Green Hair, Yellow Eyes

Green Hair, Yellow Eyes

By Takeda Kenji

Chapter Two

It all started like this.

Airi tossed and turned on her futon, gritting her teeth at the snoring Yosho, who was oblivious to her. Same song, second verse. Peaceful, dreamy, floating oblivion, that was Yosho wrapped up in a nutshell. She fidgeted with her wedding ring; she wasn't used to wearing it. Oh, she said she didn't wear it for work-related reasons but Mikami knew different. What had this marriage become? Last time she visited Earth she was so happy and content and things had been so carefree. Was it so wrong to want that again, really was it?

Apparently it was. Since coming here, she had tried to deal with her issues. Well that was actually a lie, first she had tried to forget them and bury them under the guise of a vacationing good ole time. But when that didn't work she had gone to Yosho and pleaded that they work out their issues together. His response? 'I don't have any issues, Airi'. Such a proclamation was nearly grounds for divorce in her mind. She punched her pillow hard as she thought about it again. Just the thought of it made her head spin, just like that.

"Yosho…" she whispered sadly, as she stroked his face. He looked so beautiful to her, so tender. Yosho, also know as Katsuhito, never hid in his guise as an old man around Airi. He had tried it once but she said she wasn't ready to sleep with an old man. A wicked thought crossed her mind as she began to lick her fingers in order to prepare the proof of her desire. Once accomplished, she woke Yosho up. She wanted relief. She needed the touch and feel of her husband. Perhaps a little screw would lighten things up. It couldn't hurt, right?

"What?" Yosho asked sleepily, roused from a deep sleep. When he saw that look in his wife's eyes. "I don't know whether you want to screw me or hit me." Wrong sentiment, he soon found out as her hand cracked against his face. "Ouch, I guess I deserved that."

"And so much more, you fool," she whispered at him before brushing her lips against his.

"How did I fail you this time?" He wondered aloud.

A tear rolled down her face but she did not answer however, choosing rather to kiss him fiercely and climb atop of him. He groaned as they united in a lover's embrace. Rocking her hips, she began to ride him like she used to back when they first met at the academy. This was not some wonderful union of souls at the brink and epiphany of the whatever. This was angry sex…grudge fucking…boiling the clams on a hot weather day, whatever one wanted to call it.

At least it was for Airi; for whatever one wanted to call what they were doing, Yosho was not with it. With a snort of disgust, she quickly climbed off of him and stalked off, wiping tears that were filling her eyes and escaping like drops of rain.

"Where are you going?" Yosho asked, drowsily.

"I'm going to take a bath," Airi snapped at him, not looking at him.

"At this hour?"

"Yes at this hour…" she explained, exasperated.

"How did I fail you this time?" he repeated.

She held back an angry sob, "you know what, Yosho? I'm not your mommy," Airi bit out as she grabbed a robe to wear for decency's sake. "Figure it out, genius."

"I'm tired of having this conversation every time you break a nail," Yosho grumbled. "You're pissed off about something, so just get it all out," Yosho said. It was a stark difference in him.

"I'm tired of pretending to be the good wife," she began.

"Who the hell says you're the good wife?" Yosho countered.

"I've been nothing but faithful and loving…" she riposted, horrified.

"Faithful and loving until my grandson walks into the room," Yosho said, with a bitterness that was heartbreaking in its lethality.

"You…how can…how can you speak?" she queried, the anger taking a hold of her and keeping the fit of sobbing at bay.

"I'm royalty," Yosho summarized viciously. "What? You knew perks came with that title. I took an Earthling wife."

"You've always been searching for your mother," she whispered breathlessly. That's why you married on Earth…that girl...the one Ryoko took hostage."

"Kasumi Masaki…" Yosho articulated, speaking the name clearly and with emphasis.

The effect was not lost on Airi whose hand went to her stomach as if she was experiencing labor pains. "Why did she have to have my mother's name?"

"Why is that important at three o' clock in the morning?" Yosho wondered aloud. "I'm going to go back to bed. Wake me when you actually have some real concerns. For Kami's sake, quit digging for things to hurt me with," he said pointedly, as he rolled over so he didn't have to look at her. "Some skeletons are better left in the closet," he warned ominously.

Airi thought her head was going to burst. She didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or look for something sharp with which to stab her husband repeatedly. She shuddered and whimpered, as she was honestly lost for a place to go with all this feeling. "This isn't a marriage," she whispered.

"What?" Katsuhito said, as he rolled over. He had reverted to his old man disguise purely out of spite.

"This isn't a marriage. It's not even a show for laughs."

"This hasn't been a marriage for years," Katsuhito countered. "Can I help you?"

"I've wasted my life remaining your one true girl and what has it brought me?"

"The prestige of the Royalty, two beautiful children, and a grandson who is Kami above all…not bad for a marriage," Yosho explained.

"Who I wouldn't trade for the world—"

"Then what the hell are you talking to me about, woman?" Katsuhito yelled aloud and for a moment, Airi was glad that they were some distance from the house.

"I'm talking about of years – decades of not living with a husband. I'm talking about your complete lack of interest in me or how I feel. I'm talking about Kiyone, you bastard!" she cried at him before sinking to her knees.

Katsuhito began to nod as he got up, shedding blankets. "So at last it finally comes out…you've been waiting years to pull that one out of your—"

"Dear Kami, yes I have. Yes I have," she hissed at him, near hysterics.

"We discussed this before the funeral…"

"I will never forgive you…"

"There's nothing to forgive, it was an accident," Katsuhito stated firmly. "Funaho rejected her and that's all there is to it," he said, referring to the tree, which was once a magnificent ship of Yosho's.

"YOU LED HER DOWN THAT PATH," Airi screamed at him, her face red and the tears now streaming. She rose to her feet and went to him and brought her hand across his face so hard she knocked the glasses off his face.

What met her was reciprocation, first his hand then the back of his hand. The tally of domestic violence was now even.

"I will not be slapped around like a houseboy," Katsuhito spat, his voice lower than a rumbling of thunder and the threat of pure evil creeping into his syllables. "You would do well to remember your place, woman. I am the Crown Prince of Jurai…" he said as he shed his veneer to become Yosho once more.

Airi held her face and sobbed quietly. "You killed her…"

"I did no such thing!" Yosho cried back. "Your blame of me all these years does not constitute proof. Tenchi was the one who killed her…" he revealed.

Airi's mouth hung open as she struggled to even begin to consider the implications of this. "Tenchi…" she repeated, whimpering as a cold dead weight settled in her stomach. "How?"

"Funaho's rejection left her weakened, it's true. But soon afterward, Tenchi's Light Hawk Wings manifested for the first time and stabbed Kiyone. It did her in," Yosho said as he struggled to stay calm. He too, was fighting back tears. "Tenchi was too young, he doesn't know. He must never know. Now get out…" he whispered cruelly.

"What?" Airi asked numbly.

"You heard me."

Brokenly, she obeyed. When she reached the door, she turned to him. "I want a divorce," she said, with damp eyes but a clear voice.

You want a divorce?" he asked coldly.

"Posthaste. Call your family and have them make the arrangements."

"You'd be breaking away from the royal family. Alimony and –"

"I don't need any of those things. I have my own funds and my job pays me well enough."

"Then I suggest you take what you have and go. Back to your ship and out of my life," Yosho said with finality.

"I am a guest of Tenchi's and I will stay here as long as I like," she said, just as firmly.

"If you love him so much go fuck him…" Yosho said as a parting shot.

"I could say the same about your mother…" Airi replied before leaving Yosho to his thoughts.

###

Tenchi Masaki luxuriated in the onsen water. Noike and he had worked hard in the carrot fields and played even harder in the tool shed. It was all he could do to rest his bones and feel the hot water soothe the aches and pains away. He had chosen three o' clock in the morning as a good time to get away from all the girls and simply relax. A cold glass of lemonade quenched his parched throat. Life simply couldn't get any better than this. Nothing could ruin his day.

Oh man did he speak too soon…

Airi showing up, dishevled and eyes red from crying, changed all that in a heartbeat. She was also armed with a bottle. Tenchi was no Rhodes scholar but he was willing to bet a field of carrots that she was packing something with a wicked punch.

"Airi-san, whatever is the matter?" Tenchi exclaimed, standing up before realizing a haunting truth and a sobering reality: he was nude as a jaybird and she wasn't wearing anything but a towel that barely covered her gorgeous physique. Suddenly…this shit just got real. "Shimatta!" he exclaimed as he sank back into the water and covered himself while averting his eyes.

"Oh Tenchi," Airi said with a sad laugh, "you don't have to be so bashful. May I join you?"

"But Airi-san," Tenchi protested, "I don't have a towel…"

"Why on Earth would you be out without a towel, ne Tenchi-chan?" Airi wondered with a giggle – the first of the night.

"Um, heh, well you see…that's a perfectly fair question," Tenchi stammered, "one that I don't have a particularly good answer right now…"

"Oh I see," Airi said, pretending to be understanding as she held in another giggle. Dipping her little toe into the water, she found the water to be piping hot…just the way she preferred it. She settled into the water, setting down her bottle by the side.

Tenchi squirmed uncomfortably, unbelieving at his own stupidity. Forgetting a towel had been his fatal mistake and now he was soaking with his grandmother whose body rivaled those of the girls at home. This was positively surreal.

"The water not to your liking, Tenchi?" Airi asked.

"Oh, me?" Tenchi said as a chill went through his spine.

"No, I'm speaking to another Kami soaking with me in the bathtub," Airi said with a sardonic smirk. "Yes, you sweet fool, I'm talking to you. Why are you so uncomfortable?"

"I just wish I had remembered my towel," Tenchi said in a meek voice.

"Oh for the love of kittens," Airi exclaimed before shedding her towel. "There…now we both don't have towels…are you a little more comfortable?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Airi…" Tenchi breathed. He was so taken aback by her figure that he forgot to care that he didn't have a towel.

"Tenchi, you know what that does to me…" she said as she shivered a bit despite the water being a few degrees from a facsimile of boiling water. She swam back to the edge where she had left the beverage. "Tenchi, do you know what this is?" she queried interested in what he knew.

"I'm guessing it isn't tea…" he said confidently.

"Right you are, sweetheart," she said tenderly. "It's Caelthrassian wine…some of the best in the galaxy. It's not drunk for light occasion but my people drink this on a sad occasion."

"Oh," Tenchi said, feeling somewhat enlightened on the esoteric topic at hand. "What's wrong, Airi-san?" he asked sincerely.

"Your grandfather and I had a very bad fight, Tenchi," Airi said quietly. Uncorking the bottle, she then took a mighty swig of it.

"Are you and him going to be alri—"

"No," she said, cutting off his question early. "We're going to be divorced soon, Tenchi…" she said, taking another swig. "Care for some?" she asked sweetly, proffering the bottle.

"I…" Tenchi said, trailing off. He thought about it for a long time before shaking his head. "It's probably not a good idea, Airi-san."

"Drink with me…To days gone by…Sing with me…The songs we knew," Airi began to sing, her contralto beautifully negotiating the melody and raising it to the level of an artist.

Tenchi stared dumbfounded as Airi began to turn his world upside down.

"Here's to them…And here's to you!" she sang, before taking another swig. Her cheeks were already a rosy color that had nothing to do with the heat of the water.

"Drink with me…To days gone by…Can it be…You fear to die? Will the world remember you…When you fall? Could it be your death…Means nothing at all? Is your life just one more lie?" Tenchi tried to take the bottle from her gently, but after they got into a tussle where she wouldn't reliquish it, with a deft swerve, she stuck the opening into his mouth and held it. He gulped down an amount that burnt like molten fire. "Drink with me…To days…Gone by…To the life…That used…To be…Let the wine of friendship…Never run dry," she whispered, her eyes no longer dry. "Here's to you…And here's…To me..." she said as she began to cry.

"Um.." Tenchi tried to brush the fog threatening to move in from the edges of his consciousness and wrapped his arms around her with his protective, male instinct. She sobbed in his arms. He was lost for words and rocked her gently. He absently wondered if his reddening blush still purely out of modesty. "This wine is strong…" Tenchi remarked, changing the subject and coughing politely.

"Haa," Airi said, agreeing with him, her eyes locked with his. She took turns drinking from the bottle and then holding it to his mouth. Tenchi no longer resisted as much. Eventually, nary a drop remained. By then, both their faces were flushed from the onsen and the alcohol. "Yoush know, Tenchi, you've been quite…calm…with me," she said as she wrapped her arms around him. "What changed about joo," she slurred drunkenly.

Tenchi hiccupped. "I dun…don't know…hee hee," he said, giggling drunkenly. "Well I do know…I tell you, Airi, I think getting laid really helped," he said that before his hand went to his mouth. "Did…I…really say that out loud?" he whispered to her. "Oh man, I think I'm wasted," he said, like he was very sure of it.

Airi's lips were next to his once she had pulled him into her arms. "Oh Tenchi, when did you pop that cherry of yours?" she asked curiously, marveling at the beautiful structure of his face. He was so much like a young Yosho, but wonderfully different. She found herself lost in his chocolate brown eyes.

"Noike and I…about three months ago," Tenchi admitted uneasily.

"You've blossomed into a man."

"I think I was a man before then…"

"Indeed…" Airi said hungrily.

In the haze of alcohol, it was hard to say when their lips met and opened to allow a deeper kiss. Tenchi found himself addicted to the taste of Airi's mouth, so sweet did it taste. So he made his kiss more insistent, needing more of her. It was the perfect situation; from chaos did a new order form. This bolder side of Tenchi overwhelmed Airi but desire trumped any sort of shock and she reciprocated desperately.

"Oh Tenchi…" Airi whispered.

"Airi," he whispered against her lips, the proof of his desire readily apparent.

"Oh my," she whispered as she felt him press against her belly.

"Yeah…" he said, nodding as he kissed her hungrily.

"Tenchi, onegai…make love to me?" she whispered to him.

In seconds they were no longer in onsen any longer but in Tenchi's bedroom. Tenchi set her down on the bed. Shutting the door tight and locking, he activated a little gift from Washu: a forcefield that would keep uninvited guests out of his room. He reached for his CD player and opened the lid to place a new one in and closing the lid, he pressed the PLAY button.

Going back to her, he sank his fingers into her hair and nibbled on her collarbone. She purred at him like a spoiled kitten before laying back and spreading her legs. Biting her finger coquettishly, she locked eyes with Tenchi who began to kiss his way down her tummy.

###

Washu leaned back and closed her eyes. She didn't want to know this. No one wanted to know this. Now the question was: what to do with this information that she now held, well for as long as it was her information to hold. No doubt that word would get around somehow and rumors would spread. They always did, somehow. She brought up the controls to the device she had given him as a present. Going against her better nature, she stabbed the off switch and then got up hastily, heading to her bedroom.

If Tenchi wanted to fuck his grandmother…he was going to have to get used to the idea that the household knew.

###

Ayeka sighed and closed her eyes as she heard the grunts and moans emanating from Tenchi's bedroom. She had seen Tenchi fornicating with that Noike woman and that was bad enough but for him to be copulating with some stranger whom she didn't know…unless….no it couldn't be….not…

But a shrill cry of Tenchi's name silenced all doubts: it was Airi.

####

Sasami crouched closer to the door and slid it open just a crack and gaped in awe and horror at the visual of Tenchi and Airi in lover's unison – and being none too quiet about it. The seventeen year old was three months away from her eighteenth birthday and had seen this sight before but it had always been Tenchi and Noike rutting in Noike's room.

Her hand slid between her legs as she began to pleasure herself at the sight, unable to help herself.

###

Ryoko buried her face into her pillow, holding on for dear life as she sobbed into the pillow. Other than Sasami, she could probably hear the couple going at it the clearest and yet she didn't interfere. There would be plenty of time for that later.

Indeed, there'd be plenty of time for recriminations…

Author's Note: Whew, that was a mouthful. The drink with me song is from Les Miserables, obviously I didn't make it up. The bit about Tenchi killing his mother is from a Naoko Hasegawa novel, the Nokie screwing Tenchi bit is from a Kajishima doishin (however you spell that) so there is some basis for what I'm trying to do here. Much love to my homies who read and review and thank you to Jibri for editing and helpful suggestions.

Ja Ne!