Sketches of Tenchi 1: Deciding on the Brides
A Tenchi Muyo! OAV fanfic
by HKMiller
30 November 1999
Featuring characters created by Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki
Kajishima, also copyright AiC and Pioneer.
- - - - - - - - - -
Funaho, Misaki, Youshou, and Tenchi knelt in a circle, in Youshou's
office next to the Masaki shrine. In Washu's lab, two women watched
this scene closely on a monitor.
"Hurry up, Aeka-dono, think!" urged Washu. "How many wives are they
going to stick Tenchi-dono with?"
"It could be anything between two and six," Aeka replied, thinking
repidly. "It depends on a number of factors: women of Jurai noble
or royal blood have to balance out aliens; the Jurai House of Nobles
must approve, to ensure that all factions are properly appeased; the
aliens have to bring something valuable to the marriage."
"Right. Ryouko-chan and I qualify on that count. That means you
and maybe Sasami-chan for balance. Anything that might possibly
let Mihoshi in?"
"I thought you didn't like her?" Aeka replied, puzzled.
"I don't! But I have to know any possible way she might qualify
so I can devise a counter strategy!" Washu fumed at how slow Aeka
was today.
"I'm sorry. You're right, of course. Anyway, bringing something
important to the marriage can take several forms, some not as
obvious as with you and Ryouko-san. For instance, in the past alien
ladies of doubtful intelligence but important lineage have been
married to Jurai nobles for reasons of state. But Mihoshi-san's
family... Come to think of it, I know nothing about her family.
She never speaks about it. I suppose that must mean that she's a
commoner."
"I'll look it up, just to be sure." Washu typed into her holographic
laptop.
"AaaaGH!" Washu, appalled, looked at the image on the screen, of a
handsome, golden-skinned, middle-aged man with a commanding presence.
"Her grandfather is the Marshal of the entire Galaxy Police!"
"Oh, dear," replied Aeka faintly. "Father has been trying to cement
a relationship with the Galaxy Police for centuries..."
Ryoko interjected, "So THAT's how Mihoshi managed to become a
detective. I've always wondered about that."
"Where did YOU come from?" Aeka commented icily.
"Through the wall, of course. Why so upset? Don't you think this
conference concerns me as well? After all, princess," Ryoko smiled
slyly, leaning an elbow on Aeka's shoulder, "you and I will both
be married to Tenchi..." Aeka shivered and grimaced.
In the shrine office, Funaho explained to Tenchi, "The Emperor
must approve the entire list as a single package once you have
made up your mind, you have asked the women involved, and they have
accepted. You may consider yourself engaged when the Emperor
approves your list. The marriage itself will take a few years
to plan. The Emperor will approve or disapprove of your list fairly
quickly, but until he does, you should not assume the approved
list will be identical to your choices. He does reserve the right
to make changes. And finally, Tenchi, don't choose too few. For
instance," Funaho coughed, "unless you really dislike Washu-sama,
you may want to consider the importance to Jurai of cementing her
alliance with us."
Tenchi sweatdropped. Below, Washu smiled craftily.
Funaho smiled gently, "In practice, nothing is going to budge
Washu-sama or Ryouko-san from the list, should you choose them.
Binding the two of them to the Jurai Royal Family is too important,
and no outside agreement is required. Washu's family origins
are lost in the mists of time, and her approval of Ryouko is a
given."
Down below, Washu started to chuckle nastily. Alarmed, Ryouko
snarled, "Don't even think about it, _Mom_!"
"Hey! What are you all doing?" came a cheerful voice. Washu,
Aeka, and Ryouko looked up from the screen to see Sasami behind
them. With a sigh, Washu gestured, and the screen enlarged.
Funaho continued, "You must be careful, however, with Aeka.
It is not certain that the Emperor will approve her, and, until
he does, it is important that..." Funaho coughed, "...certain
actions... not occur. This would also apply to Sasami were she
older."
Misaki crooned, "But they're so much in love, sister. My little
Aeka may have already made her move."
Tenchi blushed. Aeka blushed. Ryouko snarled, "She'd better
NOT have..."
Tenchi hesitated, then spoke. "Great grandmother, what about
Sasami? She won't be old enough to be married for years."
"Oh boy, Tenchi-niichan wants to marry me!" Sasami announced
approvingly.
"Actually, Tenchi, there is no bar under Jurai law to marrying
Sasami at her present age. One just postpones the consummation
for a number of years, to a more appropriate time."
Tenchi rubbed the back of his neck. "If it comes to it, I'd
feel a lot more comfortable getting engaged to her now, and
marrying her later."
"Are you sure, Tenchi? If you marry Sasami at the same time
as the others, the moment you choose for the consummation of
your marriage to Sasami is a purely private matter. However,
if you postpone the marriage with Sasami, the Jurain public will
know why, and the moment of consummation will be public knowledge.
You might find that such considerations lead you to postpone it
longer than you, or Sasami, might wish."
"I'm not sure I follow." Tenchi's brow furrowed.
"If my little Sasami-chan is anything like me," Misaki chortled,
"she may start to become very amorous at around sixteen, or
even earlier. You, Tenchi, might find this easy to ignore, with
several other wives, but what about Sasami? She will be promised
to you, either way; she may see no other men. If she is already
married to you, you can ease her frustrations as you see fit
without public comment. If she is not, you may feel yourself
obligated to wait until she is years older, rather than let the
entire planet of Jurai know what you are doing with Sasami at
sixteen."
Tenchi blushed more. "I see that now. I guess you're
right, Sasami should be included from the beginning."
- - - - - - - - - -
"Aeka-oneesama, what are they all talking about?"
"Later, Sasami. It's hard to explain."
- - - - - - - - - -
"Have you made up your mind, Tenchi? Will you ask all
four to marry you? And what about those two charming
policewomen?"
Tenchi slowly ran through the list of women in his head,
as he ran his hand through his hair. To whom did he want to be
married? Ryouko and Aeka, certainly. For all the
annoyance they occasionally caused, he knew it would hurt
to be parted from either.
Washu, it didn't look like he was being given any choice about;
while he didn't always enjoy her presence the way he did with
Ryouko and Aeka, and could easily imagine life without her,
he knew he didn't dislike her enough to resist the pressure
to choose her, both from Jurai and from Washu. He didn't
dislike her at all, really. She certainly was handy to have
around at times.
Sasami, he thought of as a younger sister, but he knew that
she thought of him otherwise. And Tsunami actually kissed
him once. He remembered Tsunami's beauty. Tenchi knew that he
didn't think of Tsunami as a little sister, more as an
unobtainable beauty. One which could be his in a few years,
simply by agreeing to marry Sasami.
Tenchi was thankful that the recently-arrived Kiyone had
no interest in him. That left Mihoshi. Tenchi was pretty
sure he didn't love Mihoshi enough to marry her, and he was
pretty sure that if he didn't, Mihoshi would forget about him
soon enough.
"I'll want to talk with the girls beforehand, but probably the
four..."
In the lab, the four watchers sighed and looked at each other.
"The Emperor would be pleased if you selected Mihoshi-san also,"
observed Funaho.
Tenchi sweatdropped again. Below, three observers knashed
their teeth. Sasami cheered. "Oh Boy! We'll all be together
forever! Isn't that great, Aeka-oneesama?"
Youshou poked his glasses back into place. "Tenchi! The wise
man in your position ensures the balance of power among his
wives. Who else can balance out Washu-dono?"
Washu started. "NO! That's precisely why I don't want her!"
Aeka and Ryouko looked at Washu speculatively.
"You know, Aeka, maybe Mihoshi wouldn't be so bad..."
"Precisely my thought, Ryouko-san. I suppose I could live
with her after all..."
Tenchi thought about it. Suppose Washu decided to monopolize
him? Her ability to neutralize Aeka and Ryouko had been
demonstrated over and over. Her inability to do the same
with Mihoshi had also been demonstrated a number of times.
He sighed. "Okay, I will ask all five to marry me, including
Mihoshi-san."
A shimmering light appeared in the middle of Youshou's office.
It slowly grew into the shape of a commanding woman. The
roof of the office appeared to fade away as the woman grew
taller and taller. Behind her, on two sides, silhouettes
appeared.
"I am Tokimi. I wish to join my sisters in this matter. You
will reserve one position as Tenchi's wife for me. I will
return for the wedding itself." The woman faded away and
Youshou's office resumed its normal appearance.
"Why me?" Tenchi moaned, pounding his head on the floor.
THE END (for now).
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