Chapter 20

A few wispy cirrus clouds skirted across the sky, as if fleeing from the long beams of the moon. Oddly enough, the winds in the upper atmosphere hadn't descended to the ground, and for that small favor, he was very grateful.

Kevin, in the guise of a Silver Millenium Retainer, watched over the city with a casual grace that he could never have matched as a mere human. In more honest moments, he would still confess a certain discomfort with his powers and abilities. But it was something that he was quickly getting used to and he was glad to say that he no longer feared his power.

He had still not faced any of the enemies which Artemis spoke of so many times, but as time passed, Kevin felt increasingly ready to face whatever perils he needed to. Until then, he would continue to test his skill against the usual run of pickpockets and would-be muggers on the streets of Tokyo. He had even managed to get a blurry picture of himself taken by the Mainichi Daily News with a small feature piece on the appearance of another masked man on the Tokyo skyline. Two separate camps had sprung up around his activities: one proclaiming that he was simply another incarnation of an older, but still popular hero named Tuxedo Kamen and the other contending that he was somebody else entirely, perhaps a consort of one of the Sailor Senshi.

That thought made him smile as few things in his current state of affairs did. Kevin glanced down at the city for another moment. He did not consider Tokyo his home, yet the city had already adopted him as a consummately Japanese hero that embodied the ideals of honor, duty, and civic virtue.

The irony of that thought made him smile and chuckle to himself. He wrapped his coat tightly around him just as an icy gale blasted his exposed figure. The wind died down after a moment, and he let his cape flutter free again.

As he did so, he let himself sink into a meditative trance, perfectly balanced on his perch at the edge of the building. Artemis had taught him that meditation was a powerful state, a way to contact higher realms and seek greater wisdom. In battle, it was a way to intuit enemy actions, detect stratagems, and coordinate troops maneuvers.

Kevin stretched his mind into the city around him, taking in tremendous information around him like a great sponge. As he navigated the murky waters of the psychic plane, he felt the irresistible swirl of thoughts and emotions around him. Had he chosen to, he could have singled out an individual to experience. But Kevin instead sought to test the greater psychic waters, tapping into the underlying feelings of the city below him. He felt pain, pleasure, hope, and fear with a striking undercurrent of cynicism laced through it.

And even as mesmerizing as it was, he still felt the approach of another. With mute interest, he reached out to touch it.

--------------------

It never failed. They were always at the top of a skyscraper. Minako looked around apprehensively before raising her henshin wand into the air.

The last time she'd scaled a building looking for her target, she'd been careless and accidentally transformed in front of a drunk hiding in an alleyway. When he had seen her, he'd sat up suddenly, banging his head against a low hanging fire ladder and knocking himself out. She supposed his surprise was because she had suddenly transformed into the easily recognizable and photogenic Sailor Venus. It was certainly better than the alternative explanation: that he had reacted so because he had seen her naked.

Venus hefted her chain, twirling it about with an easy hand. It was old hat to her now as she tossed the chain up, scaling the side of the building like some four legged spider.

It was a full fifteen minutes before she reached the top, pausing only a few times to enjoy the view. It was a surprisingly clear night, and she could just make out the ghostly outline of the Tokyo Tower rising in the distance. She managed a cool little smile.

For all its faults of prowling youma and various supernatural events, Tokyo was her city, a place where she could live her entire life happily. As such, it was her duty to defend it to the death.

Which brought her focus back to the task at hand. She pressed herself against a wall, knowing that her prey was less than twenty meters away. Venus spared a glance around the corner, then began her stalk. In time with the traffic on the streets below, she masked her approach, taking a few quiet bounds each time to position herself under maximum cover. She was a handful of steps away when her right foot slipped on a stray piece of gravel, and she fell to the ground with a loud clatter.

Time froze for an instant as she sought some means with which to stop him, ranging from trying to lasso him with her chain again to trying to stun him with a Crescent Beam.

But it was too late. The man reacted on instinct, instantly leaving his perch and running across the rooftop to hurl himself off of the side towards a nearby office building.

--------------------

Kevin smashed through an exposed window and hit the ground in a position that would have snapped a normal human collarbone. He had miscalculated the jump badly and had missed the roof, crashing into the offices two floors below, rolling to absorb the impact.

He felt a sharp pain pulsing through his shoulders but forced it from his mind as he navigated the dark maze of desks and cubicles. Kevin knocked over a stack of papers, winced, and moved on. He deplored the damage he was causing but felt that he had to flee.

As dedicated a pursuer as the world had ever known was pursuing him to unmask him and reveal his secrets to the world. Artemis had warned him of her, saying that Sailor Venus was a loose cannon who tended to take matters into her own hands...often to the detriment of those around her. It was not that she had bad intentions, but she was simply a bit too chaotic for others to deal with. He was to consider her an ally, but a distant one.

The wind whistled through the shattered window behind him, blowing hundreds of pieces of paper into the air. Kevin bent on one knee, glancing around to find an exit. A loud thump reverberated through the room. He glanced back at the open window, now partly obscured by the fluttering papers. A thin figure stood there, silhouetted by the moonlight, warily looking around

Kevin let his breath out in a quiet huff, wondering what to do. As he did so, she immediately fixed her gaze on him. For an eternal moment, they locked eyes, and for just a second, he felt that they understood each other. More rational processes immediately began to take over, and he charged for the window behind him. Property damage be damned, he would not be trapped there.

"Wait! Please!"

And as if a cord had suddenly pulled taut around his waist, he stopped his pell mell charge. He could only make out the sound of his own ragged breathing.

--------------------

Minako repeated, more softly this time. "Wait. If only to catch your breath."

Of all her options, she had chosen the most improbable, for reasons she could not explain. In that hurried glance, she had sensed something within her prey, something vulnerable...frightened...and undeniably human.

The man straightened slowly as if in intense pain. "Thank you."

Venus smiled generously and laughed quietly. "Not at all. You were limping a bit. I thought it might help."

The man turned his head slightly, and she could again catch a glimpse of his features in the darkness. "I did take a pretty nasty spill coming into the building. I'm surprised you're able to see so well in the dark."

She shrugged in her typical, carefree manner. "You pick up some things after a couple years." An awkward silence filled the air between them before Venus cracked a silly smile. "I didn't think I was so hideous that you'd run away from me."

The man tilted his head back and laughed. It was a genuine sound, free of the pain she had felt in so many strains in his voice before. Wise was the one who had first understood that laughter was the best medicine. Her opposite's laughter defied the impasse that had been forced on them and foundered any attempts at tension and unease.

She joined him in a few wry chuckles. "So, if it's not too much of a burden, may I see your face, finally?"

The man laughed. "I assure you, I am quite unremarkable."

"Still, I'd like to get a better look at the man I'm chasing. I imagine you'd like to get a better look at me as well."

In a neutral tone. "The thought had crossed my mind. But anonymity tends to favor the pursued more than the pursuer."

"Then consider it a favor to me."

He chuckled darkly. "You say it as though you already know me."

Quietly. "You already know me. It would be rude not to return the familiarity."

"True enough, Princess Venus. True enough." He sighed in resignation and turned around slowly. "As a favor to you, then."

There was an air of nobility to his bearing, an almost puritanical rigidity to his stance that spoke of virtue and morality. His face was a handsome one, though not in the delicate, bishonen way she was usually attracted to. Far from the aristocratic look his uniform implied, his features hinted at a more common background. She would hesitate to call him rugged, but they were strong features, the look of a man hardened by stress. But even put on the defensive, he cut an impressively assertive figure, looking as if he was ready for a fight.

Idly, Venus wondered if he was available, then almost laughed at the absurdity of that thought.

"You look amused." The man observed with the faintest hint of a smile. "Do I amuse you?"

Apparently, rather perceptive too. "Not you, the situation. Well, actually you and the situation we've both found ourselves in."

"Ah." The man chuckled. "We are at something of an impasse, aren't we." It was pointedly not a question.

"Hmm." Venus let the sentence trail off into silence and studied her opponent for a long moment before replying. "It seems you have two options."

"And those are?"

"You can continue to run. It would be leaving our fate in the hands of chance. I might catch you; I might not. If I did catch you, I imagine we'd have this conversation again, although probably from a slightly more dominating position from my standpoint."

"Assuming you catch me of course."

"Your teleportation ability might make things difficult, but I have ways to get around that."

In a dry tone. "I'm sure you do. You'll forgive me if I make that as difficult as possible for you. What is the second option?"

"The second option might be even less attractive from your standpoint." Venus cleared her throat. "I just want to talk. To understand where you've come from, and why you are here."

The man shook his head. "I am not sure of the answers to those questions myself. I do not know if I will be much help with what you want to know."

She smiled warmly. "I am unsure of what I want to know as well. I guess we'll just have to see where this relationship goes. Assuming you agree."

The man appeared to ponder it for a moment, then spared a glance at the window behind him. She unlatched her chain from around her waist, ready to lasso him if he made a break for it. A terse quiet fell over the two as he gazed back at her, understanding what she would do if he tried to run.

A weary grin. "I don't suppose you'd be trying to influence my decision."

"A backup plan in case we had a difference in opinion over your course of action."

"Fair enough, fair enough." In a surprisingly formal voice. "I should like to talk to you some time, Princess Venus."

She loosened the grip on her chain. "I should like to talk to you as well."

The man opened his arms wide, in a gesture of submission, and, as if on cue, the burglary alarms above them began to blare mercilessly. His face twisted into a dour expression. "I guess we won't be able to continue this conversation."

"Yeah. I'd prefer privacy, myself."

He half bowed. "In that case, I bid you a good evening, Sailor Venus. I shall see you at some time or another."

"Indeed." Then, suddenly. "Wait!"

The man looked at her with faint curiosity, and she blurted out. "I don't know your name, yet you seem to know mine. So, if you could--"

"Return the favor?" A genuine smile cross his face. "Another thing which eludes me at this point. I don't know my own name."

Her expression conveyed that she didn't quite believe him. "Then what should I call you?"

He hesitated a moment, then said softly, almost beneath the din of the alarms. "You may call me Retainer."

And just like that, he was gone.