Many years after all the girls have left Earth, Tenchi Masaki is a graduate student in Tokyo. He lives a normal, relaxed life, but all that is about to change... again. He and his friends are about to discover the Power of Love.
NOTES: The characters and polts in this story are taken from Tenchi Muyo Ryo-ohki OAV, Tenchi TV series (Universe) and Shin Tenchi Muyo (Tenchi in Tokyo) and all mushed together. Some rules set down by these three different versions of Tenchi's life have been bent. It's mostly from the OAV.
Part One
Sasami dumped a bag of
groceries down on a counter and closed the door to her tiny apartment
with her foot. She took off her jacket and hung it up on a hook.
Under this, she was wearing a pair of white pants and a white
shirt which were both smeared with food stains. The light of
a flashing neon sign illuminated the apartment alternately red
and yellow.
"Whoo," she sighed.
"What a long day!"
The LED clock over the stove
read 12:14. She put the perishables in the fridge and took out
a soda. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied the tell-tale
flashing of the message light on her answering machine. Sasami
put the soda down and took the elastics out her hair.
"Lemme guess,"
she smiled and hit the button.
*Boop* "Hey Sasami-chan,
It's me, Tenchi..."
"Duh," she giggled
and brushed out her long, light blue hair.
"I know you don't get
off work till late tonight, but if it's before midnight, gimme
a call, ok? Oh, and if you don't have to do breakfast this week,
maybe we could get together tomorrow morning? Welp, talk to ya
later..." *Boop*
"Aw," she pouted.
"Fifteen minutes late." She sipped her soda and laid
back on her futon. "Breakfast it is."
A foreign sound from the
corner of the room put her on guard. Sasami's eyes opened and
she sat up straight.
"Is someone there..?"
she asked in a shaky voice. Her nerves were on end. She KNEW
there was someone or something in the semi-darkened room. Perhaps
behind the drapes, or crouched just around the corner of the
dresser...
She didn't expect that he was just right there, against the wall,
standing there like he owned the place.
"YOU!" she shouted,
terrified.
His teeth gleamed in the
neon glow as he grinned and rushed forward at an inhuman speed.
Sasami didn't have time to
scream.
*
Tenchi woke at eight and
decided to go over to Sasami's. He knew that no matter how late
she worked at the restaurant, she woke early and would no doubt
be making breakfast by now. The morning was crisp and cool and
the sun shone brightly. He stuffed his hands into his jacket
pockets and grinned.
Tenchi's first class wasn't
until eleven that day. He figured he could hang out with Sasami
and see her off to work before then. Being a graduate student
was great. He could work at the Tokyo shrine and study without
having to have a full time job.
Sasami loved her job. And
she was doing very well in it. She'd always been an good cook,
but as a chef, she was excellent. Chef Sasami Jurai was in high
demand at restaurants all over Japan, and her recent appearance
and victory on the Densetsu Shefu Television Show had spawned
calls requesting her skills from Europe and America.
Just ahead at an intersection,
traffic had come to a standstill and people were crowding around
a street corner. In the center of this a public address system
called out. Tenchi raised a brow, and as this disturbance was
on his way, he checked it out.
With a terrible sinking feeling, he started to make out what
the address was saying.
"Tenchi-sama, where
are you? We need your help!"
He rushed to the scene and
pushed his way to the front of the crowd.
"Wha!?!" he cried.
Standing in the middle of
all the people were two, tall, wooden structures.
"Azaka!? Kamadake!?
What are you doing here?!"
"Lord Tenchi!"
the guardians shouted and turned their attention to him. "We
were looking for you!"
"I see that! Shhhhhh!"
he shushed them. "Please stop! You're making a scene!"
"Tenchi-sama!"
a female voice cried from behind. Tenchi spun and almost fell
over. "How are you?" she asked.
Aeka was in her finest, more
extravagant, royal traveling attire and people all around her
gawked at the sight.
"Uh, pretty good. Can
we maybe.. go indoors..." he motioned to the crowd.
"Oh! certainly!"
she smiled and with a gesture shrunk Azaka and Kamadake down
to pocket size. "Shall we?" Aeka asked and took Tenchi's
arm.
He wasn't surprised by Her Highness's forwardness and waved to
the populace as they departed. "That's all folks, show's
over! Haha!" he laughed nervously.
"Aw, see I told you
it was a theater thing," some of the people muttered to
each other as they dispersed. "What a rip."
*
The teapot screamed. Tenchi
poured his guest a cup of green tea and sat cross-legged in front
of her. Aeka sipped her drink casually.
"So," he began.
"What have you been up to, Aeka?"
"I've been quite busy,
and actually, I cannot stay long, Lord Tenchi. You see, I'm in
training to become Queen."
"Wow, that's great!"
"And, Lord Tenchi, you
know that I will always love you..."
Tenchi swallowed hard. He
had wondered when she would get on this track.
"But, I've been married
now for almost five years."
"WHAT!?" he asked,
flabbergasted. "I mean, wow, congratulations, Aeka! Are
you happy together?"
"Oh yes, very!"
she chimed." Rikai-sama and I are quite happy.. But..."
Her polite smile fell. Aeka put her tea cup down. 'Lord Tenchi,
I came her to ask you if you have seen Sasami."
Tenchi bit his lip and thought
carefully. "Why? Has something happened to her?" He
hoped he could hide the truth from her without flat out lying.
As far as he knew, Sasami had fled Jurai and did not want to
talk to Aeka, and even if he felt that she should, only Sasami
could make the decision to break the silence.
"She's missing."
His eyes bulged. "But..
er, what happened?" 'Missing?' he thought.
"Well, that's the official
status. Actually, Sasami ran away!"
Inwardly Tenchi breathed
a sigh of relief. That sounded more like the right story. "How
long has she been gone?"
"Three and a half years..."
"And you're only looking
for her now? What happened, Aeka?" He was very interested
to hear her side of the story.
The princesses stood and
went to the solitary window. "Well, when we returned to
Jurai, many things had changed..."
*-*
Aeka sat on a stone bench
in the outdoor classroom. Two enwisened Juraijin: her mother,
Misaki and aunt, Funao, spoke to her about the duties she would
have as queen. It would be centuries perhaps before she would
have to ascend the throne, but as the first in line, her lessons
began as soon as she was married.
They finished the day's lesson
and Aeka stood up. She spied a figure moving toward them in the
distance and excused herself. Aeka ran to him and he stopped
and opened his arms.
"Rikai-sama!" she
called and hugged him tightly.
"Good afternoon, Aeka
no Ojasama. And how did your day pass?" he asked politely.
"Very well, thank you,"
she grinned.
Rikai bowed his head and
kissed her gently on the lips.
*
"But Aeka..." Sasami
whined.
"No more 'buts', Sasami,"
her sister scolded as she arranged her hair in a ceremonial way.
"He's so creepy..."
"I thought Rikai was
creepy when I first met him and look how happy we are now!"
"You thought Rikai was
a stubborn snob when you first met him..." she corrected.
Aeka yanked Sasami's hair
a little which shut her up.
"Anyway. You must do
what you must do for Jurai. Our feelings do not matter."
Sasami jerked her head out
of her hands. "You're only saying that because you're happy!
You don't know Kososhi! There's something not right about him!
And besides, how can I marry someone I don't love?!"
Aeka had had a long day and
she was tired of her sister's whining. "Sasami, enough.
You must do as you must! I will hear no more of this dissension
from someone with royal responsibilities!"
"But Aeka!" she
moaned.
To Sasami's surprise, Aeka
reeled back and smacked her across the face. Shocked, she held
her quickly reddening cheek and jumped to her feet.
Aeka looked surprised as
well. "Sasami, I..."
Tears sprung from her eyes
and the younger princess ran out of the room.
"Sasami!..."
*_*
Aeka hung her head. "She
left that night. I found a note that said that she didn't want
to be a princess anymore and did not want to be found. The tone
was rather nasty, especially for Sasami and made me so angry
that I told everyone that she had gone on vacation. It's been
three and a half years now and I'm beginning to think that she's
never coming back or that she may be in trouble!"
Tenchi bit his lip.
"Have you seen her since
we left or heard anything, Tenchi?"
He shook his head. "I'll
let you know as soon as I do, I promise."
She sighed. "I feel
awful," The hurt look on her face tore at Tenchi. Just as
he was about to crack, the telephone rang.
"Hello?" He straightened
up. "Oh, hi! Yeah well, I'm sorry, I'm a little busy right
now. Did you have breakfast? Well no, I can't. My friend Aeka
has paid me an unexpected visit. Yes. Yes. No. I'll call you
later, when our visit is over. Ok? Ok. Talk to you later."
Tenchi hung up and smiled
at Aeka. She was busy rummaging in her bag.
"You've just given me
an idea."
"Oh?"
She pulled out a slim device
and pushed a button. "I've been trying to get in touch with
everyone we know to see if anyone knows anything. God knows where
Ryoko is, and frankly I doubt she'd have a clue. Mihoshi is still
with the galaxy police, so I assume she knows by now. I have
them working this case as a top-secret mission, but I can't seem
to get a hold of Washu!"
"Really?"
"Perhaps, Lord Tenchi,
if you made the call, she would take it." The inter-galactic
cell phone rang.
"Uh, sure." Tenchi
took it from her.
"Hello, Galactic
Science Academy. How may I direct your call?"
"Oh! Hello, is Washu-chan,
er... Washu available? .... This is Tenchi Masaki. Thank you."
He shrugged and before he was able to resume his conversation
with Aeka, the line was picked back up again.
"TENCHI MASAKI!
How ya doin' kiddo!?"
"Washu-chan?"
"The one and only!
What's shakin'?"
Aeka folded her arms and
huffed while Tenchi explained what Aeka had told him.
"That's too bad,
but I'm afraid that I haven't heard word one from Sasami. I'm
really busy recently, but if I hear anything, I'll call Aeka."
"Well thanks anyway,
Washu-chan! Good-bye." He folded the phone closed and handed
it to Aeka.
"Well. It was good to
see you Tenchi. I have to get back to Jurai as soon as possible
to continue my training." She stood. "I will be in
touch."
"Good luck Aeka. I'm
sure everything will be fine."
*
The office was extremely
busy for this time of year. Officers and detectives crossed the
floor in front of Mihoshi's desk every two seconds. She blinked
at a hovering, flat computer screen on her desk as it scrolled
a long list of names. She sighed and nibbled absent-mindedly
at her pen.
"Mihoshi!" her
superior officer shouted. "We need that list of leads ASAP!"
She bolted up out of her
chair and saluted. "But Sir!" she whined. "There
are no new leads!"
"What!?" the older
man barked. "Not a one!?"
She shook her head.
"Why not!?"
She pouted and looked down
at the screen. "To be honest, Sir, my heart's just not in
it..."
"Your what!? Officer
Mihoshi, this has nothing to do with your feelings! People are
missing. It is your job to FIND THEM! That's why they call it
MISSING PERSONS!"
"I know..." she
looked out across the room at nothing in particular. "It's
just so... depressing. Most of the people I have found are...
you know..."
"Dead?" he grumbled
and lowered his eyelids.
"Yes!"
"We don't care if they're
alive, just FIND THEM!"
Mihoshi's brows came together.
"I can't take it anymore!" She jumped up on her desk.
"I became a policewoman to help people, but it's just too
miserable to try to help people who are dead! I just can't take
another day of this!"
As the office fell silent
to watch and listen to the blonde woman rant, a cop ran up to
her superior and tried to whisper to him.
"What? Princess Sasami
of Jurai is missing!?" he asked, delighted to receive such
a high-level case.
"What?! Sasami's missing!?"
Mihoshi jumped down and grabbed the messenger. "When? What
happened? Are there any leads? Tell me!" The messenger flailed
as she shook him.
'Oh sure! Now she wants to
help out!' Her superior thought to himself. 'Wait! If she fails
at this, I can fire her no problem! Then... NO MORE MIHOSHI!!'
He grinned from ear to ear.
Mihoshi was already running
out the door.
*
Washu leaned back in her
invisible chair and put her feet up on the translucent console.
"Yeah, real busy,"
she moaned to herself. "I wonder..." she mused and
closed her eyes.
*
A fleet of galaxy police
ships' sirens blared as they went in pursuit of the solitary,
spiky ship. It screeched as it zoomed through space.
"Nnnyyyauuuu!!!"
"Hahahaha!" Ryoko
cackled as she commanded Ryo-ohki forward. "You guys are
really lame, I can't believe you still try to catch me...!"
The ship seemed to pause
for a second before putting on a huge burst of speed, leaving
the police in the dust.
The legendary space pirate
amused herself to tears like this every so often. They never
seemed to figure it out. She was just too good at what she did!
Ryoko was too busy wiping a tear from her eye to see the single
ship which had out-maneuvered the others and was now hovering
in front of her, blocking her path.
"Stop! This is the Galaxy
Police! Ryoko, I need to talk to you!"
"Wha!?!" Ryoko's
eyes widened. "Ryo-ohki, stop!!!"
"Nnyyaaaaaaauu!"
Too late to slow down, the
two ships collided. The cop ship was obliterated.
On board Ryo-ohki, Mihoshi
shook her head and blinked up at the angry space-pirate. "Oh!
Hi Ryoko!"
"You!?" she bellowed.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You coulda wrecked
my ship!"
"I'm sorry, I needed
to talk to you." She hung her head.
"You coulda asked first,
you nit-wit." She sat down on a bench and rolled her eyes.
"Well, what do you want?"
"I was wondering if
you had seen Sasami?"
"Nyau?"
*
A thin beam of light shone
down on the figure of a girl suspended in the air in an awkward,
contorted position. She appeared to be unconscious. Out of the
darkness which surrounded her, a hand reached out and touched
her face.
"Soon, Sasami,"
a thin voice hissed.
"Kososhi!" a more
robust man's voice boomed. "What have I said about touching
her!"
Kososhi shrank back as the
lights faded up. "I'm sorry, Hiretsukani-sama. Forgive me.
Just reminiscing." His hair was a dusty purple color and
he was thin and effeminate, yet menacing.
Hiretsukani huffed and unfolded
his arms. His hair was spiky and blond and curved to just touch
his broad shoulders. Three tiger-like stripes framed the left
side of his face.
"Reminisce somewhere
else, will you?" he sneered.
The smaller man melted into
the shadows and disappeared.
"The next time I create
a henchman I must remember to make him tolerable!"
He approached the princess.
"Hello, my dear. Did he frighten you?" There was no
response. "Oh come now. I know you're awake."
She sucked in a quick, startled
breath.
One side of Hiretsukani's
mouth grinned. "Yes. I know a lot about you."
"Please..." she
whispered, unable to move. "Let me go..."
He clicked his tongue at
her. "I'm sorry, I can't do that. You're almost ripe. Don't
worry. In a few days this will all be over."
"What will?"
He laughed lightly. "Really."
Hiretsukani rolled his eyes. "Ignorance doesn't become you.
It's quite a bore."
She started to sob with frustration.
"I mean it... what will?"
"Interesting... Am I
the only one who knows?" He turned and rubbed his chin.
"Well. That could be
quite the advantage. I was sure that all of Jurai would have
been hot on my heels by now, but if even you have no idea..."
He walked away. The lights dimmed back to black, leaving Sasami
in a pool of light once more.
"Please...." she
cried. "What's going to happen!? Please let me go!"
Her sobs echoed off the distant walls. "Oh Tenchi... Help
me, please..."
*
"I really think you
should call her," Tenchi tried to coerce her for the third
time that night. "She's really worried about you."
"No!" she shouted.
"Tenchi, she was so mean to me! You weren't there. You wouldn't
understand!"
"Sasami..."
"NO!" She stood
up. The restaurant went silent. "Aeka is dead to me!"
she shouted and ran out of the dining room.
"Sasami!"
He chased her out into
the street.
"Wait, wait, Sasami.
I'm sorry. You're right. I wasn't there and this is none of my
business." He took her by the shoulders.
Sasami blinked back tears
and looked up into his loving, brown eyes. "Oh, Tenchi,
I'm sorry. It's just..."
"Shh..." he wrapped
his arms around her. "It's ok."
Sasami leaned into his shoulder
and sighed.
Tenchi furrowed his brows
and looked down at the girl in his arms; the girl he thought
he knew so well. They had talked about Aeka before, but she had
never indicated that things were so bad between them that she
would never speak to her again. He had always understood that
it was more shame on Sasami's part that kept her from communicating
with or returning to Jurai.
He rubbed her back and shushed
her, but kept his thoughts to himself.
*
"NO!" Ryoko shouted.
"On no condition am I going to Jurai!"
"But Ryoko..."
"But Ryoko nothin'!
They'd fry me the second I even looked at the planet!" She
threw her hands up in the air for emphasis. "I've been their
number one-most wanted criminal for hundreds of years!"
Ryoko added, sounding proud of her achievement.
"But If we talk directly
to Aeka, then we can get some leads!"
"WE!?! Who said anything
about WE!?!"
"Nyauuu!!!" Ryo-ohki
screeched, alerting the crew to an incoming vessel.
"Oh, what now?"
Ryoko moaned. "Who goes there!"
"Aw, such a nasty tone
to have towards Your Own Dear MOM!!" Washu chimed as her
face popped up ten-times life size on the screen.
Ryoko fell over. Mihoshi
jumped up.
"Oh! Washu-san! What
a coincidence! You're the second person on my list of people
to visit!"
"Mihoshi?" she
asked. The screen went black. Washu appeared behind her. "What
are you doing here?"
Mihoshi turned around and
blinked at her for a moment more before responding. "I've
been assigned to a very important case..."
"Lemme guess. Sasami."
"Yeah! Wow! How'd you
do that? Are you psychic, Washu-san?"
"No, my dear. Just informed.
Tenchi called and asked me if I'd seen her..."
Ryoko, who had been making
evil, astounded faces at her mother from the floor jumped up
and yelled down at her. "TENCHI!? YOU talked to Tenchi!?"
"Yup."
Mihoshi ignored Ryoko and
took out her palm pilot. "So what did he say?"
Ryoko pushed her aside. "Rrrrr,
Washu! When did you talk to Tenchi!?"
"Just yesterday. He
wanted to know if I knew where Sasami was..."
"Washu-san, do you know
where she is?"
Ryoko grabbed Washu's collar
and shook her. "Why did he call YOU and not ME!?!"
The scientist held on to
Ryoko's hands as she was shaken. "Aeka used him to make
the call cause I wasn't in the mood to talk to her!"
"Um.. Washu-san?..."
Mihoshi tried to get in around the fight. In the background,
a soft, agonized growl was building in volume while they yelled
at each other. Soon, it was noticeable and all three women stopped
and looked around.
"What is that..?"
Mihoshi asked.
"Ryo-ohki?" Washu
asked.
"Who cares!! What did
my Tenchi say!?!" Ryoko resumed her shaking and the sound
got louder.
"Nnnnnnnnnnnyaaaaaaaaaauu!!!"
The walls started to shift.
Ryoko dropped Washu, who reached into her pocket and took something
small out of it. Mihoshi fell to her knees and fretted.
"She's kicking us out!"
Washu cried. "Grab on to me!"
They did as they were told.
Ryo-ohki's creator knew what she was going through better than
either of them.
As the walls of the cockpit
shrank, Washu, Ryoko and Mihoshi winked out of that dimension
and re-appeared to the left of Ryo-ohki in another, small ship.
The cabbit screeched again and sped off through hyper space.
"What the heck was
that all about?" Ryoko scratched her head and wondered.
Washu watched her disappear.
"I think we must have upset her. Poor thing. She's probably
not used to that kind of racket anymore."
Mihoshi blinked repeatedly
and made a soft I-don't-quite-get-it,-but-I'm-not going-to-ask
sound.
"So," Washu put
her hands on her hips. "Let's get going."
Ryoko turned red. "And
just where do you think you're taking me?"
"Anywhere I please,
considering you don't have a ship of your own at the moment.
And since I need to go to Jurai, that's where I'm taking you."
"WHAT!?"
"Yay!" Mihoshi
jumped up and down. "Thank you Washu-san, you're the greatest!"
"I know, I know."
She grinned.
Ryoko gave up and flopped
down into a chair in a huff. "I didn't ask for any of this
and now I have to deal with AEKA!" she pouted and muttered.
"Aw come on, Ryoko!
It'll be just like old times!"
She snorted. "Whooptifrickindoo."
"Ok! Onward, to Jurai!"
Washu shouted and pushed a single button which set them on their
course.
*
The phone ringing woke Tenchi
in the middle of the night. He reached around and picked up the
receiver.
"Mu.. Moshi-moshi?"
"Excuse me, Sir, is
this Tenchi Masaki?"
"Uh, yeah...?"
"This is Tokyo police
department number 341. Sorry to trouble you so late Sir, but
we have a girl in custody who seems a bit lost and she keeps
asking for you."
"What?" he asked
and sat up in bed.
"She's a very strange
girl..." the officer sounded like he was trying to keep
from losing his mind.
"I'll be right there!"
The police led him down
a crowded hallway filled with people waiting to process their
infractions or drop off bail money. At the end of the hallway
was a door. The officer looked both ways and made sure the way
was clear before letting him in.
"Tenchi!" she chimed
and leapt out of her seat. The young woman tackled him. They
both crashed to the ground. "Tenchi Tenchi Tenchi!"
"Wha!?!" He blinked
in surprise up at the huge, yellow eyes and wild hair. "Ryo..."
"Ryo-ohki!" she
cheered and grinned wide. The last time he had seen the cabbit,
her humanoid form had been mostly restricted to that of a toddler.
Now she appeared to be a teenager and although she was covered
in soft, mocha colored fur, her shape under the "I Love
Tokyo" tee-shirt she had been given was obviously that of
and adult female. "Tenchi!" she piped again.
He struggled to get up and
took her by the hand. "Thank you officer! She's my... cousin.
Distant cousin. I'll take her home now. Thanks for looking out
for her, I promise it wont happen again!" he laughed nervously.
"But.. she's a..."
the cop whispered.
"Uh.." He thought
fast. "It's called hypertricosis... it's a clinical disorder,"
he lied about his fur-covered friend and ushered the clueless
Ryo-ohki out of the building.
*
Tenchi jogged with Ryo-ohki
for a few blocks before becoming winded. She noticed this, picked
him up and flew with him through the empty back-streets.
"No! Put me down! What
if someone sees?!"
She frowned but did as he
said.
He faced her and raised a
brow. "What are you doing here, anyway, Ryo-ohki? And where's
Ryoko?"
"Nyyau," she said
and gave him a sad look. "Tenchi."
He smiled. "Oh, you
can't say much still, huh?"
She shook her head.
"Can you say 'Carrot'?"
"Carrot! Carrot!! Carrot!!!"
she cried and jumped up and down with glee.
Tenchi laughed and tousled
her hair. "Ok! We'll get you some food soon."
They continued to walk
towards his apartment. "You know, Aeka was here yesterday
asking about Sasami... Is that why you..."
"Sasami Sasami Sasami!"
she cheered and nodded.
"Ok, ok!" he laughed.
"Do you know where she is?"
Ryo-ohki hung her head and
shook it slowly. Her puffy, blue and black hair swished side
to side.
"Did Aeka send you?"
She looked up, puzzled and
shook it again.
Tenchi smiled. "Then
I guess I can tell you... She's here on Earth."
"Nyau!!!" Ryo-ohki
clapped her hands together and looked from side to side.
"Hahaha!" he laughed.
"She's not right here! She's probably asleep, but let's
go wake her up! Then you can stay at her place!"
"Nyau!"
Tenchi smiled inwardly. 'That
way I don't have to worry about you wrecking MY apartment!'
*
"Tenchi... It's so late..."
Sasami mumbled as she answered the door.
Tenchi made a mental note
that she was still fully dressed and it was nearly two o'clock
in the morning. "I know, but I had another unexpected visitor..."
Ryo-ohki didn't wait for
her to guess. The girl-cabbit jumped out from behind the door
and meowed loudly. "Sasami! Ryo-ohki!"
The teen's eyes went wide
and she took a step back as the cabbit tackled her. They rolled
into the apartment. Tenchi stepped in and closed the door behind
him. To his surprise, the futon was still made and there was
a bag of groceries out of the counter.
Suddenly, Ryo-ohki stopped
her display of affection and leapt off Sasami. She hissed and
stood in front of Tenchi with her arms open defensively.
"Ryo-ohki!" he
shouted, but her defenses were up.
Sasami got to her feet and
looked at her sweetly. "What's the matter, Ryo-ohki?"
she asked.
"Nyyaauu! Nyau nyau
nyau!"
"Settle down, Ryo-ohki.
You just haven't seen her in a while. She looks different, right?"
"I'm older now, Ryo-ohki,"
Sasami soothed. "But maybe it's the change that you sense..."
Tenchi frowned. "What
change? Are you ok, Sasami?"
"Oh, I'll be fine. You
see, the time for me to merge with Tsunami is drawing near."
Ryo-ohki settled down and
listened.
"That must be what you
sense is amiss, Ryo-ohki. That's all."
"The time for you to...
merge?"
Sasami walked further into
the little apartment and stood under the red and yellow neon
glow from the window. "You remember. Tsunami and I will
become one when the time is right. She's almost ready."
"I'd forgotten,"
Tenchi mumbled.
Yes. Years ago Tsunami herself
had told him that, after the battle with Kagato. One day, Sasami
would merge with Tsunami. She was already starting to look a
little more like the mysterious goddess-like being, but Tenchi
had attributed that to Sasami becoming a woman.
Sasami stared out the window
with a strange smile on her lips. Tenchi took the opportunity
to lock eyes with Ryo-ohki. Through one look he expressed his
concern to her.
Ryo-ohki nodded, sadly. "Sasami..."
*
Hiretsukani bellowed down
at Kososhi. "Have you shut that thing up yet!?"
"Yes Hiretsukani-sama."
Kososhi turned away from the large, dark mirror on the wall.
The image of Sasami at the window faded out.
"Good." Hiretsukani
raised a hand and shot an energy blast at his henchman. Kososhi
was struck in the chest and fell to his hands and knees. "Make
sure it doesn't happen again."
He turned and pursed his
lips. "If there had only been a way to monitor them outside
that room. Now that the Princeling knows of the merger, this
little undertaking may be jeopardized."
Kososhi struggled to his
feet. "Shall I dispatch him for you, Sir?"
Hiretsukani responded quickly.
"No! When I collect Tsunami's power, I shall come for him.
Then his power and the sword Tenchi will be mine."
Sasami arched her brows and
stared in disbelief at her captor. "Tsunami? But..."
The pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "You can't have
her, she's part of me!"
Hiretsukani sneered. "Not
for long, my dear. The time of your conjunction with her is soon.
Perhaps only a few days away. At that time a small window of
opportunity will be open and I will snatch her up and convert
her Jurai Power to a raw form. Then no one will be able to stop
me. Not even the Lighthawk Wings!"
Sasami was shocked. "How
do you know all of this!?"
He grinned. "You don't
remember me, do you, Princess?" Hiretsukani walked around
her suspended body. The blue jeans and cotton shirt she wore
looked very out of place next to his ornate, layered robes. "It's
understandable. I changed my name. But I am a Jurai-jin. I have
spent hundreds of years studying Tsunami and the Jurai Power.
Only until the day she took refuge in you, Sasami did I think
I would so easily come by such amazing amounts of power!"
"You're a lunatic!"
she cried. "Tenchi will stop you! Just you wait and see!"
"The prince doesn't
even know you're gone, my dear!"
Sasami's hopes fell and she
looked at the now darkened mirror. "No..."
Hiretsukani laughed as he
walked off into the shadows.
"Tenchi..."
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