College Life Part 15: Winter Fest! by Greenbeans Disclaimers: Comments, thoughts, complaints, compliments, ramblings, and flames are all accepted. But the latter two stand a serious chance of being printed out and turned into rat cage lining. All characters are property of their respective holders. I belong to myself, thank you, and have a nice day :) "Drop the disclaimers and shoot 'em again." --Blueseed ********** Monday ********** Michiru hung up the receiver to the phone before turning to the other occupant of the dining area. "Is everything set?" Haruka inquired, setting aside the sports section of the newspaper. "Yes. You will be picking Mako-chan up from the airport Friday evening." Michiru got up from the table to refill her teacup from the kettle on the stove. She offered to refill Haruka's. The blonde refused with a shake of her head. "So she's decided to take us up on our offer, ne?" Michiru reseated herself at the table before answering. "All she said is that she 'needed a vacation'." She shrugged slightly. "Hum..." Haruka pondered, "has her English improved? I know that she had gotten better, but will she be alright without us around?" Her brows knitted together slightly in the center of her forehead with concern. Michiru chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about it, love. If Mako-chan wants to visit the US for a bit, the least we can do is play host." ********** Wednesday ********** It was a cold February morning. The broad corridors of the engineering building were surprisingly empty except for one person. She walked towards the end of the hall to the door that separated the warm building from the unfavorable weather. Haruka glanced outside the door's windowpane. She shivered slightly at the white field of snow that covered the area. She wrapped her scarf around her neck before pushing the door open. A cold gust of wind greeted her. She paused by the door to read the campus announcements from the bulletin board. "Winter Fest?" She read aloud. "Contest, prizes, and much more..." A 'thwack' sounded besides her as a snowball shattered against the building. She looked around for the source of the projectile. Her adrenaline pumping from the possibility of a threat. "Sorry, Haruka!" John ran up to her. "I was certain Beans would be with you and threw before I looked," he explained with a sheepish expression on his face. "Why are you trying to get Beans?" she asked before motioning for him to join her inside the building, away from the harsh cold. "The little sneak got me in the back with a snowball yesterday. She used to be a pitcher and still has quite an arm on her," he leaned against the wall. "I didn't know she played baseball," Haruka commented thoughtfully. He grinned broadly. "Spring term intramural mixed team baseball. It's a blast! "Beans was our pitcher last year for 3 games before she was moved to the outfield. She has a strong arm, but not that great of control. After brushing several people back from the plate by accident she got the name 'Beans'," he winked. Haruka crossed her arms and looked at John. "You're telling me she got her name because she was a wild pitcher that beaned people?" "Yep!" He nodded. "Well, I've got to head off. Have a great day!" He headed back outside. Haruka shook her head before heading back out herself. ***** (That afternoon) Haruka found Beans curled up in the study lounge they frequented reading one of her texts. It was a quiet afternoon for them as they studied. No nipping, no arguing on how to do a problem, it was as though they were both in a semi-lethargic state. "What you two need," Andy said as he stood over them, "is a change of pace." "When did you get here?" Beans looked up at him. She hadn't even noticed the door to the lounge opening. He picked up a stack of books that was set on the couch between them. Without shuffling the loose papers around he set it on the floor then sat down between the two women. "You see," he explained as a set of glossed over eyes watched him from either side, "you two are a classic case of the mid-term melancholy that strikes so many bright young college students. They get caught in a seemingly endless rut of homework, classes, and study. It's just not healthy, ladies." "Your point?" Haruka asked, slightly annoyed at the interruption. "My point is that we are going to do something fun this weekend. We're going to participate in Winter Fest!" His declaration was met with less enthusiasm then he had hoped. He poked Beans in the side. "Come on, it'll be fun," he encouraged. Beans livened up enough to poke him back in the belly. "You call spending a Saturday night playing Twister with a bunch of freshman fun?" "Twister with Michiru might be fun..." Haruka reflected from her end of the couch. Andy and Beans *looked* at her. "There are other things to do besides play Twister," he added quickly. "They are holding a karaoke night," Haruka sighed, "also a dance," it was Beans' turn to sigh. He stopped. "Come on, you two! Trust me, you *need* this. Do you really want to become a statistic? You will if you keep on acting like one!" He shook Beans. "Okay, we'll go, anything, just stop shaking me," she chuckled a little. Haruka groaned, but was silenced when Beans tossed a text into her lap. "You're bringing Michiru, right?" "Who says we're going? It's a dorm event," she tossed the book back at her. "If I'm going, so are you." "Great!" Andy got up and headed for the door. "We're gonna have fun, I *know* it!" He called over his shoulder before exiting. Haruka glanced over at Beans. "What did you just set us up for?" ********** Thursday ********** Enthusiasm on the campus was mixed at best. Certain groups were overjoyed at the break of the usual while others saw the upcoming festival as another distraction from their studies. Even the techies were split. Andy continued to rally the others until he got most everyone agreed to participate in at least one of the scheduled events. He had slipped his name, along with Haruka's and Beans', onto the list of most every event being held. "I'm so excited," Dan, a freshman this term and new face to the group, said at dinner. "I love snow, this is going to be great!" "You're from southern California, aren't you?" John asked from his end of the table. "Well, yeah, but it's great! It never snowed back home and this is a new experience for me, you know?" He had a broad grin on his face. His eyes danced with an almost childlike enthusiasm. "Take it home with you," Beans invited dryly. There were chuckles around the table. Most were well versed in her dislike of the white substance. "Gladly!" There was more laughter. It was another good night at the geek's table. ********** Friday ********** Michiru embraced the tall brunette before stepping back. "It's so good to see you, Mako-chan." Makoto bushed her bangs back, smiling. Haruka followed her into the house with a suitcase in one hand and travel bag over her shoulder. She moved forward to relieve Haruka of her load, but the woman continued down the hallway to the guestroom. "Would you like some tea?" Michiru offered once Makoto was persuaded to let Haruka handle things. Makoto nodded. "Yes, that would be nice. Thank you." She followed Michiru into the kitchen to help her prepare a service to take out to the living room. "Mako-chan, you're here on vacation. Relax! We can handle things," Haruka teased from the entranceway. "I suppose so," she said softly. With one more long glance and a shooing motion of Michiru, she joined Haruka in the living room. She sat down on a plush chair at one end of the room. Her eyes scanned her surroundings. It was much like the other homes this couple had occupied in Japan, simple elegance. Makoto started when there was suddenly a teacup in front of her. Michiru smiled encouragingly at her while Michiru's partner frowned slightly. Makoto sighed softly before accepting the offered cup. "I'm sorry, I've been rather stressed lately. I needed to get away from the pressures of life back home for a while." "Is there anything we can help you with?" Haruka asked. "Would you like to talk about it?" The younger woman shook her head. "There is nothing I need except some quiet time to unwind," she smiled sheepishly at them. Haruka nodded. "Michiru and I will be at the winter festival being held at the college I attend tomorrow." "We won't wake you in the morning if you would prefer," Michiru offered, picking up where Haruka left off. "A winter festival? That sounds like fun, if you wouldn't mind my tagging along?" She colored slightly. "I didn't come here to do nothing, just to unwind and have fun." ********** Saturday ********** Haruka hurried into Student Union building. It was early Saturday morning While activities for Winter Fest had officially began last night, she wasn't registered for any of them until today. Well, she had been registered for the karaoke, but had squirmed her way out of it saying that she had business to attend to. She hadn't told anyone at school about Mako-chan's arrival. She wondered if Mako-chan wanted to participate in the events, or if it would be even possible to sign her up if she wanted to. With her usual skill, she dodged a group of people that had stopped moving in the walkway. People were gathering in the Student Union. This was where all the events were being organized. It was rare to see this many people milling about the building at this early hour. Most were dressed in outdoor clothing because a good number of the activities were being held out in the snow. Haruka wasn't certain if she was fond of that idea or not. But she did know that she was going to keep a close eye on Beans for any stray snowballs that might come her way. Haruka spotted Andy in the growing crowd. She walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder when she drew near. "G'mornin', where's Michiru?" he asked, noting her partner's absence. "She'll be joining us later on. She had some other things to attend to," she glanced the crowd. "Where's Beans?" He shrugged. "Probably still in bed. She hates water in any form with a passion. And there is no love lost when it comes to snow." Haruka back-tracked a statement, "Why does she hate water?" If it were true, she should warn Michiru in case it ever came up. "I'm not sure. I never asked her. She has refused every time I've tried to talk her into going swimming at the athletic center. Personally, I think she doesn't know how," he frowned slightly. "I don't know how to do what?" Beans trotted up to them. "Be on time," Haruka answered gruffly, tweaking her braid. "Hey!" She protested good-naturedly. "Just because you don't have one," she let her voice trail off; a grin on her face. Haruka brushed her hair back. "To each her own," she smiled sweetly. The event organizers called everyone to order then. People were instructed to divide into teams of four. Haruka, Andy, Beans, and the overly enthusiastic Dan teamed up. "The first game today will be to find 5 of these," the speaker held up an orange flag. "They are all outside hidden somewhere on campus grounds." "They could be hidden anywhere," another picked up the explanation, "trees, buried in snow, bushes, etc. There are 40 flags total. Once your team has found 5 flags come back to the Student Union to be recorded." With that, the teams were sent off. "Let's split into pairs and search," Andy suggested. Many of the other teams had already decided on that strategy and were heading off in various directions. Haruka nodded agreement. "Dan and I will head north and search around the athletics building," Beans said after surveying the direction the other groups were going. "We'll head north east towards the engineering building," Haruka followed Beans thinking. "Stay within in shouting distance. Whistle if you find a flag so that we can keep count." Agreed on their plan, they headed off. "They are bright orange flags, how hard could they be to find?" Dan mused as they began searching around the building itself. Beans shrugged. Orange on white shouldn't be hard. But then again, the organizers probably had some tricks up their sleeves. ***** Andy searched in the bushes that was the landscaping for the engineering building as Haruka glanced up in the trees. "You think they would climb the trees and put one up there?" Andy called over when he saw what she was doing. Haruka pulled up her scarf around her face before saying, "It's what I would do." She then did a twisting kick into the trunk of the tree. Snow showered down on her with an orange flag floating down to land on the soft snow. She brushed out of her hair before picking the flag up. "One down, four to go." ***** The other teams were having varying amounts of luck when it came to finding the elusive flags. Some had seen what Haruka was doing and tried to replicate it. None of them had her touch with impacting the tree hard enough and in the right spot to get everything down. By the time Haruka had found a second flag using this method Beans and Dan had found a flag each. Finding the last flag had turned out to be the hardest. Andy had recovered it from a low hanging eave. They rushed back to the Student Union to find out they were the third team in. "There are still more events to gain points in today," Andy encouraged. "What?" Haruka asked, puzzled by the statement. The group was lounging around the fire that had been built in the large fireplace that was a centerpiece to the Union. Those adventurers who had chilled during their scavenging earlier readily absorbed its warmth. "The events held today earn points towards being the Grand Champions of Winter Fest. They will announce at the dance tonight which team has earned the most points and are the winners," Andy explained. "I didn't realize this was part of a larger competition," Haruka commented. "Yeah! Plus Andy picked the coolest name for our team," Dan chimed in. "We are the 'Beanie Babies'!" He grinned. Beans turned a bright red while Haruka coughed into her fist. Obviously this was the first Beans had heard about team names as well. "You named us the 'Beanie Babies'?" she glared at Andy. He blushed slightly. "It was all I could think of," he said sheepishly. "I think it's a cute name," a voice commented from behind them. All turned around to see Michiru chuckling softly. Standing besides her was a tall woman with her hair bound up in a ponytail. "Who's your friend, Michiru?" Beans pushed herself up off the floor to greet the woman. "My name is Kino Makoto... I mean Makoto Kino," she blushed slightly. Her English was accented and a bit slow in coming. "Call me 'Mako-chan'." She held out her hand to shake. Beans took the offered hand and tried to reassure her with her smile. She then introduced the group to the newcomer. "Mako-chan is a friend of ours from Japan," Michiru came the rest of the way into the alcove to seat herself down onto the floor next to Haruka. Makoto also sat on the floor near her countrymen. Beans returned to her original position. "I'm glad you made it Michiru. You're signed up for our team as well," Andy said. "Oh?" She brushed her hair back over she shoulder before pulling out a ribbon from her purse and tying it back. "Yeah, the organizers realized that not everyone may be available for all events, so you can have up to 6 people on your roster, even though the number in the events may vary. "You may sign up with us because Winter Fest is traditionally a joint event between the schools. It hasn't been for the last couple of years because of a scheduling shift at the arts school that made it a bad week for them. There are two teams here that are made up completely of students from your school." "That should make things interesting," Haruka said dryly. While most of the dust had settled, there was still come underlying resentment from earlier this year. Michiru was having a hard time making friends at her own school, thus spending more time over here where she was already accepted. Over the Student Union's PA, people were called to gather for the next event. Everyone looked to Andy for who was signed up for this event. "Haruka, Michiru, Beans, and myself are signed up. Sorry Dan, you're going to be sitting this one out." Dan nodded his agreement before settling into a more comfortable position. "I think I'd like to stay here and talk with Dan," Makoto answered the unspoken question of what to do with her. He shifted his sitting position to be more comfortable for talking with her. "We'll be fine. You all go off and win this event for the pride of the 'Beanie Babies'!" He encouraged. "What is this event?" Michiru asked, turning to Andy. "Partners frisbee golf," he grinned wickedly. ***** Dan and Makoto weren't alone for long before John chanced upon them. Introductions were made and he decided to sit and talk for a bit. "So, what do you like to do for fun?" John asked politely, looking for something to start a conversation with. "Cooking is my hobby," she answered. "Cooking? Really? I haven't had a home-cooked meal since I came to college," John commented wistfully. "The dorms has a kitchen in it," Dan pointed out. "Why don't you go make yourself something?" "All I can manage without ruining it is macaroni and cheese, and ramen," he sighed. "It's not like I haven't tried. You can ask April about some of my past attempts." "I could make you something," Makoto offered. "No, that wouldn't be right. You're a guest here, you shouldn't have to cook," John quickly put down her offer. "It's alright! Like I said, cooking is my hobby. It would be fun to make something for you." John nodded slowly. "Alright, let's go to the dorms and see what you would need. Want to join us, Dan?" "I can't. Have to participate in Winter Fest, but save some for me, 'kay?" "You've got it," Makoto grinned. "Let's see this kitchen of yours." ***** This event, if any, was his event. Andy twirled his frisbee on his fingertip idly as he waited for the rules and course to be laid out. The school didn't have a frisbee golf course per say. So targets were being designated and hazards set out. People would work in teams. Each person would keep their own score and when they were finished, the average would be taken for the pair. Whichever pair from the team that had the lower number of throws would be submitted for scoring. They had decided that Beans and Haruka would make up one pair while he and Michiru would be another. "Hum, I haven't tossed a frisbee in years," Beans commented as she looked at the plastic disk in her hand. "It's not that hard. If odango atama can do it, so can you," Haruka lead the group to the first 'hole'. "'Dumpling head?'" Beans asked. "What is it with you and food?" "That is a nickname for one of our friends back home," Michiru explained. "She wasn't known for her coordination." "In other words, she was a klutz," he supplied. Haruka nodded. Then the expression on her face changed. "Isn't that Mako-chan and John heading into the dorm building?" She strained her eyes to see that far. "It looks like it," Beans confirmed. "Want to go get her?" Michiru shook her head. "She can take care of herself, and John is a nice enough man." Andy nodded his agreement before turning back to the task at hand. "Well then, here goes nothing," with that he cast the disk away from him towards its intended target. His throw had been strong and true. The frisbee floated to the ground not more than 10 yards away from the target. "This is going to be fun," he bowed slightly to Michiru for her to throw. ***** April poked her head into the dorms' kitchen to see what all the ruckus was. It usually wasn't in use during day, mostly at night when a brave student decided to cook his own meal. Her room wasn't but a few doors down it, so the noise caught her attention. "Mako-chan is seeing what she needs to cook up something," John explained when April gave him a puzzled look. "If I chip in for groceries, would you make enough for me as well?" April asked while Makoto made a mental tally of what she would need. "Plenty for everyone," she invited. "Great!" April went back to her room to get a notepad to take down a list of things to get at the market. ***** The four competitors returned to the Student Union once the game was finished. By the conclusion of the course it was apparent that it would be Andy and Michiru's score submitted for the points. Unfortunately, Beans hadn't exaggerated when she stated that it had been years since she had thrown a frisbee. "She couldn't hit the broad side of a barn," Haruka said, shaking her head. "Just because my disk went a *little* off course," Beans defended. "A little? It ended up *behind* us!" Beans colored, but quickly recovered. "Read the shirt: 'Byte me,'" she pointed at her shirt. "Where?" Haruka snapped back. "You know where I like it," Beans said in a silky voice. She managed to do it without becoming red, unlike her three companions. Haruka's face became redder when she couldn't think of anything to say in response. Michiru laced her arm around Haruka's waist, mumbling to just let it go. Andy continued to stare at Beans slack jawed. "We shouldn't have let her keep that shirt, Michiru," Haruka muttered. "You were the soft heart," Michiru reminded gently, leading her to the cafeteria for lunch. Andy blinked, finally pulling it together. He tapped Haruka on the shoulder to get her attention. "I want to know where to bite Beans." Michiru chuckled at the expression on Haruka's face. Much like a deer caught in a car's headlights, she was dumbfounded. Anger quickly flushed her cheeks. Again she was left without a suitable retort. The group entered the cafeteria. "Fine," she threw up her arm exasperated, "this is 'let's pick on Haruka' day." "Oh, goodie, open season on Haruka," Beans rubbed her hands together before picking up a tray from the stack. Dan trotted up to them. He'd been waiting at a nearby table. "Hush now, you've had your fun. Leave Haruka alone," Michiru scolded lightly before picking up her own tray. "What's next on the agenda?" She turned to Andy, who had scooted behind her in line. "Not much anytime soon. There is a snowman building competition, but it doesn't offer much by way of points," he got his food. In the checkout line he paid for both his and Beans' lunches. Everyone sat at one of the larger tables. Members from other teams joined them for the meal. There was a light mood to the meal with quite a bit of joking going on in regards to people's performance in the events thus far. "There is a difference between throwing a frisbee and throwing a baseball," Beans pointed out when she was teased, again, about her lack of skill in the area. "Don't worry about this years intramural team; I'm always ready to pitch." "You're less dangerous with a frisbee," a geek commented dryly from his end of the table, the obvious voice of experience. "Haruka used to pitch on a baseball team when she was younger," Michiru offered. "Did you now?" John turned his attention to the tall woman. "We're always looking for pitchers." "Perhaps," Haruka allowed, not wanting to commit herself to anything. "Well, I don't know about you," Andy addressed Beans, who was seated besides him, loud enough so that the entire table could hear him, "but I want to go build a snowman." "Have fun," she waved at him, but didn't join him in getting up. "You won't help me build a snowman?" He pouted. Several of the other people had already put their trays onto the racks and were headed outside. She sighed before pushing herself out of her seat. "I hate snow." ***** Haruka kept a close eye on Beans as the five of them worked to build a solid base for the snowman. Participants were to line up the snowmen in a row in front of the Student Union building to be judged this evening. Being in the snow like this reminded Haruka of the time she and Michiru had spent with their family during the Winter Break. She smiled fondly at the memories of helping Hotaru build her own snowman. It was something she enjoyed immensely and missed terribly. "Hum..." Beans said more to herself than Haruka, who was working besides her. "What?" The blonde asked. Beans nodded off towards the dorm building. April was walking up the steps carrying two grocery bags. "Reminds me that I need to go pick up some soap before I can do my laundry." A thwack accompanied by the feeling of being hit by a snowball on the back interrupted whatever Haruka was about to say. Her eyes immediately sought out the source. "Beans?!" She growled. "Wha-?" Her question was cut off when she too was hit with a snowball. Haruka glanced about again, trying to track down the source. Michiru caught her attention and nodded over in the direction of a pair of geeks a few snowmen over. Haruka noted that one of them was the one that had been giving Beans a hard time during lunch. Haruka and Michiru knelt down, packing small balls of snow together. As one they stood up, took aim, and lobbed their projectiles at the two protagonists. Both of them hit their mark. "Is that so?" The geek called out to them. A grin crossed his features at he ducked behind the large ball of snow that was to be their snowman's base. He began lobbing snowballs at them with a rate that suggested a good size stockpile hidden nearby. His partner remained standing as he threw at them. "What's their names?" Haruka asked. She didn't recall hearing it at lunch. "The one hiding behind the snow ball is Jack. The one throwing at us is Chris." Beans dove behind the snowman base to get out of the line of fire. Andy was beside her making snowballs as quickly as possible. "You have a good arm, use it," he encouraged her, passing over a few of the freshly made balls. Beans stood up and began to fire off the balls with an aim that was true while Andy fed her more ammo. Haruka and Michiru angled away from them, trying to get the other group caught in a cross-fire. Dan saw what they were planning and ran opposite them to catch Jack and Chris in a three-way battle. Any groups not involved in the immediate battle quickly cleared the way as snowballs flew fast and furiously. Some decided that the odds against the two whom started it weren't fair and positioned themselves accordingly. "We're running out of snow," Andy pointed out. Their snowman base had already been sacrificed in the name of the snowball, along with all the snow within a several yards radius of them. "We need to draw them into an area with more snow," Beans thought about it briefly. "The baseball field?" He nodded. "Plenty of snow there, but how?" "Like this," she took up a handful of snow before rushing right at Jack and Chris. Despite the heavy barrage of balls hitting her she made it to them. In a deft move she pulled out Jack's jacket enough to stuff her handful of snow down it and get away. "Come and get me!" She taunted, waving at them. "Beans!" Jack called out as he chased her across campus to the baseball field. Chris followed him, with most everyone else close behind. "That worked," Andy said dryly before jogging to the new location. "So much for the snowman building contest," one of the organizers commented to the other in the mushy aftermath of their battle. Presently there were no completed snowmen sitting in front of the Student Union. "That was more fun," the other shrugged it off before heading inside where it was warm. "Have you noticed how many people seem to be going into the dorms with grocery bags? The local market must have some good specials going on today." ***** "Augh," Beans flopped down into the snow on her back. "I'm a tired bean." After a few moments of rest she began to wave her arms and legs about to make a snow angel. The snowball fight had broken up not long ago. She had a lot of fun getting to act like a kid again, but she hadn't realized how tiring being a kid was. "Children must be pure energy on the inside," she decided. "Forget nuclear power, we'll harness the playing power of small children." Andy sat down besides her outside of her snow angel range. "You can't be tired yet, there is more to do." "I agree with Beans," Haruka said from behind Andy. "Where are you getting all this energy from?" He shrugged. "I'm a child at heart," he winked at Beans. He stood up. Offering a hand to Beans, he levered her up as well. "Come on oldie, we can rest in the dorms if you're tired." "A catnap wouldn't hurt," she stretched out before heading back. Michiru noted with a slight smile how Andy caught Beans' hand in his own as they walked back together. They were a cute couple in her opinion. Glancing over to her partner, she saw the gentle smile that indicated that Haruka had noticed them holding hands as well. "I wonder where John took Mako-chan?" Dan followed them up the stairs. "We can swing by his room," Beans lead them up a flight of stairs before leading them to the correct wing. A hastily written note was taped to his door saying that he was at April's. Following that lead, they proceeded to April's room. Dan sniffed the air. "I smell something good!" He hurried past the group to trace the source of the smell. "Stomach first," Andy shook his head. The group turned the corner that lead into a commons area to find it packed full of people. "What the..?" Beans looked about. Everyone had a plate on their lap. Bowls half filled and empty of food were scattered around the room. No two bowls were the same, indicating the wide variety of sources of plate ware. "There is a full stomach for every full chair," Michiru observed. Makoto entered the room with a bowl. John was on her heels with another bowl. He set his down where she indicated. "Michiru-san, Haruka-san, would you like some?" She brushed her hands off on the apron she was wearing. "I'm sure we could find you a plate somewhere." "I've got some. Be right back!" Dan darted out of the commons to get some plates and utensils. "Mako-chan, you were supposed to be resting," Haruka scolded gently. People moved out of her path as she made her way to the younger woman. "And have fun," Makoto amended. "I haven't cooked this much, or had it as well received in quite a while." "Thank you very much, Mako-chan," John nodded his thanks to her. His sentiment was echoed throughout the room. A thumping was heard down the hall as Dan pounded his way back to the commons. He carried a stack of plastic plates and forks. He set them out on a table. Taking up a plate he pulled some spaghetti out of its bowl and skillfully got it onto his plate. "What are you waiting for?" He asked those watching him. "This looks and smells great!" ***** Haruka and Michiru had left before the dance. They had other plans for this evening. Makoto had been concerned about leaving a mess behind her, but with all the people who had eaten her cooking there were enough to do the dishes and cleanup. Dan had joined John and April in a Quake match. Of the three of them it was April whom Beans would have laid money on as winning. She was a quiet person on the outside, but very aggressive if you found yourself competing against her. Beans was leaned up against Andy on her bed in her room. The couple had the room to themselves. Only the hum of the fish tank marred the silence of the room. It had been a full day for them. Beans took note of the time from her alarm clock. Turning her head to look over at Andy she asked, "Don't you want to go to the dance and see if the 'Beanie Babies' won?" He hugged her briefly. "Not really. I know you don't like dances, and it's not that important. Having fun was what's important. I don't know about you, but I definitely needed to unwind some. Too much stress at mid-term time." "I did too," she grinned. "Thank you for dragging me into it." "Anytime," he bent his head down to hers. The evening would be as enjoyable as the day had been. ********** End part 15 ********** Wow, this one was long in coming. Sorry about that. Those who have monitored my struggling with this part know that this final draft is actually version 4 of part 15 o_O The person that finally gave me the break for this part is Nightbreak. He's writing a story that explains why Mako-chan would be visiting the US. (It's not finished yet, but I'll post it on my page once it is :)