First, the obvious disclaimer: Ranma ½ is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

This is the first of four Ranma ½ stories in a series called Bindings. This first story was inspired by a YouTube video created by the user Djclyve. He has been working on generating character profile videos for all the Ranma ½ characters. He seems to have covered all the Anime characters, and is moving through the Manga now. I have seen (and enjoyed) many of his clips, but the one that caught my attention was Kasumi Tendo's. He practically sub-titled it "What is Strength?" and it made me think about this fair maiden and how she puts up with the day-to-day nonsense at the Tendo Dojo. What might be her motivations in life (and for not catching the first bus out of Nerima)? Looking at her character, there are a few notable things that leap out about her:

+ She's seems fairly bright, very pretty, and a wizard at the domestic skills. Given the number of cavemen lurking about Nerima, she should have about a dozen marriage proposals by now (she's 21 in my story), or at least half a dozen date requests per week (unless Daddy dearest is trying to scare them away – unlikely, as he's not that competent: see the Anime episode "The Egg-Catcher Man" for one of Soun's attempts).

+ She seems to be encouraging her father almost like he was an adolescent. She never brings tough problems to him, just fastballs right across the plate ("Father, the tub is broken. Do you think I should call the plumber?"). She encourages him to take action in the face of adversity ("Oh Father, you are so brave!") despite the often negative outcomes (too many instances to point out). Overall, she seems to be trying to push him a bit.

+ She's gentle and quiet, but she does speak out when she thinks something is wrong. It's usually in the form of "Ranma/Akane/Nabiki, I think you should apologize to Ranma/Akane/Nabiki because…" See the Anime episode "Nabiki, Ranma's New Fiancée!" for a couple of examples.

+ Her family does think the world of her, but in some ways, she's an unknown. The Manga episode, chapter 2 of volume 33, "Kasumi is Angry" demonstrates this clearly. They don't really seem to understand how their sister/daughter ticks. Of course, this could be a case of "It's always the quiet ones…"

+ Despite her apparent innocence and naivety, she is often the most competent/observant one in the room. One of my favorite Manga stories is Volume 34, chapter 1, "Bean Throwing Night". After the adversary lays waste to everyone, guess who deals with the problem rationally in less than 30 seconds? At the end of Anime episode "Battle for Miss Beachside", she makes an off-handed remark "Oh my, what a fix." Now she could be referring to the mess in front of her, but the word "fix" can also reference a contest that's rigged – and it's fairly obvious Nabiki rigged the beauty contest (no spoilers there), even if none of the others caught on.

+ Speaking of the "Battle for Miss Beachside," how does a woman who normally dresses so conservatively show up in a killer bikini at the beach and then claim she doesn't understand why men are flocking to her? Following her normal fashion sense, Kasumi's suit should have been a one piece that she wore under a beach wrap. When Akane tries to point out that the men are reacting to how she's dressed, Kasumi replies "How do you know they haven't heard about my cooking?" This causes the reluctant couple to sweatdrop (Hint to Ranma and Akane – she's yanking your chain…). By the way – the bikini from that Anime episode is the one she uses to ambush Tofu with in this story…

Now, you may disagree with my interpretations. One could always say (correctly, I might add) that Ranma ½ is a farce and should be taken completely tongue-in-cheek (my favorite type of story). Plot holes and inconsistencies are part-and-parcel of this kind of story. But I'm a gardener at heart, and I feel any sort of hole should be filled, as decoratively as possible. So, dear reader, let us grab some shovels and some pretty plants, and take a walk with the lovely Ms. Tendo. And, for good measure, let us grab the good doctor Tofu Ono by the scruff of the neck and drag him along as well – he'll thank us later.

Oh, some points concerning Mrs. Tendo before we begin: Kasumi's mother is never named in the Manga or Anime. However, many fan fictions have adopted the name Kimiko, so we will keep the tradition alive here. The only thing we know about her "real" personality is that she was seen as kind and attentive by Akane and Kasumi, but it's no great surprise that two daughters would view their long dead mother that way. So, we need to go out on a limb here just a bit – when she was alive, the Tendo dojo was an on-going concern. This meant that someone had to be applying their foot to Soun's wishy-washy backside to keep things running. Also, Akane's memories of her mother suggest that Mom looked somewhat like Akane, at least in the Manga (chapter 2, volume 22, "Genma's Mysterious Secret"), so let's borrow Akane's personality (and determination) for her Mom, but sweeten it with Kasumi's natural grace. Since Ranma ½ is martial arts farce at heart (O.K. among other things), and the family owns a dojo, let's allow Kimiko to be an adept at one form or another (but not Anything Goes) – something that she can pass onto her eldest daughter. With that extra little bit of color, we are ready to begin…

Ladies and Gentlemen; it gives me great honor to present to you, Miss Kasumi Tendo…