Chapter
3-It’s the Gift that Counts
Ranma
turned his head towards the door.And
there I was, with a shocked expression on my face.
He
looked at me and then he looked at the wall and then back to me.I
gave an understanding smile and walked over to him.“It’s
okay.”
I
took both of his hands in my own and peered at them.One
was bleeding lightly; the other, just as bruised as the previous one.I
sighed.“Ranma-kun?What’s
wrong?”
He
took his hands away quickly and just averted his eyes from me.“Nothin’.”
I
took his hand lightly and made him sit in the den.“Now,
you stay there.”
From
the look in my eye, he knew I was serious and just sat down.I
came back in with the first aid kit.
“Ranma-kun,
please tell me.” I softly beckoned as I bandaged his hands.“It’s
not like we don’t talk about problems to each other, ne?You
know you can trust me.”
“Eh
tou, Kasumi-chan…”He tried to smile,
but then he frowned again.And he
sighed because he always got upset at not being able to say what he wanted.
“Akane-chan
again, ne?”I giggled a bit.
He
looked up at the ceiling with his lip out.Ranma-kun
could be such a child sometimes.“You
two have a fight again?”
“No…It’s
just that the way she looked at me…when we were on the roof…”
“What
was that look?” I blinked my eyes and sat back to hear what he had to say
next.
“She
looked so disappointed in me…Not that I really care…but that face is nagging
me now.”
I
got up and stood by the door while staring at the koi pond.I
sighed.“You really do hate to upset
her, don’t you?”
I
crossed my arms.
“N-No,”
he protested.
“Well,
no matter what you say now, it won’t ever change.You
hate seeing Akane sad in any way.”
“…”
I
then went over and knelt before him.“You
do make her happy, Ranma.You just
don’t know it.”
Then,
I kissed his forehead and hugged him.“Ganbatte,”
I whispered in his ear.
He
hugged me back.“You always know
what’s on my mind.”
I
poked his forehead.“No, you’re just
too predictable.”
“Kasumi-chan!”
I
laughed and got something out of my pocket.With
my hands out to him, I said, “This is for you.Mother
gave each of us something for our future husbands, but Akane doesn’t know
that.”
He
shook his head.And yet I insisted
and put the necklace on him.It was
tucked under his shirt.“Please,”
I whispered quietly and smiled.
Then,
I went into the kitchen to start breakfast.I
slid the short curtain to the side and saw that there was no sun yet.It
would be sunrise soon and then, all the commotion of this house would begin.
I
held the window for a moment to look into my reflection.This
is me.I am Tendou Kasumi, the oldest
Tendou and the one who must understand everything.
A
little frown emerged and so I smiled to myself.Practice
makes perfect…
Yes,
I nodded and got into doing the morning preparations.People
were so easy to read.To me, nothing
was barred.The hearts of the people
I loved were transparent to me.But
none of them could return the favor.Ara…And
that was just fine with me.I was
okay with it now.
And
there, I hear the alarm clocks go off.Ranma
begins again to spar with his father.Akane
is going to the shower.Nabiki is
lying on her bed while listening to some music on her walkman before going
down to the bath.And father is-1…2…3-
“Ohaiyo
Kasumi-chan.”My dad peeped his head
through the kitchen door as he passed by.
“Ohaiyo
gozaimasu.”I turned my head to him
with a smile and went back to doing breakfast.
As
I served breakfast, I ate and looked at each of them with a smile.This
was all right.Smiling had its benefits.At
least, around me, no one couldn’t do anything, but smile.I
laughed to myself at the thought.
“Kasumi-chan?”
I
turned my head towards the voice that called my name.
--
Author’s
note:* sigh *I
guess you’ll have to wait for the next chapter.I’ve
been having writer’s block for a whole 2 weeks because of this character.So,
I’ve been doing ‘research’ = watching anime and reading manga again.Heh.
--
no other sites have this.