5There is one planet with a name that is known throughout the entire galaxy. It is a name both deeply respected and feared, but it is nevertheless known by all. Jurai.
At a glance, this curious planet is painted with beautiful stripes of deep blue and bright green, but the more prominently features a mass of metal which covers a large portion of the planet's surface. Upon closer inspection, this mass of metal forms an intricate city, housing billions of residents who refer to it simply as "Jurai City".
At the heart of an empire spanning numerous system and innumerable peoples, a single event carries the potential for rippling far across the galaxy for both good and ill consequences; it is here that this story begins...
It was nearing dusk in Jurai City; the star Taiyo illuminated a lazy orange hue of light in the sky, and the air was crisp and cool. The surface-level streets were bustling with life as waves of people walked to and fro various points of interest, acting as small, insignificant cogs in the cosmopolitan machine. Near the center of this city, there was a single building that stood out from the others in the area, a structure with bold curves and exceeding majesty in its size and scope that it easily eclipsed all other nearby structures.
A large winding marble pathway lay before this building, surrounded by exotic foliage and rows of large and painstakingly-carved statues on either side of people whose past deeds have earned them everlasting recognition. The end of this path led to a large set of stairs that once climbed led to the front doors that funneled people into this building. Above these doors lay a large sign with words written in beautifully archaic calligraphy which is meant to read as "National Assembly".
In the distance, a man stood still in the middle of the street, staring longingly at the front entrance. A small smile grew as he pondered the implications of what he was about to do. He adjusted his pair of glasses and disappeared into the crowd.
"Let's begin."
Episode I
Special Session in the National Assembly
Within the doors of this National Assembly was a loud continuous noise that permeated further inside; at one end of the winding maze of heavy, ornate doors and thick red carpet were the doors that led into a large room; a speaking chamber, where men in identical ornate dressing involved themselves in a furious argument. The chambers themselves were circular, with rows of seats growing higher as they went further back to view the center of the room. The back center of the room was elevated by a set of steps, where a single man sat in full view of the assembly.
"Once again, I implore everyone to leave your personal biases at the door!" The man spoke. "Remember that we are here to discuss only what is happening and not what how well feel about it. We are not going to get anywhere by endlessly quarreling." That man at the center said loud and clear, subduing the noise in the chambers somewhat."
"I agree, prime minister. The discussion has become bogged down, so let's refer to the original statement that we opened with." One man in the front row answered. "Simply put, Emperor Azusa is overstepping his boundaries. Need I remind you that so far this year alone, he has sacked three government ministers, including the Minister of Economic Affairs over 'performance issues', and which he gave not a single piece of evidence to justify this decision. Anyone with common sense will see that he is covering for his special interests. It will come as no surprise to me if he was planning on appointing one of his relatives to that position, Princess Ayeka for example." He finished.
"That's implausible." Another man replied, "Princess Ayeka has distanced herself from her father, she wouldn't accept a position in the Juraian government, let alone even desire to speak with Emperor Azusa. Besides, given the length of the 'extended vacation' that she has given herself on Terra, it's clear she believes herself far above such things as work and responsibilities."
"Nonetheless, these are unprecedented moves by the emperor," The first man continued, still addressing the Prime Minister. "None of his predecessors have been this bold in their attempt to exert their power and challenge us so overtly. It is more worrying that the Emperor does not wish to give concern to the effects that his intervention on the Juraian government has on our ability to function. For instance, we have yet to move forward with the vote on Bill 45208-the expansion of funding for the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing- even though I introduced it to the floor two weeks ago, because we have busied ourselves with vetoing the emperor's recent wave of appointments to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, To me, it is an insult that he thinks he is above taking responsibility for the "petty bureaucratic issues" that he alone is causing."
Quietly, another man stood up from one of the middle rows. It was Deputy Kyouichi Kiro, a young, ambitious man who was recently elected to his first term in office Despite his age, his will has proven to be resolute and he clearly has a long future in the political world.
"Why is it that we never hold ourselves to the same standards that we expect of the emperor?" He asked. "The emperor does not influence our voting process, nor is it responsible for the National Assembly's failure to function properly; it is our own. The people in this assembly who condemn even the slightest exertion of power against the National Assembly from the emperor are the same people who do not bat an eye towards viciously shutting down any actions made by either the emperor or the Council of Elders."
"Yes, because they are not the ones who rule Jurai, we are!" A voice from the back suddenly boomed across the vast chamber, immediately silencing all other noises and directing everyone's attention towards the speaking man who had just stood up from his seat in the back of the chambers. The Prime Minister immediately recognized him as Deputy Heihachirō Suboru- an old, balding firebrand who has earned his reputation as the most radical member of the National Assembly. The Prime Minister slowly looked over to Suboru and kept his composure unchanged unlike most who were surprised by the Deputy's sudden outburst.
"Would you care to elaborate, Deputy Suboru?" The Prime Minister asked, obviously being unhappy about another sudden outburst of his. "We're anxious to hear more of your famed wisdom."
Suboru cleared his throat loudly, clearly on purpose to emphasize the importance of what he was about to say. "I still do not understand why you are such an adamant defender of the emperor and the council, Deputy Kiro. You were elected to the National Assembly to represent the residents of Jurai City District 21, not to represent the emperor and his cronies!" He said, causing an immediate reaction from the crowd; many cheered and approved of Suboru's directness and many others attempted to shout them down. "If you wanted to serve Azusa, you should've become a knight of the Royal Court!"
The Prime Minister reached for the gavel-a relic of Jurai's younger years-which lay to his side on a small circular table, striking it fiercely against the sound block and yelling "Silence, silence!" to the rowdy crowd. The loud impact sent a wave that resonated throughout the entire room, and the deputies soon calmed themselves.
Suboru nodded toward the prime minister and continued, "Indeed, why would anyone want to believe that the emperor is anything but a power-hungry despot? Through his collaboration with the thoroughly corrupted Council of Elders, Azusa Jurai has seen fit to revoke as many powers as he pleases from the National Assembly and assume them himself. Remember, Kiro, that we alone possessed the ability to appoint government ministers until the Emperor begged the Council to give him the same power, and this is just one from recent memory. Since I have been re-elected to my office just two years ago, he has been granted the right to the right to withhold information regarding the finances of the Royal Court; he has seized the final authority over appointing leaders of Jurai's armed forces-now he is free to poison our prestigious military with bribery and aristocracy; he has been granted the ability to introduce amendments to Jurai's constitution and forced us to pass amendments with a minimum eighty-percent majority in favor. And now, Azusa is suggesting to the Council of Elders that perhaps he should have the power to grant Royal pardons to anyone he pleases! Just imagine how he would use this ability to clear even the most scum-ridden and sinned individuals of wrongdoing for his advantage, the very idea disgusts me!"
Deputy Kiro now turned to Suboru, being unable to refrain himself from challenging his assessment, and the prime minister groaned at the sight. Ever since Kiro had been elected to office in the last election, he has managed to butt heads with old Suboru at every possible opportunity. By now, the two men have become passionate rivals; Kiro sees Suboru as a senile, nostalgia-blinded cripple, while Suboru sees Kiro as a royal boot-licker. They were a microcosm of the wider division among the members of the National Assembly.
"You must think the emperor is doing this as a game: how much frustration can he inflict on the National Assembly? That is not the case. Recall that this institution was established on the basis that the Emperor of Jurai trusted the people to guide themselves; he placed his trust in us, the National Assembly, to guide the people. However, it is now clear that Emperor Azusa believes we have failed in that regard, I am inclined to agree. Even after all this time, we've failed to stamp down on the crime that plagues this city; we've failed to purge the corporations whose ruthless drive for profits has caused numerous economic recessions; worst of all, we failed to prevent that terrible war with Seniwa five years ago. The Emperor, even in the face of our sheer incompetence, refused to issue an edict and trusted us to make the best of that situation. Look where that got us."
"The emperor didn't stay idle because he held some vapid notion of trust or faith with us, but the truth is that he and the Royal Court were the ones who wanted the war most of all." Suboru countered. "Aashigaru Corp, Yukohasa Heavy Manufacturing, and countless other companies in the weapons industry-which associates of both the Royal Court and members of the Council invested heavily into- saw their profits soar during that time and the emperor couldn't have been happier; I do not think it is a coincidence that soon after the war ended, the Royal Court suddenly paid back the entirety of their debt which they owed to the National Bank of Jurai for over ten years prior-a total of twenty billion rupees-in a single signed check!"
"You lie!" Kiro yelled back. "We had established a committee to investigate this exact issue, but there was never evidence of war profiteering from the Royal Court, even after six entire months of searching. The austerity measures that the Emperor pushed through the Assembly right after the war are what paid back those twenty billion rupees, measures that I recall you supporting wholeheartedly, despite your supposed opposition to 'Royal Interference'. I must say Suboru, despite what you think, I would wholly respect your decision to commit to republican ideals if you had the record to back it up!"
Suboru made a sound of disgust as Kiro finished. "Tell me, how many coins do you think will be clinking proudly in your deep pockets when the emperor hears of all the praise which has been coming from you alone? From my perspective, you are not a man fit to be a member of this Assembly. No, you are a lapdog of the emperor and a slave to his money. In short, I think you're a parasite!" He yelled, immediately causing another huge shouting matching all over the chambers. The prime minister again reached for the gavel and struck soundly on the block twice.
Suboru continued, not waiting for the noise to be suppressed by the prime minister. "Azusa is not our friend, he is our enemy who works to directly oppose us at every step. Right now, our fragile democracy is fighting for its life; if Azusa is allowed to continue, then we all may as well resign from office, burn the Juraian Constitution, and re-establish the dictatorship that our forefathers shed blood to rein in. I propose a solution, one that will cure the Juraian government and society of its ills. The Emperor and his family, the Royal Court and Council of Elders, all the established orders the prevent the National Assembly from properly functioning as described by the Constitution, must be cast away, abolished!"
Without hesitation, the Assembly once again broke into another roar of argument, clearly louder and fiercer than any previous that afternoon; so much in fact that even the Prime Minister's attempts at suppressing the chaos through the gavel seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"Down with the emperor and his lackeys!" Suboru yelled amid the roaring, "Down with repression! Down with decadence! Long live democracy! Long live Jurai!"
Meanwhile, just outside the National Assembly building stood two men dressed in blue and gold uniforms and holding ceremonial swords as they stood on each side of the wide set of doors that led inside. On the left was a grizzled older man with heavy eyelids and a stone-cold expression and on the right was a younger man who wore a similar expression on his face.
"Three hours." The older man suddenly said out loud, not turning his head to him.
"What? What're three hours?" The younger man asked, not turning his head either.
"They've been arguing in there for a little over three hours now. You were about to ask a question; I could tell since I heard you breathe with your mouth instead of your nose like usual, and what else are two members of the Republican Guard going to talk about except the National Assembly?" He asked rhetorically.
"That's… pretty damn good. Why on Jurai did you ever join the Guard?" The younger man asked, "You should be an interrogator or a detective with that sort of perception."
"Well, I was, believe it or not. Things were going well until I got fired from JCPD; let's just say I got caught sticking my nose where it didn't belong. Thankfully, the Republican Guard was looking for new blood to fill the ranks, so here I am. It doesn't hurt that it pays well, either."
"No kidding, same reason I signed up. You know... speaking of things... you don't think the Emperor is that bad of a guy, do you?" He asked the older man.
The older man sighed. "Sorry, even if I'm a former detective, I couldn't tell you a thing; I mean, I don't even know what Emperor Azusa Jurai looks like, do you? Leave the politics to the experts, I say. Our job is simply to keep them from outright killing each other. Anyway, we should stop talking before we get reprimanded... again."
Things went silent for a few minutes until unexpectedly, another guard was seen by the two men slowly climbing the stairs up to them. The guard saluted his fellows with his sword, but the older guard was not impressed by his honors.
"Return to your previous post, you're exactly three minutes too early."
"You think so? It must be a mix up with the schedules, nothing more than an honest mistake." The man quickly replied. "Go sort it out with the Captain of the Guard if you care that much. I'm just following my orders."
"Bring the captain of the guard over here." He shot back at the guard. "I know the schedule inside and out, and I know for a fact that it's too early for a changing of posts." He said, but he looked at the man's face and realized that it was completely foreign to him. Additionally, the way lazy and amateurish manner in which this guard held his sword in his arm was suspicious to him. "You're not really a guard, are you? Drop the act, you're coming with me and...", the man stopped mid-sentence as suddenly the mysterious man walked right up to him; he felt something thrust deep into his abdomen, and another second went by before an unbearably intense pain registered with him. The older guard slowly looked down and saw the black handle of the blade which was wedged deep inside before he gasped and collapsed to the ground.
The younger man gasped in surprise as he witnesses the assault. Without wasting time, he raised his sword to strike down the assailant. Just as he brought his blade down, however, the killer quickly readied his sword and parried the strike coming from the young guard, knocking him off balance. Seizing the opening, he thrust his blade straight into the guard's chest, causing him to collapse to the ground alongside the other guard.
The killer dropped his bloodied sword and raised his hand into the air. Almost immediately, several masked men quickly rose up from hiding spots near the foot of the steps and climbed up to meet their comrade, who pulled out a small electronic device that projected a three-dimensional map of the building's interior.
"Good job keeping out of sight." He said to the group. "Alright, let's go over the plan again. The chambers are at the very back of the building. There are three pathways to get there, all crowding with guards; they're only holding swords thankfully. Divide yourselves into three evenly-sized squads and make sure you check every side-door and hallway you come across; we can not miss a single person before we converge on the chamber. The last thing we need is some straggler pulling the alarm while 'he' is busy making his entrance."
The group's members nodded and reached into their dark, layered clothing. They briefly prepared their weapons before rushing into the building and down multiple directions.
The chaos inside the speaking chamber continued. The prime minister, exhausted and detached from the chaos, slouched in his seat as he sighed in disappointment at the sight; the prestigious National Assembly of Jurai had, once again, been reduced to immature shouting matches in the span of a few loaded speeches by a couple of members. He looked down at the gavel still in his hand, that poor gavel which by now was nearly cracked in two from the many times he had so far slammed it his vain attempts to suppress his peers.
However, apart from the stream of yelling and insults echoing off the walls of the chamber, the Prime Minister heard another noise which sounded very suspicious, almost reminiscent of a blast. He leaned in his seat closer to the door and heard it again; this time, he was very certain that it was blasting sound, and then he heard more of them. The rest of the assembly began to hear these sounds too, as they abruptly stopped their arguments and paid attention to what was coming from outside the chambers. In this silence, the mysterious sounds became much more pronounced; they were sounds emanating from laser weapons, and the cries of pain and agony coming afterward made it clear that the Republican Guards were their targets. These sounds rapidly became louder and louder until they seemed as though they were right outside the door, and then they suddenly stopped.
The chamber gravely silent before the set of large twin doors flew open, and one man calmly walked through. Silver-haired, dressed in dark robes covered by a large green cape, he strode gracefully to the up the small set of steps to where the prime minister was sitting down and put himself in the center of attention. Soon after, more men who were dressed in dark garbs and holding weapons followed. The prime minister instinctively got up and slowly moved out of the way. There was an awkward pause as the man seated himself down in the pristine seat and crossed one leg over the other, quietly cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen." He announced, taking care to look over the entire room before him. "My, this is quite an impressive chamber you have all to yourselves here; such marvelous architecture and meticulous design covering every square meter, a truly priceless relic. Ah, but where are my manners? My name is Kagato, and as of right now, all you esteemed members of Jurai's National Assembly gathered here... are my hostages."
A great gasp came from the members of the National Assembly, as the man had confirmed their worst suspicions. However, not all were amused with this turn of events.
"Preposterous, to think we will bow to the whims of a criminal!" A voice boomed from one of the back rows, catching Kagato by surprise as he looked over with a raised eyebrow at the man who stood up. "There are serious consequences for interrupting the National Assembly during a session. Do not think for a second that you are safe here! You will be arrested, and your head will swing from the gallows for this!"
"Please, Deputy Suboru! This is no time for citing protocol!" The prime minister said in vain.
Kagato looked unamused by the declaration. He calmly stood up and snapped his right fingers, and one of his men near him immediately began to make his way over to Suboru. The henchman briskly climbed up the set of steps to near the end of the chambers and over to the uncooperative deputy. He took out a pistol that was concealed within his coat and smacked Suboru hard against the face with the grip before he grabbed him by the arm.
"Damn you, let go of me!" Suboru yelled in vain as he was painfully and slowly dragged across the floor and up the small steps leading to Kagato. When within arm's length, Kagato took the weapon from his subordinate and he looked at Suboru silently and with a face of gleeful malice before firing. The blast of blue energy pierced clean through the deputy's heart and caused blood to gush our flow out and stain his clothes and the floor red. Suboru staggered back, gasped desperately, and spurted more blood from his mouth before finally, his legs buckled and he fell down; his body rolled down the small set of stairs to the floor, remaining still and silent.
The gruesome murder of one of their own started a wave of panic among the rest of the deputies. Kagato fired again twice into the air and suppressed the fears of the crowd before speaking up again. "As you see, I am not playing games. None of your lives are valuable to me besides as a tool for bargaining; so if none of you wish to end up like our unfortunate friend here, then I would suggest that you all behave like good little hostages. Now then, please remain silent, I have an important call to make."
Kagato took out a small spherical object from within his clothing; it was a robot with a large built-in lens. He pressed a button on the robot and after waiting a second for the unit to activate, he threw it softly into the air, where it was able to levitate off the ground.
"Emperor Azusa Masaki Jurai, I know that you will soon be viewing this message from your palace of corruption and decadence! My name is Kagato, and I have taken the entirety of Jurai's National Assembly hostage! This message is for you specifically, as my single demand requires your cooperation. Come to me! Come to Jurai City and face me, one man to another! If your memory is competent, you will understand very well why no amount of money or other compensation with substitute this demand."
Kagato looked over to the prime minister as he stood off to the side of the chambers silently; clearly, he was fearful of what would happen next, especially as he couldn't help but continue to look over at the motionless Suboru in pity. Kagato raised his hand towards him and motioned for the Prime Minister to come to him, and he did as Kagato wished. When in reaching distance, Kagato grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him into view of the robot's camera. Then, two more men entered the chamber who each held one handle of a large rectangular object emitting strange lights, setting it down behind Kagato.
"As you see," Kagato continued, pointed down towards the deceased deputy. "I have already killed one man, and your prime minister here is especially hoping that you comply with my demand, as he will be next. Yet, if you still do not wish to face me, then I have no qualms about using this potent explosive you see here to kill all of his fellow assemblymen and level this entire building. The decision is yours, Emperor; I eagerly await your response." Kagato finished. He pushed the Prime Minister away towards his chair in the center of the room. "Did you all hear what I said?" He addressed the entire assembly. "Don't make this difficult. Stay seated comfortably where you are."
He turned to the recording robot which was floating idly in the air. "Now, little one, go out there and spread the word to the media, it is time to tell Jurai that we have begun preparing for our great symphony."
"And you predict that economic growth will slow for a fourth consecutive quarter, Mr. Uesugi?"
"Yes, unfortunately. The recent border skirmishes between Seniwa and Renoir are making imports from either planet exorbitantly expensive. Accordingly, the rising prices of these goods on Jurai has caused consumer spending on average to fall by twelve percent..."
"Hold on, what is this? What? You mean right now? Really? Oh... Tsunami."
"Something wrong?"
"We... we have breaking news from the Imperial District. It appears that a group of armed militants are inside the Juraian National Assembly Building and holding the assembly hostage... all of them, I mean. We... we have a message from the group themselves regarding the situation. Play it, please..."
Hours passed after the media initially reported the incident to the public. The streets surrounding the National Assembly Building were cordoned off by authorities, but given the lack of information and the severity of the cost of failure, no moves were made to remedy the situation. The sun finally fell below the horizon and Jurai City was bathed in darkness, but the people were more active now than during the daytime as this crisis continued.
In a desolate region of space, there was a series of interlocking rings held in place by the top and bottom of a massive spinal structure; it was a massive space station, and all around it, starships of many sizes moved into, out of, and around it. Onboard this station, there was a large room where one woman relaxed on a chaise lounge sofa and silently observed the innumerable bright dots through a massive window. The lighting was dim, reflecting the currently relaxed attitude of the room.
A low humming sound came from the room's entrance. "Come in." The woman quickly answered. An older butler, dressed in fine white and black clothing, slowly pushed a small cart with a pot and cups complemented by saucers.
"Another pot of tea, specially brewed to your preferences, superintendent." He announced as he came to a stop right next to the sofa. He took the pot in his hands and carefully poured it into one of the cups before handing it to the woman.
"Thank you." She said, taking the cup from the butler and taking a slow sip. She sighed as she finished. "I should've known we wouldn't get a break. Space Pirate Ryoko finally got bored of wreaking havoc wherever she pleased, but now we have some lunatic planning to blow up a major government institution on Jurai. You'd think after several thousand years of continuous civilization, we'd be over this sort of thing, but I guess I was too optimistic. What do you think?"
"Time passes, but people remain the same despicable beasts that they are. Until people's nature changes into something more... pleasant, we will have to stand guard to keep them in line." He answered. "And I will need to continue my service to provide tea to the superintendent, a necessary duty that I have provided since before you were a cadet in the Galaxy Police Academy."
"That is something I can appreciate." She said before she was interrupted by another beeping sound, this time coming from her desk. The butler walked over and announced his findings.
"It appears that you have a message coming from Jurai. It's Emperor Azusa himself."
"In the flesh? That's a rarity. Put him through." She ordered, standing up and finishing off her cup of tea. She walked over and stood behind her desk. The large windows that showed the stars also served as a screen, and now the screen turned to grey, fizzled, and finally showed a man wearing regal clothing, and straight purple hair and a beard. The Superintendent smiled at the sight; while she would never say such a thing out loud, she always found the contrast between the Emperor's stone-cold expression and the color of his hair to be frankly ridiculous.
"Greetings, Emperor Azusa." She said.
"And I extend my greetings to you, superintendent," Azusa answered. "However, you can assume that I am not calling out of the need for casual conversation."
"Of course. I'm sure you're too busy with whatever strange Juraian things you usually preoccupy yourself with down there."
The emperor looked puzzled at the woman. "You are not from Jurai?"
"I was born on this space station. Yes, this one." She pointed down to the floor to emphasize her seriousness. "My parents were both Galaxy Police officers themselves, and one day, after a particularly tough mission, they decided to unwind and have... oh, I shouldn't say that to royalty!" She chuckled softly before continuing. "Suffice it to say, the Galaxy Police is my home, family, and occupation; you could consider it a three-in-one deal."
"Interesting," Azusa replied, not expecting that sort of explanation. He cleared his throat to ease the awkward silence that threatened to end the conversation before it began. "Excuse me, my curiosity often leads me to ask questions that I shouldn't. Now, back to the matter at hand. I'm sure you are well aware of the hostile takeover of the National Assembly in Jurai City. Their leader, Kagato, threatens to blow up the building unless I appear before him. Now, as you can imagine, I refuse to lower myself to a man who is himself lower than the dirt the fills my gardens. That would leave the resolution of the matter in the hands of the authorities, but that is also problematic."
"Why would that be?"
"Though he is deluded in thinking that his demands will be met, I have the feeling that Kagato is entirely serious. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if the Jurai City Police created a disaster while they attempted to use force and claw Kagato out of National Assembly. It certainly wouldn't be the first time in recent memory that something like this has happened. This is why I request the assistance of the Galaxy Police to solve this matter. Compared to them, your subordinates are undoubtedly better suited to these... special situations."
The superintendent nodded slowly as she pondered the emperor's proposal. "You're in luck. Though we'd prefer to let the planet-side authorities deal with issues like this, the Galaxy Police is always ready to spring into action whenever we're called upon. I'll gladly send you a few of our fine officers to clean up your mess down there."
"I thank you. I wholly expect that your personnel with be sufficient to quickly snuff out the dreams of the so-called revolutionaries... though it would certainly be a shame if they proved me otherwise." Azusa suggested.
"Of course, emperor. I won't let that happen."
The screen blackened, and the superintendent sat down in her office chair and quietly pondered her next move as she unconsciously reached out for another cup of tea. After being quickly relived by the butler, who now quietly left with an empty kettle, she turned towards her desk and looked over to the spherical object within arm's reach; the sphere opened up on contact and emitted a holographic display. While moving her hand through this display seemed inconspicuous looking, the Superintendent had just performed a very important function. This spherical device was what allowed her to instantly contact every single division of the GP within a few seconds and allowed her to control the entire space station from her office.
She turned around in her chair, again facing the large window-screen. Her call was soon picked up, and she was staring at one of the colonels of the Intelligence Division; it was Colonel Hakodate, a man recognizable by his graying hair and prominent widow's peak.
"Yes, superintendent?" A man on the other end answered.
"That was three-point eight seconds, Hakodate. Very sloppy of you." She commented. "I expect a three-second delay maximum, no more."
He bowed his head in apology. "Sorry, we're just a little hectic right now with since we're dealing with a few minor technical difficulties on our end." He answered, bowing apologetically. "I'll send a report to you about it once we're done resolving them. Anyway, did you need something from Intelligence?"
"I want one of your senior staff sent to my office immediately." She ordered.
"Any senior staff?" He asked. Assuming he was correct, he looked away and waved to someone standing off-screen. "Hey, Ishizuka, you're up! Go meet with Fujikawa."
"What? Didn't I already tell you that I'm busy ironing out the bugs on Corporal Obato's system right now? Seeing as how he's too 'busy' to fix it himself, I can't go anywhere before I get it running again." A younger, irritated voice responded.
"I'll take over. Just go meet with Fujikawa already." He repeated. "Don't make me issue an order, lieutenant."
"You couldn't even fix the... oh, nevermind. Have fun trying to bypass this computer's secondary security encryption manually!"
The superintendent softly chuckled as the transmission ended. She turned back around to her desk and, after finishing her second cup of tea, began to interact with the spherical computer again. "Now, let's find a few good officers suitable to send to hell and back..."
The afternoon air was cool and pleasant as it breezed outside. The sunlight glistened over a small, calm lake in the middle of this part of the Japanese countryside that remained untouched by civilization-at-large except for a single modern-looking story house that sat near this lake. A great hill was positioned nearby the house with a set of steps that began at the very bottom and lead to the top where there was a well-kept pathway leading to a small Shinto shrine. A boy busied himself with meticulously sweeping the stone pathway while inside the shrine, an old man dressed in white garbs sat amidst the smell of incense as he wrote calligraphy. He dropped the brush he was using back into the inkstone on the low table in front of him and picked up a piece of paper, reading aloud the freshly-painted words to himself.
Autumn wind flows by
We reflect on the past year
Embracing each other
"Well, I suppose I've done worse." The man said to himself, putting down his paper and taking another sip of his tea. He stood up from his mat and slowly walked to the door and made his way outside, his eyes scanning the shrine for his grandson. "Tenchi! Tenchi!" He called to him, who looked over and immediately dropped his broom and ran over to the man.
"Need something, grandpa?" Tenchi asked him.
Grandpa looked over at where Tenchi was just sweeping, and then at the other corners of the shrine where, thanks to his eyeglasses, he could see the slightest collection of dust and debris. "You're getting slow Tenchi, you should've finished sweeping this entire shrine by now. How are you going to advance in your training and take over my responsibilities of maintaining this shrine if you take too long to sweep it clean?"
Tenchi smiled as he put a hand behind his head and shrugged casually. "Hey, there's no need to rush things, is there? If I did, then you'd make me do it all over again. Don't think I've already forgotten about the last time it happened, either."
"That's not the answer I expected from you, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong," Grandpa replied. "There is wisdom in those words. 'If a fisherman worries about what he will catch tomorrow, then today's catch will go rotten and he will be left hungry!' Maybe your father Nobuyuki could learn a thing or two from you; he needs to relax more than any of us."
"Well, he does have to work hard to support a house with us and a bunch of women, one of them with an unquenchable thirst for sake. Good thing designing architecture pays well or else we'd be living on instant ramen and rice alone!"
Grandpa smiled at that remark. "Very true, Tenchi." His smile faded and soon his face turned into once grim and serious. Tenchi looked on suspiciously.
"Hey, you look pretty down, grandpa? Something wrong?" He asked.
It was a long, awkward second before Katsuhito replied to Tenchi. "I don't know. I feel... something. I feel as though something important is happening far, far away; yet, I can feel it's effect so very close here. Tenchi, I think our lives here will change, for better or worse I am not sure, but I know that something will happen."
"Well, the only thing we can do is hope that it isn't more trouble!" Tenchi said optimistically. He looked towards the sky for a moment and noticed the special shade of orange that signified the short transition from late afternoon to evening. "Oh, it's getting late. I'll go and see if Sasami has finished preparing dinner for us yet."
Tenchi bowed deeply to his grandfather and walked down the steps of the hill away from the shrine and back towards his house. He walked next to the glistening lake before the back of the house came into view. There, he saw a purple-haired girl dressed in fancy layered clothing sweeping the porch right in front of the glass sliding door that led inside. Tenchi walked over and the girl soon put down her broom and looked over at him. "Oh, Lord Tenchi, I didn't see you there. It's so good to see you again so soon."
"Oh, it is, Ayeka?" Tenchi asked hesitantly. "Well, it's good to see you as well." He attempted to begin walking around her when she moved closer to him.
"So, you... you came here to see me?" Ayeka asked. "Oh, such a wondrous thing for you to do, Lord Tenchi! I must say, you are a true gentleman; you attend to the needs of a lovely princess, and not that wicked witch who slobbers over you like some beastly animal!"
Tenchi looked slightly off to the side of Ayeka out of embarrassment. "Oh, well, I didn't come for… I was just going to go inside and..."
"Who are you calling a witch, Princess Airhead?" A rough voice came out of nowhere. Tenchi and Ayeka looked around before a silver-haired woman appeared from below, phasing up through the ground and appearing on equal footing with the other two and pushing them away from each other. "You think Tenchi walked from the shrine to see you?! Get real, he came looking for me, because unlike you, I know how to have a fun time around here! Right Tenchi?" She asked him as she hugged tightly him from behind, immediately angering Ayeka.
Seeing clearly how the gasoline was about to be set alight with all three of them in one place, Tenchi quickly forced Ryoko off of him and started to walk towards the sliding door, looking back at Ryoko and Ayeka with an innocent smile. "Well, uh, the truth is… I walked over here to see Sasami, I wanted to know how dinner was coming along." He said as he slid open the door. "Well... see you later, bye!" He quickly finished and closed the door behind him.
Tenchi took a deep breath and made his way over to the kitchen where, unsurprisingly, a blue-haired girl with two substantial ponytails busied herself with all sorts of ingredients sprawled over the kitchen table. The girl finished chopping up a carrot before she turned around, apron following her, and looked excitedly at the boy who let himself in. "Hello, Tenchi!"
"Hello, Sasami," Tenchi replied. "You're busy as ever, I see. Well, what's for dinner tonight? Something new I hope?"
"You hope right! I'm trying out this new recipe for Miso soup that has both vegetables and fish as ingredients. It's almost finished, too; I can't wait for you all to try it out!" Sasami said happily before again busying herself with her cooking.
"I'll be looking forward to it, Sasami. I'll go call the other back here." Tenchi said as he walked out of the kitchen. Just as he was about to leave out the back and return to the shrine, Tenchi heard a knock from the front door.
"Coming." He yelled out as he approached the door. What greeted him on the other side were two familiar women. One had tanned skin and overflowing golden hair that was held in place by a red hair tie. The other woman had paler skin in comparison and long and beautiful teal hair that was complemented by a prominent red headband and red earrings. Both of them were wearing blue jeans and colorful sweaters that symbolized the vibrant lifestyle in urban Japan.
"Kiyone and Mihoshi, I didn't know you were visiting us again!" Tenchi said greeting the two women. With courtesy, Tenchi held the door wide open and letting them into the house, reminding them to take their shoes off before stepping on the floor, of course. "How long has it been since you've been over here, anyway?" He asked them.
"Oh, just around a week I think," Mihoshi said. "Time sure flies when you're busy with work and all, especially when you are working for the Galaxy Police! Oh, and being forced to work two jobs at once is a real pain, especially when you can't afford to take the bus and have to walk several kilometers back and for..."
"Yeah, I think you get the idea, Tenchi." Kiyone interrupted. "Mihoshi just thought that we should see you all again, so here we are. How are you doing?"
"Oh, just fine. Nothing much has changed around here." Tenchi responded as he walked the two women into the living room. "Well, it's almost dinner time I suspect, so you two can make yourselves comfortable while I go get the others." He turned around and walked away and out of sight of the two women. Kiyone nodded to herself and made her way over the nearest sofa and wasted no time in lying down on it, slumping down in the process.
"I'm exhausted. My feet are killing me from all that walking we had to do just to get here." Kiyone said.
"That's why I've been trying to tell you to move the Yagami over to Okayama. We wouldn't have to rely on public transportation." Mihoshi replied.
"Yeah, as if the citizens of Okayama won't bat an eye at the giant red spaceship flying in and out of their city daily. What Earth year is it, Mihoshi, 1997? It could 2097 right now and these terrestrials will probably still be scratching their heads trying to figure out advanced solar technology, let alone spaceships."
"Then why don't we just move into this house? Tenchi wouldn't mind if we lived here." Mihoshi said as she sat down on the side of the sofa opposite of Kiyone. "And we wouldn't have to commute from the city just to get to the Yagami. "
Kiyone looked over at Mihoshi unamused. "We can't do that." She said sternly. "Have you considered how much of a burden we would be to Tenchi and his family? He has enough problems to deal with as it is and it'd be rude of us to make it worse on him."
"You're being overdramatic. Tenchi loves our company! I bet he would welcome us without a second thought. Plus, we can quit our boring jobs in Okayama and spend all our time..."
"I mean it, Mihoshi!" Kiyone yelled out. She was annoyed with Mihoshi's suggestion, but after realizing the extent to which she raised her voice, she felt she'd gone too far. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm a little tired. Just let me rest a little before dinner, alright?"
"Oh... alright Kiyone. I'll see if Sasami could use some help with dinner!" Mihoshi said as she stood up and left for the kitchen.
Alone, Kiyone soon shifted her weight on the sofa and looked out the nearest window at the trees and forest near the house, where the autumn leaves flowed to and fro in the wind; as time went on Kiyone lamented that the closet she could get to experience the feeling of those leaves was to was to stare longingly at them from within the confines of this house. She could, of course, go outside to try and catch the leaves herself, but Kiyone knew that would be a fruitless endeavor, as those leaves would be just too high up for her to reach and too fast for her to ever catch.
"What... am I even doing here?" She muttered to herself.
Night soon came, and as the moon glistened over the quiet lake, the house was alive with the chatter and activity of many people. Katsuhito and Tenchi's father, Nobuyuki, were discussing a faraway topic on a sofa while Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi, Kiyone and Washu-who only now broke from her isolation in her lab behind the old closet for dinner- had seated themselves around the low table in the dining room. Sasami had finished placing the finishing touches of tonight's dinner on the table, and she quickly seated herself down; soon everyone gave chanted their grace and descended upon the food before them.
Tenchi was the first to try out the new miso soup that Sasami made. A minute went by before he grasped a small piece of fish with his chopsticks and ate it, downing it with the broth of the soup. "Wow, this is great! I think you've found another great dish, Sasami." He said approvingly.
"I'm so glad you like it, Tenchi," Sasami replied. She looked over at the others, who were all silently enjoying the food as much as Tenchi, all except one. Kiyone held a bowl of miso soup and chopsticks in her hands, but she was looking down aimlessly at the table, seemingly lost in her void of existence; she hadn't said a single word apart from grace.
"What about you, Kiyone? Do you like the miso soup I made?" She asked with uncertainty, but Kiyone didn't respond, almost as if she didn't even hear Sasami in the first place. "Kiyone?" Sasami repeated.
Kiyone's head snapped back up and turned toward the young princess. Her eyes blinked twice before she responded. "...Oh! Sorry, Sasami. I was just thinking about something." Kiyone said as she quickly took a sip from her bowl. "Yeah, this miso soup is great!"
Meanwhile, Ryoko was so far enjoying herself. She had brought a bottle of sake-brand new from the nearest convenience store in Okayama- to the dinner table, and, to the annoyance of Ayeka, began pouring the drink into small cups and wasted no time emptying. After enough rounds, she turned her eyes to Tenchi with a face that reeked with booze and euphoria, "Hey, Tenchi." Ryoko slurred out, letting the empty cup of sake in her hand fall to the floor and roll away. "How long do you think it'll be before you finally make your decision?"
"Decision?" Tenchi repeated in confusion as he looked at Ryoko. "What do you mean, 'decision'?"
"Oh, you dummy!" Ryoko replied annoyed. "You need to choose one of us here to be yours. I suggest Ryoko, personally. She's never let you down before or harmed you, has she?" She was rubbing a finger in circles around Tenchi's chest. That came to an abrupt end as Ryoko's hair was painfully pulled back by Ayeka, who reached around Tenchi to intervene with Ryoko's antics.
"Get off him, you leech! As if Lord Tenchi would ever want to be married to a sake-addicted slouch like yourself. He prefers the well-mannered and beautiful princess right in front of him, doesn't he?" She asked, grasping his hands into hers. "And need I remind you that you nearly killed Lord Tenchi when you rammed Ryo-Ohki into my ship Ryo-Oh in orbit that one time?"
"Uhh... hey, that's a complete lie!" Ryoko slurred back, slapping Ayeka and Tenchi's hands apart fiercely. "Ryo-Oh rammed into Ryo-Ohki! Right, Tenchi? Right?"
Tenchi gulped heavily. He didn't know for certain, obviously, but past experiences told him that the next few words that he uttered would mean the difference between sleeping that night in his bed or outside in the grass near the ashes of his house, again. "Well, um, I don't r-"
"Please, Lord Tenchi, don't tell me you take the words coming out of that drunkard's foul mouth seriously! She can't be trusted!" Ayeka interrupted. "Just know that I would never put you in danger, unlike that silver-haired siren who spends every waking moment putting your life in jeopardy in her attempts to seduce you!"
As the argument raged on, Kiyone was slowly growing more and more frustrated with the back-and-forth bickering between the princess and the space pirate. The anger she attempted to suppress was evident when she broke her chopsticks in her hand before she put down her miso soup and put her hands to her face, leaning over onto the table and trying to drown out the noise coming from the end of the table. She moaned quietly, and Mihoshi looked over at her partner worryingly.
"Hey, Kiyone, are you all right?" She asked, shaking her lightly on the shoulder. "Let me guess, a stomach problem?"
"I...I.." Kiyone began, but she stopped as she looked back over towards Ayeka and Ryoko, both of them growing in anger until a boiling point was reached.
"Oh, that's it! I will not allow Lord Tenchi to be deceived by a lowly criminal!" Ayeka yelled as she stood up, summoning her miniature logs resembling Azaka and Kamidake.
"You sure about that, little girl? Let's see if you'll put your money where your mouth is!" Ryoko said as she too stood up and challenged brights balls of energy in her hands.
"Hey, hey girls! Don't do this! Not again! Please, take it outside!" Tenchi pleaded desperately, but neither of them listened. Sparks of electricity flared all around the dining room, and Tenchi moved back a bit to keep himself out of the crossfire. It seemed that, once again, he would have to ask the genius scientist Washu to revert the house to a point in time before whatever was about to happen to it.
Instead, Kiyone finally snapped. She slammed her hands and the table and stood up and looked toward Ayeka and Ryoko not simply with anger in her face, but more akin to an intense and pronounced hatred of them. This was so noticeable that two girls stopped channeling energies from their bodies and looked over at Kiyone in confusion."I can't take this anymore!" She yelled. "Why is it that every time you two happen to be in the same room you have to start arguing over Tenchi?!"
Her sudden outburst caused everyone else in the room to go dead silent. Even Katsuhito and Nobuyuki who were talking to each other on the sofa nearby went silent as they looked over to the scene at the dinner table.
"Don't you two ever get tired of this shtick? She asked them angrily. "I just don't get it. I don't understand how he could mean so much to you, to the point where you'd be willing to destroy this entire house to win his favor or approval! This must be what you two focus on all day, every day, isn't it? Making sure that nobody but yourself can have him." She said, pausing for a moment to catch her breath. She could see that everyone in the room was focused on her, including Mihoshi, whose usually happy face now seemed muted and depressed as she sat next to Kiyone; it's as if time itself had granted Kiyone this one instance to stop all other events to vent her frustration.
"Well, do you know how my day went?" She continued. "I had to wake up at five-thirty in the morning to catch the train to Okayama, walk several kilometers just get to my first job at Freshness Burger just on time, only to deal with angry, ungrateful customers and having excusing the mess that Mihoshi made out of the beverage machine to the manager. Then I had to walk several more kilometers to my afternoon job at the construction site downtown. Standing in thirty-degree heat for hours on end was only interrupted when I had to apologize to my boss when Mihoshi accidentally dropped a steel beam from a crane and nearly killed someone! Oh, sorry, I almost forgot to mention that I then had to give him a second excuse to leave after I get a GP alert about some idiot attempting to establish a pirate republic on Europa! Now here I am after an exhausting day of work, torture, and probably getting fired from one of my two jobs, and my one moment of reprieve, dinner, is about to be ruined because you Tenchi is too nice to just say 'no' to you hotheads!"
Ayeka and Ryoko now looked at Kiyone with a legitimate surprise. The last person they expected to lash out at them would be the calm and collected GP officer. Kiyone by now was heaving heavily from her shouting. "I swear if you two refuse to grow out of your pathetic and destructive childishness, I... I'm never coming ba-" she stopped mid-sentence. The other looked on in confusion before they all realized as well that a beeping sound that had been quietly emanating in the background suddenly became much louder and pronounced.
"What's that noise?" Tenchi asked as he now stood up as well and turned to Washu. "Washu, you didn't leave any of your experiments running wild in the lab, did you? If its another one of Ryo-Ohki's 'parents'..."
"No, not at all Tenchi," The red-haired scientist replied innocent-sounding. "That was an isolated incident. I've taken more precautions since then so it couldn't be something in the lab... really."
After a pause in which nobody responded, Tenchi stood up and walked towards the source of the sound, going through the hallways until he reached and opened the door leading outside to the back of the house and the clotheslines. The girls quickly followed in tow, just as curious as Tenchi; all except for Kiyone, who instead silently sat back down at the low table, covering her face with her hands.
"Well, it seems to be coming from over here," Tenchi said before walking over and sifting through the clothes on the line. He saw an unusual article of clothing and pulled it off. With its blue and grey colors, Tenchi realized immediately it was a Galaxy Police uniform. "Huh? What's this still doing here?"
Mihoshi looked over and immediately snatched the uniform away from Tenchi. She dug her hand into both of the pockets for a moment before she grabbed something and took it out for everyone else to see. It was a pink cube the size of a hand, and Mihoshi was overjoyed by the sight of it. "Oh, so THAT'S where it was!" She said.
"Where what was?" Kiyone asked, having finally walked over out of curiosity at the commotion. Her tone was calmer compared to just a minute ago, though retaining a hint of irritation and displeasure. She looked down at the pink cube in Mihoshi's hands for a moment before looking over at the opened washing machine and finally back at Mihoshi, staring right into her big blue eyes. After a second-long and awkward stare, Kiyone fiercely grabbed Mihoshi by her shirt and pulled her close, causing the cube to fall out of Mihoshi's hand down onto the ground.
"You're telling me that you left both your Control Cube and a uniform here for an entire week?!" Kiyone furiously asked Mihoshi, "Do you have any idea how important both those items are to performing your duties as a Galaxy Police Officer?"
"I know, I know Kiyone." Mihoshi replied meekly, "It was just an honest mistake. I must've thought that I had already taken it before we left last time, and I usually keep my control cube in my uniform so I don't lose it on the Yagami. Besides, it doesn't seem the cube was damaged anyway; if anything, it's a good thing that it gets washed from time to time, right?"
Kiyone was dumbfounded for a moment before her face beamed red and angry from Mihoshi's remark. She grabbed Mihoshi by the shoulders and was about to unleash another wave of ridicule before she took a deep breath and slowly let go of her. She walked over to where the cube fell and began to tinker and twist the device in different directions and stop the beeping noise that emanated from it.
"What is it now?" Tenchi asked, oblivious to the nature of the mysterious object. "Trouble?"
"No, it's... it's the Galaxy Police." Kiyone answered.
"Them?" Ryoko repeated. "Don't tell me they're trying to get you two to arrest me again. You better tell them that I'm not going anywhere!"
"No, I don't think it's that. We only get calls on our Control Cubes in emergencies. This one is classified as a Level Nine message; ones coming from the office of the GP Superintendent herself. Let me read this... 'Galaxy Police Officers Kiyone Makibi and Mihoshi Kuramitsu are hereby ordered to return to Galaxy Police Headquarters and report to Superintendent Airi Fujikawa within thirty intergalactic hours. Failure to comply will result in serious reprimands." Kiyone turned to Mihoshi. "We don't have any time to waste. I'll get the Yagami up and running, so get whatever you left inside the house and hurry back."
Mihoshi nodded and briskly walked back into the house, while Kiyone ran into the nearby forest.
"Now then Tenchi, where were we?" Ryoko as she slowly wrapped herself around Tenchi. "Don't mind that uptight Kiyone, she doesn't understand you in the slightest. She's just jealous because she knows she has nothing compared to me."
"You never learn," Ayeka said as she again pulled painfully on Ryoko's hair, freeing Tenchi from her grasp.
Kiyone reached the Yagami after a short walk to the clearing in the forest. Looking up at the center of the ship, a large hole opened up, and blue energy enveloped her, causing her to rise into the air. She made it through and landed on the floor of the ship. After getting dressed in her GP uniform, she made their way to the cockpit in the front. Upon entering, she walked over at the main control panel and began interacting with the touch-keyboard, typing a certain command unique to every single registered ship used by the Galaxy Police. The roar of the Yagami's engines and the activation of various screens and instruments told Kiyone that she had performed the command successfully. Satisfied, she sat down in the nearest seat. She found herself having slumped into the seat and looking up aimlessly at the ceiling.
"Back to headquarters, huh? As long as it got me away from here, I wouldn't mind crossing the entire universe."
PREVIEW OF
NEXT PROGRAM:
"Hello, I'm Kiyone. While I imagined that something special was in store for us on Jurai, I could've never imagined us getting deployed into a task force to rescue Jurai's National Assembly! And the fact that... 'she' had to come along with us was even more strange."
"Yeah, but why did we of all people have to come back and do this? We finally got settled on Earth, only to be ordered by GP to travel to Jurai just to put ourselves in danger? I want to go home, Kiyone!"
"Quit complaining Mihoshi! Just keep your head down and don't do anything stupid! Oh, I can positively taste that promotion coming my… our way! The next episode of Tenchi Muyo: Miho-Kiyo Complex… what kind of name is that? Oh, nevermind. The next episode: Operation Codename: Hangyaku!"
"It's unquestionably dangerous!"
Author's Note #1: What is Miho-Kiyo Complex?
If you're reading down here, then it appears you've finished the first episode of a long and ambitious fanfiction.
It's a simple story of how I came up with this whole idea. I had recently watched the majority of Tenchi Muyo and its various independent storylines and I became very interested in Kiyone and Mihoshi, two members of the Galaxy Police who don't seem to do much apart from counting the stars and giving speeding tickets to space ships...in outer space.
At the same time I had also just finished watching the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, an anime which I consider a masterpiece for its well-developed cast of characters such as Motoko (Major) Kusanagi, Batou, and Togusa; great animation and especially CG; and most importantly, it's fascinating portrayal of a futuristic society that has become adapted to the cyberization of its people while still dealing with the eternal problems of government corruption and red tape, crime, poverty, corporate blackmail, and tiptoeing through tense diplomacy among hostile countries.
After seeing the potential for combing the suspense and thrill of Stand Alone Complex and the blank canvas provided by the science-fantasy universe of Tenchi Muyo, I quickly came up with the concept of Miho-Kiyo Complex: a crime/suspense story starring Kiyone and Mihoshi as they joined a special operations unit and tackle strange and special cases across the galaxy; as well as the convoluted process of comprehending their own existence.
If you're wondering about where this story would fit into the exceedingly convoluted Tenchi canon, well, I suppose that Miho-Kiyo Complex is an independent OVA series, just like Magical Girl Pretty Sammy; it's the most Tenchi answer I can give you. All jokes aside, I find that it's the perfect answer since it means I can play god and not get bogged down with whatever annoying technicalities that are in the Ryo-Ohki OVA series.
Now, if it wasn't obvious enough from reading this first episode, I want to state clearly that Miho-Kiyo Complex is not a Tenchi Muyo story, at least not in the traditional sense. It doesn't focus on the misadventures of Tenchi Masaki and his harem family, because people have already done that to death and I'm not interested in that kind of story in the first place. Rather, I see Miho-Kiyo Complex as a story that takes advantage of Tenchi Muyo's blank canvas to add my unique blend of old and new ideas. While I won't be cocky as to suggest that this is the beginning of "a new genre itself" similar to Cowboy Bebop, I will say that you should be ready and excited for a story that doesn't play by the rules of what you'd expect from a traditional Tenchi Muyo story, fanfiction or otherwise.
That being said, if you like what I have to offer with this new story, I insist that you favorite it, give a comprehensive (please tell me what you liked and suggest improvements ) review, tell your friends, fellow fanfiction connoisseurs, and Tenchi Muyo fans who might also be interested, and stay in touch for the next episode, which will come out in the near future.
