A few days ago LT Tran challenged any Tenchi fanfic writers to do a WAFF fic
with Tenchi and Kiyone. I'm neither the WAFFy type, nor am I Tenchi fic writer
(heck, I've never touched the convoluted continuum of TM! so I probably wrote
a bunch of nonsense here).
	Still, the idea of Tenchi being with Kiyone appealed to me, so I figured,
what the heck, I'll give this a try. C&C welcome.

*** ***

Absurd Ideas presents a fanfic by Ben-Ohki
"Tenchi Muyo!" and all its characters are licensed property of Pioneer LDC
Characters and concepts used without permission. This story and original
concepts within are not to be sold.

"Silence in a Noisy House"

	He looked over at her while sitting quietly on the couch. It was a funny
thing living in the crazy environment that was his home. He never thought of
himself as a Casanova, nor did he ever behave in any way that would suggest
that he was one. Just the same, life during the last few years had taken a
turn he would never have imagined...
	But for this particular moment, everything was quiet for a change. It was
almost, dare he think it, normal. Well, it was as normal as it would ever be
in a house with him and 4 alien roommates � all of whom were trying to win his
love. He wondered when he had developed such an animal attraction.

	She was sipping tea on the adjacent couch. It was nice to relax after a long
day. They still weren't making any real money � just enough to get by. Their
apartment was small but was just right for two people. She didn't like
thinking of it that way. There was a time when she thought her partner was
dead � at least, she had hoped so after she went missing in action. The life
of an interstellar law enforcement officer was never a sure thing. One tiny
mistake in the far reaches of space and nobody knew what could happen. But
then one day she received a signal from a backwater world in the middle of
nowhere. It was a distress signal coming from a tiny blue world in the Sol
system... She later found out, to her disappointment that her partner was
indeed alive and well on an insignificant planet known as Earth. She was
miserable that day.
	She never thought her life would turn out this way. After the reunion, they
had received new orders: stay in the system as standard patrol representing
the Galaxy Police. But the only way to sustain themselves for the moment was
to take on whatever demeaning odd jobs they could find. And thanks to the
bumbling incompetence of her partner, they didn't even manage to hold any
steady jobs they did find.
	It was all so frustrating to live like this. She was the best officer in the
force, she had to remind herself. This was just a temporary setback to her
career. So she now sat in the house that served as home to her Earthling
liaison, a young man named Tenchi Masaki.

	He looked over again as the commercial break began. She was still sipping
tea. He wondered what it was like, speeding through space and arresting
criminals that threatened the galaxy. He further wondered how it felt that she
was now forced to stay on Earth sharing the planet with a certain space pirate
that just happened to be his roommate.
	No, he didn't think of Ryoko as a pirate he supposed. He thought of her more
along the lines the way his ancestors did. He remembered when he first broke
into a cave behind his grandfather's shrine. He spent every summer there with
his grandfather, and every year it was same lecture: don't go into the cave.
But that fateful year was the one time he finally snatched the keys to the
rusty old gate from his grandfather. And that was the same time he encountered
a mysterious tomb deep inside the cave... a tomb holding the corpse of
something he could identify. Yes, the image of the skeletal demon would stay
etched in his mind forever regardless of what young pretty form Ryoko took
these days. No, she wasn't a pirate, he decided � his ancestors were right,
she was s demon not to be messed with.
	He tried to stay out of her way, but like it or not, Ryoko was his roommate
now � where else would a girl from outer space stay? Then there was Washuu,
Ryoko's creator and mad scientist... what she had to do living in a pocket
dimension accessed through the bathroom door, he'd never figure out. He just
hoped that he would never come out of the shower to find Washuu "studying"
him.
	Finally there were the Jurai sisters... royalties from a far away kingdom.
How was it that they ended up staying with him too? Oh, yes, they were chasing
Ryoko centuries ago when she disappeared. But when he mistakenly revived
Ryoko, Sasami and Ayeka arrived to capture her... But Ryoko's arrest warrant
had already expired. Like he had come to think before, it was a funny thing
living here in his home.

	The steam brushed at the tip of her nose warmly and then cooled immediately
as she lowered the cup. She savored the flavour lingering on her tongue and
swallowed slowly. This was nice � definitely better than the last few nights
alone with Mihoshi at the apartment. She made fine company, but there was
something about her silly behaviour that drove her nuts � the very same
behaviour that got them assigned to this stupid planet, she decided.
	But this was the planet Tenchi lived on. And that was okay, she guessed.

	Tenchi glanced at Kiyone on the other couch one more time as the commercials
ended and the evening movie began again. He felt at ease and nervous at the
same time. How well did he really know these visitors from space? Not very
well � in fact, all he knew was that they were more or less human when it came
with social settings. That and they each seemed to have their own reasons for
being obsessed with trying to seduce him. Oh, they all had their ways of
showing their affections, sometimes gross and at other times subtle. Ayeka was
always prim and proper and would never lean into him too harshly, but it was
obvious she liked him from the way she fought with Ryoko. And Sasami was
always nice to him in a very innocent way.
	But here was Kiyone who seemed to be the most human of them all. In fact,
aside from a dark green highlight to her hair, she passed for a native
Earthling. Even more importantly (to him anyway), she was one of the few who
didn't seem preoccupied with seducing him. That was nice... but he kept
wondering, why? What if she just hid it behind her professionalism than the
others did? Yes, he was nervous... just a little.
	He flicked his eyes back to the television and pretended to pay attention to
the show. Somehow the room was conspicuously empty tonight. Everyone had
gathered around to watch the televised movie but one by one they all drifted
away. He wondered why Kiyone was the only one left... He chewed on another
cracker.

	She took another sip of tea. The warmth spread into chest and again she felt
the steam nip her nose. It tingled as it cooled. She wondered where her
partner went � Mihoshi was always interested in Earth culture, even if she
never retained anything she learned. But with as short an attention span as
hers, it wasn't surprising that she drifted away with everyone else. Wait, not
everyone had left � there was Tenchi a little to her right.

	Tenchi popped another cracker into his mouth. Kiyone made good company, he
decided. She never spoke too loud and when she did, it always made sense. Now
she sat just a little his left and he could be certain that between the two of
them, she was probably more relaxed than he.
	Her hair was down tonight, unhindered by the headband that usually kept her
tresses out of her eyes. She wore a loosely cut shirt over a pair of plain
gray tights. Everything about her spelled stress-free. The dimmed lights gave
her graceful features a soothing glow and Tenchi couldn't help glancing over
every few moments.
	Uh oh. He though he had inadvertently made eye contact. He turned to offer
her a cracker from the box he held.

	Uh oh. She thought she had made eye contact. But before she turn her
attention back to the television across the room, he was looking right at her.

	"Cracker?"
	"Um, thank you."

	The cracker was salted. It tasted strange in her mouth and by comparison, the
tea was bitter. She sipped the tea again. No, the tea was still bitter. Or the
cracker was too salty. She wasn't sure.

	He turned back to the movie somewhat relieved. She had taken his offering and
had gone back to her tea. All of a sudden everything was different.

	Her last sip emptied the teacup. She set it gently on the coffee table and
refilled it. The pot was still half full and surprisingly, a bit of steam
still escaped from the spout. Tenchi's cup rested on the table opposite to
hers.

	"More tea?"
	"Oh er, yes, please."

	Tenchi left the crackers on the table and picked up the ceramic cup with both
hands, one underneath supporting the weight, and the other on top for balance.
The traditional Asian cup warmed very quickly without a handle like its
western counterpart. Tenchi took a careful sip of the hot liquid and then
placed it back on the table. It felt very warm.

	Kiyone smiled � she felt very warm for some reason. For an evening without
sake, it seemed she still felt very warm. She caught a reflection from a
mirror off to the side. It was difficult to tell in the dimness, but was she
blushing? Nonsense, what was there to blush about?

	Tenchi still felt warm, even after the first sip of tea was gone down his
gullet. He tugged at his sweatshirt. Who was he kidding? He was sitting alone
in a dim room with a beautiful woman. He wondered if he was going crazy or did
his experiences with the others in the house numb him to the realities of
being with ladies who didn't necessarily throw themselves at his feet. Maybe
he was tired or the light was playing tricks on him ...or maybe Kiyone was
blushing. He heart began to thump in his chest making him unsure whether or
not Kiyone could hear it.

	He was handsome. He was in khakis tonight and a school sweatshirt. A touch of
youth, she decided, on a mature man. It had been some years since they first
met. Times like this seemed very far removed from times like before... when
all she wanted was to get off this rock. And only moments ago she had thought
that this was nice. Yes, it was. Who was she kidding? Yes, Tenchi was heck of
a guy to put up with the harassment that he goes through every day. She almost
pitied him.
	No, maybe it wasn't just pity. Maybe working in the police force had numbed
her more simple wants and desires. Life wasn't just a corporate ladder to be
climbed, was it? She squinted at the mirror again, maybe she was blushing
after all.
	She hoped Tenchi didn't hear her heart pounding in her chest...

The End

*** ***

Ben-Ohki
Alter-ego: http://members.xoom.com/absurd_ideas
"Marriage is a wonderful institution. But I've been told
 you have to be crazy to be put in an institution." -Gene Simmons