Chapter 24

Japan has the somewhat specific honor of having the lowest crime rate among all industrialized nations. It is a factoid that the Japanese government touts with pride, often to the distress of other, more Western nations. In foreign parliaments, it is often cited by more jingoistic politicians as a reason to be wary of Japan, for any nation that can inspire such obedience in its citizens is a nation not to be trusted.

What most do not realize is that Japan's statistic refers to reported crimes, meaning many less savory forms of malfeasance such as rape and organized crime go relatively unnoticed. With overall crime rates so low, police often find it easier to blame the presence of foreigners for such crimes and leave it at that.

It was the victims of these crimes that Kevin had the greatest sympathy for, and the perpetrators on whom he lavished his harshest treatment.

This time the culprit was a Japanese male, wearing the uniform of the Japanese Naval Infantry. After a night of heavy drinking, this one had lumbered from the bar towards a less well-regarded area of Tokyo. The victim was a young woman in a school girl outfit, no more than twenty years old. That she had been hanging out on a street corner said a bit about her profession.

The alley had been deserted. The time about right.

The clock chimed out three sonorous times, drowning out the panicked screams of the girl. As if it would have mattered anyway. There was no one around to hear.

Kevin sighed. Even prostitutes needed to be protected.

With a movement that bordered on casual, he dropped down three stories from his perch, right behind his target.

Then, without a word, he grabbed the soldier by his slightly longer than regulation length hair and slammed the man's face into a nearby concrete wall. The marine, a veteran of peacekeeping operations across the world and the master of a dozen hand to hand combat techniques, crumpled to the ground without a word. Kevin looked down on the man with an apathetic expression and kicked the soldier in the side as hard as he could.

The man groaned and rolled over in pain. The American half smiled, then turned to the girl cowering in the corner.

"Go home, ma'am."

She scampered off into the night, and Kevin breathed easy again. Another good deed done for the day.

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Black clouds accumulated overhead, rising into the sky like great skyscrapers. A cool wind swept down from the heavens, sending a chill through Venus. Transformed though she was, the skirt were still terribly skimpy. She wrapped her magic about her like a protective cloak, ablating the cold and preserving her body heat as best she could.

She vaulted another two stories, landing deftly on the gravelly roof. Idly, Venus wondered how she managed to be so graceful while transformed, to the point of being able to maneuver on gravel surfaces on stiletto heels.

The absurdity of that thought brought a smile to her face.

"May I ask what is so funny?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin, then turned to see her rendezvous staring at her curiously. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I approached with all the grace of a gut-shot rhino. You were so wrapped up in yourself that you did not notice me." The man's face twisted into a strange expression, as if he had not expected to say those words.

Venus filed that information away for later use and quickly changed the topic. "When did you get here?"

"Just before you did. I had some unfinished business to take care of."

"That would explain the sirens. What happened?"

The man waved his hand. "A small matter of an attempted rape. The man resisted, and I responded with reciprocal force."

"Good." Venus smiled. She was gratified. His moral compass was true enough and that made her happy. She had fretted like a girl on a date over what sort of person he would be, whether he was nice to animals or visited his mother.

She laughed softly, then stopped upon seeing his puzzled expression. It would prove to be a long night.

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The vaunted Princess Venus started out by asking a few tangential questions about where he had come from, how he had come about, and other useless things.

The Retainer had prepared for this eventuality and had meticulously come up with responses that were at the same time truthful and misleading. The best lies were those which are based on truth. One was more likely to forget that which had not happened.

And, so he spoke a careful line between truth and falsehood, lying only by omission. The Retainer sensed that she knew that he wasn't telling the entire truth, but, thankfully, did not care.

In fact, she hadn't been focused on the question session at all. Venus had been going through the questions rote, seeming as though she wasn't even listening to the answers. It was curious to him that she should act in such a way. After all, she had spent the past couple of weeks trying to track him down, and it seemed a little bit...fickle not to want to pick his brain after the efforts undertaken to corner him. Once upon a time, he might have found it frustrating. Now, it was just amusing.

Sailor Venus paced across the rooftop, placing each foot down carefully. He imagined that she didn't want to take any more unnecessary slips after what happened the last time. "Where are your usual patrol routes?"

He let out a carefully camouflaged sigh. "Juuban District. Downtown. Wherever I feel the urge to visit."

"And do you just watch out for criminals on those patrols?"

In a deadpan voice. "A little bit of that. Some black magic when I have the time. And I always try to get in a quick broomstick ride before midnight."

It took a couple of seconds for her to realize that he was joking. She shot him a dirty look. "Come on. Be serious."

Kevin walked carefully along the lip of the building, almost losing his balance when a sudden gust of wind blasted into him. "I have no trouble being serious when the situation calls for it. But, Princess, I would be remiss in my duties if I did not ask you if something was wrong."

Venus looked at him suspiciously. "So, we're friends now?"

He shrugged. "We could be enemies, and it would not make a whit of difference. Besides, when was the last time you had a stranger to tell your troubles to?"

She barked out an abrupt laugh that trailed off into hideous silence.

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Venus stared at him balefully, as though he were a target in her crosshairs. Her hands balled up into fists, and she imagined what he would look like with a black eye. Something about his last statement struck a nerve. It was a gentle statement of the truth, something that she had been doing her best to avoid thinking about. What made it worse was the fact that he treated it as if it were nothing, as if it could be solved with a conversation. And he wasn't even being a jerk about it.

He was so unassuming, she wanted to punch him.

His eyes flicked down to her balled fists and then back to her eyes, displaying a wan curiosity as to what she wanted to do. They conveyed very clearly that it was her move.

Venus drew in a deep breath, then let it out softly. She loosened her fists and grimaced. "Nothing is the matter."

"Really." The man walked towards her carefully, as if she was the one being interrogated not he. His eyes never left hers and, for a moment, she felt as though they were peeking into her soul.

'He's an empath!' She growled angrily, "Get out of my mind!"

"Sorry, sorry." He leaned back heavily. "I apologize for that. I got caught up in the moment."

Venus fingered the chain at her waist, glaring at him distrustfully. "You had no right to invade my thoughts--"

"I didn't." The man seemed to shrink into himself as if drained by the effort. "I can't read your mind...I can only sense feelings and emotions. And only if they are strong ones."

Sarcasm laced her words. "And, pray tell, what did you see with me?"

He gestured pointlessly. "Distrust, confusion, loneliness. Fear." His voice turned questioning. "A strange emotion to find in you."

Venus lowered her voice. "And what is all that supposed to mean?"

"I do not know. If I did, I would try to alleviate your pain."

She spat out harshly, "I don't need your help."

Venus was gratified to see him wince. "I apologize wholeheartedly, milady. I meant no harm. If you don't mind, I'll take my leave of you." He bowed slowly, then turned to walk away.

She had never expected contrition. She wanted hatred; she wanted venom in his voice. She wanted to hate him for the issues that he dared talk about. She wanted to hurt him and badly if only to even out the pain that they felt.

Mercury was the smartest. Jupiter was the strongest. Mars was the most confident. But Serenity had chosen Venus as leader of her senshi because of her unerring ability to snuff out emotion and approach a situation as coolly and calmly as possible.

Venus drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, taking her anger with it. First problem solved. Her eyes darted to the uniformed man, questioning his motives and his sincerity. And even if she believed those to be sound, could she tell a complete stranger about the mess which had consumed her life?

"Wait." She let a smiled worm its way onto her face. "I overreacted. I'm sorry. It's just been...a very stressful week."

"I know how it feels." The man grinned sympathetically. "There are days when I wonder whether or not it's worth getting up in the morning."

She allowed herself another grin. "So, why do you?"

Dryly, "The triumph of hope over experience."

Venus giggled, and the man looked at her seriously. "You know, you should do that more often."

"What?"

"Laugh."

Her expression turned sour. "We were having a moment, and you use a pickup line?"

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't screw up somewhere." He grinned and she sighed with mock exasperation. He continued. "Back when I...felt your emotions. I sensed fear."

"So?"

"I just thought it strange that you were afraid of something."

"Why is that?"

There was a trace of another smile. "Sailor Venus? I can't imagine much that she'd be scared of."

She laughed. "Everyone fears something."

The man stopped, letting his penetrating gaze close in on her. "And what, Princess, do you fear?"

Sailor Venus stopped to think about that one. No one had ever posed that particular question to her before, and she had to reach for an answer. The one she found was uncomfortably personal. She shifted uncomfortably before blurting out. "Can we continue this another time?"

He looked stunned for a moment, then nodded his agreement. "Until next time, milady."

"Yeah, next time." And she fled.