Disclaimer: Tenchi, Ryoko, and all the other TM characters are
property of Pioneer/AIC. Shingi is mine.


Never Give A Short Red-Haired Scientist Too Much Free Time
Book 2

-Chapter 1-

Sasami hummed, cheerfully, as she prepared breakfast. "Good
morning, Tenchi," she told him, as he walked into the kitchen,
"breakfast is almost ready."

"It smells delicious." Tenchi told her.

"Not as delicious as you, Tenchi." Ryoko chimed up as she
appeared, floating in mid-air with her arms around Tenchi's
shoulders.

"Um, Ryoko..." Tenchi stammered.

Washu walked in, carrying Ryomitsu. The alien child had a towel
wrapped around his head. She set the child down on the counter,
so she wouldn't have to bend over. Ryomitsu wore a very perturbed
expression on his face as Washu combed his chestnut-brown hair.
He winced as Washu combed through the normal snags and tangles
that came with long hair. Finally, she pulled what she could've
it back into a short but thick ponytail.

"There," she told him, cheerfully, "all nice and handsome."

"Wow!" Sasami giggled. "You do look cute, Ryomitsu."

Washu set the child down on the foor and went over to the
refrigerator to get the orange juice. She set it on the
counter,then went to get the glass.

Washu turned back with the glass in her hand and saw, much to her
annoyance, Ryomitsu sitting there with the now empty juice
carton. His hair, fur, and clothes were soaked and sticky from
the juice, which he'd managed to pour out onto himself.

Washu let out a cry of frustration. She ran over to the small
child and scooped him up. "You guys start without us." She told
the others, as they prepared to eat breakfast. "I've got to give
him another bath." She picked up the juice-drenched little fellow
and carried him back to the bath.

Kiyone was taking a morning bath when Washu arrived. "Kiyone. I'm
glad you're here. You can give him a bath. I'm starving." She
handed the child to Kiyone, then returned to the kitchen.

The moment the toddler was in the water, he shrieked and latched
onto Kiyone, tightly enough to make a face-hugger alien suffer
from grip envy. His fingernails were humanoid, but still dug into
Kiyone's skin as he clung to her.


Being a Detective First Class, Kiyone was *not* about to let a
small child get the better of her.  It took some doing, but she
somehow managed to get him cleaned up.

***

Tenchi heard a yelp and ran into the living room.

Ryomitsu was sitting on the floor, playing. Nearby, Mihoshi was
pontificating about infections and getting sick all the while
dabbing anti-bacterial medicine (the kind that stings) onto the
little wounds left in Kiyone's shoulders from Ryomitsu's
fngernails.

"Wow!" Tenchi said, sounding impressed, "looks like someone
should cut your fingernails, little Ryomitsu."

"I'll do it." Mihoshi offered, cheerfully.

"Gee, thank you, Mihoshi."

Clipping the diminutive Draalthi's fingernails did not prove to
be an easy task. Ryomitsu kept pulling Mihoshi's hair, tugging on
one of her ears, and just generally fidgetting.

"Why don't I hold him?" Tenchi offered after a few moments.

"Thank you, Tenchi." Mihoshi gushed.

"You're welcome." Tenchi replied, politely.

With Tenchi holding the newest member of his household firmly on
his lap, Mihoshi managed to finally clip his fingernails.

"There," Mihoshi smiled. "All done. Now I'll be right back with
some snacks." She went into the kitchen.

Moments later, Mihoshi returned with a tray of snacks and drinks.
Her foot hit an obstacle.

Kiyone and Washu in their respective locations suddenly had
similar visions of Ryomitsu getting drenched with the sodas and
needing a *third* bath. But before a single drop of soda could
hit, Ryoko arrived, grabbed him, and teleported him and herself
out of the way.

"Ryoko," Washu praised, "its so nice that you love your little
brother so much."

"The only reason I got him out of the way is because I know full
well that I was next in line to give him a bath."

Ryomitsu grinned up at Ryoko and wrapped his arms around her leg.

Ryoko looked up at the ceiling. "Thanks a bundle, mom." She
sighed.



-Chapter 2-

The innkeeper waved as Tenchi's father's station wagon pulled
into the lot.

"Welcome back, Nobuyuki." She smiled. "Try to keep the place
intact this time, okay?"

"Okay." Nobuyuki replied.

Tenchi was about to get the luggage out, when a young man of
about nineteen hurried out to the car.  He had long jet black
hair with a shock of blood red which itself had a shock of white.
It was pulled back and done up in a long braid like a Samurai
warrior. His clothes were an East-West combo; a men's kimono jack
and a pair of jean. The kimono was black with a dragon coming up
the back on the left. The dragon continued up over the shoulder.
Its  foreclaws appeared to grip the wearer's shoulders. Its head
looked down at an angle, toward his right foot

"I'll get it." The young man said.

"Huh?" Tenchi blinked. "Who are you?"

"Tenchi," the innkeeper told him. "I'd like you to meet  Shingi."

Tenchi held out his hand.

Shingi blinked a moment. "Ah. One of your customs." He shook the
proffered hand. "You'll have to excuse me if I seem a bit
impolite now and then. This is all very new to me."

Tenchi looked down at his hand, a subtle hint which Shingi 
failed, utterly, to grasp. Finally, he pulled it away.

Ryomitsu toddled up to the innkeeper and tugged at her apron.

"Huh?" The innkeeper looked down. "Waaaaugh!" She jumped nearly 
a mile straight up when she saw the furry toddler.

Ryomitsu blinked in the most adorable manner.

"What the?" The innkeeper asked, once she'd landed.

"This is Ryomitsu." Sasami told her. "Cute, huh?"

The innkeeper, who had not quite recovered from the shock of
seeing an alien life form for the first time, kawaii cabbits 
notwithstanding, nodded to Sasami. She looked down at the 
little creature who had tugged on her clothes.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Play with me?" He pleaded, his eyes all dewy with hope. 
"Please?"

***

Shingi placed Tenchi's suitcase in the room where Tenchi would 
be sleeping that night. With the last of the suitcases now in 
it's proper place, he paused to catch his breath. He wiped the 
sweat from his brow, then reached into a hidden pocket in the 
sleeve of his kimono. He pulled out a bracelet, similar to 
Mihoshi's, and slipped it on his wrist.

"Headquarters," he said, "This is Operative R. They just 
arrived."

"Understood.", the voice on the other end of the line replied.
"Remember, observe only. Don't engage in any type of
confrontation unless absolutely neccessary."

"Understood." Shingi removed the bracelet and slipped it back 
into his sleeve.