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. If you would like
to use any of these characters in your work, please contact the licensing department at RCBooks@hotmail.com or visit our
website at www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/1375.

 

 

 

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

 

 

                                        Episode #5

                               No Need For A Surprise!

 

 

 

 

After having fled the system where Akiko was located, Chisako has stopped in a deserted system to install the newly
recovered parts for the fold drive. About a week has passed, for Kyoto and Washu want to make the installations
perfect--after all, it�s not like they can just go back to Akiko for more after the damage they caused on their exit! Finally,
around one A.M., ship�s time, on the ninth day, Washu completes the final connection. Clicking on the comlink from the engine
room to the command deck, she yells, "All done, Kyoto! We can fold at any time!"

"Good job, Washu," compliments Kyoto�s voice over the comm channel. "I don�t think anyone wants to be awakened for
this, so we�ll just do it now and let everyone wake up on Earth. You wanna come up and watch the show?"

Kyoto doesn�t hear a response, but one of Washu�s patented short-range portals opens on the bridge, and Washu steps
through. "Well, let�s see what one of these looks like when things aren�t frantic."

Kyoto nods in agreement. "Hold on to your hair," he grins, making light of the fact that the scientist�s recently, violently shorn
hair is taking its time growing back. Washu glares at him, then points at the floating holoterminal. "Do it!"

"All right, all right, hang on...." The space pirate feeds in a five-digit sequence, and then hits a large, glowing green touchpad
marked "TSCD ENG." The five outer saucers orbiting the hub begin to spin, at first slowly, but gradually faster and faster until
they are well nigh invisible. Crackling rainbow light begins to play across the hull and the spinning disk that the saucers have
become. A counter on the displays shows the velocity approaching, then exceeding, light, and then moving into the superluminal
and hyperluminal range. At their current listed speed they should be moving through the galaxy about as fast as time right
now....and yet the sensors report that their position has not changed in the slightest. Washu is dumbfounded. "What is going on
here? Why aren't we moving?"

"In a fold, dear Washu, a ship does not move per se. Instead, the energies that are normally channeled into normal FTL travel
are collected around the generating point, misaligning space-time�s axis at that point. This allows the generating ship to 'slip
through the cracks' in space-time. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The folding process warps the
space between the ship and its destination into as compact an area to traverse as possible."

Washu is awestruck for a moment, until she remembers where she's heard that explanation before. "Hey, you stole that from
my book!" 

"Obviously. Convergence: The Theory of Folding Space for More Efficient Translight Travel was always an enjoyable
read. I think that was one of your most popular texts at the Academy. But I'm not the only one who's been plagiarizing.
Remember, I didn't build this ship, I found it. I only know the theory, not the method of implementation. The way this ship
works is still way over my head."

Washu looks out the viewport. Around Chisako, a cat's-cradle of bluish-white and purple-white energies are beginning to
block out normal space. She can see a translucent sphere of violet energy forming around the outside of station. 

"Why's it doing that?" asks the diminutive scientist, pressing her face firmly against the cool surface of the forward viewport.

"That's simple enough. A large pocket of energy is required to punch through the barrier separating alternate dimensions. When
that bubble out there reaches a certain voltage level, it will explode and shatter the barrier between the two set dimensions,
allowing us to travel through to the other side. The hole is only temporary and usually closes within seconds of our passage. Or
at least that's what the book says...." 

"You mean you don't know if we're damaging the fabric of space or not?!" 

Kyoto shakes his head and laughs. "Node. I don't have the damnedest clue!" He is about to say more when the voltage counter
on the console begins to beep. "Here it comes. You might want to close your eyes." 

Washu clamps her hands over her eyes a split second before the sphere detonates. Even so, she can still see the violent
brilliance of the explosion through her fingers. She can hear Kyoto saying, "Damn! That hurts!" Then, a moment later, in a
tentative voice, "Wait... Something's wrong... It's never been like this, not even when we crossed over her--" Without warning,
he collapses to his knees and starts screaming. 

 

* * *

 

In their bed, in the Masaki house, Kiyone and Tenchi are asleep, Tenchi on his back and Kiyone lying half-atop him. While
both agree on waiting awhile before taking their physical relationship all the way, neither sees anything wrong with just sleeping
in the same bed....

Tenchi is in the middle of a delicious dream concerning Kiyone and warmed *sak� when they feel the room jolted violently. The
jolt sends Tenchi rolling over on top of Kiyone. She is giggling, enjoying the sensation of his face being pressed up against her
chest. "Tenchi....I didn�t know you were awake...." She starts to play with the buttons on her nightshirt--for pajamas, she
usually wears shorts and an old shirt of his, and he knows quite well that the only thing on under those articles of clothing is a
skimpy pair of cotton panties. "You want me to be your pillow tonight, Tenchi?"

Tenchi is about to respond in the affirmative when he feels a strange sensation wash over his body. It feels like all his limbs have
fallen asleep. He tries to tell Kiyone, but his mouth seems to be ignoring his mind. Kiyone is also laying very still, more than
likely afflicted with the same thing. While she can�t move her lips either, he can see her crying and see her eyes, barely
discernible in the dark, pleading up at him to rescue her from this, and oh how he wants to, how he wants to take her up in his
arms and hold her until the tears subside....

His concern for his beloved is such that it takes him a few moments to register what he�s hearing in his head. When it finally hits
him, he wishes he were mentally deaf, for he�s listening to what must be hell. 

A million cries of anguish ricochet through Tenchi�s mind, growing horribly louder and clearer with each passing moment. A
thousand thousand screams of terror and heartbreak and despair and suffering, a million voices crying out in death--and for
death--echo inside his head, and he pleads with whatever god exists to give him a few minutes of control so that he can tear his
mind out--Before he can complete the thought, something slams into his mind, his soul, with the force of a guided missile
smashing into a house of cards. Abruptly the voices in his head snap off, as if never there, and he finds himself with control over
his body again. He hears Kiyone weeping underneath him, feels the sobs racking her body, and he immediately rolls off of her
and gathers her up in his arms. As he does he can hear her almost sobbing in relief .

Oh, Tenchi, my Tenchi, thank God that�s over, I was so afraid that that horrible, horrible thing would last forever and
that I would never see you again.... She draws herself into his lap, clutching him as tightly as she can, still sobbing into his
shoulder. Please don�t let me go, Tenchi, please don�t ever, ever let me go again....

Whispering soothing words, Tenchi gently kisses Kiyone�s forehead. Sssh, darling, it�s all right now, no one�s gonna hurt
you now, I�m not gonna let you go, ever.... He finds himself almost close to tears as he pulls her tightly against him. My poor
Kiyone, he thinks. She�s a strong girl, but this is almost more than she can bear, and the image of a porcelain China doll,
looking exactly like her, floats into Tenchi�s mind. Underneath the strength, she is as fragile as a China doll....

Yes, Tenchi, I am as fragile as a China doll. She looks up at him, the tears subsiding. She smiles slightly, then leans up and
kisses him. I know you�ll take good care of me, Tenchi. You always have. Oh, I love you, Tenchi....

I love you too, Kiyone. I just want to hold you like--Tenchi suddenly realizes something. He opens his mouth and speaks.
"Kiyone, how did you know I was thinking that?"

She looks up at him quizzically. "What d'ya mean, Tenchi? You said that out loud. I heard you quite clearly." Her face takes on
a look of worry. "Tenchi, are you feeling all right?"

"I think so. But I didn't say that out loud. I was think--" Shivers run up and down his spine as he realizes what must have
happened. "Kiyone, can you hear me?" he asks.

"Yes, I can, Tenchi. What's going on?" The worried expression is deepening.

"Just give me a minute...." He closes his mouth and thinks, Can you hear me, Kiyone?

Kiyone's eyes widen. "Tenchi, how did you do that? You didn't say anything, but I heard you just like I could--" The revelation
hits her, and she gasps. "--just like I could....read your mind, like I could hear you thinking." She snaps her mouth shut, and
closes her eyes. Can you hear me, Tenchi? Can you hear my thoughts?

Tenchi nods, then replies. Loud and clear, my avenging angel of space. He smiles at her. Does this scare you, love?

Kiyone nods. A little bit, I guess. But actually, more than anything else right now, I feel....well,I feel closer to you than
I've ever felt before. Maybe this is a good thing....tiger. She laughs at his shocked expression. Betcha didn't think I knew
that you privately wanted me to call you that, did you, Tenchi?

I....thought it was better hidden than that.... He chuckles and looks at her fondly. "Maybe we should see what's happening
on the command deck." He pushes himself off of the bed and offers a hand to Kiyone. "Shall we go?" 

"Oh, I don't know, Tenchi." She pats the bed invitingly. "It�s nice and warm here..."

He sighs and grabs her left hand, pulling her to a standing position. "Let's go...."

She feigns a resigned air. "Oh, very well...." She lets him lead her out of the bedroom.

 

* * * 

 

When they get to the command deck, they find pretty much everyone else there. In the center of the deck, Kyoto is lying on the
floor, moaning faintly in pain. Washu is sitting cross-legged next to him, her holo-laptop floating above his chest. Finally, she
clicks it off and smirks. "No permanent or serious damage. He ought to be up and moving in about an hour."

"What happened?" asks Sasami. As is everyone else in the room--with the exception of Kyoto and Washu--she is in her
nightclothes, and she has Ryo-ohki atop her head and Kiyo-ohki in her arms. Around her feet are another couple of Ohkis,
meowing in confusion.

"We fixed the fold drive and we....well, we folded," explains Washu. "But Kyoto commented about how this was different than
any other fold he�s ever made, and then he started screaming for about five minutes straight, and then finally just collapsed on
the floor."

"So does that mean we�re home?" asks Mihoshi, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes while stretching and yawning.

"Well, we�re not in that universe anymore," responds Washu. "While we were fixing this thing, he explained to me that, for
each dimension, there is a different �wavelength�, for lack of a better term, on this display." She motions over to the leftmost of
the three floating holoterminals. On the "screen", a small window shows a trio of horizontal lines. The bottom two are immobile,
but the top one is bouncing and jolting, as if on a trampoline. "If we were still in that universe, all three lines would be gently
rising and falling, like waves on a shore on a calm day. He never told me what the code for our universe was, but I don�t think
this is it."

"Well, Washu, can you at least tell us our location in space?" asks Ayeka.

"Let me check...." Washu feeds the query into the holoterminal, and whistles as she sees the result. "Well....if the astrogation
charts haven�t changed from universe to universe....we�re in the Jurai system."

There is a stunned silence in the room. Finally, Kiyone makes her way over to the holoterminals. She calls up a holo of the
system map. It appears overhead and the group can clearly see that their new location is, indeed, the Jurai system. "We�re
about a billion kilometers out from an L4 orbit around Jurai."

Ayeka is excited. "Jurai! We must get in contact with someone down on the surface. Perhaps someone there can help us!"

Kiyone is about to open a communications channel when she notices something on the scanners. "Hold it, everyone. There�s
something....different here, something feels wrong...." She increases the scanners to max intensity/range, and blinks as she sees
the aberrance. "Oh my....I�m putting this up on the main holo, everyone." She does so, and everyone is shocked to see the Jurai
system strewn with the wreckage of spacecraft, space stations, and satellites. The entire system seems to have become a
graveyard of dead spacecraft.

"Sargasso," whispers Kiyone. As the Juraian moon which had been blocking them from a direct view of the planet orbits out of
their path, new data floods into the scanner terminal. It beeps, and Kiyone turns back to it. "What the....According to this, the
Fujisaki* output on the planet is almost five times that of the Jurai we know. It�s like someone has been raining nuclear
warheads on the planet."

"That�s impossible!" cries out Ayeka . "Jurai hasn�t used nuclear power or weapons for millennia. This cannot be!"

"That�s what the display says, Ayeka," Tenchi reminds her. "Kiyone�s just reporting what she�s seeing."

The princess shoots a mild glare at him. "You would agree with whatever she says, wouldn�t you, Lord Tenchi?"

Before Tenchi can respond, Ryoko does. "Ayeka, can you read a Fujisaki radiation level counter display?"

"Well," admits the princess sheepishly, "no...."

"And don�t you think that Kiyone�s training in the Galaxy Police would have taught her how to read one?" throws in Washu.

"Well, yes...."

"So why won�t you believe what she�s reporting?" completes Tenchi.

Ayeka opens and shuts her mouth several times before deciding to just be quiet. Tenchi walks over to Kiyone and places a
hand on her shoulder. "Kiyone, can you give us a surface visual?"

Kiyone smiles brightly at Tenchi and leans back to her work. "I�ll try, Tenchi...." Her fingers fly across the keypad, and she
pulls them away after a few minutes, looking pleased with herself. "Okay, I�ve patched us into what I think is an old observation
satellite that�s still more or less intact....the picture should be coming up about....now."

Another holo appears next to the first one, and the static clears to reveal....the wreckage of a world. The satellite seems to be
floating over the remains of the capital city, and they are getting a very good shot of the shattered downtown area. Sasami cries
out in horror as the camera focuses on the ruins of the Royal Palace and the charred pit of refuse that was once the Royal
Garden. "Oh no! My garden!" She bursts into tears. Mihoshi, who is the closest to her, moves to her and hugs her.

Azaka and Kamidake, shocked to the core, make the Juraian equivalent of the Sign of the Cross. Ayeka has collapsed into a
chair which hadn�t been there a moment ago. "But....how....why...."

Tenchi gulps. "My lord, what�s happened here?" He squeezes Kiyone�s shoulder gently. "Can you....talk to anyone on the
surface?"

"Let me see...." Grabbing a headset from a nearby rack, Kiyone activates the commo network and opens the system to include
all channels. "Come in, planet Jurai. This is the space cruiser Chisako, holding position at--" She rechecks the astromap
coordinates. "--four-seven-one by eight-oh-niner, just beyond the outer moon. Is there anyone there? Over."

No answer.

Kiyone repeats the transmission, with the same results. After the fifth repeat, she sighs. "This is getting us nowhere. That planet
must be dead. If no one will--"

"Try scanning for radio signals." She turns in shock to see Kyoto slowly rising to his feet. He looks like he�s been hit repeatedly
by a wrecking ball, but he�s standing more or less steady. "Maybe you can pick up some radio signals."

"All right...." Kiyone switches from modern tach-comm signals to old-style radio. "I�m not rea--wait, I�m reading something...."
She pushes the headphones closer against her ears. "It sounds like....�White Rose, deploy three and four to Point Gamma. Red
Heart, five and eight to Base Six. T-minus twenty days.� What the hell is this?"

"May I?" Kiyone doffs the headset and hands it to Kyoto, then moves to Tenchi and snuggles into his embrace.

Kyoto listens for a few moments, then taps a code into the left holoterminal. "Now where did I leave--oh, there it is....�Fighter
wing seven, deploy squadrons three and four to auxiliary staging area. Infantry corps five, deploy fifth and eighth brigades to
staging area six. Twenty days to....�....to something."

Everyone is staring at him in shock, and he gives them a lopsided grin. "It pays to have a Jurai Defense Force high-level code
book in your database. Sounds like someone down there is preparing for war."

"How did you get your hands on a Jurai Defense Force code book?" demands Ayeka. "Only the admirals and generals of the
Defense Force have access to those!"

"Yes, that�s right," agrees Kyoto. "Only we admirals and generals have access to those. Do you remember an �Admiral
Kikuchi�, Princess?"

Ayeka, looking shocked and angry, starts to speak, but is interrupted by Washu. "That�s not important right now, Ayeka.
Kyoto, can you read any large groups of people or energy sources?"

Kyoto plays with his console for a few minutes, then nods. "Looks like the largest concentration on-planet is right in the
capital....or what�s left of it." He�s about to add something when Muriyaki walks onto the command deck, still clad in her
skin-clinging jumpsuit. As she yawns, she thrusts her breasts out, earning a stare from Nobuyuki, which earns him a jab in the
ribs from Katsuhito. "Kyoto, what�s happening?"

Kyoto turns to his long-time companion. "Oh, damn! Sorry, Muriyaki, I should have informed you. We folded, but we�re not in
our home dimension. In this place....well, look at Jurai." He gestures at the screen. 

Muriyaki gasps at the sight. "My lord! It looks like someone used the planet as a punching bag!"

"It does at that," concurs Kyoto. "Okay, now that we know where the action must be, let�s go to bed. I don�t think it�s gonna
move much in ten hours or so." He bestows a playful look upon both Ryoko and Muriyaki. "Either of you coming? Or,
hopefully, both?"

Ryoko smirks and disappears from the room. Muriyaki chuckles. Since their reconciliation, physical contact has become more
playful flirting than anything else. "No thanks. You always take all the sheets. G�night, everyone." She walks back through the
door.

At least you never take all the sheets, Tenchi.... Tenchi hears Kiyone�s voice say in his mind. Let�s go back to bed, Tenchi. 

You tired? he inquires dryly.

Actually, yes, but I just want to curl up in your arms, Tenchi.... He is satisfied by her response, so he sweeps her up in his
arms and carries her back to the Masaki house. 

 

* * * 

 

Around ten-thirty a.m, ship's time, the group trickles back onto the command deck, including Muriyaki. Kyoto looks around,
and then, satisfied, speaks aloud. "Chisako, engage landing sequence delta-r-1. Set descent speed for 900 kilometers per
second. Activate emergency turbulence protocol. Mark." 

Chisako floats into Jurai orbit slowly and gracefully, like a luxury liner coming into port. She then begins to pierce through the
atmosphere and starts her descent. 

"External hull temperature 325 Kelvin. Holding steady at descent speed. Passing through stratosphere, reenter comp--
Warning! Warning! Ventral intake valve manifold malfunction! Ventral intake valve manifold malfunction! Gyroscopic regulation
imbalance! Control loss to descent control systems!" 

Kyoto grimaces and grabs the track ball-like controls. "Chisako, transfer manual control to the command deck! Switch all
landing engines to emergency afterburn!" He murmurs a Juraian curse under his breath, drawing a vicious glare from Ayeka. "....
Cha'chik Tyo ryu! Hjidy-- Err, sorry, where are my manners?" He tries to wrench back on the control balls, but to no avail. 

"Will we collide?" asks Nobuyuki, worriedly.

"Yes, we will collide," intones Katsuhito.

"Shut up! We've got an engine fire! You two, Tenchi, Kiyone, and anyone else you can get ahold of, get down to the engine
room and break out the extinguishers. If those flames reach the reactor coolant tanks, we've had it!" 

"I don't wanna die!" cries Sasami, who is echoed in full by Ryo-ohki perched atop her head, and Kiyo-ohki in her arms.
Mihoshi is clinging to Sasami and bawling as well. "We're all gonna die!!" 

"Shut up!" yells Washu, only to be backhanded by Kyoto. 

"Shut up, Washu! We don't need your whining! Get down to the engine room, save what you can!" After pouting for a few
minutes, Washu turns on her heel and follows Kiyone off the command deck. 

Kyoto's form begins to shimmer with a white light, and a ghost-like duplicate separates from the Kyoto standing at the controls.
Upon separation the duplicate solidifies, and goes over to Sasami and Mihoshi. He then enfolds the two sobbing girls in his
arms and holds them tightly against him, letting them cry their tears into his shoulder and chest. After a few minutes, "Kyoto"
gently leads the two girls, along with Ayeka, down to the arboretum deck to wait out the impact. 

Chi-ohki, now clad in a minister's outfit, is preaching the Ohki gospel of the afterlife to a large congregation of Ohkis seated on
the command deck. For all intents and purposes he sounds like a television preacher. "... And then, on the third day, according
to the Holy Book of the Carrot, the Great Ohki created carrots, and it was good. On the fourth day...." The congregation looks
like something out of an old movie where the pews are filled with the excited faithful. They are meowing in the Ohki version of
"Hallelujah!" 

Down in the engine room, Tenchi and Kiyone have just put out one engine fire, only to have another one spark into flame.
"Dad, Grandpa! Put out that fire!" he yells. Tenchi slaps a grubby fist against the com switch to the command deck and a
second later, Kyoto's harried voice responds. "What is it?! I'm a little busy up here!" 

"Kyoto, another engine's on fire! We're putting it out right now, but judging by the amount of smoke coming off number seven,
there'll be another one real soon!" 

Kyoto grits his teeth. "What is going on? I don't get this!? I checked those engines just two weeks ago and they were fine!
Now, they're going out as if the vents were glued shut.... the vents shut.... Oh my God!" He instantly runs his hands over a
keypad and a second later a view of one of the intake vents appears on screen. It's sealed shut. "Oh, crap!... " He comes to a
quick decision. "Everyone, hit the deck! I'm killing the engines!" 

"You're doing what?!" cries out Washu's voice over the intercom in alarm. "Are you crazy?! We'll drop like a rock!" 

"It's the only way to keep us from going up like a marshmallow covered in kerosene!" Kyoto gently caresses the thruster
control key, and then presses it. 

In the engine room, the flames, now robbed of fuel, sputter out and die. Kiyone throws her arms around Tenchi's neck and
gives him a long, suffocating kiss. "You did it, my darling!" 

Tenchi doesn't respond, instead, he gathers her up under his arm and dashes for an acceleration chair. He throws her into it and
buckles her up, then, undoing his belt, pulls it from it's loops. He then runs it underneath the straps of the chair and then
recinches it around his waist. He is now effectively pinned on her lap. She giggles. "I think I like being in your lap, Ten-chi."

"Quickly, Nobuyuki! Follow me!" Katsuhito leads his son-in-law over to a work table and grabs up two pulley belts. He then
yanks him over to a set of pipes and wraps the strap around the pipe and then himself. "Do the same, Nobuyuki!" 

"Okay..." Nobuyuki repeats the process that his father-in-law had demonstrated. 

Kyoto is hunched over the holoterminal, whispering a prayer. Muriyaki comes up to him and places a hand on his shoulder.
"Do you want me and my girls to get out and try to slow the descent?" 

Kyoto smiles and shakes his head. "Thank you, love, but I don't want you or your daughters to strain yourselves. Chisako's
mass is far too great for you to have any significant effect." Unnoticed by either of them, Ryoko excuses herself from the
command deck and heads for the engine room, to see if she can be of any assistance there. 

Kyoto turns away from the console and sighs. "Well, soon we'll see if this sucker's regenerative hull works as it's supposed to."
He smiles sadly at Muriyaki. "And if not... then I'll guess we'll see if there is a God or not." 

Muriyaki looks up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Just in case.... Will you give me a kiss goodbye?" 

Kyoto pauses, a response neglecting to come to his lips, then enfolds her in his arms. He can feel her body shake with each sob
until all her tears are cried. She smiles up at him. "That's the first time... in a long time.... that's felt good. Kiss me again, Kyoto."
He turns her chin upward and kisses her again, longer, and more drawn out. It seems an eternity that their lips do not separate
 from this embrace. They know that they may never meet again in this existence. They slowly, painstakingly, draw away from
each other, their lips longing for the warmth of the connection. Muriyaki rests her head on Kyoto's shoulder, her eyes shut,
trying to hold onto that last moment of bliss and contentment. Her arms are tight around his chest clinging tightly to him, as if
their embrace will keep them together even after the inevitable separation. "Hold me Kyoto, hold me till the world ends." 

Chisako strikes the ground like a dumptruck of bricks being dropped from the top of the World Trade Center. The first thing
that Kyoto realizes is that neither he nor Muriyaki are dead. However, Chisako is sliding down the steep side of a mountain,
moving like a Twiggy on skies. Kyoto is getting a very good view of this on the monitor hooked up to the external cameras.
"Oh, my God!" he screams. "We're doing the Luge!" Chisako's saucers are still spinning as the ship hurtles down the mountain.
As it reaches the bottom it strikes a curved ledge and is sent sailing through the air. It strikes the ground again and continues
sliding. Kyoto can see exactly where they're headed... straight into the center of a metropolis. Chisako's slowly rotating saucers
slowly level skyscrapers as they cut a swath of powderized cement and metal through the medium-sized city. Chisako skids to
a stop about eight hundred kilometers from where it first hit ground. It is seated flat on the ground. 

Kyoto is sprawled up against a bulkhead, his legs in the air above him like a hung turkey. "Ohhhh.... my aching.... everything..." 

Muriyaki is sprawled on the floor, unconscious. Her left cheek has a large, bloody gash across it and she is lying in a small pool
of her own blood. She coughs weakly each time she inhales, adding more blood to the pool. Finally, her eyes slowly flutter
open to find Kyoto looking down at her worriedly. 

"My God, Muriyaki, what happened to you?!" He takes her head up in his arms and holds her close to his chest. Muriyaki
looks up at him, through blood stained eyes. 

"K-k-k-Kyoto?... I hurt all over... make the pain go away...." 

Kyoto strokes her hair with his hand. "Don't worry, Muriyaki, I'll make it all better. Just... just sit still and it'll be alright. Don't
worry, it'll be all better soon." Kyoto runs a hand over her eyes, closing them. He then sets her down on the floor and takes up
a cross-legged position next to her. Closing his eyes and putting his hands together in a praying fashion he begins to
concentrate. 

Ayeka and Sasami, the only two people of the entire group to avoid injury, other than Mihoshi who is out like a light, are seated
in the giant groves of Jurai trees. It is at this moment that these trees start to glow. 

Ayeka is dumbfounded. "It is--"

"It's the power of the trees!" exclaims Sasami, pointing a finger at the numerous glowing trees. The entire command deck has
become infused with a pulsating, psychedelic jade-green light. This light is funnelling down into Muriyaki's body and she is
glowing a brilliant shade of w


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