Thanks to Tannim for hosting this fic. All ya Matlock wannabes out there please notice that the series this fic is based on is already copyrighted so leave it be. Arigato! A Different Path Side Story Kasumi's Tale Reported by the Nerima Chaos News Broadcast ****************************************** "Konnichiwa! Atashi wa Tendou Kasumi desu! Welcome to the Tendou Dojo. Oh My! Father we have guests! Please come in. I'll make some tea." Kasumi was of course doing the housework like a housewife. The camera zoomed in closer to capture her face. She was still in her own fantasy. But slowly she began to come out of it. Changes abound. But what was about to happen was going to change her life. For the better. "Every day I would wake up early to wash clothes or prepare breakfast for the family and bentos for those going to school. Later I will go to market to buy food for lunch and dinner." After she came back from her marketing, its cleaning work. And repairs of course. She had to do some repairs each and everytime someone broke something in the house. Next she scrubbed the furo, rinse it and filled it with more hot water. She was back in the kitchen preparing lunch and also heating a kettle of hot water, then setting it aside for use later. After Akane, Nabiki and Ranma came back from school, Kasumi had to clean up the mess again. Sawdust, bricks, rubble, puddles of water everywhere. Next she went to visit Tofuu-sensei. The chiropracter always seemed to act funny whenever she paid him a visit to give him some snacks or borrowed/returned his medical books and journals. Almost as if..... no it could not be. She always felt happy to see him. Did she like him? No it must be her imagination. But why did I feel like that everytime he acted that way? Why? Seeing no answers available, she left the clinic humming a soft tune and back to her own world. Back at the dojo, it was another mallet session as Akane tried her brand new Titanium tipped sledgehammer test on Ranma's head when he insulted her yet again with an 'you can't cook Kawaiikune!' In he went the koi pond in the yard and out came a red haired girl. Ranma-chan was visibly different. Kasumi could sense the difference ever so slightly. She was frowning at something. Kasumi could not fathom what but that subtle if quick change in behavior was intriguing. Dismissing it as nothing more than her own imagination, Kasumi went to find the pigtailed girl a towel. "Oh my! You are getting wet. Here take this and wipe yourself dry Ranma-chan." Kasumi handed the redheaded girl a towel. "Arigato Kasumi!" Ranma-chan said cheerily. Again Kasumi could not help but wonder. Did she sound happy or was it my imagination? "You are welcome. Would you like some tea?" Seeing the girl nod, Kasumi poured her a cup of hot tea. "Kasumi, is there anything I can help you with? I am terribly sorry for the extra work you had to do." The pigtailed girl offered. "Oh my! That is very kind of you! Yes you can come help me in the kitchen." With a "Hai", Ranma-chan followed Kasumi into the kitchen and they began to work. She would help Kasumi scrub the hard stain Akane's cooking created. Woah this is tough! I wonder how Kasumi kept her utensils clean everytime Akane tried her hands on cooking. The two of them then went to sit at the shogi, watching the sunset with cups of tea in their hands. The beautiful sunset was stunning, painting the entire sky in a red hue that was as brilliant as Ranma's red hair. The birds were chirping their evening song and the sky was reflected like a mirror image in the koi pond. "Red as a burning ember, A heart seeks the only path. The road to freedom and life, was fraught with hardship and struggles. Yet the one who seeks the road, Strong in mind and body and spirit, Shall he know the truth behind it all." Kasumi turned to look at the voice that uttered those words. It was poetic and almost accurate in summarising their situations. Each of them had a different destiny, a different choice to take, to cherish. She was rather pleasantly surprised at the redhead's recitation. "Ranma-chan? That... that was beautiful. I never thought you would have the heart of a poet." Kasumi was smiling. It rang true. The words struck a chord in her as if urging her. Motioning her towards her own road. "Oh. Its just a spur of the moment. I did not realise it. I just thought of the words as they formed in my mind when I saw that beautiful creation of Nature." The red haired girl replied pointing at the sunset. Gathering up her breath, Kasumi began to tell the redhead of her love for poetry, romance and how silly she thought Tofuu acted whenever she went to visit him. She also told of her dreams to become a doctor and how romantic it would be if she had him walking her at the beach with a full moon shining on them. How a small candlelight dinner for them both would be nice. She even disclosed that she borrowed romantic love stories and poems from Tofuu but hid them in the medical books before she came home every time she went to the clinic. Ranma-chan smiled even wider at this confession. "I really like the damsels and knights notion. How a knight in shining armour rushing down the aisle in a white horse and scooping the maiden in his strong arms, riding down the sunset together, shadows silhouting behind them. Oh that's SO romantic!" Kasumi gushed excitedly like a schoolgirl panning over cute things. Ranma-chan looked at Kasumi smirking. An idea began forming on her head. Nodding to herself, she went to make plans for the date between two lovebirds. Later that evening, she went to Kasumi's room. Knocking on the door, she opened after Kasumi asked her to enter. Spreading around the floor of the room were either cookery books or medical manuals. A silent moment passed between them before Kasumi started the conversation. "Ranma-chan? What are you doing here?" Kasumi was surprised that the redhead had come paid her a visit. "Oh I just came to talk to you. I wanted to chat with someone." Ranma replied. "Oh I see. Well come on in." Kasumi gestured the chair near the door. "Ano Kasumi-neechan, what are you doing?" Seeing all the books on the floor, she thought. This was not Kasumi's style. She's supposed to be neat and tidy. "Oh I was just going over tomorrow's recipes for the meals and finished reading those books I borrowed from Tofuu-sensei." Kasumi gave a cheerful reply. "You really like him don't you? Why did you not tell him?" Ranma smiled knowingly. Kasumi was just flipping over the pages of a biology book when Ranma said that. Her fingers were still holding the page in midair. She looked stunned. "Eh... I don't like him. Even if he like me. Which I don't think it's the case." She dismissed the claim rather quickly. "Kasumi-neechan, please stop lying to yourself. You know you like him. You know he likes you. If you two would stop pretending and just admit to each other!" Ranma was now irritated at both Kasumi's and Tofuu's antics. Kasumi did not say a word. She just stared at the books. After a few moments, the redhaired girl decided to press on. "Kasumi listen to me. You should go and tell Tofuu you like him. Its time you need to decide on your life together. You always wanted to be a doctor right? Isn't it why you borrowed all these medical books from him?" She pointed to the books scattered all over the floor. "But what about my family? They could not do without me." Kasumi was hesitant. "They knew and they were concerned for you. You worked hard keeping this home together." The shorter girl grinned brightly. Yes it was time to take action. ===== At the Ono Clinic, Tofuu was seeing his last patient before closing for the day. Walking to the waiting room, he was surprised to see a beautiful red haired girl there. Asking her to come into his office, he began to examine her. "Ano Miss. But have we met before? You looked kind of familiar." After seeing the girl stiffling her giggles, "Oh I am sorry. Please tell me what was wrong with you? Any pain or discomfort?" After a minute of controlling her laughter, she decided to answer him. "It's me Ranma, Sensei. Oh Gomen Nasai. I realised that I am not dressing like normally correct? Well that is not important. I have come to discuss about Kasumi." "K-K-Kasumi?" Hoo boy! His glasses fogged up again! "Kasumi! How nice of you to visit! Hee Hee! Betty-chan let's dance!" "Sensei? Snap out of it Sensei!" Ranma-chan grabbed Tofuu's sleeves and slapped him in the face! He immediately came out of his daze, saying "Nani?" He looked at the girl in front of him and sighed. "I must have zoned out again ne? K-Kasumi-chan is a beautiful girl but I was afraid she might reject me. Over time I developed this fantasy unconsciously. I was afraid to tell her I like her and her rejection. That's how it all started and it just kept getting stronger each time she came to visit." Tofuu was now morose. How could I be so stupid as to pin for a girl who would never like or even love me? All those years wishing to confess to her and it seemed to be wasted. Also I am a bit older than her. I cannot ruin her life like it did to Akane by going through the formal engagement, he thought sadly. It was then he noticed something different about Ranma-chan. The girl was wearing a light blue blouse, green pleated kneelength skirt, a navy blue jacket and flat sole shoes. From the curves of the blouse was evident that she was wearing a bra and he suspected panties too. She even wore blush and peach lip gloss. Doing a double take, he saw why he did not recognise her in the first place. The way she dressed and the hair flowing down freely to her shoulders instead of the pigtail made her look stunning. Almost like a real girl. Nah it cannot be. Seeing him looking her over and a surprised look on his face, she grinned impishly and twirled around to let him inspect her new look. "May I ask what happened? You don't normally dress like this. Is there something I should know? Or is that a secret too?" Tofuu smiled mischiveously. "Kuso! Sensei you are a sharp one are you? Well my name is Ranko and I am a sort of split personality. What's the medical term? Oh yes Schizophrenia." "You do know that Ranma was stubborn and too proud to call himself a girl even when he was female? Well when he started developing feminine traits the more he stayed female, he did not want them. So he created another personality to take the brunt of the female mind and mannerisms, namely me without even thinking it. We shared this body and memories. But over time I learnt a lot. >From Nabiki Cologne and you about mental control and brain power." "I was able to deny Ranma some of the memories and altered the ones when he turned female to let him think it's him who occupied the body those times. I also read some of the psychology books you lent Kasumi and began to test the mental manipulation on him. And it worked. I pretended to act like a tomboy especially when Akane and Ranma provided lessons on how to act like one to stay close and not draw any suspicions from anyone." "You do not know what kind of brain Ranma had. He had a fantastic brain with a high IQ and since we shared it, I was able to take advantage of his inability to develop my own intelligence. And I again had Nabiki, you and Cologne to thank for. By observing the way you act, talk and even moved, I adapted those to mine and so here you go." Ranko explained all that happened. "So you are saying that you are not Ranma and he was a smart guy? And you managed to fool all of us. Heh I would never have guessed that the girl I had treated would have all of us tricked. But how did you manage to sneak out like that?" "Simple. I packed those female clothes into a bag and put it in Hiroshi's house. Then I made him promise never to open the bag. So everytime Ranma got wet or was not needed and he got wet anyway, I went to collect the bag and walked to the nearest bathing house to change. At the same time if there were dirty clothes, I brought them to the laundry center to dry clean." Ranko smirked. It really was easy to manipulate everyone. Tofuu was begining to form a smile on his face. A few moments later, he was guffawing and rolling on his chair. It was so obvious to him and yet he was misled. He looked up at the girl and smiled. "That was devious Ranko-chan! But I like it! It's fun to see everyone led like a dog on a lease. Did you make any mistakes?" He asked conspiratorilly. "Sure. I dropped some deliberate mistakes to let them know. But other than Nabiki, Mother and Cologne, I don't think the others took them seriously." She winked at him. "Might I ask why you decided to drop by?" Tofuu asked. He was answered when Ranko flashed out two tickets for the latest western opera and handed them to him. "Here! I stood for thirty minutes to get those! Its really crowded! I have also made reservations for you in the Tokyo Millenium Restaurant. Now it's time you asked Kasumi out for a date!" Ranko said with a flourish. Uh oh. Just as she said Kasumi's name, Tofuu's glasses fogged up again. She grabbed him and plopped him onto the medical bed. Now I am going to be a psychiatrist for a day. Taking a notepad, she began her questioning. "So Tofuu-san, who do you like? And what's her name?" "K-Kasumi? So nice to see you here." "Oh? Her name is Kasumi? So what do you like about her?" "It's love at first sight. She was an angel. Her motherly grace coupled with her sweet nature melted my heart that very first time we met." "But why do you fog up everytime you saw her or someone mentioned her name?" "B-b-because I love her and I was afraid to tell her. Each time I wanted to tell her that I was frightened. Fear of rejection made me create an illusion. Everytime I see her the fantasy that she told me she love me came up." "Hmmm. Severe case of self denial all right. Now what if I tell you that Kasumi likes you and is willing to go on a date with you? Now you need to think it's the truth. She likes you. All you need is some courage to tell her the same thing. Ok? When I count to three you are a brave knight in shining armour going to confess his love for his Princess and then asking her out for a date. Is that clear? 1, 2, 3." "What happened? I just had this fog in front of me and now its gone. So what was it you wished to speak to me about?" Tofuu looked confused. "Ok Go ask Kasumi out for a date. Oh and Sensei? Please don't tell anyone what I told you today about myself. Also don't call me Ranko in public ne?" "Hai and Arigato Ranko-chan." Tofuu nodded and kept the tickets and the reservation card into his pockets. Ranko smiled. Its showtime. ===== Kasumi was humming a tune and making preparations for dinner when a redhead entered the kitchen, smiling brightly. When asked what made her so happy, Ranma-chan merely said she was in a good mood. She was wearing the usual red shirt and black silk pants. A few minutes later, the door chime rang. "I'll get it!" Ranma-chan rushed outside. Moments later she walked back to the kitchen. "Kasumi-neechan? There's someone here to see ya! Don't worry about dinner. I'll help you finish it!" came the beautiful voice. Her voice was beautiful. Kasumi thought. I don't understand why Ranma hated the curse. Well its not my position to ask since I am not the one cursed. Nodding her head to the red-haired girl, she went to the family room. What she saw made her stop in mid-stride. There he was tall and handsome. Wearing a white tuxedo and carrying a bouquet of lilies. Ono Tofuu looked like the hero in the stories she read. The knight in shining armour. The samurai with the glittering katana in his hand. His lips pursed into a smile and she swooned on the smile. "Wow! I never knew he was that handsome. Even that Tatewaki baka could not match him." Nabiki was awestruck at the doctor. Akane was a little jealous but seemed glad for her Oneechan. "Tendou Kasumi, may I ask you out for a date?" Tofuu flashed his megawatt smile at her which made her swoon again. No man had quite that effect on her. No one but him. He was expecting her to agree. "OH MY! Yes! YES I will go out with you!" She shouted. Giggles could be heard coming from the kitchen as well as her sisters. She made a note to thank Ranma later. She saw the girl there at the clinic several times and wondered what she was doing there. She wasn't sick or injured. So that's what she had been doing. Helping her and Tofuu. Wait. I remembered that conversation we held a week ago. Ah that's the proof she was responsible for this! Not saying a word, she rushed upstairs to her room to dress up. Oh My! I don't think I had a formal dress to wear. Hearing a knock on the door, she saw Nabiki and Akane, the former holding a beautiful yellow evening dress. She let her sisters in. "Can't do without a pretty dress for a pretty lady Oneechan? This is beautiful. Where did you get it?" Nabiki asked while Akane had the same questioning look. "Um I don't remember I bought that dress. Didn't you bought it?" Kasumi was confused. Her sisters only shook their head in unison. "We found it on the floor just outside your room. You must have missed seeing it when you rushed into your room." Akane chorused. Hmm. Could it be her? Shaking her head, she mused. Note to self. Thank Ranma-chan first day in the morning. She hurried to put on the dress. It was a perfect match. Her sisters could only open their mouth when they saw how lovely their Oneechan looked in that dress. "Come. I cannot let Tofuu wait too long." Putting the final touches of make up to her face, Kasumi went to embrace her new destiny. ===== "After that first date, everything began to click into place. Nabiki started to be more caring, Akane less angry and more patient. We went on a few more dates. Then a few weeks later, he confessed to me that he love me. I was so happy I just kissed him. Nothing further needed to be said. That was the expression of love." "A week later, he came to see Otousan. There he proposed an engagement to me. He also proposed to me personally. I accepted immediately. We were officially engaged. We already made plans to marry and have children the next year. He also allowed me to continue to do the housework at the Dojo and helped him in the afternoon at the clinic." "All in all it was bliss. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to express my heartfelt thanks to her. Without her, this dream of mine would not be fulfilled the way it is now. With all my sincerest gratitude, wherever you are, Ranko-chan, If you are watching this, Arigato Gozaimasu! Please come back. We all missed you. Tofuu-chan also say thank you." Kasumi was embracing Tofuu, smiles on their faces. The scene lingered on for a few minutes before fading to black. A screen came back on with the credits and a note: Thank you for watching. A Special Thank You to Ranko-chan. ***** Author's Notes: Well how's that? Changing the format a little is refreshing ne? No? Then why did you read until here then? Just Kidding.