Disclaimer

I am a poor starving artist with no intentions of making money off of this. I own absolutely none of the characters herein, and have created this sheerly for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of anyone who reads it. Please don't sue me.

This Side Down

Part Five

No Need For Vengeance

Nabiki sat on her bed, knees pulled tight to her chest, chin resting on her knees.

Face it, girl. You've got a problem.

She had had no problems trying to foist Tenchi off on Akane at first. After all, the boy was as good as penniless, and realistically had no future. On top of that, he had this weird curse. Gender bending was not Nabiki's idea of an endearing trait. And while she'd cheerfully admit that she found him cute in both forms, she was not willing to form any kind of relationship based sheerly on physical attraction.

But since then, she'd had a chance to get to know him. He had cheerfully pitched in and started pulling his weight in the house - even more so than Akane, and definitely more so than Daddy. He hadn't complained once about the work that she'd set out for him, save to say that he thought he wasn't doing enough. He was open and easy to talk to.

Quite frankly, when around him, she felt...safe.

Nabiki had decided very early on that nothing was safe.

Now, Tenchi had a reliable source of income. He'd offered to pay food and lodging. He'd refused her estimate, and asked to pay more! It confused her - she had given him little reason to trust her, and reason enough to dislike and mistrust her. Instead, he'd gone out of his way to demonstrate his trust in her. Worse than that, she had twice passed up an opportunity to gouge him for more cash. She had no idea why, could not even begin to think of a reason she'd done it.

It was throwing her whole world view into turmoil.

She blinked back tears.

Dammit, why am I reacting like this to him?

"Akane, would you please go tell Nabiki that breakfast is ready?"

Akane glanced up at Kasumi. Oddly, her features seemed to harden. "Sure, Onee-chan." She got up from the table and walked up the stairs.

"Nabiki! Breakfast! Now!"

Kasumi raised a hand to her cheek. "Oh...she seems somewhat upset this morning."

Nabiki opened the door and looked at Akane oddly. "Are you all right, Sis?"

"Come on! Breakfast! If you don't put it in gear, you're gonna be late!" Akane turned and bounded down the stairs. Nabiki watched her go, frowning slightly.

Akane could feel Nabiki's regard burning into her back, but ignored it. She sat down beside Tenchi, close enough that their knees touched under the table.

"Good morning, Tenchi!"

"Ummm...good morning."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Uh...yes..."

Conversation faltered for a second, then Nabiki sat down at her usual spot, across from Tenchi.

"So, Tenchi, what have you got planned for today?"

"School."

"No, silly! After that."

"Um...Nothing, really." Tenchi shifted uneasily. He intended to take Kasumi out for dinner tonight...but that's not precisely the sort of thing you want to announce in such a manner.

"Great! I thought of this restaurant you'd just love--"

"No way, Nabiki! You're not gonna try to gouge him! Leave him alone, he doesn't have a lot of cash to spread around."

Nabiki's eyes narrowed as she considered her sister's comment. "Look, sis, I'm not trying to gouge him. I was going to pay for the meal, if you must know."

Akane stared at her. "There's no way that Tenchi would want to go out with you! You'd only try to use him for your own schemes! All you care about is yourself! At least I have Tenchi's best interests at heart!"

"Really? But do you even know what those interests are?" Her look turned sultry. "After all, I'm fairly sure that a boy-hating tomboy like yourself has no idea at all as to how to please a man."

"You...you tramp!"

Tenchi was getting the strongest sense of deja vu. "Ummm...excuse me..."

Both girls turned and glared at him.

"Never mind..."

Kasumi thought it was about time to defuse this before it turned into a fistfight. "Would anyone like some tea?"

"Ah...Kasumi?"

"Yes, Tenchi?" Kasumi turned away from the sink. "Oh...if you don't hurry, you're going to be late for school."

"It's okay, I can make it on time." He paused. "Listen, I thought it might be nice if you and I could, you know, spend some time together...We could go out for dinner tonight, and talk, if you're not busy..."

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Ummm...yeah, I guess."

She smiled. "Thank you for asking, Tenchi. I would say yes, but...well, you saw what happened at the breakfast table today."

"Yeah, I thought they were gonna start swinging at each other."

Kasumi sighed. "I have to keep the peace here as best I can. I promised Mother that I would, before she died."

"Kasumi, I--"

"No, Tenchi. I can't go out with you tonight. I know that you are doing this because of the betrothal, and if it helps, you must know that I don't support this at all."

"Even though you were set to get Akane engaged to me against her will?"

She winced. "It was...a weak moment. I mean, you're so...young."

He grinned. "And the curse doesn't help, even a bit, huh? Hey, I'm not holding it against you...though Akane might." He turned serious. "But I must insist on spending some time with you. If not over dinner, then...?"

"I don't want to get caught between my sisters, Tenchi."

"I didn't want to get caught in this whole mess!"

"Touche." She rubbed her forehead. "Not tonight. Perhaps tomorrow night."

"All right, I'll ask you tomorrow."

"Please, Tenchi..." She looked up at him, sorrow in her eyes. "You must know that both Akane and Nabiki are attracted to you. How are you going to resolve this?"

"Honestly, Kasumi...I have no idea."

The boy stared wide-eyed at the sign before him.

Furinkan High School - at last, I've made it!

He reached out at random and grabbed a passing boy. "Where is Masaki Tenchi?"

The student gaped at him, then pointed back towards the main doors of the school. The stranger cast the student aside, then ran towards the door.

Tenchi, Akane and Nabiki had just stepped out of the school. Tenchi looked up, and grinned. "Hey, Ryouga!"

WHAM

Tenchi was lifted clear off the ground by Ryouga. Akane stepped back and shifted to a fighting stance. This guy's HUGE! He could pulp Tenchi in a heartbeat...

"Easy Akane." Nabiki nudged her. "Does that look like they're fighting?"

Akane blinked. Both boys were laughing riotously. Tenchi slapped the stranger heartily on the back, then dragged him over to the two girls.

"Hey, Akane, Nabiki, I'd like for you to meet my best friend, Ryouga. We went to school together a couple of years back."

Ryouga grinned. "Hi. Pleased to meet you. I understand that Tenchi is living with you two?"

"It's not what you think!" Akane blurted.

Nabiki grinned. "Tenchi and his father are renting a room from us until some family business is resolved. That is, business between my father and his."

"Really! My father just recently dragged me here to Nerima, and I heard that Tenchi was in town, so I figured I'd go looking for him."

"Ah...Ryouga...does your dad know you're out looking for me?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Good. I guess you'd better phone him and let him know you've found me."

"Guess so. Ummm...where is there a payphone?"

"Some things never change." Tenchi dropped a hand on Ryouga's shoulder. "This way."

"Thanks, Tenchi."

The four started walking towards the payphones. Akane nudged Tenchi. "Why do you have to lead him?"

"Well...Ryouga's kind of...directionally challenged."

"I get lost easy." Ryouga flushed slightly. "Tenchi used to lead me to school every day."

"C'mon, Ryouga, you're not that bad. You always get where you're going...eventually."

Ryouga shrugged. "True." He picked up a payphone and dialled.

Tenchi stepped away from the phone. "So, you two. Would you mind terribly if Ryouga joins us for lunch?"

"Nope."

Akane shrugged. "I don't mind."

"Good! I'm betting he and I have a lot to talk about."

"Me and Tenchi met in junior high school. At the school we went to, they made the students fight for their lunch."

Akane shuddered. "Glad I didn't go to that school."

"Oh, you couldn't have." Tenchi nibbled on a bit of squid dangling from his chopsticks. "It was an all-boys school."

"All boys?"

"Yep. Remember, this was back before Jushenkyou."

Ryouga fumbled his chopsticks. "Did you say...Jushenkyou?"

"Uh...yeah. Why?"

"...I've heard all sorts of bad things about it."

"Really? Well, they're probably all true." Tenchi grabbed a glass, poured the water over his head. "See? Man, I hate this curse."

"Curse?" Ryouga snickered. "That's not so bad."

"Ryouga..." Tenchi darkened. "It's lousy! I mean, it could go off at any time. My clothing doesn't change between forms, and that can be embarrassing. How could it be any worse?"

"Oh, I dunno...you could've fallen into the Spring of Drowned Duck."

"Ummm...ability to fly versus opposable thumbs...point taken."

"Or the Spring of Drowned Twins."

"Man, I don't want to even think about how that would work."

Nabiki snickered.

"Or how about Spring of Drowned Yeti Riding A Yak While Carrying A Crane?"

Akane shook her head. "You must have made that one up."

"Nope. Even saw a guy who fell into it. Hell, he's twice cursed. He has a really horrible name."

Tenchi scoffed. "That's all?"

"Well, I suppose it's kind of a puddly curse compared to my sense of direction."

"I'll say."

"Hey!"

Ryouga leaned against the tree, waiting for his friends, both old and new. He sighed, resting his head in his hands.

What am I gonna do? Tenchi and the girls know about Jushenkyou...and sooner or later they'll find out. Tenchi probably already knows, he's smart enough to figure it out, and I bet that girl, Nabiki, is bright enough too...

"Hi, Ryouga!"

The Eternally Lost Boy looked up to see the younger Tendo sister, Akane, looking up at him. He grinned, a little unsteadily.

"Hi, Akane. Ummm...where are the others?"

"Still in class."

"So how is it you're not?"

"Well...I wanted to talk to you."

Ryouga frowned, confused. Why would she want to talk to me so badly that she'd skip a class?

"Okay...what would you like to talk about?"

"Well...about Tenchi, actually. You went to school with him, right?"

"Well, yeah, I did. Why?"

"Well, I was wondering...what can you tell me about him?"

"Not a lot. I mean, he was a great guy, always willing to help out another person. Of course, we didn't really get off on the best foot."

Akane sat down on the grass, tucking her skirt under her. "Let me guess: fighting over lunch?"

"Well, yes." Ryouga slid down the tree, till he was seated opposite her. "You see, there was this really sadistic cook, who always held back a few choice bits of bread, then threw them into the crowd to see who got them. I was used to getting a fair portion of them, but the first day Tenchi was there, he managed to grab a curry bread I was going for. I was kinda sore, and challenged him to a fight. He pounded me into goo, then handed me the bread."

"Sounds like Tenchi."

Ryouga nodded. "After that, we became friends. He even picked me up at my house every day and escorted me to school, to make sure I got there. Led me back home afterwards, too."

"So you guys really were best friends."

"Well, not really best friends. We had a lot of things we competed in, as well. We often sparred, trying to see who was the best in one form or another. And there was this girl..." Ryouga blushed.

"Hmmm?" Akane leaned forward, grinning. "You two fought over a girl?"

"It was stupid." Ryouga picked up a small stone, pitched it a fair distance away. "I mean, it was fairly obvious that she wasn't really interested in either of us. But we both were chasing her, and we got pretty sore at each other over it. But in the end, we patched things up, and moved on."

"Wait a minute...if you two went to an all-boys school, how was it there was a girl there?"

"She went to the neighbouring all-girl's school. She was the head of the rhythmic gymnastics team there."

"Uhhh...her name wasn't Kodachi, was it?"

"Eh? No...Sayoko. Mishima Sayoko. No relation to the folks of MHI, though."

"Okay, then." Akane grinned. "So who got the girl?"

"Neither of us."

"Good."

Ryouga glanced up, slightly confused. Not that this was new. But before he could say anything more, the end-of-class bell rang.

"Oh! Nabiki and Tenchi will be out soon!" Akane leapt to her feet and ran towards the school. Ryouga stood and started to follow her, but decided it would be better if he just stayed at the tree.

Wherever it was he had left that tree...

"Dammit, not again!"

"Tenchi, wait!"

Tenchi ran through the living room, wearing only a towel and a pair of shorts, the three Tendo sisters in hot pursuit.

"No! Forget it! I'm not doing it!"

"Tenchi, all of your clothes are in the wash. You've got to wear something!"

"You can't just run around naked, you know."

"I'm not naked. I'm wearing shorts!"

Nabiki walked up to Tenchi and poked one of her exposed breasts. "You need more than just shorts."

"Fine! I'll go take a hot bath."

Nabiki shook her head. "That'll get expensive. You can't just take a hot bath every time you happen to get splashed."

"Hey, I pay rent here!"

"There are limits."

Nabiki stepped forward, close enough that only Tenchi could hear her. "Tenchi...for all that you pay rent and do chores here, you are still a guest. We cannot have something like this" - she gestured to her mostly unclothed form - "going on, as it may disturb...certain family members. Further, even the amount of rent you pay does not cover the amount of hot water you go through. I am forced to limit you to two hot baths a day."

"Ack!"

"This means that you will be spending more time in your cursed form. I realize this, and I realize how much it will distress you. I'm sorry."

"Well...why do I have to wear girl's clothes? Can't I just borrow something of Tendo-san's?"

"Oh, right, Tenchi. Anything of Daddy's would just hang off of you like a tent."

"Well...yeah."

"But why does she have to borrow something of mine?"

"Because you're the closest to him in size. As it is, nothing's going to fit him anyway." Nabiki rummaged through Akane's bureau, pulled out a skin-tight bodysuit adorned with ostrich feathers. "My, my...this is unusual."

Akane blushed furiously.

"Look, just give me one of her gis, I'll wear that."

"Well, she only has two...This one, I think."

"I outgrew that one two years ago."

"So? Then it will fit her perfectly."

Tenchi grabbed the offered gi jacket, pulled it on. "Wow, you're right. It does fit perfectly."

"A little long in the sleeve...Akane was still growing when she got that gi. And she was still...developing, which is why it fits so well across the bust..."

Tenchi grinned. "Isn't this a role reversal?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's normally the man who comments on the size of a woman's breasts."

Akane continued to blush.

Tenchi stepped out of Akane's room, dressed in the gi. Kasumi looked her up and down and smiled.

"You look lovely, Tenchi."

"Aheh...thanks, I guess."

"I'm going to the market. If you would, I need a strong back to help me carry some things home with me. I know you're really strong." The smile became almost sufficient to begin tooth decay.

"Sure, Kasumi. Lemme just get some shoes on..."

Tenchi lifted the melon, felt it carefully, put it to her ear and tapped it. She handed it to Kasumi.

"This one's perfect."

"Thank you, Tenchi. Two more, if you please."

Tenchi grinned, and turned back to the rack. She began sorting through the melons. Kasumi watched her hands at work.

"Your hands are very large."

"Hm?" She ceased sorting, looked up at Kasumi. "What did you say?"

"Your hands. They're very large. Even in your girl form."

"Oh? I guess so." She shrugged, turned back to the melons. "My grandfathers' are the same way, and I think my mothers' were as well. At least, as best I can tell from photos."

"A family trait, then?"

"Guess so. I don't know if it's a particularly useful trait. If I were about a foot taller, I might play basketball, and it might help there. But I guess it helps sometimes, makes it easier to hold the bokuto." She tapped a melon, then placed it in the basket. "Akane tells me you do some martial arts, including Zen Archery."

"Well, yes, I do. Of course, Zen Archery is not entirely a combat skill. But I did some kempo when I was younger, and still keep up my practise."

"Why do I never see you in the dojo?"

"I do all my practise in my bedroom."

"Ah." Well, Tenchi, my boy, you can just throw out all those hentai thoughts you had about the noises coming from that room...

"I know that it will be important for you to have a wife with an interest in martial arts, so I really don't think I'd be the best--"

"Hold that train. Remember, Nabiki is the least interested in martial arts. Doesn't do anything more than Tai Chi now, remember?" She grinned. "And before you try to sell Akane off to me again, remember that I also need someone capable of organizing the dojo and taking care of the house."

"I guess..."

Tenchi nodded. "You have your own dreams, don't you? You just plain don't want to be tied to that house."

"Well..."

"So what are your dreams?"

She laughed. "Well, what I really want is to become a doctor." She hesitated.

Tenchi nodded. "Ah, I see. You've finished high school, right?"

"Yes."

"And the only reason you're not going to college is to take care of the house?"

"Well...yes. The only college in Nerima doesn't have a very good medical program. I would have to move out of Nerima. And I can't do that right now."

"Why not?"

She sighed. "Tenchi, do you think there's even a single person in that household capable of caring for it?"

"Hmmm...Akane claims she can't cook, Nabiki abhors the thought of anything domestic, your father is an emotional wreck - sorry--"

"Don't be. I quite realize the situation. You see, when Mother died, Father never really recovered. It was almost a year before he no longer had to be reminded to eat." She shook her head. "Those were hard years for the dojo. We lost many students. Even after he recovered enough to teach again, Father chose not to take on any new students. So what few we have have been with the dojo for ten years.

"It was Mother's dream as much as Father's, the dojo. Without her in it..." Kasumi closed her eyes. "Every time he goes in there, he remembers her, and it's all he can do not to break down again. Somehow, he manages to keep on going, teach the lessons. It's his dream to see the dojo pass onto the next generation of Tendos, to see the family legacy survive."

Tenchi placed a third melon in the basket.

"So you can't go to medical school until someone is ready to take over the reins at the house."

"Yes..."

"That's unfortunate."

"But it also means that I couldn't marry you, you see."

"Why not?"

"Well, because..."

"Because you'd have to give up your dream? Because you couldn't go to medical school, get your degree, become a doctor?"

"...yes."

"Even though you wouldn't have to actually marry me until well after you've graduated and started your own practise?"

"...I guess..." She shook her head, trying to clear it. "That's right...you don't actually have to get married until you're thirty."

"Bingo."

"But there's still the other consideration, Tenchi..."

"Which is?"

"I don't love you." She looked apologetic.

Tenchi sighed. "I know, Kasumi. And to tell the honest truth, I don't love you - or either of your sisters. But I have very little choice."

"I know."

"So I'm using what little choice I have to make sure I don't make a bad choice."

"Tenchi, I know. You've told me already, okay?"

"Yeah...but I have to keep reminding myself."

Kasumi chuckled. "Why? Finding it difficult to make a choice?"

"Yes!" Tenchi laughed, scratching the back of her head. "I mean, all three of you have so much to recommend you."

"Well, thank you for that, Tenchi." Kasumi picked up a bundle of carrots, inspected them. "Ah, these'll do." She placed them in her basket.

"Of course, there's still the matter of a date..."

Kasumi turned back to him. "I was rather hoping to convince you that I was a bad choice, before we went out..."

"Sorry. Gotta do this right."

Kasumi sighed. "I suppose I can't fault you for that. Dinner and a movie?"

"That was sorta what I was thinking. But I've got a better idea. How about instead, there's a live band playing at the park tomorrow, and afterwards, we can go for a walk by the pond."

She smiled, bemused. "I do believe you've put some thought into this. All right, I accept."