Chapter 18 - Shopping Day
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“Kodachi Kuno?”
The young woman in question, who had just been about to enter her school, turned to regard the person who had called her name. It was a middle-aged man whom she didn’t recognize, dressed in a relatively ordinary business suit.
“Yes,” she said in annoyance. Her mind had been focused on her current problems relating to Ranma, the pig-tailed girl, and the fact that she couldn’t locate Mousse or Ryoga. ‘It’s been two days since I found out that my darling Ranma is now engaged to that elder Tendo peasant, and I am no closer to dealing with this situation. I don’t need to be distracted by some commoner that I don’t know.’
Not bothering with a verbal reply, the man reached into his jacket and withdrew a folded pack of papers that had some sort of official seal on them. He handed them over to Kodachi, who took them with a bit of skepticism. Without saying another word, the man executed a small bow, turned, and began to walk away.
“W-Wait a second,” Kodachi grumbled loudly. The man paused and looked back over his shoulder at her questioningly. “What is this?”
“I do not know the specifics,” the man replied without turning to face her. “I was simply asked to deliver it. I am sure you will find the answers you seek within.” To her great annoyance, the man turned away from her and left the school grounds.
Looking down at the papers in her hands, Kodachi recognized the seal of the Government of Japan. With more than a little trepidation, she proceeded to break the seal and open the documents. After a few seconds of skimming, she was able to find the meat of the document. What she read caused her considerable consternation.
“How dare they! The court is... they’re trying to keep me from my beloved Ranma? It cannot be allowed!” In fact, the papers were a summons to a court appearance on Monday, three days away, for a hearing in which a restraining order was being requested to keep her away from both the Saotomes and Tendos.
“The House of Kuno will not suffer this outrage! I will speak to my father and our lawyers immediately after school.” She turned indignantly and headed into the school. However, as she walked, her tortured mind couldn’t help but think that the whole world had turned against her.
‘How can things possibly get worse?’ Kodachi asked herself.
Suddenly, as she approached her homeroom, she heard what, to her, could only be described as a beautiful laugh coming from within. There was something quite familiar about it.
“Are you ready to meet your end, peasant?”
Kodachi froze as she realized that she was hearing her own voice. “But how is that possible?” She ran into the room and found her teacher, and the entire class, gathered around one of the televisions that they rolled around on carts. She couldn’t see what they were watching because her view was blocked, but then realized that she was now hearing the voice of Mousse. With a sudden chill, Kodachi understood what was happening.
Whereas some people might have frozen up at such a time, the raven-haired gymnast was not your average individual. She immediately began pushing her way through the crowd, not caring whom she trampled or threw out the way in the process.
“Move!” she demanded as she barreled through them. She was so focused on reaching her target that she didn’t really consider what she was going to do once she got there. However, fate decided to intervene, and when Kodachi was nearly through the crowd, she tripped as she pushed the last girl aside. This caused her to send the television flying off the cart. It smashed into the floor with a tremendous crash and all of her classmates recoiled from her in fear.
Not caring about what any of them thought, she hit the eject button on the VCR and yanked the cassette out. She proceeded to break it over her knee and rip all of the tape out from inside. She shredded it as thoroughly as she could and then turned to face her classmates. Kodachi gave them all her coldest look, and mentally dared them to say anything.
While her classmates might have been terrified of The Black Rose, the teacher was not. She was from a family that held more prominence than the Kunos could ever hope to achieve, and the antics of Kodachi didn’t worry her in the least.
“You might be interested to know, Ms. Kuno, that we were in fact on our second screening of that tape.” The woman only smiled as Kodachi’s eyes went wide in realization. “Yes, we heard the agreement and then saw how you lost the fight. It would seem that you wish to keep people from learning the truth.”
‘You bitch!’ Kodachi screamed mentally, not daring to say it out loud. ‘How dare you taunt me so?’ Outwardly, all she was able to do was glare at her teacher.
“Regardless, you have destroyed school property and I think you should now go to the principal’s office to explain your actions.” The woman returned Kodachi’s glare with one of her own, and the young woman knew that she had no choice but to obey.
As she left the room, her mind was in turmoil. ‘Where the hell did that tape come from? I cannot believe that my whole class saw that. At least I was able to destroy the cursed thing though.’ Nearing the principal’s office, Kodachi thought she heard the sounds of a scuffle within. Her curiosity piqued, she made her way there and looked inside. To her horror and dismay, she found several of the school administrators, including the principal, gathered around another television watching yet another copy of the tape. They were currently near the end of the fight, which explained the sounds that Kodachi heard just moments before.
‘No!’ her mind screamed. Unlike earlier, she was now frozen in place and didn’t know what to do. ‘How many copies of this blasted thing are there? Too many people have seen this now. What am I going to do?’
Deciding that she no longer cared what her teacher or school might do, Kodachi turned and fled down the hall. She left the school grounds and began running home. At some point along the way, the tears had begun and by the time she reached her mansion, Kodachi was on the verge of a breakdown. As she let herself in and made her way to her room to isolate herself, one thought gained dominance over all others.
‘Someone is going to pay for this!’
 |
Nabiki sat outside of Furinkan High, enjoying the lunch she had stopped and picked up on the way to school. ‘It’s been a good day,’ she couldn’t help thinking. The distribution of the tape had gone better than expected. In fact, she had been able to convince a local talk show host in Tokyo to play the recording on his show. ‘There is no way Kodachi is going to be able to deny what happened now.’ Once again, she couldn’t help herself, and she pulled out her bankbook and looked at it again. The nearly 275,000 yen that she had managed to get from Kuno, after she had skimmed off the duplication costs of course, certainly wasn’t enough to make her rich. But it was the equivalent of 2 months of normal operations, and that was nothing to sneeze at. ‘Besides,’ she thought with a sly grin, ‘it helps pay for all the meals that we have to buy while Kasumi is gone.’ Thoughts of her sister out with Ranma in the wilderness invaded her mind. ‘I wonder how things are going with those two. It’s almost been a week now since they left. It’s still hard to believe that this is happening, but Kasumi seems happy and that’s what really matters.’ |
While her brain was conjuring up images of a totally embarrassed Ranma, Nabiki failed to notice that someone was approaching her until that person spoke.
“Nabiki Tendo, I would speak with you.”
Looking up, Nabiki noticed a rather apprehensive looking Tatewaki Kuno. “What’s wrong Kuno baby?” she asked, clearly not expecting to see him look this way.
‘What could be wrong?’ she wondered. ‘The court thing is in motion and we distributed the tape. Kuno even got his own personal copy to view.’ She shuddered at the thought of what he might do with the thing.
“I just spoke with my f-father,” he said, tripping over the word due to his quite well known disgust for the man. “He received word from Sasuke that my dear sister is home and is quite wroth. It seems that she not only found out about the recording today, but was also served with the court papers as well.”
“Probably not the best timing,” Nabiki said. “But we expected that both would happen closely to one another. So I don’t understand the problem.”
“Well,” Kuno continued nervously, “it appears that she is in a rage, the likes of which our servant has never seen. She is vowing to the heavens that she will track down the person responsible for the tape and kill them.”
Nabiki waved her hand in dismissal. “Isn’t she always threatening to do something like that to someone? I’m not too worried about it.”
To her considerable surprise and embarrassment, Kuno reached out and grabbed both of her hands into his own. “But I am,” he said earnestly. “I do not think you understand the gravity of this situation. Of course my dear sister has threatened to harm people in the past, but up until the altercation with the pig-tailed goddess, she has never openly said that she would kill someone. Even when making threats against the witnesses of the pig-tailed goddess, so was quite vague on how she meant to ‘silence’ them. Sasuke is quite afraid that she means to make good on this threat if she discovers who is responsible.”
Seeing the concern that Kuno actually felt, more likely for his house honor than her, yet concern nonetheless, gave Nabiki pause. ‘He’s really worried about this. Besides, he and Sasuke do know Kodachi better than anyone. That means that in this one case I should probably listen to what he has to say.’
Removing her hands from Kuno’s, Nabiki spoke. “Okay, Kuno baby, you have my attention now. What do you suggest we do about it?”
The relief that he felt at having reached her was quite evident on his face. “Father, Sasuske, and I will attempt to calm her down. However, if she is as infuriated as Sasuke is making her out to be, then I doubt we will have much success. Since you are the only person who can lead her back to the person who made the recording, I suggest that you make sure to erase as much of your involvement in this matter as possible.”
‘Wow, a practical suggestion from Kuno. Will miracles never cease? Too bad he doesn’t understand that I’m the one who made the tape.’ She was about to reply when he continued.
“I also believe that you should continue your legal action. I do not know if it will be enough to deter my sister from injuring your sister or yourself, but at this point there is nothing to lose. I will keep my word to you that Sasuke and I will speak to the court on your behalf. I also believe that my father will support the action as well.”
It occurred to Nabiki that Kuno was actually speaking in a relatively normal fashion. ‘He must think this is really bad if he can’t even focus enough to wax poetic.’
“All right Kuno,” she finally replied, figuring he was now done. “I will work on the things you suggested. I also have other plans to call into play that I’ll move forward with.” He gave her a questioning look, but she waved it off. “Anyhow, please call me later to let me know how your attempts to calm Kodachi go.”
With a nod, Kuno turned and went back into the school, presumably to meet up with his father. Nabiki, for her part, continued to think about the present situation. ‘I already worked my hardest to ensure that Kodachi couldn’t trace the tape back to me. However, if she manages to get a hold of one of the guys who did the replication or distribution, it’s likely that she will be able to scare the information out of them. I will need to plan on that being the case. In addition, I will make sure that everything is ready for hearing on Monday.’
‘Beyond that, I think it’s time I brought Ukyo up to speed as to what’s happening.’
Later in the afternoon, Ukyo finished the steaming okonomiyaki that she had been working on, set it on a plate, and brought it to the customer who had requested it. With only two other people in the place, it was a rather slow day at the restaurant. Ukyo went behind the counter and started to do a little cleaning, when she heard the front door open. She was about to great the new customer, when she realized that this person probably wasn’t here for food at all.
“Nabiki,” she said with a nod.
“Ukyo,” the middle Tendo daughter replied as she came up and sat at the counter.
“Can I get you anything?”
“Actually, yes,” Nabiki replied, much to Ukyo’s surprise. “I came to talk with you, but I also wanted to order some food to bring home for dinner as well. It’s either that or Akane will want to cook while Kasumi is gone.”
Thoughts of Akane’s cooking caused Ukyo to shudder, before the rest of the statement penetrated her mind. ‘Kasumi. She’s off alone with Ran-ch... Ranma. I know I don’t have a chance with him anymore, but it still hurts dammit.’ Knowing that her expression had turned somber, she shook herself to clear her mind. ‘Better to just get down to business and put things out of my mind.’
“What can I get for you?” she asked. “We can talk while I work.”
Nabiki nodded and placed her order. While Ukyo pulled out the ingredients from under the counter, the middle Tendo spoke. “Did you have a chance to see the recording of Ranma and Kodachi’s fight?”
“It was kind of hard not too,” Ukyo snorted, as she began pouring batter on the grill. “You really outdid yourself.”
“I had to make sure that the distribution was widespread enough so that there was no chance for Kodachi to deny that it happened. Anyway, I found out that she was also served the papers today for the restraining order that I told you about. Apparently, according to Kuno, she’s in more of a rage than ever before. It seems that she plans to kill whomever was responsible for the tape.”
“K-Kill?” Ukyo said in disbelief. “I know she’s crazy, but that seems quite extreme, ever for her.”
“Well,” Nabiki said with a shrug, “I think the combination of everything that has happened over the past week has been enough to finally push her over the edge. You’ve got the challenge, losing to Ranma, finding out about Kasumi, the tape, and the court order all hitting her in a relatively short period of time. It’s possible that it was too much for her fragile mind to take.”
“You don’t seem to be too concerned about it.”
“Panicking in a situation like this would be the worst thing to do,” Nabiki said calmly, though Ukyo thought she could detect a hint of fear in her voice. “Besides, it would be bad for business if people thought I could be intimidated that easily.”
‘Hell, I’d be intimidated if I thought that insane bitch was trying to kill me,’ Ukyo thought. She didn’t bother to say so out loud though.
“Regardless,” Nabiki continued, “I have an idea for a plan, in case Kodachi chooses to ignore the court and her family’s advice.”
Ukyo didn’t like the gleam in Nabiki’s eye as she mentioned the plan. “Why am I not going to like this?”
“Oh, come now,” Nabiki soothed. “You did agree to help, and here is the perfect chance. Yes, it will likely be dangerous, but I think with the proper planning, my idea will work. Besides, if she’s left unchecked, Kodachi might even try to do something to Ranma’s female form when he returns. I know that even though you’re upset at what happened, you still care for him very much.”
“Yes,” Ukyo said in a quiet voice. “You’re right. Okay, tell me about this ‘great’ idea.”
“Well,” Nabiki said with one of her trademark smirks, “it’s like this...”
| “I’m home,” Akane called out as she entered the Tendo house. “Welcome home,” the voice of her father called from one of the other rooms. As she took her shoes off, Akane couldn’t help but be amazed at the change in her father recently. ‘I’m still upset about what happened with Ryoga, but he is trying so hard now. He seems like a totally different person.’ Heading up the stairs, Akane went to her room where she deposited her book-bag on her bed and began undressing. Soon, she had changed into her gi, and headed back downstairs. Passing by her father and Mr. Saotome, who were wrapped up in a game of Shogi, she mentioned that she was going to train. |
 |
‘He’s already fallen in love with her by now,’ she wailed internally, ‘I just know it. Oh Ranma, what have I done? I’m so sorry.’
Feeling tears begin to fall, Akane ceased her warm-ups for a moment to rub her eyes. When she’d finished, she suddenly saw her father standing just inside the entrance to the dojo, regarding her. Trying to regain her composure, Akane spoke to him a halting voice.
“W-What’s up, dad?”
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice low and his tone sincere.
Seeing his obvious concern made her want to cry even more. ‘It’s like the father that I lost when mother died has come back.’ Akane tried to respond to him, but was unable to form the words. Finally, she just ran up to him, threw her arms around his back, and began to cry into his chest. She couldn’t even begin to describe the incredible feeling that permeated her when she felt her father’s arms wrap around her in return.
“Shh, shh,” Soun soothed. He didn’t try to tell her it would all be okay, which was just fine with Akane.
‘He probably knows just as well as I do that it won’t be okay. Even if Ranma doesn’t fall in love with Kasumi, he may not want to even be with me when returns.’
After several minutes of the very therapeutic embrace from her father, Akane broke free. Her tears had stopped and she had a sad smile on her face as she looked at the dark wet spots on the front of his gi. “Thanks dad,” she said. “I needed that.” Then her curiosity got the better of her. “Is that why you came out here?”
“Well, that was one of the reasons,” he said. “The other was that I think it past time that I begin training you again. That is, if you would like me to.”
Akane was sure that the gaping expression on her face looked rather foolish, but it really didn’t matter to her just then. ‘He... he wants to train me.’
“Why?” she asked in a small voice. Seeing his confusion at the question, she continued in a more normal tone. “Why do you want to start training me all of sudden?”
“I...” Soun began, before pausing for a moment. After apparently collecting his thoughts, he went on. “I know I have been a terrible father to you and your sisters. There is no excuse for my behavior. I also know that martial arts are important to you, just as they are to me. Regardless of what Saotome or the master has to say, I believe you have great potential. I want to encourage that as much as I can, if you’ll let me.”
A small feeling of pride began to blossom in her. Not the kind of pride that tended to get her into trouble, making her think that she was better than she really was. No, this was something different. This was the kind of pride that could only come from a parent when they encouraged their child. It was truly a magnificent feeling for Akane, something that she hadn’t felt since her mother had died. She intended to make sure that it stayed there.
“I... I would like that very much father.”
“Ranma.”
The young man in question let out a small groan and stretched. He then rolled over and prepared to go back to sleep when he heard his name called again. Recognizing the voice of Kasumi, he sat up in his tent.
“I’m awake Kasumi,” he said with a yawn. It had been an exhausting week of training, and his body was finally beginning to adjust to the intensified pace that they had set. Still, he was glad that today was only a partial regime. It would be nice to have a small break.
“Breakfast is almost ready,” she replied in her musical voice. “And there is a small cup of cold water out here for you.” Then he heard her quiet footsteps walking away from his tent.
‘Man she’s amazing,’ Ranma couldn’t help thinking yet again. He unzipped the bottom of his tent, reached out to grab the cold water, and brought it back in. After taking off his shirt to keep it from getting wet, he dumped the cold water over himself, triggering his curse. Ranma looked down at her rather sizable chest and found that her cheeks were beginning to burn.
‘What the heck is wrong with me?’ the now redheaded girl asked herself. She had noticed recently that she was more self-conscious about her curse than she had been in the past. ‘Is it 'cause of Kasumi? Whenever I see myself, I can’t help but start thinkin' about her.’
While Ranma still couldn’t quite bring himself to picture Kasumi naked, he had found himself thinking about what an incredible figure she had. Ever since that night when he had first talked with her while she was bathing, he found that his thoughts regarding her were becoming more and more explicit. Since that evening, the two had watched the stars again each night, and Kasumi had begun giving him a small peck on the lips when they said goodnight. It felt wonderful, but was still overwhelming for the young man.
Shaking her head to clear such thoughts, Ranma proceeded to get dressed. She then exited the tent and found that everyone was already by the fire waiting for her. “Sorry,” she said as she sat down.
“It’s fine Ranma,” Kasumi said. “We just sat down ourselves.”
One look at the grumpy expressions on Mousse and Ryoga’s faces made Ranma wonder if her fiancée was being completely forthright with her, but she let it go. The four all ate in silence, with Ranma practicing her manners as Kasumi had requested. After they had finished, Ranma offered to help Kasumi with the cleanup, but the older girl shook her head.
“I want you to get your morning exercises out of the way so that we can leave for town as soon as possible.”
‘I should remind her of the promise I made ta help her,’ Ranma thought, before dismissing the idea. ‘Nah, she remembers it fine, she’s just anxious to get outta here.’
Ranma nodded to Kasumi and went to perform her morning workout.
 |
Kasumi walked beside Ranma, who was still in female form, as the two made their way towards town. They were heading there to pick up supplies for the coming week, all of which Ranma planned to carry back on her own as a strength and balance exercise. They were also going to mail the letter to Ukyo that she had helped Ranma write. ‘I just hope it helps ease the pain I’m sure she’s feeling,’ the eldest Tendo daughter thought. As they walked, the two chatted about many different subjects. Talking about the training that Ranma was going through was an easy subject, as was the instruction that the pig-tailed martial artist was giving to Kasumi. As Ranma praised her once again, Kasumi couldn’t help but beam with pride. At some point during their walk, Kasumi had taken Ranma’s hand into her own. The younger girl stiffened a little, but then managed to relax, much to Kasumi’s relief. |
“It was nothin’,” Ranma replied, her face a little crimson in embarrassment.
The two continued on in silence for a while, when Kasumi thought she detected some sadness on Ranma’s face. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
“Huh?” Ranma said, turning her head slightly to look up at Kasumi. “Oh, nothin’.”
Kasumi wasn’t convinced in the least. “Is it Ukyo?” she asked. “Are you still upset that you didn’t talk to her before we left?”
“Nah,” Ranma said, shaking her head. “It ain’t nothin’, really.” The redhead faced forward again as the two continued to walk.
Stopping dead in her tracks, Kasumi held onto Ranma’s hand, forcing the other to stop as well. The younger girl turned to face her with a questioning look.
“Ranma,” she said softly. “One of the biggest problems that most people face in a relationship is that they don’t communicate with one another. I know that something is bothering you, and I would like to help with it if I can.”
She watched as Ranma let out a defeated sigh. ‘He knows that I’m not going to let him out of it,’ she thought with a small smile. ‘I don’t want to manipulate him, but we need to talk through things that are bothering us.’
“Okay Kasumi,” Ranma said. “Let’s keep on walkin’ and I’ll talk to you about it.”
With a nod, Kasumi continued walking with Ranma. She looked over at her fiancé again and noticed that the younger girl seemed to be concentrating hard on what she was going to say. “Take your time if you need to,” she urged. Ranma gave her a thankful smile and then focused inward again.
After nearly five minutes, Kasumi was worried that Ranma was going to back out. However, the younger girl finally spoke.
“Kasumi,” she began quietly. “W-When pops and I first showed up... Why... I mean...” She swallowed before continuing. “Why did you and Nabiki... push me off on Akane?”
The question caught Kasumi by surprise. ‘Why is Ranma asking that all of a sudden?’ She looked over at her fiancé and noticed a look of anxiety on her face. ‘That’s strange.’ Not knowing what else to, she began to answer the question.
“Well,” she said, thinking back to that day. “I guess the most important reason is that I didn’t want to become engaged to someone that I didn’t know. I think it was more than a little selfish of Nabiki and I to assume that Akane would be okay with the situation when we weren’t, but I think the shock of the whole thing caught us off guard. Looking back on it now, it was unfair of us to force the two of you together like that.”
She looked over and saw that Ranma nodded in acceptance of her answer, however the apprehension remained. Kasumi decided to continue her response.
“I guess the second reason was because of age.” She saw Ranma give her a questioning look, and she returned it with a small smile. “There were actually two issues around age. First, I thought that since I was already out of school, and considered to be of marrying age, that the issue might’ve been forced by our fathers. Even more than it turned out to be with you and Akane.” Kasumi heard a small snort in reply, and she stifled a giggle.
“The second part of it was that I was afraid that someone younger than me would be both boring and immature. As I said before, you are anything but boring, though you might still be a little immature sometimes.” She turned her head towards Ranma when she said it and winked at her fiancé to help lessen the impact of that statement. The younger girl merely smiled in acceptance of that.
“Lastly, I would say that I was a bit... unnerved by your curse. It was so strange at the time, and it kind of... frightened me.” Kasumi had been glancing out of the corner of her eye at Ranma when she’d added the last part, and noticed her give a small nod. She also noticed that her fiancé seemed to withdraw into herself again.
They walked again in silence for a bit, with Kasumi continuing to hold Ranma’s hand all the while. After another few minutes, she heard Ranma clear her throat and finally speak.
“Do you... I mean... does my curse still... ya know... bother you?”
‘Ah, that’s what this is all about,’ Kasumi realized suddenly. ‘He’s afraid that I might somehow hold it against him.’ Once again, she forced Ranma to stop. She turned the younger girl towards her, but Ranma kept looking down at the ground instead of at her. Kasumi released her hand and took hold of Ranma’s chin. She lifted it until their eyes met. For nearly a minute, neither spoke as they gazed deeply into one another’s eyes.
Slowly and deliberately, Kasumi took both hands and placed them on the sides of Ranma’s face. Without any hesitation, she leaned forward and pressed her lips firmly against those of her fiancé.
To say that Ranma was shocked would have been like saying that the surface of the sun is warm. Sure, Kasumi had kissed him several times already. She had even kissed him once when he had been in his girl form. But in Ranma’s mind, that incident had been a fluke, something she hadn’t really meant to do. This, however, was something totally different.
Ranma had no idea how to react, as the whole situation left her without a coherent thought. It only got worse when Kasumi’s hands left her face and slid around her shoulders. This served to pull Ranma closer and deepen the kiss. While this wasn’t French kissing, Ranma had heard enough about that from the perverts he hung around with at school, it was the single most passionate thing that she had ever experienced.
Seeing that Kasumi had her eyes closed, Ranma decided to mimic her. When she did, she was amazed that she seemed to be seeing bright lights, something akin to fireworks, instead of the darkness she had been expecting. Acting on some kind of instinct, Ranma found that her own arms were coming up and had reached around Kasumi’s back. The older girl must have liked that, for she tightened her grip on Ranma and let out a soft moan. Ranma had absolutely no control over herself at the moment, so she simply allowed Kasumi to take control.
She was unsure how long the kiss lasted. It could have been a second or it could have been days, she really didn’t have a clue. Finally though, she felt Kasumi slacken her grip and her lips depart from her own. The only thought she could form was this, ‘That was the most amazin' thing I’ve ever felt.’
Letting her own arms drop from Kasumi’s back, Ranma continued to keep her eyes closed. At some deep level, she was afraid to open them. It wasn’t that she was afraid of Kasumi being angry the way Akane had always been, it was more that she thought this was a dream and she didn’t want to wake. Finally though, she realized that she was truly awake and opened her eyes.
Kasumi’s face was no farther than two inches from her own, which didn’t surprise Ranma as much as she thought it might have. Ranma tried to speak, tried to say something, anything, but she couldn’t even begin to form the words. Kasumi saved her the trouble though.
“Now,” she asked softly, “do you think that I have a problem with your curse?”
Ranma knew that her face had what must have been a stupid looking grin on it, but she didn’t care. However, she didn’t trust herself to speak at the moment so she simply shook her head.
“Good,” Kasumi said with one of those dazzling smiles that Ranma was starting to cherish. “I don’t want you to misunderstand me though. It’s not that I have a thing for girls. I don’t. It’s just that to me, you are Ranma, no matter what form you are in. I don’t care if it’s male or female. You are beautiful to me when you’re a woman, and handsome to me when you’re a man. Do you understand?”
A small, embarrassed nod was Ranma’s only answer.
“Good. Now, shall we continue on to town?” Kasumi asked. She stepped back and held her hand out to Ranma. The younger girl nodded again, took Kasumi’s hand into her own, and the two continued on their journey.
Thank you for taking the time to read Aijou & Aitou. I hope you have enjoyed yourself. I would love to hear all feedback, positive or negative (as long as it’s constructive). Please take the time to leave a review on fanfiction.net or send me an email letting me know your opinion. Thanks.
