This idea came to me after I spent a week in Seattle with some old
friends.  Needless to say, some things have changed since I last saw
them.  This idea could be one reason why Kasumi is so mellow most
of the time, with the occasional outburst.

I don't have any plans to continue with this, so if anyone feels
it is worth continuing, please contact me and then, by all means,
run with it.

And yes, I'm pretty sure I'll get some flames for this one.
*sigh*

Discalimer:  Ranma 1/2 and all its wonderful characters
are the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi and I mean no
disrespect in writing this story, nor am I attempting to
sell it for any profit.    C&C, Flames, MiSTy's, anything
and everything is welcome.  :)

Note: Thought's are *X*'s


Kasumi's Day


        Kasumi awoke to the usual music of birds chirping, cricket's
cricking, and Ben Harper on her radio-alarm.

"...if you don't like my fire
then don't come around
cause I'm gonna burn one down
yes I'm gonna burn one down
my choice is what I choose to do
and if I'm causing no harm
it shouldn't bother you
your choice is who you choose to do
and if you're causin' no harm
then you're alright with me..."

[click]

        Off goes the radio.

        *Oh good, the Saotome's aren't up yet.  They must have had
a long night, with all of Ranma's friends showing up to
mess up my clean home.  Guess I had better get working before
Dad wakes up and floods the place,*  Kasumi thought to herself
as she ran through her morning stretches with an ear cocked for any
noises.

        "Ahhh, that felt good," said she after finishing her stretches.
*I wonder if I have time for a quick...No, I'd better clean up
the house first.*

        The eldest Tendo daughter quickly dresses before heading
downstairs to survey the most recent damage to her domain.

        She grabs a notepad from the kitchen and braces herself for the
worst.  *Hmm, only minor damage this time.  A new wall here, a
patch in the ceiling there, some thread for that screen door,
and a new tea kettle ought to cover things.  I'll head down to
the store after breakfast.  But first, a little break.*

        Making sure, no one else was doing the insane thing of being
awake at 4:45 a.m.; Kasumi walks into the kitchen, opens the
top cupboard door, reaches into the back, and grabs an old box
of cereal.  Reaching inside the box, she pulls out a small black
bag, then heads out to the Tendo garden.

        Once again, Kasumi looks around for any movement but seeing
nothing out of the usual, she reaching into her black bag
and pulls out a glass pipe.  The pipe is about four inches long,
and a swirled blue in color.  There is a small bowl with an
indentation for tabacco, or whatever other plant one wishes to burn,
at the bottom; from which stems a straw-like passage.

        Kasumi opens a small bag, removes a small green bud, and places
it in the the bowl.  She then takes a harley Davidson lighter
to the bud as she inhales deeply through the thin end.

        Her eyes water as she exhales a small white puff of smoke.
*Ahhhhhh, now I can face the day with a happy face.  Akane breaks
her bricks, Nabiki blackmails...everyone, and I keep this house
running without ever complaining.  I think I'd go insane without
my little friend here.  I only wish I had someone to share the
experience with.  That Kuno boy only does hard stuff and
everyone else around here is too prudish to even think about
trying this.*

        She had once walked in on her friend Dr. Tofu sniffing lines, but
he had since quite and seemed to freak out whenever he saw her.

        *Darn. I wonder what Grandfather Happosai always smokes? He
always seems to be in a good mood.  Oh well, I'll survive on my own
like I have since Mother died, and Father withered away.*

        She savors her last drag before dumping the ash over the fence,
behind the neighbors tree.


************************


        She serves a typical breakfast of steamed rice, nori, and miso
soup, during which Genma and Ranma did their typical Anything-
Goes-Martial-Arts-Food-Training, Akane and Nabiki discussed their
upcoming school day, and Soun...  Well, Soun was Soun and didn't do
anything you havn't read about before except invent an entirely new
excuse to cry.  #219.  I watched another episode of "Hoshi No Kinka"[1]
last night, and wasn't it terribly sad?

        No one notices Kasumi as usual.  She just sits in her normal place,
smiling at their antics, dishing out food, looking vacuous the whole
time.  But, that's nothing new.  She hadn't really been animated during
breakfast in a long time, before the Saotome's time with them certainly.


[Creative muse ends here]


[1]  I pray that this is a TV show and not a movie...I
didn't think Dawson's Creek would apply here.  [2]

[2]  I've read a couple of Matthew Trotter's stories if
you hadn't noticed.  :)  *wave*  Hi professor.



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"I, Chrissie Hynde, do solemnly swear that the band Garbage
can sample any sound, vocal, or, indeed, my very ass."

Request Music Magazine - June 1998

-----------------------------------

   Ranma-kun was a nice boy. A complete psychopath, but a nice
boy. Kasumi was sure he and Akane would be very happy
together. And he ate a lot, which was the mark of a healthy,
growing young man.

^_-

>From Ill Met by Starlight
By Susan Doenime & Mike Loader

-----------------------------------

"Mashiko is seventeen, "Mitsuko said. "He is a
'pathological-techno-fetishist-with-social-decifit.'"

"A What?"

"Otaku."

>From Idoru
By William Gibson