Here's another one of those things that managed to distract me from my
work on Shattered Hearts on the Road Chapter 4. This one is a bit simpler,
i think. As usual, none of the characters are mine, yadayadayada...
Anything you have to say about this, which i'm pretty sure falls into the
spamfic category this time, would be... well, you'll see...

~Eimii








A butterfly flapped its wings. 

On this particular occasion, the intricate, almost mystical effects of
advanced chaos mechanics did not rise to demonstrate how this one,
seemingly insignificant event, precipitated some momentous change in the
world's weather patterns, or perhaps the thorough and total upending of
the status quo in a small fascist regime half a world away.  Instead, this
act had the simple effect of moving the butterfly from a state of rest to
a state of motion; a simple, boring, 'from point A to point B' sort of
equation. The butterfly didn't really care; it didn't have much time or
brainpower to spare in contemplation of global meteorological impact or
neo-post-modern political theory. This was probably just as well anyway,
as moments later it found itself imbedded, wings and all, in the front
grille of a passing semi truck. Such is life... 





The center cannot hold...





"Bye-bye, Mr. Butterfly." Kasumi sang cheerfully, as the small, bright
orange and black butterfly fluttered lazily away from the windowsill above
the sink in the kitchen of the Tendou home. Now that her little visitor
was gone, Kasumi turned her attention back to washing the pile of lunch
dishes currently soaking in the sink. Despite the fact that it was Sunday,
which was everybody else's day off, Kasumi was pleased by the fact that
there were rather fewer dishes today than she would normally have to wash
after a meal. 

It had only been her, father, and Nabiki present at lunch today. Akane had
decided to go have a look at the new game center in the next town with her
friends, and after some waffling on the subject Ranma had eventually ended
up going with them. It really was rather childish how Ranma and Akane
denied their obvious affection for one another, hiding it behind a show of
anger or indifference. Kasumi supposed it was sort of cute, in a kind of
immature fashion, but still; with the shared tendency of their egos to
overcompensate for things when they were uncomfortable, their little...
'differences of opinion' could sometimes escalate to rather fearful
extremes. Kasumi was just thankful that some of Ranma's friends from
school had decided to go along as well, so Ranma wouldn't have to think
_too_ hard about the reasons for he and Akane being there together. 

Kasumi smiled slightly to herself. *Both of them certainly do have a lot
of maturing to do. Especially Ranma, if he's ever going to be a proper
husband.* she thought, absently drying a plate and setting it aside. *Ah
well, they're only in high school. There's still a lot of time left for
that.* Leaning on the counter for a moment, Kasumi sighed wistfully,
gazing through the window out at the clear, early-summer sky. *How simple
it would be... to be back in school again...*

A small frown crossed Kasumi's lips. With a shake of her head, she
reluctantly pushed those thoughts aside. Daydreaming about things that she
couldn't do would never accomplish anything, and it certainly wouldn't
make all of the housework that she had to do go any faster. At any rate,
with the two main foci of the local chaos system out for the day, the
probability of the odd suitor or vengeful martial artist dropping by for a
visit had plummeted. Well, at the very least the most likely location of
such a visitation had been diverted, temporarily.

It was a welcome respite, for however long it lasted. Even the chances of
future mishap had been curtailed slightly today, as Happosai had
apparently accosted Mr. Saotome sometime during the night. He had roped
the elder Saotome into assisting him on one of his late night
'excursions,' and neither of them had been seen since. While adding a
certain amount of uncertainty to the day's proceedings, this did have the
beneficial effect of keeping Mr. Saotome and father out of Ranma and
Akane's hair for the day. 

The most important effect of all of this however, from Kasumi's point of
view anyway, was the fact that, with the two largest stomachs in the house
presently absent, she hadn't had to make so much food for lunch, and
consequently there were fewer dishes to clean up afterwards. It was really
quite fortunate, actually, as her kitchen was running rather low on
several things at the moment. After she finished doing the dishes, she
would have to go grocery shopping. She would have asked Nabiki to do it
for her, as she had several other chores that she had to do today, but
Nabiki had disappeared shortly after lunch. And since father had decided
to go looking for Mr. Saotome, not that Kasumi would have asked him to go
shopping for her anyway, she would just have to make do by herself. 

After drying off the last of the dishes and draining the sink, Kasumi went
into the pantry and began to make a list of the things that they needed.
It appeared that she would need to get the groceries delivered to the
house, as it looked like there would be too much for her to carry home by
herself. Sighing to herself, she closed the pantry and took a brief look
into the refrigerator. After she was satisfied that her list was complete,
she reached up and grabbed the jar on the top of the fridge where Nabiki
would leave the food money. 

Her brow creased in a frown, as she removed the last of the money for the
week. Recently, the dojo repair expenses had been cutting heavily into the
family funds. Kasumi silently hoped that things would settle down for a
while, or else things could get rather tight in the food department.
*Perhaps I should see if Doctor Tofu needs a nurse...* She mused, a
contemplative look on her face. *No,* she thought, a slightly sad look on
her face, *Father probably wouldn't agree to that. Oh well...* Looking at
the list one more time, she began to walk towards the front gate. *We'll
just have to make do for a while.*

With that, she reached the end of the walkway off of the Tendou Dojo
grounds. Thereupon, she nearly collided with what appeared to be a large,
dusty backpack with feet, which was currently blocking the gate. Kasumi
nearly jumped in surprise as the backpack whirled around, revealing itself
to be, in fact, a handsome, if dirty young man, who was wearing the
backpack in question. After a second of confusion, Kasumi picked out the
spotted bandanna on his forehead, and noticed the lost expression on his
face, both of which marked him as one of Nerima's more famous migrant
residents. 

"Why hello Ryouga! It's been a long time since the last time I saw you.
Have you been well?" Kasumi asked cheerfully, a sincere smile on her face.
Ryouga had always been polite and gentlemanly to her, on the few occasions
that she had spoken with him, even though Kasumi knew that his
relationship with Ranma and Akane was rather more... difficult. 

"Oh! Kasumi! I've been well, I guess. Hehehe... I suppose I don't have to
ask where the Tendou Dojo is, then..." Ryouga smiled back at her, absently
scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "How've you all been?" 

"We've been fine, Ryouga. Thank you for asking. I'm sorry, but Ranma and
Akane aren't here right now. I would ask you to stay and wait for them,
but the house is empty right now, and I have to go grocery shopping."
Kasumi replied apologetically. Then, as a disappointed expression began to
form on the lost boy's face, Kasumi had an idea. "If you like, you can
come shopping with me. They'll probably be back by the time we return, and
I could use some help carrying the groceries home, it you wouldn't mind,
that is." 

The disappointment on Ryouga's face, though not disappearing completely,
was quickly replaced by a friendly smile. "Sure, Kasumi. I'd be happy to
help you." With that, he moved out of the way, allowing Kasumi to walk out
of the gate. 

"Thank you so much Ryouga." Kasumi said, as Ryouga fell into step bedside
her, and they began to walk toward the market. "I hope I'm not causing you
too much trouble..." 

"No problem Kasumi. No trouble at all." Ryouga replied amicably. Letting
Kasumi set a leisurely pace, they began to make friendly small talk,
neither of them noticing as they began to drift slightly off course... 







Mihrna:<looking at the screen over Eimii's shoulder> So, what happens
next? 

Eimii:<sitting at the computer desk, a silly grin on her face> Well, i
have some ideas, but i thought it might be fun to see what some other
people think should happen now, so this is a Challengefic! 

Mihrna:<favors Eimii with an incredulous look> A Challengefic? 

Eimii:<nods emphatically> Yeah! What happens, is i wrote the beginning of
a fic, and i challenge people to finish it! It's sorta like throwing a
story idea out into the list, except it's marginally less spam-flavored. 

Mihrna:<shakes her head regretfully> I should've seen that coming. I
suppose it makes sense, considering how you never finish anything
anyway... 

Eimii:<sits up straighter> Hey! i'm gonna write my own ending of this too,
eventually... i just wanna see what other people would do! 

Mihrna:<smirks at Eimii> Yeah, okay. Whatever. What are the stipulations
of this little challenge of yours anyway? 

Eimii:<settles down> None, really. I would just think that the point of
the fic would be to either A)Show what happens to Ryouga and Kasumi when
they get lost, or B)Show what happens to the _rest_ of Nerima, _because_
they get lost.  Or, you could do both, or neither, or something completely
different. Whatever you wanna do! <smiles to herself>

Mihrna:<nods> Okay... well, that seems simple enough, but do you really
expect anyone to accept this little challenge of yours? 

Eimii:<crosses her arms> Hey, people have done this sort of thing before! 
If no one accepts, i'm writing my own ending anyway, once i get some time,
so don't worry about it so much. You're not even in this one, anyway...

Mihrna:<casts a dark look towards Eimii> Oh yes, speaking of which... 

Eimii:<cringes, and cowers into her seat> Oops. Uh-oh...