"WASURERARENAI" (Unforgettable)
A Ranma fanfic written by Emily Siazon.
All characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
< > are thoughts
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Chapter 3
*********

     Ranma and Akane both ran to school, neither one looking winded as
they approached Furinkan's imposing gates.

     "How come you were late coming over my house?" Akane asked as she
nervously watched the longer hand of the clock move towards the six.

     "Ah, there was just a little accident while me and my pop were
sparring this morning."

     Akane's tone grew concerned. "Did anyone get hurt?"

     "Oh, no. It was nothing like that."

     She was about to say something else but stopped in surprise when
she spotted a horde of boys in various sporting outfits charging towards
them screaming, "Akane Tendo, prepare yourself."

     "What the..." Ranma muttered as they were quickly surrounded.
"What do you think you're doing?!"

     "Butt out, Saotome. This doesn't concern you," one of the boys
yelled.

     "Like hell it doesn't. You attack my friend and expect me to just
stand quietly and watch?"

     "Look, why don't you go grace your fans with your prescence while
we take care of her?"

     "What are you talking about?" he demanded, stopping as a number of
squeals from a corner of the yard grabbed his attention. He turned
around, slowly reading the huge banner above them.

     "Ranma Saotome...Fanclub?!"
 
     "Popular, aren't you?" Akane whispered as she watched the group of
ecstatic girls with a frown.

     "You're one to talk."

     "Huh? What do you mean?"
 
     "Look," he muttered pointing at the opposite end of the yard.

     "Signups for Akane's attackers?! What kind of school is this?!"

     "What didja do to piss them off?"

     "I didn't do anything!"

     "Of course she didn't do anything wrong!" another one of the boys
interjected as indignant tears flowed freely down his face. "How can
you even suggest such a thing?"

     "So why do you wanna beat her up?"

     "Upperclassman Kuno said the only way to date her is to defeat her
in combat."

     "And you listened to this idiot?!"

    "No one calls a member of the great house of Kuno to be less than
perfection itself and lives!" an angry voice from the far side of the
yard yelled out, catching everyone's attention.

      "So you're Kuno?" Ranma asked as he watched the older boy
strutting towards him with a bored expression.

      "Upperclassman to you, knave," Kuno retorted as he charged towards
Ranma, thrusting his bokken towards the younger boy who seemed to dodge
his blow with ease.

      "Hey Akane, get to class and answer the roll call for me while I
finish this fight."

      "You dare ignore me in the midst of a fight?!" Kuno demanded as he
used his unbeatable strike pattern. Well, unbeatable until now. His
opponent avoided them with as much ease as before.

      The rest of the student body watched, amazed at the amount of
skill being showed by both fighters.
 
      The dramatic moment was ruined as the first bell rang, the
students groaning in unison as they headed for class.

                           *        *        *

      Akane ignored the student's heading inside, not wanting to miss
the end of the fight. She watched as it slowly moved on into the back 
of the school, heading towards the pool.

      "Look out!" she yelled, but was too late as the two martial artist
plunged into the water.

     Akane waited for them to come out, but when no heads bobbed the
surface, she cautiously stepped closer to try to catch a glimpse of
them.

     A red blur suddenly leapt out of the water and headed for the 
nearby woods, making her fall on the ground in surprise.

      She slowly stood up and brushed herself off. <Red? That must be
Ranma.> With that knowledge, she quickly ran towards the same direction.
 
                          *        *        *
 
     Ranma-chan stopped wringing her clothes as she heard the sounds of
approaching footsteps. She looked down from the tree she was sitting on
and sighed in relief when she saw that it was only Akane.

     She jumped off the branch and landed right next to Akane, surprising 
the taller girl.

     "Hey, I thought you were gonna answer for me during roll call today."

     "Huh? Who are you?"
 
     Ranma-chan silently cursed to herself. She couldn't believe she had
forgotten about the curse in her excitement to see Akane. "I was hoping
you didn't have to find out about this, but now I guess I have no choice."

     "What are you talking about?"

     "C'mon, I'll show you," she replied as she took Akane's hand and
started to drag her towards the the sports equipment room.

     "Hey, where do you think you're taking me? Let go!"

     Ranma-chan simply ignored her, causing her face to turn red in
anger.
 
     "Help! Somebody! This girl is trying to take advantage of me!"

     Ranma looked at her incredulously as she clamped her hand over the
taller girl's mouth before running towards the room.

     She looked around and relaxed, sighing in relief as she noticed
that they were alone.

     Akane took this opportunity to yank off her hand as Ranma-chan
closed the door behind her. "You'd better have a good explanation for
this!"

                              *        *        *
 
     Akane's mouth was wide open with shock as Ranma-chan poured a
kettle of hot water over herself for the third time.

     "That's incredible," she whispered, finally finding her voice as
she watched her friend shift back to his original form.

     "So, you believe me?"

     "How can I not? I've seen it with my one two eyes. Besides, I've
seen weirder things than this before."

     "Like what?" Ranma asked a bit skeptically. After all, what could
possibly be stranger than a boy switching genders with water?
 
     "Well," Akane started, but was cut off as the final bell rang. "Uh,
why don't I tell you later."

                          *        *        *

     Ranma and Akane stepped out the hall, the former careful not to
spill any of the water on his bucket.

     "Sorry I made you late," Ranma said, smiling down at her sheepishly.

     "Nah. Don't worry about it. I've always wanted to know what it's
like to be a delinquent, anyways."

     An uncomfortable silence followed, neither one knowing what say
next.

     Akane, finding it unnerving, decided to break it with a question
she had been meaning to ask.

     "Ranma?"

     "Mmm."

     "You're a martial artist, right?"

     "Yeah, so?"

     "Well," Akane continued, licking her lips nervously, "I was just
wondering if you could...well..."

      "If I could what?" he asked, his brows furrowing as he gave her
his full atention.

      "...if you could teach me martial arts."

      "What?!  I don't know anything about teaching that."

      She looked down on the ground in disappointment. "So, I guess
that's a no."

      Seeing her dejected figure, he tried to cheer her up. "C'mon, it's
not like you need to learn it. You have me on your side, remember?"

      "But you can't always be there to protect me."

      He mulled this in his mind for awhile and gave a defeated sigh as
he realized that she was right. "All right."

      Akane's expression quickly changed into a hopeful one as she
looked up at him. "You mean..."

      "Mm-hm. We start tomorrow."

                          *        *        *
 
     Ranma ignored the appreciative whistles as he dismounted from the
bar. When he headed back to his seat, he was instantly surrounded by two
boys from his class.

     "Not bad, Saotome," the brown haired one replied as they shifted
their attention to the girls who were in the middle of a softball game.

     They watched closely as the teams switched, the girls laughing
gaily as they walked towards their destination.

     "Say, aren't you friend with Akane?" the one with black hair asked,
causing a frown to appear on Ranma's face. The two obviously were only
talking to him to get more information about her.
 
     "What if I am?"

     "Well, we wanted to know what kind of stuff she likes."

     He quickly whipped his head around to face them, angrier than any
concerned friend had a right to be. "Why are you asking me? Ask her
yourself if you really want *urk*" He stopped in mid-sentence as a
softball suddenly became imbedded to his cheeks.

     From the field, a horrified Akane watched as the ball she hit
slowly rolled off Ranma's face. "Oops."

                         *        *        *
 
     "I'm really sorry about your cheek. Does it still hurt?"
 
     "I'll live."

     "That's good." She glanced at the door and remembered the group
of girls waiting to see him. "Well, I'd better go."

     "Akane, wait," he requested as he got up from the bed. "I'll walk
you home."

     "But what about them?" she asked, her eyes never leaving the door.

     "It's not a problem."

     "What do you mean..."

     Akane didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, too shocked to 
continue when she found herself cradled in his arms. The expression 
on his face indicated that he was just as surprised at his sudden 
boldness.

     His heart pounded loudly in his ears as he held her close to him.
His face slowly drawn towards her, wanting a closer look. The smell
of her shampoo, reminding him of the wild flowers he had encountered
on his decade-long training trip, made him feel a bit nostalgic as he
brought his face closer to her inviting red lips.

     He was brought back to reality as he heard a knock on the door.

     Akane, hearing this, cleared her throat nervously. "How does 
carrying me get us home? I really doubt clicking your heels together 
and chanting 'there's no place like home' would work."

     Trying to hide the blush on his face, he confidently leapt off the
two story window while she stifled a scream as the ground quickly
rushed towards them.

     "You think, maybe, you could let go?" he asked, trying to breath
despite her death grip.

     Akane quickly moved her hands away from his neck, blushing
furiously as she realized just how close they were to each other.

     Ranma, finally able to think clearly, also noticed the closeness
and gently put her back on her feet.

     "Um...c'mon. We still have tons of homework to do."

     "Hai," Ranma answered as he followed her, filled with regret for
having let go so quickly. <I was so close. I wonder, if I did kiss her
then, would she respond and kiss back?>

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AUTHORS NOTES:
        Well, this is part 3. Hope you enjoyed reading it. I'm not sure
when the next part is gonna come out since I'm currently obsessed with
Slayers and driving everyone crazy by watching it everday ^_^
        Send all comments and criticism to <emily9@bellatlantic.net>