She's Got The Look
a 15-minute bit by Mike Loader
--------------------------------

	It was a friday when Nabiki sort of snapped.

	She'd been staring at Kasumi all throughout dinner, a sort 
of sick, distant look on her face. Ranma had slowly begun to 
notice it, and kept squinting at her, trying to figure out what 
was wrong.

	Kasumi just smiled, her eyes slightly wide. 

	Finally, Nabiki shoved her plate away. "I'm sick of fish."

	"We always eat fish around this time, Nabiki. You know 
we..."

	"The whole damn house," Nabiki began slowly, voice 
building, "has been stinking of goddamn fish for weeks."

	Ranma silently agreed with the sentiment, if not the 
tone. He was getting tired of fish.

	Akane, unusually silent, just fidgeted.

	"You know why, Nabiki. You now that mother told us to..."

	"I don't care." Nabiki abruptly stood, her napkin falling to 
the floor. "Damn mother."

	Kasumi's smile vanished, and her eyes got wider still. 
"Take that back, Nabiki."

	The middle Tendo sister laughed bitterly. "You look more 
like her every day, Oneesan. Your turn soon, eh?"

	Kasumi didn't blink.

	"She left us to this, Kasumi. Left us without telling us 
anything. Just fish around this time, and some jewelry, and..."

	"You'll understand in time, Nabiki-chan. I used to feel the 
way you do, but now I understand. I understand, and it's not so 
bad. You'll see."

	A sick look washed over Nabiki's face. "I don't _want_ to 
understand."

	"But you will, regardless."

	"Get out of my sight," Nabiki slowly rasped. "Just go 
away. Lock yourself up somewhere where I don't have to look at 
you."

	Ranma stared at the two in amazement. Genma, with the 
wisdom and cowardice of a master, had long since vanished. 
Soun just stared at his food.

	Kasumi shrugged. "I'm going to be moving out soon. You 
know that."

	"Not soon enough. Get out. Just looking at you makes me 
ill."

	For almost a minute Kasumi stared at her younger sister, 
unblinking. Then, slowly, she turned and shuffled out of the 
dining room.

	"You shouldn't have," Akane whispered. "Oh, Nabiki..."

	"Shut up," Nabiki mumbled. "Two more years. Oh God, just 
two more years, Akane. Maybe less."

	"You don't know that..."

	"I DO!" Nabiki shrieked. "LOOK AT HER!"

	Akane swallowed. "Mother said..."

	"Mother. Mother. Kasumi used to feel the same way I do. 
But she got older. Things changed. Daddy even let her have 
Mother's jewelry."

	Akane turned to stare at her father. "You.. you didn't..."

	"It made it easier on her," Soun mumbled. "She missed her 
mother. You all do, but especially her."

	"I don't," Nabiki hissed.

	"Deep down, you do," Soun sadly replied.

	Nabiki stared at him, tears running down her cheeks. "I 
wish you'd never met her. I wish I'd never been born."

	Akane stared at her in shock. "Nabiki, don't say..."

	"Shut up, Akane. Eat your fish. Your time will come, soon 
enough." Nabiki's laugh was thin and hysterical. "Two years! 
Maybe less!"

	Akane turned and fled from the room. Giving Nabiki a 
worried glance, Ranma followed.

	He found her in the dojo, sobbing. "Akane? What's going 
on?"

	"It's... it's about mother. And the way she was taken from 
us. It's about that time again."

	He bowed his head. "Oh."

	A fresh spate of tears burst forth, and he awkwardly 
hugged her. "Hey... c'mon, it's okay..."

	"It's not okay. It'll never be okay. Poor Kasumi... she used 
to be so scared, and now she just accepts it.. she's even 
happy..."

	"It's okay."

	"Nabiki and her were so close about this... they promised 
they wouldn't let it come between them, but it has... we eat 
fish at the time, but it never really hides it... oh, Kasumi..."

	Ranma hugged her until the tears slowed. It took a long 
time for them to stop.

* * *

	Kasumi shuffled upstairs, slowly made her way to her 
room, and turned on the vaporator.

	Sighing slightly, she open the trunk by her bed and took 
out her Mother's jewelry.

	"I love you, Mother. Soon we'll be a family again."

	Smiling, she set the gold tiara on her head, brachial 
shapes capering across it, and hung the chain of linked golden 
frogs across her neck.

	"Telekki Li! Telekki Li! Ry'leh ftaghn..."

	Eyes wide and staring, Kasumi leaned back and dreamed 
of her mother.

----------------------------------------------

	This grew out of a fun little card game called Mythos 
between me and John Biles. My protagonist, a Bored Housewife 
who I immediately dubbed Kasumi, started off strong. But she 
summoned up a few too many nightgaunts, and the Dark Young 
of Shub-Niggurath did a number on her, and she sort of had to 
read the Dreamlands Edition of the Necronomicon, and before 
long her sanity level was next to nothing. She was gibbering 
and giggling and calling up Leng Spiders when John's Deep Ones 
strolled across and made mincemeat out of her last shreds of 
sanity.

	At some point, one of us made a joke about Kasumi having 
the Innsmouth Look.

	"Cool," I said, sipping my coffee and glaring at John's 
thrice-damned Mi-Go Speechbox (Hester Payne blasted it to 
bits at Kasumi's command next turn.) "I'll make a spamfic out 
of it."

	So I did. :)

	Those of you who've never read HP Lovecraft's 'The 
Shadow Over Innsmouth' A) are missing out on a classic of 
American literature, and B) Won't understand this shortfic.

	Now, if you'll excuse me, I think Kasumi's recovering. 
We're gonna go to Kadath, drink the Wine of Pnoth, and call up 
Yog-Sothoth to kick Biles' ass. ;)

-ML