VIGILANTE JUSTICE
Chapter 9: "Tell Me A Story"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
The police arrived at 3-33-3 Higashi-Kanda, eliciting much staring and gawking from the neighbors. What they found were three of the famous Sailor Senshi, a young blonde woman clinging obsessively to her husband, and an unconscious man identified as the owner of the home. They also found a cache of weapons, all illegal to own, stored in a basement dojo. By the time the man, Hideki Kuroda, woke up, he had been identified as the owner of the weapons cache and one of the people who had imprisoned and threatened the young blonde woman, identified as Usagi Chiba. On the word of Mrs. Chiba and the three Sailor Senshi, Hideki Kuroda was arrested.
By that time, word had gotten back to Police Central and a request had been put in to take everyone to the Central Police building for Minato-ku, rather than booking the suspect in Chiyoda-ku. Everyone, including the officers, was surprised by this request, but they complied. Once at the Central Police building, Kuroda was taken to be booked, while everyone else was escorted upstairs. The reason became apparent when Sailor Venus saw the name on the office door.
"Relax, guys," Venus told them. "It looks like Superintendent Sakurada just wants a first hand report." Then she chuckled to herself. "Or another autograph."
They entered the office. Immediately Venus was set upon by the owner of the office. It was a little startling to see the occupant, a comely woman in her late thirties, smartly dressed in a crimson suit dress and black hose, capturing Venus in a bear hug and squealing like a fourteen year old. Venus endured it and after a few moments the others began to exchange amused glances.
"I'm sorry for dragging you all up here," Sakurada began, straightening her apparel as she walked behind her desk. "I wanted to hear first hand about what happened. But also I just couldn't resist finally getting the chance to meet the other members of V-Chan's group."
"'V-Chan's group'?" Jupiter asked Venus with a raised eyebrow.
"Billing was her idea, not mine," Venus maintained.
"First off, are you all right, Mrs. Chiba?" Sakurada asked Usagi. Usagi was still conspicuously clinging to Mamoru's arm.
"I'll be all right," Usagi said softly. "Please don't concern yourself. It's over."
"Um," Jupiter ventured, "is it OK if I make a call? I have to - - um, arrange something."
"Calling your husband about your children?" Sakurada asked. Jupiter's eyes bugged out.
"Y-You know about that?"
"I know a lot of things," Sakurada said. Then she took on a reassuring manner. "Don't worry. Your secrets are safe with me."
As Jupiter dialed out to tell her husband where to pick up the kids, Sakurada turned to the others. "As I understand it, this person you confronted was responsible in part for the string of gangland assassinations that have been occurring over the last few months?"
"You know about that as well?" Mercury queried.
"Yes, it's been a working theory in the detective bureau for about a month now. We were in the process of identifying the girl on the surveillance footage from Haneda when this came down. How did you manage to locate them?"
Everyone looked to Usagi.
"Well," she began, "Mich - - um, this person I know - - was able to find out the girl's name. And she said she got an impression of repeating threes and candy. So when I was walking home with my art, I spotted Higashi-Kanda and I thought that might be what she meant. So I went to the address and," and Usagi blushed self-consciously, "and knocked on the door."
"Usagi!" Mercury gasped amid four sets of eye-rolls. "What you did was incredibly dangerous and foolhardy!"
"Yeah, I know that," Usagi winced, "now. At least we found them."
The collective sigh was almost in unison.
"Got anything on this guy, Sakurada-San?" Venus asked.
"Yes, but not what I was hoping for," Sakurada replied. She typed into her computer terminal, then began reading from the file pulled up. "Hideki Kuroda, fifty-one, retired from the Tokyo Police Force on 8 September, 1998, on full medical disability."
"He was a cop!" gasped Jupiter.
"A pretty good one, too," Sakurada frowned. "I worked with him a few times. He and his partner, Detective Hanbei Saito, worked Vice. They specialized in busting Yakuza-owned gambling parlors, pornography smuggling and prostitution rings."
"Did Detective Saito have a daughter?" Mercury asked quickly.
"I believe so," Sakurada replied and typed some more. "Yes, one daughter. Her name was Hana."
Everybody exchanged haunted looks.
"Don't tell me that fifteen year old at Haneda is Hana Saito," Sakurada marveled.
"We've got it on good authority," Venus said. "So what happened to Kuroda and Saito?"
"Car bomb," Sakurada replied and her distaste for the memory was evident. "Detective Saito and his wife were in the car. Detective Kuroda was there to watch Hana while they were gone. I think they were going on a short trip. Detective Kuroda lost his leg in the explosion. He was right next to the car when it blew up. The Saitos were killed."
"That poor man," Usagi murmured. "And that poor child."
"Kuroda went on disability," Sakurada continued. "According to the records, he dropped out of sight. No contact with the department after his discharge from the hospital, other than to cash his monthly disability check."
"Probably took the kid, went underground and started training her for war," Venus summarized grimly, "against the Yakuza. It's hard to blame him."
"There's a right way to do things and a wrong way, V-Chan," Sakurada told her. "Vigilantes are not welcome things for police forces to deal with. We tolerate you senshi because you get results where we can't and you don't leave body counts in your wake. There's no place in civilized society for people like what Detective Kuroda has become."
"So you can hold him?" Jupiter asked.
"We can hold him for now on just the felony imprisonment and weapons charges," Sakurada explained. She glanced at Usagi. "I assume you intend to press charges."
"Is it necessary?" Usagi asked timidly.
"Usako!" Mamoru gasped, turning her to face him. "He was going to shoot you."
"But he didn't. And," Usagi grimaced, "he's suffered so much. And putting him in jail isn't going to help him. I forgive him, Mamo-Chan. He was just trying to protect Hana."
"Hon'," Jupiter interjected, "I understand you want to help him. But he's not going to stop doing what he's doing just because you forgive him. He's gone over the edge. And he's going to keep killing people as long as he's free. You're the one who can stop him, Hon', and you've got to do it."
Usagi looked to her lap. She grimaced, torn by the decision she had to make.
"OK. I'll do it," Usagi said at last. "But - - is he going to get the help he needs?"
"That's up to the court to decide," Sakurada replied, amazed by this petite blonde with the big blue eyes and the goofy hairstyle. "Meanwhile, we'll question Kuroda. Maybe we can get a line on where Hana Saito is." She buzzed the outer office. "The officer will take you to where you can sign a complaint, Mrs. Chiba. V-Chan, stop by my office tomorrow. I'll fill you in on what we've learned."
They all turned to leave, but Jupiter suddenly stopped. "Um, forgive me for prying, but do you have a relative named Haruna?"
"She's my kid sister," Sakurada smiled. "She's a teacher at Crossroads Middle School. She used to talk about you three all the time. Ami Mizuno was going to be her most successful student - - and Usagi Tsukino was probably going to be her least."
"Well I like that!" grumbled Usagi.
"Well then you'll probably enjoy hearing that she's read every manga you've done, Mrs. Chiba," Sakurada winked. "And now she brags about you all the time."
"Um," Mercury began uncertainly, "she isn't aware of . . ."
"No," Sakurada assured them again. "What I learn on the job stays in my office. Haruna doesn't know I know any of you. She doesn't need to know. Anytime we've talked about any of you, it's because she brought it up. She tries to keep in touch with your careers whenever she can. Haruna's very proud of her career and she's proudest when one of her students is successful." Sakurada thought for a moment. "Maybe you three could drop by Crossroads some day. I know she'd be thrilled to talk to you again."
"Even me?" Usagi wondered.
"Even you, Mrs. Chiba," Sakurada chuckled.
Usagi got home with the full intent of working on the next page of the story she was drawing. All through the ride home, she'd fretted to herself about where Hana Saito might be and what she could do to find the girl. But Mamoru had told her that until someone else came up with some information, there was nothing she could do. When she couldn't find any way to refute it, Usagi concluded that Mamoru must have been right.
"Luna!" Usagi called when they entered their apartment. "We're home!"
There was no answer.
"I wonder if she's out," Usagi wondered.
"She must be. Makoto's kids are gone, too," Mamoru said. He bent down and picked up a note. "Yeah, after Sanjuro picked up his kids, she went to confer with Artemis."
"Went to snuggle, more like," Usagi snickered. Noticing the answering machine flashing, Usagi walked over and pressed the recall button.
"Hi, Usagi. This is Rei," they heard Rei on the machine. "Just wanted to let you know I got back from America safely. Hope everything is all right." The message ended.
"That's weird," Usagi said to Mamoru. "She wasn't supposed to be back for three days."
"I wonder if something happened," Mamoru mused.
"Mamo-Chan, she didn't sound right at all! Can you please drive me over to the shrine?"
"She's probably just jet-lagged," Mamoru assured her. "Two trans-oceanic flights in as many days would tire anyone out."
"No, Mamo-Chan! Something's wrong! Please drive me over there."
"Usako, you're jumping to conclusions again," Mamoru replied. Resolutely Usagi turned and headed for the door.
"All right, I'll catch a bus," she said. Mamoru's hand shot out and grasped hers.
"You don't have to catch a bus," he sighed. "If it's that important to you, I'll drive you over."
"Thank you, Mamo-Chan," Usagi smiled. "You're probably right about it being nothing. I just have to know."
"It's OK," Mamoru grinned. "This way I can keep you from wandering into any other nests of criminals and killers and just knocking on their front door."
"I wouldn't do that," Usagi offered. She was only partly joking.
At Hikawa Shrine, Usagi and Mamoru looked all up and down the main building. Finding no one, they ventured around back. Timidly Usagi knocked on the door in back. After a time, they heard shuffling feet.
"Who is it?" they heard Rei ask with little enthusiasm.
"Rei?" Usagi ventured.
"Usagi?" Rei asked out loud, sliding the door back. "Mamoru? Why are you two here?"
"Rei, are you all right?" Usagi queried, the woman's apprehension an open book to anyone, not just the priest. "You sounded so . . . I don't know."
"Don't mind me," Rei said softly, heartache pouring out of every pore. "I'm just tired from the flight."
"How's Derek?" Usagi asked.
Rei seemed to wince. It was nothing overt, but Usagi seemed to see it.
Without another word, the woman came up the step and right up to Rei. Before the startled priest could move, Usagi took her into her arms and hugged Rei. And the feel of Usagi's arms around her was more than Rei could withstand. The damn burst and she began crying, soft shudders at first. Soon it was a torrent, bitter sobs, angry wails of pain. No explanation came and neither Usagi nor Mamoru pressed her. Usagi just held her so Rei could expunge her anguish and sorrow with the knowledge that she wasn't alone and she would never, ever be.
"Help desk. This is Ryoko speaking. How may I assist you?"
"Well," Minako said, a prankish smirk on her lips as she spoke into the phone, "my husband has been surfing for porn and he downloaded a bunch of viruses onto the computer. Can you help me get them out?"
The boldness of the question startled Ryoko for a moment as she sat before her computer terminal in her apartment. Then an idea formed.
"Minako? Is that you?" she asked.
"You guessed it! Either I am a lousy actress or you know something about Toshi-Chan that I don't," Minako quipped.
"Minako, is this call serious? Because if it isn't, you shouldn't be calling me on my business line."
"Relax! I just wanted to talk. And I wanted to apologize about the other night."
"Fine, but not on my business line," Ryoko reiterated. "If you're on here, someone with a real problem can't get through. Besides, these calls are monitored and you could get me into trouble!"
"Oh. Hey, I'm sorry. No problem," Minako said. "Uh, Big Brother, if you're listening, this is all my fault. Ryoko didn't have anything to do with it."
"Hang up, Minako," Ryoko scowled, though deep down she appreciated the subtle jab at authority. "I'll call you tomorrow afternoon - - on the set!"
"OK. Hey, want to get together Saturday?"
"Uh, can't," Ryoko said and found herself smiling uncontrollably. "I've - - got a date."
"With Seiji?" Minako inquired hungrily.
"Uh huh," Ryoko beamed on her end of the line. Then she sobered. "Now HANG UP!"
The phone disconnected. Minako put it down. Then she squealed happily and started kicking her feet out in front of her.
"Good news?" Artemis inquired, looking up from his laptop.
"The best!" Minako squealed.
"Sales figures on your CD?" Toshihiro asked, peeking in from the kitchen where he was preparing dinner.
"No," Minako responded with a cheshire grin.
"You've found a new way to stare at pictures of yourself?" Artemis asked. Minako heard Toshihiro chuckle from the kitchen as she lobbed a throw pillow at the white cat.
"Ryoko and Seiji have a date Saturday!" Minako roared. "Honestly, how did I get stuck with a pair of unromantic comedians!"
"Just lucky, I guess," Toshihiro quipped.
"Maybe karma was involved," Artemis added.
"Fine! When they're married, I'm not taking either of you to the wedding!" Minako fumed. "You still working on tracking Hana Saito, Artemis?"
"Yeah, but not with much luck. Tokyo's a pretty big place, you know. One fifteen year old girl could get lost in it really easily - - especially if she wants to." Artemis looked up with inspiration. "Hey, now that Rei's back, maybe she can help in the search."
"I don't know," Minako frowned to herself. "That message from her was weird. She didn't sound right. And she's back from America so soon? I wonder if she and Derek had a fight or something."
"Think?" Toshihiro asked, bringing out a tray full of food so he and Minako could eat in front of the television.
"Well, you know how touchy Rei is," Minako shrugged and dived for a bowl of noodles. "Maybe he looked at another woman and she saw him."
It was ten p.m. and receipts were being collected from one of the many pachinko parlors that dotted Tokyo like dandelions on a manicured lawn. While the Yakuza collection agent gathered the money on the inside of the building, two young toughs in traditional dark glasses and dark jackets stood outside the back door and watched. The pair were young Yakuza recruits, hired because they were expert at being physical and intimidating, owing to a lifetime of practice, but stupid enough for the moment to follow orders. How long they lasted depended upon how quickly they caught on to the facts that they weren't invincible and that they were cogs in a machine and that if they didn't mesh, they'd quickly be replaced.
"Wish I knew what was taking so long," grumbled one of the toughs. He was big and muscular, with slicked back black hair.
"Why, you got somewhere to go?" the other asked. He was shorter, but no less brutal, and seemed to take a belligerent attitude with everyone except those above him in the hierarchy.
"Yeah. They're bringing in another shipment of girls from the Philippines tonight," the tall one replied. "I want to get a chance to look them over."
"You looking for a wife?" snickered the shorter one.
"Hell no!" the tall one spat. "But I wouldn't mind breaking a few of the 'new recruits' in, you know?"
"I prefer Japanese women," scowled the shorter one.
It was the last thing he ever said. In the blink of an eye, an arrow pierced the thug's neck. Blood gushed everywhere as the man clutched at his throat, all before the amazed eyes of his partner. As the shorter thug sank to the ground, his life pooling around him, the taller thug pulled his .44 automatic and looked around. It was a second before it dawned upon him that the arrow had come from above him. Looking up, he saw a fifteen year old girl rapidly approaching him feet first from the roof of the pachinko parlor.
He expected to be kicked, so he moved to his right. Hana landed behind him, but shifted so that his head inserted through her bow. Pivoting, she twisted the bow so that the bowstring closed around his throat like a garrote. The gun fell from the thug's hand as he clutched at his throat. Hana kicked at the back of his knees, forcing the thug down and increasing her leverage. Holding the thug with the garrote, Hana pulled a knife from the sheath on her hip and sliced across her captive's throat cleanly and mercilessly. As he fell, she scooped up his automatic.
Trying the knob, Hana found the door unlocked. She burst in and rapidly confronted the Yakuza courier and the parlor manager. Two shots from the automatic dispatched them. While they died, Hana picked up the satchel of Yakuza money and headed out the door. Pausing only to take the gun from the other dead thug and reclaim her bow, Hana was off into the Tokyo night. She was gone before anyone discovered what had happened.
Continued in Chapter10
