Gaijin

 

    Part 8

 

    China Rose

 

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

 

    Carrot stood on the roof of his apartment
with an 
iron pole in his hand, he spun it
around him self in a defensive pattern 
and
attacked an invisible opponent. Sweat
glistened off his forehead as he 
worked and
the sun rose into the sky behind him. He
worked through his 
kata silently, controlling
his breathing and moving along the 
gravel
surface in a rather complicated attack
pattern. After several 
moments, the exercise
ended and he relaxed. He closed his eyes for
a 
moment as he stood upright from the last
stance and tossed the weapon 
aside
carelessly. It hit the ground with a metallic
sounding clang.

 

    He smiled to himself and looked at the
pole for a 
moment. He knew there hadn't been
one up here, but it had been waiting on 
him
when he'd come to practice. "Where are these
coming from?" His smile 
faltered suddenly and
he sighed again. "I still haven't figured out
a lot 
of this."

 

    He brushed it aside and brought up his
hand. From 
inside his sleeve, a long needle
protruded from between his fingers. 
He'd
bought several of them, and lengths of strong
metal wire. They 
weren't the razor wire the
ninja he'd fought was using, but they 
were
flexible almost to the point of being string
like. He'd found them in 
a small hardware
store near where he lived.

 

    He snorted and flicked his wrist. The
needle shot 
from his grasp and stuck deep
into the concrete ledge that ran along 
the
edge of the roof. He snorted as it stuck
fast, with the wire running 
to it from inside
his sleeve. "I suppose it's all in the
wrist." He shook 
his head and sat down,
flipping his wrist slightly.

 

    His eyes went wide in shock as instead of
just 
removing the needle from where it was
stuck,  it flipped up and returned 
to his
hand, coiling back into his sleeve. "Whoa!
Shit! He muttered as he 
looked at the weapon
that was now stuck between his fingers again.
"What 
the? How the hell did I do that?" He
jumped to his feet and stared at it for 
a
moment in awe. "No freaking way!" He repeated
the attack, with the same 
result. "What the
hell is this?" he muttered to himself quietly
as he 
stared at it and repeated it again.
After about seven tries, he stopped 
and
slumped down onto the ground, sitting there
and mulling over the new 
development. "What
the hell?"

 

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

 

    Gia walked up onto the roof and paused in
the 
doorway. She smiled a little as she found
Carrot there. He was practicing 
martial arts,
and putting on an impressive show of it.

 

    She had decided to speak to him about a
few things, 
and had seen him coming up to the
roof earlier. Now she stood in the 
doorway
content to watch him for a moment. She paused
when his kata picked 
up speed, the Bo staff
that looked like it was painted black spun in
his 
hands with an almost impossible speed and
skill. Her smile faded as she stood 
up right
again watching him in awe. "What? He's...
this good?" she 
muttered to herself.

 

    The boy either didn't realize that she
was there, or 
ignored her as he continued.
Finally, he stopped and stood 
there,
controlling his breathing for a long moment.
He tossed the weapon 
aside and she started to
speak. The pole hit the ground with a 
rather
noisy clang and she paused and blinked again.
"Metal?" She had 
thought the pole was wooden,
one of those practice weapons or 
something.
By the time she recovered, he had already
started something 
new.

 

    The boy was tossing some sort of line out
of his hand 
and it stuck into the ledge. With
a skillful flick of his wrist, it returned 
to
his palm. He peered at it for a moment and
seemed to think about it 
before staring
again. After several tries, he slumped down
onto the ground 
and appeared to be mulling
over something.

 

    She stepped out onto the rooftop, moving
out of the 
doorway. "Carrot?"

 

    The boy looked up at her, his thoughtful
frown still 
on his face. "Huh? What is it?"

 

    "That was impressive," she said
cheerfully.

 

    "Huh?" He blinked and looked at her in
confusion. 
"Oh, you were watching me?"

 

    "Well, I sort of stumbled onto you," she
said as she 
waved her hand at him. He was
being unusually humble at the moment.

 

    S'no big deal. You want something?" he
asked.

 

    "Yes actually." She turned her head away
from him, 
not sure why she felt worried about
it at all. "There's a man looking for 
you. He
came by again last night. It's not the first
time I've seen him. 
He says he's with the
police, and he wants to talk with you."

 

    Carrot blinked. "Police? What the heck
would the 
police want with me?" he wondered
out loud.

 

    "I don't know. He wouldn't say. He just
says he wants 
to talk with you. I was hoping
you might know what he wanted," she 
replied
with a small frown.

 

    "I'm not sure," said carrot as he
shrugged. "I can't 
think of anything. Maybe
it has something to do with that job Spike
got 
me?" He frowned at the thought. "Damn,
shoulda known that would get me 
into
trouble."

 

    "You didn't have much choice," replied
the woman with 
a small frown. She didn't
mention that she wasn't so sure of 
that
anymore.

 

    "I guess you're right," he said with a
small chuckle. 
"Still, I don't think it would
be a good idea for me to talk with him. 
Maybe
I should lay low..."

 

    "Isn't that what you're doing now?" asked
Gia as she 
stared at him.

 

    "I haven't been doing a very good job of
it," he 
responded with a snort.

 

    "I guess you're right," agreed Gia with a
slightly 
nervous laugh.

 

    Carrot frowned as he stood up and walked
back towards 
the stairs. "Some cop? Those
ninja maybe, or one of those 
Youma
Generals...? I wouldn't put it past any of
them to disguise 
themselves like that." None
of them made a whole lot of sense though, 
he
hadn't been attacked at home yet. It was
something else to think about. 
He looked back
at the rooftop before walking back inside and
brushing past 
the woman. He continued down
the hall and walked out of the building. 
He
was off, but maybe it would do him some good
to take a walk. Things had 
only gotten
weirder since he'd settled into his new
place.

 

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

 

    Gia couldn't help herself, she walked
over to the 
pole and picked it up. She
briefly wondered why Carrot had just left 
it
there. Then she paused and moved it up and
down in her grip for a 
moment. "Hey, this
thing is heavy..." She gasped as her mind
went back to 
what the boy had been doing with
it. He had been spinning it around as if 
it
was some lightweight wood. She gasped and
dropped it on the ground 
while she stepped
back. "What the hell? What kind of kid is
he?"

 

    She turned around and looked at the
doorway. After a 
moment, she jogged towards
it, intent on asking the boy just that. 
When
she reached the hallway, he was already gone.

 

    "Damn."

 

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

 

    It was a beautiful day in Tokyo. The sun
was shining, 
and the sky was a clear blue
above. It had rained briefly earlier, and 
the
pavement was still slightly damp. Carrot had
been walking around for a 
few hours already.
The climate was cool, and a light breeze made
it only 
slightly chilly. He enjoyed the
weather, and decided to stay out rather 
than
return. He'd stopped thinking about his
problems a while ago and 
simply enjoyed his
time outside.

 

    He found himself walking through a small
crowd of 
students. School had just ended for
the day, and now the streets were packed 
with
uniforms from the various schools in the
area. In an hour or two, 
they would all be
gone. Still, it was a rather pleasant
atmosphere for a 
fourteen-year-old boy to be
walking around in.

 

    He was forcing himself to walk out in the
open to 
take in the warmth of the sun. As a
result, people were noticing him. A 
few
students gave him curious stares as he walked
by. He blinked and 
realized why as he looked
down at himself. Beside the fact that he was
a 
gaijin, he was also dressed in a dogi.
"Damn, forgot to change." He'd bought 
it for
training shortly after moving into his home.
Clothes had to be 
washed in a Laundromat near
to the building. He didn't like going out,
and 
getting all his clothes sweaty from
training left him with an unpleasant 
odor.

 

He sighed and continued walking, it was no
big deal, and he could deal 
with a few stares
and giggling schoolgirls. No one tried to
speak with 
him, and that was just fine by
him. Well, almost no one...

 

    "Your face!"

 

    "Huh?" said carrot as he turned to see a
girl about a 
year older than him looking at
him through a pair of thick glasses.

 

    "It's ominous!" said the girl.

 

    "What the hell?" he muttered as he stared
back at her 
for a moment.

 

    She wasn't Japanese, it was fairly
obvious. She was 
wearing a Chinese style
dress and had her long dark green hair tied
into a 
bun on the top of her head. The dress
was form fitting, but full length. 
It
appeared to be quite ornate, with a golden
pattern of cranes and clouds 
on top of a
rather expensive looking red silk cloth. She
adjusted her 
glasses to stare at him and
frowned. "You have a dark cloud hanging 
over
your head!"

 

    So, tell me something I don't know,"
snorted Carrot 
irritably. The girl's grasp of
the language was excellent, but her 
accent
gave away her Chinese heritage.

 

    "I am Me-lin," said the girl as she bowed
to 
him.

 

    "So? Did you want something?" he 
replied
irritably.

 

    "I will help you," said the girl as she
peered at his 
face a little too closely for
his comfort.

 

    "Help me with what?" he grumbled as he
frowned at 
her.

 

    "You are cursed, and I shall remove it
from your 
soul!" said the girl firmly. She
gripped his shoulders and shook him 
lightly.

 

    "Don't touch me, you loon!" he grumbled
as he pushed 
her hands away. "Get lost."

 

    "Not until your curse is lifted!" said
the girl 
firmly. She shook her head from side
to side slowly.

 

    Carrot growled and started walking again.
"Fine. I'll 
leave then."

 

    This caught the girl by surprise. "Wait!
We haven't 
set up a payment plan yet!"

 

    "I'm not paying you, go away," he said as
he turned 
his head to frown at her as he
walked.

 

    "It is a small price to pay for peace of
mind!" cried 
the girl as she continued to
move after him.

 

    Carrot felt the hairs on the back of his
neck rise 
slightly. Everyone was staring at
him and the girl now. She was 
obnoxiously
loud, and it was starting to get to him. He
slowly turned 
around and glared at her again.
"You're getting on my nerves, go away."

 

    "I cannot leave you! It is my duty to
help those in 
need. Even though you are a
cheap bastard who will not pay me!"

 

    "Cheap bastard?" grumbled the boy as his
frown 
deepened. "I'm not going to pay you for
irritating me, now go away!"

 

    "To think! A young boy would refuse the
charity of 
such a beautiful maiden from the
East!" lamented the girl. "A shame to 
my
family, my honor, and my name! Oh! The shame
of it all!"

 

    "You're damn right I...what?" the boy
blinked as he 
stared at her again.

 

    "Oh! Perhaps I worded that wrong..." said
the girl as 
she blushed and realized that
most of the boys in the immediate area 
were
now staring at her exclusively.

 

    "Look lady, I don't want help, and I
don't need it," 
grumbled Carrot as he turned
away.

 

    "I sense something terrible is about to
happen to 
you! Please! You must accept my
help!" exclaimed the girl.

 

    Carrot was growing extremely irritated by
this 
strange girl. He turned and pointed at
a  nearby boy and snorted. "What 
about him?
He doesn't look ominous enough for you?"

 

    "Yes. His face is ominous as well, but
not nearly as 
much as yours," replied the
girl calmly. "Plus, he does not have a 
cute
butt."

 

    "Carrot paused again and stared at her.
"Huh?"

 

    "I would not be so charitable with you if
you did 
not," she replied as she nodded to
herself.

 

    Carrot just stood there looking at her
for a 
moment.

 

    "Shall you allow me to help you?" she
said with a 
satisfied looking grin forming on
her face. In her mind, she had him 
now.

 

    "No," he responded as he turned away and
started 
walking calmly.

 

    "I take it back, you do not have a cute
butt!" she 
said angrily as she continued to
follow him.

 

    "Yes I do," said the boy as he continued
to walk 
away. "That doesn't have anything to
do with this though. Stop bothering 
me!"

 

    "Wait! Do not step any further! That
street is 
ominous!"

 

    Carrot looked up at the street sign and
frowned. 
"Looks like Sakuragami Street to
me."

 

    A short distance down the street in
question, a 
manhole cover exploded up from
the pavement. "I told you! Ominous!" said 
the
girl as she smirked at him. The manhole cover
landed in front of him a 
few feet away,
clattering to the pavement noisily.

 

    "I didn't need your help to tell me
something bad was 
going to happen to me
today," muttered the boy irritably. He looked
down 
at the disk and snorted.

 

    "I still sense a dark presence!" said the
girl as she 
narrowed her eyes.

 

    "Well, you take care of the dark
presence, I'm going 
to go have lunch," said
the boy as he pointed at a small street side
cafe 
nearby.

 

    The girl's head snapped around and she
stared at him 
dumbly. "What?"

 

    "You're the one that's so gung-ho about
all this. Go 
right ahead. Your ominous evil
is climbing onto the street right now," 
said
Carrot as he pointed out the large brown blob
that was moving into 
the street from the
manhole.

 

    "What is this?!" cried the girl as he r
face became 
serious. She moved into a combat
stance that Carrot didn't recognize.

 

    "Oh shit," said Carrot as he frowned at
the thing. 
"It's a shit monster." His eyebrow
arched slightly at the sight of it. 
"Well,
good luck." He pat the girl on her shoulder
and started walking 
towards the restaurant.

 

    "Wait!" cried the girl angrily as she
watched him 
walk away. She shook her head and
focused on her new problem. The thing 
that
had oozed up from the ground below, now
appeared to have grown a 
mouth and eyes. "So,
the evil I sensed in Japan, is worse than I
had 
feared. Something terrible has descended
upon this place!"

 

    Carrot was now sitting at a table,
reading a menu 
calmly. "It appears some of
the citizens are already jaded by such 
a
mystical evil! So I shall fulfill my
destiny!" said the girl to herself 
as she
steeled her mind for the coming battle.

 

    The boy paused as a soft glow started to
form around 
Mei-lin's body. "Neat."

 

    The waiter had come out, and was looking
at the scene 
with his jaw open.

 

    "Hey! I'm hungry damn it!" snapped Carrot
as he 
kicked the man in his shins to get his
attention.

 

    "Are you nuts? I'm getting the hell out
of here!" 
cried the man. A long thin metal
wire that now protruded from the boy's 
sleeve
blocked his escape path. "Not till I've had a
sandwich."

 

    "Are you crazy?" exclaimed the man in
horror.

 

    "Maybe I am, but I'm also hungry. You're
not leaving 
until you've taken care of that,"
said Carrot as he narrowed his eyes at 
the
man. "Don't worry, that chick looks like some
sort of demon hunter. We 
should be fine." The
boy turned to glance at the girl as she stood
off 
against the thing.

 

    The waiter looked at the boy fearfully.
"Devil 
Hunter?"

 

    "What the hell else could that thing be?"
asked 
Carrot. "Hurry it up will ya?" The
smell is starting to get to me."

 

    The shit monster's odor was starting to
fill the 
street. It roared angrily as it
stared down the young girl in front of 
it.
She started to mutter something under her
breath as she concentrated, 
and the thing
started throwing itself at her. She dodged
the blobs of 
fecal matter and kept her eyes
on the thing. She was very skilled, but 
her
concentration was suffering.

 

    The thing moved slowly, sliding across
the pavement 
like a slug. It was huge though,
about half the length of a bus, and just 
as
tall.

 

    They were about twenty yards away from
where Carrot 
was sitting, and he appeared to
be mostly ignoring them.

 

    She wasn't watching him though, and
continued to move 
back away from the thing.
Finally, her voice got louder. She was 
saying
something in Chinese, and it's volume was
getting louder. She ended 
up shouting, and
thrust her arms forward. A wave of visible
energy seemed 
to ripple across the sky and
slammed into the thing's left arm. It was 
a
very impressive looking attack.

 

    Unfortunately, all it really did was
splatter Mei-lin 
with shit.

 

    Carrot arched his eyebrow at the display.
"Hey, 
neat."

 

    The girl was having trouble though.
"What? He wasn't 
defeated?" It had never
happened to her before. She promptly 
stated
exactly what the thing was made of, and
started again.

 

    The monster chuckled and a crystal
appeared in it's 
grasp. It started to glow
and it loomed over the Chinese girl.

 

    Carrot blinked as he realized what the
girl was 
doing. "What? That's it? That's all
she can do?" He sighed and shook his 
head.
The attack was taking just as long as it had
the first time.  
"Man, she's worse than
Sailor Moon!"

 

The waiter appeared from the restaurant with
a tray in his hands. He was 
watching the
battle fearfully and had a sandwich and drink
with him. "Can 
I go now?"

 

    "Yeah, sure," said Carrot as he shoved
some money 
into his chest before he'd had the
chance to put his food down.

 

    The man stumbled suddenly and passed out.
Carrot 
caught his food and blinked in
surprise. The man was lying on the ground 
in
front of him. "Oops! Sorry, I didn't think it
was that hard..." He 
frowned though when he
realized that it wasn't that hard. "Oh man,
this 
again?" He turned around and started
eating while he watched the girl 
working.

 

    Mei-lin was shaking in terror as the
thing moved 
towards her slowly. She was
backing towards a wall as the crystal in 
its
hand became gorged in power. She could feel
her energy slowly fading 
and staggered
slightly. She was fighting it with minimal
success, but it 
was only a matter of time.
"No! I must...it's too strong!"

 

    The thing laughed at her as she slumped
against the 
wall and slowly struggled to
stand again. It was already sliding over 
her
legs. She shook her head and flailed her arms
around, desperately 
trying to find something
to grab as she felt herself being pulled into
it 
slowly. "No! I cannot fail!" she cried in
horror as the glow began to flicker 
around
her again, but it was far too weak this time.

 

    "What was this crap about you saving 
me
earlier?"

 

    The creature roared in anger as its head
was split in 
half. Carrot was standing behind
it with an iron pole in one hand, and a 
half-
eaten sandwich in the other. He was holding
his pole up at an angle, 
with it sticking
inside the monster.

 

    A giant fist formed out of the side of
the thing and 
slammed into Carrot. The boy
was sent flying through the air. He 
slammed
into a wall hard, crushing the stone and
creating a crater. 
"Damn!" he muttered as he
grit his teeth and closed his eyes. "Son 
of
a..." He fell out of the hole his impact had
made and staggered to his 
feet.

 

    He looked up and frowned. Mei-lin was out
cold and 
sticking from the thing's belly. She
was in up to the bottom of her breasts. 
He
growled and glared at it. He'd made a serious
miscalculation about the 
girl. Somehow, he
didn't think the senshi were going to appear
until it 
was too late. "Great, I hate being a
hero." He knew he didn't have much 
choice.

 

    He jumped into the air with his pole held
high over 
his head.

 

    The thing shifted, and he realized that
he'd jumped a 
little too high. It opened his
mouth below him and waited on him. 
Without
thinking, he flicked his wrist and twisted in
mid air.

 

    The creature growled in anger as its face
was swiped 
off as the boy swung just over its
mouth with his pole held down below 
him.
Carrot was swinging from a thin line that
hung out of his sleeve and 
stuck in a nearby
wall overhead.

 

    Carrot chuckled and turned to look
forward. "Oh man!" 
He promptly slammed into
the wall, once again knocking him senseless.
He 
managed to cling to the wire and shook his
head. "Ouch.... That was really 
stupid." He
flicked his wrist again and the spike was
pulled from the 
wall. He landed and turned to
face the thing, only to find that the 
girl
was now stuck up to her neck.

 

    "Son of a bitch!" he growled as he jumped
up and shot 
out another line. He swung
towards the monster, and promptly landed 
face
first into the pavement. He slid for a few
feet and groaned in pain. 
His chest, arms,
and legs were scraped up pretty badly, and
one of his 
cheeks was now turning red as well
from the impact.

 

    He managed to roll away just as a massive
shit fist 
slammed into the ground where he
had been, forcing him to roll away. He 
jumped
to his feet and then jumped back, landing on
the hood of a car just 
ahead of a large blob
of crap that slammed into the ground below
him. His 
landing was a bit wobbly, but he
managed to keep on his feet. "All 
right
ugly..." He didn't have a clue about what to
do now. He wasn't 
really hurting the thing,
and only one of the girl's arms was poking
out 
of its belly now.

 

    "Oh...son of a..." he cried as he jumped
into the air 
again in a last ditch effort. He
sent out another line and it stuck deep 
into
a wall. He grit his teeth and closed his eyes
to prepare for 
impact.

 

    Carrot swung through the air, moving in
close to the 
ground, no more than a foot
above it. With a quick motion he reached 
out
and snagged the girl's hand before it
vanished into the thing's belly. 
The force of
his momentum almost jerked her out of his
grip, but he 
managed to hang on. He kept
going, pulling the girl from the thing 
with
his momentum mostly, and somehow managed to
pull her to his chest. 
She coughed violently,
splattering his face with shit in the
process. 
Still, she was conscious enough to
grab his neck and hold on tight.

 

    Carrot cursed as he saw the wall moving
towards him 
and flicked his other wrist,
shifting the girl's weight as he did it. 
He
held her with his legs to free his hands, her
grip on his neck helping 
with this a great
deal. He pulled one line free just as the
other one went 
tight and swung through the
air once again, this time swinging sideways
as 
his momentum shifted suddenly. After a
moment, he started to swing downward 
at an
angle, and he repeated it, switching the
lines again.

 

    Halfway through the next swing he shifted
and turned 
around, shooting a line in the
direction he'd just come from. His 
momentum
sent him up this time, almost to the point of
doing a complete 
loop in the air with his
line, being  almost directly above it at 
one
point. The line started to slacken as gravity
took over, and he 
released another line while
pulling the first one back. Jut before 
they
hit the ground, they swung back into the air.
"Hey, I think I'm 
getting the hang of this,"
muttered Carrot to himself.

 

    Carrot chuckled to himself and the girl
hanging from 
his neck started screaming as
she became aware enough to realize what 
was
going on around her. She stopped when she
realized that the boy was 
saying something as
they moved back towards the Youma. Or more
precisely, 
singing something.

 

    "...Spiderman, does whatever a spider
can! Spins a 
web, any size! Catches thieves,
just like flies! Look out! Look out for 
the
Spiderman!..."

 

    "What are you dooooiiiiiiinnnnnnggggg!?"
screamed the 
girl as he flicked his wrist
again. This time they landed on the 
ground.
Carrot shifted just enough so that he could
pull her into his arms 
before they hit. He
stopped cold and stared forward at the
monster with an 
angry frown. The girl paused
after he didn't move for several seconds, 
he
was just hunched over with her in his arms,
glaring at the thing. 
"Um...is something
wrong?"

 

    Carrot spoke quietly. "The ground...is
very 
hard."

 

    "Of course it was! You didn't do anything
to slow us 
down before you stopped idiot!"
she snapped as she jumped down from his 
grip.

 

    The shit monster noticed that they had
returned and 
slowly lumbered towards them.

 

    "We should probably run now," said Carrot
as he 
managed to straighten himself out a
bit.

 

"We can't just leave that thing here!" cried
Mei-lin irritably as she 
growled at it.

 

    "Why the hell not? I haven't got anything
that will 
kill it, and that little trick of
yours won't do any good!"

 

    "That isn't a trick! It's the invincible
power of my 
soul!" screamed the girl angrily.

 

    "Yeah, well  it's no match for he
invincible 
power of a pile of shit," he
snapped back at her.

 

    "I can't run away! Look what that thing
did to me! Do 
you have any idea how much this
dress cost me?" she screamed angrily.

 

    "Yeah, I'd noticed," he said lamely. He'd
gotten a 
good bit of the thing on him in the
process of saving her. "I hate being the 
hero
lady, we've got people in Tokyo who take care
of this sort of thing, 
and they don't like me
much. I'd rather not be around when they do
show 
up."

 

    "What's going on here?" said the girl 
in
confusion.

 

    "I'm taking off. If you want to hang
around and get 
yourself killed by a giant
blob of shit, it's your business this time.
Be 
my guest." Carrot started to turn away and
frowned as the girl started to 
face off
against the thing again.

 

    "I can't run, it is my duty to face evil
like this! I 
cannot admit defeat!"

 

    "What an idiot," he said as he shook his
head. He 
glanced back and realized just how
close the thing was now. It had 
started
throwing itself at them again.

 

    He growled and cursed under his breath as
he turned 
to face it. A huge blob landed in
front of him and he was splattered again 
as
it shattered on the ground. He casually
picked up a pole from the 
ground, knowing it
would be there and twirled it in his palm. He
stalked 
forward and stood next to Mei-lin.

 

    "You came back!" said the girl in shock
as she looked 
at him and smiled.

 

    He ignored her and turned his eyes
towards the 
sidewalk next to the thing. It
lumbered forward and he threw his pole like 
a
spear. It never went near the monster, but
hit a fire hydrant on the 
sidewalk. The front
of it was broken away by the impact and
nothing came 
out. He frowned and aimed
carefully with his hand before shooting one
of 
the needles with as much force as he could
muster. It hit the bolt on the 
top, glancing
off the side and spun it around, unscrewing
it 
completely.

 

    A powerful jet of water slammed into the
thing's side 
from the broken hydrant.

 

    The monster roared as a huge hole was
blasted into 
its side. It shuddered and
started to actually collapse into itself, 
the
water washing it away quickly.

 

    The pair blinked as they watched the
monster die. 
Carrot was hoping to distract
the monster long enough to force the girl 
to
run. He blinked and watched the thing's
remains being washed into the 
storm drains
along the curb. "Holy shit. I flushed it!" he
said 
dumbly.

 

    Mei-lin looked at him with an unreadable
expression 
on her face. Carrot walked away
from her calmly and put himself in the 
path
of the water. The pressure was dying down now
and he washed himself 
off as best he could.
"At least it didn't sing too."

 

    The girl sighed and joined him in the
water as well, 
trying to wash the layer of
shit that was now caked onto her.

 

    Naturally, Carrot turned to look at her
for a moment 
as she stepped out of the water.
She was wearing a wet silk dress now, and 
he
was male after all.

 

    The girl turned to face him as well and
smiled. 
"Thank you! You were amazing! Are you
a demon slayer too?"

 

    "No," he replied curtly as his daze
turned into a 
frown.

 

    "Oh," muttered the girl as she looked at
the ground 
in frustration. "Our meeting must
be destiny! You must be one of the ones 
fated
to help me!"

 

    Carrot snorted at this. "I'm afraid not,
I've got 
enough problems lady."

 

    "But you must! It's fate! You just have
to be one of 
the other seven celestial
warriors that are foretold in 
ancient
legends!"

 

    "Legends?" said Carrot as he narrowed his
eyes.

 

    "Yes! I was born with this mark,
signifying that I 
must be one of these
warriors!" said the girl as she showed him
her wrist 
. There was three small dots on her
wrist.

 

    "So? What the hell is that supposed to
be?" he 
grumbled irritably.

 

    "It's Orion's belt! Do you have a mark
like this?" 
she said with a frustrated growl.

 

    "No," he said pointedly. "Besides, it's
nine 
celestial warriors, and you aren't one
of them."

 

    The girl blinked at this. "Huh?"

 

    "I said it's nine warriors, one for each
planet 
except for Earth," he replied calmly
as he turned away. "Mercury, Mars, 
Venus,
Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto, and
one for the 
moon."

 

    "What?" said the girl dumbly.

 

    "Look lady, you can play devil hunter all
you want. 
I'm going home," he said crossly as
he started walking.

 

    "You know of the legend?" she asked as
she grabbed 
his arm.

 

    "Yeah? What of it?" he responded
callously.

 

    "It's just... you've met these others?"

 

    "Yeah, they don't like me, and they'll
probably be 
here any minute. Can I go now?"

 

    "I am in your debt! You must let me repay
you! A 
fellow warrior, even if what you say
is true!"

 

    Carrot sighed, but didn't try to break
the girl's 
grip on his arm. "Look, all I want
is to be left the hell alone."

 

    "But..."

 

    "But nothing! I'm not a celestial
warrior, I don't 
have anything to do with
this. I wish it would quit biting me in the
ass 
though! Now if you don't mind, I'd like
to leave."

 

    "Very well, I shall accompany you! My
life is now 
yours!"

 

    "Can we work some sort of payment plan
out instead? 
It's a nice gesture, but I'm
afraid I don't have much use for you. 
What's
the return policy on this?" he replied
sarcastically.

 

    "Meeting fellow warriors of justice is
not what I 
imagined it to be," muttered the
girl as she stared at him. He'd just 
offered
herself  to him in a round about way, and
he'd turned her 
down.

 

    "Well, you go and find justice, and I'll
go and find 
lunch. Your stupid monster ruined
my sandwich." Carrot jerked his arm out 
of
her grip and turned to walk off. Of course,
as with every other day 
like this, it was
just starting.

 

    "You!"

 

    He found himself looking a pretty irate
Sailor Mars 
right in the eyes.

 

    "Oh! For God's sake! It's my day off!" he
cried up to 
the sky in anger.

 

    "What are you doing here?" said Rei
angrily as she 
pointed at him.

 

    "Who is this girl?" asked Mei-lin in
confusion.

 

    "Mei-lin, meet one of your 'celestial
warriors'," 
replied Carrot as he jerked his
thumb at Rei and put his head into his 
hand
in frustration. He wiped his face off and
sighed.

 

    Both girls blinked and Mei-lin bowed to
Rei. "It is 
an honor to meet you."

 

    Rei turned towards Carrot and snarled
angrily. "You 
won't get away this time!"

 

    "Get away? You...I've just finished doing
your damn 
job for you again, and that's all
you've got to say?" he snapped.

 

    Rei frowned at this. "What do you mean?"

 

    "This man helped me defeat a nameless
dizzen of the 
dark world," said the Chinese
girl cheerfully. "Is he working with you 
to
defend the world from evil?"

 

    "No!" was the reply from both of them.
They stopped 
to look at each other for a
moment and Carrot sighed. "Look, I'm sure
your 
friends will be here soon, and they'll
hate to see me as much as I'll hate 
seeing
them. I'll just be on my way."

 

    Rei snorted at her and turned away as
well, leaving 
the girl standing in the street
alone.

 

    "I'm confused," muttered Mei-lin.

 

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

 

    It was getting late, the city was closing
down and 
people were returning to their
homes. Carrot walked towards his 
apartment
with a lazy stroll. Once again , he was
moving through the 
shadows. He was covered in
scrapes and scratches, and generally felt
like 
hell. Of course he'd had worse, but the
cool breeze did little more than 
irritate his
newly sensitive skin.

 

    He avoided alleys and empty streets, past
experience 
told him wandering around those
areas was not a good idea. Unfortunately, 
his
home was on one such street, and no sooner
than he'd stepped out, then 
a rose planted in
the ground at his feet. "Son of a bitch."

 

    He stared at the rose, not even bothering
to look up. 
"Ya know, I thought you were
smart enough to learn your lesson after 
the
last time."

 

    Mamoru stepped out of the shadows in
front of him and 
growled in a low voice.
"I've been looking for you."

 

    "How is it anyway?"

 

    "Because of you, I couldn't sit down for
a week!" 
snapped Mamoru hatefully.

 

    "Really? I figured a pervert like you
would be used 
to that sort of treatment.
Maybe you're just upset I didn't 
hang
around."

 

    "Joke all you want, you're going to
suffer this 
time," said the boy as he raised
his cane into a fencing position.

 

    "What? You attacked me fool. You got what
you 
deserved as far as I'm concerned. Sorry I
couldn't let you hang around and 
grope me
like that slut you've been hanging around."

 

    "Sailor Moon isn't a slut, I'll make you
pay for that 
statement."

 

    "Like last time?"

 

The boy snarled hatefully. "You were lucky."

 

    "I was hurt, I'm not in the best shape
now, but I'm 
more than enough to take you
this time," snorted Carrot.

 

    Mamoru noticed his injuries and chuckled.
"Had a 
rough day?"

 

    "Finding you like this just made it
better," replied 
Carrot with a cold smile
forming on his face.

 

    "You won't be so happy about it in a
moment!" growled 
Mamoru as he charged. He was
still limping slightly, but he was 
still
faster than Carrot expected.

 

    The boy ducked under the older boy's
strike and 
passed under him. He felt the
disturbance in the air of the cane 
passing
over him and frowned as he jammed his fist
into Mamoru's gut 
hard.

 

    The older boy was sent to his knees and
coughed for a 
moment before standing up
sharply and whirling around, only to find 
an
empty street. "Damn! He's gone!" He growled
in frustration and turned 
into the shadows,
not even bothering to look for his target.

 

    Carrot frowned from the top of a street
lamp nearby, 
ready to pounce. He hadn't
expected him to give up quite so easily.
Still, 
he breathed a sigh of relief, he was
hurt, and didn't really want to risk 
taking
him on in his condition. "Still, this could
become annoying pretty 
quickly. He jumped
into the air, and sent a line into the top of
a nearby 
building, swinging towards the one
opposite it skillfully.

 

    Naturally, he missed and slammed into the
ledge gut 
first. He managed to catch the
ledge with his arms and groaned painfully 
as
he hung off the side of the building for a
moment. "Shit, that really 
hurt." He sighed
and looked up at the moon as he pulled
himself up. He as 
hurting all over, he stunk,
and he knew that his problems weren't 
over
just yet.

 

    "Well, hello," said Kunzite from where he
was 
standing on the rooftop.

 

    "Why me?" muttered Carrot as he hung his
head.

 

"You're quite an interesting man," commented
Kunzite casually.

 

    "Only because you idiots won't leave me
alone," 
snorted the boy in reply irritably.

 

    "Come now, Nephrite didn't care for you,
but that 
doesn't mean we can't be civil,"
said the man as he leaned against a 
chimney
and smirked at him.

 

    "I already said no, and you haven't done
anything to 
prove I should change my mind,"
said Carrot calmly.

 

    "Yes, I know. I was wondering if you'd
changed your 
mind anyway. They've been giving
you quite a bit of trouble I understand. 
I
must apologize for Nephrite, he shouldn't be
bothering you again."

 

    "Not really, last time I talked to one of
you, it 
almost got me killed," snorted
Carrot. "How is that asshole 
Nephrite
anyway?"

 

    "Huh? I never found out," said Kunzite.
It was 
obvious he hadn't understood the
question. "How did you know about that?" 
His
face was contorted into a deep frown.

 

    Carrot looked up at him and blinked.
"What?"

 

    Kunzite turned his head away as he
realized that he'd 
misunderstood the
question. "It's nothing. Nephrite is dead."

 

    "Really? Wish I could say I'm sorry to
hear that," 
said the boy with a small sigh.
"Look, are we gonna fight? I've had a 
bad
night..."

 

    "No, I still think you'd be useful,"
replied 
Kunzite.

 

    "Well, that's two of you dead, and all of
them alive. 
Why should I join the losing
side?" replied the boy crossly.

 

    Kunzite narrowed his eyes at the boy. "We
aren't 
losing?"

 

    "Oh? How many senshi are dead then?"
responded the 
boy as he arched his eyebrow.

 

    "I see..." said Kunzite with a small
chuckle.

 

    "Yeah, you kill four of em, and then come
back and 
ask me again," responded the boy as
he started walking away.

 

    "If we could do that, we wouldn't need
you," said 
Kunzite under his breath. "I'll
kill them all, and then see what you have 
to
say."

 

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

 

    Finally, he was home.

 

    Unfortunately, a man in a long trenchcoat
was 
standing in front of the entrance with a
cigarette in his mouth. He appeared 
to be
trying to hide, but the orange glow and puffs
of smoke gave him away 
in the darkness.

 

    Carrot snorted and jumped down beside the
man 
silently. He reached into his coat pocket
and lifted his wallet easily before 
moving
back into the darkness. "Inspector? Hmmm.
Interesting..." He 
narrowed his eyes at the
man and moved around the building, walking 
up
calmly. He paused a few feet away from the
door and looked directly at 
the man as he was
stepping out.

 

    "I was wondering how long you were going
to hide 
there Inspector," said the boy
calmly.

 

    The man blinked and looked up at him.
"So, she told 
you about me did she?"

 

    "Well, she said you wanted to meet me.
What's this 
about?" said the boy as he
watched the man calmly.

 

    The man frowned at this and brushed back
his slicked 
down hair. "I got the impression
you were avoiding me." He tried to peer 
at
the boy for a moment and frowned.

 

    "Something happen? You look like hell.
What's that 
smell?"

 

    "It's along story, it involves a sewage
problem," 
replied the boy with a small shrug.
"I'm tired, what do you want so I can 
tell
you no?"

 

    "I want your boss," said the man with a
small chuckle 
as he took a drag off his
cigarette.

 

    "I can't help you," he said as he turned
towards the 
door.

 

    "Can't, or won't?" asked the man with a
smirk forming 
on his face.

 

    "Can't, I'm just a mail boy. I do it to
get out of 
the apartment for a while. What I
do for him is legit. I run messages, and 
I
don't know about his other operations,
although, I'll admit I do know 
they're there.
I've got no interest in finding out what they
are."

 

    "Not even if I can make it worth your
while?" asked 
the man with a dangerous glint
in his eyes.

 

    "I'm not poor, my neighbors are pushy
though. They 
thought it wasn't healthy for me
to sit around the room all day. She sort 
of
forced me to get this job."

 

    "She working for him?" asked the man.

 

    "No," replied Carrot calmly. "But she
knows someone 
who does."

 

    "Who?"

 

    "That's a secret, doctor patient
privilege and all 
that," said the boy with a
small shrug.

 

    The man chuckled at this and shook his
head. "You 
could do a lot of good?"

 

    "Bringing down a small time hood? I'm
young, but not 
stupid," said the boy.

 

    The man laughed out loud at this for a
moment. "I can 
see that." He blew smoke into
the air and looked at his cigarette. "My 
wife
says these things will kill you."

 

    "I can think of things a lot more
dangerous," said 
Carrot.

 

    "Oh?"

 

    "Yeah, some people can get pretty nasty
if you piss 
them off," said Carrot. The man
naturally thought he was speaking of 
someone
different, like his boss. Carrot had very
little fear of the 
man.

 

    "Is that some kind of threat?" asked the
man as his 
face contorted into a nasty
looking scowl.

 

    "Actually, I was talking about me,"
replied Carrot 
with another shrug. "I'm not
involved in your little game. I might lose 
my
job if you catch him, but I don't mind that.
I'm not willing, or able 
to help you. I'm not
being indignant about it either. I'm just not
going 
to go out of my way."

 

    "What's yer name kid?" asked the man as
his frowned 
deepened.

 

    "Why do you care?" asked Carrot.

 

    "I'm wondering what a kid like you is
doing here, in 
a place like this, all alone?"

 

    "Trying to disappear," said Carrot with
another 
shrug.

 

    "Got trouble somewhere? Maybe I can help
with that," 
said the man as he prodded for
another opening.

 

    "No, not what you're thinking of anyway,"
said Carrot 
calmly.

 

    "You sure?"

 

    "Yeah, you're thinking I'm in trouble
with the law, 
or something like that I'll
bet. Possibly in another country perhaps?"

 

    "I was thinking of Yakuza trouble
actually," said the 
man with a small chuckle.

 

    "Heh," said Carrot as he shook his head.
"If I was, 
it wouldn't be anything you could
help me with anyway."

 

    "Well, I could make your life very hard
if I wanted 
too," said the man with a
somewhat warning tone. He sounded more 
amused
than anything else.

 

    "I'll bet you could," said Carrot as he
turned to 
look at him. "It wouldn't do you
much good, you're welcome to try if 
it'll
make you feel better."

 

    "You got balls kid," said the man as 
he
snorted.

 

    "And you're missing your wallet still,"
said Carrot 
as he tossed it back at the man
and opened the door. "I'll see you 
around."

 

    "I could arrest you for this," said the
man with a 
sour frown. "I should..."

 

    "You really want to take me down, write
me up, and 
book me at this time of night?"
asked the boy as he turned to look at 
him.

 

    "No, not really. It seems you're not
worth my time, 
at least not at the moment."

 

    "Well, good luck with my boss. I'm not
going to lose 
any sleep over losing my job,
that's for sure," said the boy as he 
entered
the apartment and closed the door behind him.

 

    "Yeah, I'll bet you wouldn't," said the
man as he put 
his wallet back into his
pocket. He smirked to himself and turned
away. 
The kid was into something, he was
sure. What he wasn't sure of was whether 
or
not it was what he was after, or something
bigger. He smiled as he 
turned away and
turned up his collar before walking into the
street again. 
"My gut tells me I should keep
an eye on this one."

 

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

 

    Mei-lin frowned as she sat in the small
sparse room 
she was staying in. It was little
more than a closet with a bedroll in 
it.

 

    Her eyes were closed and she sat in a
meditative 
position on the floor. Her mind
worked over the battle earlier in the 
day.

 

    "My power, as great is it is, was nothing
to this 
beast! I did not train hard enough."
She frowned at the thought of it. At 
one
time, she had thought her power to be the
strongest of her kind. The 
demon had shrugged
it off as nothing.

 

    She had read about the disturbances in
Japan in the 
papers. She had taken it upon
herself to travel here and face the 
darkness.
She had believed it to be the prophecy. It
seemed she may still 
be correct, but the fact
that she might not be one of the 
celestial
warriors was a new element.

 

    "Still, my power and skills are needed.
Even if I am 
not the one, I must assist all I
can. It is why I came here." She had 
almost
been defeated, if she had survived she would
have been forced to 
return home in shame.
Now, the boy had given her another chance to
prove 
herself. The evil had been vanquished.

 

    She blushed slightly at the thought of
him. He was 
foreign, like her. It was a
common bond she felt they shared. The 
customs
of this place seemed strange to her, but she
accepted them. In any 
case, he was rather
handsome in a roughish sort of way. She just
had to 
get past his formidable defenses. He
appeared to be somewhat harsh, and 
callous.
"He must have had a hard life, my life was
not easy either, but 
him..."

 

    She had considered a few other paths,
like that girl 
that had come at the end of
the battle. However, the strongest feeling
she 
had gotten was from the boy. "Somehow, my
destiny lies with him." She opened 
her eyes
and sighed.

 

    It was a formidable task indeed. She
would help him, 
and he would soon realize
what he was. He was like her, a warrior 
in
opposition of the darkness. After such a task
had ended, and the evil 
vanquished, surely
she would return home with a new husband. He
was a 
strong man, in body and mind. His skill
was exceptional, and he was not hard 
on the
eyes. She smirked to herself and chuckled.
"We'll see what you've 
got to say when I show
you what I've caught, sister."

 

    Before she could do anything else, she
needed 
sleep.

 

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

 

    Carrot winced as he tried to open his
door quietly. 
His efforts were in vain
though, and a soft coughing from behind 
him
stopped him cold.

 

    "Dang. I'd almost made it."

 

    "You and I need to talk," said Gia as she
grabbed 
onto his shoulder.

 

    "Ouch! That hurts! Stop it!" he cried
angrily as she 
pulled him into her room.

 

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

 

    "Can't this wait? I'm tired," he muttered
as he 
looked at her pathetically.

 

    "What on earth happened to you? Did you
get drug 
behind a leaky sewage truck?" she
said as she looked him over and began 
to
rummage through her medical bag.

 

    The boy sighed and hung his head. "That's
actually 
not too far off."

 

    She paused and looked up at him for a
moment, not 
saying a word. Finally she shook
her head and continued digging, pulling out 
a
few bandages, and some really painful looking
creams and 
ointments.

 

    "You live to torture me don't you?" said
Carrot as he 
looked at one of the bottles. It
was familiar too him, and it wasn't 
a
pleasant memory.

 

    "You'd have died from infections if not
for me! Show 
a little gratitude!" snapped the
woman.

 

    "I've lived through worse than this," he
responded as 
he looked away.

 

    "I'm starting to believe you," said the
woman as she 
looked up at him and started to
apply some of the cream to his wounds.

 

    The boy hissed in irritation and grit his
teeth to 
hold in his scream. "Damn it! Does
every thing you use on me have to 
hurt?"

 

    "Just how strong are you?" she asked him.

 

    "Huh? What do you mean?" he said in
confusion as he 
blinked. The question
appeared to be out of the blue.

 

    "I saw you training earlier, with that
pole. Just how 
much does that thing weigh?"

 

    "Only about fifty pounds," said the boy
with a shrug. 
"No big deal."

 

    "You were swinging it around as if it was
made of 
wood!" said the woman as she smacked
him on the back of his head.

 

    "Oh, I've been training a while I guess,"
he replied 
with a shrug.

 

    "You're good at throwing things too?" 
she
asked.

 

    "Yeah, I guess so," he replied with a
slightly pained 
looking frown as she started
to wrap a bandage around his chest. 
"I've
been doing martial arts for a long time. I'd
just gotten serious 
about a year ago though."

 

    "Right," grumbled the woman. He had to
have been 
training his whole life to do what
she'd seen him doing. "It's not like you 
to
be this humble about something."

 

    "Well, I've got crazy ninja's after me,
girls with 
magical powers, and these weird
guys keep asking me to join something 
called
the Negaverse or something. I've got to stay
sharp."

 

    "The scariest thing about this is that
I'm starting 
to believe this crazy crap!" she
said irritably.

 

    "Oh, well sorry," he responded with a
small 
sigh.

 

    "What for?" she snorted. "Lying to me, or
making me 
believe in this obvious bullshit?"

 

    "That last one," said the boy as he
grinned at her. 
"Hey, you wore a shirt this
time. Thanks for remembering!"

 

    She promptly punched him in the nose and
growled. 
"Sometimes I don't know why I bother
with you. You're a perverted little 
asshole
kid."

 

    "Ouch," muttered Carrot as he rubbed at
his nose and 
glared at her. "Well I haven't
been given much reason to act 
otherwise.
Every time you drag me in here you put
something on me that 
burns, stings, or do
something that gets your boyfriend angry 
at
me."

 

    "Spike likes you," said the woman with a
small 
sigh.

 

    "Yeah, I'm glad he does. I'd hate to see
what would 
happen to me if he didn't," said
the boy with a slight shiver.

 

    Gia frowned at this, she wasn't so sure
if Carrot 
would be the one hurt. Still, the
pair got along great when they were 
together,
so it didn't worry her much. He was weird,
but she knew she 
didn't have much to worry
about with him. He was remarkably jaded and
well 
behaved when confronted with what a
normal fourteen year old boy would 
consider a
sexual situation.

 

    "Carrot...are you sexually active?"

 

    "Huh?" said the boy as he froze up and
turned to look 
at her. "Why?"

 

    "I guess it makes sense," she said as she
frowned at 
him. "I hope you're taking the
proper precautions."

 

    "For what? I haven't done anything," said
the boy as 
he looked confused. "Oh, you think
I'm getting laid?"

 

    Gia blinked her eyes a few times.

 

    "Would I be in this bad a mood all the
time if I 
was?" he replied calmly.

 

    "I wouldn't know," she said honestly.

 

    "No, I've been a good boy. Can I go to
sleep now? I'm 
tired."

 

    "You were at one time though?" she
prodded.

 

    "Not since the day I came into this
world," said 
Carrot with a small frustrated
sigh. His mind went back to Kei, and what 
he
could have done. "Not that I haven't had the
opportunity though. I 
can't believe I turned
it down that time. What the hell was I
thinking?" 
He hung his head. "Oh yeah, she
was trying to kill me. That was it."

 

    "What?" said the woman as she looked at
him.

 

    "Nothing, just talkin to myself," he said
as he stood 
up and walked out of the room.

 

    Gia sat there for a long time staring at
the wall. 
After about a half-hour, she
decided it would just be best to sleep 
it
off. Not before she had a few drinks to clear
her mind though.

 

    She rose to her feet and walked over to
grab a bottle 
from one of her shelves. She
took off the cap with her teeth and 
started
to gulp it down for a long time before
stopping to take a breath. 
She stood there
for a moment waiting for something to hit
her. After a 
moment she was satisfied with
the results and put the bottle back 
before
turning off the lights and going to lie down
on her bedroll for the 
night.

 

+++++++++++

 

    TBC...

 

    Next Time: Fire and Flowers?

 

 

 

Perfect Carrot- Consuming the universe, one Aspect at a time.


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