Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Tenchi Muyo: The Clone Chronicles ❯ A Bounty Hunter's Revenge ( Chapter 7 )

You're still here? Then I guess that means you can handle the above, so go forth and read my ramblings. ^_^

November 22, 1999

Dear Journal,

It's been a while, but today was the first time in a long time that I've had any time to myself. Washu, Sasami-Tsunami, Ayeka, Ryoko, Kiyone, Mihoshi, Nagi, and Yugi are all out for the day. (I'll explain the last two a bit later.) I may as well get the good news out of the way first. As you know a little of Ryoko went into making me... us, what we are today. But what you don't know is a lot more went in than expected. Under this one body, I house every single one of her powers. Teleportation, energy weapons, phasing, flying... I got it all. Even more bizarre, they all came into being during or after sex. Minus the phasing thing, that came up in a tickle war with Ryoko. And outside of her powers, which surprisingly, took a few hours to master, I got some of her physical attributes as well. The Washu orientated part of me for instance, his eyes can change from brown to gold and vice versa.

Then there's the Kiyone Tenchi, his Ryoko-like traits manifested in the form of fangs and purrs, neither of which Kiyone mind. So, what's so bad about having a few new powers? To be honest, nothing. Ayeka doesn't even mind (Anymore) about my new energy sword, and everyone else just took it in stride. Although, Mihoshi and I started to panic a little when we kept switching rooms at random. Once we came back here though, Washu met us at the portal to inform us of the new detail in my molecular make up. Now, where's the bad part right? I have six gorgeous women, new powers, more sex than is legally allowed, and there's a bad part? Yep, there's a whole lotta bad. Sit back and relax, cause this is going to take a while.

*Cue Dramatic Flashback*

About two weeks (Circa late February, early March) after all of me showed up, we were all deciding on our new housing situation. Kiyone and Mihoshi had the apartments, which they invited us (Their Tenchi) to move in to. So, Washu replicated my clothes and I... uh, we moved in with them. It wasn't surprising how quickly I settled in, in both their homes. We'd lived together for years beforehand, so this was like a more intimate step back. Ryoko, of course, wanted this room and she made that point very clear by refusing to leave until that was agreed on. No one had any objections, so that's where her and me reside. It's a good thing you're a computer, because it's confusing to write about yourself from multiple experiences at the same time. Anyway, Ayeka and I share her room, because Sasami-Tsunami and I moved into Mihoshi's old room. (Whew!)

Later that day there was a knock at the door and behind it was quite the surprise. "Tenchi!" Ryo-ohki shouted. Before I go any further, Ryo-ohki learned how to talk while in her humanoid form a while ago. And the explanation to her frequent no-shows can be answered in her own words and I quote: "It's kinda hard to sit still with a map of the universe in your head." So, for the most part she travels among the stars like she was always meant to. "Hey, welcome home." I told her, as she moved off top of me (She tackled me when I opened the door). "I see you're still looking good, as usual." Ryoko said, phasing into place to help me up (I was her Tenchi at the time). Of course, she looked good; she looks exactly like Ryoko, just with fur. They both exchanged almost identical laughs before we all made our way back into the living room. "So, what have you been up to?" An innocent question for a guilty cabbit.

Ryo-ohki didn't answer, which made Ryoko ask another light-hearted question. "What? It's not like you knocked over the Bank of Jurai." I was already picking up on the cabbit-woman's body language after the first question, so when she said, "Actually, I did...twice." I wasn't surprised. Ryoko seemed a lot like dad used to about me, beaming with pride. "Becoming quick with the ladies, eh Tenchi?" I guess he knows the answer to that now. And hopefully, he and mom are smiling down on us. Then again, I hope they know when to turn those smiles somewhere else... cause the idea of them watching us... never mind. So, while Ryo-ohki relayed stories of security changes from when Ryoko last robbed the place and of this planet and that one, I sat back and smiled. "I missed the Rain Dance Festival on Felix 7? Son of a...! Then again, the night here was better." Ryoko said dreamily, while leaning against me.

Ryo-ohki looked on astounded, "Now, this is where Ayeka runs in." She said. Ryoko and me laughed it up a bit until finally, Ryoko said, "Nah, she understands." It was at that moment, the door in the kitchen opened. "Put them over there, Tenchi." Sasami said, as I (Her me) dropped a large basket of vegetables on the table. Ryo-ohki's eyes darted back and forth between the two of me, until eventually, she let out a very long "Meow" (She's still prone to that noise at times). The familiar sound brought an excited Sasami-Tsunami into the room. After they exchanged hugs and pleasantries, we all sat down and ran over the things she'd missed in her four month long absence. Eventually, that came to a stop when Ryo-ohki said, "I even took over your spot as the most wanted criminal in the universe." Both of my heads (The ones with brains) shot into full alert. "What? Nagi's probably looking for you now!" Ryoko shouted, before we did.

"Why? Its not like I blew up any planets or killed anyone." Ryo-ohki said with a relaxed expression, which was creepy considering the huntress behind her. "Maybe your memory was fried when you were dropped, but Nagi doesn't care. I don't care if you got the "Most Wanted" spot for illegal docking; she'll want your head, even if there's a half-Jurai reward on it!" Ryoko's yelling was almost frantic then. I personally would have figured Sasami to do all the yelling. But seeing as Ryoko was like a scared chicken guarding her eggs, she must care more for her than I thought. "Calm down. Nagi isn't going to be a problem." Ryo-ohki's grin as she said that was unmistakably, Ryoko (The Ryoko who tried to dissect me, I mean). Ryoko flopped down on the couch as Sasami asked the next question, "You killed Nagi?"

Ryo-ohki burst out in a fit of laughter, "Me? Kill Nagi? HaHaHaHa! Come on! HaHaHaHa!" She said, as she began to float. "Aaah, no I didn't kill her. I have a "man" on the inside of her operation, so to speak." She said, drying a way ward tear from her eye. Both of me were about to chime in when, "Ken, come on in." Ryo-ohki cut us off. Through the sliding glass door (And I do mean, through the sliding glass door) stepped Ken-ohki. Now it was our turn to be stumped, "Uh, what happened to you?" I (Sasami-Tsunami's me) asked. Our dear friend, Ken-ohki, apparently assimilated into a mass some where down the road. "Long story." He said, before kneeling down beside Ryo-ohki. After a few minutes of dead air between us, Ryoko spoke up, "So, what makes you think you can trust him? He's probably the second most loyal cabbit ever produced... behind your original."

His red eyes locked on Ryoko as she questioned his trust and believe me; mine locked on him with even more intensity. For all I knew, he could've been on some kind of sneak attack from Nagi to get Ryoko. "I can assure you that isn't the case. A Kilak Federation fleet blew up the original Ken-ohki a few years ago. And much like Ryo here, I gave birth to the form you see now. Same feelings, same emotions, only the bond between Nagi and I isn't as absolute as it once was. So, while our "parents" couldn't be together because of their unbreakable bonds with you two and since we have some form of control now, we're choosing to pick up where they left off. Only this time, you two nuts won't screw it up. And if Nagi does come back, she'll have to kill me to get her." He said, taking a hold of Ryo-ohki's hand. I (Both of me) decided he could be trusted, because he had that same protective streak I saw in myself.

"I believe you, but where is Nagi if you're here?" I asked. He smiled a half-smile before saying, "After I kept "accidentally" falling off Ryo's trail, absent-mindedly flying too slow, falling out of warp, or just plain altering course when Nagi slept, she began to get irritated with me. So, to regain her trust I'd always catch up and shoot a few weak blasts before letting Ryo hit me with a huge one and escape. I'd use that as an excuse to get by and the cycle would repeat. About three of your months ago, the song and dance was playing out as expected, until I suddenly, crash-landed... on purpose. Nagi trudged off for a repair crew, which allowed me time to take off without being seen by her." His tale ended with a pair of satisfied grins (His and Ryo-ohki's). Ryoko didn't see the humor though, and when she said, "So, where's your man on the inside now? Because it isn't going to take her too long to figure out you're here." Her voice reflected as much.

The cabbit duo gave matching smirks, before Ken-ohki began, "Possibly, but the planet she thought she was on wasn't right. The planet we actually went down on is about as advanced as Earth; they didn't have deep space travel capabilities. So, the chances of her getting off that rock are very slim. We've been flying all over and no one has seen her since." He said, with just a touch of big headedness. Ryoko's worries eventually died down, as more of the house came out of their respective portals or dimensions. Washu, of course wanted to run tests on Ken's new form, but a little ice applied to the back of her knee worked wonders to erase her thought pattern. "Tenchi... lab... now!" We had finished less than an hour ago and here she was, ready to go again. (Which I'm definitely not complaining about.) It would probably seem strange for all of us to be so sexually active all of a sudden, but you have to realize one thing; that's really the only area left we aren't familiar with each other in. Any who, speed through the portal of time, and it was time for me to take my finals. On said finals, (Not to be showy) I managed to get perfect scores easily (If you consider the fact I had each one of me take a subject and study only it). A little while (a few weeks) later, everyone, cabbits and all witnessed me, graduate from college.

I believe Ryoko enjoyed it more than anyone did. Because it finally meant, I didn't have to leave her everyday. "So, you really don't have to go to school anymore?" That had been a peeve of hers for a while and now I could finally say, "Nope, school's over." As simple as it sounds, it meant more to her than I'll probably ever know. That was evident in her humongous smile-hug combination. "Yay!" She squealed like a little kid when it was time for ice cream I remember. This may sound a little stupid (Opposed to sounding a lot stupid), but I think she thought I was going to go school one day and never come back. That's probably why she kept threatening to blow it up; guess it's a good thing I graduated when I did or we'd all be on the run again, this time from the local police. After the ceremony ended, I found a safe place to separate without making the news and Ryoko was there to promptly, congratulate me. Don't ask me how she knows which one is hers when we're standing together, but in that coatroom, she hit the bull's eye.

There's something different about making love in public. But that's getting away from the subject at hand, and that is the bad in my situation. Around the end of May, Ryo-ohki and Ken-ohki decided to take flight again. Off to see and do who knows what. On the day they left, Sasami, gave a few words of wisdom to her former pet, while Ryoko warned them to be careful. Ryo-ohki assured us, she'd only stolen enough to live comfortably and that those two times were it. Ryoko, on the other hand said, "I hope she doesn't think she's fooling me with that "twice bit". You have to steal a lot more than a few million Jurai to get most wanted status." Once they were out of view, I decided to take a walk out to mom and dad's graves to pay my respects.

It had been a long time, between juggling school, training, figuring out the doppelganger thing, and sleep, I sort of lost him in the fray... for a couple of years. I don't think I even took the time to mourn him. I was nineteen when it happened, he had developed this odd cough and I tried to get him to see a doctor or at the very least, let Washu check him out. "You're too young to worry so much, Tenchi. I'll be fine." He said, turns out those would be the last words he ever said to me. He went off to work, on one of the snowiest days in Okayama's history, sweating. I came home from class early and checked the answering machine, "Hey, Tenchi, I'll be working late again tonight. So, tell Sasami not to trouble herself, I'll grab something from one of the machines. Goodbye." An innocent message, that proved instrumental in a lot of ways. The first thing I noticed off the top was his boss's yelling in the background, "Masaki, hang up that phone! I don't care if you have pneumonia, we need those designs, tonight!" The other was the fact dad said, goodbye.

In all the years I've known him, he's never once, finished a phone conversation with goodbye. It would be the next morning when I'd get the call, "Tenchi Masaki? I have called to inform you of your father's passing. Apparently, he was in the later stages of pneumonia... No, his secretary found him..." I hung up the phone in shock at this point. It wasn't making sense, he knew Washu could easily cure something like that but he opted to die? Then came the denial, which gave way to a tiny moment of sadness, ending with anger and an urge to kill that sadistic boss of his. A few hours later Ryoko and Ayeka showed up, but I didn't care. My attention had been focused on a family picture of dad, mom, and me a few hours after I was born. "Are you thinking about your mom?" Ryoko asked, leading to Ayeka's small lesson on courtesy. I finally released the phone to take the picture down, "I'm the only one left." I said, giving them the picture and heading off to catch the last of my classes.

I needed something to occupy my mind, but outside all I saw was snow. I grew to hate the snow again that day, for in mind it had stolen someone else away from me that I loved. On a purely, materialistic note, I sued his architectural firm out of business. The judge found it odd that dad's boss and the owner of the company would accurately know his condition (Thanks to the tape), yet still required him to work. His secretary's testimony also proved they knew, "I told them he was looking sickly, but they said they didn't care." She said with tear red eyes. A few million (U.S. Currency), but it still didn't ease the pain any. But the fact I helped put that son of a bitch in the poor house... didn't really help much either. I took a portion of the money and had mom and dad's graves made into a monument, this way they could be together in spirit and in body. I wouldn't make the visit that day, because we had another uninvited guest.

Ryoko had come along connected to my neck as usual, which suited me fine. We were silent for a change and when Ryoko suddenly gasped, I froze. "Are you all right?" I asked. "Yeah, just thought I saw something." And for her to see something frightening enough to gasp means it's definitely not all right. I didn't let her know I saw it too; instead, I played it off. As we continued towards my parents' graves, more and more leaves sprinkled from above. Normally, this wouldn't concern me. However, it being summer and all, it was quite noticeable. "When I say stop, stop." I whispered. She pretended to kiss my cheek and asked, "Why?" Then she, of course, made the kiss real. The second her lips left my face I pivoted us both back a few feet to narrowly escape Nagi's energy whip.

Silently, the owner of the whip (And the answer to the question) gracefully flipped to the forest floor. "What gave me away?" She asked in her usual flat tone. "Ha! I could smell you a mile away." Ryoko boasted, but I decided to answer truthfully. "You're too heavy to move that fast in these trees and the slight drought as of late, only serves to make the leaves more brittle than usual." Ryoko laughed hysterically at the weight comment, which wasn't meant to be derogatory. "ANYWAY, where is that fugitive cabbit of yours?" Nagi growled, apparently taking offense to my comment as well. "We haven't seen Ryo-ohki in months. Besides, how'd you get off that planet?" Ryoko's sly deception went out the window in all of three seconds. "Gee Ryoko, even your lies are getting weak, hanging around these people. But to answer your question, I suspected Ken-ohki would pull something like that. So, I twisted his navigational system just enough to have him fall on a planet slightly, more advanced than the one he intended to land on. The planet was a refueling station, so finding a ride was easy. Now, where did they go?" She asked, allowing the energy tendril to recoil.

"We don't know, they left awhile ago." I said, trying to distance Ryoko from her. "So, let me get this straight; I traveled three hundred-thousand light years for absolutely nothing? I don't think so." Her last words ended with her whip extending again. "What are you doing?" Ryoko asked. The look on Nagi's face answered that question. I decided to try stern reasoning by saying, "Like I said before, she's not a criminal anymore." My voice fell into that eerie calm like Grandpa's when I spoke those words. "*Muffled laughter* So, the coward finally developed a spine?" She said, letting her haughty laughter finally erupt. I don't see how I ever deserved the title of "coward". All these women start falling out of space into my backyard and then, I'm expected to fight things I thought only existed on TV shows. So, what if I whined a lot back then? I always tried and under the circumstances, I think I did one hell of a job.

Well, back to the story. "Don't you ever say that about him again!" Ryoko said, already crackling with energy. Nagi's laughter curled into a slight smile, as her blatant attempt to goad Ryoko into a fight was working. If I still regarded Ryoko as a houseguest from hell, I probably would've let them fight it out. However, I knew Ryoko was more rusty than she'd ever admit, not to mention my feelings for her now. So, I definitely wasn't about to let this fight happen. "Ryoko, just forget about it, please?" I asked, blocking her line of vision from the bounty huntress. "Okay, but I'm only doing it because YOU asked me to." She said, relaxing her scowl back into its beautiful calm. For the time being, I forgot anyone else was there as Ryoko put her arms around my neck. I turned around with Ryoko still attached, (After I remembered Nagi) preparing to try another rational solution until, "AAAAH!" Ryoko screamed.

I looked down to see Nagi's whip around Ryoko's waist. Without even thinking about it, I formed the light hawk sword and severed it. Ryoko's screams stopped as she fell against me. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I screamed. "I told her if she didn't kill me she'd regret it." Nagi said, lashing out again. "Ten... Tenchi!" Ryoko said, as her eyes opened to see Nagi's whip wrapped around my forearm inches above her face (I rested her against the ground prior). I eased Ryoko's head fully against the ground; keeping my face in a smile for her benefit. "Ryoko, you can't be serious? I barely had the power turned on and now you... AH!" Nagi's gloat was cut short as I pulled suddenly on the whip, which sent her flying towards me... and my fist. I saw she wasn't holding it as tight as possible by the low drooping arch in it, so I figured it would fly out of her hands.

So, I was more than shocked when her whole body took to the air, but I didn't waste the opportunity. She hit the ground with a large thud, completely unconscious. "Whoa! I never even knocked her out, Tenchi." Ryoko said, giving her fallen foe a few test kicks. I checked Ryoko for any burns, (Much to her enjoyment) which were already fading back into the milky white of her skin when I saw them. She flared back into hostility once she saw the spiraling burn pattern around my arm. However, I assured her I'd be fine and with some more calming words, she relaxed. After that, we both stared at Nagi before I started patting her down and removing weapons (Couldn't have her waking up to suddenly kill us now, could I?). Ryoko finally spoke up as my hands started nearing odd places, "Why don't you just kill her and get it over with? Or better yet, let me do it." She said bringing her sword to life. I, of course, chimed in with, "No, just help me get rid of these weapons." It's amazing how she keeps that cloak full of weapons on all day. Ryoko hunched her shoulders, before piling them all up and vaporizing them.

*Cue the living room of my house*

Ryoko and I had tied Nagi to a steel chair on the karaoke stage. Once that was done, we decided to watch a little TV until she woke up. After an hour Ryoko got fidgety and said, "I don't see why you won't let me kill her, Tenchi." It would've been the simplest solution. But killing people never has been an appealing thing to me. And Ryoko would've been proving Nagi right if I let her do it. So, I told her as much, "If you killed her you'd be proving her right. Although she's tried to do as much to you, by not killing her, you've proved, she's more of the murderous-psycho that she tries to make you. And if you ask me, that's the only reason she keeps attacking you after all this time." Well, that was the only thing I could think to explain her obsessive nature with Ryoko. She saw how well Ryoko fit into a family atmosphere and that made her see her in a different light. A light that proved, Ryoko, wasn't just another heartless crook. That light wasn't one Nagi could accept... not yet anyway. So, that's where my plan came in.

It would be a risky venture to say the least. But if it ended with Nagi tolerating, Ryoko, enough to not want her head, it would be worth it. "You can be really corny at times, Tenchi." Ryoko said playfully, stretching out across my lap. TV took a backseat to our kissing, which was abruptly ended as Nagi began to come to. "Uh, what! How did I get here?" She shouted, trying to break the chains Washu took the courtesy of whipping up for us, before bounding back to her lab. I painfully, removed Ryoko from my lap (And by painfully, I mean, I was about four seconds from taking her right there). "Look who finally decided to wake up." Ryoko said, in her own special way. Nagi didn't respond quite yet; she instead, narrowed her eyes at Ryoko, THEN she spoke. "What did you drug me with?" She asked, this time staring at me. Ryoko was already preparing her reply, so I didn't interfere until after she said, "Drug you? HaHaHaHa! I don't remember a fist being considered a drug! HaHaHaHa!"

While Ryoko laughed it up, Nagi's efforts for freedom stepped up a notch. She swore up and down that I got lucky, which led to her saying, "I propose a challenge." I nodded for her to continue, at which point she said, "If I can knock you out in one punch, you let me go and I get Ryoko." Ryoko cautiously looked at me, as if I was actually going to agree to that. "If you manage to knock me out, you can go, but Ryoko stays." Another smile slid across her lips before she spoke up, "And who's going to stop me from taking her once you're unconscious?" I'll admit, I didn't think of that. That's probably what sparked me to say, "Heh, even if you did manage to take her if I was unconscious, I'd find you." (One of me would anyway) Do you know she smiled again? "Really? I could take her head and be off this miserable planet before you hit the floor." Now, it was my turn to smile and I did when I said, "For starters, Ryoko blew that little ship of yours into pieces." Ryoko spotted it in the bush on the way back home, so she took the liberty of mangling it. I never got around to finding out why, because that was like trapping Nagi there with her.

As I was saying, Ryoko chuckled, as she tossed a charred piece of the wreckage on the stage. Nagi exploded in her seat when she saw that. "How the hell am I going to get home?" She said with pure rage. I got on stage and leaned partially into her face and said, "You know the expression: "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer"?" Her eyes nearly shot out of her head when I said that. About three seconds later, two distinct voices shouted, "WHAT!" Before I had a second to react, Ryoko was questioning me. "Are you serious? She can't live here! What are you on?" Hopefully, the same formula that made her and Ayeka finally get along. Although, Nagi didn't have any feelings towards me (Which is probably the only thing that kept Ryoko and Ayeka from destroying each other), this was the only none violent thing I could think to do.

Nagi's sudden shift in attitude gave her ulterior motive up, even before she said, "This'll be the easiest head I've ever collected and frankly, I figured you'd be more challenging than this, Ryoko." I placed my light hawk sword to her throat at this point. My own fears were coming into play, but I wasn't about to let her scare me in my home and I definitely wasn't going to let her take Ryoko from me. "You're going to stay here for one reason, which is to see once and for all, that she isn't a monster. Once a time I set has passed, if your opinion of her is the same, you can go. But if you come back still gunning for her, I'll kill you myself." It was amazing how calm I felt saying that, but it was even funnier how she tried to stay defiant. At this point, I was thinking there had to be another ship we missed. I mean how could she think I'd let her kill Ryoko and live on the same planet as me?

I glanced back at Ryoko who was smiling brightly, but Nagi's voice cut through the brief calm. "Right, and let's say I do take her head, which I will, what would you do then?" She asked, with a half smirk in place. I began to press the blade into her throat harder, looking for a reasonable comeback. Then brilliance struck, as I said, "I know this area like the back of my hand, which means I'd find you in at the most, two days. If you got out of Japan, I'm sure Washu, would be more than willing to help me find you then. Between the two of us, we'd definitely let you know there were things a lot worse than death." I allowed my dematerialized hand to sink into her chest and the moment it was around her heart, I let it materialize a bit at the fingertips. "Understand?" I said, while giving the muscle a few squeezes. Nagi bit back a small yelp, but let a single tear fall from the pain. She didn't even try or maybe she couldn't, hide the fear she felt after that. She didn't know I could do that. And by the fearful expression, something told me she'd never considered that a possibility when dealing with Ryoko. "So, where's our new guest gonna sleep?" Ryoko said, smiling at the deflated Nagi, who didn't seem to mind because her cold persona was now reduced to frayed nerves.

My attention shifted, which left me staring at Nagi. Something in her eyes made something Grandpa once told me, play over in my mind. "Only a fool lets his emotions lead him all of the time. Tenchi, I fear you may become this fool if you're not careful." I was hoping that wouldn't be my downfall that day, because I felt horrible (Along with pity) after doing that to her. Why you ask? Because, in all the times I've seen her, she's never once looked so utterly humiliated... or defeated. After watching her like an animal at the zoo, I cut the chains, which caused her to twitch with the quick movement. She stood up and rubbed her raw wrists, then in a fit of rampant stupidity I asked, "Who goes first?" Yep, the challenge was still on. "Did Ryoko hit you in the head or something?" Nagi questioned, with shocked expression in tow. Ryoko phased into place with, "It depends on which one." She said, as she lazily leaned against me. I fought the blood away from my face, as Nagi made a motion to indicate sleeping with Ryoko was disgusting (If only she knew how good it was).

Eventually, Nagi, took her shot, which left me reeling (And fully conscious), but my decision not to take my turn annoyed Ryoko. I felt it was the least I could do, after all, I was taking her prisoner and promising to kill her all at the same time. Nagi's ego sagged again, because I didn't crumple to the floor. (Which reminds me, I need to thank Grandpa for teaching me that little breathing trick.) After I shook my face back in place, I showed her to Kiyone's old room (A room Washu made her to take breaks from Mihoshi). And after establishing she wouldn't be paying rent, I left her alone. "You know she isn't going to stay here right? She'll figure away off this planet and comeback after me again." Ryoko said, meeting me half way to the living room. "Maybe, but if she does I'll have to kill her. Because I'm not going to have her showing up every two or three years trying to collect a bounty for you that doesn't even exist." I said, giving her a small kiss. I don't even like the sound of the word "kill", but if it were between that and any of them; the choice is an easy one.

I know what you're probably thinking, "That was bringing the bad upon yourself." Actually, it wasn't. Ryoko and Nagi avoided each other most of the time, while Sasami's friendly nature slowly ate away at her tough exterior to an extent. Ayeka was the only person who didn't like the idea of such a dangerous person living in the house. I had to remind her, that we ALL were dangerous on some level (How many households do you know of with a live in goddess?) and I upped that level by returning Ryoko's gems. While I tend to keep my hopes high, I've been relieved of the silly notion: "Everything will be okay." Everything can't be okay unless you work to make it so and that's why I gave the gems back. I knew I couldn't watch Ryoko all the time, so at least this way her chances in a fight were almost guaranteed successful. Especially, with Nagi being weaponless. On a lighter note, it was kind of interesting the first time she learned there were more than one of me.

Sasami had showed her to the bath one day. She didn't know Washu and I were in there at the time, which isn't surprising. We stay in that house of hers for days, even weeks on end. So, when we do make visits to the house everyone is usually off doing something, which was the case that day. While Nagi had seen a form of me with Ryoko, Sasami-Tsunami, and Ayeka, she had never seen two of us together in the same place (Mainly do to her staying in her own room). I was preoccupied with toying with Washu's (Who really enjoys my scalp massages) hair to notice her when she came in. "He got to you too?" She eventually asked. Neither Washu nor I responded. The reason was not out of spite, but it was because the portal behind us was springing to life.

"Come on, Tenchi. They're all probably asleep..." Kiyone's plan (Why she likes aquatic sex so much is beyond me) for having sex in that bath was again (For the tenth time) squashed. Washu took the opportunity to answer Nagi then. "He's gotten to us all." She said. Personally, I'd already got sick of explaining the whole situation of how six of me came about. So, when Nagi asked, "When did you get a twin?" I (Both of me) opted out of explaining. Kiyone waned in defeat, but kept up a front of casual comfort for the people present. Washu had been neglectful to her projects since I came around; so, she took this brief moment to talk science with Nagi. Once she was done, Nagi mumbled something about us all being foolish weaklings and resumed washing before she left. I thought it was touching, a guy willing to split himself six ways for the six women he loved. So, it wasn't interesting at all.

After roughly three weeks, (Which puts us almost in July) I (Ryoko's me) woke up from an unusually long nap. (I'd stayed awake a good portion of the time to make sure Nagi didn't creep in at night, so the lack of sleep finally caught me, which made me pass out at daybreak.) When I noticed Ryoko's absence, it reminded me of the lethal houseguest. So, I bounded out of the bed and made for the stairs. The next thing I saw left me a little confused, there were two silver manes of spiky hair sitting on the SAME couch. Before I leaped to any conclusions, I decided to watch them for a bit. "How can you stomach this place?" Nagi said, before throwing the remote at the TV in frustration. Ryoko didn't seem to mind (She was known to do the same thing on occasions). "I like it here, so I don't really have to stomach it." Ryoko ended by stretching her feet out across the table. I felt like I was one of those guys on the nature shows watching them like that. But never the less, I continued to do so.

I'd estimate they were ten minutes deep into the conversation when Nagi said, "What did he do to make you so weak? You were the strongest criminal I've ever chased, and now... look at you!" Maybe I'm weird, but I thought law enforcement preferred weak criminals. It was then, that Ryoko began to go into her analytical depths for her nemesis. "He cares about me." Ryoko's simple answer was obviously bait, which was amply snacked on. "This is almost sickeningly sad. How could you be the same Ryoko? The Ryoko I knew would never be reduced into revolving her whole life around some man." I moved my lips along in time with Ryoko's, as she told her she wasn't that "Ryoko" anymore. Her next few lines were the shockers though.

"Who said my life revolved around him? True enough, he is a sweet guy, but my love for him isn't as obsessive as you make it. To be honest, it wasn't until he released me from that cave that my feelings started to develop. But they weren't concrete until he kept trying to convince me I wasn't a monster. Sure, I was Kagato's puppet for a while, but once he was out of the picture, I was lost. It was like waking up from a two-thousand-year long nightmare, with no real memories. The only thing I had to go on were the memories of me under Kagato's control, so I tried to be that person. If you thought I was a demon, I worked to make you believe I was a demon but some where under all of that, it didn't feel right. Of course, I wasn't going to admit to that or show it, yet somehow he saw it." Ryoko said. Now, this woman has watched me sleep every night she's been out of the cave and she isn't obsessive? I didn't really know if this was for Nagi's benefit or what, but I could've swore Ryoko was the one who begged and cried at times to make me stay home from school. Another Ryoko related mystery I guess...

Anyway, Nagi wasn't easily impressed or shocked (Minus having her heart squeezed). "A smile? You let a damn smile make you this weak? I can't believe I've wasted this much time toying with you. I would've put you out of your misery a long time ago if I knew this was going to happen." She said, shaking her head sorrowfully. I watched Ryoko calmly turn to face Nagi, and when she did, she told her something I didn't even know. "It wasn't the smile, it was the action. Everyone else had their perceptions of me as this monster, but they more or less could defend against me. They also had years of stories about me to keep them at bay, but he had seemed to grow too comfortable with me, so I had to remind him who I was. So, one day while Ayeka was away somewhere off Earth, I set about chasing him and blowing stuff up at random. But it was once I had chased him to the mountains that it got weird, he simply stopped running." I remembered that day well; it was around the same time she started becoming extra grabby for my attention.

Back to her story, "To keep up the front, I pretended I was going to strike him down with my sword. As I was swooping in, he didn't flinch. I stopped the sword about an inch away from his face when he said it, "If you can't see yourself as anything other than Kagato's slave, no one else will either. Whether you believe it or not, I know you aren't evil. And if it's any consolation, I don't think of you as a monster anymore. I prefer to think of you as a wonderful friend." Two times, I'd set out to scare him to death and he thought of me as a friend? I couldn't explain it at that point, but hearing him say that made me feel good. It was like this weight was lifted off my shoulders. I could just be Ryoko and his friend, without having to be what you all thought I was. As I watched him walk back toward the house, this weird heat started spreading through me. Sure, I flirted with him before, but that was mainly to piss Ayeka off. But after that day, it wasn't about her anymore. I wanted him; no I needed him and that calm he made me feel. It took another six years, but I finally got him. I don't think I can say I loved him before that, but I can say I definitely loved him with every shred of myself after it." Even thinking back on that day, I still can't believe she was talking to Nagi... it just didn't seem feasible.

Speaking of her, she had a few choice words about Ryoko's revelation, "So, a smile, some meaningless drivel about being yourself, and him not thinking of you as a monster makes you love him? It's times like these I take pride in knowing, I'm strong enough to survive on my own." She said, with the same pride she spoke of. Ryoko took the higher road again by not becoming volatile at Nagi's words. Instead, she opted to use her own to bring the woman crashing to the ground: "Strong, huh? Maybe our ideals of strength are different, but I've come to realize you are very weak." This brought a low growl from Nagi's throat, before she countered with, "Ha! At least I don't need some man to be strong for me." Her voice betrayed something, but I didn't think about it at the time because Ryoko began to speak again.

"Are you strong because when people would see you passed out in a bar, they'd rather assume you were dead than help you up? Or are you strong because you've wasted centuries of your life chasing someone who hasn't committed a crime in seven hundred years? If that's what makes you strong, I'll gladly take the weak. Because I like having people who care about me. People, who care enough to kill for me if it came to that. Can you say the same? No, you can't. If you were to die right now no one would care, not even Ken-ohki, and he was programmed to like you. Maybe you can live your life without anyone caring about whether you live or die, but after knowing this side of things, I can't, no I won't go back to living like that. Oh, and another thing, he isn't strong for me, I'm strong because of him." Ryoko said the last part with a certainty that I knew would convince Nagi to think otherwise of her. "Sure, I give it another two years. Then you'll be back to blowing planets up and stealing everything in sight, and then I'll have you." Nagi said quietly, proving her beliefs ran deep and that I was as wrong as two left feet.

Ah, but Ryoko's ran deeper and it flared up after that. "For the last time, I said I'm not giving him up. Not for all the Jurai in the universe and damn sure not because you're too pathetic to move on with your life. I promised him I wouldn't kill you, but if you ever try to take me away from him or vice versa, you won't have to worry about him killing you..." Her sword illuminated, and was pointing directly at Nagi's head when she said, "Because I'll kill you myself." This was definitely a surprise. Usually when Nagi showed up, Ryoko became slightly, rattled. But this day, her fear wasn't present or even covered up she literally wasn't afraid of the woman anymore. Watching Nagi, sit there with the sword at her skull only showed her own weakness. Now, here's where it goes into another dimension, so to speak. Nagi looks at the sword before she starts spilling her guts, "Then that's it, there's nothing left for me now. Taken prisoner by a guy I once could've killed like an insect. Now sitting here with a woman I should be decapitating, admitting my life is worthless. If you have a shred of pity, kill me now, because I don't deserve this."

While my original plan was to get her and Ryoko to an understanding, I never dreamed in three weeks her whole mindset would crumble. It was like that DNA model Washu showed us. Without Ryoko in the foundation, everything crumbled. From the stories, Ryoko had told me, Nagi was a solitary person who lived only to kill criminals but more than that, she was a predator. And by me taking her main "food" source, I had in essence, sealed her extinction. I also came to realize something else that day; it was never about collecting Ryoko's head. It was about the challenge of fighting her and surviving. Nagi wouldn't kill Ryoko, because the fights between them were what she thrived on. Where as Ryoko thought of the battles as a potentially, fatal situation. Nagi, on the other hand, thought of them as a game. And by exploiting Ryoko's survival instincts, it only made the fights that more intense. So, she was the only one ever at a real risk of dying. Either that or I misread the situation. However, the way her eyes begged to feel the sword take her life, I was more inclined to believe the first more than the later.

It was almost frighteningly sad how she slumped when Ryoko's sword disappeared. "If it makes you feel any better, there are people stronger than me out there. Because if I'm the strongest you've ever fought, you weren't looking hard enough." Ryoko said, in an attempt to lift the depressed warrior. It worked, until Ryoko started naming the names. "Sasami takes the cake around here. Ever since Tsunami woke back up you can actually feel the power she... they emit. Then there's Washu, from what I can tell, she's as strong as Sasami. I don't know how, but she is. Then of course there's Tenchi..." Once my name was added Nagi's attitude went stale. "What? You're telling me the primitive is stronger than you are?" She asked in disbelief. Do you know what it's like to have every new person (Space person), call you "primitive"? Then again, Washu made you so I guess you wouldn't. Anyway, Ryoko came to my defense by saying, "Oh, don't make it seem like he's just stronger than me. Think about it for a minute, how many times have I punched you throughout the years? Now think, how many of those punches knocked you out?" Nagi furrowed her brow in thought, and when it hit her, she looked at Ryoko in surprise. "And that was a sixth of his full power. Not so primitive, is he?" She said, with a smile (Although from my angle, I couldn't see it, but I knew she had one).

Nagi continued to dismiss this claim as lunacy, until Ryoko gave a little tale of my exploits. "You remember Kagato's ship, Souja, right?" Nagi nodded her remembrance, before Ryoko said, "Second in power only to the Tsunami, well he destroyed it. In one swipe he killed Kagato... well one of his shadows, and split the ship clean in half. Then there was the time he literally, stood in a black hole. He did all this with three wings, and now he has seven wings... per body. So, forty-two light-hawk wings -- plus the years of training, means his primitive ass could kill you faster than your body could process your death." Nagi's expression was a pale one, and in a moment of knife twisting, Ryoko added this tidbit: "Look on the bright side, you're the only person who's ever hurt me that's still alive. But if you don't believe me, I could always pretend you tried to attack me and let him demonstrate." Nagi stated she wasn't afraid of me, but she thought it was best to not disturb the calm atmosphere with unneeded violence. In other words, she was afraid to fight me (For now). And after listening to Ryoko's story, I was sort of afraid of myself.

Eventually they went dormant for awhile, at which time I decided to leave... until Ryoko started talking again. "Have you ever thought of settling down? I mean besides the whole evil red eye thing, you don't look that bad. I'm sure you've had to meet at least one nice girl... guy, whatever in your travels." This was a chance to see if my suspicions were true, those being, she secretly desired Ryoko. "WHAT! What is it with you people? Just because I don't flop around like a fish out of water over a guy, you automatically assume I like women." Nagi growled this obviously, being a subject she'd encountered before. Ryoko ignored her frustration and pressed her further, causing Nagi to finally cough up her reason for staying alone. "It's not like I wasn't pursued by men. In bars, it was all they could do this or that to me in the bedroom. And after awhile I started testing these supposed, "sex machines", out. Two out of ten were done before I was undressed. Three out of the remaining eight were weird, fetish freaks. The others were all a bunch of hot air, that did whatever I said once they were sober enough to realize who I was." She said bitterly.

I should mention this is where Nagi's floodgates widen. After Ryoko suggested meeting someone outside of a bar, Nagi said, "You say that like I haven't tried! Do you realize how hard it is to find someone, when everyone thinks you..." She slowed her rant, which Ryoko finished. "When everyone thinks you're a monster." Nagi didn't speak; she just nodded with a confused look on her face. "Why? All I ever did was try to make everything safe. Sure, I started to get off on the whole head hunting thing but that doesn't make me a monster." If her voice didn't stay together, I would've sworn she was crying. Ryoko did the unexpected, by putting her arm around her and saying, "Don't take it so hard. If I can find somebody willing to forget all the bad I've done, I know you can." My first thought at this point was "Nagi's going to try and break her arm off for touching her." Wrong again, so far I was batting straight zeros. Nagi made no moves to be released, but she did voice some disagreement with what Ryoko had to say.

"That's just it. I don't consider any of what I've done, bad. That's why I've accepted my fate, which is to stay alone." Her voice broke as she reached the end, but she hid it beneath a small cough. It was from there she admitted to simply shunning every advance that came her way... for the last three hundred years! "How can you complain about being alone, if you aren't even willing to try?" Ryoko asked with unhindered annoyance. "Who said I was complaining? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind finding someone, but that someone is going to have to be strong. Because I absolutely refuse to waste anymore time on the weaklings, I seem to attract. So, when a MAN comes along strong enough to be my equal, I'll "settle down". But I'm not going to settle for anyone less than that." Nagi said, while folding her arms in a cocky manner.

Ryoko sighed plaintively, as she said, "If you turn down every guy that tries to get close to you, how will you ever know which one is the right one?" This was obviously a flaw in her plan, and I could tell as she sat in angered silence. After a while we all heard Washu's door open, at which time Nagi simply said, "I'll know." Then her and Ryoko quickly parted close company to keep up the show they hated each other. I decided to go back to my room then, because I felt confident that Ryoko and Nagi had reached the understanding I hoped for. However, underneath the confidence lied the reality this could be a trick, because a couple of millenium's worth of fighting just can't be quelled in three weeks. Even Ayeka and Ryoko took years to reach their coexistence, which is probably why I didn't give Nagi the boot after that.

*Prelude to the bad*

July 23, 1999 A date which will live in infamy. All right enough with the cheesy Pearl Harbor mocking, but this is the Masaki Family equivalent. We'd all come together for dinner that night, all the Tenchi and all the women; even Nagi came out of her room to dine with us, at the insistence of Sasami. After Grandpa strolled in a few minutes late, the magic happened. In other words, we all began to gorge ourselves like starved pigs. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, and eventually thirty minutes would pass and Ryoko and Nagi didn't come to blows. "Would someone pass the fried rice?" Ryoko's simple question made me freeze. I (Ryoko's me) cautiously held my breath, as I saw where it was located. Nagi, why did it have to be in front of Nagi? I'd seen Ryoko and Ayeka come to blows over cookies, so I expected this would end no differently. Ah, ah, ah, as I was about to get up and get the rice myself, when Nagi said, "Here."

That's right, she passed the rice with not so much as a hint of aggression. Then to top it all off Nagi and Ryoko both looked at me and said, "I bet you thought we were going to fight, didn't you?" I tried not to choke on the crab cake that was partially hanging from my lip, but by then, they'd resumed eating. Even after I'd witnessed their little exchange on the couch a while back, they'd become very argumentative towards each other (When they rarely saw each other anyway). This worked to make me believe they were putting on a show for me that day. So, does that mean they had a deal of some sort? I don't know. Does it mean they're both biding time to have it out when I'm not around? I still don't know. I was leaning toward the later at one point. But if that were the case, why was she waiting so long to strike? And why do I ask questions I can't answer? That, I'll tell you; it serves to keep me a paranoid mess, like in the old days. Well, whatever the case they weren't fighting. So, to keep the peace I didn't question their actions. I just left it alone.

Now, dinner ended on a lovely note with Grandpa retreating to the shrine and the rest of us settling in with a movie. You can pretty-much guess the atmosphere of the room at this point. Let me set the scene: a dark room with only a TV light source, six men and six women, (Eight, if you count Nagi [Tsunami being the seventh, although she's in Sasami's body]) all with very high sex drives. Add to the fact, all of them were perched on my respective laps, made the movie quickly fade into nothing. Quick kisses turned into lingering ones, as gentle touches blended gracefully, into urgent pawing. A sign we're this comfortable with each other or a sign we're that sexually repressed we don't care who's watching? A little of both if you ask me. Anyway, as we're about to enter full on marathon mode, a faint scratching came from the door.

While only the Tenchi that was closest to the door could hear it, us being that close the noise was amplified through us all. "*Grumbling* I'll get it." Ayeka's me, finally said. She mumbled some choice words at the interloping party, before I stood and cut the lights on. Everyone put his or her hormones in check, as I opened the door to ruination. The moment the door is slid far enough open, a young woman covered in mud (Despite the drought), and tattered clothes stumbled in and collapsed us both to the floor. Even though her face was covered in mud I felt like I knew her from some where, but I didn't get the connection until she said, "Tenchi?" A surge of random images played through my head and the pain it caused, sent me into one body.

Eventually the pain stopped, when I finally woke up the faces I'd come to love surrounded me. "Well, this is a nice scene to wake up to." I said, slowly sitting up on Washu's medical table. They smiled, but all too quickly, returned to blank stares. "Go clean yourself up, Tenchi." Washu said, which was surprising. Considering her first fit, I thought she'd demand to test the hell out of me, seeing I'd passed out and suddenly merged. I didn't argue it, because the images in my head were swirling in a mass of confusion and I figured a bath would do me good. Too bad the good was going to be shot to... shit in a few moments. I made for the lab door before stopping to look at the woman in the tank a while longer with her long, dark-blue, almost black hair floating in a fan pattern pointing skyward. Even though, I had never seen her before in my life, some how I had.

"Well, don't just stand there or the mud will clump, Lord Tenchi." Ayeka said, breaking my daze. I did as instructed, but as I walked carefully up the stairs to get my robe, the images starting flashing again. A girl who seemed a lot like Ryoko when it came to her need for my attention. Then a flash of Washu (Kid Washu) popping out of my toilet in some little apartment, next I was running across this city and finally me crying over this picture. From that little sight, I assumed Washu could tell me who this girl was in my brain all of a sudden, after all, this was a new scene of her as well. I turned and marched back down the steps toward the lab; maybe I was being unintentionally, stealthy. Whatever the case, I managed to get back in the lab without being heard, and that was probably because of the bickering.

*The Bad Begins*

Ryoko, Mihoshi, Kiyone, Washu, Ayeka, and Sasami-Tsunami were all arguing as a mass of words at first. But then, "I thought, we all agreed to erase his mind of her forever! By the way he was just staring at her, I say he still remembers!" Ryoko's voice echoed around the blank space, as I waited for the logical explanation behind this (From the shadows of course). Washu was the next to speak and she didn't help the case any, "I DID erase his memories of her. If he remembered her, I doubt he would've left to take a bath." Yep, the perfect couples just hit a major stumbling block. It turns out; I'm missing a good five or six month's worth of memories. In that time, I was an apprentice to a Shinto Priest friend of Grandpa's in, Tokyo. Then I met a girl named, Sakuya, who I apparently fell in love with. I later asked him why he never told me about any of this, which he replied with: "You never asked." How do you ask about something you can't remember? Exactly, you don't.

No one noticed when I walked over to the tank, which I was silently thankful for. I took that time to study her and try to rebuild on the little memory of her I had. Bit by bit, I slowly recalled the faint feel of her lips against my own, and the way she beat herself up after she saw me with Ryoko in the park that night. Different hair and a more developed body, but it was definitely the same girl. This was the defining point and the events that follow are without a doubt, the worst in my life. "So, you all decided to just take a group vote and erase my mind. A quick question if you don't mind, where the hell was I when the voting took place?" I said it with absolute calm in my voice, but absolute anger in my heart. I felt like I did when they all moved in, totally helpless. In that helplessness also lies, fear. A fear that makes me realize who and in some cases, what they are. While I possess a great deal of power, that little stunt proved it was still dwarfed when it came to Washu.

I stared at my own reflection, cautiously watching them incase they tried to do the same thing again. Sasami-Tsunami placed a hand on my shoulder, which I shrugged off, but she spoke anyway. "You looked so sad once she was gone." She said quietly, which only lead to another outburst from me. I continued to watch Sakuya (The only name I knew her by at the time), until Washu tried to make me understand. She spoke with a casual tone, as she said, "We thought it would be the best solution. Because after I scanned her brain, I learned the Sakuya part of it was gone. Then after Ryoko got your hopes up with Yugi growing up and becoming Sakuya, I couldn't crush you with the truth like that." This did little to improve my mood, and when Ryoko mumbled, "We tolerate you for all these years, only to have the little mutant girl take you away..." I didn't know which hurt worse at that point. A word with only eight letters (Tolerate) that are only akin to my parents' deaths, when it came time to cause me physical pain.

A simple equation, Hurt + anger = Stupid Tenchi. "Oh, so I've simply been tolerated for all these years?" I said, staring at Ryoko's angry face. To say this was the icing would be an understatement, but it was definitely another defining point. "After all we've done for you, you have the nerve to get mad at us? How many times have we saved your pathetic little life? Blown up, shot down or just out right tortured and we never asked for anything in return. But no, she drops out of some side dimension and we're immediately dropped like bad sushi." Ryoko spat, with a margin of venom I never thought would be aimed at me. To be honest, I felt like crying then. But of course, anger kept that in check. The next words out of my mouth were, "How many times did I ask for any of this? Not once, I was just born and something decided to drop this all in my lap. One day it's a typical day of school, the next, a woman is trying to end my "pathetic little life". Said woman then decides to call my home hers, which is another decision I had no say in. Now, you make it sound like this is something I planned on. I live seventeen "normal" years and in three months; my entire life is flipped upside down. But does anyone give me ONE minute to adjust? Nope, it's just one bombardment after another."

"Blah, blah, blah, we know. What's your point?" Ryoko said. That shocked me a little too much, but I pressed on. "So is the group idea, I can't love anyone outside of you six... seven? I can't love anyone else in the entire universe because you've helped save my life?" Tick tock, tick, tock and not even one of them denied it. I was verging on sheer hatred at this point, but I somehow held it in. "Do you know how bad this feels, to know you loved someone, but only have three good memories of them? Sad or not, those were MY memories to do with as I saw fit. If I wanted to wallow in self-pity for awhile, it was my choice to make. None of you had the right to make that decision, and Washu, you definitely didn't have the right to do that to me. So, if saving my life a couple of times means you can make these types of choices for me..." I trailed, as I teleported to the door. "Don't bother." I said, while exiting.

I stood outside the door for a few moments trying to think of... something. But all I could arrive at was, "None of them denied it." Somehow, the tables had been switched. It was no longer me tolerating the odd space women living in my home. They were now tolerating me, but for what? And the reason I arrived at made me more upset. I thought they were all using me as nothing more than a sexual device. I tried to shake the thought the moment it surfaced, but the more I fought, the truer it became. "The only time any of us have sex is when they want to. No matter what time it is if they want it, it's expected to be done." It was only reinforced by the merged memory of being in one body. Washu was coming off a fifteen or more thousand year dry spell. And the same thing applied to the rest of them, which made my self-esteem about as high as ant knees.

At that time I realized something else, I can't go home. This wasn't like having an ordinary girlfriend or girlfriends, where a fight means you can go home. All but two of mine lived with me, so that was out of the question. So, where do you go when you can't go home? A Shinto Shrine on a mountain? Nope, because you partially blame the man out there for your predicament. And rather than listen to him talk his way out of helping me, I decided to go up on the roof. The gift of teleportation eased my journey to solitude, well everything except the solitude part anyway. "Done so soon?" Nagi asked. I was too upset to argue or answer simple questions, so I lay down on the opposite side of the roof and stared at the moon. It was a long, pathetic three hours sitting up there, listening to the sounds of nature.

"Nagi, a quick question if you don't mind. In the past, did I strike you as pathetic?" As the final word left my mouth, I knew I'd hit rock bottom. I mean who goes to Nagi for emotional support (The guy asking this pointless question)? "Pathetic? How so?" She says after a moment of contemplation. I press my luck even further by saying, "For all my whining, all my complaining, and for asking you this?" I sat in silence, waiting for her to take this moment to crush my psyche under her foot. Taking the high road again, Nagi said, "You came to house two GP officers, a notorious space pirate, a mad scientist, two princesses, stay silent about my treacherous cabbit, while hiding his fugitive girlfriend, and somehow managed to stay sane, I'd say you're okay."

Wow! I was impressed, but I knew something was off when she added the Ryo-ohki and Ken-ohki thing. I turned around to take a better look at her and to my shock (Yeah, right) I saw a nice collection of empty saki bottles. "Ah, you're drunk. No wonder I'm "okay"." I said, in part to myself. To make me reconsider; she managed a back flip to land on my side of the roof, without spilling her drink. "I wish. I've been drinking this crap for two hours and I'm still sober." She complained, while taking another swig. "And whose man are you?" She asked placing the cork back in the giant bottle. I told her it didn't matter, because at the time it didn't. "I'm just a dick with a body. I fell in love with six women, who I thought all loved me. Heh, turns out I'm their little plaything. Yep, after all these years I was only "allowed" to love them. If anyone else came along who didn't fight the monsters, THEY brought upon us I couldn't love them. If I did, *snap* they take a vote and erase my mind." As I finished, I was presented with a bottle of saki.

"Sounds like you need this more than I do." She said. For a brief moment I pushed the bottle away, then I said, "On second thought..." Keep in mind, I'm not a seasoned drinker or a drinker at all. But I turned up the vintage bottle and hastily drank as much as I could. I'd remembered Ryoko's little story about my strength, so I let that arrogance play over into how much alcohol I could consume. And by the time that bottle was finished, I was out on my feet. "See... Grandpa was this nutty little warrior prince. Then he decided to chicken out of being a prince, but no, no, no, he saddled me with his old position." Nagi watched me, with a small amount of humor as I stumbled across the roof, blaming Grandpa for my problems. "You wanna know something? I said, DO YOU WANNA KNOW SOMETHING? They don't care about me! No, they just wanna fuck me! Or make me rule a planet they're too afraid to rule themselves. Well they can all go to Hell!" I emphasized my (Weak) point by trying to throw the empty bottle all the way to the shrine.

"So, why are you out here?" I asked, falling to my knees (And almost rolling off of the roof). She turned, almost like she'd forgotten I was there, before she said, "They got all panicky when you passed out, so I decided to leave." My liquor-saturated mind made me shout my denial (They only want a certain body part) through the countryside again. I teetered along the peak of the roof for a while before Nagi decided to play Ryoko to my version of her. "I don't know why I'm even saying this, you'll forget it by the time you sober up; but none of that is true. So the funny red head erased a few good memories, is that worth giving up the legions of new ones you could make?" For a brief moment, I sobered up and thought about that. There was no guarantee what I had before would've lasted, but at the same time, it wasn't right. I'd forgiven them for putting me in the situations that they "saved me" from, which were all really situations I'd saved us all from. Still, the idea of being a possession, rather than an equal partner in my relationships made me feel worthless.

"But maybe they took the, YOUR Tenchi, part too seriously. Wait a minute, I wasn't THEIR Tenchi then." Reasons quickly poured from my brain, all to be squashed just as quickly as they came. "If they care, why didn't they deny any of what I said?" I asked her, hoping she would give me a reason to run back in the house (Phase through the roof) and apologize. "Did you give them time to explain or did you do the typical, talk on and on and then leave in a flash when no one responded in three seconds?" Damn, she nailed me like a fish in a barrel with that one. Again, this left me cleaning up the mess. I DID storm out too quickly, I DIDN'T give them enough time to explain, and I wasn't sure anymore, if they had made such a bad choice. I was on my way back in when another question formed, "If they knew they hurt me this much, why didn't they look for me? With all the noise I was making, they had to hear me." Nagi's advice pool dried up on me there, and my drunken haze returned. "Well, if they think I'm apologizing they can forget it!" She looked frustrated; her moment to be rid of my drunken whines vanished because she couldn't think of any more positive words to say.

*Enter the bad*

We'd been sitting on that roof for at least a couple of hours, in which time, I'd managed to repeat my dilemma ten or twenty times (Notice, no one still had come to look for me). "How could they do that to me? How... hey...!" My alcohol-oiled hinges began to grind together, and the stupidest idea I ever hatched was born. "You still wanna hunt Ryoko?" I don't know if one of my other halves was doing this, but I was trying desperately to pull that offer off the table. "Of course I do! But what's the catch?" She said, springing to life again. "One catch, you have to hunt me down. You win, she's yours." I said bitterly. Logically, I was screaming to be heard and to keep this from taking place, but the damn saki had other plans. "Okay, but what's to keep you from killing me when you wake up and realize what you've done? With my ship destroyed I can't get off this planet, and your communication systems can't reach far enough into space to get me a ride." She said. AH-HA! Drunk Tenchi solved this problem by volunteering to hi-jack the Yagami, and let her use it to escape.

"You said if I win, so does that mean you'll be hunting me too?" I nodded, which proved some of my reasoning was there. Because if she was the only person hunting it was a sure thing, Ryoko was hers... unless Ryoko killed her. And that would be the case seeing as Nagi didn't have a single weapon. "If you're hunting me, what do you get if you... by some miracle, win?" She asked, arching the suspicious eyebrow. "I won't." I said without slurring. Sad isn't it? Sentencing Nagi to be killed by Ryoko, all because I was feeling a little hurt... betrayed... used... unwanted. Anyway, it was a dirty thing to do. I established I wouldn't be using my swords (Remember, in one body I'm sort of a male Ryoko... power wise), then we also agreed on none lethal trappings. I'll lay it all out here; things get a whole lot worse before they get better at this point in the story.

Traveling through the darkened forest brought up another pointless (So I thought at the time) training session with Grandpa. "Your enemy will not care if you've had too much to drink. So, you must learn to call on your training, even at this most inopportune of times." Funny, I don't even control my training as much as it controls me, situations arise and it springs to life. Which is what exactly happened on that night. I'd begun to accelerate my breathing and heart rate to burn the alcohol in my system up quicker. The drawback to this technique was it sent the alcohol to your brain in a giant dose, leaving you extremely disorientated (I.E. it would intensify my drunkenness five times over). It would be a while before that happened, so all I had to do now was find Nagi to make sure she didn't find me. Notice some rational thought had returned, but it swirled for a minute when the rains came.

I was starting to regret the fifteen-minute head start at this point, because we both went in separate directions and there were acres of forest to go through. A T-shirt, shorts, and a pair of running shoes were my only cover so the rain was starting to get to me. I decided to use a little trick, while I agreed I wouldn't use any of my built in weapons, I never said I wouldn't fly. So, I took to the air to see if I could spot her... in the rain... at night... in a thick forest. Another reason that should've clued my drunken self in to how bad this idea really was. As if being wet and drunk weren't enough, I was entering the part where all the alcohol rushed into my brain. This sent me spiraling back to Earth, fortunately, I had enough presence of mind to slow my decent (A little) so I wasn't hurt too bad from the impact. I lay in the mud for a minute to let my mind steady, which was also part of his teaching; "You'll need some time to recover based on how much you drank, so use your moment of clarity to find a worthwhile hiding place." A lesson realized too late. I spent my clarity already and the last time I did this, I was running on a cup of saki. So, the half a bottle I drank meant I'd be down for awhile.

Luck was the only thing going in my favor now. I could only lie there and hope Nagi decided to cancel our arrangement. That and I hoped she wouldn't find me. After lying there for a while, I illuminated my watch and saw it was pretty close to 1 A.M. My depression resurfaced as I realized they probably weren't coming to find me. I felt a lot more stable, so I decided I better get back to my mission. "Gotcha!" I heard from somewhere in the rain. I flipped up to my feet just in time to miss her foot's impact with my head. "Well, how do we decide who wins? It wasn't like we set up a base or anything, so simply finding each other doesn't constitute winning." She said, ignoring the fact she just tried to smash my face. I didn't have to ask what she was thinking of to settle this, but I asked anyway. This led to her saying a fight that'll end when one of us can't stand. Before we began, she altered the kimono she wore (One of Kiyone's old ones from this restaurant she worked at), by ripping it off at about mid-thigh to better kick me I suppose.

No sucker punches this time. She was fully alert and ready for the attacks, so off we went. Squishing through the mud, we collided. To complicate my task of beating her (Scoring another knockout punch), our lighting source was only pale moonlight and the occasional lightening flash. Drunk, low light, and a woman who gets off on fighting pushed the martial arts part of my training into full gear. "Ah!" I missed a kick and she leveled her fist into my stomach, but in her satisfactory hesitation, I swept her off her feet. I leapt back a few feet to give her space, after all this wasn't about damaging anyone seriously. "Not bad..." I thought, while rubbing the bruise she'd probably left on my stomach. "Ready?" She asked, but I was already flopping towards her. We threw more punches and kicks, which were only evaded, until I landed one. She cascaded across the ground before stopping against a tree. At this time, I should note it is said that along with light hawk wings, some members of the royal family possessed a great physical strength. While Grandpa isn't one of them, I believe Azusa is. (Funaho being human and all, sort of puts her out of the ranking.)

Which probably explains where I got it. I became overly cautious of this when I started to break stuff. So, after years of focusing I managed to mute it and tend to only use it to carry things (I.E. the giant baskets of vegetables from the garden). I didn't control it when I hit her though, so this stumbling block sent me into panic mode. "Are you all right? I didn't mean to you hit you that-- AAAH!" I screamed as a clump of mud hit me in my eyes. "Ha, this is too easy! Come on, little man! You aren't even trying!" She shouted, while punctuating her statements with massive punches and kicks. This was her moment to shine. Kicking the ass of the weakling whom captured her, and proving that her rival's story was a bunch of BS. But it wasn't total BS, because my calm gave way to frustration and as I saw a blur of her fist, I caught it and threw her against a tree... almost as I hard as I could. The rain had washed the mud away (From my eyes anyway), so I teleported in just as she stood up. "Give up." I said, working at about half my usual capacity at this point.

Nagi's eyes seemed to flash for a moment, before she refused and took a futile swing, telling me to give up. "Look... LOOK!" I yelled taking a hold of both of her hands. "If I give up and you try for Ryoko, she'll kill you. Do you understand that? She won't run away happy to still be alive, because she isn't afraid of you anymore. This time she will outright kill you." I waited for my water logged reasoning to sink in, but Nagi had a seal's coat when it came to that. "That's the point. Now either you knock me out or let me go, because one way or another, it ends here." She said, trying to scare me with her usual lifeless stare. But unlike in the past, this time it really was lifeless. I thought for sure this idea was squashed after her talk with Ryoko, but here it was alive and kicking. Maybe in my own drunken way, I was trying to ignite the life in her eyes again or maybe it was the fact I became aware of how close we were. It was almost like I was watching someone else when I began to make my approach. "What are you doing?" She asked, suddenly grabbing my throat to keep our lips apart. I didn't verbally answer at first; I just stared at her while I tried to force myself back.

"Tell me to stop." I eventually said, because my body wasn't listening to my brain (Beyond the one below the belt). I began to undo the knot in her kimono still she said nothing. "Tell me to stop." This time... her grip loosened, allowing our lips to meet. Apparently, she didn't make a pit stop for underwear before coming here, because she was stark naked under that thing. "What are you doing?" She asked again, this time pulling my shirt off. As if it wasn't obvious... never the less, I answered with, "I don't know." I hoisted her up as she undid my shorts, apparently thinking the same thing I was, "No time to waste, they may come looking for us." In a few moments, I would be inside of her, and cheating on seven women who probably considered her the least of their worries. That wasn't so, though, because I continued to please her as I did the seven of them. "Yes..." She whispered as I drove in again. Nagi wasn't as vocal as I was accustomed to, but she let it be known I was doing something right.

I gently, kept my hips rocking forward in time with hers, watching, as her eyes seem to spark back to the land of the living. Her insides began to urge me into her deeper then, and by the way she was breathing, I knew she was about to go. "Ten..." She caught herself, not willing to voice I was the one doing this to her. I didn't mind, because I had a feeling she'd never want that verbalized. Finally, in time with a tremendous thunderclap she gave into me. Muffling her screams by biting down on my collarbone, she made a low sobbing like sound as she convulsed in genuine orgasm. As I pulled back to see her reaction, she quickly kissed me. We fought a miniature battle with our tongues before she backed out of the kiss, "Mmmm, pity this'll be over once the saki wears off." She said. I thought for a few seconds and then I realized something, I wasn't drunk at all. I was completely sober after the mud; I was just trying to convince myself otherwise. So, when I said, "It's been off since you threw the mud." Her eyes widened, but she quickly recomposed herself.

"You know we can never do this again, right?" Nagi said, taking leave of the fact I was still inside of her. "Why not?" Okay, so maybe I was still a bit tipsy. "For starters, who ever it is you belong to will probably try to kill me..." Nagi slowed as my face soured to her comment. I slowly said, "Get this straight, I'm not their anything. I'm mine and only mine. I can just be six of me, yet it still doesn't change the fact that I'm my own person. Understand?" She nodded, while briefly shuddering at my withdrawal. "Whoa, you're still... hard?" She said, as I searched for my clothes. "Yeah, you said it's been about three hundred years, so I figured I should go easy on you." Passing a small smile on to her, I resumed searching the bushes until I felt my legs fall from under me. I was staring at the sky but all too soon, she was astride me. "I'll show you easy." Nagi smiled that trademark smirk before I teleported out.

"And I'll show you hard..." I whispered from behind her. She smiled while struggling to regain the upper hand, but again succumbed to my strength as I roughly, (By her own fault) entered her. This pattern continued for a while, she'd break away from me and try to wrestle me down, and then I'd gain the upper hand and lay into her as hard as I could. I knew she was wearing down once I chased her to another tree, she just hugged it and let me take her from behind. Covered in mud, sweat, and rainwater, we did something that night I've never experienced. It was almost primal, caveman like sex. No spoken words or whispers, just a bunch of skin slapping, grunting, and moaning. "Ah! Do you like that?" I asked, finally using a modern form of communication, while pulling roughly on her hair (Which seems to really bring her to life). She growled a noisy, yes, as I pulled her hair and pushed in harder. For what seemed like a small eternity, we cried out in an almost unbearably, good (Good, great, mind altering, etc.) climax. Emphasizing each spray of my loins, with a jarring thrust into her orgasm induced tightness.

You want to hear something sad? This isn't even the bad part yet! "Okay, now I'm confused. You said you're sober, right?" She asked in between gasps for breath. I confirmed as much, but I wasn't sure. That was some of the best sex I'd ever had and to my knowledge, this wasn't a thing based in love. This was purely lust driven, so what did I do then? "This doesn't have to end, if you don't want it to." I said finally, getting bearings enough to stand. "What? You want me to be your secret live in whore or something?" She asked turning to face me. I explained it wouldn't be anything on that level, not with my demented plan. "No, this won't be a secret anything. We could be in the middle of the kitchen and they couldn't say anything..." From there we got dressed, as I walked her through my plan. It was time to see if that blank wing could support a body without having a person to love present within it. "You do realize this is only physical, right?" She said as we made our way back towards the house. I replied with, "Yeah." I'd succeeded in ending her suicidal run for Ryoko and here I was risking the same thing... for an extra person to sleep with.

We made it to the house around 4:30 in the morning, and I took the time to check my room for Ryoko. In a way, I was sad by not finding her there or any of them in the house for that matter. "No one's home..." I whispered down to her from my balcony. She made the leap up and from there... the lab. "Illumination, thirty percent." I called out into the darkness of the subspace laboratory. Seven spotlights lit up the path between the tanks and the control panel. "Why are you doing this?" She asked, watching me bring the program parameters online. "Why do you care?" She snorted, adding she didn't care, but was more curious. "Whatever, hit this button when I tell you to." I told her, while disrobing for a venture into the soul-separating realm again. Shuffling through my wings, I found the bleach white wing and told her to do her thing. The only way I can think to describe the process is it's like having the wind knocked out of you. That and extreme fatigue, except this time it went beyond that. The process usually lasted five minutes, now it was heading into double-digit minutes. Then it hit me, I forgot to take one of Ryoko's hairs in with me.

Just as I was about to scream in pain, it stopped. This is where the perspective shifts, as I was now looking down at the complete (Passed out) me. Fatigue had somehow, escaped affecting that body. I got a little rambunctious (Seeing how the first time I did this, the wings caused me to about fall unconscious) when I called on the wings; every single one of them was blank this time around. In that body's conscious, I wasn't emotionally connected to any of them. I didn't hate them, but at the same time, I didn't love them. They'd in essence been reduced to the state of friends. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't hostile or filled with rage, they just weren't the center of my universe. "Heh, heh I'm free. HaHaHaHa!" I wasn't bound with (In love with any of them) anyone or anything; I wasn't bound to the collective by the usual fatigue symptoms, it was like I was in the beginning. "Hit the blue one." I told her after a while, so I could get out. Once I was out in the open, I decided to test for any of Ryoko abilities... I had them all! "Wheee!" I shouted flying a few test loops, with no guilt of my prior actions (Which I [collective me] was feeling after I was done). "A moment of your time... Loopy." Nagi asked sarcastically.

"Ah, come here my red eyed friend." I said, flying her into the air with me. "What, put me down! I said..." She silenced as I discovered a new use for Ryoko's powers. About one hundred or so feet off the ground, I had her pinned against the wall screwing her senseless. I didn't ask and she didn't refuse so we went with it. Odd as it seems, knowing she only wanted me physically seemed to be all right. I guess because it was mutual, no pretend "I love you" just plain and simply, "Fuck me!" It wasn't exactly a relationship, but we were both sex toys so I guess we were equal in whatever it was... err is. I use is because it still exists, but we're jumping ahead now. Back at the lab, we'd successfully managed to have sex (The primal variety), on and in every way (Minus any of the anal or oral) conceivable. I guess while we were going at it on the control board, one of us hit the emergency signal... which feeds into Washu's lab. I was remotely aware of the flashing lights, but Nagi finally pushed me up enough to tell me to turn it off.

*From bad to worse*

I'd assumed Washu missed the signal, unfortunately, the distinctive "Ahem!" proved me otherwise. There we were, naked, sweaty and joined below the belt. "What the hell? Ten... Nagi!" I turned around to see the whole gang, and I do mean the whole gang. Washu, Mihoshi, Kiyone, Ryoko, Sasami-Tsunami, Ayeka, and introducing Yugi. The later of the group still being quite child-like in mind, "Eeew! I don't believe I'm seeing this, are you Sasami?" She asked turning to face the person... being, in question. "I wouldn't believe it if I weren't seeing it." A voice of equal Sasami and Tsunami said. I scanned the angry, saddened, and confused expressions of the crowd yet I didn't feel emotionally bad. It was like having a friend tell you they lost a pet, you feel bad for they're loss but it isn't a devastating thing to you. As I stood, I flashed a carefree smile at the naked woman below me who said, "I'd kill for my whip right about now." She mumbled sitting up on the panel. "Heh, we try to get you your precious, Sakuya, back and you do this?" Ryoko said shaking her glowing fist. So, that explained why they never came to find me. They were in the lab trying to get Yugi to reproduce her, "Yeah, I meant to apologize about that. I can make a new one, though, but she won't remember anything about you." I declined, which sent the room batty.

This is where the Tenchi in the cylinder wakes up. My head felt like it'd been hit with a brick and the yelling in the distance only worsened the situation. "How could I have been so stupid, I should've killed you when you were knocked out! And you... AAAH!" Ryoko screamed, while charging toward Nagi with sword in hand. "AH! None of that, I'm completely innocent. The Tenchi you need to talk to is back there... he should be waking up in a few." I said blocking the attack with a sword like her own. "Lord Tenchi! I will not tolerate..." Ayeka began, but soon ended as I shook my head. It went full circle with each woman trying to determine who I was, boiling down to me saying, "Here's a hint." Seven wings, all the SAME size appeared before them... blank. "Like I said, the Tenchi you want is back there." I said letting the wings fade away. Tank Tenchi, was now remembering what he had done in the hours of past. An argument about erased memories ends in infidelity and infidelity ending with a spiteful idea to make another body to parade the act.

In the link with my other self, I learned they were willing to give me another chance with a new Sakuya. My thinking they didn't care was crushed remembering (Remembering because it had been a while since they told him) that. I tried to call on the anger I felt from hearing Ryoko say they tolerated me, but then all I could think was it was a group toleration. If I could freely say, I tolerated them as houseguests, why couldn't they say they tolerated me in some form? It wasn't like I was always the perfect host, especially when it came to situations involving Ryoko. Blew up, shot down, or down right tortured were experiences she'd went through to help me and she never did ask for anything. Then the excuse of her bringing all the trouble onto the house, that wasn't completely true. I released her, so she became my responsibility in a way. So, whatever came about consequently was my fault. Lastly, accusing them all of expecting to control my life wasn't true. They did something they thought was in my benefit and I knew their eccentricities well enough to know they go overboard sometimes. So, I should've cut them major slack on that. There were no more excuses to hide behind, so it was time to beg, plead, or eat glass for their forgiveness.

Now it was time to face the music...

A/N: I know what some of you are thinking right now, "How could you bring Yugi back with no Sakuya?" The answer to that is a simple one, I liked the Nagi character more. Almost every story I've seen her in she's A: A lesbian B: A man in disguise or C: Some kind of dick girl. This was just my attempt at making her "normal", so sorry <Soup Nazi style> No Sakuya for you! This will be continued in chapter eight, which hopefully, won't be as long. Comments are always welcomed at redknight2k@hotmail.com. If you're going to criticize my grammar, especially my punctuation, don't bother. I know already and I'm trying to work on it.