1 This is getting old. They belong to Tatsunoko Productions.

Ken grinned as he watched Jinpei race over to the WWII Gull-Wing F-4-U Corsair that was sitting in the middle of the clearing and began inspecting it with a steady stream of exclamations, "Where did you get this aniki? How'd you get it here, why's it all the way back here? Does Hakase know you have this? Can I fly it?"

Ken chuckled and joined him next to the plane, "She's in no shape to fly yet Jinpei. When she is, then maybe we'll see about a lesson."

Jinpei grinned, a maybe meant he'd be able to talk Ken into it, sooner or later. Curiosity overwhelmed him, "How did you get this plane aniki? I thought they didn't exist except in museums anymore."

Ken allowed himself to smirk a bit as he leaned against one wing, "They don't. And in answer to your question, no Hakase doesn't know I have her. Neither does your sister. So no blabbing, got it?"

The younger boy's chest puffed visibly with pride. Ken was sharing a secret with him that Jun didn't know, talk about cool! He leaned against the plane's fuselage in a mirror of Ken and asked, "I won't tell, promise! How'd you get her aniki?"

"Remember when Jun took you to that comic convention in Tokyo last year?"

"Yeah. Joe busted his leg up two days before we left. Boy was Hakase mad!"

Ken chuckled, "That's putting it mildly. Well, while you two were gone, the three of us got called to do some recon for President Kane. Galactor had a base hidden on one of those little islands in the Philippines and we had to put it out of commission. Since you two were gone and Joe busted up, I took Ryu out with me. Joe was not happy at being stuck on the ship. While we were looking around, Ryu stumbled across her. Literally, she was buried under a bunch of foliage. Almost pitched himself headfirst into the cockpit."

Jinpei snickered a bit, "Figures he'd do that. How'd you get her back here without Hakase finding out?"

Ken grinned at him, "Once we took out the base, we pushed her into the ship's cargo hold and made a detour by here on the way back to base, how else? I've been working on her a little at a time ever since, but it's slow going." He moved to the cockpit and rummaged around inside for a moment before producing a toolbox with a flourish, "Want to help?"

"Yeah!"

An hour's companionable work later had the plane sporting a newly repaired portion of her engine and both the Eagle and Swallow smeared liberally with engine oil. Jinpei wiped his hands on a rag and smiled sheepishly at Ken, "Sorry about that aniki. I didn't know it was gonna splash around like that."

Ken finished wiping his face and began blotting the worst of the oil from his hair, "Don't worry about it Jin. Just be more careful next time huh?"

"Hai aniki." Jinpei glanced down at his now filthy shirt, "Oneechan is gonna have a fit when she sees this."

Ken shrugged and tossed the rag he was using into the plane's cockpit, "Shirts wash. Help me pull the prop off the front and then we'll call it a day. You still have that Algebra homework to finish before I take you home."

Jinpei groaned, "You had to remind me aniki?

"Fact of life Jinpei. Now let's get this prop off."

It took fifteen minutes of liberal greasing and male cursing to loosen the propeller enough to even budge it from it's mount, and another ten to pull it off for later repair. As they were working it off the last few inches of the mount bar, Jinpei found the courage to ask a question that had been nagging his mind all afternoon. Failing to notice the close proximity of Ken's head to the propeller, or to consider his possible reaction, he blurted out, mid-shove, "Aniki? When are you gonna get together with Oneechan?"

Ken turned to look at him and promptly bashed his head against the flat of the propeller as Jinpei continued to push it towards him, "KUSO!"

Jinpei stopped immediately, "I'm sorry aniki!"

Ken shook his head to clear it, "I'll live. Watch what you're doing huh?"

"Sorry."

"Forget it. Now, what did you just ask?"

Jinpei draped himself over the front section of the plane, feet dangling into the cockpit and grinned at his flustered commander, "I said, when are you and Oneechan finally gonna get together?"

Ken sat down heavily on the grass and put a hand to his forehead, wishing for an ice pack to stave off the lump he knew would show up soon, "What brought that question on?"

Jinpei rolled his eyes, "Well, it's kinda obvious that you like her aniki. And she likes you too. So what's the big deal?"

Ken sighed, now wishing for an aspirin as well, "Help me finish getting the prop off Jin, then we'll head back to the house."

The younger boy scowled at him, "No fair dodging the question aniki."

Ken met his scowl with a firm look, "Let's get this done," the softened at the mutinous look he got, "and when we get back, we'll talk alright?"

Jinpei considered this for a moment, then nodded, "Alright aniki. But don't think I'm gonna forget about it."

"Somehow, I didn't think you would."

Gold Angel: As if Jin would pass up a golden opportunity!

Female Heero Yuy: Don't cry! As soon as I post this, I'm tackling Operation Babysit. Bar site issues, the next chapter should be up within 48 hours. If not, you have my permission to use the Bird Missile.

Karen: You're making me blush! Hope you liked this chapter

A/N Sorry about the long wait, my muse decided she wanted nothing to do with college finals and took an early summer trip to the Bahamas without me. But now that she's back, more should be up soon. For pics and general info on the Corsair, check out http/www. sikorskyarchives. com/f4u.html Ja ne.