Subject: Man Enough 2
Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 17:51:02 -0700
From: Donny 
To: chengdo@shaw.wave.ca

Disclaimer:  All characters portrayed in this story are the property of
Rumiko Takahashi and co.

This story takes place after vol. 38 of the manga and also draws ideas
from the anime.  This is a sequel to Man Enough.

C & C welcomed.

Man Enough

by

Donny Cheng

Chapter 2

        Ranma glanced around him.  His mother was watering some plants
outside.  His pop sat playing shogi with Mr. Tendo.  Kasumi, though, was
nowhere to be found.

        "Why good morning, Ranma.  Nothing to do this weekend again?"

        Ranma nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt Kasumi tap him on the
shoulder from behind.  He turned around to see her ever present smile
beaming at him.  How did she do that?  None of his many rivals could
sneak up on him when he was on his guard and on the look out, yet this
one woman without any martial arts ability managed to do it time after
time.  "Yeah, I guess.  Akane left already, huh?  She said something
about an afternoon movie."

        "Oh, yes.  She told me to let you sleep in.  She gave your ticket to
Yuka's cousin that just happened to be visiting.  The three of them and
Sayuri are going together."

        "Yes!  Um, I mean, that's too bad," Ranma said, but could not wipe
the
grin from his face.  It was another 'chick' movie that Akane wanted to
see.  Frequents attempts on Akane's part of taking him to the movies had
increased Ranma's stomach for them somewhat, so that he could actually
enjoy a martial arts film or two.  But, he drew the line at anything
that had 'wedding' or 'love' in the title.

        "Did you want me to heat your breakfast up, Ranma?" Kasumi asked.
"Everyone ate already."

        Ranma groaned.  That was one bad thing about sleeping late.  No hot
fresh meal cooked by Kasumi.  "Pop!  Why didn't you wake me up for our
sparring session?  You stole some off my plate again, didn't you?"

        [I'm just a panda.  A growing panda!] signed a now slightly wet
panda.

        Ranma looked at his pop and briefly considered pursuing the matter
before giving up.  He would get his revenge when they practiced together
later on. "Yeah, Kasumi. Can you heat it up?"

        Kasumi nodded, but did not move from her spot.

        "Please," Ranma said after a minute of looking at Kasumi and she
him.

        "I'll be glad to, Ranma," Kasumi said brightly and went towards the
kitchen.

        Ranma was never one for 'pleases' and 'thank yous' before, and only
said them as an afterthought most of the time.  However, lately, because
of Kasumi's influence, he began saying them periodically and found it
actually felt nice.  It still bothered him when the person he said
please to was some jerk like Kuno, but the smile he got from Akane
sometimes made it worthwhile.

        "Here you go, Ranma.  Have some tea first," Kasumi said and motioned
Ranma to sit at the table.

        "Thank you," Ranma said automatically to which Kasumi smiled
approvingly again at him.  It was times like these he wondered why he
rarely said them in the first place, he thought as his eyes were
momentarily blinded by her happiness.

        "Are you doing anything later, Ranma?" Kasumi asked
conversationally.

        "Nothing much.  Probably just cruise the neighborhood again after
practice.  Why?"

        "We're low on groceries.  I thought maybe you could come with me and
help me carry them."

        "No problem.  Leave it to me.  I'll be back around in the afternoon,
before dinner."

        "Thank you, Ranma.  I'll be waiting," Kasumi said sunnily.

        "Um... you're welcome, Kasumi," Ranma said as he took another blow
from
her pure devastating happiness.  A smile from Kasumi wasn't all that bad
a reason for being nicer either.

        Sometimes, he wondered if Kasumi was taking their engagement thing a
bit too seriously.  It seemed to him that she was nicer to him, but
strangely he couldn't think of a single thing that indicated her
behavior was different from before.  Nothing more on the matter of his
engagement to the three Tendo daughters had been said since he
confronted Kasumi about it a month ago.  She still went about her
chores, sat with him on the deck when he had nothing to do, and the many
little things she did to make their lives content.  Kasumi was Kasumi.
He must have been imagining it, forcing his ego down a bit to admit
this.  Still... Ranma thought, as he watched her go about her chores.

                        * * * * *

        "I'm the best there is!  See!  I told you so.  Absolutely nobody can
beat me in fighting."

        Ranma nearly fell of the roof he had leaped on as he heard that wild
and highly inaccurate statement.  Jumping down, he searched for the
sound of that voice and found it to be a little kid about ten boasting
in front of a small group.  "Watch, your mouth kid.  It's not good to
lie so young."

        "Who's lying?  I am the best.  I just beat ten guys in a row!" Hiro
shot back indignantly, holding himself up to the gaze of the other boy
more than twice his size.

        Ranma glared back at the kid, and several of the munchkins spread
out
to let him through.  "Everyone knows that in Nerima, Saotome Ranma is
the best!"

        Hiro frowned, thinking for a moment.  The name sounded familiar, but
he
couldn't place it.  "Never heard of you.  Anyway, everyone here knows
I'm the best.  You want to show your stuff?"

        Ranma glanced at the boy in front of him.  There was no way this kid
could be a martial artist of his caliber.  He didn't doubt his own skill
at proving his point, without broken bones.  The child needed to be
taught a lesson anyway for lying.  "Okay.  You want to step outside?"

        Hiro rolled his eyes.  "The Street Fighter game is inside the shop.
C'mon.  I still have enough money for one more game."

        Game?  Ranma slapped his the palm of his hand to his head.  They
were
talking about one of those fighting arcade games Hiroshi and Daisuke
once took him to play.  "Nevermind.  I don't have time for games."

        "Chicken.  I should have known," Hiro said to the group of children
around him.  A murmur of agreement rose from each of them.

        Ranma stopped in mid-step.  His jaw line hardened.  Stiffly, he
turned
around and went to the vendor for some coins.  Walking back to the
group, he motioned the other kid to get prepared.  "If it has to do with
fighting, I can win!"

        Hiro felt a slight shiver run down his spine as the taller boy
stared
down at him.  He gulped.  None of his opponents had ever looked that
confident before.  He was thus very surprised when he won the game and
the next ten games after that, causing the guy to get more coins.

                        * * * * *

        Ranma whistled brightly as he walked in to the living room, just in
time for dinner.  It had taken him awhile, but he had finally beaten
that cocky Hiro.  Of course, the fact that Hiro won twenty games to his
one, didn't matter.  Ranma was gracious to allow for a rematch, it was
just the boy's own fault for not bringing enough money.

        "There you are, Ranma!  Where were you?  I came back home looking
for
you after the movie.  You missed out on ice cream.  Yuka's cousin
bought."  Akane teased, knowing Ranma would be disappointed.

        "Some kid... I mean, guy challenged me.  I had to teach him a
lesson."
He did _not_ want Akane to know that he wasted an entire day showing up
a ten year old.

        "Oh, you're home Ranma.  Did you have fun?"

        Ranma felt a sudden chill.  Kasumi was setting up the table for
dinner.  Her back was towards him.  Somehow, he got the impression that
she was angry with him.  Her voice did not have that sing song quality
to it that he had come to know very well.  Shopping!  It all came back
to him.  He promised that he would take her shopping.  "Um, Kasumi about
this afternoon..."

        "I saw you at the arcade when I walked past there.  You looked like
you
were enjoying yourself."

        Every word made Ranma wince.  She sounded so cold.  He looked around
him and wondered if Mr. Tendo would come screaming at him for slighting
Kasumi.  However, nobody else seemed to notice Kasumi's berating of
him.  They all came to the table and talked amongst themselves
animatedly.  Was it his imagination?  "Uh, yeah."

        "That's good," Kasumi nodded and then went into the kitchen to bring
the food out.

                        * * * * *

        Kasumi sighed as she scooped up the vegetables into the plate.  He
was
doing it to her again.  It was strange how one boy could make her so
angry.  Since his first few days in Nerima, he had been one of the few
people that could raise her ire.

        From causing Akane's hair to be cut, to causing the farce of a
school
play her sister was involved in, to even something as little as breaking
her favorite cup, Ranma somehow managed to get a rise out of her.  Ever
since she started looking after the family at the tender age of
thirteen, she had fallen into a forever seeming cycle of monotonous
chores.  Even going to school hadn't helped since she always had to rush
home afterwards.  After she graduated, it had been worse.

        Ranma's appearance had been a nightmare and yet at the same time a
small blessing.  He brought chaos into her previously idyllic life and
while she often lamented on that fact, a few times she actually found
herself enjoying the small carnage left in his wake.  Not many days went
by that Kasumi could say was boring.  Slowly, over the year, Ranma's
good qualities began to show themselves to her.  They were not many, but
very noteworthy.

        To say that she loved Ranma would have been a small overstatement.
She
did like him, however.  She remembered the speech she had given to
convince Auntie of Ranma's manliness.  However, what she saw this
afternoon was not manly.

                        * * * * *

        Ranma looked around him.  Didn't anyone else find something wrong
with
the meal?  They were all eating as if nothing was wrong.  Turning to
Kasumi, he tried again to see if she really was mad at him.  She was
still smiling and making idle conversation with the family like any good
hostess would.

Then again, he remembered that this was the Kasumi that poked him on the
forehead when she was angry with him.  Not exactly punishment, but at
the time, Ranma nearly felt his heart stop with fear.  Why he had
anything to fear from a non-combatant, he had no idea at the time as he
didn't know now.  He guessed it was just the idea that someone so nice
could be angry with him.  It just didn't sit right with him.

        Ranma tried to think nothing more on the subject as all the
guesswork
were not helping things and they were confusing him to no end.  He
picked up some vegetable from his place and nearly dropped his
chopsticks as the food touched his mouth.

        "What's wrong, Ranma?" Akane asked, concerned.  Ranma looked as if
he
had eaten poison.

        "Can't you taste it?" Ranma pulled Akane aside and whispered into
her
ears, away from Kasumi and the others.

        "Taste what?"  Akane picked up some of the vegetables on his plate
and
ate some of it.  "Tastes fine."

        "Nothing," Ranma whispered, confused.  It was only him.  The food
wasn't exactly bad.  In fact, it was on par with the food his mother
made.  But there was something missing, Ranma felt.  Something that
didn't give him the usual joy he felt when he ate one of Kasumi's
dinners.  He again turned his attention to eldest Tendo sister.  It was
frustrating how he could not sense anything.  His finely developed
martial arts senses screamed to him that all was not right.  It was
these same senses that saved his hide more often than not.

                        * * * * *

        Kasumi looked at the door as if it was not the same door she had
known
for nineteen years.  There it was again.  A knock.  For the life of her,
she could not remember the last time someone had knocked on her door.
She usually went to sleep later than everyone else and also tended to
wake up earlier, so she never entertained people in her chambers very
much.  It then occurred to her that the correct way of dealing with a
person knocking was to answer it.  "Ranma!"

        Ranma gave a start at the sudden opening of the door.  He was
beginning
to wish that Kasumi wore bells.  It had taken the girl so long to open
the door that he had thought she was already asleep.  Just when he was
about to walk away, she sprang on him.  Flustered, he completely forgot
what it was that he wanted.

        "Ranma?  Whatever it is can wait until morning," Kasumi finally said
after the both of them stared awkwardly at the ground for about a
minute.

        "It won't take long," Ranma, finding his voice again.  "I just
wanted
to say that I was sorry for not taking you out shopping like I
promised.  Something important came up."

        "I... see.  I wouldn't want to intrude on such important matters,
Ranma."

        Ranma flinched.  The lack of any warmth in her voice was stronger
than
any biting comment Nabiki could have said to him.  "I didn't mean it
that way.  They challenged, well, I challenged, but it was really
important, well not really, still I couldn't..."  Kasumi only looked
back expectantly at him.

        Ranma couldn't believe how lame the excuse sounded.  It has seemed
so
right before he came in.  "I meant to say that I'm sorry.  Just that."

        Kasumi's anger has slowly began to drain away the moment Ranma
started
to explain himself.  She could see the obvious trouble he was having,
until he finally gave up and just apologized.  His face took the look of
a child ready to accept punishment.  The same look that he usually had
on, when he was caught in a compromising position by Akane or when
Nabiki had him by the pigtail with incriminating evidence.  It did not
make Kasumi happy at all to see that.  She did not want Ranma to expect
a scolding every time he came to her, only help.  "Okay.  Just remember
to call next time, if you can't make it."

        Ranma blinked.  It couldn't be that easy, could it?  "You're not
angry
anymore?"

        "Angry?"  Kasumi was taken aback.  "Why did you think that I was
angry
with you?"

        "I guess it was because you didn't smile at me.  No that's not
right.
You were smiling, but there wasn't anything behind it.  I mean... I
don't know what I mean.  It sounds kind of dumb right?" Ranma still
couldn't quite explain it.  It only occurred to him why his dinner
didn't feel the same.  Kasumi usually personally handed him his food and
told him to enjoy.  Today, he had to get his rice from his mother.
Kasumi hadn't said a word to him also during the meal.  The whole
personal touch of Kasumi had been missing throughout.

        Kasumi found it strange how Ranma could tell her mood even when her
own
family could not.  She had gone through the whole evening and not one
single person had questioned the taste of dinner or the fact that it
took her longer than normal to clean up afterwards.  Her supper had
nearly been unbearable to her.  She had not paid much attention at all
while she cooked thinking of the boy she saw at the arcade, working in
an almost automatic mode.  Yet, no one, even Auntie Saotome, commented
on what she felt was the worst dinner she cooked in ages.  "I think I
understand, Ranma.  I guess I was like an ogre today."

        Ogre?  Ranma reminded himself again of Kasumi's extremes.  Impishly,
he
reached out and grabbed Kasumi's hand.  Helping her extend one finger,
he helped her tap his forehead with it several times.  Kasumi would
never scold him on her own, he knew.  "There, now that's more like an
ogre.  I have a hard head, so you have to poke these things into me if
I'm going to learn."

        A girlish giggle escaped from Kasumi's lips as the sheer hilarity of
the situation caught her off guard.  "I will remember that, Ranma," She
managed to say out when her giggling subsided.

        "Kasumi-chan... I mean, never mind.  Good night." Ranma walked dazed
back out of the room.  Why did he say that?  He hadn't called her that
in some time.  The reason he had stopped, he recalled, was because it
made him feel abnormally happy when he did which he was right now.  He
didn't feel it was right since he had been trying to let Kasumi down
easy about the whole fiancée business, but at the moment he didn't
really care.  The feel of her hand underneath his overrided any such
thoughts.

        Kasumi closed the door slowly after Ranma was out of sight.  Her
hand
still tingled from Ranma's touch.  Kasumi-chan.  He hadn't said that in
quite some time.  The idea of a man, a younger man no less, calling her
that still gave her a warm feeling inside.

                        * * * * *

        Ranma whistled contently as he walked down the street, carrying with
him a couple of ice cream cones.  He was determined to make up for the
last weekend.  Having spent all of his allowance that time at the
arcade, he had been forced to stay home this weekend.  Not that that was
a bad thing, since Kasumi would be there to keep him company.  With the
day being hot, he had suggested ice cream and just seeing Kasumi's smile
convinced Ranma to part with the last of his stash to buy her one also.

        "Hey, watch where you're going!"

        Ranma looked up and suddenly he collided against Mousse's oncoming
bicycle.  The ice cream flew out of his hand and onto the ground.  "I'm
not the one that's blind as a bat!  Look what you did.  The ice cream's
on the floor now.  I can't eat that."

        "What I've done!?" Mousse asked as he held up a pair of broken
glasses.  They had fallen off of his head during the collision.  "How am
I supposed to get back to the Nekohanten now?  I can't see anything and
I am not familiar with this area."

        "Hey, not my problem.  I have to go back to the store now," Ranma
muttered as he headed back.  If he hurried, he could still get back in
time to catch Kasumi before she went shopping.

        Mousse, even without his glasses, could see that Ranma meant it.
His
voice took on a note of desperation.  "Ranma, please!  I promised
Shampoo that I would finish her deliveries for her.  She thinks low
enough of me as it is.  I can't afford to get on her bad side again."

        Ranma stopped and turned to look at Mousse to give another
resounding
no.  But, one look at the Chinese boy's pathetic face told him that
Mousse was not joking.  "I can't.  I promised... oh, come on.  Hurry
up!  I've got to get home right after!"

        Mousse was surprised that Ranma would actually help him.  He quickly
got back on his bike with the other boy leading the way before Ranma
decided differently.  "Thank you."

        "Yeah, yeah," Ranma muttered.  He had been more than ready to leave
Mousse alone and head back home, but he remembered his troubles the week
before.  He imagined Mousse's face as pathetic as his own when he went
into Kasumi's room.  Shampoo would not be as forgiving.  Sighing, he
picked up the pace as best he could with Blind Boy bringing up the rear.

                        * * * * *

        A deep sense of guilt and dread passed over Ranma as he watched
Kasumi
pass everyone their bowls of rice.  She hadn't said a word since he
arrived home, again missing their shopping appointment.

        "Ranma, here you go.  Enjoy."

        Ranma's hand's trembled as he reached for his bowl from Kasumi's
hands,
her smile blowing his mind completely away.  He was now confused more
than ever.

        Kasumi held her giggle in check as Ranma's face started to move in
all
sorts of directions, never settling into an expression for more than
five seconds.  Maybe, she will kindly tell him about Mousse's phone call
and his explanation of what happened.  She was sure he called to assure
Akane, but it inadvertently caused a great sense of relief for herself.
She didn't know if she could bear another disappointment such as last
week.

        Ranma slowly put some food to his mouth and found the explosion of
taste that he come to expect.  She wasn't angry with him!  Soon he was
eating with his usual speed and gusto much to his neighbors' annoyance,
especially his pop's.

        Kasumi smiled as Ranma's face finally settled into understanding.
He
knew that she was angry with him.  She wondered if he knew that it also
reaffirmed her interest in him.  Rather than give Ranma a heart attack,
Kasumi decided to keep that little tidbit of information to herself.
Just when she thought Ranma would be forever stuck in immaturity, he
ended up changing her opinion again.  Mousse had been so grateful, he
had offered to treat them to ramen the next night.  Younger men did not
mean _young_ Kasumi was beginning to find out more and more these days.

                        * * * * *

The End. (maybe)

--
Anime Fanboy and Fanfiction Writer ^_^
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