Hey everyone ^_^ Remember me... or my story for that matter? ^^;; This is
probably the 17th draft of 'Sanuma Academy', massive editing, rewriting, and
reconstructing of this story has taken place since the last time I posted the
second variation of this stroy over, what, three months ago? It's a massive
crossover, with other characters to be added later. Well, enough of my
babbling, onto the story...
As always, C&C, questions, flames, whatever, everything is allowed and
appreciated. Just click on the reply button, or for those of you who don't
have it jsut send it back to Rurouni143@aol.com
Disclaimer: Not a SINGLE ONE OF THESE CHARACTERS are mine. Not a single one.
They all are the properties of their respective creators and companies and in
no way do I hold any rights to any of them. I've written this story solely
for non-profit entertainment, so if you sue me, you'll lose.
Prologue: A new Beginning
Darkness began to cover Nerima. The sky glowed a hazy purple that spanned
out to a serene navy, the setting sun blazing orange on the horizon. It was
early autumn, and the trees were alit with brilliant hues of scarlet and
yellow. There was a crisp, calm breeze in the air, rustling dead leaves along
the ground, sending them scuttling in the dirt. The sky slowly grew dark, the
only light coming from the looming harvest moon, blazing orange over the
landscape and the billions of twinkling stars shining out like searchlights
at sea. Silently, a large taxi cab pulled up to the Tendo Residence, it's
brakes squeaking softly as it came to a halt in front of the walk. The horn
blared, breaking the still silence of the night. The porch light flickered to
life suddenly as the front door popped open.
"Coming!!" yelled Ranma Saotome, sticking his head out of the front door.
"Yeesh, ya gotta be so damn loud about it..." he mumbled as he walked outside
into the crisp autumn air, lugging two large suitcases at his sides. Akane,
the rest of the Tendo family, as well as his own mother and father were close
behind.
"WAAHH!!" wailed Soun as he ripped a handkerchief to shreds in his grief. "My
little baby is leaving home, I'll never see her again!!!" he blew his nose
loudly as he continued to sob, completely breaking down.
Kasumi, who was by her father's side, picked him up from the ground and
consoled him. "There, there, father." she said soothingly, "Akane and Ranma
are only going to a boarding school in Tokyo, we'll see them when they come
back home for holidays and such." she reminded him.
Nodoka walked over to her only son and hugged him tightly. "Make me proud,
Ranma. Have a good time while you're at Sanuma. The rest of your belongings
should be at your dorm along with Akane's by the time you reach Sanuma." she
reminded him.
Behind her, Genma slowly moved from his station at the Tendo porch and
cleared his throat, racking his brain for something to say.
"Listen boy..." he began slowly in his gruff voice, "All that tuition money
for Sanuma could have gone for something worthwhile . . . like food." he
lamented. "If you made me and your mother waste our hard-earned yen I will go
to the Academy and beat you senseless-" Genma would have continued, but found
it difficult to speak when Ranma's fist was stuffed in his face.
"Yeah, can't wait to get away from you too, Pops." Ranma offered, sending his
father flying into the koi pond.
Akane handed the last of her bags to the driver to put away then walked back
to her father.
"Don't worry, daddy. I'll be fine, I'll study hard and visit during the
holidays like Kasumi said." Akane said cheerfully as she hugged her father
tightly. His sobbing ceased for a few long seconds then came back full force
at the touching father-daughter moment.
Akane quietly pried herself from her father's clutches and walked over to her
silent middle sister.
"What's wrong, Nabiki?" she asked.
"Why're you leaving?" was all she asked, it appeared as if too the Ice
Queen had a human heart.
Akane smiled softly. "I don't know myself, but after the whole Jusendou
affair, I can't go back to Furinkan and living how I was, I have to start
over, that's the best I can give you, sis."
Nabiki reached out and hugged her youngest sister. "That's good enough, I
guess. But I'll have to charge you Five Hundred yen for such a weak excuse."
she added jokingly.
"Y'know..." spoke the cabbie suddenly. "I hate to break up this family
moment, but the crap's in the trunk and the meter's running, so ya mind if
you guys hurry up?"
Ranma and Akane said a few quick last good-bye's and then climbed into
the taxi cab. The driver walked over to his side and slammed the door in a
huff. Everyone remained on the edge of the drive and waved farewell to the
young couple as their vehicle slowly disappeared from view, stirring up waves
of brittle auburn leaves in it's wake.
______________
It was an hour into the ride. The small car bounced along the empty lanes,
sharing the open road with only a few other driver's who dared to be out at
this hour. Ranma stifled a yawn and looked over at Akane sleeping next to
him. Her head was resting on his shoulder as she clutched his sleeve in her
sleep, her mind far elsewhere from the small car in her dreams. He was
tempted for the shortest second to remove her head from his shoulder, but
decided against it. Instead, he smiled softly as he brushed a few loose
strands of ebon hair from her face and rested his head on the frosty window.
He was going away. A new school, a new environment, a new life. He was going
to start over again, what kinds of challenges would he be presented with, he
could only wonder. After Jusendou, and nearly losing Akane, he couldn't go
back to the way things were, so his mother and Akane had found a select
private boarding school just outside of central Tokyo. Sanuma Academy it was
called. Classes didn't start for two weeks, so he had plenty of time to
adjust .He let out a deep, relaxed sigh as he gazed out the window. Letting
his eyes wander, he found himself staring at a bright spark in the sky
shimmer a bright crimson as it flashed across the clear autumn sky and
disappeared beyond the horizon.
"Hey," he mused to himself, "A shooting star..."
Looking back to the sleeping form beside him, he too rested his head on
the stiff head rest and slowly drifted off into a deep slumber, the full moon
shining brightly overhead.
_________________
Far away from the quiet scene, deep in a wooded forest in the mountains
of Northern Europe, sat a small, squat concrete building. Surrounded from all
sides by towering pine trees, it lay hidden in the wilderness. Atop the
structure sat a massive radar dish that turned and pivoted at regular
intervals, beeping softly as it tracked the heavens.
Inside, two unlucky officers sat at the command terminals, the 'Oz'
armband they wore on their uniform glinted dully in the dim light. They
chatted nonchalantly as they waited for something to turn up.
"So... how's the missus, Toji?" asked one to his partner.
Toji shrugged, his stiff Oz uniform rustling in unison. "She's doing
pretty good, you know, same 'ole same 'ole. I am so tired, Asaharu, we have
to be the most friggin' unlucky bastards in the entire world to have this
job."
"Oh well..." lamented Asaharu, "complaining won't get us anywhere under
Treize's command. Did you see the game last night?"
"Yeah man, taped the entire thing."
"Could you believe that one basket that he made?"
"Nope, but it was amazing, I'll give you that. Three pointer right at the
buzzer."
Suddenly, the console before the two, previously dark, now sprang to life
as windows and readouts popped up onto the screen. Red lights flashed as the
entire room was filled with an urgent beeping.
"What do you have on the main dish?" asked Asaharu.
"It's another one of them, but it was picked up late." replied Toji. "It
entered Earth atmosphere three hours ago and now it's empty, grounded and
abandoned near the Tabaneru Space Port."
"Clever bastards..." whistled Asaharu. "Must have added a quad frequency
scrambler to the pods this time around so they wouldn't be detected as
quickly.
"You have to admit though, it was a stroke of genius on the colonies part to
conceal the mobile suit pods as 'Shooting Stars' to fool the general public
and Oz radar. But why they would do it a second time I don't know..."
commented Toji.
"So that's one tonight..."
"Five total."
"Looks like they've all returned for one reason or another."
"Get Commander Treize on the line." commanded Toji, there was a nervous
strain in his voice. His partner was about to object but he interrupted. "I
know he said not to disturb him while he's in Tokyo at that school, but this
is important."
Asaharu put on a headset in a huff, crumpling the delicate blue hat that
graced his head.
"Very well, what should the message be?" he asked.
"Tell Commander Treize..." Toji gulped out, "Tell him they've returned...
we have five Gundams confirmed..."
______________
Hundreds of miles away from the two lonely friends sat the Tabaneru
spaceport. A marvel of modern technology, it was crowded and busy even at
this wee early morning hour. Even though the spaceport was filled with
personnel and passengers, not a single person happened to notice the giant
mecha concealed in the thick undergrowth only a few thousand meters from the
spaceport's main runway...
Within the Tabaneru spaceport was a sub-space transport refueling and
prepping for another trans-planet flight into space. The schedule board read
that it was heading nonstop for Tokyo, Japan on it's next flight out in
bright, bold red lettering. Noisy crowds of people crowded the spaceport,
trying to get to their scheduled flights without delay. A young teenage girl
slowly moved through the teeming masses. Her blue eyes sparkled brightly in
the bright light of the spaceport as her long, golden hair flowed behind her
as she ran. She excused herself politely as she rushed towards her appointed
flight.
"Excuse me... sorry... pardon me..." she said quietly as she moved through
the crowd.
Finally, she made her way to the boarding entrance in front of the
transport and she let out a sigh of relief. Her advisor standing next to her
tapped her gently on the shoulder.
"Miss Peacecraft, what shall you be doing tonight to commemorate your
birthday?" he asked as the long line began to board the plane.
Relena Peacecraft, foreign minister, smiled as she held up a small
envelope.
"I don't have that much time, I'm afraid. I have to register for
schooling at Sanuma before the week is over." she replied.
She smiled as she remembered how only a year ago how she had fussed over
celebrating her birthday, but now simply tossed it aside into the back of her
mind along with countless other appointments and schedules. But then again,
she hadn't been who she was a year ago, she had been Relena Darlian, a young,
sheltered rich girl, and not a princess or a foreign minister. That was all
before she had found out the truth, before her world had been turned upside
down, before she had found Heero...
"Passport please?" asked the spaceport personnel.
Relena snapped back to reality as she quickly withdrew the small booklet from
the pocket of her business suit.
"Here it is." she said as she handed her passport over.
After a quick flip through the pages, the attendant nodded and handed the
passport back to Relena. "Everything seems to be in order, Miss Peacecraft.
You may board."
Relena waved farewell to her advisor as she stepped up the gangplank.
__________________
As Relena quietly boarded the plane, she could smell the chemicals laced
with the air within the cabin. Her heels clicked on the metal as she quietly
made her way down the narrow, empty aisle.
In her hurry, she didn't see the flight mechanic in her path.
"Oh! Pardon me!" she apologized after she had bumped into him.
"'S'all right." mumbled the mechanic. He walked away from her quickly,
pulling the cap lower over his eyes and long brown bangs.
Something about him seemed so familiar to Relena, but she couldn't quite
place a finger on it.
< Something about him... the way he walked... his attitude...> she
pondered as she made her way to her seat at the back of the transport.
"Seat seventeen A... seventeen B... seventeen C! Here it is!" she said as
she found her seat assignment. She looked down at the leather lined chair and
gasped in surprise.
She picked up the small, plush teddy bear from the seat and gave him a
loving squeeze.
"Who left this here?" she wondered out loud. She looked around, no one
else who was on her flight had made their way back this far yet. She held the
bear close as she noticed the small envelope for the first time. Taking it in
her slender fingers, she pried open the flap and withdrew a small letter. She
read it silently as her eyes grew wide with surprise.
"How... but where..."
The memory of the flight mechanic she had bumped into came rushing back
into her mind.
"HEERO!!" Relena yelled as she ran towards the entryway. "HEERO!!"
On the flight deck below, the lanky mechanic with the low cap and long
brown bangs looked up slowly. Relena suddenly appeared in the entranceway of
the transport, clutching the letter in one hand as she grasped the doorway in
the other.
"Heero!" she called out.
"Relena." he said quietly in his soft, low voice.
"Next time," she said with a smile. "Give it to me in person." And with
that, she tore the letter down the middle and let the two halves flutter to
the deck below.
Heero nodded curtly and continued walking once more.
Relena watched him melt into the huddled crowd of people with a smile on
her face.
< Thank you, Heero...> she thought as she stepped back into the plane.
The hatch slid shut with a hiss as the cabin pressure equalized. Relena sat
back down in her seat as she buckled her safety harness, holding the teddy
bear close as she felt her body being driven into the seat as the transport
roared into the sky.
On the flight deck below, two torn pieces of paper fluttered in the air,
slowly burning to cinder from the transport's exhaust.
"Dear Relena-Happy Birthday. I know this isn't much, but I'll see you at
Sanuma in two weeks. ~ Heero."
_______________
Far away, deep in the mountains of central India, was a vast, glittering
lake. It's surface reflected the night sky like a flawless mirror, the
reflection of the star studded night sky rippled and waved with the ebbing of
the current. It was surrounded by steep cliff and jagged drop-offs, closing
the lake off to any outsiders that dared to enter. The only light besides the
moon and the stars came from a small hut on the edge of the vast lake. Calm
voices could be heard inside the hermitage, discussing matters of fate and
destiny.
"Kilik... it is time." Edge Master said slowly, his quiet voice filling
the small room.
"For what, sensei?" asked Kilik, thoroughly mystified.
"Kilik, I order you to your final trial." he said calmly.
Kilik leapt up from the table, his Kali-Yuga clattering hollowly to the
floor in his haste. Outside, the surface of the vast lake exploded as herons
and cranes flapped wildly as they took haste to flight, having been scared to
death by Kilik's screaming voice bouncing off the canyon walls.
"WHAAATT?!?!! he continued to scream.
The old man wrinkled his brow as he removed hishands from his ears.
"That wasn't quite the reaction I would have expected from a student of
mine..." he mumbled.
"I already accomplished my final trial!" he argued. "If this is my real
final trial than what the hell was the entire Soul Edge journey for!?"
The old hermit's expression didn't change. His eyes twinkled a cold,
steely sapphire in the dim light of the single candle, his eyes seeming to
hold deep secrets locked behind the depths of his ancient, penetrating gaze.
"Think of this as round two." he mused. Kilik face-faulted onto the rough
wooden floor.
"Very well, what is it this time?" Kilik asked as he retrieved his rod
from the floor, plucking wooden splinters from his face. The scar on his left
cheek twinged slightly in uncertainty.
"Your mind is filled with unanswered questions, this I know, Kilik." Edge
Master replied. "But they will not go unanswered for long, Kilik. The
arrangements have been made, go East, Kilik. Go forth...
"... To Tokyo..."
"Yes, sensei." Kilik answered obediently. He didn't have a single clue of
what was going on, but he wasn't about to argue with a man old as time itself.
"...Destiny and Soul will meet as one, bound by Fate, guided by the
Light... Your adversary more powerful and evil than your darkest dreams..."
he continued in a low, cryptic voice, "Survive, Kilik. I shall be watching..."
The old hermit silently closed his eyes gazing at his pupil sitting
across from him. He quietly whispered in an unknown language, the tongue of
the sun and the stars, the dialect of the elements and the animals. The
twisting celtic emblem adorning his wrinkled brow began to glow a faint
emerald as he whispered. He slowly opened his eyes as he came out of his
prayer.
Kilik was gone.
______________
The calm morning sun treaded across the early autumn morning. A small,
old fashioned tea stand stood quietly on the city limits of Kyoto, the
weathered wooden planks that made the walls of the small shop had seen many
seasons. On the stout bench that comprised the front of the tea shop sat a
young man, no larger than the average boy. A long wooden scabbard hung limply
at his waist as he ate dango from a small plate beside him. After eating all
the plate had to offer, he took a long sip of tea from his mug and sighed in
relaxation. The old tea lady who had first served him reappeared from the
recesses of the stand.
"I ought to be on my way, grandmother." he said simply as he handed her a
few coins from his purse. "Thank you."
"Where are you headed?" she asked as she tucked the coins into the folds
of her apron.
The young man flashed a curious smile as he thought for a response.
The smile that Seta Soujirou was famous for.
"Where indeed." Seta replied. "I don't have any particular destination.
I've decided to wander for ten years."
The tea lady nodded in amazement. "Ten year, now."
Seta nodded solemnly as his gaze turned and followed the narrow dirt path
leading away from the tea stand.
"There were two men--they walked the same road, but after ten years they
discovered completely opposite truths." he explained calmly. "So I think if I
wander for ten years, I'll be able to find my own truth." he said. "But let
me ask you, grandmother, where does this road go?"
The old lady thought for a moment before she replied.
"I'm not really sure, but it heads north." she replied. "It also leads to
a private school in Tokyo eventually, but I doubt that would be a choice
destination for you."
Seta smiled, his brown eyes twinkling. "North. It's getting warmer. North
might be good." he stated. "And this school you spoke of, I never received
proper schooling in my youth, now might be the time to make up for that."
"So you're going to continue your life as a rurouni?" asked the tea lady
as Seta got up to leave.
Seta shook his head. "No, not continue..." he began calmly, looking down
at the blade at his side, "But begin anew..."
_________________
Well, whaddya guys think? ^_^ As you probably already could tell, this stoery
was loosely inspired by Miles Davis' aka Miko's story Muyami Academy, a
wonderful read and in my opinion one of the best super-crossovers out there.
C&C, letters, comments, flames, just send em all in ^_^ Be as brutal or
polite as you want ^_~
Thanks!
James
Rurouni143@aol.com