Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Wormhole lift ❯ Decisions ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

four: Decisions


ceaseless stomps on the carpet were slowly, but very surely, getting on Kiyone's nerves. It has been like that since they have joined her in the living room. Sasami and Mihoshi were sleeping upstairs, Nobuyoki had left to work. Then they had nothing else to do but sit and wait. The teal-haired officer half smirked. True, when it came to Ryoko, the princess was never able to put on her so regal patience. No wonder this place was a near war zone most of the time with those two hot-heads. How Tenchi could stand this was a total mystery for the GPO. Herself would have blown them up long ago... Wait, really? After all she wasn't in his shoes and yelling at Mihoshi never brought her any good. She always ended up feeling guilty and apologizing to her blond partner. Again her previous behaviour weighted heavily on her. She shivered at what she almost did. She definitely had decisions to take. As soon as thing 'd settled down. For now she just wished she could be as quiet as this Gavel. His friend was about to die and he was just meditating. He reminded her a bit of Katsuhito. Somehow. Beside him, Tenchi was digging on himself to keep his composure. In vain. Worry was written on it, even if It was subtle, for her trained senses it was obvious. Ryoko was really lucky to have people who cared that much for her, even if the princess'd never admit it. They were a family.
fact struck her, she realised she had come to consider them as her family too. She knew they cared for her as she cared for them. It was classical, her rational part told her, when you work too close, you lose the professional AND necessary distance you should keep with the people you're supposed to protect. That was a new statement to her lack of vigilance.
felt emptiness. Her work was all that counted. Her whole life had been dedicated to her duty. But she had just discovered she wasn't worth it. What was left? What would she do? What COULD she do? If the Galaxy Police didn't fire her, she would resign for she'd be unable to just go on as if nothing had happened, knowing she was a danger for those she loved. She closed her deep blue eyes. Sooo, she had made her decision. Finally, things were quite simple when you just clunged to what was certain! Of course, she would have to leave Earth, the GP'd never allow her to stay. It was a restricted area after all. And even if the royal family of Jurai gave her a special authorization - which was doubtful after all this mess - she'd decline it.could she stay and see every day the woman she had almost killed? Again her partner's picture danced before her. Again she felt her finger slightly pulling on the trigger. The nauseous sensation she was sinking in...really felt miserable. She was about to lose the two families she had ever had, the GP and the Masakis. But there was no other way!
sighed and got up. There was no need to wait here, she'd better check on Sasami and Mihoshi. She went upstairs to the princess room. The little girl was sound asleep thanks to the pills Washu gave her. That was a dreamless sleep, which was a good thing considering the kind of nightmares she so often had.
about the girl's state, she closed the door as silently as she could and headed towards Ryoko's room where her partner had been brought. When she entered, she was surprised to find the blonde girl awake. She was staring at the ceiling and didn't sense her friend's presence. Obviously she had wept, her cheeks were glistening. Why? Maybe she was suffering from afterward shock symptoms. Then she noticed Kiyone and quickly wiped her face.

"Oh, Hi Kiyone, how are you?" She tried to put on her usual cheerful smile.

"Just some bruises, and you?" Actually, each one of her muscles insisted to make its own presence be known, in capital letters and triplicate.

"Err, did you see the plates of the truck that hit me?" Mihoshi replied weakly. "What happened?"
teal-haired girl grinned and related the last events. Once she had finished, she just sat beside her partner, squeezing her hand and remained silent until Mihoshi stopped crying. Minutes later, the blonde GPO took a calming breath and asked. "Say Kiyone, can we go home now?"
was startled, usually Mihoshi was more than reluctant to leave the Masaki household. "Uh? yeah, I guess... Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am... If you don't mind..."

"No... I mean, no I don't mind, of course not." She helped her partner getting up and manipulated her control cube to dress them both with earth cloths. Mihoshi was still weak on her legs, so she had to make sure the blonde wouldn't stumble over the stairs (as she usually did).
they walked down the last steps, they heard animated voices from the living room. There was the greatest scientist of the universe and her new furry friend, both of them literally gleaming in self-satisfaction.
was faster than Kiyone. "Little Washu, how's Ryoko? Will she be all right?"
little red-head smiled warmly. "Yeah, she's going to be fine, though she'll need to rest a little bit, like our impetuous new guest." She brought forcefully the cat-like girl in a victory dance. Her daughter was safe and she had LOTS of samples to analyze. She wouldn't have felt better if she had injected herself one of her personnal drugs.

"Ah, then this Broke Sloane survived too..." Kiyone stated coldly. "I see the gems are back in Tenchi's sword's handle... When will they wake up?" She kept her gaze on the Tenchi-ken that was lying on the table, in front of the young boy.
raised an eyebrow. "From my last calculations, I'd say in two days from now... Are you two leaving?"

"Yes we are..." And she added for herself in a whisper "...'Certainly better for me to leave."


travel in the train had been abnormally quiet. One day before, Kiyone would have blessed every deities for sparing her Mihoshi's usual endless babbling. Today she couldn't appreciate it. If Mihoshi had acted her normal self, maybe she could have pretended that nothing had happened.
a while.
the blonde GPO was too deep in thoughts to act normally.
least she wasn't depressed anymore since they knew that Ryoko was safe. She seemed more... preoccupied. Yes, that was it! Preoccupied. The teal-haired officer wondered about what. Her friend's mood didn't change as they finally reached their small flat.they were really exhausted, they just ate instant noodles and Mihoshi went straight to her bed after that. Seconds later, Kiyone could hear her snoring softly. The GPO smiled, some things never changed.
walked silently to her bedside table and fished a sake bottle hidden behind. She poured herself a big glass and swallow it drunkenly, then poured another one and stopped in mid-motion. 'Since when do I hide alcohol bottles like this?' She asked herself wide-eyed. 'Two? Maybe three months? More?' She put the bottle down and stared blankly at it. 'How many of them have I drunk all by myself? NO!!! Why do I care? It's not like I'm addicted or something!!!' To emphazise her thought, she replaced the bottle behind the furniture and sit back to the kitchen table with a piece of paper and a pen.

'To Marshall Kuramatsu, GP Headquarter, Sir, attached to this document I join the report of the last events on Earth. I'm sure that when you finish reading it, you will do nothing but agree to my decision. Sir, I must present you my resigna...' Damn, that was hard, only a few words more and she would shut down the most important part of her life! She laughed derisively, no, it was simple! Oh so simple! Only a few words... She grabbed her glass and drunk a sip...
glass crashed on the kitchen floor. Kiyone just stood up and looked horrified to the shattered object. In a flash she reviewed the three glasses she drank this morning, when Mihoshi was in the bathroom. Glasses she started having for some time, to help for the coming day! Enough to feel lighter but not to be discovered. And all the others, to support their three part time jobs beside their GP duty. To be able to stand Mihoshi's incessant blunders. Washu's experimentations, Ryoko's and Ayeka's fights... No, she was looking for excuses for her own weakness!

"Kiyone?" Mihoshi was at the kitchen door, looking sad.

"Mi-Mihoshi?" Stammered the teal-haired girl. "I thought you were sleeping... Go back to bed, I just dropped my glass, I'll clean it up..."
blond girl came in and stopped close to Kiyone. She put her hand on her partner's shoulder and made her face her. "Kiyone, I know..."

"What? Ho-how?" Kiyone's lips were trembling nervously.

"Did you really think you could hide an alcohol bottle from me? You know me better..." She answered with a light smile. Then more seriously. "Kiyone, I'm your friend... I want to help you..." Suddenly she saw the paper and the words on it. It took her a while to absorb them. "A resignation letter? But, why?!?" She finished in a strangled voice.
fell back on her chair. She hadn't intended for Mihoshi to see it. She had hoped she could tell her after she had sent it, on an adequate time. felt so tired. "Mihoshi, I'm a real danger. I must stop it before someone gets killed because of me..."

"NO! Ok you've got an alcohol problem, but you wouldn't be the first nor the last in the GP! And most of them didn't suffered half the stress you had to. There are internal structures than can help you, you know that!"

"MIHOSHI! Today I almost killed YOU!!! I just COULDN'T control myself! If Gavel hadn't intervened, I would've shot you! I want to throw up whenever I think about it!" The teal-hairedofficer shouted.

"If I remember well, I was the one who asked you to shoot and I perfectly knew about your addiction..." She replied quietly. "It was MY fault if I was taken as hostage! There was no way we could have guessed how thethings would turn out! And I'm still alive, we're all still alive! Don't take the whole universe on your shoulders!"

"Mihoshi... I just can't..." Kiyone's voice trailed off. She was unable to finish her sentence.

"So what? You give up? Just like this? I thought you were tougher than that! I thought you believed in what we did. I thought you had pride..." The words got caught in her throat. "I never thought you were the kind of person who fled..."
stood there, staring at each other intensely for what seemed like hours. Kiyone was taken aback by Mihoshi's outburst. Finally the blond officer turned around and ran to the room. Before she disappeard, Kiyone heard her partner whisper. "Please, don't let me down!"
looked through the window, at the rising moon and sighed deeply. She resumed to clean the floor and went to sleep too. It had really been a long day.
her knowing, the whole scene had been witnessed by someone else than the natural satellite.

"Mmmmh, it seems something unusual happened today! I must learn more before report to my master. Maybe that was what we were waiting for..."



of chapter four.