Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction / Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Strange Circumstances ❯ Chapter 1
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: icenectar 
Anime/Manga: Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction / Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 08.04.2003 | Pages: 11 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 512 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction / Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 08.04.2003 | Pages: 11 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 512 | Status: Completed
Anime: Weiss Kreuz/Tenchi Muyo
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: All characters expressed in this story are copyrighted
by their respected owners including animation studios, multimedia
companies, and licensing organizations.
________________________________________________________ _____________
In an empty room, dimly lit by the glow of candles, he stood gazing
out the window with his good eye, his left forever covered by a veil
of darkness.
"There is no justice in this world," he said, his voice a harsh
whisper as he ran his dart down the bandages on his arm.
"There is nothing! Where is help when you need it? Where is love?
Rules are made to be broken."
He watched bitterly as a glistening light crossed the sky, its arch
lessening as it fell towards the ground. That falling light
symbolized shattered hopes and dreams.
The door opened and he turned around. A tall male with long orange
hair stood there.
"Come on, Farfarello. We've got work to do," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- ----
"Oh my. I guess I hit the wrong thing, Miss Washu," Mihoshi said and
Ryoko growled in anger.
"Mihoshi what the hell were you thinking?!" she demanded.
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know! I was trying to help and
everything went wrong!"
"Oh Tenchi I'm so scared!" Ayeka cried as she grabbed onto Tenchi.
"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing to my Tenchi?!" Ryoko
cried.
"YOUR Tenchi?! Ryoko what are you getting at? Tenchi is most
definitely NOT yours."
"Miss Washu?" Sasami asked.
"Yes, Sasami?" Washu asked.
"Where are we?"
"Well Sasami, it appears that we're in Japan, but exactly which
Japan is the mystery."
"Would you two cut it out?! Miss Washu, are you saying that we're in
a different dimension?" Tenchi asked as he pushed away from Ayeka
and Ryoko.
************************************************************
"Perhaps. I'm not entirely sure what happened. I'm going to need
some time to figure this out. But let's check this place out first,
all right?" Washu asked and Sasami and Ryo-ohki both jumped for joy.
"Yay! Hear that Ryo-ohki? We're going on an adventure."
"Meow!" the cabbit replied.
"Just a minute Miss Washu. We have no idea where we are and you want
to go look at the sites?! Who knows what kind of danger lies out
there?" Ayeka asked and Ryoko pushed past her.
"Well I'm all for a good time. Let's go," Ryoko said and Washu
grabbed her pants.
"Hold on there. We're not going to have a good time. We're going to
look for clues," she said as Ryoko pulled away.
"What kind of clues, Miss Washu?" Mihoshi asked.
"Anything that tells us exactly where we are."
"I think we should look for something to eat before we do anything
else."
"You WOULD say something like that. You're nothing but a barbarian
Ryoko," Ayeka said and Ryoko glared at her.
"Well my stomach isn't the one making all that noise. Is poor little
Ayeka hungry?" she asked and Ayeka flushed.
"Well I suppose I am perhaps a LITTLE hungry," Ayeka confessed in a
small voice.
"Well you all have a point. But how can we buy food if we don't have
the correct currency?" Washu asked.
"We could always eat and run," Ryoko said.
"Ryoko..."Tenchi said reproachfully and Ryoko looked at him.
"I wasn't serious, Tenchi. My goodness, you don't think I'd do
something like that, do you?"
"It's exactly what you would do, you monster!" Ayeka cried.
"You're just upset because you didn't think of it first."
"Please! Stop fighting you two!" Mihoshi cried.
"Let's start walking. Maybe we'll find someone that can help us
out," Tenchi suggested.
"That's a wonderful idea, Tenchi. You come up with such good ideas,"
Ayeka said.
"What was that?" Ryoko asked and Tenchi looked at her.
"What was what, Ryoko?" he inquired.
"There's something in the shadows."
"How dare you, Ryoko? You're just trying to scare us," Ayeka said.
"She's right. I'm getting some strange readings," Washu said and
Sasami walked over to where her sister stood.
"Ayeka, I'm scared," she said and Ryo-ohki echoed her fright.
"It'll be all right, Sasami," Ayeka said. "Now dry your eyes.
Everything will be taken care of."
************************************************************
" So this is where you went off to. You're neglecting your duties
Farfarello," Schuldrich said and Farfarello glanced at him.
"Those people..." he said and Schuldrich nodded his head.
"We saw them coming. They will get taken care of in due course. Come
on. We've got work to do. The Weiss are getting close again. We need
to distance them from our goal."
________________________________________________________________ _____
"Where are we now?" Ayeka asked and Sasami sat on the curb.
"I'm tired and hungry Tenchi," she said and Ryo-ohki let out a tired
meow.
"I know Sasami. We all are. I wish I knew what to do, though."
Tenchi said.
"We'll have to earn the money somehow," Washu said.
"But how can we do that if we don't have a place to stay?" Mihoshi
asked and everyone sighed. "I'm sorry. I just thought..."
"Mihoshi, much as I hate to admit it, you're absolutely right,"
Washu said and Mihoshi looked at her.
"What? I'm right about something? Oh my!"
"Don't let it go to your head."
"I won't Miss Washu. I won't!"
"Well let's go look for something then," Ryoko said.
"There's someone over there. Let's ask for directions," Tenchi said.
****************************************************
"Darn! This thing won't start!" Omi cried as he kicked the tires of
his moped.
"Um, hello? Excuse me, please," Ayeka said as he walked up to him.
"Huh? Oh hi. None of you would know what's wrong with this thing,
would you?"
"Let me take a look at it. Here's the problem. You're also not
maximizing this thing's full potential. I'll fix it up for you, all
right?" Washu asked.
"I don't know..."
"Excuse me. Can you tell us where we are?" Sasami asked as she
tightly held Ryo-ohki.
"Where you are? Why this is Tokyo."
"I knew it! I'm such a genius!" Washu cried as her own little mecha
creations appeared to applaud her.
"You aren't from around here, are you?" Omi asked.
"Now what gave you that idea?" Ayeka muttered.
"Do you have any money you could give us? We're really hungry,"
Sasami said and Ryo-ohki meowed pitifully.
"Sasami! It's not polite to beg for money!" Ayeka scolded and Sasami
glanced at her.
"But Ayeka..."
"Just a minute. I may be able to solve your problem," Omi said and
Tenchi looked at him.
"Please. We don't want to be indebted to you," he said but Omi
wasn't listening to him.
"Hello Yoji? Are you really busy? Well I'm at the corner of Blue
Valley Street and Smith Avenue. There's a group of travelers who are
lost and I was wondering if you'd help them out. This isn't a joke,
Yoji! This is serious! Now would you please help? Thank you."
"That Yoji guy didn't seem too willing to help," Washu commented.
"I bet he was just a little tired when he got called," Mihoshi said
and yawned. "In fact, I'm a little tired myself."
"I was actually amazed you stayed awake for this long," Ayeka said
under her breath.
"What? I didn't hear that, Ayeka."
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine, you'll see."
***********************************************************
" Things are falling into place," Schuldrich commented as he watched
Nagi tap away on the computer.
"It is as I saw it happen. What's the matter Farfarello? Have things
not gone the way you would have liked them to go?" Crawford asked and
Farfarello gazed coldly at him through his good eye.
"I want to know when I can strike. I want to know when they will be
mine," Farfarello said as he dragged his dart down his shoulder.
"Patience Farfarello. The time to strike will come soon enough."
______________________________________________________________ _______
"So let me get this straight. You all live in Tokyo but you're from
a different dimension?" Yoji asked.
"Well actually we're from a place from the Masaki shrine but Tokyo
is close enough," Tenchi said.
"Thank you ever so much for giving us a ride," Ayeka said and Yoji
glanced at her.
"It's no problem, but one tends to wonder about you. One guy with
all these women..."
"Well that's not strange at all. Tenchi has just been so kind to
us..." Mihoshi said.
"You've got to tell me how you do it Tenchi," Yoji said and Tenchi's
face grew red.
***********************************************************
"W here's Farfarello now? He isn't trying to do something rash, is
he?" Schuldrich asked.
"I gave him a simple task to carry out. It should work off his
excess energy," Nagi replied.
"As long as it ties into the objective, I don't care what he does,"
Brad said.
"Well then. I suppose I should start stirring things up a little,"
Schuldrich said.
"Just don't lose focus of our objective."
"I'm not going to. I don't get extremely focused on what I do and
lose sight of the objective."
"There," Nagi said as he leaned back in his chair. "The first stage
is ready."
"Good. Now all we need is the perfect time to spring it all."
"Go ahead and prime the victims, Schuldrich. It'll make things a lot
more interesting."
_________________________________________________________ ____________
"Well this is going to be interesting. I've never had so many women
at my house at one time. I've certainly thought about it plenty of
times, but that's it," Yoji said as he led them into his house.
"Sounds like your type of fellow, Ryoko," Ayeka muttered and Ryoko
glared at her.
"WHAT did you say Ayeka?" Ryoko demanded and Yoji stepped between
the two.
"Guess we're going to have to keep you two separated. Why don't you
stay upstairs and you stay downstairs?" Yoji suggested.
"Excuse me, do you have a broom closet?" Washu asked and Yoji
looked at her.
"I have a linen closet," he replied.
"Upstairs or downstairs?"
"Upstairs but what...?"
"Don't worry about Miss Washu. She'll be fine. Looks like a couple
are already asleep," Tenchi said as he glanced at Sasami and Ryo-
ohki sleeping on the couch.
"Where's Mihoshi?" Ryoko asked and Ayeka pointed to the floor in
front of the couch where Mihoshi lay.
"Now really, do you think she would have stayed awake any longer?"
Ayeka asked.
"No, I suppose not. You wouldn't happen to have spare blankets for
them? At least for Sasami. Mihoshi can sleep anywhere it suits her,"
Tenchi said.
"Let me get one from the closet," Yoji said and walked out of the
room.
*********************************************************
"Hello there Ken," Schuldrich said as he stood leaning against the
dark crooked trunk of a tree. Ken spun around and his eyes darkened
when he recognized the speaker.
"What do YOU want?" he demanded and Schuldrich smiled smugly.
"Your companion Yoji has taken up with strangers. I do not believe
they belong to this planet."
"What are you talking about?"
"In any case, they're extremely dangerous. Who knows what kind of
damage they'll cause?"
"I can't believe you, but you're not apt to lie, are you?"
"I do what suits me. Whether you choose to believe me or not is up
to you."
"If they are as evil as you say, then why are you telling me this?"
"I'm concerned. I wouldn't want the Weiss to break up."
Ken blinked his eyes then searched around for Schuldrich, who had
already left. Unsure what to make of Schuldrich's appearance, he
started his motorcycle and headed for the flower shop.
_________________________________________________________________ ____
Aya gazed coldly at Yoji, who had come in late the next morning.
Yoji folded his sunglasses and glanced at Omi.
"What's with him?" he asked as Omi picked up a hose.
"You're late," Omi replied. "So, how did things go?"
"Okay, after the petty argument died down. The smart one locked
herself in my linen closet and she's trying to figure out what
exactly happened..."
"Back up a bit. She's locked in your linen closet?"
"Are you tow going to work or are you two going to talk? We're
pretty busy," Aya said and Omi looked at him.
"But Aya, something strange happened last night," Omi said and Aya
looked at him.
"What exactly do you mean by strange?"
"We ran across six people so have come from a different dimension."
"What?"
"But aren't they dangerous?" Ken asked and Yoji looked at him.
"I don't think so. Of course, I haven't seen all that much of them
so I can't really say," Yoji replied.
"So you're saying some complete strangers just appeared last
night?" Aya asked and Omi nodded his head.
"I know it sounds strange, but that's what happened," he said.
"What do you think of it, Aya?" Ken asked.
"I think we should go talk to these strangers," Aya replied.
************************************************************** **
"Good morning everyone! Yoji has a really great kitchen, Tenchi.
Look at all that I made," Sasami said as she pointed to the
breakfast table.
"Wow. It looks great Sasami. Where is everyone?" Tenchi asked as he
looked around the table.
"Ryo-ohki stop! You can't have anything until everyone else is here."
"Meow," Ryo-ohki said sadly as she hopped off the table and went to
a corner to sulk.
"Ha! I got here first Ayeka and now I'm going to eat your share of
the food!" Ryoko cried as she burst into the room.
"You most certainly will NOT eat my food Ryoko. I'm surprised at
you, anyway. But of course, you'll never act like anything less than
a barbarian so I don't know why I expect anything more out of you,"
Ayeka said.
"All right, all right you two. Would you cut it out?" Tenchi asked.
"Well, I should have known it was time to eat with the way you two
are carrying on," Washu said as she pushed past them.
"M-miss Washu! Where are your manners?!" Ayeka exclaimed and Washu
looked at her.
"Well, little Ayeka, you weren't displaying your manners a few
minutes ago."
"Wow! What's going on in here? Is it breakfast time or what?"
Mihoshi asked as she stepped into the doorway.
"Come on and sit down everyone! It's time to eat! Come on, Ryo-ohki.
You can eat now," Sasami said as she set a plate on the floor for
the cabbit. Ryo-ohki walked over, sniffed at the food, and began to
eat.
"Thanks for making this Sasami. It smells really good," Tenchi said
as he sat down.
"Thank you Tenchi. Okay everyone, dig in!!"
**************************************************************
"Hey guys, I want you to meet my friends," Yoji said as he and the
others stepped into the house.
"Master Yoji, thank you ever so much for letting us stay here until
we figure out how to get home," Ayeka said as she entered the room
and bowed low.
"Quit trying to flirt with him Ayeka. I bet you're not his type,"
Ryoko said and Ayeka glared at her, her cheeks burning with
embarrassment.
"I most certainly am NOT trying to flirt with him Ryoko!!" she
cried and Ryoko indifferently waved a hand.
"Now, now, Ayeka, don't yell. I'm sure you're not coming across as
very regal to his friends."
"Ayeka, Ryoko, please stop fighting," Mihoshi said as she tried to
break the two apart.
"I'm sorry, Mister Yoji. My sister and Ryoko fight an awful lot. I
see you brought your friends along. I just made some tea. Would you
like some?" Sasami asked.
"Sasami is a really good cook, I assure you," Tenchi said and Omi
nodded his head.
"I'll have some," he said and Sasami smiled.
"Great! I'll get everyone some. Come on Ryo-ohki!"
Aya watched the two run off then looked at Tenchi.
"So, where exactly are you from?" he asked.
*********************************************************
"A ll right, I'll explain things as best as I can," Washu said as she
sat down and materialized her computer in front of her.
"How'd you do that?" Omi asked and Washu looked at him.
"I'll explain it all in a minute. Now, we're from Japan, but we're
from a different Japan than the ones you live in. We came here
accidentally. Mihoshi over there, apparently pressed some buttons
that opened up a wormhole and transported us to your world."
"Oh, Miss Washu, I'm so sorry! Honest! I didn't mean to do it! I was
trying to help!" Mihoshi wailed and Sasami took her hand.
"It's all right, Mihoshi. It was just an accident," she said and
Washu glanced at her.
"I'm not sure anymore, Sasami," she said frankly and Tenchi looked
at her.
"What do you mean, little Washu?" he asked and Washu pointed to
some data on her computer screen.
"I've been monitoring an energy flux ever since we arrived here and
I think that our arrival here has more to it than Mihoshi's mishap."
"Just get to the point, Washu. What do you mean?" Ryoko asked.
"I think we were is strange town, I became aware that we were being
watched. Whoever was watching us has to do with our arrival in this
dimension and I believe that they also have to do with you four. You
have some enemies. Am I right?" Washu asked and Omi glanced
nervously at the others.
"We have some people that may not like us," Aya said as he folded
his arms. "But that's normal. We're not involved with anything
illegal. We work in a flower shop. Does that sound dangerous to you?"
"Oh, I just love flowers!" Mihoshi exclaimed and Washu ignored her.
"Perhaps not, but I sense a connection between you four and whoever
was watching us. I'm going to have to work on this so I'm going back
to my office. Behave you three," Washu said and winked slyly at
Ayeka.
"M-m-miss Washu, just WHAT are you getting at?" she demanded and
Washu shrugged her shoulders.
"There's enough men for all of you. Just don't make too much noise,
all right? I've got work to do and I don't want to be disturbed."
*********************************************************** ******
Omi watched Ryo-ohki run around and looked at Sasami.
"What is that thing?" he asked and Sasami laughed.
"That's Ryo-ohki," she replied.
"Meow," the cabbit said, confirming the definition.
"All right. I got what I came here for. I'm leaving," Aya said and
buttoned up his jacket. Ken followed him and Omi watched them.
"You don't want to stay and find out more from them?" Omi asked.
"Not really. Besides, we have work tomorrow. I would like it if you
didn't show up late again, Yoji."
"Gee, I don't know Aya. I've gotten all these beautiful women at my
place. I don't know if I can control myself enough so that I can
work in the morning," Yoji said and Ayeka resolutely marched up to
Yoji and smartly smacked him across the face.
"How DARE you insinuate things like that? You were just kind to us
so that you could charm us and make us your harem, am I right?" she
cried and Ryoko pushed her out of the way.
"I think it's a little past Ayeka's bedtime. She gets irritable, you
know," Ryoko said and Ayeka's eyes grew dangerously dark.
"Why you miserable little monster! You have no right to mock me in
that fashion!"
"What fashion would you like me to mock you in?"
"I'm going to make you pay for that remark, Ryoko!"
"You and who else?"
"Hey! Hey you two! Just cut it out! We're in somebody else's house.
You can't be destroying things here!" Tenchi cried and Sasami
sighed.
"Omi, can I visit your flower shop tomorrow?" she asked and Omi
nodded his head.
"I don't see why you can't. Yoji can bring you with him to work."
****************************************************
Crawfor d pushed up his glasses and watched Farfarello. Farfarello
put the tip of his dart in his mouth and wrapped his tongue around
it. The sharpened tip pricked his tongue and Crawford turned away
as blood began to stream down the dart.
"You've gotten tired of the waiting, haven't you Farfarello?"
Crawford inquired.
"I want to inflict pain on others. I want to punish people for all
the bad things that they have done. I want to serve justice MY way,"
he said, his voice low and rasping.
"In good time, Farfarello."
"I want to know WHEN!"
"I've already made the initial preparations for borrowing the small
child," Nagi said and Crawford nodded his head.
"Very good Nagi. Where's Schuldrich?" Crawford inquired.
"I'm just getting ready to go out. Aya is already suspicious of our
visitors. It won't take much to get him really paranoid,"
Schuldrich said as Farfarello turned towards the door.
"Where are you planning to go, Farfarello?"
"I'm going out. I want to serve justice NOW. I will be back,"
Farfarello said and left.
"Should one of us have stopped him?" Nagi inquired.
"Let him take his leave. We need him in his best state of mind for
this job," Crawford said as he walked out of the room.
*****************************************************
The streets were dark and unsettling. It was the kind of night that
demanded people walk close together, lest some evil should befall
them. A cool wind struck up, adding to the uptight air that fell
the streets. Or perhaps one street in particular. The road that led
to Yoji's house was quiet save for the pitiful mewing of a cat that
had been put out for the night.
He stood in the shadows and watched as the lights in Yoji's house
rhythmically turned off one by one as if performing some sort of
elaborate waltz. His good eye dilated in pleasure as he thought
about the justice that he would soon serve. They would perish, each
one of the fallen angels and he would take pains to make sure that
their death was as uncomfortable as possible. Again, he licked the
slender point of his weapon, almost lovingly, as he thought about
the carnage he was about to see.
"Death to the fallen angels. Death to the Weiss. Death to this
world! I want a new world to begin. A new world where there are no
lies and no suffering and no religion. Religion didn't help me.
Where was God when I needed him? Where is God now to help the dying?
There is no truth in this world. There is nothing!"
"That's enough Farfarello. Crawford said that these people aren't to
be touched yet. You've got to honor that order. You're going to have
to be punished for what you attempted to do. You can't mess up the
assignment," Schuldrich said and Farfarello gazed at him.
"Then give me an assignment. Give me a task. Punish me if you wish
but I MUST have something to kill," Farfarello demanded and
Schuldrich reached into his suit and pulled out a folded piece of
paper.
"Nagi told me to give this to you. You will carry it out after you
have served your punishment."
Farfarello took the paper from Schuldrich's outstretched hand and
glanced at it. His placid face smiled unnervingly as he ran his
dagger down his bandaged arm.
"This assignment meets with my tastes. I want to do it right away."
"After your punishment."
***************************************************
Wa shu tapped away on her computer in Yoji's linen closet. She leaned
back in her chair, her long hair touching the ground as she stifled a
yawn. Her computer began to beep and she alertly sat up. She gazed
at the information on the screen with interest.
"Hmm. What's this?" she asked herself and then began typing various
commands in. "This is very interesting. So there is more to this
than meets the eye. I was right!"
"Miss Washu?" Tenchi asked and Washu looked up.
"Come in Tenchi. I still have some experiments that I want to do with
you."
"Um...that's all right really. Sasami wanted me to tell you that it's
time to eat."
"It's that time already? Wait, this isn't the usual time to eat.
What's going on?"
"She's leaving early to go to the flower shop with Yoji."
"She is, is she? Well then I'm going too."
"But why, Miss Washu?"
"Because there's something going on here that is being kept a secret.
If I go with Sasami to the flower shop, maybe I'll find something
out. I'm afraid I don't have enough information to work with right
now."
"I don't know if they'd like another person hanging around the shop,
Miss Washu."
"Call me Little Washu, Tenchi."
"All right, Little Washu."
"Well I AM little. Come on, let's eat before Sasami's food gets cold."
******************************************************
"I'm so glad you're coming with me, Washu," Sasami said as Yoji
walked in the front door of the flower shop. He took off his
sunglasses and gazed at the others.
"Why are there two of them here?" Aya asked and Yoji shrugged his
shoulders.
"They both wanted to come. Why are you complaining?" Yoji asked.
"Because it gets crowded with our regulars. We don't need more
people in here than usual."
"Oh come on, Aya, they don't take up much room," Ken said as he
took a floral snip and clipped the leaves of a potted flower.
"They can help me, if you want," Omi suggested as Aya walked past
him.
"I'm going in the back. We'll be opening soon and some of these
plants need vitamins," he said and brushed past Washu.
"What's his deal?" Washu asked as Yoji ran his fingers through his
hair.
"He's always like this. You get used to it," he replied as he gazed
out the window. "There's a line out there already. Too bad they
aren't a little bit older. Then I'd really go for them. Guess you're
going to have to fend them off this time, Omi. The girls really like
you for some reason," Yoji said as Omi pulled his cap down over his
head to hide his embarrassment.
"Leave him alone, Yoji. At least he thinks about more than women,"
Ken said and Yoji looked at him.
"Yeah, well, I think of things of worth."
Washu stepped away from the conversation and gazed around the flower
shop. There was something more to this place than what met the eye,
but what could it be?
"Looking for something particular?" Aya asked as he stepped back
into the room and Washu looked at him.
"I'm not sure yet. I'll know when I find it," Washu said as she
studied Aya's cold eyes. Yes, there was definitely more to this
flower shop than what met the eye and she was determined to find out
what they were hiding.
***************************************************
"Oooh, this is so pretty," Sasami said as she looked at a lily.
Suddenly the lights flickered and the room went black as the Schwarz
entered the room. Aya's gaze darkened as Schuldrich appeared in the
doorway. Sasami turned around in fear then smiled at Nagi who stood
watching her.
"Hello," he said and Sasami held out her hand.
"Hello. Who are you? I haven't seen you here before. Of course, I'm
new here," she said.
"My name is Nagi. It's pretty dark in here. Want to go outside where
it's lighter?"
"Okay. I wonder where Miss Washu is?"
"I'm sure she'll be fine. Come on. There's lots to see outside."
"What are you doing here?" Aya demanded and Schuldrich casually
folded his arms.
"I take it you're not happy to see me. I came as a customer, this
time," Schuldrich said.
"Really. If that's so, then why did you mess our lights up?"
"You're blaming that on me? I had nothing to do with that. You
probably have a poor fuse, that's all."
"A poor fuse. Right."
"I'll ignore that indirect insult. In any case, I'd like to order a
dozen black roses."
Schuldrich watched Nagi lead Sasami out of the room, then turned his
attention to Aya, whose patience was getting thin.
"You can send it to this address. Here's the envelope, with the money
and the address. Do hurry on it," Schuldrich said and disappeared.
The lights flickered back on and Yoji lit a cigarette.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Ken said.
"Hey, where's Sasami?" Omi asked.
******************************************************
"Now are you going to tell me, that you don't know the men that took
Sasami?" Washu asked as she sat on the edge of the table. Aya shot
her a frigid glare and turned coldly to his side. Ken looked around
the room in search of an answer and Omi gazed at the floor.
"All right, I'll tell you all," Yoji said and Omi stared at him in
shock.
"Yoji no!" Omi cried and Yoji waved his hand for silence.
"They're just jealous ex-lovers of some of my past girlfriends. They
took her to get back at me, that's all."
"That would be great if I were some sort of an idiot," Washu said as
she folded her arms. "But I'm not. Now, we can do this two ways. You
can tell me the truth, or I can find out for myself. I'll find out,
either way, so you might as well tell me."
"We can't," Ken said and Washu looked at her.
"And why not? I'm not from your dimension so what does it matter if
I know the secret behind this flower shop? Are you afraid because
it'll make you realize your terrible past?" Washu asked and Aya
slammed his hand down in anger.
"All right. Let's go," he said and Omi looked at him.
"Aya...are you sure?" he asked.
"Let's go. It's safer to tell her than to let her find out for
herself."
"But..."
"Aya, this is crazy. We can't let her get involved," Ken said and
Aya glanced at him.
"Let's at least let her meet Persia. All of this involves them,
doesn't it?" he asked.
**************************************************************** ***
"Tenchi, I'm worried," Ayeka said as she paced the floor.
"Washu is with her, Miss Ayeka," Tenchi said as Ryoko watched Ayeka
walk back and forth.
"You're going to wear a hole in that floor," she said.
"I'm hungry," Mihoshi groaned and Ryo-ohki echoed her hunger.
"They should have been back a long time ago. What could have
happened?"
"Oh no! Poor Sasami got taken by black market florists! They stole
all the boys to get their flower secrets from them and are demanding
ransom on Sasami and Washu! Now we'll never get home!" Ryoko cried
and Ayeka whirled around in a panic.
"Wh-what? What are you saying Ryoko? Do you think that could happen?
We ARE in a strange world, aren't we? Who knows what could happen
here," Ayeka said and Tenchi glared at Ryoko.
"Stop it Ryoko. I guess we should just go to the flower shop and
find out what's keeping them," Tenchi said.
"Meow!" Ryo-ohki said and Mihoshi sat on the floor.
"But Tenchi...how can we do that? I mean, we don't know where we are
and we don't know where the flower store is," she said and Ayeka
groaned in exasperation.
"You know, she's right," she admitted.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I can fly," Ryoko
said and Tenchi looked at her.
"Ryoko, will you please look for them?" Tenchi asked.
"Of course, Tenchi. I'll do anything for you."
"Ryoko, would you stop that? Quit trying to make advances on my
Tenchi!"
"YOUR Tenchi?! Who says?"
"WOULD YOU TWO STOP IT?! Ryoko, please see what's happened to
Sasami."
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: All characters expressed in this story are copyrighted
by their respected owners including animation studios, multimedia
companies, and licensing organizations.
________________________________________________________ _____________
In an empty room, dimly lit by the glow of candles, he stood gazing
out the window with his good eye, his left forever covered by a veil
of darkness.
"There is no justice in this world," he said, his voice a harsh
whisper as he ran his dart down the bandages on his arm.
"There is nothing! Where is help when you need it? Where is love?
Rules are made to be broken."
He watched bitterly as a glistening light crossed the sky, its arch
lessening as it fell towards the ground. That falling light
symbolized shattered hopes and dreams.
The door opened and he turned around. A tall male with long orange
hair stood there.
"Come on, Farfarello. We've got work to do," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- ----
"Oh my. I guess I hit the wrong thing, Miss Washu," Mihoshi said and
Ryoko growled in anger.
"Mihoshi what the hell were you thinking?!" she demanded.
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know! I was trying to help and
everything went wrong!"
"Oh Tenchi I'm so scared!" Ayeka cried as she grabbed onto Tenchi.
"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing to my Tenchi?!" Ryoko
cried.
"YOUR Tenchi?! Ryoko what are you getting at? Tenchi is most
definitely NOT yours."
"Miss Washu?" Sasami asked.
"Yes, Sasami?" Washu asked.
"Where are we?"
"Well Sasami, it appears that we're in Japan, but exactly which
Japan is the mystery."
"Would you two cut it out?! Miss Washu, are you saying that we're in
a different dimension?" Tenchi asked as he pushed away from Ayeka
and Ryoko.
************************************************************
"Perhaps. I'm not entirely sure what happened. I'm going to need
some time to figure this out. But let's check this place out first,
all right?" Washu asked and Sasami and Ryo-ohki both jumped for joy.
"Yay! Hear that Ryo-ohki? We're going on an adventure."
"Meow!" the cabbit replied.
"Just a minute Miss Washu. We have no idea where we are and you want
to go look at the sites?! Who knows what kind of danger lies out
there?" Ayeka asked and Ryoko pushed past her.
"Well I'm all for a good time. Let's go," Ryoko said and Washu
grabbed her pants.
"Hold on there. We're not going to have a good time. We're going to
look for clues," she said as Ryoko pulled away.
"What kind of clues, Miss Washu?" Mihoshi asked.
"Anything that tells us exactly where we are."
"I think we should look for something to eat before we do anything
else."
"You WOULD say something like that. You're nothing but a barbarian
Ryoko," Ayeka said and Ryoko glared at her.
"Well my stomach isn't the one making all that noise. Is poor little
Ayeka hungry?" she asked and Ayeka flushed.
"Well I suppose I am perhaps a LITTLE hungry," Ayeka confessed in a
small voice.
"Well you all have a point. But how can we buy food if we don't have
the correct currency?" Washu asked.
"We could always eat and run," Ryoko said.
"Ryoko..."Tenchi said reproachfully and Ryoko looked at him.
"I wasn't serious, Tenchi. My goodness, you don't think I'd do
something like that, do you?"
"It's exactly what you would do, you monster!" Ayeka cried.
"You're just upset because you didn't think of it first."
"Please! Stop fighting you two!" Mihoshi cried.
"Let's start walking. Maybe we'll find someone that can help us
out," Tenchi suggested.
"That's a wonderful idea, Tenchi. You come up with such good ideas,"
Ayeka said.
"What was that?" Ryoko asked and Tenchi looked at her.
"What was what, Ryoko?" he inquired.
"There's something in the shadows."
"How dare you, Ryoko? You're just trying to scare us," Ayeka said.
"She's right. I'm getting some strange readings," Washu said and
Sasami walked over to where her sister stood.
"Ayeka, I'm scared," she said and Ryo-ohki echoed her fright.
"It'll be all right, Sasami," Ayeka said. "Now dry your eyes.
Everything will be taken care of."
************************************************************
" So this is where you went off to. You're neglecting your duties
Farfarello," Schuldrich said and Farfarello glanced at him.
"Those people..." he said and Schuldrich nodded his head.
"We saw them coming. They will get taken care of in due course. Come
on. We've got work to do. The Weiss are getting close again. We need
to distance them from our goal."
________________________________________________________________ _____
"Where are we now?" Ayeka asked and Sasami sat on the curb.
"I'm tired and hungry Tenchi," she said and Ryo-ohki let out a tired
meow.
"I know Sasami. We all are. I wish I knew what to do, though."
Tenchi said.
"We'll have to earn the money somehow," Washu said.
"But how can we do that if we don't have a place to stay?" Mihoshi
asked and everyone sighed. "I'm sorry. I just thought..."
"Mihoshi, much as I hate to admit it, you're absolutely right,"
Washu said and Mihoshi looked at her.
"What? I'm right about something? Oh my!"
"Don't let it go to your head."
"I won't Miss Washu. I won't!"
"Well let's go look for something then," Ryoko said.
"There's someone over there. Let's ask for directions," Tenchi said.
****************************************************
"Darn! This thing won't start!" Omi cried as he kicked the tires of
his moped.
"Um, hello? Excuse me, please," Ayeka said as he walked up to him.
"Huh? Oh hi. None of you would know what's wrong with this thing,
would you?"
"Let me take a look at it. Here's the problem. You're also not
maximizing this thing's full potential. I'll fix it up for you, all
right?" Washu asked.
"I don't know..."
"Excuse me. Can you tell us where we are?" Sasami asked as she
tightly held Ryo-ohki.
"Where you are? Why this is Tokyo."
"I knew it! I'm such a genius!" Washu cried as her own little mecha
creations appeared to applaud her.
"You aren't from around here, are you?" Omi asked.
"Now what gave you that idea?" Ayeka muttered.
"Do you have any money you could give us? We're really hungry,"
Sasami said and Ryo-ohki meowed pitifully.
"Sasami! It's not polite to beg for money!" Ayeka scolded and Sasami
glanced at her.
"But Ayeka..."
"Just a minute. I may be able to solve your problem," Omi said and
Tenchi looked at him.
"Please. We don't want to be indebted to you," he said but Omi
wasn't listening to him.
"Hello Yoji? Are you really busy? Well I'm at the corner of Blue
Valley Street and Smith Avenue. There's a group of travelers who are
lost and I was wondering if you'd help them out. This isn't a joke,
Yoji! This is serious! Now would you please help? Thank you."
"That Yoji guy didn't seem too willing to help," Washu commented.
"I bet he was just a little tired when he got called," Mihoshi said
and yawned. "In fact, I'm a little tired myself."
"I was actually amazed you stayed awake for this long," Ayeka said
under her breath.
"What? I didn't hear that, Ayeka."
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine, you'll see."
***********************************************************
" Things are falling into place," Schuldrich commented as he watched
Nagi tap away on the computer.
"It is as I saw it happen. What's the matter Farfarello? Have things
not gone the way you would have liked them to go?" Crawford asked and
Farfarello gazed coldly at him through his good eye.
"I want to know when I can strike. I want to know when they will be
mine," Farfarello said as he dragged his dart down his shoulder.
"Patience Farfarello. The time to strike will come soon enough."
______________________________________________________________ _______
"So let me get this straight. You all live in Tokyo but you're from
a different dimension?" Yoji asked.
"Well actually we're from a place from the Masaki shrine but Tokyo
is close enough," Tenchi said.
"Thank you ever so much for giving us a ride," Ayeka said and Yoji
glanced at her.
"It's no problem, but one tends to wonder about you. One guy with
all these women..."
"Well that's not strange at all. Tenchi has just been so kind to
us..." Mihoshi said.
"You've got to tell me how you do it Tenchi," Yoji said and Tenchi's
face grew red.
***********************************************************
"W here's Farfarello now? He isn't trying to do something rash, is
he?" Schuldrich asked.
"I gave him a simple task to carry out. It should work off his
excess energy," Nagi replied.
"As long as it ties into the objective, I don't care what he does,"
Brad said.
"Well then. I suppose I should start stirring things up a little,"
Schuldrich said.
"Just don't lose focus of our objective."
"I'm not going to. I don't get extremely focused on what I do and
lose sight of the objective."
"There," Nagi said as he leaned back in his chair. "The first stage
is ready."
"Good. Now all we need is the perfect time to spring it all."
"Go ahead and prime the victims, Schuldrich. It'll make things a lot
more interesting."
_________________________________________________________ ____________
"Well this is going to be interesting. I've never had so many women
at my house at one time. I've certainly thought about it plenty of
times, but that's it," Yoji said as he led them into his house.
"Sounds like your type of fellow, Ryoko," Ayeka muttered and Ryoko
glared at her.
"WHAT did you say Ayeka?" Ryoko demanded and Yoji stepped between
the two.
"Guess we're going to have to keep you two separated. Why don't you
stay upstairs and you stay downstairs?" Yoji suggested.
"Excuse me, do you have a broom closet?" Washu asked and Yoji
looked at her.
"I have a linen closet," he replied.
"Upstairs or downstairs?"
"Upstairs but what...?"
"Don't worry about Miss Washu. She'll be fine. Looks like a couple
are already asleep," Tenchi said as he glanced at Sasami and Ryo-
ohki sleeping on the couch.
"Where's Mihoshi?" Ryoko asked and Ayeka pointed to the floor in
front of the couch where Mihoshi lay.
"Now really, do you think she would have stayed awake any longer?"
Ayeka asked.
"No, I suppose not. You wouldn't happen to have spare blankets for
them? At least for Sasami. Mihoshi can sleep anywhere it suits her,"
Tenchi said.
"Let me get one from the closet," Yoji said and walked out of the
room.
*********************************************************
"Hello there Ken," Schuldrich said as he stood leaning against the
dark crooked trunk of a tree. Ken spun around and his eyes darkened
when he recognized the speaker.
"What do YOU want?" he demanded and Schuldrich smiled smugly.
"Your companion Yoji has taken up with strangers. I do not believe
they belong to this planet."
"What are you talking about?"
"In any case, they're extremely dangerous. Who knows what kind of
damage they'll cause?"
"I can't believe you, but you're not apt to lie, are you?"
"I do what suits me. Whether you choose to believe me or not is up
to you."
"If they are as evil as you say, then why are you telling me this?"
"I'm concerned. I wouldn't want the Weiss to break up."
Ken blinked his eyes then searched around for Schuldrich, who had
already left. Unsure what to make of Schuldrich's appearance, he
started his motorcycle and headed for the flower shop.
_________________________________________________________________ ____
Aya gazed coldly at Yoji, who had come in late the next morning.
Yoji folded his sunglasses and glanced at Omi.
"What's with him?" he asked as Omi picked up a hose.
"You're late," Omi replied. "So, how did things go?"
"Okay, after the petty argument died down. The smart one locked
herself in my linen closet and she's trying to figure out what
exactly happened..."
"Back up a bit. She's locked in your linen closet?"
"Are you tow going to work or are you two going to talk? We're
pretty busy," Aya said and Omi looked at him.
"But Aya, something strange happened last night," Omi said and Aya
looked at him.
"What exactly do you mean by strange?"
"We ran across six people so have come from a different dimension."
"What?"
"But aren't they dangerous?" Ken asked and Yoji looked at him.
"I don't think so. Of course, I haven't seen all that much of them
so I can't really say," Yoji replied.
"So you're saying some complete strangers just appeared last
night?" Aya asked and Omi nodded his head.
"I know it sounds strange, but that's what happened," he said.
"What do you think of it, Aya?" Ken asked.
"I think we should go talk to these strangers," Aya replied.
************************************************************** **
"Good morning everyone! Yoji has a really great kitchen, Tenchi.
Look at all that I made," Sasami said as she pointed to the
breakfast table.
"Wow. It looks great Sasami. Where is everyone?" Tenchi asked as he
looked around the table.
"Ryo-ohki stop! You can't have anything until everyone else is here."
"Meow," Ryo-ohki said sadly as she hopped off the table and went to
a corner to sulk.
"Ha! I got here first Ayeka and now I'm going to eat your share of
the food!" Ryoko cried as she burst into the room.
"You most certainly will NOT eat my food Ryoko. I'm surprised at
you, anyway. But of course, you'll never act like anything less than
a barbarian so I don't know why I expect anything more out of you,"
Ayeka said.
"All right, all right you two. Would you cut it out?" Tenchi asked.
"Well, I should have known it was time to eat with the way you two
are carrying on," Washu said as she pushed past them.
"M-miss Washu! Where are your manners?!" Ayeka exclaimed and Washu
looked at her.
"Well, little Ayeka, you weren't displaying your manners a few
minutes ago."
"Wow! What's going on in here? Is it breakfast time or what?"
Mihoshi asked as she stepped into the doorway.
"Come on and sit down everyone! It's time to eat! Come on, Ryo-ohki.
You can eat now," Sasami said as she set a plate on the floor for
the cabbit. Ryo-ohki walked over, sniffed at the food, and began to
eat.
"Thanks for making this Sasami. It smells really good," Tenchi said
as he sat down.
"Thank you Tenchi. Okay everyone, dig in!!"
**************************************************************
"Hey guys, I want you to meet my friends," Yoji said as he and the
others stepped into the house.
"Master Yoji, thank you ever so much for letting us stay here until
we figure out how to get home," Ayeka said as she entered the room
and bowed low.
"Quit trying to flirt with him Ayeka. I bet you're not his type,"
Ryoko said and Ayeka glared at her, her cheeks burning with
embarrassment.
"I most certainly am NOT trying to flirt with him Ryoko!!" she
cried and Ryoko indifferently waved a hand.
"Now, now, Ayeka, don't yell. I'm sure you're not coming across as
very regal to his friends."
"Ayeka, Ryoko, please stop fighting," Mihoshi said as she tried to
break the two apart.
"I'm sorry, Mister Yoji. My sister and Ryoko fight an awful lot. I
see you brought your friends along. I just made some tea. Would you
like some?" Sasami asked.
"Sasami is a really good cook, I assure you," Tenchi said and Omi
nodded his head.
"I'll have some," he said and Sasami smiled.
"Great! I'll get everyone some. Come on Ryo-ohki!"
Aya watched the two run off then looked at Tenchi.
"So, where exactly are you from?" he asked.
*********************************************************
"A ll right, I'll explain things as best as I can," Washu said as she
sat down and materialized her computer in front of her.
"How'd you do that?" Omi asked and Washu looked at him.
"I'll explain it all in a minute. Now, we're from Japan, but we're
from a different Japan than the ones you live in. We came here
accidentally. Mihoshi over there, apparently pressed some buttons
that opened up a wormhole and transported us to your world."
"Oh, Miss Washu, I'm so sorry! Honest! I didn't mean to do it! I was
trying to help!" Mihoshi wailed and Sasami took her hand.
"It's all right, Mihoshi. It was just an accident," she said and
Washu glanced at her.
"I'm not sure anymore, Sasami," she said frankly and Tenchi looked
at her.
"What do you mean, little Washu?" he asked and Washu pointed to
some data on her computer screen.
"I've been monitoring an energy flux ever since we arrived here and
I think that our arrival here has more to it than Mihoshi's mishap."
"Just get to the point, Washu. What do you mean?" Ryoko asked.
"I think we were is strange town, I became aware that we were being
watched. Whoever was watching us has to do with our arrival in this
dimension and I believe that they also have to do with you four. You
have some enemies. Am I right?" Washu asked and Omi glanced
nervously at the others.
"We have some people that may not like us," Aya said as he folded
his arms. "But that's normal. We're not involved with anything
illegal. We work in a flower shop. Does that sound dangerous to you?"
"Oh, I just love flowers!" Mihoshi exclaimed and Washu ignored her.
"Perhaps not, but I sense a connection between you four and whoever
was watching us. I'm going to have to work on this so I'm going back
to my office. Behave you three," Washu said and winked slyly at
Ayeka.
"M-m-miss Washu, just WHAT are you getting at?" she demanded and
Washu shrugged her shoulders.
"There's enough men for all of you. Just don't make too much noise,
all right? I've got work to do and I don't want to be disturbed."
*********************************************************** ******
Omi watched Ryo-ohki run around and looked at Sasami.
"What is that thing?" he asked and Sasami laughed.
"That's Ryo-ohki," she replied.
"Meow," the cabbit said, confirming the definition.
"All right. I got what I came here for. I'm leaving," Aya said and
buttoned up his jacket. Ken followed him and Omi watched them.
"You don't want to stay and find out more from them?" Omi asked.
"Not really. Besides, we have work tomorrow. I would like it if you
didn't show up late again, Yoji."
"Gee, I don't know Aya. I've gotten all these beautiful women at my
place. I don't know if I can control myself enough so that I can
work in the morning," Yoji said and Ayeka resolutely marched up to
Yoji and smartly smacked him across the face.
"How DARE you insinuate things like that? You were just kind to us
so that you could charm us and make us your harem, am I right?" she
cried and Ryoko pushed her out of the way.
"I think it's a little past Ayeka's bedtime. She gets irritable, you
know," Ryoko said and Ayeka's eyes grew dangerously dark.
"Why you miserable little monster! You have no right to mock me in
that fashion!"
"What fashion would you like me to mock you in?"
"I'm going to make you pay for that remark, Ryoko!"
"You and who else?"
"Hey! Hey you two! Just cut it out! We're in somebody else's house.
You can't be destroying things here!" Tenchi cried and Sasami
sighed.
"Omi, can I visit your flower shop tomorrow?" she asked and Omi
nodded his head.
"I don't see why you can't. Yoji can bring you with him to work."
****************************************************
Crawfor d pushed up his glasses and watched Farfarello. Farfarello
put the tip of his dart in his mouth and wrapped his tongue around
it. The sharpened tip pricked his tongue and Crawford turned away
as blood began to stream down the dart.
"You've gotten tired of the waiting, haven't you Farfarello?"
Crawford inquired.
"I want to inflict pain on others. I want to punish people for all
the bad things that they have done. I want to serve justice MY way,"
he said, his voice low and rasping.
"In good time, Farfarello."
"I want to know WHEN!"
"I've already made the initial preparations for borrowing the small
child," Nagi said and Crawford nodded his head.
"Very good Nagi. Where's Schuldrich?" Crawford inquired.
"I'm just getting ready to go out. Aya is already suspicious of our
visitors. It won't take much to get him really paranoid,"
Schuldrich said as Farfarello turned towards the door.
"Where are you planning to go, Farfarello?"
"I'm going out. I want to serve justice NOW. I will be back,"
Farfarello said and left.
"Should one of us have stopped him?" Nagi inquired.
"Let him take his leave. We need him in his best state of mind for
this job," Crawford said as he walked out of the room.
*****************************************************
The streets were dark and unsettling. It was the kind of night that
demanded people walk close together, lest some evil should befall
them. A cool wind struck up, adding to the uptight air that fell
the streets. Or perhaps one street in particular. The road that led
to Yoji's house was quiet save for the pitiful mewing of a cat that
had been put out for the night.
He stood in the shadows and watched as the lights in Yoji's house
rhythmically turned off one by one as if performing some sort of
elaborate waltz. His good eye dilated in pleasure as he thought
about the justice that he would soon serve. They would perish, each
one of the fallen angels and he would take pains to make sure that
their death was as uncomfortable as possible. Again, he licked the
slender point of his weapon, almost lovingly, as he thought about
the carnage he was about to see.
"Death to the fallen angels. Death to the Weiss. Death to this
world! I want a new world to begin. A new world where there are no
lies and no suffering and no religion. Religion didn't help me.
Where was God when I needed him? Where is God now to help the dying?
There is no truth in this world. There is nothing!"
"That's enough Farfarello. Crawford said that these people aren't to
be touched yet. You've got to honor that order. You're going to have
to be punished for what you attempted to do. You can't mess up the
assignment," Schuldrich said and Farfarello gazed at him.
"Then give me an assignment. Give me a task. Punish me if you wish
but I MUST have something to kill," Farfarello demanded and
Schuldrich reached into his suit and pulled out a folded piece of
paper.
"Nagi told me to give this to you. You will carry it out after you
have served your punishment."
Farfarello took the paper from Schuldrich's outstretched hand and
glanced at it. His placid face smiled unnervingly as he ran his
dagger down his bandaged arm.
"This assignment meets with my tastes. I want to do it right away."
"After your punishment."
***************************************************
Wa shu tapped away on her computer in Yoji's linen closet. She leaned
back in her chair, her long hair touching the ground as she stifled a
yawn. Her computer began to beep and she alertly sat up. She gazed
at the information on the screen with interest.
"Hmm. What's this?" she asked herself and then began typing various
commands in. "This is very interesting. So there is more to this
than meets the eye. I was right!"
"Miss Washu?" Tenchi asked and Washu looked up.
"Come in Tenchi. I still have some experiments that I want to do with
you."
"Um...that's all right really. Sasami wanted me to tell you that it's
time to eat."
"It's that time already? Wait, this isn't the usual time to eat.
What's going on?"
"She's leaving early to go to the flower shop with Yoji."
"She is, is she? Well then I'm going too."
"But why, Miss Washu?"
"Because there's something going on here that is being kept a secret.
If I go with Sasami to the flower shop, maybe I'll find something
out. I'm afraid I don't have enough information to work with right
now."
"I don't know if they'd like another person hanging around the shop,
Miss Washu."
"Call me Little Washu, Tenchi."
"All right, Little Washu."
"Well I AM little. Come on, let's eat before Sasami's food gets cold."
******************************************************
"I'm so glad you're coming with me, Washu," Sasami said as Yoji
walked in the front door of the flower shop. He took off his
sunglasses and gazed at the others.
"Why are there two of them here?" Aya asked and Yoji shrugged his
shoulders.
"They both wanted to come. Why are you complaining?" Yoji asked.
"Because it gets crowded with our regulars. We don't need more
people in here than usual."
"Oh come on, Aya, they don't take up much room," Ken said as he
took a floral snip and clipped the leaves of a potted flower.
"They can help me, if you want," Omi suggested as Aya walked past
him.
"I'm going in the back. We'll be opening soon and some of these
plants need vitamins," he said and brushed past Washu.
"What's his deal?" Washu asked as Yoji ran his fingers through his
hair.
"He's always like this. You get used to it," he replied as he gazed
out the window. "There's a line out there already. Too bad they
aren't a little bit older. Then I'd really go for them. Guess you're
going to have to fend them off this time, Omi. The girls really like
you for some reason," Yoji said as Omi pulled his cap down over his
head to hide his embarrassment.
"Leave him alone, Yoji. At least he thinks about more than women,"
Ken said and Yoji looked at him.
"Yeah, well, I think of things of worth."
Washu stepped away from the conversation and gazed around the flower
shop. There was something more to this place than what met the eye,
but what could it be?
"Looking for something particular?" Aya asked as he stepped back
into the room and Washu looked at him.
"I'm not sure yet. I'll know when I find it," Washu said as she
studied Aya's cold eyes. Yes, there was definitely more to this
flower shop than what met the eye and she was determined to find out
what they were hiding.
***************************************************
"Oooh, this is so pretty," Sasami said as she looked at a lily.
Suddenly the lights flickered and the room went black as the Schwarz
entered the room. Aya's gaze darkened as Schuldrich appeared in the
doorway. Sasami turned around in fear then smiled at Nagi who stood
watching her.
"Hello," he said and Sasami held out her hand.
"Hello. Who are you? I haven't seen you here before. Of course, I'm
new here," she said.
"My name is Nagi. It's pretty dark in here. Want to go outside where
it's lighter?"
"Okay. I wonder where Miss Washu is?"
"I'm sure she'll be fine. Come on. There's lots to see outside."
"What are you doing here?" Aya demanded and Schuldrich casually
folded his arms.
"I take it you're not happy to see me. I came as a customer, this
time," Schuldrich said.
"Really. If that's so, then why did you mess our lights up?"
"You're blaming that on me? I had nothing to do with that. You
probably have a poor fuse, that's all."
"A poor fuse. Right."
"I'll ignore that indirect insult. In any case, I'd like to order a
dozen black roses."
Schuldrich watched Nagi lead Sasami out of the room, then turned his
attention to Aya, whose patience was getting thin.
"You can send it to this address. Here's the envelope, with the money
and the address. Do hurry on it," Schuldrich said and disappeared.
The lights flickered back on and Yoji lit a cigarette.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Ken said.
"Hey, where's Sasami?" Omi asked.
******************************************************
"Now are you going to tell me, that you don't know the men that took
Sasami?" Washu asked as she sat on the edge of the table. Aya shot
her a frigid glare and turned coldly to his side. Ken looked around
the room in search of an answer and Omi gazed at the floor.
"All right, I'll tell you all," Yoji said and Omi stared at him in
shock.
"Yoji no!" Omi cried and Yoji waved his hand for silence.
"They're just jealous ex-lovers of some of my past girlfriends. They
took her to get back at me, that's all."
"That would be great if I were some sort of an idiot," Washu said as
she folded her arms. "But I'm not. Now, we can do this two ways. You
can tell me the truth, or I can find out for myself. I'll find out,
either way, so you might as well tell me."
"We can't," Ken said and Washu looked at her.
"And why not? I'm not from your dimension so what does it matter if
I know the secret behind this flower shop? Are you afraid because
it'll make you realize your terrible past?" Washu asked and Aya
slammed his hand down in anger.
"All right. Let's go," he said and Omi looked at him.
"Aya...are you sure?" he asked.
"Let's go. It's safer to tell her than to let her find out for
herself."
"But..."
"Aya, this is crazy. We can't let her get involved," Ken said and
Aya glanced at him.
"Let's at least let her meet Persia. All of this involves them,
doesn't it?" he asked.
**************************************************************** ***
"Tenchi, I'm worried," Ayeka said as she paced the floor.
"Washu is with her, Miss Ayeka," Tenchi said as Ryoko watched Ayeka
walk back and forth.
"You're going to wear a hole in that floor," she said.
"I'm hungry," Mihoshi groaned and Ryo-ohki echoed her hunger.
"They should have been back a long time ago. What could have
happened?"
"Oh no! Poor Sasami got taken by black market florists! They stole
all the boys to get their flower secrets from them and are demanding
ransom on Sasami and Washu! Now we'll never get home!" Ryoko cried
and Ayeka whirled around in a panic.
"Wh-what? What are you saying Ryoko? Do you think that could happen?
We ARE in a strange world, aren't we? Who knows what could happen
here," Ayeka said and Tenchi glared at Ryoko.
"Stop it Ryoko. I guess we should just go to the flower shop and
find out what's keeping them," Tenchi said.
"Meow!" Ryo-ohki said and Mihoshi sat on the floor.
"But Tenchi...how can we do that? I mean, we don't know where we are
and we don't know where the flower store is," she said and Ayeka
groaned in exasperation.
"You know, she's right," she admitted.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I can fly," Ryoko
said and Tenchi looked at her.
"Ryoko, will you please look for them?" Tenchi asked.
"Of course, Tenchi. I'll do anything for you."
"Ryoko, would you stop that? Quit trying to make advances on my
Tenchi!"
"YOUR Tenchi?! Who says?"
"WOULD YOU TWO STOP IT?! Ryoko, please see what's happened to
Sasami."