Hello everyone. Here's Chapter 4! I apologize for taking a while to write
it, but things are hectic. But I'm planning to take some time off from
work, so I can devote some more time to writing. I hope you enjoy it! C&C
welcome as always...
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Misguided Destiny: A Tale of the Heart
By KajiSan
Usual disclaimer: All characters belong to AIC and Pioneer Entertainment. So please don't sue me! :-)
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Chapter 4: Getting Away From It All
Tenchi worked hard the rest of the afternoon. First he finished sweeping the steps that led to the shrine. It was covered with leaves, branches and all sorts of debris from a previous storm. It took him all morning and most of the afternoon to finish it. Of course hadn't it been for his grandfather and Ryoko's little hiatus in the middle of the morning, he might have finished sooner. But nonetheless, he was finally finished. He then proceeded inside the shrine. After paying his respects at the altar, he started to clean up the inside. Some more leaves and twigs flew into the shrine during the storm, so there was much more the clean in the shrine than usual. However Tenchi took all of it in stride and meticulously picked away at all of the mess.
After what seemed like hours, the shrine was finally clean. Exhausted, Tenchi fell to the floor in the corner of the shrine. "Finally," he let out.
"Not bad," said Tenchi grandfather as he stepped into the shrine. "I'm very impressed at all your hard work today, Tenchi."
The boy stood up to greet his grandfather as soon as he heard his voice. "Good afternoon, Grandpa," answered Tenchi respectfully. "Thank you. You told me that housing the altar must reflect the respect we say that we give."
Katsuhito smiled. He was glad that his teachings were getting through to Tenchi - especially with all of the craziness that has happened to them and the Masaki family. "Sit, Tenchi," he said motioning for him to relax. He sat on the floor against the wall of the shrine. Tenchi sat down next to him. Katsuhito continued, "It must be a great way to keep your mind off of your current troubles, isn't it?"
Tenchi looked up. Sure he was working hard all afternoon, but he never really thought of it as a way to keep Sakuya off his mind. "I guess so," he answered. "I never really thought about her all afternoon. Well, except the time you and Ryoko interrupted me." He sighed. "But since I never really thought about her the rest of the afternoon, it must've worked!" He smiled at his grandfather.
Katsuhito nodded. "I'm glad, Tenchi. I know that it will take time for you to get over her, but I guess that instead of trying to forget her so fast, keep yourself busy with other things so that you are too preoccupied to think about her." He paused. "Say, Tenchi?"
"Yes, Grandpa," inquired Tenchi.
"When was the last time you got out of the house?" asked Katsuhito.
Tenchi paused and thought about it for a moment. "Well," he started. "I go to the market when we need food and supplies."
Katsuhito retorted, "Besides going on errands."
Tenchi gulped. He was hoping to avoid answering by bringing up the errands. He knew the answer and did not want to continue talking about it again. After gathering his thoughts, he replied, "I guess it would have to be when I was in Tokyo."
His grandpa closed his eyes and shook his head. "Tenchi, that's probably what is contributing to your melancholic feelings lately."
Tenchi could do nothing. He was totally motionless and just listened to what his grandfather had to say. He tried not to think about Sakuya, but the mere mention of his time in Tokyo almost immediately brought images of her back into his head. "Why are you asking me this, Grandpa?" he thought. "I thought you were trying to help me get over her!"
As if on cue, Katsuhito replied, "I'm not trying to bring her up again. What I'm trying to say is that you need to get out of the house and do something. I know you are probably not ready to start dating again, so I'm not saying that you should. But, I strongly feel that you need to at least just get out and do something." He looked at his grandson and smiled. "Have some fun! You're still very young to feel that your life may be over."
Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to start talking about her again," he said. He thought about what his grandpa said. It is true that he has not been able to do anything much after the incidents with Yuugi and Sakuya. He just was not in the mood to do anything else, but just work, eat sleep and dwell on his sadness. But he knew that this could not go on. After all of the conversations he had today, it had finally hit him that he was not doing ANYTHING to help the situation. It seemed like all he was doing was making things worse. It was surely time to start breaking out of the recent rut by doing something different. But how can he? What can he do?
"Think about it, Tenchi," said his grandfather. "You don't need an elaborate plan. Just get out and do something. It can even be just and errand or something." He started to smile deviously. "If you need something to do, I can always come up with some errands for you to run for me?"
Tenchi gulped. He knew his grandfather wouldn't let him do anything dangerous, but the evil smile on his face definitely made him feel uneasy. "Um," he finally let out. "That's ok, Grandpa. I'll think of something."
Katsuhito relaxed and smiled - peacefully this time. "Good," he said. "I don't think I need to remind you, but we are living in house full of lovely young ladies." With that, he got up and started to leave.
Tenchi sat there in his spot with his eyes wide open. He can't remember the last time his Grandfather hinted about him with one of the girls. He started thinking about them as he fell to the floor on his back. Looking up at the ceiling of the shrine, images of both Ayeka and Ryoko started running through his thoughts. "I can't say that I've never thought about being with either of them," he said to himself. "But I know that if I ever showed any interest in either of them, the other would become all jealous and the craziness would start once again." He chuckled a little bit. "If there was one thing good about this whole Sakuya thing, it's the fact that Ryoko and Ayeka haven't been fighting that much recently. It's nice to finally enjoy the calmness of a quiet home without the chaos of two girls ready to kill each other. He closed his eyes and began to meditate. "Ayeka," he thought to himself. "She's so cute, and demure. Well, at least when she's not trying to rearrange Ryoko's face!" That brought a smile to his face. "Ryoko. she's a feisty one! But she's definitely loyal, that's for sure!" He then let his mind drift off into many different thoughts about both Ayeka and Ryoko.
"Tenchi?"
He could barely hear the voice that calls to him.
"Tenchi, wake up!"
The voice got louder and he immediately shot up and tried to focus on the owner of the voice. "What? What?" he clamored clumsily. After a moment his eyes finally was able to make out who was trying to wake him up.
"I thought you'd never wake up," said Sasami with a smile. "You've been up here sleeping for almost two hours! You missed dinner!" After the last remark, her face saddened a bit.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sasami," Tenchi apologized. "I didn't mean to miss dinner and your delicious meal. I must've been so tired from working that I just passed out when I laid down here." Seeing her still saddened face, he continued. "C'mon, Sasami. I'm really sorry." He firmed up and said, "I'll do anything to make it up to you!"
Sasami's face lit up a little. "Anything?" she asked?
"Anything!" Tenchi replied. "Just name it!"
Sasami's eyes beamed. "Yay!" she exclaimed. "You can take me to Kyoto this evening! I already asked Grandpa if it's ok. He happily said yes saying that you could really use the time away from the house."
Tenchi blinked. How'd he get himself into this? "Kyoto?" was all he managed to stammer. "Why Kyoto?"
Sasami pulled out a newspaper clipping and handed it to Tenchi. It was an advertisement. "The planetarium is having a special open house tonight," she explained. "They are letting people use the big telescope!" Sasami looked at Tenchi with pleading eyes. "Please, Tenchi. I really want to see if I can view Jurai from here."
Tenchi knew that he could never say no to Sasami when she was giving him the long puppy-dog eyes. "Sheesh, that look should be outlawed or something!" he said to himself amusingly. "Ok, ok," he answered. "That is SO unfair giving that look! You know I can't say no!"
Sasami smiled and stuck her tongue out. "Hehe!" she chuckled. "That's why I used it!"
Tenchi just smiled. He then got up and dusted himself off. "Ok," he said. "If I'm going out tonight, then I'd better go take a shower. I've been working all day and I think I need it!"
Sasami playfully covered her nose and replied, "You sure do, Tenchi!" She laughed out load and left the shrine.
After realizing that she had gotten away with an insult, Tenchi cried, "Hey! I do NOT smell that bad!" He chased after her out of the shrine. He did remember to close the door before he followed Sasami down the stairs and back into the house. He went right up to his room and quickly took a shower. Afterward, he got dressed and came downstairs. In the family room, he ran into his Grandfather. "Hello, Grandpa," he greeted.
"Hello, Tenchi," Katsuhito replied. "I hope you enjoy yourself this evening."
Tenchi faked a smile. "I'll try," was all he said.
Katsuhito saw right through his smile, but played along. "Good," he said. "Sasami has prepared you something to eat, since you missed dinner. Ryoko polished off you're share of the food without any regrets. It's a good thing Sasami still had some food to prepare for you!"
Tenchi gulped. "I'm sorry, Grandpa," he apologized. I was so tired from working to day that I fell asleep in the shrine. I promise that it will not happen again." He bowed deeply to his grandfather.
"It's ok, Tenchi," he replied. "I knew you worked hard today, so I didn't wake you. I figured you can use the rest." He turned and started to walk away toward the couch. "Go and eat the food Sasami prepared for you, Tenchi," he said as he sat down. "Don't let that food go to waste!"
"I will, Grandpa," Tenchi replied. He made his way over to the kitchen. There he saw a plate of food on the counter. "I guess that's for me," he said to himself. He grabbed the plate, set it on the dining room table and sat down to eat. "This is spare food?!" he said to himself as he stared at the plate. "Sukiyaki!?! Oh well, might as well enjoy it." He started to eat and noticed that it was very good. "I should miss dinner more often," he thought to himself. "If this is 'spare' food, I don't mind getting a word or two from Grandpa if this is 'punishment'!!" He continued to eat the food until someone walked into the dining room.
"Hi, Tenchi," said a bubbly voice.
He looked up to see Sasami dressed up and ready to go. "Oh hi, Sasami," he returned. "This stuff is great! Thanks a lot!"
"You're welcome," she replied. "I hope you liked it. It was something I found in the refrigerator that I whipped up."
"Are you kidding me?" Tenchi replied. "This stuff is DELICIOUS!"
Sasami blushed. "Thank you, Tenchi."
Tenchi continued to finish the food. When he was done, he brought the dirty dishes to the sink. He was about to start washing them when his grandfather entered. "It's ok, Tenchi," he said. "Someone else will wash up after you. Go on ahead and have fun tonight."
Tenchi looked around. "Who, Grandpa?" he asked.
At that time, Ryoko appeared through one of the walls. "I will, Tenchi," she said. She had her eyes closed and had a very sad look on her face.
"Ryoko?" Tenchi responded. "Why do you look so glum?"
"Don't worry about her, Tenchi," Katsuhito interjected. "She's sort of grounded." He looked toward the space pirate. "After she selfishly ate your share of the food tonight, I told her that she is to do double her workload around this house for the next two weeks!"
"But, I just didn't want to see good food go to waste!" Ryoko replied trying to defend herself.
"Tenchi was going to eat it!" Sasami answered. She looked both disappointed and angry at the space pirate.
Ryoko knew that she could not retaliate against the very innocent little girl. She merely sighed and made her way over to the sink and started to wash the dirty dishes. Tenchi looked over to her. He kind of felt sad for her.
"Ok, Tenchi," cried Sasami. "Let's go. We don't want to be late for the train." She tugged at his sleeve as Tenchi looked rather spaced out.
"Huh?!" he managed to say. "Oh ok, Sasami." He grabbed his coat which he flung over the dining room chair where he sat. "Let's see. Keys. Wallet." he said as he checked to make sure he had all of his things. "Ok," he finally said. "I'm ready. Let's go."
He started toward the front door of the house. Sasami was following him as he walked outside. "Bye-bye, Grandfather!" said the little girl.
"Bye, Grandpa!" followed Tenchi.
Katsuhito smiled. "Enjoy yourselves!" he said as They closed the door behind them. He then slowly made his way toward the living room again. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. He decided to watch the evening news. After a while, he settled into couch. "Tenchi." he thought to himself. "I hope that this will help you break out of this rut." He began to envision Sakuya in his head. He pictured her with Tenchi together and the honest smiles on both of their faces. "True happiness indeed," he muttered. "I can't blame him for feeling so bad. She's one helluva girl!" He then closed his eyes and fell asleep as he too was exhausted from the day's work.
------------------------------------------ I know it's shorter than the other chapters, but I really thought that it was the best way to end it where it did. I already have thoughts for the next several chapters, so hopefully that some time off from work can help speed things up.
How do you like it so far? I hope you do. The story has just started to get ready for more - a LOT more! :-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Misguided Destiny: A Tale of the Heart
By KajiSan
Usual disclaimer: All characters belong to AIC and Pioneer Entertainment. So please don't sue me! :-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 4: Getting Away From It All
Tenchi worked hard the rest of the afternoon. First he finished sweeping the steps that led to the shrine. It was covered with leaves, branches and all sorts of debris from a previous storm. It took him all morning and most of the afternoon to finish it. Of course hadn't it been for his grandfather and Ryoko's little hiatus in the middle of the morning, he might have finished sooner. But nonetheless, he was finally finished. He then proceeded inside the shrine. After paying his respects at the altar, he started to clean up the inside. Some more leaves and twigs flew into the shrine during the storm, so there was much more the clean in the shrine than usual. However Tenchi took all of it in stride and meticulously picked away at all of the mess.
After what seemed like hours, the shrine was finally clean. Exhausted, Tenchi fell to the floor in the corner of the shrine. "Finally," he let out.
"Not bad," said Tenchi grandfather as he stepped into the shrine. "I'm very impressed at all your hard work today, Tenchi."
The boy stood up to greet his grandfather as soon as he heard his voice. "Good afternoon, Grandpa," answered Tenchi respectfully. "Thank you. You told me that housing the altar must reflect the respect we say that we give."
Katsuhito smiled. He was glad that his teachings were getting through to Tenchi - especially with all of the craziness that has happened to them and the Masaki family. "Sit, Tenchi," he said motioning for him to relax. He sat on the floor against the wall of the shrine. Tenchi sat down next to him. Katsuhito continued, "It must be a great way to keep your mind off of your current troubles, isn't it?"
Tenchi looked up. Sure he was working hard all afternoon, but he never really thought of it as a way to keep Sakuya off his mind. "I guess so," he answered. "I never really thought about her all afternoon. Well, except the time you and Ryoko interrupted me." He sighed. "But since I never really thought about her the rest of the afternoon, it must've worked!" He smiled at his grandfather.
Katsuhito nodded. "I'm glad, Tenchi. I know that it will take time for you to get over her, but I guess that instead of trying to forget her so fast, keep yourself busy with other things so that you are too preoccupied to think about her." He paused. "Say, Tenchi?"
"Yes, Grandpa," inquired Tenchi.
"When was the last time you got out of the house?" asked Katsuhito.
Tenchi paused and thought about it for a moment. "Well," he started. "I go to the market when we need food and supplies."
Katsuhito retorted, "Besides going on errands."
Tenchi gulped. He was hoping to avoid answering by bringing up the errands. He knew the answer and did not want to continue talking about it again. After gathering his thoughts, he replied, "I guess it would have to be when I was in Tokyo."
His grandpa closed his eyes and shook his head. "Tenchi, that's probably what is contributing to your melancholic feelings lately."
Tenchi could do nothing. He was totally motionless and just listened to what his grandfather had to say. He tried not to think about Sakuya, but the mere mention of his time in Tokyo almost immediately brought images of her back into his head. "Why are you asking me this, Grandpa?" he thought. "I thought you were trying to help me get over her!"
As if on cue, Katsuhito replied, "I'm not trying to bring her up again. What I'm trying to say is that you need to get out of the house and do something. I know you are probably not ready to start dating again, so I'm not saying that you should. But, I strongly feel that you need to at least just get out and do something." He looked at his grandson and smiled. "Have some fun! You're still very young to feel that your life may be over."
Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to start talking about her again," he said. He thought about what his grandpa said. It is true that he has not been able to do anything much after the incidents with Yuugi and Sakuya. He just was not in the mood to do anything else, but just work, eat sleep and dwell on his sadness. But he knew that this could not go on. After all of the conversations he had today, it had finally hit him that he was not doing ANYTHING to help the situation. It seemed like all he was doing was making things worse. It was surely time to start breaking out of the recent rut by doing something different. But how can he? What can he do?
"Think about it, Tenchi," said his grandfather. "You don't need an elaborate plan. Just get out and do something. It can even be just and errand or something." He started to smile deviously. "If you need something to do, I can always come up with some errands for you to run for me?"
Tenchi gulped. He knew his grandfather wouldn't let him do anything dangerous, but the evil smile on his face definitely made him feel uneasy. "Um," he finally let out. "That's ok, Grandpa. I'll think of something."
Katsuhito relaxed and smiled - peacefully this time. "Good," he said. "I don't think I need to remind you, but we are living in house full of lovely young ladies." With that, he got up and started to leave.
Tenchi sat there in his spot with his eyes wide open. He can't remember the last time his Grandfather hinted about him with one of the girls. He started thinking about them as he fell to the floor on his back. Looking up at the ceiling of the shrine, images of both Ayeka and Ryoko started running through his thoughts. "I can't say that I've never thought about being with either of them," he said to himself. "But I know that if I ever showed any interest in either of them, the other would become all jealous and the craziness would start once again." He chuckled a little bit. "If there was one thing good about this whole Sakuya thing, it's the fact that Ryoko and Ayeka haven't been fighting that much recently. It's nice to finally enjoy the calmness of a quiet home without the chaos of two girls ready to kill each other. He closed his eyes and began to meditate. "Ayeka," he thought to himself. "She's so cute, and demure. Well, at least when she's not trying to rearrange Ryoko's face!" That brought a smile to his face. "Ryoko. she's a feisty one! But she's definitely loyal, that's for sure!" He then let his mind drift off into many different thoughts about both Ayeka and Ryoko.
"Tenchi?"
He could barely hear the voice that calls to him.
"Tenchi, wake up!"
The voice got louder and he immediately shot up and tried to focus on the owner of the voice. "What? What?" he clamored clumsily. After a moment his eyes finally was able to make out who was trying to wake him up.
"I thought you'd never wake up," said Sasami with a smile. "You've been up here sleeping for almost two hours! You missed dinner!" After the last remark, her face saddened a bit.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sasami," Tenchi apologized. "I didn't mean to miss dinner and your delicious meal. I must've been so tired from working that I just passed out when I laid down here." Seeing her still saddened face, he continued. "C'mon, Sasami. I'm really sorry." He firmed up and said, "I'll do anything to make it up to you!"
Sasami's face lit up a little. "Anything?" she asked?
"Anything!" Tenchi replied. "Just name it!"
Sasami's eyes beamed. "Yay!" she exclaimed. "You can take me to Kyoto this evening! I already asked Grandpa if it's ok. He happily said yes saying that you could really use the time away from the house."
Tenchi blinked. How'd he get himself into this? "Kyoto?" was all he managed to stammer. "Why Kyoto?"
Sasami pulled out a newspaper clipping and handed it to Tenchi. It was an advertisement. "The planetarium is having a special open house tonight," she explained. "They are letting people use the big telescope!" Sasami looked at Tenchi with pleading eyes. "Please, Tenchi. I really want to see if I can view Jurai from here."
Tenchi knew that he could never say no to Sasami when she was giving him the long puppy-dog eyes. "Sheesh, that look should be outlawed or something!" he said to himself amusingly. "Ok, ok," he answered. "That is SO unfair giving that look! You know I can't say no!"
Sasami smiled and stuck her tongue out. "Hehe!" she chuckled. "That's why I used it!"
Tenchi just smiled. He then got up and dusted himself off. "Ok," he said. "If I'm going out tonight, then I'd better go take a shower. I've been working all day and I think I need it!"
Sasami playfully covered her nose and replied, "You sure do, Tenchi!" She laughed out load and left the shrine.
After realizing that she had gotten away with an insult, Tenchi cried, "Hey! I do NOT smell that bad!" He chased after her out of the shrine. He did remember to close the door before he followed Sasami down the stairs and back into the house. He went right up to his room and quickly took a shower. Afterward, he got dressed and came downstairs. In the family room, he ran into his Grandfather. "Hello, Grandpa," he greeted.
"Hello, Tenchi," Katsuhito replied. "I hope you enjoy yourself this evening."
Tenchi faked a smile. "I'll try," was all he said.
Katsuhito saw right through his smile, but played along. "Good," he said. "Sasami has prepared you something to eat, since you missed dinner. Ryoko polished off you're share of the food without any regrets. It's a good thing Sasami still had some food to prepare for you!"
Tenchi gulped. "I'm sorry, Grandpa," he apologized. I was so tired from working to day that I fell asleep in the shrine. I promise that it will not happen again." He bowed deeply to his grandfather.
"It's ok, Tenchi," he replied. "I knew you worked hard today, so I didn't wake you. I figured you can use the rest." He turned and started to walk away toward the couch. "Go and eat the food Sasami prepared for you, Tenchi," he said as he sat down. "Don't let that food go to waste!"
"I will, Grandpa," Tenchi replied. He made his way over to the kitchen. There he saw a plate of food on the counter. "I guess that's for me," he said to himself. He grabbed the plate, set it on the dining room table and sat down to eat. "This is spare food?!" he said to himself as he stared at the plate. "Sukiyaki!?! Oh well, might as well enjoy it." He started to eat and noticed that it was very good. "I should miss dinner more often," he thought to himself. "If this is 'spare' food, I don't mind getting a word or two from Grandpa if this is 'punishment'!!" He continued to eat the food until someone walked into the dining room.
"Hi, Tenchi," said a bubbly voice.
He looked up to see Sasami dressed up and ready to go. "Oh hi, Sasami," he returned. "This stuff is great! Thanks a lot!"
"You're welcome," she replied. "I hope you liked it. It was something I found in the refrigerator that I whipped up."
"Are you kidding me?" Tenchi replied. "This stuff is DELICIOUS!"
Sasami blushed. "Thank you, Tenchi."
Tenchi continued to finish the food. When he was done, he brought the dirty dishes to the sink. He was about to start washing them when his grandfather entered. "It's ok, Tenchi," he said. "Someone else will wash up after you. Go on ahead and have fun tonight."
Tenchi looked around. "Who, Grandpa?" he asked.
At that time, Ryoko appeared through one of the walls. "I will, Tenchi," she said. She had her eyes closed and had a very sad look on her face.
"Ryoko?" Tenchi responded. "Why do you look so glum?"
"Don't worry about her, Tenchi," Katsuhito interjected. "She's sort of grounded." He looked toward the space pirate. "After she selfishly ate your share of the food tonight, I told her that she is to do double her workload around this house for the next two weeks!"
"But, I just didn't want to see good food go to waste!" Ryoko replied trying to defend herself.
"Tenchi was going to eat it!" Sasami answered. She looked both disappointed and angry at the space pirate.
Ryoko knew that she could not retaliate against the very innocent little girl. She merely sighed and made her way over to the sink and started to wash the dirty dishes. Tenchi looked over to her. He kind of felt sad for her.
"Ok, Tenchi," cried Sasami. "Let's go. We don't want to be late for the train." She tugged at his sleeve as Tenchi looked rather spaced out.
"Huh?!" he managed to say. "Oh ok, Sasami." He grabbed his coat which he flung over the dining room chair where he sat. "Let's see. Keys. Wallet." he said as he checked to make sure he had all of his things. "Ok," he finally said. "I'm ready. Let's go."
He started toward the front door of the house. Sasami was following him as he walked outside. "Bye-bye, Grandfather!" said the little girl.
"Bye, Grandpa!" followed Tenchi.
Katsuhito smiled. "Enjoy yourselves!" he said as They closed the door behind them. He then slowly made his way toward the living room again. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. He decided to watch the evening news. After a while, he settled into couch. "Tenchi." he thought to himself. "I hope that this will help you break out of this rut." He began to envision Sakuya in his head. He pictured her with Tenchi together and the honest smiles on both of their faces. "True happiness indeed," he muttered. "I can't blame him for feeling so bad. She's one helluva girl!" He then closed his eyes and fell asleep as he too was exhausted from the day's work.
------------------------------------------ I know it's shorter than the other chapters, but I really thought that it was the best way to end it where it did. I already have thoughts for the next several chapters, so hopefully that some time off from work can help speed things up.
How do you like it so far? I hope you do. The story has just started to get ready for more - a LOT more! :-)