A/N: Since all the alerts are disabled on this site YET AGAIN, I was thinking about waiting until they're back up to update anything. But I decided I would update anyway. I can still read reviews, but I have to wait until the review section displays them...

But on the bright side, I won't get an alert which tells me I just put in a new chapter. I really don't get why they have THAT alert.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't ask, don't care.

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Ichiro seemed to have forgotten about the aliens for the moment. During the five minutes it took to locate the Manjoume family's van, he just sat still and let his wife do the driving.

When they reached the van, it seemed deserted. Then Mrs. Manjoume realized that everyone was probably on the other side, where they couldn't be seen from the limo.

She got out of the car and walked over and, sure enough, there they were. It was immediately obvious that Mr. Manjoume had even less parenting expertise than his wife.

Jun had somehow shed his diaper and was running around with only his shirt on, screaming like a wild monkey. Someone had gotten into the box of cookies that were going to be tomorrow's snack, had eaten all the contents, and left the box, wrapping, and a few crumbs scattered on the ground.

Chosaku was sitting a few meters away, trying to use a magnifying glass to set fire to something. Shoji was really the only kid who was behaving. He had gotten back into the car and was playing a game again.

And what was Mr. Manjoume doing during all this chaos? He was stretched out on a towel placed on the sand; fast asleep.

All right, enough was enough! Mrs. Manjoume stalked over angrily and shook her husband by the shoulder. He woke up quickly, and was rightfully embarrassed about the situation Mrs. Manjoume had discovered.

Mrs. Manjoume thought about scolding him, but decided fixing the van should be their top priority. So she simply said, "Dear, I found some help."

The surprise on Mr. Manjoume's face clearly indicated that he hadn't been expecting finding the help so quickly. All he could say in return was, "Do they have a phone?"

Mrs. Manjoume informed him that yes, they had a phone installed on the dashboard of their car, and were calling a tow truck this very moment.

Mr. Manjoume got up and muttered, "I guess I should go thank these people, then..." and walked over to the side of the van where the limo was parked.

He ran back to Mrs. Manjoume in approximately three milliseconds. She had never seen him look so pale in all the sixteen years they had been married.

"Honey, you didn't...I must be seeing things," he stammered out, "Please tell me I'm seeing things!"

Mrs. Manjoume rolled her eyes.

"Not this again. Dear, I've told you once if I've told you a million times. They're a family with small children just like us. Look, I rode in their car, and I came back all in one piece! What, do you think they're suddenly all going to put on hockey masks and wield chainsaws like that guy in the horror movies?"

Mr. Manjoume didn't have to say that yes, he DID think that. The expression on his face sufficed.

As if she hadn't noticed that, Mrs. Manjoume continued, "Well, get over it, because it'll get dark in just a couple of hours, and the repair shop will be closing. We can't go get our van until next morning. Therefore, we'll be camping out with this PERFECTLY NICE family tonight. They helped us-the least we can do is give them dinner!"

Mrs. Manjoume then walked away to get out the dinner supplies, but not before Mr. Manjoume whimpered melodramatically and slowly sank to his knees.

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As Mrs. Manjoume was getting a package of hot dogs out of the cooler, she noticed Ichiro staring intently at a book of matches.

She walked over to him and said, "Excuse me, but could I have those? I need to get the fire started so it'll be ready to cook stuff by dinnertime."

If Ichiro had heard her, he gave no indication of it. He continued frowning intently at the small packet, then he held it up to his ear.

Mrs. Manjoume was just the tiniest bit freaked out. She asked, "May I ask what you're doing with those?"

Ichiro glared at her and put his finger to his lips.

"Ssh!" he whispered, "I can't hear when you're talking like that!"

Mrs. Manjoume faltered. "Um...hear what?" she asked cautiously.

Ichiro looked scandalized.

"I can't just tell anyone!" he exclaimed in shock, "It's top-secret!"

Fortunately, Ichiro's wife intervened by walking over and reaching for the matches in Ichiro's hand. She told Ichiro that he would have plenty of time to listen to their own matchbooks later.

"And that'll be better anyway, dear," she reasoned, "Because you don't know that matchbook. It could be giving you false information for all you know!"

She shot Mrs. Manjoume a look over Ichiro's shoulder that seemed to say, "I'm an expert at playing along with this stuff by now; let me handle it."

And so she was. Ichiro grumbled and complained for a few seconds, but he eventually did hand over the matches.

When Mrs. Manjoume's back was turned, she raised an eyebrow. O-kaay, that was a bit unusual. But all families had weird people! And just because Ichiro was weird didn't mean he wasn't a good person, right?

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Nothing much else of note happened while dinner was being prepared. The two Saiou children tried to play with Jun, but he was too young to understand their game ideas. Then the two walked over to Chosaku and Shoji, but they were too OLD. So in the end, Takuma and Mizuchi sat off by themselves and conversed. What they were talking about, Mrs. Manjoume hadn't a clue.

Ichiro spent most of his time examining every square inch of a bag of potato chips. His wife informed Mrs. Manjoume that he was probably checking it for poison. Even though Ichiro didn't even bother to open the bag, he was apparently satisfied by the outside of the bag, because he put it back in its original place near the fire.

Mrs. Manjoume noted with pity that Ichiro had a distinct, kind of shuffling limp when he walked. It looked like her husband's theories about the syphilis might be true after all.

But she didn't have much time to dwell on that. She was pretty busy setting up dinner for ten people (including the Saious' servant). The servant did help, so that definitely made things easier. Somehow, they managed to assemble everything in an adequate manner, and dinner was soon served.

Dinner also went by uneventfully, mainly because everyone was too busy eating to do anything else.

After dinner, Ichiro promptly went to sleep. Mrs. Manjoume decided that now was as good a time as any to get to know those adorable children of his. So, while Ichiro was snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Mrs. Manjoume walked over to where the older kid was.

Takuma was lying on his stomach, reading yet another one of those thick books with the aid of a flashlight, since the sun had almost finished setting.

Mrs. Manjoume kneeled down next to the five-year-old and brightly said, "Hi! What are you reading? Is it interesting?"

Takuma mumbled something in response. Obviously, he was too absorbed in his book to pay much attention to Mrs. Manjoume. But Mrs. Manjoume was persistent.

"Come on-I'm interested to see what that book is about! Obviously, it must be a good book if you're so hooked on it!"

Finally, Takuma heard her. He carefully marked his place with a bookmark, and flipped the book over so that Mrs. Manjoume could see the title. The book was called "A Brief History of Time", and it was by Stephen Hawking.

Mrs. Manjoume's reaction was like this: O.O

"You read Stephen Hawking?" she asked faintly.

Takuma nodded.

"Yeah...he's funny and I like the pictures," he replied.

"But...isn't that a bit complex for you?" Mrs. Manjoume inquired.

Takuma shook his head.

Mrs. Manjoume backed up quickly. Obviously, she was nowhere NEAR academic enough to keep this kid entertained. Her expertise was in the business field, not quantum theory!

Meanwhile, Takuma had gone back to where he had left off in the book. He looked happier being left alone, anyway.

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Mrs. Manjoume then tried seeing what Mizuchi was up to.

She was also sitting by herself, playing with a doll.

Mrs. Manjoume repeated the same attempts at socializing that she had with Takuma. Fortunately, Mizuchi seemed to be a bit more receptive. She handed her doll over to Mrs. Manjoume so they could get acquainted.

"Her name is Snowball," she told Mrs. Manjoume.

Mrs. Manjoume played along, even though she thought the name was unusual.

"Hi, Snowball!" she said.

"I named her after my cat," Mizuchi continued.

"Well, that's nice of you!" Mrs. Manjoume answered warmly.

Mizuchi looked down and said, "Daddy killed Snowball the Cat because he said she was a Russian spy. I miss her, so that's why I named the doll after her."

Well...this was certainly an unexpected turn. Mrs. Manjoume abruptly changed the subject by saying it was just about time for bed. And so it was.

But once again, when everyone was tucked into sleeping bags and fast asleep, Mrs. Manjoume found it almost impossible to do the same.

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A/N: Coming up next chapter:

We get back to humor as the Manjoume family finally reaches the Grand Canyon!