ON THE COUCH... by Choua Yang


1-1-2000, My first fic, and it's the first of the new millennium...how about 
that?

UNDERSTAND PLEASE THAT THIS FIC IS STRICTLY, STRICTLY, STRICTLY, STRICTLY, EVER 
SO STRICTLY, TOO STRICTLY BASED ON THE OAV SERIES. IF ANYBODY WISHES TO 
ASSOCIATE THIS FIC WITH ANY OTHER UNIVERSE, THEN PLEASE SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE 
HEAD... THANKYOU...

Copyright (c) 2000, Choua Yang; All Rights Reserved. Tenchi Muyo and individual 
characters are of the respective copyrights of Pioneer LDC and AIC Entertainment 
(c) 1992.







9:00AM. The nurse got up from her seat and walked into the waiting room. 
"Tenchi Masaki?" 

"Yes," answered Tenchi.

"You're next; come on in," said the nurse.

Tenchi got up from his seat and proceeded to the door; opened it, and walked 
through, following her all the way to the end of the hallway, where a door stood 
open. They entered the half-dimmed room, where a couch stood near the forefront 
of a table, with an executive chair on the other side. 

"Please wait here on the couch until Dr. Clay (no, not that Dr. Clay, but 
another Dr. Clay, yes, another Dr. Clay--- Hey, I didn't know what other doctors 
to use, so the OAVs came to my aid on this one) can examine you," said the 
nurse. She exited the room, and closed the door behind her.

Tenchi looked around the room, staring at the hollow ceiling and at the 
paintings of the Renoir era on the wall. A sense of nervousness came from deep 
within him. 

"How should I tell the doctor this?" he said. "What should I say?"

A couple of minutes passed by, with the quietness of the room almost making 
Tenchi insane. As he was about to get up from the couch, 3 knocks came from the 
door, followed by a "Hello?"

He turned his head to greet Dr. Clay, a clinical psychologist working for the 
Behavioral Sciences Institute in Tokyo. He had a huge notepad in his left arm, a 
recorder in his right arm and a funny little instrument on his shoulders, draped 
around his neck and over his back. He set them all onto the desk, and then 
proceeded to his chair, where he started to plug the weird instrument into the 
power adapter on the side of the desk. He flipped on the recorder, and grappled 
his notepad, pulled a pen from his desk drawer, and started to write something 
on it. Then, he turned to Tenchi with a frown.

"Okay young man, now what seems to be the problem today? I overheard that you're 
having some problems with your peers and with some of your fans on the 
preliminary charts. Could you care to elaborate more on that?" said the doctor 
with a bass filled voice.

"Sure," replied Tenchi. He stared back up at the paintings and began telling the 
doctor what had been troubling him.

"I've met some very interesting people quite some time ago, and I feel very 
privileged to have met them all. However, during the past years, I've met quite 
a bit of criticism over especially two girls, Aeka and Ryoko, whom I believe are 
interested in me. I'm not sure what to think of it all, but I wish some people 
would just leave me alone," said Tenchi, his face becoming more distinct.

"I see. So, some of your fans have been trying to get you to choose between 
these two girls?" asked the doctor.

"No, not just those two. There were a couple of other people I know that my fans 
wanted me to get involved with: Mihoshi, Kiyone (I know this is not a part of 
the OAV continuance, but if you think about the Mihoshi Special, that production 
came between the production time where the OAVs were released, and it's one of 
the few areas where I can actually include Kiyone to get examination while 
staying as close to the OAVs as possible, and some people do consider it a part 
of the OAV and not just a derivative), Washu, and even Aeka's little sister, 
Sasami," Tenchi replied.

"Ah. The ever-classic dilemma of choosing whom you will be with. A marriage 
proposal?" asked the doctor.

"No, not really, although it sure seems that way to me. I just don't know what 
to do anymore. Everything I've said doesn't matter to them. They all want me to 
do things their way, and just about nobody wants to listen to what I have to 
say. My title appearance in Tenchi Muyo really is that: Tenchi Muyo; they don't 
even think I exist to make decisions for myself. I wish somebody would 
understand what I'm feeling."

"Well, start by explaining your feelings of the two main girls you're having 
problems with, and maybe we can come to some conclusion as to why you're being 
troubled so much," started the doctor.

"Okay," answered Tenchi. "It started when I met both of them suddenly about 8 
years ago. I've been living with them ever since, and I do get along with them 
very well. One of the girls, Aeka, is a princess...," said Tenchi, declining to 
state that she was from Planet Jurai, in fear that the doctor would make a 
mockery of him. "She has a very soft demeanor. She works pretty hard throughout 
the day, she's very responsible and caring, and she's also pretty shy. She looks 
out for her sister all the time, and likes to be tidy with her chores and her 
social life. The other girl is Ryoko. She's outgoing and easy to talk to. She 
has a lot of initiative, and sometimes, she's very independent. She isn't very 
shy at all, and sometimes, she can be almost too close. She's thrifty and 
carefree, and she has a cunning sense of humor."

"And what about the other people you've mentioned before: Mihoshi, Kiyone, 
Washu, and Sasami?" asked Dr. Clay, going back to his notes quickly. "What are 
your feelings towards them?" he asked.

"Well, come to think of it, I really don't know too much about Mihoshi and 
Kiyone. They are partners for the... um, the police force, but I really don't 
know too much about them. I know Mihoshi can be pretty funny sometimes. She's 
also carefree like Ryoko, but she has a certain knack for doing things wrong, 
and somehow, they turn out right. She's very easy to talk to, though, and she's 
very approachable. I've only met Kiyone briefly, but it seems she and Mihoshi 
are somewhat unwilling to be partners, even though Mihoshi denies it. Kiyone's 
also independent like Ryoko, but she can be very nice at times. She had a 
leadership-type of personality, and she is a hard worker, constantly trying to 
impress her peers at work. Washu is a lady by herself. I can't explain her in 
any way except that she is unexplainable. She has the qualities of a loving 
mother, a really nice person to talk to when you have a problem, and she somehow 
has all the solutions you can ever need. She's also the smartest person I've 
ever met, and she can be sarcastic and funny sometimes. Sasami, Aeka's sister, 
is very likeable. In a way, she's like the mother of our house, and since my 
mother died when I was very young, I sort of look to her for everyday household 
needs. She does most of our cooking, she does a lot of yard work, laundry and 
she's very caring. It does seem she's maturer for her age (thinking of Tsunami), 
and she's probably the most talkative and lively of all the girls that I've met. 
And also, I forgot to mention that... um... well (he thought about Ryo-oki, but 
at the last minute, decided it wasn't a good idea to mention her because it 
would be pretty hard to explain why she's a space ship and a cabbit at the same 
time; if the doctor even knows what a cabbit is in the first place) that's it." 

"Hmm, okay then. It seems you have these 6 girls around you that are really 
likeable and caring for you. You should be proud," exclaimed the doctor with a 
noticeable grin.

"I am," answered Tenchi. "I feel very fortunate. But a lot of my fans are 
forcing me to choose mainly between the two girls I've mentioned before, Aeka 
and Ryoko. They've even written stories about me with either of the girls I've 
mentioned before, and none of them seemed to reflect what my feelings really 
are."

"I understand. You're pretty popular though, and it would seem natural that 
you'd choose between one of these beautiful girls around you. Anybody probably 
would," remarked the doctor. 

"But that's the problem," shot back Tenchi. "I don't want to choose. Ever since 
I've met the girls, I didn't want to choose between them. I don't want to hurt 
their feelings, and I always thought that we got along better if we were just 
friends.  I like Aeka and Ryoko for whom they are, and getting involved with 
either one of them is just going to make things more difficult and complicated. 
They constantly fight over me all the time, and to be honest, it does get on my 
nerves. I don't mind having Ryoko around most of the time; she's very sweet, but 
she can be annoying sometimes, especially when she believes that we're alone, 
and tries to make advances on me. I also don't mind Aeka trying to protect me. 
In a way, she is trying to protect me from Ryoko, but I'm not sure why. I keep 
on believing jealousy between the two girls is why they are both bickering at 
each other, but I hope I'm wrong. I guess I understand why Aeka's try to protect 
me; she and I are related in a way."

The doctor paused for a moment, his fingers reaching for his forehead before 
responding. "Hmm. Interesting. I've seen your OAV series before, and I can tell 
you this..."

"What? You've seen it before? Why didn't you tell me? You could've saved me some 
frustration!" exclaimed Tenchi. 

"Yes, I've seen it before. It was very popular, and I've been a fan since. But 
from what you told me, and from what I've seen, I can tell you this: 

	Aeka loves you because you are the grandson of her half-brother. She's 
devoted to you because you are of the same blood. She cares for you because she 
sees you as a vision of her half-brother, the one she has loved since. She 
doesn't like Ryoko because she believes Ryoko was responsible for her heartache 
when her half-brother left her planet to battle Ryoko. She seems very protective 
to you because she fears that Ryoko might do to you what she did to Yosho long 
before. She doesn't understand that it wasn't Ryoko's fault for her attack on 
Planet Jurai, and the disappearance of her brother was his choice to stay on 
Earth. You must accept her for that.

	Ryoko loves you because she was there with you ever since you were little, 
and when you lost your mother, she felt every bit of your agony. Being held 
captive with no one to turn to, she had no feelings and no love, until she met 
you. She was freed, literally and spiritually and in every other way, because of 
you. You, in essence, became her life, and she will guard your well being with 
her life, if need be. She doesn't like Aeka because she believes Aeka is trying 
to steal you away from her, like a mother having her baby stolen away from her. 
She doesn't understand that her actions in the past, even though it wasn't her 
fault, had a large impact on Aeka. She exhibits such straightforward feelings 
towards you because that's the only way she knows how to exhibit her love for 
you, and because she was trained to be a space pirate, she doesn't have much 
humility for her actions. You must also accept her for that. 

"Do you understand what I've said so far?" asked the doctor.

"Yes," replied Tenchi. "But what about the others?"

"Well..." said the doctor. "Quite frankly, I'll put it to you this way. Mihoshi 
is interested in you in only a crush. She believes you wanted her to live with 
you, and that interpretation to her means that you care for her. And indeed, you 
do care for her. Kiyone is a different story. I'm not sure why some of your fans 
wanted you to be with her, but as far as I'm concern, their fantasies outweigh 
what Kiyone and you really want. I'm not sure if Kiyone has the time for a 
relationship, since she's always hard at her work, unlike Mihoshi, you might 
notice. Washu was only teasing you, if you haven't already noticed. She cares 
for you more in an experiment-wise fashion, since you have powers beyond even 
her reckoning, but she does express interest in you because she believes you 
will become something shy of greatness one of these days, and that you might 
face some sort of danger. Sasami is the only other person I can see that is as 
close to you as the two main girls are. She is similar to a mother for you, as 
you've elaborated earlier. Her other self, Tsunami, believes that you hold the 
key to the galaxy; however, that's only my interpretation. Sasami loves you more 
for a brotherly figure, rather than a romantic figure, and her soft and cunning 
side is what makes her very likeable. And I know why you didn't mention Ryo-oki. 
I understand. It's funny nowadays what people can demand, right?" smirked the 
doctor.

"Yep," replied Tenchi. "But you know, even after talking to you all this time, I 
still don't know what to do with those two girls."

"Ask yourself these questions," replied Dr. Clay. "Why should you choose? What 
difference does it make? Dou you know how you would affect the others if you do 
decide to choose? And who is forcing you to choose? Against your will? Against 
what you feel is right? When you answer these questions, you'll know what to 
do."

Tenchi looked at the doctor for a long time, seemingly an eternity. He looked up 
at the ceiling, then turned towards the wall. Then, he gazed at the couch he was 
sitting at, looked up at the doctor, and said:

"I can't choose because I won't choose. I refuse to. I like things just the way 
they are. And I hope other people can respect me for what I like."



The End...

Not bad, I would say, for a fic that was written in about an hour with 
absolutely no planning whatsoever and no proofing by anyone, and it being my 
first. Call it spontaneous.