Toma's Big Day Out

A Dirty Pair/Hamtaro Crossover

     It was a typical day of protecting the computer geek, Toma.

     Man, Toma, how much protection does one person need? I mean how can a trouble consultant get into so much� well, er� trouble?" Yuri complained for the fifteenth time that morning.

     Toma turned to his fellow trouble consultant. His face was a little red from embarrassment. "I'm sorry Yuri, but I really don't know how I keep getting myself into these situations. I certainly don't mean to."

     Kei, the other trouble consultant assigned to protect Toma, sauntered over to the pair. "Well, if you ask me," she voiced rather loudly as well as rudely, "Toma's just a wimp who can't protect himself."

     "That's not true, Kei; I can so protect myself when necessary."

     Kei put her hands on her hips and leaned forward so her face was right in front of Toma's. "Alright Toma," she said challengingly, "prove it."

     Toma met Kei head on. He leaned forward, an angry expression on his face. "Alright, I will. I'll see you two in twenty-four hours, alive and well might I add."

     After Toma stormed off into the distance, Yuri turned to her companion and said, "Hey, Kei, don't you think you were a little too harsh. You really made him mad this time. He could get in real trouble out there by himself."

     Kei turned to her partner. "Oh, how much protection does one person need?" she said in a mocking tone of voice. "You started it, Yuri, so don't try to put all the blame on me." Yuri still looked upset, so Kei smiled matter-of-factly and added, "Hey, come on. Don't worry. Toma's a smart boy. He knows how much he needs our protection. I give him an hour and he'll be back here, ready to forgive and forget."

     Yuri looked at her partner and smiled back. "Yeah, you're right. He'll be back, but I bet it's more like two hours."

     Kei laughed. "I'll take that bet. Loser buys dinner tonight."

     While this conversation was taking place, a few little rather mischievous ears were listening in.

     "That poor, poor man, we should help him," Bijou said sympathetically.

     "I think we should help him too," Hamtaro said rather suddenly, to even his own surprise.

     All the assembled hamsters started voicing their opinion on the matter. Unfortunately, because all of them were talking at once, no one could tell who was saying what.

     "Help him, why?"
     "I agree, we should, it is only right you know."
     "Yeah, let's help the poor guy."
     "Well if he really gets into as much trouble as his friends say he does�"

     "Silence," Boss shouted so loudly that everyone jumped. "Hmmm� After careful analysis of the situation and to abide by the code of the Ham-Hams, we have no choice but to help the fellow in his great time of need, though we must be secretive about it. At no time should anyone�" Fortunately Boss was cut off by loud whoops and yells of joy as the Ham-Hams hurried off to catch the young and potentially hazardous (to himself that is) man.

     Toma was having a hard time looking out for himself in the wild streets of Tokyo.

     He sat down on a bench and put his head between his hands. "My gosh, maybe Kei and Yuri were right. I was nearly hit by a moving vehicle times 2, nearly kidnapped times 8, and nearly blown up times 42. Maybe I really do need their help."

     "Oh no," said a little voice that went unheard by Toma, "he's already beginning to give up."

     Hamtaro looked at his weary, bedraggled group of Ham-Hams. A few of the team, including Boss, had been injured saving the man and had to go back to headquarters. Hamtaro stood up on his hind legs. "We can't give up and we can't let him give up," said Hamtaro, who seemed to be the leader of the group when Boss wasn't around. Hamtaro looked back at the man. "Uh oh, there he goes again. Oh, no. Why is he approaching that strange looking person? Something doesn't smell right. Come here, Bijou, I have a plan." After a quick discussion, Hamtaro waved his paw. "Ham-Hams, move out!"

     Unwittingly, Toma, who was trying to ask for directions, was about to walk into an android set to self-destruct. All of a suddenly the cutest little hamster he had ever seen appeared; it looked lost and tired and lonely. It was also rather dirty. He could tell it was white underneath the filth, and the two blue ribbons in its hair told Toma that this must be a pretty girl hamster.

     So Toma leaned down to pick her up. "Hey, little one. Where did you come from? It's not safe out here for a cute little hamster like you." Toma spied a hotel across the street. It was getting dark. He was tired, discouraged and hungry, but suddenly he had no intentions of going back home. "Hey, I bet you're very pretty once you're cleaned up. Let's get you some place safe and into a warm bath."

     "Ah, finally a person who recognizes true beauty," thought Bijou.

      So off Toma went to the hotel where he and his new companion would bath and enjoy the simple pleasure of being clean. (Toma was rather dirty by now from all the ducking and dodging and ashes.) He was so wrapped up in the thought of a nice, hot bath, he didn't notice the rather loud explosion and screams that were happening behind him. A few minutes after the pair left the scene, fire trucks came to put out the remains of the sabotaged android.

     "Well doesn't that feel better," Toma cooed at his new friend.

     "Ah, oui, you have no idea." Bijou thought to herself.

     The pair was relaxing on the big, soft bed in Toma's hotel room. Toma was clean and fed and looking forward to a good night's sleep.

     "So my little friend," Toma inquired, "do you eat sunflower seeds?"

     "Ah oui," thought Bijou as Toma handed her a sunflower seed to eat. "I never knew helping others could be so rewarding."

     Toma settled back into the pillows and yawned. "You know, it's funny, little one, but all day today, I kept thinking I saw hamsters. Must have been my imagination." With that final thought, Toma shut his eyes and fell asleep.

      Bijou finished the sunflower seed. With a self-satisfied sigh, she nestled closer to Toma and fell into a deep sleep.

     Meanwhile, back at Ham-Ham headquarters, the Ham-Hams were discussing all the incidents that had happened to Toma and how they could keep him safe through the entire night.

     "I think Bijou can handle anything that may come up," Hamtaro said confidently, even though he really didn't believe it in the slightest. It was a mistake to mention this because once again all the Ham-Hams broke into speech.

     "Come on Hamtaro. You know Bijou."
     "Bijou is probably too busy enjoying all the luxuries of the hotel they're in."
     "She can sleep through the Apocalypse."
     "Do you think that man snores much?"

     "Silence," shouted Boss. All the Ham-Hams jumped and came to attention. The Boss coughed and cleared his throat. "Look, we all know Bijou is rather� umm� careless at times. We also know that she enjoys the finer things in life. I think the best thing to do is to watch over Bijou. If we happen to watch over the man as well then so be it. Alright, Ham-Hams. Forward, march!"

     Back at their headquarters, a worried and exhausted Yuri and Kei were finishing up their phone calls.

     "I've checked all the hospitals. No one matching Toma's description has been admitted," Yuri said.

     "And I've checked with the police and emergencies services. No luck there," Kei replied grimly. "Look. We're both exhausted and we're getting nowhere. Let's call it a night and start fresh tomorrow."

     Yuri started to shake her head to disagree, but when she looked at her tired partner, she changed her mind. "Alright, but let's get back here by seven o'clock tomorrow morning. And can we stop by his apartment one more time?"

     Kei smiled wearily and stood up. "Okay, one more time and then we both go home." Seeing the distressed look on her partner's face, she added, "Don't worry. I bet Toma's in some luxury hotel right now, having a long, hot bath and laughing at the two of us."

     Yuri smiled at her friend. She knew she was trying to cheer her up. "Yeah, and he probably with some cute girl. Come on, let's get going."

     When the Ham-Hams arrived at the hotel, they saw a woman dressed in black and white, trying to enter the man's hotel room. "Oh, no," Hamtaro said as he ran across the hallway. "Bijou's in trouble."

     Boss yelled, "Hamtaro, wait! That's just the maid," but the little hamster was too excited to hear him.

     Hamtaro ran around the maid's feet. When the woman saw Hamtaro, she screamed. "Eek, a rat! I better get the maintenance man up here right away!" The woman took off down the hallway.

     "Hey," Hamtaro said, "some people. I'm not a rat! Can't she see how cute I am? Oh well, I guess everything's alright for now. I better get back to Boss."

     Luckily, for both the man and the exhausted Ham-Hams, the rest of the night was uneventful. In the morning, a rested Toma and Bijou left the hotel and headed back to Toma's office, followed by some sleepy, hungry hamsters.

     Toma opened the door to his office and to his surprise, he found Kei and Yuri pacing the floor and shouting into their phones. When the girls saw Toma in the doorway, they both dropped their phones and ran over to him.

     "Oh, Toma, you're okay," Yuri said, looking him up and down.

     "Where were you?" Kei demanded.

     Toma laughed. He walked over to his desk and put Bijou down. "Oh, here and there. I took a walk around Tokyo. It was really quite uneventful." The minute he said that, the two girls started talking at the same time.
     "Do you know how worried we were?"
     "We spent the whole day looking for you!"
     "We checked all the hospitals. We called the police."
     "Why didn't you go home to your apartment?"
     "The least you could have done is call."

     Toma laughed. "Ladies, please. I'm a grown man." He winked at Bijou. "There was no need to worry. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

     As the three trouble consultants talked about yesterday's events, Bijou quietly crept off to rejoin the clan of Ham-Hams. Everyone went back to their headquarters to talk, clean up, eat sunflower seeds until their next big adventure.