Selves Inserted
Brought to you by Truly Krappy Productions
"Truly Krappy, never half-assed."
Disclaimer: At the bottom.
Chapter One
---
Kagato opened his mail carefully. He knew better than to expect a
bomb or anything, he was far too unimportant. But you could never be
too careful. Some spam mail was so awful, so pointless, he'd spent
hours washing his hands after opening it because he'd actually touched
the contents. Alas, this bizarre-looking letter wasn't spam at all!
It was....
Kagato blinked. It was a letter of acceptance by that school in
Japan. For that town... what'sit'sname?
He was accepted as a Tutor in Japan, and inside the envelope, as well,
was a packing list, and an airplane ticket!
With a short, embarrassingly simplistic dance, Kagato made his way
back to his crappy, smelly apartment, already memorizing the list of
things to take with him.
---
Tannim yawned as he rifled through the mail. The junk mixed in with
the bills, and a person had to be careful not to confuse the two.
Tannim was very tired, as he had just finished watching all of Trigun
and both Original Dirty Pair DVDs, back-to-back-to-back, and his mind
was a bit fried. It was also shot, shredded, and pelted with
shrapnel. He had explosions on the brain, to say the least.
'Curious, what's this bit of mail that looks neither junk, nor bill?'
Tannim's mind mulled over the implications of actually getting mail
from someone who might care about his well being.
'Nah, it's got to be some junk in the disguise.' None the less,
Tannim opened the mail with vigor to see what secret surprises might
lie inside.
"Congratulations, you have been blah, blah, blah, Japan, blah, blah,
tutor, blah." It took a few moments for the realization to sink in.
"Japan? Me? Tutor?! FREE PLANE TICKET?!" The young man let out a
whoop of joy as he ran around in a fit of excitement. It's a shame
the Tannim slammed into a wall a moment later; he might have tried to
pull some really crazy stunts.
---
A few days later, Kagato found himself boarding an ugly 757 for
California. He'd been excited, until he heard that the In-flight
movie was being changed at the last moment. As long as it wasn't Bio-
Dome or Grease, though, he figured he could suffer through it.
Upon boarding, he found himself stuffed between a fat, greasy-looking
woman with body odor, and another woman who cradled a screaming baby.
The plane, at this time, was still at the terminal.
Kagato sighed. "I was made to suffer. I guess it's my lot in life."
he said, with a grin. Thankfully, he whipped out the novel he always
had stashed in one of his pockets, and started reading.
Eventually, the plane took off, and, with Jacksonville International
Airport far, far behind him, he was on his way.
---
Tannim looked about as he boarded the plane to Japan. A rather large
carry on was clutched protectively in one hand, ticket in the other,
as he searched for his seat. Various Japanese and non-Japanese people
were either already sitting, or boarding the plane with him. Finally,
he came to his seat.
"Forty-Nine A?" he muttered as he glanced up, and then down at his
ticket. He then looked to see that the only person sitting in the row
seemed to be an American, like him. That person, however, was sitting
in his seat, right next to the window. The guy looked to be the
veritable beanpole.
"Excuse me; you're sitting in my seat," said Tannim a little
peevishly.
"Oh? Darn. Thought it'd be free. Wanna trade? I've got the aisle,"
Kagato said with a smile. He didn't want to get on anybody's bad side
just yet, but he did want the window seat.
Tannim looked down at the seat. "Bah. It'd be too much trouble to
move ya. I'm too lazy to do the airplane dance." He sat down in seat
'B' and took out from his bag an RPG book entitled 'Big Eyes, Small
Mouths,' before putting his carry-on underneath the seat in front of
him.
Kagato stared out the window for another minute, and then turned to
the other guy. "You know... we can take turns, or something.... I
just realized how much water I'm going to be looking at, with a window
seat to Japan."
Tannim grinned. "Oh? And what kind of turns would those be? You get
beginning and end, while I get water?"
"No, no... I mean... unless that's what you want... I was thinking
more along the lines of..." he trailed off. Finally, he shrugged.
"Doesn't really matter how I word it, I know we both want to watch the
landing. Am I right?" he asked with a little grin.
A faraway gleam entered Tannim's eyes as he thought about it. "Mmm...
Japan...." It looked as if he was on the verge of drooling. He gave
a short bark of a laugh. "You bet I want to see it when we go in.
How about this: I get leaning privileges. You're much skinnier than I
am, and therefore easier to look past." Tannim finished out his
proposal with a bit of the ol' Tannim-logic.
Kagato nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He held out his hand. "Kyle
B... but I go by Kagato."
Tannim smiled as he shook Kagato's hand. "Matt K, but I like to be
called 'Tannim.'" He blinked for a moment. "Hey, that's my line! I
always say, 'sounds like a plan,'" he complained good-naturedly.
Kagato grinned. "Where you headed?"
Tannim literally bounced in his seat, pumping his arms in the air and
doing the chair dance in celebration. "I~I get to go~o to Japa~an as
a tu~uto~or and teach e~engli~ish," he sang as he bounced around.
Kagato quirked a brow at Tannim's antics. "Funny, that. I'm doing
the same thing. Maybe we can keep in touch. Share teaching
techniques, or something?"
Tannim blinked. "Oh? Where at? Mainland or one of the islands? I
wish I was going to Hokkaido."
Kagato sighed softly. "Yeah. I'm going to Nagoya. Talented as I may
be, Tokyo didn't find me 'quite' talented enough for their schools."
"You too?" asked Tannim in surprise.
Kagato blinked. "You mean... we're teaching in the same town?"
Tannim smiled. "What are the odds?"
Kagato shrugged. "Weird.... Oh well. What do you do... aside from
tutoring, now?" he asked with a smile.
"I enjoy reading, watching anime, and playing RPGs; hence the book
that combines the three," said Tannim with a sly smile.
"How bizarre. I enjoy all three, as well. What's your favorite
Anime?"
Tannim rolled his eyes at the question. "All of the above."
"Heh. I know what you mean. Right before I left, though, I was
watching Love Hina. So... I suppose that series is first and foremost
on my mind at the moment."
"I haven't been able to see that!" Tannim snapped his fingers in
irritation. "Been too broke lately."
A voice warbled over the intercom. "Please fasten your safety belts;
we're about ready for takeoff." The message was repeated in Japanese.
Kagato, already buckled up, just grinned. "I have a similar problem.
I'm always broke... but it's always because I'm buying more anime,
instead of paying bills. It's a pretty bad obsession. Hopefully I'll
overcome it in Japan."
Tannim snickered. "Like that's likely."
Kagato let out a large sigh. "Tell me about it." He grinned
suddenly. "Prices will be cheaper, though!" he exclaimed, stabbing a
finger into the air to punctuate his point.
A voice boomed from Tannim's left. "Please Put On Your Seat Belt."
The young man turned to see a large, Swedish woman glaring down at him
with fire in her eyes.
Tannim eeped. "Yes'm." He hastily complied.
Kagato chuckled a little, and then turned to watch the ground
disappear as they took off into the clouds.
A few minutes later, the blue of the ocean sparkled far below, and
Kagato turned back to Tannim. "Well... I doubt the scenery will
change for some time."
Tannim was hunched over, reading the RPG book on his knees and holding
a smaller, book-shaped object with a pen-like object in his other
hand, and occasionally punching at the book-shaped one. He grunted at
Kagato's words.
"Mhm."
Kagato grinned at the response, and then leaned his seat back a
little. "G'night!" he said cheerfully, before twisting away from
Tannim to face the wall of the plane. A few minutes later, he was
asleep.
After a twenty minutes pass, Tannim turned to Kagato and asked, "What
was that? You say something?"
Kagato's only response was a half-snore-half-grunt.
"Okay." Tannim got back to work.
---
Tannim slumbered. He dreamt. The dream was a whirling chaos of
colors, conveying some sense of urgency. Just as the colors started
to form into the figure of a person-
"Hey! Japan! We're there!" Kagato said, waking Tannim up from his
slumber.
-the dream was rudely interrupted.
Outside the window, instead of an open ocean, there was the green,
hilly terrain of Japan's main island.
Tannim sleepily rubbed his eyes as he muttered implications to
himself, the dream fading from his mind. "Goddamn, it's too damned
early in the morn-" he was cut off as he caught a glimpse of the view
outside the window. Within moments he had crowded over Kagato, nearly
crushing the man, in his efforts to get a better look. "Japan...
pretty...."
"...yeah...." was all Kagato said, wishing he could sweatdrop.
"Look! Lookit! It's Mount Fuji! Yaay!" cried Tannim with all the
enthusiasm of a four year old.
Kagato's eye twitched slightly, a habit he'd picked up from watching
too much anime. It used to be voluntary, but after so many years of
anime, it was practically a Pavlovian response.
"Isn't this great? Japan at last!" said Tannim joyfully. He paused,
and then blinked at Kagato. "Oh, you want to see too?"
"Umm... yeah. Tell you what.... Why don't I just look at Japan from
the ground? The window's all yours buddy."
Tannim smiled like a two year old who had just tasted his first candy.
"Yaaay! Thanks mister nice man!" He then promptly forgot about
Kagato and settled in to enjoy the beauty of Japan's scenery.
Kagato, honestly sweating (but, alas, no large drop creeping down his
head), somehow managed to squirm by Tannim without disturbing him, and
sat down in the seat he was rightfully assigned. Then he turned, and
looked across the plane and out the far window, which wasn't blocked
at all.
---
By now, Tannim had calmed down and began acting like the adult his
country claimed he was. The carry-on in hand, Tannim found that the
first obstacle to his job in Japan was a metal detector. Why one was
sitting between him and his luggage, he didn't know, but he had to
pass through in order to complete the journey. The journey to a new
life, new land, new freedoms, new constraints, new-
Kagato, looking at the signs all around him, sighed.
-hardships, new worries, new complaints-
"I knew I should have learned more Katakana than 'Ba' and 'Ka.'"
Sadly, he failed to notice the brief flash that signaled Tannim's
disappearance as Tannim walked through the metal detector.
-new feelings, new clothes, everything shifting-
Of course, a moment later, when he walked through, the flash was ever-
present... as was a sudden burst of... 'something' in his brain.
-wait a second. New clothes? Shifting?
"Gyaaa!!!" Kagato shouted, dropping to his knees while clutching his
head. A second later, he fell over sideways, writhing on the clean
floor.
Odd clothing forgotten, Tannim turned around--faster than he ever had
in his life--and rushed to Kagato. "What? What's wrong? Kagato,
bud, speak to me!" Shaking Kagato with hands unfamiliar to him,
Tannim continued to try and get his new friend to stop writhing on the
ground. However, Kagato was... changing.
"Augh!" Kagato cried, an anguished and confused noise that sounded
pained and questioning. Then, without another sound, Kagato simply
disappeared.
A breeze blew in dramatically, despite it being indoors, and brushed
against the frozen Tannim's red trench coat that he hadn't been
wearing ten seconds ago.
"Well. Shit."
---
He was weightless. That was the first thing Kagato realized, once he
forced past to pain to try to understand what was going on.
Fortunately, with that realization, others were realized in short
order; and, as each one settled in his brain, the pain lessened, and
became more and more understandable.
He couldn't see, exactly; but somehow he could perceive. All around
him were flickers, vaguely human-shaped, each one colored by something
that wasn't actually color. The not-colors ranged from bright to
dark, and, upon simple introspection, he realized he was seeing a
summary of mood and emotion.
After a couple more seconds of this, he also realized he wasn't seeing
with eyes. All around him, he could 'see' people; in front, behind,
above, and below. Close to him, a figure crouched. Apparently,
however, it couldn't see him, because its head moved around slowly, as
if searching.
A moment later Kagato realized he could make out other objects,
floors, walls, equipment, in a similar fashion. With shock, he
realized he could actually peer through them, and 'see' the
electricity as it traveled along circuits.
Kagato tried to blink, and realized that, wherever he was, he didn't
have eyes. With that revelation, he also concluded that he didn't
have arms, feet, a head, or a body at all.
Finally, with all these 'discoveries' having been made, Kagato decided
to attempt something big: moving. Unfortunately, he didn't have feet,
so trying to step off didn't work. However, the thought of falling,
and the motions associated with doing so DID have an effect. Kagato's
perception twisted.
With that little change noted, he then tried to 'will' himself to move
forward, towards the far wall.
Success! Kagato crossed the space rapidly, but he could still 'see'
the movement.
His next step was moving back towards where he'd started. However,
thinking of where he wanted to be, coupled with the thought of 'I want
to be there' didn't move him. Instead, he found himself back there,
without having to traverse the intervening space.
Feeling happier, but unable to grin, he tested out moving and
teleporting short distances for a bit.
Finally, though, he wondered if he could get back to wherever he'd
come from. Was he dead?
"Where AM I?" Kagato asked himself. Had there been someone else where
he was, they'd have wondered how he had made any noise in the void-
like place they were; however, being alone, Kagato just thought it had
been said within the confines of his mind.
Thinking for a bit, he couldn't quite make the connection, but the
location (and situation) was very familiar. He just couldn't put a
name to it.
Finally, he shrugged it off, and began teleporting around at random,
trying to get back to wherever the people were.
---
Questions flew around Tannim's mind almost faster than he could think
of them. What? How? Why? All of these were brought up and
similarly rejected as not having enough data to answer.
The odd thought that perhaps Kagato had simply walked off, or fallen
to the side, percolated through Tannim's brain. He slowly turned his
head left, then right, in a futile attempt to locate his erstwhile
friend.
"Kagato?" whispered Tannim to the empty space. "What..."
The words would not come. The shock was too great. The thought
sprang to Tannim's idle mind: 'When in doubt, doing something is
better than nothing.'
Forming his thoughts into something resembling a coherent manner,
Tannim stood up... only to finally take note of his recent change in
clothing.
He was wearing a long, odd-looking red trench coat, with buttons up
the middle. His left arm was covered in leather, numerous small belts
wrapped around as if to hold it in place. Gloves covered his hands,
and for the first time, Tannim noticed he was seeing the world in a
tint of yellow. Reaching up to touch his face, his fingers brushed
against the sunglasses resting there.
"Wha..." Tannim received his second shock of the day: he was not
himself.
Quickly looking around, Tannim spied a reflective surface and
literally dashed over to it; feet making strides he never had been
able to before. In his haste, Tannim bumped into a few people, not
bothering to say sorry, only wanting to see-
-a stranger's face staring back at him. No, not a stranger. His
features were still recognizable. His eyes were larger than he had
ever remembered them being, with his nose shrunk down. The odd thing
was that he looked like an anime character come to life.
Tannim froze at the thought. Slowly, he turned around.
Everyone.
Everything.
It all looked as if it was part of some sort of anime.
For the second time that day, Tannim responded to the situation with
the only words he could think of.
"Well. Shit."
---
Kagato was getting annoyed. He'd managed to get his teleporting more
exact, but what he really wanted was to be where everyone else was.
Struggling in one spot for a moment, he realized that there was
something he could almost feel... an intangible wall that he could
push against with his mind.
Kagato began to push. At first it was easy, but pretty soon the
barrier's yield lessened. Finally, just before he felt he didn't have
any more strength with which to push, he felt the barrier give.
Kagato reappeared behind Tannim, about four feet off the ground.
Realizing he could feel air, and extremities, Kagato opened his
eyes... and saw.
His perception was the same above, beside, and behind him, and he'd
already gotten used to seeing like that; but overlaying what was in
front of him were actual images.
Kagato closed his eyes, and realized he could still see. Just not
visually, as with his eyes open. He grinned then, thinking about how
unsettling talking to someone who had their eyes closed would be. As
that thought entered his mind, he made the connection.
Xelloss. Slayers.
Mazoku.
Kagato opened his eyes, and saw Tannim before and below him, back
turned. Only, it wasn't Tannim. He didn't know how to explain it,
but Tannim looked weird.
Using his new moving abilities, he dropped to the floor, oblivious to
the stares of those around him (but feeling oddly pleased with the
general unease he was causing them). He deduced that wherever he was
on the astral plane correlated with his position on the mortal plane.
He grabbed Tannim's shoulder. "Tannim? That you?" he asked.
Almost faster than the eye could see, Tannim spun around. "KAGATO!"
he shouted, overjoyed to see his friend again. Tannim swept up Kagato
in a bear hug as he cried tears of happiness. "I thought I'd lost
you!"
"Augh!" Kagato cried. The waves of relief and joy radiating off
Tannim felt like HARD slaps against his 'other' body. He pulled back,
taking his tangible form on the mortal plane with him.
Tannim blinked at his suddenly empty arms. "Kagato? Dammit, did you
disappear again?" Irritation formed on Tannim's face as he wondered
how his friend was doing that.
Kagato reappeared behind Tannim again, this time with a grin on his
face... and his eyes closed.
"Confusing, isn't it?"
Tannim spun once more to face the voice. Relief flooded him. "Jeez,
what happened to you man? And what's with the funky out-" realization
dawned on him as he took in Kagato's clothing, "-fit?" Tannim paused
a moment to take in Kagato's black clothing, closed eyes, and slight
smirk. "You changed too, huh?" It was more of a statement than a
question.
Kagato wasn't sure what Tannim meant by 'too,' so he walked over to
the mirror and looked into it.
Then, he remember he had to open his eyes to 'see' a reflection. He
did so, gasping in surprise. Staring back was... him, but not him.
"God... I've been Anime-ified."
Tannim placed a hand on Kagato's shoulder. "Congratulations. It's a
bishonen."
Kagato frowned, and then buried his elbow in Tannim's stomach... much
faster than he'd ever been able to before.
"...guess I got speed to go with it. No wonder everything felt a
little slow unless I concentrated."
Tannim's only reply was to grunt, then fall over clutching his
stomach.
Kagato just grinned, and prodded Tannim with his toe for a second.
"Come on. We've got a train to catch."
"Tannim and Kagato, I presume?" a voice spoke behind the pair. Both
men turned around to the stunning sight of Setsuna Meio in a business
suit. Tannim abruptly tried to stand up, but crumpled back to the
ground in pain.
Kagato stared for a moment, and then tightened up. The effort of
staying on the mortal plane would get easier, he assumed, but shock or
pain to his astral body would, at the moment, cause him to withdraw.
Kagato did not want to surprise this person by disappearing. There
was a good reason for that, too: he knew her. In fact, trying so hard
not to disappear, he accidentally muttered a single word: "Pluto..."
The only indication of surprise was a brief widening of eyes, and even
that was concealed a moment later. "You two are the English tutors
for Juuban High, are you not? I have been sent by the school to
escort you there."
Kagato, seeing her reaction (on more levels than anyone else could)
gave Tannim a nudge on the back. "Go for it, talkative-one."
Tannim stood in pain, still clutching his stomach. He gave Setsuna a
weak smile, before glaring at Kagato with a look of unbridled hatred.
"Yeah... that's us."
Briefly patting his coat, he found to his surprise a wallet. Inside
the wallet was a picture of him, and had his name listed as Tannim
Murphy. He held up the evidence toward Setsuna. "See? I'm me.
Sorta." He gave a weak laugh at his own statement, before scrunching
up his face in pain once more.
Kagato sighed. Even though he could feel his body in the astral plane
absorb Tannim's anger, he knew that pissing him off too much would be
bad for their upcoming work year. He resolved to be a little nicer to
Tannim.
Setsuna raised an eyebrow at Tannim's words. She turned to Kagato and
gave him a speculative look. After a moment, she said, "Very well.
Follow me." Setsuna spun on her heel and began walking toward the
exit of the airport.
Kagato followed behind Setsuna, wondering where, exactly, he went from
reality to a demented mixture of Anime-esque reality-scapes.
Tannim feebly followed after the pair. "Hey guys... wait up...."
---
Chapter One End
Disclaimer: We do not own Trigun, Slayers, or Sailor Moon. They
belong to their respective owners. We are not making any money off of
this.
Authors Notes:
Tannim: Well, we did it again, only this time worse. It's an SI!
Run for the hills! Heh. At any rate, if you've read this far, it's
either because you genuinely liked the fic, or you were morbidly
curious. I hoped you liked it. Please, if you have the time, send
some C&C to us.
Kagato: Honestly. We aren't THAT bad. Hopefully, you've read this far,
and have come to appreciate us as authors of stellar pieces of wor...
riight.. nevermind. Anyway.. This fic should have a more... stable
plot, the sattire and humor will be toned down from TtEoTM(AOtE)and of
course... umm.. .
Anyway.. hope you all enjoy this. C&C is always appreciated.
Taitekikagato@aol.com
Brought to you by Truly Krappy Productions
"Truly Krappy, never half-assed."
Disclaimer: At the bottom.
Chapter One
---
Kagato opened his mail carefully. He knew better than to expect a
bomb or anything, he was far too unimportant. But you could never be
too careful. Some spam mail was so awful, so pointless, he'd spent
hours washing his hands after opening it because he'd actually touched
the contents. Alas, this bizarre-looking letter wasn't spam at all!
It was....
Kagato blinked. It was a letter of acceptance by that school in
Japan. For that town... what'sit'sname?
He was accepted as a Tutor in Japan, and inside the envelope, as well,
was a packing list, and an airplane ticket!
With a short, embarrassingly simplistic dance, Kagato made his way
back to his crappy, smelly apartment, already memorizing the list of
things to take with him.
---
Tannim yawned as he rifled through the mail. The junk mixed in with
the bills, and a person had to be careful not to confuse the two.
Tannim was very tired, as he had just finished watching all of Trigun
and both Original Dirty Pair DVDs, back-to-back-to-back, and his mind
was a bit fried. It was also shot, shredded, and pelted with
shrapnel. He had explosions on the brain, to say the least.
'Curious, what's this bit of mail that looks neither junk, nor bill?'
Tannim's mind mulled over the implications of actually getting mail
from someone who might care about his well being.
'Nah, it's got to be some junk in the disguise.' None the less,
Tannim opened the mail with vigor to see what secret surprises might
lie inside.
"Congratulations, you have been blah, blah, blah, Japan, blah, blah,
tutor, blah." It took a few moments for the realization to sink in.
"Japan? Me? Tutor?! FREE PLANE TICKET?!" The young man let out a
whoop of joy as he ran around in a fit of excitement. It's a shame
the Tannim slammed into a wall a moment later; he might have tried to
pull some really crazy stunts.
---
A few days later, Kagato found himself boarding an ugly 757 for
California. He'd been excited, until he heard that the In-flight
movie was being changed at the last moment. As long as it wasn't Bio-
Dome or Grease, though, he figured he could suffer through it.
Upon boarding, he found himself stuffed between a fat, greasy-looking
woman with body odor, and another woman who cradled a screaming baby.
The plane, at this time, was still at the terminal.
Kagato sighed. "I was made to suffer. I guess it's my lot in life."
he said, with a grin. Thankfully, he whipped out the novel he always
had stashed in one of his pockets, and started reading.
Eventually, the plane took off, and, with Jacksonville International
Airport far, far behind him, he was on his way.
---
Tannim looked about as he boarded the plane to Japan. A rather large
carry on was clutched protectively in one hand, ticket in the other,
as he searched for his seat. Various Japanese and non-Japanese people
were either already sitting, or boarding the plane with him. Finally,
he came to his seat.
"Forty-Nine A?" he muttered as he glanced up, and then down at his
ticket. He then looked to see that the only person sitting in the row
seemed to be an American, like him. That person, however, was sitting
in his seat, right next to the window. The guy looked to be the
veritable beanpole.
"Excuse me; you're sitting in my seat," said Tannim a little
peevishly.
"Oh? Darn. Thought it'd be free. Wanna trade? I've got the aisle,"
Kagato said with a smile. He didn't want to get on anybody's bad side
just yet, but he did want the window seat.
Tannim looked down at the seat. "Bah. It'd be too much trouble to
move ya. I'm too lazy to do the airplane dance." He sat down in seat
'B' and took out from his bag an RPG book entitled 'Big Eyes, Small
Mouths,' before putting his carry-on underneath the seat in front of
him.
Kagato stared out the window for another minute, and then turned to
the other guy. "You know... we can take turns, or something.... I
just realized how much water I'm going to be looking at, with a window
seat to Japan."
Tannim grinned. "Oh? And what kind of turns would those be? You get
beginning and end, while I get water?"
"No, no... I mean... unless that's what you want... I was thinking
more along the lines of..." he trailed off. Finally, he shrugged.
"Doesn't really matter how I word it, I know we both want to watch the
landing. Am I right?" he asked with a little grin.
A faraway gleam entered Tannim's eyes as he thought about it. "Mmm...
Japan...." It looked as if he was on the verge of drooling. He gave
a short bark of a laugh. "You bet I want to see it when we go in.
How about this: I get leaning privileges. You're much skinnier than I
am, and therefore easier to look past." Tannim finished out his
proposal with a bit of the ol' Tannim-logic.
Kagato nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He held out his hand. "Kyle
B... but I go by Kagato."
Tannim smiled as he shook Kagato's hand. "Matt K, but I like to be
called 'Tannim.'" He blinked for a moment. "Hey, that's my line! I
always say, 'sounds like a plan,'" he complained good-naturedly.
Kagato grinned. "Where you headed?"
Tannim literally bounced in his seat, pumping his arms in the air and
doing the chair dance in celebration. "I~I get to go~o to Japa~an as
a tu~uto~or and teach e~engli~ish," he sang as he bounced around.
Kagato quirked a brow at Tannim's antics. "Funny, that. I'm doing
the same thing. Maybe we can keep in touch. Share teaching
techniques, or something?"
Tannim blinked. "Oh? Where at? Mainland or one of the islands? I
wish I was going to Hokkaido."
Kagato sighed softly. "Yeah. I'm going to Nagoya. Talented as I may
be, Tokyo didn't find me 'quite' talented enough for their schools."
"You too?" asked Tannim in surprise.
Kagato blinked. "You mean... we're teaching in the same town?"
Tannim smiled. "What are the odds?"
Kagato shrugged. "Weird.... Oh well. What do you do... aside from
tutoring, now?" he asked with a smile.
"I enjoy reading, watching anime, and playing RPGs; hence the book
that combines the three," said Tannim with a sly smile.
"How bizarre. I enjoy all three, as well. What's your favorite
Anime?"
Tannim rolled his eyes at the question. "All of the above."
"Heh. I know what you mean. Right before I left, though, I was
watching Love Hina. So... I suppose that series is first and foremost
on my mind at the moment."
"I haven't been able to see that!" Tannim snapped his fingers in
irritation. "Been too broke lately."
A voice warbled over the intercom. "Please fasten your safety belts;
we're about ready for takeoff." The message was repeated in Japanese.
Kagato, already buckled up, just grinned. "I have a similar problem.
I'm always broke... but it's always because I'm buying more anime,
instead of paying bills. It's a pretty bad obsession. Hopefully I'll
overcome it in Japan."
Tannim snickered. "Like that's likely."
Kagato let out a large sigh. "Tell me about it." He grinned
suddenly. "Prices will be cheaper, though!" he exclaimed, stabbing a
finger into the air to punctuate his point.
A voice boomed from Tannim's left. "Please Put On Your Seat Belt."
The young man turned to see a large, Swedish woman glaring down at him
with fire in her eyes.
Tannim eeped. "Yes'm." He hastily complied.
Kagato chuckled a little, and then turned to watch the ground
disappear as they took off into the clouds.
A few minutes later, the blue of the ocean sparkled far below, and
Kagato turned back to Tannim. "Well... I doubt the scenery will
change for some time."
Tannim was hunched over, reading the RPG book on his knees and holding
a smaller, book-shaped object with a pen-like object in his other
hand, and occasionally punching at the book-shaped one. He grunted at
Kagato's words.
"Mhm."
Kagato grinned at the response, and then leaned his seat back a
little. "G'night!" he said cheerfully, before twisting away from
Tannim to face the wall of the plane. A few minutes later, he was
asleep.
After a twenty minutes pass, Tannim turned to Kagato and asked, "What
was that? You say something?"
Kagato's only response was a half-snore-half-grunt.
"Okay." Tannim got back to work.
---
Tannim slumbered. He dreamt. The dream was a whirling chaos of
colors, conveying some sense of urgency. Just as the colors started
to form into the figure of a person-
"Hey! Japan! We're there!" Kagato said, waking Tannim up from his
slumber.
-the dream was rudely interrupted.
Outside the window, instead of an open ocean, there was the green,
hilly terrain of Japan's main island.
Tannim sleepily rubbed his eyes as he muttered implications to
himself, the dream fading from his mind. "Goddamn, it's too damned
early in the morn-" he was cut off as he caught a glimpse of the view
outside the window. Within moments he had crowded over Kagato, nearly
crushing the man, in his efforts to get a better look. "Japan...
pretty...."
"...yeah...." was all Kagato said, wishing he could sweatdrop.
"Look! Lookit! It's Mount Fuji! Yaay!" cried Tannim with all the
enthusiasm of a four year old.
Kagato's eye twitched slightly, a habit he'd picked up from watching
too much anime. It used to be voluntary, but after so many years of
anime, it was practically a Pavlovian response.
"Isn't this great? Japan at last!" said Tannim joyfully. He paused,
and then blinked at Kagato. "Oh, you want to see too?"
"Umm... yeah. Tell you what.... Why don't I just look at Japan from
the ground? The window's all yours buddy."
Tannim smiled like a two year old who had just tasted his first candy.
"Yaaay! Thanks mister nice man!" He then promptly forgot about
Kagato and settled in to enjoy the beauty of Japan's scenery.
Kagato, honestly sweating (but, alas, no large drop creeping down his
head), somehow managed to squirm by Tannim without disturbing him, and
sat down in the seat he was rightfully assigned. Then he turned, and
looked across the plane and out the far window, which wasn't blocked
at all.
---
By now, Tannim had calmed down and began acting like the adult his
country claimed he was. The carry-on in hand, Tannim found that the
first obstacle to his job in Japan was a metal detector. Why one was
sitting between him and his luggage, he didn't know, but he had to
pass through in order to complete the journey. The journey to a new
life, new land, new freedoms, new constraints, new-
Kagato, looking at the signs all around him, sighed.
-hardships, new worries, new complaints-
"I knew I should have learned more Katakana than 'Ba' and 'Ka.'"
Sadly, he failed to notice the brief flash that signaled Tannim's
disappearance as Tannim walked through the metal detector.
-new feelings, new clothes, everything shifting-
Of course, a moment later, when he walked through, the flash was ever-
present... as was a sudden burst of... 'something' in his brain.
-wait a second. New clothes? Shifting?
"Gyaaa!!!" Kagato shouted, dropping to his knees while clutching his
head. A second later, he fell over sideways, writhing on the clean
floor.
Odd clothing forgotten, Tannim turned around--faster than he ever had
in his life--and rushed to Kagato. "What? What's wrong? Kagato,
bud, speak to me!" Shaking Kagato with hands unfamiliar to him,
Tannim continued to try and get his new friend to stop writhing on the
ground. However, Kagato was... changing.
"Augh!" Kagato cried, an anguished and confused noise that sounded
pained and questioning. Then, without another sound, Kagato simply
disappeared.
A breeze blew in dramatically, despite it being indoors, and brushed
against the frozen Tannim's red trench coat that he hadn't been
wearing ten seconds ago.
"Well. Shit."
---
He was weightless. That was the first thing Kagato realized, once he
forced past to pain to try to understand what was going on.
Fortunately, with that realization, others were realized in short
order; and, as each one settled in his brain, the pain lessened, and
became more and more understandable.
He couldn't see, exactly; but somehow he could perceive. All around
him were flickers, vaguely human-shaped, each one colored by something
that wasn't actually color. The not-colors ranged from bright to
dark, and, upon simple introspection, he realized he was seeing a
summary of mood and emotion.
After a couple more seconds of this, he also realized he wasn't seeing
with eyes. All around him, he could 'see' people; in front, behind,
above, and below. Close to him, a figure crouched. Apparently,
however, it couldn't see him, because its head moved around slowly, as
if searching.
A moment later Kagato realized he could make out other objects,
floors, walls, equipment, in a similar fashion. With shock, he
realized he could actually peer through them, and 'see' the
electricity as it traveled along circuits.
Kagato tried to blink, and realized that, wherever he was, he didn't
have eyes. With that revelation, he also concluded that he didn't
have arms, feet, a head, or a body at all.
Finally, with all these 'discoveries' having been made, Kagato decided
to attempt something big: moving. Unfortunately, he didn't have feet,
so trying to step off didn't work. However, the thought of falling,
and the motions associated with doing so DID have an effect. Kagato's
perception twisted.
With that little change noted, he then tried to 'will' himself to move
forward, towards the far wall.
Success! Kagato crossed the space rapidly, but he could still 'see'
the movement.
His next step was moving back towards where he'd started. However,
thinking of where he wanted to be, coupled with the thought of 'I want
to be there' didn't move him. Instead, he found himself back there,
without having to traverse the intervening space.
Feeling happier, but unable to grin, he tested out moving and
teleporting short distances for a bit.
Finally, though, he wondered if he could get back to wherever he'd
come from. Was he dead?
"Where AM I?" Kagato asked himself. Had there been someone else where
he was, they'd have wondered how he had made any noise in the void-
like place they were; however, being alone, Kagato just thought it had
been said within the confines of his mind.
Thinking for a bit, he couldn't quite make the connection, but the
location (and situation) was very familiar. He just couldn't put a
name to it.
Finally, he shrugged it off, and began teleporting around at random,
trying to get back to wherever the people were.
---
Questions flew around Tannim's mind almost faster than he could think
of them. What? How? Why? All of these were brought up and
similarly rejected as not having enough data to answer.
The odd thought that perhaps Kagato had simply walked off, or fallen
to the side, percolated through Tannim's brain. He slowly turned his
head left, then right, in a futile attempt to locate his erstwhile
friend.
"Kagato?" whispered Tannim to the empty space. "What..."
The words would not come. The shock was too great. The thought
sprang to Tannim's idle mind: 'When in doubt, doing something is
better than nothing.'
Forming his thoughts into something resembling a coherent manner,
Tannim stood up... only to finally take note of his recent change in
clothing.
He was wearing a long, odd-looking red trench coat, with buttons up
the middle. His left arm was covered in leather, numerous small belts
wrapped around as if to hold it in place. Gloves covered his hands,
and for the first time, Tannim noticed he was seeing the world in a
tint of yellow. Reaching up to touch his face, his fingers brushed
against the sunglasses resting there.
"Wha..." Tannim received his second shock of the day: he was not
himself.
Quickly looking around, Tannim spied a reflective surface and
literally dashed over to it; feet making strides he never had been
able to before. In his haste, Tannim bumped into a few people, not
bothering to say sorry, only wanting to see-
-a stranger's face staring back at him. No, not a stranger. His
features were still recognizable. His eyes were larger than he had
ever remembered them being, with his nose shrunk down. The odd thing
was that he looked like an anime character come to life.
Tannim froze at the thought. Slowly, he turned around.
Everyone.
Everything.
It all looked as if it was part of some sort of anime.
For the second time that day, Tannim responded to the situation with
the only words he could think of.
"Well. Shit."
---
Kagato was getting annoyed. He'd managed to get his teleporting more
exact, but what he really wanted was to be where everyone else was.
Struggling in one spot for a moment, he realized that there was
something he could almost feel... an intangible wall that he could
push against with his mind.
Kagato began to push. At first it was easy, but pretty soon the
barrier's yield lessened. Finally, just before he felt he didn't have
any more strength with which to push, he felt the barrier give.
Kagato reappeared behind Tannim, about four feet off the ground.
Realizing he could feel air, and extremities, Kagato opened his
eyes... and saw.
His perception was the same above, beside, and behind him, and he'd
already gotten used to seeing like that; but overlaying what was in
front of him were actual images.
Kagato closed his eyes, and realized he could still see. Just not
visually, as with his eyes open. He grinned then, thinking about how
unsettling talking to someone who had their eyes closed would be. As
that thought entered his mind, he made the connection.
Xelloss. Slayers.
Mazoku.
Kagato opened his eyes, and saw Tannim before and below him, back
turned. Only, it wasn't Tannim. He didn't know how to explain it,
but Tannim looked weird.
Using his new moving abilities, he dropped to the floor, oblivious to
the stares of those around him (but feeling oddly pleased with the
general unease he was causing them). He deduced that wherever he was
on the astral plane correlated with his position on the mortal plane.
He grabbed Tannim's shoulder. "Tannim? That you?" he asked.
Almost faster than the eye could see, Tannim spun around. "KAGATO!"
he shouted, overjoyed to see his friend again. Tannim swept up Kagato
in a bear hug as he cried tears of happiness. "I thought I'd lost
you!"
"Augh!" Kagato cried. The waves of relief and joy radiating off
Tannim felt like HARD slaps against his 'other' body. He pulled back,
taking his tangible form on the mortal plane with him.
Tannim blinked at his suddenly empty arms. "Kagato? Dammit, did you
disappear again?" Irritation formed on Tannim's face as he wondered
how his friend was doing that.
Kagato reappeared behind Tannim again, this time with a grin on his
face... and his eyes closed.
"Confusing, isn't it?"
Tannim spun once more to face the voice. Relief flooded him. "Jeez,
what happened to you man? And what's with the funky out-" realization
dawned on him as he took in Kagato's clothing, "-fit?" Tannim paused
a moment to take in Kagato's black clothing, closed eyes, and slight
smirk. "You changed too, huh?" It was more of a statement than a
question.
Kagato wasn't sure what Tannim meant by 'too,' so he walked over to
the mirror and looked into it.
Then, he remember he had to open his eyes to 'see' a reflection. He
did so, gasping in surprise. Staring back was... him, but not him.
"God... I've been Anime-ified."
Tannim placed a hand on Kagato's shoulder. "Congratulations. It's a
bishonen."
Kagato frowned, and then buried his elbow in Tannim's stomach... much
faster than he'd ever been able to before.
"...guess I got speed to go with it. No wonder everything felt a
little slow unless I concentrated."
Tannim's only reply was to grunt, then fall over clutching his
stomach.
Kagato just grinned, and prodded Tannim with his toe for a second.
"Come on. We've got a train to catch."
"Tannim and Kagato, I presume?" a voice spoke behind the pair. Both
men turned around to the stunning sight of Setsuna Meio in a business
suit. Tannim abruptly tried to stand up, but crumpled back to the
ground in pain.
Kagato stared for a moment, and then tightened up. The effort of
staying on the mortal plane would get easier, he assumed, but shock or
pain to his astral body would, at the moment, cause him to withdraw.
Kagato did not want to surprise this person by disappearing. There
was a good reason for that, too: he knew her. In fact, trying so hard
not to disappear, he accidentally muttered a single word: "Pluto..."
The only indication of surprise was a brief widening of eyes, and even
that was concealed a moment later. "You two are the English tutors
for Juuban High, are you not? I have been sent by the school to
escort you there."
Kagato, seeing her reaction (on more levels than anyone else could)
gave Tannim a nudge on the back. "Go for it, talkative-one."
Tannim stood in pain, still clutching his stomach. He gave Setsuna a
weak smile, before glaring at Kagato with a look of unbridled hatred.
"Yeah... that's us."
Briefly patting his coat, he found to his surprise a wallet. Inside
the wallet was a picture of him, and had his name listed as Tannim
Murphy. He held up the evidence toward Setsuna. "See? I'm me.
Sorta." He gave a weak laugh at his own statement, before scrunching
up his face in pain once more.
Kagato sighed. Even though he could feel his body in the astral plane
absorb Tannim's anger, he knew that pissing him off too much would be
bad for their upcoming work year. He resolved to be a little nicer to
Tannim.
Setsuna raised an eyebrow at Tannim's words. She turned to Kagato and
gave him a speculative look. After a moment, she said, "Very well.
Follow me." Setsuna spun on her heel and began walking toward the
exit of the airport.
Kagato followed behind Setsuna, wondering where, exactly, he went from
reality to a demented mixture of Anime-esque reality-scapes.
Tannim feebly followed after the pair. "Hey guys... wait up...."
---
Chapter One End
Disclaimer: We do not own Trigun, Slayers, or Sailor Moon. They
belong to their respective owners. We are not making any money off of
this.
Authors Notes:
Tannim: Well, we did it again, only this time worse. It's an SI!
Run for the hills! Heh. At any rate, if you've read this far, it's
either because you genuinely liked the fic, or you were morbidly
curious. I hoped you liked it. Please, if you have the time, send
some C&C to us.
Kagato: Honestly. We aren't THAT bad. Hopefully, you've read this far,
and have come to appreciate us as authors of stellar pieces of wor...
riight.. nevermind. Anyway.. This fic should have a more... stable
plot, the sattire and humor will be toned down from TtEoTM(AOtE)and of
course... umm.. .
Anyway.. hope you all enjoy this. C&C is always appreciated.
Taitekikagato@aol.com