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Episode 15 -	Love Match
	bunkasai / ai no hajimari / heiwa no owari
	[Culture festival - the beginning of love, the end of peace]
First aired -	8th July 1997

One evening, Tenchi 'phones Washu to beg a favour. He asks for the inter-dimensional tunnel to be shut down permanently so he can finally start living the normal life of a student. Washu promises it will be turned off by the next morning.

The next morning, the girls are busy preparing a breakfast to share with Tenchi. They use a handy trampoline to reach the portal on the ceiling, but Washu has, as promised, closed it and they all bump their heads. The portal frame drops off the ceiling and Washu catches it. She explains to the girls why she closed the tunnel.

In Tokyo, Tenchi is finally able to enjoy a quiet meal with Sakuya on the steps of the Tsuchida shrine. Amagasaki drops in on them and reminds them not to be late for school.

Back in Okayama, the girls have decided that, tunnel or not, they have to visit Tenchi to check up on him. Unfortunately, money is short, so they can't afford train tickets. Having found out that Nobuyuki was responsible for bringing Tenchi and Sakuya closer together, they decide that he should finance their trip. Nobuyuki explains that he has no money either, but Washu steps in and, with the aid of some basic bookkeeping, deduces that he must have enough savings squirreled away to pay for their train tickets, plus enough left for food, snacks and spending money. The girls start to search the house for the hidden savings.

As Tenchi, Sakuya and Amagasaki are walking to school, some of Sakuya's friends catch up with them. One of them pulls Tenchi aside to ask him if he has told Sakuya he loves her yet. When he admits he hasn't, she tells him about an old school superstition; if a couple declare their love during the party after the school festival, which is to be held the following day, then they will stay together forever.

At school, the preparations for the school festival are well underway. Two students are setting up a ring on the school roof for the wrestling team. They come across an old and rather smelly wrestler's mask, and throw it aside. Elsewhere, Tenchi, Sakuya and her friends are setting up their crêpe stand. Amagasaki tries to drag Tenchi away to watch the wrestling practise. Yugi sees that Amagasaki is going to keep getting in the way, so she summons the spirit of a top female wrestler from the discarded wrestling mask. The wrestler heads straight for the crêpe stand, grabs Amagasaki and hurls him halfway across the campus, much to everyone's puzzlement (as only Amagasaki can see her)!

At the Masaki home, Ryoko wakes to find the house in a state of chaos. When she finally gets an explanation from everyone else, she tells them how ridiculous they are acting. She tells them that even if she wanted to visit Tenchi, which she doesn't since she trusts him, she could fly there for free anyway. Undeterred, the other girls continue to hunt for the money.

Back in Tokyo, Sakuya and Tenchi are shopping for ingredients for the crêpe stand. They have both noticed how Sakuya's friends are trying to get the two of them alone, but Sakuya doesn't mind. On the way back to school, Amagasaki rushes to meet them and is again hurled through the air by the female wrestler. When they get back to the crêpe stand, Sakuya's friends send her and Tenchi off to hang banners from the school roof, knowing fully that this will get them alone for a while. Meanwhile, Amagasaki is growing more puzzled about the repeated attacks from his unknown assailant, and rushes to tell Tenchi. The moment he finds Tenchi, he is once again thrown across the campus!

As evening approaches, and after being set about by the wrestler more times than he can count, Amagasaki finally makes it to the roof, where he finds the wrestler waiting for him in the ring. He charges into the ring, determined to prove his worth against her, and manages to land a hit on the wrestler. Although beaten, the wrestler is happy; at long last she has found a worthy opponent and her soul can rest. She disappears, leaving only the mask behind. Amagasaki recognises the mask as belonging to the pro-wrestling legend Ikarinu Sadako, the mask she wore in her debut fight, no less.

In Okayama, Ayeka has finally found Nobuyuki's savings, hidden in an envelope inside one of his comic books. As she speculates about visiting Tokyo the next day, Tenchi and Sakuya await the festival with eager anticipation.

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Episode 16 - Carnival! >>

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