Child's Play Chapter Four: Crime and Punishment Tenchi woke up that Monday with a start, looking about. He leaned over the bed and looked under it. No Ryoko? He tossed off the covers and sat up. A morning without waking up to an invisible pinch or a face floating inches above his body? Not even a voice under the covers saying, "Is this a cucumber or are you glad to see me?" Tenchi couldn't help but jump up and say, "All Right!" He swiftly had a bath and ran down the stairs, whistling. The sun was up, filling the house with bright light. "Hello Princess Sasami! Hello Miss Mihoshi! What's for breakfast?" Sasami looked up and giggled, "I'm making apple pancakes. Mihoshi is making the orange juice." "Hi!" chirped Mihoshi who was pouring her third attempt at orange juice down the drain. "For some reason it keeps coming out blue. Is Earth orange juice blue?" "Er, no, not normally." Tenchi glanced around. "Hey, where are Dad and Grandpa?" "Oh," said Mihoshi pulling another container of frozen concentrate out of the fridge, "your dad went to work early and your Grandpa had an early breakfast." "I see," said Tenchi as he walked over behind Sasami to sniff at the pancakes she was preparing. "Hummm, those smell-" The crash coming from upstairs interrupted the rest of his comment. Tenchi jerked his head up, "Hey! That came from MY room!" As Tenchi raced back up the stairs, Princess Sasami and Galaxy Police Detective (First Class) Mihoshi looked at each other and sighed. Ryoko smiled, holding the broken picture frame in her tiny little hands. The photo had been of Tenchi during a fishing trip. In his hands had been the first fish he had every caught. 'No doubt a proud moment in little Tenchi's life.' Ryoko grinned, waiting in Tenchi's bedroom, right in front of the door. 'Now I'll get the blame and Tenchi will have to SPANK me. Oh, Ten-chi, to feel your hands on my bare bottom.' Ryoko was drooling by the time Tenchi pounded into the room. "AAAAAAAHHH! My fishing picture! Ryoko, what the HELL are you doing with my fishing picture!?!" Ryoko wake up from her daydream and smiled up at Tenchi, holding up the broken frame, "I wanted to look at it and it fell. Sorry." "Sorry? Ryoko, why were you in my room anyway? And why were you going-HEY! Let go of my leg!" Ryoko leered up at him from where she had attached herself to his lower left leg, "Now you're going to have to punish me! Don't worry Tenchi, I won't hate you for spanking me. I promise." She laughed. "Spank you? Wait a second-HEY! Let go!" Tenchi started to hop about on his right leg, kicking out with the other. "Let go, let go, let go! HEY! Watch the hands! Don't do that! Stop tugging on my pants!" "Stop tugging on my pants!" Princess Ayeka came running out of the room she and her sister shared like a drunken bat out of hell, bouncing off one side of the door frame before skidding to a halt in the middle of the hallway. There before her very eyes was her poor Tenchi being attacked by that tiny demon girl. 'Why that hussy!' Purple hair streaming behind her like smoke, she ran towards Tenchi and Ryoko, hands reaching out like tiny claws. "RRRRRYYYOOOKKOOOOO!" Ryoko looked down, "What? NOOOO-" It was too late. Ayeka launched herself into the air and landed onto Ryoko's back. Ryoko let go of Tenchi, the weight of the Princess on her back forcing her to release her hold. Even as the two tiny girls landed on the floor, kicking and clawing, Tenchi started his fall down the stairs. *THUD* "OUCH!" *CRACK* "AHHH!" *BAM* "MY HEAD!" *SLAM* "OWW!" *BLAM* "mommy..." Sasami and Mihoshi knelt next to Tenchi and gently tried to keep him from moving. "When will Miss Washu get here with her first aide kit?" whimpered Mihoshi, tears flowing out of her eyes like water out of a garden hose. Sasami gently hugged Mihoshi, "She'll be here in a second. She had to get her medical systems warmed up." Ryoko and Ayeka peeked down from the second floor, their tiny faces red with mixed emotions "Oh no. Poor Lord Tenchi!" Princess Ayeka turned to glare at Ryoko, "It's all YOUR fault. If you were not continuously forcing yourself onto him, he would not be in such a position." Ryoko snared and rose her tiny fists, "WHAT? You're the one who pushed him down the stairs! I was just showing my affection!" Ayeka stood up and pointed at Ryoko, "Affection? You're a hussy!" Ayeka stepped back and tried to calm herself, placing her sleeves in front of her mouth, trying to hide her flushed skin. "You are always too forward and unladylike in public. If you just learned-" "Unladylike!" screamed Ryoko, "How dare you, you spoiled-OOOW!" Ryoko glared up to find an adult Washu holding her by her left ear. "Well, dear, it looks like it's time for me to give you a good spanking. Than you're going to say you're sorry to Lord Tenchi. That is, right after he gets out of the recuperative medical gel tank, of course." Ayeka couldn't help but snicker, as Ryoko was dragged away by her Mom. "Well, it looks like she got what she deserved." "Ahem." Princess Ayeka turned about to find Azaka and Kamidake hovering behind her. "Princess Ayeka," stated Azaka, its sensor light flickering with the voice, "We have been asked by Lady Washu to take you to your room. You will wait there till Mr. Katsuhito Masaki returns and decides your punishment." "Punishment?" shrilled Princess Ayeka, her eyes becoming huge as her hands lifted up in a defensive nature, "What do you mean PUNISHMENT?" "Lady Washu has pointed out that you are as much to blame for Lord Tenchi's accident as Miss Ryoko." "She believes," added Kamidake, as the guardians activated their force fields, "That he should be allowed to decide your punishment as he IS a member of the Royal Family and IS the highest ranking member within the system." "Wait!" Princess Ayeka started to beat at the invisible fields that lifted her off the floor and started to carry her towards her bedroom, "You are programmed to protect me!" "It has also been pointed out to us," commented Azaka, "that YOU are NOT the Princess. Therefore, our programming does not cover protecting YOU." Tenchi slowly opened his eyes. At first all he could see was green light. His body felt both light and numb. His skin was covered in something wet, yet somewhat firm, like Jell-O. As his eyes focused, he was able to see beyond the greenish liquid and saw Washu's lab. Trees seemed to lean towards him and his tank, as water flowed by in bubbling streams. Tenchi tried to move his head to examine his tank. Goggles protected his eyes and there was a smooth, background hum, as pumps kept a gel moving about his body. Straps held him, as tiny robots swam about him, like fish about a reef, carefully probing his body. Air was being forced into his lungs by a flexible tube and more of them were attached to his private parts. Tenchi almost started screaming by the time he was totally awake, but was shocked to notice he felt great. No pain, nothing, not even a sore spot. ' Little Washu put me in here.' Tenchi flexed his fingers and smiled. 'I must remember to thank her.' Beyond the greenish gel, beyond the glass, Washu looked up from the bio readouts at the base of the tank. Tenchi had fallen back into a deep sleep. Little Washu, back in her younger form, grinned and tapped a few more buttons, lowering the amount of pain killers being added to the poor boy's blood stream while speeding up the gel flow just a tad, to increase the healing process. 'Don't wish Tenchi to be hooked on drugs, now do I.' Washu pulled off her rubber gloves with a snap and turned to Ryo-Ohki, who was sitting on the floor, her big ears touching the tiles as she watched, eyes wet from crying. Washu smiled down at the poor thing and adjusted her tiny white nursing cap, "Oh dear, go tell Princess Sasami and Mihoshi that my guinea pig is going to be OK." "MEOW!" As the cabbit raced off, sometimes phasing through equipment she did not bother to dodge around, Washu pulled out a tiny camera and smirked. 'I doubt Tenchi would mind me taking a few photos of him in his birthday suit.' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------- Tenchi Muyo! and related characters were created and are owned by AIC and Pioneer. AIC and Pioneer have nothing to do with the Third Reich. I have nothing to do with either. Don't sue me. I am so poor, I have to recycle my own air! This is the Fourth Chapter of my First Fan-Fic, so don't hurt me and remember to see Nurse Washu after repeated use. Just make sure to ask her to warm her hands first.