DISCLAIMER:

This story is based off of the Tenchi Muyo! anime series, produced
by AIC and released by Pioneer Anime America.  All characters
from said series are the property of such.  The characters Hikaru
Moriyata, and any Argelians (which will be discussed in a later
chapter) are the product of the imagination of Dennis Carr, and
belong to same.

The persons and many events in this fanfic are fictitious.  Any
resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any event other
than what has obviously happened, is a coincidence.

Any military or police procedure outlined throughout the fic does
not necessarily depict any real life procedure or scenario.  Any
similarity to real life procedure/scenarios is, again,
coincidental.

(end disclaimer)

Tenchi Muyo!: Unfinished Business

A fanfic by Dennis Carr and Karmin St. Jean

Chapter 1:2 - Arrival

August 31, 1998 at 20:00 PDT
Sierra Peak (About 20 miles southeast of Placentia, and about
4000-5000 feet above sea level)

Save for the various trips off planet - or for that matter, out
of his normal time - that he made, Tenchi Masaki had never been
out of Japan.  It was something that most of his other
housemates, his father exempted, took for granted, for obvious
reasons, but this was quite the achievement for him.

And so, he insisted on an international flight - via
conventional methods.  No space travel, no interdimensional
gates, nothing superlative - just an airplane.

This caused several problems, however.  Several
considerations would have to be made.  The passports would
not be a problem, as Washuu was more than happy to offer her
services.  This was disturbing for Tenchi, to say the least.  It
would have had to be arranged, then, where either Aeka or Ryoko
(or both) would be sedated during the flight to prevent any...ah,
problems, Ryoohki would have to be transported with the luggage
(the idea of which which did not thrill her by any definition),
and Kiyone and Mihoshi, in a bit of going against regulations,
would have to pack their weapons in their luggage.

(It is a regulatory standard that a GP must have at least one
weapon on their person at all times.  Just ask Mihoshi.)

Add to the mix that, sometimes, airline food quality tended to be
equal to that of something that Ryoko would prepare, and it left
the entire household, to say the least, rather apathetic to
the idea.

Eventually, Tenchi gave in, and Ryoohki flew them over.

Since Tanaka was temporally displaced and still adjusting to the
twenty-six year jump, not to mention newly pregnant, it was
recommended that she stay behind. She happily complied, and
Trakal likewise felt it fit to not leave.  After all, this was
his wife we are referring to.

And so it was that a cloaked Ryoohki touched down somewhere
over the Santa Ana Canyon, without causing too much in the way
of a disturbance.  Luckily, nobody saw where they dropped off.

Or maybe it wasn't so lucky.  Where they landed was about 4500
feet above sea level, on a helipad atop Sierra peak, home to
numerous radio towers, a small building containing several bits
and pieces of radio equipment, and for the moment, one Japanese
university exchange student, one cabbit, six offworlders
consisting of a scientist, an ex-pirate, two princesses and two
galaxy police officers, and all of their luggage.

On disembarking, everybody found themselves facing west at the
final remains of a sunset, and a spectacular view of the Los
Angeles Basin.  Directly east of them was another spectacular
view of the Inland Empire, somewhat obscured due to the haze of
moisture that blanketed the area at this time of year.

Aeka was the first to look away, taking advantage of another
"opportunity".

"So," Aeka started, smiling sarcastically at Ryoko, "where's
the house?"

"Hmm?"  Ryoko moved her eyes towards her with a hint of
arrogance, smiling snidely.  "You mean you doubt my ability
to navigate halfway around a planet?  Why, I'm touched you have
such faith in me!"  She pointed in a generally northwesterly
direction.  "You see that huge white light out there?"

Aeka scanned the horizon where she was pointing, and found what
she was looking for - an array of spotlights, strategically
located near a guyed-down tower.  Upon looking a little closer,
one would see an array of oil pumps nearby, one of which the
tower was more or less attached to as to perform maintenance.

"You put us near a spotlight?! RYOKO!"

"Hey, hey, it wasn't there a few weeks ago.  Besides, it looks
temporary."

Aeka, for once, was at a loss for words.  She would have to get
back at her rival later.

Mihoshi, however, was confused - but then this was a normal
thing.  "Ryoko, which light?  There's a whole field of them, but
they're surrounding a park with some strangely shaped fences
surrounding three dirt lots.  I don't see any houses around
there-"

Ryoko turned Mihoshi's head a little to the left and pointed.

"Oh.  That light.  Won't that keep us up though?  I don't do very
well with bright lights shining in my window when I'm trying to
sleep, besides, I mean, don't you find it a bit bizarre that they
put up a condominium complex near such a light?"

Ryoko made a face to herself that was humanly impossible, and
started teleporting the packages that were dumped on the helipad
into the condominium.

---

By American standards, this was a really nice home.  By
Japanese standards, it was like a decent sized house in the
suburbs.  The Masaki house itself was rather large - especially
due to the numerous add-ons that Noboyuki frequently made for one
reason or another.  But nonetheless, to misquote Douglas Adams,
this place was big.  Really big.

The first thing one saw upon entering was a stairwell, leading up
to a loft which had its own bathroom, and possibly the second best
indoor view of the canyon from within the entire complex.  Just
to the left of this was the living room, which, naturally, was
strategically located next to an average sized kitchen with all
standard amenities.

By passing through a hallway, one encountered a "three-quarter-
bath" (a toilet, shower and sink), two regular bedrooms, and a
master bedroom.

Ryoko had bypassed the front door completely, teleported into the
unit with a large box and two pieces of paper, the former which
was deposited into the middle of the living room.  She then
hacked through the alarm system, completely disabling it, and
phased through the wall to leave the contract she was holding
on somebody's doorstep before returning to the mountaintop to
start collecting everybody and their luggage.

---

September 1, 1998 at 12:15 Tokyo time
Masaki residence

It was quiet.  Maybe too quiet, Trakal pondered, as he idly
sipped a cup of tea.  Not that he was complaining though - it was
a good thing to not have to listen to Aeka and Ryoko fight.

As Tenchi was gone, the farms would go to waste if nobody worked
them; so as it stood, somebody was needing to earn a keep around
the house.  So the Draalthi, excluding disguise implements, had
been working the fields for the morning.  At this moment, he was
taking a long deserved break, and momentarily wondered what to do
with the last stash of carrots for the season.  He couldn't stand
the way the things tasted, and besides, Ryoohki was with
everybody else.

Azaka entered briefly and broke the silence, making a comment
about the new mail carrier as he deposited the mail on the table
to the right of the Draalthi, who quietly picked it up with a
folded piece of paper that was laying beneath the stack of the
days deliveries.

After idly reading the intended recipients' names, he came across
the rental contract, neatly folded in such a way as to be filed
or mailed.  Curious, he opened it, and stared at the name of the
landlord in shock. It wasn't possible. That man was dead, killed
by the Argelians a very long time ago. It had to be a trick. He
slammed it down and ran upstairs to pack a few things, disguise
himself, and call a taxi.

"You're leaving?" Tanaka asked, looking hurt.

"I don't want to." Trakal told her, his voice edgy. "I have to.
The others may be in trouble and I have to help them."

Despite the fact that she was going to miss him while he was
away, she smiled at his concern for the others. He was going to
make a wonderful father. "Be careful." She told him. "I'll...
we'll miss you."

"I'll come back as quickly as I can." He replied as he ran
outside to catch the taxi. He turned to Yosho. "Please, take care
of Tanaka for me until I return. Don't let anything happen to
her."

"Hmmm." Yosho nodded, sipping his tea.

"Thanks," Trakal nodded back stepping in the cab.

---

Osaka International Airport, 13:00

Trakal rushed up to the ticket counter and caught his breath.
"Give me a round trip ticket to Los Angeles, California and be
quick about it." he said in a voice that was more urgent than
rude.

The ticketting agent printed out the ticket. "May I see your
passport, please."

"I don't have one." Trakal admitted. "However, this is official
Galaxy Police business and I need to get to Los Angeles." he
added, not fully realizing what he was saying, his words coming
automatically now after ten years on the force. "Look," the
ticketting agent told him. "I don't care if you're from the Space
Marines, unless you have a passport, you cannot leave Japan."

"How would you like me to arrest you for interfering with a
police officer."

"How would you like me to have you booted out of here for
threatening me." She shot back. "Look, I don't have time to play
your little cops and robbers games. I'm a normal busy woman who
works for a living."

"You stand behind a counter harrassing consumers." Trakal
snarled. "I arrest high-level criminals and risk my life on a
regular bases, so don't tell me *you* work."

The airport security officer walked over to them. "What seems to
be the problem."

"He's been threatening me." The agent told him.

"She's refusing to cooperate in a police investigation." Trakal
explained.

"He claims he's with the Galaxy Police." The agent gave the
security officer a look that said she thought Trakal was a bit
out to lunch on that one.

"Perhaps they renamed Interpol?" The SO suggested. He turned to
Trakal. "Do you have your police ID on you?"

Trakal shook his head. "No. I lost it when our headquarters was
blown up."

The SO nodded to the TA. There hadn't been any news about any
Interpol HQ bombings. "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to leave."

"That's what I'm trying to do."

"No, sir. I mean you'll have to go home."

Trakal was getting very frustrated. He looked around, then leaned
in to the security guard and asked. "How much trouble do I have
to cause in order for your to deport me?"

The guard put his gun up to Trakal's head. "If I deport you it's
not going to be to Los Angeles. It'll be to someplace less sunny
and a lot warmer."

"Why don't you go there first?" Trakal shot back.

---

Aug 31, 1998 at 21:15 PDT
Placentia

It was finally the end of the shift, prolonged by some blithering
idiot who decided to hold up a branch of Bank of America.  It was
all he needed to be set into a bad mood, and having him mumble on
the way in from the garage.

"For crying out loud, I was looking forward to a quiet two day
sabbatical in Santa Barbara, but there's this bloody robbery
call at a B of A, I was there for six *hours*, my God, he
killed Kenny, that bastard, gonna lock him up and throw away
the key, and why are there boxes in - oh, they're probably here
and just popped into the unit, waitasec, there's an alarm, oh
yeah, Ryoko, forgot, ah crud, I could go for a Guinness right
now."

Tomorrow, instead of helping to move his new tenants in before
a brief vacation to Santa Barbara, he would be playing bagpipes
for the late Ken McCormick, a new sargeant that had died during
the final shootout.  While they did injure the robber, they lost
a good cop.

His suspicions of his new tenants moving in was confirmed when he
found the lease and rent money left on his doorstep. He picked
this up, walked inside, grabbed a bottle of stout from the
refrigerator, and fell onto the couch, giving off an exhausted
moan.

After sitting for a few minutes, he took a long draw of his beer,
allowing the sour chocolate flavor of it to assault his taste
buds for a moment before swallowing.  He then replaced the bottle
on the coffee table in front of him, and looked at the rental
contract.

And stared at the names.

He turned the contract to its inverse side, and examined the
signatures.

And stared for a full minute, gaping.

*Dear God, Aeka is here.*

He returned the piece of paper to the coffee table, and sat a
moment, reflecting on their last moments together at the space
port.

*Seven hundred years,* he thought, walking to his bedroom, again
with the contract in his hand, recalling everything he remembered
about her.  *I wonder if she's changed much. Hell, I wonder if
she even remembers me.*

After filing away the contract, he sat back down on the sofa, and
simply did nothing for forty minutes, save for the occasional sip
of Guinness stout.

---

Aeka was annoyed to find her belongings simply tossed into the
corridor. She'd put them in her room when she'd first arrived and
now they were sitting out here. And she had a pretty good idea of
how they'd got there.

She walked into the room and was not one bit surprised to find that
it looked like a disaster area. Ryoko never did keep her room very
tidy. Ryoko was watching the TV, which for the moment only got the
local channels, when Aeka stormed in and switched it off.

"Hey! I was watching that."

"I will kindly thank you to remove your garbage from my room."

"Garbage?!" Ryoko's eyes and nostrils both flared. "The only time
there is ever garbage in your room, Princess, is when it's occupied."

"How *DARE* you, Ryoko!" Aeka was furious and it showed. Ryoko
rose to her feet.

"How dare *I*?! *YOU* started this one, Princess." She drew
her hands together, charging her powers.

"*I* started this?!" Aeka challenged. "Don't play innocent with
me, Miss Ryoko!" Sh ebrought her mini-logs into existence, calling
their powers forth. A moment later, the two exploded into a fury of
light and noise, and when it was over, there was very little left
of the contents of the living room.

In the middle of the mess in the room in question, the rather large
pile of junk in the middle began to move as a solitary, forgotten
figure regained consciousness and sat up.

"Ouch." Mihoshi winced, looking around at the mess in her room.

---

Sept. 1, 1998 at 14:15 Tokyo time
Masaki residence

At the Masaki home, Tanaka finished her chores and started lunch.

"Make enough for four." Yosho remarked, going back to sipping his
tea.

Tanaka was confused, since only three of them, herself, Yosho,
and Nobuyuki were left. But she set the table and made enough for
four anyhow.

She was just finishing when the door slammed open and Trakal
stomped in.

"Trakal?" She started to go to him, but Yosho stopped her. "Let
him be. He needs to cool down a bit."

Tanaka nodded. "How did you know he'd be back?" She asked,
thinking back to his suggestion.

"He doesn't have a passport." Yosho smiled.

Tanaka frowned. "But he wanted to protect the others. Now he
can't. He was so worried about them. If he's right about that
landlord...."

"Don't concern yourself," Yosho assured her. "Tenchi called me
when he got in."

"Why didn't I hear the phone ring?"

"He called the Shrine number instead of the house number. He
didn't want to wake you if you were resting."

Trakal walked in, now not wearing his disguise implements. "I
can't believe it." He muttered. "How am I supposed to...."

Yosho handed him a scrap of paper with Tenchi's current phone
number.

Trakal smiled, wanly. He dialed the phone and waited. He was just
about to hang up when a familiar voice answered.

"Hello, Masaki residence. Oh my, you'd think Tenchi and I were
married with me saying that, wouldn't you? I mean it does sound
like that doesn't it? Oh my! (crashing noises and whatnot in the
background.) Please, stop it you two, can't you see I'm on the..
WHOA! (thud) ouch..  Tenchi's resting at the moment, but I can
take a message if you like, would you like me to take a message
I'm very good at-"

"Mihoshi. Is everything all right?"

"Ah yes... everything's fine," Mihoshi replied. "Trakal, is that
you?"

"No, it's the King of Scotland," Trakal shot back, sarcastically.

"Oh! Well, its an honor, your majesty. Hey, Kiyone. The King of
Scotland is calling. Guess what, he sounds just like Trakal."

There was a pause.

"Trakal, what's wrong?" Kiyone's voice came on the line.

Trakal breathed a sigh of relief which Kiyone heard and
sympathized with. "Have you met the landlord yet?"

"Hikaru Moriyata? Aeons ago. If it's really him."

"That's my concern." Trakal nodded, which was reather pointless
since Kiyone couldn't see it. "Kiyone, it may be a trap of some
kind. Please, be careful. And make sure the others aren't hurt."

---

Placentia, 22:25 PDT

"No problem, Trakal," she replied.

There was a brief pause over the phone line.  "Are they fighting
again?"

"Yeah, they've been doing it for the past hour.  Waitasec, Aeka's
walking out the front door." She smiled, looking at the clock on
the microwave.  "Just like clockwork."

---

*I wonder what all that noise is.*

He could now relax.  The coffee maker was set up to go off at its
usual time, his lunch was ready for tomorrow, and the ice pack
was in the freezer.  The now empty Guinness bottle had further
been added to a collection of glass bottles inside a cabinet,
which would be later redeemed for the usual few dollars of
what the locals referred to as "throw-away money".

Hikaru collected a freshly prepared cup of Darjeeling tea from
the kitchen and walked out to the living room computer, where an
active discussion about the Darwin Awards was found on a vaguely
police related IRC channel he regularly participated in.

---

>From outside, Aeka could see a bit of activity in the condo next
door.  She could recognize a PC and the usual furniture, but
having not seen the amp, keyboard or ham radio equipment before,
had no idea what it was.

*I wonder if it's really him.*

She pondered the circumstances a little longer.  First, he said
it *may* be the last time they ever see each other again.
Second, he was the landlord.  It would be improper to not
introduce herself, but at this hour, wouldn't it also be improper
to disturb him at this hour?  It was, after all, after ten at
night here.

Finally, curiousity got the better of her, as she approached the
door.

---

Hikaru finally signed off of the IRC session with a witty
comment, and caught a knock at the door as he stood up.

"At this hour?"  Being a little too tired to really care who it
was, he walked over to the door, peered through the peephole, and
nearly screamed in a mixture of surprise and joy, with a hint of
terror mixed in.

"Oh man, Aeka's here," he mumbled quietly, "Whatisshe wearing,
gotta get the cube- she's wearing sweats and a t-shirt.  Oh
hell, I'll surprise her."  He opened up a space in the nearby
sofa that was otherwise held inconspicuously closed by velcro,
reached in, and pulled out his control cube.  After a series of
twists, a rectangle of light appeared between himself and the
door, and moved towards Moriyata, who stretched his arms out in
front of himself.  The rectangle, in turn, passed over him,
replacing the tank top and shorts he was wearing with an RG
uniform.

---

*I wonder why he's not answering.*

It had been a minute, and from the window, she noticed a bright
light go off from behind the door.  She knocked again.

Almost immediately, the door opened.  "Hmm?"

"Hi, I wa...." She stopped and stared, now not quite sure what to
say.  *Seven hundred years,* she thought, looking at her former
guard, a look of utter shock on her face.  He looked the same as
when she last saw him, but now with a softer expression on his
face, and his hair was now short.

Hikaru, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck, and it was
showing.  While something along the lines of  *Ohmanhisisa
womanIhaventseeninsevenceturieswhatthehelldoI *say*?!* ran
through his head, in two seconds, without really changing facial
expressions, he tugged the collar of his uniform, haphazardly
tossed his cube behind him (where it landed on the floor in such
a way as to cause a single onion to vanish from the
refrigerator) for lack of a better thing to do with it, glanced
at his keyboard, bagpipes, and computer, and broke out into a
cold sweat.  *OK, standard declaration of orders.  Be cool, be
calm, be collected.* He took a slow breath through his nose.

"Lady Aeka of Jurai," he said in fluent Juraian, "at the bequest
of...." *Um, oops.* He looked to his left, a nervous smile on his
face, and continued.  "I, lieutenant I mean *commander* Hikaru
Moriyata am...." *Oh jeez, I'm dying!*

He let off an exasperated sigh.  "Can I just skip the
formalities?"

Aeka laughed, and enthusiastically hugged him.  Hikaru returned
the gesture, a smile on his face that could best be described as
pure joy.

After a minute or two of a mix of tears and laughter, they
separated, and simply looked at each other - and embraced again.
Finally, he pulled back as to look at her.  "So, where you been
for these past seven hundred years, and more importantly, what
are you doing here?"

"Oh, here and there, mostly there, and as for coming here...um,
it would be easier if I just showed you," she finished, smiling.

He followed her across the walkway.  *OK, why not?  Good chance
to meet the new tena-.* He stopped and stared dumbly.

*Oh. My. God.*

Standing in the living room were Mihoshi, who simply returned the
gesture, Kiyone, who dropped a disposable drinking glass and
spilled the water contained therein on the carpet, Sasami, who
had very little memory of the man, and Tenchi, who was just
surprised to see somebody in Juraian clothing.

After a moment of this, Kiyone broke the silence in Japanese.
"Commander?"

He replied without skipping a beat. "Yep."

"You're not dead," Mihoshi observed.

Hikaru lifted up his left wrist, and placed his index and middle
fingers over it, to feel for a pulse.  Satisfied that he had one,
he replied, "Not last I checked."

"Right," Kiyone continued.  "If you're really Moriyata, you would
know something about..." - she thought a moment, shooting for one
that only a GP would know about - "oh, case 97a2."

Mihoshi watched as his eyes narrowed and went left, as Hikaru
went into thought.

After ten seconds, he spoke.  "Case number 8455997a2, also known
as the slave chain case amongst GP.  Case subject involves the
Argelians, or what remains of them, who are known for terrorist
like negotiation tactics for the sole purpose of acquiring
various interplanetary mineral rights.  They think nothing of
taking hostages and executing them to further their means."  He
looked directly at Mihoshi, whose eyes had darkened with the
memory of that recovery.  "Detective, I read your report.
Um...I really don't know how I can express my sympathy."

She smiled sadly.  "It's OK, sir, there's nothing that can be
done now."

"And please, call me Hikaru."

"But sir, regulations state-"

"OK, detective," he said, a slight note of exasperation showing
in his voice, "then it's an order!"

"Miyaa!"

He stopped.  "Was that a cat?"

"Miyaa! Miyaa!" Ryoohki hopped through the hallway, and took her
customary perch atop Sasami, who was now busy unpacking blankets.
Hikaru paused again.  "Normally, I don't allow pets," he said
slowly while closely eyeing the cabbit, "but considering who you
are, I'll make an exception. Besides, whatever it is, it's the
strangest looking animal I've seen on this backwater planet."

"Miyaa?"

Sasami looked up, somewhat exhausted, and smiled brightly, now
recognizing him.  "Hikaru!"

"You know, you were this tall on me last I saw you," he said to
her, holding his hand about three-quarters up his right thigh,
and smiling in return.

"Hikaru, I almost forgot," Aeka interrupted, grabbing his hand
enthusiastically and almost dragging him across the room.
"Tenchi, this is Hikaru Moriyata.  He was my guard sometime after
your grandfaher left the planet.  Hikaru, this is Tenchi Masaki,
the next in line for the throne."

*Grandfather? Throne?* He looked at her, now confused. "This
Earth kid is going to rule Jurai?" he asked, in Juraian.

"Yes."

"What about Yousho?"

She paused.  "I found him," she replied, straight-faced. "He has
no intention of leaving this planet.  But," she continued, still
indicating Tenchi, and once again in Japanese, "this is his
grandson.  He's one-eighth Juraian, so that's enough to get him
in."

"Sure, if the high priests don't tear him apart first," he said,
half-smiling.

Washuu finally emerged from the hallway in her diminuitive
state.  "You're the landlord?"

"Um, yeah." *Two kids?*

Washuu looked him over carefully, then pulled an odd device from
out of nowhere, and scanned him.  When she finished, she smiled.
"I like you.  Would you mind if I ran a few tests on you?"

The expression that hit his face was one that could only be
described as the same expression anyone would be wearing had they
been asked permission by a serial killer to kill them.  After
sputtering for a few seconds, he finally asked one question:
"What?!"

"Don't worry, this-. Wait, I didn't introduce myself." She
stopped briefly. "I'm Washuu, the greatest scientific genius in
the universe!" she exclaimed, setting off a background fanfare
that seemingly came in from nowhere.  Smiling at the background
horns, she took his right hand. "Anyway, this will only
take a few minutes-."

Aeka grabbd him by the left wrist. "Washuu, he's tired, I'm
sure," Aeka said, defending him.

"Um, guys-."

"Oh, but he'll like this, and it'll help me understand Juraian
physiology better!"

He took his hand back from Washuu. "Look, it would be best if I
got to bed."

Ryoko chose this moment to phase back through the roof, and
caught sight of Aeka holding onto Hikaru's wrist.  "Well,
princess, seems like you found yourself a new man.  I guess that
means I get Tenchi all to myself, then!" she said, as she glomped
onto Tenchi.

"Absolutely not, you, you pirate!  Get your hands off of him!"

As they continued to bicker, Hikaru backed off for a moment, and
approached the two officers.  "Are they always like this?"

They nodded solemnly, and he screwed his eyes shut in response.
After ten seconds, he could take no more, so he walked over to
the two women, inserted both small fingers into his mouth, made a
small adjustment, and whistled.

It produced the desired effect.  They abruptly stopped yelling,
winced, and held their ears.  Washuu, meanwhile, had walked back
into her lab.

"Listen," he said, now mildly irritated, "it's late, it's well
after ten, and people are sleeping - or at least trying to.  I
would like to do that myself, and I have to be at a funeral
tomorrow, so can we *please* keep it quiet?"  They nodded.
"Excellent.  I'll probably be back at about two tomorrow
afternoon," he continued, walking towards the door, "so if you
need anything, knock after that time.  G'night."

As he closed the door, Aeka and Ryoko both looked towards him,
bewildered, looked at each other, and looked the other way with a
huff.

Hikaru, meanwhile, had walked back into his living room, to find
Washuu standing there.  "No, I don't want to do any tests," he
sighed.

"That's not what I'm here for," she said, handing him a small
metal cylinder that was about the size of a soldering iron.
"You'll need this."

He looked at the object with a mix of suspicion and curiousity.
"What is it?"

"An energy dissipator.  It's kind of a kludge, but it gets the
job done.  The fights those two tend to be...um, explosive, and
I'm sure you've seen Aeka powered up.  Ryoko's not much
different, but they put out about the same energy signatures when
they go into their `battle modes', if you will.

"Anyway, if they look like they're going to fry each other or
otherwise do some serious damage, twist the top of the object
counterclockwise, throw it somewhere near them, and get behind a
wall.  It converts their energy into static electricity."

He turned the upper half of the object as he was instructed.  As
soon as the object stopped turning, it extended to twice its
length, three arms came out of each end, and a green light lit
up, indicating it was active.  A twist in the opposite direction
reversed this process.

"One more thing," she added, walking off to a door that wasn't
there previously. "If it lets out a long, high-pitched beep, it's
out of charge, and won't have any effect.  The charger stand is
next to your computer.  Good night."  She walked back through the
door, which disappeared as soon as it closed.

Hikaru stood in his living room for a moment, and pondered the
situation.  Six women and one young man, all living next door to
him.  Two were cops.  One was his former charge.  One used to be
a criminal, and apparently wasn't now.  One was a student.  One
was his ex-charge's sister.  And one was a scientist.  And yet
somehow, despite the odd sense of insanity these people
exhibited, they somehow survived living together.

On the other hand, Tenchi didn't seem to enjoy being fawned over
so much.

He dropped the ED into the charger block that Washuu left behind,
and went to bed with one thought on his mind.

*My life just got really complicated all over again.*