Hanging by a Moment

by himeko1

First of all this is not a songfic, I just couldn't think of a good title that I would label this story. It's about how I wish Saint Tail would've ended.(but you'll have to wait for the rest of the chapters to find out)

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! This is himeko speaking just to say that this definitely not my first fan fic but the first one of St. Tail, so I am hoping that it will be somewhat a success. If it isn't though I can learn from my mistakes. I haven't been here long but I just wanted you to know that I have read almost everything written here, and all of them are very good. So now I guess the next thing to do is start with the story. Oh yeah! Before I forget, this part will probably be the longest one I upload because it is the first one. (That really isn't a good reason but oh well!) And I may make up some of the names that I don't know.

DISCLAIMER:I do not own St. Tail, I repeat, I DO NOT OWN ST. TAIL! But the storyline is mine. If you even think about taking it as your own I just want everyone to know that I have ties with the U.S. PRESIDENT and can, and will, take action! J/k.

Introduction / Theft from Under

School was out and the weekend was finally here. Sawatari flopped onto the grey couch in the living room from exhaustion. He had ran all the way home from school in order to get ready for special event happening at some fashion shop. It was a fashion show with beautiful, extremely beautiful woman modeling. And of course he had to be there...he was a journalist and photographer after all. But what he really looked forward to doing though was not going to happen today, but tomorrow night! Tomorrow night would be the night all of town, maybe all of Japan would recognize his importance. Tomorrow night he would take the photo of Saint Tail that would finally reveal her identity, leading to her capture by the authorities.

Just today Asuka jr. had received yet another challenge from Saint Tail. To bad he wasn't the first to read it! Grinning from ear to ear he recalled exactly what had happened. Asuka jr. was walking to his next class when out of nowhere thin line of string appeared. The whole horrible was worth see that goofball trip and land face first on the hard cement outside of class. It was soo sweet! Then, right after I had helped him get back up (more like prevented) he had the nerve to start yelling at me! What a crack head! I would've showed him just WHO was the one in charge, but a puff of pink smoke stopped me. It was from Saint Tail. Naturally, Asuka was too busy being shocked to take it before I did. Goodness, you would expect for someone who has been chasing her for so long to get used to it! Well, it had said that she would appear at the National Tokyo Bank at the east side of town Saturday night when the clock struck ten. I always wondered why she kept sending him those warnings. I mean, if I was a thief I certainly wouldn't want to get caught!

Sawatari was jolted back into the real world as he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. "Oh man! I better get ready fast! The fashion show will be on in less that half an hour!" He rushed upstairs to get prepped and ready for the occasion.

V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

"Hey, Meime! What are you going to do for the rest of the day?" was what the voice behind her had said. Meime turned around to find that it was the voice of her good friend Ryoko. Ryoko drew closer followed closely by Kyoko, Seira was already at the chapel. "Well, I really hadn't planned much. Why do you ask?" Actually I was planing on working on my plan for the next mission for Saint Tail but hey! She never used a plan before, why start now? "Oh, just wondering." with that she turned back around as if she was going to walk away. Meime would have let her but she and Kyoko had a smirk that neither of them tried to hide. This made Meime curious of course. "Wait! Tell me what you know!" she beckoned to her friends. "What we know?" Kyoko said with a quick spin to face Meime. "Why, I don't believe we know what you mean!" Ryoko interjected. Now I know they are hiding something! They wouldn't be acting so corny otherwise! "Come on, you two, tell me!" Meime pleaded. The two females looked at each other for a while then said in a borish manner "Oh, it's just that I happen to have tickets for that new action/romance movie that has been sold out scheduled to show at 5:00 tonight, that's all."

Meime looked back at the repeatedly, they were serious. Slowly, grins appeared on all three of their faces. "Eeeeeeeeeeeek!" They literally squeked like mice just as Asuka jr. and his group of friends came by. Though, he had been unfortunate enough to be passing right next to them as they had screeched, filling his ears with the high pitched sound. "Ahh!" up went his voice as well s his feet. As soon as he touched the ground and the ringing in his brain stopped he exploded in a fit of anger.

"Why did you have to do that!" he hollered at whoever happened to be in front of him. Kyoko was stunned at his outburst and was speechless. Meime was annoyed by this and wouldn't stand around while some jerk yelled at her friend. So naturally she defended her. "Excuse me, but I was unaware of your involvement in this conversation!" Meime stepped forward. Junior now directed his attention towards her. "I wasn't either until you girls here happened to pop my eardrum!" "Well then next time you happen to see us," she fumed "take out your earpluge to avoid anymore inconvenience!"

Without another word she pulled her friends toward their initial direction, each time her foot hit the ground it made a loud thump. Asuka looked at his friends, they all gave out a long and heaved sigh. To him that meant defeat and he just wouldn't accept it, and there were no teachers around to stop him this time. So he ran after Meime with a new volley of insulting words just at the tip of his tongue. When he was just behind her, he reached for her shoulder but it barely grazed her back. Grrr, he makes me soo mad! "What!" She turned around abruptly as her red hair seemingly emphasized her anger as it flew over her shoulder.

Asuka jr. somehow managed not to bump into Meime when he was forced to take a immediate halt. Yet, as they stood there eye to eye directly across each other they both came to a loss of words. Maybe it was because of the fact that their faces were a mere one-half inch away, but they scowls on the faces remained. No one dared to move, they just waited. After a long pause everyone became nervous, expecting for at least one of the two to say SOMETHING but nothing came. "Come on, Meime. Let's go. There isn't any reason to stay." Miki urged hoping to break up the crowd. She had joined them not long ago lured by the yelling earlier. "Yeah Asuka jr., we have better things to do than hang around with girls." one of the boys behind him said. Meime tried in vain to break the stare-down, but she had already gotten caught up in it. It seemed that Junior wasn't ready to let it end either. With deep reluctancy, it came to an end.

As they parted without a single word said between the duo, Junior glanced back at Meime a while down the road to find that she was glancing at him the same time. Oh! He sees me looking at him! With quick reflex her eyes were cast to the ground while she felt her checks getting warmer. What had just happened? Asuka asked himself. One second I feel like ripping her throat out, then the next I can't speak! "Huuuh" he let out a sigh. And why in all of heaven's name did I get the urge to kiss her? Asuka fell deep in thought trying to come up with the answer but only came up with another question. Why does she make me feel this way?

V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

"That movie was great!" Meime said to no one in particular. She walking home sfter she had seen the movie instead of going with Miki and the others shopping. She really did want to work on what she would do as Saint Tail when she went to the bank because it was going to be tougher than the other assignments she had done. Her mind traveled back to the movie with St. Tail still in mind. "That action star, whats-his-name, is real strong, fast, and smart but I bet he couldn't catch St. Tail anymore than Junior can!" She laughed at her own joke and began to look at her surroundings. She was just passing a small shop that was closed. To her right she could just barely see the sun touching the tops of the trees that lined the roads.

Her walk came to a stop when a car drove by the road she needed to pass. When she stepped off of the sidewalk a tall but thin man dressed in black accidentally ran into her making Meime and himself fall. "Hey!" she retorted as she got back up "Watch where you are..." The sentence was cut short as a person with short green hair called out to her. "Meime! Don't let that man get away!" She was hesitant at first but understood completely. Meime ran over to the man and tripped him again as he was just about to make his getaway. His head hit the curb fairly hard giving him a searing pain. The man didn't even have time to stabilize himself before Asuka jr. jumped on him. A struggle took off as the black clothed man tried to escape Junior's grasp. They two men rolled across the street narrowly missing a oncoming jeep. It grew more intense on the sidewalk. Finally, Asuka had him right where he wanted him and tore out his handcuffs to attach the man to the stop sign nearby.

"You little punk!" the man began "You better take these damned things off of me or else you'll be in for it, deep!" Asuka jr. reached over to search the retainee, he checked his coat pockets then the inside shirt pocket when he felt a piece of paper that had been folded. All the while the thief shouted vulgar language at Junior who seemed unfazed by any of them.

Now I will get to see what that brute wanted with this paper. Huh? "Junior! Are you ok?!" Asuka jr. looked up from his sitting position on the edge of the sidewalk to see Meime running towards him. She repeated "Junior, are you ok?!" with more urgency and concern in her eyes. Asuka snapped out of his daze, he had almost forgotten that Meime was ever there. "Oh yeah. I am perfectly fine!" he said putting the piece of paper into his back pocket. "There is no way you are! You are bleeding on your cheek, it looks pretty deep, too." Meime took out a napkin she had saved at began to gently dab away the blood. Junior could feel a small sting every time she touched his cheek but also had a feeling of happiness and nervousness. He began to stare at her and she knew he was.

Meime broke the awkwardness asking what had happened. Asuka jr. looked like he was reliving what had happened. "Well, I was just getting home from going out with Jae(made up name) and some of my other friends when I found that the back door was cracked open with the lock broken. On instinct I rushed in to see this rude guy over here scrambling though my father's paperwork. When he saw me he took a piece of paper and left out the front door." Asuka checked to see if the man was still cuffed but instead got another mouthful of threats. "He is really fast and I thought I wouldn't be able to get him until I saw that you were around. It was really helpful what you did." Junior looked down at the girl in front of him, she reached over for his hand. He could feel his heart skip multiple beats.

"Here, hold this up to stop the bleeding." Meime put his hand upon his right cheek with a fresh napkin and stood up. "Were you able to contact the police?" Meime turned away hoping Junior hadn't seen her blush. "Yeah, there was a special security system that my father installed. It really turned out to be useful." In the distance sirens could be heard. It sounded like they were caught in traffic but was slowly getting closer. "You brats better let me go, now!!!" the man hollered out, and he didn't stop. How pathetic. Meime thought. If you commit a crime you should be able to face the consequences responsibly. I should start to listen to myself more!

Asuka jr. stood there waiting for his father to arrive. He then remembered that he hadn't had the chance to look at what the robber tried to steal. He pulled out the folded piece of paper and carefully opened it. "What's that?" Meime questioned. "It's the paper this man tried to take. I want to see what he would want with it." A hand suddenly grabbed the paper out of Asuka jr's hands. It was a woman wearing regular street cloths, she had short black hair and was about in her mid 20s. "Hey!" Meime and Asuka shouted out, but the woman just ran into the trees. Meime ran after her breaking out in a fast sprint. Over her shoulder she yelled for Junior to stay and watch the cuffed man until the police arrived. "Meime!" he yelled back at her "You might get hurt!" But Meime was already long gone by then.

Her heart raced faster than her legs, she felt out of breath and her lips were dry. I need to get that paper back. I have to for Junior and his father's sake. If only I could see were I was going! The night had grown and the sun had completely gone down. Only the scarce glow from the moon was her light as it passed through openings in the leaves. Her pace grew slower and slower til she no longer could move. She prepped herself against a tree hoping to rest and catch her breath. Meime took a look around but couldn't make out any figure moving through the trees at all. She's gone. There is no way I can get her now. I just need to find out how to get myself out of here. Getting up with the help of her hands against the tree branch Meime made her way back as fast as she could, she didn't want Asuka to worry about her.

V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

The Chief Detective sat at his desk in the police station. He billowed out a puff a cigar smoke as he tried to relax. It had been an exhausting day with one case coming after the other. First, a very rare ruby, called the Eye of Osiris, had been under police custody until the original owner had returned for it. Then just as it was about to be given back to the private collector someone had stolen it right under their noses. Many came to suspect St. Tail behind it but there wasn't a shred of proof. After he had about all he could do with the situation he finds out that his own house had been robed, the Chief Detective's house! It was a lot to handle. The robbery was mind-boggling because they had no idea want the woman had taken. The original thief, who's name turned out to be Gret Poe, refused to answer any questions they had asked. So they could only lock him up and hold him until further notice. Asuka sr. had to also try to manually discover what had been stolen by process of elimination once had went back home. I guess I am going to pull an all nighter to try to figure out this case. Asuka got up from his chair and put out the remains of his cigar. Taking his coat from the closet he turned off the light to his office and closed the door behind him. I hope Daiki was able to safely get back home after dropping that classmate of his off. Now that I think of it, I do believe that is the same girl that he always get so frustrated about when he comes home. Ha ha ha! My boy's got a crush it seems! I am definate about it. I mean, looking at the way he acted when she came out of the forest, all worried and sweaty. Asuka started up his car with a satisfied grin on his face.

V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

Junior walked quietly about on the roof of the bank hidden behind the shadows, and awaiting Saint Tail's appearance. This is the way she will be coming, I'm sure of it! The building had twelve floors all together and there was no telling which floor St. Tail wanted to get to. She wasn't very specific on why she would be at the bank. A sound attracted Junior's attention. He briskly walked to where the sound came from without making any sort of noise as he went about. The sound led him to a fire escape that scaled all the way down the back side of the bank. Metal was heard rubbing against metal as Asuka jr. waited impatiently for a figure to arise.

A head poked out of the building edge and just as suddenly was tackled by Asuka jr. "Hey! Get off short!" Junior looked down at his capture to see that it wasn't St. Tail but Sawatari. "Sawatari! What are you doing here?" "I'll tell you if you get off of me, perv!" Asuka jumped to his feet a good distance away from Sawatari and waited for his explanation. The blonde haired boy picked himself up with his hands and dusted the front of his pants. He proceeded to check his camera frantically for any major problems. "Well!?" Sawatari looked up to see that Asuka jr. was pissed at him for taking so long. He was in the mood to toy with him. "Well what?" he played dumb very well. "Well, why are you here!?" Junior screamed at him louder than he thought he would. "Oh, yes, well I'm here to aid you in your attempt to capture Saint Tail. I know that you need all the help you can get." Sawatari ended it with a grin. "I do not need your help, you conceited a..." "Hey now no need for name calling." Junior's frustration seemed to calm down a bit. "It looks that since you won't let me help you, I'll just have to catch her all by myself." Sawatari raised his hands and shoulders up to make a gesture, but Asuka grabbed him by the collar and threatened him. "No one is going to expose Saint Tail except me!" he continued to glare at the man he just barely lifted from the ground.

"*static*...Asuka jr., sir...*static*" Asuka let go of Sawatari and picked up his radio from behind him. "Yes?" "Sir, St. Tail is here, sir! On the first floor!" "What?!" Both men yelled out in surprise. "Wait there! Do not attempt to catch her, I am coming!" Sprinting to the door that would lead down stairs, Junior skipped as many steps as possible while Sawatari lagged slightly behind. They both were all out of breath when they finally reached the bottom of the stairway. And as Asuka jr. reached for the door handle it flew open with a blinding light. "St. Tail, wait!" He could faintly see a trail of red hair pass by him through the light she had set off.

In an instant he heard a click and then the sound of crates being knocked over and breaking as they hit the ground. Sawatari pushed Junior against the side of the stair so he could pass and try to get Saint Tail. Junior stumbled a bit then cursed at Sawatari for his recklessness. As he made the turn that he thought would end up in a dead end he found that a door had been hidden neatly behind the now shattered crates. What is this?! Is this what Saint Tail was going after? A secret door? Or is it something inside it?

Junior walked into the darkness that loomed over the open doorway and gave his eyes time to adjust. When they did he found that he was in a room that looked much like a storage facility. The floor was bare with no tiles and cracks could be found everywhere. Somehow this doesn't feel right. He said to himself. Before he took another step he found out that he was atop a flight of stairs that contained 30 plus steps. Placing his feet down tenderly he looked around for a better fell of where he was. The room altogether had to be no more that 50 yard length and width wise. And the whole place had crates scattered everywhere. As he kept going down, lower and lower he could hear soft patterns of taps against the ceiling above him. When he reached the final steps it dawned on him that this room wasn't part of the building, in a manner of speaking, but under it!

Why would there be a room that no one seemed to know about under this bank? Surely it wasn't part of the original construction plans because I looked through them and never found any sort of basement. Junior pondered these thoughts as he looked for Sawatari and Saint Tail, mostly just Saint Tail, he could care less if Sawatari was eaten by the ground. A flash was seen and Asuka looked for the source of it, and as expected found Sawatari had taken a photo of something out of his line of vision.

Sawatari signaled for him to come over before Junior even had a chance to speak. Creeping towards him he wandered what was it that would enable them to speak. Getting even closer he saw the reason, there were four men loading a few crates onto a gray van that had no license plate. Ha! So this whole room is part of a operation that smuggles things out of the bank and sells it to unaware buyers later on! But what exactly do they steal? Is it just money or things held in the vaults, or both?! Asuka jr.'s trail of thought was cut short as he found the familiar form of Saint Tail jump a great height to stand on the van just ahead. "Showtime!" Before the four men had time to react a mega-sized roll of ribbon shot at them, grouped them together, then neatly tied a bow around all four of them.

"Saint Tail! Wait! I have to catch you!" Junior called as he ran towards the thief full throttle, behind him he could hear Sawatari snapping away as many pictures as possible. Saint Tail turned towards Asuka and gave a gentle wave before she herself was wrapped by ribbon and disappeared. All at once a pair of larger doors behind the side of the van flew open and the lights turned on. Through the doors two clone St. Tails ran in with the rest of the squad of police Junior had taken with him. Instantly, these fake dolls evaporated and the stunned cops regained their composure. "Arrest those men!" Asuka jr. yelled out pointing towards the men that had been tied together "They have attempted to steal a fortune's worth of things from this bank."

As the many police surrounded the men Sawatari swiftly walked up to Asuka jr. and gave him a heavy pat on the shoulder. "Great work, detective! You and me solved a case before it got reported! Your heroic efforts will be seen by the public eye in the paper Monday morning." Sawatari then turned away and headed out the way the horde of police came through. Asuka didn't care to say anything to him. The only thing I managed to do this time was watch St. Tail escape from me again. That's real heroic! He thought sarcastically. When Sawatari was saftley out of anyone's view he grimily smiled to himself. Don't even think for a second that you will be recognized, Junior! The only thing that people on Monday will be talking about isn't the bank arrest, it will be the identity of Saint Tail!!

-Desperate for changing

-Starving for truth

-I'm closer to where I started

-I'm chasing after you

-Lifehouse "Hanging by a Moment" Verse 1

~V~ ~V~ ~V~ ~V~ ~V~ ~V~ ~V~ ~V~ ~V~ ~V~ ~V~

Hey, so that is the end for the first so called "chapter" in my story. After it I added a verse from one of my favorite songs because I think it is how Asuka jr feels towards St. Tail.