Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Okayama Summer ❯ Chapter 16 ( Chapter 16 )

*Hmmm... nothing much to say... so I am just making an Author's Note thingamabobber just to annoy you all. Oh, in answer to Professor Authordude's question... that was Tsunami. ^^;; Eheh. Oh, as I note: I HAVE SCHOOL NOW. o_o;; The teachers seem to be obsessed with "WE NEED TO GET YOU READY FOR HIGH SCHOOL!!" ... Even though I've only been there for a couple weeks... oh, well. Lur. ^^;; Anyway, I might not update as much. Like I would anyway. ::chortles dorkishly:: 'Nother short chapter... I am SO SORRY it took so long; I had computer problems and horrible Writer's Block... ^^;;*

Chapter Sixteen

"Well, it seems like you're well again, Gohan."

Gohan nodded slowly. He was sitting on a table in Washuu's lab, his hands twisting in his lap. The lab was only dimly lit, and he was almost sure there were things moving around behind him... "I know... I mean, I feel fine. Except... well, I still get tired a lot..."

"Nothing some good exercise won't cure," Washuu said cheerfully. She was, of course, the one who had spoken first -- and, because she was acting as Gohan's "doctor" of sorts -- was wearing a nurse's outfit. Where she had got it from, Gohan wasn't exactly sure. He wasn't sure about a lot of things that had to do with Washuu. "I'd just go outside every day and do whatever you usually would."

"Um... all right." Gohan said testily, doubting that he would be able to do so.

Washuu paused, then added, "Oh... and try to stay away from Sasami."

Gohan blinked. "Sasami?"

"Yeah." Washuu had turned away, and was beginning to pull out some assorted objects she had stored in negative space. "I think she caught some of your sickness, whatever it was -- she's been coughing all day. Now that you've recovered, it would be a really big waste just to get you sick again, especially since it took you such a long time to get better."

"... Okay..." Gohan was beginning to feel uneasy. Some of Washuu's tools looked very sharp, and another suspiciously like a laser. "Should I... um... leave now, or something?"

"Hmm?" Washuu looked up at him. "Oh... yes, you probably should. I'm going to start an experiment in here soon, and you'll probably not want to be here when it starts."

"Heh," Gohan said weakly, a large sweatdrop appearing on the back of his head. "I'll... um... be going now, then. Thanks, Washuu!" He jumped off of the table and ran out the door.

Washuu watched him go, and smiled. "He'll be fine." The smile grew into a wicked grin as she began to load the "laser" with a liquid. "Heh heh heh..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"It's a nice day, isn't it?"

Gohan blinked, and glanced to the right of him. Ryoko was sitting next to him on a tree branch, Ryo-oh-ki on her shoulder. She hadn't been there a moment ago -- he still found her teleporting powers slightly overwhelming. "Yeah... yeah, it is." He shivered. "Feels weird, though... I haven't been outside in such a long time..."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "You cold?"

"Um... kind of." He was. "I'm... I'm okay, though." With anyone else, he would have laughed and said he was freezing to death, but Ryoko... Ryoko was different.

"Eh." She cracked her knuckles and stretched. "I don't really blame you... being sick that long, anyway."

Gohan shrugged.

Ryoko paused a moment, thinking, then said, "Well... Tenchi sent me to find you, so..."

Gohan blinked. "About what?"

"Hmm..." She frowned. "He said that his father was going grocery shopping tomorrow in Okayama, and he wanted to know if you wanted to go, too. You know, to get clothes or whatever. Sasami can come, too, if you want," she added, seeing the blank look on his face.

"Oh... oh!" Gohan's face brightened. "Okay! I've never been to Okayama before..."

"Heh." She scratched her head. "I really can't tell you anything, since Tenchi doesn't let me go... but... it should be fun, anyway." She took to the air. "I'll see you at dinner, then, I guess."

Gohan frowned. "Why doesn't Tenchi let you go to Okayama?"

Ryoko shrugged. "I kinda blew up his school. A little." Before he could respond, she had disappeared again.

Gohan simply stared at the place where she had been. "... She blew up his SCHOOL...?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Stay here for a minute, will you, Lime?"

Lime frowned at Kuririn. "Why? Where are you going?"

Kuririn frowned back at her. "I'm just going up for a minute. To make sure we're not lost."

"I want to come, too!" The girl said with conviction, glaring at him.

He rolled his eyes at her. "No way..."

"Why not?" Lime exclaimed.

"You'll just mess me up... I'll probably drop you, or something..."

"You will not!" Lime snapped, and suppressed the urge to kick him in the shin. Despite the fact that it would most likely do no damage whatsoever, Kuririn's moods had been getting increasingly nasty for the last couple of days -- probably from the fact that there had been no sign of Gohan or, for that matter, any other human being since she had joined him. Still, she didn't want to do anything that might push him over the edge -- though she seriously doubted he would actually hurt her, he had to be extremely strong to be able to fly... "I don't weigh that much!"

He sighed. "That's not the--"

"And you're really strong, aren't you?" She placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows at him, reminding Kuririn strongly of Buruma. "I bet you're almost as strong as... as... Mr. Satan!"

Kuririn let out a derisive snort.

She blinked. "What?"

"... Nothing... maybe I'll try taking you up, after all... you probably know this place better than I do."

"Exactly !" Lime said, somewhat bewildered that he had actually agreed.

"Here... you better ride on my back, so I don't have to worry about carrying you..."

"Piggyback!" Lime screeched, and jumped onto his back, fastening her arms around his neck.

"... Without strangling me..."

"Come on! Fly!" Lime ordered.

"Ungrateful kid," Kuririn muttered, and took off.

"THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!" Lime screamed, holding on for dear life. She could see for miles, now that they were above the trees...

"Hey, pay attention," Kuririn snapped. "Can you see anything?"

"Why can't you look?"

"I'm too busy trying to make sure you don't fall. You keep moving."

"Okay, then!" She glanced around, and noticed what looked like a clearing in the trees. "It looks like the forest starts to thin out over there...!" She squinted. "And... I think that might be a town...!"

"Okay, good," Kuririn said, and thought for a moment. "It'll take too long to get there by foot... and since it's already in sight..." He made up his mind. "D'you mind if we just fly there?"

"OF COURSE NOT!!" The girl shrieked in his ear.

" ... I can hear fine, you know..."

"Um... sorry! My voice gets loud when I'm excited."

"... Yeah... I noticed..."

Within two minutes, they were there.

Lime was grinning as she slid off of Kuririn's back. "You have to teach me how to do that!"

He raised his eyebrows at her suspiciously. "Do what...?"

"FLY, of course!"

He stared at her, dumbfounded. "... Do you even know how to fight?"

She blinked. "No. Does that matter?"

Kuririn groaned, and whacked his head against a tree. "... Yes..."

She frowned. "Why? What does that have to do with flying?"

"... It has to do with controlling your ki, and you need discipline in fighting and general strength to be able to do it... anyway..." He turned his attention to the town they had landed just outside of, inspecting it from afar. "This doesn't look like a bad place... a little busy, maybe, but not bad..."

Lime shrugged, and pointed to a sign on a post. "That must be the name of the town."

Kuririn walked over to it, and cocked his head. "... 'Okayama'..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*^^;; The next chapter will NOT take so long, I promise... urgh... @_@ I'm glad I actually finished this... ^^;;;*