I'm sorry for my extreme laziness. (Once again) I've had writers block and little inspiration to write. I apologize.

But thank you for the good reviews. Once again, the only character I own is Rinji and all that fun stuff.

"Woah, come again?" Ichigo snapped. "You did not say future!"

"What if I did?" My gaze stayed transfixed on the little girl, who seemed thoroughly interested in everything now that she knew this wasn't her original time.

"If she was from the future, that would mean that I…" Ichigo's voice trailed and her face wrinkled in disgust, "That would mean I married you! Ewwww!"

I grumbled under my breath. 'Is it that bad?'

Rinji had plunked down on the floor, twirling and unwrapping the slender brown cat tail she had around her finger. "What's wrong, Mom?"

Ichigo seemed very aggravated at the little girl. "Listen, please don't call me Mom."

"Ok, Mama."

The red-head began to protest, but I cut her off. "Just let her call us what she will, Ichigo." I ordered.

"Why? What if I'm with Masaya and she pops up and calls me Mama?"

"Masaya?" Rinji's face wrinkled in disgust, "Why would you want to be with him? He's yucky."

I found myself greatly amused by my supposed daughter now. However, I thought it would be best I explained. "Rinji, things are a little different in this time." I glanced at Ichigo, "Ichigo and I aren't married. Or anything even close."

"I am completely faithful to Masaya." Ichigo added her severely clichéd line.

Rinji stared at us both for a long while. "So…you don't love Daddy?" She asked in confusion.

"No." The answer came out…maybe too quickly.

There was silence. It seemed as if the girl was mulling that over in her head, trying to decide how she felt. "Why?"

"It's better not to ask." I put in before I could hear Ichigo's side.

This was mulled over even more. Rinji's little shoulders heaved, "OK…"

It was followed by silence. Deciding that meant Rinji understood, I stood up and pointed to the door. "Ichigo, if I remember correctly, your work isn't finished. I'm sure the others will be pleased to pound you with questions."

Ichigo glanced at Rinji, then silently went for the door. As she opened it, I wasn't surprised to see Lettuce, Pudding, and Mint tumble inside, Zakuro standing over them. I should have guessed they had been listening.

"You girls…" I grumbled.

"So, you two really do have a daughter?" Mint prodded instantly as she dusted herself off.

"She's very cute." Lettuce added sweetly.

"She's from another dimension or something." Ichigo defended herself.

Pudding had slipped foreword and was staring at Rinji intently. "Ah! She has cat ears, na no da!"

"Are you sure its safe to have them out?" Mint pointed out.

"Can we not talk about it?" Ichigo half squeaked as she tried to pull attention away from Rinji. "Now come on! We have work to do!"

I knew Ichigo must really want to avoid the subject of the mysterious little girl if she was suggesting work. The five nosily clamored out, still asking Ichigo the strangest questions. I, meanwhile, turned my attention back to my 'daughter'.

"How old are you?"

Rinji looked up, eyes bright. "Eight-years-old!"

Keiichiro came back in the conversation, though I had forgotten he was there, "Where did you get those cat ears from?"

She looked up as if she expected to see them. "Oh, I accidentally in-jec-ted myself with cat DNA when I was playing in Daddy's lab. He wasn't happy with me."

So, they were real. "Rin-chan," I folded my arms across my chest, "You may want to make them disappear if you plan to go out in public."

"I can't."

Her answer took me back a bit. "What?"

"Daddy said the research wasn't completely done," She explained, tracing her finger along the trenches in the tile, "so I can't put my ears away."

She had to live with her cat ears and tail showing for the rest of her life? I felt myself pitying her. "I…see…"

"Ryou, what should we do with her?" Keiichiro looked down at her, a frown on his face.

I paused before shrugging. "Keep her here, I suppose. I know Ichigo wouldn't take her and I don't exactly trust any of the other girls." I shuddered as I thought of what Pudding would do with the poor thing.

Rinji clapped her hands together. "Yay! I get to stay with Daddy!"

"Until we get you back to your own time." I corrected.

"How long will that be?"

Keiichiro and I exchanged glances. We had been constructing a sort of time machine in the lab, but I wasn't sure how close it was to completion. "I'm…not sure."

"OK! I want to stay here longer anyway!" Rinji stood up and hugged me again. "Thank you, Daddy!"

I felt a bit silly, but I gently pat the girl's blonde hair. "Ah…no problem, Rin-chan."

I looked up as Rinji released me. "I better make sure the girls are doing…something." I slowly exited the kitchen, still wondering about my daughter.

---

Rinji watched her father leave before looking up at Keiichiro. "Mama doesn't love Daddy? That seems strange to me."

Keiichiro smiled, turning to begin some dishes. "Well, if you want to know the truth, I think the two care about each other more then either let on."

The eight-year-old paused. "Then why don't they act like they love each other?"

"I'm not sure, Rinji."

The girl frowned, staring at the door. "I don't like it when Mama talks about Mr. Masaya like that here. In my time place, Daddy never liked him."

Keiichiro couldn't help but chuckle. "I think that may hold true now."

"And Mama loves Daddy in my place, she doesn't talk about Mr. Masaya like that."

He placed a wet plate on the counter. "Like what?"

She paused, scratching her cat ear thoughtfully. "Like he's the most important person ever." She frowned, "I don't like Mr. Masaya, even if Mama makes me be polite to him."

This made Keiichiro chuckle again. "I'm sorry if your disappointed, Rinji."

Rinji began to finger her tail thoughtfully. "Mr. Keiichiro?"

"Yes Rinji?"

"If Daddy really cares about Mama here, is there a way I can make them admit it?"

He smiled fondly at her. "Do you want to?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess I can't stop you from trying."

Sorry, this chapter is kind of short. I thought that seemed like a good place to end.
'na no da' is a strange string of words Pudding adds to the end of her sentence
'-chan' is a suffix most commonly used when refering to girls (commonly)

I'll try to put up a new chapter as soon as I can.