Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. I am -very- poor. I have absolutely no money... if I did I could find other things to do with my time other than write Tenchi Muyo fanfictions, but as it is... well... I hope you enjoy it, so far I've enjoyed writing it. If, by the off chance you don't (do) enjoy it, don't hesitate to write me and tell me about it. Messes and Mayhem It was a nice cool night. Summer was coming and it could be felt in the warm breezes that could be felt caressing the mountaintops. Tenchi Masaki was standing outside, mustering the courage to climb the steps of the shrine and make sure the girls were okay. It wasn't that he feared for their safety, he knew that they were perfectly capable of fending for themselves, at least here on the lonely mountain that contained the Misaki Shrine. No, he was worried for the public. It was nearly summer, and Tenchi's grandfather, the Shinto -rest of the Misaki Shrine, had decided that perhaps they should hold a carnival and celebration to welcome the new season with the proper flair. There had been carnivals at the Shrine before, but not since Aeka, Ryoko, Sasami, Washu, and Mihoshi had graced the Misaki household with their presence. Tenchi was a little afraid of how the girls would manage in public, especially Ryoko and Aeka. He hoped to alleviate the problem by having them work different booths far away from each other. Tenchi could hear the people at the festival from his house, he knew he should be getting up there and see how well things were going. He didn't really want to he was quit enjoying the feeling of being all by himself. < Oh well, > he sighed to himself, < guess I better not procrastinate any longer, who knows what might be going on up there. > He sighed again and began to slowly ascend the giant staircase that led from his house to the shrine. ****************************************************************************** Tenchi really needn't have worried, everything at the carnival was going smoothly, or as smoothly as anything can possibly go at the Misaki household. Washu and Aeka were teamed up at a goldfish booth, well the creatures in the tank weren't exactly goldfish, but they were pretty and, according to Washu harmless and easy to care for. In the next stall over Mihoshi and Sasami were cooking at a food stand, Sasami cooking away with a skill and flair that would make Emeril look like a common hamburger flipper as Mihoshi handed her ingredients and tried desperately to keep everyone's orders straight. Ryoko was all by herself, at the other end of the carnival near the few small rides and was saddled (as she thought) with manning a game booth. It was one of the kinds where you try to toss the hoop over one of many pegs. She had gotten a few customers. A group of young men had come to the game attracted by the woman who was in charge. They had said a few things that definitely made Ryoko feel -very- uncomfortable, she had gotten angry, yelled at them, the argument led to blows, and her booth had been empty for the rest of the evening. Of course it wasn't completely deserted. A ring of the more brave and daring souls had formed at a distance of about ten yards, spectators who had heard the story that was quickly finding its way around the small carnival, and who desired to get a look at the "oni" woman. It wasn't long before Aeka and Washu heard the news. "Oh, dear", sighed Aeka. "Someone really should go look after her. I really don't know what Lord Tenchi was thinking when he decided to put her by herself, in public, so far away from anyone to keep an eye on her." Washu just chuckled. " I suppose ya think he should have trusted -you- to look after her then?" "Well, it didn't necessarily have to be -me-, it just has to be -someone-. I still don't think she's entirely trustworthy Ms. ...er... I mean little Washu." This comment was received by a slightly angry look from Washu. Part of it was from the Princess's slip with the title but some of it was rooted in the Jurian Princess's total lack of confidence in her 'daughter'. "I suppose we -could- kinda keep an eye on her." Washu, though hurt that Ryoko wouldn't be trusted at all, knew that perhaps it would be a good idea to look in on her finest creation and make sure she wasn't doing anything that would be damaging to the general public. Washu was still contemplating Ryoko's character when Aeka tapped her on the shoulder. "Let's go Washu, there isn't a moment to spare, we must ensure that that awful woman isn't doing something that could damage the reputation of Lord Tenchi and his family. We must stop her and save Tenchi from disgrace, come Washu hurry!" Aeka pronounced with the air of a knight going off to do battle with a dragon to save a damsel in distress. Little Washu's eyebrows lowered. She couldn't let Aeka and Ryoko be physically near each other. There would be no hope for the safety of the carnival goers if -that- happened. Washu frowned and looked hard at Aeka, she wasn't too happy about the way she had referred to her daughter as well. Despite the fact that Ryoko's 'father' was a clutch of brown potato look-alikes and that the womb she developed in had been a giant test tube, Washu felt like a mother to her. No mother could possibly be happy hearing someone refer to their child as an 'awful woman'. Aeka started to walk off in the direction of Ryoko's booth, but Washu grabbed her arm. "Hold on just a second there, Aeka. There's no -way- I'm gonna let you go over there. I know exactly what would happen if you did! You don't even have to be the greatest scientific genius in the -city- to know that one, and, in case you forgot, I'm the greatest scientific genius in the -universe-. You will stay right here." "But M...ms. Washu! That demon is out there causing the poor people, who are guests at Lord Tenchi's, grief and I will NOT ALLOW IT!" Aeka stated, getting quite upset. "Now calm down Princess, I didn't say we were just gonna leave her alone, but we can't just walk over there. Now I'm -sure- she'd love to fight with you right now but I think it would be wiser if we were to check on her using, perhaps a different method, so we can see what she's up to but she won't know we're watching. Besides," added Washu, as her transparent laptop came into being under her expectant fingers, "who would tend our booth while we were gone?" Aeka had to see the reason in that. As much as she wanted to go over to the other side of the carnival and teach Ryoko a lesson in manners it would have to wait till they got back home. She would have to be content to just watch what the oni girl was doing and be sure to tell Tenchi -everything- Ryoko did wrong. , she thought to herself, That was as far as she got in her musings though. Washu was calling her back to reality, her plan for watching Ryoko was simple, just open up a screen using her holo-computer and project what she could see using her Ryo-ohki's mind link. All Washu had to do was ask, well bribe, Ryo-ohki to watch what Ryoko was doing. A simple, yet brilliant plan, , Washu couldn't help thinking to herself. The plan -was- perfect. Now Aeka could 'keep an eye on' Ryoko and keep the destruction of the fair to a bare minimum. Over all Washu was pleased with herself. At the moment, the number of visitors to the goldfish booth was next to nothing so the princess and the scientist decided to take a look at how Ryoko was faring. Washu notified Ryo-ohki of what she wanted, namely, for her to keep her eyes locked on Ryoko, and grabbed a bag of popcorn from the pocket dimension that had just opened in front of her. She pulled two sodas from another hole that appeared to her right and offered on to Aeka. She accepted the drink and shared the popcorn as the prepared to see what trouble Ryoko had managed to get into. The image appeared. Washu was not in the least surprised by what was on the screen. Despite some reasonable misgivings about taking Ryoko out in public, specifically if she were to be by herself, she was overall confident that her daughter wouldn't do anything too stupid. Washu knew that she loved Tenchi too much to compromise his happiness by messing up something so important to him. Her Zero side had won a few battles with the 'real' Ryoko, so she tended to actually -think- before she did things sometimes. Aeka was in shock. She had expected to see Ryoko flying in a rage at anyone who dared look at her wrong. She half expected to see her seducing someone. She totally wasn't prepared for what she saw. There sat the devil-princess, holding her head in her hands, sadly watching the people go by and casting weary glances at the crowd that had formed ten meters away from her booth. She was seen to sigh through the 'Ryo-ohki cam' and glance at the prizes hanging from the roof of the stall. Then came the real kicker. A young boy made his way to the stall. The crowed looked on in awe. Some of them had been there to see the mistress of that particular stall take out a man about twice her size in a single blow. Most of the spectators had come later and had herd stories so blown out of proportion that in one version she had broken the mans arm off for saying hello to her. The young boy, however, had not apparently been at the Carnival long enough to have heard the stories of the 'woman who could rip off limbs' and had a strong desire to win a little stuffed cabbit that was hanging temptingly from the support beam. The boy startled Ryoko out of her reverie. She was a little surprised to have a customer. No one had come to her booth since the 'incident', and she had somehow managed to drive the customers away from the surrounding booths as well. She dragged herself to her feet and made herself cheerful. The boy bought three tries and failed miserably each time. Finally he had used all his tries. His face told of his sorrow at not being able to win the cabbit he so desired. Ryoko, who thanks to Zero was not completely unobservant, felt some compassion for the boy and called after him telling him that he had one more turn left. The boy was about to protest but Ryoko's persuasions were -very- convincing and he came back to give the ring-toss another chance. This time he made it. The boy had managed to throw the ring over the poll, with a little help from the secret stash of Ryoko's powers, and he was to choose his prize from among the many tempting treasures that hung from the booth's ceiling. His eyes immediately feel on the stuffed cabbit and he pointed excitedly to the object of his desire. A soft, tender smile formed on Ryoko's face as she handed the cabbit to the boy. It was none of her usual smiles. This was a smile Aeka had never seen before. Ryoko had many smiles, there was the feline one she used when she tried to seduce Tenchi, there was the mischievous one she used when she was up to no good, and of course there was the one that Aeka was most familiar with, the cocky one that developed on the right side of her face whenever she was sure she could best the Princess at something. The smile that she wore now was none of these things though. It was, what? Sad, maybe? Thoughtful? The First Crown Princess of Juri really couldn't tell. It was out of the range of her experience. The boy left and Ryoko went back to her stool. Put her head back in her hands and resumed pondering whatever great mystery she had been contemplating before she had been interrupted by her unexpected customer. Washu sort of smiled. She wondered what her Little Ryoko could be thinking about so hard. She wanted desperately to find out. Washu wanted to open up her mind link and rummage through her daughter's thoughts and feelings as if they were data on her holo-computer, but she resisted the urge. Ryoko was beginning to get the knack of using the link, and though it would be impossible for her to ever go through Washu's thoughts without an invitation Ryoko would eventually be able to actively shield her mother from reading her mind. the evil scientist thought to herself. . She allowed herself a quiet cackle. It was about this time that Tenchi reached the top of the stairs and arrived at the carnival site. He took a moment to allow himself to look around at the hustle and bustle that engulfed the usually quiet shrine. It was great. His Grandfather hadn't had one of these carnivals for years and Tenchi missed them. Of course, then he had been little, and hadn't had to do any work. Now, however, he was to oversee the all the booths, with the help of his father, and make sure everything went all right. He had been truly excited about managing the affair. Well, excited till the Ryoko had volunteered to help. Well, maybe that hadn't been too bad. It was when Aeka, who hadn't wanted to let the devil-woman be in any way shape or form alone with 'persons of royal decent' that things had gotten ugly. Fortunately Sasami had come to the rescue, suggesting that they should all work at the carnival. Mihoshi had quickly added her approval and Washu, who learned about it later also agreed. Aeka hadn't been thrilled though. She hadn't really wanted to do any physical labor; she had just wanted to keep the demon away from her warrior. Well, things seemed to be going well here. It certainly sounded as if the carnival goers were having fun. It was a good thing he had decided to split the girls up. He remembered that Sasami and Mihoshi's booth was nearby, and next to that was Washu and Aeka's booth. Perhaps he should pay them a visit, make sure all was well... "See," said Washu "I didn't think she would be doing anything ...'demonic'" "Well," retorted Aeka "there -is- a first time for everything, now isn't there!" "Heh, I'm not so sure about that. Well let's put this screen up for a while, we need to take care of our customers." Washu reminded as her screen flickered out and she put on a sly smile. Her creation...eh, 'daughter' had behaved brilliantly! The little redheaded scientist couldn't help but gloat a little; the princess had been proven wrong! Ha! Ryoko had showed her now hadn't she? They turned their attention to the fish tank just as Tenchi arrived. "Oh, Lord Tenchi!" Aeka exclaimed happily. "Hiya, Tenchi." Added Washu. Tenchi smiled in greeting. He had been a little worried about this booth. He had been extremely worried that Washu would put something more 'fun' in the tank than fish. When Tenchi looked in the tank he saw what looked like dozens of tiny lights winking in and out of existence. They certainly were pretty; he just hoped that they were really as harmless as Washu said they were. "Heh heh," Tenchi laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head, "How's business been going?" Aeka, stars in her eyes answered "Just wonderful Lord Tenchi. Our 'goldfish' stand has gotten many customers, we were just experiencing a lull at the moment" "Oh," Replied Tenchi. He was glad that Washu's 'fish' hadn't frightened away too many customers. "I guess people have enjoyed your fish replacements, Washu?" The question had a pleading tone to it "Of course, Tenchi. A genius of -my- caliber finds it no challenge at all to entertain these -simple- backwater planet carnival goers." Washu replied puffing out her chest just a little. She had a look on her face that reminded him of a look Ryoko sometimes got when Aeka had managed to wound her pride but she didn't want anyone to know. "Sorry little Washu, I didn't mean for it to sound like I doubted you. This carnival is just really important to me and I really just want everything to be perfect so that we can have more of them In the future." Washu nodded in understanding. Aeka realized that this would be the perfect time to tell Tenchi about Ryoko's behavior toward her customers. She needed to make it sound truly horrible, but not too bad. She knew that Tenchi trusted everything she said, but if it made Ryoko seem too awful, Tenchi wouldn't believe it at all. She needed an idea... there it was, that was it! "Lord Tenchi..." Aeka began with a tone of hopefulness and neediness. Tenchi knew the tone. It frightened him. He just knew this was going to be some sort of question, which would require him to give himself entirely to Aeka, and though it wouldn't be a bad thing for him to fall in love with her, he just didn't want it. "Yes, Miss Aeka?" "Well... you see...Tenchi..." She never got to finish her sentence. Someone had come and stolen Tenchi away. Well, they hadn't physically stolen him but his attention was no longer on Aeka, it was on the newcomer. Aeka was livid. "There you are Tenchi, it's nice ta see ya!" It was Asamasagi, one of Tenchi's friends from school. Asamasagi was a fat boy with very big, thick features. He had short hair in a cut similar to Tenchi's and wore a large pair of glasses. "Asamasagi!" exclaimed Tenchi. "I'm so glad to see that you could make it! I was just going around to see if everything's okay in with the booths." "Yeah, Tenchi? How are things going so far?" He asked the question, but didn't wait to hear the answer; he had noticed Aeka and Washu. "Hello there." He said directly to Aeka, using his most suave and debonair voice. "H...Hello." Aeka answered, with a slightly, well, extremely horrified look on her face. "And just what might you be doing here?" Asamasagi asked. "Working the goldfish tank." squeaked Aeka. She wanted to run away, far away but she couldn't, Tenchi was right there and it appeared as if this vile specimen of a human being standing before her was someone who he went to school with, one of his friends. Washu chuckled to herself. This was really too amusing. She hoped her hidden cameras were getting all of this. Maybe if her Little Ryoko behaved herself she would invite her down later to watch the video of Aeka and her new suitor. She made a mental note to get some more popcorn and soda. It would be a terrific Mother-Daughter bonding experience. Meanwhile Tenchi was noticing Aeka's obvious distress. Tenchi chuckled to himself; it was sort of funny to watch his unsightly friend try to pick up the proud future empress of Juri. He decided that now would probably be a good time for him to sneak away for a couple of minutes to check on Sasami and Mihoshi. Tenchi was greeted with the familiar sight of Mihoshi jumping up and down in an excited state wailing about how she had ruined the soup. Sasami shook her head sadly at her and assured Tenchi that despite Mihoshi's outburst everything really was going all right and business was good, whatever Mihoshi did. She asked Tenchi how the others were doing. Tenchi told her that Aeka and Washu seemed to be doing all right, but he hadn't had a chance to go see about Ryoko yet. Sasami nodded her head and went back to her cooking. Mihoshi continued to wail in the background as sweat drops formed on the back of everybody's heads that were in hearing range. Tenchi shook his head again, trying to dispel all thoughts about the crying bubble-headed Galaxy Police Detective. Suddenly he remembered the position he had left Aeka in. He decided that he needed to make sure nothing happened to his friend. Aeka was nice enough, but if Asamasagi decided to get too familiar with her she would definitely get angry. Tenchi didn't want one of his friends blasted by a Jurian Guardian. Tenchi shook his head free of those awful thoughts. He tried to convince himself that Aeka would never do something like that to someone who couldn't defend themselves. He knew that she and Ryoko fought all the time, but that was different, they were both very powerful, perhaps too powerful for the good of Tenchi's house. He got back to the booth just in time it seemed. Asamasagi was just leaning over to try and kiss a powering up Aeka. Tenchi could see the little logs forming a force field around the princess. He had to do something quick before his friend was turned into a piece of charcoal. "Asamasagi!" Tenchi called out. "Uh, what is it Tenchi?" Asamasagi replied, a little frustrated at not being able to follow through with the kiss he was planning on giving the princess. Tenchi allowed a little sigh to escape him, as soon as Asamasagi had looked up the logs had disappeared. Now he just had to get Asamasagi away from Aeka so that the scene wouldn't be repeated. "Well, I still need to go check on the rides and a few more game booths, why don't you come with me?" Asamasagi glanced at Aeka. He really didn't want to leave, here he had just found a very beautiful girl and he felt he was making some real progress with her. Tenchi, however was his friend, but... "Come on Asamasagi, I'm going to need your help." Tenchi tried again. He knew his friend was a sucker for that kind of thing. He was a true friend and would do just about anything to help out a pal in need. "Okay," he answered, hanging his head "I'll come help you." Aeka felt a little bad about his feelings being hurt. She had no intention of kissing him but that didn't mean she didn't realize that he had feelings too. A wicked idea popped into her head. She would tell Tenchi about Ryoko's earlier actions later, but maybe she wouldn't have to, perhaps she could get her to repeat them, and in front of Tenchi. This little pervert, Tenchi's friend would be accompanying Tenchi while he checked on the rest of the booths... Heh heh, she would send them directly to Ryoko's booth! Then she could watch what was happening using Washu's mind link! It was a brilliant plan, Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho, she laughed silently to herself. This would work beautifully! "Tenchi?" "Yes, Aeka?" "I was wondering if you had checked on that dem... I mean, Ryoko, yet?" Tenchi frowned; he thought he knew where this was headed. "I was just going to see about her, Aeka. There's no need for you to trouble yourself about her, I'll take care of it." Tenchi answered. It seemed to Aeka that his tone sounded a bit chilly. She was about to say something but Asamasagi interrupted. "Who's Ryoko?" Aeka smiled, yes, this was going to work perfectly. She would have gotten rid of an unwanted worshiper and scrape him of onto that horrible monster. Ryoko certainly wouldn't care who he was; if he put the move on -her- she would kill him. That would certainly knock her down a few notches in Tenchi's eyes, maybe he would even send her away, and then Tenchi would be all Aeka's... "Um... well...she's... well... I suppose your going to meet her now. She's working a game booth on the other side." Tenchi was feeling truly bad now. He hoped that Ryoko was in a good mood, he prayed to any higher being that cared to lend an ear that Asamasagi wouldn't try with her what he did with Aeka. If he did, the disaster would be terrible. He doubted that he would ever be able to show his face again. Washu was a little upset at all this. She could tell through her mental link that Ryoko really didn't want to be bothered. She was extremely worried what her daughter might do to this hentai that Tenchi seemed to choose to bring to her. Washu though, was a scientist and the opportunity to study what the new Ryoko-Zero hybrid would do in this situation was too strong a temptation. She would let Tenchi subject Ryoko to the terror of the flirting Asamasagi. She made a quick mental link with Ryo-ohki, telling her to be ready to relay the information to the screen. This was gonna be good! ***************************************************************************** Ryoko wasn't in a good mood. She was in a thoughtful mood. She hadn't been in this kind of mood since Tenchi had released her from the cave. She figured that up until lately she had just been enjoying her freedom too much to be bothered with thinking. She also suspected that damned Zero to have something to do with it. When was she ever going to get back to normal? Right now though there was only one thing in her mind. Tenchi. Truthfully he was all she ever thought of. This though, was serious. She had hit one of the visitors to the Shrine Carnival. She hadn't hit him hard (by her standards), but she had still sent him into next week. Tenchi was going to be pissed, that was all she could think. The crowed at the stand had diminished. The scowl on her face had seen to that and then the curious came to see her. She frowned as she realized that the story was making its way around the fair. She nervously scratched at the back of her neck as she wondered how long it would take Tenchi to find out. In all honesty the guy had deserved it. What he had done to her had sexual harassment written all over it. It hadn't been the innocent little pick-up lines, it had been all out groping. Ryoko realized though, that Tenchi wouldn't see it that way. He would say that she was a dangerous monster. He would question his decision to have ever let her help, to allow her to even emerge from the house during such an important event. She rested her head in her hands. She felt a huge lump in her throat; a tightness was forming in her chest. She wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. She glanced up every once in a while to see if the people were still there. They always were. She wished that she hadn't been put at a booth by herself. Ryo-ohki had been there for awhile but had deserted her to go find carrots. She wished that Tenchi was there with her, but at the same time she wished he would never come. She desperately hoped that he wouldn't find out. Aeka! Ryoko had forgotten about her. She would probably find out too. That would be disastrous. She hoped that Aeka wouldn't find out before Tenchi. She didn't want for Aeka to be the one to tell him. < Oh, please, please, please;> she begged, < please don't let -Aeka- be the one to tell him, -please-. > The little boy had been a pleasant surprise. Perhaps not everyone knew about what she had done. Maybe Tenchi wouldn't find out. No, he would, and then all the pleasant times she had been having would be over. She had helped the boy win the game. She had used her powers to guide the hoop over the ring. The look he had on his face had been too pathetic. She was miserable, but she didn't want others to be miserable as well. If winning a stuffed cabbit would make that little boy feel better, then Ryoko would help him do it. When he left though her thoughts continued along their melancholy course. What would Tenchi do when he found out? He would certainly never want to see her again. Would he put her back in the cave? It was cold in there, and dark. She didn't like it; she didn't like it at all. She would be trapped and forced to see Tenchi and his descendants live happily in the warm sunlight. She had no doubt in her mind where those decedents would come from. They would be Aeka's. She realized she had lost, despair was upon her. If Tenchi allowed her to leave she would kill herself. She wasn't sure how. Her healing abilities and powers would probably kick in before she died and fix her up, heal her wounds. She was too perfect. She silently cursed Washu for putting her together so well. Tenchi would be there any minute. Why didn't she just leave? She couldn't. She needed to see him one more time. She wanted to look into his eyes again. She really did love him, more, she realized than he would ever know. Every fiber in her being loved him. He was the only thing she had ever loved. She had always wished that one day he would love her back. She wanted so much to be loved, to feel love. No one had ever loved her, no one had ever cared. She sighed. "Tenchi..." she half whispered half sobbed into her hands. "Did you hear something?" Tenchi asked Asamasagi. "No, Tenchi I didn't. Maybe that cute girl back there is calling you. I can't believe that you've known her for more than ten minuets and you're not dating her!" Tenchi decided it would probably be best if he didn't explain that part of the reason was the fact that she was his Great Aunt and they were about to go visit the other reason, a certain demon-princess who was commonly known as Ryoko. Which brought him to his next problem, the voice that he had just heard calling him, the chill that had run through his body. It seemed as if he had felt it before. A connection was made. He had felt that chill just before Kagato had taken Ryoko, he had heard the voice and felt the same chill while he was hooked up to Washu's machines when Dr. Clay came and took Ryoko. His brow furrowed. He had been getting this feeling a lot lately, especially at night when everyone had gone to bed. < Ryoko, > he thought, Asamasagi managed to bring him back to the here and now. "Hey, Tenchi, can you tell me more about that girl who knocked some guy silly here earlier?" He asked as they made their way through the rides to the section of the midway where the games were. "Huh?" asked Tenchi, "I didn't hear about anything like that." "Well," replied Asamasagi, "this is how I understand it." Tenchi became -very- interested; he had a bad feeling about whom the story was about. His suspicions were confirmed as Asamasagi described the girl. "There was a girl who was working one of the booths here, a ring toss game, I think." Asamasagi paused and Tenchi groaned. "She has, so I've heard, spiky light blue hair and a red earring in her left ear. The guy I talked to said she had -cat- eyes, slits and everything. He also said she had a -great- figure. Small waist, big..." Here Tenchi interrupted him. He was well aware of Ryoko's proportions. He had seen them enough times to know them very well, even though he really hadn't -wanted- to see them. "Get to the -point-, Asamasagi! What did she -do-?" "Geez, Tenchi, I thought you might be more sympathetic if you knew what -perfection- looked like. Well, anyway, some guy, big, strong, muscular type comes to her booth and starts hittin' on her. You know, trying to get her to go with him back to his place. Apparently she wasn't too thrilled with his advances, when he reached over the counter to grab her... well, she punched him a good one. The guy I was talking to said she must have knocked him back at least twenty yards. Can you believe that, isn't it horrible." Tenchi enthusiastically nodded in agreement. "How can they even let guys like that into public?" "Huh, Tenchi?" Asamasagi looked confused. "Yeah, that guy was a -jerk-!!" " I meant wasn't it horrible that that poor guy was knocked into next week! It's just not right! We guys need to take back our manhood!" Tenchi gave Asamasagi a look, what was his friend saying? He suddenly felt very unsure about his decision to bring Asamasagi along with him to check on Ryoko. He shook it off though, he was committed now. He hoped that his friend wouldn't say anything wrong around her; he knew that her reaction wouldn't be that much different from what had happened to the last guy. They were almost there. Maybe he could distract Asamasagi for a few minuets and have a chance to warn her about the boy who was accompanying him. "Hey Asamasagi," Tenchi began. "Yeah?" "I haven't had anything to eat since this morning. Are you hungry?" Asamasagi nodded and smiled, one does not achieve his bulk without being hungry the majority of the day. "Great," Tenchi replied with a smile. "Would you go over to that food stand over there and get three orders of whatever looks good. I'll give you some money." "Three, Tenchi? You sure must be hungry!" "Well we do have to go check on Ryoko, remember. She hasn't had a break all day; she's probably pretty hungry by now it can't hurt to take her some, right? I'd go with you but I need to check on a few things over there." he said, pointing in the general direction of the infamous ring toss game. "We can meet up right here then we'll take Ryoko her food." "Ryoko's a woman?" Asamasagi asked excitedly. "Another lady friend, Tenchi? I never knew you were so popular with the girls. Maybe, if she's pretty you get me a date with her? Huh, Tenchi, do you think you could?!" Tenchi tried to think of something to say. He was a bit bewildered by his friend's excitement. "Well, sure, I guess..." he answered nervously. He really needed to warn her now. He recovered from his surprise soon though. "Go get the food, Asamasagi! We can talk about this later! Geez!" Asamasagi let his imagination run away with him a bit. The prospect of him having the opportunity to meet a pretty girl was making him giddy. What should he get her to eat? What did most girls eat? The answer came to him. Salad. Didn't most girls only eat salad? He began to search for a place where he could get a good salad. ***************************************************************************** Tenchi had got away from Asamasagi. He practically ran to Ryoko's booth, he was worried about her. He knew that the encounter with the muscle bound idiot wouldn't be good for her. As much as she had tried to hide behind her tough-girl facade Tenchi could see right through it, or had been able to recently. When he first met her he had thought her incredibly callous and uncaring. He had really thought that she was like that. Lately though he had begun, slowly, it was true, to realize just how fragile a person Ryoko really was. She was possibly the most insecure person he had ever known, not that she didn't have a good reason, her life had been a disaster. Tenchi didn't think he could have coped half as well as Ryoko did if he were in her position. He had seen her troubled before and it was always such a discomforting thing. She usually hid all her moments of weakness from everyone, so to see one was quite a shocker. He would do anything, well, just about anything, in his power to make her feel better. He rounded a bend and saw Ryoko's booth. He saw the crowed of people. He saw the gawkers. He saw the group of young men the Jerk had been a part of. He didn't see Ryoko. Where could she have gone? Tenchi slowed his pace looking cautiously over the counter. He felt nervous, he really didn't know why. He was getting closer to the booth. He took a deep breath, he was almost there.... There she was. Tenchi exhaled, he had been worried about where she might have been, worried that she might have left him... wait, that wasn't right. He shook it off and looked at her, she hadn't noticed him yet. He couldn't bring himself to move; he decided to just watch her. There she sat, face in hands, under the counter. She seemed to be thinking very hard about something, probably the encounter she had had earlier. Tenchi hoped she wasn't beating herself up about it. As long as she hadn't used her powers, and Tenchi was sure she hadn't, the bastard had got what he deserved. Tenchi was starting to feel anger overcome him, he pushed it down, he needed to go and be sure the Ryoko was okay. He tried to force himself to walk over to her, to tap her on her shoulder, look into her certainly tear filled eyes, tell her everything was going to be alright, and take her in his arms and just hold her till... TAKE HER IN HIS -ARMS-!! JUST -HOLD- HER!!! What was he -thinking-! He couldn't do -that-! Where exactly had his mind gone! He waited a few more seconds as the ideas that had just been passing through his head were dispelled. He remembered that Asamasagi would soon be there with the food. Asamasagi would probably not take his time, especially now that he knew another of Tenchi's friends was female. He took in another deep breath and built up hi resolve. He took another step closer to her. The crowed noticed that another person was approaching the infamous booth, and that it was a young man and full attention was given to him. A few of the more 'concerned' tried to call out warnings to him. Tenchi, however, paid them no heed. He continued on his path toward Ryoko focusing all his attention on one thing. He got closer to her. He began to feel a bit of panic, he couldn't understand why though. Finally after what seemed an eternity to him, he reached her. "Ryoko?" he asked softly. No answer. She looked up at him with the anticipated tear filled eyes. She was sure this was it. Her life with Tenchi flashed before her. Well, it was all over now. He had to know, why else would he be here. He couldn't have come because he was worried about how she was doing. In the last half hour she had managed to almost completely convince herself that he didn't care enough about her for that. How could he possibly care about the well being of anyone as troublesome as she was? So if he wasn't here to see about her well being, then he must be there to see about the well being of someone else- the guy she had hit. Tenchi was worried that she would hurt someone else and had come to tell her to back to the house, back to the cave, back to her enslavement under Kagato; anywhere, as long as she wasn't here near him, hurting the ones that had come to celebrate at the shrine, damaging his family's honor and reputation. She was scared. Ryoko loved Tenchi more than her very existence; she would do anything to make him happy. In her mind he was most important. The thought that she was making him unhappy was simply unbearable. Ryoko was sure that now was the last time she would ever see Tenchi, so when he had called her she looked up. Her vision was slightly blurry because of the tears, but she didn't need to be able to -see- to know the look on Tenchi's face, but she was sure it was a mask of rage unlike any she had ever seen before. She couldn't hold the gaze long though; she quickly looked back down as fresh tears streamed down her face. "Ryoko? Come on, it'll be okay" he tried again. He put his hand on her shoulder and she jumped in surprise. Tenchi managed to smile. What could this mean? He hadn't started yelling yet; maybe he just didn't want to make a scene in front of the spectators. "Everything will be fine." He said kneeling down in front of her. "I know what happened, it's okay." He looked down at the ground and then glanced back up at her. He asked in a slightly pleading voice, "You didn't use any of your powers did you?" She shook her head He nodded and smiled again. She couldn't see him. She was looking at a spot on the ground in-between their feet. The urge to hug her washed over Tenchi again, but he fought it back. The idea reminded him that Asamasagi would be finished getting the food at any minute and he needed to hurry this along. He looked back at her face, or rather, he tried to. She was still looking at that same spot on the ground. Suddenly it hit him! She was really upset because she thought -he- was -mad- at her! "Oh, Ryoko! Don't worry, I'm not mad at you at all." Life seemed to enter her body again. "Really, Tenchi? You -really- mean that? Oh, Tenchi I'm so happy! I was so -worried- that you would be mad at me and never want to even -see- me again!" With that she glomped onto him, and hung around his neck like it would take a nuclear blast to get her off, and even then it would just barley be effective. The Ryoko he knew so well was back. Tenchi was glad, he hadn't liked the Ryoko he had just seen a few seconds ago. She had been so sad, so hopeless, he didn't ever want to see her like that again. Tenchi, though, didn't have time to enjoy the transformation of Ryoko from sad to glad because of Asamasagi, and the knowledge that the boy had to be waiting for him with the food by now at their rendezvous point. "Umm, Ryoko..." "Yes, Tenchi?" she answered enthusiastically, snuggling into his shoulder a little. "Well...I have to go meet one of my friends now. Are you hungry?" Ryoko didn't answer. She didn't need to eat, she couldn't even taste anything. She only ate so that she could sit at the table with Tenchi and be near him. It occurred to her that perhaps Tenchi had forgotten this. She was about to remind him but he interrupted her. "Well, anyway, I had him get you something to eat too. Let me go get him and I'll be right back." With that Tenchi gently pulled himself out of her embrace and disappeared leaving a confused Ryoko and a flabbergasted crowed. The source of the crowd's shock: the young man who had so boldly approached the feisty woman and left unhurt. The source of Ryoko's shock: Tenchi's concern and sudden disappearance. When Tenchi reached Asamasagi he had already been waiting for several minuets. As he approached his friend a thought occurred to him. He had forgotten to warn Ryoko! When he had got there she had been looking so desolate that he had just wanted to make sure she was okay and the warning that he had gone to give was forgotten. Tenchi thought, < she's in a good mood now and I'll be there with her. It'll be okay, you gotta trust her a little more Tenchi! > "Asamasagi!" "Hey ya, Tenchi! I thought that you had blown me off for one of your lay friends!" Asamasagi lumbered up to Tenchi, some boxes of food in his arms. "Well, I had to go check on Ryoko. I think she's hungry so let go alright." "Sooo, you -did- toss me aside for one of your lady friends! Tenchi I thought we were pals!" Tenchi threw him a look that promised violence if another word was spoken. Asamasagi took the hint. "I got us some fried noodles Tenchi, that okay?" Tenchi nodded, an idea came to his mind. It was too late to warn Ryoko, but maybe he could impress upon Asamasagi the consequences of flirting with an unwilling Ryoko. Tenchi turned to him and was about to speak, but it was too late, Asamasagi had spotted her. She was still sitting at the counter of her booth with her head in her hands but she didn't look half as sad and upset as she had when Tenchi had left her. His feelings of joy at her not being depressed anymore quickly turned to worry as he saw Asamasagi. "Tenchi!" he managed to get out. "It's the -girl-! -Perfection-!" he sighed. Tenchi sighed too. "That's Ryoko." He said flatly. He was a little irritated by Asamasagi's hormone overdrive. "-That's- * Ryoko*!!" Asamasagi gasped. "No wonder you were late to meet me Tenchi! We're going to go eat with her!" There was an uncomfortable pause. Tenchi's eyebrows furrowed, his hair started to frizz. Asamasagi though, thought he had died and gone to heaven. Never had he seen such a beautiful girl. That girl at the fish game, Aeka, had certainly been very pretty, but Asamasagi felt that she wasn't even in the same -league- as this girl. A perverse grin appeared on his face. Tenchi was not oblivious to this. He could feel himself getting a little angry as he saw the grin on Asamasagi's face. He hadn't minded it when he had seen it on his face at various times at school, but now the look was starting to make his blood boil. Tenchi gave him a hard smack on the back of the head. "Owww!" Asamasagi wined. "What was that for!?" "Like you don't know. We are going over there to eat with her." Tenchi had lost Asamasagi again. He waved his hand in front of his face and called him back to reality. "I want you to be sure and show her the utmost respect." Tenchi began to become very stern. "She's had a rough night and I don't want you to get and ideas and try to put a move on her. It upsets her very much when... Asamasagi" "Yeah, Yeah, Tenchi. I hear ya." Asamasagi said, but something about the look on his face told Tenchi that Asamasagi hadn't paid attention to a word he had said. Asamasagi looked square at Tenchi. "Is she yours?" He asked seriously. A look of shock and embarrassment spread over Tenchi's face. "Of, of c...course... no...not!" Tenchi shouted. "Then what's the big deal? She's just your friend right?" Asamasagi asked. Tenchi nodded. Asamasagi grinned. "Good. That means she's free, right? And that means that you will perform your duties as a true friend and use your influence to have her go on a date with me!" Tenchi face faulted. "I can't do that!" Tenchi half yelled. He was beginning to turn a most becoming shade of olive green. Asamasagi smiled. "Why not Tenchi? You said you don't have a thing for her, and she's unattached. You -don't- want her -do- you Tenchi?" Tenchi changed to purple. "Of course -not-!" Tenchi reaffirmed. "Then you wouldn't mind helping a friend out, now would you?" Asamasagi continued, putting an arm around Tenchi's shoulder. Tenchi resigned himself to his fate. If he didn't at least try his friend would spread around horrible rumors about himself and Ryoko, and while the substance of the rumors didn't really bother him -that- much, the thought of Aeka hearing them did. "I'll try my best." Tenchi said, hanging his head in defeat. "I can't promise anything though." That was all Asamasagi needed. When Tenchi raised his head his friend was doing a victory dance. ******************************************************************************** Washu and Aeka couldn't stop laughing. They had seen the whole Asamasagi episode. It was too funny. Washu knew that Ryoko would agree to go. She was very worried about upsetting Tenchi or one of his guests again. If Tenchi asked her to go on a date with Asamasagi she would. She would hate it and loath every minute of the experience, but she would go, because Tenchi had asked her. The irony of the situation was also funny. Ryoko had wanted -Tenchi- to take her out. Now Tenchi would ask her to go out, but not with him. With that disgusting excuse for a humanoid, Asamasagi! Washu let out a cackle. She was definitely going to get all that on tape. She would put it in her secret collection, along with that tape she had made of Ryoko when she had left her hanging in the Lab overnight. She was so happy her 'family' videos were all going to be so -good-! She was bound and determined to make sure she captured every moment of her daughter she could. It was her duty as a mother. As Washu had her private cackle at Ryoko's fate, Aeka enjoyed her own. Tenchi had denied that he was attracted to Ryoko. Aeka interpreted that into 'Tenchi doesn't like Ryoko'. Further broken down that -must- mean 'Tenchi -does- like Aeka', or, better yet, 'Tenchi loves Aeka, and wants to spend the rest of his life with her while pawning off the cheap tramp on his friend'. Yes, of course, what else could that scene have meant? Aeka let out another loud burst of laughter, this time with a hint of animosity in it. Washu and Aeka regained their composure, looked at each other slyly. In the background Mihoshi could be heard wailing and apologizing for another mistake she had made. The two grinned evilly at each other and Washu pulled out more popcorn from her pocket dimension. Tenchi now decided he needed a few more things before going to see Ryoko. He took a short detour past the liquor both and got a few bottles of sake. Tenchi had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was going to join Ryoko in downing the rice wine if the evening continued along its present course. Asamasagi was excited when he saw the sake. He figured that it was to get the girl drunk, who was true, but for entirely different reasons than those Tenchi had, in mind. Eventually they had gathered the necessary sake and had made their way to the ring-toss booth. Most of the crowd had cleared out by now. The earlier scene between Tenchi and Ryoko had dispelled most of the ideas of the woman tending it as a monster. Asamasagi and Tenchi were coming up from behind the booth. Ryoko sensed them, but decided to not let them know she was aware. "Ryoko?" Tenchi asked, pulling open the booth door. Ryoko turned and smiled broadly in surprise and delight when she saw Tenchi. She thought he looked a little down though. She wondered briefly what was wrong. < Oh well, > she thought to herself < whatever it is I'm sure I can fix it! > A sly smile came over her face, the one she usually used when she was about to try to seduce Tenchi. She got up out of her chair and started over toward Tenchi, but she stopped mid-glomp. She had noticed Asamasagi. Immediately she lost focus on what she was about to do. She didn't quite like the way he was looking at her. His mouth was open, his eyes were wide and he was drooling. A tiny stream of blood was starting out of one nostril. Ryoko's eyes narrowed. Tenchi sensed trouble. "Ryoko, this is Asamasagi, he's one of my friends from school." Ryoko looked a little surprised. Tenchi was so kind and gentlemanly she was taken aback that he could have a friend that was such a well, pervert. Tenchi gave Asamasagi a little nudge in the ribs, recalling him back to reality. "Asamasagi, this is Ryoko." "H..he..hello, there." Asamasagi managed to get out. Ryoko's frown deepened. Tenchi decided it would be a good time for him to change the subject. "We brought you some food Ryoko and..." with this he held out a bottle of sake. Immediately her expression changed. Her frown disappeared and a smile took its place. "Oooh!" she practically squealed in delight. "I haven't had any all day!" Ryoko quickly opened the bottle and produced a sake cup from inside her sleeve. She inhaled the first few cups and her nose took on a faint red blush. She was quickly becoming quite content and happy. Tenchi laughed a little as she offered him some. He refused politely. "Ryoko," he said half seriously, "don't drink that so fast." She cocked her head slightly; Tenchi sure had been acting strange since he got back with his friend. Ah yes, his friend. She turned to see what Asamasagi was up to. He was still looking at her, but at least now he was at least -trying- to be subtle. He blushed madly when her eyes fell on him again. He held out the box of food he had brought her. She blinked in confusion, till she realized what it was. She took it and thanked him. Tenchi smiled at her politeness. He reached over and grabbed one of the other boxes. "Why don't we take this somewhere else," Tenchi suggested. "Away from the crowd, huh." Ryoko nodded, she really didn't care where they went, as long as it was -them-. Unfortunately Asamasagi was also coming along. The sake, though had taken effect so she really didn't mind his being there, besides, her Tenchi was right there. He wouldn't let this other young man do or say anything to her. They soon found an out of the way spot. The three of them sat down. Asamasagi had followed Ryoko the whole way, his eyes never leaving her. The blood that had been coming out of his nose in a steady stream had finally stopped. Ryoko was glad. She had always thought that it had been cute when it happened to Tenchi, but she knew what it meant, and didn't like the idea of Asamasagi having those types of thoughts about her. She turned to the box in front of her. She liked to eat. She liked the different textures of the food. She opened the box...and was confronted by a mass of green leaves. She looked at Tenchi. He had a box full of fried noodles and some sort of meat, chicken she guessed. She looked over to what the other boy had. His box was fried rice and beef. She looked back at her leaves; she had no idea what it was that she had been given. She began to inspect the vegetation in front of her. She usually liked to eat steak, the rarer the better, she picked at the green leaves and noticed that there were some round red balls nestled in the leaves. She looked back toward Tenchi, who had been watching her discover her salad. She gave him a questioning look. He grinned at her confusion. "It's a salad, Ryoko." Tenchi said, answering her implied question. He handed her a fork. "You have to eat that with this, I think. Put some salad dressing on it." He handed her the packet of fat-free Italian dressing Asamasagi had brought for her. She applied the dressing and took hold of her fork. She carefully tested one of the leaves of lettuce. It crunched. Soon she was wolfing it down in the same manner she ate everything else. She liked the cool feeling the cold salad left on her mouth. Had Asamasagi noticed the salad incident he would have thought it odd, he was, however deeply engrossed in looking at Ryoko's chest and wondering when Tenchi was going to ask her to go out with him. He decided he would remind him right after they finished eating. A rather uncomfortable silence ensued. Finally everyone had finished. Asamasagi broke the silence. "So, uh, Tenchi, when ya gonna do me that favor?" Ryoko looked at Tenchi questioningly. Tenchi paled a little, he had really hoped Asamasagi had forgotten about that. "Right now is as good a time as any I suppose." Tenchi answered, hanging his head a little. He really felt bad about doing what he was about to do. He was going to use his influence on a girl that would do anything for him to get his friend entertainment for a Saturday evening. He knew nothing at -all- would happen. He knew that Ryoko was totally faithful to him. Not that he thought -anybody- would do -anything- with Asamasagi. "Ryoko, can I talk to you alone for just a minuet?" No need to ask a second time or to try to persuade her. She nodded enthusiastically; Asamasagi got a rather perverse look on hi face. "What's up, Tenchi?" she asked, eyes glittering in anticipation. Tenchi had known that this wasn't going to be easy, but now as he looked at her, it seemed to be becoming more and more difficult. His mouth went dry. "Um, Ryoko, I was wondering if you would like to go out this weekend." "Like on a -Date-, Tenchi?" "Yeah." Tenchi looked at the ground again. He couldn't look at her, he was about to do it, push the final stab. Ryoko, however, was in heaven. Tenchi, her Tenchi had finally worked up the nerve to ask her to go on a date with him! She wasted no time in telling hum that she would love to out that weekend. Tenchi hung his head even lower, if that was possible. "Good, then Asamasagi will come pick you up at seven thirty." Ryoko suddenly stopped her celebration. -Who- would be picking her up? "Tenchi?" she asked with a bit, well, a lot of confusion in her voice. "Asamasagi, my friend, who's eating with us. He asked me to set the two of you up..." here there was a long, uncomfortable pause. "And I told him I would try my best. Come in Ryoko, do it for me. I want you to go out with him. I'm sure that you'll have a good time." Tenchi nearly chocked on the last sentence. He was most definitely certain she would not have a good time; he knew that she would be absolutely miserable. Ryoko balked. If it had been anyone else asking her to do this then she would have blown their head off in a matter of nanoseconds, but this was Tenchi, her love, her life, her reason for existence! She couldn't believe that it was indeed -Tenchi- who was asking her to do something like this. She wasn't really sure if Tenchi really liked her at all, but this seemed to be pointing in the *no* direction. She hung her head. Of course she would do it. -Tenchi- had asked her to. She would have killed herself if she thought it would bring Tenchi a few seconds of pleasure, but apparently that wasn't enough. Every day, almost every hour, she offered Tenchi her body and promised him pleasures that any man would have taken before she could have said them, but Tenchi constantly fought her away. She had thought that was what he wanted; it had been what all the other men she had met wanted. She realized that now he had tired of her and was now pushing her onto someone else. A few tears started in her eyes. Tenchi couldn't see them. He was still intent on looking at his shoes. "If you want me to, Tenchi. Only of you... -want- me to." She answered very softly. Tenchi felt very bad. He had known that she wouldn't be thrilled at the idea, but this reaction puzzled him. He hadn't expected to see her this upset just because he had asked her to go out and have dinner, and maybe go to the movies with one of his friends. He looked up and smiled. "Good, thanks, Ryoko. You have no idea how much this will mean to him. He was starting to get a bit pushy and..." Tenchi had noticed that Ryoko had drawn in completely and hadn't heard a thin he had said. "Ryoko..." No answer. "Ryoko..." he tried again. This time she snapped back into reality with a start. "I know how much you must hate this idea." He handed her a new sake bottle. "Why don't you take this, go back to the house and try to sleep on the idea. I promise I'll make it up to you." Tenchi smiled as she took the sake bottle. She looked at Tenchi blankly. He gave her a reassuring wink. "I have to go check on the rest of the carnival. You go ahead, I'll talk to you in the morning." Ryoko watched as he disappeared into the Carnival with Asamasagi. So, now, she was going to have a date with Asamasagi. She would definitely need the sake. She started to walk down to the house; she really didn't feel like flying. ******************************************************************************** Washu and Aeka cackled. Oh boy, was that Date going to be fun to watch! They decided that popcorn -and- candy would be most appropriate for that viewing experience. "Oh, my!" Princess Aeka managed to get out between fits of laughter. "Mis...Little Washu, you simply must allow me to join you on Saturday evening for this show. It will be sooo entertaining!" Washu stopped her laughter long enough to answer. "Don't worry Aeka, I wouldn't miss it for a moon! I'm so proud, this will be my Little Ryoko's first date!" With that both started their laughter afresh, not noticing that they were scaring off quite a few customers.