Little Lord Tenchi...
Author: Daferge
The characters in this story and the events of all the Tenchi Muyo shows are property of AIC and Pioneer. I have neither created them, nor do I own them.
. . . . . . . . . .
(note: Didn't realize just how complex this was going to get when I started...Daferge...)
. . . . . . . . . .
Chapter - 03... Family...
( Jurai Manor... )
Situated to the west of Nottingham, the Jurai estate was still close enough to the town to ask help of the local Sheriff ( the local law enforcement officer )...
And the Earl had informed the head of the manor staff that he was sending her some help...
So when Mrs. Washu Hakubi opened the doors, she was not (too) surprised at who was standing there...
A tall blonde female in the uniform of a constable ( a police officer ) smiling at her...
Although the uniform was a bit tight, it was unlikely that any of the other male officers or any of the males of Nottingham could find reason to complain...
The females of Nottingham on the other hand, who knew her, enjoyed watching their big strong males turn into school boys when she walked by, smiling...
Besides, who would say any thing about the Sheriff of Nottingham's grand-daughter...
Constable Mihoshi Kuramitsu...
. . . . . . . . . .
While her mother, Mitoto, was still alive and running the most popular tavern in Nottingham, her father had died with the Earl's 2nd son along with General Gordon some time back...
Both had been awarded the Victorian Cross, the highest medal an English soldier could be awarded...
And to some it seem that she had inherited some of her father's bad luck...
Things just seem to happen around her...
Even so, she had solved a number of cases and left a trail of destruction behind her since becoming a constable...
Washu had done a study for her grandfather in her spare time...
From what she had learned, it was quite clear that most of the misfortune was self induced...
Very few English males had ever seen a female wearing such a tight fitting uniform before...
( It seem there was a regulation about officers only wearing the regulation uniforms - and they just hadn't been designed with female officers in mind... )
And it could be very distracting, easily causing the male not to notice that wall or hole in the ground, directly in front of them...
And being English "gentlemen" they could hardly be expected to admit to staring at a female's figure...
SO - it all had to be due to "bad luck"...
. . . . . . . . . .
At any rate, if one remained calm and didn't get distracted, nothing usually happened...
But there were still a few things that that even she couldn't explain...
She suspected that sub-consciously Mihoshi was quite brilliant, like sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Robert Boyde or herself...
She just wasn't self aware of it...
And Washu wasn't sure the world was quite ready for her finding out...
But at the moment...
" Ahh... Constable... How can I help you?... "
And Washu smiled as she watched the wheels begin to turn in Mihoshi's head...
After a thoughtful pause, Mihoshi responded...
" Oh... Am I here for your help?... "
Sighing, Washu knew she could continue this for quite some time, but it had been a long day already...
Reaching out, she grabbed the constable's hand and pulled her into the manor, closing the door behind them...
" MRS. WASHU!... "
. . . . . . . . . .
( London... )
Sitting at his desk the Earl suddenly looked up from the papers and looked around...
He could have sworn he just heard something...
His butler, for god only knew how many years, had just removed his finished lunch plate and was just about to leave the room...
" Did you feel some thing just now?... "
From past experiences the butler knew better than to ask questions...
Remaining quite calm, he replied...
" No sir... "
He looked at the clock...
" The 11:40 doesn't pass by for about another 20 minutes... "
The Earl smiled...
The newer rail trains passing nearby tended to make more noise and vibrations these days...
Perhaps all this heir stuff was putting him on edge...
As his lawyer had noted, there were those who were just waiting for him to pass on (die) to make a move on the Jurain manor...
And some were more than willing to help him on his way...
. . . . . . . . . .
Upon contacting his friend the Sheriff, he found he was quite happy to send help out to the estate...
In fact his grand-daughter needed to get out of town - er - away from the office for a while...
The Earl had smiled at the thought of the young constable becoming involved in Washu's organized household...
He'd love to be there and watch...
The dungeon hadn't been used in decades, but even with Washu putting in her lab, there was still a large enough section left to show guests some times...
And she even kept the devices in it in the best of working order, even with all the cobwebs...
( Washu said they added - 'atmosphere'?... )
Some of the servants thought she was kidding when she threaten to put them "in irons"...
They found that she didn't bluff and had spent half an hour or so chained to the dungeon wall...
He really hoped the young constable didn't get on her wrong side or she could find herself down there, as her oldest daughter had, once or twice...
. . . . . . . . . .
Unlike, in High places, the Earl didn't have 'friends' in "Low" places...
But he did have a few so called "contacts" and knew some other people, who owed him, who did...
In fact, he'd just gotten a note from one of them...
However, between the spelling and handwriting it had still taken him some time and effort to read...
And if he was reading it right, those that he had an interest in were going to sit back and wait - at least for now...
That seem to imply that his grandson and heir was safe for the moment, but things could change...
And at the moment, although there were over two dozen people at the estate, only two were males and one was a boy...
To hire and send 'guards' out there would let every one know he was worried...
And THAT would really attract the hungry sharks...
. . . . . . . . . .
( Jurai Manor... )
As Tenchi, his sister and cousin approached the dining room, they saw Mrs. Hakubi standing outside the open doors with five young females...
From their dress he assumed they were not staff...
There were a pair in matching evening-wear at one end and another mismatched pair at the other...
But it was the one in the middle that drew his eye...
He could never ever recall seeing a female dressed as she was...
She seem to be wearing a uniform, but unlike almost every other person he met since landing in London, it wasn't tailored for her...
He so wanted to ask, but a squeeze of his arm by his sister said 'later'...
Besides, some thing told him he was going to get an introduce shortly - from Mrs. Hakubi...
He braced himself...
. . . . . . . . . .
( Scotland... )
A dark haired young boy stood on the top of the castle's tallest tower...
When ever Seina Yamada wanted to get away from thing or just to get out of every one's way, he'd come up here...
It seem that no matter how bad his luck got, the old family castle seem to be able to survive it...
It seem that ancient stones weren't effected, like most other things were...
And way up here there was no one to effect...
His mother had declared that any messes he caused, he would have to clear up...
As such he had been much more aware of his surrounding of late and thus 'accidents' had tended to decline...
. . . . . . . . . .
The stone seat gave him a wonderful view over the parapet in several directions...
To the East, so he could watch the sun rise over the distant hills...
Or the West, to watch it set on even more hills...
But his most favorite view was to the South, back to his few friends and his favorite cousin...
His sister was down there some where, doing some thing while he was stuck up here...
All because he went fishing in a rowboat and had fallen asleep...
Some one had once told him that luck was a lady, a Lady Luck...
He tended to believe it...
For as long as he could remember he seem to have troubles with females...
Why shouldn't one have a hand in his fate?...
. . . . . . . . . .
He was startled when a finger brushed a tear away...
Turning he looked up to find one of the few people who didn't seem to be affected by his 'luck', Kiriko Masaki...
" Thought you were down in London or some where?... "
She smiled...
" Nottingham, watching over Mihoshi... "
Seina now smiled, it was always good to hear his cousin's name...
Kiriko had known him since he was little, when he met her little brother and they became fast friends, despite his so called "bad luck"...
She had been one of the few people willing to baby-sit him when he was younger...
To him, she had been like an Angel...
It was good to see her...
. . . . . . . . . .
" What brings you up here?... "
The words were out of his mouth before he realized and her smile brightened...
She chuckled before replying...
" Your mom sent me and said that if you'd had enough of the highland air, it was OK to bring you back down south... "
She saw his eyes glance that direction...
" At-least as far as Nottingham... Further south still isn't quite ready for your return... "
He sighed, then he looked at her, a look of concern on his face...
" But what about Mihoshi... If the two of us got together, isn't there a chance Nottingham might get burnt to the ground?... "
Kiriko just smiled...
" Past experience says just the opposite... You two seem to cancel each other out - at least for the most part... "
They stood there for a while...
" Well?... "
Smiling Seina offered her his arm and they headed towards the stairs...
. . . . . . . . . .
( Jurai Manor... )
The dining room was quite busy at the moment...
Lunch was about to be served and it had been prepared just to welcome him to the Manor...
Tenchi had never seen such a huge dining table before...
His first thought had been that you could put enough food on it for the whole city of Boston...
Mrs. Hakubi - no, she had insisted on being called "Washu" - had led him to the tall chair at the end of the table, his grandfather's chair...
She told him that with the Earl gone, he was now THE head of the house and should sit there...
So he was now standing before his chair and he was looking down the table...
To his right stood his sister Tennyo and just beyond her stood the first members of his mother's family whom he had ever encountered...
A pair of charming sisters, Ayeka and Sasami Jurai...
While Sasami, had light hair and was a year younger than him, Ayeka had dark hair and was several years older...
. . . . . . . . . .
Even thou related, it seem that little Sasami had been of some help with the meal to welcome him...
It seem that she loved to cook and Washu ( and the staff ) enjoyed having her...
Like him, they were grand children, but of the Earl's sister, Lady Seto Kamiki Jurai...
While their parents, Azusa and Misaki Jurai were in Japan for her majesties foreign office, Sasami had been staying out here, at the family estate...
Her sister, Ayeka, had been staying with friends in London, until she had finally gotten tired of that dull, boring London society life...
She had then joined her sister on the family estate...
Now it seem, she spent most of her time in the Earl's library reading from his large collection...
The Earl had one of the largest collections of old manuscripts outside the royal palace...
. . . . . . . . . .
Then to his left was his cousin Mayuka and just beyond her was Washu's two unusual daughters...
The taller, older one, with short light hair was Ryoko, who was also older than him...
The other, with longer brownish color hair, was Ryo-Ohko, not only the youngest of the four, but it seem, the shyest too...
And standing at the far end of the table was that very unusual yellow haired female in the uniform...
Washu had introduced her as " Constable Mihoshi Kuramitsu of the Nottingham Constabulary ", a member of a local law enforcement organization...
It seem that his grandfather had requested help from the local Sheriff and she had been his response...
As Washu tended to accept her, so would he...
So, it seem that she would be with them for a few days...
. . . . . . . . . .
However, at the moment Tenchi had a bit of a problem...
It seem that his mother had taught him to always respect females and thus to hold their seats for them to sit...
The problem was...
As 'head-of-the-house' he was suppose to standing at the head of the table and then sit first...
Then all of his guest could sit, including family...
And at the moment all eyes at the table were on him...
He wasn't sure what his grandfather would do, but he knew what he believed he should...
" Ladies!... "
He now had every eye in the room on him...
" I understand that I am suppose to sit first... "
He saw his sister smile...
He held out both hands palm up...
" However, as your host, I believe I should allow you to sit first... "
Did he just see Washu smile?...
He smiled as they all sat...
. . . . . . . . . .
As he sat, he looked at the huge painting on the wall to his right...
Washu had pointed it out to him as they had entered earlier, he was the first Earl, for his services to the crown long ago...
His sister had squeezed his arm when he told Washu they would never get him to dress up like that...
Washu had smiled and said she would make a note...
He hadn't seen the girls behind him smile at his comment...
Now he got the odd feeling the painting was looking down on him for some reason...
Just my imagination...
. . . . . . . . . .
( Within the wall... )
A pair of eyes WERE watching from above...
Through the eyes of the painting...
The same eyes that had been watching over him for the past decade or so...
Minaho had last been in these secret passages a life time ago, before her sister, Tenchi's mom had died...
Once she entered one of the secret hidden doors on the ground floor, it all came back...
Each passage, each turn, each staircase had came back to her as if she'd never left...
It seem that Washu had kept the passage way just as clean as she did the rest of the house...
So it was easy to find her way through the passages and back up to her old room...
She was amazed as she stepped out the secret panel in the corner of her room...
It was as if she had never left, every thing was still right where she'd left it when her left with her mother to go to America and her sister's funeral...
She brushed the tears away - it was so good to be home...
. . . . . . . . . .
She had almost lost track of time as she changed out of her travel wear and into some thing much more comfortable...
She was brushing her hair with her old favorite brush when the bells rang, announced the meal was ready...
So she made her way through the passages to the peek hole which over looked the hallway out side the dining room...
Opening the hole she watched as Washu introduced Tenchi to the others who were staying at the manor...
She smiled, it had been so long since she'd seen Ayeka and Ryoko...
They had both grown into fine young ladies, thou it was a bit strange to see Ryoko in a dress...
She had always been more at home in pants and a shirt...
But it would be hard for any one to mistake her for a boy now...
Where as Ayeka still seem to make every thing she wore look more elegant...
She was truly her mother's daughter...
. . . . . . . . . .
And Sasami and Ryo-Ohki - they had been small children when she last saw them...
They both seem to be doing well too...
Mihoshi looked just like she did when last she saw her, she would recognize that golden hair and bright smile any where...
And when Tenchi took her hand as Washu introduced her to him, Minaho thought Mihoshi was going to faint...
From the looks in Ayeka and Ryoko's eyes she began to wonder if she should slit Tenchi a warning or just sit back and watch?...
She knew which way Tenchi's father would go...
Both he and her sister would be proud of how he handled the sitting...
Closing the peephole she began her return to her old room...
It would be some time before things settled down and she could arrange to meet Washu, alone...
. . . . . . . . . .
( Later in the kitchen... )
The staff in the kitchen was made up of just about every member still at the manor...
Even the female coach driver, who usually spent most of her time out in the stables taking care of what livestock, was there helping out...
While a couple of the staff were preparing the guest rooms for them, the rest of the staff would be preparing and serving the food...
Half a dozen were needed to get the dishes out to the table, the empty plates back to the kitchen...
There was a light course for this evening...
Just a light soup before the main course and then the dessert after...
However, with Constable Kuramitsu present, request for seconds and thirds were expected...
Washu had assigned an extra staff member to her...
. . . . . . . . . .
Even with all the things to do, Washu noted that there was still time for comments to be made...
" An' then smiling he spread his arms and asked his guest to sit, before he did... "
The other girls stared at the talker, one of the servers...
The head cook smiled...
" No surprise, after him helpin' his ladies down from the coach... We've a true gentleman here, we do... "
Washu had to smile...
One of the servers touched her arm, getting her attention...
" Yes?... "
The young girl smiled and held up an empty glass...
Sighing, Washu had an idea where this was leading...
" Ryoko?... "
As the girl nodded, Washu smiled and picked up a fresh glass of milk...
" It's milk all around... No wine... "
The girl took the glass and smiled, Ryoko might not like it, but Washu had the last word...
As the girl left, Washu turned to the others and clapped her hands...
" OK... This is the young lord's first meal here in his new home... Lets do our very best to make it memorable for him... "
Every one turned back to what they were doing...
And Washu smiled, it was a good beginning...
. . . . . . . . . .
To be continued...
. . . . . . . . . .
Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...
. . . . . . . . . .
