Author: Pawn Shop's Conners Email: Psconners@aol.com Title: Nobiyuki Muyo! (A fanfic about the "other" TM characters) Synopsis: This fanfic details a storyline I have yet to see expressed, and that is of a romance between the shows' most neglected character: Nobiyuki. Also, this alternate set of events takes place right after the Washu's dimensional device goes haywire but before the Jurains come for Ayeka. Please enjoy and send any suggestions, comments, flames, warnings, and/or death threats to the provided email. (Please realize I only check occassionally so don't be offended if I take a week or two to reply.) DISCLAIMER I , the author, claim no ownership whatsoever for the characters and events portrayed in the Tenchi Muyo/Universe/in Tokyo series, which are owned by Pioneer. I also proclaim that I am no way being compensated in any physical sense, directly or indirectly, for penning this work and as such I am not violating the US copyright code, as I understand it, by doing this fanfic. This is simply a recreational activity so please do not take me into the street and stone* me mercilessly. *(The bad type of stoning which involves being pelted with objects ranging in size from pebbles to uncut quarry stones) Nobiyuki Muyo! Episode One: No Need for First Dates! The heat of the sun pounded mercilessly on the back of brown suit attached to a middle-aged man on his way home from work. Nobiyuki Masaki released a tired sigh as he plodded up the endless stairs leading to the Masaki Shrine. There his father- in-law Katsuhito sat peacefully sipping some hot tea in anticipation of his visitor. With his characteristic cold stare he quietly acknowledged the presence of his son-in-law. "You really need more exercise, Nobiyuki, maybe you should join Tenchi and me in practice some time?" Posed Katsuhito as the exhausted Nobiyuki all but fell into a sitting position. Nobiyuki stared like a deer caught in front of semi as he studdered out a response: "I, uh, er, would only, uh, distract Tenchi from his practice." Suddenly, Katsuhito flipped over the coffee table and stroke a combat pose as he brandished his bokken. He stared straight into Nobiyuki's soul and smiled as his opponent quickly crawled away from the table. "It's been while since you and I sparred, Nobiyuki, and I suggest you take me up on my offer as your son is progressing slowly but surely and already surpasses his father. Now fetch your sword and defend yourself!" Katsuhito yelled, leaving little room for discussion. "But Dad, you do know I gave Tenchi my old bokken for him to duel with you?" Nobiyuki stammered out nervously as sweat pored down his brow. Nobiyuki looked up at Katsuhito who seemed to be pondering this information. "So, you were foolish enough to give a potential enemy your only means of defense? And what do you suppose will happen when your son decides to claim his manhood by defeating you in mortal combat?" the old man posed as he replaced his wooden sword beneath the folds of his shrine attire. "Ah, not Tenchi! He'd never come after his old man like that." Nobiyuki stated confidently with a glimmer of pride on his face. True, Tenchi behaved oddly with the ladies, but to dare oppose his beloved father who he worshiped and strove to be like was preposterous, Nobiyuki reassured himself. "Maybe, maybe," Katsuhito spoke pensively, "but good men can become tempted when beautiful women enter into the equation." Katsuhito turned and sat across from Nobiyuki looking into his eyes as he began to paint a picture in Nobiyuki's mind of the dark days ahead. "Yes, I can see it now," Katsuhito slowly spoke looking up as if the future was right in front of him, a flame of prophecy burning on his ancient spectacles, "Tenchi sees how his father is the one pays for the groceries, the house, the various necessities of this modern life. He witnesses how all the ladies from outer space who once fought over who gets to sit next to him looking longingly towards his father, the man of the house who is always tough but fair, dispensing wisdom like a great Buddha. Yes, Tenchi who once idolized his doting father now becomes to wonder how things would be if the old man wasn't around and how much he stands to inherit if an "accident" was to occur." With this said, Katsuhito paused as he listened to Nobiyuki audibly swallow, anxiety, no, fear written across the face of the middle- aged businessman. Katsuhito's eyes pierced into Nobiyuki's soul as he continued, his voice almost eager at the prospect of relating the impeding fate of the misguided fool: "One night, you can hear the heavens tremble and render themselves asunder at the anticipation of the darkness they are about to behold, but powerless to stop. A young man stalks towards the bedchamber of his father, whom he only sees now as an obstacle between him and happiness. His sword glimmers as the light from a blood red moon streaks across it, its blade the very definition of sharpness. You see, young Tenchi has spent weeks, waking at the midnight hour, removing a sheathe from underneath his bed and sharpening it slowly and purposely. Even he does not know when this 'evil intent' awoke in him, but he has constantly cared for the blade in anticipation of the night when it would taste his fathers blood! Yes, I can see him now lifting up the blade, his hands solid like rocks, his form perfect, his face eager as the hour of reckoning approaches. You look up, about to ask your only son if he is having a nightmare when you realize that your nightmare has only begun. The heavens cringe as a head rolls unto the floor, a silent scream of primal terror etched into it." Katsuhito stopped, and looked into himself as Nobiyuki trembled at the thought of his head rolling across the floor. Katsuhito sat silently for a moment, as if allowing for the tension to build and then concluded his scenario: "maybe the young man whose innocence perished with his father might decide to seek vengeance against the only other suitor to those whom his black heart belongs to." Katsuhito smiled subtly and continued as his voice became all the more excited: "but he finds no sleeping victim, only a duel to the death on the grounds of this very shrine! Maybe youthful stamina conquers experience in the end, but he will certainly not leave battle without scars that will display his fallen opponent's mastery of combat!" Both men sat silently, pondering over the prediction of the wise man of the Masaki Shrine. Nobiyuki waited for his heart to stop beating furiously and trying his best to exorcize the image of Tenchi walking up to the shrine with a crimson sword in one hand and the head of his father in the other. As he finally collected himself, Nobiyuki broke the silence and stated: "So can we expect you to come to dinner tonight or should I bring it up to you?" "I will probably come down later after I'm finished with up here," Katsuhito replied cheerfully. "Well, I guess I'll see you then, Dad." Nobiyuki said as he began to head home he muttered under his breath about how the old man was getting weirder everyday. However, he had to admit he liked the idea of the gals fighting over him as a lecherous grin crept across his face. He pondered over which one he would choose, and believably enough he began to appreciate his son's indecision. Maybe me and him should have a talk later Nobiyuki told himself and gave a determined nod to assert himself. Katsuhito waited until Nobiyuki's ill-fated head passed out of view before he turned towards the beginning of a sunset and began to talk to a departed spirit: "I always knew you loved him Achika, but even you have to admit he gets a but, er, complacent at times. You know you should have let me challenge him to a duel for my consent to your marriage, I would have eventually let him win," Katsuhito smiled at no one living and finished, "but I would have seen that he had several nice bruises to remember the day by..." Katsuhito trailed as he chuckled softly to himself. He was about to get back to his meditations when he recalled that Tenchi stopped by earlier to tell him something, yes, to give Nobiyuki a message about, what was it now? Ah yes, he thought to himself, that Tenchi and the gang except Washu had gone shopping for materials to repair the back deck after a morning altercation between Ayeka and Ryoko, and Nobiyuki was not to disturb the eccentric genius except under the most dire emergency, and probably not even then he recalled a nervous Tenchi instructing him. "And DO NOT forget to tell Dad this!" he heard Tenchi yell. Oh well, even Nobiyuki wasn't THAT stupid. Katsuhito paused for a moment and began to place various delicate objects in boxes in preparation for the impending explosions. Washu sat in her subspace lab pouring over the data as her supercomputer crunched numbers that would cause Deep Blue to retire to tic tac toe. She frowned as the realization of the status indicator's significance dawned on her. The temporal field Washu enclosed her self in that caused her to appear as a preteen was weakening exponentially and within minutes she would regain her true form if she did not find a way to interpret why several different phenomena, most flowing across the curve of space/time from alternate universes, was causing the temporal field to degenerate. Washu sighed as she realized why this was happening, as she was not the one who had invented the temporal field: a Washu living and working in another universe had made it. This "alternate" Washu had crafted the device sometime after the infamous tachyon satellite was completed and decided to show off by giving all the other known Washus the device, which ran on zero point energy from a generator in her home universe. However, that Washu had failed to realize that as each new universe came into existence upon whenever more than one possibility had to occur, being it the placement of a single electron or a young man picking which of several women he wanted to be with. This caused the only existing zero point generator (or at least the only nearby one Washu thought) to become further separated from her (the current Washu's) universe each time the space/time index expanded infinitely whenever a situation had many probable outcomes. Washu placed her hands on the back of her head as she usually did when she was exhausted and considered her options. She grimaced as she realized there was only two, leave it be and allow her true form to become visible or attempt to boost the output of the zero point generator, as she could not build her own without several materials that even the cutest genius in this or any space/time would take time to gather and assemble. But she dreaded the former option as a flood of bad memories attacked her, and why she kept the device activated at all times, even in the bath. She sighed once more as the memory of the last time she looked at her true self caused a dull ache in her heart. It was right before her sentencing after her trial by her peers, and since she had surrendered peacefully expecting only a mild punishment until they removed all of her scientific devices and she had to endure the trial in her adult form. She looked at the mirror in her holding cell as she was handed back her temporal field emitter by a guard. The significance of her getting the device back meant that the council had come to a decision and she was probably going to be executed or banished. But they were not without mercy, as whatever her fate may be they were going to allow to meet it in the form she was most comfortable with, as they had witnessed he psychological pain being an adult inflicted on Washu. She had constantly looked down at the hands of a grown woman that would never hold only child ever again, and could be seen at times with a tear riding down her cheek, the pain of her loneliness tangible in the darkened chambers as she face the council. Washu pretended to ignore the moisture on her cheek as she began to calculate a way to amplify or at least stabilize the trickle of refined zero point energy entering and dispersing throughout this universe. The temporal field needed at least fifty percent of the energy at that point to keep Washu's metabolic reactions stable and give her the appearance she found solace in. She only needed to enter a little more data to stabilize the field or perhaps risk losing it permanently. Washu was about to press the activation button when... "Hey Washu! You in there? Where did Tenchi and the others go? Can I come in?" shouted Nobiyuki from the outside of the lab, as Washu mistakenly left the door cracked. Washu blindly pressed the wrong button and let out a scream as the temporal field imploded on itself and threw Nobiyuki into the back wall, knocking him unconscious. Washu staggered up, trying to adjust to the added length in her legs. Nobiyuki woke up and surveyed his surroundings, settling on the image of a beautiful pink-haired woman who wore a most imposing scowl. She seemed to be waiting for the perfect moment to tear Mr. Masaki a new one. He give her a sheepish smile and was about to ask her name and whether or not she was related to Washu when all hell broke loose. "WHAT IN THE DEPTHS OF YOUR PRIMITIVE BRAIN WERE YOU THINKING!?!" she screamed as she leaned over him, her hot breath scalding Nobiyuki's face. She stood and shuddered violently, all while staring right through him. Her lower lip began to tremble and she collapsed on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. It was then that Nobiyuki realized she was completely nude and quickly draped his suit jacket across her back, wondering what to do next. "W-W-Washu? Is that you W-Washu?" Nobiyuki stammered, trying hard (or at least pretending to) not look at the now voluptuous scientist. She started to speak, but Nobiyuki had to divert his attention elsewhere in order to listen to her. "I-I was trying to...to... fix my, er, device, a temporal field emitter that, uh, makes me look y-y-younger," she paused letting the implications of this sink in to both of them. Nobiyuki did his best to think of something reassuring, but missed the point entirely as he voiced his thoughts. "Well, at least you're a beautiful young woman and not some dried out hag!" Nobiyuki declared triumphantly, certain he had saved the day once again. Washu gave him a look that would sour milk, but suddenly softened and asked "So you think I'm beautiful, eh?" Enjoying the intense redness that suddenly streaked across Nobiyuki's face. Washu had forgotten a long time ago the effects her beauty had on men, realizing why she never had a shortage of lab assistants. Washu looked over Nobiyuki and questioned why she hadn't noticed his eccentric but well-meaning demeanor earlier, he reminded her of somebody: herself. Of course, he was middle-aged out-of-shape architect who often stared luridly at Ryoko's low cut dress and Mihoshi's constantly "bouncy" attitude while she was the universe's cutest supergenius, capable of destroying this galaxy several times over. "I-I-I'm very sorry about your tempura fill outfitter, Little Washu, do you need some help fixing it?" Nobiyuki said, all while trying to get rid of the boyish grin on his face as looked at the increasingly attractive mad scientist. He was disappointed to watch Washu's smile fade as she vocally told herself the bad news. "I don't think that's possible, at least in this current universe, I guess everyone will just have to get used to big Washu!" she exclaimed, trying to see the bright side of the situation. Assuming her standard dramatic pose, as chiba-Washu A and B quickly took their respective places on Washu's bare shoulders as her a spotlight shone on her barely covered body. Chiba-Washu A: "Washu's all woman now!" Chiba-Washu B: "No more living in the past for Washu!" Both: "Washu! Washu! Washu! WASHHUUU!!" "Well, let me re-welcome you to our household Miss Washu!" Nobiyuki gleefully voiced catching up Washu in a bear hug. After the hug, she snapped her fingers and was instantly reclothed in attire resembling her usual double shirts and shorts. She looked at Nobiyuki, pretending not to notice his disappointment at her being clothed. She also wondered whether or not he had dried blood from his nose from when he hit the wall. "So Nobi, I thought I was the only dramatic one here, why haven't you been so in the past?" Washu posed, giving Mr. Masaki a suggestive wink. "Well, I always have been with my son, but I didn't want you or the other girls to be put off by it." Nobiyuki looked up, becoming serious and as his nervous grin faded said "I believe one should always go out of their way to improve the happiness of others, this is something I have tried to instill in Tenchi, but he takes after his mother always being introspective and serious. I worry about him sometimes." Washu considered this, admiring the genuine concern the oft ignored man of the house showed for his chronically anxious son. She then realized that all time she had spent in her lab she had neglected to study Terran customs. Just then a perfect idea popped into the mad scientist's mind, why not let Mr. Masaki give her a tour of the town so she can observe reactions to her original form. A familiarly mischievous smile appeared on her face as she nudged into him and proceeded to interest him in her proposal. "Whaddya say you and me go out on the town," Washu asked seductively wiping her finger underneath Nobiyuki's trembling lip, "I haven't got see the town in a while and I'll probably need an escort as I don't really know anyone." However, a rare occurrence is when Washu is surprised, but this is exactly what happened as Nobiyuki got on knees and took hold of Washu's hand. "No beautiful woman on this world or any other will ever lack a gentleman escort as long as I, Nobiyuki Masaki, breathe." He exclaimed as he stood majestically, his face filled with resolution and tears of fierce determination, shaking his fist at the indifferent Gods. Washu would later swear she could here some sort of heroic theme music playing in the background. She did her best not to faint, and despite her resistance otherwise she began to giggle uncontrollably. He really did remind her of herself. "You're so cute," Washu managed to say between giggling. "I try," Nobiyuki replied sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck Washu began to head for the front door after they left Tenchi and the others a vague note to their whereabouts, only to feel a gust of air as Mr. Masaki beat her to it, breaking most, if not all, laws of physics in the process. He smiled nervously as he opened the door for her, as he had seen in several old American romance films. "L-L-Ladies f-first," he studdered as he patiently held the door. This might be interesting after all... Washu thought to herself, taking Nobiyuki's arm and walking to the car. _________________________________________________________________ ____________ Please wait for the next episode: No Need for Wining and Dining! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please send any comments to my e-mail, especially if you have some constructive criticism.