higher learning and inner feeling (Hideki and Shinnigami)

[Shinnigami]

Tenchi had been waiting outside the dorms, waiting to be let in. He had buzzed in a second ago, now he was just standing around for Mitsuko or someone to open the door for the girls dorms. He sighed a little, Tenchi didn't like to wait but he was more nervous. Always had problems with girls, even back in highschool, and he always felt nervous around them, his nature was way too shy. In this case though, Tenchi was assigned to work with Mitsuko on this project, a girl who he was smitten with since the semester began. Tenchi didn't know whether to be happy or so nervous he could die, and the indecision of his mood was aggravating enough.

[Shinnigami]

He started pacing back and forth infront of the door, nervous tension winning out in his mind. What if she found him weird? What if she refused to work with him? That would have detriments on many levels. They were sort of friends, but Tenchi always worried about these sort of things.

Tenchi looked at the windows of the building again, trying to discern which one was hers. Unfortunately they all looked the same, the only difference being the curtains used in some windows were different colors and occasionally there was a ruffle of movement behind one or two of them, girls moving around in their rooms and such. Nothing definitive.

[hideki]

Mitsuko is just heading backing from the gym. It was Friday evening and she enjoyed working out at least once or twice a week.

20 years and 5 foot 5, Mitsuko seemed to be your average Japanese college girl - lean figure, straight dark black hair then gently caressed her shoulders, a nice smile, dark black eyes. She was really an energetic sort of girl, but she tended to be reserved and shy with those she did not know too well. A sociology student, she enjoyed reading poetry and talking to her friends, and of course doing all the usual things that girls do - trying to keep thin, going shopping. Occasionally, she would talk to boys, but she has never had a boyfriend since high school yet.

And today, into the thirdsemester of her second year at Osaka, her semester was just getting off to a slow start. the classes were going slowly, and it only seemed to get worse. In Gender Studies class, Sensei had just given her a really major project, one that would count for 100% of her grade in that class. The project was simple - she would have to work in pairs in order to complete a research project about studying "being the other gender". It didn't seem that interesting at all, probably meant more library research, more surveys. Worse still, she was paired with this Year 1 which she did not know too well. Year 1! what was he doing in a year 3 class. he was either really smart or knew some people around here.

"Oh well, " Mitsuko thought to herself, "He does seem like a nice person, and at least he is pretty enthusiastic about his work. Said he's going to come to visit me tonight"
Mitsuko pondered about this as she headed back to her room,opening the door, taking a bath and then changing into a comfortable blouse and skirt.

it was already evening, soon Tenchi would be here.

[Shinnigami]

((sorry for lack of description before. forgot.))

The 6 foot 5 inch boy was still standing outside the dorms. People passing by stared at him loitering there, but then again, his long red hair did always draw those kind pf stares. His mother was Japanese, but his fatehr was Irish-American, and he had inherited the red hair, blue-eyes, height, and alcohol tolerance from him. He couldn't take it anymore and asked a girl coming out of the dorm. "umm... sumimasen... is Mitsuko in?"

The girl gave him a weird look, but he seemed harmless enough, despite how intimidating he looked to a normal japanese girl. "She's just got back from the gym, used the side door, thats why you didn't see her. Why do you need her?"
"umm, we're in gender studies class, working on a pp-p-project t-t-together...."

The girl understood immediately. "Oh, right, here I'll let you in..." Turning back around, she opened the door for him. "Third floor, room 308. Knock first."
"T-thank you miss..."

He walked in and followed her directions reaching room 308, and tried to knock on the door. Tried, as in he attempted, but he jsut couldn't bring his knuckles to make contact with the door. It was the first time he'd ever have been in a girls room, well a girl that wasn't his sisters or his mom. Family didn't count, not by a long shot. This was the room belonging to a girl he was always gazing at from across the class room, or on occasion, stuttering horribly to in an attempt to ask her if he could eat lunch with her. He may have been a genius of sorts, but he just couldn't control his nerves when it came to the girl he liked secretly.
*sigh* "maybe I should just go back and tell her I couldn't make it. Tell her I got sick or something..." He let his hand fall and it made contact with the door accidentally, letting a resounding knock sound. Tenchi stood there, startled at what he just did. "....oh god, did she hear that?"

[hideki]

(i'll try to write at least once a day, as time permits)

mitsuko loved to read, and she put down the novel that she was reading.

"Dare?" (Who?) , she asked. "Akiko no ka? (is it Akiko)" . Akiko , her room mate of two years shared the dorm with her. Her dorm was one of the better dorms in school, with two rooms and a small shared living room. Akiko, her room mate, was either lazy or forgetful when it comes to her stuff. She often left her keys in her room, choosing instead to knock on the door and let mitsuko open it for her. And besides, she didn't often get visitors.

But then she glanced at her watch, 730 in the evening. Perhaps its Tenchi, then? but we agreed to meet at 8pm. Perhaps his early, Mitsuko thought to herself. with that, she got out of her room and towards the front door.

She opened the door slowly, and in front of her stood a boy that she was not too familiar with, someone she had just met this morning - Tenchi.

"Kon Ban Wa. hayai da ne?" (good evening, you're early aren't you?). she said, forcing a little smile.

[Shinnigami]

((no problem. Thats the good part about a thread based Rp.))

"H-h-hai. Dozo yoroshiku. Tenchi desu." (Y-y-yes. Pleased to meet you. I'm Tenchi.) he said bowing stiffly and awkwardly. He was now regretting having come. She probably hadn't even remembered his name, he wouldn't blame her. He usually really intimidated people by his red hair and hieght, or was completely forgotten by others.

"I-I-I'm here to work o-on the project with y-y-you..." He swore at himself inside his mind, wondering why he always stuttered when he tired to talk to her. In truth, she may have jsut officially met him this morning, but for the longest time, he was trying to talk to her when he mustered up the courage. unfortunately, that courage always petered out when it came to actually saying something. This morning when they set the time to meet was probably the first time he had ever successfully uttered a syllable to her.

[hideki]

"hai. 　oboeteru" (yes, I remember). mitsuko returned a bow gracefully.

"do you have any plans for our project? It's basically about understanding and appreciating the other gender, but apart from that , it's a the topic is free for us to decide. I was thinking that we could do a survey on "preconceptions of what girls do", and then ask maybe a 100 male respondents and female respondents and compare the differences between them."

"what do you think about that? guess we could come in to talk" Mitsuko gestured Tenchi to come in. "feel free to sit down, i'll go get you a glass of tea"

[Shinnigami]

((Sorry for the late update. Internet was acting funny.))

Tenchi walked in without saying a word other than a nod. His mind was panicking, he never thought past the part where they meet at the door. The boy's mind was totally blank, he was deep into uncharted territory, but at the same time, he felt a little calmer as he sat down. She was jsut as nice as she looked and her room seemed alot like a guy's dorm, other than the fact that it was a little cleaner. And way cleaner than his. He had machine parts and tools strew about his single room suite (he had the place to his self because his room mate was studying abroad this semester).

Tenchi foudn himself fidgeting with his hands and shoved them in his pockets. "huh? whats this?" he found a cold metallic lump in his pocket and pulled it out. he couldn't figure out what it was, it did seem vaguely familiar and fit perfectly in the palm of his hand.

Something was coming back to him, but it jsut eluded his memory, occasionally flitting on the edge of his mind but couldn't bring it into view. The only thing he could remember was that he had made it last night when he had been drinking ( A friend of his bought him a bottle of imported scotch) and it was something to do with the project. He remembered thinking that it would make Mitsuko admire him for his effort and would help, but then again, he doubted now that it would actually do it, what ever it was. He did't trust his drunk judgement much.

Tenchi was still studying the object when Mitsuko entered with the tea again, most of his nervousness gone now or replaced with curiosity at to what it did.

[hideki]

Mitsuko sat down on the chair placed two cups on the table. demurely, she picked up the brown japanese teapot and poured out tea into the cups slowly and carefully. She was fairly skilled in doing this.

She sat on a chair next to Tenchi and offered a cup.

"Doozo, nonde kudasai (here, please drink up)" , She said gently to Tenchi.
Mitsuko eyed Tenchi, her initial apprehension with the pairing gradually disappeared . Perhaps this young man was not that bad after all. He was fairly gentle and reserved for his size.

Mitsuko lifted the cup to her lips and sipped it gently, slowing every now and then. Then she placed the cup back on the table and asked Tenchi "So have you got any idea of what you want to do for the project? Personally I feel my survey idea feels pretty boring, I only wish I could thing of something interesting, creative and yet reliable at the same time", but Tenchi seemed unattentive to what she was saying. Mitsuko noticed that he seemed to be looking at something, and thus repeated the question again, waiting intently for an answer.

[Shinnigami]

"Nani?" (what?) Tenchi said looking up, and then turned bright red a little, realizing he had just zoned out infront of her. "Oh sorry. I jsut found this in my pocket. I think I made this to help with the project, but I can't seem to remember, as I was drunk when I made it..." He laughed nervously, not sure how she would take that last part. "I sometimes make stuff like that automatically when I'm tanked and bored."

He put the device on the table infront of her. On closer inspection, it seemed to have a few gear driven mechanisms inside it, along with a glass tube filled with a liquid inside, but it was completely motionless
"Any Idea as to what it could be?" he asked picking it back up and looking at it again. "I've looked all over but I have found no indication as to what it could do for this proje-OW!" Tenchi had tried squeezing it and suddenly a mechanism similar to a military air gun used for vaccinations drove a small needle into his hand. He dropped it with a yell, holding his hand where a pinpoint sized redmark now was. The visible tube in the device was now empty of its liquid.

[hideki]

Mitsuko looked at Tenchi, wondering what happened to him. Boys will be boys, she thought to herself.

Mitsuko got up to get a band-aid for the young man. She stood up, walked to the first aid kit that she kept in the kitchen and returned with a band aid.

When she got back , she placed the band-aid gently on Tenchi's hand. covering the bleeding.

"here you go. How does it feel? are you alright?"

[Shinnigami]

He looked up to respond to her, but his vision became distorted, like looking through the bottom of a glass bottled while spinning it. Tenchi felt exceptionally light headed and his vision was tunneling. What little he still saw of her face and the room was now spinning.
"umm, actually, I don't feel all right at all, Mitsuko." He suddenly lurched forward, just barely missing his teacup. He tried straightening back up but he was already starting to fall backwards. "Wake me up when the room stops spinning..." he managed to mumble as the boy blacked out and fell backwards, lying there unconscious on the tatami mat.

It was hard to tell, since they were kinda baggy on his thin form anyway, but his clothes seemed to be fitting him less for some reason.

[hideki]

mistuko started to get worried. what was happening to Tenchi, she wondered. Should she call for help? Or should she just stay put and watch.

TO be honest, she thought the boy was just playing a fool with her. Perhaps a little work hard had scared him off. that must be it. after all, he didn't seem to be bleeding much. Surely losing a few drops of blood wouldn't cause a 6 feet tall giant to lose consciousness?

Mitsuko tapped Tenchi's head, trying to wake him up. "Dou desu ka? doushite ?(what's happening?)". but tenchi seemed really sick. okay, so maybe he isn't feigning a sickness to get out of work. perhaps he has some unknown medical condition ? anyway, laying like this is probably no good for him. Mitsuko gathered up all her strength and propped Tenchi up against the wall. It was then that she noticed something odd, Tenchi's hands seemed to have disappeared into his sleeves, and the his feet seemed to have disappeared into his jeans. She inspected the drowsy kid, and realized that he seemed only about her height. Surely not? Was her eyes playing tricks on her?

"tenchi! tenchi" Mitsuko continued to call out.

[Shinnigami]

His eye's fluttered a little, but there was little response. Tenchi was out cold, and whats more, he was shrinking! The over six foot tall boy was now even shorter than Mitsuko now, the process was rapidly increasing, visibly shrinking before her eyes. It was like out of a movies or something, no way this could be real, but it was, and his head just disappeared under the collar of his shirt.

The person shaped lump was visible beneath the cloth of the shirt, getting smaller and smaller, until finally it stopped. The bulge in the shirt could have been just larger than a doll or something like that, but what just happened was anyone's guess. Tenchi had gone from six foot five inches to around two to two and a half inches in height, all within a space of under a minute.

[hideki]

Mitsuko was shocked and surprised. She had never seen such a thing in her life. She figured she probably shouldn't be calling the police or something like that, just in case they thought she did something to him... circumstances would suggest that she was the culprit.

so anyway, she unbuckled the buttons of Tenchi's shirt and picked out the miniaturized young man. she sat him on the table, inside her now empty tea cup - easy for her to locate him. It would also be safer for him, so that he would not fall out or roll around.

now she had 2 problems to solve 1)what to do with tenchi? 2) how to finish her all-important project now that her partner was little larger than a sushi roll.

[Shinnigami]

A few minutes later, Tenchi's eye's blinked open, and he sat up. His head was throbbing a little, like the worst hangover he never had, and he felt like everything around him was louder than usual.

He managed to un-blur his eyes and looked around. Thats when he started panicking. This wasn't Mitsuko's room, he didn't know where he was. The walls were high and white, they were a little warm and cold in some places and were wet so there must have been some water in here before, but didn't feel like concrete. Tenchi tapped on one, and it made a little chime-like sound.
"Hmmm, that sounds like clay or porcelain. What the hell is this.... *looks down* And why am I naked?!" he just realized how drafty it was. There was a large opening at the tops of the walls, making him think he was in a pit or something. Tenchi cupped his hands around his mouth and began to yell out so someone could here him.
"Hello?! Is anyone up there?! I'm stuck in this.... whatever the hell it is! Someone?!"

[hideki]

meanwhile mitsuko was pacing too and fro, but she realized that she couldn't think of a plan. what in the world was happening? how could tenchi just shrink , and why was he out cold? does he have a plan to change himself back into his normal size? she didn't know.

she went back to check the teacup, and she realized that Tenchi had come to, and seemed to be shouting. But he was small, so she could only hear him when she was within a few inches of the cup.

she peered over the mouth of the cup, looking down with her bright eyes. she smiled at the now-awake Tenchi and asked.

"Kodomo-san konnichiwa(hi there, little child). do you know what just happened? enough games, tenchi, why don't you just revert yourself to your usual size. we've got work to do" Mitsuko still thought that Tenchi was up to something funny, though she couldn't figure out what. Maybe some adolescent fantasy to run around her room like an explorer, perhaps? well, she didn't have time for that, this little kid had better have a plan to solve this conundrum that he put himself in.

[Shinnigami]

Tenchi let out a silent scream as he saw Mitsuko's giant face over the lip of the cup. This was impossible! Wait.... porcelain walls.... he was in her tea cup! He was still in her room on the table that had the teacups, inside her cup, just over two inches tall from what he could deduce. He could practically hear the explosion from his mind being blown by the mere logistics of what was happening.
"huh, what? What happened?! I have no idea! I made that thing when I was drunk, I never remember what the stuff I make when I'm drunk does! Hell thats the only thing I don't remember!" Tenchi was frantic to explain to this gigantic Mitsuko that he was just as confused as she was, and several hundred times more frightened. Despite that, and despite her slightly disappointed look, seeing her did make him a bit more calm, all things considered. "Look, I'm even more confused than you are. I didn't even know I was capable of making something like that. The physics of this are far beyond normal college levels, even at their best. Please, can you take me out of here?! I'm cold and scared in here!"

[hideki]

Mitsuko put her hand into the tea cup and took Tenchi out of it. It felt odd, just a moment ago Tenchi was towering over her, and now she was towering over him, his tiny frame small enough to fit snugly in the palm of her hand. he does look pretty cute and harmless this way, she thought to herself.

"alright tenchi, where do you want to go then? So i guess you're just as clueless as I am?"

mitsuko wondered what she could do about Tenchi's coldness. maybe she could put him in a hot water bath, but maybe he would drown. or maybe she could dress him up in one of those little dresses that she made for some anime models, not too sure what Tenchi would think about that though.

"Tenchi, you have two choice. since you're cold, would you prefer me to warm up some tea and put you in there, or would you prefer me to put some clothing around you. unfortunately for you, if you choose the latter option, i only have small female clothing for my anime figurines. which would you prefer?"

"and i guess you have no plan to get back to your normal size?"

[Shinnigami]

Tenchi realized he was bare naked infront of this gril, who up to a moment ago he had trouble even talking to. He immediately covered his nether regions with his hands. "Both would be nice, if you don't mind." he said with a very embarrassed look on his face, which had since turned bright red from being seen in the nude by Mitsuko.

"I don't really have any plans for getting back to normal size yet, but there's really nothing you can do right now. I'll keep thinking of a way to get back, you should continue thinking of our gender studies project...." Tenchi realized how that sounded, and thats not what he meant at all. It had made him sound inconsiderate and worse, like he was trying to put all the work on her. "Er, I mean, what I meant to say is, lets just focus on the project now, and I'll try to return to normal later. I don't want your grades to suffer because I accidentally made myself tiny." He meant that with all sincerity, despite his wanting to return to normal. Tenchi's friends always said he was far too good natured for his own good, and right now, he viewed Mitsuko's grade as a priority. There'd be nothing he could do anyway, not without his tools and equipment here, so why not get something done? Tenchi realized he was taking this pretty well all things considered.