Welcome to episode six of Bushido Muyo!  I am starting to run out of 
ideas (yes, already) and I might have to stop writing to brainstorm some more.

Anyway, Tenchi Muyo! and all the characters therin are the property of Pioneer 
and AIC.  These two companies most likely have pretty nasty legal backup, so I 
am hereby inserting this disclaimer.  I am asking Pioneer and AIC not to sue me,
if I haven't already made that clear.  Thank you for your patience, and 
hopefully for your restraint as well.

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				   Bushido Muyo!
			     By Jeremy "Kraken" Acord
			       Azhrei701@hotmail.com

		      Episode 6: "In the Realm of the Mind"

Tenchi was working dutifully, nearing completion of his chores in the feild.  He
hoped he would not be very tired when he got to sword practice, to avoid any 
bruising that may result.  But he quickly dismissed such thoughts when they 
entered his mind, as he had a larger, looming prospect to dwell upon, that 
required all of his capacity to worry.

The boy was at a loss as to what had caused Aeka to take the events of the 
morning so badly.  It had obviously been traumatic for her when he was hit by 
that energy blast meant for Ryoko.  But this had not been what had bothered her.
In her eyes he had clearly seen a distinct look of betrayal, mixed haphazardly 
with disbelief.  Apparently she had thought he had stepped in to defend Ryoko, 
when in fact he had only been trying to diffuse a situation that could very 
well have destroyed his house, or at least a good portion of the living room.  

<She thinks you don't care about her, you know.>  The thought had come unbidden 
to
his consciousness, and Tenchi knew nothing of whatever dark region of his psyche 
was it's origin.

"Maybe, but it's not true." he mumbled to himself in response.

<So?  Does she know that?> his subconscious paused, then sang to him, <Have you 
told her lately that you love her?>

"It would make things worse than they already are."

<Maybe not.  Try it, for heaven's sake!>

"No.  I *do* love her, but I'm not sure just how yet." He responded.

<How do you love her?  Let me count the ways...>

"Please, just shut up!  I'm getting really annoyed with all these trite sayings 
and lyrics and sarcastic commentary, okay?"

<But they're doing you so much good!>

"Come on.  Look, all things considered, I'd rather be worrying about Aeka than 
arguing with you... Myself.  So just go away."

<Fine!  See if I ever think to me again!>

Tenchi worked for a few moments more, then commented: "I'm going insane."

					   ***

Aeka was in her room, in the same place she had been for hours.  She had stopped
crying, but had still not moved.  She knelt on the foot of her bedroll, trying 
to console herself.  Rather, she was searching for the thing she should be 
consoling herself about.

The majority of Aeka couldn't beleive that Tenchi had not chosen her.  She and 
Tenchi were destined to be together, to rule the Jurai empire if need be, and 
to live forever as all Juraians were meant to.  Destiny could not be subverted, 
not like this.  It couldn't be.  Tenchi had not chosen Ryoko.  He would, in the 
end, be with her.

But from somewhere came a voice, small and persistent, telling her over and 
over: "He chose Ryoko.  You have lost him.  You will never be together.  
Never..."

"It can't happen." the shaken girl said to herself.  "It won't happen."

Though Tenchi questioned his grandfather about his advice/command at sword 
practice, Katsuhito remained quiet about his motives.  He admonished Tenchi to 
focus on the task at hand, to remain collected in the present, not to dwell on 
past or future.  However, the old man did offer his grandson one enigmatic clue:
"There are times when it is not good to step in immediately.  You must feel for 
the right moment to act, just as you should feel the right moment to strike."

"Come on, Grandpa.  She's just a little shaken up.  It's nothing really big.  I 
just have to talk to her, to make sure she understands what happened, what I 
did.  We just need to talk."

"When you do 'talk' to her, perhaps you should ask her if she thinks it is so 
unimportant, such a small thing."

When Tenchi entered the house, things sounded fairly peaceful.  Washu was 
tinkering with a small device at the base of the wall that he had been thrown 
into.  Ryoko was on the couch with Mihoshi, watching a comedy show.  She had a 
wry smile on her face, the remnant of a joke that the straight-faced Mihoshi did
not apparently grasp.  Sasami was busily cooking.  The space pirate looked up 
when Tenchi came in, and floated over, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Isn't he sweet?" Ryoko asked, to no one in particular, "He studies swordplay 
with his grandfather just so he can defend poor, helpless Ryoko from the forces 
of the universe that conspire to take away her freedom.  Ah, it's a labor of 
love."

Tenchi blushed slightly.  He smiled to himself.  "Ryoko, please-"

"-kiss you?  Why Tenchi, I never knew you cared!"  Ryoko deftly positioned 
Tenchi's hands about her shoulders, then moved in on him.

Tenchi, still smiling, bent his knees slightly, stepping smoothly away from 
Ryoko.  She went from hugging empty space to crossing her arms.  She playfully 
threw Tenchi a hurt look.

Ignoring the Ryoko's cat like playfulness, he walked over to the wall where 
Washu was busy.  The wall now looked as if it had never been touched before.  
"Wow, Little Washu, you fixed it!  That's great!"

Washu stood, then calmly put her hand on the wall, allowing it to go straight 
through.  "It's just an image," She said, "until I can get one of my creations 
out here to fix it, I wanted it to look good."

"Oh.  I still think it's great, Washu."

She looked at him sternly.  "That's 'Little Washu' to you, kid.  And of course 
it's great.  After all, I am a genius!"  The miniature Washu robots appeared on 
the childish woman's shoulders and subsequently began loudly celebrating their 
creator's scientific merits.  Tenchi walked into the kitchen to escape their 
mechanical exuberance.  "Sasami," he asked, "Where is your sister?"

Sasami paused in her frenzy of cutting, boiling, seasoning, and monitoring, and 
looked worriedly at Tenchi.  "She hasn't left our room yet.  She's been there 
scince this morning, when... Oh, Tenchi, I'm worried about her!  I've never seen
her take anything this hard before!  Are you going to try to talk to her, 
Tenchi?"

Tenchi leaned on the counter.  "Yes, Sasami.  I am going to go and talk to her. 
Right now, in fact."  He straightened, and in his mind he knew that now was the 
time that his grandfather had alluded to, the moment ripe for his intervention. 
It was time for Tenchi to step in, once more.

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I'm sorry if this episode seemed to go a little slow, but I kept it short to 
make up for that.  As always, send any questions, comments or complaints to 
Azhrei701@hotmail.com or Zerokraken@aol.com.  Any suggestions would be 
appreciated.  This story, but not Bushido Muyo! itself, will conlcude, 
hopefully, in the next episode.  See you then!