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 3
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Tenchi worked the math problem in front of him as his roommate flitted about, getting ready for the evening's activities. He was trying to concentrate, but the noises that Tetsuyuki made "getting dolled up for the babes" made it almost impossible. Tenchi sighed in defeat.
He sat and watched Tetsuyuki as he moved about his cluttered side of the dorm room. The room was configured exactly like the rooms in the girl's dorms. While Tenchi kept his side of the room neat and relatively orderly, Tetsuyuki's side looked like the aftermath of an earthquake. Tenchi drew the line after a half eaten box of instant noodles had been left atop Tetsuyuki's desk - for two weeks.
"Going out?" Tenchi asked, making small talk while hoping that he would get some peace and quiet.
"Yes, we are," Tetsuyuki answered.
Tenchi blink-blinked. "We?" he said. "I can't Tetsuyuki, I have to finish this before the weekend is over."
"That's what tomorrow is for," Tetsuyuki said smartly. "C'mon, man. You don't want to disappoint the babes."
Tenchi sighed as he stared at his math book. He knew this was a losing battle.
"C'mon, Tenchi," Tetsuyuki prodded. "You mean to tell me you don't want to see Ranma? She's expecting you, you know."
Tenchi considered that.
"She's expecting me, huh?" he thought. "Probably wants to talk martial arts."
"Okay," Tenchi relented. "If she expecting me, I'll go."
Tetsuyuki nodded his head and returned to 'spiffing' himself up.
"So," Tetsuyuki started casually as looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was poofing up his tip dyed hair some more. "How are you and her getting along anyways?"
"Okay, I guess," Tenchi answered as he hunted his shoes down. "She seems nice enough and she's keeping me in shape."
"Oh I bet she does," Tetsuyuki said suggestively as he finished with his hair. "How far have you gotten with her?"
"Oh, we did some iaido the other day," Tenchi answered nonchalantly.
"Iaido?" Tetsuyuki queried. "Is that from the Kama Sutra or something?"
"From who?" Tenchi asked.
"Ya know," Tetsuyuki said. "The Kama Sutra"
Tenchi stared at his roommate blankly.
"That old book with about a hundred sex positions in it," Tetsuyuki explained.
"Sex?! No!" Tenchi shot out indignantly. "I'm talking about handling your opponent without moving from your spot, not sex."
"Sword play?" Tetsuyuki asked.
Tenchi nodded.
"Tenchi, I don't know about you sometimes," Tetsuyuki commented while shaking his head. "All you do with her is play with your swords," he then leaned close to Tenchi and quietly added, wiggling his eyebrows, "you know there are other ways two can play."
"It's not like that," Tenchi defended. "She's just a friend. Nothing more."
Tetsuyuki looked at his seated roommate and studied him.
"Then you wouldn't mind if I ask her out sometime?" Tetsuyuki finally asked, leaning back away from Tenchi.
Tenchi froze for the briefest of instances, considering the question. It bothered him for some reason. He then shook his head.
"No, of course not," he answered firmly. "But what about Megumi? Aren't you two getting along?"
"Yeah, everything's great now," Tetsuyuki answered smartly. "I'm just planning ahead, just in case things sour. That's all."
Tenchi just shook his head as he readied himself for the night.
Then the phone rang.
At the cafeteria...
Tetsuyuki sat down next to Megumi as Ranma ate her meal.
"How's it going ladies?" he asked.
"Pretty good," Megumi answered. "Where's your roommate?"
"He's coming," Tetsuyuki explained while shoveling some rice into his face. "He's dealing with some problems from home."
"Oh," Ranma asked curious to what was going on. "What kind of problems?"
"Didn't ask," Tetsuyuki answered. "But, he was pretty irate with whomever was on the other end of the phone."
Ranma nodded and returned to her meal, tuning out her roommate and her boyfriend's conversation. In spite of Tetsuyuki's assertion that Tenchi would show up, he didn't that evening's meal.
---------------
Ranma reached over and picked up the ringing phone from the desk of her roommates where it rested.
"Hello?" she asked into the receiver.
"Ranma?" the voice on the other end asked.
"This is she. Who may I ask is calling?"
"Ranma, it's me. Ami."
"Oh! Hi Ami. Sorry, you didn't sound like you. What's up?"
"Just calling to let you know I didn't find anything on that computer problem you were having."
"Computer problem? What com-, Oh! That. You found nothing?"
"That's right. I'm going home this weekend, so I'll try and get together with Usagi and see if we can find out anything that way."
"Sorry to hear that."
"Me too."
-----------------
School was going much better than Ranma expected, suspiciously so.
She had time to reflect on this unexpected development many times as she walked the campus from one class to another.
"When are the instructors going to hit us with the hard stuff?" Ranma groused to herself. "They gotta be holding back or something. College can't be this easy."
She weaved around a group of students that were congregating in conversation, obstructing part of the walkway.
"At least Dr. Kagaku is challenging me," she thought. "But even that class is going smoothly."
Except for an occasional misfire in the lab portion of chemistry, she was doing more than fine in that class.
"I'm glad I wasn't responsible for the last fire in the lab," Ranma thought as she remembered the incident. The chewing out given to the guilty party wasn't pretty.
"Poor Hikaru," Ranma lamented her classmate. "It was an honest mistake."
The problem now facing Ranma was boredom. When she wasn't studying, working or being dragged to The Cute Rabbit by Megumi, she had plenty of time with nothing to do. There was only so much studying a person could do, so many hours they could work and a limit to singing and dancing.
For martial arts however, there was never such a thing as too much, too long or a limit.
"There is no such thing as too much martial arts," Ranma thought with a smile. "I hope Tenchi is enjoying our twice, sometime three times weekly sparring sessions like I am."
She approached the building for her next class. "It's the highlight of my day."
As she entered the building, some random guy held the door open for her as he was exiting. She rewarded him with a smile and continued on.
"Although Tenchi has been moody lately," she reflected on the past few sessions they'd had. "It's anything from cheery to sour."
Entering her classroom, she found her seat.
"I wish I could help him," she batted that though around her head before shaking it. "But I don't have the right to pry."
-----------------
Tenchi looked forward to his matches with Ranma. It was a good way to wind down the day and relax.
"At least she isn't trying to claim me or marry me like the others," he thought as he approached the park where they sparred. "Then again, she doesn't know I'm a intergalactic prince."
Tenchi smiled as he saw Ranma already at the meeting place, going through some warm up katas. He slowed his approach and watched as she flowed through one form into the next. Her long, red hair, done up into a ponytail, danced behind her, accentuating the gracefulness of every move she made. Her body swayed in one direction as she moved her bokken in the opposite. This didn't seem to diminish the power of the blow and it looked more like a dance than a kata.
The focus, the concentration on her face was clearly evident. The piercing blue eyes hid the mind of a skilled martial artist. Not only in the art of weapons, as Tenchi learned from an early demonstration, unarmed combat as well.
"I like watching her like this," Tenchi thought to himself as he resumed his walk toward his sparring partner. "It's like a natural state for her."
Ranma noticed Tenchi nearing and stopped her kata. She greeted him with a warm smile.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Let me stretch and warm up first," he responded. "Wouldn't want to pull anything."
Ranma nodded and resumed her kata where she had left off. Tenchi did his own, but continued to watch Ranma as she did hers.
---------------
It had been a month since she last visited and this would only be her third time since school started.
Ranma took the opportunity to soak up the familiar scenery. The gaudy "Team Leader Clothes and Fashions" clothing on one side, the multilayer collection of shops inhabiting the building opposite and sandwiched in between was the "Yoshi Cafe' American".
It was good to be home.
Ranma strode up to the door and tried the knob, it was locked as she half expected it to be since it was still early. Fumbling with her pants pocket, she found and removed the key and used it to unlock the door and enter the restaurant.
Looking about the dining room, Ranma was filled with a sense of... nostalgia. She was home and felt like she'd been gone forever. She was about to make her way to the stairs, when a welcome figure entered the room from the kitchen wiping her hands on a hand towel.
"Ranma!" Akiko said. "Come here and let me give you a hug,"
"Granny!" Ranma answered excitedly.
After a brief but heartfelt hug, Akiko disengaged and asked, "Is this another day visit or are you staying longer?"
"It's just for the day," Ranma answered. "I have ta - er, to go to work tomorrow. So I'll be heading back around sunset."
"Oh? Too bad you can't stay longer," Akiko said slightly disappointed. "Summer break will be coming up though, how do you stand on that?"
"Well," Ranma began as she pulled out a pocket calendar to check her dates. "I'll have to work the first four weeks, every day except Mondays. I'm still planning on coming home and just riding the bus to and from work. After that the Museum will be closed for exhibit changes until about mid-August, just before school starts up again. That means I'll be free for about the last half of summer break."
Akiko smiled. "Good," she said. "It's been too quiet without you girls here."
"Where's Michiko?" Ranma asked.
"She got in late last night. She's probably still asleep..."
"Ranma!" Michiko cried dashing from the stairway.
"Sis!" Ranma answered as the two girls collided in a hug.
"How are you doing?"
"Fine how's..."
"... okay, Nekomi has the coolest motor club..."
"... you joined a club? I tried for Kendo, but..."
"... how's Tokyo U? Is it as..."
"... easy. Surprisingly so. How are you and Jiro ..."
"... great! We're getting together later at..."
Akiko stood and watched the rapid fire exchange between the two girls. She smiled as she remembered a time when she was able to talk at the same time as her friends and still able to hold the conversation.
"... pretty good at that. Tenchi can keep up and..."
"Whoa girl! Back up. Tenchi? Who's Tenchi?" Michiko asked.
Silence.
"He's just a friend that spars with me a couple of times a week," Ranma answered.
"A friend? As in boyfriend?" Michiko prodded while wagging her eyebrows.
"No, sis, it's not like that," Ranma explained with a wave of her hand. "He's just a friend that's a guy that I spar with. That's all."
"I see. Just a friend that happens to be a boy that spars with you."
"Right," Ranma reaffirmed with a nod.
"A friend that's a boy," Michiko clarified.
"Right."
"A boyfriend."
"Right."
Silence.
"Mi-chi-ko!" Ranma wailed as she grabbed the towel from Akiko's hands and chased a giggling Michiko around the dining room. The occasional snapping of a rolled up towel mixed with the shrieks of playfully yelping filled the room as Ranma swatted at the backside of her sister.
Yes, it was good to be home.
---------------------
Ranma headed off to class. It had been a week and a half since her visit home and she felt odd about it. On one hand, it was great to see her friends and family again. It made it feel like old times and it was fun catching up on what everyone was doing. On the other hand though, it felt weird. Even Michiko admitted she felt the same way during one of their gab sessions before Ranma had to leave. It was like it was good to be home, but it was good to get away from home.
"Maybe it's all part of growing up," Ranma thought as she dodged several of her classmates. "Akiko did warn us that we would be changing as we got older."
Ranma sighed at the thought of getting older. Not that growing old scared her, it was the unknown changes that her future held that gave her the willies.
"I guess you don't notice growing up when it's happening to you," Ranma reflected. "Michiko's changed a bit. She's more charged up about engines and motorcycles than before and she also a bit more mischievous. She's turning more into a practical joker than ever."
"At least her and Jiro are getting along," Ranma thought as she took her seat. "I hope it all stays that way for them. They're a good match."
--------------------
Tenchi rolled over in his half sleep. Half sleep because his roommate was snoring so loudly that it made full sleep impossible. He sighed.
"Oh well," Tenchi thought sleepily. "It's still quieter than hearing Ryoko and Ayeka arguing."
He snuggled down under the covers deeper, hoping to block out the sound of the buzz-saw laying five feet from him. He sighed again.
Popping his head from beneath the covers, Tenchi looked at the clock next to his bed.
"It's early. It's Saturday. It's early. Sigh. Might as well -," his thoughts were interrupted by a particularly loud snort from a sleeping Tetsuyuki before resuming his regularly loud snoring. "Might as well get up."
With that, Tenchi kicked off the covers and swung his feet over the side of the bed. Sitting on the edge, he allowed himself to get used to the relative coolness of the room after the warmness of the covers. Standing and stretching, Tenchi carefully picked his way through his shared room. He instinctively stepped over discarded drink bottles and food wrappers that his roommate left so conveniently on the floor. Tenchi found Tetsuyuki was a nice, outgoing person who worked hard and played just as hard.
He just wished that Tetsuyuki was less of a slob.
After dressing, he made his way out of the dorm. It was early, far earlier than he would've liked. The sun was barely high enough above the horizon. The light mixed with the somewhat heavy, low hanging fog lent an air of creepiness in the morning grey.
It was surreal.
Patchy islands of mist hung scattered here and there. Each patch seemed to hang at different heights, from just above the tops of the grass to about two feet of the air.
It was very quiet.
The silence was interrupted by the sounds of Tenchi's footfalls on the pavement and the occasional bird chirping somewhere, lost in the mists of the morning. Tenchi took it all in as he headed toward the direction of the cafeteria with the hopes and intentions of an early breakfast.
As he took a short cut through the rear of the group of buildings, where there was nothing but maintenance shacks and air conditioning condensers, something caught his eye.
Movement.
What looked to be a figure was dancing in the mists in the ordinary deserted spaces between the dorms. He wasn't sure at first if what he was seeing wasn't a trick of the eye caused by the unusual lighting of the morning or the patches of mist hanging here and there. But something or someone was definitely moving about.
Curious, Tenchi moved closer.
Someone, dressed in what looked to be a gi, was moving through a kata with extra ordinary skill. Tenchi concentrated on the sight, the color of the gi was hard to make out through a particularly ill-place patch of mist, but he believed the color to be blue. He moved slowly, looking for a better vantage point. The figure in the blue gi suddenly shot straight up into the air and disappeared into the low laying fog.
Tenchi froze, not knowing what to make of what he just saw.
Just when he decided to move on, the figure alighted from where it had taken off from.
"That was amazing. I wonder if Ranma knows about this?" Tenchi thought to himself. "She'll probably challenge him to a -"
Tenchi's thoughts were cut off as the patch of obscuring mist lifted, affording him a look at the mysterious practitioner of martial arts. The first thing he noted was the red hair, done up in a ponytail and the wonderful feminine figure that was silhouetted by the pink bricks of the building. Tenchi recognized the figure.
It was Ranma.
She began moving through a complex series of katas again, in a graceful and fluid manner. What really drew Tenchi's eye was the bursts of speed that she threw into the katas sporadically. One moment she was in a crane stance, the next she literally blurred into motion, her arms and legs moving with such speed that they were impossible to see. Ranma's body became indistinct with the rapid movement and her hair seemed to take on a life of its own. When it was all over, she was back in her beginning stance.
Even across the distance between them, Tenchi could tell that she wasn't even breathing hard.
"She's been holding back on me," Tenchi though as he observed Ranma going through her morning workout. "She's never that fast when she spars with me."
Tenchi was about to call out to her when Ranma fell into a relaxed pose with one hand on her hip and faced another person that Tenchi didn't notice before.
The stranger was a man between two and three feet tall, elderly and troll-like. He was addressing Ranma while waving at her with his pipe while his other hand did some gestures that Tenchi couldn't make out. Tenchi couldn't hear what was being said, but Ranma was nodding her head and commenting on whatever was being said. Her voice carried in the air when Ranma spoke, but distance made the words unclear.
Tenchi watched as the little old man put his pipe away into the folds of his purple gi and cupped the palms his hands and held them apart about one foot. What happened next made Tenchi's hair stand on end. A faint glow pulsed back and forth, like a tiny, brilliant spark, from one tiny hand into the other and a faint outline appeared around the man.
"A battle aura!" Tenchi thought to himself. "Grandfather told me of martial artist masters being able to generate one. But I've never seen one from a human before."
As suddenly as he began, he stopped and said more words to Ranma. Ranma nodded and replied something.
"This must be the Master that Ranma mentioned who comes by and trains and tests her every now and then," Tenchi concluded. "I better not disturb their-"
What happened next made Tenchi's hair really stand on end.
Ranma cupped her hands, mimicking the elder man's actions. The faint glow that pulsed between Ranma's hands became a ball of fire, six inches across. Tenchi could sense the power flowing back and forth. Suddenly Ranma's body was engulfed in a bright aura that made her look like she was the center of a blazing bonfire. The light from Ranma's aura scattered in the light morning haze. Tenchi felt the power of, even from this distance. It was as obvious as if he were standing next to an open furnace.
That's when he heard the troll like man speak clearly in the morning air.
"Control. Control!" he admonished the redhead. The redhead aura flickered out. "You're doing better, but you need to rein it in ..." and the rest was lost as the little man return to speaking in a normal voice.
Tenchi, forgetting about breakfast, made his way back inside his dorm before he could be spotted.
"So powerful," he though as stood in the entranceway of his dorm. He was slightly sweating from the casual display of power. "No one - at least not a normal person - can be that powerful."
He sat down in one of the many empty couches in the lobby and pondered this latest development. Resting an elbow on his knee and his chin on his upturned palm, he thought deeply about what he saw and felt.
"There's no way that they could be human," Tenchi concluded before reconsidering. "Maybe the old man if he is a martial arts master. Grandfather often spoke of masters reaching a level of harvesting their ki for a battle aura - but that's supposed to take decades to learn! "
He pursued that line of thought.
"Ranma's is my age, though. She couldn't have that much of a battle aura this early in life, even if she's trained since walking. Unless..."
Straightening up in his chair, Tenchi leaned back on the couch and stared out the glass doors into the morning.
"Could it be like - the Wings of the Light Hawk?" Tenchi pondered. "Except hers is not only around her, it was coming from her."
He continued to stare out the glass doors, from the direction he came from. The direction where Ranma was practicing.
"Could she be part Juraian?" he questioned to himself. "Maybe I should ask her when we spar later this morning.
He shook his head, "No. I know I'm going to regret this, but I'm going to call Washu and see what she thinks."
Tenchi reentered his dorm room and after a brief search, located the phone under a pile of discarded clothes by following the cable from the wall to the handset. He wanted to ask Washu before he was supposed to meet up with Ranma for their Saturday morning sparring session. He dialed the number he knew by heart and waited.
"Hello, Sasami? It's Tenchi," he said into the phone.
"Tenchi! It's good to hear from you," a friendly voice said over the line. "Would you like to speak with either Ayeka or Ryoko?"
"No thank you, Sasami," Tenchi replied in a surprisingly cheery way. "I don't wish to speak with them. Could you please get Washu for me?"
"Certainly," Sasami replied. "It will just a moment, Tenchi."
"Thanks."
Tenchi waited. While doing so he absently played with the telephone cord with his fingers, twirling it around and then letting it uncoil. He kept one eye on his still sleeping roommate whose buzz saw snoring had finally diminished to the loudness of a mere handsaw.
"Hello?" came a sleepy voice.
"Hello? Washu?" He began.
"Tenchi?" Washu asked, waking slightly. "Do you know what time it is? And why not use the-"
"Yes, I know," Tenchi interrupted, not wanting to hear the sales pitch on her latest, greatest communications invention. "But I would rather use more conventional means of communicating. It's less noticeable."
"Humph. You're no fun anymore," Washu whined before continuing in a more serious tone. "What can I do for you?"
"The reason I called," Tenchi explained. "Is to ask you if you have anything that can detect Jurai energy?"
"Of course I do," Washu answered in a happy voice, proudly. "I have many devices that I've designed over the years just for that purpose. Why?".
"Why? Well there's this...," Tenchi paused and carefully considered what he was going to say next, "... person that has something similar to it and I wanted to know if it's Jurai or not."
"A person who has powers like Jurai royalty?" Washu queried. "I must meet this person. If he has such powers, it would bear investigation and-"
"No you can't use her as a guinea pig," Tenchi said, hoping to cut any of Washu's plans off at the pass. He then mentally cursed himself as he realized his mistake.
A long pause.
"Her?! You mean to tell me that there is a female with-" Washu began before being interrupted from her end this time.
"Who is this 'her'?" another voice, heard in the background, asked.
"Is that Tenchi on the phone?" a different voice asked.
"What are you talking about?!"
"Is there another girl after my Tenchi?!"
"Your Tenchi?! You mean my..."
"NO!" Tenchi shouted exasperatedly into the phone, trying to clarify his error. "She's just a friend. Not a girlfriend. A friend."
If anyone heard, they didn't indicate it. He knew it was going to be awhile before things settle down and a meaningful conversation took place. Realizing that, he sat on the edge of his bed and listened to his roommate snore blissfully unaware how lucky he was not to have to possessive maniacs after him. Tenchi sighed as he heard the fighting escalate on the other end of the line.
Two combatants clashed in the early morning.
The mist shrouded park echoed with the sharp reports of two bokkens clashing together. Ranma went on the offensive, pushing Tenchi back. Ranma and Tenchi moved together and apart, each thrusting their weapons in an effort to surmount the others defenses.
"Break!" Tenchi called.
The clapping of the bokkens ceased. Both combatants heaved heavily in the morning air, each releasing a fog of air from their mouths with each breath.
"Had enough?" Ranma asked in a half taunting manner.
Tenchi shook his head no. "Hungry. I didn't eat breakfast."
"That's stupid," Ranma pointed out in a playful way. "Haven't you heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?" She then added with mirth, "Right after lunch, dinner and snacks..."
"Well, I wasn't exactly in an eating mood this morning," Tenchi snapped back, cutting her off.
Ranma was about to answer with a sharp retort herself, until she noted the expression on Tenchi's face. "Man, something is bugging him big time," she thought.
"I'm sorry," Ranma said, seeing Tenchi's mood. "I didn't think you were that upset. Wanna talk about it?"
Tenchi stood there, with bokken in hand, seemly deep in thought. He shook his head in a negative way before answering, "I have to get something to eat first."
Ranma nodded and lead Tenchi to a small coffee house with an English sign which read 'The Smell of Air'. She often wondered what the owner's meant by that, but figured it was some kind of mistranslation. It was another one of those hole-in-the wall places that seem to populate the small cubby holes on the ground floors of many buildings around the campus area. It was one of the few places she discovered that served food early in the morning. Ranma would make a beeline there when the cafeteria served something too gross to call food for breakfast.
Soon they were seated at one of the tiny tables with some steamed rice, miso soup and a small grilled fish in front of them. Tenchi picked at his rice before reaching over with his left and took a sip of his soup.
"Not bad," he commented.
Ranma didn't say anything as she let Tenchi eat his fill. As she sipped the coffee she bought for herself, she took a peek at his ki and watched as the bands of invisible power that surrounded him contract and grow, reacting to his emotional state. It didn't look like much power was being generated, but the arrangement suggested that vast amounts could be called up. After satisfying her curiosity, Ranma turned her attention to the the man sitting in front of her, brooding into a cup of coffee.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked, setting her cup on the table, hoping to break the ice.
Tenchi sighed.
"Trouble from home?" Ranma ventured while unconsciously running a finger around the rim of her cup.
Tenchi nodded.
"The girls are at it again," Tenchi said with a touch of sadness. "There was a misunderstanding over...," Tenchi paused and looked at Ranma for second before turning his gaze out the window, "... the reason isn't important. It's just that I'm tired of them fighting over me."
"You think they would grow out of it," Ranma commented. "After all, they're your age, right? How come they fight over you like a bunch of kids?"
"I don't know," Tenchi said after careful thought. "Maybe that they came from the same place your old suitors came from."
Ranma snorted as a replied, thought for a moment, then said, "I gotta an idea, why don't we get your suitors and mine together and see what happens."
Of course, most of her old suitors were female, but there was no need for Tenchi to know that.
Tenchi broke into a grin at the thought, then said with mock seriousness, "There wouldn't be a building left standing in all of Tokyo."
Ranma only smiled and nodded in response.
"I just wish that they would stop," he sighed out.
"Have they ever asked you how you felt?" Ranma asked.
"Not really, they just assumed that they know what I want."
Ranma nodded, she could relate.
"I wish I could help you," Ranma said quietly. "I know what it's like, being caught in the middle like that."
"Well," Tenchi started, then paused to take a sip of his coffee before continuing. "Well, thanks for bending an ear. I appreciate it."
"That's what friends are for," she replied without thought, smiling brightly.
The rest of the breakfast was spent in comfortable silence as they looked out the window of the cafe, watching the morning fog lift.
-----------------------
Ranma projected her senses through the tiny aperture like Happosai taught her do with her ki and scanned the room on the other side. It always amazed her how much of the ki training could easily converted for use in her Senshi form. Satisfied that there were no other people but the ones she was expecting, she widened the nick into a long slit and opened it for her and Ami to pass through.
"Hi everybody," Ami greeted cheerfully. "Did we keep you waiting long?"
The other girls in the room, Makoto, Minako, Usagi and Rei in their own way responded in a negative way.
"Not at all, "Usagi said. "The outers couldn't make it tonight, but asked to be kept up to date on anything important."
"It'll probably be a short meeting anyway," Rei said. "It's been real quiet for the last year now."
"True," Minako agreed. "But it's still a good idea to keep in touch."
"How's school working out for you?" Ranma asked as she detransformed.
"Good," she replied with a warm smile. "I'm making some new friends. There is a girl named Kagome that grew up in a shrine like I did, so we have a lot in common."
Ranma nodded, "How about the rest of you?"
There were several shrugs and "okay's" but nothing specific.
"Well I think we should get down to business," Usagi said. "Ami, why don't you tell Ranma want we found, or didn't find."
Ami nodded and became the center of attention.
"A few weeks ago," Ami began. "Ranma ran across a guy that she thought might be another male Senshi."
"Another male Senshi?" Rei interjected. "Why?"
"His ki is weird," Ranma explained. "It's kinda like ours is, but it's a little different in some ways."
"I looked into it using the Mercury computer and couldn't find anything, "Ami said, continuing. "I got together with Usagi..." the others in the room winced in sympathy, " ... and we didn't turn up anything."
The floodgates of questions were opened.
"When did you meet..."
"How did you suspect..."
"Do you think that..."
"Is he a threat..."
"Maybe we should call Pluto in on this..."
"We better be sure about this, she's on a date..."
"How different is his..."
"How powerful is he..."
"Is he cute?"
"Is he your boyfriend?"
On that last two questions the room descended into silence as all attention was given to a certain redhead.
Ranma blink-blinked as she looked at the others in the room.
"Huh? What?" was her intelligent reply.
Usagi held up her hand to forestall any questions from the others in the room.
"The others don't know about the details Ranma, only Ami and I," she began. "We didn't want to mention too much until we were sure we found anything or not. We didn't, so Ranma could you please tell everybody everything from the beginning?"
Ranma nodded as she settled down on Rei's bed and began her tale. "Well over a month and a half - may be closer to two months ago they were having..."
She filled in the Senshi on the kendo match, the twice a week sparring sessions, running into him at the cafeteria and the karaoke club and finally doing an in-depth reading of his ki.
"... is just enough like what we have that I wondered if he could be another male scout like Tuxedo Mask. That's when I asked Ami to look into it," she finally finished.
The other girls in the room looked at Ranma, then at each other.
"Well, that explains a lot," Minako said. "But it doesn't answer what we wanted to know the most."
Ranma blink-blinked, "I'm sure I told them everything," she pondered before venturing, "Ah... like what?"
Minako sighed.
"Is he cute?" Rei asked.
"And is he your boyfriend?" Makoto piped in.
Ranma looked back and forth between Rei, Minako and Makoto.
"No!" Ranma answered exasperated. "It's not like that. He's just a friend, that's all."
"We understand, right Rei?" Makoto said.
"Of course, Makoto. Just a friend that happens to be a boy," Rei affirmed.
Ranma sighed as the hairs on the back of her head stood up.
Minako nodded, "It's all right to have a boy that's a friend."
"No problem at all," Rei confirmed. "A boy that's a friend."
Ranma sighed again and hung her head. She knew what was coming next.
The three girls looked at one another before turning their attention back to Ranma.
"A boyfriend!" they all chimed.
Ranma, with head in hand, groaned. She hated being right.
"It's. Not. Like. That," Ranma said carefully, raising her head. "He's just a guy I spar with. That's all."
"So what's he like?"
"What does he look like?"
"Is he nice?"
Ranma looked at the three friends before her and realized that they were not going to let her off the hook. Luckily for her, Usagi came to her rescue - or tried to.
"Guys, I think we're getting off topic here," Usagi said, trying to bring the conversation back to where it needed to be. "We need to figure out if Ranma's boyfriend is a male Senshi or not."
"He's not my boyfriend!" Ranma squealed. "Squeal? I don't squeal!" her mind protested.
"I thought you didn't find anything?" Minako pointed out, ignoring Ranma's protests.
"When I said we couldn't find anything, it means exactly that," Ami clarified. "It doesn't mean that Ranma's boyfriend is or isn't a Senshi. It just means we couldn't turn up anything obvious in the records."
"He's not my boyfriend!" Ranma added her firm objection in.
"I don't understand," Makoto said. "I thought the Mercury computer had everything on the Moon Kingdom on it."
"Guys...," Ranma whined, trying to gain attention to her plight.
"It does," Ami answered. "It's just sometimes you have to look for something specific. If you don't know where to look, then you wouldn't find anything. In the case of Ranma's boyfriend, if he was another secret project like Sun was, it would make it more difficult. Not to mention the condition some of the archives are in..."
"He's not my boyfriend!" Ranma repeated for what, to her, seemed like the umpteenth time.
Minako, like the rest, ignored Ranma's outburst. "So what do we do?"
"I think," Usagi piped in, "Ranma should watch him closely and see what he does. This could all be a mistake and we wouldn't want to alarm an innocent person because his ki is weird."
"How often do you see your boyfriend?" Rei asked, looking directly into Ranma's eyes.
"He's not my -," Ranma started before blink-blinking at the seriousness in Rei's eyes.
"Um... let's see... we get together twice, sometimes three times a week to spar," She answered while counting the times on her fingers. "I run into him at the cafeteria about - well, about every night. On Fridays him, me, Megumi and her boyfriend, Tetsuyuki get together and hit the karaoke bar."
Silence filled the room as five girls stared at the redhead. Ranma starred back.
"What?" Ranma questioned.
The girls continued to stare.
"Do I have something on my face?" Ranma asked as she held a slender hand against her cheek.
"You see him quite a bit then?" Usagi asked with an arched eyebrow.
Ranma blink-blinked again. She lowered her hand, looked at her fingers and mentally recounted.
"Ahh... yeah. I guess...," Ranma realized what they must be thinking. "But that doesn't change the fact that he's-"
"Your boyfriend?" Minako pipe in with wagging eyebrows. The rest of the girls giggled at Ranma's predicament.
With head once again in hand, Ranma groaned.
Embarrassed for reasons she didn't fully understand, Ranma sat on Rei's bed with her head down to conceal the growing blush. After that had passed, Ranma kept her head down to hide an spreading evil smile that crept across her face. Revenge is dish best served pink.
As her three friends continued to teased her playfully - Minako going as far as singing a 'Ranma has a boyfriend' song - Ranma groped around with a free hand, until she found her weapon of choice when dealing with over romantically minded friends: a pillow.
Rei, Minako and Makoto were soon under attack by the soft, pink and fluffy 'Hello Kitty pillow of retribution' wielded by a martial arts expert. The three targets of Ranma's ire screamed, first in surprise then in horror, as they were repeatedly pummeled by the foam filled representation of the overly cute cat from hell.
They didn't stand a chance.
--------------
"So what do I do with this?" Tenchi asked.
"Well, you keep it on you when you spar," a twelve year old looking girl with spiky red hair explained. "If she is of Jurai decent or using any powers related, this will record them for later analysis."
"I don't know..." Tenchi said to Washu uncertainly. "I don't like sneaking around, why don't we just ask her?"
Washu sighed, "Because if she is not Jurai, then it would be like telling her about us," she explained patiently. "Do you really want to do that?"
Tenchi thought about the implications. "No," Tenchi answered quietly, shaking his head. "I just feel like - I'm stabbing a friend in the back."
Washu nodded, knowing how Tenchi was and how he felt.
"Poor man," Washu thought in a moment of clarity. "Because of all the fighting over him, he feels like he hasn't a friend in the world."
Tenchi had even refused to give the name of his friend to anyone, for fear that she would get an unexpected and possibly dangerous visit. Ryoko would most likely react with violence while Ayeka would probably do the same - after a suitable stewing time. Also the possibility that another of Jurai decent may be living on Earth unknown to them, intrigued her - as long as this unknown person didn't try to get close to Tenchi, of course.
With a sigh, he took the offered device.
It was a small thing really. 'Washu's pocket Jurai power and Aura Recorder with handy built in pen light and toothpick' was a cylinder of about two inches long and about a quarter inch in diameter. Tenchi weighed it in his hand and felt its smooth, machined surface. It had a lens on one end and a groove near the opposite end, like a cap.
"How can I tell if it got a reading?"
"When this end turns red," Washu explained, pointing to the grooved end.
Tenchi nodded in understanding. "How do I keep it from picking up me?"
"Don't sweat it," Washu replied. "It will record your power on a different channel that can be filtered out during analysis," she explained before cackling, "I'm such a genius!"
Tenchi shivered at the sound of Washu's laughing, knowing that it usually spelt trouble.
"I'll call you when I have something for you," Tenchi said cautiously, not wanting to be apart of another of Washu's experiments.
Washu nodded in reply and stepped through the inter-dimensional tunnel to home.
-----------------
Summer break was fast approaching. Ranma, in her anxiety, was feeling the pressure. Megumi, sensing Ranma's stress, made it her job to keep Ranma from blowing a brain cell.
"I don't know why you're so stressed," Megumi asked as Ranma hunched over her books. "You've been doing great. Your GPA is in the top ten percent and you haven't had any problems keeping it up - so why all the stress now?"
Ranma looked up from her books and exhaled sharply.
"It's all been too easy," Ranma answered. "It is not what I was expecting. I mean, I thought I would have to be struggling just to pass and I'm practically breezing through. It just doesn't add up."
"What doesn't?"
"Well, I think what's happening is that the instructors - er, professors - whatever, are lulling us into a false sense of security," Ranma tried to explain. "You know, kinda like taking it easy on an opponent - feeling them out, before springing a surprise on them and knocking them out."
Megumi studied her roommate through half lidded eyes. "Are you comparing higher education to martial arts?"
"Umm... maybe," Ranma answered sheepishly while twiddling with her fingers.
"Ranma," Megumi explained patiently. "I hate to break this to you, but school doesn't work like martial arts. It is their job to teach us. Why would they 'spring a surprise attack'?"
"Umm...," Ranma thought about that for a moment. "I'm being stupid again, aren't I?"
"Yes," Megumi answered matter of factly, Ranma pouted in response. "You're going to be fine. You just need to relax a bit and not take it so seriously."
"Oh... okay," Ranma conceded, pushing her books aside. "What do you suggest?"
"Karaoke!" Megumi answered with a smile.
-----------------
Tenchi leaned his back into Ranma's. He always was careful when doing so as to not accidentally knock her over - even after he discovered how strong she really was.
"That was an interesting move," he commented with a chuckle. He watched the sunlight dance off the waters of one of the small ponds. He also rubbed the spot on the top of his head where Ranma tagged him.
"I didn't mean to," said an abashed Ranma. "It was an accident."
Tenchi shook his head and chuckled louder at Ranma's obvious embarrassment.
"Hey!" Ranma said indignantly. "I said it was an accident!"
"I know," Tenchi said mirthfully. "It was just the look on your face."
"Feh," Ranma countered. "The look on your face was priceless. I thought your nose was going to explode and you'd bleed all over the place or something."
Tenchi chuckled at Ranma's observation.
"Humph," Ranma huffed while crossing her arms. "Next time, I'll just keep you waiting."
"At least next time you'll have a bra on," Tenchi quipped.
Ranma sighed, putting her head in hand. It just wasn't her day.
She was running late for her sparring match with Tenchi, so she cut corners dressing out. Back at her dorm room, she threw off her street clothes and shoved them into her gym bag and threw on her gi. In an effort to save what probably amounted to two seconds of time, she had foregone her sports bra. That turned out to be not such a good idea.
Tenchi got lucky during the spar and managed to snag the flap of her gi with the tip of his bokken. This dislodged the front and pull the material out of the confining belt that Ranma didn't secure properly in her haste. This resulted in the top part of Ranma's gi coming undone and completely opening. The gi was intact, just opened in front exposing Ranma's charms to the world and unintentionally flashing Tenchi.
The results were frozen bugged eye Tenchi, who was promptly knocked on the top of his head by a bokken by one very embarrassed Ranma.
"Want to hit the baths?" Tenchi asked, changing the subject to more comfortable ones.
"Yeah. That sound great," Ranma said, then commented with a smile, "It's kinda early though, how about we pick up some Pocky on the way - I could use a little snack."
Tenchi laughed and nodded as he stood, "You and your stomach. Okay, sounds good. My treat."
Ranma smiled at that and took the offered hand. She allowed herself to be pulled up to her feet.
"Well, thanks for not thinking I'm some kind of pervert or something," Ranma said as she rested her bokken on her shoulder.
"Who said I didn't?" Tenchi quipped.
"W - what?" Ranma stammered with eyes bugging.
Tenchi laughed at Ranma's reaction.
"I'm joking!" he said. "Ranma, you're too easy to tease sometimes."
Ranma pouted beautifully, before narrowing her eyes. "Okay mister, just for that - TWO boxes of Pocky - the almond crush ones, too."
Tenchi looked at the little redhead's cute, pouty face with the fire for nut covered chocolate treats burning in her eyes.
Tenchi smiled and with a nod, relented, "Okay."
Ranma returned the smile with a brilliant one - her day just got better.
---------
"B," Ranma thought as she filled in the bubble with what she hoped was the correct answer. Not that she had any doubts that is was the right answer, it was just that while waiting for the course work to get hard, the end of the semester crept upon her. She was sure she'd overlooked something, but couldn't find anything. With a shrug, Ranma continued to go over the questions and filled the appropriate bubbles in.
"D," was the answer to the next question.
The particular sound of 'stritching' of the pencils on paper filled the room as Ranma worked though the problems.
"Man this is easy," she thought. "I thought these tests were going to be harder than this."
"B," Ranma marked. "I guess all that studying paid off. I wonder how Megumi's doing."
"A," Ranma filled in confidently. "I'll be finished in no time."
Ranma peeked at the clock on the wall.
"I wonder if Tenchi will finish his just as quickly," She wondered as she worked yet another problem. "We could get together and have an early spar."
"A. Then again," Ranma recalled. "He did say he had some things to do this afternoon."
Ranma sighed, turning her full attention back to the task at hand.
----------------
Ranma descended from the stage amid clapping and hooting. It was a good set. She sang 'Hoshi' solo and 'Daichi No La-li-La' as a duet with Megumi and she needed another sip of her Orange Julius to soothe her throat. It was another crowded Friday night and the girls decided to go early to get a good table and relax before the club filled up. Knowing that this would be the last time until after summer break, they decided to make a late night of it. Making her way through mob, back toward where Megumi was seated, Ranma spotted two familiar men enter through the front door.
"Hey! Tenchi! Tetsuyuki!" Ranma called over to them with a beckoning wave.
"Hey Ranma. Where's Megumi?" Tetsuyuki asked while he gave Ranma the once over.
"She's over in our usual spot," Ranma answered ignoring the elevator eyes that he was giving her. "She's probably sung out and ready to dance."
"Gotcha," he said as he made his way over to their table. Ranma stared after him as he worked his way through the crowd.
"You okay?" Tenchi asked.
"Yeah. I just don't know about him. He kinda creeps me out," Ranma replied. "Then again, most of the guy's I've met are creeps."
Tenchi blink-blinked at her. Ranma caught the look.
"Hey don't worry. You don't count."
Tenchi blink-blinked again, before saying in a mock hurt tone, "I don't count?"
"Nah, you're a guy, but you're not a 'guy' guy. Get it?"
Tenchi just shook his head in confusion as Ranma, forgetting getting something to drink, pulled him toward the dance floor.
---------------
Ranma and Tenchi were once again sitting back to back after an intense workout. Very intense. Since this was going to be their last spar before summer break, they decided to take the match to another level. Ranma was pressed so hard that she inadvertently tapped into her ki and by extension, her Senshi power. She quickly suppressed the Senshi part and used her ki.
"Tenchi also tapped into whatever he has," she thought. "I saw his - whatever - flare a few times during our match."
In droplets, sweat trickled down her cheeks, collecting on her chin before dripping down onto her heaving chest. It was a good workout, the last one before leaving for their respective homes.
The sun was still relatively high in the summer sky as the two continued to sit and catch their breaths.
"I'm going to miss this," Ranma thought absently as she watched the wind play with the leaves in the trees. "I hope we can keep doing this after we get back from break."
A rock was digging into her rear, so Ranma shifted into a more comfortable position. Tenchi shifted without thought to accommodate her movement. She settle back against his back and returned to watching the leaves dance.
The two sat in silence for an indeterminate time.
"Tenchi?" Ranma asked softly.
"Yes Ranma?"
"I'm going to miss sparring with you," she said. "I just thought you ought'ta know. Outside of you and the Master, no one else gives me a decent workout."
"I been enjoying it myself," Tenchi admitted. "We can keep doing this after we get back from break."
Ranma smiled, "I was thinking the same thing."
Tenchi nodded.
"I would like to challenge your grandfather," Ranma stated. "Do you think he would mind?"
Tenchi was still for a moment as he considered the question.
"I don't see why not," he answered with a shrug. "As far as I know, we'll be there all summer. Call before you come though."
Ranma nodded, "Deal. Will you have any problems with... you know."
Tenchi, his flagging optimism returning over the last three months, answered, "I don't think so. You're just a friend so they shouldn't be any problem."
"Shouldn't?"
"Well," Tenchi thought deeper. "On second thought-"
He fell into silence once again as he considered Ranma's question.
"No," he finally said. "I'm not going to let other people dictate who I call friend or not. If you want, you are welcome to visit anytime. I'm sure my grandfather would more than welcome your challenge."
Ranma liked the sound of that.
"If the girls try to make something more out of it," Tenchi added. "They will have to face me and my grandfather."
"Ah... I don't want to cause you any problems..." Ranma said softly.
"You're not the problem," Tenchi affirmed. "It's their problem. Don't worry about it."
Ranma wasn't so sure anymore, but relented, "Okay, if you say so." Then thought "But hey, were just friends. It's not like I'm out to marry him or anything."
-------------
Ranma gathered what little in the way of possessions she had accumulated and looked about her dorm room. She was leaving most of her books, not wanting to carry the extra weight - at least the ones she hadn't sold back to the bookstore. Summer break had arrived and for the most part she'd be working half of it and have the other half free.
"I'll be back in a couple of months anyway," she thought as she shouldered her pack. Knowing that she had to come back near here to work, she mentally added, "Well in this room."
Looking at her roommate's side of the room, she noted that Megumi left quite a bit of stuff behind, but that was all right since she was coming back also. She had left right after finals for the trek home. Ranma smiled, in all the time they lived together, studied and they went out, it wasn't until the last month of school that she bothered to ask where Megumi was from. Turned out she came from the opposite side of the island, a city called Himi. One hundred and eighty miles west - as the crow flies.
Ranma opened the door, looked one last time to be sure everything was in place before exiting the room. Locking the door behind her she walked down the hall to the stairway.
Walking through the campus, she smiled at seeing Ami waiting for her. They had planned to take the bus together.
"Hello Ranma," Ami called picking up her suitcase from where it was resting.
"Hey Ami. Ready to go?" Ranma asked as she walked up to her.
Ami nodded as both girls made their way to the bus stop.
"Anything new on your suspected Senshi?" Ami asked as they walked.
"Nah, er,... No," Ranma replied. "I'm beginning to think it was a false alarm. His ki is weird, but outside of a few flare ups during our last sparring match, I haven't really seen him do anything with it."
"So what do you think?"
"Don't know," Ranma answered. "I don't think he is a threat. He's a nice guy."
Ami nodded. "I'll do some more research over the summer anyway. I just thought of a few more approaches to search with. If nothing else, I may find some interesting history to read. You want to get together and help?"
"Okay, but it'll have to be in the evening after I get home from work."
The girls approached the bus stop and the roar of a passing train from the station filled the environment. It was loud enough that Ranma though she actually felt the air pressure from the train's passage.
"I don't recalling it being that loud," commented Ami. "Then again, I never come this way at this time of day."
Ranma nodded in agreement as the pair made it to their stop.
"Are you going back to work at your family's restaurant this summer?" Ami asked.
Ranma shook her head. "No," she said. "I'll be coming back here everyday to work". She unshouldered her backpack before continuing, "I hope I can at least make it home in time to help with clean up."
"Right... Oh! That's our bus!" Ami exclaimed as said bus pulled into the stop.
Picking up their luggage, boarding and finding seats on the bus, the two girls resumed their talk.
"What's else are you going to do this summer?" Ami asked.
"Well, like I said, I hope to get home in time to help with the clean up. That way Michiko and I can have time to get together. She wants to show me some stuff her and her boyfriend worked on."
"Speaking of boyfriends," Ami began, "about your friend again?"
"He's doing alright. He left this morning," Ranma answered, grateful that Ami didn't call Tenchi her boyfriend. "He's looking foreword to spending time at home. He's hoping to surprise his grandfather when they spar."
"Going to miss him?"
"Yeah, I guess" Ranma admitted. "He's pretty good in a match and not a bad dancer to boot."
Ami raised a eyebrow.
"It's not like that," Ranma insisted while making warding gestures. "His roommate and mine have been getting us together 'accidentally' all semester. It took Tenchi and I awhile to figure it out, but it was no coincidence that we kept running into each other at the club, cafeteria and other places."
"Ahh - matchmakers," Ami commented.
"Yup, and real busy bodies about it too," Ranma said with a nod. "But that's okay. It's not like Tenchi and I are involved in 'that way'. We just mainly spar and talk."
"Talk? About what?" Ami asked.
"You know, school, life, stuff," Ranma listed.
Ami nodded in reply.
The rest of the trip home on the bus was filled with nothing but small talk, tentative plans for the summer and hopes for the next semester.
--------------
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Notes:
Well here yet is another chapter. As some of you can tell, I got this one out rather fast. I promise you this: it was an accident.
This was one was originally part of the last chapter. While writing, it got too big for me to handle, so I broke it into two separate chapters. I had done this in the past with other chapters, the ones covering the Battle of Juuban for example. That one I had to break into three to deal with it.
To those writers out there who can consistently write long chapters, with word counts of 10 to 15K or more without getting freaky: I tip my hat and salute you.
I'm still amazed how much space this takes up. When I began the first back story, I envisioned ten chapters of about five thousand words each...
... you all can stop laughing now.
As always, I would like to thank all of those who took the time to leave reviews. I said it once, I'll say it again: I do appreciate it.
To Lord-Khyron1: You are right, I misspelled the character's name. Though I got the spelling off the net, I should have took the time to double checked it against the manga. I wish I could claim a good reason for not walking the fifteen feet upstairs to do that, but there is none except laziness on my part.
And to those who noticed: Yep, I do have quite a bit of characters from all over doing 'cameos' or 'guest staring' roles showing up in my fic. I'm surprised no one has caught on to Ranma's roommate yet. When I was looking for a name for her... well, let's just say I thought it was perfect.
Thanks for reading.