Standard disclaimer: I thank all the owners of the Tenchi Muyo 
characters who have chosen not to sue me for suggesting alternative 
uses for them.

Spring Fever..

	Tenchi exhaled loudly as he loaded the last carrot into the 
basket.  With a tight grimace he rose and bent towards the radiant sun, 
his back cracking gratefully.  He smeared the earth from his hands onto 
his work pants with lazy strokes and another long breath at the growing 
heat of the day.  Waking the garden from its winter sleep had caused 
more perspiration then he'd expected, but he surveyed his work with a 
proud smile.  He grabbed his t-shirt from an upright rake and slipped 
it back on.  Noticing that it was still slightly moist with sweat, he 
buried his face in a sleeve and wiped his forehead.  
A steady self-massage eased the soreness from his arms, another 
smile for the sensuous feeling of sweaty muscle beneath his hands.  He 
watched his biceps tighten as he hefted his gardening supplies.  
Although he'd never desired to be bulky, the defined curvatures gave 
him a small spark of confidence.  With a light chuckle he discarded the 
glimpse of vanity and made his way back towards the storage shed.  
Along the way he looked about at the beauty of the surrounding nature 
embracing the fullness of spring.  His face brightened with a look of 
contentment as he closed his eyes to take in birdsong, the perfume of 
blooming flowers, and the familiar taste of sweat still lingering at 
the corners of his mouth.  A broad grin continued to spread across his 
face while he savored the texture of the wooden tools gripped in his 
strong hands.  Normally nice days gave him a sense of tranquility, but 
today all the sensations were rising up in an energetic and almost 
decadent rush.  He felt so good to be alive that he nearly proclaimed 
it aloud.  
Just as he was about to break into a jog a few yards from the 
tool shed, a dark silhouette strolled out of it at a leisurely gait.  
Tenchi froze in his tracks and stared at Ryoko.  She stood still in the 
doorway with her hands behind her back and without any apparent 
realization that she was blocking his path.  He managed a weak grin and 
greeted her.
"H-Hi Ryoko."  
Ryoko answered him with a bright smile and a clever slant in her 
eyes.  Tenchi unconsciously gripped his tools a little more tightly.
"Good afternoon Tenchi."  She spoke like a receptionist trained 
to be friendly, but added a slight hint of seduction.  "Nice day isn't 
it?"  
Tenchi began to suggest that he needed to get by to put the tools 
away, but Ryoko cut him off by flicking her arm out to reveal a small 
sheet of paper.  She cleared her throat and spoke again in a reading 
voice.
"This is a note from Sasami, it says: Dear Tenchi, Aeka, Mihoshi, 
Ryoko, and I are going with Mr. Masaki into town to do some errands.  
We'll be back later this evening, there's lunch in the fridge."
Tenchi's face calmed and walked forward again, trying to restart 
his happy mood.  After a few steps he stopped dead in his tracks and 
shot an anxious glance at the messenger.
"But...uh...Ryoko, why did the note say that you would be going 
with them?" Tenchi asked in a worried voice.  Ryoko answered in a 
casually, looking at the message again. 
"I did go with them."
Something began to grow in Tenchi's throat. 
"Well...a projection of me did, anyway," she continued with a sly 
smile.
He could feel his heart rate accelerating rapidly as he recalled 
Ryoko's ability to project a duplicate image of herself.  He'd only 
seen her do it on a few occasions for comic skits, but she never kept 
it out for more than a few minutes.
"But-" Tenchi began weakly.
"She slept almost the whole time, they just left her in the car." 
Ryoko explained blandly, never taking her eyes off the note.  
"I might as well turn her off," she said lazily as she let the 
note fall to the ground and returned a cunning focus on Tenchi,  "to 
save energy."
The look of hunger consuming her face and the returning hint of 
seduction in her voice made him take a step slowly back and grip his 
tools even tighter.  Her other hand was still behind her back, and the 
strange weight in his throat swelled with frightened curiosity.  A 
strict inner voice told him not to ask, to just stay calm and be firm.  
He figured someone, anyone, was bound to show up if he just kept things 
going slowly.  But when Ryoko remained unmoving he gradually began to 
wonder if maybe there was nothing to be afraid of.
"Uh, Ryoko, what else have you got behind your back?" Tenchi 
asked tentatively.  
A sensual smile spread even wider while golden eyes began to bore 
into him.
"I'm glad you asked Tenchi." Ryoko replied, her voice getting 
huskier with each word.  
She moved her arm forward gracefully.  At first Tenchi was 
relieved to see it was just another piece of paper, but as she held it 
out towards him he noticed that it was the calendar from his father's 
study.  A single date of the current month had been circled excessively 
with a red pen.  
Tenchi brought his brows together in confusion, but razed them 
again nervously as Ryoko brought the calendar back towards her face.  
She held it so that it vertically obscured half of her features, 
although he might not have thought it possible, it gave her an even 
more sinisterly seductive appearance.  Her other hand rose tensely and 
pointed towards the red circle as if her index finger were about to 
grow into a blade.  A gulp and a slight rattle of garden tools sounded 
off loudly amidst the quiet surroundings.
"Are...are you okay Ryoko?" Tenchi asked meekly as he noticed 
that she had started to breath heavily.
"Do you-" she broke between a ragged inhale of spring ethers, 
"know what day it is?"  
Tenchi began to sweat again and took another step backward 
unconsciously.        
"Uh...Saturday," he answered in the timid voice of a frightened 
woodland creature.  Ryoko showed her fangs in a wicked grimace.
"Today---is the---first day---of spring!" Her words came spaced 
out between anxious breaths.  
For a moment Tenchi could only see a nameless chest heaving 
violently and a small bead of sweat running down the side of a 
powerfully feminine face.  Ryoko's voice washed over him with 
paralyzing force.  She seemed to pulsate with a hungry air of rose 
petals, honey, and serpents.  The calendar fell with a hollow slap, and 
he realized she was looking all over his own body with wide, ravenous 
eyes.  Her hands began to ungulate over each other as if the sweat upon 
them were lotion.  At that moment she was infinitely more frightening 
than she had ever been while attacking him at his school.  She slowly 
levitated a few inches upward and trembled her teeth upon her lower 
lip.  
The tools dropped in an absentminded clatter, but neither took 
notice as Ryoko slowly made a show of caressing the tips of her fangs 
with her tongue.  She brought her hands down by her thighs and flexed 
her fingers. 
	"Oh no!" Tenchi whined in a voice hardly above a whisper.  
Ryoko blew dust over the fallen garden equipment as she pursued 
her fleeing prey.

	The comforting ambiance of spring was lost on Tenchi as he 
sprinted through the tall grass.  Adrenaline raced through him during 
his prayer to lose Ryoko in the trees on the way to his grandfather's 
shrine.  He forced himself not to consider the idea that even the great 
Yosho would not be able to calm whatever had taken over his pursuer.  
As he entered the forest he looked over his shoulder, despite knowing 
that she certainly hadn't given up.  He saw her speeding towards him, 
hair billowing in a wild hallo around a deadly focused face.  She 
hadn't called out a playful plea to stop running as she usually did, 
she simply kept her burning eyes locked onto him and bared her teeth in 
a feral smile when she caught his glance.
	"RYOKO!" Tenchi wailed in desperation as he cut painfully through 
high bushes and low branches.  His chest began to tighten from the 
combined force of fear and exertion.  Before he could check the status 
of his predator again, he felt lascivious words breathed against the 
back of his neck. 
"I like the idea of you screaming my name, Tenchi."  
	"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" He yelled as loudly as possible and 
commanded another burst of speed, Ryoko's wild laughter fell farther 
behind him.  
	More weight strapped itself to his legs, and he began to realize 
that she was enjoying the chase and probably could have caught him 
already.  

If I make it to the shrine I'll probably collapse at 
grandfather's feet, and being unconscious around an insane Ryoko is not 
an option.
  
A twinge of anger arose in him, and he suddenly resented being 
chased like common game.  His face twisted in frustration.  Turning to 
meet the threat now seemed far more practical...and honorable.  This 
has gone on too long, Tenchi thought, as he ground his feet to a halt 
and tried to catch his breath.  Slightly bent, he turned to face Ryoko 
with all the defiance he could muster in his near-exhausted state.  He 
saw her maintaining her speed as she approached him from a few meters 
away.  
Tenchi held up his hand and gasped as loudly as he could: 
"STOP!"
Ryoko stopped instantly, causing her hair, skirt, and a patch of 
fallen leaves to swirl around her dynamically.  Her face went instantly 
from a look of wild hunger to a look of confusion.
"This ends---now, Ryoko!  I'm sick---of being chased around---
like a wild animal!" Angry words spread out between desperate gasps.  
Ryoko's face began to fall, but he remained oblivious as he continued 
to pull his breath back into him.
"I don't know if this is your idea of fun, but it sure as hell 
isn't any fun to me!"  His voice grew harsher as he gathered more wind 
behind it.  "If this doesn't stop right now, then I'll-" 
He stopped, realizing he hadn't really thought of how to get her 
to calm herself.  All the possible threats he could make, however, were 
disintegrated when he noticed the change in Ryoko's posture.  
She was standing perfectly still, with her hands crossed over her 
chest.  Her head hung down lifelessly and her two side bangs swayed 
weakly in the breeze.  Tenchi stood there for a moment in confusion and 
a growing guilt at the idea that maybe she had just been playing a 
game.
"Ryoko, I---" He began again with a hint of apology, however, he 
almost went into a fighting stance when she looked up at him.  At the 
lowered angle her eyes seemed to promise murder, but as she began to 
breath in the same anxious and lusty manner again, Tenchi realized that 
he'd seen her look this way before.  
A year ago, during the same time of year, Ryoko had kept her 
distance for an entire week, but she had continued to glare at him this 
way almost the entire time.  Tenchi ignored it fairly well for the most 
part, but every time that he returned a glance for more than a few 
seconds he'd been instantly and painfully aroused.  A subsequent 
realization spread through him like, widening her reflection in his 
eyes: Ryoko was in heat.  
The predator seemed to notice that Tenchi's face was regaining 
the deep red it had lost when he got his wind back.  In response she 
sucked in another shaky breath over her quivering lips and grasped her 
colorful half shirt in rough fists.  With a hearty inhale, she gritted 
her teeth and tore her shirt open like a birthday present.  
Tenchi's eyes bulged out of his head as Ryoko's bare bosom 
bursted out of captivity.  They bobbed tauntingly as she walked slowly 
forward.  The sensation of an oncoming nosebleed spread through his 
head, and he gulped in a failed attempt to protest. Ryoko's hand shot 
forward, but stopped just short of his face.  She gently curled out her 
index finger and placed it under his nose as if trying to stop a 
cartoon sneeze.  
The delayed reaction nearly turned Tenchi to stone, but he 
suddenly relaxed when he noticed the nosebleed had subsided.  He 
sniffed roughly then gasped as Ryoko spread her other hand across the 
back of his neck.  Her warm palm increased the rate of her prey's 
fearful arousal.  Once again he managed only a mouse-like mumble in 
response.  
Ryoko pulled her face up to the side of Tenchi's, heavy breaths 
pounding against his ear.  He felt every hair on his body stand at 
attention as the slight throbbing in his loins began marching to a 
quicker drumbeat.  
 "I'm so sorry Tenchi...please forgive me."  She whispered 
anxiously as she pressed her chest into his thin undershirt.  Her voice 
was so quiet that he could hear the sweat squishing around her nipples.  
He began shake with a slight terror that she was under mind control 
again.
"I just can't help myself." Ryoko's whisper grew stronger, 
carrying every drop of seduction in her body.  Thoughts of escape rang 
in Tenchi's head, but all of his energy was currently focused upon 
discouraging his growing erection.  
"Ryoko-" he breathed in a cowardly voice.  Her only response was 
to remove her finger from under his nose and grasp Tenchi's hand 
gently.
"I want you Tenchi...I want you so bad it...it hurts!" She spoke 
closer to Tenchi's ear in a higher pitched whine, making it sound as if 
he were already giving her what she wanted.  His entire body tensed 
even more and he closed his eyes in defeat, and knew that Ryoko would 
only have to come an inch closer to know of his failure to suppress 
arousal.
	"Please Tenchi-" Ryoko continued pitifully as she brought his 
marionette-like hand towards her and slowly slid his fingers down into 
her skirt, "please make the pain go away."  
He instantly recognized something else beneath the sexuality in 
Ryoko's voice, a wavering that spoke of a sincere need.  The 
desperation in her words dismissed all notions that she was playing any 
sort of game.  The thick heat pouring off of her body was probably only 
a glimpse of the hunger burning away at her mind.  She spread his hand 
along a soft patch of dense hair, taking no notice of the shock on his 
face.  But when the tip of his middle finger touched a moist crevice of 
flesh, he began to feel the draw of her hunger in himself.
	Though Tenchi he cared about Ryoko in a way unlike any emotion 
he'd ever experienced, he always told himself that it was simply 
because of her 'abnormal' situation.  The physical desire screaming 
through his body was currently, if weakly, restrained, but he was 
having an increasingly difficult time justifying his virtue.  
Fear.  Every explanation was based in fear; fear of immorality, 
of jealousy, perhaps of inadequacy more than anything.  The swirl of 
fantasy, of the overtly false bravado dripping from his peers, the body 
of young male sexuality atrophied from excessive ghost training.  He 
still could not fathom anything more eventful than a conspicuous bed 
sheet.  
Despite her prey's hesitation to switch roles, Ryoko pressed her 
body against him again more urgently, panting painful lust against his 
neck.  Her vulnerable state shone amidst Tenchi's lust and fear, 
calling up a stronger emotion within him.  This woman, posed in 
imploring submission, who'd shown her commitment to him as fully as she 
could from the first day, was in pain and was begging him to soothe it.  
Compassion was slowly encouraging his lust, and the strange sensation 
made him inhale deeply.  The sweet aroma of her hair raged through him, 
and his breathing began to mimic hers.  He wondered if her heat was 
contagious, or if he'd simply been better at suppressing his.  Perhaps 
he'd been too good. 

This is a desire for me, not just a carnal instinct.  This is how 
she feels physically now but...it must be how she feels emotionally 
every day.  

The revelation returned his anxiety.  His brain boiled as he 
questioned his intuition.  How could he know if this spring fever was 
intended to bond or merely to relieve?  Was there only one way to find 
out?  The questions in his mind seemed intent on answering themselves.  
This instinct had intense fear holding it back, yet all of the 
surrounding nature seemed to be cheering him on.  His entire body was 
pounding, however, he also knew that Ryoko, strong, beautiful, loyal 
Ryoko, was close to agony.
"Please...Tenchi." 
Her mouth was less than an inch away from his ear and he could 
barely hear her, but he recognized the sound of someone close to a 
breaking point.  Still mostly consumed with fear, he tried to think of 
something to calm things down without hurting anybody.  His search for 
a solution was instantly aborted as Ryoko slowly drew his ear lobe 
between her lips, the tip slid against her tongue and she pulled on it 
gently.  It popped out of her mouth with a microscopic smack, but the 
overwhelmingly erotic sensation seemed to echo like a church bell.  In 
Tenchi's mind he saw a breaking chain, a sword unsheathed, and a sun 
rising over mountains.  A sentiment stronger than any he'd spoken 
before nearly escaped his mouth, but it rang in every corner of his 
mind:

All right, that does it.

	Tenchi inserted the length of his middle finger in a quick 
motion.  Ryoko instantly expelled a loud gasp and froze into a more 
statue-like figure than Tenchi had ever been.  As lustful energy 
exploded through him, he felt a sense of extreme liberation.  His 
indecisiveness had been defeated and replaced with a new goal.  
Indulging Ryoko and indulging in Ryoko became the height of life 
itself.  The stunned expression stretched across her golden eyes went 
unnoticed while he hungrily watched a single bead of sweat crawl down 
her neck.  He spread his mouth over the tiny drop of perspiration and 
began to slowly flex his finger while his lips ravaged her neck like a 
block of ice found in the desert.
	With a sound between a squeak and a moan Ryoko brought her arms 
around Tenchi's back.  He felt her hands trembling over his flesh for a 
moment before she gasped again, this time more like a growl, and buried 
her fingertips into his shoulders.  He breathed forcefully through his 
nose, clutched her lower back, and began to move his finger more 
rapidly.  She raised her head as his lips moved up towards her chin and 
released an ascending moan that gradually overpowered almost every 
other sound.  When he drew his face away his nose brushed against hers.  
They opened their eyes upon each other simultaneously.  
Both of them remained still, starring in wonderment at the other 
as heavy breaths pounded back and forth.  They moistened their lips.  
Their eyes fluttered closed at the same shaky pace with which their 
faces moved, however, when the kiss came their mouths embraced each 
other with a complete fullness and grace.
Their tongues met and Tenchi could feel the force of their lust 
unleashed.  Yet, he still felt focused.  There was no longer a feeling 
of chaos or violence in the desire he and Ryoko were sharing; there was 
a will to move with power and skill.   Even as he greedily moved a hand 
up to caress her chest, the luxurious sigh she hummed into his throat 
filled him with a sensation of unashamed bliss.  He recalled his 
analysis of a sword unsheathed and smiled at the accuracy of the 
metaphor; this new passion was sharp and sleek, yet controlled and 
clearly...necessary. 
When they withdrew from the kiss they met each other's eyes 
again.  Their arms curled around each other and Ryoko pressed herself 
against Tenchi's erection with a smug smile.  He returned the motion 
without a second thought.  There was still the excitement and hunger 
swirling through them, but the pain was already forgotten, and the fear 
had been replaced by a nervousness neither showed as they removed the 
rest of each other's clothing.
	Ryoko's skirt covered the length of her legs and after Tenchi had 
unzipped it enough to fall off, she picked it back up and unzipped it 
entirely.  The garment provided a small rectangle of cloth that she 
spread across the forest floor before kneeling down upon it.  He sat 
beside her with his legs to the side.  As they kissed again he failed 
to notice how she cleverly levitated in such a way as to maneuver him 
to lay down.  He propped himself up on his elbows while she left a 
trail of moist kisses down his belly.  His eyes closed with a sharp 
inhale as he felt warm fingers curl around his erection.  
Tenchi noticed Ryoko looked up and lick her fangs the same way 
she had back at the tool shed.  Her willing prey responded by chewing 
his bottom lip in eager anticipation.  She took a deep breath and 
swallowed his entire length in one swift motion.  The crippling 
pleasure made him fall back like a suddenly sedated patient.  Her mouth 
danced around playfully, causing involuntary twinges in his face.	
It was hard to believe that such an erotic thing could bring him 
such a sense of peace, but Tenchi's expression was eventually washed 
clean of any signs of stress.  He felt completely incapable of 
negativity as he floated between the beautiful limbo of the power Ryoko 
was wielding and the tranquil ambiance of the sunlight dancing through 
the trees above him.  The movement of her mouth filled his experience 
like the wind rustling the leaves; it was imperfect yet perpetual--and 
wholly hypnotic.  
His pleasured smile suddenly tore open into a gasp of ecstasy as 
she became more forceful and steady in her movements.  He groaned and 
caressed her face in encouragement till he chocked out a jumbled 
warning.  Ryoko only responded with what seemed like a villainous 
chuckle.  She tightened her cheeks around his orgasm.  A painful heaven 
burned through him and he grasped her head firmly, writhing in moans of 
desperation.  The soft hair beneath his fingers seemed out of place 
above the raw and raging sensation below them.  
Slowly, Tenchi tore his face back out of the vacuum and began to 
wildly pump air through his teeth to conjure up the strength necessary 
to show Ryoko his gratitude.  She was way ahead of him.  The moment he 
lifted his head he found her sex an inch from his nose.  He looked up 
and saw the same look of triumphant lust glaring down on him.  While 
trying to smile, he grasped her thighs forcefully and brought his mouth 
between them with a gracious hum.  Slender fingers took hold of his 
hair as she moaned decadently.  Her eyes shot open soon after they 
closed and a wave of spiky cyan hair followed by a strained grunt 
frightened a few intrigued forest animals back into hiding.  
Her servant had found his place of control.  He kept his position 
but increased the pace and pressure mercilessly.  For a second he was 
afraid that Ryoko's strength might actually cause some serious damage 
in this situation.  Just as he pushed the thought from his mind she 
yanked on his hair and nearly crushed his skull between her thighs.  
Even though his ears were nearly welded into his head he heard the 
roaring climax.  Pungent juices flowed down his cheeks and Ryoko 
smeared them along as she melted onto his chest.  
Tenchi nearly hyperventilated as he inwardly thanked the fates 
that she'd not held on for a moment longer.  Her hot breath was against 
his neck again and he smiled while searching absently for bald spots on 
his scalp. 
	When all the birds Ryoko had frightened into flight settled again 
the pair held each other snugly and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere.  
After only a few moments, however, a tender kiss quickly deepened and 
confirmed that neither of them were yet fully satisfied.
There were no words between them as Ryoko took hold of Tenchi's 
rejuvenated erection and began to ease her sex around it, their eyes 
remained locked in an unspoken acknowledgement of their positions.  To 
deny the partnership of their bodies was to deny life itself.  Through 
the initial pain and into the all-encompassing pleasure, even when 
their eyes closed, they remained fully aware.  
The taste of sweat and saliva, hot breath boils as teeth grind.  
A mouth-muffled mouth can only mouth the words; plans and pleas for 
more chorus over and inspire a focused, hungry rhythm.  The texture of 
muscular flesh relishes its own supple qualities as it is traced and 
engulfed by caresses, as it is worshiped and ravaged at once.  
Clutching, pulling the other's body into their own; this bonding of 
creatures holy above all things within the chaos of life.
They ravished each other.  Through movements sacred in their 
natural and necessary vulgarity they knew a singular and profound 
ecstasy.  Their first true escape into passion became the whole of the 
world, and though it was too great for either to realize, this was a 
glimpse of a great gift: to bathe simultaneously in the glory of 
submission and domination.   
	She bore down, whishing to pull every part of him into her 
pounding sex as she dug her fingers into his chest.  Sharp nails and 
the rough forest floor pressing into his shoulders made him arch his 
back in feral ecstasy.  He starred longingly up at the voluptuous form 
of his mate and rose to swallow her swaying breasts beneath his 
powerful mouth and hands, her hot breath nearly stung his face as she 
moaned encouragement and ground her hips more roughly into his.  Their 
singular growl snapped like rich tree bark as Tenchi eased her sweaty 
backside into the moist grass.  His voice became amorphous within his 
own heavy grunts, yet she vocalized every manner of coo and scream to 
command more of the near torturous pleasure.  His thrusts were like 
waves of glorious molten metal as she relished the body engulfing her.  
Every ounce of strength radiated from him yet he moved to hold her 
closer still.  All limbs tightened, their mouths spread wide to call 
out the might of their climax as their senses closed tight upon 
everything else in existence.
	
And thus connected.  And thus at peace.  Tenchi and Ryoko held 
each other.  Their sleeping breaths came as softly as the sun's kiss 
had come to awaken the world to spring.


	From a nearby stone stairway a little girl's mask looked up at an 
old man's shroud with a satisfied grin.  He merely glanced down and 
replied in a dignified chuckle:
	"Hm...Twiterpated."