There were people that detested mornings with a passion. People that cursed the Sun for getting up in the sky before... Noon. And while Kasumi Todoh normally wasn’t one of them, jet-lag was playing a role this time.
The girl pulled the covers over her head to fight off the rays of the sun and go back to sleep.
A few more minutes passed in quite, until a rapping was heard form the window.
Kasumi was having a wonderful time under the blankets, warm and comfortable, and did her best to ignore the rapping.
And yet, the rapping continued incessantly. Getting louder, and louder, as if threatening to break the glass.
Kasumi finally had enough and took a peek from beneath the warm protection of the blanket to see what was happening. She looked at the window through bleary eyes. She could see a form from the other side of the window through the slightly parted blinds. The sun behind the form was making it impossible to tell what it was. “What is it?” She asked, or at least tried. It came out more as a yawn than a question.
“Heya, Kasumi!” Came the voice of Ranma. “Will ya’ open the window?”
“Go away!” Kasumi called and turned over.
“Don’t you want your breakfast?” Ranma asked, continuing to rap upon the glass. “I barely saved this much, considering how Pops went at your meal last night.”
The word ‘breakfast’ instantly woke Kasumi up. She turned back and, though still sleepy, started to get out of bed. She walked over to the window and opened it, but her brain was still a little slow on the uptake, and that was why she didn’t notice her current state of dress, or rather undress. The girl was clad in her panties and bra only, having been too tired the night before to unpack her nightclothes.
Hanging upside down from the rain-gutters as to be outside Kasumi’s window, Ranma placed her tray of food down on the ledge. “There you go, enjoy breakfast, Kaaaaaa...” Ranma stared wide-eyed at the sight...
...For all of three seconds, before his feet lost grip and he fell two stories, landing head first.
“Ranma!” Kasumi cried and looked out the window worriedly.
Groaning in pain, Ranma sat up on the ground rubbing the back of his head. He looked up at the window and chuckled nervously. “I’m fine!” He chuckled nervously. “Really!”
Kasumi couldn’t help but smile at the sight and shook her head. She turned to her breakfast and her mouth watered. She was hungry. And indeed, looking at the tray, she saw Ranma had saved her quite a nice portion of breakfast. A Big bowl of miso soup, a nice platter of rice, oh, and look at those nice sashimi strips. “Do you want some of this, Ranma?” Kasumi asked nicely.
“No thanks!” Ranma shouted up o the girl. “I already ate!”
Kasumi smiled and nodded her thanks before taking the tray inside to eat. “Today is a schoolday, right?” She expected Ranma to jump to the window any moment and listen to her question.
“No!” Ranma shouted. From below. Blushing quite a bit, he climbed the storm drain and got back onto the rain-gutters. Moving over to her window, he hung down to it like a bat once more. “School’s tomorrow. We gotta get you your stuff first.” Ranma blushed as Kasumi was still in her underwear.
The black-haired girl didn’t seem to notice as she ate, sitting cross-legged on the floor. “You going to help me get the stuff?”
Blushing up a storm, Ranma nodded his head dumbly, his eyes intent on Kasumi’s form. “Uh-huh...”
Noticing Ranma staring at her, Kasumi blinked her eyes. “Something wrong?”
Ranma chuckled nervously. “Well, uh.. You see... The thing is...” Ranma stammered before answering, “You’re in your panties.”
“What are you...?” Kasumi’s eyes widened and she looked down to see that, yup, she was covered only by her underwear. She blushed furiously and looked at Ranma. “Umm... could you give me five minutes?”
Ranma’s answer was to fall back down in a fashion very similar to the way he had the first time. “I’m okay...” Was his woozy answer from below.
Kasumi stared at the window for a full minute before giggling in both amusement and embarrassment. She stood up to get dressed.
(------)
The black-haired girl looked herself in the mirror, currently clad in the school uniform of Furinkan High. She pouted at her reflection, which couldn’t be more plain. “I hate uniforms.”
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. “Then screw the establishment and wear what you want,” Ranma told Kasumi. “That’s what I do all the time.”
Kasumi blinked in surprise and turned to look at Ranma. “Really?”
Nodding his head, Ranma told her, “Yeah. I always go to school dressed like this,” He frowned a little. “I tried wearing the uniform once. Couldn’t stand it!”
Kasumi turned once more to the mirror and nodded to herself. “Fine.” She turned to the sales lady. “Sorry, but I’m not taking it.” If Ranma could get away with not wearing a uniform, why should she be any different?
The woman nodded her head. “All right. I suggest you take it up with the management, but it’s all right, if that’s how you feel about it,” The saleswoman said uncertainly.
Shrugging his shoulders, Ranma told Kasumi, “Don’t worry about it. Just pound on the Principal a few minutes, and he’ll let you wear what you want...” He frowned. “Just be careful, or he’ll give you a bowl-cut hairstyle.”
Kasumi smiled at the woman, though she did give Ranma an odd look for his suggestion, and went to the dressing room to get changed. “What do you want to do now, Ranma?”
Scratching his chin in thought for a moment, (yes, a real difficult task for the pigtailed fighter) he continued to think...
...And think... ...And think...
...And then a little smoke started coming out his ears.
“Ah!” Ranma said as he pounded a fist into his open palm. He gave her the ingenius suggestion of, “How about we stop for lunch?”
Kasumi giggled as she took off the uniform and took a hold of her own clothes. “If you want. We just had breakfast, though.”
Ranma blinked his eyes. “Oh yeah... What time is it?” Kasumi stepped out of the dressing room, fully dressed in casual clothes, and looked at Ranma. “Not even noon yet.”
Frowning, Ranma nodded his head to that. He started scratching his chin once more and thought... “Hmm... Girls don’t always wanna train...” Ranma told himself. “Still too early to eat... Shopping for clothes is dull...” Ranma mumbled... Ranma started tapping the sides of his head with his knuckles. “Think... Think... Think...”
Kasumi, who was close enough to hear that, sweat-dropped heavily.
Ranma had to think of something. Anything entertaining.
And then it hit him, a memory of one of Daisuke and Hiroshi’s less-perverted pass-times. Turning to Kasumi, Ranma asked, “You play videogames at all?”
Blinking her eyes, Kasumi answered, “I... Did play some when I was a kid.”
Ranma nodded. “I’m not much of a player myself. But Daisuke and Hiroshi are always telling me to try going to the arcade whenever Nabiki hasn’t bled my mostly empty wallet dry. Want to check it out?”
The girl didn’t really know what to think of the suggestion, but thought about it and realized she didn’t know a thing about the place. Maybe it would be fun this once, only to pass the time. She smiled at Ranma. “Sure, might be fun.”
Ranma smiled back at her. “All right then. Follow me. I think I know where it is.”
Kasumi nodded and walked next to Ranma.
Continuing to pass a few buildings, it didn’t take long at all to get to the building with the bright neon sign. “Here we are. “Pitt Stop Games.” There was quite a bit of noise originating from the business establishment as Ranma turned to Kasumi with a smirk. “Ladies first?”
The black-haired girl looked the establishment over and turned to Ranma. “You’ve never been in there before, have you?”
Shaking his head, Ranma shrugged his shoulders. “Followed some friends here sometimes, then went home. Never actually went in.”
Kasumi smiled, a teasing light illuminating her eyes, and took Ranma’s hand to drag him into the place. He was so easily embarrassed.
“Hey!” Ranma cried out in surprise as he was being dragged. “I can walk, you know!”
“Sure you can.” Kasumi continued dragging Ranma till they were inside. She let go of Ranma’s hand and looked around to see what kinds of games they had here. The best games supposedly came out first in Japan.
There was a whizzing of lights and sounds. Near the front of the store were all the impulse games, like those crane games, whack-a-mole, and other reflex testers could be seen Ranma looked about. There were a few change machines up front too. “Need me to get some tokens?”
Kasumi smiled. “My treat. I asked you to show me the place, after all.”
“You sure?” Ranma blushed. “I mean... You’re the guest, right?”
The girl nodded. “Sure.” She reached into her pocket and handed Ranma some yen “That enough?” She really didn’t know how much yen were worth. Noticing Ranma’s bush, Kasumi then smiled teasingly. “You’re so cute when you get flustered.”
Blushing more at Kasumi’s teasing, Ranma told her, “Yeah, this will get a us a few games.” He looked at Kasumi pleadingly. “But are you sure?” “Want me to repeat myself?” Kasumi asked with a pout. “Just go get the tokens so we can have some fun. You promised.”
“Okay, okay...” Ranma mumbled as he went to get in line at one of the token machines.
Kasumi smiled in amusement and turned to see the place, looking for a game that she’d want to play.
Well, you’re a new face around here,” came a male voice from Kasumi’s side.
“Um?” Kasumi turned to see who the boy was. Because of his voice it was obviously a boy.
The boy was brown-eyed with matching hair. Well-combed hair. “I knew it, you’re obviously new here, cutie.” He gave her a nice smile. “Care to have someone show you around?”
Kasumi smiled at the boy. “I already have someone showing me around, sorry.” She bowed slightly. “Todoh Kasumi.”
The boy snapped his fingers. “Aw, come on. I can show you all the best games around here.” He smiled with pride. “Hell, my initials are in the high ranks of most of the Fighting Games around here.”
Kasumi was unimpressed by that, thinking the boy should get a life, but on the outside she acted as if she was genuinely interested. “Really?”
The boy puffed in pride. “Yep! The name’s-”
“Daisuke!” Ranma called out as he walked over towards the two. “How long you been here, man?”
Daisuke froze in place, his eyes blinking. Turning his head, he did indeed see Ranma. “Ranma? What’re you doing here!? This is a first!”
“He’s showing me around Nerima.” Kasumi innocently said, so innocently that any judge would find her guilty instantly.
Daisuke gawked. “Ranma, you’re showing her around!?”
Ranma nodded his head. “Yeah. She wanted to do something to pass the time before lunch, so I thought to bring her here.”
“Really?” Daisuke said, with a smile like a shark. “So, Ranma, how long have you know this cutie?”
Ranma shrugged. “A day. She’s the new foreign exchange student.”
“Seriously?” Daisuke asked. He looked at Kasumi. “You’re from America?” Kasumi nodded. “I came to learn about my heritage. So far it doesn’t seem so different to what I’m used to.”
Daisuke chuckled. “Well believe me, Nerima will show you different.” He smiled as a thought to get closer to Kasumi came to him. “Say, Ranma, how about I show you and... What is her name again?”
“Kasumi,” the black-haired girl repeated herself.
“Right, how about I show you and Kasumi around?” Daisuke asked happily.
Kasumi raised an eyebrow at Daisuke’s obvious interest, yet she didn’t say anything.
Ranma blinked his eyes. “Sure.” He turned to Kasumi. “That all right with you?”
The girl smiled at Ranma. “Why not?”
Nodding his head to that, Ranma turned to look at Daisuke. “Sure. Show us the good stuff!”
“All right!” Daisuke said with a smile. “You obviously want to check out the Fighting Games, right?”
“Sure,” Ranma said. Hell, fighting possibly had martial arts. It could have been fun. “How about you, Kasumi?”
“I wouldn’t mind.” Kasumi said with a mysterious smile. Without her training clothes people always oversaw the fact she was a fighter. In fact even Ranma missed it.
“Okay,” Daisuke said. “They keep the best stuff in the back. Lots of 2D and 3D Fighting Games.” Daisuke smiled. “Especially the stuff based on real life tournaments, like Street Fighter, WWF, WCW, and KoF.”
At the mention of KoF, Kasumi’s ears perked up. “King of Fighters?”
“Yeah!” Daisuke said. “And then there’s still the great fictional stuff like Samurai Showdown, Last Blades, Darkstalkers, and Warzards.”
Kasumi blinked. “Never heard of those.”
Ranma nodded his head. “I haven’t heard of any of them, period.”
Rolling his eyes, Daisuke said, “Well, no wonder with you, Ranma. You never come in here.”
“I didn’t know there were King of Fighters games,” Kasumi said as she caught sight of the tournament’s logo.
“There are,” Daisuke said with a smile. “Man, Hiroshi and I play that one all the time. Mai is SUCH a hottie.”
Kasumi smiled faintly. Of course Mai would be ‘bouncing’ in a fighting game of the tournament.
“NO!” Came a cry from the corner near the back of the arcade. A voice Ranma and Daisuke instantly recognized.
Blinking his eyes, Daisuke said, “And that sounds like Hiroshi now.” “Hmm... Should we check on him?” Ranma asked seriously.
Shrugging his shoulders, Daisuke said, “Why not?”
Kasumi looked confused, but followed the boys either way.
Daisuke and Ranma continued to walk towards the source of the cry. Yes, it was a Japanese boy with unruly light-tanned hair. He was pounding his fist top the control board of the ‘KoF ’95’ Arcade cabinet.
“It’s not fair!” Hiroshi whined. “They give Omega Rugal such a tough AI.”
“Still having trouble?” Daisuke asked.
Nodding his head, Hiroshi sighed. “Yeah...” He blinked upon noticing Kasumi. “Who’s the chick?”
Kasumi stopped and looked at the screen. She could see a VERY realistic representation of Rugal Bernstein. The comment instantly caught her attention, though. “Chick?”
“Yeah,” Hiroshi smiled at her. Hoping to impress her, he said, “Now sit back and watch as I use the Hero Team to beat this bastard!” Popping in a few more Yen before the timer ran out, Hiroshi was once again, back to fighting the last boss of King of Fighters ’95. He chose to go with Benimaru first.
As the fight progressed Kasumi frowned at some of the moves. She even started making comments. “He shouldn’t be able to do that... He’s faster than that... His electricity looks a little more sparky than it should.” And so on.
Ranma and Daisuke just looked at Kasumi oddly. Hiroshi was too absorbed in the game to notice. :Wow. Sounds like someone’s a King of Fighters fan,” Daisuke said with a smirk.
“Well, she DOES practice some martial arts,” Ranma told Daisuke seriously.
Kasumi rolled her eyes. “I’ve been to some of the fights.”
“Cool,” Daisuke said, as the ‘losing’ music was heard.
“NO!! Not again!” Hiroshi whined.
Kasumi smirked. “At least they got his whining voice right.” She meant Benimaru’s voice when losing.
Grumbling, Hiroshi went onto Daimon. He always saved Kyo for last. It just felt right.
“So, how are those fights to watch for real?” Ranma asked. “Better than this game, right?”
Kasumi nodded as Hiroshi continued playing. “They’re good. Most of the fighters have a lot of experience under their belts.”
Daisuke smiled. “Like the Fatal Fury Team, right? I mean, sure, Andy and Joe suck, but Terry Bogard is the man!”
Kasumi’s lips became a thin line. “Higashi-san is the world’s Muai Thai champion, while Andy Bogard-san is a practitioner of Kopoken. They’re both very strong.” She should know. She’d fought against them a couple of times.
“Yeah, I think I heard of them,” Ranma commented offhandedly. “But, did you say Terry Bogard?” Ranma repeated. “I think I’ve heard quite a bit of him. He’s supposed to be good, if not one of the world’s best.”
Kasumi nodded. “He’s one of the strongest fighters I know. And very fun to hang out with.”
Ranma and Daisuke looked at Kasumi oddly, but the latter shrugged it off. “Yeah, I always hear Terry is a crowd pleaser, sometimes going into the stadium to have eats with the spectators.” He smirked. “He’s got more of a bottomless stomach than you do, Ranma. Especially when it comes to junk foods.”
Kasumi smiled and turned to see how Hiroshi's Goro got creamed.
“ARGH!” Hiroshi growled. “No more Mister-Nice-Guy! Now it’s time to unleash Magatama Might with the almighty Kyo Kusanagi!”
“Magatama Might?” The black-haired girl grew a sweat-drop.
And so, Kyo Kusanagi appeared. A rather detailed, and still just-as-pompous digitally rendered fighter...
...And got creamed by two God Presses, a Kaiser Wave, and a Genocide Cutter.
“ARGH! It’s cheating!” Hiroshi accused. “The damn thing’s cheating! I just know it!”
“Um... I think Rugal was just that good,” Kasumi told him.
And so, with the losing music playing, a digitally-rendered Rugal scratched open his chest with his bionic right hand and roared as his pectorals bled profusely.
Ranma winced. “Yeesh. If this really is based on a real thing, that guy’s gotta be a freak or something.”
Kasumi stared at the continue screen and frowned. “Some of the things in the game are dead on.”
Smirking at Ranma, Daisuke said, “Pot, this is kettle, you are black!”
Both Daisuke and Hiroshi laughed at the comment. And while, Ranma smiled good-naturedly, Ranma winced a little.
Looking over at his partner in crime, Daisuke asked, “You gonna continue?”
“Nah,” Hiroshi said. “Tired of getting my ass kicked.”
Daisuke laughed. “You know, you could more likely win with ANOTHER team. Like Fatal Fury!”
“No way!” Hiroshi said, shaking his head vehemently. “Hero Team Fan all the way!”
“They’re not that great, you know?” Kasumi said looking around.
“Blasphemy!” Hiroshi shouted. “The Hero Team ALWAYS wins! They’ve been winning form 1994 to the latest 1997 tournament!”
“Speaking of which, when is the latest game gonna come out?” Daisuke vocally wondered. “Been awhile since one came out, and ’95 was the last one.”
Kasumi refrained from answering Hiroshi’s challenge and turned to Daisuke. “Another one?”
“Yeah, they’re supposed to be making these annually,” Daisuke told the girl.
Kasumi started to sweat nervously. “So next would be ’96, right?”
Before Kasumi could get an answer, it happened. A definitely over-weight, rotund Japanese man in a suit obviously a few sizes too small for him was pushing a crate.
Turning their heads, Hiroshi and Diasuke both spoke in sync. “Hello Mr. Yamatama!”
“Hello boys!” The older gentleman said as he pushed a crate near the corner, lining it up with the other King of Fighters games.
Kasumi had a BAAAAD feeling about this.
“Wait, that spot’s usually for...” Daisuke began.
“Oh my... Could it really be?” Hiroshi asked in hope.
“You bet, boys!” Mr. Yamatama said with a smile. Leaning the crate back with the hand-truck, two more men came by after him, one with a crowbar. The two men began opening it up.
“Kasumi turned to Ranma and for the first time he saw her really nervous. “Ranma, do you want something to eat?”
Ranma smiled. “You bet ya’!”
“Hold it!” Mr. Yamatama said. “Did you say he’s Ranma?”
Kasumi smiled in relief until the old man interrupted them.
Ranma blinked his eyes. “Yeah.”
“Ranma Saotome?” Mr. Yamatama repeated.
“That’s the name, don't wear it out,” Ranma told Mr. Yamatama. “Best martial artist of Nerima!”
“I thought so!” The man smiled. “Your first time here, right?”
Nodding his head, Ranma answered the man, “Yeah. What about it?”
The man smiled. “Well, you came at a great time. I’m going to let you be the one to try out your first gaming experience on our latest game...” The two men opened the crate to reveal an arcade cabinet of...
“KING OF FIGHTERS 1996!!!” Hiroshi and Daisuke screeched like schoolgirls.
“Great...” Kasumi cursed under her breath. There went her chance of leading a normal life away from the fans.
The two men were setting up the game, and Mr. Yamatama looked at his two best customers. “So, which one of you two would like to teach Ranma the joys of KoF?”
“I’ll do it!” Daisuke said.
“No, I wanna do it!” Hiroshi shouted. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time!”
“But you always only want to play the Hero Team!” Daisuke countered.
“Yeah, cause the Hero Team is great!” Hiroshi shouted back.
Mr. Yamatama scratched his chin. “Tell you what. Daisuke, go first. Hiroshi, you can play the winner.”
“Okay...” Hiroshi grumbled.
Daisuke decidedly looked like he was going to piss his pants in joy.
And then the two workers got the game online.
Kasumi shook her head and resigned herself to her fate. The screen came to life with the words ‘Saiho Nihon Kagura’...
“SNK.”
“OKAY!”
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(Posted Tue, 06 Jul 2004 01:57)
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