The long, carpeted hallway filled with students at the sound of the bell. Excited gossip and loud teasing born of the end of the first day of school shattered the silence that had permeated the halls during class period. Rowdy groups of boys rough-housed their way to the field and gym for after school sports, jumpy mobs of freshmen crowded the entranceways in "safe" numbers, and upperclassmen made their way listlessly towards their various clubs and associations.
Kasumi Tendo clutched the strap of her schoolbag nervously as she wandered the halls that were quickly beginning to empty. In afternoon sunlight filtering through the windows cast a golden yellow glow around the school; Kasumi could see the specks of dust dancing in each lighted square of sun. She tried to glance into the classrooms to see if she could recognize the girl who had "recruited" her. But some were empty, and others were so crowded that she could barely see beyond the clumps of bodies that lounged on desks and against walls like larva.
She fought back tears and bit her bottom lip in frustration. And the day had gone so well too! Her classes had been exciting past expectations, and her English was definitely above average, even compared to the native speakers. She had a slight accent, but otherwise, it was all good. She had even made several friends from homeroom, and met Rika, the curly haired girl in her math class. And while she hadn't become instantly popular (which was fine with her), she had fit in without problem.
But all the excitement had worn down, and she stood alone in an empty hallway, lost and forgotten. Her footsteps were muffled on the worn carpet as she wandered from floor to floor, panic increasing with each wrong room. She turned in relief when, finally, she heard footsteps and a familiar voice call out,
"Hey, freshman! Over here!"
It was the blond girl with glasses. Kasumi waved, and said, in a slightly shaky voice, "I'm sorry, but I forgot to find out where you meet. I sort of got lost."
The girl shook her head. "Don't be sorry! It's all my fault, really. I shoulda given you more information. Heh. I should be the one apologizing. Come on, the intro meeting is gonna start in a few minutes." As they headed down the stairs together, the girl introduced herself. "Oh, heh, BY the way, I'm Chrissy Spark."
"My name is Kasumi Tendo."
"Well, Kasumi Tendo," Chrissy said, stopping in front of a door, "Welcome to the Cooking Club." She opened the door wide with dramatic flourish, causing several curses of pain and annoyance from the other side.
"Jesus, Chrissy, at least knock first so we can get outta the way!" A tousle headed Japanese boy poked his head around the door in exasperation.
Another boy, falling out from behind the door and seeing Kasumi, added for her benefit, "She does that every time." He picked up his glasses disdainfully.
The two Japanese boys were shoved out of the way as a third boy, a gaijin with blue eyes, also fought his way out from behind the door. "Cheese, people, get your fat butts outta my way."
As they began to bicker, Chrissy rolled her eyes at Kasumi and gestured for her to follow her in. "Don't mind these morons—they're just here because they wanna pick up girls." She eyed them thoughtfully. "And because the jocks beat them up, and losers think they're losers, and the Goths think they're…"
"What are you talking about?" the gaijin asked with mock distress, looking down at the short and round Chrissy. "We're here because we love to cook!"
"Suuuurre," sniffed Chrissy. "Whaaaatever."
Kasumi, meanwhile, had been nodding and smiling helplessly along with Chrissy's dialogue. She looked around and, to her surprise, saw redhead Rika perched on one of the desks in the corner. She waved, and Rika waved back, gesturing for Kasumi to sit with her. So she did.
"Did you get recruited too?"
Rika nodded. "Yah."
"By Chrissy?"
"Yah."
At this point, the meeting was called to order.
~*~
"All right, then," Nabiki deadpanned. "I want to know what is going on between you and my sister?"
"Going on?" Adam exclaimed incredulously. "Going on? There's nothing going on! That's the whole problem!"
They were sitting in Nabiki's room—Nabiki cross-legged on her bed and Adam in her desk chair. On account of the summer humidity of the day, Nabiki had left her window open, even though there was always the chance of Ranma and Akane eavesdropping on their conversation. Which was why Nabiki had also left her curtains open in order to have a clear view of her balcony.
Nabiki cocked an eyebrow. "Riiight… Care to elaborate?"
Adam tucked his hands behind his head and leaned back, a sprawl infuriatingly similar to Ranma's cocky pose. He shot her his perpetual grin. "You're a nosy one, aren't ya?"
"And proud of it," she replied shortly. She tried poking a little deeper. "Weren't you and Kasumi really good friends in high school?"
"Ah, yes, those carefree days of high school… I was a senior and she was a tender little freshman… those were the good days."
"And?"
"You really are nosy. Anyhow, she and I fell in love at first sight. Me being so handsome and all. And the rest of the year tripped by on rosy wings, t'tell you the truth. We went out on so many romantic dates my friends had to brush their teeth after seeing our sweet looks at each other afterwards. But time flew by, and I had to go off to college. Of course, we were both heartbroken at the separation, but I lived. And apparently she did too. We kept in touch with mushy letters every now and then, but there were so many hot girls in college that I cheated on her. So now she's mad at me, even though I've returned to claim her as my one and only true love." He closed his eyes tragically.
Nabiki looked at him with complete and utter disgust. "You are so full of bullshit, you know that?"
He opened his eyes and laughed. "Not only are you nosy, you're direct too. Not mincing words with ya." He smirked.
"You are absolutely, completely, totally full of bullshit. You're a stinking liar. Which is a quality I appreciate in people, especially myself. But anyhow." She glared at him. "Adam, don't spin me any stories. I want to know exactly what happened. I don't want my sister to get hurt."
At that, Adam's smile faded slightly at the last statement. But he quickly recovered, and replied, "What, you don't believe me? Aw, c'mon. It's from the heart."
Nabiki nodded rapidly. "Ok, ok, don't tell me. Fine. I can deal. But I'm warning you—if you so much as cause Kasumi ONE DROP of pain or hurt, I will personally…"
She was cut off by a sardonic "Yeah, sure, whatever, little sis." He smirked mockingly. "Trust me."
Nabiki's face darkened. "I know a lot more than you think I do, Adam-chan. Watch yourself. Because I'm watching you."
Brown eyes met blue, and a mutual understanding was reached. He nodded slightly, and she inclined her head in acknowledgement. Silent secrets sealed the deal.
Downstairs, Akane entered the kitchen cautiously. "Onee-chan? Are you alright?"
Kasumi turned, and smiled brightly. "Oh yes, Akane, everything's fine! Look," she held out a frosty pitcher. "I made us some more fresh lemonade."
Akane didn't accept it. "Onee-chan, who is this Adam?"
"Adam? Oh, he's a friend from high school, that's all. We haven't seen each other in a while." Kasumi's lower lip trembled slightly, and she bit it to keep it still. She hadn't expected to see him again either, after he graduated. Why was he following her like this? They had followed their own paths, and decided to make their own lives—apart. This sudden visit unnerved her. Kasumi didn't like to be unnerved. She had thought that now she was immune to the unknown and surprising, living with Ranma and all. But apparently not.
Seeing Adam caused her to stutter again, like before. Her heart beat a little faster, her hands shook, and the base of her spine tightened imperceptibly. His eyes, his eternal smile, his paradoxical statements and contradictory personalities. After all this time, he was still an enigma, a puzzle with so many layers upon layers that she felt dizzy in his presence. The way he lied so fluently, and yet said everything with sincerity and conviction. Monsters and demi-gods and curses and demons she could deal with. Daily property damage and violent accusations she could work through. But Adam… she couldn't smile her way past him. His tangled persona unraveled hers, smoothing it until her entire soul was bare for him, and only him, to read. She couldn't take it. With him, she wasn't in control. He was.
"Kasumi?"
"I'm fine, Akane, really." She opened the fridge. "Here, let's get some ice for Ranma to put on his mouth. Poor thing, it must hurt very much."
Akane panicked slightly. Unknown to both her older sisters, Ranma wasn't sulking on the lawn. He was… um… listening to the conversation upstairs between Nabiki and this Adam from the roof. She had to stall Kasumi.
"Eh… So! Kasumi! Chat with Ryoga lately?"
Kasumi shot her younger sister a sharp glance, but let her babble on.
~*~
"Shut up, people," Chrissy exclaimed. "I'm talking! Okay then. Uh… welcome to the cooking club, everyone! Welcome back old veterans who were here last year…" The veterans cheered half-heartedly. "… And welcome to the newbies! Yay!" She applauded by herself. "Anyhoo, let's go around and introduce ourselves, maybe say a little something to help us get to know you better!" The veterans groaned. "Come on, people! Be a little nicer. I'll start. Ahem. Hi! I'm Chrissy Sparks, I'm a senior. I'm the president of this here cooking club. Yay!"
Everyone went around in a circle. There were mostly girls, with a few other guys in addition to the three who had been behind the door. They introduced themselves after Chrissy.
"Kenji Suzuki, senior," said the crabby, tousle headed one.
"Jojo Ong, senior," said the one with glasses. Jojo, Kasumi reflected, was much nicer than Kenji.
"Adam Hadley, senior," said the gaijin with a smirk. "Tall, handsome, and single." The older girls groaned, and the new ones giggled. Kasumi smiled politely, but privately thought that the blue-eyed Adam Hadley was somewhat full of bull. He wasn't bad looking though… she mentally shook herself from such indecent thoughts. Don't stray from the path, Kasumi-chan.
"Oh," she looked up. "My turn? My name is Kasumi Tendo. I'm a freshman." She smiled. "It is very nice to meet all of you."
"Like to cook, Kasumi?" Jojo asked comfortably.
"Well, I'm not very good at it…"
"Hey hey, that's okay! We're all here to learn," Adam exclaimed, grinning at everyone. "Except for me. Since I cook from the heart, everything I cook is delicious, baby!"
Kasumi smiled politely again, indiscernibly shrinking farther back against the desk. She waited for the introductions to continue. Rika, sensing her discomfort, took her cue and said her piece.
Meanwhile, Kasumi glanced back at the three seniors. Kenji pursued his lips at her and shrugged noncommittally. Maybe he wasn't that bad, Kasumi thought. She didn't trust her judgment with boys very much, having had little contact with them in her all girl's middle school. She was a little too suspicious of everyone, maybe. She looked at Jojo, who smiled nicely at her. Kasumi smiled back. She liked Jojo. He had a big-brother type of protective aura about him. But behind Jojo, she caught a glimpse of Adam. The brown-haired Caucasion was watching her watch them. He gave her an exaggerated wink, a thumbs up, and then turned his back and proceeded to ignore her the rest of the meeting. Well. Kasumi's integral sense of politeness was miffed. Who did he think he was anyways? Oh well, maybe it was some strange foreigner thing. She turned her thoughts back to Chrissy's speech.
"Okay, people, so we're gonna have competitions and stuff. With other schools, ok? So here's the deal. Practices are afterschool, where we learn how to cook and all the techniques and all that sorta stuff. And on weekends we'll have the competitions, ok? Great." She smiled broadly. "Any questions? Yes?" She pointed to Adam, who had his hand raised.
"Yeah, Chrissy, will you go out with me?"
Chrissy threw a book at him, but he just ducked and grinned. "C'mon, pleeeaaase?"
She ignored him, and turned towards the new members. "Just ignore him. It's sort of a private joke between us, but it's gotten really old." She threw a pencil at him. "Anyone else other than Adam? No? Ok, then, dismissed until next week."
Kasumi shuffled out with the rest of group. Competitions? She was worried—all she really knew how to cook was ramen and rice, and maybe a few vegetables. Had she gotten in over her head?
Jojo noticed her worried look. "Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly. "Most of the people in these competitions are amateurs. It's not like TV competitions or anything. No one is really good."
Kasumi smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I'm just a little nervous because I'm not a very good cook. I've only…"
"C'mon, Jojo," Adam interrupted. He ignored Kasumi. "The bus is gonna leave without us."
"Bye Kasumi, see ya around."
"Bye, thank you!"
She bit her lower lip, watching them leave, and then picked up her bags and walked out.
~*~
A/N: Hmm… the plot thickens! C&C please! Oh, and I think I'm going to start replying to reviews, so hopefully that will motivate people to review.
Kevinfanreader: Yay! First reviewer! There will definitely be more chapters.
Jade: Thank you! I'm glad you liked Nabiki's Laws. I'll try to keep this one up to par, but I'm not as good with Kasumi as I am with Nabs, so keep your fingers crossed.
TerraEpon: Yeah, I guess in a way this is an AU, though I didn't really mean for it to be. I kept mom alive longer partly to explain why Kasumi went to an American private school, and for other reasons that will not be divulged now. ^_^ But other than that, everything should be pretty much the same. As for Tofu's age… it seems like he'd already been the family doctor for some time already during Akane's flashback, and that was some years ago, as Akane was pretty small (though that part sort of confused me: Kasumi is two years older than Akane, and yet she was three times as tall). And I'll try not to shove aside the other characters… but I'm also going to bring in some new ones (as seen in previous chapter).
Quirkycellist: I guess your question is answered in this chapter, nah? Adam is definitely older, but he's not that old. :)
Born Skeptic: Most of you commented on my Tofu statement. Don't get me wrong, I love Tofu. I think he's a great guy. But somehow I don't think that he and Kasumi are especially perfect for each other. Almost everyone (excepting CoRK) puts Kasumi and Dr. Tofu together, and I don't think it really does her justice. So I guess I did create Adam to pair them up, although I had started answering your review with the intent to contradict your assumption. Hmm… now I've gone and confused myself. If I sort it out I'll reply again later. Anyhow, what I wanted to say was that I stuck the Tofu line in there with the intention of clarifying why I created a new character for Kasumi. I guess it came across wrong. Maybe it still is. Hope you'll keep reading though, despite my horrible planning. ^_^;;