College Life
Part 7: A deeper look

by Greenbeans <gbeans@tyrlen.org>


Disclaimers:

The Senshi do manage to wiggle their way into this part, 
but don't expect them to do it again.  I'll keep my guard 
up tighter, yeah...

Mild cursing (leave it to Haruka...)

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 :)

This is an aftermath of part 6 and more or less an 
indulgement.  Don't read this if you're in a serious mood.
You've been warned.


********** Tuesday afternoon **********

"There you go," I smiled down as I finished pouring the water 
into the new 10 gallon fish tank I had bought.

"Rather protective of it aren't you, Beans?  You don't even
have any fish in it yet," Jeff commented from his computer.

"Though it is a novel idea to have a fish tank that *actually* 
has fish in it instead of a rat, lizard, or crab,"  Alex 
added from the bed, where she was reading one of her texts.

"NOTHING must happen to this fish tank or the water in it,"
I insisted again.

"Don't worry, Beans, we won't touch your fish tank without
your permission okay?  But you do need to change the water
or it gets nasty," Alex said.

"I know that, I'll change it on the weekends," I placed the
lid onto the tank and got the water heating so it was
suitable to support fish.

"Good, then I won't have to help you," Jeff grinned from 
behind the computer monitor.  I knew that if I asked him, he
would help me with it, he was just being difficult.

*****

The encounter with the lake god had left several puzzles for
Michiru.  The first was what happened to it that it made 
suddenly decided to leave?  Also, how did Beans know who 
they were and what all did she know?

Neither wanted to go to any extremes in this because she had
been a good friend, but they couldn't have people running
around who knew their alternate identity.

They would have to move very carefully in this, or else lose
a friend.  Local authorities did frown upon finding dead
people, but if they had to...

No, stop thinking like Haruka, that was the last resort.  
They still had plenty of maneuvering room.  No reason to be
rash.  They just needed to re-establish the ground they 
stood once, that's all.

*****

"Bye, Beans, we'll be back late tonight," Jeff closed the
door behind him.  My roommates had decided to go out 
tonight, which was good for me because I needed to be
alone.

I went back to the fish tank.  "Is that big enough for
you?"

The water murked in a way that I'd come to recognize as
affirmative.

"Now, I'm not sure what kinds of fish will work best, but
I'll try to get a couple of different kinds." [Happy murk]

"Here's the deal:  I feed the fish and I keep the tank 
maintained.  YOU clean the tank, okay?" [Happy murk]  

The phone rang.

"Hello, is Beans there?"  It was *Michiru*.

"It's me, what's up?"

"We need to talk to you," she said.  "I can have Haruka 
pick you up."

"No, come up to my room.  I have something I need to show 
you.  Can you be here soon?"

"As soon as Haruka returns, we'll come over."

*****

Haruka was speeding.  Not just the usual 5mph over the limit.
She was going a good 35 to 40 over the 55 limit.  

She needed to go fast.  It had been months since she had 
gotten into a *real* car.  The fight Saturday had stirred her 
blood.  It had been too long since they had needed to fight.

She pressed the gas down further.

Beans showing up was rather inconvenient.  They needed to do
something about that, but she didn't know what.  She actually 
kind of liked her as a friend and she didn't want to have to
eliminate her, but...

"Shimatta!"

She slowed down to take the highway turnoff.  She needed to 
talk to Michiru.  She had to find out what Beans knew.

*****

I opened the door to my room.  Michiru came in followed by
Haruka.

"I'm glad that you could make it here so quickly.  I wanted
to, er, introduce you to someone.  But first, were you hurt 
by the lake god Saturday?"

Haruka and Michiru looked at each other with mildly stunned
expressions.  They had planned on taking the lead in this
conversation.

"No, we weren't hurt.  Who do you want us to meet?"  Michiru
asked.

"Please don't think I'm weird for this.  Michiru Kaioh, Haruka
Ten'ou I'd like you to meet the lake god.  Lake god, Michiru,
Haruka," I introduced them to the fish tank.

Haruka did her eyebrow twitch thing and leaned over to peer 
into the tank.  She jumped slightly when the water gurgled at 
her.  "Shimatta?!"

"Um, I don't think the lake god likes you Haruka.  What'd you
do to it?"

"Er --" she was scratching back the of head her while thinking 
back to trying to carve it up with her sword.

Meanwhile, Michiru had taken the lid off the tank and was 
dipping her hand into the waters.

"Michiru, don't!"  Haruka exclaimed.

Michiru smiled at her.  "It's alright.  This *is* the lake god 
that we encountered Saturday."  Michiru then turned her smile
to Beans.  "It's happy here.  Thank you.  Huh?  Alright, it 
says it wants a bottom sucker too?"

"What?"  Haruka asked while Beans blushed.

"I'd promised to get it some fish.  A bottom sucker, eh?  
Okay.  Glad that you can talk with it Michiru, I only get 
yes/no responses," Beans pulled out a towel for Michiru to
dry her hand off with.

"Just how did you get the lake god into a fish tank?"  Haruka
asked while leaning up against the door.

"Well, after you asked me about the lake god, it kind of 
figured that you were trying to do something.  When I saw it
with you two, I put it all together.  Hopped into my car and 
got myself a jar full of water for the lake god to live in 
until I got this aquarium today.  All it wanted was to be 
home, so I brought it home, problem solved," I finished by 
slapping my knee.

Michiru did her thoughtful pose thing while Haruka smacked her
forehead.

"How did you recognize us?"  Haruka asked.

"Like I said:  the hair.  If you were trying to disguise 
yourselves, those weren't the costumes to wear.  I'm sure half
the guys on campus are now trying to figure out how to get a 
date with you."

(Point in fact, as our heroines speak, half the male populous
of the school are currently trying to hack into Haruka's 
records to get her home phone number)

Both looked at each other *significantly*.

I began to worry.  "What is it?  Going to kill me for seeing
you in such a short skirt?"

[Haruka does eyebrow thing]

"What?  You guys can't be serious!" I insisted.

"We need to know what you know," Michiru said calmly.

"What, you think I'm going to report you to immigration or
something?  I figured a while ago that you two weren't all 
that appeared on the surface.

"I mean, honestly, how else could you fit a mirror as big as the
one you had into a purse that small without there being strings
attached?"  I asked Michiru, who blushed.  "Plus, you can talk
to the lake god."

The tank burbled happily.

Then I turned to Haruka.  "And you didn't toss me no few feet.  
If you hadn't noticed, I landed about 5 meters away from you."

"I was saving your life!"  She defended indignitly.

"That you were, but why didn't you run?  If you were like any
other person, you would have.  No, you two are up to something
a lot deeper than I want to dig.

"Listen, I haven't told anyone anything about you.  Why would 
I?  You've already established that you don't want people to get 
too close to you.  That's your decision.

"Whatever you two are into, as long as it's not illegal, I don't
care.  Don't you think I can handle a little weirdness?  I have 
a lake god living in a fish tank for cryin' out loud!  Whatever 
you have, I'm sure it can't beat that," I said, finishing my 
little speech.

"It's just might," Haruka mumbled.  "I need to talk with Michiru 
in private."

I nodded and left the room to them.

*****

Haruka leaned back up against the door.  "Why do I always end
up confessing?  I'm much better at confronting."

Michiru nodded.  "You are at that.  Is that what you think we
should do?  Tell her everything?"

"I don't think we need to tell her *everything*, just enough
to keep her from asking questions.  Because I don't like the
alternative."

The fish tank was bubbling at this point.  Michiru stuck her 
arm back in.

"Well, what does the lake god think?"  Haruka asked 
sarcastically.

"It says that she is a good person and that it would come after
us if we hurt her.  Oh?  Sorry.  It'll come after me.  It may 
still come after you for the sword to the head."

[Eyebrow twitch]  "Why you overgrown puddle..."  Haruka 
growled.

*****

I came back after 15 minutes to find that they were waiting for
me.  Michiru had her mirror out on her lap.  Haruka had a
*nasty* looking sword in her hand.

"We won't tell you everything, but enough to be fair," Haruka
said.

"The mirror Michiru has allows her to see truth.  We were
using it to track the lake god.  This," she held up the 
sheathed sword, "is why the lake god is mad at me.  I whacked
it, but it wouldn't take the hint and DIE!"

The water burbled furiously.

Haruka took the sword out of it's scabbard to show the blade 
to me.  It glowed so much that it hurt my eyes to look at it.
I think I'd be pretty mad too if I was hit with it.

"The mirror is called the "Deep Aqua Mirror" and my sword is
called the "Space Sword".  They are both talismans.  There's
one more that a friend has."

Haruka nodded over to Michiru, who got up from her place next 
to the fish tank to close the curtains.

"We're trusting you a great deal in this Beans," Haruka 
continued, "betray us and..." she held up the sword.

"Eh, not a problem," I assured.  So far, this wasn't too bad.

Once the curtains were closed, both of them took their 
'talismans' and, well, they put them into nothing.  I didn't
see a hole or anything, but I could see their hands disappear
as they stuck them into *something*.  Then they pulled out
little wand looking things.

"These are our 'henshin' sticks," Michiru took up the 
explanation.

She closed her eyes.  Violin music began to play out of 
nowhere, but it was *cool*.  She then held her hand up and 
yelled, "Neptune Crystal Power, Make-up!"  Waves of water 
seemed to fill the room, but nothing got wet.  She was 
submerged, yet dry, with lipstick mysteriously appearing on 
her lips.  She stood in the middle of the room in a very 
Michiru-ish thoughtful pose.

"I am the elegant Sailor Neptune!"  She announced.

The music continued to play.  Haruka held her hand up and 
grabbed onto her henshin stick.  She encircled herself with
it and a blast of air blew up from the floor replacing her
clothes with a white leotard.  She combed her fingers though 
her hair and the lipstick thing happened.  Smiling cockily, 
she put her hands above her head then down into a GQ* pose.

*GQ: Gentleman's Quarterly.  To be GQ is to be very stylish,
acting stylish, or (in this case) posing stylishly.

"I am the magnificent Sailor Uranus!"  She proclaimed.

I laughed out loud.  She grimaced at me.

"Sailor 'Your Anus,'" I continued to laugh until she clotted 
me upside the head.

"Shuddup, do you know how often I get that!  I didn't chose
the planet's name!  Damn English speakers say it the wrong
way.  It's pronounced Oo-rah-nah-soo.  Can you repeat after 
me?  Oo-rah-nah-soo.  Got that!"

I stopped laughing and rubbed my head a little.

"She's a tad touchy about that," Neptune warned.

"No kidding.  That's the Japanese pronunciation.  I am still
biased for the English," I received a cool glare for that.  I
continued.  "So you have a nifty way to change clothes, is
that all you do?"

"No, we have powers, but unless you want your room thrashed,
we can't show you," Neptune said.

"I'm tempted to show her any ways," Oo-rah-nah-soo muttered.

"Hush," Neptune said.  "My guardian deity is the planet 
Neptune.  I am aligned with the seas.  That is why I can 
communicate with the lake god."

The fish tank gurgled happily.

"My guardian deity is the planet Uranus.  I am aligned with
the sky and heavens," Uranus said.

I almost broke out laughing again.  Someone like Haruka 
aligned with the heavens.  Heh, I would have placed her in
Dante's Inferno.

Uranus noticed my expression and growled, "What's so funny?"

So I told her and I received another clot to the head.  I'm
really going to have to start wearing a helmet around her.

"Stop that Beans," Neptune scolded.  "If she didn't have a 
pure heart, she wouldn't have the Space Sword."

"*You* have a pure heart?"  I asked expecting another hit.

It didn't come.  "Surprised me too," she admitted 
thoughtfully.

"We came to the US to study and that's it.  For now, our
fight is over and we can live as only Haruka Ten'ou and 
Michiru Kaioh," Neptune said.

I nodded.  "I won't tell anyone, not that I'd be believed
any ways.  Thank you for trusting me with this."

"Hopefully, you will never see us like this again," Neptune
replied.

"I hope so too, Uranus is a lot more irritable than Haruka,"
I said slyly.

"Why you..."

The water burbled at her.  I grinned.  My life just got a 
lot more interesting.  I really didn't have any choice about
keeping their secret.  We each had something to hide:

Michiru as Neptune

Haruka as Uranus

Myself as keeper of the lake god

All of us are worthy of being committed.  At least we've 
established what reality each of us are living in...

********** End part 7 **********


Oo-rah-nah-soo is how Uranus is pronounced in Japanese.
Thanks to SlrSaturn of the Everchanging Sailor Moon Gateway 
for providing the info :)

Okay, so this one is more or less an after math of the last
one.  I think that I've gotten most of the weirdness out of
my system for the time being and the stories will take a 
more -- dare I say it? -- serious turn.  But not too serious, 
that wouldn't defeat the purpose of this series.

Next episode:  "Dorm life" is a look at Beans' living 
conditions during dead week.  Anyone who has ever lived in a
dorm will probably appreciate this ep.  Those that haven't
get a look into the mysterious life of living-on-campus 
college students :)

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://ctdnet.acns.nwu.edu/~aerdnahu/

Also:

* Mike-sempai:
"You have a lake god in a fish tank?" [shaking head] "You have
*too* much time on your hands...." 
