The Eden Chronicles
			     Chapter II: Finding a Niche
	
	His chores were done. The leaves had been swept, the post on the rail had 
been mended, and Roric was on his way back to the tool shed to return the broom, 
hammer and bag of nails. The early morning sun felt good on his back, like a 
large, warm hand that gently pressed against him. He rounded the corner to the 
side of the house, witnessing Ayeka and Mihoshi hard at work doing the laundry, 
while Ryoko sat to the side with her nose buried in a manga. 
	"Oh, Roric!" Ayeka waved her hand. "Could you get us another bucket of 
water from the pump?"
	"Sure," He responded with a grin. Mihoshi looked at him, and wiggled her 
fingers in a shy wave. He smiled a softer smile at her, and headed over to the 
tool shed.
	The shed smelled faintly of dust and carrots. Roric grabbed a dusty 
bucket, blew a cloud from it, and headed out to the pump. The young man placed 
both hands on the device, and began pumping. After about seven or eight pumps, a 
burst of crystal-clear water poured forth, filling up the bucket rather quickly. 
Roric gripped the handle of the bucket, and heaved it over to Ayeka. Mihoshi was 
nowhere in sight.
	"Thank you, Roric," Ayeka inclined her head with a smile of regal 
benediction. 
	"No problem," He returned. "Hey, where'd the Beautiful Star go, anyway?"
	"Mihoshi?" The princess sniffed disdainfully. "Probably off chasing 
flowers, or picking butterflies."
	"You mean picking flowers and chasing butterflies," Ryoko corrected almost 
absently.
	"I know what I said, you hussy!"
	Roric held up both hands, an appeasing look on his face. "Please, girls," 
He said desperately. "Don't start fighting. The day's too nice to argue!"  
	"I guess..." Ayeka reluctantly backed down. Ryoko did the same. "You're 
right, Roric. I apologize."
	"No prob."
	"Are you terribly busy, Roric?"
	He squinted at the sun, brushing a stray lock of hair from in front of his 
eyes. He had another two hours to noon.
	"I'll be sparring with jii-chan and Tenchi in about two hours," He mused, 
holding his chin in his hand. "Was there something you needed, Ayeka?"
	"Eh...yes. Could you find that dimwit of a GP and bring her back here?"
	"Mihoshi? Sure. Which way did she go?"
	Ryoko pointed one hand towards the shrine on the hill. "Up there. She was 
giggling up a storm, saying something about finding out for sure."
	"Thanks, Ryoko. All right! I'll bring her back!"
	He walked towards the shrine steps. Ryo-Ohki bounded after him, leapt up 
onto the leg of his shorts, and clambered up to his shoulder. She nuzzled the 
side of his face, and purred. 
	"Hey there, cabbit," Roric scratched her ear. She giggled like only a 
cabbit can giggle. "You came to help me find Mihoshi?"
	"Neow!"
	The little creature leapt off his shoulder, and padded up the long expanse 
of stone steps. About halfway up, the cabbit twitched one ear, put one paw to 
her mouth for a brief moment, and started tip-toeing on her paws into the woods 
around them. Roric shrugged, looked around to make sure nobody was watching, and 
tip-toed after Ryo-Ohki. 
	"Mihoshi," He heard Tenchi's voice in the woods, and he snuck up to the 
bushes. "What are you doing way out here? Shouldn't you be helping the others do 
laundry?"
	Tenchi had a hoe slung over one shoulder, and Mihoshi was sitting on the 
ground with a pink flower in her hand. A few of it's petals had been plucked 
off, resting in a pile at her knees. 
	"Yes..." She said quietly.
	"What's wrong?" Tenchi asked mildly, placing one hand on her shoulder.
	"C-can I tell you a secret, Tenchi?" She asked with a little sniff. "It's 
about Roric..."
	Roric held his breath, and lowered himself into the bushes. Ryo-Ohki 
purred on his lap, but that didn't distract him. What was Mihoshi talking about?
	"Go ahead, Mihoshi..."
	"Well...whenever I see him, I feel...funny inside. I don't know how to 
describe it, but I get really giddy, like I drank too much sake. Lightheaded."
	Tenchi sat down next to her, and looked down at the flower petals. "You've 
been playing 'he loves me, he loves me not,' haven't you?"
	She nodded, and sniffed again. 
	Roric shook his head. If he let this go any further, things would get a 
little uncomfortable. So he stood up, jammed his hands in his pockets, and 
walked through the bush, much to Ryo-Ohki's complaint of suddenly being shoved 
off.
	"Hey, guys," He said glibly. "What's going on?"
	"Oh!" Mihoshi turned white as a sheet, and shot to a standing position. 
She bowed several times. "I was...er...that is..."
	"She got lost on the way to the shrine," Tenchi patted her shoulder. She 
smiled gratefully. "I just found her before you showed up. C'mon, let's head 
back to the house. We'll help them do the laundry until we train with jii-chan."
	"Right," Roric nodded with a faint smile, and turned around to walk back 
to the stairs. As he did so, he caught the sight of tears standing in Mihoshi's 
eyes. 
	The trip down passed uneventful, and Ryo-Ohki rode on his head all the way 
to the bottom of the steps. They crossed the wide expanse of grass together, and 
finally came to where Ayeka and Ryoko were washing the clothes. Ryoko, God 
forbid, was actually getting her hands wet.
	"So, Roric," Mihoshi mused as they bent to the buckets to scrub clothes. 
She smelled faintly of cherry blossoms, and that made him blush for some reason. 
"How did you get in touch with Tenchi? I mean, why have you two been pen pals 
for so long?"
	Roric grinned at his black-haired friend at the other bucket, who returned 
the grin. "It was a school project," He said. "My Japanese class and his ESL 
class phoned each other, and talked about becoming pen pals. Me and Tenchi got 
paired up, and we've been writing back ever since."
	"But I guess I forgot to mention all of you in my letters," Tenchi said 
apologetically. "Roric almost had a heart attack when he saw Ryo-Ohki!"
	They all laughed. Mihoshi suddenly pitched forward, landing face-first in 
the bucket of soapy water. Through some sort of unexplained twist of Physics, 
the water flew into the air, filling the summer day with the faint smell of 
lemon. The water splashed on all of them, soaking them to the bone.
	"Oooh!" Ayeka fumed. "Look at my kimono! I just had it dry cleaned!"
	Ryoko looked thoughtful as she scooted closer to Tenchi. "Too bad I wasn't 
wearing a white t-shirt, hmm?"
	"Don't you ever grow up?" Tenchi murmured with a faint blush. 
	Roric hauled Mihoshi to her feet. The woman was spluttering soapy water. 
	"Are you all right?" He asked. She burst out into wailing tears.
	"I've gotten all the clothes in our bucket dirty again!" She blubbered.
	"Ne, Mihoshi..." Ryoko patted her head. "You had no clothes in your 
bucket. You were the one who cleaned the last shirt."
	"...?"
	"We're all done with the laundry, you dolt."
	"Miss Clumsy strikes again," Ayeka said hotly.
	"Come on, Ayeka," Tenchi picked up a handful of water from the full 
bucket, and threw it at her. "Lighten up!"
	What resulted was an all-out water war, winner take all, no quarter 
granted. Their laughter echoed in the crisp air, and they slipped and slid in 
the slick grass with childish abandon. Roric felt profoundly different in the 
presence of these people. Back at home, nothing like this had ever happened. He 
was an adopted child, and his parents had been away a lot during his preteen and 
teen years. As a matter of fact, Roric had scrimped and saved for two years to 
head to the Masaki's house for a long vacation. But with these people, he could 
return to the childhood he never had. 
	POOOOOOOOOOWOOOOOOOOSH!
	They were all completely bowled over by a huge wave of water that came 
from the side of the house. Roric could dimly see his friends absorbed by the 
cool liquid, and felt his back scrape against the wet grass. He felt something 
slam into him from the front, a light pressure, and heard Mihoshi giggling. 
	"Ungh..." He sat up slowly. Mihoshi was laying flat on him with her head 
hanging past his shoulder. Roric picked her up, and looked back to the house.
	Grinning like a demon, Washuu stood on the porch with a massive hose in 
both hands.  
	"It's been gathering dust in my lab for a few hundred years," She said in 
regards to the hose. "When I saw you playing, I couldn't resist!"
	"L-Little Washuu?" Mihoshi sat up, her glimmering blue eyes gloriously 
wide.
	Face to face with Roric.
	They both turned as red as beets and leapt away from each other, studying 
the sky carefully. Ryoko blinked a few times and burst out laughing before 
another huge wave of water came at her. She was swept all the way to the stairs.
	"Good Lord," Roric commented, helping the dripping Mihoshi to her feet. 
"What's that hose set for, anyway?"
	"Tsunami," Washuu said with an evil smirk.
	"Not the Goddess," Tenchi put in helpfully. Roric laughed. 
	"Well, I suppose we should head up to the shrine to train with jii-chan, 
eh?"
	"You're probably right. Washuu, could you clean up the water with an 
invention or something?"
	The mad scientist ran to him with gleaming eyes. "Only if you do something 
for me..." She hinted suggestively. 
	"Never mind."
	"Bye, everyone!" Roric waved cheerfully. "Ayeka, Ryoko, Mihoshi, Little 
Washuu. We'll see you after dinner!"
	The cat woman splayed out on the ground would have glomped onto Tenchi, 
but she was completely inebriated thanks to Washuu's water spray.

*		*		*		*		*		*		
	"How are you liking it so far, Roric?"
	They sat on the edge of the tall steps, watching the expanse of trees that 
covered the hills and mountains. Roric caught a cherry blossom in one hand, and 
dusted off his shoulder. It was rather uncomfortable to get ready for a fight in 
wet clothing.
	"This is the most fun I've had in my life," Roric laughed, and leaned his 
elbows on his knees. "Everyone here has been absolutely great to me."
	Tenchi stifled a laugh.
	"What? What's so funny?"
	"Nothing...just something one of the girls said to me earlier. About you."
	"Hm!"
	Roric and Tenchi turned in unison at the ruffling of a bush near the side 
of the shrine. In a flash, they were both on their feet. They kicked off their 
wooden sandals, and took fighting positions. Tenchi clenched both fists, 
stretching one out in front of the other, whilst Roric raised one hand, leaning 
all of his weight back on one foot.
	"It's probably jii-chan," Tenchi whispered. They both tightened their 
muscles. 
	The attack, however, came from behind. Roric felt something hit him in the 
back of the neck, and he pitched forward. With a swift and agile hand on the 
dirt ground, he cart wheeled nimbly into a ready position, facing the form of 
Katsuhito with his bokken slung over one shoulder.
	"Jii-chan..." He began.
	"Defend yourselves!" The old man shouted.
	Roric took two whacks from the bokken to his hastily raised arm. The feel 
of the smooth wooden sword slapping against his forearm made him wince 
uncontrollably. Whatever this old man was, he could definitely fight! 
	Katsuhito moved in between them, striking out in both directions, sending 
Tenchi and Roric rolling away. Roric struck the side of the shrine and slumped 
over.
	Tenchi rebounded from a tree near the stairs, and retaliated quickly. The 
air rang with the sounds of Tenchi's grunts of pain and flesh slapping against 
wood. The old man held his bokken behind his back, and battled his grandson with 
one arm. Katsuhito blocked two airborne kicks and one punch, twisted his bony 
arm around, and gave a powerful slap to the back of Tenchi's elbow. The younger 
Masaki spun in the air, and hit the ground with a grunt.
	Katsuhito...no, he was Yosho now...leaned back easily as Roric's foot 
sheared the air. Still using his one arm, he took several graceful, weaving 
punches before spinning on his sandaled heel and striking Roric in the chest 
with an open hand. The young man grunted, wrapped his hands around Yosho's 
wrist, and held tightly.
	Tenchi, who had recovered in the meantime, leapt into the air, and kicked 
at his grandfather's unprotected back. Yosho spun again, taking the boy still 
attached to his arm, and struck his grandson with the exchange student. The two 
teenagers flipped through the air, and landed several feet away. 
	"Ugh..." Tenchi groaned, and sat up. "Jii-chan never went this rough on me 
before. He must have high hopes for you."
	"Ow..." Roric was clutching his red and bruised arm. "You could ask him to 
take it easy, y'know. He's kicking our butts."
	"He's over seven hundred years old, remember? Of course he's kicking our 
butts."
	"All right, then," Roric struggled to get to his feet. "Let's try and give 
him a good fight!"
	They attacked simultaneously. Tenchi's fists came strong and true, while 
Roric weaved his arms quickly and gracefully, lashing out at the old man. Still 
using one hand, Yosho blocked every attack sent his way. Then Roric saw it.
	It was so easy, as if it were leaping out at him. An opening in the old 
man's defenses. He flattened his hand, stiffened his fingers, and drove forward. 
His digits curled in as they hit, forming a disabling fist. Yosho backed off a 
step, spun, and laid them both out flat with one swing of his bokken.
	"Very good, Roric..." He complimented. "But one hit will not win the 
battle. Next time, concentrate on getting several in. Tenchi! Go wash the steps. 
Roric! Takes seven loads of carrots from the mountain shed and run them back 
down to the house one at a time. Get going!"  
	They sprinted off in opposite directions. Katsuhito held his bony chin in 
one hand.
	"I'd hate to be the one trying to attack this place with those two working 
together."

*		*		*		*		*		*
	
	Both sore and sweaty, Roric and Tenchi sat in the onsen that evening. They 
both had white towels around their waists and on their foreheads. Roric let out 
a painful groan.
	"Good lord," He mumbled. "Your grandpa sure is a tough nail."
	"I know."
	Roric got a wide smile on his face, and looked over at his friend. "So, 
Tenchi," he said glibly. "You've got so many girls crowding around you. Why 
don't you ever take your pick?"
	"Well, first off...there's the whole thing with they keep sneaking into my 
room at all hours. Kiyone and Sasami are both pretty good at keeping it under 
control. Did you know Sasami is really almost a thousand years old?"
	"That little girl? No way!"
	"Yeah. So don't get to thinking she's really all that innocent. I suppose 
she is in a way, but...she's got a lot of guile, y'know?"
	They stayed quiet for awhile.
	"That Washuu woman," Roric said after a few minutes of pleasant soaking. 
"What's her deal? She was just leering at me yesterday."
	"She probably wanted a 'sample' from you."	 Tenchi shuddered, and 
explained the details of his rather embarrassing run-in with Washuu, her metal 
tentacles and her nurse's outfit. Roric began to blush as he explained.
	"You're kidding."
	"Nope."
	"Jeez, that's disgusting."
	"I'll say."
	There was a sudden burst of slowly pattering feet, and pleasant 
conversation that moved into the woman's section of the onsen. Roric and Tenchi 
both scrambled out of the water, and peeked slyly over the barrier. Sasami, 
Ryoko, Mihoshi, Washuu, Ayeka and Kiyone...even Ryo-Ohki in her mature human 
form were striding into the baths, wearing towels. Tenchi and Roric shared one 
look of amazement.
	"We'd better get out of here before they start taking off their towels," 
Tenchi whispered. "This could get messy."
	"I'll say," Roric nodded, already blushing. A drop of blood was hovering 
at Tenchi's left nostril. "Let's go."
	There was a sudden shriek from Ayeka, who pointed at their heads poking 
over the barrier. 
	"PEEKERS!"
	The two were suddenly bombarded by shampoo, sake bottles, trays, soap, you 
name it. Ryoko, wearing no clothes at all, appeared behind Tenchi and wrapped 
her arms around his neck. Blood dribbled down his face.
	"Erk..."
	"Hello, Tenchi," She purred. 
	"C'mon!" Roric grabbed his friend's wrist, and dashed for the door, 
ripping him free of Ryoko. A stray shampoo bottle hit him in the head. He 
stumbled, grabbed their clothes from the floor and, holding his towel 'round his 
waist for modesty's sake, sprinted for the exit.

*		*		*		*		*		*

	"I hope they aren't TOO mad at us."
	"You were peeking, after all," Sasami was waving a fan at Tenchi, who was 
stretched out on the floor with a cloth over his eyes. "That was a bit rude, 
don't you think?"
	"We weren't peeking," Roric protested, holding his fists on his knees. "We 
were about to get up and leave, and suddenly we're being stormed like Normandy. 
I haven't seen that many flying bath products since that fight broke out in Bath 
and Body Works."
	Sasami giggled, and kept on fanning Tenchi. 

*		*		*		*		*		*

	"Little Washuu," Katsuhito knocked on the door to her dimensional portal. 
She opened the door herself for once. The small crab bell rang merrily as she 
did so, but she reached up on her tiptoes to silence it.
	"Yes?" She asked in a whisper. "What is it?"
	"I need to talk to you," he returned, and slid inside without a further 
invitation. "It's about the boy from the U.S."
	She strode over and shut the door behind him. It gradually faded away into 
subspace. 
	"What is it?"
	"Tsunami."
	"I beg your pardon?"
	"That boy," Katsuhito looked solemn. "I fought him this afternoon, along 
with Tenchi. I couldn't be sure, getting on in my years as I am, but as he 
attacked me, I swear I could feel faint pulses of Tsunami's power in him."
	"Yosho," Washuu said disapprovingly. "Tsunami is one of the Goddesses that 
created the universe. Lots of humans are born with a bit of her power. It's been 
going on for hundreds of thousands of years. It's not that surprising."
	"But it felt a little different. It really is rather difficult to explain. 
It felt like the power was being somehow turned around. Inverted, maybe."
	"Hmm..." Washuu's holographic laptop appeared in front of her, and she 
began keying in commands fiercely. "Let's see...an inversion of Tsunami's 
power...I'd need a sample from him if I wanted to know any more."
	"Washuu..." Katsuhito said archly, narrowing his eyes.
	"All right, all right. SKIN samples. Happy?"
	"That's better."

End of Episode II: Finding a Niche
Episode III of the Eden Chronicles will reveal more of Roric's baffling power, 
while Tenchi begins leaning towards one of the girls lusting after him. Why has 
Mihoshi fallen head over heels with the young man from Maine? Was it really 
Tsunami's power that Yosho felt during the duel? And why are all the girls in 
the household giggling whenever the two boys walk by? Suspense, answers, and a 
dangerous game of Truth or Dare, next time on The Eden Chronicles, Episode III: 
Trouble from the Skies!