1Disclaimer – If you recognize a character from any of the Tenchi TV shows or manga, they are not mine. Everyone else is. No money is being made for anyone with this fic, so please don't sue. (I got nothing anyway.)

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"Points of Conspiracy"

Chapter One

Quiet Beginnings

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"C'mon Tenchi," Ryoko purred, her breath coming in short, excited, gasps as she wiggled in her beloved prince's arms "how hard can it be to take off one flimsy piece of cloth."

"Well it'd be a lot easier if you'd just hold still," Tenchi mock-growled, trying very hard not to laugh out loud at the cyan-hired girls antics. "Unless you want to take it off yourself that is."

"Hey," she countered playfully, "I'm not the genius who put the clasp in back where I can barely reach it, much less undo it." That said, the ex-pirate did what he asked and calmed down a little, though she took the opportunity to press herself up against him tightly, causing the young prince to turn an impressive shade of red.

"There we go." Tenchi exclaimed with a satisfied grunt as the delicate-looking piece of cloth finally came loose. Ryoko responded immediately by kissing the boy passionately, her feet literally coming off the ground as their lips pressed together…

"RYOKO!" Ayeka shouted from where she and the other girls were watching on the back porch, unable to contain herself any longer. "It is bad enough that you insisted that lord Tenchi be the one to take that power inhibitor off of you without you sexually assaulting him in the process!"

"Oh please Princess," Ryoko shot back, her golden eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter, "you're just pissed that you didn't get to kiss him. Besides," the cyan haired girl added as she floated upwards, "I'm in to damned good a mood to fight with yah right now, see yah." With that she blew Tenchi a kiss and took off into the sky above the lake with a happy whoop.

"I cannot believe that woman sometimes." Ayeka huffed as she watched the other girl disappear from sight behind the trees. "I do hope that she did not embarrass you unduly with her shameless behavior Lord Tenchi."

"I'm getting used to it I think," Tenchi answered with a laugh, his cheeks still red from the kiss, "and thanks for your patience with her today Ayeka."

"Well I suppose it could not be helped… though I rather wish she had not insisted that it be you to take off that device." Ayeka allowed with a sigh. "It has been more than two months since she last flew after all… and even I can tell that she has missed it."

"Why did you want to wait so long before you let her take off that inhibitor Washu-chan?" Kiyone asked as the group turned back towards the house. "She's looked like her old self for weeks now… well, other than her hair being only about half its old length that is."

"Just being cautious really," Washu shrugged, "she's never taken that much damage before, and I wanted to be sure that there were no anomalies before I let her put any more strain on her body than absolutely necessary."

"So that last threat of hers to wreck your lab as soon as she got her powers back had absolutely nothing to do with it then?", Kiyone asked, doing an admirable job of keeping a straight face.

"Of course not." Washu huffed, "the girl couldn't wreck my lab even if she tried."

"Well, if nothing else it has made the past few weeks somewhat more peaceful than normal." Ayeka remarked, her smile taking any sting out of the comment.

"Speaking of peace and quiet…" Washu began, shooting Ayeka a mischievous grin, "I haven't heard from Keith for quite a while, what's going on with him."

"Why are you asking me?" Ayeka replied, somewhat more harshly than she had intended, "I

have not talked to the boy in weeks."

"But Ayeka," Mihoshi interjected, turning her attention briefly from the conversation she had been having with Sasami, "didn't you call him yesterday? And the day before that, and the day before that, and the…"

"I said I have not talked to him in weeks." Ayeka ground out, interrupting the taller girl before she could continue. "I imagine he has simply been rather busy getting his life in order." That said, she strode ahead of the group and into the house muttering something about clueless blondes under her breath.

"Did I say something wrong?" Mihoshi asked meekly.

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Krit'lat had done this run a hundred times… and he had never felt even remotely as nervous about it as he did this time. Of course every other time he'd done this run he had been firmly on the legal side of things… not counting the occasional poached domestic bovine of course. Running one long-fingered hand over his smooth gray scalp he took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself.

He was a simple xenobiologist operating under a special grant from the Jurian Royal Science Academy and with the added cooperation of the major planetary governments of Earth itself. His people had been flitting in and out of the system for nearly a 100 of the local years at this point… there was absolutely nothing for him to be nervous about.

"Who do I think I am fooling?" He muttered to himself, his lipless slit of a mouth barely moving. He didn't dare talk any louder, least his high-paying… but highly illegal… passenger overhear.

Then he was at the checkpoint, his ships computer sending out all of the normal codes and documents automatically. He held his breath as the GP ship off his port-side conducted a brief sensor sweep of his own ship, his hearts so tight in chest he thought they were going to explode.

A single light on his control board blinked green, and he let out the breath he had been holding, his huge black eyes closing in relief. They were past… his passenger's shielding had worked. Stretching out one thin arm he pressed a single button, and his ship boosted forward, following a carefully plotted flight path towards the system's fourth planet, its stealth systems active.

The rest of the job would be simple… though he didn't envy whoever it was on the planet that had attracted his passenger's attention.

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The single most annoying thing, at least in his opinion, about being a werewolf was the fact that every time he changed he ended up growing and subsequently shedding, about a pound and a half of fur. Of course, the fact that he occasionally woke up in odd places with no idea how he got there was a close second. Combine the two and… well let's just leave it at he'd had better mornings.

Beep

At least he hadn't lost his watch.

Beep

Why had he set that alarm again?

Beep

That's right, he needed to pick up Erin from school this afternoon.

Beep

Wait… this afternoon?

Beep

How the hell had he slept that late… never mind… stupid question.

Beep

Fuck.

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"You're late." Erin drawled, barely bothering to look up from the rather thick book she was reading, as he rushed into the school. The holo-disguise that Washu had given her didn't change her appearance much, merely hiding her almost invisible fur, overlong ears, and tail. Her silver eyes were unaltered, and contrasted well with her dark hair and the tan complexion that the disguise gave here.

"Sorry kiddo, it's been a weird day." He replied sheepishly.

"A full hour late." She added in a voice that was much to calm to be normal, still seemingly absorbed in her book. He recognized the tone; it was the one she always got when she was upset but didn't want to admit it. Though it had been a month, he didn't think that she quite believed that her new family really wanted her around… so any hint that she'd been forgotten or abandoned shook her a little.

"Tell you what," Keith drawled back, running a hand through his freshly washed and still damp hair, "to make up for it, I'll take you anyplace you want to go for lunch."

"Any place I want?" she asked, looking up from her book for the first time, her silver eyes regarding him suspiciously.

"Anyplace you want." He confirmed with a grin. It wasn't like he didn't already know exactly where she was going to ask to go after all.

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"How the heck can you eat something like that for lunch?" Keith's younger brother, Mike, asked as he watch Keith tear into a nearly raw, ½ pound slab of beef like he was starving. Mike looked a lot like his older brother despite the 5 year age difference and the bright red hair that contrasted sharply with Keith's own dark mop. That said, he obviously took after their bear of a father a little more than Keith did, but they both shared the same crooked grin and both had inherited their mothers laughing eyes.

"You had the exact same thing Uncle Mike." Erin pointed out around a mouthful of steak, cocking an eyebrow in a fairly good imitation of her father.

"Yeah," Mike conceded with a shrug of his shoulders, "but I only had one of 'em squirt. That's his fifth… and mine were at least cooked properly." Keith just grinned, stuffing another oversized bite of steak into his mouth.

"This is my second steak," Erin countered, indicating the half-eaten T-Bone on her plate, "and I'm only Ten… physically anyway…"

"Yes, but we've established that you have a bottomless stomach already." Mike pointed out, giving his niece… he still couldn't quite believe that he was an uncle at 16… a teasing wink, "Him I used to out-eat all the time."

"Uh-huh." Erin responded skeptically.

"Speaking of how old you are," Sarah, Keith's younger sister, interjected before Mike could regale them with any stories about his and Keith's old eating contests "do you have any idea when your Birthday is Erin?" Slender and fine featured; she had inherited their father's dark coloring, and typically kept her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Dunno." Erin shrugged, taking another bite of her steak.

"One of the many things I need to go see Washu about." Keith sighed, "But it shouldn't be too far off, Erin's about 10 or 11 months old as far as we can tell."

"Sounds about right." Erin confirmed distractedly, grabbing a menu from the middle of the table, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she wrestled with the all important question of what to have for dessert.

"Well we're going to have to have a party once you two figure that out." Sarah drawled, her dark brown eyes twinkling with amusement at Erin's preoccupation. Her amusement turned to confusion however when both Erin and her Brother turned their heads suddenly and sharply toward the front of the restaurant.

"You smell that?" Erin whispered, her silver eyes scanning the crowd of people waiting to be seated. Keith nodded, his own eyes scanning the crowd a little less blatantly, but not by much.

"What?" Sarah asked, following the pairs gaze.

"Someone in this place smells like me." Keith muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Like a wolf."

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It was nearly 6 am according to her alarm clock… that made it 4 in the afternoon where Keith lived. A perfectly reasonable time to call… besides, she could not sleep… despite the fact that she was exhausted.

This was starting to border on pathetic Ayeka reflected ruefully. She had left no less than four messages on Keith's answering machine over the past week. So why was she calling again? Yes… he was a good friend, but that was it... even if he had made it clear that he was interested in more. She should not be this anxious to hear from him after just a couple weeks. Somewhat startled she realized that she had already finished dialing… she had not even glanced at her phonebook. She had managed to memorize the number… wonderful.

Maybe it was the fact that Tenchi had been acting a hundred times more relaxed around Ryoko since they'd returned from Juria… and no matter how hard she tried he was still keeping her at arms length. It almost seemed that he had been trying harder then ever these past few weeks.

The phone was ringing. What was she doing? And then it was too late to ponder any longer… someone picked up the phone.

"Hello?"a woman's voice said, "O'Connor residence." It took Ayeka a second to switch languages. Machine-enhanced speed learning techniques were very effective, but not perfect. It took a while for the brain to adapt to the new information that had been downloaded it, and until it had, accessing that information took some effort.

"Ah, hello. This is Ayeka, is Keith home?" even to her own ears her accent sounded thick and the words awkward.

"Oh, Ayeka dear." the woman on the other end exclaimed happily. Ayeka recognized the voice now; it was Keith's mother, her light, lilting accent was a dead giveaway. "We were wondering what had happened to you, we haven't heard from you in weeks".

"I have left several message on machine." Ayeka responded, confusion evident in her voice as she twisted the phone cord in her free hand nervously.

"Well that does explain things." Mrs. O'Connor sighed. "Our answering machine has been on the fritz for a few weeks now."

"On fritz?"

"Broken." Mrs. O'Connor clarified. "Keith and Erin have gone out to lunch, but Keith just got a cell phone if you want the number."

"Thank you much." Ayeka replied gratefully, wincing a bit at how badly she was mangling her words, she forcefully slowed herself down and thought more carefully about what she was trying to say. "I would appreciate that very much Mrs. O'Connor."

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"Can you tell who it is?" Mike asked curiously.

"Not from this far away and in an environment like this one." Keith replied, shaking his head with a grimace. "With this many people this close together I'd basically have to go over and sniff her crotch to be sure."

"Wonderful imagery." Sarah drawled sarcastically. "You're sure it's a girl though?"

"Gender's easy." Erin replied for him. "My nose isn't half as good as Dad's, but that's like telling if something's hot or cold."

"Then what are you looking for?" Mike asked.

"I'm waiting for her to pick up my scent." Keith explained with a shrug. "If she reacts…" he trailed off…

Turning her attention back to the menu in her hands Erin went back to the more interesting task of picking out her desert. Conversation at the table resumed, his siblings entertaining Erin with tales of some of his childhood exploits... and him countering every once in a while with stories about them. He kept one silver-green eye on the rest of the restaurant however, grateful that he'd asked for a booth in the back where he could see the entire place out of pure criminal-minded paranoia.

It took a few minutes for it to happen, but eventually he spotted a young woman's head snap up in surprise and glance around the crowded dining room. She was in her early twenties if he had to guess, with chin-length black hair and a trim figure, and as she glanced his way he caught an oddly familiar flash from her eyes. When she looked his way again he raised his glass in a half-salute and flashed a grin that revealed (temporarily) oversized canines. She apparently saw it, as she returned the grin and lifted her glass in return before raising an eyebrow in question and pointing a thumb at the front door. He nodded in agreement.

"I'll be back in a moment." He told his companions, standing up.

"Have fun." Mike and Sarah chorused teasingly, always ready to poke fun at their older brother's ability to attract female attention pretty much anywhere… and his generally inability to take advantage of it. Erin just rolled her eyes.

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"Well I don't recognize your scent," the girl commented as he stepped outside, her silver-blue eyes regarding him curiously. "You new to the area? Or just a loner?"

"Neither." Keith shrugged, more than a little curious himself, "Or maybe a bit of both… let's just say it's complicated. Hell, I didn't know there was actually anyone else like me running around out there until I caught your scent."

"You're kidding me." The black-haired girl exclaimed, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "How old are you?"

"22."

"That means you've known about your abilities for what? 6 to 9 years?" she asked, though Keith got the impression that she meant it as a rhetorical question. He answered anyway.

"Three years." He corrected, watching her reactions closely.

"You manifested at 19?!" She exclaimed. "How the hell did that happen?"

"Long story…" Keith answered quickly, "very long story. So how many of us are there running around anyway?" he asked before she could recover from her surprise and press him for details.

"I think the number is something like 1 out of every 8,000 people." She answered, "Though we think that about a tenth of the population actually carry at least some of the genetics. It's all kinda uncertain though, there haven't been too many formal studies of the subject after all." She shrugged.

"Enough that most towns will have at least a few of us running around… and a big city will actually have a sizable population." Keith muttered. "Well that makes me feel a bit better at least." He added a bit louder. "The names Keith by the way." He added, offering his hand.

"Carrie." She returned with a lopsided, but genuine smile. That was when his cell chose to ring, trilling out a version of 'Turning Japanese', indicating that the call was coming from the Misaki residence.

"Uh… I've gotta take this…" he apologized, pulling the compact phone out of his pocket and flipping it open. Carrie just waved off the apology with a smile.

"Hello?" he answered, switching over to Japanese, "Ayeka! Haven't heard from you in a while. What's up?" Carrie grabbed his hand, turning it palm up and scribbled something on his palm with a marker. That done, she gave him a quick wave and went back inside.

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"Hello?" Keith's familiar voice came through the headset, and despite how tired she was she smiled, a bit surprised about how fast the nervous knot in her stomach disappeared.

"Hello Keith." She answered simply.

"Ayeka! Haven't heard from you in a while. What's up?"

"At the moment, just me." she answered jokingly. "I could not sleep."

"Yeah… it's like 6:00 in the morning over there isn't it." Keith said, sounding a bit surprised. "Are you alright?" she could hear the concern in his voice.

"I…" she hesitated for a second, "I am fine."

"Liar." Keith accused jokingly, but his voice didn't lose the note of concern. "C'mon, what's wrong?"

"I don't…" she hesitated. "I mean…"

"Yes…?"

"I miss you." She all but whispered. Oh Tsunami! She hadn't meant for it to sound like that. "I mean… I…"

"I miss you too." Keith whispered back, though his voice was a lot more certain than hers had been.

"I did not mean it like that." She protested, though it was rather half-hearted even to her own ears.

"I did." He answered teasingly.

"I am really not up to having this conversation again right now Keith." She responded tiredly, though she couldn't keep a slight smile off her face. It felt nice to be wanted if nothing else. "That said, it has been too long since we have seen each other."

"True." He laughed. "I am unfortunately stuck in this area until Erin's a bit more settled at school, but I'd love it if you came and visited."

"Are you sure?" Ayeka asked, feeling her stomach knot back up again, "I wouldn't want to impose on your family."

"Not a problem." Keith reassured, "I just bought my own place. You'd only be imposing on me and Erin… and we'd both love the imposition. You can even use my bed." He added innocently.

"In your dreams." She retorted, glad he couldn't see her blush.

"Why Princess," he answered feigning shock, "I'm shocked that you would think I was implying something indecent with that perfectly innocent offer."

"You are about as innocent as I am blonde Keith-kun." Ayeka observed, though she couldn't stop herself from giggling slightly.

"Ah well," he sighed "I tried. But getting back on subject, I really would love to see you Ayeka-chan."

"Well…"

"Anyone else who wants to come is welcome too, we've got more space than we know what to do with." Keith wheedled. "Erin would love to see Sasami again. Hell, she'd love to see anyone that she can turn her disguise off around."

"I will see what everyone else thinks in the morning and give you a call." She answered after a couple seconds. A change of scene did sound nice… and she did want to see him, despite the general confusion it tended to cause.

"So, what have you been up to other than house-hunting these past few weeks?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Not much..."

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Click

The sound was almost depressingly final, and with a sigh she put the phone down. Glancing at the clock Ayeka realized with some surprise that they'd talked for a little over an hour… it hadn't felt nearly that long, and only the fact that he'd been all but physically been dragged away by his siblings and Erin (though Erin's shouted greeting had been nice to hear) had ended the call. Who knows how long they would have talked otherwise. They hadn't even talked about anything of any note after he had extended his invitation… it had been quite nice actually.

"What are you doing up this early Ayeka?" Sasami yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she came down the stairs, towel over her shoulder. "Did someone call?" she asked, noticing that her big sister was holding the phone.

"…Just a wrong number…" Ayeka answered after a second's hesitation, hoping her blush wasn't too noticeable.

"So Keith-kun and Erin are fine then?" Sasami asked, smiling innocently. Ayeka sighed, she should have known better than to try lying to her little sister like that.

"Yes, they are fine." She answered. "I'll tell you all about it in the bath if you do not mind waiting for me to get a towel." Sasami's smile widened, happy to see her sister in a better mood… even if the dark circles under her eyes made it fairly obvious that she hadn't slept at all last night.

"Sure." Sasami agreed, always happy to spend some time with her older sister… hearing how her two newest friends were doing was just a bonus.

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"I saved you some of my cake." Erin offered as he got into driver seat of his brand new 2005 mustang. Eventually he wanted to get a classic '66, but it was taking him a little time to track down one in the kind of condition he wanted. His siblings had already taken off in Sarah's car after the requisite round of teasing him about his relationship… or lack thereof… with Ayeka. His daughter, her stomach all but distended from the amount of food she'd pack away, had chocolate on her face and a content smile that reminded him of Talia so strongly that he felt his chest tighten for a heartbeat.

"Thanks squirt." He answered with a soft smile.

"So how's Ayeka doing?" she asked as he turned the key and the car's race-tuned engine roared to life, her smile turning slightly mischievous.

"She's doing fine." He answered casually, "I invited her to come visit for a few days."

"And…" his daughter pressed, silver eyes flashing in the dark.

"She said she'd check with everyone else and call back." He shrugged, most of his attention on driving.

"Laaaaaame" Erin observed. Keith just laughed.

"I think I convinced her," he defended, "it's just her upbringing that's making her a bit reluctant."

"You keep telling yourself that." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm just amazed that you didn't mess up and tell her about that phone number on your palm." She added dryly, though Keith could tell that she was trying not to grin as she teased him.

"Remind me to never leave you alone with your aunt and uncle ever again." He mock growled.
"They're a bad influence." Erin just grinned.

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He was rather annoyed with himself. He'd completely forgotten about Hitomi's dinner party this weekend. There was no-way he was going to make it now and he hadn't even remembered to send an apology note. Well there was no way around it; he was going to need to get her flowers or something to make it up to her. Maybe he would make her dinner too. She was such a sweet old lady, reminded him of his own mother. Well, she'd understand, she knew how his job was.

With care he wiped the last of the late Krit'lat's greenish blood from the knife's thin blade… after all, he didn't want the simple steel blade to rust. He almost regretted having to kill the poor fellow, but it couldn't be helped… he'd seen his face. In the end, the best assassins were the ones that retained their anonymity.

And he was one of the best.

Checking once more to make sure the small survey ship was properly hidden; he shouldered his bag and started towards the cluster of buildings he had spotted when he was landing. Finding transportation there wouldn't be terribly hard… and if the occupants were lucky, he'd be long gone before any of them woke up.