Prologue

Prologue

It was late May. The sun’s rays occasionally hinted at the summer to come. The Emperor of Jurai and his entourage had gone home at last, and the Masaki household, released from the daily cacophony, was awash in an almost desolate silence. Sasami, cradling Ryo-Ohki (who was in beast mode), let out a deep sigh.

“Mew?” Ryo-Ohki, concerned, turned up to look at Sasami with those impossibly adorable round eyes. Those were the eyes that any animal lover would squeal at and have to resist the urge to hug tightly and wouldn’t be able to help but nuzzle in the end.

Sasami patted Ryo-Ohki’s head reassuringly and let her eyes wander towards Okayama’s nature-rich countryside. The few hours between cleaning up from lunch and starting preparations for dinner were Sasami’s free time.

She would usually read some shoujo manga or leisurely bask in a sunbeam with Ryo-Ohki, but having gotten used to the ruckus that had persisted until just a few days ago, Sasami could not settle down and sit still.

“Shall we go for a walk, Ryo-chan?” “Meow!”

Ten or so minutes later, Sasami was busily cleaning the Masaki Shrine.

The amount of energy a child running around the fields all day had was higher than you might think, and doing housework was not enough to use up that energy. The others helped out here and there, and Sasami was always diligent in keeping the place tidy, so she did not need as much time to do the housework. The boisterous merrymaking of just a few days ago had kept her running around so much that she was stuck in hyper housework mode, and now felt she had to be doing more, even though it was no longer necessary.

They had intended on a leisurely walk, but the weeds peeking up a few millimeters too long off the grounds of the shrine where Tenchi’s grandfather lived bothered her; she plucked one and then another, and pretty soon she was cleaning the whole place. Humanoid-mode Ryo-Ohki, accompanying her on the walk, was helping out.

“Mew?” Suddenly noticing a swallowtail butterfly flitting about, she chased it as a toddler would. Her catlike qualities kept her focused solely on the butterfly, and she sailed over the grass and rolled down the slope… But this was a common occurrence, and her lively meowing could be heard from below to signal that she was okay.

Sasami sighed loudly again. Mihoshi had cleaned the shrine the previous day, so Sasami was quickly left with nothing to do. It might be surprising that Mihoshi was very good with housework. It just took her a loooong time… Sasami sighed yet again.

“What’s wrong, Sasami-chan?” It was Washu who spoke to Sasami, who was noticeably lacking her usual sunny demeanor.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Eyes open wide, Sasami’s scream echoed through the mountains.

“Sasami, what’s the matter?!” Katsuhito dashed out from the shrine office, for Sasami hardly ever screamed like that. Ryo-Ohki scrambled up a moment behind him. However, they both pulled up short, as they understood everything in just one glance. “Hm… I see.”

“Meow.”

Washu, with soot on her face and a spider web draped across her head, had stuck her upper body out from under the deck of the main shrine. “Sticking out from under the floors looking like that… shock is an understandable reaction,” Katsuhito muttered to Ryo-Ohki, watching Washu’s eccentric behavior. Ryo-Ohki meowed in agreement.

Meanwhile, Washu, still peering from below Sasami’s feet, asked “Did I surprise you, Sasami?!” in her usual cheerful way, paying no heed to how she looked or to Sasami’s expression of shock.

“W-Washu-oneechan…why are you…” She tried to ask what she was doing there and stopped short. Knowing Washu, she was hunting for ingredients to use in her experiments, of course. In point of fact, she was observing the doodlebug constructing a nest in the dry, fine sand under the shrine. Nobody knew what she would do with those observations, however…

Washu chuckled innocently at Sasami. That was all it took for Sasami—or anyone who knew Washu, for that matter—to know that she was up to no good.

I hope Tenchi-oniichan, Ryoko-oneechan, and Ayeka-oneesama are safe, Sasami prayed silently to herself.

“Something on your mind? Other than the thing about Tenchi-dono and Ryoko-chan and Ayeka-dono you were thinking about just now. I’m talking about why you were sighing.”

“It’s nothing. I was just hoping that everyone made it back to Jurai safely…”

Operation Arranged Marriage, where Azusa, the Emperor of Jurai, brought a suitor for Ayeka, the First Princess, to Earth to duel with Tenchi, had lasted ten days. They could no longer ignore their royal duties and had returned to their home world. But for Sasami, the Second Princess, it had meant spending time with her parents, which she hardly ever got to do. The bigger the ruckus over ten days, the bigger the hole it left in her heart. She may have been wise beyond her years, but she was still a child. Of course she was homesick.

Washu crawled out from under the crawl space, flicked off the dust particles, and drew Sasami closer into a hug.

She’s so warm… Sasami was unconcerned about the soot and the dust.

She felt a profound sense of relief. Washu’s usual manner made her seem hard to approach, but she gave Sasami a feeling of peace.

“Say, Sasami…” Washu may have reminded Sasami of the Holy Mother, but once she realized that Sasami was calmer, she slipped back into her usual ways. “I was thinking, after meeting Misaki-dono, that Ayeka-dono looks a lot more like her mother than I thought.”

“Ha ha…her personality, yes.” Sasami laughed nervously. This topic was taboo in front of Ayeka, her older sister.

Washu chuckled, “Sasami, want me to show you something interesting?”

As soon as she said that, Sasami had a very bad feeling. The next moment, that feeling echoed in reality as the sound of Ayeka screaming rose from Tenchi’s house.

“Ayeka-oneesama?!” Sasami immediately realized that Ayeka’s scream must be caused by the “something interesting” Washu was talking about.

Soon, a dark and spiderlike object appeared on the shrine grounds.

Ayeka was struggling, swallowed up within this black, viscous gel-like blob. “Washu-oneechan!”

“It’s okay!” Washu answered with her usual confident smile.

Knowing her, she wouldn’t do anything too unreasonable… I don’t think… Since the blob was opaque, Sasami could not see what kind of expression Ayeka had on her face. However, from the glimpse of her flailing legs, she could easily imagine. I’m not sure about this…

Ting! With the sound of a microwave’s beep, the blob stopped moving. “Looks like it’s done… Observe.”

Pushed lightly by Washu, Sasami stumbled towards Ayeka. The black blob separated. And from beneath it emerged…

“Ayeka-oneesa… A-Aye… Ayeka…onee…?” Sasami was shocked beyond words.

“Th-this was Washu-sama’s doing, wasn’t it?! What did she…?!” Released, Ayeka wore a complicated expression suppressing anger and glared at Washu. She was pretending to be okay, but it was clear she was infuriated.

“Your hair—exactly like mine and Mother’s…?” Sasami mumbled, staring at Ayeka.

“What?” Ayeka patted her own hair and felt something different. She took out her hand mirror—a requisite for proper ladies—peered in, and two seconds later, screamed at the top of her lungs. The color of her hair had turned—or rather, reverted to a light blue-green, just like her mother Misaki’s and Sasami’s, and was spiky like a pineapple.

“Th-this hair is, um…” Ayeka tried to explain.

“Mother…” Sasami’s voice cracked, and she clung to her sister. “Sasami…” Ayeka finally realized that her little sister was lonely. She hardly ever relied on Ayeka since they had come to Earth. She took over most of the housework, and now that Ryo-Ohki was the baby of the house, Sasami was looking after her, too. Everyone around her, even her older sister, had forgotten that this brave little girl was only nine years old. “Sasami, you poor baby…” With a gentle smile, Ayeka lovingly squeezed Sasami. She had totally forgotten about her anger towards Washu. This simplicity was a part of the reason why she was often told she resembled her mother Misaki.

Watching the two sisters from the porch of the shrine, Katsuhito looked over at Washu. “Washu-dono, when did you notice that Ayeka had changed her hair?”

“Back when I did her physical examination.” Back then was during the case of Ryoko-Zero. “Looking at her genes, it seemed her phenotype should more strongly resemble Misaki-dono, so I’d been wondering.”

“When Ayeka was four…she underwent genetic editing.” Katsuhito looked at Ayeka as he spoke. The color of her hair brought back old memories…of back when her hair was light blue-green. From the perspective of Earth, it was the far distant past. He remembered…back when he was still called Yosho…