No comments on the spoilered material? I thought there'd be more interest in which direction I was going to try and take this...
Anyhow, HUGE segment here because I don't see any real way of breaking it up without breaking the flow. You guys better enjoy this one, because it's gonna be more than a few days before I get the next one ready.
Summary in two words: BATH TIME!!!
“Is everything okay, Gar-kun?” asked Tenchi as we both scrubbed
ourselves down. Tonight he insisted that we bathe together and have
a bit of brother-time. I know, second bath of the night, but my body
could use the therapy, and Tenchi needed this.
“Not really,” I said.
“But I thought you'd be okay by now,” Tenchi replied in surprise.
“It's the girl, Yuki Mihara. Earlier she and Sasami got to
talking, and now Yuki has got it in her head that I'm the best
candidate to be her husband.”
“What!? But she's too young!”
“I know, Tenchi. But on the other hand, she's honestly shaken up,
so I can see how she's got this crush on me, but still...”
Tenchi just laughed. “Welcome to my world.”
I shot Tenchi a look as I put my toiletries away. “The only one of
your group that is underage is Sasami-chan. And she, at least, is
going to wait until she's the proper age.”
We both went outside and sunk ourselves into the steaming hot water.
“Still... I did at least get her to promise to wait until she
graduated from high school.”
“That's something at least,” said Tenchi.
Suddenly, we heard a shoji open and then shut. “Oh hell no,” I
breathed. I then cut a look at Tenchi. “Tenchi! Stay calm, let
me handle this!”
Tenchi, his eyes wide in panic, only nodded quickly. The last time
this happened my advice wasn't... followed.
“Hooiii!” I called out. “The bath is occupied right now! Not
a good idea to come out, especially if you're a girl.”
“Oh?” came a coy sounding husky voice. “But I'm not a girl.”
Ryoko then appeared around the corner wearing absolutely nothing at
all. “I... am a woman.”
I sighed. Damn, but she had an epic body, but that was to be
expected, given who her mother was.
“Ryoko, is there any way I can convince you to let us be tonight?”
Ryoko put her index finger to her lips as she pursed the, looking off
into the distance as she hummed thoughtfully.
“Nope!” she finally said brightly.
I cursed colorfully under my breath. Knowing several languages
certainly added spice to one's ability to sound foulmouthed. Grandpa
Charles would have been proud.
“Alright then. C'mon Tenchi. It's not as big as this, but you and
I can share my tub without any problems.”
“Oh, c'mon you guys! Please stay!” Ryoko pleaded. “I just
want to chat. You know, how do you Americans put it... 'Shoot the
breeze'?”
“That is the term for it,” I allowed as I began to think. “Okay
how about this then. Tenchi? Do you mind if Ryoko bathes with us as
long as she behaves herself? No touching, no teasing, just small
talk?”
“Ah... but... she's naked!” said Tenchi.
I then look to Ryoko.
“Look, I don't get what the big deal is,” said Ryoko hotly. “I
mean, there's no point to covering myself up here! I refuse to be
ashamed of my body. Besides, this is supposed to be relaxation time,
and if I could have my way I'd be running around without clothes all
the time.”
I blinked. “You're a nudist!?”
“Yeah. Problem?”
I thought about that for a second. “No, not really. Just... damn,
that's a dangerous distraction.”
Ryoko cackled and just went over to start scrubbing down.
I looked to Tenchi. “Are you alright with this?”
“Ah... not... really.”
“Why not?”
“Because it's not proper!”
“And why is it not proper?”
“Ah... because... uhm...”
“Look, Tenchi, Ryoko doesn't have any problem with it at all.
She's a nudist. Weren't you paying attention? That means she
doesn't care who sees her body.”
“You mean... she's not trying to seduce me?”
“No, but I bet she would absolutely love to hear what you think of
her body. It's a point of pride for a woman that the man she likes
has good things to say about it.”
“Oh, I see... let me think about it for a minute.” The minutes
ticked by. Ryoko hummed cheerfully as she scrubbed herself down.
Tenchi fidgeted nervously. I simply laid back and let the warm water
swirl gently around me.
“Okay you guys, I'm coming in,” said Ryoko.
“You know, Tenchi, if it helps you don't have to look. Just wait
until she gets in the water and you can just look at her face.”
“Ah, good idea.”
Ryoko chuckled as she entered the water. “But why wouldn't he look
at me?”
I sighed. “It's a matter of respect, Ryoko. He's been raised to
think it is disrespectful to gaze on a woman's naked body.
Unfortunately, that upbringing failed to include what to do when a
woman freely displays herself. That is, he doesn't understand the
mindset of a nudist.”
“And you do.”
I nodded. “For one thing, you feel that clothing is simply
confining. For another, you feel that your body is like a work of
art, and not something to be ashamed of. Your body is beautiful and
it would make you feel selfish if you kept it only to yourself.”
“My my!” Ryoko said, feigning embarrassment. “Such a
flatterer. Why, if Tenchi didn't already own my heart, you might
have just swept me off my feet there.” I guffawed and Ryoko got a
good chuckle as well before she continued, “Really, Tenchi,
Gar-kun's got the right of it. Honestly, I don't care how much you
do look at my body. Seducing you has nothing to do with it.”
“Ah, they're finally done!” I heard Ayeka's voice as she entered
the bath.
I leveled a glare at Ryoko. “YOU DIDN'T.”
Ryoko laughed a soft, villainous laugh. “Oh, I did.”
She. Took. Down. The. Sign.
“Ayeka! We're still in here!” I called out before she could come
into view.
“With meeee~eeee!” Ryoko called out as well.
“WHAT!?” Ayeka yelled as she came charging around the corner.
“BROTHER! What is the meaning of this!? I thought you were better
than this!”
Ryoko then teleported out of the water and appeared again behind
Ayeka.
“Relax, Princess,” said Ryoko coyly as she placed her hands
reassuringly on Ayeka's shoulders. “It wasn't Garrick. It was
alllll me.”
“What? Back to your old tricks, you pirate?” growled the irate
princess.
Time to intervene! “Believe it or not, sister, seducing Tenchi
wasn't her goal here.”
“Brother?” said Ayeka, fixing me with a surprised glare. “Why
would you say that!?”
“Because, it's true,” I reaffirmed. “She kept her distance
from Tenchi and the worst she did was tease him a bit.”
Ayeka then cut a look at Tenchi. “Is this true, Lord Tenchi?”
Tenchi smiled nervously. “yes,” he managed weakly.
Ayeka closed her eyes and sighed softly. “Very well then.” She
then turned and leveled a venomous look at Ryoko. “That doesn't
explain why you took the warning sign down!”
I gave Ryoko a look as well.
Ryoko shrugged nonchalantly. “I figured you might want to join
us.”
Well, that was an interesting answer.
“Why would I?” Ayeka snapped.
“So you can enjoy Lord Tenchi's company in a relaxed setting. So
you can let your hair down and drop the Princess act. So you can
just sit back and relax.”
Ayeka looked like she was about to boil over. It was time to
intercede with a bit of reasoning – before she blew like a broken
pressure cooker.
“Sister, Ryoko's got a point. You really do need to learn how to
let go. I'm proud of how far you and Ryoko have come, but you're
still just a little too tightly wound up.”
Ayeka growled as she fumed. “oooohhh fine then! But I'm not
taking off this towel and you two are staying on that end of the
bath!”
“That's perfectly fine, sister,” I said soothingly.
Ayeka harrumphed and about-faced to go and scrub down before entering
the bath proper. Ryoko snickered and I gave her a sharp look.
“What!?” exclaimed the cyan-haired beauty as she slipped into the
water once more.
“You know what,” I shot back. “You can't push her so hard so
quickly!”
Ryoko waved it off though. “Feh. She needs the push.”
“Like hell I do!” came Ayeka's voice. And then Ryoko was deluged
by a pan full of cold water suspended between two of Ayeka's logs.
“BLAAARRGH!” cried out Ryoko. She then gave me a look.
“Well, what do you expect!?” I cried out.
She then sighed and said, “Yeah, you're right. I guess I deserved
that.”
I cringed and kept an eye on the washing area. Oh man! Please,
Ayeka, don't follow up that remark! Please don't make a snide
remark!
Fortunately, none was forthcoming. Instead, Ayeka quickly finished
scrubbing, rinsed, then came over wrapped in her bath towel, her nose
turned up from Ryoko.
I sighed in relief as she slid into the water without any further
fuss.
Suddenly, as if a switch had been thrown, Ayeka gave me a bright
smile.
“Oh, Dear Brother! Sasami had mentioned to me that our adorable
little guest has taken a liking to you.”
I sighed once more. “It's true. She confessed her love to me
earlier before we came down for dinner.”
“Is that so?” said Ryoko with interest. “Little girl has got
some real guts going after an older guy like you. Kinda cute,
though. Neh, Ayeka? Weren't you no older when you fell for Yosho?”
Ayeka blushed. “Younger, actually.”
Ryoko smiled. “So what made you fall for him anyhow? I mean, I
know he wasn't hard to look at back then! Hubba-hubba!”
I couldn't help it – that got a laugh out of me. Ryoko just
flashed me a wink.
“Well, there was that,” Ayeka admitted. “I don't suppose that
having our mothers push us together all the time helped matters.”
“Matter of point,” I said suddenly. “Your hair used to be cyan
like Sasami-imouto's.”
Ayeka's blush deepened. “I... don't like to admit it. I wanted
Yosho to like me so much. So I changed my hair color to be more like
his mother's.”
“Don't feel too bad, Sister. I've wanted to see what I look like
with different hair color, too.”
“You have?” asked Tenchi.
I nodded. “Kinda tempted to do a gene-mod for the fun of it. But
the problem is that I can only do that for stuff that's already in my
genome. This is why Sister's hair has a purple tint to it – just
like her Father's. I can probably get away with going for a flaming
red color. I have the Irish in me for it. In fact, if you look at
my whiskers carefully you'll see that a good number of them are red.”
Tenchi leaned closer to get a better look and Ryoko scooted over our
way as well.
“Whoah! No kidding!” said Ryoko. “Hey, Ayeka! Check this
out!”
“Really?” said Ayeka as she moved closer. “Oh my!” She then
spluttered into a fit of giggles.
“Eh? What's so funny?”
“Oh my... I just had the thought... what would the look on
father's face be like if he saw little red heads running through the
Palace on Tenju!”
Ryoko chuckled. “He'd probably wonder if Washu was up to something
at first.”
“Oi, what's so interesting about red hair?” asked a familiar
voice.
“Speak of the devil,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Hey
Washu-GURK!”
Standing there was Washu, wrapped in a towel and ready for a bath...
along with her was Mihoshi and Sasami...
...and Yuki.
“Yay!” cried Sasami. “Bathtime with both Tenchi-nii and
Gar-nii!”
“With... Gar-kun?” stammered Yuki as she turned bright red.
Ayeka and Ryoko then proceeded to nearly drown themselves laughing.
I sighed in defeat. “I suppose this means I have to wash someone's
back?”
Washu smiled knowingly. “Don't worry about it, Gar-kun. We're all
big girls here. We can help each other out.”
“Thank you.”
“Don't thank me yet,” said Washu to me, soto voiced. “I'm
gonna give you hell for letting me be the last to hear about this
one.”
I gave Washu-chan a flat look. “Oi. You know, if you would only
poke your head out your lab more often you might not have to slather
on the sunblock quite as much.”
Washu gave me an evil smile. “Oh, it is on, buddy. It is on.”
“Save it for later when Yuki-chan ain't around. The things we'll
say she's not quite ready for yet.”
Washu harumphed and went to help the others get scrubbed down.
I turned to everyone else.
“Dear Brother, was that what I thought it was?” asked Ayeka
apprehensively.
I shrugged. “Yeah, but don't worry. She'll hold back until
Yuki-chan is away tomorrow. Until then you guys have the opportunity
to reach safe distance.”
“Say, Ryoko, what would you think of us two going someplace far
away with Tenchi tomorrow? Say, the Andromeda Galaxy?”
“Great idea!” said Ryoko with cheer that belied her terror.
“Tenchi-kun?”
“YES PLEASE!” squeaked Tenchi.
The last time Washu and I had gotten into it everyone else had been
sucked into the affair like they were orbiting a black hole. It
probably didn't help that I had rather effectively weaponized
Mihoshi's causality-bending weirdness. Washu was still trying to
wrap her head around how I did that. Really, it was simple. I just
gave Mihoshi a CD-R disk carrying a variant of the Yggdrasil Bug
virus (a nasty little replicating worm with a penchant for hiding in
plain sight – this variant was a nuisance in that it did nothing
except to make the anti-virus software go nuts) and told her that
Washu wanted her to put it in the lab's computer. Everything else
snowballed from Mihoshi's collateral damage.
Forest for the trees, Washu-chan, forest for the trees – I don't
stop to question why a tool works, I just put it to use and
stockpile the empirical evidence.
While we were
waiting, Tenchi and I grabbed our towels and wrapped them around our
waists without leaving the water.
“So, red huh?”
asked Ryoko.
I shrugged. “Might
be fun. I'd certainly turn a lot more heads, and it'd look better
than Seiryuo's mop.”
Ayeka snickered.
“Oh, it would be wonderful if you could show him up! I can't
believe they actually let him become an instructor at the GP
Academy.”
“Eh,” I said,
shrugging. “That'll be someone else's job.”
“Hey, is this one
of those Pondstrider things of yours?” asked Ryoko.
“Nah. It's
nothing important. But I'll let you ladies know when it's going
down. That way you can take pictures.”
“Say, what about
Yuki-chan?” asked Tenchi. “Did you know about her?”
“I knew about
her,” I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “Really, all she had was
a minor bit-roll. Later on she may have been one of Sasami-chan's
friends when she starts going to school, but that was about all the
involvement she was supposed to have in your lives. I just wasn't
expecting something like this. Though I guess I should have – her
being a girl her age.” I sighed at that. Really, I need to learn
to stop meddling.
“Well, I for one
think it's adorable,” stated Ayeka. Before I could say anything,
my adoptive sister went on, “Besides, if what Sasami-chan says
about a tree bonding to her comes true, Father will have no choice
but to let her into the family. It has happened before.”
“Something about
someone hearing a tree's voice calling out to them?” I said,
recalling a bit of trivia from the 101 Facts About Tenchi Muyo
article. (Fact: that tail that we see Ryoko with sometimes? Just an
amusing accessory – she thinks its cute.)
Ayeka nodded.
“They have that ability. When a tree senses that it's match is in
the vicinity, it will call out to that person with its telepathic
voice. I have seen it happen once – a young boy that was the son
of a grounds keeper. He wound up being adopted into the Tatsuki
Clan.”
“Well, that's all
well and good, but how would we go about sneaking her over to
Jyurai?”
Ayeka shook her
head. “I suspect, Dear Brother, that would be a non-issue. If
Tsunami wills it, little Yuki will not have to leave Earth for a tree
to decide on her. And at that point, the issue would be forced upon
us, for the tree that does decide to have her will choose none other,
even if she were to die before the bonding ceremony could take
place.”
I puffed a big
sigh. “Great. So much for a simple life.”
“Don't be so hard
on her, Dear Brother. She is just a child still. She will probably
grow out of it. But, even if she doesn't, then with her level of
dedication she will make a fine wife for you.”
“I get it,
Sister... it's just... that sort of age difference is frowned upon in
the culture I was brought up in. They even have a phrase for it:
cradle robber.”
“I am sorry this
causes you discomfort, Dear Brother, but you must understand that
among us Jyuraians it is perfectly acceptable. In fact, if Yosho
hadn't left to pursue Ryoko... I may have been married to him as
young as fourteen years of age.”
“Alright,” I
sighed. “But in order to maintain appearances here on Earth, I
can't be affectionate with her... at least, no more than a family
friend would be. And not even here in private. I don't mean to say
anyone here doesn't have my well being in mind, but as the old
sayings go, the walls have ears, and loose lips sink ships.”
“Of course not.
I wouldn't dream of forcing the matter with you and her. Just please
try not to break her little heart, Dear Brother.”
Ryoko chuckled.
“See, Ayeka? I told you he was a heart breaker. First Minagi and
now Yuki-chan.”
“Who is Minagi?”
asked Yuki's voice as the quartet from earlier showed up again.
“Come on in and
I'll tell you all about her,” I said. “Really, I think you and
Minagi would get along well. She's such a sweet woman.”
Yuki reacted
positively to what everyone had to say about Minagi. In fact, she
even felt sad for her – having to leave me behind so she could find
herself. She then went on to say that she couldn't wait to meet her
future sister-wife.
Face, meet palm.
It was going on
right in front of me, and even then I had a hard time believing that
this girl was accepting the whole package deal. Maybe she was just
wrapped up in the fairy-tale aspects of it all? In a way, I hope so.
The only troublesome part about that would be the damage control
over how embarrassed she'll be if she ever has a heel-face-turn
moment.
I sighed as I
turned all that over in my head while leaning back at my PC's Work
Station. Broken body or not, I still had some data that Heater
finished processing to return – and another generous paycheck would
be forthcoming afterward.
While I maintained
an open-door policy on my C-Space, I rarely had issues with anyone
sneaking in. Even Ryoko would directly seek me out the moment they
crossed the threshold – something I was glad for because it meant
she respected my wish for her to not use my C-Space to hide and dodge
her chores. (Besides, she probably had much better hiding spots.)
So, I was quite
surprised when I heard the familiar creaking of my loft bed.
“The hell?” I
muttered to myself as I got up to see what that was. As heavy as he
was, my cat, Rene still wasn't big enough to elicit a noise from the
bed. Or maybe Ryo-Ohki was playing with Rene again? Boy, it had
taken him a while to get used to the Cabbit and her unusual
shape-changing ability.
I made my way down
from the second level and into the common space, then over to my bed.
“I should have
known,” I grumped as I cleared the ladder.
Yuki-chan. In
pajamas. Hugging my pillow to her chest. Giving me a sheepish grin.
“Ah... I didn't
want you to feel lonely tonight?” she tried.
“Limits,” I
said succinctly. “They exist. And this is one of them. By the
way, you only got away with the bath tonight because everyone else
was there. Otherwise, that wouldn't have happened.”
“Pleeeeaaaassse?”
she wheedled.
“Sorry. No
amount of cute is gonna budge me on this matter. Now c'mere, ya
spoiled little princess.”
Yuki positively
squealed in delight as she tried to get away from me, but I caught
her by the ankle and dragged her over regardless. Soon enough, I had
a squeeing little girl hefted over my shoulder, and was knocking on
the door to Ayeka and Sasami's room.
“Did you girls
forget something?” I asked glibly as Ayeka opened the door. Both
she and Sasami giggled at the sight of me with Yuki's legs kicking
over my shoulder (“put-me-down-put-me-down...”) as I strode in
and gently dumped the feisty little girl into the futon the
Princesses had made for her earlier.
“Now, you stay
here with my sisters. Okay, Yuki-chan?”
“No!” she
declared petulantly.
“Yes, you spoiled
little princess.”
Yuki stuck her
tongue out at me and pulled down an eyelid with her pinky finger.
“Oh-ho-ho-ho!
That's it, isn't it? I got your number now! You get just about
anything you want back home, don't you? Even if you have to work for
it a bit.”
Yuki harumphed
cutely and turned her nose at me.
“Heh. You are
adorable, even when you're angry.” Unable to resist, I pulled Yuki
into one of my bone-crushing hugs that Sasami was so fond of. Yuki
squeaked under the pressure. “Now stay here and sleep well,
Yuki-chan.”
“Moouuuu,” Yuki
moaned.
I smiled, then went
to Sasami and gave her a good night hug, getting the usually happy
grunt from her, and then Ayeka, too.
“OOOUUUUFFF!”
cried Ayeka, not quite used to this sort of
affectionate-older-brother treatment yet. “Brother!” she cried
out, scandalized, but with a smile that belied her offense as she
smacked my shoulder.
I just smiled as I
left the girls to themselves. “Good night everyone.”
Before I went to
sleep that night, I made an adjustment to my C-Space's security
settings that if Yuki tried to get inside then she would be
teleported straight to her futon in the Princesses' room. I was not
surprised that morning to find that Yuki had triggered the security
protocol no less than three times that night.
That adorable
little imp would be the death of me if I wasn't careful.
Anyhow, HUGE segment here because I don't see any real way of breaking it up without breaking the flow. You guys better enjoy this one, because it's gonna be more than a few days before I get the next one ready.
Summary in two words: BATH TIME!!!
“Is everything okay, Gar-kun?” asked Tenchi as we both scrubbed
ourselves down. Tonight he insisted that we bathe together and have
a bit of brother-time. I know, second bath of the night, but my body
could use the therapy, and Tenchi needed this.
“Not really,” I said.
“But I thought you'd be okay by now,” Tenchi replied in surprise.
“It's the girl, Yuki Mihara. Earlier she and Sasami got to
talking, and now Yuki has got it in her head that I'm the best
candidate to be her husband.”
“What!? But she's too young!”
“I know, Tenchi. But on the other hand, she's honestly shaken up,
so I can see how she's got this crush on me, but still...”
Tenchi just laughed. “Welcome to my world.”
I shot Tenchi a look as I put my toiletries away. “The only one of
your group that is underage is Sasami-chan. And she, at least, is
going to wait until she's the proper age.”
We both went outside and sunk ourselves into the steaming hot water.
“Still... I did at least get her to promise to wait until she
graduated from high school.”
“That's something at least,” said Tenchi.
Suddenly, we heard a shoji open and then shut. “Oh hell no,” I
breathed. I then cut a look at Tenchi. “Tenchi! Stay calm, let
me handle this!”
Tenchi, his eyes wide in panic, only nodded quickly. The last time
this happened my advice wasn't... followed.
“Hooiii!” I called out. “The bath is occupied right now! Not
a good idea to come out, especially if you're a girl.”
“Oh?” came a coy sounding husky voice. “But I'm not a girl.”
Ryoko then appeared around the corner wearing absolutely nothing at
all. “I... am a woman.”
I sighed. Damn, but she had an epic body, but that was to be
expected, given who her mother was.
“Ryoko, is there any way I can convince you to let us be tonight?”
Ryoko put her index finger to her lips as she pursed the, looking off
into the distance as she hummed thoughtfully.
“Nope!” she finally said brightly.
I cursed colorfully under my breath. Knowing several languages
certainly added spice to one's ability to sound foulmouthed. Grandpa
Charles would have been proud.
“Alright then. C'mon Tenchi. It's not as big as this, but you and
I can share my tub without any problems.”
“Oh, c'mon you guys! Please stay!” Ryoko pleaded. “I just
want to chat. You know, how do you Americans put it... 'Shoot the
breeze'?”
“That is the term for it,” I allowed as I began to think. “Okay
how about this then. Tenchi? Do you mind if Ryoko bathes with us as
long as she behaves herself? No touching, no teasing, just small
talk?”
“Ah... but... she's naked!” said Tenchi.
I then look to Ryoko.
“Look, I don't get what the big deal is,” said Ryoko hotly. “I
mean, there's no point to covering myself up here! I refuse to be
ashamed of my body. Besides, this is supposed to be relaxation time,
and if I could have my way I'd be running around without clothes all
the time.”
I blinked. “You're a nudist!?”
“Yeah. Problem?”
I thought about that for a second. “No, not really. Just... damn,
that's a dangerous distraction.”
Ryoko cackled and just went over to start scrubbing down.
I looked to Tenchi. “Are you alright with this?”
“Ah... not... really.”
“Why not?”
“Because it's not proper!”
“And why is it not proper?”
“Ah... because... uhm...”
“Look, Tenchi, Ryoko doesn't have any problem with it at all.
She's a nudist. Weren't you paying attention? That means she
doesn't care who sees her body.”
“You mean... she's not trying to seduce me?”
“No, but I bet she would absolutely love to hear what you think of
her body. It's a point of pride for a woman that the man she likes
has good things to say about it.”
“Oh, I see... let me think about it for a minute.” The minutes
ticked by. Ryoko hummed cheerfully as she scrubbed herself down.
Tenchi fidgeted nervously. I simply laid back and let the warm water
swirl gently around me.
“Okay you guys, I'm coming in,” said Ryoko.
“You know, Tenchi, if it helps you don't have to look. Just wait
until she gets in the water and you can just look at her face.”
“Ah, good idea.”
Ryoko chuckled as she entered the water. “But why wouldn't he look
at me?”
I sighed. “It's a matter of respect, Ryoko. He's been raised to
think it is disrespectful to gaze on a woman's naked body.
Unfortunately, that upbringing failed to include what to do when a
woman freely displays herself. That is, he doesn't understand the
mindset of a nudist.”
“And you do.”
I nodded. “For one thing, you feel that clothing is simply
confining. For another, you feel that your body is like a work of
art, and not something to be ashamed of. Your body is beautiful and
it would make you feel selfish if you kept it only to yourself.”
“My my!” Ryoko said, feigning embarrassment. “Such a
flatterer. Why, if Tenchi didn't already own my heart, you might
have just swept me off my feet there.” I guffawed and Ryoko got a
good chuckle as well before she continued, “Really, Tenchi,
Gar-kun's got the right of it. Honestly, I don't care how much you
do look at my body. Seducing you has nothing to do with it.”
“Ah, they're finally done!” I heard Ayeka's voice as she entered
the bath.
I leveled a glare at Ryoko. “YOU DIDN'T.”
Ryoko laughed a soft, villainous laugh. “Oh, I did.”
She. Took. Down. The. Sign.
“Ayeka! We're still in here!” I called out before she could come
into view.
“With meeee~eeee!” Ryoko called out as well.
“WHAT!?” Ayeka yelled as she came charging around the corner.
“BROTHER! What is the meaning of this!? I thought you were better
than this!”
Ryoko then teleported out of the water and appeared again behind
Ayeka.
“Relax, Princess,” said Ryoko coyly as she placed her hands
reassuringly on Ayeka's shoulders. “It wasn't Garrick. It was
alllll me.”
“What? Back to your old tricks, you pirate?” growled the irate
princess.
Time to intervene! “Believe it or not, sister, seducing Tenchi
wasn't her goal here.”
“Brother?” said Ayeka, fixing me with a surprised glare. “Why
would you say that!?”
“Because, it's true,” I reaffirmed. “She kept her distance
from Tenchi and the worst she did was tease him a bit.”
Ayeka then cut a look at Tenchi. “Is this true, Lord Tenchi?”
Tenchi smiled nervously. “yes,” he managed weakly.
Ayeka closed her eyes and sighed softly. “Very well then.” She
then turned and leveled a venomous look at Ryoko. “That doesn't
explain why you took the warning sign down!”
I gave Ryoko a look as well.
Ryoko shrugged nonchalantly. “I figured you might want to join
us.”
Well, that was an interesting answer.
“Why would I?” Ayeka snapped.
“So you can enjoy Lord Tenchi's company in a relaxed setting. So
you can let your hair down and drop the Princess act. So you can
just sit back and relax.”
Ayeka looked like she was about to boil over. It was time to
intercede with a bit of reasoning – before she blew like a broken
pressure cooker.
“Sister, Ryoko's got a point. You really do need to learn how to
let go. I'm proud of how far you and Ryoko have come, but you're
still just a little too tightly wound up.”
Ayeka growled as she fumed. “oooohhh fine then! But I'm not
taking off this towel and you two are staying on that end of the
bath!”
“That's perfectly fine, sister,” I said soothingly.
Ayeka harrumphed and about-faced to go and scrub down before entering
the bath proper. Ryoko snickered and I gave her a sharp look.
“What!?” exclaimed the cyan-haired beauty as she slipped into the
water once more.
“You know what,” I shot back. “You can't push her so hard so
quickly!”
Ryoko waved it off though. “Feh. She needs the push.”
“Like hell I do!” came Ayeka's voice. And then Ryoko was deluged
by a pan full of cold water suspended between two of Ayeka's logs.
“BLAAARRGH!” cried out Ryoko. She then gave me a look.
“Well, what do you expect!?” I cried out.
She then sighed and said, “Yeah, you're right. I guess I deserved
that.”
I cringed and kept an eye on the washing area. Oh man! Please,
Ayeka, don't follow up that remark! Please don't make a snide
remark!
Fortunately, none was forthcoming. Instead, Ayeka quickly finished
scrubbing, rinsed, then came over wrapped in her bath towel, her nose
turned up from Ryoko.
I sighed in relief as she slid into the water without any further
fuss.
Suddenly, as if a switch had been thrown, Ayeka gave me a bright
smile.
“Oh, Dear Brother! Sasami had mentioned to me that our adorable
little guest has taken a liking to you.”
I sighed once more. “It's true. She confessed her love to me
earlier before we came down for dinner.”
“Is that so?” said Ryoko with interest. “Little girl has got
some real guts going after an older guy like you. Kinda cute,
though. Neh, Ayeka? Weren't you no older when you fell for Yosho?”
Ayeka blushed. “Younger, actually.”
Ryoko smiled. “So what made you fall for him anyhow? I mean, I
know he wasn't hard to look at back then! Hubba-hubba!”
I couldn't help it – that got a laugh out of me. Ryoko just
flashed me a wink.
“Well, there was that,” Ayeka admitted. “I don't suppose that
having our mothers push us together all the time helped matters.”
“Matter of point,” I said suddenly. “Your hair used to be cyan
like Sasami-imouto's.”
Ayeka's blush deepened. “I... don't like to admit it. I wanted
Yosho to like me so much. So I changed my hair color to be more like
his mother's.”
“Don't feel too bad, Sister. I've wanted to see what I look like
with different hair color, too.”
“You have?” asked Tenchi.
I nodded. “Kinda tempted to do a gene-mod for the fun of it. But
the problem is that I can only do that for stuff that's already in my
genome. This is why Sister's hair has a purple tint to it – just
like her Father's. I can probably get away with going for a flaming
red color. I have the Irish in me for it. In fact, if you look at
my whiskers carefully you'll see that a good number of them are red.”
Tenchi leaned closer to get a better look and Ryoko scooted over our
way as well.
“Whoah! No kidding!” said Ryoko. “Hey, Ayeka! Check this
out!”
“Really?” said Ayeka as she moved closer. “Oh my!” She then
spluttered into a fit of giggles.
“Eh? What's so funny?”
“Oh my... I just had the thought... what would the look on
father's face be like if he saw little red heads running through the
Palace on Tenju!”
Ryoko chuckled. “He'd probably wonder if Washu was up to something
at first.”
“Oi, what's so interesting about red hair?” asked a familiar
voice.
“Speak of the devil,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Hey
Washu-GURK!”
Standing there was Washu, wrapped in a towel and ready for a bath...
along with her was Mihoshi and Sasami...
...and Yuki.
“Yay!” cried Sasami. “Bathtime with both Tenchi-nii and
Gar-nii!”
“With... Gar-kun?” stammered Yuki as she turned bright red.
Ayeka and Ryoko then proceeded to nearly drown themselves laughing.
I sighed in defeat. “I suppose this means I have to wash someone's
back?”
Washu smiled knowingly. “Don't worry about it, Gar-kun. We're all
big girls here. We can help each other out.”
“Thank you.”
“Don't thank me yet,” said Washu to me, soto voiced. “I'm
gonna give you hell for letting me be the last to hear about this
one.”
I gave Washu-chan a flat look. “Oi. You know, if you would only
poke your head out your lab more often you might not have to slather
on the sunblock quite as much.”
Washu gave me an evil smile. “Oh, it is on, buddy. It is on.”
“Save it for later when Yuki-chan ain't around. The things we'll
say she's not quite ready for yet.”
Washu harumphed and went to help the others get scrubbed down.
I turned to everyone else.
“Dear Brother, was that what I thought it was?” asked Ayeka
apprehensively.
I shrugged. “Yeah, but don't worry. She'll hold back until
Yuki-chan is away tomorrow. Until then you guys have the opportunity
to reach safe distance.”
“Say, Ryoko, what would you think of us two going someplace far
away with Tenchi tomorrow? Say, the Andromeda Galaxy?”
“Great idea!” said Ryoko with cheer that belied her terror.
“Tenchi-kun?”
“YES PLEASE!” squeaked Tenchi.
The last time Washu and I had gotten into it everyone else had been
sucked into the affair like they were orbiting a black hole. It
probably didn't help that I had rather effectively weaponized
Mihoshi's causality-bending weirdness. Washu was still trying to
wrap her head around how I did that. Really, it was simple. I just
gave Mihoshi a CD-R disk carrying a variant of the Yggdrasil Bug
virus (a nasty little replicating worm with a penchant for hiding in
plain sight – this variant was a nuisance in that it did nothing
except to make the anti-virus software go nuts) and told her that
Washu wanted her to put it in the lab's computer. Everything else
snowballed from Mihoshi's collateral damage.
Forest for the trees, Washu-chan, forest for the trees – I don't
stop to question why a tool works, I just put it to use and
stockpile the empirical evidence.
While we were
waiting, Tenchi and I grabbed our towels and wrapped them around our
waists without leaving the water.
“So, red huh?”
asked Ryoko.
I shrugged. “Might
be fun. I'd certainly turn a lot more heads, and it'd look better
than Seiryuo's mop.”
Ayeka snickered.
“Oh, it would be wonderful if you could show him up! I can't
believe they actually let him become an instructor at the GP
Academy.”
“Eh,” I said,
shrugging. “That'll be someone else's job.”
“Hey, is this one
of those Pondstrider things of yours?” asked Ryoko.
“Nah. It's
nothing important. But I'll let you ladies know when it's going
down. That way you can take pictures.”
“Say, what about
Yuki-chan?” asked Tenchi. “Did you know about her?”
“I knew about
her,” I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “Really, all she had was
a minor bit-roll. Later on she may have been one of Sasami-chan's
friends when she starts going to school, but that was about all the
involvement she was supposed to have in your lives. I just wasn't
expecting something like this. Though I guess I should have – her
being a girl her age.” I sighed at that. Really, I need to learn
to stop meddling.
“Well, I for one
think it's adorable,” stated Ayeka. Before I could say anything,
my adoptive sister went on, “Besides, if what Sasami-chan says
about a tree bonding to her comes true, Father will have no choice
but to let her into the family. It has happened before.”
“Something about
someone hearing a tree's voice calling out to them?” I said,
recalling a bit of trivia from the 101 Facts About Tenchi Muyo
article. (Fact: that tail that we see Ryoko with sometimes? Just an
amusing accessory – she thinks its cute.)
Ayeka nodded.
“They have that ability. When a tree senses that it's match is in
the vicinity, it will call out to that person with its telepathic
voice. I have seen it happen once – a young boy that was the son
of a grounds keeper. He wound up being adopted into the Tatsuki
Clan.”
“Well, that's all
well and good, but how would we go about sneaking her over to
Jyurai?”
Ayeka shook her
head. “I suspect, Dear Brother, that would be a non-issue. If
Tsunami wills it, little Yuki will not have to leave Earth for a tree
to decide on her. And at that point, the issue would be forced upon
us, for the tree that does decide to have her will choose none other,
even if she were to die before the bonding ceremony could take
place.”
I puffed a big
sigh. “Great. So much for a simple life.”
“Don't be so hard
on her, Dear Brother. She is just a child still. She will probably
grow out of it. But, even if she doesn't, then with her level of
dedication she will make a fine wife for you.”
“I get it,
Sister... it's just... that sort of age difference is frowned upon in
the culture I was brought up in. They even have a phrase for it:
cradle robber.”
“I am sorry this
causes you discomfort, Dear Brother, but you must understand that
among us Jyuraians it is perfectly acceptable. In fact, if Yosho
hadn't left to pursue Ryoko... I may have been married to him as
young as fourteen years of age.”
“Alright,” I
sighed. “But in order to maintain appearances here on Earth, I
can't be affectionate with her... at least, no more than a family
friend would be. And not even here in private. I don't mean to say
anyone here doesn't have my well being in mind, but as the old
sayings go, the walls have ears, and loose lips sink ships.”
“Of course not.
I wouldn't dream of forcing the matter with you and her. Just please
try not to break her little heart, Dear Brother.”
Ryoko chuckled.
“See, Ayeka? I told you he was a heart breaker. First Minagi and
now Yuki-chan.”
“Who is Minagi?”
asked Yuki's voice as the quartet from earlier showed up again.
“Come on in and
I'll tell you all about her,” I said. “Really, I think you and
Minagi would get along well. She's such a sweet woman.”
Yuki reacted
positively to what everyone had to say about Minagi. In fact, she
even felt sad for her – having to leave me behind so she could find
herself. She then went on to say that she couldn't wait to meet her
future sister-wife.
Face, meet palm.
It was going on
right in front of me, and even then I had a hard time believing that
this girl was accepting the whole package deal. Maybe she was just
wrapped up in the fairy-tale aspects of it all? In a way, I hope so.
The only troublesome part about that would be the damage control
over how embarrassed she'll be if she ever has a heel-face-turn
moment.
I sighed as I
turned all that over in my head while leaning back at my PC's Work
Station. Broken body or not, I still had some data that Heater
finished processing to return – and another generous paycheck would
be forthcoming afterward.
While I maintained
an open-door policy on my C-Space, I rarely had issues with anyone
sneaking in. Even Ryoko would directly seek me out the moment they
crossed the threshold – something I was glad for because it meant
she respected my wish for her to not use my C-Space to hide and dodge
her chores. (Besides, she probably had much better hiding spots.)
So, I was quite
surprised when I heard the familiar creaking of my loft bed.
“The hell?” I
muttered to myself as I got up to see what that was. As heavy as he
was, my cat, Rene still wasn't big enough to elicit a noise from the
bed. Or maybe Ryo-Ohki was playing with Rene again? Boy, it had
taken him a while to get used to the Cabbit and her unusual
shape-changing ability.
I made my way down
from the second level and into the common space, then over to my bed.
“I should have
known,” I grumped as I cleared the ladder.
Yuki-chan. In
pajamas. Hugging my pillow to her chest. Giving me a sheepish grin.
“Ah... I didn't
want you to feel lonely tonight?” she tried.
“Limits,” I
said succinctly. “They exist. And this is one of them. By the
way, you only got away with the bath tonight because everyone else
was there. Otherwise, that wouldn't have happened.”
“Pleeeeaaaassse?”
she wheedled.
“Sorry. No
amount of cute is gonna budge me on this matter. Now c'mere, ya
spoiled little princess.”
Yuki positively
squealed in delight as she tried to get away from me, but I caught
her by the ankle and dragged her over regardless. Soon enough, I had
a squeeing little girl hefted over my shoulder, and was knocking on
the door to Ayeka and Sasami's room.
“Did you girls
forget something?” I asked glibly as Ayeka opened the door. Both
she and Sasami giggled at the sight of me with Yuki's legs kicking
over my shoulder (“put-me-down-put-me-down...”) as I strode in
and gently dumped the feisty little girl into the futon the
Princesses had made for her earlier.
“Now, you stay
here with my sisters. Okay, Yuki-chan?”
“No!” she
declared petulantly.
“Yes, you spoiled
little princess.”
Yuki stuck her
tongue out at me and pulled down an eyelid with her pinky finger.
“Oh-ho-ho-ho!
That's it, isn't it? I got your number now! You get just about
anything you want back home, don't you? Even if you have to work for
it a bit.”
Yuki harumphed
cutely and turned her nose at me.
“Heh. You are
adorable, even when you're angry.” Unable to resist, I pulled Yuki
into one of my bone-crushing hugs that Sasami was so fond of. Yuki
squeaked under the pressure. “Now stay here and sleep well,
Yuki-chan.”
“Moouuuu,” Yuki
moaned.
I smiled, then went
to Sasami and gave her a good night hug, getting the usually happy
grunt from her, and then Ayeka, too.
“OOOUUUUFFF!”
cried Ayeka, not quite used to this sort of
affectionate-older-brother treatment yet. “Brother!” she cried
out, scandalized, but with a smile that belied her offense as she
smacked my shoulder.
I just smiled as I
left the girls to themselves. “Good night everyone.”
Before I went to
sleep that night, I made an adjustment to my C-Space's security
settings that if Yuki tried to get inside then she would be
teleported straight to her futon in the Princesses' room. I was not
surprised that morning to find that Yuki had triggered the security
protocol no less than three times that night.
That adorable
little imp would be the death of me if I wasn't careful.