Galaxy 1001D presents:
Washustein; or the Modern Mad Scientist
Starring Washu Hakubi as Doctor Washu Fitzgerald von Washustein
Tenchi Masaki as Tenchi Mancini
Mihoshi Kuramitsu as Mihoshi Gerstell
Aeka Masaki Jurai as Ayeka Jurai
Sasami Masaki Jurai as Sasami Jurai
And Ryoko as the Monster-woman
Tenchi Muyo and all related characters are © AIC/Pioneer/Genon/Funimation. This story is written solely for entertainment and is not intended to make a profit in any way.
Based on "Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus" created by Mary Shelly
And "Tenchi Muyo" created by Masaki Kajishima
Chapter Eight: Sleepless Night
"Come on out of there, young lady!" Washu shouted at the cringing woman hiding in the wardrobe. "It is time to go to bed! Get out of there before I get the switch!"
"WAAH!" Baby Washustein howled from inside the wardrobe.
"Ryoko?" Sasami asked. "Could you come out? Ryo-ohki misses you."
The door to the wardrobe cracked open and a golden yellow eye could be seen looking out. Soon an arm reached out to blindly grope at the air.
"No-no," Sasami gently scolded as she held a struggling Ryo-ohki. "If you want to hold her you have to come out."
Ryoko leaned out of the wardrobe to reach for Ryo-ohki, but Sasami stepped backwards as she held the little cabbit, keeping the hybrid just out of Baby Washustein's reach. Tenchi and Ayeka tensed, ready to grab Washu's creation in case she tried to get away. Washu just put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently. Mihoshi stayed near the door, but it was unknown whether it was to keep Ryoko from getting out or simply to keep a safe distance in case a struggle should ensue.
Ryoko crept out of the wardrobe while keeping a grip on the door and reached out to the retreating Sasami. Presently she was distracted by Tenchi and Ayeka's close proximity. When thunder again was heard, she let go of the door and hugged Tenchi. Ayeka shuddered as the wild girl wrapped her arms and legs around her fiancé. In that diaphanous gown it was rather risqué, and the embrace between the two of them was almost… intimate.
"There, there, it's all right," he whispered in her ear as he carried her away from the wardrobe. "Washu, we might as well make this Ryoko's room. What do you think?"
"It will do for tonight," Washu shrugged. "I'm beat. We can move her to the room I prepared for her tomorrow." The little genius yawned and turned to walk to the door. "Well g'night all. I'm going to bed."
"Washu?" Tenchi said as he carried Ryoko over to a four-poster bed. "Aren't you going to tuck her in?"
"Huh?" Washu stopped at the door to turn and glare at Tenchi and her creation. "You've got three women with you! What do you need me for?"
"Washu!" Mihoshi scolded. "She's your daughter! How can you be so heartless?"
"Did you say something you simpleton?" Washu growled at the blonde.
"Yes, Mihoshi," Ayeka nagged. "Keep quiet in the presence of your betters."
"Yes ma'am," Mihoshi sighed.
"Washu!" Ayeka abruptly scolded. "She's your daughter! How can you be so heartless?"
"Yes," Sasami grumbled in a vain attempt to deepen her voice. "That is really mean of you Doctor Washustein."
"She is your own flesh and blood," Tenchi added as he attempted ignore the fact that Ryoko was trying to swallow his face. He turned his head so Baby Washustein could only slobber on his cheek. "Don't you… urnk! …think that maybe her mother should put her to bed?"
"Isn't that what nannies are for?" Washu grumbled.
Four sets of eyes stared at her disgust.
Washu sighed as she walked back over to the group. "Fine," she mumbled, "put her into bed and I'll kiss her goodnight."
Mihoshi opened the bed and Tenchi lowered Ryoko into it. He pulled the blankets over her and backed away allowing Washu to face her creation.
"Goodnight my darling," Washu leaned on the bed to bend over her cyan-haired creation, who was busy picking her nose. "Someday, when you're big and strong, we can conquer the world together. Until then close your eyes and get some sleep."
Ryoko stared at her booger, blinked twice, and then looked at her creator. She wiped her finger on Washu's blouse.
Washu shuddered and stood up, but when she saw the disapproving looks from the others she bent back down. "Goodnight Eve," she said as she leaned over to kiss Ryoko on the cheek.
Ryoko responded by putting her mouth around Washu's nose, causing the little scientist to leap backwards and back away.
"Okay, that's good for this evening," Washu said as she wiped her face with a handkerchief. "Put out the light after you go."
"Goodnight, Ryoko," Sasami kissed the feral female on the cheek and hugged her. "See you tomorrow."
Ryoko smiled and rubbed her cheek against the child's cheek.
"Goodnight monster-woman," Ayeka said as she hugged the wild woman and kissed her on the forehead. "Sleep tight."
Ryoko seemed positively elated with all the attention she was getting. She smiled sweetly and put her arm around Ayeka before the purple haired woman rose from the bed.
"Goodnight Baby Washustein!" Mihoshi cooed as she hugged Ryoko and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't let the bedbugs bite!"
Ryoko giggled and hugged Mihoshi and sloppily kissed her on the cheek back.
"Goodnight, Ryoko," Tenchi smiled as he sat on the side of the bed to embrace Washu's creation and kiss her goodnight. "Yah!" he cried as Ryoko seized him in a passionate embrace and pushed him off the bed. Ryoko landed on top of him and before he knew it, a physically mature woman wearing only a filmy nightgown was kissing him on the lips!
"Get off him!" Ayeka screeched as she grasped Ryoko's shoulders to pull her off the flustered medical student. "That's my fiancé, you overgrown infant!" she grunted as she heaved the amorous innocent back onto the bed. "And Tenchi!" the purple haired woman nagged. "How dare you! Ryoko's only a few hours old! Don't you Italians know anything about decorum?"
The blushing Tenchi could only shudder and wipe his mouth. He had never been French-kissed by a girl who was less than a day old before. He staggered to his feet, muttered "goodnight, Ryoko," and left.
Mihoshi and Ayeka extinguished the two oil lamps illuminating the room, and that brought an immediate reaction from Ryoko. "Wah! Aaugh! Oowah!"
"For crying out loud, we can't leave the lights on for you!" Ayeka complained. "You might burn the place down!"
"But she's afraid of the dark, poor thing," Mihoshi pointed out.
"With her eyes, she can probably see in the dark better than we can," Ayeka sniffed. "She can probably see as well as an owl or something."
"There, there, Ryoko," Sasami consoled her. "We're tired and we have to go to bed. If you need us we'll be right down the hall."
After the girls left, Ryoko shut her topaz yellow eyes so she wouldn't have to look at the darkness. She missed the flash of lightning that illuminated her bedchamber but her eyes opened wide when the rumble of thunder shook the room.
In the master bedroom, Washu lay her weary head down. It had been an exhausting day. She finally brought her creation to life and she had to deal with Tenchi and his bratty new fiancé. It had been so long since she had Tenchi in her house that she didn't know what to do with herself…
Washu's green eyes snapped open again. Tenchi was sleeping in her house! She might not get this opportunity again! What a perfect time to rekindle the relationship now that he was sleeping under her roof! So what if Ayeka caught them, any excuse to put a wedge between them was a good one.
Creeping down the hallway, Washu tiptoed to the guest room prepared for Tenchi. A candle wasn't necessary since she knew the halls so well. As quietly as possible, she opened the door and snuck in. Lightning from the outside briefly illuminated the room. The curtains to the four-poster bed were open, and someone was lying under the covers. Tenchi was there!
When the rumble of thunder shook the house it covered Washu's silent footsteps perfectly. The little redhead climbed the little stepladder and slid under the covers to put her arms around her beloved. Under the cover of darkness, she planted a kiss on startled lips and whispered, "Tenchi my darling little pepperoni, I've missed you so much…"
Suddenly Washu saw so many stars that she could have been in her observatory in the east tower. Someone had struck her chin with such force that the little genius tumbled out of the bed to fall onto the floor. When the world had stopped spinning, she noticed that someone had lit an oil lamp illuminating the room. Clutching her injured face, Washu staggered to her feet to see who was in the bed.
Staring back at her with angry ruby-red eyes was Lady Ayeka Jurai. "And just what are you doing in here?" the angry aristocrat snarled. "I thought Tenchi told you to leave us alone!"
"I could ask you the same thing," Washu growled. "Whatever happened to saving yourself for marriage?"
Ayeka blushed and looked away. "I… I got frightened. Being alone in this house. The house of a madwoman… I wanted to check on Tenchi to make sure he'd be safe…"
"By waiting for him in his bed?" Washu smirked. "You didn't want to consummate your relationship with him under my roof just to spite me or anything did you?"
"Certainly not!" Ayeka clenched her fists angrily, but blushed again when it became obvious that no one would believe that statement. "Anyway, it's none of your business! Tenchi and I are engaged to be married and nothing you say or do will make any difference anyhow!"
"That's what you think," Washu said through clenched teeth. "Don't give yourself away too quickly, Ayeka. It's not over yet."
The door from the hallway opened to reveal Tenchi wearing a nightshirt and holding a candle. "What are you two doing here?" the Italian medical student asked. "I thought this was my room."
"Tenchi darling she's picking on me," Washu teased in her cute 'baby voice'. "She hit me in dark when I wasn't looking."
"I was protecting you from being molested by this madwoman!" Ayeka insisted. "She was sneaking in here to seduce you!"
"You're the one in his bed, Ayeka," Washu smirked. "Just who was trying to do the seducing?"
"Urk!" The blushing Ayeka slipped out of his bed and straightened her pink nightclothes. "Er uh, anyway... Where were you, Lord Tenchi?"
Now it was Tenchi's turn to blush. "Oh, I'm afraid with all of this stress our late night supper didn't agree with me," he replied as he looked away and scratched the back of his neck. "After the rest of you went to bed I went to the restroom."
"Well Tenchi darling, now that you've freshened up…" Washu snuggled against his hip flirtatiously.
"Leave Lord Tenchi alone, you madwoman," Ayeka snapped as she grabbed Washu's ear and walked out of the room, dragging the hapless scientist after her. "Let Lord Tenchi get his rest, for pity's sake."
"If you don't let go of me you're going to be resting in pieces!" Washu warned as she pried herself free of Ayeka's grip.
"Girls, please, it's too late for all this," Tenchi put himself between the two rivals. "Why don't we each separate and go back to our own rooms, all right? We can decide whether we want to kill each other in the morning."
"Okay," Washu nodded surrendering gracefully. "Sweet dreams, Tenchi." She turned around and strutted as sexily as possible back to her room.
"Goodnight, Lord Tenchi," Ayeka put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him chastely on the lips. "Be safe, my love." She released him and turned around and walked daintily back to her room.
Tenchi looked left and then right to make sure that both girls were going back to bed, then yawned and turned to reenter his room. He had to admit that the sight of both Ayeka and Washu in his bedroom was titillating, but decency, common sense and exhaustion told him that sending them away was for the best.
He opened the bed and got in without even bothering to extinguish the oil lamp. He was surprised to discover how easy it was to relax. He was so tired that not even the booming thunder could keep him up…
Suddenly the door burst open and a lean figure scrambled into the room on all fours. Before he could react, Ryoko quickly crawled under the covers and hugged him tight.
"Ah!" Tenchi cried as he woke up. "Oh it's you, Ryoko. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." He stopped when the dim light from the oil lamp revealed the tears under the girl's golden eyes.
"What's the matter?" he said in a quieter voice. "Are you scared? There's no need to be frightened. It's only thunder. We're safe in here. Castle Washustein has more lightning rods than Benjamin Franklin's house. We're perfectly safe. Nothing can get us in here."
Ryoko didn't make a sound, but trembled and hugged him as tenderly as a lover.
"I understand," he murmured in her ear. "The whole world must be awfully confusing. Between you and me, this place is more confusing than normal. I assure you, things aren't as bad as they seem…"
He gasped in embarrassment as Ryoko rubbed herself against his body. She was keeping her arms and legs wrapped around him while trying to get comfortable. To his alarm, parts of his body were waking up, particularly the parts used for reproduction! He tried to pry the cyan-eyed girl off him but she held on tight. "Uh…" he stammered. "Still got a lot of energy do you?" he giggled nervously. "I don't blame you. You haven't been up as long as the rest of us…"
His voice trailed off when he realized that she hadn't been alive for most of the day, let alone awake! The thought of being seduced by a girl who was less than five hours old was nauseating! He would have to pry her off him without making her feel rejected. God help him if anybody saw them this way…
Sasami's voice broke his train of thought. "Tenchi, I'm frightened. Ayeka isn't in her room, is she in here with you?"
Two sets of eyes stared back at the little girl, Tenchi's brown eyes and Ryoko's yellow ones.
"Wow!" Sasami hugged the brown and furry Ryo-ohki in surprise. "What are you doing with Ryoko, Tenchi? Are you two in love? What should I tell Ayeka?"
Tenchi started sniveling as he hid his face in Ryoko's shoulder. The feral female looked at him in concern and kissed his ear before snuggling with him and making comforting noises.
Next: Flowers in the Pond