Tenchi Muyo!
______
Disclaimer: This episode of Tenchi Muyo! is
of my own creation. I do not own any portion of Tenchi
Muyo. "Tenchi Muyo!" and all related characters, names, etc. are
©1992-2003 AIC Inc. and Pioneer LDC. All rights reserved.
Note: This story line is a sequel to 'The Darkness Within.' I recommend reading
the stories since it is an incredible series and is very well done.
______
The Return to Darkness
Chapter 10:
Devious Plans Arising
______
Tokimi Masaki calmly walks down the stairs in her new
house, on her way to the kitchen. As she passes the living room, she stops,
looking over at every other girl in the house who are
now huddled together in a tight circle and whispering among themselves. 'They
are up to something,' she thinks to herself while narrowing her eyes. 'My love
was correct in the bad feeling he had earlier.' She puts her hands on her hips
and clears her throat loudly, surprising all the girls. They all quickly jump
out of the circle and sit down on the couch or chairs, all fidgeting awkwardly
and staring at the floor. "Well now," she begins, taking long and
deliberately slow strides into the living room, "what have we here? It
appears to be a group meeting of sorts, but what pray tell were you discussing?"
"Nothing really," Washu comments while
waving her hand around aimlessly. "The girls and I were thinking about
doing a little redecorating around here, this place has too much of a man's
touch for our likes." The other girls all quickly look up and nod in
agreement.
The Goddess of Justice walks in front of her sister, gazing down at her with
her penetrating blue and purple eyes. "Really now?" she whispers.
"If that is so, then why was I not invited? Am I
not another female member of this household too?" Upon seeing Washu's slightly distressed reaction, Tokimi
smiles sweetly. "You always were a terrible liar my dear big sister."
She leans down dangerously close to where their noses are nearly touching.
"Especially to me," she adds, her eyes flashing menacingly. The
goddess quickly stands back up and recomposes herself. "I shall leave you
children to your...redecorating plans. As for myself, well my precious husband
is in need of some extra nourishment after the extreme workout we just went
through together," she pauses to smile evilly at the looks of shock of
anger now adorning the girls' faces, "and as the good wife that I am, I am
letting him rest while I go get it for him." With that, she leaves the
living room and walks into the kitchen.
As she goes about the cabinets, gathering up needed supplies, she
absentmindedly hums out loud a song she overheard Tenchi's
mother sing to him when he was just a baby. Unbeknownst to Tenchi
and all the others in the house, Tokimi has watched
over Tenchi for a very long time, a lot longer than
any of them ever thought. While the goddess busies herself by reheating some
leftover rice, Nobuyuki walks in, fresh from his bath in the onsen over the lake. He smiles as he sees Tokimi preparing some food, but suddenly stops in shock as
he hears the song she is humming. 'T...that song,' his mind stutters. 'I
remember it. Kiyone used to sing it to Tenchi all the time when he was a baby.'
As he continues to stare at her, the goddess turns around to get something out
of the fridge, seeing that he standing right next to it. "Oh hello
father," she kindly greets with a genuine smile. She pauses as she takes
in the expression on his face. "What is the matter? Is something
wrong?" she asks.
The middle-aged man shakes his head slightly to regain his thoughts. "Um...uh, no! Nothing at all
really!" He hesitates for a second, scratching the back of his
head. "I was just wondering where you heard that song you were just
humming."
Tokimi places a hand over her mouth, looking
surprised. "You...you heard me?" After watching him nod slightly, she
looks to the side, feeling somewhat ashamed. "I have been watching over Tenchi in my dimension since before he was born, when he
was still developing in your beloved wife. I remember her singing that song to
my Tenchi so many times that it stuck in my head. It
was such a lovely song. I am deeply sorry for using the song of your dearly
departed wife. I know she meant such a great deal to you." She looks away,
feeling deep sorrow and shame fill her being, tears starting to form in her
radiant eyes. She is surprised when Nobuyuki grabs her shoulders and swiftly,
yet gently turns her around.
"You shouldn't feel sorry about anything," he begins, his eyes filled
with genuine care. "I'm sure if she were still alive today she would've
taught you that song to sing to her grandchild. Now wipe away those tears,
you're a strong and proud woman and I'm honored to have you as a part of my
family."
Tokimi sniffs lightly, wiping away the tears in her
eyes. "Yes, you are correct. I am unable to comprehend why I am acting so
emotional over such trivial things. This has never happened to me before and I
am terribly embarrassed at myself."
The head of the house scratches his chin thoughtfully. "Well you shouldn't
be. You and Tenchi told me that you just got all of
your emotions not too long ago. If you add that to the sensitive fact that
you're pregnant with my first grandchild, you're probably going to go through
times like this. I know my beloved Kiyone did when
she was carrying Tenchi." He places his hands on
her shoulders and kisses her on her forehead. "Just be strong and you'll
get through this, I promise you." He then turns around and walks out of
the kitchen.
The goddess watches where he left for a few more seconds before returning back
to making her husband a light snack. 'He is truly wiser than I originally
determined,' she thinks to herself. A sweet smile makes its way onto her
beautiful face. 'I am exceptionally glad that he is on out side. I do not think
I could have handled all of this well without his
support.'
______
Back in the living room, the rest of the girls go back
to formulating some sort of plan to get rid of Tokimi
and get Tenchi back into their grasp. "Well we
cannot just simply use a gadget of Miss Washu to get
her out of the house," Ayeka states. "This Tokimi woman is far too powerful to go down so easily and
Lord Tenchi seems to be very loyal to her. He will be
most upset at us if he discovers what we are trying to do."
"Yeah," Ryoko adds, "and we want him
with us, not against us."
Washu leans back a bit, rubbing her temples
thoughtfully. "But the biggest problem is getting a plan that works both
aspects of our goal without screwing up and not being obvious to them. Tokimi already suspects something so we've gotta be extremely careful." Everyone nods in
agreement.
"What are you girls being secretive for?" a voice behind them
interrupts, nearly scaring every one of them out of their skins. They all
quickly turn around to see Mr. Masaki scratching the back of his head and a
goofy grin on his face. "Sorry," he apologizes, "I didn't mean
to scare you."
All of the girls sigh deeply. "No need to apologize
Mr. Masaki," Ayeka kindly responds. "We
were just very deep in conversation about...redecorating a bit and did not
notice you come over. This place does need a woman's touch," she adds in
to keep up the deception, not wanting to get too many people involved in their
plans than necessary.
The older man smiles kindly and turns around. "You know, that's a good
idea. Well I don't want to bother you so I'll leave you girls alone." He
takes a few steps away but then stops. "You know, I really hope you can
take this whole deal with Tokimi better. She's a
really great person and I'm quite happy to have her a
part of out family now." He scratches the back of his head and chuckles
slightly. "I was afraid that all of you would try to kick her out or
something like that. I'm really glad that I was wrong." With that said, he
exits the room, leaving all the girls to feel extremely guilty about what they
were just discussing.
Sasami is the first to speak up. "Oh I can't go
and do something now!" she complains, tears threatening to spill from her
large pink eyes. "I don't want Father to be upset at us!"
"Yeah!" Mihoshi
adds in, looking just like the young princess, "he's always been so nice
to us and lets all of us live here and eat his food
and mess up his house and he never says anything bad to us! We can't do this to
him!" Ryo-Ohki looks up at her mistress Ryoko
and 'myas' pleadingly.
Washu sighs deeply, rubbing her temples once again.
"Alright," she says after a few moments of silence. "You three
don't have to do this if you don't want to, the same goes for you two as
well," she adds while looking directly at Ayeka
and Ryoko. "But I'm still going to try to get
rid of Tokimi. None of you know her like I do. You
have no idea what she is capable of. The longer she stays here the more in
danger we are for both out safety and our hold on Tenchi.
I don't know how she got him and Nobuyuki on her side, but I'll be damned if I
lose to her!"
Ayeka and Ryoko take one
look at each other and nod lightly. "Do not worry Miss Washu,
Ryoko and myself will still
help you."
"Oh yeah," the pirate adds, an all too familiar devious look on her
face. "There's no way in hell I'm just gonna let
you have all the fun Washu!"
Sasami and Mihoshi exchange
worried glances before exiting the room with Ryo-Ohki following behind them.
After Washu is sure that they are gone, she looks
back to her daughter and Ayeka, who have now reseated
themselves back onto the couch and are waiting for the genius to continue on
with her plan. She clears her throat slightly. "Okay now, I do have one
plan that could get Tenchi back to us..." she
pauses for a moment, looking nervously to both of the women next to her,
"...but I don't think either of you will like the idea too much."
Both Ryoko and the princess edge closer, anxious to
hear the plan. "Please Miss Washu," Ayeka begins, "we have very few options here. Whatever
chance that we have to get Lord Tenchi back to our
side, we must take it."
The redhead looks over at her daughter, who nods, albeit somewhat cautiously.
"Alright," Washu sighs, "my plan
is..."
______
Upstairs, Tenchi is sitting up in his bed, eating the
snack his loving wife Tokimi brought up for him. The
goddess is sitting down next to him, watching her husband eat and occasionally
grabbing a piece for herself. "This is pretty good," he comments
between bites. He pauses for a moment to look directly at Tokimi
and smile at her. "You're just full of surprises aren't you?"
"Of course I am," she replies, ruffling his hair lovingly. "You
would think of me as rather boring if you knew everything about me and exactly
what I can do would you not?" Tenchi chuckles
heartily for a moment then resumes eating his snack. The goddess smiles again
and kisses her husband on the top of his head. "We have all of eternity to
spend together, and all of eternity to learn about each other." She pauses
for a moment to rest her head on his shoulder. "I just want to take all of
this one day at a time and make the most out of it."
Tenchi moves the tray of food aside and pulls his
beautiful wife in close for a loving embrace. He kisses her forehead once
before saying, "And that's exactly what I want to do too. You are
everything I could've hoped for and so much more." He gently places a hand
on her stomach, where their unborn child is developing. "We are going to
start and raise a beautiful family and we're going to live with each other
happily until the end of time." He then leans in and catches the goddess'
lips with his own.
"Mmm...I can hardly...wait for it...my
love," she replies between kisses. She backs off for a moment to smile
fondly at her husband. "In six months our child will be born, but I do not
want it to end there. I desire to have many, many children with you Tenchi Masaki. I want this universe to be blessed with our
family, and I wish for it to expand on forevermore."
______
Up in the Masaki Shrine, Katsuhito
is meditating deeply. He opens his eyes as he senses two people and one cabbit making their way up the shrine steps. Just before
they reach the door, he calls out, "You can come in." The door slides
open and in walks Mihoshi and Sasami,
followed closely by Ryo-Ohki. They sit down and bow slightly to Katsuhito as a sign of respect, seeing as how they entered
his shrine. "Ah, hello girls," he kindly greets, bowing back.
"What brings you three all the way up here?"
The two girls fidget uncomfortably. "Well." the young princess begins,
"I'm worried about what's going around here with everybody."
"Oh?" the older man responds, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"Just what exactly do you mean Sasami?"
"Well first Tenchi goes off to school and stays
over at a friend's then comes home with Tokimi and
now he acts kinda different
and stuff. Then we find out Tokimi is a goddess and
so is Washu and they are Tsunami's sisters." She
pauses to take a deep breath. "And now Washu,
sister and Ryoko are trying to make a plan to get rid
of Tokimi and get Tenchi to
like them more again. I'm so confused grandpa, what should we do? What's going
to happen?"
The eldest Masaki takes a sip of his green tea, taking his time and thinking
out a possible answer for his youngest sister. "I wish I had all of the answers
for you Sasami, but I am afraid that at the current
moment I have none." Upon seeing the girls' saddened faces, he adds in,
"But that is no reason to fret. Everything has changed so rapidly, what we
need to do right now is try to get a better perspective on everything. Perhaps
talking with Tokimi to get to know her better might
help. She is the new guest to our residence after all."
"You're right," Mihoshi agrees. "I
mean, we really don't know much about her except what Miss Washu's
told us and even then she doesn't tell us a whole lot, like there's something
she doesn't want us to know or whatever."
Katsuhito is, once again, amazed by the ditzy
blonde's deeper understanding of things. "Yes that is true Miss Mihoshi. I wish for you three to not join any sides at the
current moment, for I do have the foreboding sense
that something major and dark is on the horizon at it would be wise to keep
neutral for now. Just keep calm and patient and hopefully everything will work
out for the better."
"Okay!" Sasami cheerily says, hopping to her feet and giving the shrine priest a quick
kiss on the cheek. "Thank you grandpa!" And
with that, she walks out, followed closely by Mihoshi
and Ryo-Ohki.
As soon as the door to his office slides shut, the old man disguise fades and Yosho sighs lightly. "Ah the simple joys of youth and
innocence." He takes a quick sip of his tea and frowns. "I only wish
I could be as cheerful and carefree as those three. Unfortunately, I know that
very troubling and dangerous times are ahead. I just hope the girls and my
grandson make the wisest choices lest they risk possibly losing much more than
their friendships and love for one another."
______
Sasami, Mihoshi and
Ryo-Ohki made their way down the shrine steps to their home. The slowly setting
sun illuminates their path. After they make it all the way down, Mihoshi's GP bracelet begins to beep slightly. Surprised,
the blonde raises her left arm to inspect it. "Oh, I have to go on patrol
soon!" she says to herself out loud. "I think I should go clean up
first," she adds, her gaze wandering over to the floating onsen over the lake.
"Okay Mihoshi," Sasami
begins. "You go and clean up. Ryo-Ohki and I can make it back to the house
by ourselves."
"Alright, see you guys later!" the GP officer cheerily replies before
running happily over towards the lake.
The young princess and small cabbit watch her for a
few more moments before resuming their walk back home.
______
Mihoshi comes out of the dressing room with only a
white towel wrapped around her body. She makes her way over to the bathing
area, but stops when she sees that she isn't alone in the onsen.
Tokimi is kneeling down in front of the bathing area
with large rocks and falling water, slowly cleaning
herself. The blonde is about to turn back and bathe later when the goddess
calls out, "It is alright Detective Kuramitsu,
you may bathe here if you so desire, I will not be a bother to you."
"O…okay," the GP officer stammers. Slowly, hesitantly, she walks over
next to Tokimi, who has resumed cleaning herself, and
kneels down next to her. She removes her towel and takes a wooden bucket and
scoops up some of the nice, slightly hot water and pours it over her head,
soaking her entire body. Soon she is washing up as well, occasionally stealing
glances at Tokimi.
Unfortunately for her, the goddess noticed. "Is there something you wished
to discuss with me?" she calmly asks, pausing for a moment from her
cleaning to look over at Mihoshi, who now has a light
blush on her face from being caught. "I noticed you taking several glances
over in my direction and the questioning look in your eyes. So what is it you
wish to know?"
"Well...I um...I wanted to know...are you and Tenchi
really married and are you really pregnant?" she questions, leaning towards
the goddess and a questioning, yet completely innocent and harmless look
appearing on both her eyes and face.
Mihoshi and her genuine nature momentarily take Tokimi back. 'I had expected every woman in this household
to hold a great level of distrust, jealousy and hatred towards me...but I can
sense no malice from her, none whatsoever,' the goddess thinks to herself.
'Then again...I have not ever interacted with this woman. From what I have
gathered from D3, she is a walking paradox. She can cause major disasters and
destroy complex systems with a simple touch, yet solve the unsolvable and
access information and areas that no other can possibly get close to, all
without any thoughts into doing so. I know that my beloved Tenchi
harbors no anger towards this woman whatsoever. Perhaps.perhaps
I can turn this into a positive opportunity for us.' Her thoughts are
interrupted by Mihoshi tapping her gently on her
shoulder.
"Um, hello? Are you okay?" the blonde asks, a look of concern in her eyes.
The goddess is still deep in thought while Mihoshi
asks her those questions and it takes her a few seconds to register them in her
mind. "What? Oh yes I am! Please forgive me, I was lost in thought."
"Oh it's no problem. That happens to me a lot!"
'Now that is surprising,' the bride of Tenchi thinks
with a near chuckle. "To answer your original questions: yes, Tenchi and I are indeed married and I am carrying his child
within me. Now I have a question for you Detective." She pauses for a
moment to make sure Mihoshi is paying attention.
"Why are you being so kind to me? I know that all of the other women in
this household, even my dear older sister, all carry a certain level of
distrust and a general disliking of me. I mean all of you no harm at all, so
why is it you all hate me so?"
The GP officer leans in closer, her bright blue eyes shining with innocence.
"But I don't hate you!" she begins, the faintest traces of tears now
in her eyes. "I like you! You're really nice! I mean, I am kinda jealous and all that you got Tenchi
cause I sorta do like him
and thought that we were destined to be together, but I always kinda knew that he only liked me as just a friend. Since I
can't be with Tenchi, I just want him to be happy,
and he is very happy with you, so that makes me happy too!"
"Do you mean that?" Tokimi questions, once again surprised by Mihoshi's
genuine sincerity and good-natured personality. The blonde nods
enthusiastically as a response. 'Perhaps even more can come from this than just
a simple alliance of sorts,' the goddess thinks for a moment. "You
know," she begins slowly, "I have existed
for a very long time. I have had many servants, followers and alliances with
many, many people, but I have never had a real friend. I was wondering,"
she starts, looking Mihoshi directly in the eyes,
"would you like to become my first friend?"
The blonde is momentarily stunned. "Really? You
mean it?" she asks in a hushed whisper. Before Tokimi
has a chance to respond, Mihoshi lunges herself onto
the goddess and wraps her arms around her in a big hug. Oh I'd love to! I'd
really like to be your friend!"
Tokimi awkwardly returns the hug at first, since she
is the only of the two to notice that both of them are still completely nude,
but then returns it in full force after a few seconds, a small smile appearing
on her lips. 'I feel.strangely happy,' the goddess
thinks to herself. 'When Detective Kuramitsu said
that she would like to become my friend, I felt as if my life had suddenly
become a little more joyous and meaningful. All of these emotions I feel, at
first I had thought them a nuisance, an interruption in my plans that could
possibly hinder me in many ways.but now I see their
true potential. They are a blessing in disguise, to help make a much better
woman, wife and future mother out of me.'
______
Ryoko, Ayeka and Washu are still sitting on the living room couch, the
princess and the pirate looking as if they are having a fierce internal
struggle over something while the newly awakened goddess watched on with a
passive expression on her face. "Are...are you sure this is the only way
Miss Washu?" Ayeka
asks in a strangely timid voice.
"Yes," she solemnly answers. "This is the only possible solution
to both get Tokimi to leave and bring Tenchi back to us."
Ryoko looks up slightly, feeling helpless to do
anything else to bring back the first man she has ever loved. "I...I don't
know Mom. I mean, this could work, but it's gonna
bring in a whole other pile of trouble with it."
Washu looks down at her daughter, clearly surprised
that she inadvertently called her 'Mom'. She smiles slightly before getting her
game face back on. "I know that, and I'm willing to live with the
consequences of my actions. Tenchi is one of the most
important people in out lives, and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna sit back and let Tokimi take him from us. I know you don't like this plan girls, but it's our best shot." She stands
up, the old fierce determination in her deep green eyes. "In order to get Tenchi back to us, he has to get me pregnant!"
To be continued...
______
Author's notes: Whew! It sure has
been a long time since I last updated. Once again, I am extremely sorry. Like I
explained in my other two Tenchi stories, a mixture
of computer failures and holiday family visits (and they're staying in my room
with my computer no doubt) severely hindered my time on my computer. I'm gonna get to work on the next chapter as soon as I can, but
I still have two Inu-Yasha fics
to work on as well, so it might be a little while before I can get a new one
finished and posted. Sorry again!
On Tenchi news:
I bet some of you are wondering why Nobuyuki called his wife Kiyone. Well I did a bit of research and I found out that
in the OAVs, Tenchi's mom
was named Kiyone Achika
Masaki. They just changed it to just Achika in the Tenchi Universe series to avoid any confusion with Mihoshi's partner Kiyone. I hope
that helps clear it up!
Ooh! Washu's gonna get
herself pregnant by Tenchi? Hmm...I
wonder how. Just wait until next chapter to find out! Until
then... -- lighthawkdemon
Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon@yahoo.com