Sendai
By M. Zephyr
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.
Ranma x Akane. See the bottom of Chapter 1 for an author's note dealing with the entirety of this story.
Chapter 3. Here's Kasumi
The taxi pulled up in front of a six story apartment building which looked as though it had been built about a decade ago. They got out, retrieved the luggage, paid the driver, and then walked up to the heavily barred entrance. Ranma looked over the names, and pushed the button marked "Ono - Apt 504."
"Hello?" came a once-familiar voice.
"Hi, doc," Ranma said tentatively. "It's me. We're here, can we come up?"
"I'm looking forward to seeing you again. Come on in." A buzzer sounded, and Ranma opened the door, motioning the girls to precede him.
They took the elevator up to the fifth floor, and located the door marked 504. Akane knocked, and the door opened to reveal the features of the kindly young doctor they remembered.
"Ranma! Akane! It's wonderful to see you again." Then Kasumi stepped in front of the doorway from where she had been standing off to the side. The young doctor blinked several times and his glasses fogged over. "K-K-Kasumi! What a surprise! Fancy meeting you here!" He then started giggling.
The older girl reached out with an arm, and pushed the unresisting doctor back into his apartment. The other two followed her in.
"Hello, Tofu-san." Kasumi said softly. "It's very nice to see you again. I'm afraid that Ranma forgot to tell you that I'm going to be living here too. So it's time to learn how to behave around me."
"Betty!" Tofu called out his skeleton's name, as he jumped in the air, his body spinning through two complete rotations. "Kasumi's here! We need to tell everyone!" The doctor ran through the apartment, and the newcomers heard the sound of cupboards and doors opening and closing, accompanied by singing.
"Ranma," Kasumi said seriously. "Please lock the door and put something heavy in front of it. I don't want him slipping out. Then go find where he is and stay with him. Wait for him to calm down, and when he has, ask when he has to be at work next. After that I'll join you, and we'll begin his desensitization training."
"As long as you don't make me stay in the same room," Ranma replied nervously, as he pushed a heavy couch in front of the apartment door. He then walked down the hall toward the back rooms to find the doctor. He found the man in the western-style bathroom sitting in the tub, fully clothed, with the water level rising. The skeleton Betty was having its skull shampooed.
"C'mon doc, snap out of it." Ranma slapped him lightly across the face, before turning off the water to allow the tub to drain.
"R-Ranma?" Tofu's eyes slowly focused on the boy's face before darting behind him to the open door and back again. "Am I dreaming? Or was that actually K-K-Kasumi out there?"
"Yep, doc, it sure was," he replied guiltily. "I'm sorry, I would have told you if I'd known. I'm afraid she and Akane had me fooled. I had no idea that she was planning to come with us."
"Oh, god, what am I going to do?" the poor doctor moaned, dropping his face into his hands. He looked up again. "Did she say she was going to be living here? She can't live here! I'll go insane. I'll go out of my mind!"
Ranma gave a little laugh, a mixture of equal parts sympathy and guilt. "Heh. Looked to me like you were already out of your mind a few minutes ago. So you won't have far to go, huh?"
Tofu gave him a dirty look. "You don't understand anything. You don't know what it's like to have a woman drive you crazy." He moaned, once more covering his face with his hands. "How can I face her? What must she think of me!" He began to struggle to get out of the tub. "I've got to get out of here. I have to go. I can't take this."
Ranma pushed him back down, none too gently. That crack about not understanding had stung.
"Suck it up, doc. She says you're not leaving until you learn to control yourself, unless you gotta go to work. Speaking of which, when do you have to be there next?"
"I cleared my schedule for today and tomorrow. I thought I might be needed to help you and Akane settle in, so I don't have to be there again until Monday." A fog of despair seemed to surround him. "I'll be out of my mind by then!"
"Well, Kasumi ought to be back here in a minute, so I'm getting out and staying as far away as I can. You'd better start figuring out how to stop the way you act around her. I gotta feeling she's real serious about this."
The response came in the mournful tone of a man on the way to the gallows. "Fine way to repay my generosity, Ranma, helping you with the place to live and everything."
"Sorry doc. Like I said, I had no idea she was going to come with us. And the way I figure it, she's right. After a couple of days, you're either going to be permanently around the bend, or you'll have it under control, and if it's the latter, I suspect you'll be pretty happy about how everything turned out." There was a knock at the door. "Gotta go now."
Ranma walked out of the bathroom, and a moment later Kasumi walked in. She shut the door behind herself. From time to time Akane and Ranma would hear gibbering noises from behind the door, together with snatches of song and doggerel. They were feeling a little embarrassed and a little worried by their friend's antics, but mostly tried to ignore it.
Akane and Ranma took the opportunity to explore the corner apartment. The front door let into a living room with a window on one side. There was a small dining area on the opposite side of the living room, and a doorway into a very small kitchen. A hallway led back from the living room opposite the front door. The bathroom door was on one side of this hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door on either side opening into two bedrooms which were mirror images of one another, except for the furnishings. Each had a single window in the back wall. One bedroom had a bed and a futon, and contained the boxes marked "Ranma." The other bedroom had a single futon, and contained the boxes marked "Akane" and "Akane's room extras."
"We'll need to go out and get another futon for your bedroom," Ranma said to Akane.
They spent some time unpacking boxes, and putting items away. At one point, while they were both unpacking a small box of Kasumi's stuff in the kitchen, they heard an insane giggle from the hallway followed by a deep feminine sigh. On looking out, they saw that the bathroom was now unoccupied, but the door to Tofu's and Ranma's room was now closed. It sounded like a low voice was spouting poetry from behind the door. Shrugging, they went back to unpacking the kitchen items.
Later in the afternoon it was decided that they couldn't risk Ranma leaving in case Tofu needed to be restrained, so Akane went out by herself to purchase another futon and arrange to have it delivered. She also picked up extra bedding. The futon arrived about an hour after she returned.
At Kasumi's request, Ranma prepared the supper, while she stayed in the room with the poor doctor. Akane took two portions back to the room, then came back out to eat with Ranma in the dining area. The whole situation was feeling very bizarre to them. After washing up from dinner, the couple watched television for a while before preparing for bed.
Eventually, Kasumi relented for the night. She went to take a bath, her absence giving Tofu a chance to calm down. After she finished, while Ranma kept the doctor out of sight, she went into the bedroom with Akane and shut the door. The doctor was then able to take his own bath and retire to his bedroom with Ranma.
"So, what're your prospects for survival, doc?" Ranma asked a bit callously, too tired to be tactful.
"Right now I just want to go to sleep. Nightmares will be better than the living nightmare this day has been." After a short pause, he added in a surprised voice, "On the other hand, at some point I did stop talking about Betty."
"That's a good sign, doc. Keep it up and you'll be fine in a month or two. Or three. Or four."
Tofu grimaced and tossed a pillow at the boy. "Go to sleep, Ranma."
The young man grinned, and did so.
The next morning was a repeat of the previous evening, with Kasumi appearing from time to time to report that Tofu's periods of lucidity seemed to be getting a bit longer. Akane and Ranma were growing bored, confined to the apartment, but they did not feel that they could leave since Kasumi might need them, to help prevent Tofu from escaping if nothing else.
After lunch, Kasumi relented for a while and went out to purchase some groceries. She asked Akane and Ranma to try to keep Tofu in the apartment, as she was afraid that he might relapse if he were allowed out too soon. After she left, the poor doctor stumbled out into the living room and collapsed on the couch, exhausted.
"I'm going to die," he moaned piteously, fishing for sympathy.
Declining to sympathize, much to the poor man's surprise, Akane and Ranma just grinned. "Nah, you'll survive," Ranma said, "it just feels like you're dying. But you're getting better, actually."
"You really think so?" he asked, dim hope coloring his voice.
Akane answered. "Yeah. For the last hour or so, we almost didn't hear you at all."
Tofu just groaned, while the two of them laughed.
He retreated back into the bedroom shortly before Kasumi returned. After putting away the groceries, she joined him once more.
That evening while Akane was watching television, Ranma came and joined her in his cursed female form.
"Did you get splashed, Ranma? We have plenty of hot water. Why don't you change back?"
She got up as if to get some, but Ranma stopped her, dropping down onto the couch beside her.
"I'm trying an experiment. Earlier today, I was thinking about some of the times back in Nerima when I got splashed and didn't have an opportunity to get hold of any hot water right away. It seems to me that once I did change back to male, that I didn't have as many accidents with water immediately after. I'm wondering if I voluntarily spend some time in my cursed form, whether I might be a bit less of a water magnet at other times. So, I'm going to try spending an hour or two each night in my female form."
Akane nodded, looking a little impressed. "That sounds like a good idea. So why didn't you ever think of trying this before?"
"Dunno. Maybe I never thought of it 'cause I never had time to think."
After the television program went off, Ranma took a hot bath, changing himself back into a male. When he went to bed, he looked over at his roommate, examining him critically, and found that he was a little worried. Tofu's eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles under them. He was staring at the ceiling and didn't respond to Ranma's teasing.
‹Man, I hope this doesn't take too much longer,› Ranma thought to himself before drifting off to sleep.
Saturday was pretty much a repeat of Friday. Sunday morning found Ranma, Akane and Kasumi sitting at the table, eating breakfast. An unshaven apparition with bloodshot eyes and wearing a robe over pajamas stumbled into the room and sat down with them.
"Good morning Ranma, Akane, K-Kasumi."
"Good morning, Tofu," Kasumi replied calmly, a serene expression on her face.
"I think I'd like some breakfast," he said, then stood to get the necessary dishes and utensils, serving himself. It was notable that as he did so, he avoided looking directly at the older of the two sisters, who was seated at the table to his left. He seemed fatigued, but otherwise appeared to be sane.
Akane continued the conversation the doctor's arrival had interrupted. "Did you see the news about the minister's secretary who was caught taking bribes ..." From there talk continued among the other three, with Tofu merely contributing an occasional "Hmmm" when a query was sent in his direction.
As breakfast drew to a close, Tofu spoke up again. His voice sounded very weary, and he did not look up from his bowl.
"Ranma, Akane. If you're interested, I noticed there were some part-time jobs available at the medical center where I work. I believe there might be some at hours for after school work. Perhaps you could come with me tomorrow?"
"That sounds great, doc. Thanks," Ranma said.
"Yes, thank you, Doctor Tofu," Akane added.
"I believe that I will also come and see what jobs are available," Kasumi put in. "I would like to have some spending money of my own, and to contribute my fair share to our living expenses. Also, I need to start saving money. I plan to take the entrance exams next spring with these two, and then start college at the same time that they do."
Ranma shared a look with Akane, consisting of mutual fear. The good doctor seemed to be a lot better around Kasumi this morning, but they were by no means prepared to climb into a car with Kasumi if Tofu was behind the wheel.
"Umm, actually," Ranma began tentatively, "I'd like a chance to get to know the neighborhood here and the area around the medical center a bit better. Perhaps Kasumi, Akane and I can make our own way there a little later in the morning."
Tofu snorted softly, knowing exactly why the younger man made that suggestion. "Of course, Ranma. That's probably wise."
For the rest of that day, Kasumi did not torture Tofu with her presence quite so strenuously. She was not always in the same room as him, allowing him some periods of peace, but she made a point of being around him at regular intervals throughout the day. Ranma finally got out of the apartment for a while, and went on a long walk around the neighborhood with Akane. They both realized they were feeling quite cheerful.
"Y'know 'kane, I never realized how nice it could feel to just walk beside you, when I don't have to worry at all about bicycle riding Amazons, spatula wielding chefs, or flower bouquets filled with gas.
"Not to mention mad samurais shouting 'Hold, foul sorcerer', but I suppose you're not really safe from hearing 'Ranma Saotome, prepare to die'," the girl beside him giggled.
"Ugh, you didn't have to remind me of that last one. Well, hopefully it will even take Ryoga a little while to find us here."
"I wish the two of you could get along a bit better. He seems like a pretty nice guy."
Ranma sighed. "I really do need to explain a bit more about that to you someday. But not right now, I'm in too good a mood."
As they continued to walk along, Ranma was remembering another walk they once made together when nobody was bothering them, after he thought he had lost her to Shinnosuke and was proven wrong. He glanced down to his side, and gradually moved his right hand over, until the fingertips brushed the back of Akane's left hand. She looked down, a little startled, but then gave a small smile and turned her hand slightly, accepting. He enfolded her hand in his, smiled a little himself, and continued walking.
The two teenagers were late getting back from their very long walk, which had been extended well beyond what they had originally planned, for no greater reason than neither of them wanting it to end.
At dinner that evening, Tofu managed to contribute a few complete sentences to the conversation. When he came to bed that night after his bath, Ranma thought to himself that the doctor wasn't looking quite so haggard as he had the previous evening.
‹Looks like Kasumi was right,› he thought to himself. ‹I think that this is really going to work out.›