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^Tenchi Muyo: Sanctuary and Asylum^
-Verse Four-
Recreation (Part 1)
Injured plea.
Crushed destiny.
Deep down-trauma hounds---run to corrode---integrity.
Whatever matters and it would---they fail to see.
They make believe-reality.
Helpless deaths ignored-to be judged as juvenile.
Head caves in--growing pains--no time remains--for fantasy.
*Excerpt*
-Skinny Puppy (deep down TRAUMA HOUNDS)
Yukinojo was a practical model by galaxy police standards, but thanks to Washu's expert (not to mention frequent) maintenance it looked clean and important enough to be launched with a bottle of champagne. The new passenger remembered the old mechanic's eyes getting bubbly before she swallowed the sidetrack of amazing modifications she could still make. He'd smiled then at the luck-wink she'd left him with and was still smiling up at the ship through its shadow.
"Okay Mr. Seita, I'll be ready to transport you aboard in about ten more minutes." Mihoshi's voice came over the intercom with a slight hurry and the sound of something collapsing in the background.
"No need Mihoshi." He casually opened and entered a colorless portal.
Only one freezing draft spread through the ship's captain in less than a second, but the sensation still made her short of breath and weak of knee enough to drop a bundle of dirty clothes onto a stack of crinkled magazines. Mihoshi shivered and slouched with a pitiful whine. Seita watched unnoticed as she tried to reorganize the different categories of rubbish. The pristine silver curves of the ship's hull were a credit to Washu's ability, but while willing to be Mihoshi's mechanic she apparently refused to be her maid.
He barely stifled a giggle to look around the cockpit turned wasteland of discard and disorder and other stuff. When Mihoshi turned and noticed her passenger she dropped her bundle of clothes again, this time in an artless heap at her feet.
"Oh, Mr. Seita! So that's where the draft came from---not that you're cold or anything! I mean that dimension you can travel through is, but you're not and I, uh-" Mihoshi babbled, hopping he could forgive and she could forget the feeling his portals brought with them when they brought him.
"Don't worry Mihoshi, I understand." He lowered his head apologetically. "Sorry, I guess I should have given you clearer warning that I was coming up on my own."
"It's okay, just---this place is a bit of a mess and wanted I to-" Mihoshi blushed as she tried to gather her laundry again.
"Don't be embarrassed, I've certainly seen grander examples of chaos." He reassured then reassured again before Mihoshi could tell if he was smiling at a private joke. "At least you seem to have some organization."
Earth's galactic peace officer looked around at the similar piles of debris, imagining her ship as some kind of recycling center. She felt the urge to nervously twiddle her fingers but was determined not to drop the laundry this time; Seita was still looking at her softly. His blonde hair and blue eyes reminded him slightly of her own, but the consistency of his skin, and the shape of his lips---Mihoshi dreamed a grin and titled her head slightly.
"I'd be happy to help if I can."
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I-uh," Mihoshi tried to calm herself with a deep breath, but made a sour face at the close proximity of her soiled clothing.
"Is something wrong Mihoshi?"
"No -cough- nothing's wrong. It's nice of you to offer to help, uh-" Mihoshi looked around anxiously. "Those two piles on the right are just trash, there are some bags here by my foot," she kicked forward a small white box, "they both just go in the incinerator, it's, um."
"Marked by the flashing green light sir." A binocular pair of eyes lowered between them and spoke up helpfully.
"Thanks Yukinojo," The ship's captain sighed and tried to return her passenger's smile as he contentedly helped to make the ship more presentable than she could remember it.
---
After focusing so hard on exiting Earth's orbit properly Mihoshi fogged up a few monitors with a breath of relief. She noticed Seita's silence and let herself relax into a gaze of him watching the earth grow smaller.
*Sure wish the partners they try to stick me would be as patient as this guy. Funny, he just kept staring out the window, never made sure I followed all the procedures, never made me feel all stupid for having a messy ship. He may be a little odd---but it's not really a bad odd.
*I can't imagine what it must've been like to go through all that horrible stuff with Kagato; maybe him and Ryoko will be able to talk about it. I wonder if ^he^ thinks she's prettier than I am... I wonder what he's thinking right now.
"How long have you been with the GP, Mihoshi?" Seita made conversation without taking his eyes off the passing moon. Mihoshi blinked quick, hid her twiddling fingers quicker, and answered brightly.
"Hm, well right after I got out of school I entered the academy, and I've been with the Galaxy Police ever since."
"What rank are you, if you don't mind me asking," he continued, looking over and making her look down.
"Well, I'm a detective really, but I asked to patrol this solar system to be closer to Tenchi---and-and everyone else of course! Yeah, uh, I feel really at home there for some reason."
"So you basically patrol the planets around this sun?"
"Yeah, this system's sort of far from everything so it can get really boring out here."
"But police work can still be pretty dangerous though, right?" He searched with a flattering, expectant grin.
"Well, uh," Mihoshi mumbled shyly, "technically I'm not allowed to bring civilians on patrol, but after seeing how Ryoko's fist went through you I guess you can take care of yourself, huh?"
Seita watched his hand grip and release his knee in a near squirming motion. He closed his eyes, and shared a shy smile of his own.
"I've been looking out for myself for a very long time, but it's still nice to have someone covering you."
When he looked up at her again she was apple cheeked, practically sweating, and trying to look anywhere but his direction.
*That was NOT what it sounded like! That was NOT what it sounded like! That was NOT what it sounded like! Pay attention to the ship Mihoshi, just watch where you're going. Deep breath, deep breath---nice cologne.
*DAMMIT! Okay, get a grip, look at that nail polish, that sapphire shirt; he probably doesn't even like girls...but it does make him kind of--- interesting..
*Arragh! New thoughts-new thoughts. Tell him a police adventure or something.
"Well, one time this scientist was out around the seventh planet, he went out of his ship to collect an asteroid sample and kinda got locked out. Funny huh? Well Officer Mihoshi was on the job, helped the man get back into his ship and-" Her anxious story along with her vivid hand gestures all ground to a halt at the sight of Seita's slightly confused expression. She deflated with a sigh.
"I guess that's not a very exciting story is it? I'm sorry Mr. Seita. That was a week ago, and it was the most exciting thing for months."
"Just 'Seita' is fine."
"Sorry, S-Seita." She grimaced at the pathetic lump rising in her throat and finished in a small voice. "After I show you all the planets in this system there probably won't be anything to do till we go home for dinner."
"Don't worry, I have something that could keep us busy." Seita tried to cheer her up kindly. Mihoshi's head just could not get out of the gutter today, her eyes bulged and she forcefully banished another thought beneath a heavier blush.
The tall man rose quickly but didn't bump his head on a thing. He brought back a well-sterilized yet obviously well-used food tray and set it down between them almost ceremoniously. Mihoshi's showed no grasp of a trace of a clue, but smiled nervously as her passenger brought his fingertips together. A moment passed and a small, checkered pattern began to appear on the plain surface, Jurian chess pieces emerged into place as if breaking through a thin film.
"Wow, that was neat!" Mihoshi's mood brightened instantly, then sank just as fast. "I'm afraid I'm not very good at this game though."
"That's okay; I barely remember how to play." His charming voice continued to reassure her so easily she almost couldn't tell that he was critiquing himself.
The pieces felt surprisingly real in her hands, but even after getting used to that she took her time with the first move. Seita's whites moved toward her blacks of their own accord, and after likewise lengthy pauses.
"So, how do you think Tenchi and Ryoko are doing?" Mihoshi tried to break the stretch of silence that had begun with the game.
"I don't think their event starts till later this evening."
"Oh. What did Tenchi call it, a 'raise'?"
"Hmm." Sayta considered the question and the game at once, taking his chin off his hand to wave his fingers in a shrugging gesture. "Something like that."
---
"Come on Sasami, we've only got six hours till this thing starts." A shock of cyan paced impatiently behind a pair of long pigtails jutting out above a large bag on the floor.
"Ryoko, that's plenty of time." Sasami argued amid the noise of random objects being shuffled about.
"Yeah, but Tenchi said it might take a while to get there, and I want to be ready when he gets home so he wont even ^think^ about backing out."
"Found em!"
Sasami rose triumphantly, holding two bracelets and a large necklace she'd won at a county fair. The elastic bands nearly stretched beneath the bulk of star-shaped beads, supposedly the varieties of floresant plastic all glowed in the dark. Ryoko looked the trinkets up and down, uncertain of her booty's value for the first time, but she eventually shrugged and added them to the rest of her outfit.
"Well, how do I look?" Earth's newest raver spread her arms out with a hopeful grin. Sasami bit her lip against a giggle.
They had borrowed a pair of large blue jeans from Noboyuki's closet and the largest work boots they could find, luckily small feet were in Tenchi's family, luckily Sasami had only suggested the inverse as a joke. Ryoko borrowed a bright orange T-shirt from her fashion consultant that left little to the imagination; a hapless chibi character stretched across her chest in almost medieval torment. They'd 'rented' some thick goggles with blue lenses from Washu's lab that made smiles and hair all seem bigger and definitely completed the cartoonish jewelry.
"Be honest Sasami." Ryoko stared at her uneasy young friend sternly.
"You, uh, look like that girl we saw on the Internet anyway." Sasami answered with a hurried nod.
"Ah-hem," Ryoko put a fist on her hip.
"I mean ^better^! Better, of course."
Ryoko looked toward the mirror and spread a hand through her hair, turning up its flamboyant volume.
"Damn right."
---
"Hello, I'm home!" Tenchi called as he set his school supplies down on the couch.
"Welcome home, Lord Tenchi." Aeka answered sweetly, tea set ready. "I've made some tea, would you care to have some with me?"
"Sure Aeka I-"
"Hey, Tenchi!" Ryoko phased through the ceiling and landed gracefully in the living room, putting a hand on her hip and jutting it out towards him. "You ready for our date?"
Tenchi's jaw dropped. Was she going to be a space pirate again, or was she going to be a clown? His dad probably wouldn't mind her borrowing those pants, and the little T-shirt looked kinda...nice. It could be worse, he told himself, but what if she wanted ^him^ to dress the same way? He tried to stay calm and answer politely, but a critical remark somehow snuck through.
"Wow, the clothes you were wearing when I met you suddenly don't seem so strange." He winced and cursed himself for not giving his usual passive response, there'd be hell to pay any moment now.
"Tenchi-" Ryoko responded softly, looking down and pulling slightly on the end of her shirt.
"I ^am^ an idiot, a ^dead^ idiot." Tenchi said too quietly to be heard.
"You really remembered what I was wearing then, that's so sweet!" Deep affection filled her eyes and she floated forward for a hug. Her date hugged her back with a sigh of relief.
"He means you look ridiculous Ryoko!" Aeka shouted angrily. "Are you really so determined to embarrass poor Lord Tenchi at every chance you get. It's bad enough he has to take you out looking the way you do, but did you have to make him go to some crazy party for hooligans!"
Tenchi felt the all too familiar fear in his belly as Ryoko stepped away from him, a shadow of overhanging hair darkening her face. She responded with deadpan wrath without even looking up.
"Speaking of embarrassing..." Ryoko raised her palms gracefully and pressed them against her lips. Aeka blinked confusion and Tenchi felt the urge to run for cover as oversized pants sagged a little more from the ominous inflation of Ryoko's lungs. A wet rubber machine gun opened fire across the living room.
When finally out of ammo, Ryoko looked up at the princess with a truly demonic expression. The crockery on Aeka's tea tray began to rattle. Tenchi prepared to see steam pour out of her ears as her cheeks nearly ballooned to prevent an immanent explosion. To his surprise, Ryoko lost her cool first in a bent over, tear soaked fit.
"You SHUT UP!" Aeka bellowed. "That was Sayta's doing, a princess would never-never-"
"Break wind---pass gas!" Ryoko filled in the blanks between bursts of now painful amusement.
"He MADE ME DO IT! I have more self control than-"
"Ri-i-ight, why don't you just blame it on ^Ryo-ohkiiiiiii!^" The jerking, jeering response brought a fresh shipment of hysterics, finally dragging Ryoko to her knees.
"Ryoko, please." Tenchi pleaded weakly.
She eventually floored herself, but the thump of her collapse was barely audible above the howls and cackles leading to the inevitable silent convulsions that come when noise just isn't enough.
Tenchi had hid his face in his hands that night at the dinner table while Ryoko almost pummeled the table into splinters. He'd been silent till at last she passed out from exhaustion, but for some reason now, he felt a cracking in his throat. Something about Ryoko's last tasteless quip got to him, it was just so perfectly---cheesy. The impartial judge was hardly able to cement his hand over his mouth in time. Luckily Aeka had already retreated to the kitchen before she could hear the nasal choke of his suppressed laughter.
*** Sasami scurried back and forth along the kitchen counter, alternately checking on two different parts of the evening meal. Despite the self- imposed stress, she maintained a smile and a hum slightly lower and more rhythmic than the one she used before drinking from The Great Tree. Aeka couldn't help but noticed the small change as only family could, and let some of her frustration with Ryoko settle.
"That's a very lovely tune Sasami, it's a shame there aren't any musical instruments here, I'm sure you could bring some pleasant melodies to the house."
The head chef stopped her chopping and whirled around at her sister, Aeka only smiled and threw another pealed sprout into her bowl.
"Really!?" Sasami asked with an anxious twinkle in her eye.
"Really, helping you prepare dinner is always nicer when you make music."
"Oh, I'm not really-" she blushed and returned to the task at hand.
"I know mother and father were always a little disappointed that you didn't show any interest in music on Jurai. I think now that you're ready to sit still for more than a few minutes you might enjoy taking lessons here." Aeka smiled with a lighthearted tease and an obvious encouragement.
"I don't know Aeka, what if I just make a lot of noise?" She worried her voice younger.
Aeka's face darkened slightly and she looked back down at the sprouts, breaking them with a little more force.
"I'm sure it couldn't be any worse than what we already endure with Ryoko."
"Oh Aeka," Sasami sighed, forgot her own troubles, and faced her sister again, "why can't you and her just learn to get along. There's really no reason to fight all the time."
A brooding silence swept out as Sasami finished one task and began drying her hands.
"Haven't you been paying attention to ^anything^! We have plenty of reason to-" the sudden explosion would have startled anyone, and Aeka barely caught herself as her sister dropped the dishtowel.
"I'm-I'm sorry Sasami," she began again in an embarrassed hush, "perhaps when you are older you will understand the ways of a woman's heart...and you just don't know Ryoko as I do."
Sasami began to speak, but drained her eyes and closed her mouth. They finished preparing dinner in silence.
***
Ryoko was in such a hurry to get them out of the house as soon as possible that she seemed two steps from force-feeding Tenchi his early dinner. She almost whittled away her chopsticks in the time it took him to scoop in the last of his fish.
Tenchi looked over at the new guest as he discussed some of the food he remembered from other worlds, and tried his best to complement Aeka's contribution to the meal. Though still being short with him, she was being visibly worn down by his ability to be excessively polite in a way that almost mirrored her.
Washu had been strangely absent since the night of Sayta's parlor tricks and was taking more time than he'd expected to analyze the tests she'd done the other night. Tenchi shuddered at the possible inventions she might be able to apply the new powers to. He looked up at Ryoko again, and to his surprise she wasn't staring at him. Instead, her eyes were boring holes into the single morsel left on his plate.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he lifted the last bite of food into his mouth; his dad lifting his van keys out of his pocket, Mihoshi feeding something to Seita, Aeka frowning at Ryoko as she leaned forward to watch his jaw as it chewed. The sound of his hesitant swallow was like a track gun as his date lunged, grabbed him in one hand, the keys in the other, and dashed through the door.
"RYOKOOOOOO!"
"Have a nice time!" Everyone save Aeka called out as Tenchi's desperate scream faded into the distance.
***
"C'mon, can't we fly over these slugs!" Ryoko experimented with the radio buttons impatiently, creating a bizarre mix of abrasive static and even more cacophonous hip-pop. Tenchi leaned over and turned it off.
"Sorry Ryoko, but we're just going to have to be patient, this thing lasts almost all night anyway."
"Really?!" She asked expectantly. "Is that why you took a nap before dinner?" Her hand slapped the question closed a little too late.
"Huh, how did you know I-"
He took his eyes off the traffic jam in front of him and glanced over. Ryoko hung her head guiltily over forearms pressed straight into her lap. She was chewing on her lips, apparently anticipating some kind of reprimand. Tenchi sighed and checked again to make sure that every car in Japan was still in front of them, when he looked back Ryoko's posture had become even more timid.
Every time that he had woken to find her watching over him he'd been very cross and practically ordered her never to do it again. The almost monstrously exhausted face he awoke to after the battle with Kagato gave him a quick shiver, but as he looked over at his passenger again the image changed. Instead of a frightful wakeup call, he instead envisioned a time he'd passed by Ryoko when she was sleeping peacefully on the couch. Her mouth hung open slightly and her long fingers curled out along side it like a gentle dragon. The sharp explosion of hair swayed more like a prairie in the breeze with each breath. A soft smile crept across his face and he bent slightly it in his date's direction to be sure she would hear.
"Ah well, probably a good thing to have someone to check on me anyway," he said in an almost carefree voice.
"Really?" Ryoko looked up with a series of surprised blinks.
"Yeah, uh, you never know when I might forget to set my alarm or something," Tenchi continued in his usual nervous tone.
Ryoko prepared something clever, but let her smile relax and leaned back into the seat with her hands behind her head. She closed her eyes and thought of different ways to rouse a body from sleep, the subsequent fantasies kept her mind occupied till at last Tenchi arrived at what was obviously the event. He checked the address on the flyer all the same.
The building's official purpose was likely to host car shows or business conventions; its design was simple, almost minimalist. While Tenchi waited for the disinterested parking director to wave them in, he tried to envision how to make the building look more professional than a warehouse. The mob of young people spilling out the doors made it hard to choose the proper geometric themes and for a moment he gave up and shook his head. He was thinking like his dad, and if he wasn't careful he'd end up ogling the scantly clad girls in the crowd.
Many of the people had assembled outfits similar to the one's Ryoko had almost made them wear, he thanked his ancestors again that he'd been able to convince her that there was no dress code. She'd changed into a short skirt and tight long sleeve blouse, the elegant red and black combination made him remember the day he'd left with Aeka.
*I wonder if she planned it that way? No safe way to find out, really. I still can't believe I agreed to take her to this thing, but I guess I should be thankful that it's a public place. The atmosphere sure isn't romantic, she'll get bored soon enough and everyone will be on equal terms again. I haven't danced since Jr. high, but it'll probably be too crowded to notice. At least I'm not the only one here who was comfortable with jeans and a T-shirt.
They pulled into their parking space and Ryoko pried her face off the window to shower Tenchi with eyes full of excitement. She alternately held places in the van to feel the vibration of the bass as they parked only a few blocks from the ear-shattering fun that awaited them.
"Wow, Tenchi, that music sounds so cool!" Ryoko beamed as her date walked out and around to her side.
"Sure seems loud enough," Tenchi grumbled as he opened Ryoko's door courteously. She floated delicately out of her seat.
"Ryoko!" he gasped, taking hold of her shoulders and holding her firmly to the ground.
"Geeze Tenchi," Ryoko began teasingly, after the shock of the initial contact faded into affection, "lighten up will ya."
"Ryoko, please, try to remember to act like a ^normal^ person. You can't fly, you can't teleport, you can't go through walls, and you ^definitely^ can't shoot fire balls!"
"Okay! Okay!" Ryoko matched his urgent whisper.
"Good." Tenchi relaxed a little.
"But I can still do this," Ryoko said brightly, and patted her head while rubbing her belly. The innocent smile accompanying such a ridiculous gesture made Tenchi shake his head at the ground with a helpless laugh.
"Seeeeeee, I told you we were going to have fun." Ryoko cheered, hooking her arm around his and dragging them to the entrance. The crunch of their steps in the dirt lot intermingled with halfhearted pleas to slow down.
The party inside ^felt^ as much as it sounded like a fierce beast threatening to burst out of its cage at any moment. A roar of pounding music poured over them every time someone walked out for some cancer or went back inside for some deafness. Tenchi hesitated at the sight of the two guards patting down the partiers. The overweight man shifted back and forth with the same boredom as the lot attendants, chewing idly on what Tenchi hoped was gum. His female companion had clearly taken her training more seriously and kept her arms crossed officially behind her back when she wasn't patting down the next potentially armed and dangerous teenage girl.
"Okay Ryoko, just do as these people ask. They're not trying to hurt us, they just need to make sure we're not bringing in any weapons."
"That girl isn't going to touch you, is she?" Ryoko growled.
"No Ryoko, he searches me and she searches you." Tenchi explained as clearly as he could.
"Alright," Ryoko mumbled her suspicion in the female guard's direction.
"Now," Tenchi began again after the search went blessedly without incident, "this place is going to be pretty crowded and people are going to be moving around a lot. If someone bumps into you it'll be an accident so just say excuse and everything will be okay."
"You worry too much Tenchi. We'll be having too much fun to notice anyone else, no matter how many people are in there!" Ryoko brought up a fist with a confident smile. Before Tenchi could think of any other warnings she'd hauled him onward to the ticket booth. The ticket taker made no attempt to hide his up, and mostly down stare at Ryoko. Tenchi only rolled his eyes.
"HA! Sorry bub, I'm spoken for."
She sneered mercilessly and snatched the tickets and her date in final triumph. With another almost giddy smile in she eased his hand into hers and used her other to press on the large vertical bar of the double auditorium doors. The most colorful and noisy sauna in the universe welcomed them with a bouncing sea of arms and heads.
There were scattered patches of space not yet occupied by dancers and Ryoko led him to the closest one. She turned in a circle, arms and eyes open wide, less like a child in a candy store and more like a child in a candy factory. Tenchi began to laugh off his nervousness as the whole spectacle became less intimidating and more entertaining.
He tried to appreciate the simplicity of the music with its drums a like a choreographed bokken battle and its bass like huge balloons filled with molasses slamming onto a gymnasium floor. The melody, if there really was one, seemed drowned out by the two dominating rhythms. When the music began to change Tenchi grimaced thankfully, but his relief soon turned into almost surreal annoyance.
Over-electrified guitars and computer tones churned out a continuous bubbly melody that seemed to make the dancers, particularly the girls, bounce their heads a little more. The vocal chorus whistled up and almost made him run from the building, sung at a fast pace by what could only have been a robotic chipmunk. He thought of Ryo-ohki to turn the ridiculous song into a joke, but ended up picturing a shiny metal rodent shaking an acorn tambourine around its swollen chemical pink eyes.
Ryoko laughed heartily into her hand and Tenchi laughed along with her, thankful that someone shared his impression. In a single movement she crossed the distance between them and spoke in almost a yell and almost too softly for him to hear.
"I didn't know Aeka had her own album!"
Tenchi stared at her in shock, but laughed again all the same at the memory of how Aeka had spoken to her mother on a number of occasions. Just as they were on the verge of dancing out of pure absurdity, the next DJ announced himself with a name that sounded German from what Tenchi knew of European languages.
As he set up his equipment his warm up tune ignited the crowd with even more energy, clearly the next man up had already made a name for himself as the majority of the crowd called out to him in praise. The rhythm was undeniably catchy, and little by little Tenchi began to feel dissatisfied with just bobbing his head and tapping his feet.
He'd never even been to a school dance, but there were so many people, particularly Ryoko, who seemed happy to be just move as their own hearts dictated. In fact, even those who weren't dancing showed no interest in pointing out a newcomer's inadequacy. He hadn't received so many smiles for incidental eye contact since he was a small child. When a surprisingly complex arrangement of beats came up he made up his mind that this strangely positive environment was the perfect place to see if he didn't have a taste for dancing after all.
His first moves were only a tentative imitation of the guys around him. He anticipated a catcall from Ryoko at any minute, but when he looked over he noticed that she had taken exactly the same approach. This may have been her first time at such a thing, but she certainly seemed to be executing a certain hand movement better than the girl behind her, of course her smile was also noticeably larger.
The lights darkened a little more and the projection screens skillfully endorsed the new DJ's logo in icy blue and white. Tenchi figured he must have already made a name for himself when the crowd gave him a rock star's cheer. The music began in a comparatively gentle ambiance, the beat wasn't exactly slow, but it moved along with the electronic blurbs at a leisurely pace. Tenchi bobbed his head with a pleased grin, remembering scenes from the American jazz bars, and almost snapped his fingers approvingly. A liquid hum carried the whole package of rhythms along like clouds against a time-lapsed sunset.
Ryoko smiled against the music like a gentle massage, tilting her shoulders and floating her arms in a dance graceful enough to make her shine out amid a thousand others who could do no better than imitate a paper bag in the wind. Stuck between a hopeless attempt to match her elegance and the red- faced urge to join it, Tenchi eventually just stared along with a handful of other hypnotized young men and more than a couple envious young women.
The beat picked up, drum and bass steadily carrying synthesizer melodies through space and young people back and forth in waves of black- light vanity. Tenchi and Ryoko began dancing with more energy as it became not necessarily easier but more compelling to move as the machines drove samples, loops, analog and pure emotional energy into their skulls. All the lights responded in the same complementing sync, while the DJ himself waved a hand in the air with, ironically, all the natural grace of Tenchi's father.
The music's momentum gradually relaxed back into a soft stream of drawn out notes. Tenchi was almost disappointed to cut his next rug short, but he took advantage of the excuse to catch his breath without hesitation. He'd been looking up at Ryoko throughout his energetic if a little chaotic, response to the demanding rhythms. It was challenging enough to match his hardware to the DJ's software without bumping into anyone, and almost impossible to keep his focus on one person. He expected her to take the calm tones as another excuse to latch onto him again, but when another dancer moved and put her in full view again he saw her adjust to the change of pace naturally. Unlike her earlier graceful tribute to the ambiance, this slightly more rigid valley inspired an almost gypsy-like series of head turns and arm poses, and brought her closer to Tenchi with each movement.
Like the deadly lethargy of a snake, her slow approach brought her right onto him before he could react.
"Get ready Tenchi, I think it's going to get crazy in here soon."
*Great. Just what I need: a noisy place to give her an excuse to whisper in my ear.
Before he could cower away from Ryoko's still active coils, his ears picked up exactly what she was warning him of. In the distance of the music's space he could hear the same driving lead melody again, it was getting louder by microscopic increments, the DJ must've been twisting a knob up with tweezers. He tried to relax his muscles and made sure that there would be no accidental body contact with anyone around him, although Ryoko had slithered back a little her expression showed no such concern. Rather than gulp as he normally would, he turned towards the stage and tried to welcome the next assault by coiling a ready spring in his body with a defiant smile. The second climax returned with another precisely placed rising of crystals, and struck with triple the force of the first.
It was so loud that Tenchi almost reached for his ears, but instead he pummeled back with open hands pin-wheeling almost out of control. Each sound raced through him, he danced so fiercely he couldn't tell if anyone else was actually standing still. Moving to this music easily surpassed any regimented sport, and he never considered slowing down until the beats did. The psychedelic manipulation of blue fire and red plastic hands on the projection screens struck him as more beautiful now that he'd developed a taste for the whole environment. Ryoko's voice crept up from behind and made him smile rather than jump, the merge of the images and the sounds was so perfect now that he just assumed she'd been watching the screens from over his shoulder.
"Heyyyyy Tenchi." The mischief in her voice was only moderate by her standards.
"Yes Ryoko," he answered calmly, waiting for her to wrap her arms around him so that she could say how beautiful the ever-changing background was.
"Looooook what I've got."
If she wasn't up to something now then she never was. Tenchi forgot all about the screen and looked behind him one hair at a time. A familiar orange glow was slowly spreading over his right shoulder, memories of a demolished school via a certain weapon made his eyes bulge and teeth click together.
"^Ryoko! Put that away before you hurt somebody!^" Rather than try to turn a whisper into a shout, Tenchi's voice went more akin to a shout overflowing into a whisper. He turned slowly, praying that no one would ask to try out her new party toy.
"What's wrong Tenchi," Ryoko questioned teasingly, waving the little glow-stick between her thumb and index finger like a carrot for Ryo-ohki, "I don't think they're dangerous."
Tenchi felt an uncanny urge to collapse to the ground with a sigh of humiliated relief. He just hung his head and awaited the helpless although comforting laugh that always came whenever she pulled off a good joke, it felt better to admit to this kind of defeat every time.
Ryoko's knees locked together, one hand pulling back her hair and one gently thrusting the tip of the dance prop into Tenchi's chest. He took his punishment in lea of the reward: another devilish laugh without any real trace of malice.
"Oh you should have seen your face Tenchi! It was priceless!" She flung her arms around him and snickered into his neck. Tenchi only sighed and returned the embrace with a little more enthusiasm than normal. A pleased moan replaced the laughter as Ryoko moved her body closer.
"Um," his usual nervousness was watered down by a slight lack of breath for the first time.
"Tenchi," his dance partner cooed, smiling to herself as she felt the lump of Tenchi's gulp slide against her face.
"I'm sorry if I scared you, but you should have known I wouldn't take my sword out in public...since you asked me to."
*This is perfect! This is perfect! Tenchi's already laughed at my jokes twice, and he hasn't run away yet. I'd milk this for all it's worth, but watching Tenchi dance is so very, very nice. I can't wait to see Aeka's face when he has to admit that he had a good time! Oops, I think the music's speeding up again.
"It's okay Ryoko," Tenchi breathed while trying to let her out of the hug as politely as possible.
"Oh and Tenchi," she continued with a little mischief still leftover. She stepped back from him almost tauntingly and smiled at the frightened 'Now what?' expression on his face.
"You must really like this music too, you're already working up a sweat."
Ryoko winked at him and rejoined the music, waving her glow-stick playfully at the red face trying to follow suit.
A new synth-bass sound drove on like a programmed manipulation of plastic water jugs bouncing down a flight of stairs. The pace picked up and Tenchi smiled at the crisp, unapologetically sci-fi tones. This new arrangement was so impressive and invigorating that he was considering trying out a new movement. Sensing his enjoyment, Ryoko boldly took Tenchi's hands and began twirling with him, laughing in a full voice that her surprise was well received.
The chaos of color and movement behind her blurred as they threatened to create a whirlpool out of the entire crowd. With a sound like the stalking legs of a cybernetic centipede, the DJ began to pull the tempo back up. Already euphoric from the spinning, they both cheered out loud. A moment of near telepathy passed between them, and they shared a grin of feral anticipation. The music seemed to take a deep breath to blow the house down. An angel's wail, a tweak of circuitry, and their hands parted, releasing them back into the crowd with a head start of dizziness at the precise moment that everything exploded.
It was the apocalypse and the enlightenment. Through the DJ's machines Ryoko, Tenchi, and nearly everyone else in the crowd became willingly entwined in a raging trance of movement. The music itself throbbed with epic fury; desire seemed to be hugging violence to herself and forcing him to dance it off. Even when the tempo slowed, the audience only built up more energy, holding their hands up in glory, each slow movement only shaking the champagne bottle, ready to explode in a froth again...right---now.
Even as his muscles began to scream at him, Tenchi felt they were only cheering him on. Each time he looked over at Ryoko she seemed so consumed with passion that she might burst into her battle suit at any moment. Her limbs crossed and spread with jubilant tosses of hair. The image struck him with as much power as their first encounter, but at that moment he couldn't have found fear if he'd tried.
At bittersweet last the revelry bowed out, softly washed back into the circuitry with an elegant and full bodied whine. Ryoko jumped up to holler her cheers with the rest of the crowd, barely bringing herself down in time to keep from being noticed. She kept her fists up in triumph even as she searched for Tenchi, who was trying to evenly distribute his lungs between hoots of praise and gasps for air. His face was dripping with sweat, his limps taught and nearly trembling from exertion. At the sight of him Ryoko couldn't help but lick her lips.
"He-hey Ryoko," Tenchi puffed when he recognized her.
Once again his date failed to suppress a hungry instinct, and she flung her arms around him with a giddy squeal. Though she was squeezing him fairly tightly, Tenchi only caught her and laughed into her hair, which only increased his asphyxiation.
"Ryoko! I-can't br-" he gasped.
She promptly stood back with her hands behind her, looking ashamed.
"Just---let me---catch my breath---first."
Ryoko brightened and nodded.
"Well, you were right, this is more fun than I thought. Thanks for making me take you."
A certain replica she'd merged with suddenly took control and clutched at the blush on her face.
"Really," she giggled, "you're really having a good time?"
"Yeah, but you were right about the sweating part." Tenchi chuckled.
"Oh don't worry, it just make me able to smell you better."
"Huh?"
"Oh, uh, nevermind." She turned away, her blush tripling.
"Okay Ryoko, could you wait here a minute while I go to the restroom."
"Sure Tenchi," she nodded, still too embarrassed to look him in the eye.
The Rave-Samurai apprentice looked around for the facilities and spotted a group of lines. He hoped the shortest one would be for him. When he saw the considerably larger group of girls at the opposite wall he began wondering if Ryoko would need to go as well, he saw her eat, but he never really noticed her using---Tenchi blushed and shook his head. Just as he was telling himself that she was a big girl, something caught his eye.
Two youths were taking turns holding a paint mask over the others face and tipping them backward. Tenchi had heard about this new use for nasal decongestant and regarded them with moderate repulsion. He shook his head and left them to their brain damage. A few more steps, a few more disgusted thoughts of all the other intoxication that was likely going on around him, and he froze in terror. Ryoko cut her comparatively toned down dance short and looked up at her date quizzically as he came dashing back.
"Tenchi, what's-"
"Ryoko, listen to me okay!" Tenchi nearly yelled, taking her by the shoulders to emphasize his urgency. Before Ryoko could respond he continued again, staring straight into her eyes.
"You can't take anything from anybody here!"
Ryoko stared back in confusion for a moment. Once the instructions sunk in, her lip sagged while her eyes began to part and soften sadly.
"But-" She muttered.
"Just don't take anything from anyone, okay!"
He was obviously serious, and Ryoko was horrified that he was going to shake her for emphasis at any moment, so she lowered her head slightly. 'Okay' came out just loudly enough for him to hear.
"Good." Tenchi sighed and smiled with relief as he ran off to the bathroom.
Ryoko watched him go, then turned back to the festivities still going on around her. She stared at the new swirls of color on the screen and tried to tap her foot to the current beat, but the entire scene had somehow lost its appeal. Just as she was sniffing back a lump in her throat a strange voice called out from behind her.
"Wow! You are, without a doubt, one of the best dancers I've seen here all night."
Ryoko turned to see two young men, one a little shorter than Sayta, the other much wider than Tenchi. They were both wearing the same style of oversized clothing, with floresant plastic necklaces dangling over their T- shirts. She smiled shyly at the complement.
"R-really?"
"Definitely, you partying tonight?" He asked with ten-minutes-of-fame charm.
"Um, I think so-"
"Yeah that's what I thought, so what are you on?"
"On? I'm still on the floor aren't I?" Ryoko blinked rapidly and looked at her feet. Her two admirers laughed heartily.
"No-no---I mean any, you know, ^helpers^."
"Yeah, helpers, like whip-its, ex, fry. Make the party last all night, get you dancing again!"
"Oh um, I don't think so, I had a pretty good dinner tonight though. Are helpers really good?"
The taller one looked down on his friend and nodded with a huge grin, his friend chuckled so randomly he seemed to gag. His own helpers helped him along.
"Ah hell, can't leave the lovely lady high and dry. Here-" He took a quick look around and dug a cigarette pack out of his pocket.
"This fry is on the house, you just come find me again if you want any more." A few taps on the bottom of the low profile smuggling unit released a little helper into his hand.
Ryoko thought about the word "fry" and associated it with Sasami's fried foods. She smiled gratefully.
---
Tenchi wiped the tap water from his face with a paper towel and breathed what relief he could get from an overcrowded, under-maintained restroom. He looked in the mirror and grew serious again.
*This has been a lot of fun, but what if Ryoko wants to do this again? It was supposed to be a way to make things even between her and Aeka. Only now...QUIT IT TENCHI! This is NOT the time to get into this debate again. Have fun with Ryoko, wait till she gets bored---though if the other DJs are anything like that guy I might have serious cramps before we finally go. All right, yes you're having fun, yes Ryoko is a beautiful dancer, but you ^can^ keep this cool.
After a thought of taking Aeka to a slow dance somewhere Tenchi shook his head in frustration, stared down the coward in the mirror, and went back outside to dance with his date.
---
A mild mannered approach rarely finds anyone in a chaotic crowd, but Tenchi still mumbled a hopelessly inaudible 'excuse me' to everyone he crossed. When at last he caught a glimpse of the cyan flag he'd been seeking he let out a sigh of relief. A path to her cleared unexpectedly, and from about four meters away the prize at the end of the gauntlet suddenly terrified him. Every organ in his body simultaneously made a mad dash for his throat as he watched a stranger with a clearly intoxicated grimace place a tiny square of paper on Ryoko's tongue.
---------------------------
Standard Disclaimer:
I thank all the owners of the Tenchi characters who have chosen not to sue me for suggesting some alternative uses for them.
Standard Advertisement:
I thank all the readers who have perused my other submissions and favorite authors. Those who acknowledge someone for leading them this way will earn that kind person an extra review.
Standard Procedure:
Be sure to stretch before and after all physically strenuous activity.
^Tenchi Muyo: Sanctuary and Asylum^
-Verse Four-
Recreation (Part 2)
Seita paused his fingers over the last rook.
"What did you say this style of music was called?"
"Hm? Oh, it's by an earth composer. I think Tenchi called it 'class-ick- all'. You said you liked this one right?"
Mihoshi's host duties once again distracted her from the game at hand. She watched her passenger looked up and to the side at something interesting as the bright strokes of sound tilted and swept by with self-assured elegance.
"It certainly helps me concentrate better than some of the other selections." He spoke to the chessboard with moderate relief.
"Sorry about that." Squirming out the blush end of an embarrassed laugh, Mihoshi tried to push away the memory of Seita's face when she'd started dancing to the high-pitched bubbles of her favorite cartoon's theme song.
"Don't worry about it, time spent criticizing music would be much better spent enjoying it."
She took her attention away from his defensive move the moment he did and tried and failed to reflect his contentment beyond a soft smirk.
"Your move Mihoshi."
"Oh right, sorry. Now, let me see-"
An itchy head and a heavy chin, her cheeks squished up further as a long sigh completed the thinking posture. Seita slouched to matching height with arms crossed on his lap, alternately lifting his eyes from the pieces to the opponent's face. Three minutes later she raised her head with a mildly triumphant smile, grabbed her last knight, and proceeded to leapfrog it over two pawns and the last rook.
"Your turn!" She looked up at her opponent with closed eyes and an open smile. "I wonder how Tenchi and Ryoko are doing."
Bright prompts gave up hiding how much she didn't care for games without celebration or conversation. A no sound reply opened her eyes. The pieces she jumped had not disappeared, and to add dismay to her confusion Seita stared at them with a hardened face.
"What's wrong?" She asked meekly.
"I think you may have confused this game with another. Would Officer Mihoshi perhaps like to play that game instead?" Perfect brows wedged, forced into his voice to keep it immensely soft and immensely condescending, or passive.
"Oh I, I um-" Mihoshi stuttered into his calmly searching face. She took another look down at the game board and her trembling lip began pumping water. The mistake glared back, and even all the appropriate moves joined to judge complete incompetence. Something in the back of her mind wrote this game off as the final condemning verdict.
"I-I'm such an IDIOT!" The self-effacement erupted like a thrown away final statement.
Sobs burst out and shook through. Her head fell down into her arms, muffling distress but consequently making it sound twice as pitiful. Seita remained still, his eyes closed lightly for a moment and the chess pieces melted down into small checkers, each of the kings and queens retaining a dead soldier as a crown. He waited for his sobbing captain to look up at the newly transformed board.
After at least a few minutes of blind breakdown, Mihoshi's own distress made enough room for her to remember the man still sitting across from her. Guilt at putting him in such an uncomfortable position set further weight on her eyes till they collapsed again into self-pity. Another minute passed without any change save the resigning dissipation of their game board. Exhaustion, shame, she finally rose with what she could and daintily wiped an eye. A strained gulp, a weak reflex smile, both unable to hide the desperate hope that her passenger would offer some compassion or comfort. He took the initiative and gave away her expectation.
"You are overreacting, Mihoshi."
His voice was still soft, but it came with a frankness not critical so much as thoroughly unbiased, almost unsympathetic. Mihoshi only starred at him and instead of searching for a particular emotion, she found herself looking ^at^ his eye. The color, the shape, the entire organ suggested the product of some idealized commercial design. A blink broke this line of thought to make way for another; his response, rather than discourage her actions, shot through her as more a statement of fact or purpose. It was all too much to consider, she hadn't yet shaken the shame for her childishness and again it dragged her head down with the timid beginnings of a new sob.
"I'm s-sorry Seita."
"There's no need to apologize." The warmth in his voice returned slightly and brought back her silent plea for comfort. He smiled sideways, clearly trying to encourage her to laugh, that it was just a game, and that he wasn't disgusted.
Mihoshi managed a shaky sort of grimace and a weak chuckle.
"I wonder how Tenchi and Ryoko are doing?"
The titled smile curved a little higher. For a moment Mihoshi wanted to crawl across the table and bury herself in his arms.
"You said that already."
It should have sounded like a criticism but again ended up only as an observation. Unbiased. Nonetheless, Mihoshi's small ray dissipated and she thumped palm into forehead, elbow propping her head up against a wavering breath. Exhausted anger further disheveled her hair and defied another sob in surrender.
"I'm such an ^idiot^!"
Looking down in an almost breathless whisper, Seita heard himself reply.
"^You said that already too^."
***
It had taken stacks of Atlas willpower for Tenchi to keep himself from dashing over to Ryoko and clawing the piece of paper out of her mouth like a parent saving their toddler from a chocking hazard. Goodness knows how the ex-pirate might defend herself against that. Instead, he released his anxiety on the source of the problem as she watched the action unfold with bewildered eyes. Her uncalled-for knight in shining armor grabbed hold of the taller candy man's collar and swung him onto his back. There would likely be a short pause between the next bellow, enough time to bite a delinquent face off.
"WHAT DID YOU GIVE HER!?"
"Whoa! Whoa man! It's just a little fry!" The prey wailed itself a coward.
Tenchi's eyes began to swallow up the ignorant cause of earth's next potential catastrophe. The bombastic electric frenzy faded to a firefly and cricket background. A tiny voice stampeded in a terrified whisper.
*Ryoko---on acid---hallucinating! No. NO! She---she might see ^anything^, how the hell am I going to keep her from-
"Chill out man, you're gonna give your lady a bad trip or somethin."
Tenchi dropped him and remained motionless while the ex-pert quickly scrambled to his companion's side. Both youths stared at the clearly overworked boyscout as he remained bent over, still starring fearfully at his hands. They looked around for security before attempting to shrug away their fear.
"Make love not war, ya know." The supplier offered, taking one last glance at Ryoko for good measure.
"Damn Psycho," his useless back up added not too loudly.
Tenchi's visions already had them all but forgotten. None bordered on excessive or bothered with unlikely. It was all going to happen; Ryoko would see monsters, mountains of slime and teeth falling down on her like redwoods. There'd be flame pits and skies turned to gore all closing around her. She would scream in terror as she slashed her sword through crowds of panicked dancers. Missiles of energy would rage out and find their way into every city in Japan. There would be nothing short of a holocaust by the time the substance wore off, or killed her. Each new premonition brought a few more of heaven's names in a plea for prevention. No answer but a flash of focus to at least ^check^ on Ryoko first.
She looked worried about him mostly, but the drug hadn't seemed to kick in yet. After thanking whatever chemical Gods were responsible, he put his hands on her shoulders hoping to find an urgency to surpass the volume still needed to compete with the music.
"Ryoko, are you okay?"
"Yes Tenchi, I think so, they-they said it would-" The music did fade into the background as Ryoko's nervousness stood alongside his at the frontline.
"Nevermind what they said!" Tenchi gripped her a little harder and she stared back with disbelief swelling confusion swelling fear.
"Listen to me Ryoko, we have to get you home to Washu."
"But why?"
"That stuff they gave you, it's not good. It's going to make you see things."
"You mean, like Seita?"
"Not really, no, there won't be any control over it; you might think you're being attacked when there's no one there."
Ryoko's fear could turn to anger quicker than most and she jerked her head about for a sign of the two young men.
"Don't worry about them, lets just get out of here. C'mon." Tenchi practically dragged her through the crowds and out to the parking lot, matching the condescending way he'd spoken as he made his friend into a helplessly stubborn child.
---
Halfway to the car she touched her forehead with a soft groan. Tenchi whirled around fearfully.
"What is it, Ryoko?!"
"I feel kind of strange Tenchi, were the lights this bright before?" She asked the way she did when waking up with a hangover-stomachache.
Mounting fear split to make way for a face brightening idea.
"Hold on, this should help in case we don't get to Washu in time." He grunted anxiously as he tore at the bottom of his shirt, eventually holding up a thin strip of overpriced fabric. Once again she was obviously confused.
"Here, I'm going to blindfold you, that way you won't have to worry about seeing anything." Tenchi smiled nervously, though clearly proud of his quick thinking.
She looked at him, then the blindfold, as if he'd just asked her to severe a limb for him. He noticed hesitation.
"Trust me Ryoko, it's safer than just trying to keep your eyes closed." Gold melted a little and she locked it up tight, bowing her head lifelessly.
"Okay, Tenchi."
They trembled enough to notice, both afraid that Ryoko might exit reality at any moment. When the blindfold was secure Tenchi took her hand, opened the passenger door, and guided the two together. He wondered if he'd tied it too tight but focused instead on getting the right key in his hand.
***
The van was no hot-rod but could maneuver aggressively enough to scare a few people out of his way. Tenchi hardly remembered all he'd learned about road manners as he considered pounding the horn and yelling obscenities to get them home as quickly as possible. Using movies as guides probably wasn't a good idea though.
When they finally reached a less crowded stretch of freeway he looked over to check on Ryoko. She looked like his prisoner; hands folded in her lap, eyes blinded, head hung. He'd never spent so much silent time with her, in fact he'd never spent so much time alone with any girl in any situation. Unable to think calmly enough for comfort he became consumed with worry, his own imagination lingering to make demons out of the other cars. Just a helpful reminder of what he was risking by putting only a tiny cloth over her eyes. Headlights flickered over them through the holes in the center divide, the strobe-effect keeping memories of the dance bitter. His face darkened.
*Why did I leave her alone out there?! Ryoko doesn't know how to turn down a free gift. What made me think I could take her out to something like this? Who knows what that stuff is going to do to her?
"Ten-chi," Ryoko mewed.
"Did you say something Ryoko?" He blinked out of his scowl and turned towards her.
"^Cold^, Tenchi...my hands are so cold." She began rubbing them together in small childish motions.
"Here, Ryoko." Watching the rode every other second he reached over and grabbed her hand. She winced slightly as he pinched slightly and directed them to the vents. "Put your hands here."
The heater warmed up and he noticed that she was still shivering. Iron dropped in his stomach at the possibility of the hallucinations being more than visual. It was a warm night, and getting warmer in the van as Ryoko showed no sign of feeling the heater. He noticed something shimmer on her cheek and wondered if it was a bead of sweat or a tear. The now lethal driver continued to curse inwardly as his passenger kept trying to warm her hands in the darkness.
***
"WASHU!" Tenchi bellowed as he swung the door open violently. The house was dark, darker for the meager computer monitor glow further obscured by a smooth blonde head. Tenchi pounded a light on and pulled Ryoko inside, nearly off her feet.
"Seita, where's Washu!?" Tenchi ordered before the tall frame could even rise enough to look him in the eye.
"She's been in her lab for a while now Tenchi, what's wrong?" He finished rising and smoothed his robe modestly, walking towards them in a lazy billow of black silk. Obvious urgency caught calm interest.
"Ryoko took a hallucinogenic at the rave, and I don't know what it'll do to her!" Tenchi snapped, pulling her towards the closet door.
Seita eyed the situation more closely, after watching Ryoko almost stumble again he wondered why she was not levitating to make the towing process easier.
"Hence the blindfold?" He guessed knowingly.
Tenchi ignored him, twisted the door handle, cursed its lock, and began pounding.
"Washu! Are you in there, Washu!?"
Showing more patience to the point of a crossed arm art critic posture, Seita waited for anything while Tenchi waited for Washu. Thirty seconds was clearly time they didn't have.
"Dammit Washu! Would you open-"
The door moved of its own accord, swinging outward almost too quickly for Tenchi to dodge. Washu was in a dirty lab coat, hands clawed at her sides, eyes glared out over bags that were pronounced even under her protective goggles. She greeted them with a hostile growl.
"^Who the^-"
"Washu, I need you to help Ryoko, she took a drug and I don't know what to do!"
Washu, taken aback by the failure of her mad scientist appearance to intimidate the intruders, only blinked in confusion. Tenchi invited himself in without a second thought. Before Ryoko was pulled in as well Seita heard a tiny voice:
"^They gave it to me.^"
---
Tenchi paced as Washu led Ryoko to an examining table, she seemed too afraid to protest even this well known resentment. He waited for a scream, a shriek, a blood-curdling moan to pour out as Washu removed the blindfold and unleashed the temporary insanity he'd seen in a few educational films and documentaries. Washu asked with cold impatience for her to open her eyes.
She complied hesitantly, her gold shone drearily with tiny scarlet ribbons pulling at the sides. Tenchi didn't want to breath relief too soon, but exhaustion truly looked to have filled any possible room for madness. Washu passed a small light over Ryoko's eyes, turned her head from side to side and brought up her holo-laptop. A huge worm of twisted wires and dark glass orbs sank down from the ceiling. The suspect patient shied away from it.
"Relax Ryoko, this isn't going to hurt." Washu explained.
Ryoko and Tenchi both held their breath as thin planes of green light scanned every inch of the timid drug fiend. The test finished and the worm retreated to the ceiling like a slurped noodle. It all took no more than ten seconds and Washu was typing roughly again with an exasperated sigh.
"Just as I thought Tenchi; the drugs that pass for hallucinogens on this planet are fairly weak. There are traces of it in her central nervous system, but it's already being diluted. Whatever it might have done to her, she's already gone through the last of the after effects."
Ryoko looked up with confused relief while Tenchi just looked confused.
"I'm okay?"
"Yes, you're fine! If you think you see anything strange...you can probably take it up with Seita." Washu was still clearly irritated, but a touch of extra anxiety clenched her sarcasm at more than being interrupted for something simple.
More hair fell forward to veil Ryoko's face. Tenchi took a step toward her, assuming himself unnoticed.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some real work to do." Science gestured efficiently at the door.
"But Washu-"
"When you get outside this lab sector just use the door with the crab above it." Washu huffed at Tenchi's simplicity.
"No, I mean okay, I mean---but how?"
Washu looked over at Ryoko who was finally rising from the table careful to avoid Tenchi and leave them both behind with slow and sullen movements.
"Tenchi, have you ever noticed how much sake it takes to get Ryoko drunk?" The little doctor asked with a little more patience.
"Uh, yeah. But-" He turned away from the party champ in question.
"She doesn't just have an experienced liver Tenchi, her whole body has a very high tolerance for all kinds of foreign chemicals. One little drop of- " Washu read off a short list of long chemical names, "-isn't going to be enough to make her totally lose touch with reality."
"Thank you Washu," Tenchi sighed relief at the floor, "I-"
Washu was already walking back to a darker corner of her lab while Ryoko finished exiting through the shadows.
"I'm very busy Tenchi, I'll come out after this next string of data is processed." She dismissed him coldly.
He hesitated at her back long enough to build the proper mope to carry him up the stairs hopefully through the crab door. On the center step he considered making sure the door would be there to open up as a buffer to ask what was so important. A moment's hesitation was enough to re-shut his mouth. All the doors closed quietly behind him.
Back at an enormous display of electronic cooperation, Washu looked over the odd plasma filter and nano-isotope replicater. With a flick of her wrist holographic symbols began to appear in-between her and the more complex mechanisms. None of the icons lived up to her expectations and she slammed her fist down onto the nearest flat surface.
***
Tenchi saw a plume of Ryoko's hair sticking out over the side of the highest rafter. He looked under her and noticed Seita sleeping on the couch with his hands neatly crossed on his chest. It had been nice of Mihoshi to offer to sleep in her ship, but he was still waiting for Ryoko and the strange illusionist to have a serious confrontation. He supposed hopefully that the occasional practical joke would appeal to her, especially if it was on the princess. Not wanting to wake Seita, he called up to the rafters in a whisper.
"Goodnight Ryoko, I-I'm sorry about everything that happened."
Silence
"Ryoko?"
A thick snore poured down. Tenchi frowned sadly and went to bed, mostly ignoring his sore limbs.
---
The ceiling never looked to plain. Ryoko had considered trying to bring a reading lamp and some other items up there, but something always held her back. She looked between her toes at the tattered piece of paper tacked into the wood. She'd made a crude drawing of Tenchi and her holding hands shortly after the assimilation with that damn sentimental robot. Once it was finished she'd been about to destroy it in frustration, but a shared memory of a failed attempt to eliminate her 'distraction' had made her compromise to put it up where only she could see. Searches for happy memories to blot out the recent ones were all in vain; there were too many threatening tears to worry about anyway. Quiet as a mouse, she continued to fight them down.
"Hey, Ryoko." Ryoko closed her eyes and cursed that she had stopped snoring. Seita spoke in a casual, yet still consciously smooth voice. He used it so much, but unfortunately it was too finely crafted to be dismissed as a monotone. And she really wanted to dismiss it tonight.
"It feels good to get back to reality-"
He opened up his velvet sitting room for no response, even the night sounds outside seemed to be ignoring him. A rather large smile snuck across his face and slithered into his voice.
"-doesn't it?"
Standard Disclaimer:
I thank all the owners of the Tenchi characters who have chosen not to sue me for suggesting some alternative uses for them.
Standard Advertisement:
I thank all the readers who have perused my other submissions and favorite authors. Those who acknowledge someone for leading them this way will earn that kind person an extra review.
Standard Procedure:
Be sure to stretch before and after all physically strenuous activity.
^Tenchi Muyo: Sanctuary and Asylum^
-Verse Four-
Recreation (Part 1)
Injured plea.
Crushed destiny.
Deep down-trauma hounds---run to corrode---integrity.
Whatever matters and it would---they fail to see.
They make believe-reality.
Helpless deaths ignored-to be judged as juvenile.
Head caves in--growing pains--no time remains--for fantasy.
*Excerpt*
-Skinny Puppy (deep down TRAUMA HOUNDS)
Yukinojo was a practical model by galaxy police standards, but thanks to Washu's expert (not to mention frequent) maintenance it looked clean and important enough to be launched with a bottle of champagne. The new passenger remembered the old mechanic's eyes getting bubbly before she swallowed the sidetrack of amazing modifications she could still make. He'd smiled then at the luck-wink she'd left him with and was still smiling up at the ship through its shadow.
"Okay Mr. Seita, I'll be ready to transport you aboard in about ten more minutes." Mihoshi's voice came over the intercom with a slight hurry and the sound of something collapsing in the background.
"No need Mihoshi." He casually opened and entered a colorless portal.
Only one freezing draft spread through the ship's captain in less than a second, but the sensation still made her short of breath and weak of knee enough to drop a bundle of dirty clothes onto a stack of crinkled magazines. Mihoshi shivered and slouched with a pitiful whine. Seita watched unnoticed as she tried to reorganize the different categories of rubbish. The pristine silver curves of the ship's hull were a credit to Washu's ability, but while willing to be Mihoshi's mechanic she apparently refused to be her maid.
He barely stifled a giggle to look around the cockpit turned wasteland of discard and disorder and other stuff. When Mihoshi turned and noticed her passenger she dropped her bundle of clothes again, this time in an artless heap at her feet.
"Oh, Mr. Seita! So that's where the draft came from---not that you're cold or anything! I mean that dimension you can travel through is, but you're not and I, uh-" Mihoshi babbled, hopping he could forgive and she could forget the feeling his portals brought with them when they brought him.
"Don't worry Mihoshi, I understand." He lowered his head apologetically. "Sorry, I guess I should have given you clearer warning that I was coming up on my own."
"It's okay, just---this place is a bit of a mess and wanted I to-" Mihoshi blushed as she tried to gather her laundry again.
"Don't be embarrassed, I've certainly seen grander examples of chaos." He reassured then reassured again before Mihoshi could tell if he was smiling at a private joke. "At least you seem to have some organization."
Earth's galactic peace officer looked around at the similar piles of debris, imagining her ship as some kind of recycling center. She felt the urge to nervously twiddle her fingers but was determined not to drop the laundry this time; Seita was still looking at her softly. His blonde hair and blue eyes reminded him slightly of her own, but the consistency of his skin, and the shape of his lips---Mihoshi dreamed a grin and titled her head slightly.
"I'd be happy to help if I can."
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I-uh," Mihoshi tried to calm herself with a deep breath, but made a sour face at the close proximity of her soiled clothing.
"Is something wrong Mihoshi?"
"No -cough- nothing's wrong. It's nice of you to offer to help, uh-" Mihoshi looked around anxiously. "Those two piles on the right are just trash, there are some bags here by my foot," she kicked forward a small white box, "they both just go in the incinerator, it's, um."
"Marked by the flashing green light sir." A binocular pair of eyes lowered between them and spoke up helpfully.
"Thanks Yukinojo," The ship's captain sighed and tried to return her passenger's smile as he contentedly helped to make the ship more presentable than she could remember it.
---
After focusing so hard on exiting Earth's orbit properly Mihoshi fogged up a few monitors with a breath of relief. She noticed Seita's silence and let herself relax into a gaze of him watching the earth grow smaller.
*Sure wish the partners they try to stick me would be as patient as this guy. Funny, he just kept staring out the window, never made sure I followed all the procedures, never made me feel all stupid for having a messy ship. He may be a little odd---but it's not really a bad odd.
*I can't imagine what it must've been like to go through all that horrible stuff with Kagato; maybe him and Ryoko will be able to talk about it. I wonder if ^he^ thinks she's prettier than I am... I wonder what he's thinking right now.
"How long have you been with the GP, Mihoshi?" Seita made conversation without taking his eyes off the passing moon. Mihoshi blinked quick, hid her twiddling fingers quicker, and answered brightly.
"Hm, well right after I got out of school I entered the academy, and I've been with the Galaxy Police ever since."
"What rank are you, if you don't mind me asking," he continued, looking over and making her look down.
"Well, I'm a detective really, but I asked to patrol this solar system to be closer to Tenchi---and-and everyone else of course! Yeah, uh, I feel really at home there for some reason."
"So you basically patrol the planets around this sun?"
"Yeah, this system's sort of far from everything so it can get really boring out here."
"But police work can still be pretty dangerous though, right?" He searched with a flattering, expectant grin.
"Well, uh," Mihoshi mumbled shyly, "technically I'm not allowed to bring civilians on patrol, but after seeing how Ryoko's fist went through you I guess you can take care of yourself, huh?"
Seita watched his hand grip and release his knee in a near squirming motion. He closed his eyes, and shared a shy smile of his own.
"I've been looking out for myself for a very long time, but it's still nice to have someone covering you."
When he looked up at her again she was apple cheeked, practically sweating, and trying to look anywhere but his direction.
*That was NOT what it sounded like! That was NOT what it sounded like! That was NOT what it sounded like! Pay attention to the ship Mihoshi, just watch where you're going. Deep breath, deep breath---nice cologne.
*DAMMIT! Okay, get a grip, look at that nail polish, that sapphire shirt; he probably doesn't even like girls...but it does make him kind of--- interesting..
*Arragh! New thoughts-new thoughts. Tell him a police adventure or something.
"Well, one time this scientist was out around the seventh planet, he went out of his ship to collect an asteroid sample and kinda got locked out. Funny huh? Well Officer Mihoshi was on the job, helped the man get back into his ship and-" Her anxious story along with her vivid hand gestures all ground to a halt at the sight of Seita's slightly confused expression. She deflated with a sigh.
"I guess that's not a very exciting story is it? I'm sorry Mr. Seita. That was a week ago, and it was the most exciting thing for months."
"Just 'Seita' is fine."
"Sorry, S-Seita." She grimaced at the pathetic lump rising in her throat and finished in a small voice. "After I show you all the planets in this system there probably won't be anything to do till we go home for dinner."
"Don't worry, I have something that could keep us busy." Seita tried to cheer her up kindly. Mihoshi's head just could not get out of the gutter today, her eyes bulged and she forcefully banished another thought beneath a heavier blush.
The tall man rose quickly but didn't bump his head on a thing. He brought back a well-sterilized yet obviously well-used food tray and set it down between them almost ceremoniously. Mihoshi's showed no grasp of a trace of a clue, but smiled nervously as her passenger brought his fingertips together. A moment passed and a small, checkered pattern began to appear on the plain surface, Jurian chess pieces emerged into place as if breaking through a thin film.
"Wow, that was neat!" Mihoshi's mood brightened instantly, then sank just as fast. "I'm afraid I'm not very good at this game though."
"That's okay; I barely remember how to play." His charming voice continued to reassure her so easily she almost couldn't tell that he was critiquing himself.
The pieces felt surprisingly real in her hands, but even after getting used to that she took her time with the first move. Seita's whites moved toward her blacks of their own accord, and after likewise lengthy pauses.
"So, how do you think Tenchi and Ryoko are doing?" Mihoshi tried to break the stretch of silence that had begun with the game.
"I don't think their event starts till later this evening."
"Oh. What did Tenchi call it, a 'raise'?"
"Hmm." Sayta considered the question and the game at once, taking his chin off his hand to wave his fingers in a shrugging gesture. "Something like that."
---
"Come on Sasami, we've only got six hours till this thing starts." A shock of cyan paced impatiently behind a pair of long pigtails jutting out above a large bag on the floor.
"Ryoko, that's plenty of time." Sasami argued amid the noise of random objects being shuffled about.
"Yeah, but Tenchi said it might take a while to get there, and I want to be ready when he gets home so he wont even ^think^ about backing out."
"Found em!"
Sasami rose triumphantly, holding two bracelets and a large necklace she'd won at a county fair. The elastic bands nearly stretched beneath the bulk of star-shaped beads, supposedly the varieties of floresant plastic all glowed in the dark. Ryoko looked the trinkets up and down, uncertain of her booty's value for the first time, but she eventually shrugged and added them to the rest of her outfit.
"Well, how do I look?" Earth's newest raver spread her arms out with a hopeful grin. Sasami bit her lip against a giggle.
They had borrowed a pair of large blue jeans from Noboyuki's closet and the largest work boots they could find, luckily small feet were in Tenchi's family, luckily Sasami had only suggested the inverse as a joke. Ryoko borrowed a bright orange T-shirt from her fashion consultant that left little to the imagination; a hapless chibi character stretched across her chest in almost medieval torment. They'd 'rented' some thick goggles with blue lenses from Washu's lab that made smiles and hair all seem bigger and definitely completed the cartoonish jewelry.
"Be honest Sasami." Ryoko stared at her uneasy young friend sternly.
"You, uh, look like that girl we saw on the Internet anyway." Sasami answered with a hurried nod.
"Ah-hem," Ryoko put a fist on her hip.
"I mean ^better^! Better, of course."
Ryoko looked toward the mirror and spread a hand through her hair, turning up its flamboyant volume.
"Damn right."
---
"Hello, I'm home!" Tenchi called as he set his school supplies down on the couch.
"Welcome home, Lord Tenchi." Aeka answered sweetly, tea set ready. "I've made some tea, would you care to have some with me?"
"Sure Aeka I-"
"Hey, Tenchi!" Ryoko phased through the ceiling and landed gracefully in the living room, putting a hand on her hip and jutting it out towards him. "You ready for our date?"
Tenchi's jaw dropped. Was she going to be a space pirate again, or was she going to be a clown? His dad probably wouldn't mind her borrowing those pants, and the little T-shirt looked kinda...nice. It could be worse, he told himself, but what if she wanted ^him^ to dress the same way? He tried to stay calm and answer politely, but a critical remark somehow snuck through.
"Wow, the clothes you were wearing when I met you suddenly don't seem so strange." He winced and cursed himself for not giving his usual passive response, there'd be hell to pay any moment now.
"Tenchi-" Ryoko responded softly, looking down and pulling slightly on the end of her shirt.
"I ^am^ an idiot, a ^dead^ idiot." Tenchi said too quietly to be heard.
"You really remembered what I was wearing then, that's so sweet!" Deep affection filled her eyes and she floated forward for a hug. Her date hugged her back with a sigh of relief.
"He means you look ridiculous Ryoko!" Aeka shouted angrily. "Are you really so determined to embarrass poor Lord Tenchi at every chance you get. It's bad enough he has to take you out looking the way you do, but did you have to make him go to some crazy party for hooligans!"
Tenchi felt the all too familiar fear in his belly as Ryoko stepped away from him, a shadow of overhanging hair darkening her face. She responded with deadpan wrath without even looking up.
"Speaking of embarrassing..." Ryoko raised her palms gracefully and pressed them against her lips. Aeka blinked confusion and Tenchi felt the urge to run for cover as oversized pants sagged a little more from the ominous inflation of Ryoko's lungs. A wet rubber machine gun opened fire across the living room.
When finally out of ammo, Ryoko looked up at the princess with a truly demonic expression. The crockery on Aeka's tea tray began to rattle. Tenchi prepared to see steam pour out of her ears as her cheeks nearly ballooned to prevent an immanent explosion. To his surprise, Ryoko lost her cool first in a bent over, tear soaked fit.
"You SHUT UP!" Aeka bellowed. "That was Sayta's doing, a princess would never-never-"
"Break wind---pass gas!" Ryoko filled in the blanks between bursts of now painful amusement.
"He MADE ME DO IT! I have more self control than-"
"Ri-i-ight, why don't you just blame it on ^Ryo-ohkiiiiiii!^" The jerking, jeering response brought a fresh shipment of hysterics, finally dragging Ryoko to her knees.
"Ryoko, please." Tenchi pleaded weakly.
She eventually floored herself, but the thump of her collapse was barely audible above the howls and cackles leading to the inevitable silent convulsions that come when noise just isn't enough.
Tenchi had hid his face in his hands that night at the dinner table while Ryoko almost pummeled the table into splinters. He'd been silent till at last she passed out from exhaustion, but for some reason now, he felt a cracking in his throat. Something about Ryoko's last tasteless quip got to him, it was just so perfectly---cheesy. The impartial judge was hardly able to cement his hand over his mouth in time. Luckily Aeka had already retreated to the kitchen before she could hear the nasal choke of his suppressed laughter.
*** Sasami scurried back and forth along the kitchen counter, alternately checking on two different parts of the evening meal. Despite the self- imposed stress, she maintained a smile and a hum slightly lower and more rhythmic than the one she used before drinking from The Great Tree. Aeka couldn't help but noticed the small change as only family could, and let some of her frustration with Ryoko settle.
"That's a very lovely tune Sasami, it's a shame there aren't any musical instruments here, I'm sure you could bring some pleasant melodies to the house."
The head chef stopped her chopping and whirled around at her sister, Aeka only smiled and threw another pealed sprout into her bowl.
"Really!?" Sasami asked with an anxious twinkle in her eye.
"Really, helping you prepare dinner is always nicer when you make music."
"Oh, I'm not really-" she blushed and returned to the task at hand.
"I know mother and father were always a little disappointed that you didn't show any interest in music on Jurai. I think now that you're ready to sit still for more than a few minutes you might enjoy taking lessons here." Aeka smiled with a lighthearted tease and an obvious encouragement.
"I don't know Aeka, what if I just make a lot of noise?" She worried her voice younger.
Aeka's face darkened slightly and she looked back down at the sprouts, breaking them with a little more force.
"I'm sure it couldn't be any worse than what we already endure with Ryoko."
"Oh Aeka," Sasami sighed, forgot her own troubles, and faced her sister again, "why can't you and her just learn to get along. There's really no reason to fight all the time."
A brooding silence swept out as Sasami finished one task and began drying her hands.
"Haven't you been paying attention to ^anything^! We have plenty of reason to-" the sudden explosion would have startled anyone, and Aeka barely caught herself as her sister dropped the dishtowel.
"I'm-I'm sorry Sasami," she began again in an embarrassed hush, "perhaps when you are older you will understand the ways of a woman's heart...and you just don't know Ryoko as I do."
Sasami began to speak, but drained her eyes and closed her mouth. They finished preparing dinner in silence.
***
Ryoko was in such a hurry to get them out of the house as soon as possible that she seemed two steps from force-feeding Tenchi his early dinner. She almost whittled away her chopsticks in the time it took him to scoop in the last of his fish.
Tenchi looked over at the new guest as he discussed some of the food he remembered from other worlds, and tried his best to complement Aeka's contribution to the meal. Though still being short with him, she was being visibly worn down by his ability to be excessively polite in a way that almost mirrored her.
Washu had been strangely absent since the night of Sayta's parlor tricks and was taking more time than he'd expected to analyze the tests she'd done the other night. Tenchi shuddered at the possible inventions she might be able to apply the new powers to. He looked up at Ryoko again, and to his surprise she wasn't staring at him. Instead, her eyes were boring holes into the single morsel left on his plate.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he lifted the last bite of food into his mouth; his dad lifting his van keys out of his pocket, Mihoshi feeding something to Seita, Aeka frowning at Ryoko as she leaned forward to watch his jaw as it chewed. The sound of his hesitant swallow was like a track gun as his date lunged, grabbed him in one hand, the keys in the other, and dashed through the door.
"RYOKOOOOOO!"
"Have a nice time!" Everyone save Aeka called out as Tenchi's desperate scream faded into the distance.
***
"C'mon, can't we fly over these slugs!" Ryoko experimented with the radio buttons impatiently, creating a bizarre mix of abrasive static and even more cacophonous hip-pop. Tenchi leaned over and turned it off.
"Sorry Ryoko, but we're just going to have to be patient, this thing lasts almost all night anyway."
"Really?!" She asked expectantly. "Is that why you took a nap before dinner?" Her hand slapped the question closed a little too late.
"Huh, how did you know I-"
He took his eyes off the traffic jam in front of him and glanced over. Ryoko hung her head guiltily over forearms pressed straight into her lap. She was chewing on her lips, apparently anticipating some kind of reprimand. Tenchi sighed and checked again to make sure that every car in Japan was still in front of them, when he looked back Ryoko's posture had become even more timid.
Every time that he had woken to find her watching over him he'd been very cross and practically ordered her never to do it again. The almost monstrously exhausted face he awoke to after the battle with Kagato gave him a quick shiver, but as he looked over at his passenger again the image changed. Instead of a frightful wakeup call, he instead envisioned a time he'd passed by Ryoko when she was sleeping peacefully on the couch. Her mouth hung open slightly and her long fingers curled out along side it like a gentle dragon. The sharp explosion of hair swayed more like a prairie in the breeze with each breath. A soft smile crept across his face and he bent slightly it in his date's direction to be sure she would hear.
"Ah well, probably a good thing to have someone to check on me anyway," he said in an almost carefree voice.
"Really?" Ryoko looked up with a series of surprised blinks.
"Yeah, uh, you never know when I might forget to set my alarm or something," Tenchi continued in his usual nervous tone.
Ryoko prepared something clever, but let her smile relax and leaned back into the seat with her hands behind her head. She closed her eyes and thought of different ways to rouse a body from sleep, the subsequent fantasies kept her mind occupied till at last Tenchi arrived at what was obviously the event. He checked the address on the flyer all the same.
The building's official purpose was likely to host car shows or business conventions; its design was simple, almost minimalist. While Tenchi waited for the disinterested parking director to wave them in, he tried to envision how to make the building look more professional than a warehouse. The mob of young people spilling out the doors made it hard to choose the proper geometric themes and for a moment he gave up and shook his head. He was thinking like his dad, and if he wasn't careful he'd end up ogling the scantly clad girls in the crowd.
Many of the people had assembled outfits similar to the one's Ryoko had almost made them wear, he thanked his ancestors again that he'd been able to convince her that there was no dress code. She'd changed into a short skirt and tight long sleeve blouse, the elegant red and black combination made him remember the day he'd left with Aeka.
*I wonder if she planned it that way? No safe way to find out, really. I still can't believe I agreed to take her to this thing, but I guess I should be thankful that it's a public place. The atmosphere sure isn't romantic, she'll get bored soon enough and everyone will be on equal terms again. I haven't danced since Jr. high, but it'll probably be too crowded to notice. At least I'm not the only one here who was comfortable with jeans and a T-shirt.
They pulled into their parking space and Ryoko pried her face off the window to shower Tenchi with eyes full of excitement. She alternately held places in the van to feel the vibration of the bass as they parked only a few blocks from the ear-shattering fun that awaited them.
"Wow, Tenchi, that music sounds so cool!" Ryoko beamed as her date walked out and around to her side.
"Sure seems loud enough," Tenchi grumbled as he opened Ryoko's door courteously. She floated delicately out of her seat.
"Ryoko!" he gasped, taking hold of her shoulders and holding her firmly to the ground.
"Geeze Tenchi," Ryoko began teasingly, after the shock of the initial contact faded into affection, "lighten up will ya."
"Ryoko, please, try to remember to act like a ^normal^ person. You can't fly, you can't teleport, you can't go through walls, and you ^definitely^ can't shoot fire balls!"
"Okay! Okay!" Ryoko matched his urgent whisper.
"Good." Tenchi relaxed a little.
"But I can still do this," Ryoko said brightly, and patted her head while rubbing her belly. The innocent smile accompanying such a ridiculous gesture made Tenchi shake his head at the ground with a helpless laugh.
"Seeeeeee, I told you we were going to have fun." Ryoko cheered, hooking her arm around his and dragging them to the entrance. The crunch of their steps in the dirt lot intermingled with halfhearted pleas to slow down.
The party inside ^felt^ as much as it sounded like a fierce beast threatening to burst out of its cage at any moment. A roar of pounding music poured over them every time someone walked out for some cancer or went back inside for some deafness. Tenchi hesitated at the sight of the two guards patting down the partiers. The overweight man shifted back and forth with the same boredom as the lot attendants, chewing idly on what Tenchi hoped was gum. His female companion had clearly taken her training more seriously and kept her arms crossed officially behind her back when she wasn't patting down the next potentially armed and dangerous teenage girl.
"Okay Ryoko, just do as these people ask. They're not trying to hurt us, they just need to make sure we're not bringing in any weapons."
"That girl isn't going to touch you, is she?" Ryoko growled.
"No Ryoko, he searches me and she searches you." Tenchi explained as clearly as he could.
"Alright," Ryoko mumbled her suspicion in the female guard's direction.
"Now," Tenchi began again after the search went blessedly without incident, "this place is going to be pretty crowded and people are going to be moving around a lot. If someone bumps into you it'll be an accident so just say excuse and everything will be okay."
"You worry too much Tenchi. We'll be having too much fun to notice anyone else, no matter how many people are in there!" Ryoko brought up a fist with a confident smile. Before Tenchi could think of any other warnings she'd hauled him onward to the ticket booth. The ticket taker made no attempt to hide his up, and mostly down stare at Ryoko. Tenchi only rolled his eyes.
"HA! Sorry bub, I'm spoken for."
She sneered mercilessly and snatched the tickets and her date in final triumph. With another almost giddy smile in she eased his hand into hers and used her other to press on the large vertical bar of the double auditorium doors. The most colorful and noisy sauna in the universe welcomed them with a bouncing sea of arms and heads.
There were scattered patches of space not yet occupied by dancers and Ryoko led him to the closest one. She turned in a circle, arms and eyes open wide, less like a child in a candy store and more like a child in a candy factory. Tenchi began to laugh off his nervousness as the whole spectacle became less intimidating and more entertaining.
He tried to appreciate the simplicity of the music with its drums a like a choreographed bokken battle and its bass like huge balloons filled with molasses slamming onto a gymnasium floor. The melody, if there really was one, seemed drowned out by the two dominating rhythms. When the music began to change Tenchi grimaced thankfully, but his relief soon turned into almost surreal annoyance.
Over-electrified guitars and computer tones churned out a continuous bubbly melody that seemed to make the dancers, particularly the girls, bounce their heads a little more. The vocal chorus whistled up and almost made him run from the building, sung at a fast pace by what could only have been a robotic chipmunk. He thought of Ryo-ohki to turn the ridiculous song into a joke, but ended up picturing a shiny metal rodent shaking an acorn tambourine around its swollen chemical pink eyes.
Ryoko laughed heartily into her hand and Tenchi laughed along with her, thankful that someone shared his impression. In a single movement she crossed the distance between them and spoke in almost a yell and almost too softly for him to hear.
"I didn't know Aeka had her own album!"
Tenchi stared at her in shock, but laughed again all the same at the memory of how Aeka had spoken to her mother on a number of occasions. Just as they were on the verge of dancing out of pure absurdity, the next DJ announced himself with a name that sounded German from what Tenchi knew of European languages.
As he set up his equipment his warm up tune ignited the crowd with even more energy, clearly the next man up had already made a name for himself as the majority of the crowd called out to him in praise. The rhythm was undeniably catchy, and little by little Tenchi began to feel dissatisfied with just bobbing his head and tapping his feet.
He'd never even been to a school dance, but there were so many people, particularly Ryoko, who seemed happy to be just move as their own hearts dictated. In fact, even those who weren't dancing showed no interest in pointing out a newcomer's inadequacy. He hadn't received so many smiles for incidental eye contact since he was a small child. When a surprisingly complex arrangement of beats came up he made up his mind that this strangely positive environment was the perfect place to see if he didn't have a taste for dancing after all.
His first moves were only a tentative imitation of the guys around him. He anticipated a catcall from Ryoko at any minute, but when he looked over he noticed that she had taken exactly the same approach. This may have been her first time at such a thing, but she certainly seemed to be executing a certain hand movement better than the girl behind her, of course her smile was also noticeably larger.
The lights darkened a little more and the projection screens skillfully endorsed the new DJ's logo in icy blue and white. Tenchi figured he must have already made a name for himself when the crowd gave him a rock star's cheer. The music began in a comparatively gentle ambiance, the beat wasn't exactly slow, but it moved along with the electronic blurbs at a leisurely pace. Tenchi bobbed his head with a pleased grin, remembering scenes from the American jazz bars, and almost snapped his fingers approvingly. A liquid hum carried the whole package of rhythms along like clouds against a time-lapsed sunset.
Ryoko smiled against the music like a gentle massage, tilting her shoulders and floating her arms in a dance graceful enough to make her shine out amid a thousand others who could do no better than imitate a paper bag in the wind. Stuck between a hopeless attempt to match her elegance and the red- faced urge to join it, Tenchi eventually just stared along with a handful of other hypnotized young men and more than a couple envious young women.
The beat picked up, drum and bass steadily carrying synthesizer melodies through space and young people back and forth in waves of black- light vanity. Tenchi and Ryoko began dancing with more energy as it became not necessarily easier but more compelling to move as the machines drove samples, loops, analog and pure emotional energy into their skulls. All the lights responded in the same complementing sync, while the DJ himself waved a hand in the air with, ironically, all the natural grace of Tenchi's father.
The music's momentum gradually relaxed back into a soft stream of drawn out notes. Tenchi was almost disappointed to cut his next rug short, but he took advantage of the excuse to catch his breath without hesitation. He'd been looking up at Ryoko throughout his energetic if a little chaotic, response to the demanding rhythms. It was challenging enough to match his hardware to the DJ's software without bumping into anyone, and almost impossible to keep his focus on one person. He expected her to take the calm tones as another excuse to latch onto him again, but when another dancer moved and put her in full view again he saw her adjust to the change of pace naturally. Unlike her earlier graceful tribute to the ambiance, this slightly more rigid valley inspired an almost gypsy-like series of head turns and arm poses, and brought her closer to Tenchi with each movement.
Like the deadly lethargy of a snake, her slow approach brought her right onto him before he could react.
"Get ready Tenchi, I think it's going to get crazy in here soon."
*Great. Just what I need: a noisy place to give her an excuse to whisper in my ear.
Before he could cower away from Ryoko's still active coils, his ears picked up exactly what she was warning him of. In the distance of the music's space he could hear the same driving lead melody again, it was getting louder by microscopic increments, the DJ must've been twisting a knob up with tweezers. He tried to relax his muscles and made sure that there would be no accidental body contact with anyone around him, although Ryoko had slithered back a little her expression showed no such concern. Rather than gulp as he normally would, he turned towards the stage and tried to welcome the next assault by coiling a ready spring in his body with a defiant smile. The second climax returned with another precisely placed rising of crystals, and struck with triple the force of the first.
It was so loud that Tenchi almost reached for his ears, but instead he pummeled back with open hands pin-wheeling almost out of control. Each sound raced through him, he danced so fiercely he couldn't tell if anyone else was actually standing still. Moving to this music easily surpassed any regimented sport, and he never considered slowing down until the beats did. The psychedelic manipulation of blue fire and red plastic hands on the projection screens struck him as more beautiful now that he'd developed a taste for the whole environment. Ryoko's voice crept up from behind and made him smile rather than jump, the merge of the images and the sounds was so perfect now that he just assumed she'd been watching the screens from over his shoulder.
"Heyyyyy Tenchi." The mischief in her voice was only moderate by her standards.
"Yes Ryoko," he answered calmly, waiting for her to wrap her arms around him so that she could say how beautiful the ever-changing background was.
"Looooook what I've got."
If she wasn't up to something now then she never was. Tenchi forgot all about the screen and looked behind him one hair at a time. A familiar orange glow was slowly spreading over his right shoulder, memories of a demolished school via a certain weapon made his eyes bulge and teeth click together.
"^Ryoko! Put that away before you hurt somebody!^" Rather than try to turn a whisper into a shout, Tenchi's voice went more akin to a shout overflowing into a whisper. He turned slowly, praying that no one would ask to try out her new party toy.
"What's wrong Tenchi," Ryoko questioned teasingly, waving the little glow-stick between her thumb and index finger like a carrot for Ryo-ohki, "I don't think they're dangerous."
Tenchi felt an uncanny urge to collapse to the ground with a sigh of humiliated relief. He just hung his head and awaited the helpless although comforting laugh that always came whenever she pulled off a good joke, it felt better to admit to this kind of defeat every time.
Ryoko's knees locked together, one hand pulling back her hair and one gently thrusting the tip of the dance prop into Tenchi's chest. He took his punishment in lea of the reward: another devilish laugh without any real trace of malice.
"Oh you should have seen your face Tenchi! It was priceless!" She flung her arms around him and snickered into his neck. Tenchi only sighed and returned the embrace with a little more enthusiasm than normal. A pleased moan replaced the laughter as Ryoko moved her body closer.
"Um," his usual nervousness was watered down by a slight lack of breath for the first time.
"Tenchi," his dance partner cooed, smiling to herself as she felt the lump of Tenchi's gulp slide against her face.
"I'm sorry if I scared you, but you should have known I wouldn't take my sword out in public...since you asked me to."
*This is perfect! This is perfect! Tenchi's already laughed at my jokes twice, and he hasn't run away yet. I'd milk this for all it's worth, but watching Tenchi dance is so very, very nice. I can't wait to see Aeka's face when he has to admit that he had a good time! Oops, I think the music's speeding up again.
"It's okay Ryoko," Tenchi breathed while trying to let her out of the hug as politely as possible.
"Oh and Tenchi," she continued with a little mischief still leftover. She stepped back from him almost tauntingly and smiled at the frightened 'Now what?' expression on his face.
"You must really like this music too, you're already working up a sweat."
Ryoko winked at him and rejoined the music, waving her glow-stick playfully at the red face trying to follow suit.
A new synth-bass sound drove on like a programmed manipulation of plastic water jugs bouncing down a flight of stairs. The pace picked up and Tenchi smiled at the crisp, unapologetically sci-fi tones. This new arrangement was so impressive and invigorating that he was considering trying out a new movement. Sensing his enjoyment, Ryoko boldly took Tenchi's hands and began twirling with him, laughing in a full voice that her surprise was well received.
The chaos of color and movement behind her blurred as they threatened to create a whirlpool out of the entire crowd. With a sound like the stalking legs of a cybernetic centipede, the DJ began to pull the tempo back up. Already euphoric from the spinning, they both cheered out loud. A moment of near telepathy passed between them, and they shared a grin of feral anticipation. The music seemed to take a deep breath to blow the house down. An angel's wail, a tweak of circuitry, and their hands parted, releasing them back into the crowd with a head start of dizziness at the precise moment that everything exploded.
It was the apocalypse and the enlightenment. Through the DJ's machines Ryoko, Tenchi, and nearly everyone else in the crowd became willingly entwined in a raging trance of movement. The music itself throbbed with epic fury; desire seemed to be hugging violence to herself and forcing him to dance it off. Even when the tempo slowed, the audience only built up more energy, holding their hands up in glory, each slow movement only shaking the champagne bottle, ready to explode in a froth again...right---now.
Even as his muscles began to scream at him, Tenchi felt they were only cheering him on. Each time he looked over at Ryoko she seemed so consumed with passion that she might burst into her battle suit at any moment. Her limbs crossed and spread with jubilant tosses of hair. The image struck him with as much power as their first encounter, but at that moment he couldn't have found fear if he'd tried.
At bittersweet last the revelry bowed out, softly washed back into the circuitry with an elegant and full bodied whine. Ryoko jumped up to holler her cheers with the rest of the crowd, barely bringing herself down in time to keep from being noticed. She kept her fists up in triumph even as she searched for Tenchi, who was trying to evenly distribute his lungs between hoots of praise and gasps for air. His face was dripping with sweat, his limps taught and nearly trembling from exertion. At the sight of him Ryoko couldn't help but lick her lips.
"He-hey Ryoko," Tenchi puffed when he recognized her.
Once again his date failed to suppress a hungry instinct, and she flung her arms around him with a giddy squeal. Though she was squeezing him fairly tightly, Tenchi only caught her and laughed into her hair, which only increased his asphyxiation.
"Ryoko! I-can't br-" he gasped.
She promptly stood back with her hands behind her, looking ashamed.
"Just---let me---catch my breath---first."
Ryoko brightened and nodded.
"Well, you were right, this is more fun than I thought. Thanks for making me take you."
A certain replica she'd merged with suddenly took control and clutched at the blush on her face.
"Really," she giggled, "you're really having a good time?"
"Yeah, but you were right about the sweating part." Tenchi chuckled.
"Oh don't worry, it just make me able to smell you better."
"Huh?"
"Oh, uh, nevermind." She turned away, her blush tripling.
"Okay Ryoko, could you wait here a minute while I go to the restroom."
"Sure Tenchi," she nodded, still too embarrassed to look him in the eye.
The Rave-Samurai apprentice looked around for the facilities and spotted a group of lines. He hoped the shortest one would be for him. When he saw the considerably larger group of girls at the opposite wall he began wondering if Ryoko would need to go as well, he saw her eat, but he never really noticed her using---Tenchi blushed and shook his head. Just as he was telling himself that she was a big girl, something caught his eye.
Two youths were taking turns holding a paint mask over the others face and tipping them backward. Tenchi had heard about this new use for nasal decongestant and regarded them with moderate repulsion. He shook his head and left them to their brain damage. A few more steps, a few more disgusted thoughts of all the other intoxication that was likely going on around him, and he froze in terror. Ryoko cut her comparatively toned down dance short and looked up at her date quizzically as he came dashing back.
"Tenchi, what's-"
"Ryoko, listen to me okay!" Tenchi nearly yelled, taking her by the shoulders to emphasize his urgency. Before Ryoko could respond he continued again, staring straight into her eyes.
"You can't take anything from anybody here!"
Ryoko stared back in confusion for a moment. Once the instructions sunk in, her lip sagged while her eyes began to part and soften sadly.
"But-" She muttered.
"Just don't take anything from anyone, okay!"
He was obviously serious, and Ryoko was horrified that he was going to shake her for emphasis at any moment, so she lowered her head slightly. 'Okay' came out just loudly enough for him to hear.
"Good." Tenchi sighed and smiled with relief as he ran off to the bathroom.
Ryoko watched him go, then turned back to the festivities still going on around her. She stared at the new swirls of color on the screen and tried to tap her foot to the current beat, but the entire scene had somehow lost its appeal. Just as she was sniffing back a lump in her throat a strange voice called out from behind her.
"Wow! You are, without a doubt, one of the best dancers I've seen here all night."
Ryoko turned to see two young men, one a little shorter than Sayta, the other much wider than Tenchi. They were both wearing the same style of oversized clothing, with floresant plastic necklaces dangling over their T- shirts. She smiled shyly at the complement.
"R-really?"
"Definitely, you partying tonight?" He asked with ten-minutes-of-fame charm.
"Um, I think so-"
"Yeah that's what I thought, so what are you on?"
"On? I'm still on the floor aren't I?" Ryoko blinked rapidly and looked at her feet. Her two admirers laughed heartily.
"No-no---I mean any, you know, ^helpers^."
"Yeah, helpers, like whip-its, ex, fry. Make the party last all night, get you dancing again!"
"Oh um, I don't think so, I had a pretty good dinner tonight though. Are helpers really good?"
The taller one looked down on his friend and nodded with a huge grin, his friend chuckled so randomly he seemed to gag. His own helpers helped him along.
"Ah hell, can't leave the lovely lady high and dry. Here-" He took a quick look around and dug a cigarette pack out of his pocket.
"This fry is on the house, you just come find me again if you want any more." A few taps on the bottom of the low profile smuggling unit released a little helper into his hand.
Ryoko thought about the word "fry" and associated it with Sasami's fried foods. She smiled gratefully.
---
Tenchi wiped the tap water from his face with a paper towel and breathed what relief he could get from an overcrowded, under-maintained restroom. He looked in the mirror and grew serious again.
*This has been a lot of fun, but what if Ryoko wants to do this again? It was supposed to be a way to make things even between her and Aeka. Only now...QUIT IT TENCHI! This is NOT the time to get into this debate again. Have fun with Ryoko, wait till she gets bored---though if the other DJs are anything like that guy I might have serious cramps before we finally go. All right, yes you're having fun, yes Ryoko is a beautiful dancer, but you ^can^ keep this cool.
After a thought of taking Aeka to a slow dance somewhere Tenchi shook his head in frustration, stared down the coward in the mirror, and went back outside to dance with his date.
---
A mild mannered approach rarely finds anyone in a chaotic crowd, but Tenchi still mumbled a hopelessly inaudible 'excuse me' to everyone he crossed. When at last he caught a glimpse of the cyan flag he'd been seeking he let out a sigh of relief. A path to her cleared unexpectedly, and from about four meters away the prize at the end of the gauntlet suddenly terrified him. Every organ in his body simultaneously made a mad dash for his throat as he watched a stranger with a clearly intoxicated grimace place a tiny square of paper on Ryoko's tongue.
---------------------------
Standard Disclaimer:
I thank all the owners of the Tenchi characters who have chosen not to sue me for suggesting some alternative uses for them.
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I thank all the readers who have perused my other submissions and favorite authors. Those who acknowledge someone for leading them this way will earn that kind person an extra review.
Standard Procedure:
Be sure to stretch before and after all physically strenuous activity.
^Tenchi Muyo: Sanctuary and Asylum^
-Verse Four-
Recreation (Part 2)
Seita paused his fingers over the last rook.
"What did you say this style of music was called?"
"Hm? Oh, it's by an earth composer. I think Tenchi called it 'class-ick- all'. You said you liked this one right?"
Mihoshi's host duties once again distracted her from the game at hand. She watched her passenger looked up and to the side at something interesting as the bright strokes of sound tilted and swept by with self-assured elegance.
"It certainly helps me concentrate better than some of the other selections." He spoke to the chessboard with moderate relief.
"Sorry about that." Squirming out the blush end of an embarrassed laugh, Mihoshi tried to push away the memory of Seita's face when she'd started dancing to the high-pitched bubbles of her favorite cartoon's theme song.
"Don't worry about it, time spent criticizing music would be much better spent enjoying it."
She took her attention away from his defensive move the moment he did and tried and failed to reflect his contentment beyond a soft smirk.
"Your move Mihoshi."
"Oh right, sorry. Now, let me see-"
An itchy head and a heavy chin, her cheeks squished up further as a long sigh completed the thinking posture. Seita slouched to matching height with arms crossed on his lap, alternately lifting his eyes from the pieces to the opponent's face. Three minutes later she raised her head with a mildly triumphant smile, grabbed her last knight, and proceeded to leapfrog it over two pawns and the last rook.
"Your turn!" She looked up at her opponent with closed eyes and an open smile. "I wonder how Tenchi and Ryoko are doing."
Bright prompts gave up hiding how much she didn't care for games without celebration or conversation. A no sound reply opened her eyes. The pieces she jumped had not disappeared, and to add dismay to her confusion Seita stared at them with a hardened face.
"What's wrong?" She asked meekly.
"I think you may have confused this game with another. Would Officer Mihoshi perhaps like to play that game instead?" Perfect brows wedged, forced into his voice to keep it immensely soft and immensely condescending, or passive.
"Oh I, I um-" Mihoshi stuttered into his calmly searching face. She took another look down at the game board and her trembling lip began pumping water. The mistake glared back, and even all the appropriate moves joined to judge complete incompetence. Something in the back of her mind wrote this game off as the final condemning verdict.
"I-I'm such an IDIOT!" The self-effacement erupted like a thrown away final statement.
Sobs burst out and shook through. Her head fell down into her arms, muffling distress but consequently making it sound twice as pitiful. Seita remained still, his eyes closed lightly for a moment and the chess pieces melted down into small checkers, each of the kings and queens retaining a dead soldier as a crown. He waited for his sobbing captain to look up at the newly transformed board.
After at least a few minutes of blind breakdown, Mihoshi's own distress made enough room for her to remember the man still sitting across from her. Guilt at putting him in such an uncomfortable position set further weight on her eyes till they collapsed again into self-pity. Another minute passed without any change save the resigning dissipation of their game board. Exhaustion, shame, she finally rose with what she could and daintily wiped an eye. A strained gulp, a weak reflex smile, both unable to hide the desperate hope that her passenger would offer some compassion or comfort. He took the initiative and gave away her expectation.
"You are overreacting, Mihoshi."
His voice was still soft, but it came with a frankness not critical so much as thoroughly unbiased, almost unsympathetic. Mihoshi only starred at him and instead of searching for a particular emotion, she found herself looking ^at^ his eye. The color, the shape, the entire organ suggested the product of some idealized commercial design. A blink broke this line of thought to make way for another; his response, rather than discourage her actions, shot through her as more a statement of fact or purpose. It was all too much to consider, she hadn't yet shaken the shame for her childishness and again it dragged her head down with the timid beginnings of a new sob.
"I'm s-sorry Seita."
"There's no need to apologize." The warmth in his voice returned slightly and brought back her silent plea for comfort. He smiled sideways, clearly trying to encourage her to laugh, that it was just a game, and that he wasn't disgusted.
Mihoshi managed a shaky sort of grimace and a weak chuckle.
"I wonder how Tenchi and Ryoko are doing?"
The titled smile curved a little higher. For a moment Mihoshi wanted to crawl across the table and bury herself in his arms.
"You said that already."
It should have sounded like a criticism but again ended up only as an observation. Unbiased. Nonetheless, Mihoshi's small ray dissipated and she thumped palm into forehead, elbow propping her head up against a wavering breath. Exhausted anger further disheveled her hair and defied another sob in surrender.
"I'm such an ^idiot^!"
Looking down in an almost breathless whisper, Seita heard himself reply.
"^You said that already too^."
***
It had taken stacks of Atlas willpower for Tenchi to keep himself from dashing over to Ryoko and clawing the piece of paper out of her mouth like a parent saving their toddler from a chocking hazard. Goodness knows how the ex-pirate might defend herself against that. Instead, he released his anxiety on the source of the problem as she watched the action unfold with bewildered eyes. Her uncalled-for knight in shining armor grabbed hold of the taller candy man's collar and swung him onto his back. There would likely be a short pause between the next bellow, enough time to bite a delinquent face off.
"WHAT DID YOU GIVE HER!?"
"Whoa! Whoa man! It's just a little fry!" The prey wailed itself a coward.
Tenchi's eyes began to swallow up the ignorant cause of earth's next potential catastrophe. The bombastic electric frenzy faded to a firefly and cricket background. A tiny voice stampeded in a terrified whisper.
*Ryoko---on acid---hallucinating! No. NO! She---she might see ^anything^, how the hell am I going to keep her from-
"Chill out man, you're gonna give your lady a bad trip or somethin."
Tenchi dropped him and remained motionless while the ex-pert quickly scrambled to his companion's side. Both youths stared at the clearly overworked boyscout as he remained bent over, still starring fearfully at his hands. They looked around for security before attempting to shrug away their fear.
"Make love not war, ya know." The supplier offered, taking one last glance at Ryoko for good measure.
"Damn Psycho," his useless back up added not too loudly.
Tenchi's visions already had them all but forgotten. None bordered on excessive or bothered with unlikely. It was all going to happen; Ryoko would see monsters, mountains of slime and teeth falling down on her like redwoods. There'd be flame pits and skies turned to gore all closing around her. She would scream in terror as she slashed her sword through crowds of panicked dancers. Missiles of energy would rage out and find their way into every city in Japan. There would be nothing short of a holocaust by the time the substance wore off, or killed her. Each new premonition brought a few more of heaven's names in a plea for prevention. No answer but a flash of focus to at least ^check^ on Ryoko first.
She looked worried about him mostly, but the drug hadn't seemed to kick in yet. After thanking whatever chemical Gods were responsible, he put his hands on her shoulders hoping to find an urgency to surpass the volume still needed to compete with the music.
"Ryoko, are you okay?"
"Yes Tenchi, I think so, they-they said it would-" The music did fade into the background as Ryoko's nervousness stood alongside his at the frontline.
"Nevermind what they said!" Tenchi gripped her a little harder and she stared back with disbelief swelling confusion swelling fear.
"Listen to me Ryoko, we have to get you home to Washu."
"But why?"
"That stuff they gave you, it's not good. It's going to make you see things."
"You mean, like Seita?"
"Not really, no, there won't be any control over it; you might think you're being attacked when there's no one there."
Ryoko's fear could turn to anger quicker than most and she jerked her head about for a sign of the two young men.
"Don't worry about them, lets just get out of here. C'mon." Tenchi practically dragged her through the crowds and out to the parking lot, matching the condescending way he'd spoken as he made his friend into a helplessly stubborn child.
---
Halfway to the car she touched her forehead with a soft groan. Tenchi whirled around fearfully.
"What is it, Ryoko?!"
"I feel kind of strange Tenchi, were the lights this bright before?" She asked the way she did when waking up with a hangover-stomachache.
Mounting fear split to make way for a face brightening idea.
"Hold on, this should help in case we don't get to Washu in time." He grunted anxiously as he tore at the bottom of his shirt, eventually holding up a thin strip of overpriced fabric. Once again she was obviously confused.
"Here, I'm going to blindfold you, that way you won't have to worry about seeing anything." Tenchi smiled nervously, though clearly proud of his quick thinking.
She looked at him, then the blindfold, as if he'd just asked her to severe a limb for him. He noticed hesitation.
"Trust me Ryoko, it's safer than just trying to keep your eyes closed." Gold melted a little and she locked it up tight, bowing her head lifelessly.
"Okay, Tenchi."
They trembled enough to notice, both afraid that Ryoko might exit reality at any moment. When the blindfold was secure Tenchi took her hand, opened the passenger door, and guided the two together. He wondered if he'd tied it too tight but focused instead on getting the right key in his hand.
***
The van was no hot-rod but could maneuver aggressively enough to scare a few people out of his way. Tenchi hardly remembered all he'd learned about road manners as he considered pounding the horn and yelling obscenities to get them home as quickly as possible. Using movies as guides probably wasn't a good idea though.
When they finally reached a less crowded stretch of freeway he looked over to check on Ryoko. She looked like his prisoner; hands folded in her lap, eyes blinded, head hung. He'd never spent so much silent time with her, in fact he'd never spent so much time alone with any girl in any situation. Unable to think calmly enough for comfort he became consumed with worry, his own imagination lingering to make demons out of the other cars. Just a helpful reminder of what he was risking by putting only a tiny cloth over her eyes. Headlights flickered over them through the holes in the center divide, the strobe-effect keeping memories of the dance bitter. His face darkened.
*Why did I leave her alone out there?! Ryoko doesn't know how to turn down a free gift. What made me think I could take her out to something like this? Who knows what that stuff is going to do to her?
"Ten-chi," Ryoko mewed.
"Did you say something Ryoko?" He blinked out of his scowl and turned towards her.
"^Cold^, Tenchi...my hands are so cold." She began rubbing them together in small childish motions.
"Here, Ryoko." Watching the rode every other second he reached over and grabbed her hand. She winced slightly as he pinched slightly and directed them to the vents. "Put your hands here."
The heater warmed up and he noticed that she was still shivering. Iron dropped in his stomach at the possibility of the hallucinations being more than visual. It was a warm night, and getting warmer in the van as Ryoko showed no sign of feeling the heater. He noticed something shimmer on her cheek and wondered if it was a bead of sweat or a tear. The now lethal driver continued to curse inwardly as his passenger kept trying to warm her hands in the darkness.
***
"WASHU!" Tenchi bellowed as he swung the door open violently. The house was dark, darker for the meager computer monitor glow further obscured by a smooth blonde head. Tenchi pounded a light on and pulled Ryoko inside, nearly off her feet.
"Seita, where's Washu!?" Tenchi ordered before the tall frame could even rise enough to look him in the eye.
"She's been in her lab for a while now Tenchi, what's wrong?" He finished rising and smoothed his robe modestly, walking towards them in a lazy billow of black silk. Obvious urgency caught calm interest.
"Ryoko took a hallucinogenic at the rave, and I don't know what it'll do to her!" Tenchi snapped, pulling her towards the closet door.
Seita eyed the situation more closely, after watching Ryoko almost stumble again he wondered why she was not levitating to make the towing process easier.
"Hence the blindfold?" He guessed knowingly.
Tenchi ignored him, twisted the door handle, cursed its lock, and began pounding.
"Washu! Are you in there, Washu!?"
Showing more patience to the point of a crossed arm art critic posture, Seita waited for anything while Tenchi waited for Washu. Thirty seconds was clearly time they didn't have.
"Dammit Washu! Would you open-"
The door moved of its own accord, swinging outward almost too quickly for Tenchi to dodge. Washu was in a dirty lab coat, hands clawed at her sides, eyes glared out over bags that were pronounced even under her protective goggles. She greeted them with a hostile growl.
"^Who the^-"
"Washu, I need you to help Ryoko, she took a drug and I don't know what to do!"
Washu, taken aback by the failure of her mad scientist appearance to intimidate the intruders, only blinked in confusion. Tenchi invited himself in without a second thought. Before Ryoko was pulled in as well Seita heard a tiny voice:
"^They gave it to me.^"
---
Tenchi paced as Washu led Ryoko to an examining table, she seemed too afraid to protest even this well known resentment. He waited for a scream, a shriek, a blood-curdling moan to pour out as Washu removed the blindfold and unleashed the temporary insanity he'd seen in a few educational films and documentaries. Washu asked with cold impatience for her to open her eyes.
She complied hesitantly, her gold shone drearily with tiny scarlet ribbons pulling at the sides. Tenchi didn't want to breath relief too soon, but exhaustion truly looked to have filled any possible room for madness. Washu passed a small light over Ryoko's eyes, turned her head from side to side and brought up her holo-laptop. A huge worm of twisted wires and dark glass orbs sank down from the ceiling. The suspect patient shied away from it.
"Relax Ryoko, this isn't going to hurt." Washu explained.
Ryoko and Tenchi both held their breath as thin planes of green light scanned every inch of the timid drug fiend. The test finished and the worm retreated to the ceiling like a slurped noodle. It all took no more than ten seconds and Washu was typing roughly again with an exasperated sigh.
"Just as I thought Tenchi; the drugs that pass for hallucinogens on this planet are fairly weak. There are traces of it in her central nervous system, but it's already being diluted. Whatever it might have done to her, she's already gone through the last of the after effects."
Ryoko looked up with confused relief while Tenchi just looked confused.
"I'm okay?"
"Yes, you're fine! If you think you see anything strange...you can probably take it up with Seita." Washu was still clearly irritated, but a touch of extra anxiety clenched her sarcasm at more than being interrupted for something simple.
More hair fell forward to veil Ryoko's face. Tenchi took a step toward her, assuming himself unnoticed.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some real work to do." Science gestured efficiently at the door.
"But Washu-"
"When you get outside this lab sector just use the door with the crab above it." Washu huffed at Tenchi's simplicity.
"No, I mean okay, I mean---but how?"
Washu looked over at Ryoko who was finally rising from the table careful to avoid Tenchi and leave them both behind with slow and sullen movements.
"Tenchi, have you ever noticed how much sake it takes to get Ryoko drunk?" The little doctor asked with a little more patience.
"Uh, yeah. But-" He turned away from the party champ in question.
"She doesn't just have an experienced liver Tenchi, her whole body has a very high tolerance for all kinds of foreign chemicals. One little drop of- " Washu read off a short list of long chemical names, "-isn't going to be enough to make her totally lose touch with reality."
"Thank you Washu," Tenchi sighed relief at the floor, "I-"
Washu was already walking back to a darker corner of her lab while Ryoko finished exiting through the shadows.
"I'm very busy Tenchi, I'll come out after this next string of data is processed." She dismissed him coldly.
He hesitated at her back long enough to build the proper mope to carry him up the stairs hopefully through the crab door. On the center step he considered making sure the door would be there to open up as a buffer to ask what was so important. A moment's hesitation was enough to re-shut his mouth. All the doors closed quietly behind him.
Back at an enormous display of electronic cooperation, Washu looked over the odd plasma filter and nano-isotope replicater. With a flick of her wrist holographic symbols began to appear in-between her and the more complex mechanisms. None of the icons lived up to her expectations and she slammed her fist down onto the nearest flat surface.
***
Tenchi saw a plume of Ryoko's hair sticking out over the side of the highest rafter. He looked under her and noticed Seita sleeping on the couch with his hands neatly crossed on his chest. It had been nice of Mihoshi to offer to sleep in her ship, but he was still waiting for Ryoko and the strange illusionist to have a serious confrontation. He supposed hopefully that the occasional practical joke would appeal to her, especially if it was on the princess. Not wanting to wake Seita, he called up to the rafters in a whisper.
"Goodnight Ryoko, I-I'm sorry about everything that happened."
Silence
"Ryoko?"
A thick snore poured down. Tenchi frowned sadly and went to bed, mostly ignoring his sore limbs.
---
The ceiling never looked to plain. Ryoko had considered trying to bring a reading lamp and some other items up there, but something always held her back. She looked between her toes at the tattered piece of paper tacked into the wood. She'd made a crude drawing of Tenchi and her holding hands shortly after the assimilation with that damn sentimental robot. Once it was finished she'd been about to destroy it in frustration, but a shared memory of a failed attempt to eliminate her 'distraction' had made her compromise to put it up where only she could see. Searches for happy memories to blot out the recent ones were all in vain; there were too many threatening tears to worry about anyway. Quiet as a mouse, she continued to fight them down.
"Hey, Ryoko." Ryoko closed her eyes and cursed that she had stopped snoring. Seita spoke in a casual, yet still consciously smooth voice. He used it so much, but unfortunately it was too finely crafted to be dismissed as a monotone. And she really wanted to dismiss it tonight.
"It feels good to get back to reality-"
He opened up his velvet sitting room for no response, even the night sounds outside seemed to be ignoring him. A rather large smile snuck across his face and slithered into his voice.
"-doesn't it?"