Disclaimer: The author of this story owns nothing of Tenchi Muyo and its characters.

A/N: Hello again! It's been a while hasn't it? As stated on my summary of this story, it takes me a while to update, but I'm back for another chapter. For those of you who have stuck to this story, I thank you for your patience. I am a bit disappointed though I must say. I have received very little reviews and yet I have reached about 1190 or so hits, which is a good thing…I think. Either there are many out there who read this, or there are just some random people who love reading this over and over. And many thanks to the reviewers.

But I won't delay you from reading the chapter any longer. Enjoy!

The Chronicles of the Lighthawk: The Prince and the Goddess

Chapter 5: The shopping disaster!

The buzzing of his alarm clock shook Tenchi from his slumber. He groaned and whacked the device to quiet it. He blearily opened his eyes and was relieved to not find a female face anywhere in sight. His relief lasted only as long as it took him to make his way downstairs for breakfast.

Kiyone was sitting at the table, obviously doing her best to ignore the rest of the people in the room, all of whom were waiting at the foot of the stairs for Tenchi. Tenchi stifled a groan, and looked around at the various faces, catching anger, hope, remorse, and a couple others depending on whose face he looked at. He stopped a few steps from the bottom, and let out a sigh of resignation as he prepared for the worst.

"I assume this greeting is in regards to my grocery shopping with Kiyone?" Tenchi let out another sigh at the confirming nods from everyone facing him. "Look, I've already told you we're not going to be doing anything that anybody would consider fun. Why won't you believe me?"

He should have known this would happen once they found out. Last night, Sasami approached Tenchi during dinner to ask him to go shop for her. It was initially Sasami who usually went. Yet Katsuhito had asked the two Jurain Princesses to join him in the shrine for a cup of tea and wanted to spend some time as a family to have a chat with them. So they asked Tenchi do go. Ryoko wasn't free either. Washu had literally forced Ryoko to the lab with her every morning for the past week complaining that her 'daughter' needed checkups after the accident between her and Ayeka. When Kiyone heard, she cornered him and pleaded with Tenchi to go along with him on his trip claiming to want some time away from Mihoshi. It was her chance to finally be alone with 'her crush'. The young prince unaware of her feelings regarding him obliged.

Washu answered first, "Nothing fun, huh? So tell me, what exactly were you going to do with Kiyone on the bus ride and then back again?"

Tenchi blinked, that wasn't what he'd been expecting. "Um... talking, I suppose. Probably start a conversation or something."

"So, you've got a couple of long bus rides where you'll be doing nothing but talking to Kiyone? When was the last time I got you alone to just sit and talk, Tenchi?" Washu had a mock serious look on her face, trying to stop herself from grinning yet her eyes were sparkling with mirth. The rest of the ladies were nodding as well, obviously thinking the same thing.

Tenchi's mind spun as he tried to consider the answer to the question. Tenchi couldn't obviously answer with the revelation of his date with Sasami. The majority had discussed and agreed to keep it secret from Ryoko and Ayeka. Should they learn of it, the consequences would be disastrous! It was a miracle Mihoshi hadn't blurted anything out yet. Tenchi knew that Washu was only playing around. She loved getting Tenchi into tight corners and as he looked into her eyes, he saw the twinkling of mischievousness present in those green orbs.

"That's what I mean. You can't think of anything can you?" Washu shook her head, then continued, "It's a good thing I came out early this morning. You wouldn't believe what those two," she indicated to Ryoko and Ayeda "ladies were planning, as opposed to just making you understand."

"What?" cried Ryoko, spinning to face Washu. "I thought I told you..." Ryoko fell silent, glancing quickly in Tenchi's direction, and then blanching as she realized Washu had tricked her into admitting something she hadn't intended to. "Grrr, Washu!"

Tenchi sensed trouble about to start, and quickly stepped in to try and avoid a more serious confrontation. "OK, I understand some things now. I'll see what I can do to make it up to everyone some other time. Right now Kiyone and I need to eat breakfast so we can get going and still get back at a decent time."

"That will be fine, Lord Tenchi. Thank you." Ayeka settled herself to eat, quickly followed by the rest.

Tenchi was surprised by the lack of protest, but silently pleased it hadn't blown up into a larger argument. That must mean they'd gotten what they wanted, any way. He hadn't promised anything other than to make it up somehow, so that meant they each probably had their own idea of what that meant. He'd have to be careful.

Everyone ate in relative silence, then Tenchi and Kiyone made their goodbyes to a mixture of warm and cold expressions. As Tenchi got ready upstairs, he passed by Sasami who jumped into his embrace and kissed him long and hard. He held onto her waist pulling her closer to him whilst she pressed her body harder against his. After three minutes of passion, they broke apart and Sasami slipped a shopping list into Tenchi's hand. She winked at him before pecking him one last time and left. He sighed, thinking of how late it was going to be before he could return to her. He was already missing her presence. He met Kiyone downstairs and the two headed for the bus station, enjoying the bright and shiny day which greeted them.

They made the walk in relative silence, only a few words from Tenchi to point out where they were headed. Unable to think of anything to say, Tenchi waited patiently for the bus to arrive, Kiyone doing the same whilst stealing a few glances out of the corner of her eyes, appraising his handsome figure. They boarded when it arrived, and found seats near the back, knowing they had a fairly lengthy ride ahead of them. Each watched the scenery pass in silence for a while, enjoying the restful calm which was a rarity back at the house.

Eventually, Tenchi broke the silence unbeknownst to her glances. "So you finally glad to get a chance to go somewhere other than staying in the house and going to patrol?"

"Yeah, I go on patrol often enough that I'm not stuck at the house that much, but I still feel like an outsider. I really needed time away from Mihoshi and I haven't really been anywhere else after coming to this planet, so I was looking for something to do. That about sums it up."

Tenchi smiled. "You don't like to stay idle very much, do you? Especially with Mihoshi."

Kiyone laughed as she answered, "You noticed, did you? I guess you might say I'm pretty driven. It's probably the only reason I haven't killed Mihoshi by now, she was always pretty focused on being a good officer, too. Without that, we couldn't have survived as partners. I'm still not sure we can, but what choice do I have?"

Tenchi watched as Kiyone turned away to look out the bus window again. He could see that she was struggling with some emotions right now, but wasn't sure what they were. She'd never really opened up much since getting assigned here, outside of the usual details of who her family was and where she came from. He was pretty sure Kiyone was frustrated with her assignment here, but he also suspected she didn't want to say anything for fear of upsetting him.

"Do you like it here on Earth? Aside from not having anything to do, that is." Tenchi smiled at her startled jump.

"I'm not sure, but right now, I'd honestly have to say... I don't think so. It's not that you're not nice or anything, or anybody else in the house, I suppose, but this job is a dead end for me. Mihoshi's a nice person, but I suspect she's stationed out here to avoid doing any damage in the busier parts of the galaxy. I really can't understand why they still let her patrol, they should have put her behind a desk at headquarters, and stuffed her back in a corner where she couldn't cause any harm. Since I got assigned as her partner, my career's done, nothing happens here that'll ever get me a promotion, and even if something did, Mihoshi would manage enough damage to take the promotion away again. No, I guess I don't really like it here."

Kiyone turned back to the window, leaving Tenchi to ponder the situation but he was unable to think of anything else to say.

Tenchi got off the bus with Kiyone, and they blinked as they stepped outside into the bright sun. He glanced at Kiyone, and smiled at the look of anticipation evident on her face. He laughed. "Glad to be here aren't you?"

Kiyone also laughed, managing to look a little sheepish as well. "Yeah, I suppose I am. It's kind of funny I suppose, it's not like I'll be here that often, I still have to patrol with Mihoshi. I think getting out of the house when I'm not on patrol will be best for everyone in the long run, though. Things are a little crazy around there, and I suspect it's only gotten worse with me around."

"It doesn't seem much different to me. Chaos before, chaos now. Not much has changed when you really break it down."

"I suppose."

"Well, we should go do Sasami's shopping so we can go home again. We can still make supper, hopefully. It's always better fresh-made than reheated." Tenchi started walking in the direction he thought the grocery store would probably be.

They walked a few more blocks before arriving at the market Tenchi had been looking for, and headed inside as Tenchi pulled the list Sasami had given him out of his pocket.

Tenchi started heading for the fish stall and handed the note to Kiyone. "We might as well start from the top Kiyone. Knowing Sasami, they'll be arranged in the best way possible any way, so we don't have to move far to find the next thing. What's first?"

Tenchi took a step or two before Kiyone's arm pulled him to a stop. He glanced back at her, and stiffened at the look of concentration on her face. He turned to follow her gaze, but Kiyone pulled him aside to start walking towards a vegetable stand.

Kiyone whispered, "Don't stare, Tenchi. I think there's a robbery taking place, so try and act casual. We don't want to draw attention." They walked a little farther down the aisle, and Kiyone felt Tenchi tense when a man in a long coat walked past. Tenchi just looked at the shelves, and Kiyone relaxed slightly when the man moved on.

"Okay, Tenchi, I think there's at least seven of them. I've seen you practicing with your grandfather, think you can help take a few without making too much noise?"

Tenchi smirked. "No problem" He answered confidently, before it turned to concern. "But what about you? They are bound to have guns on them. Maybe you should stay out of this."

"You don't have to worry about me, Tenchi." Kiyone slipped her arm up beneath the back of her short jacket, and Tenchi's eyes widened when he saw her pulling out her GP blaster. "Sorry, Tenchi, I never go anywhere without it. You never know when you'll run into a situation like this." She placed it in the pocket of her jacket for the moment while she considered the situation.

"You can't use that thing here, Kiyone. We don't have guns like that on earth."

"I'll turn it down to its lowest setting, Tenchi. It won't do more than stun anyone. Nobody will know what it really is, trust me."

Tenchi frowned, but then nodded, knowing he wasn't going to talk Kiyone out of anything. She was a police officer; she knew what she was doing. Glancing in the direction of the men, he said in a louder voice, "I'll go get the milk, Dear. I'll be right back."

Kiyone nearly jumped out of her skin when he addressed her as 'Dear', then nodded and said "Okay." She turned to pull a couple things off the vegetable shelf as if deciding which to buy. She put them back, then started making her way towards the counter where the seller was clearly doing his best not to draw any attention to himself while a man with his hand in his pocket stood facing him. She placed her hand in her own pocket, and slowly slipped her gun down to her side as she approached, hoping nobody would notice.

Kiyone raised her gun, aimed it at the apparent robber, and pulled the trigger, all in a fraction of a second. A small charge of energy left the gun, and crashed into the man, dropping him to the floor where a gun spilled out of his pocket. Kiyone yelled "Get down" at the grocer, and then turned to the source of the noise to see Tenchi quickly taking out the other six men.

Tenchi discretely crept behind the six men who were trying to keep a low profile, staring in the direction of the man at the counter. One of them suddenly turned around and noticed him, walking towards them.

"Hey what do you want?" He snarled out, catching the attention of the five.

Tenchi sneered at him. "Simple. To bash the crap out of you." With that said, he leaped towards him and spun 360 degree's with his heel catching the unfortunate man on the jaw, causing the him to fly back. Before the others responded, he spun again in a wide arc with both feet connecting to the sides of two men.

Tenchi landed on his feet and stared at the remaining three. Two of them leaped into action. The first approached him and swung his arm out for ahooking punch towards Tenchi. The raven-haired prince responded by stepping forward causing the punch to miss, before kneeing him in the gut. As the man doubled over, he kneed him again, this time in the face before he side-kicked him from the front knocking him over. The other man tried to catch him off guard and threw a fist in his direction.

Tenchi used a crescent kick, swinging the side of his foot toknock the fist to the side. The Jurain prince then crouched down low and used his right leg to sweep and kicked both of the offenders feet off the ground allowing the man to fall down flat on his back, hard. After sweeping him, Tenchi used the same leg and jabbed his heel into the man's stomach.

Jumping to his feet, he turned to the last robber and noticed him grinning before Tenchi realised the man was pointing a gun in his direction.

Tenchi only raised his eyebrow still standing confidently.

The man pulled the trigger…

(A/N: Cliffie! What? You don't like it? Fine I'll continue.)

Tenchi blinked.

Everything had seemed to freeze. The bullet was moving, but it was approaching in a snails pace, figuratively speaking of course. Tenchi frowned and as the bullet neared, he sidestepped it and it whizzed slowly pass him. His arm and leg muscles were still able to move fast, as was his brain. As Tenchi blinked, everything was moving normally again.

He looked up into the face of his assailant and nearly cracked up laughing. The man's mouth was open in astonishment and shock.

Moving in an inhumanly speed, Tenchi uppercut him so hard, the man was lifted right off his feet and as Tenchi connected his fist to the assailants jaw, he felt it break under his iron-like fist.

Before the man even had a chance to drop to the ground, Tenchi stepped forward and palmed the man so hard in the chest, the man went flying, literally.

Tenchi turned to see Kiyone staring at him in the same way the man had been.

"What…How…What did you…?" She stuttered before jumping to her feet and dragged Tenchi by his arm pulling him away. Only then did she notice the screaming from the other patrons.

He called back over his shoulder amidst the screams, "Call the police," and then proceeded to be led away by Kiyone down the street. "Put your gun away," he whispered and slipped his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze before he dragged her away towards another direction.

Realizing what he was doing, Kiyone matched his stride so that he wasn't dragging her, and kept silent as he turned a few times down different streets. She remained silent until Tenchi finally came to a halt near a bus stop just before the bus arrived, and she followed him onto the bus with a smile.

Tenchi headed for seats at the back of the bus where nobody was currently seated and sat down silently to look out the window. Kiyone sat down next to him, and waited while he scanned the crowd, doing the same herself. Once the bus pulled away, she felt him relax, and she couldn't stop herself from giggling quietly.

Kiyone said, "Well, that was fun, wasn't it? I've missed that feeling. Things are a little dull around here most of the time. It's good to finally do what I'm meant to do."

Tenchi frowned in response, and didn't answer right away. He didn't want to say anything until he got a few things settled in his head. It appeared they'd gotten away without anyone following them. They couldn't afford any attention, even being in the city so far from where they lived.

"Well, it turned out all right. But keeping a low profile would be a good idea, considering the fact that we're basically a bunch of galactic aliens hiding out here on earth."

"Yeah, I suppose so. Thanks, Tenchi."

"Thanks for what?"

"Thanks for making me realize I do like it here on earth."

"Huh? I thought you hated being posted here."

Kiyone did her best to keep the blush off of her face as she answered, "Oh, maybe it's not as bad as I thought it was." Not to mention that you're here too, she thought to herself. "Well, are we going to head home, or do we find another store to pick up Sasami's groceries?"

"Oh, man, I forgot all about that. I'm sure she'd understand, but if we've got time, we might as well get them. Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem. Keeping a clear head in these situations is important to a GP officer after all."

"Yeah, I suppose it would be." Tenchi turned his head back to look out the window. "Hmmm, I think we need to get off soon, and catch a different bus. Might as well get ready."

"Whatever you say, dear." Kiyone laughed loudly as Tenchi nearly jumped out of the seat, then turned to chuckle along with her.

"...Bringing you tonight's news. Our top story today is an attempted robbery broken up at the street market in downtown Tarashiki. Three gunmen held up the Honshou chicken stall around 3:00 this afternoon, attempting to steal the cash from the register, along with any other valuables the grocer may have had. According to testimony filed in police reports, two people who as of yet are not being identified as undercover officers, came into the store during the robbery. They apparently recognized the situation and managed to overcome all seven of the criminals using a mixture of hand-to-hand combat and some form of stun gun. The two unidentified persons, described as a tall, pretty woman with teal-colored hair, and a teenage young man of with black hair, did not remain at the scene to be questioned. The clerk's statements indicated that the man used some form of martial arts to knock out six criminals while the lady used an unusual stun gun on the assailant at the register simultaneously."

"According to Inspector Tanaka, the two rescuers cannot be confirmed as working for any known law enforcement organizations. "Right now we do not have enough information to work with" said the Inspector. "What we have are the grocer's descriptions of the two rescuers, and his statements that the man referred to the woman as 'Dear' at one point. Other witnesses saw the two leaving hand-in-hand, which leads us to believe they might be a husband-and-wife team of some sort, but beyond that we do not have any information at this time as to the identity of the two." Further questions were unable to get any information as to the nature of the stun gun used by the woman, which apparently did not appear to use electric wires as traditional models currently do. "We can't comment on something we don't know about" was the only response from the Inspector."

"In other news..."

Tenchi and Kiyone avoided looking at anyone as they attempted to sink into the couch under the steady gaze of almost everyone else in the room. Sweat broke out on their brows as they waited for the inevitable...

"Wow, that's amazing! It's too bad they're from earth, they sound like people who would be great for the Galaxy Police, except they can't go into space since they're not supposed to know about anything out there. We have stun guns that don't use wires already, of course..." Mihoshi was still watching the news report intently, failing to recognize the looks of astonishment her statements prompted.

Turning back to face Tenchi and Kiyone, Washu said, "Ignoring Mihoshi for the moment, is there anything the two of you would like to tell everyone?"

Tenchi did his best to become invisible, but failing, he took a deep breath to answer. "Well, you've kind of got the gist of it already. There really wasn't much more than what you just heard, Kiyone managed to stun one of them, while I took the rest out.

"Not that, you moron! Nobody cares that you beat up a few punks. How could you possibly call her 'Dear'? " Ryoko fumed, pointing at Kiyone as her eyes bored into Tenchi's.

Tenchi gulped as his face turned red. He willed himself to disappear, but as before, nothing happened. He opened his mouth, but was interrupted by Kiyone.

"He was just acting the part, so to speak. We were trying to act natural so they wouldn't suspect anything when we separated to move into position. It doesn't mean anything, of course." Kiyone hoped her cheeks weren't as red as they felt at the moment. "He showed some definite natural instinct for undercover work, I think he'd make a pretty good police officer if he wanted to be one."

"So why did you leave hand-in-hand then?" asked Ayeka.

"Er... I didn't realise at first how important it was to not bring attention to ourselves. Fortunately, Tenchi was thinking, and pulled me out of there."

"So that was you, Kiyone? And you, Tenchi? Wow, that must have been pretty exciting. Oh, I wish I could have been there to help out." Mihoshi's eyes were almost bursting with excitement as she looked at Kiyone.

"I don't know... It all sounds a little suspicious to me. Tenchi doesn't call anyone dear, and we all know he's had plenty of time to. I'm gonna be watching you, cop-girl. Keep your hands off of Tenchi." Ryoko disappeared leaving a sputtering and flabbergasted Kiyone looking at emptiness.

"She was telling the truth, everyone. We just kind of stumbled into something that required some quick thinking. That's all."

"I certainly hope so. I think I'll retire now." Ayeka glared at her before walking gracefully from the living room and up the stairs to disappear as well.

"Those two...," Kiyone growled.

"Ignore the children, Kiyone," said Washu. "Well, sounds like you two had an interesting day in the end. Not quite as boring as you thought it would be, after all

"Yeah no kidding." Tenchi replied.

During the middle of the night, Kiyone after lying awake for two hours straight, decided to go downstairs for a cup of water before trying to fall asleep again.

As she made it downstairs she noticed an individual reclining on the living room couch. Walking closer towards the person, her heart pounded as she identified the person as Tenchi after getting a good look at him under the moonlight that bathed the room, shining through the window. He looked to be thinking or concentrating on something with his head lying on the armrest of the couch.

Tenchi sensing someone in the room with him turned his head and after reading the persons aura, found out it was Kiyone. She walked towards him and spoke.

"Hey Tenchi, can't sleep?"

"No, not really. After all the excitement from today, I don't think I'll be sleeping for a while. How about you?"

"I couldn't…"

She was cut off as she suddenly tripped over a small, unseen object and fell on something soft which made an "oof" sound. When she looked up, she saw that something, was actually someone. Infact, that someone was Tenchi.

As she looked down, she noticed she had landed on Tenchi, and was straddling him on his stomach. She blushed but didn't make an attempt to move away.

Tenchi looked up into her face to see her already peering down upon him. She looked into his eyes and Tenchi did the same thing. As he stared into her blue orbs, he couldn't help but read the emotions which were played out through her eyes. He read Anxiety, excitement and…desire?

Kiyone as if in a trance, leaned in closer towards his face. Tenchi was shocked. He didn't know Kiyone felt this was for him. He was so surprised that his brain was frozen and wasn't sure of what to do as the teal-haired beauty inched closer towards him.

Her lips were moments away from claiming his, before they heard another figure shuffle into the room.

Tenchi was only able to register one thought as the figure moved closer towards their spot.

'Just how much excitement can a guy have in one day?'

As the person walked into the path of the moonlight, Tenchi recognised that person.

It was Sasami…

A/N: Ah finally. Finished the chapter! And my longest chapter yet! So how was it? If I have time, I may update again tomorrow. Thankyou again, for waiting patiently for the chapter and to those who reviewed. Until next time and for the love of god PLEASE REVIEW!