Chasing the Rainbow
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any related characters in any way, shape or form.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay in bringing this out. Real-life, university courses for our beta-reader, you know how it goes. Anyway, it's pleasing to note that you all enjoyed the previous chapter so much, and I hope you will continue to enjoy – we've only four "specials" to adapt before this work, at last, comes to its close.
Chapter 22: Another Bad Day For Ranma! Nodoka's Coming To Visit? Part 1
Ranma groaned as consciousness returned to him - and with it, a flood of pain. "Agh, my head..." He growled to himself, levering himself off the floor. "What happened?" He asked himself.
"You got hit in the head silly. You were acting naughty so Azusa and Tsubasa made you better again!" A girlish giggle filled Ranma's ears before he heard a sigh. "Oh, don't be so pouty Tsubasa-kun! He's all better, see? So put the hammer down."
"You're the one who gave it me Azusa-chan."
Ranma blinked and found Tsubasa Kurenai placing a rather large mallet out of sight.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Saotome… sorry about the headache."
"Why on earth did you hit... oh, no..." Ranma groaned as the memories came flooding back. Had he really tried to put the moves on Kodachi? Had he really destroyed Ukyo's shop, and thrown the fact Shampoo's mother was dead in the Chinese Amazon's face? Had he really made a sign telling everyone that Happosai lived in the Tendo Dojo with stolen underwear?
Tsubasa noticed the look. "If you're wondering if you really did act like some kind of perverted, violent lunatic yesterday, it happened, all of it. Even the tornado that the JSDF is cleaning up right now."
Azusa switched on a very large television to display the local news and true to Tsubasa's words, soldiers and engineers were cleaning up while the Nerima Construction Firm, well known for their incredibly fast reconstruction efforts, was busy putting houses back up.
Ranma sank his head into his hands, moaning feebly. "Oh, how am I going to dare to show my face in Nerima again after this? The girls are going to kill me! To say nothing of what the old goat and his two goons will try to do. If I'd known this was going to happen, I would have... I would have... hey, wait, nobody actually got hurt yesterday, did they?" He asked the couple.
Azusa shrugged while Tsubasa spoke up. "The moment the civilians saw you fighting Ryoga they went into home shelters that were originally built against air strikes and hurricanes. The only thing you hurt was the cheque books of the insurance companies."
Azusa nodded, "Yup! Even silly Ryoga only got a bruising!"
Tsubasa nodded. "He wandered off somewhere after he regained consciousness. Probably going to train."
At that, Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's a silver lining in this black cloud... so, not that I'm not grateful for the exorcism," no matter how much it still hurt, he thought to himself, "But what were you two doing looking for me, anyway?
Azusa giggled, "We want you, Ranma Saotome, to be our best man for Azusa-chan and Tsubasa-kun's wedding!"
Ranma's jaw dropped. "You... you want what?"
"Heheheh! Silly Ranma! We want you to be Tsubasa's best man for our wedding! It'll be pretty with ribbons, frills and everything kawaii!"
Tsubasa blushed. "She proposed to me about a week ago. How could I refuse? It was during a figure skating competition, she even had the ring and everything."
"...You mean you two actually want to get married? But you're so young!"
Azusa promptly bopped Ranma lightly on the head, giggling as she did so. "Not now silly! Azusa knows that, the wedding won't be for ages yet, we're just getting the planning out of the way."
"You don't get the best man when the wedding's a few years off, ya know." Ranma pointed out, calming down.
Tsubasa coughed. "Actually, she's already organized the venue and the catering, along with sending out the invitations. The wedding is in a few months and she's pulled a lot of strings in terms of security so that she could allow you to invite anyone you want and make sure they don't cause trouble and blow the place up because of an argument."
Azusa nodded with a cute pout. "Azusa is going to have the bestest wedding ever! No one is going to ruin it for Azusa!"
"…A few months isn't ages from now!" Ranma yelped in disbelief.
The kawaiiko figure skater sulked visibly. "It is when you want to get married now, it is." She grumbled.
"We can't do this sort of thing right out of nowhere, Azusa." Tsubasa gently chided her.
Ranma stared at them with the expression of someone who had just felt the world fall out from under him. "...You mean you two are actually getting married? Like, when you're still teenagers? Of your own free will?" He asked, his voice sounding as if it came from very far away indeed, yet still managing to carry an unmistakable tinge of disbelief... maybe even a little horror?
Tsubasa nodded. "Of our own free will. Don't look so horrified, Saotome; it's not like your situation where you'll probably get murdered at the altar."
Azusa giggled, "Teehee! Ranma has a funny face! Tsubasa-kun loves me and Azusa loves Tsubasa-kun, so it's okay!" She put a finger to her lips in thought, "Neh, Tsubasa-kun, lets keep Ranma at our house after the wedding, that way we can show him that being married isn't as scary as those other girls make it out to be!"
Tsubasa chuckled, "Lets see if he can at least survive until the wedding first Azusa-chan."
"I'm not afraid of getting married!" Ranma bellowed like a clap of thunder.
Azusa laughed, "Silly Ranma, why would you be afraid of marriage? Azusa thinks you're scared of the brides-to-be instead."
Tsubasa shrugged. "They've been looking for you for the past two days, and they're not really happy."
"I'm not afraid of them either." Ranma snapped, though a part of him did whimper at the thought; he knew how dangerous the girls could be when they were mad over a little misunderstanding - here was something much, much worse.
Azusa giggled, "Then get up and go see them silly Ranma! Tell then about the wedding when you do!" With that she bounced off the fluffy, frilly, horribly expensive and soft bed and skipped away, "Tsubasa-kun! Lets go make crepes!"
Tsubasa nodded. "Coming Azusa-chan!" He turned to Ranma, "I wouldn't blame you if you decided to stay a little longer but this bed is actually designed to catapult people out of the house if the guest stays too long." At Ranma's incredulous stare he shrugged, "I know, but I love her all the same." With that he walked off to find Azusa.
Ranma watched them leave, and then, muttering and mumbling to himself, got up. They hadn't understood... of course, how could they? Ranma could barely understand them. Marriage? At their respective ages? The whole idea was absurd! Yes, he hadn't asked for any of the girls his heart was being tugged between, but even if he had asked for them and wasn't caught up in this love dodecahedron like he was, he still wouldn't have wanted to get married to them just yet. None of them were ready for something like marriage!
...But it wasn't as if he had a choice, now was it? Even now that he was taking the matter of who he would wed more firmly into his own hands, he would still have to marry whichever girl he chose, or else the chaos would not only continue, it'd just get worse! Given the preference, Ranma wouldn't marry even a girl he loved until he felt they were both ready for it... but life had dealt him the hand it had, so all he could do was make the best of it. Walking to the nearest window, he leapt out; he had a great damn mess to be clearing up...
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Nerima... A lone figure walked elegantly and purposefully through the streets, draped in a good kimono, a cloth-bound parcel in her arms. Nodoka Saotome had returned to Nerima, hoping once again to finally meet her son at long last. She missed him, oh so very much; it had been terrible living these many years without him. Oh, and her husband too. It would be nice to see that funny Ranko Tendo and Mr. Panda again, and maybe she might be able to see those little friends of her son - she smiled, thinking to herself of the strange, but very nice seeming (and very pretty) girls that her son had made such good friends with - but, really, the person she most wanted to see was Ranma. It was undignified for a lady to run. So, she settled for the briskest walk she could manage in her kimono.
"I really think you two are going just a tad overboard here." Kodachi commented as she sat on a nearby wall as Ranma landed nearby.
"Yeah, what she said! Yeek!" Ranma yelped as a storm of throwing spatulas shredded the area where he had been standing before a chúi plowed through the wall near Kodachi."
"Come on girls! I said I was sorry!" Woosh! "Oh come on! That was a low blow!" SLAM! "...Okay, that was a low blow." Ranma stared at the large sword impaled between his legs as it quivered in the wood of the tree behind him.
"Ranma think saying sorry make up for everything?" Shampoo asked, yanking the sword out of the tree.
"Yeah, you tried to kill us!" Ukyo added.
"Oh come on! I was possessed! I couldn't exactly play nice could I?" Ranma replied as he tried to shift away from the blade.
"So that gives you the right to smash up my store? To try and cook us all? I mean, yes, Shampoo was the idiot who tried throwing fireballs at you..." Ukyo conceded.
"Like you had better plan!" Shampoo snapped. Then, she sniffed, "Besides, you just jealous Shampoo prove she better fighter then you." Turning to Ranma, she then frowned. "Even so, you no can just mock Shampoo's mother like that! How you like it if Shampoo mock your mother for stupid seppuku contract?" She then paused for a second, looking thoughtful. "Wait, how you know Shampoo's mother be dead, anyway?" She asked.
"Uh, you blabbed about it during our training in the mountains? Remember, while you were going nuts?" Ranma blinked in confusion; he always thought Shampoo was fully aware of what she had said during those three days.
Shampoo looked somewhere between embarrassed, confused and thoughtful. "Shampoo say many things... but I pretty sure I not say something that private!"
"What training in the mountains?" Ukyo asked, jealousy obvious in her tone.
"That none your business." Shampoo replied, poking her tongue out mockingly at her rival.
"Girls, can we get back onto the topic at hand here?" Kodachi sighed.
"Well what the hell do you three expect me to do anyway?" Ranma said in exasperation, now less scared and more thoroughly bored with the situation. 'Geez, at least Ryoga or Mousse would've started a fight by now.'
"Okay, we get back to punishing Ranma for doing bad things." Shampoo declared.
"That's not the topic I was talking about." Kodachi icily corrected her.
"It's not?" Ukyo asked, confused.
"No. The topic is... what on earth are you talking about? My beloved's mother wanting him to commit seppuku? What travesty is this!" Kodachi cried in outrage.
"..." Shampoo turned to Ranma. "You not tell her yet?" She asked, clearly confused.
Ranma shrugged, "She hasn't been around much since I made my decision so I didn't really think it was important anymore. Besides, dating three girls on a schedule would probably count as being extra-manly or something in her book."
Kodachi's eye twitched and she began rapidly tapping the tip of a finger against her upper arm. "Will somebody please tell me what's going on here?" She demanded.
Ranma sighed, "Here's the short version: before Pops took me on 11 or so years of torture and madness simply to turn me into a near-untouchable fighting machine, he pledged to my mother that if I was not some kind of paragon of manliness, judged solely on her own bizarre merits, Pops and I would gut ourselves with her as our second which is why when you eventually meet her you'll see that she's carrying a katana, a decent one with a good sharp edge, everywhere she goes."
Ranma continued, "To prove that this happened, she'll also be carrying the original signed pledge. And that is why instead of returning to my mother, I've been spending over a year at the Tendo place, not just because of a drunken agreement that seemingly has seniority over the girls that I've been engaged to previously, including Ucchan and Shampoo, but also because of a goddamn suicide pact."
Kodachi was silent, eyes wide and staring, jaw hanging partially open. Blinking in surprise, Ukyo stepped up and then gently waved her fingers in front of the Kuno girl's eyes, which didn't trace them. "I think she's fainted, Ranchan." The Martial Arts Okonomiyaki master said, surprised.
Ranma cocked his head, "Really? Huh, I was expecting something more. I don't know what, but I expected more." He scratched his head, "Should I go get a bucket of water for her?"
At that, Kodachi snapped back to her senses, looking straight at Ranma as water filled her eyes. "Oh... Ranma darling..." She whispered. Then she burst into tears and hurled herself across the intervening space to latch firmly onto the startled Ranma's waist. "It's so cruel! How could your parents do that to you?" She wailed, blubbering like a baby.
Ranma glanced down at the sobbing girl and then tentatively started patting Kodachi's back, "Please...stop...it's not that bad. I mean, sure, Pops is a bastard, and my mother has a few screws loose, and at any moment she could command me to end my life, and... My life sucks."
"What a ham actress." Ukyo grumbled to Shampoo.
"It works, though." The Chinese girl pointed out.
Kasumi hummed contentedly to herself as she finished off some dusting; things were going much quicker then usual, thanks to her new little sister Kurumi, who was happily polishing the floor for her. She and Natsume were really such sweet-hearted girls... if only father wouldn't treat them so coldly. They were certainly more helpful around the house than Akane (currently out jogging) or Nabiki (currently locked in her room, throwing a tantrum)... though, in this case, she supposed she couldn't really blame her older-older-little-sister (she smiled at the private joke) for being out of sorts. That Mousse might be Chinese, yes, but it's not as if that made him any less of a person, now did it? He was polite, well-behaved, reasonable and, most importantly, he and Nabiki really seemed to be good for each other; Kasumi couldn't remember the last time Nabiki had actually been a normal teenage girl and gone on dates just to have fun, rather then to pull off a business deal or empty somebody else's pockets.
Of course, she had another reason to frown when she thought about how her father had demanded Nabiki break things off with Mousse. During her angry tirade, Nabiki had mentioned something Kasumi had previously been unaware of; last winter, before Christmas, when that strange egg-catching man she had only belatedly realized was her dear old friend and childhood crush Yasukichi from down the street had arrived, the others thought she had fallen in love with him based on how she had been acting after the first encounter. That in itself was amusing, maybe a little embarrassing, but according to her sister, Soun had flown into an outrage at the idea of some man "taking his Kasumi away from him". That did not bode well for her future if she allowed such an attitude to continue... Kasumi cared for the family's name, of course, but while she might have fallen into the homemaker role after her mother died, she had no intention of just pining away a lonely old spinster, spending her whole life cooking and cleaning for her father and sisters! She might currently have other things that took precedence, but she did have her eyes on finding a boyfriend of her own at some point. To be honest, she kind of would have welcomed the engagement if Ranma hadn't turned out to be... well, Ranma... but she had hoped that, once Akane and Ranma were married, she'd be able to start taking up a bit more independence with her littlest sister (at the time) safely brought into womanhood. And to start with, she would have gone out and found a boyfriend.
Yes, if her father thought she was going to be an old maid or, almost as bad, a Christmas Cake, then he was going to have another thing coming! She may not be quite so... adamant in her protestations as Akane was, but there was still a core of iron under Kasumi's fluffy exterior.
Perhaps fortunately, she heard a voice calling from the door, and gesturing at Kurumi to finish what she was doing, she went to see who it was. Face lighting up with genuine delight, she promptly declared loudly enough that her father and Genma could both hear her from the living room.
"Why, if it isn't Auntie Saotome! How nice to see you again."
Meanwhile, two men were discussing life over a game of Shogi.
"We nearly came to disaster yesterday Saotome, but thankfully we came through it." Soun Tendo's expression then went dark, "Now if only I didn't have to learn my little girl was dating a gaijin!"
Genma snorted, "Don't you think you're overreacting Soun? Yes, the boy's Chinese, but it's not like he's Korean."
"That's not the point! Put yourself in my shoes; what if it was Ranma and that Shampoo girl?"
Genma choked out a laugh at Soun's words. "A completely different situation, Tendo old friend. My son is engaged to Akane and he'll soon realize that he must abide by my wishes on that matter. Your daughter on the other hand has no such engagements and that Mousse boy is over his former obsession, I'd say it's perfectly fine."
Soun foundered, "But still...!"
Genma waved it off, "Yes, yes, you'd rather the match be between two Japanese. This is the modern era, Soun, and the boy has his own employment, so I hardly think you can claim he's some good-for-nothing."
Soun grimaced. "You wouldn't be saying that if it was your son being seduced by a foreigner."
Genma shrugged, "As I said before, he has an obligation."
"Speaking of obligations, how are we supposed to get your son to return here?" Soun grumbled as Genma moved a piece on the board.
"You're the one who threw him out in the first place Soun."
"He was supposed to see sense! To realize the error of his ways and then come crawling back to beg forgiveness for his actions!" Soun moved a piece and Genma countered.
"And in the process forgot exactly that he is more than capable of surviving on his own and those girls chasing him would be more than willing to give him a free meal. Not only that, by tossing him out, you've essentially declared open season on my son and now they're sniffing around him in a fever-pitch to make up for lost time!"
Soun wilted; there was only one reply to that, "Well crap."
Just then Kasumi's voice rang out, "Father! Mrs. Saotome is here to visit." In a single motion, Genma dove into the Koi pond and returned a dripping wet panda.
Soun stared flatly at the animal, "Please don't drip over the game board." With that he stood to greet his visitor and guest.
"Good day to you, Mr. Tendo." Nodoka smiled as Kasumi led her in. Such a nice, polite young girl; so sweet and traditional. "I was hoping that maybe Ranma might be here?" She asked, hope in her voice.
"Ah, I'm afraid he just left a while ago Nodoka-san, I'm not sure when he'll return. You know how boys are, always out until all hours of the night." Soun smiled weakly as he replied.
Nodoka looked disappointed; why, why did it always seem that whenever she tried to find her son, he was nowhere to be found? Then, looking past Soun's shoulder, she saw an amusing sight and smiled slightly. "Oh, what a clever pet you have. To think a panda could play shogi - and against himself, too." She commented.
Soun twitched as he smiled again; Genma was going to pay for that in round two. "Ah yes, Mister Panda is going to be staying with us for a long while now, Ranko had to return home on important business so we're taking care of him until she returns. A pity, but she promised that it wouldn't be for a long time."
"Oh... Ranko isn't here either?" Nodoka asked, sadly. She didn't know why, but it was always so nice to spend some time with the redhaired Tendo. She always felt strangely better about not seeing her son if she got to see Ranko.
"Father, I... Oh! We have a visitor? Father, who is she?" Natsume asked politely as she entered the room, walking through the sliding doors leading out to the garden past Mr. Saotome... she wondered for a moment why he was in panda form, the details of his strange transformational powers having come out soon after she and her sister had finally found their way home. She dismissed it as unimportant; he often turned into a panda - he seemed to enjoy it, sometimes.
Soun quickly made a decision then. "Ah, Natsume, allow me to introduce you to Nodoka Saotome, my old friend Genma's wife. Nodoka-san, this is Natsume. Apparently my wife promised a friend that I would raise her daughters if something happened to her and well, situations occurred and now I have two new daughters." He sent a very meaningful glance at Natsume that all but screamed for her not to say anything to the contrary as he continued, "I'm sure you'll meet Kurumi, the younger of the pair, later as well. Natsume, would you please keep Nodoka-san company for the moment while I go give Mister Panda a walk around the house?"
Natsume wondered what was going on... why was her father acting so strange? Still, at least he was accepting them as his daughters for once... daughters by adoption, yes, but that was better then nothing. Besides, maybe that was actually true... Pushing the thought aside for later examination, she politely bowed to her father's guest. "Hello, Mrs. Saotome, it's very nice to meet you. May I ask why you have come to visit us?"
"My, such a polite young girl." Nodoka smiled. It was like having two Kasumis. "I came here looking to see my son... it's been such a long time since I saw him." She noted mournfully.
"You're Ranma's mother?" Natsume confirmed. "Well... Ranma kind of doesn't live here at the moment. See, there was this little... disagreement between me and Akane when my sister and I first came to visit..." She trailed off, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment, even as Nodoka's eyes grew wide with horror.
"...So where is my son?" She demanded, softly, yet firmly.
"He's set himself up a camp in a vacant lot, not too far from here... I can take you there if you want." Natsume offered.
"Yes! Please do!" Nodoka replied, grabbing the stunned girl by the hand and pulling her along to the door, barely remembering to give her apologies and goodbyes as she went.
A few minutes later, Genma and Soun returned from their 'walk' and Soun immediately noticed Nodoka was missing, "Kasumi, did Mrs. Saotome leave already?"
"Auntie Saotome left with Natsume-chan a few minutes ago, they're going to find Ranma." Soun and Genma paled.
"What do we do? If she gets to the boy and he spills the beans...I'm dead! I'm dead!" The panda started rolling on the floor, signs discard and whimpering, while Soun tried to calm him down.
While no one would ever find out, Kasumi's smile became just a little wicked for a flicker as she continued cooking.
"Get a hold of yourself Saotome! We obviously have to make sure that they don't reach him!"
Kasumi grimaced, just a little, and resolved that her Father was going to receive a touch of salt with dessert tonight.
"But what about the girl? Natsume?" Genma signed. "We can't do anything with her escorting my wife!"
Soun nodded. "We'll just have to be careful then."
Ranma dusted his hands in satisfaction; his temporary living place was finally looking decent again. All of the rubbish had been bagged and was being dragged away, the girls helping him sort through it all. "I... thanks for taking care of... that stuff." He said, sheepishly gesturing at the bag of panties Kodachi was holding.
"Fear not, Ranma-darling, I understand the situation." She assured him. "But, truthfully, how much longer do you intend to remain in this dismal place? Why, surely -"
"I think we can talk about that later." Ranma hastily interjected. He wasn't going to let another fight break out around him... he'd only just gotten away from the last one!
"So, why did Tsubasa and Azusa show up to pull your fat outta the frier the other day, Ranma-honey?" Ukyo asked curiously.
"They wanted to invite me to the wedding." Ranma replied, currently engaged in sweeping up the last of the broken bottles.
You could have heard a pin drop, and then...
"Kyaa! Oh, that's wonderful! I always knew they'd hit it off!"
"Shampoo too-too happy for them!"
"Oh my, they must have gotten engaged rather early."
The girls clustered around Ranma as Ukyo started the new interrogation, "So Ranchan, is it just you? Did they say anything about us?"
Ranma scratched the back of his head, "Uh yeah, they said that I could invite you girls and Azusa said something about hiring security that could keep us in line, whatever that means."
"Its too-too bad they not ask us to be bridesmaids, Shampoo would love it!"
"I dunno, all those frills and that..."
"Why did they invite you Ranma-darling?" Ukyo and Shampoo paused in their differing views about what sort of dresses Azusa would be putting on her bridesmaids, let alone the rest of the wedding, as Ranma smiled weakly.
"Turns out, they want me to be the Best Man."
The girls' eyes went starry as they imagined Ranma in a tuxedo and Kodachi suddenly blinked, "Wait, when is the wedding?" Shampoo and Ukyo nodded in realization as well and Ranma chuckled while rubbing the back of his head.
"Can you believe it's going to be in several months from now?"
The girls gaped at him. "WHAT! They're getting married so early?" Ranma was about to respond to Ukyo with his own agreement when she suddenly added, "It's going to take me weeks to find a proper dress!"
"Shampoo knows! Getting dress for wedding is too-too expensive. Oh, but its worth it to see Airen in a wedding suit!"
"Hey, wait a minute!"
"That's right, and Ranma darling needs a suit if he's to be the Best Man! You can't just show up in everyday clothes! No offense."
"Uh...none taken? Why do I need a suit for a wedding?"
Kodachi laughed slightly. "Why its the decorum of it all Ranma-darling! I'm sure that some nice civil ceremony will be nice with these two..." Ukyo and Shampoo bristled at her tone, "But I assure you Ranma darling, for our wedding you will be wearing a proper suit and I'm sure you'll look dashing in it! Oh I can just see you now..."
The eyes of the three girls went glassy for a moment as their imaginations engaged before Ukyo shook herself loose first and slapped a fist in her palm.
"Right! There's only one thing to do! Tomorrow we're going shopping for Ranma's wedding suit!" The girls nodded and Ranma sighed before turning and freezing.
There in front of him, with an ecstatic expression on her face, was his mother, and if there was any doubt she had heard that last part, Nodoka Saotome made sure to dispel it.
"My son's getting married! Oh Ranma! I'm so proud of you!"
"M...M...Mom?" Ranma squeaked out.
"Mom?" Kodachi asked, surprised and confused. Especially when she saw the rather pale, sickly expressions on her fellows' faces.
"Oh, Ranma... it's been so long!" Nodoka cried, bursting into tears as she surged forward to embrace her son. Ranma couldn't move, couldn't think; all he could do was act, throwing his own arms around his mother and burying his head into her shoulder.
Unnoticed by any of them, Natsume sniffed and wiped a tear away. Family was such a beautiful thing. And unnoticed even by her, Soun and Genma watched the proceedings in horror. If Ranma was to receive just one errant splash of cold water! This was going to be... tricky...
We decided that this chapter was long enough it would be best to split it into two chapters, allowing us to focus more strongly on just what sort of havoc Ranma is going to get into while trying to keep his mother ignorant of his curse. We hope you'll enjoy it… and yes, while there is another filler chapter after part two of this storyline, the chapter after it will be our adaptation of Niaho My Concubine…
For the curious, Yasukichi is an anime-only character, and yes, he is a childhood playmate/crush of Kasumi's, as we see in her end-of-episode flashback when she finally recognizes him – the charm he wears around his neck was the last present she gave to him when he had to move away, a safe childbirth charm that Kasumi got from her grandmother.
To preempt any complaints about my depiction of Kasumi's thoughts on romance, despite common fan perception, Kasumi has never canonically expressed any interest in Dr. Tofu as a romantic partner – she does mention she'd like Ranma to be older then she is in the first episode/chapter, but that's more of a desire for a mentally mature lover then it is for a physically mature one. And mentally mature isn't Dr. Tofu, not when Kasumi's involved – the fact he flips out like he does around her, to the extent Kasumi is honestly surprised to hear from Akane that he actually doesn't always act like this, would be a turn-off for her, and more likely has precluded her from ever seeing him as a potential boyfriend in the first place. Kasumi treats the "good" doctor nicely because that's just what she does, not because she's attracted to him. Akane may think otherwise, but then again, who would seriously take romantic advice from Akane?
As for the "older-older-little-sister" gag, yes, that is a Trigun reference. Nabiki is Kasumi's little sister, but she's also older then Akane, and now that Natsume (who is also about 17 years old) has revealed herself, Nabiki is the "older" of the two older little sisters because Kasumi grew up with Nabiki and Natsume only moved in a couple of weeks ago.