Tenchi Muyo! Universe #1 Kurata's Story by Ewen "Ryoga" Cluney DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki and the characters, places, etc. therein are trademarks of AIC/Pioneer LDC; this work is not intended to be a challenge to any such ownership, and may be distributed freely, in unmodified form. Author's Note: Kurata is a section chief in the Galaxy Police, and Mihoshi's direct superior. He appears in episode #4 of the OAV series, and again briefly in episodes 7 and 13. Need- less to say, he is a very minor character (I had to make up the name and background myself). This story (well, vignette) is about the unusual circumstances that led him to joining the GP. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The sun was setting on Malkin IV, casting long shadows and filling the sky with a fantastic array of colors from all across the spectrum. In the streets of the city of Natel, people walked or drove home from work or school in the waning sunlight. As for Kurata, he walked. This was partly because the place he worked, a small manufacturing plant, was less than a kilometer from his apartment. He walked along the street, humming no tune in particular to no one in particular. Today had been a nice day, however repetitive. Kurata stopped at a street corner, and that was when he noticed her. A Juraian woman, blue hair and all, was walking down the street. She was finely dressed, meaning she was either wealthy or a member of the Royal Family, either of which was hard to believe given that this was Malkin IV. Kurata proceeded across the street, failing not to stare at her. He walked towards home, but she seemed to be headed in approximately the same direction, and as such was in front of him for some time, during which he tried to figure out just who she could be and what she might be doing here. When he was not too far from home, she suddenly turned around, and glared at him with her wide, pink eyes. "Hey, you!" Kurata stopped short, and pointed at himself. "Me?" She nodded, angrily. "Why are you following me?" "But I-I wasn't, I was just-" "Stop beating around the bush! Just tell me why!" Kurata took off his hat, out of habit, and held it by his chest, as though the small fabric headpiece could be used to shield him in an emergency. "But ma'am, I was just-" She suddenly held her face in her hands. "I've been so scared! I-I..." "I'm sorry if I've troubled you, miss, but-" Out of nowhere, she flung her arms around him and started sobbing, whimpering apologies. Not sure how to react, Kurata waited a moment, and patted her on the back. "Are... are you all right miss?" She looked up at him, and stepped back a little. "I'm sorry. I've just been so caught up since my dear girls went away." Kurata sighed. It was a good thing he wasn't married. "That's too bad. Um..." he looked down a moment, and then looked at her again. "May I ask your name?" "Oh, yes! I'm sorry; I'm Masaki. What's your name, young man?" "Kurata." he managed. Masaki stepped back, and smiled. "Tell me, Kurata, what do you do for a living?" Because he was so surprised at the question, it took him a moment to answer. "I work at a hovercar factory; I maintain the exterior painting robots." She looked him over, as though evaluating him for something. Kurata never dwelled on his appearance, which was quite average. He had brown hair, was of average height, and was a little bit overweight. He was wearing a typical computer tech's outfit, a white shirt, black pants, and a black vest, with a small black cap that he was holding in his hands. "Do you like your job?" He was certainly curious as to why she was asking him about this sort of thing, but didn't have the courage to ask directly. "Well, no. Not really. It's pretty tedious." Masaki spread her arms in joy. "Then it's settled!" She wrapped her arms around him again, this time squeezing hard enough to force all of the air out of his lungs. By the time she let go, he guessed he had turned red, if not blue. As he recovered, she grabbed his hand, and began running down the street. Kurata was hard pressed to keep up, and never did catch his breath enough to ask her just what she was talking about. After a few minutes of frenzied running through the streets of Natel, they came to a street corner, where she finally stopped. "Now," said Kurata, breathing heavily, "what..." He stopped trying to make sense of everything when a Juraian ship suddenly hovered overhead, and both he and Masaki demateri- alized, reappearing in its forested interior. Like most of the inhabitants of the universe, he had never been inside such a ship before, having only heard rumors about them. They were supposed to actually be trees of some sort, and among the most powerful spacecraft in the galaxy. "Here we are." said Masaki, smiling in that way she had of doing. It was like someone who was absolutely certain everything was just fine even though the truth of the matter was actually the exact opposite. Another woman in Juraian dress came out to greet them. This woman, however, was Terran. "Funaho, this is Kurata." said Masaki. She then looked at Kurata. "Kurata, this is my sister, Funaho." "Um, hello." he managed. Funaho smiled. "Hello, Kurata. Did Masaki explain why she brought you here?" Masaki smiled and nodded. Kurata sighed. "Well, not... not completely." One other thing was nagging at the back of his mind; the names Masaki and Funaho sounded awfully familiar. Funaho motioned to a nearby table, composed of a wooden disc, which hovered in mid-air with no readily apparent means of support. The three of them sat down. Kurata, quite nervous, couldn't help tapping his fingers on the table. "Well then, I'll explain it to you. Planet Jurai and the Galaxy Police have long been allies, but even so each has secrets to keep from the other. What we need is a member of the Galaxy Police who can watch sensitive areas, and pass along important information to us." "But..." Kurata was getting confused by all of this. "Why... why me? I'm not a member of the GP; I just program paint sprayers all day." Funaho looked at Masaki, apparently a bit angry. Kurata had suspected that his being brought here was a mistake, especially given the almost childlike manner in which Masaki behaved. Funaho collected herself, and turned to him. "That's not a problem; we have the means to get you into the Galaxy Police force without much trouble." Kurata looked at the wooden surface of the table and sighed. All he ever wanted out of life was a nice, stable job and maybe a family. Now some Juraian woman wanted him to join the Galaxy Police. "I'm not sure I-" "You can do it!" Masaki chimed in. "You won't have to ever even get into combat, beyond basic weapons training. We need you to be at a desk anyway." "Well... I, um..." Masaki's eyes suddenly became watery, and she smiled hope- fully. "You'll do it for me, won't you Kurata?" He hated be made to feel obligated to do something, but it seemed he had little choice. Amongst other things, he was sitting in the middle of a Juraian ship, which could probably easily level the city in a matter of minutes if it wanted. "Well, all- right." It was hard for him to imagine himself in a uniform, but he suspected he would have little choice but to get used to it. ------------------------------------------------------------------ by Ewen "Ryoga" Cluney (ryoga_hibiki@hotmail.com) Tenchi Muyo! Universe Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/6127/tenchi.html Beware of pandas carrying signs. ---------------------------------------------------------------- --