Disclaimer - I don't own Tenchi or any Tenchi characters. However Mallin, his ship and his crew are my own characters created for the purposes of this story. The Importance of Learning 1. A Lesson in Housemates Tenchi sat at the desk, staring straight through the book in front of him. He thought of adventure, fighting, laughing with his friends. He failed to notice his grandfather Yosho pick up the broom that was sitting in the corner. However, he did notice when Yosho cracked the end of it off of his head. "Ow, Grandpa..." "Tenchi, get back to your studies. After that you have the day to yourself." said Yosho sternly. Tenchi was almost grateful for the broom. At least this time his grandfather hadn't done his fifteen minute speech about the importance of a good education. Yosho oversaw all of Tenchi's education which took in martial arts training, history and writing. Thirty minutes and he would be allowed to leave. No doubt Ryoko would be waiting just outside for him. Yosho forbade anyone else around Tenchi when he should be studying, and even Ryoko never disobeyed Yosho. "Tenchi, oh Tenchi!" Except today it seemed. Ryoko came right through the wall even though the door was just as handy. Yosho stood in front of her, arms folded, scowl on his face. "Oh, come on Yosho. Don't be mean. Just let Tenchi out a little early, one day, please, please, please. We just can't bear to be separated anymore." said Ryoko. Yosho sighed, decided it wasn't worth the hassle. "Okay Tenchi you may leave." "Yay!" cried Ryoko, who then grabbed Tenchi's arm and dragged him out of the shrine. "But I expect you to stay late tomorrow!" shouted Yosho after Tenchi. Tenchi already knew where Ryoko was dragging him to. She took him there every chance she got. It was their own private spot. None of the others went there. Ryoko ran faster and faster and faster, giggling like a schoolgirl while Tenchi yelled for her to stop. As they approached the cliff edge she did stop, looked at Tenchi, smiled at him, then sat at the edge. "C'mon Tenchi. Sit down next to me." Tenchi had never been able to understand how someone who had been all over the universe loved sitting here looking at the world below. Still, it didn't bother him. They would sit here like this for hours some days. Sometimes they would talk non-stop. Sometimes they would never say a word to each other. Whatever they did, this was their place. Even Ayeka could not prevent the two of them spending time here. Ryoko reached out to hold Tenchi's hand. Tenchi got embarrassed for a second, then relaxed. It's so peaceful here, he thought to himself. The house was so noisy and crowded these days. He loved them all, he really did but they could be... well... difficult to deal with sometimes. BANG! Sasami jumped high into the air and barely managed to land on her feet. The explosion had come from the basement. Most of them did. Washu lived down there and although she was the universe's greatest genius scientist her experiments were still a tad... unreliable. Sasami looked around, embarrassed at her display of fright. The only other person in the kitchen with her was Kagato, who sat drinking tea at the table. He hadn't even blinked during the explosion. "No need to be embarrassed child." said Kagato. "I wasn't," Sasami lied. She turned her back on him and got back to washing the dishes. Kagato hadn't offered to help. Like everyone else around here he wasn't one for doing chores. Only Sasami and Tenchi did their fare share of work. Sasami turned around but Kagato had disappeared. He had frightened her at first. He always seemed so cold, unloving, uncaring. However, Tenchi had somehow seen some good in him. Even after Kagato had tried to kill Tenchi and his grandfather, Tenchi had spared his life, let him into their home and even was nice to him. She wasn't afraid of him anymore. In fact he was less trouble than most people in the Masaki household. He usually kept to himself and at least, unlike most people here, he wasn't in love with Tenchi... Kagato stood outside Tenchi's house, leaning against the wall, lost in thought. It had been three months since the fight with Tenchi and Yosho. His arrogance had been his downfall. He had sensed the boy's power too late. His focus had been on Yosho. Tenchi somehow activated The Sword of Jurai. Kagato dodged left, right, pulled back but he never recovered. Tenchi fired bolt after bolt of energy from the sword and Kagato was overpowered. He fell to the ground, waited for the end... which never came. Tenchi reached out his hand... "I don't want to fight you..." At first he had stayed only to observe the boy, find the source of his power and exploit his weaknesses. Yet over time he forgot about this. He found he liked the people around him. Training and talking about the past with Yosho, watching Mihoshi and Kiyonne argue, watching out for Sasami, observing the love triangle between Ayeka, Ryoko and Tenchi... and... and Washu. He pushed up his glasses and smiled at his foolishness. The smile faded quickly. He had tried to ignore it, but time was running out. He'd been living in a dream and reality was on it's way. His master was coming. Mallin, master swordsman, magician and tactician was coming to Earth. Tenchi, I hope you're ready. Don't trust me... "So where were you two all afternoon?" crowed Ayeka while glaring at Ryoko. "Are you jealous princess? Well, I guess you should be. Tenchi and I spent a wonderful afternoon together while I bet you sat alone, unloved, unwanted, growing older..." said Ryoko. "How dare you..." "Hey, has anyone seen Kagato?" asked Tenchi, trying to ignore them. "I haven't seen him for a few hours." said Sasami. "He's late for dinner." said Tenchi. "Who cares about that guy? Let's eat already." moaned Ryoko. "I agree. He can take care of himself Tenchi. I have important work to do. It won't wait forever." chipped in Washu. Tenchi sighed, knowing that it probably would wait forever, but that six hungry girls would not. He served up dinner, which everyone immediately tore into. Mallin drew closer to Earth. He stood on the bridge of his ship, Kaiser, surrounded by his crew. Without warning one of them drew a sword and tried to stick it in Mallin's back. In a second, Mallin drew his sword from it's hilt, knocked the sword out of the crewman's hand, retrieved a laser gun from it's holster and shot him in the head. The body fell to the floor. "Well that wasn't very good." said Mallin calmly. His lieutenant signalled for the body to be removed. "No one in the universe could do better against you sir." "Hmm. Well keep trying. Maybe one day you'll find someone who can make me work for it. How long to our arrival?" "Just a few days sir." "Ah, Yosho, maybe you can put up a decent fight." "He did beat Kagato sir." "Yeeees... I look forward to meeting him in person at last. Ha ha ha." Kagato arrived back home later that night. He went to the door that led to the basement. There was no point in knocking. He doubted Washu would hear it. It was also doubtful that she would be asleep yet. Washu didn't pay much attention to time. Being as old as she was (a mid-boggling age, Mihosi remained boggled to this day) she probably didn't need to. He walked down the stairs. Washu was sitting working on her computer. She didn't acknowledge him but Kagato knew she was aware of his presence. "Sorry to disturb you Washu. Are you busy?" She turned around to look at him. "I'm always busy. But I guess I can spare you some time if you want something." He hesitated for a moment. "Would you like anything? Some tea perhaps?" he asked. He moved about uncomfortably, not able to look directly at her face. "I have an invention for that. Tastes as good as anything a person could make." "Oh of course..." "What is it you really want?" she asked. Kagato looked at the ground. Do I love or hate this planet he wondered. Things were much simpler before he came here. But were these emotions real? Mallin had the answer to that. He pushed his glasses up. "It's Mallin, Washu. He's coming. And I've always known he would come." "I see. How long do we have?" "Just a few more days." "Why are you telling me this now?" "I never promised any of you anything. But I never set out to betray you..." Kagato turned away. "What does it matter?" He walked up the stairs. "Goodbye Washu." Yosho looked around the room and saw that everyone who needed to be present was there. "Why have you called us together Master Yosho?" asked Kiyonne. yosho paced back and forth apparently deep in thought. Washu had filled him in. He had been away from Jurai a long, long time. Mallin had been born long after he had left there. He knew Mallin only by reputation. There still was some contact between him and Jurai. It wasn't difficult for him to work out why Mallin was coming here. Simply, he was looking for a fight. Mallin knew Yosho's reputation also. If he could kill Yosho he would be recognised as one of the universes greatest fighters. "Uh, Yosho?" said Mihoshi. Mallin had tried to cause a rebellion on Jurai. It had only slight success. He did not have the strength to overthrow the Jurai Royal family. Yet men were drwan to his power... "Yosho?" "Hmm?" replied Yosho. "The reason I called you here was to ask what you..." "Mihosi," said Kiyonne. "What Kiyonne?" "HE CALLED US HERE!" "Can someone please explain what's going on here?" asked Ayeka impatiently. "Yes, sorry." said Yosho. "A powerful Jurain called Mallin is on his way to Earth. His immediate goal is to kill me. But his true intentions are far greater. He plans to rule Jurai. He will dominate this planet to try and carry out those plans." "Oh no... this is terrible." said Ayeka. She knew Mallin, had met him several times. He had been a soldier in the Jurain army. Popular, handsome and strong he had been held in high regard. "Ha, big deal. Bring him on, it's been a while since I had a good fight." said Ryoko. "Ryoko, we musn't underestimate him. His power is similar to that of the Jurain Royal family in terms of strength." said Washu. Ryoko said nothing, much to everyone's suprise. "What should we do Grandpa?" asked Tenchi. "No 'we' Tenchi. It's me he's after. Leave things to me." replied Yosho. Tenchi was unconvinced. He knew how strong his grandfather was but after year after year of living on Earth and settling down Tenchi knew he wasn't as strong as he used to be. The question was how strong did he need to be? Washu and Ayeka were obviously taking things very seriously. Tenchi trusted his grandpa, but could and should he sit back and do nothing? "We have a few days. Mihoshi, Kiyonne, Washu, will you all keep an eye out for his ship?" requested Yosho. All three nodded. "Come on Grandpa let's do some training." said Tenchi. Kagato sat alone on a bench in a park. It was deserted, probably because of the cold weather. Ambition, he thought. He had that once. Mallin still did. Kagato had recognised that, recognised the power, confidence, supremacy of the man. He didn't have much choice but to serve him. Either he had been with Mallin or against him. Mallin's strength was far greater than even his own. Mallin treated him with respect though. That had made 'serving' him easier. Of course though, he had never really served him. Only plotted against him, observed him, waited for the oppurtunity to destroy him and take control of his so called 'liberators'. While he had liked Tenchi, he merely respected Mallin. He knew Mallin was stronger, yet Mallin lacked his experience, guile, even flair. If he had stayed Mallin should be dead by now. Instead he had came to earth. There were rumours that Yosho was living there and at the time Mallin had been too busy massing an army to investigate personally. Kagato had never reported back. He knew he would be followed here eventually. The sensors on his ship had identified Kaiser. Kagato's options were open. He could afford to take his time. Plans, good plans, evil plans, clever plans were forming in his mind. Tenchi ducked Yosho's sword then swung at his side. Yosho blocked, rolled his blade over Tenchi's sword but Tenchi sensed the move and lept back. Tenchi jumped to Yosho's side and lunged forward. To their suprise before the battle could continue Ryoko appeared in front of them. "Are you two still worrying about that guy? Forget it. Tenchi, you know I'll protect you and anyone you care about." she said. then Ayeka came running over. "Ignore Ryoko, Tenchi. I swear I will protect you and everyone else!" she yelled. Ryoko raised her eyebrow and laughed. "Who's gonna protect you?" said Ryoko. She was confident that she was far superior to Ayeka physically. Well, superior in every way, in fact. "Would you like me to show you just how strong I am Miss Ryoko? Ha ha ha ha ha!" "Enough!" cried Tenchi. "Will you please stop! I can't take it anymore!" Washu sat alone in the basement. She poured herself a cup of tea. Concentrating had been dificult. Kagato...you could have stopped this. At the very least you could have tried. She had known it was a mistake for Tenchi to trust him. But what could she have done? After all she was only the universe's greatest genius. But noooo, don't ask her advice. It's just "fix the TV Washu, fix my ship Washu, build this Washu, i don't think THAT'S safe Washu, not in my house Washu, don't shrink me Washu, don't send me back in time Washu." Honestly some people could be so self-obsessed. TO BE CONTINUED Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com