It had been a long time. Whether it was just a couple of years or an eternity, it didn't matter, not to Kiyone. Getting dragged by one hand from the burning wreckage of their ship was just the order of the day for Kiyone. From the one extreme of geologic evolutionary boredom to the other of complete and utter chaos Kiyone once again found herself pulled. There was nothing to think about, no reactions to be made.

"Just keep moving my feet so that I don't fall down."

Was the only process going on in Kiyone's mind as they ran to the Masaki house. After all, talking to Mihoshi, attempting to reason with her or negotiate her plan of action was fruitless. It was more likely that Kiyone could convince a stone to change its color than it would be to convince Mihoshi to do anything at all.

Once inside the house Kiyone was greatly relieved to have Mihoshi let go of her hand and give a round of hugs to all who were present. Of course Kiyone's mind came to attention at the sight of Kagato.

"Hmm, so he must be the reason for the anomaly I detected earlier. I wonder what he's doing here, and what's all this talk about him being an imposter? He sure looks like the A-1 class criminal Kagato to me. Of course all of my survey equipment was destroyed in the crash so making a clear distinction won't be easy."

Kiyone mused as she stood against a wall with her armed folded and watched Mihoshi make a fool of herself for the zillionth time. If anyone knew whether this guy was the real Kagato or not, Washu would, so Kiyone waited for Mihoshi's ravings about the TV remote to die down and only then could she have a civilized conversation with Washu or even Kagato. All of the sudden Mihoshi just vanished with a blip and the room fell unnervingly quiet.

Right away Ryoko began to resume the usual fun with Tenchi so Kiyone finally got her chance to walk over and speak with Washu and her alleged "boyfriend".

"Miss Washu, good morning. As you must know, there is a warrent for the arrest of the A-1 class criminal Kaga ... "

And Kiyone wasn't able to complete a second sentence before the whole house began to shake and a rumbling noise was heard from deep in the earth below them.

"Oh ... oh no ... "

Kiyone groaned

"... does anyone know where Mihoshi is?"

Kiyone sat down on the floor, grabbed Washu and hugged her ...

... and prepared to die.

//SPK? This is over at the moment... same goes to you MJH. I'm preparing the next episode, which WILL stay in the Tenchiverse for now.//