Ryoko isn't happy anymore: #1: DATE
By The Unknown DJ

	It was the saddest experience that she would ever 
witness, though it started all perfect and everything 
finally seemed to be coming together. It had been so 
perfectly put in place like a puzzle, but almost 
immediately, it became disconnected. Now, it seemed like she 
would never understand it, despite how many times he tried 
to explain it to her. 
	For years, she had gone through torture, pain, and 
grief. She been subjected to so much and it was suppose to 
end now. It was suppose to subside out of existence, so that 
she could at last have that storybook relationship that had 
been out of reach for so damn long. 
	But she wasn't the one. No matter how she had seen it, 
he had told her that it was impossible to work out and 
explain. He tried to give her the best answer, but it 
remained the same. All that could be said was that, she was 
not the one for him, and nothing more. 

	The afternoon sun began to sag in the sky as dusk began 
to fade in. She sat in her little room spot on the roof, 
still waiting for someone to come up and summon her for 
dinner. Strangely enough, it should have happened about half 
an hour ago. Oh well, she thought, no doubt Sasami has made 
something good enough for me to spend some extra time 
waiting. She never fails at amazing my stomach anyway.
	Besides, I could use a nice meal, Ryoko thought to 
herself. I need a little cheering up. Lately, nothing had 
gone on around the household and this had left Ryoko a lot 
of time to think. She tried not to dwell on her past, due to 
the horrible experiences she had faced, but her next steps 
were very unknown. She had spent hours pondering her 
existence and what the future held for her. Would she live 
the rest of her excruciatingly long life on the roof of the 
Masaki Household? Besides, what really kept her bound to 
this place anyway? Him. Then, images of Tenchi peered in her 
head and almost every experience she had with him replayed 
through her mind, perfect to every miniscule detail.
	Lately, Tenchi had been so busy with school exams and 
homework, that he had spent a very small amount of his time 
around Ryoko and the other girls. Even Nobuyuki didn't see 
Tenchi that much, because he was always studying, or doing 
work for his grandfather. With this lack of Tenchi period, 
Ryoko began to wonder if she even belonged. If he was going 
to be busy for the rest of his life, what business was it of 
Ryoko's to stay and be a bother? But, it was a little 
different: Ryoko had been isolated from almost everyone, 
lately. 
	Nobuyuki worked everyday until dinner. Washu spent all 
her time experimenting and tended to even miss dinner on 
many occasions. Then there was Kiyone and Mihoshi, who had 
been getting a lot of duties and missions to carry out from 
the Galaxy Police. That left the sisters of Jurai, or rather 
the sister, since Sasami spent all her time trying to 
perfect her meals. Basically, no one was around for Ryoko, 
except Ayeka, the woman who balanced against.
	How could Ryoko talk with Ayeka? Sure they had kind of 
buried ever since they began to notice that Tenchi truly 
didn't value one of them over the other. Still, they were 
two very distant people. Ayeka was a high society political 
figure who always seemed to need some sort of direction in 
her life. Also, Ayeka was shy and when not battling over 
Tenchi, she seemed frightened of Ryoko's demeanor. It was 
just another factor that made Ryoko believe she did not 
belong here.
	
	"Hey, Ryoko! Surprise!" Ryoko turned around and there 
stood Tenchi, a platter of food bundled in his hands. The 
food smelled and looked great, but that was the least of it. 
Tenchi stood there smiling and looking more handsome then 
ever. Slowly, he set the food down in front of Ryoko and sat 
down next to her. "I decided to bring it up and eat with 
you alone, because I haven't seen you much, lately." 
Ryoko's heart raced and warm thoughts passed through her 
mind.
	Sure Tenchi had not spent time with her, but what about 
the other girls? Surely, he hadn't seen them a lot either. 
She knew that there had to be something behind this! 
Immediately her pulse raised and she was silent for a while. 
The extreme joy of fantasy and anxiety hit her. Could this 
be it? Was this the end of her troubles and the beginning of 
the thing she had waited for so long? "Ryoko? Ryoko? Are 
you okay?" asked Tenchi.
	"Um, yes. I'm fine."
	"Then how about you eat before your dinner gets 
cold?"
	"Yes." Quickly, Ryoko began to shovel the food down 
her throat; sometimes nearly choking due to the lack of 
chews she was taking. The food was tasteless, because 
nothing mattered now. Only her and Tenchi. It was like they 
lived in their own dimension. Nothing could destroy their 
harmony right now. The bond that they shared at the moment 
seemed grow stronger in Ryoko's heart, even though 
communication was the silent stares from one another.
She ate the food like it was air, watching Tenchi with 
every bite, waiting for him to say something. He only stared 
back, making the suspense bigger and longer. He smiled and 
seemed happy, but deep down it was like he was afraid to 
confront her. Or could this all be a mistake? Ryoko thought, 
and then found more possibilities. Maybe he was just doing 
the nice thing, since she was always up here by herself. 
Maybe it was just a nice thing he was doing for her, so she 
wouldn't be lonely.
Ryoko placed her chopsticks down on the plate slowly, 
suddenly feeling insignificant. Old thoughts of rejection 
brewed in her head, and soon, she knew the truth. She was an 
evil demon, who had killed thousands of innocent people and 
drank like a savage beast. He didn't love her. He was just 
trying to be her friend. Who could love a monster like her? 
"Is something wrong?" asked Tenchi.
"No," replied Ryoko, in a stern voice. She felt her 
stomach hurt and her eyes began to bulge. She was going to 
cry soon. She had gotten so use to it, because it was so 
easy to find her flaws. Everytime she thought of how low she 
was and how wretched or useless, she flooded face with 
tears. This also appeared to happen a lot when she began to 
overreact.
"Ryoko, I came here tonight, because I have something 
to tell you." That sentence shattered her pattern of 
depression. The words were so sudden and out of nowhere. She 
felt her stomach fill with butterflies and her eyes dry 
instantaneously. She turned to look at him and he beamed 
with his happiness. 
"Ryoko."
"Yes, Tenchi?"
"I think I have fallen in love with you." She peered 
into his eyes, searching for sarcasm, but nothing turned up. 
He had to be joking! They had been so distant lately! How 
could he have grown closer to her through all of this 
isolation? Then, he spoke again, "I know I've been gone a 
lot, but when ever I am solitary and can think clearly, my 
mind reaches you. I have grown these feelings and 
attractions to you."
"But, Tenchi! We've been apart and away from each 
other." Tenchi suddenly grabbed Ryoko's hands in mid-air 
and looked her straight in her eyes. That was the exact 
moment that Ryoko knew that Tenchi was serious. "Ryoko," 
began Tenchi, "Forget the minor details, because they are 
not important any more. I am in love with you, despite the 
flaws you may see in it. I do love you."
"I know."

Ayeka stood outside of the house, watching from the 
ground and totally aware of the destiny being unrolled on 
the roof. She wasn't upset though. Infact, she felt a 
strange sense of relief to see this happen. After all, it 
was meant to happen this time.
It was meant to happen, because Tenchi had chosen a 
long time ago and Ayeka had known it. She had spent the last 
two or three months like Ryoko, depressed and alone. 
However, she had not had simple anxiety thoughts of the 
future that no longer existed. Instead, she had spent a lot 
of the time coping with the facts that Tenchi wasn't go to 
be her's.
Ever since he had begun his intense studying of his 
schoolwork and training, Ayeka had spent every possible 
attempt to get closer to Tenchi. Showing up during his 
training with Yosho.. Checking on him while he worked on his 
schoolwork. All had failed, for Tenchi had seemed to get 
more eager to see Ryoko, and he had even been haste to rush 
off to see Ryoko, while Ayeka stood there, trying to enter a 
conversation with him. He never seemed to reach Ryoko 
however, and that's how Ayeka knew for sure that it was more 
then friendship.
	It was simple enough to find her, but to talk to her 
was hard for Tenchi. Whenever he came to the end of the 
hall, Ryoko's spot only feet away, Tenchi would stop and 
just stand there. His face would go blank and he would just 
stare out the window, where Ryoko's luminous shadow 
reflected in front of him. Then he would sigh, and wonder if 
it would be so hard to just go out and talk to her alone. 
Thus, he never reached her.
Yes, Ayeka had seen this scene so many times now, that 
it seemed to become an everyday task. When she saw him 
standing there, he seemed to be drifting away, away to 
Ryoko. Then, tonight he had finally made it, leaving Ayeka 
with no signs of bitterness or hate towards what would be 
considered a travesty only a little while ago.
Ayeka knew something was wrong with he, because she 
felt no pain. The loss of Tenchi was turning out to be 
nothing to her. She also seemed to be growing more and more 
neutral toward Ryoko, as she stood there in the hall, 
waiting for one to appear. 
Inside, she was nonexistent. All happiness began to 
flutter away with the anger, leaving Ayeka to feel like a 
monotonous click in grandfather clock. Like she was small 
and no longer important. "Ayeka?" came a whisper from 
behind, from a specific sister.
"Yes, Sasami?" She turned and there stood Sasami, 
smiling with a child's glee. She had changed into her 
nightdress and looked a little tired, even though her 
radiance still shone. Sasami's hair was still perfectly tied 
at the sides and no blemish bore on her face. "Well, I'm 
going to bed now. So, g'night!" 
"Good night, Sasami," said Ayeka, in an almost cold, 
deadened voice. Sasami's smile disappeared and suddenly a 
worried look came upon her. She knew something was up, 
because Ayeka was usually pleased to see her little sister. 


DJ CHAN
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