Disclaimer : Most characters in this story are property of AIC and Pioneer. They are in such a situation solely because of my imagination. This story was written purely for fun.

This FF is based on the TV Series, with some powers drawn over from the OAV, but with no Light Hawk Wings.

This story contains no sex, so please do not expect it.

Before I wrote this Fanfic, I have only read 2 Fanfics, Aikan Muyo and To Love & To Hate. Since then I have read some others, and have noted some writers have a tendency to portray some characters inaccurately. I hope I have not fallen into that trap.

That's about it, I'm a simple soul at heart...

DARKNESS & LIGHT - No Need For Kova

By Zyraen

Chapter VII : No Need for a Heavenly Night

The music gradually faded away as Kova and Kiyone put their mikes on the table.

"It’s getting late, Kova-chan. Shall we be going now?" Kiyone asked as she leaned back, a little tired, but happy nonetheless.

"Come on, Kiyone-chan, it’s only eleven thirty. I’ve paid for this place till twelve. Besides, aren’t we enjoying ourselves?" He emptied another cup of tea.

"I know I am," Kiyone smiled back. "Though it does feel strange to be drinking tea at a Lounge. I thought this place usually sold something more, well, strong."

Kova smirked at her. "Well, I’ve never had much of a taste for sake and the like, but if you like, I’ve got some here." He walked over to a cupboard and opened it to reveal some bottles of the stuff.

"No thank you. I was just wondering."

"Well, I brought the tea and the tea set along." He mused, half to himself as he looked at the table with the pot and the cups. "It does look kind of weird in this place." He cast his eye over the velvet walls. "But I like the room’s walls colour and texture, especially those beside the television." The Kiyone and Kova hung up on either side seemed to smile back at them.

"Of course, you do," Kiyone commented. "You set it up yourself, didn’t you?"

"No. But I did pay a considerable sum to get it renovated to my liking, so I guess you could be right," he started looking through the list again. "Let’s see, what next?"

Kiyone looked out of the window at the city and the river. Some of the lights had gone out, but the deepening night had cast another soothing layer of velvet over the scenery.

Just like the room.

"How about…" Kova started.

"…stopping for a while?" Kiyone finished. Kova looked at her, a little puzzled. "I’m thirsty, and besides, I’d love to hear the end of your story."

"Oh, that? Where did I stop?" An odd gleam was in his eye.

"Quit fooling around, you know where you stopped. After you became a space pirate and got Nakamoto killed." Kiyone replied.

"Well, anyway I dodged the SSS ships by hiding out on a planet, and so I got away. Before long I found out being a space pirate wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Stealing things and shipments from convoys were rather routine after you’ve done it for the tenth time, although you still feared the odd blaster or two in your back. It was also very brutal, I had to get rid of quite a few ships just to get to the cargo ship, and inside that ship I’d have to kill at least another four people, and that was if I was careful."

Kiyone silently gulped to herself as she thought how many children he must have orphaned and how many wives he must have widowed.

He caught the look in her eye and sighed. "I know it was wrong, and up to this day, I swear to you, Kiyone-chan, I have never taken pleasure in killing. At first I felt victorious at getting away alive and with the swag, but towards the end I just had to do it out of necessity. Being a space pirate isn’t half as subtle or intriguing as being a spy or a burglar." He sighed again. "Very quickly, I found myself ostracised among the space pirates themselves. I never attacked large convoys, except for my first two, which were SSS, just to spite my old mentor Seida, and they despised me and called me a coward for it, while inwardly I cursed them for being so casual with taking lives. Others also tried to hunt me down, for I had killed someone they knew, who was very probably trying to kill me, or mainly because the Syndicate had asked them to terminate me, or both. My distaste for alcohol and debauchery also made me an outcast there." His eyes saddened. "I wasn’t a very successful space pirate, and my new trade only made me grow older, to think more about life. I would spend all my time alone in my spaceship, picking up things to kill my boredom. I picked up, among many other things, cooking."

"So that was why you were so good at it." Kiyone thought back to that meal with pleasure.

"Trust me, I had a really looong time to practise. Yet despite that, there were things I just felt I had done right. There was this time, when I was about twenty seven, and I saw this group of space pirate ships flying around a fleet of passenger carriers. The debris around showed the remnants of the carriers’ escort, and those ships were just circling around them and loosing their weak cannons like they were shooting fish in a barrel." Kova’s expression darkened as his eyes blazed with fury. "They were murdering hundreds of thousands of people just for fun!"

"What did you do?" Kiyone was surprised to find that a space pirate could think like her.

What did you expect? She asked herself. Aren’t space pirates also human, like Ryoko?

It’s just that I’ve never thought about that…

"They had destroyed two out of the ten carriers when I pretended to join in the fun, and I shot one of their crafts, presumably by accident. Then immediately after that I took down their leader, before they came after me. All six of them. I remember telling myself, I must not die, I must kill them or the carrier fleet would be doomed. I managed to finish the one I had damaged earlier, and then another, before I fled. They came after me, just as I thought they would, and my ship got damaged in the chase. I crashed on a deserted desert planet, all strewn with dust and wind.

"There I waited for them, lying by the wreck of my craft like I was mortally wounded. The first chap who stood over me crowed to his partners my position, the last sound he ever made before my blaster cut him down. Somehow I managed to shoot down another two, before I got struck." Kiyone noted the tense fear on his face, the way he stared into space, lost in the depths of his story. "My right arm was injured, and I remember the face of that woman standing a distance away from me, with her mocking smile, but the anger was showing plain in her eyes as she levelled her gun at me. Then she heard her dead comrade call to her, through me, and she paused, for a moment."

He sat back, looking exhausted. "I killed her then, with my blaster in my left hand. Though I knew she was a vicious killer, I wasn’t proud of killing her that way. She died with hope in her eyes, believing that the sand was ruining her vision , that somehow one of her comrades was still alive."

"What happened to you, then? Stranded on a deserted planet, with four ships orbiting above you that you couldn’t use?"

"The GP came along to investigate, and I believe the carrier fleet personnel told them about me. They came searching and detected my distress signal, so they took me and the four empty ships into custody. I managed to convince them I was the one who had rescued the carriers, and they treated me with somewhat more respect than a common criminal. Nevertheless, the Galaxy Police Officers struck me as very cold and detached. I knew they envied my handiwork, having shot down three of seven ships then killing the remaining four pirates, and they definitely agreed with my motivation, but they never really showed me they did." He looked straight at her as he continued. "Were you like that, and would you have continued to be so if you never met me?"

"Yes… I guess." Kiyone seemed a little embarrassed.

"So, I didn’t guess wrongly." He quickly glancing at his watch, "There’s only ten more minutes till twelve, Kiyone-chan. What say we do a last number?"

"Fine by me. I suppose you have a song in mind."

"You read me superbly, Kiyone-chan." He reached for a different album. "I knew we’d come to this moment sooner or later, so this is the song - ‘If I Never Knew You.’"

"What’s it about?" Though Kiyone was almost certain she knew.

"About two different people from two different worlds." He said as he sat back close by her side, face inclined to her, and for a moment she thought he’d kiss her again. "It’s about us. And don’t worry, Kiyone-chan, this time I get to go first." And the soothing music filled the room.

If I never knew you If I never felt this love I would have no inkling of How precious life can be

And if I never held you I would never have a clue How at last I'd find in you The missing part of me

"Hey, isn’t it my turn, yet?" She teased.

"Just hang on, two more stanzas." His voice was calm, as though the music soothed him.

…… I'd have lived my whole life through Lost forever If I never knew you

"She’s all yours!"

And Kiyone took up the song.

If I never knew you I'd be safe but half as real Never knowing I could feel A love so strong and true

I'm so grateful to you I'd have lived my whole life through Lost forever If I never knew you

Kova’s rich baritone sounded again.

I thought our love would be so beautiful

Looking right at him…

Somehow we made the whole world bright

Two voices as one…

I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong All they'd leave us were these whispers in the night But still my heart is singing We were right

Kiyone felt her heart soar as the song went on, taking her and Kova up high on invisible wings, and he smiled back, with his arm close around her, as though she were all that mattered to him. And as the song drew to a close, he put down the microphone.

And If I never knew you I'd have lived my whole life through

Kiyone let hers down too.

Empty as the sky

Just the two of us.

Never knowing why Lost forever If I never knew you

The music slowly faded away into silence, depositing them both back in the mundane world. But somehow, it didn’t seem that bad, not when they were together.

"You know, I loved the part, at the end, when we put down the microphones." Kiyone commented, still feeling the warm touch of his arm around her, though she did not snuggle up by his side, and he did not try to pull her near.

"Yes, that’s why I did it. It felt like we were singing our emotions to each other, didn’t it?"

"And we meant the every word we said. I wish I had your taste in these things."

"You always have." He brought his face near hers and brushed her cheeks with his lips. Even though they had already consummated a full kiss, they could still feel each other tingle with delight. Then Kova stood up, and picked the rose out of the vase. "For you, Kiyone-chan."

"Why, thank you!" As she held it she noted it had no thorns on it. "Say, Kova-chan, how come this rose has no thorns on it?"

"I thought we had enough thorns on both of us, so this rose wouldn’t need any."

"And we are going to whittle away our differences the way you did with this, right?"

He nodded, knowing she saw right through him to his heart. "When we first met I was an enigma to you, wasn’t I?"

"Well, what was I to think when a stranger looked at me while asking my partner for her name? And thrust the extra things he had purchased in my hands an hour later?" Kiyone retorted, though her eyes told him she was just playing along.

"Well, now you read me like a book." He took the golden framed photos off the wall and tucked it under his arms, and Kiyone was sorry to see them taken down. In his other hand he held the vase.

"Almost, but not quite." Kiyone wondered if she should spring the question about the Tachyon Ray and the Science Academy on him, then decided against it. "I need to know more about you. Do finish your story tonight. And I’d like to hear how you came by so much of the domestic currency."

"And also tell you about how I got aboard the Yagami." As he spoke, she saw before her own eyes, a silver rod suddenly appear in his hands, almost like magic, and as he shifted it, a black rift opened before its tip. The revelation struck her like a thunderbolt from a clear blue sky.

The Dimensional Rift Creator!

It *was* him!

He did not seem to have noticed her tense state as he deposited the photos and the vase into the alternate dimension. His rod seemed to vanish from his hands and the portal closed, as he turned to face her. Yet a cursory glance at his somewhat dimmed face told her he had noticed everything.

"So, Washu is on Earth too, looking for me." His voice was soft, almost inaudible. "I guess that’s why you wanted to hear my story. To hear if I’m the thief, and if I am the one. Well, now you know." He held out both his hands to her, palms facing down. "Care to take me in now?"

Struck speechless, Kiyone didn’t know what to do, what to think.

Rope him in, 2 nd Class Chief Inspector Kiyone!

But, he’s Kova-chan…

Take him in. Get a promotion. Besides, Washu would be very grateful, and that’s a good first.

His gaze was steady and unwavering, watching and waiting.

"No, Kova-chan." She stepped away from him, her expression sorrowful as she looked at him. "You are more to me than my duties ever could be. I thought you’d think better of me."

"I did." Slowly, he lowered his hands back by his side, and a thin smile formed on his face, though it was strained and tense. "And you, Kiyone- chan, are more to me than my freedom or my life ever could be. So, since you aren’t going to take me in, what are you going to do about me?"

"I’ll tell Washu about you. Maybe I could get you both together and have a good talk." Kiyone tried to salvage the situation. "We’d probably let you go, you know, with some concessions."

"Honest to truth, I’m not worried about the few of you, Kiyone-chan." He turned and looked out over the river. "Tenchi, if he truly took Kagato down, plus Ryoko and Princess Aeka are more than enough to capture me. But I’m not worried about them." His eyes seemed to focus and pierce the distant city. "Somewhere, in some guise, Syndicate agents are here. And they are near. If you any of you restrain me in any way, they’ll probably just abduct me there and then. Once they learn all they need to know from me, I’d be terminated."

"How do you know? The earth is so out of the way, how can you be so certain?"

"If Washu is here, they are here." He turned back to her, his expression grim. "I know how they work. They’ve probably been keeping an eye on her since she left the Academy. If they get me, I don’t think I’d ever see you again." His smile was thin and brittle, almost bitter. "I once feared death at their hands, but now all I want is always to be with you. But if I remain by your side and go back to Washu, we’d both be playing right into their hands."

"I’ll think of something. Trust me." Kiyone tried to calm down. "Let’s forget about that, okay? We still have each other here, now."

"I’d love to." Kova walked over to the door and rapped three times on it. It opened and someone passed a camera stand in, a rather primitive one by galactic standards, but nevertheless functioning. Kova tipped the person off and closed the door, setting up the stand. "Care to take a picture with me?"

Kiyone fought off the urge to gawk. Kova could bounce back like anybody’s business, leaving all the sombre and serious things they had just discussed behind like some worn, unimportant rag.

His emotional control is fantastic!

He’s a spy after all. Well, I just have to get used to that part of him.

"Yeah, sure!" She quickly got up as the ex-spy took a galactic standard camera out of a dimensional rift and placed it on the stand. "Then we could place it between those two pictures of us."

"Where the take?" He smiled from behind the camera, and Kiyone fought down an disgusting, inane feeling that he was Nobuyuki.

The choice was obvious.

"Before the window, with the scenery behind us."

Kova adjusted the camera, putting her into focus, standing demurely before the window, her earlier cares and qualms receding into the background.

He has very soothing presence in dealing with serious things, doesn’t he? She thought to herself.

"Open the window, Kiyone-chan! The glass is reflecting the shot." She opened the window, and smiled as the cool night breeze blew around her, sending her hair dancing about in verdant billows around her as she turned back . "Excellent pose! Hold it right there…"

"Wait a minute? Where will you stand?" Kiyone noted she was taking the centre stage.

"Don’t worry. You’ll know in time. Give me about ten more seconds or so…" he fiddled with the camera, secured a piece of rope a few metres long to it, and then he came out from behind it, holding one end of the rope in one hand.

"What’s that for? And where will you be?"

For an answer he grinned at her, before he agilely slid between her and the side of the window. Then his feet were perched on the window sill, as he half squatted just behind her, with his head directly above hers, and his hands were draped on her shoulders.

Kiyone could feel his jacket billow out as his dark blue curls, blown by the wind, reached out over her head, and she could feel his body near hers. Lifting her wrists up before her shoulders, she took his hands, and they watched the camera, waiting.

"You look beautiful, Kiyone-chan." She heard him murmur, like a man lost in paradise. "Like you were in your sleep, only now you are glad…"

"I’m sorry I can’t see your face."

"That’s all right. Watch the camera."

There was a whirr, then a click.

"Hold on, there’s another two shots coming up," there was a mischievous edge to Kova’s voice, and something clicked in Kiyone’s mind as she thought about where they both were.

"Kova-chan!"

But she was too late, for quick as a flash, his hands had let go of hers and reached down by her forearms, gripping her tight, then pulling. Kiyone gasped as she felt herself being lifted up and backwards, about to participate in a back flip, and the camera took another shot.

Then they were out of the room, the cool night air was all about them, and it seemed they were suspended in the air, for one splendid moment.

His blue eyes met her green ones, as he turned her around to face him, his hands still clasping her tight to him. His expression was of beauteous happiness and radiant serenity, while hers was of delighted surprise and blissful joy. Behind them, the city, the sky, the river, served as a gorgeous backdrop in that moment of rapture.

It’s like we’re flying, living our paradise…

Oh, that this moment could last forever.

The camera, still standing in the room, clicked again.

Then the air rushed by them as they tumbled downwards, and she felt his arm jerk a little, while the world behind him changed rapidly from sky to river to city, all glittering with brightness, seeming to cheer them on in their journey together.

"Who first?" he asked, his dark blue hair seeming to reach out to her as it flew wildly about.

"Together," she put her arms around him and drew him near her as they fell.

There was a loud splash as they broke through dark, shining surface of the water as one, their eyes watching each other, as emerald and sapphire descended into the deeps, still locked in an embrace.

And now, without any shadow of doubt, they knew.

You’re the only one there ever will be in my heart.

Their embrace broke as they swam for the surface, but their hands were still held linked.

"What about the camera?" Kiyone asked as they broke the surface, her green hair clinging to her head and her dress.

"It’s here." Kova trod water, his other hand pulling the rope in, and then the camera was in his grip. "Care for one last take?" He grinned, holding it up.

"No, I’m not presentable!" she retorted, laughing.

"Look up and smile!" He tossed the camera up in the air and they both looked up at it, drenched but smiling. There was a whirr, and a click, then Kova reached his arm up to grasp it, but Kiyone leaped higher and snatched it out of mid air. "Hey, Kiyone-chan, that’s mine!" He tugged vainly at the rope.

"Well, you’ve decided so many shots, it’s my turn to make the decisions." Her fingers quickly adjusted the settings, then she tossed it away diagonally away from them, careful to make sure it was facing them, even as Kova, catching her drift, swam close, his face coming close to hers.

Click.

And they kissed.

Click again, then splosh.

"You know, you really are into this business, aren’t you?" He said, looking half amazed at her, as his hand drew the camera back in.

"Well, you can say I just can’t get enough of you," she pecked him lightly on the cheek. "And I want everyone to see how much we love each other when the photos come out."

"That’s very sweet of you, Kiyone-chan." He said as they swam for the side, still holding hands.

"You know, there was a time when I thought nobody would ever say that to me, and I figured it was because I didn’t even have a mite of feeling in me."

"You were never more wrong."

They clambered out of the water on a thin ledge by the river, and as one, leaped up over the edge of the railing.

"Oh, look at me, I’m totally unpresentable," Kiyone complained, as she wrung out the folds of her blouse in the light of a dim, orange street lamp.

"I disagree. After all, I *am* looking, and I seriously think white looks good on you." He grinned, stepping closer. "And now that you’re wet, very good, in fact."

"Kova-chan, you pig!" She quickly turned her back on him, her face burning red with embarrassment.

"Anyway, Kiyone-chan, I believe you wanted to hear my story?"

"True, but where will we be going now?"

"How about my place?"

Kiyone’s eyes narrowed as she thought about the implications.

No, he couldn’t possibly mean that. If he had, the two of us would still be…

Kiyone quickly consigned the thought to oblivion. "As always, lead the way. And don’t look at me anymore, especially *not* that way."

"Sure," He walked away, taking care not to look back, while she followed behind, listening. "Anyway, after the GP returned me to HQ, I just knew I was about to be sentenced to death. I quickly altered my face so I was a GP officer, and they believed me when I said I had been overwhelmed by the prisoner and left in his cell. Thus I got away, and in my guise as a GP officer, I accessed my own file. Imagine my horror when I found I had been found responsible for over sixty raids and attacks, and suspected of over a hundred more, out of which over fifty had been made on passenger carriers. My gut instincts were right, there was no way I would escape the death penalty. I stayed composed within the lions’ den, even as searches went on for Kova Kashiro. The Section Chief asked to see me, as the officer who had succumbed to the prisoner. And guess who was with him - Seida Sakanoi."

"What did you do to the original GP Officer? He would have responded to the Section Chief’s call if he had been anywhere around."

"Oh, I had overcome him when he came to my cell." Kova grinned. "All I did was knock him out and tuck him under my cell bed. I’ll bet the GP Personnel never thought of searching there, at least not till I was home and dry!"

"I would," Kiyone commented dryly. "I figured that’s how you like to work."

"Well, you’re different. You’re not the same as those dunderheads. The Section Chief, clueless like the rest of them, started scolding me, telling me how vicious a criminal I had let escape. Of course I kept silent, but later when I left I crept into the ventilator system and overheard their conversation. Apparently Seida Sakanoi wished vengeance on me because I had stolen his plans, discrediting him before his masters, and in my second attack on an SSS convoy I had destroyed a ship with his son on it. I then realised he must have been the one who set up my criminal record, and that he would never rest until he saw me dead." Kova shook his head sadly. "I never meant to kill his son, and it must have hurt him greatly, but there was nothing I could do. What I was angry about was the cargo of the SSS convoy ships which I had attacked. They contained waters with poisonous chemicals within them, and they were going to give it to certain planets so they would have to buy their lives by submitting to the SSS, no doubt after countless millions have died. And even though I understood his anger, I could not forgive him for setting me up for so many crimes."

Kiyone sighed. "Actually, if you’ve committed more than ten ship raids, you’re already facing execution as stated under Galactic Standard Law Article 3698, Section 21, with almost negligible chance of reprieve."

He turned back to her, displeasure clear in his eyes. "I don’t give a damn about you officers and your Galactic Standard Bullshit."

"Well, I do." Kiyone stood her ground, anger rising in her. "Do you realise that every new crime you commit is standing between the two of us!? I may be in love with you, but I am still a Galaxy Police Officer! Do you know what kind of position you’re putting me in!?"

His eyes softened. "I’m sorry, Kiyone-chan. I didn’t mean it quite the way it came out. It’s just that it was so trying then back at the GP HQ. They kept on drilling that crap into me, like it meant a difference." He sighed. "I just didn’t expect that sort of thing from you, and I let my annoyance out too hastily. I’m sorry if I hurt you."

Kiyone felt herself deflate. "I was just trying to tell you it wouldn’t have made a difference whether or not he set you up. After all, you killed his son." They continued walking.

"Oh no, it does make a difference. I live for that day of reprieve, Kiyone-chan, now that I’ve met you. And every false murder attached to me means our future is that much more unlikely to happen. It is already almost negligible, by your own admission." His voice trembled as his mind absorbed his own words. "I will *not* let its chance get astronomically minute. And one more thing. I am certain that he is the only one in the Syndicate Spy Network who is seriously concerned about getting rid of me. As long as he lives, I can expect to find Syndicate agents or hired assassins at my door the moment I settle down. And that will mean I can never do so…" He forced himself to leave out the words ‘with you.’ "…because I will never put anyone I care for into that kind of peril, not if I can help it."

"Thank you. But I think I can take care of myself."

"I believe that, but that doesn’t mean I’d like to see its veracity being tested. Do you want to hear the rest of my story?"

"I don’t think I’ll mind, but I’ll keep my bullshit to myself now." She smiled.

"How kind of you." He bowed, almost too solemnly. "Well, I eventually made my way out of the GP HQ, hijacked a GP Patrol ship and made off. My false voice led them to believe I actually was that GP Officer, so they really didn’t learn about it until it was too late, probably when they were preparing the cell for its next occupant. Eventually I managed to contact some of my old contacts, and they got me a new ship, although I nearly got shot down by them. They thought I was really a GP Officer."

"My career as a space pirate ended forty years ago, when I learnt news from a source that an SSS convoy was about to leave, carrying secret weapons and data stolen from the Science Academy to the Syndicate under the guise of a merchant freighter. I went there and walked right into a trap. Fortunately for me, I had anticipated it might just be that, so I managed to beam myself down and by using several alternating weights, had the ship fire spasmodically while in auto pilot as I escaped on board a capsule, with a few million dollars worth of Juraian and Syndicate cash on me, complete with disguise. After they wrecked my ship, I remained in hiding for a few weeks in the Academy, then registered myself as a student there. A few weeks after that, I bribed an administrator to push back the date when I was enrolled."

"How did you find the Academy?"

"It was great, and I really liked it there. I learnt a *lot*, but it was really very dry, at least until I realised there were some agents both from Jurai and the SSS within the Academy. It started out by placing surveillance on and stealing from them, but in the end I wound up getting a lot of data from all around the Academy. I remember I spent one whole week trying to figure out this thesis I had stolen, only to find it was an algorithm on how a mind’s brainwave pattern leads its owner to develop a philosophical interest, which was of no practical use at all. I eventually learned of many interesting things, like…"

"…the Tachyon Ray, the Dimensional Rift Creator, the Stealth and the EMP technology." Kiyone reminded him pointedly.

"Well, those are only those I found applicable to a new spacecraft. I created the Shuriken when I was bored, and by applying my own knowledge, I miniaturised these technology based on what I knew of them."

"That’s odd, Washu told me the Miniaturisation technology was also stolen from the Academy."

"In a way, since I was educated there, but my designs were different from what had been so far. Your old Dimensional Rift Creator is that door standing in your apartment, and I believe you have met mine." He flashed the silver rod over his shoulder at her. "I designed this myself, for utility, while the Tachyon Ray I managed to miniaturise until it could fit into a ship. The EMP weapons I created so I would not have to destroy ships and take lives if I wanted to steal cargo. I had also wanted to make a Tachyon Blaster, but I decided there was no point carrying such an awesome weapon around."

"Washu has one, solely to counter your Ray in case you fire it. So, that silver rod is your weapon, huh?" Kiyone queried. "It looks pretty weak."

"Yes, it is my weapon, but I think you’ll quickly find it is not at all weak." Kova turned to face her, his right hand holding the rod. Kiyone stepped back as it turned blue with laser energy, almost like a shorter version of Tenchi’s blade. "What it is, you will learn if I have to use it. But now that I’ve met you, I hope I never have to." The blue receded back to silver.

"What happened to your blaster, then? I’d really like to see it." Kova smiled at her question, and his silver rod swept out a rift. Placing his hand in, he took out a worn, greyish blaster slightly bigger and with a longer barrel than Kiyone’s blaster. She caught it as he tossed it to her, testing its weight with her hand. "So, this is the companion that has kept you alive for so long." She ran her hand along its surface, where it colour had worn off, where she could make out a few flecks of blue and red on it. "It’s silenced. Ideal for covert killing." Kova nodded at her evaluation as she tucked it into her shoe, walked around a little, then in one swift, smooth fluid motion, bent down, pulled it out and levelled it at him. "It also is awesomely light and easy to handle." She flicked the Blaster about her hand. "I like it," she turned it over and extended its handle back to him.

"I’m glad you do," Kova brought the silver rod up before him. "Keep it, then."

Kiyone blinked. "Kova-chan?"

"Consider it a gift," Kova said. "Although after I made my new weapon, I never needed to use it again, I never could bring myself to discard it. It’s been my companion for too long." His eyes glinted. "I’d trust my life with that weapon, and now I’d love for you to have it, Kiyone-chan." Then dimmed. "If we’d ever have to be apart, it will remind you of me, and when you’re in danger, it will save you even if I’m not by your side." His smile became tender, but sad. "Please take it."

Kiyone thought for a while, then the blaster vanished into her pocket. "Thank you."

Kova acknowledged her thanks with a slight bow, then turned away. "My apartment is just around the corner. I’ll tell you about Yagami and getting money here on earth there." He grinned. "I suspect, from the state of your phone and apartment, that you’ll have quite something to learn from me about the second item."

I wonder if he steals them, Kiyone thought.

No. He will try to change. For us.

Kova led her up the steps, to his apartment on the second floor of the squat building. Outside the door, there hung a sign - Dr Kashiro, Medical Clinic. "Does that answer one of your questions, Kiyone-chan?" He sounded amused as he opened the door and stepped in.

"It certainly does. Where did you learn how to be a doctor?"

"The Academy. Just the basic courses in Biology, Chemistry, and Medicine qualifies one to be a doctor almost anywhere." He settled into his seat behind his desk, and stretched a little. "Satisfied?"

"Not in the least." Kiyone told him, her eyes searching around for a clue, as she closed the door behind him. "How did you make so much money in two days? It’s not like they know how good you are."

Kova winked at her for a reply.

Kiyone, suspecting something, walked over beside him, behind the desk, as Kova grinned irascibly at her. "You’re hiding something, aren’t you?" He shook his head vigorously. Kiyone turned as if to go, then spun around and shoved him off the chair.

"Kiyone-chan?" He asked, his back on the floor. She ignored him and peeked under his desk. Sure enough, a small terminal was set there, and she saw two human shapes standing, one male and female. She glanced at the doorway, then peered back at him.

"The door’s a scanner, right? Detects anatomical anomalies."

"Kiyone-chan, you are good!" He beamed. "Not bad, huh? You should have seen how many people I astounded on my first day. Now that was fun, if a little tiring."

"Kova-chan, you’re amazing." Kiyone thought about all the trouble she had gone through to find part time jobs. "I wonder how I’d be living if I’d tried this."

Someone a good distance away chewed on what she heard.

It’s Kova Kashiro all right, fits his file. But who would have thought, Kiyone…

"Probably in a prison for quacks," Kova replied. "You forgot Mihoshi."

"Oh yeah, right," Kiyone said. "What about Yagami?"

"Well, I was passing by here after I left the Academy, and so I decided to check the ship’s data to see if the GP had any new data on me, as well to see if there was anything of interest."

"You burglar, you! And what did you see that was of interest?"

"This," he held up three plastic photos, a little wet from their dip, but she could see they were the three out of the four photos placed in hers and Mihoshi’s room on board the Yagami. "This was when I first met you, Kiyone." He looked at the one he had converted into the larger photo he had framed up. "You know, you shot my heart when I saw you like this. And I simply had to come to Earth to find you."

"Well…" She didn’t know what to say. That she had captured his heart even before he met her?

"Although I must admit, I’d prefer you wearing something else to this uniform." He looked at her, his eyes speculative. "How about we take a replacement photo now? You just hold this pose…"

Kiyone slapped him on the head as he chuckled. "In this!? In your dreams, buster!"

Suddenly, they heard the door open, and spun around as one, blue and green eyes focusing on the intruder.

"WASHU!?" They said together.

Under a building opposite them, someone’s eyes popped open, not believing her own ears.

For a reply, Washu extended her hand. "The Tachyon Ray." Her eyes were cold and chilled, and Kiyone thought she sounded exactly as she did when she was lecturing them on the weapon, rather than a question asking for a device.

Kova’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are you doing here, Professor?"

Kiyone tugged at his arm. "Kova-chan, we need to talk. Washu, could you give me some time, please?"

The redhead solemnly shook her head. "Now."

Kiyone had an uneasy feeling about her. Washu’s inflection was all wrong. It was like she was saying the ‘now’ from ‘Only now, I can…’, it was totally weird.

Kova looked at Washu, then Kiyone, his face pale and set. Suddenly, he gripped Kiyone’s arm and pulled her back from before the door, behind his desk and nearer the window.

Washu’s brows narrowed and she stepped through the doorway, red eyes regarding Kova and Kiyone almost maliciously. The green-haired detective regarded the scientist nervously, trying to ignore Kova who was tugging very insistently at her hand. "Just a minute, Washu…" Bending before Kova. "What is it, Kov…" Her voice died as she saw what he was pointing at.

The terminal’s display showed not a body with flesh and bone, but a humanoid shape made of completely greyish silver matter.

Washu’s eyes narrowed as she saw Kiyone’s facial expression change.

"JUMP!" Kova threw Kiyone backwards to the window and stood before Washu, forearms raised to shield himself and Kiyone from the scientist.

Kiyone glimpsed Kova’s forearms light up with blue laser shield, and a scarlet ball of energy form in Washu’s hand. She just managed to dive out the window, shattering the glass, before her vision was filled with blinding, crimson light.

===========================================================

She just managed to yank her ear phones off before the explosion deafened her, and stared in shock as the apartment opposite was engulfed in a fiery red explosion that practically tore apart the entire three storeys of the building.

Kiyone! She thought, her short legs pumping as she made her way towards the burning wreckage of Dr Kashiro’s apartment, her eyes searching anxiously for a sign of the green eyed detective.

They spotted a movement within the smoke, and she quickly hurried over. Sure enough, Kiyone lay there, in her soot blasted white blouse, debris about her. Her leg was trapped under a large slab of concrete, and her eyes were barely open, while her right hand reached out vainly for help, as the left was pinned under her body.

"Washu." Kiyone managed, softly. The scientist took her hand amidst the smoke and fallen mortar. Kiyone watched as Washu’s other hand pointed to the concrete slab, that promptly shattered and crumbled into dust before her burst of pink energy, freeing Kiyone’s leg. The scientist put both her arms under Kiyone as she helped her up and supported her weight.

===========================================================

Kova opened his eyes, and sat up painfully.

He had been lying amidst the debris, but his last minute backflip coupled with the explosion’s impact had served to propel him quite far away from where the big slabs had fallen. His forearms were unscathed, but his body was lacerated in quite a few other places, while his jacket and pants hung around him in tatters.

"Kiyone-chan?" he called softly, both out of weakness and caution.

"I’m here." Kiyone replied softly. She was about twenty metres to his right, both blasters in her hands and ready to fire. Her clothes were blackened on one side, and her arms and legs were slightly lacerated, but not as badly as Kova’s. "Are you all right?" The concern in her voice showed through even though she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the enemy within the rising smoke.

"I’m fine." Kova jumped lightly to his feet despite his hurts, his silver rod held out before him in his suddenly gloved hands. Around his wrists, two silver gauntlets showed through the tatters of his jacket sleeves. His eyes, more used to seeing in the dark and unclear places, quickly detected movement. "There, Kiyone-chan."

Kiyone’s eyes followed the direction of his finger. "There’s…" she fell silent as Washu trudged out of the smoke, her right side facing them, with a limp Kiyone resting over her shoulders.

How could this be? Kiyone thought for an instant, before her mind made the necessary conclusions. "Washu, watch out!"

The red headed scientist half turned back in surprise, but before she could see who had called her, the Kiyone on her back suddenly gripped her by the neck with both hands.

"Kiyone?" Washu’s eyes opened in astonishment, then several hundred volts worth of electrical impulses shot through her nervous system like devastating shockwaves from the hands around her neck. "Aaargh!" She shrieked in agony.

"Washu!!" Kiyone wailed in vain, as the little scientist writhed spasmodically in the pseudo-Kiyone’s grip, before falling still.

"Relax, Kiyone." Washu’s voice came from opposite side. "I’m fine." The red-headed scientist was standing behind the false Kiyone. The being, whatever it really was, stared from Kiyone to Washu, then glared at the thing it held in its grip.

A life-sized Washu-chan doll stared up at her with its beady glass eyes, stuffing emerging from places where the seams had burst. The fake Kiyone wrinkled her brow in disgust, and the doll trembled in her grip. Scarlet energy crackled from between her fingertips, then the figurine was engulfed from within by a crimson explosion and torn apart.

"Wow." Kiyone exclaimed, but nevertheless both her blasters were aiming straight at her own impostor, her fingers ready to pull the triggers. Kova cast his eyes carefully around, feeling something was amiss, not quite right. Kiyone watched as his eyes settled on something behind Washu. "Washu, there’s someone behind you!"

Washu jumped aside, so she could see both the fake Kiyone and whatever was behind her own self. "Who is there?" She called as another person stepped into the light. "Ryoko!" She exclaimed as the space pirate’s yellow eyes gleamed in menace at the red headed scientist. "What are you doing here?"

For a reply, Ryoko’s scarlet light sword formed in her hand, and she bared her fangs.

"She’s not Ryoko!" Kiyone shouted. Seizing her moment of distraction, the fake Kiyone turned to her real counterpart and unleashed several motes of crimson power. Kiyone just managed to leap away before the spot she was standing on exploded into countless pieces of debris, while her blasters both fired twice. The being flinched as four lines of yellow lasers tore through it, ripping four holes in its form, but before Kiyone’s astonished eyes, the holes mended almost like the surface of a liquid, flowing back together until not a trace of the damage inflicted remained.

Then she saw Kova had covered the distance from where he stood to just behind the thing, no longer wielding a silver rod, but his forearms were sheathed in an azure laser shield, while both his hands gripped an energy scythe about two metres long, with a curved blade of about seventy centimetres, that shone sky blue like a beacon in the night. His eyes blazed with fury and anger, and his dark blue hair seemed to reflect the light from the scythe, looking almost sky blue, as he brought his weapon down on the being. The fake Kiyone spun around a moment too late, as the azure light sliced through its form, splitting it completely apart from the right shoulder to the left thigh.

Kova leaped away as the being tumbled to the ground in two separate parts, to face the Ryoko that was pressing Washu hard. Scarlet lasers were shooting through the darkness from it in an endless barrage upon Washu’s pink shield, which from its lightening colour, was clearly weakening rapidly.

"Strike it, Washu!" Kiyone cried, but Washu shook her head.

"I tried! She just keeps on healing back!"

False Ryoko turned to face Kova, who was already halfway to her. Beams of scarlet energy coursed through the air between them as she unleashed her might on Kova, but the man merely deflected them with his blue laser sheath around his four arms, sending them ricocheting back at his nemesis, while his movement was still swift and relentless, his face set and expressionless like that of the grim reaper, while his scythe crackled with power that hungered for a taste of the enemy’s blood.

The scarlet energy sword met with the azure scythe blade, sending off motes of greenish sparks. Kova lunged under and did a roll to the right as he flung his scythe in a sweeping circle, with his adversary’s waist at the centre, away from him. The fake Ryoko turned after him, blade at the ready, but the scythe finished a revolution in the air, and the sword vanished as the being split into two, cut cleanly through the waist, while Kova stood up and calmly gripped the scythe’s energy handle in his black leather gloves.

Something moved, near the spot where he had split the other impostor with his blade.

"Kiyone, watch out!" He cried out. Kiyone, seeing his wide-opened eyes, unhesitatingly hurled herself away from her position towards the side as an explosion ripped through the air, but it was already a little too late. The heat seared into her back as some of its impact tore into her, and she was flung away like a rag doll.

"Kiyone-chan!" Kova screamed in anger and fear, his hands clenching tight on his scythe. Kiyone’s attacker turned to him, no longer in the guise of the detective, but in its true shape - a silver, gleaming metallic humanoid form, smooth and faceless, like a person made of liquid metal.

"A Teranium cyborg…" Washu gasped. Kova did not hear her, as he turned to flee from the scarlet ball that came streaking out from the thing. Washu rapidly encapsulated herself in her energy barrier as the spy leaped up, hurling the scythe in a spinning trajectory perpendicular to direction of the cyborg before bringing up his arms so that his laser shielded forearms faced the point of the explosion’s centre. The scarlet ball exploded with crimson light, and Washu felt her shield weaken, even as Kova was hurled towards the enemy.

The cyborg prepared to fire as the spy, who had sustained little hurt due to his defence, landed near it, and did not notice the scythe that came hurtling towards it from another direction. Kova did not even bother to look at it as his scythe struck it and the android vanished in a light blue detonation, for his eyes were searching anxiously for Kiyone among the rubble as the large metal droplets rained down on him.

Washu stared at the other cyborg before her, which had split up into many pieces splattered over the debris due to the explosion’s radius, but was rapidly forming up again. "Where is Ryoko when you need her?" Gritting her teeth in irritation, the scientist extended her hands to blast the pieces continually to keep them from flowing together.

"Kova-chan?" Kiyone dimly saw the humanoid shape running towards her, and the sky blue arc that vanished as it struck the shape. Her vision cleared as Kova quickly knelt by her, his silver rod clutched in one hand, his other hand cradling her face.

"Are you hurt?" He took in her somewhat ragged clothing, the countless lacerations and cuts as well as the burns sustained in the explosion.

"I’ll manage." She focused behind Kova’s shoulders, and saw Washu viciously shooting something. "What are those things?"

"Some kind of cyborgs that can join up after being blown to bits. We need to get out of here before they form back. Can you stand?"

Kiyone got a little unsteadily to her feet, feeling the pain in her body as the world move in and out of focus. Kova steadied her with his hand as she closed her eyes, fingers gripping hard on her two blasters, steeling her will to overcome the distress of the flesh. "Ready to move out," she responded as her eyes snapped open, clear and focused.

"Get to Washu." He watched as she ran towards the preoccupied scientist, then followed after. His rod flashed back into the scythe for an instant as he passed where the detonated cyborg was molding itself back, his arms vanishing into a blur as he split it into sixteen parts, before continuing.

"Help me keep it back!" Washu said, hands flashing with energy surges, as she heard Kiyone’s running steps. In response, yellow blaster shots ripped through the air past her and into the writhing body of liquid metal.

"Behind, Washu!" Kiyone told her as she stopped by the scientist’s side, still shooting continuously. Washu snatched a quick glance back and saw Kova standing behind them before a black dimensional rift, blue eyes watching the other cyborg anxiously. Washu absorbed her supposed enemy’s appearance and paused, uncertain.

I don’t know where this portal leads me to.

It could lead anywhere, and that would be the end of his troubles with me.

Kova flashed her an angry look, his blue eyes stern, his voice cold. "Get in, professor."

Washu hesitated a moment more, then stepped in. Kiyone backed into the portal, still firing, then Kova dived through and the rift closed.

Barely two seconds later, both cyborgs were fully formed.

"We’ve lost them." One soulless metallic voice spoke.

"Then let’s work on plan B."

=== End of Chapter ===

NEXT CHAPTER : No Need for a Heavenly Night

NOTES: Kova is in a way, an SIed character. Pls include him in your comments, whether I have portrayed him as a person, as a friend or foe, as one of the gang, and most importantly, as a human being.

I have never in my whole life read a love story or romance novel before. I would be very grateful if my readers could give me some feedback on this, as it is the first time I've ever tried to set such things down in writing.

I hope you have enjoyed this Fanfic as much as I have typing it. If there are any more grammar errors, I beg your forgiveness, as my sole proofreader is myself.

This is my first FF, so go ahead and mail me at zyraen@yahoo.com with comments, especially on character portrayal, realism.

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