... I do not own either Bleach nor Tenchi Muyo, least of all any incarnation of which regarding the two! This story is for entertainment purposes! If I wanted to charge people then I wouldn't put it on Fanfiction now would I? (Super squint!)

At any rate, this idea has been gnawing on my mind for awhile now and like most things that does so, I feel compelled to do/write it after awhile with zombified determination. It's an annoying trait I have recently come to recognize. With that said, I seen the 'pitch' thrown by Nikon Asturias...to be honest I'm pirating it, sort of, at least a little. Taking what I want and leaving with it really... Is it really piracy if it isn't specifically stated he/she wasn't going to write it?

Meh... we'll find out sooner or later. Either way the challenge(/not challenge?) has been proclaimed and I'm going about it as I may...

Now on with the reading!

Soul Universe

Chapter One: So comes the Pirate

He really didn't know why but he did it anyway, staring into the evening sky for a time as twilight slowly became more and more apparent. It became a habit of sorts each day he was coming back from college, typically with a fresh batch of notes locked away in a briefcase in his grasp, or coming back in general from the city. Sometimes he would do so at night as well if he coming back that late, almost more so than he would stare at the changing sky during the evening when reaching that old stone pathway leading to the woods and into the mountains. On even rarer occasions he would watch the dying light fade away into darkness and watch the stars come out one by one. But in the end no matter the circumstance he would eventually continue his trek up the older dirt and stone road to the Masaki Shrine. Or rather, more accurately for him, the home that rested near the foot of the Masaki Shrine, that which was his home for the past few years...

Far from the city it was a peaceful place. Healthy even for both body and soul between the fresh air and greenery. Beautiful especially during the spring when everything is in bloom. Its only real drawback was, as Nobuyuki would put it, the commute was nothing short of murder on foot. Each trek to and from the house may as well have been going five miles up hill both ways, even when literally going downhill, to reach the road and the subsequent bus stop. Unfortunately no one, not even the elderly caretaker of the shrine for all his years living there, had ever decided to purchase anything more than that ratty old farm truck that miraculously ran on duct tape and prayer. Though to be fair it never saw much use to begin with, only when to deliver crops, the shrine's primary source for funds towards the shrine's maintenance, to the city proper and back again; sometimes they even used it to pick up large items like a new fridge, rare though it was. Have they collectively thought about getting a new car? Yes. Actually bothered to at least browse for one? Not even slightly beyond the occasional glance at a used car lot. But alas the trip in of itself it was nothing to truly gripe about unless he was well and truly tired. Besides, the dirt road the truck took had more than its far share of potholes and rocks to ruin anything as well as any one who wasn't paying careful attention to it.

Sighing to himself, Ichigo Kurosaki hung the briefcase over his shoulder and resumed his semi-arduous journey up the path... up hill... with nothing but the birds and other wildlife, as well as the occasional cat from their exceptionally few neighbors, for company.

Shwioooooooo!

"Hm?" Again he looked up to the sky only this time with definable purpose as he soon found what appeared to be a streak of glittering light screaming across the sky in a perfect line. That is until it split into two in a sudden downward arc. Before he could even blink both arcs crashed into the far off woods with an audible crash, the sheer shock of which causing the trees to sway so greatly that even from a distance it was noticeable. Scowling deeper than he normally would, he bounded off the beaten path in the direction of the two crashes.

XVX

Crash site

Whatever it was interestingly enough didn't create a crater upon landing. Not even an indent as far as he could tell. But there was smoke and plenty debris of an onyx like stone he knew wasn't typical for the countryside to prove that something indeed crash here. Even the brush in the natural clearing was either obliterated or on fire. Off to the distance and rising above the tree line in a slanted pillar was a heavy tower of smoke where a similar scene was likely awaiting him and anyone else who came to investigate. Were it not for an almost unperceivable moan he would've likely bounded to it as well after initially finding nothing else of note with a precursory but keen glance. Rounding a corner of a strange, angular pillar of stone, he soon found an unscathed survivor of the crash, whatever it was.

She was a woman of long, silver-grey which was plastered onto the rock behind her, a upraised, red-gloved hand resting on her forehead. Her ears were unusually elongated, elfin almost except when they ended in a rectangular manner. Other than those two characteristics the only unusual thing worth noting in his quick observation, aside from her tinted red cheeks, was her state of dress: In descending order she wore a chest length jacket which was divided into one half being orange and the other being black, the shoulders of which being quite baggy; the sleeves of the jacket were running all the way to and tapering at a point on the backs of each hand The only deviation from the already contrasting colors was the grey bordering along the openings of the coat, further decorated by a gold button for each side. . Underneath that jacket was a white dress tied to a closed by a black sash. The dress, he was guessing, ran as far as he ankles, the sides were silted all the way to her waist, the top of which parted to reveal a generous portion of her cleavage. Beneath that was a form fitting red bodysuit. It was another guess really but looking closely at her hands and the fact that some of her cleavage was outline with the exact same material it wasn't far off the mark. At the top of her covered feet were a pair of large blue glass beads... When he moved closer to further inspect her for injuries, the smell at last hit him. It was one he became familiar with over the years whenever Nobuyuki was in one of his depressed moods: the smell of alcohol.

Stopping, he opened his briefcase and dug around it till he found what he was looking for: a recently bought bottle of water. He snapped the top off only to reseal if before dashing over to her.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" he asked as he approached her. She groaned in response for what it was worth but if anything, given his experience with his uncle, it was most likely in response to noise in general. With a sigh he kneeled down, looped an arm around her back and hefted her up into at least halfway into a sitting position before again unscrewing the cap to his water bottle. After taking a hold of the base of her head so as to keep it from rolling around, he carefully brought it to her lips and with greater precision managed to pour some of the water into her mouth. An instant later she groggily awakened, swallowing the water out of reflex as her glassy eyes focused on him. "Are you alright? Are you hurt at all?"

She blinked at him in mild confusion before answering him. "No... who are you?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki." He glanced around once more and scowled a deeper scowl. "You wouldn't by chance know what happened here, do you?" Adjusting his leg, he grunted as he stood up and helped her to her feet at the same time. With surprising sobriety she got onto her feet, albeit with his help, and, again with surprising sobriety, launched herself against him, her arms wrapping around him in a tight embrace much to his surprise.

"Oh! I'm so scared!" she cried as she held him tighter, her cheek rubbing into his own, further throwing Ichigo through a loop. For a brief moment he couldn't sworn he saw some sort of smirk just before she latched herself onto him. By the time she drew away, her hands now on his sides, any trace of her drunken state from her looks to her breath had disappeared in mere moments. Her face, once drunken and confused, was now contorted with fright. "I'm Ryoko and I'm being chased by a space pirate! Please, I beg you, help me! Help me!"

"Wait, what? Space pirate! What are you—"

As if it were deliberately pronounced, something large, heavy and mechanical stomped on the ground, drawing their attention to the brush in the direction of the now dissipating pillar of smoke.

"What was that?" he asked in a serious manner just before being jumped by the woman, Ryoko, again just like before. Cheek rubbing included. "Oh! I'm so scared! Please! Please I beg you to save me!"

From the brush and the shadows something flew out and landed a fair distance from them, which happened to be across from a pond he failed to notice earlier. Once in the light he couldn't help but gawp at the sight of something he typically only seen an anime, more so in a movie, a bipedal mech of all things staring right back at them! Hulking, wide and hunched over ever so slightly, it was easily a head or two taller than him from top to bottom sans the minor wing-like appendages on its shoulders. And it didn't even have a traditional head! Instead it's visor was much lower and almost all encompassing as a single band around its oblong chest. In the meantime Ryoko pointed at it just a light from behind its one and only visor focused on her. "That's him! That's the space pirate!"

"Oh you got to be kidding me..."

The three digits that made up the suit's hand opened and closed just before the arm itself was pointed right at them, bringing to bear the more than obvious cannon attached to it.

"Let's get out of here!"

Before he realized it, she grasped his hand by the wrist and yanked him into following her just as the mech opened fire on them. The initial shots easily flew over their heads in poor aim. Sadly however they were not the only shots fired. Acting like an automatic, the cannon on its arm continued to fire about them, raining shot after shot at them that, with explosive force, tore apart the terrain. As they gotten farther and farther away from it he couldn't sworn he heard the distinctive roar of a jet engine blasting off and, considering how it arrived to begin with, decided step up the pace. With an extra burst of speed he managed to overtake Ryoko whom still held him by his wrist much to her surprise, especially now that not only where the tables turned but he abruptly lead them down a different path. "Come on!"

It wasn't long before he heard the pirate zip past them on a rocket pack. Even if he had somehow missed hearing that, the distinct lack of lasers being fired at full tilt and the subsequent explosions were just as audible to him. Unfortunately it wasn't long before mech right itself and resumed pursuit but by then he was nearing a small rock formation, a miniature mountain so to speak with a cave opening in its base. He stopped in mid-run and, catching her by surprise, scooped her up and carried her in a bridal position before dashing to and into the cave. All the while he did so he once more could've sworn he saw an amused smirk on her lips as she cuddled into him without complaint.

"Hey! Stick out your hand! If you feel something to the side, a rope, pull it!"

"Alright!"

As expected the pirate pursued them inside the cave which was in fact a tunnel that stretched out to the other side of the mountain with an opening on the other side. It was a spacious too, at least for most people. Risking a glance over his shoulder he couldn't help but smirk as the mech only had perhaps half a meter on either side of it to keep from crashing into the wall.

"Got it!"

He felt Ryoko jerk her hand forward and didn't even try to keep his smirk from turning into a smug grin as a heavy wooden 'thunk' groaned out from the walls. "Good! There should be another just up ahead!"

From sheer familiarity he leapt over a sudden barrier that emerged from the floor and crouched just enough to bypass a similar one that dropped from the ceiling shortly after. They were by far not the only ones installed by his grandfather, or more likely those who came before him for whatever reasons they had at the time, and by no means lethal for the most part, but he was more than certain enough that not only those barriers but who knew what else was activated would either cripple or at least impede the mechsuit as it continued to give chase. Sure enough he heard the telltale smashing of metal on wood and stone.

"Got it!" Ryoko squealed as she again yanked on a rope in their passing.

BOOMF!

The sheer weight of the impact caused him to skid to a halt and look back as a boulder began to slowly roll down the tunnel in the other side, slowly picking up speed along the way. "That's new," he lowly commented before rushing off once more with Ryoko still in his arms.

In a matter of moments he ran out of the tunnel and ran along the forested path before him for a short while. Once he was far enough he dove to the side and ducked around a tree where he set the woman back onto her feet, a second later he pressed his back to the tree. Likewise she did the same, albeit differently by snuggling her chest into his side with a smirk. That smirk only grew wider as his cheeks burned with a blush that he tried to hide away by peeking out from behind the tree almost in time for the explosions to stop, a few laser bolts screaming out into the evening sky. He wasn't sure how long either of them waited but eventually the pirate made its way out of the cave, his suit obviously worse for wear as Ichigo had mildly hoped. There was even a part of its shoulder missing, exposing the hardware and wiring beneath it as it wildly crackled. Its visor was even cracked in various places for what it was worth. And though a part of him worried for a moment that the training traps within the tunnel did more cosmetic damage than anything else, the mech stumbled forward only a couple of steps away from the cave's entrance before dropping face first onto the ground. At first it struggled against the ground to get up. In the end though it was neither able to at least push itself to its side, but, by listening carefully, he couldn't sworn it powered down in a rather audible fashion.

"My Hero!" Again she wrapped an arm around him, this time giggling especially as she planted a playful kiss on his cheek. She grinned as if she was relishing the embarrassed blush on his cheeks that sprouted from the gesture. "Oh, are you embarrased?"

The teen brought his fist up to his lips and coughed. "Let's just go."

With a smile, a teasing one he suspected, she snuggled into his side once more and sighed contently before they left.

Unbeknownst to either of them the back of the mechsuit opened up, its 'head' curling forward and propping it up. From the suit emerged a blond haired, tanned woman with a cheek puffing pout on her face. From the cockpit she produced a small kit with a wrench symbol stamped onto it.

XVX

Masaki Residence, thirty minutes later

After what seemed like an eternity trekking through the semi-familiar forest with a woman almost relentlessly, wordlessly teasing him where she could, they made it to his home for the past... three years? Four? Regardless, it was the place he had come to call home after moving out of Karakura. In short order he opened the door, crossed the threshold with her in tow and began to slip off his shoes when a thirty-something year old man with tanned skin poked his head out from the end of the hallway where the kitchen is.

"Oh! Ichigo! You're just in time to make any last minute requests! I was about to give up waiting for you! Hmm?" The dark haired man squinted through his thin framed rectangular glasses. "Who's that?" Looking to his side, Ichigo realized soon enough that Ryoko sat on the edge of the foyer's doorway to his side where the stairs would be directly behind her. Her extravagant style of hair and perhaps her shoulder and subsequent arm was probably the most Nobuyuki could see on short notice. As such he stepped out of the kitchen with a skillet in hand, wearing a red apron over a green business shirt and brown khakis. When he finally caught a good look of her and she in turn seen him, she smiled, waved and greeted him with a vibrant "hi!"

It was less than a full second that the man was hunched down next to her with a smile after a brief but visible moment of outright gawking at her. "And who is this beautiful, young lady?"

Ichigo briefly considered answering that question as he slipped on a pair of house slippers. Then again he was a bit of a flirt... and he unfortunately spent some time in bars with what few friends, mostly acquaintances really, he accrued from college to observe enough to recognize it to a degree. On rare occasions though he accompanied or was accompanied by his uncle, more by sheer chance of walking in on the other in the same bar or club one or the other was in than anything else. But still, it was a blue moon where he wasn't flirting with either a young woman or one who matched his own age. Even rarer were the times where the older man had to be taken home by the younger one, never mind if he was there to begin with or was essentially called to collect him. As such he more or less ignored his uncle as he quietly sauntered past him and began to ascend the stairs.

"Hey! It's rude to ignore a question you know!" his uncle cried out indignantly though without any real intent on berating him. As such Ichigo leveled a half surprised look on the man.

"Sorry, I thought you were asking her." Turning his attention back on the stairs, he resumed where he left off. "I'm going to put my stuff in my room. Maybe rest up a bit... it's been kind of a long day."

"Oh!" the older man said in mild surprise, blinking at him during which. "Well be mindful! Supper will be soon! Otherwise we might eat without you" he responded with a good natured chortle.

Ichigo turned his head and regarded the man with a nod. Spotting a flicker of movement, he glanced curiously at Ryoko in time for her to flirtatiously blew a kiss at him with a smirk. Like before it grew as a flustered blush assaulted his cheeks. On the other hand upon seeing it, the act floored his uncle with a defeated groan, causing him to grin a little.

XVX

Living Room, a few minutes later

"Waah! Outer space?!"

They were all situated around the table nearest the kitchen: after some lackluster trial and error Ichigo had given up on claiming a side to himself when Ryoko decidedly kept claiming the spot right next to him. On the other side was his uncle Nobuyuki and, arriving a few minutes ago, his shinto priest of a grandfather from his mother's side of the family, however loosely, the dark grayed haired Katsuhito Masaki. It was his uncle who reacted of course, his grandfather was seldom ever flustered or even openly surprised by anything to say the least.

Just before, during and after Nobuyuki's exclamation, Ryoko continued to dab at her cheek with a cloth for a tear she recently shed, all the while smiling in a serene fashion as Ichigo continued to incredulously eye her. Whether she was aware of it or not was beyond him considering she had her eyes closed throughout the ordeal. "Yes. And I was attacked by a savage space pirate on my journey through space. I desperately tried to escape, but my space ship almost ran into another ship and fell straight down to this planet." In the meantime Ichigo came to squint at her but otherwise didn't call her out on it. Nor was he in essence called out by his attentive grandfather who, from his experience, was rather sharp when it came to small details. Most of the time at least... At any rate, while her story might be true, especially since he could maybe at best get the gist of defined orbital thrust, theory and gravitational pull on a good day, that didn't quite explain why she was drunk when he found her.

Nobuyuki then reached out, grabbed the wrist that held the handkerchief which caused her to drop it in surprise, and pulled it towards him till he could easily cup her hand with both of his own.

"You have been through a very great hardship, young lady from outer space" he softly announced. "Such distress," the oldest man summed up in his gravelly voice whilst Ryoko spurted fresh, unshead tears in her ear. Ichigo in the meantime only blinked, his expression not changing in the slightest other than directing his gaze on his uncle instead. He of course turned to the youngest one among them with a stern scowl on his face.

"Ichigo, don't just sit there! Why don't you offer her some nice candy or something!"

Ichigo's incredulous expression soured into one that of a deadpan one. It was no less incredulous however. "Candy? Really? She's not a little kid or even five years younger than me."

The older man frowned, turned his head and brought a curled hand to his mouth as he tried to cough away his embarrassment as an equally embarrassed tinge of red crept on his cheeks. "Yes, well, it's that thought that counts..." he mumbled. Soon enough he rid himself of his minute shame. "At least offer her some tea or something!"

In response Ichigo pointed at Katsuhito whom had taken the sole teapot for himself to pour himself a drink, his eyes closed while doing so.

"It must be very cold in outer space this time of year," he noted just as he finished pouring himself some tea. By the time he opened his eyes her offered her a kind smile as he held up the small ceramic teapot. "Here, have some more hot tea, won't you?"

"Oh how sweet of you to talk so kindly to a total stranger." When Ichigo looked to her once more she not only reclaimed her own hand but had also equipped herself with the handkerchief once more which she dabbed at her right eye. With her eyes closed she turned her head away to her right. "But if I stay here it will only mean trouble for you and I don't want to cause you any trouble. And she, that space pirate! will come back for me, I'm sure!"

And once more his eyes came to squint at her... While he will not claim to have a great memory about things during the middle of a chase, but he was certain she called the mech pilot a "he" when they first met.

Nobuyuki stood up with a small sense of showmanship which was most announced by lightly pounding his chest with his left fist. "Now rest assured young lady, we're on your side!" He then stepped around the table and kneeled down close to her. she in turn demurely looked down, the hand bearing the piece of cloth coming to rest on the table. "Don't you worry about anything. We'll protect you, I promise!"

With a smile Ryoko looked up to him and cupped her hands in front of her with a clap. "I thank you honorable father!"

With a grin Nobuyuki replied "Oh can I believe my ears? You call me—" He caught himself and smiled bashfully at her, closing his eyes as he did so and spending a rush of nervous energy by rubbing the underside of his nose as he pointed to Ichigo. "Actually I'm his uncle."

"Oh?" She looked to the both of them, often switching her head to compare them. "But you two are so alike in your valiant spirit!"

"Haha! Well, it runs in my family after all! He's my sister's son after all!" Nobuyuki boasted as he again rubbed the underside of his nose. A large sweat drop would've formed on the side of Ichigo's head if it could as the older man laughed.

"In that case, I'll be your devoted niece!"

That sweat drop was threatening to become a reality for Ichigo as he glanced to the side at his composed grandfather. "Do you want to step in here or...?"

A seemingly pointed sip was his answer much to his annoyance. It did obscure his uncle's abrupt but brief cry though if only a little.

"Ichigo! You have such a wonderful bride!"

He squinted his eyes closed, canted his head forth and pinched at the bridge of his nose. Though he didn't say anything, he did growl in annoyance.

"And I know your mother in heaven must be happy for you now!"

"Now your pushing it," Ichigo grumbled. But it would seem for all intents and purposes he was ignored.

"My uncle!"

"My niece!"

He didn't look for the general sake of peace, namely his sanity, but he certainly did hear Katsuhito hum his approval, probably nodding as he did so...

"I just had to move out of Karakura..."

XVX

Later, twilight, after dinner

Clack-Clack! Clack-clack!

Equipped with a headband to absorb sweat, Ichigo tirelessly pounded away at the newly installed wood barricades that now shut the glass doors/door sized windows of the living room away from the world. Glancing over to his side he made sure his uncle hadn't slipped away to leave him with all of the work; the man still sported the welt from last time when he tried to use the "I made dinner" excuse on him. It was his idea to bored up the bottom tier of the three story house after all... While he wasn't quite sure how well wood be against an irate 'pirate' with a laser gun, it would ideally at least give them some initial protection if the 'pirate' was indeed a trigger happy maniac. That was of course assuming that mechsuit was out of commission... he wasn't exactly keen on rebuilding the house if he could help it.

As for Ryoko whom he eyed on occasion, more often than not getting a flirtatious smirk in return, she sat on the porch to their side, watching them all the while as they worked. His grandfather was nowhere to be seen since he took his own supply of wood and nails to border up the other side of the house. But of course he reappeared soon enough, incidentally enough it was just when the two men stepped back to observe their work in silence.

"Well I think I'll going back to the shrine now. You come call me if anything happens." He waved at them and made for the woods. Ryoko giggled and waved back as the other two called out "goodnight" to him in varying manners. Ichigo in the meantime scowled a deeper scowl out of concern but otherwise didn't say anything on his mind; he never asked, and his grandfather certainly never suggested it in the slightest, but at times Ichigo couldn't help but suspect his grandfather was hiding something. He was an accomplished swordsman in his own right from what he saw in the few sparing sessions they shared over the years. If nothing else then he, like Ichigo, can use his knowledge and familiarity of the terrain to his advantage if push came to shove. He was certainly nimble in his old age for sure.

"Well, we should get back inside too."

Abruptly a flock of birds cried out from the brush and rattled the foliage in their sudden departure. Ichigo turned with a scowl in hopes of spotting the cause only to be stopped when Ryoko not only cried out in a girlish, playfully scared manner but latched onto him to in a hug. "Oh-oh! I'm scared!"

With a disappointed groan Nobuyuki slumped in place in a depression. It didn't help matters either when she nuzzled her cheek into his nephew's shoulder, causing said nephew to blush from the affection. "It's certainly good to know I have two strong men looking out for little ole' me!"

An instant later the older man stood up straight and chuckling almost perversely as he kept his hammer to his chest. "Don't you worry, I'll stand on guard all night to protect you!"

... Ichigo gave him maybe an hour before conking out. Maybe two if his favorite programs were on.

XVX

Inside

As he had suspected, Uncle Nobuyuki fell asleep on the couch with the TV on. Hammer still in hand for what it was worth. Wasn't even a full hour just yet when he came down to get a snack. Then again from what he glanced off the TV he had been watching a documentary about... something, and even the orange haired man fell asleep to those given enough time. Regardless, he grabbed a bag of pretzels for himself and semi-quietly made it back to his room after double checking the lock at the front door.

When he opened the door to his room he was immediately assault by the excited, semi-coherent jibber jabber muttered by Ryoko as she entertained herself with his gamestation. As he walked in he opened the bag, took some out for himself and munched on them before planting the bag at the corner of his desk as something of a 'neutral' spot between them should either be inclined to snack on them. Ryoko certainly had no qualms with it as she, like him, snagged some for herself and munched on them without missing a beat on 'her' game. Ichigo in the meantime opened a book on human anatomy and began to take notes as he read the book page by page in scrutinizing detail.

Ding-dong!

"Hm?" He looked up and then over his shoulder to Ryoko to see if that was indeed the source of the doorbell sound. But no, she was playing a fighting game. Incidentally enough her character looked much like her, albeit in a cartoonish way. Ryoko on the other hand seemed so engrossed in it with childish glee that she didn't seem to acknowledge the sound.

Ding-dong!

Frowning, he glanced over to the wall to his right. Leaning on the wall in the event of an emergency was a bokken, a wooden sword. While by no means illegal but dangerous to boot when used with force, to this day and age people still couldn't help but think of him as something of a delinquent thanks to his natural hair color. And for all he knew, and it had happened before, there was a guest at the door for either him or his uncle. More so his uncle than anyone else. Grandpa also received the occasional visitor here as well if they were visiting from other shrines. Besides, what were the chances it was a 'pirate' who decided to use the doorbell of all things?

Ding-dong!

With a grunt he pushed himself off from the desk and went to his open closet. Immediately he reached in, rummaged around and finally produced a tennis racket for the off chance it was indeed the 'pirate' from before, hopefully unarmored without that mech. If not, a tennis racket was not only far less intimidating but far more explainable to any stranger or loose acquaintance. He glanced at Ryoko one last time and found her still engrossed with the game. Shaking his head, he headed down stairs.

XVX

Ding-dong!

"Coming, coming!"

He reached out, undid the lock and grasped the handle for the shoji door and pushed it open to reveal none other than the 'space pirate' from before... in the mechsuit... with a few patch jobs here and there...

Yep. A tennis racket wasn't going to do jack against that.

The light behind the visor activated and focused on him after briefly surveying the foyer past him.

Immediately he slammed the door shut, locked it and ran up the stairs. He was halfway up them when the mech smashed through the door with a single swipe and paused for a moment to spot him. By the time it did he was making his way down the adjacent hallway to his room, shouting all the while "Ryoko! Get my bokken!"

"Huh? Wha—?" Ryoko said as she poked her head out to investigate on what was going on. Soon enough Ichigo nearly clipped her with his shoulder by accident as he wrapped an arm around her waist. Rather than be alarmed, she giggled excitedly like she had before as he pulled her inside his room in a bee line to the open window before him, his free hand abandoning the racket to reach out and nab his wooden sword. Unfortunately in his haste he failed to grab it by the time one foot planted itself on his desk, his arm squeezing Ryoko tightly to him so they could both squeeze through the window in a jump. Luckily enough they jumped through it with nary a problem. He was however unprepared for the tiled roofing just beyond the roof, landing on it with a disjointed grunt he landed and slipping on it enough to lose his balance in the escape. As a result he tumbled over the edge before he could stop himself, twisted himself in the air by sheer luck and took the brunt of the fall with Ryoko landing atop of him.

"Oh! Are you alright?"

SMASH!

Sadly she didn't get her answer as the mech pilot barrled through his window and flew overhead just enough to land some meters away. Quickly he scrambled to his feet and pulled Ryoko to hers as the pilot lurched with each step to turn around and face them. When it finally did, at least for their last spot, they had ran around the mech and dashed out the front gate of the house. Realizing it had been given the runaround, literally, the jets on its back flared to life once more and it took off in the air. Quickly enough it spotted them and brought its cannon to bear on them, resuming where it left off hours before.

"GIVE ME A BREAK!"

XVX

Shrine, minutes later

Much to their luck the mech's aim didn't improve in the slightest as it chased them up hill along the ancient stairway to the shrine, through the trees, and over a river which he could've sworn wasn't there in a desperate bid to his grandfather's house. What exactly could he do against a technologically machine? He wasn't sure but it sure as hell beat being shot at by someone who for all intents and purposes had something personal against Ryoko, and by coincidence him for helping her.

When they managed to reach the top where the shrine sat, including Katsuhito's abode right next to it, they found the man himself outside of his home at the shrine with a bokken held in reverse in his left hand like it was sword still in the sheath. Once they passed the threshold the firing stopped for a brief moment as the mech flew overhead. It killed its rocket pack and landed on the ground between the three in a rough jolt. Once more the light behind its visor flared to life and inspected the older man while he keenly observed it in return.

The elderly man canted his head forth, his eyes closed and muttered "What a nuisance." When he slowly looked up once more there was a stern glare in his eyes and a gleam in his glasses thanks to the moonlight. In an almost dramtic but modest flourish he reached over and drew the bokken out of his hand before wielding it at the mech. He stepped out from the porch of his abode and drew his foot across the stone walkway beneath his feet in preparation as the mech fully turned to him in anticipation. As the two stared off at one another the world went silent save for a gently but strong gust of wind to rustle the trees.

"CUT!"

He almost missed it entirely but the shinto priest moved far faster than the pilot could react. The wooden sword smashed through the armor with almost disturbing ease without it itself cracking in return as chunks of metal and components scattered to the ground in the old man's passing. As if it were a weak spot the mech fell to its knees and began to spark. The shrine keeper leapt away from it long beforehand and prepared for another blow to come by the time the mech inexplicably exploded like a firework in a brilliant flash of light and subsequent smoke.

"Hurray!" Ryoko cheered. Ichigo in the meantime sighed in relief. Their collective mood was doured however as coughing could be heard from the cloud of smoke. When the smoke dissipated it revealed a women on he hands and knees, her rear pointed at them, in a bodysuit divided into three portions of red-orange, black and the color mauve in the middle of the suit. Attached to the left side her waist, above the cheek was a small furry ball. As more details became clear especially as she turned her face to face them, it was evident she wore her blond hair in a enlarged, wavy pony tail to keep the majority of it, save for two wavy bangs, out of her dark skinned face and blue eyes.

"Surrender yourself Space Pirate Ryoko! Your evil deeds end here and now!"

Ichigo twitched as he slowly craned his head to Ryoko. She in turn pouted at him with tears in her eyes. "She's lying!" she cried in her defense. "Do I look like an infamous criminal?" At his distinct lack of a response she brought her hands to her eyes, presumably to wipe away the tears as well as not look at him. "How can you suspect me when there's no proof!"

"There's proof alright!" As a precaution Ichigo discreetly scooted himself away from Ryoko as he looked to the woman as she reached behind her into a pocket in her suit. "I have it right here!" With a distinct pop a hand-sized pink orb materialized out of nowhere. When she brought it to her face she frowned in a cute fashion as she realized she grabbed something else, stuttering all the while. "N-no I don't." She flipped herself onto her back with her knees drawn up in the air as she began to search her person. All the while she was pulling out seemingly random items such as pens, boxes of tissue paper, purses, items of alien origin, and a teddy bear just to name a few things.

"This is definitely not it! I don't even know what this is! This is strange! Where did I put it?" Once more that sweat drop threatened to be made a reality on the side of Ichigo's head. After pulling out yet another pen she smiled as he hand groped something she was evidently familiar with. "Ah! I found it!"

She hoped onto her feet with acrobatic precision, bringing to light that only her legs were divided into red-orange and black and the majority of both her just and waist were clad in a mauve color. The arms of her suit were predominantly black with red-orange shoulder guards and elbow guards. As she presented the pen to them she inadvertently revealed that her gloved hands had mauve coloring as well, yet her fingers were garbed in blue material. As for the pen, written in English was the words GALAXY POLICE. "This is my proof! This is my ID!" She depressed the top of the pen and a small pole extended out from the side. Along with it a plastic-like curtain swooshed out in a perfect square and hardened itself. A second later static dominated the screen for just a moment to an ID of the same woman wearing a blue hat and uniform of some kind now, saluting at the picture. To its side and written in English was MISHOSHI, GALAXY POLICE EXPERT DETECTIVE. Though it wasn't the only writing, the rest of written in a language that was by no means native to Earth as far as he knew. The only thing remotely recognizable beyond her name and station was the face GALAXY POLICE was written in the corner of the screen along with what was presumably their symbol, a geometric capital G with a similar P conjoined with it at its own corner at the bottom. "And here's the wanted poster!" The screen changed once more to reveal a picture of Ryoko. Like Mihoshi her attire was different though obscured. In it the woman was smiling devilishly while a fifth of her face was painted in black on the side. In response Ichigo slapped his own face and groaned out "I was assisting a felon."

Ryoko, meanwhile, began to chuckle rather throatily, not to mention darkly. Reluctantly Ichigo looked to her with narrowed eyes. When she spoke up once more there was no sense of her scrupulous damsel in distressed tone she had been carrying since they had met. No, her voice was rougher but unsurprisingly more natural to her as a revealed villain. "Okay so you know who I really am now." She irritably glared at the officer before her. "I had a hangover when I ran into you. Otherwise a stupid cop like you wouldn't have spotted me!" she yelled. With a coy smirk she leered at her as she turned her head to look at her from the corner of the silver haired woman's eye. "I usually don't make mistakes like that. Know why? Because I'm smart."

"Says the woman who crash landed while drunk," Ichigo muttered. For better or worse he said it lowly enough to be ignored for the time being.

"So Stupid, how do you think I should cook you?" In response the officer pulled out a gun with both hands in grim determination and pointed it at her.

"Don't move! Please stop right there! If you move, I'm gonna shoot! And if I shoot it's really going to hurt you!"

From the side Ichigo couldn't help but stare at Mihoshi in a deadpan manner as she began to sweat nervously. Ryoko, during which, began to throatily chortle once more. "Go right ahead."

The other woman cringed and looked away. As she did so she pull the trigger and shot out not once or twice but multiple times, thankfully without recoil. It didn't matter though. Each shot, while true, glanced off an invisible barrier around Ryoko as she stood boldly in front of her, hands on her hips and a confident smirk on her lips. Eventually Mihoshi dared to look and gawked at the sight before her as she mindlessly fired away, her eyes wide with fear and disbelief as if she were indeed facing a nightmare that was supposed to be nothing more than a story. Seeing her expression, Ryoko's smirk turned into a dark grin.

"That's right. You're hunting big game now, too big for you!" As the shots continued at a steady pace, Ryoko's hand where held at her sides, palms facing towards the officer and alight with a pair of translucent red-orange orbs. From between them wild bolts of energy crackled in the air. "Now I had enough, it's my turn to retaliate!"

The officer whimpered as she edged away. She kept shooting at her though with one hand on the gun, still without recoil for what it's worth.

With one last, savage grin she levitated herself in the air. It was lost a moment later as she roared in a bestial fashion and launched herself at the other woman, her shield still deflecting the blasts from the gun even as the officers fell onto her rump and began to kicked at the ground to get herself away from the pirate... Neither of them were paying attention to Ichigo.

Ichigo sprung himself into action without thinking before Ryoko was even half way to her target. Though it was a challenge, he managed to scoop Mihoshi up into a bridal fashion with only a grunt and a mild stumble rather than fail altogether after having caught the both of them by surprise. Thankfully it was soo sudden as far as they were concerned it stalled Ryoko not only long enough for the other woman to instinctively cling to Ichigo with tears in her eyes but for him to dash past the threshold of the stairs.

"Aaaah! You can't escape me!"

"For what it's worth, sorry for wrecking your suit!" Ichigo blurted out as he hurdled over the stairs in a mad race to the bottom. Ryoko, thankfully, seemed to be struggling to keep up with him at the moment.

"Apology accepted!" Mihoshi cried as she clung into him tighter and buried her head against his chest. It was at that point that moment he just realized something.

"Gah! I could've grabbed grandpa's bokken!" His eyes widened at another revelation which caused him to look over his shoulder, look past a furious Ryoko as best he could only to find no one else was chasing them, much less observing what was going on. "Oh come on!" He sincerely doubted his grandfather was in any way stunned by what was going on!... And then he realized that there were more training swords, shinai and what-have-you back at the shrine. "I'm an idiot..." he grumbled as he returned his attention to the rapidly disappearing stairway.

Seeing as his only route to arming himself was blocked off, and even if he somehow doubled back it would be laborious given how he is now, he only had one choice. He leapt down the last segment of the stairs and propelled himself in the direction of the house.

XVX

Masaki Residence

Already he flew up the stairs and made for his room which now had a gaping hole where the door use to be. As much as he would've liked to complain at the moment, it made it all the easier for him to slip inside and bark "Get the bokken from the wall" as he rushed over to it. Crying out but not looking, Mihoshi's hand wildly groped the air and with blind luck managed to take a hold of the sword. Once3 he saw her grab it he immediately planted a foot on his desk and launched himself through his widened and destroyed window.

Sadly he didn't pay attention to the fact it was within that moment that Mihoshi flung it at his face without looking as she held him even tighter with cry of surprise.

Once more he landed on the roof only to slip, stumble and fall off the roofing once more. And just like before he twisted himself in time to take the brunt of the impact with Mihoshi landing atop of him... Unlike before he didn't get up immediately afterward as Ryoko floated into view from his destroyed window, her hands still holding aloft the orbs that crackled with energy yet to be released. With a chuckle she slowly began to lower herself till she was near the ground. She remained a good meter above it however.

"Well, now you die," she announced with a light lilt to match her smirk.

Groaning and whining, Mihoshi raised her hand and pulled the trigger only to realize that somewhere along the way she had dropped her gun. "My gun! Where did I—" She cut herself off to fratnically search yourself, Ichigo and the surrounding area in hopes of finding her blaster. She only stopped a moment later when Ichigo quietly and solemnly stood up with the bokken in hand. Once he stood tall he groaned as he rolled his shoulder and cracked his neck before sliding into a stance, the wooden sword grasped tightly in both hands.

"Mihoshi," he murmured, "get behind me." She quickly obliged and cowered behind him with a with a whimper. Ryoko in the meantime seemed taken aback in surprise before glaring at him, staring intently into his eyes as he glared back...

She then smirked once more and lowered herself to the ground. The orbs of energy vanished without a trace alongside the bolts of electricity that ran between them as she pleasantly but loudly sighed as she planted her hands on the back of her head with a smile on her face, her eyes closed. "Ah! That was fun!" she cried out, her previous tone of voice returning.

"Huh?" Mihoshi cautiously peeked around Ichigo's defensive but confused form.

"I was never really going to hurt you guys! I was just teasing. Couldn't you tell?" Ryoko offered as she continued to relax in her spot. "I was just having some fun!"

Ichigo scowled at her all the more in response. Mihoshi in the meantime walked out from behind him with a hopeful smile on her face. "So does that mean you're going to surrender yourself?"

At last Ryoko peeked out and smirked at her in an impish manner. "Well I just might do that for you."

"Wow! That's fantastic!" Blinking, Ichigo looked at her and easily found that she smirk went over her head completely...

"Just wait a second and I'll read you your rights," Mihoshi continued with a bright smile as she reached into her suit and retrieved two metal rods. She held them parallel to one another before her and within a second a screen appeared in the empty space between the poles. "Galaxy Police Federal Law Article Two-Five-Four-Six Page Nine-Three-Seven of the Revised Divisions. The suspect is entitled to keep silent about any facts that may have an advertent impact on— AAAH!"

Ryoko had lowered both arms to cross them over her chest while Mihoshi was talking. Quietly she raised a finger and pointed it at the board in Mihoshi's hands with a smirk reminiscent of a prankster. Within that same moment she fired out a finger sized bolt of energy that shot out from her finger that blew up the board in a fiery explosion. As Mihoshi gawked at her smoking but uninjured hands, Ryoko hold up her finger which crackled with minute orange electricity with a look not out of place of her pirate persona. "Go on," she offered.

With a marked frown Mihoshi stuttered "Er-I t-think I know the rights by heart." Without turning her head she looked away. "Uh, Galaxy Police Federal Law, Article Two-Five-Four-Six... Uh..." She placed a hand on her head and looked away in the other direction, turning he head and tilting it slightly as she did so. "Or was it Article Two-Four-Six-Five?" Again she looked in another direction. "Or-or Two-Four-Four-Three?" She grabbed her head and looked at the ground before her. "Or-No. Two-Four-Six—no." Tears welled up in her ears. "No, that's not it! I-I-I don't—" She slumped onto her knees and began to openly cry. "I don't remember! what should I do?"

Ryoko, meanwhile, stretched herself with a self satisfied smirk and turned away while glancing at the two. "You know, I kinda decided I like this place a lot. I think I'll do you a favor and stay here awhile."

At last the sweat drop had fallen on the side of Ichigo's head. "Huh?"

With a chuckle she slipped in close and pushed aside the wooden sword in her approach. She grinned even more as his narrowed eyes squinted at her even as she planted her bent arm on his shoulder. "You're happy, aren't you?"

"Ecstatic," he retorted lowly.

With a soft giggle she leaned in close and seemingly relished the slight tensing as she drew closer to his ear. "You were so wonderful when you first saved me. So valiant and brave. A girl really could fall for you." She drew away and smirked at him once more upon seeing his scowl. As she stepped back further she brought a pair of fingers to her lips, kiss them and blew said kiss to him before jauntily walking away, disappearing around the nearest corner of the house.

Sighing to himself, Ichigo looked to the still crying Mihoshi and offered her a hand.

XVX

Living Room, morning

"Oh I had so much fun last night!"

"You don't say..."

They had all gathered around the table in the living room for breakfast. Some mackerel, rice... nothing unusual. If anything Mihoshi was enthused by it all. Or rather she was delighted by the flavoring.

"I'm in love! I love these pickles!"

Case and point being the pickles... Of course to be fair he was willing to bet Yuzu would be begging on her hands and knees for the recipe.

"My deceased wife's special recipe," Katsuhito explained as he reached for the bowl of pickles in front of him. With a smile he offered her the bowl. "Go ahead. Have some more."

"Wow, thanks so much!"

"Hey, how come you're eating breakfast with us anyway? You've got some nerve."

Ichigo, who had been eating with his eyes closed the entire time, cracked an eye open to give Ryoko a sidelong glance. She had given up her earlier wardrobe for a predominantly blue dress with thick tan stripes. Tied to her waist was a red sash, and underneath her dress from what he could guess was a black bodysuit that had no gloves unlike its red counterpart. Mihoshi had undergone a similar change herself, only it consisted of a pink sweater that didn't bother her and khakis. "Doesn't that apply to you too?"

Sniffles of course drew his attention away to Mihoshi who was looking towards Ryoko as if she really did have to answer her question. From the looks of it, he surmised, she was going to.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed. "My spaceship was destroyed. And I have no way to get home and no place to call home." She sniffed again as she fought back her tears. But unfortunately it didn't seem like she had long before she burst into tears at the rate she was sniffing. He made to say something but unfortunately Ryoko spoke up first. "It's too bad! Especially now that I decided to surrender myself to you." Tears were now forming in Mihoshi's eyes as her sniffing became more pronounced.

Bonk!

"Ow!" Ryoko almost dropped her bowl as she turned to Ichigo as she gingerly rubbed her head. "What was that for?"

"Don't make her feel worse than she already does," he grumped as he pointedly put down his now crooked chopsticks.

"No violence at the table, Ichigo," Katsuhito reprimanded before he calmly sipped his tea.

Grunting in acknowledgement, Ichigo then turned to Mihoshi as she fought to keep herself from crying. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked. Thankfully it seemed to be the right question to distract herself from her state as she regarded him almost sheepishly.

"I really don't know what I'm gonna," she admitted. She grabbed at her pants and fidgeted in place. "Uh... Would you let me stay here for awhile?" she timidly asked. "I don't know anyone else on this planet." She began to look about the table for an answer with a small, nervous smile.

"Mm, that's a good idea," the shrine keeper answered after his sip. With a grin Nobuyuki joined in. "Sure is! It'll brighten our lives having you girls in the house full of bachelors!" he laughed at the end.

"Just don't peep on them in the bath, Old Man" Ichigo grunted as he took up his chopsticks once more. "Seconded," Katsuhito added. With a "aah!" Nobuyuki toppled over to the side at the accusation with a look of shock on his face. for better or worse it was ignored. Especially by Mihoshi through ignorance alone.

"If you would be so kind, I have another favor to ask of you."

"Hm?" The oldest of the three men regarded her with a kind smile. "Yes, what is it?"

Eagerly with a matching smile she held her bowl aloft. "May I some more steamed rice, please?"

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo continued on with his own breakfast.

XVX

Outside, half an hour later

The mess that was the front door, his bedroom door and his window were cleaned up easily enough. Thankfully they had a spare door available but that would be put in later for the time being. Already his window was shuttered off, thankfully the damage to it was contained to the window itself, but it needed to be replaced. For now Ichigo busied himself on the roofing beneath his window where he apparently put a hole in it by accident in the two escapes. Much to his luck it was only one spot but still he had to removed quite a patch of ceramic tiles to get to it and hammer in a board, even then they would need to get new tiles for the roofing to replace the ones he inadvertently broke.

"So there you are, Ichigo!"

"Hm?" He looked over his shoulder to find Ryoko hunching over him with a smile on her face. He grunted in acknowledgement and turned back to his work at hand which he was finishing up. Her heard her sigh and sit down on the patch of roofing behind him but didn't bother to look in favor of hammering that final nail in.

"You know it's really peaceful out here."

"Up until a space pirate comes by at least."

Rather than be upset as he partially suspected at the jab, she laughed instead. "True."

The birds chirped merrily in the distance as the hammer continued to strike the nail until it was firmly flush against the board.

"You know, a lot of things and words said are often said in perspective," Ichigo suddenly said as he gave his work a onceover. "So just to be clear, and please tell me I'm wrong," he muttered lowly in regards to the second half, "by "here" do you mean the planet or this house?"

She giggled before answering him. "Is there something wrong with me staying here?" At his deliberate lack of a response she giggled to herself once more as if she knew what he really wanted to say or do. "Has anyone said you are cute in your stoicism?"

He was blushing to the tips as he just realized that not only was he wrong, it wasn't the only wrong he wanted to be wrong in! "Hey wait a—" He turned to her in hopes of rebuffing her somehow. As much as anyone would most likely enjoy having some kind of space girlfriend, he wasn't looking for that type of relationship just yet! Especially with someone he literally just met yesterday! But she planted her fingers on his lip with a sly grin on her own.

"No need for discussion." She kissed at him from her spot with a playful wink following right after, causing him to groan much to her amusement.

A/N: Well it's out there.Ichigo is living with the Masaki family, no last name changing of any sort for the most part and thankfully it was by exploiting a loophole I almost failed to notice: Nobuyuki Masaki married into the Masaki family; his family could literally be anyone! Hence he is Ichigo's uncle for this story! His mother's brother! To be honest I wanted to keep (interestingly enough) Masaki Kurosaki'sheritage of being a 'pureblood' quincy intact. No particular reason really but I thought it would muddle things considering that her father in Nikon Asturias' intended version of the Tenchi Universe was supposed to be Katsuhito (aka Yosho of Jurai) and thus spoil that, making her a target of sorts to Yhwach (even though she already was) and thus (hypothetically of course) killing her off at a much earlier stage in the Bleach portion of the story... kind of strange logic, I'll grant you that, but that's the thought I was operating on.

SPOILER: I'm doing this because frankly I neither plan to explore this later nor even hint at it.In regards to Nobuyuki as Masaki's brother, whom is a quincy and thus logically should be a quincy considering I circumvented any at all muddling into the Masaki family at Katsuhito's (Yosho) level, he is not a quincy by any means. If anything he is, by anime law of probability (if it is a thing which I will not bother to look up for I am lazy), the one born without powers. On top of that he is largely ignorant of quincy culture as a whole to the point of "what's a quincy?" by sheer dumb luck if you will.He is not a quincy. He is not a quincy badass in hiding. There will be no quincies. Quincies are not part of this story. This is not a specifically specific denial.

In other news as I was writing this I suddenly developed an idea/interest to basically do the same thing with Tenchi Muyo GXP... We'll see how that works out.

Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.