"No Need for Assassians"

Tenchi Masaki, a young fifteen year-old boy with dark hair and brown eyes,
was walking towards his school, Cloverway High School, when a female peer
rushed up to him.
"Tenchi! Wait, Tenchi!" said the female. She had cyan hair with yellow
cat-like eyes.
"Ryoko?" Tenchi turned to see his neighbor whom had moved in just a
week ago.
"Tenchi!" exclaimed another girl. This one had long purple hair with
reddish-purple eyes.
"Ayeka?" Tenchi pulled another 180 to see his friend since childhood.
Ryoko spotted the other girl and thought, Oh! It's her again! Why does she
always want to hang around Tenchi when I want to be with him?
Ayeka likewise located Ryoko and thought, What she's doing with Tenchi
all the time? I don't like her. There's just something about her that I don't like.
Tenchi looked side to side, sensing the tension between the two ladies. Oh
boy. If I don't do something quick this could turn into the cat fight of the century.
Tenchi remembered the last time the two girls met. Things hadn't exactly turned
out nicely. If Tenchi hadn't stopped the feuding demoiselles, the two would have
received more than Ryoko's scratch across the face and Ayeka's torn shirt. Tenchi
quickly examined his watch and thought of the perfect distraction: Ayeka's
punctuality. "Well, well look at the time. Don't want to be late to school, do we?"
"No, we don't," Ayeka reluctantly agreed and walked to school followed by
Tenchi on her right, and Ryoko on his right.
As long as I keep myself between Ryoko and Ayeka maybe I can keep these
two from each other's throats.
-Later that day...-
Tenchi was wearing a thick, padded suit. He was in his fencing class. This
after-school class was the only class he had that Ryoko wasn't in with him. He put
on his mask, walked into his ring and thought he was going to spar against his
bulky friend, Amagasaki. He was surprised to find a very different figure squaring
off against him.
Mr. Humishiro, Tenchi's fencing instructor, walked over to Tenchi and
whispered in his ear, "Be careful, Tenchi. This guy is real tough."
Tenchi nodded and pulled out his sword. Mr. Humishiro walked to the
center of the ring and exclaimed, "Enguarde!"
Tenchi and his mysterious opponent started their match quickly. Tenchi was
amazed at this guy's speed and agility. He also had power thrusts. Tenchi had
never sparred against this kind of opponent. He loved it. The challenge exhilarated
him. He thrived off it.
-Ten minutes later...-
Tenchi couldn't believe it. The match had gone on for ten solid minutes and
not a single point had been scored. Everyone had been watching the match
intensely and cheering who ever they waited, mostly Tenchi because it seemed
that nobody knew the other guy's name. At one point Tenchi's opponent tripped
backwards and lost his sword. Tenchi allowed him to retrieve his sword and the
match continued. Now he was beginning to regret not taking the point when he
had the chance. He was beginning to get tired and more sloppy. He continually
found himself on the defensive. Then he felt it. His opponent's sword had hit them
in the stomach. It was a point.
"Touche," said the opponent.
Tenchi couldn't believe it. That voice. It couldn't be her. Could it? The
opponent pulled of his helmet and revealed that he was a she. "Ryoko!?!"
She smiled slyly. "Who were you expecting? Who else could spar against
you that long?"
Tenchi was speechless. I didn't know she was a swordswoman. Figures.
She extended her hand and Tenchi grabbed it. She pulled him up, but she either
underestimated her own strength, or overestimated Tenchi's weight as when she
did, she pulled to hard and the two were positioned rather close.
Ryoko blushed and stepped back. "S-S-Sorry," she stammered.
Suddenly, Tenchi looked at the clock at gasped. How could I? Not again!
She's going to kill me! Tenchi quickly turned and ran into the locker room to
change into his school uniform.
Where's he going? thought Ryoko. She also went into the girls' locker
room and changed into her school uniform. She came out of the hallway exit to see
Tenchi dashing past her, nearly bowling her over. "Tenchi! Slow down!" she
called.
"Sorry, Ryoko! I have to hurry!" Tenchi replied. He turned around a corner
and disappeared from Ryoko's sight.
Ryoko looked side to side to make sure no one was in the hall with her, and
after determining that there would be no witnesses, flew stealthily down the hall to
follow Tenchi.
Tenchi continued to run through the halls, navigating the school until he
came to a long corridor lined with lockers. "Ayeka!" he called to a figure standing
near a locker.
Ayeka looked up and saw him. She was not happy. "Tenchi!" she yelled
angrily.
Tenchi continued to run, not noticing the "Slippery When Wet" sign. As he
stopped in front of Ayeka, he slipped and crashed into a janitor's cart.
Ayeka walked to the crash site and removed a bucket that had fallen on
Tenchi's head. She kneeled down and shook her head, "What am I going to do
with you, Tenchi?"
"For starters you could give me a hand here," Tenchi replied.
Ayeka extended her hand and hoisted Tenchi up. "So what's your excuse
this time?" asked Ayeka.
"Well you see, Ry..." Tenchi started. No. I can't tell her about the match
between Ryoko and me. There's already too much tension between those two.
Better to keep her out of this one. "Um... I got stuck with uh... the guys," Tenchi
corrected.
"You got stuck? How did you get stuck?" queried Ayeka.
"Umm..." Think, Tenchi! Think! "You see... they... uh... called me out on
my basketball skills, and well you know I can't let them spread stuff like that so I
got stuck playing a basketball game."
"So let me get this straight. 'The guys' said that you weren't good at
basketball, so you played a game against them in order to show them that you were
good," said Ayeka with a somewhat skeptical look on her face."
"Um... yes."
"Boys," Ayeka replied after a pause.
Whew! She bought it. "So where is our camping trip going to be this
year?" said Tenchi wanting to change the subject.
"Well I was thinking about next to the old, abandoned train tracks," said
Ayeka.
"Yeah sure that works. But wait aren't those the tracks that are haunted?"
asked Tenchi, saying the last sentence in a spooky voice.
"You don't honestly believe that, do you?"
"I don't know. You know there are those spooky stories, and then there's
that THING BEHIND YOU!" exclaimed Tenchi loudly.
Ayeka turned quickly and grimaced at the sound of Tenchi's laughter.
"Tenchi Masaki, you are just absolutely terrible!" she declared. She then turned
and socked Tenchi in the stomach.
"Aw, come on, Ayeka. It was just a joke."
"A joke, huh? And I guess that was part of your joke," said Ayeka as she
pointed behind him.
"Hardy har har. I'm not falling for my own jokes. I'll prove it to you."
Tenchi walked and slowly turned his head. He collided face first into Ryoko. He
turned toward Ayeka and saw the annoyed look on her face. Then he turned to
Ryoko and saw the angered expression on her face. Oh, great. Round two.
"Miss Ryoko, we meet again," said Ayeka coolly.
"Yes, it appears we have, Miss Ayeka," replied Ryoko.
"So, what were you doing here after school hours, Miss Ryoko?"
"I had a class. And you, Miss Ayeka?"
"I stayed after to meet with Tenchi after his fencing class."
"And why did you want to meet with him for?"
"Tenchi and I had some matters to discuss."
"Oh, really? And what did you talk to him about?"
"That's absolutely none of your business!"
Ryoko opened her mouth as if to counter, but suddenly closed it and stared
off into space for a second. She then shrugged and said, "Whatever." As she
walked away, she left Ayeka with a dumbfounded look on her face. Tenchi's face,
however, reflected relief. Ayeka and Tenchi then began to walk home together and
discussed their camping trip.
-Later...-
Ryoko walked into her house and set her bag on the sofa. She walked up the
stairs and listened at her mom's room's door. She heard noises and knew that her
mother must be working. She opened the door into her own room and began to
change out of her clothes. Suddenly, an image of a tall man with long, green hair
appeared. Ryoko gasped and quickly slipped her shirt back on. Fortunately, she
had still had her bra on when the man appeared. "Kagato! I told you to give me a
warning before you came into my room like that!"
Kagato's face flashed with anger. "Watch your tongue, girl! I'm the one
who should be mad at you! Why haven't you completed your mission yet? One
would think it wouldn't take a week to kill that boy."
Ryoko desperately searched for something to say. She couldn't find
anything. She herself didn't know why she delayed it. It would boil down to it all
anyway. "I've run into some unexpected difficulties," she half-lied.
Kagato allowed a faint trace of a smile to cross his lips. He knew what was
happening. He would enjoy watching Ryoko squirm. "What kind of difficulties?"
She still hadn't thought of that. "Um... I haven't had enough time to seduce
him yet. He spends a lot of time with another girl and I haven't been able to get
him alone yet. I need to get closer to him in order for him to drop his guard."
Good excuse. Too bad it's just that, Kagato thought. "How long will it
take you to accomplish your mission?"
"I don't know," Ryoko replied.
"Very well, but I grow impatient. If you don't accomplish the mission soon,
I'll have to do it for you. And I will not be merciful on that boy nor will I be on
you if you fail!" he exclaimed. "Report in three days Ryoko. That's all you have."
As Kagato began to fade away, Ryoko shouted, "Kagato, wait! I need to
know something."
"What is it?!?" he said, less than understandingly.
"Why do you desire this boy to be killed? After all he's only fifteen. He's
nothing compared to you."
Kagato had expected this to come up. "Because that boy is 'The One'. He is
the only person in the entire Universe who is capable of controlling the 'Holy
Sword.'"
Ryoko gasped. The "Holy Sword" was an object of infinite power and was
the only thing Kagato feared. It was indestructible and only one could control it.
Ryoko couldn't believe that someone as kind and gentle as Tenchi could contain
the power. If this was all true then Tenchi could destroy Kagato, if he ever found
the 'Holy Sword'. Then Ryoko and Washu would be free.
"And don't be getting any ideas, Ryoko. It wouldn't be a good idea to tell
the boy any of this. I took special precautions. Mainly, if I were to be killed a
device embedded in your body would detonate and destroy you. A similar device
is implanted in Washu. So if you won't kill the boy for my sake, then you should
kill him for yours. I hope this will motivate you to quicken your efforts." Kagato
ended the transmission and left Ryoko to think alone.
-An hour later...-
The doorbell to the Hakubi family house rang and Ryoko decided that she
better get the door since Washu was still in her lab. She walked downstairs and
opened the door.
"Hi, Ryoko!" It was Tenchi.
"Hi, Tenchi," Ryoko muttered.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, there's nothing wrong. What did you come for?"
"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Oh, come in," Ryoko said quietly. She opened the door and let him in. She
stared at the floor not bearing to look Tenchi in the eyes.
Boy, Ryoko sure has been acting strange lately, thought Tenchi. Maybe
this will cheer her up. "Ryoko, how would you like to go on a camping trip with
me?"
Ryoko suddenly looked up and cursed herself for doing so. She saw his big,
brown eyes and was lost in them. She remembered the courageous Tenchi and how
he had almost killed himself by saving her from a runaway machine. She
remembered the honest Tenchi and how the first thing he said to her after the
accident was that he didn't know how they had ended up in the same bed. She
remembered the honorable Tenchi, who allowed her to recover her sword in the
fencing match. She remembered "The One", the boy Ryoko had to kill. Then she
remembered that Tenchi was "The One" and suddenly life became a lot more
complicated.
"A camping trip?" Ryoko replied. She smiled and said, "Yes, that would be
nice. When is it?"
Tenchi took the following ten minutes or so and explained the details of the
trip. It was in three days and they were camping near a set of railroad tracks that
had long since been in disrepair. He explained that they would make a fire and tell
ghost stories and roast food. It all sounded like paradise to Ryoko and she agreed.
Tenchi stood and headed for the door. As he exited he turned to face Ryoko and
added, "By the way, did I mention Ayeka was coming with us?" Before Ryoko
could respond, Tenchi quickly added, "OK, cool. See you there!" and shut the
door.
What have I gotten myself into? Ryoko thought.
The day continued without a hitch until after bedtime. Ryoko was fast
asleep, and having a dream. She was standing in a large room. The room contained
a lush jungle. Ryoko recognized it as a room aboard the _Souja_, Kagato's ship.
To her left stood Kagato, holding a black beam sword. To her right was an injured
Tenchi, holding some sort of a beam sword with a wooden hilt. The blade was
blue in color. The two men rushed at each other and the two fought for a while.
Suddenly Kagato attacked wildly and missed leaving Tenchi open for a strike
through the chest, which Tenchi took. The sword penetrated Kagato's black heart
and he fell down dead. Ryoko began to cheer but quickly stopped as her chest
throbbed with pain. Her heart beat rapidly as the explosive in her body charged.
Right before it exploded, Ryoko woke up covered in a layer of sweat.
Ryoko reviewed the dream and decided what must be done. As much as she
hated it, Tenchi would have to die. And better at my hands, than by the merciless
ones of Kagato. She reached into her night stand and removed a sparkling red
gem. She closed her right hand around it into a tight fist. The gem disappeared and
reappeared embedded into her wrist. She would only need one of her gems to kill
Tenchi in his sleep. She felt more power run through her. She teleported herself
outside in front of Tenchi's house. She walked through the wall and eventually
found Tenchi's room. She approached his sleeping body and shed a silent tear.
I'm sorry, Tenchi. I'm so sorry. She raised her right hand into the air and
formed an energy dagger. She screamed in agony as she brought the blade down
on Tenchi's helpless body.