Tenchi Muyo!: Culture Shock! Chapter 2: The Hat By Gitaro the self-inflated Metalhead *** {This is the adapted version with some added content due to some suggestions from a very cool dude, Kevin Sigmund.} Tenchi awoke to find it raining outside. As he peered out the window he could see the endless clouds of black hanging in the sky, and the thick curtain of water ceaselessly falling to the ground. Everything smelled wet, as rain tends to make things smell, and Tenchi couldn't help but feel a little nautious from the humidity. thought Tenchi. If the weather reflected the way Bryan was affecting Tenchi's life, rain was certainly appropriate. Just as Tenchi was becoming accustomed to the way things around the house went with the girls, Bryan moved in, and made things a little more complicated. He was easy to get along with, but he made Ayeka nervous, which made her hang around Tenchi even more, which made Ryoko interrupt her even more, which led to more and more frequent fights. On top of that, he was almost as lazy as Ryoko, and would almost constantly blare his music, which left something to be desired (according to Tenchi anyway). He was always messing up the bathroom, the living room, not to mention the guest room he was staying in, and he would eat more than anybody. As Tenchi walked toward the bathroom, he noticed a trail of towels leading toward the stairs. They were all wet, and soaking into the hardwood floor. Tenchi freaked. He scurried across the floor, picking up the towels as he passed them, and proceeded into the bathroom. Tenchi was shocked to see the worst mess he had ever seen. The bathroom floor was all wet, with soapscum in one of the corners. There were clumped up clothes in one of the other corners, and washrags in a third. Could there be a method to this madness? That's when he glanced at the sink. There was shaving stubble scattered around the sink, and dried out toothpaste running from an open tube of crest into the drain. thought Tenchi, as he was trying to hold back his anger. As he glanced into the shower he suddenly changed his mind. "That's it!" yelled Tenchi aloud. "This is the last straw!" A hair clog in the drain and a ring from the water that collected in the shower is about all that Tenchi could handle for one morning. He stormed down the stairs only to find Mihoshi, Ayeka, and Sasami chatting about something over breakfast. "I think he is despicable. He's almost as bad as Ryoko." said Ayeka. "Don't you think you're being a little hard on him, Ayeka?" replied Sasami. "He's not a bad person." "Yeah, he's really nice to me!" said Mihoshi. "Nonsense." bit Ayeka "I caught him spying on me in the onsen. He was just sitting there on the roof, looking right at me! And then he waved at me! He's so... I don't even know!" Tenchi approached the girls, interrupting on their conversation. "Actually Ayeka, he was helping me put some shingles on the roof. He wasn't intentionally spying on you." he said. Tenchi suddenly thought. "Good Morning Tenchi." said Sasami with her cheery voice. "Humph. He didn't seem to be helping much." said Ayeka. "Well, speaking of Bryan do you guys know where he is?" Tenchi scratched his head. "I need to talk to him about something." As Tenchi said those words, heavy metal music could be heard blaring from behind him, answering his question. "Oh. Nevermind." As Tenchi walked off down the hallway, Sasami yelled something at him. "He's not in trouble is he Tenchi?" "Not too much." replied Tenchi. "Just the usual." *** Bryan was in the guest room listening to some music and trying to write more to a fanfiction that he had been working on when Tenchi knocked on the door. "Bryan you're not naked again are you?" Tenchi said from behind the door. The girls down the hall could be heard giggling. "That was just that ONE time! No, I'm dressed." "Good. I'm coming in." Tenchi walked into the room to find clothes strewn all over the floor, some towels in the corner, and loose papers and candy wrappers all over the desk. Tenchi shrugged his shoulders at the sight (Note: you know, one of those "Homer Simpson when he thinks about his sisters-in law" shrugs.). "Bryan, I've talked to you before about cleaning up after yourself." "Yeah, yeah, I know, but I'm sort of busy right now." thought Bryan. "Look... just clean the bathroom when you're done with it, that's all I'm asking." Said Tenchi, trying to keep his nerves calm. "OK, OK, clean bathroom. Got it." "Well, could you clean it now? It's a mess." "What are you talking about? You call a couple of towels a mess?" *** The girls had shifted their conversation to other subjects when they heard a loud noise from the guestroom followed by a frantic Bryan running up the stairs to the bathroom, followed by Tenchi, who was throwing clothes at him. "All right, all right! I'm going to clean EVERYTHING!" yelled Bryan, then closed the bathroom door behind him. Satisfied by this, Tenchi walked downstairs, and went back to where the girls were. "Ha, so you've finally decided to do something about him, I see." chattered Ayeka. "You didn't have to go that far." exclaimed Sasami. "You should've asked him." "Yeah, maybe you're right." Tenchi swallowed. "But I'm *always* asking him. I feel a lot better now, either way. ...I'm ready for the field." "Here, take this with you." Sasami passed him a bag of food for lunch, as she usually had to, to make sure Tenchi would eat. "..and don't forget to bring your raincoat!" she yelled as he went out the door. "You know something," said Mihoshi all of a sudden. "Tenchi looks really cute when he gets mad, more believable ya know?" Ayeka and Sasami both fell aback. *** Tenchi was in the fields, tending to the endless carrot supply. He feared that the rain might make them rot. It had been pouring repeatedly for days, although it would sometimes calm down in the afternoons, when Bryan would leave for the day. He was working on irrigation ditches for the carrots and thought to himself a little. Tenchi continued working and caught glimpse of a shadowy figure dancing in the distance. It was hard to tell, but it looked like Ryoko. She was dancing around in circles and seemed to be enjoying herself. Suddenly she stopped, and noticed Tenchi's gaze. She teleported over next to him. "Oh, Tenchi." Ryoko danced around him a little bit. "Isn't this rain great? It makes you feel like you're being cleansed from the inside out." "That's easy for you to say. You don't have these carrots to worry about." Tenchi was getting a little nervous, as Ryoko's wet clothes were sticking to her body, making for a rather showy display. He pretended not to notice, but Ryoko kept on getting right in front of him. He tried to make an excuse to get her away until he could collect himself. "Uh, Ryoko, heh, do you think you could go and... get me... a." "A what, Tenchi?" Ryoko said as she seductively neared up on Tenchi. "...anything for my little Tenchi." "ummm... just a... shovel tit, I mean BIT, shovel BIT! Umm, just get me a shovel bit from the head, err shed!" "Oh, is that all, my little dumpling?" she said as she got right face-to-face with him, rain drops slowly dripping down her cheeks. "Th-th that should... do it...err do it for now!" Tenchi thought. "OK... Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back." Ryoko slowly walked away, becoming more and more of a shadow as she disappeared into the rain. The way she swung her hips back and forth made Tenchi's face twist into that of a young boy seeing something both good and bad at the same time. He stood motionless in the rain long after she was out of sight. he thought. *** Bryan finished cleaning the bathroom and proceeded to his room, the guestroom. Unless he started working on his project right away, he would loose all of his inspiration. He really wanted to finish the chapter he was writing. He would often run into walls and end up trying to write around with filler until he could come up with a good idea. Lots of filler. So much filler that it would sometimes become obvious to the reader that he was trying to get a idea in his head, while writing without direction. Without any direction at all... He was walking down the stairs, deep in thought, when he noticed Washu standing in front of him, beaming. She looked as though she was about to ask him a favor, but she might have been smiling for no reason at all (yeah, right). "Hi there Washu, what's goin' on?" he wanted to sound as though he had something to do, so she wouldn't bother asking him any favors. But instead of replying, she just stood there, not moving at all. "Oh, I mean LITTLE Washu. Sorry." he corrected. She replied by continuing to stare. "Hi there, LITTLE Washu, what's goin' on." he said, a little annoyed. "Oh, not much." she replied. "but I could use your help with something." "OK, just as long as it doesn't take too long." he mustered. "Not long at all, you'll be done before you know it. Just follow me into my lab." The lab. He'd been in it twice before, but he hadn't really experienced it to the degree that most of the others had. He had heard plenty of stories, mostly from Tenchi, and he'd been told plenty of times not to go along with any of Washu's experiments. In either case, something told him that he should go. Curiosity must have gotten the better of him, or maybe it was because it was difficult for him to refuse favors. He was a little too nice sometimes. "Well, why not. Just tell me what I have to do." he said with new confidence. "Oh you'll just be monitored a little bit. I've been meaning to get some samples from your species, and it would be easiest to use you as a test subject, since you've gotten use to us and everything." "As long as you repair any, um... damage." "No problem. Let's go!" *** It seemed as though he had been there for hours, but every time Bryan glanced at the clock, only a few minutes had gone by. He sat in the chair Washu had designed for him, waiting for her to return from the other room, where she was collecting the data. He felt kind of embarrassed, and although he was in his boxer shorts, he felt more than naked. He felt as though someone was looking THROUGH him. It was almost the equivalent of being raped, except that he had volunteered. He wished he would have known what he was in for. thought Bryan. Suddenly Washu burst through the door, and gave Bryan the look of a self-satisfied genius who had just completed a task. She walked over and stood directly in front of Bryan. "Well, am I done?" Bryan asked. "Yup, all done! Unless you want to do more!" Bryan thought to himself for a moment. "What more could there possibly be?" He said aloud. "OH! YOU DO WANT MORE!" Washu's eyes beamed with excitement. "What? No, I just meant..." he had meant to decline, but it was too already too late. "There's plenty more! On to the reflex test!" he thought. *** Sasami was suspiciously sneaking around the house. She narrowed her eyes and looked around. To the right was the hallway to the guest room. To the left, the door outside. She had already been to the right, so she went outside, into the rainy twilight. she thought, as she slowly peered into the storage shed. She went around into the backyard, and noticed Ayeka staring into the distance. Sasami tried to see if he could have been with her, but she didn't see him anywhere in sight. she thought to herself. She breathed a sigh of relief to herself and walked over to Ayeka, who didn't even seem to notice Sasami. "What are you doing, Ayeka?" asked the little princess. "Oh, goodness!" Ayeka had been a bit frightened as she didn't notice Sasami was standing next to her. "I'm just watching the rain. It's unlike anything I've ever seen." "It's just rain, Ayeka. We have it on Jurai, too." Sasami exclaimed. "Yes, but here on earth, it's different, you know? It has more emotional value to it. It's almost like a picture of my life, drop after drop of torment, and suffering." She clasped her hands together, as if to pose for an audiance. Sasami looked at her funny. "I think it's just that you've spent 700 years in space." "Yes. you could be right." Ayeka stood quiet for a moment. "But what are you doing out here, Sasami?" She blushed a little bit, but Sasami tried to hide it. "I'm just looking for somebody." "Tenchi's in the field, you know that." "Umm, it's not Tenchi that I'm looking for." the young girl replied. "Really, then who? Mihoshi?" Sasami shook her head. "Yosho?" Sasami shook her head again. "Washu?" The same reply. Ayeka thought in her head for a moment. There was Mihoshi, Washu, Yosho... and there was... "Hey you two, what are you guys talking about?" Ryoko burst out, nearly scaring the living daylights out of both of them. "Dear me, Ryoko! Stop barging in like that!" yelled Ayeka. "Well, excuuuuse me!" Ryoko hovered between the two of them. "I just thought I would just let you know something." "What could I possibly want to know from you?" "Welllll, " she said in a playful tone. "I just won Tenchi." "WHAT!" Ayeka's eyed bugged wide. "MMM-HMMM. I just spent all day with him in the field. I really had his heart racing." "You liar!" "Just ask him when he gets back. We showed each other our true love." "Nonsense! You probably just... just...forced him to... Oh MY LORD TENCHI! I must see if he's allright!" Ayeka ran off in the direction of the field. "HEY! Wait!" Ryoko teleported behind her. "Your not supposed to do THAT!" Sasami just stood there, watching them run off. She smiled to herself. It was a pretty cute scene to watch them fight over some boy like this. A most wanted ex-con and a princess of the Juraian royal family, fighting over the same simple farm-boy. Such an unlikely situation. She couldn't argue though. If she were older, she would have been in the rat race as well. she sighed to herself. She continued inside, and went into the kitchen. She spotted Mihoshi standing in front of an open refrigerator, dancing up and down in frustration. "Come on, where is it." She said aloud, continuing her odd behavior. "Where is what?" Sasami asked her. "Aaaaugh!" Mihoshi froze in her place, and turned around to see who had just spoken to her. "Oh, Sasami, you scared me. How long have you been watching me?" The little Princess replied. "Since just now. What were you looking for?" "Oh, well, remember that piece of cake you baked yesterday?" "Yeah." "Well, I can't find any of it around here. It wanted it SOOO bad." Sasami looked at her curiously. "Bryan ate the whole thing yesterday, didn't you see him?" Mihoshi looked at Sasami as tears welled up in her eyes. "You mean... he... ate...it... all?" Sasami smiled. "Every last bit! He said it was really good, too." At that, Mihoshi couldn't take it any longer. "BWAAAAAAAAAAAH!" "Umm. Mihoshi. did you happen to see... Mihoshi... Mihoshi?" Sasami had hoped that Mihoshi knew where he was, but she didn't help Sasami much more than letting her know to make a bigger cake next time. She continued upstairs to the shrine, as everywhere else had been accounted for. The long stairway with the beautiful view lay both before her and behind, the rain making the side views go blurry. Maybe Yosho/Katsuhito would know where he was. She continued up to the shrine, and reached the door. But something was weird. All around everything was quiet, as if dead. Sasami knocked on the door. "Katsuhito?" she slid the door open an inch. "Yosho, are you in here?" She opened the door all the way and walked in slowly. She even went into the side room, where Katsuhito/Yosho always was, but nobody was there. Suddenly the door shut behind her in the first room, and an angry voice boomed loudly. "Who's in here? If you have come to pay respects to your ancestors, please show yourself!" Sasami hid. She didn't really know why, but she thought it might have been because she had never seen Katsuhito/Yosho so angry. The man boomed once again. "Bryan! If it is you in here, you will be severely punished! You have no right to be here!" Katsuhito remembered the disturbing scene from only three days ago... -FLASHBACK!- He was walking toward the shrine, having just finished dinner. Something seemed a little out of place, though. It was as if there was someone else there. He opened the door, to see Bryan. He was passed out, with bottles of alcohol laying everywhere. It was hard to tell whether he was fully naked or not, as a lone porn magazine covered the mid-section of his body. A strand of thick, soupy drool ran from Bryan's mouth, and was a fraction of an inch from making contact with the ground. The ground that Katsuhito had spent all afternoon polishing. Katsuhito did the only thing he could do. He yelled. He yelled very loudly. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGHH!" He paused for a rather large breath. "YOU BASTAAAAAAAARD!" -FLASHBACK ENDS- Sasami could hear his footsteps approach where she was hiding, and she could actually see his stern face looking around. "That boy is really in for it.... invading the shrine like this.. *again*." He said aloud, and walked away. Suddenly Sasami jumped out from where she was hiding. "Stop!" Katsuhito listened and stood where he was. "Sasami?" She started to cry. "It wasn't Bryan... it was... me." Katsuhito turned around from where he stood and saw a tear stricken Sasami looking back up at him. "I'm sorry, Sasami. I didn't realize. But what are you doing here anyway?" "I was looking for... Bryan." "So he *was* here." Katsuhito frowned. "NO! I was looking for you, to see if you knew where he was!" "Oh, I see." said the old gentleman. "It would seem that I slightly misjudged him... but only *slightly*." Sasami managed a smile. "Did you look everywhere else?" "Mmm-Hmm." Sasami nodded. "Well then, he's either lost in the woods again, or he's in Washu's lab." *** "Am I done yet?" Bryan asked. By now it was impossible to tell how much time he had spent in Washu's, and apparently her clock was based on some other sun because it had 27 hours as opposed to the usual 12. "Oh, don't tell me you're bored yet, we're only half-way through." Bryan was starting to wonder if he would ever get back. "What time is it at any rate?" "It's only 13:89, not even time for knaepetul." she said with complete enthusiasm. Bryan merely rose an eyebrow. "Just what's left to do anyway?" "Well not I don't have much more for you today. Just some data collection. The real exciting stuff comes in a week or two." "You mean this isn't the only day I'll be helping you?" "Of course not! You've never been a test subject before have you?" she said as she winked at him. "I've got months of tests planned! I just have to find a female test subject from your species as well..." Bryan grew bright apple red in the face. "A... female... test subject!? What kind of tests do you have planned anyway?" "Reproductive tests, of course! You don't mind, do you?" "MIND! That depends on what you mean by reproductive tests! Sure... you can examine her all you want, but I'm not going to do anything with her... Nothing at all." "Oh, don't be ridiculous. How about I make a body of your species for me to use during the test, if you don't like the idea of *testing* with a stranger..." "Ummm." Bryan didn't like the way she said the word 'testing' at all. He could have sworn it sounded more like 'testes'. If he wasn't securely fastened down he would have made a run for it right there and then. he thought. He tried to manage a smile, but the way Washu was smirking at him made him uneasy. "Don't worry Bryan, those tests don't come for a while yet. You'll get used to the idea... I promise." Bryan let a temporary sigh of relief. Maybe he could get Tenchi to teach him how to dodge women as easily as he does. *** "That's funny, why do you suppose Washu's door is locked?" Sasami asked aloud. Katsuhito stood behind her, eyeing the door with his ever-curious eye. His glasses seemed to gleam in whatever light there was when he was thinking. "You don't think she could be doing experiments on him do you?" "Maybe, but she wouldn't lock the door... unless..." Sasami examined the door trying to find a way to look inside. Katsuhito's eyes opened wide. "Maybe we should wait for him in the living room" he said aloud, suddenly pushing Sasami in that direction. "What? Why? What do you know Yosho?" Sasami turned around and faced him eye to eye. "Know? Oh.. nothing. I just thought, you know, it could take a while, and we could sit down to wait for them, or..." "Or what? You're not making any sense!" Katsuhito scratched his head and looked at her as he tried to pull off a smile. < Man, don't get this girl angry! > He thought. Suddenly they both heard laughter from the inside the living room. They decided to investigate, and found Washu and Mihoshi watching TV. "This is my favorite part." Washu exclaimed, as the couple on TV started kissing. Mihoshi was bawling her eyes out. "Oh, hi guys! You made it just in time to see the good part!" Washu beamed. "Huh?" said Sasami and Katsuhito in unison. Sasami broke out. "Oh, Yosho! You knew she was here all along didn't you?" Katsuhito scratched the back of his head and managed a goofy smile. "You bet! Heh!" "Washu, did you know that you're door is locked?" Sasami asked. "Of course! I locked it to keep..." She pointed at Mihoshi, who was still bawling. "..out of there. There's some info on Bryan down there and I don't want anybody tampering with it." Sasami brightened a little. "Speaking of Bryan, do you know where he is?" "Yeah, in the guestroom, why?" Washu asked in return. Sasami blushed. "No... reason..." Katsuhito by now had sat down next to the two girls, eyeing the television set. "This looks interesting. What is this show called?" "It's called star-crossed-lovers. It's an ongoing series about romances that are doomed never to be... fulfilled..." Mihoshi bawled. "The guy on the screen is Jacques, and he's about to be mm...mmm...mmurdered...BWAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" "Hmmm, very interesting." The old man in disguise exclaimed. Meanwhile Sasami had managed to sneak out of the living room and proceeded to the guestroom. *** Bryan was in his room changing. The hours he had spent in Washu's lab made him want to wear something new and clean. He glanced at the clock, 6:28. he thought. As he glanced around his room, a revelation struck him: he didn't have any new clothes, much less clean ones. He started picking up his clothes when he suddenly had the unwelcome feeling that he was being watched. He looked towards the door, and saw Sasami standing there, gazing at him. Her eyes met with his, and he suddenly felt as if he should pull away. he wondered. "Sasami, what's...going on?" he asked, rather shrewdly. "Ooohh... nothing. I noticed you were cleaning up, did Tenchi have anything to do with that?" "Tenchi...? Oh, no... I was just getting ready to wash some clothes." "Oh. Well... I just came down here to give you something!" He stared at her somewhat blankly. "Give me something?" Bryan thought. "Uh, huh. I thought you might be feeling left out around here you know..." her eyes gleamed. "I'm not that bad off..." he replied. "Well," Sasami said getting closer to him. "I did some research on your country... and it's customs..." he thought as his eyes started to bulge out of his eye sockets. "And so..." she said getting even closer to him. "...I bought you THIS!" she held a cowboy hat right up to his face. "A... HAT?! Wow, you shouldn't have Sasami!" he thought. He was so relieved that Sasami was exactly what she looked like. A sweet little girl. "You like it?" "Oh, yeah!" "Yay! Then you'll wear it all the time!" Sasami beamed at him. "Wait! I..uh hmmm." he thought. He put it on. Sasami's smile only got brighter. "GREAT! You look just like a bull-boy!" as she ran off, to get the others. he thought to himself. *** At the end of the day, Bryan waited at the usual spot on the roof, alcohol in hand. He just had to wait for everyone to go to bed so she would come up to meet him. He took a swig, feeling the burning sensation go down his throat. he thought. These last few days had been somewhat weird. He felt as though he should wake any moment. Here he was, in Japan, with a nerdy kid with an even nerdier name, with beautiful women swooning at his feet. On top of that they were women from outer space, whose powers ranged from those of star wars to bad superman movies. How the hell did these weird alien women even know Tenchi's language? How did HE know Tenchi's language? And how come he couldn't remember English? Not even a bit? And now Sasami and Washu had been acting really weird around him. "This SUCKS! I can't even understand what my favorite band is SAYING anymore!" he yelled aloud. he thought. He took another swig from the intoxicating beverage. "And HOW THE HELL DID I EVEN GET HERE!" he yelled toward the woods. "I see we're a little peeved this evening." Said a rather lovely voice behind him. "Hi Ryoko." He said sheepishly. "How was your luck with Tenchi today." "Oh, you know. same shit, different day." She grabbed the bottle of AFTERSHOCK from his hand and took a nice long swig. "I see you got some new stuff." "Yeah, tastes kinda like cinnamon. Real thick, too." She tasted it a little more. "Not bad. But not very good, either." "Well, whatever." They sat there together, switching turns at the bottle, neither having anything to say to the other. It was one of those awkward situations. Bryan had an admirable respect for Ryoko for some reason, and he didn't want to goof it up by saying something stupid. On the other hand, Ryoko was still getting used to Bryan. She could tolerate him, but she didn't know exactly why he would talk to her. They might have had a kindred spirit for rebelliousness, but that's as far as she wanted to take it. "Ryoko," he broke the silence, then took a swig. "Why do you like Tenchi as much as you do?" She thought about it for a moment. "I don't think you would understand. I watched him grow up.." She paused again. "..He was the only thing that made me happy for years." She grabbed his bottle and took another long swig. "How much older are you than him? Don't you feel weird, if you're old enough to have watched him grow up?" "It's not like that." she said as she set the bottle down. "I... it's hard to explain. As for my age, I'm... older than you think..." he thought. Ryoko continued. "I think it's more than just a crush. Whatever this *love* thing is, I think I really have it for Tenchi." "What about Ayeka? She likes him too, doesn't she?" "Ayeka." she paused, and took another sip from the bottle. She swished it around her mouth, and swallowed it hard. "I don't believe Ayeka *really* loves Tenchi." Bryan paused to hear a reason why but it seemed that that was all Ryoko was going to say about it. "Why not? She fights over him just as hard as you do." He said, hoping to get a reason out of her. What he had said apparently affected Ryoko negatively because she tensed up a bit. After a few moments she mellowed out and continued to speak. "Well, from what I can understand, she was searching for her dear long-lost half-brother, Yosho. If she loved him sooo much, why did she drop him on sight, just cause he looked old? Come on! She totally bases things on aesthetics and outer beauty. I would like Tenchi even if he was an old crone!" Bryan was rather surprised at her response. "That's so... mature, Ryoko. Why do you act so goofy around him if you feel that way?" Ryoko was a bit taken aback by Bryan's comment. "Am I really *that* bad?" "Well, I can't say I blame Tenchi for being a little intimidated by you, he *is* the shy type." Bryan paused and thought about what he said. "Well OK, I admit, I'm not a love master! But who is? YOU? HA!" Bryan felt somewhat hurt. "I didn't mean it like that..." Both of them stood still for a moment. Bryan reached for the bottle, and tried to take a sip, but it was empty. "Oh," he said. "Hold on, I'll go get some more." As he stood up he felt his legs wobble. He was little buzzed and that usually kept him from being able to walk with his usual ease. he thought. He toppled left and right as Ryoko eyed his movements. She thought. He moved here and there, sort of directionless, and turned around as if he forgot what he went to do. He then turned around again, as if he suddenly remembered. He stumbled toward the window and fell aback. She thought he would stop rolling but he kept on going, right off of the rooftop. She immediately teleported underneath him to catch him in time. "Huh? Ryoko?" Bryan managed to stammer. "That's enough walking for you, buster. You wait here while I get some more booze." She said, rather playfully, and set him back in the lawn chair he had been sitting in. She then disappeared, to get some of Bryan's Jaegermeister from her hiding spot. thought Bryan. he thought about it for a moment. Could it be? He thought he had been through with women back in America. This one, however, was much different. The night sky ahead of ahead of him danced with color. Arrangements of bright lights arranged themselves in circles around him, and in his drunken stupor, they appeared all the more beautiful. *** Ending Song: Nothing Else Matters, by Metallica, or skip it and go straight to the bottom. So close, no matter how far. Couldn't be much more from the heart. Forever trusting who we are, And nothing else matters. Never opened myself this way. Life is ours, we live it our way. All these words I don't just say, And nothing else matters. Trust I seek and I find in you. Every day for us something new. Open mind for a different view, And nothing else matters. Never cared for what they do, Never cared for what they know, But I know. So close no matter how far. Couldn't be much more from the heart. Forever trusting who we are, And nothing else matters. Never cared for what they do, Never cared for what they know, But I know. (Guitar Solo I) Never opened myself this way. Life is ours, we live it our way. All these words I don't just say, And nothing else matters. Trust I seek and I find in you. Every day for us something new. Open mind for a different view, And nothing else matters. Never cared for what they say, Never cared for games they play, Never cared for what they do, Never cared for what they know, And I know. Yeah. (Guitar Solo II) So close no matter how far. Couldn't be much more from the heart. Forever trusting who we are, No nothing else matters. Well, that's it for chapter 2 I guess. I have absolutely nooo idea how I will evolve this into the depths of chaos that lie ahead. No idea. None. So any suggestions will be helpful. I might even give you credit for them. C'mon e-mail me. You know you wanna. Hate me/love me/give me advice 4alldaze@msn.com. Abuuuuse me! C'mon! I like it!