Kasumi smiled. The house was finally spotless and she had managed to make dinner on time, too. She was proud of herself, but she was also exhausted. There were so many people to clean up after in the Tendo household. She sighed and started to work on the dishes. Akane came in holding a few dishes in her hands and set them to the side at the sink. Then, she paused and looked at Kasumi sympathetically, "You look tired..."
Kasumi frowned for a moment, then she smiled, "Just a little."
Akane took the dishes away from Kasumi, "Hey, listen. I'll do the dishes tonight. Why don't you go and get some sleep?"
"Are you sure? It wouldn't be a problem for me to," Kasumi started.
"Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry about it," Akane said.
Kasumi hugged her sister, "Thank you, Akane."
"No problem!" Akane said.
Kasumi started towards her room, yawning, 'How nice of Akane to do the dishes for me.'
She opened the door to her room and stopped in her step, her eyes widened in horror. Her room was a complete mess. Atsuko laid sprawled out on the floor, muttering some sort of nonsense about flying pigs. Kasumi eyed a few empty bottles that laid scattered about on the floor. She sighed miserably, "Miss Urameshi, you really need to stop this. All this drinking is bad for you and you need to clean up the messes you make. It's not fair that... Miss Urameshi? Miss Urameshi, are you listening to me?"
Atsuko was passed out on the floor. Kasumi stared at her helplessly, 'A mother is not supposed to act like this.'
She sighed again and started cleaning her room. When she was finished, she was more exhausted than ever. She changed into her pajamas and then curled up on her bed. Ryouga had his eyes shut tightly, "Botan, is she done changing, yet? Why did you make me go into her room when you knew she was going to be going to bed?"
Botan laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, Ryouga. She's done changing, now. Anyway, I thought maybe you could help her out."
Ryouga opened his eyes, blinking, "How? I'm a ghost! How can I clean things?"
Botan sweatdropped, "I didn't mean cleaning. I mean, well, you saw her. She must've worked all day today trying to keep this house clean. She hardly gets any help at all. She can't be expected to keep up after everybody here! It's too much for one person."
"Oh. Ohhhh. You're right. She does do a lot of work around here," Ryouga mumbled.
He felt guilty, "And then she also has to put up with guests... like me."
"Now is not the time to be upset, Ryouga. You've got to help this girl!" Botan said.
Ryouga nodded, "Right. Umm... How?"
Botan sighed, "Well, for starters it'd probably help if you talked to her about it. Then, go from there. All of this is really up to you."
Ryouga looked at the spirit beast egg in his hand.
'I think Kasumi does deserve some help around here. And it might help my egg hatch into a good spirit beast,' he thought.
He floated towards Kasumi's bed, "Hey, Kasumi? Can you hear me?"
Kasumi looked out into the park, seeing Ryouga wandering around. She blinked in surprise, "Oh, hello, Ryouga! Did you get lost?"
'Guess she's seeing me in her dream. I wonder what she's dreaming about? Hmm. Oh well,' Ryouga thought.
"No. No, I'm not lost. I was wanting to talk to you," he said.
Kasumi saw Ryouga approach her picnicking area and sit down. She smiled at him, "Well, that's nice. What do you want to talk to me about? Help yourself to some rice balls. Silly me! It seems I went through all this trouble to set up a picnic and didn't even bring anyone to come along with me."
'Picnic? Guess I better play along,' Ryouga thought.
"Thanks. Umm... Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about... chores," he started.
"Chores?" Kasumi questioned.
"Yes. Uhh, you see I'm a little worried. I know its probably not any of my business, but I really don't think you should be the one stuck with all the chores in the house when there's so many people living under the same roof as you," Ryouga replied.
Kasumi frowned, "But somebody has to do it..."
"Yeah. What I'm saying is I think everybody should lend a hand, you know?" Ryouga suggested.
Kasumi thought for a moment, "I don't know. It seems like everyone is so busy. I don't want to cause anyone any trouble."
"I don't think it'd be any trouble at all. In fact, you'd probably be doing all of them a favor! There needs to be a little normalcy in the Tendo residence. What's more normal than an individual's own set of chores he or she needs to do around the house? And it would give you more time to yourself. So, you could do things that... Well, you like to do," Ryouga told her.
Kasumi smiled, "You're absolutely right, Ryouga! What a good idea. Thank you."
Ryouga grinned, "No problem! Oh, and... I think you should move Miss... uhh... What's her name again? That lady in your room with you..."
"Miss Urameshi?" Kasumi asked.
"Yeah! Her. I think you and your sisters should take turns with her in each other's rooms. So, your other sisters can get to know her."
"Well, I really don't know about that, Ryouga. Miss Urameshi isn't exactly... Well, she's not... I mean," Kasumi began.
"It'd be good for her! Maybe she'll feel more welcome and not want to... drink so much," Ryouga persuaded.
"Hmm. You might be right. Okay. I think I'll try it. If it doesn't work out she can always just stay in my room," Kasumi mumbled.
"Good! I gotta go, now. Hope someone nice comes along to help you enjoy that picnic, Kasumi," Ryouga said.
"Thanks for everything, Ryouga! Don't be a stranger!" Kasumi said.
Ryouga floated away from Kasumi's sleeping form and back to Botan's side.
"So, how'd it go?" Botan asked.
"Good. Tomorrow morning will be brand new for this place," Ryouga said confidently.
Botan patted him on the back, "Great! Glad to hear it. You're so much easier to work with than when I had to work with..."
She continued on. Both of them were unaware that Atsuko had suddenly woke up and walked out the door.
Yusuke turned in his sleep, dreaming sweet dreams of pounding the living daylights out of every dream idiot that ticked him off. Until... He was woke up by his mother.
"Yusuke! Yusuke! Are you alive? Please, be alive. Don't die on me again," Atsuko cried.
'Not again,' Yusuke thought.
He opened his eyes and looked at his sobbing, hysterical mother. He sighed, "I'm still alive, mom. Don't worry. I'm not going to die."
His mother hugged him tightly, "Oh, Yusuke. Thank goodness..."
Yusuke grumbled a little, "Yeah, okay. Now, go back to sleep, mom."
Atsuko hugged her son again, "Be careful, Yusuke."
Yusuke rolled his eyes and hugged his mother, "I'll be fine."
Atsuko stood and left the room with tears still in her eyes. Ranma, also having woke up because of the crying woman, stared at Yusuke.
'What was that about?' he wondered.
Yusuke turned over, trying to get comfortable. The two boys made eye contact. Yusuke glared at Ranma, "Is there a problem?"
"No. I was just wondering what was going on," Ranma said.
"It's none of your business," Yusuke growled.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to be so crabby," Ranma grumbled.
Yusuke sat up, "You wanna fight?"
"What are you all mad for? I just said... You know what, I don't care anymore. You've got such an attitude problem. Maybe I should fix it for you," Ranma said angrily.
"Yeah? You think so?" Yusuke shouted.
Ranma sat up, glaring at him, "Yeah! I do think so! You and me, one on one... Right..."
Ranma's father, in panda form, suddenly rolled over and flattened him. Yusuke blinked sleepily and shrugged, "Hmm. Well, that takes care of him."
He lied down and fell asleep. Ranma struggled beneath the weight of his panda father, but finally managed to get out from underneath of him. He kicked his father a couple of times, "Stupid old man! Why do you gotta sleep like that, anyway?"
His father let out a couple of loud snores. Ranma crossed his arms and looked over to Yusuke... only to find him asleep. He waved his arms, "Hey! What are you doing asleep for? I thought we were going to have a fight! Wake up!"
Yusuke didn't move a muscle. Ranma walked over to him and shook him, "Yusuke! Yusuke!"
Nothing. Ranma cursed under his breath, 'Guess we'll have to settle this tomorrow.'
He went back to his sleeping area, lied down, and soon fell fast asleep. Morning brought interesting challenges to the Tendo household.
"So, I made this chart here. It'll show each of you what your chores are for each day of the week. It's very simple, see?" Kasumi told everyone, except Happosai who had run off early that morning to "work", in the living room.
Ranma rubbed his eyes and yawned, "Man, it's way too early for this kind of thing. It's not even a school day! Kasumi, I don't have any problem doing chores and stuff like that, but... I do have one question. How come the little freak doesn't have a place on that chart?"
"Oh, silly Ranma. Happosai is getting too old to be doing chores. I wouldn't want him to get worn out," Kasumi said.
Ranma facefaulted, "What? Too old? That freak he has..."
Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Just let it be, Ranma. Happosai would probably just break something anyway."
Kasumi smiled, "So, does everyone understand what they have to do?"
They nodded, but some of them, such as Nabiki, were not all that thrilled about the arrangement. Nabiki retreated to her room, 'If we were rich, we could just hire a couple of maids to do all this.'
She opened the door to her room and was surprised to see it a complete mess. In the middle of it all was Atsuko Urameshi.
"Miss Urameshi, what are you doing in my room?" Nabiki asked.
Atsuko, who was sober at the time, looked up and started to explain to her. Kasumi passed by Nabiki's room and saved her the trouble. She smiled at her younger sister, "Oh, Nabiki! I almost forgot to tell you. I decided that since she's going to be living with us that we all get to know her a little better. And I thought, what better way to do that than to have her spend equal amounts of time in our rooms! So, you get her this month. Next month, she'll be sharing a room with Akane. Then, the month after that, she'll be in my room again! Isn't it just great, Nabiki?"
Nabiki narrowed her eyes, but managed a fake smile, "Sure, Kasumi. It's really great."
Kasumi clapsed her hands, "Good! I'm so glad you agree!"
She hummed as she began to gather dirty laundry to wash.
'That dream... it was so strange. But it looks like everything turned out all right. I should pay attention to my dreams more often.'
She stopped abruptly, having nearly ran into something. She smiled uncertainly, "Oh, hello there. Is there something I can..."
The laundry basket fell from her hands as she was carried off to an unknown fate.
Ranma panted from his exhaustion as he ducked in and out of shadowy areas, holding P-chan's dead body.
'I thought I'd never be able to make it out of the house without Akane catching me with him. She would've freaked. Now, all I have to worry about is... everyone else. Man, where am I going to find a safe place for Ryouga's body? I don't even know where a safe place is around here! I'm not even sure one exists...' he thought.
He hopped up onto a roof top and ran, jumping from roof top to roof top. He was thinking, searching, and hoping that none of his fiances, wanna-be fiances, or enemies would find him. He paused in his step for only a moment, 'Hey! Dr. Tofu's place is pretty safe! Oh... but he probably wouldn't believe me about Ryouga. He might think I'm crazy. Darn it. What am I going to do?'
He sighed in frustration as he hopped off a roof top and into a nice, dark alley he could take a break in for a while.
'I'll keep this up as long as it takes, Ryouga. But once Yusuke gets off from work, I'm going to be taking a little... break. You'll understand, won't you?' he thought.
"Vile fiend! You'll think twice about littering once I'm through with you!" Kuno shouted.
The freckled teenager stared at Kuno wide-eyed and quickly put his discarded soda can into a nearby trash receptacle. He waved his arms in a surrendering motion, "Don't hurt me, Upperclassman Kuno! I won't do it again, I promise!"
Kuno narrowed his eyes and took a step closer, "Do you swear on your honor?"
"Yeah! I do! I swear!" the boy said desparately.
Kuno sheathed his wooden sword and nodded, "Very well. You are free to go. Let that be a warning to you. I won't go so easy on you if I catch you littering again."
The boy bowed, "Thank you!"
Then, he ran off as fast as he could. Kuno took in a deep breath, feeling proud of himself. The streets of Nerima were safe and clean, thanks to him. He started to laugh loudly to himself as his pride over his "accomplishments" grew. A strange boy ran over to him eagerly, "Mister Kuno!"
Kuno blinked and looked at the boy who was about thirteen or fourteen years old. The boy smiled at Kuno, "Hi! You probably don't know me very well, but... I'm your biggest fan! My name is Chaz Jokin! And... uhh... Well, if its not too much trouble... Can I have your autograph?"
The boy pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. Kuno was struck speechless.
'This kid... wants my... autograph?' he thought.
It went to his head quickly enough, "My autograph? OF COURSE YOU CAN! The Chivalrous Warrior of Furinkan High always has time for his fans!"
He took the pen and paper and began to write his name. Then, he tried to give Chaz the piece of paper, "Here you go."
Chaz didn't accept the piece of paper. He seemed distracted by something.
"Hey, kid. The autograph?" Kuno said.
Chaz frowned and his look became more concentrated. Kuno grumbled impatiently, "Excuse me, boy... Just what are you looking at, anyway?"
He looked in the direction Chaz was looking in, but didn't see anything, but bushes and trees. Chaz blinked and looked back at Kuno, "Oh. Sorry. I wasn't looking at anything. Hey! All right! A real autograph from Tatewaki Kuno! GREAT! Thanks alot!"
He took the autograph and ran off. Kuno shrugged, 'What a strange kid. Oh well. I'm off to do more good deeds for my public!'
The day drew on slowly for Yusuke. But finally, it was time to go home. Yusuke left the department store and headed back to the Tendo Dojo. He sighed, feeling miserable, 'And I still have those chores to do when I get home. This sucks.'
"There you are, Tendo! I've been looking all over for you! I will make you pay for what you did to me!" Mousse shouted.
Yusuke blinked and looked to his left to see Mousse talking to a trash can. He sighed again, 'As if my day could get any worse. Maybe if I just walk on by all casual and stuff, he won't notice me.'
Unfortunately for him, Mousse did notice. He ran in front of Yusuke and laughed, "Aha! I know that's you, Yusuke! You can't fool me with that disguise!"
'What disguise?' Yusuke wondered.
"Yeah. Its me. What do you want, Mousse?" he asked.
Mousse threw a paper airplane at him. Yusuke caught the paper airplane and unfolded it. It was some kind of bill. He blinked when he saw the total cost, "Sheesh. What do you think I am, rich? What should I pay you for, anyway?"
He started to wad the bill up into a paper ball to throw back at Mousse. Mousse grinned, "I don't think so, Yusuke Tendo! You're paying me to get new glasses whether you like it or not! And you wanna know why?"
Yusuke thought for a moment, "Eh, someone to beat to a bloody pulp right now might make me feel a little better."
"No, you idiot! I'm not going to fight you! That wouldn't solve anything! You'd be stubborn! That's why... I kidnapped your mother!"
Yusuke narrowed his eyes, "What?"
Mousse laughed and opened his robe to reveal a bound and gagged... Kasumi. Yusuke growled, "That's not my mother, you dumb..."
Mousse looked at Kasumi closely, "She's not?"
"No! Now, let her go!" Yusuke demanded.
Mousse shrugged, "Well, if you want me to let her go so badly, she must be someone important. So... Pay up."
Yusuke began walking towards Mousse, "No. Let her go... or I'll..."
Mousse dug into one of his sleeves and pulled out a white feather and a jar full of white feathers. He threw the jar at Yusuke and held the feather close to Kasumi, "I wouldn't come any closer if I were you."
Yusuke caught the jar and rose an eyebrow at Mousse, "A feather? What are you going to do? Make her sneeze on me?"
Mouse chuckled, "Read the label on the jar, Yusuke. This is no ordinary feather. It comes from a very special type of bird..."
"Tiki Tickle Parrot Feathers. Have a ball with your friends and family with these fun feathers! They'll laugh until they cry!" Yusuke read.
He looked up at Mousse quizzically. Mousse smirked, "Keep reading."
Yusuke looked down at the big red warning label, "Warning. Some people have had allergic reactions to Tiki Tickle Parrot Feathers. If an allergic reaction occurs, stop using Tiki Tickle Parrot Feathers and consult a physician. Women who are pregnant, who may become pregnant, or who are nursing should not be tickled by the Tiki Tickle Parrot Feathers. Excessive use of Tiki Tickle Parrot Feathers can cause skin irritation, abdominal problems, diarheaa, heart problems, laryngitis, an overactive bladder condition, in some cases serious injury to the tickler and the ticklee, bleeding, dry eyes, and extreme excessive use of the Tiki Tickle Parrot Feathers may be... fatal."
His expression darkened, "What do you plan to do? Tickle my half-sister to death?"
Mousse shook his head, "Of course not! But you read all those other problems didn't you? You wouldn't want to make things that unpleasant for her, would you, Tendo?"
Yusuke sighed, a little relieved that Mousse wasn't a complete psychopath. Still... He couldn't just hand over his pay check. He worked hard for it. Not to mention the grief he'd get from that vulture Nabiki...
He rushed towards Mousse, ready to knock him out quickly. Mousse backed away swiftly and started tickling Kasumi with the feather. The gag fell from Kasumi's mouth as she started laughing in an almost hysterical manner. She laughed and laughed, "Oh, stop... HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHahehehehehehehe... Hahahahahaha... stop... Hahahaha!"
"I'm almost to excessive usage, Yusuke. You better back down, right now," Mousse warned.
Yusuke showed no sign of backing down... Until Kasumi started to develop blotches on her face and sounded like she was having difficulty to breathing. Yusuke stopped a little fearful, "Hey, Mousse! I think you better stop, she looks like she's having... an allergic reaction."
"I'm not stopping until you hand over the money or until she loses consciousness!" Mousse shouted.
He seemed a little concerned about continuing the tickle attack with the way Kasumi was reacting, but still tried to maintain his position. Yusuke felt more than a little panicked as Kasumi looked and sounded worse, "MOUSSE!"
"Yusuke... the money...," Mousse insisted.
His voice was starting to crack, though. Yusuke became frustrated and he threw his pay check at Mousse. Mousse let go of Kasumi to get his pay check. Yusuke picked Kasumi up and ran for Dr. Tofu's clinic. Even with the feather no longer tickling her, she still had trouble breathing.
"It'll be okay, Kasumi," Yusuke muttered.
Kasumi tried to say something, but it only came out as a gasp. Yusuke barged into Dr. Tofu's clinic. Waiting patients took one sight of Kasumi and ran out of the clinic with faces deathly pale. Dr. Tofu and a newly treated patient came out to see what all the commotion was about. The patient saw Kasumi and he, too, ran out of the clinic. Dr. Tofu stared at them with a dazed look on his face. Yusuke glared at Dr. Tofu, "Don't just stand there! You're a doctor, aren't you? HELP HER!"
He shoved Kasumi into Dr. Tofu's arms. Dr. Tofu nodded meekly, "R-right."
He hurried into the medical room with Kasumi and worked quickly to put a stop to the allergic reaction. Yusuke sighed relieved, 'What a day this turned out to be...'
Dr. Tofu came out of the medical room and leaned against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief himself. Yusuke sat down on one of the waiting room chairs, "Is she going to be okay?"
Dr. Tofu twiddled his thumbs and glanced at Yusuke, "Y-yeah. She'll be... fine."
Yusuke looked a little puzzled, "Well, then, why do you look so nervous?"
Dr. Tofu laughed uproariously, "Nervous? Me? I'm not nervous! I'm fine! I'm great! Just perfect!"
He wandered away, "Now, I just need some tea... Some nice, calm, hot, soothing... tea."
Yusuke stared at Dr. Tofu, "Umm, doc? That's the bathroom."
Dr. Tofu paused, looking surprised, "It is? Really?"
Yusuke sweatdropped, "Yeah."
Dr. Tofu laughed and nodded, "Right! Right! Of course it is. The kitchen is this way."
Yusuke watched Dr. Tofu head for the exit, "That leads outside."
Dr. Tofu looked confused, "Well, I know I put the kitchen around here somewhere!"
He opened a window and began to climb out of it. Yusuke was puzzled by Dr. Tofu's strange behavior, 'What has gotten into him?'
He stood and walked over to Dr. Tofu. He grabbed Dr. Tofu by the back of his shirt and dragged him into the kitchen.
'I better make sure Kasumi is really all right,' Yusuke thought.
He left Dr. Tofu and went into the medical room. Kasumi was looking a little better. The blotches on her face hadn't cleared up too much, but she was breathing normally. At the moment, she was sleeping. Yusuke walked out of the medical room and went back to the kitchen to make sure Dr. Tofu wasn't burning the kitchen down. Dr. Tofu was sitting at a table, drinking the tea he had made. He didn't seem to like the taste of the tea he was drinking. Yusuke sat next to Dr. Tofu. Dr. Tofu looked at Yusuke and chuckled a little bit, "I seem to have accidentally added a lot of pepper to my tea..."
Yusuke blinked, "You sure have been acting strange."
Dr. Tofu looked a little embarrassed, "Yeah, well... Err. Anyway! What caused... Kasumi's... allergic reaction?"
Yusuke pulled out the jar of feathers that he had carelessly stuffed into his pocket after he had read the labelling. He handed it to Dr. Tofu. Dr. Tofu skimmed over the label, "Yeah. These things are notorious for causing problems. It looked like she had been subjected to a lot. Yusuke, you really need to be more careful about..."
"It wasn't me. It was Mousse... He kidnapped her and," Yusuke began.
Dr. Tofu looked alarmed, "Kidnapped?"
Yusuke nodded, "Yeah. Then, he threatened to tickle her until I gave him money to pay for his new glasses or until she lost consciousness."
Dr. Tofu looked down at his tea cup, "I see. Mousse..."
Yusuke noticed Dr. Tofu's grip on his cup tighten. Then, the tea cup broke in his hands. Yusuke didn't seem too surprised by the breaking of the cup, but was more than a little startled that the normally gentle doctor had broken it. Dr. Tofu seemed startled himself, "Oh. The tea... must've been too hot... Softened the cup or something."
He carefully picked up the pieces and threw them away. Yusuke's eyes narrowed for a moment, 'That's unusual. It feels like he has a lot of stored spirit energy... And if I can feel it... I didn't think a guy like him could fight.'
Dr. Tofu smiled at Yusuke, "Well, since I have to get myself a new cup... Would you like some tea?"
"No thanks," Yusuke said.
"Oh. Okay. So... This Mousse... Doesn't he work at that... ramen place? The Cat Café?" Dr. Tofu asked.
Yusuke shrugged, "I don't know. I don't really care, either."
"Oh, well. Just wondering," Dr. Tofu said.
He spilled the tea the moment he picked it up when Kasumi came into the kitchen. He looked dazed, "Kasumi!"
Kasumi smiled slightly despite the fact that the blotches on her face were probably irritating her, "Dr. Tofu... Could you help me find the telephone? I need to tell everyone that dinner will be a little late..."
Dr. Tofu shook his head, "N-no! You need to be resting, Kasumi. I c-can phone them! Really! You just go back to the medical room... and get some rest."
'Heeey... What if the reason he's acting so goofy is because he likes Kasumi?' Yusuke wondered.
He thought a little more on that, 'Then again, why do I care? That's probably not it, anyway. It must be this place! It makes everyone weird. Its probably already starting to make me weird, too. Why else would I be so nosy?'
Dr. Tofu followed Kasumi back to the medical room to make sure she would get into bed and rest. Yusuke walked out of the kitchen and stood in the doorway of the medical room. He sweatdropped as he watched Dr. Tofu try to find his way out. He sighed again, 'I have to get out of here, but first...'
He dragged Dr. Tofu out of the medical room and to the telephone. Then, after telling Dr. Tofu how to use it, he left the clinic. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and started walking back to the Tendo Dojo, 'Maybe I can find Botan and we can... hang out or something. Much as I hate to admit it, I'm starting to miss everybody.'
He sighed and wondered what his old friends were up to.