Disclaimer: I do not own Tenchi Muyo or Ouran High School Host Club. This is also the only time I will type this disclaimer.
(No Need for Ouran!)
"Are you okay, Haruhi?"
Haruhi looks up. Tenchi is standing on a stone step several steps above her own. "I'm...fine" she huffs.
While Haruhi was trying to catch her breath like a drowning person, Tenchi looked as though he was taking a casual walk though the park. Her suitcase and the basket on his back had not fatigued him in the least. "I'm sorry about the stairs" Tenchi says as he pats his temple with his free left hand, "Everyone here doesn't really mind them, so it's really easy to forget about their length."
"It's not your fault," says Haruhi as she glowers at a point in space, thinking about how she got here in the first place.
"I must say, I was surprised when Dad said that you were the surveyor of the new pension he was building" says Tenchi after they started walking again.
"I'm still surprised," mutters Haruhi, "Crazy old men!"
(Flashback)
"I'm doing what?" exclaims Haruhi.
"Surveying the building of a new pension" answers Misuzu as puts a cover on one of the beds, "My cousin came to my lovely place a year ago, and he just had to create one of his own. Mr. Masaki has just finished the blueprint for the place; now, he's going to build it. All you have to do is make sure everything is going smoothly."
"Why can't your cousin survey his own pension?" shouts Haruhi.
"He's in Europe picking out furniture for it. Shopping for perfect things to go in a pension is stressful!"
"I really wished you would have asked me first."
"I would have," states Misuzu, "but Ranka said it would be all right."
"Figures Dad would be involved in this," groans Haruhi.
(End of Flashback)
"Well, I'm sorry you were tricked into coming here," says Tenchi.
"It's not your fault!" responds Haruhi quickly, "I thank you and your father for your hospitality."
"Oh, you're welcome" says Tenchi, "but you have to share a room with the girls."
"That's not a problem. I share a room with Dad at home."
"Yeah. The girls are nice, but they can be overzealous sometimes."
"Trust me, I know how that feels."
(No Need for Ouran!)
Tenchi reaches for the door handle very slowly. Earlier, he had gone to the house and told the girls to act "normal" since a guest was coming to their house. He especially directed this to Ryoko, who kind of blew off the comment.
"I'm serious Ryoko!" Tenchi had shouted, "You can't freak out our guest by popping in front of them or flying around!"
"All right" groaned Ryoko from the roof beam, "No flying, teleporting, or phasing. Simple enough."
It won't be that simple, thinks Tenchi as he opens the door. Ayeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi nearly knock him over greeting him. Kiyone, on the other hand, gives him an apologetic smile as she stands behind the three. Because it was summer, Ayeka and Sasami are wearing thin, sleeveless dresses, mauve and pink respectively. Mihoshi is wearing a yellow belly shirt and white pants, and Kiyone is wearing an orange t-shirt and beige shorts.
"Yeah!" exclaims Mihoshi, "Tenchi's home!"
"Hi Tenchi!" says Sasami.
"Welcome back Tenchi" says Kiyone.
"How was the trip?" asks Ayeka.
"It was fine, I guess," answers Tenchi.
"So our little friend made it here safe and sound, then?"
Tenchi looks over at Washu, who is sitting cross-legged on the couch with Ryo-oki in her lap. Using her laptop, she is adjusting Ryo-oki's ears so they would look more rabbit-like.
"Why is she doing that now?" pounds into Tenchi's head.
"Done" Washu states, reading his mind. She closes her laptop and stands up, her grey t-shirt coming just below the top of her black shorts. "So," she continues, "Where is our house guest?"
Tenchi turns around. Haruhi was kneeling near the top of the stairs, trying to catch her breath. Her brown vest and yellow shirt were drenched with sweat. "Are you okay?" asks Tenchi as he goes over to her, girls following him.
"I'm…fine," gasps Haruhi. She slowly takes in a large breath and exhales. "Hello. My name is Haruhi Fujioka."
"Please to meet you, Haruhi" says Ayeka as she bows, "My name is Ayeka Masaki, and this is my little sister Sasami."
"Nice to meet you, Haruhi" says Sasami as she bows.
"Same here" responds Haruhi.
Mihoshi suddenly hugs Haruhi, oblivious to the sweat. "Hi, Haruhi!" exclaims Mihoshi, "My name is Mihoshi Kuramitsu!"
"Hi…Mihoshi" says Haruhi through gasps of air.
Kiyone sighs. "I'm Kiyone Makibi. Watch out for Mihoshi" she says as Mihoshi lets go of Haruhi, "She'll drive you batty." Ayeka, Sasasi, and even Tenchi nod their heads.
"I'm not that bad, am I?" whines Mihoshi as she puckers her lips and looks sorrowfully at her touching index fingers. Everyone sighs at this.
"So where's Ryoko?" asks Tenchi to no one in particular.
"I'm right here!"
Tenchi turns around as Ryoko bear hugs him, touching her bare leg against his side. "So your name is Haruhi?" she asks as she cuddles Tenchi, "I'm Ryoko, Tenchi's girlfriend."
"Since when did you become Tenchi's girlfriend, Ryoko?" exclaims Ayeka.
"I've always been his girlfriend Ayeka. You just were late getting the message."
"How did you get up here so fast?" asks Haruhi, stopping the banal argument.
"I didn't get up here that fast" says Ryoko, "I was right behind you all the time."
"I didn't hear you come up," says Haruhi slowly, "I didn't even hear you behind us."
"Of course you didn't" responds Ryoko nonchalantly, "You were too busy trying to get up the stairs."
Haruhi lifts her finger to respond, but falls back instead. She would have bruised her head on the steps, but Ryoko grabs one of her limp arms and lays her gently on the ground.
"I guess the stairs took a lot out of her," says Tenchi.
"She's not that fit," states Washu, "With her build, I would have thought otherwise."
"She looks like a boy," Ryoko snickers.
"Don't talk about our guest!" scolds Ayeka.
"I'm not talking about her, I'm making an observation" retorts Ryoko, "Besides, it's not like she could hear me even if I was."
Tenchi sighs as he puts down the basket and Haruhi's suitcase. "I'll go and take her up to the room."
"I can do it, Tenchi!" exclaims Ryoko as she jumps in front of him and cradles Haruhi, "I'm faster than you anyway."
Tenchi's eyes widen. "Don't do that Ryoko!" he exclaims, "What if she wakes up?"
"Oh, I really doubt she will," says Ryoko as she disappears in thin air. Washu starts to laugh.
"So, Tenchi, how long do you think we can keep our little secret?" she asks.
Tenchi groans. Not too long if things like this keep happening, he thinks.
(No Need for Ouran!)
Haruhi slowly opens her eyes. Her body feels limp as she floats through the cold space. She tilts her head forward to see her bare feet outlined by the darkness. Floating, Haruhi is neither comfortable nor uncomfortable; she just feels strange. As the space gradually warms up, Haruhi's eyelids get heavy. Completely in darkness, Haruhi feels something cold on her nose. The coldness did not bother her in the least. Wetness across Haruhi's nose, however, makes her eyelids shoot up.
A large pair of brown eyes greets Haruhi. She jumps back, making the furry owner of the eyes jump off of her chest. Her heartbeat slows a bit as she sees that it's just the rabbit the pink-haired lady was carrying. The brown rabbit, probably out of fear, hops out of the room. "Wait, I'm sorry," says Haruhi as she gets off of the sleeping mat, "I didn't mean to scare you."
Feeling a little different, she looks down. Someone had taken off her sweaty clothes and replaced them with a white tank top and green shorts. I'll have to thank them later, Haruhi thinks as she leaves the room and walks down the stairs barefooted. A few seconds later she finds herself in the living room/ dining room. The view of the lake through the picture-glass window was breathtaking. Haruhi stops to appreciate the beauty of the room. As Haruhi looks around the room, she sees tuffs of light blue hair near the ceiling. Upon closer inspection, Haruhi realizes that all of the blue hair was connected to a head.
"Miss Ryoko?" Haruhi shouts up.
A yawn comes down to answer her. Ryoko's head appears from behind the beam. "Hey…Haruhi, right?" she says as she runs her fingers through her hair, "I see you're woke. That's great, I'm not."
Ryoko's head disappears behind the beam. Haruhi was about to ask Ryoko a question when she hears footfalls coming towards her. She turns around and sees Sasami with the rabbit on her shoulder.
"Are you okay, Haruhi?" Sasami asks.
"I feel much better," answers Haruhi, "Thank you for asking."
"No problem. I told Ryo-oki to come down when you woke up."
So the rabbit's name is Ryo-oki, thinks Haruhi. "You told her to come down when I woke up?" she asks aloud and incredulously.
"Oh, Ryo-oki can do a lot of things," explains Sasami, as though she was expecting Haruhi's response, "Why don't you show her, Ryo?"
Ryo-oki jumps off of Sasami's shoulder and does a small acrobatic routine. Haruhi kneels and scratches behind Ryo-oki. She suddenly jumps back, however, when a meow escapes from the rabbit's lips.
"See? I told you that Ryo-oki can do a lot of things," exclaims Sasami, "She can even meow like a cat!"
Haruhi takes in a breath and exhales. "I'm sorry Ryo-oki," she says as she pats the rabbit on the head, "Your performance was great." Something similar to a smile came across Ryo-oki's face.
"Is Ryo-oki your rabbit?" asks Haruhi as Sasami puts Ryo-oki back on her shoulder.
"No, she's Ryoko's."
Haruhi looks up at the roof beam. She couldn't believe it, seeing as though most pets at like their owners, and Ryoko and Ryo-oki seem completely different. Haruhi would not say that, however, in fear of being offensive.
"Why is Miss Ryoko sleeping on the beam?" Haruhi asks, looking around for an adjustable ladder or long rope.
"I honestly don't know," responds Sasami as she walks to the kitchen. Haruhi takes one last look at Ryoko's beam before she follows Sasami.
"Does she live with Tenchi because she's his girlfriend?" Haruhi asks.
"Oh, she's not his girlfriend" Sasami states as she puts on a pot of rice, "She's a girl from his school who was thrown out of her house. Tenchi's putting her up for a while."
"That's nice," states Haruhi as Sasami places some carrots and celery on the table, "Do you do all the cooking by yourself?"
"Yeah" answers Sasami, "I like to cook, and no one else here is very good at it."
"Well, I'm can help you out" says Haruhi, "It's the least I can do to pay for staying here."
"Thank you for the help then" says Sasami as Haruhi starts to cut the vegetables.
For a few minutes, the only sound in the kitchen was the blade on the cutting board, the dough in Sasami's hands, and shuffling feet as either Sasami or Haruhi go to check on the rice. Haruhi finally breaks the silence while taking off the rice.
"Are you and your sister related to Tenchi?" she asks.
"Through his grandfather" Sasami answers, "You'll meet him while you're here. He lives in the shrine above the house. The stairs will lead you right to it."
I'll probably pass out before I get up there, thinks Haruhi. "So you're visiting Tenchi and his family?"
"Yep. We hadn't seen them in a while, so we dropped in!"
"What about Mihoshi, Kiyone, and the pink-haired lady. Why are they here?"
"Oh, you mean Washu. She's a scientist who came out here to do research. Tenchi was nice enough to let her stay. Mihoshi and Kiyone are detectives. They're looking for a criminal in and around this area."
"Mihoshi's a detective?"
"Yeah. Surprising, isn't it?"
Haruhi and Sasami continue talking until Ayeka, Kiyone, and Mihoshi come back from grocery shopping. After saying hello to the girls, Ayeka and Kiyone leave to tidy up the house. Mihoshi stays and reorganizes the refrigerator while putting the groceries inside. She talks eagerly about the trip to the store, even though nothing exciting really happens. Haruhi could not picture Mihoshi as a cop; maybe a health inspector, but not a cop.
Afterwards, Haruhi, Sasami, and Mihoshi set the table for dinner.
(No Need for Ouran!)
Tenchi takes off his shoes, taking one more look at the twilight sky through the front door. His heart rate shoots up suddenly as Ryoko appears before him. "Welcome home Tenchi!" she exclaims.
Tenchi pulls her off of him. "You not suppose to do that, Ryoko!" he shouts.
"What's the matter?" huffs Ryoko, "No one saw me."
Suddenly, four people come to the doorway, Ayeka from the left, Haruhi, Sasami, and Mihoshi from the right. Kiyone waves hello to Tenchi as she goes into the living room for dinner. "Are you stressing Tenchi out again, Ryoko?" shouts Ayeka.
"What do you mean stressing him out?" exclaims Ryoko.
"You know very well what I mean!" cries Ayeka.
While the two combatants are arguing, Tenchi turns to Haruhi. "Oh, you're awake" he states, "How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thank you" says Haruhi.
"Umm, guys," says a voice from the living room, halting the argument, "The dinner's getting cold."
Everyone comes into the living room and sees Washu sitting on one of the chairs at the table. "I came in the back way," says Washu, answering the unseen question.
Slowly, everybody else starts to sit down. Tenchi sits at one end of the table, with Ryoko on his left, and Ayeka on his right. Mihoshi sits between Ryoko and Kiyone, with Sasami across from her. Sasami sits between Ayeka and Haruhi. Washu sits at the other end of the table. Ryoko plops a dumpling out of the pot near her seat and presents it to Tenchi.
"How about I feed you this dumpling?" Ryoko asks sweetly.
"No way!" exclaims Ayeka as she does the same thing, "He prefers a more delicate touch, right Tenchi?"
"I can feed myself, thank you" huffs Tenchi as he tastes some of the stir-fry. "Wow," he states as he tastes it, "This tastes great, Sasami!"
"Thanks" says Sasami, "Haruhi helped me cook today."
"Thanks, Haruhi" says Tenchi, "You're a pretty good cook."
Haruhi shrugs. "It's not a big deal" she states, "I cook all the time at home."
Ryoko and Ayeka suddenly jump up and whisper to each other in a corner of the living room. They quickly give Haruhi cherub-like smiles, making her brow knot with worry.
"Will you two stop it!" shouts Tenchi.
"We weren't doing anything, Tenchi," states Ayeka as she sits down.
"Yeah, stop worrying so much!" says Ryoko following suit.
Tenchi groans, but then something takes his attention away from them. While Ryoko and Ayeka were scheming, Mihoshi was choking on a fish bone. A swift slap to her back by Kiyone sends the bone airborne. It would have hit Sasami square in the face had she not dived into Ayeka's lap.
"I told you not to eat so fast, Mihoshi!" exclaims Kiyone.
"I'm…sorry," pouts Mihoshi.
After that, the dinner passes without incident. Each of the girls tells Haruhi interesting stories about her fabricated life. Soon, dinner is finish and everyone gets ready for sleep.
(No Need for Ouran!)
Haruhi lies on her back on her sleeping mat. On either side of her, Ayeka and Sasami breathe steadily, clearly asleep. Kiyone and Mihoshi are on the other side of the room asleep as well. Ryoko decided to sleep on the house beam, while Washu had more research to do, so she went outside with her tent and backpack. Haruhi closes her eyes as she thinks about the day.
The people in this house are not strange, but they're not normal either. Still, they all seem very nice. The house has a feel similar to the Host Club. Maybe this trip won't be as bad as I thought, thinks Haruhi as she goes to sleep.
(No Need for Ouran!)
Haruhi takes the fish off the grill. She and Sasami are cooking lunch, with Ryo-oki watching them. Ayeka, Kiyone, and Mihoshi are doing chores around the house. Tenchi went outside earlier to harvest carrots. Washu was still outside doing research. Ryoko is still sleeping on the roof beam.
Suddenly, a knock comes at the door. "I'll go get it!" says Sasami as she goes out. Soon after, Haruhi hears the shuffling of many feet come towards the kitchen door.
"Haruhi, your father's here" says Sasami.
Haruhi looks up from the rice pot, and her jaw drops.
(No Need for Ouran!)
Hello, guys! For new readers, welcome to my story No Need for Ouran. For old readers, I added Kiyone to the story; other than that, the chapter is the same as the original. For anyone who wants to know what Tenchiverse this story takes place, it takes place in a fusion of the OVA and the Daughter of Darkness verses. Thank you for reading my story, please review so I can know what you think, and I'll see you next chapter!