Strange Days: Fire and Rain Cpts 1 to 7

by Horosha

This is a sequel to Strange Days. Tenchi and Gang (inc. Mulder and Scully) face two new mysteries.

6. Strange Days, Part Six: Fire and Rain

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo/No Need For Tenchi is a product of Pioneer/AIC. As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this fiction other than my own enjoyment and to bring pleasure to the fans of this wonderful series.

Disclaimer: The X-Flies is the product of Chris Carter and 20th Century Fox. As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this fiction other than my own enjoyment and to bring pleasure to the fans of this excellent series.

Disclaimer: Oh My Goddess and You're Under Arrest are the product of Kosuke Fujishima, What's Michael is the product of Makoto Kobayashi, Ranma 1/2 is the product of Rumiko Takahashi, Sailor V and Sailor Moon are the product of Takeuchi Naoke, Nancy Drew is the product of Carolyn Keene and GTO is the product of Tohru Fujisama. As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this fiction other than my own enjoyment and to bring pleasure to the fans of these excellent series.

Disclaimer: The copyright holders own the songs and poems that appear in this series. All characters 'I' have created are purely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is pure coincidence.

Notes: This is Chapter Six of Book Two in my crossover series, Strange Days. I would appreciate any C&C about this work. My two E-mail addresses are:

V_Bashaw@hotmail.com

Horosha@mangablast.com

The events in Book Two occur just after Episode Four ("Mihoshi Falls To The Land of Stars") and in the first season of the X-Flies (both taking place in 1992). If anyone is interested in using any of the characters I have created here, please contact me first (especially about Anthony MacClean). My knowledge of the training and organizational structure of law enforcement in Nihon has increased but at times I'm still assuming it is similar to ours. If you have questions about the story or how I portrayed the characters please read the notes at the end of each chapter and Book One, contact me at my e-mail addresses or post a message at the Ayeka Fan Club message board (www.ayekafanclub.org). I have created a glossary of Nihongo words, idioms and titles to help readers understand them. You can get it at TMFFA (tmffa.com under Crossover) or send me e-mail requesting it. My prereaders for Book Two are K.T.K. (carryover from Book One), Donald Dortmund, Fuzzy-Bunny (another carryover) and Top_Quark. Also Luriko-Ysabeth helped me on usage of Nihongo in fanfiction.

Dedication: This series is dedicated to the people who brought Tenchi Muyo to life: Hayashi Hiroki, Kajshima Masaki, Hasegawa Naoko, and Kuroda Yosuke. We also honor Chris Carter for his great series.

Warning: Just like the Tenchi Muyo OAV and the X-Flies this work contains adult language and situations (including some ecchi scenes), so any minor should get parents' permission before reading it.

********

Tenchi Muyo/X-Flies Crossover

Series Title: "Strange Days"

Book Two Title: "Fire and Rain"

A Fan-Fiction by Horosha

Copyright: Feb 28, 2003

Chapter Six: She Talks To Angels

Rose Petal Lingerie, Kurashiki Shopping Mall

Mihoshi's sapphire eyes fluttered open to behold the 3D image of the Pleiades that surrounded her bed, her sleepy mind wondered at the sight but then she heard a manly voice speak Seniwago, "Sand has left your eyes, Himawari."

Recognizing the voice instantly, her heartache lessened by the love she felt as she answered in Seniwago, "Little Brother Mikumo," the blond felt her right hand softly taken hold of by two rough hands before she turned her head to look at her brother's gentle green eyes, then she said, "Where are the others?"

"They are here too," Mikumo's voice had all the attitude of a grizzly bear as he sat next to his sister's prone body, "they sent me in first because they know how close we are."

Mikumo's sister turned her head to look once more at the close up images of the Pleiades before saying, "Did your hand make this possible?"

"Big Sister knows me well," Mikumo nodded his head, "for my mind remembered this was yours and Kiyone's favorite."

"I loved the way the burning suns framed Kiyone's body," then a faraway smile touched Mihoshi's lips, "and I think she liked what the light did to my lingerie."

"Like the bustier and flared panties of spider-weave," Mikumo grinned hugely at Mihoshi's blushing response, "I gave them to you for your birthday?"

"Kiyone's heart beat fast when she saw me in it," a look of knowing Mihoshi gave Mikumo, "just as you knew it would."

"It was my wish to make two ladies happy that night," Mihoshi caught the needle of pain in Mikumo's voice, "and every night they shared."

Mihoshi felt the squeeze of comfort her brother's hand gave her hand and she said, "Don't worry the youngest of my siblings, I will survive."

"Do you still want to wear a star?" Mikumo carefully asked as his right hand reached into his multicolored shirt pocket and held out her GP badge.

"I want to help people," Mikumo saw absoluteness in his sister's sapphire eyes as her left hand took the badge, "and I must because too many have died protecting it," then those same orbs filled with painful tears, "but I don't want anyone dying for me anymore."

"A captain commands," Mikumo tried very hard to keep his voice neutral, "and sometimes lives are lost."

"How can I balance the scales of loss and gain," Mihoshi's tears leaked from her eyes, "when what can't harm me will kill others?"

"But even a patrol ship is meant for two," Mikumo's own tears flow down his dark cheeks.

"There's the Yukinojo," Mihoshi said simply.

Only because his family has been part of the Galaxy Police for four generations did Mikumo know what his sister's statement meant, "The Yukinojo is a prototype ship."

"We should be together," a thread of self hate in her tone, "It's a sentient of metal just as I am."

Light couldn't move faster than Mikumo and Mihoshi found her brother's face a breath's span from hers as he growled, "Don't let such words pass from your lips," her cheeks felt the drip of her brother's tears, "you are as you were when our parents' love made you," a brotherly kiss upon each of her cheeks, "you are the same as you came from our mother's womb."

Face by such sibling love Mihoshi's self-loathing disappeared in a cloud of affection, to be replaced with an ear-to-ear grin and teasing words, "Mama showing you baby pictures again?"

Mikumo's right hand removed a blue embroidered handkerchief from his pant's pocket and he proceeded to dry his sister's ebony face while saying, "You'd think the thunderous herd of our brothers' children would keep Mama from complaining about my bachelorhood."

"Does not Mama know how much you loved Kiyone," Mihoshi took her brother's handkerchief and started to dry his face, "and you've moaned her loss just as strongly as I do?"

"You know Mama," Mikumo's right-hand stroke his sister's blond hair, "the past cannot be changed, the future cannot be seen, we can only live in the present."

"Mama . . ." Mihoshi's words were stopped by a voice speaking Juraigo, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything intimate?"

Both blond heads instinctively looked to the left and found the voice's source, Seto standing just within sight, which brought a sly rumble from Mikumo in the same tongue, "Only a Juraijin would find this improper and we both know how proper you are, Niji-dono."

Seto's trademark grin sent shivers up and down Mikumo's spin and a wave of giggles from Mihoshi at her brother's discomfort, then grin turned into a tender smile as she walked to the bed while saying, "Mikumo-dono has shown how your kazoku cares for you," at the bed the eldest princess of Jurai knelt down, gathered Mihoshi in her arms and stood up on her long legs, "now it's my turn."

"Aaaa . . . ano . . . my . . ." the look of total surprise on Mihoshi's face suddenly changed to total confusion at Mikumo's chuckles.

Suddenly Mihoshi found her wide eyes no longer held the memory of the past instead she saw her reflection in a fitting room's mirror, holding a lavender bra to her chest. The hard reality that it was way too small for her dark breasts caused the policewoman to let out a heart-rending cry, "OYA, MAA!" Seto was only a few feet from the door examining a saffron nylon teddy set she was thinking of getting for Ayeka's birthday when she heard the shout, instinctively she turned toward the sound's origin and found her birthday suited godchild had bolted from the tiny room, the eldest princess just stood there as Mihoshi came to a dead stop, her baby blues full of tears as she cried, "NONE of them FIT and I LOST all of my own," her lips trembling as her voice filled pain, "even the one Mikumo-chan got me, Kiyone's favorite."

"Dewa . . ." Seto's pause showed she was truly stumped by Mihoshi's predicament since the store's sales clerk picked out a bra and panty sets with the largest cup size, a quick glance by the tall lady showed the young black-haired female clerk was in the same boat as the princess, although the blue-haired lady could tell from the clerk's envious stare that she wished to have Mihoshi's problem.

"Maybe I can be of service?" all three looked to the lingerie store's entrance and found a very tall brown-haired woman standing there, dressed in a cinnamon brown miniskirt trimmed in British red, kneel-high white socks and short-heeled honey brown pumps.

A sideward glance in Mihoshi's direction showed to Seto a newborn hope in her godchild's innocent eyes, so the eldest princess gave an underhanded wave with her right hand to the newcomer. By Seto's mental estimation the girl was probably no more than fourteen yet she had to stoop so her head wouldn't bang the top of the door. The giantess came to within five feet of the threesome before bowing and saying, "Konnichiwa, I'm Kujirakawa Fuyumi."

"Konnichiwa, I'm Kubiha Seto," Seto greeted Fuyumi as all three returned the bow, then Seto's left hand gestured toward Mihoshi, "and this is my nazukego, Kuramitsu Mihoshi."

At the mention of her name, Mihoshi bounced ahead of her godmother, stuck out her right hand and gave a jolly American, "Howdy!"

Fuyumi's face registered surprise by Mihoshi's forwardness before she accepted the panty-clad blonde's handshake. Seto cleared her throat, which drew the ebony lady's, "Ano?"

"Himawari," a calm tone to Seto's voice as she motioned with her ruby eyes at the store's window where several individuals had fogged it up, "why don't you put back on your clothes before this mall's icy air gives you a chill."

"Burr . . ." Mihoshi hugged her chest as she shivered, "Ee, Niji-dono, it sure is cold in here," to Fuyumi it seemed the blond bombshell acted like she didn't catch her godmother's signal, then she noticed as Mihoshi's skipped back to the dressing room, putting a bounce to the ebony lady's breasts and ass, she caught sight of a blush on the dark lady's cheeks.  The big girl looked over her shoulder and found several tongue-hanging-out faces pressed against the glass, blood upon their upper lips.

Even Seto's left fingers over her mouth couldn't hide her feminine laughter from the others while Fuyumi said with amusement, "Kubiha-san, your nazukego seems a little . . ." she paused to search for a diplomatic phase.

"Naïve ne?" Seto supplied with a toothy smile.

"Innocent wa," Fuyumi corrected.

Seto heard the hint of steel in Fuyumi's counter and she asked, "You're sensitive about others' feelings ne?"

"I just understand what it's like to be different," Fuyumi's sigh told of someone who suffered such wounding words.

The sales clerk next to Seto had stood there trying to remember where she had seen Fuyumi then she snapped her fingers, saying, "Ara! Now I know you!" She rushed over to the checkout counter and was back in seconds with a five-by-eight shiki-shi square, then she continued, "you're that junior basketball star from Holy Forest Academy," her black eyes aglow with fan fervor, then she held out the piece of fancy paper book with both hands and head bowed, "Dozo, may I have your autograph."

There was no sign of any falsehood in the grin Fuyumi gave the clerk or in her reply, "Do itashimashite." With polite movement she took the shiki-shi from the clerk's smaller hands and pulled out an old fashion ink pen from her dress pocket. Seto watched the tall girl place her kanji name on the square with precise strokes, like she had done it a thousand times but her stance showed she found only pleasure in doing it, then the blue-haired lady looked at the clerk, whose eyes never left Fuyumi.

The black-eyed girl returned the autographed shiki-shi to the clerk, who accepted it like it was the Holy Grail and bowed once more before saying, "Domo arigato gozaimasu!"

Seto moved over to get a better look at the shiki-shi and found not only a name signed in kanji but also a stick figure posed to shoot a large ball with both hands, the rapture on the clerk's upturned face told Seto that today was bright day for the young woman. Once more Seto faced Fuyumi, who sweetly smile hadn't changed, and she said, "Fuyumi-san, you like to make people happy ne?"

"Hai," Fuyumi gave a nod, "there's enough tears in the world."

Seto opened her mouth to say more but stopped when she saw Fuyumi's eyes locked on something behind her then she heard Mihoshi say, "I'm ready."

Seto asked, "Fuyumi-san, you said you could help Himawari," the princess glanced at her bouncy godchild.

"U . . . Un," Fuyumi blinked her eyes before continuing her reply, "Like Kuramitsu-san, I have a need for a bra with a large cup size," she placed her right hand upon her expansive chest, "so I go to a costume designer here in Kurashiki."

"But why come all the way from Tokyo?" wide-eyed wonder in the clerk's face.

"The costume designer is an old friend of my okasan," an amused expression on Fuyumi's face at the clerk's hero worship, "she did the same thing for my okasan when they were going to school together."

"I'm glad you can help us, Fuyumi-san," no gall in Seto's words.

"Then let's be off, Kubiha-san . . ." Fuyumi's hesitated for a second before saying, "Mihoshi-san."

"Oke!" Happy energy in Mihoshi's word as the blonde dashed from Seto's side, grabbed Fuyumi's right hand with her left, spun the surprised bigger woman around and like a bright hairy comet the two were out the door. At first Fuyumi couldn't believe anyone of Mihoshi's size had the strength to make her feet speedy but then her spirit was infected by the ebony woman joy, which called over her shoulder to her godmother, "Catch us if you can wa yo!"

"Shitei," a dimpled grin on Seto's face as she slowly shook her head before she calmly walked out the store.

*******

Train to Tokyo

Ayeka was glad when she and Ohiten found seats after they transferred trains in Okayama and once seated, it gave her the opportunity to carefully observe her new bodyguard, the golden girl was on the princess' right side, closest to the passenger car's door. During the fifteen-minute trip from Kurashiki the princess was too caught up in the emotions caused by the encounter with the pervert to be anything but grateful for the young girl's intervention and to feel twice blessed that the fiery-haired youth was going to be her guide and new protector. With the white coat and sunglasses being the first thing to catch your eye the next thing was the girl's long red hair. Unlike the dyed hair found on young Nihonjin women, Ohiten's hair had a rich depth to its color and at times Ayeka noticed how the reflected sunlight from the passenger car's windows made it look like a live flame. The second feature Ayeka thought about was the gold hue of the girl's skin for there was an almost metallic gloss to it. Lastly the white irises of the young lady's eyes did make the Juraijin suspicious because her tutors always told her that a person with colorless irises was blind, yet it was clear each time the purple-haired lady peeked the girl's roving gaze showed that Ohiten could see.

"Dewa, have you decided I'm not a member of Plan Nine from Outer Space," Ohiten's voice full of mischief.

Ayeka covered her surprise at being caught with a nervous laugh into her right hand before saying, "That movie totally mystified me and I'm sure the fault lie in the distributor's poor translation."

Ohiten's closed mouth giggles relaxed Ayeka, which allowed the princess to shift gears, "Rogers-san, once more I like to say how much you have earned my gratitude."

"Daddy said if the sawari-wa weren't such a plague," a smile on Ohiten's slightly parted lips, "a bishojo might find a grope a compliment."

"Like a hanaji (nosebleed)?" a blush accented Ayeka's words because it was Tenchi's nosebleed caused by her nude body she was remembering, then she frowned when she remembered who had caused the event at the onsen. At this point the princess noticed her companion had unbuttoned her coat and she was surprised at what was the opening revealed, a girl's sailor fuku.

"Tadshii," Ohiten's saw all three of Ayeka's reaction and so she commented on the last one first, "The sailor fuku is part of my disguise," the redhead used her hands and pulled the coat open more so Ayeka's purple sight could see more of the uniform, a white blouse with a red bow on the chest as well as a dark-blue knee-length skirt and a dark-blue sailor top with red piping, "because of my appearance people will think I'm your yankee imotosan (juvenile delinquent younger sister), sent with you by our parents to keep me out of trouble," a foxy grin on her lips, "I even made sure the fuku matched a school in Tokyo, Azabu Juuban Junior High."

Ayeka's face showed she liked the idea a lot, it had the elements of intrigue and playacting of her mothers' plots and she always enjoyed watching them. Now here was Ayeka's chance to do something like it but on a smaller scale and her voice had conspirator's tone, "We are going to need to practice being sisters to pull it off."

"Ne ne! We've got plenty of time," Ohiten was bouncing in her seat with excitement over Ayeka's acceptance, "it's going to take another three hours before we reach Tokyo."

"That should give us enough time to get the basics down pat," Ayeka's ruby eyes glowed with glee, then she asked, "where should we start?"

"How about nikkunemu?" Ohiten eyes had the same glee, "like the kind siblings have for each other."

"Oi," Ayeka suddenly realized how this plan could make her relationship with Ohiten more intimate.

"Don't you have a nikkunemu?" the sight of Ayeka's reaction brought Ohiten out of her happy groove.

Ayeka hesitated for a second but then her temper flared and she squared her shoulders while saying, "My sister calls me oneesama while my mothers ca . . . calls me . . ." her courage vanished into embarrassment.

"Nani?" Ohiten's tone was loaded with fun-loving tease as her nose almost touched Ayeka's.

"Oujo-chan," Ayeka barely let the words pass her lips.

"Suki wa (I love it!)!" Ohiten's positive response caused a purple head to pop up and the princess stared into a pair of pearly eyes as her companion added, "It's a wonderful nikkunemu ne!"

"Hai," courage was back in Ayeka's heart and her back became arrow straight as she repeated, "Hai!"

Ohiten gave an enthusiastic nod at Ayeka's prideful tone then asked, "So what should we call each other?"

Not knowing the answer Ayeka countered, "What is your nikkunemu?"

Now it was Ohiten turn to look chagrin, "Mama had so many children that she could barely remember our real names and Daddy . . ." a teary tone choked her words, "wasn't . . . home."

Ayeka didn't need to be a mind reader to know she had touched a wound in Ohiten's young heart, without a second thought the princess' right hand took hold of Ohiten's left hand while saying, "But you know he loves you."

"Un!" Sad clouds were replaced by happy sunshine in Ohiten's features, "Now I do!"

"Gu," Ayeka smiled warmly before becoming serious once more, "So what do you suggest?"

Ohiten paused then Ayeka saw the girl brightened and the youngster said, "Masaki-san, how about Grace for you?"

"Grace?" Ayeka's tone showed she recognized the word as English but was suspicious since she didn't know what the word meant and had noticed Sasami was picking up English words that might be inappropriate for a Juraijin princess to use.

"Like in the rhyme," Ohiten brimmed with hope, "Suiyobiko de ippai yugasa," then she repeated it in English, "Wednesday's Child is full of grace."

Ayeka silently mouthed the words of the rhyme before saying, "Grace?"

"Yugasa," affirmed Ohiten.

"Grace is acceptable," Ayeka's approval came with a smile.

"Yappi!" Ohiten clapped her hands at her success.

"Now it's my turn to give you one," Ayeka's teasing tone made Ohiten's grin bigger and the golden girl sat up straight in her seat while waiting for the princess pronouncement. After a proper amount of time for Ayeka to enjoy the suspense, the princess said, "How about Suzuri (Inkstone)?"

The look on Ohiten's face showed she was rolling the name in her mind before saying, "It fits," then she smirked, "it shows a oneesama attitude about her imotosan's outrageous appearance."

Ayeka's eyes went wide at the statement and she examined her new nickname before saying, "Mine shows how much imotosan cares for her oneesama," then a small smile appeared on her lips, "it's a foundation for our relationship ne?"

"Hai, Grace," Ohiten grinned then added, "so what's next."

"How about our height difference?" Ayeka suggested.

"Mama saved all the big genes for me wa yo!" Ohiten ended the sentence with giggling laughter that Ayeka joined in with her own. For the next three hours the two plotted out their plan with plenty of laughs and smiles.

********

Soja

The door to the bioengineer lab slid open for Washu and the soft illumination banished away the darkness while the little scientist went directly to the control center of the huge machine that dominated the room. A touch of a button on the control board brought an image on the monitor, a nude body of a five-year-old boy floating in a green fluid, then she touched another button before saying, "Let's see if five years of work have proven my genius."

The monitor showed the bottom of the oval chamber holding the boy spinning open and the fluid carried the child down through the opening. Another touch of a button by Washu shifted the monitor's image to show the child's body entering a four-foot long oblong chamber and the fluid drained away which allowed the youth to settle down on a heavy air mattress. Washu picked up a tiny speaker with her left hand as her right hand touched a button before she spoke, "Kagato-chan, you're going to need to start breathing, you don't have the life support fluid anymore."

At first nothing happened and Washu shouted through her mind link, 'BREATH!'

The boy's chest expanded with his first breath and he didn't let the lung full of air go to waste, "I just wanted to know how much you cared for me, Washu-okasan."

Every time Kagato called her mama, memories of her own child and of Seto caused her heat to beat faster yet she only grinned while her hands danced across the control board, her lips saying, "Kagato-chan, I see you developed a sense of humor ne?"

"A sharp wit to swiftly disarm opponents," the chamber containing Kagato was slowly rolled forward by the machine's metal arms and wheels, "the data you filled my head with has made it plain how uncaring the universe is."

Washu walked away from the control board but her words continue to reach Kagato through their mind link, 'I care for nothing in this universe,' the redhead stopped at place where the wheeled chamber ceased to move, 'it took everything from me,' then the chamber settled onto the floor, 'but by my genius I shall create my own universe,' her little right hand pulled open a metal cover to reach the chamber's release buttons and with a quick series of typing the top the container cracked open with a hiss and glided down.

Washu just stared down at the child she created, her blood thundering in her head and her fear of loss blackening her mind that it wasn't until she felt something touch her cheek that she realized that Kagato's right hand was next to her face, then she saw great compassion in the boy's red eyes as he brought his hand to his own face and smelled the salty odor of Washu's tears, his next words banished all negativity from her being, "I should feel love when my eyes first see your face but I feel anger, I should feel happiness when I touch your cheek but I feel sorrow because I know your tears are not for joy."

Immediately Washu leaned over the chamber and tenderly patted Kagato's wet white hair as her emerald eyes brightly burned with the same passion as her words, "what happened to me doesn't matter anymore as long as I have you beside me," then she kissed him lightly on the lips before adding, "you are the first star in my universe."

Kagato felt the raw emotions behind Washu's words and his hands cupped Washu's tear stained face and he said, "Washu-otousan, I shall never leave you."

The image of the past gone long ago disappeared from Washu's mind to be replaced with the crystal clear reality of the present and Washu once more found the only comfort she had was from silently watching Ryoko's and Katsuhito's interaction with the people of Earth, both made possible by Ryoko's Gems. The little scientist found amusement and wonder at how quickly her daughter had formed strong bonds with each member of the Masaki family and the developing friendships between her and Fox Mulder to a point where she would risk her life and sanity to help them. Now Seto, her daughter in everything but a name was here, and the Juraijin goddess, Tsunami, had followed her bondmate to this little blue marble. Would all of them oppose Kagato, would all of them fail and would all of them would die was the great fear that swam in the darkness part of her soul. Washu also knew there were other factors yet to make themselves known that could give them a chance against Kagato. The bondmate of Tsunami, Sasami, was just a factor but could her lack of experience be a weakness, she was only seven hundred years old, yet she had Tsunami at her side. Tenchi was another factor Washu wondered about, a youth of seventeen years that could activate the Master Key, Tenchiken. The little redhead's estimate of Mihoshi's worth increased because of her attempt to arrest the cat burglar yet could a normal person, even one with a luck genius, be a key to unlock the door. Washu was very sure Fox Mulder and Dana Scully roles were more to prepare the others for the battle than participates yet she wasn't sure if another person was fated for the same role, Anthony MacClean. Thanks to her knowledge of both Yosho's and Ryoko's experiences, the redhead was able to piece together who MacClean was, his disguises didn't hide his true self to her scientific mind and she burned with frustration at not getting the Earthling onto a lab table yet there was something else to the blond-haired man. Tsunami had stopped Washu from following her when the goddess entered her children's group mind to stop an intruder but she saw by her daughter's sight the Washu look-a-like had touched one of Funaho-Ki's roots before Ryoko's flashback had whipsawed Washu's own soul.

'We shall see what moonbeams and fairy dust it took to create you, MacClean-san.'

********

Masaki Residence

"Ryoko-neechan, I don't need you to help me wash the dishes," a glint of slyness in Sasami's eyes at the bored expression on Ryoko's face as the uchu kaizoku placed the last dirty dish from this morning breakfast into the sudsy dishwater, an expression copied by the cabbit perched on top of Ryoko's head.

"Oke!" Ryoko's eyes brightened but then a frown touched her lips, "are you sure?"

"Ee," Sasami turned on the cute innocence when she said, "why don't you go do one of your chores ne?"

Ryoko's frown turned ugly which pushed Sasami's giggle button, which in turn brought a wounded pride expression to the cyan-haired lady just before she faded away, then the littlest princess noticed her giggles echoed in her mind so she thought, 'Ohayo, Tsunami-neechan.'

'Ohayo, Sasami,' Tsunami's presence emerged from quiet observation and wrapped around Sasami's soul like a warm blanket.

The thread of shame Sasami felt in Tsunami's greeting brought out her concern, 'Doka shimashita ka?'

'Gomen nasai, Sasami,' the littlest princess could taste the bitterness of Tsunami's feelings, 'I never wanted you to see me like that.'

'It's oke,' Sasami realized that Tsunami was apologizing for her uncontrolled rage during the goddess' confrontation with Otaiyo, 'I know how much you care for your shitei.'

'It wasn't just their safety I feared for,' tenderness in the blue-haired goddess' voice, 'and Otaiyo-dono was correct, I was afraid of his newness.'

'Naze ne?' Sasami was surprised by Tsunami's statement.

'Remember when you asked me if MacClean-san was like you ne?' reminded Tsunami.

'Hai,' then Sasami's pink eyes got really big, 'you mean MacClean-san is . . .' Sasami's mind became confused as she tried to find the right words to say.

'By some design,' Sasami heard awe in her companion's tone, 'this world has become a birthplace for a being much like you.'

Sasami's bewilderment instantly cleared and she asked, 'Is that why MacClean-san was able to talk to your shitei,' then disapproval touched her thoughts, 'and they hurt him?'

'It's my shame and not theirs,' Sasami once more felt Tsunami's remorse, 'but they now know he wasn't responsible for their kin's death.'

All at once a revelation shook Sasami's mind and she immediately put words to it, 'Is MacClean my kin?'

'In a way,' Tsunami's tone showed great consideration for Sasami, 'as I gave life to my shitei and I gave you life once more, a part of MacClean-san's life force did come from me.'

Sasami's soul went all rosy and she sighed, "I have another oniisama."

"And who would that be?" an elderly voice near her right ear asked.

"Oi!" Sasami jumped a good inch off the floor before she realized it was Tenchi's grandfather who had asked the question, then her pink amethyst orbs brought her more surprise when she saw that all the dishes and chopsticks were washed and drying in the dish rack, but before the littlest princess could do more than stare-up at the Shinto priest, a shouted, "KYA!" vibrated throughout the house.

With the twins, concern and curiosity, Sasami and Katsuhito ran out of the kitchen and into the room where a string of expletives was coming from. Both came to a full stop where the blue-haired princess' mouth hanged open before breaking down into unstoppable giggles that caused her to lean against the doorframe while the gray-haired priest stood with a thin smile upon his tanned face. What they found was a soggy Ryoko climbing out of the washing machine with a dizzy Ryo-ohki amongst Ryoko's wet stringy hair. When Ryoko heard Sasami's laughter and turned to find an amused audience, she nonchalantly said, "The device was making some strange noises."

"Was that before or after you poked your head in?" teased Katsuhito as he entered the room, opened a drawer, pulled out a clean towel and offered it to the dripping uchu kaizoku.

Ryoko's amber eyes burned once more with wounded pride as she grabbed the yellow cloth out of the elder's right hand, saying, "What did you expect, this is my first try at washing the clothes."

"At least you don't have to go down to a river, strip down to your waist," a foxy look in Katsuhito's old eyes, "and beat them against a large rock."

"I rather beat them against Ayeka-san," then a lustful gleam entered Ryoko's eyes as she used the towel to dry her cyan hair and Ryo-ohki, "although the stripped down part do have possibilities," the images of Tenchi seeing her doing the laundry that way made her lick her lips.

"Hav . . . haven't you watched me wash the clothes before ne?" Sasami finally gained control over her funny bone.

"And allow your oneesama another chance to slight me like she did when I helped you to look for her and Tenchi after the rainstorm," Ryoko gave Katsuhito a hard look as her clothes disappeared and she proceeded to dry her nude body, the priest continued to look at her like he had seen her nude a thousand times which triggered a half-smile on the ample lady's face.

"But the television showed people washing clothes," Sasami's curiosity was now in full swing.

"You know me, imoto," Ryoko handed the damp towel back to Katsuhito, who accepted it, "unless it has smooches or gunplay," then Ryoko's Gem alit with whitish-blue light while her body took on a reddish hue, "I tune it out." Ryo-ohki sighed at the heat from her companion's body dried out her fur.

"Then why did you . . ." Sasami broke off her words when she realized why Ryoko had done it, her friend knew about Sasami's fainting.

Ryoko didn't miss the strong affectionate look on Sasami's face, "Sora (Hey!)! I only did it to keep Ayeka-san's mouth from being noisy," Ryoko's skin returned to its healthy pink tone then it was clothed in a tight yellow-orange-and-black stripped catsuit.

"If your skill is the equal to your determination," Katsuhito's nodded his approval of Ryoko's new duds, "I believe we will have only successes to report to Tenchi and Ayeka-san."

Ryoko's eyes narrowed at the left-handed praise suggested in the priest's words and she countered, "I'll make sure you're not disappointed."

"I have faith that your heart will guide you," Katsuhito's face showed satisfaction in Ryoko's answer, then he turned to Sasami and asked, "I was wondering if you two would like to come up to the jinja for some ocha?"

Ryoko and Sasami looked at each other and shared a nod before Sasami turned back to Katsuhito, "Ee, I'll bring some food for us."

"Miya!" a positivity in Ryo-ohki's statement.

"Come as soon as you've finished your chores," Ryoko rolled her eyes at Katsuhito's return while Sasami giggled with her left finger tips touching her little lips, but what more would have been said was interrupted by the front door's doorbell ringing.

"I'll get it!" Ryoko leaped into the air, faded from Sasami's and Katsuhito's sight, only to appear at the front door where she opened the door while saying, "Konnichiwa."

"YONMEONI (FOUR-EYED DEMON)!" this was the last word that either Ryo-ohki or Ryoko heard as both their minds exploded into darkness.

The shout brought Sasami and Katsuhito running and they found Ryoko and Ryo-ohki out cold on the genken with a young girl of thirteen summers standing over them with a fancy croquet mallet in her hands, readied to deliver another blow.

"Ryo-chan! Ryoko-neechan!" Sasami knelt next her friends with her right hand touching the twin knots on Ryoko's and Ryo-ohki's head, Katsuhito crossed his arms and gave the young newcomer a disapproving look.

The girl with black hair, brown eyes and three blue markings on her Scandinavian face looked at the distressed princess then at the displeased Shinto priest then at her handiwork before saying with an edge of panic in her voice, "She's Ryokoakurei ne?"

"Ryoko-neechan isn't going to be happy when she wakes up," relief in Sasami's tone as patted Ryo-ohki's soft fur and Ryoko's silky hair, Katsuhito nodded his agreement.

********

Musoka Karaoke, Kurashiki

"What the Hell!" Ryoko shut her eyes and shook her head when nothing but static came over her link with Ryo-ohki and her twin, then the ample lady thumped the right side of her head with the bottom of her palm.

"Did a screw come loose?" Mulder grinned in his foxy way as he opened the right door of the backseat, the police car had arrived in front of the building where the murder had occurred, Musoka Karaoke.

"Just checking to see if I still had all my marbles," to the driver, Aoi Futaba, Ryoko's grace made it look she floated out the opened door, then the lady-in-pink continued, "I was wondering if you lose any when you become a flatfoot."

"I'll be back after I've parked the car," Aoi craned her neck down to make eye contact with the Mulder and Ryoko through the opened backdoor.

"We'll be inside," Mulder closed the door and Aoi drove away then Mulder turned to his junior partner and said with sly delight, "Did you bring a notepad?"

"Funny man," Ryoko flipped open a make-believe notepad with her left hand while holding a make-believe pen in her right, then she asked, "so how many times did your mother drop you on your head?"

"Ouch," Mulder said as he lifted up the yellow ribbon that sealed off the crime scene so Ryoko could duck under, "I think I better stop while I'm behind."

"Now you're showing some horse sense," Ryoko grinned playfully as she and Mulder showed their badges to the blue-uniformed officer, he nodded and told them, "Shigeru-san is in room thirteen."

As Ryoko and Mulder made their way between coroner technicians and police officers, they both noted that there seemed to be very little visible fire damage to the structure, unlike the brothel, the North-Forty Ranch. When they neared their destination, Shigeru stepped through the room's entrance and turned in their direction, where his eyes brightened at recognizing Mulder and Ryoko and a strong smile upon his lips at the lady's pink attire, thus he said in English, "Under different conditions I would say it's nice to see both of you," he shook their hands, "but it looks like your female arsonist was responsible."

"You mean someone witnessed the murder," Mulder's words were meant as a statement.

"No," Shigeru said as he motioned for the two to follow him to another room, "but a man did witness a nude woman climbing out of room thirteen's window, run pass him and then he smelled smoke coming from the same room," the fire chief turned and led them into the room he just left as he handed Mulder a plain folder, "the witness has given his disposition and we collected some evidence from the room."

On a table in the room were plastic bags containing various pieces of evidence but it was a large bag containing a girl's school uniform that caught Mulder's eye and he picked it up, the sight of Mulder's action brought a comment from Shigeru, "the counterman reported to Michiyuki that the victim came in with a young woman dressed in those clothes."

"I'm here!" a winded Michiyuki came into the room with Aoi right behind him, he took a minute to compose himself before saying, "I've got some bad news for you, Mulder."

"It's about Sunao Mogami," Michiyuki's surprised look made Mulder continued, "Officer Futaba mentioned you went to the hospital."

Michiyuki nodded at Mulder's explanation then he said, "Last night Mogami Sunao apparently commented suicide," everyone there heard a sad gasp from Aoi but only Mulder noticed a hardened look in Ryoko's eyes, "he used a pillow to muffle any sound as he put a gun in his mouth."

"This will make your investigation harder, Michiyuki," a thoughtful look on Shigeru's face.

"What do you mean?" Mulder asked.

"He means Mogami's Yakuza clan will now be out for blood," Ryoko harshly stated.

"Weren't they before?" puzzled Mulder as he continued to hold the bag with the school fuku in it.

"Before they wouldn't mind if we arrest the killer," Ryoko's anger was plain in her tone, "now they won't accept anything less than the killer's death."

"An eye for an eye," Mulder looked down at the fuku, "do you think the counterman and our witness can give us an accurate description of our killer?"

"The counterman was bored and only noticed her hair," Michiyuki held up a plastic bag with a brown ponytail wig in it.

"And our back alley witness?" Mulder frowned as he started to put two-and-two together, and then noticed that Ryoko was looking at the fuku and then at the brown wig.

"Nakayama Mitsutoshi didn't really get a good look," Michiyuki picked up a green folder from the table, "because he was scared for his life."

"Why?" Mulder asked as Michiyuki gave him the folder, it was labeled in English: Scully's corner report.

"She glowed like a white-hot poker," Michiyuki's statement produced a calculating look on Mulder's face.

"Hey! I've seen this school uniform and wig together," Ryoko's outburst drew everyone's attention, "they're from that new animation series."

"Which one?" Mulder's tone and look showed he was adding things together.

"Pretty Soldier Sailormoon," Ryoko replied her eyes quickly scanned the table for any more clues.

"It looks like someone disguised herself to look like Sailor Jupiter," Michiyuki grinned at Aoi's statement, who added with a blush, "It's a very romantic series, I like it."

For a moment Mulder was confused by Michiyuki's response to Aoi liking an animation series meant for young girls but then he noticed the secretive smile on Ryoko's face, so he thought, 'Something is going on with Futaba that Michiyuki knows about and Ryoko knows it too.'

"Maybe Ryoko can use her psychic abilities to discover any more clues," Michiyuki suggested with admiration.

Aoi's eyes grew wide at Michiyuki's words and Ryoko grinned at the policewoman's reaction before saying, "I think I'll come up with a few more pieces of the puzzle."

Mulder smiled at Ryoko's quick thinking as his pink lady led them from this room to the entrance of the other room, in-between the rooms, Michiyuki asked Mulder, "I'm curious, where is Scully?"

"The Funao Toxic Spill," Mulder used the name the media was calling the accident, "because of her medical training, Scully was put in charge of the emergency response team."

Michiyuki saw the worry on Mulder's face and so he used a reassured tone, "I believe she will be fine."

"I hope so too," Mulder replied but then his pale green eyes flashed with anger, "but sometimes something comes along and cuts you off at your knees," both Michiyuki and Shigeru could tell that the American was speaking from experience.

At the room's entrance Ryoko stopped, let out a relaxing sigh as she closed her eyes and placed her left wrist against her chest, Mulder's worry about Scully didn't stop him from smiling at the ample woman's opening act, he knew full well that she used this performance to hide the bluish-white glow coming from the Gem on her left wrist and the American's smile became a grin when he saw how big Aoi's eyes got. Ryoko stepped over the threshold and everyone there notice how nebulous her footfalls were, then she knelt just a few feet in and her right hand reached out and waved over a chalk drawing of a body, her words had a distant quality to them, "here a boyish man sought only spring's flowers, instead his brain was boiled into broth."

Instantly Aoi face became different shades of green while Michiyuki said in a matter-in-fact tone, "The coroner told me that the body had four burn marks on it, two just under the shoulder blades and two on each side of the face, from the upper cheekbone down to underneath the jaw."

"Like someone held him down on the ground and used their hands to keep him from screaming for help," Shigeru suggested.

"He was also still clothed when she killed him," Michiyuki added as Ryoko stood up and walked to the middle of the room.

"She wasn't," Ryoko's words had a dreamy tone as she crouched down once more and waved her over the carpet, "it was here she dropped her disguise."

"It's interesting that this room wasn't as badly burned as the other one," Mulder observed as he stepped around Shigeru and stood on the charred part of the carpet.

"The witness used a garden hose to keep the fire under control before we arrived," Shigeru informed them with an approving tone, "I'm thinking of giving him a medal for his quick thinking."

"She only wanted his death," Ryoko replied then her body wavered and gravity started to do its trick.

With forethought Mulder was able to reach Ryoko before she collapsed on the floor and Michiyuki cried out, "You're alright?"

"Yeah," Mulder could see the mischief in Ryoko's amber eyes but there was seriousness there too as she continued her words, "she took no pleasure in her handiwork, I felt her sorrow."

Michiyuki eyes were wide with enlightenment, "the witness said the same thing," everyone looked at him, "Nakayama told me she looked like she was crying."

At this point everything clicked in Mulder's mind and he spoke out as he helped Ryoko to stand, "She is choosing her victim not because they are male."

"No," Michiyuki nodded, "her victims did something to her."

"She's evening the score," Ryoko's voice showed an understanding for the killer.

"Evening the score?" Aoi asked as she looked at Ryoko.

"There must be a connection between the victims," Mulder speculated, "maybe it will help us to stop her from killing again."

"I'll get on it right now," zeal flashed in Michiyuki's eyes before he left the room while Shigeru in the police officer's wake.

Aoi walked up and asked politely, "Where now?"

"Let's talk to the witness," Mulder told the officer, unaware of the amused looks shared by the two ladies at how he protectively held Ryoko.

"I can take you to where he works," suggested Aoi.

"Lead the way," Mulder commanded, at this point he awoke to his present situation, especially with those glittering amber cat eyes looking up at him, at this moment Aoi decided to give them some privacy and walked out of the room. It took a moment for Mulder to loosen his hold on Ryoko's slim waist while saying, "I seem to apologize to you all the time."

Ryoko heard the sad pain in Mulder's voice, like she had heard so many weeks ago, and she made a decision, for better or for worse she turned to face the American, kissed the tips of her right hand's index and forefinger before saying, "I love Tenchi with all my heart, with all my soul," then she reached up and pressed the fingers against Mulder's lips before adding, "but that doesn't mean I don't like you holding me."

Mulder smiled and as his two fingers touched Ryoko's lips, he asked, "Does that mean I get to bring you home on the weekends?"

"OH MY!" Ryoko used a theatrical voice as she tweaked Mulder's nose, "Is that a gun you're packing or are you just excited to see me?"

Mulder's lopsided smile showed he got Ryoko's don't-push-it-buster message, Ryoko smirked at the faces of the police officers and firemen that stood just outside the room's entrance as the two went by them to join Aoi, whose very bright blush showed she had heard Ryoko's statement.

********

Isolation Ward, Funao Hospital, Funao

Scully's face was a mask of neutrality but her emerald eyes shined with pity at the sight beyond the glass partition, the people tied down onto beds, their lungs poured out animalistic shouts, and their eyes full of madness. In a horrified voice she asked the white-cloaked doctor next to her, "Fuke-isha, is there nothing we can do to save them?"

"Mo, Scully-san," a helpless tone in the young man's voice, "the Kat scan showed their brains' frontal lobs suffered catastrophic damage," he looked down at his hands, "it's better to sedate them and allow nature to run its course."

"What areas of the frontal lobs?" Scully couldn't take her sight from the tragedy before her.

"Those areas where memory and upper personality traits come from," Fuke was trying very hard to keep tears out of his voice.

"In other words where the soul resides in each of us," Scully concluded as she finally turned away from the ghastly view and walked towards the exit door.

"To some degree," a haunted look in Fuke's dark eyes under shaggy black eyebrows as he joined her, "as you know, Scully-san, a person's personality comes from two areas in the brain."

"The core or reptilian brain," Scully kicked in automatically as the pair entered the hallway where doctors and nurses rushed pass them, "where lust, anger, hunger, fear and indifference come from."

"And the area in the frontal lob where love, patience, sacrifice, trust and caring come from," the two stopped at the isolation ward control station where he motioned for the head nurse to join them.

"With both fused by the brain's memory of that person's experiences," Scully felt there was something important just beyond this medical dialogue but she was having trouble finding it.

"Hai, Fuke-isha?" asked the head nurse of forty years.

Fuke picked up a clipboard budging with papers, paged through several before pulling out one and signing it before he gave it to her, "Keep the patients in a sedated sleep and don't feed them," he looked at Scully, who nodded her agreement.

Even with all her experience, the head nurse's black eyes reflex the pain her and Scully heard in the doctor's voice, she calmly replied, "Hai, sensei."

The young doctor with a day's growth of fuzz on his chin returned his attention to Scully where he picked up their conversation, "You could say, Scully-san, that within our brain resides an akurei (demon) and a tenshi (angel), each in the riggings necessary to pull the cart carrying the human soul."

"With that person's memories as the driver," then insight filled Scully's eyes and she asked, "but if the driver is crippled and the tenshi dead?"

"Then the akurei runs wild," Fuke's tone was deadly serious.

An urgent feeling poured into Scully's spirit and she said, "I must be going," then she bowed to the doctor, "Sayonara, Fuke-isha."

Fuke returned the bow before saying, "Okarada wo taisetsu ni, Scully-san (Take care of your body, Scully-san)."

As she walked down the hall Scully took out her cell phone and pressed in a set of numbers, a moment later an English-speaking voice answered, "Sugoru here."

"I want you to check to see if the military was transporting any biochemical weapons," Scully's voice crackled with restrained anger.

"That bad," Sugoru's tone showed his worst fears had come true.

"What we have here is something that can turn any human being into a creature," a hard edge to each of Scully's words, "that will find pleasure in pain, will murder without inhibitions."

"You think the military might have its hand in this accident?" Sugoru asked.

"It's possible," Scully came out of the isolation ward and was joined by her assistants, "but I'm hoping my next destination will give me the information I need to make a clear-cut decision."

"Where would that be?" Sugoru's tone showed he had a hunch as to where Scully was going.

"The city morgue," Scully answered as she walked out of the hospital and climbed into the back of a white van.

********

Masaki Residence

"Gomen gomen gomen gomen," each of the teenager's sorry was matched with her jet black-haired head touching the ground before Ryoko's feet, where a concerned Sasami held a tiny ice pack against a huge bump on Ryo-ohki's head, who was amongst her sister's spiky hair, already the cabbit wondered if she should ask for combat pay. Katsuhito stood behind the couch where Ryoko sat, his face a mask of sternness while an amused twinkle was in his red eyes; the priest was also fascinated by the blue markings upon the girl's forehead and cheeks.

"Now that I've acted like a grasshopper, can I get up?" a whinny tone in the girl's question and she gave Ryoko an unrepented look.

"Your name's Skuld ne?" the girl in the blue-white hiking boots nodded her head to Ryoko's question, her brown eyes full of pride, then Ryoko held out her left hand before saying, "Give me the mallet."

"Its MINE!" selfishness in Skuld's shout as her right hand reached for the croquet mallet that lay next to her.

"Hand it over," Ryoko's tone and glowing amber eyes showed she broke no childish temper tamper. The link provided by Ryo-ohki for the two Ryokos was back in operation once the cabbit and the uchu kazoku regained consciousness but both had mallet-sized headaches.

Skuld quickly calculated her chances of getting away with her favorite weapon and her spirit sank as she realized, 'one unrestricted first class demon plus one restricted first class demon equaled a snowball chance in Hell,' with a crushed look on her face she picked up the mallet and held it out with both hands to the ample woman.

Ryoko milked the scene for all its worth by leisurely taking the mallet by its handle with her left hand and checked the weapon's heft by flexing her left waist to smack its head into her right palm, "Subarashii!" the uchu kaizoku cheerfully declared, "did you make it?" Skuld nodded her head, her teenager's face looked like she lost her best friend, at this moment Katsuhito cleared his throat. A sideward glare by the amber-eyed woman showed the gray-haired man thought she had enough fun with the girl, but then Ryoko noticed something was unusual, Sasami was as quiet as a stone. Ryoko used the a few swings of the mallet to cover her quick glance at the little one, what she found brought disquiet to her spirit, Sasami was watching Skuld with a troubled look.

'Sasami is frightened of the brat,' with this understanding Ryoko reached out towards the kneeling girl with her senses, 'her aura is very powerful but she doesn't have her tenshi,' then something clicked in the ample woman's mind, 'Sasami knows this,' then gloominess touched her spirit, 'and she's afraid the girl will try something and I'll hurt her.'

Skuld was too caught up with her own selfishness and Katsuhito was behind Ryoko but Ryo-ohki felt her sister's misery, "Miya?"

Ryo-ohki's concern caught Sasami's attention and she asked, "Ryo-chan?"

"Hai, it's a masterpiece!" Ryoko hid behind a mask of devilish glee as she held the mallet out with her left hand, and then with a twisted downward motion of her left wrist there came a loud hollow wallop.

"Ouch!" cried Skuld as both of her hands kept her forehead from touching the bamboo mat, when her throbbing pain lessens the teen looked up at Ryoko with hateful eyes only to find the mallet's butt almost touching her little nose, her eyes shifted to the blue-haired child and the gray-haired elder where she found surprise and satisfaction on their faces.

"Now we're even," Ryoko told Skuld as the girl gingerly took back her weapon.

Skuld's kneels were anchored to the ground as her brown eyes stared at the trio, 'akurei aren't nice,' her thoughts mystified, 'akurei don't make people happy.'

Sasami watched what had happened between Ryoko and Skuld with dread because she feared the goddess of the future could sense that she was a creation of Tsunami and she feared the teenager would reveal her secret, but then Ryoko's act caused the little one to grin in surprise, broke that fearful doubt from her heart so it could be replaced with brave trust. With a renewed pluck Sasami placed the ice pack on the sofa's armrest, walked over to the dumbfounded youth and held out her hands with palms up, saying, "we are going to drink some ocha," tenderness filled her big eyes, "Please join us."

Skuld's brown eyes looked over Sasami's hands and stared deeply into the little princess' pink-quartz eyes, with all negative emotions clear from her mind for the first time since her arrival, the teenage goddess saw the same gentle care she found in her own sister's gray eyes, then for a second the key upon the blue-haired child's forehead flickered and the black-haired girl's eyelids fluttered as she felt a sensation like velvety wings enclosed her spirit followed by soundless words, 'Konnichiwa, Skuld-chan.' Delight appeared on Skuld face and she opened her mouth but a soundless, 'Shhh,' stopped the teen's words.

"Skuld-san, I'm interested as to how you knew of Ryoko-dono's being a special person?" curiosity laced Katsuhito's words, he could tell that Sasami was uncomfortable with Skuld and he wanted to find out why.

"Urd-neechan told me that Ryokoakurei had awaken," Skuld gave a quick glare at Ryoko, "and I was concern because Belldandy-oneechan went to a nearby onsen," jealous anger made her young face hard because her oldest sister had only spilled the beans last night, "with . . ." the thirteen-year-old suddenly stopped her reply as she didn't want to stain Belldandy's honor.

"So your sister can sense these things?" the names Urd and Skuld had a Northern European quality to them by Katsuhito's judgment but the third name, Belldandy, seemed an English corruption of a much more ancient name, Anadandi.

"Not really," Skuld made a face to show her contempt at her sister's spellcraft, "actually Urd-neechan used a skalding potion," then an angry look filled her face when she remembered why Urd was using the potion, "when she spotted the akurei flying about."

'Maybe I didn't hit her head hard enough,' Ryoko thought, she didn't like Skuld calling her an akurei.

This last bit of information along with Skuld's Scandinavian features and her facial markings, made it clear to Katsuhito what Urd's and Skuld's professions are, although in the priest's opinion the teenager couldn't be more than an acolyte, so he asked, "So you and your sister are practitioners of the Nordic shamanism?"

"Ee," relief in Skuld's answer, the brown-eyed girl was glad her answers to the priest's questions had shielded her true nature, then she slipped her mallet into its sheaf on her back before she lit Sasami help her up, while the teenager held the little one's hands she said, "Hai, Sasami-kun, I would love to have ocha with you," then she looked at Ryoko with a tiny gilt of suspicion in her eyes, "and your friends."

Katsuhito's gray eyebrows shot up as did Sasami's blue ones at the honorific Skuld used for Sasami, while Ryoko's frown deepened as the uchu kaizoku thought, 'Maybe I hit her too hard.'

"Miya," agreement in Ryo-ohki's tone.

********

Tokyo Rail Station

The train station clock just rung its final note for eleven o'clock as Ayeka and Ohiten hurried out of the passenger car with overnight bags in hand. Just before the train had stopped, Ayeka's bodyguard had switch shoes, going from the spike-heeled shoes to a pair of white Nikes, while explaining to the inquisitive princess, "The high heels turn my legs into sticks if I wear them too long," Ayeka's response was a small smile.

As the two headed for the station's exit, Ayeka noticed with a mental reprimand that she had unconsciously drifted closer to Ohiten as the flow of people in the forever-crowded station invaded her comfort zone, then she heard her companion ask, "Grace, are you ii ne?"

"Hai, atashi ii na, Suzuri (Yes, I'm alright, Suzuri)," during the hours of their plotting it was decided that they would use their new nicknames and treat each other as sisters whenever possible so that their performance would be convincing, but Ayeka felt her fear of crowds lessen thanks to the warmth of Ohiten's concern, so she said, "You know how crowds bother me."

"Ee," Ohiten shifted slightly to place herself in a more protective position to Ayeka, which caused another one of Ayeka's little smiles to appear.

Once out of the building and onto the sidewalk, Ayeka's fear moved back into her unconsciousness and she stood next to Ohiten, who hesitantly asked, "Our hotel is within walking distance of the train station," then she waved her left hand toward some yellow cars, "or would you like to be driven there?"

"It's Oke, Suzuri," Ayeka's ruby eyes full of appreciation, "I think walking to our hotel is a wonderful idea."

"This way, Grace," Ohiten pointed with her head to her left and as both ladies turned left and walked along, the lady in the white coat kept her colorless eyes on the smaller woman, her mind sorted through MacClean's memories of his surveillance of the Masaki household, she listened to the tearful words the princess spoke to the little gray animal as she sat by the path, the hopeful tone when she asked Katsuhito about the technique he was using to train Tenchi, the crushing confession of loss to the boy in the cabin, the strength she drew from his optimistic words and the determined statement she made at the sacred tree of the Masaki Shrine. It took only fifteen minutes for the golden girl to agree with MacClean's assessment, 'Daddy's right, she is trying to be the iron hand in the velvet glove.'

At the same time Ayeka felt approval of the way Ohiten slipped into her role without error, so much of her plan was based on the teenager's acting ability for deep within the princess knew her darkest fears hungered for failure, 'So much of the future I built was taken from me and this is my only hope to recover it,' her gaze touched upon the faces that reminded her of her father's first wife, 'only obasama's and Tsunami-megami's presence has sated my worries about our otousama and okasamas,' then her vision drafted to the towering stone and glass buildings around her, 'yet do I rebuild my future with the wooden columns of the past,' her mind's eyes filled with the vision of a shorthaired boy, 'or with the stone columns of the future,' finally she looked at Ohiten, 'with people I barely know.'

Caught in thought the two ladies didn't notice a dark blue-haired woman in a powder blue Honda four-door, parked on the other side of the road, was watching them with interest, thinking, 'Katsuhito-ojiisan made it sound like Ayeka-oujosama was coming here alone,' the young lady picked up a small telescope and put it up to her dark right eye, 'Hen na.'

The childish cries of delight and adult clapping stopped Ayeka and Ohiten as they reached the right front edge of a small park next to the railroad station, both turned and saw a crowd of children and adults facing away from them with an arrangement of metal tubes, shiny rings and seats on eight ten-foot poles beyond them, then they heard a male voice say, "Micki-chan! Rescue!"

Immediately Ayeka and Ohiten saw a snowy white macaque climbed the farthest of the poles, stood on top of the seat, gathered itself and make a mighty leap where it landed onto a seat on another pole. From there the short-tailed monkey quickly crawled through the rings that ran between this pole and another, where it slipped down to a seat halfway down the pole. Here the dark-eyed animal climbed upside-down and hand-over-hand up a heavy rope that ran from the seat to the top of the next pole. On this pole there was a small platform with a small brown cage but the bars were too close for the crowd to see inside. With dexterous hands the monkey worked three of the wooden bars free from their sockets, reached in with its right hand and retrieved a sixteen-inch doll of Sailor V.

Ayeka was totally captivated by the high wire drama as she almost unconsciously squeezed her way through the crowd to get a better view, Ohiten too was enjoying the performance, even though MacClean's memory contained many animal acts, it wasn't the same as seeing it live. The two reached the front of the adults where they found one half-ring of sitting children with eyes all bright with sky-high excitement. At the same time Ohiten reached Ayeka's side, the snow monkey begun to walk along a thin tightrope that ended at a pole with a platform and a monkey-sized candy apple red bicycle next to a blueberry-colored box on top. The macaque used the doll to keep its balance but when it reached the halfway point, the box's top popped open with a jack-in-a-box holding a gun with a bang sign sticking out of the barrel followed by a loud bang sound. Many with hearts caught in their throats watched as the monkey clutched the red-white-and-blue dressed doll to its chest before pitching off the rope and shocked eyes followed the falling body until its descent dropped it into a five-foot barrel of water with a great splash. Ohiten had noticed that the animal was well trained since it fell in just the right way so it would land in the water without any harm but it didn't stop her from smiling at the heartfelt look on the princess' face which turned into pure joy when the snow monkey bounded out of the barrel still holding the colorful doll and she clapped along with the rest of the crowd as the furry animal went over to a brown-haired middle-aged man, gave him the doll and both of them bowed to the audience.

As the clapping started to die down the trainer said, "Jean-chan! Harri-chan! Forward!"

Ayeka and Ohiten watched as two more macaques came forward with large tin cups in their hands. The children looked up at the adults and almost all nodded, so the children stood up, took money from their pockets and took turns putting the coins or paper into the two shiny cups, as did several adults, including Ayeka. The purple-haired lady had taken her small purse from her own coat pocket, open it and pulled out one of the paper note but then looked at Ohiten with a questioning look. Ohiten realized that Ayeka wouldn't know how Nihon money worked so she looked at the note before nodding in agreement. "Arigato," smiles in Ayeka's ruby eyes as she put the paper note into the tin cup when it was her turn but things changed instantly when she absentmindedly put her purse back into her coat pocket only for it to be snatched from hand by a shorthaired man, who dodged away from her into the crowd as the slim lady cried out, "Suri!"

"I'm on it, oneechan!" Ohiten answered as she tossed her coat off and followed in the thief's wake.

Hayaiashi made it out of the ring of people before any could raise a hand to stop him, the man grinned at the knowledge that none here could match his track-and-field abilities, skills that should have guaranteed him a future as Nihon's number one track star and trainer but he lost his edge, his girlfriend and his glory thanks to one night of partying and a tragic car accident. In the two years since that early morning calamity he had built a new reputation, the best snatch-and-run pickpocket in Tokyo. He was already casing the crowd for likely targets when the foreign woman with the white hat took out a purse and by opening it showed it was stuffed with money, now the tanned man had the purse and with inflated ego he glanced at a reflection in a parked car he was going to pass, the sight he saw deflated him like a nail for only eight feet behind him was a golden girl in a red-white-and-blue sailor fuku, angry determination in her colorless eyes.

The pickpocket kicked into high gear as he ran between slower pedestrians, originally Hayaiashi planned to duck into an alley but the fiery-haired girl's speed meant she would catch him if he slowed to make the turn and her athletic body made it uncertain if he could defeat her in a contest of fisticuffs before someone else might intervene. The runner wasted no time with words or needless maneuvers and he was rewarded when another glance at a reflection from a parked car showed the girl was hadn't gained any on him.

Ohiten quickly noticed the runner's skill of the pickpocket but her fear of running into someone stepping out of a parked car or out of a shop prevented the teenager from going at her maximum speed, then an idea lit up her mind and without delay she leaped into the air. With skill drawn from MacClean's memories the youth used her momentum to ricochet off of mailboxes, telephone booths, lampposts and shop signs.

When Hayaiashi heard the running steps behind him change to metallic bangs he took a chance to glance over his shoulder, his face went deathly white at the sight of the flying girl just a few feet behind. In desperation the lanky man saw a four-year-old child with a large blue-white plastic ball in his hands walking next to a gray-haired woman, with a burst of remaining vitality heightened by the sound of his chaser landing on a mailbox he just passed, the green-suited man ran between the old woman and the child, knocking the elder onto the sidewalk and the child between the parked cars, because of the ball the little one bounced off the pavement, let go of the plastic sphere and rolled into oncoming traffic.

Ohiten's reaction was immediate, instinct told her she had to save the child no matter what, the adrenaline that fueled her leap from the mailbox belittled the pinprick pain from her right ear but teenager felt a sensation like a door opened in her mind while a bluish-white light burned in her eyes. To those who saw the child fall into the street it was a blurred red-white-and-blue image that landed crouched next to the frightened child, for a second or two they saw a fuku-dressed girl pick up the child with both hands before she jumped straight up into the air as a breaking car screeched into the space just vacated.

Fifteen feet further down the running pickpocket glanced back at his escape maneuver with relief, but as Hayaiashi started to look forward a powerful grip grabbed his neck and channeled his speed into an upward lift that caused the purse to slip out of his right hand. Barely able to look down due to the fingers digging into his neck, the thief found a pair of intense green eyes staring up at him, who's young female face was surrounded by ginger-colored hair, then words came out of her clenched teeth, "Oihagi (purse snatcher), you aren't going anywhere."

The girl in the beige-and-white sailor fuku turned her head to watch as Ohiten hovered for a moment five feet above the car, then the golden girl curled protectively around the child as both plummet, with a rip the human ball tore through the ragtop of the 1970 Corvette and landed in the occupied passenger seat.

Ohiten was all tense as she waited for the pain to come but then relaxed as the only thing she heard was the frightened crying of the child in her arms, and opened her eyes to find her body upside-down with her little nose almost touching the glove compartment. Looking up over the child's black-haired head she found her legs on each side of the seat's headrest, her blue skirt covered the child's body and a blond-haired head was buried in her Hello Kitty panties, a muffled male voice said, "Lucky!"

Using her right hand to hold her hat in place while carrying Ohiten's coat in her left, Ayeka ran to keep the two speedsters in sight but she soon lost them although she was able to see Ohiten take to the air before the golden girl disappeared back into the sea of heads, then dread touched the princess' soul as she saw the youth jump five feet straight up and fall straight down head first, in seconds a breathy sigh left her lips when a shouted, "CHIKAN!" reached her ears. The slim lady's ponytails drafted back down as she slowed to squeeze between motionless people, yet the princess' reaction was a stressed released snicker behind her left hand because before her was a car with a ripped roof, its passenger car door opened and Ohiten sat sideways on the seat with her feet on the ground as she handed a glistering faced child to a tearful old woman, the gray-haired lady hugged the child tenderly to her chest as her freed hand repeatedly patted Ohiten's smiling face and mumbled incoherent words, the man whose lap the redhead sat on was holding his nose with both hands, with a size eight imprint on his face and an accusing tone in his nasal voice, "That ko gyaru broke my nose!"

"Eikichi, you had to act like a hentai," no hint of sympathy from the bespectacled man in the driver seat.

Behind the mask of smiles Ohiten was digesting what had just happened. Former Star Seeds had taught her how to use her powers and her solar mother, Otaiyo, had told her daughter of MacClean's special abilities and after her first transformation, Ohiten studied MacClean's memories so she could correctly use those abilities but there were incidents that only recently MacClean had discovered the answers to: bullets knocking him off his feet but not penetrating his skin, explosions that left no wounds and injuries that healed at an incredible rate, now a new power had surfaced. The golden girl's thinking was interrupted when a man came forward to lead the old woman away from Ohiten, her colorless eyes saw Ayeka and her shoulders sagged as the princess returned the teenager's coat, "Gomen, Grace, I lost the suri."

"I believe this is your purse ne?" Ayeka and Ohiten looked in the direction the voice came from and they saw a pony-tailed girl in a long-skirted sailor fuku, an overnight bag on her right side, effortlessly holding the thief in the air with her right hand while her left foot lightly tapped the purse on the ground.

Ayeka's gratitude was obvious as she walked toward the green-eyed girl but Ohiten froze as her sight caught an image of a green symbol upon the teenager's forehead. 'Jupiter,' was what the redhead thought as she raised in a trance-like state only to be snapped out of it when a young boy ran up to her with an autograph pad in his hands and he excitedly asked, "Na na, V-chan, can I have your autograph?"

The mark disappeared and Ohiten slowly turned to the dreamy-eyed youth before she smiled apologetically, saying, "I'm not Sailor V," then she squat before the shorthaired boy and gave his shoulders a comforting squeeze with her hands, "Gomen," she added.

"That's who I thought you were when I saw you chasing down this bag of bones," the strong girl gave the pale faced thief a deadly glare, Ohiten searched Makoto's face for any hint the tall girl might have seen a symbol on the redhead's forehead, the only thing the golden girl found was a strong-willed smile.

The boy looked with disappointment at his pad but then his dark eyes lit up, "You are a hero," a child's faith in his tone as he looked back up at Ohiten, "and I'll bet someday you'll be as famous as Sailor V!"

"Ii ne," Ohiten surrendered as she took the pad, pulled out an ink pin and paused for a minute before signing it: Seijoki. As soon as the child had the pad in his hands, he gave the golden girl a one-arm hug before he ran back to his friends, who looked at the autograph with ohs-and-ahs in their wide eyes.

Ayeka picked up her purse and held it with both hands while she bowed to the ginger-haired girl, saying, "Domo arigato gozaimasu . . ." the princess paused with puzzlement in her ruby eyes.

"Oi, atashi baka wa (Oh, silly me!)!" chagrined look on her face as she held out her left hand as Ohiten joined them, "I'm Kino Makoto."

Ohiten shook Makoto's hand while saying, "I'm Masaki Ohiten," then introduced her companion, "and this is my oneesama, Masaki Ayeka."

"Do itashimashite," replied Makoto as Ayeka shook her hand, then she looked up at the thief, "Now, what should we do with him?"

"In ancient times they would cut off a thief's right hand," Ohiten's words full of unforgiving anger as she stepped forward so the thief could see her face.

"Maybe we should just turn him over to the nearest keisatsukan," Ayeka suggested, it was at this moment the princess noticed both teenagers were almost the same height.

"I wish but I've got a train to catch," Makoto didn't like the idea of letting the guy go.

Ohiten reached up with both hands and took the thief from Makoto and brought his face close to hers so he could feel her angry breath, "If you ever hurt another kodomo, I'll put nails in your coffin," then she shook him a few times to show she was strong enough to do it.

"I SWEAR!" there was real fear in Hayaiashi's promise.

Ohiten let go of Hayaiashi, who collapsed onto the sidewalk before he bolted away on all fours, then a perplexed look filled her golden face as she asked Ayeka, "Grace, where's our luggage?"

It looked like Ayeka's ruby eyes would pop out of her head as she pointed wordlessly over her shoulder in the direct the two had come from. "Iie wa yo!" was Ohiten's response as she made tracks in that direction but before Ayeka and Makoto could join her the blond-haired man from the car walked up to them still holding his nose, saying, "I think I'm going to need a plastic surgeon."

"You're the one with your nose buried in her panti (panties)," Makoto fired back with as she cracked her knuckles, "of course I could knock it back into shape."

"Sora! You're the one who asked if she did it for a living, Eikichi," said the other man from the car as his right hand smacked his companion on the left shoulder.

"Oke Oke, Ryuji," as he held up his freed hand in surrender before adding under his breath, "Che (Man!)! Why do I run into violent girls even when I'm playing hokey?"

Ayeka's sight rested on the sport car's ruined roof and she said with resignation as she opened her purse, "Dewa, someone should pay for . . ."

"It won't be necessary," the man with the glasses, who was the driver, said with heartfelt words, "because your imotosan saved my honor."

At first Ayeka was surprised by the man's praise and she felt real pride in the golden girl's courageous act, it took a moment for Ayeka to bow and to say, "Domo arigato," then the princess turned away and with Makoto walked briskly to catch up with Ohiten.

Deep in thought Ayeka understood what had happened to her, 'I am falling for our own scheme,' an image of Ohiten filled her mind, 'I thought it would be clever to hide her in plan sight as my imotosan but I am losing sight of her as Roger-san,' Ayeka's ruby eyes held confusion, 'I feel joy and pride in Ohiten's deed like I would if Sasami or Yosho had done it,' now a serious look appeared on her face, 'but I know in my mind Roger-san is only here to aid my search for oniisama, for my inazuke, and once I find him, she will cease to be at my side,' then she felt her soul ache, 'yet my heart does not want Ohiten to stop calling me oneesama.'

"Genki, Masaki-san (Are you OK, Miss Masaki)?" the concern in Makoto's question caused Ayeka to give the ginger-haired girl a questioning look, "your face looked flushed and your eyes reflected worry," the tall girl explained.

"I am just mad at myself for spoiling Ohiten's noble act," Ayeka veiled her inner turmoil behind a mask of properness.

"We all make dumb mistakes when we panic about someone else's safety," certainty in Makoto's voice, "we just try not to dance the same dance twice."

Ayeka felt the emotions behind Makoto's words but before she could ask the tall girl about it, the princess caught sight of a kneeling Ohiten in the park and heard the golden girl's mournful shout, "DADDY is going to kill me!" Once more guilt stabbed Ayeka's heart for she saw no luggage as she and Makoto came to stand by the golden girl, tears clouded the colorless eyes that looked up to them while grief touched lips said, "I lost ALL of his best stuff!"

Those words brought Makoto's eyebrows to her hairline and she looked from Ohiten to Ayeka to Ohiten back to Ayeka, the ginger-haired girl saw the unvarnished guilt in the redhead's tears and the purple-haired lady's silent stare and it tugged at her spirit, then the tall girl remembered why she was here and how it was a way to break sorrow's rule, so with good cheer in her voice Makoto said, "Genki dashite (Cheer up!)! I'm sure your otousan will forgive you especially when he finds out how you saved that child."

"Honto ne?" Ohiten's voice a mix of pain and hope.

"Zettai yo (I swear!)!" Makoto's oath ringed with robust conviction as her hands reached down to Ohiten. The golden girl saw the friendly smile on the tall girl's face and she smiled back as accepted the help. With Ohiten in front of her and Ayeka to her right, Makoto asked, "So Masaki-san, I assume you're here to enroll Ohiten-san at Azabu Junior High School."

"Hai," Ayeka realized that Makoto recognized Ohiten's school uniform and activated scene twenty-four, "Ohiten is here to enroll at Azabu Junior High School for the next school year beginning in April," then the princess pointed at her own face, "and I am here to make sure she does not get into any trouble while doing it."

"Ome! Grace!" Ohiten shoved her nose into Ayeka's face, "I wasn't the one who got her purse snatched and lost all of our luggage."

"Suzuri," older sister superiority in Ayeka's response, "this would not have happened if you had not been expelled from your school."

"The hentai-chan deserved it!" Ohiten countered, her tear stained face forgotten.

"He was the principle's musuko!" Ayeka's face was grim but a hint of mirth was in her eyes.

"He stole all of our panti!" Ohiten fought hard to keep a straight face when she saw the princess' merriment.

"A proper lady does not strip a fellow student, force him to wear his stolen goods and chase him through the school's hallways with a wet towel as a whip," Ayeka forced her words through clenched teeth, not trusting her mouth not to laugh, although the whip part was giving her some interesting ideas.

"I think every girl there," the golden girl's eyes sparkled with delight, "was overjoyed to see welts on his shiri (ass)."

"That as it may, you were expelled and he wasn't," as before Ayeka wondered how or where Ohiten came up with such a naughty story, then she switched gears, "and Suzuri, please remember a well-bred girl uses oshiri instead of the word you used."

At first Makoto was taken aback by the barbed words between the two totally different looking sisters but her dismay softened to understanding when she saw the same high spirits in their eyes, the same high spirits she saw in her new friends' eyes. With that in mind the pony-tailed girl interrupted, "So where are you staying?"

"Ara . . ." Ohiten decided she had to stay in character as the trendy teenager, who isn't concern about such mundane things.

Ayeka used Ohiten's pause to calm her emotions before saying, "We have reservations for the Roppongi Prince Hotel," then a sad look clouded her eyes, "but now I don't know if I have enough money to pay for our room and replace the clothes we have lost," then her voice became dejected, "and I do not want to call home for more funds."

"I refuse to wear this fuku for the whole five days we're here," Ohiten made a face like it was a fate worst than death.

"Dewa, I think I've got a solution to your problem," Makoto said as she knelt on the ground, opened her overnight bag, got out her purse and opened it, then she took out her key chain and removed a key. Next the ginger-haired girl got out a notepad and pen and drew a map with directions. It was with surprised looks that Ayeka and Ohiten heard the tall girl's next words as she held the key and the piece of paper out to them, "My class is going on a field trip to Nagasaki so if you like, you can stay at my apartment while I'm gone."

"What about your ryoshin?" Ayeka total surprise was plain in her words.

"I . . . I live alone," equal measure of pain and loss was in Makoto's words and features.

"But you do not even know us?" Ayeka could understand the unconditional support from family members but she couldn't fathom Makoto's unflinching generosity.

"Mochirou (Sure!)!" Makoto covered her sorrow with a guileless grin, "your actions told me I can trust you," then to get rid of any doubts she added, "Besides I need someone to water my plants while I'm gone."

"Kimari (Deal!)!" Ohiten said as she snatched the key and paper from Makoto's right hand then the golden girl looked at Ayeka, "Ne ne Grace ne?"

"Ii ne," Ayeka gave Ohiten an I-give-up look before she bowed to Makoto, saying, "Domo arigato gozaimasu, Kino-san."

"Ohiten-san is almost the same size as me," Makoto rubbed her chin as she judged the golden girl's body, "so she should be able to wear some of my clothes while you staying," then a sly grin touched her lips, "although they might be tight in a few places."

"The tighter the better!" laughter in Ohiten's words then she bowed to Makoto, saying, "Domo arigato!"

Makoto gave each girl a bow then she quickly closed her overnight bag while saying, "Dewa, I better hurry or I'll miss my train," then she waved at them while running for the train station, "Ja ne!"

"Sayonara," said Ayeka politely while she waved.

"Bye-bye!" Ohiten bounced on her toes while waving both hands.

After Makoto disappeared, Ohiten looked at the key and paper in her right palm then at Ayeka while saying, "Look, Grace, we're saved!"

"Roger-san, did you have to grab the key from Kino-san," Ohiten knew she was in trouble because of Ayeka's use of Ohiten's surname.

"I had to stay in character, Masaki-san," Ohiten used a serious tone as she held the key up like it was a talisman, "and it would've been a stain on Kino-san's honor if you'd decline her offer."

Suddenly Ayeka felt all hollow inside because of the unintentional sting of Ohiten's counter, the princess' eyes dropped to her feet for every part of her inner self told her outer self that she was at a crossroads, 'I have regained the value of my own honor, the value of my own duty, the value of my own family,' then she looked up with a determined look on her face, 'and it is time for me to understand the honor, the duty and the family of others.' That resolve shifted to wonder when the purple-haired lady found Ohiten's right hand almost touching her left shoulder, an openmouthed look upon the golden girl's face and self-revulsion quaked in the teenager's voice, Go . . . gomen nasai . . . Masaki-san."

Ayeka's hesitation didn't last a second, her left hand's tenderly took hold of Ohiten's right and the princess' noble tone filled her companion's ears, "Iie, Suzuri, it is I who am remiss," the slim lady's sensitive fingers felt the tremble of the redhead's body, "it is I who knows very little of the customs of your people."

"I . . . I should've been nicer about it," Ohiten fought hard to control her voice, "you must feel at times like a fish on a chopping block."

"Hai, at times," Ayeka reached into her skirt pocket and fished out a pale green silk handkerchief with an apple blossom border and with her right hand she carefully wiped the unshed tears from Ohiten's eyes while she admonished, "You shouldn't cry so much, it makes you mascara run," Ohiten grinned at the purposeful joke since the only makeup the golden girl used was for her lips, then Ayeka added,  "and I am sure you can help me with the local customs of this land."

"Dewa, you do speak Nihongo very well," said Ohiten, she saw the kindness in Ayeka's gesture, "it's a good first step."

Ayeka could have told the truth that she was actually speaking Juraigo but instead the purple-haired woman said, "A good first step, Suzuri, but I want to take more," she then lightly squeezed Ohiten hand, "and I would like you to teach me to walk."

"Hai, Grace," Ohiten's voice was soft and her colorless eyes glowed with understanding.

Such an emotional scene didn't go unnoticed for across the street, the longhaired lady had returned to her car. She had gotten out of the Honda and followed the two up the street on the opposite side. When the thief took Ayeka's purse, she quickly increased her pace as Ohiten chased the pickpocket but when the golden girl took to the air, the feminine watcher had once more taken out her hi-tech scope and held it up to her right eye while her right index finger pressed a button. The tail was able to see Ohiten's energy aura with her device and it was in this mode her purple eyes saw the youth's aura shifted from the normal human energy signature to one that only Tsunami's children have, then in a wink-of-a-eye the redhead's whole body was encased in a Ko-Oh-Yoko, a Lighthawk Wing, and became a red-white-and-blue blur. Only her training kept the young lady from blowing her cover and so she just watched as the girl rescued the child, be joined by the princess and talked to the ginger-haired girl before running back to try to save their luggage. Now she reached for her cell phone to make a call as she watched Ayeka and Ohiten look at a piece of paper.

********

Masaki Shrine

"Uaa! The ocha and rice balls are great, Sasami-chan!" praised Skuld as she took pleasure in the contrasting taste of the sweet rice and the pickled umeboshi plum. The black-haired teenager knelt at the chabudai in Katsuhito's office along with the elder priest, the blue-haired princess and the uchu kaizoku, who had Ryo-ohki perched amongst her spiky cyan hair.

"Miya," Ryo-ohki's one word had a demanding tone to it.

"Oke, oke," Ryoko passed a carrot stick up to her lifelong companion as she continued to speak in an annoyed tone, "Just don't leave any orange crumbs in my hair."

"Miya," Ryo-ohki seemed insulted by such doubt in her carrot eating skill.

"Ryoko-dono, I wish you could taste how Sasami-chan has outdone herself," Katsuhito wasn't sure why Ryo-ohki wouldn't leave Ryoko's head but he decided he would learn the reason sooner or later.

"Actually, guji," Ryoko took a big bite out of her rice ball before she continued, "I can tell how good it is."

"Oi?" Katsuhito did a Spock, Sasami held her breath and Skuld wondered, 'What's all this talk about taste?'

"Hai," Ryoko chewed then swallowed before adding with a smile, "I can tell by how munchable the rice is, the crispness of the nori (seaweed) and the buzz of the ocha."

Once more Katsuhito noticed the heartaching guilt that held Sasami's features whenever Ryoko's inability to taste came up, so did Ryoko for she reached over to place a reassuring hand on the little one's forearm before saying, "Sasami-chan, I've told you before it's not your fault."

"I . . . I know," Sasami's snuffled voice and shaking shoulders betrayed her words.

Ryoko's worried look transformed into devilishness as her body darted over the table, rolled and scooped Sasami off the floor and did a power climb through the opened office window, she tightly hugged the surprised child to her ample chest and Ryo-ohki held onto Ryoko's scalp with a death grip.

"I KNEW IT!" Skuld shouted as she bounced up on her white shocked feet while she held her mallet in a double handhold. She made for the office door but paused after sliding it open to give the Shinto priest a scornful look due to the calm way he stood up from his sea green cushion. The teenage goddess slipped on her boots, sprinted to the middle of the shrine's ground and held her mallet in a striking position while searched the cloudless sky, shouting, "Where are you, ONI!"

Just as Katsuhito peaceful walk reached Skuld, a shout filled the air, "CANNONBALL RUN!"

Skuld looked in the shout's direction but the sun's glare fouled her vision so much that the cyan-haired comet diving out of it was at point-blank range before she saw and let out a screech while a pressure wave knocked her off her feet when Ryoko passed by her at a hair's length. From her grounded position, Skuld saw Ryoko do a steep climb which turned into four left turns so she was driving back at the young goddess, who saw the devil-be-damned glee on Ryoko's sharp face, the out-of-this-world terror in Ryo-ohki's fuzzy face and the roller coaster thrill in Sasami's round face. The teenager's pounding heart was absolutely certain she was about to become street pizza and her brown eyes almost lost their spirit just as Ryoko pulled out and blew passed a mountain lake cool Katsuhito.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" squealed Sasami.

"MMMMMIIIIYYYAAAAA!!!" screamed Ryo-ohki.

"YYYYYAAAAHHHHOOOO!!!" shouted Ryoko.

Within ten feet of the elder priest, the uchu kaizoku did a right wingover and flew down the shrine's granite staircase to the first rest spot where she shot straight out toward the lake while cutting her engines. In a dead stick maneuver the ample lady flipped onto her back as her body dropped, Ryo-ohki's eyes getting bigger and bigger as the lake's shinny surface got closer and closer, she let out a-not-this-again, "Miya!"

Like a flat stone Ryoko skipped over the watery surface while her grinning face watched as Sasami joyfully squealed with each splashy bounce, then the uchu kaizoku used her remaining velocity to pull up into a Hammerhead stall, there at twenty feet the trio floated in the air where Ryoko said softly, "Sasami-chan, don't you know how deeply your sadness penetrates my body?"

Sasami looked up at Ryoko as water drops from Ryoko's sopping wet hair fell upon her pink face like tears, "Gomen, oneechan," her little arms tighten her grip upon Ryoko, "it's just I feel . . . feel . . ." her words stopped because the little one didn't know how to explain her guilt without the fear she would lose Ryoko's friendship.

"You feel responsible for what happened to me during my imprisonment because you are Tsunami-megami's bondmate," Sasami wordlessly nodded her head then Ryoko continued, "then don't be."

"I can't help it!" Sasami's tears joined the water drops, "I care so much for you!"

"You wouldn't if you knew me before the cave," hard love in Ryoko's eyes, "I was everything Ayeka-san accused me of," her words full of self-hate, "I would've gutted every person you loved in front of you with pleasure before I took the life from your pink eyes," then she remembered Kagato, "an akurei of hakai I once was and can be again."

"Iie!" Sasami's face full of fierce love, "I won't let it happen!"

A spark of hope alit in Ryoko's heart but it was put out by the hopeless darkness within Ryoko's soul, she pulled up Sasami into a Misaki level hug and as her right cheek touched Sasami's left cheek, the ample lady quietly said, "I wish you could."

"Tsunami-megami will protect you," Sasami's hands locked around Ryoko's slim neck and she returned the hug, "I promise."

Ryoko kept her mouth closed, she didn't want to contradict Sasami's promise because the ample lady wanted it, yet sad tears spilled from her closed eyes for she knew if Kagato commanded it, Sasami would die by her hand. When Sasami felt Ryoko's hot tears mix with hers, the littlest princess closed her eyes and reached out with her mind to her unseen companion, 'Tsunami-neechan, please help Ryoko-neechan.'

The key on Sasami's forehead glowed brightly, the child felt the goddess' butterfly touch upon her spirit and heard affection in the silent divine words, 'Sasami, I hope we will be there to help Ryoko-san, Tenchi-san, Ayeka-san and the others.'

Sasami remembered Tsunami's description of how the blue-haired goddess perceived the future like the silky down of a Jurain Star Thistle, not just one future but multiple futures with each one having the possibility of coming true and how Tsunami didn't know which one was true, the only thing her friend of seven-hundred-years could give her was hope. So the little one filled every fiber of her spirit with simple trust before sending a simple thought to Tsunami, 'I believe we will.'

A wet cat looking Ryo-ohki watched from Ryoko's tangled cyan-hair, her amber eyes saw two outlooks the future revealed in tears, from her comrade's tears came fear but from her littlest friend's tears came hope. The fuzzy creature also saw the bluish-white glow from Sasami's key and she knew Sasami's other nature was the reason for the calm, a trusting look upon Sasami's face.

Both Skuld and Katsuhito stood at the entrance to the shrine's ground and watched Ryoko and company float in the air like a balloon, slowly pushed along by a moist west breeze. The gray-haired priest looked down, saw the pure awe upon the child-goddess face and he knew the teenager saw the same thing his Jurain senses sharpen by his Shinto training revealed, a bluish-white aura cocooned the trio, but what the elder didn't know was that the Skuld's divine sight saw not the aura, instead the brown-eyed girl saw a blue-haired lady in a billowing multicolored garment, whose translucent form held the three as her own divine face was wetted by tears. Just as Katsuhito was about to make a comment to Skuld the telephone in his office begun to ring, so with a little pause the gray-haired man made his way to answer the machine.

Skuld just stood there, her whole being was caught up in the spectacle of love she saw drifting before her, not just the love between Ryoko and Sasami, not just the love between the child-goddess and the adult goddess, not just the love Ryo-ohki had for her companions, it was the comforting, forgiving love both goddesses showed to a being Skuld considered to be nothing more than a demon that shook her to the very roots of her being.

"They're like onee . . ." Skuld's face became alarmed, "Oneesama!" The teenager spun on her heels and ran toward the shrine's office while saying, "I've got to get to oneesama before Keiichi-san does anything!"

The telephone stopped ringing when Katsuhito picked up the receiver, the elder asked, "Moshi-moshi, Masaki-jinja."

"Kobanwa, Katsuhito-ojisan," the polite voice of Masaki Kiriko came out of the phone.

Katsuhito smiled at his niece's greeting as he said, "Kiriko-dono, it's good to hear from you although I didn't expect your call until this evening."

"Dewa," Kiriko stringed out the word before she continued, "when you kindly asked me to keep an eye on Ayeka-sama while she was in Tokyo, I was under the impression that she was alone?"

"Tadshii, Kiriko-dono," the priest heard hidden meaning in his niece's question so he asked, "did you find it different?"

"Hai," Kiriko's voice sounded like she was about to pull-the-cat-out-of-the-bag, "I find that Ayeka-sama has a guide."

"Oi," Katsuhito heard fast footfalls behind me and he glanced over his right shoulder, saw Skuld heading for the low table before he returned his attention to Kiriko's voice.

"Ee," Kiriko sounded very pleased with herself, "a teenager is with Ayeka-dono and it looks like they are getting along like they were oneesans."

"Could you tell me what this ojosan look . . ." just then Katsuhito heard a snap-crackle-pop sound behind him, but when he turned around the only thing he found different was Skuld was gone and the teakettle lid was opened.

"Is anything wrong, ojisan?" Kiriko's concern was very evident.

"Iie, iie," Katsuhito didn't have time to consider what might have happened so he filed away the information for future mediation, "you know how old people's hearing is like."

"Oke," it sounded like Kiriko was having trouble accepting her elder's answer, "anyway the girl is tall, with flaming red hair and her skin tone is a rich honey color."

A very concern look appeared on Katsuhito's face and he asked, "What does her face look like."

"Her eyes have white irises and almond shaped, her nose is quite small but her forehead, cheeks and chin are very Western," her voice sounded like she was looking at the girl she was describing.

"What are they doing now?" Katsuhito was concentrating on every one of Kiriko's words.

"I think they're asking passersby for directions because they show a piece of paper to the people," then Kiriko's voice became alert, "Oi, now they're walking down the street," her voice shifted tone, "and stopped by a bus pickup sign."

"Kiriko-dono, I know you're busy with your duties as GP Immigration Officer," Kiriko could tell by Katsuhito's tone that this wasn't a request from her favorite uncle, it was a request from the man who got her into GP Academy, "but could you continue to watch over Ayeka-sama?"

"Like flipping my hand, ojisan," Kiriko put bravo into her voice, "do you want me to join them?"

"Mo, watch them, report," Katsuhito's tone made sure Kiriko understood his meaning, "and help both of them should they get into any trouble but don't reveal yourself."

Kiriko realized the questions Ayeka would ask her if the GP officer was revealed to them, "You haven't told her yet?" the thirty-something woman didn't sound very happy.

"I need to carefully choice the time and place for my confession very carefully, Kiriko-dono," Katsuhito's voice sounded unhappy too, "Ayeka is going through a difficult period in her life."

"She is trying to fulfill a childhood dream," more a statement than a question by Kiriko.

"Hai, a broken dream whose shards she once tried to use to open her own veins with," a dark sadness in the elder's voice.

There was a long pause before Kiriko said, "Katsuhito-ojisan, I will watch over Ayeka-oujosama and make sure she'll have no accidents."

"Gu," Katsuhito commended his niece's determination, "Sayonara, Kiriko-dono."

"Sayonara, ojisan," Kiriko returned the goodbye.

Without looking down Katsuhito put the receiver on its hook for already his mind was going back, back into his past, to fourteen years after his first wife's death, it was 1431. The moonless night was heavy with fog like God wanted Katsuhito and his companions to succeed in their mission, its wet shroud allowed them to find the entrance to the Roman catacombs undetected by the English guards, the catacombs ran underneath the castle located in the town of Rouen, where a sixteen-year-old girl was being held captive in one of the stone fortress' round towers, a captive of the English king and his French clergy lackeys, a girl her captors planned to burn-at-the-stake on this day, at high noon.

"Good God, the stench in here is awful," a voice Katsuhito knew to belong to Thomas Hide, the seventh son of a Welsh leatherworker.

"Just be glad it ain't the rainy season or we'll be wading though pee, shit and whatever else they dump down the castle's asshole," the rough language instantly identified Caesar Angelus, the bastard son of a Genovese merchant prince, who joined the French army when he heard about the Maid, whose ears the angels whispered into.

"You know if you talk any louder, an old, crippled, deaf and nearsighted war dog could hear you," a harsh whisper came from the man holding a lantern in front of Katsuhito, a man many believed to come from the desert lands of frankincense because of his black skin even though his hair was as blond as Norseman, George Blahman.

"Mmmmm?" a dog's whine came from a massive shadowy form that the light barely showed.

"Methinks you've hurt Harry's feelings," Katsuhito's French barely revealed his non-Western heritage, the commanders who led King Charles' armies weren't picky about the men and the Maid seemed to have a fondness for wayward people.

"Sorry, dog," Katsuhito heard the rolling-of-the-eyes in George's apology.

"Woof," a soft bark came from the great dark form, only a man in plate had a chance against this animal, who was the Maid's bodyguard by royal decree and suffered many battlefield wounds before he failed his duty.

"Doesn't anyone find it strange we are depending on an animal to get us into this castle?" Thomas muffled voice told Katsuhito that the man was holding a perfumed handkerchief to his nose and mouth, each man held a part of a rope that ran from the dog's spiked collar.

"In my land a dog can find a path where none can see one," Katsuhito pointed out.

"True, Yosho," George kept his voice low, "the friars of Saint Bernard use dogs like Harry to rescue travelers lost in the Alps' snow storms," then the man held his hand up to stop the talk as he looked ahead, all four were able to see the dog standing next to two beams of round light.

All four made their way to the lit area where Katsuhito patted the dog's huge head, whispering, "Good job Harry."

"Woof," pleasure in Harry's sound, the Maid and Katsuhito were the only ones the dog allowed to touch him. Katsuhito was given the dog by a grateful family, whose daughter he saved from rape by a band of hired swords and when he joined the Maid's personal bodyguard, the massive animal was always by her.

"I hope no one is about to take a shit," Caesar commented as the light shined off of a star grappling hook, "they'll lose their nuts when I yank."

Thomas untied the rope from Harry's collar and tied it to the hook's eye, "If it's a kitchen wrench, she'll lose her virginity in a most painful way."

"A virgin in this pile of rocks?" Caesar smirked as he gathered up the rope with his left hand while his right held the hook, "Now that would be a miracle."

"Then we have a miracle in the central tower," Katsuhito countered with some ire.

"Woof," Harry seemed to agree with Katsuhito's statement.

"Get going, Caesar," impatience was in George's voice, "the rooster calls in a few hours."

"Yes, Captain," annoyance in Caesar's voice, most people couldn't believe that George had been in charge of the Maid's personal bodyguard and many believed the foreigner held himself personally responsible for her capture, even though his legs had been broken by his horse's death during the capture.

With an upward throw Caesar's sent the grappling hook up one of the beam of light and all pair of eyes watch it disappear followed by a clanging sound of metal on stone. The Genoese slowly pulled the rope until the hook caught on something and then he tugged really hard with all his weight, the hook held.

"So who's going to do the honors?" Thomas asked.

"I'll go up first," George announced in a don't-argue-with-me tone, everyone there smiled including the dog because this was the reason why no one amongst the Maid's bodyguard objected to the dusky man's command, he led by example and not by orders. The man grabbed the thick rope with both hands and started his assent, Katsuhito admired George's quickness for a man close to six feet tall, the way he stopped just below the hole to listen before he grabbed onto the edge of the other opening and pulled himself through.

Suddenly fear gripped the three men's heart and the dog growled as a startled voice echoed down to them, a female voice, then the two beams from above flickered as something rolled across them along with the rustle of linen, this was followed by moaning sounds, Katsuhito noticed Harry's tail started to wag vigorously.

After some minutes the sounds ceased which made Caesar concerned enough to cupped his hand to his mouth and called up in a harsh whisper, "Captain, is any . . ." his body involuntarily jumped when a piece of cloth hit his upturned face. With a grin on his Welsh face, Thomas lifted the item from his friend with the wide-eyed and held it up so everyone could see, a beautiful white-laced scarlet garter.

After another block of time passed George called down to them, "I'm ready to help the next person up."

"I hope your legs aren't too weak, Saracen," Thomas said good-naturedly as he jumped up and grabbed the rope, "at least I can get away from this filth." If the name had come from a nonmember of the Maid's bodyguard there would be swords drawing, but amongst them it was a sign of respect for it was the nickname given to George by the Maid, given to him with affection.

Katsuhito and Caesar watched Thomas' wiry body go up the rope to the hole and then into the cavity, then the Welshman called down to them in an amused tone, "You're next, Lombardman."

"Yeah, yeah," snarled Caesar as he jerked down on the rope, "Yuk it up, sheep fondler." Katsuhito noted there was no true anger in the Italian's retort, both men had been companions' since the siege of Orleans, gambling, drinking and wrenching together.

When Caesar disappeared into the bright hole, Katsuhito tied the rope to a harness the Jurain had made especially for the dog and then the black-haired man started his climb. During his climb the prince thought about how he ended with this group of men, how he left Nihon to get away from his children's children and to grieve for the death of his first wife, Natsumi. How along the Silk Route at Samarkand, he found George Blahman, a veteran soldier who advanced to a position of command in the armies of Timur Lang, known in the west as Tamerlane. A year early the great Islamic warlord had died leading his armies against the Ming Dynasty in China, his death led to heated arguments over whom of his many sons should rule, it was at this point George had decided to leave before he was forced to use his weapons against people he had called friends. At first Katsuhito and George traveled together because they were with the same caravan but when the Jurain saw how easily the dark man spoke the native languages of the merchants in the caravan they were in, the prince decided quickly that this man's knowledge made him worth having as a companion. Katsuhito first attempt to connect with George was successful with an offer of a morning meal of rice porridge, which George added to by sharing his skin of apple vinegar. The conversation between bites and sips started out in a language Katsuhito knew, Cantonese, but the prince was surprised when his dusky companion changed it into Nihongo. With a smile George explained he had at one time washed ashore on the west coast of Nihon, near the fishing village of Iwasaki. The villagers were fascinated by his size and foreignness, especially the children. Distant happiness was in his words as he vaguely told of his five-year stay but then sadness enveloped his tone when he told of his departure, one of the fishermen took him across the Sea of Japan to the rocky coast of Manchuria.

"Come on, Masaki," Katsuhito startled back into reality by George's words, "no woolgathering, we still got to get your dog up." Thomas helped black-haired man out of the hole while he grinned at their captain, George and Harry had a mutual dislike for each other from the moment Katsuhito was given the pup that included pranks and tricks, Caesar thought it was because the big man was a cat lover.

Katsuhito looked around the castle's latrine and found it quite ordinary, a four-by-four room with two holes, probably not the only one the fortress had, but there was something else here that Caesar was standing over: on the floor was a bounded and gagged unconscious young woman in a plain brown ankle-length dress.

"Hey, you've seen a woman before," George's growl got their attention, "now get over, the dog is heavy."

Both men joined the other two and between grunts, Caesar said, "When we get Harry out . . . we should give her two smiles . . . and dump the body into the hole . . . so the rats can have a feast." Katsuhito's heart was chilled by the Lombard's words and glanced over his shoulder where he found the brown-haired woman's eyes had popped open with a startled fright.

"Mmmmm," Katsuhito attention was pulled to the hole by Harry's mournful whine, in a moment two brown-and-white paws latched onto the sides of the hole, then the dog's shaggy head filled the rest of the hole and without missing a beat the animal lunged toward Katsuhito where its wet tongue gave its master a chin-to-hair lick, the prince usual composure collapsed due to the doggy droll while Caesar and Thomas chuckled lowly.

"Dogs," George said with a lopsided smile before he turned to face Caesar with the same smile as he held a key under the man's big nose, "and why should I reward a loyal subject of King Charles with death when she has given us the means to free his lordship's guardian angel?"

Thomas' pale face lit up and Katsuhito's felt for the first time that this wasn't a snowball-chance-in-Hell mission, then Caesar thumped George's right shoulder with his left fist and said good-naturedly, "Captain, you cockled the jailor."

"No, she not the English jailor's wife," a low smoldering fire in George's gray eyes, "he took a fancy of Nana and the scum made sure she couldn't say, no."

Each man there heard the depth of feeling George put into the maid's name and Thomas fished out the garter and gave it to the dusky man, saying, "Then this is her vengeance."

"For the lost of the joy of the first time," George slowly walked over, knelt by the tied woman, "for the ripping of Nana's virginity from her," and carefully slipped the garter onto her right leg, "and a chance to help her discover love's beauty."

"Captain, you've got a Venetian heart," Caesar's grinned as George's right hand lightly touched Nana's right cheek, her eyes closed once more but tears leaked from them.

At this moment Katsuhito looked at his companions like a picture he wanted to keep in an album, like him each was dressed in black leather armor from head to foot, except for Harry. Both Caesar and Thomas were armed with longswords, shortswords and light crossbows. Now George was a sight with the mix of strange weapons he carried: a knight's estoc on his left hip, an assassin's hand crossbow in a fancy holster on his right hip, a handcannon strapped to his back with its box of lead bullets and its black powder pouch attached to his wide belt along with nine other baseball-sized bags which from experience the prince knew what was in them, Chinese grenades. Harry didn't carry anything except what God gave him.

Thomas was the first to cautiously look out the water room before he gave the all-clear sign to the others. The party walked thought the gray passageways with George in the lead, followed by Thomas, Katsuhito, Harry and Caesar in that order. The deep-set windows they passed showed the English commander had doubled guards on the walls but left the halls of the inner keep with rooms full of sleeping people. The inner keep was built around a central tower and the band succeeded in making their way to it but a sleepy guard at the tower entrance stopped them. The guard's head kept bobbing up and down as he tried to stay awake and his mental cobwebs prevented him from having a chance of detecting the group hiding in the shadows. George held up his right hand and gave a silent gesture and both Thomas and Caesar responded instantly, Katsuhito watched the two men move so both had enough room to put their crossbows to their shoulders and take aim at the guard. To the guard it must have been like the pale rider had called his name for one bolt pierced his skull between his helmet and his right ear while another bolt demolished his voice box, only the halberd he used to lean on prevented his body falling to the granite floor. 

On quick silent feet the band moved forward as one where Katsuhito and Caesar took hold of the dead guard and carried him into the tower while George gave the halberd to Thomas and softly whispered "Play good English guard."

"But that would mean I'd have to kill myself," Thomas whispered back, George only shook his head in reply before he led the rest of them up the stairs.

Built by Charlemagne to protect his wooden capital the old central tower had been converted by the English into the fortress' arsenal, where replacement cannons, cannon balls and hogshead-sized kegs of black powder were stored, only the top floor remained as a sleeping quarter for their most valued prisoner or prisoners. This time it was Katsuhito who poked his head around the final corner where he found the night jailor in a chair by a plain table with a brown ceramic cup with a wick turning the lamp oil in it into a dancing light, there the middle-aged man was reading a book. Opposite the man Katsuhito saw their goal, a wooden door with a heavy iron lock upon it. The prince ducked back down and made a gesture to Harry, the dog's eyes seemed to glow with ferocity yet he only loped past his master and calmly walked toward the blond-haired man.

The sounds of Harry's pads upon the cool stone brought the guard's head up but he only smiled before saying, "So someone has taken pity upon old Will Talbot and sent you to keep me company," then he gave a foul look at the door, "since the witch does nothing as long as chains of divine cold iron robs her of the gift of her hellish husband's power," the man didn't notice the dog looked at him like he was already dead.

With Will in the chair, Harry and the night jailor were nose-to-nose, so when the breaded man reached to pat the dog's head, Harry's head dropped two inches, turned and his mouth opened. Will tried to scream out his pain but nothing came, the larynx and the trachea of the man's crocked neck were ripped away by the big dog's bite. Harry stepped back as the man shot up on his feet as his mouth produced silent screams then the dog spit out the man's flesh as if it was poison. The man walked a few steps by Harry like the dog wasn't there, this brought Katsuhito up onto his feet and the youngish looking man unsheathed the Scottish claymore he carried on his back, Will looked grateful at the ending of his agony as the prince performed an executioner's blow, the headless body and bodiless head dropped to the ground.

Caesar walked pass Katsuhito as the taller man cleaned his blade with oilcloth, the Lombardman picked up the book Nick was reading and spoke the title out loud, "Canterbury Tales, can't be good, it's written in that bastard English tongue."

When Katsuhito put his big sword back into its scabbard, he patted Harry's head while saying, "Good dog," then he noticed someone was missing, "Where's . . ."

"The Captain said he's going to give the English dogs some Chinese fireworks," a demonic grin on Caesar's face as he walked towards the door."

"But the . . ." a surprised Katsuhito started to say as he and Harry joined the Italian.

"Don't worry, Yosho," with a flourish the black-haired man produced the key, "the Captain gave me the key."

"Oh," Katsuhito knew he should be used to George's onsite embellishments of any operation, he had done it numberless times in Scotland and France.

Caesar held the padlock in one hand while the other hand put the key in the keyhole and turned, a loud click came and the Lombardman removed the lock and tossed it on the table, then he flipped the iron latch back and opened the door.

"Weren't your questions enough," a challenge came from inside the dark room, "have you come like thieves in the night to hide your assaults upon my body from God's light?"

"We're here to spring you from this dog house, Commander," Caesar said from the entrance.

Katsuhito retrieved the bowl with the burning oil from the table and held it up so to cast away the darkness from the jail cell, there they found the Maid sat upon her straw mattress bed, the flickering light should an iron will in her brown eyes and iron manacles whose chains linked her hands and feet to a two-inch thick iron eye set in the wall next to her. That light too revealed her rescuers' faces, her hands half reaching toward them and her eyes softened with tears while her voice tried to remain strong, "Yosho . . . Caesar . . ." then Harry bolted from Katsuhito's side to fill the Maid's embrace and started to lick her tears from her face, "and Harry!"

"Those bitches' pups! They did this to the Commander," Caesar's anger seemed to roll about him for in the time he had protected the Maid, she had never cried yet here in front of them was someone who had lost hope.

"Yet you saw the resolve in Joan's eyes when we first entered," Katsuhito pointed out as he stepped around Caesar, "she lost hope but never her faith."

Caesar took a moment to digest Katsuhito's words before he nodded his agreement, then the Lombardman walked over to the Maid while the prince pulled Harry off, "Give me two shakes of a boy's dick to get those chains off," the black-haired man pulled out an elongated cloth bag and opened it as he knelt by the girl.

The Maid's moment of joy was suddenly replaced with the worry in her voice, "What about George and Thomas?"

"Both are down stairs," Katsuhito reassured her as Caesar pulled out metal probes and lockpicks from the bag, "making sure of our escape."

"God, forgive my doubts in the voices," the Maid's voice full of recrimination as she held her hands out to Caesar, "for my English captors had soiled seeds of fear," her eyes looked away from her companions, "I was afraid the voices had deceived me with false promises."

"Only a fool has no fear," Katsuhito's right hand gave the Maid's right shoulder a comforting squeeze, "that why he can walk off a cliff without doubts."

The Maid looked up at Katsuhito with a grateful smile, "Thank you, my white angel."

"Don't I get a thanks too?" wounded pride to Caesar's voice as an audible click was heard and the first manacle dropped off.

"Of course my foulmouthed Roman," for some reason Caesar kept his eyes on his work and wouldn't meet the Maid's smiling face.

Katsuhito went over to the room's lone window and examined the bars, then he looked over his shoulder to make sure neither Caesar nor the Maid saw want he was about to do, both weren't looking his way so he quickly brought out Tenchiken, flamed on the blade and with simple repartee he cut the bars twice where the metal met the stone. The prince put away Tenchiken and carefully placed the iron bars on the floor before he looked out and found the view as George said it would be, the sight of distant Cathedral of St. Catherine washed in light from its windows, the light furnished by thousands of candles burning in prayer for the Maid's soul. The beauty of the scene and the Maid's use of her pet names for him, called back the memory of his first meeting of the Maid. How George decided that Scotland was getting tame for two sword-for-hires like them and they came to France, where it looked like the English and Burgundians were about to dethrone the Armagnac rulers of France. Katsuhito went along with his companion's decision because of his friendship with the man and because he was still learning about this new land. True to form George didn't take them to Armagnac court in Chinon, where the Dauphin of France was staying while the English occupied his capital, Paris, instead the dusky man took them to the town of Vaucouleurs where he offered his services to town's garrison commander, Robert De Baudricourt.

Baudricourt was a loyal veteran soldier of the Armagnac rulers of France but he was tired of losing men in battles where they were always the losers to either the English or the Burgundians, and he had little hope for the Dauphin, the uncrowned prince acted like he didn't have a backbone. All these factors weighed Baudricourt's mind and left him open to surprise when two mercenaries came to the minor noble and offered to fight for what looked like a lost cause. It didn't matter to Baudricourt that both looked like half-breeds, one with black skin and the other with Asian features, both had fought the English under the leadership of the Scottish border lords. Immediately Baudricourt put them to work as drillmasters, knocking the cobwebs from the garrison soldiers' minds. Then a second less pleasant surprise occurred three days later when a sixteen-year-old girl named Jeannie D'Arc, escorted by her male cousin, came to him and told the Armagnac officer she had been ordered by God to fight for the Dauphin.

Katsuhito and George were with Baudricourt in the noble's audience room, so the prince looked over the Maid in her full-length plain green dress and he was impressed by her physical presence, the brown-haired girl was as tall as Baudricourt with a trim body, with hands tough and with a face firm from hard work, but there was more because Katsuhito's Shinto trained Jurain senses showed Joan was surrounded by a golden aura. The black-haired man glanced at his blond-haired friend and saw George was fighting hard to keep a straight face, his gray eyes full of knowing. In the twenty odd years of their friendship Katsuhito successfully hid his not-of-this-planet origin from George, which wasn't that hard since the tall man didn't ask any questions about the prince's past but the opposite was true of George, the man never volunteered any information beyond his experiences as a soldier for Timur and teaching Katsuhito how to speak different languages. In time the Jurain concluded what he knew of George's past was just the tip of an iceberg and what lie underneath the placid surface of his friend's demeanor would be revealed by happenstance.

On the other hand Baudricourt's reaction to the Maid's request was straight-to-the-point, the warrior told her cousin to, "take her home to her father and give her a good whipping."

Katsuhito saw the astonishment on the Maid's face at such a rude and out-of-hand treatment of her heartfelt declaration and the prince felt sympathy as the cousin led away the spirit-crushed girl. Later Katsuhito found George at the town's gate, the blond man watched the Maid leave with her hung low like her horse's, her cousin's comforting hand upon her right arm, yet the Jurain still found a knowing look in his friend's eyes. Seven months passed by and the two men had gained Baudricourt's trust with their dedication in the tasks assigned to them yet Katsuhito could tell by George's anxiousness that his friend was waiting for something to happen. So the prince wasn't really surprise when the Maid once more appeared before Baudricourt with George and Katsuhito with him, but this time she was dressed not as a woman but as a man, with her hair in a page cut.

When Baudricourt saw the Maid, he said with displeasure, "Not her again."

With a manly pose the Maid begun to speak, "I know I'm but a poor girl, ignorant in the craft of riding a horse in battle and the craft of fighting with sword and shield, yet I have been instructed by the voice of an angel to fight for my king, to give him guidance from God."

Katsuhito was impressed by the Maid's words but Baudricourt wasn't for he said, "Leave my presence and get married, conceived boys for your husband and send them to me if you want so much to fight for our king."

"Please my lord!" the Maid's voice ringed with conviction, "I need your aid to reach my king without delay for every day that is lost another vessel of my king is lost thanks to an English sword."

"No!" Baudricourt got half way out of his chair, "I will not be a party to such a falsehood as you."

"Then I will pray for your soul," the Maid's eyes burned with a prophet's fire, "for upon the field of Orleans my king will lose many loyal warriors because you have no faith in God's ways."

"Leave my sight!" Baudricourt stood and gave the Maid a dismissive gesture with his right hand, the brown-haired woman glared at the noble before she turned on her heel and left.

Katsuhito watched the Maid leave before he looked at a livid Baudricourt and then at George, where his friend's tight-lipped grin and nodding head suggested that what just happened was an important event. The prince had seen this look on his companion's face before, on their journey along the Silk Route, their trek through Europe and their seventeen years in Scotland, it was as if the future held no mystery for him. For once the Jurain wasn't going to let it pass without comment, "She's leaving?"

"Nope," George's smile got bigger, "I think we are going to have a houseguest."

Baudricourt groaned with his right-hand going to his head.

It was true, the Maid stayed at the town's inn but not for long because in a few days the news of the Armagnac military defeat on the field of Herring, outside of Orleans, reached Vaucouleurs. The next morning the Maid was before Baudricourt for the third time where she asked with a determined look, "My Lord Baudricourt, I pleas for your help are not for me, a poor girl, or for my humble family but for every man whose blood has been shed for my king."

George stood on the right side of Baudricourt with Katsuhito on the left, Baudricourt looked first at Katsuhito, who kept a neutral look upon his face, and then at George, who looked down at the lord and nodded his head. The prince saw the nod and knew this explained why George wasn't in his bed during the previous night, his friend had asked Baudricourt to grant the Maid's request and mostly likely gone to the Maid to arrange this third audience. Katsuhito had also noted the expression of resignation on Baudricourt's face, like the procession of events had taken from him any reasonable ways to stop a virgin girl from acting like a fool, maybe even be killed without making a difference. With heavy words the noble said, "I shall not stand in your way, foolish girl, with three men I trust I shall send you to the Dauphin."

"I thank you, my lord," the Maid held herself straight and strong.

Baudricourt's face became hard at the Maid's triumphant tone and his next words were too, "George Blahman and Yosho Masaki, you two and one other of your choosing will take this foolish girl to the Dauphin in Chinon," then he looked at George, "this will be the last service I will accept from both of you."

"I will do as you say, Lord Baudricourt," George turned to face Baudricourt and inclined his head in acknowledgment of the man's authority.

"I will follow your orders, Lord Baudricourt," Yosho performed the same act as his friend did.

"I believe the Welshman, Thomas Hide, will serve well as the third man for the Maid's escort," George's face was full of delight.

The Maid studied the two men for a minute before saying, "I will accept these three men, my lord, for they have the character of angels."

Katsuhito clamped down on his emotions to prevent his shock for showing, her penetrating gaze made the young prince feel like she could strip away all falsehoods to reach down to find a person's true self. The black-haired man quickly glanced at George and found his friend's face full of acceptance.

"Go," Baudricourt sounded angry, "Go and come what may."

Katsuhito and George walked over to the Maid, who turned around and walked out of the audience room with the two men in step with her. Once they were a few yards down the hall, the brown-haired girl faced her escort and her manly pose dropped from her features to be replaced by a mixture of relief and girlish excitement as both her hands' fingertips barely touched George's and Katsuhito's chins, "I was told there would be many to aid me in righting the wrongs done to my king, but I must confess I wasn't prepared for the sight of such goodness of heart I found in the two of you, my two guardian angels."

"Yosho, you make a great window," George's words brought Katsuhito back to the present and the prince half turned and saw his blond-haired companion with the handcannon unsung from his back and loading the weapon. Since arriving in Europe the black-haired Jurain had seen several handcannons but this one George had specially built for him while the two stopped in Venice. The iron weapon was the usual length, about five feet long, but it was three times the mass with a two-inch bore with rings of iron down the whole length to reinforce the barrel, a couple of times Katsuhito hefted the weapon and guessed it weighted close to one-hundred-and-fifty-pounds yet George was able to fire it from a braced or kneeling position with little recoil. The prince also saw the harpoon at his friend's feet with a coil of silk rope attached to an eye just below the blade, he also noted the harpoon's other end was a flat saucer about the size of the handcannon's bore and there were one-inch fins along the harpoon's length. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what George was going to do with the harpoon so Katsuhito asked, "Do you think it can reach the cathedral?"

"As I told you when we put this rescue plan together, a triple charge in the handcannon should be enough to hit what I will be aiming at," then George gave Katsuhito a wily look, "although if the harpoon goes through a window, we could end up with a whale of a priest."

Katsuhito grinned then came the sound of a loud click and Caesar proclaimed, "That was the last one."

"Thank you," the Maid said as she leaned forward and kissed Caesar's right cheek, the Lombardman blushed and mumbled incoherent words. During her first months in the world of men-of-arms, the Maid was charismatic with the common soldiers and nobles but she was wry and standoffish with the men on a personal level, only letting her guard down when she was alone with Katsuhito or George, allowing the two men to see the nightmarish fears that haunted her sleep and how her faith in God was the only thing that kept her sane when the sight of dead children and the smell of burnt flesh would rob her of it. Yet as the months passed the men who made up her bodyguard also received gentle kisses upon the cheek for the sacrifices they performed for her, a reminder of that under all her manly bravo, she cared for them as a sister, a daughter or a mother would.

"Could you hold this for me?" George glanced at the handcannon then back to Yosho.

"Yes, George," Katsuhito agreed then made a pretense of the weapon's weight staggered him as George put it in black-haired man's hands. Like most Juraijins, the red-eyed man didn't want outsiders to know about the biotech augmentations that were performed on a bondmate's body so they could fully use Tsunami children's powers. Furthermore it would be dangerous for Katsuhito to reveal his powers, awe and fear weren't something that the prince desired because he wanted acceptance, respect and love. There were a couple of times in Scotland where the Jurain used his powers but as the saying goes, dead men tell no tales and George accepted his explanations for the strange happenings without batting an eye, which sometimes caused Katsuhito to wonder if his friend had a blind spot when it came to his friends or just didn't care about the methods as long as things got done. Now the prince watched his blond-haired friend pull out a six-inch long brown clinical object, put it in his mouth as he bent down to the candle's flame and took several puffs to get the end burning red before he let out a big cloud of white smoke and handed it to the Maid, asking, "Hold this, Maid."

The Maid made a face, nevertheless she took the burning piece of rolled dried leaves, her calloused right hand held it out like a dead rat. Katsuhito couldn't stop his smile thanks to his commander's little performance, as he knew from experience that the tall man would use jokes and irreverence as a way to lighten the stress. On the other hand the odorous haze that the prince smelled left a sour taste in his mouth. For twenty-two years Katsuhito had watched his friend light up a cigar of hashish before battle to use it as a match for his handcannon and at times, enemy soldiers would pull up at the sight of smoke issued out of George's mouth, like he was a dragon about to spool out fire and brimstone, a deadly hesitation for them.

"Yosho, brace the gun against the floor," George stood on the side of the weapon as the prince went to one knee and held the gun's rear to the cold stone. The tall man picked up the harpoon and rammed it down the bore so the flat end was tight against the black powder charge, then he knelt and assumed the same position as his black-haired friend, sighted down the barrel to aim the instrument of destruction, used both hands to adjust the handcannon up a little and then he looked up at the Maid, saying, "Maid, will you do the honors."

Having seen George fire the handcannon in practice as well as in battle, the Maid put some dignity into her steps as she walked over to stand behind Katsuhito, not trusting the handcannon's recoil wouldn't knock her on her butt if she stood behind it, leaned a little to put the hot point of the smelly cigar into the fire hole.

From his guard position down at the foot of the tower, Thomas heard the boom of the handcannon, "That's my signal to get moving," thought the Welshman as he made tracks up the tower's inner staircase. The whole fortress seemed to think so too as shouts of alarm came from the night watch along the outer wall, touch light spilled from windows and the storm of leather boots upon granite echoed everywhere. Yosho tied the rope to an empty touch holder in the room when Thomas arrived, breathlessly saying, "It . . . looks like someone . . . stepped on a . . . hornet nest out there."

"Caesar," George used a commanding tone while he took the cigar from the Maid.

"I'm ahead of you, Captain," the Lombardman pulled out of a medium-sized bag four mechanical contraptions of twin grips and wheels gave one to Yosho, George and Thomas and kept one for his own use

"Thomas, you first," George ordered, "I need someone down there to secure the area."

"Are you sure, Captain?" a crafty grin on Thomas' face as he stood three feet from the window, placed the mechanical device on top of the rope and took a firm hold on the grips, "it's not to test the strength of your weapon's strike."

"Go," George's lopsided grin showed he hadn't thought of it in those terms until the Welshman mentioned it, "just don't lose your grip."

"I always wanted to fly," Thomas ran toward and jumped out the window, then his faded words could be heard, "but aren't I going in the wrong direction." The noise below and the torchlight prevented the guards from the sight of man seemingly flying twenty feet over the outer wall.

George waited a few minutes as he noted the silk rope didn't break before saying over his left shoulder, "Caesar, you and the Maid are next," then at Katsuhito, "Yosho, get your dog ready."

Caesar did the same thing as Thomas did but the Maid hesitated at putting her arms around his neck, at which point George commented, "Maid, just treat him like a log," then he added with a wink, "and if you feel something poking you, just treat it like a knotting piece of wood."

This earned George a withering glare from the Maid, who immediately locked her hands around Caesar's neck and her strong legs around his stomach, then she said to the Lombardman, "My voices said I would be freed but I didn't know my rescuers would have such noble souls," then she once more stared angrily at the dusky man, "or be led by my black angel."

Katsuhito's amusement at his friend's words was cut short when he heard the sound of a dozen footfalls on the stairs, "George!"

"Be off!" Caesar instantly obeyed his Captain's order and disappeared into the darkness of the window while George pulled out two grenades and used his cigar to light them. With speed the blond man was at the door and threw his bombs down the stairs. Words of fear came from below followed by two body-killing explosions.

"It's the Maid!" Katsuhito recognized the voice of the Grand Inquisitor coming from somewhere down below, "She's called Satan's army to set her free!"

"Yosho, it's yours and the dog's turn to leave," George lit another pair of black grenades as he shouted to the black-haired man, Katsuhito had used Harry's harness to tie the animal to his shoulders and chest, Harry had done this with his master before and knew not to struggle.

Katsuhito followed his comrades' route out of the window at the same time he heard two more blasts, unlike the other two and the dog he found the buzzing of bolts and shouts of angry fear greeted them as they flew over the fortress to their destination, where Thomas and Caesar caught them before they collided with the cathedral's wall, where the Welshman said while rubbing his right shoulder, "You really don't want to go to Mass this way, Yosho, my shoulder isn't going be the same."

Katsuhito unleashed Harry and started to turn when the prince's motion was cut short by the silk rope falling onto his left shoulder. Horror rendered them speechless except for a bare whisper from the Maid, "No," her sight never leaving the central tower. Katsuhito took a step forward then another with Harry at his side but all thoughts of saving his friend ended when the tower's windows flashed with bright light again and again before a thunderous explosion blew out the middle of turret, momentarily lifted the upper part like a rocket before it came crashing down on the lower section. The Maid turned from the awful sight and buried her head in Caesar's shoulder, his hands held her as she cried.

"I think the Captain wouldn't be happy if Joan gets caught," Thomas was the first to speak.

"You're right, Thomas," Katsuhito's voice thick with grief as he turned away from the continuous exploding inferno and helped Caesar with the Maid as Thomas led them into the darkness.

Three hours had passed since the rescue of the Maid and the three men, the one girl-woman and one dog once more found themselves in the Roman ruins located underneath the city, with the Maid's mind still numbed by shock. This section of the ruins was once the storm drains for the ancient city that only a few knew about. George had drawn a map for Yosho and the others to use in case the group got separated, now it was the only means to find the rest of the Maid's bodyguard and leave by boat from this place of unforgivable sorrow. Neither Yosho nor his companions made any noise as they worked their way over broken stones, slime-covered river rocks and small pools of stagnated water, but as they rounded a corner Yosho, who was in the lead, saw a sight that caused him to bark out an order, "Thomas to the back, Caesar protect Joan," Harry let a low growl as sensitive nose smelled the copper odor of blood.

Suddenly the Maid pushed her way forward to stand with Katsuhito, her face alit with rage at the sight of the still warm bodies of the rest of her bodyguard, then she shouted, "Who is responsible for killing my men?"

"I am," came an elegant French-speaking male voice from behind five-foot remains of a wall and a man in a fancy grab of lime green pants, a vest of meadowlark yellow and a shirt of Prussian blue with bellowing sleeves along with an elaborate craved headband, in his right hand was a lightsabre made of same material as the headband.

Thomas and Caesar rushed to stand beside Katsuhito, Harry lifted his lips to show a mouth of sharp teeth and Yosho moved to place the Maid behind him as he said, "Banmukade."

The man with the long sea green locks bowed to the prince, saying in Nihongo, "I see my fame has reached the Oken Kazoku Jurai," then his eyes looked at Caesar and Thomas with contempt, "even those on this backwater planet," his words stopped as three men followed him out from behind the fallen wall and took up positions paralleled to Banmukade, who nodded to them.

Thomas and Caesar knew a silent command when they saw one so both men dropped the torches from their hands and brought their crossbows up, already loaded, as their opponents pulled out pistols Yosho knew well, Dragoon H1948, a weapon preferred by hired killers for its idiot proof qualities. Cross-bolts and red plasma bolts crossed the distance between the two groups but the results were a certainty because the bolts impacted against hi-tech body armor while the beams left holes where hearts were once located, with one exception. The man at the far end of the line found out the one disadvantage in using the Dragoon H1948 when he missed Harry completely, it takes fifteen seconds for the weapon to reach its safety level to fire again, in that time Harry closed the distance and leaped upon the terrified man. Banmukade and the other two men made no move to help him as the dog's huge jaws ripped flesh and crushed bone, with a last bit of strength the dying man put the gun against Harry's ribcage and the gun finally went off. No scream came from Harry as the plasma impact knocked him of the dead man and the smoldering animal landed with horrible crunching sound.

Banmukade slowly frowned at his dead man and then looked at what was left of Harry, saying, "I wish Juraijin coins could buy such skill, such courage and such devotion."

Katsuhito spared a look at the Maid and found her white teeth clinched and her hands in tight fists as her eyes glared at the killer of her men, the prince returned his attention to the men in front of him and asked with his own hot anger, "May I ask why you have killed my comrades?"

"Quite simply really, Yosho-ojisama," Banmukade pleasantly replied as he held the lightsabre in front of his face, "I think they would have objected to me taking your head," a blue flame shot up to create a four-foot long blade.

"You seem certain of your victory," Katsuhito took out Tenchiken but left it inactive.

"Eighty-one heads decorate my trophy room," Banmukade carefully looked his weapon over as he switched into French, "plus the added satisfaction that your death will bring about the subjection of everyone upon this piece of dirt."

Katsuhito's eyes narrowed at his opponent's revelation, saying in French as he once more placed himself between the Maid and the green-haired assassin, "This is more than an assassination disguised as a dual."

"It will be made to look like these soldiers turned against you," Banmukade's teeth gleamed in the light of his weapon as he took delight in the building rage he saw in the Maid's face, "when their primitive minds marked you as a creature of their darkest fears."

"In the Royal Council of Jurai there would be cries for retribution for such a heinous crime," Katsuhito added as he commanded Tenchiken to life.

"Even your mother won't be able to stop the call for blood payment," Katsuhito noticed Banmukade shifting his feet, readying his six-foot body for his first attack, "and this world will have new rulers once it falls under the direct control of Jurai."

"SOL STAR POWER!" Every one of Katsuhito's Shinto trained Jurain senses went off like a four-alarm bell as the glow from the two lightsabres was overwhelmed by a golden brilliance that distorted every shadow in the underground passageway, then came the sound from just behind the prince, of boots against stone as someone strode purposely to his right and came to stand there. Yosho tried really hard to not act surprise, tried really hard to keep his gaze focused on Banmukade and his minions and not stare at the radiant young woman in a miniskirt uniform, her skin like bees' honey, her red tresses shimmered and moved like living flame and in the firm grip of her two hands was a sword with a five-foot-long blade. Katsuhito wanted them to think he witnessed this transformation before and that he knew the Maid was more than an Earth woman, she was the avatar of the sun that shined in this planetary system, she was Sailor Soldier Sol.

Katsuhito's pretense worked for both of Banmukade's men looked at each other like they were armed with spit guns while standing in front of a pack of stampeding elephants. Katsuhito also expected Banmukade's face to take on a sickly expression, instead the duelist's face had a devilish grin and pure rapture was in his voice as he took a step forward, "A Star Seed."

"Scum born from scum, a looter born from looters, a murderer born from murderers," the golden girl's words seemed to scorch the air before her mouth, "this world and all who seek sanctuary here are outside of your domain," her colorless eyes were like the sun's center, "by God's grace leave this world or burn forever in Hell's pit."

"Leave?" a surprised look on Banmukade's face, like it was the last thing he would think of, "why would I do something that silly, when before me stands a warrior out of the mists of legends," a demonic joy in his eyes, "I have a chance of a lifetime to duel a member of the greatest female warrior caste of all time."

Katsuhito's gallantry flared at Banmukade's words and he started to lean forward when the Maid's voice but not her voice called out, "No, he is mine!" The prince turned a little and found the golden girl giving him a courageous look as she added, "Keep his men from getting in my way," then the redhead gave him a pleading look, "but if I die, seek safety from such creatures as this man with those under my protection," Katsuhito heard pride in the voice of a woman dressed in a sailor fuku of sunlight white with braided stripes of the colors of the rainbow on her skirt, bows and collar, "they are good people of giving hearts and noble spirits."

"Oh, I'm sure my men can keep Yosho-ojisama busy until I'm ready for him," the looks on both of Banmukade's minions showed they didn't like the sound of those words but they still stepped away from their employer and readied themselves. Katsuhito decided that two less scum of the galaxy was a good idea and so he too matched their movement. As Katsuhito and his opponents eyed each other, the prince caught an odor amongst the dank and decay, the smell of burning hashish.

Banmukade kept grinning at Sailor Sol as he gave her a deep bow before saying in French, "Ladies first."

"SAILOR SOL FLAMING SWORD!" The golden girl charged forward while pulling her sword back for an overhead swing, the blade burst into a red blaze, then at the last moment the redhead jumped slightly to her left and changed her swing to a right-to-left cut. With a grin still on his face, Banmukade pivoted right on his left heel and stepped back as his right hand stabbed out with the lightsabre, both blades met with a thunderous clap. Both Katsuhito and Banmukade's men were momentarily stunned by the eardrum blowing noise but someone else was just waiting for this opportunity.

George cradled his handcannon in the croak of his right arm as he fell prone on top of the pile of column stones he had been hiding behind. He swiftly sighted down the barrel before he took the cigar from his mouth with his left hand and put it to the powder hole while shouting in Nihongo, "Tame!"

Katsuhito could barely hear George's shout above the ringing in his ears and the same was true of Banmukade's minions, only the one closest to George made a stumbling turn toward the source. Flame licked out of the end of the barrel along with smoke and the man facing George spun off his feet and dropped to the ground, the body armor he wore did him little good for most of his face was gone thanks to a one-inch lead ball slamming through it. The other man tried to struggle through the shock of seeing his partner's head turned into mush but his problem was ended when Katsuhito closed upon him and used a right-to-left flat slice with Tenchiken to send the man's head tumbling off his shoulders.

It wasn't clear if Banmukade or Sailor Sol knew of the change of circumstances outside of their duel for when the golden girl touched down she used her landing crouch to make a leaping backward spin so her body would pass over Banmukade and allow her to make two quick downward cuts. Banmukade was already facing Sailor Sol when she came flying back and used a downward parry to handle the young girl's first swing and then with three swift steps to his left the green-haired man avoided the second blow.

During this last attack George rolled off of the stone pile and walked over to Katsuhito, who commented, "You look like the cat let out of the bag."

Indeed George did, his leather armor looked like it had been attacked by leather-loving moths, his black skin had a more crispy quality and soot blackened his hair. George's only reaction to Katsuhito's words was to say, "We can't interfere."

Katsuhito heard the dull ache in George's tone so the black-haired man nodded, saying, "It is a legal challenge."

Sailor Sol landed on an intact marble altar of Apollo-Helios, where she stretched out her right hand, shouting, "SAILOR SOL SOLAR FLARE!"

George's gray eyes widen and the tall man tackled Katsuhito to the ground as an expanding wave of fire came off of her white-gloved hand but Banmukade didn't move a muscle and it was obvious why he hadn't when his headband blazed bluish-white and a translucent shield of the same color appeared in front of him, the part of the red wave that would have hit him was absorbed by the shield while the rest of the wave caused marble stones to crack and half remaining walls to crumble. Automatically Katsuhito snapped his own Ko-Oh-Yoku wing over both his and George's prone bodies and then dropped it once the fiery wave was gone. Both Yosho and George looked from ground level as Sailor Sol took three bouncy steps towards Banmukade before she jabbed multiple times her flaming sword point at his flat stomach.

Banmukade parried each stab while saying, "Truly, the legends don't lie about the warrior skills of the Star Seeds."

Katsuhito silently agreed with Banmukade's estimation but with heart-heavy shame for he remembered his history lessons, how the first Emperor of Jurai launched his invasion of neighboring solar systems without warning, how the protectors of those worlds were overwhelmed by the firepower of the Space Tree Ships, their citizens driven off their homeworlds to become refugees but it didn't end there, in a widening circle more solar systems fell to the Jurain blitzkrieg. Amongst those defenders of these worlds was a caste of warrior women, the Star Seeds, who fought with powers and skills that only the best Jurain bondmates could match. Also known as Sailor Soldiers, only their shattered numbers prevented the loss of bondmates and their Space Tree Ships from being too high, yet when a Sailor Soldier was killed, a replacement came from her system of origin. This development plus the level of losses to them brought the Emperor to a decision to use his ultimate weapon, a singularity beam. The weapon was simple, a transdimensional beam was fired into the core of the sun where a fusing between the sun's energy and the beam's temporal energy caused the sun's gravity to increase tenfold, in-other-words an instant black hole. The weapon stood outside of the gravity well of the two targets it was used on: the yellow sun of Janus Epsilon and the red sun of Gaius Phi, the inhabitants of those suns and their orbiting planets died without knowing what killed them but Tsunami did and so did the rest of the Oken Kazoku Jurai. The night after the destruction of Gaius Phi, the Emperor was overthrown in a palace coup and the singularity beam weapon destroyed; the Emperor had murdered the scientists so the weapon couldn't be duplicated. The new Emperor and Tsunami tried to diplomatically repair the damage done to Jurai's relationships with the Star Seeds and the refugees but it was too late, the refugees refused to return to the planets taken by Jurai and the suns refused to protect the Jurain colonists moved to those captured systems. In the end the refugees along with their surviving Sailor Soldiers settled in solar systems whose own inhabitants were willing to accept them, these places were designated protected zones by Jurai and the budding Galactic Union. One of these solar systems was the birthplace of Katsuhito's mother, Earth. Now before Yosho's red eyes a war ended in a guilt-riddled truce was once more being fought for almost the same reasons, the ruthless cold logic of a Jurain noble was being faced by the courageous hot passion of a Sailor Soldier.

In two leaping steps Sailor Sol closed the distance between her and Banmukade, the pale-faced man went into a wide stance with his lightsabre leveled with the golden girl's chest but at the last moment when it looked like she was about to impel upon the glowing sword point, the golden girl cried out, "SAILOR SOL TELEPORT!"

Sailor Sol's body immediately vanished in colorful sparks only to appear just inches above and behind Banmukade, the redhead going into a flying forward flip so her two-handed sword swing could spit her opponent from ass-to-head. Banmukade must have had eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head for at the moment the Sailor Soldier reappeared the grinning man leaped left into a one-hand stance and then into his own twisting forward flip where he squarely landed on his feet, then the master swordsman made his first attack. Sailor Sol's landing had her facing away from Banmukade so as soon as Banmukade feet touched down he charged at the golden girl's exposed back with his lightsabre set to drive its point through her spine. It must have been his right foot splashing in a small pool of water that alerted the young girl because she barely ducked under the lightsabre and used the green-haired man's momentum and her Sailor Soldier's strength in turning maneuver where her left hand grabbed his shirt to fling him over her as she shouted, "SAILOR SOL SOLAR FIST!" A ball of light formed around her fist that held her sword. A flash of blue light where Sailor Sol's punch hit Banmukade's stomach clearly meant that most of the damage from the blow was taken by his Ko-Oh-Yoku shield while her throw allowed him the time to roll back up on his feet.

When Banmukade faced Sailor Sol, the golden girl stretched out her right hand, shouting, "SAILOR SOL SUNBURST!"

"Yosho, cover your eyes!" George's voice boomed in Katsuhito's ears.

Pinkish light burned through George's and Katsuhito's eyelids as the underground chamber was flashed with white light, both men opened their eyes but floating spots before their eyes fragmented the image of Sailor Sol's body jumping to the upper left of Banmukade to land on decaying marble stone where the then Sailor Soldier leaped straight at him with her plasma licking sword held high for a death blow. Banmukade couldn't have seen the golden girl coming at him yet his experienced instincts did and his sharp ears told him from which direction, the red-eyed man didn't even turn, he just held his lightsabre out to his right.

"DAMN!" shouted George as he scrambled up onto his feet but Katsuhito just stared as they watched Banmukade's lightsabre pierce Sailor Sol's left ribcage and come out of her back as she landed on his right shoulder, a small cry and a surprised look were her first reaction but in a gathering of steely willpower she used Banmukade's shoulder to spring backwards. Ten feet away the golden girl landed while the pale man fell against one of the chamber walls but his face glowed with victory equal to his voice, "YES! I, Junji Banmukade, have bested a Star Seed," he stepped away from the wall and stood in haughty attitude, "my name will be listed amongst the illustrious heroes of our ancestors."

"Death hasn't taken me yet!" Fury blazed in Sailor Sol's colorless eyes despite the heart blood soaking her sailor fuku and caking her lips, in seconds the golden girl initiated her attack, her multi-colored-booted feet carried her forward in the same blurring speed while both hands held her sword out to her right.

Banmukade smirked at what he saw as Sailor Sol's obvious strategy, a doomed attempt to channel all of her remaining power into one last downward blow. Katsuhito saw how the pale man positioned his lightsabre to parry the blow, so sure of his estimation that he remained in his arrogant stance, then the prince took a quick look at George and found his friend's face fired with a look of anticipation.

Shock must have been the first thing Banmukade felt when Sailor Sol leaped at him in a tight clockwise twist, a maneuver that changed her sword swing into a left-handed downward slice, not one instinctive thought to parry the blow or summon his Ko-Oh-Yoku shield came from the green-haired man's brain in time to prevent the redhead's glowing sword from cleaving his right shoulder blade, down through his ribcage and out of his stomach. Banmukade stood motionless as Sailor Sol's spinning body sailed over him to landed hard upon the marble altar where she lay motionless, then green-haired man let out a hallowing scream as his body burst into flames and fell to the ground, the shrieks continued as George and Katsuhito ran to Sailor Sol but then his screams suddenly stopped.

George knelt on the right side of the altar where he tenderly gathered Sailor Sol's body in his arms while mournfully saying, "Oh, Kate."

Weak life came forth as Sailor Sol opened her eyes, her voice only a whisper, "So George, you guess who I am."

"When the Maid mentioned one of her 'voices' was Saint Catherine," a sad smile upon his lips, "I put two-and-two together."

"Joan's unselfish nobility made her a worthy bearer," then Sailor Sol slowly turned her head towards Katsuhito, who knelt on the left side of the altar, her drifting words continued, "Do not hate your life because I died, Yosho," the golden girl rolled her left hand open, "you have proven that a chivalrous spirit can still be found in some Jurain hearts."

"I owe a life debt to you," Yosho held Sailor Sol's left hand with both of his, "and me and my descendants will repay it."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Sailor Sol's lips, her voice saying, "Let this world remain as a place where the dispossessed can find a home and where the seekers of freedom can find a hope."

"It will be done," Yosho declared with all his heart.

Sailor Sol slightly nodded her red-haired head before she looked once more at George before saying, "the Druid Sun."

"I will take care of it," George promised as the tears started to fall.

"The Druid Sun goes to China," Sailor Sol's voice wavered, "from the rich soil of the Yellow River the next bearer will come."

"I . . . I . . . wish the other Sailor Soldiers . . . were here," George's words almost smothered by his grief.

"Their time to awaken has yet to come," her lips barely moving, "and you shouldn't grieve like the universe has ended, I and the others who become Star Seeds know the changes, the risks, and we bear them proudly."

Then Sailor Sol closed her eyes and her glowing image dissolved into that of the Maid's, her brown eyes open and her whispering voice filled their ears, "My guardian angel of light and my guardian angel of darkness are here."

"I'm sorry, Maid," George blurted out.

"Don't be," an angelic glow seemed to come from the Maid's face, "it is as my voices promised, I shall be freed from my prison and my feet will be led me to the City of God, where the unjust will find justice, where the weak will find strength and where the meek will find paradise."

"Take with you the knowledge that your sacrifice wasn't in vain," Katsuhito's voice sounded like the wind amongst the branches of the oldest oak upon the face of the Earth.

"We shall meet again in the house of the Lord," the look in the Maid's eyes took on a distant gaze, "where upon a table we shall eat manna from heaven and where we shall drink sweetwater," then the light in her eyes started to fade, "where we shall hug and kiss as brothers and sisters, as husbands and wives, as lo . . ."

Katsuhito reached over with his right hand to close the Maid's lifeless eyes as George's blond head sank to her blood drenched chest, his voice cried out, "I've lost both of them!"

"What?" a confused tone to Katsuhito's question.

"Nana," George's voice muffled said, "they forced her to wear Maid's manly clothes, they took her to the stake and burned her there as the Maid's surrogate," the tall man looked straight at Katsuhito, his eyes trapped by tears, "Nana didn't beg for mercy or scream that she wasn't the Maid, instead she glared defiantly at her English tormentors and cried out that her voices had told her the truth, she would be set free," then dusky man's head sank once more to rest on the Maid's stilled chest, "and . . . and there was . . . was no . . . nothing . . . I . . . I cou . . . could do to . . . save her."

Even now, five-hundred-years later, Katsuhito felt the tears in his eyes as he recalled how he and George took the Maid's body back to her hometown of Domremy, where on a moonless night they buried her in an unmarked grave within the church's graveyard, a simple country priest bribed to secrecy giving her the last rites. The elder also remembered how George was silent during the whole journey from Rouen, how only water touched his lips, how a man that became like a brother to the prince had once more become a brooding stranger and how on that night, after the priest had gone home, the Jurain faced the Earthling with a horde of questions only to discover that George wasn't there. The black-haired man stretched out his Jurain senses and found a shadowy figure near the entrance to the graveyard, a departing shape losing substance in the wisps of new spring fog. With a shout the prince dashed towards the vague form but no matter how fast his feet pounded the wet grass, no matter how much he called out, the image seemed to get further and further away until even his enhanced senses found nothing.  After days of searching failed to find any trace of his friend's departure, Katsuhito found sorrow was the only thing left for him here in the West, so he retraced his steps that brought him to this Christian land, the man of the stars went back to Nihon.

On his return to the Masaki Shrine, Katsuhito kept the promise he had made to Sailor Sol, he made contact with the Galaxy Police Academy with the objective to sponsor the brightest of his offsprings from his union with Natsumi as students. There he made an astounding discovery, Airi, the woman he fell in love with during his days as a Galaxy Academy student, the woman who had become his lover, was now the headmaster of the training grounds for future police officers despite the fact that unknown to the Jurain prince she gave birth to their love-child, a beautiful black-haired girl named Minaho. To Katsuhito's delight Airi found merit in his proposal, especially since it might lead to a thawing of relationship between Jurai and the Star Seeds. Minaho acted as go-between to get the paperwork done and in those close moments between father and daughter, the young woman with the easy smile told him that Airi still loved him and the prince with some teasing encouragement by his 'new' daughter, realized he too still loved her. When Airi came to Earth to finalize the agreement allowing the children of Katsuhito and Natsumi to enter the Galaxy Police Academy, the two were married under the branches of Funaho, the exchange of vows witnessed by Masaki Minaho Jurai, Kamiki Seto Jurai and Masaki Kaji, the first Earthling Masaki to go to the Galaxy Police Academy. The newlyweds knew their responsibilities would require Katsuhito to remain on Earth and Airi to remain at the Galaxy Police Academy, yet on those vacation days a certain heavenly wife would leave her duties behind to stay with her earthbound husband and during one of these 'visits' a girl babe was conceived, her name was Achika.

It was times like these when Katsuhito remembered how his bereavement for Sailor Sol and the Maid brought to him the love of Minaho, Achika and Airi. It was because of this discovered love that Katsuhito kept his promise to Sailor Sol with unbinding resolve for no matter in what time or place an Earthling Masaki resides, even when the person is employed by Jurai, the Galaxy Police or some independent organization, he/she carried within his/her heart the duty to help any Star Seed and to protect the Earth. Now the wheel has turned a full circle in Katsuhito's life and once more a Star Seed, a being he believed to be the new Sailor Sol, has entered the lives of the people he held dear.

"Will Sailor Sol accept the way I've kept my promise?" a long sigh came from Katsuhito's lips as he held up a charcoal sketch he kept in a hidden compartment in his sleeping quarters, next to his pictures of Airi, Minaho, Funaho, Azusa and Misaki, "Oi, how I wish old friend that your spirit will rejoice in her return."

"Whose return?" asked an eight-year-old voice.

It took all of Katsuhito's cool demeanor to lay down the sketch before he faced a sight that brought a grin to his leathery face for just outside stood a ponytail-plastered-face Sasami, an amber-eyes-peeking-through-soaked-cyan-locks Ryoko and a cabbit-imitating-a-soaked-cat Ryo-ohki, an ever increasing pool of lake water at the two girls waterlog-socked feet. "I was taking to my mei, your distant cousin, Kiriko," a good-natured tone in the priest's voice, "she called to let me know she was going to visit the family shrine next weekend."

This news cranked up the joy knob on Sasami's heart and it showed in her starry eyes, on-the-other-hand Ryoko leaned forward to look about the office while saying, "Ome, guji, where did the Skuld-chibi go?"

"Skuld-san said something about needing to find her sister," Katsuhito replied before he changed the subject when he noticed Sasami started to shiver, "but right now, Ryoko-dono, I think you should get Akaruime home and into a hot bath before the autumn air puts a chill in her skin."

Ryoko's posture went all-robotic, as did her English words, "At your command."

Sasami didn't understand Ryoko's words but still she giggled at Ryoko's performance which kicked up in volume when the dripping-cyan-haired woman roughly picked up the dripping-blue-haired girl with both arms before the uchu kaizoku added in the same robotic English, "I will bring her back for Shichi-Go-San practice," Katsuhito could tell that Ryoko was having a hard time keeping a straight face and even after the trio faded from sight, he was sure she was laughing up a storm in the furo.

With quiet normalcy once more inhabiting the Masaki Shrine, Katsuhito noted by the sun's position that it was close to noon, the clock next to the telephone also help remind him, so he pushed the on button of his ancient Zenith radio while thinking, 'It's time to catch Kawatta-san's noontime program.'

********

Nagai High School

Tenchi was in his usual place to have his lunch, in his homeroom not far from the portable stereo that Oyuki would set on her desk to entertain everyone but unlike other times the curly black-haired girl let out a disappointed huff when she heard the WHOSHI DJ say, "Kawatta-san had to make his annual trek to the insane asylum and won't be let out of his straitjacket for the next five days, but he did leave a few selections to fill his noonday program, so without anymore ado, we present his first gem."

"You know if it wasn't for the fact Kawatta-san the top DJ in Honshu," Oyuki pouted at having her noontime routine spoiled, "He'd have a one-way air ticket back to the West."

"Actually, wouldn't that be east," Tujika pointed to compass east, "I mean it is that way."

"Aaaa, East, West," Oyuki rolled her eyes, "I want Strange Days!"

"Oyu-chan, you're what the Amerikajins call a moonbeam?" Tujika teased with mock astonishment.

"Iie, Tuj-kun, I think you mean a Trekkie," Suu, a friend of Tujika and Oyuki, jumped into the teasing.

"KIMA (YOU)!" Oyuki screamed as she went for Suu, who bolt from the room with a wide grin, Tujika wasn't so quick for he found ninety-five pounds of female fury trying to strangle him.

Tenchi laughed at the improvisation and things calm down in the next few minutes that the shorthaired boy could hear the DJ introduce the next song, "this next song is a hit single from the unbreakable duo of Takada Yumi and Orikasa Ai, here is Bleeding Heart:

(Y) I want to tell you about my true love

(A) His love that make me pure

(Y) So fine he is in the morning

(A) So fine he is at midnight

(Y) Maybe soon he will take my hand

(A) And make his heart beat inside of me

(Y) I need to tell him of my love

(A) A love that chains me to him.

Chorus (Y & A singing in harmony)

I got a man, won't stay all day

I got a man, won't give true love

I got a man, keeps me drunk all the time

I say I got a man who won't be true

(Y) On quiet days we go up to the shrine

(A) Where wisdom resides under gray hairs

(Y) We ask for blessings from the Lord

(A) And guidance for our hearts

(Y) My man looks so fine

(A) My heart stops when he smiles for me

(Y) Yet when I hold my heart out to him

(A) He's not there to take it

Chorus

I got a man, won't stay all day

I got a man, won't give true love

I got a man, keeps me drunk all the time

I say I got a man who won't be true

(Y) In the home of my true love

(A) Where I watch him with the other girls

(Y) I wonder if his heart will be mine

(A) Or does his heart belong to them

(Y) Doesn't he know he carried me from my throne

(A) And freed my heart from its prison

(Y) Can't he feel my heart beating for him?

(A) Dawn, Noon, Dusk and Night

Chorus

I got a man, won't stay all day

I got a man, won't give true love

I got a man, keeps me drunk all the time

I say I got a man who won't be true

As the Chorus ended, Tenchi heard Robert O'Neil say, "I wouldn't want to be in that guy's shoes," the blond-haired youth's Nihongo words full of knowing as he sat in his seat, "the sharp shards from those broken hearts could cut out his heart."

Tenchi grinned at Robert before he said, "Ara . . . I don't know, I think any man would count himself lucky to have two girls loving him that much," then his voice slowed as his grin soften to a thoughtful look, "let alone just one."

Robert saw the restrained look on Tenchi's face and grinned hugely, "So one of those girls did offer to ride your uma (horse)," the Irishman ducked under his desk as Tenchi threw a half-eaten rice ball at his friend's head and came back up with more words, "or maybe two of them offered to give you a full body massage with just their . . . Ouch!" the last word lost because Tenchi's right foot crunched Robert's left foot.

"I think that old igirisujin (British) saying could be applied to you, Robert-kun," Tenchi took satisfaction at Robert pained look, "you know about the Amerikajin being overpaid, oversexed and over here."

Robert pulled his foot up and rubbed the place Tenchi had nailed while saying, "Tenchi-kun, I thought you shrine boys knew how to control your temper," then the blond boy gave his friend a sideway look, "or has one of them put her waraji (straw sandals) in your bed."

"I wonder if I can make your right foot as flat as your left foot," Tenchi eyed the afore mentioned appendage.

"Jodan, jodan," Robert waved his hands in surrender, Tenchi gave a pleased look before he picked up chopsticks to continue eating the lunch Sasami had prepared for him. Robert unwrapped a rice ball that his uncle had made for him, took a bite and chewed while saying, "Gomen, for giving you such a hard time, Tenchi-kun but I wanted to make sure what Hojo-kun said was true."

"I told you this morning, Robert-kun," Tenchi held a pickled plum in his chopsticks between him and Robert, "I treat my guests with all the hospitality a host is suppose to give, nothing more, nothing less," at this point Tenchi recognized the name Robert used and asked, "How is Hojo-kun?"

"He's fine," a clever look appeared on Robert's pale face, "although he was more concern with how you were doing since he hadn't seen you since elementary school."

Sorrow laced through Tenchi's soul as he remembered those years just after his mother's death, how his grandfather's strong love kept the five-year-old from pulling into a shell but even so, he remembered how he bore his sorrow silently.

Robert saw the agony on Tenchi's face before carefully saying, "So Hojo-kun was right about how your okasan's death affected you."

Tenchi didn't want to talk about those days, the daily torture of going to class, his mother's funeral, the constant fear that he was in some way responsible for her death and the obsession to not make friends, more people for him to care for, more people for him to watch as they die, more people to cause him grief. It took painful effort for Tenchi to speak, "Hojo-kun forced his way into my life. I didn't want him or anyone to call me their friend but Hojo-kun wouldn't take no for an answer," a smile appeared on Tenchi's face as his mind's eye saw a boy who would wear geta to school, the clacking of their wooden soles on the tile caused much annoyance amongst the teachers, "he taught me to laugh again and helped me remember why I loved my okasama so much."

"Even so, Hojo-kun said you kept your distance from the girls at school," Robert's blue eyes focused on the pickled plum Tenchi continued to hold with his chopsticks.

"Hojo-kun called me a mama's boy na?" Tenchi smiled as he remembered his strange friendship with Nagauji Hojo.

"Ee, Hojo-kun thought you didn't want to feel affection for another girl," a look of knowing on Robert's face, "because none of them equaled the perfection of your okasan."

"That was part of it," Tenchi admitted as he started to put the pickled plum to his lips but stopped as he added, "but by the time I got into junior high school, I was extremely shy around girls."

"And Hojo-kun wasn't there to help you," Robert guessed before adding, "you know he is still angry that his parents sent him to a private school."

"Hojo-kun is a giraffe's child," Tenchi grinned as he remembered the day Hojo found out that he and Tenchi would be going to different junior high schools, how his friend appeared on Nobuyuki's doorstep, where Hojo declared he had run away from home to be with Tenchi. It had taken most of the night for Tenchi to convince his brown-eyed friend to go home before his parents discovered he was missing. Sadness crept into Tenchi's grin, "I knew our close friendship would become distant but his musical ability was the level of Mozart."

"Maybe you and Hojo-kun should get together," Robert suggested after he took another bit from his rice ball.

"Mo, Robert-kun," Tenchi shook his head, then the shorthaired boy realized he couldn't tell the truth, he didn't want Hojo to get involved in what was developing at the Masaki residence, so he said, "Hojo-kun . . . ano . . . is in his last year of high school and doesn't need me to mess up his life as a world class classical composer."

"Hmm . . . so you being a mama's boy developed into being bashful around girls," Robert finished off his rice ball, "and thanks to puberty you felt dirty because you realized your okasan was just as much a girl as they were."

Tenchi gulped and stopped his mouth from biting into the pickled plum, the brown-eyed youth realized that Robert was right, it was just the girls he saw didn't measure up to his mother and he felt unclean because of his strong attraction to his dead mother.

Robert saw Tenchi's reaction so he added with a strong right-hand grip on his friend's left shoulder, "Tenchi-kun, you shouldn't let it bother you, all boys want to marry their mothers while all girls want to marry their fathers," the Irishman squeezed his friend's muscular shoulder, "its natural for our image of the perfect mate to be one of our parents."

"You . . . you really think so?" the arm that held Tenchi's chopsticks dropped to his desk, the pickled plum forgotten.

"After the explosion, I and my brother were in therapy for months before they finally allowed us to come out here to live with our uncle," Robert's blue eyes became a little bluer, "so I'm just telling you what they told me."

Tenchi digested what Robert had told him before saying, "This is kind of heady stuff for a seventeen-year-old to think about."

"I remember you told me your otousan married your okasan when they were still in high school," a sly look on Robert's face, "so he didn't have much trouble with it."

"Okasan and otousan knew each other since they were kids," Tenchi knew Robert was leading him on but to what he didn't know, "so it wasn't unusually for them to marry so early."

"So Nihonjin men don't marry when they're going to high school?" Robert's curiosity was perked.

"Iie," Tenchi shook his head, "not until after vocational school or college," then Tenchi added when he saw his blond friend's questioning look, "most grooms want to show their worthiness to their bride's family by already having a steady job."

"And your ojiisan was already impressed with your otousan to allow him to marry his daughter," Robert nodded his head then his clever look was back, "but now you have a problem or should I say five problems."

This quick switch back to Tenchi's inner problems left the tanned shouting, "Robert-kun! Why do you think I have any interest in any of them beyond being a good host?"

"Because of the way you talk about them," a Cheshire Cat's smile on Robert's face, "they're not just guests or relatives to you, you respect them as girls."

"Yare-yare, I've already explained to you the circumstances around each of them," Tenchi fired back.

"Does that mean they haven't showed any feelings for you?" Robert enjoyed the way Tenchi's mouth flapped soundlessly, Tenchi wanted to say no but he remembered how Mihoshi hugged him, how Ayeka kissed him at the train station, how Sasami looked up at him and how Ryoko offered her body to him, then Robert asked, "and that's the problem na?"

"Robert-kun, I think you talk too much?" replied Tenchi flinty.

"And what will you do when your otousan finds someone to love again," Robert pulled his feet in so Tenchi couldn't stump them again, "will you accept her or deny her?"

This stopped Tenchi's temper cold for he knew his father's attraction to Scully as well as his mother's gentle friendship with the redhead and how his mother bonded all three of their hearts together. 'Otousan has found someone to love again,' the images of Ryoko, Mihoshi and Ayeka flashed in his mind, 'maybe I can too.'

The bell for the ending of the launch period ringed and brought Tenchi back to earth but before he could pop the pickled plum into his mouth, Robert ducked in and deftly took the purple vegetable with his pearly teeth."

"Tame! That's mine!" Tenchi shouted out as he pointed his chopsticks at the retreating Irishman.

"Just consider it payment for my advice," Robert artfully dodged Tenchi's empty bento box, "I'll have my secretary set the time for your next session."

Only the appearance of the Physical Science teacher kept Tenchi from going after Robert.

********

Yashi No Ki Udon Shop

"So you're sure of what you saw in the assailant's face, Nakayama-san?" Aoi asked.

"Hai, keisatsukan," Nakayama Mitsutoshi's voice was as polite as Aoi's, "it looked like she was crying."

In the young man's room upstairs from his family's noodle shop, Mulder noticed hardness in Nakayama's stance and it suggested to the FBI agent the young man had no respect for the officers. When the trio had first entered the room and during Nakayama's recapping of his encounter with the prime suspect, Mulder had noticed several discolored spots along the bedroom walls, which suggest framed items had hung on those walls for a long time and only recently removed. Another piece of information that a look from Ryoko brought his attention was the box of trophies that could be barely seen in the back of the closet. At this point Mulder asked, "How long have you been a Guardian Angel?"

"Two years, sir," Nakayama didn't wait for Aoi to translate Mulder's question and he spoke in faintly accented English.

Nakayama had relaxed his posture when he turned to the American, this plainly showed the youth did have respect for police officers, just not those from his own country. "Why did you become a Guardian Angel?"

Nakayama glanced uncomfortable at Ryoko, ever since the three officers entered his family's oden shop, the black-haired twenty-year-old had taken a liking to the pink-suited woman, now it seemed like he didn't want to say anything that might hurt the ample lady's feelings. Ryoko noticed it, saying good-naturedly in Nihongo, "Ne ne! Don't worry about me, Mitsu-san, I'm a tough girl!"

"A regular Mae West," Mulder grinned at the smirk his words brought to Ryoko's sharp face, the uchu kaizoku knew very well that her 'partner' was wisecracking about.

Nakayama composed himself before answering in English, "I joined the Guardian Angels after my sister was knifed by a heroin addict," the young man's black eyes became hard as he glanced several times at Aoi, "because my sister was drunk at the time, people just walked by her as she pleaded for help," his tone became stone hard, "by the time someone called the police and they got to her, my sister had bled to death," Mulder saw the pain on Aoi's face at the man's polite angry words, "my sister wasn't a drunken slut, she was coming home from a party at a nearby disco, in two weeks she was going to Harvard Medical School," his voice had a cracked stone sound, "she was going to become a gynecologist," both Ryoko and Mulder moved at the same time and each caught the collapsing Nakayama by the armpits and carried him to his Western-styled bed, Aoi just stood there but Mulder saw by her body language she was fighting to keep from running out of the room.

With Mulder and Ryoko on either side of him, Nakayama slowly gained control of his emotions, "Sor . . . Sorry, I'm better now."

"So you became a Guardian Angel for vengeance," Mulder heard Ryoko's voice catch when the ample woman said the last word.

"No," Nakayama glared at Aoi, the fire back in his eyes, "I did it because I didn't want any other woman to die like my sister."

"You could've joined the police," Mulder pointed out.

"The police," the polite veneer was gone from Nakayama's voice, "they hide in their offices instead of patrolling, they fill their guts with food instead of helping people and only leave their police boxes when ordered," then he picked up the red beret from the lamp stand next to his bed and showed it to the three officers, "the Guardian Angels do patrols, make sure drunk women get home and give cards to addicts with phone numbers where they can get help," a fanatic's determination in his next words, "we show the colors to make rapists and muggers think twice before they attack innocent people."

"Yet you didn't stop the suspect running from the fire," Mulder didn't like how Nakayama made sure everything he said was aimed directly at Aoi.

"I . . . I was scared shitless by her," Nakayama looked down at his blue-socked feet with shame evident on his face, "besides I didn't know a crime been commented."

"True, people just normally exit a room by using the window," Mulder was going to turn Nakayama's fanatic fire onto himself, the young man's face became more miserable.

"Is there anything else you want to add?" Aoi spoke with a shaky voice.

"Iie, iie," Nakayama sighed with a heavy heart.

The three officers left the room to enter the hallway where Mulder and Ryoko turn to the downward staircase that would take them to the noodle shop but Aoi faced the other direction. Mulder's pale green eyes saw how Aoi's shoulders tremble and her arms hugged her slim body. It didn't take an anvil falling on Mulder's head to know that Nakayama's angry words hurt the Nihonjin policewoman but he first looked at Ryoko, who gave him a reassuring smile and a nod. With support from the woman he has affection for, Mulder stepped close to Aoi before saying, "Futaba, you shouldn't let the kid's words hurt you so much, it wasn't your fault his sister died or he has become a vigilante."

"I know," Aoi's voice barely above a whisper, "it's just I'm so use to people saying how well I do my job even though I'm a woman."

"A police officer needs a thick skin when working homicide," Mulder placed his right hand on Aoi's right shoulder, "there will be victims and families of victims who will say the police didn't do enough."

"I know," Aoi sounded stronger, her shoulders no longer shook, "when I became part of the exchange program and was assigned to homicide, I was determined to do what I've always done before, my best as an officer and as a woman."

"So homicide isn't your regular beat?" Mulder wanted to boost Aoi's confidence by bringing forward old successes.

"No, it isn't," Aoi turned around, her long brown hair framed a composed face, "I'm actually a traffic officer assigned to the Bokuta Police Precinct, but when my friends were forced into the exchange program and assigned to different precincts and departments, I volunteered for the program and I assigned to the homicide department of the Kurashiki Police Department."

"Exchange programs are meant to expand the professional experience of police officers and to get them out of the little niches they have created for themselves," Mulder smiled his knowing smile, "and I'm sure you'll return to your regular post a better officer because of this experience."

"I hope so," Aoi's eyes full of happy thoughts, "and thank you for your kind words."

"Just call me Lancelot de Lake," Mulder grinned as he let go of Aoi's shoulder, "I come to the aid of ladies in distress."

"Are you sure that's not Lancelot Link, monkey boy?" Ryoko decided to apply the brakes to this mutual support group of two before Mulder discovered something that the uchu kaizoku's sensitive nose had already told her about Futaba Aoi, "let's get to lunch, I'm starving."

"I agree, I'm hungry too," Mulder turned halfway, "how about you, Futaba?"

"I'm a little hungry," Aoi's voice was pleasant once more.

"I'm sure we can get a good meal from the noodle shop down below," Ryoko knew very well Mulder's opinion about Nihonjin food.

"I think we'll go to the nearest MacDonald's," Mulder quickly intervened before Aoi could agree with Ryoko, "my treat."

"Hey, I never turn down a free meal," Ryoko's Cheshire Cat's grinned was in full force.

"It would also be unladylike not to accept an offer from such an handsome man," Aoi seconded. Soon Mulder led the other two out of the oden shop and the American allowed the voices of teenyboppers to guide him to the closest fast food outlet.

********

Notes:

Me and my big mouth: Once more I'm forced to end a chapter where I don't want to due to length limitation. Why? Because when I was halfway through the chapter, I realized I hadn't done a flashback with Katsuhito/Yosho and I decided I wanted to give him a logical reason for sending the brightest and the best of his descendants to the Galactic Academy, where his second wife, Airi, could help train and take care of them. I had wanted to tag on a GXP story at the end of this chapter but I'm going have to wait until the chapter seven.

I also want to apologize for how long it took me to write this chapter. I simply lost track of time.

Storyline:

Joan De Arc/The Maid: When I decided to do a Katsuhito/Yosho flashback, I quickly decided that it would cover some period after he came to Earth. Since a lot of people have done fanfics covering his first few years on this planet, I concentrated on a period after his first wife, Natsumi, died. At first I thought to do a Braveheart story with Katsuhito in Scotland fighting with Wallace but this was ruled out when I discovered that Natsumi had lived 147 years (its seems her exposure to Funaho-Ki had a beneficial effect on her aging). While this kept me out from giving an accurate version of Wallace, it did give the opportunity to retell the story of one of the greatest women warrior of the world, Joan De Arc. To create a realistic image of the 15th Century France, I drew on my own knowledge of the Hundred Year War and on several web sites, this included the on-line Encyclopedia of Catholic Saints and the one-hundred-and-eighty-page transcript of the Trial of Joan De Arc. Many of the events I describe in this part did take place and several of the Maid's words did come from her lips, the imaginary parts of this tale are her rescue and the destruction of the Rouen Castle's central tower. Due to the fact Joan wasn't publicly burned-at-the-stake, there were rumors of her still being alive and at least two woman came forward declaring themselves to be the Maid. Because of the terror the English and the Burgundians had for Joan De Arc (they believed her to be a witch and a heretic) and the timid nature of Charles VII of France, it is doubtful a surrogate was burned in her place. As for Joan's voices we can only have faith and her assurance that they came from God. It was by the fire of her martyrdom that France was forged into a nation.

GXP and the Third OVA Season: The one advantage I have over other Tenchi Muyo fanfiction writers is this crossover series covered adventures that happen in between the already existing OVA episodes, so this allows me the chance to incorporate new information from both GXP and the Third OVA. So far there haven't been any earthshaking revelations:

1)  Katsuhito/Yosho is married to Airi, the young woman he fell in love while going to the Galaxy Academy and they had two daughters: Minaho and Kiyone, Tenchi's mother (for this series, I'm using Achika for the name of Tenchi's mother so to not confuse readers and because I've introduced Mihoshi's former partner as Kiyone).

2) With Airi's help, Katsuhito/Yosho has been sending the best and the brightest of his Earthling descendents to the Galaxy Police Academy, one of these was Kiriko Masaki.

3) It seems that Jurai support multiple wives for at least its royal family members. Since I've only got bits and pieces of information from people who have watched raw footage of the episodes, I don't know if they gave a reason for this behavior. The only reason I can think of is the low birth rate amongst bondmates. Since all Jurai royal members are bondmates to Tsunami's children, I noticed there is a low birth rate between bondmates. Seto had one children, Azusa had three children, Katsuhito/Yosho had two children (yes, I believe Airi is a bondmate to one of Tsunami's children) and this is over a period of several hundred years, while at the same time the True Tenchi Novels have hinted that Seto had romantic relationships before she married and Katsuhito/Yosho seemed to had fathered several children with his first wife, Natsumi. This could explain why Azusa decreed that Jurains should marry non-Jurains, it wasn't just to legitimize his marriage to Funaho but because it was necessary for the continue survival of the Royal Family of Juria.

4) Azusa's parents are high-ranking members within the Galaxy Police, Airi is the Headmaster at the Galactic Academy, and Minaho is an assistant to Seto.

5) Mihoshi's mother, Mitoto, is a special agent for the Galaxy Police. Mitoto's official position is that of cleaning lady and she does busy herself with cleaning every inch of the main Galaxy Police Headquarters but she is included in high level meetings and she has a tendency to appear in the most unlikely places.

6) While Earth is a Jurain protection zone that doesn't mean the Galaxy Police don't have a presence here. Besides Mihoshi there are members of the Galaxy Police Immigration Office here too. I assume that their reasons are three fold: to catch galactic criminals who have come to Earth, to recruit promising Earthlings for the Galaxy Police and to keep an eye on Katsuhito/Yosho.

Pretty Soldier Sailormoon: You probably expected that since I brought
Sailor V into the mix and introduced my version of the Star Seeds that other characters from Takeuchi Naoke's universe would appear. Those familiar with the Sailormoon anime might find it interesting that what will appear in this series are the manga versions of the same characters. Naoke was allowed a lot of room to develop the characters the way she wanted them. So expect something different.

If you are wondering at what point in the Sailor Moon timeline this is taking place, I'll be dropping clues throughout the chapters.

OMG: Another block of my world creation has been added and I'll bet you know where it belongs.

Language: I wanted to experiment with language in Mihoshi's flashback, I used an archaic phasing to show that Mihoshi and her brother was speaking Seniwago.

Nihon School Year: If you are wondering about Nihon School Year, I asked Maiko Covington about it (Maiko-san went to junior high school and high school in Nihon), "Actually, the school year starts in April, which as you note is the cherry blossom season, so there's lots of pictures of new school kids and ads for school supplies that have cherry blossom themes. School ends in March, so that time in between years, in the spring, is the spring break (haruyasumi). It is pretty short, but it's true time off because you can't possibly have homework. Later in the end of April and into May there is a series of holidays strung together that people call "golden week" when most people take trips, but that one isn't really an official school break for the sake of it sort of thing but more of just holidays that happen to all run together. The summer break is the next one. When I was in school the summer break (natsuyasumi) was from the end of July to the first day of September, so about a month. Thing is, it's the same school year on both sides, so there is always homework assigned. Having to finish up the summer homework, putting off the summer homework, and/or just generally complaining about the summer homework is a big theme of summer. The summer break might be longer now, I'm not sure but generally in Japan it seems they're reducing the number of school days (kids have Saturdays off now a lot of places, which was simply unheard of in the 70's and 80's. The winter break (fuyuyasumi) happens around New Year. Everyone gets a winter break, not just schoolkids. In schools the break starts from around 12/27 or so (few days before New Year) and then lasts until mid-January. Even companies shut down before New Year, and for about the first three days or so of the new year NOTHING is open."

Characters:

Washu: I'm sure some of you have already figured out where I'm going with our Washu-chan.

Seto: She might be the most powerful woman on Jurai but like all of us, she loves to go shopping and what better way than with her godchild and on a planet where no one knows who she is.

Mihoshi: it takes a lot of effort on my part to show complexity of Mihoshi but I keep trying to do my best.

Ayeka: One step out the railway station and she gets her purse stolen and returned to her by one of the special people of this huge metropolis, the further she travels on her odyssey the more she matures.

Sasami: More laughter and tears for the littlest princess.

Katsuhito/Yosho: As I said before, I figured it was time for a part of Katsuhito/Yosho's life on Earth should be revealed, I also believed he wouldn't stay in Nihon when he had a whole planet he could explore, I concluded he would encounter some of the historical figures in our history and he would met some of Earth's special personages.

Ryoko: It is interesting that most fanfic writers keep forgetting that Ryoko can split into at least two separate bodies. I thought it would be interesting to have this happen.

Ryo-ohki: The little cabbit is thinking she got the bad end of the deal and is really contemplating combat pay.

Kiriko: A character from GXP, she is a descendent of the union between Katsuhito/Yosho and Natsumi.

Skuld: Two goddesses down and one to go.

George Blahman: If you don't know who he really is, then you haven't been reading the series.

Ohiten: As you have probably figured out Ohiten has access to the abilities MacClean gained when his DNA was combined with a Space Tree's DNA.

Joan De Arc/Sailor Sol: I took some literary license in changing the historical Joan De Arc by having her being a Star Seed bearer, Sailor Sol. I also wanted to give you a chance to see what Ohiten's Sailor Sol transformation might be like.

Mulder: As you have noticed, I like the Mulder/Ryoko team-up and Mulder probably likes it too.

Scully: More information and more clues as she and her team search for the cause of these victims' suffering.

Nobuyuki: I haven't forgotten him. He makes an appearance in the next chapter.

Makoto Kino: There isn't much difference between the anime version and the manga version of Makoto expect in the manga she has ginger-colored hair and wears her brown fuku uniform with the excuse that none of the shops carry the Azabu school girl fuku in her size, add the hair and uniform to her violent temper and you will get what most school officials would consider a yankee (juvenile delinquent). If you were wondering why Makoto was so trusting in giving her apartment key to Ayeka and Ohiten, its part of the Nihonjin nature. It is not unusual for Nihonjin to trust and reward people who have proven their worthiness.

Futaba Aoi: Aoi is an interesting character, a young man who had an reputation as an lady-killer in high school but who seemed to had some kind of inner conflict about gender identity (at his senior prom he came dressed as a woman). When a serial rapist proved to be unstoppable with normal police tactics, Aoi decided the only way he could catch the criminal was to not only dress as a woman but to become the perfect woman, in speech, manners and thinking. Aoi successfully arrested the rapist, received an accommodation for his ingenuity but in the end he found that he could no longer think of himself as a man, only as a woman. Aoi's first days at Bokuta Police Station as its first she-he police officer are great to read and to watch. I highly recommend the OVA series, the TV series and the Movie.