Tenchi Muyo! or any of it's characters are not mine and I am not claiming them to be. They belong to AIC/Pioneer. Bla bla bla... just don't sue me... I have to money to take -_-;;


Koi Mizu


Chapter 2: Dark


The room had an awful stench to it that rank like the customers that sat at the tables. It was a dry and sticky atmosphere that seemed to intensify rancid images of the filthy and vile countertops. It was practically pitch black except for an eerie yellow florescent light that flickered through its dying moments. It was a bar for those who didn't want to be found. It was a bar for those who were looking for trouble. It was a bar that served every alcohol drink illegal anywhere else in the galaxy. It was a bar perfect for her.

A tall slender woman stood at the frame of the bar to survey the scene. Her long flowing cloak covered her piercing red eyes that glanced over the play of drunken bums, arm wrestling punks, and loose women. A setting that would most likely scare away any other human being seemed all the more inviting to her.

As the bounty hunter made her way across the floor, the room seemed to darken a small amount due to the presence of her alone. She sat down at the bar and signaled the keeper.

"What will you have lady?" The old bar tender said.

"Anything with a lot of alcohol." Replied the woman.

The old man paused for a second to chuckle at her. "Look lady, I can serve drinks here that will kill you in ten seconds flat. Now, what will it be?"

The woman scowled as if her intelligence had just been insulted. She glared up at him from under the cloak. Upon seeing her evil gaze the keeper almost dropped the glass in his hand. "You heard what I said."

"Yes ma'am." The old man quickly began working on his most potent drink. He poured the most unattractive of liquids into a glass and set it in front of the woman. The end result was a blend of browns and blacks; and thick green globs bounced their way around in the goo.

The woman reached forward, picked up the glass, and took a sip. "Not bad." She set the glass back down and removed the hood over her head in an attempt to get a better view of all her sides. Nobody could be too careful in a place like this.

It was then, after she removed the hood, that she saw the faint yellow glow in full spectra.

"Ugh, what a horrible color." She thought aloud. She didn't always think that though. She couldn't help but remember a time when yellow was a much more pleasant color. These were the days when Nagi, the Bounty Hunter, was a young girl.



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A small girl with silver short hair ran happily along the carnival street, much faster than her parents, who were struggling to keep up.

"C'mon c'mon, FASTER FASTER! It's over here!!" The young girl shouted wildly.

"Nagi dear, slow down!" A tall woman with blue tinted hair called after her. She was jogging briskly hand in hand with an equally tall man, whose kind ruby eyes matched those of his daughter.

The small girl buzzed around the corner quickly out of view of her parents.

"Oh my... Kazle, will you catch her?"

"I'll get her." Kazle picked up the pace in his jog slightly to round the corner. He didn't trek far out of site before finding his daughter standing in awe at the amazing image of the game booth.

"There you are. What has gotten you so excited?" Her father asked. The small girl pointed madly with both hands at large yellow stuffed animals with long ears and nose. The yellow creatures were situated behind the booth. "I get it, you want one of those things right?" Nagi beamed as she nodded towards her father.

Just then, Nagi's mother turned the corner. "So is everything all right?" She said with a basic motherly tone.

"Nothing's wrong Margel, Nagi here just got a little over excited."

"Oh Mommy can I get the fuzzy thing? PLEASE!?" She started jumping up and down in place.

"Well it seems alright to me." She patted her daughter on the head and glanced over to Kazle.

"I don't have a problem with it. I just hope you win the game." He smiled down on Nagi.

"Game? I thought we just had to buy one..." Disappointment rang in her voice.

"No I'm sorry. You have to win a game to get those toys." Kazle said.

A sudden flash of determination shot through miniature Nagi. "I know what I can do. I'll just win the game. I know I can do it!"

"Well I don't know, those games can be pretty tricky sometimes and-"

"I CAN IT!" She shouted with determination. "I CAN I CAN I CAN I CAN!!"

"Alright, alright. We believe you." Nagi's father handed her a small token, which was being used at that carnival for all the games and rides. "Here you go. Good luck!"

"Thank you, and I won't need any luck!" Nagi said running off towards the booth.

After she was out of earshot, Margel made her comment. "Well, she certainly is stubborn, that's for sure."

"Yes, but that also comes with determination, which isn't really a bad thing." Kazle replied.

There was a short silence before Margel started up the conversation anew. "So, what are we going to do about those real estate vultures? You know they aren't going to stop bugging us until we sell."

"We could always try offering them a deal..."

"You know that's not going to work. They said specifically that they wanted the whole 10,000 acres. Nothing more and nothing less."

Kazle sighed at the facts that he already knew. "It's all so stupid. All they want is our land for a big deal they have with a chemical productions company. Well, I guess were just going to have to ride this out. They don't have any legal grounds as to kick us out of our home."

"What if they use 'other' forms of persuasion?"

"I don't want to even think about that. The chairman of the company is STILL my friend from business academy prep school..."

"You're right, I shouldn't have mentioned it." A silence crept up on them, holding them down for a moment.

"How do you suppose Nagi is faring?" Margel asked.

Kazle chucked a bit. "I can just see it now, Nagi will come back with nothing, crying her eyes out."

Margel started laughing. "Oh, don't tease her!"

"Hey, you laughed too!" The married couple only laughed harder.

Suddenly the small girl Nagi appeared in the crowd carrying a large yellow stuffed creature, that was almost as big as she was.

"I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT!" Nagi came bouncing across the opening carrying her prize with great care.

Both parents stopped laughing immediately and glanced at each other suspiciously. Kazle then broke the silence. "Will good for you Nagi. I glad that you won."

"We're both glad that you won." Margel cut in.

Nagi beamed happily as pride swelled within her for her amazing accomplishment.

"Nagi, is there anywhere else you would like to go before we call it a night?" Nagi's mother asked.

Nagi stuck her tongue out as if to concentrate hard. She pondered the many places to go and see. "Well, we haven't seen the Ferris Wheel yet."

"That sounds like a good idea. Let's get moving." Nagi's father said, taking his daughter and wife's in hand.

They started their trek to the large spinning wheel at the end of the carnival. But it wasn't long before Nagi's earlier excitement was beginning to take its toll on her. They were only halfway to their destination before Nagi stopped and pulled on her father's hand.

"What is it Nagi?" Kazle asked.

"Daddy, carry me, I feel tired."

Kazle happily obligated as he hefted the small girl up over his shoulders like a baby. Margel took Nagi's prize plush toy in the same manner. As they continued at their steady pace, Nagi's eyelids became very heavy. By the time they finally reached the Ferris Wheel, she was fast asleep.

The married couple took advantage of Nagi's fatigue to make a quick getaway and escape for an early bedtime. They departed the carnival to head back home.


* * * * * * * * *


Their home was well put away from the rest of the world. After the short tram ride, they had to take a bus out to the countryside. Even then, the only bus stop that came close to their home was a half-mile walk.

The small family made their way towards the home in the woods. Nagi was now wide away, and very upset for having left early. "I don't understand why you couldn't have just waken me up!"

"Nagi, don't complain. You know you would have just fallen asleep on the ride." Her father stated.

"WOULD NOT!" Nagi shouted back.

"WOULD SO!" Kazle teased her some more.

Margel shot a glare at her husband. "Why don't you try acting your age?"

"Aww fine..." He pouted.

The group finally arrived at the front door of the house. Kazle reached for the door handle but found it surprisingly open. Upon further examination, he found the locking mechanism completely broken off. He looked worryingly as his wife.

"Stay here with Nagi while I check it out."

"Be careful, please." She said to him as he disappeared into the darkness.

Nagi tried to follow but her mother stopped her quickly.

"Mommy, let go. Why can't I go in?"

"Just wait here, daddy has to check to see what's inside." Margel said while patting her on the head.

Nagi didn't understand any of it, but she went along with it. She then realized something. "Hey mommy, do you have still have my stuffed animal?"

"Yes, I have it right here. Try to be quiet now." She handed Nagi the yellow creature. Just as the toy was within her grasp, Nagi heard two short and loud sounds. One's that she has never heard before. They were so loud that they made her jump. Margel recognized the sound though. It was the sound of gas being released from a projectile weapon.

At that moment Margel picked up her daughter and started to run down the hill to the brush south of the house...




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Clenching her glass of alcohol tightly Nagi forced the memories away. They were so painful to have and so difficult to keep away all at the same time. Once the thought was cleared from her mind she relaxed and took another gulp of her drink.

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a rusty old gun from long ago. She held it tightly and protectively while she bowed her head in respect. *Don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm working so nothing else like that can ever happen again*. Having reminded herself why she was in such a dirty business she felt satisfied that she could actually make a difference. She put the gun away back in her cloak with a relieved smile. Feeling that she has wasted enough time, Nagi stood up and reached into her utility belt for a slip of paper.

Upon finding it, she signaled the bartender once again and he walked over. "Hey, have you seen this woman?" She held up a picture of a woman with a long untamed main of cyan hair, hair that seemed to match perfectly with her mischievous yellow eyes.

"No, I haven't seen her around." The old man plainly commented.

Nagi threw a couple bills that featured the first crown princess of Jurai onto the counter. "That's for the drink, keep the change." Nagi swiftly departed just as quickly as she entered.

Outside the bar Nagi found herself in a very blackened ally way. She glanced over towards the newspapers piled up in the corner and whistled. Out from underneath the papers came a white cat-like creature with red eyes. "C'mon Ken-ohki, back to the ship."

Nagi made good time back to the upper levels of the city Brilocus. While Brilocus had all sorts of business opportunities, the city itself was completely filthy. Paper trash blew across the streets like flocks of birds and thick layers of grim seemed to cover everything. Nagi hated anything that wasn't clean. She always took sonic showers twice a day and she would be sure to take another one as soon as she got off this planet too. That was another reason why she was in such a hurry.

She weaved her way in between the crowd swiftly and elegantly; her walk was so solid it was as if they were even there. Upon arriving at the spaceport she entered her authorization code at the security gate. It wasn't actually a specific code that was issued out to people who used their port. It was just the ship registration number along with the registration number of the pilot. That way security can make sure the ships leave with the same people who brought them here. From the automated teller machine she received a key card with her docking bay number printed on it. She entered the main service track and headed for the port where her new ship, the "Rhagenhiem" was housed.

Nagi hated the ship. It was bulky and dull of color. But it was the only thing she could afford on such short notice. She would have used Ken-ohki naturally, but despite his amazing power, Ken-ohki was grounded because of reputation.

Ever since the big rebellion on Jurai, Nagi had a lot of big hits when it comes to bounties. She hit some of the highest members of the most notorious mob groups in the galaxy. These groups are known for their ruthlessness, their connections, and their widespread influence. One of these mob groups controls almost all trading and docking industries in the galaxy. Once the gang leader found out that it was Nagi that iced his brother, he made sure that Ken-ohki would never be accepted at ANY port.

Finding herself stranded from practically every civilized quadrant in the universe, Nagi was forced to 'buy' the identity of Petra Rhahiem and her ship.

Nagi boarded the flat and edgy ship. It looked just as dull on the inside as it did on the outside. The ship did have its perks though. Nagi, for once, actually had living quarters. And there was also a brig, so that she can deliver live bounties. Lastly the ship contained a large cargo bay, which helped boast the idea that she was 'actually' a freighter pilot. Taking a seat at the console and running her hands along the outdated keypad, she ordered for take off, and autopilot initiated itself to leave the surface for planet orbit.

As the ship revved its rusty engines and lifted off the ground, Nagi punched up Ryoko's service record on her database. Glaring at the image of her archrival sickened her every time, yet she always opened her file and read it whenever she was feeling board. Nagi never really did figure out why nor did she care.

Nagi closed down the file as soon as the ship reached orbit. She glanced out down to the green planet from which she came.

"Hmp, That reminds me." Nagi stood up and headed for the sonic showers.

Nagi spent a long 15 minutes in the shower even though with its high technological molecular cleaning method only 5 minutes was really needed. She put herself in a robe and sat down in her quarters. The focus in her eyes began to fade as her thought deepened. She was concentrating hard on anyone she may know or 'know someone who would know' where Ryoko is and what she was doing. Ryoko just seemed to drop off the face of the galaxy ever since the incident on Jurai. She hasn't heard the slightest breeze about her.

Finding her location was close to impossible, but this is exactly what she liked about her job so much. The hunt, it was thrilling for her to go chasing someone and they didn't even know she was coming. The surprised look on their face is priceless every time.

"I'll get you Ryoko..." Nagi smiled widely as she planned her next destination.