***

Mirai Muyo!
***********

A Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki fanfiction.  Tenchi Muyo! in all its incarnations,
and all its characters, are owned by Pioneer and AIC. Please don't sue me.

***

3 - Girls, Girls, Girls...

***

"Kuso," Tenchi cursed to Jinchi and Kuroguma as they walked out the front
doors to the school.  "Where did she go, anyway?  All I did was turn my back
on her for a second."

"Keeps a close eye on her," Jinchi commented to Kuroguma as he wiped his
glasses on his shirt.

"Seems to be worried about her," the tall, gangly young man returned.

Jinchi grinned at Tenchi and lightly slapped him on the back.  "Oooh, you've
got it BAD."

"Will you two shut up and help me look?" Tenchi snapped.  *Please don't let
her get into trouble,* he prayed. *That's all I ask.*

Kuroguma stopped to admire a passing sophomore's figure, and frowned as he
noticed a small group of his female classmates in a huddle.  "Say, Masaki?"
As his friend turned to look at him, he pointed
towards the group.  "Isn't that her with...uh..."  He frowned and thought
hard for a moment and coming up wth a blank.  "Do you know, Kanshiki?"

"Hououji Fuu, Ryuuzaki Umi, Shidou Hikaru.  The recently-renamed Girl's
Combat Club, and in our class.  You should know this, stupid, you dated Umi
once," the short, pudgy teen helpfully supplied, and then chuckled.  "I SO
prefered their old name.  'F-cubed' just had a ring to it."

Kuroguma blinked a few times, and then snickered as the pun dawned on him.
"Kanshiki, you're a hentai."

"And proud of it."

"Ryoko!" Tenchi called, waving his arm.  The cyan-haired girl looked over at
him nervously, and then walked slowly towards him, after a short word from
Umi.

***

"I'm telling you, Ryoko, just run up to him and TELL him what you're going
to do," Umi insisted.  "He won't know what hit him."

Fuu shook her head.  "Umi-san, that's not very nice.  She is boarding at his
house, after all, she should at least be polite and ask him if it's okay."

Ryoko bit her lip in indecision.  "But I don't want Tenchi to get mad at
me."  The three other girls stared at her in amazement.  "Nani?"

"Ryoko-chan," Hikaru said seriously, "you have to be your own person too.
Why would Tenchi-kun get mad at you for going out with some friends?"

*Because I'm a space pirate with the power to blow up the planet several
times over?  Because he's the only friend I have who's even close to me in
maturity?* Ryoko answered silently.  "But he's...," she began, and was cut
off as she heard Tenchi calling her.

"Go on," Umi urged, pushing Ryoko on the back.  She leaned forward and
whispered in her ear, "give him a kiss on the cheek too, that'll kill him."
As Ryoko walked off to meet Tenchi, she shook her head in disbelief.  "Mou,
she's so in love with him."

Fuu looked after Ryoko sympathetically.  "Also she's lonely, and not used to
having friends."  She stopped and giggled slightly.  "And she has no idea
how to handle Tenchi-san."

"Then we'll just have to be her friends and help her, won't we?" Hikaru
added, and the other two girls nodded in agreement.  They looked at the
conversing pair in silence for a moment, before Hikaru spoke again.
"Umi-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"Since when are you an authority on men?  You don't even have a boyfriend."

Umi sniffed delicately.  "That's because they're all immature little
idiots."

"Ferrio-san isn't," Fuu countered.

"Neither is Lantis-kun," Hikaru added.

Umi shook her head in disgust.  "You just don't get it," she sighed, and
frowned.  "Check it out, girls, Kuroguma's making for that group of
sophmores, and I think he's after that tall one with the brown hair and the
big...talents, to use his word."  She laughed suddenly.  "Looks like he's
going to make a good impression too, that idiot Ataru's beat him there, and
Shutaro's hot on his heels."

***

"I'm glad I found you, Ryoko," Tenchi said in relief as she approached.
"Come on, we'll miss the bus back home."

"But..." Ryoko closed her eyes and steeled herself.  *Come on, girl.  You've
managed to not throw yourself at him, that's a start.  Like they said, why
would he get mad at me for being with friends?*  "I'm not going home yet,
I'm going shopping with my friends."

Tenchi gaped at her, and then grabbed her arm and brought her closer.  "Are
you INSANE?" he hissed into her ear.  "You can't...I mean...what if...you
might..." he stopped babbling and calmed himself.  "I can't let you go out
alone, anything could happen!"

*He's worried about me?* Ryoko wondered happily as Tenchi continued
lecturing.

"You could lose your temper and blow up half of Tokyo!  The authorities
might find out who you are!"

Ryoko felt her temper rise.  "Teeenchiiii," she whined, "I PROMISED.  Why
won't you trust me?"

Catching himself before he snapped the obvious answer, Tenchi considered
that.  *She did promise,* he allowed.  He recalled the conversation they had
that morning and felt a bit disgusted with himself.  *Here she is, making
friends, and I'm being a jerk and making it difficult for her.*  Tenchi
sighed, and decided to stop his resistance.  "Do you have any money?" he
said resignedly.  He blinked as Ryoko reached into her bag and pulled out
the small purse Washu had given her.  "Fine," he sighed, shaking his head.
"Just stay out of trouble, please?"

"Yatta!" Ryoko cheered, and made to head back to the girls.  Remembering
what Umi had told her, she turned back to Tenchi and quickly kissed him on
the cheek and whispered, "Arigato, Tenchi-kun," before she ran off.

Tenchi stared after her in shock, as he once again tried to reconcile the
Ryoko he knew with the one he just saw.  He felt hot for some reason, and
wiped the back of his hand against his forehead.

"Masaki." The smooth, low voice sent a chill down Tenchi's spine, and he
turned to look into the young man who spoke to him.  He was roughly Tenchi's
height, with dark shoulder-length hair that shone with a coppery glow.  His
face was narrow and long, the sort of face that was so handsome as to almost
be called beautiful.

"Tsurai," Tenchi growled.  "I suppose we're just too unlucky to be so
blessed by the lack of your presence."

The other young man laughed and hit Tenchi on the shoulder in a friendly
way.  "Ahh, I missed your banter, Masaki Tenchi-kun.  It always made my
day."

"What do you want, Tsurai Tansei-kun?" hissed Tenchi, the venom in the
honorific warping it into an insult.

Tansei merely raised an eyebrow at Tenchi's words, and smiled
condescendingly.  He gestured to where Ryoko stood with her new friends.  "I
couldn't help but notice the angel you were talking with-" he began, and
abruptly stopped as Tenchi stepped in front of him and glared at him, eye to
eye.

"Stay away from her, Tsurai."

Tansei blinked slowly.  "Is she someone special to you?"

"She's a friend, and she's off limits, understand?"

"I understand perfectly, Tenchi-kun," Tansei said smoothly.  "You're not
dating her."  With that, he turned and walked off, leaving Tenchi with some
parting words.  "That means she's free game."

Tenchi shook his fist after the other young man.  "Tsurai, you...you...you
keep away from her or..."  He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked into
Kuroguma's and Jinchi's concerned faces.

"Let me guess," the gangly man rumbled.  "He's going after Ryoko now." He
sighed breathily.  "You've got a fight on your hands, Masaki."

Tenchi grinned mirthlessly at the other's words.  "Oh...I'm not worried
about losing Ryoko," he chuckled.  "I'm more worried about what she'll do to
HIM."

"What are you talking about?" Jinchi demanded, pushing his glasses back up
on his nose.

"Nevermind," Tenchi said, shaking his head to dispell the chuckles, and
shouldering his pack for the walk to the stop.  "I'll see you guys tomorrow,
ne?"

"Ja ne," the two other teens chorused.  Jinchi stared after Tenchi with a
confused look.

"Did you get that, Ueru?"

"Hmm."

"I mean, what's 'I'm more worried about what she'll do to him' supposed to
mean?"

"Hmm."

"So, I see you struck out with that Kino chick."

"Hmm."

"Ueru, are you listening to me?"

"Hmm."

"Hey, kawaiiko approaching."

"WHERE?"

***

"Sugoi," breathed Ryoko as she read the list of shops in the mall.  "This
place has everything!  I've got to find a good clothing store."  The other
girls watched with mild amusement as she scanned the map, and Hikaru giggled
softly.

"You'd think you've never seen a mall before, Ryoko-chan."

"I haven't," Ryoko breathed, her attention on the map, not her companions.

"Where have you lived all your life?" Umi demanded, an aghast tone in her
voice.  "A cave?"

*No, only the latter 700 years,* Ryoko responded mentally, and smiled wryly.
"I was pretty isolated for the past," she paused as she did a quick mental
calculation, "fifteen or so years."

"That's criminal!" Umi declared.  "That's got to be against some
international convention or something!"  Fuu tried to hush her as other
people in the mall began staring at them.

Uncomfortable under the many eyes that were on her, Ryoko tried to retaliate
by staring back.  She noticed a very tall, handsome young man with a great
deal of prensence watching from a nearby vending machine.  His face was the
essence of composure, but she could see that he was looking on with
amusement.

As if on cue, Hikaru let loose a resounding "LANTIS-KUN!" and went bounding
towards the man, who took a step forward and swept up the much shorter girl
in an affectionate, if proper, embrace.  Numerous people in the mall turned
away from the unseemly display of affection as Hikaru attempted to kiss the
man, who was quite successfully fending her off.

Umi shook her head in disgust.  "You timing this, Fuu?" she asked in a
businesslike tone.

"Twenty seconds and counting, Umi-san."  She smiled lightly.  "In another
ten seconds you owe me a sundae."  She turned to Ryoko.  "It's an old
ritual, Ryoko-san.  We've made a game of timing how long it takes Hikaru-san
to get a kiss out of Lantis-san.  Her fiancee," she added wistfully.

At that exact moment, Lantis' defenses against Hikaru's affections seemed to
collapse, and he made a quite show of roling his eyes as she kissed him on
the lips.

Umi cheered and whirled on Fuu.  "HAH!  Who owes WHOM a sundae?"

"You owe me," Fuu said primly.

"But-but-but-" Umi sputtered.  "You said-"

"I lied."  She spun on the ball of one foot and smiled cheerily at Lantis as
Umi stared at her in shock.  "Please do not cheat next time, Lantis-san."

Lantis made a soft snort of amusement.  "I told her you'd find out," he
replied, and then recoiled slightly on noticing Hikaru's wide eyes on him.
"What is it, Hikaru-chan?"

"You took a dive, Lantis-kun?" she asked in a small voice.

"Umi-san had a losing streak going that I felt had to stop," he said
defensively.

"Oh," Hikaru said, and considered that for a moment, before smiling
brilliantly.  "That's fine then!" she decided, and kissed him again, much to
his surprise.  "Isn't he sweet?" she demanded of the other girls.

Umi rolled her eyes and snorted.  "Hai.  Sweet," she deadpanned, and then
glared at Lantis.  "All right, you, where's your boss so Fuu can get this
nonsense out of her system too?  I'd like to do some shopping."

Lantis smiled lightly at her and replied, "Right behind you, with Fuu."

Umi and Ryoko turned to see Fuu with a small blush in her cheeks as she
gazed demurely back at another handsome young man with a face covered in old
scars.  The man was perhaps a few inches taller than Fuu, and wore a very
fine business suit that he seemed completely unsuited for.

"Konnichiwa, Ferrio-san," Fuu murmured softly.

Ferrio gave her a small bow while looking her up and down.  "As beautiful as
ever, Fuu," he returned, and smiled as Fuu blushed further.  He calmly
strolled forward and took her hand, and kissed it lightly.

"Four years they've been dating," Umi said snidely to Ryoko.  "And she still
blushes like that."

"If Tenchi greeted me like that," Ryoko added in Fuu's defense, "I'd blush
like that too."  *If Tenchi greeted me like that,* she mentally added, *I'd
suspect he'd been possessed."

"Tenchi wouldn't do that," Umi countered, "his pal Kuroguma, maybe, but not
him.  More the pity, eh?" She suddenly laughed at the surprised look on
Ryoko's face.  "You were thinking the same thing, weren't you?"

"Hai," Ryoko admitted, which only sent Umi laughing harder.  After a moment,
Ryoko had to smile as well.

Umi stopped, and once again bestowed a disgusted gaze upon the two other
girls and their boyfriends.  "That's it," she decided, and made patting
motions with her hands.  "You four, STAY HERE," she ordered, "Ryoko and I
are going to go look around for a while before the sugar around here rots my
teeth."

***

It had been a good afternoon, in Ryoko's opinion.  In fact, it had been
beyond good.  Words like fantastic, heavenly, and perfect came to her mind.

She had made FRIENDS.  Real ones.  She had pinched herself dozens to times
on the way home to convince herself it wasn't a dream, that she really had
met her friends' boyfriends (whom she had to admit were cute, but nothing
compared to Tenchi), that she really had spent hours in a department store
looking at clothes and chatting, that she really had the time of her life.

All these thoughts ran though Ryoko's mind as she walked down the lane
towards Tenchi's house.  "Taidama!" she called upon entering, only to find
herself looking into Tenchi's and Washu's stern glares.

"Ryoko, where the have you been?" Tenchi demanded.  "We ate dinner hours
ago!"

"Tenchi-dono," Washu interrupted sharply, "she's MY daughter, _I_ get to
lecture her."  She made shooing motions to him.  "Go do your homework or
something."  The diminutive redhead pointed an accusatory finger at Ryoko.
"You.  My lab.  Now."

Tenchi looked on in surprise as Ryoko trudged off to the lab, and Washu
followed her angrily.  "Homework," he echoed in a dazed voice.  "Sounds
good.  I'll go do that."

***

They both stood in the the Aquarium Room of Washu's lab, that enormous room
that held the environments for some of Washu's...guinea pigs.

"So, Ryoko-chan," Washu began sweetly, "did my little girl enjoy her first
day at school?"

"Hai, I really did!" she replied enthusastically, and then reeled as a
sudden spell of dizziness hit her.  She looked around in a bewildered
fashion, and then stormed over to Washu, picked her mother up by the shirt
and growled into her face, "What did you DO to me?"

"Don't wrinkle the uniform," Washu protested, and then gave her daughter an
innocent look.  "Why, Ryoko-chan, whatever do you mean?"

With a snort of disgust, Ryoko dropped the self-proclaimed genius.  "Stop
with the act, OKAASAN," the contempt in the word was clear as if she had
held up a neon sign.  "Was the experiment successful?  Or perhaps it was
just entertaining like that time you left me trussed up in your lab?  That's
all I am to you, isn't it?  Not a child, just some toy for your amuse-"

The gunshot retort of the slap echoed through the lab.

"Was it really so bad?" Washu asked quietly, letting her hand drop to her
side.  "Was having fun, making friends, being just a normal girl in Tenchi's
world really so bad?"

Ryoko bit back the affirmative she wanted to yell and considered the
question honestly.  No, she had to decide, it wasn't bad at all.  She liked
it.  It was...nice, even wonderful in a way, that being part of a group that
didn't judge each other, weren't in competition for the joys in life, but
rather to share and enhance them.

But that wasn't what bothered Ryoko.  What worried her was the fact that she
felt that she didn't really make friends with Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu.  Ryoko
didn't make those friends, the person Washu had made her into did.  Would
they like the wild, unrestrained Ryoko that was really underneath that shy,
meek exterior that she had exhibited today?

"No," Ryoko admitted in the same soft tone.  "It was one of the best things
in my life."  She turned away from her mother, and went to look through one
of the glass walls into the face of some more Masses, like the ones that had
joined with Ryo-Ohki.  The small spherical creatures swirled around
comically as they stared back at her.  "But it wasn't ME out there.  I don't
act that way, Ayeka does," she paused and added, "when she's in her miss
proper mode, anyway."

Ryoko reached forward and tapped her finger on the glass, smiling slightly
as the Masses scattered, and then turned back to Washu.  "Is this how it has
to be, Washu?  Do I have to change myself completely, turn myself into
something I'm not, to build a future with Tenchi?"

Washu grumbled something under her breath.  "Ryoko, all I did to you was
make you THINK a little bit more.  I made you use your brain a little.
Remember your brain, that thing I put between your ears?  I gave you a
slight depressant so you wouldn't go off and explode right away, and it
worked!"

"Oh, that's SO much better," Ryoko sneered.  "I get to drug myself every
morning!  Why don't just get drunk every morning instead?"

"Wouldn't work," Washu chuckled, too low for Ryoko to hear.  "You're a mean
drunk."  She cleared her throat and spoke louder.  "You'll have to do
nothing.  You know how to act now, and you can let yourself go a little. Not
all the way," Washu warned wagging her finger at her daughter, "the savages
on this planet have a thing about propriety, especially these Japanese."

"You wouldn't believe it by Hikaru this afternoon," Ryoko laughed. "Although
her boyfriend didn't appreciate her public enthusiasm."  She paused and
considered her statement.  "Neither did Fuu or Umi."

"So sit down and tell 'Kaachan all about your first day at school," Washu
said in a disconcerting motherly tone.  Ryoko shrugged and let the books she
had been carrying drop to the floor, then headed over to sit at a bench.
"HOLD IT!"

Ryoko spun and looked the redhead with a curious air.  "What?"

Pointing with an accusing finger at the pile of books, Washu ordered "Pick
them up.  I'm going to want to check your homework."

"Since when are you my keeper?" Ryoko snarled.

"Ever since I used my ovum to create you," Washu replied pertly.  "Now get
your books, get started, and tell me about your day."  She waited until
Ryoko had reluctantly picked up her books and started to trudge to another
section of the lab before adding "Especially all the cute boys you met."

"WASHU!"

"That's Washu-CHAN!"

***

"Tenchi-sama?"  A knock came from the bedroom door.

He looked up from his homework to glace over at it.  "Come in, Ayeka."

The door slid open, revealing a beaming Sasami, who mimed talking into a
microphone as she announced  "And now we present, for your viewing
pleasure," she made a sweeping wave at the door, "Ayeka!"

Tenchi gaped at the door as Ayeka made her appearance, and a sinking feeling
pervaded his soul when he saw the school uniform.  *Kuso.  This is not
good.*  He stood, a mite unshaky on his feet and walked over to look closer
at Ayeka.  He glared at her for a good thrity seconds, as the princess
smiled at him and waited demurely while he inspected her.  "Why?"

"Nani?" Sasami demanded.  "What's wrong Tenchi-niichan?"

"Give me one good reason," he insisted, "why you did this.  Why do you want
to come to school?"

"Because someone has to keep an eye on that bakemono and protect you from
her!" Ayeka shouted.  "The only reason she's gone to school is so that she
can work her ways on you!"

"Ryoko and I had very little to do with each other," Tenchi responded
evenly.  "She spent her day with her new friends."  He turned and went back
to his desk, shaking his head.  "Please, Ayeka.  I just wanted a nice, calm,
senior year in school, without all the insanity that happens around here.
Ryoko seems to want the same thing, and I'm giving her the benefit of the
doubt until she proves me wrong.  I can't stop you, Ayeka, but I'm asking
you: PLEASE don't make trouble."  He picked up his pencil and began working
on his homework.  "I've got to finish these problems. Goodnight, Ayeka,
Sasami.  Please close the door on your way out."

Stunned, Ayeka just stood there, and Sasami had to physically drag her out
of the room.  "Tenchi-niichan, you meanie!" Sasami yelled as she slammed his
door shut so hard it nearly left the tracks.

Tenchi stared at the page for a few seconds like a statue.  With an
explosive release, he sighed and leaned back in his chair.  "That was hard,"
he said to the air.  "But it was the right thing to do."  He suddenly sat
forward and clapped his hands in a quick prayer.  "PLEASE let that be the
right thing to do."

***

Ryoko groaned as she collapsed on the couch.  Who knew Washu could be such a
taskmaster?  She was about to take a quick nap when a shadow fell over her.
She looked up and saw Ayeka's furious face above her.  "What is it now,
Princess?" she asked resignedly, and then blinked as she noticed the
uniform.  "Nice duds, you coming too?"

"No," Ayeka sneered, "I am not."  She pointed an accusing finger in Ryoko's
face.  "You may have won this round, Ryoko," the enraged princess snarled,
"but not the war."  With that, she whirled on her feet and stormed away.

Ryoko sat up quickly.  "What are you talking about?" she demanded to the
retreating back.

Ayeka turned and laughed that wondefully insincere laugh.  "Oh, play the
ignorant fool, bakemono, I'm on to you."  She  disappeared up the stairs.

*Great,* Ryoko sighed mentally as she flopped back on the couch.  *I get one
possessive hussy at school in Ai, and one at home in Ayeka.  Perfect.*