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.


BOOK 2: 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?"

BOOK 2: CHAPTER 3

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.

BOOK 2: CHAPTER 4

Ryo-ohki and Ryomitsu were playing the toddler version of tag in
the back yard.

Washu chuckled as she kept an eye on them.

"Little Washu?" Tenchi asked, concernedly.

Washu nodded, to let Tenchi know that she'd heard him, and kept
watching the little ones play.

"Why did you recreate him like that?"

"The real reason?" Washu asked.

Tenchi nodded.

"When the Masses broke out of the tank, and Ryo-ohki later
assimilated them," Washu began. "

"Washu..." Tenchi warned.

Ryomitsu and Ryo-ohki continued to chase each other in a
circle.

"Okay," Washu began. "The real reason is... shh." she
suddenly hissed.

"What..." Tenchi began, a gag appearing over his mouth.

There was silence for several minutes.

"Never mind." Washu shrugged "I guess I'm just hearing things."

Ryomitsu noticed a small butterfly and started to follow it.

Ryo-ohki let out a small plaintive "Miya" and followed Ryomitsu.

"Ryomitsu! Ryo-ohki!" Washu called to them. They kept on
toddling off after the butterfly, so she simply got up and went
after them. In a few moments she caught up with them and took
hold of the upper back part of Ryo-ohki's dress and the back of
Ryomitsu's kimono-shirt.

Ryomitsu made a few futile grabs for the escaping butterfly, then
slumped in disappointment. A moment later, he started to cry.

Washu hugged him. "It's okay, honey." She said, letting go of
Ryo-ohki in order to soothe Ryomitsu. "Tenchi," she said, "you
look after the kids a bit. I've got a couple things I need to
do." She walked off before Tenchi could protest.

"But..." was as far as he got.

Behind a nearby clump of bushes, Shingi sighed, his
hedgeclippers  circling a branch, paused in mid-cut as  Washu
broke off, just as she was about to tell Tenchi the  very thing
that he, Shingi, had been sent to find out.

"So much for short and sweet." He sighed, continuing to watch. "I
was hoping to be off this meaningless little planet by morning,
but at this rate I'll be here for another month."

"Good," said the Innkeeper from behind him. "then you'll have
time to finish mopping the hall." She thrust a mop into his hand
and pointed toward the inn. "And since you're so keen on doing
the shrubbery, you can take care of this once you're done."

Shingi sighed and headed toward the inn to do his chores.

***

Tenchi sat there on the grass. He looked down at the two
children who slept peacefully in his lap, their small furry
heads resting against his shoulders. They had worn themselves
out playing and were now taking a much needed nap. An insect
landed on the tip of Ryomitsu's ear which twitched in response
causing the insect to fly off again. Ryo-ohki's nose twitched.

"Probably dreaming about carrots." Tenchi mused quietly. A
small whimper caught his attention. He looked down at Ryomitsu.
The little Draalthi was trembling in his sleep. The little
creature seemed to be scared to death. Tenchi guessed he was
dreaming of Kain. It was odd. Washu had made certain he had no
memory of his past life. She hadn't wanted it to interfere with
the new one. But somehow, he still remembered Kain. Perhaps it
was nature's way of making sure he didn't make the same mistake
this time around?

Tenchi caressed Ryomitsu's shoulder, soothingly. "Shhh... it's
all right."

After some time, the little Draalthi stopped trembling.


Shingi wiped the sweat from his brow as he went over to Tenchi
and sat down by him, leaning against a tree. "And I thought
police work was hard." He muttered, not fully realizing he'd
spoken aloud.

"Police work?" Tenchi asked.

"I grew up watching cop shows." Shingi shrugged. "I thought
about becoming a cop, but figured the job would be too hard."

Tenchi's scowl told Shingi that he didn't believe a word of it.
"Okay, out with it." He said, firmly.

"Okay," Shingi shrugged. "The Galaxy Police sent me."

"Why?" Tenchi asked.

Shingi looked down at Ryomitsu. "Because of him." He replied.
"They think Washu might have recreated him so she could access
his mind and learn about the Galaxy Police."

"Washu blocked his old memories from being implanted when she
remade him. All that he does recall from the past is Kain, and we
assume that's just a newly evolved survival instinct."

"Washu I might have trouble believing," Shingi remarked, "but you
I do believe."

"I'm flattered." Tenchi muttered.

"Don't be." Shingi told him, "I'm not saying you're a
particularly trustworth individual. You just strike me as
someone who'd be a lousy liar."

"Thanks." Tenchi grumbled.

Shingi looked at the sleeping Draalthi. "Its hard to believe that
child was our bravest Spec'Op." he commented.

"And your most annoying." Ryoko added as she appeared nearby. She
stretched out a few inches above the ground as if in a chaise
lounge, resting her head on Tenchi's shoulder, her hair in
Ryomitsu's face.

Ryomitsu woke, Ryoko's hair tickling his nose. That had been
Ryoko's plan, of couse. But what happened next, was something
she'd failed to consider. He grabbed a handful of her hair and
pulled it.


"OW!!!!" Ryoko screamed, shooting straight up into the air and
hitting the branch above her. "OW!!" She repeated as she crashed
back down to Earth a moment later. Her power sparked as she
turned and glared at Ryomitsu. "I'LL GET HIM!!!"

"Calm down, Ryoko." Tenchi found himself laughing despite the
seriousness of the situation. "He's just a child. He doesn't know
any better."

Ryoko sighed.

Ryomitsu settled back to sleep.

"Miya?" Ryo-ohki asked, as she walked up in her child form. It
was clear she wanted to play with Ryomitsu.

"Shhh." Ryoko told the cabbit-girl. "He's sleeping."

Tenchi looked at Ryoko. He was amazed at her tenderness.

"What?" She asked. "I'm not being tender or anything. I just like
him better this way."

BOOK 2: CHAPTER 5

The Commander of the Galaxy Police went over the new reports that
were on his desk. One of them was Shingi's report regarding the
child Ryomitsu.

The Commander read it over carefully. So far there didn't seem to
be anything to suggest anything was up. But he decided to have
Shingi stay a bit longer and send him a notice informing him of
his decision.

***

Shingi brightened visibly when he heard that he was being asked
to remain with Tenchi and his other guests. He rather liked
Tenchi. The young man had a sense of integrity that Shingi
thought was refreshing.

"Well, it was swell of you to have us here again." Tenchi told
the innkeeper as they packed the car to return home.

As Tenchi was packing, he noticed an extra suitcase. Before he
could inquire about it, the answer came in the form of Shingi,
who walked out to the car wearing a jacket over his regular
clothes.

"You're...?" Tenchi began.

Shingi nodded and gave a second nod in Ryomitsu's direction.
"Until I'm told otherwise, I'm being assigned as his guardian."

"Washu..." Tenchi started.

"I have no intentions of usurping her role as his mother."
Shingi informed Tenchi. "My role is simply to act as his ..."

"Excellent." Washu smiled. "I could use a nanny.  You're hired."

***

"Shingi," Yosho said, "you'll have to room with Tenchi tonight.
Nobuyuki will build you a room in the morning.

"There's plenty of space in my room, grampa." Tenchi said,
hoping that having a roommate would keep Ryoko at bay.

"Ryomitsu. Bite Tenchi's nose." Ryoko huffed.

Ryomitsu tried, but Washu stopped him. "Now now, little one. You
don't bite." She informed him. She looked at Ryoko. "Trying to
get your little brother in trouble." She scolded. She shook her
head and sighed.

***

Tenchi woke in the middle of the night. He could her Shingi
moaning in his sleep. He looked down from his western-style bed
at Shingi's futon. Shingi was tossing and turning, clutching at
the rolled pillow.