The sun peeked over the horizon, painting the mountains of Okayama with a bright, cheery light for anyone awake early enough to see it.
As the sunlight crept stealthily over the sleepy city, errant rays began to creep into one apartment of particular interest. The probing sunlight slid into the apartment, peeling back the dark of night to reveal living quarters. Which were, frankly, a disaster area.
In one corner, a small pile of discarded instant food wrappers was accumulating, torn plastic wrapping waving in the breeze from an open window.
Random objects were strewn about the floor, and a pile of used dishes sat in cool water in the kitchen sink. The crowing touch was a clothesline strung across the room, various unmentionables drying on it.
The morning sun finally came to the inhabitants of the apartment, illuminating two slender bodies with shimmering morning sun.
On the futon to the right, the occupant was curled up on a futon and covered in a thick comforter, the better to ward off the early morning cool, dreaming of black dreams of an endless, promotionless career, saddled with a partner that drove her crazy, and yet she couldn't deny a fondness for.
She tossed slightly, grumbling inarticulately in her sleep.
And that was when her mind was touched, gently. The summons was gentle, but insistent. She went willingly, clearing the way for another.
Thusly, it was a very different person who looked out her eyes at the early morning sunlight...
The other was occupant of the room was also dreaming. Her head rested on a gaily colored pillow, carefully stiched with an oddly cheery looking, blob-like character as carefree smile of one content with her lot in life playing about her gently snoring lips.
So, it may have come as somewhat of a surprise that when the summons touched her as well...she also freely complied. Though the motivation, (To join her best friend) was somewhat different.
So it was, that another stranger, wearing a borrowed body opened her eyes in the tiny, sunsplashed apartment...And saw that she wasn't alone.
In the futon across from her, she could see her companion, a green haired woman, her oddly colored hair tied back for sleep beginning to stir, a tired expression clouding her blue eyes ...
Calendar yawned, feeling a great amount of happiness and contentment. She closed her eyes again, too sleepy and at peace to wake up, and wanting to lounge in her comfortable, fluffy bed some more. But... wait a second. Her... pillow. And where had her mattress gone? Her eyes shot open again. Another person? And where had her pillows gone?
And then with a growing horror, she looked down.
The normal parts... but a completely different body.
"Oh my GOD!"
And promptly shut them again. Turning over and hugging the pillow, CyMage went back to sleep.
Coming semi-awake again ten minutes later, CyMage untangled himself from the comforter and droped his legs over the bed's side. Sitting up in a slouch he stretched a bit and removed a strand of green hair from his eyes.
Blinking twice he moved the strand back and blinked once more as the hand finaly registered on his mind. Shaking his head a couple times, he looked down.
"What the hell?"
Poking the noticable bulges on the chest through the pyjamas, an article of clothing he didn't wear, he came to a conclusion.
"Weird dream."
Falling back onto the bed, he pulled the comforter back on and went back to sleep.
Not ten minutes after CyMage shut his eyes again, a small radio alarm clock off in the corner of the room, near the discarded food wrappers, began to buzz insistently, it's little digital display flashing "7:00."
Calendar heard the alarm buzzing from the bathroom, where she was currently hyperventalating in front of the mirror.
"This... this is not good."
She dunked her head in the bowl of cold water again, hair already wet and straggly. "I cannot be in Mihoshi's body. This has got to be a dream. A dream."
Satisfied, she decided to play along with it. Dreams only lasted until you wake up. She grinned at the rumpled figure who would deal with the shrill alarm (it was rather ear-splitting, wasn't it?), and headed off to find some food. She was unusually hungry today...
Out in the main room, there was a partition wall blocking off the rest of the small kitchen. It had the same 'yielding to chaos' look as the main room.
Through the door of an open cupboard, above the sinkful of dirty dishes, a small assortment of instant foods could be seen.
Nearby, a small refrigerator sat, with a slightly used look, as well as a number of papers sitting atop it, and a calendar held to the door with a strong magnet, open to the month of September...
OOC: If you need more detail on something, walk closer to it, and You'll 'see' it more closely.
Pulling the comforter over the head, CyMage kept on sleeping. The noise from the corner of the room definately wasn't loud enough to wake him.
And he just went to sleep not too long ago.
The clothesline stretched across the middle of the room sagged slightly. It had been overburned the night previously, someone having unwisely soaked a bathtowel and stretched it over the line to dry.
Now, as anyone who has done laundry knows...Wet towels are VERY heavy...and take a long time to dry.
Thusly, after weaking the line all night...the line snapped, and a still-wet bathtowel dropped on Kiyone's comforter, soaking it through.
Feeling cold, CyMage finaly kicked the comforter off and opened his eyes.
Sitting up again, he took a quick look around the room with blurry eyes.
"Ok, this is definately not my bedroom."
Lowering his gaze to look at the chest, he shut his eyes again.
"I'm still a chick."
Taking a few deep breaths a single thought was repeated in his mind. "I will not panic. I will not panic. I will not panic."
Standing up, he looked around for some clothes.
Thanks to the now broken clothesline, clothes of all sorts littered the floor, including several items of feminine underwear.
Over in the corner, away from the kitchen, a small dresser sat, next to an open closet door, which revealed glimpses of brightly colored fabric.
OOC: Same as for Calendar. If you need to see more detail, walk towards whatever you want to look at. If I'm not providing enough anyway, Let me know.
Walking towards the dresser, CyMage rummaged inside of it. Not finding any boxers, he reluctantly pulled out a pair of the plainest panties and a plain bra.
Quickly striping off the pyjamas and the panties that were underneath he put the new panties on. Strugling with the bra, he finaly managed to get it on after a couple minutes of contorting.
Taking a step towards the closet, he peered inside.
A cursory inspection of the closet revealed a few hanging outfits and dresses, though far fewer than one might expect.
On the floor of the closet sat a white box, beside several pairs of shoes, with a distintive uniform cap sitting on the lid.
Pulling out a couple of the most genderless outfits, CyMage held them up to himself, trying to figure out which one was his size. Finally finding one, he put it on.
Grabing a pair of normal running shoes, he slipped them on and looked at the box.
"Ok, where have I seen a cap like that before?"
Moving the cap off the box, he slowly opened it.
Inside the box was a folded uniform, in very distinctive colours, though blue was predominant. Nested in top of the uniform itself, was a gun that looked vaguely toy-like.
A snub-nosed blaster lay casually on top of the folded uniform, it's metal casing gleaming in the morning light...
Moving the blaster aside for now, CyMage pulled the uniform out and blinked.
"A Galaxy Police uniform?"
After thinking for a few moments one possible explanation made itself known.
"Nah! It couldn't be. I don't know much about Tenchi Muyo. I don't even write. There has to be another explanation."
After setting the uniform back down, he took another look at the blaster then slowly made his way to one of the other doors looking for the bathroom.
Calendar stared at the dirty dishes, rubbing her eyes occasionally. She was in a different body, and yet she felt cheerful. And very, very hungry. "I need food!"
Walking to the cupboards, she grabbed a cup of instant ramen, grinning when she was that it was chicken-flavored. "My favorite!"
"But... there's only a stove." She couldn't understand how she was supposed to heat it over the stove if it was in a cup. Then her stomach rumbled. "I'll just wing it, I guess."
Calendar fumbled with the top for a second, then ripped it off and grabbed a pot. Filling it halfway with water, she pulled the uncooked noodles and powdery flavoring out and let it drop into the water, giggling as she was lightly splashed down the front of her pajamas.
After trying to figure out how to turn on the heat, she waited for it to come to a boil. And then she decided to explore the room. She checked out the little table (so cute, the way it was tiny!), and the messy counter (Mihoshi was messy, wasn't she? And Kiyone must've been the bundle still asleep...), and finally her eyes reached the calendar.
"It's September here, too! I guess the time is still the same."
She took a step toward it, wanting to see if anything was written down...
As Mihoshi examined the calendar, she could see literally DOZENS of tiny notes scribbled all over the white grid.
Akie's 3:00- 10:00-This one was crossed out, with a furiously penned addition. "FIRED!"
Yakamura Construction 6:00-12:30 This too, had the word fired beside it, in red ink.
The White Dragon, Silky Doll, Gehrin(Janitor) All had the word 'Fired' beside them in angry red letters. Scattered amongst the job notes were rather ordinary reminders.
Mihoshi! Buy more milk, we're out!Remember to pick up butter, too
Drycleaning pick-up, Tues.
WAKE UP ON TIME, MIHOSHI!!!!
Pay bills, Friday
Each of these were scattered amongst the crossed out job notes. However, two jobs remained, apparently.
A business called 'Nekohanten-Okayama branch' was circled, with a big letter 'M' beside it, and another, 'Ucchan's-Okayama branch' with a big letter 'K' beside it.
According to the calendar, They both started tomorrow.
The current day was circled in and highlighted in red ink.
Masaki house-Lunch and Bath!!
Whoever had written this had been apparently pleased. It was surrounded by little hearts and smiley faces.
As Mihoshi finished examining the calendar, the pot on the stove began to bubble and boil...
As Kiyone investigated the nearest doorway, she found herself staring into a small but neat bathroom, in a japanese style.
The neatness, however, mas marred a small tub of cold water still sitting on the counter, with water droplets splashed liberally in puddles all over the floor.
Looking around the bathroom for the mirror CyMage cursed loudly as he finally saw the reflection.
"OH, SHIT! I AM HER!"
Another realisation quickly arrived after that one.
"I'm Mihoshi's partner!"
Calendar let her finger run over the encircled date, she grimaced lightly. "Masaki House?"
"Oh, great. I'm going to have to pretend to be her. This is going to give me a headache."
She walked over to the stove and turned it off, moving the pot to a cool spot. Rummaging through several cupboards, she found a little bowl and dumped the ramen into it.
All she could find to eat with were chopsticks, but just as she was fumbling around with them, she heard a yell from the back of the apartment.
"OH, SHIT! I AM HER!" This was followed closely by, "I'm Mihoshi's partner!"
She dropped the chopsticks with a clatter, going into a run and staring at the empty bedroom.
"Where...?"
She noticed an open door, remembering it as the bathroom from her early morning slap-session in it. Nudging it open, she stared at the a wealth of green hair.
"Kiyone," she said, really noticing for the first time her voice was Mihoshi's, "but you're not Kiyone, are you? Just like I'm not really Mihoshi."
Turning towards the sound of the voice, CyMage stubled back a bit.
"AH!"
The words finaly reaching him, he blinked.
"Not Mihoshi? So I'm not the only one! Do you know what's going on? Who are you?"
Calendar smiled nervously. "My real name is Jennifer, but everyone calls me Calendar. I have no idea what's going on. All I know is that I woke up in Mihoshi's body, and that somehow I'm an anime character."
And apparently speaking Japanese, she suddenly realized. How had that happened? She knew a few key words and phrases, a basic outline of the grammatical system, but not the language.
"Hey... do you know Japanese? Because we're speaking it."
"Speak Japanese? What... are... you..." And another realisation hit with a force of a ten pound hammer. Going over it for a moment he finaly spoke again. "You're right. And no, I don't speak Japanese. Normaly that is."
Sticking a hand out, he continued. "I'm known as CyMage to a lot of people. Though I guess I should get used to being called Kiyone for at least a while."
Tilting her head a bit to the side, she mussed a bit. "I know someone called Calendar... You wouldn't happen to..."
She blinked. "I know someone named CyMage, too. But that's impossible.." She grinned suddenly. "Cy? You can't be... from Soulriders?"
OOC: Bwahaha! I love Yearbook... I can get online and type!
"Yes, I am."
Rubbing her temples, she continued. "This is too weird. I've never expected to be a SI. Especially into a character I don't know much about."
Droping her hands back to her sides, Kiyone asked. "Isn't this supposed to only happen to authors?"
Calendar sweatdropped. Then she blinked. "H-hey! I actually sweatdropped! That's so neat!"
She grinned at Cy/Kiyone, feeling even better than she had before. "I'm an author... but I don't write SIs, so that doesn't make any sense. Besides, if I was going to write this, I wouldn't be partners with you. No offense, but I don't know you well at all."
She looked around the apartment cautiously. "I wonder what we should do? On the calendar, it says we're supposed to go the Masaki House today."
"None taken. I actually like to be semi-unknown."
Sliping into the main room again, CM noded. "We probably should go. There is one person there at least who could help us. Washuu-chan."
Looking around, he queried his friend. "Anything to eat around here?"
"F-food?" Calendar said, looking a bit shocked. "Oh, no! My ramen!"
She hurried to the kitchen, not paying attention to whether Cy was following her. She found the dropped chopsticks first, having rolled across the room towards the door.
But when she saw her ramen, steam still coming up from the top, she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I thought I would have to make more. Good thing we weren't talking longer." Rubbing the chopsticks against her shirt to get remove any dirt from the floor, she plopped down to eat.
"Hmm... now how do I hold these things again?" She could never quite get it right...
Following Calendar into the kitchen, CM rummaged through the fridge and the cupboard in search of food. Finding another package of ramen, he set about preparing it.
"Did you want to do anything before we go to the shrine?"
She looked down and grinned. "Maybe get dressed, you think?" Then she looked at Cy's clothes with a critical eye and sweatdropped. "Well... you have no style. I'll have to pick out your clothes in the mornings, okay?"
Having said this, she went back to stuffing her face, feeling a bit better. Ramen for breakfast... it was a dream come true!
"No. Absolutely no. I don't care about style right now so you can forget that idea."
Finishing his own ramen, Cy sat down and fumbled a bit with the chopsticks. A few seconds later he got them ready and started eating.
She glared at the other girl/boy for a moment, then shrugged and began eating again. Speaking in between bites, she said, "other than that, I guess not."
She bit her lip and spoke a thought that had occurred to her a while ago. "So... how are we supposed to get there? I think I should know, but I don't. I haven't watched Tenchi in a long while...
OOC: We're about to take that pic I told you about, I think! ^_^ Gotta get off now... I'll be back on in about a half an hour, depending on whether I work at 4 or 5.
Ignoring the glare, he replied to the important part. "I have no idea. I've probably seen less of it then you."
Slurping down a few noodles, he continued. "I hope there is a car of some sort. I should be able to drive it."
"We should take our guns though. I got a bad feeling that something will happen when we get there. Usualy does in this type of fic."
Calendar shot a side glare at Cy. "If anyone, I would be driving. I don't LET anyone drive." She shuddered in remembrance of the horrors of her friends' driving skills. "But anyway, I don't think there's a car." She bit her lip, trying to remember, but shrugged it away.
"But... I have a wierd feeling I should know this... it feels familiar. Too bad I didn't take Pud up on his offer to explain Tenchi to me in detail. He had diagrams and everything. Of course, his warning that he could go on for hours was a bit of a damper."
"Hey! I'm a good driver." CM said mildly offended. "Ok, no car. No worries about their strange road rules. Driving on the left side!"
CM nodded at Calendars reluctance to having TM explained. "And considering how many diffrent alternates there are, it would be long."
Finishing his ramen, Cy stood up and took care of the remains.
She shrugged. "Oh, well. Can't go back and change not having an explanation now."
She stared at her empty bowl for a moment, wishing there were more. She was still a bit hungry. Standing up and setting it beside all the other dishes, she went to go get dressed
Cy might be in a female body, but he still had a male mind. Finaly realising that Mihoshi was still in her sleep wear, he watched as she left and soon followed.
"When you're done dressing we should check on our transportation to the shrine. Don't want to be late."
Calendar flipped off her shirt quickly, going to thumb through the closet when Cy walked in.
"..."
She stared at him for a while in shock, then went back to searching for a good outfit. Finding a blue sundress with clean, crisp lines, she held it up and said, "look good?"
And then without wait for an answer, she pulled it over her head, taking off the thin pants as the dress came down. "Now, to find the right shoes..."
His normal response of 'Looks fine' didn't come out. Instead a "Looks great." slipped out past his lips.
Not even noticing the diffrence, Cy waited for Calendar to get ready. Again, a slightly odd behaviour for him.
Just as Calendar finished, he went back to the closet and grabbed the blaster. Securing it to the belt, he pulled part of the shirt over to conceal it.
She couldn't find any shoes, looking through the closet quickly, then realized they'd be by the door. She decided she'd just grab them when they left, and turned to look at Cy as s/he slipped the blaster into the belt.
"You think we'll need guns? Should I grab one?"
"You never know in these type of stories."
Shifting the blaster a bit to better hide it, Kiyone continued. "The shrine isn't exactly the quietest spot in the universe either. Space pirates, royalty, bounty hunters and a lots of other folks show up there. I got a feeling some unwanted guests might show up there. And unlike some people there, we don't have any powers."
OOC: Cy... why do you keep referring to yourself at Kiyone every other post or so? I'm sure there's a reason behind it, but what is it? Should I call myself Mihoshi sometimes?
IC: Calendar twisted a piece of hair around her finger nervously, picking up the other gun and holding it out from her body. "Great, just great."
She paused, trying to decide where to hide the gun. "How should I--?" Finally, she grabbed one of Kiyone's orange headbands and pulled it up her leg, knotting it around the gun to hold it in place. She straightened her skirt and looked down. "There. You can barely see anything."
OOC: Mostly for variety. Cy, CM, and CyMage do sound a bit weird as names. Though I might stick with Kiyone when writing mostly physical descriptions.
IC:
"Well, that's one way to hide it. Anything else you think needs to be done?"
"Besides figuring out how to get there? No, I'm good."
"Oh, well. I'll take a look around the whole place." CyMage said.
And proceeded to do so. Looking through each of the rooms, pulling out drawers, opening closets, and leafing through papers. The search wasn't very thorough, but enough to hopefuly find anything of interest.
The living room that apparently doubled as their bedroom was a complete disaster area, and turned up nothing of interest, unless one was intrigued by clothing scattered on the floor, or discarded food wrappers.
Similarly, the bathroom turned up nothing out of the ordinary, equipped only with the items one customarily finds in a lavatory.
The kitchen on the other hand, yielded a folded map sitting on the fridge, atop a pile of other papers, which looked to be bills, with an odd looking device, similar to a wristwatch, with a black wristband and an entirely metallic face, without a display, simply a thin seam dividing the face lying carelessly on top of the map.
Pulling down both the map and the device, Kiyone set the map on the counter and looked at the 'watch'. She looked for any visible button and any way to open the face.
Calendar followed Cy around aimlessly, bored already with the new environment. If there was no computer, books or anime, she wouldn't be interested.
Even the watches were boring, it seemed.
The watch was unmarred by a large amount of dials or buttons, save for a single, unobtrusive one off to the side of it's face.
Figuring the odds of it being an explosive device were slim, Cy pushed the button.
The device beeped, and the seam slid open to reveal a small lens, which promptly flared. A circular holographic display shimmered to life roughly an inch above the device, and indicators on it wavered for a moment, and began to steady themselves.
According to the display, they were on Earth, Land mass Japan. It also informed Kiyone that they were in a medium sized population center, the temperature was average, the time was 7:52 am, there were unusual energy readings to the north of the city, and that there was a deactivated transponder nearby.
Sticking the map in a pocket, Kiyone followed the directions to the transponder.
Arriving in front of the closet, she pulled the doors open.
The beeping grew slightly more constant, and the arrows on the indicator pointed straight forward and the closet wall.
Though nothing was between Kiyone and the wall save for the white box with the Galaxy Police Uniform in it...
Moving the box to the side and noting that the arrows adjusted themselves to keep pointing to it, Kiyone sighed. "Ok, lets see what's there."
And with that she opened the box.
The uniform and hat were still there as she had left them...but the corner was curled up and a hint of black could be seen beneath the folded uniform.
Removing the uniform from the box and casually droping it to the side, she looked back in to see what was left inside.
Calendar, still following Cy aimlessly because she didn't like being alone at the moment, immediately took interest in the black thing under the uniform as he removed it.
"What is that? More uniforms?" Thinking it was some black cloth, she reached in to pick it up without taking a close look.
Mihoshi's questing fingers closed around a second watchstrap, pulling it into view. It was a twin of the one Kiyone held in her hand, only deactivated at the moment, and looking in slightly better condition.
"Might as well see if it works too. There should be a button on the side of the face."
She pushed the button, waiting to see if the same thing would happen.
The seam opened, revealing an identical lens, and a similar holographic display formed above the transponder, giving all the details that the one Kiyone was holding did.
There was a as the gauges and dials settled back to normal, the locator screen identical to the one they had used to find the second transponder flashed a message.
GP Transponder detected and active. Hold switch to connect.
Mihoshi stared at the screen for a second, then held it out for her partner to see.
"What do you think? Should I hold the switch?"
Kiyone shrugged after reading the message.
"Sure, why not? I don't think anything bad will happen to us if you do, and it might shed some light on what's going on."
Shrugging, Calendar pressed the switch and held it down.
Mihoshi's transponder beeped once, and suddenly filled the display with an image of Kiyone.
Kiyone's transponder in turn, beeped as well.
Transponder connection established. Open a channel?
Kiyone blinked and pressed the button on her own 'watch' holding it in.
A similar image of Mihoshi appeared in Kiyone's display, with minute movements that matched Mihoshi's.
Mihoshi grinned at the picture of Kiyone on her screen. "This is so cool! Cy, do you have a picture of me on your watch? There's a little you on mine!"
This comment brought something to her attention, though. "Cy, I know I look like Mihoshi right now, but if you call me by her name, I'll have to hurt you, okay?"
Looking up at Mihoshi, Kiyone smiled. "Yes. I guess these are communicators of some sort."
Blinking a couple times at the request, she shrugged. "No problem. I would rather not be called Kiyone either. I just hope we don't have to pretend to be them."
Looking back at the watch, Kiyone searched for any other 'functions' aviable.
Calendar grimaced. Pretend to be Mihoshi? "But... we're going to have to, y'know. Because how else are we supposed to act in front of the Masaki's and everyone else?"
"We might be able to get help from them if we tell them straight away. They probably wouldn't be too surprised."
Saying that, Cy returned to examining the watch.
Calendar frowned. She had thought about telling them, but figured no one would believe her. But... Cy might be right. They were in Tenchi's world, right? Why wouldn't they be believed?
"I guess... you're right."
Grinning a bit, Cy nodded. "Scary isn't it? But it does happen from time to time."
She snickered. "I suppose it had to happen sometime."
After fussing with the watch-thing for a few minutes and being continually amused by the minute movements of the Kiyone-lookalike, she abruptly stood up and said brightly, "so! How do we get there?"
Ah, it was just like being at home. Play with the little toys and get back to business. Plus, it was fun to watch the reactions.
Giving up on the watch for now, Cy pulled out the map again. Looking for a reasonably clear spot on the floor he spread it and studied it.
"Let's hope the places are marked. Otherwise it's going to be almost useless."
"So... if we find it, how will we get there? Take the subway?"
The map itself was nearly incomprehensible. It would have taken then quite awhile to find the shrine...that is, if it's location hadn't been circled with a red pen, and the words. 'It's RIGHT HERE, MIHOSHI!' been scribbled on the map in a frustrated looking hand....
Fortunately, the map also displayed train routes, and there was a depot quite near the forested area where the shrine was.
On the other hand, when dealing with rural areas, 'Close' is a relative term...
Cy felt the beginings of a sweatdrop as he looked at the circled location.
"Mihoshi's strange luck is working for us it seems."
Taking a look at the map's scale, Cy tried to estimate the distance from the depot to the shrine. Then looked for any signs of a bus route. No matter how fit the new body might be, he still hated walking far.
Mihoshi looked at the map in silence. "I know this may sound obvious, but... do we have any money? Mihoshi and Kiyone are POOR."
Kiyone blinked. "They are? I guess whatever currency they get paid in at Galaxy Police doesn't have much value in Earth money."
Looking back at the map, she continued. "But it should be safe to assume that they have some sort of subway pass or enough money to get there. Otherwise they couldn't go at all."
She stared at the map, not feeling any anger at the furious words written there. That was weird. She felt like she should be angry, seeing as she looked like Mihoshi, but...
That was odd...
She shook her head. Must be her imagination. "Probably. But we'd better go look for them..." She giggled a little. "You've got to be right. They have to have some way to get there."
Cy nodded.
Thinking for a few moments, he stated. "Well, there might be another way to get there. I'm just not sure if we can make use of it."
This was really curious.
"What do you mean?"
A small grin could be seen as Kiyone asked. "How do you feel about taking a ride in a cabbit?"
"In.. a cabbit?"
Ryo-oh-ki!
"That's so neat! Except... we don't know the Masaki's number... do we?"
"I think it's probably around somewhere. If not, we can always use a phone book."
"That would make sense..."
Cy smirked as he stood up. "Common sense is so cool, isn't it?"
Heading back towards the kitchen he continued. "I'll take a look here first."
Once inside, first spot to be searched was the front of the fridge. One of the most commonly used places to keep notes and reminders.
While Kiyone looked on the fridge, Mihoshi headed for the phone to see if the phone book was near it. Calendar's family kept it in a drawer beside the stove, but she knew other people kept it by their phone.
Mihoshi's search of the area revealed the fact that there was apparently no phone in the apartment...wait...there was a cord coming out from under the pile of discarded food wrappers....
Kiyone's search turned up a business card with the name of an architectural firm on it, embossed with the name Noboyuki Masaki, and a second phone number written on the back.
Mihoshi swept her hand through the food wrappers, pulling on the cord. They sure were messy...
"Ok, this might work."
Taking a quick look for the phone and not seeing it, Cy looked for Calendar.
"You didn't see the phone anywhere, did you?"
"Here it is!" she yelled, pulling out the phone and holding it aloft. "Did you find the number?"
Nodding, Cy reached for the phone. "Yes. Two actually. One for Noboyuki's work, and another one."
Taking the phone, he began dialing the number on the back of the card.
After she had completed dialing the number, Kiyone heard the phone ring three times followed by a sudden cheerful voice of someone who sounded very young.
"Hello, Masaki residence!"
"Oh, hello. It's C... Kiyone. Could I talk to Ryoko, please?"
"Oh! Ohayo, Kiyone-san! I haven't seen Ryoko-Ooh, Wait."
There were the sounds of a conversation near the phone, and suddenly a much older woman's voice came on, low and husky in a way that made her sound as though she was teasing...
"Yeah? What do you want?"
Grimacing a bit at the tone, Cy replied. "Hello, Ryoko-san. It seems Mihoshi and I will have problems getting to the shrine today. You wouldn't know of any way we could get there, would you?"
The disbelief in Ryoko's voice was clearly audible. "You sure have guts, Detective. Asking me for favors after the way you tried to haul me off in chains when you got here...."
Another voice could be heard, off to the side, this one male, speaking in a clear, reedy tenor with a persuasive tone, in words that Kiyone couldn't make. The first voice joined in, and Kiyone heard an audible sigh, and a muffled, "Okay, Tenchi," from Ryoko. Then her voice came back over the phone, addressing Kiyone.
"All right, All right. Anyone who puts up with Mihoshi all the time deserves a break once in awhile, I guess. But you tell that airhead to keep her hands to herself, alright? I don't need her getting Ryo-Ohki drunk again..."
A faint, indignant "Miya!" Could be heard in the background...
Mihoshi twitched, hearing the line vaguely from her close spot next to Kiyone. "She... did not... just say... that."
She steamed quietly to herself after that comment. Ryoko would pay... somehow... she would pay...
"Let us forget about that misunderstanding. It's in the past, and it should be left there."
Smirking a bit, Kiyone continued. "I don't think there will be any problems this time."
Ryoko snorted. "Whatever. You're responsible for her, understand?" Her tone was firm, and left no room for argument.
Calendar twitched again. "Responsible, my ass..."
Winking at Calendar, Cy agreed to the terms. "Very well, I understand. When can we expect you?"
Ryoko's tone was distracted now, and the sounds of a TV came through the phone line.
"Right after the soaps...Sasami'll remind me."
Kiyone's voice was cheerful "Thank you, Ryoko-san. Could I speak to Sasami for a moment?"
Ryoko didn't reply, but there was a momentary lull over the line, and suddenly, the voice of the young girl that had answered the phone came back on.
"Hello?" She asked curiously.
"Hi Sasami. Could you do me a small favour and make sure Ryoko picks Mihoshi and I after her soaps are done? I would appreciate it very much."
Mihoshi couldn't stop the snort of laughter that bubbled up, and a few seconds later she was rolling on the floor in hysterics.
"Ha! Take that, Ryoko!"
Sasami giggled. "Okay, Kiyone-san. I'll tell Oneesan not to delay her. You're coming before lunch now, right?"
Kiyone chuckled a bit. "Thank you, Sasami. And yes, we are coming before lunch."
Mihoshi stomach grumbled quietly at the thought of food. "That's odd... I just ate," she mused.
"Ah, must just be that I didn't eat enough."
The smile in Sasami's voice was nearly visible. "Ha~i. Tell Mihoshi I'm making extra big portions, so she can eat as much as she likes this time...Eek! The miso is boiling over!"
Her voice was hurried and apologetic. "Sorry, Kiyone-san, I've got to go, I'll see you at lunch...Bye!"
With a click, the line went dead...
Hanging up the phone, Kiyone smiled at Calendar. "Ok, we got a ride guaranteed. And lunch too. All we have to do is wait."
Looking around the place again, she continued. "I'm gonna find something to do while we wait." And did so.
Calendar smiled, but looked a little lost. "O-okay. Umm..."
She sat in the same place for a moment, feeling a little bit uncomfortable. There wasn't a computer for her to get on, or a book to read, so... She shook her head and decided to go back to sleep. As usual, it sounded like a good idea, so she headed to the comfort of pillows and blankets, hoping the rest wouldn't wrinkle her clothes too badly.
Kiyone, while prowling the apartment came across two items of interest on the closet shelf. One was a small television, and the other was a small white box, which upon opening, she discovered full of manga...
Mihoshi, for her part, has no difficulty in falling right back asleep...
Kiyone looked through the box for any manga of interest. Yes, it would feel weird reading them in actual Japanese, but what the hell.
The TV was saved for last resort. Something larger was needed to enjoy anime properly.
Kiyone's rummaging through the box turned up several familiar manga titles, such as Ranma, Inu-Yasha and Oh My Goddess.
Some rather obscure one were turned up as well, like Galaxy Angels, Iketeru Futari, and Kasemakase Tsukikage Ran.
On the inside of each cover, she noted that Mihoshi's name was scrawled in sloppy kanji, surrounded by little hearts...
Kiyone looked at and then set aside the Ranma manga. Might be fun to read it in the original language and see what was changed, but for now something new would be useful.
With that the Galaxy Angels and Tsukikage Ran mangas were taken in hand as Kiyone headed to find a comfy chair.
Cy blinked twice as a small detail was recalled.
Quickly making his way to the box of manga, he pulled out one of the Ranma volumes and looked at the front cover. And there it was. Instead of Rumiko Takahashi it was by Nabiki Tendo.
"Ok, this is strange. We're not just stuck in Tenchi-verse. Ranma is here too."
Almost as that thought was finished a new one arrived.
"Spring of Drowned Man! I'll see about getting to it after we visit the Masakis"
With that, Cy returned to the other manga.
Mihoshi mumbled something about cuteness in her sleep, then rolled over and sighed into the pillow.
Roughly an hour and a half later, there was a loud, insistent banging on the door to the apartment, and an annoyed voice could be heard.
"I'm not standing out here forever, you two!"
Mihoshi woke up with a start, then groaned and buried her head in the pillow. After a few seconds, she got up and hoped her hair wasn't too mussed as she headed out to placate Ryouko.
OOC: I have a sore throat. Is placate even a word? O_o
Marking the page, Kiyone put the manga away and made her way to the front door.
OOC: Yes it is... ^^
The front door of the apartment was opened to reveal Ryoko, clad in an elven looking dress with her arms crossed under her breasts, looking annoyed.
"You know, you guys asked for the ride...you could have at least been waiting when I got here," She pointed out.
At her feet, a previously unnoticed Ryo-Ohki spoke up.
"Mya!"
Ryoko looked down at her, rolling her eyes. "Right, right." She turned to Mihoshi and Kiyone. "So, ready to go?"
Calendar nodded quickly, a bit grumpy about having been woken up from her sleep. Then her eyes lit upon Ryo-ohki, and knelt down with a squeal.
"So cute!" She said excitedly, and reached out to rub behind the cabbit's ears.
"Sorry, got distracted. Can you give us a sec? I need to grab a change of clothes for spring."
Cy waved Ryoko in. "Did you want to sit down for a moment while you wait? It shouldn't take long."
"Ack!" Calendar stood up quickly, leaving the cabbit. "Clothes!"
She grabbed Kiyone before the other girl could move. "You stay here. I'll grab some."
With that, she pattered off to the bedroom to grab two pairs of clothes.
Ryoko stepped inside, blinking slightly at Mihoshi's receding back.
"She seems...different." Ryoko commented to Kiyone, blinking again. "You finally brain her with a frying pan or something?"
Ryo-ohki spoke up, chiding Ryoko with a disapproving "Mya!"
"What?" Ryoko asked the cabbit. "I would."
"No, she just woke up like this today." was all Cy said.
Turning to where Calendar left, he raised his voice. "Don't forget our bath things!"
Calendar ran into the bedroom and stood in front of the closet for a second. There was no way Cy would wear a dress. So... Pants it was. She grabbed a pair of sleek black pants and a plain, modest red top. Red would go with her hair well enough, seeing as red and green were complimentary...
Cy's yell distracted her for a moment, but she finally yelled back an okay.
For herself, she grabbed a short khaki-colored skirt and a dark blue low-cut shirt. Other than grabbing some nicer shoes for Cy, and some nicer underthings, she was done. Rummaging though the closet, she found a bag of sorts, sticking the clothes in and heading to the bathroom. She looked around for a second, then shrugged and started grabbing some soap, shampoo, cloths and two towels. Sticking them in the bag also, she went back out to her friend and Ryouko.
Ryoko examined Mihoshi carefully as she rejoined them, and odd look in her eye as she did so.
Finally, she seemed to mentally shrug, smirking at Mihoshi. "You ready now?" asked the cyan haired woman, a hint of laughter in her voice.
Calendar suppressed an urge to strangle Ryoko. Not only would it get her killed, but it wasn't like Mihoshi didn't deserve the smirk. Unfortunately, she wasn't Mihoshi, and she despised that smirk. Her fists clenched, and Calendar looked at Cy with a sharp glare. If she even THOUGHT of laughing...
Smiling innocently at Calendar's glare, Cy waited for her anwer. He was ready as he would ever be.
Calendar smiled innocently, a bit of steel hidden beneath her smile. "Oh, sure, Ryoko, we're ready."
Ryoko blinked a bit, momentarily put off by Mihoshi's manner, but resumed chuckling a moment later.
She turned and headed to the apartment door, still snickering. "For someone so worried about clothes, you sure look like you slept in that dress, Mihoshi..." the cyan haired woman observed, glancing pointedly at the disheveled sundress Mihoshi wore...
Calendar gritted her teeth. "Oh, thank you, Ryoko. I was just thinking how lovely you were looking, too," she said darkly. "Your hair sticks out so... delightfully, as usual. Did you brush it this morning?"
She stole a glance at Cy to make sure she wasn't still laughing
Ryoko blinked again in surprise, and grinned slowly. As she continued to the front door, she looked over her shoulder and smiled sweetly, letting her fangs show.
"Why yes, detective, I did." She said, grinning. She glanced at Mihoshi's hair, slightly matted from her pillow. "Did you?"
"Well, no. But then, when I get around to brushing mine, it'll actually look good," Calendar said in a soft voice, trying not to sound offensive. Baiting Ryoko was fun, but it was also pretty dangerous.
Ryoko's amber eyes glittered slightly, as her amusement over Mihoshi's change in attitude vanished.
The grin was still present, however, and she thought a moment, as though weighing her options.
Finally, she simply shrugged as she opened the door. "According to who, exactly?" she asked, the smirk returning.
Calendar paused a for a second. "Well... I'm sure Tenchi wouldn't agree with me. But, what do I know?"
With that, she grabbed her silent partner and picked up Ryo-ohki, heading out to let the cabbit turn into a ship so she could get a nice, long bath.
Cy just let Calendar pull her for now as he internaly snickered at Ryoko's expression.
Ryoko stepped out in front of Mihoshi, and headed to the roof of the apartment. She stopped briefly in front of Mihoshi to glance down at the cabbit and murmur something under her breath.
Ryo-Ohki rolled her eyes. "Mya." she responded exasperatedly.
Ryoko frowned. "Just do it, or no carrots for a week." she responded.
Ryo-Ohki 'mya'd weakly and nodded.
"Well, c'mon, you two." Ryoko said boredly. Without looking back, Ryoko headed up to roof, floating up to and passing directly through the overhanging shelter on the walkway.
Kiyone dissengaged herself from Mihoshi and looked around. Seeing that they were on the upper level and there wasn't a convienent way up right there, she started heading towards the stairs down.
"Hopefully there is a way up on the side or behind." grumbled Kiyone.
Mihoshi followed behind Kiyone quietly, feeling the sleepiness from her nap come back.
"Ahh... d'ya think we'll find a way up?"
"There should be one somewhere around." shrugged Kiyone.
As she made it to the end of the walkway, she looked over the railing to the side of the building.
As Kiyone stopped, she could see that the railing near the end was hinged in a makeshift gate, and led out onto a fairly rickety looking fire escape, that led out onto the roof, as well as descending to the ground.
Mihoshi smiled brightly at Kiyone. "You first!"
Cy shrugged and opened the gate. Then taking a step forward he tested the fire escape.
The fire escape made a loud rattle as Kiyone stepped onto it, but otherwise held.
Biting her lip, Kiyone started heading up, taking easy light steps.
Despite the slightly rickety look of the fire escape, it was apparently quite durable, and Kiyone had no trouble going up the steps.
Mihoshi looked at the railing doubtfully. "Should I wait till you're already up to follow, or should I just go now?"
"Maybe just wait until I'm half way up, then follow." Kiyone replied without turning back and continued on her way to meet a certain annoying space pirate.
"Kay," Mihoshi yelled back, then sighed and leaned against the wall to wait as she kept a close eye on her partner.
Ryoko waited on the roof, sitting idly on a small equipment shed, dangling her feet.
Finaly making it to the roof, Cy looked around, before making his way towards Ryoko.
Mihoshi blinked. "Um... you're fast."
Sighing, she stepped out on the fire escape, and started climbing up rapidly. "Thank god for gymnastics," she muttered as she stared up at the top as she climbed.
She HATED heights.
Ryoko hopped off of the shed and floated to the ground in front of Kiyone.
"Took you long enough. Where's Mihoshi?"
Mihoshi climbed over the edge, holding onto the railing as she heard Ryoko's question. Stepping up on the solid ground, she felt more out of place than before. Climbing felt safer than being on a flat surface high above the ground.
She stood up slowly, and headed over to Cy and Ryoko. "Here I am, and believe me, I'm ready to go."
Ryoko nodded, and held out her hands.
Ryo-Ohki hopped over cheerfully from behind Mihoshi, and into Ryoko's outstretched hands. Ryoko looked down at the little animal briefly.
"Remember what Tenchi told us, okay?"
Ryo-Ohki nodded. "Mya!"
"Right! GO!" With that, she tossed the little cabbit into the air.
Where it began to grow.
And grow.
And grow. By the time it finished, the tiny animal had become a gleaming, crystalline ship, larger even than the apartment building. Ryoko took Kiyone and Mihoshi by the hands, and they all shimmered once as a sense of dislocation overtook them...
And they reappeared in a spacious dome, with a 360 degree view of the area they'd just left.
"Okay, Ryo-Ohki!" Ryoko told the air casually, "Take us home!"
And with that, the landscape began to move....
Kiyone enjoyed the sights. It has been a while since she flew.
Mihoshi stood rigidly, trying not to pay attention to the sense of being so high up. She hated heights...
Although it was a bit of a rush. So she settled down and watched the ground flash by.
Within a startlingly short period of time, the ride ended ove a clearing below them. Ryoko took them forcibly by the hand again, and the peculiar sensation of teleporting overcame them...
And, suddenly, they were standing on a dock on a forest lake. The dock itself was attached to a deck on a very tasteful, attractive split level house. There was a small thump behind them, as Ryo-Ohki dropped to the deck, and bounded toward the house. Ryoko let go of her two passengers, and followed the cabbit...
Kyione managed a quick, "Thank you, Ryoko-san." before said woman got too far away.
Turning towards Mihoshi, she queried. "Did you want some help with the bag?"
"Nah, I can carry them. The bags are actually pretty light."
Calendar looked at Cy as Ryoko headed to the house. "Well, what are we going to say? Should we tell them straight off that we're not Mihoshi and Kiyone, or wait until they notice something strange about us? I want to tell them right off because I can't stand the idea of being thought of as Mihoshi, but I'll go along with whatever you think."
She wasn't much of a leader, really. Not for anything like this. Besides, she trusted Cy to make a better decision than herself. For some reason, she trusted Cy to be the leader in their situation.
Ryoko waved absently, giving Kiyone a strange look over her shoulder as she went into the house. She shook her head briefly and continued on inside...
The door she entered through was a glass scree, and through it, a purple-haired girl could be seen, cleaning...
"Well, we got a little bit of time before lunch starts. I was thinking about asking Yosho and Washu for a little discussion in private. " Thinking for a moment, Cy added "Maybe even include Tenchi. Then we can tell them what's going on."
Giving Calendar a smile, he asked. "So, think we can pull it off untill then?"
Calendar shrugged her shoulders and smiled back. "Okay, if you say so."
She hefted the bag up, and gave Cy a lopsided grin. "Well, let's get this over with." She turned and headed to the house.
Nodding to himself, Cy followed. As they approached the house, he looked through the door inside.
Inside the house, a purple haired girl, facing away from them was busily dusting the living room, her long hair in a fairly exotic looking style, a pageboy cut on top, with two long ponytails underneath, each reaching almost to the ground.
Her clothing could be seen under the apron she wore, and was a tasteful, though slightly unusual, robe-like garment.
There was a shuttered opening on the living room wall, and the shutters were slightly ajar. through the opening a small head of brightly colored blue hair could be seen, moving to and fro in what was apparently the kitchen.
Looking up to the roof, the could see Ryoko, who had apparently floated up to the rafters to take a nap.
As they looked inside, a voice sounded from behind them.
"Kiyone, Mihoshi...Hi! Glad you could make it...did Ryoko give you any trouble?"
Kiyone gave a small startled eep as she turned around to see who snuck up on them.
Behind the two girls, stood a moderately tall boy with short cropped brown hair that stood up in a well groomed spiky hairstyle.
His face was tanned, and moderately handsome, though he looked fairly ordinary. in fact the most notable thing about him was the lean, yet broad shouldered build of a hardworking farmer.
There was nothing about the youth that particulary suggested 'Ladies man', Yet Kiyone could feel her cheeks heat up as she looked at him.
Tenchi scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry. Did I startle you?"
Kiyone fought down the blush before answering him. "Just a bit, Tenchi-san."
Unconciously adjusting her clothes, she smiled at the boy. "No, Ryoko didn't give us problems, and we're glad to be here too."
Tenchi nodded back, smiling good-naturedly and stepped around her and opened the door.
"Please, come in." Turning to the interior of the house, Tenchi called out. "I'm home!" and entered, leaving the door open for Kiyone and Mihoshi...
Kiyone's gaze followed Tenchi's behind as he walked in. A small blush rose up again, before a violent shake of the head removed it.
Slapping a hand over her face, she muttered to herself. "This is not happening. This is not happening. This is NOT happening."
Calendar looked from the departing boy to her partner, then snickered. "Seriously, C--Kiyone? Him?"
Personally, she had never really found Tenchi at all attractive. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru-sama, definitely... but Tenchi? Nah...
A level stare was given to Mihoshi. "It's Kiyone, not me. Lets drop this anyway. We got other things to worry about."
With that, Cy stepped into the house.
As soon as Kiyone stepped into house, Sasami poked her head out of the kitchen door.
"Hi, Tenchi-niichan!...Wai! Kiyone-san, Mihoshi-san! Hi! Lunch will take a little bit, so make yourselves comfortable, okay?" With that, she pulled herself back into the kitchen, and the sounds of cooking could be heard...
Ayeka turned as she heard Tenchi's greeting and Sasami's instructions, and smiled warmly at the boy.
"Tenchi-sama. Welcome home!" She spotted Kiyone, and nodded respectfully, smiling. Evidently she'd missed Kiyone's eyeing the boy as he walked in. "Hello, Kiyone-san..."
She favored the blonde woman in the doorway with tired acceptance. "Hello, Mihoshi-san..."
Returning the nod, Kiyone quickly looked over the princess. "Hello, Ayeka-san. How are you today?"
Calendar smiled tightly muttered a hello to the two sisters.
Ayeka blinked, but nodded politely to Kiyone and smiled. "I'm fine, thank you. How have you been? I'd heard you've been having financial problems..."
"Oh, I'm fine."
Frowning a bit at the mention of financial trouble, Cy continued. "It's nothing a job won't fix."
Cy smiled again at the princess. "And where are the others? I wanted to say hello to them too."
Tenchi blinked and looked around at that. "Yes, where is Washu-chan? I..." He trailed off as the fabric of the plain t-shirt he was wearing wrinkled slightly of it's own accord in two different places.
A small, tolerant smile formed on his face as Ryoko shimmered into view, her hands clutching the wrinkled places, enfolding him in an enthusiastic hug.
"Welcome home, Tenchi..." The cyan haired woman purred throatily. Tenchi flushed scarlet at Ryoko's tone, but was saved the trouble of reasoning with her as Ayeka, her eyebrow twitching with repressed fury, spoke up.
"Miss Ryoko! Let go of Lord Tenchi THIS instant!" she demanded tartly.
Ryoko smirked. "I don't think he wants me to." she opined, and she sent a hand slithering down to rest on the front of the flustered boy's pants. "Oh, he's DEFINITELY enjoying himself," she said, grinning widely.
"Devil woman!" Ayeka sputtered.
"Oh PLEASE, princess. Can't you do any better than that? You've been using the same insult for almost a year, now."
The argument continued, heating up as the two women tossed increasingly coarse and insulting rejoinders at each other. Tenchi, who had yet to be released by Ryoko, shot Kiyone and Mihoshi a pained, apologetic look.
Mihoshi was too busy laughing hysterically to notice the look Tenchi shot her and Kiyone. Barely able to stand up, she clutched onto her partner for support.
Watching Ayeka and Ryoko fight was even funnier when she was watching it in real life... or at least a decent facsimile of it.
Kiyone gave the boy a smile. "Tenchi-san, is your father and grandfather home? I wanted to say hello to them."
Turning to Mihoshi, Kiyone tried to help her stand. "Now, now. We really should greet the others."
Mihoshi gasped for air, and was finally able to stand up on her own. "Of course, you're right, Kiyone."
Tenchi, slightly startled at the odd behavior of the two, blinked. "Um...Dad went up to the shrine to get grandpa." he offered. "They should be back soon."
He watched the pair of detectives closely, wondering why they seemed different today...
Meanwhile, Ryoko and Ayeka, who had cheerfully ignored the more civil conversation in favor of their hobby, which was fighting with each other, Continued to shout at one another until their disagreement had degenerated into a mass of highly uncomplimentary remarks about each other's looks, family, probable ancestry and mating habits.
It was about this point that Ryoko's hands (She'd let go of Tenchi by this point, for which the boy in question was immensely thankful) began to glow yellow, and a blue corona of power became visible around Ayeka...
"Do you think we could go meet them first? We wanted to speak to him and Washu about a couple things." Unconciously adjusting her clothes again, Kiyone added. "And with you, if you don't mind."
Tenchi blinked and nodded...and then looked back at Ryoko and Ayeka, obviously hesitant to step between them. But all too aware of the imminent destruction of his home...
Though, as it turned out...he didn't have to.
Sasami emerged from the kitchen, smiling, but when she caught sight of the two women fighting...an unreadable expression crossed the little girl's face as she ducked her head. The room was filled by the gloom of a battle aura, so dark that even the bickering women noticed and looked at the source.
Ryoko and Ayeka's building energy vanished abruptly as they each sweatdropped.
Sasami abruptly looked up, her wide, pink eyes tearing slightly as the gloom vanished. "Stop being mean!" she reproved them.
Ryoko and Ayeka burst into nervous giggling. "Mean? Us? We we just kidding around..." Ryoko said quickly. Ayeka nodded rapidly. "Yes, quite..."
Tenchi sighed in relief as Sasami scolded the pair. "Well, I guess it is safe to leave, now. I can take you to see grampa, Kiyone-san, but I'm not sure where Washu-chan is. Do you want to wait to see both of them at once?"
Cy blinked, then blinked again as the strange event occured.
Turning back to Tenchi he shook his head. "Maybe he knows where she is. Shall we go then, Tenchi-san?"
Calendar grabbed Cy by the arm. "I'm coming with you."
Tenchi nodded. "Sure." He eyed Ryoko and Ayeka, who were still apologizing to Sasami and led Kyone and Mihoshi to the door. "I'll take you up to the shrine, then." he added, putting on his shoes, and opening the door.
"Thank you." And with that Kiyone waited for Tenchi to lead them on.
Tenchi waited until the two women were ready, then began leading them up the path to the shrine.
After a long moment, They came to what seemed to be and endless flight of stone steps, flanked on either side by tall, majestic looking trees.
They hiked up the steps as sunlight filted though the trees, giving the area a look somewhat reminiscent of a painting.
After what seemed like an innumerable amount of stairs, the finally reached the top, walking out onto a small, stone coutyard, which was immaculately kept. On the other end of the courtyard, A small, modest shrine stood.
Despite it's simple construction, there was an air of simplicity and elegance about it...and a strange, communal feeling, as though the structure was not in fact a man-made building, but rather part of the surrounding forest.
Tenchi stepped in front of the two women as they entered the coutyard, and called out loudly.
"Grampa?!"
An older man, with long grey hair tied back in a ponytail and a mustache to match, wearing square, utilitarian glasses and priest's robes emerged after a moment, followed by another, slightly younger man, with short black hair, and a similar mustache and glasses to the first man, but a shorter, stockier and less regal build dressed in an ordinary salaryman's shirt and pants.
"What is it, Tenchi?" The older man asked.
"I'm not sure. Kiyone-san has something she wants to talk to us about..."
The two older men looked to Kiyone....
Kiyone nodded to the men. "Good morning. Do you know where Washuu-san is? We wanted to speak with her too."
The older man, presumably Katsuhito Masaki looked somewhat puzzled. "Washu-chan? I haven't seen her recently..."
The younger man, Noboyuki nodded. "I last saw her last night, going into her lab, before dinner."
Katsuhito nodded. "That sounds about right. We can all go down to the house together, and look, if you like...Unless you don't mind talking right here..."
Kiyone shrugged. "I don't care where we talk really. I think she might be able to help though."
"Well, would you care to discuss it now, and fill Washu-chan in on it later, or wait and tell us all at once?" Katsuhito asked.
Kiyone thought for a few moment.
"It's kind of hard to explain. I would rather do it only once if you don't mind." With that she gave each of the men a smile.
Noboyuki returned her smile with a rather goofy and slightly leering one of his own, prompting a faint groan from Tenchi. Pitched so low she could barely hear it, Kiyone could make out Tenchi's embarrassed,
"Da-aa-ad..."
Katsuhito ignored the other two men and simply nodded and smiled inscrutably.
"Sounds sensible. Shall we go back to the house and have lunch too, then? Sasami cooks wonderful sukiyaki..."
Mihoshi grabbed frantically at Katsuhito, trying to stop him from heading to the house.
"We can't go back there!"
She did NOT want to go back to the house and get more strange looks. It was bad enough being Mihoshi... now she was a weirder Mihoshi than ever.
Katsuhito blinked, and smiled kindly at Mihoshi.
"Is there a problem, Mihoshi-san?"
Mihoshi sweatdropped. "Um. Ye--no. Er. I mean, Kiyone wants us to stay out here."
Ah, the old tried-and-true method of using a shield. Although, in retrospect, using her partner as a shield isn't really so nice.
Katsuhito blinked and looked to the green haired woman.
"Is that what you meant, Kiyone-san?"
A small, quick glare was sent at Mihoshi as Katsuhito asked for confirmation.
"I would prefer if we were able to talk in private, without certain interuptions."
Turning her back to the men, and looking towards the house she spoke again. "Perhaps we could take a small walk by the lake after lunch?"
Katsuhito nodded. "That sounds fine." He agreed. "I don't see any difficulty with that. In the meantime, shall we go enjoy Sasami's lunch? She tells me she went to some effort to make extra sukiyaki for you, Mihoshi-san..."
Looking at her partner, Kiyone raised an eyebrow as she waited for the answer.
Calendar sighed. "Ah, yeah, sure... That's great." But she sounded rather unenthusiastic, although her stomach grumbled at the idea of sukiyaki. And Calendar didn't even know what sukiyaki WAS.
Katsuhito nodded pleasantly, and started down the stairs, not looking back. Noboyuki, after another long look at Kiyone, and a shorter, but equally...appreciative look at Mihoshi, followed close after.
Tenchi sighed, having caught his father's leering. He shrugged apologetically at the two women, and waited patiently for them to preced him down the stairs...
Kiyone gave Tenchi another quick smile then grabbed her partner by the arm and lightly pulled her towards the stairs.
Mihoshi sighed, and let herself be dragged, pouting slightly as she did so. Noboyuki had LEERED at them. Uck.
Tenchi followed, walking behind the two women at a discreet distance as Katsuhito led them back to the house for lunch....
<--->
Sometime later, Kiyone and Mihoshi were witness to a scene of barely organized chaos. Ryoko and Ayeka were seated beside one another, (God alone knows why) And, though calmed down, were still making snide remarks in each other's direction, in between high speed eating (Ryoko) and refined, delicate bites (Ayeka).
On the other side of the table, Noboyuki and Tenchi sat, each eating more or less normally, despite Noboyuki's not-so-subtle glances in the direction of the pair.
Katsuhito sat calmly at the head of the table, the only one eating in a dignified, calm way.
Sasami walked in, smiling and straining slightly, and added a steaming pot to the table, thinly sliced beef, tofu cakes, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and assorted vegitables all cooked in broth, and, jusdging by the smell, cooked expertly.
"Please, eat up!"
Calendar looked at the dish in horror. There was NO WAY she was eating that. Vegetables were crunchy in Japanese cooking, right? Crunchy vegetables were one of the things she hated most.
Despite what her mind told her, Mihoshi's mouth began to water at the smell of the cooked beef...
And the vegtables didn't look too bad. Some were obviously crunchy, but others looked as though they had been specifically softened in the broth...Didn't they?
Sasami looked up and smiled brightly at Mihoshi. "Don't worry, Mihoshi-san!" She chirped. "I know you don't like the crunchy ones, so I made lots of boiled ones, too!"
Cy looked over the food. This would be much better then just the ramen for breakfast.
Picking up a pair of chopsticks, and held them more easily then he normaly did as he took a plate of food. A couple bites later he swallowed and looked at Sasami.
"Sasami-chan, this is wonderful. Thank you for inviting us." With that said he returned to the meal.
Sasami beamed. "Thank you, Kiyone-san!" the little girl blinked and looked around.
"Ano...Is Washu coming, or should I save some for her?"
Tenchi frowned slightly. "I haven't seen her all day, Sasami-chan."
Sasami pouted slightly. "She must be in her lab, then...Will you take her her lunch when you're done, Tenchi-niichan?"
Tenchi nodded and smiled. "Sure."
With that, every one returned to their meals.
<--->
Later, when everyone had finished, Ryoko and Ayeka left, still sniping at each other has they did. Sasami excused herself to clean up, and Noboyuki, (Thankfully) was called in to his office. Katsuhito frowned.
"Hmm...If Washu hasn't come to eat...and no one has seen her..."
Tenchi winced. "She must be in her lab..."
"Tenchi-san, did you want one of us to come with you?"
Mihoshi looked over at Kiyone in surprise.
Tenchi smiled a Kiyone gratefully. "Thanks, I'd appreciate it..."
"Especially since I might not make it out with my body intact," he murmured, almost too low to hear.
Mihoshi pushed Kiyone forward with an innocent smile. "Well, you volunteered."
Katsuhito got up, and stood behind Mihoshi. Resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Now, Mihoshi-san, I think it would be best for us to accopany them, don't you think? Washu-san is usually quite reluctant to leave her lab if she's in the middle of something..."
Mihoshi blinked. And blinked again.
Oh. My. God. They weren't insinuating what she THOUGHT they were insinuating, were they? Because if they were, she was going to SCREAM.
Or at least punch Katsuhito a few times. Who cared if he was cute when he was young? That jerk was going to die.
Kiyone took hold of Mihoshi's hand. "Come on, partner. We did want to talk to her."
With that she turned back to Tenchi. "Lead on, Tenchi-san."
Tenchi smiled and nodded, leading the way from the dining room, out into the hall as Katsuhito followed. He stopped in from of the hall closet door, knocking once.
The door swung open, the interior filled with inky blackness. He took a deep breath and stepped inside, followed by Katsuhito...
Kiyone lightly pulled Mihoshi along as she followed the boy. Her eyes roamed over his form as a small blush made it onto her cheeks again.
She kept quiet as they arrived at the closet door and Tenchi knocked.
After the two men entered, she took a deep breath of her own, bit her lip and stepped into the darkness, pulling her partner behind her.
As they all stepped inside, the darkness arbruptly receded, and they were standing in a brightly lit, spacious solarium, surrounded by cultivated trees, with a holographic workstation here and there.
This particular area had a cheery, welcoming atmosphere...along with FAR more space than should have been possible inside the tiny utility closet.
Tenchi looked around, but the area they'd enetered was empty.
Behind them, the door slowly clicked shut...and vanished into nothingness...
Mihoshi blinked, and took a closer look at the trees. Trees?
Cy managed not to gawk due to the fact that he expected as much. Supressing most of his curiosity, Cy idly looked around.
"Now where could Washu-san be?"
The trees themselves weren't planted in the ground, but were imbedded inside an upraised platform, which, combined with the white and yellow plasticrete(TM) construction of the walls and the tree's platform, along with the holographic workstations, gave the area a rather techno-organic look.
Tenchi blinked at Kiyone's question. "Um, If she's not here, then she might be in her research lab," he suggested. "It's down this way, by the specimen tanks."
He started to lead the way, then commented over his shoulder.
"You'd better not let her hear you call her that, Kiyone-san." the boy warned. "Last time Ayeka slipped up....well, it wasn't pretty."
Katsuhito chuckled dryly as he followed Tenchi, but made no further comment.
This time, Mihoshi grabbed Kiyone's arm and pulled her.
Tenchi led the other three through a lengthy walk into a fairly distant part of the lab.
The walked past specimen tanks of all shapes and sizes, containing a numer of creatures easily recognized as non-indigenous to earth.
From the hideous, like the creature that seemed to resemble a skull with tentacles, to the unbearably cute, like the small yellow rat with brown stripes and an oddly jagged tail, all were obviously subject of experimentation...
Finally, they came to machine intensive section. From wall to ceiling was filled with computers, holographic interfaces and testing machines of all types.
Under one particularly large one, a pair of small legs was sticking out, surrounded by tools...
A high pitched, nasal voice issued from under the machine. "Who is it? Come back later, I'm busy now!"
Mihoshi let go of Kiyone's arm and took a step back.
Kiyone bent over the legs and looked under. A small smirk made it's way onto her face as she spoke. "We come bearing gifts."
"I told you, I- Kiyone?" The voice from under the machine sounded disturbed now.
A young girl, with wide green eyes and wild crimson hair, held in place by a violet headband shot oud from under the machine and stared up at Mihoshi in horror.
"AAUGH!"
Calendar sweatdropped. Yes, this is what she had been afraid of. "Err... Hi, Washu-chan."
Washu leapt to her feet, and began waving her arms in warding gestures.
"How do you keep getting in here?" she asked in exasperation. "I'm POSITIVE I armed those traps..."
As if on cue, a distant explosion sounded, and a red alert klaxxon began to pulse.
The diminutive read-head sighed. "The Mihoshi effect strikes again..."
Mihoshi sweatdropped some more. "Um... Wow. Mihoshi really isn't doing on purpose all th---Ahahaha! I mean... um." With that, she tried her best to look like an airhead. Maybe they'd just think she was being... well, Mihoshi.
Cy sweatdropped and decided to move the conversation a diffrent way. "We brought you lunch, Washuu-chan."
With that he took one of the containers and lifted the lid to give Washuu a look.
Tenchi nodded, and moved up behind Kiyone. "And Kiyone-san has something to talk to us about." He commented.
Washu looked up at Tenchi curiously as she took the bento cautiously. "What's going on?"
Tenchi simply looked to Kiyone...
Cy looked around "Hmmm. How to say this."
And decided on the simplest way. "You see, I am not Kiyone. Nor is that Mihoshi. Yes, the bodies are theirs, but the minds, spirits or souls if you will, are not."
Quickly he added. "We don't know how this happened. We're kind of hoping you could help."
Calendar blinked. "You said that very well."
Katsuhito, who had been looking very detached until now, suddenly turned to the two women and began to study them with interest.
Tenchi simply blinked, and took a step back, gaping.
Washu paused, mid-bite.
"Really? Interesting." She eyed them curiously, an odd glint in her eye. She pulled out a large remote. "I'll need to examine you..."
Calendar took a step back. And then another step back. "No way. There is no way I am getting examined." She grabbed onto Cy's arm with a vise-like grip, eyes wide.
Washu's eyes opened wide as Mihoshi took a step back, and she dropped the remote.
"ACK!"
One step back apparently, had bumped Mihoshi against a large, ominous looking machine which has a number of spooky looking lights and flashing dials, which switched on arbruptly as the two women came in contact with it....and, eerily enough, began to glow, surrounding itself and Mihoshi and Kiyone with a pale green light....
Calendar looked horrified. "Oh, shit. What did I do?" She looked at the green light surrounding them, and tried to pull away from it, still grasping Cy's arm tightly.
There was no resistance to her stepping away from the machine, but the green glow seemed to follow them as they moved away from the machine. Tenchi, Katsuhito and Washu all seemed to be moving in slow motion, wearing similar expressions of alarm, and moving toward them...
Calendar twitched. "Y'know... right now, I really, really hate Mihoshi."
Cy tried to stay calm as he stepped closer to the trio. "What is this thing?"
As Kiyone examined the three, she noticed a faint flickering, almost too fast for the human eye to regisiter...and that Tenchi, Katsuhito and Washu were all but stopped, frozen in time.
Slowly, it dawned on her that not only the three others, but the entire room was beginning to flicker....
As the room flickered, Calendar still gripped onto Cy. Whatever this was, she was not going to go through with it without someone. "I--I didn't mean to do it..."
"This is not good. This is not good."
Kiyone tried to touch one of the others and see what would happen. Hopefuly it would stop.
As Kiyone reached out to touch the others, she was dismayed to discover her hand sank right INTO them, even as the flickering of their surroundings became more and more pronounced...
OOC: Corrected an obvious mistake. -_-;; Thanks, Calendar. ^^
OOC: Bean, I thought Cy was reaching out to touch the people, not the machine.
NOW Cy was begining to panic.
He looked at the 'watch' and started pressing buttons. "Come on. Forceshield, AT field, anything!"
Calendar stared at Cy's watch, looking for anything at all. Not that she understood what he was trying to do.
Whatever Kiyone had intended to do, it was for naught. Their surrounding flickered faster and faster, and there was a curious sense of being pulled away...
And the two women vanished from Washu's lab.
******
To Washu, Tenchi and Katsuhito, it appeared that Mihoshi and Kiyone simply faded from view and disappeared.
Washu turned to Tenchi. "Are we SURE that wasn't Mihoshi?"