Chapter 2

Ranma surveyed the seething mass of students on the mall before him with dismay. How was he ever going to find his way to his first class ever at this school in this mess? He heaved an inner sigh and started toward what seemed like the correct building, double-checking his schedule and map. 'At least I can read a map, not like that dope Ryouga,' he thought to himself. As he walked with his head down, intent on the map, he dodged people with a seeming sixth sense and a cat-like grace. The going, however was slower than he expected in the crowd and he found himself at the entrance to the building with only few seconds left till the scheduled start time of the class. He entered the building at a run, reached the classroom and, not even having broken a sweat, sauntered in through the door. He paused there, surveying the class, noticing with dismay that all of the seats in the back two rows were already taken. Suddenly he was looking into a pair of wide, deep brown eyes and he seemed frozen, until she looked down at her notebook in embarrassment. Mentally shaking himself, he quickly took a seat up front and listened as the sensei, a really odd looking woman with the strangest haircut he’d ever seen, started the roll.

As he waited for his name to be called, he could feel her eyes on him and resisted the impulse to look back. He hadn't seen eyes like that since, well, since Akane. The thought of her still brought him pain. He did not think losing that kawaiikune tomboy to Shinnosuke would hurt that much, but it did, though not as much now. 'Good thing Oyaji got that buddy of his on the board to help me get this scholarship,' he thought, grateful for the few connections his Pop did have. 'Not that I needed much help,' he asserted to himself. Hearing his name, he answered the way he was used to and immediately corrected his answering "Hai" reminding himself he was now in America, California to be exact and wanted to fit in.

When class was over, he left quickly, not wanting to be late for his next class, American History I, regrettably giving up the opportunity to introduce himself to the girl with the brown eyes. 'Don't get ahead of yourself, Saotome, first things first,' he admonished silently, resolving to be the best student he could and not squander this opportunity. Following the map to the location of the next class, he saw the note upon the door: "American History I MWF 2 pm-3 moved to Social Sciences bldg., rm. 203. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Shit," he swore softly, enjoying the feel of the English swear word and made an abrupt about-face, 'That's way the hell over there,' he thought, touching a spot on the campus map that was about 1/2 mile from where he currently was. Declining the thought of the rooftops, he set off at a fast jog, backpack jouncing on his back. Taking the stairs 3 at a time, he was late to another class and forced to sit up front, again. He was slightly disappointed to learn that the girl with the brown eyes was not in this class.

As the sensei wrapped up the hour, Ranma, poised for another fast getaway, learned he had a full 90 minutes before his next class, Chemistry I. Walking out into the hall, he let the flow of students take him where it would, ending up at the bookstore. 'Well, I s'pose this is as good a time as any,' he shrugged, following the mass into the store. Shucking his pack and setting it into a cubby, he entered the main part of the store, marveling all of the gift-type items they had for sale there. He fingered a sweatshirt emblazoned with the school's name and logo on it before deciding it was not his style and moving on toward the books.

He started gathering the assigned texts, starting with Chemistry, then American History and, studying his schedule, turned the corner for the Philosophy section, colliding with another student. Looking up to apologize, he found himself looking into those same brown eyes he saw earlier. "G-gomen! Gomen nasai!" he heard himself saying. 'Kawaii. . . ' he heard himself thinking, now that he'd had an opportunity to get a good look at her. She was about 5'6" he saw, with a pretty, tanned, oval face framed by shoulder-length curly brown hair and wearing a T-shirt of the type he had seen in the gift area, jeans and white sneakers.

"Huh?" she said.

Realizing he had spoken in Japanese, he apologized in English and started picking up the books, ignoring her protests. "Which are yours?" he asked. She said something about used and suggested they move out of the way of the other frenzied students. He followed her lead to a pallet of sketchbooks, setting down the heavy textbooks on top of them.

What followed was a pleasant introduction to the girl, whose name he learned was Shayla. "You can call me Shay if that’s easier," she’d said, and he decided he would, liking the sound of that better. After sorting their books and schedules, she offered to walk to their mutual Chemistry class with him. "This place is so big! That would be great," was his answer. The thought of walking across campus with her was a pleasant thought indeed. He watched her walk toward the Chemistry section, not missing her seemingly casual glance over her shoulder. ‘What was that gaijin song, something about girls from California. . .. I wonder if she’s a native?’ he mused to himself, going to stand in one of the checkout lines.

Shay’s thoughts were in a whirl as she made her way to the Chemistry section and found to her dismay, the prof was one of those 50 lb. book guys. Hefting the giant text and the accompanying workbook, she staggered toward the nearest cashier line, catching Ranma’s eye on the way. He was next in his line, but left it to help her carry her huge load. "You didn’t have to leave your line, you were next!" she protested.

"A true martial artist always helps out those in need," he intoned with an air of studied pomposity, making her giggle.

The line they were in moved quickly and soon they were on their way across campus, heading toward the lecture hall that the chemistry class was scheduled to take place in. "I hope this does not turn out like my last class," Ranma said, relating the story of his cross-campus jog to Shay.

"That would be a big bummer," she agreed. "Hey, let’s stop here for a sec," she said, spying a coffee cart in the quad by the fountain where all the beautiful people hung out. "I want to get an iced mocha."

"An iced what?" asked Ranma, totally confused as to what mocha was and why anyone would want it iced.

"Mocha, it’s a coffee drink. Espresso and hot chocolate mixed together and then poured over ice," Shay explained, placing her order and paying the guy behind the counter. "It’s really good, want a taste?" she offered, extending the plastic cup out to him.

Ranma gazed at it dubiously, "No thanks, I think I’ll stick to tea for now."

"Suit yourself," Shay replied, taking a sip. They continued on toward their destination, Shay noticing the sinewy grace with which Ranma moved and the heat given off by his body. ‘I’ll bet he’s a regular radiator,’ was her not so idle thought. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "So, how long have you been studying martial arts?"

"All my life," was his answer, "Pop started me with basic moves almost as soon as I could walk. I’m the heir to the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts."

"Wow, sounds important."

"Eh, it’s what you make it," Ranma shrugged, suddenly feeling shy and a little silly discussing his position as the next generation of a martial arts school with a girl he just met.

"Oh, here we are," Shay said, seeing the door to the chem class. It was open and no one was inside. "Let’s go in and pick our seats," she suggested. Entering the room, they chose two seats next to each other in one of the middle rows and set down their heavy bags. Shay sat down with a sigh and rummaged in her bag for her notebook and pen, accidentally brushing Ranma’s bare arm in the process. ‘Wow, he is warm,’ was her startled thought.

They chatted amiably as the classroom filled up with other students, Ranma asking her about her family and background. "So are you from around here?" he asked.

"No, I’m from much further up north, Fort Bragg. It’s this tiny town by the ocean and surrounded by trees. My dad works at the sawmill there and my mom has her own business," she replied.

"Ah, so you are a ‘California Girl’" Ranma teased with a smile.

"Born and bred, so you better believe it," Shay answered his tease with a flip of her shoulder length hair. "Oh, no, not him," she said in dismay, seeing who was just walking in the door of the classroom over Ranma’s shoulder.

"Who?" Ranma asked with concern.

"Him, that guy with the blond hair. I dated him last semester. Worst mistake of my life." Shay began sinking down in her seat, willing him not to see her. No good. He caught sight of her, waved and began to move in their direction.

"Hi, Shay, I didn’t expect to see you here!" he exclaimed, plopping himself in the seat next to her. "How was your summer?"

"Hi, Nick, it was good. Yours?" she asked with forced cheer, shrinking away from Nick and towards Ranma.

"Oh, it was great! Did some surfing, some sailing, just fantastic!" he exclaimed. Noticing Ranma and Shay’s proximity to him for the first time he asked, "Who’s he? Friend of yours?" and Shayla could see the beginnings of jealousy starting to stir in him.

"I’m sorry, I did not mean to be so rude," Shay began hastily, "Nick Anderson, meet-"

"Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," he interrupted her, extending his hand across her to shake Nick’s, perhaps a little more firmly than was strictly polite.

"Martial arts, huh?" Nick asked speculatively. "I’ve dabbled a bit in Karate, you any good?" Shay had the vision of two dogs with their hackles raised, slowly circling each other, looking for an opening, especially since she knew that Nick had more than dabbled in Karate and was in fact one of the top ranked competitors in the state.

"I’m the best in all Japan," Ranma accepted his unspoken challenge without false modesty.

"Are you. . . " Nick said with a narrowing of the eyes.

"Oh, look who’s here, the professor! We’ll continue this discussion after class, okay, Nick?" Shay interrupted quickly, giving Ranma a warning glance out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, sure," Nick agreed, switching his gaze to the front of the class.

Shay heaved an internal sigh, wishing Nick hadn’t chosen the same Chemistry class as her, it would have made life this semester so much easier . . .