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June, 2010
Yaten glanced over the morning newspapers and sighed. "Damn ... another report on Taiki's ship."
Jinia looked over his shoulder and frowned. "Do you think the government is doing this on purpose?"
"They have no reason too. Unless ..." He reached for the phone as it started ringing. "Hello, Seiya."
"You know, I really hate it when you do that."
"Then stop calling here fifteen times a day. I take it you've seen the papers?"
"Yes. Turns out some files got leaked to a reporter. On purpose."
"Damn. Guess that puts an end to our comeback, then."
"No. The government liaison told us it was simply because they were going to be ... introducing alien upgrades. Upgrades that Alvarson-sensei apparently convinced Kakyuu-sama to sell."
Yaten sighed. "I knew he was talking to her about some, but ... I didn't think she'd go for it. What does Usagi-tachi think of all this?"
"Usagi-chan isn't sure what to think. That's why she wanted me to call. See if you guys can come by this afternoon. She thinks we might be able to figure out what Alvarson-sensei has planned."
"As if that's ever going to happen. We'll be by after school, Seiya." Yaten quickly explained it to Jinia as three teenagers came bouncing into the room. "Morning ladies. Ready for your last day of school?"
"YES!"
"Definitely!"
Hikari laughed slightly and grabbed a glass of orange juice. "I'm ready to start those driving lessons mom promised me."
Jinia smiled a little. "I did, didn't I? Just remember what we said."
Hikari nodded. "I know ... no taking the children in the car without a licensed adult and Shi doesn't count as a licensed adult." She made a slight face, then glanced at the table. "Where is the rugrat, anyway? He wasn't in his room."
Yaten smiled slightly, motioning under the table. "He heard the three of you coming and thought it was a stampede."
"Dema! We're not that bad." Mi-ko made a face at her father, then lifted the corner of the tablecloth. "Ichi ... come out of there."
Yo-Ichi made a face at his sister, hugging their father's leg. "Don' wanna."
"He's doing better with his English, I see." Shi smirked at the little family unit, then almost laughed as Yo-Ichi came out from under the table and hugged her. "Nice to see you too, kid."
Jinia smiled as she grabbed another glass from the cabinet. "I think he's missed you."
Shi nodded as she knelt down to hug the younger Kinmokunai. "Well, I missed him too. I still can't believe it took this long."
"It was complicated magic. I'm just glad Goodman-san was able to ..." Jinia smiled sadly when Yaten took her hand.
Yaten smiled a little at his youngest daughters, then looked to Shi. "So, last day of school. Got any plans yet?"
Shi shook her head slightly. "Dema's being a little overprotective. I think this whole thing about the ship and the concert has got him rattled. Looks like we'll be sticking close to home."
"That's not such a bad thing, is it?" Jinia smiled slightly, then looked at the clock. "Ok, girls, finish eating and get into the car. Boys, you have the house to yourselves for a couple of hours. Please don't burn it down."
"Yes ma'am." Yaten hugged the girls, then picked up Yo-Ichi, speaking to him in Kinmokunai.
Hikari watched them leave, then looked toward Jinia. "He seemed calmer this morning."
Jinia nodded. "Yeah, he even let me pick him up earlier. Yaten said he thinks he's just overwhelmed by all of this."
"He has only been back a few days. And his last memories were ... quite terrifying, I'm sure." Shi sighed and pulled something from her pocket. "Chiba-san asked me to bring this over. She said it was a charm she used on the babies when they would have bad dreams."
"Thank you, Shi. Now, we had better be going, or we'll all be late." Jinia put the small crystal on the kitchen counter, then started grabbing bags.
Kai frowned. "It's the last day ... do we even have to go?"
"Yes," Jinia replied. "And no more complaints. Or I'll arrange for all of you to spend the rest of the inservice days there as well."
Hikari chuckled as the younger two girls practically ran for the door. She turned to her classmate and grinned. "I don't think I've ever seen those two move so fast. So, how about you? Need a ride to school?"
"Sure, if your mom doesn't mind. Dema might get mad if I popped into class again."
Jinia chuckled. "It's no problem, Shi. In fact, I'm surprised he let you come all this way alone, even if you were teleporting."
"I wasn't exactly alone. Uncle Taiki had to take the triplets to some doctor. Not like we don't have a fleet's worth on hand. Something to do with getting them in school now that they have a better grasp of English. Little brats know about five languages now."
Hikari grinned. "Only five? You really should encourage them to learn more, Shi. It'll be fun to see the look on uncle Taiki's face when they start talking to him in German."
Shi shook her head. "German they already know. Kimi-chan is trying to teach them the Ancient language. That's all we need ... another group of little terrorists able to listen in on every conversation in the house."
"Oh good, does that mean I can get them to tell me all the dirt on you? I can't get Rei-chan to tell me anything."
Jinia watched the two teenagers and smiled to herself. 'What is it about aliens and my family?'
August, 2010
Usami cringed at the words coming from her mother downstairs and covered her ears, as if that could stop her from knowing exactly why her mother was suddenly so upset. She had known her father was planning on making an appearance at the Space Station, but from what she was hearing from her mother, he had managed to not only embarrass the Kinmoku, but also betray the fact that they did indeed come to Earth before.
Shi and Miyo ducked into Usami's room, dressed in their 'official' costumes, which consisted of black pants and, in their case, gray fitted jackets. Usami's own outfit was similar to her mother's dress, a black top with fire-red skirt. She had managed to beg off wearing the crown, but her mother had insisted that she wear her hair in the 'official' style. "Sounds like Kara's finally arrived."
Shi nodded, covering her own ears. "Yes, he did. Be glad you missed it." Beside her, Miyo nodded and waved one had at the door, activating a device to block out the sounds coming from downstairs.
'Tomi ran into the room and grinned when it grew quiet. "Usami, you're mother has the mouth of a Spacer!" She was wearing an outfit similar to the twins', but where their's were gray, hers was violet. She turned to the twins and mouthed a word of thanks for the quiet. It was something that they had all learned to do years ago when they realized just how short Kakyuu's fuse really was. It was a device their Uncle Yaten had come up with, something he told them that neither Seiya nor Taiki had ever learned about.
Usami sighed as she went back to the task of fixing her hair. "I know she does. She claims she learned most of those words here on Earth, but I know for a fact that you can't learn most of that unless you hang out in the space port."
"Oh, you know that for a fact, do you?" Miyo asked. She walked over to the other girl and began helping her with her hair. The other three simply had to pull their hair back like their fathers', but hers was far more elaborate. "And how would our precious little Princess know anything about the Space ports?"
Usami grinned. "This 'precious little Princess', as you called me, isn't naive, Miyo. What she is is the younger sister of a Fleet Commander, who has spent more time waiting for him at the ports than actually on a ship." She finished her hair, then turned toward the others. "So ... think anyone else is hiding in their rooms right about now?"
"Probably all of them," Shi replied. She fidgeted with her jacket, pulling on the sleeves for the thousandth time that day. "I think these blasted things have shrunk."
"Considering we haven't worn them in over two years, probably." 'Tomi smacked the other girl's hands away, then inspected the jacket. "Well, here's the problem. You're wearing Miyo's jacket."
The twins looked at each other, removing the clothing. "They're supposed to be identical. I don't see how it makes a difference."
"Well, quite simply, it's because the two of you aren't identical," 'Tomi replied. She helped Shi with the new jacket, then smiled slightly. "See, isn't that better?"
Shi grumbled her thanks, then began pulling her hair back through the jacket. "Still should be the same."
Usami rolled her eyes as she turned toward the blonde. "They're not, ok? You and Miyo are the same height, but since you are better at fighting, you have more muscle tone than she does. Therefore, her jacket is too small for you. You know ... maybe it's time you two changed colors. That drab gray tends to blend into the regular guards."
"That's the whole point," Miyo replied, pulling her hair out of the jacket. "Unlike the rest of you, we don't really want to stand out in a crowd."
Shi nodded. "We do that enough as is."
There was a knock on the door and the four teenagers quickly stood. Seiya stepped into the room, rubbing his forehead. "Next time we make sure there's someone with your father so he doesn't out the entire family as extra-terrestrials." He glanced up when the room went silent and frowned. "Yaten's been playing with his toys again, I see. No wonder the four of you have managed to stay out of it."
"What's going on?"
"Meiya just revealed Kakyuu-sama to the world as an alien, but since most people don't know her face, there hasn't been too much backlash. However ... he also mentioned the 'Rabbit Queen'. I don't know where he heard this name ... didn't know he even knew Japanese." Seiya motioned for them all to sit down, then sat on one of the beds. "Usami ... if you don't want to hear this-"
"I have never trusted Kara, Lord Seiya. Whatever you have planned for him, you can discuss in front of me." Usami frowned, then looked at the others. "Just not in front of Tsuki. She still believes in him."
Seiya nodded. "I thought as much. Unfortunately, the fact that he indeed does know Japanese means we've got a problem. Meiya has been out of contact with most of the refugees for quite a while. His reappearance now is not a good sign. For the time being, Kakyuu has ordered him to the other Colonies. Whether or not he stays there ... We've assigned one of Taiki's aides to him. She'll be able to tell us anything we need to know."
"As long as she's not a traitor."
Seiya smirked. "And you say you're not a telepath, Shi. We've got people we can trust watching both of them. But you will all have to be careful. We can't afford for all of you to be exposed. I've seen this world ... they don't deal well with change."
Tanetomi sighed, toying with her hair. "So we watch our steps and our tongues a little more carefully."
Usami nodded. "And don't mention Dema."
Miyo frowned. "Well this turned out to be a fun day. Do we still have to go to this ... meeting?"
Seiya shook his head. "No. From now on, anything official will be dealt with by Kakyuu-sama, Kageshirou and Tavek."
Earth Date, January 2011
"Nii-chan?"
"Hai?"
"Where are we?"
"Almost home, Hiko. My true home, where my mother and our sisters are." Urani glanced at the small boy strapped into the co-pilot's seat and smiled a little. "You know, it is safe to speak here. We're far away from anyone."
Hiko, now 2 years old, looked up at his brother and smiled. "Where is home?"
"Kikvesh is a year behind us. But Earth is only a few days away." Urani grinned and tapped the small blue and green sphere that Shi had given him years before. Once they had gotten the ship into space, he had realized it was a homing beacon. Without even realizing, Shi had given him a way to find his family. "We should be close enough to see it by tomorrow evening."
Hiko grinned and looked out at the stars flying by. They had managed to make it most of the way using the Hrrrrunai prototype engine, but Urani hadn't taken into account that constant use would shorten the life of the device. It exploded after only a few days use, but had already taken them farther than they could have hoped to cover in 17 years on Hrrrrunai standard engines. The ship had been heavily damaged by the explosion and had the boys been alone, they probably would have perished.
Chiuxbinta vek Amo, aka Chibi, Urani's long time tutor, had helped the young telepath escape and after the explosion, had managed to get them to a safe port. They spent several days there, recuperating and looking to expand their crew. They left the small colony with 2 more Hseti, a Vexan-Orion half-breed and a female doctor that claimed to be descended from refugees from the Silver Millennium. With a crew now numbering 7, Urani had felt some of the burden lifted from his young shoulders and began acting more like the teenager he was supposed to be.
"You know, boss, the two of you really should get some sleep. I can fly this bird for a while." Chibi smiled at the older of the two boys and knelt down beside the pilot's seat. "Or are you just going to sit here and hope you see something?"
Urani grinned. "I'm hoping I see something. A ship, a colony ... some sign that Dema's people really are here."
Chibi smiled, placing a large hand on his arm. "They're here. And they'll be more than happy to see you," he replied, knowing what really plagued the boy's mind. "Now, to bed with both of you. We'll call you if we find anything, I promise."
"You had better." Urani stood and reached for Hiko's hand. He lightly hugged the tall man, then slipped past him toward the exit. He was surprised to see the doctor standing in the doorway. "Hey doc, what's up?"
"We're close to my home," Panacea replied. She motioned to the window where a small planet was just coming into view.
Chibi slowed the ship down enough so that they could get some readings from the surface. "No signs of life. The whole planet is covered in ice." He smiled a little sadly at the doctor, then moved the ship closer. He pulled up the planet on the closest magnification they could get at that distance and motioned to the different areas of ice. "It looks like it had large oceans at one time ... and several large land masses."
Panacea, called Pan by the young boys, looked out at the ice-covered planet. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered seeing a planet with many mountains, forests and large stretches of open fields, not a planet covered by water and ice. "Something ... bad must have happened." She forced herself to look away from the planet, knowing that there was no time yet to go exploring. That had been her one condition for coming with the group, that she be allowed to go to her ancestral home. "Maybe your mother's friends will know. I just hope-"
The ship shook as lasers bounced off it's hull. The doctor grabbed Hiko and strapped them both into a seat while Urani went to see if he could help Chibi. Before he could speak, however, several more sets of laser fire struck the defenseless ship.
