All Mixed Up

Chapter Seven

Kasumi handed a letter to her father during breakfast. “This just arrived for you, father.”

Soun opened the letter and frowned. “It is a challenge letter from a dojo destroyer.”

Nabiki raised an eyebrow as she looked at her father. “Are you actually going to fight him, daddy?”

Soun thought it over for a moment. He was seriously out of practice when it came to martial arts. “Akane, would you like the honor?”

Akane blinked at her father. ‘He trusts me with this?’ A broad smiled appeared as her face lit up. “I’d be happy to, daddy!” Soun fought back tears as he declared how proud he was of his baby girl.

“So, when is the challenge?” Gohan asked.

Akane took the letter and read it. “Uhm, tomorrow afternoon.”

Gohan groaned. “Aww, man… I was going to go visit mom tomorrow. I guess I’ll have to wait till next week.”

Akane smiled brightly at him. “If you left tonight, could you be back in time for the fight tomorrow?”

Gohan thought it over carefully. ‘If I fly at top speed, I should be able to do it pretty easy.’ “Sure. I promise I’ll be back to cheer you on in the fight.” He smiled at her.

Akane had to restrain herself from hugging him. “Thank you!”

Gohan landed outside of his mother’s house. He looked around at the peaceful forest and mountains that were nearby and smiled. “It’s good to be home,” he said to himself. He turned back to the door and tried to figure out if he should knock first or just walk on in. His decision was rendered moot as a fast-moving blur tackled him into the door and it swung open. Looking up from his prone position, he could see his mother looking down at him with a look of surprise.

“Goten! Get off of your brother right now!”

Gohan felt the body on his back jump off and land next to him. As he set up, he looked over at his little brother. “That was a good tackle there. You’ve been practicing, haven’t you?”

Goten nodded and smiled widely.

Gohan turned back towards his mother, who was busily cutting up some vegetables. “Well,” she said with a chill in her voice, “the prodigal son returns, I see.”

Gohan groaned and rubbed the back of his head. “Aww, mom… I’m sorry about not calling before. I just got real busy and forgot.”

Chichi stopped chopping vegetables and slowly turned towards her son, knife in hand and a dangerous gleam in her eye. “You forgot your own beloved mother?”

Gohan sighed and let his head fall. “I’m sorry.”

Silence reigned for a moment before he felt his mother’s arms slide around him. “Well, at least you’re home now. Have they been taking good care of you?”

Gohan nodded as he hugged her back. “Mr. Tendo has been real nice about giving me a place to stay and two of his daughters are good cooks.”

Chichi froze. “Two of his daughters? How many daughters does he have?”

“Three.”

“You’re living with three girls?!” Chichi’s voice rose.

Gohan was confused. “Yeah. I mean, after all I am engaged to them.”

Birds took flight and wildlife scattered from the forest as a resounding, “WHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATT?” echoed through the valley.

Gohan wiggled a finger in his ear to get his hearing back. “I thought you knew about it, mom.”

Chichi’s chest was heaving as she took deep breaths to control her anger. “YOU’VE JUST STARTED HIGHSCHOOL! WHY DID YOU GET ENGAGED TO THREE DIFFERENT GIRLS!!!!!” She was failing miserably.

“Uhm, actually it was dad’s idea.”

Chichi froze with a look of shock. “Huh?”

“Yeah, Mr. Tendo said that he and dad trained together at one point when they were younger and that he promised that one of his sons would marry one of Mr. Tendo’s daughters. So I get to make a choice of which one I want.”

Chichi collapsed into a chair as she shook her head. “Your father, may his spirit rest in piece, was an idiot sometimes.” She sighed. “But it does sound like something he would do. So, tell me about them.”

“Well, the oldest is Kasumi. She’s pretty, and an incredible cook. She’s been taking care of her whole family for a while. Then there’s Nabiki. She’s a bit weird when it comes to money, but she’s still nice enough in a scary way. And she’s pretty too. And there’s Akane. She’s really cute, a bit violent tempered, but she can be real nice. She’s a martial artist, too, and pretty popular at school from what I’ve seen. Kasumi’s nineteen, Nabiki’s seventeen, and Akane’s sixteen.”

Chichi frowned a little. “Which one are you going to marry?”

Gohan shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet, and it’s not just my decision you know, but I really like Akane. She’s a great girl, pretty strong, and a fairly fast learner. And the food she cooks is pretty interesting too.”

Chichi sighed softly. “Well, just make sure you graduate highschool and get into college before you go and get married.”

Gohan nodded and smiled. “I will, mom.” He felt a tug at his pants leg.

Goten looked up at his big brother with an excited look on his face. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Chobi hatched! He’s the bestest dinosaur ever!”

Gohan chuckled a bit as he remembered the egg laid by the two pterodactyls in the mountains nearby before he left to go to school. He and his little brother had already come up with a name for it and everything. The gestation period for the dinosaur put the hatching around a week ago. “So what does he look like? Are you sure it’s a he?”

Goten nodded up and down enthusiastically. “Yup, he’s a boy! Mom told me how to tell the difference!”

Chichi chuckled a little to herself at how the boy’s father used to have to tell the difference. Good thing she took care of that in a hurry.

The youngest Saiya-Jin kept talking. “Why don’t we go see him? It’ll be cool!”

Gohan laughed at his little bother’s enthusiasm. “Okay, we’ll go look for him. Let me get changed first.” He went up to his old room and changed into a blue gi. After that he and his brother hiked out to the nest of the pterodactyls.

They finally arrived at the nest of the two dinosaurs and found it empty. Gohan looked around. ‘The little guy shouldn’t be old enough to fly yet.’ “Where is the kid, Goten?”

Goten turned over the empty eggshells that were still in the nest. “Chobi! Chobi, where are you?” He looked through the nest more and then shrugged. “I dunno where he is. He was here this morning. I played with him until mom called me for breakfast.”

Gohan was beginning to have a bad feeling. “Stay here, Goten. I want to look at something.” He lifted into the air and started to look at the area around the nest. He didn’t find anything that looked like an animal had been eaten or fallen out of the nest. He searched all the way to the bottom of the mountain, still nothing. He grimaced. “Toto and his wife will not be pleased when they get back. He looked around some more and found something very interesting. There in the dried mud were four impressions with tire tracks in them. ‘Somebody was here hunting them. They parked here in the morning when everything was still wet with dew and drove off in the late afternoon. Looks like the little tyke has been kidnapped, or monster napped as the case may be.’

Gohan flew back up to meet his brother. “Somebody’s taken Chobi!”

Goten looked scared. “We’ve got to find him! He’s only a few days old!”

The elder boy nodded. “I’ll go ask Bulma if she can help us find him.” He looked and saw the sun setting in the west. “Looks like it’s going to have to wait until tomorrow.” ‘But Akane’s fighting tomorrow. Well, I can start early and go to Bulma’s first thing in the morning. Then I should be able to get back in time to see Akane fight.’ Nodding his head, he decided that would have to do. It would be too late to do anything about it by the time he finishing walking Goten back to their house. It would have to be taken care of in the morning.

The next morning, Gohan said good-bye to his mother and left. He swore he could still hear the echo of her yelling that ‘HE’D BETTER VISIT MORE!’ She also wanted him to bring whichever girl he chose. After all she would have the final word. He rocketed off toward Capital City and arrived about an hour after breakfast. He was greeted at the door by Bulma’s mom, a ditzy blonde who didn’t look a day over thirty despite being old enough to be his grandmother. “Ma’am, is Bulma home?”

She smiled at him and pointed toward Bulma’s workshop. “She’s in her shop tinkering around. Would you like some refreshments?”

Gohan shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I’m kind of in a hurry. Thanks anyway.” He turned and followed the sound of clanking metal and combustion engines. He walked in as Bulma was putting the finishing touches on her new motorcycle.

She switched the engine off and turned to face the visitor. “Hey, Gohan, long time no see. So where have you been all this time? Trunks has been missing your visits.”

Gohan scratched the back of his head. “Well, it’s really a long story and I’m in a little bit of a hurry.”

Bulma smiled and took out a cigarette. “So much like your father. Only visiting when you need help. Can you tell me the short version of what you’ve been up to?”

Gohan turned a shade of red. “The really short version is I went to high school and kinda got engaged.”

Bulma had the lighter up to her face and was about to light up when her jaw went slack, and the cigarette and lighter dropped to the floor. “YOU WHAT?!?!?!”

“I went to high school.”

“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!”

“It’s some sort of arranged marriage that my father and one of his old training buddies made to unite the families. I’m supposed to marry one of his daughters.”

Bulma raised an eyebrow. “‘One of his daughters’? How many does this guy have?”

“Three. I got a question, would dad do something like that? Mom seems to think so, but I’m not sure.”

Bulma chuckled. “You’re talking about the guy who thought a date consisted of a fist fight. It wouldn’t surprise me if he thought the guy was offering some sort of meal when he was asked for a betrothal. Anyway, what brings you here?”

“A hatchling pterodactyl in the mountains around us got kidnapped. I was hoping you could come up with a device that could help me track him down.”

Bulma nodded. “Actually, I’ve already got a device that has already showed me where a baby Pterodactyl has been working for the circus.”

Gohan was amazed. “Wow! And I didn’t even have to ask and you already knew what I needed! So what device is it?”

“It’s called a television. The circus is in town and they’ve been advertising its new ‘monster act’. You really need to get some technology into your life.”

Gohan smacked his forehead. “Okay. Thanks Bulma. See you later.” He turned to leave.

Bulma smiled. “See you, Gohan. Just make sure and visit more often, and bring your fiancé by sometime. I’d like to meet the lucky girl.”

“Sure.” Gohan nodded and left the room and then the house. ‘Why does everyone want to meet my fiancé?’

After a little bit of searching he found where the circus had set up and was performing. The shows were already underway so Gohan decided to buy a ticket and try to find the little dinosaur on the inside. He came in and saw a sight that tore at his heartstrings. There was the baby dinosaur being beat by a whip and forced to perform inane tasks.

Gohan asked around and, after a while, found out where the man in charge was. He found a man dressed in an expensive blue suit counting money. “Excuse me, but could you let that little guy down there go? He really needs to be taken back to his parents.”

The man laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m raking in the dough! If I make this much at Capital City, think how much I’ll make in Satan City tomorrow!”

Gohan winced. Toto and his wife would find where the kid was by then. “But it’s dangerous keeping him here!”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Shut up and move along kid. I don’t have the time for any bleeding heart environmentalists.”

Gohan started to power up. ‘I could beat up this guy, but that wouldn’t be right. I’ll just wait until this showing is over and sneak the kid out. How long could the show last?’

Several agonizing hours later Gohan was still chomping at the bit. ‘They’ve had him out there performing for hours! Akane’s match is going to be in an hour! I can’t just steal the kid in front of all these people! Someone would identify me to the police! I should have asked Bulma for a costume or something! There has to be a way…’ He thought for a little bit longer and then snapped his fingers. ‘If dad can do it so can I!’

He left the bleachers and went for one of the ramps that led to them. He steeled himself and then shot to the top of the tent at top speed, too fast for anyone to follow. Before anyone was the wiser that a person was flying over their heads, Gohan brought his hands to the sides of his head. “TAIYOUKEN!”

A bright flash illuminated the tent and blinded everyone. By the time the audience’s sight returned, the baby pterodactyl was gone.

Gohan flew away from the tent as fast as he could, but the dinosaur on his back wouldn’t sit still. It kept ruffling his hair. ‘It’s a good thing I’m not wearing a helmet. The kid would have pushed it over my eyes by now. I would stop and walk, but I’m going to be hard pressed to drop him off and get back to Akane’s fight!’

After a few minutes of flying he made it back to the nest to find a very unhappy couple looking for their baby. They were relieved to see Gohan returning him safely. They cooed their newly returned, airsick, but otherwise okay child.

Gohan smiled at the scene and absently checked his watch. “Oh man! I’ve missed Akane’s fight!” He left several sonic booms in his wake as he tore his way back to Nerima.

Gohan checked the sign as he landed and with some relief saw that it was intact. As he stepped into the house, however, he felt his chest clench up. Akane was limping a bit and sported a large number of bruises and cuts as she came in from the dojo. Her condition proved to him that it had been a hard-fought victory.

“Akane, are you all right?”

Gohan was completely unprepared for the hostile glare he received from Akane. “What do you care? Obviously you weren’t concerned enough to bother showing up for the fight!” Without waiting for a response, she stormed past Gohan and up the stairs.

Gohan stared after her, the pain in his chest growing tighter. ‘I’m sorry, Akane…’ Gohan thought about trying to explain why he was late, but he couldn’t. It didn’t really matter what the reason was, he realized. ‘I broke my promise to her.’ He sighed sadly and headed for his room.

Just before he stepped in, he noticed a commotion coming from Kasumi’s room. Taking a look inside, he saw Soun kneeling next to Kasumi. She was lying in bed with a wet cloth on her head and he was kneeling in a shallow pool of water that was obviously the result of a crying fit from the rather emotional man. “What happened?”

Soun turned to look at Gohan with a disapproving frown on his face. “Kasumi was hurt during the challenge, Gohan.”

Gohan felt panic rising in him. “Is she all right?”

Soun nodded slowly. “It was a glancing blow. But, Gohan… I must say that I am strongly disappointed in your behavior. A martial artist does not make promises he can’t keep, nor does he break the promises that he makes.”

Gohan nodded slowly. As he turned to head for his room, he heard Soun burst into tears again wailing about Kasumi. If it wasn’t for the fact that it would be running away, he would have left the house that night. As he lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling, his thoughts wandered. ‘Akane’s angry again, and rightfully so. Soun’s upset, Kasumi’s hurt, and I think Mr. Panda even glared at me. I have royally screwed up.’ Gohan sighed as he drifted off into sleep.

As she lay asleep, a prison break was in full swing in Kasumi’s subconscious. A creature that had been locked away for over ten years suddenly found the power to smash through the barriers around it and run willy-nilly through her mind. Named Mefurst, its first act, after celebrating its newfound freedom, was to start setting the other captive thoughts, such as Jela Cee, Pur Ide, and the most recent captive, Mine. The guards of the prison were well experienced in dealing with these monsters on an individual basis, but it had been a long time since the selfish things had worked together and the barriers fell quickly to their onslaught.

In her unconscious mind, Kasumi dreamed of things she hadn’t even really considered for a long time: Eating ice cream with faceless friends, dancing with a faceless boyfriend, going to a nameless school, and the like. She dreamed of other things as well, such as the time spent practicing martial arts when she was just a child and her mother was still alive, visiting with Doctor Tofu and wishing he didn’t always act like a clown, and, most surprisingly, she dreamed of the kind, gentle, strong, caring, and quite attractive Gohan.

Back in her subconscious, the guards had finally managed to contain the outbreak, but the situation was bad. They couldn’t force the selfish creatures back into their cells, but they also couldn’t just let them stay where they were. The damage being caused was already beginning to mount.

In her dreams, Kasumi saw the aftermath of yet another of Akane’s cooking disasters. She kept her anger under control as she started to clean the damaged cooking utensils while wondering if the youngest Tendo had even considered cleaning up after herself. Her father sat in the living room, reading his paper for the umpteenth time, ignoring everything that went on around him. Ignoring the fact that his eldest daughter was losing herself in trying to fill not only her mother’s role, but her father’s as well. Ignoring her dreams of something more for herself. In the dream she looked down and saw herself wearing the shoes her mother had always worn. ‘I’m filling a dead woman’s shoes.’ The dream shifted and she saw how everyone nearly ignored her when it came to anything other than housework. She hadn’t even really been considered as one of the fiancés, despite how they tried to make it look. Anger, a long unfelt emotion built up inside of her.

The warden had finally managed to convince the selfish prisoners to negotiate. When the talks were over, the creatures returned to their cells and the guards took up their old positions. What had changed, however, was that the prisoners would now occasionally be let out to exercise, even if only for brief intervals.

Kasumi’s dreams slowly came to an end. The last few had been quite pleasant. She had been on a date with a young man who reminded her of Gohan. As she slowly awoke, she found that the dreams were fading but not completely forgotten. She took the small towel off of her forehead as she got out of bed. Looking at the clock, she let an uncharacteristic smirk come to her face for the briefest of moments. ‘Even when I’ve been beaten unconscious, I still wake up right on time.’ She sighed softly as she stepped around the wet spot in the floor that marked where her father had been crying.

Her morning routine went uninterrupted and right on time her family began filing downstairs. She smiled pleasantly as each one voiced their concern for her well-being, but she waved them off. Her smile brightened just a little bit more as she saw Gohan sheepishly trudging down the stairs. Her heart went out to him at the forlorn expression on his face as his gaze drifted from Akane to herself and then back again, growing more pained with each passing glance. Her attention was distracted as Mr. Panda plopped himself down at the table and held out an empty plate to her.

Kasumi slowly turned and gave the panda a very level look. It was by no means a glare and there was no real anger behind the look, but the effect it had on everyone was astonishing. “Mr. Panda, this is food for people. The house is also not the place for pets, especially ones that shed rather profusely. Outside. Now.” She never raised her voice during her whole speech, but every syllable was perfectly pronounced. The panda hesitated for a moment before putting down the plate and trudging outside. Kasumi turned back to her family and was surprised by the stunned looks on their faces. “What?”

Nabiki was the first one to collect herself. “You okay, sis?”

Kasumis smiled back, which seemed to relieve everyone. “Of course! It’s just difficult to clean up all of the panda fur that accumulates in the house and it’s really not healthy for him to be eating this kind of food, anyway.” She was fixing a heaping plate of food as she spoke. She set the plate down in front of Gohan and smiled at him for a moment before fixing a much less proportioned meal and sitting at her own seat. The Tendos all seemed surprised by her actions.

Nabiki’s only outward reaction was a raised eyebrow. ‘Kasumi serving herself before the rest of the family? Okay, something is definitely strange here.’

Akane’s reaction was a bit more vocal. “Why does he get special service?!” She yelled as she pointed at Gohan, who had yet to stop staring at his plate.

Kasumi chided Akane. “Gohan is our guest, Akane. It is rude to make a guest serve themselves.”

Akane stared in surprise at her sister and then looked at Gohan. “Fine!” She served herself a normal portion and dug in, eating in silence for the rest of breakfast.

Kasumi found her guest practicing in the dojo. “Gohan, I was wondering if you’d like to take me on a date.”

Gohan blinked and stared in confusion. “Uh, huh? What?”

She sighed as she stepped in and closed the doors. “Gohan, I have never been on a date. Ever. I would like the chance to actually go on a date at least once in my life.”

Gohan blinked again and scratched his head. “You’ve never been on a date? Why not? You’re certainly cute enough?”

Kasumi blushed some at the compliment. “Well, it’s difficult to go on a date when you have to play both mother and father to your two younger sisters.”

Gohan nodded understandingly. “I can see that.” Gohan tried to come up with another reason, but Kasumi interrupted his floundering thoughts.

“After all, I am one of your fiancés as well. It’s not just Nabiki and Akane.”

Gohan nodded. He glanced quickly in the direction of the house as he thought about Akane. ‘She’s still real mad at me. Taking her sister on a date probably won’t help, but… if Akane decides that I’m not trustworthy enough she probably wouldn’t want to accept the engagement anyways.’ “Okay. Where would you like to go?”

Kasumi smiled. “Well, dinner, of course, and dancing. I’ve wanted to go dancing for a long time.”

Gohan laughed nervously. ‘I don’t have a clue how to dance.’ “Okay! Let me go get changed.” ‘I’m dead.’

Kasumi laughed as she left the dojo. “Don’t rush yourself. I need to change too. Shall we say in thirty minutes?”

“Sure.” Man, Kasumi’s smile is pretty.

They left the house despite Soun and Nabiki’s pleading for them to stay or at least cook dinner first. Akane had been angry at first, but when she remembered what had happened to Kasumi, she put two and two together and ended up with eight-five. ‘He’s trying to make up to her for her getting injured. Besides, Kasumi deserves a night off every now and then. And I can cook!’

Gohan let Kasumi choose where they would eat since she had a much better idea of what was in the neighborhood. She picked a rather nice restaurant that Gohan hoped he wasn’t underdressed for. Kasumi’s outfit had stunned him when she first came down the stairs. It was a lovely blue, sleeveless dress. ‘Wow,’ echoed through his head a few times before he regained his senses. He felt rather ratty in the the orange, black, and white school uniform he had originally worn when he came to the Tendos.

They placed their orders and began talking a little while they waited. Something Kasumi had said before came to his attention. “Why did you say that you wanted to go on a date at least once in your life?”

Kasumi sighed softly. “Gohan, I’ve been playing mother for so long that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to stop.”

Gohan frowned a little. “But surely once Akane and Nabiki go off to college, you’ll be free.”

Kasumi frowned herself. “Sure. For a short while, IF Akane goes off to college. Nabiki I can see getting a scholarship or even finding some way to pay for it, but right now we don’t have enough to send anyone to college. And if Akane is the one, as daddy seems so set upon, to inherit the dojo, then she’ll most likely stay home. I’ll mother to my sister for the rest of my life.”

“But if that happens, couldn’t you move out and get on with your life?”

Kasumi shook her head. “I’ll be a twentysomething-year old woman with no job, no college education, no dowry, and no future prospects. It should be easy for me to get a life.”

“Oh.” Gohan looked down at the pattern on the tablecloth for a few minutes. Finally he looked back up. “You know, I don’t really know anything about you. I mean, I know some stuff about Akane, and a few things about Nabiki, but I really don’t know a thing about you. I thought I did, but…” He smiled and waved his hand in the air some.

Kasumi smiled at his antics. “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll tell you about who I am, and my hopes and dreams, and you do the same.”

“Sure.”

The conversation that followed lasted for several hours and found both Kasumi and Gohan laughing. They never did get around to going dancing, but Gohan promised to make it up to her next time.

Kasumi couldn’t help but rib him. “Can I count on that promise?”

Gohan’s face fell as he remembered the last promise that he had made. “I won’t fail a promise again,” he said seriously.

Kasumi smiled as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I know, Gohan. You better go in and do your homework.”

Gohan smiled and nodded.

Kasumi walked inside and found the takeout boxes on the table. She frowned slightly as she cleaned up the mess, but what she found in the kitchen stopped her cold. She put the boxes in the trash and slowly made her way up the stairs to Akane’s room. The door was slightly open and Kasumi could see Akane working on her homework.

“Akane.” Her voice was level as she opened the door all the way.

“Yes, Kasumi?” Akane didn’t even look up from her homework or she would have noticed a nervous tick in her eyebrow.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Akane looked at the papers she was studying. “Uhm, I don’t think so.”

“The kitchen?”

“What about it?” Akane sounded genuinely confused. There was an odd tapping noise behind her and she finally looked up at her oldest sister. What she saw surprised her.

Kasumi was frowning deeply with her arms crossed over her chest. Her foot was tapping the floor in that irritated fashion that was common to motherly types. “What condition was the kitchen in when you first started cooking?”

“It was spotless, as usual.”

Akane’s eyes widened in fear as Kasumi leveled a glare at her and stopped tapping her foot. “And what condition did you leave it in?”

“Uhm… not spotless?” Her voice was tight with fear. ‘Kasumi’s never been angry with me before.’

“And what are you going to do about that?”

“Go clean it?”

“Correct. And when are you going to do it?”

“Right now?”

“Correct.” Kasumi turned around and left Akane’s room before a guilty grin could break through to her face. ‘That was actually sort of fun. She really needs to learn to clean up after herself, anyway.’ Kasumi resisted the urge to hum happily as she prepared the furo for a good, long soak. For the first time in a long time, life was quite good for her.