Ah! Megami-sa… Ranma-kun?
By Tari


Prologue ('cause I can't think of a chapter title)
Kasumi watched as Akane vanished for her morning jog, then sighed as she leaned over to pick up a newspaper from the sidewalk. She patted it off and headed into the Tendo house, slipping out of her shoes as she passed through the door.

Things had been a lot slower for a few weeks and while she'd been glad for the break in housework, things were beginning to become too dull too fast. She dropped the newspaper off on the chair her father normally occupied at the dining table, then began humming as she moved into the kitchen.

It was strange, she mused, that she had gotten into a habit of cooking extremely large meals to appease the endless pits that their guests had called stomachs. She tucked a few strands of long brown hair behind an ear before she set about chopping vegetables for breakfast.

A short while later, Nabiki yawned and stumbled down the stairs, bleary-eyed. She poked her head into the kitchen and yawned again. A coffee cup was pushed into her hands and she smiled her thanks to Kasumi before shuffling over to her seat at the table.

The front door opened and closed, and Akane walked by the table on her way to the bath. She stretched a bit and slipped up the stairs.

"Breakfast will be ready in a minute, Akane!" Kasumi waited for a muffled acknowledgement to reach her ears, then moved back into the kitchen and started pulling bowls and utensils out from the drawers and cabinets.

Breakfast began quietly. The Tendo patriarch had gone out drinking with his best friend, and neither had returned yet. Nabiki set her chopsticks down as she finished her meal, then let out a contented sigh. "Great meal, sis." Nabiki gave her sister a smile, then stood up and gathered her school supplies.

"I've got to get over to school early, again. The betting pool got all screwed up when he left like that, and things have only been going downhill since. It looks like everything's starting to stabilize a bit, though." She waved briefly, then was gone out the door.

Kasumi glanced over to Akane as she heard another set of chopsticks being set down. Her youngest sister smiled briefly at her, then began grumbling. "Where the heck did he go, anyway? He just up and left… the jerk." Her words no longer had any real sting in them and, in fact, seemed to have a bit of remorse instead.

The youngest Tendo sighed, then stood up and grabbed her bookbag. The door slid open, then closed again, and Kasumi was once again alone in the house. She finished her own meal and began to collect the dishes as she thought about the effect he had had on the neighborhood.

With the sudden departure of the "jerk," the chaos in Nerima suddenly died down. Of course, at first it went crazy, almost as if it were making up for the loss of the source of the chaos. Fiancées were rushing back and forth trying to find him, martial artists were showing up to challenge someone who was no longer here, and parents were whining and bawling about the houses never being joined.

After a week, though, everyone seemed to just burn out, and Nerima suddenly became an average city with ordinary days and ordinary events.

In fact, his father suddenly became much more human with his departure. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to return and that no one had been able to find him, Genma broke down in tears, blaming himself for his son's decision to vanish from the surface of the earth.

Kasumi was snapped out of her reverie by the sound of the phone ringing in the hallway. She quickly dried off the last dish and put it away, then, after wiping her hands, reached for the phone.

"Hello?" Kasumi blinked, then smiled. "Auntie Saotome!"

The oldest Tendo girl briefly glanced at the clock. "When are you planning to come by?"

She nodded, though the person on the other end of the phone couldn't see her action, then said, "Oh, okay. We'll see you soon, then!"

The phone went back on the hook, then Kasumi pulled open the pantry. "Oh dear… I don't have enough food for dinner tonight. I'll have to go shopping… but I still haven't done the laundry or made the beds or cleaned the house…" She wrung her hands and fretted for a while as she looked around for some sort of solution.

A moment later, a tired sigh escaped her lips. "Oooh… well, I suppose I'll have to order something for dinner, then…" She reached for the phone again, this time to dial the Nekohanten. No one was entirely sure as to why the Amazons hadn't left yet, as it had been at least three months since he'd vanished, but they seemed to still be hoping that he'd return.

Kasumi finished dialing the restaurant's number and lifted the receiver to her ear. It rang a few times, then someone on the other end picked up. "Hello? Elder Cologne?"

"Hello! This is the Goddess Relief Hotline! A representative will be with you shortly to process your request!"

Kasumi blinked, then started apologizing. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I must have dialed the wrong… number…?" She trailed off as a pot of water she'd set on the stove began to glow. The light grew in intensity until she had to shade her eyes with her hands.

A figure rose up from the glow and turned towards her, and she made out the face of a young girl, eyes closed, smiling down at her.

"Hello!" The girl said, as she opened her eyes.

"Oh! Oh my!" Kasumi raised a hand to her mouth as her eyes widened.

"Ranma-kun?"


Author's Notes: I have no idea why I wrote this. ) It just sorta came to me in the middle of my class (shh… my teachers all think I'm taking notes).

I should really get back to finishing the first chapter of Rollback and 'Till the End, though.

Oh well. C&C would be appreciated! Intelligent flames will be used to further my writing skills, while all other flames will be handed to my friend for his yearly textbook burnings. P