Chapter 4: No Need for a Truce
Ash and Pikachu seemed to fit in with Tenchi's family as his feelings for Sasami grew. They had breaded chicken cutlets over steamed rice and green celery haystacks with a thick brown sauce on top. "Going with something simple, Sasami?" teased Nobuyuki.
"I don't think it looks easy at all!" grinned Tenchi. Ash enjoyed Sasami's food so much, he blushed to savory flavor.
"I swear, Sasami," he smiled. Sasami turned to Ash, hoping he liked what she made for the family. "I just simply can't get enough of your amazing cooking!" Sasami giggled with glee to his review. "It's just so crazy delicious!"
("Amen to that!") agreed Pikachu. Ryo-Ohki mewed happily while enjoying a dish of baby carrots.
"Thanks, you two!" she laughed. "I really appreciate it!" Ash paused for a minute as he turned his smiling face to her.
"Seriously, this food is so good," he started. "You would Brock's cooking a run for his money." Sasami awed more of Ash's detail.
"You mean one of your friends back home? I guess this Brock must do a lot of cooking, huh?"
"Yeah, as well as all the cleaning and laundry. Brock's cooking is great, don't get me wrong… but it's nothing compared to yours." He had a slight snicker. "If only you were around when Brock got sick." The tidbit made Sasami and Ryo-Ohki curious.
"What do you mean?"
"A few weeks ago, my friends and Pokémon and I stayed at a vacant cabin on our way to Olivine City. Brock developed a fever, so Misty and I gave him the day off to rest, even though he still wanted to do chores like he loves to do. Misty volunteered to cook… only what she made… Let's just say that it wasn't appetizing to say the least." The hesitation made Sasami gulp.
"What… did she try?"
"She made what she called 'Misty's Mystery Stew' which looked like a purplish glop than stew."
"That… doesn't sound like stew either."
"It gets a little worse. She loaded the 'stew' with about everything." The eyes of Sasami nearly left her face.
"About- How many ingredients did she use? It doesn't sound like seven or eight."
"A lot more… like 47." The number made Sasami gasp.
"Four- 47!? There's no rhyme or reason to have anymore than a few ingredients, but that's WAY too much!" Even Ryo-Ohki became grossed out. "Tell me you didn't try any of that 'stew'!"
"She did, but I didn't. Our Pokémon stored on some apples, so those kept us from going hungry." A sigh lisped from Sasami.
"That's a relief. I bet Misty felt sick when she tried it."
"She spat it out as soon as she tried it, and she realized how bad it was."
("She looked like she would be in worse shape than Brock,") Pikachu believed. Sasami shook her head.
"I'm surprised that she had two spoonfuls before rejecting it," Ash added. "She hasn't cooked anything since."
"Wow, poor Misty," Sasami huffed. "I don't know whether to laugh at her for her silly mistake or upset for wasting all of that food."
"At least she tried," Ash admitted. "All I could do is pour cereal into a bowl." Sasami gawked to the confession.
"You can't cook?" All Ash did was shake his head. "Maybe I can help with that!" Ash irked at the offer.
"Uh… are you sure?"
"It could happen again. Better safe than sorry." The idea made Ash think about it as they enjoyed the chicken.
"You could learn a lot from Sasami," Ryoko pointed out. "Heck, she's better to teach you around than Ayeka." The elder princess scowled.
"Why, you never learn from anyone," she countered. Ryoko growled back.
"Now ladies…" spoke Nobuyuki. "Not in front of our guests…" Ryoko and Ayeka scoffed and turned their heads away.
"I never had a chance to ask you, Nobuyuki," Ash voiced. "But, what do you do?" Nobuyuki giggled to the question.
"I'm an architect for the city," he replied. "I do a lot of large structures and I get paid hefty amounts. It helps when it comes to housing Tenchi and these girls." Ash and Pikachu seemed intrigued with Nobuyuki's line of work.
"That's cool," he praised.
"I should take you to my office to see some of my work," Nobuyuki promised.
"Agreed," Mihoshi sided. "Maybe a career opportunity when you grow up." Kiyone chuckled to Mihoshi's idea.
"Sometimes, you say something that I want to believe," she hoped. "If learning to make Chicken Katsu doesn't work at first." The group ate and cleaned up before they retired for the night. The next morning was most of the same. However, when Sasami and Ryo-Ohki came to see Ash and Pikachu, Ryo-Ohki started licking on Ash's face. This made Ash wake up.
"Ryo-Ohki!" he groaned. Sasami giggled to Ash's reaction with Ryo-Ohki.
"I'm sorry," she snickered. "I guess Ryo-Ohki wants to give you some good morning kisses." Ash wiped his face as Pikachu woke up. "This is perfect. Come on." They reached the kitchen where they cleaned hands and paws. "Let's start simple with some eggs."
"Sure!" In the kitchen, Ash pulled a carton of eggs. He wore a green pajama shirt and green pajama pants. "Now, you know how to crack eggshells?"
"Yeah, like this?" He smacked an egg to the rim of a small bowl. Then using two fingers, he gently separated the shell and the yolk dropped into it.
"Nice! You might need two of them for making scrambled eggs."
"Okay." As he cracked another egg, Ayeka woke and came to the kitchen. When she arrived, she saw her little sister and Ash working together for breakfast.
"Maybe we can try pancakes later?" suggested Sasami.
"Oh, you can't go wrong with pancakes!" cheered Ash.
"No, you can't!" Seeing Ash laugh, Sasami blushed and smiled to him. The blushing made Ayeka gasp.
"Oh my…" she quietly awed as Ryoko appeared.
"Hey, fakecess," she teased. "I know something about Tenchi that you might be-"
"Hush, and look." When Ryoko looked to find Ash blushing a little, she paused.
"Wait… Ash… and Sasami?" Awes lisped from Ryoko's lips. "It may mean one less girl for Tenchi." Ayeka snickered to the idea, but straightened herself out.
"Now let's not get too uppity so quickly… though, I've never seen Sasami blushing for a boy. I believe it would be with Tenchi like the two of us."
"Yeah, I know what you mean… although, this is the first time we've had a boy in the Masaki household since we all moved in." That's when Ayeka blinked.
"Hold on. Are we… agreeing to something? How long has it been since we were on the same side of a subject." Cupping her chin, Ryoko tried to think of a moment.
"I don't remember, so it must have been pretty long ago." Suddenly, a plot came to her mind. "Wait, are you suggesting that we get those two a room?" That made Ayeka scowl back.
"That's way too soon, and you know it!"
"Why? There's nothing wrong with young love." To Ayeka, it was something even deeper.
"Hearing you, it's not love in the open but the same 'love' you want to give Tenchi." The rebuttal made Ryoko nervously giggle.
"I mean… You'd want that yourself… right?" The tease made Ayeka blush embarrassingly. She cringed her face.
"Any more of that and I'll make you suffer." The threat made Ryoko float back. However, her ideas didn't stop.
"Okay, I got a better idea: How about we take them along for the time being?" The new idea made Ayeka blink in confusion.
"Take them… along?"
"I could take Ash along to further understand while you have your sister, then we switch so that we know what to do next." Now it was Ayeka who cupped her chin.
"That doesn't sound like a bad plan. Of course, we need their consent to these tasks."
"Don't worry. Sasami trusts you and you two can talk on one of these nights." Agreeing, Ayeka nodded.
"Let's make a schedule and see what we can do." The agreement made, the two broke to help set the table for breakfast. Everyone else were a bit surprised to see Ash learning about cooking breakfast as Sasami made egg rolls with egg and maple pork. With her help, Ash made and flipped pancakes. Washu was actually proud of Ash being able to cook for the first time. Outside, Ash breathed a sigh of relief.
"Who knew cooking was that much fun?" he smiled. Tenchi came to Ash.
"You and Sasami seem to know how to work together," he awed. "You might give Ryoko and Ayeka some of those tips." Ash laughed, sensing the hostility. They reached the training area with Sasami tailing. Katsuhito had Tenchi whack a small log with a wooden sword while jumping from one wooden stand to another. Pikachu awed what Tenchi could do on the stage. Impressed, Ash tried to give it a shot. After a slow start, Ash tried to pick up the pace and do multiple side steps as he slashed at the hanging log.
"Impressive," Katsuhito acknowledged. "You prefer not to strike, but a slight hesitation may cause you to lose composure at the most inopportune time." Ash believed Katsuhito's advice. Ash continued to train with a wooden sword.
"It's funny since weapons are prohibited back home," Ash admitted. Pikachu nodded to which Sasami and Ryo-Ohki looked confused.
"You don't have weapons?" she wondered.
"Only law enforcement has access, though our Pokémon are pretty powerful as it is. You saw what happened to Mihoshi when she hugged Pikachu too tightly."
"That's true… Speaking of your home, where are you from?" Putting the sword down, Ash turned to the princess and the cabbit.
"I'm from Pallet Town. It's also where I got Pikachu as my first Pokémon from Professor Oak." Pikachu confirmed with nods and squeaks.
"Pallet Town? I doubt anyone of us know what Pallet Town is."
"Easy, it's a nice and peaceful town where some of the Pokémon are held to roam after trainers like me caught them like some of the Pokémon I have."
"You have more? Is there any way you can summon them?"
"I could, but I would need to be in touch with Professor Oak… although, I'm not sure if Snorlax would let Ryo-Ohki have carrots with the massive appetite he has." The thought made Sasami giggle.
"Sounds like this Snorlax is big." This made Ash bring out the Dex and show Sasami a large bear with a cream-colored face and abdomen. The feet were flat and puffed up.
"SNORLAX, THE HIBERNATE POKÉMON," it computed. "SNORLAX ARE ONE OF THE HEAVIEST POKÉMON AT OVER HALF A TON. MOST OF THE WEIGHT IS EATING ROUGHLY 900 POUNDS OF FOOD. AFTER THEIR MEAL, THEY SLEEP IT OFF." Sasami and Ryo-Ohki's eyes gawked to the detail.
"That would be a year's worth of food," she gulped. Ryo-Ohki mewed cautiously. "Yeah, never mind about bringing more of your Pokémon."
"It's only one of them," Ash smiled. "I also have a herd of Tauros, a Kingler and a Heracross back home." Sasami seemed interested to the names of the new Pokémon.
"They sound like fun. I'll have to see them for myself with Washu's help."
"Trust me, you'll enjoy them. Anyway, there's a diner that my mom runs nearby." The information gave Sasami a grin.
"So, that's where your fascination for food." Her grin made Ash unnerved. Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki were rather nervous themselves. Sasami giggled to their reactions. "But, I can see how your home is peaceful. It wants me to ask why not just stay home, but you did tell me yesterday."
"Yep… Now that you know about Pallet Town, what about Jurai?" The question made Sasami look to the trees.
"Jurai is beautiful, especially with the number of trees being more than Earth. It's not that we weren't sick of Jurai, but we didn't know that one of our own wound up here and living his new life." To Ash, one person fit the bill of the missing Juraian.
"Grandpa?" The guess made Sasami nod.
"Pollution is not as apparent as it is here, and while our home is like a forest on overload, our technology is highly advanced compared to Earth's technology." Hearing about Jurai, Ash and Pikachu seemed highly interested.
"Whoa… It makes us want to see it for ourselves." Pikachu squeaked in agreement as Washu found the kids.
"Are you learning about her home?" she asked. Ash and Pikachu turned to Washu as Ryo-Ohki hopped onto Washu's shoulder. "Hey, you wanted to see me?" Ryo-Ohki mewed happily.
"Jurai sounds like a planet that Pikachu and I would like to see for ourselves," Ash wished.
"Oh, and it's not enough for your world?" teased Washu. Sasami giggled more. "Of course, we can take you to Jurai. Ryo-Ohki could take you herself." Ash and Pikachu blinked to the claim.
"Really?" doubted Ash.
"Of course!" assured Washu. "Ryo-Ohki has a few talents." She scooped Ryo-Ohki from her shoulder. "Take a look!" She hurled Ryo-Ohki to the air. That's when she began to morph. Ash and Pikachu gawked to Ryo-Ohki's new form as it appeared as a silver flying object with four enormous, elongated blades with ends pointing upward while the rest looked like a jaded spinning top with a pink sphere in the middle on top. It looked bigger than the mountain it came from.
"What the heck!?" he shouted.
"I'd say that your surprise is an understatement," Washu sneered. "But that's one of Ryo-Ohki's special talents. Who knows, you might be needing her at some point." She looked up to the vessel. "Okay, Ryo-Ohki! Shut her down!" The vessel shrunk down a crystal form before it popped back to her cabbit form. Ash picked Ryo-Ohki up.
"You are something else," he smiled. Ryo-Ohki mewed happily.
"By the way, I did finalize some prints from Pikachu's memories," Washu voiced. "And one did stick out to me." She offered Ash a picture which Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki joined on his shoulders. It was a brunette woman with a ponytail and wearing a pink blouse. Ash turned to Pikachu with a smug.
"You allowed Washu to get a look at Mom?" he believed.
("I thought it wouldn't hurt,") Pikachu claimed. Ryo-Ohki seemed intrigued with Ash's mother.
"Oh, can I see?" asked Sasami.
"Yeah, here," Ash offered. Sasami looked at the picture and awed the mother.
"So, this is the one who runs the diner in Pallet Town," she figured. Washu awed the new information.
"Your mom runs a diner," Washu repeated. "Maybe this is your ticket to work with Sasami in making new foods."
"Maybe," Ash thought. "Eggs are a good start. Maybe with a couple of ingredients, we can have French Toast if I get to the kitchen first." Sasami laughed, hoping Ash would want to try something else.
"Well, before you unlock your inner culinary skills," Washu teased. "Let's get back inside…" She came to Ash and kissed his cheek. Ash jumped from the kiss. "…Son." Ash froze while Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki recovered from nearly falling off of Ash. Sasami laughed to Ash's reaction to Washu calling him "Son." There was going to be more fun now that Ryoko and Ayeka have plans for Ash and Sasami.
TO BE CONTINUED...