Chapter 3: Kasumi's Insight

Before note: Eeeh. To respond to some reviews: Yes. Akane is getting a little dependant on Ranma. I'm still playing around with the status of the characters, trying not to make things OOC. Bear with me, please. I'm trying out writing this and trying to improve as I go along. I appreciate everyone who's reviewed- Except one.

People who do not like certain pairings: Don't review me and tell me so. I honestly don't care. If you don't like the pairings in this fanfiction, don't read it. If you were misled, and ended up reading it anyway and something possessed you that you could not hit the 'back' button or close the window, that's not my fault either. I don't mind flames, I don't mind constructive criticism, and I certainly appreciate good remarks. But 'Akane Ranma SUCKS' is none of the before mentioned, and does absolutely nothing for anybody. Come to think of it, don't review ANYONE'S fanfiction to tell them that. Thank you.

But thanks to everyone else. By the way, I'm taking out the OC. I just don't feel like writing with it anymore. Too many people tell me they don't like fanfiction with OC's in them, and I can't help but agree. And I also apologize for being so late with this one. I've been working on a web comic and such.

This is a really long before-note. ON WITH THE FANFIC!

"1/2 'a cup of milk…"

The snow-white liquid poured into the little pink bowl. She set down the large jug to the side, picking up a fork as her hand made its way back. She whisked the contents of the bowl as she moved to the other side of the kitchen. She ducked her head a little to avoid the small curtains hanging from the door way. She surveyed the breakfast she had already laid out and who was already digging in.

"Kasumi! This is wonderful food as usual!"

Her father lifted a bowl of pan-fried rice, an unusual breakfast choice, over his head, before bringing it back to his face. Kasumi couldn't help but giggle. "Thank you, father. Ah…" She stopped whisking momentarily to glance at Akane. She had just come down the stairs in her usual school-wear, the blue dress over the typical off-white shirt, and was rummaging with her foot by the front door for her shoes.

"…" Kasumi turned and went back into the kitchen to pour the egg mixture into the pan. She cleaned out the bowl into the pan with the fork, and then set them both down by the sink. She paused to listen to the others in the dining room for a moment.

"No, I don't want any breakfast. I'm fine. I'm going to be late. G'bye." And then a door shut. Soun sighed heavily.

"Are you going to look for him, Saotome?"

"I think the boy might be right. I mean, he knows himself better than we do, doesn't he?"

"I'm not sure I approve of his just running away like that. It's not very manly. He's acting like a little kid!"

"Still. Maybe we should let him be for a bit? Give him a few more days, then we'll go find him."

"Certainly."

Kasumi furrowed her brow- a rare occurrence. She gently used a shiny black spatula to prod at the omelet. It sizzled, almost angrily, and she jumped a little when the hot oil bubbled and jumped from the pan. She shifted it around a little more and it settled. Turning down the heat on the stove, she took the pink bowl and other utensils she used and turned on the water in the sink. Placing them carefully in the water, as not to break anything, she looked up and out of the window above the faucet.

"… I wonder where he went."

…

"NO WAY! YOU'RE SERIOUS?"

A brown book bag, very reminiscent of a briefcase, slammed onto her desk. A vein throbbed on her forehead and she looked up. A girl with thick, reddish-brown hair pulled back by a pink headband had both fists curled around the handle of the bag. The girl had dark eyes, burning with anger.

"Ranma dumped you? Seriously? He just up and left? What a jerk-fiancé!" The girl declared, louder than Akane would have liked. She instantly began to regret ever telling this girl about what had happened yesterday.

"He didn't dump me." She said in a dead-pan voice.

"Then what would you call it, Akane?" Another friend of hers said. This one had lighter hair, not blonde, not brown, not really any discernable color. Her hair was curly and sitting loosely on her shoulders.

"He took a vacation. People do that. They take breaks. Haven't you ever heard of a student going on a trip a little before summer break started?" Akane raised a brow over chocolate orbs, her short-cropped, blue-black hair pulled behind her ears.

The other two girls looked at each other. The brunette looked back at her. "But… there's still a whole month left before break."

"Oh, you get my point!" She shouted in exasperation, a little louder than she would have liked. She folded her arms and leaned back a little in her seat. She glanced at the clock, counting the minutes left in free-period.

"Whatever. It's Ranma. He always does stupid stuff like this. I don't care what that idiot does. It'll be good to have him out of the way. Maybe things will actually be normal for a while."

"Normal! Ha! That's a laugh!" A boy a few desks over said out loud. Akane wondered how long he had been listening, but she didn't really care. A couple other students laughed, and one projected the memory of when Ranma jumped out of the window, or when he fought with the principle then or there. Akane rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.

Ukyou watched the congregation of students and Akane from a little further away. She was still wearing the boy's uniform, not seeing anything wrong with the little habit. A bandolier of spatulas- all different sizes- was strapped across her chest. She was resting her chin in her hand. She hadn't moved since she heard the conversation drifting her way.

"Ranma's on vacation?"

…

Later that afternoon, after the school bell had rung, Akane couldn't find anyone else to walk home with other than Nabiki, who had offered long before Akane would've thought to ask. So they trudged home together, a cicada or two making its voice heard along the way. It was silent for the most part. They had started past a market place when they saw Kasumi, whom was holding a basket hooked on her left elbow, and had the other hand resting on the side of the basket, as though to make sure it was still there.

"Hey! Kasumi!" Nabiki called out, waving from their distance a few yards away. Kasumi looked up, a little oblivious, but she recognized them both and waved in return. After the younger two sisters made their way over, Kasumi explained was shopping for dinner, and asked for their input on the menu ideas.

"I don't need to shop for as much, I suppose." Kasumi said, though it seemed like she meant to think to herself.

Akane weighed a peach in her hand, she gripped it a little, and then loosened it. "Yeah…" She said, barely paying attention.

"Akane, are you gonna be okay?" Nabiki tilted her head a little as she leaned forward, trying to catch Akane's eye.

"What? Yeah! Of course. I don't care about it anyway." She thought back to last night, where she kneeled on the floor, with tears in her eyes. She shook her head violently trying to shake the thought away. "I… I was mad at him for hanging around Shampoo all the time. It was because she kept making deals with him… but… I didn't want him to…"

"Akane, stop." Nabiki intervened. She placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "It's not your fault he left. He said himself, he wanted to cool down. I'm sure he probably feels bad about it. He always does things like this."

"Yeah, whatever." Akane pushed Nabiki's hand away and continued down the street. Kasumi was paying for the groceries. Nabiki waited for her, watching Akane leave.

"Did she go on ahead?" Kasumi asked, turning around and not seeing Akane in sight.

"Yeah. She can't hide the fact she's worried."

"Do you think she's worried or she misses him?"

Nabiki made a sort of half-chuckle. "Both."

"You know…" Kasumi started, looking up at the evening sky. It wasn't quite a sunset, but the sun was not at its high point, either. Nabiki turned her head with an attentive expression. "All that father and Mr. Saotome ever do is try to make Ranma be a man. That's all Ranma seems to want, too, all he tries to prove."

"Yeah, that's kind of normal, don't you agree?" Nabiki said, folding her arms behind her head. One hand still clutched her school bag.

"Yes, well. Maybe he just doesn't want to be a man all the time."

"He sure acts like a little kid all the time, if you ask me!"

"No, no. I mean… We always want him to be strong and sturdy and dependable, and he just wants a cure, and he never seems happy with what we ask of him. Maybe we ask too much, or maybe just he's sick of it. But either way, we know he's insecure, but he never shows it. Maybe it's out of insecurity that he ran away."

"…"

"What?"

"I'm not used to things like that of you. Stop it. It's scaring me."

"Just because I don't need to use it very often doesn't mean I don't have a brain."

"Whoa."

-Owari!-

After note: Well, more conversation than I would have liked. Pretty boring. I'll work in Shampoo, Mousse, Kuno, and Kodachi in the next chapter. See ya then.