A/N: Hey-lo y'all. Well, since I have nothing better to do this morning, I'll get started on this! ^^ Whee! News! Yeah, anyway. Sorry, still on this hyperness. Yeah. Anyway, what do I see here. I see covering of other people that we haven't gone in depth with yet, Inez's experiment, and strange happenings. I'm psychic, you see. ^^ Anyway, let's get to it, shall we?

~*~

Inez turned to the two children. "Are you ready, Ruri? Omoikane?" Ruri nodded slowly; Omoikane mirrored it. The doctor nodded as well, turned her back to them. Akatsuki cleared his throat, getting Inez's attention. "Yes?"

"I was just wondering, why are you using Omoikane? Wouldn't this work much better with Kanchou, Tenkawa, or that Jovian girl?"

Inez smirked, her own mysteriousness amusing her. "It should work. That's why." Akatsuki rolled his brown eyes. "You're loving the fact that nobody knows what the hell is going on, don't you?" Inez smiled. "All right Omoikane, I want you to visualize Ruri's seat on the bridge. Ruri, place the picture in his head."

Ruri clapped her hands on the nanomachine console immediately and, the trademark electric blue lights traced the linings of her eyes. The electric blue lights jumped from Ruri's eyes to Omoikane's, giving the robot boy a distant look. Ariko, to the side, and deeply involved with the experiment, ran all the scanners on the hangar area. "Jump field stabilizing."

Inez nodded, watching the experiment unfold. "Remember to only abort the process on my word, Ariko. Hopefully it won't come to that."

Ruri looked just as lost in the moment as Omoikane, not blinking for at least two full minutes. Thirty seconds later, white lines formed on Omoikane's body and Ruri's, surprisingly. Inez's eyes flashed. 'Ruri's not supposed to light up… she's not the one Jumping.' Ariko bit his lip. "Jump field faltering, Miss Fressange!"

Inez crossed her arms. "Abort!" Ariko pushed the canceling button. Recognition formed in Omoikane's eyes once again, gaining control of himself. Ruri slumped over the console, breathing heavily. Inez stood, tapping her foot on the floor. 'So, not even machines can Jump if those that control them are not of Martian or Jupiterian decent. Which explains how the Jovians were able to send robots and unmanned ships to us. They were being manned. Only from a distance.'

Akatsuki bit his lip, thinking about what had gone on before him. 'Inez could be of my family. She has all the traits. Ambitious, not letting anything get in her way. She is a child of Nergal, after all. I know I should be upset about her using children as test subjects, but what are the Nadesico children, if not young adults?'

~*~

"That fucking BITCH!"

The loud outburst made Gai glance over to the metallic door calmly, sipping his coffee. "Well, good morning to you, Itsuki." The purple-haired girl stomped over to the table and dropped her violin case on it with a clatter, and threw her body on the bench, scowling and balling her fists under her chin.

Gai sighed as her put his cup down on the table and pulled the violin case off, setting it on the bench next to him. "Well? What is it this time?"

"That… GIRL says she doesn't want me to even attempt to enhance her little song because 'it's fine the way it is'! Jesus! Does she really think artists do everything themselves?" Itsuki pounded a fist on the table, making the coffee in Gai's cup slosh over the top.

"Hey hey hey! Dammit!" Gai ran off to get some napkins to clean up the mess. When he came back, Itsuki had her violin case open and was digging out sheets of music, laying them on the table, away from the spill. Gai put the napkins down on the puddle and glanced at the papers. "And this is…?"

Itsuki pointed to the less marked paper. "This is Regret, the way we heard it first at the pageant." She lovingly petted a much more complex looking piece. "This is Regret with my professional modifications." She held out both papers for Gai to evaluate.

Gai's blinked twice. "Itsuki, don't be a retard. You know that trying to read this crap is like me trying to read English. It just isn't gonna happen." He pushed Itsuki's hands away, and she scowled at him before taking her violin out of the case and put the papers underneath it before replacing it.

"As a generality, violin and piano are usually used together, giving both a bold and detailed sense to a song. I was just trying to make it more complex! And, Jesus! If I can't share my passion for music with my girlfriend, who the fuck am I GOING to share it with?"

Gai's eyebrows knit. "So you're only doing this to have something to talk about together, and to have something to do together?" Itsuki sneered. "Duh." Gai tapped his temple. "So why the fuck are you mad at her again?"

~*~

Someone knocking on her door awoke Yurika. It was about a half-hour before she really had to get up, but she crawled out of bed to answer the door anyway. She pulled her silk aqua green nightgown down, just to make sure she didn't flash whoever was at the door and pushed the open button, yawning.

Ryoko stood there, dressed in her red and black uniform already, biting her lip and wringing her hands. "Um, Kanchou… I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

Yurika nodded slowly as she finished off the yawn, then shook her head. "Yeah, but hey. Who cares? If you're already awake, then maybe I should too." She scratched her head, her nails getting somewhat caught in the overnight tangles in her blue-violet hair. "Did you want something, Ryoko?"

A coppery taste filled Ryoko's mouth, as she realized she was biting her lip just a bit too hard, and broke open one of her scabs. 'Damn.' "Well… could I talk to you Kanchou? I kind of… need to talk to someone who doesn't know what the fuck is going on." Yurika turned back into her room and sat down on her bed, smoothing out her nightgown and rubbing her eyes. She patted the bed afterwards, gesturing for Ryoko to sit next to her. She appeared much more awake than a moment ago. Ryoko stepped slowly into the room, a bit worried that she might give the wrong impression to the captain of their ship. She sat down just as slowly, but Yurika seemed very patient at the time. It was only when Ryoko had relaxed slightly that Yurika tilted her head at the younger girl in question. "What's the matter, Ryoko?"

Ryoko sighed, and then collapsed backwards onto Yurika's disheveled sheets, stretching her arms behind her. "Why does Itsuki have to be so fucking bossy? I mean, shit, just because she took music lessons from professionals, teachers, and just because she was in Strategic Sim when she was in Pilot's School doesn't mean she can insult me! I'm the best damn pilot this rusted bucket of a ship has, and she's taking all the fucking spotlight. I didn't care much when it was Akito, you know, but Jesus H. Christ, when my girlfriend decides to take MY song, the song I wrote when I was a child, part of MY history, and tries to change it, that's crossing the goddamn line." Ryoko stomped a foot, sending a slight tremor in Yurika's cabin floor. Yurika lay down, resting her hands on her stomach. "I know that song means a lot to you, but that isn't all of it, is it?"

Ryoko shook her head. "I know I shouldn't get jealous, but sometimes… the way she looks at everyone else… She's already established that wouldn't say no to a roll in the hay with Izumi, Hikaru, the Howmei girls, hell, she even thinks you're hot!" Yurika smiled, amused. "I find that funny at least." A shadow in Ryoko's tone made her realize that Yurika had stuff to get off her chest as well. Ryoko rolled onto her side and propped her head up on one hand. "What's wrong with you?"

Yurika took a shaky breath, pushing away any tears she still had. "It's… strange. But ever since we found that planet, and started heading for it, I keep getting these bad feelings. I don't get them often, but mostly when I'm with Akito." She bit her lip, wondering why she was baring her soul to Ryoko, a one-time rival. "I don't know what it is… but… I feel, kind of… wrong when I'm with him."

"Wrong? Are you two fighting? Because if you are, the only thing I have to say is damn. Everyone's love life is in the shitter." Yurika quickly shook her head. "No, we aren't fighting, but I know Akito is upset for me keeping this from him. You know as well as I do that he hates being the last to know anything." Ryoko nodded, slipped her hand out from under her head and leaning it against her arm. "I don't know how to describe the feeling. It's almost like guilt, but I know I haven't done anything wrong at all. But, somehow, I know that I'm doing something wrong. I feel dirty, perverted, almost like a child-molester. Why do you think that is, Ryoko?" Aqua green eyes caught stormy blue, and Ryoko took a moment to think.

"Maybe it's your inner self trying to tell you something." Yurika sighed. "Like what? That it's wrong for someone to love him the way I do?" Ryoko shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. This sounds like one of these things you gotta figure out yourself, because no one's going to know the right answer but you."

Yurika smiled, then looked at the ceiling again. "Ryoko? What made you come to me for answers?" Ryoko shrugged. "I figured you wouldn't be so opinionated as everyone else would. Nor are you so obsessed with yourself that you won't listen to anyone else."

Yurika giggled. "I can think of some people who would disagree." Ryoko shook her head. "No. Kanchou, I found out that you weren't only concerned for yourself when we were in limbo. Remember?" Yurika nodded, her smile still lingering.

Ryoko's black eyebrows furrowed, and she frowned up at the ceiling. "But, I have to ask, Kanchou. Don't you think it was selfish of you hurt Jun like that?"

Yurika looked away from the ceiling. "Yes… I know that it was probably, well, not very nice. But he'll always be my best friend, even if it is plainly obvious that he loves me." Ryoko nodded. "Hikaru and Izumi have the same thing going on, but at least they both have other people. But sometimes it's horrible, seeing him at breakfast looking like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep."

Yurika sighed, sat up, and wrapped her arms around herself. "I know it's cruel, and not fair to Jun. He's gone through so much of my shit, I know. But I believe that when it comes to relationships, you should always be selfish. Think about yourself, you know." She turned to Ryoko, who still lay on the bed. "Is that wrong?"

Ryoko shook her head and sat up too. "It's not wrong, just different. Then again… some people probably are born to be alone. Izumi thought so for a while. Perhaps it's true for Jun as well."

Yurika nodded slowly. Ryoko got up and bowed to the captain. "Thanks for listening to my problems." Yurika smiled brightly. "No need. You listened to mine, after all."

~*~

Jun was sitting on his bed in his cabin, when there came a knock on his door. He didn't even look up as he called, "Come in."

Gai stepped into the dark room, and wasn't surprised to find Jun attached to his bed and his nose and face making love to yet another tissue. "Shit, Jun. You cry anymore and you're going to die of dehydration." Jun sniffed, apparently not amused by the sad attempt to make him laugh. Gai groaned. "Goddamn. You need to stop doing this in private. What kind of pitiful statement would you make to her if you don't make a scene at dinner or something?" He sat down next to the older, shorter man and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Jun pulled his knees to his chest and allowed himself to be held, feeling comforted by one of his best friends, on of his only friends.

"Why does it hurt so much?" The question caught Gai by surprise. 'Didn't I ask the same thing…' "Why does it hurt so much, though I knew it was coming? It was as if I saw the bullet coming towards me, but I couldn't, didn't want to dodge it." Jun met Gai's brown eyes with his dark blue. "Did I do this to myself?"

Gai shook his head. "No, Junny. It had nothing to do with you. Yurika's stupid for not realizing how lucky she is to be loved by you, no matter how many stupid mistakes she makes. You're a beautiful person inside, don't let her kill that because of that stupid Martian."

Silence engulfed them both, and it took Gai a while to realize that each was falling into their own thoughts. 'That stupid Martian… he's ruined so many lives, dashed so many hopes… does he even care what he does to people? Does he know that, even though I'm always going on about how much of a prick and an asshole he is, I still love him? That it strangles my heart to see him with someone like Yurika? I know I should be happy for him, but how can I when he's made me hurt so much, made all of us hurt so much?'

"Fucker…" whispered the youngest pilot, then pulled his arm away from Jun, who had been much too quiet for the past few minutes. As soon as Gai moved, Jun fell unceremoniously onto his bed, breathing evenly, but not raggedly. Gai smiled and shook his head. 'Cried himself to sleep. Again.'

~*~

TBC…

~*~

A/N: Is anyone else getting sick of drama? Shit, I know I am. But the first part of this is nothing but, because the rest will be very… not-so-drama-y. Anyway. Even though there was extreme drama, how was it? Rather, how sickening was it? Well, you all know the drill, review me please. I'll deliver the next chapter as soon as I can, or feel up to it. Frankly, I think I'm spitting these out rather well. I'm a fanfic factory! ^^