* * * * *
Slowly he opened his eyes, banishing that night from his mind. "I'm...I'm
not going to marry...Akane."
Kasumi's eyes widened. "Ranma, no-"
"She doesn't trust me. Said so herself just a while ago."
"She was just angry. I'm sure she didn't mean it."
"She did, and for once, I can't fault her for it. It's not going to work
out."
"Ranma, don't say that."
"It's true. I didn't even stop to think about it until tonight. At one
time, maybe things would have worked out, but things have changed." He took
her in with his eyes. "I...have changed..." He glanced out the window in
Kasumi's room. "I'm breaking off the engagement with her."
She sighed, looking down in her lap. "Father will be upset as well as Akane.
With you breaking off the engagement with her, you won't be able to uphold
giri."
"Not if I marry you," he said offhandedly.
"That's true, but-" She jerked her head up, staring at him. "W-what...?"
Shifting his view back to Kasumi, he replied, "Hm?"
"...do you really want to marry...me?"
Rapidly, he blinked. "W-w-what?"
"Oh..." Her head tipped forward. "I-I guess I...misunderstood you..."
Ranma bit his lip. "N-n-no...you didn't.... I...I-I did say that...."
Slowly, she lifted her head. "Really?" He nodded. "But why?"
Taking deep breaths, he began to speak. "It's, well...it's like...
um...because I...I..." He growled in frustration. "I...I... I want to be
with you...because, I care about you, a lot...and, I think I might even l...
lo...lo......." His eyes crossed to examine his mouth, which was not
cooperating with him. "Er, what I'm...trying to say is...I... I..." He
sighed. "God..."
A finger pressed against his fumbling lips gently. His eyes roamed up,
meeting hers. A small smile graced the young expecting mother's face. "I
know what you're trying to say, Ranma, but why me? It isn't just for the-"
Her fingers idly traced circles on her belly. "-baby, is it?"
Scratching the back of his head, he started. "Well, yeah, I guess you could
say there's more...um, for starters, you're not gonna hit me for doing or
saying something stupid..."
"No, I won't," she said, amusement in her voice.
"And you're very kind and gentle...and, well, you were willing to forego your
feelings for me twice already so Akane would have a chance to be happy..."
"Twice?"
"Mm hmm...I, well, I kinda overheard you and Mariko talking the day before
she went to America...."
Kasumi's eyes widened. "Y-you did? Then...you knew-"
"Yeah."
"Oh, my..."
"Yeah. Ever since then, I've felt...something towards you. I've fought
against it for a bit, and I thought I was winning. Then you kissed me.
Truth be known, I thought it was another dream I was having."
"You...dreamed about me?"
He half-smiled. "Well, I don't usually run around naked in male form, do I?"
"I hope not." She smiled a little more.
"Yeah, well, I had a few daydreams about you earlier that day. It
was...well, it was unnerving the first few times." He fidgeted with his
hands, his index fingers chasing after each other in circles. "I mean, me
and you getting all...romantic, I guess, it was so crazy then, plus it kept
messing me up, making me think about you like that...and then you kissed me.
God, that...that just broke my resistance then, so I figured it was just one
of those weird dreams. Then, the power came back on, and it wasn't a dream."
He shifted about in place, scratching the back of his head. "Kasumi,
I...I...I'm...s-s-sor-ry...for overreacting like that." A faint blush arose
upon his cheeks.
"Nothing to forgive, Ranma."
"Huh? Wha-"
"I understood why you reacted the way you did. Honestly, I felt guilty for
even trying to find out if you even liked me."
"Oh..."
Silence took over for a few minutes.
"So, do you really want to marry me?"
"Yeah."
"And the baby?"
"...I still don't know really. I figure I could find a job or something,
help take care of you and the kid...something."
"I guess that is something we'll have to deal with when the time comes.
What's more important is, what are we going to do tomorrow?"
"Well, I'm gonna have to break off the engagements with Akane, Ukyou, and
Shampoo. Kodachi, she just gives me the creeps, and she's crazy, so I don't
know what to do about her."
"Akane is going to take it really hard."
"Yeah...I wish there was some other way, but there isn't. At least the old
coots'll be happy. They'll probably be celebrating no sooner they find out."
Slowly, Kasumi leaned against Ranma, placing her head upon his shoulder.
"Life is going to become harder soon."
He nodded, drawing his arm about her waist. Idly, he noted just how tense
she was. "I know..."
Her eyes closed tightly. "I'm scared of what's going to happen."
"Me, too..." He gently rubbed small circles on her back, hoping it would
relax her.
She relaxed a little with his touch. Slinking her arms about his body, she
pulled herself firmly against him. "Ranma?"
"Yes?"
One of her hands unconsciously sought for his free one. Upon finding it, her
fingers laced with his, squeezing his hand warmly. "Will you stay with me
tonight? I don't want to be alone now."
He looked down to where their hands joined, then back to her. Smiling, his
fingers closed upon her hand, grasping it gently. "Sure."
Opening her stony green eyes, she lifted her head, catching sight of his
warm, blue eyes. She kissed him softly upon his lips, then relaxed visibly,
letting her body rest against him. "Thank you...dear."
His own head tipped to the side, holding his cheek against the top of her
head. "My pleasure...Kasumi-chan...."
***
At the Nekohanten, Shampoo yawned as she prepared for bed. A tiring day it
was, and with no sight of her beloved Airen at all. She felted a little
depressed about that, but bedtime would make up for it. Taking out the two
pictures of Ranma she owned, one with him standing confidently, and the
second with Shampoo hugging Ranma after returning to the Nerima ward with
Cologne, she started her bedtime ritual.
Just as she started to kiss the glass covering of the frame the picture
resided in, a tiny sound caught her attention. Puzzled, she looked around
her bed room, when it happened again. Her ears homed in on the sound, with
reddish irises following, both leading up to the picture frame she held in
her hand. Her eyes flashed at the sight of a very thin break in the glass.
Just as she contemplated getting a new frame, the minuscule crack suddenly
spiderwebbing over half of the image, sending up tiny shards of glass at her
face.
Her hand shot out and shielded her face from the small, glass cloud. The
pieces bounced off her palm harmlessly and landed back on the frame. After a
moment, she put down her hand and took stock of the frame's state.
The spiderweb cracking rested over one half of the image of her and Ranma.
More specifically, it stretched over her half of the picture. Briefly
pondering this startling development, she reached only one conclusion-
-a bad omen.
Still holding the picture frame, she darted out of her room, heading directly
towards her Great-Grandmother's bedroom.