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	Kasumi's Dinner Disaster version II
	Part All
	A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
	Jenny 'Android18' Chan
	android18@hotmail.com
	www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/jerningham/333/index.html
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	Kasumi Tendo hummed to herself as she stirred the soup she
was preparing for dinner. She lifted the spoon to her lips and
took a taste.
	~Yum!~ Kasumi thought happily as she stirred some more.
She looked over to the counter where an old recipe book laid. She
picked it up and skimmed over the recipe.
	It was a hard recipe; one that she had never tried before.
But the result was well worth it.
	She put the recipe book, still open, back on the counter,
and turned down the heat on her soup. 
	Suddenly, someone tapped her on her shoulder, and Kasumi
turned around to see Akane who had a look of surprise on her
face.
	"What are you doing Kasumi?" Akane asked, "I thought you
said you were going to go out with your friends today."
	"Oh, I was," Kasumi replied, "but Sako-chan canceled at the
last moment, so I just decided to stay home."
	"Oh." Akane said, a look of disappointment on her face. She
turned to shuffle out the kitchen.
	"What's wrong Akane?"
	"Well," Akane turned around again, "I told everyone that I
was going to make dinner since you weren't going to be here. I
was really looking forward to it."
	"Oh my," Kasumi said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know that. 
Otherwise, I never would have made this soup... I'm sorry Akane."
	"That's okay," Akane replied, but the disappointment was
still on her face.
	"I know!" Kasumi said suddenly. "I can take this soup over
to Dr Tofu's, and we can have it together! That way, you can still
make dinner for the family!"
	"Really?" Akane asked happily. "You'd do that?"
	"Of course! I'll just walk over there right now and ask if
I can join him for dinner!"
	"Why don't you just phone him?" Akane asked.
	"The soup needs to simmer for a little longer," Kasumi
explained. "By the time I get back here from the clinic, it 
should be ready! Watch the soup for me, will you?"
	"That's great! See ya later, Kasumi!" Akane called as her
older sister disappeared out the door.
	Akane looked at the recipe on the counter that Kasumi
had left, and skimmed it over. Then, she looked at the pot on
the stove, and took a taste with a spoon.
	"It's delicious!" Akane proclaimed, "hey, maybe I should
make this for everyone! Yeah! That's what I'll do!"
	So, she started to cook.

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	"Cooking wine....cooking wine... cooking wine," Akane 
muttered to herself over and over again as she hunted through
the cupboard for the liquid.
	She searched everywhere, but still the last ingredient
alluded her. 
	"Kasumi!!" Akane hollered, "where's the cooking wine?!"
	A silence answered her question.
	"Kasumi?" Akane asked again, puzzled. "Oh yeah! She's over
at Doctor Tofu's! Right!"
	Akane looked in the cupboard, pondering her dilemma. "I
can't find the cooking wine," she said to herself, "but... 
wine... hey, if I put sake in it, wouldn't it be about the 
same? Yeah, I'll try that!"
	Akane looked around the kitchen and found a large bottle
full of sake. She heft it, and then poured a little bit into
her pot, which was right beside Kasumi's.
	She stirred it furiously for a few moments, and took a
taste. She ended up spitting the "soup" on the floor.
	"Yuck!! This is sick!!" Akane frowned. "But I can't let
all of this go to waste... maybe if I put more sake in it,
it'll taste better. Yeah, that's what I'll do! And, even if
it doesn't get better, Dad and Saotome-san will still like
it!"
	Smiling, Akane tipped most of the sake in the bottle
into the pot until it almost overflowed.
	She stirred the thing some more before taking another
taste. She ended up gagging.
	"I don't get it!" Akane moaned to herself, "why does
this taste so bad! I followed the recipe to a T! True... I
did make a few, slight, minor alterations, but it shouldn't
be THIS bad."
	Akane grumbled to herself a little bit when she suddenly
realized what was wrong.
	"I didn't turn the stove on yet!" Akane shouted. She
corrected her mistake and chuckled as she turned the dial, turning
it up all the way to make up for the lost time. "There! Now it 
should be perfect."
	"Hey, Akane, whatcha doing?" Asked a voice.
	Akane turned around and saw that it was Ranma who was
peering suspiciously into the kitchen. She smiled grandly.
"Guess what, Ranma! I'm making dinner!"
	Ranma's eyes went wide and his skin turned slightly
green. "Y-you are?" He asked a tremble in his voice.
	"Yup!"
	"But I thought Kasumi was going to, since her friend
canceled on her!"
	"Yeah, Sako-chan did cancel, but then Kasumi decided
to have dinner at Dr Tofu's house, and let ME make dinner!"
	Ranma swallowed. "Listen, Akane. I, ah, I can't make
it to dinner tonight, I have to.. ah... go back to China
and find a cure for my curse!"
	Akane blinked. "WHAT?!"
	"Yeah, I have to go to China," Ranma repeated. "Sorry,
but I'm gonna miss dinner."
	"Just like that, you're going?!" Akane shouted. Ranma
nodded. "Well, can't you just stay a little longer and at
least have some of this soup?"
	"Sorry, but, ah, the boat's leaving right now! Seeya!"
Ranma darted away.
	"Hey, Ranma! Wait a minute! Come on, just have a little
bit of soup!!" Akane shouted as she chased after Ranma, 
temporarily forgetting about the soup.

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	Akane grumbled to herself as she stalked back into the
kitchen after spending the last 10 minutes chasing after Ranma.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view),
she didn't catch him.
	Instead, she had run into her dad, Genma and Nabiki in her
mad pursuit. After learning about dinner, all three of them
confirmed Ranma's plans about going to China and then told her
that they would also be going with him.
	"And I thought Ranma was lying," Akane grumbled.
	She looked at the stove, and her eyes went wide. There was
A LOT of steam and smoke coming from one of the pots.
	"Oh, NO!!" 
	Akane ran to the stove, and turned down the heat. She
waved away some of the smoke.
	"No!!"
	Akane had turned up the wrong dial, and ended up boiling
away all the water in Kasumi's soup while her own soup had yet
to be cooked.
	"Kasumi'll kill me!" Akane groaned to herself. "Well...
'Kasumi' and 'kill' don't belong in the same sentence, but..
oh, she'll be so disappointed!!"
	Akane cleaned up some of the mess. "What'll I do? What'll
I do?!" She tapped her chin when suddenly, she got an idea.
	"That's it! I'll just pour my soup into Kasumi's pot, then
let it simmer a little bit, and no one'll ever know the 
difference! Ha! The perfect plan!!"
	Akane proceeded with her plan and warmed up the soup,
stirring nervously.
	"Akane, I'm home!" Came Kasumi's voice.
	Akane jumped. "Oh! Kasumi! You're back! What did Dr Tofu 
say?" Akane asked, eyes wide with nervousness.
	Kasumi smiled. "Everything's go! He's going to the market 
to get some vegetables and I'll make the main course over there.
I'll just change my clothes and then bring the soup."
	"Oh, okay."
	Kasumi looked at the stove. "Are you making dinner? Oh
my, where's my soup?"
	"Oh, this is your soup!" Akane cried. She looked down
at the pot she was stirring and gave a nervous laugh, putting a
hand behind her head. "I was just stirring it for you!"
	"Why thank you Akane! But where's your food? Isn't it
time for dinner?"
	"Dinner? Oh, well, uh... um... you see..." Akane gulped.
"I... I'm going to China with Ranma!"
	Kasumi blinked. "When did Ranma say he was going to
China?"
	"While you were gone. Dad, Nabiki and Saotome-san are
going with him. So, I figured I'd scrap dinner and go with them
too."
	"Oh, well, have fun then, Akane." Kasumi said as her
younger sister ran upstairs, ran back downstairs with a
duffel bag, and out the door.
	Kasumi smiled. She went back into her room and changed 
into a nice blue dress which hung off her shoulders. Then, she
took the soup off the stove (turning off the stove), and left the 
house, going to Dr Tofu's.
	When she was outside, she bumped into Shampoo.
	Shampoo was carrying a box full of ramen in her hands.
	"Hello Shampoo," Kasumi said.
	"Nihao, Kasumi Tendo!" Shampoo greeted. "That very pretty
dress you wearing. Where you going?"
	"I'm going over to Dr Tofu's to have dinner with him."
	"I see. Where Ranma? Shampoo have good food for him!"
	"Oh, I'm afraid you just missed him," Kasumi replied, 
"he just went back to China to get a cure for his curse."
	"Aiya! Ranma go back to China without Shampoo?! This no
can be! Shampoo go too!!" With that, Shampoo raced back to the
Nekohanten to pack up.

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	The next morning found the Tendo family (less Kasumi), 
the Saotomes and Shampoo sitting around the dinner table, eating 
cold ramen which Shampoo had supplied.
	"I can't believe you guys," Akane growled, glaring at
Ranma at the same time. "Going to China just to miss my cooking!"
	Akane had found him and everyone at the harbor and they
were shortly joined by Shampoo. There hadn't even a boat in the
harbor going to China last night and the family had returned
home rather late in the night to find an empty house.
	Just then, the front door tentatively open and shut. 
Everyone looked up to Kasumi timidly peek into the dining area
around a corner.
	Her eyes went wide. "Oh! You're all back already!" She 
cried.
	"We never left," Akane explained. She sent another glare 
in Ranma's direction. "Ranma was only bluffing because he didn't
want to eat my cooking. I found him and Dad and everyone at
the harbor."
	"Where did you go so early in the morning?" Nabiki asked.
	Kasumi blinked. "Where did I go?" She echoed.
	"Yeah," Nabiki replied, cocking an eyebrow. "We didn't
hear you leave this morning."
	"This morning? Oh, yes! Well, e-hem, I went out for...
a... an early morning... jog.. is all. I... um... didn't want to
wake you all since it was so early."
	"Riiiiight..." Nabiki said. She wondered why her sister
was acting so strangely. 
	"How was your dinner with Dr Tofu?" Akane asked.
	"It went fine!" Kasumi answered, much too quickly. A
slight blush rose in her cheeks and she swallowed. "It... went..
fine," Kasumi repeated, slower this time. "We.. had dinner, and
then we went for a walk... and then... I came home. That was it."
	"Oh, that's nice," Akane said.
	Kasumi visibly relaxed, that is, until Shampoo pointed
out that she was wearing the dress she was wearing yesterday.
	"Why Kasumi still in pretty dress?" Shampoo asked.
	Kasumi's eyes went wide and she looked down at herself.
"Uh..."
	"And why Kasumi's pretty dress all crumpled?" Shampoo
pressed, "what you do to crumple dress?"
	"Uh..." Kasumi swallowed. "I... it was dark this morning,
when I went out for my jog, and I must have pulled on the same
dress I wore yesterday! Hahahaha... silly me. I must have gotten
it crumpled during my jog. I'll go change now..."
	Kasumi quickly left the room.
	Akane frowned. "Since when did Kasumi begin to wear a dress 
to jog in the morning?"
	"More importantly," Nabiki replied, "when did Kasumi begin to
even JOG in the morning?!"

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