Outtake #3: Kiyone goes back to the Tennans

To set the scene: Back in the time when I still thought I was writing a fairly mundane story about Ryoko and Tenchi’s wedding and Kiyone and Seiryo’s relationship, I wrote a bunch of scenes like this. None of them were ever used because Operation Eradicate went kinda nuts and changed my emphasis completely. But even so, they’re a cute pair…ne?

"Kiyone?"

Seiryo stepped into the solar at that point, stopping dead as he registered the detective's presence, and a confused look touched his face as he glanced between Kiyone and his sister, clearly trying to work out what was going on. Suki cast him a smile, getting to her feet.

"Well, now you're back from your wanders into the wilderness, Tokimi and I are going to take our floral offering down to the memorial, and light a candle for Mother." She said softly. "I'm sure that even you, with your dubious people skills can manage to entertain Kiyone-san until we get back?"

Seiryo's expression became indignant, and Kiyone laughed.

"It's all right, Suki." She assured the younger woman, before the irate Lord of the Manor could respond. "I'm used to him by now. I'm sure we'll both survive the encounter."

Suki nodded, shooting her brother an impish look and then leaving the room, sliding the door shut behind her with a soft click.

Seiryo shook his head slowly.

"What are you even doing here?" He asked softly. "I thought you went to the Earth...didn't Lord Tenchi...?"

"Yes, he did, but all of that was over by last night." Kiyone nodded. "I wanted to make sure you were all right, so I took a little detour back to Headquarters. Mihoshi's still on the Earth, so I'll go and pick her up when I've ascertained what I came to discover, that's all."

"You didn't have to come back." Seiryo's expression softened into a smile, and Kiyone shrugged.

"I felt like I should." She admitted. "You were knocked for six pretty badly by everything. And I do try and look out for my friends...such as they are. When you've been in the scrapes I have, it's something you tend to do."

"I guess then that maybe you can teach me more than I can teach you, now." Seiryo observed pensively. "Did Suki know you were coming? I swear, she becomes more and more cheeky the older she becomes. She can act the perfect demure Lady of the Manor, but sometimes..."

Kiyone smiled.

"I think it's a good thing you two can banter as you do." She remarked. "Suki is very fond of you, Seiryo."

"I know." Seiryo admitted. "And right at the moment, it's a comfort to know that I have her and Tokimi both here, should I need them."

"What will you do, then, if she gets married and leaves the family estate?" Kiyone looked quizzical, and Seiryo's eyes became wide with surprise.

"Is that likely?" He demanded, and Kiyone chuckled, shaking her head.

"Not as far as I know. I imagine that if she was courting, she would have told you." She said, amused. "No. I just wondered, that's all. She seems to be the power behind the household these days - you might be the Lord of the Tennan manor but you'd be hard pressed to lose her."

"I know." Seiryo relaxed, sinking down into a vacant seat and shrugging his shoulders ruefully. "I'm more suited in so many ways to the nomadic life of a space law enforcer, ironic as it seems. With my current responsibilities to the growing cult of Tsunami, I'm finding a refuge in space travel more often than not. And Suki has really blossomed since she became friends with Lady Sasami. For one so young, she's a revelation."

He smiled.

"I hope Suki won't choose to fall in love until I've worked out the answer to your question." He added. "Even though we have our house staff back in situe bit by bit since Father's death, she does so much that I don't even see. She believes she's less capable than she is, you know - I wouldn't know where to begin with organising a lot of the things she seems to do without even stopping to think."

"You make a good team." Kiyone reflected. Seiryo nodded.

"One I've come to appreciate." He agreed. "Father kept her such a child - and forced her out of anything that involved decision making of any kind. But she has a quick brain and now there's noone there to curtail her, she's come into her own. One day she will be a fine lady of her own manor, of that I have no doubt. And she will keep her husband in order as much as she does me. Although..."

He faltered, and Kiyone eyed him curiously.

"Although?" She pressed.

"She has mentioned to me that she'd like to travel more. Get involved in things more." Seiryo admitted. "It worries me, because I know what's out there. But I don't think she'll seek my permission to do it. Obviously until we're both more used to Mother not being here, nothing is going to change. But now Mother is...is gone, Suki isn't as tied to this place as she was. She has mentioned once or twice that she's interested in studying to become some kind of ambassador for Jurai...and apparently Lady Sasami has promised to speak to her sister about it, if she's really serious. So I may lose her before it comes to her wedding day."

"It will be good for her though. And she's a peacekeeper, so she'd be good at it." Kiyone decided. "What about Tokimi, though?"

"Tokimi is my ward, really. Not Suki's. She belongs to the manor, in a manner of speaking." Seiryo rubbed his chin ruefully. "So that's not really in the equation."

"And you'd keep her, even if Suki went away?"

"Of course. Tokimi is like another sister to me. And she's not as incapable as some people think she is. She has a sharper mind that you might think - it's just cloaked beneath her inability to express herself clearly. Kii is still foremost in her mind, but both Suki and I are picking up bits and pieces of that, thanks to her and Washu's efforts. So we've come to understand that Tokimi's brain works on a different level from ours, that's all. She told me once that she wanted to teach children to read and write. I'm not sure whether she'll ever realise that dream on Jurai, but she certainly understands that we want to learn and she's capable of helping us. She's not a fool, even if she is impaired."

"I think Tokimi is sweet." Kiyone said absently. "And very fond of brightening this place with flowers."

"Yes. That she is." Seiryo acknowledged with a rueful laugh. "The gardens have never been so busy with blooms when Tokimi is about."

"She's lucky to have somewhere secure to stay." Kiyone reflected. Seiryo nodded his head.

"As long as she needs it to be, this is her home." He agreed. He smiled. "In truth, it might be a bonus for us both. I'm not sure I'd want to live in this place alone, and she keeps it bright, fresh and lively."

"You don't plan to marry, then?" Kiyone asked curiously. Seiryo shrugged.

"Don't know." He admitted. "Haven't thought about it. But the trouble with being a Tennan is that they expect you to marry within your social class. And there aren't many families of equal standing to choose from. When you consider how many of them have daughters of bearable company and marriagiable age, you get a grand total of zero. And I'm sure there are many fathers who feel similarly about me or other young men of my class. We're not an attractive group, all in all."

"Scathing!" Kiyone laughed, and Seiryo nodded good-naturedly.

"As you say." He agreed. "But true, nonetheless. The girls who shy away from me have sense, and those who don't are after the title and the estate. That's how it works. And after seeing my parents' marriage and my mother forced to endure a match like she did for so long because of her Tennan blood - I'm not in any hurry. I'm almost thirty summers this year, besides. I'm getting old for the marriage market."

Kiyone snorted.

"Thirty is old on Jurai?"

"In marriage terms, yes." Seiryo agreed. "Most noble sons and daughters are betrothed and married off by their early twenties. Father would have liked Suki to have been wed from sixteen. He gave up on me, but she was still a saleable commodity. And so she is now, I suppose, if I so wished to sell my sister into wedlock. As it happens, I don't have any ambition to make that choice for her...but a lot of my peers consider me irresponsible that I haven't sought to secure both her and I influential matches among Jurai's elite class."

"Well, if the whole world revolves around marriage, Jurai is stuck in the dark ages." Kiyone said bluntly. "You're not born just so you can be forced into a stupid, badly fitting outfit and paraded for the family as they sell you to the highest bidder. People aren't meat in a market stall, after all."

"I see we share the same views on this." Seiryo chuckled. "You speak from experience?"

"My mother has the opinion that daughters are designed to be married off." Kiyone agreed fervently. "I swear, if I hadn't gone to join the Academy when I did..."

"I see. So it was your escape in the end." Seiryo cocked his head to one side, eying her keenly. "That's something we've never discussed - why you became a police detective in the first place."

"Childhood obsession, really." Kiyone looked startled. "I was the oddball in my family...that's the basic truth. I mean, we're all oddballs, if I'm honest. None of us quite slot together properly. This was just my fixation, that's all. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to be something...important in the universe. The Galaxy Police were very active in our sector and I wanted to be a part of that. The team ethic, the diligence...that was what I wanted for my life."

"So you went all out and took it." Seiryo pursed his lips. "Are you and I really so different, then?"

"Perhaps not, not fundamentally." Kiyone looked startled at his observation. "But I'm not as loyal to my family as you are to yours, I'm afraid. I suppose I do love them, in a way...but the Galaxy Police has sort of become my real family, now."

She laughed, looking rueful.

"Perhaps that makes you a better person than me, in the end." She admitted. Seiryo chuckled.

"Tsunami forbid." He teased, his malachite eyes crinkling with amusement.

"Well, my mother still thinks I should settle down and get married - be a nice little housewife and give up all this nasty, dangerous stuff I do." Kiyone grimaced. "Hence why I didn't go home when Headquarters discharged me during the business with Yugi Kuroda. Talk about a nightmare. I'd never have heard the end of it."

She spread her hands, offering him a rueful smile.

"Joining the Galaxy Police, despite it's setbacks, it's problems and dealing with Mihoshi has never been something I regretted." She added. "It's just that place where I belong. That's the only way I can explain it. It's...well, it's home."

"Home." Seiryo pursed his lips. "Yes, that does make sense. You do seem to belong there more than anywhere else, it's true."

He grinned.

"But then there's Detective Mihoshi, isn't there? I can't believe that you chose such a partner, with whom to share your duties."

"We were assigned." Kiyone shook her head. "But I think it was Mihoshi's doing in the first instance."

She sighed heavily.

"From our first meeting she was a hindrance to my progress, I guess that's fair enough to say." She added regretfully. "First she blew my cover, revealing my true identity to everyone in our class. Then it was thanks to her I only graduated second, not first - she got into such a mess over it all and she was crying so hard I had to stop and help her study. I don't know why, but I did, and in the end it cost me marks on my own assessments. And even when I thought I'd escaped her, after a while, there she was again. My nemesis - always turning up like a bad penny to put a curb on my climb to the top."

"Hang on a minute." Seiryo held up his hands. "Your...true identity?"

His eyes twinkled at her expression, and he eyed her keenly.

"Are you not Kiyone Makibi after all? Am I speaking to an imposter?"

"No." Kiyone laughed, shaking her head sheepishly. "No, I am Kiyone Makibi. Believe me, that's who I am all right, every single cell of me."

"But...?"

"I didn't exactly join the Academy under normal circumstances." Kiyone bit her lip. "You always say that I'm a rule breaker, and well, I was desperate. I was sixteen, and my mother already wanted me to drop out of school and start thinking about taking a husband and living the married, domestic life my elder sister already had. That was the last thing I wanted, so when I discovered a classmate of mine was all signed up to join the Galaxy Police Academy, well, I began to hatch a kind of scheme."

"You took her place?" Seiryo stared at her, and Kiyone nodded.

"She was complicit. It was all above board." She responded, glancing idly at her hands as she spoke. "She didn't want to be involved in the Police - she wanted to be an actress and it was a perfect solution for both of us. And I was very good at playing the part I'd chosen. The only trouble was that at the end of the first semestre, Mihoshi was transferred into my dormitory wing. And Mihoshi's family, being well-to-do, knew the family of this classmate of mine. She knew the classmate herself, in fact - their fathers were associates of some kind. And she announced quite clearly to everyone - in a way only Mihoshi could, of course - that I wasn't who I claimed to be. I could have killed her on the spot."

"But they kept you on anyway, clearly." Seiryo looked thoughtful, and Kiyone nodded her head.

"I was top of my class and the best undergraduate they had had for a long time." She said proudly. "They were keen to keep me. So, on the understanding that I'd earn my fees while I was there through various odd jobs, and that I would continue only under my real name - I was able to stay."

Seiryo let out a low chuckle.

"You really are a cunning woman." He mused. "I admit, I'm impressed."

Kiyone shrugged.

"I did what I had to to get where I wanted to be." She admitted. "Are you telling me you wouldn't have done the same thing?"

"Perhaps, but I'm sure I would not have looked so attractive in female uniform."

"Seiryo." Kiyone shook her head slowly. "Sometimes, I swear..."

"You really don't see what fool gave me the title Lord?" Seiryo asked. Kiyone grimaced at him.

"If not for the grand house, sometimes I'd have a hard time believing it at all." She bantered back at him. Seiryo looked resigned.

"That was what the Galaxy Police did for me." He said unrepentantly. Kiyone laughed.

"It's almost a shame that you aren't there any more." She observed. "Now I know you as well as I do, and now I've had the benefit of training with you, I'd really like to see you properly in the thick of things. I know you helped me solve the Yugi case, but that wasn't quite the same thing."

"Well, I have plenty to do as Sasami-sama's chief advisor." Seiryo said pensively. "And I find I enjoy this role more than simply pandering to the Council all of the time. I am still in charge of the Treasury, of course. But Sasami-sama is always refreshing company, and she has enough trust in me that she lets me make a lot of my own calls on matters, here and there. She is still very young, after all...and it's nice to have her trust in me so much. I don't mind my new role, all things considered. It feeds my family pride nicely, without tempting me to act in a dishonourable way."

"All in all, the Tennan family did well out of Yugi's defeat." Kiyone said acidly. Seiryo nodded.

"Yes." He agreed softly. "But it was not just a benefit in a material sense, Kiyone. Connections to Lady Sasami meant that my mother was more directly in touch with her Goddess than she'd ever been and she had the comfort of the Cult of Tsunami during her final days. I'm not a spiritual man and I have no time for all of the airy fairy nonsense that goes on around the Goddess in the various temples and shrines across Jurai. My work and my belief in Tsunami is based in real, tangible things, not otherworldly precepts. But Mother was a strong believer, and it was a help to her, in her last weeks. I've learnt that belief is more important than truth sometimes...and I was glad she had it."

"I see." Kiyone's expression softened. "That was good of Sasami. But then, I'm not surprised. Aside from Mihoshi, Sasami has the biggest heart of anyone I know."

"Indeed." Seiryo agreed. "And on those grounds I am much happier being her man rather than directly involved with Lady Ayeka. Much as I respect the Crown Princess, and much as our earlier wariness has broken down this past year, her husband and myself are still not anywhere near the best of friends. It's potentially awkward. Sasami has no such baggage to weigh her down - at least, not yet - and it makes for a much more pleasant working environment."

"Sasami is young yet. She might not marry yet, or at all."

"That, I think, will depend on her father's will." Seiryo looked thoughtful. "And how much he values the class-conscious system of potential suitors for his little Princess."

"Meaning?"

"That if Haru-dono insists she marry in the upper echelons, likely she will not marry at all." Seiryo said slowly. "Because Sasami-sama is a loyal soul and her heart is spoken for. She wouldn't betray that, I don't think. I believe she'd sooner remain unmarried than enter into a match she didn't have true feelings for."

"Sasami has a suitor?" Kiyone stared, and Seiryo shook his head.

"Not as such, no." He responded carelessly. "But she's a young girl with a crush, and a crush that shows no sign of abating. Washu seems to think that it won't abate - that young as she is, Sasami has already chosen her future beau. But time will tell, I imagine."

"And you're not going to tell me more than that?"

"Kiyone, to speculate further on the romantic actions of my superior commander would not be proper." Seiryo's eyes danced. "If you are as good a detective as you say you are, you should be able to reason it out for yourself...with a little careful observation."

Kiyone's eyes widened.

"Kamidake?" She whispered, and Seiryo smiled. "You're serious? It is Kamidake?"

"You seem surprised."

"Well, he's always attentive to her, and I'd noticed she seemed very fond of him, but I didn't think it was anything serious." Kiyone shook her head slowly. "Haru-dono won't like that."

"Kamidake is a Knight of Tsunami." Seiryo said with a grin. "I imagine Sasami already has her action plan to deal with that if and when it arises. But we are speculating. I know my Princess is strong of will and sharp of wit - if she truly wants something, she will push for it. But my loyalties are sworn to her, so I will not discuss this any further."

"All right, all right." Kiyone grimaced at him. "I get it. I'll drop the subject."