Kasumi let out a deep depressed sigh as she prepared dinner. It was hoped that Akane would 
never have to go through that change once her seventh birthday passed. She swore, though, if it 
were to come, she would do her best to train Akane in their mother's place. Kasumi had no 
illusions that she would do as good a job as their mother, but now that the opportunity had 
presented itself, she would've liked to have done her proud.

Unfortunately, that wasn't how it was going. Akane has been so upset that she's refused to speak 
to any of them...even her. Though she hadn't even tried any methods she had in mind, Kasumi 
had already failed in her duties. She had always done what she thought was best for everyone in 
her mother's absence. Guess it wasn't good enough.

True, it wouldn't have been so hard if Akane weren't angered so easily. Kasumi figured if she let 
Akane go and sort things out on her own, she'd eventually calm down and they could start the 
training. She knew, though, that if their mother were alive, she'd have the right words ready to 
smooth over the situation so that it wouldn't have even gotten to this point. 

With another deep sigh, Kasumi checked the pot on the stove. The rice was all that was left. 
Soon, it would be time to serve dinner. There was still much to be done and Kasumi couldn't 
afford to let herself get down. At any rate, if Akane does calm down and training does begin, 
Kasumi couldn't afford to let doubts hinder her. On the contrary, it should help her determine 
how to go about training Akane once it picks up. One of the things their mother stressed during 
her and Nabiki's training was the necessity of keeping a cool head. With their enhanced abilities, 
they would need to be careful so that they wouldn't accidentally harm someone they cared about. 
However, Kasumi didn't think Akane would be one to ever have a cool head about anything. It 
would totally conflict with her fiery, passionate nature. 

That being the case, she understood why their father took her aside and began training her in the 
martial arts. Even before the change, Akane was already unusually strong. Kasumi shuddered to 
think how her youngest sister would be now, if she didn't have the focus and discipline from the 
martial arts training to temper her personality and provide an outlet for her frustrations. Right 
now, though, she didn't think her father would be able to handle that anymore. Ranma would be 
the key. Even though totally human, he should be strong enough to continue Akane's training. 
And, though she hated to admit it, if Akane's fire and passions had been enhanced as well, she'd 
probably need Ranma to provide her with an outlet for a number of things. Kasumi would have 
to talk with him again.

Picking up a bowl, she began scooping large portions of food. She shouldn't get too far ahead of 
herself. Right now, all she could hope for would be for Akane to have calmed down enough to sit 
at the dinner table with them. 

Abruptly, Kasumi stopped as a frighteningly familiar sensation overwhelmed her. She staggered 
backwards and dropped the bowl to the floor, spilling the food in it and shattering the dish. 
Alarmed by the sound, Nabiki rushed in to check on her sister.

"Hey, Kasumi! Are you okay?"

"Unn...yes, I am. I just dropped a bowl, that's all."

Nabiki walked up to her sister and looked her straight in the eye, "YOU don't just drop dishes 
like that. Something's wrong, isn't it?"

Yes. "No, I'm fine...really."

Nabiki couldn't believe it. Kasumi just lied to her...didn't do a very good job at it either. She 
could clearly see the worry in Kasumi's eyes. Nabiki nodded at her sister's answer, playing 
along,  "Okay then. Do you need help setting the table?"

"No. I can handle it. Can you let father and Mr. Saotome know that dinner's being served?" 

"Sure."

Watching her sister leave, Kasumi knew that Nabiki was aware something was up. Kasumi could 
do many things well...lying wasn't one of them. She looked out the kitchen window, hoping 
desperately that what she felt was just a figment of her imagination.




Dreamweaver Studios Presents

Ranma½

Legacy
 
Chapter 6




It was faint, but Arame could feel it. Her rival, Moriko Tendo was close. 

She hovered in the center of Tokyo trying to get her bearings, which was difficult from the 
throbbing pain she felt. That girl's arrow injured her far greater than she first estimated. Finding 
it more and more difficult to stay in the air, she set down in the middle of town and hid in an 
alleyway. 

Her breathing became ragged from the exertion. Through the discomfort, she managed to focus 
in on where her adversary was. A good thing, to be sure, but it had a major downside. If she 
could feel where Moriko was, then surely Moriko could feel her presence as well. A 
confrontation in her current state would, surely, end badly for her...being bound to a tree would 
be nothing in comparison. She would need to heal and recharge before she began her assault. 
Fortunately, looking at the bustling city around her, there wasn't a shortage of candidates who 
would jump at the chance to help her get better.

**	**

It had been too long since he had a night out on the town. It was just the thing he needed to take 
his mind off of things. But now, his relaxation jaunt had come to an end. Refreshed in body and 
mind, young Tatewaki Kuno was ready to, once again, battle in the name of truth, justice and 
honor. No foe was more dangerous than that of fatigue and surely, it was his day to day stresses 
that kept him from giving that accursed Ranma Saotome the smiting the so richly deserved. 

"What do you guys want?" came a woman's voice. Kuno's ears perked up. 

In an alley just out of normal viewing range was the woman in question. She had dark hair bound 
in two pigtails, one draped on each shoulder. Her eyes were the deepest brown he had ever seen. 
She was clad in a simple white dress with a belt across her waist. She wasn't as shapely as other 
women he knew (especially, his own pigtailed goddess), but there was something about her that 
he found irresistible. As he walked closer, he found she wasn't alone.

"We just want to have a little fun. What do you say?" answered a male voice. There were three 
of them and they had her cornered like a pack of wolves. Surely, something foul was afoot.

"Oh, no! I just couldn't!" The woman said this in an obviously half-hearted manner, but Kuno 
couldn't detect this. Clearly, she said no and those ruffians continued to accost her. They needed 
to be taught a lesson in how to properly treat a lady. Fortunately, he was just the person to give 
such a lesson. 

"I do believe the lady has asked you to leave her alone!" said Kuno in the noblest voice he could 
muster.

"And just who are you?" asked one of the men.

He brought his bokken to bear and answered, "I am the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High! I am the 
avenging angel who shall dispense justice upon you vagabonds who dare to threaten such a fair 
maiden. I am Takewaki Kuno!" As he stated his name, a bolt of lightening flashed and thunder 
rolled in the background for no apparent reason.

"Looks like we have a hero on our hands. Let's show him what we do to heroes around here."

Kuno studied the men as they surrounded him. What fools these men be. It was clear these 
cretins had no chance against him. Normally, such lowly thugs would be beneath his notice. He 
looked at the woman and smirked. As always, for a lovely lady, he would be willing to make 
exceptions. In what appeared to have been three flashes of light, two of the three thugs were on 
the ground unconscious.

"Like I said...we're going to show you what we do to heroes around here...just as soon as I'm 
done with my nap..." At saying this, the third thug fell to the ground unconscious as well.

"Feh. Barely worth my time." He went up to the woman and took her hand in his, "I trust they 
haven't harmed you, dear lady?"

Now this was an interesting man. He's probably as vigorous as the three men he just 
dispatched…if not more so. "I am fine," the woman said. "How can I ever repay you?"

Never one to miss such an opportunity, Kuno said, "Repayment is not necessary. However, if 
you insist, then I shall allow you to date me!"

The woman raised her eyebrow; one of ~those~ guys. She gave him a predatory smile, "Date? 
That's all? I have something much better in mind..."

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

Things have been slow lately. For Dr. Tofu, that served him just fine. He spent far too much time 
tending wounds on teenage martial artists showing off their newest techniques. Not that he 
minded them, after all, he was very close to many of them. Not only that, but every now and then 
they came with ailments that really challenged his knowledge of medicine. That, above all else, 
he enjoyed. However, he really wanted to use his expertise on the elderly folk in the 
neighborhood; those specifically who couldn't help themselves. That was where he got his 
greatest joy.

Unfortunately, with the chaos that surrounded his clinic, they stopped coming to him. So he 
started making house calls. It was bothersome to begin with, but as time went along, he could see 
the benefits. It did him good to get out of that stuffy office every once in a while and the exercise 
did him good. More than that, it actually increased his clientele. There were more elderly 
residents in the area than he knew, most of which weren't able to make the trip to him. And as an 
added bonus, he came across a new herbal remedy shop that had opened a few days ago. He 
wondered why he hadn't done this a long time ago.

It was after such a house call that he was returning to his clinic. He had just finished working on 
a sweet old couple that had infected each other with a cold. Not serious at the moment, but in 
their weakened conditions, it could've quickly became pneumonia. Using some of his medicinal 
herbs, he gave them a cold curing tea he knew would fix them up in no time. The gratitude they 
had in their eyes was priceless. However, he used up the last of the herbs that was in his med kit. 
Before he could see anyone else, he'd have to restock.

Sliding his clinic door open, he walked in and found his next patient waiting for him there. 
Mousse was sitting in one of the chairs in his waiting room with blood running down his 
forehead. Looking at the Mousse shaped hole in his clinic's ceiling, it was easy to deduce how 
the nearly blind martial artist entered.

"Hello, Mousse," Dr. Tofu greeted. "I guess I don't have to ask how you're doing. What 
happened? Another fight with Ranma?"

Mousse shook his head, "Shampoo." After his run-in with Autumn, Ranma and Akane at the 
park, he went back to his place to ponder more on his dilemma. Amazingly, the hole in the front 
of their restaurant had been fixed already. He saw Shampoo as soon as he walked inside and they 
had a talk. It appeared as though Shampoo had something of a change of heart. After thinking 
about it, she said she he shouldn't marry Autumn. By the rules of their tribe, if he were to marry 
her, he would have to give up his standing as a part of the Joketsuzuko tribe. And it wouldn't do 
for their tribe to lose such a good, strong man. With such words of high praise, surely it was a 
sign that she did care for him. He tried to give her a hug and, as a result, he took a trip to Dr. 
Tofu's clinic, the hard way.

Dr. Tofu nodded. "I see. Wait here, I'll get you something for your injuries." He went back into 
his observation room and began rummaging through a cabinet. 

"Doctor, I was wondering if I could ask your advice about something."

"Sure. Don't know how good it'll be, but let her rip."

"Well," Mousse paused, trying to find the right words. "If you had to choose between someone 
you love and someone who loved you, who would you pick?"

Uh oh...relationship question. "Sorry. I'm a doctor, not a relationship therapist." 

Mousse sighed, "I'm just stuck in the middle of something and I need help figuring it out. I was 
hoping to get some perspective from an outside source."

Dr. Tofu closed the cabinet he was in and started searching through another one. The boy seemed 
so down, he just couldn't go without helping him, even if it did go against his better judgment. 
"Well, I suppose it all depends. How does the person you love feel about you?" 

"I think that's pretty obvious," said Mousse, pointing to his bleeding head. 

"I see. And how do you feel about the person in love with you?"

"I don't know. I mean, I like her well enough, but I don't know her at all. We just met a couple 
of days ago. I don't even see how she can feel this way about me already."

Tofu raised his eyebrow. He was surprised Mousse would even bring that up. With how quick 
Shampoo fell for Ranma...even with how quick he fell for Kasumi, it seemed like the sudden 
storms of love were far more in the norm than any other way. "Well, if you would really like my 
honest opinion," he started. "This girl who's in love with you...I think you should go ahead and 
get to know her better. You could like her, or maybe you won't. Who knows? Besides, maybe if 
you weren't around so much, Shampoo would start to miss you and you could have a better 
chance with her, should you still want it." 

"What? I don't want to use one girl to get the other!"

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating you using anybody. What I am saying is give this other 
girl a proper chance before you make any decisions. While you do that, it may prompt Shampoo 
to re-evaluate things. There is that chance that, in doing so, you could lose both, but you aren't 
getting anywhere doing what you're doing now, are you?"

"I guess not." 

"Don't look so down. Just take her out on a date...maybe go on a picnic or a walk through the 
park. It's not like you have to marry this other girl or anything."

"Well..."

"This isn't good," Dr. Tofu interrupted. "I don't have any herbs left to treat your wound." Dr. 
Tofu cleaned off Mousse's head and applied a dried bandage to cover the wound. "You're not 
dizzy or anything, are you? Not seeing double?" 

"No. Except for a dull ache, I'm fine," answered Mousse.

"Good. I want to get some herbs on here as quickly as possible to stave off possible infections. If 
you could go with me to the new herbal remedy shop, I could apply it immediately."

"Okay."

**	**

It was nice to actually be able to walk where he was going for a change. No unscheduled flights 
through space, no crashing through people's ceilings disrupting their dinner...or falling into a 
girl's changing room. Even though he wouldn't be able to see anything, the girls always gave 
him a good pounding for his troubles anyway. Maybe Dr. Tofu was right. Perhaps it is time to 
cut back on this time with Shampoo and give Autumn a chance. But then, what if he ended up 
really liking her back? After all he had gone through to be with Shampoo, could he really give up 
so easily? Why was this so hard?

It didn't take them long before they got to the herbal remedy shop. Mousse couldn't help but 
laugh at the name: 'After The Fall'. How ironic. 

Dr. Tofu slid open the door and walked in. "Hello?"

"Dr. Tofu! Hello!" came a familiar voice. Mousse jaw dropped. There was no way in the 
world...Right on cue, she came out, confirming his suspicions. "How may I help..." Autumn 
stopped, staring at Mousse. Her hair was completely red now, having washed out the rest of the 
ruined blond dye. 

Dr. Tofu looked back and forth between Mousse and Autumn. It didn't take long for him to put 
two and two together. "I take it you know each other?"

"You could say that," Mousse said.

"We have this uncanny knack of running in to each other at unexpected times," added Autumn. 

Dr. Tofu smiled, "Maybe it's fate?" Mousse sighed in resignation.

Autumn went up to Mousse and fingered the bandage on his head. "Let me guess, a giant, purple 
buzz saw hit you, right?"

"He has some cuts that I would like to treat, but I'm out of the herbs that I need to do so," Dr. 
Tofu informed her.

"Not to worry. I have just the thing for it." She went to the back room to get the necessary 
medicine.

Tofu leaned in to whisper to Mousse, "I really think you should give her a chance. Somehow, I 
don't think you'll be disappointed. It couldn't hurt." Mousse buried his head in his hand, and 
winced in pain as he touch his wound inadvertently. "Not anymore than it does already, 
anyway," the doctor added.

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

"Isn't this just my luck..."

Akane laid back on her bed, thankful the day had finally come to an end. Once again, she didn't 
feel like being around anyone, especially her so-called family; which meant another skipped 
dinner. It didn't matter too much, though. She had way too much on her mind to have an 
appetite. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. 

"I still can't believe this half-demon thing...and of course, as soon as I find that out, I run smack 
into a demon hunter. Pfft...how in the world could this week get any w..." She had to stop there. 
With all she had experienced, with all she had witnessed, Akane knew that when one asked that 
sort of question, it had an annoying habit of being answered. She just sighed again and tried to 
relax. She would have drifted off to sleep, had there not been a knock on her window.

Akane shook her head, "Ranma...well, at least he knocked this time." After the revelation, Akane 
wouldn't open the door for anyone, which was why Ranma only came through the window now. 
She knew that no one else would (or could) follow him that route so she felt safe letting him in.

"Yo, Akane."

"What is it?"

"I brought up your dinner. Thought you might want it."

She smiled, "You made it all this way without eating it yourself? How thoughtful!"

"Very funny," he deadpanned. Actually, he was very tempted to, but he wasn't going to give her 
the satisfaction of knowing. "They're all very worried about you, you know?"

Akane took the plate of food Ranma offered and started eating. "Frankly, I don't care."

"I ain't sayin' you have to forgive them or anything...just talk to them."

"Why should I?"

"So they can stop bugging me?" That comment made Akane laugh, despite herself. "Hey, I got a 
laugh out of ya. It's a start."

Akane shook her head, but the smile that had planted itself on her face took its time going away, 
"I just can't bring myself to face them right now. Just thinking about what they did...I just think 
it would be better if I had a little space."

"That ain't so bad," said Ranma. "As long as ya don't keep that space there for long. Nothin' 
more important than family, after all. They're the only one ya got."

"Pfft, please. Talk about the importance of family from the guy who beats up his father every 
chance he gets?" She went to take another bite from her plate and noticed everything was gone. 
Guess she had more of an appetite than she thought.

Ranma faltered, "Err...well...me and pop are different."

Akane glared at him, "Really?"

"Ah...Yeah. We don't hold grudges or anything like that. We take are of our problems so nothin' 
lingers."

"Except your injuries," she quipped. 

"Look, I'm tryin' to be helpful here! You're not makin' it easy, you know!"

She laughed again, "I know, I know. Just wanted to give you a hard time." Her fiancée turned 
away from her in a huff. "You're right, I know. But...like I said, I just need a little space now." 
Suddenly, her eyes widened and she began to shiver uncontrollably.

"Akane? What's wrong?" 

"I-I don't know! This...this weird feeling just came over me..."

Reflexively, Ranma stepped away, making sure his back was to the wall, "It ain't like that last 
'feeling' you had, is it?"

"No...this is..." She couldn't come up with any words to describe it. But from the look in her 
eyes, Ranma could tell, she was terrified.

**	**

Downstairs, Kasumi was in no better condition. Soun, Genma and Nabiki rushed to her side, 
trying to determine what was wrong. "It's happening again, isn't it?" asked Nabiki.

Soun looked at his middle daughter, "What is?"

"She had this very vacant look in her face before dinner. She dropped a dish and nearly fell over. 
But she wouldn't tell me what was going on before..." Unexpectedly, Nabiki clutched her chest 
and fell over, trembling herself.

"Nabiki!" shouted Soun.

"I...I remember this..." Nabiki was able to articulate, "This horrible feeling...I've felt this 
before..."

Kasumi found the strength of will to stand herself up and she forced her way to the back yard. 
"I...I din't think it was possible..."

"Tendo! Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" inquired Genma. Soun shook his 
head, just as confused as his shape-changing friend.

Kasumi pointed to the small yard between their house and the dojo. Soun went to check on what 
she was pointing at, Soun went also, allowing Nabiki to lean on his shoulder. A lone, female 
figure stood just beyond the koi pond. Kasumi's face was unreadable. Genma and Nabiki were 
just as confused as before. Soun was in shock, but it was quickly replaced. A fire that had long, 
since died within him had flared, and his lips had curled upward, baring his teeth like a wild 
animal ready to maul its victim. 

"Oh good," the woman said with a smile. "I'm glad I managed to catch you all at home." She 
pointed at the head of the household, "Soun, right? It's been a long time."

Soun growled, "Arame."

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