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    Tanaka Chikako put up her laundry and went into the kitchen to check on
the pie she was baking for that night's dessert. Her husband, Tanaka Akihito,
would be home from work that night and her daughter, Nozomi, was bringing a
guest. She wiped the sweat of the day from her golden brow and put the blue
apron on over her brown dress and checked the oven. The pie was ready so she
got a potholder and removed the pie from the oven and set it on the window
sill to cool.
    "Mmmm... that smells great, sweetums." Akihito told his wife as
he walked into the kitchen.
    "And its for dinner." Chikako reminded him. "No sneaking a taste. Nozomi
has a guest coming over tonight and she wants things to be perfect."
    "Can I assume this guest is male." Akihito asked.
    Chikako nodded and started preparing supper.

    "Come on..." Nozomi told the Operative. "We're almost there."
    The Operative followed her until they reached her parents' house.
    They walked in the front door after taking off their shoes.
    "Mom! Dad!" Nozomi called. "I'm home!"
    Nozomi and the Operative walked into the kitchen.
    "This is my mom and dad," Nozomi told the Operative.
    Chikako and Akihito bowed, politely, to their guest.
    The Operative had been going over a list of Japanese names in the
   library that day at lunchtime. "I am pleased to meet you both," he
    told them, "my name is Naoki."
    "We are pleased to meet you, Naoki." Chikako told him. "Why don't you
sit and talk with my husband while my daughter helps me with dinner."
    "It is all right, Naoki." Nozomi told him.
    "We moved here from Okinawa after I lost my job at the autoparts
plant." Akihito told Naoki.
    "Don't bore the poor boy with your tales of woe, you hear me, Akihito!"
his wife called from the kitchen.
    Before Naoki could tell her he wasn't bored, she added. "And don't *you*
go encouraging him!"
    Both males laughed.
    "So, what do your parents do?" Akihito asked.
    "Nothing, I'm afraid." Naoki replied, sadly. "They both passed away
shortly after I was born."
    "I'm very sorry to hear that." Akihito told him.
    Naoki nodded, gratefully.
    "Where are you staying?" Akihito asked during dinner. "Surely a person
as young as yourself does not own a home."
    "I moved here only recently and have a camp near the school."
    "That surely will not do." Chikako told him. "You will stay with us
until you are old enough to find a home."
    That was something neither Nozomi nor Naoki had anticipated.
    "I couldn't impose." Naoki told him.
    "Impose nothing!" Akihito laughed. "Nozomi is certainly fond of you and
you may very well become our son-in-law one day."
    That was one thing that could never happen, Naoki told himself.
    "Besides," Chikako added, "there are bad snows expected this winter and
I cannot permit a young man such as yourself to freeze to death."
    Naoki had no choice but to go along with the new predicament.
    For the next week, Naoki remained with Nozomi and her family, and all
went well. Then, one night, Naoki could no longer bear the confinement of
his mask. His muzzle was sore from its constant use and his fur needed a good
shampoo. Keeping as quiet as possible, he slipped out to the bath house and
closed the gate as quietly as possible. Slipping off his entire costume, both
the clothes and the false skin, he folded all of these, neatly, and then
climbed into a hot bath. It was close to midnight and Naoki felt he would be
safe from prying eyes here.
    He was entirely wrong.
    Akihito was looking forward to a midnight soak. He usually had one once
a week when his family was in their beds and he could relax in the bath
without having to worry about being rushed out to do chores or make room for
the other members of the family. He opened the door to the bathhouse, quietly
and walked in. He saw the steam and realized that Naoki must have had the
same idea as him. The boy would make a fine son-in-law, he decided, smiling.
He rounded the corner to where he could see the silhouette of the tub and its
occupant and was about to say something when he realized the silhouette was
all wrong.
    Akihito peered, cautiously, around the corner and saw the unmasked muzzle
of the Galaxy Police Operative. The Operative caught his scent and whipped
his head around to face him. Akihito saw the shining, golden eyes staggered
back, and screamed.
    The Operative threw his bathrobe on, hurriedly, and scampered off,
startled at being caught unmasked, and taken off guard by the scream.
    Chikako came running out of the house... "Akihito! What's wrong?!"
    "Go back inside!" Akihito called out. "There's a monster out here!"
    Nozomi ran out to the bath house, hoping to avert a disaster. "Its not
a monster!" She called out.
    "Nozomi, you're in danger, get in the house!"
    Nozomi looked around, then spotted the golden eyes peering from behind
a bush. She walked over to the bush and peered over it. "There you are."
She laughed. "Come on out, don't be scared."
    "Get away from that thing!" Akihito warned as the non-human visage slowly
appeared from beind the bush.
    "Dad!" Nozomi laughed. "Don't worry. It's only Naoki."
    "Whatever it is, is leaving now." Akihito told his daughter. "You must be
mad to ask us to accept that.. that... that *thing* as your boyfriend. He
is nothing less than a monster. I just hope you didn't let him *breed* with
you!"
    "Daddy, he isn't that kind of monster! He's not a monster at all! He's a
good and noble being."
    Akihito wouldn't hear of it. He found his shotgun and cocked the trigger.
    Naoki heard him and ran for safety. He'd discuss this with Nozomi in the
morning at school if he could and try to resolve the situation. Her father
wasn't being mean to him, he was just scared, and Naoki, though not afraid,
did not wish to harm the father of the girl he, despite his best efforts not
to, loved.
    "In all the time he's been here, has he ever tried to hurt you?" Nozomi
pleaded.
    "No." Akihito had to admit.
    "And you've driven him off." Nozomi cried out, leaving in her bare feet
to search for her beloved Naoki.
    She was deep in the woods when the snow began to fall, but so concerned
was she with Naoki's safety, that she did not notice the crystal droplets.
By the time she did notice, the snows had become a blizzard and she had
lost her way. Dressed only in her nightclothes, she tried her best, but
could find no shelter.
    Chikako sent her husband out to find Naoki and joined him in the search.
    Not long after, Naoki heard them searching and he started a search of
his own. He combined his innate natural skills with those he'd learned as a
Galaxy Police Operative, and located Nozomi in less than ten minutes. By
that time, she was barely alive. Naoki picked her up and carried her back to
her parents' home.
    Chikako and Akihito huddled together in their kitchen, weeping. They
wanted their daughter back, but they knew there was little hope for that.
    They heard the living room door slide open and ran in to see Naoki,
still unmasked, carrying Nozomi.
    "Put her down!" Chikako screamed, horrified at the thing that had her
daughter.
    "Chikako, be still." Akihito told her. He helped Naoki move Nozomi onto
the sofa.
    "But... but..." Chikako stammered. "there's a monster... there's..."
    "I know." Akihito nodded. "But he saved Nozomi so he's obviously not a
bad monster..."
    The 'monster' turned toward them. "Will you *please* stop calling me a
monster? Look, try to look at things from *my* point of view, you only have
to put up with one of me. I have *millions* of your species I have to look
at every day and while you're not ugly, most of you aren't beautiful to me."
    "Who *is* beautiful to you? Nozomi?" Chikako asked.
    Naoki nodded.
    "She is young, still, a mere child, though on the verge of womanhood."
Chikako wept. "Please, be merciful."
    "If you are asking me not to see her because you doubt I am capable of
loving her, then consider my actions carefully. If you are asking me because
of my appearance alone, then consider your actions, carefully."
    Chikako could not bear to look at the monster at her daughter's side, but
she found the strength to bear his presence in the calmness of her husband.
    Nozomi recovered under Naoki's care and that of her parents over the next
week (it had snowed too deeply for them to bring her to the hospital). During
that time, Chikako and Akihito were able to watch Naoki care for Nozomi and
they grew to accept him, despite his unconventional appearance. They knew,
however, that no one else would.
    "Nozomi," Chikako told her daughter, when Nozomi had recovered. "Your
father and I know you love Naoki, but I'm afraid you cannot be involved with
him. This world just isn't ready for that kind of a relationship."
    "Then we'll move to a world that is." Nozomi told her parents.
    "And where will you find such a world?" Akihito asked.
    "We'll go to the future." Nozomi declared. "Where Naoki comes from."
    "Is that possible?" Akihito asked. He knew his daughter would not be

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 * SLMR 2.1a * "Myaa!"   ...  Ryo-ohki