Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-ohki OVA4

Episode 23: Responsibility

By Galaxy1001D

Chapter Seven: The Truth

"What?" Noike frowned. "You're not going to marry any of us?"

"Lord Tenchi, do you… prefer the company of men?" Ayeka asked timidly.

"What? No! It's nothing like that!" Tenchi shook his head.

"Then what's going on here?" Ryoko rose to her feet and poked him in the chest. "What do you mean by 'you're not going to marry any of us' and what truth is going to make us not want you anymore?"

Tenchi let out a long sigh and pulled up a chair to face the couch. Ayeka found a place to sit next to Sasami and Ryoko just crossed her legs and floated in the air.

"Look, in the first place I'm not who you think I am," Tenchi sighed. "All of you seem to think that I'm some big hero. The truth of the matter is I'm not."

"You're not a hero?" Ryoko repeated. "Then who rescued me from Kagato and Doctor Clay?"

"Look you think of me as some kind of superman but to be perfectly honest I'm cruel and selfish and cowardly and everything," Tenchi admitted.

"Did he hit his head or something?" Mihoshi asked Noike.

"Now listen closely: the reason I was able to do all those things is because I was set up to do all those things," Tenchi continued. "We were all used. We've all been manipulated since before any of us were born."

"I want gumdrops and applesauce," baby Washu cooed.

"Look, you're not going to believe this but everything that's happened to anyone anywhere was all set up by the Three Chousin Goddesses," Tenchi continued. "They've been searching through all time and space and all the alternate universes for a being that's more powerful than even than they are!"

"Why?" Ryoko frowned.

"I don't know why," Tenchi shrugged. "They're either looking for a mate or they're looking for being that will become their father after he meets their mother who is called the 'Counter-actor' or something like that. I learned all about it in an alternate timeline and none of you remember it anymore. The only reason I still remember it is because I might be that all powerful superbeing they've been looking for."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Ryoko raised her hand. "Can I be the Counter-actor?"

"I mean, come on!" Tenchi shrugged helplessly. "The Wings of the Lighthawk! I'm able to create them without a spaceship, and not every spaceship can create them in the first place! There's gotta be something going on here, right?"

"Hmmm," the girls as one tilted their heads and frowned in thought.

"The point is everything in that's happened or is going to happen is all part of a massive plot to make me into this all powerful super god," the boy continued. "The reason all of you are all attracted to me is because you have no choice. For some reason I'm exactly your type, and the reason for that is for all of you to pull on my heart at once! You're all here to force me to be more than I am, to make me evolve into a super god, and I think you've all been manipulated enough!"

He looked at Ayeka. "Ayeka, the reason why your parents never contacted you is because they couldn't! The three goddesses wouldn't let them. It was the only way for you and Sasami to meet me as you are now. Your family never abandoned you. The reason why your father's so angry is because he thinks you ran away from home to live with Yosho and never told him where you were! It's not his fault! He really does love you and he wants you back!

"Ryoko, the reason why your life has been one horrible torture after another is because they needed you to be who you are now! You let me know that I can change, and I can be different than I was before. They need you to be a barbarian to shake me out of my safe little world don't you get it?"

"Sasami, what happened on Jurai was horrible and I think it was unnecessary. But don't worry; you really are Ayeka's sister and not the creation of Tsunami. I know this because the three goddesses know that I'll fall in love with a little girl, not an alien lifeform that's just pretending. It's okay, Sasami. You are Sasami. And for the rest of us it wouldn't matter if you weren't."

"Oh Tenchi!" Sasami gushed before crying into her hands.

"We've all had tragedies in our lives that've affected us, that've warped us beyond recognition," Tenchi continued, "but it isn't our fault. The three goddesses have decided that's what we need to be in order that I become that which they're seeking. We've all been used! All of creation is just one big con!"

The girls frowned at looked at each other. Mihoshi raised her hand.

"Yes Mihoshi?"

"Um, Tenchi? I'm afraid you lost me," the blonde blushed. "Could you repeat that last part?"

"Okay, at what part did I lose you?"

"The part after you said 'now listen closely,'" she clarified.

Everyone in the room fell over except Mihoshi.

Tenchi let out a huge sigh as he got back up. "Mihoshi, you just don't understand. What I'm trying to tell you is the whole universe, the history of time in space was all set up to make us the kind of people we are and to split my heart in six, no seven directions," he corrected himself when he looked at little Ryo-ohki.

"But then, what does it all mean?" Noike asked.

"It means that it's time to get off this carnival ride," Tenchi announced. "Girls, you and the entire universe have been manipulated since before you were born and I can't let you fall victims to this anymore. It's time to control your own destiny and get as far away from me as possible. In the meantime I'll become a monk and try not to cause any more trouble."

"Tenchi…" Sasami gasped through tearstained eyes. "You want us… to leave?"

"I don't want you to leave," he shook his head. "That's why I didn't say anything earlier! I don't want you to go; I'm terrified at the mere possibility of your leaving! I know I complain all the time and act like I can't take all of you at once but the truth of the matter is that I've been selfishly stringing you all along because I want all of you in my life so badly! I guess after my mother died I've been messed up beyond repair and now I want as many women in my life as possible or something. But I'm not going to do this to you anymore! I'm going to set you all free! The three goddesses can find some other guinea pigs! It's time to let go of the past and get on with your lives before something horrible happens that forces me to make a choice and reach beyond my mortal limitations!"

"Oh! Tenchi!" Ayeka sobbed into her hands.

"It's for the best," Tenchi sighed as he looked at the floor. "I'm a rotten person and we all know power corrupts. The more powerful I get the worse I'll be. Since all of you love me I'll be spoiled rotten by the most powerful and beautiful women in all of creation and my head will get even bigger. Soon I'll think I deserve more than everybody else, that I should be treated special. Sooner or later, I might kill someone or order someone killed because he dared have a thought I didn't agree with. It's better this way. We nip it in the bud before anybody else gets hurt."

WHAP! Tenchi was knocked off his feet by a slap from Ryoko, who had allowed her feet to touch the floor in order to give more force to her blow.

"Ryoko!" Tenchi gasped as he looked up from the floor and clutched the side of his face. "What are you…"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Ryoko shrieked. "How. Dare. You! How dare you abandon us like this after everything that's happened? After all we've been through? Do you really think we can just turn off our hearts like that?"

"I'm sorry I…"

"SHADDUP! I'm not finished yet!" the pirate barked. "Look at us, Tenchi! You say we've all been hurt, that we've all been damaged to force us to open our hearts to you? What do you think that means if it's true?"

"I know, it's horrible!" Tenchi moaned. "I know you don't want to believe me but…"

"No Tenchi, you're wrong." Tears came to Ryoko's eyes as she shook her head violently. Her words were a hoarse whisper. "I so desperately want to believe you. I so desperately want to believe that every single word you've told us is true!"

"What?" Tenchi blinked as he staggered to his feet. "But why? Isn't it horrible? It's the worst thing I can think of!"

"Not to me," Ryoko hugged herself as she closed her eyes and bowed her head. "If it's true, that means, that all the rotten things that's happened to me, all the horrible things I've done, was for a reason! And that reason was…" She lifted her head, opened her eyes and bravely smiled through her tears. "…to turn me into a woman that you could fall in love with! It means that no matter how broken and messed up I am that's not going to drive a wedge between us! It means that I actually have a chance, that I don't need a hormone imbalance to get me in your arms. It means that I'm not damaged beyond all repair, I can get better! And that goes for the rest of us too!"

"Really?" gasped Sasami.

"Yes, of course!" Ryoko nodded. "Ayeka, you grew up as a spoiled princess, but since you've convinced yourself that nobody wants you you've straightened up and gained some humility! You're no longer the bratty witchy princess you think you are! Sasami, you're afraid you're not a real little girl so you've applied yourself to be the best little girl you can be! Instead of expecting servants to wait on you hand and foot you cook and clean like you could do it professionally! Mihoshi, the Galaxy Police might think you're a scatterbrained airhead who causes more damage that she prevents but in reality you're a sweet person and a good little homemaker and we're all jealous of you! Don't you see? If our families are messing us up this is our chance to get together and form a new family, a mutual support group to get us through this so we become the people we want to be and aren't stuck being the people we are!"

She turned back to Tenchi. "And Tenchi, you may have been a selfish jerk before you met us, but since we've arrived you've been brave, kind, helpful, and caring. And don't worry about turning evil. I won't let you. I've been evil before, I was evil for over a thousand years, and I hated every minute of it. The easiest way to go to the dark side is to isolate yourself from your loved ones. When you're alone there's no one to keep you from lashing out at the universe. And you wanted all of us to go? How stupid are you? I won't let you go down that road, and if I see you slipping, I'll personally knock the stuffing out of you. And if you're too powerful when that happens, I'll get some of the girls to help me because I am not going to give up on you. You've made me a better person. Time to balance the debt."

Tenchi's mouth hung open in awe. "Wow Ryoko, I didn't realize…"

"Quiet! I'm not finished yet!" she barked. "I may love you but I'm still angry at you! How dare you say that we should all go our separate ways! Let me fill you in Tenchi: I don't have anywhere to go! I'm Ryoko the space pirate, the scourge of the spaceways! Anybody who's heard of me isn't going like me after all I've done! For crying out loud, I've got a baby, and you were going to throw me out on the street? And what about the others? Ayeka's heartbroken because she thinks nobody wants her and you're telling her to go? Sasami doesn't know if we really accept her and you're telling her to skedaddle? And as for Mihoshi, that girl's a human wrecking ball, but she doesn't break anything around here! Something happened to her when she was out on patrol and now that she's finally found a nice quiet place where she can be loved and protected you want her to leave? You're lucky there are children present, or Kagato himself wouldn't like what I'd do to you!" She snapped her fingers and pointed up the stairs. "Go to your room and think about what you've done here and how you're going to make it right!"

Tenchi drew a breath. "Ryoko, I…"

"Tenchi, please!" she covered her eyes with her left forearm as her right arm pointed at the stairs. "Just go to your room! I can't even look at you right now! Please! We'll talk about it tomorrow! Just go! Now." As the tears trickled down her cheeks she jabbed her finger at the stairs for emphasis.

"Yes Ryoko," he mumbled as he hung his head in shame and headed for the stairs.

As Tenchi went up the stairs the room was so quiet the girls could hear themselves breathing. They were perfectly still as they heard his footsteps upstairs and the door to his bedroom open and close.

Mihoshi was the first one to break the silence. "That… was… awesome!"

"Meow-meow meow!" Ryo-ohki declared in the same tone of voice.

"That was amazing!" Sasami cheered.

"Whoa!" Noike blinked. "We sure know who wears the pants in this house!"

"I want applesauce!" Washu chirped.

"I can't believe he bought it!" Ryoko gasped.

"He… he wanted us to leave!" Ayeka sniveled. "After all we've been through he wanted us all to leave!"

"He was just trying to protect us," Noike assured her.

"Mihoshi, Sasami, look after little Washu for me," Ryoko said as she helped Ayeka to her feet. "I got to look after Ayeka."

"Wow, you're all grown up Ryoko!" Sasami gasped.

"You're amazing!" Mihoshi added.

"Golf clap," Noike smiled while clapping politely.

Ryoko seized Ayeka by the shoulders. "Come on, snap out of it Ayeka. The crisis is over! Come back to us."

"H-he w-wanted us to leave!" Ayeka sobbed. "N-nobody wants me around! Nobody wants me! Tenchi wanted me to leave!" she shrieked.

WHAP! "Snap out of it, Ayeka!" Ryoko barked. "Get ahold of yourself!"

Ayeka stared at the pirate in shock.

"There," Ryoko smiled nervously. "Feel better?"

"No I don't feel better!" Ayeka gasped. "Not only am I heartbroken but I'm in pain! Are you out of your mind? You just like to beat up on me!" Heartbroken, the princess buried her face in her hands. "G-go away!"

"Well it worked on Tenchi," Ryoko blushed.

"I don't understand," Mihoshi tilted her head. "It always worked in the movies."

"Maybe you're not doing it right," Sasami suggested.

"I never watch those old movies," Ryoko confessed. "Is the slap supposed to be backhand or forehand?"

"I don't know," Mihoshi admitted.

"Search me," Sasami shrugged.

"I'll try backhand this time," Ryoko nodded in determination before grasping the first princess of Jurai by the shoulders and shaking her. "Ayeka! Hey Ayeka! Snap out of it!"

"Ah!" Ayeka was almost knocked off the couch by Ryoko's backhand slap. "Wah!" She curled up in a fetal position to protect herself.

"Ooh!" Mihoshi winced as if she was slapped herself. "Definitely forehand Ryoko!"

"Yeah that had too much power behind it," Sasami grimaced.

"Oh," Ryoko groaned as she pulled Ayeka to a sitting position and took her hands away from her face. "Okay, do I cup my hand or…"

"No, no, no," Mihoshi shook her head and pulled Ryoko away to crouch before Ayeka herself. "You put too much power into it! You calm a hysterical woman with a quick gentle slap like this!" She slapped Ayeka to demonstrate.

"Unh, I guess I needed that," Ayeka groaned.

"I did slap her like that!" Ryoko insisted.

"No you didn't," Mihoshi shook her head. "You slapped her like this!" She smacked Ayeka in the face and first princess of Jurai started crying again. "As you can see, slapping her like that doesn't help at all!"

"I did slap her like that!" Ryoko insisted.

"No you didn't," Noike shook her head. "You definitely slapped her like this," she slapped Ayeka's face as a demonstration.

"Ah!" Ayeka yelped before rolling into a fetal position.

"No I didn't, I slapped her like this," Ryoko pulled Ayeka's hand away from her face and slapped her on the cheek. "If I would have slapped her like that…"

"Aah!" Ayeka screamed as Ryoko's open-hand blow knocked her off the sofa.

"…I would have knocked her off the couch," Ryoko finished. "I definitely didn't slap her like that."

Mihoshi wanted to get in a word edgewise. "I think you slapped her like…"

"Everybody get away from her and stop slapping my sister!" Sasami cried as she pushed the others away. "Can't you see she's upset and you keep hitting her?" She hugged her sister and murmured into her ear. "There, there. Everything's going to be all right."

"N-nobody l-loves me!" Ayeka gasped. "They all k-keep hitting me!"

"I love you," Sasami pulled her sister's hands away from her face and kissed Ayeka on the forehead, "and I won't let anyone hurt you. It's going to be all right Ayeka."

Next: Discipline

This chapter is dedicated to Kamon-Keronji, who let me know that someone still cares about this.