Sometimes, a woman can't help but compare herself to others. Women seem to be in a constant state of competition with each other, even when they don't mean to be. It is natural for every woman to feel inadequate about herself at some point in time.
For Kiyone, that point came one mild winter day in early March. The sun was shining for the first time in days and the mud had just begun to harden. Having finished her day job of working at WacDonald's in order to pay the rent on the apartment she shared with Mihoshi, she had arrived at Tenchi's house with the intent of stealing a little relaxation. She had eased herself into a lawn chair around noon and had unintentionally fallen asleep. She'd woken up a few hours later to the sun shining directly in her eyes and the temperature considerably lower. Her skin had dried out from the cold and the rough sweater she was wearing and the result was she ended up feeling grouchy and unattractive. Not a good combination.
Drawing her knees up to her chest, the green-haired cop silently mused on how she envied Washu's baby-soft skin. Before she knew it, Kiyone was close to tears wishing she was as tall and thin as Mihoshi, as graceful as Ayeka, as voluptuous as Ryoko, and as cute as Sasami. She didn't normally angst like this, and certainly not over something as trivial as outward appearances, but every now and then her plainness really stuck out. The other girls would be in a bathing suit contest and be hailed as pretty, charming, elegant. She would be acknowledged as one of the working class, given sympathy points for her sunburn.
Kiyone's self-effacing musings were interrupted by the sound of the back door sliding open and shut and someone's feet softly slapping against the dried mud and grass. Lifting her head she saw Ayeka's knight setting a laundry basket down on the grass by the clothesline. It was an oddly comical scene of a military-robed man doing laundry and Kiyone permitted herself a smile. "Hey, Kamidake!"
He looked up. "Good afternoon, Miss Kiyone." He smiled back at her.
"Ayeka making you do laundry?"
He gave a nervous laugh and shook his head. "Actually…Mr. Masaki suggested I do this instead of cooking. Seems we're out of fire extinguishers…" He trailed off and she could have sworn he was blushing. "Anyway, what brings you out here?"
"Nothing." Kiyone shrugged. "Just enjoying the peace and quiet."
"Am I bothering you?"
"No!" Kiyone shook her head. "No, I'm just out…here." She waved her hand around, gesturing around the yard.
"Oh." Kamidake nodded and went about hanging the sheets on the line. Kiyone watched him for a minute.
"Hey, Kamidake?" She asked quietly. "Can I ask you something?"
He paused and turned towards her, clothespin in his mouth while he used both hands to hang Sasami's yellow tank on the line. "Thure."
Kiyone frowned. "You mean 'sure', right?" Kamidake nodded. "Just checking. You should know it's kind of personal though."
Kamidake looked slightly surprised and took the clothespin out of his mouth. "Okay…I suppose." He shrugged.
"Okay." Kiyone took a deep breath and prepared herself. "What's with your hair?"
Somewhere in the background a cricket chirped and neither one said anything for a moment. Suddenly, Kamidake took the clothespin out of his mouth and started laughing.
Kiyone scowled, the man's laughter adding to the feeling that she wasn't good enough, pretty enough, smart enough. Grumbling, she forced herself up from the lawn chair and started making her way towards the house. She only managed a few steps before Kamidake lightly touched her arm to stop her.
"I'm sorry…" He tried to catch his breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you. I thought you were going to ask me something personal something. I mean, nobody's ever asked about my hair." He was clearly trying not to laugh at her again.
Kiyone nodded. "I didn't mean to overreact." They both stood there for a few moments before Kamidake offered to sit with her after he was finished hanging up the laundry. She agreed and a few moments later they were both sitting on the steps leading to the shrine.
"You still haven't answered my question." Kiyone pointed out.
Kamidake shrugged. "It's just a culture thing."
"Culture thing?"
"I'm Eastern." He said that as if it explained everything.
Kiyone stared. "What does that mean?"
"Oh…um…" Kamidake leaned his head back and thought for a minute. "I'm from the Eastern continent on Jurai. It's kind of conservative, or it was back when, and men and women wear their hair elaborately. It's a sign of self-respect and respect of others. You care enough about your appearance and how you appear to others to take care of yourself."
"This is done of the Eastern continent?" Kiyone asked.
"It's done pretty much everywhere in the Jurain Empire. Or it was at any rate. It's just that the further East you go from the more conservative everybody is." He shrugged. "It's probably different now. It's been a long time since I've been home, maybe it's more liberal now." He became quiet.
Kiyone leaned back on her elbows and looked up at the overcast sky. "It's been a while since I've been home too. The Galaxy Police haven't given me a vacation in years." She glanced up at him. "Hey…"
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you a personal question?"
Kamidake looked amused. "You already asked me about my hair."
"You're a laugh a minute." Kiyone responded dryly. "Can I ask you or not?"
"Ask me whatever you want." Kamidake shrugged.
"Do you ever wish you'd done something different? Like, had a family? Or not focused so much on your career?"
"Sometimes. But being a knight isn't exactly family friendly. I mean, Azaka went on duty for a few weeks and went back to find his wife dead. But I never really wanted to play house or get married or any of that anyway so…" He trailed off. "It doesn't really matter."
One delicately shaped eyebrow arched. "True, but doesn't having to sacrifice so much sometimes bug you?"
"Sometimes."
Kiyone lifted her arms and stretched. "It annoys me. I mean, just being Mihoshi's partner is a sacrifice!"
Kamidake gave a low laugh. "She's not that bad, is she?"
Kiyone looked shocked at the idea that someone would suggest anything other than that Mihoshi was the worst waste of carbon in the galaxy. "You've got to be kidding me! The woman is a lunatic and my personal bad luck charm. Everything bad that ever happened to me was her fault in some way or another."
It was Kamidake's turn to arch his eyebrow. "Wow."
"Wow? Wow doesn't begin to cover it, she almost ruined my career! Even now, I'm still stuck coming to this backwater solar system to fix up her messes." Kiyone was scowling now, her face twisted in anger as she thought of her stereotypically blond partner. "Everything is her fault!"
"Wow." Kamidake said again. "That's a lot to blame someone for."
She stared at him for a minute before sighing and leaning against the staircase. "It sounds like I hate her, doesn't it?"
"Well…"
"I don't." Kiyone said quietly. "She is a lunatic and she does have a better figure than I do, and she falls asleep all the time, but…" she took a deep breath, "I don't hate her."
"I'm sure she'd like to know that." Kamidake commented. He stood up and stretched. "I should go back inside. I'm sure by now Azaka's lost count of how many times he's lost that video game." He offered her a hand and pulled her up.
Kiyone eyed his uniform critically. "How do you two keep those uniforms so clean? I mean, they're white!" She gestured towards the unstained garments.
"Jurai power. Keeps your whites white and your brights bright." For the first time all day, she laughed. He smiled when she did. "You should laugh more. You look pretty when you do."
End.
Author's notes- This is my favorite couple in Tenchi Universe now.
I was originally gonna do this the same way I did the Azaka and Ryoko interaction. Then I realized these were two different characters who would have very different problems and reactions. So in respect to that, I tuned in a little more to their psyches instead of their reactions to the physical world around them.
Kiyone and Kamidake are both career driven and lonely. She's stationed out in the middle of no where, he's been dead for God-knows-how-long. They're roughly the same age, they can relate to each other.
Throughout the Universe series Kiyone is shown washing dishes while the other girls act as hostesses, working while the other girls eat flavored ice, and having a sunburn at a swimsuit contest. That's enough to make any woman insecure, even if she's not normally vain.
It took me months to finish this. Stupid college, taking up my time with all that studying and learning.
The characters all belong to Pioneer. The fic is mine. Please forgive any errors.