Sasami sleepily made her way down to the kitchen to start on breakfast. She didn't know exactly what time it was, but she knew it was early. Doing her part to help out around the house was important to Sasami so she had quickly gotten into the habit of waking up early to prepare breakfast for the household.
As she neared the kitchen she heard some noises from behind the door, which was unusual since she was always the first person to get up each day. A few more steps, and then she peeked in through the door and her jaw dropped at the amazing sight before her. Her mother and Funaho were quietly working on breakfast, something which she'd never seen them doing before.
She watched quietly for a while, amazed to see that they appeared to be competent, Misaki at any rate. She was issuing instructions to Funaho which her aunt carefully followed. They weren't doing it quite like Sasami would, but it seemed like it would turn out okay. Deciding she'd watched long enough, she walked into the kitchen to greet the two queens with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Good morning Mommy, good morning Auntie Funaho. Why are you making breakfast?"
The two queens jumped, startled by her presence behind them.
Misaki turned around, brandishing the knife in her hand. "Don't ever startle your mother like that, young lady." Then, after putting the knife down, she turned to Sasami again and opened her arms. "Come here and give me a hug."
Sasami threw herself into her mother's arms, and the squeezing began. Funaho winced a bit, then smiled happily, turning back to the food she had been working on. Eventually the two would break apart, but until then she intended to get some work done. A few minutes later they did, and Funaho finally answered Sasami's question.
"We decided you shouldn't have to make breakfast this morning, of course. You should be getting ready for your day with Tenchi, not working in the kitchen. Go on, get going, off to the bath with you."
"She's right, dear, you should get going. We can handle this for today. Oh, and good morning to you, too."
Sasami decided not to protest, knowing that arguing with those two would be unsuccessful, and hurried off to do as she'd been told. A quick stop back in the room she shared with Ayeka to pick up her clothes, and she headed for the onsen.
She felt the butterflies in her stomach as she arrived to take her bath. Thinking about what she was doing today, so unlike anything she'd ever done before, definitely made her nervous. Excited as well, but definitely nervous.
Sinking into the warm water helped her relax a bit. As she enjoyed the feeling, she tentatively reached out to try and talk to Tsunami.
'Tsunami? Are you there? I think I'm gonna need some help today.'
She hadn't really expected a response, Tsunami had been so quiet lately, so she was surprised when Tsunami did answer.
'You'll be fine, Sasami. You're growing into a fine young woman, and Tenchi will treat you very well, I'm sure.'
Sasami frowned, she hated being reminded how much younger she was, especially considering how fast she'd been growing lately. 'I suppose you're right, Tsunami. I think he might kiss me. I don't know how to kiss, yet.'
Sasami felt the little mental chuckle from Tsunami, which always felt a little strange. 'Do you really think Tenchi is such a good kisser after only a few days?'
'Well, maybe. He did get to kiss Ryoko a couple days ago, and if even half of what she said at breakfast yesterday was true, they did a lot of kissing.'
'Perhaps. I think Ryoko exaggerates a bit more than you might think. Besides, what do you want me to do? I don't know how to kiss a boy, either.'
'Oh, I just assumed you would, I mean you're a goddess and you've been around so long.'
'I have no physical presence, Sasami, outside of yourself and the tree. I'm quite certain the tree has never kissed a boy before.'
'Now you're teasing me. That's not very nice, Tsunami.'
Another chuckle, then, 'You'll be fine Sasami. Believe in yourself and trust Tenchi. And besides, Tenchi is likely to be as nervous as you are. He might have learned how to kiss with the others by now, but he's going to be afraid because of your age. Are you sure he's going to kiss you?'
Sasami blushed a bit. 'Well, no not really. I know he's trying to treat me different, but at the same time he wants to be fair to all of us, too. I don't know what he's going to do. But he might.'
'Well, if he does, he does. Try to relax and let it happen, if he has learned from the others, you're better off letting him. I'm sorry I could not be with you as much as I would like, Sasami. Things are happening which demand my attention. Good luck today.' And with that, Tsunami's presence in her mind was gone.
Feeling much better than she had previously, Sasami climbed out of the water, cleaned up and dried off, then got dressed. She felt a little strange, she'd never worn anything like this, before. She had decided to go with a look that someone her apparent age would wear, and had opted for a short, light blue miniskirt. She had also picked a fairly tight pink t-shirt that tucked into the skirt and some tall platform shoes. She'd been practicing walking in them in her spare moments in private so that she was pretty confident she could walk without tripping at least. Assuming her clumsiness didn't resurface any way.
She headed back for the house, nervous but confident at the same time. She could do this, and Tsunami help Tenchi if he managed to screw up today.
--
Tenchi awoke to the same sound he had fallen asleep to, Mihoshi's heavy breathing. After stretching out a few kinks, he turned to look at her. It was quite a sight, too, she'd manged to kick herself out from under her covers during the night. That wasn't real surprising, the very warm day had naturally led to a warm night, and Tenchi had barely needed any covers himself.
Mihoshi in the skimpy black outfit, sleeping soundly on the futon below him was an amazing sight to behold. Actually, any of the ladies in that outfit would have been just as amazing, probably, but it was Mihoshi right now and he barely felt his usual guilt over ogling her beautiful face and curves. Heck, if he'd been a little less honorable, he'd have been able to see more of those curves than he was looking at right now.
He glanced at the clock to see what time it was, and realizing that it would probably be breakfast time real soon, he groaned and crawled out of bed. He wouldn't have minded being lazy for a little while longer, and wasn't looking forward to what he had to do next. He put it off long enough to change and clean up.
Looking down at Mihoshi again, he reached out and shook her on the shoulder. "Mihoshi. Time to get up Mihoshi." No response, and he shook her a little harder. "Mihoshi! Let's go Mihoshi, it'll be breakfast time soon." With that her eyes sprung open.
"Breakfast? Mmmmm, I'm starving. Oh, good morning Tenchi, how are you?"
"I'm fine Mihoshi, good morning to you. Wow, that was easy. I'd always gotten the impression from everyone else that it was hard to wake you up."
"I don't know what you're talking about Tenchi. I'm no different than anyone else. When I'm asleep I want to sleep, and when it's time to get up, I get up. You should try and wake Kiyone up some time after she's been drinking. Of course she didn't do that very often, but wow, when she did... She would usually start singing, too, and there was this one time when she went out into the street and started dancing and taking off her clothes. It was really funny, especially when the police showed up to arrest her, and she couldn't find her identification..."
"Ah, Mihoshi, I think that may have been a story you weren't supposed to tell about Kiyone."
"What, oh you're right I was supposed to keep that a secret wasn't I? Whoopsie. Oh well, she'll forgive me. Any way, like I was saying she couldn't find her identification, so I had to show them mine, and promise that I was going to take her in and arrest her myself. You can imagine how mad at me Kiyone was when she woke up in the holding cell of our cruiser. She yelled at me so much, but I had to do it, I'd promised the police I would, after all..."
A little embarrassed himself to have heard what obviously would be a very embarrassing story for Kiyone, Tenchi finally stepped in to stop Mihoshi the only way he could think of. He reached out and put a finger on her lips, and when she quieted, he stepped in close, putting his face near hers. "Let's just keep that story to ourselves, okay?"
"O-okay." Her eyes were wide open now as they looked back into his.
"Now, how about a good morning kiss?"
"O-okay."
Tenchi smiled, and then complied, managing to remember to tilt his face to the left to avoid bumping Mihoshi's nose. That might get a little complicated, if he had to keep track of which way to go with which girl.
Breaking the kiss, he stepped back and smiled again. There were worse ways to start the morning. And from the look on Mihoshi's face, she was thinking the same thing. He wondered whose face it might end up being that he would wake up to every morning in the future. That's what he was trying to figure out, and he wasn't making much progress, yet. About all he'd learned was that he enjoyed spending time with and kissing all of the girls, and he didn't find that particularly surprising.
"That was nice, Tenchi. I could get used to that. How was it for you? Was I as good as the others? Next time let me brush first."
"Ummm, yeah. You were great. I'd really rather not talk about the other girls with you, though, at least not those kinds of things. It wouldn't really be polite."
"Oh, I suppose you're right. I just wanted to make sure you had a good time, Tenchi."
"Well, I did, thank you Mihoshi. I hope you had a good time, too."
With a little grin, she said, "Maybe not as good as it could have been... but pretty good." At the surprised look which appeared on his face, Mihoshi laughed, and said, "You didn't get to do that sketch of me, silly. What were you thinking I meant? You were thinking something dirty, weren't you?"
"I, uh..." Tenchi sighed as his face turned red. She'd gotten him this time, he'd fallen for it. "I suppose I was, Mihoshi. It's hard not to with you dressed like that, though."
"Dressed like... Oh, well, I suppose I should go change, then. I don't imagine I should go to breakfast like this, should I? Just give me a sec."
(KNOCK, KNOCK)
"Oh, that's probably Sasami. I'll go let her in." Completely forgetting about getting changed, Mihoshi reversed directions and headed for the door. Tenchi opened his mouth to point out it was his house and he could let people in, then figuring with Mihoshi there wasn't much point, he closed it again.
"Good morning, Sasami! Oh wow, you're so cute in that outfit, Tenchi's gonna love it. Look at those legs, you've really gotten tall, haven't you? Oh, I've got to get some shoes like that. Come over here Tenchi, say hello to Sasami. Well, I've got to go get dressed, I'll see you again at breakfast, Sasami."
As Mihoshi turned back to the bathroom, Sasami greeted Tenchi with a "Good morning," then with a little grin followed up with, "Wow. She sure is something to look at, isn't she Tenchi?"
Tenchi instinctively turned his head to watch Mihoshi walking before he could catch himself, and quickly pried his eyes off of her butt to face Sasami with red cheeks. "I, er... I suppose she is." Then seeing that she'd caught what he was looking at, he hung his head.
With a giggle, Sasami scolded him, "You're still a naughty boy, aren't you, Tenchi?"
"Yes, Sasami," Tenchi sighed. "Please don't do that. I know you think it's funny, but it makes me feel guilty for thinking about you that way."
"Okay Tenchi, I'll stop teasing you for now."
"For good, please?"
"We'll see, Tenchi." The grin was back on her face, and Tenchi knew he wasn't having any luck. He was about to press the issue more when Mihoshi returned from the bathroom, dressed in her typical khaki pants, but with a loose orange tank.
"Bye, Tenchi, bye, Sasami. I'll see you at breakfast. Have fun."
Mihoshi hurried from the house, Tenchi doing his best not to look at her. When she was gone, he turned back to Sasami, this time actually mustering a bit of firmness in his voice. "Please stop teasing me that way Sasami. I'm really uncomfortable with this. I like you a lot, I really do, but I also know you're way too young to be doing things like that."
"I'm sorry Tenchi."
Pleased that she had finally stopped teasing him, he steeled himself to something he had not been looking forward to. He'd been enjoying his time with all the ladies so much, he hadn't had much of a chance to think about Sasami. Since he couldn't think of a nice way to say it, he went with the honest approach in hopes it would work best.
"Thank you, Sasami. Now I know you don't want to hear this, but I have to say it. I like you, and I like all the other ladies, too. I know this is hard for all of you, and believe it or not it's hard for me too. I'm all mixed up, and I'm not sure it's getting any better with what I'm doing right now. I do know this, though. I'm not ready for a more serious relationship with any of you yet, and you know what I mean, you're obviously old enough to understand that. But in your case, I won't be ready for a more serious relationship for a long time. You're too young, I couldn't do that with you for years. I'm willing to wait if that's how it works out, but you need to understand that now. It doesn't seem fair to have to treat you differently, but I have to. I just can't do anything else, I wouldn't feel right any other way."
Tenchi had seen the tears forming in Sasami's eyes as he spoke, and couldn't guess what his speech had just done to her. He knew he'd had to say it though, and hoped it wouldn't drive Sasami away. Lately it had seemed she was getting touchy about being so much younger than everyone else, and understandably if she really did have feelings for Tenchi. He had forged ahead with plans to sort out his own feelings without ever considering how it might affect everyone else, and while it had been pretty positive so far, he'd known the minute Sasami became part of it that he was going to have to be very careful. For his own sake, but for Sasami's too.
"I'm sorry Sasami, I'll understand if you're mad at me. Please, say something, anything."
Finally the tears leaked from her eyes. "It's no fair, I'm so much younger. You're never going to choose me." With the tears flowing freely, she turned and fled, leaving a sorrowful Tenchi behind. He followed, knowing he had to try and deal with this quickly, but not knowing what he was going to do.
He arrived at the door to his father's house in seconds, it was still wide open where Sasami had obviously rushed through. He slowed, then stepped inside, to see everyone at the table staring up the stairs. He stopped, not sure what to do next, and winced when everyone noticed his presence and turned to look at him with fearful and angry eyes. He quickly looked to Misaki, and gave her a little bow.
"Please forgive me, I had to say some things which she did not want to hear. Now if you will please excuse me, I should go talk to her." He gave another little bow, and started to move towards the stairs, but was stopped by Misaki's voice.
"No, Tenchi, I believe this is something a mother should deal with. I will go talk to her, and we can hopefully resolve this. I may be able to convince her that what you can allow her will be enough for now. And thank you for being honest." Misaki returned his bow, then hurried up the stairs to find her daughter.
Not feeling like being in everyone's presence at the moment, Tenchi excused himself, and went back outside. A few moments later, he heard someone else come out, and was a little surprised to find his father standing next to him. Neither said anything for a while as Tenchi sorted through the issues in his head. Finally, he asked his father, "Am I doing the right thing? Was it a mistake to try this with all of them at the same time?"
"I don't have that answer Tenchi. I know why you did it, and I know how complicated it already is. It's not going to get better right away, probably not ever, I'm sure you know that too. Ask yourself this, do you think there was a better way?"
Tenchi had done that a million times already, the answer he always came up with was no. At least not if he really wanted a relationship with one of the ladies in this house. Dating only one of them at a time would have been too much like actually choosing, it wouldn't seem fair. His only other choice was none of the ladies, and that would probably end up with all of the ladies moving away and him being alone again. He knew that was selfish, but he liked the way his life was right now, for the most part, having a noisy house filled with more than just he and his father. And he also knew that a relationship with any one of the ladies could likely make him happy in the end, that was what made this so tough.
"I've never come up with one, dad. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. And what about Sasami? How can I be fair to her? She doesn't look it, but I know she's thirteen years old. Thirteen. So I either try a relationship with someone I have no business doing so with, or I make her wait another five years or so before I can treat her the same."
"You've got two choices. If you don't want a relationship with Sasami, now or ever, then tell her right now. If you think you might be willing to have a relationship with her, even if it means taking things really slowly until she gets older, then do that, and give her as much as you can. She's a smart girl, she'll understand why you might do more with one of the other ladies than her, even if she doesn't like it. In the end, if you did decide on her it would be worth it to her, right?"
Tenchi just silently considered what his father had said. None of it was all that different from things he'd thought of himself, but it felt good to have somebody else confirming his own thoughts finally. He liked Sasami, and the notion of spending his life with her was pretty appealing. She was intelligent, beautiful, playful, a great help around the house, and an incredible cook.All of the ladies had qualities he found extremely appealing, and yet they were all so different. Sasami deserved the chance, just like the rest, and he knew he liked Sasami enough to allow her that chance if he was going to be fair.
"Thanks dad. I guess I just needed to talk to someone. You probably figured that part out, didn't you, otherwise you wouldn't be out here." Tenchi finally turned to look at his father, and he saw the concern in those eyes, something he didn't usually see. It was comforting to know he had someone worrying about him that way.
"What do you think mother might have thought of all this?"
Pausing a moment to consider the question, Nobuyuki answered, "I think she'd tell you to listen to your heart. If you feel it's the right thing to do, then it is."
Tenchi smiled. He didn't remember a lot about his mother, but he could imagine her saying something like that. He stepped up to his father and embraced him in a hug. "Thanks dad. I needed to hear that."
"You're welcome, son. Do what you have to. I can wait a little longer for those grandkids if need be."
Tenchi just chuckled, his father never changed. The two turned and headed back to breakfast together.
"You've been around an awful lot lately, I've noticed. I don't suppose it's just a coincidence?"
"Of course not. Your development is very important to me, I need to be here to support you when you screw up with the ladies so I can tell you how it should actually be done."
"Right..."
--
Misaki found Sasami crying in her room, staring out the window. She knocked on the door frame to let Sasami know she was there, then she walked over and sat down beside her. She wanted Sasami to open up first, so she remained silent, waiting. After a moment, Sasami threw herself into her mother's arms and cried even more fiercely, but Misaki continued to wait for Sasami to settle down.
After a few minutes, Sasami wiped the tears from her eyes, and her shuddering sobs quieted. Slowly, she pulled herself away from Misaki, and then she turned to look back out the window again.
"Has Jurai changed much since we left?"
That hadn't been the question Misaki was expecting, but it was a start. "Well, in little ways it has, but it's still the same. Your father tries to avoid doing anything the council wants him to, the nobles all still kiss up in public and scheme in private, and the servants keep everything running smoothly. The issues are different, but everything still works the same as before. All the damage Ryoko caused has been long-since fixed."
"That's good. When we go back, it'll be easier to get used to it again."
"When we go back?"
"I'll be going back with you when you go home. Tenchi doesn't want me, so I might as well go back home, and try and live my life where I belong."
Misaki smiled sadly, and reached out to turn Sasami's face to hers. "What gave you the idea Tenchi didn't want you?"
"He told me that he wouldn't do some of the things he would with the others because I was too young. What else could he mean?"
Shaking her head ruefully, Misaki answered, "Lots of things, actually. Did he say he wanted you to leave?"
"Well, no."
"That's right, he didn't. Now, I didn't get a chance to talk to him and ask him exactly what he said, but it sounded like he told you he was nervous because of how young you are. Did he ever once say that you had no chance, that he would not consider you because of how young you are. Or did he say he had to treat you differently because of your age?"
"I suppose it was that he had to treat me differently. But that's not fair, how can I have a chance if he treats me differently?"
"Sasami, how can the others compete with you and what you have to offer? You shouldn't concern yourself with how Tenchi treats you and if it is different than how he treats the others. What should concern you is whether Tenchi treats you fairly and honestly when it is your turn."
"I guess..." Sasami whined.
"Stop that! Don't act like a spoiled little girl, instead be the mature young woman you need to be to earn Tenchi's love and respect. You may not be happy about this, but what would you think if Tenchi was interested in other thirteen-year-old girls?"
"Ewwww."
"That's right, so why should Tenchi think anything but 'Ewwww' when he considers what to do with you?"
"But, I'm older than that. Look at me, Washu says I'm sixteen."
"Sasami, you know that's not exactly true. Physically your body is sixteen, but mentally, you're still thirteen, and you know it. Stop trying to pretend you're older than you are and just be yourself. None of us can truly understand how you feel, I'm not trying to say we do. But don't forget who you are. Tenchi knows who you are, you've been living here for what, four years now? If you try and pretend to be something you're not, Tenchi will know, and he won't like it."
Sasami nodded slowly, coming to terms with what her mother was saying. She realized now she had probably overreacted, and would have to figure out how to start over again with Tenchi. "I think I messed up, mother. What do I do? How do I say I'm sorry to Tenchi?"
"Just like that. Say it, mean it, and ask him to forgive you. It's really very simple, it's amazing how hard it is to do it. Trust me, Tenchi will understand, he's having a hard time with this, too."
"Thanks, mom. You're the best."
"I'll remember you said that..." Misaki laughed at the grimace which flashed on Sasami's face. Then she grabbed her daughter in a hug. "Better now?"
"Mmmm, hmmm."
"Good. Should we go back down and eat breakfast, then? Your aunt and I put a lot of work into it you know, and it's probably cold by now. Children are so inconsiderate sometimes."
--
"Please, don't make this any harder for me than it is. Let Sasami be who she is, and don't use her age to tease her at all."
Tenchi was addressing the other ladies. He knew they weren't likely to do anything of the sort, but he wanted to be sure they understood his position. Explaining what had happened hadn't been pleasant, but at least now everyone understood exactly what had happened and why.
"I would never do that, Tenchi," answered Mihoshi.
"Thank you Mihoshi, I realize that none of you probably would intentionally, but I wanted all of you to hear it from me, so that maybe you might catch yourself before saying something by accident. Obviously Sasami is very concerned about not getting a fair chance because of her age, and I don't want her to feel that way at all."
"We'll do our best Tenchi, none of us want to hurt Sasami," said Washu, receiving nods from the rest in agreement.
"Thanks everyone. Well, I don't know when they'll be back down, should we probably eat?"
"Yeah, we've been waiting for quite a while. Let's eat already." Ryoko grabbed her chopsticks and prepared to dig into the food.
"You weren't going to wait for us? That's not very polite of you."
Everyone turned to face Misaki and Sasami as they made their way back down to the main floor. Sasami's eyes showed the telltale signs of crying, but she seemed to be over it now. Tenchi quickly stepped forward, but was stopped before he could say anything by Sasami holding up her hand.
"I'm okay now Tenchi. I overreacted before, but I think I understand what you meant now. I'm sorry, please forgive me."
"Of course I forgive you. You don't have to apologize to me, I should be apologizing to you. I'm sorry, Sasami."
"Oh that's okay Tenchi. You had to be honest, I forgive you."
Sasami threw herself into Tenchi's arms, wrapping him in a hug from which he desperately wanted to escape. He couldn't breathe, and he could also see some of the jealous looks Sasami was getting. Mihoshi's eyes were glistening as she squirmed, obviously desperate to join in the hug herself. It was Misaki who saved him, laying a hand on Sasami's shoulder to let her know to break the hug.
Wheezing, Tenchi made his way to a place at the table next to Funaho, leaving room for Sasami to sit down next to him. Misaki took her place on the other side of Funaho, and everyone finally started eating. The food wasn't quite as good as usual, even less so because it was cold, but still decent.
Just before he left for the fields, Tenchi stopped his father and whispered something in his ear receiving a nod in return, causing looks of puzzlement on all the ladies' faces. But since he obviously meant it for his father and no one else, everyone went on to wherever they were headed, assuming they'd learn about it in time.
--
(CRACK)
"Grandpa?!"
Tenchi dropped his sword in disbelief. He'd just struck his grandfather with his practice sword for the first time ever, and he wanted to exult in the victory. He was pretty sure he'd seen his grandfather's attention slip off to the distance right as Tenchi began his attack, though, so he wasn't yet sure if it had been due to his skill or something distracting his grandfather at the wrong time. He was also worried that his grandfather might be hurt, not knowing how physically able to withstand damage his grandfather was.
"Grandpa, are you okay?"
"Yes, Tenchi, I am fine." Yosho rolled back over from where he had fallen and looked up at his grandson hovering over him in concern and excitement. Seeing that Tenchi had dropped his sword, Yosho quickly knocked Tenchi to the ground with a leg sweep, and scooping his own sword back up, brought it to rest across Tenchi's neck as he struggled to orient himself.
"Never drop your sword, even if your opponent looks to be defeated. It might cost you your life, Tenchi."
"Grandpa! I thought you might be hurt."
"Tenchi! Never drop your sword, understand?"
"Yes Grandpa."
With that, Yosho removed his practice sword from Tenchi's neck and allowed him to scramble to his feet.
"You're sure you're okay, grandpa? I could have sworn you got distracted there, and that's why I managed to strike you. I was worried that you might've gotten hurt because you weren't guarding properly."
"Let that be a lesson to you, Tenchi. Focus on the battle at hand. If you worry about concerns outside of your immediate threat, you may not survive to deal with those outside concerns."
"Yes grandpa. So what was it, why did you get distracted?"
"It is nothing you need concern yourself with Tenchi. Perhaps it is just an old man finally feeling his age."
"Heh, heh, very funny grandpa. You're still stronger and faster than I am."
"And don't you forget it, Tenchi. That's enough for today. You should go celebrate your victory. I'm sure Sasami would enjoy your company."
The smile fell from Tenchi's face. He still didn't know how he was going to handle Sasami. She had apparently come to grips with what Tenchi had said, but he still felt bad for what he'd said and how she had reacted to it.
"Grandpa, is it okay if I skip studies this afternoon? I feel like I should do something to make up for what I said to her."
"Hmmm, and how do you propose to ever become a Shinto priest if you skip your studies whenever you choose to?"
"It's just one time grandpa, it's not like I'm quitting or anything."
"This would be the first time Tenchi. What happens when the other ladies decide they want equal treatment and that you should spend the whole afternoon with them as well? What will you do then?"
Tenchi regretfully admitted to himself that his grandfather was right. The others would want equal treatment, and he would feel compelled to give it to them. Then he'd be starting down a path which might eventually cause him to stop his studies. He wasn't sure he was ready for that yet, he wanted to finish to honor his grandfather.
"You're right, I shouldn't do that, even if it would make Sasami feel better. I'll try and find another way to make it up to her. Thanks grandpa."
--
Sasami was again on the receiving end of her mother's demonstrations at practice. She suspected she was being taught a lesson for skipping out of practice yesterday, but she didn't dare complain about her treatment. That would just make it worse.
And then, just as her concentration slipped once again, her mother landed a solid front kick to Sasami's padded stomach, dropping Sasami to her knees. By the time she looked up, she saw the heel of her mother's foot hanging in the air above her head as Misaki pulled the axe kick at the last second.
"Tsk, tsk. You need to keep your concentration Sasami." Misaki came back to rest on both feet, and watched Sasami struggle back to a standing position, still laboring to catch her breath after it had been knocked out of her.
"Yes mother."
"Yes what?"
"Yes, master." Sasami cringed at forgetting what to call her mother during practice. Nobody else was required to call her that, they were all in 'informal' training, whereas Sasami's was 'official'. Well, except Ryoko, she seemed to have earned Misaki's wrath somehow, so she always called her 'master' at practice, too.
"Well, now, what should we do for punishment, today? I want to see 50 crunches, followed by 30 push ups. Begin."
Sasami did her best to comply, knowing it was going to take her a long time. After dropping the extra padding she'd been wearing, Sasami began, wondering how on earth she was ever going to finish 50 crunches after getting kicked in the stomach. "One... two... three..."
Seeing Sasami started on her punishment, Misaki turned away and began issuing instructions to the others. "Your arm is too high on that block Ayeka, you'll lose your power and it won't do you any good. Better. No, no, no, Mihoshi. Drag your foot through heel first, not vertical. If you spin kick like that, you'll break your foot. Again. No, again. Good, like that. Kiyone, you have my permission to hit her every time she doesn't pull it through with her heel."
"What? But, but..." Mihoshi nearly burst into tears at the almost evil look she was getting from Kiyone.
"I'm just joking Mihoshi. Just keep count Kiyone. We'll have her do a push up for every one she does wrong."
Misaki then stopped to listen and watch Sasami again.
"Thirteen... huff... hufff... fourteen..."
"Slowing down already? For shame, it sounds like we need to spend more time on your conditioning, Sasami."
Tenchi stepped into the clearing and shook his head ruefully at the sight of Sasami doing crunches. He walked over to Misaki with the concern evident in his eyes.
"Oh, hello, Tenchi. Done already?" Misaki looked back at Tenchi with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, I actually managed to hit grandpa today. I think he got distracted by something, but he let me quit early as a reward any way. He always preaches to never lose your concentration, so I guess he considered it his own punishment for not following his own rules."
"Did you hear that Sasami? Never lose your concentration." Misaki stooped down over her laboring daughter. "I can't hear you."
"Seventeen... hungh... whuff... Eighteen..."
"Oh for crying out loud, you're never going to finish, are you? Fine, make it twenty crunches and twenty push ups. Tenchi's here, I'm feeling very generous right now."
"Nineteen... whoof... Twenty... Uggghhhh."
Sasami sat and panted heavily as Tenchi fought to keep the amused smile off of his face, or at least from Sasami's view. He remembered his early days with his grandfather, he didn't even want to guess how many push ups and sit ups and leg lifts and whatnot he'd done in his early days trying to meet his grandfather's standards. Tens of thousands, likely, maybe even hundreds of thousands for all he knew.
Watching as Sasami struggled over to her stomach and prepared to start on her push ups, Tenchi saw Ryoko floating over from where she'd been practicing with Ayeka. Tenchi had noticed that Funaho took every opportunity to excuse herself from practice, he suspected too many years as a training partner for Misaki had made the practice quite tiresome. He kept those opinions to himself. It wouldn't do to go pointing out anything that might upset either of the two queens.
"How come you're back here already Tenchi?"
"Grandpa called it off early since I actually hit him today."
"You hit him? Really? That's wonderful, Tenchi, I knew you were going to be better than him some day."
"I think you're overreacting, Ryoko. I think he got distracted somehow, he wasn't really looking when I hit him."
"Oh, don't be so modest Tenchi. You're gonna be the best swordsman ever. You've got the best teacher and the best training partner anyone's ever had, if I do say so myself. Fortunately for you, I'm here to help you learn those things Yosho can't teach you."
"Yeah, I'll be sure to mention that to my grandfather."
"Um, no that's okay, you really don't need to do that Tenchi. Just be happy that I'm here to help you learn."
Finally giving in and laughing, Tenchi answered, "Okay Ryoko, I am lucky to have you here. Thank you."
"Don't you forget it, loverboy." Ryoko moved in close to Tenchi, hoping to plant a kiss on his cheek, but was stopped by the arm of Misaki flashing in front of her face.
"I believe you need to keep your distance from Tenchi today, Ryoko. Trying to take advantage while poor Sasami is laboring – how many was that dear? - over there in her training. I'm thinking perhaps you need something to keep you occupied as well. Why don't you give me 300 sit ups."
"Three... hundred?"
"I believe you heard me."
Sighing, Ryoko started doing sit ups, she'd long since given up arguing with Misaki.
Tenchi couldn't help laughing at Ryoko's misfortune, and then he looked around for one of the stumps in the clearing so he could sit down and wait for Sasami to be finished.
"Seventeen... Hungghh... Eighteen... Huff... Huff... Nineteen... Twenty!"
Finishing the last of her push ups, Sasami collapsed on the ground and gasped for breath. Misaki just shook her head, then addressed everyone else. "Well, that should do it for today, ladies. Once again I find myself needing to stay and carefully monitor Ryoko's special training, but the rest of you are free to leave.
Tenchi watched as Ayeka, Kiyone and Mihoshi left, amused glances at Ryoko and pitying ones at Sasami who still lay on the ground motionless except for her deep breathing. As Misaki turned to Ryoko, he stood up and walked over to where Sasami lay, and knelt down beside her.
"How are you doing, Sasami. Ready to get up yet?"
"Just... another... minute."
Tenchi chuckled, briefly, then stifled it, realizing Sasami had probably heard him.
"I can help you up, and you can lean on me on the walk back if you'd like."
"O... kay."
Tenchi squared around in front of Sasami, and then pulled her up to a sitting position. She sat and panted for a few moments, then Tenchi stood, with her wrist grasped in both of his hands, and he pulled her to her feet. He was surprised by how solid a weight it was, but then he had to remind himself that she wasn't the little girl he still associated with her any more.
Sasami stumbled briefly, stopped from falling to the ground only by Tenchi catching her at the waist. Once she finally got her balance, she leaned her head on his shoulder as he turned her around, leaving his arm wrapped around her waist. They slowly started walking back to the house.
Neither spoke for most of the walk, but as they neared the house, Tenchi asked, "So is there anything you'd like to do right now? I've got a little spare time before lunch and then my studies."
"Just a bath. Maybe I'll feel better afterwards."
"A bath it is, then."
Tenchi supported her as they walked into the house and up the stairs to her room. Arriving, Tenchi knocked, but receiving no answer, he opened the door to let Sasami in. She slumped onto her futon, and curled up as if she was going to take a nap.
"Sasami?"
"Yes, Tenchi?"
"Um, don't you want that bath?"
"Yes. Could you grab my clothes? They're over there." Sasami gestured vaguely with her right arm towards the corner of the room.
Glancing around, Tenchi spotted the likely pile, and bent to scoop them up, then froze. On the top of the pile were a pair of pink underwear and bra sitting on the pink t-shirt. Tenchi colored, then lifted the pile from the middle, scooping up the shirt and underwear, and then lifting the skirt and dropping it on top so he wasn't looking at the undergarments any more. He heard the giggle from behind him, and turned back to face Sasami who was now sitting up.
"I guess you got to see my underwear, too."
Scowling at first, then realizing it was actually kind of funny, he laughed with Sasami. "I suppose so."
Sasami held up her hand to let Tenchi pull her to her feet. "I know it makes you uncomfortable Tenchi, but I hope you can at least try and think of me as a woman and not a girl. You saw me naked in the bath a couple days ago. Did I look like a little girl to you?"
"Erm... I guess not. That doesn't change things."
"Not even a little? What about the fact that I'm merging with Tsunami. What if we were merged tomorrow, what would you do then? I'll have all her memories and experiences at that point, will I still be a little girl, then?"
"I can't answer that Sasami. Until you do merge, though, I'll only think of you as Sasami, not Tsunami."
They walked down the hall and through the portal to the onsen, Sasami still leaning on Tenchi. Arriving, Tenchi hesitated in front of the door to the womens' side.
"Um, I don't think I should stick around any longer."
"Oh don't be silly, they're probably all soaking in the water."
Not waiting for Tenchi's response, Sasami finally let go of Tenchi, and walked over to the door and opened it. Tenchi froze momentarily, then he passed out with the blood streaming from his nose.
"Aaaahhh! Sasami, how could you?" Kiyone glared at Sasami as she held her arm across her bare chest.
"I'm really, really sorry Kiyone. I didn't think anyone would be here, I thought you'd all be in the bath by now."
"I've already been in the bath, Sasami. We must've gotten here at least fifteen minutes ago. It sure took you a while to get here."
"Yeah, I guess. That punishment wiped me out. I had to lean on Tenchi the whole way to even make it back and then up here."
"What's wrong Kiyone?" Mihoshi came in through the curtain, wrapped in a towel, followed by Ayeka similarly wrapped.
"Sasami brought Tenchi to the door here and opened it in front of him. I didn't have much for clothes on at the time." She glanced down at herself, indicating her lack of anything but her underwear.
"Oh, wow. Tenchi saw you naked? You're so lucky, Kiyone." Three jaws dropped open at that statement from Mihoshi.
Kiyone growled, "And why would that be?".
"Well, now that you've got that out of the way, Tenchi will probably pay more attention to you. Didn't you ever notice that the two people Tenchi had seen naked before, Ryoko and Ayeka, were the two he always seemed to pay the most attention to? Oh, right, you probably haven't been here long enough to notice. Well, I have, I was hoping I might get a chance last night, but he wouldn't let me..."
"Mihoshi..." Kiyone's voice rose warningly, but Mihoshi continued any way.
"... so I was thinking maybe my next turn, when he finally gets a chance to do my sketch, maybe I'll just take my clothes off without even asking him, then he can't stop me. After that, I'll get just as much attention as Ryoko and Ayeka." Mihoshi drifted off, obviously contemplating what things would be like with more attention from Tenchi.
Kiyone fought down the urge to strangle Mihoshi, and just turned away, clenching her fists. Sasami on the other hand, looked at her sister and asked, "Do you really think she's right? Tenchi did always seem to pay more attention to you and Ryoko."
"I wouldn't know, Sasami. To me it always felt like he was paying more attention to Ryoko, I never really stopped to consider the rest of you much, in comparison. I suppose it is possible, but it hardly seems like something Tenchi would do. At least not intentionally."
"What is wrong with you two? You can't honestly be thinking Mihoshi is right, can you? Why is he dating all of us, when he's only seen Ryoko and Ayeka naked, then?" Pausing at a sheepish look from Sasami, she asked, "Okay what else?"
Sasami answered, "Well, you see, actually he saw me naked in the bath a couple days ago. It was really Ryoko's fault, she just dropped him in without checking to see if we were in there first."
"He's seen you too? Oh this isn't fair. I can't believe I didn't take my clothes off last night." Mihoshi rejoined the conversation, and started frantically picking at her towel as if she was going to pull it off right then.
"Would you knock it off, Mihoshi? And you two, get real. Let's settle this, then. So Tenchi saw you a couple of days ago, right Sasami? Has he paid any more attention to you in the last couple of days than normal?"
"Well, I don't know. Mihoshi's the one who noticed it about Ayeka and Ryoko, ask her."
They all turned to Mihoshi, who paused thoughtfully. "Well, yesterday at the beach, and wasn't that really neat? I hope Washu will do that again soon. I know I'm not done tanning yet, and just one time won't do it for the rest of you, I mean look how pale you still are, Kiyone. What? Oh right, well, any way, the other day at the beach, when you ran back to the house to start on dinner, Tenchi watched Sasami running away awfully carefully. He didn't even realize he was doing it, but Queen Misaki and I did."
"He did, really?" Sasami's face flushed a little bit at the thought.
"Oh come on, Mihoshi. She was in a swimsuit at the time. He'd have done the same to any of us."
"But he didn't, it was only Sasami."
"Really?" Sasami started almost swooning with excitement.
"Hmmmmm..." was all Ayeka had to say.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me. You're actually listening to Mihoshi? That's it, I'm leaving. You three can delude yourself if you want." Kiyone quickly dressed and stalked out, leaving the other three.
--
In the entry way, Kiyone immediately ran into the unconscious Tenchi. She was tempted to leave him and just head back, but knew that wouldn't be right. He might possibly need some help, and they'd forgotten about him for long enough already. She stepped over to him, and leaned down to pat him on the cheek lightly.
"Ugggghhh. What happened? Oh yeah, I..." Tenchi realized who was standing above him, and turned bright red. "Oh geez, I'm sorry Kiyone, I told Sasami it was a really bad idea for me to be there."
"I know it's not your fault, Tenchi. It doesn't mean I'm happy about it, but it happened and now it's over. Think of it as something to look forward to."
"Huh? Oh..." Tenchi's face got redder as he considered what she had just said.
"Not any time soon, mind you, just a glimpse of the possible future."
"Oh, right." Tenchi failed to keep the disappointment out of his voice, earning him a quizzical look from Kiyone. He rubbed his head, and said, "Er, I hadn't planned on anything like that for a while, so of course not."
"So how are you feeling? Not too dizzy or anything?"
"No, I'm fine now. You'd think I'd be used to that by now. It's not like I haven't, er..."
"Haven't what?" Kiyone chuckled.
"Um, nothing. Well, I should probably go clean up. Oh geez, I forgot to grab any of my own stuff, I was paying so much attention to Sasami. Ah well, I guess I head home and just clean up there. Um, did I say something?"
Kiyone wiped the surprise off of her face, and quickly answered "No, no, just thinking of something I need to do today. Um, I'll go let Sasami know you're going to head home, then, should I have her meet you there?"
"Thanks, Kiyone, that would be really nice of you. Yeah, why don't you have her come over when she's done. She's probably going to be a while, she was in pretty rough shape on the way over, so I should have time. Thanks again, Kiyone."
"You're welcome Tenchi." Kiyone turned back to the door to the women's bath, but before opening it she glanced back at Tenchi, and caught him staring at her.
"Oh, right, I guess I shouldn't be here when you go in, should I?" Tenchi turned and fled, bringing a smile to Kiyone's face. Then she stepped inside to tell Sasami where to meet Tenchi.
--
(KNOCK, KNOCK)
"Tenchi, are you there? It's Sasami."
"Come in."
Sasami opened the door, and stepped into Tenchi's house for the second time that day. She hadn't really gotten much chance to look around before, Mihoshi had distracted her, and then Tenchi's speech had sent her fleeing. Tenchi was sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels on the television. He shut the TV off when she closed the door behind her.
"How are you feeling now?" Tenchi got up and looked at her with concern in his eyes.
"I'm better now, Tenchi. I just needed to catch my breath. I can't believe mother did that to me today. You don't need to tell her I said that, of course."
Tenchi chuckled, feeling sympathy for Sasami. "It'll be our secret. At least, until I need a favor any way."
"Hey! What kind of boyfriend are you, any way? Taking advantage of a young girl like that, it's almost shameful."
Tenchi could hear the sarcasm rolling off Sasami's voice, and was glad she was back to her cheerful self. He looked at her a little more closely, he'd barely even noticed her outfit this morning things had gone so poorly. He steeled himself to try and treat her as a young woman instead of a child, in certain things, any way. Deciding she deserved a compliment in payment for his hard words this morning, he said, "You're really cute, you know that?"
"Stop that, you're making me blush. But Thank you, any way." Sasami then looked him in the face with a questioning look. "I thought you weren't going to think of me that way, Tenchi? You sounded pretty determined this morning."
"Well, I'm still a little uncomfortable, but I talked with dad, and he pointed a couple things out to me. I'm going to try not to think of you like that little girl I remember any more, at least not all the time, but it's going to be hard for me. We'll see what happens I guess. And you really are pretty, even if I know you're just thirteen."
As Sasami's face turned bright red, Tenchi realized he was going to be hard-pressed to stay true to his own words and remember how young she was. As he'd just said, she was already very pretty, and he knew what she was going to look like in just a few more months, or less even, and she was going to be just plain beautiful at that point.
Giggling lightly, Sasami said, "Thanks, Tenchi. I can't wait to get rid of these freckles, though."
Tenchi's eyes widened a bit in surprise at that statement, he'd never really thought about that. He realized she was right, they were lighter now than they had been before, and when she finally merged with Tsunami, they would be gone. They were so much a part of what he thought of her as, that it saddened him a little to think she was going to lose them.
"I like them. They match your eyes. You shouldn't worry about them any way, you're too pretty for a few freckles to matter."
As her face turned scarlet, Tenchi chuckled. This was drastically different than his time with the other four. They'd all been mature, experienced, confident women, whereas Sasami was obviously not that, yet. He wasn't sure whether it was better or not, but it certainly was different. He'd have had to fight off Ryoko with the Master Key after telling her something like that, but Sasami was frozen in place, her face burning with embarrassment.
"Well, we've got a little time before lunch, would you like to do anything?"
Sasami didn't answer immediately, just looking at him with her wide pink eyes, and her face remained bright red.
"Sasami?"
"Ummmm... Can we, ummmm..."
Sasami broke off, apparently too flustered to continue. Realizing what she was probably trying to ask, Tenchi felt himself heating up with embarrassment as well. They just looked at each other for a few moments, neither being able to speak or move. Tenchi finally managed a deep breath when he ran out of air from the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"No, Sasami. I don't think so. I'll give you a hug, though."
Sasami's face drooped in disappointment, but she jumped into his arms for the hug any way.
"I suppose we should maybe go work on lunch? I'll help you if you want."
"That would be nice, Tenchi. I'd like that. Thank you."
--
"What do you think? Is she going to be able to handle this?"
Funaho looked at Misaki as they sat reading new correspondence, none of which had any new information regarding the king.
"Well, my daughter is still very insecure, but she's tough, too. I think Tenchi's going to soften up a little bit, and Sasami's going to harden a little bit, and they'll end up with something that will work. It may not matter, of course. She may end up being merged with Tsunami before Tenchi can come to any kind of decision. Your great-grandson has really created himself a mess here, you do realize that?"
"Yes, and no. Tenchi didn't create the mess, he just made it messier. What else should he have done, then?"
"Decided?"
Funaho laughed. "Well, obviously. And he should have decided how?"
"I'm still working on that."
"My point exactly."
"Well, unlike my mother," Misaki looked around nervously, "I don't plan to make his decision for him. Moving on, what about that itinerant husband of ours? Any information on him?"
"No nothing. So what's his punishment going to be, then. We'll have to make this a good one."
"You're right I suppose. I hate the 'no sex' punishment, though. It's almost as bad for us as it is for him. And we've been gone for a while already, I don't want to wait forever. Let's come up with something else."
"So what's his latest toy? We can take it away from him."
"You mean that racing animal he just bought? I suppose we could commandeer it, treat it like a pet instead of letting the grooms train it for racing, for a while any way. What do you think?
"Well, it might work..."
--
"Is this really necessary? When was the last time you learned anything useful?"
"Just be quiet, Ryoko. Your mother is working on a very important experiment here, and she doesn't need you breaking her concentration."
"Important, my a..."
(CRUNCH)
After the flowerpot hit Ryoko on the head, Washu said, "Watch your mouth, young lady. I didn't wash it out with soap before, don't make me now."
"What's up with you, any way? I've heard you swear before."
"Maybe I've decided to reform, to try and set a good example for my foul-mouthed daughter."
Washu finished playing with the controls of whatever it was she had Ryoko hooked up to. She hadn't told Ryoko what the tests were going to be, just that they were important. That was what she always said, and Ryoko always ended up strapped into some weird device, usually without any clothes on so that the metal buckles and connectors were cold against her skin. When it was done, Washu just sent her away without telling her anything.
Washu flipped a lever on the device and Ryoko felt a tingling sensation throughout her entire body. It was not completely unpleasant, but it tickled a little bit.
"Wh-what a-are y-you d-doing?"
"I'm looking for signs of intelligence, of course."
"V-very f-funny."
Throwing the lever back to it's original position, Washu checked the monitor, looking at numerous different pages of information. She scrolled through tables of data, looked at charts and graphs, and through it all Ryoko hung silently, grinding her teeth. She didn't know why she kept letting Washu run these experiments on her. She'd vowed not to after one particularly unpleasant incident, but she always found herself agreeing to do it, any way.
"Ah, hah. I thought so."
Washu pushed the monitor away, and finally hit the release switch to let Ryoko out of the device.
"So, what is it? What did you know?"
"That you've gained two pounds, and your muscle mass has decreased three percent, of course. It's a good thing you finally started working out with the others. You were on the road to being a fat old maid."
"What????!!!!!"
"Fat old maid. You know, overweight, ancient, no husband."
"I know what it means. How could you put me through all of that just to figure out if I've gained a couple pounds?"
"Don't forget your muscle loss."
"Mother..." Ryoko's voice rose and her face distorted with anger.
"This is all important information. You're the only one of you in existence. It's important for me to track everything about you of course. I need every piece of data I can get. Since Tenchi destroyed the Souja, we lost all of the data Kagato had collected on you. So I'm starting over again, and even worse, I don't have anything on your adolescence any more. What happens if I need to fix you some time? I'll need data to work with. Oh, and it was nice to hear Little Ryoko calling for her mother."
"What? I didn't... that is... aarrgghh!"
"It's okay, every little girl goes through a time in her life where she doesn't want to call her mother mommy. You're just hitting yours a little late in life, that's all."
"Shut up, Washu. I don't..."
(CRUNCH)
"Now, now, you're backsliding. Do I need to find some soap?"
Washu materialized a portal, and reached in to pull out a bar of soap.
Ryoko backed away in fear momentarily, until she remembered that she wasn't a little girl, and there was no way that Washu could force it into her mouth. This was ridiculous, she was acting like a little girl all of a sudden.
"That's it, bring it on, old lady. You can't scare me, I'm not a little girl."
Washu looked at her quizzically, then tossed the bar of soap back into a portal which briefly appeared.
"You're right, I suppose, you're not a little girl. You act like one an awful lot of the time, but you're not."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Do you really need me to tell you? All right then. You're lazy, you're selfish, you're inconsiderate of others' feelings, you're loud, you're violent. Do I need to continue? Fine. What does all of that sound like to you? To me it sounds like a little child who hasn't learned how to play with anyone else yet."
"How dare you? How would I have ever learned anything else? It's not like I was in a day care growing up, or going to school, or anything like that."
"So you admit to it, then?"
"I..." Ryoko stopped, thinking about what Washu had said. Washu certainly sounded like she meant it. Was she really like that? Sure she argued with Ayeka a lot, but that didn't make her all of that. Ayeka was a spoiled little princess, she deserved what Ryoko gave her. She didn't treat Sasami like that. She did chores when Sasami asked her to, and she never fought with her. Although she did drop Tenchi into the bath with her and Ayeka the other day. And she didn't actually do the chores if Sasami didn't ask her to specifically...
"I see you're coming to grips with a few things. It's no fun to come to some hard realizations about yourself, is it? Now, since we've laid out your bad qualities, I suppose we should move on to your good qualities."
"My... good qualities?"
"Yes, it's hard to believe, I know, but you do have some. Let's see, you're loyal, you're strong, you have good senses. Hmmm, sounds kinda like a puppy so far. Now then, you're independent, you're obviously in love with Tenchi, you're..."
"Yeah, I am in love with Tenchi. So why do you have to try and screw it up?"
Both Washu and Ryoko immediately fell silent. They hadn't been down this path before, neither really wanting to talk about such a sensitive subject. Washu sighed, and turned away, sitting down on a chair she materialized out of nowhere.
"Are you sure you want me to answer that?"
"Yes."
Seeing a chair materialize next to her, Ryoko sat down as well. Washu didn't turn to face her as she started talking.
"I assume just saying that 'I'm in love with Tenchi too' isn't good enough?"
"So you love him, huh? Why Tenchi?"
"Why not Tenchi? Why do you love Tenchi, and not Nobuyuki for instance, or Yosho? Surely you were able to see both of them as well while you were sending your consciousness out of the cave. It should have been apparent that they were both good men who had suffered a great deal of pain in their lives. Why no sympathy for them and only for Tenchi?"
"What are you talking about? Nobuyuki's a pervert, and Yosho's the one who stuck me in that cave in the first place!"
"My point is this: You fell in love with Tenchi since he's the one who saved you. You've never had anyone else in your life do for you what Tenchi did."
"Well, no kidding, I didn't exactly have the standard upbringing."
"No you didn't. I've already told you I'm sorry about that, but I wasn't exactly in a position to help. Back to Tenchi. So, you fell in love with Tenchi because he did something good for you that no one else had ever done. Is that any different than what he did for me?"
"But, he..."
"He what? If he hadn't killed Kagato, I'd still be stuck on the negative side of the Souja, probably back trapped in my prison. Tenchi did that for me, whether he realized it or not. And he did it risking his own life against someone he knew was trying to kill him. Someone he had to believe was much more powerful than he himself was. No one has ever done anything like that for me. My husband put his family before me. I took Kagato on as an assistant, and he took me captive. Who in my life has ever done for me what Tenchi did? Who?"
Ryoko could only watch Washu's back in silence. She'd never stopped to consider the betrayals Washu had had in her life. She always thought of her life as being a miserable one, but Washu's hadn't been any better.
"So what do we do?"
"I don't have a good answer for that."
"I'm not giving Tenchi up."
"I didn't ask you to."
"Are you giving him up?"
"I didn't say that either."
"You're not suggesting we share him?"
"Could you?"
Ryoko couldn't bring herself to answer, so she asked, "Could you?"
"I don't know."
Ryoko and Washu sat in silence for a while, before Ryoko finally got up to leave. As she floated away, she called back, "I guess we let Tenchi decide, then."
"I guess," Washu whispered to herself. Ryoko never saw the tears running down Washu's face.
--
"All right ladies, quiz time. Now we find out who's been paying attention." Funaho pulled a screen down with twenty questions printed on it regarding Juraian protocols and history. "First, answer these questions. After that we move on to 'Dinner Party' speech. Any questions before we begin?" Silence and long faces greeted her. "Okay, get started, then. Five minutes."
"No cheating. I'll be watching." Misaki tapped an exceptionally long ruler against her hand as Funaho came over to sit down next to her.
"So, what do you think?" asked Funaho quietly.
"Well, Ayeka shouldn't have any trouble of course, assuming she read the books. Actually she probably knows most of it any way. Sasami might struggle, I'm not sure whether she's ever had to study before. Ryoko's probably hopeless, but you never know. Washu hasn't paid attention to a single thing you've said in class, I don't think. She sits and reads those Japanese science journals, laughing to herself instead of paying attention. She might fail, but it'll be her own fault. Kiyone's trying the hardest of anyone, I think she'll be okay. Mihoshi, I just don't know. She doesn't write anything down, but she seems to remember everything you've said. My instincts tell me everyone will pass, though, assuming we don't catch Ryoko cheating, and we haven't so far."
"You're probably right."
Minutes passed as the various people frantically answered questions. Washu finished quickly, and opened one of the magazines she was always reading, and everyone heard her snickering quietly. One by one, the others finished until only Kiyone was left rubbing her forehead as she tried to answer the last question.
"Time!"
"What? Oh, shoot!" Kiyone mournfully watched as her answers were whisked away before she could put anything down for the final question.
"All right, shall we take a look and see how everyone did?" Funaho got a differing set of nods and shakes from the various students seated before her. "Let's see, Mihoshi... Eighteen correct. Very good!"
"Oh my! Thank you!" Mihoshi clapped her hands in delight.
"Washu... Twenty. Perfect."
"Naturally," said Washu with a smirk.
"Sasami... Sixteen. Not bad, but you'll need to keep working at it. You are a Juraian princess, after all."
"Yes, Aunt Funaho."
"Ayeka... Fourteen?"
"What?! But, but, that's not right, I'm sure I got all of them right." Ayeka was standing, her face scarlet.
"Not according to what I'm looking at. Tsk, tsk. You'll definitely have to improve on that."
Ryoko could be heard snickering, and Sasami stifled a giggle.
"Kiyone... Seventeen. And you didn't answer the last question. Not bad."
Kiyone sighed, and flopped her head down onto her arms to relax.
"And Ryoko... Fourteen. Interesting. That probably won't be acceptable, Ryoko, you'll have to do better."
"Well, now I know not to copy off of Ay... Why yes, I'll be sure to work harder, Funaho."
"Yes, see that you do. Well, on to the next test. Misaki will be playing the part of various guests you might meet at a dinner party on Jurai. Your test is of course to have an acceptable conversation, one which is properly polite, and yet commands the proper amount of respect at the same time. I'll be judging each of you on a twenty point scale. Any questions? No? Okay, Kiyone, you'll be first."
(GULP)
Kiyone rose to her feet to stand by Misaki as the queen offered her a cup of tea.
"So nice to meet you Queen Kiyone. We've heard all about you in Stanbolda. Why, you look quite a bit like my Aunt Gevovia. Oh, my, where are my manners, I should introduce myself. My name is Arginald Walodin, I'm aide to the current ambassador. How do you do?" Misaki bowed without spilling a drop of tea.
"Queen... Kiyone? Uh right, um... Nice to meet you as well. Please, just call me Kiyone. There's no need to be formal. Um... Tell me, the ambassador, is he as handsome as we've heard? Um..." Kiyone started to bow, then changed her mind and nodded instead, nearly spilling her tea in the process, managing to just splash a few drops on her hand.
"Handsome? I believe you must be mistaken, the ambassador is a woman of course. She's quite pretty, however."
"Oh, uh right." Kiyone sweated mightily. "I must have been mistaking the Stanboldan ambassador with the, uh... Stanbeldan ambassador."
"Those pigs! How dare you mistake us with them? I'll have you know..." Misaki droned on as Kiyone cringed more and more, knowing she was about to fail this test.
--
Everyone was surprised by Nobuyuki's early arrival as they milled around the house. Afternoon chores and studies had been taken care of, and everyone relaxed, enjoying themselves. Tenchi had to stop Sasami from getting up to start on dinner at least five times, and he'd had to stop the queens a couple more when they decided he was stopping Sasami because it was her day. Even being pressed by everyone for an explanation, Tenchi had remained silent.
When Tenchi hurried outside at seeing his father, everyone followed to the door to see what he was doing. When the bags full of takeout food appeared in his arms, the plan was clear, and everyone finally forgave Tenchi his tight-lipped secret.
"Oh, wow. This smells yummy. Not as yummy as yours, Sasami, but better than the que... Ouch! Kiyone!! Why did you kick me?"
"Fine, go ahead and finish what you were about to say then, Mihoshi." Kiyone spun Mihoshi about to look into the frowning faces of Misaki and Funaho.
"Oh, well, what I really meant to say was..."
"Come on, come on, everyone inside. The food will taste great, trust me. I picked it up from the best place, I get my lunches there almost every day. Let's go, let's go."
Nobuyuki herded everyone back into the house and to the dinner table where they all sat down. Tenchi remained standing, and grabbed Sasami by the elbow before she could sit down. Everyone then watched Tenchi, the curiosity evident in their eyes.
"Heh, heh. I, uh, asked dad if he could bring home dinner for all of you, and if it would be okay if I took Sasami into town to go eat at a restaurant. So, everyone enjoy the meal. Shall we go, Sasami?"
"You betcha, Tenchi. Let's go, this is so exciting." She grabbed Tenchi by the arm, and started dragging him to the door.
"I'll have her home at a reasonable hour," he told Misaki, who smiled and nodded.
"I'm sure you will, Tenchi. I'll put her pajamas in your house so she doesn't have to come back into ours when you get home."
"What?" Tenchi firmly planted his feet to stop his movement toward the door. "She's not sleeping at my place."
Laughing, Misaki just nodded at Sasami behind him and said, "You tell her." Then she picked up her chopsticks, turning her attention to the meal.
Tenchi slowly turned back around, and encountered an angry-faced Sasami with her hands on her hips and a tapping foot. He saw a hint of the bulging eyes her mother had perfected and swallowed hard. "Ah, yes, well, I suppose you can sleep at my place. It's not like anything is going to happen. Ahh..."
"You're exactly right, I will be sleeping at your place tonight. Now let's go."
Sasami grabbed him by the arm, and again started dragging him out the door.
"Good night, everyone," Tenchi called back over his shoulder.
"Good night," they all called back.
"Good luck," Misaki said merrily, her designation for the luck not being obvious.
--
"Tell the chef he needs to use more..."
"Sasami, stop it."
The waiter looked on nervously, not sure if the young girl before him was going to offer any more instructions. The last advice from the girl he had passed on had not been well received by the chef, so he didn't look forward to doing it again. He hated to lie about passing on her instructions and not actually doing it, though.
"But Tenchi, if he just put more..."
"It's okay Sasami. I'm sure he thinks he's doing it properly, and you're not going to make him happy by telling him what he's doing wrong. Look, can we just get our bill? We're done, any way. Thank you."
The waiter bowed, and quickly hustled away, relieved that he would not have to face the chef's wrath after all.
"I know you're a better cook than he is, Sasami, but it's his restaurant. I'm sure he spent lots of time learning how to cook, and he does it his way. Let it be."
As the pout started to form on Sasami's face, Tenchi could barely stop himself from laughing. She was just adorable with that expression on her face.
The waiter returned with their bill, and Tenchi quickly settled it and they left the restaurant. Apparently Sasami was upset with him for contradicting her, so after they got in the van and started back for their house, Tenchi said, "I'm sorry Sasami."
"It's okay Tenchi. I suppose you're right, I shouldn't try and tell someone else what to do. Unless they're working in my kitchen, of course."
Tenchi laughed with her, and the ride home quickly passed with Sasami's excited recollection of what eating in a fancy restaurant was like.
Upon arrival, Tenchi slipped inside his father's house just long enough to drop his keys on the table, noting his father snoring on the couch. He padded over quietly and shook Nobuyuki awake, then hustled out before his father could ask any questions. He and Sasami made their way back to his house and went inside. They found a small pile of clothes on the sofa which had to be Sasami's pajamas. She picked them up and carried them to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Tenchi yawned, and headed for his room. He found some pajamas, and slipped them on, then went back out to the sofa to await his turn at the bathroom.
When Sasami finally came out, her hair was bundled up into the sleeping pouches, which always gave Tenchi a weird feeling. He'd never quite placed previously what it was about it, but suddenly he understood. Without the ponytails flowing up into the air over her head, she looked even more like Tsunami, at least the way Tenchi had seen Tsunami. He wondered what kind of hairstyle was going to take dominance once the two merged completely, or would it perhaps be something new altogether?
Then he noticed her fidgeting, and realized why. The pajamas were essentially her usual, the sleeveless shirt and thin pants, but they were much tighter than usual. Usually the pajamas she and Ayeka wore were loose, but these certainly weren't, showing off her curves.
"Apparently my mother picked the wrong ones." Sasami seemed to be trying to decide where to hold her arms, and finally crossed them across her chest, letting Tenchi catch his breath again. He dragged his eyes up to hers.
"Ah, well, you can go get some other ones if those aren't comfortable."
"No, no, they're actually very comfortable, just not what I'm used to."
"I can see that, er..." Tenchi reddened, and had to look away. He moved into the bathroom to wash up for the night, leaving Sasami behind as he didn't want to say anything else to embarrass himself.
When he finished his normal routine, he splashed his face with cold water a couple of times and dried off with the towel. Then he took a few deep breaths to get himself as calm as possible before he opened the door, afraid of what he was going to be facing. He was surprised to find the living room dark and empty, and looked around, realizing that Sasami had already turned off all the lights, and must be in his room already.
He headed for the only light left in the house, coming from his room, and stepped in to see Sasami already curled up in the futon.
"I had a really great day today. Thank you." Sasami yawned, and pulled the covers up over her shoulders.
"You're welcome, Sasami. Good night."
"Good night, Tenchi."
--
Marco could barely contain his excitement. He had watched the two men dueling in practice for a couple of days now, and he could tell they were extremely good. It was an unusual style, one he hadn't seen practiced before, but that only added to his excitement.
He'd been trying to decide how he might somehow go about getting a duel with the older man, he'd appeared to be the more skilled of the two, but today he'd witnessed the boy drop the old man with a move of blinding speed, one he'd thought the old man should still have blocked, but apparently was getting too feeble to do consistently. So Marco now turned his attention to the boy. That was who he wanted a duel with. He wasn't sure how could he arrange that and still fulfill his mission to capture, or kill if need be, detective Makibi, and not alert everyone to his presence.
He sat back down on the hill, again taking up his position to watch the goings on at the household. The presence of the queens was a surprise, but didn't make much difference to Marco. He'd heard the one was the Juraian King's bodyguard as well as his wife, and a skilled warrior, but she was still a woman.
There were a lot of women in the house, actually, most of whom Marco recognized. The two princesses and two queens he did, and likewise the two Galaxy Police officers were obvious. The others he didn't know about. The one with Cyan hair seemed familiar, but he couldn't place her, and the two red-headed girls he didn't recognize at all, but it was obvious they were related, presumably sisters. The little girl with the thick brown hair was a complete mystery. And for some reason, most of them but the queens seemed to be interested in the boy. He'd witnessed both the blonde GP officer and the Cyan-haired lady walking with the boy as if they were lovers, and most of the others looked at him in much the same way. Odd, the boy didn't look like much, except for his obvious skill with the sword.
He wasn't very tall or particularly muscular. His looks didn't seem special, though Marco admitted to not being a good judge of Juraian men, as that's what the boy most resembled. It was curious why all the ladies seemed to swoon for him, even the younger of the two teenage red-heads.
He started considering the odds of making a move on Kiyone in this house, and decided that wasn't likely to be a good idea. Anything going wrong at all, and he'd have a house full of dangerous individuals to deal with. No, the best plan was going to be to lure Makibi away. And what about the boy, how to get him away so he could duel with him without bringing the attention of anyone else in the house...
Marco watched as the older man slipped out of the house and drove away. He didn't look like much to Marco, he didn't carry that air of competence which most everyone else seemed to. Perhaps that was the answer...
--
Comments and Criticism definitely wanted. It's hard to improve without it.