Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Concubine Chronicles ❯ Heavy Breathing ( Chapter 4 )

Concubine Chronicles

By: bsmart

Disclaimer:Why the hell am I writing this? Nobody reads them and they have no legal weight. It's a complete waste of time and bandwidth and yet I'm still typing. If you're under the legal age where ever you are don't read this, but since you're going to anyways at least don't let your mommy catch you. This fic is very much NC-17.

Note: This is a sort of manga/OVA fic. If you've only seen the show then you might be a little lost.

"…" Normal Speech

Chapter 4: Heavy Breathing

"There's something I need to tell all of you, something I should have told you a long time ago."

Tenchi's resolved faltered for a moment as those words came out of his mouth and rather than immediately launching into his explanation there was a pregnant pause that took on a life of its own.

He had their undivided attention and having every one of the girls he cared so deeply about staring at him was disconcerting, especially given the fact that this could be the last time he saw some of them.

Washu was looking at him intently but there wasn't the curiosity that was on the other girl's faces. Sasami and Mihoshi both looked at him curiously, genuinely wondering what was going on and what was the matter. Ryoko was harder to read as she sat there stone faced but Tenchi saw just a little glimmer of fear in her eyes. 'She's probably been praying and dreading to hear those words for a long time he thought, she's terrified of what I could say.' Ayeka though, while she paid attention to Tenchi there was a sad resignation on her face, and that look galvanized Tenchi.

"All of you have lived here a long time with me, with us, and I...all that time I've been so, so worried about what could happen if I...I..showed any affection to any of you that I've just closed off."

Ryoko started to speak up, "Tenchi..."

"No Ryoko let me finish. I recoil any time one of you touches me, I leave the room if I'm alone in it with one of you, I don't even...I don't even talk to one of you unless someone else is in the room. I just can't do it any more, it's not fair to any of you for me to treat you like lepers, and I don't have the luxury to do it anymore. I'm just sorry that it took this to finally make me do something about it."

None of the girls moved to speak when Tenchi paused to take a breath.

"I've sat on what I've felt for more that a year trying to figure out how to tell all of you but I could never figure out how, so I'm just going to say it."

The only breath to be heard in the room was Tenchi's as he inhaled and prepared to swing for the fences.

"Sasami, you're the sweetest person I know, you're always cooking and cleaning around the house without ever being asked and with less help than you deserve..."

Sasami's eyes started to tear up, "Tenchi-niichan..."

"You're happy and cheerful no matter what happens and I don't think we all could have lasted this long if it weren't for you."

Mihoshi was starting to get misty as she watched Tenchi talk to Sasami, it might not have been the ending that she was hoping for but it was so sweet. Ryoko and Ayeka looked confused and the self satisfied smirk on Washu's face was starting to grow, and then Tenchi turned to Ryoko.

"Ryoko the very first thing you did when I woke you was scare me to death, then you tried to kill me."

Ryoko's confusion dissolved into a sheepish grin.

"Which I repaid by chopping off your hand."

Ryoko said nothing but the apologetic smile remained.

"You're wild and exuberant and your lust for life is incredible. If not for you none of us would be here or be as close as we all are."

Ryoko was still a bit confused but now she was smiling much like Sasami, so far things had gone remarkably well for both of them. Mihoshi was still happy for Sasami and now she was happy for Ryoko though like everyone else she was still confused as to what was exactly going on.

The words were coming easier to Tenchi now, he was on a roll that he didn't intend to stop; he had to get this out before his courage failed him.

"Washu...I don't know how many times you've dragged me into your lab and tried to extract a sample and I know even less about how I managed to escape every time but I did. You are without a doubt the most brilliant person I know and the kindest mother I've ever known, to Taro and to Ryoko even."

Ryoko's smile faltered a bit at the mention of her relationship to Washu though it returned when Washu told her, 'Just leave it be,' across their link.

By now most everyone had a smile on their face, though everyone was confused. In more than a year Tenchi had never spoken to any of them like this, they were used to getting a smile at the most; to suddenly have him telling them what he liked about them was a shock.

"Mihoshi..."

"Yes Tenchi?"

"...no matter how bad things may seem or how bad a mood anyone is in we can always count on you to cheer us up. I don't think I've ever met someone more willing to put others before herself. You're sweet and happy and a good police officer, I think you've kept everyone more mellow than they would have other wise been during all this."

Mihoshi blushed a deep crimson as Tenchi finished.

Ayeka was now thoroughly perplexed. Why would Tenchi do this? Was he just trying to soften the blow to them before announcing who he'd chosen? Why do this to them, it was crueler than simply telling them he'd chosen Mihoshi, at least that would have been quick, and then it was her turn.

"Ayeka, I still don't know why the crown princess of a star empire wants anything to do with me but for some reason you do, and I feel honored. You're demure and proper and everything a princess should be but you can also hold your own with Ryoko, I just pray that one day I can be as strong in spirit as you are."

Tenchi thought he saw Ayeka wince as he finished and a tear start to form in her eye but she didn't say anything to him, she just smiled lightly at him and said nothing.

Tenchi took one last deep cleansing breath, he'd tried to hit the high points about what he loved of each of the girls, if he listed out everything he'd be here all day, and he'd intentionally avoided some of the baser reasons he loved them lest they get the wrong idea, this would be hard enough. 'Enough stalling, get on with it!'

'Well then here goes.'

"The reason I wanted to talk to all of you is...I love all of you."

After a year and a half of desiring to hear those words, though not exactly like that, the girls didn't know how to react. They had become so used to never hearing anything sentimental from the object of their affections that for it to finally be said they just didn't know what to do, and none of them had expected it to be quite like that. Even Washu, who had been expecting something like this for a while now was affected, to finally hear that he loved her, to have it confirmed, affected her far more than she had planned on.

When none of the girls said anything, when they all just stared at him Tenchi launched into his explanation, he'd make them understand. "I tried for the longest time to just pick one of you, I did, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't do it. I spent weeks trying to decide which one of you I wanted to be with, but I couldn't, I want to be with all of you." Tenchi's shoulders slumped and he tried to look through the rug under the coffee table. "I love all of you too much to part with any of you; I just didn't know how to tell you."

"I know this probably isn't that weird in your cultures, but it is in mine, and...it didn't seem like you could stand each other, I've always been afraid that you all would hate each other more than you love me, than I hoped you loved me. I'm sorry I didn't do this a long time ago, you all deserved better than to have to wait this long."

For the longest time no one said a word, not Sasami, not Washu, not Ryoko or Ayeka or even Mihoshi, and the silence began to eat at Tenchi. 'I've waited to long, they think I'm a pervert, they can't stand each other,' all jockeyed for position in Tenchi's mind as he waited for someone to respond.

When someone did finally move it was the person everyone least expected. Sasami silently slid off her end of the couch and walked around the coffee table to Tenchi. There were tears in the little princess' eyes when she threw her arms around Tenchi and quietly sobbed, "I love you too Tenchi."

Even if Sasami was the one girl he knew he'd never even get to see full grown it felt good to know that she wasn't rejecting him.

To all the girl's surprise, especially Sasami's, rather than the usual pat on the back he would hesitantly give them when one of them might hug them Tenchi wrapped his arms around Sasami and squeezed her.

In the middle of hugging Sasami Tenchi felt someone else standing over them. With a final tight squeeze he let Sasami go and stood up.

"I was wondering when you'd finally get around to saying it," Washu said with her usual haughty attitude.

Tenchi tried to give her his best smile, "Sorry."

Washu tried to pretend she was judging him for a moment though she made no attempt to wipe the dampness from her eyes. "Fine, but you'd better not make this so difficult again."

Tenchi wasn't a short boy by any measure but where's he'd been able to hug Sasami while he was sitting down, even standing up his head barely cleared Washu's bosoms. It felt good to be able to wrap his arms around her and pull her in close rather that struggling to find a way out of her grip.

With his eyes closed he didn't know that Mihoshi had stood as well and was patiently waiting her turn but as soon as Washu let him go she gave him a gentle nudge and Tenchi was immersed in a haze of golden curls as Mihoshi latched onto him. The blonde's grip was tremendous, not quite Misaki's level but he suspected that if she tried she could crack a few ribs. "Tenchiiii I love you!"

"I love you too Mihoshi."

Before she pulled away Mihoshi darted in to give Tenchi a peck on the cheek.

Ryoko and Ayeka were both still sitting on their couches, looking at him.

"All this time?" Ryoko asked with her voice carrying a hint of pleading. "All this time and you never told us?"

"Ryoko I'm sorry, I just couldn't. The way all of you fought, I was terrified that I'd tell you and then you all would decide that you couldn't stand living together."

"So now because of Mihoshi...," Ayeka started.

Tenchi nodded. "Yeah, it was my worst nightmare coming true. I knew I couldn't wait any longer, if I didn't do something about it it was only a matter of time before you were all gone, and that I couldn't stand." It was a little tricky talking to them with each of them on either side of him but he made sure to look each of them in the eye.

"Why didn't you talk to us? We could have...we could have done something."

The frustration in Ayeka's voice ate at Tenchi. If he had spent a year in agony and frustration what about them? He knew he loved them and he was sure they loved him; the only thing they knew was that they loved him and he never showed them the tiniest bit of affection back. 'The fact that they're even still here is a miracle,' Tenchi thought.

Tenchi nervously kneeled down in front of Ayeka and took her hands in his. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I love you."

"Lord Tenchi..."

"Just Tenchi Ayeka, please?"

"Tenchi...," Ayeka stopped when she saw the look in his eyes. Her knight in shining armor was kneeling at her feet. She wanted to be angry with him, she wanted to rail at him for waiting so long and putting all of them through this but she couldn't, she knew that she could crush him with a word, so she held her tongue. "I love you too."

Tenchi's plan had been to just tell the girls how he felt and maybe some hugs, he most certainly didn't plan on kissing them right then and there, but he did.

Ayeka was caught off guard by Tenchi's boldness. As soon as the words had left her mouth her prince had closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her. At first Ayeka was too stunned to respond but quickly the reality of her situation. His rougher thinner lips were different than what she was used to but then again everything about Tenchi was different that she was used to, when Tenchi tugged lightly at her bottom lip she decided that she could learn to like different things.

Tenchi was surprised at how well his first kiss with a girl was going; he reckoned that there wasn't a whole lot about pressing your lips together that you could screw up but the pressure he started to feel back through Ayeka's soft lips was reassuring. Unfortunately as much as he wanted to continue this very pleasurable activity with his princess he knew there was someone else he had to talk to. Tenchi pulled back from the kiss but Ayeka tried to follow him until he put a hand on her shoulder. Just before he turned the tip of Ayeka's tongue crept out and licked her lips and Tenchi mirrored her actions. There was a faint taste on his lips, so faint he wasn't sure he wasn't imagining it, a pleasant sweetness that he wanted to taste again.

Ryoko was visibly trembling as Tenchi closed the gap between them. The anticipation of what she expected Tenchi to tell her was driving her insane, every time his lips moved, even from breathing she hoped with all her heart that he would finally say the three little words she had waited her entire life for. But with the anticipation was also a bone chilling terror, that he had waited to talk to her so that he could tell her he didn't love her, to ask her to leave, and there was a bit, just a little bit, of jealousy directed at Ayeka. Unlike everyone else Ryoko knew for a fact that that had been Tenchi's first kiss and she had wanted it for herself. 'There'll be other firsts,' she tried to reassure herself; 'You still haven't kissed anyone yet.'

"What took you so long?" Ryoko asked as Tenchi reached for her hand.

"You know me, can't make up my mind," Tenchi said lightly trying to blow it off. He'd wasted a year with the girls so far and that was not something he wanted to dwell on.

Ryoko quivered as Tenchi's calloused fingers slid over hers and gripped her hand and when he squeezed it she sucked her breath in in surprise. Tenchi was willingly holding her hand, she hadn't had to surprise him or grab him or trick him, he was holding it of his own free will and she struggled to commit every bit of that moment to her memory.

"Ryoko," the soft soothing tone of Tenchi's voice caressed Ryoko's ears in a way she didn't think was possible. "You've known me longer than anyone has and I'm just sorry it took me this long to finally say this." Tenchi paused to gather himself and then looked deep into the former space pirate's eyes. "Ryoko I love you."

Washu smiled as Ryoko lunged forward to wrap Tenchi up in the first hug he immediately didn't fight against. There were tears on her daughter's face as she mashed her lips against Tenchi's. The two girl's kisses were nearly perfect expressions of their own natures in Washu's eyes, Ayeka's was sweet and tender and Ryoko's was wild and unreserved. 'There's a time and a place for both of those but if they want to curl the boy's socks I'll have to sit both of them down and teach them how it's done right,' she thought smugly.

Tenchi released Ryoko and looked around the couches at all the girls. "Umm, wow. I didn't really think it you all would take this so well."

"Tenchi, we've been waiting to hear you say that for a long time," Ayeka said, "I know I had started to give up hope of ever seeing the day you admitted that you loved me."

Tenchi sighed deeply. "I can't tell you all how sorry I am, I just can't. I mean, I just told all of you that I love you and none of you are that upset. I don't mean to sound conceited but I thought each of you wanted me for yourselves."

"Well..." Ayeka started evasively.

"We just sortta..." Ryoko chimed in but before either she or Ayeka could finish their thoughts Washu cut in.

"It's complicated Tenchi; I'll explain it to you later. For the moment, just enjoy the fact that five beautiful women love you."

And Tenchi tried to do just that. At first Sasami hopped up into his lap and reclined against his chest while her sister and Ryoko crowded in next to him. Tenchi had to fight down his instinctual reaction of pull away, not that it mattered since the girls had him sandwiched between them. The TV wasn't turned on and no one talked, they simply enjoyed being able to be close to one another. Eventually Sasami announced that she had to get back to work on lunch and both Ryoko and Ayeka volunteered to help, talking quietly but excitedly to each other the whole way to the kitchen.

Ayeka had just barely cleared the couch before Washu scooted over into her spot next to Tenchi and wrapped her arms around the boy's neck. "Now, about my kiss...," she purred enjoying the way Tenchi's eyes got big as she leaned in close and let the breath of her words caress his face.

She was about to swoop down and claim her prize when she heard Mihoshi softly murmur, "Anno..."

In her haste to press the flesh with her favorite guinea pig Washu had forgotten about Mihoshi. Rather than be angry at the blonde for interrupting Washu was actually pleased, whether she was even aware of it or not Mihoshi was every bit as possessive of Tenchi as any of the other girls. She would often stake her claim on him in far more subtle ways than Ryoko or Ayeka or even she was capable of, she would come in to watch her cartoons and catch Tenchi off guard; before Tenchi knew it his lap was her pillow and he was trapped. She never flaunted her occasional nudity in Tenchi's direction but at the same time she wasn't ashamed of it. While the blonde wasn't the most popular of the models picks for the one single girl Tenchi might have chosen to Washu's chagrin she was the consistent pick of the models she had the most faith in. Given that Mihoshi was more or less the reason she was able to snuggle up to Tenchi without the boy recoiling, well there had been the jerk when she first touched him but she was willing to over look that, she figured that she owed Mihoshi.

Tenchi now knew how a bird could be mesmerized by a snake; he doubted that if someone had set his pants of fire he would dare move as his eyes were locked on Washu's face. She was close enough for him to feel the warmth of her body and to feel her breath on his face as she leaned in. Her eyes were half closed in a sultry stare that gave him no choice but to comply with her wishes. This is why he was caught off guard when their lips were about to meet but then Washu looked off to the side and stopped.

'He looks so cute when he's confused,' Washu thought as she smiled at Tenchi. 'You'll thank me later,' she finished as she put a hand on his cheek and gently turned his face to Mihoshi. "I can wait."

The implications of what Washu was suggesting dawned on Mihoshi far quicker than they did on Tenchi. In fact he was pondering why Mihoshi was blushing so much when she leaned in close, closed her eyes, and puckered her lips. Washu's declaration, the shy glances and the healthy pink glow in Mihoshi's chocolate skinned cheeks came together in a rush as he stared at the detective's pursed pink lips, shimmering from the sheen of moisture on them. 'I should have guessed the girls would each want aaahhhh!!' he finished as Washu gave him a shove in the back pushing the boy towards Mihoshi.

Of course Washu knew perfectly well that Tenchi's Juraian reflexes would catch him before he crashed into Mihoshi, 'Just one more thing I've got to get around to explaining," Washu thought, she wouldn't have done it otherwise, but she wasn't about to let Tenchi leave Mihoshi hanging while he figured things out. 'We've all had just about enough of that.'

Mihoshi's toes literally curled when she felt Tenchi's lips press against hers, she had always wondered if all the silly things that her mother had told her about loving somebody were true and to her delight her mother was batting a thousand so far.

'She tastes like...a peach?' Tenchi was kissing Mihoshi, something he had wanted to do since he had lain eyes on her and the only thing he could think about was that Mihoshi's lips not only felt like ripe slices of fruit but they actually tasted slightly of them as well, like she'd just finished a peach but hadn't wiped off her mouth before their lip lock.

Washu was mentally reviewing how long humans and Kizikans could hold their respective breaths when Tenchi and Mihoshi finally came up for air. Both of them just looked at each other hesitantly until Tenchi's tongue finally won its battle and emerged to lick his lips and gather up the last little bit of peach flavored saliva. Mihoshi burst out into a giggle fit and mirrored Tenchi's actions causing Tenchi to start to chuckle himself.

"Hey!? What's so funny out here?" Ryoko asked from the doorway to the kitchen.

"Nothing, mind your own business," Washu scolded her daughter. Everyone had let her have her turn in peace so she'd be damned if anyone messed up Mihoshi's. She didn't really know why but she always felt a deep sense of....something when she was around the blonde, and Mihoshi wasn't in the process of destroying her lab.

While Washu was distracted Mihoshi started to blush even brighter red, she tried to stifle her giggles but couldn't manage it. Finally she pointed back over Tenchi's shoulder hoping that once he stopped looking at her she could get herself under control.

Tenchi was starting to turn around when he heard Washu say, "Last but not least," and his vision went red. The first three real kisses of his life had been pleasant and memorable and Tenchi had come away thinking he had a good handle on the practice. As Washu's mouth descended on his and her tongue brushed across his lips he realized he knew nothing. No one had been leading with the other girls, they were all relatively new to the art and none had really known what to do, not so with Washu. The softness of her lips and her kiss belied the strength behind it, Washu was completely in charge and Tenchi knew it, and strangely to him he didn't mind it that much. Tenchi's hands sought and found Washu's hips to rest on but the scientist's ran all over Tenchi's back, one of them finally settling on playing with his hair and the other making small circles in his back.

For the first time in a long time, 'Fifteen thousand years,' Washu was in intimate contact with someone she cared about and the intensity of her feelings startled her. Later on she would realize that she hadn't even wanted to analyze them as they coursed through her, she only wanted to feel close to someone, not understand why.

As the kiss drug on Tenchi felt Washu pulling him closer to her, a gentle but irresistible pull that began to threaten their seats on the couch. 'If she pulls me much farther I'll fall on top of her,' Tenchi thought but Washu kept up the pressure.

Tenchi was just about to fall over on top of Washu when Sasami called from the kitchen, "Lunch is almost ready!"

Washu's eyes popped open as Sasami's voice broke through the haze she was in. She gave Tenchi a quick shove that put him back upright but caused her to fall over backwards. Washu turned the fall into a roll off the couch and she stood in front of Tenchi staring down at him for a half second before saying, "I've got to do something real quick," and darting for her lab.

"But lunch..."

"I'll be back, I just need a moment," Washu explained and then disappeared into the closet.

"It's time to eat!" Mihoshi said happily as she bounced off the couch and grabbed Tenchi's hand. "Come on."

Tenchi muttered his acquiescence and allowed Mihoshi to lead him to the table.

***********************

Washu leaned against the door out of her lab in her adolescent form rubbing her temples. "What the hell was that?" she asked the empty lab. The question was purely rhetorical though, even though she was now little she could still feel her heart pounding in her chest, the elevated hormones in her blood stream, and the fact that she'd need a new pair of panties.

"It all started out so perfectly," she said. A few more moments of thinking and rocking back and forth on her heels passed and she declared, "It's just been fifteen millennia that's all," and she called up her holotop for a moment to enter some newly acquired data.

***********************

Lunch wasn't quite ready when Sasami called for them but by the time the table was set and everyone was seated, including Washu who gave Tenchi her usual self confident smile as she sat down. Everyone started to pass around the food and fill up their plates but little was said that would have been out of the usual, actually little was said at all. The silence carried over into the meal and Tenchi started to feel very self conscious as it drug out farther and farther but he didn't know what to say. 'I just confessed to loving all of them, how do you follow that up?'

"I need to get back out in the fields and get some carrots planted." Tenchi finally said. 'Ok, that was not it.'

"Oh," Ryoko said. "Do you have to?"

Tenchi considered recanting his words but they were out there now and he really did have to work on the carrots. "Yeah, if I don't we'll run out for a couple of days and Ryo-ohki will eat us out of house and home."

Ryoko glared at her partner but said nothing, Ryo-ohki's appetite was prodigious but there was nothing that could be done about it at the moment.

"I'll probably get in just before dinner, why don't we watch a movie afterwards?" 'Now that's the right way.'

The girl's faces lit up, movies were usually an exercise in seeing just how close you could get to Tenchi before he had to get up to "get some more popcorn" or something, hopefully tonight would be different.

"Which one?" Washu asked.

"I'm sitting by Tenchi!" Ryoko and Ayeka shouted at the same time.

"Oh I can make popcorn!" Mihoshi squealed.

"I can make tempura," Sasami chimed in.

Tenchi chuckled to himself at the girl's enthusiasm. "I'll let all of you take care of it, I'd just be in the way, and I need to get going if I want to finish before dinner."

Tenchi quickly finished off his lunch and dumped the dishes in the sink. He went up to his room to get changed and on the way back down each of the girls waylaid him for a moment for a kiss and a few whispered endearments.

Out in the field Tenchi was able to relax again. 'I probably should've stayed in there,' he thought. 'I've been avoiding them for a year and what's the first thing I do after I finally tell them?' Still, the carrots had to be planted, they had enough of a reserve to last a few days if they had some bad weather or the like but they'd learned the hard way not to rely on that reserve after Ryo-ohki wiped all of it out in one night when she'd gotten loose.

'Speak of the little oni,' he thought as he watched a toddler looking Ryo-ohki stagger though the field with a bag of carrot seeds the size of Sasami on her head and a couple of vials of Washu's fertilizer in the bib of her overalls. Obviously Washu's barrier was once again on the fritz.

Since the incident with the masu a year ago Ryo-ohki had started to come out and help Tenchi in the fields more and more. He had balked initially at letting a small child work with him but she'd quickly showed him that she was much more capable than her body suggest, just so long as you didn't give her anything too complicated.

Tenchi stopped tilling and started to tell her "Thank you," when Ryo-ohki dumped the bag at his feet but before he could get it out she had latched onto his leg and started to rub her face against it and...'purr?' The rumbling that Ryo-ohki was putting out was more lawn mower than cat but it was definitely a purr.

"What's this about?" Tenchi asked.

Ryo-ohki hopped back and started to "Myah!" insistently but it still drew only a blank from Tenchi. Sasami had apparently learned to decode a little of what the cabbit girl was trying to say but Ryoko was still the only one who could translate for her. Seeing that she wasn't getting her point across Ryo-ohki balled up her hands and put them high up on the back of her head and then swung them up and away then down in a long arc before hopping up and giving Tenchi her biggest smile.

"Uhhh...?"

Ryo-ohki was used to not being understood so she repeated her actions slowly and deliberately for Tenchi's benefit.

"Sasami's....happy? Sasami's happy."

Ryo-ohki nodded and then threw her arms out to the side and ran around for a minute before stopping in front of Tenchi, making a rather rude gesture and then shooting him another smile.

'If the hands meant Sasami...' "Ryoko, Ryoko's happy?"

Again Ryo-ohki nodded and then she poked Tenchi's leg and again smiled.

"I'm happy?" 'More like confused.'

Ryo-ohki shook her head in the negative then repeated poking him and then pantomimed Sasami and Ryoko, rude gesture and all, before smiling again.

"I made them happy?"

Ryo-ohki burst out into her own smile and grabbed Tenchi's leg again rumbling like a dump truck.

"I just finally told them how I felt Ryo-ohki, I'm just glad they're happy, and so are you. Now how about you help me plant these seeds?"

With Ryo-ohki planting seeds and giving them a drop of Washu's fertilizer behind him Tenchi got back to work and for a while he was able to simply enjoy being outside in the sun with Ryo-ohki working behind him. Soon though his thoughts turned back to the girls and the realization that he hadn't really considered the aftermath of his little confession.

'How in the nine hells will I be able to handle all five of them?' Tenchi had spent so much time agonizing about when and how to tell the girls his little secret that he hadn't given any consideration to how things would go after it, serious consideration, not the thoughts that had occasionally merited a retreat to his room. 'How do I not play favorites?' he wondered, 'not that there are any, if there were I wouldn't be in this mess.' Tenchi frowned, 'Not mess, situation.' Still the problem remained and his old standby of no contact at all simply wasn't going to fly. He also knew that only being...close to them in private wouldn't work; the girls almost certainly wouldn't allow it which meant...'I'll just have to wing it.' He supposed that it would be inevitable that sometimes the girls would start to feel jealous of each other, especially when he spent time alone with each of them. 'Maybe they're brought up to expect this,' he wondered. They all were aliens after all. 'Maybe this will be normal to them.'

Tenchi checked on Ryo-ohki's progress and laughed when he saw her pop a handful of seeds into her mouth before dispensing another one into the ground.

'Tonight I'll see if I can't figure this out.' He'd have too, Ayeka and Ryoko had already called the seats beside him but he'd also have to give Mihoshi and Washu some time and Sasami too. "I'm gonna be a party favor," he muttered, and then he thought about the girls who would be passing him around. "There are worse fates."

When they had finished in the fields the sun was already dipping below the mountains to the west. The tools were easily put away in the shed behind the house and after grabbing a basket of carrots for Ryo-ohki they went in. Sasami was thankful for the carrots and then she explained the evening to him.

"We're going to watch two movies tonight and eat in front of the TV," she told him. "Ryoko and Ayeka get to sit next to you for the first one and then Washu and Mihoshi get to for the next one."

'Well that solves that,' Tenchi thought. "What about you?"

"It'll be ok," she said dismissively. "Ryo-ohki, do you wanna help me cook?"

"Myah!"

"Then wash your hands."

Tenchi left Sasami and Ryo-ohki in the kitchen and headed for his room. Six hours in the carrot fields had left him feeling and looking grimy and he wanted to clean up before his first semi-date with the girls. Technically he could use the onsen but Tenchi preferred to use his own bathroom. The onsen was a minefield; every time he'd gone into it there had been one of the girls already making use of it or one had followed him in shortly after. Ryoko and Mihoshi never cared if he walked in on them, both of them usually greeting him quite warmly when he showed up, Washu didn't seem to care one way or another if he saw her but the way she'd looked at him he thought she wanted to devour him on the spot, and not in a good way. Ayeka got a little self-conscious if he came in while she was there in a towel but if she wasn't then she turned as red as Washu's hair, and Sasami, well he'd been lucky enough to never stumble in on her alone, that would have been very hard to explain. Trying to explain what he was doing in the onsen alone with one of the girls had been the reason he'd finally stopped using it. The girls all still drug him in from time to time but for the most part he avoided it like a leper colony and anyways he liked showers.

Tenchi quietly thanked his father as an unending stream of hot water poured down on his tired muscles, the old man was many things but a poor architect or cheap weren't two of them. The girls would be wondering what was taking so long but he just needed a hot water massage for a while. When he got out he put on a simple pair of cotton shorts and a t-shirt. "Nice and casual," he said to the mirror. He ran his fingers through his hair to get things presentable and then headed downstairs.

The girl's were waiting for him. Ryoko and Ayeka were on the couch directly in front of the TV with only a small space between them. Washu was sitting to the left of Ayeka and Mihoshi to the right of Ryoko. Sasami was just setting down a plate of some sort of snacks on the coffee table in the middle of the couches.

"What took you so long?" Ryoko asked. "We're you thinking of me? You know I can help you with that if you want me too."

Tenchi expect the usual string of vitriol from Ayeka but the Princess was just glaring at Ryoko and pointing at her sister whose back was to them.

"What?" Ryoko asked as Tenchi started to sit down between them.

"Not in front of her," Ayeka hissed.

Ryoko just rolled her eyes and complied.

Tenchi guessed that Mihoshi or Ayeka picked out the first movie as both of them seemed to enjoy it the most. He didn't normally go for romance movies given the way that Ayeka and Ryoko were snuggling up to him; especially during the really sappy parts he decided that they weren't that bad. Sasami's Tempura and Sushi disappeared quickly and the little princess was on the receiving end of many a heartfelt compliment. Eventually she sat down on the floor between Tenchi's legs and put a pillow behind her, seemingly content with her spot and Ryo-ohki curled up in her lap. Tenchi didn't watch much of the movie as he was far more interested in the girls who were clinging to him with a vengeance. Ayeka wasn't as dressed up as she normally was, Tenchi suspected that she had left off a layer or two of her usual garb and she had left her hair down again. The first time Ayeka had taken his hand Tenchi had started to jerk it back out of reflex but he caught himself and forced himself to relax and let her hold his hand. Ryoko was still wearing her black, yellow, and red dress but the long sleeves of her top had been done away with leaving her in a tank top style garment. Ryoko pressed in so close to Tenchi that just holding her hand was impossible, she wormed her way in under his arm which forced him to drape it over her shoulders, a maneuver that Ayeka soon copied.

Halfway through the movie it really dawned on Tenchi just what was going on, all five of the girls were in the same room watching a movie, being civil and two of them had grafted themselves to his sides and he was even being receptive of the touch and there was no fighting, no tension, it was just....nice. It felt good, it felt right, and it felt like a dream.

The movie was a long one and it didn't end until after nine. Tenchi and Ayeka helped Sasami clear the dishes from their quick dinner while Mihoshi made popcorn. When they returned to the couch Ryoko was now where Mihoshi had been and the blonde and Washu were now where Ayeka and Ryoko were. Ayeka was plainly not pleased with having to give up her spot beside Tenchi but she didn't voice a complaint as she took Washu's former spot and Sasami sat down beside her.

The second movie was either Washu or Ryoko's choice based on their reactions.

"Is this going to be appropriate for Sasami to watch?" Ayeka asked after a heated onscreen gun battle.

"It'll be fine, it's just make believe, and it's only 2-D," Ryoko assured her.

Whereas Ayeka and Ryoko had pressed so tightly to Tenchi that slipping a knife between them would have been a challenge Washu and Mihoshi appeared to be content to sit beside him instead of on him. Mihoshi sat and munched on her popcorn, which she shared with Tenchi, and Washu picked the most inappropriate times to laugh at the movie. As the movie wore on the action grew more intense and the movie got progressively creepier. Mihoshi got closer to him until she was hanging from him and burying her face in his chest at the most frightening parts. Sasami looked to be having the time of her life. Washu began to get closer and closer to him for no apparent reason.

Something else started to change. Tenchi had been focusing on how nice it was to be able to sit with the girls when it had been Ayeka and Ryoko but now with Mihoshi and Washu his body began to tell him something else, both of these girls were gorgeous, both of them felt great and both of them were pressing themselves right up against him. The material of Mihoshi's tiny little shirt was smooth and silky and stretched so tight over her breasts that as she held onto him and rubbed up against him he was able to clearly feel her nipples hardening against him. The movie was coming to a close and both Washu and Mihoshi were laying their heads against him and the scent of both the girls was mingling into a heady concoction of peaches and roses that was making it difficult for Tenchi to focus on anything except the girls at his side. Even Ayeka and Ryoko were leaning in closer to Washu and Mihoshi.

When the movie reached its explosive climax Mihoshi wrapped herself around Tenchi's right side, hugging her body to him while her legs tangled with his. Ayeka leaned in and grabbed at Washu's arm while Ryoko cheered for the onscreen action. No one's grip lessened as the credits started to roll.

"Sasami," Ayeka said a little unsteadily, "Why don't you head upstairs and get ready for bed."

"But the dishes..."

"We'll take care of them," Ayeka said quickly.

Tenchi felt his heart rate rising as he heard Ayeka's orders, he didn't know why but something about the way she said it put his hormones into overdrive. At his side Mihoshi pressed in closer to him.

"Come on Ryo-ohki," Sasami said as she headed upstairs. "Let's go to bed."

No one on the couch moved even after they heard the door to Ayeka and Sasami's room open and shut. For several long moments the only sounds that could be heard in the room was the heavy breathing of five individuals. The warmth of the girls around him, the air with every molecule in it infused with the girl's scents and the feeling of them pressed in about him fought against Tenchi's control, demanding that he remain silent lest he say something stupid and mess it up, but Tenchi was a guy.

"Well that was a goummppph!" Tenchi's pointless pleasantry shattered the silence of the room and what little self control the rest of the sentients in it had. He hadn't even finished half his sentence before Washu was on top of him, her mouth covering his, raping his in her eagerness. He started to protest to try and ward off the inevitable explosions of at least two other house guests only to find Washu's tongue in his mouth the instant his lips parted. Tenchi started to try and force her off him but he stopped when he felt a second set of lips pressing against his neck from the left. The feeling of Ayeka's mouth on his throat banished any half formed thoughts of stopping Washu and freed him to be an active participant, not that he could do much, between their position and Washu's insistence Tenchi was well and good pinned.

With his eyes closed Tenchi was caught off guard when Washu's assault ceased and she whispered something inaudible to Ayeka. Tenchi opened his eyes to see Washu sitting up on his lap with Ayeka looking between them. Washu grinned evilly at him and then turned his head to the right with a gentle hand on his face. Tenchi's heart proceeded to skip enough beats to add up to a minor heart attack.

Ryoko was mirroring her mother's actions only since Tenchi had appeared to be full she had grabbed the next closest member of their group. Where as Tenchi had been mostly passive Mihoshi was giving it back to Ryoko as good as she got. The detective and the criminal's tongues battle for supremacy, still dueling for position even when Ryoko let up for a moment and tried to pull back but Mihoshi didn't let her, wrapping an arm around the cyan temptress' waist and pulling her back down while she brought her other hand to play. Mihoshi's delighted whimpers were joined by Ryoko's hungry growl when the blonde's long delicate fingers played across Ryoko's smooth bare belly and then slid up to grasp one of Ryoko's breasts. Not to be outdone the space pirate immediately began to maul Mihoshi's expansive assets, seeking and finding one of her nipples and tweaking it right through the fabric of her t-shirt like it wasn't even there.

"Oh, you naughty little boy," Washu taunted as she felt Tenchi's reaction through his pants. "I think somebody likes what he sees. What about you Aye...," Washu's voice dropped off as she saw Ayeka staring right at the Sapphic couple and licking her lips. Washu's gently nudged Ayeka's mouth down on Tenchi's as she said, "Let's not shock the boy to death tonight."

For several long minutes everyone became vastly better acquainted, with only delighted hums and hungry whimpers breaking the silence. So engrossed were they in each other that they didn't hear a door open and close.

"I'm sleeping in Tenchi's room tonight," Ryoko declared as she came up for air.

Not to be outdone, or beaten to the punch Ayeka added, "Then so am I."

"Me too," chimed in Mihoshi.

"Then I suppose I am too," Washu drawled. "Is all that ok with you?" she asked Tenchi.

Being covered in kisses by Mihoshi and Ayeka little Tenchi was not going to be denied and against the Tenchi that had a brain in his head's wishes he found himself saying, "Oh yeah, of course."

Washu was just pulling Tenchi out of the pile of girls and to his feet when they all heard a small soft voice declare, "I want to sleep in Tenchi-niichan's room too."

***************

Omake

"There's something I need to tell all of you, something I should have told you a long time ago."

Tenchi's resolved faltered for a moment as those words came out of his mouth and rather than immediately launching into his explanation there was a pregnant pause that took on a life of its own.

"You see...well....I'm gay."

Author's Notes (a.k.a. My feeble attempt to explain away how much this sucked.) V1 Beta

Acknowledgements:

Lighthawk - My long suffering proofreader

Warpwizard - Who doesn't write as much of his own pr0n as he should because he constantly let me talk his ear off.

Froop - My part time stalker who provided the name for this entire story.

Notes:

1) Send me the hate mail.

2) Ok, the omake's completely obvious but it had to be done.

Feedback: bsmartfanfic@yahoo.com

You don't need to tell me I suck, I'm well aware of that.