No Need for Japan:Part 6, The Semester Begins

by Raven Makibi

(As you may know, I don't own any of the "Tenchi Muyo!" characters. As you
may also know, Pioneer doesn't own any of mine. But if you are wondering,
no,
I'm not on medication. Also, I'm still in high school, so I'm writing some
of
this from memories of the last year. Just so you know. And now.....ON WITH
THE STORY!)

[1 week after the events in part 5]

Kiyone slumped down in her seventh period class, it had been a long day.
First, her mass media teacher has them write an essay, on the first day in
class. Then her psycotic chemestry teacher almost blows up the lab on the
first day in class.

Third period was ok, she and Ayeka had Commercial Design 1. At the same
time
same room and all Raven was in the second level of the class. He sat with
them, and helped them get through the forms they had to fill out giving the
teacher information on them, since they didn't have any idea on what to put
for "parents names, and phone numbers" Raven told them to put down that
they
didn't live with thair parents. And that their parents didn't have a phone.
It worked pretty well, teacher bought it at least.

Fouth period was another story. Goverment, yech. This teacher was an uppity
New York raised jerk. He had a sense of humor, but he seemed to really have
a
problem with people not working. She could see why, but their was no need
to
make her do extra work just cause she finished her info sheets before the
rest of the group. She realy hated that class, she could tell already.

Fifth period was another good one. Composition, her only class with
bubble-head. The teacher was realy nice, let Kiyone and Mihoshi sit
together
since they were both new to the school. It was pretty cool getting to sit
with her best friend, and eventhough she knew she'd have to help her pass
the
class, she was more than glad that it had worked out this way.

Lunch had come next. Washu had tampered with the schedules so that the
whole
group could eat lunch together. They took up a whole table, but it seemed
like someone was missing. Then she remembered, Chunk, Brain, Kris, 8:08
,Patrik and Wolf had graduated last year. Too bad, she had wanted to have
8:08 in a few classes. But this was pushed aside when she heard the
laughter
6 Gauge and Drew were getting launching fries into eachothers mouths from
across the table. So lunch was good.

Sixth period. Films. Now this was a class kiyone could sink her teeth into.
There were a few friends in this class. Not only was Washu in there, but so
were Drew and Goat. It was an odd mix, but the class was going to be a real
blast. Mostly they just watched movies, but they also edited and wrote
their
own films. Her jaw dropped when the teacher showed her brothers creation
from
last year. It was flawless, perfectly syncronised with the music that he
had
chosen. She just HAD to have Raven's input on this stuff, he was a real
genius when it came to editing.

Seventh period was study hall. She had Tenchi, Ryoko, and Cass in here with
here. Other than that, it was just a study hall. Sure she had friends in
here, but its not like they could talk durring class. But it was still good
to have friends around.

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Washu yawned from boredom. Seventh period was so dull. Chemestry, too easy.
And the teacher, what a moron. She couldn't wait till things realy got
going
so she could upstage the teacher and show just what she knew. She laughed
as
she thought of this.

The rest of the day had been pretty much as she expected.

She'd started her day in PE, a class she dreaded. It was bad enough she had
to undergo physical torment once a day, but at 7:30am????

Second period was just as boring. US History. Why bother to learn the
history
of the country, if you just live there a year or so ago? But it was pretty
cool since Ayeka was in the class too. They both thought the teacher was a
bit of a joke, he looked like a lawn gnome Washu said. That remark caused
the
girls to laugh so hard they had to go in the hall till they calmed down.

Third period was alright too. She had Tenchi, Goat, Gravey, Ryoko, and Kim
in
class with her for Study Hall. The teacher was an idiot. The group sat and
talked all period, and the instructor never noticed.

Fourth period, another joke. Art 1. Too easy. Especialy when you can have
your work done in subspace....

Fifth period she liked. Mass Media, she could live with this. The teacher
was
nice. And the class focused on
all the ways the media manipulated modern socioty. Definitly worth
learning.

Lunch was a real blast. She'd "tweeked" the system so that they all had
lunch
together. She loved getting to sit around with her big group of friends and
just talk and snack. It was like at home, but you didn't have to do dishes.

Sixth period. Her favorite. Films, a class where she'd surely show her
potential in special effects creation. With Drew, Goat, and Kiyone's help
she'd surely create a film that would blow anything anyone, at that school
had done, away. But then she saw Raven's student film from last year, it
was
impressive, and would be tough to top. But she knew she'd be able to do it.
She could always come out the victor in a chalenge. And this, was a
chalenge.

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Ryoko layed her head down on the desk in her seventh period class.  She
knew
already that she wasn't going to enjoy this "earth + space science" one
bit.
It was day one, and she was already bored stupid. She could feel her IQ
drop
with each passing second, and just couldn't wait till she could go home and
relax.

Period one had been ok. Photography. Something she enjoyed anyway, but
especialy when Tenchi was the photo subject. No one else knew, but she'd
taken a whole scrapbook full of pictures of Tenchi with disposable cameras
she'd bought with the money she'd used to spend on Sake. Sure she still
drank
once in a while, but she enjoyed pictures of Tenchi more. It just stunk
that
he wasn't in this class.

Second period was a dull one. US Literature. Sure Ryoko liked reading, but
not this stuff. She liked comics and the occasional horror or romance
novel,
but not this old junk. She couldn't wait till this was over and she could
get
on with her life.

Third period. And There was Tenchi, she was glad to finaly see him. This
was
their study hall. And not only was Tenchi here, but so were Washu, Kim,
Goat
and Gravey. Gravey was one of those smoker kids. But for some reason she
didn't feel as close to Tenchi now as she did when she met him. She was
realy
starting to like Mike. But still.....

Fourth period was another snoozer. Algebra, and taught by a hyper-active,
noisy teacher who doulbeld as the boys b-ball coach. She could tell she was
going to bomb this class, but after this semester she'd be gone so it was
no
big deal right?

Fifth period, and with Cass. Not a bad combination. She was rather excited
by
this class, which was pottery. She could get into this, since it was all
hands on work. She just hoped she didn't screw it up too bad.

Lunch was next, and what a lunch it was. Between the fact that this was
with
all her friends, and she'd snuck some Sake in, it was great. She had
trouble
getting to sixth period, but foutnatly wasn't caught.

Sixth, in the homestretch and nothing could stop her. She had PE, well
actualy weight lifting, but it was just a cut class she took cuz it was
easy.
Mihoshi was in the same class, as was Drew. Drew was in the guys class, but
it took place in the same period and that was good enough for her. Just so
long as she had a couple friends she was fine with it.

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As the day wound to a close, Ayeka made her way to the parking lot. It was
a
warm summer like day, so she made plans to sit out on the back porch and
read
tonight while listening to her new "Rosetta Stone" CD. She'd realy gotten
into them since she'd taken a ride with Raven to the mall the other day.
She'd nothing else to do, and seeing that Raven and Mihoshi were going
anyway
she tagged along. They'd had the disc blaring in the car, and it hit a
chord
in Ayeka's mind that realy drew her tword them.

As she steped out, she noted how bright it was out and dug her sunglasses
out
of her purse. It took a while since it was a real mess in there. When she
got
outside she saw that most of the kids were sitting or standing around the
cars.

Raven, who'd just used the van his band used for transporting equipment to
pick them up on their first day, was leaning on his car. It was a real
beauty. Jet black with marron interior, the chrome wheels gleeming in the
sun. The tribal cross hanging from the rear-view mirror, and another as a
decal in the back window, gave it a gothic look. She liked that about it.
Now
that she thought about it, she had changed alot since she had got here. She
used to be closed minded and judgemental. But these kids had changed her.
She'd gone from being what they called preppie to semi-freak. And she was
happier this way.

Next to Raven's car, sat 6 Guages silver t-bird. The blue and white stripes
on the hood and sides gave it the look of a racer.

Third in the line was Drew's hearse. No one knew where he'd got it, but he
had it. And it was tripped out, it was more like a limo than a vehicle that
had once carried the dead to rest. It was impressive what cars these kids
drove, concidering the way they lived. You'd think that they all drove
junkers if you just saw the house.

There was also Cass's blood-red truck, Kitty's charcoal Taurus,
Gravey's(one
of the smokers) army-green Cutlass, and the newly aquired metalic-blue
Grand
Am belonging to Kiyone. She was the only one from their group who'd been
able
to get her liscense so far. But it was ok.

She thought for a second, and decided to ride with Kiyone for once. Her
little sister soon joined them and hopped into the back with Tenchi. She
looked over to see if the others were loaded up yet.

Apparently Raven was, she saw him drive off. Mihoshi sitting shotgun, and
Washu in the back. Drew, Ryoko and Royal were after them. Next left Gravey,
alone as usual. Following Gravey was Kitty and Melissa. The last vehicle
was
Cass, Kim and Goat in the truck bed. As the car sped home, Ayeka relaxed
and
looked out the window.

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Sasami  walked into the kitchen as soon as she got into the house. She
began
to root through the cupboards, seeking out what she would need to prepare
the
dinner that night. As she began the meal she thought back on that day.
She'd
realy enjoyed school. She'd made lots of friends her own age, not that
there
was anything wrong with hanging out with older kids, but a girl needs to be
with others her own age.

She giggled as she remembered the reaction she got when she told the other
kids who she lived with. Apparently "Manufactured Youth" was localy famous.
And from what she heard they weren't the only band in the house. There was
also a death metal band called "Dentalize", a punk band called
"Imperfection", and Raven's side "techno" project called "Trauma".

She'd heard most of them, but not Manufactured Youth. She decided to ask
Raven when the next show was gonna be, she wanted to see them. As she
chopped
up the vegetables for the stirfry, she couldn't help but get an odd feeling
that something big was going to happen.....Sooner, or later. She didn't
know
what but it was going to be BIG.

She stared into space blankly for nearly 5 minutes. That was until the
smoke
alarm started going off, and 6 Guage darted in with a fire extinguisher.
She
simply stood there and watched as he put out the fire. She knew that dinner
was ruined, and began to cry. She'd gotten lost in thought and the chicken
had gotten burnt to a crisp, and she hadn't even got a chance put the
vegetables in. But this was but a small probelm, compared to what she
sensed
approaching.......

(A little foreshadowing perhaps? Maybe, but I'll never tell.....But I'll
say
this much......keep watching for "No Need for Japan; Part 7:House of
Horrors)