Disclaimer: If I were Rumiko Takahashi, I would have given Ranma ½ to poor, unfortunate me. But I'm not.
Kasumi was sewing. The clothes they had were old and some were torn and some had tattered sleeves. That was how poor they were. When Kasumi had set down the needle she had been using, her sister burst in.
Akane's face was flushed red, she was panting after having ran a fair distance from the Saotome House. She saw Kasumi's puzzled face and cried out, "I'm leaving here!"
Kasumi dropped her piece of cloth onto the floor. Akane was leaving...? "Akane... do you have a fever?" Kasumi gave a nervous laugh as she lifted her hands to touch Akane's forehead.
Akane mumbled an apology and ran off to her room.
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Ranma jumped over a wall and landed down perfectly. "Excuse me," he politely asked a man who was selling some takoyaki, "did you see a girl run by here? She has short hair and is the most beautiful and fierce woman anyone has ever seen. Did you see her?"
The man barked with laughter and leaned towards Ranma. "You must be talking about my wife. She's the most pretty thing I've ever met."
"What?" Ranma was shocked. "You're married to Akane?"
"Oh..." the man frowned. "Then you're not talking about Gosuri..."
"Sensei!" a voice shouted from Ranma's left. He saw Natsumi, Shoki, Karika and Makoto, his ex-students. "Oh, hey, guys. Where did you all come from?"
"We were going to get some ice cream. Want to come with us?" Natsumi asked, folding her hands behind her. Ranma was going to refuse her invitation when Makoto spoke up. "Sensei...why did you stop classes?" Ranma detected anger and dejection in his voice.
Makoto continued. "We really wanted to learn more." Ranma cupped his head in his hands. Everything was so confusing. Everything was so difficult to solve. There were so many problems. But Ranma knew that he had to solve the most important one.
He spoke in a low tone. "Akane... left."
Shoki's voice piped up. "Tendou-sensei? We just saw her running down there."
His head instantly snapped up. He shook the young girl. "Where, Shoki? Where?"
"Ow, Saotome-sensei, stop it. It hurts." Ranma's students looked frightened and yet awed at his new display of behaviour. "S-sorry. Where did you say you saw Akane?"
Shoki rubbed her shoulder. It was sore and hurt a lot. "Your grip was really strong, sensei," she complained. "Tendou-sensei went there," she said and pointed behind her.
"Do you guys know where she could have gone to?"
All four had dumbfounded expressions plastered on their faces.
"What?" Ranma asked; feeling annoyed.
"Saotome-sensei," Karika said, "you've never heard of the Tendou dojo before?" "Yea, yea, the Tendou Dojo has a very good martial artist," Natsumi nodded her head in agreement.
Makoto looked suspiciously at Ranma. "Didn't you know that Tendou-sensei came from that place before you hired her as your teaching partner?" Ranma was astonished. "You mean Akane-san stays there? You guys actually know where she stays? Why didn't you tell me before?"
He thanked them furiously and ran off. Natsumi bit her lip. "You think he still wants to have ice cream with us?"
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Akane had finished gathering her things. She stepped out of the house and gazed at every rock, tree and thing which made up her home. She would miss it, all right. But soon, she would return. She was just going away for a short holiday.
"Akane, are you sure you want to leave?" Kasumi asked, her voice soft and worried. Akane nodded. "But otousan and Nabiki... they aren't here yet. Can't you say goodbye to them first?"
Akane dropped her bag to the ground and hugged her eldest sister. "I can't," she whispered softly, letting the breeze blow her words to Kasumi's ears.
"Kasumi... can I ask of a favour? Can you do something for me after I leave?"
Kasumi stared at Akane. She wanted to remember everything thing about her younger sister before she turned and leave for months. She wanted to imprint every single detail of her body, of her face, her long eyelashes, her pert nose, her chocolate brown eyes, everything. She nodded.
"Could you... tell Ranma about my secret life... my true life... tell him all about me. Don't leave out a single detail." Kasumi felt a teardrop as Akane walked away. "Yes." And before Akane walked far, far away, she added, "And please tell Ranma what happened when I was at his home. And how I felt towards him as days went by... I love you Kasumi."
Kasumi felt her knees go weak as they buckled under her. "I love you, too, Akane," she said back, not caring if the words reached Akane's ears; for Kasumi knew that her sister already knew that she loved her.
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There were many whispers floating around at the abandoned wedding. Shampoo could be seen looking upset. Yuka, Sayuri and Fushika could be seen laughing maniacally and declaring loudly that nothing could separate lovers.
"Love is the essence of Life. Nothing can remove the love between Ranma and Akane," Yuka announced to the guests.
Fushika gave a saccharine smile in Shampoo's direction. "Not even obstacles, stubborn ones at that, can break lovers apart."
Sayuri nodded in agreement. "That is the power of love."
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Ranma did not waste time knocking on the door of the Tendou house. He kicked the door open and ran in. "Akane! Akane! Where are you?" he shouted.
"Akane's not here any longer."
Ranma turned in alarm. "Who are you?"
"I'm Kasumi."
Ranma remembered the time Akane mentioned her sister in her sleep. "You're Akane's sister, 'Kasumi onee-chan'."
Kasumi smiled. "She told you about me."
"Not much. Only a little."
"It's just like a thief to be so hushed up over family matters."
"It's just like-" Ranma gasped. "L-like what?" "It's time to reveal some personal secrets, Ranma."
"Don't tell me..."
"Ranma, Akane is the so-called-notorious thief of the Underworld."
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Akane jumped onto the horse. She had gotten it from a kind man who sold takoyaki. The man was almost bald but had a jolly smile on his perfectly round face. "Thank you, sir."
"Oh, don't mind me, Akane."
How does he know my name?
As if he could read her mind, the man explained. "A young man was looking for you. He headed that way," he pointed in the direction of her house. "He must be a martial artist; hopping about on roofs so fast that even my horse will not be able to keep up with him."
"Ranma... came?" Akane breathed out so that nobody except she herself could hear.
"He called you the most beautiful and fierce person on earth. And he seemed to be in a frenzy. The same way I was when my Gosuri almost departed this world," the man's smile dropped and he was serious.
The man had not wanted his wife to leave him but here Akane was leaving Ranma. It's not like I'll be his wife...
"By the way, where are you heading to?" the middle-aged man questioned.
"Someplace far from here. Anyplace will do just fine."
"Really?" "I'm going away for months only. I'll come back soon."
The man pondered for a moment, scratching his head at the same time. "My wife and I stay in the country. You're welcome to live with us if you want to."
Akane sat up straight. "You mean it?"
"Uh-huh. I could close my stall early and go home now. Besides, it's almost time to close." "But it's only four in the afternoon!" Akane cried out shrilly.
"It takes a few hours to travel home, Akane." "Oh."
The man closed his stall and sat on the horse behind Akane. He took hold of the reigns and shook it. The horse quickened to a trot. "Now let's go."
-Author's Notes- I hope this chapter wasn't so short. I've got to get off the computer now because my sister wants to use it.
Enjoy!