I know that you usually expect a lengthy disclaimer at the beginning of each fan fiction, but I have found them pointless and time-consuming

I know that you usually expect a lengthy disclaimer at the beginning of each fan fiction, but I have found them pointless and time-consuming.  This fanfic is mine, however, and if anybody misuses it, there will be hell to pay.  (Besides, the Sailor Scouts and other such things are property of big-name people that could sue me blind if I didn't promise not to dishonor their fabulous creation.)

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Discarded Souls

By Darkslayer

Chapter 2

There Comes a Stranger

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            "I know that leaving your friends and life in Boston was a tough decision, honey, but I think you'll like it here in Tokyo."

            Joseph turned away from the window he was lazily staring out of, to look at his mother.  Her gray eyes were filled with an uncertainty that he had never seen from her before, forcing him to consider his reply carefully.

            "I'll give it a try," he said slowly, looking away from her.

            Kristin could not help but feel a pang of guilt knife through her heart as her son looked away.  He had been sullen before, but it was like he was totally isolated from everything now.  She thought that a large part of his now reclusive nature drew from the death of his father only a year before.  Even though the coroner declared that he died from a bizarre hunting accident, she knew that something was off.  Although her instincts told her to discover the truth behind the incident, she put it all behind her for the sake of her son.

            *God, how I miss you Stephen,* she thought sadly.

            Joseph looked at his mother through the corner of his eye.  He sensed an intense feeling of guilt and sorrow radiating from her, some of which he felt was his fault.  She may have loved and cared for him as a mother would for a son, but she wasn't his biological mother.  The deception he had made initially out of pity and compassion had now thrown him for a curve that he wasn't sure he was willing to take. 

            Sighing softly, he turned back to the window of the airplane and looked out at the endless sea of blue sky and white clouds, falling back into the trance he started only a few hours ago.

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            Less than an hour later, the captain came on the loudspeaker and announced the flight's arrival in Japan.  He gave the customary warning for the passengers to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts.  They did as they were told, and the jet came to a bumpy but solid landing, taxiing to the terminal and discharging its cargo safely.  As the people emptied out of the plane, Joseph helped his mother retrieve their carryon luggage and they walked over to the baggage claim carousel.

            "Wait here," Kristin instructed, "I'm going to go see if our car is ready."

            "Alright," Joseph agreed, looking for a place to sit.

            She smiled and gave him a hug before she turned and disappeared in the crowd of people.  Joseph sighed once before walking over to a row of chairs and promptly dropping onto the nearest one, allowing the few items of luggage that he had to collapse to the floor in front of him.  Looking around to fight off boredom and jet lag, his eyes came to rest on a nearby newspaper stand.  The headline on one of the publications caught his attention with its unusually worded headline.

            SAILOR SOLDIERS: URBAN LEGEND OR FRIGHTENING FACT?

            "What the hell?" he murmured, skimming through the content.  It read:

            The 12th precinct has yet to give any answers to the recurring phenomenon that seems to happen all over the greater part of Tokyo.  Dozens of eyewitness reports offer up the same basic facts:

1) All bystanders in the area complain of the same symptoms associated with fatigue and shock.

2) Whenever these symptoms manifest themselves, it has been reported that a strange creature or 'monster' is said to induce these feelings on the victims.

3) There is always a girl or group of girls, estimated age being 13-18 years, that show up dressed in altered school uniforms that 'battle' the alleged 'monster' with some kind of 'magic'.

4) It has also been reported that upon the destruction of said monster, the symptoms abate moderately, and many victims have shown no signs of having experienced any fatigue or trauma.

Whether these events are nothing more than a repeat case of mass hallucination caused by too much stimulation via television or a real case of monsters plaguing Tokyo is still in debate.  Several psychologists and scientists have taken differing views on the subject, with neither side prevailing in evidence or reason.

See SAILOR, page 3.

            Joseph blinked once before taking a look at the artist's conception sketch accompanying the article.  It showed a slim girl dressed in what looked like a one-piece swimsuit with an extremely short skirt and bows all over the place.  The girl's proportions were obviously exaggerated, and she looked like nothing more than the artist's fantasy woman, battling a mass of what seemed to be slimy tentacles.

            "Probably one of those fucking pervert artists," he mused, looking away from the drawing.

            Still, the concept of a couple of schoolgirls fighting evil 'monsters' was a laughable concept, at least to him.  All that was needed was a super villain with a yearning to rule the universe with a seemingly endless supply of power to help them and a relentless dedication to their task and it would be a comic book.

            *Hell, it could even be a popular anime show over here,* Joseph thought, chuckling to himself, *Call it a stupid name, give it a few goofy sidekicks and throw in the girl power factor—you'd have a fucking franchise on your hands.*

            "Joseph!" called a female voice, "Joseph!!"

            He snapped out of his reverie just in time to hear his mother calling his name.  Shaking his head, he grabbed their luggage and hurried over in her direction, fighting against the never-ending crowd of people.

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            After he dropped their things in the back of the car, he slid into the passenger seat and ran his hand over the dash.  His father's company had gone above and beyond the huge life insurance policy that had already been paid to Joseph's mother, snagging them a great house in one of the suburbs of Tokyo and evening furnishing it for them.  As the CEO of the company had said:

            'Stephen Miller was an invaluable asset to this company.  It's the least we can do.'

            Joseph didn't like the huge amounts of money being thrown around because of his adoptive father's death, but it did smooth the transition for his mother.  That, along with her company's need for a new head of marketing in their Japan branch led to the ease of the relocation.  The brand new BMW that they were climbing into didn't hurt, either.  All in all, there were very few rough spots for the two of them and their move to Tokyo. 

            But it was those rough spots that they unconsciously fixated on.

            He extracted a map of Tokyo and a small piece of paper with directions on how to get to their new house.  After finding the recommended route, he pointed out the appropriate streets to his mother, allowing her to drive almost flawlessly in the heavy traffic.  They eventually ended up on a smaller, less crowded road that led them by several middle-class houses.  When they arrived at their destination, they saw a large moving van pulling out of the driveway and down the road away from the house.

            She parked the car in the driveway and got out of it, with Joseph not far behind her.  Taking the set of keys that was given to her, she unlocked the front door and stepped inside.  The air was thick with the smell of disinfectant and furniture polish; along with the 'new house' smell that was common to many freshly built domiciles.  She looked around at the contents of the living room and slowly progressed to the master bedroom, then the bathroom, and finally the kitchen.  Kristin looked around the entire house before returning to the living room and collapsing on the couch.  Joseph descended the stairs leading to the second floor and joined her in the living room.

            "So, what do you think, honey?"

            "Does Martha Stewart know you stole her house?" he replied, looking around the room.

            He caught the throw pillow she chucked at him, barely suppressing a smile. 

            "Watch it buster," she warned him, "or you'll be living in the basement."

            "I'm surprised about that," he commented, tossing the pillow back to her, "I didn't think many houses in Japan had basements."

            "I don't know if they do or if they don't," she sighed, rising up from the couch, "And I don't really care.  I'm only interested if you like it."

            "It's perfect.  I'm happy if you're happy."

            "Good.  Now, if you have no objections, I'd like to get unpacked and start making this place a home."

            "I'll get the luggage," he offered, exiting through the front door.

            Joseph walked over to the driver's door and opened it, reaching inside and pulling the trunk release.  He moved around to the back of the car and proceeded to remove their things.  After the bags had been removed, he reached up to close the trunk and paused, inhaling deeply.

            It was then that a yellowish blur slammed into him, knocking him over.

            Joseph rolled backward onto his feet, rising up quickly and assessing the situation.  He looked at the pavement to see what had slammed into him.  A pair of orange roller blades were attached to a set of lightly tanned, slim legs.  The legs led up to what he assumed to be a school uniform, but it had a sailor's look to it.  To top it all off, a pair of bright blue eyes blinked twice, then stared right back at him.

            The girl sat on the ground, looking at him for a moment, then attempted to get up.  Joseph watched as she tried to stand and failed, falling on her butt and pulling her own hair by accident.  Chuckling to himself, he walked forward and, grabbing her around the shoulders, lifted the girl up until she was standing, if shakily.  She wobbled over to a nearby streetlight and grabbed hold of it for dear life, sizing Joseph up much in the same way that he had done with her.

            "Walk much?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

            "I'm not that bad!" she replied, shaking a little more, "This is only my third time on skates."

            "It shows," he chuckled, extending a hand.  "Need some help with getting the hang of those?"

            The girl slowly reached out, grabbing his hand with her left, and then clasping on for extra stability with her other.  He slowly wrestled his arm away from her deathlike grip until she was just hanging onto his wrist with both hands.  Satisfied, he began to walk back up the driveway, dragging her along behind him.  True to her form, the girl overcorrected her balance problems time after time and more than once she was hard pressed not to fall.  They eventually made it to the front steps of Joseph's new house, where the girl dropped down and began to frantically untie the rollerblades.

            "You overcompensate a lot," he mused, "you should work on your balance first."

            After removing the skates, the girl stood up and leveled a finger at him.  "Look, buddy," she snapped, "I can walk and move just fine, thank you very much.  I don't see you being the master of balance over here!"

            Smirking, Joseph flipped backward, catching himself on one hand, then flipped again, catching himself with the other.  He finished the show by pushing off the ground and landing squarely on his feet.  He brushed his palms together, and then crossed his arms, smiling the entire time.

            "You were saying, miss?"

            The girl's jaw dropped.  "How did you?"

            "I learned a thing or two from the 'master of balance'."

            She lowered her gaze, shaking slightly.  Joseph's eyes narrowed as he watched her, wary of just what she might do next.  His concern was unfounded, though, for she suddenly looked straight at him and broke out into laughter.

            "You know, you remind me of one of my friends," she said, brushing back a strand of her hair, "My name's Mina.  What's yours?"

            "Joseph," he replied, "Are you from this neighborhood?"

            "Yeah, I live about a half-block up the street," she answered, pointing in an easterly direction.  She looked at him, then at the house, then back at him again.  "Are you the one who bought this house?"

            "I'm not the buyer, my mother is.  I just got here today," he said, nonchalantly, "and I have no idea where 'here' is!"

            Mina laughed again, making him feel a bit uncomfortable, and he had a sudden feeling of déjà vu.  She was still talking, and he began to nod in affirmation of what she was saying.  When he tried to think of just where he had seen her before, she suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

            "So, would that be ok?" she asked.

            "W—what?" he stammered, breaking out of his trance.

            "Would that be ok?" she repeated, looking at him strangely.

            "Uh, sure," he affirmed, hoping it was the correct answer.

            "Great!" she squealed, clapping her hands together, "How about you meet me at my house tomorrow, in the afternoon?"

            "I'll be there with bells on," he said, winking at her.  Mina suddenly turned a light shade of pink, looking away from him and at her watch.  A look of surprise crossed her face as she faced him again.

            "Shoot!" she exclaimed, "I'm going to be late for the meeting!  Well, it was nice meeting you, Joseph!  I'll see you tomorrow!"

            He watched as she grabbed her blades, then took off down the street, waving back to him.  Joseph responded with a similar gesture, and walked over to where the luggage sat on the driveway.  He picked up the bags and made his way over to the door before a thought suddenly struck him.

            *Oh my god,* he thought, *What in the hell did I just agree to?*

End of Chapter 2