I would like to thank Ghost in the Machine pre-reading this chapter with his trusty baseball bat and microscope.
Constructive criticism is always welcome.
I don't own any of these characters or situations. They belong to someone else. Also this is done purely for fun, not profit. Any resemblance to persons living, dead, yet to be born, or visiting from other dimensions is purely coincidental. I'm doing this for fun.
Boldly going where others had gone before and meekly going where few have been.
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University part 2
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The club was packed.
The dance floor was jammed with people moving and gyrating to the music, like a tide of rhythmic chaos that swept across the sea of dancers. The multicolored lights that hung from ceiling, pulsed to the beat of the music switching between red, blue and green. When each came on, it looked like inverted searchlights in the cigarette smoke that hung above the dance floor like a fog. The smoke dispersed when it hit the ceiling fans that were high on the ceiling, above where the lights were mounted.
On the stage two girls were singing a duet, not too badly considering that both were at least four sheets to the wind. Both girls were leaning into each other, supporting one another, while they sang. Off stage, in the pit, were other couples and singles that were paging through the song catalogs, preparing selections for their turn at the stage.
The music, the singing and the dancing mixed with the chatter of groups seated in the surrounding booths and tables. The combination of different noises was something that was felt more than heard - something experienced by more than one of the senses. The club, on a Saturday night, was a kaleidoscope of lights, sound and movement.
All this made talking impossible unless you leaned close to the person you were trying to speak with.
Four youths were seated in a curved booth gathered around a small round table with drinks resting on it. The size of the table made it easy to lean over to make yourself be heard in the din of the club. On the outside were two men, one with bushy hair, dyed at the tips, the other with dark hair in a pigtail. The inside of the booth was occupied by two women, one with light brown hair worn loosely, the other with bright red hair done up in a long ponytail.
Ranma stared at the pigtailed boy while fingering the rim of her Orange Julius and wondered if this was all some kind of cosmic joke. She continued run her finger around the edge of her glass as she inspected her date for the evening. He was wearing a neat, clean white button up shirt with dark colored trousers. His hair was done up in a tight pigtail, the type she used to wear all the time and occasionally still did. One hand rested in his lap while the other hand was at the base of his drink.
He had an air of wary nervousness, like he was expecting trouble or an attack.
Ranma tried to sort her thoughts and feelings, but the loudness of her surroundings slowed her logic process down a bit.
"On one hand," her thoughts began, "I'm really annoyed as hell at seeing the one person that contributed to barring me from competition - ," then added, "the fact that he was also barred is a small consolation though."
Ranma paused in thought, brow furrowed.
"On the other hand," continuing on a different train of thought, "I am glad to have run into him so soon after the match, with his style of kendo fresh on my mind. The moves he did were unique and I did want to ask him about them."
She then cocked her head to one side, pouting her lip a bit as she thought. Her date's nervousness seem to go up a notch as he reached up and tugged the base of his pigtail.
"Still, on the other hand," Ranma's froze in mid thought, realizing that she had already used both her mental hands. "Err, foot - whatever," she continued with a slight shake to her head, "I wish we could've met under different circumstances - meeting someone that was competition on a blind date is - awkward."
"So," Megumi began, breaking into Ranma's thoughts, while at the same time trying to break the ice. "I take it that you two have already met?"
"Yes," Ranma answered as she eyed her date seated across from her. "Earlier today."
The pigtailed boy nodded slightly as he shifted on the vinyl seat, creating a loud, squeaking sound. Tetsuyuki chuckled at the produced sound as if it were the most amusing thing he'd heard. Tenchi looked even more uncomfortable.
"Oh brother," Ranma mentally commented on Tetsuyuki's antics before continuing. "He was the other kendoist that got - carried away."
"That was you?" Tetsuyuki asked while laughing in his beer while eyeing his roommate. "Tenchi here came back to the room after the match saying how this crazy chick fought like a demon and..."
Tetsuyuki voice trailed off at the look he was receiving from said redhead.
"I'm just good," Ranma commented while narrowing her eyes at Tetsuyuki, "not crazy."
"Tenchi seems to be just as good," Megumi pointed out.
"Yes...," Ranma said to herself more than anyone else. "I wanted to ask you about that," Ranma said as she turn her attention to the boy next to her. "Where did you learn how to fight like that? Some of the moves you did were... unique."
Tenchi squirmed in his seat, earning another loud squeak from the vinyl seat.
Tetsuyuki snorted in laughter again.
"It's a family art," he answered politely, ignoring his roommate.
"Crap," Ranma thought. "That means he probably won't show me anything."
"My grandfather taught me everything," Tenchi continued. "He trained me in the family style of kendo at our shrine in Okayama."
"Your father's a priest?" Ranma asked.
"No, my father's an architect, my grandfather's the shrine keeper," Tenchi clarified.
"Oh," Ranma said as she crossed her legs and leaned over a bit to hear Tenchi better. "And he trained you?"
"Yes," Tenchi nodded, relaxing a bit. "Every summer he'd train me in the family way and more often after we... moved next to the shrine."
The last part was almost lost in the bass of whatever was playing.
"How long has this style been in your family?" Ranma asked while leaning a bit closer to make it easier to communicate in the noisy club. Unconscious of the fact that the move put her face inches from his.
Ranma looked at Tenchi, completely unaware of how much more nervous he was all the sudden.
"A-about s-seven hundred years or s-so," he stammered out.
It was at that moment that Ranma realized how close her face was to his, close enough see his brown eyes in the dim light and to feel his breath against her cheeks. She bolted upright and away from him.
"That's great," she squeaked out loudly before clearing her throat to continue. "How about we get together and spar sometime. I can't seem to find anyone around here to give me a decent workout and you didn't have any problems keeping up with me."
Tenchi nodded, but Ranma couldn't tell if it was out of sincerity or politeness.
"Honestly," Megumi said rolling her eyes as she leaned against Tetsuyuki. "Ranma you're such a romantic. Who else would sit next to a handsome fellow, look him in the eyes and then ask, 'let's get together sometime and beat the hell out of each other' - sheesh."
"Hey!" Ranma defended indigently. "It's not beating the hell out of each other. It's an Art."
Megumi eyed her speculatively, Ranma blinked in return.
"Okay," Ranma conceded. "Maybe it's an artful way of beating the hell out of each other - but it's still an art."
"Well, c'mon. Let's make some artful noise," Megumi said playfully as she scooted over to the outside of the booth, dragging Ranma with her. Tetsuyuki stood to allow the girls out and retook his seat, watching the two girls make their way to the pit next to the stage.
Tetsuyuki leaned over to Tenchi, "What da' you think?"
"She seems... nice enough," Tenchi answered carefully.
"Nice?" Tetsuyuki said as he leered at the girls behinds as they made their way through the crowd. "Heck Tenchi, you need to get your eyes examined - she's a freakin' knockout."
"I'm not that way, I mean, I don't..." Tenchi fumble for words. "I've told you about the problems I've had with the girls back home."
Tetsuyuki starred at Tenchi and shook his head. "Tenchi my man, you have got to get out of your shell every once in a while and live a little. Leave those problems behind before they eat you up. Besides they're way at home and you're here - it's not like they can see what you're doing right now or anything. Right?"
Tenchi smiled politely and nodded while thinking, "If only you knew."
Megumi and Ranma made their way through the crowd and entered the pit by the stage.
"So... what do you think?" Megumi prodded Ranma as she flipped through the selections.
"Good muscles, flexible, works out a lot... good with a sword, but probably not much in hand to hand," Ranma replied offhandedly, listing the attributes of her date as she to flipped through selections.
Megumi bopped Ranma playfully on the head with the palm of her hand earning a pout from the redhead. "Not that you boob! I'm talking about Tenchi," Megumi admonished.
Ranma blinked at her roommate, "I... I thought I was talking about Tenchi."
Megumi rolled her eyes on how Ranma could be so dense at times.
Later...
Ranma's voice was tired from singing, but not her body. She was ready to dance.
Ranma loved to dance. It was not the ballroom type dancing she did in her dreams, but it was dancing. First she had to convince her reluctant partner. Tenchi looked as if he never tried dancing before, thus earning a lesson from the Ranma Yonai's Anything Goes Dance Instruction.
Ranma moved with the beat with Tenchi in front doing the same. It took some prodding by Tetsuyuki, Megumi and Ranma to get Tenchi out on the dance floor, but they succeeded.
"You did katas before, like when your dad was teaching you how to use the sword. Right?"
Tenchi nodded, "Yes, but like I said, it was my grandfather that taught me."
"Whatever... look," Ranma said with a wave of her hand. "Treat the dance like a kata, but instead move to the beat of the music. Got it?"
"I don't know..." Tenchi replied, standing in front of her, uncertain.
"You won't know until you try," Ranma affirmed as she grabbed his hand and pulled him across the dance floor. With Tenchi in tow, Ranma lead the way to a relatively uncrowded part of the dance floor.
"Now watch," she instructed. "I'm going to do a basic weapons kata, since that's probably what you're familiar with. Watch how you can turn it into a dance."
Ranma held both of her hands close together, as if she were wielding an invisible sword. She then began to flow through a kata the was familiar to Tenchi, except it was being done in time to the beat of the music and some of the motions were exaggerated.
It was very graceful.
Ranma stopped.
"See? Now you try," she encouraged.
Tenchi sweat-dropped and assumed the starting position, his head bobbing slightly to the beat, trying to find it. Ranma watched as he nervously and vainly tried to find the beat.
"You're trying too hard," Ranma said. "Just go with it."
Tenchi started hesitantly and began to go through the kata. He started jerkily at first, before smoothing out as got more in sync with the music and built more confidence. After Ranma was satisfied that the pigtailed boy got the idea, she joined him.
"See? It's not that hard," Ranma said as she moved with Tenchi to the beat.
Tenchi nodded a affirmative as he continued to move to the music. Ranma took advantage to do two things she loved: Dance and learn new martial arts techniques. However, she was disappointed to find that the kata that Tenchi modified to the dance was a basic one that she already knew.
They kept dancing. Well that's what it looked like. In reality there were choreographing a kendo match. Ranma would thrust out with a hand, treating her arm as if it were a bokken, while sashaying. Tenchi would parry with a bounce to his step, blocking the incoming arm. Both moving in synchronization to the beat that was throbbing from the speakers.
The beat stopped at the end of the song.
Both dancers stopped, frozen in mid mock-battle.
Ranma smiled at Tenchi. "See," she said with a touch of mirth, "that wasn't so hard."
Tenchi smiled and nodded. Suddenly he became self conscious of what he was just doing and without thought, took Ranma's hand and lead her back to the table that they were sharing with their respective roommates. Only to have Ranma drag him out on the dance floor three more times that evening.
It was late. Much later than Ranma intended to stay out, but it was worth it. She got to sing, dance and 'talk shop'. It was nice to talk to someone who knew something about the art, or as Megumi called it the 'artful way of beating the hell out of each other'.
Ranma sighed at that thought.
"Some people just don't get it," Ranma thought as they made there way back to the campus. "Megumi should understand just a little of what it means, after all, she uses the art to work out and stay in shape. I just used it to a higher degree."
The four neared the dorms.
"One thing I have to do before the night is over," she thought in a determined way. "I gotta get Tenchi to spar with me some more."
"Did you two have a good time?" Megumi asked breaking into Ranma's thoughts
"Yes," Ranma replied. "Hey, Tenchi."
"Huh?" Tenchi answered distractedly. "Oh, sorry. Yes?"
"Would you mind if we," Ranma began carefully, as not to give the wrong impression. "I wanna - er, like to know if you mind sparring with me sometime. You're not half bad and I can use the practice."
Tenchi visibly considered this, "Hmmmm, I did promise my grandfather that I would keep up with my practice."
Ranma was hopeful, but kept it hidden.
Tenchi thought a little more before answering firmly, "Sure, why not?"
"Great!" Ranma said enthusiastically. "How about Mondays and Thursdays?"
Megumi and Tetsuyuki watched the exchange with interest.
"Mondays are okay, Thursdays can be tricky. How about Fridays?"
Before Ranma could answer, Megumi answered for her. "Absolutely not. Fridays are for having fun, not artfully beating the hell out of each other."
Ranma sighed.
"Wednesday or Saturday?" Tenchi offered.
Ranma smiled, "Mondays and Wednesdays."
"That's fine with me," Tenchi said with a nod. "Where?"
By now the group had made it to the front of the women's dorm as Ranma thought about a good place to met.
"We could try one of the athletic fields," she thought aloud. "But usually some sports teams have them tied up in the afternoons."
"I have a suggestion," Tetsuyuki piped in.
Ranma nodded for him to continue.
"There's a park not far from here," he said looking at the pair. "Komabano Park. It's just west of here-"
"Oh yeah," Ranma interrupted as she realized where Tetsuyuki was talking about. "It's just south of where I work on the other side of the Ikenoue tracks."
"What do you think?" Megumi asked, joining the conversation.
"Well... isn't some children's hall located there or something?" Ranma asked.
"So?" Megumi asked.
"Megumi," Tenchi explained. "If we start sparring we might frighten some children that may be there."
"Right," Ranma agreed. "I don't want to scare the hell out of a bunch of kids."
"Can you think of anyplace else?" Tetsuyuki asked
Ranma shook her head no. "We'll just have to make sure that no kids are around before we start."
With the deal set, the girls said their good nights before entering the dorm.
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"Thank you for coming to the Folks Crafts Museum," Ranma said polity with a bow. "If you wish for a guided tour, one will start momentarily. If you prefer, you may move about the exhibits on your own at your leisure."
The group of people at the front were a mixed bag of old and young. The old looking about in with interest, like they were remembering fonder times. The younger ones, those around Ranma's age, looked around in what looked like polite boredom.
After collecting the entrance fees, Ranma offered up a friendly smile and ushered the group through the entrance. At the door, Ranma bowed and held it as each person entered the museum proper. There, Mr. Shindo or another one of the guides would take over and lead the group through the rest of the building and the exhibits. Raising from her bow, she was greeted by one of the younger men from the group who looked at her and smiled.
Ranma sighed internally while holding her smile on the outside.
"Hey, I just wanna know - when do you get off?" he asked her as he smiled in an oh-so-knowing-way.
"I'm sorry," Ranma replied in a very polite, even manner while maintaining her smile. "But that exhibit is currently closed."
With that and a motion from her hand, the slightly dejected young man followed the rest of the tour into the building.
Ranma shook her head. At least he wasn't as lame as the last man that tried to pick her up.
Seeing that no one else was in immediate need her attention, Ranma walked over and removed a straw broom from a cubby. She moved forward and proceeded to sweep the dirt, scraps of paper and other debris from the street that managed to work itself into the front of the building. Once she had collected the small pile, she swept it into a dust pan made of bamboo and deposited the waste in a nearby ash can.
"Miss Yonai," Mrs. Katsuragi said walked in from lunch. "It's good to see you keeping yourself busy."
"Yes, ma'am," Ranma said as she bowed to her supervisor.
"And I thought that was a very clever brush off you gave that young man," she added with a smile. "It fit the atmosphere."
Ranma returned the smile, "Yes ma'am, thank you."
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They met upon the field of honor, with weapons drawn and at the ready.
Each sized up the other, measuring their foe's worth against their own.
The woman, with hair of fire and eyes the color of the sky, held her sword low as she gazed upon her opponent with a look of steel. The man, with eyes as brown as the Earth and just as unyielding, gazed back, holding his weapon in higher in mid position.
The sky, growing gray with overcast, threaten to open up and weep upon the field of battle, as if mourning the soon loss of a great warrior. For whomever fell this day would be a great loss for all, diminishing the whole. But honor is a demanding lord, a cruel taskmaster and unforgiving. It was for honor that the two faced each other.
The combatants, held at the ready, waited for a sign, a signal from the very heavens themselves to commence their battle. The battle to prove who...
Ranma shook her head to clear it. "Man," she thought. "I'll be glad when I'm through with Literature of the Middle Ages, it's starting to weird me out."
"Are you ready?" the pigtailed boy asked.
"Sure, whenever you are," Ranma replied with a nod. "Remember, this is a park - let's try and not tear up the real estate."
Tenchi nodded.
It was a nice park near the campus. Full of trees, small wildlife and even sported two small ponds. It also had a gymnasium, tennis courts and a more important to Ranma, room for a good spar.
Both fighters faced each other about ten feet apart and waited. Then on an unspoken signal, they leapt at each other.
A few hot, sweaty hours later.
Ranma crawled over to Tenchi, who had collapsed onto his rear gasping for breath. He held his bokken in his hands, that was against the side of his face, with the tip seated in the ground to support the weight of his upper body. Maneuvering behind him Ranma drew herself up into a seated position and rested her back against his. She was also panting, trying to catch her breath and gather her strength.
"You're -pant - not bad," she commented.
"You're - pant, pant - no slouch yourself," Tenchi said.
Ranma nodded, while unseen by Tenchi, he was able to feel to motion against his back.
"What... what time is it?" Ranma asked finally catching her breath.
Tenchi turned his wrist to peek at the watch face.
"It's half past five," he answered before adding incredulously, "We been at it this long?"
Ranma smirked, even though it wasn't seen by Tenchi it carried in her voice, "Time flies when you're having fun."
"Yeah...," Tenchi softly replied.
"I gotta hand it to you. No one has been able to keep up with me like you have," Ranma said while mentally adding, "unless I tap into my ki or Senshi powers."
"Er... Thanks," Tenchi replied while pulling at his pigtail nervously.
"I gotta met your grandfather sometime," Ranma continued. "I'd bet he can kick ass, er - I mean, he must be very skilled."
"He'd probably enjoy it," Tenchi said as he smiled. "He's better than me and I just can't seem to quite be good enough to beat him."
"Keep practicing with me and you'll surprise him next time you met," Ranma commented.
They both sat on the ground, in companionable silence for a few moments.
"So," Ranma ventured. "What's home like?"
Tenchi considered the question.
"Okayama is... nice. Where I live it's very rural. The mountains , the trees, the lake...," his voice drifted off.
"Sounds nice," Ranma commented. "Sounds peaceful."
Tenchi snorted. Ranma raised an eyebrow to this. Tenchi shifted around to face Ranma, Ranma stopped leaning against his back to accommodate his movement.
Tenchi looked at Ranma as if he were contemplating something. Ranma looked at him quizzically.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing. It's just that home would be peaceful if it weren't for the fighting," Tenchi confessed.
"Fighting?" Ranma questioned. "Oh yeah. Your roommate said something about a bunch of girls after you or something," Ranma said offhandedly. Noticing the look that Tenchi was giving her, she quickly added, "Don't worry, I've been there, done that, don't want to do it again. Ever."
It was Tenchi's turn to raise an eyebrow. Ranma thought for a moment before continuing.
"You see, my... ex-father was a very dishonorable man," Ranma explained. "He only thought about two things: himself and his stomach. He never thought twice about selling me off to get whatever he wanted."
Tenchi looked at Ranma with a look of sympathetic horror.
"He didn't get as far prostituting me - yet," Ranma added quickly, in case Tenchi got the wrong idea. "But he promised my hand in marriage to god knows how many people to get what he wanted, sometimes it was nothing more than a simple meal."
"What happen then?" Tenchi asked, his curiosity roused.
"Well, we settled at the dojo of an old friend of his, a training partner from way back, he wanted me to marry one of his friends - sons to join the schools. While we stayed in one spot, that gave time for people who wanted to collect on his worthless promises to find us."
Silence fell between the two, giving Ranma time to gather her thoughts.
"Before you know it, I had three or four people trying to get me to marry them. They did it in the name of their honor, imagined love for me, or they thought that they already owned me. They hounded me to make a choice and generally made my life a living hell. I don't think any of them truly cared about what I felt or what I wanted."
Tenchi waited in silence of the redhead to continue.
"My ex-father really intended for me to marry one of his friends sons to join the martial arts schools through marriage. When that fell through he wanted marry his widowed friend. I refused and he disowned me."
Tenchi thought on Ranma's words before responding. "But wouldn't picking or settling down with one of your fiancees put an end to your problems? I mean, if you went with one, wouldn't the others give up?"
Ranma snorted, "Not on your life. I couldn't pick one because that would be like giving the other, jilted fiances a license to kill or start a blood feud. They were a stubborn lot and it wouldn't have been pretty. I had to be very careful not to pick one."
"That bad?" Tenchi asked.
Ranma nodded.
"What about your mother?' Tenchi asked. "What did she think about this?"
"Nothing" Ranma said bitterly. "My ex-father took me away from her to train in the family art when I was five. For the longest time I thought she was dead. When I finally met her after ten years, she might as well have been."
Tenchi looked at his sparring partner carefully, like he was studying her. "I'm sorry," he finally said softly.
Ranma sighed. "Don't be. In the end, getting disowned was probably the best thing that old fool did to me."
A heavy silence fell between them, one that was felt. In the distance, a dog bark and the muffled chatter of people was heard.
Then a low howl was heard. Tenchi held his stomach.
"Hungry?" Ranma asked with a touch of humor.
Tenchi nodded and commented, "Let's get something to eat - I'm starved."
Ranma's stomach rumbled in agreement.
She stood, a little wavering at first, and extended a hand to assist her sparring partner up. He took it without thought and allowed himself to be pulled up into a standing position. Together, with their bokkens over their shoulders, they made their way toward the campus and its cafeteria.
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Ranma jotted down the important bits as the instructor explained how, what and when you would use a particular equation. Ranma thought the subject boring, but managed to stay awake and actually learn something.
When you're paying for something as expensive as a college education, you paid attention.
Ranma was somewhat disappointed in higher education. She found it somewhat vexing how some courses could be ridiculously easy while others more challenging. She was expecting every course to mentally push her to the limits. Instead she found herself breezing through about half of her course work, with chemistry being the only course that pushed her. Dr. Kagaku was a picky bastard at times, but because of that she felt that she was learning a lot.
Her fellow students seemed more interested in activities outside of school then any of their classes. A far cry from the 'always studying and taking tests in a sterile environment' she had first envisioned. She was still disturbed through about how seemingly easy some of her courses were.
Ranma eventually decided that since most of her classes were freshmen level, it was all a warm up for the harder stuff to come later.
In any case, she would keep on her toes.
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It was after another hard sparring session when Tenchi and Ranma made their way back onto the campus. Since beginning their sparring sessions weeks ago, both fighters had become more an more focused in their fighting styles. Though they kept each session down to a hour or two the sheer intensity that they put into it more than made up the limited time they committed to it.
"That was great," Ranma said offhandedly. Sweat dripped from her body, soaking her gi. "There's nothing like a good fight on a spring afternoon to work up an appetite."
Tenchi nodded in agreement. He was also coated in a film of sweat that soaked his outfit. They both made a beeline for something to eat.
"Yeah. I notice that I'm getting better," he said. "I can't wait to try some of the things you showed me on my grandfather."
The conversation kept on the lines of forms used and ways to improve them. Ranma focusing her efforts on getting Tenchi to switch between two unrelated forms smoothly and Tenchi on the basics of some of his families art.
Upon entering the cafeteria, so engrossed in their conversation, that they didn't notice that the crowd parted for them. Waiting in the now sparse line, they collected their food. Spying their roommates at one of the round tables, made their way over to them.
"Mind if we sit with you?" Ranma asked the seated couple.
"No, not at all - damn! What's that smell?" Tetsuyuki said while holding his nose.
Megumi backed away from the standing pair, making a screeching sound with her chair.
"Ranma! I mean, I don't mean to be rude, but you really stink," Megumi said, turning slightly green.
"Huh?" Ranma said stupidly.
"You too Tenchi," Megumi added. "The both of you need to shower - big time."
"We know how much fun it is to work up a sweat," Tetsuyuki said in his annoying suggestive manner. "But can you guys keep it to yourselves?"
The still standing pair blink-blinked. Ranma, in a very unfeminine move, sniffed at her armpits and quickly move her face away from the offending body part. Tenchi just took a deep breath through his nose and wrinkled it. Both turned to one another.
"I think was should find a more isolated spot to eat and then take a quick shower," Tenchi suggested. Ranma replied with a nod and followed Tenchi to an empty part of the cafeteria.
"I don't know about you, Ranma commented while finishing her meal. "Showers are fine, but I could go for a good, long soak."
Tenchi nodded in agreement. "I hear that, but I don't know of any bathhouses around here."
"There's gotta be some, somewhere," Ranma said. "Everybody has showers on campus, so there's gotta be a bathhouse around nearby."
"Tell you what," Tenchi said, still formulating a plan. "Let's go back to our dorms and grab a change of clothes. I'll also grab that local directory guide that came in everyone's room and we'll check it out."
Ranma smiled at him and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
After a quick look at the index, the two smelly martial artists stood before a two story structure, constructed with modern materials sporting a traditional tiled roof. It looked more like a temple than a bath house. The short walk leading to the entrance had a small rock garden on ether side and the sound of water dripping form somewhere filled the air. A sign, lit by a overhead lantern, simply read: Welcome to Meguro Bath.
"Wow, this looks like a nice place," Ranma commented.
"Shall we?" Tenchi said with a gesture.
Upon entering, the pair took in the surroundings. It interior was light in color contrasting with the dark beams that lined the high ceiling, fifteen feet overhead. A shoe locker was arranged immediately at the entrance where they removed their shoes and stowed them in one of the cubbies. Ranma and Tenchi made their way slightly deeper into the building, stopping at the high sitting, horseshoe shaped platform where the female attendant took their money and welcomed them to the baths. The platform also gave the attendant a commanding view of both sides of the bath.
"Well, I guess I'll see you in about an hour?" Ranma said.
Tenchi nodded, "That should be enough time to wash and soak," he said.
With that, the two parted and each headed for the sides of the bath for their sexes.
Ranma found an empty locker and stripped to her birthday suit. She placed her dirty clothes in a plastic bag that she had brought and put them into the basket. In her gym bag, she had brought along some clean ones to change into later. Walking though the rest of the locker room, she enjoyed the feel of the tatami mats under her feet and idly noticed the baby beds placed along the interior wall opposite the lockers. Two held the sleeping forms of babies in them, the other three were empty.
Before entering the bathing area, Ranma picked up a washcloth from a stack and a small 'sample-size' bar of soap that were provided by the bath house. Behind the stacks, was a sign for the attendees of the bath house to please put the used washcloths in the indicated hampers when done and to dispose of used bars of soap in the trash.
Finding a stool in the moderately filled room, Ranma pulled up to one of the faucets and filled the bucket that was resting before it. Dunking the water over her several times, she proceeded to scrub vigorously. She also took the time to look about her. The room was long with a row of faucets on ether side the walls and a row of double sided faucets down the middle. At the end of the room was the bath itself. The bath was filled with women of various ages, some with children.
The men's and women's side of the bath was divided by a wall of about six feet in height.
"Glad we found this place," she thought as she went through her second scrubbing. "I would like to make this a habit after sparring, but before dinner."
A little boy no older than four came running through the wash room, right by the seated Ranma. As carefree as only four year olds can be.
"Ranma!" a women's voice rang out. A middle aged women approached the redhead with a purpose.
Ranma froze and her mind raced, "Do I know her? She doesn't look familiar. I don't think..."
Only to have her thoughts derailed.
"Ranma, what have I told you about running in the bath?" the older lady said scoldingly.
Ranma, still seated, blink-blinked.
"Sorry mommy," a little voice from behind Ranma said.
"You come right here, young man," the woman commanded before breaking into a smile. "Now Ranma, you know what I said about running in places like this..."
Ranma continued to blink-blink. "What in the hey?" she thought as she watched the women lead the child away, gently scolding him all the way.
Ranma felt lost, watching the exchange between mother and child.
"Did my mother ever love me?" she quietly lamented to herself.
Shrugging off the oncoming depression, she returned to rinsing off the remaining soap. Ranma then disposed of the washcloth and the remains of the bar of soap and head for the bath for a soak. Before approaching the bath, Ranma grabbed another towel and did her long hair up into it.
Easing herself into the hot water, Ranma stopped as she got used to the temperature. She let out a tired sigh as she sat down fully.
"This feels so good," she thought as she leaned back against the side of the bath, relaxing in its warmth. "I definitely have to do this more often."
She luxuriated in the waters, letting the tension of the day flow out of her body as the waters caress her skin. With her head resting against the side, the rest of her body slightly floated while still remaining submerged. She was buoyant enough that she barely rested against the bottom of the bath. Ranma's legs and arms felt weightless in the water as her breasts floated and bobbed freely just under the surface of the water. It felt literally like being wrapped in a warm comforter and floating in the weightlessness of space.
Very comfy.
Next thing Ranma knew the female attendant was gently shaking her.
"Miss?" the attendant asked as she gently shook Ranma again. "Miss. Are you awake?"
"Huh? Wha-?" Ranma asked while sitting more fully up, making her body anchor more firmly against the baths bottom.
"Sorry to bother you Miss," the attendant explained apologetically with a smile. "But your boyfriend is waiting up front for you and he got worried."
"Huh? Oh, sorry," Ranma finally realized that she had fallen asleep. Then she blinked. "Wait. How did you know it was me?"
"Your boyfriend said that you had red hair," she explained while still smiling. "And you're the only one in here with red hair."
Ranma nodded, "Tell him I'll be out in a minute." She was so groggy from the hot bath she didn't even dispute the "B" word.
Ranma rubbed her eyes and studied her pruned hands.
"Yeck. How long was I in here?" she wondered aloud.
"About an hour," the attendant answered. "Please excuse me, I must return to my post."
The attendant bowed and headed off to resume her station at the front. Ranma stood up letting the warm water cascade off her body, replaced by the coolness of the room. Stepping out of the bath, she rubbed her arms as goose-bumps sprouted all over her flush body and ignored the other parts that were reacting to the coolness.
Walking by one of the many mirrors, Ranma noted her head was still wrapped in the towel, hiding her hair completely.
"How did she know that I had red..." she thought before her eyes drifted downward. "Oh."
"Sorry I kept you waiting," she said to Tenchi, after changing into the fresh set of clothes she had brought. "I fell asleep in the bath."
"That's all right," he smiled. "I almost did the same thing."
"Man, that felt good though, we gotta do this more often," she stated as she stepped through the door being held open by Tenchi.
"I was thinking of after sparring but before dinner," Tenchi commented as he followed Ranma out into the sidewalk.
Ranma smiled, "That sounds great. I thought the same thing before I fell asleep."
"Great minds think alike," he quipped as they made their way back toward their dorms.
------------------
Ranma dashed through the campus on her way to work. Her last class went a little long and she was running behind because of that. She could do better time jumping above the wide crowded walkway, or roof hop like she did in days of old. But it was a work day and that meant that she was wearing one of her good skirts and leaping above the crowd would just give everyone a free show - especially since she forgot to do laundry yesterday.
"I'm gonna be late. I'm gonna be late," she thought over and over as she dodged through the mob of fellow students that were making their own way around.
"Someone asked one lousy question at the end of class and Dr. Kagaku makes a lecture out of it," as she remembered the reason why she was running late. "A simple yes or no would've done."
As she neared the western edge of the campus and its wall, Ranma decided to throw caution into the wind.
"Screw modestly, I don't wanna be late," she prepared for the leap over the wall. "Besides, there is no one around."
She leapt over the wall with ease, and was greeted by catcalls and whistles from the other side as her skirt flew up revealing the panties underneath. Ranma swore silently to herself . She was wearing her least favorite pair - forest green in color, semitransparent and very, very lacy.
The only reason she had a pair of panties like that was because it was a 'gag gift' from Michiko for her eighteenth birthday. "It goes with your hair," was Michiko's comment when Ranma first held it up for her friends to see.
"I wouldn't be wearing these if I did my wash like I was supposed too," she sighed as she entered the grounds of the Folks Crafts Museum. "At least I made it with time to spare."
Ranma smiled as she slipped into her work jacket, thinking of the planned revenge she was going to get on Michiko's next birthday: a transparent pink thong.
Revenge would be sweet.
-------------
"I'm hungry," Ranma said as she stretched out from her chair. Cocking her head , she looked at the alarm clock placed near her bed. "I'm going to grab something to eat. Want to join me?"
Megumi looked at the time and replied, "If you can wait five minutes, I can. I want to finish this first."
Ranma nodded and settled back into her chair and thumbed through her text book. She flipped though a few pages and hadn't really even begun to read when Megumi eyed the clock on her desk and abruptly announced, "Oh. Let's go." Quickly setting her pen down next to her work, she scampered over to where they kept their shoes by the front door.
Ranma blinked over the book in her hands before asking, "I thought you wanted to finish what you were doing first?"
"This can wait," she said while slipping on her shoes. "I'm hungry and this can wait. C'mon, let's go."
Ranma replied with a shrug of her shoulders and slipped into her shoes as well.
Soon after, Ranma and Megumi made their way to the nearby cafeteria and waited in line as other students that were being served. It was a big, clean and decorated impersonally. Each rectangular table in the room sat six people and were arranged in long rows with breaks between every two or three groups. The circular tables seated four and were scattered individually around the large room. The fluorescent lights that reflected off the smooth surface of the floor were annoying to the eyes and the off white color of the walls didn't help either.
The food was okay most of the time. Meaning that it wasn't anything special and it kept you alive. The only time that it got bad was when they had leftovers - in those occasions, toxic waste looked better than what was served. Even at those times, the food wouldn't be as deadly as a certain tomboy's cooking from two years ago, but it would taste almost as bad.
"I hope it's something decent today," Megumi commented. "I hate when they try to push leftovers."
Ranma nodded, "I know, if it's bad enough the first time around, what makes them think it will improve with age?"
"Hey girls, what's up?" a voice called from behind the pair.
"Tetsuyuki! Tenchi! It's good to see you two," Megumi said with a smile. "Imagine running into you here."
Tenchi nodded, "Yeah, we usually eat later than this, but Tetsuyuki here insisted that we eat first before hitting the books tonight."
Tetsuyuki nodded," I thought it would be a good idea, that way we don't have to worry about missing out on something to eat."
"We never have before," Tenchi commented.
"Change will do us good," Tetsuyuki replied, then added with a smile, "Besides we get to eat with two beautiful young ladies."
Ranma felt irritated with Tetsuyuki. There was something about the man that just made her skin crawl. But since her roommate seemed to like him, she kept her tongue.
"Hi Tenchi," Ranma address said person. "How's the shoulder?"
Tenchi smiled, "Fine. Your ankle?"
"A little stiff, but it'll be all right," Ranma answered. "I just won't try any fancy moves next time like I did yesterday, that's all."
Tenchi was about to say something more before Tetsuyuki interrupted with a smile, "You guys are seeing each other?"
Tenchi responded without thought, "Yes, we agreed to spar about twice a week now."
"Sparring?! No dating?" Megumi asked, looking puzzled between the two.
"No. It's not like that," Ranma explained. "Tenchi promised his grandfather that he'd keep up on his sword practice and I needed someone to challenge me between visits from my Master."
"Ranma," Megumi commented, "you don't have a romantic bone in your body, do you?"
Ranma thought seriously about that before answering, "If I did, it got broken a long time ago."
After a relatively quiet meal, the four strolled back to there dorms. Tenchi and Ranma walked silently side by side, following behind Megumi and Tetsuyuki.
"You mind if I ask you something?" Tenchi asked quietly, hesitantly.
"Shoot."
"What did you mean mean about, well, your 'romantic bone' being broken?"
"Oh. That," Ranma answered in a dismissive way. "It's just that a long time ago, I had people who I thought of as family... they turned their backs on me, betrayed me when I needed them the most. Any notion of love and romance and that kinda stuff took a nose dive after that."
"Oh. I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry."
"It's okay," Ranma said with a wave of her hand. "That was years ago and now I'm with a family that pretty much restored my faith in such things."
Tenchi fell into silent contemplation.
"I see...," he worked out slowly, "but you're still afraid that you might be hurt or betrayed again, right?"
It was Ranma's turn for silent contemplation.
"As much as I love and care for my adopted family - that is... something that I fear," Ranma admitted softly.
Silence fell between the two again, this time an uncomfortable one.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked," Tenchi said apologetically.
"No," Ranma said in the same soft voice before switching to a more confident one. "It's all right - like I said, it was a long time ago."
-------------
"Now class, I know I've harped about this many times in the past," Dr. Kagaku said with a scowl on his face. "But since some of you last Friday chose to ignore safety regulations, I am forced to go over it again."
Ranma joined the class as it groaned as a whole.
"Most of you are following the rules," he continued, "and I thank you. I am well aware that it is warming up comfortably outside, however that is not an excuse for the wearing of sandals in the lab area."
Many in the class glared at the guilty parties.
"And I know that safety glasses are not the most chic thing to wear, but I do believe that they work better covering the eyes and not as hair decorations."
Some of the girls in the class shifted uncomfortably.
"Since some chose not to take these rules seriously, I am forced to use... extreme measures. Therefore from here on out, anyone caught not adhering to the safety codes will receive a failing grade for that assignment. Do I make my self clear?"
"Yes sir," the class chorused.
Dr. Kagaku eyes seemed to glare at each and every member of the class.
"Good," he finally said after satisfying himself that his point had been made. "Now maybe we can move on to more interesting matters. Today we will cover chapters six through eight. I assume that all of you have already read the material..."
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Ranma was writing.
Make that Ranma was trying to write.
It was torture, pure torture.
She had completed her fourth draft of her term paper and she had just finished rereading it. It was better than the last draft, but she knew it still left something to be desired. After looking too long at her work, she wasn't sure if what she was reading was what she wrote, or if it was what she thought she wrote.
Either way her brain was tired.
A soft snore came from across the small room as Megumi rolled over onto her back. Ranma never could figure out how Megumi could keep her GPA up as little as she seemed to study. That made Ranma come to three conclusions on her roommate: she was very smart, she might have some secret techniques for studying or may be a combination of the two.
Ranma sighed. It was late. Later than she really wanted it to be. With classes in the morning, work mid-day and more classes in the afternoon, she had a full day laid out for her tomorrow. It didn't help that she had a sparring match planned with Tenchi in the evening.
"I could drop that and rest up," she thought, "but I don't want to give up the only highlight of my day."
With a yawn and a stretch, Ranma snapped off the desk light and felt her way to her waiting bed.
-------------
Sweat danced off Ranma's brow as she parried another assault from Tenchi. It was becoming a welcome habit, sparring with Tenchi twice a week. Ranma felt she was keeping on top of her form and was slowly picking up some of Tenchi's style by observation and being on the other end of the fight.
"If this keeps up, I'll have to tap into my ki to keep up with him," Ranma thought grimly.
It was Ranma's turn to go on the offensive. She weaved around Tenchi's defenses and almost tagged him. At the last instant however, Tenchi moved slightly sideways avoiding the blade portion of Ranma's bokken. Ranma retracted it before she over extended herself, and used her bokken to block a sweep from Tenchi.
"Crap," Ranma thought in frustration. "Could he be tapping into - of course! I'm such an idiot! There was something goofy with his ki the first time we met. I never got around to checking that out."
Dodge. Parry. Thrust.
"Let's see what's there," she thought as she focused on her opponents ki. Ranma took the time and studied Tenchi - carefully, as she dodge and blocked his attacks. Her brow furrowed.
"There is something going on with his ki - it's like it's drawing or absorbing ki from the surrounding... space?"
She narrowed her eyes and studied the flow around Tenchi as much as her martial arts training and non-Senshi state would allow.
"It's not being absorbed, it's being generated and funneled around him in a pattern," she looked about the pigtailed boy, studying the flow of energy that surrounded him. "It's coming around and focusing on him from... one... two... three directions with him at the center, like arms or something."
Studying the patterns in detail, she concluded, "Most of the power seems to be in in a powered down or inert state. It also seems that each arm is made up of groups of three smaller arms, totaling nine power arms around him."
Ranma dodged another round of attacks by Tenchi. She was still on the defensive, studying Tenchi's ki when his bokken almost connected with her shoulder. She let out a grunt from the effort needed to reverse her blade to block it.
"This type of energy almost looks like something the Senshi have," she concluded. "I wonder if he is even aware of this... maybe not. Maybe he has to... transform in some way to fully use it."
Then a thought struck her as she dodged yet another thrust.
"Could he be another male Senshi like Tuxedo Mask? I have to get a hold of Ami and have her look it up on the Mercury computer."
Ranma filed that bit away as she turned her full attention back to the fight and switched from defense to offense.
Another sweaty hour later...
After the spar the two found themselves in what was becoming a familiar position: sitting on the ground, back to back, talking.
"Ya' know," Ranma began. "I told you about the problems I had, what about you? I mean what's with these girls that hound you back home?"
Tenchi though as he leaned his back into Ranma's.
"Well, there are two main ones who - well, want me. They fight over me constantly. I tried to keep the peace, but sometimes it was too much for me."
"That bad?" Ranma asked. "Most guys would be thrilled to have women fighting over them."
"Were you thrilled to have three or four guys fighting over you?" Tenchi shot back, a little more forcefully then he intended. "Sorry, it's just not a fun situation to be in."
"I hear that," Ranma agreed. "I'm sure that there didn't go as far as my suitors did. Hell, they'd knock down walls, damage buildings, try drugs, mind manipulations and all kinds of other stuff to try and get me. And in the end they would blame me for their fights."
Tenchi nodded. "I just wish those two would get along," Tenchi mumbled before continuing. "After those two got finished fighting, the house would be so damaged that we practically had to rebuild it."
"But let me guess, through all of this you didn't want to really hurt any of their feelings," Ranma said. "Right?"
Tenchi nodded.
"Well for what it's worth, you sounded like you had the same type of problems I did," Ranma commented.
"What did you do to solve them?"
"I got disowned."
Tenchi remained silent as he thought about one of the previous conversations he had with his sparring partner and nodded. The silence that fell between them grew allowing the sounds of the park to intrude. Wind swept by, making the leaves in the surrounding trees rustle and the making Ranma's long, red mane move about.
"Tenchi?" Ranma asked, breaking the stillness between them.
"Yes?"
"I notice that you always mention your grandfather. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but what about your folks? What did they think about your situation?"
Tenchi remained quiet for a few moments before answering, "My mom passed away when I was young, my dad... well, he's always working and he's kinda of a pervert."
"A pervert?"
Tenchi nodded as he continued to lean against Ranma's back. "Yeah. One time, about two years ago, one one the girls tried to sneak into my bed. Instead of putting a stop to it, he grabbed a camcorder to try and tape any... results."
Ranma thought of the implications of that statement.
"Eww," Ranma said while wrinkling her nose. "He is a pervert."
"Right," Tenchi agreed.
------------
Ranma knocked on the door and waited.
After a short wait, a girl, that Ranma assumed was Ami's roommate, answered the door. She had shoulder length jet black hair, medium built, a heart shaped face with expressive eyes and short. But still slightly taller than Ranma.
Ranma sighed, was everyone taller than her?
"May I help you?" the girl asked with a musical voice.
"Oh," Ranma started sheepishly. "Is Ami here? I really need to talk to her."
"She's in the shower right now," the girl answered. "She shouldn't be long though. You're welcome to come in and wait if you want."
Ranma thought about it for the briefest of moments before answering, "No. That's alright. Can you tell her that Ranma dropped by and to get with -"
"Eriko, who's at the door?" came a voice from within.
"Oh. Ami someone is here to see you," the girl then said over her shoulder before turning her attention back to Ranma. "She's out of the shower. Come on in."
Ranma entered the room that was a clone of the one she shared with Megumi. Ami was standing in the middle of the living area between the beds, wrapped in a yellow robe with a beige towel around her hair.
"Ranma! This is a surprise," Ami said as a greeting to the redhead. "What brings you here?"
Umm...." Ranma started, eyeing Ami's roommate.
"Oh. Sorry," Ami said, making the introductions. "Ranma this is Eriko Akutagawa. She's my roommate from Sapporo. Eriko this is Ranma Yonai. Ranma's also from Juuban."
"Hi", "Pleased to met you." The two girls said.
"What brings you by?" Ami inquired while drying her hair.
"I have a... computer question for you," Ranma answered carefully. "Can you get away and help me with it?"
Ami caught the tone and understood what Ranma was getting at.
"Sure. Give me a minute to get dressed and we'll head on out."
"Thanks Ami," Ranma said. Turning her attention to Ami's roommate Ranma struck up a conversation while Ami sorted through her drawers for something to wear.
"So Eriko, what are you majoring in?"
"Well, I'm concentrating on getting my base courses out of the way," she answered softly, uncertainly. "But I hope to major in microbiology. You?"
"Chemistry," Ranma replied with a smile while thinking, "Man, this girl is mousy."
"Okay," Ami chimed in. "I'm ready."
Ranma blink-blinked at that and thought, "Since when did she start getting ready to go anywhere fast? Oh yeah, that was Usagi."
"It was nice meeting you Eriko. Hope to see you around," Ranma said polity.
Eriko smiled thinly and nodded.
Soon both fellow Senshi were walking in the open space between some of the dorms and the gymnasium, the larger of the two, heading for a more open part of the campus. Ranma scanned the area nearby with her much muted senshi abilities to make sure there were no other people around.
"We're alone," Ranma said as they continued to make their way toward the athletic ground, the one with the track. It was a good place to talk, it was open enough to spot anyone coming upon them and two girls out for a stroll on the track didn't draw any attention to those who happened to see them.
"What's up?" Ami asked the redhead beside her as they walked.
"I need you to look in the Lunar archives and see if any other male scouts were created," Ranma spoke in a quiet, even voice.
A silence fell between the pair as Ami digested what was said.
"Another male scout? Like Tuxedo Mask? Why?" Ami asked in a clarifying way.
Ranma nodded, "Yeah. There's something weird about my sparring partner. His ki is... really unusual. It's different in many ways from what we have, that is what the Senshi have, but similar enough to make me wonder."
"You mean to tell me you're going out with a guy that might be a Senshi?" Ami asked.
"No, I'm not going out with him," Ranma explained, heading off any romantic notions in Ami's head. "He's just a sparring partner. Anyway, can you look it up please?"
Ami nodded. "Sure. If there is another male scout, he should be in the computer. I'll check it out later tonight after I finish using the computer for my homework and let you know if I find out anything. If it's classified like your files were, I'd have to wait and get Usagi to help me with it."
Ranma nodded absently before blink-blinking.
"You use your computer for school work?" Ranma asked, slightly alarmed. "Isn't that like... cheating or something?"
"No," Ami answered slightly defensive. "It's not cheating. I'm using it as anyone else would do to look up information and research from the internet."
"With the Mercury Computer?!" Ranma exclaimed.
Ami shrugged her shoulders. "It's not like my roommate ever noticed anything. Besides, I configured it to look more like an ordinary laptop. My roommate has a laptop that's about the size of the Mercury computer and uses that to look up stuff - so who's going to know the difference?"
"With the Mercury Computer?!" Ranma exclaimed again.
Ami sighed.
"Ranma, you really need to learn to relax. It's okay. Okay?"
Ranma sighed and nodded before saying in a slightly claimer voice, "Okay."
"I'm heading home this weekend to visit my mom. How about you?" Ami asked.
"Can't, I've got to work this Saturday," Ranma replied. "Anyway Michiko won't be home until next week, so I'm planning on going then and it's only a day trip."
Ami nodded. "Anyway, like I was saying, if I can't find anything right off the bat, I'll see about getting together with Usagi - you know what that means."
Ranma nodded and thought, "After all this time, you think Usagi would figure out how to use a computer."
With that the two girls headed back towards the dorms.
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