Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ The Youngest Hakubi ❯ Midnight Nibble ( Chapter 2 )

The Youngest Hakubi

By: bsmart

 

Disclaimer: Why the hell am I writing this? Nobody reads them and they have no legal weight. It's a complete waste of time and bandwidth and yet I'm still typing. If Pioneer or AIC wants to sue me go for it, I've got about twenty bucks in the bank, I'll write'em a check. I don't know what this is going to be rated so I'll just say G and if anything happens that offends you I couldn't care less.

 

Note: This is an OVA continuity fic. It takes place about a week or two after the end of the second OVA.

“…” Normal Speech

`…' Thought

=====================================================

 

Chapter 2: Midnight Nibble

 

The house was almost completely dark. Only the full moon offered any illumination. In a room on the third floor a small rodent was doing it's best to squirm out of the clutches of its favorite Juraian.

 

`If only Sasami wouldn't insist on hugging me like a teddy bear all night this might not be so difficult.'

 

Finally giving up on extracting herself out the blue-haired princess' grasp the cabbit simply phased herself out of Sasami's grasp and onto the futon. Quietly tip-toeing to the door the little cabbit bounced up and phased through the door on her first try. Turning down the hall she made her way to the stairs and began hopping down. As she bounced off the last step to the first floor the cabbit seemed to tense up for a moment before her form shifted and grew. With an audible pop of displaced air Ryo-ohki changed into her toddler form wearing the blue dress Sasami gave her. She normally wouldn't have worn anything but the first few times she had changed she had been told by Sasami that she would have to wear something and then took her shopping.

 

She walked through the living room and into the kitchen. When she reached the back door she reached for the knob with both hands but stopped before she grabbed it. With a determined look on her face she reached for the knob with one hand. `I've seen them do this a thousand times, I can do it too.' At first she couldn't get her hand all around it but after a few tries she found a grip that let her get some traction. Initially she tried to turn her arm from her shoulder, when that failed she remembered her wrist. This time the door opened up and she stepped out onto the back porch and made her way to the shed. This time she got the door open much easier and went inside, shutting the door behind her. For most humanoids the interior of the shed would have been almost pitch black but it wasn't a problem for the cabbit. Ryo-ohki walked to the back of the shed and sat down in the middle of the baskets of carrots stored there. Reaching into the nearest basket she pulled out a carrot and began to munch on it.

 

Normally she would have been asleep like the rest of the household but like Ryoko she wasn't entirely biological and she only needed about an hour of sleep a day to allow her self repair systems to do their work, the Masu portion of her drew their energy directly from the quantum vacuum and never needed to sleep. The only reason she did sleep was because no one else was awake and things could get terribly boring at night. Tonight she was awake because she needed to think.

 

`Everyone seems to pay more attention to me when I look like this. Maybe I should stay like this as much as I can.' Having finished her first carrot she reached for another, `Why I do I like these so much? Everyone else eats all sorts of things but the only thing I want is carrots.' Eyeing the orange vegetable in her hand suspiciously the cabbit took another bite. `Well it does taste good but what else.' While reaching for another carrot Ryo-ohki activated the part of her mind that was all computer to see if it held the answer. `High in useful hydro-carbons, phosphates, and an iron content that places it in the top 5% of cataloged foods. This mixture of compounds and elements allows rapid and low energy cost fabrication of necessary components.'

 

`But as a cabbit I'm small, why do I need to eat as many carrots as I do.'

 

`You're also a spaceship and that part of you needs repairing as well.'

 

Taking the final bite of her fourth carrot Ryo-ohki sighed. She reached for another but this time from a different basket. `Eating them this way doesn't get me yelled at, I don't know why they don't notice if I only take a few from each basket but they don't.' Thinking about the other's reactions brought her thoughts back to why she got more attention in her toddler form. `Maybe it's because I look more like them when I'm a toddler, or maybe because I look like a little human. Everyone was really nice to Taro when he was here and their nice to Sasami all the time.'

 

As a small smile creeped across her face the cabbit reached for another carrot. `Sasami has been really nice to me this whole time. She was ready to spend her money on me today. I don't understand why they couldn't just ask Washu, she could have made me some but the girls seemed to enjoy shopping for me. Maybe that's why, for them shopping is fun. That sort of makes sense. I don't know why it would be pleasurable for them but it is. Like flying through a gas giant's rings, there are better ways to do it but you get enjoyment from the act.' Another thought completed, another carrot eaten, Ryo-ohki reached for her next treat. `I wonder if anything else would taste as good as carrots, what was that thing Sasami was making this afternoon before the shopping trip?'

 

As the answer dawned on her Ryo-ohki's face lit up with a smile that took over her whole face. Hopping off the floor of the shed she didn't even bother with the doors this time, she simply phased through first the shed door and then the back door into the house. As she came through the back door of the house and into the kitchen she misjudged her speed and instead of turning towards the refrigerator she slipped and crashed into the base of the island. With a feline groan she picked herself up and made her way, a little more cautiously, to the fridge. The cabbit reached one paw up for the handle a pulled. The tug produced no result so Ryo-ohki braced herself on the freezer door and pulled harder, this time the door came open with a rush of cold air.

 

Peering up into the fridge Ryo-ohki was confronted with one of the problems of her size. `I'm too short to reach inside,' the cabbit took a step back and started to tense up but stopped almost immediately. `I have to get used to using this body. I can't hold my larger one for very long so I need to use this one.' Letting out a little sigh Ryo-ohki began to search the kitchen for an answer to her dilemma. Climbing onto the counter was quickly dismissed as an alternative, it would allow her to see inside but she wouldn't be able to get to anything. The telephone directory was quickly dismissed as being too small and then she saw the stockpot sitting on the counter drying. `That would be tall enough and it's big enough for me to stand on but it would be on the floor. The last time something fell on the floor Sasami had to wash it before she could use it. I don't want to make more work for her so that's my last option.' Continuing her visual survey of the kitchen Ryo-ohki's eyes ended up on the barstools around the island. `Perfect,' she thought. The cabbit went over and did her best to grab the barstool and drag it to the open fridge. After several false starts and three near tippings the stool was placed well enough to suit the cabbit. She climbed towards the top but as she reached her goal she felt the stool start to tip over backwards. Thinking quickly the cabbit did the only thing she could, she belly flopped forward onto the seat of the stool. With a small grunt she moved herself around until she was sitting up facing the open refrigerator. She surveyed the contents of the fridge looking for the cake and quickly found it on one of the middle shelves.

 

`It doesn't look like there are any carrots in this thing, still they must be some in here somewhere, why else would they call it a carrot cake?' She reached a single small finger towards the cake and poked the frosting. Pulling it back she looked at the white fluff on her finger tip, sniffed it, and then stuck her finger in her mouth. After a moment she popped her finger out and stared at the cake with a shocked look on her face. `There isn't a bit of carrot in there at all, but that was good.'

 

A small voice in her head reported, “Extremely high fructose content, some protein and some trace synthetic chemicals, minimal nutritional value.'

 

Now with a smile on her face Ryo-ohki stabbed her finger into the frosting and scooped off a large glop of frosting and stuffed it into her mouth. `This stuff is good, why don't they eat it all the time.' Looking at the spot she had just scrapped she saw some yellow peeking out of the frosting. Curious Ryo-ohki tried to scoop it off but it just bent inwards without coming off. She tried again pushing harder and this time her finger went into the cake. `This is different, I wonder what it tastes like.' She pulled out her finger along with a small chunk of cake. With more confidence then she exhibited with the cake the pseudo-toddler put it in her mouth. `Carrots, and the rest of it tastes sort of like that white stuff.'

 

`Some carrot content, fructose, hydro-carbons, and protein, nutritional content still minimum,' the computerized portion of her brain reported.

 

Ignoring the mechanical part of her Ryo-ohki dug into the cake scooping up handfuls at a time to eat. Even while she was eating she was sure to take it only from the right end of the cake. `If I only eat some of it they might not notice, like the carrots. I'll just fix the white fluffy stuff when I'm done.' After consuming a two inch wide swath of the cake the cabbit did her best to smear a healthy dose of frosting back across the exposed side.

 

Turning her attention away from the cake she wondered, `What else is in here?' Placing one hand on the door ledge she leaned forward and pulled open one of the drawers at the bottom of the fridge. Inside she saw a large bag of her favorite vegetable along with several other vegetables she didn't know the names of. `This one looks like a tree,' she thought as she picked up a head of broccoli and broke off a piece. She popped the piece into her mouth and started chewing.

 

`Large quantities of hydro-carbons, iron, and other trace elements. Excellent source of nutrition,' her internal computer informed her.

 

`Well it's no carrot,' she thought as she reached for a red fruit the size of a baseball. Taking a small nibble of her snack she chewed, swallowed, and smiled. `This is good; it's even a little like the cake.'

 

`High in hydro-carbons and trace elements, minimal iron content, some fructose which is what causes it to be somewhat “sweet”,' she was told.

 

This time the cabbit took as big a bite of the apple as she could, her small fangs causing juice to squirt out and run down her face. With in a few minutes she had inhaled the first apple, including the core, and grabbed another. 'These are better then carrots.' After finishing her second apple she closed the drawer. Looking around the interior of the refrigerator she spied a promising looking container, pulled it out, and opened it up. 'This is that white stuff they eat at every meal. It must be good.' She grabbed a handful of rice with her little paw and stuffed it in her mouth.

 

After chewing it up and swallowing it she made a disgusted face and asked, 'What is this stuff?'

 

'Primarily long strand carbohydrates, no heavy metals and minimal trace elements. Marginal nutritional value.'

 

'Well it's as bland as this planet's primary. Why do they eat this all the time?' She put the lid back on the container and put it back where she found it. Pulling out her next candidate she opened the lid to see a large number of brown strips soaking in a black liquid. The smell drove her back though. Her sensitive nose was hammered with a tangy spicy smell that made her eyes water. Almost immediately she recognized the soy sauce and white wine that Sasami often used in her cooking but she could differentiate at least fifteen other individual smells that she couldn't put a name too. She snapped her head back and viewed the contents with suspicion. 'I know everyone says Sasami only makes good food but I don't remember her ever cooking anything that smelled like this.' She cautiously plucked one of the strips out of the liquid, brought it up to her mouth and gingerly took a bite. The taste was extremely strong but she liked the various flavors and she really liked the brown stuff itself.

 

'Primarily proteins with large amounts of iron, excellent nutritional value.'

 

With a broad smile on her face she ate two more of the strips and put the container back. She then hopped off her stool and started putting things back the way she found them.

 

As she climbed the stairs back to the princesses' room Ryo-ohki kept on thinking, 'I wish I had tried something before carrots before tonight, there were a lot of good things in the fridge. Tomorrow night I'm going to see what's in the cupboard.'

 

When the pseudo-toddler got back to her room she transformed back into a cabbit and made her way back to Sasami's futon. The little princess was sleeping on her side with her arms crossed across her chest. When Ryo-ohki started to nuzzle her arms the little girl started to feel around for the cabbit. As soon as one of her hands contacted fur both her hands snatched the cabbit up and hugged her tight. The pair fell asleep with smiles on both their faces.

 

The new day started out differently then Ryo-ohki was used to. Instead of waking with Sasami as she usually did the cabbit was awakened when her senses told her the door to the princess' room was being opened. She watched as Mihoshi came into the room and turned off Sasami's alarm. Noticing Ryo-ohki watching her she came over to Sasami's futon and whispered to the cabbit, “I'm gonna make breakfast this morning and let Sasami sleep in.”

 

“Miyeorw, Myaahhh” she quietly affirmed. `Good, let her sleep.'

 

Apparently Ryo-ohki wasn't quiet enough as Sasami made a grumbling sound and rolled over, cabbit and all. With a muffled giggle Mihoshi got up and left for the kitchen. Not feeling like going to the trouble of escaping, Ryo-ohki dozed off again to wait for breakfast.

 

Her internal clock told her she had been asleep for forty seven minutes before she was again disturbed by the door opening. This time it wasn't a Galaxy Police detective but a former A1 most wanted space pirate doing the intruding. As her cabbit watched her Ryoko knelt down beside the futon and started to nudge Sasami's shoulder while softly calling, “Sasami, time to get up, breakfast is ready.” Deciding to help out Ryo-ohki phased through Sasami's arms and onto the futon. She crawled up to Sasami's head and began to nuzzle her. Once again deprived of her companion the little princess tried to grab a hold of her cabbit.

 

Ryo-ohki bounded back and gave a slightly annoyed “Miya!” Realizing her current form lacked the necessary persuasive powers the cabbit transformed into her toddler form.

 

“I think you've got this covered, I'll go wake up Tenchi. Maybe you should change into one of those new outfits Sasami and Mihoshi got you, it'd make their day.”

 

When Ryoko finished leaving Ryo-ohki turned her attention back to the problem of waking Sasami. `Well I suppose I'll just do what Ryoko was doing.' Leaning over she started to rock Sasami back and forth. “Miya, myyaaaah myah!” After only a few moments of this treatment Sasami stopped resisting and woke up.

 

“Ryo-ohki, what time is it?” She sat up in her futon and looked at the clock. “Oh no, breakfast!”

 

As Sasami started to scramble up Ryo-ohki ran in front of her and started waving her arms. “Miyah, myaaaah!” `It's ok; Mihoshi is taking care of it.'

 

Sasami continued getting up and headed for the closet. “If I don't go cook everyone will have to go hungry this morning.”

 

“Myaaa, myah, merrrow myah!” `You don't have to worry about it this morning.' Realizing that Sasami had no idea what she was saying the little cabbit concentrated on her link with Ryoko and asked, `Please come back here and explain to Sasami that she doesn't need to cook.'

 

A somewhat male scream could be heard from down the hall as Tenchi awoke to find a confused looking Ryoko only half phased through his chest. Rather offhandedly Ryoko said “Morning Tenchi.”

 

“Get…..get..get out of my..,” Tenchi stammered as Ryoko phased through the rest of him and then his wall as she left. “chest,” Tenchi finished.

 

When Ryoko arrived back in the princesses' room she found Ryo-ohki “Myaa”ing frustratedly at Sasami while the princess rushed to get ready.

 

“What a wretched sight to have to wake up to,” said Ayeka.

 

“Oh, morning princess,” said Ryoko when she notice Ayeka was awake. Remembering why she was here she told Sasami, “It's ok, Mihoshi is taking care of it this morning. She wanted to let you sleep in.” Her task finished Ryoko just stared at her partner for a moment before leaving.

 

It took a moment for this to register on Sasami, “Oh, how nice of her. I guess we'd better head on downstairs then.”

 

“Mya Miyyyaa, Myah nyyoow, mya meeerow myah,” `That's what I've been telling you. This is so frustrating nobody understands a thing I say.' Now that Sasami was taking her time to get ready Ryo-ohki decided to ask her for some help getting dressed. After an abortive attempt to get her clothes out of the closet she went over and tugged on the princess' skirt as she was brushing her hair.

 

“What is it Ryo-ohki,” she asked.

 

The cabbit pointed towards the closet and pulled Sasami to it with her. Reaching up she pulled on one of the overall outfits and gave Sasami a hopeful look. “Oh, you wanna wear one of your new outfits,” Sasami's face brightened up considerably and she said, “Well then lets get you dressed!”

 

Ten minutes later the pair followed Ayeka down to the first floor for breakfast. Sasami clad in one of her favorite kimono and obi combinations, Ryo-ohki in a new pair of overalls with a carrot patch on the center of the bib and an orange t-shirt underneath.

 

The table wasn't fixed as neatly as when Sasami did it but Mihoshi had done a good job. On initial inspection they found a large bowl of steamed rice, a bowl of white miso soup for everyone, a plate of fried eggs, a plate piled high with toast, a bowl of fruit, and two bowls of pickles. Mihoshi was standing at her usual spot with a huge smile on her face. “Did you sleep well Sasami? You make us breakfast a lot so I wanted to let you sleep in.”

 

“Thanks Mihoshi, it was nice. Where's Tenchi and Ryoko?”

 

“Here we are,” said Ryoko as she and Tenchi exited the kitchen, her carrying several jars of jelly and jam, he carrying a pitcher of tea. As everyone sat down to eat Ryoko and Ayeka took up their usual spots on either side of Tenchi, Washu at the head of the table, Mihoshi at the other end and Sasami on the side nearest the kitchen across from the trio. Ryo-ohki decided to do as everyone else was doing at sat down beside Sasami at the end closest to Washu.

 

“Ummm, Ryo-ohki I didn't make you any carrots,” said Mihoshi.

 

“Miyaaah,” `That's ok,' she replied as she reached across the table for an apple from the fruit basket. She sat back down and began munching happily on the fruit but stopped a moment later when she realized that no one had said anything or moved in the last eight seconds. Looking up from her treat she saw everyone staring at her in astonishment. “Merow?”

 

“Well that explains the white and brown hairs I found in the fridge,” stated Mihoshi.

 

As Ryo-ohki focused on Mihoshi she noticed the look on Ryoko's face changing from astonishment to suspicion and then to a sly smile. Before she could give this much thought she was distracted by Sasami's exclamation, “Ryo-chan, you're eating other things now? I can do lots of things with apples and...”

 

“Maybe we can just let her try what's on the table when we eat,” Washu cut in while Mihoshi got up and went into the kitchen.

 

“Well ok, but I still want to try making some things with apples, “said the little princess.

 

When Mihoshi returned she had a plate in her hand with a bowl of miso soup on it and a set of eating utensils. She set the pile down in front of Ryo-ohki and told her, “Eat up!”

 

Ryo-ohki poked a single finger into the yellowish liquid and brought it up to her mouth for a taste. `A little bland but not as bad as that white stuff,' she thought. As Ryo-ohki was busy sampling her soup Mihoshi was starting to fill up her plate with other items from the table, when she was about to start ladling rice onto the plate Ryo-ohki took notice and shook her head no.

 

“But it's really good Ryo-ohki, I promise,” said Mihoshi. The cabbit remained unconvinced.

 

“I guess she doesn't like rice,” observed Tenchi. Mihoshi didn't seem to enthusiastic about this but she set the serving spoon down anyway and went back to her seat.

 

Ryo-ohki looked down at the utensils she had been given and picked up the best candidate to help her with the miso. Once again her fingers refused to assume the position she wanted them too, the same one she saw Ayeka and Ryoko using. Finally she just wrapped her whole paw around the handle and used it that way. After a few spoonfuls of bland broth she decided to try something else. Picking up one of her chopsticks Ryo-ohki speared one of the pickle slices on her plate with it.

 

Washu steered the conversation onto something that caught Ryo-ohki's attention. “Mihoshi you said something about seeing brown and white hairs in the fridge and that somehow Ryo-ohki eating an apple explained it. What else did you see in the fridge?”

 

“Ano….there was a whole side missing from the carrot cake,”

 

“Figures,” said Washu.

 

“and it looked like someone had nibbled on the broccoli and there were a few apples missing,”

 

“Makes sense,” said Ryoko.

 

“and someone had taken a scoop out of the left over rice from last night. The container wasn't shut good so I threw it away.”

 

“Well now we know why she knows she doesn't like rice,” observed Washu.

 

“You shouldn't have eaten that cake, Sasami made that special for dinner tonight,” Ayeka scolded the cabbit. Ryoko nodded in agreement.

 

Sasami quickly came to her friend's defense, “It's ok Ayeka, I can make another one.” She turned to a very worried Ryo-ohki and said, “I'm not mad, if you wanted some you could have just asked.”

 

“Still it was an inconsiderate thing to do, but what can you expect from an animal that spent the better part of five millennia with the likes of Ryoko.”

 

“Heeeeey!”

 

As Ryoko started to get up Tenchi quickly moved to mollify her. “It's ok Ayeka, Ryo-ohki didn't mean any harm and Sasami said it was alright.” Ryoko didn't seem too thrilled with the explanation but she was sitting back down.

 

The rest of breakfast past rather peacefully but Ryo-ohki couldn't help but notice how much the others seemed to watch her. Anytime she would look at them when they were doing it they would look away. `Why do they keep looking at me like that? I'm just doing what they're doing,' she thought as she put another piece of egg in her mouth. 'Tenchi keeps acting like he's doing something wrong, Ryoko seems suspicious, Washu just has her usual smirk on, but Mihoshi and Sasami seem happy. Why are they all different?'

 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the end of the meal and the dispersal of everyone to their daily tasks. As Washu got up from the table she got Ryo-ohki's attention and told her, "I wanna see you later," as she left for her lab.

 

When Ryo-ohki followed Sasami into the kitchen she heard Tenchi say under his breath, "At least it's not me."

 

In the kitchen Sasami said she'd take care of bringing in the plates and putting up the left overs, Mihoshi said she'd wash the dishes. When she realized they hadn't given her something to do Ryo-ohki asked, "Merow?"

 

"Oh Ryo-ohki, you want to help," asked Mihoshi. Looking around the counter for a minute she seized on the dishrag and said, "Here, you can dry the dishes after I wash them!"

 

“This'll help,” said Sasami as she pushed a stool up to the counter for Ryo-ohki to stand on.

 

Smiling Ryo-ohki thanked her, “Miiiyah!”

 

For the next twenty minutes Ryo-ohki happily dried the dishes while she listened to Mihoshi talk. “…and then he tried hiding in a gas giant's electrical storm. It took me a few minutes but I found him by looking for places where lightning didn't pass through. Pretty soon I was able to locate his shield envelope and I was able to get a tractor on him.” “…it turns out that I was right, they were mixing the narcotic into the composite panels and extracting it on the other end. I got a commendation for finding that.” “We have these birds on Seniwa, they look kind of like earth parrots but they are twice as big and all over around where I grew up. Ever since I moved away I've missed getting to see them every morning when I wake up.”

 

When Ryo-ohki and Mihoshi were done washing the dishes Sasami came over and helped them put them up. “It's a beautiful day, why don't we spend it outside,” Mihoshi suggested.

 

“What do you think Ryo-ohki,” the princess asked Ryo-ohki.

 

`I'm not doing anything else,' she thought. She then did her best to give an affirmative, “Merow.”

 

“Ok then, I'm gonna sunbathe so I'll go get changed and meet you two out there,” Mihoshi said as she left for her room.

 

Sasami turned to her friend, “Well what do you want to do?”

 

Ryo-ohki considered this for a minute but couldn't really think of anything, she didn't have any experience with this sort of thing. “Mya,” `I dunno,' she said.

 

“Ummm, what was that?”

 

When she realized that Sasami had missed what she'd said she recalled all the times she had seen others say what she had. When she compared all the memories she had she was able to discern a pattern. Sixty four percent of the time the phrase was accompanied by a movement of the shoulders. Using this information she tried again, “Mya,” and she shrugged her shoulders at the same time.

 

Sasami's face lit up with recognition, “Well why don't we play catch? I haven't gotten a chance to play in a while; everyone around here is so busy.” After a quick trip upstairs to get her things Sasami came back down passing Tenchi on the stairs as he left for the fields.

 

“Whatcha got there Sasami,” he asked.

 

When she reached the bottom of the stairs Sasami turned back to Tenchi and held up the object in her hand. “I'm going outside to play catch with Ryo-ohki.”

 

Looking at the circular disk with a hole in its center that was in Sasami's hand, Tenchi asked, “Where did you get the Frisbee…thing?”

 

“Oh, you mean my disk? I brought this with me from Jurai.”

 

“Some things never change, you two have fun,” he said as he walked into the kitchen heading for the shed.

 

“Ok,” assured Sasami as she turned towards the front door.

 

“Myah,” agreed Ryo-ohki as she followed Sasami out the door.

 

“Let's go over there,” Sasami suggested pointing to the large open area in front of the living room and its porch. When Sasami thought she had gone far enough she told Ryo-ohki, “You stay here. I'm gonna go over there ok?” When she got to where she had pointed she turned around and said, “Ok Ryo-ohki, I'm gonna throw the disk and you catch it ok?”

 

“Miyah,” she said trying to sound more certain of what was going on then she was.

 

“Ok, here it comes, catch,” Sasami yelled as she tossed the disk at Ryo-ohki.

 

The cabbit girl watched as the rotating disk flew to the air towards her. Thanks to the computer portion of her brain she knew exactly where the disk was going to wind up. She took two steps forward and waited. As the disk started to get lower she raised her hands in anticipation and adjusted her position slightly to account for a slight breeze that had just started. The mechanical side of her mind was now coaching her, `3.142 seconds until it is in the optimum position to catch. Grasp it….now.' She closed her hands together as quickly as she could but instead of catching the spinning disk her hands they went whistling by each other and the disk thumped into her chest just below her neck. For a moment she was too startled to move, `How did I miss that,' was the only rational thought she could muster. `I can accurately predict the path of blaster bolts coming at me at one third c. I can hit a target maneuvering hard a light second a way while I'm maneuvering at 150g's. What's up with this body?'

 

“Ryo-ohki you need to pick it up and throw it back,” suggested Mihoshi as she emerged from the house dressed in her bikini and carrying her sunbathing supplies.

 

“Yeah, it's ok, everyone misses it the first couple of times,” agreed the little princess.

 

As Mihoshi began to partake in her ritual Ryo-ohki bent over and picked up the disk. She recalled what she had just watched Sasami do and tried to replicate it. Twisting around and snapping her arm as best she could but instead of flying towards Sasami the disk slammed into the ground and rolled towards the little Juraian.

 

“Good try Ryo-ohki, my first time I couldn't get it to go the right way,” encouraged Sasami.

 

`Well if she had trouble maybe it's normal for a humanoid to have difficulties with things like these. One more thing to practice I suppose,' thought Ryo-ohki.

 

For the next thirty minutes Sasami and Ryo-ohki played catch while Mihoshi sunbathed. Even though her initial attempts didn't yield the results she was looking for Ryo-ohki kept on trying and soon she was able to catch the flying disk most of the time even if it wasn't very pretty. Her tries to throw it back to Sasami attained about the same level of proficiency, while she wasn't able to hit Sasami in the chest with it at least it got close enough to her for her to catch.

 

As Sasami started to throw the disk back to her friend her grip on it slipped and it went sailing towards the house. Just as it was about hit Mihoshi Washu strode forward and snatched it out of the air.

 

“Mihoshi loo…oh thank you Washu, I was afraid it was gonna hit Mihoshi,” said Sasami.

 

Washu just smiled at the princess and assured, “No problem, I hate to break up your fun but I need to see Ryo-ohki for a while.”

 

“What for,” injected Mihoshi.

 

Noticing Ryo-ohki's apparent discomfort with the idea Sasami added, “Yeah, what for?”

 

“Oh it's just a check up. She's gone through a lot of changes lately and I just want to make sure she's fine.”

 

This reassurance didn't seem to go over very well with Ryo-ohki but she still gave an affirmative, “Merow meeeoow.”

 

As they watched Washu and Ryo-ohki reenter the house Mihoshi turned to Sasami and asked, “Do you think she'll be ok?”

 

“I'm sure Washu wouldn't do anything to hurt Ryo-ohki, no matter what Tenchi says about her.”

 

“She's a nice person, she helps me keep Yukinojo in good shape and dries him out when I miss my landings,” Mihoshi said. After a slight pause she asked, “Since Ryo-ohki's going to be in Washu's lab for a while what are you going to do”

 

“Well since Ryo-ohki ate part of the cake I made last night I'm going to go make a new one, how about you?”

 

“I need to stay out here for another half hour to make sure my tan is even, after that I'm going to go inside and take a bath.”

 

“I should be done with the cake then, I'll join you,” assured Sasami.

 

“It's a date,” giggled Mihoshi.

 

Ryo-ohki couldn't help but be apprehensive as Washu led her by the hand through the door to the lab. The last time she had been in here she had accidentally started something that could have killed Tenchi and that had resulted in her current form. However Washu wasn't leading her towards that part of the lab, she moved only a little ways into the interior and stopped in the area she liked to use for her “examinations”.

 

“Sit here,” Washu said as she gestured to a chair that was starting to rise from the floor.

 

Ryo-ohki did as she was asked and sat in the chair with her hands in her lap. She watched as Washu strode behind a large bank of consoles and readouts until she could only see the scientist's head and upper chest.

 

“Just sit wait for a minute, I have to set things up before we can start,” she said as she began to work at the consoles. While Washu worked at her station Ryo-ohki started to look around her at the pieces of machinery that surrounded her.

 

`What do all these do? They don't look anything like spaceship parts, except for that one, it kind of looks like a gravitic anomaly detector.'

 

Her ruminations were interrupted when Washu announced, “Ok, I'm ready. Let's get started. I'm going to begin with a general body scan to see how you're integrating with the masu so just sit still for a few minutes.”

 

Again Ryo-ohki decided it was best to do as she was told and tried to remain as motionless as possible as a pair of two meter high and half a meter wide panels rose on either side of her chair. With an electric whirring noise the panels started to rotate around her chair and hum.

 

`We are currently being scanned by a magnetic resonance imager, a soliton tunneling microscope, and phased wave discriminator,' her computer offered.

 

`I know,' she replied offhandedly as she watched Washu work.

 

Several minutes later the panels retracted into the floor and Washu declared, “Everything seems fine. You've assimilated the masu completely, good work. Now for the next phase of the exam.” With that the scientist came back over to where Ryo-ohki was sitting and pulled down a large piece of equipment from the rack above Ryo-ohki's chair and fitted it to the cabbit's head. Backing away she called forth both her floating cushion and her holo-laptop and sat down. “Now I'm going to ask you some questions, just think of the answers and this machine will pick them up, ok?”

 

“Miyah,” she said.

 

“Ok, then lets begin. First some easy ones, how do you feel about carrots?”

 

`They're good,' followed immediately by, `Excellent source of nutrition,' appeared on Washu's screen. For the briefest of moments a shocked expression crossed the scientist's face before she could regain her composure.

 

“Well that's unexpected.”

 

“Merrroww?” `What is?'

 

“Oh nothing, lets move on,” after punching a few keys on her holo-laptop she continued, “How do you feel about Sasami?”

 

`She's very nice to me and she takes care of me. I like her a lot.'

 

Taking note that this time there was only one reply Washu said, “Interesting, how about Ryoko?”

 

`She takes care of me too but she spends most of her time with Tenchi. She seems suspicious of me but I don't know why.'

 

With a sly grin Washu continued, “How about Ayeka?”

 

`She doesn't talk to me much, just Sasami. She looks after Sasami though so I suppose she is ok.'

 

“Mihoshi?”

 

`She's really sweet and she's been talking to me a lot lately. She's really nice.'

 

“Tenchi?”

 

`Tenchi's nice; he makes carrots for me and takes care of all of us.'

 

Washu raised one of her eyebrows and asked, “Me?”

 

Ryo-ohki looked a little doubtful of the question but answered anyways, `Umm, I don't get to see you much; you spend most of your time in the lab. It's nice of you to give me a checkup though.'

 

“Not a problem, now about how long are you staying in this form a day?”

 

`Most of the day,' '11 Hours, 41 minutes, and 15.32 seconds on average, 15 hours, 36 minutes, and 50.74 seconds yesterday,' came the dueling replies.

 

“Why do you change back?”

 

`It makes me tired.' `Maintaining this form requires excessive amounts of energy.'

 

“Well you are keeping it longer every day, why is that?”

 

`It gets easier each day, I don't know why.' `Increased time spent in this form allows greater optimization of transformation methods which in turn lowers energy consumption.'

 

“How about your adult form, have you tried using that lately?”

 

`No, when I do that I get really tired, and it's hard to move around.' `3 Hours 2 minutes 45.62 seconds spent in adult form since fusion with Masu.'

 

“Why do you stay in this form if it's difficult?”

 

`I like it better, I feel normal.'

 

Washu raised one of her eyebrows, “Normal?”

 

`I don't know if that's the right word, I just feel like everyone else like this,' Ryo-ohki thought as her face started to look exasperated.

 

Deciding that she wasn't likely to get anything more definite then that Washu changed the subject, “Why did you decide to raid the fridge last night?”

 

`I remembered that Sasami had made a carrot cake and I wanted some carrots so I tried it.'

 

“Why did you try the other things?”

 

`The carrot cake wasn't just carrots and it tasted good. I wondered if other things in the fridge might taste good too.'

 

“What's your favorite new food?”

 

Ryo-ohki had a grin on her face as she answered, `Apples!'

 

Washu couldn't help but smile at the cabbit's enthusiastic response. “Well I think I've found out everything I need to know. You're doing good and everything seems to be fine.” Getting up from her seat Washu walked over and removed the device from Ryo-ohki's head. “I want you to do one thing for me.” Ryo-ohki gave her a questioning look. “I want you to work on staying in this form for as long as you can.”

 

Ryo-ohki perked up and answered, “Miya!”

 

“Okay, let's get out of here and go see what the others are up too. It's getting close to dinner time,” said the scientist as she led Ryo-ohki from the lab.

 

“Mya miyahh?”

 

“You were in the scanner a lot longer then you think.”

 

`How long could I have been in there, it was still an hour till lunch when I came down to the lab?' Ryo-ohki left Washu's lab thoroughly confused.

 

As they left the lab they ran into to Ryoko who was about to come into it. “Oh there you are Washu, Sasami had just sent me to get you for dinner.”

 

Washu patted Ryo-ohki on the back and sent her on towards the living room. Turning back to Ryoko she said, “We need to talk.”

 

Waiting until the cabbit left Ryoko ask, “Bout her? Because I need to talk to you about her.”

 

Leading her daughter out onto the porch Washu ask, “Why, what happened?”

 

“Well this morning she talked to me, across our link.”

 

“So?”

 

“She's never talked to me before, only sent pictures, ideas, emotions. This time she actually talked to me.”

 

“Hmmm, that makes sense.”

 

“How does it make sense?”

 

“When Ryo-ohki fused with the Masu she gained more then a new form or two, every part of her fused with the Masu, including her mind.”

 

Understanding started to dawn on Ryoko's face, “You mean?”

 

“When I gave her the exam I hooked her up to the mental translator again. This time I didn't get the cutesy little pictures. This time I got two very clear voices.”

 

“Two?”

 

“Yeah, two, one of them sounds like our dear little Ryo-ohki only smarter, the other acted like a computer. I'd say that the Masu fused with her mind and increased her mental capacities, I'm still not sure why there are two voices but I haven't gotten a chance to look over the data for very long yet. Given enough time she'll develop mentally, just like any other child. Well, sort of child.”

 

“Well what are we gonna do?”

 

“I'd say nothing, just see what happens for now.”

 

“What should we tell the others, they have to be noticing something by now.”

 

“I'm not going to say anything but if you want to go ahead.” Leaving Ryoko to her decision Washu headed back inside.

 

`Looks like my little partners gonna grow up now, hope I can help her. Now where is everyone?' When Ryoko entered the living room she found no one there so she headed on into the kitchen. As she pushed open the door she almost ran into Tenchi who was about to walk through it with a load of plates.

 

“Oh, Ryo-ohki there you are. I almost ran into you,” said Tenchi.

 

Pointing at Ryo-ohki with the knife she was using to chop beans with Ayeka scolded, “You need to be more careful, you could have tripped Lord Tenchi.”

 

“Miyaaah,” she said apologetically.

 

“It's ok Ryo-ohki, nothing happened,” assured Tenchi as he walked around her and into the living room.

 

“Ryo-ohki how was your checkup,” asked Sasami as she stirred a wok full of something.

 

“Mya merow, miiiyah mya merrrroow.” `It was ok, a little weird but Washu said I was fine.'

 

While she had no idea what Ryo-ohki had said the tone of her friend's words reassured her. “That's good, come here, I'll show you how to make beef stir-fry.”

 

Half an hour later dinner was ready and everyone was sitting down to eat. This time Ryo-ohki had a place already set for her and an apple on her plate. Dinner started calmly, the main topic being Tenchi's day at the shrine and Ryoko and Ayeka's time inside the house.

 

“Grandfather had me scrape the paint off the tool shed and repaint it today. Good thing there wasn't much paint peeling or I would have done nothing but scrape today,” said Tenchi.

 

After swallowing a piece of beef she was chewing on Ryoko said, “Sometimes I think he just gives you busy work to keep you occupied.”

 

“Yes, that shed was far from needing repainting,” agreed Ayeka.

 

“Well if a certain pair of someone's hadn't showed up and made it impossible for me to go to school like a normal person…” hinted Tenchi off handedly as he scooped up some rice.

 

While Ryoko looked a little bemused at Tenchi hinting at their first real meeting outside of the cave Ayeka looked positively indignant. “I fail to see what I did that would make it difficult for you to carry on with your life,” declared Ayeka in her best imperious tone.

 

“Well a certain Juraian tree ship hovered over my house and fired a warning shot at it. Nothing my neighbors would find suspicious at all,” stated Tenchi as he finished chewing on his rice.

 

With a nervous laugh Ayeka did her best to shrug off the accusation and change the subject, “Ryoko and I watched a most interesting show today…”

 

The rest of dinner was genial and quiet. When everyone had their fill of stir-fry and rice Sasami announced, “Now it's time for dessert.” She hopped up and headed for the kitchen with Mihoshi in tow,

 

“What did you make,” ask Washu.

 

Mihoshi just giggled as Sasami said over her shoulder “It's a surprise.” When Sasami returned she was carrying a pie plate and Mihoshi had the remains of a carrot cake in her hands. They set the treats down on the table and began serving. “Who wants some apple pie,” asked Sasami.

 

Tenchi sounded suspicious, “Apple pie?”

 

“It's an American recipe, I saw it a few weeks ago on TV and when I saw Ryo-ohki eating apples this morning I remembered it and wanted to try it out.”

 

Looking at the mess of sauce, apples, and crust on her plate Washu asked, “What's in it?”

 

“Just apples, crust, sugar and cinnamon,” Sasami replied, simplifying things slightly.

 

“Ish gaad,” muttered Ryoko around a mouth full of pie.

 

With Ryoko digging in the rest of the family gave up and started eating. “When you're done with the pie we also have some carrot cake,” Mihoshi informed them.

 

Tenchi looked dubious, “Didn't Ryo-ohki eat part of that?”

 

“Ano…I guess she did. Well….I know,” she exclaimed as she set the cake down and grabbed up the serving knife. Working quickly she carved off a three inch wide swath from the edge Ryo-ohki had eaten from and set it on the cabbit's plate. “There.”

 

Conspicuously no one seemed interested in the cake except for Mihoshi and Ryo-ohki who ate theirs with considerable enthusiasm. When everyone finished they quickly cleaned up the mess and went back into the living room to watch TV.

 

“I wanna watch Iron Chef,” said Sasami as she hopped up onto the couch.

 

Sitting down in Noboyuki's new recliner Washu added, “I'm in more of a game show mood myself.”

 

“What about one of the American channels,” asked Ayeka as she sat down on one end of the couch.

 

Sitting down in her usual spot in the corner of the L shaped couch Mihoshi agreed, “That sounds good Ayeka.”

 

Flopping into the couch next to Mihoshi Ryoko announced, “I don't really care so long as I get to watch Hellsing at eleven.”

 

As Ryo-ohki climbed onto the couch next to Sasami Tenchi surveyed the scene and realized that his good manners had chosen his seat for him. Since he had held the door for the girls he was the last one in the room and now the only seat in the room was directly between Ayeka and Ryoko. He quickly surmised that the girls were not going to agree on something to watch on TV so he decided to try another format. “How about a movie, my dad brought a bunch back with him and we haven't watched hardly any of them yet.”

 

“What do you recommend Tenchi,” asked Ayeka.

 

“Well let's see,” he said as he began rifling through the large collection of DVDs. His rapid thumbing came to a halt as he spied the title of one particular movie. With a triumphant yelp of glee he snatched the case up and started to load the movie into the player.

 

“What's up with you,” asked Washu.

 

“Dad got my favorite movie and he didn't even bother to tell me. You guys will love this one it's called Yojimbo, it's an action/comedy about a samurai and…well I don't wanna spoil it, just watch. I'm gonna go make some popcorn and get a coke, anybody want anything before the movie starts?” After getting the girl's drink and snack orders Tenchi disappeared into the kitchen to get the things ready for the movie.

 

“Anyone know what this movie is about,” asked Ryoko.

 

Crouching over to pick up the empty case Mihoshi replied, “No but it's by Kurosawa.”

 

“He made Seven Samurai didn't he,” said Ayeka as she watched Mihoshi sit back down, “If so it should be fine.”

 

When Tenchi returned with the snacks he quickly took his seat between Ryoko and Ayeka, and started the movie. For the next two hours Ryo-ohki divided her time between watching the movie and watching her companions. At first she noticed that anytime Ryoko or Ayeka saw the other get any closer to Tenchi they would glare at their rival. However as the movie wore on and the girls got more interested in the movie and less and less interested in what the other was doing.

 

As for Tenchi there was never any doubt as to where his attention was, his eyes rarely left the screen.

 

The combination of both Tenchi and the girl's inattention led to a Tenchi sandwich by the two thirds point of the movie, so absorbed were they by the action. During one particularly violent scene Ayeka buried her head in Tenchi's shoulder. As she looked up she noticed Ryoko clinging to Tenchi's other side. A momentary look of distasted flashed across her features until she looked up at Tenchi's face, smiled, and snuggled a little closer. Ryo-ohki couldn't help but grin a little when she saw this, `Finally.'

 

When the movie was over everyone started to go their separate ways. Mihoshi announced that she was heading for the onsen, Ryoko grabbed the remote and started to plead with Tenchi, “Please stay and watch Hellsing with me,” she grabbed onto his arm, “pleeeease?” Tenchi started to pull away, like it was a reflex but he quickly stopped himself and started to look sympathetically at Ryoko.

 

Noticing the change on Tenchi's face Ayeka cut in before he could answer. “Well if Lord Tenchi is staying then I am too, someone has to protect his honor from your shameless advances.”

 

“So long as he stays,” was all Ryoko had to say as she quickly changed the channel.

 

“Well I'm going to sleep, I have to be up early tomorrow,” stated Sasami as she made for the stairs.

 

As Ryo-ohki started to follow Sasami upstairs Washu pulled her aside, looking over her shoulder she called out, “I'll join you in a second Mihoshi.” Turning back to the captive cabbit she said, “Tonight can you do me a favor?” An affirmative “Merow” later she continued, “Tonight why don't you stay in this form instead of going back to your cabbit form, call it a stress test.”

 

For a moment she seemed to consider this then stated, “Merrrraw, myah meeah.” `I'm not sure I can hold it that long.'

 

Washu just smiled slightly, “I'm sure you'll be fine, trust me.” She walked off with a grin on her face.

 

With a light sigh and a small smile the toddler headed upstairs. When she got up to the bed room she found Sasami already changed and just about to bed down for the night. Ryo-ohki walked over to the chest-of-drawers and pulled out her pajamas. After a few minutes of fighting with the buckles on her overalls she managed to get herself changed and into her pajamas.

 

As she climbed into the bed with Sasami the cabbit was pulled up short when Sasami put out a hand and declared softly, “If you're gonna sleep like that maybe we should get out the spare futon for you.” Ryo-ohki wasn't sure what to make of this but she still hopped up and helped the younger princess set up the spare bed. Once everything was in place the two bedded down for the night.

 

As she lay on her futon staring at the dark ceiling Ryo-ohki's mind refused to settle down and drift of into unconsciousness. As she rolled and fidgeted she thought, `What's wrong, I'm tired and it's dark and I'm lying down but I can't fall asleep.' The next time she rolled over she gave out a little feline whine and buried her face in her pillow. Off to the side she could hear Sasami rustling around as well. `I've been lying here for more then an hour.'

 

`One hour 11 minutes and 20 seconds exactly,' came the mechanical reply to her statement.

 

“Are you asleep yet,” Sasami quietly asked.

 

An annoyed and frustrated “Meeyaaaa,” came back.

 

At this moment Ayeka chose to make her entrance humming to herself softly, “Mmmmmhmm hmm hmmhmmm. Oh, are you still up Sasami?”

 

“Yeah, Ryo-ohki can't sleep either.”

 

An affirmative “Merow,” agreed.

 

“Oh, well why are you sleeping in different beds?”

 

“Ryo-ohki's staying in her toddler form tonight so I got out the spare futon for her to sleep on.”

 

The elder princess smiled at her little sister and suggested, “Well I think it would be fine if you both slept in the same bed.”

 

Sasami looked a little suspicious and a little hopeful at the suggestion. “Are you sure it's ok?”

 

“It'll be fine.”

 

“Ok, Ryo-oh…” The princess hadn't even finished the sentence before a happy cabbit had nose-dived into her bed. While Ayeka watched the two spent several minutes getting used to sleeping with Ryo-ohki's new form before the settled and began to nod off. Smiling to herself Ayeka started getting herself ready for bed. `Good for them.'

 

`This is much better,' Thought Ryo-ohki as she felt Sasami's arms wrap around her.

 

“Night Ryo-ohki,” muttered Sasami as she started to feel the draw of unconsciousness.

 

“Nyaaaat,” answered Ryo-ohki. `Definitely better.'

 

=========================================================

Author's Notes (a.k.a. My feeble attempt to explain away how much this sucked.) V1.6.1 Beta

 

Acknowledgements:

Ministry Agent - For encouraging me to try and rehabilitate this idea, for reading this crap nearly once a week and telling me what he honestly thinks, and a big thank you for the opening scene.

Crion - Supplied lots of info on Japanese culture and was an early reader

Marik_K - Another early reader and commentator

Lighthawk - I have lots of prereaders.

Warpwizard - One of the lemon lords even read this before you did.

 

1) Ryo-ohki's train of thought is all over the place because that's the way mine is. They say write what you know.

 

2) For those of you who don't get it, this planets primary is our sun which is an incredibly run of the mill yellow star.

 

3) Much like food, my knowledge of Japanese TV is limited. Anime, Iron Chef, and their psychotic game shows are about it. Kurosawa is the only Japanese director I can think of off the top of my head, it was that or Lord of the Rings. Don't like it, send me some info on Japanese TV.

 

4) No there's nothing to read into Ryo-ohki wanting to sleep in the same bed as Sasami, you're just a sick freak. Don't worry, so am I.

 

5) If you have a problem with the bath scene the only thing I have to say to you is get bent. It's a part of life and Ryo-ohki's trying to learn to live her's.

 

6) I decided to give Sasami painting because frankly she's a bit one dimensional a lot of the time, she's just the cute cook a lot of the time so I decided to give her something else to do. It's not canon but I liked the idea.

 

7) Ok, the truth is I'm describing a parrot in part of this and I have no clue about what kind of birds there are in Japan, at least what kind of big colorful one's there are. The nest on the ground isn't to make them look stupid, it's to point out that on different planets things that may look similar operate differently.

 

Final Random Thought: Mihoshi is very, very hot.

 

Feedback: bsmartfanfic@yahoo.com

www.livejournal.com/~bsmart

You don't need to tell me I suck, I'm well aware of that.