This uses pure Tenchi TV continuity.  I hope it will be obvious why.  I've
only written a prologue so far, so this is a teaser.

                                  Prologue

     It's been so different lately.  I've discovered my heritage as a prince of
Jurai and returned to Earth.  The new friends I made I thought were gone, but
everyone has returned and they've all settled into place again.  Sometimes I've
felt like a bit of a target, especially when Kain came, but I suppose those are
the breaks that come with being a prince of Jurai.  But anyway, for another day,
I ride the bus to school, leaving behind the most unusual life on Earth and
returning to the life of an ordinary high school boy.

    "Hello, Tenchi.  Any luck with that spiky-haired wild girl?" asked
Amagasaki-kun.  He had heard of her; I did tell my classmates that much.  "I
saw how Ryouko hugged you at lunchtime last week, how far have you gotten with
her Tenchi?"  He was referring to the time she teleported in to give me a
special lunch; I'm glad nobody was watching at the time.

    The teacher took attendance and then handed us all index cards.  "Write
your name on these and pass them forward and to the right."  I hadn't the
faintest idea what this was for, but I obeyed.  He collected the cards and
put them in a box.  The explanation was soon coming, but when I heard it, I
had wished I had asked some questions first no matter how much that would
embarrass me.

    "We've got an exchange student coming here next week", he explained.  "From
the United States of America.  He's going to be living at one of you students'
homes; it's a great honor."  When the school year started, we had all filled
out a bit of paperwork, and it included a form asking if we were willing to
put up an exchange student in our homes.  Everyone wanted to help, even me,
but that was before everything...  happened.  If an exchange student lived in
my house now, he'd find out that I was living with four females from outer
space with regular visits by two more.  I prayed, to whatever ancestors were
listening in the Masaki shrine, that someone else would be chosen.

    The teacher reached into the box and looked away from it.  He swirled his
hand around...  maybe he'd pick Amagasaki-kun?  Or Atsuko-san?  The chance
was really pretty small, since it was a big class.  He picked out a card as
everyone waited, breathless.  He looked at the card and pointed...  to the
other half of the room, slowly moving his finger around.  "The lucky student
is..." he said, stopping for a dramatic second.

    I let out a sigh of relief until our teacher, with a flourish, spun sixty
degrees and pointed directly at me.  "Tenchi Masaki!  Congratulations!"
My friends patted me on the back and congratulated me too, and as others
followed them, soon the whole class was smiling and treating me as if I had
won the lottery.  They didn't know.  They just didn't know.

    "Cheer up", said Amagasaki-kun, spotting the frown on my face.  "I thought
you wanted to be in the program."

    "Yes, but..."

    "Say, maybe the student's a pretty blonde girl.  Bet Ryouko would get
jealous."

    "Or it's a guy, who might try to get Tenchi's girl", said another friend.
"But you can make sure that doesn't happen, right, Tenchi?  Just treat Ryouko
like you should treat a lover."

    "No!  It's...  well, I have to ask Dad and Grandpa.  Something's come up."

                                  * * * * * *

    My teacher gave me an information sheet that the exchange student had
filled out months ago.  It was a guy, after all.  Seventeen years old, about
my age.  He seemed like an okay sort of person, and judging from the paragraph
he wrote, his Japanese was very good...  ah, there, he even mentioned it.  He
said that his mother pestered him to take Japanese because it's used in more
places than he'd think.

    Anyway, I thought, got to talk to Dad and figure out what to do.  I
took off my shoes as I entered the house and looked down to get a pair of
slippers.  Then I noticed a shadow on the ground, not my own, and looked up
again.  I was met by a smiling face in spiky blue hair.  "Oh, hi, Ryouko."

    She seemed a little disappointed when all I did was say "hi".  Ryouko
is very affectionate, sometimes too much, and if I hugged her she'd start
to get the wrong ideas.  Heck, she gets the wrong ideas anyway.  Besides, Aeka
has to be right behind her.

    "That's no way to greet Tenchi-sama", said Aeka.  Right on cue.  She stepped
forwards, shoved Ryouko aside, and picked up the slippers and handed them to
me.  "Welcome home, Tenchi", said Aeka.

    I shook my head.  Ryouko, Aeka, please don't fight.  I need to go ask Dad
something.  It's very important.

    Ryouko looked at me, waiting to hear my every word.  "Uhh, Ryouko...", I
told her.  "All right, here's the deal.  There's going to be an exchange
student coming here.  We can't have an exchange student coming here with you
hovering around."  I pointed to Aeka.  "Or you, making force fields and
talking about royal families.  I'm going to talk to Dad to find out what to
do."

    "Are you saying that I have no restraint?" asked Ryouko.  She looked as if
she was about to cry, a look I've seen a dozen times before and which usually
meant, not that she was really upset, but that she wasn't getting her way.

    "Tenchi-sama, I can keep Ryouko from causing trouble when our exchange
student guest comes along", said Aeka.

    Ryouko threw a force bolt at her, and she started with the shield again.

    "Stop!" I yelled.  "This is why I'm asking Dad, not just talking to you.
I'm not so sure you _could_ stay out of trouble.  It's going to be for at
least several months, and we can't have _one_ energy bolt or floating log in
that time.  I'd like to have him come over too, but the consequences of
messing up can be pretty bad."  I walked away to talk to Dad.

                                  * * * * * *

    "Why don't you wait for dinner?" he had suggested.  I did, and as soon as
everyone was seated, I cleared my throat and spoke.

    "Ahem...  everyone, I have an announcement.  There's an exchange student
who's going to be living here for a little while.  As you all know, this house
has a lot of room for guests, and finding the space for him won't be a problem.
Will everyone cooperate?  Or do I have to go back and tell my teacher that I'm
going to bow out of the program and leave it to someone else?"

    Washuu applauded and answered "Fine with me.  My lab's out of view
anyway, and if anyone wants to fight while we have a guest, I can prepare a
special arena for it."

    "No, Washuu-chan, that won't be necessary", said Aeka.  "Why, you would
think that I am not as elegant and refined as I am, to boorishly fight like
that."

    Ryouko looked into my eyes and said "For you, Tenchi...  I'll do it."

    "Tenchi-oneechan", said Sasami, "I promise."

    "No, it's okay, Sasami", I said.  "I mostly wanted to hear it from Ryouko
and Aeka and Washuu, in front of everyone.  I needed to get across just how
important it is not to do anything unusual, and I needed to be sure that you
know just what everyone expects of you.  I'm glad it worked out...  and thanks
Dad."

    I walked over to the phone and called up Kiyone, leaving a message on
her answering machine.  There was always the problem of Mihoshi, but she
and Kiyone shouldn't be visiting too much, and it should be manageable.

    "So who's this exchange student anyway?" asked Grandpa.  From the looks
of him, you'd never guess he was lost royalty of the planet Jurai.

    "Oh, he's from this place called Newport, and his name is David Carter."

                                  COMING SOON
                          TENCHI MUYOU: INVASION JAPAN