Akane Tendo, six-year-old girl, was sitting by herself, eating her lunch and trying her best to not cry.
School was just an annoyance at the moment. She didn't feel like going.
'Not without Mom
' Akane closed her eyes to keep from crying. 'Mom
'
It was already a few weeks into the fall school session and she had yet to become her cheery self again as she was months ago. Her friends had left, due to Akane being such a downer.
She kept trying to find ways to be happy again, but everything came back to her mother. Someone she would never see again.
'It's not fair
' Akane thought to herself.
But someone was about to change Akane's life forever.
"HAHAHAHA!" a boy laughed as he ran by.
*ZOINK*
And he stole Akane's lunch right out from under her nose.
"HEY!" Akane jumped up. "COME BACK! THIEF!"
The blue-haired girl was done being sad. Now she was MAD!
While the boy was able to get a good lead on her, Akane soon caught up to him.
"Give me back my food!" Akane demanded as she cornered the boy.
"Or what?" the boy taunted. "You're gonna cry? GIRL?!"
Akane clenched her fists and raised her head up dramatically, her eyes barely visible like in an anime scene. "That's it!"
*WHAMO* Akane punched the boy in the stomach, causing him to fall over.
But Akane caught her food.
The boy moaned on the ground and clenched his stomach.
"Hey! She just beat up
" another boy called and pointed. "Um
uh
Who is he?"
A group of boys looked at each other and shrugged.
"Oh well
Let's get her!" the other boy yelled.
Soon Akane was swarmed.
Akane kicked her feet rhythmically as she sat on the edge of the examination bed.
"And, that'll do it." Tofu Ono finished bandaging up the cut on Akane's face. "Now be careful, Akane."
"Alright, Doctor Tofu
" Akane says pathetically.
Tofu chuckled. "Perhaps one day. But I'm still learning."
"Good afternoon, Tofu," Kasumi greeted as she came into the room.
"K-kKasumi!" Tofu started acting crazy.
The eldest Tendo daughter smiled. "Good to see you too. Let's go home, Akane."
Akane jumped down and grabbed Kasumi's hand as they walked out of the building.
"Akane, you can't go around fighting people," Kasumi scolded.
"But he took my lunch!" Akane sniffled. "I only did what Dad said to do
"
Kasumi sighed. "Yes, but it's not very ladylike."
Akane looked down. "Sorry, most honorable oldest sister
"
"I know
" Kasumi replied.
"What's it like being ten?" Akane asked randomly. "That's old
"
Kasumi looked away. "There's responsibility
"
"Oh
" Akane looked around. "I wish Mom was still here."
"Me too
" Kasumi nodded somberly.
Akane was about to eat lunch when the group of boys from the day before surrounded her.
"We'll get you this time!" one declared, his face covered in bruises.
'Unladylike
' Akane thought about her sister's words from the day before. "Go away!" she commanded.
"No!" they shouted back.
Akane pouted. "This is my lunch! My awesomest eldest sister made it for me!"
The blue-haired girl clenched her lunch to herself and narrowed her eyes.
But now the boys REALLY wanted it, and they swarmed her once more.
Desperate to save her lunch, Akane lashed out and fought back with kicks.
"My leg!" a boy cried out as he was kicked by Akane.
The girl fought her way out into the open, dirty but not injured.
Akane ran, leaving the others in the dust.
Akane walked home with her sisters, a bandage on her face again.
"Akane
" Kasumi frowned.
Nabiki snickered as Akane hung her head.
"When we get home, please take a bath," Kasumi requested of Akane.
Akane nodded.
"Hey sis, maybe you can challenge boys to fights!" Nabiki smirked. "And we can make it like on TV!"
"Nabiki
" Kasumi scolded. "You're only encouraging her
"
The middle Tendo smiled. "Yep!"
Kasumi sighed. 'Sometimes it is hard being the oldest
'
People were staying away from Akane. The boys were tired of being beaten and the girls were afraid of her.
The good news was that Akane got to eat in peace. The bad news was that now she was lonely.
So she walked around, hands in pockets, kicking rocks and stuff.
But that's when she heard a scream. A feminine scream.
Akane rushed to the scene.
On the other side of the yard were two girls being harassed by the same group of boys that Akane dealt with the days before.
This time they had sticks.
Akane growled. "Hey! Leave them alone!"
The boys turned to face her.
"What are YOU gonna do about it? GIRL!" the biggest boy mocked.
"I kicked your butts twice!" Akane yelled.
"Yeah, but this time we haz sticks! STICKS!" The shortest boy of the group jumped up and waved his arms fast, eyes becoming greater-than and less-than signs.
Akane noticed a stick on the ground so she kicked it up with her foot and flung it to her hand.
"Ha!" Akane pointed the stick at the group.
Before they knew it, Akane charged forward, stick in hand.
She cut through the large group, smacking them with her stick. She swung so hard that she broke the other boys' sticks on occasion. Like in a swordfighting movie, Akane cut all the way through to the two girls, beating them all.
The blue-haired girl stood there heroically, all the boys moaning on the ground.
"EEEE!" One of the girls shut her eyes so hard they also became greater-than and less-than signs. "So cool!"
The other girl squealed as well.
Akane laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "It was nothing."
"Nuh uh!" the first girl disagreed. "You're soOo cool
um
"
"Tendo. Akane Tendo." Akane actually said it the other way, but this is in English so shut up.
"Sayuri!" Sayuri raised her hand.
"Yuka!" Yuka did the same. "You're so cool!"
Akane blushed. "Thanks
Want to be my friends?"
Both girls answered by catching her in a group hug.
Akane, Yuka, and Sayuri were enjoying themselves and eating lunch when the same group of boys came by once again.
The blue-haired girl scowled and got to her feet. "What do you want, BOYS?!"
With Akane protecting them, Yuka and Sayuri were unafraid to insult them as well.
"Boys are icky!" Sayuri made a disgusted face.
"Yeah, go away!" Yuka yelled.
The boys squirmed.
One with a hat stepped up. "Look, it's not that we're trying to be mean or nothin', but, um
You see
"
*GROWL* went a few of their stomachs.
"WE'RE JUST SO HUNGRY!" a boy whined. "SOOO HUNGRY!"
The girls were floored by that.
"Why?!" was all Akane could say.
"The mean one takes our food!" another boy exclaimed.
Akane punched her palm. "Take me to your mean one!"
"Thanks, come again!" Nabiki waved, lolipop in her mouth.
She sat next to a giant pile of lunches and boxes filled with candy, seventeen American dollars in her hand.
"Now, that's gangsta
" Nabiki laughed. "Hmm
What's a 'gangsta,' anyway?"
"NABIKI!" Akane roared in rage as she stormed up to her.
"Hey sis, what's up?" Nabiki asked, putting the foreign money away.
"Why did you steal their lunch!?" Akane scowled.
Nabiki looked over to see the large group of boys. "Stealing would be wrong, little sister."
Akane scratched her head. "Huh?"
"Yep, I was given these as a gift
RIGHT, boys?" Nabiki smirked at the boys.
They squirmed and nodded enthusiastically.
Akane growled. "Meanie! You did that thing about sending black stuff
"
Nabiki laughed at Akane's confusion. "Blackmail? That's ONE way to put it. But it wasn't, sis. I did it for you."
"Huh?" Akane blinked.
"You see
" Nabiki gestured with her hands. "You were sooo down after Mom died
"
Akane tried not to cry at the mention of her late mother, but tears started forming in her eyes.
"So I just decided to get you someone to fight. All I had to do was take a boy's lunch and say that if he did anything, I'd tell everyone he wets the bed. I DID mention that a girl had a lunch that could be taken easily
" Nabiki winked.
Akane balled her fists. "Meanie!"
Nabiki shrugged. "It kinda snowballed from there
Oh well, not my problem."
Akane growled. "Don't steal people's stuff!"
"What will you do, little sister?" Nabiki smirked. "Do you want eldest sister to know that you've been fighting again?"
Akane squirmed. "I
I
"
"I thought so
" Nabiki waved Akane off. "Now go away. I have lunches to sell."
Akane brought her hands up to her chest. "I'll buy them!"
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "How? You don't have money or candy to give me."
Akane stuttered. "I
I
I'll let you borrow my clothes! Yeah, you keep saying you like them
so
"
Nabiki thought it over. "Hmm
Well
sure. Deal."
With that, Akane was able to get the boys their lunches. And Nabiki stopped taking them
but only because Kasumi got involved.
On Sunday afternoon, Akane got out of the clinic again, this time wearing a hat. Her face had a bandage on it but that was just from playing. She was now considered one of the guys and her popularity skyrocketed.
"Bye, Dr. Tofu!" Akane waved and left.
Tofu just smiled and waved, knowing that correcting her wouldn't do any good.
That's when Akane walked into Kasumi. Not literally though.
"Akane, not again," Kasumi sighed.
Tofu flipped out and went crazy over the sight of Kasumi.
Akane watched, fascinated.
"I'm sorry, Akane," Kasumi said as she brought Akane home, though she was not too pleased. "Sometimes I feel like I have a boy for a sister. If you don't start acting more like a girl, Dr. Tofu won't like you anymore."
Akane looked up worriedly and saw her sister's long hair. 'Maybe if I grew my hair like Kasumi, Dr. Tofu would like me again.'
The little girl kicked a rock.
Going down that path would ultimately push Akane to try to be something she was not, causing many problems for herself and those around her.
But it was then that Akane remembered something her mother had said not too long before she passed away. And that was that Akane should always be true to herself. And Akane realized right then and there that being like Kasumi wasn't being herself. Not to mention that Kasumi looked sad and was so serious all the time. Besides, if it wasn't for her fighting, then she wouldn't have helped those k1ds at school and made friends.
"Why doesn't Dr. Tofu like girls who act like boys?" Akane asked innocently.
Kasumi had to think that one over. "Because."
"Because why?" Akane asked, desperate for an answer.
"Because
" Kasumi fretted. "Because girls should act like girls."
"But WHY?!" Akane asked emphatically. "Dr. Tofu seemed happy to me
"
Kasumi wasn't sure how to deal with Akane's response, so she cheated. "Mother wouldn't want you to misbehave."
"But, but I'm not misbehaving!" Akane protested. "Mom
Mom said to be myself and not what others tell me to be, so that's what I'm gonna do!"
Kasumi didn't know what to say to that.
It was then that Akane vowed that she would be herself no matter what. And that meant being a rough, cool tomboy!
Wed Mar 27 18:53:59 2013
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4 comments Last updated: Thu Mar 28 21:28:01 2013