Another Rainy Day in Nerima
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any related characters in any way, shape or form.
Author's Notes: I am so glad that the fandom is so civilized these days; I have yet to have a run in with one of the "Knight of the True Fiancée" loons I've seen mentioned in older Ranma/Non-Akane fanfics, and for that I'm eternally grateful. Anyway, here is the first (and, likely, last- not least of which because I've no other Kasumi-orientated 'roots' left) Ranma/Kasumi matchup.
Chapter 5: An Unlikely Union
Ranma-prime decided that he needed to look at a different timeline and after a few moments of thought, figured he might as well see a timeline involving him and Kasumi for a change and the mirror shifted to oblige him. After skimming through the various timelines, one caught his attention and he recognized it as the time that he had been wearing that so-called Lady Killer Bandage.
As he focused on the timeline, he saw the time where he had started to flirt with Kasumi but was interrupted early by Soun. On a whim, he decided to see what would have happened if Soun hadn't interrupted them. The eye paused, the scene on it flickering before everything restarted.
"You know what I don't get Kasumi?" Soun stopped as he heard Ranma's voice filter from the courtyard, "What I don't get is why you didn't take the engagement. I mean, I know I have some faults but then nobody's perfect." Soun didn't hear Kasumi's reply and was about to come in when a thought occurred to him. Why not listen and see how this plays out? Curiosity overriding his instinct to dash in for the defense of his eldest daughter, Soun Tendo leaned against the wall and listened in.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ranma calmly let a breath whistle through his teeth as Kasumi watched him out of the corner of her eye, "I couldn't take the engagement Ranma-kun. It just wasn't right." Ranma scoffed at that.
"Wasn't right? Kasumi, if there is anything that isn't right its me engaged to that paranoid brat that you call a youngest sister." Unknowing of Soun bristling nearby, Ranma continued before Kasumi could rebuff him, "It's true and frankly Nabiki wouldn't be any better. But you, we could have made it work. You're sensible and practical and while I admit I am not exactly the most mature person, I can be level-headed when I need to be. Hell, I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I had actually been a given a choice, you would have been my first choice."
Kasumi blushed as Ranma sighed, "Oh well, guess I gotta settle for the Mistress of Hammers and her hobby of seeing if a man can reach the moon without a spacesuit." He grinned at Kasumi, "Want to give me a kiss for luck in case I don't make it?" Kasumi's blush deepened and just as Ranma was about to do the deed, that was when Soun had enough and stormed in.
"Ranma! Explain yourself! How dare you cheat on my lovely girl, with her own sister no less!" Soun bellowed, shaping his aura to render his head into a ghastly, looming monster to further emphasis his point. Both Ranma and Kasumi shrieked in fear at Soun's sudden explosion into the courtyard, and Soun immediately cancelled the technique in abashed shame- he hadn't meant to scare his precious Kasumi, after all. As he tried to comfort the upset girl, one of the very few times Kasumi had ever shown any emotion than her usual friendly obliviousness, Ranma snapped out of his dazed state as the bandaid's aphrodisiac wore off and he promptly fled, wondering why the hell he said something like that to Kasumi of all people.
Things... pretty much went the same way they had in the real world. Ranma wandered into the park, was accosted by Ukyo and Shampoo, went on a "half-date" with each of them in turn, was confronted by a ticked-off trio of Akane, Genma and Soun, was finally revealed to have been under the effects of the Lady-Killer Bandaid, and things went back to normal. For about a week. Though he didn't bring it up, Soun hadn't forgotten what he'd overheard Ranma telling Kasumi, and found himself wondering: while the Saotome/Tendo engagement was the right thing, was having Akane take up the duty of being Ranma's fiancée the right thing? Though the two had occasionally hinted at having some feelings for each other, they were so stubborn about the arrangement, and they fought so! Though it was primarily Ranma's fault, Soun had to admit that Akane did add some fuel to the flames on rare occasion. She had such a fiery temper, and she was so independent, and what's more she could be so very stubborn about something once she made her mind up on the subject. Whereas Kasumi... ah, Kasumi was the moon to Akane's sun. Gentle, peaceful, yet with a quiet, unspoken strength- why, she had even tamed the Evil Master!
What Ranma had said while under the effects of that cursed bandaid rang with truth; if Ranma had been engaged to Kasumi from the start, it was very likely they would have been married by now. Still, Soun's musings remained musings alone, until the day of the Argument...
It started simply enough with Akane once again giving Ranma the cold shoulder and supposedly teaching Ranma a lesson, when Ranma decided to make a public apology in front of the entire school, if only to get everyone else off his back about 'hurting her feelings'. Akane had rebuffed him and that was when it boiled over just as the pair got back from school.
"I can't believe you! I actually bother to apologize about the whole mess, and you say that ain't good enough? Then what the hell is good enough for you to accept that I'm actually sorry huh?"
"You were just faking it! You didn't think I knew everyone in school was pressuring you to apologize. A jerk like you doesn't know the meaning of sorry!"
"Yeah? Well a tomboy like you certainly don't know the meaning of being a bigger person and acceptin' an apology for what it is! But that don't matter to you considering how everything is supposedly my fault!"
"OF COURSE IT'S YOUR FAULT! EVERYTHING THAT"S HAPPENED SINCE YOU ARRIVED IS YOUR FAULT!"
"Like the fact that you were spineless enough to be forced into the engagement with me?"
There was a rushing of air before Ranma's dry drawl cut through the air again, "And I bet you're gonna blame me for not standing still and letting you hit me as well."
"Stand still and take your punishment!"
"For what? I've lost count of everything I apparently need to be 'punished' for. Maybe you oughta give me a list so I can keep track!"
So engrossed the pair was in their argument, one that everyone in the general area around the dojo could hear quite clearly. Finally, Soun stepped in, Demon Head leading the way, as Genma separated the squabbling pair.
After Ranma and Akane had calmed down, partly due to the scare from the Demon Head technique, Soun decided that now was the time to take action, "Everyone to the living room, I am calling a family meeting!"
Soun waited until all were seated and quiet, inhaling deeply through his nose before closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of it.
"Ranma, Akane, lately it has come to my attention that you two have been having... difficulties with the engagement. More so than usual, I mean."
Ranma snorted, "Ya think? Not my fault she can't get it through her thick head that I'm actually trying to apologize to her."
Akane bristled immediately, "Why you..."
Soun's hand slapping onto the table disrupted the brewing argument before it could escalate any further. "Enough! For a long time now, Genma and I have ignored your disagreements as mere lover's quarrels, but lately I have begun to wonder whether this engagement might be asking too much of you, Akane."
Akane sniffed, "Of course its asking too much of me! I have to put up with this insensitive jerk every day of the week and if its not one of those other floozies fawning over him its one of the others and he doesn't do a damn thing about it!"
Ranma snorted, "Yeah? And just what the hell am I supposed do then if you're so smart?"
Akane growled, "How about trying to act like a proper fiancé for once!"
That earned a short laugh, "Oh? You saying you actually want this engagement now? Now that's a change! Since when have you ever wanted this- hell, since when did I say I wanted this?"
"Ranma! Akane! Sit down and be quiet, the both of you! This instant!" Soun snapped.
Dumbfounded by Soun's almost unprecedented display of spine and authority, the teens did as they were told. Waiting until they were settled, Soun continued in the same level tone. "As I was saying, it seems that this engagement may be too much for you to handle at your young age, Akane. So, for the sake of the schools, I am hereby transferring Ranma's betrothal from you to Kasumi."
That, naturally, resulted in a massive communal gasp of shock, disbelief and horror. The eerie silence that followed lingered for about a minute before uproar ensued.
Back in the real world, Ranma-prime blinked at seeing not only Soun muster up all that spine, but to actually make a really tough decision like that...Ranma gave a low whistle, it just went to show that sometimes Soun Tendo could actually surprise you sometimes. Looking at the storm, and wondering why the district wasn't underwater by now, Ranma-prime stretched slightly and after a brief exhalation, he focused back on the mirror to see how the other fiancées might be handling this new development. It didn't take long for the mirror to find Shampoo and Ukyo apparently holding a meeting.
"Well? What Ukyo want?" Shampoo asked cautiously, unconsciously readying herself to strike or dodge in case Ukyo had finally decided to have a battle to determine rightful ownership of Ranma.
"Look, Shampoo, I don't like you and you don't like me, but we gotta put aside our differences for Ranma's sake." Ukyo promptly announced.
Shampoo stared at her, gobsmacked. "What is wrong? What happened to airen?" She asked, concern and a hint of fear tinging her tone.
"Nothing's happened to him, but that idiot Mr. Tendo has finally broken his engagement to Akane." Ukyo responded, looking deeply unpleased by this.
Shampoo blinked twice and cocked her head aside in confusion; why was Ukyo unhappy with this? "So what wrong with that? Ranma no longer bound to spoiled brat, so where is problem?"
"Because now he's transferred the engagement to Kasumi." Ukyo answered, only deepening Shampoo's confusion.
"...Like Shampoo said, where is problem?" The Chinese girl asked, leaving Ukyo gobsmacked.
"What's wrong?! Kasumi is completely different to Akane, that's what's wrong! If Ranma is engaged to a Tendo who doesn't berate and beat on him all the time, you know he's gonna fall for her."
"You have valid point." Shampoo conceded. "But you forgetting one key thing."
"What's that?" Ukyo asked sullenly.
"Kasumi is nicer than Akane, yes, but is also boring." Shampoo answered simply.
Ukyo's face promptly met the pavement. Prising herself loose, she looked up at Shampoo in disbelief, prompting the Amazon to illuminate her obviously confused rival.
"You not interact much with Tendos since coming here, so you not really know them. Shampoo spoken to both Akane's sisters and Shampoo can tell you this; Ranma not fall in love with Kasumi. Kasumi is too much... homemaker type. Ranma is... wild, free spirited. He disrupts the quiet, uneventful life Kasumi lived before and want to live again. She bore him, he cause trouble for her, so they not get along. They not fight, no, but they not love each other either. So that means, only rivals we have now... is each other."
Shampoo gave Ukyo a predatory grin, prompting her to scramble to her feet in anticipation of a fight.
Instead, Shampoo shook her head and turned to go, waving dismissively. "Still, you worry enough to try and warn Shampoo in situation where you stand to gain by keeping Shampoo ignorant. Shampoo respect that. We not fight today. Later, though, we back to war."
Ukyo watched her go, then turned and went back to her own restaurant, musing on what she had been told as she went. It did make sense; on the few occasions she had met the eldest Tendo daughter, she was pretty much a normal girl, almost a stereotypically normal girl, and that would be kind of boring to someone who lived martial arts to the extent he had spent his entire life on a training trip. But, then again, that was also the sort of situation to make a guy appreciate the 'nice, unassuming, homey type'- after all, wasn't one of the reasons Ranma stayed in Nerima because he didn't really want to go back on the road to get his cure? Then again, seeing as how breaking off and going it alone would mean swimming to China and back... for the second time... she could understand why. Still, this was not reassuring her...
From his own, unique (one might almost say 'godlike') perspective on things, Ranma-Prime personally had to agree with Shampoo's belief. Not just because of what he knew of "Kasumi-Prime", but because so far he saw every timeline stemming from this one resulting in his "breaking up" with Kasumi. The only real variation was whether one of the other girls "stole" him from her, or if Soun decided to switch things back to Akane. This was the only timeline Ranma had seen so far where he didn't get together with the 'base girl'. Well, it really was no surprise- while Kasumi might be a more positive person than Nabiki, she was easily as poor a match for Ranma in her base personality. Still, there was at least one timeline where they did get together, and Ranma-Prime decided to examine it in more detail, wondering just what sort of outside event could have influenced things in such a way that he and Kasumi could fall in love...
In what all concerned would later feel was definite proof that the divine powers had a twisted sense of humor, the instrument of this particular timeline's birth would prove to be none other than the Grandmaster of Anything Goes and the most perverted dirty old man in the world, Happosai. It took place roughly a week after Soun had made his big announcement. Everyone else was out of the house at that time; Akane, Ranma and Nabiki at school, Soun at a council meeting, Genma at his part-time job as Dr. Tofu's assistant. It was just Kasumi in the house, relaxing in front of the television now that her chores were done. Having gotten up and gone to the kitchen for some snacks, she came back to find Happosai now watching the television as well, his trademark loot-sack bulging with purloined underwear.
"Hello, Grandfather. Would you like a nice cup of tea?" Kasumi asked, her usual pleasant smile on her face.
Happosai nodded his head happily at her, a comfortable smile on his own place; he liked Kasumi. Most people who knew her liked Kasumi in at least an abstract manner, but Happosai really liked her. She was the sole person in the household, check that, the world, who actually acted as though they liked and respected him, as well as treating him as though he wasn't some irredeemable monster or unholy pervert.
After receiving his tea, Happosai sat quietly as he thought about Ranma's engagement to Kasumi and the gears in his head started churning. Since this was the only person who had ever been nice to him, Happosai decided to see how Kasumi was taking the news of the switched engagement.
"So Kasumi, how are you taking your father's decision to have you engaged to Ranma?"
Kasumi made a thoughtful noise before she replied in her usual passive tone. "Oh, it is a little sudden."
Happosai blinked. "That's it? Just that it's a little sudden? I mean, surely you know that unless Akane proves that she's mature enough to take Ranma back then you are marrying him by default. Doesn't that perhaps worry you in the slightest?"
Kasumi again smiled passively, "Oh, I'm sure Akane would be disappointed about that."
Happosai refrained from shaking his head; he knew that soon enough there was a good chance that Soun would eventually cave to his own romantic delusions and see another confrontation between Akane and Ranma as a sign of renewed affections, and that would certainly rob any chance of seeing if there was an actual spark between Ranma and Kasumi. Wracking his head for an answer to this dilemma, a light went on in Happosai's head as he remembered something that just might do the trick.
After finishing his tea and heading up to his room, Happosai rummaged around in his possessions until he found it. It was a plain black leather bag with a length of gold chain securing it. Happosai grinned as he remembered what this bag contained. He found it after translating a scroll he stole in his youth, and this was supposedly a powerful magic dust that was named the Love Dust of Aphrodite, at least that was the name his translation of the scroll managed to produce. Still, when he had tried it on an unsuspecting couple, the dust seemed to work as they fell madly in love with each other so the name had to correct. And if Kasumi needed help finding love, then Happosai figured that this was the easiest and best way to do it.
Unfortunately for the Ranma in this dimension, and thanks to the built in translator on the mirror for the benefit of Ranma-Prime, this was not Love Dust, but rather Lust Dust of Aphrodite- and it was the most potent aphrodisiac ever made. Ranma-Prime wondered if Happosai even realized that Kasumi might not truly even be interested, but then figured that the old letch was probably so focused on helping out Kasumi that it never crossed his mind.
With the dust securely in hand, Happosai began plotting how to get Ranma and Kasumi alone together so that he could dust them without interference. Fate, for some perverse reason, conspired to aid him. As it turned out, Soun was invited to an important council dinner, and he was able to bring Genma with him as a guest, Akane had a sleepover with friends while Nabiki apparently was also staying with friends for the night.
Happosai's luck continued to shine on him by taking both Ukyo and Shampoo out of consideration for the night; an influx of customers meant that the two were far too busy to close up their restaurants that night, and thus they had no chance to slip away to steal some time with Ranma. After that, though, Happosai had to take matters into his own hands; he was just doing a quick round of the neighborhood, both to keep his eyes open for any possible threat to his plans and to scope out where he should direct his attention for his raid once he'd finished using the Love Dust on Ranma and Kasumi, when he'd come across none other than Ryoga Hibiki, having apparently heard of Ranma's switch in engagement and now aiming to punish him for cheating on Akane. Well, Happosai couldn't have that, now could he? He knocked Ryoga out cold, and promptly sent him flying through the air to land outside of Nerima's boundaries; with the aptly-named Eternal Lost Boy's sense of direction, it'd probably take at least a week for him to find his way back.
When it came to Kodachi, Happosai wasn't sure that the crazy Kuno girl was planning on sneaking out to drop in on Ranma, and the Kuno mansion seemed fairly quiet when the ancient master landed on the roof. Still, why waste an opportunity to do a quick raid and with expert skill, the old man artfully landed in...a greenhouse?
Looking around at the array of exotic plants, some that Happosai thought had long gone extinct and some that he had thought were legends themselves, the old lecher quickly and quietly began sneaking through to find Kodachi's bedroom when he stepped on something that made a loud *CRACK* that echoed into the darkness.
Watching through the mirror, Ranma-prime idly wondered how Happosai would deal with Mister Green Turtle as the old man looked down and saw that he had stepped on what looked like the thighbone of a goat.
"Now why would there be a goat's thighbone in a greenhouse?" Happosai stared at the bone for a few more seconds when he saw something else illuminated by the rays of the moon. It was a footprint, a large and deep footprint. Happosai blinked and scratched his head, "Now why is there an alligator's footprint in a...green...house." Happosai's face paled ever so slightly as the realization came to him, "This isn't just a greenhouse." Then he heard the rumbling hiss behind him and bowed his head, "Dammit."
Happosai leaped into the air as a set of giant jaws came together on the spot he had been with a loud meaty thump that seemed like a thunder-crack, given the size of the beast that the old man was looking at. No wild alligator grew that huge and even the few he'd seen in zoos were dwarfed by this monster as its head snapped to the side to regard Happosai with a baleful yellow eye before it hissed again and turned to face the old man.
Now, Happosai knew he couldn't simply kill this beast, not if the likely owner was who he thought it was, but he had to stop it somehow before it woke up someone up. Then he saw it; a rather large mango that was about the same size as him, and came up with a plan as he grabbed the fruit and vanished behind a bush.
Slowly, the monster alligator approached the place it had seen the prey vanish behind, and as it came into range, the alligator struck, charging through the bush to snap up its late-night meal with a wet squelching sound and swallowed the dripping mess whole. It seemed to sigh in contentment, before its eye widened and it began to groan pitifully, causing a light to turn on and a door to open to reveal Kodachi Kuno, who looked around her greenhouse before shaking her head.
"Oh, Mister Green Turtle, you know not to eat the mangos, they give you terrible gas." The alligator gave off a monstrous burp to punctuate her statement, whereupon the girl tsked and began massaging its scaly hide.
High above, Happosai swore never to come back here ever again, no way was he going to risk being eaten by that monster just for some underwear! Not unless he brought some steaks along next time! Still, he had sought to ensure that Kodachi wouldn't be able to interfere, and he had succeeded, even if it was in a way he would never be able to boast about. Bounding back to the Tendo Dojo to carry out the most important part of his plan, namely actually using the dust, Happosai allowed himself a moment to daydream about Soun and Genma happily slaving away to fulfill his every desire as payment for this service he was providing. And they'd better be happy about it; he was delaying tonight's panty raid to make sure this worked!
"Man, this place is really quiet with everyone gone." Ranma looked around the empty dining room while Kasumi ate in silence. Truth be told, it was a little eerie without the constant chatter and noise of the other residents of the dojo. Apparently Soun and Genma had decided that Kasumi and Ranma should have a night to themselves and get to know each other better, while they went out to eat along with Akane and Nabiki.
Not even Happosai was in the Dojo, but that was probably because he was another panty raid again. The only thing that Ranma had been expecting to happen was for Ukyo, Shampoo, hell even Kodachi to come blasting in by now, no way that they wouldn't be finding out that he and Kasumi were supposedly having a 'romantic' dinner alone. But so far, everything was going peacefully. Heck, even Ryoga hadn't show up and frankly if Ranma had a watch, he could set it by the regularity of Ryoga's attacks.
But no, nothing and no one was showing up to screw this up. Then Ranma sneezed, along with Kasumi. They glanced at each other and Ranma shrugged, to which Kasumi smiled slightly= while Ranma smirked as well; it wasn't as if a little dust was going to mess this up nice night with Kasumi. She really did look beautiful with that serene expression on her face.
Ranma and Kasumi continued eating, unaware that above them a smiling Happosai was carefully emptying a bag of dust into the room. Sometimes it did the old heart good to help romance along, and besides this should help that heir of his finally realize just what he was missing out on when it came to girls! Smiling in a grandfatherly manner, Happosai continued with his ill-fated plan.
Eventually, the effects of the dust began to kick in. While Kasumi simply seemed uncomfortable at first, Ranma was trying hard to suppress the sudden, strange excitement he felt being near Kasumi.
Ranma-Prime, watching through the mirror, knew that the dust, especially in the amounts Happosai was dumping into the room, was certainly going to overcome the self-control of his counterpart very shortly. While some of his fellow students had jokingly commented that Ranma wouldn't know the meaning of the word 'libido', Ranma knew better in that he did have a libido and yes he knew what it was for. The simple reason why he acted like no girl turned him on was two-fold. Firstly, Akane's one-girl war against perversion would have him setting new world records for frequency of violence-propelled flights. Secondly, when it came to the other girls, a mere hug would have been seen as him saying "please take me to the marriage alter right now!", let alone anything remotely sexual. So he clamped down on himself hard with all the self-control he could muster.
But even the most formidable defense can be worn down and sure enough the dust was starting to make itself felt in Ranma as the youth found himself at first trading loaded remarks with Kasumi, who was responding quite intently as well since her defenses weren't as strong. No matter how hard Ranma tried, his tongue and body were rebelling against his mind as suggestive dialogue, innuendo and more crossed the table, courtesy of the increasing amount of magic powder they were inhaling. Up above, Happosai nodded in satisfaction and grabbed at the bag containing the Lust Dust before bounding off to continue running interference for the couple.
Unfortunately for the couple in question, Kasumi had now crossed the table and firmly locked lips with Ranma, and even as he was trying to get his body under the control of his swimming mind, Ranma was responding.
The last coherent action shared by the two before their vision went black was to quietly whisper something that Ranma-Prime couldn't catch before they gave in and the mists, in response to Ranma-Prime's subconscious, rolled in to obscure any viewing of what was to come. They unfurled again on the next morning, early enough that the other residents of the dojo were still sleeping, having come back long after Ranma and Kasumi had… "retired".
Kasumi groaned softly as she came awake- not because of the time, for she was long-used to waking up around dawn (how else was she to get started at making breakfast for her family), but because of a painful throbbing sensation in her head. A more worldly person would likely have likened it to a hangover, but Kasumi had never gotten drunk before, so she had nothing to compare it with. As she grew more awake and thusly more aware of her present situation, her concern with the headache faded away- she was not alone in her bed. She could feel a pair of arms locked tightly, but not painfully, around her, as well as another chest -a distinctly male and bare one- pressing itself against her own. And from the sensations she was now receiving, Kasumi was as naked as he was. Now, Kasumi might be somewhat naive, but she is not stupid- she knew all too well what was going on. Hesitantly, as though afraid to confirm what she already knew to be true, she opened her eyes to meet the blue-gray eyes of none other than Ranma Saotome, alight with a mixture of dread, foreboding, horror and sheer terror.
Kasumi's room echoed with a sudden scream, and it was really a miracle that no one else heard it. Despite what one might be thinking though, the sound had *not* come from Kasumi Tendo- in fact, she was watching with equal parts bewilderment and disbelief as Ranma, having been the one to scream, scrambled from her bed and slithered across the floor until he backed into the wall, babbling desperate apologies and denials in equal measure as he did. Kasumi tuned him out, not from any malice, and calmly took stock of the situation- inside, she was panicking almost as badly as Ranma was, but she had been taking the 'calm, collected and level-headed' role for so long that slipping into it came as naturally as breathing. In truth, she was essentially attempting to ignore the reality by concentrating on the finer details.
She and Ranma were both naked... they had woken up in the same bed... a prompt examination revealed a smear of blood on the sheets. The evidence was irrefutable. But how had this happened? Could it be that Ranma was...? No, even if he was attracted to her, Kasumi knew that Ranma was really a very shy and goodhearted boy; he would never have done something like take advantage of a girl, much less force her to sleep with him. She strained to remember just what had happened the previous night...
Ranma, meanwhile, was basically babbling in horror, pushed to the proverbial mental breaking point under the weight of what he had done. Ranma had a personal code, a bizarre and oft-distorted one, but a code of conduct all the same, and treating women right was one of the highest commandments on it. As he babbled denials and apologies in equal fervor, his mind raced, until finally it jammed to a halt on the one way he could possibly atone for something so profane as sleeping with a woman against her will. Suicide. So caught up in his own mental turmoil was he that he didn't notice that Kasumi had been unconsciously tuning him out... until he made his offer. That caught her attention.
"What was that?" Kasumi snapped, Ranma flinching back as though he was expecting her to strike him, something that made Kasumi feel guilty. In a more gentle tone, she repeated herself.
"I said, I know it ain't worth anythin' compared to what I did to ya, but I'll take my life for you, if that can atone for what I did." Ranma replied, naked shame and self-loathing practically oozing from his pores, the horror he was feeling at what he had done visibly written all over his face.
"No." Kasumi replied. "I will not have you kill yourself for something that you would never do of your own accord. Sleeping with me isn't in your nature."
"So how the hell did we end up in bed then?" Ranma remarked smartly, self-loathing evident in his tone.
Kasumi looked thoughtful for a minute, then it all clicked into place. "Happosai." She murmured.
"What?" Ranma asked, confused by the way Kasumi was starting to look angry.
"Happosai did this! I don't know how, I don't know why, but he must have used some kind of potion to make us go to bed." Kasumi said, anger visibly breaking through her control at such a betrayal.
"You really think so?" Ranma asked. It sounded logical, but what could the old pervert's motives possibly be?
"Who else could it be? Shampoo or Ukyo would have wanted you for themselves, I don't think our fathers would do something like this, and you certainly couldn't have slept with me of your own free will." Kasumi replied in a distracted tone.
"I never said nothing about you being uncute!" Ranma protested, prompting a confused look from Kasumi.
"What are you talking about? I know for a fact you're too shy to even kiss a girl- how on earth would you have been able to do something more than that?" Kasumi asked.
Ranma opened his mouth to answer, then shut it with a soft click as he slumped on the ground, "You're right, no way I'd even kiss you and even if I wanted to, that would mean the both of us being sent to the wedding altar after Akane decides to bury me for being 'perverted' to you." He made a face, "Well, at least she can justify it now."
Kasumi shook her head, face calm but eyes alight with simmering anger, "Not if she doesn't know and believe me, we are not going to give her the chance to know. Is that understood Ranma-kun?" Staring at her eyes, Ranma could only nod. When the day started, it was as if nothing had ever happened, except that an astute observer would have noticed that Kasumi's usually genuine friendliness towards Happosai had apparently evaporated; evident primarily in that she stopped her little offers of things like cups of tea. Nobody else noticed, too wrapped up in their own concerns, and even Happosai would usually get too distracted to do much more than idly think about it on occasion.
Soon however, it was clear that their one night of 'romance' had an unintended and uninvited result. After the third week of unexplained nausea, Kasumi quietly purchased a home pregnancy test and, to her quiet horror, her suspicions were confirmed.
The test read 'Positive' and it was only a supreme effort of willpower for Kasumi not to faint at this newest revelation.
"So, what's wrong Kasumi?" Ranma asked, closing the door softly behind him. Kasumi had spoken to him after dinner that night, secretly telling him that they needed to talk. Kasumi looked up at him from her position on the bed, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears, causing Ranma to unconsciously suck in his breath as his heart skipped a beat.
"Ranma... I'm pregnant."
Silence reigned in the wake of that statement. Finally, Ranma inhaled a shuddery breath and rubbed his eyes, while Kasumi began looking at her feet, doing her hardest not to start crying. Tentatively, Ranma approached Kasumi as though to comfort her, but he stopped just shy of touching her shoulder.
"So... what are we going to do?" Ranma asked, talking more to himself than to Kasumi, who nevertheless took it as being addressed to her.
"I don't know!" She replied, hysteria tingeing her voice as she finally began to cry.
Cautiously, as though afraid she would shatter at his touch, Ranma gently sat down beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder "Whatever choice you make, I'll support. If you want an abortion-"
Kasumi recoiled in horror, a wordless cry of disgust spilling from her lips as she stared at him in disbelief. Ranma was taken back by her reaction, then figured that a traditional girl like Kasumi would naturally be repulsed at such a suggestion. With a tired sigh he shook his head, feeling the weight of reality twining about him like a leaden shroud.
"So... what are we going to do then? We can't just hide this..."
"Who says we can't?" Kasumi asked. Ranma blinked in shock, prompting Kasumi to elaborate. "You know that Father and the others aren't the most observant of people, particularly with your knack for getting in trouble. Surely we can keep this our secret from them, at least until we figure out how to tell them!"
Privately, Ranma had his doubts, but even he could see just how distressed Kasumi was, so he simply nodded his assent. He bit back a yelp when Kasumi, having resumed sitting by him, suddenly flung her arms around him and began to weep again. She sobbed for several moments before Ranma tentatively put his own arms around her, trying to offer what meager comfort he could.
Watching through the mirror, Ranma-Prime began to wonder if this timeline could have a happy ending. His impatience getting the best of him (though it wasn't as though he couldn't watch this again in more detail later- after all, he owned the Eye of Zygyg now), he began to fast-forward through the mists to watch as things unfurled. To his amazement, and a little disgust, Ranma and Kasumi actually managed to keep the fact of Kasumi's pregnancy hidden from everyone for a solid four months straight. During that time, Ranma tried to offer what support and comfort to Kasumi that he could, something that, naturally, made Genma congratulate Soun on the wisdom of his decision, as well as reinforcing Soun's ego and severing Ranma's ties to Akane. Not that Ranma would have been able to live with himself if he'd tried to get back with Akane, thus abandoning Kasumi after dishonoring of her. Kasumi, in turn, was touched by Ranma's attempts to support her- in truth, she came to rely on him, like a faithful crutch.
Maybe it was because of how abstract the position he was taking was, but Ranma-Prime couldn't tell in the slightest when or even if love began to bloom between Ranma and Kasumi. In fact, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe they didn't, if they didn't simply stand together because of ties of honor and duty. Still, remain together they did- though they didn't do anything as a couple until that fourth month. That was the month in which their secret was finally revealed, courtesy of Akane overhearing (due to jealousy-inspired snooping) the fiancées talking about their unborn child. Naturally, there was uproar, but things managed to quiet down after Ranma and Kasumi revealed the role Happosai played in things.
Needless to say, though, Ranma and Akane never spoke again in this timeline- in fact, she left the house as soon as she could, first to go to college, then on a training trip with Ryoga, whom she drew closer to due to his faithfulness to her in comparison to Ranma's "treachery". That was one major upheaval, though others came much sooner- though Soun and Genma naturally insisted that Ranma wed Kasumi before the child was born, they first insisted that they deal with Ranma's other engagements.
Ukyo was fairly easy; the okonomiyaki chef was both reasonable and had never lost her initial paranoia about the engagement transferal. She still erupted into an outraged fury upon hearing of Kasumi's pregnancy, and practically threw them out of her shop, declaring the two of them dead to her. She packed her things and left town that very day, and was never seen again by the "Nerima Wrecking Crew"
While emotionally dramatic, though, that didn't hold a candle to the confrontation with the Amazons. Cologne had to actively restrain the grief-maddened Shampoo from attacking Kasumi, and had added menacingly that she would be compelled by Amazon law to take her great-granddaughter's side should she declare a blood feud with Ranma and Kasumi. That had definitely put the ball in their court; though he tried to ignore it, Ranma had to admit that Cologne had taught him both of his most powerful techniques, the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken and the Hiryu Shoten Ha, and he knew from personal experience that she had even more techniques. While he could handle Shampoo in a fair fight, he wouldn't want to press his luck against Cologne- particularly not with the lives of his wife and future child on the line. Finally, the quartet managed to reach an accommodation: in an arrangement that had Ranma wanting to choke on the irony, it was decided to 'pass on' the engagement. One of Kasumi and Ranma's children would be engaged to marry one of Shampoo's children. Shampoo and Cologne agreed to this, though they warned Ranma and Kasumi before they left that they would expect Ranma to follow in his father's footsteps in regards the arrangement, and not Soun Tendo's. Puzzled by that, they left the Nekohanten, which like Ucchan's was closed down the next day, the Amazons having returned to Joketsuzoku.
Ranma-prime watched as things seemed to settle down in Nerima after that and after the wedding of Ranma and Kasumi, decided to skip ahead to the birth of the child and like his counterpart in the mirror waited in suspense, though he refrained from doing the agitated pacing and stalking, since there wasn't enough space and he'd likely look a little silly to Honest Abe.
Finally, the child was born and to both Ranma's surprise, it was a baby girl. Ranma decided that now he should listen in and watch a bit more closely as Ranma sat on the edge of Kasumi's hospital bed while she tiredly but serenely held their daughter.
"She's beautiful." Kasumi smiled slightly as she felt Ranma's arm on her shoulder, "Just like her mother." Her smile widened at the compliment along with her cheeks pinking from a slight blush, but she wasn't going to have all the credit as the baby opened her eyes after a rather cute yawn to reveal a startlingly intense pair of blue-grey eyes.
"She has her father's eyes."
Ranma blushed at that, and regarded his daughter with a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, but damn." He flinched at a small glare from Kasumi before continuing, "I know I don't have a stare like that. It's like she's staring at my soul."
Kasumi made a humming noise in agreement before she simply stated, "Yuzu...her name will be Yuzu." Ranma regarded the newly named Yuzu for a moment before he nodded.
"Yeah, she looks like a Yuzu." He idly began wondering precisely how they were going to be able to raise the child when Kasumi spoke and he blinked, "Hmm? You say something Kasumi-chan?"
Kasumi turned her head to regard her husband and repeated what she said, "I don't regret this, Ranma, but I don't want our daughter to suffer a broken house. I don't know how this will work, Ranma...I'm scared about the future, but for our daughter's sake, we must make it work, somehow."
Ranma blinked, before his familiar devil-may-care smile appeared, and he hugged Kasumi, careful of their child, "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm a little worried." He chuckled at Kasumi's glance, "Okay, I'm scared too, but you know what? That don't matter, because as long as we stick together and make sure Yuzu gets all the love and respect she deserves, then I think we'll do alright."
Kasumi chuckled, "Only you could be so confidant, Ranma-kun. Next you'll want to train her in the Anything Goes...Ranma-kun?" Kasumi stared at Ranma as his face suddenly shifted as though he had suddenly swallowed something bitter and then he chuckled softly while shaking his head before explaining to Kasumi.
"I finally realized what the Old Ghoul was talking about...that bit about me following in Pop's footsteps instead of Old Man Tendo. She wants me to train Yuzu, whether we want to or not."
Kasumi's face also shifted to one that was a little grimmer while Yuzu quietly watched as only a baby could. Finally, Kasumi nodded as though making a decision, "You have my permission Ranma-kun, but I do not want our daughter on a training trip for most of her life, she has to grow up normally. But other than that, do what you must."
Ranma hugged Kasumi with a deep sigh, before he smiled. "Thanks Kasumi, and I'll make sure that our Yuzu is the best."
Kasumi giggled, "Even better than you?"
Ranma shrugged, "Well, I'm not a miracle worker."
The mists came in to end this tale just as Kasumi started to laugh. Shaking his head gently, Ranma-Prime began rescanning the strands of time…
That's this chapter complete, so it's time to start voting for the next chapter's theme. Currently, the other 'Lady-Killer Bandaid' is in the lead, with "Kodachi won the MARG contest" and "Kodachi came back later that first night" drawing up as second and third. We also have a pair of new Ukyo moments, seeing as how Ukyo has thus far been drawing something of a raw deal in terms of potential stories: what if Akane hadn't gone to Yumogi Valley? And what if Ukyo had been the one who dove into the tornado for the chart? As always, read, review, and vote. Just a heads up; for one of our future chapters, Gideon020 and I were planning to diverge from the canon girls and try our hands at a Ranma/Original Character match up. Our normal beta has declared that they'd rather not beta that chapter, so we're looking for a stand-in for that beta. Please let me know if you're interested.