There was a strange door in the dining room of the Masaki family. it looked like an entrance to a storage closet one would normally find under a staircase. It looked like an ordinary wooden door but it's placement was very strange.
Below the stairs to the second floor there was another door leading to the staircase to the basement of the house and if you were to have opened it you would have seen that it went down a few yards and dead ended at the ground. there was no basement. It was a weird door.
sasami had brought in the mail from azaka and kamidake and she had sorted it out.
while a stray letter came for tenchi every now and then, most of the mail was usually katsuhito's, sasami and the other's weren't from earth so they didn't ever get any mail.
sasami was hoping for one from her parents though. they had just recently left and a mild feeling of loneliness had struck her. But she didn't find a letter for herself when she sorted it, she found a letter for washu. she double checked it. Hakubi washu. yes it was definitely for washu.
she wondered who had sent it and she went to look at the return address but ryo-ohki, who was in her human form came up and distracted her. she was crying as she held out a bag filled with bundles of carrots ayeka had made for her that day. Sasami laughed and smiled and she handed a bunch of the letters to Ryo-Ohki to put in her bag. Ryo-Ohki had been carrying katsuhito's mail up to his home at the shrine lately. With the mail in her bag she ran off.
she wondered who had sent it and she went to look at the return address but ryo-ohki, who was in her human form came up and distracted her. she was crying as she held out a bag filled with bundles of carrots ayeka had made for her that day. Sasami laughed and smiled and she handed a bunch of the letters to Ryo-Ohki to put in her bag. Ryo-Ohki had been carrying katsuhito's mail up to his home at the shrine lately. With the mail in her bag she ran off.
Like usual, after she gave ryo-ohki the letters for katsuhito she went upstairs to put tenchi's letters on the desk in his room. On the rafters below the 3rd floor Ryoko was sitting in a big pile of carrot pillows she had taken from the floor below. She was busy reading one of noboyuki's manga books. Sasami called out to her. Ryoko answered her absentmindedly. She wouldn't stop reading her comics. She was crying over them. Since she had fused with zero she had become very emotionally reactive to stories like those.
"Hey, big sister Ryoko ... I want to beat the cushions is that ok with you?" sasami asked. Ryoko absentmindedly sent a carrot cushion hurdling towards sasami at a violent speed. Sasami ducked and it barely missed her. It went flying out of the window which had been left open to air out the house and landed on the veranda.
Ryoko wasn't done though. her mind wasn't paying attention at all and she began throwing cushion after cushion at sasami. Sasami avoided them and quickly put the letters on tenchi's desk. It seemed like ryoko had finished throwing pillows at her as well. she went outside tenchi's room. "Thank you, Ryoko older sister ...! aaaaaaaaah!" a final carrot cushion had been thrown. It had hit her right in the face. Ryoko laughed.
"Ryoko!" sasami threw the cushion back at ryoko but she phased through the floor and it missed her.
She picked it back up and went down to the veranda and beat the dust out of it with two bamboo sticks. she turned it over and got on it to lay in the sun.
sasami and ryo-ohki loved to sunbathe and read manga on the cushions in their free time. Sasami imagined Ryo-ohki playing on the cushion and smiled. She had had forgotten all about ryoko's mischief.
sasami and ryo-ohki loved to sunbathe and read manga on the cushions in their free time. Sasami imagined Ryo-ohki playing on the cushion and smiled. She had had forgotten all about ryoko's mischief.
Ryo ohki came back after she had finished her delivery to Katsuhito.
"That was quick. Thank you for your hard work, ryo-chan" Sasami said
"I guess i should bring that letter to big sister Washu now, do you want to go with me?"
"Mya ~ ~ ~!" Ryo ohki was happy to come with her. they opened the door under the stairs
" Big sister Washu..." she said knocking on the door. it opened and Sasami saw a strange landscape inside, it was a space so vast that it was physically impossible.
This door she knocked on, the door that had no reason to be there, was the door that led to the Great lab of a genius scientist who had once been called the best brain in the galaxy. it led to Washu Hakubi's lab.
Near the center of the room, which was slightly too big to really be called a room, was Washu. She was fiddling with a computer terminal. She stared at a monitor filled with geometric shapes as usual, it seemed that she was conducting dubious experiments, as usual.
"Did you come to bring me something? It's a bit early for lunch?"
Washu said to Sasami without looking away from her monitor.
"A letter came for you." Sasami said, saying only the facts and nothing more. Sasami understood from experience that it was better to take such measures when speaking to Washu when she was immersed in her research.
"A letter for me?"
Washu looked back at Sasami's envelope. the envelope was made of earth-made materials.
"It's not like I've been exchanging letters to any earthlings, but ..."
Although she wasn't expecting a letter, the envelope clearly had "Ms. Washu Hakubi" written in fancy brushstrokes on it. She didn't think it was a prank but given her circumstances the possibility of an earthling sending her a letter was as close to zero as it could possibly be.
she turned over the envelope and looked at the name of the sender.
"... .... ... Kasumi ...Masaki? ...... Who is that?"
Washu understood that it was someone from jurai but she didn't know a kasumi masaki.
Earth's information systems were under Juraian management but it was unlikely that anyone from Jurai knew washu was here. After all Azusa's visit was confidential and news about it hadn't escaped earth. No one knew she was there.
"The characters used are different, but is it the same " Masaki " maybe it's someone Tenchi knows?"
"oh, I remember! Kasumi is the name of Taro's mother!" said sasami
"── !!" As soon as she heard the name Taro, washu became visibly surprised and upset.
"Taro's ... Mother?"
Taro's mother, Kasumi was a relative of Tenchi's. When Kasumi was hospitalized with a sudden illness a few months ago, they had taken care of Taro. Washu looked after taro because tenchi and ryoko hadn't known how to take care of a baby, but it had reminded her of her painful past. Perhaps this letter was a thank-you note.
"Miao ...... Miao ~ " There was another person Who was upset at hearing Taro's name.
It was Ryo-Ohki.
The scary memories of when he had stayed with them were coming back to her, Ryo-Ohki changed from little girl form to cabbit form the second the name came out of Sasami's mouth. Ryo-Ohki grew tense and climbed up sasami to hide behind her shoulder.
Sasami stroked Ryo-ohki's head while she picked up the daypack that had fallen to the floor.
"It's all right, Ryo-Chan he isn't here"
"It's all right, Ryo-Chan he isn't here"
She returned to human form.washu smiled.
"Thank you for the letter sasami-chan. I'll read it later."
"Thank you for the letter sasami-chan. I'll read it later."
"Oh, Okay..." Sasami was also concerned about Taro.
At that time sasami had many troubles of her own to deal with and it was impossible for her to look after him. So she was interested in what the letter said as well.
"I'll call you when lunch is ready." sasami said she took Ryo's hand and tried to leave the room but Ryo-ohki wouldn't budge. She looked at washu and pointed at her.
"Ryo-chan?"Washu, stared at the envelope and understood why Ryo-Ohki was pointing.
"Thank you, Ryo-Ohki. You can deliver my letters too if you want."
"Myan"
When they had both left, washu double checked to make sure they had gone. she grasped the envelope with both hands but her hands stopped there.
"............" She kept watching the envelope silently. A long moment of silence passed.
She closed her eyes and exhaled. Then she stood up with the letter and walked to a different door than the one sasami had entered from earlier. There was no sound when it opened but the wind that blew out of hit slightly shook washu's hair. Inside the door was what looked like a park surrounded by many trees.
Aside from the tree's that were planted normally, Various types of plants were placed in different kinds of cases. it was more like a huge botanical garden then a park.
Washu went through the door and gently kicked the ground.
She jumped like she was trying to skip but instead of falling back down to the ground she flew in the air. Washu could fly just like Ryoko, Or rather, being Ryoko's mother, ryoko could fly like her, but washu usually didn't use this ability.
There were many good reasons she didn't but mostly she just liked to walk. It was healthy and made her feel good. In fact, she had never even shown this ability to tenchi, and if he has seen he would have had his mouth gaping in awe.
Washu imagined that, she wanted to see it. She laughed at the thought and she weaved through the trees. The place she was heading to was too far away for her to walk.
If she had used the door in the house she could have gone there instantly but today she wanted a little while to think to herself before she got there
A few miles ahead of her was a small building. The door of the building opened automatically to welcome Washu. Inside was completely different, the darkness of the universe reflected upon everything inside of it except for the floor. She went inside and began to drift in the gravity free void of space. 5 planets were arranged around her. They surrounded her. The building she had gone into was actually a large orbital elevator. Her laboratory was a large satellite station that floated somewhere in space.
Her laboratory consisted of five planets each of five different types They were not fixed in subspace but they were located in a star system somewhere in the galaxy.
On One of the five planets, Washu had an observatory.
This observatory was small and didn't have any lab facilities. it was a copy of the house where Washu had lived. Washu was in an old room in the observatory within and hour of leaving her lab. She sat in an old rocking chair and rocked back and forth. She came to this place when she wanted to be alone with her thoughts. She had been alive over 20,000 years and had many things which she needed to think about at times. behind her was a dresser adorned with framed photo's. they were mostly out of her line of sight but one her line of sight couldn't escape from.
In the photo, there was a baby with the same big green eyes as Washu.
His eyes smiled innocently and it seemed like it was looking at Washu.
She recalling the time she had parted with Taro. Washu stood alone while filled with embarrassment.It was a sight that she couldn't let other see. But she had showed that side of her to tenchi once.
."It's not that time yet." It was too early to give Tenchi answers to things like that. There had to be an order to things.
Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi ... ....
Washu took out the letter from the envelope.
It started with "Dear Madam Washu Hakubi," followed by words of thanks and gratitude, followed by pictures of Taro.
It was a polite, but minimal, letter written with only essential points.
Washu noticed that the letter, which at first seemed like a normal letter was written on a report form used by the Galaxy Academy. at the end was written "P.S. Let's keep this confidential"
"Well, it's a secret to Tenchi ..." Washu muttered as she gazed at the happy pictures of Taro that were enclosed. she stood up to compare them the photos that decorated the dresser.
was the difference between the two photos destiny and time?
"Good for you ... Taro"
"Washu older sister, It's time for lunch" Sasami's voice echoed into the room from nowhere.
"Okay, I'll be there in a minute."
as stated before, Washu's laboratory was enormous. But she had been doing research by simulation, mostly in the living room at the space station, but she still regularly visited other places.So there was an intercom system of sorts from the door in tenchi's house to the various places in her lab. She had it installed because there were many dangerous places in her lab that most people shouldn't go and also it was a countermeasure to help keep mihoshi out.
When Washu came to the living room of the Masaki household, everyone except Mihoshi was at their seat.
"You're pretty late washu" said sasami.
"Yeah, sorry sorry, something came up it was a big hullabaloo~" washu apologized. Mihoshi came from the door to washu's lab
"Oh, Ms. Washu Where have you been?" mihoshi said. sasami stared at her with a complex expression. Sasami hadn't even asked mihoshi to go get washu.
Mihoshi 's was called "a casual genius" for her ability to coincidentally make things happen. eventually the weird things she did produced good results. But the problem with her ability was everything that happened in the process.
For Washu, it often resulted in confusion and destruction of her lab.
No matter how good the result was, the trouble and turmoil caused in the process, was "kind of embarrassing" as mihoshi put it.
Her abilities resulted in many odd happenings inside the Masaki household when mihoshi was near. Ayeka once fell into the pond without any apparent cause, carrots harvested by Tenchi would fallout and roll down the hill for an entire mile, Ryo-Ohki's tail would get stepped on, dishes were broken or damaged, The faucet she used would break, The Masaki family would be flooded by the fall of her shuttle ... and so on, there were many other things that would happen, but for the most part they were just harmless funny things.
But if she went into washu's lab something much more serious often happened.
But if she went into washu's lab something much more serious often happened.
Sasami would have had to been crazy to ask Mihoshi to call Washu for dinner.
but Mihoshi wasn't the type of person to do anything unless someone told her something. Washu, who noticed Sasami seemed worried, turned to her with a gentle smile as if to say that it was all right. Relieved, Sasami began to serve the rice.
"... .... Mihoshi, where were you?" asked washu
"Well ... first ..."
"Make what you're going to say brief" washu said annoyed.
"Yeah ... um ... ... There were dark places, bright places, hot places and cold places ... Thank you for the food, Sasami-chan"
Mihoshi lost her track of mind as soon as sasami gave her a bowl of food.
Mihoshi lost her track of mind as soon as sasami gave her a bowl of food.
Washu had just installed a new security system for Mihoshi, so she thought that it was a good idea to test it. Plus she needed to know what mihoshi would do if she got past it. A system that could cope with "accidental genius" had to be perfected.
If she could perfect it she knew she could make a fortune. Many people would want it. especially at the GP.
When the meal was finished, Tenchi took a break to hang out with each girl in the house individually. Washu however, quickly went back to her lab, she switched clothes and went back out to collect plant specimens. she went past sasami who was cleaning up the kitchen.
"Sasami-chan, this ... was in the letter that came a while ago" Washu, who had noticed sasami was concerned about the letter, gave sasami a picture of taro and his parents.
"Everyone is fine, Taro is doing great with his mother." sasami smiled washu gave her the picture
"I'm going outside now." washu said.
"But it looks like it's going to rain."
The sky was filled with clouds
"Really?It was supposed to be sunny all day today, but ... well, it's okay." Washu lightly waved to Sasami, And left the kitchen to head towards the entrance of the house.
"Are you gathering specimens?" Tenchi said he had come down from the second floor to talk to Washu who was leaving.
"... ... Oh, just a few."
Washu replied in a pretentious ways. In my honesty, she was just desperate get the letters and pictures, and parting with Taro off her mind, She carefully chose her words to keep them from blurring.
"What happened?" tenchi asked
"Nothing....it's nothing."
When she opened the door to escape outside, a cold wind blew through. it was the middle of spring.
"It feels like winters returned, Washu ... san."
Tenchi sometimes called Washu with 'san' instead of 'chan' at times ever since she had babysat taro due to her revealing her tears and adult self to him. Washu kept herself from saying anything to tenchi. For her now, Tenchi wasn't the past, but the future itself and she didn't want to dote upon it in front of him.
"are you going to be okay out there in that dress?"
"Even if i'm not it won't matter, I won't be gone long."
An outside observer looking in on the conversation without context would have found Tenchi's words to feel like those from a worried older brother who was worried about their sister. Washu's were more like a compassionate mother assuring her anxious son that she would be back home soon.
"Well, I'm going, Tenchi," she said gently Washu left the house and walked toward the mountains.
Tenchi, who had been watching washu's for a while, trembled as the air outside become colder and colder. he looked up at the sky. It began to snow.
"... It's snowing." Tenchi looked at the increasing flurry of snow and looked in the direction Washu had walked away in.
"Washu, It's snowing ... ...."
However, there was no figure of Washu to be found in that direction.
It was as if she had melted into the snow.
-----------------------------------------------------
"she sure left quickly."
"it's unusual for this much snow to pile up so quickly." murmured tenchi and ayeka as they stared at the snow that had continued to fall.
"it's unusual for this much snow to pile up so quickly." murmured tenchi and ayeka as they stared at the snow that had continued to fall.
In the southern part of Okayama where the Masaki house was, Little snow ever piled up, even when snow fell normally. And if it did it would usually melt away by the next day.
"is washu ok?" asked sasami while she washed the laundry
"It's okay, i'm not surprised that a woman as cold-blooded as Washu out there wading in this snow." Said ryoko as she read the 9th volume of the manga series she was reading
"Well then, She must be a lady of the snow ..." Tenchi said
"Indeed, She definitely is Ryoko's mother" Ayeka said, instantly ryoko reacted. The two stared each other down viciously.
Sasami and Tenchi picked up their snacks and head towards the sofa to avoid getting caught in the fight. Mihoshi took a rice cracker from the box of snacks tenchi had.
"Whuf, is fu fufam fuhfu fo?" said mihoshi
"Please tell what your saying again after you're done eating" said tenchi
She swallowed
"Tenchi, what is a lady of the snow?"
"Well, uhm ... ... The lady of the snow is a fairy tale, it's about a winter yokai that lives in snowy mountains, she manipulates and cools the air to make snow and ice."
Tenchi stood up to tell the story. but he wasn't very familiar with it and struggled a bit to tell it. Mihoshi surprisingly was able to help him finish it though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuki-onna
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuki-onna
"It's funny, my planet also has that story."
"Really mihoshi?" said sasami
"Really mihoshi?" said sasami
"Yes!It's based on a real story." said mihoshi. Ryoko stopped fighting with ayeka and teleported so that she was floating just above tenchi. Ayeka who had been left alone, had a sour expression on her face. She gave up on continuing her fight with ryoko and joined the conversation circle.
"Don't mind me, please go on, Mihoshi." she said
"Eh ~ ... well, my great Grandfather said he saw it when he was a child ..." Mihoshi said. Ryoko slid behind her "Is that true?"
"uhhhhhh……Maybe"
"uhhhhhh……Maybe"
"Hey, Mihoshi, tell us the story of the woman of the snow; Do you want to hear it too ryo-ohki?"
"Miaan"
"I also want to hear it." said tenchi it was cold outside and he couldn't work in the fields.
"Eh ~~ Well then ..."mihoshi stuttered
"Hold on wait a moment" Ryoko said as she stopped her
"Oh, Ryoko, are you scared?"
Ryoko lit a candle and placed a liquor bottle next to it. she closed the curtains and set the stage before she sat back down next to Ayeka.
"ok, the stage is all set, you can start Mihoshi"
"Hey, Ryoko-san ... I don't want to tell a ghost story, but ...." Mihoshi said she looked at ryoko's scary face. It reminded her of when they had been at the hot spring telling ghost stories.
"Okay, let's get started."
"..., yes... ahem" mihoshi says clearing her throat.
"Seiniwa , the planet where I was born, Is completely covered in snow during half of year, even near the equator ..." she said in a low tone fit for telling a ghost story.
"My grandmother had an older brother-in-law who was a half year older then her from parents' remarriage, when she grew up she married him, then they had my grandfather, then after a long time ...... "
"Hey stupid, We don't care about your family history,GET BACK TO THE STORY! HURRY!" Shouted ryoko, who was drunk already.
"sorry," said mihoshi
The snow kept coming down.
---
---
in the center of an old room filled with antique furniture and awkward smatterings of children's clothes and toys was a girl sleeping in a big bed. She had Blond hair and brown skin, and pretty blue eyes. On this day she also appeared to have a cold and was occasionally coughing.
A woman who was acting as her nurse was sitting on a chair next to her and knitting.
knock knock.
The woman noticed a knock at the door turned to look at it. She asked them to come in. the door opened and a boy with green eyes and white skin came in.
"Oh, what's wrong?"
"Mother-sama ... How is Miyuki?"said the boy, it was obvious from his appearance that the woman was not really his mother, but they did share the same blond hair.
"She's okay, her fever has gone down a lot, She will be fine in a few days." the woman said gently.
"big brother ... ...." said the girl. He began to approach her when their mother got in the way and stopped him"
"No,You might get sick if you come near her, you two can play when she's better"
"……oh all right"
"It's late you should go to bed soon."
"... Yes, goodnight. Mother. Get well soon, Miyuki." he said as he went to close the door he felt something that made him look outside the window. For a moment outside he saw a figure.
"What's wrong?"
"... ... I thought i saw someone outside the window ..."
their mother quickly moved to the window to check it but she didn't see anything. she checked the security system just in case.
Their house was one of the most famous houses on their plant ... it was a mansion owned by the most powerful family in the land and as such it had the greatest security available. no alarm had gone off so nothing should have entered, but still the mother was wary of something. she confirmed everything was in working order with the security system and turned back to the boy.
she told him it was just the snow and assured him he would be fine. her warm voice eased his worries. he wished her and miyuki a good night and left the room.
The girl inside clearly missed the boy.
"Once the cold is over, I can play again" the girl said with a sad face
the mother asked her if she really liked the boy that much and the girl embarrassedly said that she wanted to marry him when she grew up.
"Yeah ... well, that's OK, I hope you can too" the woman said she looked out the window. outside everything was pure white and there was no sign that the snowing would stop.
----------------------
The next day the snow stopped. which was rare for that season. the sunlight danced beautifully on the snow. from her bed the girl stared at the beautiful scenery. she had been in bed for quite a while and went to bed early, so she was up early and was bored and full of energy. she saw the boy outside playing with a ball in the snow.
She wanted to go outside to play with him but she imagined her mother's reaction and so she just sat and watched him. She could tell even from a distance that he was having fun.
he kept getting further and further away and the girls anxiety grew. the boy kicked the ball really high in an arc. a wind came and snow blew up from the ground and swirled around him. he closed his eyes to protect them from the snow and he dropped his ball. when he opened them there was a woman standing beside his ball. instinctively he thought that he had to run away.
His family owned the entire area around him and he knew no outsiders were supposed to be around him without a guard present. since he was from a powerful family, he was trained to deal with people who tried to maliciously approach him. even the girl knew what to do in that situation.
"Launch the guardian system ... and ... and ..." he stuttered and froze up as he looked into the lady's eyes. she had large brilliant red hair that contrasted with her black clothes and a pretty face, but what he noticed most about her was her green eyes that were similar to his. He wasn't scared when he looked at them, rather he felt nostalgia towards the strange woman.
"is this your's boy" she said picking up the ball at her feet. she came closer to the boy. he trembled involuntarily. her voice nearly brought him to tears for some reason he didn't know.
She handed him the ball and he took it as he gazed at her eyes.
"Thank you" all his tension and fear left him. Their hands touched slightly when she gave him the ball.
the girl was watching them from behind a bush. she had seen the lady and ran outside to save the boy. even though her mother had adopted the boy and gave him contact and affection there was always a subtle air of discomfort between them when she did so, however she couldn't see any of that between the boy and the lady in the snow. their interaction seemed natural as if she was his actual mother.
"... ... That woman, she must be the lady of the snow."
Her mother had told her a story at bedtime before of a woman who died in the snowy mountains while looking for her lost child. Her body died but her soul kept on searching for the child who wasn't there anymore and when she saw a child playing alone she would them thinking they were hers.
She couldn't tell what the boy and the lady were saying from where she stood but she could see they were talking joyfully.
she noticed the air around them had gone silent.
the woman slowly reached out to the boy, who didn't put up any resistance. he also reached out slowly. miyuki was afraid that the snow lady was going to take him. she tried to yell out to him but nothing came out. it was as if time was frozen everywhere but where the lady and the boy were. she knew the lady was there to take him away with her and she cried. right before they touched she finally got a shout to come out.
"brother!" the boy heard her and his desire to go with the woman disappeared he turned around to notice the girl who was still in her nightgown.
"Miyuki!" he said surprised as he rushed over to her
"brother"
"mother said you should still be in bed."
the girl clung to the boy so that the woman couldn't take him away with her.
She noticed the woman's sad eyes though and they made her anger towards the woman trying to take away her brother disappear. she felt remorse for keeping them apart and tried to apologize but guards, who were looking for miyuki, came towards them with guns.
They aimed their guns at the woman
"……I'm sorry……" miyuki said
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she repeated over and over the boy held her, he thought she was speaking to him
"... ... I'm not mad at you."
"I'm sorry"
the guards went to apprehend the woman and suddenly a flurry of snow swirled around her. everything around them turned white
"... ... Good-bye, boy" the girl heard the lady say she noticed the lady had the same green eyes as her brother and her red hair danced in the wind. she disappeared as if she melted into the snow.
miyuki was scolded by her mother when she returned home and her cold got worse she had to spend an extra week in bed. the boy also caught a cold and was now in bed next to her.
they held hands and she thought about the snow woman who had given her back her brother.
----
"Hey, Mihoshi what happened to the snow lady?" asked sasami
"no one has seen her since then"
"Oh, I see."
"Heck, i guess then she could still be around, watching you ......" ryoko says in a low voice scaring mihoshi
"Haaaaaaa? ...... Don't say such things"
"she could be anywhere... For example ... ... just behind you!"
As soon as Ryoko said that, the window opened and a snowstorm blewing, the silhouette of the red hair dancing in the wind was all mihoshi saw
"aaaaaaaaaa!"
"It's the lady of the snow!" mihoshi screamed and everyone screamed and jumped back and tried to run away.
"Mihoshi !!" washu called out. tenchi was the first to notice it was her, everyone else began to notice it was her as washu continued to yell, everyone in fact besides mihoshi who was still screaming loudly for help.
"Quit it!" mihoshi, she beat mihoshi over the head.
"owch ~ ~, what are you doing snow lady......" mihoshi said and stared at the person in front of her, she realized it was washu and stopped panicking. she sighed a sigh of relief.
"... Oh, good, it's not the lady of the snow...."
"Ms. Mihoshi ... ...." washu said as she grabbed mihoshi's blouse and brought her close to her, she had a demonic look on her face.
"why are you making such a scary face ...?"
"... ... what did you do in my room when you came searching for me?"
this time washu forgot to remind her to do it briefly. Mihoshi had a crazy good memory and she began to describe everything she did in immense detail.
"First, Sasami was preparing for lunch, today's menu was a canola oil fried chicken breast with rice and soup with potatoes that Ryoko helped boil. the soup was pickled and boiled down moderately and it smelled like fish and radishes. "
"I don't need to know any more about the lunch menu"
"Well ... huh ... so it was time to call you soon, if I tried to open that door to go to Washu's laboratory ... Of course, I knocked it about three times I called your name about three times, but since I did not have a reply, I decided to go inside ... ... then suddenly I had walked into a dark place, the door was also gone when I turned around, and I lost track of my directions I cried a bit with anxiety.i started to panic but then I trusted the my intuition like i was on a gp case looking for a criminal, the area was still dark, but it became very hot ...... I nearly forgot to mention it but, during that time I heard a voice
......blah......blah......blah......
pants......blah......blah......blah......and i felt like......blah......blah......blah......blah......took off my clothes......blah...... blah......blah...... i called washu's name......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......i heard an animal......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......i called washu's name another three times......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah........blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah....blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah......blah and then I called Washu's name again ... about three times ...... "
(it actually said stuff but it was this long and equally as unimportant)
Mihoshi 's memory was so good that it was extraordinary.
but she had no ability to summarize It shows in her long reports to the gp.
Normally washu would have asked her to keep in brief but for the sake of investigation purposes washu didn't stop her.
─ ─ Two hours passed ─
"... Then, i got tired of walking and I sat for a while and... then ..."
"Wait a moment, where did you sit down?"
"...... uhhhhhhmmmm... .... I think that there was a number 08384788298,"
"oh is that so?" she grabbed mihoshi and smiled and dragged her to the window and threw her outside into the tall and deep pile of snow
"HEY what is going on !?" mihoshi cried out. washu closed the door and locked it.
"Washu, please open up ~" mihoshi said but washu ignored her as she banged on the window. tenchi sent a sympathetic gaze to mihoshi but washu intimidated everyone so no one dared to open the window.
Washu opened a holo terminal and started adjusting weather controls she looked back at tenchi and said "...... oh That's right, she said earlier i was the lady of the snow and you guys had the curtains drawn what was going on?"
Sasami told her about the story mihoshi told them.
washu silently fiddled with the terminal without replying
"... ... Uhm, Washu-sama" said ayeka pointing at mihoshi who was about to burst into tears outside the window
"..............." aykea saw washu stare coldly at her before she went back to ignoring everyone.
"...... everything should be back to normal soon!!"Washu said closing the holoterminal.
"I'm sorry, I am sorry, ~~~~" said mihoshi clinging to the window her nose was turning bright red like she had a cold.
"I'm sorry, I am sorry,"
"............"
For a while, Washu stared at Mihoshi as if she was in a state of shock.
"I'm sorry ... I'm sorry ... I am sorry, ... ...."
Tenchi and Sasami realized that washu was shivering a bit.
And then.
"... ... Hahahahahaah....hahahahahaha"
While watching Mihoshi 's miserable face, Washu laughed slowly.
"Ahahahahahahaha!" washu finally broke out into loud laughter. she opened the window and hugged mihoshi.
mihoshi lost her balance and they fell into the snow together.
washu holding mihoshi rolled around in the snow.
"... ... did your brain freeze or something?"ryoko asked.
washu threw a snowball at her. she rushed outside to retaliate
washu threw a snowball at her. she rushed outside to retaliate
The face of Ryoko was suddenly stained white. sasami and ryo ohki joined them.
"Hey Sasami ... ... ... wait! "ayeka said ryoko hit her with a snow ball.
"Ryoko!" ayaka yelled rushing outside angrily. a snowball also hit tenchi in the face. no one knew who was targeting who anymore and a snowball fight started.
Washu gazed at Mihoshi while hitting her with a snowball.
"I'm sorry ....? Huh ... ...., you look so much like her daughter "
washu thought as she was hit by a snow ball, she fell over and sunk into the snow she was still smiling "I see. It's already been twenty thousand years since then ... she thought to herself"
---------
The snow was caused by mihoshi shorting a circuit that was old and it caused part of the weather control program washu had setup to glitch. later when washu went to the meteorological control room to fix it she found the last volume of the manga ryoko was reading. it had been missing.
.
"Ah! Washu. you found it! she jumped over the railing to the floor below and took it from washu. she was very happy about washu finding it.
end chapter
Pictures:
1.sasami gets a letter for washu and gives ryo-ohki the letters addressed to katsuhito so she can deliver them.
2."A Letter? For me? From who?" -washu
3. The woman of the snow visits mikumo and miyuki.
4."Miss Washuuuu please let me inside.... its coooooooooooold!" mihoshi begs. Washu locked her outside in the snow and is refusing to let anyone let her in.
------------------------------------
Chapter two washu:
Tens of thousands of years ago the galaxy wasn't like it was in tenchi's time. there were only a few tens of thousands of confirmed small scale alliances between the various planets and star systems. There were no large scale alliances like the galaxy federation. The vastness of space and the inadequate methods of space travel available at the time made war between nations meaningless. Most countries focused on exploration and development of unexplored territories of space but there were also many small rivalries between neighboring countries that insisted on having their own areas of space. It was an era the could be described as an age of pioneers
While innumerable civilizations continued to rise and fall, and the area's of the galaxy where intelligent life lived continued to spread. the two most powerful nations among them, jurai and seiniwa, had already been formed.
They eventually would create the galactic federation together, but before that they had a long cold war.
although both of their strengths were overwhelming on their own, the juraian union and the seniwan league were too small by themselves to sufficiently be able to create a galactic federation.
The were also unable to overcome the nationalism prevalent among many of the other nations in the universe. it was also a time of space pirates.
---------------------
"Thank you, old man" said a girl with red hair as she came out of the grocery store. she held a large and heavy paper bag that hid her upper body.she didn't have any trouble carrying it despite its size.
she put it on a large palette on the back of an air scooter and rolled up her sleeves. her clothes were a bit too large for her. she straddled the seat and tried to push the starter switch.
"huh!?"
Suddenly, the sun was blocked out and the area became dim. her eyes were used to the light and so the abrupt dimness made it look like it was the middle of the night for to her.
she looked into the sky and saw what had blocked out the sun.
There was a juraian royal ship flying at low altitude in the sky.
She was on the planet Kanamitsu, it was located in juraian territory and was major food production planet covered in fertile land, with lots of aquaculture and agriculture.because of it's resources and its location on the border it was frequently attacked by other nations and space pirates. in recent years it had become important as a supply base for the juraian border guards so a third generation ship had come to reside on the planet to protect it.
There hadn't been a single successful pirate attack on the planet in a while because of the ship but that didn't stop the pirates from trying.
washu asked the shopkeeper if there was any news on "Shank's guy's" from the imperial ship. according to the shopkeeper the ship was on the lookout for out for them but no matter how strong the ship was, it was only one ship, it couldn't defend the whole area by itself. while juraian warriors were tremendously strong, space pirates had the advantage when attacking. "We'll manage somehow." she said as she gazed at the imperial ship in the sky . it was so high that it looked like it was the size of a grain of rice. the shopkeeper could tell from her voice that the girl didn't had faith in the ship's ability to guard them.
"...... Oh, wait, actually, I came outside to hand this to you." the shopkeeper handed her a large paper packet filled with various types of sweets. she thanked him before she put it on the palate and left on the scooter.
Although the air scooter itself was quite compact, it was clearly difficult to handle for the girl who looked to be about only 7 or 8. in fact by the laws on that planet she wasn't even the age to legally drive.
But no one around her called her out on her illegal driving. everyone she drove by called out to her in a pleasant greeting manner. except for the wooden exterior car that pulled up beside her, it was a Jurain guard vehicle.
"Washu, to drive a scooter you have to be over the age of sixteen" a man shouted at her out the window of the their car.
"Sorry" she said and she turned into an 18 year old in an instant.
That was why her clothes were so loose, but they weren't fitting her now either, they were a bit too tight and busting at the bust.
"Uhuhu, is this OK?" she says sending a smile to the driver. he felt merciful.
Her name was Washu Hakubi. She was an esper, a person with supernatural powers.
In this era, the knowledge of the supernatural powers existing was just ordinary common sense but people with these abilities still often hid them. She, however, didn't try to conceal her powers and used them actively, the town's residents had just accepted them as an ordinary thing.
"...... hey are you a new here?" she said to the other security officer in the car
he stuttered to say he had just gotten here from jurai. he asked her out on a date. she jokingly told him that the food in her back seat was for her husband and children. the other officer was surprised to hear that but asked her out again. washu laughed and speed off.(1) The guard was surprised. there weren't many girls that were pretty like that back on jurai. He asked his senior officer if she was really married. he had fallen for her.
the senior officer told him that she was single. she wasn't even college yet but she would be going to attend the imperial academy and study at its philosophy department in a few days. the rookie officer was surprised to hear that. it was a place only for the rich and the elite and its science and philosophy department was the best. for someone like her to get in was no easy feat. he was amazed with her. he had fallen in love with her at first sight and before he had know it she was out of his line of sight before he could do anything. (2)
----------
washu stopped her scooter on a small hill in and looked out at the golden carpet of grain around the hill.
"hi Washu~!" a kindergartener in the field with their mother said waving to washu. her mother smiled and gave a slight bow.
washu looked in the distance at a far away object in the sky, it was an orbital elevator that went to the spaceport satellite that orbited the planet. she thought about how this would be the last time she would see it for a while. she got back on the scooter and headed towards the orphanage where about 10 kids were waiting for her to return.
they all called her name and asked her what she had brought as they surrounded her.
she used the sweets the shopkeeper gave her as a decoy to distract them and she ran into the building with the rest of the bags while the kids were distracted.
"I see you're feeding the birds some bird seed, Washu-chan." the director of the orphanage said to washu, she was washu's surrogate mother in a sense.
"well mom, I think it's more like feeding fish in a fish farm." washu said.
the woman laughed. The women in the kitchen not too far away from them also laughed.
Washu had shown up in front of this orphanage 15 years ago, she wasn't looking for anyone or even crying she was just standing there expressionless. there was a part in the rain clouds outside and the sun shined a spotlight on her. the director of the orphanage was astounded by the sight.
washu was also levitating in the air when she was found. But they didn't get any sort of response When they tested her for ESP abilities before they took her into the orphanage. It had also been raining but washu hadn't gotten wet.
after a few years a few eyewitnesses turned up and said they had seen a girl who was very similar looking to her that night. Of course the children who heard this story realized that they were talking about washu. they all knew she had the ability to change her body. The government of kanamitsu also came to know that fact and made her undergo an ESP check again, but her powers weren't strong. they only rated her as a class C esper. some people were curious about Washu's abilities but it never became much of a problem.
Her outstanding intelligence is what most people noticed about her instead. usually it takes 4-10 years to complete a basic course of classes at the academy. it also takes 4-10 years just to finish the required basic entry classes to even qualify to get into the academy but she had gotten a special scholarship after she had finished taking her pre entrance classes at age 15. Furthermore, as a result of an aptitude test she took, it was decided that she would be allowed to study in the philosophy department which was the most prestigious part of the academy. but she had to wait until she was 18 years old to actually go. during that time washu often exchanged communications with the academy's professors in private, and even presented papers of her own to them.
----
One week later was Washu 's 18th birthday. it was the day she was accepted into the royal academy. she was in her room that was an astronomy observatory built into the roof of the orphanage. it was more like a lab then it was her room though. there were samples and lab instruments all over the room and books which had been read and memorized and now only acted as antique props. it seemed like an attic in an old mansion with everything neatly arranged but poorly cleaned. She didn't have to take much of it with her, the academy was going to cover all of her expenses even luxury items. she laid in bed and looked out her window at the sky.
she looked at the three gems which she was holding. they were her ultimate experiment, she wanted to figure out her purpose and theirs. she knew there was more to her and the gems then the government was able to figure out.
their was a large container in the corner of the room. it was filled with darkness and small specks of light throughout it. if you looked closely at it you could see that each spot was a galaxy. it wasn't a hologram, it was a real universe. She had made it using things she had learned about herself and the gems but she knew that there was even more to the gems then that. Washu was convinced that if she could unlock the full power of her jewels she would also know who she was. but something inside her kept her from doing it. a sort of voice from inside her would speak to her and tell her it wasn't time yet if she tried to.
Washu stared at the jewels. She heard an email notification sound coming from her terminal. It was signed by professor Ikuma, the chief professor of the philosophy department of Royal Academy. his signature looked like child's graffiti, he actually used his daughter's scribbles as his signature. He usually sent washu short messages often with compressed files attached. as soon as washu decompressed the file she received this time a huge of data was inside.
"Okay, what's this ... ... it's quite expansive" she thought about the data she was looking at in her head... she saw what it was supposed to mean. she suddenly had a surprised expression on her face.
"……! this is……" she said but she was cut off by the voice of the director of the orphanage calling her from the floor below
"Washu-chan, please come down soon" she yelled to washu. she looked outside the sun was already going down
" Ok ~" washu said she got up and went down the stairs
Washu went down the stairs lightly. downstairs was a surprise farewell party for her. washu was genuinely surprised by it. the director told her how proud she was of her.
--------
A week later washu left for the royal academy. she was escorted by guards onto the ship to the academy. among the guards was the rookie who she had passed by weeks ago. he was visibly nervous at seeing her.
Washu had a first class private room, which was the kind reserved for heads of state and upperclass members of the academy. It was fully furnished on the inside. Washu had opened up the closets when she first arrived in it and was amazed at how big they were inside. she sat down on big luxurious sofa and put down her only piece of carry own luggage. it was a bottle that had 1000 little origami cranes tiled on it. it was a gift from the orphans to her. In japan there was a belief that if you folded 1000 paper cranes, then made a wish your wishes would come true. There was also a custom like that on her planet, except you had to put it in a bottle and give it to someone. the cranes were made of a special material that moved under certain conditions. washu got warm fuzzies when she thought about how hard it was for the children to make this for her. they had to scrape their resources together to make it.
washu got sleepy and yawned. she had spent the last week having people celebrate her acceptance into the royal academy and hadn't gotten much sleep. but she decided to herself that it wasn't the right time to sleep yet, after all she was in a luxurious suite with all the amenities being provided for free, she took a bite of her food to pep herself up and it melted in her mouth. the food they had given her was of the most luxurious quality. she quickly ordered seconds.
The reason she hadn't slept was that she spent every night the of the previous week running tests and collecting data. so to keep her up she decided to access the ship she was on's computer database and poke around. people in the Department of Philosophy were allowed access to nearly all the data stored on every public or government computer system registered to jurai. but washu wasn't officially registered yet, so she was illegally hacking into them. she didn't care about getting caught. there was nothing to do on board the ship and she had several days to wait until she arrived at the academy. If she was caught she would be scolded for a few hours at most.
she accessed the program that professor ikuma sent her and examined it to figure it out. It was a job he had assigned her. washu was also watching the ship's operational data while she worked on it and she noticed something strange. the ship was saying it was going in one direction but the black box that actually recorded the location of the ship was reading something else entirely. she reflexively launched a program.
she had noticed that a virus program had begun to change the behavior of the nano-machines in the ship's air that acted as as sort of safety system. They kept people from getting hurt or from using special abilities. she had a premonition something bad was about to happen.. she ran through the ship's files trying to find the virus's source code but it was taking too much time for her to locate it. she kept running into error messages on her screen. as if it was anticipated a hint icon appeared near the error message. it was scribbled in kiddie graffiti. it was Ikuma's doing. she noticed the program she had been running was still running a 3d hologram around her.
she had noticed that a virus program had begun to change the behavior of the nano-machines in the ship's air that acted as as sort of safety system. They kept people from getting hurt or from using special abilities. she had a premonition something bad was about to happen.. she ran through the ship's files trying to find the virus's source code but it was taking too much time for her to locate it. she kept running into error messages on her screen. as if it was anticipated a hint icon appeared near the error message. it was scribbled in kiddie graffiti. it was Ikuma's doing. she noticed the program she had been running was still running a 3d hologram around her.
"Professor ... ... That's right!"
she noticed an incongruency in the hologram and accessed the area of it that she noticed was off. she got a response shortly after. the nano machines had been hacked by someone and had been set to paralyze everyone on board. washu made an antibody program to prevent them from paralyzing her. an alarm on a terminal by her went off. someone was hacking it from a remote location.
she noticed an incongruency in the hologram and accessed the area of it that she noticed was off. she got a response shortly after. the nano machines had been hacked by someone and had been set to paralyze everyone on board. washu made an antibody program to prevent them from paralyzing her. an alarm on a terminal by her went off. someone was hacking it from a remote location.
the ship had been set to shift out of subspace in a few minutes in a way that would look like they hit something and had an accident..
She also noticed from a display of movement on the ship that besides her only one other person remained paralyzed. they approached her room. the door to her room opened and a black figure came in. washu was hiding under her bed. the black figure removed the covers from the mattress and in the bed was a dummy of washu.
a force field surrounded the intruder. washu who was camouflaged jumped out from behind the sofa. she recognized the figure as the man who was driving the car that told her she was too young to drive. she asked him why he was there, he was a spy for the shank guild they were trying to kidnap her.
"What were you going to do with me, brainwash me?"
" why would we turn you into a spy and send you to the academy? we have no need for that. we simply want to offer you the same treatment jurai is offering. they wouldn't appreciate your abilities anyways."
"You mean you want to scout me?"
the man told washu that he would prefer it if she thought of it as him asking her to be his girlfriend.
"... .... are you kidding me?" she said looking in his face to see if he was serious.
"Didn't you hear me tell your partner I have a husband and kids?" she said.
"if you come with me washu i'll let you live"
"i could say the same to you if you give up right now."
washu noticed the monitor that was being used to control the force field surrounding the man was beeping. it exploded and he was set free. washu was knocked back a little by the blast of the explosion.
"Whoa! What?"
she saw the man leave what was left of the force field.
"What?!?"
"You underestimated my technical skills." the man ran at her and slashed at her but he was deflected by washu's gaurd system that she had made herself. but the man was very strong and broke through her barrier quickly. the man bragged about the superiority of his close combat abilities so washu tripled the strength of her guard system by making it 9 layers thick instead of 3 which is what it was previously set as. the force it gave off should have been enough to repel him from her. but he quickly ran at her and lunged at her chest but she dodged and he hit an explosive mine she had placed on the door.
"yes a direct hit!".
a smoke bomb discharged in the air vent in the room and sent smoke into the room. washu couldn't see any sign of the man and so she went through the hole that had been blown in the wall. she heard a dangerous sound behind her. it was the sound of her guard system having a layer shattered. she had narrowly dodged a surprise attack from the man. she instinctively began running away. as she ran she heard the layers of her guard being broken one by one. until the last one shattered loudly.
"You're dead." the man yelled from right behind washu he swiped his sword at her. ── Buzz !! ── his sword cut through the air. washu teleported out of the way.
the ship also had nanomachines to suppress ESP powers but they had been disabled a while ago. washu was now able to use this power of hers. it was only good for going a few meters at a time and took up a lot of her energy but she only needed a few seconds. after multiple teleports, washu arrived in the hall beyond the door just a few meters away. the man sliced through the door and burst through them. he swiped at her face with his sword. but it stopped right before it hit her face.
"that's enough" said the rookie who had been with the man that day in the car.
"Sorry,I'm late Washu. I had various things to do."
"Nishia, what are you doing, who the hell are you?" the man who couldn't move his body any more yelled. he couldn't believe it he had mastered jurai's battle armor technology and enhanced it with technology from the shank guild but he still couldn't move
"Who do you think he is, only the royalty of Jurai have power like that over juraian battle armor. isn't that right Nishia?" washu responded. the man who was paralyzed was startled
"i'm just a young man who fights to the end, for the sake of the honor of the Juraian warriors."
"I'm surprised they bothered sending a royal escort to protect a mere philosophy department student, good now i can eliminate both a philosopher and a member of the royal family at the same time." the man said the and when he did the ship shifted out of hyperspace back into normal space.
"If no one changes this ship's route, this ship will crash but if you do change it then the shippris is waiting to attack."
" Shippris? the Shank Guild's flagship?"
" yes, consider it an honor that you are about to be greeted by the shank guilds most powerful and state of the art planet sized mother ship." the man said
their ship was on a crash course with the Shippris
"i suggest you surrender now, we have two juraian royal ships... you don't stand a chance" nishia said
"……Where? you're bluffing. "
"the royal ships are inside this ship!" you idiot !!"
"What ...!!"
outside the window of the observation deck they were in light hawk wings materialized.
"... .... Light Hawk Wings! fine then i will kill you myself." the man set off a suicide bomb and it engulfed him. nishia grabbed washu and rolled onto the floor over her to protect her from the blast, but it didn't engulf them. they were surrounded by lighthawk wings of their own. nishia looked outside and saw that the ship still had all of its wings so they weren't being generated by it.
"It is impossible to materialize Light Hawk Wings without at least two trees of the fourth generation. So where are these coming from? " nishia asked .
washu didn't know it but at the time the jewels in her pocket were glowing.
-------
three days after that washu's ship arrived at the academy. The academy had suspected there was going to be an attack on the ship and so they hid two royal trees cores inside of it and sent nishia to protect her. The shippris would have been no match for the ship but they let it get away anyways. it would have taken a while to destroy a ship that size and by then most of the people aboard would have escaped in emergency escape ships that were inside of it. it was also clear that the shippris's exterior was state of the art and was resistant to behind pierced. when they tried it caused a large amount of distortion in space time that reduced the lifespan of the nearby planet of the solar system by several million years. they sent a separate fleet after the ship and washu's ship continued its journey to the academy. she heard a voice in her head say something to her... she asked nishia if he said something. he hadn't. they said their goodbyes and shook hands and washu left the ship by taking a shuttle down to the planet.
It wasn't until several years later washu learned what had actually happened during their run in with the shippris.
end chapter
-----------------------------------------
random commentary time:
so, washu was taken in by an orphanage right? i feel this is a good place to comment about her name. she didn't remember anything so did she name herself or did the director of the orphanage name her? her name in japanese means Eagle feathers, the greatest.
now i have noticed that her hair, looks like a red native american headdress, it's hasn't been stated anywhere officially but it seems her name is a play on that fact seeing as they're traditionally made from eagle feathers.
but the real question is, who the hell gave her her last name? Is it a last name? she was never adopted after all. so logically, she gave herself her last name. and her last name is the greatest. as in the greatest scientific genius in the world. how cocky.
on the subject of names, the planet she lived on is 惑星『かなみつ』 kanamitsu not kanemitsu two different words and kanjis。kanamistu's kanji's form the word wakusei, or Planet, made of the kanji 惑 for puzzling and 星 for dot. like that puzzling dot in the sky...
but the planet she was on was essentially named planet.
Now for name translations:
ikuma is shadow barbarian.
nishia is tatsuki nishia jurai, 竜木・西阿・樹雷
竜木tatsuki- imperial tree
樹雷 jurai: lightning bolt tree,
西阿-
i dunno something like west africa.
kajishima picks weird names.
anyways pictures: 1.washu's surrogate mother recalls her arrival at the orphanage.
2.The orphans surround washu like fish getting fed in a fish farm or birds to breadcrumbs.
3. washu examines the universe in a box she created.
----------------------------------------
chapter 3: Content warning: yuri so much yuri....
Naja
"... .... What, is that?" said washu, she was hiding behind a pillar. she was looking at the girl who was three years older then her who was supposed welcome her to the academy. The girls name was naja akara and she wasn't alone. she could see thousands of flag twirlers behind her with flags that read" welcome washu hakubi!" on them. and a brass band behind that, and student security officers in formal wear behind that, and little children with small flags behind that. Foreign ambassadors had gotten reception in the past that were nothing compared to then the opulent one awaiting her. it was very strange.
"Is this some kind of joke, I can't go out there!" she said to herself as she peered from behind the pillar at the welcome that awaited her. She seriously considered buying a return ticket and going back to kanamitsu.
-------
"Naja, are you welcoming a new student?" said a student who came approached naja from outside the crowd.
"Yeap, this new one is supposed to be a genius, but she's late. I wonder what's taking her so long."
"... .. oh about that, naja i was thinking maybe you should..."
"Ah ~ ~ ~ there she is!"
Naja spotted Washu behind the pillar. washu ran and naja took after her.
"WHY ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY!" naja yelled as she ran after washu.
The people in the crowd all understood fully why washu was running.
The chase ended. Washu lost. She had more stamina, but Naja knew the area better after all she was a student of the Philosophy Department. without her powers, Washu had no chance to outrun a crowd of that size.
Naja seemed to be quite the celebrity at the academy, everywhere her and washu went people pointed at her and talked about her. Their chase had already been publicized in the student newspaper and washu was reading it as she waited for the bus to the philosophy department.
Thanks to naja's chase, washu had become well known in the academy as soon as she had arrived.
"... You're names Ms.akara right?" washu asked.
"Haha, its ok to call me Naja, You're probably the smartest person we've had here since this place opened! It's no wonder everyone's talking about you." naja said laughing and hitting washu on the shoulder.
"Yeah,Thanks to you."
"I haven't really done anything, everyone is just interesting in you ms.genius."
"...... is she calling me ms.genius ironically?" washu wondered but she didn't feel like saying anything about it
"...... is she calling me ms.genius ironically?" washu wondered but she didn't feel like saying anything about it
"i can't believe it took us three minutes and three fifty seconds to get hold of you.. that's two more seconds then i thought it would take... a truly are a genius" said naja(3).
Naja nodded many times as she got behind washu and read through the article in the paper
(What !! ... ... did she seriously plan for me to run?) washu thought to herself as she looked at naja's face that was uncomfortably close to hers with astonishment.
naja's words surprised washu.
naja's words surprised washu.
"By the way Ms.genius..." said naja
"Please, I'm a genius just because of a two seconds difference? Please do not call me that ... I have a..." washu said but was cut off
"I know, It's Washu-chan, isn't it?" (4)
"uhm, referring to me that way so suddenly is a bit... ...."
"Hey, Washu-chan, do you have a boyfriend?"
"Oh ... no, uhm, that is to say..."
"So you don't? Hey, Washu-chan ... Hey, uhm aren't you?"* asked naja
( * this seems to be both, don't you have a boyfriend and hey aren't you. Aren't you. yes this is exactly what you think it is. it's a sly double question asking if she munches box.)
(6)
(6)
washu wasn't expecting this line of questioning and was taken aback
"……there isn't " is all washu could force out with a sigh.
"Oh so then you don't" (7)
"... ... why do you say that like it's a good thing." washu asked
"huh? Because... I also don't have one, were the same? Washu-chan"
(this line i personally translated manually 同じ者同士じゃない is a confusing phrase... intentionally so. broken down it's: same (thing/person)/ friend/ companion
同性 is dousei or homosexual is very close to 同士じ doushi the same ...
同じ pronounced onashi which is companion is close to onabe which is lesbian.)
And so it was quickly decided that she would be called washu-chan.
"I'm sure we'll be good friends, I think we will get along just fine ♡
"Washu-chan, the academy is like my backyard, so please feel free to ask me about anything you'd like to know about it."
"Washu-chan, the academy is like my backyard, so please feel free to ask me about anything you'd like to know about it."
"Have you been here a long time? When did you come here?"
"I, was born here" Naja said.
Naja was born in the Academy. The academy covered its own entire planet. the whole place wasn't a school though naturally there were management facilities and labs and places for people to live, and places for the families of the professors and students to live as well. (and obviously restaurants and the basic shops one would need to live anywhere)
but they could all be said to be on the campus of the academy.
there were also many ways to take classes, some lived there and went to school some took classes online, some from their ship, some lived in a camper, some slept in sleeping bags in university facilities, others worked to pay off their tuition, not all the students there were rich.
There was also some intercontinental warfare between certain departments at times, so the planet had government systems like the UN and such to prevent such things and deal with them.
it was no exaggeration to say that the academy had all the same issues a normal planet would, but the difference was most people were there to quest for knowledge.
That was the greatest and the only difference between the other planets and the academy.
"alright we're here!" said naja to washu as they got off the bus in front of a huge house that looked to be about a five minute walk away from where they got off.
It was a pretty big building that looked like a conglomeration of a few mansions.
This neighborhood seemed to be quite an exclusive residential area, and there were large luxury houses lined up, but that house stood out from all of them.
"This is amazing, is this your home, Naja?"
"............" naja gazed at washu as if she was day dreaming about something and was somewhere else entirely (subtext)
"... ... ... uhm what is it? naja-san?"
"oh uhm , yes, yes, that was a nice joke you just told. I can't believe you said it with a straight face." she said with a sly smile while tapping washu's shoulder
"It would be kind of strange if as a guide i suddenly just took a new student who wasn't from around here to my house, wouldn't it? " ( SUBTEXT)
"No way, is this a school?"
"are you coming?" said naja as she opened the heavy gate to the building. behind the gate an old man and a large number of maids were lined up on both sides of the pavement leading to the house.
"We've been waiting for you, ms. Washu hakubi. Welcome. the man said bowing.
"............"
"Is this my house?!" washu said pointing to the house with a shocked expression of disbelief.
Naja silently nodded quickly with a big grin on her face.
"well then, it's getting late. we can start on filling out paperwork tomorrow. You should get some rest."
"ok."
"See you tomorrow. I'll be back at 8 am. Goooooood night!" with a bright look on her face, Naja waved to washu and walked out.
----------
The old man introduced himself to washu as hirata, the mansion had over 150 members on staff to serve her and he was their boss so he told her to come to him if she ever needed anything.
washu asked him if anyone else lived in the giant mansion but hirata told her that professor ikuma had procured it just for her.
Hirata took her on a tour through the mansion. every room was furnished with the finest equipment and furnishings. washu was taken to a large bedroom, it was as large as the kindergarten school that was in her hometown. Hirata told her that philosophy students were all given their own private laboratories and that this house was all hers to use as she saw fit.
"They all have their own Personal research facilities?"
"Yes, of course, depending on the research theme, they differ in size, some are the size of a large trailer others are... well actually if you look up in the sky you'll see a few satellites, those are also a private labs for our philosophy department professors." he said pointing to a large white satellite in the sky.
hirata, reminded her that although this may have seem like a big deal to her now this was actually not that abnormal.
washu was surprised. but hirata assured her it was normal for philosophers to have a place like hers. hirata left to prepare dinner for her. Washu jumped into her giant new bed. Some food and some sleep was just what she needed.
------------
When dinner was ready, washu just sat there staring at her meal.
"............" The butlers and the maids gazed at Washu anxiously.
washu's face was wrinkled in confusion.
"Well, Washu ... I'm sorry, are you not satisfied with the meal?"
"... ... This is such a waste !!" washu shouted loudly
"Huh?"
"Hey what's the big idea! I am not Garasha (a large mammal resembling a whale that inhabits Kanamitsu's sea!) I can't possible eat this much!"
washu was shouting because in front of her on a giant table, which she alone was sat at was enough food for 1000 people, and her servants were all standing around to watch her eat it by her self. washu couldn't stand this.
"Gather everyone, please eat eat."
"but, we are a your servants..."
"I'm not into that kind of stuff, and you are not hired by me, You are paid by Jurai and this is all their treat." she said loudly to keep the butler from saying any more.
"But you are the only one worthy of this."
"I don't care what other people think, Do think yourself unworthy of this food? It was paid for by jurai and you are juraian people it's yours so come on and eat it. I don't care what people think of you, high or low it's all the same to me that is what I've decided.... This life is too luxurious for me ... I can't live this luxuriously and i don't want to get used to it. I never want to become insensitive like that. "
"... ... are you sure?"
"Yes... and if you don't mind ... it's more fun to eat all meals while talking."
and so a banquet began.
--------
"that was a Fine treat"
"Washu-sama! please, Cleanup is our duty"
at the end of the meal washu had begun cleaning dishes and the butlers tried to stop her. washu told everyone that if they wanted to help they needed to bring their dishes to the kitchen and hand them to her sorted by dish. washu was used to cleaning up after the orphanage and was able to clean dishes very quickly. her help however was objected to, it was after all their duties to clean so she had more time to devote to her studies. but she assured the, that this was an ordinary thing for her to do so she wanted to do it herself. They caved into her demands.
Washu finished cleaning up and looked satisfied.
"Well now, where's the bath......?
"I'll get someone to show you" said the male butler, it wasn't proper for him to take her to the bath.
"Oh, I will show you" a young maid came forward and took her to it
"Allow me." Her name was Mikoto**** she was the youngest maid on staff, she was two years younger than washu and was from jurai. She worked as a maid to make her living expenses and to pay for tuition. It was very expensive for most people to study at the academy in this era, but the academy also was in institute for developing human resources, so they gave scholarships, like the one washu had, however they were very few of them and most didn't cover for living expenses.
also if you passed the exams you couldn't always go to the department of your choice they made you take an aptitude test and it determined where you went, she didn't want to be in the department she ended up in and so she had to save up money to retake the test in a few years.
It was obvious that she didn't come from money.
"So i ended up in the maid department, which earns quite a lot since no one wants to do it, but my living expenses at the academy cost less, and I get a salary."
"Hey, do you know what department you want to get into?" asked washu
"... ... I want to be an royal teacher." mikoto said
"a royal teacher?"
"Yes, i want to be on the teaching staff for the Princess of Jurai"
she continued to explain
"...... a member of royal family of Jurai was one of my lecturers at the school that I attended."
" a member of the Royal family was a lecturer!?" washu was surprised
"It happens on Jurai, but of course, only at some schools, they aren't easy classes to get into, and they we're very friendly and a good teacher, I am indebted to them really, I want to make it up to them some day and marry them and have a baby... "
"... so i'm assuming you liked them?" washu said.
"── !!, oh yes!"
"so what kind of person as he? was he cool?"
"... Yes, also very dignified, and beautiful just like Washu." mikoto said
"huh, do you mean it was a woman?" asked washu
"Yes……?" mikoto said with a weird expression because washu had an odd look on her face.
washu turned red She hadn't even considered such a thing
"Well, that's a shame."
"Yes ... ... uhm.." mikoto noticed washu was lost in thought.
"I am straight, I don't have that hobby." washu turned red when she thought about it.
In this era, complete sex changes had become a common medical technology, so washu considered lesbian sex more of an odd fetish then anything else.
(SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBTEXT RAPIDLY BECOMING TEXT)
"I'm sorry, I assumed it was a man when i was listening. please forgive me."
"If you don't feel comfortable having a person with my ... hobby... as your handmaiden I can have somebody replace me."
"Why bother? I don't mind."
"I know that on Kanamitsu there is a law prohibiting acts ... ... between homosexuals"
"... .... There is?"
"It seemed it's quite an old law in Washu-sama's district, it was passed thousands of years ago" mikoto said
Washu laughed unexpectedly
"Well, I know we don't have divorce procedures on the books... ... Even so, that's a good piece of trivia to know, even if it isn't my hobby."
"Oh, also.... please be careful, Naja is also a friend of mine, and I get the feeling that we share a hobby."
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"... Well she certainly was overly familiar with me that's for sure." washu said smiling, she was glad to know that mikoto was an ordinary girl into gossip just like her.
"oh, we're here, this is the bath entrance" said mikoto behind the door was a large garden.
"Is there a bath here?" asked washu who was still getting used to this strange mansion.
"No, this is just a dressing room" mikoto said,
washu still hadn't grasped just how much living space she had. there was a wall of closets hidden in the trees and a little building at the end of it she went inside.
"Is this a pool?" asked washu staring at the bath.
"No, this is a bathtub"
"Okay, If you say so."
this large bathtub had colorful tropical trees, a winding river slide that was very highly elevated and a variety of entertainment equipment it was no wonder washu mistook it for a pool.
"Since this is Ms.Washu's private bathhouse, You're more then free to use it as a swimming pool."
"It is going to be a blast, Hu, Fuhuhu ......"
"are you ok, Ms. Washu?" mikoto asked, washu was eerily laughing.
"tell All the female staff, that they can use this bath, I don't mind"
"eh?"
"Let's use it together, It will be fun!"said washu
"Yes, please!" mikoto replied happily
"I wanted to try out the slide."
"I thought so."
"But is it OK?"
"I'd look goofy riding alone on that huge slide alone"
"Is that so? If you say so, I wouldn't mind, it looks fun."
every time she wanted to try out a part of the bath she asked washu and washu gave her permission every time. after about half an hour. they had gotten tired from going down the slide so much. washu got changed into a nightgown makoto had left her. but it wasn't actually a nightgown, it was lingerie, she changed out of it and into a proper nightgown
"mikoto, how helpless ... ...."
she jumped in bed and fell asleep for the first time in days.
-------------
Naja part 2
The next morning washu woke up full of energy. after breakfast with her maids and butlers, the time came when naja was supposed to arrive, but she didn't come.
"she's a particularly busy girl and is famous for being hard to get a hold of so i'm sure that even though she decided to be your guide there are plenty of people who need her for something else." a maid told washu as she drank tea on a terrace outside. it was a clear and sunny day.
"Okay, I've made up my mind"
"What?"
"From here to the school building is twenty minutes, I'll go for a walk"
"Well, but Naja-sama ... ..."
"If she comes tell her to join me."
she said and she got up an began walking. the area where the philosophy department was is located in a temperate zone that experiences all four seasons, it was currently spring.
The climate was the exact opposite of kanamitsu's at this time of year, which was early autumn.
about 30 minutes later washu was hiding behind a tree in front of the rows of trees that lead to the philosophy department which was about about a half a mile away . washu sighed internally
"... What ... what is that?" washu said.
there were two robots in front of the entrance with a huge banner that read "welcome! Washu-chan " in big letters, Unlike yesterday this time it said washu-chan.
And then around the giant robots legs swarmed a marching band elementary students with flags, media representatives, and and a crowd much larger then the other day.
"They aren't going to get me this time." washu tried her best to think of a route to the school so she wouldn't be seen. but she was found by a little kid who recognized her and shouter her name loudly and everyone soon began running after her.
"... .... I'm sorry, please, stop chasing me!" said washu as she ran but her screams were in vain.
washu ran away very fast and hid behind the the school building where a tremendous number of snow kasumi's in bloom were. they had been transplanted from jurai. a man came up to her and asked if she was lost. washu thought he looked like a professor but he wore a student's outfit. he had a gaudy and arrogant air about himself. she clocked him as a senior who looked down on others below him.
"... ... where is the office ?"
"Office?"
Well, I would like to apply for admission ..." washu said and the man laughed
"Are you a freshman, do you know where this is, this is a place even the most elite thinkers in the galaxy have trouble getting into, much less a place like a child like you. I guess you made a mistake the ancient literature department is next door " said the man to washu. He must not have read the news yesterday.
"Ah! Get away from him he's Dangerous ~~!" washu heard a voice yell. the man suffered from a flying jumping drop kick to the head and fell in some bushes. naja now stood in front of her.
"Do you hate me, Washu-chan?"
"huh?"
"I stayed up all night setting things up for you and you don't even caaaaaaaaaare~~~~~~~~!"
she said crying.
"It's annoying" washu said. naja froze up like a statue
"If i don't say something about it now who know's what you'd do." washu said looking at naja harshly. naja looked back at her with the same look... and then after a while she folded.
"... ... Washu-chan' your so mean."
the man naja kicked crawled out of the bushes.
"What's going on! oh You, you are, ...aaaah, Naja !! ... ...." the man said he was clearly ticked off and his temple throbbed red on his cut up face.
"Sorry, clay" naja said, even though she was apologizing there was no apology in her tone.the two of them bickered about how washu was supposed to be their and professor ikuma who was passing by asked what all the fuss was about. He noticed washu next to her.
"... ... you ... ...." ikuma stuttered looking at washu
"Oh, professor ... It's alright, I've been keeping an eye on Naja, but she's trying to bring in this outsider... if i may, can i have word with you" said clay smugly
"Washu it's you!" said the professor ignoring clay. he approached washu.
"Oh hi Professor, it's Nice to finally meet you in person"
"It sure is strange that we meet this way, I nearly mistook you for someone else, you're much prettier in person then in the images you sent me." said ikuma
"I wish I could thank you enough for preparing such a wonderful home."said washu
"Ha ha ha ... it was nothing, it was all payed for with the money from our joint research patents, you earned it as your reward."
"Collaborative research! Do you know this girl...??" asked clay but the answer was obvious. It was rare for ikuma to collaborate even with other professors, let alone students. even becoming one of his research assistants was considered a great honor for students.
"What, are you going on about over there ...? ... I can't believe this, I will be able to introduce ms, washu hakubi to the rest of the school. Your 18 years old this year that makes you the youngest person since Naja to be admitted. "
"Professor, She's actually been qualified to come here since four years ago the system just wouldn't allow her before she turned 18."
"fou... four ... ... years ..." said clay with a stiff shocked expression.
"Oh, that's right, you can't get in until you're 18 years old, i guess that means she permanently set the record. I guess i had a good run as the youngest. anyways Professor, we need to go formally enroll her." said naja she bowed to ikuma and her and washu walked towards the office ikuma went the other way and said " well, if you go to the office i'm sure they will tell you but as a result of her testing they are making washu a 6th class student the same as naja." ikuma told them. Clay was left paralysed in the middle of the two departing crowds. He was only class 9 . Clay couldn't believe it. he stood in that spot for nearly three hours contemplating that fact. this was washu and clays first encounter.
---------
as soon as naja and washu got into the building, naja let out a big laugh.
'Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
"what the heck was that... ...."
"Well, if you didn't know about clay you know now, be careful, He's the worst person in the entire philosophy department ... ...."
Washu apologized to naja for breaking her record, but naja didn't come there to set any records to begin with. She however did point out to washu that many of the people in this department were very old and had worked along time to get here like clay. she then told washu that she had a welcome party prepared for her after they were done formally registering.
"That was just the welcome before the welcome party"
"What?"
"The real thing going to happen now." she said as the two climbed the stairs to the part of the school where there was a large venue for holding parties that was able to hold thousands.
"... Can we just go home?"
"No!" said naja smiling. and then she whispered in washu's ear.
"maybe next time, · · · · · · · ♡" (subtext.)
------------------------
Several weeks passed since Washu entered.
The philosophy curriculum was much more relaxed than what she had imagined - rather than being compulsory. But paradoxically, it was a terrible and severe system. If you were lazy you wouldn't finish your classes by the end of the semester and then obviously you'd have to pay for next semester's tuition or go home so you could work at your own pace but you weren't exactly helping your self to do so. still washu was grateful to be able to have time to relax. and she was sitting around thinking of home this particular day.
"Are you going out today?" a butler asked her. it was only 4 am and it was still dark outside. he was in charge of making lunch and breakfast for her and bringing it to her.
"why aren't you asleep" washu asked
"Ms. Washu, I'v told you many times, but we're ... ...."
"I understand, you're going to say you were hired for me, aren't you?" washu says cutting him off
"If you don't like the food we made, I can change the person in charge." he said although washu just kind of looked at him puzzled as she was stuffing it into her mouth.
"If you don't like the food we made, I can change the person in charge." he said although washu just kind of looked at him puzzled as she was stuffing it into her mouth.
"I love the food they make, but I let them make it by themselves ... .... so they can show off how good they are at making it. But i'm more them capable of making food for myself. and wouldn't mind making my own food sometimes."
" If you can make delicious food, you can live anywhere food is the basis of living and all living beings enjoy it. and judging from her empty plate she obviously thinks that food is good."* said naja from behind washu.
"Naja! I thought you would have gone home by now..."
"I was caught by Mikoto-chan on the way home, I was remodeling the slide in the hot spring pool, when I slid down it to try it out, I ended up getting too much momentum and i hit my head on the way down and fainted i just woke up ... Ahahahahaha " said naja, the butler sighed. currently washu's hot spring pool which was now more of a large public bath had expanded all the way down to the basement. it had become a bit of a mini water park and was ten times its original size. of coarse naja was doing all the remodeling. the butler asked naja to stop making unauthorized changes to the house but naja reminded him that the bath was for everyone. and washu had meant everyone. recently naja had been using it to play a sort of survival game with the neighborhood children. naja and washu commanded their own respective teams and the two fought mini battles. washu enjoyed it.
but anyways washu had now packed a bag and looked like she was about to head out. naja asked where she was going and she told her she was going on a little hike and left without telling anyone where.
over the last few weeks naja had introduced washu to many people in many places but in odd and crazy ways with odd and crazy people in odd and crazy places. naja had a lot of friends and knew a lot of places but washu occasionally liked to discover new people and places on her own. and today she had somewhere she was interested in going to. there was a ranch a bit outside of the residential area that washu liked and it was for the most part abandoned and unused. it had a building with an old antique observatory on a hill inside of it. Washu was interested in the observatory. with space navigation being commonplace, there was no reason to perform astronomical observations from a planets surface, at least not academically, but as a hobby it was still fun to do. washu checked out the observatory from the outside and noticed it was very old.
An old woman came out of the observatory and yelled at her. she wanted to know what washu was doing. Washu apologized and told her that she thought the place was abandoned. they got to talking and the woman told her that the place used to belong to her master the owner of the ranch and they both liked old things and this was her favorite place so she gave it to her before she left to move to another planet. washu apologized for not introducing herself and told the woman who she was. the woman recognized washu as she was already pretty famous at the academy. washu asked the woman if she would sell the ranch to her but washu had a special condition. washu was out of money she had spent all the money she had gotten from her joint patent on equipment and wouldn't be getting any more for another 3 months. so she asked the woman if she would trade the ranch for her mansion. the woman was shocked. she went to the telescope and focused it on washu's house and asked washu if that's the house she was talking about. she couldn't believe washu wanted this place for that place. it was worth much less. she couldn't afford it. but washu assured her that she wanted a 1 for 1 exchange not to buy it. The woman still wouldn't sell it to her. the woman asked her why she wanted to buy the ranch that her master had given her. It reminded washu of home and of her room in roof of the orphanage with the observatory.
"oh, is that right."
"Yes!"
"Uhufu, the new philosopher has a strange hobby after all" (SUBTEXT)
"I think that I am normal, but ... ... what about you ...?"( text)
"let's just say my range of interests is wide ... Ho ho ......"(text) the woman smiled at washu. her face and laugh reminded her of her mother back on kanemitsu
"No, that's okay, it's important for an old woman to have interests."
"That's not to say so ... No... yeah."
"oh...? Even so, the machine parts of this place are in very rough condition." she says while looking at the mechanical parts
Saying while watching the mechanical parts visible from the window.
"Since my husband died, there's been no technician who could do maintenance."
"Could you let me do it?"
"But ..."
"Please think of it as both a survey... and form of studying."
The old woman who was holding back at the beginning decided to agree to washu's terms then from then on everyday washu came to the observatory an did internal maitenance.
-------------
commentary break:
sorry to have to point this out but the old woman was not just talking about her machine parts... she was talking about her lady part i just hope you picked up on that.
she was a maid who was given by her old female presumably single " master" a large piece of land. also hobby... where else was that word used.... I can't believe kajishima wrote a conversation that was both about whether or not washu munches carpet and also about whether she likes astronomy at the same time. that's hard to do.
and also internal maintenance... every day... for a month... the greatest scientific genius in the galaxy... needed a month... to learn internal maintenance of a low tech telescope.............. i'm sorry to break your immersion in this story like this... but you are in severe danger of misinterpreting what is going on here if i don't miss interpret it for you. so... now since you're going to read it over again here's the text again.
P.S. according to night before the carnival 17 12 Naja was canonically a hermaphrodite until she transitioned to full womanhood shortly after meeting washu.... she had both parts, could have easily switched to male... chose female... shortly after meeting washu...
anyways back to the text
P.S. according to night before the carnival 17 12 Naja was canonically a hermaphrodite until she transitioned to full womanhood shortly after meeting washu.... she had both parts, could have easily switched to male... chose female... shortly after meeting washu...
anyways back to the text
------------------------------------------------------
the woman asked her why she wanted to buy the ranch that her master had given her.. It reminded washu of home and of her room in roof of the orphanage with the observatory.
"oh, is that right."
"Yes!"
"Uhufu, the new philosopher has a strange hobby after all" (SUBTEXT)
"I think that I am normal, but ... ... what about you ...?"( text)
"let's just say my range of interests is wide ... Ho ho ......"(text) the woman smiled at washu. her face and laugh reminded her of her mother back on kanemitsu
"No, that's okay, it's important for an old woman to have interests."
"That's not to say so ... No... yeah."
"oh...? Even so, the machine parts of this place are in very rough condition." she says while looking at the mechanical part
Saying while watching the mechanical part visible from the window.
"Since my husband died, there was no technician who could do maintenance."
"Could you let me do it?"
"But ..."
"Please think of it as both a survey... and form of studying."
The old woman who was holding back at the beginning decided to agree to washu's terms then from then on everyday washu came to the observatory an did internal maintenance.
a month had passed:
"Is it true, grandmother! Are you going to give me this pasture?"
"Yeah"
"Thank you"
"Please wait a moment ... There is something I need to tell you before that" the old woman had a puzzling expression towards the excited washu.
"...... Actually I didn't want to say anything thing but ...."
The old woman told her that her land had been mortgaged off to pay a debt and if it Couldn't be paid by the due date it would be taken as collateral. her loaner gave her an extended deadline to pay it because she knew that the woman was old and couldn't pay it. For the old woman this was home and it also carried important memories of her dead husband with it. She hadn't wanted to sell to anyone but things had changed since washu had shown up.
"You should have told me sooner ..."
"Your offer was very generous but i didn't want to involve you in such a thing so I refused to sell until now ... I am sorry ..."
"Do not give up, grandma it's OK, I will protect this land!"
"Ms. Washu ..... i'm So relieved"
There was still a little time left to pay off the debt. washu thought she would sell her own land to pay off the debt but no one wanted to buy it or rather her house was super expensive and no one could afford to buy it. at least that's what her realtor told her. Washu suggested they sell it for a lower price. the realtor objected. washu owned it so she didn't understand why she couldn't sell if for whatever she wanted to but if she sold it low it would induce a devaluation of every other property in the area.
after that she never heard from the realtor again and the ranches debt was soon due. so she decided to go into his office and kick him around. the maids and butler and naja tried to keep washu from going and washu kicked a butler who tried to block her path in a way that he fell down incapacitated. naja stopped her from going to their office and showed her a tape from the security footage of the real estate agent. she explained that the realtor she hired was working for a company that also was giving the woman the loan and was going to foreclose on the land. it seemed they were trying to ensure that the debt didn't get paid so that they could use the land to build more residential housing which was very scarce in the area due zoning . They planned to develop it into housing suburb and make lots of money. she told washu that she shouldn't contact a realtor to solve this matter and suggested she take the matter to the philosophy department. Naja's suggestion made washu nervous.
after that she never heard from the realtor again and the ranches debt was soon due. so she decided to go into his office and kick him around. the maids and butler and naja tried to keep washu from going and washu kicked a butler who tried to block her path in a way that he fell down incapacitated. naja stopped her from going to their office and showed her a tape from the security footage of the real estate agent. she explained that the realtor she hired was working for a company that also was giving the woman the loan and was going to foreclose on the land. it seemed they were trying to ensure that the debt didn't get paid so that they could use the land to build more residential housing which was very scarce in the area due zoning . They planned to develop it into housing suburb and make lots of money. she told washu that she shouldn't contact a realtor to solve this matter and suggested she take the matter to the philosophy department. Naja's suggestion made washu nervous.
--------------------
To put a long story short, Professor ikuma wrote a check and paid off the debt but explained that the even if the debt was payed it was probable that that wouldn't stop the realtors from trying to get that property, so he also got up a form to the bureaucrats on jurai to revoke their real estate license . a few hours later the realtors lost their licences and the debt was nullified. the academy was meant for students and besides the realtor not revealing his conflict of interests, he also planned to make large amounts of sub luxury housing which was unaffordable to most students which was apparently something the jurian government wasn't for. Incidentally the company was owned by clays family.
"I wish we could change his passion for making money into passion for getting his work done."
"Ha ha ha, Naja, his lust for money is his driving force, so I doubt it," he said.
washu asked the professor to let her inform the people at the ranch about the situation herself. and then she ran out the door and to the astronomy lab and she told the old woman all about what had happened. and she suggested that the old lady continue living their with her. and so she did.
after she bought the place the butlers and maids from the mansion came with her which confused washu.
"Why ... are you here?"
"We are not employees of that house, we are employed to advance Washu-san's studies smoothly as part of your special scholarship."
"Yahoo ~~~! Washu chan" naja said she also came with them to see the observatory.
washu replanted the pastures and got new livestock and started up the ranch again. it was soon overflowing with livestock and crops. and the butlers and maids helped manage it.
"No way, I never thought that I would do such a thing at this age." said a butler laughing as he walked with a cow. the maids seemed to enjoy it too.
later that night washu dived into her bed and looked up at the starts from a window in the observatory. washu got some of the best sleep she had gotten since she had come to the academy.
* it was always super obvious that naja was seto. why it took for them saying it in gxp before anyone acknowledged it is beyond me. same person. same quote
** it seems the hiratas must come from a long line of stewards.
*** ikuma was probably the old man airi was talking about being friends with in yosho.
****(google translates mikoto as the ancestor of life).
pictures:
Naja gives that jerk clay a flying kick from behind.
----------------
chapter 4
Mikamo
One year had passed since Washu had entered the philosophy department of Jurai Royal Academy. She was already taking third year classes with honorable recognitions. she was also moonlighting as a teacher's assistant and was a student teacher for class 8 students. Being a student teacher was a requirement to graduate to 4th year classes.
Naja approached her as she left the classroom.
"Wow, that was amazing, Washu-chan. I can't believe you've already been promoted to 3rd class." naja said
washu had also been asked to teach as a special lecturer to a local elementary school. a lot of her students where the kids from her bathroom waterpark survival game.
Washu liked teaching the kids because they often ended up teaching her. she had gotten used to the perspectives of others in the philosophy department and they often had different perspectives. Naja brought up that if felt like washu might leave her behind but washu assured her that if she ever needed help getting ahead she was there to help. they laugh and parted ways.
washu noticed it was sunny outside, her mind wandered towards someone.
"Mikamo niwase you jerk......."
Washu had several favorite places in the school. spaces only she could go where she had barriers set up to keep people out. one day a intruder came into her world. washu was laying in a big tree that stretched horizontally against the ground when she noticed something fall from the sky at her, crashing through the branches
"……What the heck?"
"... .... Ahhhhh, sorry !!" the man said he seemed to be more surprised than washu and he turned around and tried to escape.
"Wait, don't go that way!" washu yelled, there was a cliff in that direction. but the next thing she knew she heard him screaming. she ran to the cliff and found him hanging from it. she helped him up.
"Ha ha ha, we'll then, I thought I was going to die ..."
" Hey I know you, you're ... Mikamo Niwase"
"... ... why, do you know my name my name ... .... Oh, that ..." the man said but he trailed off he was stunned by washu's beauty.
"the sun is strong today please join me." said washu as she opened up a big parasol.
"……uhm ....no……?" Mikamo was standing outside of the parasol and didn't know what to do.
"……what's the matter?"
"Oh, I'm very sorry, I was walking while thinking ... ... and i don't know how but somehow i seem to have ended up in a strange lady's room ..."
Washu listened silently and sprang up.
"This isn't technically my room, please."
"No, but ... ...."
"do you not want to sit with me?"
"Not it's like that!!"
they both laughed
"how did you get in here, I put up a simple barrier ... ... is it broken?"
"...... Ah, that, I think it is probably not a malfunction ... I, uhm ... ... When I walk and think or i run around, I end up places that I Couldn't enter normally. Professor Ikuma told me that there seemed to be have a probability bias... "
"That's his favorite subject... ... Your lucky he didn't try and dissect you."
"Excuse me ... but how did you know my name?"
" In the first class i ever taught There was a student who was over in a sunny seat by the window they slept through the whole class, the name of that student was Mikamo niwase."
"... ... Ah, that ... uhm, are you by any chance Dr. Washu?" Mikamo asked washu nodded.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! At that time ... ... well, what I should say is uhm ..."
"That seat over there, especially during this season feels quite nice and relaxing, the sun hits it just right ... I also like that seat" said washu.
washu and mikamo looked at each other and smiled. The lunch bell rang.
"But if you fall asleep next time ... I will dissect you." washu said and she walked off to go back to class. mikamo froze in place. this was their first encounter.
-------
There is a school building that was used thousands of years ago in a place hundreds of kilometers away from the school building that the philosophy department currently uses. This place was also one of washu's favorite places. Because this planet was a school it wasn't unusual for a faculty to have jurisdiction over an entire continent, actually the philosophy department controlled an area the size of africa. Because of this, usually they wouldn't repair buildings if there was a space that even one student or professor could still use no matter how old it was.
this building was made of specially treated wood brick and mortar thousands of years ago and ikuma had thought that washu, who enjoyed things like old astronomy labs, would enjoy it.
It had become a bit of secret retreat for washu. Especially the library where they kept all the old books. often if she had time to spare she would sit and read all day.
and on this day...
"Who's there!?" asked washu, she heard the floor squeak while reading obsolete books in an obsolete library. no one should have been there.
"Who is there?"
"... .... Dr. Washu?" said mikamo as he came from behind a bookshelf
"Oh, you, what are you doing in a place like this?"
"I am reading a book, but why are you here Dr. washu?"
"I also read books ... ...." washu smiles and laughs at the sheer stupidity of this conversation
"well it's a library, it is not surprising that you came to read a book, that's really not what I meant... I meant how did you get in here, I put up a barrier."
"Is that so? I'm sorry, I didn't realise, I'll show myself out in a bit."
"Don't it's unusual to meet somebody who reads books."
The book in this era is like ancient museum paintings and lithographs on the earth, scrolls written on parchment. It is closer to archaeology than reading for information.
"Oh, well, there was such a book room in my parents' house, I loved it since childhood, I don't know why, but i find it calming... Also the weight and book of the book Sounds and feelings of turning the pages, and the characters and pictures like paintings, it's nice .... " said mikamo stroking the book he had.
"... and ... also".
"... I like the smell of old books"
"... I like the smell of old books too"
they stared at each other a bit and then after a moment they laughed.
"Ahahaha ... .... Mr. niwase, you're alright, I accept you as the first reading lover I'll allow to enter this book club"
"Thank you very much ... .... uhm, about that"
"what?"
"Well, how can i be the first one if Dr. Washu was here first?"
"I'm the club advisor" washu winked and laughed.
While winking, Washu laughed.
and in that moment a beautiful place for mikamo opened up in washu's heart.
"Welcome home, Washu. Did something good happen today?" asked Naja.
"Something Good ? No, no ... ...." said washu but she was smiling and it was obvious she was lying. naja stared at her
"Well then what's wrong?" naja said in a bad mood.
"Ah, Washu, dinner is ready." makoto said calling them to eat.
.
"Thank you, I'll be there soon." said washu she headed to her her room to change clothes.
naja stared at her sharply as she walked away
"That attitude. I sense this is related to a man," exclaimed Naja, rising from her chair.
"Oooh, really? does Dr. Washu have a boyfriend?" the maid asked
"really? She looks the same to me."
"I don't see it either."
"you're just not looking hard enough! It's obvious you know what to look for," said Naja.
"Wow!"
"You can't fool me, Washu-chan," said Naja.
"Oh, I envy her," whispered one of the maids.
"…… are you Jealous?" one of them asked naja. Naja herself had made no mention of any sort of boyfriend for as long as anyone had known her. the room went silent.
---------
"It's mikamo niwase, isn't it."said naja to washu who nearly blew soup out of her nose.
she calmly wiped her mouth with a napkin and looked at naja who was staring at her angrily.
she had already purchased a background check on him and read it off to washu.
"Mikamo Niwase. A special exchange student. Born on the planet Shitori. 27 years old. He the third son of the most powerful family on Shitori. He was only supposed to be here as a favor to his family, but it seems that he made it into the philosophy department on his own ability. and now that he is getting private lessons from dr. washu, it seems that his scores are sure to double."
"What, what do you mean, private lessons!" washu stands up and hits the table.
"I am just briefly describing the objective facts" said naja looking away from washu angrily.
"There is nothing going on with him, He just happened to come into my library ... ..."
washu said clasping her fists and sitting back in her chair.
"I see, so you called him to the library," she said writing it down
"Don't write that down! I didn't say that! Stop writing gossip about me. you a member of the philosophy department so why don't you act like it?"
"I'm just piecing together the truth."
"Oh, ah, Stop it... ..." washu stood up involuntarily but after a short moment she looked around and noticed the maids were gossiping to one another.
"Congratulations, Washu-sama !!" they yelled
"What?"
"We expected you to find a man someday, but we didn't expect it to happen so soon"
"Hey, you guys, what ... ...."
"were so jealous -"
"I'm glad you're happy for me but i'm confused as to why." said washu at the maids.
there's nothing going on between me and him ... ..."
"She said him!"
no matter what washu said, they wouldnt let up.
Naja diagramed washu's love affair in her head with a diagram.
Washu's love affair → date → pervy stuff → engagement → marriage → childbirth
were clearly formed in a though bubble in naja's head that no one could see
"There is really nothing going on!" shouted washu but she couldn't convince naja or the maids. a sense of defeat overwhelmed washu. in the philosophy world they would have said that washu had just lost a public relations fight with naja. and really it was public opinion that determined truth in such matters.
----------
After that, the club activities of Washu and Mikamo continued at the library.
Mikamo did his best not to disturb washu. Even though he was intruding into her private space she didn't mind. but eventually she actually did start tutoring him and slowly she found herself attracted to him
one day naja had a warning for washu she came up to her at the cafeteria while she was sipping some tea.
"Washu-chan, that person is too deep ... ... if you fall into them you could hurt yourself." said naja who came into washu's room unexpectedly naja had a strange and serious look on her face. washu denied anything was happening and naja just sat there and stared at her.
"Why are you still bothering me?" "
"...... Hey, there's a party i'm hosting ,Washu-chan i know you won't come, but everyone wants to see you, But i know how you are about crowds... "
"No, I'll go……" said washu, while she was uninterested she still accepted because lately she had seen mikamo in a lot of places where naja went. they weren't friends with each other though so it was pretty strange. actually washu felt like naja and him were hiding something from her but she didn't know what.
she went back to her terminal again when,
"............ oh great" washu nearly spit her tea out of her mouth again. clay was approaching washu with some of his colleagues. washu hated talking with clay, she didn't dislike him but she hated his outlook on things. she hid behind a nearby shady pillar
"that naja sure is something eh." clay knew washu was hiding and so he was deliberately talking really loudly.
"Well, when she said washu had a boyfriend i Couldn't believe it"
"From what i've heard he's been at Naja's personal laboratory for the past several weeks, and at night no less." clay said theatrically loud.
"Hehehe, who knows what those two people are doing, but if i were washu i would be mad that my best friend and lover are betraying me."
Clay was often referred to as the walking third rate gossip magazine of the philosophy department. and usually washu didn't care what he had to say but today he got to her.
Washu stayed hidden until clay left. and then she spotted naja walking to the back of the school building with mikamo . washu's expression stiffened, she couldn't get what clay had said out of her head, she remained silent as she followed the two and watch mikamo go into naja's personal lab. For some reason, this made her was sad.
-----------
"Hey, were you walking alone with Naja a while ago?" washu said later that night when she was with mikumo at the library, she decided to just casually ask him about it after they had been here about three hours.
"... ... Naja-san? yeah." mikamo answered quietly. washu could see mikamo was nervous from her question and it made her doubtful.
"oh i wasn't sure because i saw you from such a far distance... That's right, hey Naja invited me to a party, are you also coming?"
"... Well ... I guess i could, Should i?"
"It's going to be a big party, I'd be glad if you came. I'll let Naja know."
"Thank you"
"Are you free tomorrow, the book i ordered is coming in."
"oh tomorrow? ... I'm sorry but professor ikuma needs me, i may be a little late."
"No, it's not a big deal if the opening operation is done."
"I'm sorry, it's ok just let me know when your done." washu got her things and hurried out of the library mikumo didn't have a clue what was going on with her.
-----
The next day washu stopped by the philosophy department building unexpectedly.
Naja hadn't come back home so she headed to her lab to check on her, on the way she ran into professor ikuma.
"oh Ikuma professor, Is mikamo with you?"
"Mikamo-kun? No, I haven't seen him... ..."
"oh is that so......"
"……is something the matter?"
"No, it sounds like there's been a misunderstanding" she said and she left ikuma confused and walked off. while she walked she thought of mikamo
..
"Mikamo and Naja are so different from other ... ...." while she was thinking she unconsciously walked to naja's laboratory
she heard mikamo ikuma and clays words in her head over and over and they wouldn't leave her mind.
Washu was mad at naja and her cryptic behaviour
clay was muttering something as he left naja's lab and bumped into washu stopping her from entering.
"Oh, Washu, what are you doing in such a place? ... are you looking for Naja's laboratory?" clay said in an obnoxious voice like he knew something
Washu got really mad and pushed him aside and threw open the door where she found mikamo and naja inside. they stared at her confused.
A long awkward silence passed.
And then.
Washu said with a trembling voice.
"...... You do not have to tell me .... , I know...."
she turned and ran away.
"Washu!" mikamo yelled at her as she left
"Well, what do i do, Naja!"
"you idiot, chase her down. quickly!"
"Oh, yes, I understand!" naja and mikamo ran after washu.
naja saw clay laughing in the direction she was running and realized this was his doing. she took out her anger on him.
In other words, she gave clay a flying kick into the fountain outside the window.
------------
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I am in a hurry! Excuse me" she said back to him.
She kept running but washu had already left, she had probably outran her all the way home.
Naja and mikamo met up and they were both out of breath. they wondered where washu had run off to, but suddenly mikamo had an idea. Naja wanted to know where he was going but mikamo told her that it was a place that only he and washu could go and he ran off.
Washu was in a dim room where only a faint bulb was shining inside. around her were thousands of books stacked in orbit around her.she chair in the fetal position in the library which was her and mikamo's sanctuary. her mouth moved over and over silently while she held her knees.
she was muttering to herself "…… i'm such a fool."
she head a squeak of the floorboard and looked up.
"Who's there!?" she noticed the person coming's beautiful hair and tried to run away
"Please wait, please, please listen to my story"
"Whatever, I don't care about you anyways ..." said washu
"Even if that's so, I love you Washu!" It was a sudden confession.
However, It didn't reach Washu.
"... ... you are a liar!"
"Yes, i am a liar... ... but what I said now is true."
The facial expression of Mikamo was reflected in Washu 's green eyes.
Oh, how much easier would it have been for her to just jump into his arms?
How was it that he could bring her such happiness?
However, Washu kept her self from doing so.
"whatever, i don't care .... I, I like Naja." said washu
"I also like Naja but it's different from the feelings I have with you Washu, but i am a liar and that's why i was talking with Naja ."
"............"
"There is nothing going on with me and Naja" said mikamo washu wanted to believe him but she couldn't convince herself. washu herself was having trouble recognizing her own feelings for mikamo. mikamo silently stared at washu and he stepped away from her. there was a big glass window in the library in the floor that was built over a cliff it was not structurally sound to stand on but meant to look at the scenery below.
"What are you doing! that's Dangerous!" washu yelled,
if he fell he would die. "It's OK, Naja told me that if i ever made Washu cry she would kill me, but she isn't here... So i will do it myself...!"
"What are you saying!"
"I'm sorry"
"I understand, I believe you, I believe all of it! Stop" washu said running after him
"really!?" said mikamo turning around with bright eyes, the window frame couldn't support his weight though an it snapped.
"── !?"
"── !?"
washu ran after him an caught him they both fell down the cliff a strong gust of air seems to safely cushion their fall and gently placed them on the ground.
(this seems to be implied to be washu's flying power)
(this seems to be implied to be washu's flying power)
washu was holding mikamo in her arms below her and stared at him.
"you idiot !!" washu said worried
mikamo wondered what happened and why they were safe
" you fool!" washu said getting out the last bit of her anger and then she smiled in relief and laughed
"really, you're ... ... so foolish ... ...." she pushed her face into mikamo's chest and held him gently.
"I'm sorry……" mikamo whispered in her ear
Washu raised her face from his chest and gazed at mikamo.
"Ms.Washu, I was born on Seniwa " he said, washu was slightly stunned and figured out what was going on. She now understood naja's cryptic warning about him.
"Seniwa" was a major nation with 943 large and small allied countries. It belonged to the Seniwan league and they were in cold war with the galaxy alliance and Jurai.
Moreover, "Seniwa" was a country that was still in a state of semi-seclusion, especially among the galaxy allience, and they were very strict with immigration and emigration.
Why was he even there? he definitely wasn't a spy and if naja knew then why didn't jurai
Sometimes mikamo acted coldly but washu had always thought it was just a result of the curriculum at the academy. Mikamo stared at Washu and said again.
"I was born on Seiniwa "
"……so"
"eh?"
"So... What does that matter?"
Washu mutters.
Whatever the truth was mikamo was here, and that was only the important thing Washu cared about.
Mkamo and Washu brought their faces closer. and had a deep passionate kiss.
They didn't need words anymore. Their minds and bodies overlapped.
-----
The next day, when she saw Washu and Mikamo naja reminded them
"were all your friend's,don't forget it."
on the day of the party Mikamo secretly proposed to washu in the garden. his grandfather had approved her as his fiance and given him permission to marry her, but they had to wait until seiniwa was officially declared an open country to make it official. but such things didn't matter for them. When naja heard about the engagement the party soon it turned into an wedding party and they got married. the party lasted till the morning of the next day and everyone knew about their marriage after that.
When they returned to their ranch hung over an information officer of jurai was there with professor ikuma they explained to washu and naja the secret relations between jurai and seiniwa. Even if "Seiniwa" was in a semi-isolated state, they allowed for a sort of private exchange student program. For the Seiniwans, studying abroad at the Jurai Royal Academy gave them a prestigious status, and it was the same for many other countries as well. but there were some people who would naturally be unhappy with such exchanged and make it hard on the students. for that reason the juraians prepare aliases and fake backgrounds for those students. this was actually a long and steady effort to develop relations with seiniwa who they had long wanted to develop relations with. efforts to open the country had been underway between jurai and mr. kuramitsu who was currently the highest authority of seiniwa and they had also discussed joining the federation once the country was open.
.
"oh i get it so you mean you want to use washu and mikumo as private-level propaganda for opening the country." said naja staring at ikuma.
"Well don't blame us, you just happened to get involved in the matter"
"... ... ms Washu, will you please do this for Seniwa and Jurai?" the information officer asked bowing
"Well, if it means we can be together then sure... ..."
"I never thought that Jurai's information department would resort to running gossip tabloids"
"Whatever it is, if it has to do with information, it is all our jurisdiction." the information officer answered naja with a bitter smile
"Wow, that was a good thing, Washu-chan, from now on, Jurai will pay for all of you two's expenses"
"Just to clarify, Naja's you won't be getting anything." ikuma said
"damn.. how frugal can you be!"
"Please don't be angry, Naja will be given a special scholarship today, just like you have " said the information officer to washu
"Eh ~~~~~! Really? - Professor !!" naja said happily.
"You will be placed under the supervision of the Information Department from today forward, but we will make sure not to be an eyesore, but if we get a bit intrusive please forgive us."
washu knew they already kept an eye on her so nothing was really changing. However, Washu was not aware of the real reason the department came there or the real reason why naja was receiving any benefits.
while at the time support for opening their country was strong in Seniwa, it was only because the most powerful person, Mr. Kuramitsu, was proposing the change. even so it was a very delicate balance and mr. kuramitsu's son was actually against it. If something happened to Mr. Kuramitsu, the situation could easily change. But such things meant nothing to Washu. she was happy and the only thing that she was sad about was that she wasn't allowed to tell her mother back on kanamitsu about mikamo.
-----
A month later, Washu 's pregnancy was confirmed.
"It looks like we will have to rush the wedding now, Washu-chan" naja said happily planning it over in here head
"Well then.."
Washu wanted her marriage ceremony to be held with only close friends in the pastures of the ranch. she made begged naja not to plan anything crazy.
"What are you talking about, I wouldn't do something unless it was romantic." although naja was smiling her clenched fist was trembling
----
"Why are you leaving?" washu asked naja after the wedding, naja was packing up some luggage.
"What are you talking about, I don't want to get in the way of you two newlyweds."
"Do you know how many people live here?" there were hundreds of dozens of maids and butlers living together on the ranch with them, but that had nothing to do with naja leaving
"what do you mean."
Washu, who was watching Naja, realized that she was suffering from being deprived the pleasures of planning a wedding ceremony.
(this is again also appears to be double speak that implies more that she is mad because she wasn't able to have a wedding for her and washu)
(this is again also appears to be double speak that implies more that she is mad because she wasn't able to have a wedding for her and washu)
her words about not wanting to disturb the newlyweds were half hearted.
washu hugged naja from behind and while kissing her bangs she muttered
"... ... damn. Naja, all this just because you want to show off....... stay with me ♡"
"Well then, I guess I will just have to disturb you!"
"Yeah ♡" and at washu's request naja lived together with her and mikumo on washu's ranch.
unfortunately because of the instability of their situation they weren't able to visit neither seiniwa nor kanamitsu. (its not even subtext anymore)
And nine months later, washu gave birth.
it was a boy.
she named him "Mikumo".
He had Three parents And this time was the happiest time in Washu's life.
-------------------------------------------- end chapter 4
short commentary break for chapter 4 and picture descriptions
i for one was not expecting such overt and open yuri content in this novel because it was written in 2001 and was conceptualized in the mid 90's, it also didn't help that the previous translators of this novel clearly whitewashed it if you read the earlier translations you will see just how far they went to skip over all of it. i, as someone who is bringing these stories to the western audience find this contemptible, even if there are areas of a story i don't feel like summarizing or translating i at least make a vague note that it happened so that it's there in the story as was intended. the old translations were very accurate in most spots but cut whatever it felt like in all three novels leaving it a huge nonsensical mess. anyways in this case this may not seem like much of a big deal to cut but if you read my postulations at the end you will see that certainly this cut material makes all the material on the show make much more sense as a whole. anyways
time for kanji dissection theater
kuramitsu 九羅密 well this is a bit of a confusing one and if i wasn't really smart about random thing i wouldn't even begin to know where to theories its meaning, it would seem basically to be 9 threads thin threads of silk dense. but what does that mean? well simply put it refers to denier, the unit of measurement for the linear mass density of textiles, or the scientific measurement for how soft and fine and well made a piece of fabric is, a single strand of silk is approximately one denier, and anything lower is a finer textile like a microfiber textile, its the difference between yarn which has a high diner and silk and finer then silk is microfiber, also with fine fibers of high quality the thread count is naturally larger than a low denier fabric because a finer thread size means each thread takes up less area, generally a higher thread count fabric is of better and softer quality but it's the quality of the thread that determines the fabrics quality so my best guess is that the name means something like
a High thread count fabric made from fibers 9 times finer than fine silk
which naturally would be a lavishly soft ultra expensive luxury fabric which corresponds nicely to the kuramitsu families status.
Mikamo美醸 beauty and kamosu or to bring about/cause, so he who creates beauty.
mikumo:美雲 beautiful cloud
naja:凪耶 calm question
akara 朱螺 : a tiny red edible helical shaped fresh-water mollusk
Pictures: 1. naja remarks on the stinginess of jurai to ikuma. (i think that's what this one is)
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chapter 5 and 6
Mikumo
when mikumo was 7 months old mikamo started acting strange. a few weeks later the news came that mr. kuramitsu had died and mr. kuramitsu's son had reinstated the seclusion policies of the past.
"it's ok, i'm treated as an exile, if worse comes to worse i can apply for citizenship here."
"it's ok, i'm treated as an exile, if worse comes to worse i can apply for citizenship here."
"But your family is ... ..."
"I am concerned .... but Well, seiniwa is a country where things like this happen often, I know how to deal with it" mikamo said, washu felt relieved. however a month later mikamo and mikumo took a walk and never came back. it was a nice sunny day.
washu had been asked by naja to give a lecture in a nearby city so she wasn't at home at the time and when she came home mikamo wasn't there. a butler told her that he went out right after she left to take a walk with mikumo, he left a message with the butler.
"I wanted to show Mikumo the sea, ill be back home in the eventing".
"huh, what again?" washu said bitterly smiling at the butler, he often took mikumo for a walk so she didn't think much of it. but when sunset came washu couldn't stand waiting for them anymore she rushed out to go find them and ran into naja who was standing there waiting for her.
"Naja! That man and Mikumo have not returned yet, they left together ..." washu said as she walked on past naja, but naja grabbed her arm and wouldn't let go.
"... ....? Naja ......?"
Naja looked at Washu with a dead empty expression on her face. with that look on her face washu knew her true intentions.
"... ... You know don't you ... .... Hey, what's going on!?" washu yelled shaking naja
"Where did they go, where is Mikumo !?" she said shaking naja many times.
"Please answer!!" washu begged
"... ... they aren't coming back." naja said in a clear voice as she diverted her eyes from washu
"── !!" naja hugged washu from behind as she tried to run away.
"Let me go, please let me go!"
"I Couldn't make it in time..."
"so!" an angry washu yelled as she pushed naja off of her
"... .... Washu !!" naja cried out
Washu looked up to the sky. she felt that if she jumped she could use one of her powers, she hadn't used it before or rather she forgot she had it. but she felt it inside of her, she felt the need to use it, to get back mikumo from that person. so in that moment washu Used it.
she had To get back Mikumo from that person!
But at that moment when Washu used her power to fly, something began to stop her.
"If you do that, we will have to start all over again"
"── !!"
"Then we will have start over again."
"── !!"
"then , it will just be the same thing again."
"── !!"
"I will not repeat the same thing again."
Washu opened her eyes !!
She could not resist the inner words. Neither her sadness nor her desire could break the chain of words. she lost all her strength and fell to the ground.
"... Why, why?" washu asked naja. naja ran to her and helped her up
"Mikamo niwase's real name is Mikamo Kuramitsu"
"── !!"
"Yes, he is the grandson of the head of the Seniwan Supreme Council, Chairman Kuramitsu ... ... One month ago, Mr. Kuramitsu passed away.while he was alive he pushed for opening the country, but his son who succeeded him, misaka, didn't support that.The fact that the son mikumo was here was not tolerable to leaders of the factions that opposed to closing the country. Mr. Misaka also told me that he was worried about Mikamo's safety and asked him to come back home "With Washu's boy."
"... ... he told me he would remain here ..."
"For Mikamo seiniwa is where his family is and it is his hometown"
"And me, I am his family as well..."
"He told me he at least wanted to leave mikumo here with you washu-chan...." naja lied
"... .... You both are in a world where certain thing are beyond your control whether you like it or not.You have seen many exiles from Seniwa. People who were for opening the country, and lost the power struggle What do you think would happen if such people went after Mikumo-chan? The result of Jurai and Seniwa's negotiations was that Washu-chan is Jurai's, and Mikumo and Mikamo are Seniwa's ... it's stupid but it's what happened, the people in power are cowards."
naja said. washu teleported away from her
"... .... Washu-chan?..... did she Teleport!?" naja exclaimed as she activated a tracking program on her watch, a while ago she had put a transmitter on washu when she had hugged her. naja confirmed that washu had teleported to the library and sighed a sigh of relief
Professor ikuma came out from behind some trees "Sorry Naja." naja turned around trembling she was crying.
"Professor ~ ~ every things all wrong !!" naja cried ikuma gently stroked her head as she cringed to him and cried
"I'm sorry I Can't cry too but I understand the situation better than Washu or you could .... I am also upset. She is really like a daughter to me."
"isn't she More like your grandchilds mistake?"
"what?" ikuma said
naja burst into tears and wiped her nose on ikumas shirt
"Don't wipe your nose on other people's clothes!" ikuma yelled and hit naja on the head.
Ikuma hit the head of Naja in a blast.
naja hung her head low. if she didn't keep teasing someone she wouldn't be able to cope with her guild. but ikuma understood this and so he said to her "there is nothing we can do for now except leave her alone for a while." and he sent a visual cue to the butlers who were hiding while watching them to go find washu and give her some support. There was nothing more they could do for washu.
"yes... I am a liar ..." at the time she hadn't considered what mikamo had meant by that but she know painfully knew.
Jurai, Seniwa and the Academy.
Countries and institutions with the highest power in the galaxy.
She Couldn't even leave the academy, let alone get into seiniwa, she was hindered by those three things. But they had taken those most important to her.
"I can't do anything as i am now"
but she knew there was nothing she couldn't do.
she crawl in a chair and grabbed her jewels that were hanging across her chest.
On impulse, Washu tried to throw off the chain, but suddenly lost her anger, and leaned back against the chair limp.
The jewels slide down from her hands as they lowered.
How long did she stay like that?
eventually the sun went down but washu didn't move and had a hollow expression.
"... .... Washu-chan"
one day the old woman who lived on the ranch before washu bought it came in and stood in front of washu. washu looked at her emptily as she stood in front of her. she was unresponsive. washu looked like an empty shell.
"You fool, you must cry at such times." large tear drops began to fall down washu's expressionless eyes. "Uooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" washu clinged to the old lady like a child. she cried for the first time ever. she wasn't very good at it but she kept at it. Washu cried like a little baby and kept crying.
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Washu woke up and wondered how much time had passed, it was morning outside. apparently she had fallen asleep crying. the old woman had stayed by her side all night and fell asleep leaning on the sofa next to her. washu got up and put a blanket around the old lady. "Thank you, grandma" she said. then she noticed she had reverted back to a child. she seemed to have transformed in her sleep, she didn't feel like returning back to normal.
she picked up the jewels that she notice had fallen besides to sofa.
"... Huh, I don't know who you are, but I will not give up."
she didn't want to dwell on it. (note: did she she see something while catatonic?)
"I Can't do anything now. But ... .... " a plan was merging within washu. she tried to run and stumbled and fell on her clothes which were too big for her.
"I had forgotten ... ... about my clothes"
Naja who hadn't slept for two nights after Washu left her to go to the library was disappointed with finding an empty sofa. her eyes were soon obstructed from behind by someone
"Washu-chan!"
"good guess~ ~ ~!"
naja turned to look at washu
naja turned to look at washu
"Your body.... what happened ..."
"I was surprised, don't you know? I'm a person of many capabilities"
"Well, that's right ... but ...." naja gave up trying to explain it and just hugged washu who had gotten smaller
"Sorry about making you worry"
"I thought that maybe I had made Washu hate me"
"It's not your fault Naja, but for the time being would you please wipe your runny nose."
"Oh, sorry" said washu who got out a handkerchief and wiped away her sniffles.
"... Hey, I'd like to see mikumo again naja."
"huh"
"I want to get him back if i can get him back but for now i'm happy with just seeing you... that's all i need for now."
"But Mikamo is ... ..."
"that what i said, I'd like to see Mikumo. He's my son." washu said
naja stared at her silently.
"... our way of living with three parents and the baby, we can have it back but not now... the last few days have been a cruel mistress and i'm only just now starting to accept that fact that it happened."
"about that……"
"but my family is in ruins, so i guess it's natural that i'm a bit sad isn't it?"
"Thank you for considering me family ... ... I'm happy ..."
Naja thanked washu for thinking of her as a member of Washu's family.
Washu told naja that she was worried about how mikumo was gong to be treated back on seiniwa, both her and naja knew there was no guaranteeing he was being well taken care of. they both felt frustrated by their lack of control of the situation.
"their might be a way, we'd need to get help from of the Academy graduate students."
said washu, naja wasn't sure that was possible
Academy graduate students are student who were chosen among the all of the students who finished the last course of each department as technological researchers for jurai's science and technology centers . They were the best of the best.
these students had the highest capability in all of the major topics, and their works actual surpassed the technology of Jurai and other military forces. If they applied their works, it would have made it much easier for Washu and Naja. However, the problem was that they would not simply offer their knowledge to them out of pride and self interest.
"Okay! but how are we going to do that?" asked naja
"Actually, i have an idea..."
Washu whispered something in naja's ear
"Washu-chan ...... that so evil ... ...."
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Clay
Washu and naja went to an information shop to get information, but not the kind they had for sale. They wanted to know who their source was. information shops were shops that sold and bought information, obtained illegally or otherwise, they weren't the highest class business, but this was a very inconspicuous looking office with a few terminals and a nervous clerk inside.
washu had to get mikumo back, and to do that she had to get into seiniwa, and to do that she also had to leave the academy, she needed the best minds in the academy to do that.
with washu and naja's intelligence they could have made it themselves, but it would have taken hundreds of years, they had no choice but to steal the information they needed and to do that they needed the best hacking technology, which was why washu was there, she needed to know their source. after a bit of persuasion the man inside the shop gave her a disc.
when washu told naja about how she got the information from him and naja broke out laughing. washu had seduced him and he just gave it up. they put in the disk and were amazed at how organised the information on the disk was, actually it was so organized that afterwards they developed the system into what became the official classification and organization system used by jurai and it has only received two upgrades since it was adopted.
"Oh, Washu-chan ...what it this?" naja asked, washu played the file naja suggested. soon pornography was displayed on the monitor
"............"
the two forgot what they were doing watched it for a while
"can you make me a copy of this? naja asked
"Yup"
they continued looking through the files and found out who the hacker was.
it was clay, much to their surprise.
They knew he wouldn't cooperate with them willingly and so they began to think of a way to make him. naja thought of something devious and she hacked into clay's terminal.
it took a while, washu checked in on naja the next day and found that naja had found booby traps and viruses all over clays network to prevent hacking as she had expected and couldn't get past them. So they decided to break into his house. The security system wasn't an issue.clay had spared every expense and used a cheap security system that was made by and controlled by the philosophy department. It was 100% under their jurisdiction to break its security. washu compared it to getting a lock and sending the key to any thief that asked.
Later that night they broke into clays mansion with ease. clay was passed out drunk in bed wreaking of sake. they soon found a hidden safe of his.
Within a few minutes Naja found a place in the hidden digital safe of clays. she connected to it with her terminal , it didn't even have a password, they copied all the data off of it. to a disk and prepared to leave. before they left washu and naja made fun of clays bad taste in clothes, they had only seen him in uniforms and research wear before but in private he seemed to only own clothes made by Medici a famous manufacturer of the academy's.they laughed at the sight before sneaking out of the mansion.
--- 30 hours later and they still hadn't gotten any sleep, she was too busy rummaging through all the massive amounts of data clay had hacked. naja came in, she had been taking a nap.
she was rummaging through file names looking for something of interest when naja stopped her "... ... What is "my glorious achievement diary "? ...... click on it and let's look at it real quick.
it was a diary, on monday in october clay wrote an entry about how he broke into naja's research database and how easy he found it was to get in. naja was angry, it was nothing more than a diary of clay's hacking attempts and him bad mouthing the people he hacked while he talked about their private files.
"Oh, Ah, that guy ~~~~. I'll kill him!!" naja was ready for battle but washu held her back. clay's diary also had a part about washu but washu decided not to look at it, if she did she feared she might let naja go and join her.
a few days later when their analysis of the data was almost over naja went to go get food and when she came back, washu had something to show her, when they had snuck into clay's house they had noticed that some of the dirty clothes laying around weren't clays... they were a womans. specifically they were clothing for a freshmen that clay was hosting as a guide. when new students came to the academy they were assigned guides, and it was safe to say that the marriage and relationship rate of guides and the freshmen they guided was pretty high. naja wondered if washu had found a diary entry of such a thing but soon washu put her findings on the screen. It was an attempted sextape of clays. the girl wasn't happy to find a nude clay waiting for her. naja laughed so hard she fell on the floor rolling.
it seemed that the student he had been assigned had ran crying into the office of student affairs and filed a complaint against clay, they were still in the process of trying to figure out whether it was a legitimate thing or a "conspiracy against clay" as he claimed.
when clay accepted that years award from the philosophy department at the yearly award ceremony, they made it so the video played in front of everyone,he was suspended for a month
and after that he was given the nickname of octopus,
There were creatures similar to the earth's octopi in the academy, they lived in a shell and the male was known to drag the female from their shell using bait as a decoy, and then they dragged the female into their shell and copulated with them, they bred all year round and multiplied like rabbits.
------
clay had hacked everyone and washu was busy developing on clays hacked technology in a matter of months and as such her prestige in the academy grew to the levels of professor ikuma's washu and naja were considered the best in the academy.
one day, a couple of odd things happened. the first odd thing was that while washu went through sensitive information obtained from jurai they found something from nishia tatsuki jurai in the files, it was a report. the juraian fleet that had attacked the shipris was nearly destroyed.
the shipris was the size of a planet and so the shank guild had planned to steal food from planet kamamitsu to feed their large crew. jurai had successfully destroyed about half of their fleet but they had problems with the shipris because of it's size. it was an odd ship and most of it's structure seemed an energy generator of some sort. but it had launched an attack that was way too powerful for the ship to have generated, it was fighting a third generation ship that had it's light hawk wings deployed which should have made it invulnerable but it's energy blast destroyed the royal tree ship.
--------------this is the original J the seed that seina goes to retrieve in GXP-------
after the ship was destroyed the shank guild went on the offence and destroyed 80% of the fleet before they were able to take down the large ship. it seemed that the shipris had fired an energy bullet at the ship and that was what destroyed it.
--------------this is the original J the seed that seina goes to retrieve in GXP-------
after the ship was destroyed the shank guild went on the offence and destroyed 80% of the fleet before they were able to take down the large ship. it seemed that the shipris had fired an energy bullet at the ship and that was what destroyed it.
they had asked professor ikuma to analyze the data from the battle. .
washu noticed reaction had happened when the beam hit the ship's light hawk wings
"could that be What happens when you hit Light Hawk Wings with other light hawk wings?"
"There is no record of such an experiment That may be what caused the ship to be destroyed."
however they stopped pursuit of that question because it was very illegal and off limits for them to pursue things that pertained to the royal family of jurai.
------------this comes up later in GXP 13 its a thing called the PKW wave that destroys light hawk wings-------
------------this comes up later in GXP 13 its a thing called the PKW wave that destroys light hawk wings-------
And another incident occurred when Washu cautiously copied that data and returned to the directory hierarchy. suddenly she found herself in the deepest encrypted level on the juraian files that she wasn't able to get into before, why she could get in was unclear it wasn't due to her technique.
"The lower layer is open ... ... Washu, did you do something?"
"I haven't done anything. What is this?"
it was an accumulation of all the biological data of the royal family from the first emperor of jurai to the present. it was the genetic, astral assembly and bio-enhancement data all of it.
washu and naja had a hard time making sense of most of it. it was well known that the royal family had their own unique form of bioenhancement and the technique it self wasn't so rare most people benefited from it in the galaxy but theirs was a magnitude better than the common kind.
the man from the shank guild that washu had encountered had been bioenhanced in a special way that took tens of generations to develop from analyzing just a few cells of a juraian royal.
but even then he couldn't even begin to touch nishia.
and from the data they had gotten even normal people who got into the family by adoption or marriage got the bio-enhancement.
washu and naja stared at each other,they felt they were touching something they shouldn't have but their scientific interests exceeded their fear
---------this is how they managed to live an unusually long time---------
When they tried to go further into the data that they didn't understand they suddenly lost access.
they panicked and made sure they had not activated any trap set for hackers, they weren't sure what had happened but when they went to check on the data they saved from the highest level of encryption it was erased, but the other files all remained. they wondered what was going on.
Washu developed her own theory on the bio-enhancement rather than worry about where the data had gone like naja was doing.
"Hey, Naja. This is just a guess, but Jurai's Bio-Enhancement may be a reorganization of living organisms physical and spiritual bodies with some kid of core data"
Washu had a strong interest in the matter.
"Washu-chan, the current data is a very interesting event for us but it's not important." said naja
"It does not matter for the immediate objective now."
"... Well, i guess you're right...... "
Washu closed the data and went back to what she was doing.
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Then four years passed.
And now, Washu stood on Seniwan land.
she now knew how to manipulate the surveillance systems of each systems and had developed a new type of engine and made her own advances in high speed interstellar travel, she developed a method of rewriting personal data and developed a system that created genuine simulated bodies. and all that technology came together for this. washu looked out and saw the snowy sky, she thanked naja for coming with her.
" Finally, I'm here, ... ...."
I can see my boy again." washu thought to herself
Washu was indulging in emotion as she looked in the direction where her child lived.
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seiniwa: 世二我 the second world
picture: mikamo about to go for a walk and never come back
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chapter 7 washu and naja
on a planet covered in snow there was a giant mansion, in that mansion a woman, who seemed like the girl's mother was tending to a girl who was in bed with a cold. she checked the girl's temperature and was relieved their girls fever had cooled down a bit.
"Good evening" it was washu.
"As I expected, we really need to review our security system, Mr. Washu, come in here with me." koyori said unsurprised as she gestured towards a room in which she had set up to entertain washu as a guest. she showed no hostility or signs of wanting to harm washu.
washu sat down on the sofa in the room and sipped tea across from her koyori was sitting on another sofa also with tea.
"It seems you were expecting me to come here."
"We've known you were here for a while now... ... we detected an unknown ship two days ago and we've been sheltered inside for a while now."
"oh great, so you found me out... that's more than I expected ... I didn't cause you too much trouble did i?"
"Our planets regular army hasn't detect you, only Mikumo's private army noticed."
"Well, They are excellent at their job them, I'm a bit shocked."
" I set up some intrusion prediction methods and developed an independent system that was secret and confidential to the army about half a year ago. I never finished working on it but now that it picked up you I'm thinking i might go back to working on it. "
"hahaha, well i give your system an A+ for detecting me." said washu smiling.
Even though they had just met they chatted like they were close friends having a reunion after a long time apart. koyori stared at the snow blowing outside for a bit.
"Mikamo always said that thanks to mr.Ikuma, ms.Naja, and Ms.Washu, his time at the academy was the most enjoyable time of his life."
"... than It has already become distant memories, for him too." washu said Until then koyori had avoided calling Mikamo by his name instead of calling him her husband. She couldn't make such a claim to washu.
"Thank you. I'm grateful to you."
"Huh?"
"I have been watching you since I came here. About Mikumo ..."
"Washu, I have a daughter who was born in the same year as Mikumo, what does that mean?
"That she is the same as Mikumo" washu said. Koyori nods at Washu's answer.
(Both children had one parent who wasn't their birth parent they weren't related to each other by blood at all Mikamo was Miyuki's step dad and koyori was Mikumo's step mother)
"They both carry the same burdensome family name ... ... There's nothing we can do about that. We can only hope that they make it easier for the next generation."
Koyori saw a strong hope in Washu expression.
Washu noticed the same strong hope in koyori's expression.
The two stared at each silently. Only the sound of the wind outside marked the passage of time.Eventually, Koyori slowly closed her eyes.
"Your eyes, they look exactly like Mikumo-chan ... ..." she said laughing a bit sadly she stood up from the sofa. It was true that washu and mikamo were mikumo's parents but he was a part of koyori's family as well there was no clear answer as to what the right answer to this problem was so koyori said to washu, "Please stay over here today." koyori began walking towards the door and stopped before she exited the room. "tomorrow will be the first day in a while that we have good weather. Mikumo-chan will be happy, he's really wanted to go outside and play with his ball for a while now."
"............"
"... ... then take it slow."
koyori Lightly bowed and left the room.
"... she's giving me a chance to bring Mikumo to me." washu thought as she stared at the door that koyori had left
koyori wanted to see what mikumo wanted to do.
"What nice weather we're having today... you should go play outside." said Koyori as she handed a ball to mikumo.
"……take care" she said as she looked sadly at mikumo who as he ran off to play. She decided to go surprise Miyuki in her room with a meal, but when she arrived in miyuki's room with the food, her daughter, who should have been resting, wasn't there.
"... .... Miyuki?" she called. Miyuki's quilt had been tossed onto the floor
"... ... No way" Koyori said out loud she went searching for her daughter and found miyuki's footprints leading away from the terrace on the first floor of the house.
"I don't want to her to see Mikumo-chan being taken... ...." she said she hesitated for a moment before she decided to invite some guards to come with her to follow her daughter.
── I hope i make it in time ─
she didn't want to take mikumo away from his mother.
─ ─ Please don't let me make it in time ─
But she also didn't want part of her family to disappear.
Her desires were conflicting inside of her head.
The sunlight in the cloudless sky reflected on the pale snow.
In front of her was Washu and Mikumo.
Washu held mikumo's ball in her hands. they looked into each others green eyes. Koyori was staring at them but they were staring at each other.
"Is this yours boy……" washu said mikumo raised his hands and slowly reached out to answer washu
"this will all be over soon ...." washu thought to herself but then she heard miyuki calling out to mikumo.
.
"Miyuki!" he said surprised as he rushed over to her
"big brother." miyuki said
"mother said you should still be in bed." mikumo said
the girl clinged to the boy so that the woman couldn't take him away with her.
Washu, who saw the look in miyuki's eyes as she hugged mukimo.
"... I saw you with the lady of the snow. Please don't take him."
Washu stared sadly at miyuki who was worried about mikumo.
"Shall I take him away from her like this?" washu thought to herself. it was a dark selfish masochistic thought, but she wanted to do it even in that moment.
"I'm sorry"
"── !?"
Washu noticed the sad girl's eyes looking at her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
washu watched her cry
washu watched her cry
"I want to take Mikumo with me but i hadn't considered this... .... I can't do this"
Washu thought to herself she closed her eyes with a deep sigh.
"... ... I'm not mad at you."
suddenly a flurry of snow swirled around her. everything around them turned white
she disappeared as if she melted into the snow.
── Farewell, boy ─ ─
"are you ok? ...... Washu?" Naja said to Washu who came back to the bridge silently as she prepared for departure.
"every child will leave their parent someday, but I did not expect that time to come so soon .... But Mikumo has already found a place without me where he should be."
"...... It looks like you were too late, you already lost him to that little girl." said naja, this was her way of comforting washu.
"Wow ... that's what I was going to say ..."
"Well then lets go home, Washu-chan"
"yes, let's go."
Washu and Naja's ship start to take off
Washu silently looked at Seniwa reflected on a dome-shaped monitor.
She was glad that her son was being brought up by a loving mother and was growing up quickly. She wasn't mind so much anymore that she wasn't able to be a part of his life.
her son had a wonderful future wife and he seemed happy. there was nothing more she could ask for him to have.
she still had a lot of work to do. she still didn't yet understand her gems or herself and plenty more was yet to come in her life. naja was laughing. washu smiled a slight smile. and then she watched seiniwa disappear into the jet black void of the universe. its emptiness and a sense of it's awe inspiring liberation enveloped washu.
the end.
--------------------
Afterword
Conclusion Short story "Ryo-Ohki and the butterfly Prohibition Order"
on a spring day katsuhito came to the house to have lunch.
he told washu and tenchi he needed to talk to them afterwards it seemed serious.
"Everyone, lunch is ready!" sasami called everyone gathered for lunch.
"so what's going on?" Ryoko asked.
"It doesn't matter to you" washu said graciously
"gotcha"
after lunch there were some butterflies flying outside the window looking for nectar in the spring sunlight.
"Mia!"
"Ryo-Ohki" tenchi grabbed ryo and kept her from going outside.
"Ryo-Ohki. You shouldn't chase butterflies"
"Miah?" Ryo ohki didnt hear what tenchi said clearly.
"... Ryo-Ohki. You shouldn't chase butterflies."Tenchi said again.
"............ Mi, Mi ~~~~~" Ryo-Ohki finally understood the contents of the words and began crying.
"Why not? Tenchi Onii-chan!" said sasami.
"If she chases it she might fall of the mountain or fall into a river."
"Hey, Sasami-chan" washu said "Ryo-Ohki is a computer unit of combat ship.
Even if she falls down to the river chasing after butterfly or falls from a cliff, or gets hit by a car, She won't even have a bruise. She's the best masterpiece i ever made.
"uhm ... Washu-san" tenchi said, he was trying to stop washu from derailing his story.
"But what if she surprises an ordinary Earthling."
"Ah……………………"
That's right. A young kindergarten aged child falling off a cliff into a river and being hit by a car would cause a big fuss
Sasami laughed when she thought about it, she seemed to be convinced.
"Meeaaaw ~~~~" ryo ohki was however not convinced.
"It Can't be helped, ryo- Chan"Sasami said gently.
"... .... Mioh...." and thus Ryo-Ohki was banned from chasing butterflies except when someone was watching her.
a few days later:
"Ryo-Ohki ... ... You shouldn't chase after dragonflies."
"Meeooh ~~~~"
the end
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