Categories > Anime/Manga > Ranma 1/2 > When Fairy-Tales Just Don't Cut It
In Which Our Hero Is Introduced And Thinks About Her Mother
2 reviewsAkane is, at six, is quite unhappy to discover that life isn't always fair. That is until she is confronted with another child in a completely different sort of trouble. (AU, obviously. Not only th...
0Unrated
When Fairy-Tales Just Don't Cut It
Once upon a time...
'Akachan! Hey akachan, what's the matter? Do you want your bottle?'
Akane Tendo sat rigid in her desk, attempting to ignore the catcalls around her. It had been like this for months, ever since her mother- but Akane would have rather preferred not to think about that. The rumours alone were enough to sink her already peevish feelings, while the truth usually sent her off to some quiet spot for a few hours so as not to ruin her recently dwindling popularity any more than she could help. Hence the reason why she did not feel the need to respond to the various cries aimed at her. Kei Tanaka just wasn't worth the bother of yet another phone-call home.
The boy in question smirked, 'Look, you're gonna cry! Do you want your mommy?'
'Kei!' a soft voice hissed, 'Are you bonkers? Didn't you hear what happened when her mother upset her?'
''Yeah,' another piped in, 'I hear she lost it and -'. The girl wrapped a hand around her throat and made choking noises, 'Well, you know'.
... And that was it came down to, in the end. Her sisters had drawn into themselves, her father was not all together there anymore, and so she was apparently a murderous derelict. Clenching her fists tightly, Akane slowly swivelled around in her seat and glared viciously. Her foot seemed to move by its own will as it introduced itself to the nearest child's shin.
She was six years old and she was completely alone.
*
For five glorious years, Akane had what she considered the perfect life. Her family home was within walking distance of most everything a child could want, save the circus. There were parks to run through with her sisters, playgrounds to visit with her friends, an overgrown lot that had been abandoned some thirty years before by the Nerima Police Force in favour of a training lot closer to the station, and best of all her father's dojo, where she could watch her father work or on special occasions, even train with the students.
However, the shining light in Akane's life was her mother, who may have stayed in the sidelines at times but was the point that Akane could use to have something to aspire to. Nadesico Tendo cooked, cleaned, and generally smoothed out all the glitches in her family's life, and Akane wanted to be just like her.
Of course Nabiki, Akane's elder sister, was much better inclined towards the life of a homemaker than a girl who spent a considerable amount of her time either play- fighting with school friends, or practice-fighting with her slightly older friends. Even the eldest, Kasumi was a better choice for the career, considering that she was quickly growing into quite the brilliant cook. However Nabiki was tops, as although what she cooked was simply extremely good, she could provide variety in what she cooked, at least as much as one would expect from a six-year-old. She had a good head for managing a household, and might surely have become as much her mother's darling as Kasumi was had it not been for Nadesico's untimely demise.
It was later whispered among the adults that flittered around Akane's father afterwards that she had been lucky when she chose to stay behind at school to help a friend clean up, but Akane tried to block these words out. The neighbours had no right to say that, they didn't know what had really happened. The truth of the matter was that she had secretly skulked home at lunch, hoping to pocket a bit of food without her mother catching her and asking why she seemed to have a blackening eye. Sadly, things had not worked out as she planned and the end-result was screamed down at her from the stairway: namely a long, angry upbraidal, filled with harsh words about her 'uncontrollable behaviour' and how Nadesico could no longer handle the children's 'ridiculous arguments'. Akane had been too frightened to say anything at first, and spent some time wondering what had become of her gentle, loving mother. However, she eventually managed to adjust enough to announce just as shrilly that she would leave right now if that's what her mother wanted and running off to spend the rest of the afternoon in the abandoned lot. That was were she had been when Nabiki and Kasumi had gone to her classroom and been told by a loyal Sayuri that Akane was staying behind with her, and that was where she had stayed all through their stroll home, as they had walked through the halls of their home looking for their dinner, and as they had raced upstairs, Kasumi clenching a scrawled note the two had found in the kitchen, explaining to Soun that it had been fun but this was where Nadesico got off.
That was Akane's secret. As her mother had lain dying, she had been sulking a few streets down.
A/N: Right, so here's the start of my fairy-tale. Tell me what you think please, and I promise I won't be keeping it so very dark. It's impossible for me, anyway laughs. R/R greatly appreciated.
Once upon a time...
'Akachan! Hey akachan, what's the matter? Do you want your bottle?'
Akane Tendo sat rigid in her desk, attempting to ignore the catcalls around her. It had been like this for months, ever since her mother- but Akane would have rather preferred not to think about that. The rumours alone were enough to sink her already peevish feelings, while the truth usually sent her off to some quiet spot for a few hours so as not to ruin her recently dwindling popularity any more than she could help. Hence the reason why she did not feel the need to respond to the various cries aimed at her. Kei Tanaka just wasn't worth the bother of yet another phone-call home.
The boy in question smirked, 'Look, you're gonna cry! Do you want your mommy?'
'Kei!' a soft voice hissed, 'Are you bonkers? Didn't you hear what happened when her mother upset her?'
''Yeah,' another piped in, 'I hear she lost it and -'. The girl wrapped a hand around her throat and made choking noises, 'Well, you know'.
... And that was it came down to, in the end. Her sisters had drawn into themselves, her father was not all together there anymore, and so she was apparently a murderous derelict. Clenching her fists tightly, Akane slowly swivelled around in her seat and glared viciously. Her foot seemed to move by its own will as it introduced itself to the nearest child's shin.
She was six years old and she was completely alone.
*
For five glorious years, Akane had what she considered the perfect life. Her family home was within walking distance of most everything a child could want, save the circus. There were parks to run through with her sisters, playgrounds to visit with her friends, an overgrown lot that had been abandoned some thirty years before by the Nerima Police Force in favour of a training lot closer to the station, and best of all her father's dojo, where she could watch her father work or on special occasions, even train with the students.
However, the shining light in Akane's life was her mother, who may have stayed in the sidelines at times but was the point that Akane could use to have something to aspire to. Nadesico Tendo cooked, cleaned, and generally smoothed out all the glitches in her family's life, and Akane wanted to be just like her.
Of course Nabiki, Akane's elder sister, was much better inclined towards the life of a homemaker than a girl who spent a considerable amount of her time either play- fighting with school friends, or practice-fighting with her slightly older friends. Even the eldest, Kasumi was a better choice for the career, considering that she was quickly growing into quite the brilliant cook. However Nabiki was tops, as although what she cooked was simply extremely good, she could provide variety in what she cooked, at least as much as one would expect from a six-year-old. She had a good head for managing a household, and might surely have become as much her mother's darling as Kasumi was had it not been for Nadesico's untimely demise.
It was later whispered among the adults that flittered around Akane's father afterwards that she had been lucky when she chose to stay behind at school to help a friend clean up, but Akane tried to block these words out. The neighbours had no right to say that, they didn't know what had really happened. The truth of the matter was that she had secretly skulked home at lunch, hoping to pocket a bit of food without her mother catching her and asking why she seemed to have a blackening eye. Sadly, things had not worked out as she planned and the end-result was screamed down at her from the stairway: namely a long, angry upbraidal, filled with harsh words about her 'uncontrollable behaviour' and how Nadesico could no longer handle the children's 'ridiculous arguments'. Akane had been too frightened to say anything at first, and spent some time wondering what had become of her gentle, loving mother. However, she eventually managed to adjust enough to announce just as shrilly that she would leave right now if that's what her mother wanted and running off to spend the rest of the afternoon in the abandoned lot. That was were she had been when Nabiki and Kasumi had gone to her classroom and been told by a loyal Sayuri that Akane was staying behind with her, and that was where she had stayed all through their stroll home, as they had walked through the halls of their home looking for their dinner, and as they had raced upstairs, Kasumi clenching a scrawled note the two had found in the kitchen, explaining to Soun that it had been fun but this was where Nadesico got off.
That was Akane's secret. As her mother had lain dying, she had been sulking a few streets down.
A/N: Right, so here's the start of my fairy-tale. Tell me what you think please, and I promise I won't be keeping it so very dark. It's impossible for me, anyway laughs. R/R greatly appreciated.
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