No Need for Questions

Yagami in extreme earth orbit:

"It doesn't make sense," Kiyone complained. Earth records were complete on Shirai Rikyu. He was mainly an antique dealer/collector, but he had a number of small businesses operating throughout Tokyo. Of which her most recent employer was one of them. Apparently he hadn't been in Tokyo for the last four years. "Wait a minute, according to this, he should be at least forty years old."

The man she had seen earlier didn't look more than twenty or so for an Earth human. It was an interesting point.

"Yagami, scan the Earth records for the name Rikyu, go back a thousand years," the computer quickly produced a list of hits. Unfortunately there were far too many to be useful. "Okay, cross reference the hits with instances of myth and legend." The natives on these backwoods planets often mistook technology for some sort of magic.

The computer returned with a much shorter list, but there were still far too many. Kiyone leaned back and thought on the problem. Then she remembered the comment about her earring.

"Cross reference with Galaxy Police files for this region over the same time period," the computer came back with one hit.

"The demon war," Kiyone noted. "And case number 348502. I vaguely remember that." Kiyone looked an Earth twenty, but she was much older. Her people had long ago perfected such techniques as gene therapy and age retardation. Some times they even outlived the Jurai royalty. She didn't mention it much, she always thought that she should have come further in twelve decades. It was embarrassing enough for people to think she was only twenty and still nowhere.

Kiyone skimmed the reports and marked them so they'd be easy to find later.

"Yagami, give me the file on Ryoko," the computer took a little longer here. Connecting with the galaxy net was actual work for it. The report came up quickly though, right from Ryoko's first appearance to the recent pardon she had received from Jurai. She scanned the file, quickly growing bored when she noticed something.

"Ah ha!" she declared. She leaned back in her chair, satisfied for the night. "Yagami transport me home." She was soon walking into her apartment. "Mihoshi I'm…oh…ugh!" She shook her head in disgust as she looked at the pile of clothes and Mihoshi.

How her partner had gotten entangled in that position, she'd never know, and didn't want to. It didn't surprise her that Mihoshi had some how fallen asleep in the impossible position. Kiyone reached over and unhooked the bra that seemed to be the key to holding Mihoshi captive. The blonde sprung loose, knocking Kiyone away, and then curled up in her normal sleeping position.

Kiyone grumbled as she stood up and walked to her sleeping mat. She didn't bother to wake up Mihoshi and tell her to change. For Mihoshi a sweater and jeans worked as well as a set of pajamas. At the moment she was tired enough it didn't matter to her either. She just plopped on her mat and joined her partner in snoring.

Masaki residence EARLY morning:

Ryoko opened first one eye, then, when she was sure no one was about, the other. She quietly sat up off the couch and turned her head left and right, making sure no one was watching her. Yesterday had been a very bizarre day, but it didn't change matters much. She'd just have to avoid that place now. Still, she was curious, maybe she'd talk to Kiyone later, or better yet, Mihoshi. The blonde wouldn't reach the more annoying conclusions.

She tiptoed quietly over to a cabinet nobody used much and took out a little bag. Then she checked once more to make sure that nobody was watching her and teleported away. No nothing had changed at all, she knew about this when she came to Earth.

"So I was right," Ayeka declared. "She is up to something. It's probably some underhanded trick to seduce Lord Tenchi. Well, we'll see about that!"

A bar in space:

"Earth?" a scrawny little man repeated, surprised. "Why would you want to go to a little dirt ball like that?"

"The point isn't to give you information," the cloaked man said. "Is it?" A sphere of energy began to form over his outstretched hand.

"It is just a few hours travel from here," the informant offered, terrified. "On the fifth vector, but there's nothing there worth seeing, stealing, or doing."

"Well there's no problem in giving me this information then, is there?" the cloaked man dropped a few Jurai bills and teleported away. At one of the tables another cloaked figure stood up and walked out the door. The figure carried an energy whip at her side, and as she walked a white cabbit jumped to her shoulder.

"Well, Ken-Ohki," she said. "It seems that Ryoko is going to have a visitor."

The cabbit meowed questioningly.

"Why else would anyone go to Earth but to hunt someone in the Masaki household?"

Ken-Ohki meowed worriedly, the figure's small mouth crinkled in irritation.

"I'm sure Ryo-Ohki is fine, Ken-Ohki."

The cabbit meowed happily, then meowed another question.

"Yes you can have some carrots!" the figure yelled. "But first we are going to ask this person what interest they have in Earth."

The Akuneko ship

"It seems I have a second tail," the cloaked man said to himself. He scanned the databanks to identify the class of the ship following him. He wasn't familiar with all the craft of this region, which was what they had spies for. "A cabbit? I have heard of these creatures." He placed the control collar around his neck and, once the controls were connected to his battle suit, shut off the autopilot. The ship was virtually an extension of him now, and it pulled a sudden stop, letting the cabbit rocket past him.

"Damn! Ken-Ohki switch back!" The large, white, spiny space ship spun about a hundred and eighty degrees and faced the smaller Akuneko ship. "FIRE!!!"

A pinwheel of beams ranged out from the ship-form cabbit, racing for the needle like Akuneko fighter. The Akuneko rolled out and dodged the attack and returned fire on its own. A large red beam that left behind a "wake" of three energy discs.

"That looked like Ryoko's blast attack!" Nagi shouted as Ken-Ohki dodged the blast. It was followed by four more, smaller blasts of similar nature. Ken-Ohki shook a little as the shields deflected the majority of the attack. "I'll worry about the firing, Ken-Ohki, just keep us moving.

A cloaked face appeared on a hologram screen in front of Nagi.

"Who are you?" the man asked snidely. The Akuneko fighter rolled past another barrage of energy blasts from Ken-Ohki.

"Isn't that my question?" Nagi asked. "After all, you are the one that initiated this conflict." Ken-Ohki went into a seemingly wild spin to dodge the Akuneko's blasts.

"You fired first, but I am the stranger here," he smiled confidently. "So I will introduce myself first. I am Rei of the Kuroi clan, a warrior of the Akuneko. And you are?" The fighter blasted forward, past Ken-Ohki, dodging energy blasts as it passed.

"I am Nagi," the man paused a little in apparent confusion. Obviously this woman thought that the single name was enough of an identification. Then he remembered something and smiled. Ken-Ohki rotated again to face the Akuneko craft as it whipped around and started another pass. This time there was barrage of energy blasts with it, those that struck bounced harmlessly off of Ken-Ohki's shields.

"Ah yes, you're in the file. We shouldn't be fighting," the man said. "After all our goal is the same. The death of Ryoko." Nagi laughed as she diverted Rei's attack with a barrage of her own, forcing him to concentrate on dodging.

"I'll defeat Ryoko on my own," Nagi declared. "Without any help from fools claiming to be legends. You have me beat on maneuverability, but everything else is in my favor." The Akuneko fighter dived for the surface of a planet the dueling space craft were passing. Ken-Ohki followed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Rei produced his own smirk. "But our business with Ryoko is older than yours, and if you won't help then you must be dealt with." The agile fighter, better designed for atmosphere fighting than the almost symmetric cabbit ship, weaved into and out of canyons as the larger ship fired on it from above. The hologram went dead and all three being concentrated on the battle.

They came to wide-open range with no canyons for the Akuneko fighter to hide in. Rei blew everything to his engines and made a straight run away from the cabbit. Nagi smiled predatorily as she slowly gained ground on the smaller craft.

It was still managing some basic dodging routines, but Rei's piloting had removed the possibility of any more extreme maneuvers. The only really annoying thing was the constant barrage of backward directed blasts. These were by far the weakest attack the "Akuneko" had directed at her yet, but the impacts on the shields were obscuring the area. Then the Akuneko took an almost ninety degree turn straight up and a cliff face came into view directly ahead of Ken-Ohki

"Ken-Ohki, pull up!!!" the war craft almost managed to clear the cliff, but a good portion struck the wall. Then Nagi was thrown forward of her control station as Ken-Ohki rolled across the ground until he finally came to a stop. "DamnDamnDamn!!!"

Nagi recovered her feet quickly and instantly scanned the damage report. They were grounded for now, but weapons and shields were still active, weaker, but they were active. Nagi scanned the skies around her and saw the Akuneko bearing down for a strafing run, and brought her own weaponry to bear. The Akuneko broke off and rocketed past the crippled cabbit one more time.

"I don't have time to continue this," the man appeared on her hologram again. "I'll bring Ryoko your regards." He smiled again, before blinking his communiqué off.

"Damn you!!! I'll get you, you damn fraud!"

Masaki residence, late afternoon:

"Miss Kiyone," Ayeka said surprised. Then her eyes narrowed and she added, in an irritated voice. "And Miss Mihoshi, what are you two doing here?"

"Oh we just thought we'd drop on in after work," Mihoshi said cheerfully. "Kiyone said it's been a while since we've visited you know, and we'd like to repay Sasami's and Ryoko's visit yesterday, and well, I don't know. Kiyone said we should drop by." Kiyone had her hand to her face and was shaking her head in despair.

"Oh Mihoshi and Kiyone!" Sasami called from the living room. "Have you come for dinner? That's wonderful!"

"Hi Sasami!" Mihoshi waved cheerfully. Tenchi walked out from the back saw the two detectives as Ayeka stepped aside to let them in.

"Guess what Mihoshi," Sasami chimed smugly. "I got another beanie baby yesterday."

"Oh, hi guys," Tenchi waved. "Haven't seen you around for a week or so."

"What really, oh let me see! Let me see!" Mihoshi yelled and followed a gloating Sasami back to see her latest collection.

"Since you are here," Ayeka began. For once didn't cringe as she listened for the inevitable request to investigate Ryoko's actions. "Ryoko has been acting very strangely recently, I think she's up to something dirty and underhanded. Why this morning she snuck out of the house before the sunrise carrying a little bag!" Tenchi and Kiyone stared at the ranting princess, embarrassed for her.

"Come on you guys," Kiyone griped, glancing Ayeka's way with a lecturing stare. "I'm not a private eye, you can't just send me out to investigate people because you think they might be skipping chores."

"Ryoko was acting kind of strange yesterday," Tenchi put in. "It might really be something this time."

"Hey, where's Ryoko," Mihoshi called from the back to Kiyone's horror. "Because Kiyon-"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" snapped Kiyone, hand over Mihoshi's mouth. Then she turned back to the suddenly curious Tenchi and Ayeka, and laughed, before continuing in a resigned voice. "Well okay, just this once, but I'm not making this an everyday thing though." The effect had already been ruined by Mihoshi's outburst.

"We don't know where she is," Sasami said, sounding a little worried. "And she seemed so sad yesterday."

"Grrr…we don't know where she is on any day!" Ayeka snapped. "Today is no different. She's gone all day and then when she's here she sleeps, or else just sits around watches TV or eat. It's all she's done since we came here." Ryoko popped into existence at that point and stretched out her body.

"Oh, hi guys," Ryoko waved wearily to Kiyone and Mihoshi. "Sorry about running out on you yesterday I wanted to…*" She sat down on the couch and promptly pulled a Mihoshi by falling dead asleep.

"Check her breath," Ayeka suggested.

"Ayeka," Tenchi lectured her.

"She's not drunk," Kiyone said. "It seems she's just exhausted."

"Exhausted?" Ayeka said in disbelief. "What has she done to be exhausted? Well wake her up and ask her what she's been doing!"

"This isn't all that important," Tenchi suggested. "You could let her sleep."

"Oh, let me through," Ayeka shouldered her way to the snoring Ryoko, and then started shaking the space pirate. "Wake up, you beastly woman!! We want to talk to you."

"I finished the room!" Ryoko yelled, as Ayeka's efforts proved effective. Everybody backed off a foot from the virtually leaping Ryoko. "Huh? What? Where am I?" She sat back down and almost immediately started snoring again.

"I told you she's drunk," Ayeka said triumphantly. She had some how recovered her properly demure voice. Ryoko snapped awake again.

"I am not drunk," Ryoko insisted. She stood up and walked into the kitchen and came back with a Megavolt cola. Or at least that was what it was called officially. Most people called it caffeine in a can. "So what did you want princess?"

"We want to know why you keep disappearing during the day," Ayeka snapped. "Why can't you do your chores like all the rest of the us?"

"You won't find me wasting my time with all that," Ryoko sniped. "I have better things to do."

"Like what, gambling? Stealing? Blowing things up?" Ayeka yelled. "That is all your good for, isn't it!"

"Oh like you'd know an honest days work if it bit you on the ass?" Both women growled and the characteristic sparks began flying between them.

"Hey, Ryoko," it was Mihoshi's voice. Kiyone moved toward the blonde with a speed born of a terror that no one but her could truly understand. "Why'd you leave so suddenly yesterday?" Ryoko was instantly distracted from the building fight. Everybody stared in shock, that had rarely happened before. Well, not Ayeka, if anything she was more annoyed now than ever.

"Oh that?" Ryoko waved aside the question. "I just remembered something we left at the last stop. By the way, what's your boss like?"

"Ryoko, in case you haven't noticed you still haven't answered my question."

"Excuse me, Ayeka," Tenchi interrupted. "But I don't want to have to ask Washu to rebuild anything just yet." He escorted a fuming Ayeka out of the room, until she noticed that she was going to be alone with Tenchi. That was when she returned to her ultra sweet voice and attitude, much to Tenchi's discomfort. Ryoko didn't react at all, which was odd.

"Hirata-San?" Mihoshi said in response to Ryoko. "He's okay I guess, but he's always yelling for some reason." Sasami yawned and wandered off, this was getting fairly boring, and she had dinner to cook anyway.

"No, no," Ryoko stopped Mihoshi before she could continue. "The other guy, with the red hair."

"Oh, he's very nice," Mihoshi said. "He didn't yell at all, even when I spilled his soup all over the floor." Kiyone noted Ryoko smiling smugly.

"What's your interest, Ryoko," Kiyone asked. Ryoko and Kiyone locked eyes, and prepared for the coming interrogation.

"Nothing much," Ryoko insisted. "He just looked familiar, that's all."

"How could he look familiar," Kiyone asked. "He hasn't been in Tokyo for years."

"And how do you know that?"

"I have my secrets."

"Really, is that so?"

"Why did you come to Earth in the first place?"

"Your partner chased me into the solar system and I crash landed." Ryoko gave the obvious answer and her eyes narrowed more. "Just how much does she guess or even know." Ryoko thought to herself.

"I mean the first time."

"The first time?" Ryoko repeated. Kiyone smiled, she had Ryoko on the run now, victory was assured, and even Mihoshi had quieted down as the word duel continued. Then their GP beepers went off.

"Oh no," Mihoshi shouted. "It's a major alert!"

"Well I guess we'll have to continue this later," Ryoko smiled. Kiyone glared at her, Ryoko would be avoiding her now.

"Come on Mihoshi! We have a flat to fix!"

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