PROJECT A-KO: "FINAL EXAM"
(Completed 2/28/99)
BY CHRIS REED...
Note: if you have come to this page before November 1, 1998 and have read this story so far, click HERE to go to part 2...
Well, as you may have guessed by now, I planned a trilogy all along about our favorite three girls once they were out of high school. Ain't I a stinker?
Well, I had the basics for a plot worked out a while ago (maybe - I've been known to mis-lead people about this) but I wanted to keep a sense of continuity going within all three stories. What I mean by this is that in each of the previous stories I've written I've taken an element from one of the films and incorporated it into my story line. For the first story (SCHOOL'S OUT) took a moment from movie 6. For the second story (SCHOOL'S IN) took a moment from movie three. Even for my other story not in the trilogy (which is about as silly a thing as I've ever written - C-KO'S SWEET AND SOUR 16) I took a moment from movie 1. So I had to find a moment from the movies that would work well here.
So what's a diligent and detail-oriented writer like myself to do? Especially considering the funky plot twists I threw into the last few sections of the last story?
I sat down and watched all 6 Project A-ko movies again. Life is so rough. I had to squeeze it in between my work watching Kimagure Orange Road, Urusei Yatsura, the Dirty Pair, Ah My Goddess, 3X3 Eyes, the new Super Cat-Girl Nuku-Nuku tapes, and Vision of Escaflowne, so it was a true hardship. But I managed. That blip up in the economy you may have noticed recently was due to an above-average consumption of caffeine here on the west coast.
Of course, it should have been obvious. I named C-ko's boyfriend (NOTE: If you haven't read the previous two stories, do so now - the links are above! I'm not one of those authors that likes to explain everything a million times, so you're going to be lost if you don't. That's no typo back there, C-ko has a boyfriend!) after a character from Kimagure Orange Road, which I discovered due to a spoof of it in movie #4. So of course I have to use the rather surrealistic dream elements surrounding that scene as my launching point. Besides, it allows me to bring Lum in for a brief cameo. Okay, so it's not really Lum, but you'll see...
But how to work that in? If you'll recall, the moments around the movie within a movie in "Project A-ko: Final" see C-ko at her most depressed, and I've made C-ko about as happy as she could possibly be about now. A-ko isn't doing so bad herself, and B-ko is probably too busy to notice if she's happy or not. Hell, even Mari has landed her man and Kei has changed his fascination accordingly. So where do I take it from here?
Well, I've had several ideas about
this, some of which are sure to piss off my fans, which I really don't want
to do. I'll be disregarding those. Frankly, all I want is to put A-ko into
that cute blue outfit from C-ko's dream sequence that C-ko interprets as
losing her friend (I consulted with a psychologist for that one). But I
still needed a plot mechanism to get things moving towards the conclusion
I wanted.
Then I got to thinking about the implications of using Kimagure Orange Road as the basis for my Prince Kyosuke. KOR is all about a love triangle, and how it finally resolves. There's no real triangle like that here since I've decided to ignore the overtones of the relationship between A-ko, B-ko and C-ko (well, somewhat) and have conveniently thrown Kei off to the side. So why not use that?
And of course the Earth needs to be invaded again.....
* * * * *
A-ko couldn't remember the last time she had been so nervous. Although she had known him for several months now and had spent a lot of time together studying, this was going to be their official first date. Okay, so she could remember the last time she had been so nervous, but this time she wasn't having to explain everything to C-ko or fight off B-ko.
Somehow, and A-ko wasn't going to ask how, Keiichi-kun had managed to get tickets to the premiere of the new Hamaguri Midori Dori (Clam Green Avenue) movie also known as "Suddenly, Next Summer". It was the sequel to the movie she was supposed to see with C-ko all that time ago, just before she had thought she had lost her for good. She hadn't, and her life had been much happier since that time. And now both she and C-ko were growing up. A-ko now had a boyfriend and C-ko...
Who would have ever thought C-ko would be first? The wedding was three weeks away now, one week after the end of classes for the school year. All of A-ko's classes now were journalism classes, which she found easy, so she didn't have to worry too much about her studies for perhaps the first time in her life, so she was helping out with the details of the wedding, working alongside C-ko, C-ko's mother, and even B-ko and her team of girls. Over the past months A-ko and B-ko had actually become civil with each other.
Of course, A-ko was a bit sad. C-ko would be traveling with Kyosuke for three months after the wedding on their honeymoon, leaving Earth and everyone else behind. But it had proven to be so romantic, and A-ko had a soft spot in her heart for romance. C-ko and Kye were so obviously suited for each other that no one, not even Kei when he had been at his worst, could split them up. And as long as C-ko was happy, A-ko could be happy.
But for today, A-ko was going to concentrate on nothing but having a good time with Keiichi. B-ko was working, C-ko was with Kye, Mari was with Kei, and it was Saturday! She had no real worries to deal with until tomorrow, when she would have dinner with C-ko and B-ko to go over wedding plans. Besides, as Keiichi was a Chemistry major at the college, he would need to bury himself in his studies after today, so this would probably be the only time to get together for the next couple of weeks.
So A-ko rushed around her apartment, making certain that everything was in the proper place and that her outfit, a stunning blue pantsuit outfit she had become rather fond of, looked absolutely flawless. Although she would be meeting Keiichi at the theater, she had hopes for a late afternoon (or whenever) of bliss; and as Keiichi lived in an all-male dorm, her apartment would have to do.
But finally she could do no more without scotchguard, so she grabbed a small handbag and rushed out the door. She took the elevator to the ground floor and walked the ten blocks to the movie theater, smiling the entire way. Well, almost.
About a block away, she overheard a conversation that sent chills down her spine. Two young girls ran by.
"A-ko, wait up!"
"Come on, C-ko, we'll be late!"
A-ko was startled to see a six year-old version of herself followed by a six year-old version of C-ko run by her. She blinked and rubbed her eyes to see that she had been mistaken. It was actually a young girl in a tiger-striped bikini with green hair and what appeared to be small horns, followed by a similar young girl with red hair. The girls disappeared into the crowd.
A-ko stared after them for a moment. "What the hell was that?" she asked herself aloud.
"What was what?" came a voice behind her. She turned around and looked down at Keiichi.
A-ko scratched the back of her head nervously. "Oh, nothing," she said. "Did you wait long?"
"Not long at all," Keiichi replied, smiling and offering his arm. "Shall we go have some fun?"
A-ko smiled. "Certainly!"
* * * * *
The two young girls rounded a corner and stopped.
"Did she see us?" the red-head asked.
"No doubt about it," the green-haired one. "One or two more like this and it will be time to move to phase two." She giggled.
"We'll need to move quickly. We have only three weeks."
The green-haired one gave a punch to the top of the head of the red-head. "I know that! Don't worry. Everything is going according to plan!"
* * * * *
B-ko couldn't remember the last time she had been so nervous. After all, nervousness was an alien experience to her. There were very few things that she couldn't get her way with, and most of those were in her past now that C-ko was with Prince Kyosuke, Kei was with Mari, the General married her old teacher, and that she and A-ko had patched things up.
After the fiasco with her Mecha designs on the last round of "Cherry Blossoms", she had thrown herself into analyzing the designs of nearly every mecha she had ever designed to find flaws. It had been a three month project, and now she was preparing to test her first new design for the Graviton Defense Force since that time, the Diatokuji 2310. It was the first time in nearly two decades that the Diatokuji name itself was attached to a mecha, so a lot was riding on the outcome of this extremely rigorous test.
B-ko and General Yoshida had designed the test themselves, preparing to put the D-2310 through every kind of stress they could imagine, and the two of them together were very imaginative. Once the initial friction over their past battle about the General's marriage had been settled they discovered that they could work together well again, and had proceeded to do just that. In addition, three other tacticians had been hired to throw unexpected problems at the D-2310 that Yoshida and B-ko were fully unaware of.
In short, this could be a make-or-break test for the Diatokuji Financial Group, and no amount of bribes would be able to smooth over a failure. The days of General Zuma were now acknowledged to be a thing of the past. For B-ko, failure was not an option.
Hence the nervousness.
And it really didn't help that B-ko's assistant for these past few months had been so... so... bubbly! She even got on the nerves of General Yoshida, and finally B-ko had sent her to oversee the financial details of this project back in the main offices of the Diatokuji Financial Group so that she wouldn't be a distraction during the test, so only the General and his staff and B-ko were in the control room at the top of the tower that was the center of Graviton City, tensely waiting for the mecha to enter the testing range.
And then suddenly it began. Over the course of the next twenty minutes, the D-2310 worked through a field of micro-asteroids, a battle, targeting, attempts to jam it's electronics, a simulated computer glitch, a high stress obstacle course, and even a true unplanned emergency when the pilot spilled his coffee on the dashboard.
And then it was suddenly over. Everyone in the room let out a cheer.
The General clapped B-ko on the shoulder. "Congratulations miss," he said, meaning it. "This is perhaps the best performance we've seen from a machine from your company in a couple of decades."
B-ko smiled demurely. "Thank you General," she said. "There are still some refinements to do, pending an analysis of the data, but I think we can all be pleased with this."
"Miss Diatokuji," the communications officer said. "There's a call for you from Mr. Hikaru Diatokuji."
B-ko shot a glance to the General, then nodded an acknowledgment. "Patch the call into my office," she said. "Just give me a moment to get there."
B-ko headed for the elevator and descended to her office in the building. Once there she sat back in her reclining chair and put her feet on her desk. Then she turned the monitor on tto see the smiling face of her father. "Father," she acknowledged.
"B-ko! Tell me the good news!" Although said in a friendly way, it was obviously a command.
"It looks like everything went as planned. I think we've got a winner here."
"Ah, good. How soon do you think we can expect a contract?"
"My timetable is for an order of 200 to be placed within the month."
"200?" Hikaru Diatokuji said. "That's far more than I would have expected."
"Think big, father. If all the needs are met, we can use the new mecha to replace Graviton City's aging fleet. That's the proposal I plan to make."
"Hmm. I see." He burst out laughing. "Well done, daughter! If you succeed we could be looking at a revenue stream that matches our best years, if not surpassing them! And the maintenance contract?"
"Part of the proposal. And as of now we also have the General's support, so things should proceed smoothly. All that's left now is the political end..."
"...And that's my job. Again, well done B-ko! Could you come out to the estate tomorrow evening so that we can discuss our plan of attack with the politicians?"
B-ko sat up in her chair, feet now on the floor. "I'm sorry father, but I'm meeting with C-ko regarding plans for her wedding."
Hikaru Diatokuji looked sternly at his daughter for a moment, then allowed it to pass. "I know it's no use arguing this with you B-ko, so how about breakfast the next morning?"
B-ko nodded. "I'll see you then," she said, reaching for the off switch for her monitor. But as usual, her father had reacted first, and the screen was already dark as her hand reached the switch. But then a voice from the screen stopped her.
"A-ko! Wait up!"
"C-ko?" B-ko said aloud. Suddenly there was a picture on her screen, showing a young C-ko chasing a young A-ko. They were both laughing.
"What the hell?" Just as suddenly as the picture had appeared, it was gone, replaced by the blank screen of before. B-ko stared for a moment, then turned the monitor off.
It would be several minutes before she would be able to shake off the shock.
* * * * *
"Perfect!" said the green-haired girl. "That should shake things up a bit!"
The red-haired girl smiled. "Thank you," she said. "It wasn't easy to break into that system. We were fortunate that her father called just then."
"True," green said. "And now for the last one..."
* * * * *
C-ko couldn't remember the last time she had been so nervous. There had been plenty of times when she had been scared, frightened, hurt, and even excited. But this kind of nervousness was a new thing for C-ko. She loved her Prince, and she knew that he loved her, but this... this... this was so... so... adult!
And she knew that Kye was just as nervous as she was. This would be the first time for both of them. It was something that they would be doing a lot together once they were married and living together permanently, but there had to be a first time, and C-ko was nervous.
Kyosuke entered the room wearing a pair of shorts, but no shirt. C-ko herself was dressed light for the occasion. Kye sat down next to C-ko and put his arm around her, kissing her lightly on the top of the head.
"Nervous?" he asked.
C-ko nodded. "Yes," she said, "but I'm ready. This is what becoming adults is all about, after all."
Kye chuckled. "Well, that's not exactly true, but it's important for a married couple to do this. One of the most important things." Kye paused. "Or so I'm told. I've never done this before either, you know."
C-ko looked down and held Kye's hands. "Maybe we should wait. After all, the wedding's only three weeks away..."
Kye nodded. "If you want to wait that's fine," he said. "But do you want to be this nervous on our wedding night? There's already so many other things we're going to be going through, and to have to worry about this as well.."
C-ko looked up at Kye and smiled. "You're right," she said. "Now is the right time. We need to know we can do this. It's not like we won't be doing it just this once."
Kye nodded and stood up, still holding C-ko's hands. "Then come with me, my love," he said, leading C-ko into the next room.
* * * * *
An hour later both C-ko and Kye lay back, exhausted. It had been tougher than either one of them had expected, but once they got the hang of it things proceeded smoothly, and it became fun. And now that they had a basic idea of what they were doing, the next time would be easier.
But either way, they had done it. The household budget for the next month was put together (well, okay, honeymoon budget) and they had been able to set some money aside for the future. Next time they would be able to do the budget much faster.
C-ko shivered. "I'm going to put on a sweater," she said to Kye. "Can you believe this weather? Hot one moment, cold the next."
"You do that love," Kye said. "I'm going to get a shirt myself." Kye headed for the guest room he was staying in at C-ko's mother's house. They would be finding a place of their own after the honeymoon.
C-ko went into her bedroom and found a sweatshirt. She put in on over her T-shirt and looked at herself in the mirror. And then she got a shock, as the reflection in the mirror changed. It was A-ko! And B-ko! Arm in arm, looking down at C-ko as if judging her. As if C-ko had failed. Failed in the eyes of her closest friends.
And then the image was gone, and C-ko was looking at her own reflection again. For the first time in quite a while, the reflection was of a scared little girl on the verge of tears. It took Kye nearly half an hour to get C-ko calm and smiling again.
* * * * *
"That one was difficult," the green-haired girl said.
"But it's done," said the red-head. "Phase two is ready to go."
"Good. We can finally ditch these stupid disguises and get to the meat of the plan."
Both girls laughed, loud and hard. And the laugh quickly became more masculine in sound.
* * * * *
Space. It's really, really big. Fantastically big. Huge. But let's ignore that fact for a moment. Let's just look at an insignificant portion of space. The Milky Way. It's the galaxy we live in. It's also a bit unusual in that it's flat.
In the early days of the galaxy there was a race called the Spaniards. Yes, it's quite a coincidence, isn't it? They looked nothing like the Spaniards we know here on Earth, but they did have a love of bullfighting, and a desire to explore the galaxy. When an alien named Christophe no Columbo came to the Spaniards with the crazy theory that the galaxy was round, much like a globe, the Spaniards financed three ships and sent him out to lead an expedition to prove his theory.
Unfortunately, Mr. no Columbo was mistaken, and right now his ships can be found in the same place the Voyager II space probe will be in a few hundred years. They're lonely, as Spaniards tend to live for eons, but that's a story for another time. The bottom line is that our galaxy is flat; at least reasonably so. Even Earthlings know that.
So, if you're going to attack the Earth, the odds are there are only a few possible directions you can come from, as Earth is at the outer rim of the galaxy. In fact, leading scientists have shown that the largest number of invading fleets that can attack Earth without knowing that the other fleets are coming is three, simply due to the small degree of arc involved in invading our solar system.
Just three.
* * * * *
A group of ships headed for earth was captained by a mannish-looking woman named Tripolipolita. In fact, she made for a striking and handsome looking man by Earth standards. Tall, nearly two meters, with long flowing blonde hair and green eyes. An angular nose, strong chin, and a smile that Frank Sinatra would have been envious of. She wore a dark purple jumpsuit with a green belt, gold buckle and a flowing red cape.
Captain Tripolipolita was on a long mission. She had left her home world nearly a month previous, and would not reach her destination for another two weeks. Once she completed this leg of her mission, she would be returning home with prisoners in hand, and then would hopefully be taking some steps towards erasing a black mark on her honor. She was looking forward to her mission with a mixture of dread and joy.
"Are all the preparations ready?" the captain asked her crew.
"Scout ships ready!"
"Communications ready!"
"Weapons ready!"
"Laundry facilities ready!"
"And the booze?" the captain asked.
"Destroyed as per your orders, mam!"
Tripolipolita laughed a small but maniacal laugh. "Good! Good.... that woman has been an embarrassment for long enough.... Communications!"
"Yes!" replied the woman at the communications station.
"Place a call to her Royal Highness Queen Kotobuki. I request an audience!"
* * * * *
Another fleet was heading towards Earth as well, but they had the advantage of having been there before. This group was headed by a rugged man in his fifth decade, who had shown great presence of mind upon his last trip to this outback of the galaxy. And this time he was coming to see the culmination of his many years of ambition as a conqueror. The marriage of his son to the Kotobuki empire would mean that he would be connected to the rule of nearly 3/4 of this quadrant. The fact that Kyosuke and C-ko were such a good match was a bonus he hadn't counted on, but he was willing to exploit it.
Kyosuke's father was, of course, invited to the wedding. He almost hadn't been, as he had a reputation for conquering planets, but thanks to his lenient treatment of Earth and the fact that his son's marriage was in fact meant to be a political alliance between his empire and the Kotobuki empire paved a smooth path for his return to Earth.
But of course he had plans of his own. Kyosuke and C-ko planned to make Earth their home. That was fine for now, but someday they would need to rule over the empire they were creating. So a fundamental change would need to be made for everything to proceed.
Earth would have to be made part of the empire, and the combined throne would need to be transferred there.
"Communications!"
"Yes!" replied the man at the communications station.
"Place a call to Queen Kotobuki! We have matters to discuss!"
* * * * *
As for the third fleet (you knew there was going to be one, admit it), it was larger than the other two fleets combined. The captain of this ship knew what was going on in Graviton City, and even knew that other ships would be arriving about the same time he was. This wasn't due to scans or any intelligence gathered in pursuit of this mission, but just from common sense. Once he had discovered the wedding he had put everything together he could to try to stop it. He in fact already had agents on Earth who had been in place for nearly two decades thanks to an earlier project.
That project had never been completed, and now he suddenly had the chance to erase one of the most horrific mistakes in the history of his small kingdom. Once upon a time he would have been a great man, had that mission gone successfully, but now he was broken, the ruler of only three planets of an empire that once numbered over a thousand. He may never recover that empire, but he could at least make up for his mistake of so long ago.
"Sir!" announced the woman at the communications station. "Communication from Earth!"
"One of our operatives," the captain said. "Put him through."
The screen in front of the captain's chair came alive and the captain received a shock.
"Captain!" said the operative on the screen. A large, hulking man wearing a fedora, trenchcoat, and sunglasses. "This is Operative...."
"Yes D," the captain interrupted, smiling and shaking off the surprise. "I remember you quite well, I assure you. It's been a long time. What can I do for you?"
"I thought you might be coming towards Earth, what with the wedding and all," D said. "I'm calling to offer my assistance."
"And how can you assist me?"
"I am already here. I would imagine you are at least two Earth weeks away. I can gather intelligence and provide data you will need."
The captain nodded. "Very well. I can't imagine that your time on Dirt has been pleasant."
D nodded. "It hasn't. It's been especially rough the past few years. By the way, it's called 'Earth'. These people have many names for things."
"Why would anyone want to name their planet after the soil that covers it?"
"Sir, I couldn't even begin to tell you. These people are just plain odd."
"Understood." The captain signaled to his first officer. "I will want reports twice a day. Captain out." He made a signal and the screen went blank.
"What do you think?" the captain asked his first officer.
"Be wary," the woman replied. "D was a freelance agent before he came to work for us on that mission. He may be a freelancer again. Notice that he didn't mention anything about compensation."
"That doesn't concern me. I already know what D wants."
"Sir?"
"D wants to go home. Let's use this opportunity. Try to make contact with our other agents in place. Let's see what we can do to formulate a plan. I will have my revenge on Dirt!"
"Uh, Earth, sir."
"Whatever."
* * * * *
In the center of Graviton City is a tower that is used by the Graviton Defense Force as it's headquarters. Everybody knows that. At one time a spaceship, converted into a shopping mall and amusement park and much more until punched out by a certain young red-head, was also downtown. Now the downtown area of Graviton City is back to normal again, and has once again become a Mecca for shoppers and tourists.
Four young women sat at a table in a good restaurant in downtown Graviton City. Mari sat next to B-ko on one side of the table, while A-ko and C-ko were on the other. Most of the food was near A-ko, and she had to pass plates around the table so that the others got a fair share of the food. A-ko's appetite, if anything, was greater than ever.
"Still the brute," B-ko commented as A-ko swallowed a lobster tail whole. A-ko looked up angrily, but B-ko was smiling. A-ko grinned back.
"Still the same snotty little brat we once knew," A-ko shot back.
"Yeah, but with power now," B-ko said. All four girls laughed.
"Now this is what I always wanted," C-ko said. "From the time we all first met I knew we could all be friends."
"And you were right," A-ko said. "How is it that you manage to do that?"
"Do what?"
"Always get your way. In all of the time I've known you, despite the arguments, games, and the history between B-ko and me you always get your way. Why is that?"
There was a moment's silence. The C-ko stood imperiously and intoned, "Well, I am a Princess, after all." Again all four girls burst out laughing. Well, with Mari you couldn't be sure, but there was at least a smile.
"Your highness," B-ko said, bowing from her seat as C-ko sat back down. "Your wishes are of course our commands."
"Oh, stop it B-ko!" C-ko said, embarrassed now. "I may be a Princess but you still have a bigger bathtub than I do. I've only been living in a house at all for the past year or so."
"And you can cook now too," A-ko added between mouthfuls of food.
"Yes, thanks to you. After that last trip to the space station I bought a new cook book that anyone can use, and it's been doing wonders. I cook for Kye about once a week right now."
"How is he doing?"
"He's fine. The new rebuild of the space station should finish up this week."
"Yes," added B-ko. "We plan to bring it on-line just in time to welcome our visitors."
A-ko looked up. "Visitors? Don't tell me we're going to be invaded again."
B-ko laughed. "Sort of. Prince Kyosuke's family and their representatives plus representatives from C-ko's kingdom will be coming to Graviton City for the wedding. But for once they're invited."
"That explains the size of the guest list," Mari said, speaking for the first time. "The old school gym really is the only place the wedding could be held."
"It's going to be a bit strange," A-ko said. "I mean, we see Miss Ayumi... I mean Ms. Yoshida all the time, but have any of you actually set foot on the High School grounds since graduation?"
"Just to make arrangements for the gym," C-ko said. "They almost said no, you know. There hasn't been a good history with weddings there."
A-ko and B-ko shared a knowing and slightly guilty look. They were both at least partly responsible for that history. But at least it was history now, as opposed to the constant fighting between the two girls that had dominated the past several years. A-ko laughed nervously. "Not to change the subject or anything..." she began.
"...but what's left to organize?" B-ko concluded. A-ko shot B-ko a look. They had been finishing each other's sentences a lot lately.
C-ko ignored the looks between her two friends. "Not much really. Mom's taking care of the food of course, and Mari has agreed to deal with the flowers..."
Mari really grinned this time. A muffled scream was heard at the next table.
"The priest and the location has been arranged, the invitations sent out, and Kye has taken care of the Honeymoon arrangements..."
"Ah, yes, the evenings of bliss..." A-ko sighed dreamily. "I'll miss you, you know."
"I'll miss you too."
"No you won't," B-ko said.
"B-ko! Of course I will. You guys are my best friends!"
A-ko shook her head. "C-ko, We can be as close a group of friends as possible, but you'll always be closer to your husband. B-ko's right about this one, much as I hate to admit it. You're going to be far too involved in your love to worry about any of us. At least for a while, at any rate. I know that when I'm with Keiichi I can hardly think of anything else."
Both B-ko and C-ko looked at A-ko startled. "You can't mean things have gone that far, can you?" B-ko asked.
A-ko looked down, embarrassed, while all three other girls looked at A-ko wide-eyed. She was silent for a moment while her friends all jumped to their own conclusions, but finally she said, "No, we haven't," in a soft voice. "Not for a lack of desire," she continued. "Just things have been so busy lately, and... and...."
A-ko found she just couldn't say it. After the movie with Keiichi she had found herself thinking about the two young girls she had seen, and simply hadn't been in the mood for that originally-planned afternoon of bliss, despite the fact that they had both been looking forward to it. Seeing miniature copies of herself and C-ko, even if imagined, had rattled her for reasons she couldn't quite figure out.
B-ko suddenly laughed. "Well I'm sure you'll get another chance for that night of bliss you always used to talk about back in High School," she said.
A-ko nodded, then picked up half a steak and nearly swallowed it whole. "What about you B-ko?" she asked. "Any prospects? You're the only one of us without a boyfriend right now."
Now B-ko started to look a bit nervous. "Well, I can't say that I've really had the time. Things at work are very busy right now, and there's an awful lot riding on my new designs..."
"And after the last couple of mistakes you want to be more careful, right?"
B-ko's eyes narrowed angrily, a look A-ko had seen in her eyes before.
"A-ko?" C-ko looked at A-ko.
A-ko nodded. "I'm sorry B-ko," she said. "My words were uncalled for."
B-ko still stared. "When we were younger that comment would have provoked a fight," she said. "I am aware of my history. I don't need my face rubbed into it."
A-ko sat back, feeling guilty. B-ko's last romantic mistake with General Yoshida had at least been honest. At least honest for B-ko. "I'm sorry," A-ko repeated.
B-ko nodded. "All right." She smiled a small smile. "Like I said, still the brute. C-ko, you still haven't told us anything about the Honeymoon. Where will you be going?"
The tension defused, C-ko immediately launched into a wild description of what Kye had told her about their upcoming trip. But B-ko had trouble listening.
* * * * *
Later that evening, B-ko paced her bedroom while changing out of her dinner clothes. She was obviously upset.
"A-ko, how could you have said such a thing?" What really bothered B-ko was that A-ko had actually been RIGHT! B-ko knew she had to be more careful than she had been in the past. She didn't want to repeat the embarrassments of her previous attempted relationships.
She sat on the edge of her bed, fuming. "I can't actually be jealous of her, can I? I don't even like Keiichi!"
And then once she had said it aloud, it suddenly hit her why she had been so upset. As she headed for her evening bath, she started to put together a plan.
* * * * *
Beneath the train station at the west end of Graviton City is a small Karaoke bar. Once it had been a popular place, as the salarymen let loose after long work days. Sake would flow, and people would sing, sometimes well, to the songs in the jukebox. That was then.
Now there was only one customer, as opposed to the 50 or so that used to frequent the bar. As you can well imagine, revenue dropped, but not by as much as you would expect. The sole remaining customer could out drink any 20 men. Unfortunately for the bar, she would also attempt to sing. Which was the primary reason that no one frequented the bar anymore.
The Captain sat at the far end of the bar, working on her 10th bottle of Sake. So far, a slow night. She would usually be well towards 20 before she would attempt to sing. At such a time the manager would put cotton in his ears, dismiss the remaining staff, and shut the doors. He had to suffer this to remain in business. No one else should.
But tonight would be different.
When the new customer walked in, the owner was so surprised that he forgot to greet her. It was a large woman, or possibly a man in drag. The owner of the bar wasn't sure.
"Captain," said the customer when she approached the bar.
The captain looked up. "Dee?"
Dee smiled. "I thought I'd find you here," she said in a deep voice.
"How did you know?" The Captain asked.
"Hmm. Women's intuition. Captain, I'm sure you know that the wedding's only a few weeks away."
The Captain took a long drink from her bottle. "Yes. That the princess is marrying that... that... man!" She shook her head. "I need a drink."
Dee sat down next to her Captain and ordered another bottle for her. "Guests are coming," she said.
The Captain looked up. "Guests?"
"Some from Prince Kyosuke's kingdom, but also some from home. I've been in touch with Her Highness Queen Kotobuki." She paused. "We can finally go home."
The Captain jumped from her chair. "Really? Do you mean that?"
"Yes. In fact, the Captain of the arriving fleet from home specifically asked about you."
"My friends! Finally! To get the recognition that's always eluded me! What Captain asked about me? Do you know?"
Dee paused again. "You may not like my answer," she said.
"Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" The Captain had grabbed Dee's lapel and attempted to shake her. Mostly she shook herself.
Dee told her.
The scream was audible back at the center of Graviton City. There would be no singing tonight.
* * * * *
"What was that?" the former Miss Ayumi asked.
General Yoshida looked up from his dinner and listened for a moment. "Probably nothing," he said as the scream faded away. He took another bite of dinner. "This is delicious!"
"Thank you, darling." Mrs. Yoshida looked down demurely. "It is perhaps my best recipe."
The general bowed slightly. "I am honored," he said. "For the first time in my life I feel indebted to Hikaru Diatokuji for Anything. For introducing us."
"I'm glad you feel that way."
Yoshida smiled. "This is so nice to come home to. After all the arrangements and the logistics for the visitations..."
"Visitations?"
"Yes. We can't call them invasions anymore if they're invited. Branches from both C-ko's family and Kyosuke's family will be arriving in the next two weeks. Normally I wouldn't be involved in a family matter, but when the families will be arriving in spaceships..."
"I see."
"It looks like Earth is about to become part of the galactic community, so there's a lot to do."
"Part of the galactic community?"
"Yes." Yoshida took another bite. "Most people haven't noticed it yet, but as both C-ko and Kyosuke have announced their intentions to live here in Graviton City, and as both of them are heirs to galactic empires, it seems to me that when it comes time for them to run their empires that a lot of galactic traffic will be coming through town."
"And you're in charge of the logistics. Sounds hard."
"It's a challenge, but I enjoy that. Besides, being known as the General who presided over Earth's entry into the rest of the galaxy will look good for the future. Especially for our family."
The former Miss Ayumi smiled. "Funny you should mention that..."
"Hmm?"
"Do you suppose that there's room in your schedule for the title of 'daddy'?"
Yoshida dropped his chopsticks. One broke. "You mean..."
Mrs. Yoshida nodded. "About 6 weeks."
The General looked down. "This will mean some changes around the house," he said.
"Yes."
The General looked up again. He had a grin that out-shone the moon. "Life is great!"
* * * * *
"So was contact made?"
In a dark room two men were meeting for a phase two strategy meeting. All of the girls in question were now sufficiently rattled; now they needed to enact the exterior portions of their plan.
"Contact was successful. The captain believes that I will be attempting to supply inside information regarding any of a number of issues," said the larger of the two.
"D, he suspects nothing?"
"Nothing, sir. I tried to convey the impression that I would exchange information for an escape from this rock."
The tall thin man laughed, shaking his green hair behind him. "Oh, if he only knew. My friend, galactic conquest is born of many a strange event. Did you know that the Kotobuki empire was born from a cooking contest?"
D frowned. "You're kidding! The princess' cooking has been classified as a type 4 weapon!"
"She's an exception, and from what I hear she's getting better. Anyway, once the wedding is off we can get the various arriving factions fighting amongst themselves. Once that's happened we can sweep in and take over ourselves."
"Um, sir? I'm still unclear how just the two of us can possibly accomplish that. I mean, the two of us against three space armadas? Seems unlikely."
The thin man laughed. "You have little faith my friend. Part of how it will work is that we take advantage of the chaos that will erupt. But another part of it is that we stop the battle that will erupt and bring in the Prince and Princess to take their respective roles in leading their realms."
"But I thought that the Prince and Princess were going to be separated because of our actions. How would we get them working together, and working for us?"
The tall man began to change shape. After a few seconds, he now looked like a young blond girl with flowers in her hair. "But who's to say who the REAL C-ko Kotobuki is?"
You could actually see the light bulb above D's head. Then he began to change shape as well, to resemble Prince Kyosuke. Then the two shape-changers began to laugh.
* * * * *
When A-ko received the phone call it was as if a nightmare had come true.
She hadn't heard C-ko so shook up in a very long time. But she couldn't
get a straight story from her long-time friend about what was the matter.
So she flew over to C-ko's home to discover what was wrong.
But C-ko wouldn't stop crying. She kept saying over and over again "Terrible! Terrible! Terrible!" When B-ko arrived a few minutes later, obviously just from her office downtown, the combined efforts of both girls weren't enough to calm her down. Only when Kyosuke arrived a few minutes later still did the mystery get solved.
"It's my fault, I'm afraid," he said. "I'm sorry, C-ko."
Both B-ko and A-ko stood up, angry. "What did you do?" A-ko asked angrily.
"How dare you make her cry!" B-ko roared.
But to the surprise of both girls, C-ko ran to her fiancee and hugged him close. "What are we going to do?" she wailed.
Both A-ko and B-ko took a step back, looking at each other. "We did it again, didn't we?" B-ko said.
"Looks like we did. We both jump to conclusions too easily," A-do replied.
"Kye, what's going on?"
Kyosuke held C-ko close, slowly rubbing her back. "I called here a while ago from the School," he said. "The administration of Graviton High School for Girls discovered that fleets from both of our empires are coming to Graviton City and declared that they want nothing to do with any of it."
"They don't want to be the site of the wedding," A-ko stated.
"And the wedding is only in a couple of weeks," B-ko added. "This is a problem."
A-ko shook her head. "It is. What do we do now?"
"We need to find a place big enough," Kyosuke said, "for all the guests who will be here. More than 2000 people, last time I looked. Not many places can accomodate so many people on such notice."
A small laugh escaped from B-ko. A small laugh that turned large and a bit maniacal.
"B-ko?" A-ko asked. Even C-ko looked up questioningly.
B-ko bowed towards C-ko and Kyosuke. "With all due respect," she said, "this one's easy to fix, now that I've thought about it a moment. We can hold the wedding at the Diatokuji Estate."
"At your house?" A-ko asked, incredulously.
B-ko faced her old rival. "That's right, you've never been there, have you? It's big enough, don't worry." She turned back to C-ko. "Will that work?"
C-ko dried her eyes. "You'd do that for me?"
"Sure. What else are friends for?"
C-ko brightened like an electrical storm. "Oh, B-ko!" She rushed to hug B-ko. "This is great! Great! Great!"
Kyosuke bowed. "Thank you," he said.
Even A-ko smiled at her long-time rival. "How can I help?" she asked.
B-ko looked up from her hug with C-ko. "Why don't you come by the mansion tomorrow and we'll work out space arrangements and so on?"
"Deal!"
* * * * *
"B-ko! I can't believe you did this without consulting me first!"
Hikaru Diatokuji was nearly purple with rage. Even his rhinestone suit was off-color reflecting his anger. "This is our home! Even if we do conduct business here you've just invited over 2000 people to roam around our home! You know the amount of confidential information kept here! This is a disaster!"
B-ko held her head low. She knew already how to win this argument; she had rehearsed it over 100 times. She had worked very hard to arrange all of this, and this was going to be the easy part. "Father, are you finished?"
"Not even close! B-ko, this time you've gone too far! I understand you even arranged this by forcing the original site to cancel! Do you have some sort of plan?"
B-ko remained calm, and held up her hand. Her father still fumed, but held his tongue for a moment.
"Of course I have a plan, father. Won't it be quite an acheivement to host dignitaries from two seperate interstellar empires in our home?" She said.
Mr. Diatokuji's more normal tan began to return. The suit started to sparkle. "Go on," he said. "Please advise me as to what you have in mind..."
"Very well, father. While my desire to help my friends is real, think about the opportunity this presents! I'm sure you've noticed that someday soon Graviton City will become a hub for interstellar traffic, thanks to C-ko and Kye living here. This would be a perfect opportunity to exploit that to our advantage."
On the word "exploit" Hikaru Diatokuji cracked a brief smile. "Continue," he said.
"This is our first real opportunity to meet with dignitaries from other planets, not just soldiers or C-ko's mother. Or that drunk we had those problems with when I was in High School, for that matter. Imagine the contacts that could be built! We can take advantage of my friendship with C-ko to build the Diatokuji Empire into an Intergalactic Empire!"
Her father narrowed his eyes. "You're thinking very big for this," he noted. He then threw his head back and laughed. "So you arranged for the original site to cancel at the last minute and forced them to come to us. Good! Good, daughter, good! You showed better instincts for this than I did this time! Ambitious and audacious! I like it! I knew your relationship with that ditzy little blonde would pay off someday!"
"You knew no such thing," B-ko muttered under her breath. "Yes father," she stated aloud.
As her father ranted about the opportunities, B-ko had to hide a calculated smile. "Now I can start to activate my real plan," she thought.
* * * * *
"Dee, I'm not sure I'm ready for this..."
For the first time ever, the Captain had gained an audience with her queen. She stood along with Dee at the front door of the Kotobuki house, dressed in a uniform that was once resplendant, but now worn with age and sake stains. Dee, for her part, was dressed in the old trenchcoat ensemble she wore when she first dicovered C-ko on this foresaken planet.
"You'll be fine captain," Dee said. "You're a starship captain..."
"With only you in my command," the captain shot back, "where that number used to be over 4000, and no ship." A tear rolled down the captain's cheek. "I'm going home in disgrace. Because they sent for Tripolipolita to come and take me home. That's the only explanation possible, or she wouldn't be comming here to take me home. I can't even take credit for having found the Princess; you did that."
"Under your command, if you'll recall. You'll get the credit for that."
The captain sighed. "I'm afraid you're wrong about that, but thank you Dee."
The door opened, and both women bowed deeply to the woman they had pledged fealty to nearly 20 years earlier. A fragrant smell came through the door; Queen Kotobuki had been cooking again.
"Your Highness," Dee and the Captain said, not looking up.
"Oh please, come in," Queen Kotobuki replied.
Both Dee and the captain stood up and entered the house. "Whatever that smell is, it's wonderful," Dee noted. "Your Highness," she quickly added.
"You're too kind," Queen Kotobuki replied. "The spices and flavors of this world are limited, but I cope as I can. Please come this way." She directed her subjects to the living room, where a small throne and audience chamber had been set up.
Once the queen sat down, the Captian asked, "Forgive how rude this will sound, but how do you stand living like this? I visited the palace almost 20 years ago and this entire house could fit in one of the closets!"
Kotobuki smiled gently. "I spent more than 17 years without my daughter," she said. "It seems a small price to pay to be with her again. After the wedding I will probably return home. As will you."
The Captain looked up sharply. "Home? Finally?"
"Yes, Captain, home. With a ship to command again."
The Captain was visibly startled. Shaken, not stirred, would be an accurate descrpition.
"I have noticed that despite your failings," the queen went on, "that you were the commander of the mission that found C-ko. It seems fitting that you should return to active duty."
"I don't understand... I thought that when Captain Tripolipolita arrived I would be heading home in disgrace..."
"Not exactly. Your sister will lead C-ko's private garrison after the wedding. I can't exactly leave my daughter here unprotected, can I? Earth's military does well for a surface-based society, but nearly anyone could overwhelm them. Our empire will be providing the personnel, while Prince Kyosuke's will be providing the ships and armaments. You will be taking over her ship and crew when they arrive."
"But that's wonderful!"
"Don't be so sure of that. You're still a Captain after 20 years of service. If you had performed admirably your rank and position would be higher. Your sister will be the new Royal Naval Garrison Commander."
It was at that moment that the Captain finally understood. Her jaw dropped, and a tear rolled down her right cheek. "You're promoting my younger sister over me..." she finally stammered.
Dee looked at her Captain. "What's wrong with that?" she asked.
The Captain slowly fell to the ground, weeping. "She got her revenge on me," she said. "She's going to be my commander! My younger sister will be able to order me as she likes! My life will be a living hell!" She looked up at Queen Kotobuki. "You really can't mean to..."
"Keep your place!" Queen Kotobuki roared. "Despite the domestic setting here, I am still the ruler of a vast empire, and you report ultimately to me! I decide what is best for my empire, and I have decided to place you at the whim of your younger sister! Do you dare question this?"
Even Dee recoiled. "No, your Highness," the Captain meekly said.
"Goodie!" Kotobuki smiled, all malice gone from her voice. "Now leave. I have food to prepare."
Both Dee and the Captain bowed their way out of the house. Once outside the Captain turned and faced Dee. "I need to get very drunk," she said. "this is even worse than I thought!"
* * * * *
"General, I hear that congratulations are in order!"
General Yoshida sat in his office, using a video conference phone to speak with Kyosuke, who was in his own office at the L7 orbital station. Kyosuke had just returned after an emergency visit to his fiancee to work out a snag in the wedding plans. His own shuttle could go back and forth in only 10 minutes, now that it had finally been repaired from the beating it had received when he had first arrived on Earth, and Kyosuke now used it as his primary means of transportation. The General smiled at his young counterpart. "How did you know? I only found out a few days ago myself."
"I have ears in many places, my General," Kyosuke replied with a big grin. "I am a Prince, after all. I'm used to this sort of intrigue. Anyway, congratulations. "Thank you Kye. I hope to be a good father."
"You will be. You're a good man, my friend, with a good wife. May this be the first of many!" Kyosuke held up a glass of soda in saulte. "Kanpei!"
The General nodded. "Shall we get to the business at hand?"
"Certainly! The station will be ready to go live at 2100 hours your time."
"Six hours," Yoshida said. "Excellent work. Does this include the berthing area for the new soldiers?"
"Indeed it does. They'll be arriving in a few days, so things had best be ready, don't you think?"
"Umm. That' so. I have to say though that I still feel a bit strange about having an interstellar army put up at our space station. You say you know the incomming commander?"
"I fought against her once a few years ago, when I was just an aide to my father. A good soldier, and honorable. She probably isn't going to like being under my command too much, but that's just politics. She'll do her job. The question is can you work with her? C-ko and I will be gone for three months, and that's the time you'll need to build a working relationship with Commander Tripolipolita."
"I'll find a way," Yoshida replied. "I've never worked with a female troop comander. Graviton's military is still very much a male organization, although women are everywhere in the volunteer defense troops."
"Which is as good a reason as any to keep these troops stationed here," Kyosuke pointed out. "Your men and our women could be a dangerous mix. It will be up to you two commanders to make certain that things run smoothly. I can command Tripolipolita when I return, but until that time I'll be counting on you to keep the peace."
"It still feels like an invasion."
"It is, General. But I think you can see how ths ultimately helps Earth. Our entire purpose is to protect Earth from any incursions from space, and frankly you need our help to do that. Otherwise C-ko and I can't stay here and leaving is not an option. I won't go against C-ko's wishes on this matter. We're forcing our will on your entire planet," Kyosuke grinned.
"Coming from any other man that would have sounded evil," Yoshida pointed out.
"General, you are in overall charge of Earth's defenses, not us. Think of them as our Royal Guard. Their only job is to protect C-ko and me, and as we happen to be here they'll just have to protect Earth and Graviton City as well."
"Yes, I know, but we're very close to crossing a line that has been crossed on Earth thousands of times before. Troops sent in for the 'protection' of others. It makes for a cheap masquerade."
"And it's our job to see to it that it never developes into anything like that." Kyosuke's face went solemn. "General, you have my word that our forces will never be used as an occupation force. If I can't keep that promise, I will leave Earth for good."
Yoshida laughed aloud. "I wasn't worried, my friend."
Kye grinned. "Ah, good. I'd hate to have to use my most imperious tone on you." Both men laughed. "Anyway, are you and your wife available for dinner tomorrow night? C-ko's mom has something special planned."
Yoshida nodded. "I can't promise you anything yet. It will depend on how the wife is doing. I'll call you tommorow, all right?"
* * * * *
Continued! Click Here!
