Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Okayama Summer ❯ Chapter 14

*Okay... brace yourselves for a long author's note. ^^;; This is mostly responding to reviews I got for the last chapter, as well as clearing up some things about the future of this story. To xT-Zealot: Eh... sorry, but this won't be a Gohan/Sasami. >< I'm going for more a brother/sister relationship. @_@ I never intended it to be a romance... I write like that... I leave TONS of hints of romance between certain characters, but I never carry it out. I cannot write romance... I think I'm allergic. It gives me a stomachache. @_@ Um. Yeah. To Chrono Cross: >^^< Gohan's not eating is a PLOT DEVICE!!!! ::trumpets blare in the background:: You might be able to figure it out from there. If not... um... o.o;; That's probably a good thing. Um. o.o;; READ!! ... Dammit!! ^^;;;*

Chapter Fourteen

A couple more days went by. To Sasami, they seemed to fly by without reason. She would wake up in the morning, and not remember what had happened the day before -- and, to be quite frank, not particularly care. The others in the household noticed this with varying ease -- she was easily distracted, and always seemed to be staring off into space.

"I'm beginning to worry about her," Aeka told Washuu privately after dinner one night. "I mean... this isn't like Sasami at all..."

The mad scientist sighed. "She's probably worried about Gohan. I mean, she still goes to visit him every day."

"Is he getting any better?" Aeka asked tersely, lowering her voice considerably.

Washuu sighed heavily, and shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know... I haven't seen him for a couple days. He does seem to be wasting away, though... I'm going to ask Sasami if she'll make sure he eats something. He probably won't die of starvation; he's pretty strong, but he's still sick, as well."

Aeka, who had gone rather pale at the word "die", nodded hastily and made her way out of the kitchen. Mihoshi and Ryoko were bickering over what to watch on TV, something that she didn't want to miss. Ryoko annoyed her greatly, this was true, but she had to admit it was funny when the former space pirate started to fight with someone else.

Washuu watched her go, then turned to look at the small, blue-haired figure at the sink, obediently washing up for everyone. As she always did. "Sasami?"

Sasami looked up, a confused look on her face for a split second, then glanced at Washuu. "Yes?"

"Are you going up to see Gohan soon?" She watched the girl nod jerkily, her movements like that of a marionette, then saw that Sasami had set aside a tray of food, still hot, on the table. "Make sure he eats something this time."

Sasami blinked. "He might not want to."

"He's got to," Washuu said severely, perhaps a little more severely than she meant to. "The average human being can only last about three weeks without food. I don't know how long a Saiyajin can last, but Gohan does eat a lot."

"He's very weak," Sasami murmured. "He hates that."

"He would," Washuu said simply. "He's probably used to being able to do whatever he wants. Tell him that the food will make him stronger."

"I'll try." She finished up with the dishes, dried her hands off, and picked up the tray of food on the table. "Anything else?"

"No." Washuu watched Sasami's face closely as the girl passed her. She looked tired, and her eyes seemed a little too bright. Washuu's eyes widened slightly, and she frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. She has been spending a lot of time with Gohan lately... "Sasami?"

Sasami paused at the foot of the staircase. "Yes, Washuu?"

"Try to get a good night's sleep tonight."

"I will, Washuu." The girl flashed a quick smile at the scientist, then ascended the stairs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I'm cold."

Kururin glared at the small girl across from him, attempting to get comfortable on a bed of grass, and pulled his cloak tighter around him. It was becoming quite useful; now that he couldn't fly without having to carry Lime (not that he couldn't... he just WOULDN'T; she was annoying enough on the ground -- and he was also quite aware of the fact that he would probably drop her), the places they stayed for the night were less than comfortable. Right now, he and Lime were in the middle of a forest -- it could have been the same one Lime lived in the middle of; Kururin wasn't exactly sure. "You're the one who wanted to come with me. Don't complain about it."

"I wasn't complaining," Lime muttered, rolling over. "I was just saying I was cold." Her clothes also felt grimy, and she was beginning to get an ache in her back from sleeping on the ground for the last couple days... but she had learned early on not to whine about anything to Kururin. She was sure he was a nice man, really, but he didn't seem to like her at all... she was slowing him down a lot, and they were probably lost by now...

"How did you meet Gohan, anyway?"

Lime blinked, and sat up. Kururin was staring off to the right, not at her, but it was obvious who he had directed the question at. She shrugged, and said, "He saved me."

Kururin nodded. He didn't really seem surprised. "I thought so. From what?"

"Drowning," Lime said dully. She began to twist a strand of brown hair around one of her fingers. "Did Gohan help people often?"

"Yeah." Kururin sighed, and turned over. We all did. "We should both get to sleep now."

"Okay..." Lime flopped back onto the grass, and curled up into a ball.

Kururin shifted uncomfortably. "Um... good night."

Lime smiled. I knew he wasn't a bad person. "Good night."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Washuu says you have to eat something, Gohan."

Gohan was sitting on his bed, the blankets almost completely enveloping him. H stared at the tray of food Sasami was holding in her lap, and shivered. "I'm not hungry."

"How can you not be hungry?" Sasami exclaimed. "You haven't had anything to eat in over a week!"

"I dunno," Gohan mumbled. "I'm just not hungry."

"You might be once you eat something," Sasami said firmly, and held out the tray and a pair of chopsticks to him. "Here. Just try it."

Gohan hesitated, then shrugged the blankets off and took both. He was wearing the same clothes he had been dressed in the day he had taken ill. Sasami raised her eyebrows at this. "You should probably try to stand, too... your muscles haven't been used in a while. And you need to change clothes. Those look filthy."

Gohan groaned. "One thing at a time." He took a bite of Sasami's cooking, and shuddered.

Sasami frowned. "What's the matter?"

Gohan shook his head slowly. "Nothing..." He another bite, and then another.

Sasami blinked at him. "I guess you were hungry."

Gohan shrugged uneasily. "My stomach hurts."

"It would," Sasami said cheerfully. She felt better when she was around Gohan these days... the rest of the household -- except Washuu -- seemed to think something was bothering her, and mostly left her alone. Sasami wasn't used to this, and although it didn't hit her as hard as it might have a month ago, it still hurt. "Your stomach needs to get used to having food in it again. You probably shouldn't eat all of it, or you'll throw up."

"That's pleasant." Gohan swallowed another bite, and pulled one of the blankets over his head. "I'm full..."

"And tired?" Sasami took the tray from him, smiling.

"I guess." He grabbed a pillow from the head of the bed and pulled his knees to his chest. "Thanks, Sasami..."

"No problem," Sasami said, and began to exit the room. "You're definitely getting better, Gohan..."

"Yeah..." Gohan murmured. As she slid open the door to leave, something occurred to him, and his lifted his head from his knees. "Sasami?"

Sasami paused. "Mm?"

"Um... thank you. For... um... helping me, and everything."

Sasami smiled brightly at him. "No problem," she repeated, and shut the door behind her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*^_^ Another chapter done! I think it's been less than a week... o.O;; What's gotten into me? ^^ Anyway, I wanted to end this chapter on a happy note. ^_^ As I am feeling... um... happy right now. o.O;; For no reason, in case you were actually wondering. YOU DON'T NEED A REASON TO BE HAPPY!!!!! ::does the happy dance of jubilance:: ^.^ R+R, please! I'd really appreciate it. ^^*