Irony and Daring con't

Okay all, it's my b-day, so here's my gift to you...the next
chapter. Please excuse any mistakes in the Japanese...it's not my first
language (and I don't have a second language).
~December


13 years ago

'He's sitting by himself again. He always sits by
himself. At least he does when Satire and I don't
make him sit with us.' Irony sighed. 'The poor
boy looks so haunted.' And, being Irony, she
walked with a purpose toward the tree the 13 year
old sat under.

Without giving a word of introduction, she sat down
next to him. He turned to look at her. They stared
at each other for a good five minutes, until Irony
asked, "Dare? Dabi...Dati...uh..."

"Daijoubu? Hai, daijoubu."

"Oh I don't believe that crap." Dare looked up at her.
"Dammit this is so much harder without Satire to translate.
I really need to learn Japanese."

"Maybe...I...should...English?" Dare struggled to get out.

Irony turned around to the boy. "Okay, maybe we can't communicate
with words. But there are other ways to communicate."

Irony sighed and pulled out her knife. 'It's time I began teaching
him what he needs to know.'

Dare's face lit up when he saw the knife. The boy had so looked
forward to learning how to handle the blade like the avenging angel
who saved him.

At the look of joy, Irony sobered. 'So I know what lesson one is.'
"Wait!" she said, putting out her hand to stop him from taking the
knife. She put the knife down and turned to Dare.
"Knife not good, knife not tool. Look."

After this statement, Irony made a fight and then made a punching motion.
Dare paled. Irony nodded. "Yes, this bad." She made the punching motion
again. "But, in this case..." Irony takes Dare's hand, turns it into
a fist and makes a punching motion in her direction, which she blocks
using her own fist. "it's good." Irony looked at the boy, "understand?"

The boy nods slowly as if he's processed what Irony was trying to show him.

The young woman sighed. "Alright Dare, listen up. And memorize this
so that when you learn English you'll remember this and understand what
I said. No matter what anyone tells you, we are not about - you are not
about ruthless violence or using fear to gain power. All of that is wrong.
We are given knives to protect ourselves and all others who cannot
protect themselves. Use whatever I teach only to benefit humanity. Your
job is to make this world a better place than when you first got here.
In my religion we talk about faith, hope and love. None of them are
easy. All of them are important. If nothing else, remember this.
However much you may not like your fellow man, love them. Save them from
evil. Protect their best chance at survival, no matter what it costs
you. And remember always, unto whom much is given, much is to be
expected. And Dare...never judge by appearances. Masks hide so much.
But you know that, don't you."

The boy seemed to be in deep concentration. He finally nodded a few
minutes after Irony had finished.

"Good." Irony picked up her knife and turned to the boy. "Now, I'll
teach you how to throw this."

*****
The present.

It still amazed him that he was back in this area of town. And that he
was looking for her. All those different times he thought of tracking
her down...and she had been keeping tabs on him the whole time. She
even knew where he lived.

Mamoru sighed and pulled a little on his green jacket. When you don't
have armbands, you do the next best thing. He sighed. Irony had never asked him
for something. At least, she never asked him for something that wasn't
really for him. And this one time she asks for something...she backs
out of begging the favor very quickly.

Well, maybe it was about time he did her a favor for once.

Mamoru knocked on the door to the hall. The man on watched looked out...
and stared at the man on the outside. "What do you want?"

"I'm here to see Irony. I'm family."

"Where's your armband?"

"How is that important? Besides, look at this jacket. Do you think I
wear it because I like the color?"

The watchman still looked at Mamoru with distrust. "How do I know you
are not a police officer?"

"If I was 5-0 don't you think I'd have a better cover than this? Hell,
get someone else to doublecheck me if you are so worried."

"Fine." The watchman went back into the club and called for someone. Soon
another pair of eyes, female this time, looked out of the door. There
was a gasp and then the door flew open.

"Dare! I don't believe it. What are you doing back here?" Said the
female.

"LB?! Wow. It's been...years. Still like leather pants I see."

LB laughed. "And look at you! You clean up well."

Mamoru laughed. "Thanks. Is Irony around?"

"She's where she always is when she need to think." LB sighed, "Dare,
you are going to help her, right? I mean a lot is weighing on her and
she's trying to do it all herself again. Satire and Con can only
do but so much. Please. We are all worried about her."

Mamoru nodded. LB smiled and walked away as Mamoru made his way to the
dart board. He was just in time to see a knife hit the bullseye. "The
old lady still has it, I see."

Irony turned around. "Dare! What are you doing here?"

"Figuring out a way to help you."

"You don't have to-" she started to say as she removed her knife from
the dart board.

"Irony this is the first time you have ever asked me for anything.
Did you think I wasn't going to at least try to honor the request?"

Irony sighed. "Okay, let's make a deal. I'll play you in darts. If
I win, you forget I asked for help and go and make the blond "bunny"
happy. If you win, you can help. I'll be using my knives on the board,
you'll have to choose among the dart collection-"

Mamoru interrupted. "No, I think I have something with me that will
work." And with that, he threw one of his trademark roses. Bullseye.

Irony stared at the rose and got very quiet. "Sit down, Dare." she
practically whispered.

Recognizing that tone of voice as a combination of hurt and anger, the
young man sat down, not quite sure what he had done.

Irony soon put his confusion to rest. "For the most part, we don't read
the news around here. News reports are for the legal, legitmate people.
Gossip and networks are what keep us alive here. But, over the years,
we have been following the stories of the sailor senshi. Most in our
association like the storyline...you know good versus evil and good wins.
Others just like the idea in girls in skirts that short. I followed
it because it reminded me of supermarket tabloids back home. I never
believed it was real." Irony pulled the rose out of the board and threw
it so it stuck out of the table, inches from Mamoru's hand. "So Dare,
when were you going to tell me that I helped train Tuxedo Kamen?"

"Irony-"

"And don't bother to deny it either. Why the hell didn't you tell me,
dammit?"

"I didn't know where you were."

"I don't mean when you started, I mean three days ago when I visited you-"

"I was trying to protect you!"

"From what?!" Irony screamed. She then walked to table and sat down
next to Mamoru. "I want to here the whole story. Now."

"Irony -"

"NOW!...or don't you trust me?"

Mamoru paused, then nodded. "Thousands of years ago, in a time of
great peace called the Silver Millenium, there was a great kingdom
on Earth's moon..."

- to be continued -

So what's with Irony calling Mamoru "Dare"? No, I'm not mixing
dub and original names. "Dare" is a gang nickname, just as Irony,
Satire, and the names of the other Green members are nicknames.
I've already shared Irony's real name. In the next chapter (which
will be a while because it is harder to write) you'll see how Chiba-san
got the nickname, "Dare"

Oh, and about the title. Yes, it refers to Irony and Mamoru...but it
is also ironic in a way. You'll see what I mean at the end (in about
three chapters).