Disclaimer: The original Tenchi cast
are property of AIC and Pioneer
(bow down and present your offerings
outside the temple of Anime!)
but the character of Kazekera and
all that relates to him, as well as
the O-Rusuta© universe arrangment
were created and devised by The Jetset 
(Jinchi, Kage Maru 3:16 and Diabolo)

This is the third episode of Kazekera,
and it involves a lot of the relationship
between Kazekera and Mihoshi. If you
are already gritting your teeth and saying
"But Mihoshi SHOULD be in love with..."
then DON'T READ IT!
Also- it contains a hint of lime so if
your are very sensitive to this kind
of thing be warned.
Other than that- I hope you find it
kills a little time and makes you 
a bit happier.
- Jim 'Diabolo' Moore

	  TENCHI O-RUSUTA©: KAZEKERA	
	   PART 3- LOVERS IN SUMMER	

After breakfast and that rather embarrassing incident 
with Tenchi, Kazekera went to talk to Sesami- Mihoshi 
wasn't downstairs yet, and neither was Kiyone. 
Being careful to avoid Ayeka's gaze (She still wouldn't 
let them talk together) he stepped into the kitchen.
"Hello, 'sami. And how are you today? All I ever see is 
your hair behind a huge tray of food."
"I'm fine!" beamed the little princess "And you?"
"Still waking up. But from the looks of it it's going 
to be a beautiful day- and that means I'm very happy indeed."
"Good."
"And I've been meaning to ask, what...who...is that small 
creature who perches on your head occasionally?"
"Oh, that's Ryo-Ohki. Haven't you seen her before?"
"Well, yes...but she's on the ground. You know I have 
difficulty with things like that. And she's usually so 
full of energy that she runs between my feet before 
I get a proper look."
"That's no problem. I'll introduce you."
Sesami went back into the kitchen to fetch the little 
cabbit and within minutes, she was holding her out in 
both hands to be received by Kazekera. 
Sesami had a strange bond with Ryo-Ohki- Ryoko would 
often get jealous of her 
"I thought she was supposed to be MY cabbit!" she would 
growl as she saw Ryo-Ohki perching on Sesami's head. 
Ryo-Ohki would blush and try to hide self consciously, 
aware of how guilty she was.
Ryo-Ohki was un-nervingly confident around Kazekera, which 
was scary considering the number of times he had 
almost tripped over her.
She could sit in the palm of Kazekera's hand- he thought 
she was the cutest thing he had ever seen.
"Kawaii. Whose a sweetie, Ryo-Ohki?" he had said 
while rubbing noses with her.
"You are!"
"She's not a baby." Laughed Sesami "She's a very 
intelligent creature."
"Even the smartest of us need to be told we're 
cute sometimes." Kazekera replied. 
(fake cough: Washu! Washu!- Jim)
Then he started stroking and petting the little cabbit, 
to which she purred and 'myad'.
He was reluctant to hand her back to Sesami- but he did 
it anyway to avoid unpleasantness. 
'Like him.' Ryo-Ohki thought to Ryoko
'Oh you do, do you? Well don't go and leave me all alone 
like you do most of the time to be with him, Ryo-Ohki. I have 
feelings too, you know.'
'Yes. Feel your feelings.'
'Alright.' 
And with that they severed the mental link.
"Thank you, Sesami RUnu." Kazekera said as he handed 
Ryo-Ohki back. 
"No problem. I'm glad you two got on so well."
"Tell me- is this cabbit attached?" said Kazekera 
jokingly "I like her too much to let her go."
"Only to Ken-Ohki."
"Another cabbit?"
"Yes. He's Nagi's."
"Nagi! I say- have you had dealings with her?"
"She has a bounty on Ryoko."
"Ah yes. Silly of me."
At this moment Mihoshi walked, still in her pink pyjamas, 
looking for food.
"Waaa! Have you already served breakfast, Sesami?"
"Yes, Mihoshi. You slept through it, I'm afraid."
Sesami looked very sternly at her. "It got COLD."
Mihoshi fell over herself to apologise to Sesami, 
tears running down her face.
"I'm so sorry, Sesami! I didn't mean to!"
"That's okay. But try not to do it so often."
"I'll try. But it's so hard when my bed is so warm and comfy!"
"Alright. I think there's still some bacon I could fry 
up for you. And a grapefruit."
"Yay! You're the BEST Sesami!" Mihoshi's tears dried 
up instantly and she hugged the princess. Sesami sighed.
"Ah, well. Back to the oven for me."
"Come out and play with us later, would you Sesami?" 
"Okay. I'd enjoy that."
"Playing?"
"Uh-huh. We are going to go out and have a little 
fun before we go to town.
"Town?"
"Yes. I DID tell you about this didn't I?"
"No!"
"Oh, silly me!" Mihoshi hit herself in the head 
"I must have just been THINKING about it. Sorry."
"So were going to look around town?"
"Yes."
"I don't have any problems."
"I know!" Mihoshi's face screwed up in happiness, eyes 
closed and pointed incisors glittering "That's why I love 
you- you never do!"
After Mihoshi had eaten her food, thanked Sesami effusively 
and changed into more suitable clothes, the three of them 
stepped out on to the lawn of the house. Although it could 
be more accurately described as a sectioned off part of 
the forest and the fields.
It was already being baked by the morning sun, unlike in 
the spring when it had been dewy and moist at the start of 
every day. In fact they almost felt like putting on shoes 
to avoid the heat...almost, but not quite.
"Oh, damn." Mihoshi said disappointedly 
"What is it?" asked Sesami
Nobiyuki is at work AGAIN today. Were lucky it's Thursday. 
He'll be quitting his job in a couple of days."
"Is that a good thing?" Kazekera queried. 
"Well, he'll get to spend more time at home!"
"He must be quite a man- and quite a player- to have 
attracted 
you attentions so much, Miho-chan."
"Well, for a long time I didn't see much of him. 
In the last few months he's really taking time to have fun. 
In fact..." 
she giggled and whispered while Sesami thoughtfully put her 
hands over her ears "...at one time I thought I was very 
attracted to him...were very good friends now. It's okay. 
But..."
"What?"
"He stopped taking photos of us girls, as well."
"Oh no! Why?"
Mihoshi shrugged
"Well, it is a bit of a dodgey thing on this planet."
(For an explanation of this see Episode 7- Jim)
Kazekera wrinkled his nose "Strange planet. I liked it 
better in Cambridge."
"You mean in England?"
"Yes. They are all very eccentric there. High-class Colleges 
and Universities breed that sort of thing."
"Well, this is Okayama so I guess Nobiyuki feels bound by 
the rules. It's very noble of him, I think, seeing as it was 
his hobby and everything."
"Mmm. You could be right. Well, Sesami- what shall we play?"
"I'm not sure. We could play baseball...but all the stuff is 
in the garage. Tenchi is the only one who knows where 
everything is and he's gone off to train."
Kazekera remembered the last time he had played games on Earth. 
As Professor of Physics at Cambridge (see Episode 4) last 
spring he had played cricket with the boys. They had all been 
astonished at how Prof. Kazekera had batted so well- after 
they had found some whites which actually fitted him. 
He suspected that, this being Japan and Tenchi disliking 
most sports, that they would not have any cricket things.
"We COULD play volleyball." Said Mihoshi. Then she looked at 
her friends.
"But we'd have to lower the net and have Kaz crouching."
"Let's play piggy in the middle!"
"Okay, then. I'll STILL have to crouch."
"Oh, no you won't!" said Mihoshi "Follow me!"
"So what do we do in this game?" Kaz asked as they walked 
along- he was a little rusty on Earth games. They didn't 
have many 'unarmed' games on his planet- they had other 
ways of fun which we will not go into here, suffice it 
to say that poker was not the only game with a special 
variant. Tag could be quite interesting for him back home, 
if people caught each other enough...  
"Well, we have a ball, and it's passed between two people, 
with one in the middle, and the one in the middle has to 
try to catch it. Then the person who threw the ball goes 
in the middle, and it goes on like that." Said Sesami. 
"I only wish there was more to it."
"Aha!"
"What? What is it?"
"Wait here a second." He said, then disappeared into 
the house. Soon he re-emerged, carrying a yellow ball 
and two small button-encrusted devices. As he got closer 
both women noticed that there was a small red, round 
area embossed on one side, like...well, both of them 
thought it looked a bit like a nipple, but neither 
mentioned it.
"What's that?"
"Something Washu helped me on. A remote controlled 
*floating ball*. You have to touch this button on 
the surface" he indicated the red dot "to turn it off. 
Now lets see if you two can steer."
Mihoshi led them to a place she had picked out, where 
there was a deep trough in the ground where Kazekera 
could stand so he was the same as the two of them. 
Then they moved so they were all equally spaced out. 
(Wow man! Check out the colours...-Jim)
The control devices could be held in one hand or folded 
out to be held in two- there were buttons for down, up, 
forward, backward, left and right, spin, curve and many 
other interesting effects. Kazekera had been working on 
the idea for some time- it made ball games more exiting 
if you could steer them. Sesami got it much more easily 
that Mihoshi, but if she had got it right first, second, 
third OR fourth time round, it wouldn't have been nearly 
so much fun. The ball whirred round Kazekera's face as 
Mihoshi desperately tried to get it to fly in a straight 
line. She accidentally pressed the left button and it 
started rotating around his head like a satellite around a 
planet. Then as he grabbed at it she managed to flip 
it up but then slipped and hit spin. It spun vertically and, 
at the nadir of it's rotation, it clonked the back of 
Kazekera's head. Several times.
Bonk, bonk, bonk, "Ow!", bonk, "Mihoshi! Ow!", bonk, 
bonk "Turn..." bonk "...It" bonk "Off!"
"I can't!" wailed Mihoshi "It's stuck!"
Sesami was by now doubled up with laughter and could 
do nothing to help.
Then Kazekera hit on an idea and ducked. With nothing 
in its way, the little ball started speeding up and spinning 
round madly until it stopped, hung in mid air a second, 
and then landed on Kazekera's head. It bounced off 
and he caught it.
"I win!" he said "But it doesn't make up for the bruises."
"I'm sorry!" Mihoshi was almost hysterical "I don't know 
what can have happened!"
"Don't worry. This little chap's just run out of batteries. 
I'll go and get some more. Then maybe we can see how me and 
Sesami do against you!"
After they had all rearranged and started again, Kaz lost 
quite quickly and Mihoshi, partly  accidentally, but in a 
strange twist with a lot of logical deduction, worked out 
how to fly the ball quite skilfully. NOW Kaz got hit on the 
head by design instead of mistake. At the end of the game it 
was Sesami who came off the least wounded by the feud, and 
they all ended up in tears of laughter. 
After that Mihoshi continued her 'plan for the day' by getting 
both of them to accompany her on a shopping trip.
Although she tried to get Kazekera to change, he refused- 
"What's the point of going to town in fancy clothes?" he asked 
"Not getting attention." Said Mihoshi "That's exactly why I'm 
not going to change into fancy clothes!" he replied. 
When Mihoshi tried to explain to him that he would turn heads 
wearing his sash and semi-armoured trousers, he had just 
pretended not to hear her. There was a stubborn side to him, 
as well.

The walked into town, which was not really very far away 
and, because it was very near Tokyo, it had a lot of 
quality shops. Mihoshi looked at a boutique and recognised 
the logo of the clothes shop where Nobiyuki had bought all 
of them some really lovely clothes in Spring, the same day 
he decided to quit his job. 
"Is there something you want in that shop, Miho-chan?" 
said Kazekera peering at Mihoshi who was by now staring into 
the window with glazed eyes. 
"No! Sorry. Just distracted. Should we go and look at the 
computer games?"
"I'd like to see what videos you have here. I'm waiting for 
another OAV series of 'The Purple Policeman.'" Said Sesami. 
"I can't wait to see who he chooses."
"Purple Policeman? Who's that?"
"Oh, he's a really cool character." 
"With really nice pecs." Added Mihoshi
There was a slight 'thump' followed by a crunching. 
Kazekera had hit the wall.
"What's the matter, Kaz?" said Sesami, worried a this 
sudden outburst.
"I know what the matter is!" Mihoshi was sounding very
chirpy all of a sudden. She poked Kazekera.
"Your jealous, aren't you?"
Kazekera's face went red.
"No, of course not." He removed his hand from the wall, 
and mortar showered off showing, not a dent, but an 
out-and-out hole.
"You are. Kaz is jealous, Kaz is jealous!" 
"No I'M NOT!"
"If you don't say you are I'll get Sesami to join it." Said 
Mihoshi, nudging the little monarch in the ribs. Sesami 
smiled willingly. 
"Okay, I admit I AM a bit upset about losing out to a made 
up character from a CARTOON." Said Kazekera "You don't think 
he's better looking than me, do you?"
"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. You'll have to find out, won't 
you?" 
Mihoshi said offhandedly. Kazekera sighed.
The princess, the policewoman and the warrior all made their 
way around town, checking out clothes shops, electronics 
stores, weapons outlets (Kazekera was fascinated by the 
Samurai Swords), games shops, and the video shop 
(where Mihoshi finally admitted that she found Kazekera more 
attractive than Purple Policeman when he threatened to hold 
her upside down)  until about 11 'o' clock, 
when Sesami said what all little children say during outings:
"I'm thirsty, Mihoshi. REALLY thirsty."
And, like the kindly girl she was, Mihoshi said: 
"Okay, Sesami. I'm sure there's a nice bar down here 
somewhere."
There was a nice bar down the road- one of the nicest in 
Okayama. There were ornaments all over the walls- a gold 
horseshoe, golf clubs, paintings. The people, mostly 
businessmen looked, very shocked when they came in, but only 
for a second because they wanted to drink and not worry 
about little things like the oddness of life in general. 
The bartender was not scared by Kazekera. He had worked in 
much nastier bars, when huge street gangs of men covered in 
tattoos and studs had come in and threatened to kill each 
other over 'parking your truck in MY f**king place' while he 
tried to mix cocktails and pull pints, so the rather mild 
looking gentle giant in the weird clothes didn't worry him. 
The bartender assumed the green haired girl must be the tall 
man's and the blonde woman's daughter, and must be dressed 
for an Anime expo or something. She looked exactly 
like a show his kids loved- about a 'magical girl' or similar 
outlandish idea. She was talking at the moment to a business 
man near the door, who he knew worked in software. He was 
asking her if she minded him using her for the model of a 
new game he was making. She smiled and said sure, and her 
gave her his card. Another man who was his friend suggested 
that she might like to be made into a cartoon character for 
an Anime series he was working on- but she declined.
"I could never get used to life as a cartoon." She said.
The three made their way to the bar- Kazekera was worried 
that they might encounter some trouble, but luckily no one 
was stupid enough to challenge a 7-foot tall monster with 
fangs and claws. Well, almost no one. There was one who was 
exceptionally stupid, and with an inflated sense of his own 
strength.
To him, walking in looking threatening was almost a challenge. 
So Kazekera was like a beacon in Las Vegas for his 
self-seeking, self-aggrandising mind. His name was 
Rick 'The Stud' Marlem, and he was not a nice person. 
He was one of the only nasty people 
who came to this bar- he had driven all the others out, and 
he only came on Thursdays and Saturdays. He could be 
considered a force for the good in this respect, but he 
made up for all the other cruel and thugish characters he 
had scared away twofold. He sat in a corner, and drank
quietly except when something annoyed him. Unfortunately, 
lots of things were offensive to his piggy black eyes. 
He was about six foot and very big in muscle and pure bulk. 
He had a crop of golden hair and wore 
quite smart clothes. He would have been very good looking, 
had it not been for the constant frown and brutish attitude
which radiated from his face. He swore almost incessantly, 
grunted when he could be bothered, and stared at any 
good-looking woman until they were forced to leave the bar. 
He worked in a store where he was behind the customer 
collection point, so no one could see him. 
Kazekera, being a shrewd judge of nastiness, noticed him and 
asked the bartender who he was.
"That is Rick Marlem. Keep clear of him, I would. I don't 
like him and nor do many people who come to the bar. He's 
the current 'champion'" it was said with scorn "Of bar 
brawling around here. See that?" The bartender pointed to a 
plaque on the wall
Kazekera nodded. "Well, that's his trophy for being the 
dirtiest fighter anyone in any bar around Tokyo knows." 
"Thankyou. We shall just try to keep out of his way then."
"Good idea."
"Okay. May I have something which won't intoxicate me, please?"
"Non-alcoholic? Sure." The bartender handed Kazekera a cocktail 
menu, being glad he wasn't a drinker- 'Who knows what a man 
like him could do with 6 pints down him?' he thought to himself. 
"I'd like a blonde bombshell!" said Mihoshi 
"Done." Said the barman, thinking 'How appropriate.'
"And what would you like, little lady." He said to Sesami, 
trying not to be patronising.
"Can I have some sake?" asked Sesami 
"No!" Kazekera looked sternly at her "Your not over 18."
Sesami stuck out her lip.
"I am! I'm over five hund..." Mihoshi, with unusual presence 
of mind, put her hand over Sesami's mouth.
"You can have what I'm having, Sesami Chan." Kazekera 
interjected. Sesami looked at the interesting non-alchoholic 
thing in front of Kazekera and smiled.
"Okay, Kaz ruNU."
"And what I am having is a White Mage. I like the sound of it." 
The barman was an expert at his work- he had the cocktails 
mixed in a matter of minute, and soon Kazekera and Mihoshi 
were sipping carefully. Sesami, on the other hand, having 
complained of thirst, was now gulping hungrily at hers.
They warned her, saying
"Don't drink that cocktail to fast, 'sami. You'll getting 
indigestion."
But she carried on, and within seconds of her third White Mage, 
her brow crinkled and she bit her lip. 
"Um...Mihoshi...Kaz..."
"What is it, Sesami?"
"I need the toilet."
"Oh, Sesami!"
"I'm sorry."
"Don't worry. I'm sure there's one in here." Kaz looked over 
at the bartender who nodded in the direction of the toilet 
marked 'Ladies'. It was lucky she did, too, because at this 
moment Marlem had just downed his tenth pint and was ready 
for a fight. But not without reason. Kazekera would have to 
do something irritating first, just to provide a reason. 
It would be a triumph for him if he could tackle this monster. 
He must be the tallest man who'd ever visited Okayama.
Kazekera then did something a little unwise in the 
circumstances. 
He borrowed a yen from Mihoshi, and changed the song on the 
juke box, which had been playing for several hours, to 
'Talent For Love'- one of his favourites. He was a little 
disappointed when it turned out to be the translation 
'Talent Of Love' which he felt was vastly inferior. 
Still, he laid back and listened to the tune. 
This provided exactly the fighting 
point Marlem wanted. He quickly strode over to Kazekera's 
turned back (he and Mihoshi were still sitting at the bar), 
and grabbed his shoulder. Kazekera had noticed him coming 
out of the corner of his eye (as he had watched Jarrat Hate 
on a bar on Klaptso. He only hoped that this wouldn't end in 
the same way-  he suspected that Marlem, like Jarrat Hate, had 
not put insurance against his left arm either). He did not 
move at the pressure from the other man.
"Oi!" said Marlem
"Good morning."
Marlem thrust his face into the Dryad's ear so he 
could hear every word on his beer breath.
"Did you change the music on that box?"
"I did." 
"Listen to me, pretty-boy. No one bloody touches my box. 
That tune stops when I say- not before or after. So you just 
leave it, right?"
"Did you buy it?"
"What?"
"Did you buy the juke box?"
"No."
"Then it isn't yours. And it isn't for you to say who uses 
it and when."
"Listen you f-"
"So I will use it when I like. And so will these people." 
He indicated the other people in the bar.
"You really want to get thumped, d'ncha?"
"I've said all I want to say. Now leave me to my drink."
"Well I haven't said what I want to say- so your gonna 
bloody well listen, right?"
Kazekera ignored him. Mihoshi was calling for another drink.
"I SAID YOUR GONNA LISTEN!" Marlem shouted in his ear. 
Kazekera drew his head away with a calculated 
expression of disgust.
"Do you want to make me?"
"What?"
"I said- do you want to make me? Because if you don't 
I suggest you go back to your drink and lead a safe life."
"What the b-"
"Go away, please. I have better things to do that talk to you."
"But I DO want to make ya!" Marlem smiled and cracked his 
knuckles unpleasantly.
"I'm so glad for you." Kazekera replied, not really taking any 
notice. Marlem was very happy about this- it was always more 
fun taking people down after they were smug. He wound his fist 
back, and then delivered a brutal punch to Kazekera's 
left side. It made a soft 'thud', and bounced off. Kaz did not 
double up. He did not even wince. Marlem did not understand 
what had happened- he hit again, and 
again, until he was doing volleys of blows. 
Kazekera did not even attempt to 
hold them off- he made no motion 
to fight back. In fact, he appeared 
not even to notice as Marlem pumped 
punches into his muscular torso. 
"Excuse me. I need to finish my drink." 
Kaz said politely as he picked up the cocktail. The 
glass it was in didn't falter one millimetre as his 
body acted like a shock absorber to the drunk brawler.
"Fight...oph...back, you smug bastard!" shouted Marlem, 
trying to conceal his embarrassment. He attempted to 
punch even harder, almost breaking his wrist on the 
Dryad's spine. Mihoshi took an equal amount of 
interest to this man. She DID have her hand on her 
blaster under the bar though, just in case things got nasty. 
"Aren't you going to talk to this man, Kaz?"
"No. He must wait while I finish."
Marlem had gone bright red. Somehow being ignored 
like this was worse than being beaten in a fight. He 
tried to kick Kazekera, but his drunken state stopped 
him aiming properly and he almost fell over. Half the 
people in the bar didn't know whether to laugh or cheer- 
the other half were watching in stunned silence.
Then a kind of fire lit up in Marlem's beady and bloodshot 
eyes. He started punching with fresh rage and slight bruises 
came up under the bronzey hair of Kazekera's back. 
At this moment Sesami came out of the toilets and saw what 
was happening. Her  big red eyes opened up in astonishment 
and anger. Kazekera, looking the slightest bit in the little 
princess's direction, winked and indicated the metal horseshoe 
hanging on the wall. She took the hint immediately, and 
with the help of some of the nice men at the back, got the 
shoe down and walked over to the scene. She was shaking 
all over with rage at this idiot man hurting her friends.
Then she composed herself like a true princess, and tapped 
him on the shoulder. 
"Excuse me."
He very slowly turned round to see her smiling up at him. 
He growled and stared as if to burn holes in Sesami. But 
before he could speak Sesami had grabbed hold of his collar 
and wrenched him down to eye-level.
"Do not behave so disrespectfully in public, Mr. Marlem." She 
whispered, and then as he made to grit his teeth in irritation, 
she whacked him hard over the head with the horse shoe sending 
him to the floor, out cold. The Bartender coughed and stared 
in utter disbelief and admiration to the turquoise headed girl. 
"Ladies and gentlemen." He said to the businessmen, business 
women, students, civil servants, charity workers and other 
people who frequented his bar. "I think we...um...have a new 
champion."
There was silence for a moment, and then one of the businessmen 
who had helped Sesami fetch the horseshoe started clapping. 
Then the games developer and the cartoonist joined in, and 
suddenly the whole bar was filled with cheers for the brave 
Sesami. She blushed and slipped on her tiptoes. 
Kazekera patted Sesami on the head.
"Well done, 'sami."
The bartender got the plaque down from the wall, and took off 
the label which bore Rick Marlem's name, and replaced it 
with a clean one, and asked Sesami's name.
"It's Sesami Jurai Masaki."
Then she spelt it out for him, and to kindly words and more 
clapping, they left. Before he stepped out, Kazekera spoke 
to the barkeeper, who had phoned an ambulance to check if 
Marlem had any serious injuries.
"Don't worry, I'll have him banned as soon as he gets back 
from hospital."
Assured the barkeeper "And I won't mention your daughter- 
I'll think of something to say. You really did us a favour." 
He looked closely at Kazekera "Are you sure you don't need any 
help?"
"Yes." Smiled Kazekera "Don't worry about me."
"What did you do? Why aren't you hurt?"
"A technique used by Mr Houdini, I believe. If you read about 
him you'll find out. Unfortunately, it also lead to his death."
"I hope your not going to die."  
"I assure you, I'm entirely fine. There's just one thing I 
want to ask of you-" 
"What's that?"
"You must promise- when the time comes to throw him out..." 
he looked over at the unconscious body of Marlem, so far 
untouched by the other patrons. 
"Yes."
"Tell it to his face. You have got to be brave and tell him 
you don't want him in your bar any more."
"I'll do it. Thank you."
"No, thank you. Your drinks are excellent." Said Kaz, handing 
him a large wad of yen as he stepped out of the door. 
"It was very lucky he didn't swear at you." Mihoshi said as 
they walked away. She was very proud of both of her companions, 
but it was her custom not to talk about fights when they were 
over- it was also Kazekera's. They were both Dryads in spirit, 
after all; and a battle, won OR lost, was a battle done.  
"Yes." Kaz nodded "Very." 
"Why?" asked Sesami politely.
"I would hope you never have to find out..."
It would not be entirely true to say that after this incident, 
Rick Marlem changed overnight. But certainly being beaten, put 
in hospital for a couple of days and then getting throw out of 
the bar he liked, face-to-face by the bartender (as he had 
promised to Kazekera) he began to feel that he might perhaps 
not be the most skilled fighter in the world. So he went along 
to someone he knew who ran courses for women, who worried about 
things like rapist and attackers, in self defence. The two 
quickly developed a  sort of companionship which goes with 
training together, and soon he had volunteered to become one 
of the 'attackees' the women training would use to test their 
skills. Although he was a little cautious at first, he found 
that he became friendlier to the women that he'd expected. 
He felt he had found his neiche in the world, and by the time 
he had completed two courses he had a girlfriend in the class. 
Of course, he couldn't completely change- he would sometimes 
say rather tactless and hurtful things (but for some reason 
he was always faultlessly polite and courteous to little girls) 
but he had become a much nicer person. All in all, Sesami 
had done him a big favour, as well as an injury.  

The three travellers made their way back home, slowly.
Halfway back Sesami realised it was almost lunch time.
"Oh dear! I haven't started cooking yet! What are we going to 
do?"
It was at that moment Mihoshi came up with a brilliant plan.
"Why don't we have a picnic?"
"That's a great idea, Mihoshi! But where?"
"Down by the river, of course. Everyone will be back home 
about now, so we can start preparing."
"Fantastic! I can't remember when we last had a picnic!"
"It must have been last summer. Just after Christmas."
"Christmas? Isn't that in winter?"
"Well, it was arranged that way for a friend of ours. 
You might meet her someday."
"I hope so."
"Anyway- if we come back to the house, we can help out."
"Oh, no! You don't need to do that! I'm sure Tenchi and 
Ayeka will help me!"
"But we couldn't leave you to handle it all by yourself, Sesami!"
"I know." Said Kazekera- and whispered to Mihoshi 
"That's great, Kaz! Good thinking."
"What is it?" Sesami asked sweetly
"Well, Kazekera keeps a supply of food in his pod. There are 
some gourmet foods and things- but they're all preserved. He 
said we could bring out some of the more special things when 
we start to eat and so you don't have to work so hard!"
"Yay! What will you do in the mean time?"
"Well, I'm sure we could find SOMETHING to do..." Kaz put his 
arm around Mihoshi's waist. Sesami smiled and tutted under 
her breath. Then she shook her head jokingly. Those two were 
inseparable, as well as incorrigible. 
Kaz and Mihoshi had decided to retire to the hot springs 
for a while.

The hot springs were comfortable as could be. Both Kaz and 
Mihoshi could have been naked- if it hadn't been for their 
hair. They sat for a while letting the steam run over them.
"Ahhhh. I wish we had had one of these back home. It's so 
relaxing."
"But then EVERYONE would have come."
"Well, they'd all be there to relax too. That and...other 
things. Don't tell me you wouldn't have liked to share a hot 
spring with SOME people..."
Mihoshi opened her mouth to protest.
"What are you s..."
"I know you had a crush on Aukera." She shut her mouth at the 
mention Kazekera's elder brother. "And Agukera." He added
"I never had a crush on Agukera! She was just my friend!"
"You worshipped her."
"She was beautiful. I wanted to be more like her."
"Well, we can leave that for now. But I just wish we'd had one, 
that's all. The minister for Morale and Aesthetics would have 
said it would improve community spirit."
"Hasulphur said that about everything from Sex Education to Ice Cream."
"Well, wasn't he right about them?"
"Yeah. I suppose."
Then they rubbed noses and laughed.
"I wish Hasulpur could see this place- it's a beacon of morale. 
Beautiful women, perfect weather, lovely scenery, gourmet 
cooking- I'm surprised Mr. Masaki doesn't open this house for 
the public and retire as a millionaire. It would be better for 
those sick and infirmed that any 'open-clinic'."
"I expect he's worried of what would happen if he let more 
girls in- they'd probably all run for Tenchi, and then he'd 
have to hide from Ryoko and Ayeka."
"All? Are you suggesting *I* wouldn't have a chance?"
"No. I wouldn't let you out- there's no telling what you'd do."
"I'd scorn them all to be with you."
"Like I believe that." She said.
He rested his hand on her thigh, and looked deep into her blue 
eyes.
"Would I lie to you." 
Then he moved his hands up to her sides and...tickled her!  
She squeaked, and he ducked her retributional punch.
"Children, children!" he said as he let her go.
"Can't we play nice?"
And they sunk under the water together. 

When Sesami got home she found Nobiyuki had been 
let off from work early, and Washu had come up 
for some air. She quickly gathered everyone up 
and suggested her idea. They all agreed and all 
got working on something- making and choosing food, 
packing it, and getting glasses and plates ready. 
Then she sent them off to find a place, which 
they did and told her where it was by sending one 
of Washu's probes to lead her (yes, even Washu was 
on this trip!). Kaz and Mihoshi had said they would 
be there later, and so Sesami worked away on a 
little extra food while everyone waited and had fun.

About 20 minutes had passed since Mihoshi, still 
steamy, wet and sloppily dressed from the springs, 
had arrived with news that Kazekera had gone to 
fetch things from his ship. Almost everything 
had been unpacked, and it was incredible. 
Everyone sat around the bamboo mat \ table, 
looking and salivating at the site of all the 
lovely food. Of course, there was still Sesami's 
and Kazekera's food to  collect, but there wasn't 
much room left for it.
Ryoko un-corked the bottle of Moselle wine which 
Mihoshi had brought along from the Yagami (Kiyone 
had bought it in the actual French district and 
suggested they should drink it) and looked up the road.
"How long do you think they'll be?"
"I certainly can't wait to get stuck in." said Nobiyuki 
"I'm sure SESAMI is fine." Said Ayeka with deliberate 
inflection. Luckily, everyone tactfully ignored it.  
"Kaz should be here soon." Said Mihoshi 
"I don't know where Sesami is..."
Sesami was having a great deal of trouble with her 
cool box. She hadn't meant to pack so much- it just happened. 
Now she was lugging it down the road, bravely but slowly. 
It was lucky she met Kazekera coming the other way at 
a fork in the path.
"Sami? What are you doing trying to carry that?"
"Oh...umph...Hi Kaz...umph...I...got a bit carried away 
with the food...umph..."
"Let me help you with that." He said, and took 
the cool box from the protesting Sesami.
"I can manage it by myself!"
"Not unless you want to be mistaken for a very cute snail." 
He slung the cool box over his shoulder with the other 
one he had already been carrying.
Then the two strolled, holding hands, Kazekera looking 
down at the little princess. Since he was three feet 
taller than her, he had to stoop a little to be able 
to hold her hand without pulling her off the ground. 
As they got close to the site of the picnic, he let go 
of her and let her walk a little ahead, lest she get in 
trouble with her big sister.
But even this wasn't enough- she was still not allowed 
near him.
"Sesami!" Ayeka whispered fiercely "What were you doing 
letting him walk with you?"
Sesami returned a rather nasty scowl which she didn't use too 
often.
"I don't care if you don't trust him Ayeka. He's a gentleman 
and would never hurt me or anyone!" she whispered back. Tenchi 
looked at them and stopped slicing bread for a second. 
"You two okay?"
They both answered at the same time
"Yes, we're find lord Tenchi." "We're okay!"
"Good. Now what do you want in your first sandwich? We have 
this fine selection of meats..." he indicated the spread 
Kazekera had brought.
"Courtesy of our guest." Kazekera blushed.
"What are they all?" Ryoko wondered.
"Well, there's the usual- chicken, turkey, ham, beef, 
lamb, venison, mutton, duck pate, bacon, ostrich..."
"Ostrich? Where did you get that from?"
"America. It hurt itself in a battle with a rather unpleasant 
alligator near a river- I don't know why it was there- but 
I decided it was better to put it out of it's misery than 
leave it..." he looked rather ashamed.
"You mean- you hunted all these things were eating...by 
yourself?"
"Um...yes. Sorry. Some of them were bred that way, naturally. 
Like the pigs and cows. But I think it would just be a bit 
wrong for me to serve something which I thought might have 
suffered in any way before it died." 
"Uh...okay." Tenchi and the others accepted this quite 
gracefully, although Ayeka eyed the meat suspiciously.
"What are the other things?" she pointed to the more 
outlandish meats on the plate, which were opposite.
"Well, this is wildebeest." He said pointing to the dark brown 
meet 
"This is rhino, that is Kriosh, a bird similar to earth chicken, 
and this..." he proudly indicated a white meat at the end. 
"Is the alligator."
They all looked at him.
"Ostriches are tough birds." He said in answer.
Everyone, except Yosho, looked suspiciously at the alligator 
meat. It looked okay. But then again...it WAS alligator.
"Sounds as if you are really a connoisseur of meats, Kazekera."  
Said the aged Knight "These things are hard to catch. I will 
have a little Kriosh, please Tenchi."
Tenchi looked at his grandfather strangely. He knew Yosho had 
been on so many hostile planets that he had learned to make 
food out of just about anything- but the last few years, 
particularly the last two and a bit with Sesami 
as caterer, had been easy going on his stomach. 
"If your sure, grandfather."
"I'm sure Tenchi. Why don't you try some yourself." 
Tenchi looked cautious.
"Go on." Kazekera smiled. Yosho nodded reassuringly. When 
Tenchi still seemed indecisive Kazekera finished slicing off 
the bread, buttered it and handed over one sandwich to him and 
one to his grandfather. Tenchi looked at the white meat 
between the brown bread, cushioned by tomatoes, lettuece, 
mayonnaise and thick spread 
butter. Then he shrugged, swallowed his fears and bit into it.
It tasted like chicken...but with a strange, tangy quality 
which complimented it very well. Along with all the other 
things it made a VERY good taste.
"Mmm...this IS good. In fact..." he swallowed "It's lovely."
Ryoko looked quizzically at Tenchi.
"Well Princess?" she said to Ayeka "You game for a little odd 
taste?"
"Certainly. If it's good enough for Lord Tenchi." She looked 
over at the boy who was now finishing the sandwich 
"It's good enough for me."
"I'll have some ostrich , please." Said Ryoko to Kaz 
"And Ayeka will have..." she smiled evilly "...alligator!"
"Stop that, Ryoko! I will have rhino, please, Mr. Kazekera."     
Kazekera sighed and spread potato salad over his wildebeest, 
closing the sandwich carefully, so as to not let it flood out. 
What did everyone have against alligators anyway? Was it 
because their skins were green, or something? 
Also he didn't like the way Ayeka remained so faultlessly 
polite despite the fact he knew she didn't trust him. But he 
gave the girls what they asked for with the same good grace 
as he did everything. 
"Would you like some chicken, little Washu?"
asked Tenchi as he got back to his capacity as distributor 
of foodstuffs
"Yes, please Tenchi!" said Washu with starry eyes 
"And can I have some Ketchup with that too?"
Everyone looked at her.
"What? I just happen to like tomato Ketchup on my 
sandwiches, okay?"
Ayeka shuddered, and Ryoko shook her head in disbelief 
as she bit into her ostrich sandwich.
Kiyone sweat-dropped when asked what she would like.
"Errr..." she croaked, looking at all the food in front of 
her, and Nobiyuki who was now carving up a huge pork pie. 
(No comment- Jim)
"Why don't you go for some bacon Kiyone?" said Mihoshi who 
was already happily eating a turkey and stuffing sandwich 
with sour-cream and celery 
"It goes down really well with the Moselle."
She eventually went with beef along with the crisps, crackers, 
doughnuts, muffins, fruit, three different kinds of cheese, 
cheese straws, scotch eggs, pork pie slices, pork crackling, 
wine, ice-cream, strawberries, pudding and custard which were 
being passed liberally around as the meal went on with accompanying 
condiments and praise to Sesami, Nobiyuki, Tenchi and Kazekera. 
Then Kazekera brought out a little surprise- everyone stared at 
the large brown box he took from his cool bag.
"What are they?"
"Belgian truffles. Authentic."
He passed them round. Mihoshi looked at him as she took her 
truffle. She bit her lip, and a slight tear came to her eye.
"Belgian truffles. Dark chocolate and cream..."
she paused and wiped the tear away.
"...you gave some of these to me on our first date after 
I joined the G.P."
"I know, Miho-chan. Enjoy them as much as we enjoy the memory..." 
After the meal was over, along with the customary sitting 
around in the sun and saying they would never be able to eat 
again because of what it might do to their figures (while the 
men tried to avoid a nasty scene by complimenting the all) 
the girls set up a volleyball net and started playing. 
Nobiyuki and Tenchi soon joined in, but Yosho waited until 
only the best competitors were left. These were, naturally, 
Kiyone, Ayeka and Ryoko. 
Mihsohi suggested she go off with Kazekera to check out 
something else...
The river sparkled in the afternoon sun like molten silver 
encrusted with sapphires, and felt like a cool, thick breeze 
against the skin. Kazekera had not swum in the river yet, and 
so Mihoshi decided that he should take his first dip in it 
today, about half a mile up from where they had eaten. 
This was because if they ended up doing what they normally did, 
it would offend the sensitive eyes of Ayeka and Sesami.
Kazekera suggested they bring Kiyone or Washu along...but she 
would have none of it. 'I'm going to have you all to myself 
the afternoon- I'm done sharing' she had said with unusual 
firmness.
He had brought all the stuff they needed to swim in a bag 
over his shoulder except their something which Mihoshi 
had insisted he didn't see until it was time.  
After he had laid all his and Mihoshi's they set up base 
camp near a sizeable bush which would do for changing in, 
and a little sandy beach right near a calm part of the river.
"Wow. This is lovely Miho-chan- just like the river at home."
"Yes- I thought you'd like it." Mihoshi beamed and dimpled 
sweetly. "Now you can put on your swimming costume."
"What? Do I have to wear clothes when I swim? I'm an adult now. 
Only children under 18 wear costumes..."
"I know it's like that back home. But you WILL wear one here."
"I don't really see the point of..."
"Kazekera Karumitzu Makibi Masaki..." 
"Jurai. You forgot Jurai."
"Okay! Kazekera Karumitzu Makibi Masaki JURAI- you will wear 
a swimming costume!"
"Yes, Mihoshi."
"Good. This isn't our planet."
Then she brought out the bag with their costumes in and drew 
out a beautiful pair of shimmery metallic green trunks, which 
were a little like boxer shorts because they had a bit of leg. 
To anyone else, they would have been huge- in fact Mihoshi 
had to have them tailor made- but after his initial reaction 
of impressed gratitude he said-
"They look a bit small."
"Don't you like them?"
"I've already said Miho-chan; I love them. They are wonderful. 
I just don't know if they'll fit." Kazekera eyed them 
tentatively.
"There's no top bit. Can I go topless? Is THAT allowed?"
"So long as you don't flaunt. And wear sun cream."
"That gets in my fur."
"Do I have to repeat myself?"
"No Mihoshi."
"Good. Now go and put them on."
"Three bags full Mihoshi." There was a silent pause. "Please 
don't hit me."
Mihoshi laughed. "Put your costume on- I'll decide whether 
I'm mad at you then." 
So Kazekera stepped into the bush and after a rustle and a 
couple of swishing noises as fabric parted from his huge 
body, he came out with his normal clothes on a neat heap, 
wearing the green boxer-trunks.
"Wow." Mihoshi said, noticing the effect "Who wears short 
shorts, eh?"
"What is it?"
"Are those tight at all?" Mihoshi teased. "They look it."
"They are."
"Well go and loosen them with a bit of water while I go change."
"Okay."
Before he got into the river, though, Kazekera decided to obey 
Mihoshi's subtle commands and put on the sun cream. He went 
over to a couple of label-less bottles which were standing on 
the edge of the mat they had laid out.
'I guess those must be the sun cream' he thought and picked up 
the left hand one. It secreted a little bit of gelled, green, 
sweet-smelling liquid which he started to rub all over himself. 
'Mm.' He thought 'I didn't know that sun creams were supposed 
to smell like this.'
By the time Mihoshi had changed, he was gleaming as if with 
sweat from the residue of the odd cream. He also smelled 
faintly of raspberries. After applying the last of his handful 
to his shoulders, he turned around to see Mihoshi fully changed 
into her costume. It was (naturally) a bikini of some sort- 
in light blue lycra with yellowy bands over the shoulders and 
down the sides of the bottoms. 
It impressively complimented her tanned figure, which was even 
darker in colour than when Kazekera had last seen it. 
She gleamed in the sunlight, her hair and eyes perfectly 
matching the fabric.
"Wow." He said.
"I thought you might like that!" said Mihoshi sweetly, and 
grinned. She was no less impressed at the sight of his gleaming, 
sun-creamed body. Although he appeared only lightly muscled, 
his movements under the sheen showed his inner sinuousness.
"But what is that smell?"
"Just the sun cream." 
"The sun cream? That was oranges! Oh no...you haven't have you..."
She came closer and smelled him.
"You have! You silly boy! That's not sun-cream at all!"
"What is it then?"
Mihoshi looked at her bare feet and wriggled her toes to give 
herself something more stimulating to pretend to be interested in.
"What was it? What did you pack in that bag?"
"Lean down." 
Kazekera bent double and Mihoshi whispered in his ear. His face 
subtly changed, eyes opening wide and mouth loosening slackly.
"Mihoshi!"
"Well, you said to be prepared for anything!"
"You naughty girl. If I knew you were planning such things I 
would phone your grandfather at GP central and get him to come 
down here and spank you over his knee. I hope you don't plan to 
stroke Ryo-Ohki with those hands."
"Oh, I don't. I'm planning to stroke you."
"Now that's better."
"Well, sit down, then."
She smiled at him and poured some of the REAL sun cream onto 
her palm.
"After all- you scratch my back..." she winked, and her eyelashes 
weaved shadows over her tanned cheek.
(The rest of this section had been cut by ITC. Instead we will 
proceed to the more family orientated section- Jim) 
A little later the two were standing at waist height in the river, 
and had just hit the 'I'm not going any further' position. 
Kazekera was quite a way further out that Mihoshi, being much 
taller, but they were comparatively at the same height.
Mihoshi shivered.
"I'm cold."
"So am I."
"Let's go one more step on the count of 3. 1,2,3."
Neither of them moved.
"Oh, this is ridiculous. Let's try a different method." 
Said Kazekera. Then he looked at Mihoshi and hit on a 
brilliant plan. He splashed her jokingly. His hand flicked a 
jet of water.
"Ah!" she shrieked "DON'T do that! I haven't 
got used to the water yet!"
He smiled at her, and made to splash again...
She quickly moved out of the way. 
"Right! You asked for this!" she said, and readied 
her world famous 'turtle wave' splash.
"KA..."
Kazekera's face went white. "No! Please!"
"...ME...YA...ME..."
She gathered the water and her hands and forced it forward.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"
A huge blast of water hit Kazekera in the face and then rained 
down on him from above. His hair was soaking wet and he 
sweat-dropped. 
Mihoshi floated in triumph in her blue lycra , her hair 
glowing strangely in the light.  
(Please note that this is a joke and not a plot element- Jim)
"That was un-called for."
"It was perfectly called for. You were mean to me."
"That doesn't mean you have to go all super-powered 
on me. After all- it worked, didn't it?"
Mihoshi looked down- she had had to go down into the 
water more to get the power for her splash. 
And Kazekera was now wet all over.
"I suppose it did. But it was still mean."
"Well, lets get on with swimming now, shall we?" 
They did- and since they were both powerful and 
joyous swimmers, they had a very good time. They 
swam a couple of hundred widths together (despite 
her frail-looking physique, Mihoshi was still a 
fully trained Galaxy police woman) and then started 
more silly things. First they chased each other- at 
one time Kazekera had given her a lead of about 10
 seconds, and expected her to rocket off like she 
usually did, but instead he saw her bottom rising 
out of the water like an two-peaked island, and 
then she dived under. And so he swum around her 
and circled her underneath the water like a dolphin. 
She pretended not to be interested, and dived deeper. 
He followed her, watching her light figure as it swam 
further into the deeps. She picked up a stone from 
the bottom of the river and then made her way to 
the top again. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her 
down a bit. She swiped at him with her arms, but 
she was slowed down by the water and didn't make 
any impression. Kazekera made sure her head didn't 
go under- then he let her go and rocketed to the 
surface. He splashed out of the water, like a whale 
coming up for air.
"Aha! Young maiden, I am the king of the sea. 
You must come back to my palace...or else I will do 
terrible things to you!"
"I'll never come with you. Do your worst!"
"I will!" then he stepped forward threateningly. 
His expression suddenly changed to a mischievous smile.
"Your it!"
"Oh no I'm not! You are!"
"Only if you catch me first!"
He said bounding out of the water and quickly 
wrapping his towel round him.
Mihoshi pounced on him, causing him to fall backwards 
on the ground.
"I win!" she said joyously as she dripped water all 
over him  "NOW whose the king of the sea?"
After they had dried off and sat down to tan properly 
("Can you possibly tan anymore than your already have?" 
Kazekera had asked to which the reply had been 
"Of course! There's always more room to tan!") 
Kazekera decided it was time to breech a serious subject. 
"Mihoshi?"
"Hai?"
"There's something I've been wondering about for a while."
"What's that?"
"Do you have feelings for young Tenchi?"
Mihoshi squirmed uncomfortably. 
"Well...yes."
"Pursue them then, my dear, pursue them. Remember what 
I always say?"
"No."
"The more the merrier."
"Eugh." Mihoshi's face screwed up in mock disgust.
"You used to like it when I said that!"
"It doesn't matter anyway. Now you're here, I don't 
need anyone else."
Mihoshi hugged him close around his furry tummy.
"Now why do I find that so hard to believe?"
"What?"
"Nothing, my toffee-coloured rose bud."
"Roses aren't toffee coloured!"
"Well how am I supposed to capture your exquisite beauty 
with just one analogy?"
He leaned back on the grass , put his arm around Mihoshi's 
bare back and then stroked her soft, tanned stomach with 
one elegant hand.
"Mmmm..." Mihoshi breathed. Kaz didn't even have to ask 
'So that feel's good?'- he knew it did. He made the 
stroking more powerful until it became rubbing.
"Oooo..." Mihoshi licked her lips. "Ahhhh..."
"I thought you might say that."
"And I'm going to start saying 'uhhhh' in a minute."
"I won't keep it up for that long, then."
"You're mean!"
"I know. But if you start saying 'uhhhh'" Kazekera did a 
passable impression of Mihoshi groaning with pleasure 
"Here, people are going to wonder."
"Let them wonder, then!" Mihoshi flung her arms up 
and rolled slowly out of Kazekera's. She lay on the 
grass looking up at the sky.
"I love you, Kaz."
"And I you." He bent and graced her face with the 
lightest of kisses "But we are still not together. And until 
you make up that pretty mind of yours, I must not intrude too
much on your time."
"Don't go again, Kaz!"
"I have to. I have a job to go to at the end of the week- you 
know my work is very demanding."
"What is this job?"
"Recruitment in the computer development systems of Trolannen. 
It's almost all water there, so they have no network. 
It's only an interview but I think I'll get the job."
"Do you have to go?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Oh well." Mihoshi resigned herself to these unfortunate 
facts "at least we can make the most of our time here.
"That's right Miho-chan. So what about a nice meal?"
 
Mihoshi couldn't believe it when Kazekera invited her to supper 
at a restaurant- she thought he couldn't have been here long 
enough to find out which ones were good. But he explained he 
had found out at the same place where he had found the Masaki 
house- an Tourist Information Bureau. 
They could have gone off planet, she said, but Kazekera would 
have none of it- and the restaurant he had taken her to was 
certainly one of the best in Tokyo- a high class affair with 
red plush and a  mix of both Japanese and European foods. 
Even Sesami couldn't match this.
They both changed into fancy clothes- he wore one of his only 
suits, which was, unlike his others, in very dark blue and 
not green. He also tied his hair back in an elaborate 
pony-tail with one of Mihoshi's bands, and painted his nails 
to match his suit. He would have put on lip-stick as well, and 
got 'glammed-up' like all Dryads did on these occasions, but 
he didn't want to out-do Mihoshi. He needn't have worried- 
she was perfectly lovely in a similar shade of blue to him, 
a velveteen dress stretching to the floor 
but with very little back- where it was laced. She wore rouge, 
something she hardly ever did, and high heels which she was 
notoriously edgy on. But tonight she moved like a queen- 
elegant and proud. Her escort moved like a panther, as was his 
manner, clean musculature rippling under the fabric of his 
clothes- cravat, silk shirt, and all. He took her out to a 
seat he had booked on the balcony, non-smoking, with a view 
over the Ara-kawa. They could still here the band playing Bach 
and Mozart, but not so loud that it was intrusive to their 
own thoughts and conversation. By the time they had got there, 
around 8 'o' clock, the sun had started to go 
down, and cast a beautiful purple canvas on the otherwise 
blazing sky. Mihoshi ordered some tagliatelli and ravioli in 
horse radish source, while Kaz contented himself with a more 
simple lasagne because 
'the class in here is solely for you, my love'.
They had caviar to start, instead of Oysters since they 
remembered it had been embarrassing last time, and followed 
the main course with black forest Gateau (traditionally left 
unfinished due to sheer size) and mints with coffee. When he 
pressed this last item on her, she giggled
"Kaz, your going to kill me! I've never eaten so much in one 
day!"
"Nonsense, Miho-chan. Now why don't you finish that coffee? 
We still have some wine coming."
"More?"
"It comes down to a contest between my money and your stomach-
you think you can make it a draw?"
"I'll try."
She looked through the liquid, the glass she held in her hand 
turning,
"This place is so beautiful." She said.
"I'm glad you think so." He replied. They both looked over at 
the mighty river, now glistening with moonlight from the full, 
yellow body which hung like a sentinel over the city.
"And I want to say something before we go."
"What's that?"
"I feel that you really helped me today."
"How?"
"Well, you solved a problem we've had for a long time- one 
I felt I ought to tell you about."
"What problem is that? Tell me - how did I hurt you?"
"It's because you're never jealous. You never feel any need to 
'win' me. Of course I think it's wonderful sometimes...when I 
look at Ayeka and Ryoko. But it really makes me sure you 
love me if you get jealous." 
"If I don't it shows I'm sure you'll never leave me. Trust is 
important to you, isn't it?"
"Yes...but on this planet it's very different. It's very 
different all over the place. So I'd like to thank you."
"For what?"
"For getting jealous of a made up character in a cartoon. 
For proving again that you love me." 
Kazekera thought back to the morning- it seemed like half a 
world away.
"Was there ever any doubt of that?" he said, dreamily.
Her eyes, as he looked into them, and she into his, said it 
all. They gently touched glasses with the merest 'clink'. 
They were now in a place where all their thoughts were 
orchestrated into a beautiful lover's duet.
And the band, as was there custom, played on.

THE END

Chances are if you read to the end of that you
enjoyed, and I would like to bless you and thank you
effusively for it. I love you now.
But anyway- if you did like it, please
e-mail me at 
comageddon@ntlworld.com
or
jetset@ntlworld.com

Till Tenchi O-Rusuta©: Kazekera Part 4- An Evening Stroll
(which is good and has all lot of Ayeka and Ryoko in it)
Goodbye, me hearties-
Yrs.
Jim 'Diabolo' Moore 14/7/01