Passing Neptune's orbit, Tuesday 2 March 2010, early afternoon (Tōkyō time) . . .

"So this is the final list of names?"

"Hai, Onē-chan," the young man with the dark red hair and tanned skin said after handing the dataPADD over to the woman with the tomboyish-cut shaggy brown hair now seated in the central chair on the main bridge of the first of fifty starships, each a kilometre long and bristling with enough weapons each to devastate a planet, leading a rather strange convoy of spacedocks, mobile space factories and a large rectangular-shaped craft that could swallow the top five largest cities on Earth within its hull with room to spare towards the third planet of the Sol star system. "For the nations that don't have a standing naval tradition – especially for the landlocked nations that never had cause to develop navies – choosing the names was difficult, but I think we got a good balance here." He smirked as he waved around him. "At least choosing this ship's name was quite easy. As soon as the spacedocks assume orbit around the Moon, we'll get all the ships in there to put on their names and pendant numbers."

A nod. "Splendid." She then gazed over at one of the sensor stations on the port side of the bridge structure. "Tomomi-chan, any sign of any Royal Neptunian Naval vessel approaching us?" she asked the woman seated there.

"Negative, Hiromi-sama," the person at that station replied, her voice lilted with the accent of Hokkaidō even if she spoke with the clipped tones of someone who did not have any experience in expressing human emotions. "Our approach into the system was planned to allow us to pass Neptune's orbit on the opposite side of the solar system from where Neptune herself is. All standard Neptunian naval patrols are based closer to the actual planets and their natural satellites than free space."

The woman in the central chair nodded. "Excellent. I doubt that King Fuyu will do anything to impede our return home – especially given what was just revealed about his 'daughter' two months ago on Uru – but it's best to be safe than sorry."

"Hiromi-sama?"

"Yes, Satomi-chan?"

"We're receiving a signal from the Noukiite warship K'uongno-nup'uk."

"Ah! Put it on the main screen, please."

"Hai," the woman at the communications station said as she tapped a control.

The view screen mounted over the forward windows flicked on, revealing the image of a smiling humanoid woman in flowing robes – like those of her race, there was a prominent spinal ridge of bone radiating from the bridge of her nose over the top and back of her head, most of it buried under a long, flowing mass of burgundy red hair – currently seated on the bridge of her flagship. "Hiromi-yu!" the woman said with a delighted smile, adding her own native race's suffix honorific for a close friend to the name of the reborn second-to-last emperor of the Latter Hàn Dynasty. "Welcome to Earth." She then winked at her as she added, "For the first time as yourself!"

"You flatter me, Ch'esyuk-san," Moroboshi Hiromi said with a nod of her head. "How successful were Kyech-san and Onē-sama in dealing with Ōgi's boors?"

"Wonderfully successful," the governor of the planetary province of Teng, the Lady Seu-P'ya Yesu-Ki Hechnich'-Syechch'eng of K'uongno – "Ch'esyuk" was her childhood name – replied, her grin turning savage. "All of your brother's schoolmates and the others in and around Tomobiki-kak' have been made aware of what that monster and his so-called 'most faithful' were prepared to do. They are not the least bit impressed."

"Have they been giving Onē-sama a hard time?" Hiromi then wondered. "She did plan to tell everyone what she was prepared to do if Ganzo-ojiisama didn't provide her with her own body to allow the Promise of Bunka Go-nen to be finally fulfilled."

"They were told," Ch'esyuk explained. "But the Most Venerable Negako was also quite willing to demonstrate what she is capable of doing. AND she informed everyone there that your brother has the same capabilities. That scared a lot of people according to Kyech, especially your parents." A shake of the head; the governor of Tengsei, like almost all of her race, frowned heavily on any sort of child abuse, even the verbal abuse used by Moroboshi Kinshō towards her son over the last several years. "They don't know about you or Tariko-yu, but they do know that the Most Venerable Negako does possess adult status now in Japan and could take Ataru-yu away from them without hesitation. It scares them. I doubt you'll have much in the way of problems getting settled down, even if they won't get their new life on Uru as a result."

"Pity," Hiromi said, a wry smirk crossing her face.

Ch'esyuk giggled, and then she took a moment to glance around the bridge of Hiromi's flagship. "My! So this is an example of the technology of the Maidens of the World of Holy Reincarnation! I dare say any questions of Earth's safety from now on will be rendered quite moot once our sister Avalonians begin settling on the planet."

"Indeed."

"Does such a beautiful ship possess a name?"

Hiromi smirked. "Haida."


Long Way Home
by Fred Herriot

Based on Urusei Yatsura, created by Takahashi Rumiko; and Ikkitōsen, created by Shiozaki Yūji.

Including characters and references from Koihime Musō, created by BaseSon; Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix, created by Lyceen; Kōtetsu Tenshi Kurumi, created by Kaishaku (Ōta Hitoshi and Shichinohe Terumasa); Hōkago Ren'ai Club, created by Libido and QT Software; Swiri, written and directed by Kang Chegyu; Ranma ½, created by Takahashi Rumiko; Zipang, created by Kawaguchi Kaiji; Aozora Shōjotai and Maico 2010, both created by Shimizu Toshimitsu; Ch'ŏn'gun, written and directed by Min Chun'gi; the NOëL series, created by Pioneer LDC; Sentimental Graffiti, created by NEC Interchannel; The Final Countdown, written by Thomas Hunter, Peter Powell, David Ambrose and Gerry Davis and directed by Don Taylor; Colourful Kiss, created by GIGA; Cityhunter and Angel Heart, written by Hōjō Tsukasa; Crying Freeman, written by Koike Kazuo and Ikegami Ryōichi; Sanctuary, written by Fumimura Shō and Ikegami Ryōichi; Mai The Psychic Girl, created by Kudō Kazuya and Ikegami Ryōichi; Noir, created by Tsukimura Ryōe and Mashimo Kōichi; Harry Potter, written by Joanna K. Rowling;

The theme song from Uchū Senkan Yamato (1974), composed by Miyagawa Hiroshi, lyrics by Aku Yū.

Prequel to Phoenix From the Ashes, a story derived from the fanfic The Bet: Crippled, written by Gregg Sharp. This story also contains characters and situations from the fanfic series Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.


WRITER'S INTRODUCTION: This is a prequel story to Phoenix From the Ashes, which will concentrate on events surrounding Moroboshi Hiromi (also known as "Ryūkō Kyōrei"), not to mention her siblings, in the wake of the failed marriage attempt between Hiromi's brother Ataru and the fake Lum (look at the flashback scene in Part 10 of PFTA to see what happened there), which falls at the end of the first Urusei Yatsura movie Only You in anime continuity (before Chapter 147 in the manga series, which is where Fujinami Ryūnosuke makes her first appearance in the storyline).

In a change from my previous stories, all writer's notes will, as the story is being posted, appear at the end of every chapter. When the story is complete, they will then be shifted to the end of the story text as I have done before.


Tomobiki, near the Moroboshi home, Tuesday 2 March 2010, mid-afternoon . . .

"Most Venerable."

The twenty-something woman in the black martial arts gi turned to gaze on the kneeling Noukiite Imperial Marine trooper, who was saluting her in the proper style for his people: Clenched left fist pressed into the open right palm, both held close over his heart. "Yes, what is it?" Moroboshi Negako asked, her twitching right eyebrow the only physical indication of her annoyance at being addressed with the highest formal salutatory title that could be applied by a Noukiite to any sentient being.

He stood, and then reached into a cargo bag to pull out a black book, the words MY DIARY written in gold Roman script on the front cover. "Your venerable brother's personal journal, Most Venerable," he said as he presented it with both hands to her.

Negako nodded as she took the diary. "You have my thanks," she calmly stated as she gazed at him. "Return to your nominal duties."

A deep bow and hand salute. "Please excuse me, Most Venerable."

Watching him head off to join his small section of riflemen, Miyake Shinobu blinked before she stared at the book in the ninjutsu grandmaster's hand. "That's Ataru-kun's diary?" she asked, the confusion in her voice quite obvious. "I would think he would keep that in his bedroom. Where was it, Negako-san?"

"In a secure location." On noting her current companion's curious look, Negako thinly smiled. "The journal you are thinking of is a falsified one Ataru began to produce two summers ago," she stated as she and Shinobu turned down the street towards the Moroboshi home. "As I told you several times since I came here to remove the Niphentaxian agents from Tomobiki and neighbouring habitations, his total lack of trust towards anyone – even Muchi, Kinshō and yourself – made him take quite considerable precautions towards protecting his secrets. Such precautions were proven wise after he learned of Hensō's willingness to violate such secrets at a whim." She gave Ataru's former girlfriend a knowing look. "In this journal are recorded some embarrassing facts that, were they to get into the open, would cause considerable emotional injury to certain parties were they revealed. Yourself for example, not to mention Kinshō."

Shinobu's breath caught in her throat, and then she sighed. "I see . . . "

Diaries . . .!

Hearing that word echo in her mind, Ataru's former girlfriend felt a scowl cross her face. It wasn't bad enough that Ataru had been missing for over two months, ever since he had allowed himself to be taken by the Noukiite free warrior known throughout the local star systems as "She Who Speaks to Dragons" in the wake of the attempted marriage between himself and Redet Hensō at the cathedral in Onishuto, Uru's capital city. No, that had actually been par for the course when it came to Ataru and those who associated with him, especially since last summer when humanity finally learned they were not alone in the Universe. The thing that had righteously upset her – not to mention many others – was learning not two days ago that their entire town had been literally under the galactic microscope thanks to a race none of them had ever heard of and none of their alien guests had ever spoken of . . . yet, out of some mad religious belief that Hensō (whom they mistook as Lum) was a living GODDESS of all things, had secretly inserted themselves amongst them to SPY on them, reporting all the events that had happened here since shortly after the Tag Race the previous summer to an audience numbering in the BILLIONS in a three-star system fifty light-years away from Earth. And if that wasn't bad enough, these Niphentaxians (as they called themselves as a whole) – out of some insane fear that people in Tomobiki might turn their backs on their beloved "Lum-sama," especially her "Holy Apostles" and "Holy Company" – gladly planted a cobalt bomb of all things in the heart of Tomobiki, possessing the explosive power TEN TIMES that of the Tsar Bomb the Soviets tested on Novaya Zemlya in 1961!

Remembering what had happened very early on Monday morning, Shinobu then relaxed herself. While all of Tomobiki had been asleep, a regiment's worth of Noukiite Imperial Marines – the elite battle troops of one of the most powerful races in the local cluster, a race who could claim to be Earth's closest neighbour (one of their colonies was on the fourth planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, which they called "Tengsei") – had slipped into the city and effortlessly captured over THREE HUNDRED of these alien spies. At the same time, Negako – assisted by the Dragonspeaker, who was known to her closest friends as "Kyech" – had gone to the Tarōzakura hill at the south end of the Mendô estate to trigger a controlled explosion of ki energy that had been gathering there for over a decade. That sent a burning bolt of power into space to attack a resupply convoy from Phentax Two who had come to obtain sensor readings and copies of the diaries of people such as Shinobu herself for return to their homeworld. When the blast failed to destroy all the ships, Kyech then snared the cobalt bomb – it had been buried in the town Ginza, under a boarded-up restaurant – and teleported it into space, allowing the device to detonate and wipe out the survivors, who had been trying to flee back to their homeworld to warn their leaders of what was happening.

Not that they would have anything to go back to these days, Shinobu mentally added as she gazed on Negako's icily passive face. After dawn broke over Tomobiki on Monday and the captured prisoners were presented to a stunned population on the front lawn of Tomobiki High School, the ninjutsu grandmaster and the Noukiite free warrior dropped an emotional bomb even worse than the physical one the latter had tossed into deep space: On the previous Wednesday, a combined force of Noukiites and Yehisrites (a race of alien warriors compatible to the Klingons from Star Trek) had attacked the Phentax system to liberate a slave race of bioroids and the great factory ship where they had been created. The results had been ugly: The planet the bioroid factory had been on had been destroyed, killing FIVE MILLION Niphentaxians, the bioroids themselves had been recovered without any loss . . . and worst of all, not just for the Niphentaxians but their allies (including Lum's homeworld of Uru), almost the whole Niphentaxian Navy – over THREE THOUSAND combat ships! – had been wrecked, thus leaving their whole system vulnerable to potential invasion by their enemies.

The screams of horror and pain felt by those people might have made Shinobu feel sorry for them . . . until she saw the Book of Lum and read one particular chapter of the Niphentaxians' holy book, "The Book of the Sinful Doubter Miyake Shinobu."

"Shinobu-sama!"

Shinobu perked, and then she smiled as she looked over. "Ah, Reiko-chan!"

Walking up to her was a slender tomboy with shaggy short brown hair and eyes the shade of maple fudge, dressed quite plainly in a button blouse and slacks. Without any prompt, said girl then leaned up to deliver a tender kiss onto Shinobu's lips, which made Ataru's former girlfriend blush though she didn't force the other woman away from her. Watching this tender moment, Negako's normally cold smile seemed to warm up as she stated, "You have received most heartening news, Reiko. What has occurred?"

Tokiwa Reiko blushed before she broke away from Shinobu and scratched the back of her head, though she was now holding the other woman's hand. "Hai, Negako-sama! I just got in contact with three former servants of Aniki's parents; they worked in a café in Gekido Aniki's parents owned. They're applying now to come down to Earth to live in Kamakura; they were modelled after three characters from one of the NOëL games from the 1990s, so they were programmed to consider that city home." A sigh. "Oh, it'll be so nice to see Yumi, Ryō and Chisato again!" She turned to gaze on Shinobu. "Ne, Shinobu-sama, would you like to come to a party we're holding for them when they finally are allowed to come down to Earth next Friday? It'll be loads of fun!"

Shinobu gave her a wary look. "Is that party going to include sex?"

Reiko looked confused. "Probably. Why?"

A sigh. "Reiko-chan, much that I understand that you and the others were made to be sex-companions for your 'brother' and his friends, you have to get away from being so casual about that sort of thing!" Shinobu protested. "People will think you're nothing more than a pack of sluts ready to spread your legs for any perverted boy that comes along willing to share a bed with you! Honestly, you can't . . .!"

"Shinobu."

Shinobu jerked on hearing that icy tone, and then she turned to stare warily at Negako. "H-h-h-hai?" Ataru's former girlfriend sputtered.

"While in some ways, people like Reiko and her companions are quite emotionally immature in comparison to others their physical age, you are not and cannot become their surrogate mother," the grandmaster scolded. "They are far more comfortable with their bodies than any normal Terran teenager their age. Cease attempting to force your morals upon them; while they are tolerant of you now, that may not remain the case in the future." To Reiko. "When Ataru resumes classes, Reiko, will you and your friends be willing to assist in helping him master his own sexual impulses?"

As Shinobu awked, Reiko nodded. "Of course, Negako-sama."

"Splendid. Greetings, Chigaiko. Yura."

Shinobu turned as she felt a barely-masked look of loathing come her away from her classmate before Inu Chigaiko turned her attention to the grandmaster. "Konban wa, Negako-san," the raven-haired, brown-eyed former basketball player – she had just quit the team in the wake of Negako removing a horrible curse from her that made everyone working at or attending Tomobiki High School (save Moroboshi Ataru) forget her name – said before she gazed at the smiling girl with the hazel eyes and blonde hair styled in a single ponytail over her left ear, who was now hugging one of her arms. "What's that you got there?" she then asked as she pointed to the book in Negako's hand.

"Ataru's personal journal. His real journal, not the falsified one he allowed Hensō to spy upon whenever she was struck by the urge to learn his inner secrets."

Hearing that, Chigaiko blinked, and then she laughed. "Oh, that's rich!" she said as Akane Yura giggled, politely covering her mouth. "Miss 'I Control Everything About Darling Because I'm Smarter, Have More Technology and am More Powerful' . . . and she NEVER got a look into his REAL DIARY?" she demanded. "Hey, why don't you beam a message to Uru and tell that useless sack of flesh that? It'll be a load of laughs!"

"Much that such would be tempting, I believe Ataru might not approve," Negako stated. "Even if he can no longer see himself as truly loving Hensō, he does care for her none the less. And she was as much a victim of Zōju's curse as Lum herself was."

"Will she come back?"

Eyes locked on Shinobu. "No," Negako stated. "On hearing of the Niphentaxians and their involvement in what happened to Lum, Benten, Oyuki and Ran – not to mention coming to understand what the Niphentaxians are and their relationship with Lum and Hensō was, not to mention the matter with their enslavement of the Avalonians – Ataru exercised his rights under Paragraph Ten of the Tag Race Treaty between the United Nations and the Urusian government to declare all natives of Uru and her colonies persona non grata when it comes to Earth. Even more, such will be guaranteed by the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios with the full agreement of the Seifukusu Dominion and the Ipraedies Empire. While that will not guarantee incidents such as what occurred while Hensō was residing here may not occur again, it will be a sufficient deterrent to ensure Hensō herself will not return, to say anything of Damasu, Rei or Jariten."

Chigaiko smirked. "That alone should make Ataru-kun happy," she said. "That little pest Jariten was as much of a troublemaker as his cousin was. Always flying about saying, 'Wai! I'm a good boy! Look at me!' And all the idiots in this town sucked it up without caring for how much DAMAGE he was doing, especially when he gave his candy to a swallow to turn it into something the size of Gojira!" She snickered. "The one time he tried that cute act with me, I tossed a shaker full of garlic powder right into his face!" The snickers turned to full-blown laughter. "Boy, you should've seen him fly off screaming like someone had lit a fire under his butt! Good riddance!"

Shinobu was aghast; she was well aware of how sensitive Oni-Urusians were to that particular spice. "Chigaiko-san! He's just a little boy!"

"He's a little MONSTER, Miyake! Just like Hensō, Damasu and the rest of them, too!" Chigaiko snarled back. "Besides, what the hell was that little twerp doing here, anyway? If he's supposedly a 'little boy,' why the hell was he allowed to live here virtually on his own? Where the hell were his parents in all this?"

"Well, from what I learned, his father died when he was just eleven months old, Chigaiko-sama," Yura then stated. "His mother is a volunteer for the Onishuto Fire Prevention and Urban Disaster Relief Brigade. From what Ten-sama wrote in his diaries, she was vicious when it came to dealing with arsonists. Given his flame-breath, if he had an accident at home, he could have been punished worse than Ran-sama was when she was a child and she endured punishments from her mother for things Lum-sama provoked."

Chigaiko sighed. "Then she should've come here to drag the little beast back to where he belongs!" A snort. "Pity Nengmek'i-sama didn't burn the lot down when Kyech-san took Ataru-kun away to help you finally get out of his mind, Negako-san." Ignoring Shinobu's wince – the whole of Class 2-4 had been scooped up by a space taxi just after Ataru, Hensō and the others had escaped from Elle's capital city of Baran, thus allowing them to be there for the "marriage" and witness what Kyech and her heavenly dragon friend, Nengmek'i, had done to put a stop to it – Chigaiko then snickered, and then she smiled at her companion. "C'mon, Yura-chan! Let's go get some ice cream!"

"Hai, Chigaiko-sama!"

With that, they headed off. Shinobu watched her go, and then she sighed. "She has a right to be angry, but still . . .!" she whispered.

"She requires time to come to grips with the matter of the curse forced on her because of Matabei's latest visit to Tomobiki High School," Negako stated as she gazed at Ataru's former girlfriend; Hirota Matabei was the real name of the Tomobiki High alumni calling himself "the Red Cloak." "She was isolated for something she ultimately never caused . . . and no one came to her assistance, not even those who were close to her before the curse was inflicted, to say anything of Sakura and Hayao. Even Ataru did not truthfully assist her save for greeting her every morning when they went to attend classes. That is the reason she refuses to associate with her former friends these days." Negako turned away. "I doubt much will develop if Chigaiko decides to seek Ataru as a boyfriend, especially given what happened between Ataru and Kyech. In the meantime, I will be making arrangements for the construction of the dōjō. Shinobu, Reiko." And with a curt nod to both of them, the grandmaster headed off.

Shinobu watched her go, and then she sighed. "Poor Ataru-kun . . . "

"Hai, poor Ataru-sama," Reiko said as they turned to head down a side street towards the Miyake home. "To learn that everything concerning his 'marriage' to Hensō was built on a mountain of lies . . . and then to fall in love with the Dragonspeaker of all beings in the local cluster!" She shook her head. "I hope someone comes along in the future to give him what he requires. Much that he fulfilled the Sacred Promise . . . "

Shinobu nodded as her companion's voice trailed off. For the last two months, she had found herself questioning everything that had happened with Moroboshi Ataru since they became friends in kindergarten, a half-year before a dying man bestowed the most incredible "gift" on the young boy and forever altered the course of his life. And while in the long term, acting as the host for the Saikō Jinseijutsu – as Negako had often been addressed as from long before the day in 1808 she became a sentient being – was the proper thing, the side effects of such a "gift" had been ugly. Making an inherently kind boy act like a girl-crazed loon – especially after puberty kicked in! – in a way of drawing in the necessary anti-ki energy Negako needed to create her own body at last, gladly preparing to do anything to ensure none could stand in her way of obtaining that goal . . . even going so far as to plan to kill ANYONE that was close to Ataru, such as Hensō, much less all their friends, both Terran and alien alike . . .

A shudder raced through her, though she was quick to sense Reiko's supportive hand fall on her shoulder as a surge of warmth and love flooded Shinobu's body, making her smile as she gazed on the young woman beside her before she leaned over to tenderly kiss her on the lips. While Shinobu had been staunchly Roman Catholic in her upbringing, she was rather liberal in her beliefs and had come to understand that people like Tokiha Reiko were simply wired quite differently and adhered to quite unusual standards of social and emotional norms. And while she personally hoped that Reiko and her sister Avalonians – as the race of bioroids freed from the Niphentaxians as a whole called themselves as a group – didn't end up getting a bad reputation for being so blatantly open and sexual, she could accept them for their simple honesty and strong willingness to help out in anything that needed to be done. Given their desire now to give Earth total access to their high technology – especially when it came to what they had seized from their former masters on their escape from the Phentax system a week before – it was understandable that even the most staunchly conservative leaders across the planet were willing to give them a lot of leeway.

Because, put frankly, Earth desperately needed that help.

On the trip back to Earth from Uru, Shinobu and her friends had been thoroughly briefed by Kyech's friends Kuohu and Kyekkyek – Ataru's former girlfriend had long forgot their proper names – on what the galactic situation around their solar system was like. And it was potentially gruesome. Earth – and Neptune, home to Oyuki's people – were at a virtual choke point in space, with the territories of the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios, the Ipraedies Empire and the Seifukusu Dominion surrounding them from three sides; to their galactic "south" (or "spinward" as Kuohu had described it), there was the territory of the planet Gomiana, which formed part of an alliance of small- and medium-sized powers known as "the Galactic Federation of Planet-States." Beyond Neptune and Gomiana, members of the Federation included Uru, Fukunokami, Elle, Karasutengu, Kōmoros (home to one of Lum's rather more unique friends, the Prince of the Underworld . . . not to mention his fiancée Prim), Phentax Two (the home of the Niphentaxians) and about two dozen other such governments. And save for a tubular corridor three light-years in diameter and thirty light-years in length, there was no way a space traveller could move from Neptune (and worlds to spinward such as Gomiana and Phentax Two) to Uru, Fukunokami, Elle or Karasutengu without entering either Noukiite or Ipraedies space. Entering the former race's territory meant high passage tolls; while the Noukiites were on a friendly basis with many of the Federation worlds, they didn't like the idea of ships wandering into their space unbidden. Entering the latter's space would most likely see you killed; the Ipraedies viewed all races living on worlds around them as threats and treated them with equal contempt and loathing.

And given the ever-growing power of the Galactic Federation worlds as they sought to strengthen their alliance, the Ipraedies had decided several years ago to shatter it at its most vulnerable point: the Earth-Neptune system.

Hence, the Tag Race. The Urusians – who had always held a strong fascination for Earth – decided to literally cut the Ipraedies off at the pass by forcing an "invasion" of their own on the third planet of Sol, but coached it in a traditional game of tag to honour their sporting nature and give the Terrans a chance at beating them. Even better, the majority of Lum's people didn't want to impose themselves on Earth, so despite the war-like actions of Lum's father when he came to confront Ataru, they were actually hoping they would lose! Which they did thanks to the lecherous beast Negako (while inside Ataru's head) helped created over the last half-decade.

Hensō came to live with us . . . and sanity left in her wake.

And it had been quite a rocky ride for six months, especially for Miyake Shinobu, who had been dating Ataru – having gone so far as to actually promise she would marry him if he won the Tag Race! – when Hensō came into their lives. While there were the good points, there were the bad ones, such as the world oil-theft incident provoked by Hensō's so-called "Stormtroopers" – on recalling that particular incident, Shinobu often thought it amazing that people such as 'Usāmah bin Lādin didn't call a fatwā demanding the death of Megane and his friends for what they did; despite what people in Tomobiki believed, the media beyond the town's borders got the story – and things like what Hensō's cousin Ten provoked, all the times Hensō's ex-fiancé Rei came by to clear out the restaurants in the town to feed his ever-empty stomach, the time Mienai's yeti-like guardian B-Boy had gone on a rampage . . .!

A sigh. No sense in thinking of that anymore, Shinobu mused as she parted from Reiko at the front gate of her family home before she walked inside. "Tadaima!"

"Okaeri nasai!" her mother Kimiki called back from the kitchen. "So what's happening around town? Any news about when Ataru-kun will come back?"

A shake of the head. "No, Okā-san, no news yet," Shinobu said as she slipped off her shoes in the genkan and moved to put on slippers before entering the living room, where her father Toshoba was presently relaxing and reading his newspaper. "But I found out something rather interesting about Ataru-kun today."

"What's that?" her father asked.

"He kept his diary hidden from everyone in town, including Hensō," Shinobu said as she relaxed beside the living room table, leaning back on the heels of her hands. "The diary that was in his bedroom was a fake one that he allowed to have other people find in case they wanted to pry into his private thoughts, like the one time Hensō used her time-travel machine in a way of showing how much she was concerned about him."

Her parents nodded. While they still didn't really care for their daughter's former boyfriend, they had been willing to accept what Shinobu – and also Negako – had told them about what was really going on inside Ataru's brain over the last decade and how that had come to affect everyone who associated with him. And while they understood he ultimately had done the right thing in giving Negako a chance to have her own life – to fulfil the "Promise of Bunka Go-nen" as it was called – to know that the ninjutsu grandmaster had plotted to kill everyone in Tomobiki with a ruthless logic that bore no humanity underneath it all was quite upsetting. But nothing could be done; while she had been shuttled from mind to mind over the 202 years after her "awakening" in 1808, Negako had willingly served the Imperial Throne of Japan (in World War Two, she was designated "Imperial Special Agent 49"), so she had been granted full citizenship rights – as an adult – on being recognised for what she was in the wake of Monday morning's rather traumatic events, at the direct order of the Prime Minister himself (thanks to the personal request of the Emperor).

"What does the real diary say?" Kimiki asked as she brought a basket full of cut fruit into the living room for the others to enjoy. "Did Negako-san say anything?"

"No, nothing specific, but she did hint at things that I wouldn't like, much less things Ataru-kun's mother wouldn't like," Shinobu said as she picked up a piece of kiwi fruit and nibbled on it. "Maybe he's been keeping track of all the times his mother's said 'I wish I never had you' or things to that effect," she then quipped.

Toshoba and Kimiki jerked, and then they exchanged a knowing look. "What do you think might happen if he does come back?" the former asked. "Will Negako-san become his legal guardian? You said that the Prime Minister's Office did arrange to have her granted adult status when they found out she was finally in her own body on Monday."

Shinobu hummed. "Probably. Then again, if Ataru-kun wants that, I suppose I can understand. His parents have been awful to him, especially after Hensō moved in." A frown turned her lips. "Not that I was better," she whispered before sighing. "All the 'I wish I never had you' tirades and all that. As a matter of fact, when we all got kidnapped to make sure Elle wouldn't try to drag Ataru-kun off to get married to her, they sucked up to Hensō's parents so they could get good jobs on Uru." A shake of the head. "He's not going to forget that, that's for sure!" she spat out. "And since he knows about his twin brother and what happened to him . . .!"

CRASH!

"Okā-san!" Shinobu yelped as she went into the kitchen to note that Kimiki had dropped a plate onto the floor, shattering it. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"I . . . " The older woman then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry! You just surprised me, talking about poor Kaeru-chan and all that . . . "

Shinobu blinked. "You know about Kaeru?"

A nod. "Hai. Most of the people who were living in town when it happened know the story, though they also pretty much keep it quiet. Who told you about that?"

A shrug. "Negako-san."

Kimiki jolted, and then she sighed. "Well, I suggest you keep quiet about that when you speak of it to your friends," she said. "It really hurt Ataru-kun's mother when he suffered his accident, not to mention what happened afterward when his body disappeared from the hospital like it did." She then paused before she stared at her daughter. "Does Ataru-kun know about all this? Did Negako-san tell him . . .?"

A nod. "Hai, she did. And from what she told me, he wasn't really impressed on hearing that. Even more, if his mother starts acting like she did when Hensō was here, he's going to use it against her to smack her back into line." Shinobu shook her head. "Can't say I really blame Ataru-kun at all. He smiled when Kyech-san threatened to kill her for all the abuse she's heaped on him." A sigh. "Anyhow, I'm going to do my homework since school's back on tomorrow. Call me when dinner's ready, okay?"

Kimiki nodded as her daughter went off, and then she shook her head . . .


Tomobiki High School, Wednesday 3 March, morning . . .

"Geez! These guys are still here?"

"You blame them, man?"

A sigh. "Nah," Aisuru Satoshi – "Megane" to all his friends – breathed out as he gazed on the gathering of reporters standing near the school's front gates. The world media had flocked to Tomobiki in the wake of Monday, learning of things that had sent shockwaves all over the planet, even more intensive than what the Tag Race produced. On speaking to one of the CNN reporters about what happened over the last couple of months – especially the last few days – Megane had been surprised to learn of things that he hadn't been able to learn from Negako, much less any of the seven hundred Terran-form Avalonians whose presence had been confirmed in the wake of the removal of their former masters from the town. "With the Avalonians coming into the system after they got free of the Niphentaxians, people want to know what's going to happen, especially now that the Noukiites have left." The last group of Imperial Marines had departed from Earth overnight, as they had promised on Monday when their leaders had met the town's leadership here at Tomobiki High School when the revelations about the Niphentaxians had been made. "Is it going to be as bad as when Hensō was here? Is it going to be better? Since he was involved, Ataru would probably know these things. Do you think that they'd want to talk to Negako-san about it?"

Hearing the name of the ninjutsu grandmaster who was now legally Ataru's adopted elder sister, the other three core members of Lum's Stormtroopers shook their heads. "Nah!" Shitto Kōsuke – "Perm" – said with a laugh. "I mean, she tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth . . . but she comes off really cold at times. Even colder than Mr. Spock was on Star Trek. Who'd want to talk to that?"

"Good point," Daremo Hiroyuki – "Kakugari" – mused, nodding. "Still, I hope the guy's alright. Even if he doesn't really care for many people here . . . "

"Hey, look!"

They perked on hearing Urayamu Akira – "Chibi" – call out, and then they glanced down a side street. "Well, I'll be damned!" Megane then said before he waved. "Yo, Ataru!" he called out, thus getting the reporters' attention.

Walking up from the direction of the Moroboshi home was Moroboshi Ataru, dressed in his normal blue gakuran, the top buttons undone to reveal the white button shirt he had on underneath; as he wasn't a stickler for the dress code, Ataru never buttoned things up like others did. Gazing at their classmate, the Stormtroopers were quick to notice one thing about Ataru: his walk. Instead of the prancing gait he normally used, Ataru was walking like a normal person, acting as if he was some type of army cadet from those nations that had that particular type of youth program. He seemed relaxed, nothing like the flirtatious man he had been just two months ago. But given what had been happening to him at the time, such a change was understandable. And if what the Dragonspeaker had said about an incident a week after the attempted wedding at a place called "Morningstar Plain" was anywhere CLOSE to the truth . . .!

"Holy shit!" Perm then gasped. "Am I seeing things?"

Megane perked. "What?"

"Who're those two girls walking with him?" Kakugari asked, pointing.

Megane looked . . . and then his jaw dropped on seeing the pretty girls in proper Tomobiki High seifuku on either side of Ataru. Both wearing orange tiger-striped ties – ironically, that colour and pattern combination was the accepted clan colours for Ataru's family – with their uniforms, they looked like Ataru (save for the understandable differences). And both seemed as calm and relaxed as their . . . Twin brother? Megane wondered as he then recalled what Nengmek'i addressed Ataru as back at Onishuto. "'Ye of Four Souls,'" he quoted. "We're about to meet the other two souls."

The other Stormtroopers blinked as they took that in, and then Chibi hummed. "Well, one of those souls was called 'Liú Hóng' by Nengmek'i-sama . . . and the other one was said to actually be PART of Ataru before Negako-san got fired into his head."

"Like the time Ataru got split into twins thanks to Hensō's candy and Cherry's curse-removal cake?" Kakugari then wondered.

"Probably," Perm stated as Ataru gazed their way, and then he waved. "Yo!"

"Ohayō!" Ataru said as he walked up to them.

"Ohayō, guys!" the girl to Ataru's left said, her lips turning into one of Ataru's normal lanky smiles. "How're you guys doing these days?"

"As expected given what we learned back in Onishuto," Megane said, and then he blinked before he stared intently at her for a moment.

Her eyebrow arched, and then she reached over to squeeze his nose, which made him jerk. "Yo, 'Toshi! I know I'm cute, but don't stare. It's not polite."

"Oh, Onē-san, stop that!" the other girl then scolded as she stared at her twin. "This is going to be difficult enough for everyone to accept! You don't need to make them feel even more awkward about it!" As her twin stuck out her tongue at her, she then walked up to gently kiss Megane on the cheek, which made him turn totally red in shock. "Ohayō gozaimashita, Satoshi-san." She then delivered kisses to the cheeks of the other Stormtroopers, which made them also turn the shade of cherries. "Akira-san. Kōsuke-san. Hiroyuki-san. I hope things have calmed down since last we were here."

"And sharing one body," her twin said as she patted Ataru's shoulder.

"Not to mention doing all sorts of weird things," Ataru said before he looked as the reporters came their way. "Ah, the press. Onē-san warned us they were in town." With that, he walked over to greet them. "Ohayō, everyone." A quick check to his watch indicated it was still about twenty minutes to the first bell. "I've got time to answer some questions, but if you stick around for lunch and after school, I'll be happy to answer more." As the reporters all laughed at his show of politeness, he then pointed to the NHK reporter that was there. "Sakurayama-sensei, you first."

"How does it feel to be back home and free from Hensō and all her friends, Ataru-kun?" Sakurayama Momoko then asked with a smile.

"Well, I'm sure that all my classmates have been more than happy to regale you all with the story of what happened to Lum and Hensō – not to mention Benten-san, Oyuki-sama and Ran-chan and their replicas as well – five years ago on the Home Base asteroid thanks to a very ugly magical curse inflicted on Lum when she was just days old . . . not to mention what Ōgi did to keep the Avalonians secret from the galaxy at large," he said, and then he sighed. "There's always a good and bad side to things. The good side is that hopefully, from this point on, weird things that seemed to love to strike this town will either be eliminated or kept to a dull roar." As people laughed, he sighed. "The bad side is this: I love Hensō and I will always have a place for her in my heart. Regrettably, her parents still do NOT accept what happened to their real daughter, thus Lum is forced to remain in exile on the planet Okusei. Fortunately for her, she has a lovely wife and many wonderful friends who are there to support her, as do the others affected by the Lady Zōju's curse. As for those who came in Hensō's wake after the Tag Race, hopefully we'll never see them again. I have, as you all might be well aware, declared under my rights in the Tag Race Treaty that no Urusian can come to Earth for the next two hundred years . . . or when their people as a whole demonstrate much more mature behaviour when it comes to interacting with our own people. That was necessary, both for our sake and theirs. Maybe they'll learn something out of this." A sigh. "I doubt it. Mister Grant, your turn."

"Your sister Negako – when she briefed us on Monday afternoon after she and the Noukiites removed the Niphentaxian agents from Tomobiki and the surrounding towns – stated you were considering returning all the awards you were given in the wake of the Tag Race for your victory over Hensō several months ago," Stan Grant stated. "Do you still intend to do that, sir? And if you are, why are you doing this?"

"I am," Ataru stated. "To answer your second question, it's simple." An embarrassed smirk then crossed his face. "Folks, eight months ago, what happened then was the result of a bunch of sixteen- and seventeen-year old kids thinking more with their hormones instead of their heads. Regardless of what my mental state was like back then, I was as guilty as anyone else involved in that situation, even Hensō." As laughter filled the crowd around him – which had now been augmented by the two female twins of Earth's tag race champion, the Stormtroopers and other students – he then shrugged. "Put simply, when I fully came to realise what truly had happened in the wake of the Tag Race and my so-called 'marriage' with Hensō, I realised then that I had NOT saved Earth. In some ways, I put Earth in far greater danger that has been faced by the human race since the Second World War. I can't live with that, so over the next few days, the medals and decorations – the Order of the Rising Sun here from Japan, the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the United States, the Companionship of the Order of Canada, the Officer-ship of the Order of the British Empire, the Gold Crown Order of Cultural Merit from South Korea among others – will be personally returned back by me either to the government here in Japan or to the ambassadors of the several nations who saw fit to decorate me. Atop that, all monetary awards that were given to me will be returned." A shrug. "I never deserved them, so why keep them?"

"Would you accept future awards?" a German reporter from ZDF television asked.

"Nein!" Ataru answered in German, and then he continued in Japanese, "In experiencing what I went through these last two months, I was made to learn many of the customs and traditions of my family. The primary one is this: Those of my family do NOT ever accept rewards such as medals, decorations or the like from anyone else, not even the Heavenly Sovereign himself. Traditionally, we've been a ninja family. Ninja, for those of you who haven't seen action or drama movies about them, operate from the shadows. We are the Unseen Ones who act to protect others when open forces such as samurai or police can't act. We don't acknowledge or accept rewards for simply doing our jobs. I intend to live that sort of life from now on." He winked. "'Sides, what the hell would I do with all that money?" he then asked in a whisper.

More laughter from the crowd. "Moroboshi-ssi, what do you believe should happen to the Avalonians?" a South Korean reporter from KBS1 then asked. "Given that – according to the briefing Otako Meinyak-daet'ongnyŏng gave the media on Tuesday afternoon in New York City – there are over TWO BILLION of them on that factory ship of theirs, would you advocate resettlement on Earth? And if not, where would you tell them to go?"

"First of all, Sŏnsaeng-nim, I will NEVER tell an Avalonian anything she doesn't want to agree with," Ataru said, his face turning into a mask of fury that made his schoolmates step back in shock. "After what they went through thanks to the Niphentaxians, that's the last thing they need." He blinked as one of his twins – the one with the magatama earring who had kissed the cheeks of the Stormtroopers – squeezed his shoulder. "Arigatō, Hiromi," he said before taking a deep breath, and then he relaxed. "Personally, there are many of those people who want to come live here. The Niphentaxians, despite their clearly obvious problems, have been as fascinated by Earth for almost as long as the Urusians have. That was transmitted to the Avalonians. However, I also know the population of this world is about to hit the seven billion mark very soon. We're potentially facing several crises when it comes to making sure all those people have food and water, not to mention all the other basic necessities of life.

"To that end, I can say this: Otako-san told me she will support all efforts to terraform Mars as quickly as possible to allow both Terrans and Avalonians to live there if they so choose. Venus is another potential possibility. Atop that, there are at least thirty Class M worlds – to borrow the term from Star Trek – like Earth all in close range of us. Currently, they're under the control of the Seifukusu Dominion, but I think with some honest negotiating and a promise of never joining the Galactic Federation, they might be amicable towards letting us have those worlds for settlement. But that's for the Men in Black to possibly pursue in the future, so I won't say more."

"Aren't there people living on those planets?" a French reporter from TF1 asked.

"Small military garrisons, M'sieur. At most, ten thousand per planet," Hiromi answered.

"Aren't they planning to settle them more?" a BBC reporter asked.

"They've been planning it for five centuries, but nothing's ever happened," Ataru replied.

Nods around the crowd, and then everyone perked on hearing a bell ring off. "That's the warning bell, Ataru!" Megane then called out.

A sigh. "Forgive me, but right now, school beckons and I'll have to face the wrath of a few teachers for missing out on two months of work," Ataru said with a bow. As the reporters laughed, he winked. "So if you don't mind heading to Okonomiyaki Nippon, I'll be there at lunch to answer some more questions. I'll see you later."

"Oi, Ataru! What about the Secret Peer Guidance Committee?" Perm asked.

Ataru snorted. "What about them, Perm?"

Hearing THAT, everyone blinked, and then whooped with delight before they gave their returned classmate a banzai cheer as they headed inside . . .

To be continued . . .


WRITER'S NOTES:

1) The girls mentioned in the teaser, Tomomi and Satomi, are Yoshino Tomomi and Fujiki Sayuri, two of the characters from the adult visual novel series Zenkoku Seifuku Bishōjo Grand Prix, created by Lyceen in the mid-1990s. Not a popular series in comparison to Tokimeki Memorial, Sentimental Graffiti or Sister Princess, Grand Prix eventually inspired the video game Find Love, in which Tomomi was a prominent character; in the playoffs for Grand Prix as depicted in the first Find Love, Tomomi came in second after Ikusawa Kyōko (whose equivalent in this story would bond with Tendō [later Miyamoto] Nabiki in Phoenix From the Ashes).

2) In this story, the word dataPADD means "data Personal Archival Display Device."

3) Ch'esyuk is based on the Koihime Musō version of Ryūbi Gentoku (also known as "Tōka"). Kyech is based on the KM version of Ryofu Hōsen (or "Ren"). To get the names, I used my Korean-to-Noukiite character encoding system that I developed for Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year, which normally works as follows:

CONSONANTS: K/G=NG, N=CH/J, T/D=CH', R=P', M=T', P/B=K', S=H. When NG falls before a vowel, it is silent (as in Korean). Mid-syllable sounds G, J, D and B are not used in common Noukiite.
DOUBLE CONSONANTS
: KK=NG, TT=CH', PP=K', SS=H, JJ=N
MULTI-CONSONANT SYLLABIC END SOUNDS
: KS=H, NJ=CH', NH=S, LG=K', LM=T', LB=P', LS=K, LT=CH, LP'=P, LH=N, PS=M.
VOWELS
: A=U, E=O. I and Y stay the same. The different types of O (O and Ŏ) and U (U and Ŭ) do not matter in this case.
DIPTHONGS
: AE=UO (WO), OI=EI, OA (WA)=EU, OAE (WAE)=EUO, UI=AI, UE=AO

"Ryūbi Gentoku" as written with the direct transliteration of the Chinese characters 劉備玄德 in Korean is "류비현덕" (Ryubi Hyŏndŏk), thus such would become "P'yak'i Syechch'eng" using the encoding system above. From that, I added the caste prefix title "Seu-" (for "Seup'uk" [the blooming youth"]) before the family name "P'ya," the birth/gender prefix title "Yesu-" (a combination of "ye" [woman] and the first syllable of "sucha" [one/first]) before the given name "K'i," and the style name prefix "Hechnich'" (for "Hechnich'kye," meaning "sacred true bone lady/lord") before the style name "Syechch'eng." Her proper name is Seu-P'ya Yesu-K'i Hechnich'-Syechch'eng. The childhood name "Tōka" is written 桃香 in kanji, read "도향" (Tohyang) in Korean, and becomes Ch'esyuk in Noukiite.

Likewise, "Ryofu Hōsen" (呂布奉先) is read "려포봉선" (Ryŏp'o Pongsŏn) in Korean, thus becomes "P'yere K'ekhech" in Noukiite. Thus, with the add-ons noted above, the Dragonspeaker's proper name is Seu-P'ye Yesu-Re Hechnich'-K'ekhech. The childhood name "Ren" is written 恋 in kanji, read "연" (Yŏn) in Korean, which becomes Kyech in Noukiite.

4) K'uongno is the southwest of Noukiios' classical Three Kingdoms; it once covered the western side of the southern continent of the planet. It is an analogue of the Korean kingdom of Paekche (백제/百済) or the Chinese kingdom of Shǔ Hàn.

5) Kak' is the Noukiite word for "town," which was transliterated from the Korean "ŭp" (읍/邑). Tomobiki in Japanese is addressed as "Tomobiki-chō." The kanji for "chō" is 町, which is much different than what the Koreans use.

6) Ganzo dai-Louc, as I wrote in the notes for Phoenix From the Ashes, is the Niphentaxian analogue of the famous American abolitionist (and in the eyes of some, the father of American terrorism), John Brown (1800-59).

7) The suffix -yu is a Noukiite term of endearment that is applied to names ending in vowels, i.e. "Hiromi-yu." The suffix ending used for consonant-ending names is -u.

8) The title Maidens of the World of Holy Reincarnation (in Noukiite, Techye Hichheksuch Seuchhoukhek, Techye Hisehek in short) is the Noukiite term applied to the Daishi'cha ("Great First Mothers") of the planet Sagussa, which Ataru (who would be addressed as the King of the World of Holy Reincarnation or Euk Hichheksuch Seuchhoukhek, shortened to Euk Hisehek) would become the head-of-state (Daite'cha or "First Above All") for in the "Great Father Ataru" storyline in The Senior Year. As the Noukiites are traditionally firm believers in reincarnation, the story about the Daishi'cha and how they were restored to life resonated deeply within them.

9) The title Most Venerable in Noukiite culture is the title used to convey the most respect onto someone; it's normally used for deceased high clerics. Given Negako's normal hatred of using titles (as people will remember from her "Don't call me 'sensei!'" tirades), being addressed as THAT is quite annoying to her.

10) The Tsar Bomb (in Russian, Царь-бомба) was the AN602 hydrogen bomb that was developed and dropped by the Soviet Union on a test site on Novaya Zemlya on 30 October 1961. The bomb was also addressed with the phrase "Kuz'kina Mat" (Кузькина мать), which means "Kuzka's mother" and implied something that had not been seen before. The yield of the blast, which had been originally planned to be about 100 megatons (420 petajoules), was reduced to 50 megatons (210 petajoules) in the final device.

11) The name of the planet Ch'esyuk serves as governor of, Tengsei, was derived from the Noukiite transliteration of the Korean "촉" (ch'ok), which is the reading of the hànzì 蜀 (shǔ). The proper name in Noukiite is Teng-ch'ehek ("Planet-Province of Teng"). Urusians (it was a member of that race that first discovered the world) call it Jiyū. In The Senior Year, the planet was a Zephyrite colony world.

12) Shinobu's being a Roman Catholic was derived from a side story to The Senior Year written by Phil Gavigan, "Shinobu - Futures Imperfect." In the universe of TSY, I have the Miyake family come from Kagoshima on Kyūshū.

13) Aniki is a semi-formal way of addressing one's older brother in Japan.

14) Persona non grata is Latin for "an unacceptable person." In normal usage, this is the highest legal censure a country can employ against diplomats of another country.

15) The Seifukusu Dominion and the Ipraedies Empire are two of the "rogue states" that appeared in The Senior Year. The former power (which is located in-spin from Earth) once occupied all space out to Vos, including Neptune and Uru. The latter power (which is out-spin from Earth) is a more recent power that once fought a losing war against the Vosians a century ago. Seifukusu are humanoids with blue skin colour. Ipraedies are green-skinned humanoids. In the background story to TSY, Ipraedies interest in Earth ultimately provoked the Tag Race between Ataru and Lum.

16) Inu Chigaiko is a character from The Senior Year; she first appeared in the story "Darling's Secret Date" and came literally back to life in the side-story "Children of Eternity." Ataru's twin brother Moroboshi Kaeru appeared in the special story "My Darlings United;" in that story, it was discovered that when he was dying after a tragic accident, Kaeru was taken away by two citizens of the planet Nagussa and healed there, thus getting a life for himself amongst them. Otako Meinyak (the Avalonian replica of her) appeared in the special story "What Price For Love?"; this is the story where I first introduced the Niphentaxians and the Avalonians. The Noukiites themselves first appeared in "Arrive Reiko-chan."

17) Ten-chan's making a swallow grow to rather enormous size was depicted in the manga story "Ms Swallow and Ms Penguin" (manga story #82). The Oni adversion to garlic was shown in the manga story "Down For The Count" (manga story #101). The Red Cloak appeared in the manga story of the same name (manga story #41); his real name and the curse that eventually affects Chigaiko are my invention. The Prince of the Underworld and Prim appeared in the manga storyline "Deranged Marriage" (manga stories #87-90).

18) Kuohu and Kyekkyek are based on the Koihime Musō versions of Kan'u Unchō (Aisha) and Chōhi Yokutoku (Rinrin). The former's proper name is Seu-Euch Yesu-A Hechnich'-Kachnuk. The latter's proper name is Seu-Nuk Yesu-K'i Hechnich'-Kingch'eng. As with Aisha, Kuohu is known throughout Noukiite space as the "Black-Haired Bandit Slayer."

19) A fatwā is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law. It's most famous application was when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran (1902-89) judged the writer Salman Rushdie (born 1947) as having insulted the memory of the Prophet Mohammed in his novel The Satantic Verses in a radio broadcast on 14 February 1989. Because of that, the concept of a fatwā is often mistaken by non-Muslims as a death sentence.

20) The phrase Bunka Go-nen (in kanji, 文化五年) is used to refer to the year 1808 C.E.

21) The lament of Ataru's mother Moroboshi Kinshō "I wish I never had you!" is something she has said many times in Urusei Yatsura; this normally stems from her frustration and embarrassment when it comes to all the weird things that happens around Ataru. Having been the victim of child abuse myself, when I was introduced to the character by Mike Smith in the early 1990s, I felt such tirades were ultimately no different than what Fujinami Ryūnosuke suffers at the hands of her father, much less what Ran went through at the hands of her mother when she was a child. This prompted the story plotline in The Senior Year where Ataru finally grew tired of his mother's verbal abuse and leave once and for all . . . which, deep down, Kinshō fears all else.

22) The given names for Megane, Chibi, Perm and Kakugari have appeared on Japanese Yatsura fan websites. Their family names are my invention.

23) The Korean honorific -ssi is the equivalent of the Japanese "-san." The Korean term sŏnsaeng-nim is the equivalent of the Japanese term "sensei," but also incorporates the honorific -nim, which is the Korean equivalent to the Japanese "-sama." The word taet'ongnyŏng (or "-daet'ongnyŏng" when used as a suffix title to a person's name) is the Korean term for an elected president.