Season 1: Return of the Akuneko
Episode 1: No Need for Mysteries
Deep space, just beyond the edge of the Jurai
frontier, far from Galaxy Police jurisdiction:
"Have you discovered where she was?" the speaker
was tall and shadowed beneath a heavy cloak. He was
floating cross-legged and looking over the shoulder of
a short reptilian humanoid that was busily working
three separate holographic keyboards.
"The data indicates Earth," the reptilian answered.
"I do not need to know where she is," the man
snapped angrily. "I need to know where she was two
hundred years ago. When I know that then I can move on
both."
"It is as I said, sir," the reptilian was annoyed
now. "It seems she was on Earth, at least she
disappeared in that area for a brief period of time."
"And she is there now as well." You could almost
feel the smile under the cowl. "Very good, you'll be
rewarded as usual." The speaker vanished into thin
air, and the reptilian breathed a sigh of relief.
Earth, Rikyu's House of Teriyaki
"Welcome to Rikyu's House of Teriyaki, would you
prefer smoking or non-smoking?" The voice was highly
cheerful, and the short speech was well rehearsed. No
hint of the speaker's irritation at this particular
job showed through.
"Non-smoking, please," the man answered.
"Oh," the woman interjected. "And could you make it
a booth, please?"
"Why, yes," the teal-haired hostess answered. "That
will be no problem. If you'll just follow me." A bead
of sweat rolled down her forehead, over the red
headband, as she noticed the blonde hostess behind her
start towards the sound of opening doors.
"Welcome to Yaki's House of Terikyu," the
teal-haired hostess tried not to wince as she seated
her customers. "Do you want to smoke?"
"Your waiter will be with you shortly," the
teal-haired hostess assured her customers before she
turned to stomp on over to attempt yet again to teach
her brain-dead partner. She breathed a sigh of relief
when she saw who the customers were.
"Well I'm hot enough as it is," a silver-haired
woman responded smartly.
"Oh, Ryoko!" the blonde chirped happily. "What are
you doing here? Oh and Sasami's with you!"
"Ryoko is helping me with the shopping," the little
girl explained happily, the cat-rabbit thing on her
head meowed in agreement. "Ryoko wanted to stop here
to eat."
"You know it�s a bad idea for us to socialize while
we're working, guys," the teal-haired hostess noted.
"I swear we didn't know you and Mihoshi were here,"
Ryoko protested. "I was just hungry, that's all."
"Oh in that case, we'll seat you right now,"
Mihoshi, the blonde, declared sweetly. She grabbed a
couple of menus from their case and started for the
dining area. In the process she managed to trip over
her stool, knock over the hostess stand and spill all
the menus across the floor. They mixed with the
toothpicks and candies from the hostess stand. "Oh,
Kiiiiyoooneee!!" the blonde began balling
pathetically.
"Mi-Ho-Shi!!!!" the teal-haired hostess clenched
her fist and did her best to control the volume of her
voice. Ryoko and Sasami both sweat-dropped as Kiyone
turned to them and her sweet exterior returned.
"Please seat yourself while I help Mihoshi clean up
this mess."
"Okay," Sasami agreed reluctantly. "If you say so."
Ryoko caught sight of the manager on his way and
quickly agreed.
"Well let's go get our table Sasami," she insisted
and herded the girl away from what was about to be an
embarrassing situation.
"I don't see how you can mess up as a hostess,"
Kiyone lectured the sobbing Mihoshi who was gingerly
picking up menus. "All you do is ask smoking or
non-smoking and seat them. How hard can that be?"
"I'm sorry, Kiyone, I didn't mean it."
"Here let me help you with that," Kiyone looked up
at the sound of the voice and saw a tall man with
spiky red hair. He was smiling kindly as he bent over
to help collect the spilt items.
"You two again!" the manager shouted. "You're more
trouble than�"
"Don't worry, Hirata-San," the tall red haired man
interrupted, smiling. Looking closely Kiyone saw that
he had yellow eyes with vertical pupil slits. "I'm
sure it was just an accident."
"R-r-r-ikyu-San!" the manager stammered. "Uh, but
sir, it is always an accident with these two."
"I don't mean do to it," Mihoshi wailed. The
patrons shrewdly worked to avoid looking towards the
commotion. They finished collecting the spilt items
and stood up. The red-haired man reached down to help
Kiyone to her feet, and she noticed he was wearing a
pair of black plastic bracers with silver lines
running through it. The item was obviously designed to
look like some sort of circuitry.
"Hey!" Sasami yelled from the back, Ryoko was
nowhere to be seen. Kiyone assumed she had teleported
somewhere. "Where are you going, we haven't even
ordered yet!" She was soon rocketing past the scene of
the most recent Mihoshi debacle, and out side into the
street. Or at least she was rocketing as much as she
could while carrying the shopping bags. Kiyone would
have followed to make sure she was okay, but Sasami
did have Ryo-Ohki with her, she should be fine.
"Exciting day today," Rikyu said with a smile.
Kiyone narrowed her eyes, there was something
decidedly odd about this. She had more than a few
theories, but now was not the time to discuss them.
"What can we do for you sir," the manager asked,
still stiff-backed in a stance of attention. He
quickly gestured for Mihoshi and Kiyone to do the
same, which they did, they needed the jobs after all.
"Oh nothing," he said cheerfully. The manner was as
much put on as Kiyone's own welcome speech. "I just
thought I might get something to eat after my trip."
"Yes, sir," he said, then he turned to the two
women and barked an order. "You heard him!" He jabbed
a finger at Mihoshi. "Get Rikyu-San the best seat
right now! Makibi clean up this mess!!" Kiyone
suspected that the manager gave her the more demeaning
job because of Mihoshi's looks. It was almost as
disturbing a trend as Mihoshi's constant bumbling.
"Yes, sir! Manager-San, sir," Mihoshi declared
officially. "Will you follow me Rikyu-San?"
"I'd be delighted," the man bowed slightly,
eliciting a cheerful bounce from Mihoshi who went off
to go seat the apparent owner. Before they got far
Rikyu turned to Kiyone. "Makibi-San, I like your
earring." He winked knowingly before following the
blonde.
"What could he mean by that?" Kiyone thought to
herself. Then her eyes widened. "He couldn't know
about Yagami, could he?"
Outside in the streets of Tokyo
"That was too close," Ryoko sighed leaning against
the alley wall. Then she saw Ryo-Ohki and Sasami
frowning at her. The little girl, with green hair many
shades brighter than Kiyone's teal, set down the
groceries and proceeded to try and catch her breath.
"What did you do that for Ryoko?" Sasami huffed.
"I'm sorry about Sasami," Ryoko for once sounded
truly apologetic. Sasami was stunned. "I just wasn't
hungry anymore."
"Well you could have said something," that tone
Sasami reserved for lecturing the supposedly more
mature members of her household. "Now you have me
starving and it'll be a long time before we get back
home."
"I'm sorry kiddo, we'll stop at a McDonalds's and
get some American food on the way in. I hear they have
those little animal toys you like so much. How's
that?"
"Kiddo?" Sasami thought to herself, then forgot it
at the prospect of a new beanie baby to add to her
growing collection. "Really? Oh that'll be great,
thank you Ryoko!" Then Sasami hopped happily ahead of
Ryoko who was closely following behind, humming
quietly too herself.
A small house on the edge of Tokyo
It had been awhile since the Galaxy Police had been
here, it was comforting that they had finally
re-assigned the section to someone. Even if they
seemed to be somewhat less than competent. Or at least
that one blonde was at any rate. The other woman was
certainly observant, she had been looking at him
strange the entire time. At first he had passed that
off as being a side effect of his eyes, they were odd
for this planet. When he recognized what the earring
was, however, it took on a little bit more meaning.
"I'll have to tell Hirata to give them a little
leeway on the hours," he noted to himself. He hadn't
been off planet for a long time, since his craft had
broken down, and didn't plan to be off for a long time
yet. Still it would be good to know where to find the
system's resident officers.
"Now," Rikyu cracked his knuckles as he floated
over to his PC. "Time to go to work." He held up a
piece of hard black plastic laced with thin strips of
silver. He reached over and tapped a button. The time
display on his monitor started counting the
milli-seconds up from zero.
"What we have here is some sort of electrical
component, obviously of the same make as most of the
other pieces in my collection. Its use at this moment
is indeterminate. Obviously it is designed to utilize
my natural energies�." Rikyu continued his examination
as he set the item on the counter in front of him.
Behind him was a small collection of similar items.
Miho-Kiyo Residence:
"Wasn't it nice for Ryoko and Sasami to visit us
like that?" Mihoshi asked as she paused from devouring
her curry.
"Yeah, but why did she just run off like that?"
Kiyone asked, more to herself than Mihoshi.
"Oh, you know Ryoko," Mihoshi waved that off.
"She's always disappearing somewhere."
"Yeah, but its still not like her to leave Sasami
behind," Kiyone said. "That's one common thread in
that household. Everyone keeps an eye on Sasami."
"We, mehbe she juff rehmmbehe somthinn," Mihoshi
said through a fool mouth.
"Or saw someone," Kiyone realized. She had already
suspected. Now, Rikyu's comment combined with Ryoko's
actions made it a surety. Ryoko recognized Rikyu, and
she left before he could see her.
"Mihoshi, I'm going up to the Yagami and check some
files," Kiyone said. Then she inwardly cringed and put
on her sweetest face requested in her sweetest voice.
"Can you do me a favor and fold the clothes while I'm
gone? It would really help me."
"Oh really, Kiyone?" Mihoshi beamed. "Yes, I'll be
glad to help, all the clothes will be folded and ready
when you get back!" Kiyone suspected that the clothes
would all be in shreds and tatters, but there wasn't
much this time and it would get Mihoshi off her back
for a little while.
Masaki residence
"It is very good of you to treat Sasami, Ryoko,"
Ayeka admitted haughtily. "But where, might I ask, are
you getting the money?" Ryoko was just staring into
space and eating. This was unusual, given the opening
for irritation Ayeka had just opened.
"Are you listening to me, Ryoko!!" Ayeka yelled.
She stood up and turned to the space pirate. "Ryoko!!"
Tenchi shook his head and prayed the property damage
wouldn't be too much.
"Onesan," Sasami muttered softly, a little
embarrassed.
"Ryoko," Yosho called in his normal quiet,
authoritative voice. Ayeka had a lot to learn about
leadership. Ryoko blinked.
"Huh?" Ryoko asked, pulling out of her reverie.
"What is it?" She sounded a little annoyed, but not to
her normal level in dealing with Ayeka.
"I was asking you where you got the money to treat
Sasami today!" Ayeka snapped. "Which of us are you
stealing it from?"
"The money?" Tenchi caught her blushing a little
before she continued. "I�uh�won it gambling."
"Gambling!" Ayeka declared angrily. "Of course
you'd be gambling, you couldn't do honest work if your
life depended on it!"
"But you don't do anything either, Ayeka," Sasami
noted, in her usual way.
"That is not the point," Ayeka said snobbishly.
"The point is that she has no sense of responsibility
what so ever. She's gone all day, probably watching
Lord Tenchi at his school, while we stay here and do
the chores, like proper guests." Tenchi kept waiting
for Ryoko to step into the argument as she normally
did, he already had his escape route planned out.
Ryoko, however, had returned to her reverie and
seemed to not even hear the fuming princess.
"Ryoko, are you okay?" Tenchi asked. Ryoko blinked
again.
"Oh, I'm fine," she assured him. "Never better,
just remembering things. That's all. Thanks for the
lovely meal Sasami, excuse me." Ryoko floated up from
the floor and vanished.
"Oh," Ayeka fumed angrily. "That woman is up to
something!!"
Jurai checkpoint:
The Jurai soldier stared suspiciously at the sleek
black and red spacecraft waiting to be shuffled
through the checkpoint. The soldier turned from the
monitor to look at the captain of the vessel.
"The reason for your visit is tourism?" he asked in
disbelief.
"The old stories say much about the beauty of this
part of the universe," he smiled. "Call me curious, I
wanted to see the places where so much history
occurred."
"The first Akuneko to cross the dead zone for
several thousand years," the soldier stated. "Is here
for tourism?"
"A bit silly I agree, but it is the truth," the man
pulled back his head to reveal a set of black spiky
hair. "Trust me, sir, the war ended with the death of
the Shinku tyrants." If anything the comment made the
soldier even more suspicious, it was pure propaganda.
What with the Kagato/Yosho thing being so recent it
was perfectly obvious to him. Still there was nothing
about the man or the ship that was illegal. He'd
report this, and the man would be watched, but there
was nothing much else he could do.
"Well, what else can I say?" the Jurai soldier
asked tightly. "Welcome to Jurai space, Rei Kuroi,
enjoy your stay."
"Oh, I most certainly will," the man smiled as he
teleported to his ship and made ready to continue his
journey.
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
Signed
He of Too Many Names (Thrythlind/Thryth/Luke/Hyperbole/Pika/Pooka)
http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html
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