Kasumi ate her ice-cream slowly, enjoying every drop of it, and stared at Ranma in wonder. Not because of the girl’s manners, after seeing Chang at an all-you-can-eat buffet this was nothing, but because it was a ‘girl’ sitting in front of her. “Ranma?”
“Mmm?” Was the response. Swallowing, Ranma-chan answered, “What is it?”
“... Why are you a girl?” The black-haired girl didn’t understand why Ranma would change gender to eat a cup of ice-cream.
Ranma-chan shrugged. “Let me ask this. Do you see any guys eating these extravagant sundaes?”
Indeed, looking around, one could see that it was girls with the huge, over-the-top desserts, while the guys stuck with lesser items.
Kasumi looked around the place and turned back to Ranma. “No. But what does that have to do with anything?”
“Guys wouldn’t be caught dead with these girly foods,” Ranma-chan said. She then smirked at Kasumi. “Besides... Watch this.”
Looking over at one of the waiters, Ranma-chan batted her eyes cutely...
...And received a chocolate milkshake meant for another customer.
“Heh heh heh...” Ranma-chan smiled happily. She had already received two sundaes for free.
Staring at the redhead, Kasumi pouted. “That wasn’t a nice thing to say, Ranma,” She then giggled a little. “Though the free ice-cream is nice.”
“Darn right!” Ranma-chan said, before looking at another passing waiter, and thus getting another free milkshake. “Here, you can have this one.”
At the offer, Kasumi beamed. “Thank you!” She took the glass and started taking big gulps, a look of enjoyment on her face.
Ranma-chan blinked. “Woah. You really like milkshakes, huh?” She smiled a bit, and pushed the other one towards Kasumi. “Here.”
Kasumi thanked Ranma with a smile and continued drinking without concern about gaining any weight. She had that covered.
Ranma-chan smiled and started to continue to eat her sundae... Batting her eyes cutely at a man sitting at the next booth, and thus getting another free sundae sent her way.
Kasumi rolled her eyes and fought down the urge to bop Ranma over the head for giving cute girls everywhere a bad name. She’d probably berate her new friend AFTER she was done with her milkshakes.
And so the two continued to drink their milkshakes, as the little bell above the doorway to the establishment dinged, announcing the arrival of some new customers. The new group were obviously tourists in nature, although they looked as though they belonged in Japan, minus the Italian amongst their ranks.
“Oh, hello sir,” A waiter said as he walked up to the man obviously in his forties. “May I seat you?”
“Yes,” The man said, nodding his head. “Tell me, how are your grape smoothies?”
Kasumi turned to see who it was that entered the place out of reflex and started chocking on her milkshake, her eyes wide.
Ranma-chan blinked her eyes. “Kasumi, you okay?”
Kasumi waved Ranma’s concern off and tried to recover her breath.
Ranma-chan frowned. She hoped her new friend was okay and all.
The girl in the group of four groaned. “Daaaad... I don’t want a cruddy grape smoothie. You’ve been making us walk for hours. Can’t I get a chocolate shake?”
The two young men remained silent, knowing their oldest companion was stubborn as hell. If they added to the fire he’d make them have grape smoothies for months.
Kasumi finally seemed to swallow down the right pipe and turned with a smile. “Yuri!”
Before she could be admonished by her father, Yuri’s attention was brought to someone calling her name. She turned her head and noticed a familiar girl with black hair. "KASUMI!”
Kasumi jumped to her feet and rushed to give the other girl a hug. “What are you doing here?”
Yuri caught the shorter girl in a hug. “Vacationing! And how about you?”
Kasumi laughed. “Would you believe I’m starting school tomorrow? I came to Japan as an exchange student.” Ranma-chan watched on, her sundaes finished. She tentatively began moving a hand over to grab Kasumi’s half-drunk milkshake while she wasn’t looking.
Yuri blinked her eyes. “Really?”
“What!?” The older man said as he walked towards the two girls. “How could Ryhaku just leave a poor, defenseless, sweet little girl to go to Japan all by herself!? I mean, she can't even beat Ryo!” The man wailed. “How will she ever take care of herself!?”
Kasumi broke the hug and nodded, happy that one of her closest friends was here right now. Even if Kasumi downright hated Yuri’s brother, though Kasumi’s hate wasn’t anything more than annoyance really, she was very close to the girl. Then Kasumi pouted at being reminded of her inability to defeat Ryo, but shrugged it off and smiled at the older man. “I’ll be fine, Mr. Sakazaki. I participated in the tournament, remember?”
Mostly ignoring the drama going on, Ranma-chan was already blinking her eyes cutely at a passing male target. Target locked. target acquired. Free sundae.
Kasumi smiled at Robert and waved. “Hello, Robert.”
Robert smiled back. “Hi there, Kasumi.”
The black-haired girl then ignored Ryo pointedly, making Robert snicker at his friend and Ryo to frown.
Yuri pouted as she saw Robert giving Kasumi ‘the wink’. “You better not be thinking dirty things...”
Ranma-chan, meanwhile, was looking a little dirty as she had chocolate on the corner of her lips.
Yuri continued to pout. “I don’t want you hitting on my best friend!”
Robert raised an eyebrow. “I’m hurt. Would I do something like that?”
“Yes,” Yuri, Ryo, and Takuma deadpanned seriously. How they managed to answer in sync was anyone's guess.
Ranma-chan eyed Kasumi's slowly-melting half-eaten sundae. Hmm... Can’t let that go to waste.
Robert shrugged it off and turned to give Kasumi’s companion a glance. He raised an eyebrow and gave the redhead a second and third glance. “Hey, there,” He spoke in fluent Japanese as he approached Ranma.
Kasumi was about to say something else but smiled in amusement when she saw Robert beginning to hit on Ranma-chan.
“Hmm?” Ranma-chan raised an eyebrow. “Hey yourself...”
“I’m Robert Garcia,” The Italian Stallion said. “Do you have a name, pretty one?”
Yuri rolled her eyes. God, first the tour guide, then the priestess, then the nurse coming out of the hospital, then the woman at the vending machine, then the woman at the bus, now this?
Kasumi rolled her eyes in sync with Yuri.
Ranma-chan raised an eyebrow. “Yeesh. You really do got a cheesy accent. And here I thought it was just the game.”
Ryo tried to hold it in. He really did. But thinking the comment too funny he couldn't stop himself from bursting out laughing.
Yuri blinked her eyes before smirking.
Ranma-chan studied Robert. “And one thing off. Your hair is much greasier-looking in real life than the game. What do you use to hold it in place? Crisco?”
Now Yuri lost it and began laughing.
Robert gave his best friend and sister an annoyed glance before turning to Ranma. “Hmm... It was nice talking to you,” He then turned to the Sakazakis. “Should we get going?”
Takuma shook his head. “Not yet! We still haven't gotten any grape smoothies!” Turning is head to the waiter, her asked, “Speaking of which, do you serve grape smoothies?”
“Why yes, we do,” The waiter said. Milk frappe, with some mustachio cherries and-”
“You call THAT a grape smoothie?” Takuma roared, already not liking the weak-sounding drink. “Show me the kitchen! I’ll show you how to make a REAL grape smoothie!”
Blushing in embarrassment, Ryo shouted, “Dad!”
Ranma-chan blinked her eyes at the spectacle. “Yeesh. And I thought my old man was bad.”
However, Takuma ignored the protests, and went right on into the kitchen.
Yuri’s eye twitched considerably. “We’re doomed. Here I was hoping we could get away from his dreaded smoothies for at least ONE day of vacation...”
Robert looked at the retreating form of Takuma with some resentment. So far the trip to Japan had been a total bust. Not only did the man force the to drink grape smoothies, but he had them walk ALL OVER Japan without letting them rest for long.
Yuri sniffled. “We’re doomed... Doomed, doomed, doomed...”
Kasumi looked at Yuri strangely. “But his grape smoothies taste great!” Surprise, surprise! Now we know why Takuma liked Kasumi so much.
“Suck up,” Ryo, Robert, and Yuri answered Kasumi in sync.
“Besides,” Yuri added. “You like ANY sort of smoothie or milkshake.”
Ranma-chan blinked her eyes. She had noticed that. “She does?”
“Hey!” Kasumi pouted in protest. Her pout only increased to reach ultra-cute proportions when she turned to see that Ranma-chan had demolished her ice-cream.
Nodding her head, Yuri answered, “Yeah. Enough to kill someone who drinks them on her...”
An empty milkshake glass in either hand, Ranma-chan chuckled nervously. “Uh, I’ll get you another one...” Ranma-chan answered feebly.
Kasumi sighed and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. With Mr. Sakazaki in the kitchen we’ll all get grape smoothies.”
Ryo and Robert looked at each other after that statement and seriously considered running for it.
“Or...” Ranma-chan started and winked cutely at the passing waiter...
...And found the man leaving her a tray full of ice-cream.
“Thank you!” Ranma-chan said as she held up the waiter’s tray filled with (someone else’s) frozen goods.
Yuri blinked her eyes. She turned to Kasumi. “How’d she do that?”
“... You’re shameless, did you know that?” Kasumi sat down in front of Ranma. Turning to Yuri, Kasumi shrugged. “Haven’t got a clue.”
“Eh...” Ranma-chan shrugged her shoulder. "It works.” Ranma-chan then handed Kasumi a tall frosty glass of chocolate milkshake, and Yuri the dish with the banana split.
“Thank you!” Kasumi quickly dug in.
Meanwhile, Yuri stared at it in shock. “For me?”
“Why not?” Ranma-chan told her, before digging into a parfait ice-cream sundae for herself.
With joyful eyes, Yuri began chowing down on her banana split.
“Watch it sis. Remember the last time you got hooked on ice-cream it went to your hips and you had to keep a diet for two months,” Ryo reminded his sister jokingly.
Robert gave Ryo a weird look. It was unusual to have the blond fighter in a joking mood.
Yuri gave her brother a death glare... Which turned to an evil smirk as she saw her father step out of the kitchen. The old goat was holding a tray filled with tall glasses of a bubbling, frothy, steaming purplish liquid.
“Oh no!” Ryo turned to look at the door, but realized he would never make it.
Robert resigned himself to his fate.
Seeing her father get closer to not only Ryo but her as well, Yuri held onto her sundae with a death grip.
“Hey, what’s this?” Ranma-chan questioned as she looked up at Takuma.
Smiling, Takuma told the redhead. “One of my famous grape smoothies! Would you like to try one?” He asked nicely.
Ranma-chan noticed Yuri, Robert, and Ryo shaking their heads, but shrugged it off. “Sure!”
“She’s doomed!” Yuri whispered to Kasumi.
“Huh?” Kasumi asked, sounding surprised.
Ranma-chan took one glass...
...Tipped it to her lips...
...And downed it in a few gulps.
“Hmm...” Ranma-chan mumbled, licking her lips. “You can taste the texture from the goat cheese, and the grape seeds spiced with pimento loaf add a real zesty tang.” Hey! Ranma-chan could survive Akane’s cooking, of course she could handle Takuma’s!
Robert stared at Ranma in shock.
Yuri’s jaw was flapping silently as she pointed at Ranma in shock.
Ryo was confused for a different reason. “Cheese!?”
Takuma blinked his eyes once, twice, thrice, “You actually tasted the goat cheese?”
“Yeah,” Ranma-chan said as she licked her lips. “Didn’t think an ice-cream parlor would have that in stock.”
Kasumi took a smoothie for herself and started drinking, enjoying immensely. Yuri, Robert and Ryo didn’t notice, they were still staring at Ranma-chan.
“Oh, they didn’t!” Takuma smiled. “Something I carry with me in my luncheon pack.”
“Okay....” Ranma-chan said, eyeing the other smoothies on the tray. “Can I have another one?”
Takuma smiled happily. Yes, he really, REALLY liked this girl. “Go right ahead!”
Taking hold of another glass, Ranma-chan chugged a second one down...
...And then a third...
...And a fourth...
“Ah...” Ranma-chan let out a breath. “That REALLY hits the spot.”
Yuri was pointing at Ranma-chan, as if she were the Orochi’s avatar come from the greatest depth of hell.
Robert continued to stare at Ranma-chan, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Ryo looked around and smiled in relief. It seemed like the redhead drank all the smoothies.
Licking her lips, Ranma-chan said, “You know, I didn’t know one could use rotten eggs like that. I mean, the pungent texture and the almost seemingly sulfuric acid really adds a sweet, sour tang to it.”
Smiling brightly, Takuma said, “Yep! That’s what gets it frothing!”
Fearfully, Yuri grabbed onto Kasumi. “Hold me. She’s not human.”
Kasumi rolled her eyes and pushed Yuri off.
Yuri pouted.
Ryo and Robert glared at Takuma dangerously. Rotten eggs!?
After a few moments, Ranma-chan looked up cutely at Takuma. “Could I have some more, please?”
“Certainly!” Takuma said as he puffed in pride. “I’ll go and make some more!” And so turning about, Takuma walked back into the kitchen, humming a happy little ditty.
Robert leaned close to Yuri and Ryo and whispered so only they heard. “This is our chance. What do you say we ditch the old man and have a REAL vacation?”
“Agreed!” Yuri said as she nodded her head rapidly.
Ryo didn’t even answer the question. He just took off out of the establishment.
“Bye, Kasumi!” Robert waved and rushed off as well
“Take care Kasumi!” The youngest Sakazaki turned to the door. “Wait for me!” Yuri cried as she ran after her brother and brother-like friend.
Ranma-chan blinked her eyes. “Man, what’s their problem?”
The black-haired girl waved back, a little sad for seeing her friends run off so quickly. “They don’t have a problem. They’re like that all the time.”
Ranma-chan shrugged. “Hey, you’ve seen me and my Pops. You know how some families are.”
And it was then that Takuma came out of the kitchen. “Smoothies are ready!”
“Yay!” Ranma-chan cheered happily.
Kasumi just smiled.
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(Posted Sat, 17 Jul 2004 21:55)
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