Minagi's presence was now common among the Masaki residence. She seemed to blend in with everyone, thought it seemed like everyone else stuck out like sore thumbs. Alien girls were aliens, indeed, that they took on a feature or two that wasn't quite human. The house kept up a peaceful aura, accompanied by one or two arguments every-so-often, but it would always be Tenchi's home.
Quickly peeking around a corner, Ryoko inhaled sharply and rounded the corner. She approached the living room with a bit of hesitation and shot across the room before anyone could see her. Now at the door of the lab, she phased herself into the fibers of the wall where she thought she wouldn't be seen, and what wiser, where no one would expect to search for her - so close to Washu's lab.
Tenchi, who had taken quite an interest in Ryoko's strange actions, only sat and watched her from the kitchen, twisting and turning his head every so often to keep up with her darting actions. No sooner did he find a new position to get a good look at Ryoko in, that Minagi slowly entered the room and stood right in the center. Now things were getting interesting. What was it that the two of them were doing?
Her sword brandished, Minagi tensed up before she would have to defend herself against what she was sensing out anyway. Ryoko charged, full speed at the girl, knocking her through the wall and falling onto the front lawn. The very shock of the girl's moving at such speeds caused Tenchi to fall off his chair and hit the ground with a painful THUD.
"You OK, Tenchi?" Sasami bent over him with a soup spoon. "Why don't you just stand and watch them play?
"Play?" Tenchi's expression softened.
"Yea. They're always play-fighting. They'll end up passed out on the front lawn by the time dinner is finished. Usually they just sit out there and talk the whole time." Sasami smiled softly as she tended to the food. "They really act like they're sisters."
It had dawned upon Tenchi, that he hadn't noticed the subtle change in Ryoko. Her new-found maturity was a front, or was it? When he'd get home from school, he'd rarely see the girl do more than sleep or lounge about, but her afternoons were action-packed with Minagi at her heels. His only day off from school showed him what it was like when he wasn't around. Everything seemed so much more peaceful and civil when he wasn't the topic of someone's heated argument. Laughing to himself just a bit he stuck his hands in his pockets and stepped out side whispering, "Tenchi Muyo, indeed." He chuckled softly and approached the two girls that had collapsed into a fit of giggles.
"Hey you two." He waved to show he came in peace. "What are you two doing?"
Ryoko stood to her feet and glanced down at Minagi. "Exercise." Helping Minagi up, she pushed passed him and retreated to the onsen for a bit of relaxation.
"I wonder what's wrong with her?" Tenchi watched Ryoko fade away.
Minagi dusted her clothes off and smiled at Tenchi. "She seems to be a bit insecure around the both of us being together at the same time. I guess she doesn't know how she should act. I say she should act like Ryoko would act."
"Ryoko acting like Ryoko would mean I'd be in a headlock now." Tenchi rubbed the back of his neck.
"Ryoko acting like Ryoko the way Ryoko wants Minagi to see her means she'd laugh and invite you to romp around with us." Minagi looked thoughtful when she realized the difference between the Ryoko Tenchi saw and the Ryoko that Minagi saw.
"Ryoko acting like she doesn't know how to be Ryoko means she just vanishes to get away from the trouble of performing at all." came a third voice.
Tenchi and Minagi looked over their shoulders to see Washu standing there with a smug look and her little arms crossed. "A clash of characters, I'd say."
Minagi turned around fully to address Washu. "Little Washu, why doesn't she just treat us all the same?"
Washu's smug look turned to the softened expression a mother would give as she spoke about her sleeping child. "She doesn't know what's appropriate when it comes to encountering you, Minagi. She feels more like..." Washu stared at Tenchi "She feels more like herself..."
"Herself?" Minagi looked confused.
"Yup." Washu chirped.
"When you think you know Ryoko, you've actually only seen one side of her." Tenchi smiled softly.
Washu turned back towards the house, walking with no intentions of waiting for the other two to join her. She let the door close behind her, as she set the scene. "I'm just too brilliant for these people. Sometimes love needs a jump-start."
Minagi blinked and then slowly exhaled, now aware of Washu's childish intentions. She glanced at Tenchi and grinned. "Well, I'm going inside to help Sasami with dinner, why don't you go keep Washu company?"
As if by instinct (which it was becoming...) Tenchi's hands shout out defensively as a gentle blush warmed his face. "No thanks, I'll stay out here and enjoy the fresh air."
"Suit youuurrrr-self, Masaki!" Minagi winked and left him standing there by himself.
He watched her fade as his arms fell back to his sides. He wondered what her last words to him were before she parted, but he didn't feel like making much of the situation, as his mind was being tugged elsewhere. Without really thinking, he started to walk. Not having any set destination, he only hoped he wouldn't end up at the top of the steps of the shrine, ready to be attacked by his grandfather. Instead, he found himself starting up at the onsen idly, where he knew Ryoko was.
Inside, Ryoko had found it safe enough to drop any and all resolves she'd put up that morning. A resolve against Minagi, a resolve against Tenchi, she didn't know which way to act around the conflicting parties. Perhaps she should just be herself.
"Who am I?" She placed her hands to her face, dampening the soft skin of her cheeks. She exhaled slowly, sliding her knees up to her chest and pushing herself into a small corner of the onsen. If this was the world, she never felt smaller in it. It's when you don't realize who you are, that you realize how insignificant you can be at times. Determined to find her place among the Masakis as Minagi had so easily done, Ryoko searched her deepest thoughts to figure out just what came naturally to her.
Enough meditation on the subject, Ryoko finally pulled her body out of the warm waters and donned the usual house clothes, ready to appear to Minagi and Tenchi once more as "Ryoko", the "Ryoko" only they knew of. She wanted to phase back to the house, as usual, but this time she figured she'd enjoy a walk back to the house, trying to sort out her thoughts and remember her roles as she would have to portray them to said person at any given time.
Stepping out of the door of the onsen, Ryoko bumped square into Tenchi. His face burned bright red, but her expression seemed to outdo his greatly. In an instant, her look of shock and embarrassment turned into a mischievous grin. "Were you coming to visit me, Tenchi?" She traced a finger in circles around his chest. "I wouldn't mind going back in if you're going to join me."
Tenchi's hands rested theirs over Ryoko's as they did many times before. From there, they'd push her hands away and he'd defensively step away. "Well... I was just wandering about, this is where I ended up."
Ryoko looked down at his hands. He hadn't moved them from on top of hers. In fact, he was holding her in place, her hands pressed against his heart. Her face burned with the blush of excitement that Tenchi was actually holding her so close. He caught glance of her expression and immediately realized that he was still holding on to her. Moving his hands away from hers, he tucked them in his pockets and looked innocent. "It's dinnertime, why don't we start back to the house?" He started walking without her. He got a good distance away from her before he turned to acknowledge that she wasn't by his side. "Aren't you coming?"
"I'm not so hungry." She lowered her head. "Go on without me."
Tenchi could've responded to that, but he attacked something that had been burning in his mind; now he would force his mouth to speak it. "When Minagi got here, you changed a lot." His back remained turned so that Ryoko would not see his faltering expression. One of worry and regret that he had brought up something she'd been trying so hard to hide.
"New company brings new situations brings new reactions." Now Ryoko had her back turned to his back. She was about ready to retreat back into the Onsen where the world was bigger than her, but not as vast as the space between the Onsen and the house.
"Ryoko?" Tenchi decided to keep up this conversation, even if neither of them could see each other. "I like this..." He cut his sentence there and started to walk back to the house.
The melancholy pirate pressed her hand against the Onsen to enter it, but froze on Tenchi's last words. Tenchi had admitted he liked *something* about her. She didn't know what it was, though. He didn't finish what he wanted to say. Her shoulders slumping, she pulled her hand away from the door and glanced over her shoulder at Tenchi's disappearing form. He'd made the turn around the bend in the river and was heading back to the house. Now more than ever, she was afraid to act any specific way around anyone. She decided to skip dinner that night.
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^;
"What have we here?" A voice laced with childish humor stung Ryoko's ears.
Ryoko poked around Washu's lab, playing with things she hoped wouldn't explode in her face if she turned them at an odd angle. "Got nothing better to do. Mind if I hang around?"
"Well..." Washu resumed her normal know-it-all attitude and studied her holocomputer. "If you're going to hang round, you might as well help out."
Ryoko handed Washu a pile of documents and sat beside her. "Yea, I figured that was coming."
"Not bad." Washu studied the equations. "I never did underestimate your ability to understand."
"I seem to be surprising people with my personality everywhere." Ryoko sighed slowly.
Washu smiled softly "Well, you mature from your responsibilities."
"Responsibilities?"
"From taking care of Minagi."
If possible, Ryoko looked sadder than before. "I haven't done anything to take care of her."
"But you care for her, and you watch over her and do your best to mentor her. You train with her and try to keep her from being exposed to the bad things around us. I'd say you're doing a very good job of being responsible for her. You're truly a good big sister." The little scientist rested her hand on Ryoko's, hoping to calm her shaking a bit.
"Who am I, Washu? You made me, you should know." Ryoko's tears flowed from her saddened amber eyes.
Washu's heart went out to Ryoko as the girl finally opened her heart to allow her true face to show. "I created an innocent being no different in heart and soul than a human. Who you are is who you choose to be. You have all these different masks in which you hide who you really are from the world. If you're going to hide, I can't stop you, but don't forget who you really are."
Ryoko slowly wiped her eyes and laughed softly. "Are you happy now? Now that I'm treating you like my mother?"
"I'm just more glad that you're willing to see that the you that you try to be isn't the you that you really are." Washu smiled brightly. "You should get some sleep. There's a room in the back."
"Thanks for everything, Washu."
"A-HEM!"
"Little Washu..." Ryoko rolled her eyes and let the door close behind her.
Quickly peeking around a corner, Ryoko inhaled sharply and rounded the corner. She approached the living room with a bit of hesitation and shot across the room before anyone could see her. Now at the door of the lab, she phased herself into the fibers of the wall where she thought she wouldn't be seen, and what wiser, where no one would expect to search for her - so close to Washu's lab.
Tenchi, who had taken quite an interest in Ryoko's strange actions, only sat and watched her from the kitchen, twisting and turning his head every so often to keep up with her darting actions. No sooner did he find a new position to get a good look at Ryoko in, that Minagi slowly entered the room and stood right in the center. Now things were getting interesting. What was it that the two of them were doing?
Her sword brandished, Minagi tensed up before she would have to defend herself against what she was sensing out anyway. Ryoko charged, full speed at the girl, knocking her through the wall and falling onto the front lawn. The very shock of the girl's moving at such speeds caused Tenchi to fall off his chair and hit the ground with a painful THUD.
"You OK, Tenchi?" Sasami bent over him with a soup spoon. "Why don't you just stand and watch them play?
"Play?" Tenchi's expression softened.
"Yea. They're always play-fighting. They'll end up passed out on the front lawn by the time dinner is finished. Usually they just sit out there and talk the whole time." Sasami smiled softly as she tended to the food. "They really act like they're sisters."
It had dawned upon Tenchi, that he hadn't noticed the subtle change in Ryoko. Her new-found maturity was a front, or was it? When he'd get home from school, he'd rarely see the girl do more than sleep or lounge about, but her afternoons were action-packed with Minagi at her heels. His only day off from school showed him what it was like when he wasn't around. Everything seemed so much more peaceful and civil when he wasn't the topic of someone's heated argument. Laughing to himself just a bit he stuck his hands in his pockets and stepped out side whispering, "Tenchi Muyo, indeed." He chuckled softly and approached the two girls that had collapsed into a fit of giggles.
"Hey you two." He waved to show he came in peace. "What are you two doing?"
Ryoko stood to her feet and glanced down at Minagi. "Exercise." Helping Minagi up, she pushed passed him and retreated to the onsen for a bit of relaxation.
"I wonder what's wrong with her?" Tenchi watched Ryoko fade away.
Minagi dusted her clothes off and smiled at Tenchi. "She seems to be a bit insecure around the both of us being together at the same time. I guess she doesn't know how she should act. I say she should act like Ryoko would act."
"Ryoko acting like Ryoko would mean I'd be in a headlock now." Tenchi rubbed the back of his neck.
"Ryoko acting like Ryoko the way Ryoko wants Minagi to see her means she'd laugh and invite you to romp around with us." Minagi looked thoughtful when she realized the difference between the Ryoko Tenchi saw and the Ryoko that Minagi saw.
"Ryoko acting like she doesn't know how to be Ryoko means she just vanishes to get away from the trouble of performing at all." came a third voice.
Tenchi and Minagi looked over their shoulders to see Washu standing there with a smug look and her little arms crossed. "A clash of characters, I'd say."
Minagi turned around fully to address Washu. "Little Washu, why doesn't she just treat us all the same?"
Washu's smug look turned to the softened expression a mother would give as she spoke about her sleeping child. "She doesn't know what's appropriate when it comes to encountering you, Minagi. She feels more like..." Washu stared at Tenchi "She feels more like herself..."
"Herself?" Minagi looked confused.
"Yup." Washu chirped.
"When you think you know Ryoko, you've actually only seen one side of her." Tenchi smiled softly.
Washu turned back towards the house, walking with no intentions of waiting for the other two to join her. She let the door close behind her, as she set the scene. "I'm just too brilliant for these people. Sometimes love needs a jump-start."
Minagi blinked and then slowly exhaled, now aware of Washu's childish intentions. She glanced at Tenchi and grinned. "Well, I'm going inside to help Sasami with dinner, why don't you go keep Washu company?"
As if by instinct (which it was becoming...) Tenchi's hands shout out defensively as a gentle blush warmed his face. "No thanks, I'll stay out here and enjoy the fresh air."
"Suit youuurrrr-self, Masaki!" Minagi winked and left him standing there by himself.
He watched her fade as his arms fell back to his sides. He wondered what her last words to him were before she parted, but he didn't feel like making much of the situation, as his mind was being tugged elsewhere. Without really thinking, he started to walk. Not having any set destination, he only hoped he wouldn't end up at the top of the steps of the shrine, ready to be attacked by his grandfather. Instead, he found himself starting up at the onsen idly, where he knew Ryoko was.
Inside, Ryoko had found it safe enough to drop any and all resolves she'd put up that morning. A resolve against Minagi, a resolve against Tenchi, she didn't know which way to act around the conflicting parties. Perhaps she should just be herself.
"Who am I?" She placed her hands to her face, dampening the soft skin of her cheeks. She exhaled slowly, sliding her knees up to her chest and pushing herself into a small corner of the onsen. If this was the world, she never felt smaller in it. It's when you don't realize who you are, that you realize how insignificant you can be at times. Determined to find her place among the Masakis as Minagi had so easily done, Ryoko searched her deepest thoughts to figure out just what came naturally to her.
Enough meditation on the subject, Ryoko finally pulled her body out of the warm waters and donned the usual house clothes, ready to appear to Minagi and Tenchi once more as "Ryoko", the "Ryoko" only they knew of. She wanted to phase back to the house, as usual, but this time she figured she'd enjoy a walk back to the house, trying to sort out her thoughts and remember her roles as she would have to portray them to said person at any given time.
Stepping out of the door of the onsen, Ryoko bumped square into Tenchi. His face burned bright red, but her expression seemed to outdo his greatly. In an instant, her look of shock and embarrassment turned into a mischievous grin. "Were you coming to visit me, Tenchi?" She traced a finger in circles around his chest. "I wouldn't mind going back in if you're going to join me."
Tenchi's hands rested theirs over Ryoko's as they did many times before. From there, they'd push her hands away and he'd defensively step away. "Well... I was just wandering about, this is where I ended up."
Ryoko looked down at his hands. He hadn't moved them from on top of hers. In fact, he was holding her in place, her hands pressed against his heart. Her face burned with the blush of excitement that Tenchi was actually holding her so close. He caught glance of her expression and immediately realized that he was still holding on to her. Moving his hands away from hers, he tucked them in his pockets and looked innocent. "It's dinnertime, why don't we start back to the house?" He started walking without her. He got a good distance away from her before he turned to acknowledge that she wasn't by his side. "Aren't you coming?"
"I'm not so hungry." She lowered her head. "Go on without me."
Tenchi could've responded to that, but he attacked something that had been burning in his mind; now he would force his mouth to speak it. "When Minagi got here, you changed a lot." His back remained turned so that Ryoko would not see his faltering expression. One of worry and regret that he had brought up something she'd been trying so hard to hide.
"New company brings new situations brings new reactions." Now Ryoko had her back turned to his back. She was about ready to retreat back into the Onsen where the world was bigger than her, but not as vast as the space between the Onsen and the house.
"Ryoko?" Tenchi decided to keep up this conversation, even if neither of them could see each other. "I like this..." He cut his sentence there and started to walk back to the house.
The melancholy pirate pressed her hand against the Onsen to enter it, but froze on Tenchi's last words. Tenchi had admitted he liked *something* about her. She didn't know what it was, though. He didn't finish what he wanted to say. Her shoulders slumping, she pulled her hand away from the door and glanced over her shoulder at Tenchi's disappearing form. He'd made the turn around the bend in the river and was heading back to the house. Now more than ever, she was afraid to act any specific way around anyone. She decided to skip dinner that night.
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^;
"What have we here?" A voice laced with childish humor stung Ryoko's ears.
Ryoko poked around Washu's lab, playing with things she hoped wouldn't explode in her face if she turned them at an odd angle. "Got nothing better to do. Mind if I hang around?"
"Well..." Washu resumed her normal know-it-all attitude and studied her holocomputer. "If you're going to hang round, you might as well help out."
Ryoko handed Washu a pile of documents and sat beside her. "Yea, I figured that was coming."
"Not bad." Washu studied the equations. "I never did underestimate your ability to understand."
"I seem to be surprising people with my personality everywhere." Ryoko sighed slowly.
Washu smiled softly "Well, you mature from your responsibilities."
"Responsibilities?"
"From taking care of Minagi."
If possible, Ryoko looked sadder than before. "I haven't done anything to take care of her."
"But you care for her, and you watch over her and do your best to mentor her. You train with her and try to keep her from being exposed to the bad things around us. I'd say you're doing a very good job of being responsible for her. You're truly a good big sister." The little scientist rested her hand on Ryoko's, hoping to calm her shaking a bit.
"Who am I, Washu? You made me, you should know." Ryoko's tears flowed from her saddened amber eyes.
Washu's heart went out to Ryoko as the girl finally opened her heart to allow her true face to show. "I created an innocent being no different in heart and soul than a human. Who you are is who you choose to be. You have all these different masks in which you hide who you really are from the world. If you're going to hide, I can't stop you, but don't forget who you really are."
Ryoko slowly wiped her eyes and laughed softly. "Are you happy now? Now that I'm treating you like my mother?"
"I'm just more glad that you're willing to see that the you that you try to be isn't the you that you really are." Washu smiled brightly. "You should get some sleep. There's a room in the back."
"Thanks for everything, Washu."
"A-HEM!"
"Little Washu..." Ryoko rolled her eyes and let the door close behind her.