Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. I actually don't own much of anything, so, as you know.

"Excuse me."

Kaji Hotori looked up from his paperwork and peered around him. He frowned when he found no one standing across from him a CAPPA's 'Desk Officer' station.

"Hey you idiot! Down here!"

Growling, Hotori leaned forward, planning to give the guy a piece of his mind. The words caught in his throat at what he found.

The creature on the other side looked back at the stunned officer with a frown on his primate face. Impatiently he dusted off the turtle shell covering his torso. He shifted the huge cucumber he was carrying from one shoulder to another before finally he gave up waiting.

"I want to see this Ichiro Hibuki fellow!" The Kappa demanded.

Moon Cats: Fearful Symmetry

Chapter Six

Ichiro Hibuki, Police Lieutenant and director of CAPPA (Central Administrative Police Preternatural Agency) was sitting at his desk staring at his shoe. It's not that it was all that interesting as footwear goes, or that he was feeling down as some folks who look at their shoes are. It was simply because his shoe was untied.

Now, ordinarily, a loose shoelace on his polished, black leather shoes wasn't really worth as much attention as he gave it that morning, but then he didn't have broken ribs every day either. This morning his wife had tied them for him, but neither had taken into account that it might become untied.

"One day, you save little girls from murder and the next you can't tie your own shoes. There is a haiku in there somewhere." He muttered. One of the little girls had broken the ribs while possessed, but heroism didn't get a man's shoes tied. "Maybe Luna will do it."

He was reaching for the intercom when Luna's voice, a cultured contralto, came from the speakers. "Lieutenant. There is someone out here wishing to speak to you, and they insist that it is urgent." Her voice was calm, but that didn't tell Hibuki much since the captain from Precinct Seven had shown up to complain about Hibuki's use of personnel during the "Circle Murders" case. Luna had required him to sit politely before even buzzing Hibuki.

This after half an hour of constant demands and even threats. People feared his secretary, often times more then the feared him!

"Send them in, Luna." He spoke into the intercom, sitting up and swinging his shoelace out of view. He blinked in surprise when Luna opened the door, to let a very short creature with a turtle shell and a huge cucumber enter. "Luna. He's a Kappa."

"Yes sir?" Luna's response was sober, and she seemed confused at the fact that Hibuki felt a need to point that out.

The Kappa, for his part, frowned. "Don't worry, Ms. Luna. I'm used to humans reacting that way." The Kappa entered the office and glanced back. "Thank you just the same, and it was good to see a Moon Cat again after all this time."

Luna smiled, and closed the door leaving Lt. Hibuki and the Kappa alone.

"How... Um... How can I help you..? Sir?"

"My name's not really pronounceable by you human types, but you can call me Trout-King. T-K for short."

"Very well, T-K." Hibuki didn't think he could use the full name, without feeling like an idiot. "Now what can I do for you?"

"Find out who's dumping garbage in my spring! My herds are dieing because of them!"

"What spring is yours, if I might ask?"

"Oh, what do you call it..? Tokyo Municipal Park. It's a nice spring that flows into the ocean, and it used to be clean!" The agitated little creature was literally hopping up and down in anger.

Hibuki couldn't say he was happy either, since that stream went through the park and was a health hazard if it became contaminated. Of course, it could be someone just dumped some soap into the water without realizing the effects and it would be gone in a few days. "I'll get someone to take your statement, and help you out." Hibuki stood, grimacing, and limped to the door, the Kappa eyeing him. "Artemis, could you come here for a moment?"

The white haired Neko-jin walked over from the coffee maker. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?" He asked, stepping into the office and looking over its unusual occupant.

"This is T-K, Trout-King, and someone seems to be polluting his home spring. I'd like you to check it out and see what exactly we're dealing with here."

"No problem. Would you like to show me the problem?"

"Of course I would, cat." He said, then reached out to shake Hibuki's hand. "Thanks for taking me seriously young man. Now tie your shoe before you trip."

Hibuki watched them leave, and shrugged. "Gonna have to get used to this." He muttered as he bent to tie his shoe. He froze when he realized he was bending over with only slight discomfort. "Well I'll be." Shrugging again at the Kappa's parting gift, Hibuki walked out to Luna's desk. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Of course Lieutenant."

"Contact the Parks department and the Sixteenth, and check on drowning deaths in Tokyo Municipal Park." Quietly Hibuki hoped there weren't any. It'd be a shame to bust the guy who healed his ribs.

__________________________________________________________________________________

"Nice place." Artemis muttered. He had walked to the park while the Kappa had flown back on his cucumber to avoid the crowded streets. Upon entering the park the Kappa had dragged him to one of the inevitably less maintained parts of the park.

The high grass and overgrown bushes were intended to let wild animals and birds have a place to breed relatively safely. It also concealed one portion of T-K's spring.

"Yeah, it is. Not that silly 'Manicured' lawn that fills so much of this place."

"And this is where the dumping happened?"

"Yes. Three times, in the past nine days! Now come on!" The Kappa again hopped on his giant pickle and 'surfed' it over the bushes. Artemis followed by jumping into a tree and bouncing three limbs to tree limb, his long and ever present coat flapping around him like a cape allowing only occasional glimpses of his tail.

They soon reached a fairly clear section of shore, and the white haired cat turned man frowned. Shimmering on top of the water was some sort of residue that shouldn't be there. Artemis concentrated, mentally doing the flips his human body couldn't and smiled when his tiny super computer appeared in his hand. "Beat ya, Luna." He muttered as he booted it up. Luna was going to die when she found out he could access subspace at will.

The computer based on similar if less advanced technology then the Mercury computer put everything but the Mercury computer and perhaps some experimental super computers to shame. Its abilities included the ability to scan and analyze its environment. "Okay, I don't know what these chemicals are, but they shouldn't be here." Artemis muttered to the water spirit beside him.

Tapping a few more keys he requested a modern list of uses. [1: Development of Photographs, along with other chemicals. 2: manufacture of Methanphetemines, 3...]. Artemis ignored the individual uses, focusing instead on the second option. While the spring was definitely polluted illegally, the amounts were way to small for an industrial crime, and Artemis figured private photography enthusiasts wouldn't need to dump it in a spring. "Hibuki's just going to love this."

______________________________________________________________________________

Luna sighed as she stepped off the elevator. "We really are going to have to find another place to keep our clothing." She muttered, frowning at her aching feet. The reason she was complaining was because Artemis and Luna both kept their small collections of clothing at Mamoru's apartment across town from CAPPA headquarters. While not a big deal for Mamoru or Artemis who both drove, and she still wanted to know where Artemis learned to drive and she didn't get an official car like her sometimes boyfriend, and she didn't work late enough to ride with them most days. She usually had to ride the train and walk the rest of the way.

Unlocking the door she walked in to find Usagi Tsukino curled up on the couch, crying. "Usagi? What's wrong?" The shocked cat exclaimed.

"Luna!" Usagi looked panicked for a moment, before slumping and returning to crying. "Damn it." She whispered softly.

Luna's sharp ears caught the whisper, shocking her further. The humanoid cat ran to her princess's side and pulled her into a deep hug. "Shh... What's wrong?"

"I didn't wan... Want you to think...sniff... I was scared?"

"What? What would you be scared of?" Luna frowned. She'd been worried about Usagi the past few nights, when her ward kept having nightmares for the past week. The girl woke up and was her usual chipper, late self every morning. Luna had assumed the girl was all right. "That poor girl... She looked so horrible!" Usagi wailed, clutching Luna tightly.

"Poor girl? What..." Luna's eyes widened slightly. She had somehow completely forgotten that it was Sailor Moon who had first found the first Circle Killing site. She'd been upset that night, but seemed to absorb it with her optimism intact.

Apparently the effects went deeper then Luna thought. "It's okay. Hibuki and Artemis got the monsters responsible for that and they won't be hurting any more people." Luna didn't mention that Hibuki suspected there were four girls still unaccounted for. The second, possessed girl at the broken ritual had been grabbed only a few hours before the sacrifice.

"I know... Artemis was so proud." Even through her tears, she giggled. "He sure bragged a lot."

"Especially since Hibuki says he got slapped across the room." Both females laughed. "Now cheer up! Of course you can probably get a nice dinner out of Mamoru with those puffy eyes."

"Your bad, Luna!"

"No." Luna sat up straight. "But it works on Artemis." They giggled a bit longer then Luna caught Usagi's eyes. "Now, do you feel better?"

"A little." Usagi admitted. Then she got the expression Luna most worried about on her face. Determination. "I want to help!"

"Help with what?"

"With CAPPA."

"Usagi..."

"No Luna. What good is being Sailor Moon OR Princess Serenity if I can't help everyone!"

"You're too young to be a cop, Usagi."

"Then I'll help you, or Reika, or Mamo-chan. Well maybe not him because what he does is creepy, but I want to help!" Her eyes narrowed. "Either Usagi Tsukino gets to help, or Sailor Moon is going to pitch a tent on CAPPA's roof!"

"Luna groaned, sensing one of THOSE situations. Why Usagi chose to take after Queen Serenity at times like this she'd never know. "Look, I'll talk to Lt. Hibuki but don't you dare do anything until I do, got me?"

"Thanks Luna!"

The Moon Cat sighed, wondering absently why she didn't take that diplomatic posting to Jurai.

AN: Okay, first off this story is set up well for Cameo mini-crossovers as someone suggested in a Review. Since I like Crossovers I'm not really going to resist, I'm just not going to do it yet.

I also have had a request for more Senshi involvement. Just so you all know, that was already planned and is now underway. However keep in mind the Moon Cats series started with the idea of using Luna and Artemis in a way I hadn't seen done before, and the same will be true of the Senshi... Both inner and outer. Haruka, AKA Sailor Uranus, will make an appearance in the next chapter as something other then a Sailor Senshi or a race car driver, and she's likely to be a recurring role.

Also, since someone brought up the issue of Hotaru fighting with the Senshi, I'm going a little Alternate history on this. One, because I can never keep the Senshi's attacks straight, and two because then I have a hell of a lot more freedom. Thus the reason there will never be a purification of the world (Though there was still a Nemesis, and they still went to a time with it... Time Travel is a bad thing).

Hope that cleared some things up, and wetted a few appetites. Until then, expect to see me, when you see me.