Ryouko half listened to the teacher drone on as she thought back to her arrival at Tenchi's home and how Tenchi's father had greeted the two of them. Nobuyuki had crushed Tenchi to him in a hug and then vigorously slapped her on the back, declaring, "I'm so glad you've finally developed into a sexually active young woman!" "Wait a minute," Tenchi started to say, but Nobuyuki wasn't listening to her. "So you're Tenchi's girlfriend," he beamed at Ryouko and pulled her into a hug. He also took the opportunity to try for a discrete grope. "If you don't move that hand right now," Ryouko whispered into his ear, her voice coming out in a dangerous purr, "you'll never be able to use it again, understand?" Nobuyuki sprung backward, "Let me help get your things." Ryouko noticed that the teacher had finally stopped talking, and Tenchi gave her a smile. "He puts me to sleep, too," the dark haired woman admitted. They went out into the densely packed school hallways, and Ryouko quickly noticed two very important things. One, that most of the girls seemed to adore Tenchi, and two, that Tenchi was, thankfully, mostly unaware of it. "Are these halls always this crowded?" Ryouko asked. A young man ran right into her, and Ryouko's eyes flared blood red as she glared down at him. The suddenly pale boy gulped loudly then fled down the hallway. "Usually," Tenchi sighed. 'Maybe bringing Ryouko to school wasn't such a good idea after all?' she thought to herself ruefully. Ryouko noticed the sigh and smiled at her impishly, "Look at it this way, he probably won't ever do that again." "Please try not to do that too often," Tenchi asked Ryouko quietly, but she softened the request with a little smile. They weren't able to sit together in the next class, and Ryouko found herself sitting by one of the other girls. The little blonde looked across the room at Tenchi adoringly, so Ryouko decided to try asking her, "Why is Tenchi Masaki so popular, anyway?" "You don't know?" the girl looked at her in surprise. Ryouko settled on a half truth, "I just moved here." "Tenchi-sama is the captain of the kendo team," the girl beamed, "and she's won the district championship twice!" 'I should have guessed that,' Ryouko thought. "Is that why she's allowed to wear the boy's school uniform, too?" she asked. "Tenchi-sama wore that even before she won the kendo prizes," the blonde haired girl gazed at Tenchi adoringly. 'Tenchi's a bit of a rebel,' Ryouko thought, and looked up to meet Tenchi's eye. She smiled at her warmly, and Ryouko smiled back. "She smiled at you," the blonde haired girl murmured in surprise. Once the class ended Ryouko gratefully returned to Tenchi's side, while the blonde darted over to talk to her friends. Soon the whole mob of young ladies were looking over at the two of them curiously. And it didn't take very long at all for the rumor about Tenchi smiling at the blue haired girl to spread all across the school. Far above the Earth, out into the darkness of space, the ship appeared. It's hull was shaped wood, resembling the seagoing vessels of Earth's past. Inside, in a chamber that more resembled a garden than a command center, voices begin to speak. "Removing from stasis field," one voice, seemingly coming from a man sized, wooden pillar painted with a red symbol on one side of a gigantic tree, "restoring temporal flow to galactic normal." Between the two pillars a hatch opened within the trunk of a massive tree. A young woman, long purple hair flowing over her shoulders, stood there frozen. As the pillars spoke mist blew around her, color slowly returning to her face and the formal, heavy robes she wore. Her eyes opened, and she looked around her curiously. "Have you found signs of my elder brother, Yosho?" she asked. The gem mounted on the blue decorated pillar glowed, "I'm sorry Princess Ayeka, but it was the energy signature of Ryouko on a nearby world that triggered your awakening from stasis." Ayeka's eyes narrowed as she gazed at a blue green world on the monitor screen, "Which planet is that?" "Colony world number 0315," The red painted one answered, "called by it's natives Earth." Ayeka's eyes flashed with anger, "We must bring Ryouko back to Jurai and put her on trial for her crimes." The blue painted pillar sounded a bit sheepish, "Princess Ayeka, the statute of limitations on Ryouko's crimes will come into effect galactic standard time 00432," it paused a moment before adding, "or in five seconds." "What?" Ayeka blurted, as a count down appeared on the screen before her. One it counted down to zero the red pillar said apologetically, "As of this moment, the galaxy wanted file of Ryouko had been destroyed." "How can this be..." Ayeka growled. "The statute of limitations was put into place by a decision of the holy council of Jurai..." the blue offered tentatively. "Ryouko should be wanted eternally," Ayeka shook her head, declaring, "We're going after her anyway!" "But Princess Ayeka," the red started. "Azaka! Kamidake!" Ayeka gave both pillars a glare, "We are going after her!" "Yes, ma'am," both Azaka and Kamidake loudly declared. "Air shield activated, beginning descent," the reports came, and the ship began to descend to Earth. Ryouko looked up to the sky from where a group of young ladies were unsuccessfully trying to grill her about her relationship with Tenchi. "Oh, no," Ryouko murmured, and swiftly pushed her way out of the crush of girls to go find Tenchi. Tenchi smiled, then her expression grew serious as she saw the look on Ryouko's face. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Trouble," Ryouko answered. She extended her hand to Tenchi and demanded, "Give me your balls!" There was a moment of dead silence as Tenchi looked at her oddly. "Sorry, don't have any," she finally replied. Ryouko blinked, then laughed once she got it. "Sorry," she chuckled, "I meant the gems on the base of your sword." "What do you..." Tenchi started to ask her, when a massive gust of air blew down on them from directly above. It dropped down from the sky slowly, a massive barge made entirely of elegantly sculpted wood. It came to a stop and hovered directly above the school, beams of light shining downward on to the buildings below. "Miss Ryouko," the almost pleasant sounding voice rang out over the entire school, "I know you're down there. Surrender yourself, now." The students, of course, panicked. Teens ran from one end of the school grounds to the other, most of them yelling their heads off. A few did try to approach Tenchi and Ryouko, but their twin glares soon drove them off. "Ayeka," Ryouko murmured softly, recognizing the voice instantly. Tenchi had the sword in her hand almost without thinking, igniting the blade with a single thought. "Friend of yours?" she asked Ryouko dryly. "Not exactly," Ryouko smiled wryly, "she's the sister of Yosho, and I think she's here to finish the job he started." "You were all from outer space," Tenchi murmured softly. It took a lot of effort to keep her voice calm as Tenchi asked, "And you need the gems for?" "To summon my ship," Ryouko answered him simply, "and fight her on more even terms." "How do I do it," Tenchi asked, "and how may of the gems do you need?" "Just point the hilt at me and then wish that they be returned," Ryouko started to say, and hesitated for a moment. She could always lie, tell Tenchi that she needed all three gems to operate it, but... "And I only need one." "Right," Tenchi let the blade disappear, and then pointed the hilt at Ryouko, her face scrunched up in concentration. Ryouko cupped her hands in a receiving gesture, eyes closed and her face strangely at peace. There was a burning flare of power on her one wrist, then she was shocked to feel another one on the other wrist! She opened up her eyes and looked down in surprise at the twin red gems that glittered on each of her wrists. "Why?" Ryouko looked up at Tenchi in surprise. Tenchi shrugged as she said, "Because you were honest." 'Make a note not to underestimate her," Ryouko smiled at Tenchi. She crossed her wrists, the two gems glowing softly as she said, "Awake." Beneath the lake nearby the shrine, the waters began to move. Black gems began to move, glowing redly as functions began to be restored. Leaving a massive wave in it's passing the ship rose up, a crystal sculpture in black and red. "Come, Ryo-Ohki," Ryouko threw up her hand, and in moments it arrived, putting itself between Ayeka's ship and the school. "Let's go," Ryouko took Tenchi's arm and they disappeared from the school field. They dropped down onto the obsidian floor of the bridge, and Ryo- Ohki's cheerful catlike cry echoed out to them, "Myah!" Tenchi looked up at the monitor, at the massive wooden ship that hung just above them. Small, wooden devices came right out of the surface of the ship, and somehow Tenchi just knew they were some kind of weapon. "We've got to get away from the school, there's too many innocents there," she said simply. "You heard her, Ryo-Ohki, let's go," Ryouko cried. "Myah!" Ryo-Ohki answered happily, and they swiftly slid out from Ayeka's ship and away. "Why aren't they fighting," Ayeka murmured, watching the black and red battleship flee, their ship following fast. "I don't know, Princess Ayeka," Azaka answered. "Let's try containment," Ayeka murmured softly. "Yes, ma'am," Kamidake barked. Ryo-Ohki jerked to a stop, twin rings of wooden tubes circling it. Ryouko was pulled off her feet, power crackling around her as she gasped out to Tenchi, "Stay back!" Tenchi reached out cautiously, feeling the electricity charging the air. She ignited the sword once more, "This is going to be rough." She jumped up then swung down, cutting as close to Ryouko as she could. There was a massive flash of light, and Ryouko fell, smoking faintly, to the floor. Ayeka cried out on her bridge, staggering slightly. "What happened?" she gasped. "They've broken the containment somehow," a slightly awed Azaka answered. The communication screen came on, and a hated face appeared before Ayeka. "Ryouko," she growled, then she trailed off in surprise. "Yosho?" she gasped softly. The young woman standing by Ryouko smiled slightly, "My name is Tenchi Masaki." Quietly she added, "Can we talk?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's Note: Some of the material from this episode came from Tenchi OVA #2, freely adapted for the purposes of this story.
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