And another disclaimer: this story I'm about to spin probably NEVER entered into the exalted brain of Rumiko Takahashi, I'm sure of it. If you're looking for answers, stop reading now. I won't deliver them. I'm only trying to tell a story. My story.
And now…
RisingSun Presents…
TOO YOUNG FOR YOUA Story Based on Rumiko Takahashi's "Ranma ½"
Featuring Kasumi Tendo and Another Character of My Own Creation
But mostly Kasumi.
Chapter 1: And So It Begins… AgainIt was all she could do to stop from exploding into laughter.
Kasumi held her breath and smiled broadly while keeping her eye on the flowers she was watering. It wouldn't be nice to laugh at Ranma's predicament.
But that didn't stop Nabiki, who instantly started sniggering loudly in her lounge chair.
"Ranma, for a martial artist, you are ridiculously clumsy."
Ranma glowered at her from her spot on the grass and turned her back. The redhead muttered something unintelligible.
"What was that, Ranma? I couldn't hear you." Nabiki put her hand up to her ear in mock confusion.
"Ranma," Kasumi said, still smiling. "Do you need help?"
"Mmrrph."
"Goodness!" Nabiki exclaimed, putting her hand over her heart. "How can you say such things to Kasumi, Saotome? Have you no honor?"
Kasumi switched the hose to "mist" and replied, playing along, "Oh dear… is Ranma saying bad words again?"
At this moment, Akane stepped out of the house holding a magazine and a cherry Popsicle. She looked at Nabiki, who was wearing shorts, a tank top, dark glasses, and an amused smile while calmly sipping lemonade. She turned and looked at Kasumi, in a tube top and Hawaiian wrap-around, who was calmly watering the flowers and had an amused smile. And then she looked between her two sisters, and saw Ranma sitting cross-legged on the lawn, with a red face, peeved expression, and both lips stuck in a Snapple bottle.
Akane blinked, and started shrieking with laughter.
"Stupid tomboy," Ranma muttered to herself. But, of course, no one could understand her.
Akane stumbled down the steps from the porch and chortled, "Ranma, come here." She reached over and yanked the bottle off with a loud pop, causing Ranma to yell with pain and the Tendo girls to double over once more with laughter.
A voice cut through the laughter. "Excuse me, am I interrupting something?" All heads turned towards the front gate. There stood a tall young man, a gaijin, with light brown hair and blue eyes. He paused, hesitating with a hand on the gate. "Is this the Tendo dojo?"
Nabiki cocked an eyebrow at him. He was cute. And his Japanese was amazingly fluent for a foreigner. She took of her sunglasses and sat up in her lounge chair. "Yep, this is the Tendo dojo alright, lock stock and barrel. C'mon inside… can we help you in some way?"
The young man looked slightly embarrassed. "Um, actually, I was looking for a Kasumi Tendo…" He trailed off as his gaze rested on the eldest Tendo daughter. His eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on his face. "Kasumi?"
Kasumi blinked in surprise. "Yes, that's me… What can I do for you?"
The young man's smile faltered a little. "Don't you remember me?"
She hesitated. "Do I know you, sir?"
The man at the gate looked at her with a furrowed brow. He was about to speak when Akane interrupted him.
"What do you want with Kasumi? Are you some kind of pervert?"
"I…" The man stared at the fiery girl in astonishment. "What…"
Nabiki rolled her eyes, put her sunglasses back on, and settled back into her chair. "Get real, Akane. How would Kasumi of all people know any perverts?"
Akane frowned. "Well, there's Happosai, and Kuno, and Ranma, and…"
"Hey!" Ranma stopped nursing her sore mouth long enough to glare at Akane.
"Okay, okay, point taken." Nabiki twisted her head to look at Kasumi. "Well, onee-chan? You know this guy? Or shall we send him back over the ocean via Akane-Mallet Airways? Kasumi?"
Kasumi had frozen in position, hand halfway to her mouth, staring at the stranger.
"Kasumi, you're drowning the bougainvilleas."
Kasumi automatically switched off the hose with a flick of her thumb, but did not move otherwise.
"…Adam" Her eyes widened incredulously. "Is that you?"
"Yeah…" Adam shifted nervously, and shot her a slight grin. "Hi."
"Oh my goodness."
The hose dropped to the floor.
~*~
"Here, let me help you get that."
Kasumi looked up from picking up her spilled books to see a blond girl with glasses stoop down and recover some of the dropped textbooks.
"Oh—thank you…" Kasumi smiled at her gratefully.
"Your welcome," replied the girl. "You're a freshman, aren't you?"
"Yes, yes I am."
"Great! Can I recruit you then?"
"Recruit me?" Kasumi straightened and shot an inquisitive look at the girl.
The girl laughed slightly and adjusted her backpack. "Yeah. I'm a member of the cooking club. A senior, actually. We meet after school on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays." She laughed again. "Us old members always go around at the beginning of the year to recruit new victims to join. Of course, freshmen are always fresh meat." She chuckled at her joke.
Kasumi didn't quite understand the humor of it; perhaps it was because her English was not quite good enough yet, even though she had been top in her middle school English class. That was why her teachers had recommended her to attend the American International High School in Tokyo, an institution renowned for its excellent education. Many Americans and Europeans who lived in Tokyo sent their children there to keep up their English, and consequently surround them with other Caucasians. Of course, Japanese children attended as well, those with excellent English and wealthy and/or influential families; but a large majority of the teens who went there were American.
Kasumi considered herself very lucky indeed to attend such an elite school. Then again, her maternal grandparents would not hear of her attending a public school, such as Furinken, the local high school. Too much violence, they claimed. Kids get beat up every day in the courtyard—right in front of the teachers! And they try to steal your money too. Kasumi had also heard them mutter about the "eccentric" principal who used unorthodox methods of running the school. Her mother had agreed whole-heartedly: of course her gentle Kasumi could not associate with delinquents. They might try to extort money from her or something.
Daddy, on the other hand, had wanted her to go to Furinken. "You have already refused to let me pass on the legacy of Anything Goes to my first born," he had argued. "At least don't send her to a sissy school with those gaijin—she needs to learn street smarts." Mother, of course, had crushed his arguments at the first opportunity. "I won't let you teach my precious daughter sneaky underhand tricks made up by a shriveled old pervert! And she's a proper young Japanese woman. Why on earth would she need street smarts?"
Kasumi smiled slightly at the memory. She was glad that mother had won. She had heard all sorts of wonderful stories from her middle school teachers and wanted to attend American Int'l so badly. And Daddy had been completely wrong when he had cautioned her about "being a stranger in your own country" and "watching out for the gaijin". The first person she had met on her first day of school was one of the friendliest girls ever.
"So, you wanna join?"
"Sure, I'll check it out."
"Super! First meeting's today after school. See ya there!"
Kasumi was halfway down the hallway to her first class when she realized that she didn't know where the cooking club met. Or even the girl's name, for that matter.
~*~
"Kasumi, you're so forgetful," Akane reprimanded. "How can you even forget who someone is?" She paused, a puzzled expression on her face. "Um, who are you, by the way?"
Nabiki, on the other hand, sat back up and took her sunglasses off again with an enormous and predatory grin. "Ah HA! So YOU'RE the illustrious Adam I've heard so much about! Come come, Kasumi, where are your manners? Say hello to the poor fellow already!" She leaned forward expectantly, grin growing larger and more eager by the second.
"He… hello… Adam…" Kasumi faltered. "Please, come in…"
"Why thank you," Adam replied, the cocky grin back on his face. He opened the gate and sauntered in. "I think I will." He glanced around at the assembled. "Hi! Name's Adam Hadley." He gave Nabiki an amused look. "You must be Nabiki, no? I've heard a lot about you from Kasumi here."
Nabiki smirked. "That I'm sure of. Nice t'finally meet you, Adam Hadley." Her smile took on an evil suggestion. "Though I definitely need to have a little… talk… with you about…" A fierce glance from Kasumi cut her off.
Adam grinned. He turned to Akane. "And you must be Akane. My, you've grown a lot!"
Akane blinked. "Do I know you?"
He just continued to grin. He turned to Ranma. "And you must be… umm…"
"Ranma Saotome." Ranma stuck out a hand. "Nice ta meetcha."
"Nice to meet you too, Ranma." He gave her a once over. "Are you a… cousin?"
Nabiki helped him out. "Ranma's been staying with us for a while now. He's engaged to Akane."
"Ohhhhhh…" Adam glanced at both parties appraisingly. "Akane, Kasumi never told me about that side of you."
"Now wait just one second here!!!"
"Heyyyyy! I'm a GUY!" Ranma sighed at Adam's blank look. "It's a long story."
Akane glared at the stranger. "I am NOT 'that way', you moron. Who do you think you are, anyway, barging into our house like this?"
"Well, I'm Kasumi's…"
"…friend." All eyes turned to Kasumi, who had not said much since the stranger's arrival. She smiled tremulously, and continued, "Adam, won't you like a glass of lemonade? I'll just go inside and get you a glass…" She rushed on, not waiting for an answer. "Nabiki, Akane, Ranma, please entertain our guest for a while." She dashed into the house.
"What's with her?" Ranma asked curiously.
"I have no idea," Akane replied, still eying the rather good looking gaijin who had suddenly showed up at their doorstep looking for her friendly but definitely not that outgoing older sister.
Adam, however, had turned towards Nabiki.
She lowered her eyebrows slightly at him, and gave a short but sharp gesture with her chin. Adam nodded, and followed Kasumi into the house.
He leapt up the stairs to the porch two at a time, and slid open the screen. Quickly, he glanced around for a moment, and then, following some instinct, he headed for the kitchen.
Kasumi stood at the sink, with her back to him. Apparently she had not heard him come in. She clutched the edge of the counter tightly with her hands, knuckles white, eyes wide open and frightened. Adam walked up silently behind her. When she did not respond, he touched her arm gently. Kasumi jumped and spun around, lips parted slightly in fear.
"Hey…" he said quietly. "What's the matter?"
"I… I'm just surprised… that's all…" She managed a weak smile. "I didn't… expect to see you…"
"Yeah, well, I just couldn't…"
Kasumi interrupted him. "Let me get you your lemonade," she said hurriedly, easing out from between him and the sink. She opened the fridge and pulled out a pitcher. "Oops, it's almost all gone. Let me make you some more!" She bustled around the kitchen, not looking at him. There was silence for several minutes, and then she heard a heavy sigh from behind her.
"Ok, ok, I'll take a hint. I shouldn't have expected anything else anyhow." A pause. "Fine, I'm leaving. I'm not gonna waste my time with this…" She heard him walk out of the kitchen. Kasumi stilled her movements, and froze, balanced against the counter, a lemon in each hand.
Adam stepped into the hallway, smile still on his face but blue eyes dark with frustration. Four years later, it was still the same. Still the same, dammit! Why couldn't she just… grow up? He turned the corner and ran into Nabiki, arms crossed and leaning casually against the wall. Her face and voice was void of any expression.
"Okay, buddy, you and I are going to have a looong talk. Right. Now."
Inside the kitchen, Kasumi closed her eyes.
~*~
Author's Notes:
Whew. And so begins my quest to write a chapter fanfic on the most deserving characters of them all—Kasumi Tendo. Yes folks, here it is, my pathetic effort at building an epic novel based on a gentle smile and cheerful disposition. Keep in mind, while reading this, that I'm basing my Kasumi on the one more towards the beginning of the novel, not the caricatured version at the end. While I am definitely not one of those who believes that the eldest Tendo girl is a brainless bubble head, she does get a little narrow towards the end, as do the other minor characters like Nabiki, Soun, Genma, etc.
So I will try my best, here, to write a story about Kasumi—there aren't many of them. Sure, there are short tidbits here and there trying to explain why Kasumi is the way she is, but very few that actually have a plot which feature her as the main character (or at least on ff.net) (I think. Please don't be offended if my generalization does not include you). And I am NOT pairing her up with Tofu. The man is nice, but he needs meds. And there is something very wrong about a thirty-something year-old family doctor getting hooked up with his teenage patient. Sorta like Anakin and Queen Amidala. Brrr. So anyhow, la, I think I'm all-powerful and that my Jedi-powers can actually create something worth reading. ^_^;;
So, whaddya all think? Yes? No? Maybe so? (Yes, yes, I know my writing sucks. You don't have to ostracize me for it). If you like it, drop me a line. If not, tell me so also. I'm very open to suggestions. Even flames! (Am I really that desperate for reviews?) C&C please! (Oh, btw, in case you didn't get it, the story switches back and forth from present to past, when Kasumi was still a frosh in high school).