Chapter 4

Rude Interruptions

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Tenchi stretched, a content smile on his face as the sunlight starting to peek through his window woke him up. Beside him Ryoko mumbled something in her sleep and rolled onto her side away from the intruding light. Brushing the hair out her face as he sat up, he leaned over, kissing her cheek and tucking the covers back around her slim form. She smiled happily in her sleep, murmuring something unintelligible as she snuggled deeper under the thick quilt.

She really was beautiful, even like this, with cyan hair even more of a wild mess than normal, a thin line of drool decorating one cheek. Even her not-so-quiet snoring was cute right now as far as he was concerned. Of course, he was probably a little biased about such things right now.

"I love you." He whispered tenderly into one of her long ears, giving her another kiss before he carefully slid out of bed.

Moving quietly, not wanting to wake her up, he retrieved his shirt from the floor and pulled it on before stepping out of the room, heading for the bathroom. They hadn't really done anything; well, at least they hadn't done THAT. They'd just spent the night sleeping next to each other and cuddling, but Kami he had wanted to! He wasn't even sure anymore why he had decided not to, it wasn't like she would have turned him down.

Stupid oversensitive conscience.

Business done, teeth brushed, and faced washed, he started walking down the stairs to get some breakfast… trying to decide if he could skip his chores for the morning just this once. He'd been up late last night, and the idea of actually having a Sunday completely off for once was very appealing.

"Hello Tenchi." Funaho greeted, looking up from her Tea as he entered the kitchen, making him jump in surprise. Misaki, her mouth full, simply waved. The two queens were seated at the counter, a freshly brewed pot of tea and a box of assorted pastries in front of them.

"Funaho-san? Misaki-san? What are you two doing here?" he blurted out, thoroughly confused, wincing visibly at the stern look that the two Queens shot him because of the outburst. "I mean, it's good to see you both." He corrected himself quickly, knowing that he really shouldn't be too surprised; it was a rare thing for the two women to give them any warning of one of their visits after all.

"It's good to see you as well Tenchi-san." Funaho responded, her stern expression fading into a polite smile. "Even if your manners seem to have suffered since our last visit." She added teasingly. She was dressed somewhat unusually by her normal standards, in clothing that could have almost passed for Jurian combat garb if not for the coloring, a deep vibrant red with gold and black highlights. Misaki for her part was dressed fairly normally, though she had forgone wearing a cloak like she normally did, and her light-sword was displayed prominently at her hip.

"We were in the area and decided that we simply had to take the opportunity to check on our children." Misaki said with a wide grin, gulping down the last of her tea and standing up to give the young prince one of her rib-cracking hugs. "So where are my daughters Tenchi?"

"They went to visit some friends." Tenchi gasped, trying to suck air back into his crushed lungs as the overly-affectionate Queen put him back down.

"Which friends?" Misaki asked, her rose-colored eyes narrowing just a hair, though her wide smile never faltered.

"Uh…" Tenchi started, rubbing the back of his head nervously… trying to decide which answer was least likely to make the overprotective queen throttle him where he stood. Realizing that he was just making her more suspicious with his stuttering he sighed heavily, "They went to visit Keith and Erin."

"By themselves?" Misaki asked, smile still in place, but looking strained… her right eye twitching the same way Ayeka's did just before one of her arguments with Ryoko turned into a physical fight.

"Yes." Tenchi replied meekly. "The rest of us were busy."

"Busy?" Misaki repeated quietly, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Funaho stayed quiet, simply watching the whole exchange, trying not to giggle at poor Tenchi's doomed expression.

"Tenchi?" Ryoko called sleepily, teleporting into the room, rubbing her golden eyes. She was wearing one of his t-shirts and little else, her long, perfectly toned legs displayed quite nicely by the short garment. "Come back to b…" the cyan haired girl started, her voice turning seductive before she registered the other people in the room and cut off mid-sentence, her face going cherry-red.

"Busy indeed." Funhao commented softly.

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"Why's that mutt still here?" Cathy asked, putting her groceries on the table and looking at the oversized dog seemed to dominate the center of their small living room. Keith raised his head and snorted in seeming response before settling down again. "I thought his owners would have picked him up by now."

"They would have, but Erin said that she had to wait until her uncle got out of work so she could get a ride." Erin responded absently, flipping through TV channels for something to watch.

"How old is this girl anyway?" Cathy asked frowning a little, "And why does she have to wait for her uncle to give her a ride?"

"I think she's about 8 or so." Erin replied after a seconds thought as she tried to remember what the little girl that had been at the restraint with Keith looked like. She couldn't help but frown a little at the thought of how young that made Keith when the kid was born. Was the girl adopted? "And I think her parents are out of town or something." She added hastily, hoping that the lie wasn't too transparent.

."Well I hope that someone's at least babysitting the girl then." Cathy noted, frowning a bit.

"Well another girl answered the phone when I called the first time," Carrie shrugged, trying to reassure her worry-prone friend. "I assume that whoever that was is the one watching her."

"So… how do you know this Erin kid anyway?" Cathy asked as she shut the fridge door. "I didn't think you spent much time hanging out with many little kids these days." she teased, smirking a bit as Carrie started to squirm a bit.

"I... uh, know her father." Carrie replied after a second's hesitation.

"I didn't think you were friends with anybody who had kids." Cathy said with a bit of a frown as she plopped down beside her roommate on the couch.

"Uh… I only met him a little while ago," Carrie replied, trying to stay as close to the truth as possible. Sometimes he could swear that Cathy could smell a lie, and she could already tell that her friend was starting to get suspicious.

"How long ago is a little while?" Cathy asked with a grin, brown eyes twinkling wickedly.

"Oh, ER's on!" she exclaimed, turning up the volume. Cathy just rolled her eyes; she'd get it out of her friend later. The girl had never been able to keep a secret from her.

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"How much longer?" Erin asked impatiently, reaching around the seat in front of her to tug on Mike's shirt to make sure she had his attention. "Can't you drive any faster?"

"No way! I only got my license a month ago Erin." Mike protested; his eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead. "If I get a speeding ticket Mom won't let me use the car again for weeks."

"Faster!" Erin demanded, kicking the back of his seat with a thud. Mike ignored her, counting to ten under his breath, reminding himself that she was just worried. Ayeka wasn't quite as patient.

"Erin!" she snapped, turning to look at the young girl. "That is not helping and most certainly will not make the trip take less time." She lectured in a stern voice. "The young lady said that your father was fine, and we will be there soon. So be patient just a little longer, okay?" she added, voice and expression softening as she looked at Erin's worried face.

Erin just scowled, looking out the window… but she did stop kicking the back of Mike's seat.

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"I think that's them." Cathy said, spotting a blue sedan as it parked in front of the apartment complex and several people she didn't recognize piled out. "And wow… you've got to see the hair on these girls."

"Their hair?" Carrie asked from her room as she dug around for a clean shirt… of course the damned wolf had had to do this on laundry day.

"Ah, it's definitely them, they're headed his way." Cathy replied, standing up and walking towards the door. "You'll see what I'm talking about in a second."

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"Hi, you're here for the mutt I take it?" The girl who answered the door was dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, her curly black pulled back into a loose ponytail, a few stray curls framing a friendly coffee-toned face with laughing brown eyes and an infectious smile.

"Dad?!" Erin called in Jurian, wiggling past Cathy with barely a glance. "Where is he?"

"He's…" Cathy started to answer, chuckling softly at the little girl's urgency… "Well he was right there." She said, frowning a little as she looked around the suddenly dog-free living room.

"Ack!" came Carrie's startled yelp, accompanied by a thump and curse. "The dumb mutt's under the bed." She called after a second. Erin was in the room even before she'd finished the sentence.

"Well come on in I guess." Cathy invited after a second, stepping aside.

"Thank you very much." Ayeka said, bowing slightly before stepping inside and taking off her shoes out of sheer habit, Sasami following her big sister's example. Mike simply smiled a bit nervously, a slightly goofy expression on his face as he shook Cathy's offered hand. "We appreciate you watching Mayhem for us all day." she added, using the name they'd all agreed upon on the ride over after they were all done introducing each other.

"Mayhem?" Cathy repeated, smiling a bit in amusement as they walked towards Carrie's room. "I guess it fits though, if all those scars are any indication."

"Yes, he does seem to attract more than his fair share of trouble." Ayeka giggled softly as they walked towards the room Erin disappeared into.

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"What's the big hurry anyway?" Ryoko grumped from her place at Ryo-Ohki's controls. "And why can't they take their own damned ship."

"They didn't say." Tenchi replied with a sigh.

"They can't be this damned worried about Ayeka's ability to keep her legs shut around Keith." she snarled. "So what are they not telling us."

"So… still mad that they interrupted our weekend then?" Tenchi asked lightly, wincing a bit at the ex-pirates language.

"Hell yes." Ryoko scowled, "Aren't you?"

"A little annoyed." Tenchi admitted, walking towards the cyan-haired girl, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder. Ryoko sighed, leaning back into his embrace.

"You know… there is one good thing about all of this." Ryoko murmured, her smile getting a little predatory as she reached back, running her hand through his short, spiky hair.

"Oh? And what's that?" Tenchi asked, laughing a bit as he waited for whatever suggestive idea the pirate was going to come up with next.

"You're going to have to tell Ayeka about us." Ryoko noted, rolling her eyes a little as Tenchi started a little. "If you don't Miskai and Funaho will. Somehow I doubt the Princess would appreciate that."

"No… I doubt she would." Tenchi sighed, wincing at the thought. "I'll tell her."

"Promise?" Ryoko purred happily, turning her head to look at the young prince.

"Promise." he replied, the cyan haired pirate's smile almost enough to dissipate the butterflies that had started trying to batter their way out of his stomach at the idea of telling Ayeka that he'd picked someone else. As demure and regal as the girl was normally, she had a temper to rival the Cyan girl in his arms… and the power to cause a lot of damage if she lost it.

"Myah!" Ryo-ohki cried, the sound reverberating in the control room as it blasted from no less than a dozen different control crystals, several new displays opening up on the main view-screen in front of them.

"What's that?" Tenchi asked curiously… despite years of experience, he couldn't actually understand Ryo-Ohki in any more than the most basic fashion, unlike Ryoko.

"Trouble."

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"Now what?" he murmured to himself, pulling a small computer out of his jacket pocket. It was connected by a series of relay drones to sensors on the late Krit'Lat's ship. Flipping open the small screen he scowled. He'd thought he'd had more of ahead start than that... and now they were going to RUIN all of his plans.

Well there was nothing for it, he wasn't the type to get involved in pitch physical battles like the one that was brewing. He'd just have to sit back and hope that his targets came out on top. After all, it would do him no good if someone else got the money.

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Her nostril's flared as she took a deep breath, testing the scents in the air. She couldn't stop her eyes from narrowing as she confirmed that the only normal humans in the room were Cathy and Keith's brother. She and Keith were wolves obviously… she didn't really consider it to be that unusual anymore really… but the two older girls, Ayeka and Sasami smelled like nothing she'd even run into before… and while Erin was definitely a close relative of Keith, there was something distinctly alien about the girl.

"I don't think he wants to come out kiddo." She noted from her seat on the floor where she'd landed after Keith had practically run her over. Erin was trying to Drag Keith… an animal 4 times her size… out from under her bed by his hind paws, the only part of him that was still visible other than his tail. How he'd even gotten under the bed in the first place was a bit of a wonder considering his size.

"I don't care." Erin growled, giving the leg she had her small hands clamped around another sharp tug, eliciting a yelp from her father before shouting something in what sounded like Japanese to Carrie's ears.

"Uh… is it really okay for her to pull on him that way?" Cathy asked nervously as the rest of the group entered the room. "He's an awful big dog you know…"

"The brat could use him or a trampoline and he wouldn't hurt a hair on her head," Mike said confidently, sighing as he leaned against the door, not sure how to help.

"Sasami, could you and Michael get Miss Cathy into another room so I can talk to Miss Carrie alone please?" Ayeka asked in Jurian as Mike talked to the Cathy, explaining the situation… or telling her the story they had made up to be more accurate.

"Excuse me Miss Cathy." Sasami interrupted, smiling cutely. "I'm a bit thirsty… can I have something to drink?"

"Sure thing honey, right this way." Cathy said smiling as Sasami took her and Mike's hands, practically dragging them out of them room. "I wanted to ask you how you and your sister got your hair like that anyway."

"So what exactly are you anyway?" Carrie asked as the door shut behind her roommate before Ayeka could say anything. "Because you certainly aren't human."

"Like you have any room to talk." Ayeka retorted, scowling slightly… were all Americans this blunt? "I and my sister are from a planet called Jurai."

"…You're aliens…?" she said incredulously. "Christ, as if my life wasn't weird enough already. Well how about you kiddo?" she asked, smirking a bit as she looked at Erin, who had given up temporarily as was sitting on the floor with a deep scowl on her face and her arms crossed over her thin chest. "You an alien too?"

"Half." Erin sighed; taking a quick look at the door to make sure it was still closed before playing with her watch for a few seconds. With a flicker her holo-disguise disappeared, her tail and long ears winking into sight… her skin darkening and taking on a softer appearance as the down layer of fur covering her became visible.

"Christ, how old was your father when you were born kiddo? 14?" Carrie exclaimed.

"I'm a lot younger than I look." Erin laughed, a little bitterly.

"Miss Carrie," Ayeka interjected before the curious woman could ask any more questions, "as much as I hate to interrupt, there are more important things to discuss at the moment… such as the walking carpet that seems to have taken up permanent residence underneath your bed."

"Yeah, what's wrong with my dad?" Erin exclaimed, her voice catching a bit. "And why the hell is he hiding from me under your bed!"

"I… I don't know why he's acting like this Kid." Carrie replied after a second's hesitation, reaching over to give the little girl's shoulder a sympathetic squeeze. "There's nothing really wrong with him, not physically anyway. We call it going feral."

"Go on." Ayeka encouraged, taking a seat on the bed, careful not to step on the furry tail that was sticking out from under it.

"It happens to all of us at least once or twice." Carrie started after a few seconds trying to get her thoughts together. "It's like only half of you wakes up, the wolf part. Afterwards, you remember what happened, and even why you did what you did… but when you're like that you're not really aware of things like you are normally."

"I take it you have experienced it before then?" Ayeka sighed, a little relieved.

"Yeah, it's a little disconcerting, but it's not that big a deal." Carrie shrugged, "There's nothing we can really do but wait for him wake up, so to speak."

"How long does it normally take?" Erin asked as she started to wiggle under the bed. Her own tail lashing back and forth, displaying her irritation.

"A few hours, a day or two, a few weeks…" Carrie sighed. "It all depends on him and whatever made him go feral n the first place." Ayeka would have replied… asked more questions, but the twin sonic booms that rocked the apartment and blew out several windows interrupted her.

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End Chapter 4

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