TMIL3: Chapter 3

For an eternity Kiyone gazed at Washu with a puzzled, eye twitching stare. Her mind was full of bewilderment, followed by anger. Why was she doing this she wondered? So lost in thought was she that she failed to notice Ryoko suddenly appearing in front of her.

"Gah!" Kiyone yelped with surprise, nearly jumping out of her skin. "Uh... what?"

Ryoko was staring at her chest. She looked her over from head to toe "Looks the same to me," then informally poked her breasts and turned back to face Washu with a brow irritably raised. "Have you been drinking my Sake?"

"Wait," Ayeka butted in and walked closer. "Those breasts do look bigger," (Kiyone sweatdropped) "She does look more mature."

Kiyone looked utterly dumbfounded listening to not only Ryoko, but Ayeka talking about her breasts. Irritably, she rubbed the confusion from her forehead as she spoke "Is this how you tell people from the future apart? All of you?"

"No need to be so embarrassed." waved Ryoko, and then leaned in close whispering "They got smaller huh?" she grinned.

"What?" Kiyone yelled causing Ryoko to jump back with feigned surprise

"Don't worry about it! It's our *little* secret... okay?" Ryoko winked

Kiyone's irritation was in almost in full bloom, but before it fully opened she took a deep breath and calmed herself, sealing it in, and turned away. "Arguing with you is pointless. I can see what you're doing also. Trying to goad me into such anger that I don't think about my actions and reveal something you'd like to know in the next few years." She raised a hand and walked back to the house.

"Aww... It'd be a piece of cake if it was you Ayeka." Ryoko sighed

"What? Are you calling me stupid Ryoko?"

"Why? Is that your name?" Ryoko turned away with a grinning chuckle

Before Ayeka could start another mini war, Washu placed her hand on Ayeka's shoulder "Hey hey, you two stop it. Honestly sometimes I feel like a babysitter instead of a scientist." Without waiting for a reply she too walked towards the house leaving the two stubbornly following like scolded children.

When they got inside Kiyone sagged down in the chair groaning to herself, this is going to get messy she thought. Ryoko had brought back some sake for herself and had situated herself right by Kiyone on the chair rest.

Kiyone half heartedly turned her head to the guzzling Ryoko with an exasperated sigh "What are you doing..?"

Ryoko stared in astonishment at her question, "You going blind in your old age?"

"I am not THAT old!" she snarled as a blood vessel on her forehead twitched.

Sighing, Ryoko turned, feigning concern, "Senile too? Poor you" she spread her arms and shook her head in sympathy "Must be tough."

Without warning Kiyone stood fast and turned, slamming her hands where Ryoko was. With an eye partially open, Ryoko saw her intention before she swung her arms. She vanished from sight, reappearing on the sofa's arm.

"Whoa hey, careful! You nearly hit me."

"If I had wanted to hit you I wouldn't have taken my time slamming the chair," Kiyone scowled

Out of nowhere Ryoko suddenly appeared in front of Kiyone, surprisingly not making her flinch or jump.

"So you're really from the future huh? How far? Got any gossip? Maybe Ayeka has wrinkles?" Ryoko asked curiously. On and on the questions came, Ryoko barely pausing for breath

"RYOKO"! Yelled Ayeka

"None of your business," Kiyone said sternly, turning her head away in annoyance

"Jeez what's your problem... hmm?" A picture of the whole group caught her eye, and something clicked. "You know... more than Ayeka's wrinkles," (Ayeka twitched nearby) "I'd like to know who Tenchi ends up with," she said with a sly tone, edging closer, smirking. Nearby Ayeka walked in the room, stiff with anger. She was about to vent her anger when Washu raised a hand, grinning cheerfully.

A trace of anger and fatigue was heard in a sigh. "I knew this would happen..." Kiyone spoke aloud. "I'm saying nothing. Just send me BACK!" she demanded, slamming her hand on the arm of the chair again.

Too quick for Kiyone to react, Ryoko leaned in and grabbed her shirt, pointing towards Ayeka "If you don't tell me and Ayeka gets him, Tenchi's life's going to be filled with misery!" she yelled. This was too good of an opportunity to annoy Ayeka and learn the future to pass up.

"Well I never! How dare you say such lies?" Ayeka stepped forward, shaking like a volcano on the verge of an eruption.

"Oh so you can hear me!" Ryoko floated beside Ayeka feigning shock. "And I thought hearing loss came with old age"

Ayeka gritted her teeth together, forcing the raging temper brewing inside her to cool. Instead of a violent eruption of words, she calmly but sternly spoke "I...I only want it for the right reasons. To prevent a thieving liar like YOU ruining his life with your chaotic lifestyle," her finger pointed accusingly towards Ryoko.

In the background Washu spoke up "My little bitty device can get a very accurate reading, if there's less clothing in the way, heheh." With that she gestured towards Kiyone. "If you please"

Kiyone looked flabbergasted, "You can't be serious!"

"I'm so sorry Kiyone, but this is to prevent Ryoko from ruining lord Tenchi's personal life," Ayeka spoke politely, bowing as she did, and then signaled for Azaka to hold her.

Nearby Ryoko scowled at Ayeka's accusation. She leaned forward in mid-air, returning the judging gesture at Ayeka. "Oh sure, like he's going to want a life boredom and strict regimes!"

"Better than your wild and unhealthy lifestyle Ryoko!" Ayeka barked

"Ha! You sound like an old granny concerned for her son," laughed Ryoko, "But don't you worry," she waved her hand reassuringly "He'll be safe with me"

As the two began another endless bicker, Kiyone sat in the bubble created by Ayeka's guardians, arms folded with an annoyed expression. Her silence and agitation was picked up by her captors almost immediately.

"We're so sorry about this Miss Kiyone, but we must obey Miss Ayeka's orders..." both said in unison.

Kiyone sighed in reply, pointing out the irony "I cannot believe I'm in the same situation as Ryoko was the day we met…"

"Let's get started already!" interrupted Ryoko. She cracked her knuckles as she drifted towards the startled Kiyone who shrank back at the sight Ryoko's leer.

Kiyone shrunk back against the bubble like a cornered animal, "Wait a minute! You can't be serious!"

"Phew... what a workout. Sometimes I think Grandpa is trying to kill me!" Tenchi sighed. It was such a workout his legs felt like loose rocks about to tumble. Ironically his journey back to the house was like trampling through a field of uneven rocks and stones.

When he opened the front door it felt like his aches and pains were washed away by the breeze of home. The soothing breeze carried an idea to his weary mind. Yes, that's what he'd do. Half an hour relaxing on his bed for a while with the cool breeze washing his tensions away before studying. But before that, a nice cool drink would be perfect to wind him down into the mood.

"I'm home...UH? What the hell is going on?" Tenchi's eyes nearly popped out of his head with disbelief as he entered the living room. There, right in front of him, was Ryoko in the midst of taking Kiyone's shirt off. Tenchi clamped a hand over his nose, feeling a nose bleed coming on.

"Tenchi! You're back!" Ryoko shouted gleefully as she flew towards Tenchi, dropping Kiyone face first to the ground. "I miiiissssed you!" she said, wrapping her arms around him.

Behind her, a red faced Kiyone picked herself up, holding her bruised nose. "G...gib me back my clothes!"

"R...Ryoko," Tenchi muttered trying to hold back a flood of blood.

"Yes dear?"

"What is going on here?"

"Taking her clothes off of course," Ryoko said bluntly

Tenchi sweatdropped, "I can see that"

"It's for a good cause Tenchi, don't be mad!" sniffled Ryoko putting on her adorable face. A sudden tug was felt on her arm. "Huh?" she turned to see Kiyone gritting her teeth in rage. "Wow, you recovered fast"

Must not look, must not look, Tenchi repeated over and over, straining to keep his eyes averted.

"Give me back my CLOTHES ALREADY!" Kiyone growled through clenched teeth.

"Okay okay just go over there and..." Ryoko pointed, but was cut off mid sentence when she realized what she was holding. "Whoopsie"

"AAAH!" Kiyone shrieked, "M...my bra! When did you?" Her face lit up like a flare. Within a split second Kiyone snatched it out Ryoko's hands. Ryoko jerked back with surprise, the sudden motion offsetting Tenchi's balance. In the midst of regaining it he turned his gaze unconsciously forward to face a frozen Kiyone holding her bra in front of her naked chest.

Both were frozen on the spot for a brief few seconds, until the embarrassment between the two thawed the two statues back into life. Tenchi's nose exploded into motion, with two streams of blood jetting directly towards the sluggish Kiyone.

The short burst of blood splattered perfectly against Kiyone's face, dripping all down her clothes and skin till it quietly settled on the floor. Everyone, including Kiyone, slowly looked down at the state she was in. Kiyone shifted her one foot to turn, but caught the splattered blood in mid turn, landing with a thud, splattering the blood on her. When she picked herself up halfway her face said it all.

"AHAHAAAHAHAHA! OH... if only you could see your FACE!" Ryoko spluttered through a fit of laughter.

Washu was almost on the verge of laughing, Ayeka, however, looked extremely concerned for Tenchi.

Tenchi turned his head the other way, unable to look Kiyone in the face, feeling utterly embarrassed. "I... I'm sorry Kiyone" he muffled, going as red as the blood she was covered in.

"Lord Tenchi!" Ayeka yelled as she ran towards Tenchi, "Are you alri... AAAH!" she squealed as she tripped on a smudge of blood, landing with enough impact to topple Tenchi, and in the process getting a smudge of blood herself. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said, immediately jumping up.

Ryoko cut her laughing as soon as she saw the topple. "Sneaky princess using the situation to your advantage!" She pointed accusingly.

"There you go again! Can't you see it was an accident?"

In the midst of their cliché bitter argument Kiyone had already gotten up and began walking away. Tenchi, too embarrassed and focused on calming the rivals didn't notice.

Tenchi dragged his feet into the house, carrying his grandfather's washing. Despite usually wearing the Shinto garb most of the days, he did own casual clothes. Tenchi flicked through the pile idly, then with a muffled sound paused, staring at a red jumper. The memory of the incident earlier flushed back, his cheeks flared up with shame.

Upon reaching the laundry room Tenchi immediately set to work, at least it would take his mind off that incident.

Footsteps were suddenly heard coming into the kitchen. In the corner of his eye Tenchi saw an unseen face carrying a hefty load of washing.

"Hey, you need any help with that?" Tenchi asked as he walked up to the figure.

"I could use a hand, thank you." A muffled voice replied, handing him half the load. As Tenchi accepted the load a trickle of teal hair swept by his cheek. His body froze as his eyes drifted towards the source. The moment his eyes set on her familiar, yet confused face, he stumbled back losing his balance from the weight of the clothes.

A crash of clothes hit the floor as Tenchi landed butt first on the floor, his chilled mood tumbling with him. "K...Kiyone ha... hello!" he smiled, rushing to his feet

Kiyone gave him a look of confusion "Were you... not expecting me? You looked surprised to see me..."

At once Tenchi bowed apologetically and mumbled a stuttered reply. "S...sorry about earlier. I didn't expect you to forget the incident so quickly..."

"Incident?" Kiyone blinked, "What are you talking about? I only just got here"

Tenchi's face shot up as realization struck him. She wasn't the one from the future.

"Oh! Never mind ha-ha, I'm getting mixed up with someone else. I've been studying way too hard" he laughed, walking towards the door "But I need to get back to studying now. See you tomorrow!" and without a glance back he raced up the stairs, leaving a bewildered Kiyone standing there.

It was approaching nine o clock. Tenchi was holed up in his room, furiously studying for his coming exam in the next few days. His eyes glanced to the clock, each tick sinking the nerves deeper.

"What a mess today has been..." he slumped onto the desk with a weary groan."Maybe I'll have an early night."

A long yawn of relief escaped him at the thought of sleep. The bed felt like it was a mile away.

It was enough effort in itself to stand, much like a rusted machine without oil, but it was another thing to actually walk. His limbs creaked with strain as he shuffled to the bed, whilst his back arced forward in defeat. Once within falling distance he allowed his stiff body to shut down and collapse loosely on onto the bed.

As soon as he hit the pillow he felt a scrunched up paper tickle his ear. He was about to flick it away when he quickly realized what it was.

"You will encounter a great misfortune in the not too distant future," speaking each word carefully as he tried to figure out their meaning. Only now did the elusive message give him an uneasy feeling. Misfortune... that word rolled on his tongue over and over. That one word worried him slightly.

Minutes later he threw the fortune on the floor, feeling anxious whilst he held it. He decided he'd discuss it with Washu tomorrow. Turning away from the fortune, he rolled up the covers and closed his eyes.

Outside, Kiyone gulped down her tea as if it was refreshing as sake, slamming it down on the floor as she finished. All the events of today, both this time and hers was still plaguing her head like a headache. Perhaps she should have opted for some sake she thought.

Her eyes strained in thought, her mind shifting through the clouded memories, she again probed the events of yesterday.

"Hey, Kiyone?"

Kiyone's eyes snapped awake from her day dream and turned round to see Tenchi looking at her, concerned.

"I've been calling you for a over a minute. Are you alright?" His voice showing concern, "You look like you've seen a nightmare"

Her eyes glared at him like cornered prey . "I... I'm fine" she mumbled, blinking and shifting her eyes to her empty cup. "Nothings wrong"

The tense silence was short lived thankfully. Tenchi calmly walked and sat down beside her holding a bottle in his hand. He smiled as he held it out to her. "I couldn't sleep. Too anxious about my upcoming test, so I decided to take a walk. Are you out here on your own drinking sake?" he asked, surprised by the notion.

"Just... thinking" she replied with a low voice

"I have this sake bottle I found. Thought you might like it after today"

A relief flowed over her as the wind cut across her. "That's the best thing I've heard all day" she sighed.

A mild laugh escaped Tenchi. Taking the top off the bottle, he poured the liquid to the top of the cup, but sealed it afterwards, not wanting to get any hangover what so ever with days of intense studying.

"Oh that reminds me," Kiyone paused as the cup touched her lips, "Your exams are in two days." turning she smiled slightly and raised her cup. "Good luck with that"

"Yeah, I'm going to need it," he smiled, raising the bottle instead of a cup

All of a sudden Kiyone slapped a hand to her mouth as if she'd swallowed something poisonous. She dropped the cup, gagging as she spoke.

"Wha..what the hell was in that sake?"

"What's wrong? Is it off?" Tenchi looked as shocked as she was, though he hadn't tasted it. He checked the bottle, and then went as white as the moon. "Oh god..." the expression on his face was bleak as he turned and pointed to the small print. "Washu's own brand..."

"Tha...that scheming BITCH. I'm sho.. so going to kill her!" She furiously declared whilst trying to stand, but instead managed to fall over backwards, sprawled out. "Woow my head's floating..."

Tenchi immediately approached, lifting her up awkwardly onto his shoulder. "Maybe we should get you inside, and to bed," he laughed. As he approached the door he felt a strong tug that almost toppled him. The moment he turned Kiyone broke free of his grip and shook him by the shoulders.

"Doesn't anyone care around ere? I've got shooo MANY problems in my life! *hic* Uh.. what were they again? Jussh gimmie a minute..." Her stumbling words were reflected in her uncoordinated movements as she stepped back to the wall, eyes closed deep in thought.

Tenchi sighed quietly. Here we go again he thought, albeit with a different person. He was so used to dragging Ryoko or Ayeka to bed after one too many drinks that he'd become well practiced in how to talk to people like this.

"Come on Kiyone," he gently spoke, placing an arm behind her. "We can go inside and talk. It's getting a bit cold and late to be talking outside."

Like a flash, Kiyone opened her eyes. "OH! I agree! One moment. Kiy... *hic* ooonneeee *hic* *hic* Kiyooo * hic* Oh? Why am I calling *hic* me...?" she tilted her head, bemused.

"Uh... let's talk inside shall we?" Tenchi said, gently ushering her inside. To his surprise she walked ahead, rather unsteadily, and clumsily bumped into the door on the way in. He suppressed a chuckle when she started arguing with the door.

"Hey hey! What's going on in here? It's late!" Washu walked in from the kitchen, sandwich in hand. "You.. you.. erm.. Is she arguing with a door?"

Tenchi sweatdropped, "Yeaaah. She somehow got hold of you 'special' sake Washu. Did you leave it out?"

"Oh? No I didn't." She took a quick bite of the sandwich, "If I was to guess, I'd wager Ryoko took it, and left it out. Most likely to get Kiyone so drunk she'd reveal the future."

"I should of known." Tenchi groaned, facepalming.

"By the way Ryoko, you can come out now," Washu said, turning to the ceiling.

Tenchi looked up to see a guilty looking Ryoko phase through the ceiling before teleporting over beside him. She looked away at first, knowing the scolding to come.

"I'm sorry Tenchi; I was just trying to prevent some horrible future for you! Really I was!"

"What you did was for selfish reasons." Tenchi scowled in reply, "Whoever, if ever, I choose someone to love in the future is my business."

Ryoko flinched in reply. "I'm sorry," she muttered quietly

"Ahem." Washu coughed, and pointed to the sleeping Kiyone sprawled by the door. "Can someone put her to bed before she argues with another inanimate object?"

"Umm..." Ryoko interjected, raising her hand. "I'll do it."

"No funny business Ryoko," Tenchi said sternly.

"Well there's not much you can do with someone fast asleep is there?" Ryoko joked, but upon seeing Tenchi's unamused face quickly dropped it. "Er.. I'll be going now."

With a sigh, Ryoko teleported over to Kiyone. She swiftly picked her up and lightly swung her over her shoulder. Without a glance back to Tenchi, she went through the roof and made the long trip the spare bedroom.

Tenchi watched her go then turned to Washu, "I think I'll head to bed also. I have the first test in a few days."

Washu chuckled with a wink, "Hey if you don't pass I can *always* alter your results."

"I... don't think I want to know how you would do that." Tenchi said looking nervous, "But I'll pass on your offer. I'm going to pass on my own." he clenched a fist with determination.

"Aww fine..."

********************************

"You know..." said Ryoko quietly as she lowered Kiyone onto the futon, "I didn't realize you were so heavy. Guess you didn't want Washu to read you mind in case we found out eh?" she chuckled, covering Kiyone with the sheet. "Whatever, I'm off to bed, with sake!" yawning and stretching, Ryoko then flew out of the room with her fingers flexing for the bottle of sake.