NOTE: All characters original to the "Tenchi-Muyo! TV1" series portrayed in this story are the sole property of AIC and
Pioneer Animation. Any appearance of them in actual life is purely coincidental. Tenchi-Muyo! material and paraphernalia listed
within is Copyright Pioneer Animation 1997 (c). Kyoto Minamoto, Muriyaki Kushiragi, Chisako, Chi-Ohki, and all other
related characters are the sole property of R&C Books and appear through permission from R&C Books.

 

 

Questions? Comments? Even ideas for future episodes? Want to write the authors? You can contact us at
Muriyaki@hotmail.com, and at lordyosho@hotmail.com. We look forward to receiving your responses!

 

 

                                          Episode #3

                                No Need For An Asteroid Belt

 

 

 

 

About two weeks have passed since our friends were thrown into an alternate universe and had to run for their lives from an
alternate Jurai. In this universe, Ryoko is the princess and Ayeka is the space pirate! Having had to break Ayeka and her
"gang" (Nobuyuki, her "husband", and Sasami, her "daughter") out of jail, they are currently hiding out in an asteroid field about
twenty light-years from Jurai, waiting for Washu to finish repairs on their ship�s FTL (faster-than-light) drive. She�s not having
an easy time of it. Let�s join her...

"...what the hell is this?!" Washu is inspecting a pretzel-shaped plastic tube, totally stymied by it. "I�ve seen some strange things,
but this..." She is totally immersed in this new mystery, so much so that she doesn�t hear Mihoshi say, "What�s this do?" until
it�s too late. She spins around to see Mihoshi fondling a large red button that says "Do Not Press." "No, Mihoshi! Don�t--" 

Too late. 

          A dark cloud of smoke fills the compartment and rocks the ship.

Since it�s about three A.M., ship time, everyone else is asleep--or at least they were, before Mihoshi�s meddling jolted them
awake. Tenchi is almost thrown out of bed, but falls back in. He rubs his head. "Now what?" 

He looks up as his door slides open and Kiyone, in shorts and a half-buttoned shirt of his, comes in, followed by Sasami, who
is in a nightgown. Sasami asks the obvious question. "Tenchi, can we sleep with you tonight?"

Tenchi rises from his bed and stretches. "Yeah, sure, just as soon as we see what�s going on." He takes both their hands.
"Come on..."

By the time they get to the engine room, everyone else has gathered outside the compartment, and are listening to Washu yelling
at a bawling Mihoshi. Ayeka and Ryoko are holding Washu back--barely--from strangling Mihoshi; they want a piece of her
first. 

They all wince as Kyoto�s voice cracks like a whip through the screaming. 
"What the hell did you do to my ship?!?!?!"

Washu, her excess frustration now vented, jerks a finger at Mihoshi. "This little genius just stranded us here for another four or
five days!" The entire group groans at this new piece of bad news, and if looks could kill, Mihoshi would be a corpse. They all
stand back as Kiyone steps forward, expecting her to initiate the stone-throwing. 

No one (well, maybe Tenchi) expects her to help the still sobbing Mihoshi to her feet, hug her until her tears run dry and gently
admonish her, making her promise to stay out of Washu�s way. She then looks sweetly down at Washu. "Will that be
sufficient?"

It takes Washu several moments to find her voice. Finally she croaks, "Uh, yeah, thank you, Kiyone." As everyone decides to
call it a night, all of them end up throwing surprised glances at Kiyone, now with Tenchi�s arm around her and with her head on
his shoulder. They still can�t quite explain what just happened, but the word "Tenchi" says enough, and in any case Mihoshi is
very grateful.

 

* * * * * 

 

Because of the previous night�s events, no one gets up very early. Fortunately, Kyoto had brought the Masaki house along, and
hooked into Chisako�s power and plumbing grid, so the net situation is like back on Yagami, except with a lot more elbow
room. Sasami, who had left Tenchi�s room when he and Kiyone had started getting too lovey-dovey, is fixing breakfast, and
Ryoko literally floats down the stairs on the lovely smells. "Morning, Sasami."

Sasami looks up with her irresistible grin. "Oh, good morning, Ryoko. Hungry?"

"Why yes, thank you." She accepts the proffered platter of food and begins to eat. About a third of the way through, she looks
up. "Uh, Sasami, you were in Tenchi�s room with him and Kiyone last night, right?"

"That�s right." Sasami grins broadly. "More pickles?"

"Yes, thank y--no, don�t change the subject!" She leans across the table and looks the wise little girl in the eye. "Where are
they now?"

Sasami shrugs nonchalantly. "Still up there. Tea?"

"Stop offering me food! You left them up there all alone?!"

"Ryoko, are you jealous?" giggles Sasami. "You want to know what they were doing when I left them alone?"

Ryoko glares at Sasami. "No, I don�t. But tell me anyway."

Sasami opens her mouth to answer when she suddenly yells, "Hi, Ayeka!"

Ryoko, fuming, is about to drag Sasami across the counter and threaten her when she hears Ayeka�s voice. "Good morning.
That smells good, Sasami. Can I have some?"

"Sure." Grinning mischievously, Sasami pushes another plate across the counter.

"Well?" presses Ryoko, disgruntled now that she�ll have to share the news with Ayeka.

"What are you talking about?" asks Ayeka.

"She�s jealous �cause Kiyone�s alone with Tenchi up in his room," chirps Sasami. "You want some rice?"

"No thank you." Ayeka�s appetite is totally lost now. "Sasami, do you know what they�re doing up there?"

"Yup," answers Sasami, sipping her tea. "Fish?"

"Cut it out with the food! What are they doing up there?" screams Ryoko.

Ayeka nods breathlessly in agreement.

Sasami sighs. "Alright, you two. They were..." She pauses dramatically until murder begin to surface in Ryoko and Ayeka�s
eyes. "They were cuddled up on his bed, seeing who could come up with the mushier nickname for the other. When I left, he
was calling her his �avenging angel of space.� It�s rather sweet."

Ryoko and Ayeka don�t move for a moment, and then slump in disappointment. "That�s it?" croaks Ayeka.

Sasami tips her head back and laughs. "What, you would have preferred them to try to be making a Tenchi, junior?" She
shakes her head and smiles. "Tenchi and Kiyone are in love. He adores her and she virtually worships him. I give them two
weeks before they start talking marriage."

"Oh my, are we talking about Tenchi and Kiyone?" Mihoshi joins them and takes both Ayeka and Ryoko�s plates. Between
bites she says, "I just walked past Tenchi�s room. They were giggling and making kissing noises and--Oh, yeah! I think they
were talking about her and I moving back in when we get back to Earth! That means we won�t have to work part-time
anymore!"

"Yay!" cheers Sasami. "Kiyone and Mihoshi are moving back in!"

Ryoko and Ayeka exchange glances and sigh.

 

* * * * *

Up in Tenchi�s room, the giggling and flirting has given way to serious talk. Surprising, since both of them are still in their
pajamas and stretched out on the bed, cuddled up together....

"You�re sure your dad won�t mind if we move in?" asks Kiyone nervously. "I mean,..."

Tenchi chuckles. "Don�t worry, I�ll make sure that he doesn�t catch you in any intimate moments."

"I know. But do you guys have room?" She rests her head on his chest.

"This house has always had more rooms than residents," sighs Tenchi. "I think my parents were planning to have a lot of
children, but--" He catches himself. "Err, sorry. Like I was saying, there�s enough room for both of you to have your own
rooms, and--"

"Actually, I like the thought of sharing a room with you, Tenchi." Kiyone cranes her head up and smiles at him. "Don�t you like
it?"

"Well..." He can�t hide the look of delight on his face. "You have pretty much lived the past coupla weeks in here. I like it.
What worries me is whether or not I have enough self-control for this."

She sighs dramatically. "Well, if I think you�re going too far, I�ll let you know. That is, if I�m not too busy being kissed by
you...." She stretches up to kiss him, but finds him lost in thought. "What is it, Tenchi?"

"Sorry, my avenging angel of space." They both giggle at that. "I�m just thinking about things...like Jurai."

Kiyone looks confused. "What about Jurai?"

"Ayeka never rescinded her offer to me to become the Emperor. Did she just forget or was that deliberate?" He sighs again.
"I�m thinking...that maybe it is my destiny to become the next Emperor. I�ll have to talk to her, Sasami, and Grandpa about this,
though..." Tenchi smiles. "But there�s time enough for that later." He pulls her on top of him, eliciting a squeal of delight. "Rest
assured, my Kiyone, that I�m not going to let any of this come between us. No matter what, I�m gonna take care of you. I--" 

He opens his mouth to say more, but she covers it with her own. After a long moment she pulls back, her cheeks flushed.
"Wherever you go, you know I�ll follow, Tenchi," she says softly.

"No, you won�t. I want you at my side. Always."

She kisses him again. "Always. But, as you said, there�s time enough for that later. Now, let�s get cleaned up and get to dinner
before your father starts expecting a grandchi--" She yelps as Tenchi sits bolt upright. "I didn�t mean so fast, Tenchi! What is
it?"

Tenchi jerks his head at the window, and Kiyone can barely see the lens of a video camera pressed against a gap in the
curtains. Tenchi puts a finger to her lips, walks up to the window, and pushes it open violently.

A moment later they hear Nobuyuki�s voice moan, "Ohhh, it hurts." Tenchi offers his hand to Kiyone. "To dinner, my moonlight
rose?" Her face falls into an "Oh, how sweet" expression. She gathers up a pile of clothing. "First to the bath." She giggles.
"Say, since everyone is already at dinner, I think I�ll take you on a tour of the ladies� bath..." 

 

 

 

For this meal, everyone is on the command deck, taking full advantage of the food cyclers than can create just about any food
item perfectly. Ryo-ohki is happily chewing her way through a pile of carrots the size of Sasami, and Mihoshi has a similar-sized
helping of food on her plate. No one really pays attention as Tenchi and Kiyone come in--except, of course, for Ryoko and
Ayeka. They glare as Tenchi, setting their food down, pulls out Kiyone�s chair and seats her. They glare as she brushes her lips
across one cheek as he sits down. And they glare as they talk oh so easily, as if have been a happy husband and wife for many
years. 

They are so intent on staring at the happy two that they don�t notice Kyoto sitting down between them until they feel his arms
snaking around them, each hand cupping a breast. "How soft they are! Like marshmallows!" Ayeka inhales raggedly and Kyoto
grins at this. "Responsive, aren�t we? Worthy of a princess of Jurai!" He gives Ryoko an additional squeeze. "Hmm. You�re
sagging a bit, Ryoko. Never mind, I love you just the same..." Without looking at each other the girls take their revenge. Ryoko
brings her fist slamming down and back into Kyoto�s crotch at the same that Ayeka�s elbow and fist smash into his gut and
chin.

Kiyone, by now, has shifted from her chair into Tenchi's lap--a common pose for her these days--and they are taking turns
feeding each other. As she reaches up to stroke his face, she suddenly finds something in his hair. "Tenchi, what is this?" She
pulls a small palm leave out of his hair. Suddenly, before she can hide it, she hears Mihoshi ask, "Where did this come from?"

Sasami, having snatched the palm leave away from Mihoshi, who had snatched it away from Kiyone, examines it. "This looks
like one of the leaves from the ladies bath--oh, my!" She grins at Tenchi. "Tenchi, why were you in the ladies bath?"

Tenchi has flushed red. "Ah, Sasami, what would I be doing in the ladies bath?" he stammers.

Sasami is grinning up at Kiyone. "You must have taken him in there, Kiyone, huh?"

Kiyone is equally red. "Well, it seemed to us that--"

"--it would be faster if we took a bath together," completes Tenchi desperately.

"Oh, my," responds Mihoshi, her eyes wide. "Tenchi, you were in the ladies bath all alone with Kiyone?" Tenchi nods tersely.

Sasami has shifted into mischievous mode now. She turns to Kiyone. "And Kiyone, you two were being naughty, weren't you?"

Kiyone's face is the color of a plum. "N-no, Sasami, of course we weren't..." She's almost telling the truth. While nothing really
happened in the bath, there was a lot of kissing and a little bit of touching. Of course, she's not about to tell Sasami that...

Sasami, however, can see something on Kiyone's face. "I knew it!" she cries out exultantly. "You're a naughty boy, Tenchi!"
Tenchi, still holding Kiyone in his lap, goes almost purple. "And you're a naughty girl, Kiyone!" Kiyone just sighs and nods.
Tenchi slumps back in his chair. 

Mihoshi is wide-eyed. "Oh, my, Kiyone!"

Sasami's mischievous look becomes almost sappy. "I'm sorry. That's so sweet, you two, taking a bath together." Ryo-ohki
jumps atop her head and meows in agreement.

Listening to the conversation, Kyoto quips to Ryoko, "Hey, how come you never think it's sweet when I try to take a bath with
you?"

At the other end of the table, Nobuyuki and Katsuhito are watching the exchange. Katsuhito nods in satisfaction. "I think
Tenchi's made a good choice. Kiyone's nice, she's smart, and she's stable." 

"And she's fun to look at, too," adds Nobuyuki. 

Katsuhito groans at this. "Nobuyuki, remember that she's your probable daughter in law."

* * * * * * * * * * * 

 

Several days pass while Washu assesses the damage caused to the FTL drive. Finally she announced her findings to the group
at large. "Three of the seven transhift inducers, as well as the entire hyperluminal field array, have been completely cross-fried."

When none of them say anything, she just yells, "This thing needs new parts!"

"Oh," choruses the group in understanding.

"So what are you gonna do now?" asks Kiyone, her arms around Tenchi's waist.

Washu sighs. "I'm gonna hafta go parts-shopping, that's what. According to Kyoto--" She jerks a thumb in the pirate's
direction. "--Anopon Prime is the best bet to start looking, since that's where he found this thing in our universe. Now, he's
given me enough money to buy the necessary parts an--wha!!"

Mihoshi has collapsed to her knees and thrown her arms around Washu's legs. "Please let me go with you, Washu!"

Washu looks down at her distastefully. "You've got to be kidding. After all the damage you've caused?"

Mihoshi is literally sobbing into Washu's stomach. "Please! I want to make up for all the damage I've caused! Oh, please,
Washu, please..."

Washu finally sighs. "Oh, fine, get up. If worst comes to worst, maybe I can swap you for parts."

As soon as Ryo-ohki and her two passengers depart, the other girls decide that it's bath time. Tenchi is rather iffy about letting
Kiyone go, afraid that Ayeka and/or Ryoko

might try something, but she placates him with a kiss. "It'll be alright," she reassures him. 

Kyoto watches as the girls file out of the living room and towards the bathroom. He smiles lustfully as he imagines the girls
undressing, slipping their bodies into the warm water... He also watches, smirking, as Nobuyuki kneels next to the door,
pressing his ear against it. 

Nobuyuki is listening to the girls splashing and laughing inside when he feels a hand on his shoulder. "Uhh-uh-uh..." He spins
around to see Kyoto looking down at him. Kyoto smiles. "Would you like to go in there?" 

Nobuyuki nods enthusiastically. "Uh-huh, uh-huh! But I can't get in! They'll see me!" 

Kyoto shakes his head. "No, they won't." He presses a small, silver ring into Nobuyuki's hands. "If you wear this, you'll be
invisible." Nobuyuki starts to slip it on, then looks up again. "But the door is keyed only to women, I can't get in!" 

Kyoto smiles and his form begins to shift. A moment later, his form is replaced with that of Ryoko. Nobuyuki lights up and tries
to grab "Ryoko's" breasts, but "Ryoko's" hands intercept his hands. "It's me!" s/he hisses in Kyoto's voice. "I'll open the door
for you, put the ring on." Nobuyuki nods, and puts the ring on. He immediately becomes invisible. 

"Ryoko" slides the door open, and Nobuyuki crawls in. Converting back to his normal form, he closes the door almost all the
way, and peeks in. He is delighted by what he sees. Kiyone is deliciously athletic, with curves in all the right places; He can
certainly understand why Tenchi is attracted to her. He thinks back to the conversation where Tenchi and Kiyone had been
bathing together and he briefly wishes that he were Tenchi. Sasami's body is just beginning to bud, and she holds the promise of
great beauty and an incredible body. Ayeka has all the regal beauty of a princess, even if her body doesn't compare with
Kiyone's or Ryoko's. And, his "true love" Ryoko... As always she is breathtaking. 

He can also make out Nobuyuki's invisible form in the water, snaking towards Ayeka. He is grinning as his right index finger
traces around a jewel-like button on his wristband. He's just waiting for Nobuyuki to get in the worst possible position...and
he's there now. 

Nobuyuki is about to nudge Ayeka's legs open to get a better view, when he feels himself shimmering. A moment later, the
bathroom is erupting in screams. 

Ayeka is standing, her cheeks red and her arms covering all of her private parts. "Mr. Masaki, what are you doing in here?!" 

Nobuyuki jumps up. "Wha-wha-what am I doing here?!" 

Kiyone has wrapped a towel around herself, despite the fact that the wet towel is molding quite nicely to her body's form. "Mr.
Masaki, really! Are you aware that we could bring you up on charges of sexual harassment?" 

Nobuyuki has a card to play in this instance. "You wouldn't arrest your boyfriend's father, would you?" 

Before she can respond, the door is pushed open and...Nobuyuki sticks his head through. "Hey, what's with all of the yelling?"

The girls look from the Nobuyuki in the pool...to the Nobuyuki in the doorway...to the Nobuyuki in the pool...and come to the
only logical conclusion.

"It's Kyoto!" the girls shriek in a glass-cracking voice (that is, if any glass were present) and, grabbing robes and whatever
weighted objects they can find, they chase "Kyoto", who has had the sense to get out of the pool and start running.

Once they have disappeared down the corridor, the real Kyoto reverts to his real form and sighs. "Well, that was fun." He
walks into the bathroom.

The girls, having pelted "Kyoto" with heavy objects until they lost him in the arboretum, walk back into the bathroom...only to
see him sitting in the bath! He is bare-chested, and they are willing to bet that the rest of him is unclothed, too. 

"What are you doing in here?" demands Kiyone, an accusatory finger pointed at him.

"I need to take a bath, too," he responds, then stands up, unencumbered by any kind of covering. "Care to join me?"

Kiyone is the first to leave, spinning on her heel and storming out. Sasami quickly follows, a deep blush on her face...and comes
back in a minute later to drag Ayeka out of the room. Although she would later deny it, the "vulgar" sight intrigued her.

Ryoko is standing alone, one hand on a hip and the other behind her neck. She then smiles. "Not too bad, Kyoto." She lets her
own towel fall. 

Kyoto's grin grows very, very wide. "What's taking you so long, I'm waiting..."

Ryoko sighs. "You are so vain." She stretches out her right arm and opens her palm, aiming it at Kyoto's crotch. 

"If you want to get a hold of it, you've got to come in closer."

Ryoko rolls her eyes. "Now, get out of our bath, unless you don't want to have children... " 

Kyoto shrugs and sighs, then shakes his head. "Your loss, baby. I could have given you the time of your life." He then fades out
of view. 

Ryoko calls down the corridor, "It's okay girls, it's safe." The girls, in various states of dishevelment, file back in, followed at
their heels by what looks like a teal Ryo-Ohki. 

"You mean he just came up to you?" asks Ayeka. 

"That's right," says Kiyone, petting the cute little creature. 

Sasami is, of course, enchanted by it. "Oh, wow! What are we going to call it?"

"Well," opines Ayeka, "since Kiyone found it, we should call it Kiyo-ohki." 

The name seems to satisfy the girls, so "Kiyo-Ohki" it is. Or more accurately, "Kyoto-Ohki." 

Meanwhile, Katsuhito and Tenchi are tending Nobuyuki's wounds. 

"Nobuyuki, you really must stop doing stuff like this," intones Katsuhito. 

"Stuff like what? It wasn't my fault; they threw the stuff at me!" whines Nobuyuki. 

"Yeah, but Dad, you went in their bathroom!" snaps Tenchi. "You really ought to stop this! One of these days they're gonna do
some really serious damage to you!"

"I thought I was invisible! Kyoto gave me this ring--" 

"Wha- Kyoto gave you this ring?" groans Tenchi, slapping his forehead. "And you believed him?!" 

"Nobuyuki, when are you going to learn?" asks Katsuhito, shaking his head. 

"Don't worry about it, gentlemen. I'm going to break out the special sak�." Kyoto holds up a large bottle, and Katsuhito
brightens as he reads the label. "Oh, it's that special brand." 

 

* * *

 

About fifteen minutes later, the girls walk into the living room. Most of the men are totally blitzed, except Tenchi, who's only
mildly buzzed. The new arrival, Kiyo-Ohki, is riding on his favorite individual's shoulder, namely, Ryoko. Tenchi looks up,
blinking. "Wha�?... I must have had more to drink than I thought, 'cause I could swear that Ryo-Ohki is looking blue!" 

Kiyone sits down next to him and feels his forehead. "My God, Tenchi, you're burning up!" She gently lifts him to his feet and
slings one of his arms over her shoulders. "I'd better get him to bed." 

As the two of them slowly make their way up the stairs, Sasami yells, "Don't you two be naughty! I'm not ready to be an aunt!" 

 

 

 

About a week passes, and life aboard the Chisako falls into a routine. Kiyone and Tenchi grow closer and closer each day,
much to the chagrin of Ryoko and Ayeka. Nobuyuki steers very clear of the girls, still nursing a black eye. And Kiyo-Ohki, the
"new arrival", becomes very popular. All the girls are taking turns holding him, but he seems to favor Ryoko the most. 

At this moment, he is cuddled up on Ryoko's shoulder, with his front paws resting on top of her left breast. Right now, they're
viewing a lightspeed message from Washu and Mihoshi, who have just left Anopon. So far, they haven't had much luck in
finding the necessary parts, although they have procured some promising leads. After this, Ryoko stretches. "I think I need a
bath." She goes to the bathroom, walks in--and trips on a large pile of sak� bottles. Ayeka had been closeted in there for a
couple of hours, having one of her own private "sak�-fests", and she had thrown the empty bottles on the floor and is now
almost asleep. 

Sasami, following Ryoko, wrinkles her nose at the smell. "It's stinky, smells like sak�!" She then looks at Ryoko, who is pawing
her way out of the water. "Are you alright, Ryoko?" 

Ryoko rises, shakily. "I think so... Where's Kiyo-Ohki?" Kiyo-Ohki, on the other hand, has been rocketed across the steamy
room and pile-driven into the far wall. Somehow, by some luck-- or demonic skill-- "Kiyo-Ohki" retains his form, but has
forgotten to speak in the usual collection of meows and is swearing at everything in sight. 

"Son-of-a-- I mean, meow-meow-meow!" 

"Wow!" gushes Sasami. "Kiyo-Ohki can talk!" 

Awakened by the racket, Ayeka hears the Ohki cursing and lifts it by the scruff of the neck. "What did you say?" 

"I said, put me the hell down, you worthless piece of royal trash!" snarls Kiyo-Ohki. 

Sasami's eyes go wide and tears start to trickle down. "Kiyo-Ohki's mean!"

Ryoko tries to come to the Ohki's defense, but it waves it away with its paws. "It's okay, Ryoko, you didn't know, the game is
up." The voice is every bit that of Kyoto's, and a moment later, the cuddly, fuzzy form of a cabbit is replaced with the
loathsome shape of Kyoto. 

Ryoko's mouth drops open. "You were Kyoto! You were with me when I was naked all those times!" 

Kyoto nods. "Yes, I was, wasn't it great?" The next thing he knows, he is on the floor with a split lip and an aching groin. "I
take that as a no." 

Ryoko is standing over him, trembling with anger and-- could that be a look of betrayal? "I trusted you!" 

Sasami, sobbing and kneeling on the floor suddenly, overshadows Ryoko's anger. "You mean... Kiyo-Ohki wasn't real?" 

Just then... "Meow, meow!" Heads turn to see... Kiyo-Ohki?! The "non-existent" blue cabbit bounces up to Sasami, settling in
her lap and meowing up at her affectionately, as if saying, "Love me, love me!" Sasami's tears immediately dry up and she
cuddles the little darling in her lap. "Ohhh!..."

For the first time, the smile on Kyoto's face is untainted by lust or greed. "You see, little Sasami, there are other Ohkis aboard."

Ayeka, now fully awake, is gaping at Kyoto. "You mean there are other Ohkis other than Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki?"

Kyoto smiles. "Why, certainly. If you'll just follow me..." He gestures expansively at the door. After a moment of hesitation, the
girls follow him.

He leads them to one of Chisako's empty saucers, a large hold that must be the Secret Ohki Breeding Grounds! The entire
saucer has been turned into a large forest with giant evergreens, and rows and rows of carrot plants. And as for the
Ohkis...there are literally hundreds of them, in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. And all of them congregate around Sasami
as she enters the hold. The little girl looks almost like she's in heaven. "Here, you little cuties, have some carrots!" Laughing
blissfully, she tosses some carrots up in the air and watches them chase them. All of the Ohkis are cuddling up to her and
meowing affectionately, and she returns the love in full.

A short distance away, Ayeka is playing with a few of the stragglers, Ryoko is looking a little dazed, and Kyoto has a benign
look on his face, not unlike that of a father watching his children tear into their presents on Christmas Morning. Ryoko takes a
moment to look at him, in perhaps a new light. Right now he looks more attractive to her than she ever would have thought
possible. Maybe...maybe he's not such a bad guy after all... Of course, she's not about to tell him that and run the risk of
feeding his ego...or of falling in lov-- 

The peaceful stillness is shattered by the ear-splitting howl of an Ohki in pain. At first she looks around in horror, afraid that one
of the Ohkis has been hurt, but quickly sees that it is, in fact, the emergency commo system screaming for attention.

Kyoto, his good manners now vanished without a trace, steps up to the wall and presses his palm against it. The wall suddenly
becomes a large viewscreen, and the image...is of hell.

Actually, it's not the image of hell, but rather Ryo-Ohki's bridge filled with smoke and off to one side Washu is unconscious in
one of the floating easychairs. Mihoshi is broadcasting the emergency message and to everyone's great surprise, she's managing
to stay calm.

"...I repeat, we are in desperate need of assistance! This is the spaceship Ryo-Ohki, we are under attack by the dread space
pirate Ayeka, I repeat, we are under attack by the dread space pir-" 

The signal is shortly replaced by static and finally the screen goes blank. 

Kyoto is about to try and pinpoint the location of the transmission when the face of the dread space pirate appears. It is the
same as our Ayeka's, but there is a scar running along one cheek and the tattoo of a Jolly Roger skull and cross bones on the
other.

"If you wish to see your ship and its crew intact, you will give me--" She suddenly sees all the people in the room and realizes
that she may have gotten herself in way too deep. "Uh-uh, never mind! Never mind!"

Kyoto immediately spins on his heel. "Muriyaki, Satoko, Kyoko, I need you!"

 

The phone beeps, and Tenchi groans. "Oh, Lord, now what?"

Beside him, Kiyone stirs. "Tenchi, what is it?" 

Tenchi pats his wife's bare shoulder. "Just give me a second, honey, I'll find out..." Pulling on his long-discarded bathrobe, he
stumbles over to the desk-mounted holophone and snaps on the view key. "This better be good..." he immediately straightens
as Mihoshi's face appears on the screen. "Err... Sorry Madame President..." 

Mihoshi smiles. "Don't worry about it, Tenchi, I'm sorry to interrupt you two. Err, is Kiyone there?" 

Kiyone, having wrapped one of the bed sheets around herself, steps into view of the pickup. "I'm right here, ma'am." 

"A patrol ship has finally located that strange-looking vessel that shot its way out of Juraian orbit three weeks ago. According to
them, the ship has been stationary for some time and shows no signs of moving anytime soon. I would definitely recommend
immediate apprehension." 

Tenchi and Kiyone immediately straighten to attention. "We'll get right on it!" Kiyone smiles, slightly. "Say, Mihoshi, would you
care to accompany us on Yagami?"

Mihoshi's smile breaks out into a wide grin. "Well, once a GP, always a GP. By the way, Princess Ryoko has requested
permission to 


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