Aikan Muyo
Chapter 4 - No Need To Be First


     "You make it hard to breathe,
      It's as if I'm suffocating,
      And when you're next to me
      I can feel your heartbeat through my skin.
      It makes me sad to think
      This could all be for nothing.
      I wish there was a way
      For you to see inside me.
      I've never felt this way
      About anyone or anything...

      I know exactly what you're thinking,
      But I swear this time I will not let you down.
      I'm not as selfish as I used to be.
      That was a part of me that never made me proud.
      Right now I think I would try anything,
      Anything at all, to keep you satisfied.
      God, I hope you see what losing you would do to me.
      All I want is one more chance, so tell me,
      What do I have to do, to make you happy?
      What do I have to do, to make you understand?
      What do I have to do, to make you love me?"
        -- "What Do I Have To Do?", Stabbing Westward


As Tenchi walked up the path towards home, Aeka and Ryoko weren't
there to greet him as they usually were. He made his way to the house
and went in through the front door. 

"Tadaima!" he announced, changing into his slippers.

No one answered. It seemed like no one else was around. So he went
upstairs.

Ryoko floated out of a wall and stood directly in front of him. She
was clad in the tight black and red one-piece that she normally wore
for combat. It clung to her form as if painted on, and Tenchi
pretended not to notice.

"Okaeri, Tenchi," she answered softly. She sounded tired, which was
unusual.

Something in her voice worried him, but he turned his face away and
didn't acknowledge her greeting. He had to put his foot down about
this. "I said I didn't want to talk to you. Not until you tell Aeka
you're sorry for attacking her." He paused. "And mean it."

Ryoko looked down. "I apologized to her this morning, Tenchi. And I
*did* mean it." She raised her head back up. "I promise, Tenchi."

For some reason, the look in her eyes made him feel very guilty again.
He knew Ryoko didn't apologize easily. And he hoped Aeka hadn't rubbed
it in too much.

"Oh. Thank you for doing the right thing, Ryoko. I'd feel much better
if the two of you would stop fighting *permanently*."

"Um, Tenchi, there's something I've got to show you. It's important." 

Tenchi backed away nervously. "This isn't another trick to try to get
me into bed with you again, is it?"

His fear prevented him from seeing the pain that flashed on her face
for a moment. "No, it isn't. I promise. But..." she turned away, "I'll
understand if you don't believe me..." And despite his apprehension,
he now noticed that she seemed almost about to cry.

Tenchi sighed. He didn't want to hurt her *again*.

"Where is it, Ryoko?" 

"This way."

They walked down the hallway. A few paces past the closet, Ryoko
stopped and hesitated. Then she led him back to stand in front of it.

"So, what is it you wanted to show me?" he asked.

"This, Tenchi."

Ryoko grabbed him with one arm, and with the other began to tear his
shirt off his body. She dropped the tattered remnants of cloth on the
floor. He struggled, but she was much stronger than he was.

"Stop! You promised! YOU PROMISED!"

She spun him around forcefully and kissed him despite his attempt to
turn his face away. Her tongue entered his mouth, and she moaned.

Then she broke the kiss. Again she held him with one hand while she
yanked his pants and slippers off. Her hand clutched his crotch and
massaged it. Then she ripped his underwear off and stroked him.

"No! Stop it! Stop it!"

She forced his head onto her chest. She seized his wrists and made him
squeeze her breasts against his face, sighing passionately.

"Mfffff! Stop that! Now!"

She pulled him tightly against her, kissed him again, dragged his
hands behind her, and groaned in unmistakable pleasure while she made
him knead her ass.

"Hey! Don't do that!"

She pushed his hand between her thighs, making him rub her crotch,
grinding herself against his palm, forcing his fingers inside her
through the skin-tight cloth.

"Oh, Tenchi, that feels so *good*!" she crooned softly, as she threw
her head back and closed her eyes.

"Let me go, Ryoko!"

Her breath caught in her throat to hear him call her name, even
angrily. Holding him with one arm again, she took her free hand and
brushed the sweaty cyan locks plastered to her forehead. She fixed her
gaze on him and licked her lips. She put her index finger between
those lips and sucked it. She brushed the finger against his cheek.
Then she took her hand and trailed it down the length of her body,
writhing sinuously as she did so. The hand went down her chin, her
neck, her breasts, her flanks, over her thighs, and in between her
legs. And as it did, her eyes watched him.

She stroked herself rapidly with her fingers, calling out his name
over and over, her amber eyes locked with his. 

"Tenchi! Tenchi! Tenchi! Tenchi! Tenchi!..." 

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!..."

Her breath quickened and her face flushed. He was unable to tell what
caused that, his name or her fingers. Each time she said it he told
her to stop. But she wouldn't. Or couldn't. He wasn't able to tell
which of those, either.

She brought her hand up in front his face, offering it to him.
Glistening. Wet. She watched him, smiling.

He froze. He had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do.

She brought her hand to her mouth and licked it. She grinned,
revealing her wicked-looking teeth as her pink tongue cleaned her
fingers. It was an utterly feline gesture, and it terrified him.

Ryoko knelt in front of him and grabbed his legs, making sure he
couldn't get away. She licked up and down the shaft of his penis. He
tried to push her off, but she ignored that. She blew her hot breath
on it. She kissed it warmly. She took the head between her lips,
pressing the tip against her sharp, predatory teeth. A soft
"Mmmmmmmmmm!" came from her throat, as if she was a ravenous carnivore
about to taste a nice, juicy, blood-rare steak. 

For several long moments she held completely still.

To Tenchi, she seemed a feral huntress waiting motionless and silent
for the right moment to pounce on her helpless prey.

Then with a sudden, frighteningly-swift motion, like a lioness
snapping an antelope's neck with a single savage bite, she opened her
jaws and engulfed it. Tenchi's glans slid under Ryoko's incisors while
the smooth, saliva-slick enamel of her pointed canines brushed
menacingly along the sides. She gave him one long, hard suck. She ran
her tongue around it inside her mouth, purring like a sweet, playful
kitten toying with a mouse she was about to sink her bared fangs into
and devour. And her body burned when she heard him gasp for her, in
spite of himself.

In spite of the overwhelming, mind-numbing fear screaming inside him,
gripping him as tightly as her lips did his penis.

It had been plunged into desperate straits, and Tenchi knew, he
*knew*, there was no way it could possibly emerge in safety.

But it did.

She backed off, flicked her tongue around the head for a few seconds,
and got up. Her nostrils sniffed, and he was sure she was savoring the
scent of the blood pumping through his veins. Holding Tenchi by the
shoulders at arms length, Ryoko looked at him, her skin beaded with
sweat, her ragged breath hissing through her teeth, her chest heaving
violently, her cat-like eyes wide and full of hungry lust.

His knees quaked. The urge to flee and hide was all-consuming.

Run, his instincts shrieked at him. Run, or be eaten. RUN!!!

"We can continue that any time you like, Tenchi," she promised hotly.
"I *need* you, more than *anything*. And if you want me, you can have
me, in any way, as often and as many times as you want. I'll do
anything you like, and you can do anything to me. I mean it.
*Anything*. No matter what. You don't even have to ask. Just take me."
The lust in her voice abated, but she continued, softly, sincerely.
"My body is yours. Because my heart is, too." Her eyes moistened as
she gazed deeply into his. "I love you, Tenchi. Please, remember
that." Her voice shook. "No matter what happens. Please. Remember."

Her voice was *serious*. It was disturbing. Ryoko was *never* serious
about *anything*. It seemed so weird that, between the strangeness and
his fear, he didn't hear a word she said.

"But because I love you, there's something I have to do, first," she
finished finally.

She spun him around again, and stopped. He could feel her trembling as
she held his arm in an iron grip.

She opened the closet door.

With great effort Ryoko forced herself to laugh. "Go for it, Tenchi!"
she cheered, a trace of her usual playfulness in her voice. Then she
planted her foot on his butt and kicked him inside. She shut the door,
glanced all around to be sure no one had come in, and sat down with
her back to the wall. 

"I can do this" she told herself, regretting it already. She reached
behind a potted plant for the bottle of sake she'd hidden there. In
case she needed something to dull the pain.

In case? The pain was on her. It had started the moment she'd made her
decision the night before. It had been worsening steadily ever since.
Already it was nearly unbearable.

The tears started, and she couldn't stop them.

Her emotions cried out in panic. So did feral instincts from deep,
deep inside her. In many ways, the emotions and the instincts were the
same, and they mingled together in strange ways.

She wasn't really aware of the role the instincts played. They ran too
deep, and were far too primal, for conscious awareness. But those
instincts shaped and drove the emotions, lending their wild energy to
them, giving them their underlying tone. The instincts were the frame
on which the emotions were built. And both emotion and instinct had
been thwarted repeatedly for so long it agonized her.

Didn't he realize what this felt like for her? 

To chase him, and never seem to be able to catch him?

She loved the chase. It thrilled her. But so did the prospect of
taking her prey. It wasn't just the having. It wasn't just the
getting. It had to be both. And the chase had gone on and on, her prey
always eluding her, for so great a time that she ached with pain from
the effort. She had to have him. Not having him was  almost more than
she could stand.

Couldn't he see that?

Wasn't he able to understand how it was?

To watch someone else chase after *her* chosen catch, to see them plod
along lazily, not putting anywhere near the energy or cunning into the
chase that she did, not even seeming to chase at all, while they
waited in silly hope for the day that the prey would walk up to them,
meekly present himself, and lie down in their jaws? And to, somehow,
never be able to draw ahead of them, despite how swiftly she pursued
the prey? And worse, to see them sometimes almost catch her prey,
*her* prey, when he happened to stumble in front of them?

Couldn't he tell what it was like for her?

To chase after him for months, all her thoughts and energy directed
into hunting him, desperately wanting to catch him, while he stayed
just out of reach, tempting her, until she reached the end of her
endurance and in starving despair was willing to do the unthinkable,
to let someone else have the joy of taking him, if only it would mean
that afterwards Ryoko could have her share of him and finally satisfy
the desire for him that gnawed inside her?

A thought occurred to her. 

Perhaps he didn't want to be chased?

But that was ridiculous. If he didn't want to be chased, all he had to
do was chase her instead. She wouldn't mind that at all. She knew
exactly what she would do, to make it perfect for him.

She would allow him chase her, letting him try to catch her, evading
him until they both tired of it a little. Then he would pounce on her.
She would struggle for him, just enough that he would know that she
was alive, not something he'd found lying on the ground. Then he would
take her. Have her. Consume her. Use her body to satisfy his hunger
for her.

And then she would do the same to him. 

As she had tried to do, for so long. But he didn't seem to know how
much the chase had tired her, how much his unceasing, excessive
struggles had injured her.

Hesitantly, she began to consider the possibility of something else.

He didn't want to hunt her, or be hunted by her?

He didn't want either one of them to chase, pounce on, take, have, and
consume the other?

He didn't hunger for her, and was repelled by her hunger for him?

Tenchi didn't desire her body, thought it was something someone else
had taken and then discarded, so he passed it by without wanting to
touch it?

Tenchi would never love Ryoko?

Tenchi didn't want Ryoko's love?

But the horror of even *thinking* of that chilled her soul and froze
her heart solid. Her mind refused to take a single step along that
path, for it knew that, at its end, emptiness, agony, despair, and
death waited for her.

Not Tenchi. Not her sweet tender morsel that she longed to taste.

It couldn't be!

Couldn't it?

In any case, she knew, she was about to find out.

Silently, she pleaded with him to remember her.

If what was going to happen erased her from his heart, she knew for
sure she'd die.

Because of that, she'd wanted herself seared into his memory during
what was about to transpire. She hoped she'd succeeded. For just a
moment or two he'd responded the way she'd longed for him to, instead
of acting like she was trying to kill him. She'd gotten through. A
little. Maybe, when *it* happened, he'd even cry out "Ryoko!" But she
made herself hope he wouldn't. It would probably ruin everything if he
did. And for the same reason, she watched carefully, her eyes darting
to the source of the slightest sound, to make sure no one came to
interrupt before it was finished.

She'd just placed his love for her in deadly peril. She hoped it would
survive. Because if it didn't, she wouldn't, either. She knew that,
with every fiber of her being.

Tenchi fell prone in the dark. He immediately realized he'd landed on
something.

A body. 

A corpse?

No, a body.

A female body.

A warm, naked female body. 

As quickly as he could he got up onto his knees. He felt her start to
move, apparently just regaining consciousness. Hearing her
"mmmffff!!!" he realized she was gagged. He removed the gag and gently
helped her into a sitting position. 

"Is that you, Tenchi-sama?" asked a quavering, fearful voice.

"Aeka?" 

"Please untie my hands, Tenchi," she begged urgently.

Tenchi did so. Aeka threw her arms around him, sobbing. 

"Oh, Tenchi, I was so frightened! Ryoko was going to kill me! If you
hadn't come to rescue me..." 

Tenchi gulped nervously. His penis was hardening very, very swiftly.
His mind commanded it to stop, but it refused.

"Rescue you?" asked Tenchi, trying to forget for just a moment the
sensation of Aeka's chest pressed firmly against his. "She led me up
here and pushed me in." 

"Why would she do that?" wondered Aeka aloud. Then she felt Tenchi's
erection touching her knee, and reflexively pulled away. Blood burned
in her face as she blushed, knowing that she was the reason for his
arousal, that she was becoming so as well, hesitating as to how to
respond.

She knew what someone *else's* response would be. Unbidden to her
thoughts came Ryoko's angry, accusing words from their battle two
nights before. "If you loved Tenchi, you wouldn't want to leave him
alone with just his hand. Pricktease!" 

"I'm... sorry, Tenchi-sama, if I caused you any... discomfort," she
apologized, not realizing that the way she said it only excited him
further.

Tenchi reined in his body with all his will, sweating. "Don't be
sorry, Aeka. It's not your fault. It's only normal." 

Again the memory of Ryoko's voice chimed in, encouraging eerily. "You
love Tenchi, don't you?" Aeka heard herself answering that she did.
"Then, why? It's only natural to want to be with him and make love
with him if you love him..." 

"Let me help you up so we can get out of this closet," suggested
Tenchi. He knew he had to get away from her before his hormones won
out over his mind and made him do something he didn't want to do. He
stopped as Aeka hesitatingly reached out and cupped his chin in her
hand. Then she leaned forward and kissed him tenderly on the lips. 

Tenchi blinked, unsure of what to do next. He wanted her desperately.
But he couldn't. She was proud, lovely, fragile. He loved those things
about her, and he didn't want to besmirch them. It would be like
taking a magnificent painting down from a museum display and using it
for a doormat.

A voice rang in his mind.

"Go for it, Tenchi!"

She'd been *telling* him to???

Aeka embraced him, kissing him again, deeply. "Please don't think me
less of a lady for this, Ten-chan," she whispered to him. Then she lay
back and pulled him down on top of her with all her strength, her lips
and the closeness of her driving out all thoughts of resistance from
him.

She'd stepped down from the pedestal to him. Or pulled him up to her.
He wasn't sure which. Either way, it hadn't lessened her. She was
still proud, still beautiful. But he wouldn't be afraid to touch her
anymore.

Outside, Ryoko gulped down a cup of sake and poured herself another
from the swiftly-emptying bottle. Through the wall she could hear
Aeka's soft yet high-pitched cries, Tenchi's deeper moans, and the
maddening, rhythmic squeaking of the floorboards. Quickly she drank
again. Her hand shook as she set down the cup for a moment. 

Under the crack of the door wafted an onslaught of scents which,
though familiar, she had never experienced at the same time before.
She'd smelled Aeka's arousal on occasion, but now it twisted through
her nostrils with sadistic, triumphant glee. Much more familiar --
she'd savored the delicious perfume of them whenever she'd gotten the
slightest whiff before -- the smell of Tenchi's hot blood, his sweat,
his semen, filled the air and danced riotously around her, taunting,
inviting, daring. The scent of the two lovers mingled and laughed
mockingly in her face.

"Oh, yes, Ten-chan.... yes!... oh....!" 

Aeka's cry snuck through the wall and stabbed into Ryoko's ears.
Desperately she covered them with her hands. 

*Please, hurry up, please, just finish it!* She glanced around again,
to be sure no one appeared to intrude. *Just get it over with so I
don't have to hear anymore! PLEASE!!* 

The sounds grew louder and more rapid, and her hands couldn't
altogether silence them. Giving up, she filled and drank two more cups
of sake in quick succession. That didn't seem to help either. Filling
the cup with the last dregs of the sake, she brought it up to her
trembling lips. The dread sounds from the closet worked up to a fever
pitch. Tears streaming down her face, Ryoko closed her eyes and tried
to prepare herself for what was about to happen.

"Ae-chan, I'm going to..... unnnnnhhhhh!!!!"

The cup shattered into dozens of shards as Ryoko's hand closed and
crushed it. Blood and sake dripped onto the floor. Ryoko rose, her
knees almost like rubber, her body shaking. One second's glance at the
closet door was all she could endure before she dematerialized and
fled.

Moments later, she was staring down at Tenchi's bed, floating above
it. Then, her self control utterly spent, she rushed down to muffle
her scream in Tenchi's pillow. For what seemed like forever she
clutched it, wracked with sobs. 

"Why? Why couldn't I have found some other way?" 

She'd never realized until now how much she had wanted Tenchi's first
time to be with her. The whole "I'll let you go first" act had been
nothing but a bluff. And Aeka hadn't called that bluff, *she* had. But
now that she had stepped aside for Aeka, the princess would allow
Ryoko her turn. She had to. Ryoko repeated that to herself, over and
over. That she still might fail -- that she might have endured what
she had for nothing -- was too terrifying a prospect to even
contemplate. 

Eventually, once it seemed she had no more tears left to cry with, she
lay unmoving, letting Tenchi's sweet scent, untainted with Aeka's,
calm and reassure her. Suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps
outside the door.

"Oyasume nasai, Ten-chan."

Ryoko heard them kiss.

"Oyasumi, Ae-chan." As the door slid open, Ryoko flipped the pillow
over and dove into the wall.

Hearing him call the princess *that*, and the way he said it...

In her mind, Ryoko saw Aeka reach out to her, laughing arrogantly, put
her hand into Ryoko's chest, tear her heart out, toss it
contemptuously into the dirt, and step on it, giggling.

"My beloved Ten-chan will *always* call me `Ae-chan', Ryoko," said
Aeka. "And he will never call *you* anything, ever again. You see, he
loves me *so* much, that I've convinced him to throw you out and never
speak another word to you. Just as I said I would. But since I am
merciful, I will not stop you when you decide to kill yourself. After
all, so Ten-chan tells me, the universe would be much cleaner if you'd
never existed in the first place." Aeka paused, smiling. "Though it
doesn't really matter. He's forgotten all about you now, anyway." And
she laughed and laughed and laughed.

Ryoko blotted out the image and forced herself to watch Tenchi as he
came through the door. The fact that he wasn't bringing Aeka in with
him seemed hopeful, at least.

He walked in, wearing a kimono from the closet and carrying the rather
damaged clothes Ryoko had torn from him earlier. His face was all
smiles as he recalled his tryst with Aeka. He'd considered asking her
to spend the night with him, but Sasami would have noticed her
sister's absence, and he didn't want to be that overt about it yet.
Then he frowned in thought. 

Though he had thoroughly enjoyed the results, not being able to figure
out Ryoko's behavior bothered him. 

"I wonder why she did that?" he asked aloud. That she'd given up on
him seemed unlikely. And while he'd sometimes wished she'd stop her
advances, he suddenly realized that he'd miss it if she did. His first
time with Aeka had been a gift from Ryoko, of that he was certain. But
as to what to say to her about it, he was at a loss.

*How do you thank someone for a gift you're sure they never wanted to
give you?*

Tenchi removed his kimono, lay down, and pulled up the covers. Still
trying vainly to solve the puzzle, he closed his eyes, sinking swiftly
into sleep and thence to dreams.

He dreamt of her. But he wasn't sure which one.

After a while, Ryoko stepped out of the wall again, and stood beside
Tenchi's bed like a sentinel. For at least an hour she did nothing but
listen to the sound of his breathing. Reaching down, she stroked his
hair, feeling each strand under her fingertips. Tenchi stirred
slightly in his dream, and a low murmur escaped his lips. 

"Ryoko, why?" 

His voice saying her name made it seem like her heart had started to
beat again, after being stopped for almost two days.

He hadn't forgotten her. At least not completely. Maybe his true
feelings came out in his sleep, she considered. It that was true, she
wanted to sit by his bed while he dreamt of her, and listen.

She resisted her desperate urge to throw herself on him, then and
there. She had a different tack she intended to try. She'd have to
wait a little while longer. She forced herself to hope and be patient.

Ryoko bent down slowly and kissed him. "Because I love you, Tenchi,"
she whispered in answer. "Weren't you listening?" From one of her eyes
dropped a single tear.

Tenchi awoke with a start, feeling something hot touch his cheek.
Sitting up in his bed, he looked around the room, for some reason
expecting someone to be there with him.

But he was alone.

And though he couldn't quite explain why, there was something truly
horrible about that.


Preview of Next Chapter: No Need To Be Second

Ryoko flexed her fingers like claws, walking slowly towards the bath,
her eyes burning. After what she'd been through, she wasn't going to
accept anything less than Tenchi's arms around her of his own free
will. She wouldn't let Aeka prevent that.

Hopefully, for all three of their sakes, the princess would see
reason. Ryoko was well aware of her own fighting prowess. And she knew
how to use it, or threaten to use it, in terrifying ways. If Aeka's
instinct for self-preservation overcame her pride, she'd be frightened
long enough to allow Ryoko to properly seduce Tenchi.

If not, well, she couldn't interfere if she wasn't alive.