The freezing water was easily enough to make a now female Ranma shoot out of the futon, catching his father off guard as he was about to surprise the boy-turned-girl with a sweeping kick. It took Ranma milliseconds to appraise the older man, grab him roughly by the Gi, and throw him viciously out of their window, making sure to aim for the Koi pond as best he could. 'Dammit, if Pops was waking me up that means...'
He raced downstairs, ignoring his normal silent approach, instead simply barrelling through the house as fast as he could. Even though it was only a short distance to the kitchen he was already panting from the exertion of making it there in mere seconds. Kasumi took the tired boy in with her usual decorum and smile.
"Oh hello Ranma, it's good to see you finally got rid of those nightmares. Sorry I didn't wake you up but you seemed so peaceful." Ranma just slumped his shoulders down.
"So that means the breakfast-" he looked past her, not wanting to see but sure enough the breakfast was already finished, just waiting to be laid out. Kasumi smiled a little sadly at him as she took in his annoyed and equally saddened expression.
"Well, after everything you did for me yesterday I thought it would be okay if you missed just one meal." He looked back to her eyes, now with a small resigned smile.
"Yeah, I guess, but don't get too used to it. I'll be right back to it at lunch." She gave him a heartfelt smile and carried on with her morning activities as he turned around to get seated. While his own cooking was hardly bad he had certainly missed Kasumi's wonderful dishes. Something about the way the older girl cooked just put that little bit more into the food that made it extra delicious. He was going to have to ask her about that someday if he was ever going to improve. Of course his karmic scales had to rebalance themselves so the next one down to the table was Akane.
"Ranma, what are you doing rampaging through the house like that? You're no better than Happosai! Plus you nearly gave my poor P-Chan here a heart attack." Ranma looked up, irritated at the small black piglet happily squealing as Akane tickled his stomach before being returned to its favourite position in her bosom. Ryoga shot him an evil look and Ranma vaguely remembered stepping on something soft in his mad dash down the stairs.
Time had proven it useless for Ranma to attempt to remove Ryoga from his position with Akane so nowadays he merely waited for the day when she would find out about his curse. He still occasionally cursed the lost boy for making him swear on his honour not to tell.
"Oh hey there P-Chan, didn't see you. Man Akane, the little runt stinks. Don't you think he could do with a bath or summin?" The small piglet's eyes grew large as he looked up fearfully at Akane for a moment. However she merely stared daggers at Ranma.
"Stop being mean to P-Chan, geez Ranma it's almost as bad as you picking on Ryoga all the time!" The little pig breathed a sigh of relief, if that was possible in animals, and stuck his tongue out as far as possible. Ranma responded with an apathetic look that only served to infuriate both the pet and its owner. "Why must you be so infuriating Ranma?" She stormed out, strangely not even waiting for breakfast. Her ears must have been burning at that thought because Kasumi quickly popped her head around the door.
"Oh my, I do wish Ryoga wouldn't use his curse in that way." Ranma only nodded before realising what Kasumi had actually said.
"Wait, Kasumi you know?" She giggled at his disbelieving expression.
"Why of course Ranma, Father told me after Ryoga changed back in the furo during one of his baths." Briefly dispelling that disturbing image from his mind Ranma continued to look questioningly at Kasumi.
"But why haven't you done anything yet?" She just tilted her head in an adorable and bemused expression.
"Well we just figured you had your reasons for not telling Akane yourself." Ranma slumped into the seat, defeated at this turn of events. Other people that weren't sworn to their honour knew, yet the little creep still got away with it.
"I can't. Ryoga made me swear to my honour I wouldn't tell anybody about his curse."
The older girl tilted her head in the other direction. "Why ever would you do that?"
He opened his mouth to answer but closed it again, for a moment looking like a fish on dry land. The amusing image caused Kasumi to lightly laugh again.
"I never knew he would use it like this, it was before all the P-Chan stuff. Plus I guess it really was kinda my fault he got the stupid curse in the first place." Kasumi sighed, she knew Ranma would never break an agreement made on his honour; it was what got him into more than a few difficult situations. "And now P-Chan gets to snuggle up all nice and cosy in Akane's bed every night, little pervert."
It was just Ranma's luck that Akane had cooled down enough to start walking back to the table when he sad that last sentence. Immediately the hammer was out and not soon after Ranma was firmly buried in the floorboards of the dining room.
"Really Ranma, that's just low. Getting jealous of a pig, I mean really!" She continued to shoot daggers at him for a few more seconds as Ryoga took on the smuggest expression he could manage as a pig. "I don't need to eat with someone like you right now." She held P-Chan on either side of his face and nuzzled his nose against hers. "Come on P-Chan, let's go out and get some food together okay."
Kasumi sighed again, feeling so helpless to stop all this unnecessary pain Ranma got. However when she hurriedly walked back into the dining room with the first aid kit the slightly dented spot Ranma had been occupying was empty. She did look around for a few moments but she didn't spot the young martial artist anywhere nearby. Resolving to talk to him later about it she returned to her housework.
He wound his way through the house, not completely comprehending where he was going. He briefly passed Nabiki who smirked at him, obviously with something to say. He looked up at her and the words died on her tongue, she was smart and every good business dealer knew that emotion made or broke a deal. In this case she knew that a depressed Ranma thought with a bit more clarity, and that was never good for her.
She allowed him to pass, but not before looking him over, she saw the depression and the obvious pain he was going through yet there was something different today. Like his mother before her Nabiki couldn't place what was off about the pigtailed teen. She walked on by, already mulling it over, she was going to need more data and that meant calling up some contacts to see just what was happening with Ranma.
Apart from the one glance Ranma barely noticed the older girl walk by, it was ironic how wrong she was. Ranma was thinking with anything but clarity; on the contrary, thoughts were spinning through his mind so fast he could barely grasp anything before it slipped through his figurative fingers. Subconsciously he found himself drawn to the dojo, on a different level he registered that was where he had been going all along but he missed that in his depressed haze.
Kasumi watched curiously from where she was working steadily on her chores in the kitchen. While it wasn't unusual for Ranma to get the occasional bad mood it didn't make her sigh any quieter. It didn't strike her as right that Ranma, as caring as the boy could be, had all these problems that only seemed to keep piling up. As far as she knew he hadn't even made any real friends at school, none that would come over and risk getting drawn into the maelstrom of his life.
She immediately noticed the difference in the teen, he wasn't standing straight, his eyes had lost their defiant gleam and he moved without any real purpose. She had always respected Ranma in the way he bore the brunt of his troubles with a cocky smile and barely a complaint. Today it seemed he was finally starting to show the cracks in what many thought to be an indestructible dam that could and would put up with anything they gave it. Kasumi on the other hand had known it was only a matter of time before such facades came apart, depending on the strength of the individual. Ranma was not Atlas, he could not bear the weight of the world forever.
She saw he was heading to the dojo and smiled briefly, at least she knew that helped more often than not. Ranma would work out his troubles even as he flowed from one kata to the next in a graceful dance that was almost as deadly as it was beautiful to watch. Kasumi only had a little bit left to do today thanks to Ranma doing more than he had to yesterday so she decided she would go and watch him practise today. That was another thought that saddened her, in the morning Ranma seemed just as bad yet he had cheered up, now he seemed even worse.
She pondered a while on what she could do to help the young martial artist, yet nothing really came to mind. This is what frustrated her, as his fiancée it was Akane who should be helping Ranma out of these situations, yet as she found out, she was often the one making them worse. 'If I was Ranma's fiancée then I certainly wouldn't-' That was odd, Kasumi had never thought in that way before, if anything she considered Ranma more the little brother. She shrugged it off and moved back to wiping down the table, determined to finish soon so she could so she could watch him practise.
The fresh air and sunlight did nothing to improve Ranma's spirits, if anything it made him want to retreat further within himself to escape the world around him. A small part of him told himself to stop acting and thinking like Ryoga but it was just that, a small part. He was interrupted from his inner monologue by a voice that for the rest of eternity would send shivers down his spine.
"How you doing Ranma ma girl!" It took him a few seconds to realise that he was currently in his girl form, yet Happosai wasn't firmly buried between his breasts.
"What's the deal old man? Finally got rid of ya perverted ways?" Happosai seemed indignant that Ranma would even ask.
"Of course not sonny, I'll never give up my search for the perfect beauty." The much older man took on a slightly more serious tone than Ranma was used to. "I can see something's troubling you girl and as much as you'd like to not believe it, I'm still your master and the emotional well-being of my students is a top concern." Ranma snorted in derision, a little annoyed at him constantly reffering to him as a girl; he was a guy dammit no matter what he looked like.
"Yeah, and a great job you did with your other two students." Happosai quickly bonked him on the head with his pipe, a move that was becoming increasingly difficult for him as Ranma grew in strength. However today Ranma was too tired to even care or block it.
"Those two ingrates locked me in a cave for the better part of two decades, there wasn't a lot I could do about that now was there?" Ranma snorted again but this time kept his comment about just what Happosai could have done to himself. It was the old man's perversity and drinking problem that had put him in the situation in the first place. Whilst Ranma deeply respected the master for his incredible martial arts skill he hoped with all his heart he never turned out like the old troll.
"Anyway Ranma, something's troubling you and I'm here to help."
Ranma shot him a glare. "There's nothing you can do old man, it's my problem and I'll deal with it."
Happosai took on what could only be described as a sagely stance, cross-legged with his eyes closed in apparent meditation. Of course Ranma might have been fooled if he hadn't known the old man for two years.
"If you bottle up all your problems Ranma, you won't like it when they finally decide to come loose." Ranma stared at him oddly, it seemed obvious enough but he still didn't quite understand what he was getting at. "You require an outlet, something to take your mind off your problems and give them time to sort themselves out." Again Ranma snorted; his problems never sorted themselves out, he always had to fix them. Then again he was intrigued by what Happosai was offering.
"What you need Ranma ma boy..." Ranma actually found himself drawing closer to the old man; expectantly waiting "... is to start your own collection of beauties!" Ranma inwardly groaned even as he shrank back from the disgusting old pervert. "Here I'll even start you off, as a present from master to student!" He suddenly pulled out a frilly pink bra right out of his Gi and waved it in Ranma's face, who of course took this as a good opportunity to punt the shrivelled old man. It was only convenient that Happosai was the right shape and size to be a football.
Ranma finally entered the dojo, his mood even more soured as he stared stretching. He may have been angry and depressed but martial arts were ingrained far deeper than any emotion and he knew that training without warming up could give him an injury. He moved into the first kata slowly, concentrating on the precision of his movements and the rhythm of his breathing. By now these beginner exercises were instinctual, requiring no thought on Ranma's part as his muscles moved through tirelessly practised manoeuvres.
Kasumi had finally finished up with all the chores that couldn't wait for a little while and moved out of the kitchen, idly moving toward the dojo. The young woman never really felt much rush to go anywhere, unless of course it was to get the first aid kit on one of those occasions Ranma got hurt. She took her time to reach the smaller building, enjoying the beautiful day and the freshness the spring morning permeated.
She got to the dojo just as Ranma started sliding into some of his more complicated katas. She once again marvelled at the grace and skill Ranma made sure every movement contained, no matter how minute. Again, she couldn't help but notice, even now as he flowed through manoeuvres like water, that something was off about the otherwise unflappable teen. Then she saw his face, it wasn't the usual picture of serenity he'd adopt when using the soul of ice in his training.
Instead it was almost an animalistic snarl, his teeth were bared and his eyes strained even as they seemed to pour out fire from his very soul. Suddenly, before Kasumi could even dwell on the shocking change in Ranma's demeanour, his aura flared up. The only experience the eldest Tendo daughter had with Ki and auras was the occasional scare tactic Happosai and Soun would use, as well as the time Ranma had first learned about the Shishi Hokoudan and developed the Moko Takabisha.
However in this case even somebody as inexperienced as her could tell this was something different. The energy flared up around Ranma's form like an incandescent flame of crimson flecked with the occasional flashes of dark green and gold. It was almost as if the boy had burst into flames on the spot and Kasumi couldn't help but cringe away, despite the lack of heat. As Ranma became more and more involved with his workout the aura only grew larger and brighter, it wasn't necessarily painful to look at but it wasn't pleasant either.
Even so, Kasumi was hypnotised by the display of raw, unfettered power that emanated from the lone martial artist. She was shaken out of her trance-like daze by a resounding crack as Ranma subconsciously began employing his father's sealed techniques. The Yama-Sen-Ken attacks started to put a strain on the dojo, even as Ranma began cracking floorboards and walls with the ferocity of his shadow-fight.
She wanted to run in and stop the teen, before he did something to bring the whole building crashing down on his head. However once again she found her feet rooted to the spot as his aura grew larger and larger, surpassing the bounds of the small dojo like a beacon one might see from space. Absolute rage and fury radiated off of the boy in waves as all his frustration was vented into the air around him.
Soun and Genma rushed out of the house with Nabiki hot on their tails, the two older martial artists, while fairly inept in their own rights, couldn't ignore sensing this much pure power. They too stood in awe of the burning inferno that surrounding Ranma, even as he continued his destructive exercise. They would have also been held in its hypnotic gaze if Soun hadn't spotted his eldest daughter near its very epicentre, as entranced as they had been.
He immediately tried to rush over to take her away from the obvious hazard but when he tried to approach the very air seemed to burn him. None of them could even get close, yet all the while Kasumi seemed completely unaffected by the torrential blaze of energy. Soun would have wept but the tears evaporated from his cheeks before they could even take form.
They all watched on in utter amazement at the boy that only minutes ago seemed to be utterly hopeless and distraught. This wasn't Ranma Saotome, the cocky jock who had hell thrown at him but answered with a grin. This was Ranma Saotome, the man who had killed a god with his bare hands. Any who had doubted his previous power could no longer deny that this boy might even surpass Happosai in terms of ability.
While the others looked on in fear and astonishment, Kasumi saw Ranma in another light. From her position she could see his clothes ripple around him like they were caught in some torrential wind. His hair splayed about, held straight up by some unseen force, yet his body still moved with the undeniable grace and beauty that made what Ranma did, classifiable as an art form. In the same way that she couldn't move her feet before, she found them moving by their own power, slowly, toward the heart of the inferno.
She ignored Soun's cries of protest from behind her and steadily made her way towards the pigtailed teen. The ground around her actually began to bubble and melt from the intensity of the energy yet she still felt completely unaffected. Ranma had become a blur of motion and her eyes could barely keep up with his lightning fast movements but she still found she could approach him. It reached a breaking point as she raised an arm out to touch him on the shoulder, only for him to swivel in an instant, murder in his eyes and arm raised, ready to kill whoever had touched him.
For one single millisecond Kasumi believed he just might do it. It was there in his eyes, the will, the intent, and the sheer ability. However as bright and as powerful as the aura had become, it disappeared the second Ranma laid eyes on Kasumi. All the anger and rage and frustration left him like a demon leaving its host. The raised arm went limp, his eyes became dull and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Ranma nearly flew back through the bed he was on when he opened his eyes, only to be greeted to the sight of one shrivelled Amazon. His head shot up and looked around him where he found his father, Shampoo and all the Tendos save Akane all anxiously looking at him.
"What's going on? Where am I?" He looked around the unfamiliar room; it was fairly plain, painted in a pale lilac colour not dissimilar from the shade of Shampoo's hair. There was a desk in one corner and the occasional framed picture of Soun, Akane, and Nabiki. It was Cologne who answered him in the end.
"You've been brought to Kasumi's room, I recommended somewhere comfortable and she told me it was the most comfortable bed in the house." Now that Ranma thought about it the bed underneath him was in fact extremely comfortable, at least when compared to the futon he had slept in for the past two years. "You gave us quite a scare son-in-law; that blast of energy was like nothing I have ever felt before; I feared you may have burnt yourself out."
Ranma was scared by that, he did remember what had happened to cause him to pass out but the actually frightening thing was he had only been using half of his full Ki reserves. He conveniently forgot to mention that to the elderly woman, no need to startle her now.
"So what actually happened?" Cologne looked him over, part of her wanted to believe that Ranma really didn't know however she had known him long enough to understand he tended to act dumb.
"I'm afraid I would need more information before I come to any conclusion, however this isn't uncommon with Ki manipulators. It was most likely due to a sudden change in emotion." When everybody in the room gave her the same uncomprehending look she continued with a sigh. "Some of you at least know that the use and manipulation of Ki is strongly tied into the wielder's emotions. When somebody like Ranma builds up so large an aura based of one emotion alone, if he suddenly feels another then the two opposing Ki clash. This was what momentarily shocked your system into overload as your body compensated for the warring energies in your system." She then addressed the rest of the room.
"What might I ask did the aura look like at its height?" Soun donned a blank look, he had been so focused on his daughter he had failed to notice anything specific. Genma likewise had been so proud of his son displaying such tremendous power he too had neglected to note anything specific. Nabiki didn't look ready to divulge any information on the matter without a price so it was Kasumi, who until now had been timidly standing in the corner of her room, who answered the older woman.
"I believe it was red, with splashes of green and gold." It almost sounded strange, as if she were describing some piece of abstract art. Cologne nodded her thanks.
"If you could be a tad more specific child." Kasumi nodded, thinking a bit harder about what she had seen, trying to avoid the memories of how Ranma's body danced across the floor of the dojo.
"Well, the red was very light, almost pink, except it became darker the further from Ranma it got, more to the colour of a rose. The green was just the opposite, dark, like the colour of seaweed. The gold hurt to look at but it shone like metal." Cologne seemed genuinely surprised at the detail of the girl's description but it didn't show on her face long enough for anybody but Nabiki to notice.
"Thank you child, that was most helpful. Well based on that description boy, I would say that you were feeling extremely frustrated, on the point of anger as well as more than a bit of depression. Am I right?" Ranma grunted, unhappy at all these people standing around talking about his emotions. When Cologne kept looking at him he eventually grumbled.
"Maybe a bit, I mean I coulda told ya that." Suddenly he found himself submersed in a hug as Shampoo launched herself onto the bed, wrapping Ranma up as tightly as she could.
"Aiyah, Ranma angry because he no get to spend time with Shampoo!" He squirmed on the bed, trying to break the vice-like grip on his body. Unfortunately the only way to do so would have been to press on Shampoo's chest and knowing Ranma's luck he certainly wasn't going to do that!
"Urgh, Shampoo get offa me!" Suddenly the weight was lifted and for a second he believed Shampoo had actually listened to him for once. Instead he saw Cologne calmly pull Shampoo away from him, apparently using no effort whatsoever to restrain the struggling girl who only looked imploringly at her.
"Why Great-Grandmother do that?" Cologne looked worriedly between Ranma and Shampoo, an odd look crossing her face for a moment.
"Come now Shampoo, we've done all we can for son-in-law, best to leave him to rest for a while." Shampoo knew better than to argue with her elder, especially one as powerful as Cologne but that didn't stop her from shooting half-angry, half-questioning looks at her. She gave up fighting and instead turned back around to face Ranma before being practically dragged out of the room.
"Shampoo come by later with too too delicious ramen for Airen!" Ranma groaned; that was certainly going to be fun. He was just lucky Akane hadn't been here to see Shampoo's display of affection or he was sure Kasumi would either need a new bed or a patched roof. As he thought about the girl he figured she must still be out with her precious P-Chan. No doubt she would come back, see the state of the dojo, and immediately blame him without any thought to the reason. Granted he had done the damage, but she had no way of knowing that.
Genma seemed content that Ranma wasn't injured or sick, assuring his future was still secure, so he left the room. Soun quickly followed to make sure the panda wouldn't mess with any of the pieces on the Shogi board. Nabiki gave the boy one last calculating look before demurely following the two older men out. Ranma and Kasumi followed the girl with their eyes up until she closed the door of her bedroom, leaving them alone. Ranma made a move to stand up but Kasumi quickly moved over and gently pressed him back down onto her bed.
"No Ranma, you heard Elder Cologne. You have to stay in bed until you recover." The concerned look on her face was beautiful, making her look like a mother who had a scare with their child.
"Really Kasumi I feel fi-" Her sad smile was enough to make him reconsider; nobody could argue with Kasumi, it was just one of her virtues. With a sigh he flopped back down onto the bed while Kasumi politely sat herself down on the side, handing Ranma a cold water cloth. He refused as he noticed for the first time that he was male and decided he would like to keep it that way for a little while. She nodded in understanding and once again the room was bathed in an awkward silence.
"Ranma, what really happened there?" She actually surprised him; the smothering silence had managed to last for an entire minute until she felt brave enough to break it. For a moment he did feel tempted to lie and say the first idea that came out of his mouth. However one look into her eyes revealed concern, not fake concern just to make sure he was okay, but a genuine care for his well-being that was both touching and highly alien to the raven-haired teen.
"Honestly Kasumi, I'm not really sure. It was all kind of fuzzy. One minute I'm training, thinking about everything that had happened in the last few days, the next I'm surrounded by an aura that just got hotter and hotter. When it was getting really big I started to feel angry, angrier than I have been in a long time. Then the angrier I got the bigger the aura became like some vicious cycle. Then I turned and saw you and um-" She looked at him expectantly and his head dropped a little.
"Kasumi I feel really ashamed about this but-" He looked up into her eyes, trying to find the strength he couldn't find in himself at the moment "-I was going to kill you." The look of shock in her eyes was enough to get him to sit bolt upright, madly waving his arms in protest. "No, no nono nononono I didn't mean you!" She looked back at him, slightly fearful which broke his heart a little, but at the same time curious.
"I meant, well, I felt somebody coming closer to me and I just wanted to hurt them. I didn't care who it was or what they wanted, right at that moment I just wanted nothing else." He tried to look into her eyes but she kept averting her gaze, looking anywhere but his face, which wasn't making this any easier. "But it was you. The instant I saw you I just knew I couldn't ever hurt you and like that all the anger and frustration and sadness was gone. It left me kind of hollow but then I guess I passed out because I woke up here." The older girl looked up at him, finally meeting his eyes, he breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see any fear in those brown orbs, but he didn't quite comprehend the emotion he did see.
"Ranma, thank you for being honest with me." For some reason, which Ranma literally couldn't determine, a smile found its way onto his face.
"It's really hard not to be with you Kasumi, trust me." She giggled as well and just like that all the awkward tension was gone and the two could smile at one another. He got up with a bit more cheer and this time Kasumi didn't stop him. She watched him leave, smiling not out of sadness this time, but relief. It was always good when the people around her could smile, if only that could never change.
She resolved then and there, as she watched the pigtailed teen leave her room, that she would try her hardest to lighten the burden on his shoulders. She told herself the reason was because she wanted to see him smile more, ignoring the part of her mind that said otherwise. That night her dreams were carefree, only bordered by a hint of darkness when she tried to think of what was to come in the next few days.