Disclaimer: The characters of the Tenchi series are owned by Pioneer and
AIC. The character, Kento Samas, is
mine!************************************************************************

Fanfic Story Info: Just for giving the story-posting person info on my
story.(Readers just ignore)

Author: C.A.P. (cap@cfl.rr.com)

Story Title: Tenchi n' Kento (Multi-part fanfic series)

Episode 2: "No Need for Secrets"

Division: Regular

Synopsis: Tenchi and the girls try to keep Kento from learning the household
secret.

************************************************************************

The light of morning began to lift itself into the air, tearing away the
darkness of the previous night. And what a night! Yesterday marked the end
to the mystery of the extra bed added to Tenchi's room. An American named
Kento Samas would be staying at their home, which didn't settle in well with
Ayeka, Ryoko, Sasami, and Washu. This meant a few "changes" in the way the
household acted, especially for Ayeka and Ryoko. But it wasn't the fact of
having a new guest in the house that kept them up that night, nor was it his
constant snoring all through the night; but instead it was that they didn't
know what he looked like. When he arrived at their home, he was wearing a
large, thick, brown winter coat complete with gloves and hood that concealed
his identity. All they had to go on was a photograph that had three young
men, the likes of which they thought Tenchi would never in a million years
become associated with. The first looked like a veritable "Eating Machine":
Large, bulky, and ALWAYS hungry. The second looked like a street-hood:
Mean-looking, clothes three sizes too big, and a smile that shone with many
metals. And the third looked like your western cowboy: Hat, leather boots,
even spurs! Their imaginations ran away with them as over exaggerated images
filled their heads. And only one thing would settle their spirits. And it
was about to come into view over the mountain.

************************************************************************

                           Tenchi N' Kento

                              Episode 2

                         No Need for Secrets

        *YYYYYYOOOOOHHHHHHHHH-EEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOO* *Tong-Tong*

************************************************************************

The birds sang their beautiful song, greeting the new morning. Outside at
the front gates, Azaka and Kamadake breathed a refreshed sigh after seeing
such a lovely sunrise.

"It looks like it's going to be a wonderful Saturday, today." stated
Kamadake.

"Yes." Azaka agreed. "It's going to be a wonderful Saturday, indeed."

Inside, the household was anything but beautiful. Everyone except Washu and
Sasami had gathered at the table. Katsuhito, with his small cup of tea by
him on the table took a short sip before speaking to the others.

"So, did everyone sleep well?"

His question was met with a round of moaning from the half-asleep group.

"Man, my head is killing me..." grunted Nobuyuki.

"You're not the only one..." then moaned Tenchi. "I didn't think he would
snore so loud..."

"That 'bear' kept us up all night...!" then said Ryoko.

"...Oh... So it wasn't you, after all..." Ayeka commented. Ryoko's eyes
flared at Ayeka's accusation and was about to unleash her full fury upon the
princess.

"...Oh, forget it..." she then said, reverting to original state. "I'm too
tired..."

Just then, the door to Washu's lab opened up and out stepped a surprisingly
refreshed Washu. The others looked at her and wondered at how she could look
so well-rested as she stretched out and yawned.

"Good morning, everyone!" she said to them with a great big smile. "Boy, I
never had a more wonderful night! How about you guys?"

Their response was the same for her as it was for Katsuhito.

"How could you sleep with all that snoring, last night?" Ayeka asked her
with anger.

"Snoring? I didn't hear any snoring."

"How could you NOT!? Not one of us has gotten a wink of sleep!"

A slight surprise for Washu. If there was that much loud snoring last night,
she definitely would have heard it. Even in her pseudo-space laboratory.

"Hmmmmm... That IS strange... How is it th-"

Then she snapped her fingers, realizing the reason.

"Now I remember! I installed a sound-proof energy barrier last week so I
wouldn't be bothered with Ryoko's or Mihoshi's snoring at night!"

The worn-out group face-faults. Just then, the small double-doors that block
the view into the kitchen slid open and out popped the head of Sasami.

"Breakfast will be ready soon!" She smiled. Surprisingly energetic as
always.

"My, you're quite lively today." Katsuhito mentioned to Sasami.

"Lemmie guess..." said Ryoko. "You spent the night in Washu's lab..."

"Of course." she replied. "I do have to make breakfast. By the way, Tenchi,
when is Kento coming down?"

"Last I checked, he was still sleeping." he replied. "He wasn't snoring as
loudly, either."

Meantime upstairs, a body stirs...

"Well I hope he gets up soon..." Ayeka grunts, her voice becoming more
vicious. "Because I'm going to STRANGLE HIM!!!"

"Ayeka, calm down!" Tenchi tells her.

"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! FOR A ROYAL JURIAN PRINCESS TO LOOK AND ACT THEIR
BEST, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT SHE HAVE AT LEAST EIGHT HOURS OF BEAUTY REST AND
LAST NIGHT I WAS UTTERLY DENIED MY BEAUTY REST BY THAT... THAT...
STREET-HOOD!!"

"Ayeka! Kento's not a street-hood!"

"That's right, Tenchi!" Ryoko spoke up. "He not a street-hood. Cause
everyone here knows he a big, lumbering, eating-machine!"

"What? Eating machine!?"

"Preposterous! He had no regard for any of our rest! He's definitely the
street-hood!"

"You saw how big that coat was! It's obvious he's the eating machine!"

Upstairs... a large, upright figure began to stretch out.

"He's the street-hood!"

"He's the eating machine!"

"STREET-HOOD!!"

"EATING MACHINE!!"

"STOP IT, YOU TWO!! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?"

"...I'm sorry, Tenchi." Sasami sighed, standing by the kitchen door after
hearing the argument. "It's all my fault."

"Your fault?"

"I showed them the photo you gave me... And they started getting these
strange ideas... and I was no better. Tenchi, I know we're acting weird, but
I guess we're just scared because we don't know who he looks like."

Now Tenchi was getting it. Kento's "secret identity" was putting everyone on
edge. He put his hand on Sasami's shoulder to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Sasami." he tells her. "I've been writing to Kento for about
six months, now. And I can tell you he's not a guy who likes to cause
trouble. So just relax, O.K.?"

The sweet smile returned to Sasami.

"O.K., Tenchi."

"That goes for the rest of you." turning his attention to the other girls.

"Of course, Lord Tenchi." Ayeka consented.

"We'll relax." then said Ryoko.

"Just as long as it's not the cowboy..." concluded Washu, which caught
Tenchi totally off-guard.

Upstairs... the figure began to shed his brown coat and gloves.

"By the way, where's Ryo-Ohki?" Sasami asked.

"Upstairs, sleeping." her elder sister replied. "I swear, she can sleep
through a train wreck."

At that moment upstairs, the afore-mentioned cabbit had awaken in Sasami's
and Ayeka's room. She looked around to find that she was all alone.
Elsewhere, the figure walked over to his large stereo and began setting up
it up to play: Plugging it in, setting up the levels, choosing a CD, and
cranking up the volume.

************************************************************************

"Well, now that everything is settled, we can get to more important
matters." Katsuhito said to them. "If you have forgotten: Our new guest,
Kento, is unaware of our "unique" ways. I doubt he would grasp the concepts
of vicious space pirates, or princesses from another planet, or strange,
highly-advanced devices made by a child-like mad scientist... This is going
to be a difficult task to undertake. More so, being that our residential
Galaxy Police officers are not yet aware of our new guest and must be told
immediately. Ayeka and Ryoko... I know as well as everyone that telling you
to cease your heated "arguments" is like telling the earth itself to stop
moving. So I'd like you do your best to handle your disputes more
conventionally... and, if possible, keep it away from innocent eyes. If luck
is with us, there won't be any incident..."

"And if there is," then said Washu, standing up, "which I believe there
WILL, I'll have it under control... With this baby!"

She then pulls out from her pocket what appears to be a small,
strange-looking handgun.

"No, Washu!" Sasami cried. "You can't kill him!"

"Sasami, have you ever known me to use such violent methods?"

"Well..."

"Behold, one and all, my newest creation! The Nurilization Ray Gun!"

"Nurilization Ray Gun?" questioned Ayeka.

"The Nurilization Ray Gun, or the Nur-Ray for short, shoots a specialized
beam straight to the brain, erasing one's current memory from as far back as
one whole week. So, if he sees anything he shouldn't see...ZAP! He won't
remember seeing it!" She then begins to giggle maniacally before shouting
aloud. "I'M SUCH A GENIUS!!!"

Then, as if on queue, the Chibi-Washus popped-up on her shoulders to give
their preprogrammed praise.

"He won't know what hit him, Washu!" praised Chibi-Washu A.

"He won't REMEMBER what hit him, Washu!" then praised Chibi-Washu B.

"Three cheers for the greatest genius in the universe, Washu!!" the
Chibi-Washus shouted together as fanfare played for their creator, who
cackled evilly as took it all in. All the others could really do in this
situation was sigh and wait for it to end, which usually took about an hour
or so. But then, the genius' celebration was suddenly cut short when the
household heard a slight thumping noise coming from upstairs. It sounded
like the thumping came from a bass drum. Katsuhito could see the ripples of
the vibration in his cup. Then, almost out of nowhere, a loud guitar cord
streaked across household followed by an equally, if not louder, distorted
mechanical voice.

*IIIIIIII AAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM IIIIIIRRRROOOOOOONNNNNNN MMMMMMMAAAAAAANNNN!!!*

"It seems your friend is finally awake, Tenchi!" said Katsuhito. Upstairs,
Ryo-Ohki followed the strange music toward Tenchi's room. Noticing the door
was slightly cracked open, the curious cabbit peeked inside see the back of
lone figure, looking out toward wondrous view of the mountains and lake. He
raised his arms and shouted a fearful cry, welcoming the day.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! YYYEEESSS!" he shouted.
"Recharged, revamped, re-energized! I AM REBORN!!! HA-HA-HA-HA!"

"Miya?"

"Huh?"

The lone figure turned to Ryo-Ohki, exposing his true identity to her.
Ryo-Ohki was in complete shock as to the face of the young man. She couldn't
believe it! It was inconceivable! The young man then started to walk toward
her which frightened her even more, making her run away. He was about go
after her when suddenly he was overcome with a terrible hunger.

"Hmmmm... I hope breakfast's ready. But first..."

He then went to his stereo and lowered the volume, now having been fully
awakened, and began shuffling through his luggage for a change of clothes.

************************************************************************

Meantime downstairs, Ryo-Ohki dashed toward the stairs in a careless rush
which ended up having her tumble down the steps. Sasami was the first to
notice the slightly dazed cabbit at the bottom of the stairs and rushed over
to her.

"Oh, Ryo-Ohki! Are you alright?" she said as she knelt down and took her in
her arms. "Why were you in such a rush?"

"Probably was shook up by that eating machine's wake-up song." Ryoko
surmised.

"He's NOT the eating machine, he's the STREET-HOOD!" Ayeka rebutted.

"Don't start THAT again!" Tenchi quickly retorted. Ryo-Ohki then shook the
dizziness from her head.

"Miya! Miya miya miya miya!!" Ryo-Ohki shouted frantically.

"Ryo-Ohki, what's wrong?" asked Sasami with great concern. Ryoko then went
over to Sasami to translate for Ryo-Ohki, followed by Ayeka and Washu.

"She said she was following the noise to Tenchi's room and saw a man in
there..."

"It must be Kento." said Ayeka. "So he IS up..."

Ryoko quickly grabbed Ryo-Ohki and held her close. Ryo-Ohki looked straight
into the fearsome yellow eyes of the space pirate.

"Now look here, Ryo-Ohki..." she spoke to her in a low, deep, menacing tone.
"Tell me the truth... The man you saw in the room... Was it Kento?"

The frightened cabbit responded with a shaky nod.

"It's Kento, alright..." Ryoko told the others before returning to her
interrogation. "Did he have his coat on?"

Ryo-Ohki shook her head.

"No, huh...? So tell me, is it the eating machine? IS IT?!"

The cabbit answered... with positive head shake.

"WHAT?! HE ISN'T?!"

Immediately, Ayeka bumped Ryoko away, replacing her in the interrogation.

"Listen to me, Ryo-Ohki." Ayeka began with a more gentler voice. "If it's
obviously NOT that hulking trash-compactor, than it is quite apparent that
Kento is none other than that lowly street-hood. Am I right? AM I RIGHT!? I
KNOW I'M RIGHT!! TELL ME I AM RIGHT!!!"

Ayeka's now psychotic tones frightened Ryo-Ohki even more than Ryoko.
Summoning her remaining courage, Ryo-Ohki answered Ayeka...

"WHAT???!!!"

...with another head shake.

"HE'S NOT!!??"

Washu immediately stepped back in dread. He wasn't the eating machine nor
the street-hood, which left only one person... the cowboy. Her mind raced
wildly with fearful visions: being constantly chased by him on horseback,
being roped and hogged-tied, hundreds of cattle roaming freely in her lab,
destroying her entire life's work. The frightening mental images made her
weak in the knees and she fell on her backside.

(That's it... My lab is doomed... Huh... Who'd of thunk there was a more
destructive force than Mihoshi...) Washu thought to herself.

"So it was the cowboy, after all..." Sasami said quietly. Ryo-Ohki heard her
and quickly got her attention.

"Miya, Miya, Miya!" she told her.

"Huh?"

"Are you serious?!" then said Ryoko, hearing the little cabbit.

"What do you mean, Ryoko?" Ayeka asked.

"She said it wasn't the cowboy, either!"

"WHAT?!" shouted Ayeka, Sasami, and Washu.

"It's not either of them. It's someone completely different."

"But how can that be...?" wondered Ayeka. Immediately, she took out the
photograph that Sasami got from Tenchi and brought it to him. "Lord
Tenchi..." showing him photo. "You told Sasami that Kento was one of these
people, but it isn't. Are we missing something?"

"I think you did..." said Katsuhito, pointing at a long patch of hair just
underneath the arm-pit of "the eating machine". Then, they notice a pair of
stray arms which seems to be swinging around heavily. "There's another
person..."

"Huh... Your right." agreed Ryoko, after taking a closer look. "Before, I
thought it was just that guys arm-pit hair."

While the others contemplated this new turn of events, Sasami looked back to
Ryo-Ohki for answers.

"You saw his face, didn't you?" she asked.

"Miya!" Ryo-Ohki nodded.

"What did he look like? Is he nice? Is he mean?"

Ryo-Ohki was a bit hesitant to answer, seeing as she couldn't quite explain
the astounding image of their mystery guest. Then, for some strange reason,
she started staring intently at Tenchi.

Meanwhile upstairs...

"Oh, yeah... Styling now..."

"Ryo-Ohki?" Sasami asked, becoming worried. "What's wrong, Ryo-Ohki?"

The cabbit remained steadfast. Sasami then looked in the same direction.
Sasami looked long and hard at Tenchi, not that Tenchi was a tough image to
look at. But then Tenchi noticed that both Sasami and Ryo-Ohki was staring
directly at him, which gave him a weird feeling.

Upstairs...

*gggrrroooaaannn* "Ohhh, man... Definitely time to get my grub on..."

"Wh-why are you looking at me like that, you two?" Tenchi asked them. The
rest of the group then looked toward the pair. However, their stares did not
deter the stares of either Ryo-Ohki or Sasami.

"Hey, what are you looking at him for?!" yelled Ryoko, annoyed by their
staring.

"Sasaaaaaammiiiiii..." said Washu trying to snap them out the apparent
trance. Then suddenly, Sasami blinked. Her mouth hung wide open in
realization, making the others more concerned of her condition.

"...No...way..."

"Sasami?" said Tenchi. "Sasami, what's wrong?"

"......You......" pointing a finger straight at him.

"Me? What about me?"

".....It's.....you....."

The group was entirely perplexed. Everyone was then looking at Tenchi,
trying to figure out Sasami's sudden strange behavior. Sweat drops began
forming around his head with the glaring eyes about him.

"Yo, T-man...!" shouted a voice above them. "What's with the glares? Ya'
ripped one without sayin' 'excuse me'? Heh-heh-heh!"

The entire household looked up to the top of the stairs to see an
eye-widening, jaw-dropping, unbelievable sight.

"It's unreal!" said Ayeka.

"It's amazing!" said Ryoko.

"It's Kento..." Sasami then stated. It was indeed Kento, showing all his
true identity. There he stood wearing black high-top sneakers, blue jeans,
and an X-Large jersey that read "Puck You Ice-Hole" surrounding a black
hockey puck with a mean sneer. But what really shocked them wasn't his
clothes, but instead, his face... His eyes, his nose, the shape of his head,
the color of his hair, the tone of his skin, all looked like that of....
Tenchi?

"Lord Tenchi... He has your face!" gasped Ayeka.

"He looks just like you, Tenchi..." Ryoko gasped as well.

"Not even I could have calculated the possibility..." stated a rarely, if
not for the first time, dumbfounded Washu.

*GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN* "Ohh, man..."
Kento then moaned, holding his stomach. "I hope I ain't TOO late for
breakfast...?"

************************************************************************

After a few moments, the household reconvened at the table as Sasami then
brought breakfast. There was potato dumplings, rice, noodles, and miso-soup;
each with their own distinct and delicious smell.

"Wow, Sasami!" said Tenchi. "This looks great!"

"Thanks, Tenchi." Sasami grinned. "I hope you all enjoy it!"

"Man. This is what I call a spread!" Kento commented. "So, mind if I...
partake?"

"Go ahead, Kento." Tenchi told him. "There's enough for everyone."

"Sure about that...?" he quietly asked with a half-grin.

"Sure. Go ahead."

Kento then fully grinned as he looked over splendorous meal.

"I got this from the drawer for you." said Sasami, handing him a set of
utensils: a fork, a spoon, and a butter knife. "I don't know if you can
handle chopsticks, so..."

Kento looked at the utensils, then at Sasami. While keeping his gaze he
reached with his right to a set of chopsticks and tossed them into the air.

Still looking at her, he used his left hand and grabbed the chopsticks in
the same manner that they would be held, clicking them together a couple of
times for extra measure. A round of awe was given to Kento.

"Thanks," he then told her, "but I can handle these quite well."

"Heh-heh-heh, nice trick." Nobuyuki told him. Kento then looked toward him
with a suspicious smile.

"Don't blink. You're about to see another..."

And without another word said, Kento, with chopsticks in hand, began a most
shocking and unbelievable act. With incredible speed that even left Ryoko
wide-eyed, Kento quickly began eating everything there was on the table. He
consumed the dumplings, he devoured the rice, he engorged on the noodles,
and finally slurped up the miso-soup like a vacuum. Everyone couldn't
believe it! He ate EVERYTHING! They looked at Kento with stupefied
expressions as he breathed a satisfied sigh, followed by the obvious belch.

"Excuse me..." Kento then said. "Whoa, that was good!"

"It's... gone..." Ayeka and Ryoko stuttered. "All of the food... It's all
gone."

"Huh? All gone?" Kento asked, oblivious to the aftermath of his feeding
frenzy. He took a moment to look over the table to realize that it was
completely barren of food.

"You have quite an appetite, Kento." Katsuhito said to him. Kento cracked an
embarrassed smiled as scratched his head.

"Heh-heh-heh, well uhhh... Sorry 'bout that. I usually don't pig out like
this, but I had to make-up for two days and I was REALLY STARVING!"

"Two days?!" said a surprised Tenchi. "Didn't you eat on the plane?"

Kento then looked toward him with a serious expression.

"T-bone, rule number one about airline travel: NEVER EAT THE AIRLINE FOOD."

He then got up and stretched out.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh... Thanks for the meal, y'all. I'm going back upstairs n'
put my things away. Then we can get to know each other, O.K.?"

As Kento then went upstairs he was halted by Katsuhito's loud cough.

"A moment please..."

"Yeah?"

"Rule number one about our home: SHOES OFF AT THE FRONT DOOR." then pointing
to his high-tops. Slightly embarrassed, Kento went to the Genkan by the
front door to remove his shoes before heading back upstairs to unpack.

"Sigh... I better get busy so WE can eat." said Sasami returning to the
kitchen.

"Looks like I'll have to get something on the way to work..." stated
Nobuyuki, looking at his watch. "See you tonight, everyone."

With that, he grabbed his suitcase, put his shoes on, and headed off to
work. Both Ayeka and Ryoko were not happy with Kento's first impression.

"Humph! Not ten minutes and already he has ruined the ENTIRE MORNING!"
stated Ryoko. "He didn't even leave us a crumb *sniff-sniff*..."

"Just what need... ANOTHER glutton in the house!" stated Ayeka, her eyes
trailing toward Ryoko.

"BACK OFF, BIG MOUTH! I'M NOT IN THE MOOD!" Ryoko yelled, standing up.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL A ROYAL JURAN PRINCESS A BIG MOUTH??!!" Ayeka countered.

"BECAUSE YOU ARE!!"

Their boiling argument was then suddenly cut short as their hunger pains
made themselves apparent once more.

"I'm so hungry..." moaned the two as they returned to their original state.

************************************************************************

Later in the afternoon, Tenchi took Kento on a tour around grounds of the
shrine. He showed him all of the wondrous sights that the simple mountain
region had to behold. Kento was astounded by the beautiful surroundings; it
was a definite change of scenery from the massive skyscrapers of New York.
As they stood on the cliff over-looking the countryside, Tenchi noticed that
Kento was speechless. He merely looked on in complete awe. But then he began
to speak.

"...It's just like you wrote, yo." he began, turning to him. "I mean, look
at it... It's all that n' then some..."

"It is, isn't it...?" Tenchi replied modestly. "I mean, I don't always take
notice of how beautiful it is. It usually takes someone seeing it for the
first time to make me appreciate how good I have it being here..."

"Funny... I figured those honeys back at the house would make you appreciate
being here..."

"Kento, you really shouldn't think of them like that. There not like other
girls..."

"I'll say, heh-heh... There finer than any girl I seen in the clubs, back
home."

"Kento..." he then pleads, holding his shoulders. "PLEASE promise me you'll
behave, O.K.? They're tougher than they look."

Suddenly, Kento look to be moved by his plea; almost to tears. Tenchi was a
bit taken back by Kento's strange mood change.

"Oh god, Tenchi..." he said to him in a shocked tone as this time, Kento
held Tenchi's shoulders. "What've they done to you...?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, this is much WORST than I thought..."

"Kento, what are yo...!"

"I see my purpose is clear, my friend." Kento then said, cutting Tenchi off.
"They turned my best pen pal into a quivering mass of human clay!"

"KentOOOOF...!!" Before Tenchi could interject, Kentro gripped him into hard
bear-hug.

"Don't worry, T-Boz! I'm here now... I'll make you a MAN again, EVEN IF IT
KILLS YOU!" he then quickly released his grip, letting Tenchi breath once
more, and returned to his previous state of looking toward the countryside;
with one hand on his shoulder and look of determination in his eyes.

"We'll get through this... Together!"

A large sweat drop formed in the back of Tenchi's hanging head as he let out
a regretting sigh. He knew right away that there was going to be problems
and feared what the days ahead would bring...

************************************************************************


Sunday

************************************************************************

The morning started out normally: Sasami was hard at work in the kitchen,
making breakfast. Ayeka, Ryoko, and Washu were relaxing in the luxurious
women's bathroom. At the shrine office, Katsuhito was thinking of some words
of wisdom to write before heading to the house for breakfast...

"Hmmm... 'Cherish those you love dear; And great joy and happiness will be
bestowed upon you and yours.' ...Yes, that sounds good."

...And Nobuyuki was doing what he always done before breakfast...

"....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...."

As for Tenchi and Kento, they were both just gotten up; Kento waking up
smelling the scent of breakfast in the air. Tenchi, however, awoke to a much
different smell.

"Uuuggghhh...!" Tenchi cringed. "What's that smell!?"

"Somethin', dude?" Kento yawned. Tenchi sniffed around until he finally
located the smell.

"Kento!" he yelled. "When was the last time you took a BATH!?"

"Uhhhh... Three days, I guess..."

"You could've taken a bath YESTERDAY!" a very annoyed Tenchi noted.

"I didn't think I smelt that bad." Kento embarrassedly answered.

"Kento, go take a bath!"

"O.K., O.K., I'll take a bath!" Kento said, then getting up. "Where is it?"

"Downstairs, the big double-doors in the living room."

Kento put on a pair of black short-paints and wore a white T-shirt over his
white tank-top. He took a clean pair of boxers and T-shirt from the drawer
and covered it under his towel. Then, with his stereo in hand, headed
downstairs. Meantime, Ryo-Ohki was taking an early breakfast with a thick,
delicious carrot that she snuck off with from the kitchen. Leaning back on
the edge of the bathroom door, she then enjoyed the spoils of her ill-gotten
gain. Inside the bath, as they dried off and got dressed, the girls had only
one subject on their minds...

"I just can't believe Kento has the same face as Lord Tenchi." said Ayeka.

"Yeah..." Ryoko agreed. "Who could've guessed this would happen?"

"Let's not forget who we're dealing with..." Washu mentioned, keeping things
in perspective. "He may LOOK like Tenchi, but he's a totally different
person from him. And he doesn't know how we really are."

"You don't have to remind us." Ryoko retorted.

"Yes. We are well aware of the situation, Miss Washu. We'll make sure he
doesn't figure us out." Ayeka explained. Washu sighed, looking away from
them.

(Why doesn't that settle my nerves...?)

Dried and fully clothed, the trio headed out of the bathroom. As Ayeka slid
opened the door, in rolled Ryo-Ohki landing smack on her back.

"Now what are you doing there by the door, you silly little thing?" Washu
said in her cute, child-like tone. She then picked up the slightly dazed
cabbit as she and the others left the bathroom, unaware that Ryo-Ohki's
appropriated carrot was left behind in the doorway which acted as a wedge
leaving the way to the women's bath open. Kento then came down and passed
the girls in the hallway where they gotten a whiff of his "manly fragrance"

and pinched their noses closed.

(Ewwww... I hope he's going to take a bath...) whispered Ayeka.

(I'll say... He's riper than yesterday...) agreed Ryoko.

Ryo-Ohki, still in Washu's arms, then noticed that the carrot was keeping
the door slightly ajar and Kento was about to go in. Acting quickly,
Ryo-Ohki leaped out of Washu's arms and ran back toward the bathroom. Kento
stepped up to the bathroom door when he noticed the half-eaten carrot wedged
in the doorway. Setting his stuff down, he slid opened the door slightly
with one hand and picked it up with the other. He was about to toss it aside
when Ryo-Ohki got to the door and used all of her cabbit strength to slam
the door shut...

"YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!"

...on Kento's hand. He instinctively dropped the carrot and opened the door
to release hand, sucked on his fingers, then shook his hand feverishly to
relieve the swelling. Seeing the women's bath still opened, Ryo-Ohki closed
the door once more.

"WHAT ARE DOING, YOU MUTANT RAT??!! TRYING TO CHOP MY FINGERS OFF!!??" Kento
scolded her.

"Kento, what's wrong!?" said Sasami, quickly coming out of the kitchen from
the scream.

"I was about to take a bath n' then this wacked-out thing slammed the door
on my hand!"

"Did you do that, Ryo-Ohki?"

A bit hesitant to answer, knowing how mad she would be, the guilty cabbit
nodded, admitting to the charge. Sasami gasped, shocked that Ryo-Ohki would
do such a thing.

"Ryo-Ohki, that was a naughty thing you did!" Sasami scolded, picking her
up. Then she notices the half-eaten carrot on the floor, picks it up, and
shows it to her. "And stealing carrots, again!? That's it! No carrots for
you, for a week!"

"Miyaaaaa...!" Ryo-Ohki whined as she took her into the kitchen to keep eye
on her. The pain of the incident lessened, he picked up his bathroom things.

"Honestly... What's that thing tryin' ta' hide...?" He said to himself. He
then opened up the door, revealing now the normal men's bathroom. "It's just
a bathroom. What's the deal?"

With that, he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

************************************************************************


Monday

************************************************************************

It was mid-afternoon along the road as Nobuyuki was driving home with his
son riding shotgun and Kento sitting behind him with a box by his side; his
head leaned on the window, his arms crossed, and feeling VERY annoyed.

"I don't believe this...!" he griped.

"C'mon, Kento, it's not that bad." Tenchi told him.

"Ahhh, you c'mon, man! I feel like I'll lose my individuality."

"Lose your individuality?"

"Yes!"

"From UNIFORMS?"

"YES!"

"How can you lose you individuality just by wearing uniforms?" Nobuyuki then
asked.

"First, they make you start wearing uniforms so you look alike. Then, they
programming you to walk alike, talk alike, think alike; and ultimately, they
turn you into living atamatons: completely devoid of personality,
self-opinion, or any individual qualities what-so-ever! You see, it all
connects!"

Silence fell over the three.

"...Where did you get that idea from, Kento?" said Nobuyuki, breaking the
silence.

"Ghetto Philosophy, I majored in it from my old alamamater back in New York:
BSU."

"BSU?"

"Yeah. It's the university of the streets; nothing really official, but it
does teach you a thing or two about life n' how to live it."

Then he thought to himself.

"Y'know, T-vo," he said to Tenchi, "if you want, I can enroll you. No entry
fee, no books required, and it always fits your schedule. How about it?"

"I-I'll... t-think about it." stuttered Tenchi as they arrived back home
where Katsuhito was instructing two other guest that arrived minutes before.

"...So you see, Kiyone and Mihoshi, we must all be very cautious about what
we do around him." he concluded.

"We understand." Kiyone replied. "We'll make sure he doesn't suspect
anything. Though, there's still one detail you haven't told us..."

"Hello...!" said the voice of Tenchi as the front door opened. Kiyone,
Mihoshi, and Katsuhito turned to see the first person to enter the house...

"Tenchi? Is that you!?" Kiyone gasped, unaware that it was in fact Kento,
carrying the box with his school uniforms. Kento looked toward them and was
taken a bit back by both beauties.

"WOW! Tenchi, what happened to you!?" then said Mihoshi, walking toward him.
"You've grown taller since we stopped by last week, and WOOOW...!!" then
noticing his long hair. "You've grown your hair out really LONG, like
Kiyone..."

Kento was a bit annoyed by the close examination by her, but because of her
extraordinary beauty, he didn't mind it too much.

"Uhhh, excuse me... You got me mi-"

"OOOHHH WOOOOOW!!!" She immediately shouted upon hearing his voice. "Even
your VOICE is different!"

"Tenchi, what's going on?" Kiyone asked Kento. "You completely changed!"

"Kiyone? Mihoshi? What are you doing here?" they then heard a familiar voice
say. Kiyone and Mihoshi looked to the door and blinked to see the true
Tenchi with his father by his side. The first-class detectives were
completely clueless. There, by the door, was the Tenchi they both knew, and
standing beside them was a somewhat grown-up looking Tenchi. The two of them
looked back and forth between them, totally befuddled. Two versions of
Tenchi?

"T-bird, tell 'em I'm not you!" Kento then said. Again, the two blinked.

"You're not Tenchi?" Mihoshi innocently asked.

"Name's Kento," he told her, holding out his hand, "Kento Samas. And you
are...?"

"Me? Oh! I'm first-class Gal-"

Mihoshi's introduction was quickly cut short by equally quick hands of her
partner which clamped down over her mouth.

"Uh-heh-heh-heh-heh! What she means is, uhh, we're first-class gals in the
local police department. I'm Kiyone and this my partner, Mihoshi."

"Mmmpphh." Mihoshi mumbled behind Kiyone's hand, trying to say "Hi".

"Police, huh... Hmmmm..." Kento said with a slightly annoyed tone.

"What's wrong?" Kiyone asked, releasing her partner.

"Sorry... I-I'll tell you for sure, you're first-class gals, but...cops..."

"What? You don't think we make good officers!? We're first-class
detectives!"

"Right!" said Mihoshi, backing her up. "We are First-Class Detectives of the
Gal-"

Again, her statement was cut short by Kiyone.

(Mihoshi, will you shut up!) she whispered angrily to her before releasing
her again.

"Uhhh, no... I'm not sayin' you don't make good cops. It's just that I...
kinda have a problem with figures of authority. I'll admit you two make FINE
FIGURES of authority, but regardless..."

Kiyone was a bit taken back by his lewd comment.

"Oh, don't worry." Mihoshi smiled, missing the lewd statement completely.
"We're off-duty right now, so there's no problem."

"Uhh, O-kay..." Kento muttered as he left their company to take off his
shoes along with Tenchi and Nobuyuki.

"So are you two staying for supper?" Tenchi then asked.

"Oh, could we?" Mihoshi asked gleefully, as usual. "Because we haven't
gotten a chance to eat a good meal or even sleep in our own bed since we got
kicked out of our apartment aga-"

"MIHOSHI, DO YOU EVER LISTEN TO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!!!???" scolded Kiyone as
the enraged detective throttled her partner.

"Man, what a 'Laurel & Hardy' team you girls make." then said Kento. "For
real..."

"Huh?" Kiyone blinked, a bit confused to the reference he made about them
which stopped her torment on Mihoshi. "Who's Laurel & Hardy?"

"Nevermind..." then heading for the stairs. "T-Dog, I'm going upstairs n'
get this stupid stuff out my sight 'till next week."

"Well, you know your always welcome to stay." Tenchi said to Kiyone. Kiyone
felt incredibly embarrassed from not only having to turn to him for lodging
yet again, but from all that occurred in front of him upon his return. All
she could right then is humbly bow her head to him and reply...

"...Thank you, Tenchi."

************************************************************************


    Tuesday

************************************************************************

Everyone was enjoying a good dinner after another long day keeping their
secret from Kento. Kiyone and Mihoshi, however, were slow on eating their
meals as they bounced their attention back and forth between the food and
Kento. Even after a whole day around him, they sill couldn't believe that he
looked so much like Tenchi.

"What's wrong?" Sasami asked Kiyone.

"Huh?" she reacted, her trance broken. "Oh, nothing Sasami..."

"Pretty amazing, huh?" spoke up Washu. "We had no idea that he would look
like this. The picture completely threw us off."

Washu handed Kiyone the picture they mulled over for so long. Her reaction
was immediate and predictable.

"Where's Kento? I don't see him."

"I'm right there..." Kento said, before swallowing the food in his mouth. He
then pointed to his long hair underneath the armpit of the bulky young man.
"I was supposed to be standing along with them. But then Biggie here had to
start clownin' n' put me in a headlock just as the camera snapped. I
couldn't do another 'cause it was the last roll I had and wanted to send it
out right away." then a small smirk appeared on his face. "Actually, it
turned out well, come to think of it. It was a real brain-teaser for all
y'all."

"Indeed." said Katsuhito. "You wouldn't believe the weird ideas the girls
had about your appearance..." Ayeka, Ryoko, Sasami, and Washu all blushed in
unison. "They have quite an imagination; though it might have run away with
them."

"Yeah, I had those same mad thoughts about YOU GUYS from what Tenchi wrote."

"Oh really?" said Ryoko. "Then tell us. What did he told you? I bet he
couldn't STOP telling about how a nice and wonderful woman I am, right?"

"He told me some interesting things, but.. I don't think I should tell."

"Oh, c'mon, Kento. I won't be TOO embarrassed..." she cooed as she then held
Tenchi in a mad embrace. Not wanting Ryoko to be so wrapped around Tenchi,
let alone be anywhere near him at all, Ayeka bopped her hard on the head
causing her to release her tight grip on him. Ryoko was about to let loose
on her when Kento then spoke up to respond.

"Well, he DID tell me you have a mad crush on him..."

(She's MAD alright if she thinks she has any chance with MY Tenchi...!)
Ayeka thought to herself as her eyes leered back toward the cyan-haired
pirate before returning to Kento as he continued.

"...and I guess, maybe, he felt a little sympathy for you..."

"Sympathy...?!" said Ryoko, becoming annoyed.

"Yeah, I mean, you ARE on the run from the Chinese mafia... You embezzled
about half a billion in US currency. Not a bad chunk o' change, neither. I'd
say you lucked out, getting out of Hong Kong before they pulled a Jimmy
Hoffa on ya'. Too bad you lost it all gambling, though. But, that's what you
get..."

(WHAT!?) She thought to herself, becoming VERY annoyed.

"Well, well..." said Ayeka, leaning toward her with a mischievous grin upon
her face. "I always knew you acted like a common criminal. But now, I find
out that you really ARE one...!"

Ryoko's anger built-up even more. She was ten seconds away from annihilating
her and the rest of the house when she then heard a familiar voice in her
mind.

(Play along, Ryoko...)

It was Washu, talking with her through the psychic link between them. Ryoko
turned her eyes toward the serious-looking genius.

(Remember what we talked about...?)

(Yeah, yeah...)

She returned her eyes to Kento as the cheeky princess continued.

"Frankly, Tenchi, if she's enleauged with such dangerous criminals, I think
it would be in best interest of everyone that she should be DEPORTED back to
where she came from. Kiyone... Mihoshi... I trust you will help this
FUGITIVE back home."

"WHAT?!" spoke up an enraged Ryoko. "ARE YOU NUTS!? DIDN'T YOU HEAR HIM! I
GO BACK NOW, THEY'LL KILL ME!"

"Come, come, Ryoko. You shouldn't run from the problems you OBVIOUSLY
started... HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

"Tshhh! You're the one ta' talk!" then spoke an annoyed Kento, silencing her
laughter.

"...Huh? Excuse me?" she said as looked to see angry looking Kento with a
stare that could freeze all seven levels of the underworld.

"At least you GOT a place to go home to! That's is, if you ever DECIDE to
get off your HIGH-HORSE and admit you were WRONG!!"

"W-WH-WHAT!?" said a completely shocked Ayeka.

"T-von told me all about YOU... Acting all snooty and self-righteous,
thinking that your some royal princess when your actually a royal BRAT! And,
when your parents grounded you for failing some stupid test, you have the
'bright idea' to up n' runaway; and worst yet, you let your little sister
come along when you don't even know how to LIVE out there in the real world.
I'm just glad you ended up at his door and he took you in... Not for YOUR
sake, mind you. I just don't wanna think about the kid out in the cold
sellin' wilted flowers... Or somethin' else..."

"B-But I...!"

"Oh, Ayeka..." said Ryoko, this time leaning toward HER with a mischievous
grin upon her face. "I'm completely SHOCKED! Running away over a silly
little matter and dragging poor Sasami along with you. And you call ME a
criminal..."

"EXCUSE ME... Nobody said you can butt into our conversation!" Ayeka told
her.

"You didn't mind butting into MINE, before!" she retorted.

"CRIMINAL!!"

"ROYAL BRAT!!"

"ENOUGH, YOU TWO!!" then shouted Tenchi.

"Sorry, man." said Kento. "It's my bad... I shouldn't of said anything...
Especially in front of your little sister..." then pointing to Washu. All
except she and Katsuhito face-faulted on their back, but quickly recovered.

"Little sister?!" Tenchi blinked.

"Why so shocked, dude?" Kento said, looking surprised by his reaction.
"Well, yeah, I know you told me she's not ACTUALLY your sister. But even if
she IS adopted, don't hold THAT against her."

"Excuse me!?" said Ayeka, Ryoko, Kiyone, and Mihoshi, all in unison.
"Adopted?!"

Kento blinked.

"What, you didn't know?" then turning to Tenchi with an embarrassed smile.
"Aww, man... I did it again, didn't I? Sorry..."

"It's O.K., Kento..." then spoke up Washu happily. Tenchi and the other
girls blinked. "Go ahead, you can tell them. I don't mind..."

"You sure 'bout that, kid?"

Washu just grinned and nodded her head.

"Alright..." he then said before taking a deep breath to tell the story to
everyone...

________________________________________________________________________

Well... It was late one night... Washu and her parents was returning from
what people would consider the perfect family picnic; they were all in great
spirits...

Then, the weather took a turn for the worst...

A storm rolled in with a heavy load of rain as they made their way around
the winding mountain road. It rained hard. Her father could barely see the
road. Worst yet, the road itself became slippery...

Then... it happened...

*SSSSSRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHH* *CCCCCRRRRRRAAAAAASSSSSHHHHH*

The car hit a large patch of water which spun it out of control and off the
road, rolling over and hitting a tree head on, which ruptured the fuel tank.

Around that time, Tenchi's dad was on his way back from a long day of work
when he saw the wreckage. He immediately pulled over and got out, quickly
headed over to the flaming overturned car. He saw the mother's hand waving
out from the shattered window; she was trapped and bleeding profusely. He
quickly went for the door, trying to open it. But then the mother yelled to
him.

"Please, save my daughter!" she shouted.

"What about you!?" he shouted back as the black smoke began to fill the car.

"I...*cough*...won't...*cough*...make it...!" she explained. "My husband's
dead...*cough-cough*...but my daughter's still alive.
PLEASE...*cough*...TAKE CARE OF MY BABY!!"

He then noticed the blood about her; and the heat of the flames
intensifying. Hard as it was for him, as would for anyone, he did as he was
asked. Smashing open the back-seat window he crawled in and carefully
grabbed her unconscious daughter and pulled her out. Taking her in his arms,
he dashed away just as the car exploded!

*BBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*

...He full-filled her dying wish...

Hours later, police were wrapping things up. Both parents were dead: the
father from the crash, the mother from the explosion. And the daughter,
Washu, had no other family members to take her to. She would have to be
turned over to city custody, and put into an orphanage... That is if
Tenchi's dad didn't offer to adopt her himself. After a week of the usual
red tape, he was finally granted custody of Washu. She was shy at first, of
course. But Tenchi's caring nature turned her right around...

________________________________________________________________________

"...And she pretty much been happy living here ever since." Kento then
concluded. Everyone was in complete awe over his story. Mihoshi
especially...

"Oh, Washu...!" She blubbered, wave after wave of tears pouring from her
eyes. "I never knew you went through such TRAGEDY!"

"How COULD you've known? How could any of you girls? This was two years
before any of you were even on the scene." Kento then turned to Washu. "I
hope you're still O.K.... I know how it must feel to remember such a loss."

"Yes, I know..." Washu replied quietly, wiping a tear from her eye. "It
still hurts sometimes when I think about it..." then suddenly, she looked
toward Tenchi with loving stars in her eyes and a great big smile. "...BUT
AT LEAST WITH MY BIG BROTHER, I DON'T FEEL SO ALONE, ANYMORE. RIGHT, BIG
BROTHER TENCHI!?"

"Uhhh, heh-heh, right, little sister...Washu... Uhh, right..." stuttered
Tenchi as wave after wave of sweat drops flowed from the back of his head.

"Tenchi told you ALOT about us, huh?" Kiyone asked Kento.

"Yeah, quite a bit..." he replied. "Though... not much about you two."

Kiyone blinked. "Not much?!"

"Just that your good friends of the family..."

"Well... that's true... But, didn't he say anything about our work?"

"Nope."

Kiyone blinked twice. "...What about our achievements? Or how many collars
we made recently? Or some of our dangerous assignments? ANYTHING AT ALL?!"

"Not really... Should I have?"

Kiyone sat there, totally dejected. Then Mihoshi turned to her.

"Kiyone, we haven't made a collar in MONTHS and I don't remember doing
anything DANGEROUS that we were assigned, except maybe that time we had that
job working in the sewers, when the boss asked you to unclog that dead rat
from a drain pipe and you didn't have your gloves because I accidentally
dropped it in the sewage, at least I THINK it was a dead rat, I couldn't
really tell because it looked all brown and squishy and it smelled REALLY
BAD and..."

"MIHOSHI, WHY WON'T YOU JUST STOP TALKING!!!???" Kiyone shrieked at her as
she again throttled her, forgetting that everyone was watching her.

"Do they do this often...?" Kento asked, surprisingly not looking shocked at
all at the officer's act.

"Constantly..." Ayeka replied, also not interested in the scene.

"Yep..." Ryoko agreed, paying just as much attention to Kiyone and Mihoshi
as Ayeka.

"Just checkin'..." he then looked to Washu. "Pass the soy sauce, please?"

************************************************************************


Wednesday

************************************************************************

"How could say that about me, Tenchi!?" whimpered Ryoko to Tenchi with teary
eyes as they sat on the living room couch. "It's not fair!"

"Ryoko, I-I..."

"Well, from what I see, Lord Tenchi's description of you is quite accurate."
Ayeka interjected, which surprisingly made Ryoko smile her mischievous
smile.

"...Just like when he told Kento you was a bratty little runaway?"

"T-that was just a lie! A bold-faced fabrication! I am NOT like that!!"

"Ohh, it sounds pretty right to me. Staying far away from home, not
listening to your father, and dragging Sasami along with you... Yep, Tenchi
got you pegged, princess."

"LIES!! ALL LIES!!!" Ayeka shouted at her before turning to Tenchi. "Lord
Tenchi, tell her it's not true! Tell her I'm a warm, caring, sensitive,
sincere person..."

"Man, princess, you really like to toot your own horn, don't you?"

"WRETCHED CRIMINAL!"

"RUNAWAY BRAT!!"

"I guess I'm LUCKY I was just MENTIONED in his letters..." mumbled a still
upset Kiyone, but spoke loud enough so that Tenchi could hear her. He looked
at her sitting by herself on the other side of the couch while her partner
was laughing away as she watched a comedy show.

"...You know, Kiyone, Washu didn't seem mad at all about what Tenchi wrote
about her." Mihoshi said.

"Of course not, Mihoshi... That's because she's his SISTER!"

"Wow!" Mihoshi blinked. "She's his SISTER? I didn't know that! But... If
Ryoko is Washu's daughter... and Washu is Tenchi's sister... wouldn't that
make Ryoko Tenchi's NIECE?"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP, MIHOSHI!?" scolded both Ryoko and Kiyone.

"Will all of you just listen for one minute?!" then yelled Tenchi to get
their attention. "Look... I... told him those things so that... so that I
could probably sound like I had an... interesting... kinda life. I mean... I
couldn't really tell him the truth, right? He'd think I was nut's or just
making it up..."

"But, Lord Tenchi... a 'RUNAWAY'?"

"I-I know I might've... over exaggerated a few things here and there...
b-but it was better than the alternative. I-I'm sorry that I said that about
all of you...O.K.? Everyone?" he then smiled the most embarrassed and
unconvincing smile he ever did as he looked around at them, expecting a wave
of scolding from them. Surprisingly, they just looked at him with
sympathetic grins.

"We understand, Tenchi." spoke Mihoshi.

"You do?" blinked Tenchi.

"Yeah, Tenchi..." then said Ryoko, putting an arm over his shoulder. "You're
just trying to keep us safe."

Just then, a royal hand grabbed on her ear and quickly pulled her away from
Tenchi before stepping toward him.

"Yes, Lord Tenchi," said Ayeka, "we understand that though your methods were
a BIT questionable, you acted in our best interest."

"But, Tenchi, could you do us a favor?" said Kiyone, getting his attention.
"Next time, if you're going to lie about us, try to lie POSITIVELY O.K.?"

Tenchi scratched his head in embarrassment.

"O.K., I will."

"And also, try to give details about ALL of us, O.K.?"

"Sure, Kiyone."

"By the way," said Ayeka, "where IS Kento?"

As if on queue, at the same time, a flushing sound was heard from the
restroom in the hall. The door opened and out stepped Kento with his jersey
held over his nose as he closed the door behind him. He then turned to see
Sasami walking toward him. By the way she walked, with her body slightly
shaking all over, he could tell she needed a turn in the restroom...
immediately.

"Hi, Kento." she smiled, though with a bit of anxiety in her voice.

"Hey, kid." she heard his muffled voice say through his jersey. "You going
in there?"

"Uh-huh." shaking her head quickly. "Are you done...?"

"Uhhh, not exactly..." he said, looking away. "Look, I gotta find a plunger,
so don't let anybody in there yet, O.K.?"

Before Sasami could answer, Kento headed off leaving her standing there,
prolonging her chance of any relief. He quickly ran into the living room
where he found Tenchi and the other girls.

"Yo, T-man." he said as he ran up to him. "I gotta bit of a problem..."

"What is it?" he asked.

"I hadda bit of business n' it kinda choked up ol' John-Boy, know what I
mean?"

"...No." said a puzzled Tenchi. Unknown to Kento, Washu's face appeared in
the circular window of her lab door/broom closet where she immediately saw
him.

(Uh-oh...) she said to herself before her face faded out, but she stayed by
the door just in case as Kento got to the point.

"O.K., look, I need a plunger. Where is it?"

"Oh, a plunger? It's in the broom closet behind you." spoke up Mihoshi, who
pointed to the broom closet/lab door. Washu stepped back in shock, but not
too surprised.

"You just have to make it DIFFICULT, don't you..." she muttered as she then
pulled out the Nur-Ray from her pocket and readied it to fire. Surprisingly,
she then showed a small grin "Well, at least I'll get to test this baby
out."

Meantime, outside...

"That's O.K., Kento." Tenchi then said, now standing between him and the
door. "I'll get it."

"Naw, it's all right. I got it." Kento told him as he moved past him toward
the door, but then was blocked by Ayeka with arms wide open.

"Oh please, Mr. Kento, you're our guest. We'll get it FOR you." she said
kindly to convince him.

"I can do it myself. It's no big deal..."

He then moved past Ayeka, only to be blocked now by Ryoko.

"But it's a VERY BIG deal!" she told him as she held him back with both
hands.

"What's with you?!" he said, becoming annoyed. "It's just a plunger!"

"Kento, don't mind them." Tenchi said to him.

"I'm tryin' not to, but they're all up in my face!"

As they continued, Washu impatiently waited by the door, Nur-Ray aimed and
ready. Then she began to lower the gun, wondering if she should let him
stumble into the lab just to test the Nur-Ray. Quickly coming to a decision,
she angrily grunts and slightly grits her teeth as the most upset genius in
the universe put the Nur-Ray back in her pocket.

"They better appreciate me for passing up a perfect testing opportunity like
this..." she said to herself as she called up her holo-laptop and began
typing. Back outside, Kento slowly made his way to the door, having the
weight of Ryoko, Ayeka, Kiyone, and Mihoshi on his back who were trying to
keep him at bay.

"Please, Mr. Kento, you don't have to go in there!" pleaded Ayeka.

"What's the... DEEAAAL!?" he strained as he moved an inch closer. "It's just
a... CLLLOOOSET!"

"Look, we're trying to be courteous to you! Just give it up and ACCEPT IT!!"
shouted a straining Ryoko, trying to hold him back. Finally, with all the
combined weight laying heavily upon him, Kento lost his patience and threw
them all back in one great force of anger, which caused them to fall on
Tenchi.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" he yelled in anger. "I'M GOING IN THERE AND
I'M GONNA GET A PLUNGER! I GOT SOMEONE WAITIN' ON ME!"

With that, Kento turned back to the door and grasped the handle. Suddenly,
he spotted from the corner of his eye four feminine figures rushing toward
him at breaking speed.

"DON'T OPEN THAT!!" they all shouted in unison. But Kento was quick enough
to step to the side, barely missing them altogether. The girls, however,
couldn't halt their advance and ended up not only slamming into the door,
but broke it down. After the smoke cleared, Kento approached the broken down
door as Tenchi got to his feet and spotted him as he peered inside.

"Kento, I wouldn't..." he tried to tell him, but it was too late.

"Oh... my... god..." stated an overwhelmed Kento. "Look at this..."

Fearing the worst, Tenchi ran over to him, trying to think of a good excuse.

"Kento, I-I can explain... It-It's not what you think..."

"T-man, I think this is all self-explanatory." Kento retorted as he pointed
inside the doorway, past the lumps of bodies bruised from the collision, and
showed Tenchi what laid inside... Dusty shelves, dirty mop-heads, empty
cleaning liquid containers without their tops, and various small brushes and
brooms scattered all about. "Just look at this... It's a total MESS! When's
the last time you clean this out?!"

Tenchi stared inside, wide-eyed and totally baffled! Where was the lab?
Where were the exotically deadly creatures and the massive technological
machinery? Where was Washu? All that was there now was the broom closet with
it's messy contents. Kento pulled the girls out of the doorway, not wanting
to step on them despite their previous behavior, and went inside. Sifting
through the cleaning tools, he finds what he strived for.

"Finally!" he shouted, raising it up high. "Now I can get to work! Back in
sec."

But before he could proceed into the hallway he sees a sorrowful-looking,
teary-eyed Sasami standing in the doorway; her hands held together in a way
in which it seemed to hide something.

"Sasami..." said a concerned Tenchi. "Are you alright?"

"Tenchi... *sniff-sniff* I'm sorry... I... I just couldn't..."

"Aww, man..." Kento sighed regrettably as he went to the doorway and looked
around the corner. Meantime, Tenchi went over to Sasami to find out the
problem.

"What's wrong, Sasami?" he asked her in his own kind, comforting voice.

"*sniff-sniff* I... I had... an accident..." she sobbed. She then parted her
hands to show him how bad her "accident" was.

"Oh no... Sasami..."

"Yo, T-man..." said Kento, getting his attention. "Clean up on alse 1: bring
a mop."

He pointed around the corner which Tenchi then looked. Apparently, the mess
on Sasami's clothes was nothing to the mess left on the floor. Hanging his
head, he then sighed, knowing he'd be cleaning up for quite a while...

************************************************************************

                                                                              Thursday

************************************************************************

"WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO?! KILL ME!?" scolded Washu at Ayeka, Ryoko,
Kiyone, and Mihoshi in her laboratory.

"We were TRYING to keep Kento from finding your lab, Miss Washu!" Ayeka
defended.

"...So you should appreciate all the work we did!" Ryoko added.

"Frankly, I was looking forward to having him find my lab. It would've given
me a valid excuse to test out the Nur-Ray on him."

"But, Washu, he DIDN'T find the lab." stated Kiyone. "All he found was a
dirty broom closet. What happened to the lab?"

"Simple... I just closed off the entryway while you were holding him back."

"Funny... I thought you said you WANTED him to find your lab..."

"...So I had a change of heart! SUE ME! Look, I decided that until a REAL
situation that CAN'T be avoid arises, which I still feel will come REAL
SOON, then and only then will I use the Nur-Ray. Does everyone understand?"

The girls looked at one another about her decision for a moment, then looked
at her and nodded.

"Good. Now all I ask of you is to just do one, teenie-tiny, little favor for
me..."

The girls were a bit hesitant to answer.

"O.K.?" they then said.

"All I want you to do is... MAKE A REASION FOR ME RIGHT AWAY, ALRIGHT?!" she
smiled. "I REEAALLY WANT TO USE IT SOOO BADLY!"

The whole group face-faults upon hearing her plea. Washu then turned her
attention to her holo-laptop which she just called up.

"Now... Speaking of Kento, where IS our unassuming American...?" she said to
herself and she begun typing as the other girls recovered and gathering
around her to see Kento and Tenchi through what looked like from a fish bowl
lens on her screen.

"Wow, they look weird." Mihoshi mentioned.

"Washu, please focus the camera!" requested Ayeka.

"It's not a camera." she explained. "I patched a connection through
Kamadake's optical sensor."

"What?! How dare you tamper with a royal Juraian guardian, Washu!"

"Kamadake agreed to the deal. He allowed me to transmit what he sees to me
while he stands at the front gate, so I can see who might be snooping
around. Right now, Tenchi and Kento are out there."

"OH! That's right!" spoke up Mihoshi, remembering something. "Kento said he
was waiting for a package to come. He's been out there all morning."

"I wonder what he's waiting for..." Kiyone said to herself as she and the
rest looked on at Kento, impatiently pacing back and forth between Azaka and
Kamadake.

"Keep calm, Kento..." Tenchi told him, though his words fell on deaf ears.

"...I told them to send it here..." Kento mumbled to himself. "...they said
it'll be here TODAY...what's TAKIN' it so long...?"

Kento continued to grunt and mumble to himself as his pacing quickened until
he finally shouted out to the heavens, arms thrown out in anger...

"WHEN IS IT GONNA GET HERE!!??"

Just then, they see a delivery truck approaching the gate. Kamadake also
notices the truck and zooms in on it.

(Mmmm... What could this be...?) Washu wondered as she continued to view.

"It's about time!" Kento scolded the delivery men as he approached them.
"What took you?!"

"Hey, give us a break!" the driver first responded. "We got lost, alright?"

"Yeah, it's the first time we had deliver ANYTHING out here in the boonies!"
then said the passenger. The girls were appalled by his statement.

"How DARE he say such a thing!" exclaimed Ayeka. "The NERVE of him...!"

"How do you think I feel...? I gotta LIVE out here..." Kento told them. The
girls gasped at his statement.

"I can't believe he SAID that!" said Ryoko. "And in front of Tenchi too!
What an ingrate!"

"Man, you got it ROUGH..." the driver responded.

"Yeah, well... The folks are real friendly, and I like the change of pace
from the city... So it ain't TOO bad..."

"Ohhh..." sighed Mihoshi. "He thinks we're friendly."

"Even after how we treated him yesterday? Guess he's not TOTALLY
inconsiderate..." Kiyone determined.

"Yeah, well... Are you gonna sign for this or what?" the passenger then told
Kento, holding a notepad with a form for him to sign.

"Oh! Oh, yeah! Sorry!"

Kento quickly signed the form. Then, the delivery men went back to the truck
and carried out a large crate. Kento was completely ecstatic about the crate
that he waited so long for.

(Alllllrrriiiiiggghhtttt... Come-to-Kenny!) he said to himself as he
approached the crate. "...and this is just the FIRST crate, right?" he then
asked the driver.

"Yup..." he responded, looking over the form. "One year supply of 'Lightning
Lizzard' Energy Drinks, sent in monthly shipments. Awarded to one, Kento
Samas, Lizzards Inc. contest winner."

"One year supply...?" wonder Tenchi. "How'd you win this?"

Kento then flashed a small but confident smile at him.

"T-man, you're lookin' at the guy who set a new record of 147 bottles of
lizzard drinks in one hour at their last Speed-Drinking contest."

"147? In one HOUR?" asked the delivery men.

"Yeah... I might've drained a lotta their lizzards in an HOUR, but it took
me TWO DAYS to drain MINE..."

"Uugghh... such vulgar humor..." Ayeka stated as Kento and the delivery men
laughed at his humorous comment.

"You're a pretty cool guy..." the delivery passenger said to him. "Maybe
we'll catch you around town, eh?"

"Yeah, maybe... Later."

"Later."

With that, the delivery men got back in the truck headed off.

"Well, T-dog, let's get this inside." Kento said to him as he stood by one
side of the crate, but then he noticed the optical sensors of the jurian
guardians.

"Uh-oh..." said Washu. "He spotted the sensor..."

"Uhhh... Kento? What are you doing?" said a nervous Tenchi as Kento looked
more closely at Kamadake's optical sensor. The girls all laughed at how
funny he looked through Kamadake's "fish-eye" optical sensor.

"Huh... security camera..." he surmised.

"Uh, yeah! Yeah, it's a security camera!" Tenchi lied to assure him. Kento
looked deeper into the "camera", and flashed a suspicious looking half-smile
which the girls took notice.

"Hmmm... not bad. But it's pretty stupid of you to put it in these overgrown
Lincoln Logs, though... Don't you think?"

With that said, he went back to the crate, and with Tenchi's help carried
the crate back inside the gate.

"Lincoln Logs? What are Lincoln Logs?" wondered Kamadake.

"Apparently to him... Us." Azaka answered.

"What nerve!" announced Ayeka. "Demeaning the jurian guardians in their
faces and slandering the home that took him in! Humph! If this is how ONE
American acts like, you can imagine how the rest of that country might
appear to be...!"

Just then, a blinking light caught the attention of the girls; particularly
that of Kiyone and Mihoshi. Kiyone lifted her wrist to see the flashing
light of her emergency signal.

"Uh-oh..." she said. "We got a call from headquarters. We have to get the
Yagami."

"But how?" said Mihoshi. "If we bring the Yagami down, Kento will see it."

"Not a problem!" exclaimed Washu. I got just the solution!"

The screen on the holo-laptop reverted to its normal computer screen as
Washu then started typing again. After a few seconds, the holo-laptop faded
away and she walked over to a door which then appeared before her.

"You can use this door to enter the Yagami from here. It'll take you
straight to the cockpit.

"Thank you, Washu. We really appreciate it." said Kiyone.

"Yeah. Thanks alot!" Mihoshi gleefully added. With that the two Galaxy
Police officers entered the doorway and suddenly dropped like rocks. The
others gasped at the unsuspecting event and rushed to the door, looking
inward to see if they were alright. What came next was a small, but assured
thud coming from the door. As they peered inside they saw what appeared to
be the Yagami's storage bay... from about ten feet up... and there at the
floor was an enraged Kiyone picking herself up and a slightly unconscious
Mihoshi still lying on the floor.

"Ooops! Guess I made a SLIGHT miscalculation there..." said an embarrassed
Washu. "Well, at least they're on the Yagami."

************************************************************************

Later that afternoon, Kento was looking over his CD collection that he laid
about the top of Tenchi's desk. He then looked over his shoulder to see
Tenchi putting away some newly cleaned clothes and flashed a mischievous
grin.

"Hey, man..." he said to him. "Wanna check out somethin' cool...?"

"What is it?" Tenchi asked as he finished putting away his underwear.

"Check it out, man..."

Tenchi went over to him a looked at the CDs he had. He couldn't believe it!
There were about a dozen cases of CD holders that covered the entire top of
the desk. And in each case were 40 or more CDs, comprised of various
artists, from various musical genres.

"Wow!" exclaimed Tenchi. "You must have HUNDREDS of CDs, here!"

"Yeah... I got a big collection..." he smirked. "But this's NOTHING compared
to my 'special' case..."

Kento then got up, went to his drawer and lifted some spare t-shirts to
reveal a black CD case covered with flaming skulls stickers, bio-hazard
stickers, a one sticker saying "NO UNAUTHORIZED ENRTY" which stuck-out among
all others. He took the case out and brought to the desk.

"My prized possession..." he said quietly to Tenchi as he slowly opened the
case and there inside laid gold-plated CDs, each labeled in different music
genres. "MY ULTIMATE COMPILATION CD COLLECTION!! AHHH-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Suddenly, he grabs Tenchi's head and brings it closer to his.

"This collection is the result of 3 years of internet Napsterizing, tireless
listening, cut n' pasting, compacting, and burning onto these CD's... Each
CD contains 100 tracks of some of the coolest songs ever recorded. All 100%
lame free! None of those stupid 'one-hit blunders' that wind up in some
commercial a month later..."

"Wow, that's amazing..." said Tenchi. "But, what do you mean NAPSTERIZING?"

"You know about Napster, don't you?"

"Well, duh..."

"I knew there was gonna be trouble soon, so I took every bit a memory on my
computer back home and started downloading every song it had on the
website."

"That's impossible! Even I know that's too much to download!"

Kento again flashed his mischievous grin.

"I gotta whole room full of memory... Literally... So I think I could handle
it. I pain-stakingly listened to every song, deleted what totally sucked,
and well... the survivors are right before you; each disk categorized in
it's musical genre. Even a few genres that's not exactly on the mainstream."

"Phew! You're totally into music, huh?"

"I'd say so. How do you think I GOT this fine stereo...?"

"Oh, yeah. You told me in a letter that you worked as a DJ for a lotta
parties."

"You gotta love music to do a job like that... or at least have a VERY good
tolerance..."

"Why you say that?"

"Most of the parties I did wanted me to play...uuuggghh...Pop-Songs..."

Kento's whole body shuttered at the mere mentioning of the word "Pop-Songs".

"You really DO hate it, huh...?" Tenchi mentioned.

"With a passion..." Kento added. "...stupid songs of puppy-love,
relationships, beautiful people, and smiling faces... Phish! Total bull!
Gimmie the Rock, anytime!"

Kento then takes out a CD marked "Rock" and placed it into the stereo.

"Wanna hear some loud sound, man?" he asked Tenchi.

"I... don't know. I heard some of your sounds before when you first woke up
here..." he replied.

"Oh, that?! That wasn't loud. You only heard that at a level 5 volume. Wait
'till I crank this baby all the way to 11, WITH the bass-booster turned on,
too..."

"Uhhh, Kento..."

"Don't worry. You're gonna love it! LOOOOVE it! Ha-Ha-Ha."

Meantime outside... but more specifically in the air, a fierce chase was
underway... Streaking through the skies was a large black spacecraft covered
in some forms of graffiti, but it wasn't the only thing in the air. In
pursuit of the spacecraft was that of the Yagami, slowly but steadily
closing in on it.

"Stay on him, Mihoshi!" Kiyone told her partner. "I almost got a lock!"

"I'm trying, Kiyone, but he moving so fast..."

"Just stay on him, O.K.?! No matter WHERE he goes...!"

Just then, Mihoshi noticed on the visual monitor that they were heading
toward the Masaki Shrine and Tenchi's home. She began to get nervous.

"Uhhhh... Kiyone... we're..."

"Not now, Mihoshi. I almost got a lock!"

Back at the house...

"Ever hear Mudvayne?"

"Mud-vain? No..."

"Oh, you're gonna love it!"

Back in the air...

"Uhhh, Kiyone, I think you should kno-"

"MIHOSHI! HE'S GETTING AWAY!! STAY ON HIM!!!"

"Uhhh... A-Alright..." she stuttered as she moved the Yagami faster toward
the shrine. Back at the house...

"This song totally rocks, man! It's called 'Dig'! Definitely a tune to mosh
to...!" Kento told Tenchi.

"Kento, don't you think it'll be a little too LOUD?" Tenchi said to him.
Kento then turned to him with a serious look on his face.

"T-man, Ghetto Philosophy on music states as thusly..." he began as his
finger was half an inch away from the play button. "...'If it's too loud,
you're too old...'"

And with that, he pushed the button and the whole house began to shake and
whale with the hard-rocking sound. Downstairs, Ayeka and Ryoko shrieked with
agony over the melodious music while trying to keep their balance. In the
kitchen, Sasami tried desperately to keep the food on the table, unaware the
sharp utensils rattled and shook their way to the edge of the counter where
just below Ryo-Ohki was covering her ears from the music. The utensils moved
closer and closer to the edge, but then Sasami looked to see Ryo-Ohki on the
floor and the utensils that were about to fall on her. Sasami rushed over
and grabbed Ryo-Ohki just before the utensils fell. In the lab, Washu, who
couldn't hear the music but could definitely feel the rumbling of the bass,
was trying to keep her beakers and vials from falling, which ended up to be
all in vain.

"What's going on, out there...?"

Unbeknownst to anyone, the black spacecraft swooped past the house followed
by the Yagami, rippling the water of the lake and quaking the ground around
it. However, both ships and their reacting wakes couldn't measure up to the
deafening guitar riffs and thumping bass coming from Kento's stereo. Tenchi
closed his hands as tightly as he could on his ears while Kento was dancing
about the room, eyes closed while he played air-guitar and lip-synced to the
song.

"YOU LIKE IT, T-MAN?!!!" Kento shouted to him.

"WHAT!!!?" Tenchi responded, not able to hear him.

"YEAH, I TOLD YOU YOU'D LOVE IT!!!" Kento then said, misinterpreting
Tenchi's answer.

Tenchi then decided enough was enough. He started to go over to the stereo
and stop the CD. But just then, he noticed something streaking back and
forth past the window. He looked out the window and discovered the Yagami
and the black spacecraft buzzing over the house in an aerial dog-fight, all
of which went unnoticed to Kento because of the loud music. Tenchi
hesitantly decided to let the music play on. He hoped that the Yagami would
leave before the song ended. Back in the air...

"HA! Locked on!" shouted an overly-enthusiastic Kiyone.

"Oh, great... That's wonderful..." whimpered a heavily tearing Mihoshi, who
felt they blew their secret wide open.

"Lockdown Missiles... AWAY!"

Kiyone then fired two lockdown missiles which quickly reached its target.
The missiles jammed themselves into the black spacecraft and surrounded it
in an electrical sphere, which shutdown all the spacecraft's systems.

"YYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSS! GOT 'EM!" Kiyone shouted with a feeling of finally
reaching the light of success at the end of her long, long, LONG dark tunnel
of failures. "Ok, Mihoshi, send it to the impound lot at headquarters."

"Sure... why not... it's like we have anymore secrets to worry about,
now..." Mihoshi said, still whimpering an ocean of tears as she transported
the spacecraft to HQ.

"What are you talking about?" Kiyone wondered. Then, she noticed the visual
monitor that showed that they were hovering just over Tenchi's home.
Kiyone's face quickly became pale as snow.

"You mean we were flying around Tenchi's house all this time...? And you
didn't TELL ME?!"

"I TRIED TO YOU, BUT YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN TO MEEEE!!! WWHHAAAAAAA-HA-HA-HA!!"

"Grrrr... What else can--"

Just then, the red emergency lights began flashing. Kiyone began a ship scan
for the emergency, since Mihoshi was still busy crying wildly. After a few
moments, Kiyone found the problem.

"Oh, no... Not again..."

"Huh? What's wrong, Kiyone?" Mihoshi asked, instantly shifting her mood from
crying to concern.

"....We're out of fuel....again...."

Upon saying that, the Yagami dropped like a rock toward the earth. Back at
the house, the song was about to reach its end when suddenly the door slid
open and in entered the girls, holding their ears.

"HEY YOU!! TURN THAT NOISE OFF THIS INSTANT!!!" Ayeka shouted at Kento,
though her overwhelmingly shrieky voice was drowned out by the music. Tenchi
then noticed the girls by the door and rushed over to them.

"HEY GIRLS! WHAT BRINGS YOU UP HERE?!" said Tenchi, trying to ignore the
music.

"WHAT BRINGS US UP HERE!? LORD TENCHI, THIS NOISE IS GOING TO COLLASPE THE
WHOLE HOUSE! TELL HIM TO TURN THAT OFF THIS INSTANT!!"

Tenchi could feel his throat starting to get sore. Instead of continuing to
argue in high voices, he pushed them all to the other side of the room and
pointed out the window. They looked outside to find a usually
not-too-surprising sight: The Yagami falling to earth, apparently out of
fuel again. But in this case, it's was cause for alarm. Washu knew what to
do and quickly left. Unfortunately, the Yagami crashed into the lake just as
the loud song ended. A relief to the ears, but not to the minds of Tenchi
and the girls. Meantime, Kento started shouting about after hearing the
song.

"WWWWWOOOOOOO!" he shouted. "WWWOOOOOOO! Alright! That was great, wasn't it
T-man!?"

He then noticed that he and Tenchi were not alone. He saw Ayeka, Ryoko, and
Sasami with Tenchi by the window. He would've been totally embarrassed if he
didn't then noticed the strange spray of water outside.

"Hey, what's that outside?" Kento wondered. "A sun shower?"

Before Tenchi and the others could delay him, Kento swiftly opened the door
and went out to the balcony. He looked about the area and realized that the
water came from the lake. As he looked toward the lake, his eyes widened to
the sight beheld. Tenchi and the others went onto the balcony, afraid that
their secret was now exposed. Then, Kento turned to Tenchi and the others
with a strange smirk on his face.

"...Tenchi..." he began. "...You won't believe it..."

"Uhhhh, Kento? I-I thi-"

"Shhh-shhh-shhh!" he interrupted. "Quiet man, I think I see those two babes
SKINNY-DIPPIN'...!"

Tenchi and the others were confused. Didn't he noticed the huge spaceship
floating in the lake? Kento gestured with his finger at Tenchi to come
closer. Tenchi walked over and hesitantly looked toward the lake. And to his
surprise, all he saw were two moving bodies in the water. It was Kiyone and
Mihoshi, swimming to the lake's fishing dock. What happened to the Yagami?
The answer was immediately obvious... Washu. Kento's grin quickly turned
upside-down when he noticed that they were in fact wearing clothes.

"Aww, man... What a rip..." he mumbled to himself as he went back inside. At
the same time, Washu passed by him heading toward Tenchi.

"Did he see anything?" she asked him.

"Nothing..." he responded.

"...Just Kiyone and Mihoshi fishing them selves out of the water." added
Ryoko.

"Miss Washu, what did you do with the Yagami?" asked Ayeka.

"Just teleported it to the docking space in my lab."

"Phew, that's good..." sighed Tenchi.

"Are you guys SURE he didn't see anything?"

"No. Nothing."

"......DRAT!" then said Washu, snapping her fingers. "Should've waited a
while before teleporting so he could see it...!"

The group's eyes widened.

"WHAT! YOU WANTED HIM TO SEE IT!?"

"Well... heh-heh-heh..." Washu began, scratching her head. "It WOULD give me
a good reason to test out my Nur-Ray on him..." she then looked out into
space with huge stars in her eyes. "AND I REALLY DO WANNA USE IT! IT'S MY
GREATEST INVENTION YET AND IT WOULD SUCH A WASTE NOT TO TEST IT, WOULDN'T
YOU AGREE?"

The group all face-faulted after hearing such a lame excuse. Just then, they
heard the voice of Kento coming from inside the house.

"Hey, T-bon!" he said. "Come back inside! I'm gonna crank some
Nine-Inch-Nails for ya!"

Upon hearing that, Tenchi and the others quickly ran into the room, shouting
in unison:

"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

************************************************************************


    Friday

************************************************************************

Tenchi spent the afternoon in the carrot fields, planting seeds. As he
worked, Ryo-Ohki snuck around and started digging holes to find carrots,
only to find the seeds. Disappointed, Ryo-Ohki tossed the seeds aside and
dug elsewhere. Suddenly, she was roughly picked up by an annoyed Tenchi who
caught wind of her antics.

"Caught you, Ryo-Ohki!" he said to her. "You know better than to dig up the
carrots. Besides, there isn't any carrots to dig up! I picked them all last
harvest, remember?"

Ryo-Ohki hung her head, upset and VERY hungry.

"I know, I know... Maybe now you'll stop sneaking carrots away from the
kitchen..."

Back at the house, Kento finished a bottle of his Lightning Lizzard energy
drink as he kicked back in the bedroom, but he still felt thirsty. He left
the room and headed down the hallway to the stairs with the empty bottle in
hand when he then heard a sound all too familiar to the native New Yorker:
Arguing, and lots of it. As he exited the hallway into the catwalk
overlooking the living room, he looked down to see Ayeka and Ryoko in a
verbal battle with a chocolate box containing one sole chocolate in between
them.

"...I know for a fact that you, Ryoko, ate nearly ALL of the chocolates Lord
Tenchi brought for everyone yesterday, you malodorous, knobby-nosed PIG!"
Ayeka shouted.

"Oh yeah?!" retorted Ryoko.

"Yeah! There were exactly 27 chocolates in that box and now there's only
ONE!"

"Well for your information, princess, I only ate 13 of those chocolates..."
she turns her back to Ayeka. Then she turns her head to the side, gazing one
eye toward the princess. "...and I know for a fact that YOU ate 10 yourself
and still got 3 chocolates stuffed down your dress!"

Ayeka gasped in shock, then grimaced from being found out. Ryoko smirked,
seeing her busted. Ayeka then cleared her throat, composing herself, and
resumed her royal dignified poise.

"So it seems we're even..." then said Ayeka.

"That we are..." replied Ryoko, now fully facing her. They then looked over
to the lone chocolate before returning to their rivaling gazes.

"So it's quite apparent..." began Ayeka.

"...Whoever get the last one..." continued Ryoko.

"...GETS TENCHI!!" concluded the two together. The two combatants then
readied themselves in their battle stances. They then charged at one
another, grasping each other's hands in an attempt to overpower the other.
Then they heard a voice above them.

"Ha-hallright! Catfight! Woo-hoooo!"

They look up to discover Kento looking down on them and grinning ear-to-ear.

"Oh, don't mind me, ladies..." he said to them. "Go on ahead..."

The two looked back at one another, then seemingly resuming their test of
strength as they placed their foreheads together.

(Great... Now what...!?) Ryoko muttered through a false sneer to Ayeka.

(Well, we can't just stop fighting... He'll suspect something...) she
replied through her own false sneer.

(You heard what the old man said... We just can't use our powers, that's
all... That is, IF you think you can handle me without your powers...)

(Humph... I am MORE than a match for you, even without my powers...)

With things settled, the two released their grips and leapt back from one
another. Beside Ryoko, she noticed a broom and quickly picked it up. Ayeka
looked around for a weapon of her own, but could only find a dustpan leaning
against the wall. Ryoko wielded the broom like a samurai sword while Ayeka
held the dustpan the best way she could. After a moment of silence between
their glares, the two combatants charged at one another. Swiping and
swinging, the princess and space pirate exchanged blows; their ensuing
battle thrashing every piece of furniture except that which was occupied by
the box containing the prized last chocolate. Up above, Kento looked on at
the now formed fight-cloud containing Ayeka and Ryoko, bouncing back and
forth around the living room knocking over everything in its path.
Surprisingly, he appeared as if he looked totally uninterested about the
battle. He even yawned long and loud, proving that fact, until finally he
couldn't take anymore.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG!!" he then shouted. Immediately,
the fight-cloud dispersed and there stood Ayeka and Ryoko looking up at him
in complete shock.

"WHAT?! BORING!?" they said to him.

"Yes, boring. T-man wrote me sayin' you guys can really cause some chaos!
Frankly, I'm not impressed..."

"Of course we can cause chaos!" said an angry Ayeka.

"Yeah, we can really tear up the place if we wanted to!" added an equally
angered Ryoko.

"Look, I'll give you guys some credit. You can tear up the joint somewhat...
But I'll tell you this... you're no Lowensteins."

Ayeka and Ryoko blinked.

"Lowensteins?" they asked. "Who are they?"

"Back in New York, there's a married couple who lives in the next building
across from mine. Those are the Lowensteins..." Kento then began walking
toward the stairs and down the steps as he continued. "...Now this couple
were ALWAYS having fights. I mean, they REEALLY have fights! Sometimes they
go at it hand-to-hand, other times they use guns. If they don't have guns,
they use whatever they can: furniture, pottery, dishes, flamethrowers... Uh
excuse me, do you have a recycling bin anywhere?" he then ask them, breaking
from the story.

"Oh, it's in the kitchen, the cabinet next to the sink." Ryoko answered.

"Thanks..."

He walked past them and entered the kitchen.

"Excuse me, could you please continue?" Ayeka asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah... they got flamethrowers, pipes, brass knuckles, power tools,
yada-yada-yada... Regardless, they caused some SERIOUS property damage. You
wouldn't BELIEVE how many times they had the cops called on them. Then when
I read what Tenchi wrote to me about you guys, I figured you girls left
CRATERES in your wake or something..." After dropping the empty bottle in
the bin, he went to an ice cooler where the others bottles were and got
another one. "...Now seeing you guys going at it... I guess he blew it out
of proportion. Must've never seen anybody get into a real brawl before..."

He then stepped out of the kitchen in between Ayeka and Ryoko with the box
containing the last chocolate just ahead of him.

"I don't get it..." said Ayeka. "If they fight so much, why do they stay
together?"

"Simple, really..." he began to answer as he grabbed the last chocolate.
"...they love each other..." he then popped the chocolate in his mouth,
swallowing it whole, and washed it down with his drink. "...they'll be
celebrating their 20th anniversary next February. From what I hear, the
police department is sending the entire SWAT team ta' help cater the
reception... Well...later, you two!"

And with that, he left them and went back upstairs. Once out of view, both
Ayeka's and Ryoko's bodies slumped over as they both let out a tremendous
sigh. Then, they looked toward one another as the warring anger they had
before resurfaced.

"Now..." said Ayeka and Ryoko, dropping their cleaning tools and powering
up. "...where were we..."

The air swirled as the combatants charged-up their powers to full strength.
Then, as they were about unleash a force unseen and unimagined by anyone at
least this part of the galaxy, a small but important realization popped into
their heads. Eyes widened, they looked toward the box of chocolates which
was now completely empty. The chocolate: the prized last chocolate, the
deciding factor of their long war for Tenchi's affection, snatched away
right in front of them.

"H...He...took..." started Ayeka.

"Th...the...last one..." finished Ryoko. Both of them slumped over
distraught. Neither one noticing the powers they collected dissipate into
nothing. And there they remained for the rest of the day...

************************************************************************


Saturday

************************************************************************

That night, the entire household had gathered at the table as dinner laid
out before everyone. As usual, the group was amazed by Sasami's impeccable
culinary skills.

"Not a bad spread, kid." complimented Kento.

"Thank you, Kento." Sasami smiled.

"She has a NAME, you know...!" scolded Ayeka to Kento.

"Chill out, sister. I ain't dissin' her..."

"I am NOT your SISTER!!"

"Now, now, Ayeka. He wasn't rude. He was just being polite." spoke up
Nobuyuki as he then raised a glass. "And, if it's all the same to all of
you, I'd like to propose a toast in honor of our guest..."

Everyone followed suit in raising their glasses. Kento scratched his head,
slightly embarrassed.

"To our new guest, Kento. Cheers!"

"Cheers!" followed the others.

"Man... this is... this is great, yo... A-After all the hassle I probably
put you guys through, you go n' do this..." Kento barely muttered out,
bursting out a couple of embarrassed chuckles from all the attention, before
composing himself. "Well, what are we waitin' for... Let's eat!"

With that, Ryoko was the first out of the gate to start grabbing food for
her plate. But her quick hands were quickly slapped to a halt by Ayeka.

"Ryoko! What do you think you're doing?!" she scolded.

"What does it looks like?! I'm getting my food to eat!" retorted Ryoko.

"Honestly... Such manners! Don't you know that the guest should be the first
one to receive their plate of food!?"

"Yo... It's O.K.. I just wanna eat." spoke up Kento.

"No, it is not O.K.! Ryoko is ALWAYS like this!" she then said, pointing
toward Ryoko. "That ungrateful pig is never considerate to ANYONE!!"

Ryoko quickly stood up in anger to Ayeka's accusations.

"What did you call me?!"

"You heard me! You are an UNGRATEFUL PIG!!"

"Humph! I don't think you should be the one calling people names,
'Runaway'!"

Ayeka then stood up herself, scowling at the mention of the word "Runaway".

"Don't you DARE call me that, you demon...!"

"Why not? It's true, isn't it...?" Ryoko then said; a smile then appearing
on her face.

"Ayeka... Ryoko..." then said Tenchi. "Let's not-"

But before Tenchi could say any more, Ayeka lashed out her withheld anger
with a hard slap across Ryoko's face. Everyone except Kento gasped in
horror, knowing what that will bring about: Full-scale war with everyone in
the cross-fire. Naturally, Ryoko responded with a slap of her own, with an
extra one for good measure. That confirmed it; there was no other way to
avoid the inevitable. The two then leapt from each other and stood at their
fighting stances.

"Ayeka... Ryoko... Calm down, PLEASE!" Tenchi pleaded, but to no avail. The
two combatants then charged at one another, colliding with one another at
their thrusted elbows which cancelled out both their blows.

"Please stop!" Tenchi again pleaded, him being the only one other than Kento
who didn't take cover. Again, his plea fell on deaf ears. To them, they were
the only ones in existence... and that existence wasn't big enough for the
both of them... They then began charging their power, reading themselves to
deal a devastating blow to the other. Meantime, amongst the chaos, there
still sat Kento; transfixed to the battle with open awe, his bowl of rice in
his hand that he held ever since the fight started. Tenchi quit pleading and
hid with the others, unaware that his new guest was still in the cross-fire.

"TAKE THAT, RUNAWAY!!!" Shouted Ryoko as she let loosed her ferocious energy
blast at Ayeka.

"EAT THIS, CRIMINAL!!!" Shouted Ayeka as she released her own energy blast
at Ryoko. Neither one knowing (or maybe they didn't care) that Kento was in
between the line of fire, looking wide-eyed to his left and right as the
beams of energy headed his way. Tenchi then realized that Kento was still at
the table and looked up from his cover behind the couch just to see the
beams of energy about to strike him. Time seemed to slow down as his fears
were about to come true...

"KENTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

Outside, it could be quite apparent to see the left and right sides of the
house simultaneously explode. On the inside, nothing but smoke could be seen
and coughing could be heard...

"Kento! ...COUGH-COUGH... Kento!!" cried out Tenchi as he called for his
missing guest. But as the smoke slowly began to clear, Tenchi then spotted a
most horrific scene. He gasped to see the bowl of rice Kento was holding in
his hand during the fight, but the rest of him was not to be seen...

"KKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNTTTTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But just then, Mihoshi saw from a different angle, a different scene...

"Oh my goodness..." she gasped as Tenchi fell to his knees in tears, "He's
gonna hurt himself if stays leaned back that way..."

The teary-eyed Tenchi, hearing her words looked with opened eyes back at the
scene as the smoke finally cleared to reveal the truth... Kento was NOT
dead. He merely leaned back all the way to the ground while his legs still
remained in the lotus position; a feat most painful to some, if not properly
limber. Tenchi was overwhelmed with relief. He and the others went over to
Kento to find something strange about him. His facial expression had was of
complete shock: his eyes were wide, his mouth completely shut...

"Is he alright...?" wondered Nobuyuki.

"We'll soon see...?" Katsuhito responded. But before anyone checked on him,
Kento began to stir... They watched as he rose to an upright position, the
bowl of rice still remained in his hand and the same facial expression held
fast. Then, something slowly came out of his mouth. A patch of white fluff:
it was the rice that he was eating. It slowly crept out and fell into his
lap.

"Kento?" Tenchi whispered to him, wondering if he's alright mentally as well
as physically. "Kento, are you O.K.?"

Kento then began to stir once more... First from his stomach... then to his
chest... up to his neck and finally to his mouth. A small, faint sound then
came out...

"........................................H..................H.............Ha........."

The group stayed fast in wonder... was that... a laugh?

"..................Ha...............Ha...........Ha...............Ha-Ha............"

"Kento?"

Ha-ha......Ha-Ha....Ha-Ha-Ha."

What began as a snicker, turned into a giggle... then a chuckle... then a
laugh... until...

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Tenchi and the others were shocked. Had the near-death experience made him
lose his mind!? Washu then brought out her Nur-Ray and held it behind her
back just in case.

"Kento! Kento, can you hear me?!" Tenchi said to him, shaking him.

"OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-MAAAANN!" he then said, with now satisfied expression on his
face. "T-MAN, WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG?!"

The group was a bit stunned. Tenchi started sweating...

"Wh... What does he mean by that, Tenchi...?" Sasami asked Tenchi.

"Uhhh... I-I don't know... S-S-Sasami..." Tenchi stuttered.

"Whoa, man...!" sighed Kento, laying down his bowl of rice on the charred
table. "That was great! I thought they'd NEVER go at it!"

"Huh?" wondered Ayeka and Ryoko.

"Wait a minute..." then said Kiyone, approaching him. "You mean you KNEW
about what they could do...?!"

"...For some time, yes..." he replied with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, really..." then said Washu smiling as she began to adjust the Nur-Ray
that she still held behind her back. "Exactly how LONG have you known...?"

Kento began to think.

"Hmmmm.... let's see... I've been here for a straight week... So that's
seven days... Hmmmmm... carry the four..."

As Kento continued this mental calculation, the whole group waited with
baited breath. Washu especially so that she could set the Nur-Ray to erase
the exact amount of memory. After a minute of silent thought, he came to a
conclusion.

"Got it! All together, I have to say I've known about this for exactly...
FOUR MONTHS!"

At his final calculation, the entire group face-faulted. All except,
however, for Tenchi, who seemed to be gushing left and right with sweat.

"F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-FOUR MONTHS!! YOU KNEW FOR FOUR MONTHS!!" exclaimed a
bedazzled Washu. "H-H-H-H-H-H-H-HOW CAN THAT BE??!!"

"Well, duh... T-man wrote n' told me..." he replied without a care, much to
the horror of the others as all eyes were now focused on Tenchi. Tenchi grew
pale as he looked to the girls, his father and grandfather with his secret
exposed.

"Tenchi.... you told?" asked a heartbroken and teary-eyed Sasami.

"I, uhhh... I... ohhh..." Tenchi was without words.

"Of course he told, kid!" Kento, however, was not.

"Why, Lord Tenchi...? How could you have done this...?"

"Cause we made a promise to each other...!" Kento answered sternly in
Tenchi's place. "When we started writing, we both made a promise that no
matter what we write to each other, it would be completely true. No tall
tales or hyped up things... We wrote about what we like to do, how we live,
how things are at our schools, stuff like that. Then we told each other
about our families... And, well.. when I told him about my family, he HAD to
tell me about you guys... Even the little 'quirks' you got, Heh-Heh. And,
well, of course I thought he was pullin' my leg when he started tellin' me
about space pirates, princess, mad scientists, and space cops... But then I
remembered we made a promise to tell the truth, and it still holds true
now... So in the end, I say it better helped me be a bit more prepared for
you guys when I was put on the Foreign Exchange Program. Like those guys in
the school board WASN'T tryin' to use an excuse ta' get ridda me..."

"So... you're not some straight-A student?" asked a baffled Nobuyuki.

"Nope," he smiled, "just your average border-line student..."

Kento then got up to stretch his legs, the remains of the rice he was eating
that fell on his lap then fell to the floor.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that..." he said as he picked it up and put it on his bowl
of rice. He then noticed the clock "Aw, man... look at the time... I'm gonna
switch up from these pants n' head to bed. It's been a heck of a time,
tonight..."

Without a care of all that transpired, Kento then made his way to the
stairs.

"Thanks again for the meal, Sasami... Night everyone...!"

And with that they watched him head up the stairs, across the walkway above,
and out of view as he headed to his room. Then eyes all returned to Tenchi.
Tenchi felt like bacteria under a microscope, with no place to run or hide.

"Well... heh-heh, this was an interesting evening, wasn't it?
Heh-heh-heh..."

Cold stares and equally cold silence was the only reply. Tenchi was in deep,
this time.

"Ahem!" cough Katsuhito, breaking the silence. "Tenchi...?"

"Uhh... Yes, grandpa?"

"Tomorrow is Sunday, am I right?"

"Yes, grandpa..."

"Tenchi... After breakfast, I want you come to the temple for a LONG
discussion about this new development. Understand?"

"Yes, grandpa..."

Katsuhito then turned to Sasami.

"Sasami?"

"Yes, grandfather?"

"Would you please bring our lunch and dinner to the temple, tomorrow?"

"Okay, grandfather..."

"Thank you..." he now then looked toward his son-in-law.

"Nobuyuki?"

"Way ahead of you, Dad. I was just thinking the same thing. It'll be no
problem..."

"Good." Now turning to the rest. "Now, I'd say we should all get a good
rest... We need it."

With that, he left the house and retired to the temple. After a quick
clean-up around the table, everyone retired to their rooms for the night.
And what a night! After a long, hard week of trying to keep their secret,
they discover that Kento knew about them long before he arrived. For now,
things are at peace... but that would soon change for one particular young
Masaki boy come the dawn...


The End

************************************************************************

This story was a long time coming, but I had problems left and right with my
computer... Not to mention other things happening I here in the states...
Y'all know what I'm talkin' 'bout... Anyway, write me back at cap@cfl.rr.com
and tell me what you think. Oh yeah! The Poll! Here's the stats: 30% for the
"big guy", 57% for the "street thug", 12% for the "cowboy". And
surprisingly, some people actually got the riddle in the past story. 1%,
really... And now, the next episode preview...

************************************************************************

                          Preview Of Next Episode

************************************************************************

Tenchi: Ready, Kento?

Kento: Sigh... Whatever, man...

Tenchi: C'mon, it's the first day of the school year...

Kento: Grrrrrrr! I HATE UNIFORMS!

Tenchi: There's also a new girl transfer student to our school, who's giving
Kento a really hard time.

Kento: What's her deal, anyway...? She's up in my face and I don't know what
for!

Tenchi: WHAT?! She hates him because he's from America!?

Kento: Hey, don't hate ME cause my country got more elbow room then hers.
I'm just visitin'...

Tenchi: Sigh... Next episode of Tenchi N' Kento, "No Need for Exchange
Students"

Kento: No need for uniforms, either, as far as I'm concerned...

Tenchi: It's undoubtedly educational...