Knight: I've sent my story out to the masses. A story mixing the OAV and TV elements of Tenchi Muyo! Now we watch their reactions....
::his eyes glow blue, then he disappears::
***
Jikoken'o Muyo!
***
It was another typical dawn in the Masaki household. One passing by would assume that there was something wrong, however. There were one or two explosions, loud yelling, sounds of assorted chaos, etc. Just another typical morning.
Tenchi Masaki. A poor youth whose life had become rather complicated. And yet, he didn't seem to mind it one bit.
And yet, there was another poor youth. One who had a complicated life has well. This particular youth did mind the complications. Had minded them, for... how long was it? He couldn't remember. His troubles would seek him out again, though.
***
His name was Kyrin Silverblade. It was the only name he remembered knowing. It had been so long since anyone had called him by his true name that he no longer bothered to remember it. Anyone who passed him on the streets would have mistook him for a normal youth. Short brown hair, white t-shirt, blue jeans, black sneakers, kind of lanky. Pretty non-descript. Except for his eyes, he was perfectly normal. Except for his eyes....
As it was, he was passing through a city. Which one? he thought. He checked a sign.
WELCOME TO FURINKAN!
Furinkan? What kind of name is that? he thought idly. Of course, I've heard weirder. All of a sudden, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to face the person.
"Excuse me," this new person said. "Can you tell me how to get to the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Grappling?" He was wearing a yellow shirt, a yellow bandanna, and black pants. He carried an umbrella over his shoulder as if it was a weapon.
Kyrin gave him the once-over, trying to judge if he was a threat. Seeing none, he replied, "Sorry, but I'm just as lost as you are."
The other person frowned, then said, "Sorry to have bothered you." He turned around and left, clearly with no idea as to where he was going.
Kyrin, in the meantime, had a clear grip on his destination. A couple nights ago, he had felt it. A tremendous energy surge unlike any he had felt in a long time. It had come from the sky, but when he looked he saw nothing. Now, however, he could feel slight surges of energy coming from a distinct point. While nowhere near the surge he had felt from the sky, it was enough to maintain his interest. Especially considering the area.
He started walking again. And as he continued to walk, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was utterly wrong.
***
Out in the Okayama prefecture, a lean young man was working at a temple. He was dressed in dark blue pants and a brown tunic, a black t-shirt underneath, and a black belt cinched around his middle. He had short, spiky black hair, with a small rat-tail extending out the back. He had brown eyes, and he was slightly tanned from managing the shrine and fields around his home. He was Tenchi Masaki, and he was sweeping the grounds of his grandfather's shrine. It was supposedly some sort of training or another that aspiring priests had to go through.
"Training," he muttered. "Right. He has me doing this because he's too lazy to do so himself."
His grandfather, Katsuhito, a mustached, age-darkened old man with long hair and wise, permanently amused maroon eyes, appeared as if from nowhere. "Is that a sign of unrest I hear? I could have you sweep out the whole shrine."
"Uh, no sir!"
"Very good." Katsuhito sighed slightly. "I'm going to go meditate for a bit."
"Yes sir," said Tenchi. With that, Katsuhito walked off. Tenchi, meanwhile, stopped to admire the peace that had descended upon the landscape. For a couple of hours, he had time to himself. He wasn't in the middle of the chaos that was his life now. Ever since all those women had wandered into his life, moments like these were few and far between. But this moment, like all moments, ended.
Washyuu was walking up the steps. She looked to be around 12, but that was irrelevant; she could appear any age she wanted to be. She had long, spiky red hair, and eyes the color of bright emeralds. She almost always wore the green robes of the Science Academy, the gold-white winged crest shining proudly on the front. She had a look of concentration on her face, as she held a strange device in her hand. She would sweep it one way, look at it for a second, and then sweep it another way.
Tenchi watched this for a little while. Finally, he couldn't stop himself. "Uh, what are you up to?"
Washyuu paused, looked over at him and grinned. "I'm taking energy readings."
"What for?" Tenchi asked.
"Every genius needs something to study, doesn't she? I'm looking for the right patterns for some scanners," she said. She whacked the device and muttered something that Tenchi didn't quite catch.
"Any good patterns so far?" he inquired, afraid of what the answer might be.
"Oh yes, I've gotten some fine readings," she replied idly.
Tenchi resumed sweeping, albeit somewhat more apprehensively. "Oh great. Uh, how much space will this take up?"
Washyuu turned and regarded him with a slight glint in her eye. "Well, what kind of space do you mean? Hyperspace? Real space? Sub-space? Anatomical space? Geo-"
"Whoah, I get it already!" said Tenchi nervously. He paused and considered for a moment, then ventured, "Real space?"
She paused for a second, then replied, "A fair amount. They shouldn't take up that much, aside from the fact that they'll be dispersed over a wide area."
Tenchi regarded her nervously. "I'm not one of those tree-hugging environmentalist people, but would this take much out of the land? I mean, after all," he said with gesture, "we've got the lake for Mihoshi's landings, we've got the fields of carrots for Ryo-Oh-Ki, not to mention the onsen...."
"Not really. The technomagic involved here would be Juraian in nature, so it wouldn't harm the land. You know how important that is to them."
Tenchi nodded. "Wait a second, what is technomagic anyway?"
Washyuu looked at him as if he were slightly retarded. "Technomagic is the merging of science and technology with nature and magic. The Master Key is a good example of that," she said with a thoughtful look. "If you could bring it into my lab for study...."
"Nice try," he said with a grin, "but I still don't know how I did that."
She shrugged. "Oh well. At least I tried." She grinned again and said, "Just you wait till you see what this will be like! I'll even have satellites going."
Tenchi didn't know whether or not to breathe a sigh of relief. "I heavily doubt this, but if there's anything I can do to help..."
"I know. I know. I'll ask."
Washyuu resumed scanning and Tenchi resumed sweeping. They were blissfully unaware of the fact that this was one of their last moments of peace for a long time.
***
The main reason that so many people assumed that something bad had to be happening was centered on the fact that 2 of the women in this particular household were alien. This was not a new thing. All of the women in that house were alien. But two of them, unfortunately the most apparently powerful, constantly locked horns on trivial matters. They were both lovely. One of these seemingly eternal combatants was a princess of Jurai, and never let others forget it. She had long purple hair, extended down almost to her feet in two braids. Her eyes, red as rubies, were capable of soft affection and intense hatred. Her name was Aeka, and she was having a bad morning. She had slept well enough through the night, but that devil woman had ruined things. As was her specialty, in Aeka's opinion. And of course, Aeka had retaliated. The result of this being that there were a few new craters in the surrounding area. Her purple kimono fluttered slightly in the breeze, but she didn't care – her attentions were focused on the usual subject of her anger.
Ryoko was floating there, arms crossed, and a rather insolent look on her face. She was, herself, very beautiful as well. Clad in a yellow-blue striped robe, her body was the kind that supermodels would quite literally kill for. She had wildly spiky cyan hair, extending down to the middle of her back. Her golden eyes were constantly aflame – this time, it was a combination of derisive amusement and slight anger, which was building. "Admit it, Princess Pain-In-The-Ass. You have no chance with Tenchi!"
Anger surged through the veins of the Juraian Princess. "I think you have it the wrong way, Princess Pirate! Tenchi's been mine since birth!" She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head bemusedly. "You just can't accept fate, can you? Why would he settle for a space pirate? An OLD and UGLY space pirate? Why would he go for you when he could have loyalty, love, and beauty? In short, why would he go for you when he could have me?"
Ryoko had been growing steadily angrier as Aeka went off on her tangent. But this was too much. "OLD? UGLY?!" Electricity started to crackle around her dangerously. "You won't be old when I'm through with you, but you'll certainly be ugly!"
Aeka responded by raising her shield. "Just try it!"
The only thing that stopped a reasonable facsimile of Ragnarok was the emergence of Sasami from the house. She was a 12-year-old princess as well, Aeka's sister, in fact. She had hair the color of the sky, and pink eyes, with freckles dotting her face. She was cheerful, kind, hard working, and very wise when she had to be. Like now. Looking things over she said the 3 words that at least re-established peace. "Breakfast is ready!"
They all walked back in. Mihoshi and Kiyone, resident stranded Galaxy Police Detectives First-Class, were sitting at the table. Mihoshi, a ditzy blond Kizakan with tan skin and pale blue eyes was loading her plate, dressed in a pink sweater and tan pants. Kiyone, a teal eyed, highly competent beauty sat there, being politely quiet, in a white sweatshirt and blue jeans, an orange headband holding her green hair in place.
"Mihoshi!" Sasami cried out. "You were supposed to wait for everyone else!"
Mihoshi looked up and sweatdropped. "Sooorrrrrry... I didn't mean to...." Kiyone whacked her on the back of the head, but remained pretty quiet for the most part.
"Who cares?," asked Ryoko, sitting down. "We got food, we got time, what else do we need?" Then she snapped her fingers. "Of course! We need Tenchi!"
"Need me for what?"
Ryoko turned and saw Tenchi walking in. Sasami smiled at him and said,
"Breakfast is served!"
Mihoshi, finally digging into her food, observed, "I don't see Washyuu anywhere."
Tenchi replied, "Don't worry about her. She's taking readings for a new sensory grid and said not to expect her back for a while."
"Oh really?" said Aeka.
"Yep. So far, she's gotten the best readings from HERE. "
"How much big is this thing going to get?" asked Ryoko.
Tenchi looked at her. "Don't ask that to her."
"Why not?" Mihoshi wanted to know.
"You'll find out," Tenchi said, simply. He chose that moment to smile mysteriously and clamp up.
Kiyone, silent, simply ate her breakfast, trying to remain un-noticed.
***
This place brings back the memories..., thought Kyrin. He was walking through a forest, the light shining through the branches. It had been one week since Furinkan, and he could sense it: he was close. As he was walking, he came upon a small clearing. There was a lake, disrupted only by a small island. A path led to it, and on this island was an exceptionally large tree. Prayer strips hung from a rope strung along the trunk.
Kyrin was about to dismiss it as a batch of superstitious regional nonsense, when something stopped him. There was something familiar about this particular tree. He walked out to it, and stopped. He felt a strange energy pattern surrounding it. Pausing to look, he saw that there was an abundance of life around the tree, almost more so on this one island then the surrounding banks. It was like the tree, having so much life, had decided to share it out.
"Do you remember me?" he asked in a quiet voice.
In response, streams of light emerged from the ground. They connected with the tree and flashed in various patterns.
Funaho. He smiled slightly. He reached a hand out to touch it. Just as his hand touched the bark, however, a strange force emanated from it. It erupted outwards, tossing Kyrin back outwards towards the lake. He flew a couple feet, then came to a stop, floating in mid air. He smirked mirthlessly.
"I can see you remember me."
The lights surrounding Funaho went into a sequence.
"Guess they aren't good memories."
The lights flashed, as if in agreement.
"In spite of this, I need some assistance."
A pause, then a new pattern.
"Still sore over my lack of aid to Yosho, eh?"
Again, the flash of agreement.
"I wanted nothing to do with her. Seeing as I was being hunted by the Jurai military regardless, I figured the sap would turn me in."
This time the lights formed a vigorous pattern, as if angry. A burst of that same invisible force rushed out to meet him. Kyrin held up his hand and the wave dissipated when it met him.
He floated there, considering for a moment, then he shrugged. "I can see you won't tell me."
The lights flashed again. Still angry, and still as unwilling to tell.
"Well then. You are still of use to me."
The lights began to focus and un-focus, in a slow cautious way.
"How, you ask? You'll know soon enough." As he said this, a small jewel appeared on the back of his right hand. A similar jewel appeared on the back of his left hand. They were emerald in color, and glowed as if with an inner fire.
He paused, looking at them in reflection. Green. Green.... The same green as in her eyes.... He shook his head.
He returned his thoughts to the present, starting to float towards the old computer core. "I would ask that you forgive me for what I do now," he said quietly.
The glow of the gems became a soft one. He gestured, and green light seemed to shine wherever he pointed. Funaho started to regenerate. Any lost leaves were grown back, and new life seemed to emerge everywhere.
The lines of light, now stronger and more vibrant, seemed to question, "Why?"
He didn't answer, however the gem light seemed to become harsh. He held both of his hands before him. Light erupted from his hands and seemed to form into a straight bar. It rammed the tree and sent a jolt through it.
The tree shuddered. Kyrin sent some healing force in. At once, the damage was reversed. The lights were chaos now, complete confusion.
He frowned. Hmm... more pain, less actual damage. How do I accomplish this? His eyes strayed upwards toward the leaves. A look of understanding came to him. He floated upward to the leaves and felt one of the limbs. Then, with his other hand, he grabbed a leaf. With a swift movement, he ripped it free. eh could feel the tree tremble. A look of disgust came to his face. He was about to do something that he should've never had to do.
He raised his hands and accessed the power that was part of him. The wind whipped fiercely around him as he did this, as if in some vain hope of attempting to stop him. To no avail. The wave of power he sent swept over the tree. Leaves were ripped from it, and flew into the air. The tree quaked violently, lights streaming every which way. Then, when he felt he had enough attention, he did one last thing. He formed a whirlwind of sorts, drawing the free leaves inward. Eventually, it was a column of green. Then, he exploded it outward. And a rain of green fell around him.
***
Washyuu was rather pleased with herself. She had gotten a sensory grid up in the space of a week.
Space. Ha! I crack myself up soooo often, she thought with a grin. She sat down on the floating cushion that materialized from nowhere, and frowned for a second. All of a sudden, a holographic console materialized from the same nowhere. She smiled happily. Yet another success.
She sat back and started typing keys. For a half an hour, things were relatively calm. As she typed some equations into the memory banks, an alert sounded. She frowned, and pulled up a screen regarding the alert.
WARNING, it read, DANGEROUS ENERGY LEVEL DETECTED IN QUAD 3, SECTOR 8.
Hmmmm. Interesting. That's where Yosho's ship computer is located. She tapped a few commands in, and two new screens opened. The first was a visual of the area, the second was a chart showing energy readings for the area. As she watched, a tornado sprang as if from nowhere. At the same time, the energy level spiked. Her frown deepened, and she entered a new command a scan was searching to see if the source could be located. But all of a sudden, the tornado dissipated into a rain of leaves. The spike in the readings declined, then returned to normal. Washyuu sat back and thought. This doesn't look good. There doesn't appear to be much damage, but energy appearing in such high amounts is irregular for that region. She got up. "Well, then," she said, "I had best warn the others." She walked to the door and stepped out.
Tenchi was checking over his history report, looking for errors. Aeka and Mihoshi were involved in an Earthian board game called Abalone. Mihoshi was actually winning, through her insanely high amount of luck, in spite of brilliant tactical decisions from Aeka. Sasami was reading romance manga and blushing at some of the content she was seeing.
Washyuu looked around. Where's Ryoko?
She looked up. There, sleeping in the rafters, was Ryoko, with a bottle of sake clenched in her hands. Oh great, thought Washyuu. She's been plastered. Cautiously, she opened up the link between them. Ryoko was, in fact, sober. Washyuu breathed a sigh of relief, then whistled shrilly.
Everyone looked up from what they were doing. Ryoko was so surprised that she hopped up, forgot how to fly for a second, and fell to the ground. "What the hell was that for?!" she spluttered.
Washyuu looked at Ryoko bemusedly for a split second, then turned back to the group. "We have a problem, folks!"
Before she could continue, the door to the house slammed open. Standing there, laboring for each breath, was Katsuhito. The usual calmness that was there was non-existent. He looked haggard, as if he had just experienced Hell itself. "You're right," he said, gasping. "We do have a problem." With that, he groaned and collapsed.
***
Kyrin grimaced disgustedly. What am I doing?
The tree was almost exactly as it was before he arrived. Almost. While it hadn't been completely stripped of leaves, the limbs were indeed lighter. Leaves littered the lake, the island, and the surrounding ground. The lights from the tree had long ago disappeared, and it appeared more dead then alive.
"You've served your purpose. While it might be interesting to burn you and see what happens, I won't." With that said, he floated to the ground and proceeded to run. He jumped into the surrounding shrubbery and crouched. All that's left to do is wait until someone comes to investigate. She'll probably be interested in such activity in a dull region like this. With this, he sat back and closed his eyes.
***
By this time, Katsuhito had managed to recover. He regarded everyone with a serious gaze. "I was meditating under a waterfall, when I felt something. It was a psychic scream. From my ship..."
"Wait a second, brother," said Aeka. "Wouldn't I have felt it as well? And what about Tenchi?," she added looking at the both of them worriedly.
"You didn't feel it because the ship is attuned to me specifically," Katsuhito said. He looked at Tenchi and said, "Same for Tenchi. He might be able to tune into its signals because he's one of my offspring, but he wasn't affected because he isn't far enough in his training to be able to feel things like that. Not enough potential unleashed yet."
Washyuu interrupted this by saying, "This correlates with an energy spike I detected earlier." And she proceeded to fill them in.
"What are we waiting for?," shouted Sasami when Washyuu was done. "What if it's hurt? It could be dying right now, for all we know!"
"It isn't," said Katsuhito. "It's more pain then anything else."
"That's awful! We have to go now!"
"I agree," said Aeka. Mihoshi nodded in agreement.
"Its a violation of the Psi-Tree protection laws, implemented by Jurai," said Kiyone. "I'm there."
"We might as well check it out," said Tenchi.
"What about you, Ryoko?," asked Washyuu.
She got a snore in response.
"RYOKO NO BAKA!! WAKE UP!"
Ryoko's eyes snapped open, and she yawned. "Uh, where were we again?"
The resulting face fault set off Richter scales everywhere.
***
Kyrin, in the meanwhile, had fallen asleep. And he dreamed...
Kyrin thought he had known pain. He was wrong. He would've thought this over, but circumstances did not allow. The source was a burn on his chest that had been inflicted through an electrical blast. He looked at his opponent, and tried to estimate the flow of battle.
She floated there, sword in hand. A shock of cyan hair, yellow eyes, and a killer figure, wrapped in a pink and green cling-robe, showing just the right amount of leg. Ryoko, the creation of genius scientist Washyuu.
He floated there as well, with a green blade in his hands. He was of powerful build, with gray hair and a ponytail. He looked at Ryoko and laughed. Kagato, the star student of Washyuu.
And of course, there was Kyrin. Holding a glowing katana before him, dressed in Juraian battle-garb, the battle stripes on his face. Trying to defend Washyuu against them. Ryoko flew at him again. She launched into a stab attack, with less then satisfactory results.
Kagato looked at Kyrin, intrigued. "Impressive, boy. You've dodged nearly every blow. Most Juraian warriors would be dead by now."
Kyrin grinned. "Joke's on you. I'm not a Juraian."
Kagato raised an eyebrow. "Not a Juraian. Not a Kizakan. Not a Thurnian, or any of the other races. What are you?"
"No reason to tell you. But let's just say that I'm more then even you could ever handle," Kyrin said, gesturing down at her. "And believe me, cur, I've got more battle experience then even you. That Ryoko's even struck any blow on me at all is a miracle."
"I feel inclined to warn you that she's not even using a tenth of her power. She could kill you in an instant," Kagato said, grinning triumphantly. And he raised a gauntleted hand. "And I'm tired of watching this fight." Suddenly, the glove glowed red. So did Ryoko's eyes.
Ryoko flew in, slashing at the burn. Kyrin blocked all but one blow, and this landed directly on the burn. He fell backwards and downwards, descending towards the ground. The crater of his landing tossed up a great deal of dust and debris. He looked up and saw Washyuu standing over him. For once, she seemed unsure of what to do. He looked up at her, his hatred for her mixing with a strange concern that he couldn't explain. "Run...," he said. "Fool. Please. Run...." And with that, he raised himself, beating down the pain that threatened to overwhelm him.
Kagato had no such notion of fairness, however. He floated in and slashed. Kyrin, in no position to do much of anything, felt the blade cut through his flesh. He bit back the scream that tried to escape, and felt the blade penetrate again and again. Eventually, he fell over, everything in a red haze....
And with that, he awoke. He shook his head and tried to clear away the cobwebs that come with sleep. And that's when he realized something. Voices were approaching.
***
The scene that greeted Ryoko's eyes when she phased in was not kind. Leaves, everywhere. "Never thought I'd get sick of the color green," she muttered to herself. And the tree itself, covered in cracks; it appeared more dead then alive. And, on top of this, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched. Which she was.
Kyrin, now fully awake, looked at her. And he was startled. Strange. It would appear that she is, for once, NOT trying to destroy everything in sight. He looked elsewhere. And where the creation is... As if on cue, Washyuu walked in and surveyed the scene. ... the creator shall follow, his thought finished. He was about to stand up and make a move when more people appeared. What in the name of--? Startled, he stared at the growing group of people. Not pausing to get a good look at faces, he made a split-second decision. "Too many of them. I don't like the auras that some of these people are exhibiting. One or two I could handle quickly and quietly. That would be best, but given that all the stooges are here...." He stepped back into the shadows, and smiled grimly. "I'll kill you all later." He hopped into the trees, and ran away. As it was, he didn't see Tenchi appear with the others.
Tenchi walked in on the scene and uttered a curse. He had seen Kagato commit great cruelties before. And while this would have seemed rather dull if it was a normal case, this wasn't a normal case. That was, if normal existed properly anymore. He looked around, stunned. He asked, "Who could have done something like this?"
Katsuhito walked up, with his imperceptible calm back in place. "Someone wanting attention. Someone with a lot of power. Someone who knew what he was doing."
"It could have been a she, you know," chimed Washyuu's voice. "Of course, why it matters is unknown to me. I was just presenting a viable possibility."
Aeka said, "Much as we appreciate that, it doesn't help. We need to know who our enemies are." She sighed. "So much chaos. A new threat, and a new visitor in the same day..."
Tenchi looked at her. "What do you mean?"
"Remember?" said Aeka, "You volunteered for the exchange program before a CERTAIN SOMEONE showed up in your life." At this, she regarded Ryoko icily. Ryoko simply gave her a look that said, "Who, me?"
Tenchi, meanwhile, slapped his head. "Oh my God! I've been bugging everyone to act normal all week, and then I have to go and forget!" he shouted. "Am I going senile already?" he said, a panicked edge coming to his voice, "I'm too young!"
"There, there," said Sasami. She patted his back and said, "Don't worry. Things just became more interesting, that's all."
"Yes. And, you've had a BAD INFLUENCE present for a while, so it's not your fault," Aeka said comfortingly.
Ryoko looked at her bemusedly and said, "I don't know why you're shouting stuff, you mental case. I mean," here, she gained a grin, "there's no need for you to shout about yourself that way."
Aeka stood there for a moment. Then, "You flat, depreciative little--"
Mihoshi stepped in all of a sudden. She had somehow gotten her hands on a hippy t-shirt with a peace sign on it. She stepped between them and said, "No need for violence! Peace! Peace!!" She waved the peace sign in the faces of Ryoko and Aeka, and the usual chaos ensued.
Kiyone sighed. "I wish they'd all grow up a little, eh Tenchi?" Hearing no response, she looked and saw no Tenchi. For he had decided to take advantage of the moment to leave. He ran off towards the bus station, hoping against the odds.
***
A student was standing near a bus. He wore a backpack, glasses, and non-descript clothing. Cool, intelligent deep blue eyes looked through the crowd. They lit when they rested upon Tenchi.
Tenchi, not yet noticing the student, was busily searching through the crowd. He had a few embarrassing moments, asking the wrong people if they were the one he was looking for.
The student looked on, amused at the reactions of some. When it looked as if Tenchi had given up all hope, the student shouted. "Hey! Tenchi! I'm right here!"
Tenchi looked up, and sighed in relief. He ran up and smiled. "Hello there! I'm Tenchi Masaki." He reached his hand out, and the student grasped it firmly. They shook hands, when Tenchi said, "Uh, I didn't quite catch your name."
"My name?," the student said. "My name is... Scott Gareth."
"Okay then, Scott. Need any help with that?," asked Tenchi, noticing the backpack.
"That's alright. I travel lightly," Scott replied.
"Well, then. I'll just flag down the bus and we can head out to my place."
Scott nodded, and soon they were on a bus heading towards the Masaki shrine.
Tenchi noticed that Scott was a quiet one. He just seemed to stare out the window of the bus, watching the scenery. "So... uh, what are things like in the United States?"
"Los Angeles is pretty nice. Lots of different people, lots of different ways of doing things," Scott said with a smile. "If you needed to do an anthropology report, LA would be the best place to write it."
Tenchi laughed at that. "What made you decide to choose Japan?"
Scott thought for a moment, then said, "I was interested in the intense martial arts study that goes on here. I figured it might be interesting to attempt such a thing here. Besides," he added with a grin, "maybe I'll get to see gigantic rubber-suited monsters rampage through Tokyo!" They both laughed at that one.
***
Ryoko was napping in a tree. She had tried to wait for Tenchi, but she had dozed off somewhere along the way. In order to complete the illusion that she was normal, she had had her earring tweaked a little bit to use what Washyuu dubbed as "Illusion Caster". Her hair was now an off-white color, while her eyes had been changed to a calm hazel. And since she was asleep, she had no way of preparing herself for what happened next.
Scott had been trying to ask Tenchi about his home life. While Tenchi did answer, he seemed a bit nervous at the mention of home. As they rounded a corner, Scott noticed a pretty girl sleeping in a tree. "Hey, Tenchi," said Scott, "is that a friend of yours?"
Tenchi looked ahead and saw Ryoko. "Uh, that's Ryoko. She's one of my cousins from out of town. She likes to sleep around here and make general chaos."
Scott said, "Ah. I see. How do you suppose we go about getting her down?"
Tenchi sweatdropped. "Uh, why would you want to do that?"
"I want to meet her! So, how should we get her down?"
"Uh, usually we just let her sleep."
"Well, this isn't exactly usual, is it? Don't worry, I have an idea." With that, Scott was gone. A moment later, he was back with a stick that was more of a pole then anything. He grinned mischievously, then walked up to the tree Ryoko was sleeping in. Then, he took the stick and started to whack the tree hard enough to shake it. All the while, he was shouting stuff like, "RYOKO! THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!"
"WAAAAAAHHH!!!" shouted Ryoko, and she snapped awake. She stood up and gripped the tree, looking around to see what would happen. She didn't see anything, but she heard laughter. She looked down. Scott was leaning against the tree, laughing like there was no tomorrow. Tenchi was alternating between laughter and shooting nervous glances at Ryoko.
"I take it that this is the new exchange student?" she asked with a deceptive calm in her voice.
"You bet!" Scott called up.
Ryoko hopped down without, Tenchi noticed, making it too apparent that she wasn't human. Her hand shot out and grabbed Scott by the neck. "Think it's funny, eh?" she sneered. "Let's see what happens when we whack you against the tree in place of a pole, huh? What do you say to that?" She was about to make good on her promise when two things stopped her. One was Tenchi's hand on her shoulder.
"Ryoko," he said softly, "Don't."
"But--!" she protested, looking at him. She looked back at Scott, trying to decide on what to do. When she looked in his eyes, though, she stopped at the look in them. For just a second, the mischief was gone. Instead, there was sadness. And anger. And disgust as well. It was the look of one who craved death, yet feared it. She knew it well; it had been the one she'd worn for 1,300 years. But, the look passed quickly and Scott was smiling disarmingly.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean anything."
She frowned, but finally released him. "Just don't do it again, or you won't be so lucky," she said. Hmmmm, she thought, giving him the once-over. He doesn't look half bad. All of a sudden, she caught herself. What am I doing? She shook her head and got started walking back to the house.
So absorbed was she in her thoughts, that she didn't notice Scott looking at her. Say, he thought, She's a pretty one, she is. He smiled to himself sadly. Too bad that girls really don't like me. Besides, his smile was wiped from his face, what makes me think that I have a chance with her anyway?
Tenchi saw him glum up and grinned. "What's the matter?," he asked.
Scott smiled again. "Just a little thought," he replied. "You know... running myself through facts. Get what I'm saying?"
"Yup," said Tenchi. More then you think.
***
Washyuu sat there, slightly sullen. Sad though it was, they had to make it so that everything looked normal. Which means, she said with a shudder, no more time in the lab! The horror of it all was too much to bear.
And that she had to remain disguised like this! She was wearing a bracelet with the same Illusion Caster technomagic that everyone else's had. She was still a redhead, keeping her eyes the same because they were normal enough on this planet.
Sasami was sitting there, practically bubbling with excitement. A pendant around her neck changed her eyes to a sky blue, and her hair to black.
Ryo-oh-ki was sitting on Sasami's lap in Cabbit form. The jewel in her forehead, however, had been charged with IC, which made her look like a normal black and white tabby.
Mihoshi showed excitement too, but she was venting it in a different way. She had to make sure that all her various gadgets had their safeties activated. No telling how much hell they'd be in for if they went off. So, she was running everywhere trying to secure everything and basically creating chaos everywhere she was. Because she, for the most part, appeared to be an attractive human woman, Washyuu saw no need to give her IC.
Kiyone was another story. She was running all over the place, trying to undo the chaos Mihoshi invariably caused. Her adjustments had been simple enough; tweak her hair band and she became a brunette.
Aeka was running around, trying to make sure all was in order. After all, a good first impression is important. Her key had been affected to look like a tiara sort of headpiece, changing Aeka's hair black, and her eyes to a deep blue.
Mihoshi had just set the last safety, Aeka had just eliminated the last catastrophe, and aside from a slight imprint on the wall where the Sub-space lab should be, everything was in good shape. Just then, Tenchi, Scott, and Ryoko walked in.
"So," asked Washyuu, "who's your friend, Tenchi?"
"I'd like you all to meet," Tenchi said with gesture at Scott, "Scott Gareth, our foreign exchange student!"
Scott considered mock bowing, but decided against it. So he gave the simple greeting all young Americans gave each other. "Wazzzaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!"
Everyone laughed. "Let me introduce everyone," said Sasami, trying to be the friendly one like always. Introductions were made all around, and everyone grinned. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all!
***
Scott sat on his futon in the room that Tenchi and his family had set up for him. Such a nice family, he thought to himself. I hope they decide not to get involved. All of a sudden, an insistent beeping from his backpack. Scott got up and closed the door to his room. Then, walking to his backpack, he opened it up and took out a strange looking device. It was like a small box, of fine dark wood. In silver, there was a set of multi-colored gems inlaid. Scott tapped the gems in a sequence, and the box opened up. Inside was a holographic projection unit, along with a small set of switches, buttons, and knobs. The unit was flashing, and when Scott pressed a few buttons and adjusted one of the knobs, a picture came into focus. It was a man, dressed in robes of crimson and wearing a helmet of turquoise, a slit visor obscuring his features. Nothing could be seen of his face but from his bearing and poise, it was someone of great wealth and power.
"Greetings, Arkhan," said Scott coldly. "What can this humble bounty hunter do for his employer?"
"Cut the crap," said Arkhan. "You have as much contempt for me as I do for you. What is the status of your mission?"
"Well," Scott replied, sitting back, "I've spotted Ryoko easily enough. Washyuu's free now as well, so taking her out will be more difficult. However, there is a possible problem."
"A problem? Is this an admittance to lack of competency? Is the 'High service requires high price,' freaky-eyed master of a thousand things and so on saying he has a problem?" came Arkhan's voice, full of malice and spite.
"Wait until you hear. Not only are they allied with the Galaxy Police, they are under the protection of Yosho as well."
"Why would Yosho protect them? Forget that, what even makes you say he's here?! He wouldn't even let Ryoko go free and then there's the matter that he can't leave Earth, and Kagato has... had... no interest in that back water planet you're on."
"In which case, anyone who breathes could figure out that Yosho has had a change of heart. You're the only exception to that statement, of course."
"Clever. Explain how you can be so clever to assume that he's on that planet, and is indeed alive."
"His ship tree is here. If it is here, then he is here as well. You know how attached to their trees the Juraian are.
Arkhan appeared to be considering this. "Don't strain yourself," Scott said with a grin.
"Yes, well... remain cautious."
"I intend to."
"I also have a new target for you."
Scott's eyebrows rose in interest. "Oh really?"
"Yes." With that, Arkhan gestured. A separate screen opened up to the left of the image. "We finally managed to get some footage from the remains of the Soja. Watch it closely." Scott watched as Kagato toyed with Ryoko and the Princess Aeka, then was defeated by a youth who performed the impossible: creating Light Hawk Wings without any apparent power sources save for himself. "Any being capable of this," said Arkhan when the footage was over, "is too dangerous to be left alive. He could be a great threat if his full power is realized. I want you to destroy him as soon as possible."
Scott sat through this and finally responded. "Do you know that this is going to cost you a great deal?"
"You've taken nearly all the money I have! What more could you possibly ask for?!"
"Well," said Scott thoughtfully, "you have powerful weapons and equipment that I could use. If I perform this service for you, you grant me free and unlimited access to all of your inventory."
There was a visible war going on inside Arkhan's brain. "Very well," he said, wearily. "Take it."
"You're too kind," said Scott, grinning from ear to ear.
"I swear though, Kyrin, one day..."
"Empty threat, and you know it. So just stop clogging up the communications lines and leave me to my business," said Scott. Arkhan nodded and the transmission faded out. Scott replayed the footage of the battle, and let his eyes become as they truly were. And Kyrin smirked slightly as the youth killed Kagato. "You have my thanks," he said. "That's one less person for my blade to seek. Too bad now that it must seek you." He then closed the box and laid back on his futon. And once again, he visited.
Hello, Kyrin.
Kyrin moaned. Not you again. Can't you leave me alone?
No, I cannot. You know this to be true, don't deny it.
Truth though it may be, I don't see why you had to become part of me.
So ungrateful of you, brother. Aren't you aware that I'm the cause of your success?
Bull. I could have gotten farther if it weren't for you.
And yet, a great deal of the power that is part of you was part of me once.
Please, don't remind me. Kyrin lay back and sighed. Why aren't you rambling on and on about 'Kill the Juraians! Kill the Juraians!'?
Because soon, very soon, I will have the opportunity to taste Jurai blood again...
Kyrin nearly sat bolt upright. You mean--?! But there was no response. Damn you Talus, answer me! But still, nothing. Yeah, thanks. I appreciate the lack of help.
You're welcome. With that, his voice disappeared.
Okay, thought Scott, let's go over the facts. He mentally ticked them off as he went over them in his mind. First, Ryoko is on the loose. Second, Washyuu is here as well as Yosho. Third, a Juraian... a JURAIAN of all things... is capable of creating Light Hawk Wings with only himself has the power source. Which means that Talus is going to attempt to gain control sooner or later so he can kill Aeka and the boy. He then paused for a second. Hmmmm... it is rather strange that everyone here for the most part shares a name with a target or some other galactically known person. And yet, they look reasonably human, although Mihoshi does look suspiciously like a Kizakan. Oh well, not enough evidence to suspect that they are not human. Ignore them, and seek the target. With that said, he finally drifted off to sleep.
***
Over the course of a month, it became clear that Scott could fit in anywhere. He became a pillar of sorts, and he didn't seem to mind it at all. For one thing, he could cook. He didn't know how to cook much, but he learned quickly enough. He even taught Sasami a few things, which is really hard to do all things considered. Mihoshi quickly took a liking to him as well. She did indeed continue to make mistakes, and she once or twice almost slipped up and revealed the fact that most of the 'family' was not human, but if Scott noticed, he didn't show it. In fact, he helped her with the little accidents she caused when her luck wasn't in play. Washyuu was not overly impressed with him, although he had a surprisingly good grip on science. The only reason she wasn't impressed was that they could only discuss Earthian science. Washyuu grudgingly gave him her respect, regretting only that they could discuss Earth sciences. Aeka discovered that he was a good poet, with many interesting ideas. Even Ryoko had to admit that he was kinda nice to have around. He often joined her on the roof at night, although he never had anything to drink that was alcoholic. He pointed out the various stars and told stories that were so vivid that she was sometimes convinced that they had happened.
And yet, something disturbed her whenever she was around him. She couldn't quite figure it out, but she had a warm feeling whenever she was around him. The same kind of feeling she got when she was around Tenchi. How could they have so much in common with each other? The same shyness, the same gentleness, the same one-in-a-million quality that attracted her to Tenchi in the first place? She couldn't help but wonder why.
However, Kyrin was more disturbed then she was. He hadn't felt anything but cold for a long time. Now, though, he felt something different. A small but growing warmth was present whenever he was around the others. But when he was with Ryoko, the warm feeling was intensified and it kept flooding him more and more. He didn't tell anyone about this, because he knew that he wasn't meant to feel for anyone or anything. Right? Right. And then there was Talus. He just wouldn't shut up! Not only was he ranting again, he had picked up his efforts to gain control. Talus apparently wanted a physical form again. Luckily this didn't happen when he was in front of the others; Talus cared very little what Kyrin tried to do to appear human, but he recognized that the power of Jurai would appear when it needed to, and saw no reason to show his presence to inferiors aside from the Juraians themselves.
Tenchi, in the meanwhile, enjoyed Scott's presence in the house. Sure Aeka and Ryoko fought, but nowhere near the level they had before. He was thinking about this during the practice bout with his grandfather, Yosho. And promptly paid for it with a harsh strike on his hand. He barely kept his grip on the bokken in his hand and tried a strike towards Yosho's hand, which turned out to be unsuccessful. Tenchi slashed towards Yosho, but he spun and dropped to the ground, kicking Tenchi's feet out from under him. Then he nearly flew from the ground, bringing his bokken in a sweeping motion towards Tenchi's neck. He stopped, just a hair's width from landing a blow that would have been deadly.
"Give?" he asked.
"Give," he said, and accepted Yosho's extended hand up.
Yosho shook his head quietly and said, "Tenchi, you still leave yourself too vulnerable after a strike." He took up a fighting position. "Slash at me again like you did." Tenchi proceeded to do so, with Yosho sidestepping and whapping him lightly on the back. "See what I mean?"
"Yes sir, but I don't see how you can recover so quickly from that," Tenchi said.
"Simple," Yosho said. "You can't. You're over exerting yourself, and placing too much momentum into striking the target. Try thinking more about surviving, and less about killing."
Scott walked up the steps leading to the shrine and caught Yosho's last words. "He's got a point, you know. Half of a battle is living to tell about it."
"Okay, okay! I get the picture," Tenchi said, running a hand through his hair. "Why are you here, Scott?"
"I came to tell you that Washyuu wants to speak with you," Scott said. "Though, why she chooses not to come here in person is lost to me."
"Right then, I should go see her," Tenchi said to Yosho. He bowed, turned away and left.
Scott was about to turn and follow when he heard Yosho shout, "Wait a second, Scott!" He turned around and regarded the old man.
"Tenchi tells me that you are interested in the martial arts studies that go on here. Is this correct?" asked Yosho.
Scott replied, "Uh, yes sir. Why do you ask?"
Yosho tossed a bokken at Scott, who caught it easily. "You have good reflexes, speed, and you seem to be reasonably well built. I want to see how much potential you could have." He took a fighting stance, and Scott took the same stance. They stared at each other for a tense moment, trying to force each other into making the first move. Finally, Scott jumped, lashing out at Yosho. Yosho sidestepped and tried to strike at Scott's back, only to find a bokken there in a block. The blades remained locked against each other until Scott instantly slackened his so that it gave in to the pressure exerted from Yosho. He flipped as the blade swung by, leaving Yosho open to attack. Scott pressed this advantage, stabbing at Yosho's arms and hands in an attempt to disarm him. Yosho moved his arms either slightly above or slightly below and he brought his bokken back around to deflect a stab at his head. Scott continued to stab, and Yosho was practically a wall of streaking wood. He would just barely nudge a stab one way so that it barely missed him, or jerk one of his limbs this way or that to suggest that he was going to strike back. This had the hoped for effect of confusing Scott so much that he didn't notice as they slowly switched roles; Yosho being the aggressor, Scott being the defender. When he did realize this, he snarled inwardly.
Not bad, old man. Now, let's see what he does when I stop playing with him. All of a sudden, Scott's blocks picked up speed and strength. They also began to take on strange new patterns. Yosho's strikes began to take new forms as well, and soon the mere practice bout had evolved to a difficult test of skill. Finally, they broke off, panting.
"Impressive, young one," said Yosho.
"Thank you, sir," said Scott.
"Oh, I didn't mean the sword techniques. I mean that you've been able to hide the fact that you're not human." There was a long pause at this until, finally, Scott spoke.
"You hid it well yourself, Katsuhito."
"So..." started Yosho, "why are you here?"
"I'm afraid, 'sir', that it's none of your business." Scott sat down and thought for a moment. All of a sudden, a look of realization came upon his face. Slowly, carefully, he reached for Yosho's glasses. Carefully, he removed them. And watched as the image of an old man shimmered, then disintegrated. Sitting there instead of Katsuhito, it was Yosho. All of a sudden, he smiled to himself. So, he thought, you've been hiding right under my nose. He got to his feet and hopped to the trees. "Thanks! I'll try not to kill you!"
Katsuhito replaced his glasses, then watched as he disappeared. "The only thing you'll be trying to do," he said, "is living through the encounter. You've bitten off more then you can chew, and this time it will choke you. Be afraid, Kyrin. Be very afraid."
***
::the author is back, this time standing on a sky scraper::
Knight: Well, it might not be the best story out there. But it's not the worst, and it's my first.
Tenchi Muyo! And all associated paraphernalia are copyrighted to Pioneer Animation.
Ranma ½ and all associated paraphernalia are copyrighted to Takahashi Rumiko.
If any reader recognizes an idea in this story as his/her own, all credit goes to you.
You may contact me at: [email protected].