For Washuu: New Additions

…yeah. That’s about it.

5: Stowaway to the Tree Planet [Another SI]
5: Stowaway to the Tree Planet

Shayne. His name is Shayne.

‘W- what am I doing?’

Lying on a warm stone. He bolted upright only to clutch his head.

‘Oh, God, that hurts. What happened?’

His vision was too hazy to discern much clearly, but he noticed a shaded area of his vision.

‘Looks like shade, and… a tree? Good, I’m gettin’ over there.’ Shayne rose and stumbled toward the darker area only to trip over a high, sharp curb and fall flat on his face. He cursed aloud.

‘God, I hate this!’ Again, he rose and made his way toward the nearby tree. Unfortunatly , his blurry eyesight didn’t see the branch stretched out right in line with his nose until it was two inches away.

“Holy-!” Shayne dropped, and the branch missed, flipping his hat off.

Shayne stared at where he though the branch must be before putting his back to the tree. His eyesight gradually cleared, as did his very befuddled mind.

He took a deep breath and looked over at his fallen hat.

“Huh. Cardinals.” He grinned and chuckled. “Well, at least there’s something good in this world.” He looked down at himself.

“Yeah, so I’m clothed. Body is… okay.” He jammed the hat back on his head and looked around.

“This place… does NOT look familiar at all.”

//-//-//

Cedar Vale Christian School.

‘Hey, that’s that one brat’s truck, isn’t it? Yeah that’s him gettin’ in…’

After the third bell.

‘He always seems to have something weird going on, like he’s special or something.’

Red truck.

‘Always thinking. Always listening to that crappy old MP3 player.’

Going to the red Ranger with his backpack.

‘Does that kid do anything but think and doodle and write? Wait. Why would he have his backpack with him?’

Getting in his red truck. And starting it. Shayne cursed.

“He’s leavin’ early! That little-” ‘He must be up to something weird’

The red truck moved back toward Shayne, and he jumped-litterally-at the chance.

Before Elliot had even shifted back into first to leave, his classmate had stowed away in his truck bed.

//-//-//

“Hey!” Shayne jerked awake, still bathed in the friendly shade of the tree. ‘I was asleep? Weird.’

“What’s with you?” Shayne looked up at the voice.

Before him stood a young boy maybe ten years of age, blond, dressed like nobody he had ever seen before in his life, and carrying an oddly warped staff. Shayne spoke his mind.

“Kid, I’ll be honest. I have never seen anyone looking quite as weird as you are right now.”

“Yeah? Well, you’re wearing pretty odd clothes yourself, you know.”

“Hey! Who are you to call a good old T-shirt ‘odd’?” the indignant Shayne retorted. The boy’s staff leveled between Shayne’s eyes.

“I’ll have you know I’m a lot older than I look, you know.”

Shayne looked at the boy suspiciously, leaned back, and… batted the staff away. He stood and began to walk away.

“Kid, you’re no more than eleven years old, and I don’t care what I look like, ’cause you look- YEAAAOUCH!” He fell. And swore.

“What was THAT for?!?” Shayne yelled up at the boy standing over him, staff extended.

“I’m not joking! I’ve been state-frozen for milennia (do to familial disputes), so I’m really quite a bit your elder!”

Shayne shook his head and turned to the boy. “Kid, that doesn’t even make sense! Even if you were… whatever, for the past however-many years, you weren’t doing anything, were you? So you’re no smarter than you were before.”

The (sort of) younger boy stopped short and thought.

“Ohhh… I guess. You’re right?”

Shayne got back to his feet and stared at the confounded boy for a minute before turning and gazing at the city they were in. Now that he had a minute to stare at its tilted architecture and towers and many, MANY trees it seemed that-

“Hey.” A hand tapped him on the shoulder. Shayne turned back to the younger boy and was forced into a handshake.

“Mikumo”

“Uh, yeah. Mikumo. I’m Shayne.”

“Shayne?! Oh, you do have a silly name!” the boy giggled and lightly knocked the older boy in the head with his staff.

“Hey, Shayne!”

“What.” Came the exasperated reply.

“Why don’t you come over to my house for the day? I haven’t had friends over in a while, and we could have all sorts of fun!”

This wasn’t new to Shayne. He had been a favorite of the young, a bane to the old, and cursed by his peers for as long as he could remember.

‘Oh, why not?’ He thought to himself wearily and shrugged.

“Come on, let’s go!” The all-too-enthusiastic Mikumo spouted.

Unfortunately, Shayne hadn’t taken been pulled more than two steps by the young boy before collapsing, asleep, on the grass.

//-//-//

Riding.

Riding, stowed away.

In a red truck.

And it hits the gravel.

‘what the-? Why’s the sky gotten so dark all the sudden?’ Shayne wondered. He carefully raised his head over the side of the truck bed. And then he bolted up right.

Light.

‘That…’

Light, over the hill.

‘…is so…’

They sky grew dark, and the engine hummed, and it was time.

Shayne swore, and swore, and swore. He nearly stood and lashed out obscenities like the wind lashed back at his face. Because he had absolutely no clue what was going on.

‘Oh, Christ! I knew that guy was up to something!’

And under the dark sky, a bright light, and within the light, a darkness, and within that darkness…

‘I’m dead. I’m so dead. I’m not even an adult, and some screwed-up supernatural experience is going to send me straight to Hell. I am so DEAD!’

“Why did I get out of bed today?!?” Shayne screamed into the wind as it pulled at him, trying to tip him off his feet.

The different lights shimmered and pulsed, blasting away everything in sight.

‘Th- the light… is…’

//-//-//

“Oh, GOD!” Shayne swore, bolting upright. On a bed. In a house.

“Eh? What’s that?” Mikumo retorted, a hand on his ear. He sat by a low table, cross-legged, with his staff across his lap.

“I- Was I dreaming?”

Mikumo Smacked himself in the forehead. “Well, DUH! How else would you become fearful in your sleep? Amnesia?”

“Uh, amnesia! Right.” The older boy fibbed. “That’s why everything seemes so familiar.” He grinned at Mikumo. Who glared back.

“Hey, you were frozen or something for- however long it was. What’s so weird about me losing a little bit of memory?”

The younger boy tapped the table with his staff and looked the other way.

“Ah, okay. You win.” Mikumo conceded.

Shayned sighed and relaxed. ‘God, this is weird.’

He rose from the bed carefully, recalling what had happened the last time he got up too quickly.

“Hey, how did you get me back h-“

“Well, then! How about you come visit Lady Seto at the palace with me tomorrow?” Mikumo cut Shayne off.

“Seto?” he replied with surprise. The name sounded familiar.

“…That’s an interesting name.”

“You’re not nervous?” Mikumo asked with concern.

“Hey, for all I know I’m dead or having a really screwed-up dream right now, so I’m not too worried about anything but getting rid of this headache.” Shayne retorted snobbishly. “Oh, Chri-” He clutched his head and ducked as another wave of ‘ouch’ hit his head.

“Well, I hope that attitude changes soon, stranger.” Mikumo warned.

Shayne looked up at the boy. “Yeah, why’s that?”

“Because if you keep up that attitude around me, Lady Seto will doubtless become quite interested in you.”

6: Contact
6: Contact

It’s a weird feeling when a person realizes that they have no clue what to say. It’s an even weirder feeling when they happen to be surrounded by other people who haven’t the slightest idea what to say. And they’re all stuttering and gaping at one thing.

A thing such as a boy in his later teens his left arm laid in a cast, his whole right leg braced in steel and pivoted at the knee.

A thing with a black eye. Or two.

A thing that looks like he got in a jousting match with a tree and lost. Badly.

A thing with a blatant gash running down the whole length of his right arm, and what might be described as a dent rendered in his right shoulder.

A thing that had just unknowingly dripped blood from one end of the Masaki’s kitchen to the other, and who was now leaning against the open door across the dining area. None of the others had even heard or noticed when he slid the door open; they were too perplexed over the sudden appearance of BLOOD in the kitchen.

That was until he spoke. His croaking words had pulled their attention away from that ghastly sight and straight onto another: himself.

“What the-” Nobuyuke began to exclaim, but Ryoko was ahead of him.

“Hey, who are you?” She demanded of the boy. “And what makes you think you can just come in and start bleeding all over the place, anyways?” The pirate advanced on the boy, but Tenchi held her back.

“You’re one to be talking, Ryoko.” The bleeding teen shot back at her.

“You’ve made a great imposition on us, whoever you are, so why don’t you just-” Ayeka cut her sentence short.

“W-What did you just say?” Tenchi, Ryoko and Ayeka asked simultaneously.

“Oh, nothing important.” The boy replied, brushing the question of names off. “Y’know, I was hoping that a home like this one would have a bit more hospitality for someone in this… condition” He gestured to his various injuries.

An awkward moment passed as the various members of the Masaki home stared at their intruder and murmured back and forth to each other, trying to decide what to do about this development. The said person just leaned against the sliding glass door and sighed.

Sasami hadn’t bothered to talk with the others. She left the group and approached the boy, much to the surprise of the rest of the group. He was taken aback when Sasami suddenly grabbed his good hand and pulled him over to the low table and made him sit in her place at the table. She then picked up the miso bowl and rushed off to the kitchen to fill it again. The others parted and watched as she passed.

“Hmm. She doesn’t seem to mind blood being there anymore.” Ryoko noted.

“Still,” Ayeka added, and she glared at the boy, drawing the gaze of everyone else to him as well. The boy blanched and grinned nervously at them.

“Uh, hi, ther-” his voice cracked and he coughed. “Hi there. Oh, and I didn’t mean to… you know. On the kitchen.”

FIve faces still looked at him apprehensively. He stared back at the table.

“Aww, great. I’ve gotten everybody mad at me.” He paused. “Now what?”

“Rest!” Sasami’s voice carried from the kitchen. “You’re hurt and you shouldn’t be standing around,” She continued, and then poked her head around the kitchen door. “So just rest there until Washu can come and take a look at you!” She ducked back into the kitchen.

The boy chuckled and shook his head. “Trust Sasami to be the most level-headed of you all. Hah!”

“Yeah, well that still doesn’t tell us how you know our names.” Ryoko warned the boy.

“He does seem to know a lot about us.” Nobuyuke agreed.

“Um, I just-“

“Just how much do you know about us, anyways?” Ayeka cut off the boy’s apology.

“Ayeka, Ryoko! Don’t be so hard on him.” Tenchi chided. “There’s got to be some reason for… hm?” He stopped when he noticed the stranger’s finger pointed at him.

“Tenchi Masaki,”

“Uh, yes?”

“Age seventeen.” He continued. “You recently blew up your high school with a lot of help from-” His finger strayed to Ryoko, “Ryoko Hakubi, notorious space pirate of the past five thousand years under Kagato’s-.

“Kagato’s DEAD.” Ryoko replied sternly.

“Well. It’s good to know when I am.” The boy replied with an oversized grin. “Anyways, you were recently released from Yosho’s seal by Tenchi and have spent most of the time since then bickering with a certain crown princess of Jurai.” His finger now pointed at an aghast Ayeka.

“Ayeka Masaki Jurai. Who is currently re-growing her spaceship, Ryo-oh.”

Sasami returned from the kitchen with a cup of steaming tea and set it down in front of their mysterious guest.

“Ayeka, I don’t understand it, what’s going on?” Mihoshi whispered.

“And this,” Elliot said, placing his hand on Sasami’s head, “Is her younger sister, Sasami. The only person in the house who can cook, except possibly Tenchi’s father.” Again his finger moved, now to “Nobuyuke.”

There was a stunned silence as the strange boy took a drink.

“Well, now. That’s what I call a good cup of t-“

“Heeeeeyyy!” His compliment was over-ridden by a certain blond.

“Oh, yes! That’s right.” Elliot joked, grinning again. “Mihoshi Kuramistu,” He tilted his head and looked at the tall character. “First-class detective with the GP,”

“Yes, that’s me!” Mihoshi added happily.

“…and the resident genius ditz in this house.” The boy added through another drink of tea.

The silence continued, further agitating the boy.

“Oh, come on! As if there’s nothing any of you have to say? Normally you guys can’t stop!”

“Well then,” Tenchi stepped forward and extended a hand to his visitor. “Welcome to the Masaki house!” They shook hands awkwardly.

“Yeah, and by the way, why DO you know so much about us?” Tenchi added more quietly.

“What do you mean?” the boy retorted. “I’m just an ordinary seventeen-year-old high school student like you, Tenchi!” Elliot instantly burst out laughing. “Oh, MAN, that’s a good one! I can’t believ- OW! Oh, ooch- my… Arrrh, that hurts.” Some blood began to drip onto the carpet and the boy clutched his gashed arm.

“Oh, not again!” Sasami complained. “Where’s Washu?”

“Yeah, get the redhead in here,” Elliot added. “I’ve got a score to settle with-“

Just then the door opposite of the table opened and Washu emerged. She had an almost confused expression as she closed the door.

“I don’t get it,” Washu commented. “He was just there, Tenchi, and then- HEY!”

“Looking for me, Little Washu?” The stranger quipped and smirked.

“Hey! Ah- you’re here!” She stuttered back.

Ryoko ws indignant. “What?! Your telling me that this kid is what’s had you cooped up so secretly for the past week?”

“Hush, Ryoko. And, Elliot- you’re coming with me.” Washu commanded and pulled Elliot up from where he was sitting.

“Wait, how do you know my name?” The boy asked as Washu began dragging him back toward her massive laboratory.

“THAT’S WHAT WE’D LIKE TO KNOW!” Several voices shot back.

Washu stopped and turned to the stranger of the house. “Well, Elliot? Why not tell them how? I think they can take it.”

An uncaring expression came to the boy’s face. “Alright, then. I’m dreaming”

Washu smacked her forehead. “Aww, that idiot!”

“And if I’m dreaming, I should be able to breathe even if my nose is plugged.” He pinched his nose and jerked as failed to draw breath. “Wait, I-”

With a thud, he hit the floor, unconscious.

At that point, everyone’s voice could be heard, commenting left and right, as Washu hoisted the unconscious boy up under the arms and kicked open the door to her lab.

“Everybody, I’m- just… SHUT UP, will you?!”

They did.

“I don’t know how long he’s going to be out,” She continued, “but for NOW you’re going to have to wait for the answers to your questions, ALRIGHT?”

Six heads nodded.

“Good!” And the scientist dragged Elliot through the door and slammed it behind her.

“I knew I should have strapped him to the operation table…” Washu grumbled as she returned to her console.

7: Realization
Pre-story note: In this chapter, I refer to lucid dreams and lucid control techniques. Just so you know. That’s what the whole ‘Jello’ thing is: a mind-over-matter trick a friend of mine uses when they’re having a lucid dream.

In other words, our hapless ‘transfer student’ still can’t quite wrap his mind around the fact that he’s “Not in Kansas anymore”.

Enjoy the chapter!

7: Realization

“Man, this kid could have been smaller,” Washu complained as she clumsily dragged the unconscious boy across her lab.

“Ah, here we go. Hup!” She hefted him back onto the operation table.

Washu’s holo-top appeared and she typed a command on it, opening a dimensional hole next to her. She dug around in it and pulled out the straps she was looking for.

“And you are NOT getting away this time.” the genius scientist added with a grimace. One two-inch nylon strap per limb might have been overkill, but Washu was always one to be sure of things while experimenting.

And nylon, she reasoned, is one thing that Mihoshi’s luck wouldn’t be able to affect too much if she ‘happened’ to wander in.

Unlike robotic restraints.

Washu set the last strap in place and tightened it. Satisfied that the boy would be completely incapable of wandering around, she let herself take into account the past hour.

‘He’s unconscious again.’ She pondered. ‘That could mean a lot of things, and none of them sound like good things right about now.’

“Not good.” The scientist mumbled. “And he thought this was all a dream. That… could put him back to square one.” She turned and snapped her fingers. “Naja, set him up for readings again and diagnose his mental levels’ synapses and co-ordination.”

“You named it Naja?”

Washu stopped. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the terminal screen as it began running tests on the boy. A second later the word “conscious” appeared.

“…yes?” the scientist answered, hopeful. She turned. Elliot had turned his head and now he was looking right at her.

“What sort of messed-up dream is it when you go and name a computer after your old classmate?

Washu paused before answering. “And what if it’s not a dream?”

“Yeah, right! Next you’ll be telling me that I totaled my truck on that tree, too.” He looked back up and got an annoyed look. “I already had to fix up the front end once this school y-” Elliot’s head snapped over from the slap that cut his sentence short. He glared back at the scientist.

“W- Hey! Why-” Again his words were cut short, this time by a finger placed on his lips. His eyes spelled puzzlement as Washu removed her finger and crossed her arms.

“Elliot,” she began with a flat expression “MOVE.”

The boy’s eyes trailed down to his wrists. His feet jiggled, confirming to him that they were, too, bound. He sighed knowingly.

Lightly closing his eyes, Elliot thought. ‘It’s made of jello. Jello. My bonds are made of jello, they are made of jello…’ In his mind, he imagined his arm shooting off the table and pumping the air.

“JELLO!” He cried out, wrenching his right arm upwards against the nylon strap. His whole body spasmed with the kickback. “It… it didn’t break?” the boy asked, perplexed.

Washu’s covered her mouth and giggled. “Nice technique, but that sort of thing doesn’t work on this side of consciousness.”

“Quit rambling, will you? I don’t want to spend the rest of this dream strapped to an operation table!”

“Oh, I’m just that annoying, am I?”

“Well… I don’t mind you being here in my dream. I just can’t do anything while bound to this- Huh? Washu?”

A hug. So powerful when used right.

“Washu, what is it?” The surprised boy asked.

“You can’t move… how can that be a dream?” The scientist asked softly from beneath layers of red hair.

Something in the boy’s mind switched and he began to well up. “Washu, is-“

“Please don’t call me a dream.” Washu whispered. “Just don’t.”

She pushed herself up on her hands and looked down the strange visitor to her reality.

He cried. He didn’t know what else he could do, even though he was faced with his greatest wish come true. If anything of what was happening around him was something he could call reality…

“Th-this is… all r-real?” He stammered.

“Yes, Elliot. I’m as real as you are right now,” Her voice stiffened. “Which means that all this time you’ve been romping around here like you couldn’t do yourself harm has set back you recuperation period by half a week.”

The scientist stood and crossed her arms. She smiled a little at her patient as he tried to come to grips with reality.

After a minute, he finally calmed down some. “I… I can’t believe it. This is all real?”

Washu smacked her forehead and groaned. She was happy to have convinced the boy that he wasn’t dreaming up everything, but he clearly wasn’t quite taking it all in stride.

“You’re definitely going to have to get used to living in a fictional world, Elliot.”

His eyes grew big. “You mean I get to stay?” He asked, practically bleeding hopeful excitement.

“Yes. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly how you got here in the first place, so you’re stuck here for the time being.”

Elliot gave a short laugh and smiled like the Cheshire cat.

Washu smiled back. “Plus… I wouldn’t want such an interesting study case as you to get sent back home before I could run some tests on it, right?”

The boy’s smile went right out the window. “Tests?” He asked apprehensively. “And what do you mean you don’t know how I got here?” he tugged at his restraints. “You’re Washu! The greatest scientific genius in the universe, and you can’t figure out how a depressed 17-year-old got pulled into an anime?”

Washu turned back to her consol and typed some more. “Nope. That’s why I didn’t just inject you with some nanomachines and have you all fixed up in half a day. You’re a rare enough case that I wanted all variables as unchanged as possible.” She finished typing and turned back to the table. “And so, you have to heal all on your own.”

“Oh. Okay, I get it.” The boy nodded. “But, um, Washu,”

“Yes?”

The boy glanced down at the various nylon straps that painfully confirmed he was NOT dreaming all this. “Do you think you could, you know,” He tugged and one holding a wrist.

The redhead considered for a minute.

“Alright,” She concluded. “Just promise me you won’t go bolting the moment they’re off, okay?”

“Agreed.”

The scientist began to work the straps loose one by one.

“Y’know, Elliot, you really need to watch what you say around the people in this reality.”

“What do you mean, Washu?” The boy looked at her quizzically.

“Suppose you were to tell them some fact about their future. They would immediately either plan for or against what you told them would happen, time would change,” she poked the boy in the nose with one of the loosed straps. “And YOU would be responsible.”

The boy pondered that as the scientist removed the last remaining strap.

“Oh.”

“Yes, ‘Oh’.” Washu parroted. She stood and tossed the straps into a subspace hole.

“That would be less that optimal.” Elliot concluded.

“Now you’re getting it.” The scientist agreed.

“Yes.” He started to sit up, but Washu stopped him.

“I don’t think so, Elliot.”

“What?” he looked at the redhead, almost pouting.

“You’re not getting up for a while yet, so just lay back down, alright?”

The boy groaned and laid back again. “Yes, mom.” He added, still annoyed.

Washu grinned wide “That’s right! Now just stop worrying so much and let your body rest.”

The boy grumbled for a minute as the redhead returned to her console, but then heard a familiar sound coming from nearby.

Some say nothing lasts forever

We all run the risk of being lost

Elliot’s eyes got big. “Washu? Were did you…” He looked over

The genius scientist cackled and she held up something.

“My laptop?”

“I took the liberty of copying your, ahem, primitive hard drive to my databanks. You had already shown yourself to be a man of music, so I thought that you might find it easier to relax if there was something playing.”

Remember me

Let me see

Make me believe

Remember me

The boy laughed heartily. “Good guess, Washu.”

He sighed and relaxed some more, eyelids growing heavy.

“Good guess.”

=+=+=+=

Author’s Note: The lyrics are from a Matrix song called “Remember Me”. The first two lines I quoted were later re-used after they got a contract, so the Bride song with those lyrics is the only on that will show up in an online search.

8: Moving In [Just finished today!]
Note to the readers:

You might have questioned by now why the character in this story has a tendency to nod off or suddenly go unconscious. Well, I’ll tell you that I happen to know from experience that when someone gets in a car accident like that, they spend a LOT of time sleeping while their bones knit and their flesh re-generates.

As for the conking out, well… let’s just say that the mind is a fickle thing, and proving to it that everything it senses as being imaginary is actually real can cause a rather volatile reaction.

If you didn’t notice, then never mind, ’cause it’s not going to happen again… I think.

Also, three days have passed since the end of the last chapter, and ten since the SI’s initial transfer.

8: Moving In

“Okay, is everybody here?”

It was dinnertime yet again at the Masaki house, and its various inhabitants had gathered to eat. Included was their mysterious visitor from Iowa, who at the moment wore an unusually large grin.

“Very well, then,” The red-haired scientist continued. “I have an announcement to make.”

“This isn’t going to end up like the last announcement you made, is it?” Sasami asked with concern.

“There’s not another strange man you’ve been hiding, is there?” The older princess quipped.

“Yeah, what about it, Washuu?” Ryoko added.

“Now, now, settle down, girls. I was just going to say that, due to the odd nature of our recent visitor’s appearance, he’ll be unable if not incapable of returning home. Got that?”

A moment of silence passed as everybody thought that over.

Ryoko’s head hit the table. “Great.” she mumbled.

“Another ‘Big Brother’, yay!” the young princes exclaimed.

“Oh, dear. This could get interesting.” the other thought aloud.

Tenchi sweat-dropped and scratched the back of his head.

“Well, I guess we can handle one more person living here. Why not?” He decided.

“Very well, then. Since none of you seem TOO upset by that,” Washuu decided, glancing at her much-annoyed daughter.

“He stays.” Katsuhito concluded.

The boy, who this whole time couldn’t stop grinning, immediately broke out in an odd sort of irregular laugh as he shook his head.

“Haha. Ha, oh man. Oh man, oh man. Heeee…whew!”

Everyone stared at Elliot like he’d lost his wits. He smacked the table.

“THANK you, Washuu.” He finally said, regaining his composure. Somewhat.

“And thank you all.” He added. He cocked his head and added, ” you’ve pretty much made my dreams come true.”

Again, that big grin.

And another awkward pause.

“So, who exactly are you?” Nobuyuke asked the Iowan.

He turned to the redhead. “Am I allowed to talk about all that, Washuu?”

“Yes, I think the current scenario can handle that.” She replied with confidence.

“Very well.” The boy concluded, and everyone’s gaze fell on him.

“My name is Elliot. I am seventeen and in my final year of high school.” He pondered for a second. “Well, really I should say WAS in my final year. I’m from America, you see.” A few of the others looked mildly surprised. “But not the America you think of. When and where I come from, all of you,” Elliot pointed at the various people listening, ” are seemingly nothing more or less then the imaginations of the great Masaki Kajishima!”

Aside of Katsuhito’s raised eyebrows and Washuu’s snickering, nobody reacted.

“Let me re-phrase that.” the boy considered. “Until two weeks ago, I only knew you all to be fictional characters in an anime.”

“WHAT?”

Now the others were reacting.

“I knew this kid wasn’t quite right!” Ryoko spat out.

“Do you really expect me to believe such a pack of lies, Mister Whoever-you-are?”

“No, not really, Ayeka.”

“Wow. What was it like there?” Sasami asked.

“Well, it was the year 2011, if that clarifies anything.”

“Yeah, right.” Tenchi and Ryoko retorted as one.

“Oh, man. You’re from the future?” Nobuyuke asked, aghast.

“Miss Washuu, is there any credibility in what this miscreant is saying?” Princess Ayeka demanded. It didn’t help that Washuu was fighting off laughter.

“Quite so, Ayeka.” The genius scientist replied. She addressed everyone adding, “I’ve run test on him and scanned his memory. Everything checks out; we actually have a dimensional- and time-traveling houseguest!” She beamed.

“Yes. And currently he’s getting hungry.” The boy concluded. “Hey, can someone tell me how to use these things?” he added, clicking his yet-unused chopsticks.

Sasami laughed. “You don’t know?”

Elliot glared at his place-setting. “No, and I’d like to eat.”

Several people groaned and sweatdropped.

“I guess he’s really just like us.” Tenchi realized.

Washuu laughed. “Way to throw off a conversation, Elliot.”

“Just like Mihoshi” Sasami giggled.

“Hey, yeah, where is that ditzy space cop? On patrol?” The boy asked.

“Uh-huh. She left yesterday morning.” Nobuyuke informed him.

“You were still in Washuu’s lab…again.” Ayeka added.

Yet another silent moment passed as everyone reverted their attention to their food. Elliot, however, continued to be confounded at the use of chopsticks. One could ask him “You can hold them, so why can’t you use them?” To this he would doubtless reply, “I can hold a guitar, too. That doesn’t mean I can play it.” You see why he was having trouble partaking of his favored act of eating.

Again Sasami giggled. “You really do need to learn how to use those, Elliot.”

The boy grumbled, but it was a warm-hearted grumble. Washuu was the next to break the silence.

“Well, how about it, Tenchi? You finally have a peer in the house!” She chimed.

“Yeah, we’re both seventeen, huh?”

“And while you can deploy Light-Hawk Wings, he knows all about them.” the scientist added, pointing a thumb at Elliot.

“Oh, really? Like what?”

“Well,” Elliot started. “They are three-dimensional manifestations of divine energy from eleven-dimMMph!” He failed to finish his description due to the scientist’s hand over his mouth.

“Aheheh. Say, Elliot, let’s finish up deciding about you staying here, shall we?” she countered with a sweat-drop. The boy nodded, and Washuu retracted her hand.

It’s not every day the Greatest Genius Scientist in the Universe is taken by surprise, you know.

“So…” Tenchi thought.

“Since the Masaki house is so full, I think it would be best if Elliot stays in my lab.” Washuu commented.

“Oh, we don’t have to do that, do we?” Nobuyuke asked. “I’m sure we can find a room for him to stay in. Somewhere.”

Katsuhito nodded in agreement. “Surely, since we’ve already been able to put a roof over the heads of five extra women, we can house one more person here.”

“Yeah, well I’ve got five planets to spare, so I bet he’ll have a bit more elbow room there.” Washuu retorted. “Besides, I didn’t mean just the building’s capacity.”

“Aww, don’t bother arguing.” Elliot cut in. “I’d rather stay in the lab proper, to be honest.”

The others looked at the boy like he’d just grown a second nose.

“What??? Don’t look at me like that!” He objected, “So I like labs and gadgets that blow up galaxies. And I like dim lighting. And I sleep on the floor. W- I…so what?”

No response was given. The boy sighed and returned to his food.

A few minutes later, Ryoko stood. “Well, I’m done eating.”

She phased into the kitchen to drop off her dishes and was brushing off her hands as she walked back into the room. She stopped in mid-brush when she noticed Elliot gawking at her.

“That is so cool!” He blurted out.

“Now what?” She demanded. The boy just shook his head again.

“I just never thought I’d live to see someone teleport.” The boy responded.

Tenchi gave a short laugh. “That use to take me by surprise, too.” he admitted.

“Oh, yeah? Well are you going to stop staring or do you want to die before you get the chance to again?” Ryoko shot back at the newcomer.

“Nevermind.” Elliot hastily added and he returned to his futile attempts at eating a la chopsticks.

Soon the other Masakis and Juraians and Washuu in turn finished, left the table, and deposited their dishes in the kitchen. Elliot stood, but Washuu snatched up his dishes before he could grab them.

“No need to spill more blood on the kitchen floor.” She quipped. “Or broken dishes, for that matter.”

“Oh. Well, thank you Little Washuu.”

The scientist cackled upon hearing her favorite title.

“Don’t mention it!” She called from the kitchen.

The out-of-place teenager smiled and sighed. He looked at the floor and was about to let his mind wander (as he usually did when inactive) when a hand suddenly appeared in front of him. Looking up, he saw Tenchi Masaki smiling and offering a handshake.

“You may be a handful, but we’re glad to have you, Elliot.” he reassured.

Elliot paused as his host’s words sunk in. Smiling, he took the proffered hand and shook it.

“Glad to be here.” he replied warmly.

=+=+=+=

Next chapter goes back to Shayne on Jurai! (And it’s looking like it’s going to be a long one…)

That’s all folks! I hope you’re reading this line, ’cause that means that you probably read all the rest. Since you bothered to do all that, why not review? [HUGE grin]

Thanks for reading!