The Unceasing Path

Ch 21 : 護花危情

Dangerous Protection - wherein the guardian needs guarding.

A collective chorus of groans sounded in front of Juuban's newest ice cream sundae cafe.

"No entry without reservations! Awwww...this sucks!" Makoto whined. "Who does that?"

"I know!" Minako flopped forward dramatically. "I've been looking forward to this all week! It's such a let down! Today is turning out to be more anti-climatic than ending an epic cool fight scene with everyone getting hit by a random bus!"

"OOOO! I get that reference!" Chibiusa perked up."'The Unceasing Path' right?"

"Hmm?" Rei cocked her head to the side. "What's that? I've never heard of it."

"You know? That old classic. Earth-That-Was Hong Kong, triads, undercover cops, and a love story wedged into the middle of it all. My teacher says it's one of the earliest known representations of the Sailor Senshi archetypes in pop-culture. The Hero, the Anti-hero, the Archer, the Loveable Rogue, the Heart, et-cetera. I studied it in school."

Ami started to get an uneasy feeling about all this. "This is a book you are talking about?" she ventured.

"Uh-huh. And a movie too! Between you and me, the movie was better. It had a happy ending, and they changed that stupid part with the bus for something much cooler and...oh!" ChibiUsa clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh no! This is future stuff isn't it? I'm not supposed to talk about future stuff!"

"REALLY?! They made it into a movie?" Minako's face lit up, as did Makoto's. They crowded around Chibiusa and began piling her with questions.

"Is it a popular movie? A blockbuster? Award winner?"
"Does it have any good love scenes in it?"
"Can you tell me how it ends?"

"Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope." ChibiUsa shook her head vigorously. "Spoilers!"

"Would you mind telling me who wrote the book at least?" Ami asked hesitantly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know. "And when?"

"I can't even if I could." Chibiusa shrugged. "No one knows. The book was based on this really old document they found buried in the Crystal Tokyo Library and Archives. It's a mystery as to who wrote it and why."

Ami groaned. This was her destiny now.

"Kill me. Just kill me now..."

[Office. Independent Commission Against Corruption HQ, North Point, Hong Kong]

There was frustration, and then there was frustration.

Makoto resisted the urge to smash her head into the desk. Barely. On the other side of that desk, Agent Ying didn't look to be doing much better. She had been on the phone for a solid half hour by now. The yelling and threats ended 10 minutes ago. Now it was just whining and begging. To her credit, Agent Ying was willing to do whatever it took to get the job done, dignity be damned.

That being said, Makoto could tell by the look on Katarina's face that it was no good. The answer was still no.

Bullshit.

Fucking bullshit.

Makoto growled, catching Katarina's eye. The agent held up a hand, gesturing for Makoto to relax. Makoto slunk down in her chair, bouncing her knee up and down for lack of anything else to do. Every second that Mamoru was a free man felt like a grave injustice. Not for the first time, she wondered how Ami would handle this situation. Knowing her, Ami probably would have come up with an incredibly stupid, selfish and dangerous plan by now. A plan that would have delivered results lickety-split.

Makoto clenched her jaw. She couldn't mourn. Not yet. Not until this was over.

Finally.

Katarina was off the phone. Makoto looked up, hoping against hope for good news.

"I'm sorry Makoto."of course she was. "The judge won't issue the warrant until after the election. I can't change his mind."

"The election!?" Makoto banged on the desk. It wasn't Katarina's fault, but dammit, she was angry. "That's weeks from now! This is insane! Who cares about politics? We need to bring Chiba in right the fuck now."

"Calm down. Please. I know this has been a difficult few time for you, but hang in there." Katarina exhaled. "You're not going to like this, but we need to talk about putting you in witness protection. The entire case rests on your testimony."

"You know I can't. We've talked about this. The minute I go dark in the field, Chiba will know something is up. We can't risk him going on the run. I want to see that bastard rot in jail for the rest of his miserable life. Besides, someone needs to be out there keeping an eye on the streets right now. I'm the only one that can do it."

"I understand that, but things are getting too dangerous out there. You told me yourself. It's dangerous enough being an undercover officer under normal circumstances, but now? The Hung Fa Boys and the Yuet To Tong are in an open state of war. You and I both know that it's escalating. Just this morning, there was a car bomb in Central. Someone took out Luna Miao Xing. Her lieutenant Meioh Setsuna is missing and well, knowing Triad society, that's probably not good news for her."

"What?" Makoto's eyes widened. "Fuck! I didn't know that was going to happen! Who did it?"

"We don't know. The police are investigating but it's a safe bet that someone associated with the Hung Fa Boys is responsible. My point is that you didn't know about it did you? You were part of the old crew. Since Diana's arrival, you're not as in touch as you used to be. From the look of things, your new Boss is into using her own people and phasing out the old vanguard. From an intelligence standpoint, that means diminishing returns, and more to the point, you're too important to risk! We need to bring you in."

"Hey! Back off. I can take care of myself dammit. I've been doing this for years now. I know what I'm doing."

"Of course. I don't doubt that. You've served admirably so far, under very trying conditions. I'm only trying to help."

"If you actually want to help me, then get me all the information we have on this Diana person that came out of fucking nowhere. I need to know who's in charge of my gang all of a sudden."

Katarina rummaged through her desk and handed over a manila file.

"Here. I just got this from Interpol this morning. Based on your description and photos, we've identified the woman as Diana Miraimoto nee Katze."

"Katze...as in Artemis Katze? He had family?"

"A daughter apparently. Or maybe a niece? We aren't sure. She'd been living in Japan up until recently – strong ties to the Yakuza. I would put in a request to Tokyo MPD for more information, but it is difficult to explain why the request is coming from ICAC as opposed to the official HKPD anti-triad department. I'd be afraid of a potential information leak there."

"Yeah. Makes sense." Makoto thumbed through the annoyingly scant files. "I'll get Chiba to do it. I have to give him something to do anyways. He still thinks I'm his mole after all."

"How long do you intend to keep this up? This operation of yours... all it takes is one mistake. One bad night. One bad stroke of luck. Look at what happened to your Sergeant. From what you've told me, Sergeant Mizuno was smart and careful and took no chances. What happened to her could-"

Makoto slammed a fist down onto the desk, interrupting whatever Katarina was about to say.

"Shut up! You don't get to talk about that. What happened to Am- Sergeant Mizuno – was her own damn fault. She got paranoid and tried to do everything by herself. If she had just told me what was going on, we wouldn't be in this mess right now! I'm not going to make the same mistakes she made. " Makoto sighed heavily. "Dammit. I'm being a hypocrite right now aren't I? Look, I get what you are saying. Shit happens, and you want to make sure it doesn't. Witness protection is a good idea except: how do you propose we do that without tipping off Chiba?"

"It's simple. We fake your death."

"WHAT?"

"I know, it's extreme, but hear me out. I've been giving this alot of thought. This could work. We are in the middle of a city wide gang war. From Chiba's point of view, it's just a tragedy that comes part and parcel with the job – as we sadly know all too well. He won't suspect a thing. After that, you stay in protective custody until we get the warrant and you testify." Katarina's expression softened. "I'm sorry to spring this on you all of a sudden Makoto. I know it's your job to look after the streets of Hong Kong, but my job is to stamp out corruption in our ranks. That means right now, it's my job to keep you safe. It's more than just a job. After everything you've done for HKPD, I would personally hate to see anything happen to you. ICAC has done this kind of thing before. We have the resources and the experience. We just need your consent."

Makoto sighed.

"Do I really have a choice?"

"I won't force you Makoto."

"I mean, do I really actually have a choice? You know you are right. We both know it. It is dangerous out there, Chiba needs to go down, and my testimony is crucial to the case." The words stuck a little bit in Makoto's throat "I need to be protected."

Katarina smiled.

"I promise, We'll take down that bastard together. I'll make the arrangements. Is there anyone we need to inform? Anyone who needs to know that you aren't actually dead?"

Makoto considered the question. Everyone in her life she would want to tell, she couldn't. Katarina didn't say it just now, but Makoto saw the big picture. After they arrest Chiba, it would be time to bring in Haruka, Motoki, Umino and all of her boys. They were all gangsters, and she was a cop. There was only one way this was ever going to end.

Betrayal.

What was one more lie among the thousands she'd already told them?

"No. There isn't. Give me a few days to get my affairs in order, and then after that, Kino Makoto is no more."

A.N.

Whelp, looks like this fic will have to be finished no matter what now. The future depends on it!

Cheers,

-Drift.

Up next:

Ch 22 - 暗戰 - Unsanctioned War - wherein war is hell, and all hell is about to break loose.