Disclaimer: The cast of Tenchi Muyo belongs to AIC and
Pioneer. This
story is not used to make any kind of profit, it is
just for people to enjoy. Thank you 8 )
A/N: I would just like to thank everyone for their reviews. I'll try to give additional insights into
the characters as how I interpret them so that you can get a better feel for
their motivations or reasons. Thanks
again for reading 8 )
Chapter
3: No Need for Running
Trying
as hard as his battered body could, he still wasn't able to make it on time for
dinner. Just as he limped into the
dining room, he saw that everyone had already cleared their spots at the
table. Before he could say another word
an angry little princess stormed his way.
"Tenchi! Where were you? Aeka and Ryoko were getting so worried about you that they forgot
about their fighting! Not only that but
your dinner is cold now too."
Seeing
the little princess pout was enough to turn any fearsome giant into a gentle
giant.
"I'm
really sorry about that Sasami, Grandpa and I were training and after we
trained I wasn't feeling well and I decided to stop and sit for a bit. And then I accidentally fell asleep."
"Oh
that's o.k. Tenchi, we were just worried about you. You know he trains you hard because he cares about you, and he
wants you to be able to protect all of us young pretty girls" giggled the chef
of the house.
"Sasami…ohhh
you shouldn't say things like that.
Besides you all can protect yourselves you know. Anyways, what's for dinner…but better wait
on that, I want to get cleaned up a bit first before I eat. Can you keep dinner warm a little bit longer
please?"
"Sure
Tenchi, just get me when you want to have dinner, I'll be in the living room
playing games" she replied cheerfully.
And
with that Tenchi dragged himself upstairs to his room. Grabbing some fresh boxers, pants and shirt
he went to find some relief for his aching body. Grandpa should take it a bit easier on me, after all these
girls are more then capable of taking care of themselves. And besides what if I'm not around…they'll
just have to learn to manage on their own
With that thought Tenchi laughed out loud. Manage on their own…lets see…Aeka and Ryoko blowing up the
house, Mihoshi sleeping all day on the balcony, poor Kiyone and Sasami trying
to keep everyone in line. O.K., O.K
Grandpa maybe you do have a point. I
see that I can't ever leave them and I wouldn't want to. But what if they were to leave me? I wouldn't want to see any of them
go… Ending his train of thought was
the rumbling coming from Tenchi's stomach.
Quickly he got dressed and went downstairs in search of his long awaited
dinner.
…Meanwhile
at the docks
Kiyone
got up and stretched. She had been
sitting for a bit since her revelation.
Even admitting it made her feel weak.
What about my career? I need
my career, that is who I am, it's what defines me as a person. Striving to be the best that I can be no
matter what the job, whether it is as a Galaxy Police officer or working at one
of our part time jobs. And what's wrong
with being the best? I certainly don't
want to be the worst. Then a voice
she rarely heard made its appearance in her head. But I know why you work so hard Kiyone. And I know why you've made your work your
one and only priority, desiring promotion after promotion. You can't hide these things from me, after
all, I am you. You forgot? Let me tell you why you work so hard then. When you work hard you don't have time to
care for anyone, time to fall in love.
You have something that won't ever go away. I know you are a hard worker Kiyone, but you can't just shut the
world out, you can't close your heart.
I know you don't want to remember the man who caused you all that
pain. The one who drove you to succeed,
but not all men are like that…
How
do you know?! the other side of her mind cried out. You can't trust that side of your
mind. That is the side you locked
away. Promotions won't bring you any
pain or sorrow! The only way for sorrow
to find you is if you were demoted, and the Kiyone I know would NEVER allow
herself to be demoted…even with that ditz Mihoshi around!
No…but
the Kiyone I know is different, she's…
She
was a naïve little girl who didn't know anything until it was too late. She followed what you told her, she followed
her heart. From that time on she has
forsaken you.
You
know you can't think with your brain all the time. True the brain is calculating and it makes sound choices for
you. But it doesn't know the other joys
of life. When was the last time you
truly enjoyed yourself Kiyone? When was
the last time you were truly happy? And
why did you move out of the Masaki house?
Did that move make you happy?
It
doesn't matter, you don't need anyone but yourself. You are independent, and you will not…can not be a burden anyone
else.
Anyone
but yourself…right Kiyone? How long
will you suffer like this? How long
will you use your promotion and work as an excuse to bury yourself away from
everyone else? How long Kiyone? You might have closed your heart, but I will
always be here. And although you have
long since listened to me, it's been long since you have been happy…
It
was like listening to Ryoko and Aeka fight.
Her heart and her head were telling her different things. Things they both knew affected her. It's true a long time ago she had been
naïve. And for that she paid the
price. Since then Kiyone threw herself
into her career. After all something
like that couldn't hurt you. At least
not in the way a man could.
Kiyone
shook her head to try to clear the little nagging voices up. A long time ago she vowed not to listen to
her heart ever again. Sealing it up
within herself so that no one could ever open it. But she knew that was a lie.
But she chose to live that lie and find comfort in her work. Maybe now is time to go back on that
decision and let the healing start…
She knew though the decision wouldn't be so simple. It was always easy to say those things but
in reality it was different. I told
myself after I got over him that I was fine.
And I am…aren't I?
…FLASHBACK…four
years ago at the Police Academe
"Kiyone,
Kiyone" came the voice of a concerned Mihoshi.
"You can't lock yourself in your room forever. Come out Kiyone, I'm worried about you. It's been almost 3 days; you don't go to class, you don't eat or
anything…Kiyone if you don't open that door I'm going to have to break it
down."
"Go
away Mihoshi" came a dull voice.
*Crash!!!!!* which was then followed by a "Owwwwwww,
WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH". But soon the crying
subsided. "Kiyone as your best friend,
I demand you to open that door and come on out!"
"Leave
me alone Mihoshi! I don't want to come
out and I'm not hungry, just LEAVE ME ALONE!"
That
was the most life in her voice that she had heard from Kiyone in the last three
days. Mihoshi knew better then to leave
Kiyone like this. At first she thought
that it was just the normal grieving period.
It's been three days, she should at least come out, this is
enough. With just the dumb luck
that Mihoshi had she pushed a few random buttons on the number pad on the door
and she was greeted with an audible *click*.
Inside
Mihoshi was just awestruck. The room
looked like it had been ransacked.
Clothes flung across the room, the bad wasn't even on the frame anymore. Her normal controlled partner was sitting in
the middle of the room. The tears that
had stained her cheeks were readily available.
In fact Mihoshi noted she didn't even change from that night
that she went to surprise him…
Going
to one of the blinds she flipped it open revealing the starry scenery of vast
open space and the twinkling stars.
Turning around she took a good look at her partner. Kiyone was a mess, still in the clothes that
she went out to see him in. Her eyes
were all puffy and red, her fine teal hair was all knotted and wild. "Come on Kiyone we need to get you washed up
then we can figure out what to do next.
You can't just sit here forever."
"I
know I know Mihoshi…I just don't know why.
I did everything for him and I would do anything he asked me to. And…" unable to finish Kiyone just cried
quietly holding onto Mihoshi.
…Back to the Present
Kiyone smiled wistfully to herself. It was the day after my bath that I
promised not to open up and keep my heart to myself. Standing up and stretching Kiyone barely
noticed the one lone tear that had drifted down past her cheek. Wiping the tear away and putting on a brave
mask in case there was anyone still roaming around the house the teal haired
detective made her way into the one place where she could feel warm.
Coming down the stairs Tenchi was calling for the little
princess. "Sasami…Sasami are you
here?" Hmm no answer…and the house
is unusually quiet. I wonder where
everyone could be. They were all here a
minute ago. Upon reaching the
kitchen Tenchi found a note written by Sasami to him.
Hey Tenchi,
It was still kind of early and
Ryoko and Aeka wanted to go to the mall so we could look for a gift for your
birthday. We won't be back too late,
and dinner is in the oven. Oh and the
password is "Crab" so don't forget to put in the password or the oven will
teleport you outside into the lake. And
to answer why we have a password on the oven…well it's because Ryoko and Aeka
are always trying to get the leftovers so Washu put that in for me.
See you later Tenchi,
Sasami
So with eel and rice on his mind Tenchi makes his way into
the kitchen heading for the oven.
Pushing the crab button where the clock of the oven used to be, a
holopad appeared in front of him. Greeting
him was the sound of Mecha-Washu, "Please enter the password"
Where the heck does Washu get her crazy ideas
anyways…sheesh.
Punching in the password, Tenchi hears a "hisss" come from
the oven, like it was depressurizing.
Taking a hold of the latch, he lowered down the front of the oven to
reveal his steaming meal, all set out on a tray ready for him to eat. Balancing the tray in one hand and opening
the drawer to get some chopsticks he made his way to the bar in the
kitchen. No point in using the
dining table if I'm gonna be eating alone.
Taking a bite of his eel he sighs happily. Man this is good, I wonder if I can get her to make me some
tomorrow before I go to work in the fields.
You don't get better then Sasami's cooking, even if it is being
reheated.
Just as he placed his chopsticks in his bowl of rice, the
kitchen door that led to the backyard opened.
Thinking that no one was home, Tenchi's hand tensed around his
chopsticks ready to make a flying leap for his assailant.
To Tenchi's surprise in walked a downtrodden Kiyone. When she looked up she saw Tenchi grinning
sheepishly still holding his chopsticks like he was going to plunge it into
her. Something stirred inside her at
that moment, something that pushed away all the frustration and the sadness
during the day. But even though those
thoughts were shoved aside for the moment, they still lay dormant there waiting
to emerge at anytime. Giving him a half
smiled she asked, "What? Are you gonna
try to poke me to death with that thing?"
Looking completely dumbfounded Tenchi put down his makeshift
weapons and laughed nervously. "Hehe,
you be quiet, I wasn't expecting anyone to be home, Sasami said that everyone
went to go to the mall…I just got a little nervous when the door started
opening by itself." Taking a closer
look at Kiyone's face Tenchi thought that her eyes looked a little
red…bloodshot…almost like she could have been crying.
"Well anyways Kiyone, did you eat yet? You look like you can use a warm meal too
eh?"
"Umm I don't want to bother you Tenchi, I can go out and get
something myself. Don't worry about
it…"
"No not at all Kiyone, I can't finish this meal that Sasami
left me, why don't we split it?"
"Oh Tenchi are you sure I don't want to be any trouble
besides…"
"Besides nothing Kiyone, it's fine really." By this time Tenchi was already up and
grabbing another bowl and set of chopsticks from the drawer. "Would you like anything to drink also? Tea, Juice, none of the above…all of the
above?"
For some reason Tenchi was starting to get nervous. Idiot what is there to get nervous
about, she isn't going to try to do anything to you. She's been nothing but courteous and friendly. Although…would it be bad if she did try
something? At this thought Tenchi
started turning red in the face. Trying
to busy himself with getting some juice out of the fridge, he didn't even hear
Kiyone tell him that she didn't want any.
"Umm Tenchi…didn't you hear me? I said that I didn't want any juice…" What's wrong with that boy…all of a sudden he seems so
nervous. My God he probably thinks that
I am gonna make a move on him or something now that he and I are alone. Jeeze, I don't know if he's either got a big
head or just paranoid. Although living
in this house I'd probably go with paranoid. Letting his obvious mistake slide, Kiyone thanked him for the
juice and started eating.
Tenchi on the other hand had started to calm down. This is Kiyone we're talking about, she
has no interest in you and everything is gonna be fine. Just relax Tenchi…
Both of them were eating in silence, deep in their own
thoughts until Tenchi spoke up.
"Hey Kiyone, how come you didn't go out with everyone else?"
"Oh, I didn't know they went out, I was out on the docks…I
guess I was just lost in my own little world."
"Ahh I see, you know it almost seems out of place when we do
get some peace and quiet around here.
It's amazing isn't it."
Kiyone nodded her head and tucked some of her teal hair
behind her ear. Quietly the two adults
listened to the crickets that could be heard through the windows while enjoying
their meal in comforting silence.
It sure is nice to be able to have a meal without
explosions…and with Tenchi here too. I
wonder when everyone else will be back, although I suppose I should just listen
for an explosion and that would answer that
And only after both were done, together they cleared their
plates and bowls putting them in the Washu-Washer 2000.
"Hey Kiyone, why don't you stay the night. I mean it's already late and…well it would
be better probably if you just stayed here."
O.K. could that have sounded any worse… "I mean don't take that the wrong way I'm
not trying to suggest that you know…you and I and…
At first Kiyone looked confused…then that confusion turned
slowly into embarrassment. "It's O.K.
Tenchi I know what you mean, thanks for the offer…I appreciate it." After a moment of thought Kiyone asked
"Tenchi, do you want to watch T.V. or something…I mean there is some time to
kill and we don't have anything to do."
Glad to have the subject changed Tenchi found himself
smiling a bit. "Sure that sounds good,
is there anything you want to watch?"
Holding the door kitchen door open for Kiyone he waited patiently for
her to go through first.
There he goes again, you know you enjoy it
Kiyone. Shaking her head more at
herself then anything else she made her way past Tenchi into the living
room. Thanks to Washu, the residents at
the Masaki house had the most advanced if not the most complicated entertainment
center in the whole universe.
"Go ahead and find something to watch Kiyone, I'll make some
popcorn to eat while we watch. Did you
want anything to drink?"
"Just some tea if you would Tenchi, that would be great."
"Sure thing Kiyone", with that Tenchi's head disappeared
again back into the kitchen. And thus
began Kiyone's struggles. You
know…if you look at the way you two are acting, it would almost be like you two
were a married couple…if not a married one then one that has at least been
going out for a long time. Look at this
he's bringing you tea, popping popcorn, it's like a romantic evening at
home…now all you have to do is find a little romantic movie for you two to
enjoy…. But the responsible side of
Kiyone's conscience wouldn't go down without a fight.
Just what do you think you are doing? Now you're just behaving like one of the
other girls. Trying to scheme him into
doing something, and what's more he has no idea what is going on. That boy wouldn't know water if he fell out
of a boat. Just find some good action
movie and be content to watch that with him and be his friend. Remember what happened last time…
But her heart would have none of that backtalk. You just leave that in the past where it
belongs. Learn from experience…Tenchi
is a nice guy…so what if you haven't known him for that long. He still is a trust worthy and you, him and
everyone had been through so much together.
You didn't know HIM for that long either…and you thought
that HE was trustworthy.
…Flashback
"Are
you sure you don't need me to bring you anything? I got the notes from our Deviance in Society class too, there's
going to be a test day after tomorrow"
"That's
O.K. Kiyone, I think I'm just gonna rest now.
Can't be eating too much stuff when you got the stomach flue. Anwyays I am going to go lay down now ok?"
"O.K.
then…I'll talk to you later."
"Night
Kiyone, I love you."
She
found that he always managed to make her heart flutter when he told her
that. No matter how many times he told
her, she loved hearing it. Something
about that phrase conjured up pictures of wedding bells and a long beautiful
white gown that she had always imagined in her fantasies. "I love you too, rest up"
Sighing
quietly to herself as she hung up the receiver, she wished that she could do
something to make him feel better.
Well, I'll bring him some soup anyways, he still needs his
fluids. That cafeteria food is so gross
that's probably how he got sick…I bet they probably use prison meat or
something for that…although I wonder how Mihoshi can eat that slop
non-stop. With that last thought
she went over to the soup drawer and pulled out some hearty noodle soup.
NO…stop it I don't want to remember these things. They're in the past…let them stay there. I am here in the present where things are
better!
To Kiyone it was like she had three voices going on in her
head now. The side of her that
represented her heart, the other side that stood for all her rationality and of
course, herself in the middle; This would be perfect for some Freudian
text she thought to herself bitterly.
Put on something romantic…just do it…but not too
serious, find something that won't make him uncomfortable…find a feel good
movie.
By this time it was
more then obvious to see which side of her mind had control over this
battle. She had shut up the more
rational side and was trying to be casual and not all stiff like. She sprawled herself on the sofa with her
back towards the armrest and legs towards the middle of the couch. Upon hearing Tenchi come out she looked back
towards him to see him carrying a try with some popcorn and drinks. Throwing him a half smile she sat up and
patted the empty spot next to her.
Smile Kiyone S M I L E!!!
what is this lopsided smile stuff…could you make yourself anymore
obvious and patting the seat next to you…great you probably just ended up right
next to Ryoko and Aeka in his mind…ARG!.
Something clicked inside Tenchi's head. Kiyone was giving him funny looks and then
blushing all of a sudden. At first he
was temped to follow his natural reaction, that including turning his tail and
running fast and far. That is
Kiyone you doof, just be casual and everything will be ok. Tenchi quickly ended that train of thought,
blushing and grinning at the same time he sat down where Kiyone had patted the
sofa before and put the tray on the coffee table before them.
At first Kiyone couldn't believe that he was sitting next to
her. It was a big plush couch, room
enough for 5 people but still he didn't seem to hesitate too much. Just for a fraction of a second before he
started blushing. He started
blushing…I wonder what that could mean…is he embarrassed to be here with
me? Or maybe he is glad to be and…
Before she could go on with her thoughts, Tenchi's voice
caught her attention. "So did you find
anything to watch Kiyone? I don't think
there is much on tonight…at least on the normal Earth channels…
"Oh…umm…I…I didn't really find anything to watch. I think that maybe you should pick…I mean I
don't know what you like so…"
She started handing the remote to Tenchi before he stuck his
hands in front of him and told her "No way I'm not taking responsibility for
the remote…look my hands are already full anyways." Before she could say another word he had gotten a handful of
popcorn in one hand and his drink in another.
"haha now what are you gonna do" he taunted, "Make me change channels
with my nose?.
"Grrr TENCHI!
SERIOUSLY! What do you want to watch?!"
The little Mihoshi vein was starting up in her forehead again,
threatening to erupt into full pulsation when she said that.
Tenchi jumped back like a trapped animal…but then he saw the
look in Kiyone's eyes. A twinge of
sadness flashed for a second. Taking a
sip of his tea and chuckling nervously to himself, he took a breath to slow the
beating of his heart down. "Kiyone,
really whatever you want to watch will be fine…I'm here for the company."
Kiyone's heart stopped for a second before it started
pounding harder then before. When she
didn't say anything Tenchi pressed on.
"Anyways if you don't pick something Kiyone, I'll just have
to put on Space Police Police man, and I heard they are having a marathon on
tonight too. Hmm I think it might have
already started, maybe I should see if I can find it."
Putting the tea down and gobbling down the last of the
popcorn he had in his hand, he reached for the remote. Leaning forward and springing into action
Tenchi made a grab with his left hand for the remote. At the same time he tried to bring his right hand down on Kiyone
to pin her down.
At the first mention of Space Police Police man Kiyone
looked shocked and then when she saw that he was making a grab to the remote
her GP instincts took over. He was
fast, but she was faster. As he was
leaning forward she put her right hand (hand with the remote) behind her back
up high behind her head, and with her left hand she slapped away at his
incoming right hand.
A look of surprise came over Tenchi's face as his hand was
brushed aside. Grinning at the
challenge he renewed his effort for the remote and his quest to turn on Space
Police Police man. Making another lunge
he managed to get himself higher up over Kiyone.
Damn, he's fast, I'm gonna have to do something drastic
about this, because I refuse to watch Space Police Police Man on my free
time. Twisting her lithe body,
Kiyone turned her waist to the right of the couch. If I can just get him to turn a bit more, gravity will take
over and pull him off the couch for me.
So she wrapped her legs around him torso and pulled hard. But it was at that second when she started
turning her waist, she saw the look on his face. It was the same shade of pink as Washu's hair, and then time
seemed to slow down.
She's got her legs around you, don't think about what
this looks like…. But it was already
too late, what if someone was home?
This looks so bad…O.K., O.K….Tenchi just play it off don't make a big deal
out of nothing and she won't. Then
Tenchi stared into her eyes. Those deep
sapphire eyes of hers flickered with fire and more. The fire of life and determination was behind those eyes, yet
something more, something softer that he couldn't place. He longed to know what that was. He didn't know if he was caught in the
moment or if time just seemed to slow down for him too. And when she felt his piercing gaze, she
tried to turn her eyes away. It was
like they were searching her soul.
Looking for all the secrets and thoughts that she had buried away.
Then as soon as time slowed down for the entwined friends,
it sped right back up. Gravity took
over and threatened to pull them both off the couch. Tenchi tried to fight it, Kiyone tried to fight it but it was a
lost cause. Tumbling over the edge of
the couch Tenchi hit the ground first with a loud thud. Opening his eyes he realized that he had
inadvertently held on to Kiyone as he fell and even pulled her against
him. Now there was Kiyone laying on top
of him, her head nestled on his shoulder.
They were both clutching each other like lifelines. Normally he would have been fearful,
probably would have thrown her off and took off running. After all that was Plan B, when the girls
fight or when Ryoko was trying to seduce him go to Plan B…run with all your
might and fury. But he was comfortable;
he didn't even notice that his back was throbbing from landing on all the
bruises. It was intimate, and she was
soft…hugging him tightly, but not strangling him. Once again time seemed to slow down, and he realized it had been
the second time in the last few minutes.
What am I doing? This isn't
good, I should get her off of me, I should say something.
Inside Kiyone's mind, her thoughts were racing. Part of her wanted to stay like this and not
move, just lay there and be held, protected, and maybe loved, just like he
had…or so she thought. The other part
of her screamed at her now, sensing that her weak point was surfacing, Betrayal and pain, that is all there is
if you stay here Kiyone…GET UP GET UP!
He will hurt you; they all will hurt you. You don't have to be hurt anymore. As if on queue her mind started replaying events of the past
again…
Kiyone
smiled to herself as she finished the soup she was preparing. Putting it in a big thermos she left a note
on Mihoshi's white board telling her that she would be back in a few hours and
not to make dinner for her.
So
off went Kiyone, smiling to herself and to the world for she was in love and
there was nothing else in the world that mattered as much to her. As she walked up the flight of stairs to his
apartment she saw that his door was opened a crack. Shaking her head and thinking nothing of it she opened the front
door. What she saw there made all the
blood drain from her face. She stood
there paralyzed, as if some ancient spell were cast on her. It was him in the arms of another
woman. He was slurping on her neck so
loud that it made Kiyone's skin crawl.
Her body was numb, she didn't know what to do, should she say something,
do something…anything but stand there.
And then there was a crash, the thermos had dropped and it's contents
spilled all over the floor. Just like
her love for him, discarded and thrown around.
All eyes turned on her, and she felt the spell on her body release. She needed time to figure out what was going
on, her vision blurring she did the only thing she could. She ran out…dimly aware of him calling her
name, but she didn't care, she didn't want to care. But she wanted to turn around, to hear what kind of mistake it
was. She knew though there had been no
mistake. The only mistake was that she
had been fooled by his deep brown eyes and his innate charm…
Tears beginning to form in her eyes she bolted up; and
before Tenchi knew what was happening she ran upstairs, the echoes of her sobbing
filling the house.
