<Kiyone's thoughts> <*Mihoshi's thoughts*> Kiyone had no idea what time it was. She was totally tired and desperately in need of sleep. Nonetheless, she was ecstatic. She and Mihoshi were able to pull off an assignment successfully without the usual cuts and scrapes. Right now, Yagami was heading towards Earth, towards Tenchi's house. Kiyone needed the rest, and she was more than sure that Mihoshi wouldn't disagree. She looked at Mihoshi now, sleeping peacefully in her bed. Kiyone turned to look at the ceiling, slipping a look at the clock. [23:12], it said in military time. *Sigh* Kiyone closed her eyes. <Finally I get to relax> she thought. 20 minutes later, she rolled onto her side and opened her eyes. <C'mon, gotta sleep.> She tried vainly to close her eyes. Not even the soft covers and plush pillow could convince her to even be drowsy. Five minutes later, she rolled onto her other side. She couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. She tried telling herself that she was heading off to relax, but her body still refused to listen. 45 minutes later, she flung the blankets off herself and sat up. <I CAN'T SLEEP!> She went to the front of Yagami to make sure everything was all right. <Ok, fuel's ok...speed...> Suddenly, she heard the crunch of metal against metal, and a sudden jerk almost chucked her off her feet. <What the.> She hastily checked the radar, but it had picked up nothing. <That's not possible.> She turned her attention to the bedrooms. She could hear heavy footsteps and muffled screams. The control room was quite a ways from the bedroom. By the time Kiyone made it to their room, the trespassers had already left. <How are they so fast?!> She looked at Mihoshi's bed again, but it was empty. The trespassers had hoped to be stealthy and they had thought that no one else was in the ship. They even sealed the hole they had made when entering the ship in hopes of covering up and lessening the chances of anyone figuring what happened to the victim. Kiyone rushed to the small window to see if she could identify the kidnappers' ship. The ship was black, so she was unable to see it clearly. All she was able to see was the green symbol of a coiled cobra with its hood up and teeth bared. ~*~ Kiyone didn't expect it, but after that incident she was actually able to sleep. Finally all of those hours of fatigue had caught up to her. She fell asleep at the front of Yagami and wasn't awakened until Yagami beeped that they were nearing their destination. After several minutes, Kiyone finally arrived on Earth, near Tenchi's house. When they heard that Kiyone was coming, the others ran out to greet her, except for Washu and Ryoko (Washu was in her lab doing whatever, and I think Ryoko was taking a nap). But Kiyone looked incredibly concerned for some reason. "Kiyone, what's the matter?" Tenchi asked. "Where's Mihoshi?" Sasami asked. "Guys, I'm sorry, but I have to talk to Washu immediately." Tenchi saw the concern in her eyes and nodded. They all followed Kiyone. Tenchi knocked on the door of Washu's lab. "Who is it?" "It's Kiyone, she needs to talk to you." "About what?" Washu guarded her privacy. "Oh, for crying out loud." Kiyone was exasperated. She pushed right into Washu's room. "What...?" was all Washu could say before Kiyone interrupted her. Actually, all Washu could see was Kiyone's strained and mad (as in crazy) expression. She had never really seen Kiyone like this, except maybe when she was very, VERY mad at Mihoshi. "What did Mihoshi do this time?" she asked sweetly. "She's been captured, I need your help." "What?" Washu said again, only half in disbelief. "I brought a copy of Yagami's hard drive, maybe you could check it and make sure I didn't miss anything." Kiyone replied. "No need, I can just connect to Yagami's computer." "But...only the Galaxy Police Headquarters can do that." "I broke into their security codes." Washu answered frankly. Kiyone gaped. Washu smiled brightly. "This might take some time. You might want to sit and relax for a while." Kiyone sighed and walked out. Meanwhile, everyone (except Ryoko) had heard everything. "Did you get a look at the kidnappers?" Ayeka asked. "Just a symbol. Look, I really need some rest, I can't think about this right now." Kiyone sighed again. She trudged to the couch and lied down. The next thing she knew, she was still on the couch, except with blankets and she could smell soup boiling (could someone actually smell soup boiling?). Sasami was running around the kitchen getting dinner ready. Kiyone decided to get up, but a pounding headache registered in her head. She closed her eyes and smelled the soup even deeper than before. Sasami placed a bowl on the table near the couch. She noticed that Kiyone was awake and tried to spoon-feed her, but Kiyone abruptly sat up. "Thank you, Sasami, but I don't need any help eating...hmm..." Kiyone winced and pressed a hand on her forehead. "Headache?" "Mmhm..." Kiyone answered, still in pain. "Drink some of this, you should feel better." Kiyone took a sip, and nodded her thanks. Sasami was just about to walk away, but Kiyone held her back. "Sasami...wait, I need to talk to someone." Sasami blinked, but sat down. Kiyone sighed, she didn't know where to start. "Kiyone...is...is everything all right with you?" Sasami asked softly. The bowl was placed on the table and forgotten. "I don't know what I'm feeling right now...I mean, I want Mihoshi back and safe, like everyone else does, but." "Yes?" Kiyone looked into those wide, understanding eyes, and noticed how they were so much like Mihoshi's. She looked at her hands, and then away. "I just feel like I want her back right now, like I need her. But all this time, she's always been a pain to me; I've always wanted to leave her, to get a promotion. But now I just want her back." She teared. <Why...why am I crying?> Sasami smiled, knowing full well why Kiyone felt like this. Most people did not think that Sasami was so observant. But she had at least seen how Mihoshi felt about Kiyone. Kiyone shook her head and sighed. "Never mind, Sasami, but thanks for listening." Sasami nodded solemnly. "I'm sure Washu will be able to help you. Meanwhile, drink the soup and sleep more if you need to." Obediently, Kiyone picked up the bowl and drank the somewhat cooled soup. She did not awaken until the next day. ~*~ Kiyone could not find Mihoshi in the vast ship. In fact, whenever she ran through a hallway, the hallway seemed to stretch, never giving entrance to any of the rooms. Frankly, Kiyone was getting tired. Suddenly, she heard hoarse laughter and screams. She ran toward it, toward some light, but she could not reach it because of those damn hallways. But suddenly, she ran through the flash of light, entered the room, and... ...then everything turned black. Kiyone woke up with a start. She was sweating, everything was so hot. She flung the blankets off and headed toward the kitchen clock. [3:25 AM] it told her. She took a glass, poured cool water in it, and drank gratefully. When she finished, she returned to the couch and sat down. She sighed, then put her head on the pillow, but drew back when she noticed it was slightly damp. <Everyone must be asleep> she thought. <I've never woken up in cold sweats before, so why did that happen just now? Is it because Mihoshi is gone? But I never felt that way before. Every time I thought of her gone or as someone else's partner, I've always been happy or at least hopeful. But now that she's actually gone, I'm waking up in cold sweats and thinking about her every second. Have I been selfish all this time?> She flipped over the pillow and laid her head down. She brought her feet up and drew herself into the blankets again. <I hope Washu can help me find her...> ~*~ Kiyone woke up again to someone shaking. At first she thought it was a dream and it was Mihoshi calling her name, but the voice got clearer and clearer as she woke up. Sure enough, Sasami was standing by the couch and shaking her fitfully. "Wha...?" Kiyone said groggily. "Hurry! Washu's found something!" Kiyone forgot her grogginess and flung the covers off again. She raced to Washu's lab and ran in, once again startling the genius. "You've found something?!" she gasped. "Yeah...you're actually very lucky." Washu started to explain. "Please, just tell me already!" "Ok, ok...you're very lucky because Yagami was able to pick up one small, and I mean small signal coming from that ship that was in the exact range of its radar. If the ship was any further, it wouldn't have detected it. It seems to be a faint radio signal...possibly to a leader or something. Like I said, you're very, very lucky." Washu answered finally. "So can you use the computer to find what kind of ship it was?" Kiyone asked almost excitably. Washu frowned slightly, but continued. "It would take at most a day, but you're right about that. The rest of it depends on how good the records are at Galaxy Headquarters." Kiyone nodded her thanks. "Thanks so much Washu. I couldn't have done it without you!" As Kiyone walked out, Washu frowned and thought about how weird it was that Kiyone seemed just like Mihoshi right then. ~*~ Mihoshi felt blindfolds being forced onto her. Her arms and hands were painfully bound behind her back. A gag was forced into her mouth when she gasped for air. Ankles were bound together so tightly that Mihoshi could almost feel the ropes biting into her skin. "This one's a beauty, boss!" Harsh laughter followed. "It certainly is." drawled one single, deep voice. Mihoshi felt as if she was being put on trial, but she couldn't see the jury or the judge. The feeling was actually more of an executioner and an audience <*ewww...bad thought*>. Surprisingly, Mihoshi felt self- controlled. She only allowed herself to be like this when no one was watching. True, she was sometimes a ditz, but she actually was an accomplished first-class detective. Just like the blindfold put on her now, she allowed everyone to see one side of her, but the other side was carefully hidden away. <*Kiyone...I need you.*>
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