Me: For my heart, my soul, my special lady whose given me more than I have deserved. For you my Camille, a Valentine's Day two-piece special
DISCLAIMERS: Don't own what's not my own.
The OtherSide
By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland
"No Need for Romancing!"
The pair of them pulled up riding astride their motorcycles, the engines roaring like tigers amidst the streets. The roars turned to pleasant purrs before they quieted completely, the heated engines of the bikes cooling in the foggy morning air. They dismounted in near perfect sync, placing their helmets down between the bars of their respected motorbikes before moving up towards the one of the apartments. The taller of the duo knocked gently on the door and waited patiently until an aquamarine-haired woman opened it, still dressed in her sleeping clothes and looking very tired.
"Who… yawn… is it…?" She blinked sleepily, her teal-colored orbs focusing on the taller of the two. "Eiji?"
The Kusanagi nodded, smiling in sympathy of his girlfriend's plight. "Long night, Kiyone?"
She nodded, allowing the two into her shared apartment. Morisato glanced at her for a moment before looking towards Eiji, quirking an eyebrow and grinning a knowing smile. Eiji shot him a withering glare, ignoring the blush on his face. Chuckling to himself, Morisato headed towards the bedroom. "I'll go and wake, Miho-chan…"
Kiyone watched him go, shaking her head in wonder. She'd never understand what Morisato, of all people, saw in her partner but really, she was happy for her. Suddenly aware of the other person still left in the room, Kiyone turned and saw Eiji staring at her like… She smiled as she felt a shiver go up her spine. Eiji was by no means her first boyfriend but he was definitely the first to make her feel like this with just a glance.
She padded over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pursed her lips just enough for Eiji to understand what she wanted. Smiling with a teasing flair, Eiji leaned down and pressed his lips lightly against her own before resting his forehead against hers and whispered, "You look so adorable, you know that?"
"Eh…?" Kiyone blinked and glanced down and flushed all the way to the roots of her long hair. The only way she'd have shown more skin would have been if she was wearing a two-piece bikini. Having mercy, Eiji took off his coat and drapped it over her shoulders, hugging her from behind and whispering softly into her ear.
"So shy around me still, Kiyo-chan?" He lightly nipped at her ear. "Forgotten your promotion party so soon?"
Kiyone was many things; a police officer of the finest caliber, stubborn as a bull when it came to her beliefs, kind as can be when it comes to her friends, but as Eiji was frequent in proving, Kiyone was first and above all else, a woman and while she wasn't going to tell her boyfriend to stop with his teasings she did not have to let them go unanswered.
Turning and pressing her lips upon his, she proceeded to do just that.
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Morisato was kneeling down beside her, looking at her sleeping form with a strangely serious expression on his face. Once upon a time, he would not have had such feelings for a girl but as the saying goes, time changes everything for nothing can remain the same. It had taken the deaths of not one but three of his friends for Morisato to realize what he had been doing to himself and to others. Espiga, dear, sweet girl that she was, loved him despite his faults and what did he do? Needlessly show off at every opportunity and push her aside whenever there was a moment's peace. Kiri, the tempermental tomboy loved Espiga, more than he ever did, and she died bringing her body, untouched by the Crystals, back to them.
Takuya…
Damn it, the overgrown jerk had the worst hands in his cardgame with Fate. He had lost everything there was to lose in the war against the Crystals and the one chance he had to start over, to move beyond the past and into the future… Morisato was no swordsman, not as he was, but he swore on his life's blood that he would honor the sword left behind from the last of the Yashima clan. On his scar he swore to never play with another girl's heart. On the ring resting hidden in his pocket, he swore to forever cherish the wonderful girl that had literally dropped into his life. The others really didn't understand what he saw in Mihoshi. Heck, even her partner-in-crime-provention didn't see what he saw in her. It didn't matter really as he liked what he saw just as much he saw what he liked and he really liked Mihoshi.
No, not plainly liked, not anymore.
He loved her.
Though that wouldn't stop him from lecturing her on properly asking for permission on certain things; he'd been wondering where that shirt had gone off to for weeks!
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He couldn't understand or, perhaps, he didn't want to. A fragmented past filled with naught but pain and misery along with the constant company of a berserker in his mind, he took whatever happiness he could at every available moment. Had you asked him in the beginning of his new residency, Hudson would have easily counted the number of times he had ever been happy despite his lack of serious education. She was no mathematical genius herself but she had knowledge, and patience, enough to teach him in a more proper fashion than the eldest of the girls.
She was the first to really treat him like a person and he loved her for that, more than anything. Given the chance, he'd sacrifice everything he was and had just to get a smile on her face, to give her a portion of the same happiness she gave him.
So here he was as eager to please as ever, helping her pack the lunches she and her sister made, being extra careful with hers and being sure to mark which basket specifically held her sister's… creation… Fool him once, shame on her, fool Hudson again then there'd be hell to pay. Immunity to all things nonwithstanding, Hudson preferred to actually be able to taste his food the next day.
"Miyah!" A familiar weight settled itself on his head and a pair of jeweled eyes looked down over his own, earning a smile from Hudson.
"Hello, Ryo-Ohki." The cabbit was as enamored with him as she was with Sasami, both having the little spaceship/lifeform hatch in their hands. "It has your carrots, do not concern."
"You mean, 'I have your carrots, don't worry', Hud-kun." Sasami corrected him, smiling at the cute image the two made.
Hudson's face flushed and he took the heavier of the baskets. "Shall we go?"
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The sound always seemed to echo here though here was a strenuous term at best as this place was neither here nor there. Washu hadn't gotten far in explaining that to him but Shiisa was nothing if not a studious man and he'd learn all her secrets someday. Like the crab her hair was styled after, he had to give Washu time to come out of her shell. Though that didn't mean that he had not a reason to try.
Moving like a shadow through the expanse of her lab, he made sure to avoid any and all means of detection from the various devices she had set up in her lab first to prevent Mihoshi from bumbling into it and then, later on, to catch him. It had become something of a game between the two of them, one that Shiisa frequently delighted in playing with the, admittedly, older woman. At first, he had been concerned of his feelings for her, feeling that he was entering dangerous and forbidden territory but when he was informed of how old she truly was he immediately saw the reverse.
It also helped that her true age-form was "Smoking hot!" as the case was.
He rested on his haunches, just behind her as she sat on her little hover-cushion, typing away at her holo-computer. He remembered he still had to devise a way to thank her for making one of his own but pushed the thought aside for the mission at hand. He stood slowly, carefully, until he was towering over her from behind and still he remained unnoticed. Quick like a flash, he grabbed her around the waist and ran like hell, with Washu screaming first from pure surprise to a rage similar to what her daughter expressed daily with her 'rival'.
Several college degrees or not, Shiisa didn't know half of what she was insinuating but knew that most of them had to be painful. "You know you love me, Washu-chan," he grinned at her reply. Oh yes, like daughter like mother. "Remember our deal? You're only allowed to skip one meal and as you've missed breakfast it is my duty to take you out to lunch."
"I'm not hungry, you fuzz-brained ignoramous! I've got very important projects to finish and I don't appreciate—" A low growl halted her in mid-tirade and brought an amused smile to his face and a red flush to her own.
"I believe that you've been outvoted, sweetheart."
Washu crossed her arms and looked positively aloof, or tried to as the blush remained on her face still. "Shut up and carry me, lunkhead."
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Midoriko sighed and wondered not for the first time how she'd constantly end up as the one to invite Yosho to these affairs with the 'children' of the house. Truth be told, she didn't honestly know though she had a heavy suspicion towards Shiisa. The man had gotten downright devious since Washu arrived at the house and revised it to accomadate for the, admittedly, large number of people now living on the Masaki ground.
She didn't miss how poetically ironic that all save for the Masaki's and the officers were all technically homeless here on this world.
As she traveled up the steps to the temple, Midoriko allowed herself to lose herself in her thoughts. Their new lives in this suddenly small world wasn't a peaceful one by any means and it was one marked by the loss of those that were as good as family to them but, surprisingly, Midoriko found that she wouldn't change much save for things beyond the control of any mortal being.
Her 'children' were dead, let their spirits rest.
Looking back at those who remained, she had to admit that she was… surprised, by how well the boys had adjusted to this new lifestyle randomly spreckled with conflict. She couldn't blame them really as she too latched onto the tranquility as fast as she could though she did not go out of her way to find a lover like them.
"Yosho." She greeted upon reaching the final step to the temple and finding the man sweeping the grounds. "The picnic shall be starting soon and your sisters are eager for your company. Pray, come and join us?"
She didn't miss the knee-jerk reaction the word 'sisters' got from Yosho and though she wasn't anything like Shiisa, Midoriko did have a dash of mischeviousness to call her own. She knew as much of the story as Ayeka and Sasami were willing, or in the younger's case able, to tell as Yosho was not as forthcoming with his side of the story and until he spoke of such, she'd keep her opinion of him. Oh, she could understand him not wanting to marry her but to avoid doing so in such a callous way was quite unforgiveable to the matriarch.
"Ah, they have, have they?" He smiled, placing the broom to lean against the porch. "Let us go then."
Midoriko nodded and turned her back on the man and started down the steps, waiting until she heard him stepping behind her to say, "Mind, keep that hologram of yours up otherwise you'll have Ayeka and every other bishonen-fanatic lusting after you."
The sound of chin meeting stone steps was truly a gratifying sound.
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"Princess Ayeka? Are you ready?"
"Just a moment, Lord Shiro."
The emerald-haired youth sighed, glaring balefully at the door. "Please, milady, Shiro is more than enough."
The door slid opened, revealing Ayeka of Jurai dressed as ceremonious as always though with actual Japanese clothes than those from her home planet. "And as I've said to you, Lord Shiro, Ayeka suits me just as well."
Shiro stared. He couldn't help it. Yes, her silks and robes did have a touch of asian in them but that wasn't here nor there to the boy. Dressed as she was before, Ayeka had all the beauty of a princess, but now… she was truly a gorgeous young woman. Swallowing slightly and turning to hide his sudden blush, Shiro said, "You are of a higher station than I, Princess. It wouldn't be proper of me to speak to you in such a manner."
Ayeka's smile was almost evil as she noted the reaction she got from the boy. Blushing lightly, she took the arm she knew he despised and gently tugged him forward. "Then I'm afraid I have to follow the same conduct, Lord Shiro. Now, please, let us go and enjoy a peaceful luncheon."
He flinched, making as though to pull his arm away but he steeled himself and slowly moved along beside her, not seeing her triumphant smile. Yes, her father would try his best to get her to marry Tenchi and, once upon a time, she would gladly have done so if only because Tenchi was the grandson of her half-brother Yosho but learning the ways of the Riders and the lifestyles that Shiro and his comrades fought, bled, and died to try and protect opened the princess' eyes to the real world.
She didn't have to let someone narrate the happy ending to her fairy tale, nor did she have to let it run its course on its own. If she so wanted, she could grasp her dreams and make them a reality herself.
And commoner or not, Shiro Saito was definitely her Prince.
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Lunch was as loud and boisterous as always and as chaotic as a feeding frenzies tended to be but, somehow, there was an air filled with laughter and peace amongst the group, despite the occasional breakout of fighting for the last piece of a certain food item, often between two certain females. Eiji and Kiyone were discussing the jurisdictions of the Galaxy Police, Morisato was teaching Mihoshi how to use her little cubic device without damaging it or her cruiser, Shiro was busy acting as peacekeeper between Ryoko and Ayeka with Tenchi acting as his second, Hudson was playing a game of cat's cradle with Sasami with Ryo-Ohki bouncing between their hands, Shiisa kept adding more food to Washu's plate when she wasn't looking, and Midoriko held a stiff conversation with Yosho. Truly it was a rather peaceful day.
So of course, Murphy's Law had to proclaim itself anew once again.
The food was incinerated as something large and shining brightly from atmosphere burn shot between them, toppling them all to the ground. Those with advanced senses groused at letting themselves get distracted as they and the others rose to their feet to look up at a disbelieving sight.
"Heh. I've been looking for you. You did Kagato in didn't you?" A gloved finger pointed towards a stunned Tenchi. "So—you are the one!"
Hovering in the air above them was none other than a near exact duplicate of Ryoko. The only true difference between the two that anyone could see were the small pale blue marks on her cheeks and how she seemed younger in appearance compared to the infamous space pirate.
"Cool it, beautiful! Who—or what—are you?!" Ryoko teleported up to the carbon copy of herself, glaring at her near mirror image. "Well?! You ruined my fabulous fish fry!"
"… You are obstructing me."
"What?!" Without further ado, the Ryoko-clone slammed the original down onto the forest ground, plowing into several trees without so much as batting an eye.
Concerned, the children, Sasami and Hudson, ran after Ryoko with Mihoshi following after them and Morisato following after her. Tenchi stared in the direction where the trail of destruction led to Ryoko's prone form before turning angered eyes up at the one responsible for the attack.
"You can't just attack anyone you want!"
"I am not programmed to discuss such matters…" The mirror-image held up her hand, conjuring a sword of laser energy. "NOW! Time to fight!"
"You got that right," growled Eiji, clutching the device on his wrist, "Execute! Kaiju Spirit Evolution!"
"WAKE-UP!"
To Be Continued...
A/N Inspiration:
Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a shipper and while I'd prefer the main character to get together with the girl that I like the most, that often never happens CoughLoveHinaCough! So this is what I'd thought would happen if the Riders ended up in the Tenchi Muyo-verse. The Original/Manga based Tenchi-verse since there's what, five of them now? Plus, who wouldn't want to see Gojira go at it with Ryoko just for the hell of it?
Next Reflection...
"A Slice of Life With A Dash of Allure"