Season 2: Home Life and Shadow Plays Episode 2: No Need for Cameos Tokyo, Nerima district Ayeka should have been enjoying this, by all appearances it had been a nice relaxing month since they returned home. Sasami was her normal bouncy self. There were no intergalatic villains banging on their doors, and Ayeka had not once had to struggle to maintain her decision to not fight with Ryoko. Add to that the fact that the pirate wasn't interfering with her and Tenchi any more and it should have been a wonderful time. The truth was that Ayeka wasn't happy at all. Every time Ryoko looked at her, it was like she was looking at a fragile figurine. She didn't have to worry about getting in a fight with Ryoko, because the woman would rather die than enter such a fight. Sasami wasn't upset because they hadn't told her anything, and Tenchi. Well, Ayeka was like one big guilt trip to him. Also, Ayeka was not blind, Ryoko was hurt every time Ayeka was with Tenchi, and Tenchi almost winced every time Ryoko ignored him. As for Washu, she had her own ideas about Ayeka recently. Given all that, it wasn't surprising that she had decided to take a little trip into town on her own. Well, Ryo-Ohki was with her, so she wasn't completely alone. The cabbit was there to keep an eye on her, just like she did with Sasami. Ayeka resented being babysat, and Ryoko's concern was still a somewhat alien thing. Still, she was alone enough for her purposes. "Well, this looks promising," Ayeka said to the cabbit in her arms. She looked up at the sign and walked in. "Are you coming from a wedding or something, sugar?" the brown-haired girl behind the counter asked. A monstrous spatula was strapped to her back. "Whatever are you talking about?" Ayeka asked as she sat down at the counter. "This is the proper mode of dress for a Jurai princess." Ayeka never had much worried about keeping who she was secret. "Uh huh, whatever you say," the girl responded shrugging her shoulders. She handed Ayeka a menu, and then continued. "Do you want anything to drink while you decide?" "I'll just have a soda thank you," Ayeka answered. "Do you have IBC cream soda?" She looked over the menu and discovered about twenty different kinds of okonomiyaki. Somebody sat down next to Ayeka as she was trying to find something non-okonomiyaki. "Excuse me," the person next to her asked cautiously. "Do you have any connection with Saotome Ranma at all?" Ayeka turned to face a girl with short black hair. "I don't have the slightest idea what you are talking about?" she responded. "Whatever gave you that idea?" "Oh, Ranma's father has a history of engaging him to various women in exchange for food," the girl answered. "So with the wedding dress and all." "This is not a wedding dress," Ayeka protested. The brown-haired girl with the spatula came back. "You know, I hadn't thought of that," she noted. "She's right, though, Ranchan's dad is a pretty sorry individual. Nearly ruined my life." "So you two used to be in love with the same man," Ayeka asked, then thought to herself. "Maybe I can get a little advice from them." "Well almost every guy around here chases or used to chase Akane," the brown haired girl gestured to the one in short black hair. "And every girl, including me, used to chase or still chases Ranchan. Why do you ask?" "Perhaps you can help me with a problem of my own," Ayeka suggested. "I don't know," Akane said. "Ukyou and I don't have the most normal of relationships." "Well, how did you resolve your conflict?" "One of Ranchan's other fiancees bombed my restaurant," Ukyou answered. "Put a friend of mine in the hospital." "Ranma finally declared that I was the only one he loved," Akane added. "And I was more concerned about my friend." "Oh this is excellent," Ayeka clapped. "You're perfect, it sounds just like my situation.." she became a little less enthusiastic. "...used to be." Ryo-Ohki meowed. "Why is your rabbit meowing," Ukyou asked. Ayeka pulled out of her temporary funk. "Oh, Ryo-Ohki is cabbit," Ayeka explained. "She's here so Lady Shinku can make sure I don't hurt myself, treating me like a child really. Perhaps if you have some carrots?" "Sure, how many?" "A case should be fine," Ayeka answered, drawing disbelieving glances. Ukyou returned with a case full of carrots though, and she and Akane watched, stunned, as Ryo-Ohki quickly began to devour it. "So is this Lady Shinku related to you in some way?" Akane asked, looking away from the cabbit. Ayeka stared at her strangely. "It certainly seems she worries about you like some parents I know." "Yes, I expect it does appear that way," Ayeka answered. "It has been revealed to me recently that she does seriously see me as a sister. She even called me that recently, when everything changed, apparently. That is part of the problem. You see, until a month ago, Lady Shinku was my rival for Lord Tenchi's affections." "So what's the problem," Ukyou asked. "It seems like she's given up on this Lord Tenchi person, you don't think her new attitude is a ploy?" "You're scared aren't you," Akane noted. Ayeka thought about it a moment and nodded. "So what happened a month ago?" The princess didn't consider this, there was no reason in her mind to hide any of the following. It was all perfectly normal as far as she was concerned. "Well there was this attempted invasion on the edge of the galaxy," the two girls looked at Ayeka strangely, but she just continued. "And I and Lord Tenchi were protecting Washu-Chan's, I believe she called it an Ego Jammer, while Lady Shinku and Ryo-Ohki, here were fighting in space." "The cabbit was in the battle?" Ukyou said in disbelief. "What did she do make them stop and talk about how cute she is?" Ryo-Ohki meowed thankfully at the compliment. "Hmm?" Ayeka turned to Ukyou. "Oh I'll show you that later, when I go home maybe." "So what happened in the battle," Akane asked, staring hard at Ukyou to tell her not to interrupt. Ukyou shrugged defensively and passed out a trio of okonomiyaki. "I am not a trained warrior, or a pirate like Lady Shinku," Ayeka explained. Then she stiffened her back in pride. "But I am one of Jurai's royal family, and I can wield the Jurai power like any knight." Then she slumped losing any hint of proper posture as she explained the next part. "But, I used too much, I drained myself and kept channeling until the battle had ended." "You pushed the envelope a little," Akane shrugged. "So what, that doesn't explain why this Lady Shinku would give up your rivalry." "I didn't 'push the envelope'" Ayeka corrected, returning to her haughty attitude. "I burned out a portion of my power, and that has a serious consequence for my people. Ry...Lady Shinku blames Lord Tenchi for it. She won't even talk to him any more." "She's mad at him because her rival made herself a weaker fighter," Akane questioned her. "That's weird." "Really, and I don't see what your problem is," Ukyou said. "It seems like she's pulled herself out." "I never expected it," Ayeka explained. "She was the only one there who could possibly have known what I did, and we've been fighting back and forth for two thousand years." Akane spat out her soda while an okonomiyaki fell out of mid-flip and fell to the floor. Ukyou was frozen in mid-action. "Whatever are your problems?" "Did you say two thousand years?" Akane asked. "Yes, and if I can continue without interruption," Ukyou and Akane nodded. "If anything I thought she'd use it against me, 'Tenn-chiii, why waste your life with someone who will die centuries early?'" Ayeka managed a decent imitation of Ryoko's tone and voice. "What's this about dying?" "Oh, the Jurai power keeps us alive for a long time," Ayeka explained. "I...burned some out...so..." "Oh," Akane said quietly. "I understand now" "That must be tough," Ukyou comforted. "So how long do you have?" "We don't know," Ayeka said. "Lord Tenchi's mother lived fifteen years afterwards, but she died young before we went back in time to fight Caine, so that might be something else. I don't know." Ukyou and Akane seemed to be taking things surprisingly easy, until you considered the mass of demons and martial artists that were in their lives. Ayeka of course never noticed, she still thought of much of this as normal. "Anyway, the last thing I expected was for Lady Shinku to blame Lord Tenchi for my burn out. She seemed to think he should have noticed it and stopped me." "So, now she's not talking to him," Akane reasoned, she still had much more experience with female anger than Ukyou. "And perhaps, you're not as enthused about chasing him as you used to be?" "Everything feels wrong, Ryo...Lady Shinku, treats me like I'm a helpless little girl, and I've had a few...what you call 'dates' with Lord Tenchi, but they just make me feel worse." Ayeka sounded angry now. "I'm the one with royal Jurai blood, not on the direct line of kings like Lord Tenchi, but I'm not some space pirate who's the last of her clan either." "You don't think he loves you, do you," this was Ukyou's department. She had discovered the same thing about Ranma a year ago. "And you're beginning to doubt if you really love him." Ayeka nodded sadly, and sniffed. "And Ryoko is being entirely unfair," Ayeka added. "Lord Tenchi winces every time she even looks at him. It was my decision, not even the knights knew what I was doing. There is no reason to blame him." "You've stopped calling her Lady Shinku," Akane noted. "Oh dear, I have, haven't I," Ayeka agreed. "It is her proper title, and it would be rude of me to refer to a fellow noble by anything other than their proper title. Even if she is an orphan space pirate with no modesty." "Uh huh," Ukyou said. "So you've decided that you aren't really interested in this Lord Tenchi, and he isn't interested in you." Ayeka was about to protest and then stopped. "Yes, it seems that I have," Ayeka confessed. That admission actually made her feel better. "My, that feels exceptionally relieving." "Hey, Ucchan," a yellow-shirted boy in a bandanna walked into the store. "Sorry, I'm late." "No problem, Ryouga-Honey," she answered. "It only took you a month this time." He waved as he walked through the storefront, into a back room. "Five...four..three...two...one," Ukyou counted. "Ukyou, what happened to my room?" "You're in the store room, Ryouga." "Oh." Ukyou started counting down fingers again for the giggling Akane and curious Ayeka. "How do I get out?" Ukyou gave Akane a long suffering look and went off to help the boy out of the store room and up to his own room. "Oh no," Ryouga said as he was escorted up the stairs. "Is that another of Ranma's fiancees?" "This is not a wedding dress," Ayeka insisted. "Really, how can you mistake this simple thing for a wedding gown." Akane looked over what Ayeka was calling a "simple thing" for yet another time. "It's not really something most people would wear outside of a religious ceremony," Akane told her. "Well, perhaps by this world's standards," Ayeka admitted, still full of pride. Then she noticed the time as Ukyou started walking down. "Oh dear, perhaps I should be getting back home, it's been quite a while. Thank you for the talk, I believe that I needed that." "Believe me," Ukyou responded. "I know how talking to strangers can be comforting." "Yeah," Akane agreed. "Maybe we can do it again sometime." "Perhaps, I will," Ayeka agreed, as she walked outside. "That...'okonomiyaki?' was excellent, by the way. Ryo-Ohki, perhaps you can give me a quick ride back home." The cabbit meowed and leapt into the sky, changing into her spiny ship-form. As Ayeka looked to her left she saw another boy, not quite as tall as the first, stop in horror at seeing her. "Oh no," the boy said. "Who'd pop engage me to now?" "Ranma?" Ayeka asked Akane and Ukyou, who were staring at the ship-form cabbit in surprise. They nodded and she waved at the terror stricken boy pleasantly. "Don't worry sir, I never heard of you before now. Ryo-Ohki." Ayeka vanished and the ship-form cabbit shot away for the Masaki house. "Uh, Akane, Ucchan," Ranma asked as he stood next to them. "Who was that?" "An alien princess," Ukyou answered. "I wish she'd been around when Cologne was still a problem," Akane added. "She certainly has the age advantage." "That girl is older than the old ghoul!!" Ranma shouted. "You have to be joking." Mindscape "You left far too early," the master lectured. "It took me centuries to become ready for my task. You have had mere weeks." "Perhaps I was already more ready than you ever were," the student responded, haughtily. "You did fell to that boy. It took them all to defeat me." "You know not what you say, fool," the master did not seem angry at all, merely annoyed. "Back off, old man," he answered. "There are none to command me now, not even you, master. The shadows are mine." "Hmm," the master laughed. "As you wish, I have eternity. Perhaps the next student will be more intelligent." The dark-haired Jurai warrior vanished with a mocking smile on his face. Galaxy Police New Headquarters, a month later "Well, you've kept up your end of the bargain so far," Mitsuki said as the cloaked Akuneko teleported in. He had ceased masquerading as a cadet as soon as he had made himself known to Mitsuki. She was the head of the fugitives tracking department, it wasn't nearly as prestigious as special crimes had been, but she was on her way up. "So what do you want now?" "My brother is still alive," the Akuneko told her. "He's hiding, planning a way to take revenge on Makibi and that Jurai prince. Perhaps we can use this, I have business with my brother anyway." "So you want me to find them and then what?" "For now just find them," he told her. "I will tell you more as it happens." The Akuneko vanished. Mitsuki smiled. Note: Some of the events referred to above take place in my Ranma 1/2 fan fic, the Visitors and their Coat.