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. 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.