Ep 5 - Nighttime

I'm Russell Piper, and what you're about to read is my first real attempt at a 
fanfiction.  It's based around Tenchi Universe (Tenchi TV) and the OVA so 
most of the main characters you've seen from there will appear here as well.  
It also crosses a bit with Dragonball Z with the existence of Dragonballs 
and immensely powerful warriors.  Ryoko and Tenchi had finally chosen to 
be together, and Aeka is still living at the house for now.  You'll see when it 
happens.  Anyway, I'll stop flapping my yap and let you get right to the 
story.  Enjoy!  Send all hate mail / fan mail to russael@mediaone.net.

	"Hey Sasami!  I'm starving to death!  When is dinner going to be 
ready?"  Ryoko called from the kitchen door.
	"Sorry Ryoko.  I'm almost done here.  Can you help me out by 
setting the table?"  Sasami was busy at the counter, trying to get the food 
out of the pots and onto the serving plates.  Ryoko gave her a funny look, 
but nodded her head.
	"Yeah, sure.  I think I can do that," Ryoko said, as she returned to 
the dining area.  Seeing the tablecloth neatly folded up on top of the dining 
table, she shook it out and allowed it to flutter down to the table.  It landed 
crooked, so she tried again, which ended up in the same result.  She 
shrugged her shoulders and returned to the kitchen door.  "Okay Sasami!  
Tablecloth is all set.  Is there anything else that needs to be done?"
	"Just tell everybody that dinner is ready, alright?  I'll take care of 
everything else."  Sasami smiled as she grabbed the first two plates to carry 
to the table.
	Ryoko's mouth started watering like crazy as she floated out of the 
kitchen and up to Tenchi's room.  He was still sitting at his desk, working 
on something.  Upon closer inspection, she could see he was drawing a 
picture of a beautiful nature scene, very similar to what was seen outside of 
Tenchi's bedroom window.  Ryoko rested her hand on Tenchi's shoulder as 
she brought her face down next to his, causing him to jump a little in 
surprise.
	"Ryoko!  What's the idea?  You know I don't like it when you 
sneak up on me like that."
	"I know.  That's why I do it."  She giggled and smiled.  "Dinner is 
ready.  Come on downstairs before it gets cold.  You know how Sasami 
can't stand it when the food gets cold and nobody eats it."
	"Yeah, you got that right."  Tenchi put his pencil aside and put his 
drawing in a folder that was sitting on his desk.  It was crammed full of 
other drawings that he had done in his spare time, including beautiful 
drawings of natural phenomenon, such as waterfalls, sunsets, trees and 
mountains, and even an oasis in the middle of a desert.  Ryoko looked at the 
folder for a moment, and then grabbed Tenchi for another hug.
	"Are you ever going to let me see all of those drawings in that 
folder of yours?"  She started drawing circles on his chest with her index 
finger.
	"They're really not that good.  But maybe we'll take a look at them 
later, after dinner."  Tenchi stood up and slid his chair under the desk.
	"Being modest as usual.  I'm sure they're beautiful, just like my 
Tenchi."  She giggled again, and looked into Tenchi's big, brown, puppy 
dog eyes.
	He smiled and hugged her in return, causing Ryoko to blush.  
"Well, we better get down there or Sasami will have a cow, if you know 
what I mean."  Tenchi took Ryoko's hand and led her out the door.
	"I still have to go get everybody else for dinner.  I'll be back in a 
few moments.  Don't wait for me!"
	"Okay.  You can go get Washu, Kiyone and Mihoshi, and I'll get 
Aeka and Grandfather.  Dad should be home soon, if he doesn't get stuck at 
the office again.  I'll see if I can find Russ too."  They walked down the 
stairs and stopped.  Tenchi looked over at Ryoko.  "What do you think of 
Russ anyway?"
	Ryoko narrowed her feral eyes slightly.  "Well, he seems nice 
enough... almost too nice.  I wonder what he's really here for.  That 
vacation bit he told us doesn't hold with me very well, and why would he 
need to live with us for this vacation of his anyway?"  Ryoko began to blush 
a little.  "But I do have to thank him for coming, since now I can share a 
room with you."
	Tenchi laughed.  "I suppose.  When you get Washu, ask her if 
she'll fabricate us a bigger bed.  We're going to need one if we're going to 
sleep in the same room."
	"Okay, I'll see you at the table in a few minutes."  Ryoko 
disappeared into the closet door as Tenchi scratched his head, and then 
walked out to the back porch.

	It was getting dark, and Tenchi could hardly see any detail in the 
forest anymore since it was just a jagged, black mass now.  The sky was a 
very deep blue, with hues of violet and orange in the far off horizon.  The 
half-moon was now visible, but not bright enough to cast any noticeable 
light onto the ground.  Nearby stars were just beginning to poke their way 
through the Earth's atmosphere, twinkling their weak lights.  The outdoor 
air was cooling off a bit, but it was still very pleasant and refreshing.  A 
light breeze ruffled Tenchi's hair as he walked off toward the old stairway, 
which led to the shrine.  The steps were just visible enough so he wouldn't 
trip and fall, but he took his time anyway.  Hundreds of crickets were 
chirping, almost loud enough to drown out his footsteps.   Looking up, he 
saw a couple bats flying through a swarm of gnats, grabbing an easy meal.
	"Guess it's dinner time for them too."  He snickered and continued 
on his way, finally reaching the pathway where his training area was.  He 
stopped for a moment and looked down the path, and he could just barely 
hear two people conversing.  He listened for a few moments and realized it 
was Aeka and Russ.  Their voices were getting louder, as he figured they 
were probably on their way back to the house for dinner.  He stood silently 
as they emerged from the darkness.
	Aeka and Russ were both talking quietly to each other, and Russ 
looked up when he sensed something in front of him.  Tenchi saw them 
both, and waited a moment as they made their way over to him.  He smiled, 
even though they probably couldn't see it very well.
	"Hello there.  I came to tell you that dinner is on the table.  You 
better hurry home if you want to eat it hot, and to avoid Sasami's wrath."  
They both laughed, but Russ just stood by quietly.
	"Okay, thank you Tenchi.  Will you be joining us?"  Aeka said, 
quietly.
	"Sure will.  I just have to go get Grandpa and I'll be right down."
	"Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes."  Aeka and Russ started 
down the stairway together as Tenchi resumed walking up the steps to the 
shrine.  Tenchi stopped and turned a moment and watched them both go, as 
a small smile spread across his lips.  He hoped they'd get together, since he 
knew how down and lonely Aeka has been for the last half-year.  She hasn't 
really been her usual, happy, robust self.  Lately, it's gotten to the point 
where he assumed that she felt that she was simply in the way, taking up 
space.  She buried herself in housework, trying to keep her mind occupied, 
but to no avail.  She hardly smiled anymore, and she never walked with her 
head held high as she used to.  She also left the house frequently, just 
wandering around the forest, as if to stay away and distance herself from 
everybody.  Tenchi still felt bad and guilty about hurting her feelings, but 
the fighting between the two girls finally came to a head almost six months 
ago, and he finally had to make a choice.  On occasion, like now, he 
regretted having to make that choice, but things have been more peaceful 
around the house since then.  Tenchi sighed and made his way to the shrine, 
where a faint glow emanated from the Shrine office.
	"Hmm... Grandpa must be meditating or something," Tenchi 
muttered to himself as he walked up the steps to the porch.  He rapped 
lightly on the door.  "Grandpa?  Dinner is ready.  Come and get it before it 
gets cold."
	No answer.
	"Grandpa?  Hello?"  He knocked a little louder on the wood.
	No answer.
	Tenchi slid open the door and peered inside.  On the table in the 
middle of the room were a pencil and a sheet of paper with some writing on 
it.  There were several candles giving off a dim glow throughout the room.  
"Grandpa?  Where are you?  Dinner is ready," he said again, as he walked 
over to the table.  He looked down at the sheet of paper and read it.
	"Look out behind you?" Tenchi questioned, as he read the paper.  
Suddenly, Yosho sprang out of a closet door that was behind Tenchi and 
raced at him with his wooden sword.  Tenchi yelped in surprise and jumped 
aside as the sword flew through his former position.  Tenchi spun around 
and faced Yosho, who looked extremely intimidating in the low candlelight.  
In a flash, Yosho charged Tenchi again, this time getting him off balance.  
Tenchi spun around on his heel and managed to clip Yosho in the leg with 
his other foot, then tripped and crashed through the table.  In an instant, 
Yosho stood over Tenchi, with the sword held to his throat.
	"Work harder, Tenchi.  That was very sloppy."
	"Sorry Grandpa, but I wasn't ready for that, and I only came to tell 
you that dinner is ready.  Are you going to come down and eat with us?"  
Tenchi groaned as he picked himself up off of the table and brushed the 
splinters off of his clothes.
	"Mmmm...  yes, I think I will join you for dinner."  Yosho slapped 
Tenchi on the back.  "Why don't you practice your sword fighting against 
Russ?  He'd be a much greater challenge than I am."
	"Why on Earth would I do that?  I can't even defeat you.  I can't 
even come remotely close to defeating you!"  Tenchi glared at him.
	"If you practice enough against someone who is fantastic in 
comparison with yourself, your skills may progress much faster."
	Tenchi sighed.  "I suppose.  I'll ask him about it tonight or 
tomorrow."
	Tenchi and Yosho got ready to walk out of the shrine office, taking 
care to extinguish the candles.  "Good.  Have you gotten Russ settled in 
yet?"
	"I don't know.  He hasn't been at the house for most of the day and 
I have no idea where he's been.  I've been at the carrot field for most of the 
morning and afternoon, and afterwards I spent the rest of my free time in 
my room."  They both reached the stairway and began their long trek down.  
Tenchi looked over at his Grandfather.  "Why is Russ here?"
	"What makes you think that he's here and not on vacation?"
	"I don't know.  He just... seems unusual."
	Yosho laughed.  "And having six girls from outer space isn't 
unusual?"
	Tenchi shrugged his shoulders.  "I guess you're right.  I'm starved, 
and I'm sure Sasami is already about to kill us for being late.  Let's hurry."  
They both picked up the pace a bit, trying to keep from tripping on the steps 
from the blackness of night.

	Sasami had just finished cleaning the counter and getting 
everything ready for dinner.  Exiting the kitchen, she took her usual seat at 
the table, which was totally covered in plates of delicious food.  She was 
currently alone, but that didn't last long.  The first person to enter was 
Ryoko followed by Washu, as they exited the lab.  It was a rare event to 
have Washu for two meals in one day.
	"Ahhh, hello Little Washu!  What brings you to the table for the 
second time today?"  Sasami smiled happily.
	Washu blushed slightly.  "What... am I not allowed to eat more 
than once a week now?"
	"Oh no, you can eat with us as often as you want.  I'm just 
surprised to see you again."
	"Excuse me a moment, I need to go wake Kiyone and Mihoshi 
now.  I'll be right back."  Ryoko floated up to their room.
	Washu continued to blush.  "What's wrong, Washu?  Why are you 
so red?  Are you sick?"  Sasami looked over Washu with concern.
	Her green eyes flashed over toward Sasami.  "No, I'm not sick.  
I'm just a little hot under the collar right now."
	"Oh, okay.  Whatever you say, Washu."  Sasami thought a moment 
and was hit with a wave of realization, so she winked at her, causing her to 
turn as red as a well-done lobster.
	"Stop it!"  Washu looked toward the door, trying to avoid Sasami's 
cute smile.  Sasami exploded laughing, as she grabbed a plate and started 
spooning the food on it.  Ryoko materialized in her usual seat a moment 
later.
	Ryoko looked over at her mother.  "What's wrong with you?"
	"Oh, Washu is hot under the collar right now," Sasami said, as she 
winked at Ryoko.
	Ryoko thought a moment and realized the same thing Sasami did, 
so she looked back at her mother with a huge grin, as she started giggling 
uncontrollably, trying to keep from laughing out loud.  Washu just glared at 
her, clearly not in the mood, which only served to get Ryoko giggling even 
harder.  Washu glared at her and rolled her eyes, then started eating.
	The kitchen door slid open as Nobuyuki entered the living room.  
He looked tired out, obviously from a very strenuous day at the office.  
"Whew.  What a day.  I finished one house and I had to start on another 
one.  I was going to stay late but I just felt so tired and hungry."  He spied 
the food on the table, and then smiled.  "At least I made it in time for 
dinner."  He removed his coat and tossed it over the couch, then sat down in 
his usual place at the table, grabbing a plate in the process.
	Kiyone and Mihoshi both emerged from their bedroom, dressed in 
their uniforms, and made their way down the stairs to the table.  Neither 
said anything, but both grabbed a plate and sat down.  They both yawned in 
unison, obviously still groggy with sleep.
	Mihoshi yawned again.  "I hate these early morning patrols.  
They're so boring and everybody else is asleep while we roam around doing 
nothing."
	"Well, we have a job to do and we have to do it.  There's no 
getting out of it."  Kiyone started shoveling food into her mouth, chewing 
occasionally.  She grabbed the Miso soup and washed some of the rice pilaf 
down.
	A moment later, Russ slid open the glass door, and Aeka walked 
though it.  Russ followed close behind, and closed the door behind him.  
Washu looked up from her position at the table and again started to blush.  
She watched him dreamily as he turned around.
	"Hi guys.  How's everything going?"  Russ said as he made his 
way to the table.
	"Everything's great!  Are you hungry?  We have tons of food here 
as you see."  Sasami beamed with pride.
	Russ smiled.  "Sorry, but I'm not hungry in the least.  I just came 
back to visit with everybody.  I'm also going to tell you guys something, 
once everybody gets here."
	Everybody looked at him curiously, and then resumed eating.  
Aeka sat down in her usual spot, grabbing a plate and spooning a modest 
portion of food on it.  She didn't look at anybody except for Russ, who sat 
down on the floor a few feet away.  He flopped down and toppled 
backwards with a loud thud and let out a huge sigh.
	"Come on over here, Russ," Aeka said, patting the seat next to her.
	Russ sat back up and shook his head.  "I'm fine here.  There are 
only two seats left at the table, and Tenchi and Yosho will both arrive in a 
moment.  Besides, I like sitting on the floor."  He scratched his head.
	Washu looked over at Russ.  "Out of respect, please call Yosho by 
Lord Katsuhito or Grandfather.  Nobody uses his real name."
	"Oh, okay.  I'm sorry.  He never specified what he would've 
preferred.  I knew exactly who he was when I first saw him early on today, 
so I just called him by his Jurian name, Yosho, which he didn't object to."
	Washu continued to stare at Russ.  He noticed it, and squirmed 
uncomfortably from her big, green eyed gaze and her sly smile.  He noticed 
she was blushing slightly as she continued to look him over, so in an 
attempt to divert her attention away, he turned his attention back at Aeka, 
who had her eyebrows furrowed together and was turning red with rage.  
Washu turned back around and continued eating, then noticed Aeka's glare 
of death.
	"Hey, take it easy.  I won't steal him from you."  Washu whispered 
to Aeka.  "But he is really nice to look at."  She blushed again, as Aeka 
relaxed a little.
	Tenchi opened the glass door and walked inside, followed by 
Katsuhito.  Before Tenchi closed the door, a small brown blur raced inside 
and skidded to a halt.  He didn't notice it as he closed the door.
	"Ryo-Ohki!  There you are."  Sasami smiled and reached behind 
her, and grabbed a bowl full of carrots.  "Are you ready for dinner?"
	Ryo-Ohki meowed a couple times and then transformed into her 
human form.  Russ' eyes bulged a moment upon seeing her transformation.
	"Aww, she's so cute like that!"  Russ was grinning as he shifted 
positions to get a better look.  "I didn't know she could transform."  Ryo-
Ohki put her hands together in front of her and looked away shyly.
	"Yeah, she can.  She can also transform into a spaceship too, but I 
told you that already."
	"You did?"  Russ scratched his head.  "Now that you mention it, 
yes you did tell me.  I guess it didn't click with me until now."  He laughed.
	"So Russ, what was it that you wanted to tell us, since everybody 
is now here?"  Kiyone asked as she continued to consume her dinner.
	Russ' face became serious as he let out a sigh.  "I wasn't entirely 
honest with everybody earlier.  I have a guilty conscience and I can't let a 
lie go without telling the truth."
	Everybody stopped eating as Russ explained his origin and why he 
came to Earth, but he didn't tell them about the Dragonballs.  He explained 
his predicament with Zorpheus, and the battle that was probably going to 
take place.  Everyone looked on with neutral expressions as he told his 
lengthy story.

	"So that's the whole deal.  I decided to tell you guys because I 
really can't train in secrecy around here.  I was discovered three times, I'm 
horrible at keeping secrets, and I have a conscience that won't let me lie, so 
I decided I'd come clean and let you guys know what's probably going to 
happen when Zorpheus arrives."  Russ looked down to the floor.  "I'm sorry 
for not being truthful earlier."  He started fumbling with his clothes.  "I 
didn't want anybody to worry about this except for me."
	Aeka stood up, walked over to Russ and knelt down.  "It's okay.  
We will help you in any way that we can."  She said, smiling.  Everybody 
noticed her smile, and then nodded in agreement.
	Russ looked up and grinned.  "I appreciate it.  However, once the 
battle begins, there won't be anything you can do to help me.  He's 
thousands of times stronger than all of you combined, and I don't want 
anybody to get hurt.  I hope he'll follow me to an open, uninhabited place 
so we can fight, undisturbed."  
	"I don't think you need to worry about us.  We can take care of 
ourselves.  We've done it before," Ryoko said from her seat at the table.
	Russ' grin melted away as he looked over at her with an extremely 
serious expression on his face.  "Not like this.  I'll demonstrate tomorrow 
what I mean.  I won't be using my full power, but I'll show you a sample of 
what could potentially happen."
	"Humph.  Whatever."  Ryoko narrowed her golden eyes at him and 
shrugged her shoulders as she resumed eating her dinner.
	Aeka glared at her, but turned back toward Russ.  "It's okay.  
We'll deal with it when the time comes, alright?"
	"Yeah, I suppose."  Russ yawned and stretched.  "I guess I should 
get my room set up for me to sleep in tonight."  He got up off of the floor 
and walked over to the glass door while everybody watched.  "I'll be right 
back.  I need to go to my spacepod and grab my duffel bag and my 
belongings."  He placed two fingers to his head and vanished.  Aeka 
returned to her seat at the table.
	"How in the world does he do that?"  Tenchi asked when Russ 
disappeared.  "The way he does it is different from the way Ryoko appears 
and disappears."
	"Russ explained it to me earlier today.  Apparently it's like some 
super fast movement ability, which he can use to move from one location to 
another, instantly.  Funny though, it made a different sound than the one he 
demonstrated to me, and he didn't need to put his two fingers to his 
forehead either," Katsuhito explained.  Aeka and Washu listened intently, 
apparently the only other people interested besides Tenchi.
	A moment later, Russ re-appeared on top of the coffee table in the 
middle of the living room, startling Ryoko and Tenchi, and causing 
everybody to turn around.  Russ looked down and realized where he was 
standing.  "Whoops!  I guess I was off target a little."  He jumped off the 
table as a round of chuckles emanated from the table.  He now had a large 
blue gym bag around his shoulder, and he had an electronic device with a 
pink glass eyepiece in his left hand.  "Washu, here's one of my scouters, if 
you would like to take a look at it after dinner," he said as he held up the 
device.
	"Hey, cool!  Let me see that thing."  Washu finished the last bite of 
her dinner and stood up, as Russ handed her the device.  "How does it 
work?"
	"You place it over your left ear, and it will stick itself to the side of 
your head.  It feels kind of weird at first, but you get used to it."
	Washu did as he said and it fastened itself to the side of her head.  
"Whoa, that does feel strange.  How do I turn it on?"
	"Press the button on the side of it and it should work."
	Everybody watched as Washu played with the scouter.  She felt 
around for the button, and then pressed it, turning it on.  It did a quick self-
diagnostic, and then displayed 'Ready' on the little window.
	"Press the button twice and it will give you your own ki level.  If 
you look at someone specific and press the button once, it will give a ki 
reading on the person or group you point it at."
	Washu chuckled to herself as she pressed the button twice.  A 
second later, it gave her a number.  "What?  This thing says only a hundred 
and ten?  That seems kind of low, doesn't it?"
	"Oops.  I forgot to tell you that we use a different scale for ki 
energy than you use for your machine.  To give you an idea, a normal 
human comes in at about level five on our scouter.  Our scale is much 
smaller and condensed to allow us to get really high readings with it."  Russ 
scratched the back of his head.
	"Oh, okay.  I guess that isn't that bad then.  Let's see here."  She 
turned toward the table and pressed the button again.  The scouter targeted 
everybody separately and calculated a separate level for each person.  "Oh 
wow.  Tenchi comes in at a hundred, Ryoko comes in at ninety-two, Aeka 
comes in at ninety, Katsuhito comes in at ninety-five, Kiyone, Mihoshi, and 
Nobuyuki come in at level five, Ryo-Ohki comes in at 10, and lastly Sasami 
comes in at level 15.  Very interesting."  She turned toward Russ and 
pressed the button once more.  The scouter targeted him and calculated his 
current ki level.  "And you're only at fifty?  Wait a minute, I thought you 
were a lot stronger than that."
	"I am.  As I said earlier, I can suppress my ki level to fool devices 
like that.  Watch."  Russ raised his ki a little bit, and the scouter started 
beeping as it calculated a new number.
	Washu and Katsuhito's eyes widened a bit as they sensed his ki 
level increase sharply.  "Now you're at five hundred.  That's over five times 
Tenchi's power!"
	"Not really.  I'm not energized right now and I don't think none of 
you are either.  I've heard of Jurians being able to switch to a battle mode 
which greatly increases your energy levels."  Russ smiled since he was 
proud of the fact that he studied a bit of Jurian history.
	Everybody continued to watch the two with interest.  "So, what 
level would you come in at if you maxed yourself out?"  Washu asked with 
a smirk on her lips.
	Russ sighed and thought a moment.  "Honestly, I don't know.  It 
comes out different depending on what planet I'm on.  I'll give a 
demonstration tomorrow and get a base power level for myself.  I won't use 
my maximum ki level, since it isn't necessary.  But if I had to guess… I'd 
say I'd come in around four million for my base."  Washu facefaulted to the 
floor in shock as everybody else started at him with his or her eyes bulging.  
"Zorpheus would come out to be the same as well."
	Washu slowly stood back up.  "You're joking.  That's impossible."
	Russ put a goofy grin on his lips.  "Believe what you want.  I'll 
show you tomorrow."  Russ yawned again.  "But right now, I need to get 
my bedroom ready.  See you guys in a bit."  Russ walked up the stairs and 
looked down the hallway.  He returned to the landing above the table.  
"Um... would anybody care to show me where my room is?"
	Aeka stood up.  "Sure, just a moment.  I'm going to put these 
dishes in the sink and then I'll be right up."
	"Okay, good enough for me!  Do you guys need any help cleaning 
up the table?"  Russ asked, still leaning over the railing.
	"Oh, would you help us?  We've got a lot of dishes to wash and 
put away," Sasami said as she smiled at Russ.
	"Absolutely.  It's no trouble at all."  Russ dropped his duffel bag at 
his feet and walked back down the stairs.
	Everybody else got up and placed their plates in a stack in the 
middle of the table.  Katsuhito turned and walked out of the house, nodding 
in Russ' direction.
	"Good night, everybody.  I'm going back to the shrine.  See 
everybody tomorrow."
	"Okay, goodnight Grandpa."  Yosho walked outside, closing the 
door behind him.
	"We're going to get going too.  Our patrol shift goes from about 
fifteen minutes from now to about six in the morning.  An extra long shift 
too.  Ten hours."  Kiyone stood up.  "That was a great meal Sasami."
	"Waaaahhhh!!!  I don't want to work that long!  Come on Kiyone!  
We can stay here a little longer, can't we?"  Mihoshi whined as she latched 
onto Kiyone's arm.
	"Oh no, we're not going through this again."  She grabbed 
Mihoshi's arm and nearly dragged her out the door.  Russ watched in 
confusion and Ryoko started laughing.
	"I get such a kick out of those two."  Ryoko continued to laugh to 
herself as she stood up from the table.  "Come on Tenchi, I got our new bed 
all ready for us," she said, as she produced a tiny little bed from her pocket.
	Tenchi stared at it in disbelief.  "How are we supposed to sleep on 
that?"
	Washu looked back over her shoulder from her lab door.  "I 
condensed it down into a portable size.  Would you have rather lugged up a 
king size mattress to your room instead?"
	"No, I guess not.  Thanks, Little Washu.  I really appreciate all 
your help."  Washu smiled and then disappeared behind the closet door as 
Tenchi and Ryoko both went to his bedroom to prepare their new bed.
	Washu poked her head back out of her lab and looked around.  
"Russ, I started working on your gravity enhancer.  I should have it ready in 
a couple days."
	Russ turned around.  "Hey, great!  Glad to hear it.  One more thing, 
make sure it has a voice shutoff in case the thing malfunctions and flattens 
me to the ground."
	Washu frowned.  "My stuff rarely malfunctions!  I'm the greatest 
scientific genius in the universe!  Nearly everything I've made has worked 
perfectly."
	Russ put up his hands in a submissive gesture.  "Okay, okay.  I'm 
sorry.  It was just a safety precaution."  Russ walked over to the table and 
grabbed up the plates and made his way into the kitchen, followed by 
Sasami and Aeka.  Washu frowned, and returned to her lab, closing the door 
behind her.  A moment later a loud roar came from the outside as the 
Galaxy Police patrol ship took off and raced off the planet to begin its extra 
long day of patrolling the solar system.

	"Okay, so we have this mound of pots, pans, and dishes to do?"  
Russ asked, as he checked out the mass of kitchen utensils in the sink.
	"Yeah.  Sometimes it takes up to a half hour to clean it all up by 
myself."  Sasami looked at Russ pitifully.
	"Hmmm... let's see if I can't speed things up a bit.  I say, oh... 
fifteen seconds ought to be enough."  Russ stepped over to the sink as 
Sasami and Aeka both looked at each other, puzzled.  Russ grabbed the dish 
soap.  "Ready... set... GO!" he said to himself as his hands started flying 
all over the kitchen sink, picking up pots at an insane speed, scrubbing them 
down, and spending a second to rinse it.  He used his ki to dry the stuff off, 
which wasn't powerful enough to be seen, but strong enough to heat the 
pots and plates up to near scorching levels.  Soapsuds continued to fly 
around for the next fifteen seconds as the stack of clean plates grew at an 
incredible rate.
	"Done."  Russ turned around and smiled at them with satisfaction.  
He picked up the washcloth and wiped down the sudsy counter as a stack of 
freshly washed dishes stood next to another stack of clean pots and pans.  
Aeka and Sasami just looked on in astonishment.
	"Wow!  That is SO COOL!" Sasami said as she grabbed Russ 
around the waist in a hug.  "That was a huge help.  Thank you so much!"
	Russ blushed.  "It was nothing.  Really.  I'll be glad to help you out 
in any way that I can.  I can't be a total freeloader here.  I need to do 
something to contribute to my living here."
	Aeka picked up the dishes and set them into the cupboard, as 
Sasami put away the pans.  "Well, do you want me to show you to your 
room now?"  Aeka smiled at Russ.
	"Okay, that sounds good.  Just lead the way!"  Russ wiped his 
hands off on a towel.
	"Right this way.  Your room is upstairs across from Tenchi's."  
Aeka went to open the kitchen door but Russ beat her to it.  He slid the door 
open and gestured for her to walk though.  Aeka smiled sweetly as Sasami 
chuckled to herself.

	They both walked upstairs, and Russ grabbed his duffel bag, which 
he tossed aside a few minutes earlier.  They walked to the end of the 
hallway, then Aeka slid open the door and flipped on the light.  The room 
was bare now, aside from a bed, an empty bookshelf, a rolling office chair, 
and an empty desk, which had some dust on it.  Aeka groaned to herself.
	"Doesn't Ryoko ever clean anything?" she muttered to herself, as 
she blew some of the dust off of the desk.  
	Russ just laughed.  "Sometimes I'm the same way.  Well anyway, 
this room is plenty adequate for me.  Thank you Aeka.  I appreciate it."
	She turned and smiled.  "You're very welcome."  Her smile melted 
away a little as she started toward the door.
	"Hey, hold up a minute."  She turned around.  "Is something 
bothering you?  You can always come talk to me if something is bugging 
you.  I'd never tell anyone about it, even though I have a hard time holding 
secrets."
	"No, it's alright.  I'm just glad you're here and all.  I really haven't 
talked with anybody lately.  Everybody seems to be busy with something 
else."  She looked at the floor as she fumbled with her clothes.  Russ 
watched her curiously.
	"You must be lonely.  I could tell by the way you acted earlier 
today..."
	"I'm sorry about that."  She interrupted.  "It was just an 
uncontrolled outburst."
	Russ shook his head.  "No, I don't think so.  One thing I can sense 
is emotions from other people.  I can tell you're sad or depressed, or even 
both."
	Aeka looked up at him with her eyes welling up with tears.  She 
sniffled.  "I've just felt so left out of everything when Tenchi chose Ryoko 
over me.  It all happened when Ryoko and myself got into a massive fight 
over him that nearly destroyed the house.  Since that time, after he chose 
Ryoko, he's spent most of his free time with her.  I tried to be a good sport 
about it, but it just pains me to see those two together, and when I think 
about what I lost..." She stopped as a tear rolled down her cheek.
	Russ walked up and closed his bedroom door, took her by the arm, 
and led her over to his bed.  "Please sit down.  I know you want to talk 
about this."  He sat down on the bed as she reluctantly sat down next to 
him.  "Why are you still here?  At this house, I mean?  How come you 
didn't go back home to Jurai?  You are the princess of that planet, are you 
not?"
	"Yes I am, but I didn't want to go back.  I've fallen in love with 
this place and it's people, and I still love Tenchi with all my heart."  She 
thought back to Tenchi and Ryoko, laughing and enjoying each other's 
company as they swam in the lake and did many other things together.  The 
tears started flowing down her cheeks.  "But he's now taken, and there's 
nothing I can do about it."  She started crying as she buried her face in her 
hands.
	Russ wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close 
and gave her a sympathetic hug.  "I'm sorry.  I can't imagine how that must 
feel.  Honestly, I've never even had a girlfriend before.  I've never been 
involved in any kind of relationship with anybody, except for friendship.  
I've never been sought after, except for today when Washu got an eyeful of 
me."
	Aeka looked up with her tear-streaked face and sniffled.  "What 
happened?"
	"Well, Washu wanted to... examine... me."  He thought back to 
that incident earlier in the day.  "She used this weird globe that grabbed me 
from behind and took off most of my clothes.  It was quite a shock and a 
surprise.  I've never had anything like that happen to me before.  But now 
that I think about it, it seems kind of funny, especially when I think back to 
Washu's facial expression."  He snickered a bit.
	Aeka managed a little smile.
	"Hey, that looks better.  You have a very beautiful smile."  Russ 
grinned at Aeka, who blushed slightly.
	She sniffled.  "You think so?"
	"Absolutely.  I have to tell you, that you two probably gave Tenchi 
the run of his life when both of you were pursuing him."  He thought about 
telling her that he had no idea why Tenchi picked Ryoko over her, but 
figured that it may result in hurting her feelings.
	She giggled lightly.  "Yes, Ryoko and I were fiercely competitive 
over him.  But honestly, now, I miss those days."
	"I can imagine.  But now, you have an opportunity to start 
something new again."  Russ looked over at her and rubbed her shoulder, 
which felt really tense.  "Wow, you're really tight back here."  He slid back 
on the bed a little and started massaging her shoulders, slowly working 
down her back.
	"Ohhh... that feels so good."  She closed her eyes and groaned as 
his hands worked her tense muscles.  She wiped her cheek with the back of 
her hand.
	Russ reached over and grabbed her a tissue from the desk, then 
continued massaging her back.  "Would you like to start training with me 
tomorrow?  It'll give you something to do.  I'll try and teach you how to fly 
using your ki, and we'll see how good you are in martial arts."
	She opened her eyes slightly and took the tissue and rubbed under 
her eyes, then blew her nose.  "I'd like that very much.  What will we be 
doing?"  Russ rubbed another tense spot on her back.  "Oh that feels so 
good."
	"Well, for tomorrow, not much.  I'm just going to see how well 
you do against me in some tests.  I'm going to see how strong you are, and I'm 
going to test your speed, and maybe your endurance.  And then, we'll work 
on getting you to fly.  Now don't be disappointed because you most likely 
won't get it on the first day.  Hardly anybody does.  It took me nearly a 
week to grasp the technique, and in reality, it's one of the simplest things to 
master.  You'll probably get it on the first day and put me to shame, won't 
you."  He chuckled lightly.
	"I doubt it."  She smiled at him.  "But I'll take that up as a 
challenge."  She giggled as Russ cocked his eyebrow, then put on a big grin.

	Russ and Aeka talked for another two hours, until it was way past 
both of their bedtimes.  Sasami was already in bed, and Tenchi and Ryoko 
finally worked out their sleeping arrangements and fell asleep.  Mihoshi fell 
asleep on patrol again, much to the annoyance of Kiyone.  Aeka finally got 
so tired that she fell asleep in Russ' arms.  He decided not to disturb her, so 
he carefully tucked her into his bed.  She looked so beautiful, even in the 
dim bedroom light.  He found a bed mat rolled up in the corner of the room, 
which he quietly unwrapped and set up, turned out the light, then fell 
asleep.  Only Ryo-Ohki was still awake, as she spent most of the time 
spying on both of them.  She finally got sleepy and bounded off toward 
Sasami's room, found her little niche on top of Sasami's chest, and then 
dozed off for the night.  The only sounds in the house were the crickets that 
were still going strong outside of the Misaki home as the time finally hit 
midnight, and the day finally ended.