Ranma Nibunnoichi is Property to Rumiko Takahashi

This_End_Up Presents

A Ranma Nibunnoichi Fanfiction By S³

Patterns In Frost - Prologue

Akin to a dream, the landscape of Nerima Ward underwent a metamorphosis seemingly overnight. As shafts of hazy dawn broke over the skyline, a corona of light stretched across drifts of snow blanketing the city. The slate gray façade of concrete quietly slipped away momentarily rendered an innocent cloud by the lustrous new fallen snow.

Few were awake in time to appreciate the fleeting glimpse; quite a shame, considering the harsh winter forecasted. That was the nature of a day when many stores were closed, and the local schools were out for the last of the week.

However, in one household, three early risers were up and about, anxious for the start of a new day. They could tell in their own way, that something big was coming. Changes would be made, and lives would hang in the balance... one might say it all stemmed, from a single clear, drop of water.

For some, waking is a pleasant if somewhat lengthy process. It starts when that person is gently brought into the waking world by subtle methods. Whether it is ones own mind, casting off the vestiges of a dream, or a ray of warm sunlight, tugging softly, yet insistently at the edges of sleep. Tendou Kasumi was one such individual. Each morning, from a time immemorial, she would wake to the sounds of the beginning day, filtering in through her window. Though she may not always greet the day with a smile, as was believed the case by others in the household, she did however take a deep breath and promise to do what she could. This particular morning, a glance outside from behind fogged glass, proved to be just the catalyst for that elusive waking smile.

Just a few rooms over from where the feeling of overall contentment flowed, emotions of a different sort drifted. The drop of water, aimless, until now found its mark. Upon the brow of Saotome Ranma the moisture hit with a resounding plop. With grace and speed did the teenaged martial artist exhibit his prowess, and avoid the subsequent deluge that consisted of that solitary drop's great many brothers and sisters, with a few distant cousins thrown in for good measure. That would have been the case, were it not for the fact that said martial artist was quite deeply, and up until that point, pleasantly, sleeping.

Kasumi shivered slightly, hugging her change of clothes tighter to her chest as she made her way down to the bathing room. As much as she enjoyed the winter season, it was the associations that went with it, that she loved most of all. Warm, comfortable clothing, heated blankets, hot drinks, these where what she looked forward to each year around this time. From the relatively quiet sound of things around the house, Kasumi felt that she had some time yet to soak before the day truly began.