Akane
by Kirinin
One
Akane yawned and stretched, smiling at the bright sunshine outside the window. She was so happy it was a nice day; the last couple of days had been so gloomy. She shrugged herself out of her pajamas and threw a robe over herself, humming sunnily. It seemed it had been ages since she'd felt this happy.
Nabiki was hogging the bathroom, as usual. "Come on oneechan, I have to wash my hair!" Akane whined, but her heart wasn't in it. Today was just too nice a day to yell at anybody.
"Girls, breakfast is almost ready!" Kasumi called cheerily. Akane's lips quirked again. Trust oneechan to match her mood perfectly. Kasumi was this cheery on days that were cloudy, rainy, and during tornadoes as well. And monsoons. And...
"I'll be there in a minute!" Hmm, my hair will just have to without, today. "Nabiki, are you even in there?"
Some indecipherable grumbling rumbled out from behind the closed furo door.
Akane attempted to get angry and failed. "Oh well." Smiling and still humming softly to herself, she went back into her room and pulled on her knee-length socks, followed by the blue skirt and jacket of Furinkan High.
When she arrived downstairs, Kasumi was just setting out the plates of food. The savory smells of rice and fish wafted over to Akane. "Mmmm, that smells fantastic! As usual."
Kasumi beamed at the compliment.
"Just so, dear, just so," Soun agreed, his words garbled slightly by the pipe protruding out from between his teeth. He shook his newspaper slightly to punctuate the statement.
"Nabiki! Oh where is that girl?" Kasumi queried to herself, her voice bordering on annoyed. "She's usually not this late."
"’Ere I am," Nabiki slurred softly, plopping down in front of the food and setting to with a will.
"Not even an 'itedakimasu', Nabiki?" Kasumi chided.
"Itedakimasu," Nabiki repeated woodenly, then shoved more rice into her mouth.
Kasumi's eyebrow twitched in unison with Akane's. As far as Akane was aware, nobody had ever sassed Kasumi. Akane shrugged at Kasumi and sat down beside her other sister, her ebullient mood softened somewhat.
Akane slowly ate her meal, examining both of her sisters. The two of them both seemed wrapped in an ineffable silence. Kasumi appeared to be in what amounted to an extremely gentle form of shock; Nabiki appeared to be single- mindedly interested in her food, as though unaware she'd committed a faux pas of the greatest order.
Akane's gaze wavered to the seat next to her father. It was strange, but it seemed like somebody should be sitting there who wasn't. Someplace between Kasumi and her dad.
Mother. Her mood deflated even more. I thought I was over that for the most part. But... that empty seat is making me so sad...
Two
Akane walked to school, swinging her schoolbag back and forth. Her former lovely mood had dissipated like mist in a heat wave. She wondered why she felt so strange today. Perhaps it was because she missed P-chan. P-chan had been missing ever since...
Ah, so that was it.
Akane stopped with the realization. Perhaps it was because she was beginning to remember. That would be something, wouldn't it?
The thought scared her. She didn't think she wanted to remember. Her subconscious certainly didn't want her to, or she would have by now. She had no head trauma; Dr. Tofu had said so, and she trusted him. All she had was a couple of bruises that had long since faded away to pale skin.
Akane grimaced, remembering how much everyone had cried over her. It was ridiculous! She was with them, and unharmed. And they'd still cried over her like she had died. Like somebody had died, or something. That thought sent alarm signals running through her head; and her mind inched away from it, like a threatened animal. For a moment, the terrifying thought remained in her head that she was a ghost of some kind.
"I'm really letting my imagination run away with me," Akane sighed, resolutely continuing her march to school.
"Where are the both of you headed?"
Akane jumped. "Hiroshi— damn it—!"
Hiroshi's grin immediately slipped off his face. "Hey, I'm sorry if I scared you. You okay?"
Akane forced herself to relax. "I just... I don't know. I think I'm starting to remember..."
Hiroshi fell in step beside her. "Wow. I mean— uhm..."
Akane smiled for his benefit. "Erudite as always."
The dark-haired boy shrugged. "But of course."
For a while they walked in silence, Akane swinging her arms with deliberate cheer, Hiroshi glancing at every now and then and looking faintly bothered.
Worried. He's worried about me. "I'm fine, Hiroshi, so stop looking at me like I'm going to explode, okay?"
Hiroshi started, then chuckled. "I was just wondering what it is that you remembered."
"A feeling." Akane paused. "A very bad feeling. I could actually feel that I didn't want to remember what happened. You know when you think of something you'd really rather not think about? Like... like that exam we've got Wednesday."
"Eep."
"Right. It's like that, but... well, a lot worse. And like a sore tooth that you don't want to press with your tongue... do you know what I mean?"
"Sure." Hiroshi's voice sounded conciliatory enough to make Akane wonder. Was he just humoring her?
Akane sighed. After that, she sure wasn't going to mention the somebody dead part.
Three
Kuno hovered over her desk. "Are you certain that you're alright?"
"Stop it," Akane warned him sharply.
He shrugged. "If thou needst me."
"I'll know where to go. Now, come on, class is about to start."
Hiroshi winked at her as the True Blunder made his exit. "Think he could be a little more persistent?"
"Only if he had a chain attached to my waist," Akane quipped. "I realize I've been having a little trouble with my memory and all, but I just don't get why everybody thinks I'm going to fall apart physically. My body's just fine!"
Hiroshi's gaze wandered over her as if to say that yes it certainly was, but he had learned to avoid comments like that after the first two or three times. Instead, he nodded understandingly.
"Sometimes I wish you'd just say something," she mumbled under breath.
"What do you mean?" Hiroshi asked her.
Akane sighed. "I didn't think you'd catch that. I just mean— it's nice to have somebody to listen. Really nice." She smiled sweetly at him. "But if you don't really respond, but just keep nodding... I can't tell what you're thinking."
"Ah, but that's the idea," Hiroshi told her with another wink. "That would be telling— and I'd lose my masculine mystique."
Akane hit him with her notebook. "I'll show you mystique."
"Class!"
Ms. Hinako was in adult form, which meant she had just drained somebody. If the offense had been severe, she was in a very bad mood. If the offense had been minor, she was in a very good one.
Akane gulped. One never could tell.
"Class— repeat after me: Japan, the United States, China, Russia, Canada." Hinako-sensei paused. "No, Russia. Enunciate the 'r', children, enunciate... that's right. Romania."
Akane allowed herself to phase out. Repeating Hinako would only last until the woman lapsed into a girl again, and she wanted this time to think— before the class got entirely out of hand.
After 'the incident' regarding her memory, Akane's friends had stopped seeing her. Oh, not at first, of course— but girls who had thought the entire idea was awfully romantic changed their minds after seeing her. Akane admitted to herself that during that first week she'd been rather... spacey. In the end, Kuno and Hiroshi were the only ones who still really spoke to her.
It was ironic, Akane mused (while mouthing the word "diary") that the hated boys turned out to be her most loyal friends. She snuck a look at Hiroshi, who'd been staring at her back, and smiled. So what if he wanted to kiss her? He was still sticking around, and not pressing the issue. And meanwhile, he was really cool when he wasn't coming on to her.
As for Kuno, nobody had expected him to fall off the map except for Akane herself. Akane was aware she'd been well-liked before her loss of memory. She had only realized how popular she had been in the absence of that popularity. And when she had been popular, it had made sense that the most powerful and martially talented guy in school, Kuno, should want her for a girlfriend. It almost made too much sense, like it was simply an expectation. The moment she'd entered ninth grade, he saw and fell for her. In Akane's book Kuno's obsession was an easy come, easy go sort of situation.
Yet Kuno had kept on as well. Akane sometimes found herself feeling grateful. Even if he was an ego-driven obsessive maniac.
"Akane-san!"
Akane stood up with a jolt. What was the last thing Hinako-sensei had asked them to say? She didn't even vaguely remember.
"Please say 'Nice to meet you' in English!"
Akane sighed. This was easy. "Nice to meet you."
Hinako nodded. "Now try, 'It's really nice to meet you.'"
Akane stiffened. She hadn't practiced her pronunciation in ages. "Uhm— 'It's leally nice to—'"
"Akane-san, please see me after class."
The youngest Tendo thumped back into her seat, vaguely aware that Hiroshi was sticking his tongue out at Hinako or her, or the both of them. She didn't much care.
"Miss Tendo, may I remind you that it is almost April? Soon you'll be taking your entrance exams, and did you not wish to go to Tokyo University?"
When the heck is she gonna shrink and demand candy? "Yes, 'm."
"It will come as no surprise to you when I tell you that your grades are dropping in every subject. You don't seem to be able to concentrate, or focus, and you don't seem to be hanging around with the same group of girls as before."
Akane's head snapped up. "I...I didn't realize you'd noticed that."
Hinako's gaze softened. "I realize that you've gone through an astounding amount these past six months, Akane-san. And I realize that you miss... your old life very much. But now is the time to show us all what a Tendo's really made of, right?"
Akane blinked. "Y-yeah. I mean, yes, ma'am!"
Hinako-sensei smiled. "I'm very glad to hear you say that, Miss Tendo. We all miss the way things used to be." She sighed, softly. "Even me."
Akane frowned, wondering why the teacher seemed so moved.
Noting Akane's confusion, Hinako-sensei's expression smoothed. "Well? Dismissed!"
Akane slipped out into the hallway to find Hiroshi waiting for her.
"Well? Did she chew you out?"
"Not really, it was more of a pep talk," Akane replied lightly.
"I'm not sure which is worse," Hiroshi murmured.
"No, I really am thinking about what she said. She's right. I'm letting myself slip, just when it matters." Akane's frown was puzzled.
Hiroshi smiled. "I guess so." He paused. "Well, you wanted feedback. So, it's nice to hear you talk that way again, like school matters to you."
Akane felt her eyes sting; she looked at her shoes, and at the linoleum tiling of Furinkan's hallways. "Yeah?"
"Definitely."
Four
"Stop it. I said stop it!!!" Akane turned to the sound. Had that been Nabiki? Before she knew what she was doing, Akane had turned to the voice and began to run, Hiroshi hot on her heels.It was indeed Nabiki. The older girl looked harried as she faced down two junior guys, her back to the lockers.
"Hey," Hiroshi spoke up in his prerogative as a male. "What's going on here?"
The two turned to face Hiroshi and Akane. Akane recognized them as two guys from the kendo club. They sneered.
Nabiki looked apologetic and embarrassed, as though she couldn't possibly bear the fact that her little sister and her friend had come to her rescue. "It's nothing," she said, not sounding at all convincing.
"That's right, it's nothing," the two juniors hissed. "Why don't you two go back to class, huh?"
Hiroshi and Akane exchanged nervous glances. "What's really going on here?" Akane demanded.
"The girl just owes s some money, that's all." The burlier of the two guys suggested pleasantly.
"I do not owe you money," Nabiki spat, regaining some of her fire in the presence of reinforcements. "You lost that bet fair and square."
"You rigged it," the smaller junior proclaimed.
"I tilted it in my favor," Nabiki agreed. "But if you were stupid enough to take such a dumb bet, then it's your own fault and not mine."
"Come on guys," Hiroshi began soothingly, stepping between Nabiki and her assailants. "I'll bet we can figure this all out—"
That was when the punch connected squarely to his jaw.
Akane took up a loose stance. "You hit my friend," she growled. She could feel something building within her. Her only real friend, Hiroshi; what if he didn't want to be around her anymore, since it was so dangerous? They'd pay for that!
Nabiki edged out from her position, now that the kendo juniors were no longer focused on her. She crept until she stood behind Akane, who was wreathed in blue flame.
"Shi... shi... HOKODAN!" Akane cried.
The blast was very small, but it was enough to singe and frighten the boys into taking off down the hall at a pretty fantastic pace. "There," Akane said firmly.
Then she fell to her knees.
"Thank you. Again," Nabiki said dully. "I really thought I was going to get beaten up that time."
Akane whirled on her older sister, ready to scream at her and admonish her to never scare her like that again. But then she saw Hiroshi, who had been rather soundly decked, spread out on the floor like a rag doll. "Kami- sama! We have to get him to the nurse!"
Nabiki sighed and stood a little shakily.
"Are you okay?" Akane asked her.
Nabiki nodded. "Didn't really sleep last night," she murmured faintly. "But maybe all of us could use a visit, huh?"
Akane nodded back, shaking a little bit of the weariness from herself. She felt so... empty. So alone. And yet she was viewing the emotion almost outside herself, like she knew it wasn't real. "Wait a moment," she said softly. It seemed like she was feeling more herself every second.
"The backwash," Nabiki said suddenly. "You have to wait for all your energy to come back."
"I'd almost forgotten," Akane said dreamily. This disconnected feeling was like being drugged. Once she'd had an operation when she was five. It was strange how vividly she remembered that slipping feeling. This was just the same.
"We'll wait here a moment or two," Nabiki replied, seeming grateful for the reprieve.
Akane glanced at her older sister, who looked about thirty. Why was she so upset? A strange, nasty thought occurred to her. Had Nabiki somehow had a hand in her loss of memory, or in what caused that loss? If so, she appeared to be paying for it. Maybe Nabiki was simply worried over her. Or maybe it was something totally unrelated.
Whatever it was that was making Nabiki act so strangely, it was affecting her work and her health. She'd never come that close to being manhandled before. She was always very careful with her business transactions. Akane shook her head to clear it. "I think I'm alright, now. Let's get Hiroshi."
Between the two of them, they managed to drag the boy to the nurse's station, which was usually completely overrun. They got lucky, and there was time to treat all three of them.
Nabiki fell asleep and ended up staying at the nurse's for the rest of the day. When Kuno arrived to escort her home, she not only did not protest, she did not wake.
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