Standard Disclaimer applies here as well....
A/N Sorry to those who have read chap 2 as I said at the end of the chapie that it was the end but forgot to mention wait for the next chapter hehe Gomen... hope this chapie brings the story to a good end...and isn't too weak. Just look at the epilogue to read my explanation of the whole story line hehe.
Chapter 3
As Ranma stood there standing in front of Kasumi's door he tried his best to compose himself. This wasn't something that he had done a lot of...knocking on a girl's door and having a 'long talk'. But Kasumi mattered to him now no...she meant a lot to him now so he knocked lightly on Kasumi's door.
"Kasumi it's me...Ranma..." As he waited for some kind of response Ranma could hear the furious patter of rushed footsteps from behind the door. A subtle clicking of the unlocking door soon followed that. As the door opened up to him a little he heard a "Please come in..."
Ranma slowly walked in and heard Kasumi relock the door behind him once he had fully entered her room. The two stood for a while in silence...Ranma looking at down at his feet while Kasumi leaning on the door looked at Ranma's back. The unmoving silence between them was unbearable but this was more due to each other not knowing where to begin then rather having nothing to talk about.
"Come on Ranma say something..." he silently urged himself. So as he turned around to face the door where Kasumi stood.
"Are you alright/okay Kasumi/Ranma?" they both asked each other simultaneously. The pair looked at each other for a moment before they let out a few muted giggles that lifted the heavy veil of anxiety around them.
Kasumi walked over and sat down on her bed, she patted the spot next to her asking Ranma to sit beside her. Ranma did as she asked and as he sat down beside her Kasumi had to fight the urge to take his hand in hers just to hold it. She felt she needed his touch to calm her down like the morning before.
"Ranma...did you run and hide under the bridge again?" asked Kasumi as she calmly managed to shift her hand near to Ranma's on the bed but just managing not to touch.
"Yeah...hey how did you know Kasumi?"
"I saw you a few times sitting down there by yourself just staring at the river as I was walking back from my shopping. Usually after I've reached home I would find that you just had a big fight with Akane. So I sort of guessed after a while that the place might be your favorite spot to get away from things."
Ranma smiled at Kasumi "I guess I can't hide from you the next time then eh...?" he joked.
Kasumi gave him a tender poke in his sides "That's not a nice thing to say..." as she continued on her light playful prodding.
Ranma tried to fight Kasumi's pokes but all he managed to do was grab Kasumi's hands in his and once he did she stopped. They stared at each other and decide to stop their playful moment for a while. Their hands though were still joined when they continued on with their conversation.
"Ranma...I've been thinking...about a lot of things...mostly about you and me...if there is a you and me..."
"Yeah me too...Kasumi..." replied Ranma as he stole a glance at Kasumi.
"Ranma...I never told you the reason why I liked this pendant so much did I...?"
Ranma shook his head.
"Well truth is this pendant looks exactly like the one my mother always wore when I was young. It was her favorite and when she passed away she was cremated with it. So when I first saw it displayed in the shop window I had second thoughts of buying it because it reminded me of my mother and also who is going notice me wearing it? It'd be a waste to own something so beautiful but never have the chance to wear it. But you know what Ranma...this afternoon when you ran away...it reminded me more of you then my mother..."
Ranma turned and noticing the aforementioned pendant hanging around her neck he smiled.
"Looks nice on you Kasumi you know that...I guess I bought it for you because I just wanted you to be happy for once. When I saw you looking at it I knew you liked it and thought what the heck if that pendant makes you smile so sweetly then might as well get it for you since you seldom do anything for yourself. You were always the one who did things for other people and never once got anything for it. The pendant was sort of my way of saying thanks from me and pops as we've bothered you and the others long enough..."
"No...Uncle Genma and you aren't a bother..." Kasumi lightly protested.
"You're not a very good liar...Kasumi" smiled Ranma.
Kasumi blushed.
"But..." her words were stopped by Ranma's fingers on her lips.
"Kasumi the main reason I came back was to clear a few things up with you...Since that day you got sick I've been feeling sort of strange and to tell you the truth I sort of liked how it felt. I didn't know what it was at first but later that afternoon when you cried, deep inside my heart it felt so bad like it really hurt me to see you crying. Then when you kissed me ... it felt so nice... I felt like I wanted it to go on..." Kasumi's eyes started to tear as she listened to Ranma heartfelt words.
"Ranma...do you know why I seem to know a lot about you even though we don't talk much?" Kasumi glanced over to him and he shrugged. "Well it's because I have always been keeping an eye on you...I mean it's not easy to ignore you now...you're always either fighting with your dad or Akane or with the rest of your fiancées and your friends. At first I thought you were brash maybe rude and a total stranger so I watched you more to protect my sisters and me. But the more I watched you, the more I realized that you just wanted all the people around you to understand your intentions. And the only way you knew how to make them understand was to fight...with them so they'd listen."
Kasumi's examination of his actions and her reasoning of why he did all the things he did made Ranma eyes lit up. "That's right..." he replied. "And you know what...I know deep inside here..." Kasumi pointed to his heart "That there is a young man who is kind hearted, gentle and understanding, it's just that you've been pushing him back so far into yourself that he was forgotten. All everyone ever sees is the brashness and cockiness of Saotome Ranma nothing more."
"Geez...Kasumi I didn't want to act all sissy and all that...I had to act tough and manly so I could make my mom proud of me and to show everyone that I am a winner..." Ranma tried to make his case out to Kasumi but she stopped him continuing.
"Did it work? Are you proud of yourself? Are you happy?" she asked him. Kasumi's conviction of winning this 'fight' with Ranma was high but she needed him to say the words to earn victory. She wanted him to say what he really feels and not what other people wants him to feel.
Ranma looked intently at her, and then sighed. "No...everyday I face the same things...always fighting with other people. Sometimes I get tired of fighting over something so petty like just having a talk with Ukyo or accepting a meal from Shampoo. There are my friends but sometimes the mess that comes after them is just too much. But this engagement thing I can't just throw it aside and forget about it...I have to stick with it since it involves my family honor and yours as well Kasumi. But...I sometimes wish that I could just be for once to be an ordinary boy without this curse, without the entire fiancée thing haunting me. Tell you the truth I'm a guy who likes to get to know a girl better before marrying her...you know go out on dates maybe just simply talking."
Kasumi simply smiled at Ranma who was by each passing minute spent beside her was turning into a man before her eyes.
"But Ranma...things aren't going to change over night...we've done things that if the others find out, it might get even harder on you...like my first kiss..." Kasumi blushed red when she mentioned that.
Ranma blushed too "Kasumi that was your first kiss...emmm...well that was mine or rather Ranma-chan's first kiss so we're sort of even then huh?" Ranma laughed a little but he stopped laughing when Kasumi's face came into his view and she kissed him.
"So now...does that count as Saotome Ranma's first kiss?" she cooed as she pulled her lips back from his. Ranma didn't answer but instead he smiled as he slowly pushed his lips onto Kasumi's. "Now...that makes us even at two kisses each..." grinned Ranma.
"Ranma...if I said I was in love with you...would you run away or think I'm crazy?" asked Kasumi while gazing at Ranma who face was just barely a breath away.
"Would you think that I was nuts for saying that I might have fallen in love with you?" replied Ranma. The two laughed at each other for a while before the room regained its silence as they rather say nothing but just hold hands.
"Kasumi ... I don't know how much this is worth but I've actually noticed you for a long time now. From that first day in the living room when I arrived as I looked at the three of you and when pops said that one of you were going to be my fiancée I was sort of hoping that it might be you. Cause I saw in your eyes and your demeanor what I thought a perfect wife would be at least back then...and come to think of it now I was sort of right in a way. But when you pushed me off to Akane I thought maybe you didn't like me so I didn't make much of it...and kept it to myself" Ranma suddenly felt Kasumi's grip tighten on his hand as he said that.
"I'm sorry Ranma...for pushing you off like that as the oldest I should be the one to take the responsibility but I just didn't know who you were then...but now after having gotten to know you better...I think you've...grown up." Ranma let out a giggle.
"You think I've grown up eh?" Replied Ranma with a rather mischievous grin as Ranma's free hand started to tickle Kasumi on her stomach. Between their laughter and their pushes and pulls, the two didn't notice that they ended up lying on top of each other on Kasumi's bed.
"Uh...we better stop huh..." panted Ranma. Kasumi who was blushing heavily red nodded.
The two got up and dusted themselves to look presentable to the waiting crowd below them. Looking at each other one last time they closed in for one quick kiss. "Kasumi...I don't really know how to handle Akane..."
"Let me handle that..." she smiled. "Please Kami-sama let my decision and my actions be the right one..." prayed Kasumi silently. She didn't want to destroy her family but she also didn't want to forfeit her newfound relationship.
As the pair walked down and fought off the various stares they got they sat down in front of the whole family. "Well?" they shouted at the two.
Kasumi gently cleared her throat. "Can I have the note please?"
Nabiki passed the now very much-crumpled piece of paper that was in due thanks to Akane. "I'm sure everyone has read the note...so do you understand what you have done wrong to Ranma?" she looked around and heave a sigh at the blank looks she got back.
"Okay...let me say them out then. Let's start with father and uncle Genma. The two of you were the cause of this fine mess in the first place. If you two hadn't pushed this marriage issue onto either of our families then we wouldn't be in such a mess. We all have our own lives to led father and uncle Genma if you wanted to join the families then the two of you could have found ways to make the process less painful both emotional and physically." Kasumi gave a quick look to Ranma and continued "But what's done is done and hopefully it shall be soon resolved."
The two elders were about to speak up but Kasumi stared back at them and dared them to interrupt her. The two quickly retreated down.
"Next is Nabiki...Nabiki your only wrong was to use Ranma for financial gain...I do not disprove of you betting on his fights in school but I do strongly disprove of you selling nude photos of Ranma-chan. Would you like it if the roles were reversed on you and Ranma was selling nude photos of you bathing or sleeping?" Kasumi stopped and looked at Nabiki who tried not to look at her. "Well Nabiki?" her voice a little louder then before. "No...but he Ranma's too chicken to do it anyway" came Nabiki's muted reply.
"That's where you're wrong Nabiki, Ranma could have done it but he didn't as he had too much respect for you as a girl. And also it was me who burned those rather rude pictures of Ranma-chan which you took of her that hot summer." Nabiki could only stare wide eyed at her sister at her confession of burning the extra special Ranma-chan photo collection that she had wanted to auction of at school.
"And finally Akane..." sighed Kasumi.
Hearing her name "But Kasumi...I didn't do anything wrong..." she squeaked.
"Do you want to marry Ranma?" Kasumi asked her plain and simple.
"Who would want to get married to a sex changing pervert like him...!" she shouted.
"I would!" exclaimed Kasumi.
Her reply made her entire family face vault all with the exception of Akane who was trying hard to figure out how what had just happened, while the rest of her family's jaw made nice indentations on the table.
"Before any of you say anything I would like to say that Ranma is a kind and gentle young man. You don't see it Akane but I do and I have been seeing it for the past one and a half years now since he came here. I've seen how hard he tries to do everything by himself, sometimes he succeeds and sometimes he fails. But he never gives up trying to keep everyone happy regardless. He never complains about it to anyone and he never shows anyone his true emotions. None of you have ever asked him how he felt about things and that can be said about me too. The two of us have always tried our best to do things the right thing but we can't do it forever. Father and uncle Genma if you two were to push Ranma too far about the marriage issue one day wouldn't you two be surprised to see him run off one day and never return. Nabiki if you took a photo of Ranma that really made Ranma mad you think he wouldn't hit you? And Akane if you keep on hitting Ranma for doing things you thought were perverted wouldn't you think he'd one day retaliate back?"
Every member of her silent family had begun to feel the sad truth behind all of Kasumi's words and all of them also thought that when Kasumi really wanted to talk she had a lot to talk about.
"Akane I've tried so many times to help you get closer to Ranma but all you manage to do is to push him further away. All the times you accused him of being a pervert, did you once stop to think about it and listen to his side of the story. All those times he ran into you changing or bathing did you remember to put out the occupied sign? You would have noticed or at least I've noticed that when Ranma sees the sign he would simply walk away and wait for his turn. And I'm sorry to say this but if you think Ranma was always being close to his other fiancées so that he could bed them well I don't blame him either. Looking at his other fiancées they have slightly more merits then you possess Akane. I'm sorry I said that Akane but he didn't get close to them to bed them he did it to keep them happy. Same as you he when he want to get close to you to try to make you happy but you just kept on hitting him. I'm sure Ranma had plenty of chances to sleep with them. But did he? No. Shampoo's been throwing herself at him countless of times already and any other man would have jumped at the chance but Ranma kept himself pure. And Akane in most cases where you have accused Ranma of being in the wrong more often or not it's not his fault."
Akane really didn't want to hear all this at the moment and she had blocked out most of Kasumi's words half way. She thought that she was in a bad dream... "Why is Kasumi doing this??" she thought to herself.
"Father...I hereby using my authority as the oldest Tendo daughter to ask you to transfer the engagement promise of our family from Akane to me...please accept my request." Kasumi bowed gently to her father.
"Well Kasumi...why don't we hear what the two young ones have to say first before making a decision..." Soun tried his best to be diplomatic about it but he knew who was holding all the aces of the discussion.
Ranma looked at Akane but all he got in return was a raspberry tongue shot. "Pops..." he spoke up "I acknowledge the Tendo claim as the genuine claim but I no longer want to be Akane's fiancé. I hope you understand. I loved her once and once even killed for her but I've noticed that no matter how much I tried to get close to her I would always get smashed by her mallet or her fists to somewhere. If it weren't for Kasumi's first aid I wouldn't be here today. I don't think Akane's a bad girl it's just that she just needs to open herself up more...that's all I can say on that subject. Akane I blocked your punch this afternoon because I finally realized that I didn't do anything wrong. I was holding Kasumi because she was weak and had just finishing crying. A lot of things happened over the weekend. It took all of those things to make me see something that I haven't seen. It took me a while to realize it but after the events that happened well I think I'm in love with Kasumi..."
Ranma looked over to Kasumi and seeing her smile he continued.
"So pops if you don't mind I would like to be engaged to Kasumi instead of Akane...that is if she is willing to let me go." Ranma mirrored Kasumi bow to his father.
"Well...I guess it's up to Akane now..." uttered the oldest Saotome.
Everyone looked at Akane...
"I...umm...why...Kasumi...why...you always had everything you wanted you were always mother's favorite..." her eyes were tearing up her voice trying to hold back her building rage.
She looked up at Kasumi and noticed for the first time that she was wearing a pendant that looked awfully familiar to her. "You were always mother's favorite...she even gave you her favorite pendant that I wanted her to give me!!" she continued.
Akane voice had begun to grow louder and angrier.
"You never had to ask for things...you always got them without asking...! I always had to ask for the things I wanted be it a new dress or a new doll or a new purse. I always had to ask. But you never!!! I remember seeing mother making you a new dress and as for me all I got were your old ones...And now you have the audacity to steal the next thing I hold dear...how could you...!?" she shouted.
Nobody could foresee that Akane would be now rushing over to her oldest sister raising her open hand readying to slap her. But when she swung her hands down she felt her hands being restraint back. Her open palm stood inches from Kasumi's cheeks but they never made it Ranma now held Akane's wrists and pushed it back.
Kasumi stood up and looked at her sister.
*Slap*
Everyone was shocked to the sight of Kasumi actually striking her younger sister but there it was Kasumi standing with her open palm and Akane now on the floor holding her red cheek. "This isn't mother's pendant...it just looks like it. Mother's pendant is still with her in heaven...Ranma bought this for me when we were out shopping!" shouted Kasumi. Her voice was clearly trembling with each spoken word. Soun was trying hard to not blow out into his waterworks as this time it was his family's own well being at stake.
It pained Kasumi to see her sister act the way she was but she never knew that Akane was so jealous of her from her day one. "Akane...don't be so spoiled you had your chance to make it work with Ranma. I've tried my best to help you out and all you ever did was either to forget what I told you or simply ignore me completely."
"DID YOU? DID YOU TRY YOUR BEST!!!?" Akane shouted at Kasumi.
"Yes...I always did" replied Kasumi her face saddened for a moment.
"I wanted you to be happy first before me...when mother died you were hit the hardest among us. You sort of isolated yourself from other people and the people around who cared for you. You were always too busy either training or doing your own things all the time. And when Ranma came I thought he could make you open up more. But all I see now is that you never changed a single bit from that day he first came. Please Akane...not for my sake but our family sake."
"Never...I'd never let Ranma go without a fight..." Akane scowled.
"Fine if it's a fight you want then you shall have one..." Kasumi looked over to Ranma. "Ranma is it okay with you if we have a fight to see who would be your fiancée?" Ranma sweat dropped for a while but calmly nodded his head to her.
"Five minutes Akane...we met in the Dojo..."
Soun, Genma, Nabiki and Ranma soon gathered into the Dojo and in the middle now changed into their gi's stood Kasumi and Akane. Everyone knew that Akane was the best fighter in the Tendo family and even Ranma was a little worried. While Ranma was helping Kasumi tie her hair he was about to ask why she accepted but Kasumi simply winked at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Akane and Kasumi were both poised and ready in their separate stance. Each one waiting for each other to attack first and neither of them had to wait long as Akane lunged forward and readied herself to give a full strength sidekick to Kasumi's midsection. Everyone thought that it was over but to their surprise Kasumi had managed to leap upwards to avoid Akane's kick. She landed a few steps beside Akane and after re-gathering herself Kasumi made her attack. Kasumi ran towards Akane with fists readied, Akane saw this and was ready for an upper body blow so she was ready to block her with her hands but it never came as Kasumi on the last possible minute bent down low and swept Akane off her feet.
Ranma watched the fight with great interest and he began noticing something that probably no one else saw...he cracked a smile. Akane was now pissed with herself for letting Kasumi sweep her off her feet the way she did. As she stood up and dusted herself off she couldn't help but wonder why this fight seemed so familiar somehow. Akane didn't dwell on that long as she readied for her next attack. And this time she was certain that it would finish Kasumi off for good thus leaving her with full fiancée rights to Ranma once again.
Akane stepped a few paces back and after satisfied with the distance she began to run towards Kasumi. Kasumi readied herself the best she could to brace herself from Akane's upcoming attack. Akane ran until she was a few meters from Kasumi and leapt upwards. While in mid-air Akane positioned herself to attack, it was a punching attack from the air. Kasumi saw this and as Akane was about to land her punch Kasumi stepped back a step and leapt upwards seemingly to intercept Akane.
"Shishkabob kick!" echoed around the Dojo.
As the dust settled the two figures of Kasumi and Akane stood on different sides of the Dojo. Akane turned around as Kasumi stood up from where they landed. They faced each other and Akane dropped to her knees clutching her waist while Kasumi gently hobbled on her left foot..."How could you use one of Ranma's kicks on me? Even I don't know how he does it..." Akane moaned feeling the slight pain from the side of her stomach.
"It's easy really..." Kasumi's explanation was then interrupted by someone's soft clapping.
"It's easy really if you seen someone do it long enough and often enough to memorize it by heart. Right ...Kasumi?" Ranma gave Kasumi a wink after he had finished.
"How?" moaned Akane again who was getting help from Nabiki to stand up.
With a blush around her face Kasumi answered "Well...whenever Ranma would practice in the mornings by the garden I would just watch him from the kitchen and when he practices in the dojo I would sometime just peek in on one of his many practices from the Dojo door. I've been watching him do those moves for so long now that I can pretty much well copy them..."
"Except that you don't practice it enough...that's how you got this..." smiled Ranma as he walked over to help support Kasumi and pointed to her rather red swollen right foot.
"You're supposed to use the sole of your foot instead of the upper part of your foot but you still managed to hit Akane with your toes...so lets get some ice on them to reduce the swelling" grinned Ranma.
After all was said and done the family once again gathered back into the dining room for the next part of the fiancé handover meeting. Everyone was still a little jumpy as the fight was far from clear and the air was still heavy. As Kasumi was carried in by Ranma she was sporting a rather large ice pack on her right foot he help Kasumi sit herself down on her usual spot.
"Do you release Ranma as your fiancée?" Kasumi asked Akane again.
"I guess..." sighed Akane whose face showed utter bitterness towards her answer.
"Thank you..." Kasumi bowed to her sister.
"Father, do we have your blessing on my engagement with Ranma?" Kasumi now asked looking at her father.
"Yes...you two can get engaged." Pronounce a weak-smiling Soun.
"Pops, do I have your blessing to get engaged to Kasumi?" asked Ranma.
"Yeah as long as you do it right this time boy..." moaned the older Saotome waving his hands in the air.
"I'd make sure he doesn't screw this one up uncle Genma..." laughed Kasumi as she hugged Ranma and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
The end
A/N Sorry to those who have read chap 2 as I said at the end of the chapie that it was the end but forgot to mention wait for the next chapter hehe Gomen... hope this chapie brings the story to a good end...and isn't too weak. Just look at the epilogue to read my explanation of the whole story line hehe.
Chapter 3
As Ranma stood there standing in front of Kasumi's door he tried his best to compose himself. This wasn't something that he had done a lot of...knocking on a girl's door and having a 'long talk'. But Kasumi mattered to him now no...she meant a lot to him now so he knocked lightly on Kasumi's door.
"Kasumi it's me...Ranma..." As he waited for some kind of response Ranma could hear the furious patter of rushed footsteps from behind the door. A subtle clicking of the unlocking door soon followed that. As the door opened up to him a little he heard a "Please come in..."
Ranma slowly walked in and heard Kasumi relock the door behind him once he had fully entered her room. The two stood for a while in silence...Ranma looking at down at his feet while Kasumi leaning on the door looked at Ranma's back. The unmoving silence between them was unbearable but this was more due to each other not knowing where to begin then rather having nothing to talk about.
"Come on Ranma say something..." he silently urged himself. So as he turned around to face the door where Kasumi stood.
"Are you alright/okay Kasumi/Ranma?" they both asked each other simultaneously. The pair looked at each other for a moment before they let out a few muted giggles that lifted the heavy veil of anxiety around them.
Kasumi walked over and sat down on her bed, she patted the spot next to her asking Ranma to sit beside her. Ranma did as she asked and as he sat down beside her Kasumi had to fight the urge to take his hand in hers just to hold it. She felt she needed his touch to calm her down like the morning before.
"Ranma...did you run and hide under the bridge again?" asked Kasumi as she calmly managed to shift her hand near to Ranma's on the bed but just managing not to touch.
"Yeah...hey how did you know Kasumi?"
"I saw you a few times sitting down there by yourself just staring at the river as I was walking back from my shopping. Usually after I've reached home I would find that you just had a big fight with Akane. So I sort of guessed after a while that the place might be your favorite spot to get away from things."
Ranma smiled at Kasumi "I guess I can't hide from you the next time then eh...?" he joked.
Kasumi gave him a tender poke in his sides "That's not a nice thing to say..." as she continued on her light playful prodding.
Ranma tried to fight Kasumi's pokes but all he managed to do was grab Kasumi's hands in his and once he did she stopped. They stared at each other and decide to stop their playful moment for a while. Their hands though were still joined when they continued on with their conversation.
"Ranma...I've been thinking...about a lot of things...mostly about you and me...if there is a you and me..."
"Yeah me too...Kasumi..." replied Ranma as he stole a glance at Kasumi.
"Ranma...I never told you the reason why I liked this pendant so much did I...?"
Ranma shook his head.
"Well truth is this pendant looks exactly like the one my mother always wore when I was young. It was her favorite and when she passed away she was cremated with it. So when I first saw it displayed in the shop window I had second thoughts of buying it because it reminded me of my mother and also who is going notice me wearing it? It'd be a waste to own something so beautiful but never have the chance to wear it. But you know what Ranma...this afternoon when you ran away...it reminded me more of you then my mother..."
Ranma turned and noticing the aforementioned pendant hanging around her neck he smiled.
"Looks nice on you Kasumi you know that...I guess I bought it for you because I just wanted you to be happy for once. When I saw you looking at it I knew you liked it and thought what the heck if that pendant makes you smile so sweetly then might as well get it for you since you seldom do anything for yourself. You were always the one who did things for other people and never once got anything for it. The pendant was sort of my way of saying thanks from me and pops as we've bothered you and the others long enough..."
"No...Uncle Genma and you aren't a bother..." Kasumi lightly protested.
"You're not a very good liar...Kasumi" smiled Ranma.
Kasumi blushed.
"But..." her words were stopped by Ranma's fingers on her lips.
"Kasumi the main reason I came back was to clear a few things up with you...Since that day you got sick I've been feeling sort of strange and to tell you the truth I sort of liked how it felt. I didn't know what it was at first but later that afternoon when you cried, deep inside my heart it felt so bad like it really hurt me to see you crying. Then when you kissed me ... it felt so nice... I felt like I wanted it to go on..." Kasumi's eyes started to tear as she listened to Ranma heartfelt words.
"Ranma...do you know why I seem to know a lot about you even though we don't talk much?" Kasumi glanced over to him and he shrugged. "Well it's because I have always been keeping an eye on you...I mean it's not easy to ignore you now...you're always either fighting with your dad or Akane or with the rest of your fiancées and your friends. At first I thought you were brash maybe rude and a total stranger so I watched you more to protect my sisters and me. But the more I watched you, the more I realized that you just wanted all the people around you to understand your intentions. And the only way you knew how to make them understand was to fight...with them so they'd listen."
Kasumi's examination of his actions and her reasoning of why he did all the things he did made Ranma eyes lit up. "That's right..." he replied. "And you know what...I know deep inside here..." Kasumi pointed to his heart "That there is a young man who is kind hearted, gentle and understanding, it's just that you've been pushing him back so far into yourself that he was forgotten. All everyone ever sees is the brashness and cockiness of Saotome Ranma nothing more."
"Geez...Kasumi I didn't want to act all sissy and all that...I had to act tough and manly so I could make my mom proud of me and to show everyone that I am a winner..." Ranma tried to make his case out to Kasumi but she stopped him continuing.
"Did it work? Are you proud of yourself? Are you happy?" she asked him. Kasumi's conviction of winning this 'fight' with Ranma was high but she needed him to say the words to earn victory. She wanted him to say what he really feels and not what other people wants him to feel.
Ranma looked intently at her, and then sighed. "No...everyday I face the same things...always fighting with other people. Sometimes I get tired of fighting over something so petty like just having a talk with Ukyo or accepting a meal from Shampoo. There are my friends but sometimes the mess that comes after them is just too much. But this engagement thing I can't just throw it aside and forget about it...I have to stick with it since it involves my family honor and yours as well Kasumi. But...I sometimes wish that I could just be for once to be an ordinary boy without this curse, without the entire fiancée thing haunting me. Tell you the truth I'm a guy who likes to get to know a girl better before marrying her...you know go out on dates maybe just simply talking."
Kasumi simply smiled at Ranma who was by each passing minute spent beside her was turning into a man before her eyes.
"But Ranma...things aren't going to change over night...we've done things that if the others find out, it might get even harder on you...like my first kiss..." Kasumi blushed red when she mentioned that.
Ranma blushed too "Kasumi that was your first kiss...emmm...well that was mine or rather Ranma-chan's first kiss so we're sort of even then huh?" Ranma laughed a little but he stopped laughing when Kasumi's face came into his view and she kissed him.
"So now...does that count as Saotome Ranma's first kiss?" she cooed as she pulled her lips back from his. Ranma didn't answer but instead he smiled as he slowly pushed his lips onto Kasumi's. "Now...that makes us even at two kisses each..." grinned Ranma.
"Ranma...if I said I was in love with you...would you run away or think I'm crazy?" asked Kasumi while gazing at Ranma who face was just barely a breath away.
"Would you think that I was nuts for saying that I might have fallen in love with you?" replied Ranma. The two laughed at each other for a while before the room regained its silence as they rather say nothing but just hold hands.
"Kasumi ... I don't know how much this is worth but I've actually noticed you for a long time now. From that first day in the living room when I arrived as I looked at the three of you and when pops said that one of you were going to be my fiancée I was sort of hoping that it might be you. Cause I saw in your eyes and your demeanor what I thought a perfect wife would be at least back then...and come to think of it now I was sort of right in a way. But when you pushed me off to Akane I thought maybe you didn't like me so I didn't make much of it...and kept it to myself" Ranma suddenly felt Kasumi's grip tighten on his hand as he said that.
"I'm sorry Ranma...for pushing you off like that as the oldest I should be the one to take the responsibility but I just didn't know who you were then...but now after having gotten to know you better...I think you've...grown up." Ranma let out a giggle.
"You think I've grown up eh?" Replied Ranma with a rather mischievous grin as Ranma's free hand started to tickle Kasumi on her stomach. Between their laughter and their pushes and pulls, the two didn't notice that they ended up lying on top of each other on Kasumi's bed.
"Uh...we better stop huh..." panted Ranma. Kasumi who was blushing heavily red nodded.
The two got up and dusted themselves to look presentable to the waiting crowd below them. Looking at each other one last time they closed in for one quick kiss. "Kasumi...I don't really know how to handle Akane..."
"Let me handle that..." she smiled. "Please Kami-sama let my decision and my actions be the right one..." prayed Kasumi silently. She didn't want to destroy her family but she also didn't want to forfeit her newfound relationship.
As the pair walked down and fought off the various stares they got they sat down in front of the whole family. "Well?" they shouted at the two.
Kasumi gently cleared her throat. "Can I have the note please?"
Nabiki passed the now very much-crumpled piece of paper that was in due thanks to Akane. "I'm sure everyone has read the note...so do you understand what you have done wrong to Ranma?" she looked around and heave a sigh at the blank looks she got back.
"Okay...let me say them out then. Let's start with father and uncle Genma. The two of you were the cause of this fine mess in the first place. If you two hadn't pushed this marriage issue onto either of our families then we wouldn't be in such a mess. We all have our own lives to led father and uncle Genma if you wanted to join the families then the two of you could have found ways to make the process less painful both emotional and physically." Kasumi gave a quick look to Ranma and continued "But what's done is done and hopefully it shall be soon resolved."
The two elders were about to speak up but Kasumi stared back at them and dared them to interrupt her. The two quickly retreated down.
"Next is Nabiki...Nabiki your only wrong was to use Ranma for financial gain...I do not disprove of you betting on his fights in school but I do strongly disprove of you selling nude photos of Ranma-chan. Would you like it if the roles were reversed on you and Ranma was selling nude photos of you bathing or sleeping?" Kasumi stopped and looked at Nabiki who tried not to look at her. "Well Nabiki?" her voice a little louder then before. "No...but he Ranma's too chicken to do it anyway" came Nabiki's muted reply.
"That's where you're wrong Nabiki, Ranma could have done it but he didn't as he had too much respect for you as a girl. And also it was me who burned those rather rude pictures of Ranma-chan which you took of her that hot summer." Nabiki could only stare wide eyed at her sister at her confession of burning the extra special Ranma-chan photo collection that she had wanted to auction of at school.
"And finally Akane..." sighed Kasumi.
Hearing her name "But Kasumi...I didn't do anything wrong..." she squeaked.
"Do you want to marry Ranma?" Kasumi asked her plain and simple.
"Who would want to get married to a sex changing pervert like him...!" she shouted.
"I would!" exclaimed Kasumi.
Her reply made her entire family face vault all with the exception of Akane who was trying hard to figure out how what had just happened, while the rest of her family's jaw made nice indentations on the table.
"Before any of you say anything I would like to say that Ranma is a kind and gentle young man. You don't see it Akane but I do and I have been seeing it for the past one and a half years now since he came here. I've seen how hard he tries to do everything by himself, sometimes he succeeds and sometimes he fails. But he never gives up trying to keep everyone happy regardless. He never complains about it to anyone and he never shows anyone his true emotions. None of you have ever asked him how he felt about things and that can be said about me too. The two of us have always tried our best to do things the right thing but we can't do it forever. Father and uncle Genma if you two were to push Ranma too far about the marriage issue one day wouldn't you two be surprised to see him run off one day and never return. Nabiki if you took a photo of Ranma that really made Ranma mad you think he wouldn't hit you? And Akane if you keep on hitting Ranma for doing things you thought were perverted wouldn't you think he'd one day retaliate back?"
Every member of her silent family had begun to feel the sad truth behind all of Kasumi's words and all of them also thought that when Kasumi really wanted to talk she had a lot to talk about.
"Akane I've tried so many times to help you get closer to Ranma but all you manage to do is to push him further away. All the times you accused him of being a pervert, did you once stop to think about it and listen to his side of the story. All those times he ran into you changing or bathing did you remember to put out the occupied sign? You would have noticed or at least I've noticed that when Ranma sees the sign he would simply walk away and wait for his turn. And I'm sorry to say this but if you think Ranma was always being close to his other fiancées so that he could bed them well I don't blame him either. Looking at his other fiancées they have slightly more merits then you possess Akane. I'm sorry I said that Akane but he didn't get close to them to bed them he did it to keep them happy. Same as you he when he want to get close to you to try to make you happy but you just kept on hitting him. I'm sure Ranma had plenty of chances to sleep with them. But did he? No. Shampoo's been throwing herself at him countless of times already and any other man would have jumped at the chance but Ranma kept himself pure. And Akane in most cases where you have accused Ranma of being in the wrong more often or not it's not his fault."
Akane really didn't want to hear all this at the moment and she had blocked out most of Kasumi's words half way. She thought that she was in a bad dream... "Why is Kasumi doing this??" she thought to herself.
"Father...I hereby using my authority as the oldest Tendo daughter to ask you to transfer the engagement promise of our family from Akane to me...please accept my request." Kasumi bowed gently to her father.
"Well Kasumi...why don't we hear what the two young ones have to say first before making a decision..." Soun tried his best to be diplomatic about it but he knew who was holding all the aces of the discussion.
Ranma looked at Akane but all he got in return was a raspberry tongue shot. "Pops..." he spoke up "I acknowledge the Tendo claim as the genuine claim but I no longer want to be Akane's fiancé. I hope you understand. I loved her once and once even killed for her but I've noticed that no matter how much I tried to get close to her I would always get smashed by her mallet or her fists to somewhere. If it weren't for Kasumi's first aid I wouldn't be here today. I don't think Akane's a bad girl it's just that she just needs to open herself up more...that's all I can say on that subject. Akane I blocked your punch this afternoon because I finally realized that I didn't do anything wrong. I was holding Kasumi because she was weak and had just finishing crying. A lot of things happened over the weekend. It took all of those things to make me see something that I haven't seen. It took me a while to realize it but after the events that happened well I think I'm in love with Kasumi..."
Ranma looked over to Kasumi and seeing her smile he continued.
"So pops if you don't mind I would like to be engaged to Kasumi instead of Akane...that is if she is willing to let me go." Ranma mirrored Kasumi bow to his father.
"Well...I guess it's up to Akane now..." uttered the oldest Saotome.
Everyone looked at Akane...
"I...umm...why...Kasumi...why...you always had everything you wanted you were always mother's favorite..." her eyes were tearing up her voice trying to hold back her building rage.
She looked up at Kasumi and noticed for the first time that she was wearing a pendant that looked awfully familiar to her. "You were always mother's favorite...she even gave you her favorite pendant that I wanted her to give me!!" she continued.
Akane voice had begun to grow louder and angrier.
"You never had to ask for things...you always got them without asking...! I always had to ask for the things I wanted be it a new dress or a new doll or a new purse. I always had to ask. But you never!!! I remember seeing mother making you a new dress and as for me all I got were your old ones...And now you have the audacity to steal the next thing I hold dear...how could you...!?" she shouted.
Nobody could foresee that Akane would be now rushing over to her oldest sister raising her open hand readying to slap her. But when she swung her hands down she felt her hands being restraint back. Her open palm stood inches from Kasumi's cheeks but they never made it Ranma now held Akane's wrists and pushed it back.
Kasumi stood up and looked at her sister.
*Slap*
Everyone was shocked to the sight of Kasumi actually striking her younger sister but there it was Kasumi standing with her open palm and Akane now on the floor holding her red cheek. "This isn't mother's pendant...it just looks like it. Mother's pendant is still with her in heaven...Ranma bought this for me when we were out shopping!" shouted Kasumi. Her voice was clearly trembling with each spoken word. Soun was trying hard to not blow out into his waterworks as this time it was his family's own well being at stake.
It pained Kasumi to see her sister act the way she was but she never knew that Akane was so jealous of her from her day one. "Akane...don't be so spoiled you had your chance to make it work with Ranma. I've tried my best to help you out and all you ever did was either to forget what I told you or simply ignore me completely."
"DID YOU? DID YOU TRY YOUR BEST!!!?" Akane shouted at Kasumi.
"Yes...I always did" replied Kasumi her face saddened for a moment.
"I wanted you to be happy first before me...when mother died you were hit the hardest among us. You sort of isolated yourself from other people and the people around who cared for you. You were always too busy either training or doing your own things all the time. And when Ranma came I thought he could make you open up more. But all I see now is that you never changed a single bit from that day he first came. Please Akane...not for my sake but our family sake."
"Never...I'd never let Ranma go without a fight..." Akane scowled.
"Fine if it's a fight you want then you shall have one..." Kasumi looked over to Ranma. "Ranma is it okay with you if we have a fight to see who would be your fiancée?" Ranma sweat dropped for a while but calmly nodded his head to her.
"Five minutes Akane...we met in the Dojo..."
Soun, Genma, Nabiki and Ranma soon gathered into the Dojo and in the middle now changed into their gi's stood Kasumi and Akane. Everyone knew that Akane was the best fighter in the Tendo family and even Ranma was a little worried. While Ranma was helping Kasumi tie her hair he was about to ask why she accepted but Kasumi simply winked at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Akane and Kasumi were both poised and ready in their separate stance. Each one waiting for each other to attack first and neither of them had to wait long as Akane lunged forward and readied herself to give a full strength sidekick to Kasumi's midsection. Everyone thought that it was over but to their surprise Kasumi had managed to leap upwards to avoid Akane's kick. She landed a few steps beside Akane and after re-gathering herself Kasumi made her attack. Kasumi ran towards Akane with fists readied, Akane saw this and was ready for an upper body blow so she was ready to block her with her hands but it never came as Kasumi on the last possible minute bent down low and swept Akane off her feet.
Ranma watched the fight with great interest and he began noticing something that probably no one else saw...he cracked a smile. Akane was now pissed with herself for letting Kasumi sweep her off her feet the way she did. As she stood up and dusted herself off she couldn't help but wonder why this fight seemed so familiar somehow. Akane didn't dwell on that long as she readied for her next attack. And this time she was certain that it would finish Kasumi off for good thus leaving her with full fiancée rights to Ranma once again.
Akane stepped a few paces back and after satisfied with the distance she began to run towards Kasumi. Kasumi readied herself the best she could to brace herself from Akane's upcoming attack. Akane ran until she was a few meters from Kasumi and leapt upwards. While in mid-air Akane positioned herself to attack, it was a punching attack from the air. Kasumi saw this and as Akane was about to land her punch Kasumi stepped back a step and leapt upwards seemingly to intercept Akane.
"Shishkabob kick!" echoed around the Dojo.
As the dust settled the two figures of Kasumi and Akane stood on different sides of the Dojo. Akane turned around as Kasumi stood up from where they landed. They faced each other and Akane dropped to her knees clutching her waist while Kasumi gently hobbled on her left foot..."How could you use one of Ranma's kicks on me? Even I don't know how he does it..." Akane moaned feeling the slight pain from the side of her stomach.
"It's easy really..." Kasumi's explanation was then interrupted by someone's soft clapping.
"It's easy really if you seen someone do it long enough and often enough to memorize it by heart. Right ...Kasumi?" Ranma gave Kasumi a wink after he had finished.
"How?" moaned Akane again who was getting help from Nabiki to stand up.
With a blush around her face Kasumi answered "Well...whenever Ranma would practice in the mornings by the garden I would just watch him from the kitchen and when he practices in the dojo I would sometime just peek in on one of his many practices from the Dojo door. I've been watching him do those moves for so long now that I can pretty much well copy them..."
"Except that you don't practice it enough...that's how you got this..." smiled Ranma as he walked over to help support Kasumi and pointed to her rather red swollen right foot.
"You're supposed to use the sole of your foot instead of the upper part of your foot but you still managed to hit Akane with your toes...so lets get some ice on them to reduce the swelling" grinned Ranma.
After all was said and done the family once again gathered back into the dining room for the next part of the fiancé handover meeting. Everyone was still a little jumpy as the fight was far from clear and the air was still heavy. As Kasumi was carried in by Ranma she was sporting a rather large ice pack on her right foot he help Kasumi sit herself down on her usual spot.
"Do you release Ranma as your fiancée?" Kasumi asked Akane again.
"I guess..." sighed Akane whose face showed utter bitterness towards her answer.
"Thank you..." Kasumi bowed to her sister.
"Father, do we have your blessing on my engagement with Ranma?" Kasumi now asked looking at her father.
"Yes...you two can get engaged." Pronounce a weak-smiling Soun.
"Pops, do I have your blessing to get engaged to Kasumi?" asked Ranma.
"Yeah as long as you do it right this time boy..." moaned the older Saotome waving his hands in the air.
"I'd make sure he doesn't screw this one up uncle Genma..." laughed Kasumi as she hugged Ranma and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
The end