Disclaimer: see part one.
Protection: part 2
Tsunami sat in her realm, underneath one of the many trees contained therein. It was logical for a nature-oriented goddess to fill her realm with trees, plants, and other soothing things. She was sitting under one of the larger trees, sipping at a cup of tea, pondering what to do about Tenchi's request. Suddenly, it became rather dark and stormy.
'This shouldn't be happening, unless....Tokimi!!!' thought Tsunami.
Before her very eyes, Tokimi appeared before her, small plants within one meter of her were dieing.
"What do you want here, Tokimi?"
"Simply what I have desired since the dawn of existence; to be the most powerful of all three of us."
"You know the laws as well as I do, we wrote them, remember?" replied Tsunami.
"Yes, I know the laws. And I have been preparing for this a long time, sister." The way Tokimi spat out 'sister' made even Tsunami's skin crawl.
"So you already have your mortal representative chosen?"
"Yes. The laws state that you have one week to decide. You can have your week, but if you do not have your representative by then, you loose by default and I will reign supreme." Having said her piece, Tokimi faded out of Tsunami's realm, leaving the dead plants in her wake.
With a sad expression on her downcast face, she walked over to where the plants remained and began to bring the plants to life. She succeeded, but some of the plants remained dead.
"What has come from the earth, will return to the earth; that is the way of life." she said, destroying the plants, and placing new plants where the dead ones were.
"This gives new urgency to Tenchi's request." she said, going back to her tea.
{=+=+=+=+=+=+=}
Tenchi woke up in the morning, feeling well rested. He got dressed for his training with Grandpa, and headed downstairs for breakfast. He smiled, seeing Sasami working hard in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Sasami."
"Oh, Tenchi, good morning." she replied. Sasami was always the one to have a cheerful expression on her face.
"Mmmm, that smells wonderful, Sasami."
"Could you run up to the shrine for me? I don't want Grandfather to miss breakfast again."
"Sure Sasami." replied Tenchi as he started to walk out of the kitchen. As he walked out of the house and up the steps to the shrine, he looked up at the sky and saw the cloudless sky. 'Maybe I'll find some way to tell Ayeka and Ryoko how I-' His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp crack on his head.
"Oww, Grandpa, that hurt."
"Maybe that will teach you to pay more attention to your surroundings than your thoughts. There will be an extra hour of kendo practice this afternoon."
"Yes, Grandpa. Oh, by the way, Sasami asked me to remind you to come to breakfast this morning."
"I'll be there this morning." Yosho said as he walked down to the house. Now that he was alone, Tenchi started to slowly walk back to the house.
'What do I do about the girls? How am I going to tell them? If only one of them felt this way, it would be so much easier. No matter who I choose, one of them is going to be hurt. I'm going to break someone's heart, I know I am. But I don't want to. If only I could soften the blow for each of them.' Sigh. 'I need more time to think about this.' was his last thought as he entered the house for breakfast.
'5...4...3...2...1...'
"Teeenchiiii..." came the familiar call as Ryoko teleported herself behind Tenchi and latched herself onto him. He sighed and walked into the living room, where everyone was eating. Tenchi managed to ignore her wandering hands as he walked over.
"RYOKO! Take your filthy hands off of him this instant!" came Ayeka's angry screech.
"Your just jealous because you want to be where I am."
"Take your hands OFF HIM!!!" yelled Ayeka. Ayeka grabbed an arm and Ryoko grabbed the other and they began a potentially lethal game of tug-of-war.
"Girls, not so early in the morning." was Tenchi's frustrated response to the events transpiring around him. In response to his cry, Ryoko and Ayeka both let go of him and led him to a spot between the both of them.
Breakfast was the typical affair, minus the fight between Ayeka and Ryoko since that had already happened. When Tenchi finished his meal, he decided to drop the bomb.
"Ryoko, Ayeka, I need to speak with the both of you after lunch before I go to the fields. Before that happens, I want you both to stop fighting."
"What, you want me to be nice the stuck-up, prissy little princess?"
"No, I just don't want either of you to fight. You don't have to be nice to each other, just don't fight. If either of you get angry, go to another room. I don't want to hear about either of you fighting between now and lunch. If I hear about you two fighting, then I guess you don't want to hear what I have to say to the both of you."
"Lord Tenchi, I promise you that I will not fight with that, that demon woman untill we speak." replied Ayeka.
"Well, if it means that much to you, I guess I can manage." said Ryoko.
"Good, that's all I ask." said Tenchi as he rose to go to practice. He left the house and jogged up the stairs to the shrine. Taking the turn-off towards the training grounds, he slowed down a bit and saw that he was the only one there.
"Huh, I guess I'm early. Oh well, might as well warm up before Grandpa gets here."
"Too late." came a deep voice from behind him. Tenchi immediately tensed up upon hearing his Grandfather's voice. "Tenchi, don't tense up like that. Not unless you have a weapon in hand."
"Yes, Grandpa."
"I saw what you did during breakfast today."
"You did?" Tenchi did not like where he thought this was going.
"You're finally making a decision. That's an admirable thing to do."
"It is?" He was clearly puzzled.
"Something like that is worth about an hour of practice."
"Really?" Now Tenchi was excited.
"But only if you work for it." said Grandpa. Tenchi visibly deflated.
After practice was over at the normal time, Tenchi walked to the house for lunch. When he entered the house, a heavenly aroma wafted past his face. Following the aroma into the kitchen, he spied Sasami working hard at making lunch.
"Hello Sasami."
"Hi Tenchi."
"So, what's for lunch?"
"Miso soup and chicken tempura."
"Wow, that'll be nice. Say, do you know if Ryoko and Ayeka have been fighting?"
"So that's why it's been so quiet around here. No, I haven't heard a peep out of either of them since breakfast."
"Do you know where they are?" asked Tenchi.
"I think that Ayeka's been in her room and Ryoko's just been sleeping on the rafter." replied Sasami.
"Okay. I need to talk to them. Thanks for telling me."
"Alright Tenchi. If you're going to talk to them about what I think it is, it's about time." she said, scolding him like a small child. Sasami was more observant than anyone would admit.
Tenchi walked out of the kitchen and found Ryoko napping on her rafter. "Ryoko." was all he needed to say to get her attention.
"Yes, Tenchi?" she spoke as she wrapped herself around him.
"Ryoko, I need to speak with you and Ayeka. Could you wait outside for me and Ayeka?" Ryoko looked a little dejected when she heard that, but walked outside anyway. After she walked outside, Tenchi went upstairs to find Ayeka. After making it up to her room, he knocked on her door.
"Miss Ayeka? Are you in there?" Nothing.
"M-miss Ayeka?" A groan came from the other side of the door.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Miss Ayeka, It's right before lunch, and I was kinda hoping to speak with you before lunch."
"Oh, Tenchi. I'll be right out." she replied. There was some shuffling noises emanating from behind the door. A few moments later, Ayeka came out of her room. "You wished to speak with me, Lord Tenchi?"
"Yes, I did. I wanted to talk to you outside if that is alright."
"Oh, no. It will be no problem at all." Ayeak said.
"Alright. After you, Miss Ayeka."
"Why, thank you Lord Tenchi." said Ayeka, walking down the hall. When the both of them arrived outside, they found Ryoko waiting.
"So Tenchi, what's this about?" asked Ryoko.
"I agree, what did you wish to speak to us about?" agreed Ayeka.
"Well," he sighed. "I owe you both an explanation."
"What do you have to explain to us?" inquired Ryoko.
"Why I haven't chosen between the two of you." This immediately got both Ayeka's and Ryoko's attention.
"Go on." prodded Ayeka.
"Well, the reason I haven't chosen one of you over the other is because I don't want to hurt either of you."
"What are you talking about?" asked Ryoko, quizzically.
"I mean, if I chose Ryoko over Ayeka, Ayeka would be crushed. I can't do that to her, and I couldn't do that to you either, Ryoko. I care about both of you too much to hurt you like that." said a downcast Tenchi.
"Well you could try to soften the blow, so to speak." said Ayeka.
"What do you mean, Ayeka?" asked Ryoko.
"Well, oh it's nothing. It probably wouldn't work anyway."
"Any idea is better than what I'm trying to think of." commented Tenchi.
"Well, you could date both of us, I suppose." Ayeka replied.
"Explain." said Ryoko.
"Well, for example, Tenchi goes out with one of us on a date, and the next time Tenchi goes out, he takes the other one out."
Ryoko and Tenchi looked at Ayeka, then at each other, then back to Ayeka. Tenchi was the first to speak. "Ayeka, how did you come up with that idea?"
"I was reading some of Father's comics and that was how the people in the comic solved their problem." replied Ayeka.
"And people say comics have no practical application." said Ryoko.
"Okay. I say that we do that to solve our problem. What do you think Ryoko?" said Tenchi.
"It's worth a shot. Besides, we could always go back to fighting over you like we always have." They all shared a laugh over that.
"Well there is one problem: who get's to go on a date with Tenchi first." said Ayeka.
"There's only one way to settle this in a completely fair, non-biased fashion. A coin toss." said Tenchi. Ryoko and Ayeka facefault.
"A coin toss?" repeated Ryoko incredulously.
"What's so hard to understand about that?"
"Nothing, but why a coin toss?" asked Ayeka.
"I couldn't think of anything else. Sorry." replied a sheepish Tenchi.
"Well, let's get started. Come on, Tenchi, get going." demanded Ryoko.
"Okay, okay, jeez, you don't have to bite my head off." said Tenchi, digging into his pocket and pulling out a coin. "This side is heads," he said showing the side that had an eagle flying on it. "And this side is tails." he said showing the side with the Y100 on it.
"The coin toss will be best two out of three, and Ryoko will call the first one in the air." Tenchi flipped the coin.
"Heads!" she cried out. The coin landed heads.
"Ayeka, will you call it?" he asked, tossing the coin into the air.
"Tails!" Ayeka called, and the coin landed tails.
"Alright. Ryoko, call it in the air." he said. Tenchi tossed it high into the air, as it spun rapidly end over end.
"Heads, no, tails!" Ryoko cried. The coin landed on it's side before it twirled around, landing on heads. Ryoko's shoulders slumped and Ayeka blushed furiously.
"Hmm, I guess that you won the coin toss, Ayeka." commented Tenchi.
"It would appear that way." she replied.
"Ayeka, you may have beaten me this time, but don't worry, I won't forget you when me an' Tenchi are off on our honeymoon." said Ryoko with a cocky attitude before teleporting into the house for lunch. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes after that display.
"So, umm...are you busy Saturday night?" asked Tenchi, breaking the silence.
Ayeka just blushed harder. "I don't think so, why Lord Tenchi, are you asking me out on a date?"
"I think I am. Am I doing okay?"
"I think you are doing wonderfully."
"Would 7 pm be alright for you?" Tenchi asked.
"7 pm would be perfect, Lord Tenchi. I will be waiting for you Saturday evening at 7 pm." Ayeka said as she walked inside. As soon as she was inside, she walked up to her room rather hurriedly before shutting the door. Ayeka stood in her room for a moment before squealing with excitement and giggling like a schoolgirl before she went around repeating 'I have a date with Tenchi!' in a sing-song voice. It wasn't long before Sasami came up to find what was making her sister act like this.
"Ayeka, are you alright?" Sasami tenatively said.
"Oh, I'm better than alright. I have a date with Tenchi!" Ayeka continued hopping around her room, giggling like mad.
"You do?" Sasami exclaimed. Ayeka just nodded.
"I'm so happy for you, sister. I can't wait to tell everyone the good news." she said.
"No, don't tell them just yet, Sasami. I want to keep this just between us." Ayeka replied.
"Okay Ayeka. I wonder what everyone is going to think when this news gets out?" Sasami pondered as she walked back to her kitchen.
Five minutes later, Sasami called everyone to lunch. Everyone came to lunch, except Noboyuki who was at work. Compliments all went around to Sasami for making such a wonderful meal, which just made her blush. It was then that Ryoko decided to spill the beans about what happened before lunch, much to the chagrin of Ayeka and Tenchi. Washu was openly surprised, Mihoshi covered her mouth and giggled, and Kiyone was acting rather mildly compared to everyone else. It was because of this that she was able to ask the first qusetion.
"So, when are the both of you going out?"
"This Saturday at 7pm." said a heavily blushing Ayeka.
"Oh, that's so sweet." giggled Mihoshi.
Tenchi quickly finished his meal, as he was late for his duties in the fields. That and he wanted to avoid being asked any embarrasing questions. He gathered his tools and the basket, then he walked to the field followed closely by Ryo-ohki. Tenchi found that his work went much faster, now that he didn't spend so much time wondering what he was going to do about the girls. Ryo-ohki just sat on a rock and watched as Tenchi weeded and harvested the fields. The work went by so fast, that he was home half-an-hour early. Upon arriving home, he put the newly harvested carrots into the storage shed. Ryo-ohki tried to sneak into the shed to get at the carrots, but was stopped by Tenchi.
After working in the fields for all that time, Tenchi noticed that he was quite smelly and decided to take a bath. Not for his sake, but for the girls. When he finished his bath, Tenchi walked to his room and got dressed. Dinner would be in an hour or two, so Tenchi decided to do his homework. Taking a glass of water with him to his room, he settled in to do his homework. 45 minutes into his math homework, he noticed a strange glow seeming to emanate from his glass of water. Looking at his water glass, he saw a miniature version of Tsunami standing on the surface of the water.
"Hello, Tenchi."
"Oh, hello Tsunami." said Tenchi.
"Have you decided what you will do about your situation regarding all of the girls?" the goddess asked.
"I thought you said that you'd already know when I chose?" he replied.
"I do, but I wanted to hear it from you."
"Well, I haven't chosen definitively yet, but I'm on the way."
"Wonderful. Now in regards to what you requested, I have decided to grant it. There are events transpiring that could tip the balance of power through-out the known universe, and I need your assistance." Tsunami stated with a dire appearance on her face.
"What do you need me to do?"
"To understand what I need from you, you must first understand some of the history of the universe. Before the beginning of time, there were three goddesses. Myself; the goddess of good, Tokimi; the goddess of evil; and a third goddess, who has been lost for over 20,000 years. Now, Tokimi; the goddess of evil has challenged me for the balance of power, and subsequent control of the universe. There are rules to prevent the balance from changing at the drop of a hat. These rules also state that myself and Tokimi need a mortal champion to decide the outcome. If you accept and agree to become my champion, I will grant your request, and give you additional training to make the most of your new abilities. Will you be my champion, Tenchi Masaki?"
"Yes, yes I will." he said with a stern look on his face.
"Very well, your training will take place tonight. Arrive at Funaho by ten pm. I will take you into my realm where your training wil be held."
"My training will happen overnight?"
"Yes, but to you, it will appear to take months." she said.
"I will be there." said Tenchi.
"Great. Now, don't be late for dinner." Tsunami said as she dissappeared, leaving a a puzzled Tenchi to sit in his room alone.
"Huh?" was all he managed to say before a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Tenchi, dinner is ready." cried Mihoshi from the hallway behind Tenchi's door.
"Alright, I'll be right down." Tenchi responded. He closed his books and walked down to the table. Upon arriving, he saw that the table was decked out with food. Sasami had spent all afternoon in the kitchen cooking just to celebrate what Tenchi had done, but no-one knew about it but Tenchi, Ayeka, Ryoko and Sasami. Everyone was waiting for them, especially Ryoko and Ayeka, who had cleared a seat right in-between them.
'Oh well, that's always going to happen. Might as well get this over with.' Tenchi thought with an inward sigh as he sat between them. The meal started and the normal idle chit-chat took place, until Mihoshi decided to open her stupid, blonde, airheaded mouth.
"Tenchi, who was that person you were talking to in your room?" she absent-mindedly blurted out.
"Oh, uh, I was, uh, talking to myself, yeah, that's it." was his reply followed by nervous laughter.
"Really, that's strange. I never knew you sounded like a girl when you talked to yourself. Don't you think that's weird, Ayeka?" Ayeka just turned to Tenchi with a withering look on her face, and Ryoko did the same.
"Yes, Mihoshi. That IS rather weird. Would you like to explain just what exactly you were doing between this afternoon and now?" said Ayeka.
"Yeah, Tenchi speak up." said Ryoko.
"Well, it's a long story and it's hard to explain. I'll tell you after dinner, okay?" said a nervous Tenchi
"You'll tell us immediately after dinner." stated Ryoko in a tone that brook no arguments. The rest of the meal continued the way it had before, but it's never just an ordinary meal at the Masaki table.
"It sure was quiet today. I didn't hear any arguments from either Ryoko OR Ayeka. You wouldn't have had anything to do with this, now would you Tenchi?" teased Washu.
"He sure did! Oops..." blurted Sasami.
"Sasami!" cried Ayeka.
"Okay, what happened?" asked Washu.
Tenchi took a deep breath before he continued. "Well Little Washu, I told Ayeka and Ryoko that I would date both of them if they promised to stop fighting with each other." Noboyuki was the first to react.
"That's my boy! Two women at the same time! Not even I could have done something like this!" he said as he patted his son's shoulders emphatically and pulled him into a big hug. Everone else was almost in shock, the only person who wasn't affected by this was Grandpa, who just raised an eyebrow. After Father's outbreak, not another word was said. After dinner, Tenchi went outside, bringing Ayeka and Ryoko with him.
"Girls, you wanted an explanation. Well, when we fought against Kagato on-board the Souja, I remember not being strong enough to beat him." Tenchi started to pace as he talked. "I also remember that Dr. Clay guy. When I was trapped inside the ship, I remember watching the ship collapsing all around me, and feeling so...helpless. I don't want to feel that way again. Last night, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about Kagato and Clay. Normally what I do when I can't sleep is I go around and check on all of you. Even after I did that, I still couldn't sleep so I went to Funaho to think. When I arrived, I remembered both of them and how I felt, and these...ideas began to form in my head. If Tsunami had unlocked my ability to use the Light Hawk Wings, then she could also allow me to use them on command. Last night, I asked her to do that very same thing and the voice that Mihoshi said she heard was Tsunami giving me her answer. That's the whole story." he said, finally sitting down.
Ayeka and Ryoko were stunned. They had always suspected that Tenchi cared for them, but this was completely out of left field. That he felt his deeply for the both of them was a shock. Ayeka had tears starting to form in her eyes. Ryoko had tears in her eyes as well. Both Ryoko and Ayeka practically leap at him and embraced him in a hug. The girls just sobbed on his shoulders, muttering that they didn't know he felt this strongly. When both of them calmed down enough to talk coherently, Ayeka spoke up first.
"What did Tsunami say about your request?"
"That's a little more complicated. You see, there's this other goddess who wants to take over the universe. To do so, she has to fight Tsunami and win, but she can't directly attack Tsunami. They both need to find someone to fight for them," replied Tenchi.
"And Tsunami has chosen you." Ryoko finished for him.
"Yeah. She'll be giving me special training to use them to my full potential. Maybe I'll finally be able to beat Grandpa." he said with a small chuckle.
"When will she be training you?" Ryoko asked.
"Tonight. I have to arrive at Funaho by ten. It's 8:30 now, why don't the three of us take a walk there together?" said Tenchi with a smile.
"That would be lovely, Lord Tenchi." replied Ayeka.
Ryoko got up first and helped both Tenchi and Ayeka up. Then, Tenchi took Ryoko's and Ayeka's arms and the three of them walked up to Funaho, both of the girls rested their heads on his shoulders. Upon arriving, Funaho sent out those little rainbow colored beams of light from her branches. As if on some unspoken command, Ryoko and Ayeka let go of Tenchi's arms at the same time. Tenchi continued to walk to the edge of the water, whereupon he was met with the familiar glow that came right before Tsunami appeared. As if on cue, Tsunami appeared.
"Hello, Tenchi. You're early." she said. Tsunami looked over his shoulder and spoke, "I see that you have brought guests."
"Yeah, kinda. They wanted to know what was going on, so I told them the whole story." replied Tenchi.
"It probably will be for the best. Ayeka, Ryoko, you will wait here until I return, at which time you will take him to Washu."
"I understand." replied Ayeka.
"Okay." said Ryoko.
"Good. Tenchi, close your eyes." Tenchi closed his eyes as Tsunami told him to. Tsunami pressed her forehead to his, and she disappeared, leaving Tenchi to fall to the ground unconsious.
Next chapter, Tsunami trains Tenchi to use the Wings.
Protection: part 2
Tsunami sat in her realm, underneath one of the many trees contained therein. It was logical for a nature-oriented goddess to fill her realm with trees, plants, and other soothing things. She was sitting under one of the larger trees, sipping at a cup of tea, pondering what to do about Tenchi's request. Suddenly, it became rather dark and stormy.
'This shouldn't be happening, unless....Tokimi!!!' thought Tsunami.
Before her very eyes, Tokimi appeared before her, small plants within one meter of her were dieing.
"What do you want here, Tokimi?"
"Simply what I have desired since the dawn of existence; to be the most powerful of all three of us."
"You know the laws as well as I do, we wrote them, remember?" replied Tsunami.
"Yes, I know the laws. And I have been preparing for this a long time, sister." The way Tokimi spat out 'sister' made even Tsunami's skin crawl.
"So you already have your mortal representative chosen?"
"Yes. The laws state that you have one week to decide. You can have your week, but if you do not have your representative by then, you loose by default and I will reign supreme." Having said her piece, Tokimi faded out of Tsunami's realm, leaving the dead plants in her wake.
With a sad expression on her downcast face, she walked over to where the plants remained and began to bring the plants to life. She succeeded, but some of the plants remained dead.
"What has come from the earth, will return to the earth; that is the way of life." she said, destroying the plants, and placing new plants where the dead ones were.
"This gives new urgency to Tenchi's request." she said, going back to her tea.
{=+=+=+=+=+=+=}
Tenchi woke up in the morning, feeling well rested. He got dressed for his training with Grandpa, and headed downstairs for breakfast. He smiled, seeing Sasami working hard in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Sasami."
"Oh, Tenchi, good morning." she replied. Sasami was always the one to have a cheerful expression on her face.
"Mmmm, that smells wonderful, Sasami."
"Could you run up to the shrine for me? I don't want Grandfather to miss breakfast again."
"Sure Sasami." replied Tenchi as he started to walk out of the kitchen. As he walked out of the house and up the steps to the shrine, he looked up at the sky and saw the cloudless sky. 'Maybe I'll find some way to tell Ayeka and Ryoko how I-' His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp crack on his head.
"Oww, Grandpa, that hurt."
"Maybe that will teach you to pay more attention to your surroundings than your thoughts. There will be an extra hour of kendo practice this afternoon."
"Yes, Grandpa. Oh, by the way, Sasami asked me to remind you to come to breakfast this morning."
"I'll be there this morning." Yosho said as he walked down to the house. Now that he was alone, Tenchi started to slowly walk back to the house.
'What do I do about the girls? How am I going to tell them? If only one of them felt this way, it would be so much easier. No matter who I choose, one of them is going to be hurt. I'm going to break someone's heart, I know I am. But I don't want to. If only I could soften the blow for each of them.' Sigh. 'I need more time to think about this.' was his last thought as he entered the house for breakfast.
'5...4...3...2...1...'
"Teeenchiiii..." came the familiar call as Ryoko teleported herself behind Tenchi and latched herself onto him. He sighed and walked into the living room, where everyone was eating. Tenchi managed to ignore her wandering hands as he walked over.
"RYOKO! Take your filthy hands off of him this instant!" came Ayeka's angry screech.
"Your just jealous because you want to be where I am."
"Take your hands OFF HIM!!!" yelled Ayeka. Ayeka grabbed an arm and Ryoko grabbed the other and they began a potentially lethal game of tug-of-war.
"Girls, not so early in the morning." was Tenchi's frustrated response to the events transpiring around him. In response to his cry, Ryoko and Ayeka both let go of him and led him to a spot between the both of them.
Breakfast was the typical affair, minus the fight between Ayeka and Ryoko since that had already happened. When Tenchi finished his meal, he decided to drop the bomb.
"Ryoko, Ayeka, I need to speak with the both of you after lunch before I go to the fields. Before that happens, I want you both to stop fighting."
"What, you want me to be nice the stuck-up, prissy little princess?"
"No, I just don't want either of you to fight. You don't have to be nice to each other, just don't fight. If either of you get angry, go to another room. I don't want to hear about either of you fighting between now and lunch. If I hear about you two fighting, then I guess you don't want to hear what I have to say to the both of you."
"Lord Tenchi, I promise you that I will not fight with that, that demon woman untill we speak." replied Ayeka.
"Well, if it means that much to you, I guess I can manage." said Ryoko.
"Good, that's all I ask." said Tenchi as he rose to go to practice. He left the house and jogged up the stairs to the shrine. Taking the turn-off towards the training grounds, he slowed down a bit and saw that he was the only one there.
"Huh, I guess I'm early. Oh well, might as well warm up before Grandpa gets here."
"Too late." came a deep voice from behind him. Tenchi immediately tensed up upon hearing his Grandfather's voice. "Tenchi, don't tense up like that. Not unless you have a weapon in hand."
"Yes, Grandpa."
"I saw what you did during breakfast today."
"You did?" Tenchi did not like where he thought this was going.
"You're finally making a decision. That's an admirable thing to do."
"It is?" He was clearly puzzled.
"Something like that is worth about an hour of practice."
"Really?" Now Tenchi was excited.
"But only if you work for it." said Grandpa. Tenchi visibly deflated.
After practice was over at the normal time, Tenchi walked to the house for lunch. When he entered the house, a heavenly aroma wafted past his face. Following the aroma into the kitchen, he spied Sasami working hard at making lunch.
"Hello Sasami."
"Hi Tenchi."
"So, what's for lunch?"
"Miso soup and chicken tempura."
"Wow, that'll be nice. Say, do you know if Ryoko and Ayeka have been fighting?"
"So that's why it's been so quiet around here. No, I haven't heard a peep out of either of them since breakfast."
"Do you know where they are?" asked Tenchi.
"I think that Ayeka's been in her room and Ryoko's just been sleeping on the rafter." replied Sasami.
"Okay. I need to talk to them. Thanks for telling me."
"Alright Tenchi. If you're going to talk to them about what I think it is, it's about time." she said, scolding him like a small child. Sasami was more observant than anyone would admit.
Tenchi walked out of the kitchen and found Ryoko napping on her rafter. "Ryoko." was all he needed to say to get her attention.
"Yes, Tenchi?" she spoke as she wrapped herself around him.
"Ryoko, I need to speak with you and Ayeka. Could you wait outside for me and Ayeka?" Ryoko looked a little dejected when she heard that, but walked outside anyway. After she walked outside, Tenchi went upstairs to find Ayeka. After making it up to her room, he knocked on her door.
"Miss Ayeka? Are you in there?" Nothing.
"M-miss Ayeka?" A groan came from the other side of the door.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Miss Ayeka, It's right before lunch, and I was kinda hoping to speak with you before lunch."
"Oh, Tenchi. I'll be right out." she replied. There was some shuffling noises emanating from behind the door. A few moments later, Ayeka came out of her room. "You wished to speak with me, Lord Tenchi?"
"Yes, I did. I wanted to talk to you outside if that is alright."
"Oh, no. It will be no problem at all." Ayeak said.
"Alright. After you, Miss Ayeka."
"Why, thank you Lord Tenchi." said Ayeka, walking down the hall. When the both of them arrived outside, they found Ryoko waiting.
"So Tenchi, what's this about?" asked Ryoko.
"I agree, what did you wish to speak to us about?" agreed Ayeka.
"Well," he sighed. "I owe you both an explanation."
"What do you have to explain to us?" inquired Ryoko.
"Why I haven't chosen between the two of you." This immediately got both Ayeka's and Ryoko's attention.
"Go on." prodded Ayeka.
"Well, the reason I haven't chosen one of you over the other is because I don't want to hurt either of you."
"What are you talking about?" asked Ryoko, quizzically.
"I mean, if I chose Ryoko over Ayeka, Ayeka would be crushed. I can't do that to her, and I couldn't do that to you either, Ryoko. I care about both of you too much to hurt you like that." said a downcast Tenchi.
"Well you could try to soften the blow, so to speak." said Ayeka.
"What do you mean, Ayeka?" asked Ryoko.
"Well, oh it's nothing. It probably wouldn't work anyway."
"Any idea is better than what I'm trying to think of." commented Tenchi.
"Well, you could date both of us, I suppose." Ayeka replied.
"Explain." said Ryoko.
"Well, for example, Tenchi goes out with one of us on a date, and the next time Tenchi goes out, he takes the other one out."
Ryoko and Tenchi looked at Ayeka, then at each other, then back to Ayeka. Tenchi was the first to speak. "Ayeka, how did you come up with that idea?"
"I was reading some of Father's comics and that was how the people in the comic solved their problem." replied Ayeka.
"And people say comics have no practical application." said Ryoko.
"Okay. I say that we do that to solve our problem. What do you think Ryoko?" said Tenchi.
"It's worth a shot. Besides, we could always go back to fighting over you like we always have." They all shared a laugh over that.
"Well there is one problem: who get's to go on a date with Tenchi first." said Ayeka.
"There's only one way to settle this in a completely fair, non-biased fashion. A coin toss." said Tenchi. Ryoko and Ayeka facefault.
"A coin toss?" repeated Ryoko incredulously.
"What's so hard to understand about that?"
"Nothing, but why a coin toss?" asked Ayeka.
"I couldn't think of anything else. Sorry." replied a sheepish Tenchi.
"Well, let's get started. Come on, Tenchi, get going." demanded Ryoko.
"Okay, okay, jeez, you don't have to bite my head off." said Tenchi, digging into his pocket and pulling out a coin. "This side is heads," he said showing the side that had an eagle flying on it. "And this side is tails." he said showing the side with the Y100 on it.
"The coin toss will be best two out of three, and Ryoko will call the first one in the air." Tenchi flipped the coin.
"Heads!" she cried out. The coin landed heads.
"Ayeka, will you call it?" he asked, tossing the coin into the air.
"Tails!" Ayeka called, and the coin landed tails.
"Alright. Ryoko, call it in the air." he said. Tenchi tossed it high into the air, as it spun rapidly end over end.
"Heads, no, tails!" Ryoko cried. The coin landed on it's side before it twirled around, landing on heads. Ryoko's shoulders slumped and Ayeka blushed furiously.
"Hmm, I guess that you won the coin toss, Ayeka." commented Tenchi.
"It would appear that way." she replied.
"Ayeka, you may have beaten me this time, but don't worry, I won't forget you when me an' Tenchi are off on our honeymoon." said Ryoko with a cocky attitude before teleporting into the house for lunch. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes after that display.
"So, umm...are you busy Saturday night?" asked Tenchi, breaking the silence.
Ayeka just blushed harder. "I don't think so, why Lord Tenchi, are you asking me out on a date?"
"I think I am. Am I doing okay?"
"I think you are doing wonderfully."
"Would 7 pm be alright for you?" Tenchi asked.
"7 pm would be perfect, Lord Tenchi. I will be waiting for you Saturday evening at 7 pm." Ayeka said as she walked inside. As soon as she was inside, she walked up to her room rather hurriedly before shutting the door. Ayeka stood in her room for a moment before squealing with excitement and giggling like a schoolgirl before she went around repeating 'I have a date with Tenchi!' in a sing-song voice. It wasn't long before Sasami came up to find what was making her sister act like this.
"Ayeka, are you alright?" Sasami tenatively said.
"Oh, I'm better than alright. I have a date with Tenchi!" Ayeka continued hopping around her room, giggling like mad.
"You do?" Sasami exclaimed. Ayeka just nodded.
"I'm so happy for you, sister. I can't wait to tell everyone the good news." she said.
"No, don't tell them just yet, Sasami. I want to keep this just between us." Ayeka replied.
"Okay Ayeka. I wonder what everyone is going to think when this news gets out?" Sasami pondered as she walked back to her kitchen.
Five minutes later, Sasami called everyone to lunch. Everyone came to lunch, except Noboyuki who was at work. Compliments all went around to Sasami for making such a wonderful meal, which just made her blush. It was then that Ryoko decided to spill the beans about what happened before lunch, much to the chagrin of Ayeka and Tenchi. Washu was openly surprised, Mihoshi covered her mouth and giggled, and Kiyone was acting rather mildly compared to everyone else. It was because of this that she was able to ask the first qusetion.
"So, when are the both of you going out?"
"This Saturday at 7pm." said a heavily blushing Ayeka.
"Oh, that's so sweet." giggled Mihoshi.
Tenchi quickly finished his meal, as he was late for his duties in the fields. That and he wanted to avoid being asked any embarrasing questions. He gathered his tools and the basket, then he walked to the field followed closely by Ryo-ohki. Tenchi found that his work went much faster, now that he didn't spend so much time wondering what he was going to do about the girls. Ryo-ohki just sat on a rock and watched as Tenchi weeded and harvested the fields. The work went by so fast, that he was home half-an-hour early. Upon arriving home, he put the newly harvested carrots into the storage shed. Ryo-ohki tried to sneak into the shed to get at the carrots, but was stopped by Tenchi.
After working in the fields for all that time, Tenchi noticed that he was quite smelly and decided to take a bath. Not for his sake, but for the girls. When he finished his bath, Tenchi walked to his room and got dressed. Dinner would be in an hour or two, so Tenchi decided to do his homework. Taking a glass of water with him to his room, he settled in to do his homework. 45 minutes into his math homework, he noticed a strange glow seeming to emanate from his glass of water. Looking at his water glass, he saw a miniature version of Tsunami standing on the surface of the water.
"Hello, Tenchi."
"Oh, hello Tsunami." said Tenchi.
"Have you decided what you will do about your situation regarding all of the girls?" the goddess asked.
"I thought you said that you'd already know when I chose?" he replied.
"I do, but I wanted to hear it from you."
"Well, I haven't chosen definitively yet, but I'm on the way."
"Wonderful. Now in regards to what you requested, I have decided to grant it. There are events transpiring that could tip the balance of power through-out the known universe, and I need your assistance." Tsunami stated with a dire appearance on her face.
"What do you need me to do?"
"To understand what I need from you, you must first understand some of the history of the universe. Before the beginning of time, there were three goddesses. Myself; the goddess of good, Tokimi; the goddess of evil; and a third goddess, who has been lost for over 20,000 years. Now, Tokimi; the goddess of evil has challenged me for the balance of power, and subsequent control of the universe. There are rules to prevent the balance from changing at the drop of a hat. These rules also state that myself and Tokimi need a mortal champion to decide the outcome. If you accept and agree to become my champion, I will grant your request, and give you additional training to make the most of your new abilities. Will you be my champion, Tenchi Masaki?"
"Yes, yes I will." he said with a stern look on his face.
"Very well, your training will take place tonight. Arrive at Funaho by ten pm. I will take you into my realm where your training wil be held."
"My training will happen overnight?"
"Yes, but to you, it will appear to take months." she said.
"I will be there." said Tenchi.
"Great. Now, don't be late for dinner." Tsunami said as she dissappeared, leaving a a puzzled Tenchi to sit in his room alone.
"Huh?" was all he managed to say before a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Tenchi, dinner is ready." cried Mihoshi from the hallway behind Tenchi's door.
"Alright, I'll be right down." Tenchi responded. He closed his books and walked down to the table. Upon arriving, he saw that the table was decked out with food. Sasami had spent all afternoon in the kitchen cooking just to celebrate what Tenchi had done, but no-one knew about it but Tenchi, Ayeka, Ryoko and Sasami. Everyone was waiting for them, especially Ryoko and Ayeka, who had cleared a seat right in-between them.
'Oh well, that's always going to happen. Might as well get this over with.' Tenchi thought with an inward sigh as he sat between them. The meal started and the normal idle chit-chat took place, until Mihoshi decided to open her stupid, blonde, airheaded mouth.
"Tenchi, who was that person you were talking to in your room?" she absent-mindedly blurted out.
"Oh, uh, I was, uh, talking to myself, yeah, that's it." was his reply followed by nervous laughter.
"Really, that's strange. I never knew you sounded like a girl when you talked to yourself. Don't you think that's weird, Ayeka?" Ayeka just turned to Tenchi with a withering look on her face, and Ryoko did the same.
"Yes, Mihoshi. That IS rather weird. Would you like to explain just what exactly you were doing between this afternoon and now?" said Ayeka.
"Yeah, Tenchi speak up." said Ryoko.
"Well, it's a long story and it's hard to explain. I'll tell you after dinner, okay?" said a nervous Tenchi
"You'll tell us immediately after dinner." stated Ryoko in a tone that brook no arguments. The rest of the meal continued the way it had before, but it's never just an ordinary meal at the Masaki table.
"It sure was quiet today. I didn't hear any arguments from either Ryoko OR Ayeka. You wouldn't have had anything to do with this, now would you Tenchi?" teased Washu.
"He sure did! Oops..." blurted Sasami.
"Sasami!" cried Ayeka.
"Okay, what happened?" asked Washu.
Tenchi took a deep breath before he continued. "Well Little Washu, I told Ayeka and Ryoko that I would date both of them if they promised to stop fighting with each other." Noboyuki was the first to react.
"That's my boy! Two women at the same time! Not even I could have done something like this!" he said as he patted his son's shoulders emphatically and pulled him into a big hug. Everone else was almost in shock, the only person who wasn't affected by this was Grandpa, who just raised an eyebrow. After Father's outbreak, not another word was said. After dinner, Tenchi went outside, bringing Ayeka and Ryoko with him.
"Girls, you wanted an explanation. Well, when we fought against Kagato on-board the Souja, I remember not being strong enough to beat him." Tenchi started to pace as he talked. "I also remember that Dr. Clay guy. When I was trapped inside the ship, I remember watching the ship collapsing all around me, and feeling so...helpless. I don't want to feel that way again. Last night, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about Kagato and Clay. Normally what I do when I can't sleep is I go around and check on all of you. Even after I did that, I still couldn't sleep so I went to Funaho to think. When I arrived, I remembered both of them and how I felt, and these...ideas began to form in my head. If Tsunami had unlocked my ability to use the Light Hawk Wings, then she could also allow me to use them on command. Last night, I asked her to do that very same thing and the voice that Mihoshi said she heard was Tsunami giving me her answer. That's the whole story." he said, finally sitting down.
Ayeka and Ryoko were stunned. They had always suspected that Tenchi cared for them, but this was completely out of left field. That he felt his deeply for the both of them was a shock. Ayeka had tears starting to form in her eyes. Ryoko had tears in her eyes as well. Both Ryoko and Ayeka practically leap at him and embraced him in a hug. The girls just sobbed on his shoulders, muttering that they didn't know he felt this strongly. When both of them calmed down enough to talk coherently, Ayeka spoke up first.
"What did Tsunami say about your request?"
"That's a little more complicated. You see, there's this other goddess who wants to take over the universe. To do so, she has to fight Tsunami and win, but she can't directly attack Tsunami. They both need to find someone to fight for them," replied Tenchi.
"And Tsunami has chosen you." Ryoko finished for him.
"Yeah. She'll be giving me special training to use them to my full potential. Maybe I'll finally be able to beat Grandpa." he said with a small chuckle.
"When will she be training you?" Ryoko asked.
"Tonight. I have to arrive at Funaho by ten. It's 8:30 now, why don't the three of us take a walk there together?" said Tenchi with a smile.
"That would be lovely, Lord Tenchi." replied Ayeka.
Ryoko got up first and helped both Tenchi and Ayeka up. Then, Tenchi took Ryoko's and Ayeka's arms and the three of them walked up to Funaho, both of the girls rested their heads on his shoulders. Upon arriving, Funaho sent out those little rainbow colored beams of light from her branches. As if on some unspoken command, Ryoko and Ayeka let go of Tenchi's arms at the same time. Tenchi continued to walk to the edge of the water, whereupon he was met with the familiar glow that came right before Tsunami appeared. As if on cue, Tsunami appeared.
"Hello, Tenchi. You're early." she said. Tsunami looked over his shoulder and spoke, "I see that you have brought guests."
"Yeah, kinda. They wanted to know what was going on, so I told them the whole story." replied Tenchi.
"It probably will be for the best. Ayeka, Ryoko, you will wait here until I return, at which time you will take him to Washu."
"I understand." replied Ayeka.
"Okay." said Ryoko.
"Good. Tenchi, close your eyes." Tenchi closed his eyes as Tsunami told him to. Tsunami pressed her forehead to his, and she disappeared, leaving Tenchi to fall to the ground unconsious.
Next chapter, Tsunami trains Tenchi to use the Wings.