I have the weekend free to write fanfics, and I figured I'd concentrate on
On the Run (as it's the closest to completion of all my fanfics).  Since I
don't have parts 1-4 on my webpage yet, I figured I'd repost these right
now (something I'm not usually in the habit of doing, but it's been a while
since I've worked on this thing).  Part 5 is very close to completion, and
I should have it out tonight or tomorrow (unless something unforseen
happens).  In the meantime, enjoy refreshing your memories about the fic
with this (note that there are a few minor revisions in this repost-
largely grammar corrections and the like, but nothing significant).

Anyway, here it is...
On the Run
A Oneshot Patlabor Fanfic by David A. Tatum
Disclaimer:  Insert legal junk here...

Author's Notes:
I keep saying that there's plenty of room for fanfiction in Patlabor.  I
really have no idea why it isn't a more popular series... well, in addition
to Patlabor: Personal Files (for which I've planned 66 episodes and (so
far) 9 OAVs), I've got MANY more ideas for Patlabor fanfiction.  So,
because I was bored and wanted to try my hand at a shorter Patlabor fanfic
(one which I might be able to finish rather quickly), I came up with this
thing to work out some of the ideas I CAN'T fit into P:PF.
Enjoy!
-------------------------

Noa munched her assorted tempura happily.  A good, home-cooked dinner from
her mother beat anything she'd ever had at SV2 headquarters.  Sure, it
would be nice if she could work off the meal by waxing Alphonse, but she
wasn't on the reclaimed land at the moment.  No, for the first time in
months, she was actually visiting her home.  And this time, she wasn't
AWOL.

The reason was simple- with the first unit receiving their Peacemaker
labors, it wasn't necessary to have the Ingrams on call twenty-four hours a
day; because of that, more vacations were going to be scheduled for the
second unit.  This was the first of many of those vacations, and so far Noa
was enjoying herself, despite the absence of Alphonse.

"Say, do you remember Akemi from down the street?" her father asked.

Noa thought about it for a second.  "Oh, yeah!  Did she get past those
college entrance exams she was studying for?"

"She decided not to take them.  She got married to Mamoru- you should
remember him: the very well-to-do computer technician?  At any rate, with
his job and the money she got as a dowry from his parents, she didn't need
to go to college."

Noa's face fell.  She knew what was coming next.  Why did her father ALWAYS
have to bring up marriage when she visited?  Not only did he sound like a
broken record, but he ALSO was spoiling her vacation.  "I'm NOT quitting my
job to look for the hypothetical perfectly handsome and wealthy husband,
dad," she stated firmly.

Her father sighed.  "Why do you insist on such a dangerous career?  You
KNOW that if you ever get hurt your chances of ever getting married are
pretty much gone.  There've already been SEVERAL incidents where you might
have been killed already!  WHY do you insist on risking your life time
after time for a job that BARELY pays you enough to live off of and which
no-one ever will respect you for?"

Noa glared at him.  "Dad, how many times do I have to tell you I love
working with labors?  I don't WANT a job which won't let me use them!"

Her dad was almost in tears by this point.  "But even if you foolishly
insist on playing around with those stupid giant robots, there's any number
of safer careers involving labors out there, and many of them are much
closer to home!  Construction work, maintenance services, all sorts of
things.  Labors are even being used in airports to load baggage and on
fishing ships to help haul in the catch.  I'd even say the MILITARY is a
safer career than the police, because the military gets called in a lot
less.  But instead, you pick the most dangerous job out there for labor
use, and you insist on staying in it, despite almost being killed several
times.  What's worse, you aren't even able to see us more than once or
twice a year with this job, when there are others much closer to us!  Why?"

"You wouldn't understand," Noa growled, sulking.  "Excuse me, I'm full.  I
think I'll take a bath and go to bed."  With that, she stood up and stalked
out of the room.

She scrubbed herself off furiously in the shower, trying to calm herself
down.  It wasn't until after she'd made it to the furo that she succeeded,
however.

When she finally quelled her anger, she actually wondered about what her
father had said.  'I like Alphonse,' she thought to herself.  'That's what
I always say whenever he asks me.  But he's right- I already know I'm not
going to be able to keep Alphonse forever, and I've accepted that I'll lose
him one day.  So why do I stay in the SV2?  Dad is right- I could hurt
myself seriously one day.  Some days, even Alphonse isn't enough to make
the job worth it... so why do I do it?  Why do I put up with the long
hours, the risks to my life, being so far away from my family, and the
constant fear that I'm just not good enough?  Why?'

*	*	*	*	*

"Dammit, son!" the father of Asuma Shinohara shouted.  "I am NOT doing
anything wrong- those instances were occasions where I was using acceptable
business practices to acquire those smaller companies.  I am NOT being a
corporate bully!  What I'm doing is something any other business in Japan
would do!"

Asuma himself snorted.  "You shouldn't believe yourself to be perfectly
virtuous just because everyone else is corrupt, too."  He grabbed his
jacket and cap.  "That does it, pop, I'm out of here.  I'm tired of
fighting with you all the time, and I need to get back to base, anyway."

"Fine!  Leave!  But you'll never see one dime from the company from my
inheritance!"

Asuma didn't even look back.  "You've made that threat so many times, I
don't think I'd be in your will right now if you were serious."  He opened
the door heading out of the house.  "I'm so tired of all the fighting, I
hope to never have to deal with you again.  I won't be back."  The door
slammed behind him.

Mr. Shinohara sighed.  "Stupid boy- don't you know why I built this
company?"  He shook his head.  "You'll just never be good enough to run it,
will you?"  The phone rang.  "Get that for me, will you, Tsukai?"

Tsukai, the servant, nodded.  "Certainly, sir," he said, leaving the room.

Shinohara continued to grumble about the obstinance of his son while Tsukai
was out of the room until the doorbell rang.  Rolling his eyes in
frustration, he stood up and made he way over to open the door himself. 
One servant was USUALLY enough to do all the chores, but from time to time-
like this occasion- more than one thing had to be done at one time.  He
opened the door.

Tsukai returned from the phone, planning to tell his master that the phone
was a wrong number, to see him waiting on the open door.

"I thought you said you weren't coming back again!" Shinohara growled. 
"What are you- ohmyg-"

The concussion from the explosion that followed threw Tsukai through the
wall and rocked the foundations of the house.  Shinohara, however, wasn't
so lucky.

*	*	*	*	*

Noa sighed, seeing how upset Asuma was.  He was always this way whenever
his father came up- surly, upset, and difficult to deal with.  He'd just
gotten back from the Shinohara mansion, apparently, and this was when he
was at his worst.  She walked up to him as they made their way to the
officers lounge (where they were all hoping to spend the last few minutes
of their vacation time), hoping to take his mind off things and maybe to
comfort him a little.  She knew better than to try suggesting a
reconciliation again.

"Hi, Asuma," she said.

"Hi, Noa.  How was your vacation?" he asked, desperate for any kind of
distraction.

Noa shrugged.  "Fine for a while, but then my father started bugging me-
eep!" she cut herself off mid-thought, not wanting to bring up parents at
all.  "Had all kinds of fun skiing and eating our famous Hokkaido crabs.  I
thought you were coming down to join me?" she teased.  She hadn't really
been expecting him- while they'd mentioned it once or twice, they hadn't
worked out any details.

Asuma shrugged.  "Next vacation for sure.  Pop monopolized me this one, but
he certainly won't next time around."

They were still a short ways away from the lounge when Ohta heard Asuma say
those words.  "Asuma!  There you are- come quick!  There's a story on the
TV you need to see!"

"Huh?" he said.

Without waiting for Asuma to comply, Ohta grabbed him and dragged him at a
run back to the lounge, Noa following along as fast as she could.  When
they got there, the TV was broadcasting a very important story.

"We finally have a camera at the scene.  If you follow our reporter, you
can see the path the shell took as it killed Mr. Okami Shinohara, the
Founder and President of Shinohara Heavy Industries.  The nation mourns the
loss of this great man...."

Asuma continued trying to listen to the rest of the report, but for some
reason the words just didn't make any sense.  His knees started to buckle,
but an arm- Noa's arm- went around him to support him and keep him from
falling.

"Excuse me, Mr. Shinohara," a voice said from behind him.  "Can we talk to
you for a moment?  We have a few questions...."

Asuma turned to see a pair of police investigators waiting for him outside
of the room, accompanied by Captain Gotoh.  "Um, sure."

"We'd like you to come down to the station with us," they said as he was
leaving.  "As you probably already know, your father has been murdered. 
There are a few questions we have regarding your possible involvement...."

*	*	*	*	*

"Asuma's being arrested!?" Noa screeched.  She'd been there when he'd been
taken away, of course, but she'd just thought they were going to ask him a
few questions and that would be it.  She'd had no clue that he was a
suspect.

"There was apparently some evidence against him," Gotoh explained.  "The
servant witnessed Asuma's father open the door and make comments indicating
that he saw Asuma there, seconds before the blast occurred.  Furthermore,
he testified that they had had a serious fight during that day, where Asuma
claimed he didn't want to deal with his father anymore.  Finally, the
murder weapon was a firearm from a police labor- an Ingrams revolver, as a
matter of  fact.  Asuma is one of the few people who would have access to
such a weapon.  It's believed he had an accomplice, however, as it is
assumed he was not the one operating the labor."

Noa frowned.  "So the whole case is based on the testimony of one man and a
gun that any number of people who may be associated with the police could
get?"

Gotoh sighed.  "I admit that seems to be a rather circumstantial case, but
Asuma did not offer an alibi nor could he offer any suggestions for anyone
else who might have a motive.  Since Asuma was the only one they could find
who had the means, motive, and opportunity to kill Mr. Shinohara, they
arrested him."

Noa's eyes widened.  "But that can't be right!  I mean, Asuma's not like
that at all... besides, he was shocked when his father's death was
broadcast on the news.  He didn't know about it!  You saw him, Ohta- you
remember how surprised he was, don't you?"

Ohta, however, was remembering something else.  He remembered that, when
trying to find Asuma, he overheard him say that his 'Pop' wouldn't be
monopolizing him on future vacations.  How could he claim that unless he
knew that his father was dead?  The more Ohta thought about it, the more he
was convinced that his reaction in the lounge was staged.

"Noa," he said hesitantly.  "I... think he did it."

Noa flashed him a look of betrayal.  "You, too?  But you know Asuma would
never do something like that!"

Now that Ohta had firmly convinced himself that the police were right,
however, he was a lot less hesitant in his reply.  "No, I don't!  In fact,
Asuma's such a punk kid, I wouldn't put it past him!  Besides, who else
would it be?"

For some reason, Noa was seized with rage at that comment.  Tears of anger
in her eyes, she reared back and slapped Ohta, nearly knocking him to the
ground.  "How DARE you!" she shouted.

Gotoh's eyes widened.  The situation was escalating much too quickly.  "Now
hold it, hold it!  Calm down!" he cried in a panicked voice, stepping in
between the two of them.  In a much more subdued tone, he continued,
"Asuma's guilt or innocence is not for us to decide.  At the moment, he's
only ACCUSED of murder, not tried and convicted.  In the meantime, we'll
have to reorganize to fill the hole that his absence leaves us with."

Noa clenched her fists, trying to calm herself down.  "If you'll excuse me,
sir, I'm not in the right state of mind to hear about this.  Good bye," she
growled out through clenched teeth.

Angrily she made her way towards the hangar bay, planning to console
herself with Alphonse.  As she walked, the thought about some of the things
Asuma had told her when they were visiting his brothers grave.

"He killed himself," he had said.  "I think it was his last act of
resistance against our father.  It was a stupid thing to do- dying never
solves anything."

Dying never solves anything.  That was what Asuma believed.  He thought
suicide was a stupid thing to do BECAUSE dying never solved anything.  If
he believed that, then he certainly wouldn't kill anyone, would he?

"Of course not," she said to herself.  "It just doesn't make sense.  Asuma
knows better than to do something stupid like that."  She paused.  "But
no-one will believe him but me, will they?  I mean, I'm the only one who
knows him that well, and all the evidence is pointing to him... I've got to
do something."

So resolved, Noa made her way to the hanger with newfound determination. 
She had to come up with a plan, and Asuma wasn't there to think for her.

*	*	*	*	*

Hiromi couldn't believe all that was going on.  No-one was acting like
themselves- Asuma was a cold-blooded murderer (supposedly), Noa had gotten
physically violent in a confrontation with Ohta, and, most recently, Sakaki
had shocked them all by suggesting that the mechanics load the labors on
their trucks (just in case there was a call) and then go on home for some
r&r... though he certainly seemed angry when he gave those orders.  Perhaps
he was just as mad as Noa about Asuma's arrest, and wanted some time alone
to calm himself.

Hiromi himself was rather angry at that, as well.  How could Ohta believe
Asuma was a murderer?  And being arrested for such a flimsy set of
evidence, as well.  It just didn't seem to make any sense.

He walked by the door into the hanger bay, and heard a noise coming from
the direction of the parked labor transports.  'That's funny,' he thought. 
'No-one's supposed to be in there right now.'

Deciding to investigate, he quietly made his way towards the disturbance. 
Finally, he caught sight of the intruder- Noa was underneath the console of
the transport carrier, fiddling with something under the wheel.  It didn't
take long for Hiromi to figure out what she was doing.

"It isn't possible to hot-wire one of those things," Hiromi said quietly.

Noa tried to sit up, and bumped her head into the wheel.  "Ow!" she cried,
wincing.  "Hiromi, what are you doing here?" she said nervously.

"I heard a noise, and thought I'd take a look."  He paused.  "So why are
you trying to steal Alphonse?"

"Hiromi..." Noa began.  She wasn't sure what to say, though- she had
prepared what she was going to do with everyone else, but she'd just
overlooked him.  She decided to try and explain.  "I can't let them do this
to Asuma.  I've got to get him out of jail- there's something really wrong
about the way he was arrested.  I mean, they basically imprisoned him on
hearsay... there's something suspicious about that.  Either the
investigators don't care to look any further than Asuma, or... or there's
something really wrong going on.  If it's the later, I don't think Asuma's
going to stand a chance of getting a fair trial...."

"You know we'll have to stop you," Hiromi said simply.

Noa looked down.  "Yeah... but once I get Asuma free, it won't matter.  I
won't need Alphonse any more..."

"You won't?"

Noa's eyes widened when she realized what she'd said.  "I don't mean never-
I mean, I won't need him to finish my plans.  I can just leave him behind
somewhere safe, and wait for you guys to pick him up and take care of him
for me.  Asuma and I can then hide out until we figure out who it is who's
doing these things to him."

Hiromi nodded, sighing.  "Well, you can't do it without this, I don't
think," he said, producing a key and tossing it over to her.  "Good luck. 
Take care of him."

"Don't I always protect Alphonse?" Noa asked.

Hiromi just smiled, walking away.  "Alphonse wasn't who I was talking
about," he said to himself, making certain that Noa wouldn't hear.

*	*	*	*	*

"You have to realize, Ohta, that women don't really like it when you
contradict them so fiercely," Takeo was saying.

"I was just telling her the truth- that Asuma's a punk and that the
evidence convinced me that Asuma's guilty," Ohta, holding an icepack to his
cheek, grumbled.

Takeo raised an eyebrow.  She found that assertion of Ohta's hard to
swallow, as well.  She didn't know Asuma as well as most of the others, but
what she'd seen of him showed him to be a very honest, forthright, and
decent man.  A bit rough around the edges, perhaps, but certainly no
murderer.  "That may be, but the way you put it was-"

She was cut off when the siren came on warning of a possible call to
action.  "We have a 999.  Repeat, a 999.  All personnel on station please
report to your duty station.  This is NOT a drill."

A 999.  The one call everyone felt was impossible- a call no-one would ever
want to answer.  It meant that a member of the SV2 had stolen a labor with
criminal intent.  It meant they would have to fight one of their own.

"Shit!" Ohta exclaimed, running out of the room.

Takeo thought about that.  "A 999?  Hmm..."  Whistling, she strolled her
way out of the room, a slight smile on her face.

*	*	*	*	*

Shinobu stared over where the second unit was getting ready, a scowl on her
face.  Gotoh wasn't driving his men at all, and only Ohta was moving like
he wanted to go out.  Sure, she knew that Noa was his top pilot, but still-
that was no excuse for not stopping her when she committed such a serious
crime.

She was about to walk on over to him to reprimand him when Gomioka ran up
to her and saluted, drawing her attention.

She saluted back.  "Yes, Mr. Gomioka?" she inquired.

"Captain Nagumo, ma'am," he said.  "I regret to report that it is
impossible for us to answer this call."

Shinobu was surprised.  "Oh?  Why?"

"None of the labor transports are working, ma'am.  They appear to have been
sabotaged."

"Sabotaged?"

"The starters aren't working at all."

Shinobu's eyes widened.  "But Ms. Izumi wouldn't have had time to sabotage
all the carriers for both units AND steal her labor after the mechanics
left... the mechanics!"  She cursed.

It seemed as though Noa had more help then perhaps even she realized.  The
mechanics were on her side, and so, it seemed, was most of Unit 2.  They
probably all knew what Noa was going to do before even she did.

She almost laughed.  Of course they would- and she couldn't blame them,
really, either.  After all, she didn't believe Gotoh's protege was guilty
any more than they did.

*	*	*	*	*

The warden of the prison which contained Asuma's holding cell smirked to
himself.  It wasn't often he got cops handed over to him.  It was even less
often that he was specifically instructed to place those cops in with the
hardest criminals in his pen.  Apparently, some of the higher-ups were
hoping that they wouldn't have to bring the cop to trial, since that would
be a very embarrassing thing for the force, and thought that he wouldn't be
able to survive some of the... attentions... of those rougher criminals who
might hold a grudge against a former cop.  For some reason, the politics
involved amused him.

He stood up from his desk, grabbed a cigarette, and walked over to his
office window.  He lit up and took a puff.  As he blew the smoke out the
window, he spied one of his two Type 97 Pythons guarding the outside.  They
were too old for serious police duty any more, and they couldn't afford to
keep them very well maintained, but they looked impressive enough to keep
the prisoners in line.

As the warden looked out the window, he noticed that some sort of
disturbance seemed to be forming, as the Python started running in one
direction.  Just at that moment, his phone rang.  He moved to get it, but
then there was a huge crash outside.  The warden ran back to the window,
trying to see what was going on.

An empty labor transport had apparently crashed into the wall, and it
appeared to still be pushing.  Much to his surprise, the prison's two
labors were engaged in combat- apparently with another police labor, an
Ingram.  The Ingram dismantled the two Pythons, and then stormed over to
his window, drawing its gun and pointing it right at him.

"What cell is Asuma Shinohara in?" a female voice boomed out through the
labors speakers.

"Er... Cell 231 in cell block A," he said.

The labor put away its gun and bowed slightly.  "Thank you," the woman said
politely before sending her labor into a run again, bursting through the
doors into the prison.  If the building hadn't been recently modified to
allow labors to move through it, there might have been serious damage to
the prison.  As it was, the shattering of the doors shook the building to
its foundation.

The phone continued ringing.

Moving as if in shock, the warden slowly walked over to it and picked up
the receiver.  "Hello?"

"Ah, ah.  This is Captain Gotoh of the Special Vehicles, Second Section. 
Am I talking to the warden?"

"Um... yes, I'm the warden."

"Good.  I'm afraid that I have the duty to inform you that one of our
officers stole an Ingram, and may be on the way to break her partner out of
your prison.  We would be on our way to help you, but along the way she
sabotaged all of our other labors."

"Uh... thank you for the warning," the warden said.  "We'll... keep an eye
out for her."  Hanging up the phone, he looked outside at the wreckage of
the two Pythons and the labor carrier.

*	*	*	*	*

Asuma wasn't paying any attention to the commotion around him- he just had
too much on his mind to care.  His father was dead- murdered- and he didn't
know exactly what he felt about all that.  He never got along with his
father- in fact, he downright hated him, most of the time.  However, there
were times when he actually was pleased to be able to see him.  Like that
time he and Noa visited his brothers grave....

That was another point.  With his father's death, there was no-one who he
could call 'family.'  Come to think of it, now that he was in jail, it
wasn't likely he was going to see anyone who he might be able to call
'friend' for some time.  Ex-cops weren't exactly popular in prison, and it
was unlikely anyone from the SV2 would be able to come visit him.

The biggest question for him, however, was just why did they think he was
the murderer?  Sure, he and his father had gotten into a fight earlier that
day, but he and his father ALWAYS had fights and he hadn't done anything
before.  Outside of that, he had no clue what, if any, evidence they might
have had.

"Hey, buddy," one of his cellmates said, approaching him.  "What are you in
for?  Impersonating a police officer?"

One weird thing about his arrest was that he wasn't allowed to change into
his street clothes.  Usually policemen, when arrested, were allowed to
change out of uniform before being placed into a holding cell.  Not so, in
his case.

Asuma wasn't really thinking clearly enough to realize the implications
behind his answer, so he just said, "Nah.  I really am a police officer."

"Oh, you are?" the cellmate said, his voice becoming slightly more hostile
as he moved in closer to Asuma.  "Then why are you in here?"

"I was accused of murdering my father."  There seemed to be a loud crash
coming from outside, and the floor shook.

"Heh... guess that makes you a bit of a hypocrite, doesn't it."

"What?!" Asuma cried, his brain finally catching up with the conversation. 
"No- I didn't do it."

The man snorted.  "Please- that's what we all say.  Do you cops ever give
us a break because of that?  No... like I said, you're just a hypocrite. 
And we don't like hypocrites here."

Asuma stood up, taking a defensive stance as the man and two of his
companions advanced on him.  He knew he was in bad shape, as all three of
them were about twice his size.  It wasn't very likely he'd survive the
fight.

Before that fight could begin, however, an Ingram burst into the cell
block, paused, then drew a gun.  "Leave him alone!" a voice boomed over the
speakers.

The attackers dropped back, surprised.  Asuma just stood there, blinked,
and turned to face the labor.  "Noa?" he asked.

Using one of Alphonse's hands to bend open the bars, she said, "That's me. 
Come on, let's go."

"Noa, do you know what you're doing?  I can't let you do this to yourself-
erk!"

The hand which had bent the bars open reached in and grabbed him.  "I don't
have time to argue," Noa said, putting away her gun.  "We're getting out of
here."

Stopping only to bend the bars back to their original position with the
hand which had held the gun, she ran off, carrying Asuma along with her.

"Dammit," the prisoner who had confronted Asuma growled.  "Someone broke
him out before we could get him!  Now we'll never get that ten million
yen."

*	*	*	*	*

On board the Sangria, a ship owned by Shaft Enterprises Division 7, a major
construction project was underway.  It was not the most ideal of conditions
for labor construction, but it was very secret and, when the ship was in
still waters, it was adequate for the builder's purposes.

Richard Wong, the vice president in charge of Division 7 (a division Shaft
Enterprises denies is still affiliated with it), smiled his usual smile as
he surveyed the progress of his latest work.

The chief mechanic strolled up to him.  "Excuse me, sir.  We're probably
going to have it ready in a couple of days.  I've wondered for a while,
however... why are we rebuilding this thing?  It succeeded in its mission,
didn't it?  What do we need it for, now?"

"It only half succeeded.  We managed to pull off the demonstration very
well, but the second half of our mission is still on-going.  We have yet to
obtain the software of an Ingram.  Until we obtain a copy of Ms. Izumi's
movement disk, Shinohara Heavy Industries will be able to keep Shaft from
dominating the field of advanced humaniform labors."

The mechanic nodded.  "Um... have you been paying attention to the news,
lately?"

Wong shook his head.  "I'm afraid not- I've been rather busy in India until
today."

"Well... I don't think we need to worry about Shinohara Heavy Industries
any more."

Wong's smile slipped a bit.  "We don't?  Why?"

"Um... well, see, Mr. Shinohara was murdered yesterday.  They arrested his
son for the crime, and now suspect his partner to have been an accomplice. 
With Shinohara dead and his son in jail, well... it's likely that their
company is going to have some difficulties for a while."

Richard Wong's smile fell completely.  "His son is Asuma Shinohara,
correct?"

"Um, I think that's the name the papers are giving, yes."

Wong's face hardened.  "Hmm... I've studied Asuma and his partner, Noa
Izumi, ever since I ran into them in a video game arcade almost a year ago.
 I like to think that I know them fairly well.  Asuma Shinohara certainly
does NOT strike me as the type of man to murder his father, even if they
don't get along very well."  He paused.  "You've been in touch with the
regional headquarters more recently than I have.  You wouldn't happen to
know if WE'RE responsible for this, would you?"

"Um... there are rumors that we've had something big in the planning..."

"Indeed."  Richard Wong removed his glasses to massage his temples.  "I
have been called quite ruthless for my actions, and I've committed acts
which break the law if it aided me in achieving my goals.  However, I've
never murdered a man in cold blood, nor have I ever framed one for one of
my crimes."  He turned to the mechanic.  "Asuma may be a rival, but I also
respect him, maybe even feel some sort of twisted friendship for him.  It
appears, however, that Shaft Enterprises is willing to go even further than
I am."

"What are you saying, sir?" the mechanic said.

Wong's smile returned.  "Well, if Shinohara Heavy Industries falls apart,
I'm out of the job.  It seems to me that it's in my best interest to aide
Asuma in his legal defense.  Where is he being held?  I'd like to go see
him."

"Uh, well... see, his partner broke him out of prison."

Richard Wong raised an eyebrow.  "Ms. Izumi did that?  Oh, my... perhaps
she's more impulsive than I believed.  Ah, well.  I have some idea of where
she might be trying to get to."

*	*	*	*	*

Asuma sighed, standing at the foot of Alphonse as he waited for Noa to
disembark from the labor.  She had refused to listen to any of his protests
while they were on the move, but since they seemed to have settled down for
the night, he suspected he'd have a chance to actually get in a few words.

"I'm afraid his batteries won't last much longer," Noa said, as she made
her way down from the cockpit.  "That's okay, though.  They should be
strong enough to get us the rest of the way to a nearby fishing village, if
I conserve power.  From there, we can rent a boat and travel out to
Hokkaido.  I know somewhere that we can stay which isn't on the maps nor in
any official records, so we shouldn't have much of a problem staying there
for a while.  Then I'll finally be able to turn the thinking over to you,
again," she said, finally reaching the ground.  Wiping some sweat off her
forehead, she walked on over to him.  "I'll be quite happy when we get that
far... I'm not used to be the part of this team that has to think."

Asuma closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath.  "Noa, I really appreciate
all you're trying to do, but... please, just give it up.  Surrender to the
police, and take Alphonse with you.  I'm not worth ruining your life over. 
I can handle things myself."

Noa shook her head, smiling slightly.  She figured he'd say something like
that.  "Nope.  Won't do it.  Besides, I've already done so much that they
won't be able to just sweep this under the rug if I went back.  I'm in this
as much as you are."  She paused.  "And from the look of things when I
showed up at the prison, I'd say you wouldn't have been able to handle
things if I hadn't been there."

Asuma's eyes opened, focusing sharply on her.  "Why?  Why are you doing all
of this for me?  I mean, you know you'll never be allowed to pilot Alphonse
again after all this, and you didn't even try to find out if I'd done it or
not before you broke me out.  Why?"

Noa looked at him, her smile remaining.  "Did you do it?  Did you kill your
father?"

"I might have thought about it a few times," he said, looking rather
uncertain at his own statement.  "But no, I didn't."

Noa nodded.  "Well, I thought you wouldn't get much of a chance to explain
your side.  They arrested you entirely on hearsay, didn't even look at
anyone else, and it looked to me like they stuck you in a cell with a group
of people they knew would kill me.  I think someone in the force is after
you- maybe as part of a conspiracy.  What evidence they've released seems
to indicate that there was more than one person at the scene when your
father was murdered, so there's obviously a number of people involved."

Asuma shrugged.  "Yeah, I figured something weird was up when they made me
keep my police uniform on in the holding cell....  That still doesn't
explain why YOU decided to do something about it."

Noa sighed, her smile falling.  "Perhaps... perhaps it was something my dad
said to me on that vacation.  He asked me why I was insisting on being in
the SV2, when there were plenty of other jobs involving labors I could do
that were less dangerous."  She paused.  "I couldn't give him a real answer
then.  I still couldn't, now.  Part of it, however, was that... was that I
didn't want to give you up.  I knew that if I left the SV2, I'd lose you. 
I know I'm going to lose Alphonse one day, but you... I don't want to give
you up."

Asuma blinked, looking at her in surprise.  "Is that it?  You want to
remain my forward, huh, even though I've now been accused of murder?"

"Yes," Noa stated firmly.  "I can give up Alphonse if I have to, but I
can't give you up."

Asuma blinked again.  "Well... I suggest we NOT give up on Alphonse.  One
of the few things I know about my father's murder is that there was
apparently a labor involved, as it was a labor gun that was the murder
weapon.  My guess is if we find out who it is, there's going to be a
fight."

Noa's eyes widened.  "But... the batteries almost gone!  Alphonse wouldn't
be usable in a fight!"

Asuma nodded.  "Yeah, I know.  Don't worry- I'll figure out a way to
recharge him before we leave that fishing village you're talking about. 
Now, I also suggest we keep moving.  I know you want to bunk down for the
night, but chances are they'll be trying to track us down.  The sooner we
can get shipboard, the better."

Noa nodded, and relaxed a little.  "Okay.  Oh, and Asuma?"

"Yeah?"

"I may be the only one who'll be able to tell you this," She took a couple
steps closer to him and wrapped him up in a hug.  "I'm sorry about your
father."

*	*	*	*	*

Gotoh looked through the folder, shaking his head.

"Any word on where Alphonse has gotten to?" Shinobu, filling out a form,
asked.

Gotoh shook his head.  "No.  Lost track of them at a fishing port."

"We could ask for satellite tracking, you know.  An active labor gives out
signals that can be located from space, which should stand out pretty
easily in the middle of the ocean."

Gotoh merely grunted noncommittally.

Shinobu looked at him from her desk, curious.  "What's wrong?"

He held up the file, pointing out the cover.  "I have the notes about
Asuma's case here, and things just don't add up.  I mean, they say that the
murder weapon was a Patlabor revolver, and that Asuma was one of the few
who had access to such a weapon.  That's only partly true- he wouldn't have
access to it unless he got the key to the weapons' locker from you or me. 
He certainly hasn't checked out any guns like that as far as I'm aware of. 
Did he get a key from you?"

Shinobu blinked.  "No... but wasn't there a lot of other evidence?"

"Not as much as the news media's been lead to believe," he said.  "There
was evidence that Asuma was there that night, but that's not in dispute. 
He'd been spending the night eating dinner there, working on some sort of
family reconciliation.  He and his father got into an  argument, but they
had been having fights for years before, and it's never escalated to
violence.  Beyond that, the servant gave some testimony about Asuma saying
he wasn't planning to come back, then Mr. Shinohara answering the door with
the words 'I thought you weren't coming back', but the servant never saw
the face of the person at the door.  Still, the investigators ramroded the
case against Asuma through."

Shinobu chewed on the end of her pen in thought.  "Perhaps they were just
lazy.  Maybe you should take it up with their superiors- if you can clear
Asuma, then maybe this whole mess can be forgiven."

"IF I can clear him.  Just exposing the lackadaisical efforts of the
investigators won't be enough, though.  And I'm not sure that it was just a
case of laziness.  Some of the details behind Noa's break-out make me
wonder."

That caught Shinobu's attention.  Before, it had just felt like one of
their usual idle conversations, even if they were talking about a case that
had been on their minds a lot lately.  "You think he might have been framed
by someone in the police?"

"Now that you mention it..." Gotoh smirked, showing that was what he
suspected all along.

Shinobu smiled and shook her head.  "Okay, I get the hint.  So, what do we
do about it?"

"Us?  Nothing."

There was a knock on the door, and Takeo Kumagami came into the room.  "You
sent for me, sir?" she said, saluting.

Gotoh nodded.  "I have a job for you.  I have a few questions about Asuma's
arrest, and was wondering if you could talk to the investigators for
me...."

*	*	*	*	*

"I didn't know you could sail a boat, Asuma," Noa said, working on
tightening down the construction labor shell that they had fashioned around
Alphonse to camouflage it.  Somehow, between the two of them, they had been
able to scrounge up enough material and financial resources to recharge the
battery, rent a small fishing boat (that was just barely big enough for
Alphonse and the two of them), and grab the shell of an old construction
labor from a junk yard.  Asuma had felt it was a bad idea for them to go
traipsing through town with a Patlabor, considering they were going
somewhere that there WERE no Patlabors.  Noa was uncomfortable with the
idea (especially since it meant that Alphonse would be getting rather
dirty), but had agreed it was probably for the best.

The end result of those purchases, however, was that they couldn't afford
to hire a boat crew.  Asuma, thankfully, had shown a surprising talent in
navigating the boat, and now they were navigating through a port just
outside of another small fishing village- this one on Hokkaido.

"Heh... one of my few somewhat HAPPY memories of life with my father.  We
used to go boating as a family together- him, me, and my brother."  He
sighed nostalgically.

Finishing up with the panel, she moved to sit next to him at the rudder. 
"Just you guys, huh?  What about your mom?"

"I never knew my mom.  She died giving birth to me."

Noa decided not to stop asking him questions about his past.  'Sheesh,' she
thought to herself.  'He never had a mother, his brother killed himself,
and he was framed for the murder of his father.  Talk about a hard life.' 
Unconsciously, she reached over and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

He didn't seem to notice, his mind elsewhere.  "Say, Noa..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you see that ship over there?" he said, pointing to a tanker that was
docked in the port.

Noa looked over where he was pointing.  "Yeah... seems kinda out of place
at a little shipping port like this, doesn't it?"

Asuma nodded.  "Yeah... not just that, but doesn't it look a little
familiar, maybe?"

Noa squinted, trying to see what it was he saw.  "I dunno... maybe.  All
those ships look the same to me, though, so I wouldn't be able to tell. 
Why?"

"I think I remember seeing it at the Babylon Gates."

Noa went quiet.  She had been certain she wasn't going to survive that
incident.  She was facing the Black Labor- the Griffin.  Not only had it
torn up Ohta's labor just days before, but it had also severely injured
Asuma and then... it just escaped, totally unharmed.

Noa fought her damnedest against the Griffin, but it still escaped again. 
She'd had a genuine nervous breakdown because of that incident, and had
spent several more months trying to prove to herself that she was really
good enough to pilot Alphonse.  Then the brass started to threaten to take
Alphonse away from her, and Noa was so panicked with fear that they would
that she went AWOL, going home- to remind herself what it was like to say
good-bye to past Alphonses.  Asuma had actually tracked her down, and come
to meet her.  For some reason, just his presence gave her what she needed
to return, and when the next battle between her and the Griffin came, she
was able to handle it confidently.

And she'd won.  Which made his statement seem rather curious.  "Could they
have rebuilt it?" she asked.

"Maybe," Asuma replied.  "But we don't need to worry if they did.  We've
got our own problems to deal with right now."

"So why did you worry ME about it!?" she cried, grabbing him in a choke
hold.

"Ack!  Noa- I gotta steer the boat!  Leggo!"

*	*	*	*	*

Takeo shook hands with Inspector Matsui before sitting down across from him
at the desk.  "Captain Gotoh said you'd probably be... helpful... in this
case."

Matsui nodded.  "Yeah, he phoned me before you got here.  I assume he gave
you the files I requested."

She nodded, indicating the box she had with her.  "Yes, sir.  Lots of stuff
to go through- what are they?"

Matsui lifted the box she'd indicated, setting it down on his desk and
pulling the top off.  Taking out one of the hundreds of folders she'd
indicated, he replied, "Records from the SV2's weapons locker.  I'm trying
to track down where the gun which killed Mr. Shinohara might have come
from."

Takeo's eyes widened in surprise.  "Of course!  Asuma COULDN'T have gotten
the weapon out, so it had to have come from somewhere else!"

Matsui nodded.  "If we can find the actual murder weapon, we might be able
to clear him."

Takeo gestured towards the box.  "Need any help?"

Matsui shook his head.  "Two people would just confuse things.  You could,
however, get started on another track for me."

"What?"

He handed her a piece of paper.  "There's a warrant to investigate the
phone records of the people involved in the initial investigation and
decision to arrest.  Get the records from the phone company and see if you
can find anything... unusual... in them."

"Like phone companies from people who might have an interest in ruining
Shinohara Heavy Industries?"

"Right."

Takeo nodded.  "Will do.  Anything else?"

Matsui nodded.  "One more thing, but keep this under your hat.  I suspect
you'd advise Noa and Asuma to surrender to the police if you ever got in
touch with them, hoping that the system would bail them out."  He looked up
at her meaningfully.  "Don't.  Gotoh's right- something weird is going on
around here, and they aren't safe with the police.  If you DO make contact
with them... do anything you can to make certain no-one ELSE will,
understand?  And give that piece of advice to anyone else from your unit
who you trust."  He sighed.  "Sad as it may sound, they're probably safer
being fugitives on the run from the law than they are co-operating with the
law."

*	*	*	*	*

Asuma piloted Alphonse through the snowy woods under Noa's careful
directions.  They had been taking shifts piloting the labor so as to avoid
fatigue, and his shift was almost over.  Suddenly, the screens all turned
red and a word in English started flashing on the main monitor.  "Noa, the
battery's running down.  We've got no more than ten minutes of power left."

Noa, wearing the headset radio while she watched the sun rise from her seat
on Alphonse's shoulder, nodded.  "That's all right.  We're almost there-
we'll make it without any problem."

"We will?" he asked, surprised.  "It certainly doesn't LOOK like there's
anything around here- especially not with all the snow and trees and
things.  Where are we going, anyway?"

"An old business venture of my late grandfather's that never got off the
ground," she answered.  "He wanted to try and start a ski lodge.  He
managed to get the lodge partially built, but ran out of money before he
could finish it- not to mention to pave the road they had built for the
construction equipment or the ski lift.  The reason this place is so safe
for us is that the property is STILL in my grandfather's families name
instead of my- "

"Won't it get cold?" Asuma asked, starting to get a little concerned.  If
it was unfinished, then chances were that there would still be drafts in
the place.  One of the big reasons he didn't like skiing was because he
never liked getting cold.

Noa shook her head.  "No... after my grandfather passed away, my father
repaired it and supplied it with a snowmobile.  There's a finished ski
lodge about a half hours ride away on a snowmobile, and so whenever we go
skiing we stay here."  She paused.  "Take a right when you get to the bike
path- that's the only way we usually can get up here."

"Roger," he said.  "Does the place have electricity or heat?"

"It has a few propane tanks for heat and cooking and a diesel generator for
power," Noa said as Alphonse turned to follow the bike path.  "As well as
some canned foods, some bottled water, and some other necessities.  We'll
have to conserve what we've got, though- we only store enough supplies for
a couple weeks vacation at most, and we don't have any money to buy any
more."

"Hey, I think I see the building!" he noted.  "Looks like Alphonse'll make
it, after all."

Noa nodded.  "I told you so.  Stop him here for a moment- I'll go on in and
start the heater up, you take him around the right-hand corner of the
house- there's a garage where we keep the snowmobile, and Alphonse should
be able to park there if he knelt."

"Sure thing," he said, bending Alphonse down slightly and touching the
ground with his arm so that Noa could just slide to the ground.  When she
disappeared inside the front door, he moved Alphonse to where she'd
directed, parking it in the garage- seconds before the power ran out.

Asuma whistled to himself.  "Nice timing," he said to himself, popping the
hatch and departing the labor.  What he saw made him rather curious- Noa
had only mentioned one snowmobile, but there were three parked there. 
"Hmm," he commented, glancing around.  As he'd feared, there were tracks
into the garage from the other two snowmobiles.  "And Noa's inside," he
remarked.  "Damn!"

Running as fast as he could, he burst in after her, intent on rescuing her
from whatever group had captured her.

There she was, sitting (somewhat uncomfortably) and drinking tea with
Richard Wong and Bud Reynard.  "Ah, welcome, young Shinohara," Wong
greeted.  "It's about time you joined us.  Bud and I have been waiting here
for the two of you for quite some time."

*	*	*	*	*

Ohta burst into Captain Gotoh's office.  "Captain, I strongly request
permission for some emergency target practice."

Gotoh raised an eyebrow.  "Oh?  What emergency is it this time?"

Ohta looked at Gotoh like he was totally missing the obvious.  "Izumi's
treachery, sir!  You know that we'll have to have a tangle with her at some
point, and I have to be prepared!"

Gotoh sighed.  "We currently aren't even certain that Noa still HAS a
usable labor which would require our involvement," he noted, trying to
placate him.  "After all, she abandoned the labor carrier and her spare
battery, so she had no way to replace her old battery and, without the
carrier, it would be very difficult to recharge the current one.  Even if
she didn't abandon her labor, it's unlikely that she has one which she can
use."

"But they could charge them in a town!" Ohta complained.  "All it would
take would be a power socket and an appropriate extension cord, which they
should have with them!"

Gotoh nodded.  "True, but it's unlikely they would be able to do that very
often.  My guess is that she's merely trying to keep Alphonse with her than
to keep him effective to fight with.  You know Noa...."

"I thought I did," Ohta muttered.

"At any rate," Gotoh said, "Your request is denied.  We aren't able to
requisition more bullets until the new year, and the way you use them we've
only got a two months supply left."

"But, Captain-"

"Dismissed," Gotoh said, turning his attention to his paperwork.

Ohta clenched his fists and snarled, but he'd had enough arguments like
this to know that any form of protest was useless.  "Very well, Captain,
but I KNOW you're mistaken.  Noa and I will have to fight- it's our
destiny."

*	*	*	*	*

"I've already eliminated the evidence which allowed me to find you here,
and my delivery people have already left after supplying you with an extra
months worth of food, propane, spare diesel gasoline, and two spare
batteries for your labor- plus a specially designed battery charger to make
recharging your battery you more efficient," Wong was saying as Asuma
sipped at the tea provided for him.  "I've made arrangements for one of my
men to act as a messenger- he'll be staying at the ski lodge a few miles
from here- in case we need to contact each other."

"Uh huh," Asuma said skeptically, frowning.  "Why, exactly, did you decide
to help us?"

Wong turned his smile up a notch, almost as if competing with Asuma's
frown.  "Would you believe that I'm doing it because I think of you two as
friends?"

Asuma didn't even flinch.  "This from the man who shot Takeo Kumagami at
Harumi after being her lover in Hong Kong?"

Wong's smile completely disappeared, and a slightly menacing expression
replaced it.  "I did NOT, nor would I EVER shoot Takeo.  That was my
security man, and I had him transfered the next day.  I also prevented
Shaft Enterprises from attacking her in the hospital- I would appreciate it
if you NOT bring that up," he growled.  With some difficulty, he managed to
get the anger out of his face.  However, he was unable to completely
replace his smile.  "Yours is a case similar to that.  Shaft Enterprises
has done something I totally disagree with- they murdered your father and
framed you, who I really DO consider a friend, for it.  There was nothing I
could do to prevent that bullet from hitting Takeo, just as there was
nothing I could do to stop your father from being murdered.  But I stopped
my associates from attacking her in the hospital then, and so I'll make up
for my associates crimes against you now."

Asuma couldn't help but believe him, though he was still cautious.  "And I
should trust you about this because?"

Richard Wong laughed, his smile returning to what it had been.  "My dear
Asuma, you have no choice BUT to trust me.  But if you want to know my more
self-centered motivations, I should point out that my current job is spying
on and eliminating competition.  They went over my head, and it appears
they may be trying to put me out of the job.  You could always consider it
revenge."

That caused Asuma to become even more suspicious.  "Are you sure you aren't
STILL trying to 'spy on and eliminate' competition?"

Wong laughed again.  "Of course I am.  It is always best to face a known
opponent than an unknown one.  It is still uncertain who is in charge of
Shinohara Heavy Industries with your absence.  Only if you're put in charge
will I be able to know what to expect from you."

Asuma opened his mouth to protest, but he couldn't form any words in
response.  Noa, however, had her own questions.

"You aren't going to try and fight me again, are you?" she asked Bud,
shifting uncomfortably.

"Of course not, Sis!" he replied enthusiastically.  "I don't hurt people
when they're down.  Besides- you beat me fair and square last time.  No,
now we're playing on the same team."

Wong finished sipping his cup of tea.  "Well, time for Bud and me to go. 
I'll begin an investigation to see if I can find who it is who framed you,
and then we'll see if we can find some other evidence together.  You two
just hang out here and have fun together- Bud insisted I give you a care
package to entertain you."

"Um... okay," Noa said.

"Come on, Bud- time to go," he said, standing up.  "We've got work to do."

"See you, sis!" the kid said, leaping to his feet and waving to Noa.  "Hope
to see you again soon."

"Um, see you again soon," Noa echoed hesitantly.

Asuma stopped Wong before he left.  "Suppose Noa and I want to conduct our
OWN investigation?" he demanded.

Wong just shook his head in amusement.  "And how would you do that?  I
mean, you can't do any investigating from here.  If you really want, you
can leave here the way you came to conduct one- I'm certainly not holding
you prisoner here- but your best bet is probably to stay right here and let
me do all the work for you.  Don't worry- we'll come and get you when it's
safe."  He paused.  "You're wise not to trust me completely, but you really
don't have much choice, now, do you?  You two are safe here- take comfort
in that, and let me do the rest."

Asuma finally let him go, then turned to find Noa going through a couple of
boxes.  "What are those?"

"I think it's the 'care package' Bud wanted us to have," she said, opening
up the first box.  "Huh... this box is full of nothing but batteries. 
Wonder what's in the other box."

Asuma knelt down next to her and opened the second package for her. 
"Hmm... I think those batteries are for these things."

"Eh?" Noa asked, looking into the box he had opened.

"A portable TV set- powered by batteries.  A lamp, powered by batteries.  A
few manga.  Oh, and a battery-powered Headgear (TM) MiniGame System with...
um, Patlabor: the Video Game."  He unpacked the box a bit further.  "And a
note addressed to you from Bud."

He gave her the note.

"Hi, sis," it said, "Here's something to keep you in practice.  Maybe
you'll be able to reach level 10 by the time all of this is taken care of. 
Don't worry, sis- we'll avenge you!"

*	*	*	*	*

There was a knock on the door.  "Come in," Gotoh said, not looking up from
his paperwork.

Inspector Matsui entered the room, carrying two file folders with him. 
"Hello, Captain Gotoh.  I have a couple questions about those records you
sent down to me the other day."

Gotoh nodded, gesturing to Shinobu.  "I'm sure that if either Captain
Nagumo or myself can help you, we will."

Matsui nodded.  "Upon a thorough combing of these files, I found two
instances of labor revolvers being checked out and not checked back in.  I
was wondering if you knew if these incidents were just neglect or if there
was a specific reason they weren't logged in as returned."

"Well, I'll take a look at the folders, and see if I can suggest anything,"
he said.  Matsui handed Gotoh the files, and pointed out the two incidents
he was referring to.  "Hmm... well, considering the date, I'm fairly
certain that both of these guns were involved in the incident between the
Griffin and the Peacemakers.  I recall that the report said both revolvers
were believed to have both been tossed into the Tokyo Bay during the fight.
 Only one was recovered, however- that one in unserviceable condition.  The
other-"

"Wait," Shinobu interrupted.  "Did you say BOTH were thought to have been
tossed into the bay?"

"Yeah, that's what the official report I read said.  Both revolvers issued
to your Peacemakers were lost in the Tokyo Bay during the Griffin
Incident."

"But... only ONE was lost in the bay that time- the other one was dropped
on the sidewalk.  I thought the maintenance squad recovered it!" Shinobu
said.

Gotoh frowned.  "Hmm... curious.  Inspector Matsui, perhaps we need to
investigate this little corruption angle a bit further back than I
suspected...."

*	*	*	*	*

"Um, Asuma," Noa said, returning to the main room.  "I have some bad news."

Asuma, who was disposing of the trash produced from their dinner, looked up
at her.  "Oh?"

"Uh huh.  I just checked the rest of the house... um, apparently mom and
dad haven't been maintaining this place all that well lately.  The only
room which we can actually afford to heat is the bathroom and this room-
their are holes in many of the windows, a partially collapsed cieling in
another room, and the back door is letting in a very bad draft."

Asuma sighed, putting the last empty beer can in the trash bag.  "Great,"
he said.  "Okay, I'll take the bathroom."

Noa looked at him guiltily.  "I can't make you do that- I'll take the
bathroom."

"Oh, just let me take the bathroom.  This is your house, after all."

"And you're my guest!" Noa countered.  "I'll take the bathroom."

"I already feel bad enough with you making yourself a felon for me," Asuma
argued.  "I'll take the bathroom."

"Fine!  We'll BOTH take the bathroom!" Noa shouted.

Asuma blinked.  "Um... Noa, think about that for a minute."

"Uh... okay, maybe we won't both take the bathroom," she said, embarrassed.
 She thought about it for a second, blushed, and bit her lip nervously. 
"Still... it might be best if we shared a room for the night... I mean, who
knows when we'll be getting more propane for the heater... we should
conserve what fuel we've got."

Asuma nodded slowly.  "Um... well, I guess that makes sense.  We should see
if we can repair some of the other rooms, though."  He paused.  "If you
promise not to hit me, I guess it would be all right.  Show me where the
futons are and I'll help you drag a couple here."

"Heh heh..." Noa laughed nervously.  "Um, that's the other piece of bad
news I've got."

Asuma looked at her in disbelief.  "Don't tell me there's only one futon!"

"No, there's plenty of futons!" she exclaimed.  "Um... sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Well... see, remember I said there was a partially collapsed roof in one
room?  Well, see, some snow leaked through that roof onto the pile of
futons, and so..."

"They're all wet?"

"No!  They've dried off- well, most of them have.  It's just that many of
them are slightly rotted... or smell bad... or..."

Asuma sighed.  "Never mind.  Lead the way- let's see how bad off these
futons are, anyway."

*	*	*	*	*

Takeo sighed, waiting for the taxi to stop.  She'd almost gotten through
the phone records she'd already obtained, and then Inspector Matsui called.
 He'd found more people to check up on, and pushed the date back for the
records collection.  So, off she was to the judge's office to get the
warrant, and now she was headed back to the phone company to pick up the
new files.

As the taxi entered the parking lot, she noticed a HELICOPTER parked up on
the roof of the building, illuminated by the setting sun.  At first, she
feared that it was part of Shaft Security Systems, but upon further
inspection she was able to determine that while it was the same make of
helicopter as those used by the 3-S, it was customized in a way that no 3-S
person would ever allow (not to mention there was no 3-S logo painted on
the side).

"We're here, ma'am," the taxi driver said.  "That'll be fourty-five hundred
yen."

Takeo pulled a wad of cash out of her purse and handed it to the taxi
driver.  "Thank you.  If you could return in a couple of hours to take me
back, I'd be grateful."

The driver counted the yen, noticing it was fifteen hundred yen larger than
he'd asked for.  Not much, true, but enough of a bribe to make him take
notice of her request.  "Of course, Ma'am."

The taxi drove off as she made her way inside.  After a few brief words
with the receptionist (who had been expecting her), she went over to the
same room for phone records retrieval she'd been at before.

She stepped up to the counter at the records department, looking in to see
who was there.  Most of the staff was apparently missing, but there was one
man in a suit bending over a computer terminal.  Takeo couldn't make much
out about him, but from what she could see she had the vaguely disturbing
feeling she'd seen him before- and not at the phone company.  Shaking her
head furiously to clear it, she called over to the man.

"Excuse me, can you help me?"

The figure stiffened.  In a nasal and strongly accented voice, he replied,
"I sorry- only here from India researching phone systems.  Can no help
you."

Takeo's eyes widened.  She recognized that voice, even as (badly) disguised
as it was.  Leaping over the counter, she ran up to the man and turned him
around by the shoulder.  "Richard!" she cried.

Richard Wong faced her with some of his usual smile, but it looked a little
more nervous than usual.  "Hello, Takeo.  I should have known that little
trick wouldn't work on you," he said.

They just stared at each other for a few moments, niether one knowing what
to say.  Finally, Takeo's eyes turned cold.  "You're under arrest for
illegally infiltrating the private records kept by the phone company."

Wong held out his hands, still smiling.  "If you insist- and I won't trick
you this time, either.  But you'll be making a big mistake if you do."

Takeo snorted.  "And why would that be?  I can't believe you're helping
these people cover up who REALLY killed Asuma's father.  I know you've done
some pretty despicable things, but that's low, even for you!"

That caused Wong's face- and hands- to drop.  "I thought you knew me better
than that.  I'm not covering up any of the murderers."

Takeo sighed.  "I thought I knew you better than that, as well!  But if
that ISN'T what you're doing, then why ARE you here?"

Wong's smile returned.  "Why, I'm trying to do the exact same thing you
are- get Asuma Shinohara off the hook."  His smile grew.  "After all, if
Shinohara Heavy Industries collapses because their owner is in prison, then
I'm out of the job."

Takeo's eyes widened.  There was a ring of truth to what he was saying. 
Still... "We can conduct our OWN investigation, thank you," she said,
pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

Wong nodded, holding out his hands again.  "Oh, I believe you.  I remember
just how much attention you pay to detail.  You're a great detective- I
have no question that you'll eventually crack the case!"  He paused. 
"However, since Asuma and Noa are under my care, they might find themselves
in a little bit of trouble if I'm not there to help them."

That stopped Takeo before she could put the cuffs on him.  "What do you
mean, 'under your care?'"

"The two of them found this nice littly cozy hideaway they could stay at,"
he answered.  "However, they have no money and only limited supplies.  I
found them there, and offered to make certain they were well stocked during
their visit to that establishment.  They did NOT want to trust me, but they
didn't have much other choice."  He sighed, putting on an unhappy look. 
"Sadly, it looks like their mistrust will be well founded, as I will be in
prison and unable to provide the help I promised them."

"Where are they?" she asked anxiously.

Wong laughed.  "Now, Takeo, you know I'm not going to tell you that.  You
can't arrest me while I have that information, and I'm certainly going to
do what I can to keep you from arresting me."  He paused.  "Besides, I'm
certainly not going to give their position away to the police!"

Takeo remembered what Matsui had told her.  "I won't give there position
away, either." She paused, hesitating before she continued.  "And I promise
not to arrest you if you do.  Perhaps... perhaps we could work together on
this investigation, and I could help you work on getting Asuma and Noa
to... relax... around you."

Wong's face dropped- not in sadness, nor in anger, but in shock.  That was
an offer he certainly had not been expecting.  "Are you... serious?"

"Only for the duration of this investigation!" Takeo declared.  "Consider
it a temporary pardon- but once this is finished, the best you can expect
from me is a running start."

He relaxed into his smile again.  "Of course," he said.  "Well, I'm very
willing to work with you on this.  Let's get those phone records you came
for, and then we'll start looking through them, okay?"

*	*	*	*	*

Asuma strugged to get comfortable.  He stared across at Noa, who was
relaxed comfortably on her futon- the ONLY futon in the house which hadn't
been ruined by the weather.

In order to make a bed for himself, he'd grabbed the two next-best looking
futons they could find and doubled them up.  It was still very lumpy,
however, and smelly, and parts of both futons he was using had rotted.  The
blankets were much the same way- enough undamaged covers for one, really,
so he had to make do with multiple ruined covers.  It still left him cold-
sure, they'd warmed up the room before going to bed, but it was dangerous
to leave a propane tank burning overnight and they'd had to turn the heater
off before going to sleep.  There were no holes in the walls, so it wasn't
cooling down too quickly, but the disrepair of the blankets he was forced
to use didn't offer the protection needed to keep him warm.  It didn't help
that he was sleeping in his underwear- niether he nor Noa had a change of
clothes on them, and so they'd been forced to make do with their underwear
and some bathrobes as pajamas.  None of the bathrobes fit Asuma, however,
so he wound up using them as an extra blanket.

As he studied Noa's apparently sleeping form, he sighed.  It looked like
she was very comfortable.  'Tomorrow,' he thought to himself, 'I'm getting
on that snowmobile and heading over to the ski lodge to see if I can pick
up a futon and some blankets from that contact of Wong's.   And maybe a
change of clothes or two, as well.'  He paused.  "And anything else that
might be of use in making this place livable," he accidentally muttered
aloud.

"I'm sorry, Asuma," Noa said from her futon.

"Noa?  You're awake?"

"I can't sleep- I keep wondering what we're getting ourselves into," she
said.  "I mean, we're working with the BLACK LABOR here- and we're working
AGAINST all of our friends."

"I know," Asuma agreed.  "Do you regret helping me?"

Noa turned her head to smile at him.  "No.  I'd have had an even harder
time sleeping if I hadn't."  She noticed him shivering slightly.  "You
cold?"

"A little," he admitted.  Unfortunately, his teeth chattered slightly when
he said it.

"Sounds like you're more than just 'a little' cold," Noa accused.

"Well... yeah, okay, I'm cold," he said.  "Not much I can do about it."

Noa looked guilty.  "I got the good futon... maybe I could give you the
good blankets in trade?"

"And have both of us uncomfortable?" he said.  "No... keep the blanket."

"But I'm the host- it's my job to make the guest feel comfortable."

"And I'm the guest," he replied.  "Do we have to go throught this again?"

"Let's just skip to the end- why don't we share?" she joked.

Asuma, however, missed the humor in her voice.  "You can't be serious!" he
exclaimed.

For some reason, Noa took offense at that.  "Oh?  If I was, what would you
do?"

He paused.  "I... I don't know," he admitted.  "I mean, I've had to share
rooms- and sometimes futons- with the others in our unit, but..."

"But?"

"But you aren't just one of the other guys," he said.

"Well, yeah- I'm a girl!"

Asuma propped himself up on an elbow, turning to face her.  "It isn't just
that you're a girl, though."

That surprised Noa.  "What do you mean?  If it isn't just that I'm a girl,
what is it?"

"I... I'm not sure how to explain it," he answered.  "It's just... well, I
wouldn't be really... comfortable... sleeping next to you."

"Well, gee, thanks," she said.

"I didn't mean it like that!" he exclaimed.

Noa looked at him closely.  "Then how DID you mean it?"

He lay back down, closing his eyes so that he wouldn't see her face when he
said what he was about to say.  "I couldn't ALLOW myself to get comfortable
because I would be afraid of getting... too comfortable... with you."

The implications of that set in, and for the first time Noa wondered about
their relationship.  She thought about the times they'd spent together, the
times they'd gone into battle together, and the emotional memories they'd
shared.  "Asuma?" she said.  Her voice was cracking slightly.

"Yeah, Noa?"

Noa paused.  She wasn't sure she wanted to ask this, but once she'd made
her decision she figured she might as well not back out of it.  "Do you
want to share the futon?"

Asuma sat up like he'd been shot out of a cannon.  "Are you sure you want
to take the risk?" he asked.

"Asuma," she said sternly.  "I don't care about the risk.  You've told me
more about yourself than I've seen you tell anyone else- I'VE told you more
about MYSELF than I've ever told anyone else.  When the Griffin hurt you
and I didn't know if you were alive or dead, I was more terrified than I'd
been at any other point in my life.  When we had our first real fight-
about you making up with your father- I was afraid we'd never make up, and
didn't know how I'd handle that.  Whenever my life was on the line, I cried
your name, desperately hoping I could see you just one more time.  Asuma...
like you always say, backup and forward should have one heart and one mind.
 I think we've got the one heart already.  I let you be my mind sometimes. 
If we DID... get too comfortable, all that would happen to us would be that
we'd add one more thing we share- one body."

Asuma couldn't move, or speak, or even think- was Noa offering what he
thought she was offering?

"Noa, do you know what you're saying?"

Noa nodded furiously.  "Yes.  Now get over here!"

"Yes, ma'am!" he said, jumping out of the futon.  "Wait... don't I usually
boss YOU around?"

Noa chuckled.  "Tell you what- you can boss me around in the morning. 
Tonight, it's my turn."

*	*	*	*	*

"Ah, Inspector Matsui," Gotoh said.  "Find any more... irregularities... in
our weapons log?"

"No," he said gruffly.  "I'm done with that portion of this investigation. 
I have a pretty good idea what weapon was used- we just need to find it and
perform a ballistics test on it.  In the meantime, however, there are a
couple other angles to work on.  Takeo's taking one- she phoned me to let
me know she's discovered a confidential inside source on the conspiracy,
and she'll be working with him independently for a while.  In the meantime,
however, she gave me the results of another file search I'd engaged her on.
 Um, would you and Captain Shinobu please help me with this phase of the
investigation?  There's someone I need to question, and I'd like to have
you two along with me when I conduct this particular interrogation."

Gotoh looked over at Shinobu, who shrugged and nodded, before getting up to
walk over to him.  "Certainly- though may I ask why?"

Matsui coughed.  "Well, I'm going to be questioning another police
officer."

"Not one of MY men!" Shinobu cried, outraged.

"No, not one of your men," he said reassuringly.  Glancing casually at
Gotoh, he added, "Not one of yours, either.  Nor Sakaki's."

Shinobu and Gotoh looked at each other.  "Well... if it's not our men,"
Gotoh asked, almost to himself.  "Who does that leave?"

"Are you taking us off base?  If so, I'm afraid I won't be able to go..."
Shinobu said.

"No, we should find the person who I'm intending to talk to in this
facility right now...."

*	*	*	*	*

Noa and Asuma, half-dressed after their difficult night's sleep, were
trying to relax in the main room of their hideout.  Things were slightly
tense between them after what they said and did the previous night, and
they were uncertain how to relate to each other after the unexpected
change.  Trying to avoid the issue, they'd seperated to do very different
things.  It had turned into a very lazy afternoon.

Noa was furiously her Patlabor game, trying to beat her top score.  She'd
seen a steady improvement in her performance that day, but part of that
might have been that there wasn't much else to do in the cabin.  Briefly,
she glanced over at Asuma, blushing slightly.  No, not much else to do at
all.

Asuma was lying on his elbows, reading one of the manga they'd been
supplied.  It wasn't something he'd normally be interested in (it was a
girls manga), but considering the limited options it was a way of keeping
off the boredom.  In an attempt to breech the wall of nerves they'd erected
between them, he first tried helping Noa out on her video game.  That
hadn't worked out, however, and he found that the screen on the Headgear
Mini-Game device wasn't big enough to allow two people to view what was
going on at once.  He also considered suggesting they watch some
television, but he doubted anything of interest was on the local TVs...
though he should probably consider watching the news later that night, just
to make sure there weren't any major updates on their case.

"Say, Asuma?" Noa said, not looking up from her game.

"Yeah, Noa?"

"Are there any OTHER girls you'd have hesitated before sleeping with?"

Asuma blinked, and looked over at her.  She was doing her best to keep her
smile from showing- obviously, she was teasing him.

"Not in this building," he said.

"And outside of it?"

"I don't know... I mean, there definitely are some.  Most of those others,
however, are for completely different reasons."

Noa raised an eyebrow.  "MOST of those others?  What about those 'others'
who aren't covered in that 'most?'"

"Well, let's see.  They'd have to be someone who I liked a lot... and who I
would be afraid of losing what I had with them... and who I trusted with
pretty much anything... hmm, not sure there really ARE any others who fit
all of those requirements."

"Good," Noa said smugly.

"Now, what you SHOULD have asked is if there are any other girls who I
WOULDN'T have hesitated before sleeping with," he added, smiling up at her
maliciously.

"What!  Why you-"

"Shh!" Asuma said suddenly, leaping to his feet.  "I think I hear
something."

Noa started listening along with him.  She just barely made out what it was
he was listening to.  "Is that a... helicopter?"

Asuma nodded.  "Yeah... and it's getting closer.  Do helicopters come
around here often?"

"First time I've ever heard one in these mountains, as far as I can
recall."

"Damn- that's almost certainly the police," he growled as the helicopter
got close enough for them to know that it was landing near them.  "Wong
must have sold us out- quick, grab anything you can, and let's get out of
here!"

Noa glanced out the window.  "Asuma, wait!"

"What is it?" he said, stopping with his shirt half-buttoned- he'd been
wearing just the T-shirt up until that point.

"That isn't a police helicopter.  In fact, I think I see Utsumi waving to
us from its window," Noa explained, using the pseudonym Richard Wong had
first given them when they had first met.

"Utsumi?" Asuma said, surprised.  He resumed buttoning his shirt, but with
less urgency.  "Why is he here this soon?  It's only been a day since we
last saw him!"

The helicopter finished its landing procedures, and Wong left it
accompanied by someone else.  Noa, still looking out the window, gasped. 
"Asuma, Takeo's with him!"

He paused.  "Well... it's too late to try and run now that they've landed. 
Let's just hope she's on our side.  Utsumi said he would try and help our
investigation- maybe he's bringing her in to do it, and she has to ask us
some questions or something."

Noa turned to face him, and as she watched him fix his shirt remembered her
own partially-clothed state.  Quickly, she buttoned up her own blouse
(which she'd been wearing unfastened), and turned to wait for the
unexpected guests.

There was a knock at the door.  Noa glanced at Asuma, who nodded, and
opened it.

"Ah, hello, Noa, Asuma," Wong greeted.  "I brought along a guest who simply
insisted that she see you to make certain you two were safe."

"Hello, Asuma." Takeo said, stepping in alongside him, smiling.  For the
first time, Asuma noticed an odd similarity between her smile and Wong's-
perhaps it wasn't as wide, but it appeared almost identical in shape.  It
was almost as if she WOULD be smiling just like him if her lips would let
her.

"Uh, hi, Takeo," Noa said nervously.

"Noa," Takeo acknowledged.  "Have you been taking good care of Asuma?"

Noa blushed.  "Well... we have had a few problems.  We need a few supplies
to remain... comfortable."

"Oh?" Wong said.  "Did we not bring enough for you in our care packages?"

Asuma nodded.  "We need some changes of clothing- we've been stuck in our
uniforms ever since we escaped, and there's only so much bathing will do. 
We could also use something to help clean those clothes."

Wong nodded.  "Oh- oh!  I'm sorry I did not think of that when I showed up
yesterday!  Give me your clothing measurements before I leave, and I'll get
you a complete wardrobe by nightfall.  Is there anything else?"

Noa raised her hand.  "Yes!  We could use a larger futon and- ulp!"  She
was cut off as Asuma's hand went over her mouth.

"A larger futon?" Takeo repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah," Asuma said, still holding his hand over Noa's mouth despite the
fact she was now biting him.  "See, she's had to sleep on this really small
kids' futon she used to sleep on when she was, like, five or so, and was
hoping to find something a bit more comfortable."  Once Noa realized he was
only trying to keep their secret a bit longer, she stopped biting him, and
he was able to move his hand away.

Wong laughed.  "Of course!  I'll send her a nice queen-sized futon along
with the clothing.  Is that all?"

Asuma was a little surprised at the size of the offered futon, but decided
to ignore that little puzzle.  "Well, the whole place is a bit shabby, and
could use a few things to fix it up.  We don't need that stuff right away,
but if we have to stay much longer we could use some materials and tools to
rebuild the damaged portions of this house."

"Oh, I doubt you'll have to stay in it much longer," Wong said.  "A few
days, a week at most."

That surprised all three of them.  "You really think we'll be done with
this investigation so quickly?" Takeo said.

Wong looked at her sadly.  "I'm afraid so... and then our truce will run
out, and I'll have to start hiding from you again.  A shame, really, but I
promised to do my best to keep my end of the bargain."

"How do you figure we'll be done in a week?" she asked.

"Ah, well, see- our little research project with those phone records worked
two ways.  You were able to discover what people in the police were
actively conspiring to force the investigation to turn on Asuma, and I was
able to find out who it was in Shaft who'd ordered the frame-up.  I talked
to my friends in the departments those people head, and they'll try and
find for us the murder weapon your Inspector Matsui identified.  Once they
do that, we'll go there, extract it, and use it to prove Asuma's innocence.
 In the meantime, your Inspector Matsui and Captain Gotoh, if I'm any judge
of their competence, will be able to break down the police conspiracy in a
very brief time."  He paused.  "Which really doesn't leave much
investigation for us, does it?  Ah, well- do you want to join me on the ski
slopes before we leave?"

"Richard Wong," Takeo warned.  "We're only here on business.  If you're
attempting to butter me up into liking you again, you're wasting your
time."

Wong sighed theatrically.  "Oh, well."

"I would like a chance to talk to Noa and Asuma privately before we depart,
however.  Would you mind leaving us alone for a little bit?"

Wong raised his hands in surrender.  "Leaving you alone as ordered.  Have
fun."  Winking at her, he left the house and made his way out to the
helicopter.

Takeo closed her eyes and shook her head, that smile that reminded Asuma of
Wong still on her face.  "You two are in a lot of trouble, you know," she
said.  "I don't think you realize what it means to ally yourselves with
Richard Wong."

"Maybe not," Asuma said.  "Though I do know enough not to trust anything he
says."

"Well, that's a start," she said with chagrin.  "But there's a lot more to
Richard then just an untrustworthy guy.  He's not going to hurt you, or let
you get hurt- not physically, at any rate- if you're a friend of his.  And
when he told me he thought of you two as friends, I believed him."

"Are you sure about that?" Noa asked.  "It sure didn't seem that way when I
had to fight the Griffin!"

Takeo nodded.  "Hurting and humiliating are two very different things in
his book.  Realize, the Griffin got into a lot of fights- many of them very
intense battles- but it was  controlled well enough that it wouldn't kill
anyone.  It hurt Asuma, yes, but that was unintentional.  If it had been
going to kill you, it could have, Noa- and probably long before the battle
turned in your favor, too."

Cold chills ran down both her and Asuma's spines- Noa, at the thought of
how close she was to death in those fights, and Asuma, at the thought of
how close he had come to losing Noa in those same fights.

"So you're saying we can trust certain things about him?" Asuma asked.

"No- don't even trust what you know about Richard, because he'll use his
own patterns against you.  Trust me- I've seen him work."

"Why is he really doing this for us?" Noa asked.

Takeo laughed.  "Who knows?  Richard's quite eccentric- he told me those
speakers that Bud was using on the Griffin to yell at you were put there so
that he could get the labor to play selections from Wagner's operas as it
moved.  He lives by his own rules, and no-one understands Richard Wong but
Richard Wong himself."

"So how did you two come to join forces in this case?" Asuma asked.  "Did
he approach you, or what?"

"No... we were following the same lead, and just happened to meet.  I was
about to arrest him until I found out he could contact you two, and we made
an agreement where I would arrest him if he kept you two safe.  He's
actually been quite helpful- which isn't really a surprise; he usually is,
when he wants to be."

"So... what should we do?" Asuma asked.

"You?" Takeo said.  "You're already doing it- stay hidden.  Just relax,
have some fun, and think of this as a vacation... but stay indoors.  Well,
maybe there are some things you could do- I suspect it would be safe to go
skiing, if you wear some sort of disguise- but just use caution and don't
let anyone see your faces."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what Utsumi told us," Asuma said.

"I just wish there was more to do around here," Noa sighed.

Takeo's smile grew a little.  "Oh, I'm pretty sure you'll think of
something.  Look, I'd better be going- I'll come by to check on you guys in
a week if we haven't cleared you by then."

"Bye, Takeo," Noa said.

"Hold on," Asuma said.  "Give Noa and I a chance to write down the things
Wong needs to get us our new clothes."

Takeo nodded, pulling out a pen and a small note pad from her vest and
handing them over to Asuma.  "Write down anything you want to tell him in
this."

Asuma and Noa took their turns with the notepad before handing it back to
Takeo.  "We'll see you in a week, Takeo," Asuma said.

Takeo smiled as she turned to go.  "By the way... if you hadn't tried to
hide it, you'd have gotten a bigger futon."

"Huh?" Asuma and Noa chorused.

"Well, it's pretty obvious you two are sleeping together.  If you'd just
come out and admitted it, he'd have given you a king-sized futon to share
instead of the smaller queen-sized one.  Honesty has its rewards with
Richard."

As she continued out the door, Noa and Asuma both facefaulted.

*	*	*	*	*

Inspector Matsui stopped leading when they reached the door labeled
'Section Chief Fukushima.'  His two companions halted when he paused and
pulled out a cigarette.  Gotoh looked at the office, looked at Matsui, and
nodded slightly.  Shinobu, on the other hand, just looked confused.

"Are we going in to get the section chief's help, too, or are we just
stopped so you can smoke a cigarette?" she asked, somewhat harshly as she
wasn't very comfortable being left in the dark.

"His 'help?'" Matsui echoed.  "Hmm... I guess that's a good way to put it. 
The answer to your question is we're stopped here so that I can smoke a
cigarette BEFORE we go in to get some 'help' from your section chief.  I'm
going to need it to calm my nerves- sometimes it seems Mr. Fukushima does
his utmost to make me feel uncomfortable, and I'm gonna need this smoke to
get through this."

Shinobu looked at him, still confused.  She was used to reading between the
lines with Gotoh- well, sometimes she was- but she didn't understand
whatever it was Matsui was implying.  Or at least didn't want to
understand.  "Well, should I go in and get him, or are we all going to have
to wait for you to finish this cigarette break?"

"We're going to have to wait, Shinobu.  See, Fukushima isn't going to help
perform the questioning- he's going to be the person we're going to
question."

Finally, it all clicked in Shinobu's head.  "You don't mean HE'S the one
who sold us out to Shaft?  But he's our section chief!  Surely he
wouldn't..." her voice trailed off into memories.  Memories of the time
she'd confronted the same section chief about the possibility that the
SRX-70 that had been donated to her labor unit was being used by Shaft to
develop military labors.  Blood money, she had called it.  Fukushima's
response, for some reason, rang in her head that moment.

"Labor units run on money, not on pride," he had said.

"In addition to a number of phone calls between him and several suspected
Shaft administrators," Matsui explained, "I accessed his bank accounts and
discovered regular deposits to him by dummy corporations set up by Shaft
Multinational.  While Shaft is not the only group I started out suspecting,
I've since got a few 'tips' to make me believe that Shaft WAS the
organization which framed Asuma and murdered his father, and while
Fukushima isn't the only person who appears to be receiving bribes from
Shaft, we've got other leads- namely your apparently altered report on the
missing weapon- that seem to connect to him."

The door behind the three of them opened.  "And, in addition to all that,
you're able to discuss all of this in front of my office without giving me
a chance to defend myself," Fukushima growled.  "Come in- I've heard what
you all had to say.  Let's talk."

The three officers, looking a little like schoolchildren caught cheating on
a test, followed him in and closed the door behind them.  Fukushima sat
down at his desk, gestured for them to take a seat, and then folded his
hands together.

Matsui, sitting down, cleared his throat.  "Um, sir, I still have a few
questions-"

"Stow it!" the section chief barked.  "You can ask your questions later.  I
get a chance to explain my side of things, now."  He paused, waiting for
their reactions.

Matsui seemed unhappy, but nodded and leaned back in his chair to hear what
Fukushima had to say for himself.  Shinobu felt vaguely shell-shocked-
while intellectually she'd been convinced that there had been an internal
conspiracy to frame Gotoh's protege Asuma, she hadn't quite connected that
to corruption in the police- especially not to someone who she worked with.
 She might not have liked Fukushima, but she was very by the book, and had
always felt that Fukushima was a by-the-book man, as well.  His apparent
betrayal was something she'd never have expected in a million years, even
if the evidence for his had hit her on the head.

Gotoh, however, was as unflappable as ever.  "Go ahead, chief.  We all
appear to be wondering why you would frame one of your own for the murder
of his father."  Unflappable, but still not very happy.  Shinobu, who had
never heard him address someone so darkly- least of all someone as powerful
as the section chief- shuddered slightly at his tone.

"I did nothing of the kind!" Fukushima denied violently.  "I will admit to
taking money from Shaft Multinational, but I wasn't doing anything like
that for it."  He paused, sitting back defiantly.  "I merely was something
of a paid consultant and lobbyist for them.  I was asked to support their
labor designs over that of the Shinohara Heavy Industry designs back when
the two were competing for the Patlabor contracts, and received a modest
fee for my support.  Since then, I've been supplying them with some
information when they've requested it- medical reports on the effects of
high-stress assignments on pilots and that sort of thing.  However, I've
never done ANYTHING which I felt has hurt or hindered my policework in any
fashion- especially nothing which might have lead to one of my officers
being framed for murder."  Disdainfully, he added, "In fact, I think it
could have helped us out significantly, if we hadn't been paranoid about
their motivations.  They were willing to just GIVE us an SRX-70 was in part
due to my aid... and I STILL feel it was a mistake to get rid of it."

Shinobu was starting to get angry now.  The SRX-70 incident had been a
trying time for her, and she still got mad thinking about how she'd almost
been duped into illegal weapons testing.  Fukushima had refused to see her
problem with it at the time, and now he was only compounding his errors in
her mind.  Still, she was able to keep her cool, and not do anything too
violent.  She did break a pencil she was holding between her fingers,
however.

Gotoh noted Shinobu's waning restraint, and decided to ask a question
before she snapped.  "Hmm... you say you've done nothing to lead to one of
your officers being framed for murder.  I don't doubt that you believe that
when you say it, but can you be certain they never used your work in ways
you weren't aware of?  I wonder... you didn't happen to alter a report at
their request, did you?  A missing weapons report?"

Fukushima blinked.  "Now that you mention it, they did ask that I change
one report from listing a missing revolver to say that it fell into the
Tokyo Bay instead of listing it as having been misplaced following the
action.  I happen to know for a fact that the weapon in question was
non-functioning, however."

"Non-functioning?" Shinobu said.  "How?"

"It was defective, according to my source at Shaft.  They were merely
studying the trigger system, but the barrel had been damaged."

That got Shinobu out of her chair.  "And you believed him?" she growled,
slamming her fists down on top of Fukushima's desk.  "Shaft makes weapons
systems for the armies of fifty different countries.  The police revolvers
used by Ingram and Peacemaker labors are pretty pathetic compared to Shaft
equipment- they had no need to study the trigger systems of those weapons!"

"Shinobu," Gotoh said, trying to calm her down slightly.

"How much did they pay you to believe them, 'Chief?'  The ONLY possible
reason they would have for wanting to obtain one of those revolvers would
be to use a labor-designed weapon that WOULDN'T be traced back to them,"
she said.  "So, 'Chief,' guess what?  You DID participate in framing one of
our officers- and it's your fault he's on the run right now!"

"Shinobu!" Gotoh snapped, trying to get her attention.

She relaxed slightly, turning to Gotoh.  "Sorry... but to think I used to
actually treat this man with some respect..."

*	*	*	*	*

Noa went through the crate of stuff that had been delivered for her. 
Fortunately, she and Asuma hadn't had to unload the futon themselves, but
the boxes of clothing Wong had sent were much larger than they were
expecting.  Noa pulled out some laundry detergent (complete with
instructions for how to hand-wash things, as if she needed them), four nice
blouses, three pairs of slacks, a skirt, and some underwear.  Then she
started finding some items she hadn't thought to ask for- an iron, some
soap and shampoo for the bath, some toothpaste, some mouthwash, some maxi
pads (not her usual brand, but she couldn't really complain) and other
toiletries.

There was one thing that she couldn't quite identify, however, until she
took it out of the box and carefully studied the English writing.

"Eep!" Noa blushed, dropping the box once she realized what it was.

Asuma, unpacking his own box, looked over at her.  "What?"

Quickly, she grabbed the box and hid it behind her.  "Uh... nothing."

Asuma smiled teasingly.  "Are you hiding something from me?"

"No!" Noa cried out, her voice trembling with embarrassment.  Realizing she
just shouted, she giggled nervously.

Asuma's smile grew, and he crawled over to her on his hands on knees so he
could confront her face to face.  "Come on- what is it?"

"Nothing!  Really!" Noa insisted desperately.  He was trying to be playful-
she was just trying to keep him from finding the box and getting the wrong
idea.  Unfortunately, the more she fought the more he thought she was
playing, too.

"Then what's that you're holding behind your back?" he asked.

"I'm not holding anything behind my back- see!" Noa said, showing both her
hands.

Asuma feinted a look of surrender, then with a battle cry of "Ha!" ducked
around underneath her hand to grab the box from behind her.

"Asuma!" Noa cried, outraged.

Asuma gave her a toothy grin of victory, but then noticed that she wasn't
just disappointed or embarrassed like he'd expected, but actually looked a
little scared.  His smile dropped, but he still took a good look at the
item Noa had been trying to hide.

"It's a box of condoms," he said simply.  "An assortment- ribbed, flex-tip,
and... flavored?"

Noa nodded.  "Uh huh," she mumbled.

"What's the problem, though?  I mean, it's probably just a gag gift- you
wouldn't believe some of the silly things they put in my box.  But you're
acting scared of this.  Why would a box of condoms scare you?"

Noa blushed.  "Um... I'm not sure how to explain it.  Last night was
wonderful- we found out what we meant to each other, we snuggled up under
the sheets- even if part of why we held on so tightly was to fit on the
futon, we kissed each other, and we... um... did a few other things."  Her
blush grew until she looked as red as her hair, but she continued.  "But we
never got far enough to have to use anything like that.  I was a bit glad,
actually... I'm not ready for that kind of step.  This morning, when I was
thinking about last night, I was wondering what I'd have done if you HAD
tried to start something like that... something I wasn't ready for.  I
figured one excuse I could use was that we didn't have anything like this
to protect me from... well, getting pregnant."  She sighed.  "Now that
we've got them, though, I... I can't think of any reasons other than 'I'm
not ready yet.'"

Asuma smiled comfortingly.  "And what makes you think you NEED any other
reasons?"  She blinked at his response.  "Look, Noa, I'm not going to do
anything to hurt you, nor will I do anything to rush you.  Like you said- I
can boss you around in the daytime.  At night, however, it's your turn."

Noa smiled back weakly.  "And what if you try something during the day?"

"Then you automatically take over, okay?"

"Okay," she said.  "Say... you said you got a bunch of gag gifts.  Like
what?"

"Um..."

"Come on!  Let me see!"

"Ack!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     desaix@sysnet.net
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee           
                      fanfics available at 
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7872/fanfics.htm
      David A. Tatum's Used Anime Trading Post
       http://www2.sysnet.net/~desaix/shop.htm


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