Chapter 5

The next day at her position on the help desk of the university computer lab, she could barely stay awake, despite the grande Starbuck's mocha on the desk in front of her. She was contemplating her computer screen, trying to remember the task she set out to complete when a student aide approached her. "Number 27's having trouble and I gotta go to class. Could you help him out?"

"Sure," she said blearily, getting up and making her way to station number 27, feeling like she was in a walking dream. She felt sure she was dreaming when she saw who was seated at number 27. "Ohayo, Ranma," she greeted him as she sat down next to him, proud she had remembered that bit of Japanese from yesterday.

"Ohayo, Shay-chan! You work here?" He seemed surprised and pleased to see her.

"Yeah, Monday through Friday, 8-12," Shay informed him. 'There he goes with that 'chan' thing again. I must find out what that's about.' "What can I help you with?"

"You do computers?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes, I do computers," she said with a poke at his arm. She saw he was wearing a purple sleeveless shirt today. "Help desk coordinator, that's me. What's going on?"

"I'm trying to set this thing up with email, but the instructions they gave me don't make sense," he told her, sounding a trifle frustrated. These technological things were Nabiki's domain.

"These instructions are a piece of shit. Here, let a real pro help you do this, it's really easy, but those instructions were written by a 3rd year computer science major and are unnecessarily complicated. I keep forgetting to re-write them. Double click on that icon called CRT," she instructed.

"Double click?"

"Ooh, we have a true beginner here. Okay, this is your mouse. It has two buttons, a right and a left. We usually use the left one. Double clicking is when you press the left mouse button down two times really fast. Put the arrow on top of the thing called CRT on the screen. Good," she encouraged, "Now, double click on it. Okay, now it's asking for your login name. Where is the sheet you got at orientation?"

"Um. . . " Ranma rummaged through his backpack, "here it is," he said, pulling out a rumpled sheet of paper.

"Okay, what is the student number on that sheet?"

"829584."

"Okay, that's what you put in for the login name. That is also the first part of your email address. The password is your last name, all in lower case. I can change that for you later if you like, they're not to cognizant about security here," she said with a roll of her eyes. She watched as Ranma slowly typed in the information. "There is a typing tutor on this machine as well," she suggested helpfully.

Once he was successfully logged in, she walked him through the procedures of using pine to check his email and how to delete it or save it and how to quit and logout. "Now, to browse the web, you double click on this icon," she said, indicating the Netscape icon. "You should have no problem, you’re a fast learner," she said, praising his newly acquired computer skills.

"Arigato, you are a good teacher," he replied with a smile and a look at her.

"Arigato yourself, bud. I hope to teach children someday," she said, returning his smile. "I've got to get back to the help desk, but see me when you're done about that password and let me know if you need any help, kay?"

"I will. See you later."

Shay walked back to the help desk, no longer feeling half asleep, but completely energized and ready to face the day, mocha or no mocha.

**

Ranma had been sitting at the computer trying to figure out the directions and not having much luck, which made him feel like dope. Frustrated, he had caught the attention of the skinny kid who seemed to be helping people, but he said he had to leave and would send someone to help him. Ranma couldn’t quite believe his eyes when he saw Shayla walking towards him. In two minutes flat she had him running the computer like a pro. Well, not quite like a pro, Ranma conceded, it would take a little while longer for that.

After reading the welcome messages he had waiting for him, he was at a loss. He didn’t really know anyone to send email to, his parents weren’t online and the only person he could think of that had an email address was Nabiki and he didn’t know what it was. Lost in thought, Ranma’s gaze wandered back to the front of the room, where Shayla’s desk was. He watched her busily typing away at the keyboard, staring intently on the screen. There was a small frown on her face, like the computer wasn’t cooperating with her and that disappeared into a sunny smile at the young man who had just stopped by the desk to talk to her.

Watching them talk, Ranma felt a surge of something he hadn’t felt in a long time, jealousy, and was surprised at himself. ‘I’ve only known her for a couple of days, what excuse do I have?’ he berated himself. He saw they finished their conversation and the young man started walking his way. Not wanting to be caught staring, he quickly looked at his screen and double clicked on the Netscape icon Shayla had shown him earlier.

Clicking randomly on things, he was conscious of the young man sitting at the computer next to him and setting down his stuff. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched him read his email and start typing away in response, catching his eye in the process.

"Hi, I’m Nathan," he said, introducing himself.

"Ranma Saotome," Ranma said, looking him over. He looked to be quite short and slightly built with a friendly face and sandy hair cut short. "So, uh, how do you know Shayla?" he asked.

"We went to high school together and our parents are pretty good friends, so I’ve known Shay for a while." Nathan answered. "You like her, don’t you?"

"Nani?"

"You do, I can tell. I saw you watching us up front, along with at least 3 other guys. She has that effect on men."

"Does she have that effect on you?"

"Nah, I’ve developed an immunity due to constant exposure," Nathan laughed wryly as he finished typing his letter and sent it off. "Look, I’m just about done here, want to go get something to eat?"

" Okay," Ranma smiled and gathered up his stuff. They walked out of the computer lab and waved to Shayla, however she was engrossed in her computer and didn’t notice. He decided he liked Nathan and was glad to have another friend in this new place

**

The days fell into a pattern for Ranma and Shay; they became lab partners in Chemistry and often lunched together while going over notes for Philosophy and Chemistry. Nathan or Carrie would join them occasionally and share gossip about people they knew. Nick was still a thorn in their side, trying to get Shay to go out with him and in general being a bother to Ranma, letting him know that he would soon make up for his defeat at his hands. Ranma had adopted Shay's "Whatever" attitude when dealing with him.

The beginning Kenpo class Ranma was handling was going very well and he found he enjoyed being called Sensei, something he was not sure about before starting this. He had been told for the past few years that he would be taking over the Tendo dojo, but he had never been sure if it was his calling. Well, his taking over the Tendo dojo wasn't going to happen, but he did discover that teaching students the way of the body and mind was his true calling and he looked forward to the day he would establish his own school.

He and his parents had exchanged phone calls over the past few weeks and they brought news that everything was pretty normal in Nerima, well as normal as things got there, anyway. Kuno, Kodachi, Nabiki and Ukyo were all at college, they said, carefully avoiding any mention of Akane. He ached to ask about her, but he could not quite bring himself to do it. He had received a few letters from the Tendos, mostly from Kasumi, but a couple from Nabiki of all people. She mentioned in her last letter that she was just about done with her business studies in Japan and was thinking about coming to America to study further. Ranma quailed inwardly at the thought of sharing the campus with Nabiki. He had even gotten a package from Kodachi, but had been extremely careful not to eat the contents. Suge had found the box and eaten the doped cookies and now kept pestering Ranma to get more.

Shay found herself swamped by her coursework for Geography. Mr. Bisby was a hoot in the laugh department, but he did not go easy on his students when it came to projects. She and Nathan were currently involved in mapping the entire Danube River and its tributaries. Her and Nathan were in the cafeteria doing precisely that as Ranma napped, History book on his lap and a big green highlighter in his hand when Carrier strolled and sat at their table one early October afternoon. "Look at this!" she exclaimed, spreading her arms to take in the sheets of cardstock, scattered colored pencils and Ranma with his head leaning back, snoring softly.

"Uh?" he said as his head snapped up.

"Look at what?" Shay asked blearily. Nathan looked up, confused as to what was going on and what he was supposed to look at.

"You! Here we are with this gorgeous Indian Summer afternoon and you all are cooped up in this dingy cafeteria doing work of all things! When was the last time you got out and had some fun?"

"Fun. What's that? It's not on the map," Nathan joked.

"Right, come on, we are going now. Pick up your little papers, pencils and assorted other bits of shit. We are going to the beach, and we are going to have fun if it kills you!" Carrie exclaimed, picking up pencils and knocking Ranma's feet off of the table.

"Yes master, I hear and obey," Shay teased in a mechanical voice.

They quickly gathered up their stuff and walked out to the quad. "Okay, here's the plan, Nathan, you and Ranma will get ready and meet us at the entrance of parking lot G. Shay and I will jet home, change and come get you, kay?"

"Hai!" Ranma said with a stiff bow, looking forward to getting out from under the schoolwork, if only for a few hours.

"Okay, see you in a few!" Carrie and Shay moved off to her car, threw their stuff in the trunk and headed to the apartment.

In her room, Shay looked over her collection of swimwear, a big two suits. "Carrie, what should I wear?" she shouted down the hall.

"A bathing suit would be good," she cracked, walking in. "What have you got?"

"Well, I have this one," she said, holding up a bright orange one piece.

"Mm, what else?"

"And this one." Shay held up a red two-piece.

"That one, definitely!" Carried motioned to the two-piece.

"No way! I can't wear that in front of Ranma!" Shay yelped, turning red.

"Why not? You want him to notice you as more than a friend, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't want to look like the slut of the world doing it!"

"Shay, that swimsuit is hardly slut material, it's not even a thong! Wear it," she commanded, throwing the bottoms at her.

"Okay, okay," she grumbled, not entirely put out by the thought of wearing the somewhat racy outfit in front of Ranma. She put it on quickly, tying the top around her neck and back, putting a sweatshirt and denim shorts on over it. Grabbing her camera, favorite baseball cap, and a folded-up blanket, she went out to the living room where Carrie was waiting for her, similarly attired.

In Ranma's room, a similar argument was going on, this time between Nathan and Ranma. Nathan was already ready to go, in a T-shirt, trunks and flip-flops. "Listen," he was saying, "you want Shay to look at you as more than a friend, right?"

"Yeah, but this. . . " he said helplessly, holding up a pair of navy blue Speedo’s. He and Nathan had gotten to be pretty good friends over the past few weeks. He knew all about Ranma's desire to know Shay as more than a friend.

"Look, it's not like you don't have the body to wear them." He had convinced Ranma to buy the Speedo’s at a beachwear shop a couple of weeks earlier, reasoning that the situation may come up where they would come in handy. The purchase had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he was not so sure, he felt like he was acting like one of his former fiancées and ‘dressing for success’ as they would undoubtedly put it.

"I know, I just don't want to look like I'm putting myself on display or nothin’." He was remembering those times Nabiki would force him to dress up in frilly shit in his girl form and sell the pictures, saying the damage he did to the dojo made him responsible for the repairs.

"You won't. It's legit beachwear. I've seen worse looking guys wearing less. I'm gonna walk out that door and you'd better be wearing those when you come out. I'll check," he threatened, waggling his finger in front of Ranma.

"Mou, Nathan! I will, I will!" Ranma gave in to the younger man's determination, shaking his head. Nathan left and Ranma took off the denim jeans he had begun wearing, and pulled on the brief trunks, adjusting to the feel of the spandex on his skin. He put on a white tank top and grabbed his sunglasses, another Nathan-encouraged purchase. Looking at himself in the mirror, he decided he did look pretty good in the trunks and struck a few poses in the mirror. Feeling silly, he slipped on his denim cutoffs and picked up his shoes. Carrying his shoes, he went out to join Nathan. In response to Nathan's questioning look, he pulled up the hem of the Speedo’s so he could see them. Putting his shoes on, they walked to the appointed meeting place.

Spotting Shay's car, they waved and got in when it pulled up. Talking excitedly, they zoomed out of the parking lot and toward the beach. On the way, they stopped at a small store. "What are these for, Shay-chan?" Ranma asked, holding the package of hot dogs Carrie had asked him to get.

"Weenie roast, Ranma-kun," Shay replied, grabbing a six-pack of cokes. She had finally gotten him to explain the 'chan' bit he put at the end of her name and told her what one would add to a male's name. She'd felt silly the first few times she'd used it, but now it was second nature.

"Weenie roast?"

"You'll see, come on!" They met everyone else up front, Carrie had buns and mustard and Nathan had the ice and a small bag of charcoal. Opening up the trunk, Ranma saw they had a small Styrofoam cooler and a small hibachi. They put the ice, sodas and hot dogs in the cooler and the rest of the stuff in the trunk and continued on their way.

They were heading toward a section of the beach that was a favorite student hangout, a place that allowed charcoal fires in small barbecues and had a regular, friendly patrol at night. On the beach, they set all their stuff down and Nathan and Carrie ran off toward the boogie board rental, having already shed their extra clothes, leaving Ranma and Shay alone by their stuff. "Where are they going?" Ranma inquired, watching the retreating forms of Nathan and Carrie.

"To rent boogie boards," Shay explained. She wanted to take off her sweatshirt because she was hot, but was shy about doing it in front of Ranma.

"What's a boogie board?"

"It's a piece of foam or something like that that you lay on and surf on the waves. Kinda like a surfboard but you don't stand up on it."

"Saa, can we try?" he asked eagerly.

"Sure, you probably don't want to do it in a tank top and denim shorts, though," Shay advised.

"Ara, I forgot," Ranma said as he began pulling his tank top over his head, his feeling of modesty drowned by the desire to ride on the waves.

Shay could only stare, seeing Ranma without a shirt on for the first time. His chest was indeed smooth and very muscular, just as that first glimpse in his gi had shown. Her eyes got wider as he unbuttoned his shorts and pushed them down, revealing the navy blue Speedo’s. He kicked off his shoes and started down the beach, turning back to beckon to her, shouting "Come on!"

Her fingers felt numb as she started fumbling at her own shorts, almost tripping over them. She removed her hat and by the time she managed to get her sweatshirt off, Ranma was already halfway to the rental hut. She arrived as he was looking over the boards to rent. "Shay-chan, what-" he turned to ask her, suddenly breaking off as he saw her in the red bikini, feeling his nose start to get warm. 'Oh, my!' he thought, reminding himself of Kasumi. Even Nabiki hanging around in her crop tops and hot pants never looked this good!

"What?" Shay asked. She had noticed his stare and was feeling both a little pleased and uncomfortable.

"Uh," giving himself a good mental shaking, he got himself back together. "Um, which one of these should I get?"

"Any of them, I just usually pick one and go," Shay explained, grabbing one. "Pick that one," she pointed to a rainbow patterned one with the T & C Hawaii yin-yang logo on it. Ranma grabbed it, apologizing to Shay for forgetting money for the rental fee. "No problem, I got it. My treat today," she smiled.

In the water, she showed him how to fasten the velcro strap to his ankle so he wouldn't lose the board in a wipeout and they swam out into the waves, joining Nathan and Carrie, who had already ridden several waves into shore. With his martial arts training, Ranma learned quickly and was soon doing tricks to rival the most experienced guys out there. Ranma was having the time of his life. He had not had so much fun in the water in a very long time. He had not liked being in his girl form and, consequently, when they went to the beach, he stayed mainly on the land, watching others enjoy the water.

After about an hour, he noticed he was the only one of his group still out in the water and the others had returned to shore. Surprised at how far out he was, he waited for the next big wave and rode it all the way to shore. He walked over to the blanket and laid the board next to the others. "Wow, that was so amazing!" he exclaimed, shaking his head and spraying water all over the place.

"Hey, watch it, you're going to put out the fire!" Carrie exclaimed.

"Oops, gomen!" Ranma flopped on the blanket next to Shay, stretching out on his side and leaning on his right elbow. He sighed happily and let the waning sun dry him.

"Someone looks happy," Shay commented. She was almost dry and was sitting cross-legged on the blanket, eyes hidden by her shades.

"Mm, I am. Nathan, I want to learn to surf next," he said over his shoulder.

"Sure thing, you'll have to get a wetsuit though, it'll be getting colder soon. It's already warmer than normal today, this can't last." Nathan was on his back, eyes covered by his arm. Soon, they could hear him snoring.

"I'll be right back," Shay said, getting up and dusting sand off of her bottom. She walked back to the car and Ranma watched her as she went, having put on his own shades.

'Sugoi, what a bijin,' he thought as he watched her. He did not see Carrie's knowing look as she watched him stare at her best friend the whole way to the car. Shay came back; carrying what he knew to be her guitar, figuring it must have been covered by the blanket in the trunk. He sat up straight as she got closer. "Are you going to play for us?" he asked eagerly, looking forward to hearing her.

"I thought I might," she said, opening the case and withdrawing the instrument. She really liked this guitar. It was a Yamaha and the face was a really pretty, dark red wood with a nice design around the hole. She remembered the summer she'd worked at Dairy Queen to save up for this and the case. She'd never wanted to see another Peanut Buster parfait again when that was over. "Besides, there's a piece I have to practice for class," she informed him, tuning the guitar. "Here's some beach music for ya," she joked, doing a few bars of the "Jaws" theme. "But, seriously, folks." She bent her head down, thought for a few moments and launched into the piece.

It was a very pretty piece and, Ranma could tell, not the easiest to play, but she played it well and did not make any mistakes he could tell. When she was done, he clapped appreciatively as the last notes died away. "You are really good!" he exclaimed.

"Not that good, you should hear the teacher," Shay said deprecatingly.

Nathan rose up on his elbows, "Don't let her fool you," he said groggily, "she can play just about anything."

"Yeah, Shay, you taking requests?" Carrie asked, opening the package of hot dogs.

"Sure, what do you want to hear?" Shay asked expansively, strumming a few stray chords.

"Kum Ba Ya!" Carrie shouted.

"Mm, no, I don't think so," Shay decided, launching instead into "Sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel, singing softly in a high, pure voice. After a few words, Nathan and Carrie joined her and Ranma watched them, entranced, clapping enthusiastically when they were finished.

"Okay, kids, soup’s on!" Carrie shouted, indicating the hot dogs were done and ready to eat. "So, Ranma, do you want your, uh, buns toasted?" she asked lasciviously.

"Nani?"

"Do you want your hot dog bun toasted on the grill," Shay supplied with a glare at Carrie as she stowed the guitar in the case to keep sand out of it.

"Oh. Sure, I guess." he answered, slightly mystified as to what Carrie had been joking about. He was pretty sure there was a joke in there somewhere; he'd have to ask Nathan later to make sure.

They ate their dogs and drank sodas companionably, talking about school and other things as the sun lowered on the horizon. When they were done Ranma and Nathan volunteered to return the boards while the girls cleaned up. When they returned, Ranma was disappointed to see that Shay had put her sweatshirt back on, but the breeze off of the ocean was cool, he conceded as he put his tank top back on. It was shortly after dark and Shay had just finished another song when Carrie said, "Look, Nathan, there's Terry and Gary. Let's go say hi." She got up and grabbed his wrist.

"Huh? Terry and Gary? Who?" he was saying as she dragged him off toward a distant knot of people. Shay could guess why she had done that, since she had better eyesight and could not distinguish individuals in the group they were heading for.

Looking at Ranma, she asked, "So, want to take a walk on the shore?"

"Sure," he said, rising with unstudied grace. He extended a hand to help her up and they walked down to the waterline. They were quiet for a few minutes, Ranma gathering his courage to ask the questions he wanted answers to. "So, Shay-chan, have you had very many boyfriends?"

Shay was quiet for a few moments before answering. "No, not many. Just a couple in high school and Nick. Now he was a mistake."

"Why did you go out with him?" Ranma blurted before he could stop himself.

Shay looked up in surprise at him. They had stopped walking. "Why do you want to know?" she asked quizzically.

"Uh, it's just that, that, you're so nice and he's. . . not," Ranma ventured, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Well, I do have to say this is true. I don't know, it was my first semester away from home, and he's such a popular guy on campus. It was kinda nice to have such a guy like him paying attention to me, I guess. I never ran with the ‘in’ crowd in high school. It was okay in the beginning, but then just little things began to grate on my nerves, like his personality." Shay gave a small laugh. "I chalk it up as a learning experience."

"Did he break up with you or you with him?" Ranma asked softly.

"He broke up with me to chase some cheerleader," Shay spat bitterly. "He realized his mistake and now keeps trying to crawl back, but I'm thoroughly over him, I just don't like being tossed over for someone else."

"Mm, I know exactly how you feel," Ranma said. He was squatting down, writing in the wet sand with a driftwood stick he'd picked up. He suddenly realized he had written Akane's name.

Shay looked down, asking, "What's that?"

Ranma sighed and shook his head. "Nothing," he answered as he stood and erased the characters with his foot.

"My turn, have you had many girlfriends?"

"Hm, depends on who you ask," he began and proceeded to tell her the tale of Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi.

"So they were all your fiancées?" Shay asked incredulously. "At once?"

"Yeah, things got pretty crazy there for a while. But Akane was the only one I liked, that kawaiikune tomboy. Ucchan was my friend, Shampoo was annoying and Kodachi was insane. I finally got it through to all of them, then Oyaji decided to go on a training trip." Ranma was not ready to tell her about his curse, not yet. "When we got back, Akane had fallen in love with Shinnosuke, and there was nothing I could do to convince her otherwise."

"So what did you do?"

Ranma took a deep breath before he began. "I was really messed up for a while. I don’t even remember most of what happened immediately after I got back from my training trip. I finally came out of it when school started again and I was determined to get away from all of the memories and start new, so that’s why I’m here." He told her about his extremely busy senior year with the English lessons and the cram school in addition to regular schoolwork.

"Wow, that takes a lot of guts. If I were in the same situation, I don’t think I could do nearly the same amount of work and leave my country and family," Shayla said, voice filled with admiration.

"It’s not easy, I don’t recommend it," Ranma murmured, looking out over the ocean. He wanted to say something more to her, to let her know how good a friend she was and how glad he was to know her, how he would like to know her as more than just a friend, but the words wouldn’t come and he raged at himself inwardly. He turned to her and saw her standing in the sand, the touch of icy cold water forgotten for the moment, her hair given silver highlights by the light of the moon. Opening his mouth to speak, he saw an approaching figure and as it came closer, he saw it was Nick. Closing his mouth and frowning in dismay, he turned back to the ocean, kicking desultorily at the incoming waves.

"Hey, there you are Shay," Nick called as he approached, "get your guitar, they’re having a bonfire tonight." He took her arm possessively, glaring at Ranma.

Shay was disoriented by Nick’s approach and turned to face him, wrenching her arm out of his grasp. "What?" she asked confusedly, shaking her head. She had been concentrating on Ranma so hard, everything had been blocked out and Nick’s touch was a shock to her.

"They’re starting a bonfire tonight and they’re asking for you and your guitar," Nick repeated patiently, as an adult to a child, taking her arm again and gently pulling her away from Ranma. Reluctantly, Shayla followed, throwing a glance over her shoulder at Ranma, begging him not to be mad at her. Ranma had to restrain himself from launching immediately at Nick when he saw his self-satisfied smirk.

Ranma followed a few paces behind, frustrated that after the lesson provided by Akane about voicing one’s feelings he still couldn’t do it. He felt that he should know Shay-chan well enough by now to know that she wouldn’t laugh at him if he did venture to ask her out. He caught up to them when they stopped by the blanket to pick up Shayla’s guitar and he heard Shay insist that Nick go on ahead to let them know she was coming.

"Sorry about that," she apologized as she pulled on her shorts.

Ranma shrugged. "Hey, that’s okay," he said with more cheer than he felt, pulling on his own. "Come on, they’re waiting for you." Together they walked toward the group around the now roaring fire. They were allowed two or three bonfires a year and only when there were plenty of park personnel around.

Shayla sat on a driftwood log and got herself situated while Ranma went to go stand by Nathan and Carrie. He did not miss the look that passed between them when Nick sat prominently at her feet. "Better luck next time," Nathan whispered to Ranma.

"Any requests?" Shay was asking as she fine tuned her guitar.

"Layla," someone from the crowd suggested.

"Okay, here we go, ‘Layla’, the unplugged version. . ."