Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, Pioneer and AIC do. This story takes place in the Tenchi Universe series.
Note: This is my first fan fic, so any reviews will be a great help, let me know what you think and also the story will progress through different chapters, rather than everything on the first, sorry for it going so slowly, you'll thank me later... hopefully.
Tenchi Universe: No Need for Change
The Masaki house is never dull or boring, especially in the morning. Tenchi awoke to find Ryoko hovering over his bed. Startled he sat up and spoke quickly. "Agh! Ryoko! What're you doing here?" She grinned wickedly; a hint of mischief was in her golden eyes.
"But Tenchi I was so worried about you!" Before he could object to her being in his room she had wrapped her arms around him, embracing him tightly into a hug which he found difficult to breathe in. "After all I don't want anyone to steal my little Tenchi!"
"R-Ryoko! C-can't b-b-breath!" Tenchi let out a loud gasp for breath as she loosened her grip on him. He looked up at her, for a moment he could of sworn he had seen a look of sadness on her face but he knocked back his thoughts and instead attempted to get up, though she kept a firm grip on him still. "What're you doing? We'll be late for breakfast, Sasami will be mad and Ayeka will come to check once she sees us both missing!" His eyes widened "Ayeka! She could check on him at any moment" he thought to himself while picturing another fight between Ayeka and Ryoko with which he would be left to clean up after.
Smiling brightly she spoke up while running her fingers in small circles over his chest, "Don't you worry about her, Tenchi. I can handle the Princess."
Before Tenchi had a moment to make a comment he was interrupted, hearing Ayeka call out from downstairs, "Where is she? Ryoko!" He could feel his heart sink, he couldn't let her catch him like this! Quickly he threw his covers over a startled Ryoko and sat at the edge of his bed, and surely not a moment too soon as he heard Ayeka knock on his door, he called out "Come in." The door slid open.
"Lord Tenchi, oh! Forgive me; I did not know you were still tired. Have you seen Ryoko?" She looked around the room quickly, not wanting to seem nosey but rather to look for Ryoko.
Tenchi rubbed the back of his neck, a sweat drop forming on his head. "Uhm, it's fine, really! Ryoko? Well... Ehm... I... Uhm... No, I haven't seen her." He hated to lie, but if it meant keeping them from fighting it was worth it.
"Oh, I see... Sorry to have awoken you, I shall tell Sasami to keep some breakfast for you, if you'd like." She blushed heavily and was about to step back out of the door till she heard Ryoko's laughter, quietly at first but slowly grew louder. "Ryoko! Where are you? I know you're in here, come out at once! Lord Tenchi wishes to have his rest!"
Tenchi looked and felt as if he'd just been thrown between two very hungry bears. He tried to usher Ayeka out of the door, though she merely stood on her spot, her eyes coming to rest on the lump on Tenchi's bed. "Oh no, now you're in for it! If only I could go back in time, why me?!" He thought to himself.
Ryoko of course sat up on the bed, doing a fake yawn and lifting her arms into a stretch. "Oh! Morning Tenchi! I enjoyed last night, didn't you?" She turned and looked at Ayeka, grinning and giving her a teasing wink. "Wow, so loud aren't you, Princess? Why I and Tenchi can hardly show our love with you there, can we?" She placed her right hand on her own cheek, and laughed innocently.
"Why, why you.... You! Harlot! Get out of Lord Tenchi's bed this instant! He does not wish for space trash like you to be in his bed!" She yelled in response.
Ryoko's calm expression turned to that of anger, though she did not hate the Princess it was usual for them to bicker over Tenchi. "Oh yeah? Well I'd like to see about that! You're just jealous of me and Tenchi's everlasting, unbreakable love! Tell the mean Princess, Tenchi!" She teleported from the bed, reappearing closely behind Tenchi and wrapped her arms around him.
Tenchi squirmed to break from Ryoko's grip. "Get off of me! Ryoko!" though she did not pay any attention to his words, he should have guessed. He thought of saying something else but was interrupted again by Ayeka.
"I think you'll find that Tenchi loves me! We are bound to share eternal love with each other and will live together happily on Jurai and Earth." The Princess continued to ramble on about her dreams of her and Tenchi, she of course was blushing slightly while keeping her eyes firmly shut and her arms close to her chest.
They both stared at Ayeka curiously, though Ryoko was losing her patience, she placed a hand over Tenchi's mouth and teleported them both out of the room, without the Princess even noticing.
"-And that is why we're destined to be." She finished after a good few solid minutes of rambling, she slowly opened her right eye, confused at the long silence and found herself alone in Tenchi's room. "Why that good for nothing..!" Her eyes seemed to burn with anger as she yelled Ryoko's name loudly, which seemed to echo loudly throughout the house.
Both Ryoko and Tenchi appeared on a large tree in the forest, this was one of Ryoko's favourite spots to relax and most of all skip her daily chores. "Say, now that it's just the two of us, how about we-..." She was interrupted by Tenchi.
"We can't do that! What're you thinking?" He began to feel uneasy around Ryoko at this moment, he could not see an easy way down, not to mention there was always the fear deep inside of him of Ryoko and her tantrums.
Though surprised that Tenchi had not even let her finish her sentence she tried not to let it get to her too much. "Awwh, you always say that! C'mon Tenchi, no-one will know!" She spoke with an obvious tone of disappointment, but that would not stop her and so she pressed herself up against Tenchi and wrapped her arms around him yet again. "It could be our dirty little secret, hrmm?" She grinned wickedly at him.
He gulped loudly and felt a small drop of liquid on his upper lip, the close contact to Ryoko had brought on a nosebleed to him. "No, Ryoko!" He quickly slapped his hand over his nose in an attempt to conceal it from her and a large sweat drop had appeared on his head.
Confused at his actions she merely shook any thoughts off about it and continued. "Looks like it's down to me then." She spoke calmly but immediately pounced on Tenchi, her powers were keeping them both from falling while she laughed loudly.
"Agh! Give me back my shirt, Ryoko! This isn't funny!" In response to her actions.
"What's the matter, Tenchi? Do I repulse you that much?" She stopped and sat next to him, looking down at the ground.
"No, I didn't mean that, I mean..." Tenchi was not the best with words, he had always been shy and tried to avoid awkward questions. "It's just I don't want Ayeka or anyone else to get hurt, I love you all, you know that, right?"
Ryoko smiled, ignoring the rest of his speech besides that of her not being repulsive to him. "Oh my Tenchi, you're so sweet!"
Before Tenchi could answer, instead his stomach did with a loud rumble; he held his stomach and sighed lowly, with all the commotion he hadn't had a chance to eat breakfast.
She looked back at him and ran small circles over his chest again with her fingers. "Is my Tenchi hungry? Well we can't have that, can we?" She took his hand and in a moment they had gone from being on the tree overlooking the family house and lake to being in the Kitchen.
Sasami looked at both and with an obvious tone of anger in her voice as she spoke, she had Ryo-Ohki perched on top of her head and almost caused her to fall as she tilted her head quickly to face them, though luckily the cabbit clung to her hair. "Where have you two been? You missed breakfast! I sent Ayeka up to get you and now she's not come back, instead she left the house looking for you both, well?" She crossed her arms and slowly tapped her foot as she waited for a good reason for the upset.
The cabbit carefully hopped onto Sasami's shoulder and let out a "Meow!" in agreement with Sasami.
Tenchi and Ryoko just looked at eachother, feeling as if they'd just been spoken to by an old housewife rather than the young Juraian Princess, and barely kept back the slight urge to laugh.
"Relax, Sasami. I'll just make up something for Tenchi, besides Ayeka will probably come back home soon." Responded Ryoko.
Tenchi looked horrified at the thought of Ryoko's cooking. She had only ever attempted to cook twice, each of them including many explosions and on one occasion the food actually came to life, he looked down at Sasami, with a look of desperation.
Sasami sighed. "No, I'll do it. Come on Ryo-Ohki."
When the leftover breakfast was served for Ryoko and Tenchi the pair ate quickly, with Ryoko making a few remarks on her and Tenchi's 'love' while Mihoshi sat on the couch eating noodles and watching her favourite TV show, Space Police Policeman, Kiyone was sitting next to her, with a bored expression on her face.
"Oh no, don't go in there! It's a trap!" Screamed Mihoshi, her eyes glued to the screen.
"Calm down, Mihoshi, it's only a show, besides you've already seen this one..." Kiyone sighed.
A grin appeared on Ryoko's face, "Say Mihoshi... Maybe if you trained you could be just as good as them?"
"Wow, really? Thanks Ryoko, then Kiyone will be proud!" Mihoshi answered, jumping to her feet with a cheer, her bowl of hot noodles spilling over Kiyone's lap, "Oops, sorry Kiyone!"
Kiyone jumped to her feet while screaming "Mihoshi!" and wiped her legs quickly of the noodles, "What do you call that, huh? Now my uniform is ruined and I'll have to wash it again!"
"I'm sorry, Kiyone... I didn't mean to!" was her only reply.
Kiyone continued to yell at Mihoshi as usual, with Mihoshi only making simple excuses and telling her it's not too bad.
Ryoko laughed loudly in the background.
Tenchi laughed lightly too, but thought to himself aloud "Train? Oh no! Training, I'm late! Grandpa will not be happy!" He jumped to his feet, having barely finished his breakfast and ran out the door. "I'll never make it up there quickly..." Tenchi thought as he gazed up all the steps, he was about to start dashing up when Ryoko appeared in front of him. "What is it, Ryoko? I don't have the time for this."
"Don't worry, Tenchi." She responded and took his hand, teleporting them both to the training grounds with ease. "Teeenchi, you don't mind if I stay for awhile, do you?"
"Ehm, of course not, Ryoko, but if Grandpa catches you..." He was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.
She placed a finger over his lips, smiling eagerly, "Relax, he won't find me." She took a few steps back, phasing out leaving just a serene background. Unknown to Tenchi she appeared sitting atop a nearby tree, watching over the training grounds, letting her feet dangle in the wind. She thought to herself aloud, though no-one could hear her, "If only you knew, my Tenchi, how much I cared..." She holded herself, feeling unceasingly alone when yet so close to Tenchi.
Katsuhito soon approached Tenchi; he had been sitting under a tree awaiting Tenchi. "Tenchi, where have you been? I've been waiting for you, you will need to work on your sword technique."
"Yes, Grandpa." Tenchi sighed.
He'd much rather be at home with the others, instead he had to work all day and train, though he found some comfort in the fact that Ryoko was watching over him, somewhere. Whilst Katsuhito seemed busy rambling on about the art of reflex Tenchi would steal the odd glance up at the trees. Trying to spot Ryoko seemed near impossible; there were just too many trees around the clearing. The afternoon was spent mainly with Tenchi training against his grandfather and on various activities set up by him, on the odd occasion Tenchi would slip or tumble over, making it more embarrassing with Ryoko watching. After what seemed like an eternity to him Katsuhito informed him he could leave, Tenchi was just gathering his items when he heard a rustle in the tree directly above him.
Katsuhito grinned, his glasses shining brightly in the light, making it hard to see his eyes, he spoke lowly, "Tenchi, I am afraid you will have to come back longer next time, and please, leave your Girlfriend behind then, now, I'll be in the Shrine if you need me." With that he departed, leaving a red-faced Tenchi behind, not bothering to wait for his response.
In only an instant after Katsuhito had left sight, Ryoko phased out of the tree and in front of Tenchi. "Girlfriend?" She grinned teasingly.
"Ehm... It... Uhm... H-he..." Tenchi could barely speak, his cheeks felt as if they were on fire and was blushing heavily, he could not muster any words or think of what to say.
"Oh, relax. What do you want to do now?" she responded.
He gave her a confused look, "Well... I guess I'll be going to the carrot fields once I get the equipment."
"Right! Let's go then? I'll come with you."
Tenchi was astonished, and thought to himself if she was attempting to help? Of course not, or is she? "Well... Alright, I'll just need to go get the basket and some lunch for us."
Hours Later and Back At Home
Ayeka was pacing up and down the Masaki hallway, Sasami had given up trying to convince her to just sit down and wait it out, though she had succeeded in keeping her at home since her return. Mihoshi sat idly at the doorway, watching Ayeka pace and rant to herself about Ryoko. It had been hours and still no sign of them, and it was taking its toll on the Princess, she had eaten nothing since getting up that morning and did not feel like eating.
"Gee, Ayeka, aren't you hungry?" Asked Mihoshi, the blonde ditz was always caring and selfless, feeling it like a deep calling within herself to care for others that needed her help, though she is clumsy and can burst in at the worst of times. "Maybe you should come sit down and get something to eat?"
"What?! You expect me to sit down and eat while that... that Devil-Woman could be doing... Could be doing... Who knows what to Lord Tenchi! I should be there to help him!" she remarked, the very thought angered her.
The Galaxy Police Officer watched Ayeka pace faster up and down the hall, ranting louder about Ryoko then smoothly about poor Tenchi. "Wow, maybe they're on the secret date or something." Probably the worst thing Mihoshi could have said at that moment, she herself seemed to find it funny, but not Ayeka.
Ayeka quickly spun round and glared at Mihoshi. "What! How dare you make such idiotic accusations! Tenchi would never stoop to such a low level with that Space Pirate! Honestly!" Though she felt reassured by her own words she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling of not knowing. "Yes, that's it, paranoia I believe, indeed." She sighed in relief.
Mihoshi watched, confused in Ayeka. "Ayeka, he-he, maybe you've gone crazy, talking to yourself!" Her laughter was cut short by a quick and decisive, rough hit on the head from Ayeka, who looked demented. "Owh!" and in only a few seconds she began crying uncontrollably whilst rubbing her head.
At that moment the front door slid open, Ayeka rushed quickly to the door, "Where have you been? I've missed you so much!"
Nobuyuki flashed her a look of confusion whilst taking off his shoes, placing them neatly on the rack. "Oh? Well, sorry Princess Ayeka, I've been at work and-..." He was interrupted by Ayeka, now that she had found out it was indeed not Tenchi.
"Oh, it's you... Where is Lord Tenchi?" She spoke quickly.
"I guess he might be at the Shrine, though I'm sure I heard Ryoko and him earlier this morning while on my way to work." He sighed; no-one seemed to pay much attention to him other than to ask questions about Tenchi.
"Ayeka!" Shouted Sasami in protest, she ran into the room and came over to comfort the upset Mihoshi. "Why'd you do that to Mihoshi? She's just trying to help."
But Ayeka was not listening and only muttered an apology to Mihoshi then went outside to pace along the decking, it'd be getting dark soon, where were they?
At the Carrot Fields
"Come on, Tenchi!" yelled Ryoko, she was hastily grabbing carrots roughly and throwing them into the basket which was tied around her back, whilst Tenchi was taking his time, gently prying the carrots from the ground and placing them in the basket. It was already getting dark, the sun setting on the serene mountain horizon.
"Hey, hold on..." Tenchi sighed, not that he didn't appreciate her help. He gazed up at the sky and wiped his brow of sweat. "It's getting late... We should probably head back now, or we'll miss dinner, and Ayeka will be annoyed at us being so- Oh, no..." He gulped, Ayeka must be taking a fit back at the house he thought. "Let's head back, before we get into any trouble..."
Ryoko looked over at Tenchi, curiously, "Awwh, but Tenchi, wouldn't it be fun to just stay out here and lie under the stars?" She grinned, a seductive tone in her voice.
"Ehm, I really think we should be going, Ryoko." Tenchi said.
He was about to pick up his basket and tie it around himself when Ryoko phased in front of him and swiftly picked up both carrot-full baskets with ease, in an attempt to show Tenchi how helpful she can be. "Don't worry, I can take it." Tenchi disliked feeling as if he were taking advantage of her strength to slack off.
Ryoko looked back over at Tenchi and smiled, "No, I'll take them both, really, it's fine. Besides, I insist."
"Well, if you insist... Thanks, Ryoko." He gave her a smile and began trying to catch up with her, though Ryoko seemed too interested in watching Tenchi. The fact that she made him smile caused her to blush slightly. Though the distraction seemed to take its toll, and Ryoko tripped clumsily on a tool she discarded when given it to help her pick the carrots.
"Ryoko!" In only an instant it seemed Tenchi was over at Ryoko, helping her to her feet, she still seemed to be blushing. "Are you okay?"
"What?" She looked a little confused and looked around the now darkening field, the two baskets of carrots lying scattered on the ground. She gritted her teeth in embarrassment and spotted the cause of her fall, and in one swift kick sent it flying into the distance. "I'm sorry Tenchi, I'll pick them up."
Tenchi too knelt down on the ground beside her, helping to place the carrots back into the large baskets, and sure enough there was only one carrot left, he didn't seem to notice Ryoko had already put her hand on it and so he did, a look of embarrassment also came over his face and he looked up at Ryoko, she seemed to be gazing directly at him. They sat in complete silence in the dark field, just looking at each other, neither of them moving their hand or speaking.
"Miss Ryoko! There you are! What're you doing to Lord Tenchi?!" It was Ayeka, she seemed covered in dirt and was soaking wet. Her voice turned soothing when she looked at Tenchi "I've looked everywhere for you Lord Tenchi, are you okay?" Ayeka ran over to Tenchi, pulling him to his feet, "Let's go home, right?" she gave Ryoko a glare, which Ryoko responded by giving her an equally dirty look.
End of Chapter 1
Next Chapter: No Need for Ayeka
Well, there we go! First chapter is up, woohoo! Your reviews are more than welcome, hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the story.