Kasumi on Her Own					
	by Cassandra Sunderland
						based on characters from RANMA 1/2	
Kasumi woke up at the crack of dawn, just as she 
did any other morning. Dressing quickly, she 
made her way to the kitchen. Things were 
strangely quiet and at first it troubled her 
greatly. Then it dawned on her that this was the 
day that everything started. Happosai, Mr. 
Saotome and father were off on a week of 
training with Ranma, while Nabiki and Akane 
would be gone on their field trip for the whole 
weekend. 	ÒI almost donÕt know what to do with 
myself.Ó Kasumi mused, so used to her cavalcade 
of chores that she needed to get done before the 
others awoke. Now there was no one to cook for, no one 
to clean up after, just her and the dojo.	Kasumi 
made herself a small breakfast and set aside 
some laundry. She figured it would be easier to 
wait until there was enough laundry to do one 
big wash before Akane and Nabiki got home. After 
some minor cleaning, Kasumi went back into her 
room. She looked through her closet to find 
something she had not worn in years. Kasumi 
didnÕt like to talk about it much, but like her 
other two sisters, she had trained under her 
father to learn basic defense. Since no one was 
around, she thought she might make use of the 
dojo for some minor training before she got back 
to the book that dear Dr. Tofu had loaned her.
	Kasumi felt ridiculous in her training gi, 
but she knew no one could see her and she knew 
there was nothing to be embarrassed about. 
Everyone else in the house trained, why should 
she feel strange about it. Kasumi started a few 
warm up exercises, but she could feel a few 
twinges from her confused body. Those little 
kinks were slowly worked out and then Kasumi was 
ready for her real work out. She slowly worked 
her way through each of the moves her father had 
taught her, but she didnÕt feel that she was 
doing any of the moves correctly. It had been 
such a long time since she had done of them and 
she had no power behind her moves, which made 
sense, for she had no aggression to back them 
up. 	Kasumi never could understand her sisterÕs 
anger. She often offered advice to Akane, but it 
never worked. The worst thing was that for a 
while, Akane tried to mimic her elder sister and 
that was even worse. Kasumi knew that Akane had 
to get over her anger and rage, but she had to 
do it in her own way and her own time. Any force 
from the outside would only damage. Wait, that 
wasnÕt completely true. Kasumi knew that Ranma 
was the one and only outside force that would 
help Akane, and Akane would likewise help Ranma. 
Kasumi smiled deep inside as she thought about 
how the two were becoming closer despite 
themselves. It was certainly fate, for what they 
needed most to grow up and take on the 
responsibilities of marriage was, quite simply, 
each other. Even though it sometimes frustrated 
her that Akane and Ranma were so stubborn and 
slow to see what she saw so clearly, but since 
she knew the outcome was to be, it made it easy 
for her to keep her happy mood. In fact, Kasumi 
saw things so clearly that she almost never had 
a bad thing bouncing in her mind. 	KasumiÕs 
thoughts were shattered just like the far wall. 
A strange woman in black and green came charging 
into the dojo. Kasumi was spared from being 
struck by the flying debris, but before she 
could understand what was happening, the strange 
woman stood before her and struck a combat pose. 
Her hair was dark and tied into a very strict 
tail, but she also had three lengthy bangs. Her 
eyes were green and cold, but the rest of her 
face was covered by her cloak.	ÒHello. Can 
I help you?Ó Kasumi brightly asked.	ÒI am 
Shadera and I have come to challenge you, Akane 
Tendo!Ó The girl shouted.	ÒOh my, well Akane 
isnÕt here at the moment, so IÕm afraid...Ó 
Kasumi tried to explain.	ÒWhat a feeble 
lie! Prepare yourself!Ó With that, Shadera made 
a fierce kick at Kasumi. Kasumi dodged to the 
the left and barely avoided the strike. Shadera 
made a second kick. Kasumi dodged again, but she 
lost her balance and fell under the spinning 
leg. Shadera almost fell over herself.	ÒHa! I 
thought youÕd be more of a challenge than this!Ó 
Shadera raised her foot to bring it down on 
Kasumi, but Kasumi simply rolled over to where 
AkaneÕs weights were. Kasumi was already out of 
breath. This was much more than she had 
expected. 	ÒMiss Shadera, you are confusing me 
for my sister.Ó Kasumi tried very hard to 
explain as she tried to regain her feet.	ÒShut 
up!Ó Shadera shrieked as she leaped over to 
Kasumi. Kasumi was frightened and covered her 
eyes. No blow was struck, though. ShaderaÕs 
foot landed square on AkaneÕs weights. The 
weight rolled toward Kasumi, but Shadera was to 
fall flat on her back, smashing her head on the 
dojo floor.	ÒOh no!Ó Kasumi ran over to the 
fallen woman. ÒDid you hurt yourself badly? 
Should I get the first aid kit?Ó Kasumi was 
genuinely concerned.	ÒI will not be so 
insulted, Akane Tendo!Ó Shadera grunted past her 
pain.	ÒOh my, that bump on the head has made you 
forget already. I am AkaneÕs sister, Kasumi.Ó 
Kasumi smiled and left the room to get the 
medical kit. She had no idea that shortly after 
she had shut the door, Shadera had gotten to her 
feet and followed in pained fury.	Upstairs, in 
the bathroom, Kasumi looked for some bandages, 
but most had been used up by Akane or Ranma. As 
she bent over to look in the lower cupboard, 
that was when Shadera charged in. At her great 
speed, Shadera could not stop as she slammed 
into KasumiÕs side. Shadera flipped over and 
slapped down onto the floor once more. Kasumi 
made a slight gasp as she was hit, but she was 
more shocked by ShaderaÕs sudden appearance in 
the bathroom. 	ÒOh, Miss Shadera. I would 
have brought the bandages down to you. Now you 
seem to be completely unconscious! Poor, poor 
dear.Ó Kasumi gathered the bandages and 
carefully brought Shadera to the sofa. Tending 
to her wounds, Kasumi was interrupted by the 
phone.	ÒTendo Dojo.Ó Kasumi cheerfully 
answered.	ÒHi! Kasumi itÕs me, Akane! I 
thought IÕd call!Ó Akane sounded so cheerful, 
Kasumi could tell the field trip was going well.
	ÒHello Akane! How nice to hear from you!Ó 
Kasumi beamed.	ÒI hope everything is well 
with you.Ó 	ÒWell, some strange girl named 
Shadera came and attacked me thinking I was you, 
though I donÕt know what made her so angry, but 
sheÕs unconscious, so I have to take care of 
her.Ó Kasumi happily explained.	ÒWhat?Ó 
Akane was sure she didnÕt hear what she just 
heard.	*	*	*	*	*	*
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