Disclaimer: I claim no rights, express or implied, over any of the characters, names, places, events or descriptions contained in the Tenchi Muyo series. My use of the aforementioned items is for strictly non-profit and personally recreational purposes. This fic contains some lime content, so if you are under 17, you should not read this fic. *SHIFT ERROR* By Cyrus Marriner Tenchi should have realized what was going to happen. But he didn't, and that cost him. You see, Tenchi had long ago fallen for Ayeka. But, having built up an expansive string of rationales and half-logical conclusions in his mind, he had neglected to tell Ryoko. Better for everyone, he felt. So Tenchi had kept his relationship with Ayeka a secret. And they had. Not only had they kept their affection a secret, but they had kept their various...physical interludes a secret, too. And they had engaged in quite a few physical interludes up to this point, too. In Tenchi's room, in the carrot patch, in the kitchen, all sorts of places. But there were a few places Tenchi should have known not to do it. Unfortunately for Tenchi, he and Ayeka did it in one of those places. And now an entire section of the house was smoking rubble. Ryoko had woken up that morning lying face-down on the rafter she called a bed. Her morning amnesia wore off seconds later as she went into her routine. And, keeping with her routine, she teleported right underneath the bathroom floor. Then, after a moment to make sure everything was ready, she phased through it to harass Tenchi in her normal manner. Ayeka had sneaked into the bathroom before Tenchi had woken up, and was waiting for him in her kimono when he closed the door behind him. He turned around as the door slid shut and was greeted by the welcome image of a stark naked Ayeka. "Ayeka, I'm not sure this is such a good idea," he said. Or at least, tried to say. She met him with a kiss, her nude torso pressed against his, and the sensations were too much for him to resist. He wrapped his arms around her, pushing his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. They separated for a moment, and Ayeka looked at Tenchi coyly. He almost asked her what she was thinking, but he soon found out as she kissed her way down his chest, reaching for the tie on his pants and kneeling in front of them. Her fingers deftly untied the knot, and they soon accompanied her kimono on the floor. Now that they were both fully exposed, Ayeka went to work on Tenchi, figuratively blowing his brains out. "Ohh, Ayeka, that feels so good." Tenchi whispered down at the princess's slowly bobbing head. In response, she reapplied herself to task with renewed vigor, and was rewarded by a low moan from Tenchi. Then another sound accompanied the sounds of Tenchi's morning quickie. The gentle, almost melodic, "whoosh" that was made when Ryoko phased through matter. There was a gasp, and then half the house exploded. "Little Washu! Little Washu!" Mihoshi pounded on the scientist's door. Of course this would be the one time she was unable to simply waltz in and destroy something. Washu answered the door, poking her head out. She had obviously been sleeping. Her hair wasn't yet in it's normal spray of red spikes that trailed down to her feet, and she was wearing a nightcap. "Whaddya want?" she asked, irritated. "The house exploded, Washu!" Washu almost said "Wake me up later." and shut the door in Mihoshi's face, but then she realized what the blonde girl had said. "What did you say?" "The house exploded," Mihoshi repeated, gesturing toward the no- longer-obscured view they had of the lake. Washu disappeared into her laboratory, leaving Mihoshi standing alone for a while. After a moment, Mihoshi realized Washu was not coming back out. The blonde opened the lab door, having suddenly recaptured the magical abilities she had lost earlier. Conveniently enough. Washu's lab was dark, illuminated almost solely by the holographic computer she was using. Mihoshi walked up behind the diminutive scientist and peeked over her shoulder, staring at the display with all the comprehension an ant has of a steam engine. "Hmmm...I see...ah, these readings are strange...those variables are inverted..." A constant stream of mumblings came from Washu as she rapidly brought up and closed screens of data as fast as Mihoshi could register they were appearing. "Ah. A shift error," Washu said, shaking her head. "I suppose it was bound to happen, sooner or later." "What's that, little Washu?" Mihoshi asked. "It's an error in dimensional transference that results when two pieces of matter occupy the exact same space at once. The result is a massive explosion." "Um...okay," Mihoshi said. "You don't understand a thing, do you?" "Nope!" Mihoshi said cheerily. Washu shook her head. "It looks like class is IN SESSION!" she yelled, as a desk popped up underneath Mihoshi, as well as a podium underneath Washu. She ducked behind the podium for a second, then appeared a moment later dressed in full Royal Academy garb. "Today's lesson will be taught by super teacher Professor Little Washu! The greatest scientific genius in the universe!" Washu turned to her pupil, who was idly playing with her pencil. "Miss Mihoshi! Pay attention!" Mihoshi immediately sat up straight, dropping the pencil on the ground. "Now, for lesson one: traveling through matter. "Traveling through matter is impossible, because two pieces of matter cannot coexist in the same place at the same time" Washu said succinctly. "Now for lesson two: doing the impossible." To help Washu illustrate, a screen came down from the ceiling. "You see, Ryoko's ability to 'phase'"--Washu made the little quotation marks with her hands--"through walls, is actually derived from a level of sub dimensional travel during which Ryoko does not technically exist in the material world as we know it. Her ability to teleport is related to this skill, as well. "So, when Ryoko travels through matter," Washu pressed a button and a picture of Ryoko phasing through a wall appeared on the screen, "she is actually moving through an unoccupied space in an alternate universe." Washu pressed another button and a picture of a crudely drawn chibi-Ryoko appeared, surrounded by a black void with the normal stars and nebulae and galaxies that represented space, for some unknown reason. Mihoshi spoke up. "How did this cause an explosion?" she asked. "Raise your hand." Mihoshi raised her hand. "Miss Mihoshi?" "Um...I forgot my question." Washu froze for a second, then fell down. She was back on her feet momentarily, though. "I'll explain how this caused an explosion. You see, matter can't coexist in the same space as other matter, as I said earlier. However, when Ryoko is phasing through matter, if she were to revert back into reality, matter would coexist in the same place at the same time. This is bad." Washu pressed a button, and a picture of a mushroom cloud came up on the screen. "However, there were safety mechanisms ingrained within Ryoko's psyche to keep her from doing such a thing. Something traumatic must have happened to cause them to fail." Washu rubbed her chin, deep in though. "Maybe she walked in on Ayeka and Tenchi having sex," Mihoshi ventured. "I have a few times, and I know that it certainly shocked me. Especially the style they were doing it in. Did you know Ayeka will take it up the--" "Wait, what did you say?" Washu asked, both because the weight of Mihoshi's words had penetrated her thoughts, and also because Mihoshi was about to say something vulgar and out of character. "I said Ayeka takes it up the--" "Before that!" "That Ayeka and Tenchi are having sex? You didn't know that?" "No, I didn't! When did this happen?" "I first walked in on them a few weeks ago." "Mihoshi, you may have just figured out the answer." Washu snapped her fingers, and the podium, screen, and desk all disappeared. "Quickly, to ground zero!" Washu exclaimed as she ran out of the room. Mihoshi sat up, rubbing her bottom from where she had fallen when the desk disappeared, then scrambled after Washu. Mihoshi arrived at the center of a large, blackened crater to find Washu holding a visibly charred Ryoko. Next to her were Tenchi and Ayeka, who in addition to being charred, were shocked and very exposed. "What happened here?" Washu asked. "Well, you see," Tenchi began, finally coming to his senses. "I heard Ryoko harassing Tenchi and came in here to stop her," Ayeka finished for him, coming to her senses the same. "Oh, give it up, you two. I know you've been humping like bunnies for weeks now," Washu reprimanded. "You knew?" Tenchi asked. "But Washu, I thought you said--" Mihoshi was cut off by Washu throwing a random piece of rubble at her head. "Yes, I knew. Now, you two are going to have to rebuild this part of the house by yourselves. Because I have to take care of her until she recovers." "But, she exploded!" Ayeka stammered. "My Ryoko's a tough girl. Hopefully she'll be able to clear her mind of the vile act she saw you two performing. Shame on you! You should know the trauma you could cause to somebody who sees you doing that!" Washu harshly rebuked. "Now, get to work on repairs!" Washu walked out in a huff, leaving a naked Tenchi and Ayeka, as well as an unconscious Mihoshi, alone. "Well, I suppose we should go get some supplies from the shed," Tenchi said to Ayeka. The two walked to the shed, naked and dirty. Once there, they looked around for some work clothes to hide their nakedness. "Oh, Tenchi..." Ayeka's voice sang sweetly as she shut the door, "we never finished what we started this morning." To accentuate the point, Ayeka leaned over a work bench, giving Tenchi a good view of her naughty bits. Unable to resist, Tenchi was on her in seconds, the sounds of screwing filling the shed. Sasami was in the kitchen where she had been all morning. Somehow, she had remained oblivious to the massive explosion, and was still busily working on breakfast. Her concentration was broken by a sad "Miya" from behind her. Ryo-Ohki was in child form, looking at her with her big starry eyes. "Oh, Ryo-Ohki, I'll give you a carrot. Hold on a second." Sasami looked around the kitchen briefly, then realized there weren't any more carrots around. "Oh, I'm sorry! I used the last one in the food!" she apologized. Ryo-Ohki looked at her sadly, and Sasami melted. "Okay, I'll go get you one from the shed! Stay here and I'll be right back!" Moments later, on Jurai, an entire section of the Royal Palace was smoking rubble. *END* Author's Notes: First of all, I'd like to give thanks to Mirage. Because she didn't use my idea, I was so indignant I had to go off and write it on my own, just to show her. So HA! And I'd also like to thank Fish for her excellent prereading that made the fic much better to read. And thanks to Firebird for coming up with the better idea that Mirage discarded my idea for, and thanks to EAG for reassuring me that it didn't suck, and speaking with a calm, soothing voice.