Chapter 2: No need for Black Hayate

"So you're telling me you pulled this dog from another place and time?" Remarked Tenchi, giving the little dog a couple of pets.

"Yep, seems like it." Replied Washuu, after getting a change of clothes. Everyone had reorganized the room and where now sitting around the table drinking tea.

"Well, do ya think we can keep it?" Blurted Sasami, with eagerness in her voice.

"I'm sorry Sasami but we have enough people here as it is, and their is probably someone else out there who wants him back." Said Ayeka.

"...I say we cook him up." Stated Ryoko from the ceiling beams above them.

"What! No, you couldn't!" Cried Sasami, pulling Black Hayate close. "Ryoko, that is so mean."

"What, I was only joking." Ryoko said, coming back down to room level. "So I assume we're going to shove the little mutt back in the portal and be done with it?"

"No, unfortunately when I was running around in my lab, I pulled out the plug and managed to rip the cord, I'll have to repair that first." Washuu noted "He'll probably have to stay here for the rest of the day."

"Yay! Come on boy, I'll fix you up something good to eat for lunch, and then you, Ryo-Ohki, and me can go out and play!" Sasami ran into the kitchen with the dog in her arms.

After one of the tastiest meals he had ever eaten, a little left over chicken and some gravy, Sasami took Black Hayate outside. "I just know you and Ryo-Ohki will become good friends, Ryo-Ohki's very nice." Sasami had finally reached where she figured Ryo-Ohki was, the carrot field. "Ryo-Ohki!" Cried Sasami, "Ryo-Ohki, where are you? I've got a new friend for you!"

Out behind the leafy top of a carrot popped a little brown head with two very big brown ears. Ryo-Ohki smiled at the sight of Sasami and ran over to her, only noticing the dog when she was at Sasami's feet.

"Nya, Nyaa?" Said Ryo-Ohki.

"We don't know what his name is, but he's a cute little dog Washuu pulled out of time and space!" Sasami replied, and then set Black Hayate down.

Black Hayate instantly noticed Ryo-Ohki and slowly walked up to her, giving a couple sniffs of the air. Black Hayate knew he had smelled those same smells before, but it was a little different. It was the smell of his two favorite things to chase, a cat, and a rabbit.

Before Sasami even knew what was going on, Black Hayate was dashing after Ryo-Ohki, chasing her through the carrot field. She went all over, trying to lose Black Hayate, but to no avail. Ryo-Ohki realized she really only had two options left, and decided to try and simply lose him one last time. She jumped onto a carrot top, carefully walked forward, and just as Black Hayate was about to jump over, she let it go. It smacked him in the nose, stopping him right in front of the carrot and making him forget all about Ryo-Ohki.

Ryo-Ohki jumped up onto Sasami's shoulder and looked down at Black Hayate, who was now barking and growling at the carrot. "Oh, little doggy," said Sasami, "It's just a carrot, see?" She pulled it out of the ground and gave it a shake. Black Hayate stopped for a moment and stared blankly at the orange thing hanging in front of him. He jumped up, and clamped his jaws around the end of the carrot. "Oh, silly dog." Was Sasami's only remark, and with that carried the carrot and Black Hayate back into the house.

"Ok, I think I've fixed it." Washuu said, stepping out of he lab. The setting sun cast an orange glow in the room as Sasami finished cleaning up the table. Black Hayate was resting peacefully in the corner with Ryo-Ohki, both having reconciled their differences after nearly being squished by a falling Mihoshi. "Hey, little guy, I have something to show you." Washuu bent down and picked up Black Hayate, carrying him back to her lab. "Sasami, you might want to check this out too."

Black Hayate sat before a computer screen, after being scanned by a machine attached to it. "Well, what does it say?" Asked Sasami, eager to find out the information it gathered.

"All I can tell you is that it's still a puppy, and its name seems to be Black Hayate." Replied Washuu.

"Black Hayate? Oh what a cute name!" Sasami remarked, petting the dog on the head. "But can it tell you where he belongs?"

"Sadly, no, but I did design something that might help." Washuu pulled out what looked to be a normal collar, and put it on the dog.

"So, we can keep him!" Sasami ecstatically cried.

"No, but this collar will allow him o come back here. I'm afraid the only way he'll ever return home is if we just toss him into the portal and bring him back to see if that's his home. You see, with a simple push of the button, my machine will be able to calculate where he is and place a portal near by for him to enter because of a tracking device I planted in the collar. It will also tell us when he's gathered enough information to tell whether he's home or not."

"Are we going to start right now?" Asked Sasami, with a little disappointment in her voice.

"No, we'll start early tomorrow." Answered Washuu, knowing that would cheer Sasami up a little.

"Well then, we'd better get our sleep, come on Black Hayate!" Sasami said, picking up Black Hayate and walking to the door.

"Sasami, wake me before breakfast so we can eat before we start, ok?" Washuu called out to her.

"OK Washuu." Sasami absently replied. "You can sleep in my room tonight little cutey!"

Sasami bounded up the steps, calling for Ryo-Ohki to come with too.

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Back n Black Hayate's dimension...

"Don't worry Riza, I'm sure he'll show up" Said a dark haired man from behind his desk. He never managed to finish his paperwork last night, and now he knew he'd be there late again, but he was ok with it.

Inside Roy Mustangs office was Cain Fury, Jean Havoc, Hymans Breda, and Riza Hawkeye, Roy's usual group. Jean was ideally smoking by the door; Hymans and Cain were listening to Riza, who stood in front of Roy's desk. She had her head bent down, holding back tears of worry for her missing dog. Cain had a slightly panicked look on his face, and Hymans had a slight look of both worry and relief.

"D-do you think he ran away because of something I did?" Riza said, her voice finally wavering. She had sat up all night, looking all over for Black Hayate. She arrived at the office early in the morning and was slightly surprised to see that everyone else was already there.

"Probably, I mean you shot at that dog a lot, if I was him I'd have run away sooner. That just goes to sh-" Jean was stopped very quickly, for one Riza had shot the cigarette out of his mouth and had a hole next to his head, for another both Cain and Hymans had covered his big mouth.

"Jean, you can go for today." Roy stated, still working on the reports in front of him.

"I was only saying-" but Jean didn't have time to finish what he was saying because Cain and Hymans had swiftly dragged him out of the office.

"You can go too, if you want. I'll try to finish this paper work as fast as possible so I can help you look." Roy said, shuffling around for a misplaced paper. He had found it right in front of Riza, with a fresh wet spot on it, and then another.

"Thanks, Roy." Riza replied, and turned to the door, intent on finding her puppy

"Don't worry, we'll find him, even if we have to send out all the men to look." Roy said, giving a warm smile and a slight laugh. Riza made no comment and just walked out the door, felling only slightly better.

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Next time: The Black Hayate Paradigm!