months had been the most exciting and terrifying in her life. It would have been worse if not for the fact that "he" was there to protect her. Kasumi had to thank her father for that decision. Six months ago Kasumi did something she had rarely ever done, she left the Tendo home on what the family considered to be a long overdue vacation. Kasumi remembered the day she received the letter from her friend inviting her to visit her in Hawaii. At first Kasumi was going to decline the offer, but everyone supported the idea that she should go. It had been so long since she had been away from the house, and everyone was in agreement that she deserved a break.
"Yeah, you should go." Akane had said. "You deserve a vacation."
"Sure, you do so much for us, you need a little time off." Ranma said with that kind smile Kasumi had grown accustom to.
"I don't know, what about all the cooking and cleaning?" she asked.
"Oh don't worry, I'll handled the cooking Kasumi." Akane said with a broad smile, and was completely oblivious to the horrified expressions on her family's faces.
"I'll handle the cooking, dear." Saotome Nodoka spoke up. A collective sigh of relief passed across the room. "You and Nabiki can handle the cleaning."
Nabiki pointed to herself with a frown and said, "Me, clean."
"Ranma can help out too." Kasumi said with a smile.
"Actually, I had a different idea in mind for Ranma." Tendo Soun said, speaking for the first time since the subject of Kasumi's trip was brought up.
"Huh?" Ranma turned to him.
"Son, I'd like you to go with Kasumi and look after her." Soun said to him. "I'd feel a lot better if she had someone with her to protect her."
"Really father, it isn't necessary." Kasumi said in calm protest.
Soun shook his had and said, "Please Kasumi, your father would feel better if his daughter had someone to protect her on this trip."
"Why not let him go with you Kasumi." Akane said. "It'll keep the pervert from getting into more trouble."
"Who ya calling a pervert!" Ranma growled at his erstwhile iinazuke. "Besides, Kasumi isn't a little girl Mr. Tendo, she don't need me to go along with her."
"Boy, it is the number one duty of a martial art to protect those who cannot protect themselves." Saotome Genma said to his son in a glowering tone. "Kasumi is going to a foreign land for the first time by herself, and as the heir to the Saotome Anything Goes School of Martial Arts it is your duty to protect your future sister-in-law."
"You're quite right Saotome." Soun nodded.
"Ok, ok I'll go with her!" Ranma shouted. "Geeze!"
"The chartered flight to Honolulu leaves tomorrow afternoon, Ranma." Kasumi said. "You might want to start packing, we'll be gone for a week."
Ranma folded his arms behind his back and said, "Heh, maybe it won't be so bad to go, I mean a week without the old freak and the violent tomboy could do me some good."
Ranma never saw the mallet dropping until he felt the impact. "Well excuse me for being a burden!" Akane cried. "Go on the trip, you can stay there for all I care!"
"Oh my." was all Kasumi could say.
Kasumi gave a small chuckle as she remembered that day. It was a faithful one in her memories, for it was the beginning of an adventure that was far different from the one she had been expecting. The sound of a loud splash from outside broke her from her revere and Kasumi went out onto the back porch with the kettle. Sure enough, a wet voluptuous redhead climbed out of the koi pond, launched herself into the air, and dropped kicked her father face first in the pond.
"Oh my." Kasumi said as the inevitable panda broke the surface.
"Honestly Ranma, you're back home only four days after being stranded on that island and you act like nothing ever happened." Akane said with annoyance from the living room where she was sipping her morning tea.
"Hey, I can't let what happened keep me from continuing my training, Akane." Ranma-chan said as she walked up onto the porch. Kasumi upended the kettle over her head and the redhead girl instantly reverted by to his taller boy form. "Thanks Kasumi."
"You're very welcome Ranma." Kasumi said smiling.
"Akane, this whole experience proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ranma is quite suitable as the heir to the Tendo dojo." Soun said from behind his newspaper. "He protected your sister for six months from savage animals and the elements despite her injuries and lack of supplies."
"My son is so manly." Nodoka said with a happy smile. Akane looked at the two of them and rolled her eyes.
"You should be proud to have such a resourceful iinazuke, Akane." Soun said. No one in the room noticed that brief sadness on Kasumi's face before she returned to the kitchen to finish making breakfast. Nodoka followed behind and did not notice the look on Kasumi's face. She was helping Kasumi out in the kitchen since her return home. The eldest Tendo sister refused to stay in bed after getting back and quickly took up her duties around the house. Her injuries, most of which were healed, did hinder her in some ways but her sisters and Ranma's mother were there to help her.
"Whatever." Akane said and sipped her tea.
-----
"Oh my, I'm not feeling very well today." Kasumi said as she stumbled out of the bathroom the next morning. Akane looked at her with concern, her older sister looked flushed and weak on her legs. She quickly moved to help the taller girl into the dinning room where their father and the Saotomes were having their morning tea.
"Not feeling good today Kasumi dear?" Nodoka asked her.
"Kasumi, you don't feel well?" Soun asked putting down his newspaper.
"Auntie Nodoka, could you make breakfast this morning?" Kasumi asked the Saotome matriarch. "I'm afraid I don't really feel up to it today."
"Maybe you should go see Dr. Tofu." Akane said.
Kasumi nodded, "I need to lay down for a while first, then I'll go see him."
"Want me to stay home from school today to help?" Akane asked her.
Kasumi gave her an appreciative smile but said, "Oh no, there is no reason for you to skip school today. I'll be fine, I'm sure it is just some indigestion."
Nabiki chose that time to make an entrance. "Who's sick?" she asked. "I heard somebody heaving their brains out in the bathroom."
"That would be me I'm afraid." Kasumi said weakly.
"Kasumi dear, go and rest and I'll take care of everything today." Nodoka said with a smile as she headed for kitchen.
"It's to be expected, after the ordeal she's been through." Genma spoke up. "She may have picked up a bug from that island she and Ranma was stranded on."
"Then why isn't Ranma getting sick?" Akane asked.
"With his cast iron stomach." Nabiki said with a smirk. "The only thing that can bring him down is your cooking Akane."
Akane quickly shot her the evil eye. "Gee, thanks a lot Nabiki." she said.
"Speaking of Ranma, where is that boy?" Genma asked.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him since your workout this morning, Saotome." Soun said.
Up on the roof of the Tendo dojo Saotome Ranma laid down looking up at the blue morning sky. Today was going to be his first day back to school in over six months since his and Kasumi's ordeal. He was not surprised at how much the incident effected him. Things happened during that time which put a lot of things in perspective for the young martial artist. In some says it helped him grow up in areas that were badly needing development, and none of it had anything to do with martial arts. Ranma's mind drifted back to how all of it started.
New Tokyo International Airport was built on an artificial island constructed in Tokyo Bay. It was necessary, a large airport needed a vast amount of land and in a country where every square inch of land was nearly as valuable as gold building such a large facility on the Japanese mainland would have been a logistical nightmare. The engineering to build the airport was almost as massive an undertaking as the tunnel that linked England and France, the new subway project of New York City, and Kansai International at Hong Kong which was also built on an artificial island. None of these facts were on the mind of Saotome Ranma as he and Kasumi said goodbye to their family at the gate where their charter pilot waited for them.
Kasumi's friend, Chidori Mitoru worked for the American division of a trading company that brought Japanese good to the West. She lived in Honolulu, HI, the capital city of America's fiftieth state. The plane was own by her family and the pilot, Chidori Nobokubi introduced himself as her uncle. He was an older man with graying hair and kind grandfatherly eyes. It turned out he was a veteran of Japan's air force back in World War II and had been one of the oldest fighter aces of the day. Nowadays he made a living flying charter flights between Japan and Hawaii with his Mitsubishi TurboLance. It was the first of a new generation long range turboprop planes powered by a new kind of hydrogen fuel cell. Ranma really was not sure, he was not into the technical kind of stuff.
"Uncle Nobokubi, it has been a long time." Kasumi said bow respectfully to the older man.
"My my, Kasumi dear you're almost a spitting image of your mother." the older man said. "You've grown up to be quite a beautiful young lady."
Kasumi blushed furiously, "Oh my, thank you very much. And I might say you look quite distinguished."
Nobokubi laughed, "Old age seems to suit this old airman. Say, who's your young friend? A boyfriend maybe?"
Kasumi's blush took on a even deeper shade of red and she said, "Oh my, this is Saotome Ranma, Akane's iinazuke. Father thought it would be a good idea if he accompanied me as my guardian."
"Ranma, eh, so you're old Genma's boy." Nobokubi said to the pigtailed martial artist. "Engaged to Akane are you, ha ha, you must be something special to catch the attention of that little firecracker."
Ranma ignore his reference to Akane and asked, "You know my pop?"
"Sure do, the Chidori clan has been family friends of the Tendos and Saotomes for years." Nobokubi said. "Why I remember the day your father and Soun left on their first training trip with that old fart Happosai. Whatever happened to him anyway?"
"Oh, he's around." Ranma replied.
The start of the flight was uneventful. Kasumi was fascinated and a bit frightened at the same time as the small single engine plane soared into the air. Ranma sat behind the eldest Tendo sister and just yawned. It was not the first time he'd been this high up in the air. He was usually flying airborne like this courtesy Akane Air, and he certainly was not afraid of heights. The plane was amazingly quiet, its main engine was in the rear of the plane leaving more room up front for a spacious crew compartment. The prop that propelled the plane forward were a pair of counter rotating rotors with six blades each. They delivered the same amount of thrust as a small business jet, but at nearly 50 times the effective flight range. The plane could make it all the way to San Francisco if they wanted without having to take on more hydrogen, but they'd be pushing it.
The vast expanse of blue water laid out all around them as the plane made its way through the skies. Ranma decided to catch up on his sleep and curled up on the seats in the back. He was not sure how long he slept, but when he awoke the plane was lurching violently and Kasumi was in a near panic.
"What the hell is going on?" Ranma demanded.
"Looks like we hit a squall." Nobokubi said.
"I thought you pilot guys checked the weather before making flights like these." Ranma said with annoyance in his voice. He was not concerned so much for himself, but the frightened look in Kasumi's eyes tugged at that part of his heart that hated seeing any girl in distress.
"That don't mean squat out here sonny boy." Nobokubi told him as he struggled to keep the plane on course. "Storms like these can pop up on the ocean barely without any warning. I've seen storms pop up lots of times when the weather services predict there won't be any."
"Will we be alright Uncle Nobokubi?" Kasumi asked, her voice trembling.
"Don't you worry Kasumi dear, I've been flying for thirty years so there is nothing to be afraid of." he said.
A bright flash suddenly filled the interior of the plane. Kasumi screamed at the top of her lungs and Ranma shielded his eyes from the intensity of the glare. When the light faded the first thing Ranma realized was that he could not hear the plane's engine anymore, and several lights on the instrument panel were flashing.
"OH SHIT!" Nobokubi shouted.
"Oh shit, oh shit what?" Ranma asked.
"Lightning fried the avionics, I can't get the engine restarted." Nobokubi admitted. "We're going down."
"OH MY!" Kasumi screamed.
"Ranma, behind the seat is an emergency raft and survival gear in a waterproof bag." Nobokubi said to him. "Start getting it out. I'm gonna try and ditch us as smoothly as I can." Ranma looked at Kasumi who had passed out from terror and nodded with a determined look his face. Mr. Tendo sent him with her to protect her, and that was what he was going to do.
A voice called out to him shocking him out of his memories.
"Ranma, you're going to be late for your first day back to school!"
The pigtailed martial artist snapped back to the present day and looked at his mother in the back yard. She was standing here with her lands on her hips looking up at him. "Ok, mom, I'll be right down." he said and leapt down alighting effortless in the grass next to her.
"Now, go eat your breakfast before it gets cold and off you go." Nodoka said with a motherly smile.
Ranma sat down before his breakfast and looked around the table. "Where's Kasumi?" he asked.
"Oh, she's not feeling well today, so I made breakfast." Nodoka said.
"She gonna go see the Doc?" he asked.
"She said she's going to see Dr. Tofu after she had a rest, it shouldn't be anything to worry about." Soun said from behind his newspaper.
Ranma sighed, "Good."
-----
"Ranma."
"Huh?"
Ranma looked down from his perch on the fence at Akane. She looked up at him as they walked towards Furinken High. Since returning home on an American air force transport from Hawaii he had a hard time looking her in the eye. There were many things about his experience on the deserted island he still did not tell everyone, and even a few things that he thoughts was better never told. Still, he had a hard time looking at her knowing what happened before he and Kasumi were rescued.
"Ranma, I never thanked you." Akane said looking up at him. "I never thanked you for looking out for Kasumi. You really went through for us, thanks for keeping her safe."
"Uh, your welcome Akane." he said.
Then she said something that nearly made him fall off the fence. "I guess I really can trust you." she said. He recovered from that so quickly he hoped she did not notice it, or perhaps mistook it for shock that she would actually say she trust him and not suspect some other reason for his reaction. Ranma prayed inwardly that Akane would not get suspicious of his reaction. He had reasons to be worried.
"Come on, we're gonna be late!" Akane said as she broke into a run. Ranma zipped past her on the fence at full speed, leapt into the air, and sailed over the parameter wall that surrounded the school grounds. Akane showed up a few seconds later to the sight of Ranma and Kuno engaged in a little reunion of sorts.
"Saotome!" Kuno hissed the name. "You're alive! Is there no justice in this universe!?"
"Hey Kuno, how's it hang'in man?" Ranma asked cheerfully. The response from the would-be samurai was to have the tip of a bokken shoved into his face.
"The fact of your survival is proof of your otherworldly origins, demon." Kuno said with anger. "You will not be able to escape the vengeance of heaven forever you enslaver of women."
Ranma sighed and said, "Gee, nice to see you too Kuno."
"Upperclassman Kuno, Ranma and Kasumi just got back four days ago." Akane said.
"Four days, you fiend!" Kuno snapped at Ranma. "You've been hording dear Akane for four days!"
"Actually I spent two of those days being checked out in the hospital." Ranma said. "Kasumi and me didn't have much in the way of medical supplies on that island."
"You fiend, alone for weeks on a romantic deserted island with the sweet, virginal Kasumi!" Kuno accused. "Even Akane's sisters are the target of your base lusts!"
Ranma tried to stifle a wince with all of his will power, and the only thing that was visible was a sudden lack of color to his face. He countered quickly by grabbing the taller boy by the collar and said, "You got a lotta nerve to talk, bokken breath!"
"You gotta be kidding Kuno baby, I mean Ranma and Kasumi." Nabiki said, a mirthful expression on her face. "That's about as ludicrous as you and me getting together."
"Besides, Ranma would be a dead man if he did." Akane said looking at Ranma. "Isn't that right Ranma?"
"Uh, yeah, whatever you say Akane." Ranma said nodding.
Kuno stepped back and deposited his bokken into his samurai outfit. "Well then, let us continue this at another time Saotome so that we will not be late to our appointed classes." he said. He turned and walked towards the school. The vision of himself and Nabiki standing before the altar in wedding garb filled his mind. The very thought made the Kendoist's skin crawl.
"Nut bar." Ranma said under his breath.
All of Ranma's friends at school quickly surround him to find out how he was and what happened for the past six months. Many of the girls who were among his admirers at Furinken High hung on his every word to the annoyance of Akane. At homeroom Ranma braced himself for what was inevitable. As soon as he crossed the threshold into the room Ukyo practically tackled him as she gave him a Shampoo-class glomp.
"RANMA HONEY!" GLOMP!
"Hey Ucchan, what's up?" Ranma asked after the okonomiyaki chef finally released him taking the pressure off his lungs.
"What's up, what's up, you're been missing for six months and that's all you can say to me!" she said angrily, but her feelings for him overpowered her anger and Ukyo hugged him again a bit less crushingly.
"I'm sorry, I've missed you Ucchan." Ranma said trying to ignore the softness of the girl's breasts pressed against him. He never realized just how well endowed Ukyo really was, she was so good at hiding it.
"Maybe I should all leave so you two can be alone." Akane said angrily as she went to her seat.
"To celebrate your return I'm going to make you my super-special- deluxe okonomiyaki for lunch today." Ukyo said happily. "I bet it'll beat the coconuts and rats you and Kasumi had to live off of for the past six months."
"Wow, thanks Ucchan." Ranma said, his eyes lighting up at the thought of food. Akane just shook her head and sighed. The more things change the more they stay the same., she said to herself. Miss Hinako inaugurated Ranma's return to Furinken High by draining him the instant he fell asleep during her English lecture. Lunchtime could not have come any sooner for the pigtailed martial artist. He met up with Akane, her friends, and Ukyo under their favorite tree in the school yard. The okonomiyaki chef had her portable grill out within seconds and was already finishing the first round of Japanese pizza when Ranma heard a recognizable sound behind him. The sound was subtle, almost imperceptible to those untrained to be sensitive to their surrounds like he was. It was the sound of the gears of a bicycle, and not just any bicycle.
"Nihao Ranma, welcome home!" Shampoo cheered as her Bicycle of Death cleared the wall. Ranma shifted over to the right just slightly, but it was enough to keep from being crushed under the front wheel. That was what usually happened when the chipper, voluptuous Chinese Amazon showed up on her lethal two wheel bike.
"Hey Shampoo, nice to see you." Ranma said.
He braced himself for the expected glomp and sure enough Shampoo launched herself at him and bowled him to the ground. With every ounce of will power he could muster Ranma concentrated on keeping a certain part of his anatomy from rising to the occasion as Shampoo shoved his face into her over-abundant cleavage. Shampoo was the physical incarnation of every Japanese schoolboy's greatest wet dream.
"Shampoo miss ailen so very very much, she has." the Chinese girl bubbled.
"Shampoo, get off him!" Ukyo growled reaching for her baker's peel strapped on her back.
"What it to you Spatula Girl." Shampoo said looking up at her with a smirk as she pressed Ranma's face deep between her breasts. The pigtailed boy's warrior's braid stood up on end and his face from the neck up turned red as an beet.
"Let him go Shampoo!" Akane snapped at her looking as if she were about to leap on the girl.
"Ooooh, Shampoo think maybe pervert girl is jealous, ne?" Shampoo said as she sat up and eased her vice grip on Ranma but did not actually completely let go. Nobody seemed to notice the fact that Ranma did not seem to be trying to pry her off of him like he usually did.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Akane yelled. "Me, jealous over him?"
"That what Shampoo thought, Akane is green eyed monster." Shampoo said with a giggle and let Ranma go. She went to her bicycle and picked up the delivery box off the carry basket behind the seat. The youngest Tendo sister just gave her a vicious stare. If looks could kill Shampoo would have been a greasy smear on the ground.
"Shampoo bring special five spice deluxe fish ramen for Ranma." she said sliding up the side panel to reveal a steaming ceramic bowl.
"I'm already making Ranma honey my special super-deluxe okonomiyaki." Ukyo said now holding her baker's peel in a ready fighting stance.
"Uh, girls I am kinda hungry, so I can eat both." Ranma said, standing between the two combatants. "Ok? Both of you are great cooks, and I really don't like it when you guys fight."
"Oh Ranma."
"Oh Ranma honey."
"Oh give me a break!"
Ranma turned and got a glimpse of Akane's back as she and her friends walked off. "Let me know when you're done flirting with your other iinazuke." she said.
"What's her problem?" Ranma asked but did not really expect an answer.
-----
When it came to Dr. Tofu Ono, Kasumi was like an overdoes of LSD. He lost all control of his usual professional self whenever her name was mentioned or he heard her voice. His various patients who came to see him during the day vacated the clinic like rats from a sinking ship when Kasumi entered through the front door. There was no way they were going to put themselves into the middle of ground zero when Dr. Tofu was on a Kasumi Trip.
The young doctor came into the waiting room for his next patient only to find it empty save for one person. The instant his eyes met with Kasumi's lovely face his glasses fogged over and his body began to quiver all over.
"Oh, K-K-Kasumi, funny meeting you h-h-here of all place, he he he." he said.
"Dr. Tofu, I haven't been feeling well the past couple of days." she said.
Kasumi might be sick!, the doctor's mind cried out and his sudden attack of Kasumi-itus quickly vanished. "Uh, this way Kasumi, let me have a look at you." he said and directed her to one of the examination rooms.
The doctor's hands shook a little after Kasumi took off her blouse so he could check her with his stethoscope. Kasumi might be sick., he reminded himself. "So, you say you've been having nausea the past couple of days?" he asked her after listening to her lungs and finding nothing abnormal.
"It was worse this morning, but it started two days ago." Kasumi said. "It usually only bothered me in the morning."
Hmm, that sounds like, but no it couldn't be., the doctor mussed to himself. "I'd like to get a urine sample to send to the lab." he said and took a specimen cup out the cupboard over the sink in the room. "And I have an herbal tea recipe for you that I give our for indigestion."
"Do you think that is all it is?" Kasumi asked him.
"Well, you're body just might be adjusting to the change in diet and water quality." Dr. Tofu said. "You just got back after a very stressful ordeal. Which reminds me, how is your leg?"
"Oh, it still aches a bit, but I can walk on it." she said.
Dr. Tofu checked her leg, he shivered a little when he touched her curvaceous calve. "It will be sore for another month." he said. "Keep using the willow bark tea I gave you for the pain. You are lucky to have had Ranma with you when this happened. His experience in first aid from his training trips saved you from getting a very serious infection."
"He did take very good care of me." she said. Dr. Tofu was not sure but he swore he heard a hint of close affection in her voice.
The doctor gave Kasumi a small bag of the special tea for her stomach after she gave him the sample he needed. He walked her to the door and they said their goodbyes. As soon as she was gone he rushed into his office and grabbed the telephone.
"Hello, I'd like to speak to Dr. Kojiro, this is Dr. Tofu Ono." he said. "Yes, I'll hold." A few seconds later someone came to the phone. "Doctor, I have a urine sample at my clinic I need tested and I need the results back ASAP." he said. "Can you squeeze me in today? You can, alright I'll send it to the lab right now. Thank you."
He put down the phone and went into the stock room where his assistance was checking the supplies. He gave her the sample bottle and instruction on where to take it. He personally watched the young nurse leave on her bicycle for the test lab, then he went to his office and pull out one of his medical journals and the notes he took of Kasumi's symptoms. The information he found did not bode well.
"It can't be." he said looking at his own notes. "How could it be?"
"I'll wait for the results from the test, yeah, that's what I'll do." he said closing the book. "I'm just getting myself worked up for nothing that's all, he he he."
-----
Nothing seemed to have changed at all, not all that much. That was what Tendo Akane was thinking as she stood on the roof of the school. See looked out over the school grounds at the various students milling about doing what they usually did during the day at the high school. She heard a sound behind her and looked over her shoulder. The sight of Ukyo made her look away with some annoyance. The last thing she wanted to be reminded of was Ranma's other suitors.
"Hey Akane." Ukyo said softly.
"What do you want Ukyo?" Akane asked her.
"I just wanted to ask you something." Ukyo said as she walked up next to her and leaned against the railing. "Did you notice anything strange about Ranma honey today?"
"Why would I notice anything about him." Akane said in a huff.
"I'm serious." Ukyo said loudly. "Ranma honey is usually tied up in knots when it comes to girls, but today he seemed so, so-"
"Flirtatious." Akane said finishing Ukyo's sentence with a slight note of anger.
"Uh, yeah, I guess that's what you could call it." Ukyo said.
Akane sighed and leaned over onto the railing. "He's been acting weird ever since he and Kasumi came home." she said. "I thought it had something to do with what happened to them."
"Akane, you don't think anything happened between Ranma honey and Kasumi do you?" Ukyo asked her.
Akane laughed, "Ranma may be a pervert, but he's not that perverted." He had better not have for his sake., Akane said to herself. "I think maybe Kasumi might have used their time alone together to straighten him out, maybe just a little." Akane said.
"She usually does take time to listen to his problems, doesn't she." Ukyo said with a sigh.
"Oh come on, Ranma and Kasumi." Akane said turning to the chef. "You and I both know he'd never try anything with her, and besides that she's not in love with him. Kasumi likes Dr. Tofu."
"Yeah, you're right." Ukyo said with a sigh and smiled. "Though it was nice not having a Ranma who got all nervous and skittish to talk to."
Why couldn't he be like that with me?, Akane asked herself. "I guess." Akane said.
Ukyo stood up and gasped. "You don't think being in a life-or-death situation like that finally made him decided to choose do you?" she asked excitedly.
Akane looked at her and thought that one over. The more she rolled that around in her mind the more it became very likely that was what happened. Maybe, just maybe being near death or not know if he'd ever see his family and friends ever again motivated him to finally make a choice. The thought filled her with hope and dread at the same. If he is going to choose one of us, will it be me?, she asked herself.
"That must be it." Ukyo said. "Ranma honey has finally decided to choose. Its about damn time that jackass finally decided to put an end to all this crap."
"But, has he made his decision yet, or is he just trying to make up his mind." Akane said with a hopeful note to her voice.
"So, you do like him." Ukyo said giving the younger Tendo girl a knowing wink.
Akane's eyes went wide and she said, "Uh, no, why would I-" Maybe he will choose me., she said to herself. She did not finish her sentence, Akane turned back to the railing and looked down into the school yard. A happy smile crossed her lips.
-----
Dr. Tofu Ono waved goodbye to one of his regulars as they slowly walked down the street with the aid of an old wooden canes. The young doctor went to the waiting room and sighed. It had been a long day. After Kasumi left many of his regulars came back to see if he had recovered from his Kasumi-itus attack. In truth, he had not had one convulsion all day since Kasumi first arrived. Now he was waiting with baited breath for the call from the lab with Kasumi's test results. Normally he would have had to wait for a day, but the director of the labs at Tokyo General was a friend of his and could have the work on it put at the top of the list without much trouble. It was nearing four o'clock in the afternoon when the call came.
"Oh, yes, thank you very much." Dr. Tofu said to the person on the phone. "Yes I do have a fax machine, the number is in Dr. Kojiro's Rolodex. Yes, ah, yes that is my fax number. Thank you, I'll be waiting for it. And thank Dr. Kojiro for rushing this for me."
The fax came through and he hastily pulled it from the machine. Taking a cup of tea with him to his desk he began to read the test results. When he reached a certain line of medical data he nearly choked on his tea. The young doctor dropped to the floor and coughed for several minutes before recovering and climbed to his feet. He grabbed the paper and read it again to make sure he was not mistaken. He knew the labs at Tokyo General did not make mistakes, and the findings were in line with the symptoms he noticed in Kasumi. It was the very thought of it that shocked him to his core. The implications were too terrible to ponder, but he had the welfare of his patient to think about. So, he picked up the phone and dialed the Tendo dojo.
Not far across Nerima, Kasumi happily sliced a tube root in preparation for dinner. Nodoka stood at the stove and sampled a bit of the sauce she was working on. When the phone rang the Saotome matriarch went to it quickly.
"Mushi, mushi, Tendo residence." she said. "Oh, hello Dr. Tofu, yes it has been a long time. Oh, Kasumi, yes she's right hear dear."
She lowered the phone and cupped her hand over the mouth piece. "Its that cute young doctor calling for you Kasumi dear." Nodoka said.
"Auntie Saotome, please." Kasumi said blushing furiously as she took the phone from her.
"Hello doctor." she said. "Oh I'm feeling better since I had some of that tea. You have the results of my test."
At the clinic Dr. Tofu mustered his courage to say what needed to be said. He had to think of Kasumi's welfare. "Uh, Kasumi, I don't how to tell you this but your, your tests-" he tried to say.
"Yes." she said.
"Kasumi, I-I-I the tests show you to be at least three weeks pregnant." he finally said.
Kasumi gasped and dropped the handset. She staggered back and slumped against the wall. "Oh, oh my." she said. "Oh, ohmyohmyohmyohmyohmy."
"Anything wrong Kasumi dear?" Nodoka asked her.
Kasumi looked at her a bit wild eyed for a moment and said, "I suddenly don't feel very well, Auntie Saotome. Could you finish dinner for me."
"Of course dear, you go to your room and rest and I'll handle everything." Nodoka said with a smile. "Don't you worry about a thing, alright." She picked up the handset, said something to the doctor and hung up.
Kasumi nodded and quickly went to her room. She slumped against her door immediately after she closed it and slid down to the floor and wrapped her arms around his knees. "What am I going to tell Ranma?" she asked herself out loud. "How can I explain this to Akane?" As the tears began to fall Kasumi's memories drifted back to the island in the South Pacific. The plane crash has not been smooth one. Kasumi had no memory of what happened when the place did go down. All she did know was that she was seriously hurt with a broken leg, bruised ribs, and many deep cuts. She would have been dead, drowned in the ocean if it had not been for Ranma.
The first thing Kasumi remembered seeing after the crash in the ocean was Ranma-chan's worried face watching her. Kasumi hurt all over, her leg was burning with pain. She looked around and instead of being in an inflatable raft like she expected she was laying on the soft sand of a beach.
"How do you feel?" Ranma-chan asked her.
"It hurts all over." Kasumi said weakly.
"I set your leg and put a splint on it." Ranma-chan said. "I salvaged what I could from the plane before it went under, but there wasn't a lot." Kasumi craned her neck down to look at herself and saw the splint on her leg left leg and bandages on her arms and her right leg.
"Uncle Nobokubi!" Kasumi gasped and tried to sit up but Ranma-chan held her down.
"I-I-I'm sorry, he didn't make it." Ranma-chan said sadly. "I buried him on the other side of the beach. I'm so sorry."
"How long, how long have I been asleep?" Kasumi asked her while trying to hold back the tears. Nobokubi had not been her real uncle but she loved him like he was just the same. His death hurt her, it hurt almost as much as the pain in her leg.
"A day and half." Ranma-chan said. "We crashed near this island, but it doesn't show on any of the charts he had in the plane. So I don't know where we could be."
"We're stranded here." Kasumi said with a shaky voice. Ranma-chan nodded sadly.
"We got ten flares and a flare gun, the satellite phone he had is toast, and the radio got fried when that lightning hit the plane." she said. "There ain't much in the way of food except for some granola bars and a couple bottles of water."
"Father, Akane, Nabiki, we'll never see them again." Kasumi said, her chest shaking as the sobs came. She calmed some when she felt Ranma-chan take her hand in hers.
"Kasumi, your dad told me to protect you, and I am." she said. "I'll find a way for us to get back home even if I gotta swim us back home."
Kasumi wiped away her tears and said, "Thank you, I'm so happy you came with me, Ranma. I'd be so afraid on my own."
"Don't worry, I'm here for you." Ranma-chan said then she picked up a bowl made out of half of a coconut shell. She began to stir something with a thin brush made from some reeds.
"What's that?" Kasumi asked.
"The first aid kit doesn't have an antiseptic, so I had to go out and find stuff to make one." Ranma-chan said. "You got some nasty cuts, and they can get infected out here easy."
"How did you learn to do that?" Kasumi asked her.
Ranma shrugged and said, "Eh, traveling with pops for ten years taught me more than just martial arts. We didn't always have the money for a doctor so we had to make up our own remedies for stuff. Making an antiseptic is easy if you know what plants to look for."
"Ranma."
"Hmmm?"
"How did, how did he die?" Kasumi asked.
Ranma-chan sat there thinking that one over for a moment, but them decided being honest with Kasumi was probably a better policy. "He didn't have his harness on." she said. "When we hit the water his head hit the ceiling of the cabin. I heard his skull crack, it was instant. He didn't suffer."
"Ranma." Kasumi said taking the redhead's hand. "Thank you for being truthful with me."
"You deserve to know the truth, keeping it from you wouldn't have served any purpose." Ranma-chan said. "After I change your dressing on your cuts I'm gonna start building us a shelter. I didn't do much the first day, I didn't wanna leave you here while you were out."
"Thank you." Kasumi said with a smile.
Ranma-chan began to unwrap one of the bandages on Kasumi's arm. "This might sting a little." she warned her.
In the present Kasumi opened her eyes and her thoughts drift to the young pigtailed martial artist. His life was filled with so much chaos. This was the last thing he needed to have to deal with. But, she knew she had to tell him. He had a right to know to the truth. After all, he'd been truthful with her. He protected her and took care of her. Before this experience Kasumi would not have given Ranma a second thought as a love interest. She did like him, he was a good person, and he was Akane's iinazuke. Now however, she knew Ranma in a way none of the others did. She had seen the true Saotome Ranma, and she feel in love with him. It did not happen overnight, it was gradual over time, but after a few months being under his gentle care and protection Kasumi had seen a different side to Ranma. She had seen in him something she never knew was there.
Months had passed since the crash and Kasumi was now able to walk a little on her leg. She remembered sitting at the fire in their camp just off the beach making dinner for her guardian while he was out gathering fruit. There was not much in the way of wild life to hunt for dinner on the island except for snakes and large rats. There were no wild boar or any larger animals. Ranma had managed to make a makeshift fishing net out of a parachute from the plane so they could eat fish. Kasumi did have to admit to one though from her experience. Snake really does taste like chicken. Water was not a problem for them either since Ranma found a fresh water spring near a small cave.
One day, the regular routine of the day was about to take a turn for the worst, or perhaps that is what Kasumi thought when she saw the black clouds gathering on the horizon. Ranma had seen them from the top of a banana tree, and Kasumi heard the young martial artist curse as he alighted to the ground.
"Looks like a nasty storm is on its way." he said. "We'd better batten down the camp."
Their shelter, which the two shared, was a small grass hut with a thatch roof. It kept out the rain whenever it did rain occasionally, but Ranma knew it would not survive a really big storm. Neither of them really knew how bad the storm was going to be until it began to get closer to the island. By that time the winds had gotten strong enough to rip the roof off their hut and cave in one of the walls.
"This is bad, and its gonna get worse." Ranma said.
"I'm scared!" Kasumi cried over the roar of the wind. Ranma reached out and held her protectively in his arms. The wind was getting colder too, and he guessed by the time the storm hit it was going to be bone chilling cold.
"Help me get the gear, we'll wait it out in that cave near the spring." he said. Kasumi nodded and the two struggled against the fierce wind to gather what belongings they had and held each other as they made their way to the cave by the spring. The cave was small, but ran far enough back that they were well protected from the fierce storm outside. A natural chimney, possibly a leftover from some long extinct volcanic activity on the island, ran up to the top of the rocky mound the cave sat under. It was the perfect place to start a fire to keep warm. The sound of the storm's fury echoed from the mouth of the cave.
Kasumi shook with fright, the storm brought back fears of the storm they had been caught up in while on the plane. Ranma held her close and wrapped a blanket from the survival gear around them to keep them warm. Kasumi leaned against Ranma's chest and rest her head on his shoulder. She never realized how solid Ranma's body was, his chest was hard as a rock, his stomach had a well defined washboard. But, Ranma was not over developed like a weight lifter, he had a lean build like Bruce Lee in his heyday. He was much stronger than any man she knew. How many martial artist could throw a one ton boulder like a beach ball one handed? Despite that incredible strength, when Ranma tended to her wounds his hands were so soft and gentle. She could feel his awesome power in his fingers yet they were soft gentle when they touched her skin.
Perhaps it was from being afraid, perhaps it was because she was slowly falling in love with him, or maybe a combination of both. Kasumi looked up into Ranma's soft blue eyes and saw compassion and kindness there. For the first time she realized just how handsome the young Saotome heir was. At first she envied Akane for having him as her iinazuke, but that thought brought with it memories of how her younger sister treated Ranma. That was what probably drove Kasumi to do what she did next. No, she knew that was why, she was sure of it. As Ranma held her close, warming her with his body, she leaned her face up and kissed him on the neck gently.
"K-K-Kasumi." he said in shock.
"I love you." she said.
"I-I-I, uh-"
"Don't be afraid, don't pull away." she pleaded with him as she was him go into his shy convulsions. She had seen it many times when Shampoo glomped him. "Please." she said.
"K-K-Kasumi, I-I never knew-"
"I've fallen in love with you." she admitted. "You've been so gentle, so kind. I've seen a side of you that nobody has ever seen before."
"I really care about you too Kasumi." Ranma admitted. "You've always been nice to me and stuff, and I think you're like really pretty." Kasumi leaned up and kissed him again, this time on his cheek. She moved up and worked her way to his lips. At first he did not return the kiss, but when she kissed him a second time she felt him return it. With every second she could feel his confidence growing, and with his growing confidence his kisses began stronger. She wrapped her arms around him and ran her fingers though his hair. Ranma's hands held her tightly but in a gentle way. His hands roved down her back, and when one of his hands brushed her breast he froze in his tracks.
With a smile Kasumi took his hand and cupped her breast with it. Ranma's face turned a deep shade of red. Kasumi kissed him again then looked into his eyes with a pleading expression. "Ranma, please." she said.
"I-I-I, I mean, eh, uh, I-"
"I need you." she said softly and began to kiss him along his neck. Her lips made it to his ear lobe and she sucked on it for a moment. Kasumi felt a shiver run up Ranma's back when she did that, and before long she felt something hard pressing against her leg.
"Don't be afraid, I love you, I trust you, and I need you so much." she pleaded and kissed him again. The last of Ranma's self-control withered to nothing in that instant. Slowly, gently, he lowered Kasumi to the floor. The eldest Tendo sister's body shivered with the memory of the love they shared that night. It would not be the first and only time, and she cherish the memory of each moment deep in her heart. Their first time has been bit a sloppy, neither of them were experienced, but it was the most wonderful thing Kasumi had ever felt in her entire life. It took a while for them to get a good rhythm going. What they did that night was not not just having sex, they made love the only way two people who really cared about one another could, and that kind of lovemaking was more exciting than any other.
The sound of Ranma's voice from downstairs brought her back to the present. Her heart leapt into her throat. She had to tell him, but how was he going to take the news. She feared the worst, she feared that he would hate her for making his life even harder than it already was. Kasumi was brought out of her reverie when she hear the boy's light footfalls on the stairs as he headed to his room. She climbed to her feet and opened her bedroom door to look out. Ranma went into this room for a moment then came a few minutes later.
"Ranma-." she said.
"Kasumi, mom said you weren't feeling well again." he said walking up to her.
She could not look him in the eye, she could not look up at him. Kasumi felt like she was a teenager again talking to a cute boy she had a crush on. This time was different, she was pregnant, and now she had to tell the father. "Ranma we have to talk about something, come in please." she said and guided him into her room. The two sat on the bed together for a long time in silence until Ranma decided to be the one to speak first.
"What the matter?" he asked her concerned. "Are you alright?"
"Ranma, I have something to tell you, but I'm afraid to tell you." she said.
"You're afraid to, hey if you got something to tell me Kasumi you can say it." he said. "You know I trust you, I won't get mad no matter what it is."
"I went to Dr. Tofu's office today and had some test done." he said. "Ranma, I-I-I'm pregnant." She saw his jaw go slack and his eyes nearly bug out of his head. For a moment she feared that he hated her. She turned away from him and said, "If you hate me for making your life worse than it already is, I'll understand."
Kasumi felt a single, gentle finger tilt her face up. Ranma smiled at her with the kindest and most loving smile she had ever seen on his face. With his other hand he cupped the back of her neck and drew her in and kissed her tenderly. Kasumi sighed and let herself fall against him. Ranma's arms gathered her up and held her close.
"I could never ever hate you and I don't wanna ever hear you talk like that again." he said. "Are you absolutely sure about those tests?"
Kasumi nodded. "Yes, and you're the only man I've ever been with."
"I know its mine." he said hugging her close. "I don't know, somehow I knew this was going to happen."
"What are we going to do?" she asked. "We have to tell father, Akane."
"Kasumi, I'm gonna marry you." Ranma said as he looked into her eyes.
"But-but what about Akane?" she asked.
"She's not pregnant with my baby." he said. "I ain't like my pop, I ain't gonna leave you in the lurch, and I sure as hell ain't gonna let it be illegitimate. I'm gonna take care of you and the baby, I promise."
Tears filled her eyes as joy filled her heart. "Oh Ranma." she said.
"But it sure ain't gonna be easy." he admitted a cloud of sadness passing over his face..
"Ranma, do you love Akane?" she asked him. "Please be honest."
He shook his head and said, "I could never lie to you. I-I can't say that I do or that I don't. I care about her, I worry about her sometimes, but I don't know if I really love her or not. Maybe I did once, after what happened in China I think I did, but now I don't really know."
"What about me?" she asked.
"I think that maybe I love you." he said. "Given time I'm sure that I could. I know I will." Slowly the two lowered each other to the bed and just laid there holding each other in their arms. Kami-sama, she's so pretty., Ranma said to himself. She's so kind, she's so sweet, so innocent.
"We have to decide on when to tell them." Kasumi said.
"Yeah, your right, we gotta tell everybody." Ranma said.
"Tomorrow is a day off from school, right?" she asked.
Ranma nodded and said, "Yeah, tomorrow then."
"Just before dinner, that should give us enough time to figure out how we're going to tell them." Kasumi said and knitted her fingers with Ranma's and grasped them tightly.
"Ranma."
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"I remember that night in the cave as if it were yesterday." Kasumi said. "I remember your hands, so strong but gentle. Your lips, so soft. It felt so wonderful that night, and I'll never forget it."
"Neither will I." Ranma said and drew Kasumi closer to his body.
"I do have some regrets-" she said.
"About what?" he asked her.
"About how everything started." she said. "About the first day you came and Nabiki and me pushing Akane off on you like that. It-It-It should have been me."
"We can't changed the past." Ranma said quietly and kissed her forehead.
"But I am afraid." she said. "I'm afraid my sister will hate me. I betrayed her trust, I made love with her iinazuke."
"Akane loves you, she'd never hate you." Ranma said hugging her tighter. "I'm as much at fault here as much as you are. I wanted you too that night."
"But, I seduced you." Kasumi said trying to take the blame.
"Listen, stop trying to put blame on yourself and make yourself feel bad." he said. "We did this together, we'll face it together, we'll tell them together and if you don't like it tough."
"Ranma!" she said in surprise and looked at him.
"I ain't gonna marry Akane, I'm gonna marry you." he said. "No matter how much pops and your dad yell at me."
Kasumi sighed, "Knowing my father's track record he will not be all that angry, he will be too happy that the schools are joining."
Ranma suddenly a thought that made him shudder. "What about mom?"
Kasumi did not thing about that. "She already declared you a man among men, I don't know if she would approve or disapprove." she said. "I know she would not disapprove of me being your wife."
"Another thing to worry about are the Amazons." said Ranma. They came back to Nerima right after Josendo and stayed even after the failed wedding attempt. It looked like they were not going to give up. What would happen if they learned Kasumi was carrying his child? His greatest concern was with Cologne, what would she do? He knew she had a hand in Shampoo's actions at the wedding, not just Nabiki, and he would not put anything past the Old Ghoul.
All he did know for certain was that if anyone, including Cologne, hurt Kasumi or his child he would kill them. He killed before, and he would do it again to save the person the loved. In a way he admitted to himself right then and there that he had been in love with Akane, but after the failed wedding things did not improve or get worse between them. It actually stayed the same as before, never moving ahead, never going back. He tried dropping hints about his feelings towards her but she either did not notice them or mistook them for something else. This usually lead to misunderstandings that lead to him getting a free trip across town via mallet power.
"You don't think they tried to hurt me or the baby do you?" Kasumi asked him, a slight quiver of fear in her voice.
"They would regret it if they did." he said. "As long as I'm near I won't let anyone hurt you." In his heart he meant it. To the Amazons he was a "blooded warrior" and a force to be reckoned with. Little did he know that would be a saving grace for them in the near future.
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To be continued...
NOTES: As promised this is a slightly rewritten version of the original story correcting some errors and smoothing out flashback scenes. I did say I wanted to add more flashbacks, but they just would not work well in this chapter, so I decided to leave them until chapter 2. Thanks to all the people who reviewed the original and I hope you enjoy this rewrite. Thanks also to Adrian D. Moten for writing the story upon which this is based.
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Inspired by Adrian D. Moten's "Kasumi 1/2"
A N E W D I R E C T I O N T A K E N
by Michael "TheZorch" Haney
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Chapter 1
Tendo Kasumi looked out the kitchen window and out into the back yard. She watched "him" as he danced around his father's blindingly fast kicks and punches, "he" shifted from the defensive to the offensive and moved with a speed that was simply super human. To anyone who did not know Saotome Ranma intimately they would have considered him to be something beyond the extraordinary. In truth, Ranma was a prodigy in the martial arts, unequaled among others of his generations, and perhaps generations before him. The young pigtailed boy of 17 that Kasumi watched with rapt attention had fought some of the most powerful martial artists in the world and won each challenge. He had even confronted a god face to face and walked away alive.
The eldest Tendo sister let her memories drift back over the oceans of time. The past six months had been the most exciting and terrifying in her life. It would have been worse if not for the fact that "he" was there to protect her. Kasumi had to thank her father for that decision. Six months ago Kasumi did something she had rarely ever done, she left the Tendo home on what the family considered to be a long overdue vacation. Kasumi remembered the day she received the letter from her friend inviting her to visit her in Hawaii. At first Kasumi was going to decline the offer, but everyone supported the idea that she should go. It had been so long since she had been away from the house, and everyone was in agreement that she deserved a break.
"Yeah, you should go." Akane had said. "You deserve a vacation."
"Sure, you do so much for us, you need a little time off." Ranma said with that kind smile Kasumi had grown accustom to.
"I don't know, what about all the cooking and cleaning?" she asked.
"Oh don't worry, I'll handled the cooking Kasumi." Akane said with a broad smile, and was completely oblivious to the horrified expressions on her family's faces.
"I'll handle the cooking, dear." Saotome Nodoka spoke up. A collective sigh of relief passed across the room. "You and Nabiki can handle the cleaning."
Nabiki pointed to herself with a frown and said, "Me, clean."
"Ranma can help out too." Kasumi said with a smile.
"Actually, I had a different idea in mind for Ranma." Tendo Soun said, speaking for the first time since the subject of Kasumi's trip was brought up.
"Huh?" Ranma turned to him.
"Son, I'd like you to go with Kasumi and look after her." Soun said to him. "I'd feel a lot better if she had someone with her to protect her."
"Really father, it isn't necessary." Kasumi said in calm protest.
Soun shook his had and said, "Please Kasumi, your father would feel better if his daughter had someone to protect her on this trip."
"Why not let him go with you Kasumi." Akane said. "It'll keep the pervert from getting into more trouble."
"Who ya calling a pervert!" Ranma growled at his erstwhile iinazuke. "Besides, Kasumi isn't a little girl Mr. Tendo, she don't need me to go along with her."
"Boy, it is the number one duty of a martial art to protect those who cannot protect themselves." Saotome Genma said to his son in a glowering tone. "Kasumi is going to a foreign land for the first time by herself, and as the heir to the Saotome Anything Goes School of Martial Arts it is your duty to protect your future sister-in-law."
"You're quite right Saotome." Soun nodded.
"Ok, ok I'll go with her!" Ranma shouted. "Geeze!"
"The chartered flight to Honolulu leaves tomorrow afternoon, Ranma." Kasumi said. "You might want to start packing, we'll be gone for a week."
Ranma folded his arms behind his back and said, "Heh, maybe it won't be so bad to go, I mean a week without the old freak and the violent tomboy could do me some good."
Ranma never saw the mallet dropping until he felt the impact. "Well excuse me for being a burden!" Akane cried. "Go on the trip, you can stay there for all I care!"
"Oh my." was all Kasumi could say.
Kasumi gave a small chuckle as she remembered that day. It was a faithful one in her memories, for it was the beginning of an adventure that was far different from the one she had been expecting. The sound of a loud splash from outside broke her from her revere and Kasumi went out onto the back porch with the kettle. Sure enough, a wet voluptuous redhead climbed out of the koi pond, launched herself into the air, and dropped kicked her father face first in the pond.
"Oh my." Kasumi said as the inevitable panda broke the surface.
"Honestly Ranma, you're back home only four days after being stranded on that island and you act like nothing ever happened." Akane said with annoyance from the living room where she was sipping her morning tea.
"Hey, I can't let what happened keep me from continuing my training, Akane." Ranma-chan said as she walked up onto the porch. Kasumi upended the kettle over her head and the redhead girl instantly reverted by to his taller boy form. "Thanks Kasumi."
"You're very welcome Ranma." Kasumi said smiling.
"Akane, this whole experience proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ranma is quite suitable as the heir to the Tendo dojo." Soun said from behind his newspaper. "He protected your sister for six months from savage animals and the elements despite her injuries and lack of supplies."
"My son is so manly." Nodoka said with a happy smile. Akane looked at the two of them and rolled her eyes.
"You should be proud to have such a resourceful iinazuke, Akane." Soun said. No one in the room noticed that brief sadness on Kasumi's face before she returned to the kitchen to finish making breakfast. Nodoka followed behind and did not notice the look on Kasumi's face. She was helping Kasumi out in the kitchen since her return home. The eldest Tendo sister refused to stay in bed after getting back and quickly took up her duties around the house. Her injuries, most of which were healed, did hinder her in some ways but her sisters and Ranma's mother were there to help her.
"Whatever." Akane said and sipped her tea.
-----
"Oh my, I'm not feeling very well today." Kasumi said as she stumbled out of the bathroom the next morning. Akane looked at her with concern, her older sister looked flushed and weak on her legs. She quickly moved to help the taller girl into the dinning room where their father and the Saotomes were having their morning tea.
"Not feeling good today Kasumi dear?" Nodoka asked her.
"Kasumi, you don't feel well?" Soun asked putting down his newspaper.
"Auntie Nodoka, could you make breakfast this morning?" Kasumi asked the Saotome matriarch. "I'm afraid I don't really feel up to it today."
"Maybe you should go see Dr. Tofu." Akane said.
Kasumi nodded, "I need to lay down for a while first, then I'll go see him."
"Want me to stay home from school today to help?" Akane asked her.
Kasumi gave her an appreciative smile but said, "Oh no, there is no reason for you to skip school today. I'll be fine, I'm sure it is just some indigestion."
Nabiki chose that time to make an entrance. "Who's sick?" she asked. "I heard somebody heaving their brains out in the bathroom."
"That would be me I'm afraid." Kasumi said weakly.
"Kasumi dear, go and rest and I'll take care of everything today." Nodoka said with a smile as she headed for kitchen.
"It's to be expected, after the ordeal she's been through." Genma spoke up. "She may have picked up a bug from that island she and Ranma was stranded on."
"Then why isn't Ranma getting sick?" Akane asked.
"With his cast iron stomach." Nabiki said with a smirk. "The only thing that can bring him down is your cooking Akane."
Akane quickly shot her the evil eye. "Gee, thanks a lot Nabiki." she said.
"Speaking of Ranma, where is that boy?" Genma asked.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him since your workout this morning, Saotome." Soun said.
Up on the roof of the Tendo dojo Saotome Ranma laid down looking up at the blue morning sky. Today was going to be his first day back to school in over six months since his and Kasumi's ordeal. He was not surprised at how much the incident effected him. Things happened during that time which put a lot of things in perspective for the young martial artist. In some says it helped him grow up in areas that were badly needing development, and none of it had anything to do with martial arts. Ranma's mind drifted back to how all of it started.
New Tokyo International Airport was built on an artificial island constructed in Tokyo Bay. It was necessary, a large airport needed a vast amount of land and in a country where every square inch of land was nearly as valuable as gold building such a large facility on the Japanese mainland would have been a logistical nightmare. The engineering to build the airport was almost as massive an undertaking as the tunnel that linked England and France, the new subway project of New York City, and Kansai International at Hong Kong which was also built on an artificial island. None of these facts were on the mind of Saotome Ranma as he and Kasumi said goodbye to their family at the gate where their charter pilot waited for them.
Kasumi's friend, Chidori Mitoru worked for the American division of a trading company that brought Japanese good to the West. She lived in Honolulu, HI, the capital city of America's fiftieth state. The plane was own by her family and the pilot, Chidori Nobokubi introduced himself as her uncle. He was an older man with graying hair and kind grandfatherly eyes. It turned out he was a veteran of Japan's air force back in World War II and had been one of the oldest fighter aces of the day. Nowadays he made a living flying charter flights between Japan and Hawaii with his Mitsubishi TurboLance. It was the first of a new generation long range turboprop planes powered by a new kind of hydrogen fuel cell. Ranma really was not sure, he was not into the technical kind of stuff.
"Uncle Nobokubi, it has been a long time." Kasumi said bow respectfully to the older man.
"My my, Kasumi dear you're almost a spitting image of your mother." the older man said. "You've grown up to be quite a beautiful young lady."
Kasumi blushed furiously, "Oh my, thank you very much. And I might say you look quite distinguished."
Nobokubi laughed, "Old age seems to suit this old airman. Say, who's your young friend? A boyfriend maybe?"
Kasumi's blush took on a even deeper shade of red and she said, "Oh my, this is Saotome Ranma, Akane's iinazuke. Father thought it would be a good idea if he accompanied me as my guardian."
"Ranma, eh, so you're old Genma's boy." Nobokubi said to the pigtailed martial artist. "Engaged to Akane are you, ha ha, you must be something special to catch the attention of that little firecracker."
Ranma ignore his reference to Akane and asked, "You know my pop?"
"Sure do, the Chidori clan has been family friends of the Tendos and Saotomes for years." Nobokubi said. "Why I remember the day your father and Soun left on their first training trip with that old fart Happosai. Whatever happened to him anyway?"
"Oh, he's around." Ranma replied.
The start of the flight was uneventful. Kasumi was fascinated and a bit frightened at the same time as the small single engine plane soared into the air. Ranma sat behind the eldest Tendo sister and just yawned. It was not the first time he'd been this high up in the air. He was usually flying airborne like this courtesy Akane Air, and he certainly was not afraid of heights. The plane was amazingly quiet, its main engine was in the rear of the plane leaving more room up front for a spacious crew compartment. The prop that propelled the plane forward were a pair of counter rotating rotors with six blades each. They delivered the same amount of thrust as a small business jet, but at nearly 50 times the effective flight range. The plane could make it all the way to San Francisco if they wanted without having to take on more hydrogen, but they'd be pushing it.
The vast expanse of blue water laid out all around them as the plane made its way through the skies. Ranma decided to catch up on his sleep and curled up on the seats in the back. He was not sure how long he slept, but when he awoke the plane was lurching violently and Kasumi was in a near panic.
"What the hell is going on?" Ranma demanded.
"Looks like we hit a squall." Nobokubi said.
"I thought you pilot guys checked the weather before making flights like these." Ranma said with annoyance in his voice. He was not concerned so much for himself, but the frightened look in Kasumi's eyes tugged at that part of his heart that hated seeing any girl in distress.
"That don't mean squat out here sonny boy." Nobokubi told him as he struggled to keep the plane on course. "Storms like these can pop up on the ocean barely without any warning. I've seen storms pop up lots of times when the weather services predict there won't be any."
"Will we be alright Uncle Nobokubi?" Kasumi asked, her voice trembling.
"Don't you worry Kasumi dear, I've been flying for thirty years so there is nothing to be afraid of." he said.
A bright flash suddenly filled the interior of the plane. Kasumi screamed at the top of her lungs and Ranma shielded his eyes from the intensity of the glare. When the light faded the first thing Ranma realized was that he could not hear the plane's engine anymore, and several lights on the instrument panel were flashing.
"OH SHIT!" Nobokubi shouted.
"Oh shit, oh shit what?" Ranma asked.
"Lightning fried the avionics, I can't get the engine restarted." Nobokubi admitted. "We're going down."
"OH MY!" Kasumi screamed.
"Ranma, behind the seat is an emergency raft and survival gear in a waterproof bag." Nobokubi said to him. "Start getting it out. I'm gonna try and ditch us as smoothly as I can." Ranma looked at Kasumi who had passed out from terror and nodded with a determined look his face. Mr. Tendo sent him with her to protect her, and that was what he was going to do.
A voice called out to him shocking him out of his memories.
"Ranma, you're going to be late for your first day back to school!"
The pigtailed martial artist snapped back to the present day and looked at his mother in the back yard. She was standing here with her lands on her hips looking up at him. "Ok, mom, I'll be right down." he said and leapt down alighting effortless in the grass next to her.
"Now, go eat your breakfast before it gets cold and off you go." Nodoka said with a motherly smile.
Ranma sat down before his breakfast and looked around the table. "Where's Kasumi?" he asked.
"Oh, she's not feeling well today, so I made breakfast." Nodoka said.
"She gonna go see the Doc?" he asked.
"She said she's going to see Dr. Tofu after she had a rest, it shouldn't be anything to worry about." Soun said from behind his newspaper.
Ranma sighed, "Good."
-----
"Ranma."
"Huh?"
Ranma looked down from his perch on the fence at Akane. She looked up at him as they walked towards Furinken High. Since returning home on an American air force transport from Hawaii he had a hard time looking her in the eye. There were many things about his experience on the deserted island he still did not tell everyone, and even a few things that he thoughts was better never told. Still, he had a hard time looking at her knowing what happened before he and Kasumi were rescued.
"Ranma, I never thanked you." Akane said looking up at him. "I never thanked you for looking out for Kasumi. You really went through for us, thanks for keeping her safe."
"Uh, your welcome Akane." he said.
Then she said something that nearly made him fall off the fence. "I guess I really can trust you." she said. He recovered from that so quickly he hoped she did not notice it, or perhaps mistook it for shock that she would actually say she trust him and not suspect some other reason for his reaction. Ranma prayed inwardly that Akane would not get suspicious of his reaction. He had reasons to be worried.
"Come on, we're gonna be late!" Akane said as she broke into a run. Ranma zipped past her on the fence at full speed, leapt into the air, and sailed over the parameter wall that surrounded the school grounds. Akane showed up a few seconds later to the sight of Ranma and Kuno engaged in a little reunion of sorts.
"Saotome!" Kuno hissed the name. "You're alive! Is there no justice in this universe!?"
"Hey Kuno, how's it hang'in man?" Ranma asked cheerfully. The response from the would-be samurai was to have the tip of a bokken shoved into his face.
"The fact of your survival is proof of your otherworldly origins, demon." Kuno said with anger. "You will not be able to escape the vengeance of heaven forever you enslaver of women."
Ranma sighed and said, "Gee, nice to see you too Kuno."
"Upperclassman Kuno, Ranma and Kasumi just got back four days ago." Akane said.
"Four days, you fiend!" Kuno snapped at Ranma. "You've been hording dear Akane for four days!"
"Actually I spent two of those days being checked out in the hospital." Ranma said. "Kasumi and me didn't have much in the way of medical supplies on that island."
"You fiend, alone for weeks on a romantic deserted island with the sweet, virginal Kasumi!" Kuno accused. "Even Akane's sisters are the target of your base lusts!"
Ranma tried to stifle a wince with all of his will power, and the only thing that was visible was a sudden lack of color to his face. He countered quickly by grabbing the taller boy by the collar and said, "You got a lotta nerve to talk, bokken breath!"
"You gotta be kidding Kuno baby, I mean Ranma and Kasumi." Nabiki said, a mirthful expression on her face. "That's about as ludicrous as you and me getting together."
"Besides, Ranma would be a dead man if he did." Akane said looking at Ranma. "Isn't that right Ranma?"
"Uh, yeah, whatever you say Akane." Ranma said nodding.
Kuno stepped back and deposited his bokken into his samurai outfit. "Well then, let us continue this at another time Saotome so that we will not be late to our appointed classes." he said. He turned and walked towards the school. The vision of himself and Nabiki standing before the altar in wedding garb filled his mind. The very thought made the Kendoist's skin crawl.
"Nut bar." Ranma said under his breath.
All of Ranma's friends at school quickly surround him to find out how he was and what happened for the past six months. Many of the girls who were among his admirers at Furinken High hung on his every word to the annoyance of Akane. At homeroom Ranma braced himself for what was inevitable. As soon as he crossed the threshold into the room Ukyo practically tackled him as she gave him a Shampoo-class glomp.
"RANMA HONEY!" GLOMP!
"Hey Ucchan, what's up?" Ranma asked after the okonomiyaki chef finally released him taking the pressure off his lungs.
"What's up, what's up, you're been missing for six months and that's all you can say to me!" she said angrily, but her feelings for him overpowered her anger and Ukyo hugged him again a bit less crushingly.
"I'm sorry, I've missed you Ucchan." Ranma said trying to ignore the softness of the girl's breasts pressed against him. He never realized just how well endowed Ukyo really was, she was so good at hiding it.
"Maybe I should all leave so you two can be alone." Akane said angrily as she went to her seat.
"To celebrate your return I'm going to make you my super-special- deluxe okonomiyaki for lunch today." Ukyo said happily. "I bet it'll beat the coconuts and rats you and Kasumi had to live off of for the past six months."
"Wow, thanks Ucchan." Ranma said, his eyes lighting up at the thought of food. Akane just shook her head and sighed. The more things change the more they stay the same., she said to herself. Miss Hinako inaugurated Ranma's return to Furinken High by draining him the instant he fell asleep during her English lecture. Lunchtime could not have come any sooner for the pigtailed martial artist. He met up with Akane, her friends, and Ukyo under their favorite tree in the school yard. The okonomiyaki chef had her portable grill out within seconds and was already finishing the first round of Japanese pizza when Ranma heard a recognizable sound behind him. The sound was subtle, almost imperceptible to those untrained to be sensitive to their surrounds like he was. It was the sound of the gears of a bicycle, and not just any bicycle.
"Nihao Ranma, welcome home!" Shampoo cheered as her Bicycle of Death cleared the wall. Ranma shifted over to the right just slightly, but it was enough to keep from being crushed under the front wheel. That was what usually happened when the chipper, voluptuous Chinese Amazon showed up on her lethal two wheel bike.
"Hey Shampoo, nice to see you." Ranma said.
He braced himself for the expected glomp and sure enough Shampoo launched herself at him and bowled him to the ground. With every ounce of will power he could muster Ranma concentrated on keeping a certain part of his anatomy from rising to the occasion as Shampoo shoved his face into her over-abundant cleavage. Shampoo was the physical incarnation of every Japanese schoolboy's greatest wet dream.
"Shampoo miss ailen so very very much, she has." the Chinese girl bubbled.
"Shampoo, get off him!" Ukyo growled reaching for her baker's peel strapped on her back.
"What it to you Spatula Girl." Shampoo said looking up at her with a smirk as she pressed Ranma's face deep between her breasts. The pigtailed boy's warrior's braid stood up on end and his face from the neck up turned red as an beet.
"Let him go Shampoo!" Akane snapped at her looking as if she were about to leap on the girl.
"Ooooh, Shampoo think maybe pervert girl is jealous, ne?" Shampoo said as she sat up and eased her vice grip on Ranma but did not actually completely let go. Nobody seemed to notice the fact that Ranma did not seem to be trying to pry her off of him like he usually did.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Akane yelled. "Me, jealous over him?"
"That what Shampoo thought, Akane is green eyed monster." Shampoo said with a giggle and let Ranma go. She went to her bicycle and picked up the delivery box off the carry basket behind the seat. The youngest Tendo sister just gave her a vicious stare. If looks could kill Shampoo would have been a greasy smear on the ground.
"Shampoo bring special five spice deluxe fish ramen for Ranma." she said sliding up the side panel to reveal a steaming ceramic bowl.
"I'm already making Ranma honey my special super-deluxe okonomiyaki." Ukyo said now holding her baker's peel in a ready fighting stance.
"Uh, girls I am kinda hungry, so I can eat both." Ranma said, standing between the two combatants. "Ok? Both of you are great cooks, and I really don't like it when you guys fight."
"Oh Ranma."
"Oh Ranma honey."
"Oh give me a break!"
Ranma turned and got a glimpse of Akane's back as she and her friends walked off. "Let me know when you're done flirting with your other iinazuke." she said.
"What's her problem?" Ranma asked but did not really expect an answer.
-----
When it came to Dr. Tofu Ono, Kasumi was like an overdoes of LSD. He lost all control of his usual professional self whenever her name was mentioned or he heard her voice. His various patients who came to see him during the day vacated the clinic like rats from a sinking ship when Kasumi entered through the front door. There was no way they were going to put themselves into the middle of ground zero when Dr. Tofu was on a Kasumi Trip.
The young doctor came into the waiting room for his next patient only to find it empty save for one person. The instant his eyes met with Kasumi's lovely face his glasses fogged over and his body began to quiver all over.
"Oh, K-K-Kasumi, funny meeting you h-h-here of all place, he he he." he said.
"Dr. Tofu, I haven't been feeling well the past couple of days." she said.
Kasumi might be sick!, the doctor's mind cried out and his sudden attack of Kasumi-itus quickly vanished. "Uh, this way Kasumi, let me have a look at you." he said and directed her to one of the examination rooms.
The doctor's hands shook a little after Kasumi took off her blouse so he could check her with his stethoscope. Kasumi might be sick., he reminded himself. "So, you say you've been having nausea the past couple of days?" he asked her after listening to her lungs and finding nothing abnormal.
"It was worse this morning, but it started two days ago." Kasumi said. "It usually only bothered me in the morning."
Hmm, that sounds like, but no it couldn't be., the doctor mussed to himself. "I'd like to get a urine sample to send to the lab." he said and took a specimen cup out the cupboard over the sink in the room. "And I have an herbal tea recipe for you that I give our for indigestion."
"Do you think that is all it is?" Kasumi asked him.
"Well, you're body just might be adjusting to the change in diet and water quality." Dr. Tofu said. "You just got back after a very stressful ordeal. Which reminds me, how is your leg?"
"Oh, it still aches a bit, but I can walk on it." she said.
Dr. Tofu checked her leg, he shivered a little when he touched her curvaceous calve. "It will be sore for another month." he said. "Keep using the willow bark tea I gave you for the pain. You are lucky to have had Ranma with you when this happened. His experience in first aid from his training trips saved you from getting a very serious infection."
"He did take very good care of me." she said. Dr. Tofu was not sure but he swore he heard a hint of close affection in her voice.
The doctor gave Kasumi a small bag of the special tea for her stomach after she gave him the sample he needed. He walked her to the door and they said their goodbyes. As soon as she was gone he rushed into his office and grabbed the telephone.
"Hello, I'd like to speak to Dr. Kojiro, this is Dr. Tofu Ono." he said. "Yes, I'll hold." A few seconds later someone came to the phone. "Doctor, I have a urine sample at my clinic I need tested and I need the results back ASAP." he said. "Can you squeeze me in today? You can, alright I'll send it to the lab right now. Thank you."
He put down the phone and went into the stock room where his assistance was checking the supplies. He gave her the sample bottle and instruction on where to take it. He personally watched the young nurse leave on her bicycle for the test lab, then he went to his office and pull out one of his medical journals and the notes he took of Kasumi's symptoms. The information he found did not bode well.
"It can't be." he said looking at his own notes. "How could it be?"
"I'll wait for the results from the test, yeah, that's what I'll do." he said closing the book. "I'm just getting myself worked up for nothing that's all, he he he."
-----
Nothing seemed to have changed at all, not all that much. That was what Tendo Akane was thinking as she stood on the roof of the school. See looked out over the school grounds at the various students milling about doing what they usually did during the day at the high school. She heard a sound behind her and looked over her shoulder. The sight of Ukyo made her look away with some annoyance. The last thing she wanted to be reminded of was Ranma's other suitors.
"Hey Akane." Ukyo said softly.
"What do you want Ukyo?" Akane asked her.
"I just wanted to ask you something." Ukyo said as she walked up next to her and leaned against the railing. "Did you notice anything strange about Ranma honey today?"
"Why would I notice anything about him." Akane said in a huff.
"I'm serious." Ukyo said loudly. "Ranma honey is usually tied up in knots when it comes to girls, but today he seemed so, so-"
"Flirtatious." Akane said finishing Ukyo's sentence with a slight note of anger.
"Uh, yeah, I guess that's what you could call it." Ukyo said.
Akane sighed and leaned over onto the railing. "He's been acting weird ever since he and Kasumi came home." she said. "I thought it had something to do with what happened to them."
"Akane, you don't think anything happened between Ranma honey and Kasumi do you?" Ukyo asked her.
Akane laughed, "Ranma may be a pervert, but he's not that perverted." He had better not have for his sake., Akane said to herself. "I think maybe Kasumi might have used their time alone together to straighten him out, maybe just a little." Akane said.
"She usually does take time to listen to his problems, doesn't she." Ukyo said with a sigh.
"Oh come on, Ranma and Kasumi." Akane said turning to the chef. "You and I both know he'd never try anything with her, and besides that she's not in love with him. Kasumi likes Dr. Tofu."
"Yeah, you're right." Ukyo said with a sigh and smiled. "Though it was nice not having a Ranma who got all nervous and skittish to talk to."
Why couldn't he be like that with me?, Akane asked herself. "I guess." Akane said.
Ukyo stood up and gasped. "You don't think being in a life-or-death situation like that finally made him decided to choose do you?" she asked excitedly.
Akane looked at her and thought that one over. The more she rolled that around in her mind the more it became very likely that was what happened. Maybe, just maybe being near death or not know if he'd ever see his family and friends ever again motivated him to finally make a choice. The thought filled her with hope and dread at the same. If he is going to choose one of us, will it be me?, she asked herself.
"That must be it." Ukyo said. "Ranma honey has finally decided to choose. Its about damn time that jackass finally decided to put an end to all this crap."
"But, has he made his decision yet, or is he just trying to make up his mind." Akane said with a hopeful note to her voice.
"So, you do like him." Ukyo said giving the younger Tendo girl a knowing wink.
Akane's eyes went wide and she said, "Uh, no, why would I-" Maybe he will choose me., she said to herself. She did not finish her sentence, Akane turned back to the railing and looked down into the school yard. A happy smile crossed her lips.
-----
Dr. Tofu Ono waved goodbye to one of his regulars as they slowly walked down the street with the aid of an old wooden canes. The young doctor went to the waiting room and sighed. It had been a long day. After Kasumi left many of his regulars came back to see if he had recovered from his Kasumi-itus attack. In truth, he had not had one convulsion all day since Kasumi first arrived. Now he was waiting with baited breath for the call from the lab with Kasumi's test results. Normally he would have had to wait for a day, but the director of the labs at Tokyo General was a friend of his and could have the work on it put at the top of the list without much trouble. It was nearing four o'clock in the afternoon when the call came.
"Oh, yes, thank you very much." Dr. Tofu said to the person on the phone. "Yes I do have a fax machine, the number is in Dr. Kojiro's Rolodex. Yes, ah, yes that is my fax number. Thank you, I'll be waiting for it. And thank Dr. Kojiro for rushing this for me."
The fax came through and he hastily pulled it from the machine. Taking a cup of tea with him to his desk he began to read the test results. When he reached a certain line of medical data he nearly choked on his tea. The young doctor dropped to the floor and coughed for several minutes before recovering and climbed to his feet. He grabbed the paper and read it again to make sure he was not mistaken. He knew the labs at Tokyo General did not make mistakes, and the findings were in line with the symptoms he noticed in Kasumi. It was the very thought of it that shocked him to his core. The implications were too terrible to ponder, but he had the welfare of his patient to think about. So, he picked up the phone and dialed the Tendo dojo.
Not far across Nerima, Kasumi happily sliced a tube root in preparation for dinner. Nodoka stood at the stove and sampled a bit of the sauce she was working on. When the phone rang the Saotome matriarch went to it quickly.
"Mushi, mushi, Tendo residence." she said. "Oh, hello Dr. Tofu, yes it has been a long time. Oh, Kasumi, yes she's right hear dear."
She lowered the phone and cupped her hand over the mouth piece. "Its that cute young doctor calling for you Kasumi dear." Nodoka said.
"Auntie Saotome, please." Kasumi said blushing furiously as she took the phone from her.
"Hello doctor." she said. "Oh I'm feeling better since I had some of that tea. You have the results of my test."
At the clinic Dr. Tofu mustered his courage to say what needed to be said. He had to think of Kasumi's welfare. "Uh, Kasumi, I don't how to tell you this but your, your tests-" he tried to say.
"Yes." she said.
"Kasumi, I-I-I the tests show you to be at least three weeks pregnant." he finally said.
Kasumi gasped and dropped the handset. She staggered back and slumped against the wall. "Oh, oh my." she said. "Oh, ohmyohmyohmyohmyohmy."
"Anything wrong Kasumi dear?" Nodoka asked her.
Kasumi looked at her a bit wild eyed for a moment and said, "I suddenly don't feel very well, Auntie Saotome. Could you finish dinner for me."
"Of course dear, you go to your room and rest and I'll handle everything." Nodoka said with a smile. "Don't you worry about a thing, alright." She picked up the handset, said something to the doctor and hung up.
Kasumi nodded and quickly went to her room. She slumped against her door immediately after she closed it and slid down to the floor and wrapped her arms around his knees. "What am I going to tell Ranma?" she asked herself out loud. "How can I explain this to Akane?" As the tears began to fall Kasumi's memories drifted back to the island in the South Pacific. The plane crash has not been smooth one. Kasumi had no memory of what happened when the place did go down. All she did know was that she was seriously hurt with a broken leg, bruised ribs, and many deep cuts. She would have been dead, drowned in the ocean if it had not been for Ranma.
The first thing Kasumi remembered seeing after the crash in the ocean was Ranma-chan's worried face watching her. Kasumi hurt all over, her leg was burning with pain. She looked around and instead of being in an inflatable raft like she expected she was laying on the soft sand of a beach.
"How do you feel?" Ranma-chan asked her.
"It hurts all over." Kasumi said weakly.
"I set your leg and put a splint on it." Ranma-chan said. "I salvaged what I could from the plane before it went under, but there wasn't a lot." Kasumi craned her neck down to look at herself and saw the splint on her leg left leg and bandages on her arms and her right leg.
"Uncle Nobokubi!" Kasumi gasped and tried to sit up but Ranma-chan held her down.
"I-I-I'm sorry, he didn't make it." Ranma-chan said sadly. "I buried him on the other side of the beach. I'm so sorry."
"How long, how long have I been asleep?" Kasumi asked her while trying to hold back the tears. Nobokubi had not been her real uncle but she loved him like he was just the same. His death hurt her, it hurt almost as much as the pain in her leg.
"A day and half." Ranma-chan said. "We crashed near this island, but it doesn't show on any of the charts he had in the plane. So I don't know where we could be."
"We're stranded here." Kasumi said with a shaky voice. Ranma-chan nodded sadly.
"We got ten flares and a flare gun, the satellite phone he had is toast, and the radio got fried when that lightning hit the plane." she said. "There ain't much in the way of food except for some granola bars and a couple bottles of water."
"Father, Akane, Nabiki, we'll never see them again." Kasumi said, her chest shaking as the sobs came. She calmed some when she felt Ranma-chan take her hand in hers.
"Kasumi, your dad told me to protect you, and I am." she said. "I'll find a way for us to get back home even if I gotta swim us back home."
Kasumi wiped away her tears and said, "Thank you, I'm so happy you came with me, Ranma. I'd be so afraid on my own."
"Don't worry, I'm here for you." Ranma-chan said then she picked up a bowl made out of half of a coconut shell. She began to stir something with a thin brush made from some reeds.
"What's that?" Kasumi asked.
"The first aid kit doesn't have an antiseptic, so I had to go out and find stuff to make one." Ranma-chan said. "You got some nasty cuts, and they can get infected out here easy."
"How did you learn to do that?" Kasumi asked her.
Ranma shrugged and said, "Eh, traveling with pops for ten years taught me more than just martial arts. We didn't always have the money for a doctor so we had to make up our own remedies for stuff. Making an antiseptic is easy if you know what plants to look for."
"Ranma."
"Hmmm?"
"How did, how did he die?" Kasumi asked.
Ranma-chan sat there thinking that one over for a moment, but them decided being honest with Kasumi was probably a better policy. "He didn't have his harness on." she said. "When we hit the water his head hit the ceiling of the cabin. I heard his skull crack, it was instant. He didn't suffer."
"Ranma." Kasumi said taking the redhead's hand. "Thank you for being truthful with me."
"You deserve to know the truth, keeping it from you wouldn't have served any purpose." Ranma-chan said. "After I change your dressing on your cuts I'm gonna start building us a shelter. I didn't do much the first day, I didn't wanna leave you here while you were out."
"Thank you." Kasumi said with a smile.
Ranma-chan began to unwrap one of the bandages on Kasumi's arm. "This might sting a little." she warned her.
In the present Kasumi opened her eyes and her thoughts drift to the young pigtailed martial artist. His life was filled with so much chaos. This was the last thing he needed to have to deal with. But, she knew she had to tell him. He had a right to know to the truth. After all, he'd been truthful with her. He protected her and took care of her. Before this experience Kasumi would not have given Ranma a second thought as a love interest. She did like him, he was a good person, and he was Akane's iinazuke. Now however, she knew Ranma in a way none of the others did. She had seen the true Saotome Ranma, and she feel in love with him. It did not happen overnight, it was gradual over time, but after a few months being under his gentle care and protection Kasumi had seen a different side to Ranma. She had seen in him something she never knew was there.
Months had passed since the crash and Kasumi was now able to walk a little on her leg. She remembered sitting at the fire in their camp just off the beach making dinner for her guardian while he was out gathering fruit. There was not much in the way of wild life to hunt for dinner on the island except for snakes and large rats. There were no wild boar or any larger animals. Ranma had managed to make a makeshift fishing net out of a parachute from the plane so they could eat fish. Kasumi did have to admit to one though from her experience. Snake really does taste like chicken. Water was not a problem for them either since Ranma found a fresh water spring near a small cave.
One day, the regular routine of the day was about to take a turn for the worst, or perhaps that is what Kasumi thought when she saw the black clouds gathering on the horizon. Ranma had seen them from the top of a banana tree, and Kasumi heard the young martial artist curse as he alighted to the ground.
"Looks like a nasty storm is on its way." he said. "We'd better batten down the camp."
Their shelter, which the two shared, was a small grass hut with a thatch roof. It kept out the rain whenever it did rain occasionally, but Ranma knew it would not survive a really big storm. Neither of them really knew how bad the storm was going to be until it began to get closer to the island. By that time the winds had gotten strong enough to rip the roof off their hut and cave in one of the walls.
"This is bad, and its gonna get worse." Ranma said.
"I'm scared!" Kasumi cried over the roar of the wind. Ranma reached out and held her protectively in his arms. The wind was getting colder too, and he guessed by the time the storm hit it was going to be bone chilling cold.
"Help me get the gear, we'll wait it out in that cave near the spring." he said. Kasumi nodded and the two struggled against the fierce wind to gather what belongings they had and held each other as they made their way to the cave by the spring. The cave was small, but ran far enough back that they were well protected from the fierce storm outside. A natural chimney, possibly a leftover from some long extinct volcanic activity on the island, ran up to the top of the rocky mound the cave sat under. It was the perfect place to start a fire to keep warm. The sound of the storm's fury echoed from the mouth of the cave.
Kasumi shook with fright, the storm brought back fears of the storm they had been caught up in while on the plane. Ranma held her close and wrapped a blanket from the survival gear around them to keep them warm. Kasumi leaned against Ranma's chest and rest her head on his shoulder. She never realized how solid Ranma's body was, his chest was hard as a rock, his stomach had a well defined washboard. But, Ranma was not over developed like a weight lifter, he had a lean build like Bruce Lee in his heyday. He was much stronger than any man she knew. How many martial artist could throw a one ton boulder like a beach ball one handed? Despite that incredible strength, when Ranma tended to her wounds his hands were so soft and gentle. She could feel his awesome power in his fingers yet they were soft gentle when they touched her skin.
Perhaps it was from being afraid, perhaps it was because she was slowly falling in love with him, or maybe a combination of both. Kasumi looked up into Ranma's soft blue eyes and saw compassion and kindness there. For the first time she realized just how handsome the young Saotome heir was. At first she envied Akane for having him as her iinazuke, but that thought brought with it memories of how her younger sister treated Ranma. That was what probably drove Kasumi to do what she did next. No, she knew that was why, she was sure of it. As Ranma held her close, warming her with his body, she leaned her face up and kissed him on the neck gently.
"K-K-Kasumi." he said in shock.
"I love you." she said.
"I-I-I, uh-"
"Don't be afraid, don't pull away." she pleaded with him as she was him go into his shy convulsions. She had seen it many times when Shampoo glomped him. "Please." she said.
"K-K-Kasumi, I-I never knew-"
"I've fallen in love with you." she admitted. "You've been so gentle, so kind. I've seen a side of you that nobody has ever seen before."
"I really care about you too Kasumi." Ranma admitted. "You've always been nice to me and stuff, and I think you're like really pretty." Kasumi leaned up and kissed him again, this time on his cheek. She moved up and worked her way to his lips. At first he did not return the kiss, but when she kissed him a second time she felt him return it. With every second she could feel his confidence growing, and with his growing confidence his kisses began stronger. She wrapped her arms around him and ran her fingers though his hair. Ranma's hands held her tightly but in a gentle way. His hands roved down her back, and when one of his hands brushed her breast he froze in his tracks.
With a smile Kasumi took his hand and cupped her breast with it. Ranma's face turned a deep shade of red. Kasumi kissed him again then looked into his eyes with a pleading expression. "Ranma, please." she said.
"I-I-I, I mean, eh, uh, I-"
"I need you." she said softly and began to kiss him along his neck. Her lips made it to his ear lobe and she sucked on it for a moment. Kasumi felt a shiver run up Ranma's back when she did that, and before long she felt something hard pressing against her leg.
"Don't be afraid, I love you, I trust you, and I need you so much." she pleaded and kissed him again. The last of Ranma's self-control withered to nothing in that instant. Slowly, gently, he lowered Kasumi to the floor. The eldest Tendo sister's body shivered with the memory of the love they shared that night. It would not be the first and only time, and she cherish the memory of each moment deep in her heart. Their first time has been bit a sloppy, neither of them were experienced, but it was the most wonderful thing Kasumi had ever felt in her entire life. It took a while for them to get a good rhythm going. What they did that night was not not just having sex, they made love the only way two people who really cared about one another could, and that kind of lovemaking was more exciting than any other.
The sound of Ranma's voice from downstairs brought her back to the present. Her heart leapt into her throat. She had to tell him, but how was he going to take the news. She feared the worst, she feared that he would hate her for making his life even harder than it already was. Kasumi was brought out of her reverie when she hear the boy's light footfalls on the stairs as he headed to his room. She climbed to her feet and opened her bedroom door to look out. Ranma went into this room for a moment then came a few minutes later.
"Ranma-." she said.
"Kasumi, mom said you weren't feeling well again." he said walking up to her.
She could not look him in the eye, she could not look up at him. Kasumi felt like she was a teenager again talking to a cute boy she had a crush on. This time was different, she was pregnant, and now she had to tell the father. "Ranma we have to talk about something, come in please." she said and guided him into her room. The two sat on the bed together for a long time in silence until Ranma decided to be the one to speak first.
"What the matter?" he asked her concerned. "Are you alright?"
"Ranma, I have something to tell you, but I'm afraid to tell you." she said.
"You're afraid to, hey if you got something to tell me Kasumi you can say it." he said. "You know I trust you, I won't get mad no matter what it is."
"I went to Dr. Tofu's office today and had some test done." he said. "Ranma, I-I-I'm pregnant." She saw his jaw go slack and his eyes nearly bug out of his head. For a moment she feared that he hated her. She turned away from him and said, "If you hate me for making your life worse than it already is, I'll understand."
Kasumi felt a single, gentle finger tilt her face up. Ranma smiled at her with the kindest and most loving smile she had ever seen on his face. With his other hand he cupped the back of her neck and drew her in and kissed her tenderly. Kasumi sighed and let herself fall against him. Ranma's arms gathered her up and held her close.
"I could never ever hate you and I don't wanna ever hear you talk like that again." he said. "Are you absolutely sure about those tests?"
Kasumi nodded. "Yes, and you're the only man I've ever been with."
"I know its mine." he said hugging her close. "I don't know, somehow I knew this was going to happen."
"What are we going to do?" she asked. "We have to tell father, Akane."
"Kasumi, I'm gonna marry you." Ranma said as he looked into her eyes.
"But-but what about Akane?" she asked.
"She's not pregnant with my baby." he said. "I ain't like my pop, I ain't gonna leave you in the lurch, and I sure as hell ain't gonna let it be illegitimate. I'm gonna take care of you and the baby, I promise."
Tears filled her eyes as joy filled her heart. "Oh Ranma." she said.
"But it sure ain't gonna be easy." he admitted a cloud of sadness passing over his face..
"Ranma, do you love Akane?" she asked him. "Please be honest."
He shook his head and said, "I could never lie to you. I-I can't say that I do or that I don't. I care about her, I worry about her sometimes, but I don't know if I really love her or not. Maybe I did once, after what happened in China I think I did, but now I don't really know."
"What about me?" she asked.
"I think that maybe I love you." he said. "Given time I'm sure that I could. I know I will." Slowly the two lowered each other to the bed and just laid there holding each other in their arms. Kami-sama, she's so pretty., Ranma said to himself. She's so kind, she's so sweet, so innocent.
"We have to decide on when to tell them." Kasumi said.
"Yeah, your right, we gotta tell everybody." Ranma said.
"Tomorrow is a day off from school, right?" she asked.
Ranma nodded and said, "Yeah, tomorrow then."
"Just before dinner, that should give us enough time to figure out how we're going to tell them." Kasumi said and knitted her fingers with Ranma's and grasped them tightly.
"Ranma."
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"I remember that night in the cave as if it were yesterday." Kasumi said. "I remember your hands, so strong but gentle. Your lips, so soft. It felt so wonderful that night, and I'll never forget it."
"Neither will I." Ranma said and drew Kasumi closer to his body.
"I do have some regrets-" she said.
"About what?" he asked her.
"About how everything started." she said. "About the first day you came and Nabiki and me pushing Akane off on you like that. It-It-It should have been me."
"We can't changed the past." Ranma said quietly and kissed her forehead.
"But I am afraid." she said. "I'm afraid my sister will hate me. I betrayed her trust, I made love with her iinazuke."
"Akane loves you, she'd never hate you." Ranma said hugging her tighter. "I'm as much at fault here as much as you are. I wanted you too that night."
"But, I seduced you." Kasumi said trying to take the blame.
"Listen, stop trying to put blame on yourself and make yourself feel bad." he said. "We did this together, we'll face it together, we'll tell them together and if you don't like it tough."
"Ranma!" she said in surprise and looked at him.
"I ain't gonna marry Akane, I'm gonna marry you." he said. "No matter how much pops and your dad yell at me."
Kasumi sighed, "Knowing my father's track record he will not be all that angry, he will be too happy that the schools are joining."
Ranma suddenly a thought that made him shudder. "What about mom?"
Kasumi did not thing about that. "She already declared you a man among men, I don't know if she would approve or disapprove." she said. "I know she would not disapprove of me being your wife."
"Another thing to worry about are the Amazons." said Ranma. They came back to Nerima right after Josendo and stayed even after the failed wedding attempt. It looked like they were not going to give up. What would happen if they learned Kasumi was carrying his child? His greatest concern was with Cologne, what would she do? He knew she had a hand in Shampoo's actions at the wedding, not just Nabiki, and he would not put anything past the Old Ghoul.
All he did know for certain was that if anyone, including Cologne, hurt Kasumi or his child he would kill them. He killed before, and he would do it again to save the person the loved. In a way he admitted to himself right then and there that he had been in love with Akane, but after the failed wedding things did not improve or get worse between them. It actually stayed the same as before, never moving ahead, never going back. He tried dropping hints about his feelings towards her but she either did not notice them or mistook them for something else. This usually lead to misunderstandings that lead to him getting a free trip across town via mallet power.
"You don't think they tried to hurt me or the baby do you?" Kasumi asked him, a slight quiver of fear in her voice.
"They would regret it if they did." he said. "As long as I'm near I won't let anyone hurt you." In his heart he meant it. To the Amazons he was a "blooded warrior" and a force to be reckoned with. Little did he know that would be a saving grace for them in the near future.
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To be continued...
NOTES: As promised this is a slightly rewritten version of the original story correcting some errors and smoothing out flashback scenes. I did say I wanted to add more flashbacks, but they just would not work well in this chapter, so I decided to leave them until chapter 2. Thanks to all the people who reviewed the original and I hope you enjoy this rewrite. Thanks also to Adrian D. Moten for writing the story upon which this is based.