Ch 24

V 1.5

Sanshiro Pond
Hongo Campus
University of Tokyo
Twenty two months ago

Keitaro Urashima was leaning against the railing of the footbridge, looking out over the beautiful and serene waters of the pond in front of him. This was not the first time that he had walked through the feudal Akamon (Red Gate) and come to explore the famous gardens at the University of Tokyo, having been first brought here at age four. This was however the first time that the stunning views of the ceremonial garden and pond had not cheered up and motivated him to do all that he could to one day enter Todai as a student. In fact, Keitaro was starting to feel the black waves of depression lapping at his feet yet again.

The first two weeks after the fight at the train station were the worst. He had spent almost a week laying on his futon in his room, obsessively going through the fight in his head, trying to come up with a different way to have ended it without the massive injuries and the death that had resulted. The echoes of the police investigators yelling at him during their interrogation kept going through his head as well, when they had variously accused of him of being a rival gang member intent on grievously harming the teens he had attacked, or having been a poorly trained martial artist gone amok and simply tearing through uninvolved bystanders. The investigators had been shouting at him to confess to his wrongdoings, ignoring his denials, and worst yet, not telling him where and how Kanako was.

For the first fourteen hours they tried to trip him up, trying to confuse him in countless retellings of what had happened so that he would 'tell the truth' and confess. The eight hours following that they had put him in a brightly lit soundproofed cell with a loud recording of a high-pitched baby crying on an endless loop, not letting him get any semblance of rest. But the last two hours had been the most brutal, as he had told the now angry investigators the same story one more time, and then falling silent to their shouted questions. The lead investigator had then slapped him hard in the face, and when Keitaro failed to respond, or even cry out, they began to hit him repeatedly. He was handcuffed behind his back to a steel framed chair, so they took turns slapping him with open hands, punching him in the stomach and sides, and in the end punching him in the face with closed fists. Except for short involuntary cries as the blows landed, Keitaro kept silent, focusing his eyes on the dirty linoleum floor in front of him, trying to keep his mind blank, trying to separate himself from the pain.

Given that he was concentrating on ignoring the blows, Keitaro did not hear the door of the interrogation room open. But he did see the investigator standing in front with his arm cocked for another punch abruptly get yanked backwards and thrown across the room, smacking face first into the wall. There was the sound of shouting, and then Granny Hina was kneeling in front of him, wiping the blood and snot from his face with a handkerchief, softly telling him everything was going to be fine now.

Once his hands were released from the cuffs, Keitaro slowly stood up and turned around. The thrown investigator was lying on the floor knocked out, and the other cop was standing at rigid attention, sweating heavily and looking as scared as anyone that Keitaro had ever seen, while a uniformed senior police commander was standing in front of the investigator and glaring at him.

Granny Hina gave a fierce look at the two investigators, then at the police commander, who was now looking nervous himself, and simply said, "Deal with them, Superintendent," and walked out of the room supporting Keitaro, the commander's response of "Hai, Urashima-sama," trailing behind them.

The other police officers in the station did nothing to stop the Urashima from leaving; in fact, they looked away in shame as the matriarch lead her bloodied grandson from the building. After throwing a look at the officer on duty at the front desk, he ran out the front door without a word and snagged a taxi for them, which Hina directed to a private doctor's clinic. Being attended as soon as they came through the door, after a brief yet through examination by the doctor and his nurse, Keitaro was more thoroughly cleaned up and bandaged, his injuries consisting of facial cuts, bruising and scrapes as well as a bloody nose, with more extensive bruising on his chest and stomach. Luckily there was no sign of cracked or broken bones or other internal injuries. After that Granny Hina took him home, Kanako rushing from the door to greet him and Hina barely keeping his younger sister from aggravating his sore ribs.

Having crashed into his futon as soon as he was able to get away from his younger sister, Keitaro fell into a restless sleep and woke up the next morning at the break of the grey dawn. Slowly pulling himself up through all the aches and pains he had in his body, he got dressed, picked up the examination pass on the dresser, and walked out of the still sleeping house, walking to the trolley station to take the train to Todai.

Keitaro had some trouble entering the exam room, as with all the bruises on his face he almost did not look like the photo ID that he had that was required to enter. Finally he was allowed in, and ignoring all the sidelong glances the other exam takers were giving him, he sat down and waited for the exam booklets to be handed out.

After the eight hour exam was finished, the young Urashima made his way home, so physically and mentally exhausted that if Kanako had not run out again to catch him as he was starting to fall in front of his family's house, he would have collapsed. He spent the next three days in his futon after that, Kana-chan now staying with him, leaving him only to get food for the two of them and go to the restroom. She even slept in the futon with him, swearing that she would always be there to take care of him.

The time between taking the Todai entry exam and when the results were posted were known as 'the period of oblivion' or as 'examination limbo', as the applicants worried themselves sick waiting for the results. Keitaro had the slight advantage of being emotionally blunted during the two weeks, but that did not help when, over his family's protests, he made his way to Todai's Hongo campus and found his test ID number, test score, and entry rank number. Five hundred applicants were accepted each semester, and fifty applicants below that were put on the reserve list, to fill in for any students that for whatever reason were not able to enter the university. After locating the proper listing board, Keitaro finally found his test score – 78%, with the cut-off being 80%. His entry rank number was 560, ten ranks below the reserve cut-off.

Upon seeing those scores, what little emotion Keitaro had drained away, leaving nothing but a hollow feeling in his chest. However, Kanako, who had insisted on coming along with him that day, was crying on his shoulder, looking for all the world as though she was the failed exam taker and he was there to support her. After staring at the board for what seemed to be hours, but in truth were minutes, the two Urashima made their way home.

Afterwards, Keitaro spent most of his time at home, either in his room or sitting in the small garden in the back yard. His thoughts were now jumping from the fight at the station, the time at the police station, and taking the Todai exam. The bad part about remembering the exam was that looking back at it he could see the correct answers, but he would see himself marking the incorrect ones due to his mental distraction.

After three weeks of missing school Kanako was forced to return to class, but this made her even more possessive and clinging to Keitaro when she was there. It had even gotten to the point where she would strip nude and climb into his futon and try to undress him while he was asleep. He had awoken every time she had tried it, but he was starting to get nervous that one night he would not wake soon enough to stop her, or worse yet, decide to tie him up before getting to the clothes removal part.

Keitaro had taken to wandering around the Tokyo metropolis, riding on the trains, walking through the various neighborhoods. His emotions had finally started to stabilize, from the previous depths of depression and sorrow at having crippled and killed with his bare hands, to despair for having failed so badly at the Todai exam. There was no question about his retaking the exam – he still had his promise to keep – however it felt like the ancient Greek story of Sisyphus, whose punishment in Hell was to push a boulder to the top of a mountain, only for it to roll down the other side and having to do it again.

Keitaro was looking at but not focused on the swans swimming in the water when he became aware of the smell of cigarette smoke, something he never did like even if it was something one had to get used to in smoke-crazy Japan. Looking off to the side, he saw that he had been joined on the footbridge by another male, this one in his early thirties, of a tall and lean build wearing a rumpled suit, with dark hair and glasses, a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth. He was also looking off at the wading birds on the pond's surface.

Feeling Keitaro's eyes on him, the man turned and smiled slightly at him. "Sorry about that," he said, giving a slight bow. Flicking the lit ember from the cigarette into the water below, he pinched the end of the butt to make sure it was out before tucking the butt into his coat pocket. "I forget sometimes that not everyone is a smoker." He held out his hand to shake. "My name is Noriyasu Seta, professor here at Todai, glad to meet you."

Taking his hand, Keitaro gave a short squeeze, enough to feel the controlled strength and the callus across the bottom edge, characteristics of certain types of martial artists. "I'm Keitaro Urashima, I'm a ronin, I suppose."

"Ech, don't sound so down, Urashima-san. How many times have you taken the entry exam?" Seta leaned back on the rail while keeping his attention on the younger man.

"Once. I was involved in a bad… incident, I suppose you can say, and was too distracted to pass the Todai exam." Keitaro looked away toward the swans passing in front of him.

"Well, how many times do you think that *I* took the exam before I passed?" Keitaro glanced back at the smiling teacher, doing the calculations in his head. Given that he was a professor at the most prestigious university in Japan, he obviously had to be very intelligent, but the way he phrased the question implied that he had taken the exam more than once.

"Twice?" It was not uncommon for some Todai aspirants to take the test more than once, using the first time to get an idea on what the test was like and either increase their studies in the areas they did poorly in, or to test for another university or college entirely.

"Nope. I had to take the exam *three times* before I finally got accepted. How would you like to be known as a three time ronin, Urashima-san?" The smile on Seta's face broadened into a smirk.

Keitaro gave a slight shudder. It was bad enough to have failed the exam, but he was rather sure his family would not want to support him retaking an exam where he was essentially bashing his head against a wall. His parents were not all that happy that neither of their children were interested in taking over the family bakery and sweets business, to have one of those children essentially wasting their time in a hopeless pursuit would not go over well.

"Do you think that you would do well if you retook the exam again, Urashima-san?" The question shook Keitaro out of his thoughts.

"Yes, of course. I doubt that I could do much worse than I did." Absently, Keitaro rapped his knuckles on the wooden railing of the footbridge. No need to tempt the Fates, after all, and Keitaro was a little superstitious.

"So all you have to do is just study for the next exam in… eleven months." Keitaro mentally cringed at the thought. He could just imagine having to join a cram school and go through the rigors of studying for the exam again, all the while dealing with his parents tip-toeing around him and Kanako trying to bed him.

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret here Urashima-san… I used to date your aunt Haruka back when we were both in school. She gave me a call to see if I could help you study for the next exam, but I had to turn her down." Seta glanced over at Keitaro, who was now looking at him in curiosity. "The reason I had to do that is because I'm going to be out of the country for a year on an archeology expedition in the Gulf of Thailand. She also told me about some of the troubles that you are having with your family, and I kinda get the feeling you want to get away from things for a while."

"Perhaps," was all that Keitaro said, wondering how much his aunt had told her former boyfriend about what had happened almost two months ago.

"Part of the job of organizing for an expedition is hiring people to help out with all the grunt work that takes place on something like this. It doesn't pay very well, and most Todai students don't like to take jobs like this unless they are archeology graduate students. The students that are available this year have all been picked up by other projects, so I'm looking for people to hire. I called your house to talk to you, and they said you had come out to Todai today, so I came out here looking for you."

Keitaro's mind was rapidly turning. Seta's job offer sounded interesting, but the thought of leaving Japan for a year was more than a little daunting.

"In the case of someone like you, I would be able to do what your aunt had originally wanted and tutor you for the Todai exam. That plus the recommendation I would give you if you do well on the mock exams would almost guarantee that you would pass the test and be accepted." It was almost as though Seta could read his mind, and Keitaro's eyes flicked up to the professor, visibly considering the offer.

"You don't have you give me an answer right now, but I do have to know by the end of this week so that I can start the paperwork with the administration." Seta dug into his inside coat pocket and produced a battered business card case, pulling out a card and handing it to Keitaro, who glanced down at the card for a long moment before looking back at the professor.

"Did Haruka tell you what happened during my… incident?" Keitaro did not want to get his hopes up only to have someone have a problem with what had occurred in the fight. He was barely coming to grips with that fact that he had taken a life and permanently crippled others, and he also knew that most people would not react well to that.

"She told me that a bunch of biker bozos tried to kidnap your kid sister, and that you laid waste to them. And yes, I know what happened to the last one you fought." Seta looked Keitaro and visibly made a decision. "Here is the first lesson from your sensei, if you chose to take this job.

"There are some people in this world that believe that all human life is precious, that you should do your utmost to protect and preserve it. But what they forget is that not all human life is equal to each other, and it's not where they were born or the color of their skin or how much money they have that determines how important they are, but their actions. You can be of the noblest birth, of the richest family, but if all you do is waste money and go to clubs and act like an idiot, does that still mean that you are worth more than the little old nun doing her best to feed and take care of the sick in the slums? Is the single mother working two jobs to feed her children worth less that the young drug dealer and robber down the street?

"Sometimes you have to decide whose life is worth more. And I can tell you this, Urashima-san, the life of an innocent is always worth more than that of a criminal. Never forget that." The serious look on Seta's face shifted back to the slight smile he had before. "And here ends the lesson. Hope to hear from you soon, Urashima-san." Giving a head nod, Seta turned and walked off, pulling a cigarette from a pack and lighting it up with a Zippo as he walked off, leaving Keitaro to his thoughts.

"I didn't think that the job would consist of this, Seta-sensei," Keitaro remarked as he looked down at the paperwork covering the desk in front of him.

In the end, it had taken him three days to make his decision. He had spoken with his parents, and while they were not happy that he would be leaving the country, they were pleased that he was doing something constructive that would also help with his preparations for the next exam. Aunt Haruka had confirmed that Seta's offer was on the up and up, and also told him that while the Todai professor was a bit flaky at times, he was an intelligent and competent scholar who would help him a great deal in his studies. About the only person not happy with the impending job was Kanako, and the reason why was understandable, even if Keitaro was hoping against hope that she would get over her crush on him while he was away.

Calling Seta at the number listed on his card on Thursday afternoon, Keitaro was surprised to hear him pick up the phone himself, as he had been expecting to just leave a message at a voicemail box. Being told to come in the next morning to start on the paperwork, Keitaro appeared early Friday morning, wearing a shirt, tie, and slacks, and therefore looking overdressed compared to the students walking around the campus, let alone his new boss, who looked like he had slept in the crumpled shirt and slacks under his white lab coat.

Being told immediately to take off the tie and unbutton the collar before Seta became stifled just by looking at him, Keitaro was parked at a desk in the Archeology office and had a six inch stack of paperwork dropped in front of him. Most of the documents were what he expected, such as job application, school history, health history, and work history, but the lower he got in the stack, the more esoteric the paperwork became. The criminal background check was something of a surprise, but after previously talking with the prosecuting attorney at the end of the investigation of the fight at the train station, he knew that his record was clean, with the fight and the results of it being determined to be justified and that he was not criminally or civilly liable.

It was the last form that had surprised Keitaro the most. He had expected that his job would consist of paperwork, of heavy lifting, of digging through the dirt to find pottery shards and what not. He had not expected that he would carry guns on the job, however, and therefore have to fill out the paperwork to possess and carry firearms, which in Japan was only slightly easier to do than to get an immediate audience with the Emperor.

"Well, Part-timer, we had to combine some jobs in order to have enough funding for the expedition," Seta replied from his pile of paperwork at the desk across from him, using his new nickname for Keitaro, since he was working for him effective immediately and he was not a faculty member. "Given the location of the site, we have to have security personnel on hand, but we can't afford to pay for both them and the assistants we need for the job. So I was able to convince the dean of the department that we can combine the two types of jobs. There are going to be three contract labor jobs on the trip, plus whatever locals we can hire with what's left of the funding. You are going to be the one Japanese we are hiring for the job, the others are foreigners I've worked with before."

"Contract labor?" asked Keitaro. He had seen the term on the paperwork, but no one had explained what it meant.

"Because we're a university expedition, it would look bad if we officially hired armed security, especially since most of the time the men we hire are what are legally known as private security contractors. In reality, they are what used to be known as mercenaries. So they are hired under the title 'contract labor' so that the more squeamish members of the school administration don't get all bent out of shape. It's kinda like when some of the aid agencies in Africa hire security from the local militias, and they ride in those Toyota pickup trucks with the heavy machine guns in the back. The aid agencies don't want it to be publicly known that they are paying gunmen to protect them, so they paid them with 'technical assistance grants' The money was used to pay for the trucks, so they became known as 'technicals', and it stuck. Same deal here." Seta grinned at Keitaro from across the desks. "Welcome to the wonderful world of contract labor."

"Yay." Keitaro's voice was lacking in enthusiasm as he proceeded to fill out the last form, the application to authorize him to possess firearms. "Only problem is I've never been trained on guns, just hand to hand and with some traditional weapons."

"Not a problem. I know some people that are pretty spun up on light military weapons. We have a couple months to go before we leave for Thailand, so you can get the training done and receive your permits by the time we have to leave. Any other training you need the other contractors can give you out on the job."

"And how, oh wise sensei, will I be able to get access to weapons in Japan?" Keitaro skipped over the section of the form with the sticky note that said that the serial numbers of the weapons would be filled in later before finally signing and dating the back of the form.

"Fear not, young student, ask and you shall receive." Seta picked up the completed stack of paperwork and tapped it on the desk, straitening the edges. "Let me run this paperwork through the administration and then I'll go to my friend in the National Police. He'll get you a provisional permit and then you can start your training next week."

"So soon?" Keitaro was impressed at the speed that his new boss would have his paperwork processed. He had not imagined he would get a provisional permit so quickly.

"It pays to have low friends in high places." Seta smiled at Keitaro. "Go ahead and take off; be back here on Monday at eight am, and for your sakes and mine, don't dress up again, it makes me feel like a total slacker. Jeans and a work or t-shirt are fine." Seta stood up, and Keitaro did as well. "See you later, Part-timer."

"Have a good day, Seta-sensei." Keitaro replied, following his boss out of the office and down the hall.

"Coffee, two creams only." Keitaro glanced up at the waitress at the outdoor café as he finished giving his order. "And a ham and cheese croissant, please." The waitress gave a short nod before picking up the menu and leaving for the kitchen.

It had been a hectic week so for the new part-timer. Upon showing up at the faculty office on Monday, Seta had put him to work immediately, after a quick instruction period on dealing with archeological artifacts (the short and dirty version was to never touch them with bare hands, treat them like they are made of spun glass, and always identify and tag them). After that, Keitaro helped Seta make an inventory of various artifacts in a stack of boxes from a previous expedition before transporting them to a storage facility that bore more than a little resemblance to the warehouse at the end of the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie. Keitaro would not have been surprised to hear humming come from one of the old dusty crates stacked five high around him.

By Thursday afternoon, Keitaro was familiar enough with the cataloging process to be working by himself in both the faculty office and workroom, and in the storage facility. A majority of the time the work consisted of checking artifact tags against a master list and then rolling them down to the warehouse and storing them there, logging the type, serial number and location of the artifacts in a registry database on an ancient computer that was still somewhat functional. But when Keitaro came back to the office at the end of the day, he was surprised to see Seta waiting for him, his feet up on a desk while reading a magazine, his ever-present lit cigarette dangling from his mouth.

previous day

"Hey there Part-timer, how's it going?" The older male lowered his magazine to look at his subordinate, taking a drag from his cigarette without using his hands and exhaling the smoke through his nose.

"I finished the Pararakelse Island inventory and logged them into the main department database. I swear, the computer they have in the warehouse must be older than I am." Keitaro dropped into the desk chair opposite Seta, knowing that his boss literally did not stand on ceremony. "Do you want me to start on another inventory, Seta-sensei?"

"I'll have you know that that computer was new when I was attending Todai, and I'm not that much older than you." Seta smiled crookedly around his cigarette. "No, I have something else for you to do tomorrow." The professor reached into his coat, pulled out a small leather folder and tossed it toward his subordinate, who snatched it out of the air before opening it. His unsmiling face greeted him on one of the two identification cards contained within, the first card being a security officer ID card and the other card a National Police Agency provisional permit to possess and carry firearms.

Keitaro looked back at his boss. "That was pretty fast, sensei, especially considering I don't have any actual training."

Seta smirked at him. "That is what is coming up next, Part-timer. Starting tomorrow, you are going to start your basic instruction on firearms. You will do the book stuff tomorrow and start the hands-on training on Monday. So please do me a favor and don't act like some gun-crazy otaku and blow body parts off yourself or the instructors, will you? I'm calling in some major markers to get you this instruction."

"What kind of markers?" Keitaro pulled the gun permit card, looked at the back and blinked – where the serial number, models and types of weapons were to be listed, all that was printed were the words 'unrestricted pistol and rifle, non-explosives'.

"Well, obviously I had a rush put on your application to get your permits this fast. Then I had to get certified instructors to give you the training. I had to go to their bosses and have them give them paid time off their regular job and access to the training facilities. So you will get a week of concentrated training next week and some weekend training after that. You will meet Tsujimoto-kun tomorrow in Sumida Ward, get spun up in the theoretical stuff on Friday, and on Monday go to the SAT facility for the actual marksman and tactical training."

"SAT… These are police trainers?" The Special Attack Team was the Japanese version of the Special Weapon and Tactics (SWAT) teams made famous by police in America.

"Yep. Don't worry, Tsujimoto-kun and Kobayawaka-san are a lot more cuddly than the last cops you had to deal with." As a result of the criminal background check Keitaro had to complete, Seta knew about the hostile interrogation he was subjected to before he was released and cleared of wrongdoing in the train station fight.

"I'll take your word for it. Where am I supposed to meet these guys again?" Keitaro put the gun permit back in the leather folder and tucked it in his shirt pocket, buttoning it shut for good measure.

"Some cafe in Sumida Ward. I have the address written down here somewhere," Seta rooted around on his disorganized desk for a moment, creating more chaos before he ripped a piece of paper off a notepad and passed it to Keitaro. "Be there at 8:00 AM, they already know your name and what you look like. Go ahead and take off, you're done for today."

"How will I know who they are?" Keitaro stood up and put the slip of paper in the same pocket as the ID folder.

Seta's smile, if possible, became even more crooked. "Trust me, they are going to be the only people looking for you there. If you have to, ask to see their police ID. Remember, their names are Tsujimoto and Kobayawaka. Call in to my office at the end of every day and keep track of your hours so you get paid for them."

"Okay. Tsujimoto and Kobayawaka." Keitaro repeated the names to set them in his mind. "I'll call you tomorrow then, Seta-sensei."

next day

Keitaro was looking at his watch as he finished eating his croissant. It was now ten minutes past eight, and no one had shown up at the café who looked like a police officer. In fact, the only people he had seen around the cafe were salarymen and college student aged people. Checking the address on the paper he had received from Seta, he confirmed that he was in the right place before he sighed and picked up his coffee cup to drain it. He would wait another ten minutes before leaving to call Seta; it was not like he was in a rush or anything.

"Hi there! Are you Urashima-san?" A female asked in a loud voice, startling him and almost causing him to drop his cup. Turning, Keitaro saw that two young women were standing behind him. One had collar length brownish hair and was wearing cargo shorts, a t-shirt, an overshirt, and hiking boots while the other one had longer coal black hair that was braided and pinned up, and was wearing slacks, a blouse and vest, and comfortable walking shoes. Both of them looked to be older than Keitaro, but not by much, not that he could tell by looks alone. There were quite a few Japanese woman out there in their late twenties that looked to be just out of their teens.

"Yes, I'm Keitaro Urashima. Can I help you?" He carefully put down the coffee cup.

"Sorry we're late, we couldn't find parking near here, and Ms Worrywart here didn't want to park in a red zone." The brown-haired girl rolled her eyes.

"We're not supposed to use the official placard unless we're working." The darker haired girl replied calmly. "May we sit down?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, go ahead." Keitaro came to his feet as the two women pulled out the chairs in front and beside him and sat down, with him following suit a moment later. "I was expecting to meet someone here, but are you sure you found the right person?" Urashima was not that common a name, but it was not rare either.

"You are if you are the Keitaro Urashima that is working for Noriyasu Seta at Todai." The brown haired girl replied. "We're the one that are going to be training you for your contract labor job."

"Um… no offense, but can you tell me your names? And show me your work ID?" Keitaro found it hard to believe that two girls that looked like they were in college were certified firearms instructors.

"Sure…" The brown haired girl rolled her eyes again while digging in her shoulder bag, while the darker haired girl reached into her purse with a polite smile. They both produced leather ID folders and opened them, showing identical Tokyo Metro Police badges and ID cards, each card showing a picture of its bearer in uniform. "I'm Natsumi Tsujimoto and that's Miyuki Kobayawaka. We're police officers assigned to Patrol Division at Botuko Station here in Sumida Ward. We're the ones that are going to do your firearms and tactical training for your job in Thailand."

A/N – As you may have noticed, this is set almost two years prior to the previous story arc. I decided to show what happened after the fight at the train station, and to show how Keitaro was hired by Seta to go on the Thailand expedition. Writing how Keitaro was trained by Natsumi and Miyuki from You're Under Arrest! will be the icing on the cake. *g* For those that are curious as to their time line, this is after Natsumi was accepted and trained by SAT, was sent along with Miyuki on an exchange program with the Los Angeles Police Department (the thought of those two in my hometown gives me the shivers) and then returned to Patrol at Bokuto. Who knows, there may be a chance for some romance, sober or otherwise, at this time. Reader thoughts are requested. *g* BTW, Natsumi and Miyuki will probably be somewhat out of canon character in this story.

I was kinda surprised that I did not get a lot of feedback regarding Keitaro's fight with the bosozoku at the train station. I wanted to show a realistic lives-are-on-the-line fight by one guy against multiple opponents, but I didn't want to get too graphic either. Any thoughts on that is appreciated as well.

The police interrogation that Keitaro was subjected to is not that uncommon in Japan, even today. While I did push the limit as to the physical abuse he received, it is legal to hold a criminal suspect for up to 48 hours before being told what they are being charged with and their right to a lawyer, and it is possible to hold someone with court approval for almost three weeks without contact with family or legal counsel.

Many thanks to PCH and AZ MII for betaing this story.

As of 29Nov2011 0000 PST, this story has over 107K words, 99,951 hits, 217 Reviews, 22 C2 listings, 341 Favorite Story listings and 302 Story Alert listings. Thanks guys. *thumbs up*