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 1

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Mid April.

Komaba-Todaimae Station, near the Komaba campus.

Ranma basked in the warm hug from Akiko.

Disengaging just enough to lean back, Ranma looked into Akiko's hazel eyes. Ranma smiled widely, putting up a brave front. They were on the crowded Metro Rail platform, giving each other their last minute goodbyes. Off to the side, Ranma's uncle Shoji was standing by, observing the scene.

"You have everything you need, dear?" Akiko asked the redhead.

"Yes, Granny," Ranma responded with a slight, but fake, upbeat tone. "Are you sure about this? I mean..."

"Ranma," Akiko broke in, "we already went through this with Michiko a month ago. Yes, I'm sure."

"But, Granny, I still worry about the cost of living on campus and it's not really that far from..."

"Shhh... we've already been through all that," Akiko said while hugging Ranma closely.

Ranma sighed as she returned the hug in earnest. She reflected on the last few months when her and Michiko were first accepted into college. The first thing they both did was to draw up plans on how to get to school and still help out at the restaurant in the evenings. Those plans were soon derailed by Granny. Even though Ranma felt she was not really that far from home, Akiko had insisted that her and Michiko live at the school dorms.

"Everyone needs to learn to live on their own," she said to them. "If you don't try, you'll never learn to make decisions for yourself."

"But, the extra cost of - " Michiko began to protest, only to be cut off.

"Is well within the family's ability to cover," Akiko stated.

Michiko and Ranma blink-blinked at Akiko.

"We are not as poor as you think, but we are not rich by any means. Education is important," Akiko smiled, "and depending how you budget you can probably squeak by, but more than likely you'll have to find part time jobs somewhere. But as far as most of the expenses - the family can help cover them."

"Then why can't we stay here?" Michiko asked. "I mean, we can try to schedule our classed to be back here and..."

"And I'm not going to be far, I'm only going to be -," Ranma tried to add.

Akiko shook her head, cutting both protests off.

"There is more to education than learning what is being taught in the classrooms," Akiko explained to the two younger girls. "There's learning to make your own decisions, being your own person, learning who your truly are - learning to be an adult."

The sisters blink-blinked at their grandmother.

"You see, there is more to university than just book learning."

Returning to the here and now, Ranma shook her head and smiled at the memory. Michiko and her had never been successful when it came to arguing with Akiko. Ranma leaned back to look into her grandmother's eyes again.

"I'm just going to miss you guys," she lamented quietly.

Akiko smiled and again drew Ranma into another embrace.

"We'll miss you too - and you know your uncle is going to miss doing karaoke with you," Akiko said while shooting a look to said person.

Said uncle smiled mirthfully in return.

Ranma giggled as she returned the embrace.

"Besides," Akiko continued. "If you have the time between studies, you can always visit. Michiko won't be able to come home more than once a month."

Ranma sighed softly as her mind drifted back to two days ago when she helped her sister Michiko move into her dorm room. The mood was light hearted when they started. It turned more serious when it was time to say goodbye. First Michiko started to cry saying how much she was going to miss her and Akiko and before you know it Ranma started crying as well. Then Akiko joined in.

It had been quite a scene.

A question from Akiko brought Ranma out of her thoughts.

"If I recall correctly, isn't one of your friends is going here too?"

Ranma nodded at this. Ami Mizuno was attending Tokyo University. She was beginning her studies into becoming a doctor, like her mother. She was living in a different dorm though.

"Now, are you sure you have everything you need?" Akiko asked.

Ranma smiled, "Yes, Granny. I'm sure."

Akiko returned the smile while disengaging herself from Ranma's embrace.

"Good. Now if anything happens, be sure to call. Remember, family watches out for family."

"Only if you promise to do the same," Ranma said using the same puppy-dog eye of persuasion that she learned from Usagi.

"Of course dear," Akiko answered beaming at her granddaughter. Any further conversation was stopped by uncle Shoji motioning to Akiko. Juuban was too close for any trains from this station to stop at, so the bus was the way to go.

"Our bus is coming dear, we have to go," she told Ranma with a reassuring smile.. "We'll see you at the matriculation ceremony in a few days - take that time to relax and learn your way around."

"I will," Ranma answered as the loudspeaker blared again.

With one last quick hug, Akiko joined Shoji as they boarded the bus that, with one transfer at Shibuya, would take them home.

Ranma's home too - a home that was only three miles away, by roof hopping. Further if you bothered with all the streets, buildings, and other annoying obstructions.

Her smile waned.

So she stood at the platform and spied her family by a window peering back at her. Ranma re-plastered a smile on her face and waved at them through the Plexiglas windows of the bus. Inside the bus, Akiko and Shoji waved back at her.

Because of Nekomi Institute's opening ceremonies that were being held later that afternoon, Michiko couldn't make it. Not being able to say goodbye to her sister one last time made Ranma slightly depressed, but she smiled and waved. Hoping that her family wouldn't catch on to her uncertainty and nervousness.

This was her family she was saying goodbye to, the ones that had cared for her than anyone else in her life. She knew she should be happy. She was going to Tokyo University. Only the best get in there - it wasn't like she would never see them again.

"But what if something happens while I am gone?" That thought had plagued her mind the last night at home. But this was an opportunity, an opportunity that she couldn't pass up. One that she never would have even imagined just two short years ago. Ranma's adventures in the past, with their many hardships and trials, seemed tame in comparison for some reason to the situation she found herself in.

"When I get up tomorrow," she thought. "I won't be seeing Granny, sis, or any of my friends."

As the buses air brakes hissed, Ranma watched as it moved off into the urban jungle that was Tokyo, Ranma felt a wave of homesickness wash over her.

She stayed and watched until the bus had completely disappeared and a bit longer after that. Until she was alone on the platform surrounded by a sea of people as they milled about. She continued to stand where she had waved goodbye to her family, wishing that somehow if she stood there long enough, she would be back with them again.

She felt depressed.

The bus was gone, all that remained was the heavily trafficked road that it traveled on. The road that could, if she wanted, take her home in thirty minutes or so.

She felt more depressed.

"I hope learning to be on my own is worth this," she thought despairingly.

Ranma sighed as she turned and headed back toward her dorm.

---------------

Elsewhere, in a secluded alleyway not far from the back gate of the Komaba campus, another parting scene was taking place.

"Do you have everything you need?" a man with grey hair and mustache wearing glasses with squarish frames asked his younger companion.

"I think so," the young pigtailed man answered uncertainly.

The elder man smiled at the younger ones obvious insecurity.

"It'll be alright Tenchi," the elder man said re-assuredly with a smile. "With Washu's new and improved inter-dimensional tunnel, you can visit home anytime."

Tenchi paled a bit.

"Um.. thanks, grandfather," Tenchi said as he swallowed hard. "But I'm looking forward to being on my own for a while."

Tenchi's grandfather, Yosho, smile broadened somewhat. He knew that the last year had eroded Tenchi's good nature to the point that he was slowly starting to resent the intrusions the others made in his life. It didn't help matters that the lad's father approved of the girls infringement into his son's privacy, just so he could have more of an opportunity to peep. The resentment that Tenchi was building was slowly being directed toward the others in the household.

With the exception of himself and Sasami. After all, no one could get angry at Sasami.

But it was the girls sometimes over-enthusiast pursuit of Tenchi had made him - somewhat more standoffish when dealing with members of the opposite sex than ever before. It was obvious to Yosho that Tenchi needed to get away. With him enforcing this on the home front, he would see to it that the girls wouldn't interfere with Tenchi's life. Yosho made it clear, on Tenchi's behalf, that another "Mr. Surveillance, the Washu Special Ultra-Compact Spy Camera" would not be tolerated.

Nor any unauthorized inter-dimensional tunnels.

Tenchi had developed a lot of stress in the last year. He needed time to mature into the man he would become without the pressure of the girls fighting over the right to claim him.

The girls would fight over Tenchi, as he put it, "as if I were a hunk of meat, caught in the middle of a pack of hungry dogs". It would only be a matter of time before Tenchi's good nature eroded completely with - unfortunate consequences - for all involved.

Yosho realized Tenchi was really starting to resent that.

Yosho sighed thinking about the outrageous behavior of Ryoko, Ayeka and sometimes Washu displayed at times. Usually with great destruction around the house. So when Tenchi finally put his foot down, Yosho backed him.

So in the last four months or so, the girls had been on their best behavior - for the most part. The most part being that when one of the girls felt that the other was 'out behaving' her, she would it turn try to 'out behave' the other. This 'out behaving' the other was rapidly taken to ludicrous proportions - who knew that behaving one's self could turn into a competition that in the end spurred its own kind of fighting.

Yosho remembered that and the reaction that Tenchi had - shaking his head at the insanity of it.

"I understand," Yosho said while continuing to smile. "Just don't forget to write."

"I won't," the younger man promised. "You better get going - I'll see everyone at the next school break."

Yosho nodded as Tenchi looked about to reassure himself that they were still alone and unobserved. He removed a string that was wadded up from his pocket and threw it toward one of the walls of the alley. On its flight, the string unballed itself and clung to the brick wall. The string glowed and spread over the surface of the rough bricks, smoothing them out. When the glow faded, a old, wooded door appeared where once was solid wall.

The older man reached for and turned the just formed knob, pausing he turned back to his grandson.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call," he said. "And be sure to keep up with your sword practice."

"I will," Tenchi replied with a smile and a nod.

Yosho opened the newly formed door, as he did so a pair of heads poked through from the other side.

"Tenchi!" a pair of voices sang out.

Tenchi smile faded as he closed his eyes and counted to ten. Affixing the best smile as he could muster, he opened his eyes and addressed the newcomers.

"Ryoko, Ayeka how good it is to see you," he said evenly while holding his forced smile. "I thought we said our goodbyes already."

Both girls, one with wild, light cyan colored hair the other with deep purple hair tied back in long twin pony tails, looked upon the young man with slightly guilty expressions.

"And I thought we had agreed to no unexpected visits," Tenchi continued in his even voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Um... we just wanted to say goodbye one last time that's all," Ayeka said hesitantly while shooting a look and nudging her cyan-haired companion.

"Yes! That's it. We just wanted to say goodbye, that's all," Ryoko agreed.

Tenchi and Yosho gave the women a guarded look, before Tenchi sighed loudly.

"Very well. Goodbye Ryoko. Goodbye Ayeka, " Tenchi said neutrally bowing to each girl in turn. "I'll see both of you during summer break. I expect no unexpected visits, no fighting while I'm gone, and no random acts of destruction in or around the house. Okay?"

Before both girls could say anything more, Yosho gently closed the door part-way on them - forcing the girls back to where ever they came from. The elder man turned to face the younger.

"You don't worry about them. I'll make sure everything is fine at home," he said just loud enough for the women to hear from the other side of the door. "Now you, young man, keep your grades and sword training up."

"Yes, sir," Tenchi said with a genuine smile.

Yosho nodded and pulled the door full open where two girls, who were pressed against it from the other side, fell into a heap on the ground. Yosho sighed.

"Come along, ladies and leave Tenchi to himself. You'll see him soon enough."

Uncharacteristically and without protest, the two women followed the man through the doorway where upon the door swung shut behind them. Upon closing, the door glowed and shrank until it became a thin line upon the wall. Tenchi walked up used his fingernails to peel the string from the wall and then balled it up, sealing it. Taking the wad, he shoved it into his pocket. As far as he and others were concerned, this was the only authorized inter-dimensional portal between himself and home - and he held the keys.

And there better not be any others.

Looking around, he nervously sighed out in relief that the whole affair went unobserved. Tenchi then turned and headed toward the direction of the campus.

-------------

Stopping just outside the main gate, Ranma looked at the campus where she would basically call home for four months. Like many of the other students that were now flowing past her, she would spend the first two years of her undergraduate studies here before moving on either to the Hongo or Kashiwa Campuses for her last two years.

"This is not quite what I thought it would be like," Ranma thought as she resumed her walk, moving with the same pace of the crowd. Her depression lifted as she did so.

Ranma was impressed as she looked about the almost park-like and inviting campus. This was not what she was expecting. She was envisioning a cold, serious, and sterile environment - where students did nothing but study and take tests.

"This is nice," she thought as she passed through the main gate. "I wonder if my roommate is back yet. I hope she's nice."

Entering the campus through the main gate, Ranma idly noted the Volleyball court to her left. Walking the wide, tree lined walkways she made her way passed the Museum and Library buildings. She went deeper into the campus, passing many generic "Arts and Sciences" buildings that were not even named, just numbered. Entering another wider tree lined walkway, with the majority of the masses, Ranma headed for her dorm building.

"This is a change - a big change, but at least it is a change that I chose," she continued to think. "No one else and not any circumstances."

The building was modern, clean and the brick color was reminiscent of her waitress uniform. The double glass doors opened smoothly as she made her way into the entrance hall and lobby. Ignoring the elevators, she crossed over into the stairwell.

"For most of my life, any dramatic change has been forced upon me," Ranma thought. "Except for agreeing to be adopted into the clan, almost every major life decision has been out of my hands."

She rounded up the stairway.

"First being forced from home so I could go on that stupid training trip with its cat fist and other insane things," she reflected. "Then there was being bought and sold, the multiple fiancees, being disowned, being homeless on the streets and finally being Sailor Sun."

Sailor Sun.

Ranma's attitude about her Senshi powers had changed over the year. At first, she treated her powers like a new toy, then a duty and now - a burden. The Senshi powers that made her the most unhappy were the one's that she could tap into untransformed without really realizing it.

Those were a thorn in her side, even if it was more a mental thing than really a problem. The problem was that she had no conscious control over them and developed a unhealthy paranoia about them.

"I didn't spend a great chunk of my life mastering my mind, body and Art just to let a one thing slip out of my control," she thought to herself when she analyze the situation.

Of all people, it was Happosai who helped her.

Over the past year, he had taught her how to control her Senshi power by treating it like ki. With better control of her Senshi powers, her paranoia waned and Ranma became more confident in herself.

More important, she felt she had more control in her life.

Ranma then avoided using her power for mundane things, like compressing time to extend her study time or anything else personal in nature. She took to looking at her Senshi abilities much in the same as how working people would separate their professional and personal lives. Likewise, Ranma strived to treat her Senshi and personal lives as separate ones.

Besides, she felt that using her powers for something normal people had no problem with would become a crutch - a crutch she felt she didn't need in everyday life.

A crutch she was determined to do without.

---------------

Earlier, Ranma briefly checked out her dorm room when Akiko and her uncle helped lug her stuff up there. She found it a small, yet comfortable affair.

The room had a narrow opening that opened up into a wider space. To the right, when entering, was a door that lead to a bathroom - complete with shower - that was shared with the suite next door.

The wider part of the room on each side, were two, low beds with thick mattresses resting upon a solid frame with drawers built into them for storage. Next to the foot of the bed and nearest the door was a wardrobe for hanging clothing, with addition drawers on the bottom for unused shoes and whatnots. Between the head of the bed and the outer wall was a desk with open hutch for the storage of books and other school supplies. Mounted on the wall beside the desk were two shelves. The opposite side of the room was a mirror image. Between the sides was a surprisingly large window that gave a grand view of the adjacent dorm building.

Not as good as home, but good enough for Ranma.

Unlocking her dorm room, Ranma pushed the door open. She was greeted by another girl with long, light brown or dark blonde hair, depending on your point of view. Blue, mischievous, and expressive eyes were set in an oval shaped face. She stood half a head taller than Ranma and extruded an air of being laid back and easy going. Stacked on one side of the room was a pile of the other girl's belongings.

"Oh, hello," the girl said, bowing "I'm Megumi Amatsuka, you must be my roommate."

"I'm Ranma Yonai," Ranma answered with a smile as she returned the bow. "Please to meet you, Miss Amatsuka."

"You can call me Megumi, Ranma," Megumi said cheerfully. "Ranma? That's an interesting name? I don't think I've ever met a Ranma that was a girl before."

"What can I say?" Ranma replied as she took the nearest chair by one of the desks. "My... father wanted a boy."

"So - you were raised to be kind of a tomboy, weren't you?" she she playfully.

Ranma smiled, "Something like that."

"Well anyway, what side do you want?" Megumi asked as they both began the process of working out the living arrangements.

----------------

Days later...

Ranma looked across the waters and at the cherry trees that were painting the landscape wit their pale pink blossoms. Symbolically this signaled a renewal of life, a movement into the future, a change - a beginning of the next stage. The sky, in spite of the forecasts calling for rain, was partly cloudy with the sun peeking out from the veil of low lying clouds that hung over the city.

Taking one last look across the waters of the Ushiga-fuchi, Ranma absently spied the Chiyoda Ward Office sitting on the opposite shore. She was dressed in a dark grey skirt, white shirt (with a starched collar - Akiko insisted) and matching jacket. Her red hair cascaded unbound down to the small of her back making a striking contrast against the dark colors she was sporting.

The combination was quite stunning.

Ranma took a deep calming breath before turning to join the large crowd of people as they milled about waiting to enter a large, hexagonal shaped building.

These were members of her class.

Reacting to an unseen and unheard cue, the crowd began haphazardly filing in. Ranma fidgeted in her nervousness as she followed her class as it filed slowly into the Nippon Budo-kan.

"Why do we have'ta go through this?" she wondered. "If I wasn't so excited, I'd be bored."

Ranma entered the building and after a brief search, she found her seat among her fellow classmates. She pretended to wait patiently with them for the university entrance ceremony to begin. As she fidgeted in her seat, she took the time to look about the people and building that surrounded her. Some wore masks of disinterest, others were openly as nervous and excited as she was.

Craning her head around, Ranma searched for any familiar faces in the audience. There were so many people, it was impossible. Sighing at not being able to find Akiko or any of her family, she turned her attention back to the students around her.

After almost giving up hope of finding anyone she knew, she spotted Ami. Her fellow Senshi was sitting about three rows down at over off to the left of Ranma. She thought about waving her hand to get Ami's attention, but felt it wouldn't be proper given the circumstances.

She sighed and settled back into her seat.

The last time she was this nervous was when she was adopted into the Yonai clan and met Akiko's father for the first time - this time she was smart enough to forego drinking any water in the hours before arriving. Exhaling a breath she was unconsciously holding, she began to relax a bit, her mind began to wonder over the last few days.

Moving in and meeting her roommate two days prior was nerve-racking in itself. Not that meeting her roommate for the first time was nerve-racking, it was the exciting feeling that she was on her own. Even though she had originally planned on commuting to school everyday, Akiko insisted that she and Michiko room at their school's dorms. Granny strongly felt that being on your own and making decisions for yourself was an important part of growing up.

And besides, in spite of Ranma and Michiko going to different schools, they did so knowing that if something happened, family was near enough to help. For Ranma it was like being alone but not really alone. The mixed bag of emotions of being on her own for the first time in a long time made her stomach flip-flop.

Her roommate, Megumi was... truly an interesting person. She practiced some martial arts, but more as a means of keeping in shape than anything serious. Nothing like Ranma had done or continued to do. Megumi was taller than Ranma by half a head, that didn't bother Ranma because almost everyone she had met was taller than her. She had an outgoing personality and shared a liking for karaoke that matched Ranma's.

And mentioned that between studying and classes, she planned to date - and had threatened to involve Ranma.

Moving back into the here and now, Ranma took in her surroundings. The room was large, arena sized, filled with folding chairs set up in class blocks upon the green carpeted floor. In front was a raised stage where several men and women sat, that were split into two lines, one for the left and right sides. The podium was an orangish color with a matching table with a pitcher of water and several glasses.

The room was filled with the steady hum of conversation. She couldn't really tell how many people filled the room, but it must have numbered in the thousands. The hum of conversation faded and died as Ranma's attention was refocused onto the stage.

A gray-haired man had rose from his seat and crossed the stage to take a position behind the podium.

The opening speeches began.

-----------------

Ranma looked at her course schedule and at the room number.

"Well here goes nothing. Principles of Chemistry, here I come," she thought as she entered through the double doors.

The seating in the room was arranged the long tables with chairs behind them, instead of individual desks. The chairs were plastic and uncomfortable looking and placed on one side of the tables. All the seats were facing the front of the room.

After a short search, Ranma found a seat. That's when Ranma discovered that the chair was only slightly more comfortable than it looked.

Sighing at the thought of being uncomfortable for the next hour, Ranma placed her large book-bag before her on the table and fished out the Chemistry I book and a notepad. She also removed from her bag a DragonBall Z pencilboard, a gift from Chiyo before Ranma left for school, and placed it under the first sheet of the pad. Removing the book-bag from the table top, she placed on the floor beside her, before scooting it beneath her chair.

While waiting for the class to start, Ranma took in her surroundings, looking about and scrutinized the details of the large room.

The classroom was in one of the generic Arts and Sciences buildings that dotted the Komaba campus. The front wall was dominated by large chalkboards, a long desk/worktable filled with chemistry equipment and stacks of paper, and who-only-knows-what. From the ceiling, a screen was retracted out of the way. The wall, opposite the room's entrance, were windows floor to ceiling letting in ample light and gave a decent view of the tree dotted campus. The center of the opposite wall were double doors that allowed entrance were more chalkboards. The very back were lined with selves and cubbies where students could unload their packs, book-bags and other things not necessary to the class.

Ranma thought about that, before deciding to leave her book-bag where it was, under her chair.

"I hope that this class isn't too hard," a voice commented beside Ranma.

"Huh?" was Ranma's intelligent reply.

"I said," the girl that was sitting next to Ranma restated, "that I hope this class isn't too hard. I'm only taking this as an elective."

Ranma blink-blinked at the girl beside her. The girl stared back in return.

"Wow," Ranma commented as she stared the girl next to her. "I thought I was the only one to have hair that red."

Ranma's classmate giggled quietly in returned before extending a hand.

"Hi, my name is Hikairu," she greeted between giggles.

"I'm Ranma. Pleased to met you," came the reply as she took her neighbors hand and shook it gently. "You're taking this class as an elective?"

The other red head nodded.

"Yup," she said. "I majoring in Journalism and I really don't want to put too much effort in a subject that I'm never going to use. You?"

"This is my major," Ranma replied with a thin smile. "I got hook into it in high school. I just hope that ready for this - I heard all kinds of stories on how hard college level work is."

"I know what you mean," Hikairu commented with a nod. "So far journalism isn't what I imaged it would be."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, my instructor is very old school," Hikairu explained. "Believes in reporting nothing but the facts and 'if something is your opinion, you better damn well say it's you opinion so your readers won't confuse it with fact'."

"I don't know how this guy is," Ranma said conversationally with a wave toward the front of the class. "I haven't heard anything about him."

Before the conversation could continue, a man with an obvious air of authority strode to the front and stood behind the work table. The classroom descended into silence, all eyes on the newcomer.

"Class, attention," he boomed.

With that everyone was on their feet and as one bowed toward the front of the room.

"Class, be seated," he said.

The room was back in their chairs.

Ranma began to examine her professor, as he in turn examined the class. He was short, even shorter than her, even as he stood ramrod straight. He wore light grey slacks that seem to match the grey on the temples of his otherwise dark hair. This face was clean shaven and his eyebrows seemed bushier than most peoples - almost giving him a comical appearance. Almost. The scowl on his face was anything but comical.

He, quite frankly, looked pissed.

"My name is Doctor Kagaku," he said. "I will be your instructor for this semester and if you're lucky, longer. First things first: how many chemistry majors do I have in this class?"

Ranma, not being intimidated by the man, raised her hand boldly while others seemed to hesitate. He looked about the room and nodded his head.

"Good," he commented with a nod, the hands dropped. "Now how many have their lab assignments?"

On that, three quarters of the hands, including Ranma's, went up.

"Better than I expected," Dr. Kagaku muttered. "I will get the assignments to those who don't have theirs yet before the end of the week."

There was a general murmur that passed through the room before silence ruled again.

"Now," Dr. Kagaku said. "The first thing we are going to cover, before anything, is safety. Now who can tell me the number one rule for safely handling..."

The class continued.

---------------

Ranma checked her balance sheet before blowing a breath through pursed lips, causing her bangs to fly up.

"Well, I'm well within budget," she thought. "In fact, I'm building up a surplus."

This was because basically, she was a tightwad, and because of that she was doing all right.

"With the allowance from the family," she mused as she rechecked her numbers, "and continuing to be as frugal, I should be all right for a while."

Still, she didn't feel right not working and taking money from the Yonai's. True she was part of the family, but in the back of her mind she felt it wasn't right.

"I feel like a freeloader," Ranma thought to herself. Freeloading was something she despised in her previous family. "Even with Akiko and her dad saying it's perfectly alright, this doesn't feel right to me."

"So far, I'm under budget, so I can put off getting a job for a while longer," she thought as she rechecked the numbers.

She thought about getting a job many times before, but finding the time to hold a job and attend classes and study and her lab on Fridays and relax a bit and...

... it was more daunting than she first thought.

Ranma shook her head, "Not to mention that every job in and within a decent distance of the campus is filled."

Ranma sighed, almost sounding like she had been defeated.

"No. I'm no freeloader," she reaffirmed to herself. "I'll just have to keep looking."

She wondered, was worrying about money, jobs, classes, and grades the part of growing up that Akiko meant?

Ranma blew a breath through pursed lips again, causing her bangs to fly up like before. "If I keep my spending under control like I have been doing, I can make it last a little longer."

------------------

The loud, screeching sound jarred Ranma from her deep sleep.

"Dammit," she though with tired bitterness, "don't those assholes know when it's not funny anymore?"

Ranma's roommate groaned from her bed.

"I can't believe those assholes still think this is funny," Megumi said as she echoed Ranma's thoughts.

The fire alarm pealed as the two girls staggered out of their nice, warm beds and into the much cooler hallway. At every doorway, up and down the hall, pairs of girl stood in uncertainty. Some were mulling around in the center of the corridor and speaking in low conversation.

"It's another false alarm..."

"What if it's for real this time..."

"Screw this. I'm going back to..."

"I'm going to kill the guy..."

"It's two in the f---ing morning..."

Ranma sighed as her roommate leaned against the door frame. Someone had took it into their sick little mind to think that pulling the fire alarm in the middle of the night was funny. Many of the girls suspected someone from one of the boys dorms getting a cheap thrill out of see girls in their night clothes outside. Ranma didn't care who it was as long as they stopped. However if she ever caught the guy, she was going to break his fingers.

Slowly and painfully.

Ranma had just completed that thought when the alarm stopped. The sound stopped so abruptly that the silence was deafening, leaving Ranma's ears feeling like they were wrapped in cotton.

After mulling about for what seemed like forever, Yuki the resident assistant, entered the hall from the elevator. She was dressed in her night clothes that were covered by a purple robe and slippers - the pink, fuzzy kind - on her feet. She looked at the tired group of girls in the hallway before sighing heavily.

"You know, all of you are supposed to evacuate the building when the alarm goes off," she stated tiredly.

Someone in the crowd snorted out, "When it happens every f---ing night, forget it."

"Well it's not going to happen again," Yuki said. "I heard downstairs that they just caught the guy and as I understand it they're filing charges."

"Who was it?" an anonymous voice asked form the crowd. "Was is one of those dorks from the boys dorm?"

Yuki shook her head, "No. It wasn't a student or staff member. It was some salary man who snuck on campus doing it."

"But why?" another voice asked.

"Because," Yuki answered sharply, "he's a perverted jerk who has a thing for seeing women in their panties. He was hoping to get his jollies."

"Can I break his fingers?" Ranma asked honestly.

"Take a number and wait your turn," Yuki shot back.

"Where do I get my number?" Ranma shot back with vigor.

"I'll let you know" Yuki deadpanned, before continuing louder, "Okay girls, the show's over, everyone can go back to bed now."

With multiple groans, the girls filed back into their respective rooms.

-----------------

Ranma was doing some cool down exercises and went over the session she just put herself through. A few days ago Happosai had trained her in some new techniques that she had finished incorporating into her Senshi practice. It still amazed her how much of the high end ki stuff that she had been learning lately integrated almost seamlessly with her Senshi abilities.

Ranma finished her stretches and sat down to rest on her favorite rock. Titling her head, she stared at the half Earth in the sky. She took a liking to noting the changes of the Earths phases each time she came here. Between the continents, the seasons and the clouds, the Earth never looked the same twice.

She couldn't see Japan, though- it was firmly in the night side of the Earth. If she wanted to however, she could extended her senses and feel it.

She exhaled through pursed lips, causing her bangs to fly up. Looking upward with her eyes to the offending hair, she thought, "I gotta get my bangs trimmed - I gotta job interview the day after tomorrow and I gotta look good."

On that note, she summoned her sword and cut a path back a secluded part of the campus.

-------------------

"Ranma!" came a call from behind.

Pivoting on one foot, Ranma turned in mid step facing the direction of the call.

"Ami!" she responded with a smile. "It's good to see her," Ranma thought, "it's been a few weeks."

"Where are you heading too?" Ami asked as she caught up to Ranma.

"Building fifteen," she answered. "Math, then foreign language. You?"

"Eleven," Ami responding, referring to the building number, as they walked together. "Biology, then Micro."

"You go by this way everyday?" Ranma inquired.

"Yes. I'm a little earlier than usual" Ami replied. "Once I thought I saw you, but it turned out to be some other girl with hair as red as yours."

"Yeah," Ranma nodded. "There's another girl around here with red hair. She's in my chemistry class, sits right next to me."

Silence fell between the pair as they weaved through the crowd, stopping before one of the buildings.

"Any news from home?" Ranma inquired.

"Not really," Ami replied. "It's been real quiet like it has been for the last year - but there is a motion to get together at least once a month. Just to make sure everyone keeps in touch."

"We can probably do that," Ranma said, eyeing the people around her. "It would be good to see everyone. Just let me know the time and place and I can... ah, get us there."

Ami nodded understandably before asking, "How's your roommate?"

Ranma shrugged. "She's alright, I guess. She's likes to go out on dates on Friday nights and is always dragging or trying to drag me out with her. You know, double dating and all that. Yours?"

"A real quiet, mousy type," Ami said as she shook her head. "I don't think she had a minute of fun in her whole life."

"Shame," Ranma commented before glancing at her watch, resting beside her bracelet. "Well, I gotta get going - it was nice seeing you."

Ami waved as Ranma darted off to her class.

-----------------

"I think you'll do," the man behind the desk said approvingly.

"Thank you, Mr. Mikage," Ranma said while bowing.

"You're welcome," he replied with a nod. "Report in at 9:30 this Saturday to Mrs. Katsuragi, she'll help set your schedule and also will be your immediate supervisor, if you have any questions, ask her. Please be sure to wear a nice skirt, a dark color is required, preferable with pleats. The shirts should be white and clean and the jacket will be provided."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir," Ranma replied.

Ranma smiled inwardly, she got the job. She couldn't wait to get back to the dorm and call Akiko to tell her the news.

----------------

It was the end of the week.

A long week.

The longest week Ranma had, since school started.

After unlocking the door and entering, Ranma dragged herself across the the dorm room and tiredly set her burden down.

"Twelve years of martial arts training has nothing on college," she thought wearily. "I swear, my brain is tired."

Ranma looked down on her book-bag resting on her desk. Reaching over, she turned on the fluorescent lamp that served to illuminate her desktop. Seating herself, she began to pull various books out and started sorting them into piles.

"This is due on Monday, this on Tuesday, and this on Thursday," She thought as she sorted her assignments for the coming week. "Not to mention work and I can't forget that lab report - it's due before Lab on Friday."

Ranma sighed, Friday Lab was exhausting.

"One thing, just one thing wrong in lab," Ranma thought, "and you had to repeat the experiment from the beginning."

Ranma sighed.

"At least it got easier once I got most of the procedures down," she consoled herself with. "But some of the things that Dr. Kagaku found wrong, I swear, was nit-picking."

But since Dr. Kagaku had been doing this longer than she'd been alive (at least in this life), she respected him.

Ranma sighed again.

"This is on top of anything else they throw at me next week," she thought as she looked upon the intimidating stacks of books before her.

Reaching up she marked what was due and when on a calendar that was hanging on the wall, beneath the shelves. As Ranma finished marking her calendar, Megumi walked in a tossed her backpack onto her bed.

"Whatcha doing tonight?" she asked excitedly.

Ranma gave out a tired sigh, she just knew what was coming next.

"Let me guess - you're going out tonight and want me to come with you?" Ranma asked.

"Yes," Megumi confirmed while nodding. "It's the weekend. Better yet, it's Friday. Time to relax a bit before hitting the books. C'mon, you know you always feel better after you've been out."

"Megumi," Ranma explained, "I have more homework than should be legal and -"

"You can take a break before you go crazy for one little night," Megumi interrupted as she smiled. Ranma had always been reluctant to go out. Lucky for her, she knew the magic word. "The place I want to check out has karaoke," she said knowingly.

"Karaoke?" Ranma perked up while blinking audibly.

"Ah-huh," Megumi replied coyly. "Karaoke, a stage, food, dancing - you know how you love to dance. C'mon - you know you always do better when you get out a bit."

"Well...," Ranma considered, her resistance weakening.

"C'mon. You wanna get old before your time?"

Ranma warred with two different desires. She could go out tonight and relax, and get up and hit the books first thing. Or, she could stay here, be responsible and... and... grow old before her time.

"Okay, I'll go... but I have to hit these books tomorrow. No complaining if I wake you up early. Deal?"

"Deal," Megumi affirmed with a smile. "Ryo and his roommate will be joining us, is that okay?"

Ranma shrugged her shoulders, "I guess not, as long as he can keep his hands to himself."

Megumi smiled as a reply as she ready herself for the night.

-----------------

"How did you do?" Megumi asked from her spot on the bed as her red headed roommate entered their room.

"It was easy, I think I aced it," Ranma replied. "I'm kind of disappointed, I was expecting the test to be more difficult than it was."

"Really? Why?"

Ranma cocked her head to one side in consideration.

"I don't know," Ranma said. "I was expecting something more... challenging." Then shrugging her shoulders, she added, "I guess I all that studying I did paid off."

"Or maybe it was just easy," Megumi point out from her spot on her bed.

"Yes...," Ranma thought back to the test. "It was easy... too easy... Hmmmm...."

" Maybe the teacher was probing her students for any weaknesses," Ranma thought. "Trying to lull us into a false sense of ease before she strikes with a harder test."

She stood and considered that line of thought before widening her eyes, "Maybe it's some kind of martial arts Mathematics Instruction that I never heard of before."

Ranma shook her head, sending her red ponytail flying when she was struck by the absurdity of the idea.

"What?" Megumi inquired.

"Nothing," Ranma replied. "Just thought of something really stupid."

-------------

"Arrrg!" Ranma howled as she entered her dorm room and slammed the door. This caused her roommate to drop the book that she was pulling from the self beside her desk.

"Idiots! Stupid, blasted idiots," she fumed loudly.

Ranma's roommate watched as she crossed the room and paced in front of her desk with her gym bag hanging from the strap on one shoulder. It was well into the semester and Ranma was clearly vocalizing her frustrations. Ranma's frustrations were not directed at any of her academics though, which were going smoothly, but rather her personal life. Specifically, her martial arts.

"Too bad Happosai isn't going to be here for another week, I so need to pound the hell outta something," she thought in her annoyance as she tossed her gym bag onto her bed. She soon followed, laying on her back.

"Sexist, patronizing, jerks," she though bitterly as she vocalize her frustration. "Grrrrr..."

"What happened now?" Megumi asked the fuming redhead.

"I just wanted to find a sparring partner to help keep my edge between visits from my martial arts master" she sat up and explained.

Megumi eyed her from where she sat, before nodding for Ranma to continue.

"What do I find?" Ranma snorted before she continued in a mocking way. "'Oh, you must want the aerobics class down the hall' or 'a pretty little thing like you is a martial artist?' and..." Ranma's eyes narrowed into a dangerous look at what she said next, "...'I can show you some marital arts if you want'."

Silence filled the small dorm room. Ranma's roommate, shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Not knowing her roommate long, Megumi soon figured out that Ranma's dedication to the art was more than superficial. Definitely not something to make fun of. And seeing Ranma in action when she practiced her art, Megumi soon realized how seriously she took it...

... and anyone who dared insult it.

"O-kay. Did you let that last one live?" Megumi asked carefully.

"Yeah, I let the jerk live," Ranma groused, crossing her arms. "He won't walk straight and he'll have better control over his hormones for a while, but he'll live."

"Ouch," Megumi said with a wince as she involuntarily closed her legs together. She could only imagine the kind of damage that an irate Ranma could do to the offending party.

Ranma looked at the expression on her roommate's face and realized what she must be thinking.

"No, no, no," she said with a wave of her hand. "Nothing THAT bad, no matter how much he deserved it. I just hit a few sensitive pressure points, that's all."

"Oh," Megumi said, slightly relieved.

Ranma sat and fumed to herself before venting.

"What the hell's wrong with guys and sparring with me?" she vocalized. "It's not like I'm made of glass or anything - I won't break! Hell, I've taken hits that'd probably kill most those losers, and they're either trying to pick me up or treat me like a damn china doll."

"Well..." Megumi started, only to be cut off as Ranma continued her rant.

"I mean, dammit. I've dedicated most of my life to the art - something these idiots can't seem to get through their thick skulls...

"Well..." Megumi tried again, only to be cut off again.

"I'm a martial artist too - probably one of the best there is..."

"Well..."

"What do I have to do to be taken seriously? Beat the hell out of them before they try me for real? What in the -"

"WELL," Megumi said in a loud voice, cutting off Ranma's spiel.

Ranma stopped, mouth still opened from her rant, and blink-blinked at her. "Sorry," she mumbled out as an apology as she pulled at her ponytail.

"That's alright," Megumi said brightly. "I just think you have to look at it from their point of view."

"What do you mean?" Ranma inquired.

"Well... maybe...," she began to venture. "Um, we are the 'fairer sex' as they say. Maybe it's because guys are bigger and stronger than us girls, they figure it would be unfair."

Ranma looked at her roommate quizzically, right eye twitching.

"I mean, because of that," Megumi added quickly with a wave of her hand toward Ranma, "guys don't like to fight girls. And when they do, they let up a lot."

Ranma looked at her roommate, dumbfounded.

"I've heard something like that before somewhere... but, where?" Ranma thought as she sat at the edge of her bed, puzzling over this latest development.

"Anyway," Megumi said drawing Ranma away from her thoughts. "There is a informal kendo match coming up sometime. It's sponsored by the Kendo Club. Why not try your luck there?"

"Kendo? Hmmm," Ranma mused. "What the hey, I got to start working more on my weapons technique anyway."

"Uh-huh," Ranma's roommate affirmed as she picked her dropped book from the floor. "Now I have a report to research, I would appreciate some quiet time."

"Huh? Oh, sorry," Ranma said meekly as she rose from her resting place. "I got to hit the books myself - this calculus is not going to do itself."

Ranma stretched out and glided over to her desk. Plopping herself into her chair, she pushed all other thoughts aside. Removing several books from a cubby, she proceeded to cipher numbers.

---------------

Ranma sighed. She could be reading this back in her room, but the change of locations seemed to help her concentration. Also. when it came to trying to read in the dorm, she sometimes ran the risk of getting distracted by whatever was happening around her.

Ranma found herself curled up in her favorite chair, in her favorite corner of the library as she read her textbook, Literature of the Middle Ages (1180 - 1600). It was mostly a history book with excerpts of writings of the period. How the period began around the Gempei Wars and the following political upheaval. Overall she found it interesting and not what she expected considering how Kuno use to spout this stuff off.

"Kuno," she thought idly. "That's a name I haven't thought of in a while. I wonder what ever happened to True Blunder?"

As quickly as that thought crossed her mind, it escaped, crawled across the floor and hid in some dark corner somewhere. Never to see the light of day again.

Good.

With that, Ranma's mind cleared and she was able to refocus on the book. It was good though, even if some of the excerpts were somewhat flowery for her.

--------------------

Ranma quickly slipped into the dark blue jacket and smoothed out only wrinkles that may be there, it wouldn't do to meet the public looking like slob - image was everything in this job.

When she first started looking around for a job, she got discouraged because every decent job with a reasonable distance was taken. She then asked some of the others girls that she knew worked part time somewhere what they were doing. Some were doing waitressing or retail jobs, others discreetly mention that they were working at 'soap-lands' or 'image clubs' to make ends met. They said the hours were relatively low and the pay was very good. Ranma seriously thought about it...

... until she found out what a soap-land and image club were.

After that, she rejected the idea.

She counted herself lucky that she managed to get a job like this, but she was tipped off by by one of her dorm mates. Of course she would never have thought of working in a place like this, but it had the three things she needed : they didn't mind scheduling around her classes, a decent pay for what little hours she was putting into it, and close enough to the campus - practically next door - that she could run there and be on time. The only downside was that she had to wear nice skirts on days she worked and not having very many of those, she had to keep what she had clean.

Ranma dashed into the front of the traditionally constructed building to report in.

"Ah... Miss Yonai, you're here and right on time," a middle aged women with shoulder length dark hair said. She had a commanding personality about her and was also wearing the same dark blue jacket Ranma was wearing. "I like that in an employee."

"Yes... Thank you, Mrs. Katsuragi," Ranma responded as she bowed to her supervisor. "I always strive to be on time."

"That's very good," Mrs. Katsuragi said. "Well the front is yours, I'll be back in an hour. I think Mr. Mikage wants you to help with a tour when I get back."

"Yes, Mrs. Katsuragi," Ranma responded, also with a bow. "I have no classes until 1:30, so that will give me plenty of time to get back."

With a nod, Mrs. Katsuragi threw her purse over her shoulder and left the booth to Ranma. Ranma sat in the high chair and waited for the customers to come, it was boring sometimes, but it gave time for the full time employees to grab lunch. She worked Tuesdays through Thursdays, from 10:45 to 1:15 and all day every other Saturday and every Sunday. As a bonus, the job gave Ranma the opportunity to occasionally use her English.

Ranma waited patiently until a group of people, she noted that it was made up of mostly foreigners, came up to the window. It was time to go to work.

"Welcome to the Folk Crafts Museum," Ranma said in English while bowing with her best smile. "How may I help you?"

---------------

Another Friday night.

When Ranma first started college, she resisted Megumi's efforts to drag her out on Friday nights. She was determined to be a serious student and focus all her time and effort into being that. After the first few weeks of nothing but school, study and eating, Ranma was beginning to go stir-crazy. Ranma discovered that 'decompressing' at the end of the week seemed to help her concentration the next day and into the following week.

"I guess there is something to the saying 'all work and no play'," Ranma thought as the beat of the music throb through her body. Megumi was taking her turn on the stage, belting out 'Aoi Ringo'. Ranma was near the stage, looking through the selections, deciding what she was going to sing when her turn came.

"'Sakura Drops'?... Nah. How about 'Crushing Girl Blues'?... Nah," Ranma read to herself. She smiled when she ran across one of her favorites, "'Positive'?... Now that one I know I like... yes that's the one I'll do."

Ranma looked about the club as Megumi continued singing.

It was a nice hole-in-the-wall type of place that attracted high schoolers early in the evening, before giving way to the older, college crowd. Ranma also appreciated the fact it was a clean place - not like some of the other places that Megumi had dragged her to. The outside of the first two stories of the structure that housed the club was decorated in neon and other bright lights. The color of the building was painted in lime green and trimmed in an equally bright orange.

Ranma recalled the first time she saw the name and burst into a fit of giggles.

The Cute Rabbit.

It wasn't just the name, but the cartoon rabbit mascot done up in neon that bore a striking resemblance to a certain friend she had back in Juuban.

Usagi would die if she saw it.

Megumi finished with fanfare as the crowd in the club clapped, hooted and whistled. She smiled and waved to the crowd as she replaced the microphone in its bracket and descended from the stage. Ranma passed her on her way up and picked up the microphone and punched the program buttons on the very large karaoke machine.

After a moment of silence, the music kicked in.

Ranma began to sing...

--------------

Ranma carefully measure out the powder and weighed it in a sheet of lab paper it to be sure.

"I don't want to mess this up," she thought to herself. "Doing this once is enough for me."

After carefully weighing the off-white power, she carefully poured into a beaker with a solution that she had prepared earlier and stirred it in with a glass rod. The mixture turned purple.

Ranma blink-blinked and controlled herself before panicking.

"What I'd do? What I'd do?" she thought frantically as she skimmed her notes and lab assignment. Her index finger racing up and down the pages trying to find out what happened.

Hoping that this what was suppose to happen.

Her heart leapt to her throat as Dr. Kagaku came up behind her as announced, "Ahh! It's purple, very good. It shows you measured everything out perfectly."

Ranma starred at the man.

"I - I did?" Ranma asked hesitantly.

Dr. Kagaku looked at her quizzically, "Of course Miss Yonai, what were you expecting?"

"Ahh... I wasn't sure it came out right. Um... yeah. See? I was double checking with my notes. Um... see?" Ranma answered nervously as she held her notebook up for him to see. She also hope he wouldn't ask her to repeat the procedure.

Dr. Kagaku nodded understandably. "I see," he said. "Very good."

Ranma's heart soared.

"Well," he added light heartedly, "practice does makes perfect, Miss Yonai. So why don't you run through it again to make sure you have it down right."

Ranma's heart sank to her knees.

"Y-yes sir," she replied wearily.

As the Dr. Kagaku walked away to check the progress of the other students, Ranma let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. She then considered his words.

"Well, practice does make perfect," she thought, then grinned inwardly. "That's how I got so good at the Art."

With a more positive attitude, Ranma prepared to repeat the experiment.

--------------

Ranma laughed at the joke the short haired girl made about her classmate.

It was another Friday and Megumi decided to hang around the dorm tonight instead of going out, dragging Ranma with her. They were now part of a group, sitting around and talking about their classes, tests and life in general.

Ten girls crammed themselves into one of the others' dorm room. Lounging about on the floor, beds and any flat surface that would support them - it was a tight fit, but they managed. Ranma only knew about half of the girls by name and the other half by sight, but it didn't make any difference - she felt comfortable there. A bottle of - something - was being passed around that Ranma declined to drink from, but Megumi had no problems sharing.

"Eye is where the mud is!" Megumi said badly in English before titling the bottle back, taking a drink.

The others giggled at her.

"My ex-boyfriend," the girl with the pink hair began, "is such a jerk. Ya' know, he called me up the other day from home, saying how it was all my fault because I wouldn't drop everything and come running when he calls."

"What the hell's his problem?" another girl slurred out.

"Raised real traditional like," came the reply. "His family thinks all girls should do is have kids and take care of the home."

"Man, that's, like so twenty years ago," another said.

The group nodded, some dizzily, in unison at that comment.

"How about you, Red?" a brown haired girl asked, addressing Ranma. For the most part, Ranma tried to ignore the nickname, even as it slowly caught on. "You got anyone waiting back home?"

"Not on your life," Ranma answered with a smile.

"You're kiddin'," a blond said. "Someone like you got nobody?"

"Well... I didn't really date much in high school," Ranma replied carefully. "I was too busy working and training."

"Training? For what?"

"Martial Arts," Ranma answered as half the girls "ooo'ed" and the other half blink-blinked at that.

"Are you any good?" one of the girls slurred.

"Heh, I'm probably one of the best," Ranma stated matter of factly. "My Master is training me to be his heir."

"Wow," another slurred voice commented. "With all that training, you must be limber as hell in the sack."

Ranma's face flushed at that as the girls howled in laugher at her embarrassment.

"I... I... wouldn't know," Ranma stammered out, trying not to turn any redder than she already was. Her efforts were rewarded by more laughter at her expense.

Ranma sighed in relief as the conversation turned to more comfortable subjects.

Later...

Ranma was feeling very relaxed among the girls in the room. Even without sharing the bottle, she opened up a bit more than she wanted.

"Yah mean tah tell me that your dad- I mean ex-dad, wanted you to marry some dude, that's older than the hills, just so he could live off your work? And you were only what? - sixteen at the time?" the blond asked.

"And he engaged you to how many guys?" the short-haired girl added.

Ranma bent the truth a bit, reversing genders in her story, but who would have believed her if she told the truth?

"Um... Yes, and three that I know of," Ranma answered while adding a nod.

"He traded your hand in marriage for a meal - wazzit again?" another girl asked as she scratched her armpit. "Some rice, fish and pickles? Sounds like a real nice guy your fath-, I mean ex-father."

Ranma snorted, "Nice isn't a word I would describe that worthless piece of human debris."

Silence fell among the group, those that were still conscious.

"Oooo-, I sense hostility," one of the black haired girls said dramatically before tipping over onto her side and letting out a loud snore.

Ranma let out a sigh as she looked among the drunken, passed out and semiconscious girls. It was late, she was feeling tired and she had to work all day tomorrow. So as quietly as she could, she helped Megumi back to their room and put her to bed before retiring for the night herself.

Overall, Ranma thought the evening had been... interestingly relaxing.

--------------------

Ranma stretched as she swung her bokken lazily, working the kinks out of her arm. She had been going at it all most of the morning and didn't want to lose because she let herself become stiff while waiting for her next match. Not to mention the late night she had dancing, but it was worth it.

She wore a baby blue gi tied off with a matching sash, her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a bow that matched the color of her gi. The tournament was moving much quicker than she expected. It was only about half past ten and the majority of the fighters, including many on the Kendo Team were already eliminated.

She had ended most of her matches quickly and decisively. The informal tournaments rules were not as strict as a real one, so the contestants had more latitude in what they could or couldn't do.

Ranma smirked, as continued to loosen her arm, recalling the win against her third challenger that morning. Letting him press her back, feinting weakness, until her opponent went in for the kill. Ranma evaded the attack by vaulting clear over his slash. The fact that the vault cleared her opponent, didn't matter to her as she landed behind him. She poked him with the end of her bokken beneath his shoulder blade. The stunned look of his face was priceless.

As well as the members of the small audience.

The size of the audience surprised her. The crowd that came to watch was thin and didn't seem to all that interested in what was going on early in the event. As the morning progressed the crowd only got slightly larger and the interest matched.

"You think something like this would draw more of a crowd," she mused as she continued to keep limber.

The announcer proclaimed the end of the match that had been going on between a pigtail boy and a upperclassman. The pigtailed boy was declared the winner and both parties bowed to each other before exiting the arena.

Ranma smiled as she size up her latest and last opponent.

He was a good head taller and the white gi he was wearing failed to hide the strength hidden beneath it. He had a rounded face, deep brown eyes, and a pigtail that came down to the back of his neck. Ranma's eyes narrowed as she examined her opponent.

"His ki," she thought as her eyes narrowed. "There's something weird with his ki."

Any more scrutiny was cut off by the referee.

"Just a reminder, this is a informal match," he began quietly and in a serious manner. "We are not following strict rules today, but keep it clean. Understand?"

"Yes sir," the pair answered.

"Okay then," the referee said. "To your marks."

The pair parted from the referee, moving apart until they were about nine feet apart. They then turned and bowed to one another.

"Positions!" the referee boomed.

Ranma took a side-on stance, holding the tip of her bokken low, almost touching the ground. Her opponent face her more head-on with his bokken held higher in mid position.

The referee between held a fan, high in one hand, and looked back and forth. First and Ranma then at her foe.

"Begin!" he announced while making a chopping motion with the fan and moving out of the way.

With that, the battle began.

Two hours later...

No one had scored a point yet as the bokkens clashed with resounding claps.

The sound was deafening in their sharpness, but the combatants didn't seem to notice in their focus to defeat the other. The blades contacted, each almost rubbing the length of each other in the effort of trying to get by the individual defenses. As if an unheard signal was sent to the pair, the pace of the spar notched up to a higher level.

The blades flashed and clashed with such force that witnesses to the event wondered why the wood didn't splinter and crack. The blades themselves, as well as the arms that wielded them were nothing more than blurs.

Two hours later...

"This guy's good," Ranma thought as she parried an attack, followed by one of her own.

"At least he's not a wuss, like some of the others I've fought," she grinned inwardly. "Good stamina to keep up with me."

Her opponent struck out and then followed the strike, attempting to get inside her guard. Instead of falling back as others would do, Ranma countered the strike by pushing it aside with her blade and going on the offensive herself. Releasing one hand from her grip, she lashed out with her now free hand, hoping to hit a pressure point on the man's upper arm.

The pigtailed man must have sensed something, for he rolled his shoulder out of the way. Ranma missed her intended target, but managed to tag the bicep, leaving what would probably become a bruise. As that happened Ranma almost missed the reverse that the young man did with his blade, bringing it to bear on her. Leaning back in an impossible angle, Ranma watched as the wooden blade pass above her, inches from her body.

Both fighters broke apart, sizing each other up. Ranma thought she heard yelling or cheering, but she was too focused on the match to pay it any mind.

Ranma wagged her eyebrows and the kendoist, hoping to psyche him out a bit. He responded with a raised eyebrow.

Then both parties charged again.

Two hours later...

The bokken came down. The sound of splintering wood was heard, but ignored by both combatants as they flowed around each other, searching for an opening. Ranma vaguely heard yelling, but since no one was in the line of fire, she ignored it as to not get distracted. If her opponent heard anything, he didn't hint at it.

It was tunnel vision. For Ranma nothing existed outside her foe. The way the pigtailed boy fought, he was just as fixated. Everything else faded into the background for the battling pair.

Charging, engaging, and breaking the match dragged on, neither side getting an upper hand.

The blades clashed faster. The sharp sound of wood hitting wood sounded like a machine gun.

Then pace went faster, the sound becoming one long, continuous, droning sound.

Ranma became slightly aware of her hilt getting warm, she dismissed this as someone actually giving her a workout for once. As the combat picked up from its already frantic pace, the bokkens got warmer and warmer. The friction of the contact from parrying, clashing and engaging was slowly building up the heat in the two wooded bokkens...

... until ignition occurred.

Both fighters, one ponytailed redhead girl and one black haired pigtailed man, broke off and starred dumbly at the flaming torches now in their hands. Flaming torches that were billowing smoke upward to the high ceiling.

"What in the hell do you two think you are doing?!" a slightly overweight man in his forties bellowed as he stormed up to the pair. "Don't you realize we been trying to stop you two for the last four hours?!"

The couple ignored the man at first, starring and stupefied at flames as they continued to bellow smoke upward. On registering the outraged man's words, both came out of their shock and tried to put the flaming bokkens out by shaking them.

"This is supposed to be an informal tournament," the man said angrily as he ran his fingers through his light brown hair, greying at the temples. "Not some insane death-match from a bad martial arts film!"

"Um...," Uh...," the pair responded, now trying to beat out the fires with their hands.

"I want to see you both in my office - NOW!" he roared.

The paired had finally extinguished the fires and now carried only smoking and very charred remains of what was bokkens. Both turned as one to face the very peeved man. Looking about them, Ranma noticed the condition of the arena and its surroundings for the first time. She then said what probably turned out to be not the brightest thing to ask.

"What did I do?"

This was just before the smoke and heat detectors had reached their limit and set off the fire alarm and the sprinklers.

Water rained down of the three.

The man glared at the pair.

"Any more questions?" he asked with sarcasm dripping off his voice.

-----------------

"That stupid, arrogant jerk!" Ranma fumed as she entered her dorm room. She was glad as heck that her gym bag in the locker room was still dry, as well as clothes it held.

Her roommate, looked up from the magazine she was reading and pensively asked the red head.

"Did you... lose?"

Ranma shot her a glare. The poor girl let out an "Eep".

"Sorry," Ranma said with a sigh. "I didn't lose, but I didn't win either. It was declared a draw. This jerk I was fighting just wouldn't give up and because of him, I have been exempted from competing. For, get this - being too good."

Megumi raised her eyebrow.

"Exempt from competing?" she asked. "That's weird, usually a team would want the best players on its side. Are you sure it was because you were good that or that you were a girl?" the last said somewhat hotly.

"Well... may be it had something to do with the doors..., " Ranma mumbled out.

"Doors?" Megumi asked.

"... and the bleachers..."

Megumi returned her eyebrow to its arched position, "Bleachers?".

"... may be it was the damage to the arena..."

"Uh... damage... arena?"

"... and I can't believe the sprinklers went off. The fire wasn't that big..."

"Fire? Ah... what exactly are you talking about?" the dark blond haired girl asked.

Ranma, realizing she left her roommate out of the conversation, blushed slightly.

"Sorry, its just that... me and this guy I was sparring against got a little... carried away. We... kinda, sorta... slightly... ah, damaged the building. A little." Ranma explained while looking down, stubbing her foot into the floor like a kid that got scolded for misbehaving.

"A little? Kinda? What?" Megumi asked, completely lost.

"Well, me and this other guy, didn't get his name, we were the two finalists in what was supposed to be a informal tournament," Ranma took a claiming breath.

"Well," she continued, "We start to spar and the next thing you know... well, let just say that we had to unexpectedly halt the match. Just when I had him, too. Anyway, the coach, ref, judge or whatever came over and laid into both of us and said 'since we displayed skills are far beyond the what is expected on a college level, we are hereby barred from competing in any university tournaments'."

Megumi just stared as Ranma sighed heavily, falling into silence.

Shaking her head clear, Megumi prompted, "And...?"

Ranma blink-blinked before resuming her story.

"Well, if he wasn't so stubborn," Ranma ranted, "he would - no should have yielded and given up. But noooo. He had to try and keep up with me with some fancy sword techniques..." Ranma blink-blinked at that before thinking out-loud, "Hmmm... come to think of it, I haven't seen moves like that before. I wonder if he could show me those sometime?"

Ranma's train of thought was derailed as she pondered the moves that her pigtailed opponent used. "They were unique. I'll make it a point to ask him about them the next time I run across him."

She titled her head to the side as she reanalyze the sword technique.

"Hope they are not some family style or something," she thought, "Something not to be shared outside the family."

Megumi stared at her for a moment before breaking Ranma's thoughts.

"And...?" she prompted again.

"Huh? Oh," Ranma came back to the here and now. "Well we were sparring and we kinda, sorta got carried away and damaged the building. The officials were not too happy with us and barred us from competing."

"So what you're saying, if the other guy gave up, you could've competed."

"Yes! Um... yes. That's what I'm saying - I think," Ranma agreed feeling somewhat unsure.

"Um... if the fight was so... 'carried away', why didn't you stop?" Megumi asked pointedly.

Ranma looked at her roommate as if she grown a second head.

"No. No way I'll give up," she answered while shaking her head. "Ranma Yonai doesn't give up."

"And you expected him to?" Megumi stated dryly while crossing her arms.

"Um...," uncertainty was replaced by realization. "I guess I'm ... acting stupid. Huh?" Ranma sighed out.

"Yes," Megumi said before pointing out, "But you have to admit, it's nice to meet a guy that won't hold back when sparring with you. Not like the other ones you were complaining about."

Ranma blink-blinked at her roommate.

"Ah... yeah. I guess it was nice," Ranma conceded and then complained, "But to be barred from competition..."

"Probably to save on rebuilding costs if you ask me," Megumi said pointedly. "You did say that they barred both of you, right?"

Ranma nodded in response to the question.

"You're lucky they didn't expel both of you and didn't ask you to pay for the damage," Megumi pointed out.

Ranma paled at the realization.

"Did they?" Megumi questioned carefully.

Still pale, Ranma shook her head no.

"Then don't worry about it," she said with a dismissive wave. "Oh, by the way - get showered and dressed. We got dates tonight."

Ranma nodded before realizing what was said.

"Dates! Oh no, not again!" Ranma objected. "I don't mind on Friday's, but today is Saturday and I'm here for the education! And the last time you dragged me out, it was like being with an octopus. I'm not going, I'm here strictly for the education, I gotta study. I gotta work tomorrow."

"Pleease?" Megumi asked while used her puppy dog eyes of persuasion. While not as effective as Usagi's, it did have the desired effect. "You did cram all last week so you could do your kendo thing today, if anything you're ahead - you said so yourself this morning."

Ranma stood her ground, "I got to work tomorrow."

"You don't have to be there until 9:30," Megumi countered.

Ranma just looked at her roommate.

"Karaoke," Megumi said coyly in a sing-song manner.

Ranma relented.

"Oh - okay. I guess. I'm ahead of my studies anyway and the tests are not as hard as I thought... who is it? It better not be that loser from last time." Ranma asked, feeling slightly put upon.

"No it's not. He my boyfriend's roommate. I haven't met him myself - but Tetsuyuki said he is very sweet."

"Tetsuyuki?" Ranma asked. "I thought Ryo was your boyfriend,".

"Ryo?" Megumi answered. "He hasn't been my boyfriend in... oh, about two - three weeks."

Ranma's right eyebrow twitched.

---------------

Ranma and Megumi loitered outside The Cute Rabbit, waiting for the men to show up.

Ranma decided to dress nice. She wore a white pullover shirt and black thigh length skirt with matching stockings. The shirt because it was comfortable, the skirt because she really had nothing else clean and the stockings because she wanted to keep her legs warm in the cool night air. Whatever the reason, she knew she looked good in it. She had her hair in a ponytail that cascaded down her back. Megumi was decked out in a one piece maroon colored dress that started at her shoulders and ended mid thigh, black flats and wore her hair loose.

Between the two girls, they drew more than their fair share of looks, leers, and stares.

The beat of the music was leaching through the walls and invading the sidewalk. The neon lights of the club were lit brightly in spite of the relative brightness outside. The sun was low, in the red sky as the day headed toward night. Ranma was surprised how busy the club looked on a Saturday, being used to going on Friday's so long. The sidewalk where she and Megumi were waiting was moderately filled with pedestrians milling around and about.

"Why do I let you talk me into these things?" Ranma asked, slightly unsure.

"Because you enjoy it," Megumi answered teasingly with a smile. "I didn't hear you complain when I fixed you up with that girl three weeks ago."

Ranma examined the ground around them.

"She wasn't too bad, I guess," Ranma quietly admitted. "I just wished she could have been - not quite so enthusiastic."

Megumi smiled. Ranma's reaction to her blind dates was a source of amusement for Megumi. It got even more amusing for her when she discovered that Ranma swung 'both ways' and she fixed her up with a few girls every now and then.

"So, you know anything about this guy?"Ranma asked.

"Not really, but Tetsuyuki said he is very quiet and soft spoken," Megumi answered as she kept an eye out for her boyfriend. "He said it took him this long even to convince him to go out."

"Ah... the shy type," Ranma mused.

"I'm not sure, but Tetsuyuki did say something about girl trouble," Megumi looked at the guarded expression on Ranma's face before adding, "I'm sure it's nothing. If this guy is a quiet as he says, then I doubt that women would be fighting over him."

Ranma's expression didn't change.

"I'm sure he's not a bad guy or anything, okay?" Megumi said in a quite matter of fact way. "Have I ever steered you wrong - "

Ranma's expression still didn't change.

" -lately?"

Ranma sighed and conceded the point. Even though there were a few misfires, Megumi's batting average when it came to dating had been good. Deep inside though, Ranma was now regretting she had come.

"There he is!" Megumi cried out, pointing behind Ranma.

Ranma turned and saw a young man of average height approaching with a light step. He had a rogue smile and black, bushy hair, tinted lighter at the tips. He wore a T-shirt, slacks and what appeared to be leather sandal-type shoes on his feet.

"Hey'ya Megumi. Is this Ranma?" the man greeted both girls as he saddled up to Megumi.

"Yes," Megumi answered while looking up to him. "This is my roommate, Ranma. Ranma this is Tetsuyuki," Megumi continued, making the introductions.

"Hi", Tetsuyuki greeted the redhead with a nod.

"Where is your roommate? Isn't he coming?" Megumi asked.

"Yeah, he's comin'. And you can call me Tetsu," Tetsuyuki said smoothly with the same rogue smile he had when he walked up. A smile that seemed so oily, that Ranma felt uncomfortable with.

"Where did Megumi meet this guy?" Ranma wondered despairingly to herself. "What a loser."

"He shouldn't be too long," Tetsuyuki added. "He promised he'd come to get me off his back."

"What's he like?" Ranma asked, hoping that Tetsuyuki roommate wasn't another 'Dr. Octopus'.

"He's a real mousy type," he answered while bobbing his head to the beat coming from the club's innards. This made his bushy hairdo bounce around in a amusing manner. "And the way he acts, you'd think that half the girls in Tokyo were out to get'em."

"Been there, done that, didn't even get the t-shirt" Ranma mused to herself before asking, "Oh, what do you mean?"

"I mean," Tetsuyuki continued while putting an arm around Megumi's shoulder, "he's a nice guy and all. It just sounds like he had some bad experiences with girls. Kinda left a bad taste in his mouth, ya'know?"

"Oh... what kind of bad experiences?" Ranma pressed.

Tetsuyuki gave Megumi a one armed hug as he answered, "Hearing him describe it, it was like two or more crazy chicks fighting over him, invading his privacy and doing all kinds of weird things to try and get him."

Ranma's right eyebrow twitched uncontrollably at that.

Tetsuyuki caught the subtle gesture.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's cool, it's cool," he tried to reassure Ranma. "He's a nice guy. Really. I finally talked him into going out tonight, saying may be all he needed to do is met some normal girls for a change. Ya'know - show him all girls aren't crazy like the one's back home."

Ranma blink-blinked before sarcastically asking, "Well, what do you consider a 'normal girl'?"

"Be nice," Megumi playfully scolded. Ranma nodded sheepishly.

"Here he is. Hey, Tenchi! Over here!" Tetsuyuki boomed as he motioned with his free arm.

"Well, might as well get this over with," Ranma thought as she turned to face...

... her opponent.

The pigtailed, black haired boy and the ponytailed, red haired girl starred at one another, briefly in shock.

"You," Ranma said, while resisting the urge to point a finger.

The pigtailed boy gulped.

"Um... Hi," he said weakly while pulling at his pigtail nervously. "I'm Tenchi Masaki, sorry about this."

-----------------
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Notes:

Well, here's the first chapter of the second story arc. Hope you all liked it.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to leave a review. I really do appreciate it.

On a technical note: This was another experiment in writing. The first arc (up to when I lost my notes) I wrote a fairly detailed outline. Or as my wife put it, "You're writing the darn story before you write it". Not saying I followed the outline exactly, but it gave me a good direction where I wanted to go.

In the side story, I wrote the beginning and the ending first, and filled in the details from one end to the other.

This time I'm working with a very minimal outline. So minimal that this is it:

Chapter 1

Set the scene.

Intro characters

Have kendo match

End with dating (blind date) with Tenchi.

That's it. More of a checklist than an outline, but getting all the stuff on this checklist done took a while to do. It should keep me moving toward the end I want, but is flexible enough if wild idea comes my way I incorporate it into the story. So far I tentatively have about six chapters 'outlined' in this way.

Some of you could tell from the last notes that Real Life has intruded. It's better now and hopefully it will keep getting better. Writing, so far, has been a stress relief from Real Life and I work on it when I can.

Thanks for reading.