OTOMODACHI
by Mink (mink@envy.nu)

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! is © Pioneer Entertainment and AIC.  I am in no 
way affliated with them, nor do I own it.   "Otomodachi" is © 2000, "Mink."  
(Emily Koh.)  Do not repost elsewhere w/o permission.

* This 'fic is based on the Shin Tenchi Muyo!/Tenchi In Tokyo series.

***

  I chose you specifically for a reason.

  For one, you would be my age range.  And that would develop a closer
understanding.  You and I would understand each other's problems.  Why
would I pick someone older for a friend?

  Adults are careless and stupid.

  They say they do things because it's for the best.

  ... Was it for the best when Queen Hinasei encased me in a stone crypt?

  Sasami-chan, you understand, don't you?  I was only having fun!  My life
was boring.  My parents were selfish and foolish creatures.  They didn't
deserve to be on this Earth.

  In a way, it's a good thing I killed them.

  They vowed allegiance to Jurai, and yet they were exchanging information
with another planet.  What planet that was, it doesn't matter now, that
planet got annihilated by me -- when I sent one of my friends to go and
destroy them.

  See, I DID do something good!

  And my parents... they thought it was best if I went out and made friends
with people.  You know what?  I tried.  I really did try hard.

  But society had trouble accepting a limp, watery blonde-haired girl as a
friend.  A quiet girl who had odd thoughts.

  Then my parents deemed me as a rather dumb mute fool.

  They never discovered my powers to create my friends.

  And... I killed them, Sasami-chan.

  Wouldn't you have?  I was useless to them -- only an accessory in their life.
More a nuisance than an accessory, but...

  You wouldn't kill a thing.  You're gentle and sweet.  You were shocked,
I could see, when you saw me crush that cicada that summer day.  You wouldn't
dream of hurting a fly.

  But... you didn't run.

  Maybe you were a bit frightened, but you didn't run at all.

  You were different from the rest.

  I got bored with life.  And somehow, I had these powers.  Powers like any
normal Jurain, no doubt.  Surprisingly, my powers were almost equal to that
of a Jurain royal.

  And since I had no friends, I created my own.

  I couldn't create them in the likeness of normal humans.  That was... it's
complicated to explain.  But if I did, I had a fear that they might turn out
like the rest of the people who didn't accept me.

  So I created them in the image of scary creatures.  If I was accompanied
by them, no one would harass me, because my friends would protect me, and
their looks were scary enough.

  Not only that, I gave them immense power as well.

  At first, I hadn't dreamed of doing anything except being friends.  But
like me, they got bored easily.

  It was one day that one of them accidentally killed a child...

  One who had bravely teased me, despite the appearance of my friends.  I
don't know who striked first -- the boy or my friend.  But it didn't
matter, the boy ended up dead in the blink of the eye.

  I wasn't sorry.

  He deserved it, Sasami-chan.

  Then I realized that my friends were weapons, too.  Vengeance was the
sweet word I learned, and revenge was that I did.  Annihilated every
boy and girl who had refused to accept me.

  Then it changed, and I killed in randomosity.

  Anyone in my path was dead, all buildings were corrupted.

  The family was in an uproar, but they couldn't stop me.  I had
decided to save the palace as my final blow, and for this final mass
destruction day, I had created lots of my friends.

  We were flying in the sky, soaring above the world!

  I felt so free, and felt some feeling I'd never felt.

  Happiness?  Could it be happiness?

  It felt like happiness.  But it seems so... artificial, compared to
the time I spent with you.

  But she came... that queen.  One by one, the Jurain fleet destroyed
my friends.  How dare she?  How COULD she?

  I cried a tear for each of them.

  And I told her to stop.

  I was only joking, Sasami-chan.  Couldn't she see that?

  "When you harm people, it's no longer a joke," the queen replied.

  She defied me!

  And then she shot the friend I was on.  And I fell, grasped by the
vines of Fate, and was dragged into an empty silence and darkness.

  She destroyed my friends... and whatever was left of my heart just
died then and there.

  ... She left me alone.

  That's the worst thing in the world.

  Take my belongings.  Take the people called my family.

  But she took my friends!

  Left me alone.

  And then, I assume she tried to banish me to the far corners of the
universe.  Failed miserably, seeing as how I landed here, on Earth.  I
am grateful to Mother Nature, who awoke me with that earthquake.

  I woke.  And I vowed myself that I would make the people who were
associated with the Jurain royal family in anyway -- that I would
make them be like myself when Hinasei banished me.

  Miserable.

  Frightened.

  Unstable.

  Alone.

  And my luck, that the boy was here on Earth.  Not only that, but
he had a crew of many others I could toy with!  Oh, and I created my
servants -- Hotsuma, Matori, and Tsugaru, in the likeness of human
beings.  I realized that I didn't need monsters to create vengeance.

  Oh, and I planned carefully.  For a long time, actually, and I could
continue along with my plan of revenge!  Hotsuma-tachi took a long
time to design and create, I had to make sure they were loyal.  The
particular human DNA used for them had to be clean of mistrust and
betrayal.

  Then I found you, in the midsts of this family.  You were so happy.
Reminiscent of my childhood memories, in truth.  Time changes, but
children do not change.

  I thought you would not accept me, like the others, going along with
my time theory.  So I decided to see if you were loyal, if you could
become a loyal pawn in my game.  I became the "young girl form" when
I met you, and I befriended you. 

  Did you think of me as a shy and delicate child?

  I am anything but shy or delicate.

  I assigned Tsugaru to attack us, in our little world.  I allowed
him to let him injure myself, if that became necessary, to test your
feelings about myself.  Because Tsugaru's attacks would be nothing
towards me.

  But you!

  You blocked his blows.

  I was shocked.

  And unlike my old friends, you did not disappear in a cloud of dust.
You were still there, but hurt and yet, you were worried about myself.

  Sasami-chan... you confused me so.

  And I realized that you were different.

  So when I planned my first attack at the Masaki Shrine, I didn't
want you to see the destruction.  You were my friend, and I didn't
want to see you getting hurt, or seeing destruction.  So I led you
away.

  "Yuugi-chan."  How a name sounds pleasant.  That's what you
called me, and it was music to my ears.  Hotsuma-tachi didn't even
call me with that degree of affection, after all, I was only their
superior.

  From that day I met you, I knew I wanted to be together with you.
What I would do if you left me alone, I don't know.  I would have
been stark-raving mad, and I would have annihilated galaxies to search
for your very existence.

  How important friendship is, I realize.

  And when I wanted you to come with me into my own world, you
refused!  How could you?  Weren't you my friend?  Didn't you want
to be with me?

  But then I realized that... well, we simply weren't meant to be
together in that way.  I would disappear, punished for my crimes,
and you would lead a happy life without my existence.

  Sasami-chan...

  Do you remember that one summer day I came to visit you?

***

  "Yuugi-chan!" Sasami gasped.  "You're here!"

  "Hello, Sasami-chan."  Yuugi smiled.  "Do you want to play?"

  Ryo-ohki mewed her consent, and the two girls giggled.  "Wow!
Everytime I think about you, you end up here.  Some coincidence,
right?" Sasami remarked.

  Yuugi arched an eyebrow.  "Yes," she murmured.

  The cicadas chirped.  "Tenchi-niichan called yesterday."

  There was a flicker of recognition, but Sasami didn't see it
flash in Yuugi's eyes.  "'Tenchi-niichan'?" she repeated quite
curiously.

  "Oh, that's right, don't you remember him?  He was the one I
was with in Shibuya when I met you, remember?" Sasami reminded
her, puzzled.

  "Oh, yes," Yuugi said, feigning recognition.  'I already know
your Tenchi-niichan, Sasami-chan,' she thought, quickly smirking.

  "He was surprised to hear cicadas in Tokyo.  He says the city
is so bustling, you wouldn't expect it, but summertime rolled
along, and he could hear them screaming from outside his
classroom."

  Yuugi silently picked up a cicada by a tree.  "Such beautiful
creatures that make up a peculiar orchestra," she said somberly.  
"They lead such short lives, they disappear after the summer.  I
guess they were like my old friends.  Such short lives..."

  "Oh!  That's so sad," Sasami sympathized.

  "Yes.  Well, friendship comes with a price," Yuugi said calmly.  
She squished the cicada in her hands, and the remnants of the bug
clung onto her palm.

  "Yuugi-chan!" Sasami said, and took her friend by the shoulders
and Yuugi couldn't tell if she was shocked about the cicada or if
it was something else entirely.

  "What is it?"

  "How can you say that?  Friendship doesn't have a price!  There
isn't a tag stating the price, is there?"

  "No."  Yuugi blinked.  "But it's always there, Sasami-chan.  A
price is always there for friendship.  You know that's true."  She
gazed at her levelly.  "Fights are prices, aren't they?  And the
biggest price is losing that particular friend."  She looked at
Sasami curiously.  "I don't want to lose you, Sasami-chan.  So I
want you to come with me and live with me in my own world."

  Sasami looked at her sadly.  "Yuugi-chan, don't you see?  Those
fights sustain friendships!  If you're really friends, you would
sustain fights!  And if you were true friends, you would have had
least a few fights in your friendship."

  "Like your sister and that Ryoko character?" Yuugi said rather
dismissively.  "Ha.  I'd hardly call that a friendship, despite
all their struggles."

  "But deep inside, they have one!  It's a lot different from
ours, but... their is one.  It has to exist!" Sasami said firmly.

  "And my world?"

  Sasami sighed.  "Yuugi-chan... I can't go with you."

  Yuugi stiffened.  "Why not?  We'll have each other.  And we
won't lose each other.  Ever.  We'll be protected."

  "What is life without risks?  And... my family is here."

  The world 'family' made Yuugi quiver, and she felt her hand
draw back, ready to slap Sasami.

  Sasami winced, and cowered.

  But the slap never came.

  Yuugi's hand stopped short, just a few centimeters away from
Sasami's exposed cheek.  Her eyes passively studied Sasami, and
she flew up.  "Fine, leave me," she snapped, and disappeared.

  "Y-Yuugi-chan?" Sasami gasped frightfully.  Ryo-ohki mewed
by her side.  "Yuugi-chan..."  She sighed, then frowned.  "But...
how did she know about Oneesama and Ryoko-oneechan?"

***

  Matori pursed her lips.  "Not a good way to patch things up
with the girl, then, if you start a fight," she said calmly.  "I
have been watching."

  Yuugi had appeared in her dimension, and in a flourish, she
was in her "normal attire" in that particular dimension.  "I
don't have it.  Why doesn't she want to come?"

  "She's blinded by her own hope that life will be normal again,"
Matori snickered.

  "Where's Hotsuma?"

  "Taking care of matters with that space pirate."

  "And Tsugaru?"

  "Planning some deceiving attacks on the rest of the family."

  "Good."  Yuugi sighed.  "Matori.  You'll be next in line.  You
will prepare for attack on the Masaki Shrine again.  This time,
don't toy with them.  Finish them off."

  "Of course."  And Matori vanished.

  Yuugi stared in silence at her orb, keeping track of Sasami.  
Silently, she stared at her own palm, remembering how quick
she had been to slap Sasami-chan.  "Sasami-chan... gomen ne."

  Then, a rare thing happened: Yuugi smiled, in a distorted
way.  Not her usual evil smirk, but a half-genuine one.  "I
would like to think that our meeting today was a test of our
friendship.  And I think we survived it, don't you, Sasami-chan?
So please don't leave me."

  And Yuugi penetrated herself into the darkness of her world
once more, with a small flicker of light guiding her: Sasami.

OWARI

***

AUTHOR's NOTES

Gah.  o.O;  Shocked at the way this 'fic came out, let alone I
finished in a day, like the majority of my monologues.  I can't
really work after a few days, 'cause I have one set idea and a
plan originates in that particular range of time.

The last scene that was apart from Yuugi's monologue was a scene
that I made up.  Doesn't particularly fit into the storyline
much, I made some alterations and such.

Original title was "The Price Of Friendship," but the idea of
"Otomodachi" seemed more settling.  Oh, and "Otomodachi" means
"friends" in Japanese, if you didn't know by now.

A little different from my other monologues.  Not sure what to
think of this 'fic I wrote.  A rather odd one, I prefer "Thorns"
over this one.  But the STM series are so easy to write monologues
for.  And Yuugi has so much of a wide range on how you can write
about her life.  She's a wonderful character to use.

And that's it.  Comments, crits, etc. ~> mink249@aol.com
						     mink@envy.nu

-- Emily (Mink-chan)