Tenchi Muyo!

Chronicles of The Tree Of Bearing

Ch. 1

Peacefulness. The silence of sleep. It was the only time Tenchi Masaki, a young farmer, who recently discovered his was of royal lineage of the empire of Jurai, could find himself alone. If only for a little while at least, but it was enough. Sleep to him was as priceless as dimonds or gold. When he was awake, however, life could be impossible. Living with all of the alien girls who somehow fell into his life was sometimes too much to handle.

Frist Ryoko came, although she was more "discovered" than came. She was the demon who was feld against his ancestor, Yosho, who happened to also be his grandfather. Over 700 years ago, Ryoko led a lone assault against the planet of Jurai, until the First Prince of Jurai chased her down to Earth, sealing her in the cave over the Masaki Shrine. It was only roughly 3 years ago that Tenchi released her from her prison. From that point on he was constantly bombarded by her onslaught of seduction and overwhelming show of affection. It wasn't that Tenchi hated Ryoko, far from it, or how she showed her feelings. It was just she constantly drove him up the wall with it, and sometimes he felt as though if not for his strong will aqquried through training, he may have surcume to her already.

'She is beautiful, and I don't know why she would want to be with a guy like me. I'm just some ordinary Earthling who goes to school and works veggitable fields. I don't fight in outer space or command whole systems of planets.'

That part was held for the next two girls who arrived at his home; Ayeka, First Crown Princess of Jurai, and Sasami, Second Princess of Jurai. Ayeka came to Earth in search of Yosho, her half-brother and fiancee. He never returned to Jurai after defeating Ryoko, and remained on Earth, disguised as Kasyuhito Masaki, a Shinto priest. It was not revealed of his true self until the attack of Kagato, where Tenchi learned the truth of his grandfather, and his own blood. From that point, Ayeka stayed on Earth, along with her sister, Sasami. She now spent her days, to the disatfisfaction of the Emporer of Jurai, fending of Ryoko from Tenchi, assured with the thought of one day making Tenchi her husband and Emporer.

'I'm not one for titles, and I think that Ayeka only wants me to accept the throne so she can still have a husband, although I think she's still in love with Grandpa. Even if that weren't true, I don't think I would want it. Ayeka is everything you could ask from a women, but I think she is just too jealous and a bit greedy."

Things were anything from quite at the Masaki house, then a trip to the hot springs only brought another girl into his life; Miohosi, Galaxy Police Detective. The bubble-headed blonde fell from the stars, in pursuit of a deadly space criminal and Ryoko's former "master", Kagato. Soon Kagato himself showed up to claim Ryoko and challenge Tenchi. In search for the greatest power in the universe, Kagato commited his worst acts of torture. After Ryoko was kidnapped, Tenchi led a brave attempt to save her, only to be killed in the act. The space pirate escaped, charging into Kagato's ship, Sonja, with Ayeka and Miohosi barely keeping up. Finally reaching the main hall of Sonja, Ryoko and Ayeka engaged Kagato to avenge the death of Tenchi. Miohosi was trapped in the second dimension of the ship, and upon complete accident, released the fifth girl of the Masaki family, Washu Habuki, self-proclaimed Greatest Scientist in the Universe and mother of Ryoko. Ryoko taking this rather harshly, went back to fight Kagato after returning from the second dimension. Kagato overpowered her and used the power of her jems to capture Tsunami, the goddess that lives around Sasami and protecter of the Jurai Royal family. If it weren't for the goddess, Tenchi would not have been brought back to life to fight Kagato.

'I can still hear his laugh, the worthless attitude he had towards Ryokos' life. When he was defeated, she was so relieved, I could tell from how easily she returned to normal.'

After that, life had pretty much been one adventure everyday. The sycnronization of Ryoko and Zero Ryoko after defeating Dr. Clay, the visits from the Emporer and Queens of Jurai. But somehow Tenchi had navigated through all the mess and troubles, still keeping up with his chores, training, and schoolwork. He really enjoyed the times he spent with them all, and now, looking back, he would do it all over again.

'I really hope that it lasts, all the girls staying here. I've been with all of them so long, grown to know them so well, I don't know if we can live without them. Oh well, better get up, wonder if brea….."

Tenchi would not finish that thought as he opened his eyes for the first time; the only thing that he could do was stare into the golden eyes of a cyan haired space pirate that stared right back into his. A small line of blood trickled out of his nose as she hovered over him, obviously there for a very long time. She smiled at his first reaction; she loved it when he did that. It reminded her of how inexperienced at living with women he was. But it didn't matter, she loved him anyway.

"Good morning Tenchi…"

Tenchi jumped out of bed without a second thought, unconciously knocking her to the bed as he scrambled away from his greatest temptation. He was halfway from opening the door when he turned to her, frustration and annoyance in his eyes.

"For the last time Ryoko, stop watching me like this. I don't know why you do it, but it needs to end, I cant take it anymore."

Ryoko laid on the bed in hurt and pain stinging her heart. The happy smile that rarely ever showed itself, (something she reserved solely for Tenchi) had quickly vanished, replaced by the same look she held whenever he yelled at her, one of pure pain and longing. Only this was one too many, she didn't want to feel like that anymore.

'Why does he always push me away like this? At least I'm not naked. He knows how I can't sleep, so why does he always push me like this?'

Tears stung at her eyes as she cursed herself for crying in front of Tenchi. What good would it do? He didn't care, he had proven that to her, so what did it matter if she cried? She hadn't had a good cry in a few days….

Tenchi gazed back at the space pirate, looking at her tears trail down her cheek. Without even thinking, he walked calmly over to the bed, sat down next to the weeping beauty, enclosing her in his arms as he came to rest. Ryoko's crying instantly died from tears-jerking sobs to heavy sighs.

'What is he doing? He never did this before, even if I was crying. He would tell me to calm down or place a hand on my shoulder. Who is this angel to comfort a demon?'

She stopped asking questions in her mind as his hand ran up her back, causing both Tenchi and Ryoko to shuddler at the feeling of contact. Ryoko snuggled into Tenchi like a warm blanket as she neogotiated Tenchi's body to fall back with hers into his bed. She purred into his chest as he did not push away, but welcomed the movement, continuing to calm her down.

'Have I always held this kind of power over her, to make a deadly pirate purr to a weak farmboy? And why am I enjoying it?'

Tenchi had also noticed that he wasn't actting quite himself, when he put his head on top of hers, breathing in the sweet smell of cherry blosoms and springtime. His fallen angel, his most cherished. Not a day would go by that Tenchi thought of what would happen if he lost her. He could never move on.

Just as the two moved a few inches closer, Tenchi and Ryoko could hear the footsteps of Ayeka moving towards the room door. Realizing the horrible outcomes that would befall him if he was compramised, Tenchi turned to Ryoko with pleading eyes. She too knew what had to happen soon. She looked again at him with hurt eyes, but nodded and teleported out of Tenchi's arms, leaving the sweet scent of her hair in her wake just as the door opened.

"Oh Lord Tenchi, I hope I didn't wake you. We have been calling you for a few minutes for breakfast, so I decided to see if you were asleep."

Tecnhi looked around, a little in shock of what had just happened, but slowly regained himself as he crawled out of bed to stand in front of Ayeka. He put a had behind his head and smiled warmly at Ayeka.

"No Ayeka, I'm awake. Thank you for checking on me. Tell everyone I'll be right down."

"Of course Lord Tenchi. One more thing, have you seen Ryoko at all? She isn't on her rafter, or the roof, or the shrine."

Tenchi had only a moment to respond, else the princess would draw devesating conclusions. He quickly formulated the most convincing lie he could without breaking stride of conversation.

"Oh, I'm sure she's somewhere. I don't think she would miss Sasami's cooking for anything. But I have to go get Grandpa from the shrine. I'll look for her on my way, ok?"

'Not the response I was hoping for, I thought he might just let it go by. Maybe I shouldn't have spoken, but I would have felt guilty for lying. Oh well, nothing I can do now.' Ayeka's face remained unchanged as she turned to leave.

"Very well Lord Tenchi. Don't take too long."

As the door pulled gently shut and Ayeka's footsteps could not be heard anymore, Tenchi fell backwards onto the soft bed he had to vacate just a few minutes ago. Slowly shutting his eyes, he lay there, not exactly sure why, but just waited.

"Maybe Ryoko will come back. I wouldn't want her to think anything bad about her leaving because of Ayeka."

He lingered on this thought for a few minutes, yet no Ryoko appeared anywhere he could tell. He sat up, listening intently now, for some sign of her presense; the sound of her teleportation, the quite humming she did when she was stalking him, the smell of her hair, still so enlaced in his senses. Nothing appeared.

"Great, she must be playing some practical joke or something. Bet if I walk downstairs, she'll be at the table filling in on food and maybe watching something on T.V."

He picked himself up from bed, exited his room to make his way downstairs. In the back of his mind, something that was not self-reasurane was slowly beginning to grow.