ClubCafé presents
The Widow :: Chapter 4
Kasumi's chopsticks paused halfway through their journey to her mouth. Her face took on a light look of confusion before she voiced her concern.
"Move out…of this house? What for?"
Ranma, whose brain had just caught up with what he had actually said, instead of what he thought he wanted to say, quickly amended his suggestion.
"Well what I mean is, that it would be good for you if you moved away from the place where most of your abuse took place. You know, like outta sight outta mind? But I mean, that's only if you want to."
Kasumi flinched at the word abuse, and seemed to mull over Ranma's suggestion for a bit, slowly chewing on her food.
"But where will I go, and what will I do with this house? It might take a while to sort that out…"
"Well there's room at my place if you don't mind, and this place would sell in no time!"
"I suppose…but I'm not sure…"
"Hey you don't have to do anything you don't want, it's just my opinion." Ranma gave her a warm smile. "I want you to know that you are your own free person, and you make your own decisions."
"Thank you Ranma, that means a lot to me."
After a comfortable pause in conversation, with the sound of breakfast filling the air, Kasumi looked to Ranma to pose a question.
"Do you think maybe I could see your place before I make a decision? I mean, if you don't mind of course…"
"Oh yeah of course! We could go today if you want, or do you have plans already."
"No, no plans… I don't make plans anymore…"
"Ah…well after you finish up, I'll clean up and we can head over to my place."
"That sounds ok, except I'll clean up. I can't let you do all the work around here." Kasumi said with a small but genuine smile. As small as it was though, it caught Ranma off guard to see one of Kasumi's gentle caring smiles once more. He could almost see the light slowly growing back in her soul, and was pleased that he had a part in it. Letting out a small cheerful laugh, he stood and gathered his plates.
"Heh, if you think you can get these before I get to the kitchen, then be my guest!" Ranma teased.
"Oh you! Don't think I won't try!" Kasumi said moving to block off the doorway.
"Here I'll even go easy on you. I'll only use my head to carry the plates."
"Hmph. And here I'd thought you'd gone and grown up."
Setting down the plates he was carrying on the table, Ranma swayed in mock anguish,
"Gasp! As if you would even think about it!"
The sound of stifled giggles made Ranma crack an eye open from below his hand that covered his face. As he glanced over to see Kasumi holding her sides as she giggled away, he felt his spirits soar at the sight of her in a good mood. Taking advantage of her position, he quickly grabbed all the dishes and darted past Kasumi and into the kitchen, grinning at her reaction.
"Hey! You cheated!"
"Haha! You know how it is Kasumi-chan! You snooze, you lose!"
After things had settled down a bit, Kasumi went to change into something more appropriate for going out in, rather than a nightgown. As she descended the stairs, she saw Ranma waiting by the door.
"Hey I kinda forgot to tell you. I roof-hopped all the way here, so I have to go back to my place to get my ride. I don't think it'd be appropriate to carry you all the way to my place." Ranma said with a sheepish grin.
Kasumi on the other hand was a bit disappointed that she had to miss out on one of her little fantasies, but it was true that it would be a little strange to be carrying a grown woman around in broad daylight. This wasn't Nerima anymore. One thing Ranma said caught her attention though.
"Ride? You have a vehicle? Since when?"
"Well a friend of mine kinda got me hooked on the whole thing, but I'll let you see for yourself when I come back. I shouldn't be more than ten minutes, tops."
"Ok Ranma, I'll see you in a bit then."
"Yup, Ja!" Ranma said as he shut the door to her house.
To help pass the time, Kasumi made up a small pot of tea, poured a cup for herself, then put the rest into a thermos. By the time she had finished nearly ten minutes had passed.
As Kasumi headed back into the main room, she could hear the rising exaust note of an oncoming vehicle. She couldn't place it but she knew she'd heard it before. It almost seemed to high pitched to be a car though. As she opened the door she saw a man pull up on a sleek black motorcycle. Looking closely at the rider, she saw a small pigtail poking out of the back of his helmet. It was Ranma! This was confirmed as he took off his helmet and smiled boyishly at her.
"Oh my Ranma, I didn't know you liked motorcycles…" Kasumi said as she took in his machine. She didn't know a whole lot about motorcycles, except for that they were fast and sometimes dangerous. The black paint shone in the midday sun, accented by a bright red stripe down the center of the tank, and the letters 'GSX-400' stood out clearly on the side of the tank. A large round headlight adorned the front, and lowered handlebars capped off the whole image.
"Bosozoku…?" Kasumi mumbled to herself.
"Hey! I'm not one of those street punks!"
"Ah! Sorry Ranma! I didn't mean it! It was just the first thing I though of when I saw this."
Ranma laughed it off.
"Haha, I know. I was only joking. Anyways, here's a jacket and a helmet. Do you know how to put one on?"
"I think so, just help me if I'm doing it wrong."
As Kasumi strapped on her helmet, she looked at the bike a bit apprehensively, and Ranma seemed to catch on.
"If you don't want to ride, that's ok Kasumi. We can just take a cab or something."
"No no it's fine! I've just never rode a motorcycle before. Not even a scooter."
"Well don't worry then! It's really easy! Just climb on the back behind me here."
As Kasumi climbed on, she instinctually gripped Ranma around the waist with her arms and knees.
"And just do that! I won't go very fast, so just hang on and enjoy the ride!"
Kasumi nodded and seemed to relax a little bit as Ranma put on his helmet and started the bike back up. As he revved the engine a couple times, Kasumi noted that the sound of the engine sounded a bit different than most of the bikes she'd heard. It's note had a rich tone that didn't break or waver, and quickly scaled down when Ranma let off the throttle. Figuring it was he lack of knowledge with bikes or mechanics in general, Kasumi tightened her grip as Ranma slowly rolled out onto the street and accelerated smoothly down the road. Soon though, all her thoughts became occupied with the feeling of almost soaring over the pavement as she, Ranma, and the machine glided through the slight traffic of the afternoon.
So yeah…a few notes. The bike Ranma rides is an 86 Suzuki GSX-400. While this may seem small compared to North American bikes, it's actually the most popular class in Japan, due to the fact that you really don't need much power beyond that on the roads they are blessed with. If you've seen Initial D, you know what I'm talking about. Consecutive hairpins, and tight rolling corners mean you don't want to have a lot of engine weight to slow you down. A nice balance of power and weight it where the 250 – 400cc class excels. Also, the term Bosozoku. Google it, or Wiki it. It's kinda funny. You see them in manga a lot. Basically a biker punk.
And yeah…sorry for the dead-ness. I'm just rambling around in life right now lol. Luckily I have my laptop.
Thanks guys.