Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Tenchi Muyo: No Need For Boys! ❯ Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the characters from this fanfic, which is probably a good thing for all concerned. Some of the material for this chapter was freely adapted from Tenchi Muyo OVA #4, but any additional fanservice was added in by me. ^_^

Tenchi Muyo: No Need for Boys! Part Seven

Tenchi hesitated a moment, and Sasami looked up at her entreatingly. "Please, Tenchi, could we go?" she asked her sweetly.

Looking down Tenchi gazed at those wide eyes and cute face and knew that she didn't stand a chance. "All right," she smiled, "we'll go."

"Yeah!" Sasami cried happily, running towards the shrine to pack their clothes.

"Wait up, Sasami," Ayeka followed, but not before giving a lingering glance at Tenchi.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ryouko stepped up beside Tenchi to ask.

"No," Tenchi smiled at her wryly, "but when has that ever stopped us?"

Ryouko snickered softly, "Good point."

"C'mon, lets go talk to my Dad," Tenchi sighed. They walked up to Noboyuki together as Tenchi called out, "Father?"

"Yes, Tenchi?" he turned to smile, but being momentarily distracted by the rise of Ryouko's cleavage. Noticing the glares he was getting, he quickly focused on his daughter.

Quite seriously Tenchi said, "Don't even think of trying any of your peeping tom stuff on this trip, because if I catch you, I'll beat you to death with a wooden practice sword. Understood?"

"Why Tenchi, I'd never," Noboyuki replied innocently.

Tenchi glared at him, and her voice dropped down to a dangerous purr as she repeated, "Am I making myself understood?"

Noboyuki sweatdropped, "Right. I'll... go get the van ready." With that, he all but fled.

Ryouko watched him go with a little smile, "Think that will really stop him?"

Tenchi chuckled, "Maybe not, but it will slow him down."

"I will find and capture the criminal Kagato!" Mihoshi threw a salute for her superior. Her blonde hair offset oddly with her dusky skin, and her wide eyes glowed with enthusiasm.

"Wait, wait," her supervisor tried to say, "you only have to find him! If something happened to you, the Marshal would have my.."

"It does not matter sir!" she said crisply, "I will prove myself by capturing the criminal Kagato! I need to close this communications channel and begin, over and out!"

"Wait, no," the man managed to get out before he was cut off.

Mihoshi narrowed her eyes, "Lets go."

Getting the luggage aboard wasn't too hard, but getting everyone seated in the van was going to be a problem, Tenchi just knew it. 'If I put Ryouko or Ayeka in the front seat with Dad, he's going to try something and there's going to be a homicide,' she thought glumly.

Tenchi happened to meet Sasami's wide, innocent eyes and was struck by an inspiration. "Sasami, you get to ride up front with Dad," Tenchi smiled. 'There's no way that he'd try anything with her,' she thought.

Tellingly, Noboyuki looked quite disappointed.

"Where should I sit, Lady Tenchi?" Ayeka asked with a charming smile.

Tenchi blinked, wondering why she was laying on the charm that way. She thought wildly, "You get in the back first, I'll be next, and Ryouko last."

As they climbed in Ryouko took a moment to admire Tenchi's slim form in front of her. And to admire her mind, as well. 'Tenchi knew what would happen if Ayeka and I sat side by side,' she smiled, 'she thinks fast on her feet, my Tenchi.'

"How long is this trip, anyway?" Ryouko thought to ask.

"Only a few hours," Noboyuki said cheerfully.

Ryouko smiled a truly evil smile as she gazed over at Ayeka.

Tenchi quickly leaned in to whisper, "Don't even think about it."

Ryouko pouted, "You're no fun at all, Tenchi."

The car trip wasn't exactly terrible, but it wasn't fun, either. Tenchi kept herself so busy moderating between a snippy Ayeka and a sly Ryouko, as well as keeping an eye on her father and Sasami that the trip just seemed to fly by.

"We're here!" Sasami gave a happy squeal and bounded out to rush towards the building.

"Slow down, Sasami," Ayeka climbed out with as much dignity as she could muster and followed her onwards.

"Are these ladies all Tenchi's friends?" the old woman looked up at Noboyuki suspiciously. She could easy see the dirty old man hauling a group of strangers up here just to improve his chances of peeping on someone.

"Yes, I think they are," he smiled, noticing Ryouko lingering to help Tenchi with the luggage.

"They took off and stuck you with doing this?" Ryouko growled out angrily. She looked like she was ready to run inside and give Ayeka what for.

Tenchi had to smile slightly at Ryouko jumping to her defense even as she said quietly, "I don't think she did it intentionally." Ryouko looked over at her questioningly so Tenchi explained, "She's a noblewoman, she's probably used to people doing this stuff for her. She probably didn't even really think about it."

With a surprising show of strength Tenchi hefted a pile of luggage, and Ryouko swiftly grabbed the rest. "Lead the way," she grinned at Tenchi.

"Thanks," Tenchi smiled back.

Almost as soon as the two luggage laden women stepped in Ayeka realized her mistake. "Lady Tenchi, I.. let me help get some of those," she stammered.

"It would be more helpful if you show us the room," Tenchi managed a bit breathlessly.

"Right," Ayeka hurried down the hall to slide open the door to the room that all the ladies would be staying in. She watched Tenchi and Ryouko deposit the luggage there before very pointedly only apologizing to Tenchi, "I'm very sorry."

An odd look passed on Tenchi's face. "Of course," she said quietly, and it looked like she was struggling to control her temper, "excuse me, I think I'll head over to the baths early, wash some of the sweat off." With that, she turned and was gone.

"What.." Ayeka started to say weakly, taking a step to try to follow her only to be stopped by Ryouko's hand on her arm. "Let go of me," she pulled her arm away.

"Taking cheap shots at me while Tenchi was already irritated was not a wise move, princess," Ryouko said firmly.

Ayeka looked up at Ryouko, then off to where Tenchi had gone. "You could be right," she finally said quietly.

"Let's just cruise around the system for awhile," Mihoshi said cheerfully.

"What good would that do?" the ship's computer Yukinojo asked patiently.

"We might stumble across some clues," Mihoshi explained.

Yukinojo sweatdropped slightly, then paused. More intently, "There's an odd reading, on the third planet of this system."

"Then let's go there," Mihoshi said decisively.

Tenchi used the soap to build up a lather over her body, even as she tried to sort her wild thoughts out. 'I shouldn't have lost my temper with Ayeka that way,' she thought tiredly, 'I better go apologize to her later.' She rose smoothly, her body sleekly female as she grasped the bucket of water then poured it over her, gasping softly at the cold.

With a towel wrapped around her she headed out from the bath and into the hotspring itself. Tenchi took a deep breath and sighed happily, letting the warmth soothe her body. There was a slight disturbance in the water so she turned to see who it was, only to freeze. Then turn quickly away.

"Tenchi," Ryouko's amused voice came from just behind her, "what's wrong? You've seen me naked before."

"That was back in the cave," Tenchi said weakly, "and you still looked like a mummy."

A gentle hand tugged on Tenchi's shoulder as Ryouko said softly, "Turn around and look at me, Tenchi." A bit of amusement colored her voice as she added, "I'm certain that I don't have anything you don't."

With a fierce blush Tenchi turned back to meet Ryouko's kind gaze, a slight smile tugging on her lips. She stood there proudly, her body uncovered from the swell of her generous breasts to the silvery triangle of hair down below.

Tenchi looked down shyly. "I just wish I knew why my heart skips a beat when I look at you," she said very quietly.

Ryouko was about to say something when they heard a cheerful voice cry out, "Tenchi, Ryouko!" Sasami beamed at them happily, Ryo-Ohki perched on top of her head as she turned back to the baths to call, "Sister, Tenchi and Ryouko are already here!" She sweatdropped slightly, as silence was her only reply.

Ryouko saw Sasami run back to get Ayeka, and they could hear quiet talking. "I'd better go get her," Ryouko rose up in the air and disappeared.

Remembering something Tenchi made her way over to the stone wall that separated the women's area from the men's and very carefully peered down. Only to meet her father's startled eyes. "Hello Father, how are you?" Tenchi said with a little smile.

Noboyuki gasped in alarm, lost his grip on the stones, and fell back into the waters below with a loud splash. She paused a moment to see if he was alive, then headed back to where Ryouko was hauling a protesting Ayeka towards the water.

"I wanted to do that," Ryouko called out with a laugh to Tenchi.

"I wanted him scared, not dead," Tenchi grinned back.

Ayeka pulled herself free of Ryouko's grip on her arm, then straightened out her towel with as much dignity as possible. "I wanted to apologize again, for before," Ayeka bowed, clearly including Ryouko into the apology.

"It's all right," Tenchi smiled, glad to see that Ayeka could learn from her mistakes. She splashed her hand in the water, "Come on in, the water's fine."

Sasami bounced forward and straight into the water, Ryo-Ohki right behind her. With a bit more dignity Ayeka stepped by Ryouko to get into the water, not noticing Ryouko grasping the edge of her towel. Another step, and her only covering dropped away.

"Eek!" Ayeka screamed, diving in with a splash to try to cover herself, even as a blushing Tenchi turned away as quickly as possible. Ryouko was nearly killing herself laughing, barely managing to stay upright,

'Breasts are a bit smaller than Ryouko's,' Tenchi found herself noting.

Ayeka splashed out of the water, scooping her towel up and wrapping it around her roughly even as she scowled at Ryouko, "I'm not a show off like you!"

Ryouko smiled back as she asked, "You bathe naked, don't you?" She gazed pointedly at Ayeka's breasts, "You're not proud of yourself, are you? I guess I can understand." Ryouko gave Ayeka a dangerous smile, "If what I said was offensive, show yourself to me."

Ayeka reared back and gave Ryouko a ringing slap.

Ryouko slapped her twice in reply.

The women glared at each other, the hostility seeming to shimmer in the air between them.

"Uhm," Tenchi started, only to have the two glares directed at her, "never mind."

"I have had quite enough of you and your insolence, Miss Ryouko," Ayeka said coldly, power shimmering around her. Small pieces of wood began to materialize all around Ryouko, who gazed at her with a slight smile.

"Are you going to do something about it?" Ryouko asked with a grin. Ayeka's eyes narrowed and the wood flowed like water, but Ryouko teleported away before it could grab her. She used Ayeka's head to give her a boost and landed smoothly onto a nearby boulder.

"Why, you," Ayeka growled, looking around wildly.

"Do you want to know why they call me Ryouko?" she asked softly as the gems on her wrists began to glow, "Because I can call up spirits from anything on this Earth!" The white spirits flowed up from the ground, from the water, ever from the air itself.

Ayeka raised her shield, watching as the spirits bounced off of it harmlessly. "I'm not impressed," she said disdainfully.

"You will be," Ryouko answered, calling the spirits in front of her to form a monstrous beast. Ayeka took a half step back from the clawed figure even as Ryouko felt someone looking at her. Leaving the beast to wait patiently she turned slightly, and met Tenchi's gaze.

Tenchi's expression was calm, the dark haired young woman looking up at her with absolute faith and trust. Ryouko hesitated, the gems on her wrists still glowing softly, then she turned back to look at Ayeka.

"I could order this to attack you, and I doubt you could stop it," Ryouko mused. She smiled slightly, "But I won't." With a sweeping gesture she dissipated the beast, returning the beast to it's rest. She leapt down, and felt warmed by Tenchi's approving gaze.

"Thank you," Tenchi said softly.

"But... why?" Ayeka looked on in disbelief.

Ryouko's lips curled in a smile, "Because Tenchi didn't want me to." And with a much more wicked look, "And because I don't need to fight you to beat you."

"EXCUSE ME," the massively loud voice knocked them all off their feet. They had been so wrapped up in their personal drama that they hadn't even seen the silvery, wedge shaped spacecraft descend until it was floating above them.

"Galaxy Police?" Ayeka blinked, recognizing the insignia.

"HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN A CRIMINAL NAMED KAGATO?" the voice boomed down at them cheerfully.

"Kagato?" Ryouko's eyes grew wide.

To be continued...