Arisugawa Juri was feeling oddly pensive as she walked from the university to her apartment, the tall, orange haired woman oblivious to the beautiful day around her. Somehow she knew something was missing from her life, though she didn't know exactly what it was. She was so wrapped up in her dark thoughts that it wasn't until she neared the alley beside her building that she heard the sounds of a fight. Looking up Juri saw several larger men fighting a slim figure in a schoolboy's uniform, but he was giving as good as he got. Juri was reminded of Miki for a moment and suddenly found herself running down the alley to the young man's aid. She and the sandy-blonde boy took some hits but Juri's dueling instincts quickly kicked in and they routed the young ruffians. It wasn't until then that she got a good look at her fighting partner and realized that it was a girl! The tall young woman smiled slightly as she wiped blood from her lip with the back of her hand and said in a husky voice, "Thanks for the help, even if I didn't need it." Juri smiled a little skeptically, and grabbed the young woman as she suddenly staggered. "Are you all right?" she asked worriedly. The boyish young woman nodded, wincing a bit and said "The kids had me pinned to the wall for a bit, but I'll be fine." She tried to stand on her own, but nearly fell before Juri caught her again. "Then again, maybe not," the girl said with a self depreciating smile. "I'll bring you home and check you over," Juri said decisively. "My first aid kit from my fencing days should have whatever I need." "You're taking me home?" she joked, "But I don't even know your name!" Juri smiled back and offered her hand, "Arisugawa Juri. Call me Juri." The young woman looked a bit surprised, but shook it heartily. "I'm Tenoh Haruka." Haruka said with a smile. They made their way to Juri's apartment, where Juri helped clean her cuts. Haruka asked to make a phone call, which Juri allowed, and she talked for a minute or so, a increasingly pained expression on her face as she tried to interject into a obviously one-sided lecture. Juri kept a polite distance but smiled as she watched. Finally, she put the phone down and shook her head with a smile. "Michiru will be here in a few minutes to pick me up." Haruka looked worried for a moment and asked, "Is it all right I gave this address? I know a lot of people are concerned about privacy." Juri shook her head with a smile. "You know, I never even considered that you might be less than honest." She gave Haruka a measuring look. "But you seem very up-front and true to yourself. Trust worthy, even." Haruka looked a bit embarrassed, but they were interrupted by a car pulling in at high speed. Juri stood up, helping Haruka up from the couch, and showed her to the window. A girl with short blue hair was driving, and a beautiful girl with green hair was getting out, very quickly and with a worried expression on her face. Juri helped her open the window and Haruka yelled, "I'll be right down!" The green haired woman looked concerned but waved her agreement. Juri locked up her suite and helped Haruka downstairs. As soon as they went out Haruka was instantly in the green haired girl's bone-crushing hug. The blue haired girl walked over , introduced herself as Ami and asked her to excuse her friend as she had assumed the worst. Juri was stunned and had to take a moment to respond as it was like she was being confronted by Miki's female twin. After a few moments, the pair separated and the green haired girl noticed the stranger. "Hello," she said, looking Juri over, "I understand you helped Haruka. Thank you," she said respectfully, "I'm Kaioh Michiru." Juri smiled and shook hands, introducing herself, and accepting an invitation to stop by at their place and check up on Haruka. Haruka climbed stiffly into the car and waved as they left. A few days later Juri was volunteering at the recreation center when they all met again. She taught a one night a week swordsmanship class and had several very promising students., including a girl named Hino Rei. Rei was very good, almost as good as Juri had been, and she found them quickly becoming friends. So she shouldn't have been so surprised when Rei led in three very familiar figures, all of whom seemed to recognize her as well. Haruka and Michiru were walking over to her in a shot with enthusiastic greetings, Ami was a lot more reserved and Rei was laughing quietly in the background. Juri was still a bit shaken by Ami, so she kept her distance. "And here I was planning to introduce you to my so cool fencing teacher, and you already know her!" Rei tried to look fierce, but she couldn't keep it up. Juri laughed and explained how they met, Haruka casually mentioned that she used to be pretty good at fencing and in moments they were in gear and a match was under way. Rei had jokingly threatened Haruka if she hurt Juri, bringing a smile to Juri's face but she was completely serious in the match. As the foil blades crossed, it was like she was back with the duelists and she fought with aggression and strength, soon lost in the rhythm of parry and thrust. In moments a very surprised Haruka was disarmed and Juri reflexively swiped a imaginary rose from her chest with the point of her blade. Rei and her friends were standing there stunned, then Michiru rushed to help Haruka up, and Juri came back to herself. She apologized to Haruka but the young woman laughed it off and asked Juri to show her the move she had used to disarm her. "Juri," Rei asked respectfully, "what was that cut across the pocket for ?" Juri blinked, looking a bit surprised. "Sorry," she said with a slight blush, "it's a holdover from a..." She took a moment to think of a good way to put it, "A Dueling club I belonged to. We were all very good fighters so to make things more challenging we wore roses in our breast pocket. You lost your flower, you lost the duel." "Wouldn't that be hard to do with a practice sword?" Ami asked. Juri smiled a bit and answered seriously, "If we were actually using practice swords, that would have been a problem." With that she got up quickly and walked over to check on some of the other students. Ami watched her go, her mind occupied with imagining what those fights must have been like. It wasn't until later that she realized Juri had quite deliberately kept her distance from her and she wondered why. Juri had always been a very solitary person as Rei, Haruka and Michiru realized. However, the three quickly decided to try and change that. They invited a slightly reluctant Juri to Rei's temple for a party, Haruka and Michiru hauled her to a shindig at their place and before she knew it she was part of the gang, even snacking with them over at the Crown arcade. Haruka even tried to set her up with a very reluctant Setsuna in a blind date. Juri found she liked having friends, even if she did sense that they were hiding something. Still, she only got good vibes from all of them so she tried not to let it bother her. And anyway, there were things she didn't talk about as well. Now Juri was having her first party at her home and she was actually looking forward to it. She had plenty of snacks, having seen Usagi eat she would probably need them, drinks, music, and she, after a bit of internal debate, had left her sword on the wall. *Bing-Bong* Juri looked up at the clock in surprise then headed to the door. "I wasn't expecting them this early..." she thought as she opened the door. For a moment, Juri thought she was dreaming. Ami looked up at her from the doorway with a nervous smile. Her hair was a bit windblown, and she was wearing a boys jacket, giving her an uncanny resemblance to Miki. Juri gaped at her a moment, then Ami apologized for being so early. Juri recovered and invited her in, taking her jacket and hanging it up in the hall closet. "Juri," she said respectfully but firmly, "I need to know what about me is bothering you so much." Juri tried to protest but Ami continued, "You have avoided me since we first met. If I am that objectionable, I'll leave you alone, but I would like to know why." "I'm sorry Ami," she said with a slight flush. "I guess I didn't think about how you were feeling." She gestured Ami to the couch and sat down on the other end. "You resemble an old friend of mine. Same hair, same build, smart, you're even very courteous like him. It was a little weird meeting his female twin, in a way." Ami nodded, then gave Juri a level gaze. "There's more, isn't there?" she asked quietly. Juri looked at her a moment, blushing a bit. "There was an odd chemistry between me and him. I was his mentor, but there was also a attraction, even if we never talked about it." Juri shook her head and smiled slightly, "But it would never had worked." Ami looked at her with a slightly perplexed expression, and Juri added "I'm a lesbian, like Haruka and Michiru." Ami looked thoughtful for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Don't worry," Juri said with a smile, "your honor is safe with me." "So," Ami said with some amusement, "you've met the double of the person you were once attracted to, she is the gender you prefer and you didn't know how to handle it so you just avoided me. Is that it?" Juri looked over at Ami for a moment then began to laugh. Hearing it all spelled out in such logical and reasonable terms made her see how silly she had been. In a moment they were both laughing long and hard, the odd tension between them gone. It wasn't long after that the others began to arrive and the party really got going. It was pretty funny when the dancing started, as all of the girls took turns dancing with Haruka, her leading them across the living room floor. Finally she pled exhaustion, not to mention wanting to dance with Michiru and Ami walked over to a surprised Juri asking with a smile, "Juri, do you know how to lead?" Juri smiled and rose out of her chair, silently taking Ami's dare. They moved gracefully across the floor together as the others watched in surprise. Finally, Juri ended her waltz with Ami with an exaggerated dip to everyone's enjoyment. After that she and Haruka took turns waltzing them around the room.
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