It was with mixed emotions that Masaki Tenchi prepared to leave for school that morning. His recent adventure on Jurai had really taken a lot out of him. When he’d fought Kagato, he’d had to call on reserves of power that he hadn’t known he had — in fact, he was still shocked that he’d managed to defeat the usurper of the Juraian crown at all. Sure, some of that power no doubt came from the fact that his ancestry wasn’t completely human, but still….
Oh, well. At least everything turned out okay. That was what was really important — Tenchi and the cast of eccentric visitors who had become a huge part of his life over the last few months had all managed to clear their names, the remaining suspects in Kagato’s attempted coup d’état had been rounded up, and order had been restored to Jurai… and he’d decided to head home. Sure, he’d miss Ayeka and Sasami, the newly-restored Princesses of the Empire, as well as Mihoshi and Kiyone, who had returned to the Galaxy Police with the highest honors that organization could bestow. He’d even miss Washu, who was, at the moment, trying to use her newfound celebrity to regain the good graces of the scientific community. But they had their own lives to live out, and he knew he didn’t belong there. Sure, there had been some murmuring amongst the Juraian populace when it was learned that a member of the Royal Family (technically true, though Tenchi still had difficulty thinking of himself in those terms) planned to return to the backwater planet of his birth, but quite simply, he’d had enough time in the spotlight — he just wanted to return to the nice, simple, and pleasantly boring life he’d been living when all this mess started.
Really, his only regret was his uncertainty about whether he’d ever see Ryoko again. The cyan-haired space pirate had practically disappeared after destroying the Juraian defense satellites, and given the condition she’d been in (not to mention Ryo-Ohki’s mournful wail upon her departure), the chances of meeting up with her once more seemed slim. Oh, she’d been honored like the rest, albeit in absentia. Ayeka had even flexed most of her political might (which was quite considerable at that moment, as most Juraian politicians wanted to make absolutely sure that they were still in the good graces of the Royal Family) and arranged for her rival to be given a full and complete pardon for all crimes and misdemeanors committed within the Empire’s borders. This totally surprised everyone who knew about the nature of the relationship between Ayeka and Ryoko (or rather, the complete lack thereof). For her part, Ayeka claimed it was simply “giving credit where credit was due,” though at the time, she’d also been absolutely certain that this pardon would prove to be posthumous.
That had been seven days ago. Five days ago, he’d arrived back on Earth. Six hours later, Ryoko had shown up, followed in quick succession by Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi and Kiyone, and to top it all off, Washu revealed that due to the nature of her pocket dimension, she had technically never left the Masaki home to begin with. Tenchi had been a bit worried that the old tensions would flare up again, but Ayeka and Ryoko had promised that they’d be civil.
“And just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m getting Tenchi’s stuff ready for him, so he doesn’t have to rush out the door.”
“And what makes you think you’re qualified to do that?”
“I’m a hell of a lot more qualified than you are, Princess.”
“What do you mean by that?!”
“Hey, it’s not like you can help it — being waited on hand and foot does that to people.”
“Are you implying that my status in the Juraian Royal Family renders me unfit to do menial tasks?!”
“You think getting Tenchi’s stuff ready is ‘menial’?!”
“Stop twisting my words, you harlot!”
As Ryoko and Ayeka descended into yet another shouting match, Tenchi had to admit to himself that this actually was relatively civil behavior for those two. Now if only they could be civil relative to the rest of the universe….
From her vantage point on a nearby hill, Haruko stared at the mountainside shrine through a pair of binoculars. No doubt about it… the ring on her bracelet was directing her here — which meant that there had to be a potential N.O. gate somewhere around here. This was very good, especially since she hadn’t seen any evidence that Medical Mechanica had managed to set themselves up on this planet yet. That meant that there wouldn’t be any distractions while she tried to lure Atomsk out of his hiding place… assuming, of course, that all went according to plan.
But first of all, she had to figure out who the lucky victim candidate was. And to do that, she’d have to wait until said candidate emerged from the complex. And to do that, she’d have to wait even longer.
Haruko hated waiting.
Fortunately for her, the wait wasn’t long, as several figures emerged from the house in front of the shrine.
Why me? After who knows how long, Tenchi had headed out towards the nearest bus stop, but not without a massively irritated alien on each arm. At the moment, Ryoko and Ayeka appeared to be content with silent glowering, but that could change in an instant. Right now, he just wanted something — anything — to take his mind off of his current predicament. Fortunately, when the trio reached the road proper, such a distraction was already available.
“Hey, Mihoshi, Kiyone! What are you guys doing here?”
“Oh, we were just passing by on our way to apply for yet another job,” Kiyone replied. “And you?”
“Oh, I’m heading back to school. Gotta make up for all that lost time I missed.”
Mihoshi’s attention was drawn to something else, however. “Ooh! That’s a nice-looking messenger bag.” At the mention of Tenchi’s bag, Ryoko and Ayeka glared a fresh round of daggers at each other — as far as they were concerned, this issue was far from over.
“Uh, thanks,” Tenchi replied nervously, hoping against hope to avoid any further conflict.
As she looked at the five people standing by the side of road, a smile came to Haruko’s face. “Bingo!” She knew that she had her candidate — granted, this particular candidate didn’t exactly share all of typical qualities of an N.O. gate, but she knew one when she saw one. She immediately hopped on her Vespa and started racing towards the small crowd before this opportunity could slip away.
“What are you talking about, you uncouth succubus?! If anything, you simply got in my way!”
“A likely story. Look, Tenchi, would you mind telling Ms. High-and-Mighty just who’s been making your morning less stressful?”
“Yes, that’s an excellent idea — Lord Tenchi will surely admit that his lack of mental distress is primarily the result of my efforts. Is that not right?”
“Um… well… I, uh… hey, do you hear something?”
“That’s how you plan on dodging this one?” Kiyone asked skeptically. “Even Mihoshi could see through that.”
“That’s true — even I can see that it’s nothing more than a pathetic excuse… hold on….” Mihoshi suddenly got an odd look on her face. “You know, I think I do hear something.”
“What do you think it might be?” Tenchi asked.
“I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s an obscenely powerful yellow Vespa being driven by a twentysomething woman who obviously has no regard for local traffic statutes.”
Kiyone twisted her face at her partner’s oddly specific guess. “How do you figure that?”
“Simple. She’s headed right for us,” Mihoshi replied with a smile as she pointed down the road towards a rapidly approaching (and wildly swerving) scooter.
There was hardly any time to react at all, as the woman on the Vespa pulled a scary-looking electric guitar off her back and drove straight at the group, using the momentum of her overpowered scooter to slam the instrument into the forehead of…
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(Posted Sat, 14 Oct 2006 20:13)
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