Disclaimer: You've heard the story before. I don't own any of these characters, Pioneer does. So piss off and leave me alone. Actually, stay here and read this. That would be even better. OPENING SONG Descent: By Fear Factory Falling victim from neglect Designed thoughts and Intellect Forgotten and Displaced The crux of my dismay I feel nothing I am nothing I feel nothing Nothing How Deep I Descend Until I reach my end? How deep I descend? Deeper into this abyss Weighted down and sinking fast Life did not offer me More than false Destiny I feel nothing I am nothing I feel nothing Nothing How Deep I Descend Until I reach my end? How Deep I descend? I am nothing I feel nothing I am nothing I feel nothing Nothing Nothing... How Deep I Descend Until I reach my end? How deep I descend? ********** STAINED HANDS Chapter 1: In Motion ********** "But...but...but I don't wanna! That's just uncalled for!" Tenchi whined. Ryoko looked at him with her hands on her hips, and Ayeka did the same. They glowered at him. He felt like a cornered animal, sweating as if he were a pig in a sauna. The girls had him backed against the wall, literally. He began to quickly look around the room, hoping that his eyes could find at least some form of distraction, but alas, his eyes failed him this time. "Quit stalling, Tenchi! Out with it, right now!" Ryoko shot at him. Tenchi glanced back and forth between the two girls, nervously. He then looked over at the door, hoping that somehow it would open itself, and then he could distract them, and then take off. "Lord Tenchi, we are standing right here. Not at the doorway!" Ayeka frowned at him. Tenchi was breathing heavily. The time to speak was drawing near. He slowed his breath to a gentler pace as he looked at the floor. Ryoko's glower lightened a bit. Tenchi's breathing was now normal as he looked at the floor. He started to chuckle. The girl's looks turned from one's of sternness to ones of bewilderment. They looked at Tenchi, and then at each other as he burst into a fit of laughter. Tenchi sat down on his bed, which was next to him, as he forcibly slowed his laughter to a halt. "I..." Tenchi began nervously. The girls looked at him with heated anticipation. "I...really don't see what the big deal is. I mean, what's the big deal? Who cares who comes to the supermarket with me? It's not a life or death situation, girls." Tenchi sighed. "That's not any of your concern, Lord Tenchi. It is important to us. So choose." Ayeka huffed, as she crossed her arms to match her facial expression. "You know, I CAN go by myself, people." Tenchi rose from the bed, but Ryoko pushed him right back down. She grinned. "W...what is it? I know that look. What are you planning, Ryoko?" Tenchi looked into Ryoko's mischievous yellow eyes as if they were death rays pointed squarely at his crotch. Tenchi found himself sweating profusely yet again. Ryoko leaned back and crossed her arms. "I got an idea alright, Tenchi. A good one." Ryoko purred. Now Ayeka was looking at her suspiciously. She knew that whatever Ryoko was planning, it was definitely going to bad news for her. That was just simply common sense. She turned to face Ryoko. "Ryoko, I command you tell us this instant exactly what you are planning!" Ayeka shouted into Ryoko's ear. Ryoko frowned and pushed Ayeka's face away from her ear. She smiled again. "How about this? Ayeka, you can go with Tenchi to the supermarket, but I get to take Tenchi on a date later. Deal?" Ayeka's eyes shot open. "Absolutely not! There is no way I would agree to such an outrageous deal as this! It is completely unjustified, and one sided! I cannot believe that you would even think that such a thing could even be considered! I..." "Ladies, I CAN go by myself, you know..." Tenchi rose again, but both women pushed him back onto the bed this time. He sighed. Tenchi swore he could've heard a celestial voice call down "NO!", but he passed it off as a preposterous hallucination. He returned his attention to the two women arguing at the top of their lungs. Their conversation, now gone completely sour, had completely left the topic of the supermarket, and was beginning to get along the lines of, "Oh yeah? You and what army?" type quips. Tenchi realized now that a full-scale battle was imminent. He knew he could stop it if he really tried, but he felt that this would be a way he could slip out of the house unnoticed. He quietly snuck along the wall of his room as the two women argued, completely oblivious to the man they were after's absence. Tenchi quickly opened and closed the door, breathing heavily as he did so. Then, when no one was looking, he smiled. Yes, he smiled. Despite the way he acted, the way he always tried to avoid it, Tenchi loved being fought over. Well...to a certain extent. Tenchi really enjoyed the idea that two incredibly beautiful women were in love with him, and they would do anything for him. However, that left somewhat of a large problem. He liked both of them...a lot. Not necessarily one more than the other, but he still really cared for them. Like family, if nothing else. Tenchi sat down on the floor, and leaned his back against the wall. He began to think. Tenchi frowned at that thought. Tenchi scratched his eyebrows. Tenchi sat there in a desperate attempt to weigh his options, yet he found himself falling up short in almost every category. For everything he didn't like about one of them, there was another thing about them that completely overshadowed their shortcomings. Both girls had the ability to be very nice, very mean, very beautiful, very cruel, very fun, and very scary. Well...Ryoko in particular. Yeah, Ryoko was without a doubt the most interesting person he had ever met. How someone could be the most wanted criminal in the galaxy and yet have such a strong compassionate side to them was beyond Tenchi. He chuckled to himself. Ryoko went over the limits that Ayeka couldn't...not that that's necessarily a good thing, though. Like using his prior checklist for example. Ryoko could be nicer than Ayeka, but meaner than her too. And while she was more beautiful than Ayeka, she could also be crueler than Ayeka. She was also without a doubt the funniest woman he had ever met...and unfortunately...she was without a doubt, the scariest person Tenchi had ever met. Every time she looked at him with that hunger she had in her eyes, it scared him to the bone. She looked like a cat stalking its prey, like something that was playing with it's food, and then going to sink it's fangs into him. He shuddered at that thought. Nah, she couldn't be like that...could she? Well...she was the most wanted criminal ever...however; Tenchi had physically seen evidence to the contrary. She had shown him kindness and compassion that simply did not accompany lust or greed. They showed that she truly was a human with real feelings...as twisted as they became sometimes. Well, whatever the case...there was one final problem that Ryoko presented. While most of the time, everyone figured Tenchi was abnormal for being able to control himself in such situations...he wasn't as admirable as they thought he was. He was a human being, after all. What problem was he talking about? Well...that's pretty obvious. Anyone red-blooded human in the world is going to get slammed with hormones whenever a phenomenally beautiful grabs you and starts purring in your ear. Just thinking about all the times Ryoko has glomped onto him, Tenchi's body was shattered with electric sensations that drove him crazy. He was usually able to get a fairly good grip on the reigns of his manhood, but he was often just rendered helpless by the pirate. Often Tenchi would run thoughts through his head that she just wanted him for the sake of lust...but unfortunately, that tactic failed quite often, because he knew it wasn't true. Sometimes he was thankful that Ayeka was there to pry Ryoko off...although he never liked what happened afterwards. Insult. Insult. Kaboom. Every time, it was the same. Although...sometimes he wished that Ayeka wasn't there. Sometimes he wished he have a chance to see what would happen if he let himself go. He thought to all the times his dad would egg him on about that. He shuddered. And then again...there was Ayeka. It was different when she and him touched. It never happened nearly as much as with Ryoko, but when it did, it was a little different. It felt...warm. Gentle. He felt like he didn't have the right to pervert that eloquence she carried with her wherever she went. It was almost intoxicating the amount of royalty she carried with her. He scratched his head. Back to square one. Ryoko or Ayeka. He was interrupted from his state of introspection when the room he just left shook violently. He smiled and shook his head. Well...it was definitely time to move his thoughts to a safer place that was for sure. Tenchi picked himself off the ground, and brushed off his shirt. He was wearing a casual look-a-like to his normal training gi. He started to walk away from the room when it shook violently yet again. He steadied himself as the floor was shaken, and then he managed to regain his balance. He could hear the emanating sounds from his room. Taunts, laughs, crackling energy, breaking furniture, and the like. Normal sounds in any house that had crazy psychopathic aliens living in it. Tenchi held the railing as he descended down the stairs, and into the kitchen. He smiled as he entered the kitchen. Sasami was there, leaning against the counter, next to a pot of boiling water, reading a magazine. "Hey, Sasami." Tenchi said as he walked into the room. "Oh, hi Tenchi! Are you heading over to the Supermarket now?" Sasami asked as she put her magazine down and smiled at him. "Yeah, I suppose that's what I'm going to do. Is there anything you want before I go?" Tenchi inquired. Sasami looked into the air in thought. "Ummm...well, could you go and ask Washu if she'll be joining us for dinner tonight, Tenchi?" "Yeah, that's no problem. Are Kiyone and Mihoshi coming tonight?" Tenchi asked as he took a drink out of the refrigerator. "No, they have the late shift this week. They won't be over at all this week, I don't think." Sasami said with a hint of disappointment. Tenchi opened the top of the drink and took a sip. "Well that's okay. At least they can still stay here, and keep a job they actually enjoy for once. Well, I'll go check on Washu now." Tenchi walked off over towards the lab. Ah yes, Kiyone and Mihoshi. After the Great War against Kagato and his group, and everyone's names had been cleared, Kiyone and Mihoshi made a startling announcement. They had decided to quit the galaxy police for good. It was all part of Kiyone's plan, the one to permanently lose Mihoshi, but unfortunately, it didn't work. Kiyone had joined the Tokyo police department, deciding that the humiliation she suffered from the GP incident was too much. That, and she hoped the she could still be some sort of law enforcer without Mihoshi. Of course, it backfired right in her face. Mihoshi, when she found out about Kiyone quitting, immediately quit as well and became a police officer in Tokyo, in the exact same precinct as Kiyone. We all pity Kiyone, with all our hearts. Tenchi knocked three times on the closet door. He waited. Nothing. He scratched the back of his head, and then slowly made his way into the room. Washu's lab looked different every time he set foot in it. But one thing about it that never changed. It scared him to death. Tenchi thought about that. He'd been getting scared a lot lately. He paused. He justified his own paranoia. He looked around the room, but no Washu. "Washu? Little Washu? It's me! Tenchi! Are you in here?" He looked around nervously. He heard a voice call to him in the distance. "Yeah, what do ya want?" He could tell she was underneath something, but he dare not ask what. "Umm...Sasami sent me to see if you would be joining us for dinner tonight." He asked, slowly backtracking to the doorway as he did. "Yeah, I suppose. Hey, can you give me a hand over here?" She barked, the sound coming out partially muffled. "Actually Little Washu...I gotta go to the store now. Maybe another time?" By now his hand was fondling the doorknob. He could hear her sigh. "Oh fine. But remember, I'm going to hold you to that." He gulped and nodded, even though he knew she probably couldn't see it. He quickly opened the door and leapt out of it. He closed it, and once again, a smile grazed his lips. He cracked his knuckles. He walked over to the couch where his father's jacket was lying over it. Nobiyuki was home in bed, sick. So Tenchi was required to do all of the outings in his place. Tenchi checked the pockets of his jacket until he came across what he was looking for. He withdrew the keys to the van, and gracefully spun them around his finger as he walked over to the doorway. He put the keys into his pocket, and slipped his shoes on. He reached for the doorway, when he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. He stopped, and turned around to face Ryoko and Ayeka. "Uh...yes? What is it, ladies?" Tenchi asked, trying to suppress his nervousness. Ryoko spoke. "Aren't you forgetting something, Tenchi?" "Well, I don't want you to fight over it. If you want to come that badly, you're both welcome to come along." Tenchi said, feeling that it was the best way out of the situation. "No no. We've worked out a plan. Right, princess?" Ryoko smiled as she nudged Ayeka's arm with her elbow. Ayeka frowned heavily, and then spoke. "Yes Lord Tenchi. May I accompany you to the store?" Tenchi looked puzzled. "Umm...yeah, okay. Is that okay with you, Ryoko?" Ryoko smiled. "Yeah, that's okay. You two enjoy yourselves now, you hear?" She smirked as she headed off into the kitchen. Tenchi was completely bewildered by this, but Ayeka was angry. He could see it. "Well...um...are you coming?" Ayeka snapped out of her angry haze, and scuttled over to him, and took him by his arm, and looked him in the eyes, her eyes shining with an unnatural glow to them. "Oh yes, Lord Tenchi! Let's go!" She pulled him out onto the porch. He stumbled at first, then retained his balance. After walking a ways, Ayeka spoke. "The air is awfully sticky today, isn't it?" He nodded. "Yeah. It's probably going to rain. That'll be good, we haven't gotten any rain in weeks." Tenchi could've sworn he saw Ayeka grow a large smile at his last comment, but he passed it off with a shrug. The two of them made their way to the van. Tenchi opened the door for Ayeka, and then climbed into the driver's seat. "Well...here we go!" Tenchi said as happily as possible, still unable to see why going to the supermarket was such a big deal for the women. ********** "I want you to take a look a this." The tall man threw a document down in front of the man seated in a large, red, leather chair in front of a very large, fancy desk. The man behind it scanned over the document very carefully. "I see. So...who leaked this?" he asked finally. "The Akira branch." The tall man said bluntly, with a raspy voice. "Interesting. I assume..." The taller man cut him off. "Don't worry. They've all met with an unfortunate accident." He chuckled at that last statement. The man behind the desk leaned forward and linked his hands together in front of his face. "You realize what must be done now, Grissom?" The taller man shook his head, and stroked the hilt of the katana rested at his belt. "Oh, I know indeed, sir." Without moving his gaze from Grissom's eyes, he continued. "There must not be any witnesses or collaborators. This is of the highest importance." Grissom smiled sinisterly, and sat down in a chair nest in front of the desk. He rubbed his mouth with his right hand, and chuckled. "I've already dispatched some of my men on it." With that, the man behind the desk smiled. He was about six feet tall, he had short brown hair, and he wore a dark blue business suit, and had dark green eyes. He leaned back into his chair. Grissom was about six foot three, a very sturdy build, and he wore a gray trench coat with a black suit underneath. He had a gold sash across his suit, and a four-foot long sheathed katana at his side. He had spiky black hair that was about 2 inches long. The man looked sinister from head to toe. He wore death as if were a fashion accessory. The man behind the desk took the document, and ran it through a nearby paper shredder. He then took a cigarette from his breast pocket, and put it in his mouth. He opened his drawer. As he rummaged through it, he spoke. "We must find an adequate replacement for the Akira branch, Grissom. They were incompetent indeed, yet without them, the project will fall behind, and I would prefer if were to kept on an accurate schedule." He pulled a lighter from his drawer, and then closed the drawer. He flicked it several times, until the small orange flame erupted from the top. He put the lighter to the end of the cigarette, and lit it. Once it was lit, he extinguished the lighter, and tossed it onto the desk. He then took a few puffs before continuing. "Mr. Arakawa has become very impatient, my friend. I fear that I can't keep him fooled for too much longer...at least at this current stage of the plan." Grissom nodded and smiled. "What of Uematsu?" The man behind the desk removed the cigarette from his mouth. "What of him? He has no idea right now. So we needn't concern ourselves with that." Grissom nodded. "I agree. Do you wish for me to begin to look into replacing the Akira branch, sir?" The man nodded. "It would be appreciated. But I'm more concerned with silencing this mole, first." Grissom smiled as he stood up again, still caressing the hilt of his katana with his thumb. "Like I said, It's all taken care of." ********** Detective Kiyone Mikabi sighed and rubbed her temples as she gazed at the clock on the far side of the small room. "I hate the late shift..." she muttered as she returned her attention to the mountain of papers in front of her. Kiyone and Mihoshi had been in the Tokyo Police department for almost a year now, and they found it to be almost exactly the same as the Galaxy Police...only more primitive. Kiyone took a little while to get used to having an earth made pistol at her side rather than her trusty blaster. Mihoshi obviously expressed no complaints about the job. They were (by some sick joke by the gods of luck) both partners yet again, and this time, it was even worse. For Kiyone, anyway. They had to share the same office. Which basically meant that 24-7-365 Kiyone was in the company of Mihoshi. That thought alone made her want to cry. Fortunately for her, however, working as a Police woman was better for her social life than being a Galaxy Police Detective. Since they spent the majority of the days indoors, the rest of the precinct accompanied them. And since this last month was fairly uneventful, she managed to befriend some of her fellow officers. The two whose office was next to hers in particular. Detectives Katsura Miabi and Iisuka Hyuga. The two of them were often commissioned on the same cases as Kiyone and Mihoshi, so Kiyone always went to them to discuss the case...it was basically the only thing which helped Kiyone restrain herself from killing herself so she could go the gentle refuge from Mihoshi in the great beyond. Kiyone glanced over to Mihoshi, and she was sitting behind her desk, fiddling with an earth style rubix cube. Kiyone rolled her eyes, and then stretched. They just got here, and she was already starting to annoy her. It was just something about Mihoshi that could set her off. Even when she really wasn't doing anything, it still annoyed the hell out of Kiyone. Kiyone was interrupted from her thoughts as someone knocked on the wall. She looked to the doorway to see Katsura standing there. "Oh, what is it, Katsura?" Kiyone said, returning to her normal position. "Well Detective, I've just gotten some information that you might be interested in. Do want to see it?" He held out a mauve colored document. "Yeah, give it here." Kiyone stood up and walked over to Katsura. She took the document from him, and leaned against the wall as she opened it. "What is this?" Katsura crossed his arms, and leaned against the doorframe. "New info. Iisuka just gave it to me. I heard he got it out of some punk they picked up off the street last night. It's...interesting." Kiyone nodded and scanned the document. She tightened her lips as she read over the information. "This is just gang info. We busted these guys last month." Katsura smiled wryly. "Uh huh. That's not all. Check out the bit on what they were busted for." Kiyone looked down to the perpetration section of the document and her eyes widened. There was no way that these kids should have... Katsura chuckled. "See what I mean? This is some pretty big shit, Detective. I heard the Lieutenant is calling us out on it." "I don't understand...why would these kids have class 2 firearms?" Kiyone wondered aloud. Katsura scoffed. "That's why were being called out on it. I heard that when they busted them, they had to call in snipers and everything." Kiyone's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I remember hearing about that. It's pretty amazing how kids who are barely in high school managed to get their hands on some firepower like this, though. They must be funded by someone." Katsura scratched above his eyebrow and nodded. "Yup. Makes you worry about who, though." "What do you mean?" "Well, it's not very often that we make busts on a weapons heist. And when we do, it's usually a well-funded group. But these were just a bunch of stupid punks...there are a lot of gangs like this in Tokyo. Makes you wonder which of 'em are being funded. And why." Katsura said sagely. Kiyone closed the document. "Well, it has been a month. The trail's probably cold by now. Why did the Lieutenant wait so long to call us out on it?" Katsura uncrossed his arms, and stood up. "Damned if I know. All I know is that he wants the four of us moving out to that warehouse in half an hour. And he's been in a pissy mood lately, so we'd better do what he says." Katsura gave a half smile as he left the office. Kiyone stood there for a moment, looking where Katsura had been standing. He was average height, just a little taller than Kiyone, he wore a gray suit and tie with a white shirt, and he wore a well-kept head of short black hair. >From what she had heard, Kiyone knew that he had been a Detective for just over 3 years. It was a nice change of pace to have someone to work with which you could actually count on for once. Kiyone sighed and walked over to the desk and dropped the document onto her ever-growing pile. She looked at Mihoshi who was still struggling to solve the rubix cube, obviously completely unaware of the conversation that had gone on no more than 5 feet from her desk. Kiyone began to grind her teeth as she prepared to go through the long grueling task of attempting to explain the situation to Mihoshi. ********** Ryoko giggled as she passed through the ceiling onto the roof. She could barely maintain her excitement. She sat and watched as the van that had Tenchi and Ayeka in it pulled away from the house and drove off down the road. Ryoko had managed to beat her deal into Ayeka earlier. While there was the unfortunate drawback that Tenchi and Ayeka would end up being alone, she still had the ability to see ahead of that to the time she was going to spend with Tenchi. She giggled at the thought. Ryoko sat smiling, looking out over the lake in her red tank top, blue shorts, and brown jacket combo. She frowned as she looked into the sky as dark gray clouds moved in from the atmosphere. Rain. Of course there would have to be rain for the first time in weeks the day she finally gets an honest date with Tenchi. Ryoko thought to herself, trying her best to remain optimistic about the situation. As Ryoko sat there, looking out over the land, her thoughts went to those of her memories with Tenchi. She sighed, and lay down on the roof, so her hands where behind her head, and she was looking straight up. It seemed that Ryoko had tried every tactic that she knew, and she was still unable to convince Tenchi to choose her. She crumpled her lips together at the thought, as she remembered all the things she'd tried. Outright seduction. It didn't work. Making a world for just him and her. It didn't work. Promising him something important. It didn't work. Pleading with him. It didn't work. This kid was so hard to crack open...every road she tried had a dead end sign on it. There was almost nothing she hadn't tried. Ryoko laughed at herself. It was true. 2 years ago, before she ever met Tenchi, she'd have scoffed at the thought of settling down with some ordinary guy...but now, things were different. Ryoko knew that Tenchi either didn't get how much she felt for him...or he didn't have the guts to act on it. She knew that he wasn't the kind of person to purposely toy with her emotions and manipulate them to his advantage...unlike practically all of the other guys she'd ever met. No, Tenchi was different; there was no doubt about that. Ryoko slowly brought her left hand up to her face, and she stared at it. It was the hand that Tenchi took that one time when they created their own worlds. She stared at it as hard as she could, hoping it would show the answers to how to get Tenchi. She thought that maybe if she acted the way she did then, the time when she held her hand, maybe then he'd actually acknowledge her feelings again. But...how did she act then? How did she manage to get him to care for her? Weak...the ultimate disgrace. A space pirate can't be weak...but then that usual train of thought was stopped by another voice in her head. Ryoko seriously thought about that. Her mouth twitched back and forth as her inner voices dueled over how she should act. She closed her eyes and sighed. This was really irritating. Every day, the same argument. Ryoko's eyes flew open as something fell onto her nose. She brought her hand to her nose, and wiped the small droplet of water off. She sat up, looked at sky, and sighed. "You people really don't like me, do you?" Ryoko said aloud to the sky, angered that nothing ever really seemed to go her way. "Well...no matter how hard you try, you can't keep me from Tenchi!" She spat, proud of her own determination. She stood up, and looked out over the lake once again, with her hands on her hips. ********** As the black van drove down the highway, Tenchi reached to the side of the steering wheel, and twisted the knob at the side. He watched as the windshield wipers came to life, dancing across the glass, wiping away the drops of water which were growing more and more steady against the window with each passing second. He looked over at his passenger for a moment, and noticed that Ayeka's face was rather downcast. He frowned and returned his eyes to the road. "So...uh...how's it going?" Ayeka looked over at Tenchi and smiled. "Why, I am just fine Tenchi. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to come." "Umm...yeah. No problem." "So...did you and Ryoko resolve your indifference?" Ayeka frowned and nodded. "Yes, we did." "That's good." Not much was said between the two of them as they continued to drive to the store. Neither one of them could really think of any topic of discussion, and both of their brains were insulting them...well...you know what I mean. Tenchi's internal conflict subsided as he watched the rain fall harder. He sighed, and clicked the notch up a few slots, allowing the wipers to work at a quicker pace. He looked at the clock. 4:38 PM. They still had twenty minutes until the shop closed. After another 5 minutes of complete silence, it was really starting to bother Tenchi. The sound of the rain falling around them seemed to grow increasingly louder with each second that passed. Tenchi found that the silence was indeed deafening. He looked at the road. He watched as each individual line on the middle road passed. He sighed and shook his head. He looked back over at Ayeka, who was returned to her slightly downcast look. He took one hand off the wheel, and rubbed his mouth as he returned his gaze to the soaking windshield. The patter of the rain was now deafening. Tenchi silently thanked the gods as they finally pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket. ? ********** The way back from the store wasn't any different. Neither of them said anything for quite some time. The discussion in the store was minimal also. This was not only annoying to Tenchi, but Ayeka as well. This was really all Tenchi could stand. He'd make conversation, or die trying. "So, Ayeka?" She seemed startled by his voice. She quickly regained her composure. "Yes, Lord Tenchi?" "Um...how come Ryoko was so willing to let you come along? Did you hurt her or something?" Tenchi asked, while at same time knowing that it probably never came to that. Ayeka shook her head. "Um...no, that's not it. You see...tonight, Ryoko wants to take you on a...date...and I said it was okay if I could...come with you now." Ayeka stammered, having a hard time getting the words out. "Oh, you mean her 'deal'? What, don't I even get a say? This involves me too, you know." Tenchi said, not bothering to hide the frustration in his voice. "Um...yes, I know. I apologize. I suppose...you can talk to Miss Ryoko about that." Ayeka said. The rest of the ride was done in silence, as Ayeka cursed herself for not making discussion, while Tenchi cursed himself for not voicing his own opinions enough so he wouldn't get put in these sort of positions. Tenchi was beginning to get angry at his inner voice, so decided to ignore it entirely. He scratched at the back of his ear. ********** "Wow! Look at you two! You're soaking wet! It must really be coming down out there!" Sasami chimed as she looked at Tenchi and Ayeka as they brought in the groceries and put them on the table. Tenchi sneezed and nodded, wiping some water off his face, and leaving the kitchen. Ayeka began to unpack the groceries from the bag. Sasami looked back and forth between them, puzzled as to their silence. She pondered it for a moment, then shrugged it off, as she went to assist Ayeka. Ryoko floated into the kitchen, and spotted Ayeka. She grinned, and floated next to her. "Hey there, princess." Ayeka squinted at Ryoko as she continued to remove the goods from the bags. "What do YOU want?" Ryoko's grin grew. "Oh nothing, nothing at all. I was wondering...did you keep your end of the bargain? Hmm?" "Of course I did. I told him about it. Now what else do you want? I'm busy. At least help if you've got nothing better to do than just stand around and irritate me." Ayeka growled, still annoyed that she couldn't bring herself to say much on their little trip. Ryoko chuckled. "Oh...am I annoying you? I am so sorry, princess." She giddily floated off, away from Ayeka and towards the door. "I guess you didn't have a good time on your little date, did you?" Ayeka growled as Ryoko laughed and floated up the stairs to Tenchi's room. Sasami's eyes widened. "Wow, Ayeka! You really went on a date with Tenchi? How was it! How was it!" She cheerfully interrogated. "Now, stop that, Sasami. It wasn't a date." Ayeka said as she finished emptying the bags onto the counter. Ayeka wiped her brow of the remaining water droplets, and looked at her hand. Ayeka sighed as she made her way out of the kitchen towards her room, to change into drier clothes. ********** Tenchi pulled off his wet T-shirt, and threw it into the corner of his room. He sighed. He pulled his pants off and threw them onto the shirt, and made his way over to the closet to get clean, and more specifically dry clothes. As he opened the closet door in only his boxers, he stopped as he heard a whistle behind him. He knew exactly what it was, but he turned regardless. "Ryoko...what are you...ah, forget it." He didn't even bother to try arguing with her. He knew it would go in one ear, and right out the other. "That's so sweet of you, Tenchi! Getting all dressed up for our big date tonight?" She sung as she floated over to him, with a very big smile on her face. "Uh, yeah. Listen Ryoko..." "What?" "About this date thing..." "You...don't want to go, is that it?" She stopped and rested on the ground, her smile gone. Tenchi sighed as he pulled on a pair of long pants. "I didn't say that." She looked at him as he got dressed. "Then...what is it?" He put on some deodorant, than slid on a long sleeved shirt. "Well...why didn't you ask me if I wanted to? You just forced me into it." Her head dropped slightly. "I am not forcing you, Tenchi." "What?" She sighed and crossed her arms and looked him in the eyes. "I'm not forcing you to do anything. If you don't want to go, then all you have to do is say so." Tenchi turned his head to the side, and scratched the back of his neck. Yet again, he pulled one of his fantastic 'hurt the girl emotionally without even thinking about it' stunts. Tenchi smiled and walked over to Ryoko, and put a hand on her shoulder. Her faced brightened almost immediately. "No, I want to go Ryoko. I do. We have never really gotten the chance to do anything together alone, so it'll be nice." That was all it took to get the old Ryoko back. She leapt onto his in a crushing embrace. "Oh Tenchi, we'll have the greatest time! You'll see!" Tenchi had lost the ability to talk from being squeezed so hard, so all he could do was nod. And of course...try to control his hormones. After all...here was a beautiful girl who cared for him deeply, and who he cared for, in his room, all alone, grabbing him. It's not easy being a household sex idol. "Alright...let's...go...for...din...ner...Ryoko..." She pulled back and smiled a smile that would make Sasami jealous, and then nodded. "So, where do you want to go tonight, Tenchi?" Tenchi looked over at his window and watched as the rain continued to bombard it, as the sun fell. "Um...somewhere in doors." The two of them began discussing it as they walked down the stairs together, and into the kitchen. The rest of the family, minus Kiyone and Mihoshi, were already seated there. "Hey, you guys! You're late!" Sasami pouted for a moment, then smiled. "So let's eat!" They smiled and sat down. Everyone was pretty much normal, except Nobiyuki, who was in his pajamas and a red robe, still until the effects of a cold. It proved to be a fairly normal dinner...which means it was abnormal for this particular household. Ayeka was particularly silent. Ryoko and Tenchi eventually began to discuss their date to each other...but this couldn't be kept from the perceptive hearing of Nobiyuki. "Hey, you're going on a date?" He asked, in eager anticipation that there was a possibility that Tenchi would be getting some. They nodded. "Well done my son !" Everyone was silent for a moment, then slowly moved a little further away from Nobiyuki. ********** "Just look at this shit! I can't believe that the cleanup crew could be so sloppy!" Iisuka cried as he ran his finger along the ground, through a fine white powder on the floor of the warehouse. Kiyone and Katsura walked over to him. "They left drugs lying there? Just like that? We should tell the Lieutenant about this." Katsura said as he frowned at the spectacle. Iisuka stood. "Any way, other than the stray cocaine and bullet marks from the firefight, there aint a hell of a lot left." Kiyone and Katsura nodded. The three of them had searched the warehouse thoroughly for almost an hour, and they hadn't come across anything out of the ordinary. They had sent Mihoshi off to get them some donuts almost as soon as they arrived, basically because they didn't want her accidentally tampering with possible evidence. Katsura walked around some crates, over to a back wall. He had his hand over his mouth as he looked at them carefully. Iisuka and Kiyone walked over beside him. "What is it?" Iisuka asked his partner. "Huh? Oh, nothing, I guess. I'm just wondering...did our people already check the crates?" Katsura asked. Kiyone blinked. "They should have. I mean, it's a standard procedure." Katsura scratched his nose. "Yeah...but this whole job has been way to sloppy on our part. Maybe they forgot." The three of them nodded collectively then started to open crates. As they suspected, it was normal quilted fabric, what was supposed to be in the crates. They sighed, and closed the lids. Iisuka leaned against the wall, and then immediately jumped back. They whirled around to face him. "What is it?" Kiyone asked. Iisuka tilted his head and walked over to the wall. He blinked, then knocked on the wall. The knocks were very hollow. Far too hollow for supposedly reinforced concrete. They all looked at each other and nodded. Katsura began to walk to the exit. "I'll get the sledge." He left to go to his patrol car. Kiyone walked closer to the wall and rapped on it. It didn't feel like concrete at all. She looked back at Iisuka. He was slightly shorter than Kiyone, and he had shoulder length brown hair that was kept in a pony tail. He wore a light brown trench coat, and a pair of glasses. He had a slight goatee. He was examining the wall closer. Katsura returned with a large sledgehammer. "Okay kids, move out of the way." Kiyone and Iisuka stepped back as Katsura grip on the sledge tightened. He brought the hammer above his head, and brought it down hard on the wall, bludgeoning it with all of his might. As they anticipated, the wall crumbled after one swing. He brought the hammer back again, and smashed it against the wall again. He did this several more times, until he had created a fairly large hole. The three of them walked over and began to peel the debris off the hole. They all gasped collectively when they saw what was under the wall. "Holy shit..." Katsura mumbled, as they looked down on the large pile of guns, drugs and money. "How the fuck did our people miss THIS!?" Something caught Kiyone's eye. It was a small folder. She reached in and pulled it out, dusting the loose cocaine off of it. Iisuka and Katsura saw this and gathered around her as she opened it up. Inside, there were a lot of different papers, all of which were stamped with the same red stamp. They all looked to be official looking requisites. "Well, this proves that someone was backing those bastards." Kiyone mumbled as she leafed through the different articles, which were contracts over guns and drugs between this common street gang and someone else. "Who the hell is this?" Iisuka asked as he pointed at the signature at the bottom of every document. Solomon. It was on all of the papers. The three of them looked puzzled as to who this Solomon person could be...until it all clicked simultaneously with all three of them. Their eyes widened as they looked at each other. "Sweet Jesus..." Katsura whispered. Iisuka shared a similar sentiment. "The Black Dragon Syndicate..." This was indeed a cause for great concern. ********** The hallway before him was large and grandiose. Marble walls, floors, and pillars held up the majesty of the passageway. Rare, expensive paintings and lush red carpet also added to the already overwhelming atmosphere. But none of this was of any concern for Grissom. Grissom marched down the hall, with an unreadable face. Two men were behind in step with the man, wearing the same coat, suit, and sash as he was, plus they both were wearing sunglasses, only instead of carrying a katana as a weapon, they both had large automatic weapons at their sides. Grissom passed underneath the archway that led to the office section of this building. Two guards walked briskly up to him to halt his advances any further. "Hold on there! Who are you?" One of the guards asked, as the two guards noticed the weapons on the three men, and pulled their own pistols out and aimed them at Grissom and his men. They stopped, and Grissom spoke in his lowly, raspy voice. "We are here to see Mr. Arakawa." "Do you have an appointment? You know, it's illegal to walk around carrying weapons like that." The guard said cautiously, starting to seriously fear for his life. Grissom smiled. "We are here in a request made of us by Mr. Arakawa. Why are you interfering?" One guard pulled a clipboard from his side, and checked the list of appointments. "What is your name?" "Grissom." The guard checked the list carefully, making absolutely sure that the name was on it. "Okay, you can go in." Grissom continued to walk towards the offices, but the guards stopped him again. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave your weapons here." Grissom smiled menacingly, and held up a hand. Both of the men behind him quickly held their guns up and pointed them at the guards. There was a long, tense silence before Grissom spoke. "I will be going in now. If they so much as move, blow their god damn heads off." He sneered and chuckled to himself. His two men silently nodded, as Grissom continued down the hallway. The guards were locked in their positions, sweating profusely. Neither of them could reach to their communicators to call for back up, and they could tell that these two were way better shots than they were, so they would be dead before they could even point their guns at them. So they simply stood still as Grissom's men remained locked in place, with their hand held automatics pointed at the guard's heads. Grissom continued to walk silently down the hallway, towards the large office near the end. His face had returned to the expressionless posture that it was prior to the engagement with the guards. Grissom walked with the air of death around him. You could almost smell the blood that his katana had been stained in. He approached the large wooden doorway, and knocked twice, then opened the door. He entered the large office, and then shut the door behind him. The office was round, well carpeted, and had a large desk in the middle, and a large window on the end. Behind the desk sat a skinny man with a thin face, with short black hair slicked back, wearing a black suit. His glasses were thin to match his face. His hands were crossed in front of his face as he stared at Grissom. Grissom smiled and walked over to the desk. The man behind the desk tilted his head towards a chair next to the desk. Grissom took his katana off his belt, and sat down in the well-furnished chair. After a moment of silence, Grissom spoke. "So what is it exactly that you want?" The man behind the desk didn't say anything as he pulled a picture out of his desk and threw it onto Grissom's lap. Grissom picked the picture up and looked at it. A sinister smile crossed his face. "Well...we warned you. You should have taken better precautions." He chuckled. The other man obviously didn't find it very amusing. "Do you know what this means, exactly? This could cost us EVERYTHING! If this gets out, everything is going to go down the fucking toilet!" Grissom smiled again. "What is this 'us' you speak of, exactly?" The man's eyes widened. "You...you wouldn't..." "Wouldn't...what? Double cross you? Don't worry, we never teamed up with a bastard like you in the first place. You've already served your purpose...you sure were easy to manipulate." Grissom laughed out loud. The man's hand started to reach for a gun tucked underneath his desk, as inconspicuously as possible as he spoke. "But...but...the construct...you still need it!" Grissom smiled as he fingered the hilt of his katana. "No...we needed the data. The construct is of absolutely no concern to us. And neither is your station." The man stood and drew his gun on Grissom. Grissom lightly chuckled to himself, and closed his eyes. "You FUCK! You had this all planned from the BEGINNING, didn't you! You and Solomon! You think that the JSSDF can be manipulated by a bunch of CRIMINALS?!!" The man was screaming, in hopes that his guards might overhear and come in. Grissom stood up slowly. "Criminals, you say? Hey now, you're the one who came to us for help, Mr. Arakawa." Arakawa gulped as he pulled the hammer on the pistol back, making sure that the gun was ready to go whenever he needed it to. "So...will you kill me now? Is that the way that novel Japanese dignitaries act? I haven't done anything wrong...and here you go and offend me like this. You should be ashamed." He laughed a cold, evil laugh. Before Arakawa had the chance to even react, Grissom unsheathed his sword, and swung it horizontally at a lightning speed. The sword cut through the air, and then though Arakawa's neck, severing the man's head from his body. The body fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, the neck spewing blood out of the open wound. The head bounced on the floor a foot or two behind the body. Grissom smiled and walked over to Arakawa's body. He bent down and used Arakawa's suit to clean the blood off his sword, before standing and sheathing it. Then, before he turned to leave, he placed the picture on the man's back. As Grissom walked back down the hall, the situation was exactly as he had left it, the two guards still being held up at gun point by Grissom's own men. Grissom walked briskly past the spectacle, towards the door. As he walked by his men, he nodded, and they nodded in return. As Grissom neared the doorway, shots rang out through the hall. ********** "Oh! How about that one!" Tenchi looked over at the place Ryoko was pointing to. "Nah, I don't want to have to pay a meter. If wasn't raining, I'd park farther away, but, you know." The two of them drove around the streets of Tokyo, looking for a good restaurant to eat at. They had driven by almost every possible establishment known to man, except every suggestion Ryoko had, Tenchi found something wrong with it, or vise versa. Finally, after driving around for almost an hour, they came to a collective agreement. "We'll have to walk." They looked at each other and laughed, getting wet wouldn't be so bad, now would it? Tenchi parked near an alleyway, about a block from the restaurant. He slowly turned off the ignition, as he paused to think. Even though they had been looking for something, Tenchi found that making small talk with Ryoko was far easier than had been with Ayeka. He wondered why. "Hey, what is it, Tenchi?" Ryoko was looking at him. He blushed. "Well...I was thinking about earlier today when I was with Ayeka." "Tenchi! This is our date, and your thinking about AYEKA?!" Ryoko said, slapping on a frustrated face. Tenchi suddenly became very frightened. "No no no no no no! It's not like that!" "Then what is it like exactly?!" "I was thinking about how I was having a really hard time talking to her, and how I found it a hell of a lot easier to talk to you." Tenchi quickly said. As on cue, Ryoko threw off her seatbelt, and gave Tenchi an enormous, very, very tight hug. "Oh, that is just the SWEETEST thing!" Tenchi sighed. "Well...let's get going, huh?" Ryoko nodded furiously, and they both disembarked from the van. The rain was coming down very heavily now, so they ran together down the street quickly as they held their hands above their heads, futilely attempting to block out the rain from getting them wet, when all it really did was make their arms wetter. They laughed as they entered the doors of the restaurant, gasping for air, and soaking wet. They looked around, and saw a ton of people also with the same idea, soaking wet, gasping, and wanting to go to the bathroom. They looked at each other and laughed. Since there were about 50 people waiting to be seated, they knew that the two of them would not be getting a table for quite some time. After Tenchi caught his breath he stood up. "I'll...uh, reserve us a table, I suppose. Wait here." He sifted through the mass of bodies towards the front podium, where two flabbergasted girls were struggling to keep track of all the people who were attempting to get into the restaurant. "Um...excuse me?" "Oh, GAWD not another one!" One sighed. "You idiot! You'll get fired!" The other bit back. "Yes sir, how may we help you?" "Uh, I'd like a table for two, non smoking." Tenchi said loudly, trying to talk over the drowning voices of the mass of people behind him. The woman checked through the lists of people. "Um...your table will be ready in 2 hours and twenty minutes sir." "Whoa...that's not until after 9:00!" "Sorry sir, but as you can see..." She gestured to the huge crowd behind him. "So, will you be dining with us tonight, good sir?" Tenchi thought about it for the moment then scratched his cheek. "Yeah sure, why not." "Very good, sir! Your name please?" "Masaki." She gingerly wrote in the name Masaki on the page, while the other woman leaned in. "He's a cute one, isn't he?" She whispered just loud enough so Tenchi could hear. Tenchi blushed as the woman slapped the other one away gently. "Okay, Masaki, Table for two, non smoking. We'll call you when it's ready, sir." She smiled and handed him a number. Number 287. Tenchi took it, and bowed. He then sifted back through the crowd to the doorway where Ryoko was waiting for him. She smiled. "So?" "Well...I got us a table." "How long?" "Ten after Nine." Ryoko's eyebrows raised. Although she'd have to wait, it didn't matter, cause that meant more time with Tenchi. She scanned the room, and saw what she was looking for. "Hey, this way, Tenchi." She took his hand and led him into the bar, which was also packed full of people waiting. The two of them found two barstools side by side, and they sat down. Ryoko ordered some saki, and Tenchi ordered a simple soda. "Hey, come on! This is our date, Tenchi! At least drink a little bit!" Ryoko whined playfully. Tenchi smiled and shook his head. "No way. Someone has to drive home, you know." They sat there for a few minutes in silence, just looking around the room. Then a thought occurred to Tenchi. "Oh boy." "What is it?" "Well...I just realized we're not going to be home until VERY late." "And...?" Tenchi thought about it, and then laughed. "And nothing, I suppose!" They shared a small laugh, and then turned their attentions to their drinks that had just been delivered to them. As Ryoko and Tenchi drank, Tenchi felt the voice return to him yet again. Tenchi looked over at Ryoko who was admiring her drink. "So hey, Ryoko?" She looked back at him and smiled. "Yeah, what is it, Tenchi?" "Um...so, what do you like to do?" Ryoko blinked. "What do mean?" Tenchi scratched the back of his head. "You know...like, do have any hobbies?" Ryoko smiled coyly and leaned closer to Tenchi. "Yup. Do you know what they are, Tenchi?" Tenchi blushed. "Sex and beer, right?" Ryoko laughed. "No no. That's not it." Tenchi blinked this time. "It isn't?" Ryoko blushed this time. "No...Actually, I've never had sex." "I see..." <......I see...............who in God's name is writing your lines, you pinhead?!> "Surprised?" She asked, smiling at him again. Tenchi curled half his face up as he thought. "No...not really. Well, maybe a little, but it's not earth shattering news or anything." "How come your not surprised?" "Why, would you prefer I was?" "That's not what I meant!" "Well...I guess you seem to be a bit...I don't know...purer than you act. Not just about sex." Tenchi said as he voiced his thoughts. Ryoko turned her whole body on the stool to face Tenchi. "Purer? What do you mean by that?" Tenchi took a long gulp from his drink. "Well...don't get me wrong, I know you're tough. And I know you've done some bad stuff before. Hell, you don't become the most wanted criminal in the galaxy for forgetting your electric bill. But...from the time that I've known you...you always showed me that whenever I thought that you never cared, you always proved me wrong." He took another sip. "Always." Ryoko sat there, speechless, holding her saki in her hand, unable to think of any way to respond to that. Tenchi turned to face her now. "C'mon now, don't you start not talking to me, too!" Ryoko shook her head, and put her saki cup down. Then she hugged Tenchi. But this was different. Not one of her possessive glomps, this was a gentle embrace that obviously meant a lot to her, as it was the only way she could respond to what Tenchi had told her. Tenchi was very surprised by this, and at first, he didn't know what to do. After a moment, he smiled and gently embraced her back. She spoke from his shoulder. "Thank you, Tenchi." "For what?" "That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Honest." Tenchi smiled as they pulled out of the embrace, Ryoko's eyes were a bit misty. They looked at each other for a while, then returned to their drinks. ********** "So let me get this straight...you only need to get this thing to the other side, and then it becomes invincible, or close enough?" Washu stared across the board at her opponent. "Yes, Miss Washu, that's all you have to do. But it's not as easy as that." Sasami explained. "Nonsense. How hard can checkers be?" Washu and Sasami played several games, with Sasami miraculously winning every single one of them. Ayeka watched with detatched interest. She repeatedly looked back over at the clock. 9:30 PM. The storm had really started to pick up, and the rain was really pouring down. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for Washu's portable power generator, the lights in the house should have been off, due to electrical disturbances with the power cables leading up the mountain. Washu speculated that a tree must have fallen on a power line. The three girls had been in the living room since dinnertime, playing board games, and talking about this and that. Ayeka was particularly absent during the discussions, and no one really needed to ask why. She stared at the wall with a dejected look all over her face. She looked deep into the wall, in hopes that she would find something that obviously wasn't there...the ability to turn back time. The three of them were jarred from their own thoughts and games by the sound of something slamming against the door. They shared a puzzled look with one another, then all got up and walked over to the front door, and opened it...and all three of them gasped as they saw what was the cause of the noise. Behind the door, standing in the rain, wearing only small tattered rags...was a little girl, no more than 7 years old. She was soaking wet from head to toe, and shivering quite violently. She was just over 4 feet tall, she had shoulder length black hair which was matted to her dirty face, and she had a fairly skinny figure for a girl of her age and size. Not a moment was wasted between the three of them as they quickly ushered her inside and shut the door behind her. Ayeka bent down to her eye level and Washu did the same, as Sasami ran off to find a towel as quickly as her little feet could possibly carry her. Ayeka looked into her eyes. They were...red. That was definitely an uncommon color for an earth child. "What is your name, little girl?" The girl shivered and answered, "T...T...Tomoe..." Sasami returned with a large white towel, and she handed it to Washu. Washu smiled and took the towel from Sasami, and wrapped it around Tomoe, like a mother would to her daughter. "Don't you worry, Tomoe. It's going to be okay now." Washu said in a very gentle voice. Washu looked up to Ayeka. "My lab. Now." Ayeka nodded, as the three girls slowly guided Tomoe into Washu's lab. ********** Ryoko was in heaven. Well...almost. She only needed two more things, which required her to be in heaven, but this was definitely as close as she'd ever gotten to it. (By the way, in case we're STUPID, getting Tenchi to say he loves her is the first, and then screwing his brains out is second. Baka.) Ryoko and Tenchi glided across the dance floor with ease, dancing to a fairly romantic song...let's say, "I think I can hear a Love Song", for those of you who MUST know, (Oh, a note. Well...two notes. First, for those of you who like to write fan fiction, a pointer. Insulting the reader probably isn't a very smart idea, but it's pretty damn fun. And second, I apologize for turning a relatively serious fic into this. Don't worry, this is last retarded part, I swear. So shut up and keep reading, K?) Anyway, the two of them had eaten their meal, after a very long, uneventful, yet fairly compelling and enjoyable wait, and now were dancing together. Ryoko had dreamed of this for a very long time, and she was glad the time had finally come. Tenchi was here. With HER! And he WANTED to! She rested her head on his shoulder in content, as they continued to dance to the unbelievably beautiful and awe inspiring song that just makes you want to cry. (Okay, so there is one more. This one is so that just IN CASE by some fluke of a chance, someone who created Tenchi is reading this, they will be moved by the kind words of some nobody and be inspired to create a new OVA series that is based solely on Ryoko. Yes, I love Ryoko. She is my God. So what, sue me. Unless of course, you are the creator, YOU go and get to work.) As the song started to build, Ryoko pulled Tenchi closer to her. She felt him tense slightly, but he didn't try to pull away. She sighed again. "Tenchi...this is so romantic..." Tenchi couldn't help but smile, because he agreed whole heartedly with her. There was something about the way that they were doing this...it felt so...right. There was no other feeling or thought in his head. His own voice had left him alone, and all he could think about was this moment, being here with Ryoko. Nothing else mattered. The two of them embraced each other a little tighter as the song climaxed neither of them really wanting to let go. Ryoko's dress shimmered in the faint light, making her golden eyes seem like two stars in the night sky. Tenchi stared into those eyes...and he felt himself in them. He suddenly realized what was happening, and he tried to stop it. He fought with his inner demons...but he couldn't win. They continued to stare at each other until the song reached its end. Ryoko put her head on Tenchi's shoulder, and held him close, and whispered in his ear, "I love you, Tenchi." Tenchi smiled, and whispered, "Yeah, I love you too." Ryoko kissed his neck gently and hugged him as tight as she could without hurting him, as tears of joy began to stream down her face. This was it! He said it! Tenchi loves Ryoko! Tenchi loves ME! Ryoko started to laugh lightly into Tenchi's shoulder, and he held her close, smiling all the while. Yes, there was no doubt. It was just so right, that doing otherwise would be wrong. This is what they both wanted. Ryoko pulled back to look into his eyes now that the song was done, tears still in her eyes. "Take me home, Tenchi." He leaned forward and kissed her. The kiss lasted for a long time...it was a slow and sensuous link between two souls who had known each other for a long time, but had just become one. Tenchi pulled back slowly and stared at her eyes again. "C'mon, let's go home." He took her hand, and they left the dance floor, other people admiring what they had just witnessed, and then resuming dancing. Tenchi and Ryoko gathered their belongings, and walked to the front of the restaurant, hand in hand. Tenchi took a look at the clock. 10:45 PM. It wouldn't be until at least 12:30 until they got home, but that was just fine. They stepped outside into the rain again, but neither of them ran, nor attempted to cover themselves in any way. They looked at each other and laughed, as they walked down the street in the pouring rain, hand in hand. They were completely soaked to the bone not even half way to the van, but neither of them could even care whatsoever about that. As they neared the car, they crossed in front of an alleyway, and a man limping in a trench coat bumped Tenchi. "Oh, sorry!" Tenchi said as he moved out of the way. The man didn't respond, and he continued to scuttle quickly down the alleyway. Ryoko frowned on this. "We should follow him, Tenchi." "How come?" "He's hiding something. I could tell by the way he was walking." Ryoko guided Tenchi down the alleyway at a slow pace so the man wouldn't think that they were following him. "Ryoko? Are you sure this is such a good idea? I mean, who cares about it?" Ryoko wasn't listening however. The two of them followed the limping man for another block. Ryoko decided that it wasn't worth it, and was about to turn back and pay attention to more important matters, when something caught her eye. She squinted, and then led Tenchi behind a Dumpster. "Ryoko? What..." Ryoko put a hand over his mouth a pointed to her ear, silently telling him to listen. Three other men wearing black trench coats now surrounded the limping man. The man was shaking...and it certainly wasn't because he was cold. One of the men spoke. "Where is it?" The limp man stuttered, "W...what...where's what?" One of the men walked up behind him and withdrew a shotgun from his trench coat, and he slammed the limp man in the spine with the butt end of the weapon, sending him sprawling onto the ground in pain. The first man to speak walked over and knelt down over the limp man, and turned him over onto his back, and started leafing through his jacket, and found what he was looking for. He withdrew the document from the jacket and put it in front of his face. "Where is what?" he said in a sarcastic tone. He tossed the document behind him to the man with the shotgun, who handed it to the man to his right. The man stuffed the document into his coat. The kneeling man pulled a pistol from his jacket. "Okay smart boy, next question. Who else knows?" The limp man coughed. "N...no one!" The kneeling punched his nose, breaking it, then rammed his pistol into his mouth, cracking a few of his teeth and cutting his tongue. "Don't fuck with me, smart boy. Don't try that line of crap with me, you hear?" The limp man gagged on the barrel which was pressed all the way into his mouth, before coughing out, "I...I...swear!" The kneeling man smiled and said, "Good boy." And then blew the man's neck off. He stood up. Tenchi coughed. The three men turned around, and pointed their weapons at the Dumpster. "WHO"S THERE! COME OUT, RIGHT NOW!" The first man yelled. Tenchi looked at Ryoko, and silently asked with his eyes, "WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!?!?!?!" Ryoko smiled, then stood up and pulled Tenchi with her, and walked out into the open. The men pointed their weapons at the couple. "What the fuck are you doing here?!" Ryoko raised her voices pitch. "Oh, I am so sorry! I really didn't MEAN to overhear you kill that man, honest!" Then she laughed. The first man spit on the ground in disgust. "Smart ass bitch. Kill them!" The third man pulled out an Uzi, and all three men opened fire on the couple. Of course the bullets bounced harmlessly off Ryoko's shield, as Ryoko stood there with her hands on her hips, and a smug look on her face. Tenchi just made sure he was standing behind Ryoko, and he'd let her do all the "negotiations", since he left Tenchiken at home. The men stopped shooting after a few seconds when they realized that their bullets were having absolutely no effect. Ryoko laughed. "Too bad, boys." That's all she said as she charged forward and attacked. Ryoko caught shot gun man off guard with a strong punch to the jaw, breaking it and knocking him out, sending him flying a good 10 feet back. The other two men recovered, and opened fire again, but their bullets still bounced harmlessly off of Ryoko's energy shield she was projecting. She smirked as she brought her powerful fist into the first guy; the guy with the pistol's stomach, knocking him out, and probably causing severe internal bleeding. The guy with the Uzi, seeing that shooting at this freak was obviously not working, decided to change battle tactics. He turned and opened fire on Tenchi, completely catching him off guard. He quickly leapt for cover behind the Dumpster, as he had no way of fighting back...but he didn't get there in complete safety. A stray bullet struck Tenchi in his left thigh, and he cried out in pain as he landed harshly on the cement behind the Dumpster. Ryoko heard Tenchi cry out and quickly turned on the last guy. Her eyes were full of pure rage. She summoned an energy sword. "You know, I was just going to hurt you like your friends, but you just went too far, you bastard!" She started flying towards him as he returned to shooting futilely at her, she drew back her sword, and struck, severing the man's torso. His upper half hit the brick wall behind him in a sickening crunch, while his legs fell trembling to the ground. Ryoko extinguished her weapon, and flew over to Tenchi at full speed. "TENCHI! Are you okay?!" Tenchi gritted his teeth and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just a scratch." Ryoko smiled, and kissed him on the lips, and he quickly returned it, despite the flaming pain in his leg. She pulled back. "Let's go home, Tenchi." ********** No more than 20 minutes later, 2 more men were at the scene. One carried an automatic shotgun inside his trench coat; the other had a katana at his side. Grissom examined the corpse of the limp man, and then of his own guy. He withdrew the document from the tattered remains of his own man, and handed it over to his subordinate. He spit on the man's torso, then walked over to his unconscious underlings, and sneered at them. He turned to his companion. "See to it that they don't wake up. I won't tolerate failure on such a simple mission." The man nodded, and pulled a small, silenced pistol from his pocket, and quickly shot both men in the head, then put the pistol back in his pocket. "What now, Grissom? The police will surely be here momentarily." Grissom nodded, then spoke. "Yes, but we have to figure out who fucked with us first. Otherwise this trip would be almost a complete waste." Grissom stepped behind the Dumpster, when something caught his eye. He kneeled down and looked at it closely, then grinned. He motioned to his subordinate, and he came over. "What is it?" Grissom pointed at the blood on the ground. "Collect all of that. Make sure that none is left behind for the police." "Why? What do we need that for?" Grissom stood and looked at his companion, and grinned again. "That is how we will find out who did this." As he walked from the Dumpster, the thunder crashed fiercely overhead, showing the signs that this was only the beginning of a much larger storm. TO BE CONTINUED ENDING SONG Floods: By Pantera A Dead Issue, don't wrestle with it, deaf ears are sleeping A guilty bliss, so inviting (let me in), nailed to the cross I feel you, relate to you, accuse you Wash away us all, take us with the floods Then throughout the night, they were raped and excecuted Cold Hearted World Your language unheard of, the vast sound of tuning out The rash of negativity is seen one sidedly, burn away the day The nervous, the drifting, the heaving Wash away us all, take us with the floods Then throughout the day, mankind played with grenades Cold Hearted World And at night they might bait the pentagram Extinguishing the sun Wash away man, take him with the floods FLOOD Author's Notes: Well thar she be, gents and lasses! This was pretty fun to write, so I hope you enjoyed it! I know that the intro to Tomoe was really quick, but don't worry; she'll come around. You'll see. After all, I know how much you must be DYING to see what she's like and stuff, aren't you? I know, my writing has that sort of effect on people. Any way, send any comments, whatever they are, be they hi's, bye's suggestions, flames, threats to my family, jury duties, pizza deliveries, viruses, (actually, preferably NOT that last one), or whatever else you want. Feel free to send flames. I'm ready. Go ahead, DO YOUR WORST! Oh yeah, the place to send 'em to this: Bhoffer@home.com What a shitty email address too, huh? Hell, you can flame me for that too if you want. Actually, if you have time to do that, you should be concerning yourself with your studies more. Anyway, see you next chapter!