Back on the list at last! Direct e-mail no longer necessary for C&C.


Episode 5 - No Need for Discipline


     "Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather,
      Shiny leather in the dark.
      Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you,
      Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart.

      Severin, Severin, speak so slightly,
      Severin, down on your bended knee.
      Taste the whip, in love not given lightly,
      Taste the whip, now plead for me."
        -- "Venus In Furs", Velvet Underground


Ryoko slipped into the steaming bath and hummed softly to herself. She
was in a very good mood. She was prepared to listen respectfully when
Washuu explained her latest contraption. She'd give Ryo-oh-ki all the
carrots she could eat. She wouldn't do anything to embarrass Tenchi.
She wouldn't poke fun at Aeka about her bust size. She'd even do her
share cleaning up around the house. 

Well, OK, maybe not that last part. But the joyous memory of the
previous night blotted out everything that had happened before it, and
she was definitely ready to be, if not friendly, at least civil to
Aeka. There was one subject in particular that they needed to talk
about, right away: how to equitably divide Tenchi's sack time. 

Alternating nights? Jan ken? Some other way? Just as long as they
could both see it was fair. Arguing about it would simply divert time
and energy better spent on something else, namely, sex with Tenchi.
She smiled proudly as she remembered how exhausted he'd been once she
was done with him. Then she grinned. 

*Another week, Tenchi, and you'll be lucky if you can still stand up.*

As she stretched and luxuriated in the hot water, she decided
something else. Tenchi was going to become more familiar with the
inside of the women's bath. She relaxed further and waited for Aeka to
show up so they could have their talk.

Maybe they could even compare notes.

Aeka was waiting on the couch as Tenchi walked down the stairs.
"Ohayo, Tenchi-sama," she said. Her smile demure but subtly seductive,
she beckoned to him and patted the seat next to her.

"Ohayo, Aeka-hime," he replied, coming over and sitting down.

"Tenchi, there is something important I wish to speak with you about."

"Oh?"

"There is a Juraian ritual I would like you to undertake. It would
mean very much to me, Tenchi."

"You don't mean... engagement?" he asked, worried.

Pain pricked Aeka's heart for just a moment. *Must he say that so...
fearfully?* She shrugged it off and forced a smile and a laugh.

"No, no, no. Nothing so formal," she assured him, holding his hand.
"There is something the women of Jurai do to demonstrate how deeply
they care for the man they love," she said, entwining her fingers with
his. "I would like to do this, for you, Ten- chan." She brought his
hand to her heart and held it there. "So you will truly know how I
feel about you."

He leaned forward and kissed her. "I *already* know, Ae-chan. There's
no need for you to show me. But if this matters to you, sure. Whatever
you want."

Her heart soared. "Then let us go out to Ryu-oh," she said, standing
up.

"Is there anything I should take along?" he asked, rising beside her.

"Bring a blanket. To spread on the ground. We will need it.
Afterwards."

Tenchi's breath caught in his throat.

Aeka. Then Ryoko. And now Aeka again.

He had no problem with that. No problem at all.

They walked through the woods, holding hands, Aeka resting her head on
his shoulder part of the way. The morning sun shone down on them, and
all around them the air was full of the sound of teeming life. When
they came to Ryu-oh, she kissed him and gestured to the ground. They
sat facing each other in the shade underneath the tree that had been
and would be Aeka's ship.

"If Ryu-oh were able, I would take you into space for this. Amongst
the stars. That is the proper place for it, in the case of a member of
the royal family." She kissed him. "But to be with you is what matters
to me, Ten-chan. It is the spirit of the thing that is important, in
any case."

"Thank you, Ae-chan," he said sincerely, bowing his head. "You do me
too much honor."

"No, I do *not*," she replied, lifting his head back up. "Oh,
Ten-chan, that would not be *possible*!"

"I will try to be worthy of your tradition," he said.

"I'm sure that you will be," she answered happily. "Now, Tenchi..."

"Yes?"

"I need to bind your hands."

He glanced down and saw the coil of rope that lay in her lap.

Tenchi tried to hide his surprised grin. This definitely wasn't
something he would have expected Aeka to have a taste for. Ryoko,
maybe, but not Aeka. Well, if Ryoko had a vulnerable side, then Aeka
could certainly have a kinky streak in her. If the last two days had
taught him anything, it was that life could be a lot more interesting
if he loosened up. *Just imagine all the fun you've been missing.*

He held out his arms in front of him.

She bent and kissed his wrists, then wound the rope around them and
tied it, firmly but not tightly.

She motioned for him to rise.

He did, in more ways than one.

Aeka tossed the end of the ropes over Ryu-oh's lowest branch and
caught it as it fell again. Then she pulled, hauling his arms up over
his head. She tied it again around his wrists, and he stood there, not
quite hanging. She walked behind him, out of sight.

Tenchi considered a few of the things she might do with him while he
was bound and helpless.

He liked them. *All* of them.

Something tugged at him and *snick*ed. He felt her fingertips against
his back, through a hole in his shirt that hadn't been there before.
Then cloth ripped as she tore it off of him and discarded it on the
ground.

There was strength in those slender fingers, he realized. One just
didn't get to see it used very often.

That was two shirts gone, now.

As if he cared.

Her arms wrapped around his now-bare torso. He felt her chest pressed
against his back, and she kissed his neck from behind. "Wait right
there, Ten-chan, beloved," she whispered hotly in his ear before
letting go. "I must prepare myself for you."

Even if he'd been able, Tenchi wouldn't have moved an inch.

Moments later, his ears caught a faint fluttering sound as something
sailed through the air to his right and landed a few paces in front of
him.

Aeka's obi and kimono.

Tenchi's eyes widened. *I sure hope Grandpa doesn't decide to take a
walk in the woods right now!*

Other objects followed the kimono. Her geta. Her tabi. Her bra. Her
panties. He gulped, excited. This too was very unlike Aeka's usual
behavior.

Then, for a couple of minutes, he heard rustling sounds behind him,
and an occasional squeak.

She stepped back in front of him, and Tenchi's eyes bulged nearly out
of his skull. Now this was very, very, VERY unlike Aeka.

She was clad only in black leather and bare skin. And not *much*
leather, at that.

Bracers were wrapped around her forearms. Shiny boots reached up past
her knees. Her micro-miniskirt, stretched tightly over her rear, went
not even halfway down her thigh. And a three-inch wide halter
attempted to cover breasts which, despite Ryoko's remarks, Tenchi
found quite inviting.

And that was it, except for one thing that hung at her waist.

A whip.

"Uh, Aeka..." he started, but she immediately cut him off.

"`Oujo-sama' to oyobi!" she commanded sternly.

Tenchi stifled another grin. OK, he could play along with this. *Is
she going to make me lick her feet, or something?* He didn't doubt
much that he would if she asked -- or, rather, ordered. Just so long
as it wasn't anything worse than that.

"Hai, oujo-sama. Gomen nasai. I *really* like that outfit. Where did
you get it?"

"It was a gift from my mother, when I left for my marriage meetings,"
she answered.

Tenchi gulped. From her *mother*?!

It must be a very *interesting* family.

His eyes went back to the whip that dangled, threatening, from her
belt. "And did she give you *that*, too, oujo-sama?"

"Yes," Aeka said proudly. "It has been handed down from mother to
eldest daughter since the beginning of Jurai's royal line. Perhaps
before. It has been a sign of the power of the women of our house
since antiquity."

Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. *OK, so it's some kind of
symbolic family heirloom.* "I'm just glad you're not going to use it
on me... oujo-sama."

"Oh?" She smiled and draped the whip over his neck. She pressed her
lips to his, and one rubbing hand against his erection. She held the
kiss for a moment, looking deeply into his eyes. "Won't I?" she asked.

Then with her other hand she yanked the whip-handle downward, hard.

Tenchi winced as the leather left a painful weal on his skin. Aeka put
both arms around him and began tenderly to kiss the wound she had just
inflicted. She returned to his lips. Then she started moving down, and
when he tilted his head to hold her kiss she thrust the handle of the
whip firmly under his chin and kept it there while she kissed his
neck. After a minute or so she stepped back and composed herself,
holding her head high.

"Obey me, and I will give you love. Disobey me, and I will give you
pain," she decreed regally, her voice warm and cold, threatening and
passionate, warning and promising, all at the same time.

Tenchi laughed nervously. "And if you ring a bell, I'll drool.
Right... oujo-sama?" He smiled for a moment, hoping she got the joke,
but she didn't seem to.

Aeka frowned. *Why doesn't he understand?* She embraced him tightly,
pressing herself against him, letting him feel what he could have if
only he would choose the right, the obvious, the only possible path.

"Those are your options," she said, her face an inch from his. "Your
obedience, my body," she kissed him, "my heart," again "my soul," and
again. "Your disobedience," she pressed the handle against the
stiffness in his crotch "my whip." Then her amethyst eyes shimmered as
she gazed downward and rested her head against his chest, once again
the Aeka he'd known, sweet, gentle, fragile. "Is that such a
*difficult* decision, Ten-chan?" she asked softly, and despite her
whip and his bonds, it was Aeka's voice that pleaded.

Somehow, Tenchi knew his choice wouldn't be that simple.

She slid fluidly around his body to hold him from behind again. Her
hands glided down into his pants, under his briefs, and began to
stroke tantalizingly. Her voice spoke softly and warmly just next to
his ear.

"Would you like us to make love, right now, Ten-chan? To join our
souls and flesh as one and lie in each other's arms on the grass?" She
bent and kissed under his chin. "Does your blood burn for me? Mine
does, for you. Like fire. Feel how I burn for you, Ten-chan." She
sighed, and her breath flowed hot over his neck. "Do you desire me, as
I desire you? Shall we satisfy those desires? Tell me, Ten-chan. Would
that give you pleasure?"

He nodded enthusiastically. He knew it would. He was just a little
concerned about what the price for all this would be.

"Very well then. There is a thing you must do first, Ten-chan. But a
small thing. A simple thing. A harmless thing, in which there is not
the slightest pain," Ae-chan whispered to him.

"OBEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Oujo-sama screamed imperiously.

He cringed at the sudden sound and nearly jumped out of his skin.

*Yikes! She's really acting WEIRD!* He waited to see what she'd do
next.

"Then, until that hesitation disappears, I will bind you by these
chains." She reached to his wrists for a moment, and he felt cold
metal against his skin. He looked up.

A delicate cord of gold links was tied in a bow about his wrists.

*What did she do that for? With the ropes, I can't break free, anyway.
And without them, I could snap that thing if I wanted to. No problem
at all!*

She let go and backed away, trailing her fingers along his side for a
brief moment before she was out of reach.

"Where are you going, Ae... I mean, oujo-sama?" He tried to turn his
head, but couldn't see where she was standing.

"You will look on me again, when I have purified your slackened
heart," she intoned ritually. "With force!"

"Oujo-sama, what did I, uh, do?" he asked. He was starting to sweat a
little.

*Doesn't he know? How can he NOT know?!*

Aeka assumed a wide stance, hefted the whip, and thought back to the
day when her mother had told her about men and women and things of the
heart. "The first time you bring your love to repentance is special,
Aeka. You'll remember it fondly, all your life. And so will he."
Tenchi would kneel at her feet and beg her forgiveness. Gladly,
*joyously* she would grant it. And he would be hers, and she his,
forever.

She aimed for his back, looking at the skin that her hands had
caressed and which she now prepared to smite with pain. Her arm shook
as she readied, and she closed her eyes, unwilling to see the results
of what she was about to do.

*Please, Ten-chan. Please submit quickly. PLEASE!!!*

"Tenchi, I want you to swear to me that you will never look at, or
speak to, or... touch... *her*, ever again."

"Nani?!"

A tear trickled out of one of Aeka's tightly-shut eyes. *Will you
really make me do this to you, Ten-chan? Would you truly give me up
and choose her and the pain instead?*

"SWEAR IT!"

"Ae-chan, can't we discuss..."

"`OUJO-SAMA' TO OYOBI!!"

"It's not right of you to ask that of me, Aeka!"

"`OUJO-SAMA' TO OYOBI! AND I DO NOT *ASK*!"

"I don't want it to be this way!"

"Tenchi," she said quietly, with all the coldness she could force out
of herself, "I warn you, for the last time. Swear it to me. You will
not look at her. You will not speak to her. You will not touch her.
You will banish her from your body, from your mind, from your heart,
and you will never say her name again. Swear it. Or you force my
hand."

"This is *wrong*! She wouldn't try to do this to *you*!"

To... *her*? Ryoko wasn't even here. Whatever was he talking about?

*I'm sorry, Ten-chan. But you must learn. And I must hide my tears and
teach you.*

Her arm jerked back, then forward.

CRACK!

Unseen by Aeka's still-shut eyes, a red line appeared across Tenchi's
back. He jolted against the ropes and gritted his teeth.

That *hurt*!

In many different ways.

"SWEAR IT!"

Tenchi shook his head. "No! I don't want to hurt *either* of you!" He
winced as the whip bit into him again.

"SWEAR IT!"

"NO! I won't!"

The whip lashed again.

"SWEAR IT!"

"NO!!"

Aeka's face was wet with tears, and she choked back a sob so that
Tenchi wouldn't hear it, wouldn't doubt her resolve to see his heart
cleansed of the awful stain on it.

*Please, Ten-chan, why? Why must you make me DO this to you?*

CRACK! "SWEAR IT!" CRACK! "SWEAR IT!" CRACK! "SWEAR IT!"

"NO! I WON'T!"

Aeka paused for a moment, shaking, desperately wanting to scream to
release the pain inside her. She knew that she couldn't. Tenchi
mustn't think her love for him had wavered. Tears filled her eyes. She
could barely see.

*Submit, Ten-chan! I BEG YOU! Don't you know that I would take the
pain for you, if only I could?*

CRACK! "SWEAR IT!" CRACK! "SWEAR IT!" CRACK! "SWEAR IT!"

Involuntarily she sobbed. Agony wracked her as fear rose within that
he'd heard her. Heard her, and would think she doubted that he would
make the right choice in the end. That he would suspect that she had
no faith in his love for her, that she was afraid that Ryoko had
stolen it from her.

*RYOKO!!*

Tears of rage and pain and grief streamed down Aeka's face as she
lashed in fury against her enemy. In silent anger she cracked the whip
repeatedly, no longer demanding that Tenchi swear anything. After a
while, she wasn't even aware anymore who it was at the other end of
the whip.

Tenchi gritted his teeth and bore it, but eventually it was too much
for him. He passed out and sagged in his bonds.

Aeka continued lashing him again and again, unaware that he had
slumped down, unconscious, and hung limply from the ropes. Time
passed, the sound of the woods broken only by the crack of the whip
and sobs that Aeka could no longer contain.

She lashed with the whip again. When she yanked it back, it seemed to
have caught on something. She tugged. No effect. She rubbed the tears
out of her eyes and looked.

Ryoko stood, the end of the whip gripped tightly in her hand. Her lips
were pulled back into a fierce snarl of rage, and her eyes blazed like
suns. 

Aeka glared back at her, furious at such an interruption. Ryoko let go
and her energy sword appeared in her hand in a flash of reddish light.
She faced Aeka for a moment. Then the tip of the sword swept through
the ropes and chain around Tenchi's wrists. Ryoko caught him as he
fell, cradling him in her arms. She sniffed and smelled the scent of
his blood seeping into the air. Under her palms she could feel it
trickling across his back, warm and slick. Briefly she fought to
control separate urges to cry and to slash Aeka's head off. She held
out a hand streaked with crimson and showed it to the princess
accusingly, eyes stabbing like knives.

Aeka's eyes went wide as she looked at the hand and then to Tenchi's
back. She hadn't realized how hard she'd been whipping him. She'd
known there would be blood, but to actually see it, and to be aware
that she was the one who'd drawn it...

"I didn't mean..." she started to say. Then she sank to her knees and
sobbed into her hands.

Ryoko sighed and calmed herself down just a little.

*OK, so maybe she just got carried away or something.*

But she didn't take her eyes off the princess.

After a few minutes, Aeka got up, picked up her kimono and pulled some
bandages and tube of salve out of the inro. Slowly she walked over
towards Ryoko and Tenchi, still crying.

"Please forgive me, Ten-chan," she said, kneeling next to him. She
held out her hands to let Ryoko see what she had in them. Ryoko
nodded, kissed Tenchi on the forehead, and gently laid him out on the
ground in front of her, on his stomach. Aeka began to rub salve onto
Tenchi's wounds with the gauze while Ryoko softly stroked his cheek.
Seeing this, Aeka closed her eyes and looked away. 

"Will you please stop *pawing* at him? At least while I have to
watch?" she asked softly.

Ryoko clenched her fists angrily for a moment, then nodded,
understanding a little, and withdrew her hand. Then she held it out
and glanced at the bag. Aeka hesitated a moment, then handed her a
piece of gauze and smeared salve on it. Ryoko joined her in tending
Tenchi's wounds.

"Why did you do this to Tenchi?" demanded Ryoko after a while.

"Because I... care for him, of course! Why else?" replied Aeka.

"Is this one of those `Juraian traditions' you're always talking
about?" 

"Yes." 

"Well, would you mind *explaining* it, because I sure don't understand
it, and I don't think Tenchi does, either." 

"It's not something we discuss with just anyone," retorted Aeka
proudly. "I'll explain it to Tenchi-sama. Later. When we're *alone*." 

Ryoko grabbed Aeka's hand away from Tenchi, and when she spoke her
voice broke with anger. "Either you tell me, or I swear I'm not
letting you *near* Tenchi ever again!" 

Aeka's fought down rage for a moment, then sighed and relented. "Well,
if a man that she... feels strongly for... dishonors himself, a woman
of Jurai is expected to correct him, to make him see his error. It's a
sign of... affection. If she doesn't, it means that his honor doesn't
matter to her because she doesn't intend to... be with him... in the
future." 

"Well, I guess that does make sense, in a twisted sort of way." A
smile played across her lips for a moment, then vanished. "Hey, wait a
minute. What do you mean, `dishonors himself'?" 

Aeka stared back at her, silent, cold, unwavering.

The blood drained from Ryoko's face as full realization dawned on her
of what Tenchi had done that Aeka would find `dishonorable.' A brief
memory of his arms around her flashed in her mind and ignited a
maelstrom of searing rage. *'Dishonorable'?! To finally return my love
for him? `Dishonorable'?!?! To hold me after I pushed him into your
arms and paid the price in pain so bad it made me almost want to die?
Cruel ungrateful arrogant bitch!* 

Her hands balled into trembling fists as she fought with all her
strength the desire, welling up inside her, to tear her rival apart.
Slowly she spoke, her voice menacingly serious. "Aeka... YOU...
TAKE... THAT... BACK!!" 

Aeka faced her down, her resolve icy. Remembered sensations of
Tenchi's embrace came back to her, then the awful sight of Ryoko's
head thrust under Tenchi's covers, and even worse imagined images of
what she might have done the previous night. *'Take it back'?! It was
dishonorable, but the true blame lies with YOU! `Take it back'?!?!
After you tease me with one moment of happiness with him and then
snatch him away so you can laugh at me, alone with only my memories?
So you can tempt him and tempt him past his endurance, and then
pretend that because his body gives in to you, you've won his heart
from me? Drunken gutter slut!*

"NEVER!!" she screamed. A freezing blizzard of hatred howled and
whirled inside of her, calling to her to strike down her foe,
demanding to see Ryoko's body lying broken at her feet.

[Fight scene goes here]

Ryoko looked down at her, her sword under Aeka's chin. The princess
held her head up and met Ryoko's gaze, preparing to die proudly. Sweat
streamed down Ryoko's temples and neck. Her arms trembled slightly.
The sword wavered back and forth as she hesitated, and Aeka's eyes
hardened.

"Just do it," she spat. "You've stolen things all your life, and now
you've stolen his love for me. Be proud. It's the most precious thing
you've ever taken from someone. And I do not wish to live without it."

"NO!!" screamed Tenchi, suddenly standing between them. He started to
stagger. "Don't hurt her, Ryoko. Please don't." He looked at one, then
the other. Then his knees buckled and he collapsed. "Please... both of
you... stop..." he said weakly. Then he passed out.

They looked down at him, their fight forgotten for the moment. Ryoko
extinguished her sword and held Tenchi under his armpits. Aeka took
hold of his legs. The two girls paused, watching each other. Mutual
hatred burned in their eyes, but both of them drove it back down for
the time being. They started walking towards the house.

When they got there, they went upstairs to Tenchi's bedroom. After
undressing him, the put him in bed and pulled the covers over him.
Then they went out, closed the door, and sat down on their side of it,
each watching the other out of the corner of her eye.

They were still sitting there, silent and motionless, when the sun
set. And when it rose again, the next morning.


Preview of Next Episode:

He glanced at her chest, and her eyes. The revealing way she was
dressed. He considered her demeanor for a moment. And how she'd passed
through the TV screen as if it hadn't been there.

"You're not Ryoko's sister or something, by any chance?" he asked.

"No, I'm Belldandy and Skuld's sister," the woman replied. She shook
his hand. "I'd give you my business card, but I haven't really...
needed one for a while. I'm Urd. And, like I said, sweetie, now that
*I'm* here, all your problems will be over *real* *soon*."

For some reason, Tenchi was skeptical.

...

This is more or less done, except for the fight scene, which isn't 
important in and of itself. What I've tried to do is take the 
"Oujo-sama to Oyobi" thing from the Soundfile Video and treat it 
*seriously*, bizarre as that might be. Basically I'm trying to handle 
the "Jurai Royal Family Bridegroom Education" in the same manner as 
Ponn Fahr was in the "Amok Time" episode of Star Trek: an alien 
mating ritual that humans would fine strange and threatening, but 
which the aliens take very seriously.

At this point, C&C (or just letting me know that you read it) is 
humbly requested, for this episode and the ones previous. I've tried 
to treat the emotions of the Tenchi/Aeka/Ryoko triangle seriously, 
sort of like a lemon equivalent of the tone in OAV #5 and 6 (if I may 
be so presumptous). I really need to know if this has worked well, or 
if I've crashed and burned. There are some fairly ambitious 
directions I want to take this in (both lemon and non-lemon), and I'd 
really really really appreciate feedback on whether or not I need to 
revise things, before I proceed. What I have done of the subsequent 
episodes is much lighter in tone than these. Should I rewrite the 
ones I've posted to make them less serious? Or not?

That, and I've noticed that my lemon scenes have become less and less 
anatomical in the later episodes, in favor of the emotional aspects. 
Does that mean my writing has improved? Or am I slacking off or 
something? C&C in this area also would be welcome.


Hassheen!