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Episode 20 -	Old Friends
	shoku shirazu / MIHO KIYO, DOTABATA / sennyū sōsa
	[Knowing early summer, Mihoshi and Kiyone sneak noisily in to investigate]
First aired -	12th August 1997

Ryoko and Hotsuma's reign of terror as the top space pirates in the galaxy continues. With their band of masked henchmen, they have knocked off just about every major target in the galaxy, and they head back to their hideout for a post-raid party. Amongst the masked henchman are two awfully familiar faces; Mihoshi and Kiyone have managed to worm their way into the ranks on an undercover mission to capture Ryoko.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Tenchi has just finished his finals and summer vacation is beginning. He and his friends are planning a trip together, and as it is Tenchi's first holiday in Tokyo, he is asked to choose where they go.

At Ryoko's hideout, the celebrations are in full swing, and the Galaxy Police duo try to take the opportunity to complete their mission and call in the SWAT team. However, Mihoshi wonders why Ryoko suddenly decided to become a space pirate again, and in an astonishingly insightful turn, thinks it might have something to do with when she visited Tenchi at the school festival. Although eager for the promotion opportunity a successful mission would offer, Kiyone agrees to wait until they have observed Ryoko further before they call the SWAT team. Suddenly, they are interrupted as Ryoko calls them before her and orders them to clean the hideout from top to bottom. Ryoko has seen through their disguises easily enough, but decides to have a little fun with them. After cleaning, the pair are forced to cook, wash clothes and even put on a stage show, much to Ryoko's amusement. However, Hotsuma can tell Ryoko already knows the two oddball henchmen, and puts a plan of his own into operation...

Later, Ryoko invites Mihoshi and Kiyone to her private quarters, which have been designed to look exactly like the living room at the Masaki home. She admits that she saw through their disguises within moments of recruiting them. Together, they relax, talk and play cards together. Kiyone asks Ryoko why she became a space pirate again, but Ryoko tries to brush off her suggestion that something happened with Tenchi to make her leave. Changing the subject, Kiyone tries to find out more about Hotsuma, but Ryoko is still cagey. Finally, Ryoko lets it slip that she saw Tenchi and Sakuya together, and that she doesn't want anything to do with Earth again. Kiyone challenges this; after all, why would she decorate her quarters like the Masaki home if she didn't have fond memories of her time on Earth? Elsewhere in the base, Hotsuma is eavesdropping on the three of them, and decides to cut their get-together short by tipping off the Galaxy Police to the location of the hideout. Within minutes, they are interrupted when a fleet of Galaxy Police ships arrive at the base. Thinking that Mihoshi and Kiyone have betrayed her, Ryoko turns her back on them and flees with Hotsuma in his ship. As they abandon the base, Ryoko casts a wistful glance out of the window, wishing that she hadn't been reminded of her happy time on Earth.

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Episode 21 - Real Friends? >>

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