~
Lost. I am so lost. Kiyone Makibi sat on the roof of her and her partner Mihoshi's apartment building in the city of Tokyo. Her bare feet dangled from the roof top, and her long blue hair flowed in the gentle, evening breeze. She sat thinking, enjoying the peace and quiet as the golden sun sank slowly under the sapphire Tokyo Bay.
Her thoughts wandered, yet constantly went back to the time when she met Tenchi, when she had been man-hunting the space pirate Ryoko. That was an interesting experience, especially when Kiyone found out Mihoshi had been living in the same household, in the company of the universe's most wanted criminal.
Kiyone frowned. Mihoshi could be a real thick-skull at times. Most times, Kiyone reflected. But they had made it through thick and thin, and found a home on Earth, patrolling the sector for prates and keeping the peace in space, even if it meant chasing down idiot speeders on the Intergalactic Highway. That was where her life had gotten her, where everything she ever did right was placed, on a far off planet acting as a Galaxy Police Patrol Officer.
Kiyone sighed, and looked out at the Bay. Gentle sailboats crossed the sleek water, seeming to float on crimson, golden, and blue light as the setting sun sank almost fully beyond the horizon, the darkness of night trailing behind.
A noisy patter of feet sounded and Kiyone's thoughts sped away. The stairwell door swung open and the blonde haired Mihoshi tripped on the top stair and fell flat on her face on the cool concrete. Kiyone turned to look at her flattened partner. She sighed and swung her feet off the ledge of the building and walked over. "Mihoshi, what now?" she asked, trying to remain calm.
Mihoshi looked up from the floor. "Um, Miss Ayeka is on the phone, she wants to talk to you," she replied in a distressed voice, her voice creaking as she strained to stand up.
Not paying attention anymore, Kiyone trotted past Mihoshi, and hurried down the stairs, knowing how impatient the Jahrei Crown Princess was. She opened the door to her apartment and picked up the phone lying on its side on the desk. "What can I do for you, Princess Ayeka?"
Ayeka's voice sounded strangled when she answered. "Officer Kiyone, please, you must come stop this mad woman Ryoko. She's trying to kidnap Tenchi from me!"
Kiyone rolled her eyes. "Miss Ayeka, I've informed you before, you must not involve the Galaxy Police in your and Ryoko's house hold problems."
"But this is no house hold problem, Kiyone, Ryoko is a criminal, you should arrest her at once!"
Kiyone put her hand over the receiver and sighed, and then took her hand regretfully back off. "Princess, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't help you at this time."
"But-"
"I'm sorry, but until there is a true criminal act-"
"Are you calling me a liar?"
"No, o-of course n-not. I just can't be involved in a small-"
"Miss Kiyone-"
Kiyone couldn't stand it anymore. Why was she even talking to the spoiled princess anyway, all she does is complain? "Princess Ayeka, please do not involve the Galaxy Police in your selfish, jealous, and downright stupid disputes!" Before Ayeka could reply, Kiyone hung up the phone.
She sighed heavily. That was mean, she thought, I shouldn't have done that. This, however, was a common thing amongst the inhabitants of the Misaki house. Most days, Tenchi was away at school in Tokyo, and Ryoko was out causing trouble, but it looked like today must have been a long weekend so Tenchi was at home, and obviously Ryoko knew about it so she was there as well. For a moment Kiyone thought of blocking the Misaki number so she wouldn't be pestered again while Tenchi was home, she was sure Ayeka would try to call again.
She set down the phone and heard her roommate come in. Mihoshi shut the door, with no accidents so far from the one on the rooftop. She walked past Kiyone and sat on the couch. "What did Miss Ayeka want, Kiyone? I couldn't understand a word she said so I went to get you."
Thank you so much, Mihoshi, Kiyone thought as she walked past her. "Nothing. She didn't want anything," was all she said, something that went right over Mihoshi's head, despite Kiyone's bitter tone.
Kiyone went to her room and sat down on her low bed. She felt bad for what she did to Ayeka. But what was she supposed to do? These "fights" were not uncommon amongst Ayeka and Ryoko and at the moment Kiyone didn't want to be involved, even though she considered them friends.
Kiyone wrapped her arms around her legs. What's wrong with me, she asked herself, am I just paranoid, or just completely lost? Nothing in Kiyone's life had seemed to work out the way she dreamed it would. All her hard work in the Academy, even being a widely recognized top honor student, had now seemed to be all for nothing. She had moved on, tried to make the best of things, and things were starting to get better, but it was a start, and a slow one at that.
She looked out her window. It was fully dark now, the moon and the stars sparkling like diamonds against the blackness of space. A space she knew well, chasing pirates across the galaxies, with hopes of one day getting promoted to Galaxy Police Headquarters. It never happened, and Kiyone was almost sure it would never happen, with all the screw-ups that had occurred. Life just didn't seem so worth while anymore.
Once again, Kiyone's thoughts were swept away. The phone rang loudly. Between pauses, Kiyone heard loud snores. Mihoshi had obviously fallen asleep on the couch, so there was no chance that she would answer the phone. Kiyone decided just to let it ring, it probably wasn't important, most likely Ayeka or something.
A few moments after the ringing stopped completely, it began to ring again. Kiyone huffed and stormed out of her bedroom. This DEFINITELY had to be Ayeka. The princess couldn't stand it when nobody answered the phone, and she wouldn't be polite enough to leave a message on Kiyone's answering machine. Kiyone rushed over and picked up the phone. "Princess Ayeka, please-"
She was interrupted by a male voice. "Hello, Kiyone? Uh, this is Tenchi."
Kiyone's face flushed and then her cheeks turned bright red. "Oh, uh, Tenchi hi. S-sorry about t-that." She had butterflies in her stomach. What's wrong with me? Its just Tenchi.
"That's ok," Tenchi replied cheerfully.
Enough of this, Kiyone thought. "What can I do for you Tenchi?"
"Well, I'm at home this weekend, so we plan to have a summer party, and I, and the rest of us, were wondering if you and Mihoshi were free sometime this weekend to come over and hang out with us for a while."
"Um, I guess so."
"Tenchi," Kiyone interrupted, "are you reading from a script that Ayeka wrote?"
There was a brief pause. "...........yes."
Kiyone laughed. "Don't worry about it, I think Mihoshi and I can make it, if you have room for us."
"Great. Well, see ya then!" And Tenchi hung up the phone.
Kiyone set down the receiver and turned to see a non-sleeping Mihoshi staring blankly at her. "What?" Kiyone demanded.
"Kiyone, your face is all red!" Mihoshi exclaimed, much to Kiyone's embarrassment and irritation.
Kiyone stormed again past Mihoshi, and just before she slammed her bedroom door, she said quietly, "Goodnight, Mihoshi."
Too late, though, Mihoshi was already snoring.
~
The morning sun gleamed through the curtains in Kiyone's bedroom, spreading a small beam of light across Kiyone's eyelids, disturbing her sleep. She opened her eyes and looked around. She and Mihoshi would have to leave soon in order to get to the Misaki Shrine by mid-day. She crawled out of her bed got dressed and quietly got all her daily chores done quickly. Then she went from her room to wake Mihoshi.
Just as she walked out her wrist com beeped. Kiyone huffed and saw Mihoshi come running out of her room, dressed in uniform. "Kiyone, we got a call!" she cried.
Frustrated, Kiyone snapped, "I know that, Mihoshi."
Once on board their space ship, Jagami, Kiyone reviewed the problem they had to investigate. There was a disturbance of missing ships near the rings of Saturn. Kiyone set the course while her partner fiddled with her cube.
They reached the rings in no time, but there didn't seem like there was anything out of place. And there was no sign of any ships anywhere.
Kiyone was puzzled. Maybe the crook, or crooks, were hiding within the rings. "Mihoshi, I'm going to take us closer to the rings."
There was no response, but Kiyone didn't expect one. As their ship neared the rings Kiyone scanned for signs of metal and life forms. There were none.
Suddenly, however, the ship began to shake violently. Kiyone checked the systems for damage and scanned for the problem. Nothing showed up.
"What's happening?" Mihoshi asked, panicked.
Kiyone shoved the ship into reverse. Maybe to back out of this force would help, but suddenly it grew much stronger. Trying to push Jagami forward, the ship creaked and there were loud cracking and popping sounds, like they were being crushed like an aluminum can from the outside. Jagami stalled, and something exploded in the back, towards the engine. Kiyone yelled at Mihoshi. "Get your space suit on quickly! And get to the second shielded compartment! I'm going to seal the bridge, hopefully so we can escape this mess!" Kiyone desperately tried to seal the bridge, and converted all the oxygen into the two small compartments. But it was too late.
Warning bells rang loudly from the screens in front of the pilots. Kiyone struggled to gain control. Somewhere behind her she heard Mihoshi scream. Dents were being made in the bridge door as the pressure increased. Kiyone was terrified, and she wasn't afraid to admit it. Was she going to die?