Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ What Women Want ❯ No need for a fist fight! ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Five: No need for a fist fight!

Masaki Household: a few hours later

"C'mon everybody! Lunch is ready!" yelled Sasami as loud as she possibly could.

At one-forty five in the afternoon, this was the latest she had ever started making lunch. Sasami had gotten more sleep than she had bargained for, nearly thirteen hours worth. Even though she felt refreshed, she still found it odd that she'd been out of the loop for quite so long. By the time she'd gotten dressed, there was only enough time for her to make a couple of bowls of cereal and some toast.

Neatly placing the food on the table, she got out some napkins and some spoons and put them next to each bowl.

She finished doing this just in time to see her sister, Ayeka, dutifully report for lunch. Tenchi, who had a beleaguered look on his face, followed her less than a minute later. Next came Ryoko, who wore an ear-to-ear smile that showed everyone that she'd just finished filling the young prince's head with dirty thoughts. Ryo-Ohki had been sitting on the counter the whole time, quietly eating a small plate of carrots.

Noticeably absent were Washu and Mihoshi, who were still downstairs in the laboratory where they'd been for several hours.

Bound to tradition, Princess Ayeka waited for Tenchi to be seated first, since he was head of the household. On the other hand, Ryoko had no such respect for things that she deemed as silly or trivial, like the royal Juraian's little tradition. The space pirate promptly sat down at her spot and motioned for Tenchi to come and sit beside her.

"Heh heh…this oughta get Miss Pretty Princess Puff all hot and bothered," Ryoko thought.

"Come and sit next to me, my Tenchi," she said in a sultry voice. "Don't be shy now."

Picking up her thoughts, the young Juraian instantly became nervous, and put his hand behind his head.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Ryoko," he replied, already knowing it wouldn't do any good.

Sure enough, it wasn't, and the lovely pirate firmly grabbed his other arm and pulled him down onto his seat. Ryoko put her arm around him as she gleefully watched Ayeka get jealous. Before the Princess could say anything insulting, the pirate looked down at what she thought was a hot meal. Instead she was greeted with a bowl of cereal and a piece of rapidly cooling toast.

"Hey! Sasami, what the heck is this?" she exclaimed. "Where's lunch? We've all had breakfast already!"

"This is lunch Ryoko, I'm sorry," the little princess apologized. "I woke up real, real late and there wasn't enough time to make a big meal."

"We don't live in a restaurant," Sasami thought afterwards. "I feel so unappreciated sometimes! Oh well, grin and bear it they say..."

Tenchi just watched as Ayeka and Ryoko let out a collective sigh. They quietly proceeded to eat their lunch as Sasami sat down at her spot next to her sister. Without saying anything, she picked up her spoon and began to eat her Cheerios, all the while staring at Tenchi expectantly.

"It's not bad, not bad at all," Ryoko was thinking, "I suppose we could have had nothing...which would have sucked..."

The pirate shoveled a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, followed a second later by some toast, her mind then going off on a tangent. After reading her thoughts and finding they were mainly of him, Tenchi drank a bit of orange juice before focusing on Princess Ayeka.

"Breakfast food for lunch…hmm, I'm reminded of that time when we were in town," she thought. "What was the name of that place we ate at? I dare say, it's on the tip of my tongue…"

A look of consternation appeared on her face as she delved into her memory, searching in vain for the missing word. Finally taking advantage of his grandfather's advice, Tenchi put his new talent to practical use.

"Hey, little Sasami, this is just like that time we went to the International House of Pancakes," he said, immediately drawing the attention of the two sisters. "You know, breakfast food for lunch and everything like that."

"You're right," the younger princess said, smiling broadly, "it is like the pancake house!"

"Lord Tenchi, you took the words right out of my mouth," Ayeka said incredulously. "I was just thinking along those lines. It's almost like you finished my sentence. You're so very talented Tenchi."

The Juraian prince felt satisfied at how that played out. Sasami was quite happy to get a compliment and Ayeka was impressed that he seemed to know her well enough to finish her thoughts. He had gotten exactly the reaction he had planned from the girls, and was beginning to get a grip on his new power. Of course, Ryoko didn't think much of it at all, as always, and worked to trump Ayeka by pawing at the object of her affections.

"Honestly, how can Cheerios compare to those pancakes I made you earlier Tenchi?' she said, lazily drawing circles on his chest. "If we were going to have stuff like this for lunch, don't you think it should have been a little better?"

Tenchi tried to brush her off and get her to finish her food, but she kept incessantly clawing at him, so the prince would have to remove the pirate by other means.

"Ryoko…stop it! Be grateful for once in your life," he said in a harsh tone. "This meal isn't bad at all. We should be grateful to Sasami for at least making an effort. None of us appreciate her enough. We'd all just…go hungry if she wasn't around."

The space pirate stopped groping him, seemingly hurt by his words, but still kept her arms around Tenchi for good measure.

"Just wonderful how he likes the cook so much more than me," thought Ryoko, the sarcasm obvious. "I'm beginning to wonder why I bother anymore. Ugh, all for nothing..."

For the next few moments, she just stared at her lunch, what was left of it anyway. Tenchi began to carefully listen to her thoughts, all the while nonchalantly eating his cereal. He was shocked to learn that Ryoko was growing increasingly frustrated with the current situation in the Masaki household. Her constant fights with Ayeka were getting worse, and the fact that the man she loved the most always seemed to have a callous attitude towards her.

"All the flirting gets me nowhere, and those romance novels are full of bullshit," thought the lovely pirate. "I must be delusional if I think he's in love with me..."

Appalled at what he had heard, Tenchi immediately sought to put her fears and doubts to rest.

"Ryoko, ah…I don't want you t…" he started before being interrupted by Jurai's Crown Princess.

"He doesn't want you holding on to him like a tramp all the time!" Ayeka exclaimed, her face red with anger. "Get your hands off of Lord Tenchi!"

Tenchi honestly hadn't realized it that much, but Ryoko had left her arms draped around him the entire time. He'd gotten so used to it that the sensation didn't irk him to high heavens anymore. Too busy listening in on Ryoko's inner musings, he'd neglected to pay attention to Ayeka, who had been steadily growing more and more jealous. At first, the Princess didn't say anything, but when her personal nemesis refused to let go of the man she wanted to marry, Ayeka was compelled to take action.

The fact that Tenchi hadn't made any efforts to get rid of the space pirate only infuriated her that much more.

"I'll be damned before I let that monster woman steal him from me...just like...Yosho..." thought Ayeka. "Shestole him from me!"

She had always personally blamed Ryoko for her brother's disappearance. On Jurai, it was not perceived as wrong, or indecent, or illegal to marry a family member. Ayeka had been betrothed to Yosho, and loved him with all of her heart and soul. When he left Jurai to battle Ryoko seven hundred years before, and then did not return afterwards, her very essence was torn asunder and dashed to pieces. She now held the pirate responsible for taking away her brother and any chance at real happiness.

"I can't believe you're doing this here, at the table?! Have you no manners at all, monster?!" she said in a shrill voice. "I won't let you steal him from me!"

Ryoko merely rolled her eyes at the enraged Princess. She honestly enjoyed their little conflicts every now and then, and never missed the chance to egg the royal Juraian on. She and Ayeka stood up at the very same time, almost as if on cue. Little Sasami tried to say something to stop the ensuing battle out of concern for Tenchi's well being, but her sister quieted her before she could even open her mouth.

"This is gonna be bad, I know it. Try to stop them Tenchi!" little Sasami thought.

Jerking Tenchi to his feet, the lovely pirate continued to display her affection for him by fondling his private areas, pushing Ayeka to the limits of self-control.

"Steal him?!" Ryoko said, trying to sound innocent. "What are you trying to say? You think you own him or something?"

"I said nothing of the sort!" Ayeka replied angrily. "Don't put words in my mouth!"

"Good then, because you know perfectly well that Tenchi belongs to me."

"Lord Tenchi doesn't belong to anybody! And if he did, he certainly wouldn't belong to someone as vile as you!"

Ryoko pretended to act hurt by Ayeka's last statement. She pouted her lips and stared longingly at Tenchi, who, by now, had been simply smiling nervously as he always did whenever the girls began to fight. Just from the look in her eyes, the young prince could tell she was thinking of something quite devious.

"Okay, let's kick this up a notch," thought Ryoko. "Time to tell her something about that stupid money she lost. Heh...put on your poker face, cause it's showtime!"

The beautiful soldier of fortune gave Tenchi the biggest puppy dog eyes she'd ever given in her entire life. Honey colored orbs pierced his soul, turning him once again into a jabbering, timid mess of a young man. She threw herself into his arms and embraced him tenderly.

"Aww…Ryoko…c'mon…lemme go, please?!" he stammered, unable to shake free of her iron grip.

"No way!" she answered. "I own you, my Tenchi. I'm begging you, tell me, when are we going to get married?"

By now, Ayeka was extremely pissed off. Angry and resentful enough to leap right over the table, she covered the space between them in less than a second. There was only a foot and a half between them. At that distance, the borders of safety would certainly be pushed to their limits, and more than likely, beyond.

"That's it, I can't stand this any longer!" little Sasami thought.

Sasami had given up trying to control the two of them, and she got up from the table, tears welling up in her eyes. One of her well-made meals had been ruined again by the fighting, and she wanted nothing more to do with either of them.

"If you guys want to fight over little things that's fine, but you shouldn't do it at the table!" she cried. "We're supposed to be a family!"

Grabbing Ryo-Ohki from off the counter-top, she stormed out of the kitchen and went upstairs to be alone with her thoughts.

*****

Unfortunately, Sasami's important point was lost on both Ryoko and Ayeka.

"See what you've done now?! You've upset my sister!" yelled the Princess, her fists balled up. "And for the last time, get your hands off him!"

"Me?! You're the one who started this!" the pirate retorted, her grip on Tenchi increasing. "I'm not gonna tell you again either. He belongs to me! I paid good money for him and I'm not about to let someone else have him!"

Before the Juraian prince could say anything, his captor placed her hand over his mouth to prevent him from speaking.

Tenchi tried hard to squirm away, but he couldn't get away from Ryoko. The thoughts he had been getting from them had grown increasingly more and more violent. He really hadn't ever grasped the full extent of the rivalry between Ayeka and Ryoko, but now he understood quite well how deep their well of emotions really was. Both girls loved him with all their hearts, but it was the simple fact that he hadn't ever shown them what was in his that drove them to such lengths.

Already unpleasant to begin with, the situation was more than out of hand and would soon take a turn for the worse.

"Quit lying! You do not own Lord Tenchi!" Ayeka shouted. "I have to protect him from monsters like you!"

"I'm no monster! I'm his fiancée'!" said Ryoko with a grin. "And if I have my way we'll be getting hitched sooner than you think, Princess!"

"He would never agree to marry such a worthless, vile, despicable, unattractive woman like you!" the royal Juraian retorted.

Rare indeed was the occasion where Ayeka had the audacity to essentially call Ryoko ugly. The few times that she had, there had been a great battle between the two of them, the Princess being quick to point out afterwards that the pirate was also uncouth and not enough of a lady to be with Tenchi. Normally, the space brigand would have already started wailing ferociously on the Juraian and vice versa. However, this time Ryoko had every intention of playing it cool.

"Well, you can say whatever the hell you want about me, but we're still getting married. Honorable father Nobuyuki gave us his blessing," said Ryoko, her voice calm and firm.

The amber-eyed pirate received great satisfaction from the look that appeared on Ayeka's face. It was a face twisted all of a sudden by anguish, defeat, and embarrassment all at once. Although she didn't believe it at all, the mere prospect of her beloved being wed to another tore at her soul. Ryoko giggled to herself, finally letting go of Tenchi's face, allowing him to breath through his mouth again. Already nearly bowled over by the heated words, he was also burdened with the magnitude of their thoughts as well.

"Excellent! Ha ha! That's the look! Aww, yes! Perfect!" Ryoko was thinking. "This battle is over I guess. Might as well deliver that final blow, heh heh. Then it'll be back to lunch with my Tenchi..."

Princess Ayeka's mind was much more troubled than that of her nemesis.

"It isn't true...no, it couldn't be. I've tried so hard to protect him from her and they just grow closer!" she thought. "What can I do to make him see that she'd only be his downfall?! He'd forsake his destiny to stay here on this insignificant little planet! Why?!"

Finally, Ryoko decided that she'd deliver her punchline. It would be certain to push Ayeka over the edge, just what she wanted her to do, proving that the Princess was just as crude as the pirate.

"Honorable father was so excited when I asked him. He said all he needed was a dowry, so I paid him that fifty bucks I won from you," said Ryoko plainly.

"How did she get American money in Japan anyway? Doesn't make sense…" she thought a moment later. "I should probably give it back...nah..."

Indeed, that was the clincher. The lovely pirate began to laugh heartily upon seeing Ayeka's face contort through an enormous range of emotions. Ryoko's laughing only grated against the Princess's ears, infuriating her even more. She knew in her heart that her arch-rival was lying through her teeth, and would make her pay dearly for it.

Ayeka could only take so much, and she'd gone beyond the breaking point now.

She would snap if Ryoko didn't stop mocking her. Something bad would happen and people were going to get hurt.

Since she couldn't hurt the pirate with her words, the Princess would do it with her fist.

Too absorbed in her own sense of satisfaction, Ryoko never saw the blow coming.

In the end, all that the cyan haired lady would remember was the mind numbing pain and the sickening crunch of cartilage being shattered.

Bewildered by the violence of the two girls thoughts, Tenchi looked to where Ryoko had been standing just a moment before. Alas, she was no longer there, as if she had disappeared. Tenchi gazed down, and to his amazement, found her sprawled out on the floor, holding her face in agony. She was lying on her back, not saying or doing anything but breathing very hard, almost hyperventilating. Ryoko's amber colored eyes burned holes in the ceiling, staring perfectly straight forward as if she'd been struck dumb all of a sudden.

A faint trickle of red blood oozed through her tightly clenched fingers, dripping down and pooling on the wood floor.

Tenchi knelt beside Ryoko and was suddenly awash in all of her most violent emotions, giving him an instant headache. It was as if he could feel the physical pain as well as the emotional from her, and it took all of his strength just to continue looking at her.

"It...it hurts..." thought Ryoko through her misery. "She...hit me! My...nose...is...broken! Damn...it...damn everything!"

She had always been tough on the outside, but she wasn't invincible. The truth was that Ryoko, despite her many facades, was fragile on the inside, and her spirit had just been smashed as her pretty face had been. Right now, the pirate didn't want to be seen, and turned away from Tenchi and Ayeka so they wouldn't be able to see her cry.

"What have I done?" Ayeka suddenly thought to herself. "I didn't mean to! It wasn't my fault! It was a reflex! Oh, Ryoko, I'm sorry!"

The Princess took a wary step forward, knowing that things could only get worse. She already felt terrible about what had happened. It was in her very nature to be compassionate and understanding, yet she had been envious and distrustful and cruel.

"Miss Ryoko…I'm sorry. I honestly didn't mean to…" was all Ayeka got to say before being cut off.

"Shut up!" Ryoko yelled, still clutching her broken nose. "Just shut up! I don't wanna hear it!"

Her voice was shrill and nasal, and the girl seemed on the verge of breaking down right then and there. Reaching into one of the pockets of her kimono, Ryoko pulled out a wad of paper money. Fuming mad beyond all sense of the word, she threw the balled up currency at Ayeka. It sailed through the air and landed at her feet, fully half of it stained red with blood.

Although it lay there unassumingly, it had become a symbol of all the malice that the two of them had for each other

"There! Keep your precious money, you horrible bitch!" screamed Ryoko, who had finally mustered the energy to sit up. "No more! I can't stand this anymore! I don't want to live like this anymore!"

For a moment, she stared at Tenchi, her eyes filled with tears. Gazing at the man she loved, Ryoko seemed to soften and the pain went away, but only for that brief second in time. Hardness appeared in her eyes once more, and she turned away from him and tried to get to her feet.

Ryoko stumbled a bit, unsure of her legs after being on the receiving end of such a powerful blow. Tenchi rushed in to help her, but for the first time ever, she pushed him away, practically shoving him to the ground. Turning her back on him and Ayeka she began to walk away.

"Don't follow me Tenchi! Stay with your princess!" said Ryoko in a harsh tone. "Since she loves you so much, she can have you! I'm out of here!"

As soon as she said this, the brigand stopped in her tracks, as if she had caught herself in a deadly trap. Tenchi's jaw had already dropped wide open, and he gawked at her, his brain refusing to believe what his ears had just told him.

She stood there quietly, her mind crying out to him, "Good-bye, my Tenchi. Don't forget me..."

With that last thought, Ryoko sobbed bitterly one last time, then phased into nonexistence, leaving her love behind.

*****

Stunned, and now shaking, Tenchi Masaki felt weak in the knees. In the end, this was all his fault, and he knew it all too well. But he was frozen in place it seemed, his essence torn asunder and dashed upon the rocks by Ryoko's sharp words. Tenchi desperately needed to find the lovely pirate, but if she did not want to be found, then chances were she never would be.

It would take another to jolt him back into action.

He had forgotten all about her, but undoubtedly Ayeka was still there, just as traumatized as he was. Nevertheless, she gathered her courage and placed a soothing hand on his shoulder. She didn't feel good or justified in hitting Ryoko, and had to make amends somehow, lest the weight of her conscience crush her.

"Princess?!" said Tenchi, startled back into coherence by her touch. "What...what should I do?"

"Go after her, silly! Boy, he really is dense sometimes!" Ayeka thought. "Like lead almost. Stay in school, Tenchi-sama."

The pretty royal Juraian sighed heavily and looked deeply into his hazelnut eyes.

"You know what you have to do…" she tenderly replied. "Now hop to it!"

Grabbing him firmly, Ayeka began to shove him out the door. When they got to the glass pane, she opened it and pushed him outside, then quickly shut it behind him. Tenchi had always known what it was he needed to do, but he merely needed a kick in the pants to get himself moving. Princess Ayeka had given him that, and he immediately set off to search for Ryoko, hoping that when he found her it wouldn't be too late.

As he ran off into the open air, Tenchi picked up the last of Ayeka's thoughts.

"Please, Tenchi…tell her I'm sorry. Tell her I didn't mean it, the way I couldn't. Please, help her!"

Then and there he silently vowed to do just that.

Tenchi would find Ryoko.

He would tell her exactly how he felt.

It was only a matter of time…

End Chapter Five

Proceed to Chapter Six!