Chapter Two:

 	"Akane!  Yo, Akane, you okay?"
	Akane came to the door and sighed.  "It was open, you know," she said dryly.
 
	"Oh.  I knew that," Ranma said sheepishly.  
	"Uh-huh," Akane uttered dismissively as she allowed him in.  "So what do you
want, Ranma?"
	Ranma foolishly twiddled his thumbs and swallowed.  
	"You weren't at breakfast."
	Akane said nothing.  
	"On top of that, we're going to be late... again."
	Akane went to her window and sighed.  
	"Akane?"
	She fought the urge to smile, wondering in the back of her mind if she
really did hear concern in his voice.  All traces of her bemusement vanished
when she looked down on the yard and saw the pond and the cherry tree above
it.  
	"Kasumi and Dad were fighting last night."
	"What?!"
	"I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't seen and heard it," she
conceded.
	"Bu--but Kasumi and your Dad?!"  
	"I'm worried, Ranma.  I feel like I should do something, but I'm... I'm not
comfortable with the idea seeing either of them right now.  If they find out
that I heard...."
	"Yeah.  Seriously, Akane, you shouldn't eavesdrop on people.  You -- "
	He never saw the fist that smashed into his eye.  
	"Ouch," he muttered dryly.  
	"Idiot!  That's not the point!  Besides, how could I help it?!  They were
right outside my window!"
	"Outside?"
	"Yes!  In the yard last night!"
	A shudder crept up Ranma's spine as he tried to envision an angry Kasumi.
 Inevitably, he gave up, concluding to himself that it was beyond his powers
of imagination.  
	"Kasumi doesn't get mad," he deadpanned.  
	"Ranma, I am not a liar!"
	Ranma frowned dubiously, an error which earned him another whack and a lump
on the head from Akane.  
	"Baka!  Whad'ya do that for?"
	Akane answered him with tear-filled eyes.
	Ranma winced at that sight.  It always made him wince.  
	"Fine, Ranma.  If that's what you want to think of me, then go ahead.  I
know what I saw and heard last night, and I wouldn't even dare think of lying
about such a thing.   Kasumi almost hit Dad last night.  I'm scared, Ranma.
 I'm really scared.  The anger and rage on her face, the madness in her
gestures, a demon -- not my sister!  If she had a knife with her, I almost
believe that she would've killed Dad.  And he would've let her too!  He just
sat there, watching and listening to her, not even moving when she pointed at
him, when her hands grazed his face and she almost spat on him!"
	"You're afraid of her," admonished Ranma, hardly less than stunned himself
by what he said.
	"Yes!"
	"So that's why you didn't show for breakfast this morning."
	"Yes!  I-- I mean no!  No!  I-- I don't know!" bawled in frustration.
 Drowning in her emotions, Akane buried her tear-stained face in her hands
and collapsed to her knees.  
	It was almost frightening to watch her.          
	"The--the tombstone!  Okaasan's name -- it was Kasumi's!"
	"Akane, wha -- "
	"In my dream!  I went to pray at my mother's grave, and it was Kasumi's name
on the stone!"
	"Dream?"
	"Idiot!  My dream last night.  Kasumi, she came and woke me.  I tried going
back to sleep after she left, but the dream was too real.  And then the
fight.  Ranma, I'm so scared...."
	Somewhere in the distance, Ranma heard a clock strike the hour.  Inwardly,
he grimaced.
	Late again.  
	He sighed, at a lost for what to do, his mind fumbling for something to say,
anything to distract himself from the churning mix of dread and compassion
that he felt but did not have the courage to betray.     
	"You hungry?" he asked.  He was awed by how dumb he sounded.  
	He instinctively raised his arms in a defensive stance, expecting Akane to
hit him again and assail him with a wrathful barrage of how inconsiderate and
insensitive he was.  
	To his surprise, Akane merely uttered a weak, almost inaudible assent.  
	"H--hai," she whispered, her raspy voice trembling under her sobs.  
	He was barely aware of anything as he led her down the stairs.  All he could
her were quiet sobs, and all he could see was the pain that marred her face.
 There were times when she was almost cute, but somehow, those rare moments
were, for the most part, darker ones.  Times for tears rather than smiles,
 heartache instead of joy.  
	A wave of sadness dominated him, blurring everything even more.    
	He would've cried out as a hand jolted him back by his pigtail but for the
hand that clamped shut over his mouth.  She dragged him back around the
corner and just out of sight.  
	"Dad's alone at the table." 
	They heard Akane's father even before Ranma could digest what she was
saying.  
	"Ohayo, Ranma, Akane."
	They shared a grimace, noting the edge to Soun's voice.
	Fearing reproachment, but unable to deny their guilt, they came and settled
around the table across from Soun.  To Akane's surprise, no angrily lines
crossed her father's face.  In fact, his face looked almost... dead.
	"Your sister is not herself, Akane," Soun said quietly, his voice somber,
made cold with silent anguish.  "Give her time and distance."
	"Where is she, Dad?"
	"I think she's in her room.  I haven't seen her this morning.  In any case,
leave her to herself for a while."
	Akane turned quizically to Ranma.  
	"Breakfast was already on the table when I came," he said simply.  
	"Tendo-san!"  Genma came running in, waving a folded note addressed to his
friend.  	
	Soun wordlessly accepted the piece of paper and worked away the tape that
kept it folded over.  
Curious, Akane and Ranma peered over his shoulders as he examined the note.  

Father:

Gone to return some books to Tofu-sensei and pray at Okaasan's grave.  Will
be back soon.  

							-- Kasumi
P.S.  Please forgive me, Father.  

	Akane turned away, a sick premonition churning in her stomach.  It had the
texture of cold, hard steel, burning as it cut.  Every fiber of her being
charged her to act.  
	Wordlessly, she rose to her feet and fled.   	

* * *

	Kasumi stood and stared at the stone for quite some time.  
	"Madness," she breathed to herself as she advanced and came to her knees
before the stone.  
	She closed her eyes, listening to the silence around her.  
	And then she smiled knowingly to herself.  
	"Akane.  Ranma.  Come," she said quietly.  
	The two emerged from the brush behind, exchanging stunned glances.  
	Kasumi did not have to see in order to know the look on their faces.  There
was an air of anxiety about them as they sat themselves before her.  
	"Oneechan, I'm sorry.  I -- "
	Kasumi brought a finger to her lips and shushed her sister.  
	"I know that you saw last night," she admonished Akane.  
	Akane's eyes widened.
	At that, Kasumi merely smiled her warm, soothing smile.  "You would not be
here otherwise."
	Akane shrank into herself, blushing a healthy crimson.  
	"So you mean it's true?" a mortified Ranma asked.  
	Kasumi sighed.  "Hai, Ranma-kun," she confessed sadly.  "Akane told you the
truth.  I'm very sorry that you had to see, Akane.  Please, Imouto, don't be
afraid."
	"Oneechan, I... "  Akane paused, tears drowning out her words as she threw
her arms around her sister.  "I cannot be afraid!" she wailed.  
	Kasumi winced, sensing that her sister was lying, but too loyal and loving
to admit the truth that terrified her.  Kasumi did not have the heart to
declare the truth to her sister.  Besides, what purpose would it serve?  
	"Kasumi...," Akane whispered, squeezing her sister in her arms, searching
for the warmth that she knew was Kasumi, never wanting to let go of it,
knowing beyond all rational conviction that if she let go now, she would
never find it again.  But no matter how hard she held onto her sister, her
ill premonition would not abate.       
	Cold.
	Akane was so cold.  
	Kasumi shuddered, knowing that she was responsible.  Silent tears came into
her eyes as she held her sister.  
	"R--Ranma," Kasumi beckoned, reproaching herself for the tremor in her
voice.  Never had she needed her strength more, and never had she been so
afraid that it would not be there.  
	Ranma was astonished by the unbelievable fear and abhorance he felt for
Kasumi and even more astonished to feel water in his eyes as he watched the
two sisters before their mother's grave.  He shut his eyes and angrily
reproached himself, longing to tear them from his heart, particularly the
anger and terror he inclined towards Kasumi.  It was one thing to hear of
this evil Kasumi from Akane.  
	It was another to hear of it from Kasumi herself.
	'Unreal....'  his dazed mind said to itself.  
	Kasumi, the silent, oblivious, loving saint of their home.  
	Kasumi, the resolute daughter.  
	Kasumi, the innocent matriarch.
	Kasumi, the rock in their chaotic lives.  
	'This is not her!' his mind cried.  
	"Ranma," she called to him again, carefully disentangling herself from
Akane.  
	Fear.  Abhorance.  Shock.  
	She saw them in his eyes.  
	She wanted to cry.  
	"Ranma, sometimes we say and do things we do not mean, terrible things we
ourselves cannot accept exist within us.  I would never strike my father; I
could not even strike a fly if it meant my life.  I've seen too much and felt
too much in my life to do such things."
	"You're not Kasumi," he said coldly, the edge in his voice making her wince.
 
	"Ranma!" Akane cried, aghast with new horror.  
	"Kasumi doesn't talk like that."
	"Ranma," Kasumi said sadly.  "Ranma, please don't abhor me like this.  I'm
not a demon.  I swear."
	"The Kasumi I know would never yell at her father."  
	"I did not mean it.  I repent deeply."
	"Kasumi wouldn't terrify her sister."
	"Ranma!" Akane roared, throwing herself on top of him, bashing and wrestling
him in her blind rage, pulping a stunned, helpless Ranma.  
	"Akane, stop!" Kasumi cried.  
	"I won't have him insult you like that, Oneechan," Akane answered.  "No
matter what you say or what you do."  
	"Ranma is not insulting me.  What he says is true.  Please, Akane.  Let's
not fight.  Not here, not now," her sister implored, almost begged.  
	Akane's will melted as she followed Kasumi's gaze to the stone.  A fresh
wave of chaos and tears struck her as she released Ranma and fled some
distance away, sobbing to herself, unsure where to begin or why she felt so
sad and so scared.  
	The dream....
	Terror-stricken, she killed the urge to share it with her sister, not
wishing to share her terrible fears with anyone else.  
	Kasumi sighed as she stared after her sister.  
	"You are right, Ranma," she conceded.  "The Kasumi you know would never do
any of these things.  But you must remember that you don't know all of who I
am -- the Kasumi that I know -- and it's best that you know only as much as
you know -- as much as Nabiki knows and as much as Akane knows.  I wish now
that the Kasumi I know was never born, but for the duty that she must
fulfill.  I never meant to hurt anybody.  You should know that my disposition
is honest, Ranma, that the compassion I have for my family, for your father
and for yourself is real.  I've grown very fond of you, Ranma.  In many ways,
I've come to think of you as a little brother.  I would never want you to
hate me, nor would I want you to be afraid of me."
	She paused, waiting for him to say something, anything.  
	His skepticisim remained unfazed, at least by what she read on his face.  
	"Is it such a terrible thing to not know everything about a person?  Am I
really unkind and dishonest?  Look into my eyes and tell me if I am lying.
 Search your heart, Ranma, and if I am lying, I'll leave our home forever and
give you a note for my father which you may dictate and read."
	Ranma did look into her eyes... and crumbled.  Just like that, everything he
felt turned to self-recrimination.  
	"You're not a liar, Kasumi," he told her quietly, his voice subdued in what
she correctly deduced was shame.  
	"Oh, Ranma," she cooed.  
	She smiled and pecked him on the check.  
	Ranma blushed and hunkered into himself.  
	She chuckled to herself, unable to suppress the impulse.  She marvelled at
how real the feeling was, how alive and free she felt.  For the first time in
a very long time, Kasumi tasted a moment's happiness.  
	It ended when she turned and saw and heard her sister in the distance still
in tears.  
	"Ranma, twelve years to this day was when our mother died.  Okaasan would
not want Akane here like this.  Please, take her to school.  Help her think
of happier things and forget last night and the sadness of today."
	Ranma did not miss the plea in her eyes.  He obeyed and went to Akane.  
	She did not even look up; didn't have to to know that he was there or what
he was going to say.  
	"No, Ranma.  I can't go.  I won't."
	"Go, Imouto.  Okaasan would want it this way," she heard Kasumi say.  
	She stood, ready to rave in protest about her chilling dream and the
forboding premonition she felt.  When she opened her mouth to speak, however,
the words weren't there.  
	Nor was the maddening drive that had haunted her since the previous night.  
	Suddenly, it really felt like it had been nothing more than a dream.  
	"Hai, Oneechan.  Come on, Ranma."
	Kasumi waved.  "I'll see you two in the evening.  I have some prayers to say
first."
	Akane turned and watched her sister from the top of the hill for a moment.  
	"I love you, Oneechan," she whispered.