Chapter Six
"And so the madness spreads."
Ryoko gazed down at the barren city streets, her heart heavy as she settled herself more securely on her perch atop the apartment building roof. As she watched, she saw people hurry down the road, disappearing into buildings with an anxious glance behind them as they bolted the doors behind them. The morning's papers had been full of the latest news - and Ryoko had gathered at a glance that the local police had very little to go on.
"No explanation for the earth folk." She said with a sigh. "Just the same story, round and round in circles. An alien came, he attacked the club, and another alien flew to the rescue. The Earth is being invaded, starting with Osaka. Maybe they're here already. Maybe there are more of them. Maybe the Earth is already in peril."
She frowned, kicking idly against the brickwork below her. "I should never have come to Osaka. Tenchi was right to be nagging me. I did let my instincts get the better of me and now I've caused all this madness. But I don't see what else I could have done about it. Washu had a point - that guy came for Tenchi, not for me. And whatever he did come for, there's been no sign of a second attempt yet. So maybe Washu's other theory holds water too. The question is, what was the real reason for him coming here? He must know that Tenchi is a Prince of Jurai, and noone at the Galaxy Police would be that brazen unless they knew they had powerful support behind them. Unless he wasn't really a Galaxy Police officer at all. Maybe it was all some kind of trick. I wish I knew more."
She clenched her fists, staring up at the sky.
"And I wish I had Ryo Ohki here in Osaka with me." She added. "Even if it did make more people talk. I could take her and fly far from here until it all died down and everyone forgot about Tenchi's weird girlfriend Ryoko."
She grimaced, blurring her form as she teleported down to the empty streets below.
"This place was so busy a few days ago." She remembered. "But now it's becoming a ghost town. Noone wants to spend time out of their houses, just because of one reported alien sighting. Noone even has any pictures of me or of Seiryo - it's all hearsay. But sometimes, I suppose, that's the quickest type of news to spread."
She walked slowly down the streets, pausing to glance in at the windows of some of the nearby shops as she did so. Occasionally she caught the eye of someone inside, but more often than not the shutters were pulled down in a futile attempt to defend the property from any unworldly attack. Someone had sprayed the message, "Go Home Aliens" on a wall at the end of the road, and Ryoko bit her lip, walking stolidly past it as she turned into the main high street.
"I wish I'd thought to ask Tenchi where his university was." She muttered. "Then I could at least save myself a walk to get there. I think the sooner we get out of this creepy place the better. At least while people haven't got to the point of positively identifying me."
She sighed.
"And then there's Yume." She remembered. "Is she really on our side, or is she spying on us for her father? I wish I knew. Earthlings are strange. They don't seem to say what they mean, and they freak out at the least thing. You never know who your friends really are...I never realised that before. That it's all one big social pretence, just like on Jurai. It's just done in a different way, that's all."
She grimaced, rubbing her temples.
"Is there any damn planet in this universe where people don't judge you as soon as look at you?" She asked herself bitterly. "And am I ever going to go anywhere where they don't think I'm a demon and a witch if I use my magic? Even the Juraians thought I was evil because of what I could do. No wonder Tenchi was so hot on me keeping it a secret while we were here. I had no idea Earthlings were like this. They always seemed to be so nice...so accepting. But I guess that's just Tenchi's family. Figures."
"Ryoko Hakubi!"
At the sound of her name, Ryoko froze, her body instinctively tensing as her gaze flitted from one side of the road to the other, trying to locate the speaker. She could see noone, but the sound of footsteps behind her told her that whoever it was had snuck up on her from behind and, half-expecting to see the Galaxy Policeman in all his regalia, she whipped around, raising her hands from her sides as she poised herself to strike. As she did so, however, surprise flooded her features, followed by consternation. A man stood there, dressed in an unfamiliar, heavily armoured uniform, with a gun in his hand and a determined expression on his face.
"You're surrounded." He said quietly, and from every corner and nook along the high street similarly garbed officers materalised into view. "I suggest you don't try any funny tricks, or sudden movements."
"What do you want with me?" Ryoko whet her lips, glancing from the captain to his accompanying officers as she realised that every window in the street was now occupied by the curious and frightened faces of the local population.
"Raise your hands above your head." The officer spoke softly, jerking his weapon in her direction. "Nice and slowly. I told you...no sudden movements. My men are trained to kill if necessary."
Slowly Ryoko did as she was bidden, and at a gesture from the man in charge, two of the officers approached her, weapons still unsheathed as they grabbed her by the arms, slipping cold metal cuffs around her wrists.
"We have some questions we'd like to ask you." There was a nasty glint in the officer's lilac eyes. "I suggest you come with us."
Ryoko bit her lip, for a split-second debating whether or not to risk using her magic in front of so many witnesses. At length, however, she sighed heavily, putting up no resistance as she was led away to a waiting patrol car and pushed roughly into the back seat. An officer clambered in beside her, his gun still trained on her, and the car set off across the city at pace. Ryoko glanced at the speeding scenery, her heart in her throat.
"Where are you taking me?" She asked.
"To be interrogated." Her companion told her gruffly. "We want to know exactly what happened the night of the club fire. We've been told you were there - by a lot of witnesses. Don't even think of trying anything! We intend to get to the bottom of this."
"There's nothing to get to the bottom of." Ryoko said frankly, fighting the urge to lose her temper and blow the car to pieces. "I was at the club, and someone started a fire. There were some explosions and a lot of gas. What has that to do with me?"
"Don't lie." The officer's eyes narrowed to slits, and Ryoko felt the gun pushed up against her ribcage. "We know what you are. You needn't expect mercy...our people are trained to deal with threats like you."
"Threats...like me?" Ryoko stared. The man flickered his eyes upwards.
"From outside." He said flatly.
Ryoko frowned, sitting back in her seat as she digested this. Her companion, seeming to believe he had subdued any potential insurrection also sat back, and the sensation of the gun-barrel was withdrawn from her ribs. Before long the vehicle pulled up outside a big, official looking building, many flags of different colours flying across the front entrance, and Ryoko found herself man-handled out of the car, forcibly led inside the building and through a long, narrow corridor to a tiny room at the very end. As she surveyed it, Ryoko's blood ran cold. However unfamiliar the location, she knew a prison cell when she saw one.
"Yes, you won't be blowing anyone up in here." Her companion seemed to relish her sudden uncertainty, giving her a violent shove into the room, forcing her down into one of the chamber's only two metal seats and fastening her wrists to the arms of the chair. He turned to the man behind him, saluting him sharply.
"She's all yours, sir."
"Good work, officer. Your tip paid off...I'll see you're rewarded."
"Just doing my duty, sir."
"At ease, officer - you may leave Miss Hakubi with me."
A tall, well-dressed man entered into the cell, indicating for the other officer to step outside and to close the door. He was as heavily armed and uniformed as his companion, but the pips across his shoulders indicated that he was of higher rank, and as he sat down in the seat opposite her, Ryoko was aware of the faint smell of tobacco on his breath.
For a moment he eyed her thoughtfully, his beady eyes running over her as he did so. Then he offered her a cold smile.
"Well. You're a lot prettier than the last prisoner I interrogated." He said quietly. Anger sparked in Ryoko's golden eyes.
"Keep your eyes and your thoughts to yourself." She snapped. "Who are you and why have you brought me here? What, exactly, am I supposed to have done? And how did you know my name?"
"You are Ryoko Hakubi?" The man regarded her carefully. "That's correct?"
"Who wants to know?"
"I do." The man leant forward, and Ryoko could feel his fetid breath on her cheeks. She turned her face away, and was aware of his amused laughter echoing around the cold metal room.
"We can make this easy or we can make it hard." He continued conversationally. "I already know your name...but it would be nice if you would confirm it for me yourself. It will save us both a lot of time."
Ryoko eyed him warily for a moment, her lips thinning. At length she nodded her head.
"My name is Ryoko." She said quietly.
"And you were present at the fire at the nightclub earlier in the week?"
"Me and about a hundred other people."
"Don't play games." The man shook his head. "I have the power to order your immediate execution, if you refuse to cooperate. Your kind are not welcome here."
"My...kind?" Ryoko stared at him. The man smiled benignly.
"Outsiders." he whispered. "Enough of the tricks, Ryoko. You don't exist. There isn't a single Earth record that bears the name Ryoko Hakubi. And yet, here you are. Funny, isn't it?"
"But..."
"And many people cited your unusual talents during the club fire." The man cut across her, his eyes narrowing. "You would do as well to answer me straight and save yourself a lot of pain and misery. Where are you from? Who sent you to this planet? Why are you here? What mischief do you hope to cause by infiltrating our society?"
"That's a lot of questions for a man who looks as stupid as you." Ryoko retorted coldly.
Her captor banged his hands down hard on the table.
"Answer me, or I will have you killed on the spot!" He exclaimed. Ryoko's eyes glittered with contempt as she shook her head.
"You don't know anything about me." She said softly. "And you're playing a very dangerous game, assuming that you do. My name is Ryoko and this planet is my home. It's where I belong, and that's all I'm going to tell you about me. Nobody sent me to do anything. I don't work for anyone. I work for myself and I have no agenda. I just want to be left alone. The other night, I only sought to help those who were already in danger - if you want to chase someone down, chase down Seiryo Tennan. He's the one who set fire to your precious club. Not me."
"So you admit that you are not of this Earth? That you possess other-worldly powers and that you could, potentially, cause harm to those around you by taking it upon yourself to play the vigilante?" The man's eyes gleamed. Ryoko sighed, shaking her head.
"Your weapons are useless against me." She said quietly, clenching her fists and pulling them upwards, bending and warping the metal cuffs until they snapped under her pressure. She rubbed her wrist absently, pursing her lips.
"As are your restraints. If I wanted to hurt people on this planet, I would have already done so. I have no interest in fighting with you. Your planet is full of weak people who believe they're stronger and more important in the universe than they actually are. There are any number of super-powers who might choose to invade this world, but I don't belong to any of them. Earth is a backwater. Believe me, there are many better places that invading forces would seek to infiltrate."
Her captor's eyes widened and he fumbled with the radio on his belt, but Ryoko flicked a finger in it's direction, watching with little pleasure as it fizzled and died.
"I'm not going to hurt you." She said frankly. "But I think you should know that your pathetic attempt at a prison cell can't hold me. The Galaxy Police couldn't even keep me confined for long. Without their technology, you haven't a hope of keeping someone like me in custody. So if you don't mind, this has been very nice and all, but I have somewhere I'd rather be right now. And it isn't here."
Before her companion could react, she closed her eyes, focusing all her thoughts on the apartment in Osaka as the world blurred and changed around her. The exclamation of the officer faded into nothing as she opened her eyes, taking a deep breath as she took in the familiar surroundings of Tenchi's front room. She sighed, putting a hand to her chest as she gathered her composure. Then she hurried into Tenchi's bedroom, rifling through the top drawer of his cabinet until she found his plan of the city. Unfolding it, she spread it out on his bedcovers, running her gaze over it until she found what she was looking for.
"He knew way too much about me for it to be coincidence. I knew I should have been more suspicious of Yume." She muttered. "I bet she was behind this. And I need to get to Tenchi and warn him before he gets pulled into this as well. Osaka is no longer a safe place to be...and the sooner we get out of here, the better!"
------
The university campus seemed emptier than usual.
Tenchi glanced around him, a frown touching his features as he searched for the right queue to join. Registration was normally a merry, playful affair, with friends renewing their acquaintances and new students milling around the centre, confused by all the different signs. But today he had the sense that he was attending some kind of a wake. Those students who were there walked together in close knit groups, whispering in low tones to one another as they cast nervous glances to either side. A few of them stopped to stare at him as he made his way up to his desk, and his frown deepened as he overheard snippets of their conversation.
"He's the one." One girl murmured. "The one in the club...the one the alien was coming to get."
"Do you really think there are aliens in Osaka?" Her friend asked. The first girl cast another glance at Tenchi, then shrugged her shoulders.
"He came in a spaceship." She said frankly. "I'm telling you - they're here."
Tenchi turned his back on the women, setting his lips in a grim line as he made his way up to the desk. The man on duty cast him a smile.
"Name?" He asked.
"Masaki, Tenchi." Tenchi said quietly. The man skimmed down his list, marking the name off, and pushing a bunch of forms forward for Tenchi to sign. Tenchi glanced at them, scrawling his signature at the bottom of each one without really taking in their contents. Last year, he mused bitterly, he had been with Hiroshi and the others when they had signed up for the new year of classes. This year he was alone, and despite the fact there were other students bent on the same errand, he felt pointedly isolated.
Setting down his pen, he headed away from the table, ignoring the pushing, shoving lower year students that stared at him wide-eyed as he did so.
"This year is going to be a nightmare unless they find some kind of explanation for what happened the other night." He muttered. "Or unless I get to the bottom of it and make sure the Earth isn't going to have any more random raids. This has gotten crazy...out of hand. One little incident has been blown out of all proportion! It's even made the national news...I wonder if it's gone global yet. It wouldn't surprise me. The more the police drag their feet on what evidence they've found and the more eye witnesses that come forward, the bigger the hysteria gets. I hate this. Why don't people get a grip? I didn't react this way when I first found out there were people living on other planets."
He paused, rubbing his chin ruefully as he sat down on the outside wall, idly watching the crowds of students entering and leaving the university grounds.
"In fact, considering the damage Ryoko did to the house, I think I took the whole thing pretty well."
"Masaki-kun!"
The sound of his name made him turn and he glanced up, a shadow touching his expression as he recognised Hiroshi, Sakura in tow. He frowned, shaking his head.
"I was just heading back." He began, getting to his feet, but Sakura put her hand on his arm, concern in her gaze.
"Tenchi, don't run away from us." She said softly. "We're your friends, aren't we? Talk to us."
"Talk to you?" Tenchi raised an eyebrow, sinking back down onto the wall. "I wasn't aware that you'd talked to me since the other night! My phone isn't off the hook, you know - who's not talking to whom?"
"We thought you'd gone back to the mountains." Hiroshi exchanged guilty looks with his companion. "And to tell you the truth, Tenchi, we didn't know what we might find if we called by your place. Everything was a bit out of this world the other night and well, we're trying to process it rationally but it's difficult. You have to realise that. I mean, hell, she flew!"
Tenchi met his gaze levelly, shrugging his shoulders.
"And that bothers you?" He asked quietly. "When she saved your life and Sakura's life and many many others by interfering?"
"What are you mixed up in, Tenchi-kun?" Sakura asked gently, sitting down on the wall beside him. "You can trust us. We want to help you."
"I don't need any help. And I'm not mixed up in anything."
"Masaki, he knew your name." Hiroshi said patiently. "That guy...whatever he was...he came to Osaka looking for you. Now, I didn't get a good look at his...transport. But Sakura and Kane did and they both said it was some kind of craft...a spaceship. Whoever he was and wherever he came from, it wasn't Osaka, and he meant business. Seemed pretty much like you were it."
"I never saw him before in my life." Tenchi sighed heavily, shaking his head. "I swear!" As Hiroshi raised an eyebrow. "I don't know who he is or why he came looking for me. That's the honest truth. He must have made a mistake."
"Some mistake." Sakura said fervently. "The club was totalled. Completely burnt out. The police have no leads and he just disappeared out of existance somehow. What else but some kind of extra-terrestrial ship could do that?"
"I have no idea." Tenchi shrugged.
Sakura's eyes narrowed, and she grasped Tenchi loosely by the arm.
"But you did know that Ryoko could do those things she did, when she flew and...the other stuff." She said softly. "Didn't you?"
Tenchi did not trust himself to answer. Instead he lifted his head, glancing up at the clear blue sky. Hiroshi sighed.
"You might as well be straight with us." He said at length. "You know that there are a lot of people looking for her."
"Looking for her?" Tenchi stared at him, alarm in his dark eyes. "How do you mean, looking for her?"
"What I say." Hiroshi spread his hands. "She's the only lead they have to go on and while they've tried to dismiss what happened as mass hysteria, there are too many correlating eye witness accounts for them to completely ignore it."
"But why would they know where to find her?" Suspicion flickered in Tenchi's heart, and Sakura sighed.
"There are a lot of people that heard your mysterious invader refer to her by name." She said quietly. "And more who can give a physical description. It wasn't us, Tenchi, but to be honest, that's only because we weren't asked. I think that you're in over your head and that this femme fatale of yours is potentially dangerous. She's pretty enough, and I know you guys go nuts over a pretty girl. But she's not, well, normal. And...she might hurt any of us."
"She saved your lives!" Tenchi reacted angrily, pulling his arm away. "Why would you think she'd ever do anything to hurt you?"
"Anyone who can blow electricity from her fingers and emerge from a burning building without a scratch is someone you should be very scared of." Hiroshi said soberly. "Even if she's helped once, you don't know what might happen if she turns her temper on you. We just don't want you getting hurt, Tenchi-kun. That's all. We're looking out for you. Sakura's right. You're in over your head."
"I'm not in over my head." Tenchi shook his head, frustrated. "Why don't you understand that?"
Sakura looked pained.
"I know love is supposed to be blind." She said slowly. "But this is crazy. Tenchi, are you completely stupid? I know you don't do much of the dating, and that she probably swept you off your feet - maybe she even put some kind of spell on you. I don't know. But you have to open your eyes and realise how much danger you could be in! There are plenty of pretty girls in Osaka without you having to resort to this. Seriously! I mean, what in hell is she, anyway?"
Tenchi fixed her with a cold look, standing up and gently pushing her aside.
"She's my girlfriend." He said softly. "And I'm not blind. Ryoko might not be like other people, but I don't love her because she can fly or shoot energy from her hands. I don't expect you to understand, because you haven't been through the things we've been through. But I'm not in any danger. If there's one person in the whole universe that Ryoko would not hurt, I know that it's me."
"I still think that you would be better off coming with us to the local police and telling them where they can find her." Hiroshi said acidly. "Before another nightclub goes up in flames. People could be hurt next time, and for all we know, there are more like her and the dude in that ship. We could be about to be invaded by some weird alien power - doesn't that bother you at all?"
"Nobody would invade the Earth. There's nothing here to steal." Tenchi said simply. "Give it up, both of you. If you don't like it, you don't have to speak to me or get yourself dragged into our fight. But I won't forsake Ryoko any more than I'd forsake any of you, if you needed me. She does, and I'm not going to turn on her. She's been through enough already. We both have. So if that's all you have to say, I'm going home. I've registered...and you should probably both make sure you do, before they close doors."
"Tenchi!" Sakura began, but before she could finish whatever she had been about to say, Ryoko flickered and blurred into view, taking the girl off guard and almost knocking her off-balance. Hiroshi's eyes widened, and he took a step backwards.
"You!" He whispered. "Have you been here listening, all the time?"
"What?" Ryoko stared at Hiroshi, confused, and Tenchi bit his lip.
"What's wrong?" He murmured, reading the agitation that flickered in the depths of Ryoko's amber eyes. Ryoko frowned.
"I've just had a run in with the local law." She said quietly. "I think it would be a good idea if we took a little trip, Tenchi. Right now, if you're done here."
Tenchi paused, glancing back at his friends and taking in their apprehensive, frightened expressions with a heavy heart. He nodded his head.
"I'm done here." He agreed, grabbing hold of her hand tightly. "Let's go."
