Gaijin

	Part 30

	The Meeting.

++++++++++++++++++++++

	"You've got to help me!" cried Mei Lin in horror as she clutched onto
the boy's shoulders and shook him. The boy had just walked back in the
door and seemed irritated and tired as usual. 

	"What? What is it?" he grumbled as he looked down at her.

	"It's after me!" she latched herself onto his waist and burst into
tears. 

	"Shit. Gia, could you help me please?" he called.

	The woman poked her head out of her office in the back of the room.
"Huh?"

	"A little help please?" said the boy as he pointed down at his problem.

	"She wouldn't say anything," said the woman as she walked over to her.
She's been quiet all night up to now.

	"What have you gotten yourself into? This had better not be stupid
reporter crap. I told you to stay out of the middle of fights. I don't
have time to be saving you all the time."

	The saddened look she got in her eyes when she stared up at him. "No!
Please!"

	"I didn't say I wouldn't help you damn it. Stop looking at me that way!
I'm just not gonna be happy if this is something you got into because of
that job of yours. Who the hell is it? Yakuza?"

	"No. It's him!" she cried as she clutched at his collar and shook him
violently. 

	"Cut that out!" he snapped angrily.

	She stopped and glared at him. "Carnage! He's trying to kill me and I
know who he is!"

	"What?" said the boy as he stared at her. 

	She sighed and handed him a newspaper. "It's going to be tomorrow's
headline. The bastard is getting what he wants."

	"What's that?" asked the boy as he frowned at her seriously. 

	"The front page," she said quietly. She still had him in her grip and
could feel her shuddering. 

	"Who is it? Have you told the police?"

	"Of course I told them," she snapped. "He worked with me. The editor
fired him."

	"I can guess what happened after that if you're right about this."

	She stepped back from him a little. "I found the bodies. If I live
through this, I get to write a piece on it."

	"Good for you," muttered the boy lamely. "Got a name for this guy?"

	"His name is Yamada. I sort of got stuck with him when I first started.
He was there when Venom escaped."

	Carrot was hitting his skull against a wall. "These are the kinds of
things you're supposed to tell me about, before, they become problems."

	"Oh. I didn't figure it out until I saw blood on my shoe after he
passed me. Everything sort of fell into place while he got away."

	"Be glad he decided to wait," said the boy with a heavy sigh. He was
leaning against his forehead on the wall. "Does he know where you're
staying?" he asked.

	"No. I used the phony address you gave me," said the girl with a small
shrug.

	"That's not a phony address. It's the back up place I've got. Just in
case anyone blew this place up or something."

	Gia was looking quite interested in all of this. "So we know who he is
now?"

	"It won't do us much good. His home hasn't been used in weeks. Yoshi
says..."

	"What?" growled the boy as he glanced back at her.

	"Oops," she muttered under her breath.

	"Stay away from Yoshi," he snorted.

	"I gave him my number. He knows I'm with you," said the girl calmly.
"He needed someone to unload on, said it was driving him up the wall."

	"And naturally, he decided to talk with a reporter," grumbled Carrot
irritably.

	"Sorry. I'm using what I learned to do proper research at work." She
grinned at him. "Just knowing about things isn't part of the rules. I
can't help but be a little curious, that's why I love my new job!" 

	"Fine," he relented. He wasn't in the mood to argue with her about it.
"What was this thing he told you?"

	She beamed at her victory and started talking. "He probably isn't
sleeping much anymore. If he doesn't kill something every few hours or
so, the suit will turn on him and kill him. He probably knows about
that."

	"What?" muttered the boy in horror. "He's some kind of prisoner?"

	"No. He's definitely a homicidal maniac now. Yoshi said that was
certain."

	"How would he know?" muttered the boy as his eyebrows furrowed. "I
wonder if they tried going ahead with human testing? Venom was surprised
to see Carnage on a human though. Something about it being too small I
think. His eyes widened, Spiderman's enemy was probably pretty close to
what he was facing. "It's in his blood. That's why he's red instead of
black."

	"Wow!" said Mei Lin as her eyes widened a bit. "That's just what Yoshi
said!"

	The boy frowned at her and pushed her aside when he realized he was
holding her shoulders. "I haven't seen him anywhere but the city
itself."

	"Yamada lived in the city. It's the area he knows," said the girl as
she shrugged her shoulders. She looked slightly annoyed with him. 

	"I'm going to have to get with some of the others on this one I think.
We know who we're looking for, but with that thing he won't be easy to
find. He could pretty much just walk into anyplace he'd like."

	"So my situation has not improved," said Mei Lin with a heavy sigh.
"I'm on assignment by the way. I'm not allowed to go back to the
building until I have Carnage's death or capture to report. On the plus
side, I get direct deposit now. I would have had to wait another year if
it hadn't happened."

	"Yeah. Look on the bright side," said Carrot with an annoyed frown. "I
can't hang around you all day. You're sure he doesn't know this address?
Does anyone you work with know this address?"
	
	"Just Hibiki," she muttered nervously.

	"I'll be back," he said as he turned towards the door.
	
	"Wait! Where are you going?" cried the frightened girl.

	"To get Hibiki I imagine. I suppose having another houseguest is better
than that thing showing up here," commented Gia. "Come on. I'll make
some tea and we can relax for a bit. It looks like I get to have my
little foreign assistant back again for a little while."

	"No! Absolutely not! I pay rent now!" she cried in protest. 

	"Come on. It will be fun!" said the woman cheerfully.

	"Go to hell," said the girl as she stuck her tongue out at the woman.

	"All right," muttered the woman in defeat. She'd figure out a way to
coax her into it again. It brought in droves of minor injuries in young
men. With herself as the Doctor, she couldn't go wrong. She never did
understand why her sister wanted to work in the hospital. The real money
was in the private sector. Her looks would fade, but her reputation
would remain.

	"I know you're plotting to get me to do it. I'm not," growled the girl
as she focused her glare back on the woman. 

	"We'll see," said Gia as she narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Carrot is
in danger every time you go out of the house. Do you really think he's
going to let you wander around outside while this is going on?"

	Mei Lin froze. If she wasn't careful, she could end up chained to a
wall. "Damn. So that's how it is?" She focused her glare on the woman
carefully. "I won't. You can't make me."

	"As I said. We'll see," said Gia as she calmly walked back to her
workstation. "The clinic opens tomorrow."

	"No!"

+++++++++++++++++++++

	As he had suspected. Carrot stood in front of the remains of his second
hideout. It had been torn to shreds. There was police tape everywhere.
He stood calmly staring at the scene. Carnage had come, and ripped the
place apart in frustration. Fortunately, the information he'd given the
Real Estate agent was all completely false, except for the financial
end. Spike was a good man to go to if you wanted to get things done. He
basically was the middleman, and knew who to go talk too. He never had
inquired just how high up the man was. He seemed to have a lot of
connections, but also seemed restricted to grunt work. 

	It was something to think about later. That wasn't the sort of question
you just popped on someone either. He had to find Hibiki. He and Mei Lin
worked together a lot. That would be the first person he'd ask if he
didn't know. He flipped open his cellular phone and dialed the clinic's
number.  

	Gia picked up. "Hello?"

	"Put Mei Lin on. I need to know this guy's address. It might be too
late already." He berated himself for not asking sooner as he gazed out
on the rooftops. He had climbed up one of the walls while waiting for
the girl to pick up.

	He heard the girl come onto the line, but interrupted her before she
spoke.

	"Where does this guy live? I'm about ten blocks south of the clinic. I
need to hurry."

	"Oh shit," muttered the girl fearfully. "It's west of where you are.
You're actually right on the street if you're directly ten blocks south.

+++++++++++++++++++

	"Damn," Carrot looked around the room. Hibiki was gone. His apartment
door was torn off and the walls inside were ripped to shreds. All of the
man's belongings were laying about the home in pieces. "No blood." His
senses were quiet as well. He walked around the room slowly, looking
around for signs of a body. The home was free of blood. Everything was
destroyed. He stepped back outside and glanced around. The van was gone. 

	"He may not have been home," He grumbled to himself as he looked
towards the buildings surrounding him. "Is he patient enough to wait for
him?" Did he want to risk it? He didn't have Usagi to back him up at the
moment. 

	He walked away from the scene unobstructed. If Carnage was there, he
wasn't budging to come after him. "I don't think he's here anymore."
Muttered the boy. He growled as he started walking a little faster and
spoke into his phone. It wouldn't work if he was swinging with it. "Damn
it. Mei Lin, do you have any idea where Hibiki might be right now? He's
not home, and he's very lucky he wasn't."

	"Oh shit," muttered the girl. "I think I know where he might be.
Remember Jiro's place? He's been hanging out there a lot lately. I don't
think Yamada knows about it either."

	"Are you sure? If he isn't there, I might not be able to find him in
time."

	"No, but it's the best guess I can give you. He's got a girlfriend, I
think he said something about taking her out after work tonight. He'd
stop by Jiro's place for sure if he did."

	"Great. I take it Yamada knows who this girl is?"

	"Uh, yes?" said the girl sheepishly.

	"GOD DAMN IT!" screamed the boy angrily. He hung up the phone. "More
goddamn people!? I just want some god damn peace and quiet!" 

	He jumped into the air and started swinging back towards Jiro's place.
The entire trip he'd just taken was pointless and dangerous. He was
going to have a serious talk with her about how she needed to divulge
information a bit more freely. 

	After about ten minutes of travel he landed on the rooftop of the
building and moved towards the service entrance to the building while
lighting a cigarette. 

	Everyone turned to face him as he strolled down the stairs. He calmly
moved up beside Hibiki and put his arms around both the man and the
woman sitting next to him. "You kids are goin on a ride with me."

	"What?" said the girl in horrified shock.

	Jiro arched his eyebrow at the boy and looked slightly annoyed.

	"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Carnage, that monster thing
from the newspaper? He's decided he wants Mei Lin dead. No one knows
where she lives from her job but him. The address she supplied was
fake."

	The man was looking at him with his jaw hanging somewhat slackly. "Yer
kiddin, right? This isn't funny."

	Carrot squeezed his arm a bit tighter. "Yamada knows who your
girlfriend is Hibiki. If he can't find you, where do you think he'll go
next? As I recall, you two were living together?"

	The girl looked very afraid, and her boyfriend's face was not helping
matters. "Do something! This is creeping me out!"

	"Your house is destroyed," said the boy as he glanced over at her. He
had taken his arm off her shoulders already, but kept Hibiki's head in a
firm lock. "I just stopped by there."

	The man smiled weakly at his girlfriend. "Um. He's telling the truth."

	"What!?" screamed the girl in shock. 

	"Um, can I?"

	The boy rolled his eyes at the request. "On the way there. She'd better
be able to keep quiet. I've got ways of getting rid of people too." She
huddled up close to Hibiki and tried to hold him back. 

	"What are you doing?" she squeaked nervously. "I don't like this. Who
is that?"

	"Someone I know wouldn't lie to me about this," replied the man calmly.
"If he says we need to go with him. I believe him."

	"Spike here?" asked Carrot as he finally turned his attention towards
Jiro. 

	"Yes. Is there going to be some sort of trouble?"

	"Not if we work quickly enough. That van out front. Get rid of it, I'm
going to call Spike for a ride. I think he can manage something."

	"What?!" cried Hibiki in shock as Jiro motioned for him to hand over
his keys. "No!"

	Carrot glared at him over his shoulder for a minute and sighed. "All
right. I'm kind of in a hurry here. I don't want you to die. Mei Lin
seems to like you for some reason."

	The man turned white as his arm was suddenly stabbed ten times. 

	"She's just a friend from work! I've told you about her!" cried the man
fearfully as he turned to face her glare.

	"Point is, I'm not going to have that giant thing sitting around in
front of where I live. Got it?" He looked very annoyed. "If Carnage
catches you, he'll torture you to death, but not before he makes you
tell him where she's at."

	"Right," said the man as his face fell. 

	"I've got to work tomorrow!" cried the woman. 

	"Your job or your life, your call." Carrot was not in the best of
moods. This was exactly the kind of situation that usually blew up in
his face. "I'm taking you to the place I'm staying. Hibiki knows where
it is."

	The man nodded. "I've got a few friends there. He's not a bad guy
really, just seems that way."

	"He is positively evil!" hissed the girl angrily into his ear. "We have
to get out of here!"

	"Ride is out front kid," said Spike as he poked his head out the back.
	
	"What the hell did you get me into?!"
	
	"You sure you got da money?" asked Spike. Jiro had filled him in on the
current problem. "A delivery like dis is expensive."

	"Yeah. I need a car anyway. Is this a hot ride?"

	"Naw. Dis stuff is after market. We already chopped it up and built
custom stuff out of em. Got some nice stuff. I could prolly get you a
mini or somthin fer cheap."

	The boy was looking at the man rather dumbly. "Um, hold on a sec. What
are we talkin about here? What kind of cars..."

	"Well, we got small cheap stuff for us grunts like da minis. Den dere's
da bosses cars. It's open market if we can sell em, easy to replenish
stock." The man rubbed his hands together. "Lowest one o dem cars is
fifty thou American."

	"What will two hundred thousand American get me?" asked the boy. "I
might even go even higher if you catch my interest."

	Spike simply stared at the boy for a moment. "Y...yer kiddin right?"

	Everyone around him was frozen in a sort of surprised stare.

	Jiro chuckled.

	"No," said the boy as he glanced around the room.

	Hibiki frowned down at his girlfriend as he realized her grip on his
arm had loosened considerably. "Hey! What the hell are you looking at?"

	"Nothing," she grumbled as she clutched his arm again. He did look a
little young anyway. 

	"Um. I dunno, let me go check wit da boss o dat place."

	"What's going on here?" asked Hibiki's girl firmly. "I'm getting tired
of this. If this is a joke, it's not funny."

	"In a nutshell, a crazy monster is trying to kill you," said Carrot as
he leaned against the bar. "I'm the only hope you have to survive. I'm
trying to get us a ride home, because I can't carry both of you all the
way back and walking is too dangerous with me around. I've been thinking
about getting a car for a while anyway. Spike told me to come talk to
him whenever I felt like buying one. He knows some people."

	"I think Spike knows a lot of people," muttered Hibiki dumbly. He
recognized the situation. This kid had Yakuza connections, good ones. 

	"It is better if you don't voice your opinions on such matters.
Especially someone like you," commented Jiro as he cleaned the glass in
his hand continuously. "The wrong ears hear something like that out of a
reporter's mouth, and they start to get nervous."

	"I'm just a camera guy," replied the man lamely. Two of the other
patrons of the bar had already gone to dispose of the vehicle. 

	"There isn't much difference," replied the man with a small shrug. 

	Spike had waved Carrot over to the phone. The boy was deep in
conversation with whoever was on the other side of the line. 

	Jiro chuckled as the boy dropped the phone. "Something wrong?"

	"Yeah. I got a break," said the boy quietly. He slowly hung up the
phone and walked over to the bar to sit down. "I need a shot. This is
gonna be a long night for me I think."

	Jiro calmly placed the glass on the table. "Are you certain you can
afford this? It could be dangerous. I recall you mentioning something of
just getting out of a similar mess.

	"Huh? What are you kidding me?" said the boy. "Do you really think I
would do that to myself now? Do you have any idea how much worse my life
has gotten since that mess ended?"

	"Not really, no," replied the man honestly.

	"My roommate has that thing from the papers personally hunting for her
tonight. It took a stop by Hibiki's place earlier tonight as well. He's
lucky he wasn't home. I think we've cut him off, he doesn't know about
this place according to Mei Lin. If I can stash Hibiki and his
girlfriend away for a while, I should shake him off the trail. He might
lose interest until we catch him, or it might draw him out where I can
have some friends of mine help me deal with him. That's gonna take a
little time and planning though. I'm stuck supporting two useless human
beings until this is over. The only way they can do any good is by
staying put and out of the way."

	"I am not useless!" snapped Hibiki's girlfriend angrily. "Are you going
to stand there and let him talk about me that way?!"

	"He'll kick my ass!" said the man quietly through the side of his
mouth. "Honey. Trust me, once we get out of the bar I'll tell you
everything I know about him. Right now isn't a good time for that.
There's too many people around."

	"Damn it! You'd better tell me something! I'm not staying around here
much longer!" The woman was clearly upset and wanted to flee away from
what was going on. It felt so wrong, she knew it couldn't be legal. "I'm
getting scared."

	The man grabbed her into a rough hug and pulled her ear up to his lips.
"That guy over there, the one giving orders." She nodded slowly. "That's
not a Yakuza, that's Spiderman. You have to keep quiet, he's fought with
that thing before, and what I do know about him tells me he isn't lying.
Please, calm down and keep quiet. We'll know more when we get where
we're going. I promise. The people he stays with are easier to talk too,
and a lot nicer. We'll be fine with him. He's one of those heroic
types."

	The woman was staring at him in disbelief. "What?"

	"He's..." She narrowed her eyes at him as he quickly planted his hand
firmly over her lips.

	Jiro seemed quite disinterested in the conversation as he watched it
happen in the reflection of the glass in his hand. The bottom of the cup
had a mirrored surface. He kept it behind the counter as his special
glass. It helped him keep an eye on things while giving the place a more
relaxed feel.

	"So, the kid is Spiderman is he?" he muttered under his breath as he
glanced over at him. "I'm not all that surprised really."

	No one noticed this. Carrot was sitting on the barstool staring at his
reflection somewhat flatly. Hibiki had finally managed to calm down his
girlfriend. He was watching her argue with him on the other end of the
bar by themselves. Jiro was watching them closely with that trick glass
of his, and Spike was sitting next to him. "You gotta pay em by
tomorrow."

	"No problem," said the boy. "Who do I pay?"

	"You can drop it off here in the next few days or so. I can take care
of it," said Jiro quietly. "Do try to have it here tomorrow though. I
can probably give you a few days if you really need it considering the
sum."

	"That's mighty convenient," said Carrot.

	"Yeah," said Spike. "Dat should do it. Jiro knows who ta get da money
too. Dat's all ya need to know."

	"I wasn't asking," replied the boy simply. He turned his head as a
light smile formed on his lips. "Hey. It's here."

	Cocked his head at the sound of the engine outside. "What the?"

	Carrot seemed somewhat reluctant to step out the door. "I don't know
why I did it. Probably won't even survive the damn night. I know I
shoulda held out, this is just asking for trouble."

	"What is it?" asked Hibiki as he and his girlfriend stepped out the
front door of the bar and into the street. 

	Both of them were staring at the vehicle in front of them with slacked
jaws. Jiro was scratching his head at the doorway. He seemed worried
about what was happening, but he also seemed to accept it. 

	The boy was looking at the care with a sort of glazed look in his eyes.
It was as if he had accepted the fact he was doomed. "A Porsche 911.
Nice paint job too." The car's red and blue color seemed to swirl in and
out of itself as he looked down the length of the polished vehicle. "I
didn't think this kind of paint existed yet."

	A man stepped out and calmly walked over to the boy. He glanced up at
the door and saw Spike standing there. "You Spike's friend? I hope you
can afford it."

	"Can I go now? There's a monster after that guy. One of the ones from
the paper." The boy pointed back at Hibiki. "I'd rather try to make it
home before it finds us."

	The man tossed him the keys and shrugged. "Your ass kid. There's a
registration in the glove box. Ain't you a little young for something
like this? I mean, the boss told me it was approved, but... I ain't sure
I like this much."

	Carrot glanced over his shoulder at the man as he pressed the button on
the key chain that turned the alarm off. The doors popped open and the
engine started as well. "Get into the car please. She's gonna have to
sit in your lap."

	"Thank you," said Hibiki as he rushed up next to the boy and pulled his
girlfriend forcefully towards the vehicle. She still seemed somewhat
reluctant about the whole situation, but didn't struggle against him.

	"Are we going to get arrested?" she whined finally as the door closed.

	"Who cares? This is a Porsche!"

	"Yeah," agreed Carrot. "If we're lucky, we won't have to walk far at
all when it gets destroyed. I've never gotten this lucky and made it
home safely." He revved the engine a few times and shifted into reverse. 

	"What!? Oh god! I'm gonna die!" cried the girl.

	"Nah. I'll get you there alive, and hopefully in one piece."

	"Please stop comforting my girlfriend," said Hibiki nervously.

	"Sure, whatever," replied the boy as the tires on the car squealed as
the boy burned out in the road before flying forward into the streets.

	The girl had started screaming as soon as she felt herself rocketing
through the middle of Tokyo at high speed. It was late, and the streets
were relatively empty. That didn't mean there were no cars though. The
boy slid over the white line between a bus that was passing a semi. They
were doing well over a hundred miles an hour. 

	Carrot could sense the slightest danger to himself. If the car was in
danger of crashing, he could actually feel it, and his reflexes were
fast enough to keep up easily. "Oh yes," he said as he realized this.
The gas pedal hit the floor.

	Hibiki had his back pressed against the seat as his eyes went wide. His
girlfriend was screaming as she nearly choked him with her arms. 

	Carrot grew annoyed and cranked the radio quickly to the maximum
volume. He was blasted with a hyper J-pop tune and spun the dial around
feverishly without taking his eyes off the road. In a few seconds, Billy
Idol began to sing Rebel Yell and quickly drowned out the screaming
girl. The boy was pleased with this. 

	Headlights flew by them as they roared through traffic at top speed.
"The car had obviously been toyed with. He was doing almost a hundred
and twenty in traffic with little difficulty. 

	Predictably, the familiar flashing of police sirens lit up his rear
view mirror.

	"I don't want to go to jail!" cried the girl fearfully. 

	Hibiki had yet to move. He was simply frozen in his seat. 

	"Shut up will ya?" said the boy as he pulled on the hand brake and
swerved around a corner, narrowly missing having his rear end torn off
by a small truck. He squealed down the road and noticed three cruisers
making the turn behind him. They were all quickly being left in the
dust. 

	"Heh," he said as he ignored them and continued tearing across the
asphalt at full speed. Horns blared at him as he passed from all sides,
but the music killed all of the noise. Well, it muffled them anyway.

	The girl's eyes rolled up and she slumped down in her boyfriend's lap.

	"Finally," said Carrot as he chuckled and turned the steering wheel. A
large hill appeared before them and the Porsche caught air as it sailed
over the street, clearing two cars in the process. Hibiki muttered a
fearful squeak as they landed and glanced back at the two cars behind
them as they both braked hard. 

	The boy didn't seem particularly concerned as he started to slow down a
bit. "Hey. That was faster than I thought it'd be."

	He squealed down a deserted street and pulled up in front of the
clinic. A large wooden fence surrounded the tiny back yard of the
building. He opened the door and stepped out of the car long enough to
open the gate before jumping back behind the wheel. He pulled into the
back yard and shut the car down. "We're here."

	Hibiki nodded. "Um, can we do that again?"

	"Maybe later," said the boy as he opened his door and lit a cigarette.
He put his keys in his jacket pocket and started walking. He made it
about ten feet before he slowly turned to look at the car.

	It was still there, and he was still alive. He didn't even need a
bandage. Something wasn't right. 

	He simply stood there looking at the car as Hibiki walked up with his
girlfriend. He had managed to wake her up, but she was still
disoriented. The man paused and waved his hand in front of the boy's
face. 

	"You all right?"

	"Not really no. Things have been going a little too well for me today."

	That confused both of them and he turned towards the back door. "Come
on. We should get inside. It's dangerous out here for me."

+++++++++++++++++++++

	"Who's this?" asked Gia as she frowned at the girl standing in the
doorway with Hibiki.

	"Hibiki's girlfriend," said Carrot. He pushed by her and started
walking into the building. 

	"Where are you going?" she asked him.

	"I'm gonna go lock myself in the bathroom again," he said as he turned
the corner and vanished.

	"What?" muttered the woman dumbly.

	"Hey. There's no food in my bowl!" cried Luna as she chased after him.

	"You're smart enough to figure that out on your own," said the boy just
before the door closed behind him.

	"What's wrong with him?" asked the girlfriend.

	"Hi. What's going on?" asked the man cheerfully.

	"I'm not sure," said Gia honestly. "I just run this place."

	Mei Lin bounded out of one of the other rooms and grabbed the man
around his neck. "You're alive! When Carrot told me about your house, I
thought you were..." She cut herself off as she realized that the man
was receiving a rather serious glare from the woman at his side. "Um,
hi."

	"This is Mei Lin," said Hibiki nervously. "I work with her..."

	"I can see that," grumbled the woman irritably. "I'm Nuriko."

	"Sorry about this," said the girl as she bowed to them both. "It's
Yamada, he's after us."

	"He's after you," grumbled Nuriko angrily.

	"He'll kill you two if he finds you," retorted the girl angrily. "After
he makes you tell him where I am. Carrot says he'll handle it."

	"I don't trust him," grumbled the girl.

	"You don't have a choice," commented Gia. "I'm not about to let you out
of my sight. I don't want that thing showing up at my house if I can
help it. I'll bet you didn't even know about this place did you? He did
you a favor by bringing you here. We've been watching the news, things
have quieted down, but four reporters have been killed in the last three
hours, three of them died with their families. Your house and the homes
of five others were destroyed; four of them lost family members. I
imagine bodies will be found in the next few days or so. The ones he
missed, their families were tortured before they died."

	That quieted her down a bit. 

	"Oh god," muttered Hibiki in horror. "No."

	Mei Lin didn't look pleased at all. "I just wish I'd figured it out
sooner. Maybe we could have done something."

	"Where is Carrot?" asked the Chinese girl as she glanced back at Gia.

	"He's locked in the bathroom again," replied the woman.

	"Really? Why?" asked Mei Lin.

	"How did you get here so fast? He called to tell us he'd found you
twenty minutes ago. Jiro's is over an hour from here on foot," asked
Gia.

	"You're right. I don't think he could carry both of him just swinging
around," agreed Mei Lin.

	"Oh. That," said Hibiki as she scratched the back of his head.

	His girlfriend seemed to pull up against him a little tighter for some
reason.

++++++++++++++++++++

	"What the hell is this?" asked Gia. She was staring at the car behind
her house with wide eyes. "He bought a car?" She couldn't really tell
what it was in the light she had.

	"He bought a Porsche." Mei Lin looked up with a rather haunted look on
her face as she turned her head away from the logo and towards the
clinic. 

	"What?" said the woman. Hibiki and Nuriko were both standing by the
gate watching the scene with a sort of lazy interest. 

	"A...Porsche?" asked the doctor. "You're kidding."

	"Brand new," said the girl as she looked up and down the length of the
vehicle. "He's rich?"

	"How do you buy a car this late at night?!" cried Gia angrily. "That
jerk stole it didn't he?"

	"Um, no," muttered Noriko softly. "He bought it. I was there."

	"We really can't say more than that," interrupted Hibiki quickly.
"Trust me."

	"Fine. I give up," growled Gia. "What's he doing here if he can afford
this?"

	"I'm glad he's around!" snapped Mei Lin. 

	"We should go inside. He said it was dangerous out here," muttered
Hibiki's girlfriend fearfully.

	"This is a nice neighborhood," said Gia flatly. "He's just paranoid,
he's always been that way. We can't do anything else out her tonight
anyway. We're gonna have to force him out of that bathroom tomorrow. It
won't be easy. He can stay there tonight for all I care."

	"These are the nice people you were telling me about?" asked Nuriko as
she grabbed her boyfriend's neck rather forcefully.  "What did you get
me into?! You asshole!"
	
	"It's not my fault!" cried the man defensively.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Carrot had no intention of staying in the bathroom forever. It was
tempting, but he knew he'd be forced out sooner or later. As it was, he
simply sat on the toilet with a sewing kit and the costume he'd started
making earlier. He'd decided to go with the red and blue look this time.
He'd chosen dark colors, but had basically constructed an almost
professional looking outfit, nothing fancy really. He'd removed the body
armor from his first costume's remains and put it into the new one as
well. "I've got a feeling I'm gonna need it pretty soon."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

	She landed on a rooftop in a deserted area of town and crouched on the
corner of the building as she stared down at her target. A skintight
bodysuit covered her body barely as she smirked down at the small clinic
below. "This is odd."

	A small mask covered her eyes and long white hair flowed around her
body. Long white gloves covered her hands as she plucked a pair of
complicated looking binoculars off a utility belt that hung around her
waist. The belt had chord dangling from it and a small set of grappling
hooks was hanging from her left side. 

	"A clinic?" She zoomed in and smirked. "A clinic with a Porsche parked
out back? How quaint, this is the place all right."

	She bounced off of the top of a light pole and landed in the street
skillfully. There was no one around and it was easy to slip back into
the shadows once again. It didn't take much for her to hop the fence and
move around the back of the building. She landed crouched in the dirt on
the other side of the gate and peered at the window beside her
carefully. It was dark inside, and no one was awake. "Perfect. This will
be simple." She slid up against the wall and walked around to the
corner. A quick peek around told her all she needed to know. A small
back door with a simple lock on it kept her out of the building. 

	"Too easy," she muttered with a small chuckle as she walked over to the
door and slid a small length of metal that was hidden away in her glove
into the keyhole.

++++++++++++++++++++++

	Carrot frowned. He was standing in front of the bathroom Mirror looking
at his finished costume. "Gotta start on the spare later." A familiar
tingling made him slowly turn towards the door behind him. "What the? Aw
man! I just finished damn it!" He flipped of the light switch and opened
the door. Whoever it was, they were sneaking around the outside wall. 

	"Kei?" he grumbled irritably. She was the only one he knew who would
try and sneak up on him that way. They were getting closer to the door.
He turned and swiftly jogged towards the front door. "I knew that car
was too good to be true. Damn it."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

	She smirked as she popped the lock and the door creaked open slowly.
"Got ya."

	"Yeah. That's great. Wanna tell me why you're sneaking into the back of
a clinic in the middle of the night."

	The woman whirled around with a shocked look on her face that quickly
changed into anger. "Spiderman?"

	"Yeah. I've got a shiny new costume too. I'd rather not get it all
dirty if I can help it." He was dangling from a web line off the edge of
the roof and looking her dead in the eyes, she thought so at least. 

	"Back off. You don't know what you're doing," she growled. 

	"Looks like I'm busting a common thief," he replied simply. "Nice lock
pick."

	She smirked at him. "This man is scum. He's a worse criminal than I
could ever be. I don't steal from anyone else."

	"Know him real well do you?" asked Spiderman. He had yet to move his
position and simply stared her down so far.

	She put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. "Maybe." She
noticed that when he narrowed his eyes, the eyes of the costume seemed
to as well. "I'm small time anyway. Why do you care?"

	"Care? Who said anything about caring? I'm only interested in what this
is about." Spiderman seemed quite content to sit there and watch her. 

	"You're not going to try and stop me?"

	"I might decide to leave you alone if your reasons are good enough," he
said simply.

	"I already told you why! This man is scum, of the worst kind."

	"How do you know?" He recognized this girl. She was the one he'd set up
with Yoshi at the strip club. 

	"That's my business!" she replied firmly. Neither one had raised their
voice yet. 

	"Fine," he replied as he stuck her arm to the wall with a bit of
webbing. "You can sit there until the cops show up."

	She glared at him angrily as she tried to rip her arm free. It wouldn't
budge. "You asshole!" Her arm slipped out of her glove and she jumped at
him in a skillful kick. 

	Spiderman dodged nimbly aside and back flipped a few times away from
her. "You know. I'm sure a nice looking girl like you can find a better
career than burglary."

	"What I do with my life is my own business," she snapped angrily as she
spun into a kick at his head. He ducked under it and took a punch in his
chest as she spun around and pushed her weight forward. 

	Carrot was surprised at how much it stung as he staggered back. "Ouch.
You're gonna hurt someone if you aren't careful."

	"Leave!" she snarled. 

	"I thought you were the uninvited guest here?" he replied as he fired a
bit of webbing at her. She dodged and rolled across the ground. She
landed with one of her legs extended and placed her hands on the ground. 

	"Damn." She launched herself into the air as he approached her and spun
around in a kick aimed for his head. He dipped out of the way skillfully
and saw her launch a grappling hook onto the roof the clinic. She pulled
herself up quickly and retrieved it while running across the top of the
building.

	"Oh no you don't!" cried Carrot. If he let her go, she'd come back
later and he knew it. If he wanted to keep his identity a secret,
popping up repeatedly as Spiderman whenever she decided to try and raid
him wouldn't be a good idea. "Damn. I've got to catch her." He wasn't
particularly worried about this one, he knew who Black Cat was. He was
also aware that while he had similar enemies, they were all a little
different than the counterparts he remembered.

	She bounded across the rooftops with surprising speed and kept just
ahead of him. He bounced from wall to wall just behind her as she
twisted through narrow passageways and walkways across the rooftops. It
was obvious she knew the area very well. 

	Then again, so did he. 

	The woman stumbled back as he landed in front of her at the end of one
of the narrow passages. "Why the hell are you following me?!"

	"I'm the heroic guy, and you're the criminal. You should know how this
works."

	She started to back away a bit and tensed her body. "I'm not easy to
catch."

	The boy crouched low as he realized she was going to try and go through
him. She burst forward with a flash of speed. Her strikes were all quick
and skillful as she punched at him. His reflexes were a little too quick
for her and he shifted around most of the blows. Her leg hooked up and
came across his waiting forearm hard. He didn't budge and sent his palm
into her stomach. 

	The woman fell flat on her rear and started coughing. She growled at
him as she stood up again. "You're good enough to hit me."

	"That surprises you? Have you seen the papers lately? Talk about ego."

	"I prefer to see things for myself." The woman actually smiled at him
somewhat seductively. "I'm actually impressed."

	"Yeah. I've still got to take you in," he said with a small shrug.
"That's the breaks lady."

	Her smile fell away. "You can try."

	"Great," he muttered as he jumped over her head as she kicked at him.
She pushed off one of the walls and forced him to twist out of the way
as she hooked her leg at him as she flipped over. Both of them landed on
opposite one another. The woman looked surprised that she had missed.

	Carrot was simply surprised he'd managed to avoid the kick at all. His
mask hid this from view though. 

	"I'm Black Cat. Are you going to keep chasing me?"

	"Charmed. Yeah."

	"Well, lets be off then," she said as she flipped back out onto the
open rooftops again.

	Carrot muttered under his breath as he followed after her. "Great. This
is just what I need. Another woman who wants to kick my ass." He seemed
to attract scantily clad women who wanted to hurt him in various ways
for some reason. While he was thinking, she was swinging away. He
reluctantly pushed off the wall and followed. 

	It wasn't like he could do anything anyway. Michiru would shoot him. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++

	The girl swung across the rooftops and glanced around. Spiderman wasn't
within sight. All she could see in any direction was the night sky and
rooftops. It was peaceful and quiet. "I think I lost him. I should be
ready if I meet him again. That was too close."

	"You're going to stay away from him. I won't have you getting in my
way."

	She spun around and turned to face the voice. A young girl stepped out
of the shadows. She had dark rings under her eyes and short brown hair.
"Spiderman is mine."
	
	"What the?" muttered Black Cat in shock. The girl had appeared out of
nowhere. "Who the hell are you?"

	"I am Kei. I'm going to kill him. I know that look in your eyes; maybe
it's better to just be rid of you now. I saw him chasing you across the
city."

	"That's nice. I've gotten away in case you didn't notice. What do I
care what you do with him?" replied the woman coolly.

	Kei merely smiled. "I see. I can tell you're going to become an
annoyance." She pulled out a wicked looking knife from behind her back
and flipped it around her wrist skillfully. 

	"Hey! Easy now!" cried Black Cat as she stepped back. "I don't want any
more trouble tonight!"

	"That's too bad. I was hoping you'd have a bit more fight in you,"
replied the shinobi.
	
	The cat burglar jumped onto a giant air conditioner and started rushing
away.

	"You won't escape," growled Kei as she hooked her wings into place and
launched herself off the side of the building. She quickly regained
altitude and started gliding after her target. 

++++++++++++++++++++++

	Haruka frowned as she walked down the street with a pair of sunglasses
over her eyes. She was dressed casually, in very masculine looking
clothes. It made her look like an incredibly beautiful man. It was early
in the evening, and things were quiet all over town in the wake of the
disaster. It gave her a bit of breathing room so to speak. The monster
had vanished, but it would be back. She had to find it before it found
her and destroyed half the city in the battle again. It had gone
underground, into the sewers probably. That was a lot of area to cover
underground. It could hide easily in such an environment, and would know
them well probably. 

	Something caught her attention a little to her right. Down a long
series of alleyways to the east of her. She could see movement, and it
looked like fighting. She couldn't see it very clearly; there were walls
and other obstructions between her and what was going on. She frowned as
she ducked into the darkness of the alleyway; it was linked to several
others creating a path through a large part of the city. She calmly
swerved through traffic at high speed as she took out her pen.

++++++++++++++++++++++

	It had been months now. No sign of her sister could be found in the
foreign world. Mao Lin was beginning to lose hope. "Where is she? Why
haven't I heard from her?"

	She frowned deeply as she stomped down the alleyways.

	Things were not going well in her search. No one she spoke of at any of
the holy places knew of the girl. That struck her as very odd, it was
exactly the sort of place the girl should have gone. 

	The man she wrote home about worried her a lot. She hadn't received
word of any other letters for some time. She would find her sister, or
at least her remains. She swore that much at least. 

	Something familiar passed quickly over her head. She caught only a
fleeting glimpse of it, but recognized the way it moved. Her search
would have to wait. She had duties to attend. She tensed up her legs and
shot up onto the rooftops after the evil creature.

+++++++++++++++++

	Black Cat gasped as pieces of air conditioner fell to the ground just
behind her as the flying woman made passes at her from the air as she
ran. She stopped cold just as the woman dove at her directly from
behind. 

	"I've had enough of this crap!" she screamed as she flipped onto her
hands and pushed both of her feet firmly into the girl's gut as the
blade narrowly missed.

	Kei had the wind knocked out of her and rolled across the thick tiles
of the rooftop. It was a large temple roof. "Heh." She slowly stood up
and stared at the girl with a cold looking grin on her face.

	"I might enjoy your death."

	"Not likely," growled the thief nervously. She stood waiting and ready
for the shinobi's attack. 

	"Come on then!" Kei charged with the knife held underhanded as she
slashed at her target and charged. 

	The leather clad girl blocked Kei's arm and slugged her in the gut
before throwing her over her shoulder. She seemed to grow more confident
as she jumped in place and waited again. 

	"I see," said the shinobi calmly as she rose to her feet again.

	"Back off!" snarled the young woman angrily. "Little brat! You can't be
older than fifteen!"

	Kei ignored this and reached into her shirt. Five shining throwing
knives appeared in her fingers as she pulled her hand out. 

	"Uh oh," muttered Black Cat as she stepped back. 

	Kei went airborne and launched the shuriken at her opponent. "Die!"

	The Thief nimbly flipped out of the way and gasped as a small scar
appeared on her cheek as Kei slashed at her with the knife as she
landed. 

	She flipped back again quickly and growled as she glared at the girl.

	Kei was stone cold. She strolled closer and readied herself for another
attack.

	Black Cat grumbled under her breath. "Screw this." She kicked three of
the tiles directly at the girl and turned to rush away.

	Kei chuckled to herself and watched her for a moment. She calmly put
her wings back on and strolled towards the roof's edge.

+++++++++++++++++

	Mamoru Chiba walked through the streets of Japan in a heavy looking
coat. He had lost everything, all because of the damned memories. They
weren't his. He was beaten, scarred, and not entirely sober at the
moment. He'd never really been this drunk before. As it was, his hair
was nothing more than stubble and a glassy look stared out at the world
around him. He hadn't seen Usagi in weeks, every time he went to find
her, she was gone. Judging by what he'd seen in the family, she hadn't
been home in a while.

	"What should I do? What can I do?" 

	He had no direction, no future anymore. 

	"Mamo-chan!"

	The boy froze in the empty street. It was late, and the area he was in
wasn't well lit. He didn't like the sound of that voice either. "Wha?"

	He found himself taken roughly into the arms of a gigantic monster. It
had rows of sharp teeth and dead white eyes. It hopped a bit as it
lifted him into the air lovingly. 

	"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

	The monster seemed to react to that as it stopped swinging him around.
"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in weeks! Oh! I missed you."
	
	The boy's body began to go into strange convulsions as his eyes rolled
back into his head. He was barely aware of what was happening to him at
this point. 

	"Oh. Ooops," said the monster as its skin started to melt off. The boy
could do nothing but watch as his girlfriend's form emerged from inside
the beast. 

	"Oh shit!" he cried as he ripped himself free of her grip and tore into
a dark alleyway. He stopped cold as he glanced around and realized he
was standing in front of a large warehouse. The building loomed over him
and hundreds of barrels were stacked for loading the next day around
giant truck bays. He stumbled forward with a panicked look on his face
as he rushed fearfully away from the monster.

	"Wait!" cried Usagi as she chased after him tentatively on foot. "We're
sorry! We didn't mean to scare you!" The boy found himself trapped in
the middle of a large stack of barrels. He whirled around to see the
girl moving slowly towards him.

	"It's me! Usagi!" she said with a confused frown on her face. 

	"Get away from me!" he cried as he held his cane up in front of himself
defensively. 

	She stepped forward a little more and reached for him. "If you'll just
listen I can explain!"

	The boy lunged forward pulling a sword from inside the tattered cane.
He slashed at the girl as she jumped back. 

	"Wait! Mamoru!"

	The boy didn't hear her. He was clutching at his eyes in agony. His
sword slash had cut a gash in one of the barrels and splattered some of
the unknown liquid into his eyes. 

	He collapsed into the asphalt face down. 
	
	"No! Mamoru!" cried the girl as she rushed up to his side. Slowly she
turned her head towards the liquid and gasped. "Subject blinded"
followed a lot of technical data that she didn't understand about the
liquid. 

	"No!" she whispered in horror. "What have I done?"

	What indeed? ^_^

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Carrot frowned as he glanced over his shoulder. Someone had started
tailing him after they spotted him above. He recognized the gigantic
mace hanging off the woman's back as soon as he saw her. "What now?"

	"Demon!" screamed the woman as she pushed herself off a wall and pulled
her weapon from her back. It was just enough to force him to stop and
land on a nearby wall. He looked up at her just out of reach of the
weapon. 

	"What the hell are you doing? I'm busy!" he snapped. 

	"I shall thwart your dark plans!" she hissed angrily. 

	"Yeah. Look, I'm a superhero nimrod. I thought we covered the whole I
am not a demon thing a while back. You know, defender of justice, bane
to criminals, all around nice guy."

	"What?" muttered the woman dumbly. 

	"Don't you read the newspapers?" he asked her irritably. 

	"I have no need to read them. My mission doesn't involve such things."

	"Yeah? And what exactly is this stupid mission of yours? How does
attacking me do anything to help?"

	"I am a priestess. I must hunt down demons wherever I find them and
destroy them. It is the way of our clan."

	"That sounds familiar. Look, lady, I don't particularly care what
you're doing, as long as you stop doing it to me."

	"Your foolish if you think I'll believe such lies," snarled the woman.
As she jumped down and tried to clobber him with the mace. He bounced
further down the wall along side her blocking and dodging strikes all
the way down the alleyway. Both of them landed on the pavement several
feet away from each other. "I don't have time for this. That stupid
thief is getting away."

	"So, that girl stole something from you did she?" asked the woman
irritably.

	"Yeah. Stick around," replied Spiderman as he simply squirted webbing
at both of her feet and stuck them in place.

	Mao Lin stared at this in shock and struggled to release her feet. "For
god's sake. It's not that difficult to find out what's been going on
around here. Go and find an old paper somewhere. It shouldn't be that
hard. One of the articles by Mei Lin should fill you in pretty well.
She's the one who saw most of the action first hand."

	The woman had frozen in place and stared at him with wide eyes. "What?"

	"Later!" he chimed cheerfully as he crawled up the wall.

	"What the hell is this stuff?" she snarled angrily. 

	"It'll weaken enough for you to get out of it in an hour or so. Relax,
enjoy the solitude." He hopped over the wall and looked out over the
city, ignoring the loud streams of Chinese vulgarities that was now
behind him. "I think I lost her. Damn." It wasn't that big a deal, he
could catch her again at the same place at least once more without being
too suspicious. He glanced over his shoulder and snorted angrily at the
angry Chinese woman.

	"You're just going to leave her there? All alone?" 

	The boy looked up to see Uranus floating down towards him from above.
"She can handle it."

	"Met before have you?" asked the woman with a slight smirk on her face.

	"She got it into her head I'm some kind of demon," he replied with a
small shrug. "Haven't seen much of her lately."

	"I see," said Haruka as she finally landed beside him. "I take it
you're after those two monsters?"

	"Just one of them. I've kind of made an agreement with Venom about
catching it." Carrot popped his back and grunted. He calmly hopped onto
the side of a wall and sat down. "How did it go?"

	"You read the papers," she snorted irritably. 

	"I prefer first hand accounts thanks," he replied simply. "Where?"

	"In the sewers I think. It's too dangerous to go down after her where
she can hide so easily. I haven't heard any reports of anyone being
killed down there either."

	"Nine, that name sounds familiar," said Carrot with a small sigh. 

	"Really?" asked the woman.
	
	"Don't worry about it. It's not involved. I'm pretty sure."

	"Oh." Haruka frowned and glanced over her shoulder at the boy's red and
blue costume. "Nice outfit."

	"Who the hell are you to talk? You've got a miniskirt and a cape."

	Haruka blushed slightly at this. "How's your end going?"

	"Carnage is in the sewers too," said the boy calmly. "I think it's how
he gets around, he hides out down there. I'm not about to go in after
him with the two of them running around down there."

	"Maybe they'll kill each other?" said Haruka hopefully. 

	"They might decide to help each other," responded the boy calmly. "Or
they could ignore each other."

	"I don't like the sound of those two getting together."

	"Neither do I," agreed Carrot. He paused suddenly. "Shit!"

	"What is it?" asked Uranus as she turned her head towards what he had
seen. "Hey�" 

	"Get the hell out of my way!" screamed Black Cat as she bounded over
the both of them in a mad dash away from the bat like creature that was
flying after her.

	"Stay out of this. Kei is a personal problem," growled Carrot as he
took off after them.

	"What?" asked Uranus dumbly as he rushed away. 

	"That little bitch is becoming a big problem. I need to deal with it
once and for all."

++++++++++++++++++

	Mai stood alone in an open area of the apartment she and Minako now
shared. It was a large place. He was putting a lot of money towards
this. Probably the clan's money, she didn't like thinking about that. 

	She pulled her sai out from behind her back and glanced around the
room. Minako was in her own room. She was in the living area. There was
no real furniture to speak of other than a few cushions a small
television and a phone. The kitchen was fully stocked though. A tiny
table rested in the corner that they could eat off of. 

	She spun them skillfully around her wrists and slashed at the air
around her as she started a complicated kata with the two weapons. She
spun around and kicked into the air while guarding her body with several
skillful spins of the dagger like weapons. Several stabbing strikes
accompanied this followed by more skillful slashing and blocking. 

	"I'm glad someone has something to do around here," grumbled Minako. 

	"You should be training as well," replied the shinobi irritably. "You
need to be ready for the battles ahead. This task will not be easy. If
we are to face this evil head on, you must be ready."

	"I'm in good shape!" snapped Minako angrily. "I take good care of
myself!"

	The shinobi frowned at her and stabbed at the air quickly. "It's time
to go beyond that. You are a warrior, magic or not. Taking care of
yourself must go beyond mere upkeep. You must always improve your mind
and body if you are to fight against such an enemy."

	"Mind? I have to study too?!" cried Minako in horror. 

	Mai smirked; Minako had taken her advice as a command. That suited her
just fine. "It would definitely help you improve your patience. We
haven't even been here a single night yet. I'm skilled enough to train
you fairly well. There are things that I cannot teach you, but your
magic will more than make up for that I think."

	Minako stepped back from the look in her new trainer's eyes. "This is
going to hurt isn't it?"

	"Oh, yes. Very much so, after all, pain is weakness leaving the body."

	Minako swallowed hard and stepped back a bit more. "Hold on a minute,
maybe I should rethink this whole thing?"

	"It's too late for that I'm afraid. You're already in far too deep,"
responded Mai calmly. "The only path for you, is forward."

	"Damn," grumbled the girl as she hung her head. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Ami Mizuno sat in silence. She wasn't entirely comfortable with her
situation. She was alone, with a boy that looked only slightly older
than she was. They were in an almost empty apartment with four rooms and
one bathroom. Hito was quiet and didn't talk much, he seemed pretty
happy to keep to himself and guard her just by being around. 

	Of course, they hadn't been here that long either. Not even a full
night yet. He was rather handsome, but cold and distant. He was also a
lot stronger than she was, and she knew it. 

	He was simply sitting in the middle of the living area meditating. His
legs appeared to be twisted into a nearly impossible position with
little discomfort on his part. 

	She was sitting in the corner by the television. She was just watching
the movement with the volume turned all the way down. She didn't have
any books with her. It was driving her mad. She wanted to read
something, anything. Something she could use to take her mind off the
situation. 

	"You're awfully quiet for someone who looks so upset," commented Hito
with a heavy sigh. "I cannot harm you. I've been ordered to protect you,
my honor is my life. I will not fail." He seemed reasonably calm as he
said this and opened his eyes. "Our clan has many hidden secrets within
its disciplines. We are strong enough to help you defeat this evil."

	"You sound confident," muttered the girl. "I'm not much use in a fight.
I can barely keep up with the others sometimes. I'm just support, and
I'm afraid that's about all I'm good for." She thought back to the night
in the hospital and closed her eyes. The thing there had been far too
strong for her. 

	"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at?" said Hito with a
slightly confused frown. 

	"It's nothing. I just need something to read," muttered the girl as she
hugged her knees.

	"If you're having trouble keeping up. I can help you with that," said
the shinobi calmly. "I can help you train your body, if that is what you
think you need to succeed. I should warn you, it will be difficult."

	She looked up at him with a slightly blank look on her face. "What?"

	"I'm not offering to make you a ninja girl. Relax. I can teach you to
fight a bit better, and help you get in shape. If we're fortunate, this
will not last long enough for me to do more than that."

	The girl nodded slowly. "I'm not very physical," she muttered
nervously.

	The ninja sighed. "Yeah. I know. Come on, get up. We might as well
start tonight."

	"How long is this going to take?" she asked.

	"Why? Do you have something else to do? I'm sure staring at the
television is quite interesting."

	She blushed and stood up slowly. "All right. Sensei?"

	"Maybe this won't be so bad. You seem to catch on quick."

	That didn't help the girl's nervous feelings much. "What now?"

	Hito sighed. "Then again�"

++++++++++++++++++++++

	Makoto Kino was kicking at a duffel bag dangling from the ceiling. She
was dressed in sweat clothes and had basically stuffed every cushion,
cloth, and article of clothing she could find into the bag. A length of
rope hung from a heavy-duty ring that had been bolted to the ceiling
crudely. She grunted as she slammed her knee into the bag repeatedly as
she gripped it firmly to hold it in place. Finally she snapped a kick
that knocked the rope out of the loop and sent it crashing to the floor.
She was gasping for breath and staring at the floor.

	Kenshi was sitting across the room watching her emotionlessly. He said
nothing and simply stared forward in a sort of daze. 

	"Got any pointers?" she asked him.

	"No. I cannot help you. I'm not permitted to train anyone. You're doing
fine on your own. Just remember to keep it up. We've got a hard road
ahead of us it seems."

	The girl hefted the bag over her shoulder and clumsily hooked the rope
back into the ring after a few failed attempts. She stepped back and sat
down against the wall on the opposite side of the room from him. "Why
not?"

	Kenshi frowned at her. "I've become too strong."

	"What?" said the girl dumbly.

	"I cannot touch another person, I would�hurt them." He continued to
stare forward. "I am not permitted to attack anyone I do not intend to
kill."

	"What?" gasped the girl in shock. 

	"We're probably going to have to replace the doors around here pretty
regularly, doorknobs, light switches, that sort of thing." He sighed
heavily and hung his head. "This is why I don't do outside assignments.
I'm an assassin damn it. I'm not cut out for this sort of thing."

	Makoto was quite surprised and went silent. 

	The man seemed very sullen about his problems. It reflected in his
attitude pretty clearly. 

	"Damn, he's really cute too," thought the girl to herself angrily. "She
wasn't about to risk her life over it."

	The man closed his eyes and lowered his head a bit. "I'm going to
sleep. Keep training. You'll need it."

++++++++++++++++++++++

	Aman stared down at Rei Hino. The girl was awake again, and she looked
more aware than ever before. "So. It seems you have returned to us."

	"Where am I?" she asked as she turned her head towards him painfully.
Her head was throbbing. The room was dimmed and the shadowy figure
standing next to her simply looked down at her emotionlessly. 

	"A hospital. You were injured."

	Rei stopped moving. Memories flooded back to her, she closed her eyes
and whimpered under the stress her head seemed to have on it suddenly.
Gasping for breath her eyes fluttered for a moment. She simply stopped
moving and stared at the ceiling. "I can't move my legs, can I?"

	"I'm afraid not. Your back is broken."

	"I see," said the girl as she stared at the ceiling. "I can feel my
arms."

	"That is good to hear."

	Tears flowed down the girl's face. "Who are you?"

	"I am Aman. I am here to guard you. There are many powerful beings who
wish you dead."

	The girl slowly nodded her head. "I know."

	"Your identity has been revealed as well. You are safe here, until the
doctors release you. After that, we have a place for you until this is
over."

	"Can I have a few moments alone?" she asked him.

	He turned towards the door without responding and walked out. He didn't
seem upset, but the girl didn't particularly care. She simply started
crying and screamed painfully. 

	Aman waited just outside the door and leaned his head back against the
doorframe. Doctors rushed into the room quite suddenly. The monitors
around her had come to life quite suddenly as she began to realize what
had happened to her. 

	"She is awake," he said softly to them as they stopped in front of him
with confused frowns on their faces. He turned away from the door and
walked over to sit down and wait for them to finish their duties. He
turned his head towards the glass wall and watched them closely from the
corner of his eyes as he waited patiently for things to calm down again.

++++++++++++++++++++

	TBC�

	Next Time: Carrot gets even more annoyed!

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