Tenpou\'s Distraction

Goku ran through the palace, his chains rattling. Where would Kai be? He didn’t want to go to her room for she lived near Li-Touten and Goku was told never to bother him.

He ran to Kenren’s apartments, hoping she would be there. He threw open the door and was too shocked to speak. There, pacing the small office of General Kenren, was Ten-chan. He was agitated and yelling at Kenren. Goku had never seen his Ten-chan like this. Tenpou was always calm, perfect temperament for a military strategist. This Tenpou, however, was currently waving his arms around and once in a while, would point at Kenren and glare at him. Kenren was sitting in a chair, arms crossed over his chest, with a smug smile on his face.

“And then she had the nerve to kiss me.” Tenpou paced around the little office of his friend. “Can you believe it? She took advantage of me in my sleep!” Tenpou stopped pacing and looked at Kenren. “Is this the type of woman you hire? She’s supposed to be organizing my office and she is singing, teaching Goku this horrendous song about the alphabet and sitting on my lap, kissing me!”

Kenren was having a hard time holding back his laughter. This is what he was hoping for when he hired Chizuru. Someone to pull Tenpou’s head out of his books and see what he was missing from life. His only regret was he missed the look on Tenpou’s face when he realized he was kissing a woman he’d only met that morning.

“She wasn’t kissing you, you kissed her first!” Goku came into the room. “She was teaching me the alphabet and after the first song, I asked her to sing another one. She went by you and next thing I see, you pull her onto your lap and then you kiss her!” Goku stood with his little fists raised, ready to defend his new friend.

Tenpou’s mouth dropped open. But, that was just a dream. He was dreaming of an angel singing to him, not Chizuru. He did remember thinking in his dream how he could feel her and how real the dream was. He closed his eyes and groaned. He wasn’t fully asleep, just dozing like he usually did after lunch.

“Where’s Kai, Kenren?” Goku turned to look at Kenren.

“She’s in my study, mixing medicines. Why?”

“Because Chizuru is crying and it’s all Ten-chan’s fault.”

“My fault?” Tenpou sat down in a chair opposite of Kenren. “She’s crying because I kissed her?”

“No, you idiot! She’s crying because after you woke up and saw her, you stood up so fast, you dumped her on the floor! You hurt her feelings.” Goku pointed his finger at Tenpou. “So, now I need Kai to make her stop crying.”

Kai heard Tenpou burst in Kenren’s office, yelling. Kai stepped out from Kenren’s study and closed the door. She took in the scene before her. Kenren sitting in a chair, holding back laughter. Tenpou, looking totally confused and Goku, looking ready for a fight. She walked over behind the chair Kenren was sitting in and placed her hand on his shoulder. He put his hand over hers and squeezed.

“What’s going on?” All three tried to answer her at once. She held up her hand for quiet and decided to ask Goku. He looked the most upset…well, Tenpou was a close second.

“Chizuru is on the floor of Tenpou’s office, crying. She needs you.”

“Is she hurt? What happened, Goku? Did she fall?” Kai started to move away from Kenren’s chair, when his comment stopped her.

“She’s not hurt. Unless you call being kissed by Tenpou and then dumped on the floor, hurt.”

“W…what?”

Goku ran to Kai and pulled on her hand. “Just come with me. Chizuru is upset and you’re her friend. She needs you.”

Kai left Kenren’s office after Goku assured her that Chizuru wasn’t hurt but he wouldn’t tell her anymore than that. She tried to ask him what had happened but he wasn’t making much sense. He told her Chizuru was singing and Tenpou kissed her.

Goku opened the office door and went in. Chizuru was still where he left her, sitting on the floor behind Tenpou’s desk, crying. She wasn’t sobbing, just crying softly.

Kai came in and motioned for Goku to leave the office. “I’ll be guarding the door so you can have your privacy.” He went out of the office and closed the door. He sat in front of the door. Nobody was getting in this office without him knowing.

Kai went over and sat in front of Chizuru. “Want to talk about it?” Chizuru shook her head no. “Are you crying because Tenpou kissed you?” Another shake no. “Are you crying because he dumped you off his lap and ran out of the office?” A nod. Ah, now she was getting somewhere. Chizuru’s feelings were hurt. But, why? They had only met today. It’s not like she harbored a secret love for the Field Marshall.

He was pretty good looking, Kai thought, although not as good looking as Kenren. Kai giggled as she thought back to Kenren’s office. Tenpou was flustered, a rare emotion for him. “Want to hear something funny?” Chizuru shook her head no. Too bad, thought Kai, I’m telling you anyway. “Tenpou is in Kenren’s office right now. He was yelling at Kenren.”

Chizuru looked up at Kai in horror. She was going to lose this job and have to go back to the kitchens. “What was he yelling about? Is he going to fire me?” Chizuru managed to whisper the question through the lump in her throat.

Kai took Chizuru’s hands in hers. “You will not lose this job, so you needn’t worry about that. Goku tried to tell me what happened but I didn’t understand what he was saying. Why don’t you tell me what really happened?”

Chizuru wiped her eyes. She felt a little better knowing she would still have a job. She told Kai about teaching Goku the alphabet song and the little boy asking for another song. She started singing the song that her aunt used to sing to her cousins when she was little. She had loved that song and often wished she had someone who loved her enough to sing it to her.

Chizuru told Kai she was dancing around the office, making Goku laugh and she went by Tenpou. She noticed his bangs were in his eyes and before she knew it, she was brushing them off his forehead. He surprised her by rubbing his cheek against her hand. She finished the rest of the tale quickly, not wanting to go into detail about the kiss.

“And then he kissed me, no big deal.” Chizuru shrugged her shoulders. She had stopped crying and the two women were still sitting on the floor behind Tenpou’s desk.

Kai could tell Chizuru was lying to her. Chizuru wasn’t the type of girl to go around kissing men she had only met that morning. There was something about Tenpou that Chizuru must have found attractive.

“Yes, a kiss from a strange man is no big deal.” Kai gave a small smile. “And it’s not like he’s very good looking that he would be a temptation. I mean, you probably don’t even remember what color his eyes are.”

“They’re a light emerald green with silver chips in them. And I can’t believe you would say he wasn’t good looking! He’s very handsome!” Chizuru covered her mouth as she realized what she had blurted out. She gave Kai a sheepish look. Maybe she was attracted to him. But she had only really met him this morning. She had seen him before but never really up close.

He would come and eat in the dining hall once in awhile. He was always polite, but usually a little distracted. The dining hall was always packed when he would come in, so she would only see him in passing. They never spoke to each other. So what made her do what she did today?

Kai laughed and hugged her friend. “You have no idea how much Tenpou needs someone like you in his life.” Kai quickly went on when she saw the expression on Chizuru’s face. “Kenren is not trying to set you two up, don’t even think that. He’s just worried that Tenpou takes on too much and he wears himself down.” Chizuru’s face relaxed. “Tenpou forgets to eat and passes out sometimes. Kenren has told me some of what Tenpou’s like in battle.”

“He’s like a man possessed. His men are loyal to him, but he would rather fight than let them be in harm’s way. He has come back injured, several times because of it. But, most important to him, is his self-control.” Kai stood up, holding out her hand for Chizuru. She took it and stood up and hugged her friend.

“Thanks, Kai. I feel much better.” Chizuru brushed some dust off of her red tunic. “So, what do you think I should do? Should I apologize for kissing him?”

“According to Goku, Tenpou kissed you, not the other way around. I would imagine, when he comes back to his office, he will apologize to you for his behavior. After all, he has to come back, he wasn’t wearing his glasses when he came barging into Kenren’s apartment.”

Chizuru blushed at the memory of her taking off Tenpou’s glasses. She had wanted him to open his eyes so she could look at them again. She thought she was a little attracted to the Field Marshall, but she shoved that thought to the back of her mind.

“I guess that the best thing would for me to get back to my organizing. I’ll go tell Goku he can come back in.” She went to the door and opened it. Goku jumped up and hugged Chizuru.

“You’re staying, right? Please don’t leave. Ten-chan needs you to help him. I don’t want to see him buried under his maps and books again.”

She rubbed the top of his head, messing up his already messy hair. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

Kai left to go back to Kenren’s apartment, taking Tenpou’s glasses with her and Chizuru went back to the books. Goku asked her to sing more songs. They sang the alphabet song a few times. Goku picked it up quickly and soon was singing it all by himself. He was coloring on the floor, humming, when Tenpou came back to his office.

He stood in the doorway, just watching the two of them. Chizuru was really pretty, he thought to himself. She was clearing the shelves, dusting them as she went. She had one whole bookcase cleared and several piles of books on the floor. Tenpou leaned against the frame of the door.

“Goku, will you help me? I’m ready to put all the books on the shelves that begin with A.”

Goku looked up from the picture he was drawing. It looked like a cross between a dog and a turtle. Tenpou wished he could read Goku’s mind and see what went on in that little head of his. Tenpou smiled. His head was already so filled, he didn’t have room for anything more.

“But, Chizuru, I don’t know my letters yet.” The little boy looked dejected.

Chizuru sat down next to Goku, neither of them noticing the man in the doorway, watching them. “Here, do you have any paper you’re not using?” Goku sifted through his papers, looking for a blank one. He found one and handed it to Chizuru. “Now, may I borrow a crayon?” Goku handed her his favorite color, yellow. “Hmm, that won’t show up really well on white paper. Do you have another favorite color?” Goku shook his head no. “How about we use green, like the color of Tenpou’s eyes?’

Tenpou was taken aback. He had no idea that Chizuru knew what color his eyes were. His mind went back to when she was on his lap. She was starting into his eyes and he guessed she must have noticed they were green. After all, not many people had green eyes here. Most had brown, like Chizuru’s. But, her’s had little amber chips in them that made them look almost hazel.

Tenpou felt like slapping himself on the forehead. What the hell was he doing thinking about the color of her eyes? His attention went back to the woman and child on the floor. She was showing Goku how to make a letter A.

“Now, A is the first letter of the alphabet. So first, I’m going to teach you a big letter A. Watch my hands while I make the letter.” Tenpou’s eyes were drawn to her hands. They were tiny and graceful. They were rough from working in the kitchens for so long, but that would soon go away. He watched her draw a letter A. She handed the green crayon to Goku.

“You just do what I did. Draw a line down, draw another line down and connect them in the middle.” She watched as Goku drew a wobbly A. She clapped with delight at his effort. “That’s it, Goku!” She hugged Goku to her side, Goku’s face lighting up with happiness. “Now that you know what an A looks like, you can help me put the books with the letter A on the shelves.”

Tenpou decided to make his presence known. He cleared his throat. Chizuru and Goku looked up from the paper on the floor.

“Ten-chan! Chizuru is teaching me the alphabet and I just made my first letter! It’s the letter A.” Goku got up and walked over to the doorway, bringing the paper with him. He proudly showed his effort to Tenpou and the tall man smiled down at him.

“Very nice, Goku. I’m sorry I’ve been too busy to teach you the alphabet and your numbers at the same time.”

“That’s ok. Chizuru is here and she says she will teach me.”

Tenpou looked down at Chizuru, who was still sitting on the floor. She looked up and met his eyes, blushing. She hated that about herself. She wished she wouldn’t blush so much.

“May I speak with you for a moment?” Chizuru nodded and stood up. Tenpou walked over to a shelf with some scrolls on it. He picked one. “Goku, will you take this to Kenren’s office? He asked me to get it for him.” Goku ran over and grabbed the scroll. He was out the door before Chizuru could ask him to stay. She wasn’t frightened of Tenpou, but she was afraid he was going to fire her.

“I sent him out because I didn’t want him to hear our conversation. Please, have a seat.” Chizuru moved some books off of a chair and sat. She fiddled with the hem of her tunic. Tenpou was going to fire her, she just knew it. She guessed Kai didn’t know him as well as she thought she did.

Tenpou sat down in the large chair behind his desk. He had no idea how to apologize for kissing someone when you were asleep, but he would try. He just didn’t want to hurt her feelings again. He had no clue why he cared so much about her feelings, but he did care.

“About what happened earlier, I’m sorry for dumping you on the floor like that.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up more than it already was. “I was dreaming about an ang..” Well, he didn’t need to tell her that he was dreaming that she was angel singing to him. Or how he longed to kiss the angel in his dream. “I should have apologized immediately, but I was shocked at my behavior. Will you accept my apology?”

“Yes, thank you. Chizuru finally looked up at Tenpou. “You’re not going to fire me, are you?”

“Is that what you’re so worried about?” She nodded. “Don’t worry, I need your help around here. Will you stay?”

Chizuru told herself that the relief she felt was for her job security. It wasn’t because she would have to leave this handsome man and not see him again. She smiled at Tenpou. “I’ll stay.” The thought that he didn’t say he was sorry for kissing her, flew through her mind. She ignored it.

“Good. I have some work to do. Will it bother you if I am here?” Tenpou shifted papers around on his desk, looking for the ones he was working on before he fell asleep.

“No. I figured you would be in your office most days. Kai told me you were usually here unless you were sent out to battle.” She saw Tenpou’s nod, his mind already on his papers. She went back to the bookshelves and started putting the A volumes on the them. For the time being, she would just put the volumes that began with A on the shelves, she would worry about alphabetizing them later. She wandered around the office, collecting books as she went.

She was humming. Tenpou tried to ignore it. He could ignore all the noise Kenren and Goku made when they were in his office, but for some reason, he couldn’t ignore this woman. Her voice was pleasant and soothing. But, it was keeping him from concentrating on his work. He thought about asking her to stop, but again, he was worried about hurting her feelings.

Goku came back in the office. His face fell when he saw Chizuru putting the books on the shelves. “I thought you were gonna let me help.”

“I only started, Goku. I still need your help. Do you remember what the letter A looks like?” Goku ran over to a large pile of books, searching for a volume that began with the letter he had just learned today.

“Like this?” Goku showed her the book.

“Advanced Battle Tactics.” Chizuru read for Goku. “Good job, Goku. Now, if you can find more books beginning with A, I’ll start putting them on the shelf.”

While Goku brought her books, she piled them up on the lower shelves. Taking the books off the top shelves made her arms ache. The books were heavy. She would need a chair to stand on the make the job a little easier. She thought about using the chair she sat in earlier, but Goku was already piling books on it. She looked around.

She found one in a corner with maps on it. She moved the maps to the floor and picked up the chair. She placed it in front of the bookcase she was currently working on. She shook it a bit, making sure it was sturdy. It wiggled a bit but nothing too alarming.

Tenpou was irritated with himself. He just couldn’t ignore her. He would be reading along and realize that he had just read that same paragraph, twice. Or he would get to the bottom of the page and realize he had no idea what he even read. He sighed and looked up.

Chizuru was just about to put a second foot on to the most wobbly chair he owned. He wanted to yell and warn her, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. She had both feet on the chair and was reaching up to put a book on a shelf, when it happened.

When she shifted her weight forward, Chizuru heard a crack. She froze. “Chizuru! Don’t move! That chair is…” Tenpou never got to finish his sentence. He leaped up from his chair and rounded the corner of his desk. There was a loud crack and Chizuru started to fall. She reached for the bookshelves but her fingers couldn’t grasp them. She twisted around and saw Tenpou reaching out for her. She didn’t give it a second thought and leapt off the chair, hurling herself at him.

His arms went around her and she clung to him. Tenpou tried to stay upright but his feet weren’t set when she came flying at him. They both went down, Tenpou landing on his back. She was right on top of him, still clinging to him.

They laid that way for a minute or two, catching their breath. She noticed how broad his shoulders were. He noticed how fine and silky her hair was. She liked the way his hands felt on her body. He liked her scent.

“Are you guys alright?” Goku’s words brought them out of their thoughts. Chizuru rolled off Tenpou and sat up. She couldn’t look at him. She didn’t want him to see her blushing.

“I’m fine, Goku, although I think I’m done for the day. Will you walk me home?” She needed his constant chatter to take her mind off of what just happened. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Tenpou.” She got up and walked to the door, not looking back. Goku ran after her.

“Good night, Chizuru.” Tenpou didn’t even look to see if Chizuru acknowledged him. His arm was covering his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. She had ended up in his arms twice in one day. He didn’t want to tell Kenren. Tenpou wasn’t sure if he could hold back from smacking off the smug smile that was sure to be on his face.