THE JOB, Chapter 3: Practice Makes Money.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, all events in this story are entirely of my own imagination. Please don't change them. Feel free to distribute this story as widely as desired.

FOREWORD: More characters will be making appearances. I think I'll start making some allusions to Ryoko's past. Originally, I intended this to fairly short. I have since come up with a very interesting story-line for this piece. I'm fairly excited about it. Maybe we can take a look into the past of the most notorious space-pirate in the history of the galaxy.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 27 September 2002

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

The stage was a little crowded with both Ryoko and Mihoshi moving around. Especially with Mihoshi. Since Ryoko was the once with the experience, it had fallen to her to teach Mihoshi what to do. The girl had been reluctant at first, once she figured out that she was dancing not for fun, but to entertain men's' sexual fantasies, whatever those may be. At least they only had to put up with being watched. Ryoko's last experience with exotic dancing had been her last, for very specific reasons which she would never forget. It was those reasons that had finally driven her to piracy. But, for the time being, all was well.

At least, all was well until Mihoshi took a sweeping swing around one of the stage poles, ripping it from its mounts. She stared blankly at the brass pole in her hand for several seconds as the appreciative customers added a few more hundred yen to the growing pile of money in order to show their appreciation of the unusual spectacle.

"Oops. Um, Ryoko, what should I do with this?"

"Who cares? Just dance."

Mihoshi stared at the pole for a little bit her face lit up with what she considered a very good idea. She began twirling the two-meter pole like a staff, whipping it around at insane speeds. The return swing caught Ryoko square in the forehead, knocking her clean out. Oblivious to dance partner's lack of consciousness, she addressed the empty stage.

"I bet you didn't know they taught us this at the police academy!"

"Mihoshi!"

Anyone who had ever lived with Mihoshi for more than fifteen minutes knew better than to interrupt her when she was concentrating on something complicated. Caught by surprise, she turned her attention to the source of the shout. The pole slipped out of her hands and sailed straight across the room, impaling itself in the wall three centimeters to the left of Rich's head. He slowly slid down the wall.

"Never... mind..."

"Nnn... I didn't make as much as you did." Mihoshi complained about the disparity in pay as she and Ryoko made their way out the front door.

"Not my fault you're so clumsy. Be happy Rich only kept enough to pay for the repairs."

"That's true." Mihoshi giggled delightfully as they walked the streets. "But I was hoping Kiyone and I could go see that new movie that's coming out Friday night. You know, that one where the futuristic policeman hunts down himself? It sounds so exciting!"

"Forget the movie. You only need to think about two things. How much money we're gonna make on a Friday night, and..." Ryoko smiled mischievously, "how we're gonna spend it all!"

"Yay! I can't wait to tell Tenchi and the others we got good jobs! I'll bet they'll be really impressed."

Without any warning, Ryoko suddenly grabbed Mihoshi by the shirt and held her firmly against the wall of a building.

"Don't even think about it! If straight-shooters like Tenchi or Aeka ever found out we were dancing, we'd never hear the end of it. I don't care if you blab about you working there, but if you tell Tenchi, I'll..."

Mihoshi's eyes began to water in fright.

"Ryoko, you're scaring me!"

Realizing that she was indeed acting very frightful, Ryoko released Mihoshi.

"Just don't tell Tenchi. I don't really care if Aeka knows, but she'll tell Tenchi the first chance she gets. I don't want him to know."

"So, it's a secret?"

"Yeah. It's a secret."

"A secret just between you, me, and Kiyone, right?"

Ryoko nodded.

"You, me, and..." Her eyes popped open. "KIYONE! Aw, shit! She'll blab to everybody! Come on! We gotta hurry!"

Ryoko reached out to grab Mihoshi's shirt again.

"No we don't. Kiyone's right over there."

Mihoshi pointed to the hooded person who was window shopping two stores behind them. The person looked up and saw that he or she was being watched. The hood turned left, then right. A swirl of raven black hair spilled out from underneath the hood as Kiyone looked for a place to hide.

Ryoko dashed through the walking pedestrians to reach Kiyone before she could flee. She caught her around the neck just as she turned to run.

"Looking for something, cop?"

Kiyone made wheezing sound not unlike someone gasping for breath due to being strangled. Several people were looking at them.

"Kaant... breet..."

"What was that?"

Kiyone slapped at Ryoko's elbow, clueing her in to the fact that she could not answer because she could not breathe. Ryoko released Kiyone, who rubbed at her throat as she took huge breaths, restoring her normal color.

"What did you do that for?" Kiyone complained.

"Why were you following us?"

"Why do you think? I was keeping an eye on Mihoshi. You think I'd leave a simpleton like her alone with a criminal like you?! You'd take advantage of Mihoshi the first chance you get!"

Ryoko began stroking her chin in sarcastic contemplation.

"No, that'd be too obvious. I'd wait until the second or third opportunity."

A large teardrop ran down the back of Kiyone's head.

"Ugh."

"But, seriously." This time it was Kiyone's trench coat that felt the strength of Ryoko's grip as she was lifted off her feet. "Tenchi is not going to find out about this, right?"

Looking to the side, Kiyone shrugged as best she could. A sigh of resignation escaped her lungs.

"Sure."

Ryoko suddenly let go, dumping Kiyone to the sidewalk. With a satisfied smile, she wiped her hands together as if washing herself of the matter.

"Now that that's settled, I'm going home. Later!"

The former space pirate disappeared in to thin air, getting several gasps of surprise from the people gawking at them. Realizing that the spectacle of a disappearing woman had attracted unwanted attention, Kiyone quickly got back to her feet and grabbed Mihoshi by the arm.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

"Okay... Hey, look, Kiyone!" Mihoshi held up a small wad of cash. "I made some money!"

"Good! You can finally help pay bills, instead of just making them."

Ryoko silently floated into Tenchi's room. It was the middle of the night, and he was asleep. Tomorrow was Friday, so he had to get up for school in the morning. Hence, the early to bed syndrome. Looking down at him, she could not help noticing how peaceful he looked while sleeping.

In her hand she held a ball of currency slightly larger than the one Mihoshi had earned. Her first inclination regarding her earnings had been to go out and celebrate. But, even though she did not want Tenchi and Aeka to know what her job was, she did want them to know she had gotten a job. It was doubtful they would believe her, so she needed the cash to prove it. It was not like it was a lot of money. Even dancers did not make a ton of money in just an hour, especially on an off-peak night. She looked at the crumpled bills and sighed. Ryoko recalled she had set-up a savings account the last time she had a legitimate job. Ironically, the work had been similar, if a bit less reputable. She looked blankly out the window as memories began to churn and bubble. Her fist clenched on the money, crumpling and folding it even more. A single tear ran down her left cheek.

Kiyone tossed and turned on her futon, trying to find some comfortable position within the cramped confines of the small apartment right next to the train tracks that she shared with Mihoshi. The events of this evening kept replaying in her mind. It was not normal practice for resident officers to have part-time jobs. In fact, it was against regulations, without approval from higher headquarters. Since the local government was not aware of the existence of the Jurai Empire, the pay from their work as Galaxy Police detectives was utterly useless here. They had no choice in the matter, and headquarters agreed. So a special waiver had been granted for them to work. However, certain professions were not acceptable. Exotic dancing was one of the forbidden forms of work. If headquarters ever found out, they could be demoted. On the plus side, it did pay.

It was not like Mihoshi did not have the body for it. Quite frankly, the woman was stacked. When they went out together, men often stared at the two of them, at least until Mihoshi fell on her face. Then they would quietly disappear. At this rate, not only would she never get a promotion, she would never find a boyfriend, either. Kiyone had briefly entertained thoughts of trying to win over Tenchi. But the image of Ryoko and Aeka, standing over her bound and gagged form with fire in their eyes and horns jutting from their foreheads, quashed that concept.

Kiyone flipped over to her other side in her continuing effort to find a better position. Now, Mihoshi was doing something that clearly benefited them, was not illegal, but was against regulations. But more importantly, Kiyone was worried that this dancing job might turn into something less reputable. She did not think Mihoshi was dumb enough to get lured into something like prostitution, but still, with Ryoko's record, who knew what might happen. She could see it in her mind's eye. The first time some over-zealous hentai grabs her ass, the entire place will go up in smoke.

"Ugh..." Kiyone rolled over again.

END.

AFTERWORD: Next chapter, Aeka finds out Ryoko has a job. What will she do to find out what it is? Once she does find out (you know she will), what will she do with that information?