4Chapter 4: Reunions and Introductions
The remainder of the Masaki household left the room with the personal computer in response to the commotion at the front door. They stopped at the landing at the top of the stairs, to view the scene below.
Mihoshi had someone, wearing a uniform identical to her familiar GP Detective's garb, in an embrace while laughing and repeating the name "Noike" over and over. Noike, the apparent object of her attention, amazingly seemed firmly set on the ground as Mihoshi continuously jumped up and down. To everyone who looked, it appeared as if she was holding onto a thoroughly rooted tree while trying to ride a pogo stick. From what little could be seen of Noike's face, she did not seem the least bit amused.
That could not be said of her companion, however. To Mihoshi's right, was another figure in a uniform. The woman, with green hair and lighter green eyes, was giggling at them. A bit older than, but just as pretty as the two women to her right, she had her hand up in front of her mouth in a vain attempt at hiding her amusement.
Ryoko, with her arms folded, standing next to Tenchi, scoffed: "Just what we need... more Galaxy Police."
"More?" Tenchi asked. "You mean they both are?"
His fiancé nodded. "The one being assaulted by Mihoshi is obviously a GP Detective like her. The other one is a senior official of some kind, probably really high up there in the chain of command."
Tenchi look at her curiously. "How do you know that?" he asked.
She grinned at him. "It's always a good idea for a pirate to know the enemy, especially those who might cause you the most trouble," she stated. Looking back at the woman, she added, "Something tells me that facing someone like her would have been quite a challenge."
"Good thing you won't ever have to worry about that anymore," Tenchi offered, smiling. He was very pleased that Ryoko had made peace with the rest of the universe, mostly for the universe's sake.
They were still looking at the newcomers when Tenchi's grandfather passed them and walked steadily down the stairs. The GP senior officer noticed the movement and looked up. Suddenly her expression changed from mirth to elation. She watched him approach, reaching the bottom and then coming over to stop very close to her. He smiled back at her, with a very tender look in his eyes and in a moment, she crossed the short distance to him as he took her in his arms. She snuggled into him, placing her left cheek against his chest, a very blissful expression upon her face.
"Who is she?" Tenchi asked out loud, not really expecting an answer. But he got one, just the same.
"That's Airi Magma, Yosho's wife…" said his fiancé's mother who had moved up next them. You're your grandmother, Tenchi."
"So that's her." He paused a moment to let that sink in, then added, "Dad just told me a little about her the other day. And now she's here. That's quite the coincidence…"
"Yeah, sure it is," Ryoko said sarcastically. She glanced over at Washu. Her mother was looking down at Yosho and Airi, revealing not a trace of emotion. Ryoko watched her as she continued to look at them, the only change to her face when she occasionally blinked.
Up until this point, she had still been very angry at Washu for the little "breakfast incident" the other day. But something was going on here, and whatever that was, it was quickly dissipating her anger towards her 'mad scientist' mother.
Damn it, she thought. I wasn't done being pissed at her and now this had to go and happen. She took a breath and then attempted to contact her mother through their shared link.
"Washu."
Silence.
"Washu."
Again silence. Ryoko's attempts weren't being blocked. There just was no response.
Finally, she tried; "Mom…"
At that Washu turned toward her, still expressionless and replied, "I thought you were still mad at me."
Ryoko scowled, "I am still mad at you damn it! But…" The scowl disappeared, replaced with a look of concern. "Are… are you alright?"
Washu let out a small sigh and closed her eyes. "It's not what you think Ryoko." She motioned her head toward Yosho and his wife. "I've known about this all along. It's no surprise. Yosho and I are just friends… close friends, but that's all. I'm not jealous, not of her. This just reminds me of something I once had a long time ago. Had and lost. That's all."
"Mom, I'm…"
Washu looked back towards her daughter with a small smile. "It's okay, Ryoko. Really, I'll be fine."
Ryoko was silent for a moment and then sent, "Mom, if you want to talk about it… I guess I'd listen…"
Washu had a quick look of surprise and then a smile larger than she had before. "Thank you, little one. Perhaps later…" She turned to look at the couple again, this time with a slight smile.
Unaware, as usual, of the two's silent conversation, Tenchi suggested, "I guess we should go down and meet everyone."
"I guess so," his fiancé replied.
"Oh, Tenchi. When you talk to your grandmother, I wouldn't recommend mentioning her age if I were you," suggested Washu.
"Her age?"
"Yeah. Something your grandfather once told me. Just trust me on this one, okay?"
"Okay… if you say so," he said hesitantly.
They started down the stairs. Just before reaching the bottom, a third woman, who had previously gone unnoticed, stepped through the doorway from behind Noike.
To his left, Tenchi heard Ryoko gasp, "Oh my god…"
He turned towards her. She was wide-eyed, disbelief apparent on her face. She looked over to Tenchi as if suddenly out of panic.
"Tenchi…" she said her voice filled with emotion. As he turned to see what had so upset her he heard her say, "No, don't!" As he looked a woman walked up to him.
He froze. He stopped breathing. He stopped thinking. All he could do was look; look at the face he thought he would never see again;
His mother's face.
"Hello Tenchi," she said with a smile.
He finally took another breath, still looking at her incredulously. Unbalanced, he struggled to right the world in his head. He finally broke through his brain's inertia to utter a single word, a word that was both a confused question and a plea filled with unbelievable hope:
"Mom?"
Hearing Tenchi's desperate question and immediately understanding the emotion behind it, the woman quickly threw Nobuyuki a withering glance, causing him to physically start. Her expression again softened as she moved closer to the stricken young man.
"I'm sorry Tenchi, but… but I'm not her…" she said as softly and gently as she could, knowing that this would crush his impossible hopes.
"But you look just like her…" he uttered, choked with emotion, so much in fact, that she momentarily was speechless.
The silence that followed was cut short by Nobuyuki; "Awww. Did you have to tell him so quickly?" He had an obvious look of disappointment on his face.
His "mother" turned toward his father and, with a severe look loudly scolded him: "Dad, don't be such an ass!"
Tenchi blinked a few times. "Dad… Dad?… you called him Dad…"
His father, suitably chastised, and his secret now revealed, confessed: "Tenchi. This is your older sister… Tenyo."
"My sister?"
"Yeah," said Nobuyuki laughing nervously. "I guess I should have come clean about that earlier huh? "Heh, heh, heh… "
Ryoko growled at him furiously through clenched teeth, her shoulders raised, her arms straight down at her sides, balls of energy forming in her open palms… "Anything else you need to 'come clean' about, Daaaaaddd?"
Nobuyuki went white as a ghost. "No, no, no, no… I swear!" he quickly stammered.
After maintaining that posture for a few more seconds, Ryoko visibly relaxed, the energy balls in her hands quickly dissipating. She crossed her arms, let out a deep breath, and targeted him with a penetrating stare. "Better not be," she hissed.
Wow… so scary… he thought.
With the possibility of Nobuyuki's imminent demise no longer an immediate concern, attention shifted back towards the new arrivals, particularly the newly introduced Tenyo Masaki.
"I'm sorry Tenchi this was such a shock. It wasn't supposed to be a surprise," she said, throwing another stern look briefly toward her father, who quickly avoided her gaze and began backing away slowly from the three of them. "Anyway I'm still hoping it can be a happy reunion. It's been such a long time since I've seen you."
Tenyo walked up to her brother and looked him over. "Last time I saw you, you were only 4 years old. Now look at you! You've grown up to be such a handsome young man."
Tenchi blushed slightly at her appraisal. Ryoko came up next to him and happily wrapped her arms around his left arm.
"And I hear you've gotten engaged," she added looking at the two of them. "You've really grown up."
"Uh… Tenyo. This is Ryoko. My fiancé." He turned to the woman on his arm. "Ryoko this is…" he smiled. "… this is my sister… Tenyo."
"Nice to meet you," said Ryoko.
Tenyo gave a little laugh. "We've met before. You just didn't know it, at the time."
"Huh?" the ex-space pirate replied.
"Yes, when Tenchi was a baby, I'd sometimes stand in for Mom and take him down to the cave. I'd watch you how you reacted to him. I could tell you cared for him very much. It was really very sweet."
Now it was Ryoko's turn to blush as well. This only made Tenyo laugh that much more.
"Look at you two. You really are quite the pair," Tenyo said happily. "Tell me. Have you guys set a date yet?"
Tenchi and Ryoko glanced at each other quizzically. "We haven't really talked about a specific date yet," he admitted as Ryoko also slightly shook her head.
"Oh," Tenyo replied a bit surprised. "I guess there's no hurry." Then she added, "When you do, you must let me know. I'll gladly help out with anything I can."
She smiled at Ryoko. "After all, I'll be getting a little sister too." Her smile got even larger at the prospect, her eyes closing
Ryoko, taken aback by the comment for a moment, smiled back. Without saying a word to each other both she and Tenchi thought that it a good idea, at least for the moment, not to mentions Ryoko's age to her soon to be new "big sister."
"Tenyo?" Tenchi asked.
She opened her eyes and responded, with a gleam in her eye, "Yes, little brother?"
"Um… I have about a million questions to ask you," he answered, his demeanor reminding her so much of when he was a little boy that it caused a lump in her throat.
"Tenchi," she said softly. "I know, and I'll be happy to answer any question I can. I'll be here for quite a while and we'll have plenty of time to talk about anything and everything. I promise." Then she turned her gaze and her head toward Nobuyuki, her expression becoming less friendly. "But right now I think I need to have a word or two with Dad."
Her father's eyes went wide as he thought; I recognize that look… that's the same look Kiyone would give me anytime I was in deep, deep trouble.
He started to shake, just a bit.
This is not good…
"Excuse me," she said and started to make her way toward their father.
Tenchi and Ryoko watched silently as she left and approached Nobuyuki, who looked like he was ready to request a blindfold at any moment…
"I almost feel sorry for him." Ryoko said, but her grin revealed her true feelings as she added, "Almost."
They watched as Tenyo spoke to her father in a definite one-sided conversation; leaning into him, one hand on her hip, the other right in front of his face, shaking her finger at him. Even though they couldn't quite make out her words, their impact seemed to strike Nobuyuki like repeated blows from a sledge hammer. At one point she even grabbed him by the ear, causing tears to stream down his face, as she continued to lecture him. They could tell that the conversation had nearly ended when she released her hold and his chin dropped down to his chest in shame. He nodded to her, in apparent surrender.
Ryoko, quite amused by the confrontation looked over at Tenchi. She saw that he had a very nostalgic look on his face. "Tenchi, what is it?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," he replied. "But this looks strangely familiar… like something I saw a long time ago."
"Oh, well maybe you can ask your grandfather. He might be able to shed some light on it," she offered. She looked around but Yosho was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Airi. She thought to herself, I wonder where they… Then a slight grin appeared on her lips. I get it.
"Where'd Grampa and Grandma go?" He asked upon also discovering their absence. "Maybe we should go find them."
"I don't think that would be a good idea right now, Tenchi." Ryoko advised.
"Why not?" he asked innocently.
Ryoko sighed, "My sweet Tenchi." Sometimes I forget how naïve you can still be, at times like this.
She tried to patiently explain, "They haven't seen each other in a very long time."
"Yeah…" he said, still not quite catching on.
She'd have to spell it out for him, to lead him by the hand, sort of speak. "Tenchi, you and I have gotten really close, closer to each other than we've ever been, right?"
"Of course we have; we love each other and we're getting married," he answered sincerely.
"Now imagine we got separated and didn't see each other for over many years, let's say," she postulated. "What do you think is the first thing we'd do when we were finally able to get back together?"
Somewhat embarrassed, he started to say quietly, "Well, with the way you and I are now we'd probably…" And then it hit him. His cheeks instantly became flushed.
"You don't mean that they're…" he didn't need to finish that question as her smirk clearly provided the answer.
He gulped. "Í guess we shouldn't bother them for a while…"
"A long while I imagine." She smiled with a bit of a blush herself.
He cringed and held his hands up, "Let's not go there, okay? I don't want to think about my grandparents in that way. I'm not ready for that. I may never be."
Ryoko laughed, "Oh my Tenchi. You're so adorable."
Aeka and Sasami walked up as Ryoko was laughing.
"What's so funny?" the older princess asked with a jovial air.
"Oh nothing really," Ryoko replied. "Just Tenchi being Tenchi."
Taking advantage of the princesses' appearance to attempt to change the subject, Tenchi asked, "Is something going on?"
"Sasami wants to make something special in celebration of our visitors' arrival and to do that she needs someone to go to the store for her," Aeka told them. "I said that I would go but I need a way there."
"I can pop us over to the Yamada's store and back no problem," her pirate best friend suggested.
"I was thinking of a more conventional means of transportation like Yosho's truck or Nobuyuki's automobile," Aeka responded. "And besides, I imagine that you would prefer staying here with Lord Tenchi, what with our guests and all. Am I right?"
"Yeah, you're right about that," Ryoko admitted. "Thought I'd at least offer."
"And I do appreciate it," her friend said.
"Yosho's not an option at the moment," Ryoko said cryptically with a little grin.
"Oh, he isn't?" the princess asked.
"Umm… not at the moment." Tenchi assured her. "So that leaves…"
"I volunteer!" Nobuyuki said a little too loudly as he returned to the group. Tenyo was still back where they had spoken looking at him judgmentally, with her arms crossed. Ryoko adopted the same posture and expression as well. He decided to keep a 'respectful' distance from his future daughter-in-law as well as avoid her piercing gaze.
"If you're ready we can go right now," he insisted. "No time like the present." Come on, he thought. I'd rather be anywhere else but here right now!
"But I haven't even gotten the list together yet," explained Sasami.
"Oh, okay… right," he stammered. "Then I guess I'll just wait for you out in the car, Princess…" He left for the door, nearly running after briefly glancing back at both Tenyo and Ryoko.
As Nobuyuki departed, Aeka turned toward her pirate friend. "Honestly Ryoko. Do you always have to do your best to intimidate people" she admonished.
"No… I don't have to…" her friend replied with an almost casual grin, emphasizing her last two words. This caused Sasami to giggle slightly.
The elder princess sighed and shook her head. "Why do I even bother? Come on Sasami; let us go get that list together."
"Okay," responded her little sister and they headed off into the kitchen.
Tenchi leaned next to Ryoko and said quietly, "About earlier. I understand why you were upset by what he did, but tell me, were you really going to fry my father?"
She chuckled quietly so only he could hear. "Of course not Tenchi. I'd never do such a thing." Then added, "But he doesn't need to know that, now does he?" She looked at him with her head cocked. "Honestly, I'm surprised you even noticed," she admitted. "You did seem to be rather distracted at the time."
"I certainly was that," he agreed, "But not enough not to miss my father's impending doom at the hands of my fiancé," he explained with a wry grin. "You know, there are other ways to get someone's attention other than threatening to blast them to tiny bits."
"Sometimes it's the only way to get a male Masaki to notice" she stated with a wink.
Tenchi smiled as memories of being chased by a certain pirate filled his head. "Whatever am I going to do with you?"
"Mmm, I dunno… Marry me?" she offered.
He chuckled. "I guess there are worse ways to save the world," he teased.
"Well I'm sure the world appreciates it," she said drolly. Then she smiled. "And even if it doesn't, I sure do."
She made her point with a quick gentle kiss.
Tenchi smiled at her as they moved apart. They heard a sigh off to the side; Tenyo was standing there with a very 'big sister" smile on her face.
Slightly embarrassed, Tenchi, nonetheless, offered; "Why don't go say hello to Mihoshi's friend?"
"You mean why don't we go rescue her from Mihoshi?" Ryoko corrected. Tenyo giggled in response.
They all three moved towards the still bouncing blond and her victim/former partner.
Aeka, sitting in the passenger's seat, looked out at the passing landscape. She enjoyed riding in Nobuyuki's car. It was unlike the personal conveyances she had known on Jurai. The vehicles found on her home world were literally thousands of years more advance than this simple machine; it was slow, manually controlled, and didn't fly or even hover. But that was exactly what she liked about it; its simplicity. She could easily see a variety of sights as they traveled down the road; homes, trees, flowers and even people. One could not see such things as clearly, high in the sky at speeds several hundreds of times faster than this vehicle could even attempt. She liked the feel of the road, with its curves and yes, even its bumps. She so enjoyed it that, in the past, she considered asking if she could be taught how to drive, but she would inevitably talk herself out of it, telling herself it was not proper; not something a Princess of Jurai should do. Lately, though, she seemed to be less and less concerned, in private at least, of her definition of propriety. She was changing, had changed, she realized, but she didn't know yet if that was a good or a bad thing.
The car slowed as it entered the town, soon coming to a stop as Nobuyuki parked in front of the Yamada's store. It was a small local shop, owned by the parents of a younger friend of Tenchi's. Upon exiting the car, she once again reviewed the list as she approached the front door. Stopping at the entrance, she glanced over at Nobuyuki, whom she noticed, looked rather sullen.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
He stopped and looked back with a worried expression. "I think Ryoko is very upset with me… and it makes my kind of nervous."
The princess smiled at him. "I don't think you have anything to really worry about. She likes to bluster about at times, but inside she has a very big heart. Although," she admitted,"it took me quite a while to realize it." She chuckled.
"I don't know… she seemed really mad at me… not that I blame her. I was rather childish and selfish, after all," he confessed, scratching the back of his head.
"Well, perhaps you could make a peace offering?" she suggested.
"Peace offering?"
"She is rather fond of sake after all…" she proposed.
At that, his expression instantly changed and he adopted a big smile. "What a great idea, Princess!" he exclaimed. "It should be a bottle of the good stuff too, not just the regular brand. I know exactly which one. It's at a store a couple of blocks from here. I'll be right back."
He took off down the road, almost running. She chuckled again, turned and opened the door to the shop. A bell chimed as she entered. Mrs. Yamada was behind the counter and looked up as she approached. "Hello Miss Aeka. We haven't seen you here in a while. Welcome back to our shop."
The princess bowed in greeting. "Thank you, it is nice to see you again."
"I hope everyone is well at home?" Mrs. Yamada inquired, referring to the Masaki household.
"Everyone is fine. Thank you." Aeka answered. "As a matter of fact, we have a few guests visiting from… out of town, which is why I am here today. I am picking up a few things for a special welcome dinner."
"That sounds so nice. I love it when we have guests." Then she made a somewhat serious face. "You might want to hurry with your shopping though… Seina should be home from school any minute."
Aeka's eyes widened slightly at the implication of the boy showing up at any time… without warning… with all the potential impact of a much localized earthquake, flood, or some other natural disaster. Since Seina was born, his presence would invariably lead to extreme misfortune befalling him and others around him. Things would suddenly fall apart; cars would mysteriously run out of gas; people would trip over absolutely nothing at all.
If Mihoshi was seen as the epitome of good luck, Seina was the patron saint of bad luck.
Even though his "curse" had never directly affected anyone of the Masaki household, Aeka didn't feel that particularly keen on tempting fate. She decided to acquire the required items as rapidly as possible.
"Thank you," she said, quickly bowing once again and hurrying over to the shelves picking up a small basket along the way. As she moved between the shelves, choosing her items, she heard the door chime again. She looked around the corner of a shelf to see if was Seina, but instead she briefly glimpsed a figure enter who was much taller than the boy would have been. She breathed a small sigh of relief and returned to her task.
She soon acquired all the requested things on the list except the final item; a large bag of rice. There appeared to be only one left, and it was located at the back of the top shelf. On her tiptoes, she managed to grab a hold of the bag and began to pull it to the front of the shelf. Just as she was about to bring it down, she heard a large crash just outside the store, startling her and causing her to lose her grip. The bag fell toward her as she ducked and yelped simultaneously awaiting the inevitable impact.
It did not come.
She slowly glanced up to determine what had happened. She saw a pair of arms outstretched, two hands holding the bag about a half meter above her head. The arms owner appeared to be a young man. He moved the bag from above her and stepped back.
"That was a close one," he said with a smile. "Good thing I came in to grab a couple of things today."
She stood up and looked at the young man. He was quite attractive, with auburn hair and brown eyes, seemingly flecked with purple and gold. His gaze seemed rather intensive, but also rather friendly and open; she felt herself slightly blush beneath it.
She rapidly regained her composure. "Yes it seems I was rather fortunate that you were here,"she agreed. "Thank you." She smiled in appreciation.
"You're very welcome, Miss… ?"
He obviously wanted to know her name, she realized. She also realized that she didn't mind telling him.
"My name is Aeka."
"Aeka… that's an unusual name… I like it. I've never saved a girl named Aeka before." He joked.
"No?" she asked, in the spirit of the jest. "Do you often save girls then?"
"Sure, all the time" he quipped. "Especially the pretty ones." His smile broadened.
She blushed at the inferred compliment. Once again trying to regain her composure she asked, "So may I ask the name of my savior?"
"I'm sorry. I haven't properly introduced myself yet." He looked into her eyes. "My name is Kazuki Izakawa," he said.
"But most people just call me Z…"
