Kiyone smashed the alarm clock as it rang, frustration over her lack of sleep causing her to take it out on the innocent object. A glance showed her that Mihoshi hadn't been woken up by the alarm going off, unsurprisingly. Kiyone had slept fitfully last night. Thoughts of what she was going to do today had intruded into her thoughts, making sleep hard to come by. She'd set the alarm a little early to give herself time to get ready, and that just made it worse.
She crawled out of bed, tempted to kick Mihoshi on the way to the closet to grab some clothes. She snagged the outfit she'd decided on, and quickly headed out for the portal to the floating onsen. She was going to try and relax somehow, and she only had a short time before she'd have to make an appearance at breakfast to start 'her day'.
She threw her clothes down in a pile, quickly stripped out of her tiny pajamas, and slipped into the warm water. She felt the tension leaving her muscles, but now she had nothing to do but think about what she was doing. It was so ridiculous, chasing a boy, even competing for him with five other women. She vaguely wished it was just the ridiculous nightmare as it seemed to be, not the actual truth.
She'd seen what Washu had been doing yesterday, everyone had. She didn't think she wanted to go that far, but if she didn't, would she even have a chance with Tenchi? Ryoko wouldn't have any qualms about doing that, and Ayeka's prim attitude slipped whenever it involved Tenchi. Mihoshi never seemed to get hung up on doing anything, she just lived her life. Who knew what Sasami might do, all Tenchi's protests aside. Competing with them was going to be a challenge for Kiyone.
Just accepting that she wanted to compete had been tough enough for Kiyone, now she had to figure out what she was going to do. She didn't have much experience to draw on, she'd never really tried to attract anyone's attention before. Her few relationships had just happened, and then been over before she knew it. She'd always assumed that someday someone might chase after her, not the other way around.
Giving up on relaxing, Kiyone rinsed and dried off, then put on her clothes for the day. She'd decided on some pants made of a material somewhat like that of her GP uniform so that the effect would be similar, showing off her 'nice butt' as Mihoshi had so indelicately put it. She liked shirts that covered her arms, it usually hid the scars and the fact that she was quite muscular for a woman. That had led her to opt for a long-sleeved sweater. It was very short, however, leaving a glimpse of her stomach underneath and the excellently developed abdominal muscles she had. The underwear was small and lacy, though she wasn't planning on showing those off to anyone, except maybe a quick glimpse for Tenchi if she did things right.
Shopping for the outfit had been a nightmare in itself. When she'd heard Sasami was coming along with Mihoshi and herself, she'd hoped for a cool head to keep things simple. Sasami had ended up being even worse than Mihoshi, however. She'd obviously never shopped for any clothes of the sort they were looking for, and she'd caused all three to try on any number of outfits before they could all find what they were looking for. And the lingerie store had been absolutely awful. Some of the things she'd been forced to try on had done more than make her blush. She hadn't even been able to figure out how to put a couple of them on, and had been forced to let Sasami and Mihoshi help, to her absolute mortification.
She couldn't wait for practice this morning, not only so she could change back out of these clothes, but so she could exact some revenge on Mihoshi without being obvious about it. Actually, the clothes were pretty comfortable, but the knowledge of their purpose left her too self-conscious.
She left the onsen, and headed back to her room, this time giving Mihoshi a light kick to wake her up. She dumped her pajamas in the heap of dirty clothes.
As Mihoshi struggled into awareness Kiyone was forced to once again consider what she was doing. Mihoshi was wearing her usual bedtime clothes, the tiny black top and matching underwear. Her beauty was undeniable, and her figure was flawless. Even just waking up, her hair seemed to naturally fall back into place, only having that slightly mussed or windblown look which often seemed to be attractive to men. Kiyone's hair was usually just a snarled mess in the morning.
"Time to get up, sleepyhead. Breakfast will be ready soon, Sasami's sure to be fixing it by now. How a little girl can get up so early I'll never understand." Kiyone left Mihoshi to fend for herself at that point, and headed downstairs to face the day.
--
Tenchi awoke, and was pleased to note Ryoko wasn't hovering over his bed. Then he remembered Washu was sleeping on the futon right next to his bed. He quietly turned to look and see if she was there and encountered her smiling face and big eyes right before him. He jumped back in surprise.
"Waaugh! Washu, that's as bad as Ryoko. Umm, oh yeah, Young Washu."
"Good morning Tenchi. It's nice to see you, too. Did you sleep well? Any nice dreams of a certain red-headed scientist? Something kinda kinky, perhaps?"
"Hey, stop it now. Your day is over."
"We're still alone, and my day isn't over til..."
(KNOCK, KNOCK)
"Hello, breakfast is ready," Kiyone called from outside.
"Damn. Saved by the bell, handsome. Oh well, I guess I'm off then." Washu phased herself back to her child form with her usual non-revealing outfit, and headed out the door. Tenchi watched her go with a little relief and a little regret.
"Good morning Kiyone, not bad, not bad" said Washu on her way out, glancing at the outfit Kiyone was wearing.
"Good morning Little Washu," answered Kiyone with a mild blush. Then she poked her head inside the door to look for Tenchi. "Tenchi, are you ready, breakfast is done."
"Good morning Kiyone, just give me a second to throw some clothes on and clean up, and I'll be over there shortly. You don't have to wait."
"That's okay, Tenchi, I can wait." Kiyone was thinking to herself that she'd prefer not to be sitting at the table under the watchful gaze of all the other ladies right now. It would be easier to show up with Tenchi than to have to face them alone.
"All right then, just a moment."
Tenchi quickly pulled on a shirt and pants suitable for working in the fields, and walked out of his room to greet Kiyone. He froze momentarily upon seeing her, then forced himself to keep moving. She was dressed differently than usual, which he supposed shouldn't surprise him. He'd never expected Kiyone to do anything but her usual jeans and sweater. She had the sweater, it was white, but it was short and relatively tight. He admired the muscle development visible in her stomach without trying to be obvious about it. And the black spandex pants emphasized her long, muscular legs. It was a very attractive look for her. He tried to decide whether to compliment her or not, but she didn't give him a chance.
"Let's go then." And Kiyone was out the door.
Tenchi was left to follow along behind her, as she moved quickly back along the shore to his father's house. He admired the view while making the walk, the spandex pants hugging her backside tightly. She waited for him at the door instead of going in, though, and paced a little as she was waiting for him. He didn't think she'd caught him staring at her butt.
When he got there, she took a deep breath, and then went in, Tenchi right behind her. Everyone was at the table waiting, including Yosho who normally wasn't a regular for breakfast. Kiyone went to the leftmost of the two empty spots, leaving room for Tenchi between her and Funaho.
"Good morning everyone!"
"Good morning Tenchi!"
Tenchi sat down, smelling the wonderful breakfast Sasami had again prepared and everyone started eating.
Yosho asked nonchalantly, "So, how'd everything go last night, Tenchi?"
"Grandpa! Nothing happened, okay. We just talked and watched a movie, that's all."
"Yeah, he turned me down flat. He did kiss me though." Washu never even looked up as she said this, continuing on with her breakfast as if nothing happened. The hisses of everyone sucking in their breath were very loud.
"You kissed her? How could you, Tenchi?" Ryoko then phased away, disappearing from sight.
"You certainly didn't waste any time, did you Tenchi?" Ayeka stormed out with a loud "hmmph!"
Sasami rushed back into the kitchen with tears in her eyes, Kiyone just sat back in amazement. Ryo-Ohki looked around a bit, then hopped into the kitchen after Sasami. Mihoshi turned to Washu and said, "Wow, that's really great Little Washu. How was it? I hope I get a kiss from Tenchi on my day."
Tenchi buried his head in his hands, not believing what had just happened. How could he have kissed Washu? He should have known this would happen. He should have been smart enough not to kiss any of them until he'd figured out if he wanted a relationship with any of them.
"Well, honestly, it wasn't a terribly great kiss."
Tenchi's head sunk even lower. He thought it had been decent.
"I suspect Romeo here hasn't kissed too many girls in his life. He probably just needs a little practice." Washu glanced at Tenchi as she said this, smiling ruefully at his obvious dismay.
"Ooooh. I can do that. And it's your day today Kiyone, you can kiss him soon. You're so lucky. I don't know if I can wait..." Mihoshi's face was nearly glowing with her excitement.
"Shut up Mihoshi!" Kiyone's face had turned bright red, while Tenchi was slowly shaking his head back and forth on his arms which were flat on the table.
"Hmmm, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised he needs to work on his kissing." Yosho walked over and patted his grandson on the back. "Well, I'm back to the shrine, I have a couple coming in this morning. Have a good day. Especially you, Kiyone."
"Aargghh!" Kiyone buried her head similar to what Tenchi was doing.
Tenchi looked up as his grandfather walked out. He looked around at who was left at the table. He sighed, and then addressed everyone. "I never really meant to kiss anyone yet, it just kind of happened. I hope everyone can understand that? All right then, obviously I've screwed up here. Could I get some help from all of you to set things back in order? I've got to go to the fields, so I can't chase after all three of them to try and set things straight. Please don't be mad at me Little Washu, but that kiss didn't really mean anything, at least not in the way you might hope. It just kind of happened." Tenchi was rubbing the back of his head furiously, seeing the dangerous situation he'd put himself in. The look of hurt on Washu's face only made it worse.
"No, no, that's not quite right. I kissed you because I like you Little Washu, but it can't be more than that right now. Do you understand?" Tenchi was relieved to see the pain ease in Washu's eyes.
"Yes, I do Tenchi. I already told you I probably understand better than all the rest. I won't say it doesn't hurt a little, but I do understand. If you'll all excuse me, I have some work to do, I haven't been in my lab much recently."
Washu disappeared into her lab, leaving Tenchi with just Mihoshi, Kiyone, and the two queens. Misaki had a speculative look on her face and Funaho's almost looked like she was hiding a grin.
Finally, Misaki addressed him. "You should have known this would happen, of course. I also don't blame you, the way these ladies are throwing themselves at you." Kiyone's head hit her arms again. "We'll try and sort things out now, but you're going to have to work something out going forward as we won't keep doing this. Mihoshi, can you go talk to Sasami? I'll talk to Ryoko, and sister, will you talk to Ayeka please? Let's make them understand Tenchi hasn't made his choice yet and that they should stop moping. Honestly, children!"
"Thank you so much, Misaki, everyone. I'll try not to let you down again."
"Just remember, Tenchi, we may have to promise them something in return. You'd better be prepared to give them all a kiss." Funaho laughed with Misaki on her way out to find Ayeka. Mihoshi disappeared into the kitchen. Tenchi turned bright red.
"Well, I guess I need to get going. I'll see you later then, Kiyone"
"Yeah I suppose so Tenchi. Mihoshi and I will be making a short patrol this morning, but I should hopefully be back by practice."
"Okay, bye."
--
Mihoshi entered the kitchen to see Sasami sitting on a stool with Ryo-Ohki on her lap. They were both crying.
"Sasami?" Sasami looked up at her. "Sasami? Are you okay? You know Tenchi hasn't really chosen Washu yet, right? He just kissed her, that's all."
Ryo-Ohki and Sasami finally stopped crying. Sasami sniffed a couple times before answering. "But... why did he kiss her if he didn't choose her? Tenchi wouldn't fool around like that."
"Well, I haven't talked to him or Washu about it yet, but I suspect he just felt it was the right thing to do. He apologized to all of us afterwards for making a mistake. He didn't want to hurt anyone, and he let Washu know that it wasn't anything more than a kiss because he liked her. I think he likes all of us, so we're probably all going to get a kiss from him eventually."
"R-really?"
"Uh-huh. In fact I know he's going to give me a kiss, I won't let him get away without one, now." Mihoshi's face had gotten a little mischievous look to it, and that brought out a grin on Sasami's face.
"I hope so. Thanks Mihoshi, you're a great friend. I wish I was older, it's not fair!"
Sasami and Mihoshi came together in a tremendous hug, poor Ryo-Ohki trapped in the middle. When they broke the hug, Ryo-Ohki collapsed to the ground, her eyes spinning dizzily.
"How long until it's my turn?"
--
Funaho found Ayeka where she'd expected to, tending to the little sapling Ryu-Oh. She'd always run to the tree when she was younger and something upset her. That seemed to happen fairly often around Tenchi, she let her emotions get the better of her where he was concerned.
She approached slowly, and watched happily as Ayeka repacked the soil around Ryu-Oh properly, and then watered the ground. She knew the proper way to tend a tree in its growth obviously. Tending to her own heart was not something she'd gotten a knack for yet.
"Ayeka? Can we talk?"
"Aunt Funaho. This is a surprise. I expected my mother to come scold me for being immature."
"I think that's why she asked me to come. She knew that's what she would have done. You are being a bit immature you know. Tenchi kissed Washu, he hasn't cast you out of his life yet."
Ayeka sighed. How could anyone possibly understand? "That may be, but that doesn't change the fact that he kissed her first. How would you feel?"
"Perhaps your mother should have come to talk to you. How do you think she felt? She was engaged to your father when I returned with him from earth. Suddenly she was not going to be first wife, I was. Consider that for a moment. You have to deal with the fact that Tenchi kissed another woman. By the time she got married, your mother had to accept that her husband-to-be was already married and obviously doing more than just kissing another woman."
Funaho turned away and then looked up into the sky. "And how do you think I felt when I learned I wasn't considered good enough to be his only wife, that my son was considered a half-breed? I also had to accept sharing my husband, the man I loved, with her. Do you honestly think I accepted that gracefully?"
Ayeka had looked up from her work, and she set down the watering pot. She couldn't imagine what that might have been like. She'd never really talked with Funaho or her mother about it before. She'd asked her father about it once, and he had gruffly responded that it had been a necessary act. And in one of his rare instances of displaying true emotion in her presence, Azusa had asked her never to talk to either of them about it, as it brought them both painful memories. She had promised him never to ask them.
Here now, because of her childishness, her Aunt had been forced to open up some of her most painful memories to try and show Ayeka the error of her ways. Ayeka felt small and ashamed of her actions.
She ran to Funaho, and embraced her in a hug. She didn't squeeze like her mother did, but just held Funaho. "I'm so sorry, Aunt, I shouldn't have put you through that. I am being childish, and I am truly sorry. Please forgive me."
Funaho just enjoyed the embrace for a time. She kept those memories buried deep, but it felt a little refreshing to share them finally. After a while she said, "I forgive you Ayeka. You were hurt, it's only natural to retreat from something that causes us pain. But you will have to face this, you know. It's either that or give up on Tenchi."
Ayeka stiffened, then her face hardened into a look of determination. "I will never give up on Lord Tenchi. I can't lose him, I just can't."
"That's a good attitude, Ayeka, but you could lose him eventually regardless of what you do now. Or perhaps you'll find you have to share him. Are you sure you want to risk that?"
Ayeka rocked as if struck by a blow. Losing Tenchi would cause her unimaginable pain. She'd thought she'd felt that once over Yosho, only to realize that she'd been chasing a dream. Tenchi was not just a dream to her now. She'd gotten to know him in ways she'd never known Yosho. Would sharing him with another be better than losing him altogether?
"All I can do is try. Tsunami willing, I'll realize my dreams in the end."
"Asking Tsunami for help in this matter might not get you very far, Ayeka. She's more likely to be in Sasami's corner than your own if you think about it."
Ayeka sighed again. It was hard enough to think of her sister as a rival for Tenchi, let alone to think that her goddess who was supposed to be her and every other Juraian's protector would actively work against her.
"You may be right. Come what may, all I can do is try."
--
Misaki finally found Ryoko, soaking in the onsen, as usual with a few empty bottles of sake nearby. Misaki frowned, she didn't really approve of the heavy drinking Ryoko did, which seemed to have rubbed off onto her daughter Ayeka.
She sat down near the edge of the water and watched Ryoko for a moment. She knew that Ryoko knew she was there, even though Ryoko hadn't looked at her yet. The silence went on for a while, before finally Ryoko felt compelled to break it.
"So how come you're here and not talking to your daughters? I would've thought you'd go to them to encourage them to fight for Tenchi, not me. I know you want one of them to get him in the end."
Misaki gave her a quizzical look, Ryoko had disappeared before she could have known that Ayeka and Sasami had stormed off as well. She presumed Ryoko must have read Ryo-Ohki's mind to get that information then. "I left my daughters in the capable hands of others in the house. I felt I should perhaps talk to you. I thought you might benefit most from my wisdom in this situation, not my daughters."
"You're going to pass on your wisdom, huh? My moth... Washu tries to do that from time to time too, and it's usually a bunch of baloney. She thinks because she can read my mind that she can somehow give me advice on how I should be living my life. You don't even have that, how could you possibly give me advice?"
Misaki had to suppress her smile. Every girl who'd ever lived probably thought that their mother couldn't possibly understand what they were going through. She'd thought the same thing of her mother when she was younger. And then, once you had a daughter you were forced to endure the same treatment you'd inflicted on your mother. It was one of the universe's grand jokes in Misaki's opinion.
"You, perhaps more than anyone I've ever met, could benefit most from a mother's opinion. You had no mother in your life, and were forced to grow up with only Kagato as an authority figure."
"I don't need this. Take your nonsense and send it someone else's way."
"Sit down Ryoko! I'm here at Tenchi's request and you will listen to what I have to say, do we understand each other?" Ryoko sank back down, cowed by Misaki's commanding presence. "Good, now, as I was saying, growing up that way didn't give you the experiences most people have, and probably left you feeling abandoned, am I correct?"
She received a glare from Ryoko, and continued. "You never had your mother around when you needed her most. And I'll assume your feelings of abandonment did not improve when our Yosho sealed you in that cave. When Tenchi finally came round and you discovered he could sense you, and then finally he released you, its perfectly understandable why you fell in love with him. You'd never had any companionship in your life before."
Ryoko could only agree with what Misaki had to say, but refused to admit it. Misaki continued on, "And after only having Tenchi for a very short time, suddenly Ayeka comes into your life, and then Mihoshi, and finally your mother, Washu. All of them are interested in 'your' Tenchi. It must be incredibly difficult to accept that. With your power and reputation, it's amazing you've shown the restraint you have. Restraint being a relative term, of course, from all the reported damage the house has taken."
Misaki smiled as she saw the blush rise in Ryoko's cheeks. She knew she had her, if she could feel embarrassment instead of anger. "So now the question is this: Are you giving up on Tenchi because he kissed Washu? That doesn't seem like you at all."
Ryoko lifted her face, and the resolve was clear. "Of course not. But why'd he have to kiss HER? I think I'd have rather he kissed Ayeka than her. She's my mother after all. How can she do that to me?"
"I think if you asked her to, honestly asked her to, she would give up on Tenchi for you. She loves you, even if it's hard to see behind her odd 'scientific genius' personality. She regrets not being there for you when you needed it, and she knows she can't just become the mother you never had overnight."
"How would you know?"
"Because I'm a mother, and I can see that she is too, that's how. It's the little things that you probably never notice. She flinches whenever she sees you and Ayeka fight. She watches you whenever you disappear, keeping an eye out for you as long as she possibly can. It's hard to hide the feelings we feel to want to protect our children. She disguises them pretty well, but she can't hide them completely, not from someone who's already experienced what she is currently."
Ryoko held her head low, not wanting to look at Misaki at the moment. It all made sense, she just didn't like to think of Washu as her mother. She knew it wasn't really Washu's fault, but Misaki was right, she'd felt abandoned, and suddenly having Washu appear, announcing she was Ryoko's mother was very upsetting in its own way.
"So why, if she loves me so much, is she trying to steal my Tenchi?"
"That's the problem, isn't it? The answer is both simple and complex to coin an overused phrase. The simple answer is because she's in love with him. But it's complex because you have to consider what that really means. She was married once, and had her family torn away from her. After that, she closed herself off from those emotions, intending never to risk that loss again. Then Kagato forces her to create him a weapon of immense power, and what does she do, she creates you, her daughter. I suspect that's what caused her to be able to even fall in love with Tenchi."
"Huh? What the heck does that mean?"
"When she created you, she opened herself up to feeling strong emotions for someone again. If she'd just given Kagato a super weapon, a super powerful laser or some such, capable of destroying ships and planets, she would still have had her barriers up, and if Tenchi had happened to rescue her as he did with those barriers still up, she might not have fallen in love with him. This is all hypothetical conjecture on my part of course."
Ryoko took a few moments to mull over the new thoughts running rampant in her mind. Finally, she answered, "So, she's in love with him because of me, then. And she loves me, and knows I love him too, so she wants me to be happy and be with him, but she wants to be happy with him, too. It's no wonder she's insane."
Misaki finally relaxed, allowing herself to smile. "In essence, yes. Imagine how hard it would be for her to suddenly find herself in love again after almost 20,000 years, and be put in a situation where she should give that up right away for someone else's benefit. It's got to be terribly painful trying to balance her love for you and her love for Tenchi. It's nice to see you understand what she must be experiencing. Just don't tell her I agreed with the insane part, okay?"
"I'll have to consider that. You can never have too many favors owed you. I suppose we should go back and rejoin the rest, huh?" Ryoko teleported out of the water, leaving herself completely dry and proceeded to phase one of her simple dresses, her favorite with the cat tail, onto herself. She turned back to Misaki, and froze like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. Misaki was now looking at her with those glistening eyes, which were a prelude to one of her superhugs.
"Oh, I'm so proud of you Ryoko!" Misaki threw herself at Ryoko, and wrapped her arms, squeezing for all she was worth. Ryoko finally got concerned a few of her ribs were going to crack, and teleported out of Misaki's grasp. Misaki stumbled forward and would have fallen into the water if Ryoko hadn't caught her by the arm.
"Sorry about that. My ribs were going to burst. What? Oh all right, go ahead." Ryoko suffered a new hug from Misaki, barely any better than the last one she'd been forced to escape from. Finally Misaki let her go, and they turned to walk out of the onsen.
"We should get going. I need to prepare some lessons for martial practice today, and I believe Funaho has some other plans for this morning. Perhaps I can give Yosho the full beating he deserves today."
"Hey, wait a minute. How come I had to do a thousand pushups for saying he deserved a beating?"
Misaki turned her slightly-bulging eyed stare on Ryoko who flinched backwards from it. "Because I am the master and you are the student, right? I thought so." Her face broke back into her usual smile again as she led Ryoko back to the house.
--
Funaho faced all the ladies from the Masaki household as they sat in their seats. Even Kiyone and Mihoshi were looking back, Washu had rigged up a connection between Yukinojo and the current location within her lab, since patrol duty really just meant cruising around while Yukinojo monitored for any unusual activity. She waited for the general chitchat to come to a stop, and addressed everyone.
"Okay, ladies. I assume you're all wondering why I brought you here, and why I needed to use one of Washu's classrooms. So let's start with a question. Do you truly want to get involved with Tenchi?"
Six heads nodded, along with various calls of "yes" and "of course".
"So, you think you might like to spend the rest of your life with him?"
Again, all the heads nodded, though she mostly got puzzled looks this time.
"Fine, then. Have you given thought to what that really means, spending the rest of your life with Tenchi. With a prince of the Juraian royal family. Likely to be the crown prince if my stubborn son gets his way. Spending the rest of your life with the person who quite likely will become the next King of Jurai. Have you really thought about that?"
This time she received mostly blank stares and shaking heads, though surprisingly Washu nodded along with Ayeka.
"Well let's start with a few of the things that means. Should you become his wife, certain expectations will be placed on you. You will be expected to act a certain way, dress a certain way, and have knowledge of the history of the culture to which you will then belong."
She sensed the nervous buzz in the room, though Ayeka's face was now beaming. Washu seemed to be bored, and Mihoshi was nodding. Sasami just had her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and Ryoko looked puzzled. Kiyone just looked horrified.
"Well, assuming you still wish to continue in your pursuit of my great-grandson, I will now be instructing all of you in those things which you will need to know should you manage to become his wife."
Kiyone buried her face in her arms. Things just kept getting worse, this was quite probably the stupidest possible relationship she could ever get herself into. Dating someone who, if she should happen to be successful, would pretty much ruin her chosen life just because of who he was. Why did he have to be such a good guy?
"Are we all ready to begin?"
Receiving an enthusiastic nod from Ayeka, and half-hearted nods from everyone else, Funaho started her lecture.
"Today, we'll start with some basic Juraian history, and a little detail into the power structure through which Jurai is ruled..."
Kiyone picked her head up, wishing beyond hope that something might actually happen on this patrol to get her out of the lessons. She wasn't the type to give up once she'd set her mind to it, but this was not in her list of things she wanted to do for the sake of a man. Realizing Funaho had already started, Kiyone quickly pulled over a pad, and started scribbling down notes as Funaho talked. A glance at Mihoshi showed her that her blonde partner was not taking notes, but just listening intently. That was Mihoshi for you.
Funaho talked for a while, and everyone paid attention in their own way. In Ryoko's case, that meant not paying attention at all. Up until the moment Misaki swatted her hand with a ruler from behind, that was.
"Yoooooowwwwwwww! What was that for?" Ryoko rubbed her injured hand as she jumped to her feet, barely restraining herself from flinging energy balls in Misaki's direction.
Misaki relaxed from the stance she'd taken when Ryoko had looked like she might actually attack her. "I strongly recommend that you pay attention Ryoko. We will be testing you on this, eventually, and if you should happen to not pass our tests, we will have no choice but to withhold our support for your possible union with Tenchi."
"What? Bah, why do I care about you any way. When Tenchi picks me, who cares what you think?"
"The Juraian Ruling Council does, along with the Cabinet and House of Lords. All of them can make it quite difficult for Tenchi to choose his wife should they decide to oppose his choice."
"So? We'll just run away together, and screw Jurai."
"Ryoko! You won't get another warning for talking about Jurai that way." Funaho now joined the conversation, and Misaki retreated to her position at the back of the classroom. "There's one thing you should think about before taking that attitude."
"Yeah, what's that?"
"Tenchi."
"Huh? Tenchi how?"
"Think about who Tenchi is for a moment. How likely do you think it is that Tenchi would go against his duty?"
Ryoko fell silent, realizing the import of Funaho's statement. Tenchi took his responsibilities seriously. Too seriously for Ryoko's comfort. She'd never had any responsibilities outside of carrying out Kagato's missions.
"Maybe he would..."
"That's a chance you'll have to take if you don't want to participate here, Ryoko. I won't force you, but you should understand what it means if you don't."
Ayeka smugly said, "Go ahead and leave Ryoko. This is all likely to be too confusing for a lowbrow space pirate such as yourself, any way."
(CRACK)
"Ooooooooowwwwwwwww!"
Misaki glared at her oldest daughter after using the ruler. "For shame, Ayeka. Taunting is unbecoming someone of royal blood."
Ayeka blushed crimson in embarrassment, and bowed her head. "Yes, mother. I'm sorry Ryoko."
"Bah, I'll show you. I'll show all of you. We'll see who gets Tenchi in the end. Fine, bring it on Funaho." Ryoko sat down and opened the notebook which was on the desk in front of her. She picked up the pen, and scribbled down a couple of the things she actually remembered Funaho saying.
Funaho nodded, and returned to the front of the classroom. "Good. Well, then. Continuing on, the King is not really a monarch in the strictest sense..."
--
Kiyone was watching Tenchi and Yosho warm up with their practice swords, wondering if anyone else was going to even show up for practice. She felt more relaxed in the workout clothes than the outfit she had been wearing, but unless anyone else showed up, it would have been a waste of time to even bother. She was half tempted to ask if she could join Tenchi and Yosho and practice with a sword, just to relieve the boredom. Finally she saw Sasami and Mihoshi approaching in their workout clothes, and eventually everyone but Washu showed up, and they moved into practice as usual.
Apparently they had all managed to put their feelings from this morning aside. Everyone acted normally, as if nothing had happened. The only hiccup came when Misaki tried to convince Yosho he should spar with her again, which he politely refused pointing out that he and Tenchi were practicing with their swords. Once he finished his practice with Tenchi, Yosho left rather than remaining to practice under Misaki's instruction.
So Misaki ran practice, and everyone suffered under her harsh judgment, but at the end everyone knew they were better for it. Ayeka was finally making significant progress, having quickly shot back past Sasami in ability and was giving Mihoshi a run for her money. Kiyone and Ryoko were nearly evenly matched, Ryoko's inhuman strength being about the only advantage she had.
After an enjoyable practice for all, they headed back for the house to relax for a while before lunch. Mihoshi sidled up to Kiyone on the walk and leaned in close to whisper, "Too bad you couldn't spar with Tenchi. I kinda figured since Washu got to yesterday we'd all get to when it was our turn. I guess Misaki had other plans, though."
"It really doesn't matter to me whether I spar with Tenchi or not, Mihoshi. That's hardly the most romantic thing we could be doing after all."
"Oh, I know, you're right Kiyone. It's not the sparring itself, though. Think of the great opportunity you'd have to lay your hands on him, or maybe fall into his arms that way."
"You've given this some thought, I see. You haven't happened to fall into his arms by slightly less than an accident ever have you?"
With a blush, Mihoshi answered, "Well... it's usually by accident, but once or twice, maybe."
Kiyone was shocked, she'd actually not thought Mihoshi would do something like that. "Mihoshi! That's so dishonest."
"But Kiyone," Mihoshi whined, "I have to do something to make sure Tenchi remembers me, with Ryoko and Ayeka always hanging on his arms."
"Yeah, I suppose it is hard to get a break between those two and Tenchi. It's all right Mihoshi, your secret is safe with me."
"Thanks Kiyone. You're the best."
--
When Tenchi finally reached the bottom of the stairs for lunch, everyone but his grandfather was there. There was an air of tension, but there didn't seem to be any animosity between any of the ladies, more an air of expectation.
"Hello everyone. How are you?"
At the silence he got as a response, Tenchi realized they had made some kind of agreement to wait for Tenchi to explain himself. He took a deep breath as he scratched his head and dove in as best he could.
"Well obviously it's now my time to do some explaining to everyone. First off let me say that I'm sorry to all of you who were hurt by me kissing Wa..., uh, I guess it's Little Washu. It was a moment that felt right to kiss her, but it doesn't really mean anything more than that I like her and I felt an urge to kiss her that I let happen. It doesn't mean I like her any more than any of the rest of you. Okay?"
(SILENCE)
Tenchi sighed. "Apparently that's not good enough, then. What did they promise to get everyone back together again?" Tenchi's eyes flicked to the queens as he said this, but he got no clues from their stony-eyed stares. "Right, I suppose they promised all of you that you'd each get a kiss from me. Fine, you'll each get a kiss on your day, this first time any way. All right?"
(SILENCE)
Tenchi noticed a few twitches from some of them, like they were reacting to what he'd said, but he still didn't get an answer from anyone. With another deep breath, Tenchi said. "Obviously I'm not getting anywhere with this. So, please tell me, what can I do to get all of you to forgive me?"
With that, everyone's face broke into a smile with that, and it was Funaho who answered, "All you had to do was ask."
Ryoko and Ayeka were excitedly exclaiming to each other "I get a kiss from Tenchi!" Mihoshi and Sasami were sharing a smile for some reason. Kiyone, back in her more revealing clothes walked up to Tenchi and pulled him by the arm to the table. She whispered in his ear "I'll let you save that kiss til tonight."
Tenchi blushed furiously, but as he watched the happy looks of surprise on the faces around him, he turned to Funaho and exclaimed, "You tricked me. You made me think you'd promised each a kiss to be fair, and you didn't."
Funaho answered, "You tricked yourself Tenchi. I never made any claims we would do so, just that we might have to. You got yourself into this. Besides, you admit it's fair, what's wrong with kissing a few pretty ladies?"
"Well, it's not that I don't want to, I guess, I... well, I suppose it is fair." Tenchi had seen the looks of concern coming over everyone as he tried to worm his way out of his promise. He decided he'd be better off keeping his word. He'd feel better, and it might be nice to get to kiss a few ladies finally.
As they started eating finally, Washu asked "I get an extra kiss, right? That one I got the other night hardly qualifies as a real kiss after all, it was kind of like getting hit by a water balloon." Tenchi turned bright red again, and buried his face in his hands.
This touched off the inevitable objections from everyone else about being unfair, forcing a ruling by the two queens. Misaki announced their decision. "We've determined that Little Washu will be allowed the extra kiss on her next turn, due to the circumstances. Since most of you ladies are likely to get a kiss more suitable than that which she received, it seems fair. Knowing most of you, it's unlikely Tenchi will escape with just a single kiss from each of you any way, so to be fair, Little Washu should get equal opportunity."
"Yeah! I knew I liked you two."
Ryoko and Ayeka wanted to protest, but arguing with Misaki was not a prospect they looked forward to. They resigned themselves to it, and ate their lunch quietly, thinking about the fact that they would finally get to kiss Tenchi, regardless. Everyone else seemed to accept the decision gracefully, excepting Tenchi.
Funaho further clarified for everyone as she saw the glum looks still on Ryoko's and Ayeka's faces. "This does not prevent any of you from earning your own additional kisses, of course. It just guarantees Little Washu a more worthy kiss."
Tenchi asked, "Umm, do I get any say in this?"
Eight pairs of eyes turned to regard him coolly.
"Heh, heh. Right." --
Late that afternoon, as Tenchi was studying with his grandfather, the ladies of the house split up to do their own things. Ayeka went back to finish tending to Ryu-Oh, Sasami and Mihoshi raided the house collection of manga. The queens set about authoring a message to send back to Jurai reporting on the current status of events on Earth. Washu continued working in her lab, and Kiyone fretted about what she was going to do later that night. After a while, she again changed clothes and went for a run in the hills, hoping to work off her tension.
Ryoko, on the other hand, was busily making plans, since her turn started on the next day. Ryo-Ohki was tagging along with Ryoko, not being interested in lying around with Sasami while she read comics.
"So, what do you think, Ryo-Ohki? How do I look?"
"Miya!"
"You think so? I like it too, but how about this one?"
Ryoko changed her clothes from the hot pants and halter top to a red dress cut very low in front and back and very high on the sides.
"Miya! Miya!"
"Yeah, it's probably better, you're right. What about this?"
Ryoko again changed her clothes, this time to a schoolgirl type outfit with a tiny skirt and a long-sleeved blouse with a tie.
"Miya, mreowr."
"No? Hmmm, how about this then?"
Her clothes again changed, this time to a formal kimono with the sleeves missing.
"Miya?"
"Yeah, I know, it's not really sexy like the others, but Tenchi seems to like this look. I can hit him with some sex appeal in other ways if I have to.
"Miya!"
"Yeah, I think so too. I'm going with this look for most of the day. I might bring out that dress when I'm alone with him tomorrow night. Or I might just get rid of everything and skip right to the good part. If I can get him to kiss me without any clothes on, who knows what might happen?"
Ryo-Ohki's cheeks turned red with embarrassment, but Ryoko never noticed, caught up in her dreams of what she would do to Tenchi if he let her. After letting her dreams run their course, Ryoko decided a bath was in order. "Come on furball, let's go hit the onsen. I hear a sake bottle calling for me."
"Miya?"
"It's never to early for sake, what are you talking about?"
"Miya, miya, miya."
"Hmm, you're right, Tenchi doesn't really like it when I drink. It's not my day today, so I can probably get away with it, but you're right, no sake tomorrow. Let's go."
--
Kiyone got back from her run, exhausted but feeling good, regardless. She hated to sit around idly, and the run had given her something constructive to do. She'd even had a chance to think about her problems regarding Tenchi.
She grabbed her revealing outfit, and headed for the onsen, needing to clean up after her run. It wouldn't do to be sweaty and smelly for the rest of the day.
She arrived at the onsen, only to see Ryoko playing with a completely drenched Ryo-Ohki. Some empty sake bottles lined the edge of the water, so obviously Ryoko had been drinking. Kiyone supposed if she had a tolerance for alcohol like Ryoko's, she might drink more often, too. But she didn't like to risk being in a situation where she was caught unprepared, and drinking did that to you. She only drank rarely and sparingly except when she was off-duty or on leave. She purposefully tried to forget the few benders with Mihoshi back in their earlier days, after breaking a big case, or trying to recover from one of Mihoshi's screwups.
The notion of spending time alone with Ryoko wasn't terribly appealing to Kiyone, but she didn't have much choice if she wanted to clean up before Tenchi got back from studying. There had been an almost instantaneous feeling of rivalry between Ryoko and herself, due to Ryoko's past and Kiyone's current careers. Plus Ryoko was extremely jealous where Tenchi was concerned.
Kiyone dropped the clothes she'd brought along, stripped out of her sodden running suit, and walked over to the water.
"Miya," Ryo-Ohki greeted her.
"Hi, Ryo-Ohki. Looks like you're having fun. Hello Ryoko." Kiyone slipped into the water, enjoying the warmth as it eased her tired muscles.
"Hi Kiyone."
A few minutes passed in silence, neither Ryoko nor Kiyone particularly motivated to start a conversation. After a bit Ryo-Ohki tired of just sitting and did a running belly-flop into the water. Both Ryoko and Kiyone burst out laughing.
"You've gotta work on that one Ryo-Ohki." Ryoko pulled the nearly unconscious Ryo-Ohki over to the edge of the pool. Ryo-Ohki struggled back out of the water, and rolled over onto her back to rest her stinging stomach.
"Does she do that often?" Kiyone asked.
"Nah. I suckered her into it earlier by giving her some sake. Apparently she already forgot what it felt like the last time."
"You give her sake? Isn't she a little small for that?"
"Small is kind of relative with Ryo-Ohki. After all, she's also a spaceship in addition to her human sized forms."
"I suppose, but isn't she kind of young, then?"
"That would depend on your perspective. In terms of human years, she would be, but in cabbit years, she's already fully developed."
"I see. I'm not real familiar with cabbits, I guess." It still seemed strange to Kiyone, but she assumed Ryoko knew more about it than she did.
The silence again stretched out for a time, neither knowing what to say. Eventually Ryoko managed to put words around what she was thinking. "So, do you have any special plans for your time with Tenchi tonight?"
Kiyone had been dreading this part of the conversation, but it had seemed inevitable when she walked in on Ryoko. "Not really, no. I think I'd mostly like to sit and talk with him a little. I haven't really known him for very long, so there's a lot of stuff the rest of you probably already know about him that I don't."
"Yeah, that's probably true. So how come you're doing this then? Did you really fall for him that fast? You don't seem like the type. I mean, I know he's the greatest guy out there, but it doesn't seem like you to fall for a guy just by looking at him."
"Well, you're mostly right. I don't normally fall for a guy at all, but when I do, it's been pretty spontaneous. Close quarters and such cause some things to happen that might not otherwise. In a lot of ways, this is Mihoshi's fault. I don't think I would have let things get this far if Mihoshi hadn't been pushing me to it all the time. I probably should have stomped on it right away, but Mihoshi is so persistent sometimes, that you almost feel bad when you try and set her straight. I let this get out of hand, and now I realize that Tenchi seems to be a pretty special guy. I don't really expect him to choose me in the end, but I think I'll enjoy spending some time with him until he finally makes up his mind."
"He is pretty special, there's no doubt about that. And you can blame Mihoshi if you want, but I could tell you liked him right away. Heck, all of us did, that's nothing to be ashamed of. I wish I knew what it was about him that attracted everyone. Maybe I could do something to turn it off for everyone else."
"So when did you know you'd fallen for him, then?"
"Well, it's a little hard to say for sure. I got to watch him growing up, sort of any way. I felt something for him the moment I realized he could sense my spirit as I slipped out of the cave that way. You probably couldn't say I'd fallen for him yet at that point, but the seeds were there. Until he freed me from the cave, I barely let myself dream that way, so I suppose it really happened that day. I've been in love with him from that moment."
"I just can't imagine what your life has been like. You must be pretty thankful to have something like Tenchi in your life now, compared to what you had in the past. How do you handle it, having to fight with all of us for him? I don't know if I can do it, at least and try to still be friends with everyone."
"Well, I'm not sure you'd call me 'friends' with anyone here. Forced acquaintances is more accurate. I don't necessarily dislike any of you, but none of you is exactly my kind of person, no offense. Ayeka's too prissy, Mihoshi's too ditzy, Sasami's too young, and you're too honorable. I don't even want to talk about my... about Washu. She's just plain crazy."
"She's definitely unique, there's no doubt about that." Kiyone had noticed how she almost called Washu her mother. Obviously Ryoko was still struggling to come to grips with her relationship with Washu. Kiyone didn't want to get involved in another touchy relationship here on Earth, though, one was enough. She also didn't feel like questioning Ryoko on her stance that she wasn't friends with anyone here. She let it slide, and relaxed in silence for a while longer. Finally, a question occurred to her.
"So, do you have any special plans for your day then, Ryoko?"
"Yeah." Ryoko glanced at her through slitted eyelids, wondering if Kiyone might be fishing for her own ideas. But even if she was, she couldn't steal her plan. "Actually, I wanted to go flying with Tenchi. I mean, I've flown him around a little bit every once in a while, but I want to really go flying, take him up to the clouds and all over."
"Wow. I always forget you can do that. That'd be pretty cool, I'm sure he'll enjoy that. I can't do anything like that for him. Sasami can cook, you can fly him around, Washu can build him stuff, and Ayeka's a princess, well I guess so is Sasami and she's going to merge with a goddess soon. I'm just so ordinary compared to the rest of you. Even Mihoshi has her sweet personality and her incredible looks..."
Ryoko was tempted to agree with Kiyone, and urge her to back off and forget about Tenchi. At the same time, she felt for Kiyone. She debated with herself for a while, trying to decide if she would say anything. It really wasn't fair, all she wanted was to get Tenchi, and now again she felt herself compelled to help one of her competitors, just like she had Ayeka a few days ago.
"Have you considered that maybe Tenchi likes 'ordinary' girls?"
"Hmmm? Why would he, when he's got so much to choose from?"
"Because he's Tenchi, that's why. He's perhaps the most powerful person in the universe, who else can make the Lighthawk Wings? And yet here he is living a simple life on earth, trying to be nobody."
Kiyone looked up at that, giving it consideration. He was very humble, you couldn't question that. Was he perhaps frightened of the incredible powers and personalities of the other ladies?
"And how ordinary are you really. You're very good looking, Kiyone, you know that. Not as good-looking as me, of course, but still pretty." Ryoko winked at Kiyone. "I'm sure Tenchi has noticed. You're also one of the best officers in the Galaxy Police if what blondie says is true. I've sparred with you, you're one of the best fighters I've ever faced, and I've faced some good ones. That's hardly ordinary. That hair of yours certainly doesn't qualify as ordinary either, at least not for this planet."
Ryoko took a deep breath. She'd done it again. Why couldn't she just be selfish and stop helping everyone? She hadn't used to be so nice. "Feel free to drop out, less competition won't bother me. You're selling yourself short, though, if you do."
"Thanks, Ryoko. I know you're just trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate it. Tenchi'll be lucky if he picks you."
"You're damn right he will! He could do worse than you, too. Like Ayeka."
--
Sasami stood in the kitchen where she'd gone to start cooking dinner. And she just stood there, not moving, staring at the sink as if she saw something reflecting from the basin which was fascinating. In reality, she wasn't seeing the sink at all.
The signals reaching Sasami's brain were certainly fascinating. Her consciousness was currently riding along with Tsunami, traveling through space. This was the first time Sasami had experienced this, previously she'd only gotten glimpses of memories, never actually experiencing anything along with Tsunami in real-time. The feeling was indescribably enjoyable.
She'd traveled through space before, of course, so the sights weren't all that unusual. She was a little surprised at how natural it felt to actually feel like a part of the ship, however, not just a passenger. She could feel the energy as it was given off by Tsunami to push the ship through space, and it was strange, but exhilarating at the same time. Her consciousness moved out from the ship, she could feel everything in the immediate vicinity, tiny particles, and larger objects as well. A few parsecs away a couple of strange ships were engaged in combat. Sasami didn't recognize their design, but she'd never really paid much attention to what kinds of ships different civilizations had.
She also didn't recognize where in space Tsunami was, but she could tell that Tsunami did. She couldn't quite figure out why Tsunami was there, though. But then Sasami hadn't really learned to understand Tsunami's motivations, yet. It had to be easier for Tsunami to understand her than the other way around, right?
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, numerous ships started appearing, similar to one of those that had been battling nearby. Sasami could feel the satisfaction from Tsunami as they appeared. That didn't make sense to Sasami, as it was clear that the new ships were there with hostile intent, and a large number of them were coming straight for Tsunami. And for some reason, Tsunami was making no attempt to get away. Instead, Sasami felt Tsunami start creating a new kind of energy...
Ten Lighthawk Wings sprung forth from Tsunami, and at the very same moment, Sasami collapsed to her knees in the kitchen of the Masaki house, sweat breaking out on her brow. Tsunami used the Lighthawk Wings defensively, blocking everything the attacking ships threw at her. In the kitchen, Sasami trembled, feeling the impacts of the energy bolts being thrown at Tsunami, and also at the tremendous, strange energy being used to create the Lighthawk Wings.
The Wings rotated in space, faster than the eye could follow, again and again blocking each energy blast. Sasami struggled to keep her focus, getting dizzy with the strain of keeping the Lighthawk Wings in place. Just as Sasami was about to pass out, Tsunami started moving, quickly outdistancing the attacking ships. The strain eased as Tsunami let the Lighthawk Wings disappear. Sasami collapsed to the floor, her chest heaving as she labored for breath, but the dizziness was gone.
Then Tsunami made the transition to faster-than-light, breaking Sasami's connection. Just before she lost contact, though, she heard Tsunami in her mind say, "I'm sorry Sasami. You have to learn quickly."
--
Washu walked out of her lab and headed for the kitchen to get a snack. She stepped inside to see Sasami collapsed on the floor, her breathing labored. Sasami looked up as Washu burst through the door.
"Are you all right"
"I'm okay."
Washu and Sasami both talked at the same time. Washu relaxed as she heard this. Sasami smiled to make sure Washu knew she really was OK.
"Little Washu, it was Tsunami. I was experiencing the same thing as Tsunami, and she created her ten Lighthawk Wings to fight off some spaceships. She's fine, of course, but it took a lot out of me."
"I see. Did you know this was going to happen?"
"N-no, not really. At first, I was just kind of riding along with her as part of the tree ship, feeling what she feels. Then ships attacked... we made Lighthawk Wings... I can't really explain it."
"What??!! Back up. You were drawing the energy for the Lighthawk Wings? I thought you said Tsunami did that."
"Well, I guess we both were. It was kind of hard to think of us as being separate at the time, I was feeling everything she did."
Washu paused for a moment, obviously in thought. Then she continued her questioning. "Have you ever done this before? Experienced what Tsunami was experiencing?"
"No, this is the first time. I get more and more flashes of memories I don't think are mine all the time, now, but I've never been 'with' Tsunami before if you can follow that."
"I think so. So you felt how to create the Lighthawk Wings, then? Could you create them now, if you wanted to?" Washu was getting excited. All this time, she'd been hoping to get the answer out of Tenchi, now she might get it from Sasami instead. Either way, the knowledge would be incredible.
"Well, not exactly. I think I remember how to do it, but I don't have access to the energy to do it right now. I don't think I will until I've finished merging with Tsunami. I'm sorry, Little Washu, I know you really want to know how. I can't help you with that"
"Well, even if you describe how you think it's done, it might help me, and maybe it would help Tenchi get over his problem, too. I'll definitely want to talk to you about this more. Did you get any warning of what was going to happen, I mean did Tsunami tell you she was going to do that?"
"No, I just came into the kitchen to work on dinner and all of a sudden it flashed into my head, or my brain, or something. Tsunami seemed to be expecting what happened, though, and she apologized afterwards."
"Hmmm. That's interesting. What exactly did she say?"
"I think it was 'I'm sorry Sasami. You have to learn quickly.' Yeah, that's it."
"Learn quickly? Hmmm... This might be part of why you're growing so fast. I wonder if she's not pushing you to finish the merge soon so you'll be ready for something big that's going to happen. I don't suppose there's any chance we could talk to her?"
"I haven't heard anything from her in a long time, except for just now. I'm sorry, Little Washu, she hasn't been answering me."
"Damn it! I hate it when I don't know what's going on. Well, are you feeling all right now?
"Yeah, I feel a lot better. I really should get to work on dinner, though, I'm behind already."
"Don't worry about it, I'll help you. I hope you don't mind, but I think I want to spend some more time near you for a while, in case anything else happens. I'd like to be able to get some more specific data when something like this happens again, if it does that is."
"Ummm, okay. If you really want to I guess. I told you, I'm fine, though. Thanks for the help with dinner."
Sasami turned back to the counter, pulling out what she was going to need, and issuing instructions on what she wanted Washu to do. She hoped Washu didn't get too concerned over this. While it had been a really unusual experience for Sasami, nothing about it had felt wrong. It was like she was just getting used to swimming in water for the first time. It felt a little strange, but it was fun all the same.
--
An eventful, but normal dinner passed in the Masaki household, followed by a brief time of relaxation in the living room. Tenchi had been hard pressed to find a place to rest his arm when Kiyone leaned against him while everyone was watching TV. Her short sweater and tight pants left him gaping when he didn't catch himself, and he hoped none of the other ladies had noticed.
He'd only had to pinch his nose once so far, however, when Kiyone had leaned forward to chat briefly with Sasami on the floor, and her sweater had fallen away from her body, giving him a glance underneath. She'd turned back to him at one point, seeing his reaction, and had thrown herself back onto the couch with her face turning red. That was a welcome change from what had seemed the blatant attempts by Washu the previous night. Unbeknownst to Tenchi, it had been planned by Kiyone, as she followed the ladies plot to condition Tenchi against his nosebleeds. It didn't prevent her from being embarrassed, however, even if she did plan it.
Just as the previous night Washu had dragged him out, after a short time Kiyone tired of the strain of remaining among all the other ladies and asked Tenchi if they could leave. After saying their goodbyes and goodnights, Kiyone and Tenchi walked out of his father's house. Tenchi started for his house immediately, but was surprised by Kiyone's hand catching his arm.
"Walk with me for a while, Tenchi?"
"Of course, Kiyone, whatever you'd like to do."
The two walked in silence around the outskirts of the house, neither saying anything. Eventually, Kiyone broke the silence.
"What's it like, growing up on such a limited planet like this?"
"I'm not sure I can answer that Kiyone. In comparison to what? I don't have anything else to judge it against. And even if I did, the way I grew up would hardly be considered normal. Just my dad, grandpa some of the time, and me. Not the typical family by most standards?"
"That's true I suppose. Your grandpa is definitely not normal, for anywhere that I know of. And your dad, well he's a character. Did you know, he once pulled me aside and suggested I think about having kids with you? I thought it was supposed to be a person's mother trying to convince you it was time to have kids, not the father of the man you met just a few months ago."
"Geez, he never gives up. I'm sorry about my dad. He's been doing that to everyone, well except Sasami obviously. And Washu, too, for some reason. I don't know why he never suggests it to her, maybe because she's already offered."
"Whoa, hold on there." Kiyone stopped and turned to look at Tenchi. "She's offered to have kids with you? How does a boy your age turn that down? Well, I suppose the kids thing would be a little scary, but she's offering to, well, you know."
Tenchi hoped she didn't notice his red face, and answered carefully. "I know what she was offering, but you're right about the kids thing. I couldn't do something like that unless I was ready to make a full commitment to her. And I'm not, she's a little crazy, really. Mostly in a good way, of course. Plus, I can't sort out my feelings regarding all of you, it's complicated trying to figure out the six of you. Two would be bad enough, especially considering you're all from outer space. But six, I get a headache trying to think about it sometimes."
Kiyone turned and started walking again, now headed back in the direction of the small house. Tenchi trailed behind, not knowing what else to say.
When they arrived and sat down on the couch, Kiyone picked up the conversation where it had ended. "So why do you do it, then? Let all six of us stay and bother you? Wouldn't it be easier to just go back to a normal earth life without the hassle of six aliens trying to, um, be your girlfriend?"
"Well, first off, I agreed to protect everyone. So I couldn't send them away, even if I wanted to. Ayeka and Sasami are family, Ryoko, well, she's had a tough life, she deserves a peaceful place to start her life over Washu, too, and the house would be a mess without her. Mihoshi, she's just too nice a person to want to send her away. Not that I really want any of you to leave."
The silence lasted a few moments as Kiyone psyched herself up to ask the next question. "And what about me, Tenchi? Why don't you ask me to leave?"
Tenchi started, not expecting that question. "I suppose you'd have to say it's nice having a normal girl around. Not that you're normal, but compared to the other ladies, you're the closest thing to normal in this house. If I didn't know what you did, and where you came from, I'd almost think you were a native. If your hair wasn't that bluish-greenish color any way. I don't think I could say that about any of the others."
"So, you like normal, then?"
"Well, some of the time I like normal. Sometimes, the craziness from the rest gets to me, and I wish I could just get away. Other times I love being around them, hearing all the amazing things they've experienced in their lives."
"I see."
Tenchi caught the subtle tone behind her last statement, and knew he needed to say something to make her follow what he meant. "Don't misunderstand, I don't like you only because you're more normal than the others. If that was so important to me, I'd be heading to town all the time, trying to find a local girl. You're beautiful, and honest, and intelligent, and strong. That's a very appealing package."
Kiyone couldn't resist, and answered with a smirk, "So you like my package, then?"
"Er... hah, hah, very funny. See, and you've got a sense of humor too. How could anyone not like you?"
"You'd be surprised. I've hardly had what you'd call a lot of suitors in my life. I've had some brief relationships, but never anything serious. I never took the time to look, and if anybody ever looked at me, all they found was someone dedicated to her career over everything else. I probably chased them all off without even realizing."
"Kiyone, don't sell yourself short. If I met you somewhere else without knowing anyone else here, I'd definitely be interested in you. It has nothing to do with the rest in the house. Actually, I'd probably be afraid to even try for you, you'd fall into the out-of-my-league category. You shouldn't be worrying about what I think of you, it ought to be the other way round. I don't understand why you're interested in me."
"I'm not quite sure either." Kiyone noticed his disappointment and continued quickly, "I do know, though, that there's something about you I find interesting. People as honest and friendly as you are pretty rare where I work, and until now that's been the main thing in my life. So it's probably that. I'm sure there's something else too, but I haven't put my finger on it yet."
"Sounds lonely. Never working with people you can trust or count on. What about Mihoshi?"
Kiyone winced. She didn't like to talk about Mihoshi much with others, since her feelings were mixed. Mihoshi was still her friend and partner. "Mihoshi is, well, she's Mihoshi. She's honest and loyal and sweet, almost to a fault. But she's hard on the career in a lot of ways. She's my friend, but she continually gets me into trouble. I want to count on her, but I'm never sure if I can. She's just really, really frustrating, you know?"
Tenchi nodded his head, he'd noticed the same things in his time knowing Mihoshi. "Yeah, I guess so. She's still a really great person, though."
Kiyone could only nod in agreement.
"Why is getting ahead in your career so important to you, Kiyone? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it seems like it's made your life a little harder than it needed to be."
"You know, it's been a long time since I told anybody why I joined the Galaxy Police. I'm not even sure if I ever told Mihoshi the whole story. In a nutshell, my mom and dad ran a little store back where I grew up. One day, when I was still young, a gang moved into the area and started running a protection racket. You know, extorting money from all the business owners or vandalizing their stores. My dad never gave in, but he got beat up I don't even know how many times, and they rebuilt the store even more often than that. The local police were understaffed and underpaid and couldn't be bothered with stuff like that when they had to try and catch the 'real' criminals."
"Not surprisingly, I realized that I wanted to do something about it. I set my goals high, to someday have enough influence to try and stop something like that. If somebody in the local police had decided to do something about it, they could have, but the top officers had other things on their agendas. I wanted to get to the point where I would be the one making the decisions. That way I could hopefully stop things like that from happening. It hasn't worked out that way, though."
Kiyone sat back, lost in thoughts of her early days. Tenchi let her do her thinking in silence. Things had been a little easier with Washu the night before. He knew her well enough that he felt a little more comfortable talking things over. He and Kiyone were still feeling each other out, apparently neither sure how serious the other was. Tenchi knew he liked Kiyone, even though things with her seemed to have been rushed forward. But as was always the case, comparing his feelings for her against his feelings for the rest of the women left him drained. It just wasn't as easy as making up a list of likes and dislikes about each and picking a winner.
"So what influenced you to do what you're doing now, Tenchi? Or is that a little too obvious?" Tenchi started at the unexpected question. He'd gotten lost in his thoughts like he thought she had been.
"Well, I assume it's pretty obvious, but I like a simple quiet life in general, especially as opposed to some of the crazy stuff that's happened to me since everyone started showing up. I'm a little afraid that my time on earth isn't going to last much longer, so I'm trying to make the best of it. Grandpa is stuck here because of Funaho, and dad, I don't think I can see him heading out into space with me. So really, I'm just hoping for as much time here as I can get, I guess you'd say."
Kiyone nodded, then stifled a yawn. She'd gotten up pretty early that morning, and it was catching up. Not to mention she'd been on edge all day. But she was enjoying the opportunity for some quiet time with Tenchi. She looked over in time to catch Tenchi yawning, too.
"Looks like we're both running down. Perhaps we should call it a night, then?" Kiyone stood up, intending to make her way to the door.
"You're leaving?"
Kiyone noticed the slight hint of regret in Tenchi's voice as he asked her that, and looked at him with curiosity. "I was planning to, yeah." She couldn't stop a grin from spreading onto her face. "You had something else in mind?"
Tenchi flushed red immediately, and stammered, "No, of course not." After a moment to compose himself, he continued, "I always forget how different you are from the rest. After Washu did it last night, I just assumed everyone else would want to. I guarantee Ryoko and Ayeka will, and I expect Sasami and Mihoshi probably will. You're not like them, I guess, I should have expected."
"Well, I suppose I could. I didn't bring any pajamas along though. Do you have something I could borrow for the night?"
"Um, er, yeah, I suppose I've got some of my pajamas clean somewhere, I could let you borrow some."
"Well, those are probably a little bigger than what I'm used to. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep comfortably in those. Got any shorts and a tank top I could borrow? Or I suppose I could just sleep in my undies." Kiyone could barely keep the laugh from escaping as Tenchi's face reddened and his eyes widened and flicked to her body before he caught himself.
"Ahhm, er, I think I have some shorts somewhere, but I don't wear tanks much. Is a t-shirt okay?" Tenchi turned and started rummaging through his drawers, looking for something that might be suitable, thankful for the opportunity to take his eyes off of her. He was pretty sure his nose would start bleeding if he thought about Kiyone in her underwear any more, and looking at her made it hard not to. He finally found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and turned and handed them to her.
"That should work, I suppose. I guess I'll have to remember my own next time. I don't think these are what you'd call fashionable." Kiyone laughed at the bright red shirt and light green shorts Tenchi had pulled out, and headed for the bathroom to change.
Tenchi quickly headed to his room, closed the door and changed into his own pajamas. He made sure everything was arranged, the futon was still on the floor and made neatly. The knock on the door caused him to jump before he calmed his heart down, realizing it was certainly Kiyone. He opened the door, bracing himself not to stare at her when he saw her. He couldn't help it though, she was very attractive in the smaller clothes, but the colors were definitely amusing. He found himself laughing as he looked at her.
"Yeah, I know. It's your fault though, is this all you had?" Kiyone laughed with him, knowing how silly it looked.
"Well, I probably have something else if you really want me to dig around some more. It really doesn't change the fact that you're pretty, though, even if your clothes don't match." Tenchi froze, realizing what he'd just said had come out of his mouth, and he wasn't just thinking it. He flushed bright red again.
Kiyone turned red, too, but walked past him into the bedroom, carrying her other clothes. "That's a nice thing to say, Tenchi. Thank you. What should I do with these?" She held the clothes out for Tenchi to see, as she'd purposely left her bra on top.
Tenchi looked as she waved the clothes in front of him, and recognizing what was on top, his face perhaps turned a brighter red if that was possible. His eyes jumped to her chest before he caught himself. In the end, it was too much and he felt the blood start trickling from his nose. He turned, his left hand pinching his nose, and his right hand pointing to the corner of the room. "Youn cank toss jhem over zere." Tenchi winced, knowing it had to be obvious what had happened.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch that Tenchi." Kiyone laughed silently, her shoulders bouncing a bit at Tenchi's reaction. He wasn't cured yet, obviously.
Tenchi, took a deep breath through his mouth, let go of his nose, and said again while pointing with his hand at the corner, "You can just toss them over there, Kiyone." He snagged a tissue and did his best to clean himself up before he turned to face her again.
"Thanks." Kiyone dropped them in the indicated corner. She turned back around, and walked back to the futon which was obviously where she was going to be sleeping. "Mine?" At the nod from Tenchi, she stepped over to it, standing next to Tenchi. She stopped and waited, Tenchi remaining silent as he watched her move. After a few silent moments, she realized she was going to have to prod him to action. "Well, aren't you forgetting something?"
Tenchi got a confused look on his face, obviously not catching her hint. Deciding to take things into her own hands, since that was her personality, Kiyone stepped right up to Tenchi and leaned her face in close to his. "You still owe me something, remember. I'm collecting now. And it needs to be better than getting hit by a water balloon."
Finally catching on, Tenchi again turned red. He hated how often he'd done that already tonight. He'd gotten embarrassed less by Washu last night than he had with Kiyone tonight, and he hadn't thought that was possible. Again a deep breath calmed him slightly. He reached out with his right hand while stepping in the remaining distance and put it on her hip. Then he leaned in and kissed her as best he could trying not to smack her as he apparently had Washu. He stepped back almost immediately, his face burning.
Kiyone smiled and decided to almost let him off the hook. It hadn't been fabulous, but she was unlikely to get much better from him without a great deal of embarrassment for both of them. He'd certainly be better the next time around, knowing the rest of the ladies. She stepped in close again, and laughingly said, "I think I'm gonna need another. That wasn't too impressive." She leaned in the rest of the way and she kissed him this time. She broke it quickly and then turned and started getting into the futon. Tenchi just stood there, shock preventing his muscles from being able to move.
Finally, he came to his senses and climbed into his own bed. He turned off the lights and said, "Good night Kiyone."
"Good night, Tenchi" Kiyone answered.
--
Marco eyed the mostly blue planet from the viewing area of his ship. It didn't look all that different from many of the other planets he'd been to. The amount of water was a bit more than average, perhaps, but nothing special. He'd never been to the Earth before, so he supposed he wouldn't really get a feel for the world until he got down there for himself.
He signaled the captain again, and asked, "Any response yet from our contact on the surface?"
With the negative response from the captain, Marco got up and began to pace. He hoped their contact down there would be able to give them some information that would be useful. Scouring the whole area to find her would be next to impossible. Especially since they couldn't afford to be detected by anyone who might report it back to the Juraians or Galaxy Police. It was Juraian territory, but the GP might respond as they had the pair on patrol in the area.
Marco continued to pace, having nothing else to do to work off his energy. He was close, now, in a sense, and the need for action was starting to get to him. But he also knew that he still probably had a long search ahead to truly find where Kiyone Makibi was located. The only thing that might shorten his wait was if somehow the two GP officers were on a patrol and he could use that to track them down, but considering the remote nature of this system he wasn't counting on it.
He settled down, and returned to his seat, looking at the planet again as it slowly grew in his viewscreen. It would be over soon...
--
Comments and Criticism definitely wanted. It's hard to improve without it.