Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Arisugawa's Locket ❯ Juri's Tales Three ( Chapter 10 )

Juri's Tales: Part Three

Juri bowed, Haruka bowed to her in return, and they began. They fought from one end of the dojo to the other, each giving just as good as they received. They shifted styles and disciplines, trying to test each other's skills to the very limit as they fought onward. As the fight continued, the other students who were nearby stopped to watch the match in awe.

Finally, they just stopped, standing separate to look into each other's eyes a moment, calmly. A little smile tugs at Haruka's lips, "Nice, Arisugawa."

"Not bad yourself, Tenoh," Juri replied, smiling in return. They exchanged bows, and headed for the showers together.

A small army of young girls sigh mightily as the two of them leave the room. One girl softly speaks up as she admiringly says, "It's worth putting up with the jerks around here just watch them when they work out alone!"

"And when they fight together!" another pipes up.

There was a chorus of dreamy sighs, before the teacher finally put them back to work.

Not long after found Juri and Haruka sitting at a outdoor cafe, cups of tea sitting in front of them, and a small plate of treats nearby. Michiru smiled at the two of them, pulling out a chair to sit down beside them.

"Are you two having an affair?" Michiru asked them archly. She pouted cutely, "Haruka, you promised me we'd share Juri."

Both Juri and Haruka went red. "Don't joke," a blushing Juri chuckled, adding teasingly, "who knows, I might just take you up on it."

Michiru just smiled, not bothered in the least by the idea. A waitress filled her tea cup, and she thanked her softly. "So did you two have fun beating up on each other?" she asked, and more quietly added, "Did any of the girls follow you again?"

"It was a good workout," Juri nodded, then she frowned slightly, "What do you mean, did any follow us?"

"One or two," Haruka chuckled softly. She pointed unobtrusively, "They're hiding behind the shrubbery over there."

Juri gave a careful glance, and saw two blushing young women hiding there, teens with big hearts in their eyes. It was kind of cute looking, actually.

Juri looked over at Haruka thoughtfully, "So does this happen to you often?"

Haruka and Michiru exchanged a amused glance, smiling a bit oddly. Haruka took a drink of her tea, "They're here following you, actually." At Juri's startled look, she elaborated, "Everyone knows that I'm taken."

Michiru smiled as Juri's face went red again. "There's nothing cuter," she said to no one in particular, "than a blushing butch."

Juri decided it was safest just not to reply to that, so she ate some more cookies before drinking a bit more of her tea. She noticed Haruka giving her a thoughtful look, so she raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

"When we were fighting, I noticed some of the moves you used were from the Anything Goes School," Haruka commented. When Juri didn't reply she asked her directly, "Where in the world did you pick that up?"

"The Tendo dojo, of course," Juri answered, as if that simple answer should have explained everything to them.

Haruka tapped a nail on the table, giving Juri a severe look. "If you don't tell me the full story," she said dangerously, "I'll have to ask embarrassing questions about how Shiori keeps coming around to try and see you."

"Oh no, anything but that," Juri mock pleaded. "All right, all right," she sighed. "I started getting more seriously into martial arts after I left the Masaki shrine. Grandfather thought that I relied far too much on my weapon, not enough on my own strengths, so he suggested a certain dojo, and a technique to get me in...



She checked the card, then looked over the building. This was the Tendo dojo, all right. She knocked, and heard an answering call from within. In a few moments, the door slid open, revealing an very odd looking pair of men. Mr. Tendo was tall, and thin, and the fellow standing beside him was shorter, and rounded, but both gave a feeling of restrained power.

Juri bowed to them respectfully, and said "I'm Arisugawa Juri. Pleased to meet you. Did you receive my letter?"

"Tendou Soun," the taller man introduced himself with a frown.

"Saotome Genma," the shorter man introduced himself, then continued, "I believe you may have misunderstood. We do not train amateurs, no matter how highly recommended..." he trailed off as Juri handed him a cheque. His eyes bugged out, and he passed it to Soun, who was also rather startled by the amount.

Soun, a bit stunned, said "We would also be taking valuable training time away from our other students to train you, and..." A second cheque was quickly passed over, making his eyes boggle. "On the other hand, this could be a big help in yours and their training! Welcome to the Tendou Dojo!"

Juri smiled at the two of them modestly, bowing again, "Thank you, Mr. Tendou, Mr. Saotome, I'm happy to be here."

She was quickly introduced to Soun's two daughters, Kasumi and Nabiki, then she was led out back to meet her two training partners. The door to the dojo itself was opened, and she saw two figures going at it like characters from some action film.

The boy was incredibly fast, leaping and dodging around the room, pursued by a darker hared girl with short hair. Her eyes flashed with rage as she tried to land a blow on him, shattering boards and denting the walls when she missed.

Finally, the young man sidestepped a blow to gently tap her on the forehead, and with a little smile he said, "Gotcha."

"Ranma! Akane!" Genma called, and the two turned to see them standing with Juri.

An instantly suspicious look crossed Ranma's face. "This isn't yet another fiancée, is it, Old Man?" he asked him dangerously.

Juri looked a bit startled at that. "No," Soun said, giving Genma a bit of a glare, "this is Arisugawa Juri. She's starting as a student today."

Ranma visibly sighed in relief. Akane smiled over at Juri and said, "Welcome to our home, Ms. Arisugawa."

"Call me Juri," Juri answered her, a bit startled by the feelings the girl's smile had generated inside her. It seemed to make the normally very average looking girl light up, causing a warm feeling deep inside Juri.



Haruka gave Juri an odd look as the other woman paused in her story. "You didn't really fall for Akane, did you?" she asked her.

"I did not," Juri protested. Michiru and Haruka both looked disbelieving, so Juri confessed, "All right, maybe a little. Of course, that seems to happen to most everybody she meets."

"Really?" Michiru said, a bit surprised.

Juri just nodded glumly. "Anyway," she picked up the story, "I trained with them for a few months. Got to know Nabiki back then, too. Still, I never progressed all that far."

"Oh, really?" Haruka said as she raised an eyebrow. "That's not what the others at the bar say," she said to Juri pointedly.

Juri rolled her eyes. "Compared to Ranma and friends," she said with a grin, "I'm an amateur, believe me."

"Good point," Michiru agreed, and they shared a quiet laugh as they finished their drinks. She and Haruka headed off together, and Juri started her own walk back to the Locket, to ready it for today's opening.

Juri felt the cold air on her face, wondering when it was going to snow again. As she neared the building, she noticed that something was obviously amiss. A figure sat by the front door, curled up to save warmth, bundled up in a heavy coat.

Juri's eyes widened as she recognized her. Shiori got up, brushing herself clean, then she looked at Juri with determination in her eyes. "Can we talk about what happened between us, please?" she asked her softly.

Momentarily at a loss for words, Juri could only stand there. Finally finding her voice, she asked "What are you doing here so early?"

"Trying to talk when you're at work hasn't worked," Shiori answered.

Juri sighed softly, "All right, I'll unlock, then we'll have that talk tonight." She noticed Shiori's skeptical look, "I promise."

They walked inside the Locket together.

Cast this Episode: Haruka and Michiru are from Sailor Moon S, Akane, Kasumi, Nabiki, Ranma, Genma and Soun are from Ranma 1/2, and Juri and Shiori are from Revolutionary Girl Utena.