Mihoshi picked up Fluffy and looked at him sternly. "What am I
going to do now? I can't walk all the way home! Why did you
follow me?! You should've stayed home!"

"Miya."

"You go play outside." Mihoshi told him. "At lunch I'll have to
see if Kiyone can drive you home."

Fluffy jumped up and picked an item off the shelf, then carried
it over to Mihoshi who giggled delightedly.

"Miya!" He proclaimed, meaning "I can be helpful. Please let me
stay?"

//If you put me outside, I'll get stolen again.// He thought. 

Fluffy blinked at this thought.

//Again?// 

Mihoshi sighed. "Okay." She told him. "But don't break 
anything."

//You're telling him?// the store owner thought ironically.

***

"Tenchi. Watch your feet."

The old trick worked, yet again, as Tenchi toppled from the peg.
This time, however, Ryoko caught him.

"Tenchi," she cooed, bringing her face to his.

Tenchi drew back.

"Oh come on," Ryoko whined, "I just saved your life. Don't I
deserve a hero's kiss?"

"Somehow, I doubt that falling on my backside would've been
fatal." Tenchi half-muttered in reply.

"Miya!" Ryo-ohki called out, cheerfully. "Mi..." a puzzled look
came over her furry countenance and the remaining "ya" sounded
rather confused.  She hopped off a ways, and looked off at the
horizon.

"What is it?" Tenchi asked. "Do you miss your little boy?"

"Miya!" Ryo-ohki looked up at Tenchi. In her eyes was a look that
said "Please, take me to see him?"

"We can go see them on Saturday." Tenchi told her. "That's the
day Mihoshi has off from work."

"Miya!" Ryo-ohki beamed, happily. 

"It'll be fun." Ryoko decided as she glomped onto Tenchi. "Just
like a real date."

"A date with a monster?" Ayeka laughed as she arrived. "That's a
good one."

"What monster," Ryoko grinned wickedly. "I didn't know you were
coming?"

Ayeka stared angrily at Ryoko. This demoness calling her a 
monster. "How dare you?" She summoned forth her miniature log
circles.

"I'm ready if you are." Ryoko summoned her own powers.

Ryo-ohki suddenly screamed out a pained "MIYA!!" 

The others all turned to her, the quarrel temporarily forgotten.

Ryo-ohki seemed completely fine.

"Maybe Fluffy's hurt?" Tenchi suggested.

"We'd better go see right away." Ayeka decided.

"Good idea." Ryoko created a small portal and tossed Ayeka 
inside. A moment later, she stepped through herself, dragging
Tenchi along with her.

"Where's Ayeka?" Tenchi demanded looking around Mihoshi's store.
He couldn't find her anywhere. Had Ryoko sent the Princess to
Hell or some such place? Ryoko didn't strike him as trustworthy.
At the same time, he couldn't picture her doing anything that
evil. She really wasn't all that bad when you got past the stuff
she did to maintain her I'm dangerous" reputation. He also had
the feeling that she and Ayeka fought for the sake of keeping up
appearances. To him, the two girls seemed to like each other. As
he looked around, he happened to glance out the window. He could
see Ayeka. She was draped over one of the limbs on a tree in the
mini-grove that had been planted in the small mid-street island.
The position she was in was almost comical and he had to stifle a
laugh.

"Ryoko," he said, a touch of amusement and relief in his voice,
"get her down from there."

"Whatever you say, Tenchi." Ryoko shot a blast of energy at the
tree limb. 

The branch plummetted  two stories to the ground, Ryoko swooping
in at the last minute to catch Ayeka.