College Life
Part 1: Welcome back

by Greenbeans <gbeans@tyrlen.org>


Disclaimers:

Yes, this is my first fanfic, but it is not my first time
at writing a story of any length.  Mostly, I wanted to try
writing a story in which the characters were already
established instead of my having to create them from
scratch.

Yes, I did put myself in this because, hey, I'm the
author and I wanted a role, 'kay?  Plus it's a first
person story, so it goes better that way.

FYI, this isn't so much a Senshi story as it's one about
Haruka and Michiru.  If you're looking for the inner
Senshi or monster bashing, look elsewhere.  Oh, yeah,
it begins kinda slow because I have to introduce myself.
But it does pick up, honest!

Comments, thoughts, complaints, compliments, ramblings,
and flames are all accepted.  But the latter two stand a
serious chance of being printed out and turned into rat
cage lining.

All characters are property of their respective holders.
I belong to myself, thank you, and have a nice day :)


********** Friday **********

It was too nice a day for being the beginning of the fall 
term. I had protested silently against having to go to 
school instead of staying up late, sleeping in late, and 
generally being lazy.

But the new term was set to start Monday and I had yet to
unpack after moving into the dorms again.  What a lousy
way to spend a Friday night!

I would have the same roommate that I had last year, Alex.
(No, NOT Haruka, my roommate).  She was nice enough, but also 
odd enough to have earned herself quite a few enemies.  

When I moved in with her in the middle winter term last 
year,  I was declared insane.  Most wagered that I 
wouldn't last a term with her considering that I was the 
third roommate she'd had since fall term.  To everyone's 
surprise we get along wonderfully.  In fact, she was the best 
roommate that I'd ever had.  We're both off kilter enough to 
balance each other out, and I like it that way.

I looked around our room and sighed.  She hadn't arrived yet,
but I had enough stuff for the both of us.  Oh well, it 
wasn't as bad as when I first moved in with her and was given 
only an hour to move out of my old room.  That was a 
nightmare....

At least I had gotten all the classes that I wanted.  Being 
a computers major was fun but it had entirely too many math 
classes and labs tied to it.  This term I was going to have 
a C++ lab and an Electronics lab plus the labs I attended 
because of my job.

I wouldn't change it though.  I need the two labs for my 
major and being a computers department lab assistant was a 
lot of fun.  I got to meet a good portion of the student 
body since everyone, except those in the computers major, 
was required to take Computers 101.  There were 5 labs open 
and I was in charge of two of them, and sometimes I would 
cover open labs also.

I grinned as I finished hooking up my computer, Yggdrasil.  
My most prized toy and leach of a large amount of my monthly 
income.

"Of course you hook your computer up before you unpack 
anything else," a male voice chided from the door.

I turned around to see my roommate's boyfriend, Jeff, 
weighed down with bags of clothing.

"They let you back on campus?  I thought this school had 
raised it's admissions standards," I greeted while unloading 
him of his burden.

"Very funny," he said dryly.  "How was the summer?"

"Same old," I answered.  "You going to be living with us 
again this year?"

He grinned.  "Who's clothes do you think those are?"

I shook my head.  It was a running joke of how the RAs often
'overlooked' things as long as they didn't cause problems.  
Such as a guy living in the girl's wing in a room that was 
only supposed to have two occupants.

But that wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other things 
I'd seen or heard about.  Such as the wet bar that was ran 
out of a closet for two terms or the 'undernet' where 3 wings 
had managed to network their computers together by running 
cable through the heating vents.  Or the fact the last year
everyone in this wing except me owned some aquarium based
pet that wasn't a fish when fish were the only allowable 
pet.

It's almost as bad as "Here is Greenwood" around here 
sometimes.  ("Greenwood" is one of my favorites anime and 
it's the type of setting I'm going for, so being familiar 
with it might help....)

Unpacking, even with three of us helping, did take us until
into the night.  Only a few of our friends stopped by with 
the proper exchanging of room and phone numbers.  It 
seems that everyone had decided to come back on Saturday 
or Sunday.  Probably waiting for the last minute so that they 
could rope someone else into helping them unpack, if I had 
my guess in regards to some of my less motivated friends.

At any rate, Saturday should be more interesting.

********** Saturday *********

I woke up at 6am with the bright morning sun in my eyes.  
I groaned at forgetting that this room would get the 
morning sun right where my head was at an obscenely early 
hour.

Unable to resist the sun's promptings, I crawled out of bed 
and performed my morning activities.  I then sat down to watch 
cartoons.

I do realize that this activity may startle some into 
wondering the maturity of this college sophomore.  But I 
can assure the reader that I am quite sane and that this 
morning ritual is followed by a fair number of the dorm 
residents.  Besides, I had nothing better to do since the 
cafeteria doesn't open until 10am.

My return to the school cafeteria was much like that of a 
refugee returning to a ravished homeland.  I had nowhere 
else to go, but here wasn't all that great a place.  

Taking up a tray, I opted for the old tried and true 
breakfast choice:  Lucky Charms.  Beginning the school year 
with food poisoning was not a good idea.

The room had an amazing amount of people in it.  Mostly 
freshmen, I figured, or else they wouldn't have gone 
through all the bother.  In fact, every table was filled 
except a booth in the corner.

I snagged my eating grounds and began to chew away at the 
bowl of sugar and God-knows-what that was in front of me.  
Several people were circling around the room like vultures, 
ready to dive on any open seat.

I noticed a fine looking couple that had just entered the 
check out line.  A lady -- yes, I'd definitely call her that --
with wavy blue/green hair.  That's what had drawn my eye, it 
was an odd color, but it looked so natural.  Behind her was 
a man with short sand colored hair that was paying for both 
their meals.

I don't know what possessed me, but I waved them over to 
where I was sitting.  The man looked at me somewhat 
suspiciously, but the lady smiled and lead them over.

"I'm done here," I said. "Have a seat before the freshmen get
any ideas."  The man caught on to what I was suggesting, sat 
his tray down, and scooted into the booth.

"Thank you," the lady called after me while I continued to 
put my tray away.

I waved while staring down several freshmen who were glaring 
at me for what I'd just done.  I notice that the man was doing 
the same thing.  Of course, with a fine looking lady like her 
as a girlfriend, I'm sure he must be used to being on the 
defensive.

*****

I finally had the chance to stretch out onto my bed.  I had 
helped 5 people carry stuff up to their rooms and 3 of them 
unpack.  I didn't begrudge the work.  It gave me something 
to do and I got to hear about how people's summer went.

Most were along the same lines as mine.  Eat, sleep, work -- 
give money to the college.  It was a student's life.

I closed my eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

********** Sunday **********

I was driven from my bed once again by the evil sun.  One of 
these days I was going to have to get some heavier curtains, 
I decided grumpily.

It would have been the perfect hour for getting up if I was 
a church go-er, but I wasn't, and I was up any ways.  Maybe 
it was a sign, I yawned hugely.

"Just put a pillow over your head and go back to sleep," Jeff 
said sleepily from the bed he and Alex shared.

"Easy for you to say.  The sun isn't in *your* face," I griped 
and pulled my pillow over my face.  It didn't help much, but I 
did eventually fall asleep again.

*****

I was awakened by the feeling of being extremely hot.  The 
sun had baked my bed to an uncomfortable warmth that was 
causing me to sweat under my bed covers.

It was time to give up on the sleep idea.

After cleaning up I went over to the student union.  The 
cafeteria wouldn't be open for another half-hour, but they 
may have turned the arcade machines on and I could kill some 
time that way.

The custodians had only turned on half the lights.  I left 
the arcade machines in disappointment when I discovered that 
the overhead lights weren't the only thing that had been 
neglected power.  I was about to leave when I heard music 
coming from one of the lounges.

Quietly, I located the source of the sound.  I peered into the 
lounge from the cover of a support column to see that man I 
had given the table to yesterday sitting at a piano.

That was one thing the student union didn't lack: pianos.  
What the school lacked was people who could play a keyboard 
that wasn't attached to a computer.  I doubt if they could 
even find enough people with skill to assign a piano each.  
Thus I waited to see if he had any skill or if he was just 
another geek away from his computer.

Softly, ever so softly, the notes trickled into the hall 
where I leaned against the column listening.  No, I decided, 
he was not an orphaned geek.  The music he played tugged at 
my soul.  The school rarely brought in people to perform 
concerts on campus because student turnout was usually low.  
Most would rather go listen to some computer genius speak.

So I savored the sweet melody knowing that it would be a 
while before I got to hear anything like it again.  I closed 
my eyes in appreciation.

"Why don't you come in and listen?"

My eyes flew open as I pushed away from the column.  The lady 
with the blue/green hair stood in front of me.  In her hand was 
a violin case.

The man stopped playing suddenly and called out.  "Michiru, 
what is it?"

"A mouse," she called back.  "Won't you come out of your hole 
and join us?"  She asked me.

The man came up to me from the other side of the column, 
effectively blocking me in.  "Who are you, spying on our 
practice?"  He seemed quite steamed.

I shook my head.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean anything by it.  
It's just that -- no one here plays like that and I --" his 
glare made me feel a lot hotter than the sun had this morning.

"Stop that Haruka, she was just appreciating your music," 
Michiru -- I guess that's what her name is -- placed a 
pacifying hand on Haruka's shoulder.

"You're the only one I play for," he growled slightly.  I 
shuttered on the inside.  Only now did I appreciate the fact 
that this Haruka was at least a half head taller than me and 
probably a lot stronger.

"What's your name?"  Michiru asked me.

"Beans, everyone calls me Beans.  I'm a sophomore in the 
computers program," I answered getting the three most often 
asked questions of college students amongst each other out of 
the way: name, year, and major.

"What kind of name is that?"  Haruka asked while leaning 
against the column himself.

Michiru gave him a *look* that quickly stopped his smirking.  
"Gomen," he said and I looked at him odd for that.  They 
didn't look like exchange students.

"Let me introduce us.  I am Michiru Kaioh and this is Haruka 
Ten'ou.  We are exchange students from Japan and will be 
spending a year here.  I am going to the College of Fine Arts 
that is nearby while Haruka is studying mechanical 
engineering here.  We both are sophomores."

As she spoke I could tell that they were definitely not from 
around here, but she spoke fluently enough that I wouldn't 
have guessed Japan if Haruka hadn't say 'Gomen.'

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," I said politely and held 
out my hand to shake with Michiru.  Her hand was warm and soft.  

I turned to shake Haruka's hand and was met with a grip of 
steel that was just on the verge of overpowering mine.  I had 
played this game too many times with my brother to not be able 
to meet his grip just as firmly.

His eyebrows went up slightly at the challenge he met.  "A 
pleasure to meet you," he said with little of Michiru's warmth.

"So would you like to listen in on our practice?" Michiru 
offered again once the pleasantries were out of the way.  I 
could tell that this would be a bad idea as far as Haruka was 
concerned.

"Kind of you to offer, but I promised to help some of my 
friends move into the dorms today.  Thanks any ways!"

I left around the corner, but I didn't proceed down the hall.

"Michiru, she was spying on us.  You shouldn't be so trusting 
of complete strangers.  I've been to America often enough to 
know that Americans aren't all that they seem on the surface,"
Haruka scolded in Japanese.

I smiled.  He didn't realize that I was an oddball in the same
way he was odd for being able to play the piano.  I spoke 
fluent Japanese.

"Haruka, you forget that I can see the truth.  She's nothing 
more than a starving music lover.  We have to begin by trusting 
someone or this next year is going to be very lonely," she 
answered softly.

"I don't need these Americans," Haruka said haughtily.

"Perhaps you don't, love, but I do.  Please, don't disagree 
with me on this," she pled.

It was silent for several moments.

"You know that I'd do anything for you Michiru.  If you want 
to be friends with this American, then I'll be friends with 
her too."

I decided that then was a good time to leave before I was 
caught for spying in earnest.

********** Monday **********

The first day of the term was always boring.  In every class
the instructors went through the motions of explaining
grading policies and expectations.  Fortunately, no labs
met in the first week -- since the student may not have had
the class yet -- so I didn't have to go to work for a week.

I discovered that I had 10:30 Calculus with Haruka.  I can't
say that I was thrilled with the prospect, or the fact that
he chose to sit next to me in class.  But he seemed to have
changed his approach from 'offensive' to 'civil'.  At least 
towards me.

Our instructor explained that this course was taught with
partners and that we'd have to buddy up with someone.
Several of my friends were in this class so I just needed
to hook up with one of them and I'd be set.

"Beans," Haruka looked over at me, "be my partner."  I'm
not sure if it was a question or a statement, but the very
idea sent my mind reeling.  I had enough problems in math
without having to fight my partner.

I didn't have a chance to say 'no' before he had gone up to 
the instructor and signed us up.  Now we were responsible
for each other for the rest of the term.

I sighed on the inside.  'Oh great, now I have a partner
that isn't too thrilled with me in the first place and
could pound me into the cement anytime he felt the urge,'
I said to myself.

There were reasons why Mondays generally stunk and this 
definitely qualified as a reason.

"Do you have a class after this one?"  He asked when he
returned to his seat.

"Uh, no, I have lunch after this," I answered.

"Great, we can do the assignment during lunch and I'll
still have time to pick Michiru up after her classes,"
he sat back in his seat rather pleased with his solution.

I decided to hold my protest about missing lunch.  I could
always eat while we worked.  And instead, went with the
opening Haruka had left.

"Is Michiru your girlfriend?"  I asked.

His cheeks turned slightly blush.  "You could call her
that."

"Do you love her?"  Oh, God, I just stuck my foot in it.
Asking such a personal question of someone I barely knew.
I waited for the hammer to fall.

He was silent for several moments.  "I do," he answered
simply.

"Ah well, let's get something from the cafeteria before
we get to work, okay?"  I switched to a neutral subject.

He nodded his assent and we headed off to find some lunch.

********** A week later **********

Things were going well all around.  All of the instructors
that I had signed up for this term were good ones.  Classes
should go well for me.

It turns out that Haruka is pretty good at that math thing,
to my extreme relief.  Math was never one of my strong
suits and having someone there to explain it to me helped.

Yes, sometimes he was impatient with my obtuseness, but
then I would point out who picked me and he would settle
down again.  I've almost come to think of him as a friend.

I've gotten to meet Michiru again on a few occasions when
our homework would take longer than Haruka anticipated and
he would pick her up and bring her back to the student
union.  She was on top of math too.  In fact, I think she'd
probably be on top of just about any subject you'd throw at
her.

If Haruka couldn't get the idea through my head, Michiru
would patiently explain it in another way.  

Often Haruka would speak to Michiru in Japanese when he 
didn't want me to understand what he was saying.  I would
sit there 'ignorant' to what was being said, but would
laugh to myself.  Mostly he just complained about how
dense I was.  Then Michiru would tell him not to be so rude
and to be more patient.

*****

It was just before the first computer lab I taught today 
and everyone was filing into the room.  It would be mostly
freshmen just from high school.  Then a familiar face
came into the room:  Haruka.

I shook my head mentally.  I guess being an exchange student
would mean he'd have to take this class, but there were 5 
lab sessions.  Why did he have to end up in one of mine!

Apparently he was thinking the same thing as he sat himself
at a computer near the back of the room.

No matter who was in the lab, I still was responsible for
this class.  Thus I began, "Welcome to Computers 101,
section 3.  You can call me Beans.  Your instructors should
have given you the packets that you'll be needing for this
weeks lab and any instructions.  So let me take a quick head 
count while you all get started on your labs."

I began to call names off of the roll sheets so that I could
give them to the registrar and see if the people who were supposed
to be in here were.

Beside the persons name was their social security number,
class, and sex.  I checked 'Ten'ou Haruka' off my list.  
Then I did a double take.  Female?!

"You're a female?!" I blurted out loud with total disregard 
for tact.  Then my cheeks were on fire as I blushed and Haruka
gave me an evil grin.

"I never said I was a male," SHE continued to snicker at me.

********** End part 1 **********


So that's the first part.  I'm not sure how long this will
run, but it should be a fun ride.

For the record, I used my handle for my character, but the
characteristics I made up.  (As in, I don't speak fluent
Japanese, so don't ask :)

Next episode:  Beans has certainly gotten herself in deep
with Haruka.  Learn how she extracts herself in "Coming
to an understanding."

I'd like to acknowledge some of my favorite fanfic authors
whom I drew inspiration from:

* Tim Nolan: "Awakening", "Obligations"
Thank you for answering all of my outer Senshi questions =)

* Jackie Chiang: "Senshi Kurai"
I really liked this fic for being serious and still having fun!

* Brett Handy: "Oh my God!!" Series
Thanks for all the advice and encouragement you've given, mate!
Check out his Oh My Goddess and Ranma fics at his website at:
http://www.ozanime.com/darkwind/

* A Sailor Moon Romance:
For posting this and providing me with plenty of fics to read ;)
http://solo.abac.com/moonromance/
 
