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.
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chapter -09 ... Royalties...
( Masaki manson... )
Washu smiled, every thing was going well...
She was glad she had fixed that big sandwich for Mihoshi before checking to see who their guest were...
She just hoped that the 2nd one was keeping her in the kitchen...
The last thing they needed was her to show up...
She didn't want to even guess at what might happen...
So no one in the library notice the door open until a low, firm voice spoke up...
" And exactly what is going on here?... "
Every one looked towards the open door...
There stood Ayeka and Ryoko, little Ryo-Oki behind them...
Both of the older girl didn't look too happy at the moment...
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Every one in the library looked at the two females standing in the door way...
A both door to the room were open, the two were now standing side by side...
Where as they both had upset expressions on their faces, every body else was smiling...
The first to react was the young lord, who sighed, handed his empty cup to Sasami and stood...
As every one, including the new comers watched, he walked over to stand at the door...
Facing the two he smiled...
" Ahh... It's so good you could make it... I believe you know every one?... "
Turning around, he offered each an arm...
Everyone smiled as both Ayeka and Ryoko quickly stepped into the room and took an arm...
He then proceeded to escort them across the room to two chairs over there...
Standing between the two, he held their hands as they seated themselves...
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" Did I miss any thing?... "
All eyes turn to the open doors and the figure standing there...
Standing next to him was a sleepy blonde female wearing a nightgown...
" I found this charming young lady wandering the hall and we followed the voices back here... "
Unlike Tenchi, his father still had work to do, designs to finish for back in the states...
He'd been working the whole trip over and when he arrived, Washu had a work area ready for him, as requested through the lawyer...
He had missed the big get-to-gether meal for several reasons...
First, because it was Tenchi's time and he didn't want to spoil it...
Second, his brain was crammed with ideas from all he'd seen since getting off the boat and on the trip up to the estate...
He had to get as much as possible down on paper while it was fresh...
Tenchi and the girls understood...
Washu had too, having a tray and a large mug of 'coffee' sent up to his 'studio'...
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Before calling it a night, she and Minaho checked on him, finding him asleep at his desk, on top of sheets of drawings...
When Washu suggested they move him to his bed nearby, Minaho chuckled and said that he spent half his time like that...
Before leaving they put a blanket over him...
As she tucked it in, Minaho leaned over, kissed his up turned cheek and whispered softly...
" Good night, dear... "
As she joined Washu at the door, a low voice replied...
" Nite, Kiyone... "
Washu smiled as Minaho brushed something from the corner of her eye...
Shortly the two were headed down the hall, back to their rooms...
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( London, the club... )
When the Earl entered the front door, the man there took his hat and coat before handing him a number of cards...
The small cards had names and such printed on one side, of people who wish to speak to him on one matter or another...
Some had short notes on the other side, while others were blank, those being people just keeping in touch with him...
Sort of like a greeting as they pass each other on the sidewalk...
However one card had no name, no writing on it...
All it had was a coat-of-arms on it, that of the Queen...
It seem that some one from the palace was waiting him in the special room...
As he headed to the special room a waiter stepped up holding a tray, on it his usual...
Some thing told him he was going to need it...
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( Train Station, Nottingham... )
After the train came to complete stop, a dark figure stepped down the stairs...
A porter followed with a large trunk on wheels...
They stood there a while before crossing the boardwalk to where a number of carriages were waiting...
As they approached the chatting drivers, one of them broke away and met the figure...
It was quite obvious from their dress that the figure were female, but a dark veil hid their face...
Smiling, the driver removed their cap and shook out their hair, allowing their hair to fall to their neck, letting the possible ride know they were female too...
The figure nodded their head and held out a card...
It was one of the Earl of Jurai's cards, with his name, title and 'Jurai Estate'...
The young driver spoke up, even if it might lose a ride...
" If it's the Earl you're wantin', I'm afraid he went down to London the other day with a good part of his staff... Usually indicated he'll be there a while... "
The figure used their other hand to point to the estate part on the card...
Seeing that, the driver led their passenger to their rig...
Several of the other drivers helped get the trunk on the back...
And they were away...
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( London... )
Lord Kagato looked at the note, scribbled in pencil...
One thing the upper classes had was an ability to write legibly or at least to a degree where he didn't have to spend a good deal of time trying to decode a simple message...
This one was from a low-life watching a building where the upper class gathered, including the Earl...
Kagato had been a member before he got caught breaking a rule, trying to over hear a conversation between two other members in the special room...
He had been quietly asked to leave and not return...
What little he had heard had cost him, but he had been able to put it to good use...
However, he had not forgotten or forgiven those who had embarrassed him...
And any get-even list he created would have the Earl's name at the top...
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This low-life was able to get into place even a rat would have trouble...
As such, he was at a ventilation vent when the Earl arrived and was handed a stack of cards...
He wasn't able to write well, but his memory served him well...
And having learned what the cards were and how they were used, just seeing them could provide useful information...
How many, gave an idea of important he was, at the moment...
The number with notes, suggested the possible exchange of data...
And then there was a rare card, like one with a coat-of-arms on it, for only the crown used those...
In all likelihood contact between the Earl and the throne...
Topic?...
The new oil field the Earl recently acquired on the other side of the world was a good possibility...
And all from from observing a stack of paper cards...
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( Nottingham... )
Kiriko Masaki was escorting young Seina Yamada down the sidewalk carefully...
Trying to avoid any groups of people along the way...
It was still early and there were few people on the streets, most locals were at work...
It was the evenings when people went out to do things...
She had arranged to meet some friends at a local eatery and it was just ahead...
So far there had only been a few minor incidents, people bumping into each other and such...
With Seina's luck, that was common place...
She smiled as she saw her friends sitting out side the eatery...
It was then that "luck" left them...
Seina stepped on some small stones and tripped, falling forward...
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It happen so fast Kiriko didn't have a chance to catch him...
Seina flew across the short distance and into a chair at the eatery...
The problem was that the chair was still occupied at the time, by a very attractive young female...
Stunned, it took Seina a moment to discover what had happen and why every thing was suddenly very dark...
It seem that his face was buried in her 'cleavage' or at least the good deal of silks and lace that tended to covered that area...
When Kiriko arrived, she was surprised that the female in question was one of the two friends she'd come here to meet...
While the blonde haired Amane Kaunaq was trying her best not to laugh, her dark haired friend, Ryoko Balta's was not sure how to react to this...
Seeing Kiriko rushing up told them that this had to be the young male with the unusual luck...
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As they were both well know 'Actresses', they both had their share of males trying to get their attention, but this was something new...
Ryoko wasn't sure if the time it was taking to remove his face was accidental or was actually intentional...
And for some reason she kind of liked the idea that it was intentional...
Her friend Amane was having similar thoughts and also wishing she had been the one involved...
Both were of a like mind about if this HAD been intentional, from his innocent act, he could have a fantastic career on the stage...
Managing to recover his balance and stand back up, he was just able to avoid a tongue lashing from Kiriko...
Not daring to speak yet, she just pointed to an empty chair on the other side of a small table from the two females...
Only when he was seated did she dare sit herself...
Seated she took a deep breath and sighed...
Well, THAT could have gone better...
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( the Earl's townhouse... )
The trip to the club had indeed been worth it...
Along with the usual rumors and such, Her Majesty had made contact...
She had been avoiding making contact, in case she was called upon to make a ruling on the case...
However, it seem his heir was only part of it...
It seem they were interested in his possible future plans for his new acquisition, the oil well...
Her majesty would be happy to hear that his plans had put them at the top of his list...
Certain members of the military would be happy too...
But then there was the other message...
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Ever since the first transatlantic cable had gone into service over 40 years before, relations with the new world had greatly improved...
Since the 1700s, an Earl had been involved in some small bit in the London stock market...
Now they could follow the american one too...
Unlike some of his ancestors, he hadn't gotten too involved with ether, his lawyer handled all that...
Then after Lady Washu joined the household, she was given control of all that...
Since then the estate was supported more by her investments than the tenants working the land...
This allowed for better land management and a great improvement in the condition of the estate in general...
As it turned out, Washu had become involved with the american inventor Thomas Alva Edison and it was her improved generators that were 'lighting' up many of the Eastern cities...
And like many other things, the patents for them were in the Earl's name...
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Though he knew of the generators and patents, he had been unaware of just how much they seem to now effected the Americans...
A coded diplomatic message from the American president - one Stephen Grover Cleveland - had inquired into his recent 'heir' problem...
As it was, whoever inherited the position would be thrust in a position of very great power...
There were other steps which could be taken to remove outside influence, but they would tend to effect relations between the two powers...
And that was some thing that nether side wished...
Then there was the fact that while the new 'heir ' was considered British by blood, he was American by birth and as such the president requested an eye be kept on his welfare...
Her majesty had sent a reply that no matter where he was born, upon his assuming the tile of 'heir' they could rest assure that the entire weight of the empire would be brought to protect him...
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( Buckingham Palace... )
The queen was looking over a report that had just arrived from immigration...
It seem that an individual had passed through london docks using a diplomatic passport...
However, do to need to type of passport, no one there was even sure if the person was male or female...
An inquiry at the American embassy only indicated that they had gotten no advance notice of any one of importance coming or had they made themselves know to them...
A coded telegram to the American president returned a " thank you " from the president's wife for letting them know that the 'person in question' had arrived safely...
Nothing else...
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Finally a report arrived that an individual who might fit the mysterious visitor had caught the train north, having acquired a ticket to Newcastle, but getting off in Nottingham...
An inquiry by the local sheriff had produced the individual's destination...
The estate of the Earl of Jurai...
Her majesty smiled...
She would make some inquires of her own later...
It had been a while since she had last spoke with Lady Washu Hakubi...
If need be,
Besides, all this unusual interest in the young heir had raised her interest, also...
It wouldn't be all that difficult to arrange a little excursion...
It would be nice to get out of the palace for a while...
The only question was if they would give advance notice or just show up on the door step, again...
The answer to that was easy and she chuckled...
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( the Jurai Estate... )
For some time the conversation in the library had been mostly general...
Lady Minaho getting reacquainted with family and others, such as Ayeka, Ryoko and Sasami being introduced to an important member of the family they'd only heard of before...
One of the first things she asked was that no one tell her father, the Earl, that she was back - yet...
Every one understood...
About this time Washu announced the a small lunch would be served in the main hall and asked if any one needed to freshen up before hand?...
All eyes turn to the young blonde sitting over to the side, who was looking through a book of wood cut drawings from around the world...
" Mihoshi?... "
Washu sighed as she tried to get her attention...
Looking up, Mihoshi saw that every one was looking at her and she quickly closed the book and set it back on the table where she'd found it...
" I'm sorry... I know I should have asked first... But the pictures were- "
She stopped as she noticed Tenchi stand before her, smiling..
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Tenchi had stood as Washu was making her announcement and when Mihoshi became the center of attention, he quietly walked over to stand near her...
As she began to get nervous and reply, he had held up his hand, stopping her...
" Isn't that what books are for?... "
Washu smiled as Mihoshi suddenly got a dreamy look in her eyes...
She also noted the stern looks other females were now giving her...
Mihoshi almost floated into the air as lord Tenchi took her hand and she stood...
" Washu, could you have some one escort mz. Kuramitsu to her room so she can change before we gather to eat?... "
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Washu watched Mihoshi almost float out the door as Tenchi surrendered Mihoshi's hand to one of the maids...
As the maid lead her out the door, Mihoshi never stopped smiling and looking back at Tenchi...
Washu took note of all the different smiling faces in the room and the two that appeared to be upset for some reason...
Shortly after Mihoshi disappeared to the left, another maid appeared from the right, a dark figure behind them...
Stepping just inside the door, the maid spoke softly...
" Ma, Lord?... There is is a visitor here to see a mr. Masaki... "
Washu stepped forward and spoke up...
" You must mean, LORD Masaki!... "
However a voice from the back of the room spoke up...
" I think she's referring to me, mz. Washu... "
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All eyes turned to the only other male in the room...
Tenchi's father, Nobuyuki Masaki, was standing there smiling and drinking from a small cup...
He chuckled slightly as he held the cup out and one of the maids refilled it...
As the dark figure entered the room, every one could see that it was a female and dressed in black, as if in moaning, veil and all...
There was something about this figure that Washu could not explain...
But before she could inquire, Nobuyuki spoke again...
" Been a while... What brings you across the water?... "
Raising a hand the female lifted the veil, revealing a beautiful face with dark eyes and a wicked smile...
It was Washu who broke the silence...
" You know this female, lord Masaki?... "
He sighed, he'd asked her to call him Nobie, as others did, but she insisted...
" It's been some time, but I should be able to recognize Noike Sakatsu, my dearest older sister... "
This caused a number of jaws to drop...
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To be continued...
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Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...
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