Sasami sat for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. She got
up, grabbed a towel, and began frantically drying herself off. "I'd
better start breakfast, or it'll be late!"

"You needn't hurry, Sasami. It's Sunday," said Aeka. "No one needs to
go anywhere today."

"But the Masakis will be hungry. And Washuu," replied Sasami. "And
maybe Kiyone and Mihoshi will visit, too," she added hopefully. 

As Sasami finished drying off and started putting on her clothes,
Ryoko closed her eyes for a moment, seeming to concentrate on
something.

Having dressed, Sasami quickly made her way to the door. She was about
to open it when something struck it from the other side. She blinked,
then slid it along the frame to go through.

Ryo-oh-ki hopped in, sat at the girl's feet, and looked up, greeting
her with a happy "Miya!"

"Ohayo, Ryo-oh-ki!" answered Sasami. "You're just in time! I'm going
to go make breakfast." She exited the bath, and the cabbit bounded
after her before the princess closed the door.

Ryoko stretched, yawned, and smiled, enjoying the soothing hot water.

"You certainly seem in a very good mood today," commented Aeka,
sliding in next to her.

"Yeah, I guess I am," agreed Ryoko. "Planning to do something about
it, princess?"

"No. It's just that you didn't seem very happy, last night."

"OK, I'll admit it. In the back of my mind, I wasn't sure if he'd come
back after he went off with you. But there he was, in his bed this
morning, same as always."

"This morning?"

"I had to wake him up, didn't I?" asked Ryoko, smiling.

Aeka grimaced. "Oh."

Ryoko yawned and stretched. "It's *too bad* Tenchi can't enjoy that
*every* day," she taunted.

"He managed to wake up before, somehow," Aeka said.

"I *like* the idea of that being the very first thing he feels in the
morning," said Ryoko. "Pretty soon, that's all he's going to dream of,
too."

Aeka frowned. "I thought you said we weren't going to try to take him
away from each other," she said accusingly.

Ryoko folded her hands behind her head. "It's not *my* fault if you're
a prude," she replied. "Nothing's stopping you from waking him up on
your mornings, princess."

Aeka sat and thought about it. Even if she wasn't going to give in on
Ryoko's specific topic, she wasn't about to surrender Tenchi's
mornings to her.

"Poor Tenchi," sighed Ryoko, staring up at the ceiling. "I guess he'll
never know if you'd be any good at it. And it must make him really sad
to be rejected like that."

Aeka gritted her teeth and glared. 

"I suppose he'll have to understand that the crown princess of Jurai
just doesn't *do* those kinds of things," continued Ryoko. "Right,
your highness?"

"As I said before, that is *not* the reason," replied Aeka testily. 

Ryoko stretched again, floated up out of the water, and knelt on the
floor. "Just think: whenever it's your day, he's going to be woken up
by that awful alarm clock." She got some soap and began lathering and
washing. "But when it's *my* day, he'll wake up with his cock in my
mouth, nice and warm and wet, and then I'll..."

"Yes, yes. I'm *quite* capable of imagining it for myself," said Aeka,
becoming progressively more irritated.

"You've got an imagination?" asked Ryoko, surprised. "I hadn't
noticed."

Aeka fumed silently, waiting for her to become bored and drop the
subject.

"And whenever he thinks of that, he'll think of *me*," said Ryoko,
turning around and smiling.

"Somehow, it's appropriate," muttered Aeka. She got out of the bath
and sat down a few meters from Ryoko, then began soaping up.

Ryoko paused for just a moment, thinking of the proper response, but
before she came up with something, the door to the bath opened and
shut behind Washuu.

"Ohayo, girls," she said, smiling her "I just completed my latest
invention and I'm going to tell you how wonderful it is" smile.

"Ohayo, Washuu-san," they both answered.

Washuu frowned as she got into the bath. "Ohayo... *who*?"

"Ohayo, Washuu-san," said Ryoko again, starting to shampoo her hair
while Aeka began scrubbing her legs. Both of them smiled.

Washuu cleared her throat.

"Is something the matter, Washuu-san?" asked Aeka innocently.

"Yes, actually," replied Washuu. "This bath really needs a few
modifications, to liven things up around here. There's nothing in the
basic design that precludes letting in Nobuyuki, for instance."

Fear flooded into Ryoko and Aeka's faces, and for a moment, they
froze. Then they turned to Washuu, smiling in terror.

"Ohayo, Washuu-chan," they said, their voices extremely cheerful.

"And there's no need for you to make any changes whatsoever,
Washuu-chan," added Aeka. "Why, Ryoko and I were just discussing how
utterly *perfect* the women's bath is, and how lucky we are to have a
genius like you in residence."

"Yeah, what would we do without Washuu-chan the greatest scientist in
the universe?" agreed Ryoko.

Washuu nodded. "That's better. Which reminds me. I just finished my
latest invention, and I'm putting it through some tests, starting this
morning. Wanna try it out?"

"Not really," answered Ryoko, the water and steam hiding the sudden
increase in her perspiration.

"Come on!" prodded Washuu, getting out of the water and kneeling next
to them. "It's the greatest sex toy anywhere! I think *you two* will
like it, especially."

Aeka and Ryoko looked at each other for a moment.

"I'm honored, Washuu-chan, but I truly think I'd rather not," replied
Aeka.

"But I thought you two wanted to do this and that with Tenchi," said
Washuu. She started lathering up. "It's been three months now. Aren't
you feeling a bit... *tense*?"

Neither Aeka nor Ryoko said a word, but their smiles spoke volumes
before they managed to hide them.

"Ah-ha. I *see*. You've *done* this and that with Tenchi," said Washuu
knowingly. "Probably the other thing, too."

Aeka blushed as she grabbed Washuu by the arm, hauled her up, and
started violently shaking her. "Washuu-san, I must protest this
insinuation in the strongest possible terms! I am simply *not* the
sort of woman who would engage in the vile, depraved act you've seen
fit to accuse me of!"

"OK, OK!" shouted Washuu. "JUST STOP THAT BEFORE YOU GIVE ME
WHIPLASH!! PUT ME DOWN!!"

Slowly the princess complied. Then she frowned in puzzlement.

"By the way, what *is* `the other thing', anyway?" asked Aeka.

Washuu face-faulted.

"Yeah, that's Aeka for you," sighed Ryoko. "Prude through and
through."

"I most certainly am *not*!" countered Aeka.

"I've got better things to do than listen to a couple of naive little
girls argue about sex," grumbled the scientist, as she resumed
washing.

Ryoko smirked. "`Naive'?! Well, maybe Aeka, but not *me*."

"Excuse me?!" retorted Aeka, scowling.

Washuu sighed a very annoyed, impatient sigh, as if she were Steven
Hawking enduring the sound of a pair of schoolchildren quarreling
about multiplication tables, or Robert Oppenheimer forced to chair a
Neanderthals' debate on the merits of fire. 

"You know, girls, back at the Science Academy, we had a saying: love
is chemistry, sex is physics, but kinkiness requires engineering."
Washuu's face broke into an wide grin. "And I've done ground-breaking
work in all three fields. Especially the second two." Noticing the
disbelief in their faces, she chuckled. "Well, I'll admit I'm so
kawaii it's hard to believe, but it's true."

Ryoko laughed. "So, you taught sex ed classes, or something?" she
asked.

Washuu shook her head, grinning again. "No classes. Just some
tutoring. Plus graduate research, and the occasional thesis."

"Oh, my," giggled Aeka. "No *wonder* they exiled you!"

"Hmmmm... you may have something there," replied Washuu thoughtfully.
"I never considered that before. Some of the other professors *were*
getting kind of jealous of my always nabbing the smartest and cutest
of the young male students."

Ryoko and Aeka's eyes widened. Of a single will, they turned to Washuu
and leaned down, their threat-filled faces almost touching hers.

"While we're on the subject of `young males'..." said Aeka.

"Hands off Tenchi," said Ryoko.

"Now, now, girls, not to worry," said Washuu, appearing completely
unfazed. "My interest in Tenchi is strictly scientific."

Aeka nodded, and her eyes narrowed. "Yes. A matter of *physics*, I
believe you said."

Ryoko bared her fangs slightly. "Just so you know, we're chemistry
majors. Got it?"

Washuu smiled. "In that case, congratulations!" She reached over and
gave each one a pat on the back. "May all your reactions be
exothermic!"

Both girls blinked and looked at Washuu in bewilderment.

"Why do I even *try*?" sighed Washuu, shaking her head as she got a
tub of water and dumped it over herself. Then she grabbed a towel and
started drying off. Once she was done, she got up, dressed, and walked
out. "I'll leave the lab unlocked, in case you change your minds about
helping me test my invention," she said, before she closed the door.

"What's `exothermic'?" asked Ryoko, almost done drying also.

Aeka shrugged, beginning to likewise towel herself off. "I don't know.
But she sounded as if she meant it well."

Now dry, Ryoko got dressed and walked towards the door.

"Thank you for your company, Ryoko," said Aeka. "I'll see you at
breakfast, then?"

Ryoko halted, her expression puzzled, surprised by the unexpected
pleasantry. "Sure." She stood for a moment, thinking. Then she
grinned.

"Heads up, Aeka!" yelled Ryoko, cannonballing towards the water right
next to the princess.

Aeka continued to dry off. "I am *not* so foolish as to be tricked by
you..." she started to chuckle.

Ryoko stopped just short of where she would have landed, streaked up
towards the ceiling, and hurled a blast of energy into the bath. The
bolt struck the water and exploded, sending a large wave rushing
outward from the point of impact.

"...*TWICE*!!!" shrieked Aeka, turning around just before the wave
swamped her.

Ryoko floated above her, convulsed with laughter. Once she managed to
stop, she looked down and smiled. "So, Aeka, like to head into town
later on?" she asked cheerfully. "It's going to be a nice day today."

The princess glared up at her angrily. "After *that*? I think I'd
rather not."

Ryoko's face took on a puzzled expression for a moment. Then she
sighed. No one ever seemed to think her jokes were as amusing as she
did.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I was just trying to have a little fun."
She flew to the door, opened it, then closed it behind her.

Aeka watched her leave, and gave a sigh of her own. It was always so
difficult to tell when Ryoko meant harm and when she didn't. The
pirate seemed to treat everything as play, so when she really *was*
being playful, it was easy to misread her.

*Perhaps she didn't mean any harm by it. Perhaps.*

Still feeling somewhat annoyed, Aeka started looking around for
another towel to dry herself off with. But after five minutes or so,
she hadn't found one that Ryoko's prank hadn't managed to soak.

"At the very least she could have left me a towel that wasn't wet,"
Aeka muttered to herself. After a bit more searching she found one
that was only a little damp, and began drying off again, wondering if
it would be best to forget the whole incident.

A few minutes afterwards, Tenchi and Ryoko walked into the kitchen
more or less at the same time. Sasami stood in front of the stove,
squirming and shifting her weight from foot to foot as she watched the
miso soup.

"Is something wrong, Sasami-chan?" asked Tenchi.

Sasami looked at Tenchi, then at Ryoko, and beckoned the pirate with
her hand. Ryoko walked over, put her head down, and the princess
whispered to her for a moment.

"Sure, no problem," answered Ryoko.

"Remember, two minutes," said Sasami, as she exited the kitchen, her
face a mask of concentration.

Ryoko took Sasami's place in front of the stove, watching the clock
and the white, simmering soup. Tenchi glanced over her shoulder.
Noticing that Sasami had used Kyoto miso again, he began to look very
worried.

Seeing this, Ryoko stuck her finger in the soup, then slowly licked it
off, smiling at Tenchi, who started to sweat.

"Uh, Ryoko, *please* don't do that."

Ryoko grinned. "Why not?"

"It's embarrassing," he replied in a low voice.

"Tenchiiiiii! You're going to take all the fun out of breakfast for
me!" she protested, pouting slightly.

"Come *on*. I don't want Sasami-chan seeing you do that, OK? She's too
young."

"Oh, alright," sighed Ryoko. "But in that case, I want a kiss."

Tenchi smiled nervously. "Sure. Just make it a *normal* one."

"You mean, like this?" asked Ryoko, just before she pushed him into a
corner and started frenching-kissing and groping him. Tenchi's eyes
bulged as he anticipated Sasami seeing them upon her return.

"Can't this wait until tonight?" he asked, when their lips broke
contact. "What if..."

Ryoko's eyes gleamed and she grinned, showing him her fangs. "Keep
resisting, Tenchi, and I'll take you up aboard Ryo-oh-ki so we can
play `pirate and hostage,'" she warned.

"Hostage?" asked Tenchi, swallowing hard.

"Mmm-hmm," she replied, licking his neck, then gently nipping at him
with her teeth. "Do you know what I'm going to demand as ransom?"

"No, not really..." he answered.

"Trick question. There's not enough money in the whole universe." She
kissed him again and held it, then felt his body tense in sudden fear.

"Ryoko! You forgot to turn off the soup!" said Sasami, running towards
the stove. She removed the pot from the heat, then wiped sweat from
her brow.

Ryoko let go of Tenchi, who'd turned red as a beet the moment the
princess had entered the kitchen. "I'm sorry, Sasami. I got a little
distracted."

"Oh, it's alright. The soup's OK," replied Sasami. "But you're not
supposed to let miso cook too long. You *have* to be more careful!"

"I'm sorry. Really."

"I'm not *mad*, Ryoko," laughed Sasami. "I was just worried that
breakfast would be ruined." As Sasami got the soup off of the stove
and started to pour it into the bowls, Aeka walked in, smiling but
looking rather nervous, and seated herself at the table.

"So, Ryoko, this trip into town that you spoke of. When shall we go?"
the princess asked.

Ryoko blinked. "Uh, whenever you like, I guess," she answered,
sounding rather surprised.

Tenchi looked at them, pleased but puzzled, and was about to say
something when Sasami spoke up.

"Tenchi, can you go tell Washuu that breakfast is ready?" she asked.

"My dad's doing that, now," he answered nervously.

"But he's not here," replied Sasami.

"He's not? That must be one *big* project he's working on. I wonder
what it is..." pondered Tenchi.

"Don't worry, Sasami-chan. Washuu's testing a new invention," said
Ryoko. "You know how she gets when she's doing *that*. We won't see
her for a while yet."

"Oh, that's right. I forgot," said Sasami. "She's had the sign on her
door since Wednesday."

"The `Do Not Disturb - Universe's Greatest Scientist At Work' sign,
you mean?" asked Tenchi nervously.

"Yeah! That's the one!" said Sasami. "I guess it's taking her longer
than she thought. She was supposed to have it ready by then."

Aeka looked rather worried. "I don't believe this bodes well," she
commented.

"Well, it's really a shame," said Tenchi, as he dug into his food.
"She's missing this great breakfast you fixed, Sasami." He smiled. "I
guess scientific advances require lots of sacrifice."

Breakfast passed largely without incident. As they finished up, Sasami
looked over at Tenchi, her expression slightly concerned.

"I think you should take breakfast down to Washuu, Tenchi," she said.
"She's forgets to eat when she's working hard like this, and she
shouldn't."

"I'd, uh, really rather not," said Tenchi. He'd started to sweat, and
his face was full of poorly-concealed fear.

"What's so scary about Washuu's lab, Tenchi?" asked Sasami, noticing
his expression.

Tenchi started sweating more profusely. "Uh..."

"I think her experiments are really neat! Don't you?"

Tenchi blushed and glanced at Ryoko and Aeka before returning his gaze
to Sasami. He swallowed nervously.

"Sasami, I think you should go visit grandfather," suggested Aeka.

"I'll do that later. Right now I want to go see Washuu's invention!"

"Sasami..." warned Aeka.

The young princess looked around at their faces for a moment, then
sighed. "Now I see. You want me to leave so you can talk about
grown-up stuff, don't you?"

Aeka cleared her throat. "Sasami, when mother and father aren't here,
you're to listen to me. Now, go out to the shrine."

"But I'm not that *little*!" protested Sasami. "I'm not!"

"Sasami-chan, can I talk to you for a second?" asked Ryoko, getting up
and walking towards the doorway.

Sasami nodded and followed her. "Sure."

Ryoko crouched down and whispered in the princess' ear. After a
moment, Sasami's eyes widened. 

"Really?" she asked.

Ryoko smiled and nodded. 

"Alright, I'll go," sighed the princess. She started to walk off, but
turned around. "Remember, you *promised.*"

"I know," answered Ryoko, straightened up. She watched Sasami leave, a
strange look on her face.

"What did you tell her?" asked Aeka.

"Huh? Oh, nothing really," assured Ryoko. "Just something between me
and Sasami-chan." Tenchi and Aeka stared at her for a moment as she
sat back down.

"So, Ten-chan, what is it about Washuu's laboratory that so terrifies
you?" asked Aeka, turning towards him. "It concerns me to see you so
troubled."

"I don't think I want to talk about it," answered Tenchi nervously.

"Come on, Tenchi. It can't be *that* bad, can it?" said Ryoko.

Tenchi blushed again, then wiped his brow. "Well, it all started with
that nurse thing of hers."

"Nurse thing?" repeated Aeka, puzzled.

"I guess I'd better start at the beginning," sighed Tenchi. "I was
going down to tell her breakfast was ready, and then..."

Down in Washuu's lab, small, high-pitched voices shouted her praises.

"Hooray for Washuu, you're the greatest!"

"Hooray for Washuu, you're a genius!"

"The smartest in the galaxy!"

Washuu frowned. "That's `universe', not `galaxy'."

"The smartest in the universe!"

"The most incredible scientist of all time!"

"And I'm humble, too!" chuckled Washuu.

"Let's see your invention, Washuu!"

"Show us how it works, Washuu!"

Washuu glanced down at the display on her console, typing a few last
commands. She grinned triumphantly. "They're *perfect*! In every
detail! Beyond my wildest dreams!" She pressed some more keys, and
somewhere in the lab, arcing electricity filled the air with deafening
zaps. "Still, it would be an incredible advance to try out the
original design. If only I had more success with that *sample*," she
grumbled, frowning for just a moment.

"The sperm sample, Washuu!"

"You'll get it someday, Washuu!"

"WHAT?!?!?!?!" screamed Aeka.

"SPERM SAMPLE?!?!?!" shrieked Ryoko.

Tenchi sighed again and sipped at his tea nervously. "Well, yes,
that's what she said."

Aeka closed her eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm down a
little. "Ryoko, I believe it's time we had a little talk with
Washuu-*CHAN* about this matter."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, princess," agreed Ryoko,
standing up.

Tenchi started sinking in his chair, subconsciously moving into a
protective crouch. "No fighting, OK?" he begged. "Please? *Please*?"

"OK, I won't kill her," promised Ryoko. "*YET*. But we're going to go
talk to her about this."

"Look, as long as I don't go down to her lab, it'll be fine," said
Tenchi.

Ryoko shook her head. "No. I don't like seeing you scared like this."

Aeka nodded. "I quite agree, Ten-chan," she said firmly. "You *must*
confront her about this. I refuse to allow you to live in fear of a
guest in your own home. Ryoko and I will deal with her, if she
continues to do such things."

"No problem," said Ryoko confidently. "She agrees to keep her hands
off you, or we'll stuff her back in that cave."

Tenchi thought for a moment. Love was supposed to be blind, he knew,
but he decided very quickly that if Washuu turned Ryoko and Aeka into
kappa again, he definitely *wasn't* going to have sex with them.
Kissing was probably out of the question, too. Hugging he wasn't sure
about.

They positioned themselves on either side of him, each holding an arm,
and started maneuvering him out of the kitchen.

"This is *not* a good idea," he warned, starting to sweat again.
"Let's just leave her alone in her lab, and let her do what she
wants."

"Can it, Tenchi. It's gotta be done," answered Ryoko.

"Be brave, Ten-chan. Be brave," said Aeka. "We will be beside you,
every step of the way."

Determination set on their faces, the girls marched Tenchi towards
Washuu's lab, and with every pace a sense of dread grew in him.

"I'll shake the dew off *her* lily," said Ryoko, cracking her
knuckles.

"Yes," agreed Aeka contemptuously. "Quite. Magic fingers, indeed!"

"I have a very bad feeling about this," whined Tenchi.

Four days earlier...

Nobuyuki opened the door to Washuu's lab and walked in. He shook his
head, ashamed of his son's cowardice. There was nothing to be afraid
of in *here*!

He changed his mind slightly when steel tentacles wrapped around his
body and pinned him. Washuu walked out of the shadows and held up
something that looked vaguely like a wand. From somewhere in the
laboratory, music rang forth from speakers. Small doll copies of
herself popped up on Washuu's shoulders and began to sing.

"Experimenting by moonlight,
Theorizing by daylight,
All the data proves that she's right,
She's the one called Sailor Washuu!"

"Science Research Power!" cried Washuu and her puppets simultaneously.
Technological equipment so advanced that it was indistinguishable from
magic lifted her in the air and spun her around. Her clothes dissolved
away, then a sailor fuku materialized on her. She landed on her toes
and struck a series of weird poses. 

"I am Scientific Soldier Sailor Washuu! In the name of Science, I will
analyze you!" She looked and blinked. "Oh. It's *you*."

"Tenchi had me come down to get you," informed Nobuyuki, trying his
best to speak clearly in spite of the tongue clamp. "Breakfast is
ready." He drooled slightly, Washuu's outfit prompting him to mentally
re-read some of the doujinshi in his manga collection.

"Hmmm..." mused Washuu, holding her chin in thought. "I should have
expected this. He's getting *smarter*."

"I am?" asked Nobuyuki hopefully.

Washuu shook her head. "No. Tenchi is."

Nobuyuki hung his head.

"Well, I already have *most* of the necessary data for Tenchi. And a
full set of pattern scans, those that haven't deteriorated. If I do
some scans on *you*, I *should* be able to cross-reference the two
sets, and extrapolate from there." She moved over to her console, and
tapped on the keyboard. Graphs of scan results appeared on the screen.
"No problem with the hentai pattern *this* time!" She paused and
thought for a moment. "This should work out nicely." Then she grinned.
"Given the proper sample, of course."

"Sample?" asked Nobuyuki.

Sailor Washuu postured, raised her wand skyward, and shouted.

"IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE: HAND, MOUTH, BREAST, *AND* FULL
INTERCOURSE!!"

Nobuyuki's eyes widened in eager anticipation. "Really?!"

Washuu shook her head. "No, no, I was just kidding." She pressed some
keys on her console, and Nobuyuki popped free of his restraints.

"Too bad," sighed Nobuyuki. "If that sample you were talking about was
what I *think* it is..." Then he shook his head, and thought out loud
for a moment. "No. She hasn't started haunting me because of the
peeping, but if I did *that*, she'd kill me for sure... Oh, sorry,
forgot where I was." His face became puzzled. "Is *that* why Tenchi's
so scared to come down here?"

Washuu's grin answered the question affirmatively.

Nobuyuki shook his head. "When *I* was his age, if a kawaii young lady
offered to do that for *me*, I'd have jumped at the chance!"

"It's hard to believe you two are actually related," said Washuu.

"Now, wait a minute," said Nobuyuki, slightly serious. "That's my son
you're talking about."

"Sorry, no offense intended. I just meant that he doesn't act like
you."

Nobuyuki sighed. "Yeah, I've been worried about his shyness problem
for a while. I figured that with so many very pretty girls around the
house, he'd be bound to take an interest in one of you sooner or
later. I mean, there's Mihoshi, Kiyone, and you..."

"Thanks," said Washuu, smiling.

"...and Aeka, and Ryoko. It's too bad Sasami is so young, he's not
afraid of *her*. But I guess he would be, if she was available."
Nobuyuki sighed again. "It's just not right for a boy his age not to
have a girlfriend. He should experience some of the joys of life while
he has a chance!"

Washuu looked at Nobuyuki quizzically. Most of the time he seemed
little more than an annoying voyeur and oft-absent overworked
salaryman, but his concern for his son revealed something deeper.

And, for Washuu, it stirred memories. She sighed and looked off into
the dark depths of her lab. Amidst the shadows light gleamed on the
glass and metal regalia of science, but none of it warmed her heart
the way it usually did.

"Cherish him while you've got him, Masaki-san," she said quietly. "You
never know when he'll be taken from you."

Nobuyuki nodded. "I know what you mean. I still remember the day his
mother died. Sometimes I think if she'd been there to help me raise
him... maybe he wouldn't be so frightened of women, if he'd grown up
with one around." Then he smiled. "Sorry for being so depressing.
Anyway, can I ask you a favor?"

"Ask away," replied Washuu.

"If you manage to get Tenchi, can you let me know so I can videotape
it? I've promised myself that I'll do that."

Washuu smiled. "I'll give you a copy of mine. One of the cardinal
rules of scientific research -- always maintain a careful record of
all laboratory procedures and the resulting data."

"Something like that," agreed Nobuyuki. "I know Tenchi won't
understand now, but when he's my age, he'll thank me." Once again, he
sighed. "Maybe I'll go watch the ones my wife and I made," he said
quietly.

Washuu stared at him for a moment. Nobuyuki noticed, and realized he'd
been talking out loud again.

"It's not what you think!" he said quickly. "It's just that... they
remind me of the special times we had. And it's good to see the days
when I was young and full of energy, again."

"Of course," said Washuu, nodding. "You don't need to tell *me* about
the value of solid benchmarks."

"Well, uh, just forget you heard me mention those, OK?" asked
Nobuyuki. "My wife made me promise that no one besides the two of us
would even know about them, and she'll be really mad at me."

"Your secret's safe with me, Masaki-san."

"Nobuyuki," he corrected. "Anyway, good luck. I hope you -- or, at
least, *somebody* -- can catch him." He turned to go, then stopped.
"One more thing. About the door to the women's bath..."

"I'll *think* about it," answered Washuu.

As Nobuyuki left, Washuu sat down and thought. She needed a new
project to immerse herself in, something to take her mind off of the
memories the conversation had brought back. Not having the sample
would be a major hindrance. But perhaps it was best to work with the
materials at hand.

Suddenly, inspiration struck.

Washuu bent over her console, typing furiously, letting the countless
scientific details of her planned invention crash over unpleasant
emotions and drown them like a massive, unstoppable tidal wave.

Four days later...

Hesitantly, Tenchi opened the door to Washuu's lab and slowly went
inside, followed by Ryoko and Aeka. They stopped for a moment when
they heard what sounded like several people far away engaged in loud,
energetic sex. Sweating, the three of them crept towards the noise. It
was coming from the other side of a distant wall of lab equipment. 

When they reached the barrier of machinery, the trio paused. They 
knew better than to jostle anything in Washuu's lab. It might blow up
the house, the planet, the Solar system, the galaxy, or the universe.
Maybe several universes, if it was a really complex experiment. Aeka
and Ryoko caught up to him. With great care they made their way around
the end and looked to see what the source of the sound was. When they
saw, they all blushed blue and froze in terror.

It was not a sight for the faint of heart.

Washuu was being simultaneously penetrated orally, vaginally, and
anally by what looked like three exact copies of Tenchi. Exact, except
for the horrible perverse leers on each of their faces. And the fact
that each one was hung to the tune of about half a meter.

"Oh, so you decided to help me run the tests after all," said Washuu,
standing next to Aeka. "Aren't they amazing? They've been going at it
for an hour now, and they're still performing flawlessly."

Aeka, Ryoko, and Tenchi's eyes went from the Washuu standing next to
them, then to the Washuu engaged in sex that would surely be fatal to
mere mortals, and back again.

Washuu blinked. "What's the matter? Don't you like my latest
inventions?"

"But... they... what the...? How...? Why...?" the three of them
stammered. "Who...?"