(Part Twelve - Sense of Romance)

Life around the Misaki residence has become REALLY perky, and a montage 
of lunacy too..
First of all, the girls. all FOURTEEN of them, have taken up the old 
romance novel archive that Nobiyuki had kept.. And the guys (Tenchi, 
me, and Azusa..) were the guinea pigs for their experiments
This has gone on for some Two Months; I'm getting sores from all the 
bumping.
At least they have enough sense to help with the chores, course with 
that many bodies, that never lasts long anymore.

I also had the direct benefits of training under Azusa now. as was 
Tenchi.. Kagato, in his quest to "atone" for his sins, decided to 
attend as well.. Not that he completely lost his devious sadistic 
streak.. just his evil side.. I can see where Reoko gets it from. 
Yosho also attended to my studies; and I wondered if something was 
going on again.
This also got the attention of the Tsunami, Tokimi and Gaia; they 
continuously complimented after EVERY practice. I kissed them in kind 
every time.

I also noticed that Ayeka and Bruinuae were giving each other notes 
about me and Tenchi..
At least they REALLY hit it off, could have passed for identical twins; 
poor Reoko..
Speaking of Reoko. she and Kagato.. despite some REALLY cold shoulders; 
slowly became more like a father / daughter pair every day.. I helped 
"prod" them in that direction a bit; and.. to my surprise. Washu also..
One of those family bonding moments that was a. uhh. blessing to see; 
in most regards anyway.. I still don't like the prank they pulled on 
me. (use your imagination here.)

Sasami, Misaki, and Funaho have practically fused as a cooking 
machine.. I need more of those training sessions to burn off the 
majestic meals!!!
They play around with Ryo-Oki in their boredom. or just dive into more 
of those romance novels.. MUCH to Azusa's exasperation.. He does get us 
all to keep good etiquette in practice though.. To a point. one Funaho 
of all people is keen to school Azusa on. yeow..
We also see Kiyone and Mihoshi around the residence from time to time. 
mostly when they're unemployed. (Mihoshi is a master at this.) ..at 
least we keep them well fed, AND entertained.. errrrr..

Then there is the Tenchi games, and boy. HAVE THEY EXPLODED!!
Misaki has taken the Ayeka/Sasami side. and Washu is on the Reoko 
side.. Kagato sorta helps the Reoko faction a bit. but usually gets 
told his place by the girls. I warned him..
It got so bad, that we guys in the group took a trip to Yokohama one 
day; very quiet like too.. With the van.. We'd get it later.
It was during this trip that we male bonded, mostly with tales of 
adventure with our respective fem-fatales; after we agreed upon our 
respective choice of futures with our beloved's, we arrived in 
Yokohama.

This was when I remembered a special lock box, that I kept here from 
when I first arrived here..
I also remembered a special item in the box.. And I drew together a 
devious plan for our ladies. much with Azusa's and Yosho's help.
It wasn't till later that night.. when we returned, to a long string of 
huffy faces; that I lowered the boom, but not till after dinner, and 
with some QUICK smooth talking / apologizing..
The girls were suspicious with us, knowing something was up... but.. 
they just couldn't have known.. not a bit... Paris. two weeks..  .on a 
private jet.. .go figure..

THAT, got their attention.. As they were all over us after that. and in 
their romance books to learn what they already knew..
The plans for the trip were pretty much already finalized; as was the 
expenses; Azusa and I had pretty DEEP pockets.. A long unused trust 
fund that my parents had left me. was finally seeing some good uses. I 
think..
And a week later, mostly with the girls all over us in daydreaming.. We 
were at the airport.

The trip over was something that even me exasperated... the Misaki / 
Washu war continued..
Reoko and Ayeka made even more of a scene than usual, Kagato pigged out 
on the snacks.
And Azusa, Tenchi, and I had to fight to keep a little peace from our 
respective women. the layover in the American city of Philadelphia was 
not fun. kept us up a day and a half for weather..
But, eventually; crossed over the Atlantic, caught our first glimpse of 
Europe. the gang took in the view in awe. then I leveled a long kept 
secret, mostly in inference to Tokimi's question. "~ Have you even seen 
the like? ~ " .I said yes.. Once long ago.

Then I related the story of my youth, with my long deceased parents, as 
we had once taken a trip throughout Western Europe.. Paris was my fav, 
and the "gift" of the duo of tickets that had rested in my lock box; 
the ones that we had expanded to include the family. were a gift for my 
18th birthday, one that was supposedly anticipated to include a 
girlfriend, not that my parents couldn't have KNOWN at the time. but.. 
Life is funny that way. I got an impressed set of hugs and kisses from 
my ladies for that..

It was about three hours later that we finally made the Charles De Gaul 
airport, though an hour of waiting to land got Reoko tiffed a bit, the 
rest of us took in the crystal clear view of the city of Paris from the 
air; I had to tell Tsunami to let me breathe a bit; she was holding me 
so tight.
And then, we finally reached the outside an half-hour later; held up by 
Ayeka and Reoko going at it.. Misaki and Washu didn't help.. ..and we 
just drank in the initial view.. Thanks to the Limo-bus we had 
arranged, man did Nobiyuki have imagination...

And there we were: Twenty-one macadamia nuts, and a cabbit; in the most 
romantic city in the world.
The next two weeks were the most "magical" of my entire life. not 
necessarily the most incredible.. but magical was the right term for 
it..
As we settled in a rather posh hotel, (The etiquette lessons were of 
huge help here. for most of us anyway.) .I took in the balcony view; 
seeing the natural eye grabber. the Eiffel Tower, and off to the right, 
the Arc de Triomphe.  .as well as a hug from Bruinuae and Tsunami.
I also knew some friends that were here that would spice things up. the 
extravagance of Paris was before us.. A new and crazy adventure had 
begun...

(End Part Twelve)