Introduction and Disclaimer

Well, I'm not sure how I feel about this story for a lot of reasons...but here it is anyway. I'm reserving judgement ;)

This story brings another OVA character into the continuity. Although I'm still working with a TU base, and though I've pretty much said I won't be involving OVA3 characters in my work – I actually lied, because upon discussion with another TM! fan via email, I discovered that there might be a place in my weird AU world for one of them, after all.

Which character am I talking about? In words (or letters!) of one syllable – Z.

I know, I know. I said I wouldn't do it. But I am doing it. Sorry about that!

This incarnation of Z might be somewhat unusual considering his role in the OVA3, but then his OVA3 introduction and usage is (in my opinion) a little bit confusing anyway. There are a lot of things left unsaid and a lot of other things said which really don't need to be. So I've gone back to basics and reworked Z in the context of Tenchi Universe – considering what kind of a man he might be, what would drive him and how he comes to be involved in this whole mess. I've also given him a name beyond his single letter/alpha-numeric appellations, just because it struck me that it's something he really should have.

Smart (or overly geekish!) Tenchi folk will realise as soon as they see his surname where I got it from. (I'm of the geekish persuasion myself, you might have guessed!). Somehow it just seemed appropriate. Work with me. :)

Usual legal info applies.

Synopsis

After the death of Dr Clay and the final defeat of Tokimi, it seems that the dark influence of Kihaku over the universe has finally been laid to rest. But, when Ryoko disappears suddenly after a fight with Washu, it soon becomes apparent that more than just the pirate's petulant temper is keeping her away. Clay may be dead, but his secret lab is far from empty, as a lone figure shoots through the universe, hungry for answers and revenge.

Z is a man with a mission, and he knows his time is running out. With Ryoko in his power, he knows that luring Washu into his trap should be a piece of cake. When Ryoko realises his story, she finds herself torn. Who will she choose, in the end - the scientist who gave her life, or the man who seeks to avenge all those created against their will?

And even if she can prevent her mother's murder, can Ryoko prevent Z's powerful magic from destroying millions of innocent lives?

KINDRED
A Tenchi Muyo! Fanfiction
By

VraieEsprit

Chapter One

The Planet Heiwa
Three Months Earlier

"And that's your final report, Dr Kure?"

The petite, fair haired lab assistant cast her companion a keen gaze, a slight smile touching her lips as she made a note on her clipboard. "Are you sure that you don't want me to add anything else? The board of directors might be a little easier to persuade if you were a little, shall I say, less abrupt with your analysis?"


"They asked me to take to pieces a completely pointless defence project, and then reassemble it with absolutely no benefits to this planet or to any other." Her companion folded his arms across his dusty lab coat, meeting her amused gaze with his own, his bi-coloured eyes adding an odd intensity to his expression. "How would you phrase that, Komei-san? There's nothing else to be said. A waste of your time and of my own. We have much more important things to be working on as it is, and you know it as well as I do."

"Well, if that's your final opinion." Komei shrugged her shoulders, setting her board down on an empty section of unit as she offered her superior a smile. "I'm going to bow to you, because you call the shots. But don't be surprised if they get angry. You know that they don't like it when you speak blunt to them, Kure-sensei. They only gave you this to work on because they were annoyed by the brusqueness of your last review."

"That's their problem. I don't really care about what the board want or don't want." Her companion's eyes became steely, and he shook his head. "And as for the way they treat you…"


"Anyone would think you were fond of me, Dr Kure." Komei offered him a playful smile, and despite himself, the scientist smiled ruefully, nodding his head slowly.


"Sometimes you're the only reason I stick it out at this place." He admitted. "That and the fact I need their facilities for my own projects. Otherwise I might go join the Science Academy – but Heiwa is a lot closer to home, and I'm sure that this is where the answers are."

Komei's eyes softened, and she put a gentle hand on his arm.

"Zakari, you're starting to become obsessed." She murmured softly, concern in her violet eyes. "I know you. I know how focused you become on things that interest you, but this is beyond even that. In the three years we've worked together, I've never known you spend so much time and energy on one endeavour before."


"This is rather more to me than just a scientific exploration, Komei-san." Zakari's brows drew together at her words, and he shook his head, his thick queue of hair tumbling over his shoulder as he did so. "This is the answer to everything – all the questions I've had, for as long as I've had them. There are so many things I don't know about myself. Who am I? Where did I come from? Is Zakari Kure even my real name? I've been haunted by it for long enough. This place might be the thing which finally clicks those puzzle pieces together. Would you be any different, if it were you?"


"No, I suppose not." Komei hesitated, then rested her hands gently on his shoulders, reaching up on tiptoes to kiss his brow. "But whatever you discover, Zakari, I'll still want you in my life. You do know that, don't you? Regardless of where you came from or who your parents were."

"Yes. I know that." Zakari's lips twitched into a smile, and he eyed her affectionately. "And I'm glad I have a rock to lean on, too."

"Have you made any progress on this man you were interested in? This old scientist you were researching?" Komei asked inquisitively. "I know you thought he might be a lead – was he?"


"I think so." Zakari's expression became thoughtful. "His name and mine bear a lot of similarity. He's from Heiwa, and this is where I was found. And I'm pretty sure that he had a laboratory, somewhere in the vicinity of this research complex. It might be something to chase up, anyway. If the place is still there, I'd like to know what kind of a man he was, and whether he might be a member of my family. After all, Kure
isn't a common name on Heiwa. It seems a lot of a coincidence to me, if this is where we both originated from."


"I see the logic." Komei's eyes danced. "Who knows, Zakari-kun, he might be your long lost father."


"Very long lost…by all accounts he's been dead a few centuries." Zakari said wryly. "At least, reported as such in Galactic records. But I'm not looking for a family reunion. Just answers. That's all."

He paused, rubbing his temples, and Komei held him at arm's length, sending him a look of concern.

"Another headache?" She asked softly. "Zakari, you're working too hard."

"I'm fine." Zakari shook his head impatiently. "It's just too much time in front of glowing, flickering screens, that's all. I'm all right, Komei. And we do have work to do. You have my report to submit, and me, I have some encrypted file data on this scientist guy to un-encrypt."

"All right." Komei sighed, but obediently scooped up her clipboard, moving across to the nearest computer console. "Then I'll make a start on this. But take five before you do anything else, Zakari. Please. You look worn out…it won't hurt you to take a coffee break."

"I suppose not." Zakari acknowledged. "All right. You win, Komei. I'll be back shortly."


"Good boy." Komei offered him a smile, and despite himself, Zakari found himself returning it. "I'll be here. It's not like I have anywhere else I'd rather be, after all."


Zakari looked rueful, but he made no reply. Instead he slid back the door of the lab, stepping out into the hallway and leaning up against the gleaming white panels. For a moment he closed his eyes against the pulsing, throbbing pain that nestled against his brain, fighting it tooth and nail as he sought to push the sensation away. It had happened before, he knew that. It had begun in his temples and spread slowly and surely throughout his body, until every nerve ending was a burning warning that something was not right.

"But what Komei doesn't know won't hurt her." He murmured, as the pain seemed to flicker and recede from his senses, allowing relief to flood through his body. "And I'm getting better at fighting it. Maybe it is time I looked into prescription eye-care – perhaps I have spent too long glaring at screens."

His eyes narrowed, as he considered the other possibilities.


"Or, I need to find out the answers to my questions." He acknowledged darkly. "Because it's just as possible this is something genetic – something I inherited from a parent – and if it's there, I need to know about it. I need to know how to fight it, and I can't do that until I know who I really am."

He glanced down the hallway, taking in the low ceiling and the flickering bluish lights that flanked his way towards the research institute's below-par cafeteria. Inwardly he grimaced, shaking his head decidedly as he turned the other way, making his way slowly towards the building entrance and the bright natural light of Heiwa's amber sun that glinted occasionally through the slits in the upper walkways and corridors. Natural light was far better than artificial light, he mused, but few could stand the glare of Heiwa's sun for long, and so steps had been taken to shut it away from the people inside.

"But it's never affected me." Zakari acknowledged, pausing at the door as he gazed out through one of the few windows the complex boasted. "Another question, another answer I need. If I'm truly from Heiwa, why is that so? Why doesn't it burn my flesh in the way that it burns theirs?"


As he mulled over this disturbing observation, he felt the pain impulses creep once more over his senses and he frowned, rubbing his temples as he struggled to push it back out of his mind. This time, however, it was not going to take no for an answer, and as he stumbled back in the direction of his lab he felt the familiar flashes of burning pain dart through his arms and legs, causing his movements to become clumsy and heavy. Tiredness and alarm mingled through him, as he put his hands to the door, fumbling with the electronic lock as he sought only to get away from the flickering light that now seemed to only make matters worse. The world twisted and glowed, burning deep into him and he staggered into the lab, dropping to his knees as the relentless pulses gained more and more ground.

"Zakari?"

Komei's voice was far away, and even as she took his hand in hers, Zakari was barely aware of her presence. A strange energy surged and blossomed within him, glittering in front of his eyes and teasing at the tips of his fingers, causing them to tingle and prickle at random intervals. Komei's voice became little more than a faint blur of sounds as he lost the fight to control his body, allowing the energy to flare through him again and again until it reached such a pitch Zakari was sure he was going to explode.


At the last minute, just as he became sure he could not bear it any longer, a tiny sense of realisation darted through him and he threw back his hands with a yell, pushing Komei heavily away from him as a bright white light engulfed his body, threatening to dazzle the whole chamber. He was aware of her scream, somewhere in the background, and the sound of glass shattering all around him.


For a moment, nothing moved, and then, almost as quickly as it had come, the impulse began to fade. As Zakari opened his eyes, dizzy colours danced before them as he struggled to bring the fragments of his mind back into some sense of order. Weakly he pulled himself into a sitting position, gazing around his laboratory without truly understanding what he was seeing.

The room was charred from ceiling to roof, and in the blackness, the monitors of each computer console had exploded one by one, leaving fragments of glass scattered across the floor. The usual whirring sounds the machines made was nowhere to be heard, and in the eerie silence that followed, Zakari summoned all his strength, pulling himself resolutely to his feet. Even as the emergency alarms began to ring out across the complex, the shards of an idea began to penetrate his befuddled senses and he scanned the room anxiously, his fear growing as he remembered that he had not been alone.


"Komei?" He whispered, almost afraid to speak her name in the dark gloom. There was no response, and Zakari's fear grew as he became more and more aware of the extent of the damage. At first, he was afraid she had simply been swallowed up in the explosion, but then he caught sight of a flash of blond hair in amongst the debris and he hurried forwards, tiredness forgotten as he tossed back the equipment that had almost buried his colleague alive.


She lay still and unresponsive, and as he put his finger to her cheek, she did not open her eyes. Tears welled up within him as he sank down at her side, lifting her gently up into his arms as he struggled to find any spark of life in his bright, vivacious companion.


"Komei." He whispered. "What have I done? What…what in hell's name am I?"