Unwelcome guest chap 4 

     “Beautiful.”  Tenchi said staring.  He was referring to two things, the
view of the sunset from the mountain, and Aieka walking up the trail to meet
him.  Eric had been good to his word and was keeping Ryoko occupied.  Though
sooner or later Tenchi would want to spend time with Ryoko.  Not just yet
though.  He had spent the last three days with Aieka and he was finding that
he liked her quit a bit.  She was acting less reserved and she was willing
to share her feelings with him.  Something Ryoko still seemed unable to do.
Now that he thought about it, Ryoko had been very distant the past three
days.  Did she know?  No, she couldn’t, Eric was making sure of that.
     “Good evening, Lord Tenchi.”  Aieka’s smile seemed to brighten up the
coming evening.
     “Good evening, Miss Aieka.”  Tenchi felt the urge to kiss her, but not
yet.  Even though he immensely enjoyed his time with Aieka, he was
determined to spend time with Ryoko before he made any decisions.  Tenchi
took her arm and the walked into the forest.

     “Well, what a nice night.”  Eric was sitting on the grass staring up at
the starry sky.  He loved summer nights, wasn’t too hot or too cold, and he
had always liked the dark better.  He stood up and looked into the woods.
He walked into the house; everyone was asleep, including Tenchi and Aieka.
He had seen them return from their rendezvous in the woods.  That wasn’t
what was concerning him though.  Tonight he was only worried about the news
that Mihoshi and Kiyone had conveyed earlier this morning.

     “Dr. Clay escaped?”  Washu shot up, “How?  Wasn’t he in maximum
security?”
     “Yes.”  Mihoshi looked confused, “No one know how he got out of his
cell.  They went by his cell on their rounds and he was gone.  He managed to
get away without setting off any alarms or anything.”
     “Which is why we’re going to be staying right here for a few days.”
Kiyone explained.  “They figure that he might come back after you.”
     “Clay.”  Tenchi seemed to be remembering.
     “Who’s Dr. Clay?”  Eric had asked.
     “Huh?”  Washu looked at him, “Oh, well, he’s someone from my past that
came here and caused some trouble.  We ended up having to call the police on
him.”
     “Oh.”  Eric said, “Harassment or something?”
     “Yes, and kidnapping.”  Ryoko muttered.
     “Kidnapping?  Who?”  Eric looked surprised.
     “Me.”  Ryoko responded.
     “You?” Eric said shocked.  “I have a hard time imagining that someone
would be able to kidnap you.”
     “Anything’s possible.”  Ryoko said as she stood up and left the room.
     “Does anyone know what’s wrong with Ryoko?”  Sasami asked eagerly.
“The past few days she just hasn’t been herself.”
     No one knew, or at least no one said anything.
     So now Eric waited, he watched the forest from on top of the roof.
This messes up everything!  He thought angrily.  I can’t believe how
incompetent the galaxy police are.  It was going on four a.m. and still
there was no sign of anything.  Eric was sure that he would come though.  It
wasn’t too much longer until he did.
     Clay was watching the house from the woods, he had four robots with
him, all were about 6 feet tall with his insignia on their chest, and all of
them were armed with laser rifles.
     “I should storm the house now and get Washu.”  Clay thought aloud.
     “And end up right back where you were.”  Eric said from behind him,
“Great idea.  How about I go wake them up for you?”
     “You!”  Clay angrily shouted, “Lady Tokimi said that I could capture
Washu!”
     “That was before you were arrested.”  Eric smiled, “You had your chance
and you failed.  Now it’s my turn.”
     “Humph.”  Clay crossed his arms over his chest, “You’ll never be able
to capture her you cocky boy.”
     “Maybe.”  Eric turned to Clay, “But I’ve been in the house longer than
your ‘Zero’ was and they haven’t detected me yet.”
     “Luck.”  Clay said irritably.
     “Yea, you keep thinking that.”  Eric looked at the house, “So far
everything is going great.  I got Ryoko angry with everyone; she hasn’t
talked to anyone other than me in the past two days.  And Tenchi goes off
and spends every day with Aieka.  It’s just a matter of finding the right
time.”
     “You won’t succeed.”  Clay said, “They are stronger and smarter than
you think.  No matter how hard you plan, you won’t succeed.”  Clay smiled.
     “Oh, really?”  Eric asked grinning, “Well I’m not a fool, Clay, so I’ll
make a deal with you.  Tenchi and Aieka are going to spend the day together
tomorrow.  Kiyone and Mihoshi are going to be at the house though because
the galaxy police are expecting you to attack Washu again.  But, I’ll take
Ryoko with me to Tokyo.  All you have to deal with then is Mihoshi, Kiyone
and Washu herself.  Think you could handle that?”
     Clay smiled widely, “Of course I can, the only reason I was defeated
last time was because of Zero.  Without any of the stronger fighters around
to stop me, getting Washu will be easy.”
     “Good.”  Eric began walking back towards the house, “We will tell Lady
Tokimi that we cooperated on this matter.”  He turned and looked at Clay,
“And don’t even think about trying to double cross me, Clay.  Otherwise I’ll
have to kill you.”
     “I would never try something like that, Matthius.”  Clay said as Eric
walked back to the house.  Clay chuckled silently; finally Washu would be
his, “Tomorrow!”  He said eagerly, he watched the house for a few minutes
more and then disappeared into the woods.

     “Ryoko.”
     A voice called out to her, Ryoko desperately wanted it to be Tenchi’s
voice.  Telling her that everything was all right, that he loved her and not
Aieka.
     “Ryoko.”  The voice said quietly, almost singing it.
In her dream she was on a hill overlooking a valley.  She saw Tenchi and
Aieka in each other’s arms at the bottom of the hill.  The sight brought out
mixed emotions, she wanted to run and hide and cry.  How could Tenchi choose
Aieka over her?  It also made her want to fly down there and kill Aieka,
blow her up, cut off her head, whatever it took.
     “Ryoooko.”  Someone came up from behind and put their arms around her.
She looked over her shoulder and saw that it was Eric.  She leaned against
him and smiled, suddenly she didn’t care, let Aieka have Tenchi.  Tenchi was
too dull for her anyway.  Ryoko liked to be wild and have fun.  Tenchi was
far too passive, and he was so inexperienced in so many things, Eric on the
other hand.  Her thought was cut short as she felt a pain from behind.  Her
eyes widened in shock and she looked down to see a blue energy sword through
her.  The sword was pulled out and she stumbled forward.  She tried to call
out to Tenchi for help, but he was too involved with Aieka to even notice
her.  She turned around and saw Eric holding the Tenchi-ken.  She opened her
mouth to ask, ‘Why?’  But no sound came out.
     “Sorry, Ryoko.”  Eric said with a sad smile, “But I have no choice.”

     Ryoko’s eyes snapped open and she almost screamed.
     “Morning, beautiful.”  Eric said smiling, he was standing over her with
his arms on her shoulders, “I didn’t want to wake you to suddenly but
calling your name didn’t seem to do anything.”
Ryoko blinked a few times to try and clear her vision, she had tears in her
eyes from the dream.
     “You okay?”  Eric kneeled down next to her, “You look kind of scared or
something.”
     “I’m fine.”  She said sitting up and pushing him away.  She stood up
and stretched, she then walked over to her chest to find some clothes to
wear.
     “You know something, Ryoko?”  Eric said leaning against a wall and
watching her, “I always think you look the best in the morning.”
Ryoko smiled and turned to him, “That’s only because I’m naked.”
     “Maybe.”  Eric said smiling widely, “Hey, I got a great idea for
today.”  Eric walked over to her and put his arms around her waist.  “How
about we go to Tokyo today?  I know you’ve been kinda down about the Tenchi
and Aieka thing, so I figured a day with me alone ought to cheer you up,
what’d ‘ya say?”
     Ryoko smiled, in the past month that Eric had been with them she had
grown used to his affectionate manner, and she had to admit that she liked
it.  Tenchi always did everything he could to avoid physical contact with
her.  Eric seemed to seek it out; he always hugged her or put his arm around
her.  He never did anything too presumptuous, but he always made sure to
give her a hug before she got dressed in the morning.
     “Well?”  Eric asked looking down at her.
     “Sure, why not?”  Ryoko looked up at him and smiled, “Can I get dressed
now?”
     “Let me think about it.”  Eric said grinning.

     Tenchi awoke and blinked tiredly.  He rolled out of bed and stretched,
pulled on some clothes, and made his way downstairs to the breakfast table.
     “Morning.”  He said happily as he sat next to Aieka.
     “Morning!”  Sasami happily replied.
     “Morning.”  Everyone else muttered.
     “Good Morning Lord Tenchi.”  Aieka said smiling.
Tenchi returned the smile and began eating, “Hey, where’s Ryoko and Eric?”
He queried between mouthfuls.
     “They went to Tokyo this morning.”  Sasami said smiling, “Eric said
they wouldn’t be back until tonight.
     “Oh, that’s good to hear.  Ryoko needs to get out a little, she seems
like she’s upset or something lately.”
     “I wonder why that could be?”  Washu said sarcastically.
Tenchi gave her a puzzled look and then returned to his breakfast.  The rest
of breakfast was silent except for Mihoshi telling everyone what she and
Kiyone had done yesterday.
     “Well I better get off to the fields.”  Tenchi said standing up.
They all waved by to Tenchi and continued on with their conversation.  “Does
everybody remember what tomorrow is?”  Sasami eagerly asked.
     “Tomorrow?”  Mihoshi looked confused.
     “Of course.”  Washu said.
     “It’s Tenchi’s birthday, Mihoshi.”  Kiyone said exasperated.
     “Oh yea!”  Mihoshi laughed, “I already got him a present.”
     “I wonder if that’s what Eric and Ryoko went to Tokyo for?”  Sasami
said thoughtfully.
     “Knowing how selfish she is, I think it’s rather doubtful.”  Aieka said
shaking her head.  “Well I think I will go take a bath.”  Aieka stood up and
walked away from the table.
     Sasami giggled, “I know where she’s really going.”
     “Who doesn’t?”  Washu said sighing.
     “Where is she going?”  Mihoshi looked confused, “She’s not taking a
bath?”
     “Why did I ask?”  Washu said putting her head in her hands.

     “Damn!”  Eric was pacing back in forth in front of the bench.  “By the
time the bus gets here we wont get to Tokyo until dark!”
“Calm down.”  Ryoko said staring up at the sky.  “It’ll come soon enough.”
     Eric sat down next to her, “It better.”  He muttered.
     Ryoko laughed and continued to look up at the sky.  She felt better now
that they were out of the house and away from Tenchi and Aieka, but she
still couldn’t shake the dream from this morning.  What did it mean?
     “Penny for your thoughts?”  Eric laid his head down on her lap, “What’s
with you?  You’ve been spacey all morning.”
     “Just thinking.”  She muttered not looking down at him.
     “Thinking is good.”  Eric reached a hand up and pulled her head down to
look at him, “But too much thinking is bad.”
She smiled, “Maybe.  Or maybe you don’t think enough.”
He laughed, “Maybe.”  He pulled her head down more and brought his up so
they were close, “but I have been thinking about something.”  His usual
confident smile was replaced by a serious face.
     “What have you been thinking about?”  Ryoko said apprehensively.
     “You.”  He brought his head up more and kissed her on the lips.  Ryoko
stiffened at first but then returned it.  He smiled as he pulled away,
“Thanks for making this the best day I’ve had here.”
Ryoko blushed, “Well, I…”  She began, but then they heard a horn.
     “’Bout damn time!”  Eric stood up, “C’mon Ryoko.”  He said smiling,
“Off to Tokyo.”  She hesitated a moment and then took his hand.

     Tenchi ploughed the fields diligently, “Why can’t we just go to the
market like everyone else?”  He thought irritably, “Then I wouldn’t have to
spend my days doing this.”
     “Tenchi!”  His grandfathers stern voice called, “Time for practice!”
     “Coming!”  Tenchi replied running over to where they always practiced.
As he reached the clearing his grandfather was waiting for him.
     “Today we’re going to do something a little different, Tenchi.”  He
said calmly, “Instead of you attacking that stick and working on your
footing, you’re going to fight something that will fight back.”
     “What, grandfather?”  Tenchi asked eagerly.
     “Me.”
     “What?”  Tenchi was shocked, “But I’ll never be able to beat you!”  He
exclaimed, “You’ve been using a sword for far longer than me and your
Jurai’s best swordsman!”
     “Maybe,” His grandfather said thoughtfully, “but, you’ll never know
unless you try.”
     “Hmmm.”  Tenchi thought for a moment, “You’re right!”  He got in a
ready stance, “Let’s go!”
Tenchi charged his grandfather who patiently awaited the attack.

     Meanwhile, hidden in the forest, Dr. Clay awaited his moment to strike.
  “Soon.”  He thought eagerly, “Very soon.”

okay so thats chap 4.  send me feedback. or whatever thnx again for posting
this. onto 5 where things will get a little more interesting and exciting.