Well seeing as how I found Fragments and OT pretty interesting, I just
thought that I'd give this one a try as well...

As many who've gotten my C&C before can tell you, for better or for worse I
tend to be a stickler on cultural points...  having said that... here we
go...

Aru Hareta Hi || A Certain Clear Day

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic By Irene

***

Summary:

Three years after the failed wedding, Ranma and Akane are
securely, willingly engaged and on their way to a happy
future as they attend college. . .but what will happen
then?

As I started reading through this I wonder... yes the above has happened,
however...things feel like they've already taken a pretty large leap and I
have no idea why...  A little more explanation in the text may help with
this.

[ April 10, Tokyo, Present ]

Kyoritsu Chemical University, trainer of future
pharmacists, was not *too* far away from the hubbub of
Tokyo University.  Ranma mumbled something to himself as he
ran along, almost late.  Not *his* fault that his fianc�e
had to be in pharmaceutical school.  Not *his* fault that
she wanted to see him first thing in the morning.  He
was a sophomore at Tokyo University on an athletic basis--
he had passed the tests, barely, after five months' intense
cramming--and was dreading his class.  Why, oh why, was a
business major (he had to take care of the family dojo,
right?) taking a class in introductory physics?

Ranma and Ryouga in Todai (the official translation is University of Tokyo
not Tokyo University... http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp) is  pretty far-fetched.  5
months of juku (cram school) still wouldn't be enough to get them in.  Some
people go ronin for a year or two studying to get into lesser colleges.  An
athletic scholarship... I'm not sure if they even exist in Japan, so I won't
say impossible, but it feels like a no.

There were a few good reasons, he thought as he shoved the
backpack up his shoulder and opened the glass door to the
science building in front of him.  One, it was required
that he took an elective, and since he had put the decision
off for so long, this and pottery-making were the only
classes left open.  Two, it would not hurt to understand
basic physics if he was going to be a kempo teacher.
Three, he hated feeling stupid whenever he talked to Ryoga,
an engineering major.  The only problem was his head for
science, or lack thereof.

If you do still use Todai, it's made up of old brick buildings built quite
awhile ago.

Students don't have a "core" curriculum in the average Japanese college.
You pick a major upon entering, and that's what you've got for all 4 years.
Changing majors is pretty difficult.

"Saotome!  Get yer butt in here before the bell rings!
You're dealin' with Professor Burashu; that guy will grill
you like a steak if you aren't in your seat in ten
seconds!" Ryoga's shout jerked Ranma into the medium-sized
lecture hall.  He slid into a molded plastic seat and threw
a notebook, pencil, and calculator on the writing surface
before sighing.  He straightened his light green t-shirt,
swept his hands over his loose pants, and sat back.  Ryoga
poked him.  "Hmm, just made it."

As you've mentioned here... tardiness is a sin in Japan...even like 1
minute.  However, once you're in class...well the prof. lectures and the
students just sit there.  Homework and studying?  With only a few exceptions
(Todai not included) no one really studies hard in college... it's basically
free-time.  Everyone works part-time jobs, parties with their "circle" (kind
of a cross between a club and a fraternity) and goes to class once a week by
the time they are seniors.  Trust me... compared to American or English
Universities... it's a joke.  Basically...go to class and turn in your work
and you're guaranteed to pass with a C.

"Yukawa-san!  There you are." The man turned and nodded.
The slender girl bowed and quickly walked in.  A hush
settled over the room.  She looked *young*, too young to be
a TA or another professor.  By the greeting, she certainly
wasn't a student.  Who was she?  *She* could be late.  This
incited some petty jealousy immediately.

There are no TA's in the Japanese college system.  Few people ever go on to
graduate school to start with... especially a Japanese one (if they do go,
it'd be an American one... learn more and more freedom).

Okay, she had no idea, no idea at all.  She had to admit
it--she had stayed up last night not studying for the well-
announced first test of the year, but instead, hanging out
in the dorm's studying room, which somehow and not very
wisely doubled as a lounge.  Akane had been playing
monopoly with some new (and old) friends for three hours
when she should have been memorizing the chemical formulae
of steroids and choice anti-inflammatory drugs.

There are no dorms at Japanese colleges in general... most do have a
building or two for international students (getting apartments in Japan is a
VERY expensive, difficult pain in the ass).  Regular matriculated Japanese
students live at home with their parents.  For those who happen to go to
school far from home (Kyoto --> Tokyo), they rent a small apartment... for
Tokyo it would be nowhere near school because the rent would be too high.

She lived in her grandma's old house (her family was not
very intact and had quickly disintegrated), which was very
lucky for her: a girl on her own rarely had such good
provisions.  As it was, she had a nice, pretty house in
Meguro. The home, near the end of the dead-end little
street, was a small, standard A-frame house.  It was
painted white, and there were some large trees in the
background, framing the house and making it seem like a
cottage.  The lawn was a little overgrown, but flowers
lined the path of the driveway and the sidewalk leading up
to the door.  Himeko did not own a car; she took the bus,
train, or she walked.  More flowers were in wooden boxes
that perched precariously on the wooden windowsills--all
her grandmother's doing.  She had raised Himeko.  Back when
she was alive.  Before Himeko was more or less on her own.

Now this is just a nit-pick... unless you're rich, you wouldn't have a
driveway in Meguro.  Actually... I don't think the Embassies there have one
either.  A yard in Meguro... well you might have a nice little "niwa" in the
back of your house that's about 6 feet or so deep (house to the back
wall)...maybe 2 feet on ONE side of the house, and nothing in front.
Japanese housing doesn't have central air and heat... well the ex-pat and
wealthy housing does, but normal houses and apartments/condos do not.  So
yes winter sucks and so does summer.  I don't think housing here fits the
A-frame architecture, but I wouldn't know how to describe the odd looking
things that modern Japanese housing has become, so that might be best for a
description that the readers can follow...   As they call them here...
rabbit hutches...

It was the second week of April, school just beginning, and
there was a huge influx of freshmen on campus.  Himeko
smiled, glad that she had gotten the bachelor's degree out
of her way by the day she first set foot on campus as an
official student.  By now, her master's was finished.  It
was good to know that her next seven years were devoted to
study.  Now that she had a goal and a grant, she could
start tackling other parts of life, no longer having to
worry as much about a roof over her head and food on the
table.

Sorry to be nit-picking your image of college in Japan so badly, but...
there would likely be no research grants.  That is one of Japan's greatest
weaknesses and America's strengths... universities and business love to
invest int research in the US...find new things and ways of doing things.
In Japan all R&D is directed towards making a new product...not just
research for the sake of research.  If you look at the number of patents,
the Japanese are pretty far behind.  Check out the past article on the guy
who invented the blue laser at http://www.japaninc.com July 2001 issue.

They desperately *wanted* to love now.  There had been so
much promise just a little while ago.  The families counted
on it.  The schools just *had* to be united, Kasumi said
placidly.  Love will come one day.  Why worry about that
now?  Besides, Akane, I see the way you two look at each
other.  Surely there's love in there somewhere.

That was great... I've read few people who can dig into what goes on in
people's hearts and minds as you.  Part of what I love about Fragments...

"Another pot of coffee to table O-6!" Ranma sighed as he
heard the call, brushed his uniform a little, and went to
get a refill.  The outdoors portion of the caf� was always
occupied with people, and since the diner ran 24 hours a
day, there would be people outside until it became too dark
for everyone except amorous couples or astrophysics
students.

Really Really??? Where?  The only places I can find that are open 24 hours
are convenience stores, and "family" restaurants like Denny's, Coco's,
Gusto, Johnathan's, Bikkuri Donkey...  Generally all small non-chain places
close by 10pm...

"Yeah, well, we're in this school, so we've got to." Akane
finished the food, making a mental note to order the same
thing next time--the food had been most excellent.  She
stood and pushed the chair back, trying to look nonchalant.
"I've got to go a little early, okay?  Here's my part of
the money and some tips. . .yeah.  I'll see you guys back
at the dorms tonight, right?"

No tipping at all anywhere in Japan.

Ranma. . .Ranma. . .how she wanted to reach out to him, to
tell him and look him in the eyes while she said that she
loved him.  Said it again, but this time with more than
just a foolish schoolgirl's impulse.  That was nothing.  At
sixteen, the fatal mistake had lead to a stagnant
relationship.  They had been engaged for three years now.
How she wished that something, anything, had come out of
all their time!  Something more than whatever she had now.

She could not even name it.

O_o  Interesting...  I woneder where this will lead...

Ranma swore loudly when he went through his backpack and
realized that he had forgotten to do his math homework.  He
*hated* math with a vengeance, but it did him little good.
The teacher seemed to have a passion for Markov chains,
which were indeed useful for business purposes, but were
far above Ranma's head.  It did not help that the rest of
the class did not share in his difficulty, and were zipping
right through the work--so fast that there was going to be
a quick test in a week.  Humiliation was the rule of the
day.

Nah... business classes like accounting rely on not math principles, but
equations and "black box" math.  The students don't know how or why the
equation came about really, but they know how and when to use
it...understand what comes out and what goes in, but the hell about what
goes on.

All in all I like the concept...I hope to see you flesh this out some more
in coming chapters...

J



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