Ayeka looked around carefully, making sure no one else was in the hallway to see her. She looked extra carefully in the dark shadows, knowing Ryoko could be watching without her whole body being visible. Satisfied she was was alone, she quietly opened the door to Tenchi's room. She gave one last glance up and down the hallway before closing the door behind her, confident her passage had been unnoticed.
Ayeka looked around, trying to decide where to start. She'd been in his room many times, but she was almost always fighting with Ryoko when she was. She rarely got a chance to look around. She wasn't sure where Tenchi might be storing things, and she didn't want to intrude any more than she had to.
A quick glance in the closet convinced her that she wouldn't find her objective there. There wasn't much space anywhere else in the room, except for... Ayeka smiled, knowing she'd likely found what she was looking for. She approached carefully, and after deciding it wasn't locked, pulled open the trunk.
A few items she didn't recognize sat on top, and she carefully lifted them out and set them on the floor. Some shirts which were obviously too small to fit Tenchi any more also went on the floor in a neat pile. Ayeka felt her heart racing when she saw what had to be the item she'd been looking for.
She carefully pulled it out, noting with some surprise how many tears and poor seams the purple yukata had. Why would Tenchi have done something like that to an item he treasured so much instead of getting it mended properly? Whatever his reasons, he'd left a perfect opportunity for Ayeka to show him how much she cared.
Ayeka carefully placed the other items back into the trunk and closed it up again. She picked up the yukata and slowly opened the door. She checked the hallway carefully again, and once more saw no one in sight. She left the room, closing the door behind her. She quickly entered her own room, and placed the yukata underneath a small blanket she had been sewing. She would have to be careful not to let Sasami see her working on it, but if she was careful, she had the perfect plan....
--
Mihoshi swept the last few steps of the small shrine, then stopped and wiped her brow. It wasn't particularly warm today, but she'd been thinking all morning about what she was about to do and she was a little nervous.
She set the broom against the edge of the shrine's porch, and then walked up the few steps to knock politely on the door. She was greeted by a simple "Yes?" from inside, and then the door opened up to reveal Yosho's questioning face.
"Oh, Mihoshi. What can I do for you, young lady?"
Mihoshi twitched embarrassedly before answering, "Well, you see, I was wondering if you could help me. I'm looking for something. That is, Tenchi is missing something, and I thought you might be able to help me find it."
"Yes, go on." Yosho's gaze caused her to shift about even more.
"Well, it's a book of poetry, I guess. One that his mother used to like. He can't find it any more, so I thought I would see if I could. I'm kind of good at that sort of thing, finding things that are lost. Well, I seem to lose a lot of things too, but then I find them again, so I get lots of practice."
"I see. So what were you hoping I could do for you, then?" Yosho raised an eyebrow.
"Actually, I was hoping you knew what the book was. I don't know what it is actually, so I'm not sure what I need to be looking for. Unless you happen to have it of course, that would really save me a lot of work. You don't happen to have it do you?"
"No, I'm quite sure I don't have it. But I do believe I know which book you're looking for. It should be a brown book with a pink flower on the front. I believe it was called 'Love Poems of the Fugiwara Period.' It used to always be on Tenchi's shelf in his room. Why are you asking me this? Couldn't Tenchi have answered you just as easily?"
Mihoshi's face turned bright red, and she started tapping her two index fingers together. "I was hoping to keep this a secret from him actually, so I could give it to him as a small present."
"Mmmm. I'll be sure not to tell him then. Was there anything else?" At a shake of Mihoshi's head, he started back into the office. "Good day to you, Mihoshi."
He closed the door, and turned back to his desk, shaking his head. He murmured quietly to himself, "Well played, Nobuyuki. Will Tenchi see the trap?"
--
Ryoko wandered through the library, picking books off the shelf at random. She didn't know what exactly she might be looking for, so a more organized search wasn't possible. The only thing she did know was that she needed a book that showed her what earth flowers looked like.
She'd been through sections that appeared to be poetry, cooking, and architecture. She'd avoided the sections that were obviously manga. She only had a few sections left before she'd have to give up and ask someone for help, and that just wasn't a good idea in this situation. They might get ideas that they should deserve some of the credit, and Ryoko definitely wasn't going to share that with anyone.
No, more books on architecture. Ryoko threw it back on the shelf in frustration, and moved on to the next section. Why did an architect need so many books on architecture? Didn't he already know how to do all of it?
The next section was packed full to the rafters with books, hopefully they'd be the right type. Ryoko's hopes rose when she saw a picture of a flower on the front of the book. She thumbed through it quickly, and knew she finally had the section she wanted. There were descriptions of a few flowers, and the best ways to grow them. Now she just needed to find the right kind.
She finished looking at the book, without success, and put it on the floor. She pulled a new book, and started reading quickly again. This one was about growing vegetables. Ryoko placed it on the floor as well and moved on.
She'd read at least a dozen books before her spirits soared as she finally found what she was looking for. There on the page in front of her was a picture of what she needed to find. The only real problem was there were a few different colors to choose from.
Ryoko studied the flowers carefully, committing the shapes and colors to memory. Multiple colors wasn't really a problem, she'd just be sure to grab enough of all of them, and everything would be fine.
A smile broke out on Ryoko's face as she phased through the library wall. Tenchi was in for a real surprise. Surely he'd have to recognize Ryoko was the one for him after this.
--
Washu studied the helmet-shaped device in front of her carefully. She delicately arranged a few crystalline wires, then taped them in place. Normally she wouldn't be this sloppy, but she was working on a short time frame. If she guessed correctly, she'd have no more than a day, two at the most, before someone would be enacting their plan. She would have spent closer to a week on something like this normally, even though she knew it would work perfectly, regardless.
Another few wires went into place and were affixed with Washu's special adhesive tape. It held in place until you tapped it three times, then it would release. So much more useful, sometimes you needed to take things apart again.
Washu placed and taped the last of the small wires, and having completed the task, she sat down for a moment to admire her work. It was perfect, in a thrown-together-hastily kind of way. It looked a little shabby, in fact, but it would get the job done regardless. The key now was to get Tenchi into her lab, which was likely to be a greater accomplishment than creating this device. He'd been avoiding her lab completely, it was almost always Sasami who called her to dinner any more.
Well, if nothing else, she could always ask. It wasn't nearly as much fun as trapping him, but in the current situation speed was more important than style. She started considering good excuses to convince him she needed to run more tests. She'd given him a physical already, thanks to the discovery of Sasami's aging. She'd even managed a partial physical of Mihoshi before she broke Washu's newest checkup bot.
So, physical was out, but she could probably claim it was time for everyone to undergo a psychological examination. But then she'd have to administer one to everyone, and she wasn't sure she wanted to do that. It might lead to some accidental answers to questions she wasn't really prepared to ask right now.
No, the best thing to do was to just claim to have some new test to try and detect why Tenchi could create Lighthawk Wings. He always fell for that one, even after she'd taken the video of him in his boxer shorts and showed it to the whole house. He should have known better than to wear shorts with hearts on them.
Washu lifted the device off of its stand and brought it over to the contraption on the wall which she always used when testing Tenchi for Lighthawk Wings. She connected the large lead wire from the back of the helmet into the rest of the large concoction of wires, straps, bulbs, and restraints. She checked her monitor to see that the signal was transferring properly, and satisfied that it was, decided it was time to go and find Tenchi.
--
Sasami hung up the phone and leaned back against the wall. Her heart was beating rapidly, and she knew it wasn't going to stop any time soon. She'd hoped that Rea might have the answer, but it hadn't been a certainty. Actually having the recipe for the dishes, she couldn't help wondering what kind of reaction she was going to get.
She scanned through the list of dishes on the list she'd written, mentally calculating how much of each ingredient she was going to need. There was no way around it, she was definitely going to have to go shopping. A trip to the store today wouldn't leave her enough time to prepare it for tonight's dinner. Well, if she couldn't do it til tomorrow, so be it. Tenchi would hopefully like it, regardless of what day he got it.
This was it, her big chance to do something really special for Tenchi. She'd always cooked dinner and gotten him a birthday present and all those kinds of things, but never anything really special. She was sure Tenchi wasn't really looking at her the same way he did Ryoko and Ayeka, and even Mihoshi and Washu too. He probably still thought she was a young girl who couldn't have any more feelings for him than a small crush. She knew what she felt was more than that, though, and this was her chance to make him see that. She was a little worried about how things might end up between her sister and herself, or any of the other ladies too, but they would deal with that when it became clear if Tenchi was actually interested in any of them.
She planned out a simple lunch and dinner for today, something that would leave her plenty of time to take care of the shopping. She didn't like taking shortcuts when cooking, but sometimes it had to be done. Everyone would understand since she had to go shopping, and she was pretty certain Tenchi wouldn't hold it against her. Some of the others might when they found out what she'd done, though.
She headed for the kitchen, already thinking about what was necessary for the day's lunch. She could worry about consequences when the time came, now was the time to prepare a meal.
--
Mihoshi checked the hallway before entering Tenchi's room. She didn't like sneaking in when he wasn't around, but the investigative trail started here. Yosho had said the book was usually on the shelf in Tenchi's room. She had to look at the shelf if she was going to find any clues.
She approached the desk, noting the two shelves above it filled with books. This wasn't likely to be easy. First things first, check the crime scene before touching anything. Mihoshi carefully poked her head around the desk, underneath, anywhere she could without actually touching the desk itself or anything on it. She didn't spot anything out of the ordinary, so the time had come to actually look at the shelf.
Mihoshi first read the titles of all the books on the shelf, making sure none of them happened to be the one in question. She verified it wasn't there, and then stretched up on her tiptoes, leaning against the desk for balance. There didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary.
Thinking hard about what she might do to locate the missing book, an idea finally came to her. If the book was normally on the shelf, it would probably have left a slight gap between books where it had previously been. Sure enough, there were a couple of gaps, and she climbed up onto the desk to check the gaps carefully.
The first didn't produce anything, but the second had what looked to be a clue. A small brown hair was lying in the gap, thicker than a human's would typically be.
"Ah, hah!" Mihoshi cried, then stifled any more outbursts to hopefully not alert anyone to her presence.
Mihoshi clambered down from the desk, and quietly slipped out of the room. There was only one person in this house who might have left a hair like that on the shelf. The problem now was going to be interrogating the individual.
--
Kiyone sat on the living room couch watching television, bored silly. A morning working in the fields followed by time spent watching shows she didn't understand was not what Kiyone had envisioned for her career. Things couldn't get any worse, her luck had definitely run out.
She didn't know which was worse: Being stuck in a dead-end post like this, or being reunited with Mihoshi as a partner. The two were related of course, her post was a result of being teamed up with Mihoshi again, or maybe the other way around, but either way she was doomed. The only redeeming thing about this assignment was... No there weren't any.
She pulled a coin out of her pocket and looked at it. It was a coin she'd acquired the day she got her undercover assignment. It had been an impulse buy, which was not in her nature, and later that day she was informed of the possibility of taking the undercover assignment and getting away from Mihoshi. She'd considered it a lucky coin ever since, but apparently its luck had run out, at least for her.
She fingered it a few times, before putting it back in her pocket. It was obviously old, and considering what she'd paid for it, somewhat valuable as well. Too bad it wasn't worth anything to her any more. She'd probably see if she could sell it somehow if she ever got the chance.
She was just getting up to go and do... anything, when Tenchi came down the stairs. He was dressed much like usual, but his hair was still damp from the bath he'd obviously just taken. He ran his hand back through his hair once before noticing Kiyone. His hand finished its move by rubbing the back of his head in that gesture Kiyone had come to recognize.
"Oh, hello Kiyone. Not much on?"
Kiyone rolled her eyes, and answered, "I just don't understand your television. I keep hoping that it might help me get a feel for Earth, but instead I just get confused. What's that game they play with the little white ball and the sticks?"
Tenchi chuckled, "Don't let anyone from Earth hear you say that, well, at least not anyone from Japan. It's called baseball. It's maybe the most popular sport here in Japan, so if someone heard you say that, well, the least you'd get was a funny look."
"Yeah, okay. Baseball. Strange game."
Tenchi just shook his head, and headed for the front door. "Well, I'm off to practice with Grandpa. I probably shouldn't have bothered with the bath, but it felt good."
Kiyone watched him move towards the door, wishing she had something worthwhile to go do. He was just about to open it when Washu stepped out of her lab, calling for his attention.
"Tenchi? Could I get you to do something for me?" Washu asked.
Tenchi turned back, and his eyes narrowed when he saw the innocent look on her face. Washu clearly had something in mind that she knew Tenchi wouldn't want to do. Kiyone watched him curiously, wondering what his response would be.
"Ah, Washu. I'm supposed to go practice with grandpa right now. Can it wait?" Tenchi rubbed the back of his neck while inching towards the door, his eyes never losing sight of Washu. Kiyone smiled at Tenchi's discomfort. He'd been leading all these ladies on long enough, he deserved a bit of discomfort.
"You're asking me to wait? After all I've done for you? What if I said this couldn't wait, it absolutely had to be done now?" Washu asked.
Tenchi winced, then said, "Er, well, if it has to be done right now, I guess so. I'll tell Grandpa, I'm sure he'll find some way for me to make it up."
"Great, Tenchi, now if you'll just step into my lab, we can get started." Washu grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him towards the door to her lab, Tenchi resisting slightly.
"I-in your lab. Ah, hah, what exactly do you need me to do?"
"Did you want me to say it in front of Kiyone?" Washu smiled evilly as Tenchi turned bright red and avoided looking at Kiyone.
Tenchi quit resisting and walked for the door without complaint. "No, no that's all right. I'm sure whatever it is is important."
"Of course it is. I wouldn't have asked otherwise."
Washu disappeared through the door to her lab behind Tenchi, and closed it afterwards, leaving Kiyone by herself again. She couldn't help smiling some more, Tenchi lived a strange life. While many men might find the notion of living with a bunch of women appealing, she thought many of them would change their minds when faced with the bunch that lived in this house. For some reason Tenchi put up with everything they put him through.
She turned back to the television and groaned. She didn't think she could stand any more of that. If Mihoshi was around they could at least get in a little practice, but she was out doing chores apparently. Kiyone decided going for a run would be a good idea, at least it would get her out of the house and get her some exercise. Working the fields was all right, but it wasn't the same thing.
--
Tenchi eyed the apparatus as he always did whenever she managed to get him in here. It was as if he might somehow puzzle out exactly how the thing worked, or maybe he was looking to make sure it was still the same. In fact, he stepped up to it and looked at the new device Washu had just built.
"What's this for, Washu? I haven't seen it before."
"That's the reason you're in here Tenchi. It's my newest device to try and determine how you create Lighthawk Wings, of course. Since you continue to refuse me what I really need," Washu grinned at Tenchi, "then I'm forced to try and find other methods to detect how you do it."
Tenchi looked at Washu, trying to determine if she was lying to him or not. As always, he couldn't read her expressions at all. He never could, and he doubted he ever would. "All right, Washu, gimme a sec to get in." Tenchi started to move towards the machine when Washu's voice interrupted.
"Ahem. Aren't you forgetting something, Tenchi?" Washu looked at him carefully, until he hung his head.
"All right, Washu."
Tenchi started taking his clothes off, until he was stripped down to his boxer shorts. Washu snickered a bit at seeing the flowers, and mentally reminded herself to make sure the camera was rolling as well. He climbed into the contraption himself, having no difficulty fitting himself in place any more. Repetition had made the procedure second nature for him.
Once he was in, Washu moved forward to secure the new device to his head properly. Tenchi flinched slightly when she put it on.
"Are you sure this is safe Washu? That device looks a little beat up."
"Are you questioning me, Tenchi? The greatest scientific genius in the universe, and you think you know more about it than I do? I think I might have to punish you for that. We'll save it for later, though." Washu twiddled a few more dials, making sure everything was connected properly. Tenchi just sweated nervously.
Washu finished her adjustments and moved back to her control station. She turned everything on and lights began flashing in strange patterns on the device strapped to Tenchi's head. Washu checked the readings she was getting and after verifying all was correct she turned on the recorder.
Washu turned to Tenchi with a raised eyebrow, "Well, then, we'll just have to let this device work for a while. It's doing some pretty deep readings, so it has to calibrate itself to your energy patterns. We've got some time to kill, I guess we can talk about something. So, what do you think of Kiyone, then. Good-looking, isn't she?"
"Washu! What are you talking about?" Tenchi floundered in the device, but it was flexible enough to absorb the shock from all his movements. Washu only laughed her strange cackling laugh.
"Well, I guess I know the answer to that question now. Hmmm, what should we talk about?" Washu tapped her cheek with a finger. "Well then, your father doesn't visit as much any more. He must be getting along pretty well with Rea then?"
"Yeah, I think so. I'm happy for him, I suppose, but it still seems weird. I can barely remember my mother, and yet I have this weird feeling like she's going to show up any moment and put dad in his place. I know it's not going to happen, though. It's probably just me wishing for a chance to see her again."
"Hmmm. I see. Well, what do you think she would say if she showed up?"
"What would she say?" Tenchi's face screwed up in thought. "Well, I guess I don't know. She'd probably tell him to do what was right, what was in his heart. She was always a very caring, understanding person from what dad and grandpa told me. I remember always feeling safe when I was with her."
"What was she like around children?"
"Around children? I don't really remember her being around children much, except for me. I think they wanted to have another child eventually, but..."
"I'm sorry Tenchi, I shouldn't be asking you all these questions about your mother."
"Well, it's all right. I know I don't talk about her much, I imagine all of you wonder about her an awful lot. You've all told me so much about your own lives, but I never talk much about mine. It's not really fair I suppose. Why are you interested suddenly?"
A mischievous grin formed on Washu's face, causing him to begin sweating again. Finally Washu answered, "Well, I just wanted to find out a little about how your mother acted with you of course, so that when you and I have our own kids, I know how to act with them..."
Tenchi's jaw dropped, he was so shocked he couldn't think of anything to say. He didn't manage to close his mouth again until Washu started approaching.
"Well, that should be enough, what say we get you out of all this stuff?" Washu reached forward, and hit the release switch for the device's restraints. "And we could get you out of that, too, if you wanted." Washu snapped the band of his boxer shorts, making him jump. "And me out of this..." Her hand went to the snaps of the jacket she had on.
"Auugh!" Tenchi jumped out of the machine, and scrambled for his clothes. Washu laughed loudly behind his back as he pulled them on and ran out of her lab.
--
A search through the house finally brought Mihoshi to the person, well, cabbit in question. She wasn't sure how she was going to go about this, but the only thing to do right now was try. She would ask for help if necessary, but she was a trained Galaxy Police officer. Interrogating uncooperative criminals couldn't be any harder than this, could it?
Ryo-Ohki lay napping on the mezzanine, enjoying the sunshine. Mihoshi suddenly felt herself getting a little sleepy, but she fought that urge down. She had business to take care of. She pushed aside the surge of guilt she felt at waking the cabbit, and poked Ryo-Ohki.
"Mreowr?" Ryo-Ohki sounded sleepily.
"I'm sorry, Ryo-Ohki. I need to speak with you if I could?" Mihoshi waited for the cabbit to compose herself, and when her eyes finally seemed to come into focus Mihoshi began her questioning. "You see, it's about a book. I believe you might have borrowed it. From Tenchi's room."
"Miya?"
"Yes, well, you see, I found a brown hair on the shelf, and I assume it had to have been yours since Tenchi's hair is a darker brown, and it's not as thick, and of course Ayeka's hair is purple and Sasami's is blue, and Washu's is red, and Ryoko's is kind of blue-gray, and Kiyone's is teal, and Nobuyuki's is black mostly. And of course Yosho's is black or maybe gray depending on which hairs. But the one I found was a light brown, so it had to have been yours, nobody else could have left it."
Mihoshi suddenly realized the cabbit was starting to lose focus and drift back to sleep. A couple pokes and the cabbit seemed to be back awake.
"Now, Ryo-Ohki, concentrate, this is important. It was a book of poems, it was brown, and it had a flower on the cover. Do you remember that book?"
"Miya!" Ryo-Ohki nodded her head.
"Oh, good. Do you know where it is now?"
"Miya." This time Ryo-Ohki shook her head.
"Oh, darn. Well, then, can you show me where you saw it last?"
"Miya!"
Ryo-Ohki jumped up and started scampering away, so Mihoshi got up and quickly followed her. The cabbit headed straight for Sasami and Ayeka's room and jumped into the door once, before a second effort got her through without bumping her head. Mihoshi barely stopped herself from jumping into the door, stopping at the last second. She instead knocked on the door to see if anyone was inside.
"Yes?" Sasami pulled the door open to look at Mihoshi, the cabbit already perched on her head. "Oh, hello Mihoshi. What can I do for you?"
"Hi Sasami. Umm, well, I'm trying to find something, and I believe Ryo-Ohki had it at one point and brought it here. At least I think that's what she meant. Say, do you happen to remember a book of poems, it was brown, and had a flower on the cover?"
"Yep. Ryo-chan brought it to me one day to read to her."
"Really? Do you still have it?"
"Ummm, no, I don't think so. I think it disappeared a day or two after I read it to Ryo-chan. I assumed that Ayeka borrowed it."
Mihoshi's face and shoulders slumped. "Oh, well thanks Sasami. I guess I'll go talk to Ayeka, then."
"Okay Mihoshi. Good luck!" Sasami started scratching Ryo-Ohki's chin as she turned back into her room and closed the door. Mihoshi sighed as she turned to go and look for Ayeka.
--
"Yes, yes." Washu fiddled with her newest project, making sure things were adjusted properly. "And that. Yes. And..."
Washu flipped a switch, and suddenly a small hologram popped up from the device. Washu studied it for a few moments before shutting it down. She wiped the tear from her eye before continuing to work. This one was going to be perfect, nothing less was acceptable.
A few more wires were connected, then sealed away properly. She popped a few plastic panels out of subspace, and attached them into position. A few more minutes of work and she was finished. That part was taken care of. Now the real work began.
--
Ryoko looked right and left, then right again. Flowers as far as the eye could see. Pink flowers, yellow flowers, green, red, orange. Too many to count.
"Aarrgghh! Okay, Ryoko, this is easy. All you have to do is start in the corner and work your way back and forth til you find them. Piece of cake."
Ryoko concentrated for a moment, and then suddenly her shadow appeared. Ryoko addressed it, "You start at that corner and work this way. I'll start here, and work that way. We'll meet in the middle. Yell if you find them."
Ryoko flew to her corner while her shadow did likewise. Looking at the boxes full of flowers she began skimming along looking at everything along the way to find the flowers she wanted. It was a good thing she'd looked at the pictures before she came, she might not have known what to look for in all of this mess otherwise.
Ten minutes of searching and she hadn't found anything yet, when suddenly her shadow yelled, "Here they are." Ryoko teleported over to the position where her shadow hovered looking at a huge collection of flowers in many different colors. Ryoko observed them carefully, comparing them to the pictures she'd studied in the book before agreeing with her shadow, "Yep, those are the ones. All right, we'll take a dozen of each color, got it. I'll get this row, you get those."
The two started collecting flowers, color after color going into their arms. After a minute they were done, but only then did Ryoko realize her problem.
"This ain't gonna work. They'll fall apart when I fly back with them. All right, new task. Find me something to carry them in."
Her shadow split off and started searching while Ryoko did her best to arrange all the flowers in a way that they wouldn't get ruined. In only a few moment her shadow returned with a large box.
"Perfect."
Ryoko carefully placed the flowers inside, and then a little concentration caused her shadow to disappear again. She hefted the box onto her shoulder for easiest carrying, though the weight was insignificant to her. Remembering one last thing before she disappeared, Ryoko pulled some money out of a pocket and laid it on the table where the flowers had been.
"Tenchi wouldn't forgive me if I just stole these."
Ryoko flew up, and phased through the ceiling. She glanced around briefly to get her bearings and make sure she wasn't likely to be spotted. She then took off as fast as she could fly to avoid anyone getting a good look at her should they happen to notice her passing.
--
Ayeka quickly put the yukata aside as Mihoshi approached. She didn't think Mihoshi would recognize it but she didn't want to take any chances. Mihoshi tended to blurt things out at inopportune moments, secrets weren't ever safe with her.
"Hello, Mihoshi. What can I do for you?" Ayeka was certainly curious what brought the blonde woman out to speak with her. Usually Sasami was the only one to interrupt her while she was sewing, everyone else was too busy with their own projects and chores.
"Hello, Ayeka. I'm looking for a book, actually. It was brown, with a flower on the cover. It's called 'Love Poems of the Fugiwara Period.' Sasami read some of it to Ryo-Ohki one night a while ago, and then it disappeared. She thought you might have taken it. Have you seen it?" Mihoshi was fidgeting, rubbing her hands together and rocking back and forth between her feet. If Ayeka realized why she was looking for the book, Mihoshi's surprise might be ruined.
Ayeka tried to shift without being obvious, trying to cut off Mihoshi's view of the Yukata. She wouldn't stand still for some reason, she kept rocking about so that Ayeka was uncertain the yukata was hidden from Mihoshi's view. Mihoshi was looking for a book of love poems? That was odd, she usually read mysteries, solving them well before she finished them, somehow.
"I do believe I remember that book, yes. I'm quite certain that I put it back in the library. On the top shelf of the poetry section, I believe."
"Oh. Okay." Mihoshi couldn't keep the disappointment from her voice. She was on the trail, but surely if the book had been in the library, Tenchi would have looked for it in there and he wouldn't be missing it. She had no choice but to go to the library and see if there were any clues to work with, though. "Thanks, Ayeka."
Mihoshi turned and walked away, letting Ayeka relax. She didn't think Mihoshi had noticed the yukata meaning Ayeka was in the clear. It would take her a day or so, but she was certain Tenchi would be extremely pleased with what she was doing for him. Perhaps he would finally acknowledge her as the one for him. She giggled momentarily in delight, blushed at a thought of what Tenchi might do as thanks, then went back to work on the yukata.
--
Mihoshi entered the library, and wandered around a bit, checking the titles on some of the books. She'd never looked for books on poetry in here before, so wasn't sure where they might be stored. Finally she came across a section that looked to be right, and got up her tip-toes to look at the top shelf. Only a couple books were on that shelf, it would have been a pretty good stretch for Ayeka to get the book up there. Of course, all the other shelves were full.
The titles of the two books still on the shelf didn't look right, so Mihoshi decided she would need to look at the shelf. If she couldn't find a clue on the shelf, her search would be over, and she wouldn't be able to do something for Tenchi.
She stepped onto the lowest shelf, checking to make sure it would bear her weight. It felt solid, so she pulled herself up to pear at the top shelf. It was relatively dusty, Mihoshi made a note to get in here and clean next time she had chores. But in this situation it was perfect. There was a streak where a book had obviously been pushed onto the shelf, and more importantly, a hand print next to it where someone had obviously been reaching for the book. Mihoshi stretched out her hand to compare, and as she suspected the hand print was much bigger than her own hand.
"Ah, hah!"
Suddenly, Mihoshi lost her grip on the shelf, and fell to the floor, landing on her backside.
"Ouchee!"
Mihoshi gingerly climbed to her feet, massaging her butt. She headed for the door, knowing how to continue following the trail of the missing book. Only two people besides Tenchi had hands that size, and she'd already talked to one of them.
--
Kiyone arrived back at the house after a long run. She'd possibly overdone it, but had decided she had nothing better to do. She was approaching the house from the lake shore when she noticed Tenchi approaching from the other side, apparently done with his afternoon workout with his grandfather.
They reached the front door at about the same time, and Tenchi politely opened the door for her, making her laugh. Most of the men she'd known didn't much care about being polite, one police officer was the same as another to them.
"Thanks, Tenchi. You don't have to do that, you know. Save it for your girlfriends."
Tenchi blushed slightly, but didn't answer. He was just as damp and sweaty as Kiyone herself was, obviously he'd had another tough workout. Kiyone made a note to go watch one of his workouts some time, it might be interesting.
They walked into the house and headed for the stairs, when Tenchi said, "I suppose you'd like to take a bath, huh?"
Kiyone faltered, and turned to look at Tenchi, her face turning red. "What do you mean by that?"
"Huh. Oh, no Kiyone. I didn't mean we'd, uh, together, I mean... What I meant was I suppose you'd like a bath so I should wait until you're done."
Tenchi was rubbing his head furiously, looking at the ceiling with his face solid red. Kiyone watched him a moment to make sure he was serious about the misunderstanding. After deciding he was, she said, "Oh. Yeah, that's nice of you Tenchi. Thanks."
"That's okay, Kiyone. I wouldn't mind catching the news, any way."
Tenchi turned away, and headed for the couch when Sasami poked her head out of the kitchen. "Hello, Tenchi. Hello Kiyone. Tenchi, can you do something for me?"
Tenchi groaned quietly as he got back to his feet, "Sure Sasami. What is it?"
"I went shopping today Tenchi, I've got a lot of stuff that needs to go out in the storeroom, and then I need you to bring in enough vegetables for dinner tonight."
"Okay, Sasami. Where's the stuff to go out?"
"It's out on the back porch. Thank you."
Tenchi walked out the back entrance to work on his tasks leaving Kiyone with Sasami. Kiyone watched him the whole way out with a puzzled look, then turned to Sasami, noticing the princess had been doing the same. Sasami blushed slightly when she realized Kiyone had caught her watching Tenchi.
"Sasami? Does Tenchi always do what you ask him to? Even after a workout with his grandfather, he still goes and hauls groceries around for you."
"Well, I never really thought about it, but I suppose he always does. He's such a nice man. It's probably why we all..." Sasami blushed deeper as she stopped talking, turning away. "Well, I need to get back to work on dinner. You should go get cleaned up, Kiyone. You're stinky."
Sasami bolted back into the kitchen, leaving a chuckling Kiyone behind. She probably was pretty smelly after the run she'd been on. She headed up the stairs, wondering how Tenchi managed to make it through the days without wearing out. He was always so busy, and always changing his plans to help any of the ladies in the house.
--
"Thank you so much, Rea. I'll be sure to check with them. You've really helped. Goodbye."
Mihoshi hung up the phone, and slumped into a nearby chair. The book had been with Nobuyuki, but Rea had found it and loaned it to Tenchi's cousin Kasumi. It was too late now, Mihoshi wouldn't be able to get over there until tomorrow at the earliest. That couldn't be helped, though, it was only another day. The book had been missing for long enough that Tenchi wouldn't know the difference.
It had to be there, though. If Rea had just given it to them a few days ago, surely they would still have it. Her search would finally be over tomorrow, and then she could give it to him. Tenchi might do something nice for her as a result. Maybe a kind word, or even a hug. Probably not a kiss, though that was what she really wanted, oh if only...
--
Rea smiled as she hung up the phone, looking appreciatively at Nobuyuki as he sat reading the paper after finally finishing work. He seemed like a goofball so much of the time that it was always surprising when he did something so cunning.
"Well, Nobuyuki, that's my second call today, Sasami was first, and now it was Mihoshi. I think they took the bait, and they're all frantically trying to do something for Tenchi. Do you think he'll react the way they're hoping? He's never shown much interest that way."
Nobuyuki looked over the edge of his paper at Rea, and answered, "Well, it's his mother in question here. That's about the only thing that might really touch him that deeply that I can think of. I think he'll react pretty warmly at the least, but it's hard to say how much it'll change him. Hopefully he'll get the message, though."
"What about Kiyone? She's kind of new to the whole situation? Do you think she's interested in him, too?" Rea started in on supper again, chatting over her shoulder. "She seems like the type who wouldn't want to admit to anything like that, but they're often the ones who fall hardest in the end. And that boy is hard to resist." Rea fanned her face a bit.
Nobuyuki glanced over again, noting Rea's reaction. "Ahem. If you wanted to make a play for Tenchi, I wish you would have done it before now, Rea. I think it might get a little awkward at this point."
"Oh, I'm not going to do anything, Nobo, you know that. But I think I've felt what all those girls feel around him. Quit worrying, you don't need to be jealous."
"Yes, well, he is my son after all. It's only natural, how could any woman not be tempted. You've got me, though, the original product. Surely you feel the same thing around me?" Nobuyuki stood up and walked over to wrap his arms around Rea from behind. "What say we skip supper for now? We can get a snack later."
Rea set the knife down in the sink and laughed, "Well, I guess that would be okay." The smile never left her face as the two walked from the kitchen hand-in-hand.
--
The group was gathered in the living room as per their usual at night, even Washu was there for a change. Ryoko smiled, planning her move carefully. This was going to be even sweeter with everyone else there to witness it. When Tenchi acknowledged her to everyone else their looks of defeat would be so incredibly sweet.
She looked at Tenchi as he reclined against the edge of the couch next to Sasami's legs. Anyone else and Ryoko would have been tempted to fly down and drag him away, but so far Sasami hadn't been displaying any extreme signs of affection, and it wouldn't matter soon any way.
This was it, the time to spring her surprise on Tenchi and everyone else. Ryoko teleported back to her room and picked up the box she had the flowers in. She flew back out of her room phasing through the door, and prepared to make her big entrance. The sight in the living room caused her mouth to drop open and the box fell to the floor.
--
Kiyone pulled the coin out of her pocket and turned it over in her hand. It's luck had worn out for her when she got shipped off here. She'd decided she didn't want to keep the coin any more, and the best thing to do with it was give it away. Give the coin to Tenchi. She still hadn't done anything for him as real thanks for letting her stay here. Sure, she'd started helping around the house, but she'd never actually given him anything for the hospitality. Who knew, maybe it would bring him some luck, like making the other ladies come to their senses.
Deciding the time was right Kiyone got to her feet and cleared her throat. "Uh, Tenchi. It kinda occurred to me that I haven't really said thanks for letting me stay here. Not properly any way. So what I wanted to do was give you this coin I've been carrying around for a while. It's a lucky coin, I had good things happen to me almost right away after I bought it. I hope you like it, and I hope it works as well for you as it did for me."
Kiyone handed the coin to Tenchi as he struggled back to his feet. She noticed out of the sides of her eyes the strange looks she was getting from everyone else, but tuned them out for the moment as Tenchi looked at the coin.
"Thank you Kiyone. You really didn't need to do that. I appreciate it, but you shouldn't give up a lucky coin..." Tenchi fell silent, and shock appeared in his face. "How... Where... Do you know what this is? This is a Fuhonsen coin, Kiyone. They talk about them in that history book grandpa gave me last year. I can't believe you have one of these, they only dug up a few of them, they must have all gone to a museum. This is much too valuable, I can't accept something like this. Please, take it back."
Tenchi held the coin out to Kiyone, obviously expecting her to take it. She just shook her head.
"No, Tenchi, I insist. I'm not really sure what a Fuhonsen coin is, but no matter, I want you to have it. Keep it."
"Well... all right, I guess. I don't think you should, but if you're sure. Thank you, Kiyone. Thank you very much." Tenchi gave her a little bow of gratitude.
"You're welcome Tenchi. You're a good guy, you deserve something nice... Uh, what's the problem?" Kiyone finally noticed that the strange looks she'd been getting from the others had changed to shock and maybe even outrage.
Washu seemed to be pretty calm actually, but the rest weren't, especially Ryoko as she came flying down the stairs screaming, "How... how could you? What gives you the right to..."
"Ryoko!" Washu yelled. "Behave yourself. What she's done is perfectly appropriate, don't you think? Giving a host a gift for his hospitality."
"But..." Ryoko quailed.
"But nothing. And look at the rest of you. It's like you think she just kissed him or something. Honestly, you're all acting like children. No offense, Sasami." Ayeka's, Sasami's, Ryoko's, and Mihoshi's faces all softened a bit, and even showed a tinge of embarrassment.
Tenchi rubbed his head, and said, "Um, am I missing something?"
"No!" screamed everyone in unison.
"Well, okay then. I guess I'll go put this coin away for now. It's too valuable to leave sitting around." Tenchi headed for the stairs, pausing briefly to squeeze Kiyone on the shoulder as he passed her. "Thanks again, Kiyone. Good night, everyone."
Tenchi headed upstairs, oblivious, as the looks hardened again and angry faces turned on Kiyone. Even Washu's face turned into one of surprise as she looked at Kiyone. Washu quickly recognized the signs though, and managed to speak first, "How did you do that?"
"Uh, do what?" Kiyone was nervously watching everyone else looking at her with murderous intent visible in their eyes.
"Bah. You don't even realize what Tenchi just did, do you? We've been living with him for close to four years now, and not one of us has ever gotten so much as a squeeze on the arm from him, and you do it in just a week? Oh sure, we've all gotten our arms on Tenchi, but he's never initiated anything, it's always been us doing it." Washu's voice was flat as she said this. Everyone else just nodded their heads, never taking their eyes off of Kiyone.
"Er, I guess I wouldn't know about that, would I? I just wanted to give him something, and I think that coin was appropriate." Kiyone silently added that she thought it's luck had worn off.
"Right, well, I guess that sounds reasonable to me, don't you think, ladies?" Washu turned a commanding stare on the other ladies in the room, all of whom visibly calmed under her gaze.
"Yes," they all meekly answered.
"Good. Well, I suspect everyone should probably get some sleep, tomorrow's a new day." Washu turned back for her lab, silently congratulating Kiyone on her impeccable timing. The new GP officer was going to turn into a worthy contender, and she didn't even realize she was doing it. One more lady to deal with, but all things considered, that hardly made much difference. She still had a few last adjustments to make to get her device ready by tomorrow. That might turn the tide in her own favor.
"Tomorrow. Yeah, I guess I probably should get some rest." Ryoko floated back up the stairs. Relief flooded her as she noticed the box of flowers remained where she'd dropped it, unopened. She picked it up and disappeared to her room, making new plans to surprise Tenchi tomorrow.
"Yes, tomorrow should be a nice day. Good night, everyone." Ayeka headed out as well.
"Tomorrow... Good night Mihoshi." Sasami quickly followed after Ayeka.
Mihoshi stood there blinking for a few moments. Then she headed up the stairs as well. Something was definitely going to happen tomorrow, Mihoshi could sense it. Of course, whatever it was, it hopefully wouldn't distract from her present.
--
The dark alley was silent and cold, very few people ever ventured this way. Marco wiped the blood off of his knife. He returned it to its sheath, then disposed of the handkerchief. He never glanced down at the body on the ground next to him. It was no longer important, just one more in a long list of victims.
His information had been correct, Mariko Nomura had been on Antropos 4. She'd apparently been the intelligence gatherer in the little mission against the Rudolphos.
He checked himself to make sure no blood had gotten on him, and satisfied, he headed back out to the main street. He had a long ways to go yet, there was still time to find the Makibi woman. He decided to take a break and relax in the hotel room he had here on the planet.
Marco popped back out onto the street, and strode purposely back in the direction of his hotel. A couple people turned and looked at him when he appeared, but that couldn't be helped. He'd be long gone by the time anyone ventured down there and discovered the body. Even if someone did happen to identify him to the authorities, it wasn't like he wasn't already a wanted man on dozens of worlds. One more wouldn't matter.
--
Comments and Criticism definitely wanted. It's hard to improve without it.