My goodness, we got a long chapter here, folks! Yeesh, I'm tired…

Anyways, I got a new note about the story:

-Kiyone and Mihoshi moved into the Masaki residence a few months ago for reasons you can come up with on your own. Though I'm pretty sure you'd agree that Mihoshi's accidents during their part time jobs made it completely hard for the two of them to keep up with the rent, and yadda yadda yadda.

Other stuff: MAJOR leap in the hits this story is getting. Thank you so much for reading! It's like, whoa, lol!

So, that's it for now, I'll let you know about anything else after you read this chapter, k? K.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Tenchi. I do, however, own this story, so there.

ooooooooooooooooooo

Chapter 3- Near Death Experiences

ooooooooooooooooooo

"AH-CHOO!!!"

Ayeka gave a small box of tissues to Tenchi, who thanked her while rubbing his nose, and willingly grabbed a few sheets before passing it down to Ryoko and Kiyone. The three were sniffling and shivering in their seats with blankets wrapped tightly around themselves, trying to get warm in the comfort of Washu's laboratory. Even though they had changed into much dryer clothing, the freezing temperature from their late night swim, almost forty minutes ago, still lingered throughout their bodies. They had successfully rescued the pilot from the sunken ship in the lake, but now they were worried about his health status.

The room was moderately quiet, save for the electricity running through all of the random wires hanging or laying everywhere and the pink-haired scientist typing wildly at her one-story high computer and monitor. They watched the back of her head anxiously. How was he doing? Was he going to make it? These questions ran through everyone's minds, and they wanted to hear nothing but good news from her. Washu didn't seem worried, but she didn't look calm either. She kept her eyes glued to the monitor, only turning her head every once in a while to check on the man healing in her regeneration chamber.

Sasami entered the lab quietly with a small smile on her face. In her hands was a tray holding a few small white cups of hot steaming green tea. The others looked up and smiled at her thoughtful act. She walked over to where the shivering three were, thinking they probably needed the tea the most. They each grabbed a cup of their own and thanked the girl before taking a sip. Their bodies tingled as they felt the warm liquid slowly run down their throat and rush all over. They enjoyed it.

After Sasami offered one to her sister, who gladly took a cup, she walked over to Washu. The scientist kept on with her typing until the little girl came up to her. She smiled.

"Ah, thank you Sasami…" She said happily, before taking a cup.

"You're welcome!" The girl responded. She looked down at her tray and noticed she had an extra tea cup left. She looked around the room before her eyes rested on Kiyone. "Where did Mihoshi go?"

The exhausted detective sighed and closed her eyes. "Knowing her, she probably went straight to bed."

"If there's one person that should be in bed right now, it should be you Kiyone." Ayeka argued, as Kiyone re-opened her eyes to look at her. "I'm surprised you still have the energy to even stay up after all that has happened…"

"Yea, you were really determined today, Kiyone." Tenchi piped in. Kiyone's cheeks filled with a pink hue from the sudden attention she was getting.

"I'm just… doing my job…" She shyly muttered.

Ryoko slowly scooted closer to Tenchi, taking in his warmth and letting her head rest on his shoulder. She began playfully tracing small circles in his cheek. Ayeka jealously eyed her sudden gesture.

"You know Tenchi, I enjoyed our little night dip in the lake tonight. We should do it again sometime… Just the two of us… without the PJs…" She teased. Tenchi sighed at her failed attempt to try and entice him. He was about to decline when Ayeka bent back in her seat and shoved the space pirate's head off of his shoulder. She held a threatening fist to her.

"Can't you see he's not interested, Ryoko? Lord Tenchi doesn't have the time to be swimming the lake with a frog like you…"

Ryoko rubbed the side of her face before turning back to the princess.

"A frog, you say? Better to be a frog than a poor ugly duckling, Ayeka…"

"Ha! You're one to talk about being poor…"

"Spoiled brat."

"Pig-nosed twit."

"Lying cookie eater!"

"Potato chip stuffer!"

"AHEM!"

The bickering came to a halt, much to everyone else's relief. They all looked at Washu, standing ready to make her announcement. She placed her teacup atop of the console before continuing and folded her hands behind her back.

"To update you all on how our friend here is doing…" She thumbed at the chamber bed. "He suffered a few minor injuries and his breathing pattern is starting to even out. It looks like he's going to be fine thanks to my invention. Just give him a bit of time to heal and he should be fine."

The tension of the room finally lifted.

"Well that's a relief…" Tenchi sighed out. Washu nodded and pointed a finger at them.

"As for you three… don't you DARE scare me like that again! You were under there way too long; what happened?"

Tenchi, Ryoko, and Kiyone looked at each other in question. Who was going to tell the story? The blue haired detective suddenly looked down and scratched her cheek with her finger in thought.

"Well…"

ooooooooooooooooooo

Kiyone looked over the lake's surface from one of the exit doors of Yagami. Her pony tail blew behind her like a cape in the wind as she held on tight to the doorframe. Not a lot of things ran through her mind when she looked down; only her set goal of rescuing the pilot. She could barely make out the shrinking shadow of the black ship a few hundred meters under her. She took in a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing…"

She jumped off and dove head first straight into the icy depths, taking on the full impact of the transition from air to water. The crash hit her harder than she expected, blinding her momentarily. She shook it off and blinked away the pain. Now… where was that ship…? Her turquoise eyes took a moment to adjust to the darker and much blurrier settings.

There right in front of her was a trail of bubbles floating to the top. She swam to it. Sure enough, there was the black ship right under the trail, and it seemed to have already reached the bottom. The lights were still on inside, but from where she was, she couldn't find the pilot. She descended further.

She curiously looked through one of the windows. It was a complete mess inside; most of the stuff was now on one side because of the slight angle the ship landed on. Books, clothes, food… all against the control panel. Upon closer inspection, she found a body lying still underneath all the rubbish. Water was spewing from the cracks and crevices in the walls and door; she needed to get him out before the inside filled up. But how to get in…

From her experience trying to blast the ship earlier with Yagami, it looked like her laser gun wasn't going to work against the metal. And since she was underwater, her shots would lose heat easily and be even more useless. She went for her trusty GP yo-yo on her belt instead. Looping it around her finger, she swam back a few feet to gain some momentum in her throw. She pulled her arm back, and then threw the yo-yo like a frisbee at the window. It sliced through the water just as easily as it would in the air. The window crashed open successfully from the force. She retracted the yo-yo and clipped it back onto her belt before she swam into the new opening.

She kicked away some of the glass before entering, so that she wouldn't cut herself as she pushed herself in. Lucky that the window's size was big enough for her, she swam in and fell on the floor, as more water poured over her and into the ship. Her chest heaved in and out heavily as she lay there. Any longer in the water and she could've drowned. She rolled off to her side to avoid anymore water. Her shoulder ran over something and she turned her head to see what it was. A foot? She slowly looked up and found herself looking at Ryoko smirking down at her with an outstretched hand.

"Liking the view from down there, officer?" She asked. Kiyone returned the smirk before grabbing hold of her hand. Ryoko pulled her up to her feet. Kiyone looked at her confused.

"How did you…?"

"Swam a bit, then teleported inside." Ryoko simplified. She looked passed the broken window. "Ah, there he is…"

Kiyone turned back to the window and saw Tenchi squeezing through the hole she made. He fell the same way she did, but got up from the floor quicker. He patted himself down and grinned.

"We're here to help, Kiyone." He smirked. She nodded at him.

"Thanks guys."

She strode over to where the pilot was and pulled off all the stuff that was on him. Ryoko and Tenchi followed suit. After they cleared out the stuff, they took a closer look at him. The man had a concentrated look on his face, with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth slightly opened. Kiyone carefully placed two fingers under his neck to check if he still had a pulse.

'Good; he's still alive…' She thought. "Ryoko, do you think you can quickly search the ship for a space suit or an air tank or something? He might have one around somewhere…"

"Sure thing." She looked around and found a stairway leading downstairs on the opposite side of the room. She headed there first.

"Tenchi, help me lift this guy up, he's pretty heavy…" Kiyone hoisted the man's right arm over her shoulder while Tenchi grabbed hold of his left arm. They slowly lifted his body up; his head hung low and his feet dragged behind. They carried his body close to the window and door to prepare for their escape. Tenchi looked over at Kiyone and found she was breathing heavily again and was struggling to keep one eye open. Not having any food in her stomach was really starting to show its affects on her.

"Hey, are you doing okay?" He asked, concerned. "Let me carry him by myself; you need to regain your strength."

Kiyone smirked and shook her head. "Thanks, but don't worry about me, Tenchi; I'll be fine."

He let out a small laugh. Trying to argue with a stubborn woman was useless. "Heh, if you say so…"

Ryoko came back up the stairs, looking much wetter and much more serious.

"No good; the place is filled with water and I can't find any suits for him to use." She reported. "Guess we'll just have to carry him out without any air supply."

"Think we can make it to the surface fast enough?" Tenchi asked Kiyone, who wasn't sure how to answer that. Ryoko eyed them and held her chin in thought.

"Hmm… I can get him up there faster than you two, that's for sure… give him here." She said confidently. She walked over and grabbed the arm Tenchi was supporting. She pulled him away from Kiyone and hoisted most of his body weight onto her back. Then she looked at the door to the exit.

"Blasting it isn't going to work; the metal from the outside is just going to deflect it." Kiyone informed her, as if she knew Ryoko was going to do just that.

"Huh. A little kick is all we need then…"

She stepped forward and lifted her leg. With a loud yell, she kicked the door down with the super-human strength of her foot. A huge wave came crashing in to fill up the rest of the water-less space, catching all them off guard as they slipped off their feet. Ryoko was the first to retaliate as she held on tight to the man and flew out of the new opening as fast as she could. Tenchi and Kiyone quickly caught themselves and swam right behind her.

Ryoko underestimated the man's weight in the water and found he was holding her down. If only she could free her arms then it could be easier, she thought. The man started cringing as he let out a few air bubbles, and allowed some water to enter his airways. She put in more effort into her flight through the water. First thing's first; save him now, whine later.

The space pirate broke through the surface and flew up high into the air. She coughed out a huge wad of water and tried to catch her breath. Okay, that was TOO close! She realized she sucked in some water on accident from when she kicked the door down. Hopefully the others didn't experience the same problem. She quickly looked over her shoulder. The man started coughing violently, as his body was naturally trying to get rid of what water he inhaled. He continued for a few more seconds, and moaned in pain, before finally calming down. She looked at him.

"Doin' okay there buddy?" She asked. He didn't respond.

'Hmm, he seems fine… but I better take him to Washu just in case…' She thought. A few splashes and coughing caught her attention and she looked down underneath her feet. Tenchi and Kiyone made it to the surface safely. She waved at them.

"Hey! Let me drop this guy off with Washu! I'll come back for you guys!" She yelled.

"Okay then!" Tenchi yelled back, waving an arm to her.

With that, she re-adjusted the weight on her back and flew towards the shore, where the others waited patiently for their return…

ooooooooooooooooooo

Half an hour later after Kiyone told the story, Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, and Sasami decided to call it a night and finally retreat to their rooms where their soft, warm beds awaited them. It was indeed a long chaotic night and everyone was exhausted. Hopefully by sunrise, the man they had rescued would have come to. They all said their goodnights to each other and quietly left Washu's lab, all except Kiyone who stayed behind. She felt embarrassed for keeping the woman up longer. She held her blanket tightly as she approached the scientist.

"Um… Washu…" She started. Washu continued typing, but acknowledged her presence with a small hum. Kiyone continued. "I'm sorry I called you so late… and for getting you involved in this…"

Washu stopped what she was doing and slightly turned her head to look at her. "Kiyone… you made me ruin my beauty sleep…" She said annoyingly; Kiyone wasn't sure how to answer that. Then she fully faced her.

"However, you've managed to keep Mihoshi from touching my things lately, so I'll think of it as returning a favor." She smiled. Kiyone let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Thank you." She bowed, but looked up again. "And um… there's one more thing…" She trailed off. Washu closed her eyes and smirked. She promptly got out of her seat and began walking away; most likely to go off to bed. She put a hand up as she walked.

"The extra futon's near the door…" Washu said nonchalantly. Kiyone's smile grew, happy that she understood her situation. She didn't have to put up trying sleep with Mihoshi's loud snoring tonight! She bowed graciously to the scientist before turning on her heel. As she was walking, the green glow of the regeneration chamber suddenly caught her eye. She stopped.

The chamber looked like a thin bed, much like the one Grandfather Katsuhito (or better known as Yosho) had used when he was injured by Kagato the year before. It still had a glass covering over it, but now it included a cushion to provide more comfort to the user. Kiyone slowly walked over, curiosity getting the better of her. Inside was the pilot; hands to his sides and feet together. His blue boots were gone and she noticed he still had the same clothes on. But they looked dry to her; it was probably the chamber's doing.

She took a step closer and inspected him. His raven hair was in the middle of being ruffled and spiked, and his face looked a lot calmer now, as if he was just sleeping. She could see his eyes moving side to side underneath his eyelids; it meant he was dreaming so he probably was doing okay. Her eyes slowly drifted to his torso. She blushed. It didn't occur to her just how muscular he was. He wasn't 'mass destruction' buff, nor was he 'scrawny' buff. He was… just right. The heat rose into her cheeks more.

'Mihoshi was right… he is kinda cute…' She thought, referring to when Mihoshi had described him earlier on the chase. She shook out of her day dream and began walking away, scared to imagine what other thoughts could come up if she stayed any longer. It was late enough as it was, and she needed to get some shut eye. Her head turned slightly to the chamber's direction. She smirked. Though she wasn't one to judge a book by its cover, she'll admit, she was looking forward to meeting this man…

ooooooooooooooooooo

Later that night, or early morning, small footsteps tip toed quietly down the wooden stairs of the Masaki household, taking extra precaution not to make a single sound that would wake anyone up… that is, until the person lost their footing, let out a yelp, and crashed down the stairs until they smacked face first into the floor. Mihoshi groaned in pain as tears began to swell up her eyes. She sat up like a small child, rubbing away tears and waited for someone to pick her up and kiss away the 'boo boo'. She sniffed and propped herself back up.

"Kiyone… where are you, Kiyone…" She whimpered. The troubled woman had woken up from her sleep feeling thirsty and hungry. It was then she noticed her roommate was not in the room in her usual sleeping spot and it worried her greatly. She went into the kitchen first to look for her. What better place to start than the fridge, right? She looked over her options; leftover noodles, shrimp tempura, a weird pink glowing blob with a 'DO NOT EAT' sign on it… what to choose, what to choose…

"Mihoshi?"

The blonde jumped back in surprise and fell on her bottom. She rubbed her backside before looking up. It was Sasami. She held a small pink blanket over her shoulders with one hand, and the other was resting firmly on her hips. Her bare foot was tapping the floor impatiently, trying to figure out what the grown woman was doing at this time.

"Oh! Sasami! What are you doing up?"

"I heard a crash and I came down to look…it was you, huh?" She asked. Mihoshi grinned and scratched the back of her head. "It's late, what are you doing?"

"Hehe, well, I was going to get a drink of water, but then I saw Kiyone wasn't sleeping in our room. So I went down here to find her, but then I got kinda hungry and then…well… here I am!" She giggled.

Sasami thought for a moment. Kiyone wasn't in her room? Then where did she…? Sasami's eyes widened.

Oh.

She was there. Kiyone secretly told her about those times where she'd sleep in Washu's lab because it was the one place she constantly told Mihoshi to stay out of. Sasami thought it was to help Washu from not being bothered, but she knew Kiyone wasn't that selfish. She was probably doing a 'Kill two birds with one stone' deal. Smart move. She started laughing nervously.

"Heh heh heh, well I hope you got what you wanted to eat, Mihoshi! We'd better go back to sleep now…" Sasami picked up the klutzy woman off the floor and pushed her out of the kitchen, towards the staircase.

"But what about Kiyo--"

"Oh don't worry about her, she, um… probably went out for a walk!"

"At four in the morning…?"

"Uh… you know how she likes her strolls; early and… dark… heh heh…?"

"Okay, if you say so…"

Mihoshi let out a huge yawn before heading back up the stairs. Sasami stayed in her place at the foot and watched go until she was out of sight. The sound of a door sliding shut echoed through the hall. She let out a sigh.

'Taking a stroll at this time? Oh boy… I need to come up with better excuses.' The girl sweat dropped and scratched her head. 'Ah, now I can't go to sleep…'

She looked around and tried to find something useful to do. It was much too early to begin breakfast, and she wasn't into watching TV as much as Ayeka or Ryoko. Maybe she should go out for a walk? She shook her head; too dark, too cold. Her eyes lingered around and found the door to Washu's lab. Not a lot of people were allowed free access into her lab, unless it was really important. But Sasami was one of the few people that had grown onto the little scientist and fully trusted when it came to exploring her lab. One day she told Sasami that she was allowed to enter anytime she pleased. The blue haired girl never took advantage of the offer, only going in to fetch Washu to eat or if she was called in by her. This time though, she felt like going in for fun.

She walked over and opened the door hesitantly; she didn't want to go in if Washu was working. The room was quite empty; there wasn't any typing going on so she assumed Washu went off to bed. She stepped inside, quietly closed the door behind her, and looked around in awe. Was the room really that big? The ceiling seemed to never end, and she could see what looked to be miles upon miles of inventions in front of her. As much as she'd like to explore, she knew better than to just wander around aimlessly in this place. Especially in the dark with no one around.

A faint snoring caught her attention. She looked to her far right to see what it was. She smiled.

There was Kiyone, sleeping peacefully on the futon. She was having a good sleep, judging by the peaceful smile that was on her face. Sasami inwardly giggled. 'That's what happens when she knows Mihoshi's not around!' She noticed she was still shivering a little bit, even with the blanket she had around her. The girl walked over and decided to surrender her blanket to hopefully warm her up. She draped it over the upper part of her body, careful enough to not wake her up. For a moment, Kiyone shifted in her sleep. Sasami froze. The older woman mumbled something in her sleep, but Sasami couldn't make it out. She slowly backed away to keep from being discovered.

She made it a good fifteen feet away from the deep sleeper. As she turned around, her foot got caught in the stray wires and she suddenly lost her balance. She clenched her teeth, to keep from making a noise, and prepared for the fall that was to come.

Except, it didn't come. Her back was leaning against something… warm? She looked down; there were bare feet. Uh oh.

Sasami gulped. Her head slowly turned around, scared to find out who it was. Her eyes widened.

"Mi-Mihoshi?!?"

The blonde woman had her back towards her, with her finger resting on her lips and looking around. It seemed she didn't notice the small figure resting on her back until she was called. She looked down curiously.

"Oh, Sasami! What are you doing here?" She asked. Sasami fell the other way. That reaction was just… beyond her control. She quickly recovered and her face was in the midst of confusion. For one she was scared. Where the heck did she come from, how did she get in without being noticed, AND how did she not notice getting bumped?! Sasami pouted for a while. Mihoshi looked at her, waiting for an answer.

Sasami blinked. "I was uh…" Her mind jumbled with different excuses, but hen she spotted the tea cup on Washu's console. "I was going to… pick up Washu's tea cup! I forgot I needed to… wash… it…?"

Mihoshi looked in the direction Sasami was looking at. Her grinned widened.

"Let me get that for you!" She offered. "It's a good thing I came in here while Kiyone was out! You know, she never lets me in here, and now I can explore, hehe!"

The Jurian slapped a hand onto her face. She knew she should've thought of a different excuse…

'Well, as long as she doesn't break anything…' Sasami thought.

Mihoshi skipped over happily to the console and looked inside the cup.

"oOoOo… there's still some tea inside…" She took the cup and held it to her lips. "Waste not, want not!"

As she was about to drink the remaining half of the tea, she suddenly looked at Washu's monitor and gasped.

"No way! She has the unreleased, uncut DVD of my favorite TV show!!" She awed. She immediately went straight to pressing random buttons on Washu's keyboard, seeing as there isn't a mouse for her to work with. Completely distracted with trying to play the show, she forgot what she was going to do and dropped the tea cup. The liquid spilled all over the keys and sunk all through the crevices, short circuiting what expensive equipment Washu had built. Mihoshi shrieked and jumped back as the keyboard started sparking dangerously.

"U-U-Uh… that doesn't look good…"

The left side of the console suddenly blew up into a bright red and smoky explosion. Mihoshi and Sasami yelled and covered their eyes from the debris. The computer started wailing out a loud siren, giving the signal that its explosion was just the beginning for something big that was to come. Sasami's eyes grew wide.

Mihoshi quickly turned around and made a run towards the door. "Let's get out of here Sasami!!!" Her experience from her constant chases from Kiyone had shown itself as she made a mad dash towards the exit. Yet, her ability to watch her own feet along the way have utterly failed her as her two left feet ran into one another, making her fall flat onto the floor in front of Sasami. She lay on the floor unconscious with a dizzy look on her face and some slight drool oozing out of her mouth.

Sasami couldn't even remember what Mihoshi said to her; she was too surprised with what was going on. She tried to move to help Mihoshi, but realized her foot was still stuck. The wires around her foot had tied itself tightly around her ankle from the two times she almost fell before. Her heart started racing as she tried to untangle herself.

"Sasami!!"

The girl turned her head at the call of her name. Kiyone was running towards her as fast as she could with the most worried look on her face. Unfortunately, since she just woke up, her limbs were stiff from not enough stretching, making it harder for her to run. She pulled a Mihoshi, tripping over her own foot and falling over. She gasped as gravity did what it did best to pull her down and slide across the floor from her running momentum.

"Kiyone help! My foot's stuck!" Sasami yelled. Kiyone struggled to rise up from her spot.

'Dammit, I'm still so tired from not eating and from rescuing that guy…' She thought.

The detective recovered quickly, using whatever energy she had left in her to run. Another part of the console burst into a black and orangey explosion. Its blast was bigger than the last and it almost threw Kiyone back a few feet. She growled in persistence. She kept her ground as she blocked what debris was thrown at her and fought her way towards Sasami. The sirens around her grew louder and the tempo of it grew faster and faster. Adrenaline rushed within her; she knew there was only a little bit of time left before the computer completely exploded into bits.

She finally reached the girl and started pulling at the cords that trapped her foot. There was no plan in her mind; just pure improvisation and hoping luck was on her side once again. Sasami yelped in pain when she tugged on the wrong wires. Kiyone apologized and took a moment to hear the sirens amongst the chaos of metal ripping and glass shattering. She cursed; there was no way she could carry both Sasami and Mihoshi out of there in time.

Her mind finally made a decision. She got up and dragged Mihoshi's body in front of Sasami, then positioned herself the behind the girl, with her back facing the computer. She wrapped her arms protectively around the Jurian. Sasami looked up at her.

'No…' She thought. 'She's going to try and protect us!'

Kiyone looked down at her. "Hold on to Mihoshi!" She instructed. The girl looked at her a few seconds more before she nodded and took the unconscious blonde in her arms. In that moment of time, she worried for Kiyone's life. The metal burst into bits, sparks flew like fireflies at night, as the siren's tempo had finally grew into one long and solid wail. Kiyone held onto Sasami tighter.

"Don't worry Sasami, I've got you!" She reassured her. Sasami closed her eyes and tucked herself within the secure embrace of the older woman. She shook in fear as the computer grew louder with an eerie white glow, but prepared herself nonetheless.

All felt lost as Kiyone sat there, wide open for direct damage. But it didn't matter to her, as long as the other two were safe, she would be fine. She too closed her eyes as she heard the monitor begin to crack from the pressure being built up inside.

The huge monitor finally burst into an enormous explosion, sending the millions of broken glass shards and metal pieces flying in all directions. Sasami held in her scream and Kiyone stiffened, awaiting the pieces to stab her mercilessly in the back. How bad was it going to be, she thought, letting her imagination run wild with gory images of her soon-to-be murdered back.

A gust of wind suddenly blew over her, and she felt a warm presence fall over her back. Whatever it was, it stopped the debris from hitting her. She thought it was from the computer, but found it was something else as the thing behind her took in a sharp intake of breath. Glass continued to rain over them, and the computer had ceased with the wailing. The scene started to quiet down considerably, with smoke just fuming out of the now destroyed computer. Kiyone opened her eyes and looked in her arms. Sasami was just opening her eyes and Mihoshi looked to be fine in her unconscious state… so then who…?

"You girls okay?"

Kiyone stiffened again. That didn't sound like Tenchi…

She turned her head and found herself looking into the face of a smirking man. Her mind quickly recognized him as the pilot that was supposed to be out cold in the chamber.

His black hair was longer than Tenchi's, a few strands lazily fell over his eyes. She looked into them for a moment and felt as though she could get lost in them. His body overshadowed her, with arms outstretched, and pieces of glass and metal fell from his shoulders. He looked down at her, still waiting for an answer.

Kiyone blinked and returned the smirk. Luck was definitely on her side today. Sasami looked up at the new voice and smiled widely.

"Wow! Did you protect us?" She asked. The man straightened up and shook off the remaining debris from his back. He grinned at her sheepishly.

"Heh, I tried! Did any of you get hurt?" He asked again. Sasami shook her head.

"Nope, we're fine!" She answered. Kiyone looked from Sasami to the man, grateful for what he did. She nodded to him.

"Yes, thank you so much, mister…?"

The man smiled warmly before extending a hand to her.

"Gohan… Call me Gohan."

She whole heartedly took it. "I'm Kiyone."

ooooooooooooooooooo

Ah, okay, news, news, news…

In the next few days I'll be very busy with family reunions and college stuff, so at the earliest, the next update will probably come in next week, or in two weeks; it depends.

Again, please review, I'd really appreciate it because I enjoy hearing from you all. Many thanks, and I'll see ya when I see ya!

-signoRINA