Here we go.  Brace yourselves!

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Almost all of the names in this story do not belong to me.  I am making no profit off of this, and suing me would just waste a lot of time.

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                Rei's red eyes stared blankly ahead as she and Ranma exited the customs area.  They had applied for a 90-day vacation visa, and would have to take care of their more permanent authorization later.

Tokyo-Narita airport was bustling with activity, filled with lively people going about their business, but the two siblings who exited the plane seemed to suck that liveliness out of the air.  Their haggard faces showed them to have been under a lot of stress, and Rei's eyes were red, betraying that she had recently been crying.  She rubbed at her eye while Ranma looked around, trying to find the people that were supposed to meet them.  They were both wearing black backpacks, though Ranma's was larger.

                The two walked to a bank of seats slowly, Rei rubbing at her eyes and Ranma scanning the crowd.  "Have a seat, Rei," Ranma softly said in English.  "I need to go find the Tendos, okay?"  Rei's eyes again began to tear up, and her body started to tremble.  Ranma sighed and embraced his sister.  "Rei, it'll be okay.  We…we'll be okay.  I'll make sure of it."

                The girl just cried on his shoulder, drawing glances from various passersby.  Eventually, Rei sniffed and said, "I know we will, big brother, but I don't want…I…I don't want to be okay if it isn't with Dad."  She started crying again, and Ranma could do nothing but offer her a shoulder on which to sob. 

                After a few minutes, Rei sniffed again and sat back up.  She wiped at her eyes, trying to wipe away the tears, but she was just succeeding in spreading the wetness around.  Ranma stood and checked his pockets for a tissue, but couldn't find one.  He noticed an attractive young woman in a plain dress sitting not two seats away from them, and he asked her, "I'm sorry, miss, but would you happen to have a tissue?"

                The woman blinked at him, but didn't say anything.

                After a moment, the boy realized what he'd done.  He mentally kicked himself and switched to Japanese.  "I'm sorry, I forgot where I was.  Would you happen to have a tissue?"

                This time, the woman smiled, and he was struck with how much more attractive that made her seem.  "Sure."  While she opened her bag and searched for a tissue, Ranma noticed with whom she was sitting.  Two girls that appeared to be younger than her and an older man sat to her left, and by the way that they resembled each other, he assumed they were family.  Probably a father taking his three daughters for a trip, or something.  "Ah!  Here we are!" exclaimed the attractive woman.  She turned back to him, and he noted how her long, brown hair shone in the dim light of the terminal.  She extracted a tissue from her bag and proffered it to Ranma.  "There you go."

                "Thank you very much," he said as he bowed slightly at the waist.  He turned to his sister, then, and proceeded to dry her tears.  "Rei," he whispered to her, switching back to English, "please don't cry.  I don't want to be without father, either, but crying about it isn't going to do any good.  We have to suck it up and go on with our lives."

                Rei snorted as Ranma finished drying her face.  "Just because we have to go on with our lives doesn't mean that we can't mourn the passing of our father, Ranma." 

                The oldest Saotome alive was about to respond when he caught what the attractive woman from whom he had borrowed the facial tissue was saying.  "Where are they, Father?  They weren't on the plane."

                The older man turned to the woman and sighed.  "I don't know.  Maybe we missed him?"
                One of the two other girls spoke up, one with brown hair down to her jaw line.  "Haven't you known this guy since you were kids?"

                "Yes, well, I haven't seen Genma in almost twenty years, so…"

                "Excuse me," Ranma interjected.  "I'm sorry for interrupting, but did you just say that you were waiting for someone named Genma?"  At the man's nod, the boy asked, "Genma Saotome?"  A second nod.  "You're Soun Tendo?"  A slightly nervous nod, but a nod nonetheless.  Ranma sighed.  Well, at least they wouldn't have to search for them.  He stood up straight and helped Rei to do the same.  "Hi.  I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is my sister, Rei.  We're the people you're waiting for."  He and Rei bowed politely, though the girl looked like she was going to cry again.

                All four of the Tendos stood up and bowed respectfully back.  "Hello!" smiled the woman with whom Ranma had spoken earlier.  "I'm Kasumi Tendo.  What a coincidence that we sat next to each other and didn't even know it!"  Her smile was unwavering, and Ranma saw that the woman was even more attractive than he had first thought.  She was shapely, with an ample bosom and curvaceous hips, and her long, brown hair seemed to accentuate her cheeks in a way that could only be described as beautiful. 

                "I'm Nabiki Tendo," said the one with short, brown hair before their father could speak.  She was attractive, but not in the traditional sense, like her sister.  Her face was nothing if not pretty, with large, liquid brown eyes and a jaw line emphasized by her hairstyle, but her eyes held a calculating look, and her stance suggested that she was used to taking the upper hand in situations.  She was wearing a pair of jeans with a belt cinched above her waist, serving to accentuate her hips, and a black shirt that was tight enough to show that she had something above average to offer in the way of chest, but not so tight as to appear slutty. 

                Again preempting the father, the third girl spoke up.  "Akane Tendo.  Nice to meet you."  Her long, blue-black hair was as long as her older sister's, but while Kasumi wore hers in a ponytail, Akane let her sideburns hang down in front and had a bow fastened in her hair at the back of her head.  She was wearing a simple sundress, which did nothing to make her look older, but did make her decidedly cute, if not beautiful.  Her face was open and inviting, and her smile made Ranma think of Helen, his girlfriend back in Minnesota.  Her breasts were smaller than both her sisters', about the same size as Rei's.  Her hips were wide, childbearing hips, and her build was athletic, suggesting that she played sports or worked out.

                "Ahem," Soun cleared his throat.  "I am Soun Tendo, and these are my three daughters, Kasumi, 19, Nabiki, 17, and Akane, 16."  Each girl nodded her head at her name.  Soun looked as if he were going to say something else, but he stopped, cocked his head to one side, and asked, "Where is your father, Ranma?"

                Ranma closed his eyes as he heard Rei stifle a sob.  Putting his right arm around his younger sister and drawing her to him, he pulled a letter from his pocket with his left arm and handed it to the man.  "This should explain everything," he managed to squeeze past the lump in his throat.  He was lecturing Rei on not crying, and he was about to cry himself?  No, he had to be strong, for Rei.  She needed someone to be her anchor.

                Kasumi's smile turned to a worried frown as the young girl named Rei started to sob on her brother's shoulder.  What was wrong?  "Rei?  Are you alright?" she asked.  Rei shook her head against her brother's chest, but did not stop crying.  Kasumi glanced at her sisters, who gave her confused looks in return.  Their father was busy reading the letter Ranma had given him.  "Does it have to do with your father?" asked the older girl worriedly.  She hoped that nothing had happened to Mr. Saotome. 

                "Kasumi," said Ranma softly, with his eyes closed, "our father is dead."  Rei's sobs were renewed, and Ranma put both of his arms around the girl, trying to comfort her.  He opened his eyes and looked at Kasumi, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.  "I'm sorry about this, but the wound is still fresh, if you know what I mean.  I don't think Rei really wants to talk about it just yet."  He looked down to the brown-haired girl and began to stroke her hair, murmuring reassuring words.

                The sisters Tendo were speechless.  They looked to one another, eyes wide with shock, before Kasumi turned back to the Saotome children and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know." 

Akane and Nabiki made similar apologies before Nabiki asked, "Ranma, I don't mean to be rude, but if your father just recently died, why are you here?"

"Because they're going to live with us now," replied Soun soberly, folding the letter and slowly putting it back into the envelope.

+++++++

                Ranma walked back down the stairs and into the dining room.  "I'm sorry about that, but Rei's exhausted, both emotionally and physically.  That plane ride isn't short, you know," he said with a tired smile.  The boy sat down at the table, across from Soun, with Nabiki on his left and Akane on his right.  Kasumi, just then, walked into the room with tea, poured each of them a cup, and sat down next to her father.

                Soun spoke up first.  "Ranma, I'm sorry for your father's death, I truly am, but how did it happen?"  He placed the letter on the table.  "I'm afraid this says nothing about his death except that he is, in fact, dead."

                Akane scowled at her father.  "Dad!  He doesn't want to talk about it!"

                Ranma weakly smiled again, saying, "No, Akane, it's alright."  The haggard-looking boy turned to Soun.  "Well, he…no, I can't tell you," he whispered with a grimace.  "His final words to me were to ask that I not tell you.  I'm sorry, but I can't."  He shook his head sadly.  "I'm sorry, Mr. Tendo."

                Nabiki frowned.  Something was up with the situation.  Genma asked his son not to tell his oldest friend about how he died?  Something was definitely up.  "Well," she said, shifting the area of focus, "what can you tell us about yourself?  I mean, you are going to be living with us, after all."

                Kasumi smiled, turned her head and spoke.  "Yes!  Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, Ranma?  It would be nice to get to know you."  Her smile again made Ranma think of how nice her lips were.

                The Saotome boy shook his head.  What was he thinking?  He needed some sleep.  "Sure, I guess.  What would you like to know?"

                "Well," started Kasumi, "how about what you like to do in your free time?"

                Ranma snorted.  "I didn't really have any free time back home, what with the sports, and school, and all."  He cocked his head to one side, as if thinking.  "No, that's not really true.  I did have a lot of free time, it's just that I played a lot of sports, so I didn't get any relax time.  I tend to forget that I was voluntarily in the sports programs, sometimes."  He grinned tiredly.

                Akane spoke up for the first time since they arrived at the Tendo home.  "What sports do you play?"

                Ranma thought for a second before responding.  "Baseball, soccer, American football, basketball, golf, tennis, swimming, track and field, hockey, rugby, and karate, though I had to give that up quite a while ago due to the rest of my sports.  That's pretty much it, I guess."  He shrugged at the astounded stares he received.  "Well, I like sports."

                Akane smiled.  "You practiced karate?"

                "Yup," came Ranma's reply.

                "I practice martial arts, too.  Wanna go out back and spar?"  Her eyes held an eager light in them.  Maybe he'd be a challenge!  From what he said and how he looked, he was pretty athletic, so he might not be lying about all the sports he played.  If that were true, well, Akane would have someone with whom to practice!  Even though he was a boy, she couldn't fairly well hate him, because his father had just died.  She felt more sorry for him than anything else.

                Ranma again weakly smirked.  "No, Akane, not right now.  I'm kind of drained."  He didn't explain what had drained him; he didn't want the Tendos to realize just how deeply his father's death had affected him.

                "That's okay, Ranma," Kasumi cooed gently.  "I'm sure Akane understands."

                Before the woman could go on, though, her father spoke up again.  "Ranma, why didn't you have too much luggage?  You're coming to live with us; you brought surprisingly little for such a permanent arrangement."

                Ranma again sighed, but this time, his shoulders slumped, and he looked at least ten years older.  "We didn't have much time to pack, really.  When…Dad died, he told me in a letter that I had to be on a midnight flight out of Minnesota.  So I threw what I thought I needed together, helped my sister pack, and we left.  We didn't have time to bring the rest of our stuff."

                "Oh, my!" Kasumi exclaimed.  "You mean that you just abandoned your things?"

                "What do you think I should have done, huh?" Ranma snapped.  "Do you think I should have risked my life and taken three weeks to pack all my shit into boxes and ship them here?"  The room went abruptly still, and Ranma rubbed the bridge of his nose.  "I'm sorry, Kasumi.  I shouldn't have snapped at you.  It's just that I've been run ragged these past twenty or so hours, and I'm really on a bit of an edge right now.  I hope you can forgive me."

                Kasumi's smile seemed to warm the room, taking away the chill that Ranma's words had brought.  "It's okay, Ranma.  I understand.  It's okay."

                "I'm sorry," said Ranma as he stood up, "but I'm very tired.  Could I please head upstairs and go to bed?  I'm sorry again, but as I said, I'm exhausted."

                "Sure, Ranma," said Kasumi brightly.  "I'm sorry for keeping you down here when you were so tired.  You remember where the futons are?"  He nodded, and she continued, "Well, goodnight then, Ranma."  As he bade the room goodnight and headed upstairs to the guest room, Kasumi turned to her father and spoke in low tones.  "Father, are they really staying with us?"

                "Yes, daughter, they are."  Soun nodded.  "Genma was my oldest and dearest friend, and I will not turn his family out into the cold."

                Nabiki spoke next.  "Well, how are we going to pay for this?  I mean, we barely squeeze by as it is!"  Her arms were crossed beneath her breasts, and her face held a stern expression.  "I'm betting that they're not gonna contribute much to the daily expenses."

                "Actually," the father said with a smile, "they will be able to help with the daily expenses.  It seems that my old friend set up some accounts for the children.  They have more than enough money to help out if needed."

                Nabiki seemed placated, but only a little.  "Still, how are we going to accommodate two more people in the house?"

                Kasumi placed a hand on Nabiki's shoulder.  "Little sister, we have enough room for those two, and you know it.  Besides, all you have to worry about is school.  I'm the one that has to worry about cleaning up after them, and even I'm not fretting too much about it."  She smiled.  "It'll all work out fine."

                Akane spoke after Kasumi was done.  "I don't know about this guy, Ranma.  Rei I have no problem with, but Ranma makes me feel uneasy.  I can't really hate him, even though he is a boy," that last word was laced with contempt, "but I can't really relax too easily around him, either.  He just makes me feel…awkward."

                Nabiki reached over and pinched her little sister's cheek.  "Aw, it sounds like Akane has a crush on someone!" she teased.

                Akane's face flushed with anger and embarrassment.  "Nabiki, you KNOW how I feel about boys!  I would never have a crush on one of those disgusting perverts!"

                "Akane," said Soun sternly, "I will have none of that.  Ranma is going to be living here, and I want all of you girls to treat him with respect."  He made eye contact with each of the girls before sighing as he stood up.  "Well, I believe that's all we have to talk about just now."  He walked off, leaving the three females alone.

                "I think he's kind of cute, actually," said Nabiki with a smirk as soon as her father was gone.  "I wonder what my chances are with him?"

                "Nabiki!" exclaimed Kasumi.  "You shouldn't say things like that!"

                "Yeah," agreed the youngest Tendo.  "What if he's a pervert or something?"

                Nabiki just smiled.  "I was just kidding, guys.  Geez."

+++++++

                Rei woke up and groggily looked around.  She saw that Ranma was lying next to her, and noticed that her head was pillowed on her brother's chest.  She giggled and kissed Ranma's cheek.  She remembered waking up during the night and crying, and she remembered Ranma soothing and comforting her.  He was so sweet.  Whatever woman ended up marrying him would be a lucky woman.

                She disentangled herself from her sibling and stood up, stretching.  Opening her suitcase, she pulled out a bathrobe and quickly stripped.  After she had cinched the robe around her waist, she grabbed up her shampoo and soap, donned her slippers, and hesitantly stepped out into the hallway.

                As she exited the room, she noticed out a window at the end of the hall that it was early morning.  At least she was already acclimatizing to the time difference.  Peeking around the corner, she looked downstairs to make sure that no one was ascending them. 

                Daintily, Rei stepped downstairs, and turned the corner into the living room.  She saw Kasumi cheerily setting out breakfast and shyly cleared her throat.  When Kasumi looked up, she spoke.  "Um…I'm sorry, but…um…where is…the…um…bathroom?"  She HATED meeting new people!  Rei just wished that she was good at talking to people.

                Kasumi smiled at the girl's obvious nervousness.  "It's down the hall and to the right, Rei.  It's the first door on your right."  Kasumi smiled larger when Rei blushed slightly and bowed her thanks before leaving.  She was a nice girl; it was really too bad what happened to her father.

                Rei hesitantly opened the door to the changing room and peeked in.  "Hello?" she called.  "Is anyone in there?"  After she was sure that the bath was not occupied by anyone else, she stepped into the room and closed the door softly.  Quickly taking off the robe, she shed her slippers, as well, and opened the door into the bathroom proper and entered.

                She washed herself quickly and descended into the tub of warm water with a sigh.  She loved warm baths.  She spent ten full minutes just soaking in the heat of the water in which she was sitting before reluctantly getting out of the tub and moving back to the changing room.  Drying herself off with a towel she found, she donned the bathrobe once more and cautiously peeked out into the hallway.  "Please," she heard Akane's voice from the living room.  "He's a boy, and all boys are perverts.  I just can't bring myself to hate him because of his father.  That doesn't mean that I have to trust him, though."

                "Akane."  That was Kasumi's voice.  "You shouldn't judge people before you know them."

                Nabiki spoke next.  "Yeah, sis.  Besides, he's kind of cute."

                "I thought you were just kidding!" exclaimed Akane with what Rei could only guess was surprise. 

                "So what if I wasn't?" Nabiki asked indignantly.  "It's not like you like him, anyway.  Now, if I was saying that I liked Rei, then I would expect you to react."

                "Nabiki!" came both Kasumi's and Akane's voices at the same time.

                Rei blushed and closed the door, cutting off the rest of the conversation.  Akane was a lesbian?  THAT certainly was unexpected.  She didn't know if she'd ever be comfortable around the girl, now that she knew that she was a lesbian.  She didn't know what to make of people in general, let alone homosexuals.  The girl took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her blush, and then stepped out into the hall. 

…And almost ran into Akane.  The Saotome girl yelped and dropped her shampoo as Akane merely took a step back.  Rei blushed again.  "Sorry," she murmured quickly as she bent down to pick up her bottle of shampoo.  As she grabbed it, she realized that her robe wasn't doing all that much to conceal her chest, what with her bending down and all, and the girl straightened instantly, flushing a deep crimson.  She hastily murmured another quick apology before hurrying upstairs and into her and Ranma's room.

Akane was confused by the girl's reaction.  They were both girls, right?  So why would it matter if she saw her breasts?  Oh, well.  Akane figured that Rei was just shy, or something.  She quickly ducked into the room for her after-workout bath.

Rei rushed into her room and closed the door.  For a number of moments after the door closed, she stood, facing the door, panting from fear.  She HATED being startled like that!  After she had composed herself, she moved back to her suitcase and took off her robe.  Luxuriating in the feel of her skin, she stretched the last of the stiffness out of her muscles and slowly turned around. 

…Just to come face-to-face with a sleepy Ranma.  "Waah!" yelped Rei again as she took a step back.  Unfortunately, her suitcase was right behind her, and she tripped.  In a last ditch effort to save herself from a rather painful fall, she grabbed onto Ranma's shirt.  The boy, however, was not prepared for that, and so they were both sent crashing to the ground.

Ranma's mind was still half-asleep until the fall.  Abruptly, he was wide-awake, and he flailed his arms to try to again catch his balance, but to no avail.  He closed his eyes in anticipation of the upcoming impact and stuck his arms out to try to stop his face from hitting the floor.  Instead of a hardwood floor, though, his hands met soft flesh.  His eyes shot open and immediately locked onto Rei's eyes, which were as wide as they could possibly go.  He looked at her red face, he looked down to where his hands were, and he jumped up, blushing furiously himself.  "Gaah!  I'm sorry, Rei!  I didn't mean to!"  He turned around so that his sister could dress.  "I'm really sorry, Rei.  I just fell, and I tried to brace myself for the impact, but…well, you know what happened.  Sorry."  Suddenly, he felt something strike his head extremely hard.

"Damnit, Ranma!  Don't ever do that to me again!" Rei screamed, whacking Ranma with his hockey stick.

"Ow!" yelped Ranma as he tried to fend off the blows raining upon him.  "I'm sorry, Rei!  I didn't mean to see you naked!"

She stopped hitting him, her breasts rising and falling with her deep breaths.  "I don't care about that, Ranma!  You're my brother!  What I'm talking about is startling me!  Don't you EVER do that again!" 

Ranma just stared at his sister in amazement.  He was about to say something, but the door opened, and Nabiki and Kasumi stuck their heads in.  "What's going on?" they chorused. 

Rei let out a high-pitched, "Yipe!" and dove for the blankets, trying to cover herself.

Ranma flopped onto his back and slipped back into English.  "I fucking hate this place already."

Rei replied from under a blanket in the same language, "I agree."

+++++++

                Ranma Saotome lazily stretched and looked around the room.  A dresser had been provided each of them, so they would have a place to store their clothes, and they had spent the entire morning unpacking.  Rei had collapsed into tears several times, and Ranma had been forced to stop his own unpacking to soothe her.  They had finally finished, though, and they were luxuriating in the warmth of the sunlight that streaked in through the open window in their room.  "Rei?" Ranma asked softly, speaking in English.

                "Hmm?" replied Rei, who again had her head pillowed on her brother's chest.

                The boy smirked and lightly wrapped his arms around her.  "Are you looking forward to school, Rei?"  The girl shuddered in his arms, so he hugged her to his chest.  "Rei, I know it'll take some time to get used to this place, but-"

                "No, Ranma," interrupted Rei.  "No.  This will never be my home.  This will never be OUR home."  She looked up to her brother with a profound sadness in her eyes.  "No matter how long you and I stay here, Minnesota will always be our home.  As soon as we're old enough, you and I are going back to our house, okay?  Promise."  Her eyes had shifted from sad to pleading.  "Please, Ranma.  Promise me we'll go home as soon as you turn 18."

                Ranma closed his eyes.  "Rei, we can't.  You…you know why we can't, too."

                The girl shook her head emphatically.  "No!  I refuse to believe that Dad was a yakuza thug!" she said loudly.

                "Sssh!" whispered Ranma.  "You don't want the Tendos to hear, do you?"  Rei just looked at him with that sad look on her face, and Ranma pressed his little sister against his body again.  "Rei, you know the dangers we'd have if we ever went back there.  I can't do that to you.  I can't make you live your life in fear.  It's better if we just stay here, Rei." 

                Rei buried her face in Ranma's chest and shuddered again.  "I know," she whispered after a time.  "But…I miss Edina, I miss Dad, I miss my friends, I…I…"

                The Saotome boy lifted his sister's chin so that he could look into her eyes.  "I miss all of that, too, Rei.  But we can't go back, and you know it.  The best thing would be to just accept the fact that it's all gone and move on with our lives."  He put a finger to her lips to forestall any comment she might have made and pressed on.  "It's okay to miss it, and it's okay to cry, but it's not okay to let memories of the past get in the way of your present."  Rei nodded sadly and put her face back onto Ranma's chest, causing the boy to sigh regretfully.  He wished Rei didn't have to go through that kind of shit.

                There came a knock on the door suddenly, and Ranma called, "C'mon in!"  He looked around to see Kasumi entering the room daintily - she always moved daintily - and saw her smile as she regarded himself and Rei.

                "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to interrupt.  I'll come back later."  She turned to go.

                Ranma hastily said, "Wait!"  He knew that Rei probably wouldn't like this, but she had to start to get to know some people, and Kasumi seemed the best place to start.  "Would you like to sit down and talk with us for a while?"

                Kasumi smiled and turned around again.  "I'd be delighted to, Ranma."  She had actually been hoping to be able to talk to the two Saotome siblings.  She wanted to make it readily apparent that they were going to be members of the Tendo household, and the first step to doing that was to make them feel comfortable.  Kasumi closed the door then moved to a vacant cushion next to Ranma and she sat down, adjusting her skirts.

                Ranma sat up and placed his back against the wall, keeping Rei clutched to his breast.  He knew that Rei would want the support if they were going to be talking to a stranger.  "Thanks, Kasumi," Ranma said politely and with a smile. 

                "It's my pleasure," replied Kasumi with an equal level of politeness and formality.  She was impressed with how well he and his sister knew Japanese, truth be told.  They even knew when to use different forms of the language.  "Is there anything in particular about which you wanted to speak?"

                Rei's face was hidden in Ranma's chest, so her voice was muffled, but Ranma could make out the English words, "Does she have to be here, big brother?"

                Ranma put his face next to her ear and whispered, "Yes, she does, Rei.  It's important that you and I start involving ourselves with the family.  And we shouldn't talk in English anymore.  It's rude."  He looked back to the eldest Tendo woman and smiled apologetically.  "I'm sorry about that.  No, I was just hoping we could chat.  Maybe we could start off by learning a bit about you?"

                Kasumi's smile widened at this.  She was used to people asking her how she was, but she hadn't been actually asked about herself for a long time.  It felt good.  "Well, Ranma, I graduated from high school last year, and instead of going on to college, I decided to stay and take care of the family."
                "Why is that?" asked Ranma.  "Sorry if I interrupted," he quickly apologized, realizing what he had done.

                "No, no, it's alright," the woman cooed with an affectionate gleam in her eyes.  This boy was extremely polite!  She could tell that he would make a good husband.  She blushed slightly at that thought.  What was she thinking?  "If you have any questions at all, Ranma, don't hesitate to ask," she said, half because she actually wanted Ranma to ask questions and half to take his attention off of the blush that had started to creep across her face.  Lord, she was acting strangely!  "I just decided that my family was more important than college.  There wasn't much more to my decision than that, really."

                Ranma smiled and looked to his sister.  "I know what you mean," he replied quietly.

                Kasumi couldn't help but giggle at that.  Oh, the boy was so cute!  She could definitely see herself married to a man like Ranma someday.  That thought caused her to blush again, deeper this time.  What had gotten into her?

                "Kasumi?  Why are you blushing?" asked Ranma curiously.  Rei shifted her head so that one eye could see Kasumi while the rest of her face was still hiding in Ranma's chest.

                That question, of course, just made Kasumi blush even more.  "Oh, nothing, Ranma," she lied, trying to stop her flush.  "Nothing at all.  I'm just a little warm, that's all."  In December, Kasumi was WARM?  She kicked herself mentally for that slip-up.

                "Oh, I'm sorry.  Would you like me to open the door?" Ranma offered.  "It would circulate the air a bit more."  He didn't think it was hot, but he didn't want Kasumi being uncomfortable, either.

                Kasumi actually had to bow her head she was blushing so badly.  Not only was the boy polite, but he was attractive and compassionate, too!  Her hands were clasped together in her lap to keep them from flying to her cheeks to hide the blush.  "No, that's perfectly alright, Ranma," said Kasumi weakly.  "I'll be fine."

                "No, Kasumi, it's okay."  He stood up, gently moving his brown-haired sister off of his chest, and moved to the door.  He opened it about halfway, and then returned to sit next to his sister, who immediately latched onto his arm. 

                Rei was glaring daggers at Kasumi.  Did the woman think she could take Ranma from her?  Rei would've liked to see her try.  Ranma was hers, damnit, and she wasn't gonna lose him to some…some…Japanese hussy!

                Ranma studied Kasumi intently for a moment.  Her blush covered her entire face and neck, and Ranma thought he could even see traces of red on the backs of her arms and hands.  Maybe she was sick?  "Kasumi?" asked Ranma after a moment.  "Are you feeling alright?  You're not sick, are you?"

                Kasumi couldn't help herself.  She giggled and put her hands to her mouth.  "Oh, no, Ranma.  I feel fine.  Really, I do.  But thank you for asking."  She demurely glanced at him from beneath her bangs and almost giggled again at the concern she saw in those brown orbs.  What on God's green earth was wrong with her?!? 

                "Are you totally sure?" he asked, leaning forward to place his hand on her forehead.  "You seem a bit warm to me."

                Kasumi nearly swooned when Ranma placed his hand on her bare skin.  She felt an electric jolt run through her entire body, and she had to fight to suppress a shiver.  Her breathing was coming in shallow, ragged gasps, and her hands were working at each other furiously.  "I-" she started, then had to swallow.  "I think I'm going to go and check my temperature, then," she said as she took Ranma's hand and moved it away from her forehead.  Lord, she didn't want to let go!  She stood up and unnecessarily adjusted her dress.  "I'm sorry.  I hope we'll get to talk again sometime." 

                Ranma stood as well.  "Do you need anything?  I'm more than willing to help."

                The Tendo woman had to grip her dress to keep from putting her hands to her face again.  "No, thank you, Ranma.  I'll be fine."  She hastily turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

                Ranma turned back to his sister.  "That was strange," he commented as he sat back down next to Rei.

                Rei just gave him a flat stare.  "She was all over you, Ranma."

                Ranma stared back blankly.  "Ya think?"

+++++++

                Kasumi stood in the hallway just outside of Ranma and Rei's room, leaning against the wall with her hands clasped to her chest.  She was still flushed red, and her breaths were still coming in shallow gasps, but she was out of the room, and that was all that mattered to her at the moment.  What had she been thinking?  Kasumi NEVER acted like that!  NO ONE ever acted like that, not to Kasumi's knowledge, anyway!  Well, not in real life.  In those romance novels she was always reading, all the women acted like she had.  Of course, all of the women in those stories eventually ended up sleeping with the man around whom she acted like that, too.

                Kasumi's eyes widened as she thought about the implications of such a statement.  "Oh!  Oh, my!" she whispered breathily, her face twice as red as it had been before.  She imagined Ranma without a shirt on, like the men on the covers of her romance novels, and she pictured herself lying in front of him, clad in only a flimsy bathrobe, and she imagined him leaning down, leaning over her, his body lying on top of hers, his lips…"Oh, MY!" exclaimed the woman.  Her eyes as wide as they could go, she hurried downstairs to clean something.  Kasumi NEEDED to clean something.

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Okay, tell me what ya think, please.  It's something I always say at the end of fics I post, so...yeah.  Tell me what y'all think, if you'd like.  I'd surely appreciate it.

Oh! A little update on my other story, To Know Pain: I've been working on the next chapter, but it's going fairly slowly, for some reason. I'm sorry about that, but believe me, it bothers me more than it does you. I really want to get it out, but it just seems to be getting harder and harder to write. Bah. I SHOULD (emphasize should, because I make no promises) have it out within the month. Sorry for the long delay. And yes, this story and a few others have been little side projects as I have been working on TKP. I need to write something, damnit, and if I can't write TKP, I'm gonna write something else! GET OFF MY BACK!!! Woah. Sorry. Got a little carried away there. Anywho, yeah, it should be out soon, so please don't kill me to hard.

Ja!