Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ 101 RanmaxAkane Themes ❯ Theme 5 - Diary ( Chapter 5 )

Theme 5 - Diary

 

“Dear…”

 

Thwock. The pencil he was holding broke for the dozenth time that evening. It was to his relief. This could be his excuse if he failed to write down an entry. I have no control over my own strength and my pencil kept breaking; that's why I didn't get to jot down anything today.

 

He sighed, feeling defeated. No, of course that wouldn't work; Akane wouldn't buy it. Why had he agreed to do this anyway? Who in their right mind would agree to this diary-exchanging thing? First and foremost, writing in a diary is something a girl does. And he was quite manly, was he not?

 

The image of himself as a girl suddenly crossed his mind, and his heart sank. Well, maybe not quite that manly—yet.

 

He picked up one of the pencils he had broken and started to chew on it, staring at the page in front of him. The page was mostly blank except for the words he had scribbled and scratched right away. He didn't know how to start. He was never good with words, spoken or written or otherwise. Language was not his specialty. Martial-arts, yes, but language, no. Not at all.

 

And this, he felt, would be even worse because Akane was going to read it. The thought made him burnt in embarrassment just because.

 

The clock was ticking by, and he continued sitting and wondering and being confused. After a while, he suddenly thought that he had a great idea. Hadn't Akane written something before? He could as well copy hers and change a few things here and there; she wouldn't know the difference.

 

So he flipped to the first page and realized that until then he had forgotten to even read it. Other people—Ryoga, for example—undoubtedly would read the entry the second Akane handed it to her, but he didn't happen to be as eager and nosy as those people. Trying to look bored and burdened, even, he began reading.

 

“Hi, Ranma,” said the first sentence. He scowled. This sounds like a letter.

 

“Thank you for agreeing to do this. I thought you would think this is silly, but you can be too standoffish sometimes, and I really want to know what's inside your head. I hope that this diary can bring us closer together.”

 

He shut the book abruptly, his face glowing bright pink. That was as close to a love letter as it would get. But he forced himself to open it again. His hands were trembling, but it grew tamer from then. Akane went on describing her day and her feelings on certain subjects.

 

By the end of the entry—which was four times as long as he could ever manage to write—he had learned some things about Akane he never knew before. But he still didn't know what to write. He sat thinking again, and the clock continued ticking. He had to grab another pencil because he had overchewed the previous one.

 

Just write something. Anything.

 

Finally he sat up straight and picked up a fresh, new pencil. He scribbled something but quickly erased it. “Ah, curse that Akane,” he muttered the whole night long as he scribbled and erased and scribbled. But he was determined to have his entry written for her to read the next day.