Chapter 4

Ranma had spent a very fitful night and being awakened by Suge in the middle of it did not help either. He’d been having very odd dreams that night, something about Akane and Shay, both of them were in danger and he had to choose which one to save. He shook his head in dismay and settled back on the pillow, willing himself to get some rest. He hadn’t dreamed of Akane in a long time and knew he was wound up about his "performance" tomorrow for the martial arts instructor, although he was confident he would do well.

As he began to relax, his thoughts strayed to his dream and what it could possibly mean. ‘Hm, too bad the old ghoul isn’t here, she could figure it out in a snap,’ he thought with a smile as he drifted off to sleep.

He woke up in the morning to Suge’s snores and cast a disgusted look at the slovenly student sprawled fully clothed on his bed. He rose from his bunk and, briefly missing the morning practice sessions with his pop, ran through a short, silent kata followed by some more crunches and push-ups. After a shower, he dressed and attempted to rouse the fiercely somnolent Suge, not being successful in the least. He let him lie there, gathered his books and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Still not familiar with half of the foods before him, he chose some eggs; some okonomiyaki-like things called pancakes and toast and ate slowly, having no Genma to defend his food from. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he saw he had about 15 minutes before his first class of the day, health and nutrition. Munching the last bit of toast as he walked to the class, he looked around his surroundings, hoping to catch a glimpse of Shay. Not being lucky in that respect, he did reach his class with time to spare and chose a seat in the back row, not wishing to be exposed in the front row again.

The class passed uneventfully, it was a two-hour session, and Ranma welcomed the chance to learn more about American food. When the class ended at noon, the day was appreciably hotter and the late-August sun shone brightly in the cloudless blue sky.

Moving quickly back to the dorm to pick up his gym gear, he did not notice the many appreciative looks that he was receiving from the female portion of the campus population. In the room, he saw that Suge was still out and would be for a while. Deciding he deserved whatever trouble he got into, Ranma let him sleep, dropping off the backpack and picking up the gym bag containing his gi and a couple of towels. He reached the gym and stood in line to receive a locker. Grateful he no longer had to worry about spontaneously growing breasts, he quickly changed and went into the room where he was scheduled to meet the sensei at 12:30, the time the class would normally be once it started.

Normally a wrestling room, the floor was covered with spongy mats and not his preferred surface, but it would do. The sensei had told him the floors in their regular room were being refinished and would be done in a couple of days. Standing in the middle of the room, he began a warm-up kata, deep in concentration, not noticing the group of girls around the open door watching as he practiced his art.

Shay walked out of the girl’s locker room and toward the main gym where her Badminton class was scheduled to take place. On the way there, she noticed a group of girls clustered around an open door, whispering excitedly. Curious, she walked over to see what the excitement was. Inside, she found Ranma practicing some of the most exquisite moves she’d ever seen anyone perform.

"Oh, my God, what a hunk!" one of the girls whispered vehemently.

"I wonder what other moves he knows?" another asked suggestively, waggling her eyebrows at her friend, who giggled nervously.

Shay colored in embarrassment, watching Ranma move with balletic grace and stringent control, giving her the feeling that there was immense power on a very tight leash. ‘Wow,’ she thought to herself. Suddenly, an exceptionally loud giggle broke through Ranma’s concentration and he halted his kata, looking toward the door. The group of girls froze and started to break apart. Ranma caught sight of Shay and waved, smiling warmly. The remaining girls shot daggers at her, but she did not notice, watching Ranma as he moved toward her.

"Ohayo, Shay-chan," Ranma said upon reaching Shay at the door, unconsciously appending the affectionate suffix on the end of her name.

"Sorry?" Shay asked, not sure of what he had said or called her, taking in the white gi he wore, tied at the waist with a soft, black strip of cloth. It exposed a small amount of muscled chest. ‘Smooth,’ was her thought.

"It means good morning, but I guess it’s not morning anymore, is it?" Ranma answered self consciously, realizing what he had called her and hoped she would not get inquisitive of it. ‘After all, I called Ukyo Ucchan and we were just friends,’ he reasoned with himself. "You look ready for action," he commented, taking in her baggy khaki shorts, tennies and plain white T-shirt.

"Yeah, Badminton, remember?" she said, miming swatting a birdie out of the air with a racket. "You look pretty ready yourself."

"I hope so. Sensei Thomas should be along any moment now. In fact, there he is." Ranma pointed out the burly man also in a white gi rounding a corner. His face fell when he saw who followed him. "Kuso!" he swore.

Shay turned to see Nick following sensei Thomas, dressed much the same as the sensei and Ranma. "Oh, damn," she said with a sinking feeling. "I’ll see you later, okay? Don’t let him get to you," she said as she hightailed it toward the main gym.

**

‘Great,’ Ranma thought as he listened to the sensei explain that he first wanted to see his kata and then he wanted him and Nick to spar together. "Hai!" he said with a bow when the sensei finished his explanation. As he moved through his kata, he banished all thoughts of Nick and their upcoming match out of his head and concentrated on the rhythm of breathing and movement.

When he finished, he faced Sensei Thomas and Nick and bowed, waiting for the sensei.

"Very good, Saotome. I can see you are very experienced. Let’s see how you do against the top martial artist in the state. Nick," he motioned toward Ranma.

Nick stepped up and they bowed and dropped into ready stances, circling slowly. Ranma couldn’t wait to wipe that smile off of his smart-alecky face. He got his chance when Nick came at him with a jab to the body, or more precisely, where his body was a mere split second ago. Nick tried to mask the look of surprise when he found his opponent suddenly on his unprotected flank. Ranma let go with a flurry of punches and jabs designed not to hurt too badly, but certainly to unnerve and not a Kachu Tenshin Amiguriken by a long shot.

Nick turned back to face his opponent and tried to knock him down with a sweeping kick, but Ranma just leapt high in the air, neatly avoiding the attack. And so it went, Nick attacking, Ranma avoiding and Nick getting more and more frustrated that he could not connect on this guy. ‘The Hi-Ryuu Shouten Ha I could do with this guy,’ Ranma thought amusedly. ‘He’s so pissed off he’s about to blow. Time to end it.’ Ranma faked a jab to the shoulder and Nick moved to block it, foolishly leaving his midsection open. Ranma unleashed a flurry of punches, a kinda half-strength Kachu Tenshin Amiguriken at the unprotected chest and belly, sending Nick to the mat. His opponent dispatched, Ranma turned to the sensei and bowed solemnly, not even breathing hard.

Sensei Thomas was amazed. Never had he seen a more skillful martial arts display. The control of movement evidenced in the kata was nothing short of astonishing and the boy’s speed was almost superhuman. He hadn’t quite believed him before when he said he had been practicing martial arts his entire life, now he did. Clapping slowly, he said, "Saotome that was the most remarkable display I’ve ever had privilege to see. Who taught you your moves?"

"Arigato gozaimasu, sensei. My father and his master taught me." Ranma answered. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Nick was coming to. He turned to help him up. "Great sparring session," he told him with a wicked smile, "Wanna go again sometime?"

**

"….and he hit the mat and didn’t get up!" Ranma crowed triumphantly to Shay.

"Wow, I wish I could have seen that! He’s been top dog around here too long." Shay said with a smile. They were standing in the shade in front of the library. Having lost track of him after Badminton, she had been walking across the quad when she saw him coming out of the library.

"Who’s top dog?" came a voice behind Shay.

She turned around to see her friend Carrie. "Carrie, hi! Nick has been. He got his shit all fucked up!"

"I wouldn’t say that, but he was pretty upset when I got done with him," Ranma admitted, smiling at the new girl who had walked up. She was shorter than Shay with blond hair and blue-green eyes and not as tan. ‘Nice, but a little pale,’ he decided.

"And who are you?" she inquired of Ranma.

Drawing himself up to his full height, he towered over the shorter girl. "Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," he announced, extending his hand.

She shook it seriously one time and intoned, "Pleased to meet you, I am Carrie Flores of the Koffee Kup School of Anything Goes Hash Slinging."

Ranma looked confused, he’d heard of Anything Goes Gymnastics, but this was a new one. Seeing his confusion, Shay clarified. "She’s a waitress."

"Ah, I see," Ranma said, laughing. He liked her sense of humor. "So Sensei Thomas wants me to start teaching the beginning class starting next week." Ranma turned to address Shay. When he wasn’t looking, Carrie winked at Shay with a wide smile. Shay elbowed her in the ribs.

"That’s fantastic, Ranma! I hope Nick does not give you a hard time in Chemistry about this. I’m really sorry he’s such an ass," Shay apologized.

"Shay, he was an ass long before you arrived on the scene. You did not go to high school with him," Carrie admonished. "Well, I’ve got to start my shift soon, so I’ll see you later. Nice meeting you Ranma, welcome to America."

"Arigato, good meeting you too," Ranma said with a wave. He did not notice Shay breathing a sigh of relief now that Carrie was on her way out of there. She loved her best friend like a sister, but the woman was a man trap.

"So, do you have any plans for tonight?" Shay ventured with exaggerated casualness.

"No, I was just going to get some dinner, exercise and go to bed," Ranma replied, feeling a small thrill course through him. ‘Is she asking me out on a date?’ he wondered.

"Well, I was wondering if you’d had an opportunity to see the Boardwalk yet. Would you like to go with me to the Boardwalk?" she said shyly, not believing her own guts.

"What is that?"

"It’s this place on the beach with a roller coaster, games and other rides. Like a carnival." Shay answered.

"Sugoi, the beach! Yes, I would like to go, very much!" Ranma exclaimed. "What time?"

"We can go now, after 4pm you get half-price on admission, rides and games with your student ID."

"Can I change my clothes?" Ranma asked.

"Sure, I need to drop this off at home and change myself," Shay said, motioning to the guitar in the soft case on her shoulder.

They started walking toward the residences and Ranma asked, "What is that thing, anyway?"

"It’s a guitar. I’m taking my third year," Shay answered.

"Yeah? Electric?"

"Oh, no, acoustic, no electricity involved," Shay laughed. "Yeah, me going electric. ‘And now on the stage, Shayla Hendrix!’"

"Well, acoustic or no, I would like to hear you sometime, okay?" Ranma asked. They were almost as the residence hall. "Do you mind waiting outside? My roommate’s a horrible baka. He was passed out drunk when I left this afternoon."

"Hey, not a problem," Shay acquiesced. She watched him disappear into the building, admiring the back view as much as the front. ‘What a great butt,’ she mused to herself.

She sat on a low wall to wait and admired the sunset. ‘Nothing like horrible pollution to create the greatest sunsets. Thailand’s must be astounding.’

**

Ranma took the stairs 2 at a time, bounding up them like a huge out of control Jackrabbit. Reaching his door, he unlocked it and flung it open and saw that Suge had finally woken and managed to rouse himself and leave the room, probably only to pee. Throwing his backpack on the bed he rummaged in his drawers for something suitable for an evening at the beach. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve been to the beach, not since that Prince Toma mess. At least I don’t have to worry about bringing along a girl’s swimsuit.’ He chose a pair of old denim cutoffs, a red tank top and a white long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Thrusting his sockless feet into beat-up canvas tennies, he checked himself in the mirror, adjusted his hair a bit and gave himself the thumbs up. Grabbing his wallet, he was out the door in 2.5 minutes total.

Running back down the stairs, he slowed as he got to the exit and walked at a normal pace through the door, toward the wall where Shay sat. "Hey, how do I look?" he asked, turning around in front of her.

Shay’s eyes felt like they would pop out of her head and was very glad for the sunglasses she had on as she surveyed the gorgeous piece of man-flesh in front of her. "G-great!" she stammered. "You look like you’re ready to go!"

"I am, I have not been to the beach in a very long time," Ranma said enthusiastically.

"Well, let’s get a move on. My car’s over here," Shay motioned toward the east side of the campus. They made it to the apartment without incident and Shay invited Ranma in. "It should just take a few minutes, ok?"

"Sure, you waited for me," Ranma said good-naturedly.

Inside, Ranma sat on the couch and looked around the apartment. It wasn’t huge, but still pretty good-sized with a sliding glass door leading to a wood-floored balcony outside. He could see a hammock strung from the roof supports through the vertical blinds. The kitchen looked small, not like the one Kasumi inhabited at the Tendo’s at all. The living room held all the essentials, TV, VCR, stereo and what looked like a million CDs. Intrigued, Ranma got up to see what CDs they had. ‘Tom Petty, B-52s, Matchbox 20, Beatles, some soundtracks…’ Ranma thought to himself, looking over the titles and approving of their taste in music.

"Okay, I’m ready," Shay announced, walking into the living room. This time Ranma’s eyes almost bulged and he had no concealing sunglasses. Shay was dressed in denim shorts, an electric blue tank top with a long-sleeved white shirt on top, also with the sleeved rolled up and brown Birkenstock sandals. She had gathered her normally side-parted hair through the back of a striped Mickey Mouse baseball cap and was holding a camera. "Does the hat look okay?" she asked anxiously. "The ocean air makes my hair go all frizzy."

"You, uh, you look great," Ranma managed to get out, feeling his face heat up.

"Thank you!" Shay said with a smile. Just then, Tigger poked his head out from the hall.

"What’s that?" Ranma squeaked, frozen in place.

"What? That?" Shay asked, pointing to Tigger. Ranma could only nod. "That’s our cat, Tigger. Want to pet him? He’s a real sweetie."

Ranma slowly shook his head. "Need. To. Get. Out," was all he could say.

Surprised at this side of the normally self-assured young man, Shay shooed the cat back toward her bedroom. When the cat disappeared from view, Ranma visibly relaxed. Exiting the apartment, Ranma apologized vigorously. "Don’t worry about it, not everyone likes cats," Shay said. "Come on, forget about it and let’s go to the beach!"

**

Ranma collapsed on the bed, more tired and happy than he’d been in a long time. The excursion to the beach had been exactly what he’d needed, and Shay-chan, he decided was exactly the right person to do it with. In the car on the way to their destination, Ranma related the cause of his fear of cats: the Cat-Fist training his father put him through. "That sounds horrible!" Shay had exclaimed sympathetically, appalled a the thought of a father that would to that to his son.

Ranma shrugged, "It was part of my training," he said simply. They made good time to the boardwalk as all of the traffic was in the opposite direction and soon arrived and parked.

"Here we are! Let’s go!"

They paid their admission and Ranma looked around at what there was to see. It looked like there was a large roller coaster, a swinging pirate ship, some kind of water thing, something called an "octopus", bumper cars and a whole myriad of other things. And above it all, the booming sound of the Pacific Ocean crashing against the beach. Shay was saying something to him, he realized. "Nani?" he asked, turning to her.

"I said, what do you want to do first? We can sit on the beach, ride some rides, eat, whatever you want."

Eat. Ranma realized he was hungry, not having had lunch today. "I would like to eat," he stated firmly.

"Okay, eat it is," Shay laughed, moving toward one of the food stands. Ranma followed, still looking around him. "What do you want?"

Ranma looked at the menu above the grill. "I don’t know what half this stuff is," he said in dismay.

"I’ll help you. What are you confused about?" Shay offered helpfully.

"What’s a corn dog? Funnel cake? Chili fries?"

"A corn dog is like a hot dog, but the weenie is dipped in corn batter and then fried. Very tasty. Funnel cake is batter that is squeezed out of a funnel and fried, then sprinkled with powdered sugar, also very tasty. Chili fries are food of the gods, French fries smothered in chili and cheese."

"Oh. What’s good?"

"Do you trust me?" Shay asked.

"Nani? Trust? Yes, I trust you," Ranma said, confused about why trust was coming up.

"Then I will order you a truly tasty American junk food treat, okay?" Shay said with a wink.

"Uh, okay," Ranma acquiesced as he listened to her order stuff called onion rings, chili cheese fries, hot dogs, corn dogs and coke. He knew what that was, at least. When they received their food on two trays, Ranma asked, "Can we eat on the beach?"

"Certainly, they have trash barrels out there. Come on," Shay beckoned with her elbow as she moved toward the steps leading down toward the beach. Sitting down by carefully folding her legs Indian style, she patted the sand next to her.

Ranma sat down, balancing his own tray and settled into the warm sand. The sun was just starting to meet the slightly curved horizon and the gulls were screeching and flying around overhead. Ranma closed his eyes and smiled happily. He opened his eyes to see Shay smiling at him and holding her camera. She had evidently just snapped a picture of him. So nice to know that this picture would not be used to extort money from him.

"Here, try this," Shay invited, putting her camera down and holding out a corn dog. "Be careful, it’s probably hot inside," she cautioned.

Ranma took a careful bite and started chewing. "Mm, it’s good," he said with pleasant surprise.

"Now, would I steer you wrong?" Shay had teased with mock severity as she proceeded to introduce Ranma to carnival food. "Now squirt some of the mustard on it and tell me what you think."

As they ate, Ranma studied her unobtrusively, noticing her facial expressions and the way she used her hands so expressively when she talked and her laugh was infectious as she related funny school anecdotes. He found himself wondering if she’d had many boyfriends. He wondered if she'd . . . well, he would wonder about that later. The stories he’d heard in Japan from other friends like Hiroshi and Daisuke who’d gone to America were full of women throwing themselves at young men, but, well that was Hiroshi and Daisuke for you, he supposed. It certainly did not seem like Shay was throwing herself at him, it seemed like she was trying to be a good friend. ‘So like Ucchan,’ he thought as they threw away their trash in one of the nearby barrels.

The sun, almost totally below the horizon now, barely illuminated the boardwalk and lights were beginning to come on. "You have got to ride this first," Shay said, striding toward the roller coaster. "You’re not afraid of speed or heights, are you?"

"No," Ranma answered, looking dubiously at the somewhat rickety-looking wooden contraption. Just then a car of screaming people whizzed by. "Looks like fun," he smiled.

Once in line, she advised him that the last car was the absolute best. "You go so fast and the ride is much smoother than the other cars." He found her enthusiasm catching and eagerly anticipated the ride. Once in, they started slowly up the hill and Shay showed him how to raise his arms and hoot and holler like the rest of them. After the exhilarating ride, she pulled him toward other rides, unselfconsciously grabbing his wrist and leading him along. They rode the roller coaster 3 more times, twice in front and had a friendly argument of the merits of the front car vs. the last car. Ranma liked the front better, but Shay thought it was too bumpy and not fast enough.

They rode the pirate ship thing, which was no great whoop, but fun nonetheless, especially with Shay next to him. The Octopus was good, but the one called the Scrambler left him slightly woozy and they had to rest after that one. They were leaning against the wooden rail of the boardwalk, Shay licking a soft serve ice cream cone, watching the moon rise over the ocean. "So, I guess you're used to a different Pacific Ocean, aren't you?" Shay had asked.

"Yes," Ranma nodded. "But not so different. The water is much the same color, the waves move the same way."

"Mmm, I would like to see it one day. What I love about the west coast is you can stand where the water meets the land and know that an entire country is at your back." Shay took another swipe at the cone. "Do you miss your family and friends?"

"Yes I do. I have been in the United States for only a few weeks, but it already seems like forever," Ranma said softly.

They stood quietly for a while, the spell broken when Shay observed, "Oh, ick, I'm dripping!" and moved to lick some ice cream from her hand while Ranma chuckled quietly and handed her a napkin. "What do you want to go on next?"

"I don't know, let's see." Ranma turned around to face the rides. "The log thing with the water, that sounds good."

"Okay, you 'da man," Shay joked as she finished her cone. On the log ride, they were paired with another couple, so she had to sit between his legs in the rear portion of the log, a situation not at all disagreeable with Ranma. On the long slope up, Ranma noticed her trying not to lean against him too much. Just for kicks, he flexed his thighs and heard a small "Eep," come out of her. Smiling to himself, he relaxed and sat back on the bench. The final drop got them both soaked as was its intent.

Laughing as they walked away from the ride, they removed their outer shirts and tried to wring them out before tying them around their respective waists. Passing under a light, Ranma noticed a tiny, cartoony dragon tattooed on Shay's shoulder blade. "What's that?" he asked, curious.

"What's what?" she asked, trying to see where he was pointing. "Oh, that. That's Snookles."

"Snookles? What's a Snookles?"

"Snookles is a baby dragon," Shay explained and proceeded to relate the short animation of a baby dragon that encounters a bird whistling. Wishing to emulate the bird perched on his finger, he ignited it instead, leaving a charred husk and stuffed it back into the tree before sneaking off. "Sometimes when I try to do things, they don't come out as intended and I have Snookles there to remind me of that," she said with a smile. "It's pretty late, do you want to head back?"

"Can we walk along the beach first?" Ranma asked.

"Sure." Shay removed her sandals as they walked across the cooling sand until she felt the icy cold water of the Pacific on her feet, surging up to her ankles. They walked quietly, neither one feeling the need for idle conversation.

Ranma stole a glance at her when they had paused to watch the ocean. The stiff breeze was threatening to blow off her cap and she had one hand firmly on her head, holding it down. 'She's so kawaii, so different from Akane. Maybe I should ask her out on a date.' Memories of Kuno shouting, "Pig-tailed girl, you will date with me!" made him shudder. 'I will wait until I know more of how she feels about me,' he resolved, also remembering Ucchan and Shampoo.

All too soon it was time to go home. They walked quietly back to the car and did not talk much on the way back to the campus residence hall. "See you tomorrow," she'd said when she dropped him off.

He waved as she drove away, admonishing her to be careful, thinking, 'Yeah, I will see her tomorrow.'

**

For Shay, the night had been nothing short of magical. She felt her face grow hot as she thought of the log ride and how Ranma had squeezed her with his thighs. 'Does he suspect anything?' she'd wondered. She remembered grabbing his wrist to take him from place to place and felt pleased that he had not objected. Such a strong wrist! She had not felt uncomfortable during their occasional silences at all, a welcome change from Nick who had to be action, action, action, all the time. Nick. He was the only blot on her last couple of days and she was stuck with him in Chemistry. At least he had a different lab day as her and Ranma.

She quietly unlocked the door to the apartment, seeing that Carrie was asleep already. She made her groggy way to bed and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.