ASHITA NO YUME

"Dreams of Tomorrow"

by Jeffrey Paul Hosmer

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R2096 characters and situations used with permission. Takahashi's aren't.

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She lay on the bed, dreaming.

There's no time for this, she scolded herself gently. I have to get up. There's always work to do. If I don't do it, who will?

With an effort, Kasumi opened her eyes. She threw off her covers and swung her feet around, uttering a small eep as they touched the cold floor. She wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, and cuddle next to her nice warm husband--

Husband?

Kasumi looked over her bed and yes, her husband was there. Of course he was. Dear Tofu-chan. Bell-chan was in her room, still asleep, no doubt. She had not gone to bed until late, she was so excited about today.

That's right! Kasumi thought. The family beach trip! I have to make sure everything is ready.

Hesitantly, she walked out to the kitchen. She had forgotten something, she knew. It was nagging at her, but resisted all her attempts to recall it. Finally, she shrugged. If it really was important, she would remember it sooner or later.

Soon, the miso soup was on for breakfast and she could spare a few moments to get dressed and ready for the day. Everyone would be coming. It would be so nice to see the family again. And all of their friends. It was surprising that they could all make it.

Kasumi turned as she heard a gentle footstep on the stairs. Tofu-chan flashed her a smile as he stepped into the kitchen, then turned toward the front doors to go and collect the morning paper.

Stairs? She hadn't come down--well, of course there were stairs. She lived above the clinic now. It was back at the dojo where her room was on the ground floor. She must really be sleepy.

She smiled more brightly as she heard Tofu greeting someone at the door. Moments later, the Hibikis walked in, Ukyou and Ryouga holding hands while Kioku followed. They all said good morning, and Ukyou presented a big picnic basket partly full of okonomiyaki.

"How nice, Ukyou-chan! You didn't have to go to all that trouble," she said. Ukyou merely nodded and sat down at the table, adjusting her straitjacket--

No, she was just wearing her okonomiyaki outfit. Really, why would Ukyou be in a straitjacket?

Kasumi shook her head. She was really full of foolish notions today. Well, she'd talk to Tofu-chan about it later. She had chores to do.

Soon, her delicious food was filling the basket, next to the okonomiyaki. Ukyou had written something on them, she saw with a smile that turned to a puzzled frown. 'Boom'? What could that mean? Again, she felt the nagging suspicion that she had forgotten something.

"Oneechan!" came the call, followed shortly by Nabiki and Kunou.

Oh, my, Kunou certainly has matured since all the trouble he had caused back in high school, Kasumi thought.

He looked very handsome in the dark business suit Nabiki had made him wear. It was almost like he was attending a funeral, though. The Kunous were followed by Kodachi, who offered her a bouquet of red roses.. Kasumi smiled and put them into some water, then looked at them again and frowned. They were dying already, turning black. How unlike Kodachi, she was so good with plants. She turned to the female Kunou, who only gave her a sad, despairing look. A look that said, 'I tried to keep them alive, but...'

The group was almost complete, Kasumi thought with a smile, banishing the gloomy thought. Everyone was sitting around the table, talking quietly. So quietly, Kasumi couldn't even make out the words. But they were there, her family, both close and extended.

"Kasumi-oneechan!" came the voice she had been waiting years to hear again. No, surely only hours - days at most. Saotome Akane entered, smiling sadly at her big sister. She was followed by Ranma, who was struggling to keep a hold on their twins. What were their names again? Kasumi was shocked that she couldn't remember. Well, it would come to her.

The group got ready to leave then, everyone heading for the beach.

They stepped out and Kasumi locked the door. Akane stood close by, watching her quietly. Kasumi smiled at her little sister, happy to see her. Akane returned the smile a little hesitantly.

"Hey, wait for us!" a very familiar female voice called. Kasumi turned in shock.

"Okaasan," she whispered, as her mother and father walked up.

"Surely you weren't leaving without your parents," Tendo Soun asked, his eyes twinkling.

"No, of course not..." Kasumi said. Why was she acting like this?

Of course her mother would be here. They were a family, weren't they? All together, all happy, and with a glorious future ahead of them.

Happily, she walked alongside her husband, her family and friends following her. Then Tofu-chan stopped.

Oh, it was his assistant, Gosunkugi Kyoofu.

"Good morning, Doctor, Ono-san," he said, smiling and bowing courteously. Everyone else except for Tofu-chan and Belladonna seemed to fade into the background. The nagging feeling returned, stronger than ever.

"Ohayo," Kasumi replied.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting, but I was hoping that you were done with those disks I left you. I need to get them back before your sister misses them."

Of course, the disks. Kasumi smiled. She had been disturbed at first when Nabiki began to pressure them to sell their home. Of course they had refused. It was more than just a building to them. It was where they had met and fallen in love. Bell-chan had been born there.

Hadn't Tofu-chan been so funny, panicking as she did all the work to bring Bell-chan into the world. It had been a natural childbirth and Kasumi had been so proud of her little girl. She hoped that one day Nabiki would know the same joys.

But she had underestimated her little sister, and Tofu-chan's nice assistant had cleared it all up. Nabiki had been planning all along to create a new shopping and living complex, all in honour of Akane and Ranma. Wasn't that sweet? And Gosunkugi had even risked his job to bring them the files Nabiki had put together, planning it all out in strict detail. Nabiki was so lucky to have such an employee. How did he manage to do all of that?

Once that was explained, Kasumi understood why her sister was pushing for them to sell so urgently. Just like Nabiki-chan, never wanting to look 'soft.' She and Tofu-chan had discussed it and were willing, for Akane and Ranma's memory, to sell their home.

"Oh, of course. They're at the house. I'll get them," she said.

"Oh, no need," Kyoofu replied. "I can get them, if you just let me borrow a key."

He was a friend of Tofu-chan, but she couldn't let him put himself out like that. "No, no... just wait here. I'll do it." She turned to her husband. "Tofu-chan, you and Bell-chan wait for me at the train station. I'll be right back."

She turned back home. Strange, where did everyone go? Suddenly, it was just her, walking back home. She didn't even feel in control of her own body any more, like she HAD to walk this path. She got back to the clinic and started to open the door.

"Oneechan! Don't!"

It was Akane. She must have fallen in a puddle or something, Kasumi thought. Her dress was dripping wet. It was soaked, through and through, actually, she thought. Just as if she had been pulled from the riv-

"Oneechan," Akane pleaded. "Come back. We can all go the beach, all of us. We can have a happy future, just like we were supposed to. Don't go in there!"

Suddenly, everyone was standing behind Akane. Father and Mother, Ranma, Nabiki and Tofu-chan, Ryouga and Ukyou. Even Shampoo and Mousse had arrived somehow. They beckoned to her.

Kasumi shook her head. Something was wrong. She opened her mouth, but the words that came out were not what she meant to say.

"Akane-chan, some dreams are not meant to be."

She stepped into the clinic.

Epilogue

Akane screamed as she fell out of her sister.

She couldn't live through the memory again. Kasumi's memory. The memory of being burned alive, then buried in rubble. The ghost wept aloud at the thought, even though there was no one to hear her.

Sitting up on the cold hospital floor, she forced herself to look at the burned and broken body that was her eldest sister. She couldn't see much, with all the bandages and machines Tofu-sensei had insisted they use. The man was almost insane with grief, pushing his medical knowledge, and the knowledge of others to the brink to heal his wife.

And Akane had watched it all.

Finally, unable to bear the thought of her sister suffering, she had tried to possess her, her own sister, and give her happy dreams, at least. It hadn't worked. Kasumi was too strong-willed and perceptive. She had seen through the deception in the end.

"Why? Why you, oneechan?" the ghost sobbed. "You can't die! You can't! I need you!"

The living paid her no mind, of course. She was a ghost, doomed to walk the earth because of her sins. It was her punishment, and she deserved it. To be alone--

If Kasumi died, she might not be alone. She could be with oneechan forever.

No! Kasumi was going to live, she was going to get better, and when she died, she was going to go some place happy.

But what if...?

Akane's thoughts were cut short by her niece entering the room. Bell-chan, Kasumi's perfect daughter. Akane ached to comfort her, to soothe her, like an aunt should. And Bell-chan had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was a mess, and her steps uncertain. Slowly, she walked to her mother's bedside. She stared at her mother for a long time, her thoughts her own. She then opened her purse.

And pulled out a large hypodermic needle.

The End