Chapter 9 – College Part 2
To recap, my parents now know of my dual gender and my secret powers. Apparently all of my promises to myself meant nothing in the effort to save lives. Or to say it another way, I blew my biggest secret faster than the Queen can finish off a parfait. Now my parents know of my powers, well some of them, and that I am sworn to help humanity. They weren't too happy about the second part but realized there was little reason to argue it after I showed them that I could make a laser come out of my fingers.
OK. College, again. But first, a vacation.
A simple enough trip, by car, to the wilds of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We traveled up about a week after 9/11 as the plans had already been set and got to see the best fall colors I have ever seen. We took the slow way up, no Interstates, no the bridge does not count, only the local roads.
From Romeo we went straight up past Imaly City and then veered across the very local roads to Frakenmuth. Some early Christmas decoration shopping was done followed by a great chicken dinner. I'm told there was more to do but we had little time and kept to the basics.
Following that we headed through Bay City, took a quick peek at Saginaw Bay, than made our way to US 23 to follow it along Lake Huron. The Mighty Mac was next, no I can't remember how to spell it properly either, and then an overnight before we headed to the island, which has the same proper spelling as the bridge. We did the things, rented bikes, saw the fort, bought some fudge, toured the hotel, and then caught the ferry back in the evening.
Of course my curse was always in the back of my mind but it only hit once during the bike ride. A rogue wave got me while I was on the rocks, with no wind blowing and only a freighter in the far distance. Caused a little accident too with two folks that were riding along crashing into each other as they stared at me in jeans that were too lose in most places and too tight in others and a shirt, thankfully not white, that was about to fall off. Luckily we planned for this and had hot water in a thermos, that turned out too cold to work. Oh well plan B was the old pack a second set of clothes in the backpack maneuver. After a change, at the only bathroom available about 1/2 mile away, all was good for the rest of the day.
Next on the agenda was Sault Ste Marie, at least I think that's the proper spelling. The locks were interesting to see, watching a 1000 foot freighter enter them was definitely interesting. Then it was back onto the road, off to the next overnight in Munising. Now even with no freeways running the length of the UP it still would have taken only 2 hours to get there, if we went straight there. Instead we went along the lake and stopped at all the interesting places we could. Took us 6 hours instead of two. I'd saw it was worth it.
OK this was supposed to be a short portion so I'll hurry it along. The plan was to go "around" the UP and that is essentially what we did. From Munising to Copper Harbor to Ironwood to Manistique. Along the way we climbed a mountain (is it still considered climbing if there were nothing but easy foot trails?), saw an old copper mine, and checked out just about every tourist trap and lighthouse that we could. The last part before home was Traverse City, where many cherries were consumed, and than finally back home.
The vacation was great. Saw many cool things, the night in Copper Harbor was Amazing with the second best sky I have ever seen, the Amazon village kinda took the cake there, and the best part? I swam in three of the five great lakes. Yes it was September and I certainly got some odd looks, especially in Lake Superior, but I did it. Of course what nobody knew was that my powers bleed over ever so slightly which keeps me warm in any warmish winter like weather so the cold water was more like a lukewarm bathtub.
So the months passed by with me working in a grocery store, had to do something, and soon enough Christmas and the New Year passed by and it was time to head back to school for the winter semester. More courses in Astronomy and a few Asian courses for my minor though I got out of the Chinese one thanks to the credit from the China trip.
Things moved along nicely in this final delayed semester for my Junior year. I was able to somehow keep my curse a secret, mostly by changing as often as possible, and did well as usual. The summer came upon us faster than I expected and soon enough it had passed by. Time for my senior year and two unexpected surprises.
So I've had friends and roommates but I had yet to have a romantic partner. This changed in the first month back. A lovely young lady by the name of Kim approached me one day after my Japanese course. She explained, embarrassingly at times, the watching and following that she had done in the previous spring semester. At the end she asked me if I would go out with her. I had no reason not to, plus she was nice to look at, so I agreed and we set a first date for that Friday.
Now I won't drag on the details for you as the relationship didn't pan out but we enjoyed each others company, both in public and private, all the way through March. Now I had been keeping up on my curse switching as best as I could but there came a weekend that I couldn't find any time to do so.
Kim was with me from Friday afternoon all the way till Sunday. The only breaks I had from her were in public restrooms but those didn't work well for a quick back-and-forth gender change. We had been walking around campus enjoying the warm weather when I ended up taking about a buckets worth of water from above. Kim got a bit splashed as well but for the most part it only hit me, how that happened I don't know as she was all but hugging me from the side. Still don't know where the water came from, people generally didn't empty out buckets of water out the window anymore.
Well as you can imagine Kim got pissed about the shower we just got but stopped the moment she looked at me. Her first reaction was akin to who was I and where did Sam go? Then she saw the clothes and the shoes and eventually made the logical leap towards my full identity.
Now at this point she was flabbergasted, confused, and even a bit mad. She thought that I was a cross dresser or something along those lines. I tried to explain that I wasn't and eventually got her to follow me back to my apartment without making a scene.
Soon I was dry and wearing a simple pair of shorts and t-shirt to show that all was real. Of course she checked, who wouldn't, and demanded to know how I had passed as a guy. So I got some hot and cold water and proceeded to show her.
For some reason she was disgusted. Not able to suspend her disbelief for magic I guess. She called me names, swore up and down it was an illusion, and even started saying I was in league with the devil at the end. By this point I was done and asked her, with a fair bit of anger myself at this point, why she couldn't accept this and if I had ever meant anything to her. Not the best plan as she left in quiet a foul mood with promises that we would never speak again.
So I had gained and lost my first romantic partner within a few months. The heartbreak took awhile to sort through, and I spent the first weekend alone in my female form crying it all out, but I got through it and continued on.
The rest of the semester went well enough and the summer flew by as it often does. My senior year started and almost ended before my second surprise.
In the second to last month of my senior year I was called in to a meeting with my senior advisor and a business representative. When I entered the conference room I saw my advisor at the head of the table and the rep sitting next to him with her back to the door. Immediately I felt something odd, almost like I should know her. I went around the table and sat opposite to her. She was tall and looked like no nationality that I knew of. Oddly enough her black hair, which was very long, had an almost green tint to it and her heart shaped face looked very regal but perhaps the oddest point was her red eyes.
After I sat down my advisor introduced us. "Sam this woman has come from Japan with an interesting offer for you. May I introduce the representative for Tachyon Industries, Setsuna Meiou."
As the quick introduction occurred she had looked up at me with an interesting look in her eye, almost as if she knew exactly who I was, and I don't mean from my basic records that she had in front of her. She then stood up and held out her hand, "Hello Sam. It is good to finally meet you."
Of course being a properly raised person I stood back up and shook her hand, "Hello Ms. Meiou, what can I do for you?"
We both sat down before she continued, "Please call me Setsuna. My company is looking to hire a student from America in order to diversify it's employee base. You are but one of many that I am here to see in this region and the only one from this school.
"My company is one of innovation. Tachyon Industries brings in knowledge from many disciplines and uses it to develop new products for civil and national defense. One day we hope to even help to protect the planet from the possibilities of an impact but we are far from getting there at the moment. As part of this program we are looking to hire a freshly graduated student in an astronomy program as part of our research team. You are the only student in the astronomy program here at the University of Michigan that is also going through the Asian Languages program and is keeping a high enough GPA. This combination is enough to put you directly in the sights of my companies HR department. Do you have any questions so far?"
While Setsuna was speaking my head was reeling. A job offer before graduating, for a company in Japan, and to top it off the job was for a research position. Most likely high pay and with a good amount of freedom on how things could be done. It seemed perfect, too good to be true. So when the prompt was given I started asking.
"Yes I do. My advisor mentioned you came from Japan. Is that were the job will be located?"
"Yes it is. The company headquarters and non-reactive research facilities are located in Tokyo. This is where you would be for the first year before possibly going to various telescopes around the world to work with direct measurements."
"Sounds interesting and I am very much interested but would like to ask about housing and pay. It is in Japan after all and I don't exactly have a support network out there."
"I am glad you are interested. As part of this special hiring program you will be given a small apartment and a nominal pay equal to about $85,000 per year. If all goes well than raises are possible. Of course the position comes with the usual benefits such as retirement, medical, and relocation assistance. Anything else?"
"Nothing else other than do I need to fill anything out to be considered?"
"At this time no. Thanks to your advisor I have access to your grades for the past semester and with your permission will be able to get a hold of your transcript. As long as everything continues apace you will have no issue with applying for the position."
At this my advisor spoke up again, "Well that sounds great for you Sam. Not many get a spot straight out of school like this and far fewer end up going overseas for it. Thank you for visiting Ms. Meiou, can I show you out?"
"Yes, thank you." At this we all stood up. "Thank you for giving me the time to speak with you Sam."
"No thank you for giving me this opportunity Setsuna." After one final handshake my advisor walked Setsuna out of the room. I sat back down and thought about what this could mean. Going to Japan was not what I had planned for after college but I could definitely see the advantage to a job straight out of the gate. After a few minutes my advisor showed up in the room again and we spoke of how this would be an excellent opportunity, how I should jump at it, and not to worry too much if I don't get the position.
After about 10 minutes of this and some other discussions concerning my classes and projects I headed back to my apartment.
At the time I had no idea that I was being followed.
Back in the apartment I took care of the usual things, homework, studying, food, washing up, cleaning, and so forth, before sitting on my bed to make a connection with Sol for some advice. While we were speaking someone snuck into my room. Now most of my time speaking with Sol was spent in either full meditation or while I was asleep, during either I was of course fully oblivious to the outside world. However I could also speak with her in a light meditative state as well. This allowed me to keep an ear out for roommates, parents, or other interruptions.
So I noticed a person entering my room and it took me but a moment to drop the meditation and focus on them, but without looking like I was doing so. Eyes closed and breathing as deeply as I normally do during meditation I should have looked like I was not aware of the intruder at all. Unfortunately this intruder had a trick up their sleeve as I heard her speak out, "I know you are aware of my intrusion. Open your eyes and look at me."
As I did so I noticed something very interesting. Another Sailor Senshi was standing before me. I couldn't make out her face but the rest of her was easy to see. From her dark green hair to the black and dark red accented uniform she was a sight. The most notable feature was the large staff in her left hand with a dark red orb inside a heart shaped decoration at the top and what looked like the working part of a key at the other end. Knowing there was little I could do I gave a weak wave, "Um... hi."
She gave a slight nod of her head, "Hello to you as well. I do not know who you are but you give off the energy of a Sailor Senshi, and yet you are male. I will give you one chance to explain yourself. Do so or I will destroy you."
I took a quick gulp as she maneuvered her staff so the heart shaped end was pointed at me. Knowing of my own abilities, and feeling a small build up of energy from her, I had little doubt that an energy attack would be forthcoming if I did not impress. I started to explain my so far short past starting with the trip to China and my quick dip in the springs. I touched on my training and ended by explaining my link to the sun. To my dismay she did not seem to fully believe me without proof.
"Change forms and produce your Henshin Stick so I can verify this." Luckily I had a drink in my bedroom and it was still cool enough to affect the change so I stood up to do so. Unluckily it was a glass of apple juice, talk about a sticky mess. After the shift she seemed to relax a bit and ended up dropping out of her stance when I pulled my power wand from behind my back.
"Would you like me to transform as well?" I asked knowing that this may be necessary.
"No need to do so. The fact that you did change gender and can produce a henshin stick is verification enough for me." She than held her staff to a resting position only to let it go and I watched it disappear. She than sat down in my desk chair and starred me down for a few moments. "You can sit back down if you want. Your energy patterns are those of a true Sailor Senshi so I doubt you would attack me at this point. I should introduce myself. I am Sailor Pluto. I would like an explanation of your history as there has never been a Sailor Sun before."
"Sailor Sol, the name is Sol not sun. And this," I held out my power stick, "came from a meteorite I got on my 12th birthday. Apparently it landed outside my house while my mom was pregnant with me and she picked it up. I've talked with both my mom and Sol, the person not the star, and have received plenty of explanations about the meteorite and why I was given these powers."
"Sol, interesting. And you say you have spoken with this person that gave you the powers?"
"Yes. Every time I meet her I am either asleep, unconscious, or in meditation. When it happens we appear next to the sun and she is wearing a variant of my Senshi uniform. She taught me all about my powers although I have yet to fully realize them."
"What do you mean by 'fully realize'?"
"The transformation stages. Sol Power, Sol Star Power, Sol Crystal Power, and Sol Eternal Power. I can do the first three no problem but the last one doesn't work. Sol says something is missing so I have to wonder if you know what it is."
She looked at me quizzically for a bit before finally continuing, "I did not realize that there was another stage to unlock. I and the other Senshi have only achieved the third stage, and during this we had fought our toughest opponent yet, one that actually killed all but one of us. In fact I have only just reincarnated so you can imagine my shock when I learned there was an unknown Senshi on the planet."
This shocked me to the core. Death? Reincarnation? I knew that being a Senshi could be dangerous but did not realize it could be that bad. But after a few I picked up on part of what she said, "Learned? How did you learn of my existence? I haven't exactly been public about it."
"The exact method is a secret to all but the Queen. However I can reveal that your little stunt on 9/11 was enough to get my attention. After that I was able trace back to your presence in China but was unable to figure out who you were till later on."
"So what now? Do you spirit me away to this Queen? Or do I get to stay here and live out my life."
"Actually it would seem that your life may already be planned out between what Sol has told you and your recent job offer. As for me I will do nothing but continue to watch you and the world for signs of evil. I bid you good evening." At this she stood up than reached out and her staff appeared in her hand. With a quick tap on the floor she disappeared.
It wasn't until a few days later that I remembered her mention of my recent job offer, which I hadn't mentioned.
Soon enough the remainder of my time at the University of Michigan ended and I graduated with honors.
The job in Japan ended up coming up in my favor and a week after graduation Setsuna showed up at my house, had me sign some papers, and then handed over a plane ticket and instructions on where to go upon arrival.
My parents held a combo graduation/going away party and with some relatives and friends, from both UofM and high school, we celebrated the last big part in my life in Michigan. Not one week later on I was on a plane, this time headed to Tokyo.
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Sailor Sol – Chapter 9
by: MonsterRideOp
February 9, 2018
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Authors notes: Finally done with the part in the good old USA. Now to move on the part with the rest of the Senshi. I'm still going at it but this next part introduces a lot more characters, hopefully I won't have to do too much research and can get the next chapter out in good time.
Lastly I would ask for reviews once again. I know there are people reading this, the follows and favorites list is kinda obvious to me, so a review would be very nice, and very helpful. Oh yea anonymous reviews are off so you need an account to do so. I am a firm believer in that a review needs a name attached. This way I can respond back if needed, and it helps to keep the idiotic reviews, of the "YOUR STORY IS STUPID!" variety, from being posted.
