A/N: I have a whole lot of free time this weekend, so I decided to update. I hope you enjoy ^^
Memories
Chapter Two
Fanfiction by: Kaywi
Ranma awoke to the sound of screaming and crying downstairs. He quickly got up, worried spitless about what could have happened. One thought ran over in his head again and again: is Akane okay?
Ranma ran down the stairs and literally jumped over the stair rail. He jogged into the kitchen and saw Soun in fatal position, on the floor.
"Mr... Tendo?" Ranma said, raising an eyebrow. "A-are you... okay?"
"Akane!" Mr. Tendo gasped once again.
"Akane?" Ranma hissed. "What about Akane?"
Nabiki walked into the room, hands behind her head. "It seems your little fiancée ran away once again,"
"Ran away?" Ranma questioned.
"Yep. Packed her bags, left a note and left."
Soun, still sniffling, handed a note to Ranma.
I'm going to Hokkaido. I'll be back soon, I promise. DON'T WORRY.
Akane
Ranma resisted the urge to crumple the note. He despised it when Akane did these things. If she was certain on going, why didn't she ask someone to go with her? Did she not realize that it was dangerous having a girl walk around by herself?
"This is your fault, isn't it, pigtail?" Nabiki said, giving him a sly look.
"Wuh?" Ranma replied, his eyes widening and his lip twitching. How was this his fault?
"Yesterday Akane was upset and I know it was your fault. What did you say to her?"
Soun's face twitched up at the conversation. His emotions immediately changed from sadness to pure anger. "RANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNMAAAAAAA!" shouted Mr. Tendo.
"Wh-what?" Ranma replied, stepping back.
The Tendo father grabbed Ranma by the shirt. "This is your fault! My poor little girl is out there all by herself and it's because of you!"
"How is it my fault?!" Ranma sputtered.
Mr. Tendo's eyes alighted with fire as he grabbed Ranma once again and this time threw him outside.
"You are not to return through these doors until Akane is back and safe!" he cried. Kasumi handed him a bag with three clean Chinese shirts, underwear and some pants.
Ranma rolled his eyes, groaning. They always assumed it was his fault! If anything, it was that dumb tomboy's fault, always wanting to HELP and BUD IN when it wasn't really any of her business to worry about!
Still, he couldn't help but worry.
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Akane got off the Nerima City Train, finally arriving in Hokkido. Her heart warmed at the sight, it reminded her so much of her mother.
Akane got a map out of her bag and decided to firstly head to the hotel near the cliff where she'd been saved. That would be the most logical thing to do, right?
A boy bumped into her, making his way through the crowd. Akane was about to snap that he should watch where he was going, when her gaze softened. The boy was about as tall as Ranma.
It had only been a short while and she already missed him. She hoped he wasn't worried. Feh, anyway, like he would worry about her. He was probably already with Shampoo and Ukyou...
Akane shook her head violently. The last thing she wanted to think about was... him. He didn't even believe her.
The dark haired girl reached over and tugged on her skirt, fixing it. She dressed comfortably for the day: a simple yellow t-shirt with a cotton pink skirt. She wore pink tube socks with bows and simple running shoes.
She took a bus for about another half hour to reach west Hokkido where she would walk for about five minutes to reach the hotel.
As she walked, everything about the place brought back memories. It looked the exact same. The same trail... everything.
Finally, Akane saw the hotel. She decided to walk a little further and finally saw... the cliff!
Akane ran over to it and kneeled down, examining the edge. It caused a bunch of memories to burst into her head.
He had saved her life...
She hoped with all her heart that he wasn't in danger. When the Shinnousuke problem occurred, it killed her to see someone in pain all because of her. For some reason, and she didn't know why, this situation seemed much more... important... almost like she would benefit from it, too.
Akane examined the edge for a few more seconds until she got up. She began brushing off her skirt when someone startled her.
"Hey," they said.
The sudden unexpected voice caused Akane to take a step further, thus almost making her fall off the edge. She screamed, waving her arms around when the person dashed over to her with incredible speed. He quickly grabbed her wrists, helping her steady herself.
Akane's heart thumped wildly as the stranger spoke once again.
"Are you crazy? Don't you know you're not supposed to stand by the edge of a cliff?! You could've killed yourself!" he nagged.
Akane looked at her savoir, too stunned to speak. He was tall, even taller than Ranma, with dark brown hair and pitch-black eyes. The boy was toned in all places, which showed that he worked out. Akane wondered if he was a martial artist.
"S-sorry." Akane said, finally speaking. The boy softened and released her wrists. She could've sworn the even saw him... blush.
"That's okay." He said, giving her a small smile. "It was rude of me to lash out at you like that. I'm Drei, by the way."
"I'm Akane. Akane Tendo."
"Akane..." he repeated quietly to himself. It was a pretty name.
Akane nodded. She silently cursed herself for being so clumsy. She could've hurt herself again!
"Thank you," Akane said to Drei. ``I have a knack for being a bit... clumsy."
Drei laughed loudly. "That's alright! I'm like that sometimes, too!"
Deep down, Akane knew he was lying, but it still made her feel good.
"Anyways," he said, leaning against the edge of a large rock. "What are you doing here, in west Hokkido? Many tourists don't come here."
"I'm..." Akane hesitated. "Looking for someone."
"Well," Drei said. "I could help you. I live like two houses down from here."
"Really?" Akane gasped. "Oh, I'm so glad!"
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Akane finished checking into the hotel and dropped her bags in the room. Right after, her and Drei walked over to his house.
His house was small, about only three rooms, but it had a homely feeling to it.
Akane noticed Drei was quite nice. She realized that already. He wasn't like the other boys at her school who swooned over her. He had even offered for her to stay at his house instead of paying for a hotel room. Of course, however, Akane declined.
After making herself at home, Akane sat down in the center of his home, near the television. He brought some small cakes and tea for them to nibble on.
"Drei..." Akane asked, being a bit sceptical about the question that ran through her mind. "Why do you live... alone?"
"Well, I sort-of live with my uncle. He's just always out, working. My parents passed away when I was two."
"I'm sorry."
He laughed once again. "Oh, that's alright! I barely knew them, anyhow."
Akane smiled. She really liked his laugh. It was sincere.
The youngest Tendo reached for a cake. They were tasty.
"So... Akane. Tell me a little about yourself."
Akane laughed. "Well... there's not really much to tell."
He smiled once again. Deep down, Drei wondered what a girl like Akane was doing in a place like west Hokkido all by herself.
It really pained him, but Akane reminded him a lot of his ex girlfriend, Keiko. He had loved her with all his heart until he caught her with another man...
She had the same short, dark hair. The same... chocolate eyes...
"So," he said, breaking the memories. "You said you were looking for someone."
Akane nodded. She thought for a moment and wondered whether or not she should tell him her story. She decided not to, worried he would laugh.
She giggled, "Well, the problem is I don't know much about them. All I know is they were around the cliff area here about ten years ago."
He grimaced. "Well, that's not much information..."
"Yeah, but I'm positive more will come."
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Ranma had finally arrived in Hokkido after a long train ride. The ride was pure hell for him. He was forced to be seated beside an obese middle-aged man who smelled awful. To top it all off, he kept leaning on him, spitting, sleeping and belching in his ear the whole ride. Needless to say, Ranma was glad to have arrived.
The only problem was... where was he supposed to go?
Akane didn't give him one exact location. He'd have to search everywhere in Hokkido... who knew how long that would take?
Stupid, Akane. Ranma thought. That girl is one damn idiot. Runnin' off by herself. Who knows what kind of weirdoes...
Ranma became angry. He picked up his pace and decided to ask someone at the train office. Someone was BOUND to have seen Akane.
Ranma entered the little shack "office" and ran to the counter.
"Hello," he asked the middle-aged, partly grey-haired man. "I was just wondering... when did Akane Tendo's train arrive?"
"That's confidential information, sir." He replied.
"Hey, but I'm... I'm her fiancé."
"I don't care who you are. That's confidential information."
Suddenly, Ranma's anger boiled. "OKAY, mister." He grabbed him by the shirt. "I NEED to know where Akane Tendo is. So, if you don't give me that information..."
"Okay, okay!" the man sputtered. "Just a moment!" he jumped away from the pigtailed martial artist and ran over to the counter. He typed in a few things on the computer and there popped up Akane's name.
"Akane Tendo. Well, she arrived about five hours ago. When she arrived, she took a bus to west Hokkido."
"Thank you," Ranma said quickly and walked out the door. Suddenly, Ranma returned into the shack, shy at what he had forgotten to ask.
"Uhm... when does the next bus arrive?"
The man laughed. "In a half hour, bud."
"Uh, thanks again, mister."
"No problem."
Ranma left the shack once again and the old man shook his head. "Young love." He muttered.
Ranma waited at the stop for over an hour when the bus finally arrived. Ranma spat a few words at the bus driver for being late and took his seat. Just about everyone was ticking him off today. What caused all this anger was the fact that... as much as he hated to admit it... he was worried.
After about thirty minutes, they hit west Hokkido and Ranma got off the bus. He smelled the fresh, sea-salt air and it smelled relaxing.
The young man walked around, searching for any sign of his fiancé. He passed the ocean, looking for that "cliff's edge" she talked about.
He was stumped. He couldn't find it.
Again, he cursed Akane. Why did she have to run off by herself?!
As Ranma searched some more, he passed by an elderly woman who had fallen. The martial artist quickly ran over to her, helping her up.
"Are you alright?" he whispered to her.
"Ouch, my back." She exclaimed. "That's why I get, sonny-boy, for carrying so many cabbages at once..."
"Can you stand up by yourself?"
"I think I..." her bone popped. "Ouch! Actually, could you help me walk to my house? It's not far, I promise."
Ranma resisted the urge to groan, but helped her, anyhow. He could never leave a helpless person like that alone. His conscious wouldn't let him.
However, it turned out that the old woman was directionless, like Ryoga. They had gotten lost twice before he had finally reached her house. Worse yet, he had to carry her the whole way there.
Eventually, when they FINALLY arrived at her house, it became quite dark outside. The old lady offered... no, FORCED Ranma to sleep over in her spare room. She said it was the least she could do, and she wouldn't allow a young man like him walking around in the dark. Much to Ranma's disappointment, he knew she was right. It would be no use trying to find his fiancé in the dark.
But, while Ranma lay down on the mattress in her spare room, he just couldn't sleep. Not when he didn't know where she was...
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Akane and Drei stayed up quite late, just talking. Eventually, Akane decided it was time to hit the hay and said good-bye. Drei, being the gentlemen he was, offered to walk her to the hotel.
"It's only a two minute walk!" she giggled. "There's no point in bothering yourself to walk me for that!"
"Meh, it's dark and dangerous outside. Plus, I... I want to."
"Alright," Akane said, taking his last statement lightly. "It's your decision..."
After Akane walked into her hotel room, grabbed a glass of water and put her pyjamas on, she was exhausted.
Akane`s eyes closed as the thoughts of the day pooled into her mind.
She still hadn't found the boy. Akane was upset because she was positive that he had to be around here. She had a gut feeling that he for sure WAS in Hokkido! Akane shook her head, dropping her thoughts and falling into a deep sleep.
However, Akane awoke in the middle of the night, after having the SAME dream yet again. Akane swatted her forehead. She was so STUPID!
That boy... could he... could he possibly be....
Drei!?
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A/N: Hellllllllllllllllllllo. Well, here's another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for it being a bit late, I hate school. I wish for one day I could just sit at the computer writing....