[Author's note: Aol doesn't like me doing these types of sends aparently, so
I had to break this down further.]
* * * * *
Kasumi found herself standing just inside the doorway of the room he was
occupying for another five days. It was pretty empty, save for a tatamai
mat, his pack, and a dresser for his clothes. 'I wonder how he looks when he
sleeps...' Kasumi blushed at the unexpected thought and lightly blew the
wisps of steam from her tea, then took a small sip.
MEOW
She blinked. "A cat?" Sticking her head out of his room, she looked down
the hallway. A pair of sapphire irises shaded by a mop of red bored down on
her.
"Oh, my...Ranma?" Her eyes widened a little bit, and she stepped back
involuntarily.
Neko-onna-Ranma let loose another meow. Then, without warning, she sprang
towards the doorway. Kasumi squeaked, as there was a new three inch slit in
the front of her dress that extended down to the hem when the human cat had
landed. She didn't think much more about her dress however; she was more
intent on trying to figure out how to snap Ranma out of the nekoken.
'I'm not Akane, so that's out. Triggering his curse?' She looked at the tea
in her hand. 'That should do. But how? He's very fast on his own, even
more so as a cat.'
MEOW
Breaking away from her thoughts, she glanced at the cat-minded girl just as
she felt her dress give way to another rending, this time seven inches worth.
She drew a sharp breath, her mind whirling. 'Surely, Ranma wouldn't attack
anyone that didn't provoke him...would he?'
After another look, she realized the redhead was just batting at the loose
threads from the first slit in her dress. She grimaced as she made another
slit appear, this one riding halfway up her thigh. Her eyes darted back up
to the hot tea in hand. 'Okay, while he's distracted...' Her free hand
began moving up to reach for it cautiously, hoping to not arouse any feline
suspicions.
MEOW
"Ah!" Again, Kasumi was taken by surprise as neko-onna-Ranma did something
very unexpected; she slipped between her legs, rubbing against the inside of
both her knee and the lower part of her thigh. The redhead purred, and the
eldest Tendo daughter's mind and body froze.
"R-ranma...?"
She looked up at the call of her name, giving Kasumi a very catlike smile,
then mewed.
'Oh, dear....' She didn't like how things were going, but her mind was
balking on what to do now.
The decision was made for her as she was suddenly pushed down by a pair of
"paws." Kasumi stumbled backwards before falling onto the floor. She made
an amazing effort not to drop her tea as she landed on her bottom, the
porcelain cup now hovering just over her lap. Sighing in relief with it held
above her head, she thought to herself, 'Now's my chance.'
Unfortunately for her, the cat-boy-turned-girl had other ideas.
For the second time in as many minutes, Kasumi's mind and body had frozen.
After she was downed, the redhead had crawled into her lap, then began to
nuzzle her head against her breasts. She let loose a contented purr, then
curled her arms and legs beneath her body. With catlike grace, Ranma pushed
herself into a semi erect position, her soft, kittenish face parallel with
Kasumi's.
She observed neko-onna-Ranma briefly, gaping into the redhead's azure eyes,
trying to keep the fear out of her thoughts. 'This isn't what I want to
happen...not a definite answer...please, not a definite-'
The last of Kasumi's thoughts were shattered when neko-onna-Ranma mewed
softly, then leaned forward and pressed her lips against the oldest Tendo
daughter's.
Her eyes flew wide at the contact, the realization of what this seemingly
innocent action meant for both Ranma and her. "...oh...oh....oh, my...."
Her fingers became limp, dropping her cup of still-hot tea.
* * * * *
The tips of his fingers traced the romanji letters of Kasumi's nameplate
briefly as he gathered up all the strength he was going to need in a few
moments. Letting his breaths come out slow and even, a part of his mind idly
wondered whatever happened to the miniature flower bouquet that marked the
upper left hand corner of the nameplate. Eventually, not even that remained
in his conscious thought.
His breathing slowed down as he steeled himself for the battle ahead. 'Now,
or never, Ranma. Now, or never.' His resolve hardened, he formed a fist and
lightly rapped just below Kasumi's name.
* * * * *
Kasumi looked up at the direction. "Ranma?"
"Yes...it's me."
Immediately, she straightened out from her fetal position, tossed back the
bedcovers, and quickly walked over to the door. Her fingers took hold of the
door knob, twisting it in one direction. It clicked, and she pulled the door
back slowly. On the other side stood Ranma, tea tray in hand.
"Come in, Ranma, please."
"Sorry I took so long," he began. "It's just that-"
"I know, Ranma. I heard it from here."
"Oh...everything?"
"No, not everything. Just that you and Akane were involved in another
argument."
"Yeah...more tea?"
"Please."
He took hold of the teapot and tipped it forward. Hot tea poured from the
spout into Kasumi's cup. Ending the flow, Ranma set the teapot back on the
tray, which resided upon a small desk near the bed.
After they finished their tea, Kasumi and Ranma sat upon the bed for a long
period of time, neither one speaking. Eyes flicked over one another, into
hands resting in laps, at various objects in the room during that time.
Several attempts at opening conversations were halted before lips could utter
the first syllables. Finally, Kasumi cleared her throat, then turned her
head to Ranma. "Ranma..."
His brooding posture straightened up a bit as he looked at her. "Kasumi..."
She sighed softly, looking away. "I don't want anyone to get hurt because of
what we did."
Matching her sigh, he replied, "I know..." He shifted in his sitting
position. "But, it's gonna have to happen...."
"I know," she said quietly. "I know...I don't know if Akane can forgive what
happened."
He turned a wan grin to her. "You, she'll forgive instantly. Me, she'll
kill just as fast; after all, it's all my fault."
Kasumi could feel the quiet venom of his words. "Oh, Ranma, don't say that."
"It's true, Kasumi." He exhaled. "It's my fault all of this is happening to
you. You shouldn't have been dragged into my crazy life. Now, we have a kid
involved..."
After a moment of silence, she asked, "Do...do you want the child?"
"Huh?"
"The...baby."
Ranma closed his eyes. "You know, until tonight, I never thought about
having a family so early. I...I figured that I would have one sooner or
later, and I don't really have anything against kids, specially mine, so
yeah, I want the baby. What about you?"
A smile conservatively spread across her features. "Yes, I want the child."
"Well, that's good, too." Ranma gave her a half-smile before continuing.
"Cause, I got something to tell you, and I don't want you to freak out or
nothing like when we first woke up together, okay?"
She studied him warily for a few moments before answering him. "All right,
but I don't want you to do anything rash because I'm-"
"Don't worry. I've given this a lot of thought, for once in my life." He
looked up, meeting her eyes with his, the soft blues pleading before her. "I
tried doing what you said before we left Mariko's place, about Akane and
giving her a fair chance and all." His eyes closed, briefly recalling the
night.
* * * * *
It was late at night when Ranma woke up finally. He looked up from the bed
he and Kasumi had just shared a few hours ago to the chair she sat on by the
window, clothed in a pale blue kimono. His brain was still trying to right
itself from the new experiences he was undergoing for the last two days. It
was a contradicting array of feelings he had: intense guiltiness;
overwhelming liberation; deep-seated sadness and regret; pure joy and
eagerness; grief; happiness; betrayal; protection. Everything was just so
new and confusing for him; he never had any experience in these matters, so
he decided to go with the flow of things for now.
Staring out into the cloudless, starless, night sky, Kasumi was faring about
the same as he was in trying to sorting out her new feelings. She never
intended on matters to go this far; in fact, she never even remotely thought
that she and Ranma would end up sleeping together at all, let alone three
times in two days. She sighed softly; that is what she gets when she
suppresses her libido for years and awaken another's by accident. She felt
extremely guilty by their acts, but at the same time she felt...alive. For
the first time, she was truly alive. Not a homemaker, not a mother figure
for her family, not an easily forgettable background character. She was her
own person, free to make her own choices for her own life.
Then again, she was still Kasumi. And she didn't want to hurt anyone, most
of all her little sister Akane, if she can avoid it.
Carefully, she phrased her question in her mind, then asked. "Ranma...how do
you feel...about... Akane?" She had to forced the last part out.
"Akane?" He was caught off guard by her question.
She nodded slowly, not looking away from the window. "Honestly."
His mouth started to let loose his usual barrage of insults, but paused to
think for a moment. "Why are you asking, Kasumi...chan?" Inwardly, he
winced as using that honorific with her was yet another new experience for
him.
She really wished he hadn't called her "Kasumi-chan." What she was going to
do was hard enough as it was....
"Well...are you going to remain engaged to her, or are you going to get
engaged to me...as well?"
"Huh?!" He shot up in bed, ramrod straight. "Whaddaya talking about 'as
well'?"
Slowly, her head pivoted around to face his startled expression, her own,
bleak. "Are you going to marry Akane?"
Ranma stared at her as if she was mad. "If I'm gonna marry anyone, it's
won't be that macho, uncute tomboy!"
She bit her lip. "Why not?"
"Because-!" He faltered in his rant, losing his train of thought.
"Do...do you...care about her?"
"Ah...." Absently, he scratched the back of his head. "I...I... guess
so...but Ka-"
She cut him off, mainly because she had made a decision, even if she thought
it was the dumbest thing she thought of, and she wanted to avoid being swayed
from that choice. "Have...have you given her...a chance...?"
He didn't answer her. Instead he focussed his attention to the floor.
"Can you say...you love me? Or that you love Akane, or anyone else?"
He heaved a great sigh. "I don't know."
Every fiber of her being protested at the sight of him. He looked so
defeated, she wanted to throw her arms around him and comfort him. She
couldn't, of course; that would be her undoing. One touch, and she would
have surely lost the struggle between her and Akane's happiness. "Can you
try...try to give her a fair chance, Ranma?"
He glanced back up. "But-"
"I know that she is violent at times, but try to understand her, and let her
show you what she really feels inside her." She was facing the window again,
not wanting to meet his eyes.
The ensuing silence was deafening.
Just when the eldest Tendo thought that Ranma might have left the room, his
voice shattered the quietude. "What...about you...? And what we did here..."
She suppressed the anguish she was feeling. "We can't tell anyone else about
what happened here. It would break Akane's heart. And, as for me....
Promise me, you'll try to do this, for me."
Ranma watched her with wide eyes, unable to believe what she was saying. He
rolled back the bed coverings and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
"Kasumi..."
"Promise me," she said in the sternest voice she could muster. "Promise me
you will try...please...." The last part came out more like a whisper.
His teeth ground against one another as the internal war inside of him flared
to burning life. Duty versus desire, his wants and needs going against what
others ask and demand of him. His confused state of feelings muddled the
battlefield war was being waged upon, clouding lines which had been clearly
marked before, and her words were turning the flow of battle. Overall, it
was a short-lived war, ending just as abruptly as it started. "...all...all
right..." came his reluctant decision.
Her eyes pinched tightly. "Yes...thank you...." Twin sets of tears streamed
down her cheeks, unseen by either party.