Shopping for Trouble By: Greg "Puff-Cloud" Kerby (Part I of the Chronicle Series) Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and all affiliated characters AIC and Pioneer. Series created by Masaki Kajishima. I am fully aware of lawsuits (if any) that can happen, so don't go pissing me off about something that has nothing to do with lawsuits regarding Tenchi Muyo!T or you may have all your asses sued (OKAY!?!?!) By the way, did I tell you i'm broke? Chapter 1 It was 8:00 AM in the afternoon on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning at a quiet Masaki household. The Cherry Blossoms bloomed with beauty and style as the gentle morning breezes blew off a few petals. The lake glimmered with an almost blinding reflection as the docks at the back porch created a marina-like scene. Inside, the house was absolutely still. Everyone was fast asleep. The only thing moving inside the abode was Ryo-Ohki in child form. She woke up in her bed in her room. It seemed like she really liked being in her child form.... mostly due to the fact that she could eat more carrots in than if she were in her cabbit form. "Myaaaaaaa..." yawns the young cabbit, stretching her arms out in the process. She then gets out of bed. *Grrrrooooowwwwwlllll...*. Ryo-Ohki stops suddenly, pondering on where the noise came from. *GRRROOOOOWWWWWLLLLL!!!!!...*. She that moment she realized that it was her stomach going off the Richter scale. She needed something to eat... and fast. She hurriedly ran upstairs to wake up Sasami, who was still dead asleep in her and Ayeka's room. Ryo-Ohki had to be careful not to trip on any of the steps since she was continuing to gain a center of gravity. She came arrived on the second floor, where Ryoko's room was located. Hoping that the 700-year-old demon wasn't awake, Ryo-Ohki attempted to peek her head into Ryoko's room to make sure, only to hit her head on the door. Meow... `Darn it... happens every time,' thought Ryo-Ohki, rubbing the sore that had appeared on her forehead. She tried again, this time, turning incorporeal. Her head appeared on the other side of Ryoko's bedroom door. The little girl looked around and found Ryoko fast asleep with a smile on her face, with drool inching down on her right cheek of her face, and with a murmur repeated "Tenchi... Tenchi..." Ryo-Ohki grimaced a little and quickly brought her head back into the hallway. `*whew* well, she's asleep, that's the good part. The not so good part was that look on Ryoko's face. She must be having one of her off-the-wall fantasies about Tenchi again...' thought Ryo-Ohki. She shrugged her shoulders and slowly proceeded to scale the third floor staircase. The tired and still hungry chibi Ryo-Ohki finally reached the third floor. Her stomach continued to growl even more. Losing energy quickly, Ryo-Ohki got onto her hands and knees and crawled It seemed an eternity before the young girl reached the door leading into Sasami and Ayeka's room. Ryo-Ohki gently knocked on the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming," called out a voice. Within 5 seconds the door opened and Sasami emerged from the room with her hair down. "Ryo-Ohki! Did you come all the way up here?" *GRRRROOOOOWWWWWLLLLL!* "Silly you! You must be starving to death." said Sasami, patting Ryo-Ohki on the head. "Meeeooowww," cooed the little girl, who struggled herself onto her feet. Suddenly, she stumbled taking a hold of Sasami's legs to regain keep her balance. Ryo-Ohki gave a sigh of relief. "C'mon, I'll fix you breakfast. Let`s see... what should I fix you this morning?" Ryo-Ohki slapped her forehead in disbelief. Chapter 2 The smell of Sasami's cooking began to have an affect on the other slumbering individuals, except for Lord Katsuhito, who had already left to go to the shrine. The first one to arrive downstairs was Tenchi, whose hair looked like it had been through a civil war, which was unnoticed by Tenchi himself. Sasami giggled at the sight of the hairdo. "What's so funny?" asked Tenchi, stupefied. "Oh... *giggle* nothing. Good Morning." Ryo-Ohki went up to Tenchi and gave him a big hug. Tenchi kneeled down and returned the cabbit sweet gesture with a hug of his own. "Good Morning everyo....whoa...Ah...AAAAAHHHH..." *crash* *slam* *boom* *bang*. Tenchi rushed out of the kitchen only to trip over an already fallen Mihoshi and land flat on his face. *BAMM!* "Are you okay, Tenchi" cried the bubble-head, who struggled to help Tenchi onto his feet. "I'll be fine." he replied. After eating breakfast, Mihoshi got up and went upstairs to change into some other clothes. Shortly after, she appeared downstairs dressed in some casual wear with a purse at her side. "Don't tell me you're going shopping Mihoshi!!!" cried Tenchi. "Of course. Why?" Sasami quickly came over and put her hand over Tenchi's mouth and said, "Oh... nothing really. Have a good time." Mihoshi paused for a moment, staring at the two for a brief moment before smiling, "Okay. Later." Tenchi pulled Sasami's hand away from his mouth and gave her a glare. Sasami gave Tenchi a abnormal smile and went back to her cooking. ************************************************************ "Now where could that bus be." wondered Mihoshi as she waited for the city bus to arrive... *Vroom* "Ah, here it is." The bus came to a stop and slowly the door opened. She boarded the vehicle, which had a weird stench to it. `Where am I gonna sit?' thought Mihoshi, looking around for any open seats available. "You can sit here if you want to..." said a young man sitting near the back, who began to move a sports bag out of an occupied seat. He had short, smooth, brown hair, black eyes, was in his late teens, and was very similar looking to Tenchi. He was wearing a green long- sleeved jacket and a pair of dark blue jeans. "Thank you." uttered Mihoshi, as she sat down in the seat that had been given to her. "Mm-hmm." muttered the young man, and turned his head to face the window. The bus closed the doors, and began to move. Mihoshi noticed something different about him, but couldn't figure out what that "something" was. ************************************************************ Meanwhile, back at the Masaki household, everyone had woken from their deep slumber. Ryoko appeared in the kitchen and wrapped her arms tightly around Tenchi's chest. "Goooood Moooorrrnnniinnng, my dear Tenchi!" cried the demon. "Argh... good morning... to... you... too... Ryoko. Now.. Let me go," mumbled Tenchi, who struggled to break free of Ryoko's tight grasp. A tap on Ryoko's shoulder caused the demon to relinquish her tight squeeze on Tenchi. She turned around, and much to her surprise... *BONG*... Ryoko was whacked on her head by a frying pan by none other than... (you know) Ayeka herself. "How many times must I tell you, you poor excuse for a woman... LEAVE LORD TENCHI ALONE!!!" yelled the enraged princess, red in the face with steam exploding from her ears. On the floor, Ryoko was sprawled out on the floor with and had a number of miniature Ryo-Ohki dancing around her head. "OnNnNnN s-sEcOnD thoOght, I tHiNk I'lL gO pLaY cOoKiEs WiTh MoMmY..." garbled the demon, who was speaking in a dazed and confused. Suddenly, Washu appeared behind Ryoko with a sparkle in her green eyes. Everyone else except Ryoko, who was still in her state, coiled back, grimacing in fear. Ryo-Ohki was scared out of her wits. The genius scientist then spread her arms out, then wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Ryoko, you really do care about me... You really care!!!" Everyone burst out in maniacal laughter. ************************************************************ The city bus arrived at a stop in downtown Okayama. Mihoshi and the stranger proceeded to step off the bus. After the bus had left, both persons began to go in opposite directions. Mihoshi suddenly stopped and turned into the opposite way, looked at him and shouted "I never got your name!" The young man came to an abrupt halt. He turned his head and replied "Its Sabi. Sabi Shimazaki!" turned back to continue his course. `I think he's kinda cute' thought Mihoshi, who began to giggle blush. She gave a strange sigh and then headed for the shopping center. Chapter 3 Nightfall had arrived and Mihoshi was exhausted. She arrived at a bus stop near an alley and a small bookstore. She was very tired and her eyes became very heavy. Suddenly, in the background, three strange and rough voices surfaced from the alley. "Look at her." muttered one. "Yeah, she's pretty good lookin." said another. "Let's get her." whispered the third. The other two agreed and began to emerge from the shadows of the alley. The first person was a tall man with a black leather jacket and pants with blue hair and green eyes. The second was short, had a black sleeveless shirt and had blue jeans, had black hair and gray eyes. The third was stocky with a t-shirt and a pair of torn pants. The first person put his right hand to his side and drew a samurai sword from a sheath. As he approached Mihoshi, his accomplices stood by his side. The man with the samurai sword brought the blade to her neck, and placed his hand over Mihoshi's mouth. She awakened immediately. "Mrmph!" shouted Mihoshi, which was muffled by the hand that covered her mouth. "Shut up or else your neck's gonna taste this blade." cried the thug. He then dragged her away to the alley. Mihoshi furiously kicked and screamed with all of her strength, but was not successful. It seemed that she was no match for the aggressor's strength. The three punks quickly tied her up, gagged her with a bandanna, and tossed her against the wall. "Hey boss, I got her purse." shouted one of the men. "Shut up, you damned idiot! Do you want someone to hear you?!" hollered the boss. "See what you can find." "Sure, boss." Mihoshi started to try and free herself from the ropes that bound her hands together and wished she was home at the same time. She wanted to be in the peaceful tranquility of the Masaki Residence. The Galaxy Police officer's attempt to free herself intensified greatly. All the tugging at the ropes tired her quickly and she was forced to stop and catch her breath. `No......' "Hey boss. This chick's loaded with cash." exclaimed the punk known as Shadow, this time, keeping his voice down. The boss looked at Mihoshi as she struggled to break free. "Heh-heh-heh. Just lookin' at her struggle herself to death makes me laugh." Mihoshi lowered her head in disbelief and began to shed tears, which slowly rolled down her gentle cheeks to her chin. The tears dropped and landed on her legs one by one, soaking her blue jeans. She began to assume that she would never come out of this alive, never to see any of her friends that she loved so dearly. "You might as well say your prayers, cause you won't be alive to see the morning sun." snickered the boss. He once again drew his sword from its sheath. Bringing the sword up, he gave Mihoshi his last words. "I really don't want to do this, but we can't afford ourselves to be targeted by the cops. Besides, it's for your own good." Despite the gag that covered her mouth, Mihoshi screamed at the top of her lungs, struggling for the last time `This is the end,' she thought, `This is it...' Chapter 4 The sword began to come down. *SLASH* The sound of metal being sliced filled the air. The three crooks and Mihoshi looked around to see what had happened. The boss looked back at Mihoshi, sword pointed at her. The sword, however had been sliced in half. The front half of the sword This infuriated the boss. " Huh?!? WHO DID THIS?!?!" he demanded. "I did. Got a problem with it?" came the reply. "Who are you?! Come out where I can see you!" "Have it your way." Everyone then heard footsteps coming into the alley, they turned their heads toward the sound. A figure then began to appear. Mihoshi's irises grew small. She couldn't believe her own eyes. The figure approaching was... Sabi himself! But how was it possible. How did he find her? There were so many questions that were unanswered. "You will pay for breaking my sword, you little nuisance." declared the really pissed off boss. " And just how are you going to do that?" asked Sabi. "You and your pals might as well untie her and get the hell out of this alley. You are starting to make me sick. I can't believe you do these things. Especially to defenseless women like her" he snarled, as he referred to Mihoshi. The bossed just laughed at him. "Hah! You don't scare us one bit, kid!" the other two joined in as well. In a sudden move, Shadow raced forward with a pair of nunchucku. (Author's Note: If you think I am copying the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, THINK AGAIN!!!!!!!!!) He jumped into the air, preparing to attack. Sabi reached into his jacket and pulled out two objects. They appeared to look like power catalysts handles. It had four ends to it, all next to each other. They had the same color and decoration, much like the Tenchi-ken (Master key),only these weapons looked nothing alike. Mihoshi was astonished! "I warned you!!!" snarled Sabi, clenching his fists tightly around the catalysts. In a flash, four purple energy blades materialized on the ends of each catalyst to form four blades into a katar weapon form. "NOW YOU DIE!!!!!!" the punk shouted as he brought the two weapons downward. He slashed upwards as Shadow began to attack. The energy blades cut through the chains of the nunchucku without wounding him in one motion. Shadow landed on the ground. "How in the... how did he... w-who is this guy?" uttered the attacker, who was in a state of disbelief. "I'm outta here!!!" cried Shadow. He ran as fast as he could, and as far as his legs could take him. "One down, one to go" said Sabi with a snicker on his face. He ran over to Mihoshi to make sure her kidnappers had not abused her. The third punk came forward and brought a gun from his pants pocket. Sabi didn't make a single move. `Oh, damn. I wasn't planning on this,' thought the youngster. "Say your prayers, `cause you're both gonna die now!" shouted the gun holder. He cocked the gun and prepared to fire. Sabi and Mihoshi both trembled as they prepared to have their lives end. They closed their eyes...*BLAM!*... a long silence filled the air........... "Huh?..." the bullet had been stopped and lay on the ground, unscathed. "W-w- what's going on?" said the punk. The gun was fired multiple times at Sabi. Then Sabi saw why the first bullet had been stopped. In front of him, appeared two light blue objects . "Uh...boss? I think we'd better get out of here!" They both took off running, leaving Mihoshi's purse behind. Sabi quickly untied Mihoshi, who took off the gag. She immediately embraced him, tears coming down her face. Sabi responded the same, but without tears. "H-how did you f-find me?" she cried. "Not now... not now." Tears began to form in his eyes. It's going to be okay. Let's get you home now. Your family must be worried sick." he spoke. Mihoshi faced him and kissed him. Sabi was caught off guard by the kiss She parted her lips from his and replied, "Okay..." Still tired and weak, Mihoshi slowly picked herself up, then her knees buckled, and collapsed into his arms. "Poor woman. I better take her back to my place for the night." said Sabi, picking her up in his arms, and carrying her off into the depths of the night. `My question is, how did we survive?' he pondered. End of Part I