ook of Sephiroth: Sasami's Wish
A Tenchi Muyo Fanfic by Nall-ohki, ( Tyson Roberts )  Email:
nall@goldengate.net
Chapter 2:  Anger and Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, though I may love or hate them
as much as I want.

Notes:
	* This Fanfic is based upon the timeline set forth by the Tenchi
	  OAV series, and takes place after the final episode thereof.
	* Some minor things are barrowed from Magical Project S


===============================================



	A long time ago, during my days at the old science academy, a
philosiphy teacher asked me a question I couldn't answer right away.  The
question simply was "What is religion?"
	It was a question I pondered for some time.  When I finally came
to my conclusion and told him, he was intrigued by my answer.  What I said
to him was this:

	        Imagine being inside a dark room, with only a single
	window with which to see the outside.  Through that window you can
	see many things about the universe beyond. No matter what size,
	shape, or material the window is made of, your view view of
	reality will be distorted by the window you choose. Some windows
	allow for wider view.  Some are prettier to look at.  None are
	completely transparent.
		Reality is the outside.  This window is religion.  
	
	Religion, as I came to realize, is not necisarily a belief in a
higher power or even a set of strict rules to follow.  Rather, Religion is
the window a person chooses though which reality is refracted.
	Unfortunately, some, when confronted with a harsh viewing spot
prefer to close thier blinds, preferring to peer out through a single slit
they've created.  Whether out of fear, or another emotion, the result is
the same.  To these people, thier window remains forever closed, and what
experience has taught them becomes the only thing reality can teach them.

	- Hakubi, Washuu (-chan) "Memoires of a Super Genius"




	After leaving the house in the morning, Tenchi caught the bus he
normally did;  Ryoko and Aeka in tow, discrete and silent.  Knowing their
presence angered him they sat in the back of the bus, having no choice but
to get to school.
	He tried ignoring their presence for a while, but doing so took
effort; as soon as he let his guard down for a moment, they would return
to his thoughts.  The hour it took to reach school seemed like an eternity
in his mind as he fought the perpetual battle to ignore them.
	After he arrived at school, it got a bit easier.  Neither Ryoko
nor Aeka had been placed in his class, and as a result he was able to
concentrate on other things.
	His school schedule today was fairly ordinary.  Classes as usual,
with a test immediately following lunch.  He was not worried about it too
much, having been prepared for it over the last few nights.
	Despite this preperation, he knew he would have to study come
lunchtime to refresh his mind in the subject.  Last-minute cramming was
important for short-term memory after all.  After only a few minutes in
class, the teacher walked in, announcing the beginning of the school day.

---------------------------------------

	When they had transferred in, Aeka and Ryoko had been placed in
the same class.  From that very day, their classmates learned one
important thing:  these two were rivals for Tenchi Masaki's attention.  
Unfortunately, due to the seating plan, the two had been placed very near
each other, with only an empty chair separating them.  In addition, they
were placed towards the back, where the teacher did not always have direct
attention; allowing arguments to escalate past the critical level before
they were squashed and forced to sit in the hall.
	Of course, the teachers did not stand for this.  After around the
4th outburst (morning of the second day), they were sent to the principal.
The two did not return to class on that day.  Afterwards, the outbursts
were mostly restricted to before and after classes, and lunch.
	Fights before class were by far the worst, however.  One of these
fights outwardly ceased when the teacher entered the classroom, but
continued silently during class until a better arena was available.
	The 'silent fighting' that went on was mostly little annoyances.
Flining paper and the like, but sometimes involved larger objects.  Such
as desks. They were never caught though, and neither ever complained
openly about the other's attacks.  The teachers were none the wiser.
	This taken into account, the class's collective goal had changed
from passing all their classes to surviving the semester.
	Today, Aeka had Ryoko arrived on time for class together.  Not a
word of anger nor scornful remark passed either pair of lips as they
walked in unison to their desks and sat down.
	This event, while simple enough an action almost caused more than
a few students' eyes to bug out in exclamation.  What they had just
witnessed seemed less likely to many of them than Buddha himself walking
through the door.
	Upon further examination, though, they recognized other factors
that helped ease the shock.  The two were not only not arguing, they were
acting completely unaware of each other's presence.  Upon reaching their
desks Ryoko held her head in her arms, resting her elbows on the desk, and
Aeka stared blankly at downward, her attention far distant.
	Class began without argument.  All of their classmates had by now
noticed the seeming impossible events and all watched carefully out of the
corners of their eyes.  Everyone expected something to happen, but knew
not what it might be.  They had never seen the girls act this way.
	Much to their relief, this expectation never came to fruition. The
two girls remained docile, in their desks, and almost completely oblivious
to everyone until lunch.

---------------------------------------

	The Valentine's Day lunchtime happenings at the High School were
very similar to those seen at Sasami's elementary school.  The girls still
rushed to and fro, dispensing their chocolates.  The boys likewise waited
anxiously.  Also as before, there were notable exceptions to these two
groups.
	Tenchi sat under a cherry tree.  He ignored the scene in favor of
the textbooks he held on his lap, where he studied for his upcoming exam.  
He intently read the required material, determined not to let the
commotion around him be a distraction.
	Under another nearby cherry tree, Ryoko and Aeka were two other
exceptions to the festivities, although not by choice.  They too were
steadfast in their commitment to their subject.  However, their target was
not a book, but the boy under the next tree.  They stood, attempting to
gain the courage to approach him; each holding small packages in their
hands
	Tenchi was aware of their presence.  Initially, he tried to ignore
them as he had earlier, using the book as a convenient excuse.  
Unfortunately, this worked for only a small time; the first time Tenchi
read the kanji for 'onna', woman, his mind again returned to the two
looking at him.  He tried once more, this time doubling his attempts to
force them out of his mind.  Again, this proved to be futile, the effort
required to push the thought away was a powerful thought itself.
	Aeka breathed deeply, knowing Tenchi was ignoring her on purpose.

	'He hates me!' she thought.  A ragged exhale following the
thought.  'I've got to ask him to forgive me, but... what if he...'

	She looked up at him again, he shifted his head slightly, back
into the book.  Yes, he knew she was there.

	'If it wasn't for that stupid Monster Girl this whole thing
wouldn't have happened.' she cursed in her mind.  'I've got to explain to
him, or else...'

	Taking a deep breath, Aeka took a step forward.

	Standing there next to her, Ryoko's train of thought flowed very
much the same as Aeka's.  She blamed the princess for the whole fight and
the fact that Tenchi was now angry at HER.
	At the same time that Aeka took her step forward, Ryoko had
completed her train of thought and complimented the action.
	Tenchi watched them approach, catching the motion over the top of
his book while he pretended to continue reading.  Both averted their gaze
as they walked to him, Aeka looking at the ground, Ryoko looking at an
angle upward and to the side.  He waited as they finished their approach
and stopped in front of him.
	There was a long moment of silence between the three.  Tenchi
could hear squeals from other girls who delivered their packages, and
groans from guys who were passed by the girl they hoped would deliver.  
Listening idly to the background noise, Tenchi waited for them to speak.  
When they finally did, it was at once.

	'Tenchi-sama, I-'
	'Tenchi, I-'

	Both cut off in as much unison as they had begun the sentence.
Aeka, bewildered by the way her words came out looked to her left to see a
confused visage etched on Ryoko's face.  Ryoko stared back into Aeka's
baffled stare.  The two suddenly becoming aware of the other's presence.
	Like Aeka, Ryoko had partially known that the princess was there
all along, but had subconsciously ignored it; her own suffering was more
important, after all.  Upon concious recognition, anger began to swell up
within her.

	"What the hell are you doing here?" she accused Aeka.

	"What do you mean what am I doing here, monster woman?" Aeka
replied in kind.

	"Me!  Who's fault do you think this anyway?" Ryoko returned fire.

	Tenchi looked on the sudden outbursts in disgust.  He exhaled his
breath in a puff of anger, not believing the nerve these girls had.  
Then, not wanting to hear anymore, he reached over; threw his book into
his satchel; stood up; and walked off, fuming.
	Tenchi had walked almost 4 meters away before the girls realized
his departure.  They both stopped their feud immediately, becoming statues
as they watched him across the courtyard and into the school.
	For the second time today, both girls felt their hearts fall to
their stomachs.  Once again in the unison of mutual unawareness, they
dropped their small packages on the grass, slumped to their knees, and
buried their faces in their hands.

---------------------------------------

	Tenchi returned to his classroom, just wanting to get away from
the incident outside.  Because the weather was extremely warm for
February, the room was empty.  This suited him just fine.
	Sitting down in his seat, he considered trying to study again, but
chucked the idea, knowing that was impossible; he was still too angry.

	"Damn it." he muttered out loud.

	'How could they be so stupid?' he thought a moment later.

	They had obviously come up to apologize to him.  Tenchi had been
ready to consider talking it out with them; the pressure of being angry
was getting to him, and he wanted a clear head for his exam.  But then,
the two had just thrown in his face a flashback of what had happened in
the first place.  Did they want to torture him?  Did they secretly hate
him?
	He sighed, knowing it was not true.  Both liked him a lot, and had
shown that on many occasions.  He just hated the fact that they fought so
much, though.  For god sakes, their carelessness this morning had almost
killed him!  If they liked him so much, they should think before they do
things that could hurt him.
	The door had embedded itself in the exact spot where Tenchi's head
would have been had he not had the good fortune to sit up.  At that speed,
that flying door would have killed, or at least severely injured him.  
More than that, though, it had scared him greatly.
	Still fuming, Tenchi absent-mindedly grabbed his satchel and
reached inside for his bento, subconsciously realizing he was hungry.  
Placing it on the desk, he opened it and reached for the chopsticks
without looking.
	Tenchi didn't like being frightened like he did then.  The emotion
was not energizing like he had felt when fighting with Kagato or in Dr.
Clay's ship.  This was an ugly, gut-wrenching feeling that left him with
it's painful memory etched in his mind.  He continued to pick at his food,
not eating it; still not paying attention to it.
	Finally, his anger took over again.  He took his right hand,
clenching the chopsticks, and jammed them down into the food.  He felt the
food give way as the sticks went through through, and a somewhat
satisfying tap of lacquer against plastic as they struck the bottom.  He
then let go of the chopsticks, allowing them stick vertically out of the
bento case; his hand falling limply to the side.
	Closing his eyes, he took a big breath, then exhaled, his chin
sinking to his chest as he did so.  Then, opening them again, he stared
down at the bento on the desk.  What he saw almost made him choke.
	The bento consisted of three rice balls.  It was not an unusual
lunch, Sasami made it frequently.  Each ball had been seasoned on the
outside with some light spices, and was very pretty to look at.  What was
different today was that she had written on them in sauce.
	The first ball had two Kanji: Ten, and Chi: his name.  The second
had two kanji and an additional character.  The first was Dai, meaning
'big or large', the second was a combination kanji of woman and child
together.  Because of the affection between the two, this kanji meant
'liked', and along with the phonetic character after, pronounced Su-ki.  
Together, the rice balls formed 'Dai suki,' 'I like a lot.' The way it was
phrased, it was a somewhat childish way of saying 'I love you'.
	On the third rice ball Sasami had simply painted a heart. Tenchi's
chopsticks stood vertically out of it, impaling the little girl's gesture
of affection.

---------------------------------------

	Sasami spent the rest of the day in class with Misao.  Though they
were not able to communicate vocally, they exchanged glances throughout
the time.  Each paid attention to the other, internally enjoying just
being together with a new friend.  Class ended before either expected.  
Amidst the other students exiting the classroom, they stood up, intending
to leave together.  A girl standing at the doorway stopped them.

	"Stop right there, Jurai-san, Amano-san." she said, holding out
her hand.

	"What?" Sasami asked, looking at her.

	The girl held a small black rulebook in her left hand, and pointed
at Sasami with her right.  It was the class representative.

	"You two have to stay after to clean up." she commanded.

	"What?!" Sasami exclaimed, "But, it's not our turn!"

	"I know." she nonchalantly responded.

	"Then why?"

	"Because you two were seen littering.  I have witnesses."

	"What do you mean, littering?" Sasami asked, annoyed, "And who
said we did?" curious as to who her accusers were.

	"Those two," she motioned to the back of the room where two boys
sat.  Sasami looked back, Guy and Shohei waved at her, a wide smirk on
each face.  Sasami felt her stomach begin to tighten with a hint of anger,
knowing the boys were lying to get them in trouble.

	"And what did we litter?" she asked, keeping tight control of her
tone, lest it become disrespectful.

	"A box of heart candy." she replied.

	"A box of... I..." Sasami said, caught off guard.
	
	It was true, she thought back.  They had forgotten the box,
leaving it sit on the table bench.  They had technically littered school
property.

	"Here you go, you can start on the floors." the class rep. said,
directing Misao and Sasami with her right hand to the back of the room
where the locker where the cleaning supplies were held.

	"Get to work."

	And so, the two spent the next hour doing cleanup duty.  It was as
boring job as it always was.  When they were finally done, both retrieved
their book bags from the desks and walked out the door together, glad to
be free.

---------------------------------------

	By the time the bus had opened its doors, Tenchi was already
running.  He didn't have much time; Sasami would be home soon.  He knew
that Sasami usually did the shopping after school, but that didn't give
him much time... maybe half an hour.  He knew it would take longer for
what he had planned.
	Making good time was difficult.  Tenchi was attempting to run
while holding a full bag of groceries and his satchel.  To make matters
worse, the bag given to him at the market was beginning to tear.  Tenchi
prayed as he went that it wouldn't progress any further.  All the while
his mind was working.
	He would beat Sasami home, this much he knew.  Now he had to make
some time to finish what he was planning.  He didn't want her walking in
before he was done.  He needed some way to delay her.  His train of
thought was interrupted by the sound of the bag tearing.
	
	"Damn!" he swore as the bottom gave out, and the groceries
splattered against the path.
	
	He glanced very quickly at the items, immediately bending over to
consolidate them into a pile.  He looked at them each as he placed them
with the others, noting their condition.
	The vegetables were all right-they could be washed; had to be
washed anyway.  One of the cans was dented, but only on one end-it could
be easily opened from the other.  All minor damage, he had been lucky.
	What Tenchi was actually worried about was a small package,
wrapped in white paper. Unconsciously, he inhaled before he reached for
it; examining it thoroughly.  It was bruised on a corner, and there was a
bit of red fluid building up behind the paper, almost through, but not
quite.  One side was dirty, but the package was intact, and hadn't opened.  
He consciously exhaled, relieved.
	After the lucky feeling wore off, Tenchi realized he had a bigger
problem than just collecting the groceries back into a pile.  With the bag
the way it was, he now really had no way of transporting them the next two
kilometers home.
	Tenchi looked around, looking for something of a container, but
found nothing.  Thinking for a moment, he considered his satchel, but
realized it was nowhere big enough, and was full with books already.

	"Think of something genius." he mumbled in annoyance to himself.

	Minutes ticked by as he looked and thought.  All the while, Tenchi
became more and more frustrated, finally taking off his school jacket due
to his anxiety making him uncomfortably warm.  He placed it to the side
and checked his watch.  Fifteen minutes had passed.  Fifteen minutes!

	"All right, Tenchi, improvise." he continued, mumbling.

	He squatted, putting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his
hands.  Looking at the ground, he could see the pile of groceries in front
of him.  Still, he had no answer.  Just then, something to the side caught
his right eye.  Glancing over, it was his jacket.

---------------------------------------

	Tenchi arrived at the house ten minutes later in a white
undershirt.  In his arms, he cradled a dark blue bundle of groceries,
holding on to his satchel in one hand.  Without preamble, he entered the
house and set the groceries down in the kitchen, catching the time from
the wall clock as he did so.  He had only about five minutes until she
returned!  He needed a distraction, someway to sidetrack Sasami until he
could finish.  It couldn't be him, though.  He would be busy.
	Who, then?  His father wasn't at home.  Peeking out into the
living room, he saw no one, so his grandfather probably wasn't at the
house for any reason right now either.  Who else?

---------------------------------------

	Washuu studied the computer screen for a moment, her mouth almost
dropping.

	"Voiceprint, retinal scan, DNA, password and random background
question all required for connection?" she said, hardly believing the kind
of protection they were putting on this system.  The Galactic Police
protected their information well, but not this well.
	This kind of protection, placed on the information she wanted,
only deepened her suspicion that what she was looking for was big.  On top
of that, the server she was on seemed to be isolated from the rest of the
network, giving her only one route in: direct connection password
cracking.
	
	"Alright, then." she said, determined to get in.

	She opened her list of her known voice patterns with the Galactic
Police, indexed them by name, and ran a routine to extrapolate what their
passwords possibly were.  This was not difficult, people picked stupid
passwords as a rule.  Then, referencing them by a run through of the
officer photo records, she got all the information she would need to know
about except one.

	"Hmm... DNA... DNA..." she mumbled out loud.  "Ah, I got it."

	She ran another routine to extrapolate possible gene patterns
through the use of all the known physical traits in the record files.  
Hopefully, the system was lazy and only did a partial comparison of the
string.
	Washuu was confident in this, because comparing a full DNA string
was an arduous process, and would slow their systems down considerably if
they did it for every login.  On top of that, DNA was killer on the
subspace bandwidth.
	While she was waiting for her gene-sequencing machines to finish
their task, she searched the list for who would be a good user to attempt
entry with.  After a short search, she came up with her target: an officer
in headquarters who had been twice disciplined for security breaches in
the past.
	
	'This should teach him not to look at information he wasn't meant
to see.' she thought to herself, noting the irony.

	She punched in the relative information, initiated the login, and
hoped.  It came back a moment later with denial of entry.  She wasn't
surprised at this;  her getting in on the first try was unlikely.  What
surprised her was the reason for the denial.  She looked at the error
carefully.

	Access denied. Login attempt #4.2389eA5 Reason for denial:
	"SRP Address: 0.9238e10472, 2.348382e1983, 4.83682e1023;
	 refname: 2o11p.juraisys.8e04 does not allow subspace relay
	 connections on this port."

	Have a nice day.

	No external access!  That was her only way in!  She pounded the
keyboard in frustration, which of course had no effect since it was
insubstantial.  Instead her hands flew through; her right fist hitting
just above her right knee on the fleshy part of the calf.

	"Ow!" she squealed, grabbing her knee from the pain.  She grabbed
it under the thigh with both arms and held it to her chest, trying to keep
herself from laughing or crying from the sensation.  She screwed her eyes
shut, and shifted her weight, causing the air cushion she sat on to spin
in air.
	Concentrating on the knee in her chest, Washuu didn't notice the
sound of her crab door chimes as someone entered the room.

	"Washuu-chan?" she heard a voice somewhere from behind her, if
'behind' was really a useful concept while spinning.  "Ummm... What are
you doing?"

	She stopped her spinning, opened her eyes and then craned her head
to search for the person speaking; her teeth showing in a wide,
embarrassed smile.  It was Tenchi.  Attempting to regain some dignity, she
returned her head to a front-facing position, dropped her knee (though it
still hurt), and rotated the cushion to face him, her teeth still showing.

	"Ah Tenchi-dono!  When did you get here?" she said with the same
embarrassment evident on her face.

	Tenchi decided to ignore whatever it was that had just happened in
favor of time, which he had precious little of.

	"Just now.  Anyway, Washuu-chan, I need a favor." he said,
seriously.

	"Favor?  What exactly?" she asked.

	"I need you to distract Sasami-chan for a little while when she
gets home," he said.  "Anything to keep her away from the kitchen."

	"Oh, I see... hmm... I guess I can do that... but Tenchi-dono?"

	"What?"

	"Is her cooking really that bad?  I thought she was doing an
excellent job, and-"

	"No, that's not it.  I have other reasons.  Anyway, I need you to
distract her before she gets to the house."

	"Yes.  That will be fine.  How long should I distract her for?"

	Tenchi glanced at his watch.

	"About an hour."

	"Fair enough." she said, thinking for a moment.  "However, could
you do something for me in exchange?"

	"What?"

	"Just come to my lab tomorrow."

---------------------------------------

	Tenchi was very efficient in food preparation, having on many
occasions before Sasami arrived had to make dinner before his father got
home. While Nobiyuki had always complimented his food, Tenchi didn't know
how good it really was; Nobiyuki may have lied, knowing that it was the
only way he could get food that was non-instant.  Personally, he thought
it was okay, but didn't strike him as special in any way.  Right now,
though, he hoped his father had been truthful.
	Previously, with no women in the house, Tenchi had been appointed
the one to cook once he became old enough.  This was mostly due to the
fact that Nobiyuki could not do so without setup and cleanup that resulted
in sore joints and a stiff neck the next day.  Tidiness had never been his
forte.
	When the girls had arrived, Sasami had taken over cooking almost
immediately.  She didn't ask if Tenchi could cook, and probably didn't
know.  He would have offered to make dinner if it weren't the fact that
Sasami seemed to enjoy it so much.  That and she was so good at it.
	Even though he was rushed, he took great care in all aspects of
making the food.  He wanted it to be perfect.  After almost exactly an
hour, he was finished.  Preparation was complete.  The table was set.  He
took off the apron and set it to the side, and sat down at the table.  
All the while thinking about how he was going to apologize.

---------------------------------------


	After Tenchi left her lab, Washuu began plotting out how she would
intercept Sasami.  The first thing was to locate the girl.  That way she
knew how much time she had to distract her for.  First she checked on the
life form scanners surrounding the house to locate her if she was close.  
After a quick search, it came up negative.
	Okay, so she wasn't near the house; that was good.  Washuu had
some time to prepare.  It occurred to her as odd, though, as she knew,
like Tenchi that Sasami was usually home about this time.  Suddenly a
panicked thought reached her mind, and she initiated another search
quickly.

	"Good.  She's not in the house." she said, relieved, after the
results came back.

	Washuu then set an automatic search using a combination of visual
and life form patterns, letting it scan in concentric circles from the
home, intending for it to stop by hand after it found her.
	A moment later, a result came back.  She looked at it, not
bothering to terminate the search.

	"Kegani, activate optical device 438 on coordinates in clipboard
42, format: polar." She said, intending to get a good viewing device to
check the location.

	"Hai, Washuu-chan!" a computer voice responded.

	Another voice-Yadokari, Washuu recognized-began speaking barely a
moment later.

	"Adjusting device 438: huber; 15 seconds to alignment." Washuu
rolled her eyes, tapping her fingers on the desk.

	The optical satellites on this world were still very primitive,
and while they were all she had without launching her own (which she
didn't, for various reasons), they were still (with minor adjustments)
very useful.

	"Device aligned, beginning focus... focused."

	"On terminal screen, please."

	"Hai!  Washuu-chan!"

	Washuu looked into the screen in horror.  Sasami lay face down in
the grass, unmoving.  The ground around was colored with dark liquid,
covering most of what Washuu could see.  From the focus, all Washuu could
see was her head and back, two ponytails flowing down.
	She was about to run out to get Tenchi when something struck her
as odd in the scene.  Sasami's hair was much longer than she remembered,
covering her entire back.  In fact, the shade of her hair was off a bit
also, and it was shaped in an odd way.  Then she noticed the surroundings.  
Around her was what looked like grass, except that the individual blades
towered over Sasami's figure by almost twice her height lying down.

	"What the... Yadokari, zoom out, 5 meters."

	"Hai!  Washuu-chan!"

	Washuu watched as the instrument zoomed out and then refocused.  
Suddenly, it all made sense.
	The scene was as follows: a small grassy section of ground,
bordered on one side by a metallic can.  On another side was a small
section of fence, painted blue.  What she had thought was Sasami lay next
to the metallic can which turned out to be holding paint (blue, no doubt).  
These elements coming into perspective are what lead Washuu to her
conclusion: She was looking at a cockroach, covered in blue paint.  The
realization made her throw her head back in laughter.
	After looking back at the search results, she realized her
mistake: there had been a 49% match: 38% visual, done by one of the
quicker, lower image quality satellites she sometimes utilized; 10% life
form match, which was about right for an insect and a human.
	Washuu stopped her train of thought for a moment; Sasami was
Jurain.  A 10% likeness for creatures of two different planets and such
varying types was a bit on the high side assuming they evolved separately.  
At least, for the type of test she was running.  She'd have to check on
that later.
	For now, she needed to find Sasami.  Looking back on the search
results, there was only one other match, this one almost 100%.  Near the
school. After once again adjusting the satellite, Washuu looked onto a
completely different scene.  This time, it was more to her expectations.
	On the screen was a mostly overhead view of Sasami walking with
another girl Washuu did not recognize.  This was not surprising, Sasami
had friends at school she spent time with.  They were talking happily as
they walked down a nondescript alleyway, the perfect image of happy
schoolgirls.

	'Ahh, so she's spending time with a friend.' Washuu thought.  
'Looks like I don't have anything to worry about'

	She continued to watch for a moment, not really expecting anything
to happen, just trying to read what the two girl's plans were.  With
hardly a thought, she dispatched an audio probe to listen in, and possibly
get an idea of when Sasami intended to leave for home, or if she was in
fact going now.
	The girls continued to chat idly to each other, unaware.  They
approached an intersection, and passing through it, it opened into a park
on one side, bordered by a meter and a half tall hedge made up of yet
unblooming rose bushes.
	Washuu saw it coming before the girls did, but was powerless to
stop it.  Three boys were hidden behind the bushes, one larger boy flanked
by two smaller boys.  The younger two appeared around Sasami's age, though
the older boy was undoubtably a year or two older.  The two smaller ones
held buckets, filled with some dark liquid.
	As soon as the two girls approached a break in the hedge, the
younger boys jumped out, throwing the contents of the buckets at them.

----------------------------------

	Misao didn't even see the liquid coming.  Sasami caught it out of
the corner of her eye.  Even so, the small warning she had was not enough
to prepare her for the shock of the water hitting her like a hard slap in
the face.
	Sasami was completely stunned for a moment.  After wiping the
liquid from her face on her sleeve, she looked down at her previously
white blouse, now stained black and dripping with the liquid.  Checking
further, she saw that the white skirt she wore was similarly stained.  
The rest of the uniform was stained, but was blue and did not show as
well.  She could hear two boys laughing.

	"You like it?" asked Guy, mockingly, "It's a mix of water, soy
sauce, and ink."

	Sasami ignored him and looked over at Misao.  She was looking down
at her uniform as Sasami had.  It was similarly stained.  After a moment,
Misao looked up at her, her eyes meeting Sasami's own.  A look of complete
helplessness etched upon her features; the inky black drops of water
falling down her face like tears.
	Again, movement caught the corner of her eye.  Reacting to it, she
saw Daigo step out from behind the hedge where Guy and Shohei must have
appeared.  Without saying a word, he walked up behind Guy and Shohei who
parted for him.  Walking past them, he confronted Sasami head on.

	"Why did you do that?" Sasami asked, barely keeping a grip on her
anger.

	"Because you two gave me trouble.  I don't like people standing up
to me.  I lose face that way." he replied in an even tone.

	"Who do you think you are?  You always pick on the smaller
students, just because you can push them around."

	"You think you're any different?" he growled.

	Reaching to the side, Daigo grasped Misao's uniform by the chest.  
Lifting up, he held the girl eye level with him, looking at her now
petrified face.

	"You see?"  he said.  "You can't even stop me from picking on your
little girl friend here."

	Sasami had not anticipated this, expecting anything he might do
would be towards her.  It had happened too fast.
	As it was, the situation was almost obscene.  Diago held the tiny
girl in the air by the blue blouse she wore.  His hold was tight, and a
small bit of her breast tissue was pinched in his grip, hurting her a lot.  
In addition, Misao's own weight was untucking the overshirt from her
skirt.  Misao knew that if that happened, she could lose her blouse.  
Even so, there was nothing she could do, she was too scared to fight back.

	"Put her down!" Sasami screamed, "Now!"

	He ignored her commands, hoping to incite her further by smiling
at the helpless girl whimpering in his hands.  It did the trick, Sasami
charged at him almost immediately.
	Anticipating the move, Daigo turned and kicked her squarely in the
stomach, forcing her to buckle over in pain.  She collapsed to the ground,
gripping her stomach, trying to regain the breath stolen from her lungs.

	"You're still trying to stand up to me." he mocked amusedly, using
a tone a father might use to a child.

	Sasami listened to him, rage burning with the pain in her gut as
her breath began to come back to her raggedly.

	"Oh, well.  I guess I'll have to discipline you both." he said.

	Then, in a quick motion, he let Misao sink a bit, then jerked her
body sharply up and at an angle towards the hedge.  From the initial
throw, Misao's uniform pulled free of her skirt, which bunched up over her
face, blocking her vision as she flew.  The girl panicked, not knowing
what to do.  By the time she was able to see again, her flight was over.
	She landed badly, her body forcing itself deeply into the thick
bushes, sinking very quickly.  Then she tumbled, her body falling through
to the park side of the bushes and into the grass.
	
	"Misao!" Sasami screamed, though her lack breath caused her voice
to strain.

	She jumped to her feet and bolted towards the opening in the
hedge.  Guy and Shohei made no move to stop her, smirking at her as she
sped past.
	When she reached Misao, she was turned face down in the grass.
Sasami could tell when she got there that she was crying.  She looked over
her body quickly to assess her condition.  There were bloody scratches on
her legs everywhere, and her skirt was torn to shreds.  Her clothing was
worse than her body, though; she seemed to not be hurt too badly.

	"Misao..." she said gently, kneeling down next to her.  "Are you
alright?"

	Misao bobbed her head in the dirt to indicate so.  Not stopping
her whimpering.

	At that moment on the other side of the hedge, Daigo felt really
good.  Contrary to the rumors, he did not usually pick on girls to the
point of beating them.  He wasn't stupid, a girl with obvious physical
marks gave her too much attention, and he preferred to be discrete as far
as the teachers went. The students could know, that was fine; they
couldn't do anything anyway.

	"That was cool Daigo-sama!" said Guy.  Daigo smiled, feeling the
perverse praise fill him.

	"Should we continue?" Shohei asked him.

	Yes.  The thought of continuing the assault on these two,
especially Sasami was something he definately wanted to do.  Sasami had
given him a fight up to this point, she had spirit.  There was nothing
more he wanted than to rip that spirit from her; to make her submit to
him.  Right now, letting his anger and rage flow through him, taking out
on these girls what the world took from him was all he could ask for.
	Listening to the sobbing coming from the opposite side of the
hedge knew he would.  He then repeated a line who's like he had heard all
too many times in his life.  The phrase filled him with despair and
triumph at the same time; he shivered with excitement.

	"Let's give her something to cry about."

	Sasami heard the words.  Looking down at the helpless girl lying
in the grass crying, she made a resolution to stand firm.  No matter how
much she was outmatched, no matter how much she would pay for it, she
would defend her new friend.  It was a battle she was willing to fight,
knowing she could not win.
	Her heart began pounding as she made it clear to herself that she
would not run, she would not hide.  Her body tingled, jittery with anxious
anticipation.  She went to stand up, ready for the flow of adrenaline.
	The rush felt nothing like she expected.  While in the past when
she played sports or had adventures with Tenchi, she had felt a increased
awareness, heightened senses, touch-go reflexes one could only achieve
during periods of anxiety and anticipation.  This time, she felt more
asleep than awake. Looking out, her vision blurred, her head spun, she
felt as if she would faint.
	A moment later, she did.

---------------------------------------

	Washuu gasped.
	She had been shocked through the scene that had passed before her
up to this point.  She had no idea such bullies were tolerated on this
planet. Adults could be cruel, but that did not mean that children were
less so, she realized very soon after the audio mechanism had kicked in.
	Washuu had been anxiously warming up the short range matter
transporter she had been working on, waiting for it to complete it's
bootstrap cycle. She hoped the device worked as well as it had during
earlier trials, wanting very badly to send herself to the scene in order
to help the girls.  Before it finished, the events on the monitor stopped
her cold.
	
	"Tsunami." she uttered, her expression turning to astonishment.

---------------------------------------

	The boys came around the rose hedge single file, talking all the
while.  They took their time.  They all knew that Misao was going to be
down, and that Sasami wouldn't leave her.  Her defiance earlier had shown
that.  They also didn't worry too much about being seen.  This park was
fairly secluded. Few children came here, and mostly elderly people lived
in the surrounding houses;  people who minded their own business.
	They were all the more surprised when they found not a pony-tailed
girl guarding her crying friend, but a pony-tailed woman.  On top of that,
the girl on the ground who had been making noise a moment ago appeared to
be passed out.

	"Who the fuck are you?" Daigo said, angry his favored victim had
disappeared.

	She turned her head slightly to look at him.

	"Tsunami." she replied simply.  "I am Sasami's older sister."

	"Shit.  I could'a figured that out."

	Indeed, Daigo had already guessed that.  He had no idea who she
was, or even heard her name before, but there was no mistaking the
resemblance between the two.  Same face, same eyes, same thin body; even
the hair styles were similar.
	She was tall for a woman, appearing to be somewhere in her late
teens to early twenties.  Most important, she was female, and while he
didn't intend to attack the girl, he did not fear her.

	"So when the hell did you get here?" he pressed.

	"My sister was in trouble." she replied simply.  "I will always
come to her aid."

	"Where's your sister now?" he asked.

	"Safe." the woman replied.

	"Daigo-sama asked you a question," came an angry voice from behind
Daigo.  Feeding off of Daigo's confidence in dealing with the older woman,
Guy stepped forward threateningly, his fists balled, "Now give him the
answer he wants.  Where is she?"

	In response, the woman raised a single hand towards the
approaching youth.  Instantly, there was a flash of light and before he
knew it, Guy was on the ground.  He lay there, looking up at the sky,
stunned.  The two other boys stood in shock for a moment, witnessing their
comrade's fate.
	Daigo had always had a bad temper.  It was a flaw he had that
sometimes manifested itself in his dealings with other students.  This
anger was the largest contributing factor to his reputation.  Once, he had
beaten a kid unconscious because he had refused to comply with his
commands.
	Now the temper kicked in.  His brain ignored the seeming
supernatural nature of her attack, the fact that he was about to hit
someone over twice his age.  He simply charged at the object that refused
to comply.  If he couldn't squash the other girl's spirit, he would punish
this one.
	Raising his fist, he put his rage into his punch, wanting more
than anything to punish this woman that made him lose control of his life.
	This time she used both hands.
	Daigo flew he didn't know how far.  All he knew was that he hit
the wall hard, feeling a crumbling sensation as he did; Afterwards
slumping to the ground in a sitting position, his breath knocked form his
lungs.  He looked at her, snarling.

	"I will not allow you to hurt either of these children." the woman
said.

	Daigo locked eyes with her, ignoring Shohei who came to his side
and took a defensive stance against her.
	Stone walls are known for their strength against impact.
Unfortunately, this quality for which they are so prized is lost when they
get old, are worn, or cracked.  Under these conditions, the stone tends to
crumble, falling to the ground in chunks.  Such it was in this case.
	There was little warning save a brief sound a moment before it
happened.  A fair-sized chunk of the wall weighing several dozen kilograms
fell from above Daigo's head.  It landed squarely on his left leg, a
crunching sound as they made contact.
	Daigo bellowed in pain and tried franticly to remove the rock from
his injured leg.  Shohei assisted him immediately, scared to death of what
he thought might have just happened.  His fears were justified when he
moved the stone fragment.  Though he could not see the leg directly, the
clothing over it was misshapen below the knee, forming a concave bowl.
	
	"Daigo-sama, I, Wha... what do I do?" he asked, panicked.

	"Go for help, you idiot!" Daigo screamed back, pain apparent in
his voice.

	Following the command, he got up immediately.  He looked back to
where Guy was weakly getting up.  Kneeling down, he asked him if he was
all right. Guy indicating he was, Shohei instructed him to assist Daigo
until he returned.
	Then, frowning, he looked up to gaze upon the one who had caused
his leader such pain.  Only, gazing up upon the green grass of the park,
there was nothing to see.
	Tsunami and Misao were gone.

-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-
Author Notes:

	This *IS* the second chapter.  I apologize for the
misunderstanding Chapter 1, Part 1 caused.  I originally thought I would
write the chapters in equal lengths, but realized that was unrealistic for
various reasons.
	The second chapter was much more difficult to write, and edit due
to the fact that I was trying to combine many ideas in ways that didn't
become overly wordy.  I hope I succeeded for most of it.
	Once again, my pre-readers came through for me like the angels of
mercy they are.  Without their help, this fic. would have been much harder
on the brain.  My proofreaders are (in no particular order):

	- David Arjuna Stevens
	* Larry Fontenot MVP (Most Valuable Proofreader)
	- Mark Ferrer
	- Phuc Tram
	- Souldrake
	- David Farr

	Anyways, chapter 2 promises to show a hint more of what I am
planning to do in this fic.  The first chapter was primarily an intro.  I
hope to get onto the actual fic soon.
	Again, I have fears about my ability to finish what I have planned
here.  Today is June 16th.  I may be leaving for Japan around august 24th.  
Also, I may be working as a mentor for some Japanese High School students
while they take summer classes as early as July 18th and be doing so until
I leave.  So much happening in my life right now.
	Well, I'll just have to do my best.  I hope everybody here enjoys
the first chapter.  Also, remember: if I don't hear from you, I have no
way of knowing if you like it.  If I'm not pleasing people, I have less
will to write more.