"WASURERARENAI" (Unforgettable)
An alternative reality fanfic written by Emily Siazon.
All characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
< > are thoughts
[ ] are settings
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Chapter 2
*********

     "School?" Ranma asked the next morning. He stopped eating long  
enough to give his father a questioning glance.

     "Well, we are going to be here for a while."

     "And you'd better hurry up if you don't want to be late," Kasumi
added as she handed him his bento. "Nabiki left over an hour ago."

     Ranma grumbled as he walked to his room, dressing in an outfit
similar to the one he wore the day before. He was making so much noise
that he failed to notice his father who was leaning against the door
until he was done.

     "Why don't you choose her," Genma suggested. "She would make you 
a wonderful wife."

     "I don't love her."

     "So? Your honor is more important than love, and honor requires 
you to wed one of the Tendo sisters."
 
     Ranma decided to ignore him as the livingroom clock reminded him
that he was going to be late.

     Cursing silently, he hurriedly walked on the sidewalk while  he
considered his options. The fact that even Nabiki, an intellectual,
couldn't find a way to break the engagement without bringing shame to
either family greatly troubled him. As he thought over the situation
for the third time, he finally came to a conclusion.

     "I'm doomed."

                          *        *        *

     Akane turned around for the fifth time as she asked Shinnosuke if
he was okay. He had developed a fever during the night and she didn't
feel that it was right for her to go to school when he needed her 
there to take care of him.

     "I'm fine. I can take care of myself."

     "But..."

     "Hey, aren't you going to be late?" he interrupted.

     Akane acked as a glance at her watch confirmed his statement.  
With a final glance in his direction, she quickly walked around the 
corner and ran into someone.

     The impact sent the two of them sprawling into the ground, 
causing Ranma to scrape an elbow and making his foul mood even worse 
than it was before.

     Akane's cheeks were red with embarrassment as she slowly stood up
and said, "I'm sorry."

     Ranma's frown dissappeared when he noticed the cute, flustered 
girl beside him looking at him a bit worriedly. "I-it's okay. I should 
have watched where I was going."

     "I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?"

     "Don't worry about it."

     "Um, by the way, my name's Akane."

     "I'm Ranma, Ranma Saotome."

     He half listened to her talk about herself, occasionally 
answering some of her questions as he tried to pinpoint the source of
the unfamiliar feeling that overwhelmed him the second he had laid 
eyes on  her. It was filled with joy, but it was also tinged with a 
feeling of... loss? he felt like he was being denied something that 
was rightfully his. He found the feeling exhilarating and somewhat 
scary.

     His train of thought was cut off when he noticed that everyone in 
the front yard had stopped talking the minute he and Akane had walked
through the front gate. They were watching them with an intensity that
made him uncomfortable.

     "Did we just grow another head or something?" Akane asked as she
watched the other students warily, keeping a close eye on the one in
kendo garb who watching her, if possible, more intensely than the 
rest.
 
     "Just ignore them," he advised while walking inside and looking 
for his homeroom. He found it on the third floor just as the warning 
bell rang. He was a bit surprised to find her still standing next to
him.

     "Shouldn't you head to your class?"

     "This is my class."

     "What?!"

     Their conversation was interrupted by the sensei clearing his
throat to catch the students' attention. "Class, today we have two new
students. Their names are Ranma and Akane."

     The two teenagers shyly waved to the rest of the class who were
watching the two of them closely. To be more accurate, all the boys
were staring at Akane, some even drooling, and the girls were giving 
Ranma their full attention.

     They headed to the back of the room where their new seats were
located, fully aware of the attention they were receiving. Thankfully,
the stares were replaced by only an occassional glance as the lesson
began.

                         *        *        *

     "Wow. You're so lucky to be friends with Ranma."

     Akane looked up and found two girls from her class standing in
front of her. Both had a dreamy expression on ther faces as they 
watched Ranma heading towards the lunch line, having already eaten his 
lunch during third period.

     "I guess so."

     Suddenly, the girl with the ponytail glanced back at Akane and 
gave her an embarrassed smile. "Oh, I'm so sorry. It's so rude of us 
not to introduce ourselves. I'm Sayuri and that," she said, pointing 
at the girl with long brown hair standing next to her, "is Yuka."

     "Nice to meet you."

     "So, how long have you two been friends?" Sayuri inquired.

     "Actually, I just met him on my way to school this morning."

     "Man, talk about luck," Yuka commented. She looked up and noticed
that Ranma had bought what he needed and was heading their way. She
quickly straightened up, brushing imaginary crumbs off her shirt as 
she tried to make herself look presentable.

     Ranma watched the two girls with Akane start to giggle as he
approached them. "What's so funny?"

     The girl with the ponytail looked at him, a bit startled before 
she ran off grinning like maniac. "He spoke to me!" She eagerly 
informed the group of girls sitting nearby with a sigh.

     He gave Akane a questioning glance. "What was that all about?"

     She merely shrugged as she continued to eat her lunch.

     They spent the rest of the lunch period eating while Ranma talked
about martial arts, completely oblivious to the group of boys at the
other end of the yard with a handsome kendoist shouting a challenge to
those who wished to date the new girl.

                         *        *        *

     Akane sighed in relief when the final bell rang, signaling the 
end of the school day. She looked to her side and gently shook Ranma 
awake.

     Ranma pushed her hand aside, mumbling something about pandas and
training later, then went back to sleep.

     "C'mon Ranma," She said, a bit louder than before.

     Ranma slowly stood up and grumbled as he packed up his things. 
He followed her outside and jumped into a nearby fence as they made 
their way home.

     "What are you doing?"

     "Balance practice."

     "Oh," was the only thing Akane could think to say as she watched
him walk on the fence, matching her brisk stride easily.

     They quickly reached her house and she waved at him a final time,
promising to walk with him again.

     Ranma whistled while he made his way to the house next door, a 
silly grin on his face. The day suddenlt didn't seem as hopeless as 
it did earlier.

                         *        *        *

     A knock on the front door made Ranma look up from the manga he 
was reading. Realizing that he was the closest one to the door, he 
decided that he should answer it.

     "Can I help..." he stopped when he noticed who the person on the
other side of the door was. "Akane, what are you doing here?"

     She looked just as surprised as him as she answered, "Well, this
girl with long brown hair invited me over last night..."

     "Oh, I'm so glad you're here!" Kasumi exclaimed, making her way
into the livingroom. I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you, but I'm 
busy making dinner."

     "Can I help?"

     "You shouldn't. You're our guest."

     "But I want to. I've been cooking meals for Shinnosuke and
grandpa ever since I can remember, but auntie won't let me near the 
kitchen. I need to keep practicing."

     "Okay then, you can help me make the soup," Kasumi suggested as
they headed towards the kitchen.

     Ranma watched their retreating form, unsure if he should follow
them or not.  Cooking was women's work and he would normally not be
caught dead spending time in the kitchen, but she was his friend...

     "Boy, what are you doing just standing there? We have to 
practice." Genma barked as he headed towards the dojo.

     With the decision made for him, Ranma sighed before he followed
his father outside.

                          *        *        *

     "Kasumi, is dinner almost ready?" Soun Tendo asked when he 
entered the kitchen. When he raised his head, he was a bit surprised 
to find himself face to face with a pretty young girl he didn't know. 
"Excuse me, but uh, who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

     Kasumi hearing the question looked a bit embarassed as she left
the pantry. "I can't believe I forgot to introduce her to everyone 
else. Father, this is our new neighbor Ak..."

     "A new neighbor! It's so good to see my eldest daughter make new
friends," he wailed, interrupting Kasumi. "I was so worried that 
you..."

     If possible, Kasumi looked even more embarassed as she glanced at
the bewildered Akane. "Don't mind him. He has a tendency to overreact."

     "Uh-huh."

                      *        *        *

     Ranma watched the table in anticipation, his chopsticks ready as 
he watched Akane and Kasumi emerged from the kitchen with plates full 
of food.

     He eagerly dived in, for once even faster than his father. He had 
eaten half the stuff on his bowl before his senses caught up. His eyes
bulged as he felt his stomach turn and turned an interesting shade of
blue.

     The rest of the household watched in morbid fascination when he 
then turned green, right before turning into an unhealthy shade of 
red.

     "Anyone wants to make a bet on what color he'll turn to next?"

     "Nabiki!" Kasumi exclaimed in a disapproving tone.

     Genma, meanwhile, was busy looking over his son. "I'm betting he
turns blue again."

     "You think so, Saotome-kun? I think it's more likely that he'll
turn purple."

     "Father! Mr. Saotome!" Kasumi continued with the same tone she 
had used on Nabiki.

     The three had enough grace to look ashamed as they apologized in
unison.

     Ranma, through all this was busy drinking all the tea in his cup
to kill the taste. "What are you trying to do?! Kill me?!"

     Akane, who had eaten a small portion of her cooking was biting 
her lip. "I don't understand. I've been cooking for ten years, and all 
the things I've made have always tasted fine."

     One glance at her troubled expression was all it took for his 
anger to be replaced by shame. "It's not that bad," he lied as he ate
the rest of the soup on his bowl, immediately followed by another long  
drink, this time, straight from the kettle.

     Akane didn't notice his effort to make her feel better. She was 
too deep in thought. "Could it be because I've always used the water 
of life," she mumbled, not even aware that she had spoken the thought 
out loud.
 
     "Did you say something?"

     Akane looked up to find Ranma looking at her a bit curiously.

     "Oh, it's not important."

     "If you say so," Ranma answered, but he didn't look convinced.

                            *        *        *

     Akane smiled, unconsciously twirling her heart shape locket as 
she looked out the window. The night she spent at the Tendo's was...
interesting. The whole household was almost fanatical when it came to
martial arts, including Kasumi which surprised her a bit. She didn't
seem like the type to be interested in anything that involved physical
violence, although they did own a dojo so she supposed it was
understandable.

     The two Saotome's had fought over their food during dinner, and
then fought again for the right to pick which show to watch on tv. 
Ranma ended up winning and picking a martial arts show while the older
 Saotome headed towards a corner of the room where he and Soun played 
go, cheating at every turn.

     The whole night was fun and she regretted leaving early, but
Shinnosuke was home sick and she had promised grandpa that she would
take care of him. Kasumi had invited her again and made her promise to
bring Shinnosuke. She had quickly agreed, already looking forward to
spending more time in the happy, albeit strange household.

                         *        *        *

     Ranma entered his room, not making any effort to be quiet since 
his father slept like the dead.

     He laid down on his futon, his mind running over the day's 
events. Who knew that what started out as really bad day, would turn 
out so well.

     He certainly wasn't expecting to make his first real friend in a
long time, or to feel this happy despite all the complications in his
life.

     He yawned as sleep started to overcome him and decided to
contemplate his life another day. He cleared his mind until all he saw
was an image of Akane with a smile he knew he would never forget. As
his eyes slowly closed, he smiled back.

**********************************************************************
AUTHORS NOTES:
        Wow. I can't believe I'm finally done. Sorry it took so long
for this part to come out, but my computer crash so I had to rewrite
this.
     Send all comments and criticism to <emily9@bellatlantic.net>