FANFIC: KOR.5, "A.K.A. AKANE-CHAN?" PART I
Jeff Yang
fiction out there, and with my creative writing talents curdling under the
weight of all of this (uncreative) journalistic writing, I've finally been
prompted to try writing some fanfic of my own. Thanks to Steve Tsai and
the other people, readers, et. al., involved with the Kimagure Orange
College project; if it weren't for the stuff happening in that, I wouldn't
have been, uh, inspired to do this. And thanks also to all who responded
to the "poll" I posted some weeks ago, except for all of you who said
"gee, this is the stupidest poll ever." Anyway, those of you who haven't
guessed the spine of this fanfic series based on the title probably will
figure out why the poll, stupid or not, was necessary...
Oh, and anyone interested in being a pre-reader, particularly people
well-versed in annoyingly meticulous details of KOR and Ranma 1/2 please
e-mail me. This series will be continued without guarantee of regularity,
although I've plotted out the story and it WILL be finished, mark my
words. There will be many bad puns. Things will happen that will surprise
people, or at least put me on the receiving end of a world of flames from
both the KOR Kult and the High Church of Takahashi. But hey, what a way to
end the Great Schism, right? Unite against a common enemy :-)?
Seriously, tell me what you think... Each post of this series will consist
of two parts, for reasons which should already be clear. Comments welcome.
And, uh, my knowledge of both Japanese culture/geography and Japanese
language are somewhat limited, basically to what's available in anime I've
seen. Suggestions, not flames, would be nice to fix any gaps...
Jeff Y.
d.b.a.
ANIME APOCRYPHA PRODUCTIONS (tm)
Presents
A <<<KOR.5>>> Side Story
"A.K.A. Akane-chan?"
PART I: A Laugh and a Sigh and a Dream of You
(A redheaded girl sits at her desk, writing in her diary. Her room--it's a
college dormroom--is jumbled, without being messy. On one wall is a
vintage movie poster of Lon Chaney in "Man With a Thousand Faces." Next to
it hangs a pair of ceramic masks, one a harlequin's comic grimace, the
other a tragic frown. The bed behind her is unmade, the pink satin
coverlet tossed at its feet and the sheets snarled. Above the bed is a
framed picture. The redhead looks up from her writing to glance at it.
It's a portr ait of a girl, with long raven hair and huge sapphire eyes,
rendered in watercolors. It's signed--FOR MY FRIEND, AKANE.)
Akane: Ayukawa...
(She turns back to her diary and continues to write.)
Akane: It's the autumn of my 18th year. I've been at classes now for three
weeks. University is tough, but fun, too. Last weekend, Madoka, Kyosuke,
and I went to Heian Mountain together.
(Akane picks up a snapshot from a pile on her desk and holds it to the
light. It's a picture of Kyosuke and Madoka sitting on a bridge railing;
Madoka is holding two fingers up in the "V" salute. The picture glows and
shivers, and suddenly, the figures within the snapshot begin to move...)
FLASHBACK
Akane: (aiming her camera at the pair) Another picture! This
time, closer together.
Kyosuke: (rubbing the back of his head) Hai!
(He moves to put his arm around Madoka, loses his grip on the railing and
begins to fall backward.)
Kyosuke: (waving his arms wildly) Aaaaa!
Madoka: Kyosuke!
Akane: (snapping the picture) Smile!
END OF FLASHBACK
(Akane flips to the next photograph, which shows Madoka reaching out in
consternation as Kyosuke's legs flip upwards....and he falls off the
bridge.)
Akane: (pulling down one eye and sticking out her tongue) Nehh! Clumsy
Kyosuke!
My cousin is lucky to have a girl like Ayukawa to look after him.
(Akane pauses, sucking on the tip of her pencil)
Akane: (continuing to write) And yes, I think she's lucky also.
It's been nice getting to know Madoka as a friend, although sometimes I
wonder...I wonder if she could have been something else. A sister? A...ah.
No, not a sister. She's everything I wish I could be; strong, resourceful,
smart, beautiful...
...Everything I could want.
Lucky Kyo-kun.
(Akane blushes and turns the page quickly.)
Akane: I'm studying performing arts, my teacher says I have a natural
gift.
(Akane laughs.)
Yesterday, we practiced dialogues--the "balcony scene" from Romeo and
Juliet. My partner was Yoshi Kawakubo: the other girls say he's the cutest
boy in class. I don't know. He wears black turtlenecks, hornrimmed
glasses...and, I think, makeup.
(Akane pushes back her chair and stands, putting one foot up on the seat.
Holding her right hand out dramatically, she says...)
Akane: Yoshi, Yoshi, wherefore art thou Yoshi?...
(more dramatically now, leaping up onto the chair)
Unsex me now! Curdle the milk within my breasts...I always liked Macbeth
better than Romeo and Juliet.
(She sits down on the backrest of the chair, her feet on the seat, her
chin in her hands.)
If all the boys in the theater department are like Yoshi...Get thee to a
nunnery, Akane!
(Akane laughs, and the backrest chooses this moment to snap audibly.
A shocked expression on her face, Akane flips backward--in exactly the
same pose as her cousin in the snapshot--and smashes her head against the
wall, right underneath the portrait of Madoka. She falls heavily to the
bed, her arms flung outward, and the c eramic masks tumble from their
hooks, to land next to her, manic grin, mournful frown....
The world goes black.)
END OF PART I, A.K.A. AKANE-CHAN
P.S.: Lady Macbeth's quote is obviously screwed. I didn't have my
Riverside Shakespeare handy, so anyone who can send me the exact paragraph
("Unsex me now!"), I'd really appreciate it.--J.