From: Emily Siazon emily9@bellatlantic.net
"WASURERARENAI" (Unforgettable)
An alternative reality fanfic by Emily Siazon.
All characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi
< > are thoughts
// person talking on the phone
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Chapter 4
*********
It was a beautiful Sunday morning when Akane headed downstairs
for breakfast. She was a bit surprised to find Shinnosuke already up
and eating.
"Good morning."
He looked up at her, obviously confused. "Excuse me, but who are
you?"
She shook her head while she reached for some soup, used to being
constantly forgotten by her childhood friend. "I'm Akane. I live here
with you."
"Oh."
"You're lucky grandpa didn't hear you say that or he'd have given
you a megaton punch for sure."
"Grandpa? Who's that?"
The phone chose that moment to ring so Shinnosuke stood up to
answer it. Despite her distance from the phone, she still managed to
hear the hysterical voice on the other end which was so loud that it
knocked Shinnosuke off his feet.
//HOW DARE YOU FORGET YOUR OWN GRANDFATHER?!//
Some things just never changed.
* * *
Akane was in awe as she watched the Tendo sisters spar with their
weapons of choice. Kasumi was using a broom, similar to the one
Shinnosuke used, while Nabiki opted for... credit cards?! She was
using them like throwing stars and had already managed to tear
Kasumi's gi around the edges.
She almost jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Akane
whirled around and found Ranma gazing intently at the two combatants.
"Not bad, huh?"
Akane nodded her head, then remembered he wasn't looking at her.
"Yeah. Where did they learn to fight like that?"
"Well, as you know, we practice anything goes martial arts.
Saotome school of anything goes specializes in unarmed combat, while
the Tendo school specializes in armed combat using unusual weapons."
"They're very good."
"They're okay."
She looked at him a bit incredulously as she watched Nabiki do a
flip to avoid the broom aimed at her legs. "You're kidding. Look at
them."
"They depend too much on their weapons. Take them away and they
can be defeated quite easily. Now, I'm not saying that having a weapon
is bad. It has its good points. For example, it gives a person greater
reach," he pointed out as Nabiki threw another one of her credit cards
across the room, damaging Kasumi's gi even further.
They watched the remainder of the fight in silence. It ended when
Kasumi attempted a series of strikes towards Nabiki's head. When she
predictably raised her guard, Kasumi knocked her off balance by
twirling the broom around her ankles.
Akane clapped her hands appreciatively while the two combatants
bowed before heading back to the house to get cleaned up.
"Well, what do you think?"
"Huh?"
"As someone who wants to become a martial artist, you must learn
to evaluate possible opponent's strengths and weaknesses. So, Akane,
what did you learn from watching that sparring session?"
"Never get Kasumi angry. Especially if she's holding a broom."
* * *
"Are you sure you've never taken martial arts before?" Ranma
asked as he flipped behind her to avoid the inside chop aimed at his
lower ribs.
"I don't think so," Akane answered, frowning when the elbow
strike also failed to connect.
"But you seem to know at least the basics of kempo."
Hearing this, Akane stopped attacking immediately. "Really?"
Could this mean that she was interested in martial arts before she had
lost her memories so many years ago?
"You're not sure?"
"Well, I can't really remember things that happened before I was
six. I was lucky that Shinnosuke and grandpa found me since I don't
know who my real family is."
Ranma looked on sympathetically, not knowing what else to do. It
was times like these that he wished that he had spent more times
making friends. He hated helplessly watching Akane sink deeper into
depression.
"Well, maybe you'll find them someday."
"Don't worry. I haven't given up." As she watched her friend's
worried expression change back into a smile, she silently added, "At
least, not yet."
* * *
Akane watched the group of boys on the ground with a disgusted
expression on her face. She couldn't believe that they had the nerve
to attack her despite Ranma's threats the week before.
True to his word, Ranma took care of all the boys that went after
her.
They were about to go inside when they noticed a blue clad figure
enter the yard.
"Akane..." the boy said softly, his voice barely above a whisper.
The slight breeze dramatically rustled his hair as he walked towards
her. "I shall prove myself worthy of thee. Fight me and lose so that
you may experience the magnificence of Blue Thunder."
"Shall I assume that you're Blue Thunder?"
"There is no other. Now prepare to lose so that you may express
your gratitude by dating me."
Akane saw Ranma moving towards them to prematurely end the
conversation. However, she also had enough of the arrogant boy and
decided to get rid of him herself.
Akane raised her leg and kicked him in the place where she knew
it would hurt him the most.
The older boy turned an unhealthy shade of blue and quickly
dropped down into the ground with a slight whimper.
When she looked up, she saw Ranma standing a few feet away, his
mouth wide open with shock.
"See? I'm not totally helpless," Akane smiled before they ran
towards their first class. Hopefully, the rest of the day would be
uneventful.
* * *
Akane hummed a tune as she walked down the street. Due to
their... popularity, Ranma and Akane decided that it was in their best
of interest to have lunch out of school.
They were walking on an empty street, both deep in thought as to
what restaurant they were going to.
The silence was broken by an animal like yell and quickly
approaching footsteps. The two teenagers quickly turned around, Ranma
shoving Akane aside to keep her from getting hit by a red bamboo
umbrella.
"How dare you run away from our man to man fight!" The newcomer
yelled, glaring angrily at Ranma.
"Ryoga? Ryoga Hibiki from junior high? What are you doing here?"
"You ran away from our fight, coward."
"What are you talking about? I waited three days for you to show
up!"
"And when I came on the fourth day, you were gone. Now, thanks to
you, I have seen hell!"
"What?"
"I heard that you'd run off to China with your old man so I
decided to follow you..." he said quietly, his eyes filled with hatred
as he grabbed a handful of bandannas and hurled them towards Ranma.
"...ALL THE WAY TO JUSENKYO!"
"You mean you're..."
"SHUT UP!" he screamed, using Ranma's distracted state to his
advantage.
Akane watched in amazement as the belt he was holding suddenly
became razor sharp with a flick of his wrist.
"Ranma, look out!"
Ryoga, having completely forgotten about her presence, was
distracted when he threw the latest projectile at Ranma.
Akane screamed as she realized the razor sharp belt was now
heading towards her. The two boys just watched helplessly, too far
away to be of any help.
Fortunately, survival instincts kicked in, and Akane managed to
move out of the way... but not before it cleanly sliced off a large
chunk of her hair.
She stood up, and Ranma was immediately at her side.
"Akane, are you all right?"
When he didn't receive a response, he waved a hand in front of
her face.
"I think she's in shock," Ryoga commented.
"Tell me something I don't know."
The two boys glared at each other again but stopped as they heard
a strangled cry escape Akane's lips. They quickly turned around just
in time to see her run off.
"AKANE!"
Hearing Ranma yell out her name, Akane willed her legs to go
faster, not wanting to face him.
* * *
Shinnosuke was just leaving the doctor's office when he noticed a
girl in a Furinkan High uniform run by. At first glance, she didn't
appear to be someone he knew, but when she raised her head to see
where she was, he recognized her instantly.
"Akane," he shouted as he ran up to her and grabbed her by her
hand.
Akane slowly turned around to face him, keeping her head bowed,
not wanting him to see her tears.
As she did this, Shinnosuke noticed for the first time why it
took him so long to recognize his old childhood friend. "Akane... your
hair..."
A downcast smile appeared on her face as she remembered hearing
him utter a similar line during a conversation she had with him so
many years ago.
* * *
"Akane...your hair..."
"Do you like it?" She asked as she turned around to show off her
long hair which was up in a neat french twist."
"I thought you were going to get it cut?"
"Well, remember how I..." Akane stopped when she recalled who she
was talking to. "Sometimes I get brief images from my past... not
enough for any of them to make sense or give me a clue as to who I
really am, but I can see faces..."
"What does that have to do with this?"
"Well, when I was on my way to town this afternoon, I saw my
reflection..."
"So?"
"I noticed for the first time that I have grown up to look
exactly like my mother. I remember that she had beautiful, long hair
and I thought that if I looked like her... that maybe I'd feel closer
to her..."
* * *
"Akane?"
She wiped away another tear as she looked up, replacing her sad
expression with phony cheerfulness.
"Er... what?"
"How did that happen?"
"Well, Ranma and I were walking down the street when this boy
Ryoga came by and started a fight with him. He was throwing things at
Ranma and one of them..."
"That bastard!" Shinnosuke exclaimed, his fist clenching in
anger.
"Shinnosuke, please," Akane pleaded as she put a hand on his
shoulder. "It was just a stupid accident."
"But you could have been..."
"I'm fine. Please, just forget it."
Seeing her expression, he decided to concede. "Okay, but if he
does it again..."
Relieved that his mind was no longer on revenge, Akane decided it
was time to change the subject. "C'mon. Why don't we go to the salon
so I could get a more decent hairdo."
"Sure. I always thought you'd look cuter with short hair,
anyway," he mumbled as they started to walk towards the business
district, not noticing the trail of tears behind them.
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AUTHORS NOTES:
Well, here's part four. I didn't intend to get it done so soon,
but the idea for this chapter kept bugging me while I was watching my
Slayers tapes.
This chapter came out way more serious that I originally
planned(I'm never going to get dragged into watching a drama again).
If you can't tell, when I wrote that Kasumi/Nabiki scene, I just
finished watching a Jackie Chan film.
I'd like to thank Scott Schimmel, my prereader for helping me
make it more readable. Without him, this story would be filled with
really annoying grammar mistakes ^_^
Send all comments and criticism to
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