I'll Go With You
(Tenchi Story Arc: Mihoshi)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://Ammadeau.tripod.com/fanfiction.htm
Any C&C, comments, or questions would be appreciated.
Part of the Tenchi Story Arc, originally created by Robert Ballet.
Part 1
Washu and Tenchi were sitting around her lab, discussing
his latest failure. Or rather Washu was sitting while Tenchi was
still strapped to her machine. Tenchi had tried making changes to
the past so he could settle down with Ryoko or Aeka, but neither
world had worked out in the end, much to his frustration. There
was always something he didn't think of that ended up ruining
everything.
"You know, Tenchi," Washu told him after taking a sip of
tea. "Those weren't the only changes you could have made. There
are probably several other alterations that would have left you
happy with either Ryoko or Aeka, perhaps even both."
Tenchi shivered a little at the suggestion. He had a hard
enough time dealing with one, both would be too much for him to
handle. "I don't know Washu, they're both so much that I don't
think I'd be able to survive that, and besides, I can't think of
anything else to try and win one of them right now. Maybe I
should try for someone a little more normal, like Mihoshi."
A frown crossed Washu's face. Tenchi wasn't very
surprised; he knew that the diminutive genius and the galaxy police
officer didn't get along very well. "There's nothing normal about
Mihoshi."
"Maybe, but at least she doesn't have the power to blow up
the house a dozen times over."
"Need I remind you of a little incident involving Mihoshi
and a her shuttle? Believe me, Mihoshi is dangerous enough with
the power that she has."
Tenchi did remember when Mishoshi had crashed her
shuttle into the lake. It was a good thing Washu was around the
repair the house so quickly or his father would have had a fit.
Mihoshi had come back sooner than any of them had expected, just
because he had said that she could. He remembered how her
whole face had lit up when he had said that. It was the first real
time that he knew that Mihoshi had some feelings for him. He also
remembered not being upset at the house being leveled, mainly
because he could see her again. So maybe he had some feelings for
her too.
Tenchi had also sometimes wondered what being a Galaxy
Police officer would be like. At heart, all he wanted was a simple
life on Earth, but that didn't mean that a part of him didn't ponder
how it would be to right wrongs out among the stars. He wondered
how different his life would have been had he gone with her to
make that report rather than inviting her to return. "Wait, that's it!"
"What's it, Tenchi?"
"Washu, what if I had gone with Mihoshi when she left to
make her report and didn't come back?"
Tenchi could tell by Washu's expression that she didn't like
this idea at all. "The other girls would feel extremely upset for
one."
Tenchi didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but knew that
it was that reluctance that had gotten him into the mess he was in
now, not to mention had ruined his chances for happiness in the
last experiments he had tried. "Yes, they'd be hurt and probably
angry at first, but letting them down easy didn't work before.
Maybe this way they'll get over me."
"I really don't know about this, Tenchi." Washu sounded
extremely reluctant, but Tenchi couldn't be sure if the thought of
Mihoshi was clouding her judgment.
"Come on Washu, there'll be no harm in trying this."
Washu nodded as she started up the machine again. "If you
say so Tenchi, but I don't think you've given this enough thought.
Don't be surprised when it doesn't work."
Tenchi nodded as his world dissolved in a flash of light.
"Tenchi, are you all right?" He heard Mihoshi say to him.
Tenchi opened his eyes as he recovered from the slight
wave of dizziness that was the only side effect of Washu's
machine. He marveled at how precise it was. Mihoshi now stood
before him in her black dress uniform, her blue eyes wide in
concern for him. Behind her, her shuttle lay in the placid lake as
the sun set behind it. Sasami and Ryo-oki were at his side, also
looking up at him with worried expressions. This was the exact
moment which he wanted to change. "I'm fine, really. Just a little
dizzy there for a moment."
Mihoshi nodded and straightened up. "Tenchi, thanks for
everything. I'll never forget the time that I spent here," she told
him with a smile that had much more of an effect on him now, then
when this had first happened. He was surprised on how sad and
wistful a smile could look.
"Mihoshi, are you really going home?" Sasami asked, her
young voice filled with emotion. Tenchi had forgotten that he
hadn't been the only one who had been reluctant to see the GP
officer go.
"I have to, because of my work," Mihoshi replied
regretfully, looking down at her hands.
"No, I don't want you to!" Sasami suddenly shouted,
grabbing hold of Mihoshi's hands as she began to cry.
Before Sasami's tears, Mihoshi's professional facade
crumbled. "I'm sorry, Sasami. I don't want to . . . I don't . . ." she
said as her own tears began.
"Sasami, please don't be difficult," Tenchi told her, this
time to make it more easy on him then on Mihoshi for what he was
planning to do. He didn't want to think of how much it would hurt
this little girl when both he and Mihoshi left her behind.
"But Tenchi," Sasami said, giving Tenchi a hug that only
made him feel more guilty. His resolve was firm, however. If he
didn't do this, nothing would change, and no one could be happy.
"Mihoshi, would it be better if I went with you?" Tenchi
asked her, hiding a slight smile.
"What?" Mihoshi said in some surprise, blinking away her
tears.
"I thought that I'd go with you. I've always wanted to see
the galaxy and who knows? Might even want to join the Galaxy
Police."
"Really?" Mihoshi asked, her eyes sparkling.
Tenchi nodded with a smile. "Yes, really."
"I'm so happy!" Mihoshi practically shouted and danced
around.
"No!" Sasami shouted, tightening her hug on Tenchi. "You
can't leave me too, Tenchi!" "Miya, miya!" chimed in Ryo-oki
with her own protests.
Tenchi looked down to her young face, tears flowing freely
from his eyes, and said the first thing that came to his mind, "Why
don't you come with us, Sasami?"
"I can? Really?" she asked, sounding very excited.
Tenchi had the feeling that he had just made a big mistake,
but he couldn't take back his words before her hopeful expression.
Not trusting himself to speak, he simply nodded.
"Wow, it's going to be so much fun!" Sasami shouted in
glee.
"Yes, it will," Mihoshi added with a joyful giggle.
Tenchi nodded and said, "But we have to leave now or
everyone else will want to come too. That means leaving
everything you have behind. Except Ryo-oki, of course."
Mihoshi added, "Oh, I still have some old outfits that
should fit Sasami pretty well. I really have no idea why my father
packed them for me. But what about you, Tenchi?"
Tenchi realized then that it might have been better if he had
jumped in sometime before this moment so he could have spent
some time packing, but then again that might have given his whole
plan away. *Well, there's no time to worry about that now.*
"I'll be fine," he told them. "I can pick up some things on
the way. I think we should leave right now, though."
Mihoshi nodded and they quickly boarded the shuttle.
"Bye bye now, don't come back for a long time," Aeka and
Ryoko said simultaneously as they watched the shuttle take off.
Moments later, after the lake water had settled down again, they
realized something was wrong.
"Hey, where's Tenchi?" Ryoko asked as she looked out to
where the boy had stood only minutes ago.
"And Sasami as well," Aeka added, studying the same spot.
The former space pirate turned to face the crown princess
of Jurai. "You don't think..?"
"That Mihoshi would kidnap Tenchi and Sasami?" Aeka
asked and laughed. "I certainly doubt that. She is a Galaxy Police
officer, after all."
"I don't know. She's been awfully friendly to my Tenchi
lately and some people will do anything to get what they want."
Aeka had noticed Ryoko referring to him as 'her' Tenchi, so
she asked with some venom, "If that's true, then why didn't you
kidnap Tenchi some time ago?"
"Honestly? I never thought of it before. Well, I did try
something like that before and it didn't work out, thanks to you.
Either way, I'm going to stop that shuttle. Come, Ryo-oki!"
The both waited for some time in silence, but the cabbit
failed to appear.
"Damn it!" Ryoko shouted. "I can't sense her, so she must
be out of range."
"I would seem that Mihoshi kidnapped Ryo-oki as well."
"How can you be so calm about this? She kidnapped
Tenchi!"
"And Sasami," Aeka added.
"Yeah, and your own sister! How can you be so calm,
especially when my ship is gone and it'll be years before your ship
will fly again?"
"It's simple, we ask Washu. She must have some way of
following them."
Without a word, Ryoko rushed off to Washu's lab, Aeka
following close behind.
Washu sat calmly as Ryoko and Aeka took turns in
explaining to her what had happened. By this time, neither of them
were calm.
"I see. Well, there is something I can do--"
Aeka jumped in. "I knew there would be, after all you are
the number one genius scientist in the universe."
"True, but as I was saying, there is something I can do, but
it's going to take time to set up. And I'd finish it much faster
without the two of you in the way."
"But she'll get away with Tenchi!" Ryoko protested.
"Don't worry, Ryoko dear. With my invention, it won't
matter how far away they are. After all, I am a scientific genius!"
Ryoko and Aeka were forced to wait outside Washu's lab
until she called for them. They both showed an amazing amount of
patience, for them at least, but after three hours and no sign of
Washu, that patience was completely exhausted.
Ryoko burst into the lab with Aeka following close behind.
What they saw shocked them speechless. The lab was now mostly
empty. In fact, entire portions of the lab were simply missing. The
only room that remained was where Ryu-oh was growing.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Ryoko shouted as
electricity arched between her hands.
Too stunned to speak, Aeka handed Ryoko a note that she
had just found on the door. It read "Went after Tenchi. Love,
Washu. PS, try not to blow up the house while I'm gone."
Their screams of outrage could be heard from far away.
At the nearby Masaki shrine, Katsuhito wondered what all
the commotion was about, but was confident that he would find out
soon enough.
"Yukinojo? I'd like for you to meet Tenchi and Sasami."
"Miya."
Mihoshi giggled. "And of course, Ryo-oki."
Yukinojo bowed, or at least as much a bow as a robot head
could manage. "A pleasure to meet you all. But Mihoshi, why are
they here?"
"Why are they here? To come with us, of course."
"With us?" the robot asked, blinking in surprise.
Mihoshi, finally realizing that her guests have been
standing for the last ten minutes, took out her control cube. "Now,
I know there was a way to configure the bridge for three people,"
she said as she started fiddling with it.
Tenchi was surprised by the cup of coffee that suddenly
appeared in his hands. He was happy that it came with a saucer
because it was steaming hot. Ryo-oki had to quickly dodge out of
the way when one of the compartments above her suddenly opened
up and dumped out all of its contents. Sasami had instantly
become the proud possessor of a battery-powered portable grill. "I
can make grilled fish on this!" she enthused.
"Quarter turn of the right side," Yukinojo instructed once it
had figured out her purpose. "And then turn the top 18 degrees."
Mihoshi did as she was instructed and the modular bridge
began to move around, with two additional seats coming up from
the floor. "There, I did it!" she said happily.
"You certainly did," Tenchi replied as he took a seat and a
sip of the coffee. He had never really drank coffee before, but this
was rather good.
Sasami took her own seat, with Ryo-oki perched on her
head and the hibachi slung across her lap.
"We will be docking with the main ship shortly," Yukinojo
announced.
They only felt a slight jarring sensation, like the echo of a
far-away earthquake, before Yukinojo said, "Docking with the
main ship complete."
"Great," Mihoshi told her robotic assistant. "Then let's
make our report."
The robot head sweat-dropped. "Mihoshi, there are
currently three unauthorized personal on the bridge. It is against
Galaxy Police regulations to talk about sensitive matters like your
report in front of them. I suggest that they wait in one of the rooms
of the main ship."
"It's okay, Yukinojo. There were there for everything I'm
going to report on anyway."
"I don't want you to get into any sort of trouble, Mihoshi,"
Tenchi told her. " Sasami and I can wait in your room or
something. It'll be no problem."
"Okay, I'll show you all to my room. You could watch TV
there if you want. Us GP officers get Galactic TV for free. My
report should only take a few minutes anyway."
Mihoshi lead them down the main corridor of the ship a
short ways until they reached a room that had a sign proclaiming
"Mihoshi" in badly drawn characters and little yellow stars all
around it.
Tenchi and Sasami were more than a little surprised by
what they found inside. Mihoshi's home at the Masaki residence
was never what one would call clean, though she did make a
weekly effort to keep it in shape. This room looked like it had
never been cleaned at all. It was filled with a vast assortment of
both mundane and strange objects that seemed to be scattered
about at random. The only things that were relatively clear were
the bed in the center, the TV up against one wall, and the open
closet on the other.
"Okay, you just sit and rest here. I'll be right back,"
Mihoshi told them, then went back to the bridge.
Tenchi sat down on the bed, only blushing slightly when he
realized that this was Mihoshi's bed that he was now sitting on. To
distract himself from hentai thoughts, he switched on the TV and
started flipping through the channels with the remote that he had
found. Some shows seemed pretty interesting, though he hadn't
found one in any language that he understood so far.
Meanwhile, Sasami was going around the room, tidying up
things as best she could while she thought of all the exciting
adventures that awaited them. Ryo-oki did her best to help at first,
but seeing there wasn't much a cabbit could do, settled down to
watch TV with Tenchi.
Looking up from an odd show staring two penguin-like
aliens, Tenchi noticed that the room was now much neater than it
had been minutes ago. Sasami was currently hanging up a few of
Mihoshi's sweaters in the closet. "Wow Sasami, you've really
cleaned this place up fast."
Sasami blushed a little with the compliment. "It was
nothing, Tenchi. After all, Mihoshi is letting us travel the galaxy
with her."
"Yeah, I was thinking about that. Sasami, how closely tied
to Jurai is the Galaxy Police?"
"Pretty close. Mihoshi needed Jurai's permission just to
enter the solar system."
"I thought so. That means that people will recognize your
name as a princess of the planet Jurai and try to take you home."
"But I want to stay with you, Tenchi!"
Tenchi had hoped that she would want to go home, but he
would miss her company if she were gone. "Okay, then you need
an alias. A name that we can call you so people don't know who
you really are."
Sasami thought about this for a while. "How about . . .
Sammy?"
Tenchi didn't think that it was much of a change, but both
Sasami and Ryo-oki seemed to like the name very much. "All
right, you'll be Sammy. I'll be Tenchi Amagasaki, since people
might recognize the name 'Masaki.'"
"Then what will be my last name, Tenchi?"
"Hmm . . . I guess you can use Amagasaki as well. You
can be my little sister."
"All right! I like that idea, Tenchi."
Just then, Mihoshi came back in the room. "Wow, what
happened here?"
"Sasami decided to tidy up the place for you, Mihoshi,"
Tenchi told here.
"Thanks so much, Sasami."
"You're welcome, but my name is Sammy now."
"Huh?" Mihoshi looked very confused.
Tenchi explained, "Sasami and I don't want to attract any
attention from Jurai, so we decided to use the names Sammy and
Tenchi Amagasaki for now."
"Oh, I get it. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Hey,
maybe I should think of an alias too. How about..."
"Miya?" Ryo-oki said.
"Yes, Mia could be my alias."
Tenchi and Sasami sweat-dropped. "Mihoshi, you don't
need an alias since you're not related to the Jurai royal family."
"Oh, that's right, though I could be..."
Feeling that Mihoshi was starting to move a little too fast
for his tastes, Tenchi changed the subject. "So where are we
headed, Mihoshi?"
"We'll be going to see my grandfather first. I haven't seen
him for some time. He really wants to meet you, Tenchi!"
"Your grandfather?" Tenchi asked nervously. He knew the
whole purpose of doing this was to start a relationship with
Mihoshi, but he didn't feel ready to meet any of her relatives yet.
Things were going a little faster than he had expected.
In deep space, far from these events, a husband and wife
team of salvage operators had found more than they had bargained
for on a recently discovered wreck.
The woman was investigating the intact portion of the ship
while her husband was rounding up the more valuable loose pieces
with their shuttle. This was standard procedure for them since he
had the brute strength and she had the talent for firearms. Though
she rarely had to draw the blaster that she wore on her hip, there
were some very dangerous things to be found on old hulks like
this. Violent aliens, mutated animals, malfunctioning auto-defense
systems. She had earned a scar from a clawed, mad alien once, but
her husband had only said that it gave her face character. She was
a woman prepared for anything, except what she had found.
Near the center of the ship was a malnourished young
woman in a tattered GP uniform. Her hair had been cut ragged and
short and her skin was very pale. The salvager bent down to make
sure that she was still alive.
Immediately, the green-haired woman sprang up and had a
blaster pointed at the salvager's face. Despite the fact that she was
breathing hard and she looked ready to collapse any moment, the
blaster didn't waver in the slightest.
"Mihoshi?" the GP officer asked in a scratchy voice, her
voice a mixture of hope and terror.
"Who?" the woman responded, too surprised to pull her
own blaster.
"Who are you then?" she demanded.
"Calm down. I'm just a salvager here to make some money
off of this wreck. I don't mean you any harm. We didn't even
know anybody was here."
"Oh, good," the teal-haired officer said and then collapsed
on the floor.
The woman took out her radio. "Pa?"
"Yeah, ma?" her husband responded.
"Bring the shuttle around here. I need your help in carrying
a girl I just found here back to the ship. She looks half-dead so I
want to feed her to our med unit pronto. Strange thing is, she's
wearing a Galaxy Police uniform."
"Galaxy Police? Will do."
(Tenchi Story Arc: Mihoshi)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://Ammadeau.tripod.com/fanfiction.htm
Any C&C, comments, or questions would be appreciated.
Part of the Tenchi Story Arc, originally created by Robert Ballet.
Part 1
Washu and Tenchi were sitting around her lab, discussing
his latest failure. Or rather Washu was sitting while Tenchi was
still strapped to her machine. Tenchi had tried making changes to
the past so he could settle down with Ryoko or Aeka, but neither
world had worked out in the end, much to his frustration. There
was always something he didn't think of that ended up ruining
everything.
"You know, Tenchi," Washu told him after taking a sip of
tea. "Those weren't the only changes you could have made. There
are probably several other alterations that would have left you
happy with either Ryoko or Aeka, perhaps even both."
Tenchi shivered a little at the suggestion. He had a hard
enough time dealing with one, both would be too much for him to
handle. "I don't know Washu, they're both so much that I don't
think I'd be able to survive that, and besides, I can't think of
anything else to try and win one of them right now. Maybe I
should try for someone a little more normal, like Mihoshi."
A frown crossed Washu's face. Tenchi wasn't very
surprised; he knew that the diminutive genius and the galaxy police
officer didn't get along very well. "There's nothing normal about
Mihoshi."
"Maybe, but at least she doesn't have the power to blow up
the house a dozen times over."
"Need I remind you of a little incident involving Mihoshi
and a her shuttle? Believe me, Mihoshi is dangerous enough with
the power that she has."
Tenchi did remember when Mishoshi had crashed her
shuttle into the lake. It was a good thing Washu was around the
repair the house so quickly or his father would have had a fit.
Mihoshi had come back sooner than any of them had expected, just
because he had said that she could. He remembered how her
whole face had lit up when he had said that. It was the first real
time that he knew that Mihoshi had some feelings for him. He also
remembered not being upset at the house being leveled, mainly
because he could see her again. So maybe he had some feelings for
her too.
Tenchi had also sometimes wondered what being a Galaxy
Police officer would be like. At heart, all he wanted was a simple
life on Earth, but that didn't mean that a part of him didn't ponder
how it would be to right wrongs out among the stars. He wondered
how different his life would have been had he gone with her to
make that report rather than inviting her to return. "Wait, that's it!"
"What's it, Tenchi?"
"Washu, what if I had gone with Mihoshi when she left to
make her report and didn't come back?"
Tenchi could tell by Washu's expression that she didn't like
this idea at all. "The other girls would feel extremely upset for
one."
Tenchi didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but knew that
it was that reluctance that had gotten him into the mess he was in
now, not to mention had ruined his chances for happiness in the
last experiments he had tried. "Yes, they'd be hurt and probably
angry at first, but letting them down easy didn't work before.
Maybe this way they'll get over me."
"I really don't know about this, Tenchi." Washu sounded
extremely reluctant, but Tenchi couldn't be sure if the thought of
Mihoshi was clouding her judgment.
"Come on Washu, there'll be no harm in trying this."
Washu nodded as she started up the machine again. "If you
say so Tenchi, but I don't think you've given this enough thought.
Don't be surprised when it doesn't work."
Tenchi nodded as his world dissolved in a flash of light.
"Tenchi, are you all right?" He heard Mihoshi say to him.
Tenchi opened his eyes as he recovered from the slight
wave of dizziness that was the only side effect of Washu's
machine. He marveled at how precise it was. Mihoshi now stood
before him in her black dress uniform, her blue eyes wide in
concern for him. Behind her, her shuttle lay in the placid lake as
the sun set behind it. Sasami and Ryo-oki were at his side, also
looking up at him with worried expressions. This was the exact
moment which he wanted to change. "I'm fine, really. Just a little
dizzy there for a moment."
Mihoshi nodded and straightened up. "Tenchi, thanks for
everything. I'll never forget the time that I spent here," she told
him with a smile that had much more of an effect on him now, then
when this had first happened. He was surprised on how sad and
wistful a smile could look.
"Mihoshi, are you really going home?" Sasami asked, her
young voice filled with emotion. Tenchi had forgotten that he
hadn't been the only one who had been reluctant to see the GP
officer go.
"I have to, because of my work," Mihoshi replied
regretfully, looking down at her hands.
"No, I don't want you to!" Sasami suddenly shouted,
grabbing hold of Mihoshi's hands as she began to cry.
Before Sasami's tears, Mihoshi's professional facade
crumbled. "I'm sorry, Sasami. I don't want to . . . I don't . . ." she
said as her own tears began.
"Sasami, please don't be difficult," Tenchi told her, this
time to make it more easy on him then on Mihoshi for what he was
planning to do. He didn't want to think of how much it would hurt
this little girl when both he and Mihoshi left her behind.
"But Tenchi," Sasami said, giving Tenchi a hug that only
made him feel more guilty. His resolve was firm, however. If he
didn't do this, nothing would change, and no one could be happy.
"Mihoshi, would it be better if I went with you?" Tenchi
asked her, hiding a slight smile.
"What?" Mihoshi said in some surprise, blinking away her
tears.
"I thought that I'd go with you. I've always wanted to see
the galaxy and who knows? Might even want to join the Galaxy
Police."
"Really?" Mihoshi asked, her eyes sparkling.
Tenchi nodded with a smile. "Yes, really."
"I'm so happy!" Mihoshi practically shouted and danced
around.
"No!" Sasami shouted, tightening her hug on Tenchi. "You
can't leave me too, Tenchi!" "Miya, miya!" chimed in Ryo-oki
with her own protests.
Tenchi looked down to her young face, tears flowing freely
from his eyes, and said the first thing that came to his mind, "Why
don't you come with us, Sasami?"
"I can? Really?" she asked, sounding very excited.
Tenchi had the feeling that he had just made a big mistake,
but he couldn't take back his words before her hopeful expression.
Not trusting himself to speak, he simply nodded.
"Wow, it's going to be so much fun!" Sasami shouted in
glee.
"Yes, it will," Mihoshi added with a joyful giggle.
Tenchi nodded and said, "But we have to leave now or
everyone else will want to come too. That means leaving
everything you have behind. Except Ryo-oki, of course."
Mihoshi added, "Oh, I still have some old outfits that
should fit Sasami pretty well. I really have no idea why my father
packed them for me. But what about you, Tenchi?"
Tenchi realized then that it might have been better if he had
jumped in sometime before this moment so he could have spent
some time packing, but then again that might have given his whole
plan away. *Well, there's no time to worry about that now.*
"I'll be fine," he told them. "I can pick up some things on
the way. I think we should leave right now, though."
Mihoshi nodded and they quickly boarded the shuttle.
"Bye bye now, don't come back for a long time," Aeka and
Ryoko said simultaneously as they watched the shuttle take off.
Moments later, after the lake water had settled down again, they
realized something was wrong.
"Hey, where's Tenchi?" Ryoko asked as she looked out to
where the boy had stood only minutes ago.
"And Sasami as well," Aeka added, studying the same spot.
The former space pirate turned to face the crown princess
of Jurai. "You don't think..?"
"That Mihoshi would kidnap Tenchi and Sasami?" Aeka
asked and laughed. "I certainly doubt that. She is a Galaxy Police
officer, after all."
"I don't know. She's been awfully friendly to my Tenchi
lately and some people will do anything to get what they want."
Aeka had noticed Ryoko referring to him as 'her' Tenchi, so
she asked with some venom, "If that's true, then why didn't you
kidnap Tenchi some time ago?"
"Honestly? I never thought of it before. Well, I did try
something like that before and it didn't work out, thanks to you.
Either way, I'm going to stop that shuttle. Come, Ryo-oki!"
The both waited for some time in silence, but the cabbit
failed to appear.
"Damn it!" Ryoko shouted. "I can't sense her, so she must
be out of range."
"I would seem that Mihoshi kidnapped Ryo-oki as well."
"How can you be so calm about this? She kidnapped
Tenchi!"
"And Sasami," Aeka added.
"Yeah, and your own sister! How can you be so calm,
especially when my ship is gone and it'll be years before your ship
will fly again?"
"It's simple, we ask Washu. She must have some way of
following them."
Without a word, Ryoko rushed off to Washu's lab, Aeka
following close behind.
Washu sat calmly as Ryoko and Aeka took turns in
explaining to her what had happened. By this time, neither of them
were calm.
"I see. Well, there is something I can do--"
Aeka jumped in. "I knew there would be, after all you are
the number one genius scientist in the universe."
"True, but as I was saying, there is something I can do, but
it's going to take time to set up. And I'd finish it much faster
without the two of you in the way."
"But she'll get away with Tenchi!" Ryoko protested.
"Don't worry, Ryoko dear. With my invention, it won't
matter how far away they are. After all, I am a scientific genius!"
Ryoko and Aeka were forced to wait outside Washu's lab
until she called for them. They both showed an amazing amount of
patience, for them at least, but after three hours and no sign of
Washu, that patience was completely exhausted.
Ryoko burst into the lab with Aeka following close behind.
What they saw shocked them speechless. The lab was now mostly
empty. In fact, entire portions of the lab were simply missing. The
only room that remained was where Ryu-oh was growing.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Ryoko shouted as
electricity arched between her hands.
Too stunned to speak, Aeka handed Ryoko a note that she
had just found on the door. It read "Went after Tenchi. Love,
Washu. PS, try not to blow up the house while I'm gone."
Their screams of outrage could be heard from far away.
At the nearby Masaki shrine, Katsuhito wondered what all
the commotion was about, but was confident that he would find out
soon enough.
"Yukinojo? I'd like for you to meet Tenchi and Sasami."
"Miya."
Mihoshi giggled. "And of course, Ryo-oki."
Yukinojo bowed, or at least as much a bow as a robot head
could manage. "A pleasure to meet you all. But Mihoshi, why are
they here?"
"Why are they here? To come with us, of course."
"With us?" the robot asked, blinking in surprise.
Mihoshi, finally realizing that her guests have been
standing for the last ten minutes, took out her control cube. "Now,
I know there was a way to configure the bridge for three people,"
she said as she started fiddling with it.
Tenchi was surprised by the cup of coffee that suddenly
appeared in his hands. He was happy that it came with a saucer
because it was steaming hot. Ryo-oki had to quickly dodge out of
the way when one of the compartments above her suddenly opened
up and dumped out all of its contents. Sasami had instantly
become the proud possessor of a battery-powered portable grill. "I
can make grilled fish on this!" she enthused.
"Quarter turn of the right side," Yukinojo instructed once it
had figured out her purpose. "And then turn the top 18 degrees."
Mihoshi did as she was instructed and the modular bridge
began to move around, with two additional seats coming up from
the floor. "There, I did it!" she said happily.
"You certainly did," Tenchi replied as he took a seat and a
sip of the coffee. He had never really drank coffee before, but this
was rather good.
Sasami took her own seat, with Ryo-oki perched on her
head and the hibachi slung across her lap.
"We will be docking with the main ship shortly," Yukinojo
announced.
They only felt a slight jarring sensation, like the echo of a
far-away earthquake, before Yukinojo said, "Docking with the
main ship complete."
"Great," Mihoshi told her robotic assistant. "Then let's
make our report."
The robot head sweat-dropped. "Mihoshi, there are
currently three unauthorized personal on the bridge. It is against
Galaxy Police regulations to talk about sensitive matters like your
report in front of them. I suggest that they wait in one of the rooms
of the main ship."
"It's okay, Yukinojo. There were there for everything I'm
going to report on anyway."
"I don't want you to get into any sort of trouble, Mihoshi,"
Tenchi told her. " Sasami and I can wait in your room or
something. It'll be no problem."
"Okay, I'll show you all to my room. You could watch TV
there if you want. Us GP officers get Galactic TV for free. My
report should only take a few minutes anyway."
Mihoshi lead them down the main corridor of the ship a
short ways until they reached a room that had a sign proclaiming
"Mihoshi" in badly drawn characters and little yellow stars all
around it.
Tenchi and Sasami were more than a little surprised by
what they found inside. Mihoshi's home at the Masaki residence
was never what one would call clean, though she did make a
weekly effort to keep it in shape. This room looked like it had
never been cleaned at all. It was filled with a vast assortment of
both mundane and strange objects that seemed to be scattered
about at random. The only things that were relatively clear were
the bed in the center, the TV up against one wall, and the open
closet on the other.
"Okay, you just sit and rest here. I'll be right back,"
Mihoshi told them, then went back to the bridge.
Tenchi sat down on the bed, only blushing slightly when he
realized that this was Mihoshi's bed that he was now sitting on. To
distract himself from hentai thoughts, he switched on the TV and
started flipping through the channels with the remote that he had
found. Some shows seemed pretty interesting, though he hadn't
found one in any language that he understood so far.
Meanwhile, Sasami was going around the room, tidying up
things as best she could while she thought of all the exciting
adventures that awaited them. Ryo-oki did her best to help at first,
but seeing there wasn't much a cabbit could do, settled down to
watch TV with Tenchi.
Looking up from an odd show staring two penguin-like
aliens, Tenchi noticed that the room was now much neater than it
had been minutes ago. Sasami was currently hanging up a few of
Mihoshi's sweaters in the closet. "Wow Sasami, you've really
cleaned this place up fast."
Sasami blushed a little with the compliment. "It was
nothing, Tenchi. After all, Mihoshi is letting us travel the galaxy
with her."
"Yeah, I was thinking about that. Sasami, how closely tied
to Jurai is the Galaxy Police?"
"Pretty close. Mihoshi needed Jurai's permission just to
enter the solar system."
"I thought so. That means that people will recognize your
name as a princess of the planet Jurai and try to take you home."
"But I want to stay with you, Tenchi!"
Tenchi had hoped that she would want to go home, but he
would miss her company if she were gone. "Okay, then you need
an alias. A name that we can call you so people don't know who
you really are."
Sasami thought about this for a while. "How about . . .
Sammy?"
Tenchi didn't think that it was much of a change, but both
Sasami and Ryo-oki seemed to like the name very much. "All
right, you'll be Sammy. I'll be Tenchi Amagasaki, since people
might recognize the name 'Masaki.'"
"Then what will be my last name, Tenchi?"
"Hmm . . . I guess you can use Amagasaki as well. You
can be my little sister."
"All right! I like that idea, Tenchi."
Just then, Mihoshi came back in the room. "Wow, what
happened here?"
"Sasami decided to tidy up the place for you, Mihoshi,"
Tenchi told here.
"Thanks so much, Sasami."
"You're welcome, but my name is Sammy now."
"Huh?" Mihoshi looked very confused.
Tenchi explained, "Sasami and I don't want to attract any
attention from Jurai, so we decided to use the names Sammy and
Tenchi Amagasaki for now."
"Oh, I get it. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Hey,
maybe I should think of an alias too. How about..."
"Miya?" Ryo-oki said.
"Yes, Mia could be my alias."
Tenchi and Sasami sweat-dropped. "Mihoshi, you don't
need an alias since you're not related to the Jurai royal family."
"Oh, that's right, though I could be..."
Feeling that Mihoshi was starting to move a little too fast
for his tastes, Tenchi changed the subject. "So where are we
headed, Mihoshi?"
"We'll be going to see my grandfather first. I haven't seen
him for some time. He really wants to meet you, Tenchi!"
"Your grandfather?" Tenchi asked nervously. He knew the
whole purpose of doing this was to start a relationship with
Mihoshi, but he didn't feel ready to meet any of her relatives yet.
Things were going a little faster than he had expected.
In deep space, far from these events, a husband and wife
team of salvage operators had found more than they had bargained
for on a recently discovered wreck.
The woman was investigating the intact portion of the ship
while her husband was rounding up the more valuable loose pieces
with their shuttle. This was standard procedure for them since he
had the brute strength and she had the talent for firearms. Though
she rarely had to draw the blaster that she wore on her hip, there
were some very dangerous things to be found on old hulks like
this. Violent aliens, mutated animals, malfunctioning auto-defense
systems. She had earned a scar from a clawed, mad alien once, but
her husband had only said that it gave her face character. She was
a woman prepared for anything, except what she had found.
Near the center of the ship was a malnourished young
woman in a tattered GP uniform. Her hair had been cut ragged and
short and her skin was very pale. The salvager bent down to make
sure that she was still alive.
Immediately, the green-haired woman sprang up and had a
blaster pointed at the salvager's face. Despite the fact that she was
breathing hard and she looked ready to collapse any moment, the
blaster didn't waver in the slightest.
"Mihoshi?" the GP officer asked in a scratchy voice, her
voice a mixture of hope and terror.
"Who?" the woman responded, too surprised to pull her
own blaster.
"Who are you then?" she demanded.
"Calm down. I'm just a salvager here to make some money
off of this wreck. I don't mean you any harm. We didn't even
know anybody was here."
"Oh, good," the teal-haired officer said and then collapsed
on the floor.
The woman took out her radio. "Pa?"
"Yeah, ma?" her husband responded.
"Bring the shuttle around here. I need your help in carrying
a girl I just found here back to the ship. She looks half-dead so I
want to feed her to our med unit pronto. Strange thing is, she's
wearing a Galaxy Police uniform."
"Galaxy Police? Will do."