"BWWWWWWWOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!"
The sound permeated through the walls of the temple and into the street, bathing pedestrians in a distinctly ominous tone.
"What was that?" asked Akane.
"I don't..."
"BWWWWWWWOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!"
"Maybe it's a gong or something?" inquired Ranma. "Whatever it is, it sure is loud..."
"I don't care what it is, I just wish it would stop!"
"Relax, Akane. It's probably just some old kook trying to drive away evil spirits or somethin'."
"That's stupid, Ranma! Nobody really believes in that anymore. And it's Mother's Day, not New Year's."
"BWWWWWWWOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!"
**
"I've never really seen her before. As a guy. Kinda makes, you know, the day extra-special," explained Ranma.
"That's nice." Akane stared at the ground a few feet in front of her.
"Akane?"
"Yeah?"
"Is...something wrong?"
"No."
"Oh."
"I was just thinking of something my mother once said."
"What?"
"'The reason the world is round,' my mother said, 'is so we can't see too far ahead of ourselves.'" Akane smiled and looked up at Ranma.
Ranma smirked.
"Your mom sounds like Forrest Gump."
Akane glared at Ranma, but didn't respond. They walked in silence for a few minutes.
"I'm...I'm sorry, Akane. I shouldn't have said that." Akane kept looking forward, obviously peeved.
"Even for you...while we're going to visit her grave!"
"I know...I wasn't thinking. I was just trying to make a joke."
"Now's not the time for joking, Ranma."
"Yeah..." There was another pause in their conversation.
"So," continued Ranma, "how did your mother die, anyway?" Akane didn't answer. After a while, Ranma continued.
"I mean, if you don't mind my asking. I keep on hearing about it, but nobody's ever actually said. If you don't mind..."
"No, I don't mind."
"Then...what is it? You seem..." Ranma stopped.
"It's just...it's not something I often talk about."
"Well, it's funny that you never talk about it. I mean..."
"We all know what happened, we all know what happened..."
"Hey, I understand. I just mean...well...I've lived at your house for a while..."
"Yes. Well...we don't need to talk about it, so why?"
"I don't know..."
"I've gotten over it by now! It was a long time ago, you know!" Akane was all but yelling. Ranma flinched before continuing.
"Then...then why don't you? Ever? I mean, it's weird that this is the first time it's ever come up..."
"Well...you know. Dad still hasn't gotten over it. I doubt he ever will. I don't...I don't think he's even talked to a woman since then."
"I don't know. Maybe he enjoys his life too much as it is to get married..."
"No. I mean, you can see how much it pains him! I can't bring it up around the house!"
"I guess..." answered Ranma, uncomfortably. "So..."
"So what?"
"What happened?"
"Oh. Yeah. Well, when I was...I guess, six years old, mom went to the doctor. It was no big deal...just a normal checkup."
"Like a physical?"
"Yeah. Like any old hospital checkup. This was with the doctor before Dr. Tofu..." Akane paused, and looked down.
"He was...well, he was a really nice old doctor. He had a beard, and he was a little overweight. He kept the pictures kids gave him on the wall of his entrance room. One of my proudest moments in second grade was when he put up the picture I gave him, with me and my friend sliding down a rainbow, in a prominent position in the room. To the left of the window where you rang the bell to get helped. Of course it was just luck, but I was convinced it was because I had the best picture."
"Not likely..." quipped Ranma, quickly flinching. Akane apparently didn't catch the comment, or else she ignored it altogether.
"Well, anyway, mom went to the doctor, and they did all the normal tests. You know..."
"Yeah..." answered Ranma. "Like blood tests and everything."
"Yeah, stuff like that. And anyway, the doctor thought he found something wrong with mom, so he had to send some tests to the bigger hospitals...I was pretty young, so I didn't understand everything that happened, really. I just remember...mom and dad didn't say anything was wrong, but they didn't need to."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh...you know. There was like...the whole aura. Like when you've done something wrong, but your father doesn't want to say anything about it. But he'll let you know...he'll send you the vibes."
"Usually he just yells at me..."
"What about all the times we've refused to go on a date? He may not say anything during dinner, but don't tell me you don't feel anything, don't know that he's were mad."
"Oh. Yeah..."
"That's what it was like. And so, after a week or two of this, we finally get back the letter from the hospital. I remember that I got it, and as soon as I got it I ran to give it to daddy...I smiled, but daddy didn't say 'thanks', so I was upset." Akane frowned, remembering.
"And then the dinner...god, the dinner!" Akane paused and looked at the ground. "Sorry...painful memory. It was...well...mommy didn't say anything, but just looked at us. It was so uncomfortable. We ate, and she just looked at us. And daddy wasn't even there." Akane came to a stop and stared intently at the ground. It took a while for Ranma to break the silence.
"Where was he?" asked Ranma, curiously.
"I don't know. I asked mommy where daddy was, but she didn't answer. I asked her if he was taking a bath...I don't know why a bath...and mommy cried. I just looked at her. I didn't even ask her why she was crying, although I thought it had something to do with the letter. Mommy kept on crying, and eventually left the table..."
"Oh," said Ranma, filling in the void.
"I guess daddy went down to the bar. I don't know. Every once in a while I think back, and that's what I imagine. Because I saw him the next day, and he smelled like when he drinks sake." Akane sighed and continued.
"It was a week later until they finally told me. The letter I had given daddy confirmed the worst: that mommy had breast cancer, and that it had spread too far, and that she was gonna die." Akane stopped trying to hold back her tears and burst out crying. Ranma put his hand on her arm to comfort her. In response, she hugged him. He uncomfortably returned the embrace.
"You don't have to go on if you don't want to..." he said.
"So I remember tucking myself in to bed that night. And then life was supposed to get back to normal! Like nothing had happened!" Akane started to yell. It seemed to Ranma that every word was a struggle she had to fight against. "Nobody even told me for a week! It took her a week to say anything! I went a week knowing something was wrong, but not knowing what!" Ranma noticed Akane's hands were clenched into fists. "She only had a few months to live!!! She didn't know exactly...so she goes around like some goddamn guru telling me everything she thought I'd ever want to know..."
Akane was starting to shriek semi-hysterically, and began hitting Ranma repeatedly even as she hugged him. Ranma took the blows. "Like she was some indispensable source of wisdom I couldn't do without. When she couldn't even tell me what was wrong! And I'm her fucking daughter!" Akane stopped yelling, and somehow cried harder than before.
"Oh god...I was just a kid...she tried to tell me everything she could. I didn't understand. I couldn't have understood. I didn't even try to...oh god..."
"You were...just a kid," answered Ranma.
"A stupid, stupid kid!"
"You weren't stupid, Akane. That's just...I could never have handled that as a kid. Nobody could've." Akane didn't respond, and Ranma didn't know what to say. It took a long time before either spoke again.
"I'm sorry you had to see this, Ranma."
"What?"
"You know. Crying."
"There's nothing to apologize about. Really."
"This is the first time I've talked about it. To anyone," she eventually got out.
"It's good to talk about things."
"Yeah." Akane didn't respond. After a few seconds she released her hold on Ranma and continued walking to the cemetery.