Season 2: Home Life and Shadow Plays Episode 5: No Need for Argument Outside the Theatre "Wow, that was fun," Mihoshi declared as they all left the theatre. "We should do this again sometime." "That is an exceptional idea," Ayeka agreed, then under her breath added. "Especially considering the source." "It was fun," Kiyone agreed, then glanced at Ayeka. "And educational, but we should be getting home. We have the early shift tomorrow." Mihoshi looked at Kiyone and slumped with a little sadness. "Okay, Kiyone," Mihoshi answered glumly. "Oh, I thought you were going to eat dinner with us," Sasami noted. Mihoshi turned to look at Kiyone with big pleading eyes. "Please, Kiyone?" Sasami echoed the question. "Please, Kiyone, I was going to cook a special meal." "If it wouldn't be too much trouble," Ayeka asked quietly. "You know," Rikyu started. "I've heard a lot about Sasami's cooking." "Is it normal for Jurai royalty to do the daily chores?" Rakkan asked Karya. "No," Karya answered. "But it certainly would be an insult to refuse such an offer." By this point Kiyone had her face in her hand and was resignedly shaking her head back and forth. "Okay, we'll have dinner at the Masaki's," Kiyone gave in. She didn't speak the rest of the thought. "Probably a good idea to follow you anyway, with Ryoko and Tenchi not around." "Yippee!" Mihoshi and Sasami yelled together, and they began bouncing up the street towards the edge of town and the Masaki shrine beyond. "Hey you two!" Kiyone shouted. "Wait for the rest of us." "Sasami get back here this instant!" Ayeka added her own reprimand. Across from the theatre someone else was interested in the group as he performed the last checks on his rifle. He was dressed in functional black clothing and soon was scanning the street through his scope. "I don't know what the big deal about these girls is," he said. "This will be the easiest million I ever made." He picked the first target, traced along her path and fired. "Ooo, what I cute toy," Mihoshi stopped dead in her tracks to look at a giant stuffed cat bearing a resemblance to the one that had been the cause of the toy shop debacle. There was a loud cracking sound and a small hole appeared in the shop window where Mihoshi would have been. Everybody turned around to see what Mihoshi had done now. "Mi*" Kiyone was about to yell until she saw the bullet hole. "Rikyu!" "Already done," he answered examining the wall he had raised. "What was that?" Ayeka demanded. Sasami cried for Tenchi and Ryoko, Washu seemed step into a fold in space. Rakkan and Karya placed themselves between the force wall and everybody else. Mihoshi kept looking at the toy. Kiyone turned around as a second bullet sparked off of the force wall he had raised. This time they all saw the spark of flame as the sniper fired. "What the hell?" the sniper yelled. He targeted the blonde again, cycling off of the purple-haired girl in the regal dress. He fired again. "Alive, got it?" Kiyone asked as the third bullet ricocheted into the air. "Yes," Rakkan answered, and he teleported away. He appeared behind the sniper mere moments later. The man heard the teleport and whirled in time to see the Akuneko punching downward. He rose the rifle up to block the punch, but the Akuneko tore through the thin metal device and smashed into the man's head. Then picked the man up and teleported back down to the street. "What is going on Kiyone-San," Ayeka demanded. "Don't drop the wall yet," Kiyone said, unnecessarily as the police began to arrive. She unclipped the communication earring again and called down the Yagami. "Everybody but Rikyu and I on board." "Kiyone, can I have this-" Mihoshi was saying as the Yagami processed the information and soon Kiyone and Rikyu were alone on the street. "This is the Tokyo police special units," a voice called out over the loudspeaker. "Put down your weapons and release your hostage." Kiyone sighed, she had always wondered how long it would take for the Earth authorities to show up at one of their little battles. Until now the space shuttle incident was the only such instance. "Captain Kiyone Makibi of the Galaxy Police," she called back. "This incident falls under my Jurisdiction." "Galaxy Police?" the loud speaker returned. "What kind of bull is that?" "Think we're going to have any trouble?" Rikyu asked. "Nothing we can't handle," Kiyone said, she looked up to where the Yagami hovered above the lights in the night sky. "Hmm, just had an idea. Yagami bring aboard myself, Rikyu and whoever is manning that loudspeaker." The scene around them flickered and suddenly they were in the Yagami's cargo bay with a surprised police officer decked out in body armor. He didn't lose anytime aiming his weapon at her though. "Okay, miss, what's going on here?" he asked. "Easy, chief," Rikyu said, holding his hands out. "Trust me, you don't want to go firing off anything on this ship." Kiyone reached up to her shirt pocket, slowly, and withdrew her pen. "I think Washu might have even improved on everything since the Akuneko battle," Kiyone mentioned. She held her pen out in front of her calmly. "Space ship, right," the cop said. "We have magicians, martial artists, demons, monsters and but I'm not going to buy little green men. And what do you want me to do with that, sign a receipt?" Kiyone pushed the top of the pen and unscrolled her identification. "Neat trick, I have something like it." "Okay, I give up," Kiyone said, throwing her arms up as if in resignation. As she did the small round form of her yo-yo flew from her hand and knocked the cops weapon away. "Now, I'm Captain Kiyone Makibi of the Galaxy Police. Somebody just tried to kill my partner, I believe that puts the assailant under my jurisdiction." "By the way," Rikyu added. "Most of us aren't little, and none of us are green." "Captain," Kiyone turned to see Karya standing in the doorway. "The prisoner is secure." "Good," Kiyone started to turn back to the policeman, then stopped and looked back to Karya. "You remembered to turn the brig off first didn't you?" Karya bit her lip and stared at the ceiling, hands crossed behind her back. "Nevermind," she turned back to face the Tokyo policeman. "Now excuse me, officer..." "Lieutenant," the man corrected. He was annoyed, but definitely aware that he was out of his league here. "Lieutenant," Kiyone said. "I'm going to put you back down and then check on the rest of my friends. Whoever that is will be looking at a nice long sentence in a prison somewhere." "Don't have much choice, do I," he said. "Not really, no," Kiyone said. "Oh and Lieutenant, careful what you ask for. This is supposed to be a career ending nothing post, but I keep ending up near the center of galaxy threatening crises." "Uh huh," the man said in confusion just before the Yagami's cargo bay flickered out of his view. "I doubt our friend's in a condition to talk," Karya blushed at Kiyone's statement. "So let's track down Tenchi and Ryoko." Back outside the theatre Tenchi walked outside and saw the mass of police outside, but didn't see anybody he knew so decided to ignore it. He walked around the police block and continued on toward the Masaki shrine. He was feeling completely hopeless, and hoping to speak with Grandfather. Things had been simple before Ryoko and Mihoshi crashed down. Train, go to school, return home, chores, train, sleep. Since then, however, it had been one surprise after another. Recently the surprises had been more unpleasant than pleasant. He liked Ayeka, especially when she let the royal attitude slip a little, but he was finding that she didn't like her as much as she might want. His flashback to how relieved he had been when she turned up alive after the Kagato thing had added to that feeling. He was seeing Ayeka and thinking about Ryoko, who didn't seem to care whether he existed or not these days. Of course, duty would have him paired with Ayeka, for many reasons, but the prospect did not appeal to him. Then again, that aspect of duty might have been what was bothering him to begin with. Maybe he didn't want to feel forced into things, he didn't want to feel that it was only duty bringing them together. This wasn't the same as when he had thought Ryoko was lying dead in some solar system somewhere. It was worse she was there, right where he could see her, but couldn't get any closer. He would have suspected her of faking it just to make him more interested, but Ryoko's cons weren't really all that skillfully performed. If this had been a con she would have gone ridiculously overboard. As much as Ryoko liked to think of herself as a master rogue, she was not very good at hiding her feelings When it came down to it, none of the women could elicit near as much of a reaction as Ryoko could. Like everybody else, he treated Sasami like an adorable younger sister. Mihoshi evoked a little in the way of fear and pity. What he shared with Kiyone was a sense of dealing with other people's messes, she had Mihoshi, and he had Ryoko. As for Washu, well everybody responded strongly to Washu, terror seemed to be the common factor. Well, except Kiyone, who collaborated quite often with the diminutive scientist, disturbingly so. Ayeka had a similar sense of duty as his, and she, more even than Yosho or Sasami, represented a connection to his Jurai heritage. Now Ryoko, Ryoko exasperated him. She was one of the most unconditionally loyal people he had ever met. She was capable of incredible amounts of self-sacrifice, as she had shown at least twice now. On the other hand she was also one of the most irresponsible people there was. She always had to prove how fun and carefree she was, and in the process she always managed to leave behind a terrible mess. She tended to act on impulse without considering the consequences, like robbing the bank of Jurai because she had spent all their food money. Or else she'd push to far in an effort to prove herself, like with Washu's cave. Tenchi was still trying to rationalize his emotions when the street flickered into the Yagami's cargo bay. He stared about in surprise for a moment before shrugging. "Okay," Tenchi said, speaking to the air. "What happened now?" Masaki Shrine "So, Ryoko," Yosho paused as he sipped from his teacup. "The last time you came to me, it was a request for training, which you've been lax in recently, I might add." "I've had a lot on my mind," Ryoko answered, irritably. Yosho laughed quietly, Ryoko wouldn't be Ryoko if she didn't maintain a disrespectful veneer. "Beautiful night isn't it," Yosho noted. "Yeah, it is," Ryoko agreed, turning to look outside. She always liked looking into the night sky, it reminded her of the freedom she felt travelling through space. Then a breeze blew through the open doors of the shrine, and she shivered. "But it's getting colder outside." "You don't like the cold, do you?" Yosho asked. "That's no secret," Ryoko said, irritably. "Your son doesn't seem to share the same problem," he added, taking another sip of the tea. He gestured for Ryoko to help herself to the tea. She did, picking the cup up respectfully and with the proper forms. This snapped the crass image she desperately maintained. The tea was good, not the masterful mixture Sasami made, but it was good. "He's lived here his entire life," Ryoko waved it off. "I've had two thousand years of climate control." "Ayeka seems to be doing fine," Yosho noted. "Sasami certainly enjoys the winter, I doubt they've had less luxury than you have." "I don't know why I don't like the cold, okay?" Ryoko snapped. She hadn't noticed yet that she hadn't even asked Yosho her question. He had started this conversation before she could say anything. "I just don't." "It is a very displeasing sensation," Yosho agreed. "It calls to mind solitude." "Yeah," Ryoko shivered. "Like everybody's left you behind." "It's no one's fault but your own," Yosho finally said. "I don't want to see Tenchi," Ryoko snapped angrily, forgetting why she had come in the first place. Yosho smiled. "Who was talking about Tenchi?" the old Jurai asked. "I was talking about being cold. It's no one's fault but our own when we're cold in this time of modern miracles." Yosho spoke the last with a touch of dry sarcasm. "Oh," Ryoko blushed a little in embarrassment and took another sip of tea. "I assume you still blame yourself for Ayeka's choice?" Ryoko eyes snapped wide. "It's neither your or Tenchi's fault. There is no way to tell that someone is burning out, unless you are monitoring their vitals." "She was there because Tenchi was there," Ryoko accused. "It is his fault!" "That's you trying to remove yourself from her path, and making Tenchi feel duty bound to go to her. You're thinking she was there because you would be there," Yosho countered. "Because she didn't trust Tenchi around you." "So, it's my fault then?" Ryoko yelled, standing up and dashing her cup away. "Defending your grandson? Everything that goes wrong is my fault?" "Ayeka is responsible for her own decisions," Yosho noted calmly, sipping his tea. "Neither Tenchi nor you could have predicted what she did, and couldn't have stopped her if you had seen it." "What do you know, old man!" Ryoko was floating out of the building when the scenery flickered into the Yagami's bay. From there it was a short trip for Ryoko to the bridge. "What's going on Kiyone?" She glanced at Tenchi across the small bridge and blushed before scowling and turning back to the teal-haired policewoman. She didn't notice Ayeka smile secretively at the action. "Somebody took a few pot shots at us outside the theatre," Kiyone answered. "He's in the brig right now." "Isn't that enough punishment?" Ryoko asked. "It would probably be a good idea to learn who hired him," Tenchi noted. Ayeka rolled her eyes and whispered under her breath so that only she heard, "Forgive me Lord Tenchi, but you are an idiot." "What was that?" Ryoko snapped. "I make a joke and you accuse me of being stupid!" "Like playing with one of Washu's inventions was an intelligent choice!" Tenchi countered. "Guys," Kiyone started, trying to catch their attention. Rikyu was whispering "Bad idea," just behind her. "Are you STILL annoyed with that? We all got back alive didn't we?" "Captain," Karya said quietly. "Perhaps we should stay out of the way." "We spent, I don't how many months, in alternate worlds!!" "I concur," Rakkan said. "I gave up my perfect world to get us back!" "Ryy-ooo-kooo! Tennnchiii! You're hurting my ea-er-er-er-ers!" Mihoshi whined. "Oh you would think that world was perfect!" "You idiots are ruining everything," Ayeka complained quietly. "What was wrong with it? It had action, adventure, romance." "Hey where is Washu-San?" Sasami asked, breaking away from the tennis viewer headshake they were all adapting. "It was an amoral, criminal....what do you mean 'Where is Washu-San'?" "She was with you guys wasn't she?" Ryoko added, also forgetting the fight. "Oops." Kiyone laughed, nervously. Outside the Theatre "Hey!" the few people around the spot of speaking air jumped. "Is it safe to come out yet?" "AHHH!!! IT'S A GHOST!!!" The pedestrians ran screaming in random directions. A head popped out of a fold in the air, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Hey, where'd everybody go?"