The Bet- Little Orphan Kasumi?
part 1a: "Here's Kasumi, Kendo Cook!"
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
-------------------------------------
 Multiple timelines moved in their dance.
When two timelines reached zero difference, they
merged, conserving the Realities.

 The Bet had taken some of the timelines
and renewed them momentarily. Some failed almost
immediately and didn't reach sufficient divergence
that the timeline would survive very long anyway.

 Then there were timelines where, for one
reason or another, the change kept the timelines
separated for a little longer than one would immediately
suspect...

 "Hmmph." Grey, reluctant incubus
employed (reluctantly) by the Rival Relief Office, looked
over the timeline that his own alteration had made. "So
much potential, so much change, and now..."

 "Estimate the timeline will remerge in 2015,"
observed his companion, Saint Vidicon of Cathode. "Just
having Nabiki Tendo as an American citizen and making
her way up the corporate ladder will do that..."

 "Y'spose, I could just make a few tiny adjustments?"

 The patron saint of engineers, technicians, and
they who work with balky electronics shook his head. "You
really shouldn't, you know. How would you have felt if some
Being accessed Yggdrasil and tried to make your life easier?
Wouldn't you have..." Saint Vidicon blinked and noticed that
the incubus was racing for an Yggdrasil access terminal.

 "I woulda said it was about damn time," called the
incubus over his shoulder.

 "So what was this timeline before your original
alteration?" The saint spoke in a disapproving voice, but
his eyes twinkled.

 "Ranma doesn't beat Saffron. Akane died as a doll,
Shampoo and Genma remain slaves of Kiima, Jusenkyo is
destroyed, Ryouga and Mousse are killed for being on the
losing side of the battle, Soun Tendo wastes away and dies
a year after the news reaches him, Nabiki and Kasumi have a
big fight, Nabiki gets into alcohol and dies in a car wreck, and
Kasumi marries Doctor Tofu but he hits a fatal shiatsu spot on
her during the honeymoon when he's having one of his goofiness
attacks and she dies." Grey looked up. "If nothing else, I think it
comes out better with my little change, ne?"

 "So what _was_ the change?"

 "Soun leaves the kids at home and drives to the
hospital to visit his dying wife one day, and you know how
emotional he gets every so often."
--------------March 3, 1981---------------------------
 Nodoka had been called to the
hospital to visit a sick friend when the news
came in. Soun Tendo, her friend's husband,
had been driving home when he went into one
of his episodes of emotional overload. The
resulting wreck had claimed his life.

 Which brought Kimiko's dying
request to Nodoka. Nodoka would take
care of one of the daughters.

 Nodoka would have taken in all
three of the daughters Tendo, if she could.
The various relatives, however, felt that
the burden fell on family.

 Soun had relatives in some
place called Texas who would take
Nabiki in. The promise was made that she
would return to Japan in her senior year of
high school to learn of her heritage and to
spend time with her sisters.

 Akane would go to the temple
maintained by her Uncle and Aunt in Nara,
where she would be raised as a Shinto shrine
maiden. If she proved unsuitable for such a
life, then she might well end up going to yet
another relative's home- the Kisaragi family.

 As an old and dear friend, Kimiko
had made a personal request to Nodoka to take
in Kasumi at least. That she could do.

 Nodoka sighed. Her house
had seemed so terribly empty since
Genma had taken her son off on that
training trip. Having someone else
around gave her a sort of guilty joy.
Yes, the burden of being alone would
be lifted, but at such a price...

 All this passed through
Nodoka's mind as she watched the
plane leave. Akane had already been
picked up and was headed off to her
new life in a Shinto shrine.

 Kasumi and Nodoka saw
the plane take off, and in a little over
a day Nabiki would be at her new home
though a stranger in a strange land.

 "Come, Kasumi. It's time
to go home." Nodoka held out her
hand to the child.

 "Yes, auntie," said the eight
year old as she turned from the window.
She'd see her sisters again. Auntie had
promised.
----------May 9, 1984--------------------------
 The administrator looked over
the edge of his report at the young lady
standing before him. "Akane Tendo, age
eight, Group D."

 "Yes, sir." The little girl fidgeted
some more.

 "Tendo, how many times have
you been called here since school began?"

 Akane rolled her eyes. "Four
times, sir."

 "Four times," Mister Funka sighed
and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "First it was
for beating up on young Go Takara. The second
time you were caught smoking on the school
grounds. The third time, you were not only
smoking, but you were smoking IN THE BOYS
ROOM. Now this..."

 "It wasn't my fault! It was Kenji who
started it." Akane held up a fist. "And if he ever
tries something like that again..."

 "Really, Miss Tendo?" Mister Funka was
really trying to keep his temper in line. "And what
exactly was Kenji Fujihiro doing that caused you to
pick up a baseball bat and pound him with it?"

 "He insulted Miyuki! He called _me_ a
tomboy!"

 "Miyuki Ida has a long and checkered
past, and will no longer be attending school here in
any case."

 "What?! Why not?" Akane was startled,
her best (only) friend was gone?

 "She is now attending school over at
Nobunaga," something almost like a smile began
to form on Isao Funka's face. "Already the school
crime rate has dropped by 33%, the school mascot
may come off tranquilizers, and we haven't had to
replace any major furnishings since she left."

 "You can't blame all that on her!"

 Funka's almost-smile vanished. "Who
taught you to smoke? To steal hubcaps? To bypass
the fire alarm? Or that nerve-strike combination?"

 "She was helping me learn martial arts,
certainly my Aunt & Uncle aren't any help there."
Akane frowned. She couldn't believe that they would
transfer Miyuki for a few trifling infractions like that!
Maybe they'd gone a little far with the paint, but Miyuki
always said that it had been a science experiment.

 "One more time, Miss Tendo. Just one more
visit here. You can be transferred to Kataibasho Reform
School. That all, however, depends on you."

 Akane swallowed reflexively. Kataibasho,
the Rock upon which unruly students were said to be
broken. That wouldn't be at all pleasant.
---------------------
 Kasumi had been crying again. Nodoka
could tell the moment the eleven year old girl came
home. Kasumi's expression was stoic.

 Nodoka looked in on the girl, who had
days like this periodically. She didn't quite fit in
with her classmates, following the current fads or
having an "in" with the various cliques.

 "Teasing again?" Nodoka gently asked,
letting Kasumi know of her presence.

 "Yes," came Kasumi's flat emotionless
reply. "They're so..."

 "Yes?"

 "They say I'll never get a boyfriend! That
I'm too plain, I'm too weird, that no boy wants a
girlfriend who could beat them up!"

 "Why do you listen to them?"

 "Who else am I going to listen to?"

 "You're too young for a boyfriend
anyway," Nodoka gently said. "My goodness,
just wait a few years."

 "But what if they're right?" Kasumi's
voice was so low that Nodoka could barely hear
it from three feet away.

 "What kind of boyfriend is it that you
want, anyway?" Nodoka tried another tack.

 Kasumi blinked.  "I hadn't actually
thought about that."

 "Think about it," advised Nodoka,
"and when you do that try to think about what
kind of girlfriend he'd want. One of those silly
little girls who spends all her time talking about
what accessories go with which outfit? Certainly
not the sort of boyfriend I'd expect for you."

 Kasumi thought about this, her mind
beginning to process the idea. Someone with the
heart of a samurai, honorable and brave. A boy
who wouldn't be interested in the latest British
punk rock group.

 She cheered up a little bit. Maybe
there was someone out there, after all.
----------April 19, 1987-------------------------
 She was a slender fourteen year old girl
who was making a name for herself. A rising star
among the Women's Kendo Society.

 Kasumi let out a breath as she eased into
the final stance of the sword kata. The faint click of
the sword's tsubo hitting the wooden sheath echoed in
the auditorium.

 The silence was broken as the applause began.
The judges held off their judgement until they'd sampled
the meal.

 "Saotome/Tendo School Of Martial Arts
Special Cooking Technique: Sliced Thin, Piled High," Kasumi
said as she bowed to the judges, then again to the audience.

 The other cooks were somewhat flabbergasted.
Sandwiches? In a cook off? Still, these events had become
a LOT more popular with Kasumi combining martial arts
and cooking techniques.

 And who really wanted to argue with someone
who could do THAT sort of manuever?

 Kasumi turned her attention back to the side-dish.
Salad. She selected a razor sharp tanto for this manuever.
---------------------November 12, 1988-----------
 A twelve year old girl, having outgrown lemonade
stands and Girl Scout cookies, was doing what came as natural
to her as walking. She was earning money.

 She was one of the few girls in the neighborhood
with a paper route, but it was Money. Therefore it caught
her interest and kept her attention.

 Nabiki smirked at the thought. I am Nabiki, hear me
roar. All you bulls and bears, watch out, there's a new predator
in town.

 "G'day, Nabiki," one of  Nabiki's customers tipped his
hat as she zipped past his apartment, bicycle practically flying
over the cracked pavement.

 "Good Morning," Nabiki called back. She liked him. None
of this "Nabs" or "'Biki" or ridiculous other petnames that some adults
seemed fated to stick her with. Even those were preferred to the "Nancy"
her English teacher insisted on.

 The last paper in her route slapped into the door. Her tires left
black trails as she slid into a turn, then began the trip home. Time enough
for breakfast, a last run on the calculus homework, and a little work on her
engineering  project, then on to school.

 Nabiki was busy. Nabiki was making money. Nabiki might not
have been joyously happy, but she was content.
---------------November 12, 1988--------
 An eleven year old girl in the typical garb of a Shinto
priestess finished sweeping the step she was on and looked up
at the hundreds of other steps she had to sweep clear.

 Akane made a sound deep in the back of her throat.
Life sucked. She had to do chores. She had to do homework. She
had to suffer unfairly in life.

 Everyone at school thought she was crude and graceless.
They called her a tomboy. She still beat a few people up over that,
but it didn't really seem to help. Besides, since the events of a few
years ago, she had gotten over that phase of her life. Well, mainly.

 Traditional feminine pursuits had little appeal, and she
had little talent in those regards anyway. Tea ceremony and flower
arranging were not the sort of things to hold her interest.

 Akane heard a sigh behind her and saw her Uncle looking
at her with a sad expression. Again.

 "Akane, I've told you before, start at the top, and sweep
down." The older man hadn't warmed at all to Akane, especially after
finding her smoking a pack of cigarettes that Mayuki had given her.

 "Yes, Uncle." Akane threw a long-suffering look in the
direction of the shrine priest. She was well aware that they kept her
there because of duty, that this branch of the family had never
forgiven Soun Tendo for taking up with Happosai.

 "Akane, do you know why there are all these rituals?
Because each of them is to teach us something as we perform them..."

 "As you say, Uncle." Akane nodded. She knew they were
doing their best now. Neither her Aunt or her Uncle were very outgoing
or affectionate people.

 The priest sighed. "Akane, you're doing much better now
that you are at an all-girl's school. I realize that you don't want to be
shrine priestess when you grow up, but at least think about the
possibility."

 "Of course, Uncle." Akane nodded. Hidoku School For Girls
was much less onerous than either Nobunaga or Kataibasho. Without
the cruelty of  Nobunaga or the severity of Kataibasho, Hidoku was strict
but not unbearable.

 She would do damn near anything to avoid having to go to
THOSE schools.
--------------------------
 Kasumi studied her latest artwork. The loneliness in her
heart was somewhat lessened as she threw herself into the latest
attempt to define something that she wanted. Wanted very badly
at this point. She was still avoided by most of the boys and those who
did approach her were not interesting at all.

 The painting showed a noble young shih (who kind of looked
like that Chinese-American called Bruce Lee) in a martial arts kata. Looking
at the painting, Kasumi thought to some of the shojo manga she'd read.
Longer hair might be kind of sexy, she thought, but he wouldn't have it
hanging loose. A ponytail? No, that's how she often wore her own hair.

 She added a pigtail and nodded at the effect.
-----------Ymir's Well-----------------
 Grey looked at the scrying pool
with some satisfaction. "You see, it's going
quite well. Well, Akane's in a sort of personal
hell. Look at how happy Nabiki is, though!
Kasumi's not doing too bad, either, and
Ranma's mother is doing a lot better with
someone around."

 Saint Vidicon frowned. "So where's
the adjustment you're going to make? Nabiki
getting into women's softball wasn't it, was it?"

 "Nah, that was pretty much a phase
she went through, though she still has more of
a life outside money than she does in one of the
Prime frames. This is the little nudge here."
------------January 15, 1989----------------
 Two months ago, she had been in
serious trouble. Not that Auntie or Uncle would
ever raise a hand against their niece. Heavens
no.

 However, that was two months ago,
and since then she had found Something Else
to pursue with a passion. Miyuki had not, she
realized now, been a good friend.

 Rie and Jiro, on the other hand...

 A chance encounter at the shrine had
brought the two into her life. Rie, the passionate
artist. Jiro, the solidly built mechanic. Both of
them students at her school. Neither of them
begrudged her the dream of going back and
training in the Anything Goes martial art.

 They did, however, point out that
her Aunt and Uncle were not receptive to the
Arts of War. Meaning that she'd have to find
another way of doing it, or pick it up after she
became an adult.

 And in the course of finding a way
to practice the Art, she'd found IT. Who would
have known she had a talent for such things?

 Raw strength, that was what most
people assumed was her main quality. However,
this was so unlike anything she had tried before...

 And just being really good at something
seemed to fire up her own passion.

 "So, what do your guardians think
about all this?" Rie finished tying her hair back
out of the way. "After all, this doesn't exactly fit
into typical shrine priestess training."

 "Maybe," Akane looked up and grinned
at her friend. "You don't have to stick around, if you
don't want, y'know. Jiro's just supervising." Silently
Akane added that it wasn't as if he'd ever be interested
in a clumsy tomboy anyway.

 "No, no," Rie was quick to shake her head.
"I just like watching you two go at it."

 "I think the Tendos just really appreciate
having their car running better than it has been," Jiro
griped from his side of the engine. "Certainly it hasn't
been serviced in ages..."

 Akane wiped her face with the back of her
hand, leaving a smudge of grease. "Maybe. Then again,
maybe not."
----------------April 3, 1991-----------------------
 Kasumi watched the lights of the city from
the rooftop. She heard her "Auntie" slowly climb up the
ladder after her but remained silent and contemplative.

 "Kasumi, this is an odd way to spend your eighteenth
birthday."

 "Auntie Saotome, why?"

 "Why what, dear?"

 "Why am I alone? I win cooking contests. Bluebird's
undefeated women's kendo champion. Yet, I am alone, with no
suitors. No..." Kasumi let it trail off. She had few friends, being
a bit on the shy side when she was unfamiliar with someone.

 "Ah," Nodoka nodded. "Well, there is a solution to
that."

 "Hmph." Kasumi rested her chin on her hand and
stared out at the night. "I seem to intimidate the local men. Where
is there one with the heart of a samurai, to face mine own?"

 "You must've run into that Kuno gentleman again. Did he
challenge you again?"

 "Of course," Kasumi said with a sigh. "He wanted me to
'return to a woman's rightful place' and put away my sword. It was a
fairly even match...for the first few minutes. His swordwork is far better
than his reasoning."

 Nodoka hesitated for just a moment. "Kasumi, there is
something you should know. My husband told me of it after your
father's death. I think that brought home his own mortality, and he
wanted to tell me of this in case something happened to him."

 "Yes, Auntie?" Kasumi wasn't even looking, so sunk in her
funk that she was actually being impolite.

 "There is an old agreement between the Tendos and the
Saotomes, that my son Ranma would marry a Tendo."

 There was a brief silence while this information penetrated
Kasumi's mood. Then came the sound of someone sliding
and falling off of the roof.

 Nodoka hurried down, to find that Kasumi was physically
uninjured, but in shock.

 "I...engaged? Marry? But I... Is he cute?" Kasumi's mouth
clicked shut. Of course, Auntie Saotome didn't know what Ranma
looked like. "How? I..."

 Nodoka smiled at Kasumi in the glow from the porchlight.
"I have come to know you over these past years, Kasumi, and it would
give me great pleasure if I could call you my daughter in truth."

 Kasumi felt tears spring up but controlled them. To be
Auntie's daughter, to truly be part of a family again... "Auntie, won't
he be rather...uncultured? If Uncle Genma has been dragging him all
across Japan on this sort of training mission, then what manner of man
is he? Will he know anything other than how to fight?"

 "He will be a man among men, or he'll commit seppuku.
Or at least, that was the deal I cut with Genma." Nodoka winced at her
own pun. "As for the rest, if his father can take him on a ten year
journey to learn martial arts, surely his wife merits the same chances?"

 Kasumi considered that. "I can hope, then, can't I?" Kasumi
smiled, a brief image of herself being swept off her feet by a handsome
samurai... She frowned and adjusted the image. Ranma was being
trained in unarmed combat. Now it was one of the Chinese scholar-knights,
or shih, who came to woo her.

 Kasumi smiled again at the fantasy.
---------June 14, 1990-------------------------------
 "Nabiki Tendo, age fifteen." The
announcer looked up and led the audience in
applause as the Japanese-American girl came
running down to the stage.

 She accepted the reward from the
principal, turning a bright grin to the assembled
students. "My fellow students, we have KICKED
MAJOR BUTT!"

 The response was deafening, and
Nabiki basked in it before raising her hands to
silence the throng. Yes, she was good, and she
damn well knew it. That didn't mean that confirmation
wasn't appreciated, because she loved to have that
acknowledgement.

 "Between the bake sale, the car wash, and
the other little jobs, plus the matching funds from Hal's
Groceries and Little Hut Pizzas, we will have computers
set up in the library before the start of school next year!"

 "My fellow students," Nabiki held her certificate
of achievement aloft and made a reference to the betting
pools she kept operating through the sports season, "NEVER
bet against a Tendo!"
------------August 9, 1991-----------------------
 Nabiki Tendo, now at sixteen years of age, looked
at her family of the past few years and vowed she would return.
This was stupid, going back to Japan to attend the last year of
school there as a transfer student.

 Here was where home was. Here she had been taken
in as if she were a natural daughter. Here she had friends, here
she had a job, here she had credit cards.

 Japan was a big unknown. She barely remembered
much of it, just crowds and her sisters and the hospital. It
certainly didn't look that great from what she'd seen in the
few tapes she'd been able to get.

 Still, it would be nice to see her sisters again. Vague
memories of her sister Kasumi in an apron that was far too
large for her, and Akane in her little gi...

 Well, big sis was eighteen now, so she'd have
someone who  could drive her to the mall, maybe buy beer
for her. That would be cool.

 She hoped there were some decent boys there.
Not that Derek wasn't ok. She'd just prefer running into
someone who thought more with the head that was above the
shoulders.

 She started planning, she still had another month.
She had to get all of her investments into safe areas. Savings
accounts and the like where they would nicely accrue interest
and not require that she be around to manage the money.

 Her job at the Credit Union had been going so well
too. She had a feeling things would not be nearly so easy in
Japan.
-------April 17, 1992------------
 Akane, a fifteen year old girl, had gone from being
mainly miserable to completely miserable. Following Uncle
Genma and that stuck-up boy, she had to admit, was not one
of her better ideas.

 Rie and Jiro were gone, the two had been SO much
in love and such good friends. Both had gone on a little trip
into China, it had something to do with Rie studying some
artwork from some tribal culture. Neither had come back,
leaving Akane without a friend again.

 Then two martial artists named Saotome briefly
stopped in the area. It was enough to capture Akane's imagination.
A training trip, and they spoke of the Anything Goes school! A
link to her father's heritage, at long last.

 Still, she'd stick with them, learn some martial arts,
and THEN go back to the Shrine. Best to get far away from the
Shrine first, as she did not want to go back before she was ready.

 Akane blinked. They'd just walked out into the ocean
and were getting ready to swim? Akane glanced over at the rental
boats. No way she was going to swim! She'd return the boat,
eventually...
----------April 28, 1992---------------
 "<You stranger girl, what you do here?>"

 Akane glared at the woman who had just addressed
her. "Why can't anyone around here speak Japanese?"

 "Because you in China." A woman carrying twin
shortswords looked over Akane as if trying to decide if she
would taste like chicken.

 "Look," Akane noted how many of the women had
drawn weapons. "I'm just lost. I was trying to learn some
martial arts when this guy with an umbrella knocked me into
some damn pool..."

 "Well, if that true, then come this way..."

 <"What are you doing, Sash? Taking her to the
Challenge Log?">

 <"Well, you know my brother Razor? I'll get him
to challenge her. If she loses, he finally gets a wife, then I can
have his room when he moves out! If she wins, then we let
her escape so we can track her down and at least get some
time out of this damn village.">

 <"Or even if she wins, Razor then gives her the
Kiss Of Marriage. We can always show her one of the altered
books on Amazon law."> Jam smiled. She had a brother in the
same situation.

 <"EXACTLY!">

 <"Sash? When did you get so clever?">

 <"I've been watching American TV. Very
educational. 'Gilligan's Island.' I feel that trapped here we
share the same basic problem. Except, of course, that there
are no Elders on that island.">

 <"Ah. So which one are you?">

 <"Mary Ann,"> said Sash. <"Because I spend
so damn much time helping my brother farm. Another reason
I want him to find a wife.">
---------------------------------
	clip to chapter 1b