Chapter 2-First Date
"You've gotta be crazy. Totally and completely crazy! She's really an alien? As in not from Earth? We...are...not...alone..." Mikamo concluded in a hushed and creepy voice. Tenchi, however, was sitting at his desk in complete bliss.
"We-are-going-on-a-date-tomorrow!" He sang happily.
Mikamo stared at him like he was crazy. "You really don't get the magnitude of all of this, do you?" Tenchi glared at him, shaking his index finger.
"You shouldn't judge people by their nationality or upbringing, Mikamo!" Tenchi scolded.
"In one ear, out the other." Mumbled Mikamo.
In the room next to the two boys the girls were chatting before class started as well. Aeka was sitting quietly at her desk sharpening her pencil with a pair of scissors, as she felt it was unnecessary to buy a pencil sharpener. On the desks next to her the three most popular girls in the grade were gossiping, in large contrast to one of the least popular girls next to them.
"And so he skateboards, but he wears his cell around this tacky chain around his neck because he's afraid he'll lose it." Ryoko, the absolutely most popular girl said to her two friends-slash-minions. She had light blue hair in spikes, and yellow eyes. All the boys were after her. She made even the school uniform look great, especially with the bracelet she wore on her left wrist-all clear and barely visible except for one blood red gem.
"That is so lame!" Minagi agreed. She could pass as a clone for Ryoko, save for two crescent-moon shaped scars on each of her cheeks. Before Minagi moved to her current home, she lived in a very rough neighborhood. From what she received those scars, nobody knew, but every student knew that she would flinch when they were mentioned. When she moved, Ryoko showed some huge amounts of genuine sympathy, becoming one of her two best friends instantly.
"Yeah, what a freak! I can't believe you dated him, Ryoko!" Chirped Zero, the other in that group. She also looked like Minagi and Ryoko, but not by coincidence, as she was Ryoko's cousin. All of them just liked to style their hair the same way, making them all look pretty identical.
Ryoko, after agreeing and bragging about how she could just not find a good boyfriend despite all the super hot guys dating her, grinned evilly and looked Aeka's way. The two of them never got along, and probably never would. Zero and Minagi, by association, also weren't the best of Aeka's friends, but then again, Aeka didn't really have any friends.
"Hey Aeka, do you have a boyfriend?" She asked. Aeka looked up, half surprised, half wary she was being brought into the conversation.
"Huh?"
"How could she have a boyfriend? She has no friends!" Zero laughed with a similar mean manner.
"But I saw her with a guy!" Zero and Minagi gave her a look. "He had eight legs! Aliens with aliens, right!" All three burst into laughter, Aeka sighing in defeat, until her teacher called her name.
All four looked up to see their teacher and a waving boy. "Aeka Jurai? You have a visitor!"
"Hi, Aeka!" Greeted Tenchi in a sheepish voice.
"Tenchi!" Aeka's face broke into a huge smile at the sight of him. She started to run up, but then turned to Ryoko. "I'm sorry, but you must have seen somebody else with the eight-legged guy." Turning to Tenchi, she jogged up to him, chatting about their date plans for the coming Sunday.
"Stop trying to act so tough, alien!" Spat Ryoko nervously and weakly as the two left the room to talk.
"I need to get a boyfriend." Sighed Zero and Minagi in unison.
"So, we will meet tomorrow in front of the station, correct?" Asked Aeka, trying to make sure she remembered correctly.
"Yeah, that's right." Tenchi said, blushing a little. She was just so cute...
Aeka smiled. "I'm looking forward to it. It will be my first date!"
At the time discussed on that Sunday, Tenchi was running out of the train towards the front. He was still early, but Mikamo had lectured him forever about proper dating etiquette. And rule one was never, ever arrive after your date. Apparently, from what Tenchi saw, he had successfully broken the first rule of dating for guys. Aeka was standing, leaning against the windowed wall of the station and smiling at him.
Tenchi walked up to her. She was wearing a pretty sunny yellow dress that ended at her knees and had short sleeves. There was a small white jacket as well, and she was putting it on. Her hair was in its normal manner, and Tenchi noticed a hair ornament that looked like patterns of wood. Remembering back to the first time he met Aeka, he recalled seeing it glow when she teleported.
"Um, hi Aeka. Sorry you had to wait." Tenchi stuttered a little, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh, that's all right. We're both here early." Aeka grinned at him. "Where are we going first?"
"Let's get some lunch!" So off the couple went down the streets to a McDonald's.
"What? The one hundred yen burger sale is over?" Aeka gasped to the cash register staff lady as they were ordering.
"Yes, were very sorry." The woman was looking a little worried, and Tenchi felt a little embarrassed.
"Can you give me a discount-"
"I can pay for it, Aeka." Tenchi interrupted sheepishly. Mikamo said that rule two was to always pay for everything. Going "Dutch"? Never.
Aeka, looking startled and a little put-off at his interruption, shrugged it off regally and pushed him aside lightly. "No. Couples should learn to split the finances equally. We're each paying half." Tenchi was devastated. TWO rules broken without even really starting the date.
"One hundred eighty yen..." Aeka sighed sadly as they ate. Tenchi, determined to make this his best first date ever (which was rather stupid, as you only actually get one first date), thought of where they should go next. An idea formed in his head as he grinned to himself while chomping on his hamburger. They couldn't go wrong there...even if Mikamo said to stay away from computer games...
"Aaah! It's going to fast! Aaah!" Aeka screamed as she tried to move her feet quickly. She and Tenchi had gone into the arcade, where Tenchi knew they could have fun. But did it turn out that way? Tenchi sighed as he could almost feel the manga-style sweat drop form on his head.
"What? I should get a higher score than that! REMATCH!" Aeka shrieked as she tossed the coins into the machine. "Kya! Hah! Aaaah!"
"Eh...Aeka..." Tenchi muttered. "People are staring..."
Later, when Tenchi pulled Aeka away from the arcade, they had entered the movie theater. Tenchi was really excited, as this was supposed to be the action movie of the year. Plus, he thought as a slight blush came over his face, if Aeka got scared, he could always just put his arm around her.
Half an hour into the movie, when an exciting fight between the samurai main character and a ninja army was reaching its peak, Tenchi felt a head on his shoulder. Slowly taking his eyes off the action-packed screen, she looked to the person to his left.
Aeka had fallen asleep, and her head was on his shoulder. For the rest of the movie it stayed that way, and Tenchi really couldn't concentrate on the movie anymore.
What if I move and she wakes up? What will she think? Will she think I'm some sort of idiot, or lame, or won't date me? Waah, I just got a girlfriend, and I really think I like her, but I mean...if she breaks up with me? WHAT DO I DO IF SHE BREAKS UP WITH ME?
Tenchi's thoughts continued to grow more and more irrational as the movie went on. He only barely noticed how completely adorable Aeka was as she snoozed, not making a sound, and her double-low-pony tailed hair draped over the seat.
Finally, it ended, and right as the credits started to roll, she woke up (Tenchi thanked the gods for that). She blinked, and blushed a little, but said nothing.
As they were walking out of the theater, she rubbed her eyes.
"I'm sorry for falling asleep, but going on a date is tiring because you have to spend all that money. I mean really." Aeka mumbled.
Tenchi was crushed, and his face definitely showed it. It felt as if some large stone kanji for "disappointment" or something like that had landed on his head.
Aeka's hand rushed to her mouth. "There's no need to cry, really...hey!" Aeka grabbed his hand. "I know where we can go!"
Tenchi blinked, confused. "But Aeka, it's getting really late. Where can we go now-"
"Come on. Trust me on this one, okay?" Aeka smiled, and Tenchi felt himself disappear into many particles.
A split second later, he felt himself reappear. It was a very, very odd sensation that sort of tingled. Then he looked around. They were on a mountaintop, and he could hear a brook, smell a forest, and feel a cool wind. His eyes stared at the sky, where he could see at least twice the amount of stars he could see normally. This was definitely not the street outside the movie theater-even an idiot (not to say that Tenchi WAS an idiot, just a little clueless at times) could figure that much out on their own.
"Where are we?" Tenchi asked Aeka, turning his head to look at her. Behind her, the small stream he heard earlier flowed down the mountain in a minute riverbed of rocks. Some leaves dislodged themselves from the trees, and blew around in the wind.
"We are on the top of one of the mountains in the Japanese Alps. I'm not sure which one, but I think that we're somewhere around six hundred meters altitude. I think. I don't come here for the math." Aeka smiled, then looked at him, and then pointed to the ground. "Lie down."
"W-WHAT?" Tenchi yelped, his mind swirling.
Aeka scoffed. "I didn't mean anything rude by it, it's just what I do. What, are you thinking something naughty?"
"No! Of course not!" After he got his pulse to slow down, he sat down on the cool grass. "Do you like looking at constellations, Aeka? You can see so many stars here!" Tenchi smiled at her, framed by the starry sky.
Aeka sat down next to Tenchi. "Well, I was born here on Earth, and since stargazing is a part of the Earthen culture, I guess it's okay. But I don't really like looking at the stars at night, because they seem so far away, like I'd never be able to see Jurai again because of it. Even the moon looks like a giant stone from here."
"Oh." Tenchi muttered. Aeka was such a mystery, she could be happy and cheerful one time, then deep and sad another.
"So no matter how beautiful the night sky is," Aeka closed her eyes, and put her head back on the soft grass. "I just close my eyes and lie down, staying still." The wind blew harder, and her hair fluttered around prettily.
"We didn't have to come here if you weren't going to look around." Muttered Tenchi, a little confused.
Aeka ignored him. "When I sit or lie on the ground, and can't see the stars or the moon, I feel like it's just the Earth and me." She opened one eye, and blushed, smiling. "Do you think that's strange?"
Tenchi blushed a little also. "No, I'll try it too. It sounds very...calming." He closed his eyes.
"Are you cold?"
"Nah, just fine."
So they lay still, taking in the night air and feeling the Earth below them.
I can see things glittering even when my eyes are closed. They're so pretty-they're like stars. Like...Aeka...
Huh? A-Aeka's holding my hand! It feels warm, and nice.
The wind started to pick up again, and Aeka felt Tenchi staying still in her hand. She opened her eyes, and started to get up, still holding his hand in hers.
"Um, Tenchi, if you fall asleep you'll get a cold." Aeka scolded, and reached out to wake him up.
But her hand met a solid barrier around him.
"A time stop shield!" Aeka exclaimed, and bolted to her feet. Another wind started to blow, and a violent one, too.
She turned around, and put her arms in front of her eyes to keep herself from becoming blinded by the starship landing in front of her, the shiny, twisted wood surface reflecting the starlight.
"The Jurai Bureau of Investigation." Stated Aeka, once she recognized the official ship. And as soon as she said that, three figures exited the ship. One was an old man, with glasses and a gray low ponytail. He dressed in robes that resembled a priests clothing. Behind him were two logs with gems near the top and kanji written on them. One had it in red, and the other had it in blue.
"Good work on your investigation, Aeka Jurai. Your relatives in the palace Tenju are very impressed." Stated the man in a low, scratchy voice.
"Inspector Yosho, I have not gained or given anything, other than minimal personal expenditures." Aeka stated, keeping a straight face. But she wanted to shiver. The head Inspector, Yosho Jurai, was a distant relative of hers, as they both were related to the royal family of Jurai. The logs were the two main robots belonging to the Bureau, with the exception of another, and they stayed with the Inspector. They were called Azaka and Kamidake, and were very important to the royal family.
"Is that supposed to be sarcasm, Lady Aeka? You have gained the heart and the trust of this Earthling boy, Tenchi Masaki." Yosho, though his face showed no emotion, sounded harsh. "It will be tough, Lady Aeka, one day you will have to choose between this planet, and ours."
Aeka let one tear dribble down her cheek, and blow into the wind.
"There will be no need for more inspections in the foreseeable future." He turned, and walked back into the ship, Azaka and Kamidake floating behind him. "Forgive me."
And then the ship took off.
Bring! Bring!
"Wha...?" Tenchi sat up slowly in his bed, staring sleepily around his room. "When did I-huh?" His hand met something after turning off his alarm clock. It was a small rock on top of a paper note. He picked up both. "Tenchi, I'm sorry about yesterday. This is a stone from the mountain. From Aeka." He looked at the rock, and then the hand holding it. "I wonder if she actually held my hand. But I think it wouldn't have been as cool if I had opened my eyes." He smiled sheepishly, and scratched the back of his head out of habit. "She's kind of strange."
Then, at school, before class he met up with Mikamo.
"Hey Tenchi! So, have you figured what you like about Aeka?" He asked as they both noticed Aeka waving and running up to them.
"I think it's how I can't grasp her."
Author's note:
Well, here's chapter 2. This is taking a long time…I wanna put Sasami/Kanaka in NOW! Waah! Anyway, I'm taking this off the Narue manga, so it takes awhile. Grrr. But this was one of those slow chapters, but it's important. So yeah. Is this a good length? These are getting longer than I expected. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! I'm going to try to make these more original!
Disclaimer: I do not own Tenchi Muyo! or Narue no Sekai. Tenchi Muyo! belongs to Masaki Kajishima, and Narue no Sekai belongs to Tomohiro Marukawa.