Where were we?
	There is nothing to do in Modesto, California besides RPG's and 
higher mathem-
	Oops.  That's where _I_ was.
	Once upon a time...
	No, that doesn't quite work, either.  Not with my stories.
	O.K.  There was this girl named Tachi.  She'd recently been dragged to 
the past, where she witnessed the near destruction of her native 
timeline.  That left her confused, morose, and moody, so her mother 
suggested a vacation.
	In China.  Jusenkyou and Joketsuzoku, to be exact.
	Now, the idea of an uncursed native of Nerima, Japan willingly going to 
that part of China for a vacation makes about as much sense as Frosty 
visiting a dimension where the welcome mat says, "Abandon Hope, All Ye 
Who Enter Here."  Nabiki Kuno was known for being a shrewd operator, 
though, so Tachi went.  Part of Nabiki's game was for Tachi to figure out 
exactly what the rules were.
	The androgynous salesman, Shun Kuonji, went along to, "Keep her 
out of trouble."  Together, the Nerimites met Plum, a young amazon girl, 
and Mousse...  

* * * * *

	"To _see- you!  We flew to China, risked death, engagement, and 
having our very human bodies turned into something unnatural just to 
_see_ you?"  Shun's voice, normally high pitched, hit glass-shattering 
notes.  "Wouldn't a vid call work?"
	Mousse laughed.  "Vid?  Girl, we don't even have _telephones_ in 
Joketsuzoku."
	Shun glared daggers.  "It's not funny," he complained.  "And who 
are you calling a- Tachi, quit hitting me."
	The short-haired girl turned wide, innocent eyes to her friend.  
"Would I hit you, Shun?"
	"Would I hit you, Shun?" he echoed back, mimicing her honeyed 
tones.  "Of course you'd hit me!  You hit everybody."
	"That is good practice," the purple-haired amazon noted.
	Shun threw his hand in the air.  "I give up.  This is a totally 
different planet than the one I was born on.  Nothing here on Mongo makes 
any sense."  He dropped his backpack to the floor and slumped down on a 
nearby stool.  "China, do your worst; I can't get any more confused than 
I am now."
	Mousse frowned.  "I wish you hadn't said that."
	"Why?"  Suspicion colored the edge of his voice.  "Did I activate 
some ancient mystic Chinese curse or someth..."  The other three people in 
the hut stared at the long-haired boy.  "Oh, shit," he muttered as he 
slapped himself in the forehead.  "I forgot where we are."
	"Well," Tachi said, trying to break the tension.
	"Well, indeed," said Mousse.
	"I guess it's a sure bet that you're not going to just tell me why 
we've come here, right, Uncle?"
	Mousse pushed his glasses to the top of his head.  "Would Nabiki send 
her only child to Joketsuzoku for a week if the answers to her questions 
could be found in a single conversation?"
	Tachi knew the answer to that.
	Mousse blinked, just now remembering his manners.  "Forgive me. 
Please, have a seat."  He indicated a second stool, identical to the one 
Shun sat moping on.  "I live alone, so I'm afraid there isn't much space 
here.  I've made arrangements for you to stay with other members of the 
tribe, though."
	"Father, may I go now?" the young amazon interrupted.  "I do have 
sentry duty tonight."
	"I don't think your mother would begrudge you the time it takes 
to see to the needs of village guests, Brook," Mousse chastised.
	"Yes, Father."
	"And what have I told you about wearing your glasses?"
	Brook sighed.  "Yes, Father."
	Mousse folded his hands in his sleeves.  "Well?"
	In a small voice, Brook whispered, "I left them in my room."
	"Go."  That single word sent the odango-haired amazon running out 
into the rain.
	Wind slammed the door shut with a bang.  Tachi stared at it for a 
moment, then looked at her host.  "That was rather hypocritical of you, 
wasn't it, Mousse?" she accused.
	"Uh, Tachi, are you sure you want to go there?" Shun asked worridly.
	She waved him quiet.  "Mother told me you never used to wear your 
glasses, and that you kept mixing people up.  Wanting to keep your daughter 
from making the same mistakes you did is one thing, but-."
	"Tachi!" Shun hissed.  @Ix-nay on the asses-glay.@
	Tachi rode over Shun's attempts to stop her.  "But you're glasses 
are sitting on top of your head, even as we speak.  What gives you the 
right to humiliate your daughter like that, when you're doing the exact 
same thing?"
	Mousse stood stone still in the center of the room.  "You would accuse 
me, in my own home, in the middle of a world that is so unlike yours that 
your friend compared it to a work of fiction?  After you came to me for 
help?"
	"Of course she doesn't, right Tachi?"  Shun was talking a mile a 
minute.  "It's all a joke, a new style of Japanese humor.  Hahahahaha!  
Haha.  Ha."
 	Tachi got up and stared Mousse straight in the eyes.  She had to 
look up; he was much taller than she was.  "Yes."
	"That's it, Tachi, we're dead."
	Mousse slowly reached for his glasses.  He carefully took them 
off the top of his head, folded the temples closed, and smiled.  "Good 
for you."  He handed Tachi his glasses.  "Your father wouldn't have let 
me get away with that sort of behavior, either."
	Tachi closed her hand around the thick lenses.  "I don't understand."
	Mousse held up his index finger.  "That," he told her, "is because you 
don't have all the information yet."
	Tachi snapped Mousse's glasses open and stared through them.  She 
could see the inside of the hut perfectly; people were people,  
bookshelves were bookshelves, and hanging potted plants were hanging 
potted plants.  "These aren't prescription lenses!" she accused.
	"No, they aren't," Mousse agreed.  Then he clapped twice, and the 
lamp behind his reading chair snapped off, plunging the room into darkness.
	Tachi could still see.  "Light intensifying eyeglasses?" she asked 
incredulously.
	"And a Clapper?" Shun echoed.
	Mousse turned the lights on again.  "I can't afford a voice activated 
computer."  He shrugged.  "I could barely afford a generator.  This is 
the only hut in the village with electricity."
	Tachi eyed him quizzically.  "Then your vision is just fine?"
	"Twenty-Thirty.  Surgery is an amazing thing."
	An idea began to take shape in Tachi's mind.  "It's also expensive."
	Mousse nodded once, slowly.  "That it is."
	"Some people could afford it easily, though."
	Mousse nodded again.  "That they could.  Or someone could work 
for the money."
	Tachi set Mousse's glasses on the stool behind her.  "To make 
that kind of money, someone would have to do something very dangerous, 
or possibly illegal."
	This time, the white-robed man offered no answer.
	"Well."  Shun clapped his hands together once and stared at the two 
martial artists.  "That was fun.  And healthy, too.  I don't think my 
heart has ever had such an envigorating workout.  Let's do it again, soon."
	"Oh, be quiet, Shun."
	"I do apologize, Miss," Mousse said.  "Every difficulty can be avoided, 
given enough work, but I've discovered that sometimes it's not worth the 
effort."  A navy blue umbrella appeared from somewhere inside his robes.  
"I don't know what's keeping Brook, but dinner should be ready now.  If 
you'll come with me?"
	Shun sighed, and his shoulders slumped.  "For the last time, I am 
not a- Tachi, would you cut that out!"
	"Who, me?" the short-haired girl asked...
 ______
{B-{=__

And now, for a couple of bits of administrivia:

1) Did anyone review Descents and Inversions while I was away?  If so, my 
ego and I would like a copy of the review.
2) It looks like X-Change Students #3 finally hit the net.  Could someone 
send me a copy of that, too?

Thanx,

Ross John McKenzie Jr.