Manifestations
by Celestialmew
Author's Note: Mihoshi's personality in the story is that of the OAV
Mihoshi ... not the horrible characterization in the Tenchi Muyo TV series
or Shin Tenchi. *shudders* For that matter, I think every character was rendered
badly in Shin Tenchi ...
Chapter Two: Ambivalence
Ryouko fidgeted nervously as she saw two figures on the horizon. She knew her mother by her wild pink hair and lab coat, and Tenchi by his own particular walk and build. Ayeka smiled to herself behind her. Her triumph was at hand.
Tenchi broke into a run when he saw that there were two people back at the shrine, and the second was too tall to be Sasami next to Ayeka. A relieved smile broke out on his face. He panted, "Ryouko! You had us all worried. We didn't know what had happened to you, or if something had gotten you."
There was a long pause. Ryouko kept her head carefully down, letting her limp blue hair cover her face purposefully, and clasping her hands together. "I'm sorry. I panicked -- this has never happened to me before."
Washuu trotted up from behind Tenchi, and grabbed the larger girl by the shoulders, shaking her.
"Impudent girl! You should have come to me first! The problem only gets worse as time passes, and we have to locate the gems quickly or ..."
Ryouko was taken aback; she had never seen Washuu so livid before, not even when Mihoshi ruined her experiments or creations. Her head snapped up suddenly. "Or?"
"Or you die in a week," Washuu said softly, too soft for Sasami or Ayeka to hear on the steps. Her eyes showed great sadness again, and her anger faded away.
"A week ... " Ryouko murmered to herself, "I thought it would longer than that ..."
"Well, it's not," Washuu replied blandly. She spun on her heel, and made a strange motion with her hand. A holographic computer console appeared in front of her where she tapped a few keys, and was gone. Ryouko didn't know what to say.
Tenchi walked up to her, and moved her hair out of her face. His hand brushed her cheek for the barest second, almost indetectibly. Her golden eyes looked back at him dully, and another tear slipped down her face. He must be staring at her because of how ugly she was.
"Ryouko," he said plainly, as if it were just another day.
"Yes?" she whispered.
"We'll find whoever stole those gems, and get you back to your old self. Don't worry," he said, smiling slightly, trying to induce her to optimism. She smiled back, feeling horrible that it was faked for his benefit.
"Yeah, we'll make them pay," she agreed with vindictive cheerfulness.
He nodded, and started jogging up the rest of the stairs two-by-two practicedly. Ayeka gave her a look of unconcealed rage after he went into the house. Ryouko had sat there and played him for pity, all of them, just because she had lost her powers. Like it was the end of the world.
"You ... you're a disgrace! A liar!" Ayeka spat, "Lord Tenchi is mine, and he's not going to fall for your trickery for sympathy!"
Ryouko snapped. She turned around slowly.
"Sympathy? This is all for sympathy!? I don't want anyone's pity. I don't need it. Sometimes, you really go too far, Ayeka ..." Ryouko slammed the other girl against a tree. Suddenly, she wasn't so weakened anymore. "I'm going to ... die! ... in a week! Die! You can rejoice in private; "Lord Tenchi" is yours now! And when you have your first kiss with him, I hope your ice melts forever and you hurt when he looks at another girl, and when you have your first time with him, you damn well make sure he enjoys it!"
Ryouko stepped backward, breathing heavily. Ayeka stood, stunned, and ignored her sore shoulder and ribcage. There were sharp marks left on her tender skin. It had taken a great deal of willpower not to blast Ryouko into that pond, and hear her out ... but now she wasn't sure whether she was happy or sad. What?
"Well, I will. He'll have the best times of his life with me, ruling Jurai faithfully, with me by his side. We will do what is right for the people, and lead them into a golden era free of violence, tyranny, and crime, and ... " Ayeka looked heavenward, her eyes shimmering with hope.
"You didn't tell him, did you," Ryouko said flatly.
"Tell him what?" Ayeka asked suspiciously.
"Your ... "traditions." Sasami was quite forthright, and seemed to think it would be lots of fun. Wanted to hear all about it after you were going to get married to Tenchi, and she was quite proud to say her big sister was, perhaps, the strongest of their line."
"Oh. That." She blushed hotly, and dropped her head. "Outsiders shouldn't know that information! I shall have a few words with Sasami ..."
Ryouko raised an eyebrow. "Why would you take it out on her? She never heard that it was unusual or different in other sections of the universe. I wonder how Tenchi will see his shy, demure princess after that ..."
"SHUT UP!" Ayeka screeched, knocking Ryouko backwards with an electric charge. Ryouko gasped, and sat heavily on the sand. Her eyes rolled into her head, and she fainted. Ayeka became concerned. This would not go over well with the household.
She scooped a handful of cold water from the lake, splashing it on Ryouko's face. She slapped her a few times for good measure -- maybe a little harder than necessary. The blue-haired female groaned, and opened her eyes. Ayeka shoved her upright somewhat roughly. Ryouko's gaze fell on her, and she was incoherent with fury for several seconds.
Another handful of water caught her in face, and she sputtered. Ryouko tried to get to her feet unsuccessfully, and started using some more colorful terms.
"I am no such thing!" Ayeka shot back indignantly. They glared at each other for a long moment. Ryouko started cursing her weakness, still trying to get up and teach that spiteful woman who was the stronger fighter.
I can't even make her blink right now, Ryouko thought, still angry at being so ... so helpless!
Ayeka then pulled her up to her feet, her entire demeanor changing. "I am sorry, Miss Ryouko. That was unfair of me to take advantage of your disability, but you should not say such things when I am emotionally unstable."
Ryouko gave her an incredulous look, and refrained from several taunts she might have inserted. It would not improve the situation any. She acted haughty at the proposed defeat though. "I magnamously accept your apology." Inside, she knew Ayeka had already won. It was she who was being magnamous in victory.
"You should come back to the house," the princess advised. Ryouko took a step confidently, and crumpled. Ayeka sighed, waging a war with herself on what was the right thing to do. A faint scuffling across the path made her stiffen.
A smiling Sasami looked at them, her head tilted slightly. She walked over and took Ryouko's arms, struggling a little with the burden. "Can you help me, Ayeka?" she asked plaintively. "We've got to get Ryouko back to the house, like you said."
"Sasami -- " Ayeka started, frozen. How long have you been standing there? When did you arrive? I didn't hear you ...
"Please, Ayeka?" Sasami asked, on the verge of begging. Ayeka picked Ryouko up in one smooth motion, grimacing. Ryouko was doing a fine impression of a rag doll. She could feel the wrinkled, dried skin across her arms, the bones, and her skin crawled at the touch.
She purposefully started up the stairs. Ryouko smiled at her triumphantly. Ayeka closed her eyes, grinding her teeth. For someone who appeared skeletal, her weight certainly began to increase rapidly. She realized it was her own fatigue. This is all your fault, Ryouko ... the epithet came easily to her mind.
Sasami trotted after her, humming to herself. Ayeka hung her head down, trying to ignore the worry coursing through her. If Sasami had seen her ... They reached the top after what seemed forever. Sasami opened the screen door, and Ayeka forced herself to put Ryouko on the couch gently, even though she wanted to drop her unceremoniously on the floor.
Ryouko was still smiling smugly at her. Ayeka turned away, her stance rigid, and faced her younger sister. Her face was kind, and her voice sweet. "Sasami?"
"Yeah, Ayeka?" Sasami replied cheerfully.
"Is there anything you want to talk about?" she urged. Sasami giggled, closing her eyes happily, and shook her head. Her blue ponytails swung from side to side. Ayeka, on a strange impulse, took Sasami's hand. There were angry red fingernail indentions on her palm.
She tried to smile, her heart aching. "We'll talk about it later, Sasami. Please prepare lunch for everyone, and something soft and soothing to the stomach for Ryouko."
"Okay," Sasami agreed, still smiling, if a little more subdued. She bounded into the kitchen, and the rustling of pots, pans, and wooden plates could be heard. Ayeka stared the empty doorway for a long time, sometimes getting a glimpse of her sister.
Sasami poked her head through the doorway. "Don't worry! I'll cook the very best meal ever!"
"I'm sure you will," she said back. There was the sharp sound of a knife impacting a cutting board, and the sound of many things hitting something metallic. Ayeka turned away.
"What was that all about?" Ryouko asked, sounding puzzled.
"It's none of your business. I assume that you won't injure yourself in your condition, so I am going up to my room. I will see you again at noon, Ryouko," Ayeka said perfunctorily. She walked out of the living room and presumably to her bedroom.
* * *
There was a shy knock at the door of Washuu's lab, and it opened slowly.
Washuu rubbed away the remains of tears, and pretended to be absorbed in
her work at the console, peering at numbers that would have been meaningless
to anyone else. Where was her mind? She had forgotten to turn the security
system on. No -- Sasami was connected to Tsunami, and somehow that link always
breached her shields.
"Washuu-san?" Sasami requested tentatively. "It's Wa -- " she started to correct automatically, but realized that she was in her mature form. When had that happened!? She berated herself for her forgetfulness in her grief. Sometimes, it still plagued her. Washuu changed back to the form of a young child a bit too late.
Sasami smiled a little and sat down crosslegged on the spotless floor. She often talked to the somewhat-reticent scientist, and they shared an unusual rapport. She was a child that was too mature for her age, by sharing half her mind with a sentient tree that was centuries old. Washuu had lived a long time, too, but tried to be a child.
"I guess you couldn't ignore your grown-up problems forever, huh?" Sasami noted. Washuu nodded, and continued scanning the area. The computer's findings scrolled by, which were essentially nothing of interest. "Correct," Washuu said, "They do have a tendency of catching up to oneself."
"You didn't come here to tell me that," Washuu commented. Sasami looked away. "I can smell food cooking on these primitive appliances too."
"Washuu, you know a lot about people, right?"
"More than I care too," Washuu replied, "But most of what you learn comes from experience and observation, and not in teachings from pompous scientific academic facilities that have little basis in actual evalutation." Sasami had a blank expression. "But what do you want to know?"
"Sometimes ... I can't understand my sister at all. I think her and Ryouko hate each other," the small girl said, letting her feelings show openly on her face, including her pain.
Washuu paused the console's input of information. "Their feelings are ambivalent toward each other. I think that they do care about each other -- somewhere. All I can say is that Ryouko is going through a crisis, and Ayeka responds to the stimuli of the moment with trifling foresight."
Sasami took a moment to decipher that, and laughed. "Yeah, my sister can be headstrong sometimes. Well, I better go back to the kitchen before lunch burns. Thanks, Washuu!"
"Anytime," she said. Sasami left the lab. Washuu paused for a moment in thought. Then she once again surrounded herself in her medium to the exclusion of everything else.
* * *
Mihoshi wandered through the woods, lost. She wasn't sure where she was going,
and she was getting a little paranoid. Her head snapped up as wind whistled
through the tree branches, and bushes trembled.
"Ryouko?" she said softly, "Ryouko, where are you? ..."
A figure stood up out of the forest, its shadow falling across the old path menacingly. Mihoshi stood up bravely, even though her knees shook a little. It was just the weather, and the description she had gotten had made Ryouko seem terrifying, but she knew Ryouko would never hurt her, only have a little fun at her expense.
"Is that you, Ryouko? Okay, you can show yourself now ..." she said a little nervously.
There was a deep, gutteral laughter. Mihoshi looked confused ... she had been informed that Ryouko's voice sounded harsh, but this wasn't it. She tried to get a closer look, but the sun was glaring in her eyes.
"Where is the boy?" the voice demanded. Mihoshi moved a blonde strand of hair out of her face. "Boy? You mean Tenchi, Ryouko?"
" ... Tenchi, then. Yes. Where is he?"
Mihoshi skipped forward. This sounded like Ryouko a little, and she lost some of her nervousness. "Okay, good prank. You know he's back at the house, and -- Agh! You're not Ryouko!"
Her laser gun was out in a split second. She fired a warning shot at a tree, her hands shaking a little. A branch dropped, and hit the person on the head. There was an exclamation of pain, and the figure stumbled backward. Mihoshi leveled the gun at the person, her hands shaking.
"Alright, you! Your name, now! I am the Galaxy Police detective, Mihoshi, and I demand to know your identity, and what you're doing here!"
"You just made a big mistake then, woman!" A beam hurled toward her, but she ducked it, and blessed her training. Several trees imploded. They ceased to exist. Mihoshi covered her face, and groped for the cottonball on her pants.
It metamorphed into her cube in her hands. She started twisting the sides blindly, running away. Miraculously, no beams managed to hit her, but did manage to oblivate a good section of the forest. "Oh, oh, oh, please work ..."
Various items popped into existance, including a cup of coffee, a television set, a pillow, fuel for her vehicle, a model spaceship, a butter knife, and a grenade. An explosion threw her to the ground. Her attacker was nowhere in sight.
Mihoshi looked down at herself. A coffee-stained pillow had cushioned her fall, and she picked herself up, rearranging her hair carefully. Definitely not Ryouko.
She held the cube out in her hand warningly, and salvaged through the debris for a clue to whoever that was. There were a few broken twigs, disturbed fallen petals, and a tatter of clothing on the ground. Her assailant was heading toward the shrine.
Mihoshi took off toward the Masaki house as fast as she could. She tripped on something though, and all of a sudden, everything started going dark. She could hear laughter that boded nothing well for her in her ears.
She felt a rush of air, and rolled to the side. A very nasty-looking bladed weapon had embedded itself into the stone of the path. Her skin prickled. It was abou two inches from her face. There was a growl, and a pair of enraged violet eyes met hers.
She didn't get to see much else as she swept the person's feet out from under them. Mihoshi did notice they were wearing rather conspicuous black robes though. As if that ever deterred attention.
She scrambled to her own feet, and fled down the path, screaming at the top of her lungs for help. She wasn't afraid, but it was handy for attracting assistance. It also told her pursuer exactly where her location was. Mihoshi summoned a fountain pen, a rubber ducky, a keyboard, and finally a shield with her cube.
It disintegrated as another deadly ray struck it. She saw the household in view as the forest cleared, and tried to yell louder. "Kiyone! HELP! Someone help me, please! Help! Help!"
She turned around, realizing that whoever was chasing her had disappeared.
Mihoshi stood in bewilderment for several seconds, and walked back to the
shrine calmly.
* * *
An alarmed Tenchi and Kiyone dashed out into the living room. The teal-haired
girl was looking disheveled, and clutching a gun tightly. She blinked at
the unruffled Mihoshi, confused. Ryouko then ran into the room.
"What's going on?" Kiyone demanded.
"Huh? Oh, not much. Someone attacked me, but I took care of it. I drove him off all by myself." Mihoshi puffed up a bit with pride.
"You drove him off!? You're supposed to arrest him!" Kiyone exclaimed angrily. "Some criminal might be on the loose, running around rampant!"
Mihoshi deflated, realizing that. Well, she would track him down alright, and bring him to justice! She turned to leave, but Kiyone held her back. "Not so fast. Tell me everything you know."
"Yes," Tenchi agreed, finally breaking in. They all sat down on the floor and Mihoshi rehashed through the story in great detail, making careful not to leave anything out. Ryouko was dead asleep halfway through, and Kiyone struggled to maintain strict attention. Ayeka wandered downstairs in the interim, said nothing, but sat down crosslegged at the foot of the stairway.
" ... and I know it was definitely a male, about Ryouko's height, give or take an inch. He also had a very deep voice, purple eyes, and was sorta snooty. He wasn't very agile either. Now that I think about it, he had pretty bad markmanship as well," Mihoshi noted to herself. "And I drove him off all by myself after that, I sure did!"
"Who?" Ayeka questioned.
"The person who attacked her," Kiyone explained. Ayeka looked out of the window worriedly toward the woods. Tenchi shook Ryouko, who awoke with a start. She recoiled slightly, looking away.
"Mihoshi found someone suspicious around here and chased them off. I think we should investigate. He might be the person who stole your gems," Tenchi explained.
"No one could be stupid enough to hang around, and be chased off by Mihoshi ... " Ryouko glanced at the tanned blonde who wilted. "But I could be wrong, she does seem to have incredible luck."
"Thanks!" Mihoshi chirped, beaming.
"Bad luck," Kiyone muttered. Ayeka cleared her throat, attracting everyone's attention. "I do believe we should tell Washuu immediately, and take precautions against this person doing anything to Lord Te - "
"Tenchi's in danger!?" Ryouko interrupted. She clenched her fist angrily. "I'll hunt this guy down and kill him!"
"Um, Ryouko, that really isn't necessary. I don't think you could," Tenchi reminded her softly. She huffed and slid back against the wall. He was right, of course.
"As I was saying," Ayeka continued, "We should go see Miss Washuu."
* * *
"Good thing you thought to warn me," Washuu said, and pulled over her invisible,
omnipresent console. Her fingers flew across it. "I've expanded the shields
around my lab to exist around the Masaki household as well. That's odd. I'm
not picking up any lifeforms in the immediate vicinity, at least, nothing
unusual. But then again, my scans seem to have been malfunctioning all day
..."
"Hey!" Mihoshi said, "What's this!"
"No!" Washuu cried, knocking the too-inquisitive girl away from a glowing device just in time. Kiyone grabbed her partner, and pulled her aside. "Why don't we go play a game of Go?" Kiyone suggested sweetly, looking strained.
"Hooray! I love Go!" Mihoshi was already running out of the laboratory. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief, and Kiyone looked around apologetically before following. Washuu went back as if nothing had happened.
" ... and I do believe something is jamming the signal. Alright, everyone out, now! I can't get my tasks done with everyone wandering about aimlessly and prodding at things!" There were looks of confusion: no one dared touch anything. But they all went to leave. "Not you, Ryouko."
"Me?" Ryouko pointed a finger at herself. "But I can't do anything!"
Washuu rolled her eyes heavenward. "See anyone else named Ryouko around? And you most certainly can. You don't have anything to do, you lazy girl, and you can help me fix some of my machinery. It hadn't been working at peak efficiency lately, and I believe it might have something to do with the alignment of ..."
The rest lost Ryouko's attention, and she glanced around. "So, what do you want me to do?"
Washuu pulled a box out of ... somewhere ... and shoved it into her daughter's hands. "Just because you have your days numbered is no excuse to be idle. Now, you see that machine over there? Take off the panel on the back carefully, and go through the instructions written in the manual in your hands. Then move to the next machine. And don't improvise, or touch anything red. Even you can handle that much."
"Fine," Ryouko said, glowering at the scientist's back. She went over to the foreign-looking machine, and circled it. She decided it was a toss up between the front and back, and reached for a panel to slide it off.
It was empty. She tried again, and realized that there were about a dozen more. Ryouko opened the manual, but couldn't make heads or tails of the directions. The majority of the words were polysyllabic.
She sighed. This was not how she had planned to spend her day at all.
* * *