The Battle of Breakfast (#5)
A Tenchi & company short story by Gary Littlejohn
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All Tenchi* characters and the like are trademarks of AIC/Pioneer.
I did not invent these characters, I simply thought up the situation
for them to be in.
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I woke up this morning with a renewed spirit! The events of last night lingered
in my mind, but I was glad that I had done what I did. The dream afterwards
was scary, but such dreams occurred often enough that I was able to somewhat
ignore it. Could it possibly mean that my will to win Tenchi from Ryoko and
my sister was so great that I would go as far as... no, that's a silly thought.
I'd never do something like that! It's just not like me.

"Isn't it?" a voice somewhere said. I turned to look and see, but nobody was there.

"Heh.. My imagination." I said to myself reassuringly. "Well, time to make breakfast!"

I went downstairs and a smell entered my nostrils. Someone else was cooking.
It's strange that someone besides me cooks around here seeing as everyone
loves my cooking so much. It couldn't be Ryoko because it smelled too good! I
laughed to myself and walked into the kitchen. When I saw who it was, my jaw dropped
in shock. Sure enough, it was Ryoko!

"Ryoko! What are you doing?" I asked as I approached her.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm making breakfast." She replied simply.

"Ryoko..." I sighed. "Don't you remember what happened last time you tried to cook?
You have no sense of taste! How can you tell if it tastes good?"

Ryoko blinked in thought, then responded. "Oh that was before I found out that
there are these things called cook books that tell you how to make the food!"

She spoke of cook books as if they were the best thing ever.. like they were
some kind of new revolutionary invention. Sometimes Ryoko's naieve'te
was astounding.

"Well it doesn't look like you're making enough for everyone, Ryoko." I said,
noticing that she was only frying three eggs and had just one bowl's worth of rice
steaming.

"Well of course. This is a breakfast for Tenchi." she said, her eyes sparkling.

I couldn't believe that she was going to try the same old tired food tactic
again after she had failed so miserably last time.

"Well..." I said, keeping my thoughts to myself. "I'll start up breakfast
for everyone else then. What do you want, Ryoko?"

"It doesn't matter to me." she replied. "It all tastes like air."

I sighed again. She was absolutely no help when it came to food. I started some
more rice steaming and figured I could make hotcakes. Everyone seems to like
them a lot, and we hadn't had them for a long time.

I began to think about what had happened last night. That I had seen Ryoko and
Tenchi kissing, and had actually confronted Ryoko about it. I was now officially
Ryoko's love rival. Was this why she was making this food for Tenchi?
Did she intend to somehow "replace" me in Tenchi's heart by making him food?
The thought burned the back of my brain for some reason. I was actually getting
angry about it, and it was nothing really. What the heck was wrong with me?

I tried to not think about it and keep cooking, but it kept coming back. What could
I do about it, though? For some reason, I wanted to stop her! I wanted to stop that
simple three egg breakfast from being delivered to Tenchi's room! How could I do it
though? Ryoko was being so mean by making breakfast for Tenchi! Is this what it's
like to be love rivals? Is this how Ayeka and Ryoko think all the time about
each other? I hated it, but I suddenly threw my body into action as if
I had put no thought into it.

I saw Ryoko pick up the tray of food and begin to walk out of the kitchen. I moved
towards her and when I was almost near her, I pretended to trip and fall right into her.

"Ryoko, by the way, I... WAH!" I cried in the most convincing voice I could come up with.
I slammed into Ryoko's back, trying to make it seem accidental, but putting enough force
into it to make sure that the food fell on the floor.

Sure enough, the tray went tumbling down as Ryoko stumbled from being fallen upon.
The plate with the eggs dropped onto the ground face first, breaking the egg yolks and
causing quite the little mess. The bowl of rice fell and broke into pieces,
spreading grains of rice about. To top it all off, the cup of hot tea fell down off the
tray towards Ryoko, spilling all over her dress.

"Oh my gosh! This is terrible! Ryoko-oneechan! Are you okay?" I yelled, halfway
meaning it since the hot tea probably hurt her. I couldn't believe what I
had just done. It was the most horrible, sneaky, underhanded, mean thing I had ever
done to anyone. Somewhere deep inside me, a piece of my soul felt like it died. But
the deed was already done, and I pressed on.

Ryoko fell to her knees and began to pick up pieces of the rice bowl, not saying
a word. She seemed so sad. I hated myself for what I had done. But for some reason
I continued the act.

"Ryoko... oneechan..." I said in a small voice. "Are you.. okay?"

"I'm..." she managed to get out. "I'm fine... I guess I'll just have to do it again."

"Don't worry about it." I said reassuringly. "I'm making hotcakes. There'll be
enough for everyone, I promise. Here, let me clean that up. You should go change."

She stood up and brushed herself off. "I suppose you're right." she said, her voice
breaking up a little bit. I felt my heart clench from the sound in her voice.

"By the way, Sasami. What was it you wanted to tell me?" she asked.

"Oh.. It was nothing." I said in shame. "Nothing at all..."

"Oh I see." she replied, and then headed upstairs to change her clothes. I heard her
a moment later meet Tenchi in the upstairs hall. I listened intently, not wanting
to miss what was said.

"Ryoko, what happened to you? You're dress is all wet." Tenchi asked her.

"Nothing really, Tenchi. I just need to go change." she said quietly. I could her
the dissapointment in her voice. Somewhere inside of me, I felt so glad hearing that
dissapointed tone. Why, though? Why should I be happy when she is sad? What's
wrong with me?

A moment later, I hear Tenchi say "Ryoko, about last night... I think that..."

"Tenchi." Ryoko interupted. "Don't worry about it."

Then I heard a door open and close, followed by Tenchi sighing in frustration.

"How can I just forget about it? Sheesh..." Tenchi said to himself as he began
walking down the stairs. He noticed the mess immediately.

"Gosh, what happened?" he asked, confused.

"Oh nothing, Tenchi" I said sweetly.

"Good to hear. What's for breakfast?" he asked me.

"Hotcakes!" I said happily.

"Sounds great!" he said. "Do you need any help cleaning this mess up?"

"No, I'm almost done anyway." I smiled to him. "It's under control."

He smiled back and walked into the kitchen. I looked back down at the mess
and frowned.

"It's under control..." I repeated quietly. "But... am I?"

THE END

(C)2002 Gary Littlejohn