AN: I once came across a crossover of Ranma ½ and Sakura Diaries, written by Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton called Cherry Dispatches 1/2.
I decided to give my hand a try at it, and this is what I came up with…
Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Ranma ½, Sakura Diaries or Love Hina, but I would be more than happy to receive rights to them!
Chapter 1: Taking The Tests!
Ranma slumped, his arms hanging limply from his shoulders. "Three years…" he murmured, reflecting on his life in Furinkan. It had been three years since the day arrived on the Tendo's front step, and since then he's gained the affections of far too many women for his liking. In the beginning it was easy; him and Akane, even if the relationship was abusive… But then Kuno Tatewaki added his personage to the mix, and Shampoo came from China, then returned to claim him as her beau. In truth he probably should have gone with her, it wasn't like she was an Amazon, at least not the kind from Anglo-Saxon legends. He had later discovered that her tribe was a surviving branch of Vikings, 'Which explains why Mousse is free to leave the village as he chooses,' Ranma mused. Now that he had the knowledge, it was too ate; he had acquired five more fiancées after his defeating of Saffron; they were Kiima, as an olive branch between him and the Phoenix Tribe, Mon-Lon, for the same reason only for the Nekonron, Natsumi had returned to the dojo and claimed that she was the rightful female heir to Anything Goes… Of course Happosai agreed and arranged a marriage between her and Ranma. If life wasn't hectic enough for him, Yuki, the Snow Woman that froze Nerima, returned with a marriage contract to Ranma, signed by the old man and Yuki's mother. Then there was the one that made Ranma shiver, though he was as helpless to nullify it as the fiancée in question…
Ranma was broken from her musings by a pail of cold water landing on her head. "BAKAYARO! Why don't you watch where you're dumping stuff!" she barked at the two young highschool girls that were no longer holding their pail of water.
The girls ducked into the window, fearful of speaking to the irate redhead.
"Oh my, Ranma-Kun! Here, I brought you a hot kettle," Kasumi announced, pulling said kettle from nowhere. What was Kasumi doing there? Well she's a student at Todai (Tokyo University) and came to wish Ranma luck on his entrance exams to Keio.
Ranma gratefully accepted the water and dowsed herself. "Thanks Kasumi-chan, have you seen-?" before he could finish speaking, the sound of an irate young woman rang out through the courtyard.
"Whaddya mean, I can't get in?!" she shrieked. The woman was easily defined as beautiful, having a tall and slender body with firm, round breasts and an hourglass figure. If her beauty didn't draw the eye, her light green hair with a perfect white strand, hanging as bangs, did.
The man she was being accosted by was your average security guard and so was not expecting to see said girl glow with a spectacular white aura. "Uhhh… My mistake!" he corrected, as he shrunk away from the woman. "Go on in!"
Herb tossed her head back and strolled through the courtyard until she reached Ranma and Kasumi. "These stupid Japanese men are giving me a migraine! I shall retire for the evening. If you have need of me, just page me." She informed Ranma as she stormed away from the duo and past the security guard; but not without giving him a smoldering glare.
Ranma shook his head in mild annoyance. "You would think that Herb would've grown accustomed to life here in Japan by now," he muttered
Kasumi smiled beatifically and handed Ranma his admission ticket. Ranma blinked, looking down at the card he could swear he put in his back pocket. "Ummm… Thanks Kasumi. By the way, how's school goin'?"
Kasumi's smile was suddenly lost and dark cloud of depression fell over her. "Oh Ranma-Kun, it's horrible! I'm not really here to see you off for the entrance exam, I'm taking them too."
Ranma's jaw hit the floor and he could only stare at the woman with shock. "…"
Kasumi sniffled and buried her head into Ranma's chest, "Oh Ranma-Kun! I've been so lonely, and I've had to lie to the whole family for two years!" Kasumi knew better than to clutch on to Ranma like she was, but she hadn't had a good cry since the day she first failed the entrance exams. She could sense the panic Ranma was projecting and feel the way his muscles went taut, but after a few moments of sobbing on him, it didn't really matter.
Ranma cradled the girl in his arms while stroking her hair. "Sh, sh, sh… Don't worry Kasumi-chan; I know you'll make it in this time. And if you don't, I know I won't, so we can be study partners at cram school!"
Kasumi giggled into Ranma's chest, it had taken until now for him to stop glancing all around, expecting a mallet to strike. "Thanks Ranma-Kun, I needed that cry…" she paused to wipe her tears. Pulling away she looked up, way up. "Oh my, Ranma-Kun, I hadn't realized how much you had grown!" Indeed he had. Now Ranma was 6'6" with a very defined body, and his muscles strained at his shirt with every movement, threatening to break the seams.
Ranma rubbed at the base of his pigtail, laughing abnormally. It was obvious he was in discomfort. "You think I'm big, you should see pig-boy!" Ranma thought about the 8' titan that was once his own height. Ryoga made Ranma look like a toothpick when one compared their muscles, and despite the extra bulk, Ryoga was nearly as fast as Ranma; though Ranma would never admit that!
Kasumi nodded, clasped Ranma's hand and began to lead him away, towards the testing center. "Remember Ranma-Kun, if they know that you know me, we won't be allowed to sit near each other, so pretend you don't know me, okay?"
Ranma chuckled nervously as Kasumi lead him through the labyrinth they called halls. "Jeez, I hope you're gonna show me how to get out of here, I feel like Ryoga!" he complained as they took another five flights of downward stairs, followed by three sets going up, two halls that passed through classrooms and a service elevator that led directly to the exam room.
Kasumi just smiled and released his hand. "Remember you don't know me," Ranma nodded, and turned away from his older sister. Therefore it came as a great surprise when she flipped her matronly dress over her head, revealing a set of skintight black, leather pants, and a hot pink halter top, covered by a white minijacket, with more fur than the panda had. Kasumi untied her long black hair and fluffed it to give it volume. She gave Ranma a sultry smile that had his mind reeling. "See you after the test, Ranma-Kun," she twisted the last syllable in such a way that Ranma had to wipe away the small trail of blood from his nose.
It only took him a few hours to finish the Keio entrance exam, but Ranma felt more exhausted then he ever had before! Not even fighting Saffron, Herb or Kirin could compare to his mental strain. One thing that he did know though, was that he had failed the test; less than a quarter of the questions were even answered and a majority of those were guessed at.
Ranma looked at his pocket-watch, "Five 'til noon," he remarked glumly. He still had another three colleges to test at before calling this week a total failure. What's worse was Herb had already been accepted into Keio, Todai, Kyoto and Meiji; three of which were part of the prestigious Tokyo 6, the best colleges in Japan, if not the world.
Ranma let his head sag, but his depression was short lived when he saw Kasumi running to meet him. The way her chest bounced did things to Ranma he wasn't willing to acknowledge. "Ranma-Kun!" she called out, waving her arms in the air as she ran to him.
Ranma quickly retrieved a handkerchief and placed it to his nose as he waved back. "Oi, Kasumi-chan, how'd it go?"
Kasumi smiled radiantly. "That test was easy, but the real exam I want to pass is Todai's!"
Ranma's jaw hit the pavement. "You mean… you passed their test?" he could hardly believe it to be true.
Kasumi nodded warmly and palmed her cheek as a blush rose to her cheeks. "When I get accepted, I can finally get married!" Seeing Ranma facefault, she could only reply with an "Ara?"
Ranma struggled to regain his feet and shook his head. "… lucky… always getting what they want…" he grumbled as thunder sounded. "So are you going to marry Doc Tofu or somethin'?"
"Oh my!" she exclaimed, blushing further. "No Ranma-Kun, Tofu-Sensei is a nice young man, but I always knew he was destined for Akane." Ranma's face darkened at the reminder.
Ono-san, Tofu's mother, had returned a month ago and gave Akane and Tofu the opposite ends of a love mushroom. Any one familiar with Ranma series knows that they cause the people to fall in love by sunset; and so was their case.
Kasumi patted Ranma on the shoulder as she projected her motherly aura into him. "I'm sorry Ranma-Kun, I didn't mean to remind you of your pain." Ranma waved her concern off and hid behind his usual carefree mask. For a brief moment Kasumi frowned, but she let it go.
"So why do you wanna get into Todai so badly, that you would turn down Keio?" Ranma questioned as he pondered the implications.
You see, fifteen years ago I made a promise with a boy," she began; then her face screwed as she tried to recall something. "Oh my, I seem to have forgotten his name… Any way, we promised to get in together, then get married."
Ranma nodded, while giving her a strange look. "So you were never planning to marry or date anyone until you got into Todai and re-meet this guy?" Ranma formulated. His face firmed and he began cracking his knuckles, "If he tries anything, I'm gonna flatten 'em…" he mused darkly, unaware he was speaking aloud.
As Kasumi stared at the boy she had come to call her younger brother, she could only say one thing. "Oh my…"
End of Chapter 1!
AN: I felt the chapter went quite smoothly. If you're thinking: "How dare you engage Kasumi to Keitaro!" Too bad, cause I did! And you know what? I've plenty more things to mess around with, too… Including the return of Ryouga, Mousse and a slew of fiancées!
Tune in Next time: A Date To Remember!