Gaijin

Part 2: The Shadow of the Beast

by Sean D'Anna

=====

Carrot was in trouble, he knew it the instant he saw the thing moving 
towards him from the shadows of the rooftop. Its long striped arms reached 
for him as he backed away slowly. The face looked almost wooden, as if it 
was a horrible mask, but the teeth dripped with drool as it leered at him. 

Not sure what else to say or do, he spoke to it. "Um. Hi."

"Die," it said quietly as it looked directly into his eyes.

"Shit," he muttered. "Look. You don't want to kill me! I mean...I'm 
nobody. If you wait a minute, I'm sure you can kill those senshi, they 
should be along soon! Wouldn't that be better than..."

The thing jumped forward suddenly, ending his rambling as it decked him 
across his jaw. Carrot staggered back under the force of the blow and 
shook his head. He turned and started running across the gravel.

The creature was fast, much faster than he was, but the pipes and antenna 
gave the boy plenty to dodge and weave around as he ran. He twisted across 
the rooftop, watching the creature lash at him with a dangerous looking 
force to its movements.

"Oh shit!" he grumbled as he neared the edge of the roof. There was 
another building across from him, but it was at least four stories shorter 
than the one he was on now. He whirled around to see the thing rushing 
towards him with an angry roar sounding in its throat.

"Shit!" he screamed as he jumped and rolled away as it charged headlong 
into where he was standing. Its arm lashed out, shattering the small ledge 
on the edge of the roof and sending a shower of debris into the alley 
below. Carrot kicked off the gravel surface as the other arm closed in on 
him almost faster than he could see it. He pushed himself into the air as 
the thing struck where he'd been standing before and kicked off the top of 
its head, shoving it down to the ground and pushing himself into the air.

The creature's arm whipped back, snagging his leg out of the air. He 
cursed under his breath and was slammed face first into the ground. Pain 
exploded all across his body from the force of the blow and he rolled over 
to see the thing quickly recovering with his leg still in its grasp. He 
kicked at the thing's hand angrily as it turned to face him, but the youma 
didn't seem to notice this.

The arm jerked back suddenly, Carrot was whipped through the air, only to 
slam into one of the metal ventilation pipes that jutted up from the tar 
and gravel surface of the roof. He screamed in pain as his back popped 
against it and slumped down to the ground as the creature released his leg 
and stalked forward.

He growled angrily and stood up, staggering to his feet. He frowned and 
put up his fists. "Come on ugly."

The thing cocked its head at him and blinked.

Carrot rushed forward and punched at its face with an angry sounding 
battle cry.

The thing jerked its head back, avoiding the strike easily. The boy 
staggered forward from his missed blow and the thing simply jabbed at his 
face, hitting him without resistance.

Carrot staggered back again and shook his head. His vision blurred for a 
moment and he frowned, as his sight came back he cursed. The glove slammed 
into his face as the creature lashed out at him again. His head exploded 
in pain, followed by several lightning fast blows to his body and several 
more to his face again.

The youma grinned at him as he somehow managed to stay on his feet after 
the assault. The boy was barely managing to step back. He lurched forward 
suddenly, blood shooting from his mouth as he coughed it up violently. 

Carrot fell to his knees and glared up at the thing again. "Damn."

The creature laughed as it moved forward again, grabbing the boy by his 
head and lifting him up off of his feet. It swung its arm back, tossing 
him away almost casually. The boy landed and skid across his back on the 
gravel, the small stones managed to poke through his rags in some places 
and he felt them cut into his back as he slid. Finally, he stopped against 
the small ledge at the edge of the rooftop. 

The youma sneered at him, pointing some sort of crystal at him for a 
moment.

Carrot groaned painfully and managed to stand up. He shook his head for a 
moment and stared at the thing. "What the?"

The thing was just standing there, pointing the crystal at him. It was 
starting to look frustrated as it shook the shard in its hand for a 
moment. It was ignoring him completely in favor of the crystal in its 
hand.

Carrot looked back over his shoulder at the ground far below him and then 
turned back to see the thing still grunting at its energy draining crystal 
in frustration. He blinked and shook some of the blows off of his head for 
a moment, slowly regaining his senses.

+++++++++++++++

The youma couldn't figure out what was wrong. There was no energy being 
drained into the crystal in its hand. It should have been easier to do 
considering that he'd just nearly beaten the thing to death. The shard in 
his hand felt like it was working, he could feel the familiar pull of the 
energy vacuum within it. The thing snorted in frustration and decided to 
just kill the damn thing and be done with it. It looked up and 
saw...nothing. The rooftop was empty, not a single sign of life. 

It blinked and looked around for a moment in confusion. Finally, it roared 
in frustration. Its prey had escaped, there was just no way it could have. 
It was almost dead already!

Finally, it snorted and turned away, scanning the rooftop for signs of 
life. It lumbered through the pipes slowly and looked over to another 
rooftop. Finally, it jumped away.

++++++++++++++++

Carrot was sweating bullets, and his arms were exploding with pain. He was 
forced to bear his strain in silence though. He was hanging from a small 
pipe that was jutting out from the concrete just below where he had jumped 
after the creature had stopped paying attention. Soon, his arms would give 
out and he'd be in a world of pain. That is, unless the thing went away 
while he still had the strength to pull himself back up. It didn't look 
good for him though.

He looked up with tears falling from his eyes from the strain as the thing 
roared again, it's voice fading away into the distance as it went off in 
search of him. 

"Finally." He strained painfully as he pulled himself up to his chin on 
the pipe and managed to work one of his arms over it. Kicking in the air 
he rested that way for a moment. It was an awkward position at best, his 
body kept wanting to shift sideways and drop him to the ground. He managed 
to keep his balance and tried to find some purchase against the wall with 
his feet. He blinked as his shoes slid against the brick and he shifted 
quite suddenly. "Uh-oh." 

His grip was becoming dangerously slick, a light rain started and he 
cursed under his breath as he desperately clutched the pipe. The street 
was about eight stories down below him and there wasn't much to soften his 
landing. "Oh man..." he managed as his arms started to slip again, growing 
weaker with each passing moment. 

He closed his eyes and strained his hardest to hold on, but his arms were 
slowly giving way. Suddenly, he felt something on his back shift him up 
violently. He was pulled away from the pipe and looked up at his savior, 
only to hang his head in frustration.

The youma was clutching at his back, pulling him back onto the rooftop. 

"Thought you could hide from me!?" it sneered.

"Why couldn't you just let me fall?" he complained as the thing held him 
up to its face.

"You sound like you're having a bad day," replied the thing in amusement.

"Terrible," said the boy irritably as he looked the thing in its soulless 
eyes.

The creature jerked its arm suddenly and threw him back onto the rooftop. 
Carrot flew through the air, landing back first into one of the pipes 
again. He cried out in pain and slumped to the ground, his arms burning 
from his hang and too weak to push himself back up. "Damn it."

"Give me your power!" said the thing as it shoved the crystal into his 
face.

Carrot squinted as he managed to lift one of his hands up and shove the 
shard back a little ways. "Do you mind?" 

The creature snorted as its crystal failed once again. "How are you doing 
this?"

"Doing what?" replied Carrot through his teeth as he rolled onto his back.

The monster roared angrily and punched him in the gut where he lay. Carrot 
jerked up, and slumped back to the ground from the blow. He rolled over to 
his side, clutching his belly in pain and put his hand up against the edge 
of the roof. 

"If you will not give me your energy, you will die!" cried the thing as it 
jumped up into the air and dove towards him.

Carrot looked up as the thing descended on him and cursed as he somehow 
managed to jump to his feet. The thing landed on top of him, pushing him 
back to the ground, but he rolled onto his back, shoving his foot into the 
thing's belly as he landed, flipping it back over his head, and off the 
edge of the rooftop. It roared angrily as it went over the side and went 
silent suddenly.

The boy staggered to his feet and leaned against the ledge, peering down 
into the street for a moment. There was nothing there. "Huh?" he muttered 
to himself.

The cartoon like glove snapped around his neck as the thing climbed out 
from underneath the ledge just below him and started to pull itself up 
onto the rooftop again.

Carrot hung from its grasp as it pulled itself up, it bent its arm to peer 
at him as it stood up on the ledge and stared him directly in his eyes.
The boy was gasping for breath as he hung in the youma's grip. His face 
was starting to turn red as he tried to breathe. The youma blinked as 
Carrot got an angry look on his face suddenly. The boy's leg lashed out 
viciously, all of his remaining strength concentrated in a single blow.

The monster grunted painfully as the boy's foot caught it between its 
legs. It didn't do much damage, but it was enough to send it toppling off 
the edge of the roof, with the boy still in its grasp. It roared angrily 
as it plummeted down to the street below. Carrot moved swiftly, 
positioning himself in the center of the thing's chest as it released him 
from its grip. He had just enough time to brace himself before it impacted 
with the pavement. The thing's eyes rolled back into its head, and it 
relaxed completely.

Carrot looked up at it for a second as it died, its body fading away from 
underneath him. He snorted and passed out in the middle of the alleyway.

++++++++++++++++

He woke up face down in a puddle of water, coughing violently. His head 
jerked up reflexively and he rolled over onto his back. His right eye was 
swollen shut and pain coursed through his entire body. He stood up slowly, 
wincing from a new pain with every movement. Finally, he limped into the 
shadows and slumped down to simply sit in silence. The sound of sirens 
filled the streets, and the sky was dark above him. He'd probably been out 
for a few hours at least, it was night now, and it was raining. 

He was cold, wet and miserable, but he was still alive. He snorted in 
disgust and hung his head, hoping to sleep off a few more of his injuries 
before he tried to move around again.

++++++++++++++

A week later...

Things had been quiet while he'd been recovering. Luckily, none of his 
injuries were debilitating. He still felt sore spots from the fight with 
the creature that had attacked him in the night, but they weren't enough 
to slow him down any. He casually flipped an apple in his hand once he 
rounded the corner that hid him from the prying eyes of the street. He 
managed to blink as a blur rushed by him, swiping his food out of the air. 

"Hey," he muttered lamely as a figure dressed in rags rushed down the 
alley to a back corner. He blinked again and pulled another apple from his 
shirt and started eating. It was more trouble than it was worth to go 
after whoever had done that. There were a few other bums hanging around in 
the corners as well, they kept to themselves for the most part though. He 
took another glance at where the dirty brown blur had vanished and sat 
down against a wall to rest.

He ate what he'd stolen and relaxed to take a nap. It was a quiet day for 
the most part, there weren't many people out. That made things more 
difficult for him, but it still made for a bit quieter atmosphere in the 
alleys and backstreets.

He looked over to see someone sitting next to him now. He frowned and 
shifted away a little. Whoever it was, they were sitting awfully close to 
him.

"Why didn't you come after me?" said a feminine voice. 

Carrot blinked and looked at the girl sitting next to him. She looked 
older than he was by about two years, and had a mass of dirty blonde, but 
short cut hair on top of her head. She looked a lot like him, dirt 
smudging her face, and her figure hidden away inside a mass of torn and 
worn looking clothes.

"It was more trouble than it was worth," he replied as he closed his eyes 
and relaxed against the wall.

"Oh," she said as she looked at the ground for a moment again. She seemed 
to be working up her nerve again and turned to speak with him. "I haven't 
seen you around here before."

He looked at her again without moving his head and frowned. "Do you always 
hit on boys who are younger than you?"

The girl frowned at him and stood up in anger, she seemed to reconsider 
and sat down again. "Look, I'm just makin conversation."

"Why?" he asked her with a suspicious looking frown on his face. "If 
you're a part of some gang, or club, I don't want any part of it, and I 
suggest you get out as well. Those things only get you arrested. I've seen 
a lot of them go down." He turned his head away from her and closed his 
eyes.

"Look. I just ain't used to seein people my own age around here," she said 
as she scowled at him. 

He snorted at that and frowned at her. "Go look on the street corner. 
There's lots of sixteen year old girls hanging around there."

"I don't want any part of those whores," she said simply. "I'd die before 
I did something like that." The girl hugged her knees and looked away from 
him in frustration.

"So? Why should I care?" grumbled the boy irritably.

"My name is Kei, what's yours?" she said as she ignored his attitude and 
smiled at him.

"Look. I don't know who you are, but you aren't fooling me. You're not 
from the street," he said as he stood up with a painful frown on his face 
and started walking away from her.

"Huh? Wait!" called the girl as she jumped up and started jogging after 
him. "What do you mean?"

"You smell to good," he replied as he turned and narrowed his eyes at her. 

"That dirt looks like it was applied with a makeup brush, or your fingers. 
You've got a home somewhere. I suggest you get out of here and go to it."

"You're hurt," she said as she noticed his slowed rising.

He looked at her and turned away again. "Maybe I am. Go away."

"That'll make this easier than I thought," she replied.

Carrot stopped walking and cocked his head as he thought about what she'd 
just told him. "Huh? What do you mean easier?" He turned to face her again 
and his eyes went wide.

She was standing there with a four inch knife in her hand, holding it out 
in front of her. She also looked like she knew what she was doing with it.

"Damn it. Now what?" he grumbled as he backed away from her.

"You seem to be taking this well, and you fit the description. The others 
had all wet their pants when they saw me like this," said the girl coolly.

"What are you on about?" he said as he frowned at her and edged a little 
closer to the wall.

"I'm looking for someone, a gaijin like you," she said calmly. "There 
aren't a whole lot of people in this country who fit your description. I 
figured the best way to find you, would be to get rid of them all."

"Yeah. If I'm the guy you're lookin for, sure," he said calmly. "Somehow I 
doubt that."

"I'm starting to think you're him," replied the girl as she dashed forward 
suddenly.

Carrot snorted in frustration and turned away from her, jumping towards 
the wall behind him. He kicked off it and landed behind her, already 
running away when he hit the ground.

The girl whirled around, lashing out with her arms as she moved.

Carrot felt a sharp pain at his side and almost fell over. He grunted in 
frustration and stumbled to the ground, still moving forward. His hand 
went to his side, and he felt a warm wetness followed by a pain in his 
hand. He quickly jerked his hand away with something in his grasp. His 
other hand moved in its place.

"You can't run from me!" cried the girl's voice as she fell to the ground 
in front of him, having found a higher route to chase him down. He stopped 
cold and growled angrily as he backed away. He looked at his hand and saw 
a blood soaked throwing star. He narrowed his eyes and stepped back as she 
advanced.

"Throw it. I dare you," said the girl calmly as she flipped the knife in 
her hand around her wrist skillfully.

"What do you want?" he snarled at her.

"To kill you, I'm pretty sure it is you I'm after now," she said coolly. 

"Only a shinobi would have tried moving through the shadows the way you 
did to lose me. You're quite skilled, but not enough."

"Shinobi? Shadows?" he muttered in confusion as he glanced back at his 
path. The whole alleyway was a mess of dark spots; it was probably the 
same pretty much the whole way he'd run. They were probably a few blocks 
away from where they'd started now.

"You're quite fast," she said as she advanced cautiously.

Carrot looked at the throwing star in his hand and then back at her again. 
He shrugged and reared his hand back.

She smiled, it was obvious he wasn't trained in the use of that weapon, 
she prepared herself and moved into a more defensive pose.

Carrot jumped up into the air, catching onto the bottom of a fire escape, 
not bothering to throw the weapon.

"What the?" said the girl as she watched him dash up the iron stairwell. 

"Shit!" she jumped up after him and he spun around looking down at her 
angrily for a moment. "You won't get away!"

Carrot leaned over the edge of the rail on the stairs, he flicked his 
wrist and they both froze in place. Kei blinked as a few pieces of her 
hair fell from her bangs in front of her face. She looked down at the 
grating at her feet and gasped. There was a hole right between her feet 
where the throwing weapon had passed through it. "No way!"

Carrot was looking at it in confusion as well. He blinked and muttered to 
himself as he continued to climb onto the rooftop. "I guess it really is 
in the wrist."

He finally made it to the top of the building, about six stories up. He 
turned and cried out in shock as he flipped himself onto the rooftop as 
the blade of the knife struck where he had been moments before, causing a 
shower of sparks. 

"Hold still!" screamed the angry girl as she jumped at him.

"Son of a bitch!" he cried out as he rolled away. "Stop that you crazy 
chick!" She chased after him, slashing out with her weapon while he backed 
away frantically. Finally, he backed into a large pipe that went up to the 
small of his back.

"Got ya!" cried the girl as she jumped forward. He flipped over the pipe 
and landed on his rear, only to find the end of the blade about an inch 
away from his crotch as she sliced through the metal tube all the way to 
the rooftop.

"Holy shit! You're tryin to kill me!" he screamed at her.

"The thought had crossed my mind," replied the girl as she used her foot 
against half of the pipe to dislodge her weapon.

Carrot was busy looking down at the slashes in his clothes. He looked 
around and kicked up a thin metal pipe into his grasp that was lying 
around. "Seems to be a lot of these things lying around," he muttered to 
himself as he looked at it.

The girl was circling around to his side cautiously. "You're better than 
I'd thought."

"Look lady. I don't want no trouble. Just shove off all right?" he said as 
he turned to face her again.

"Not till you're dead!" she screamed in reply as she charged forward 
again. 

Carrot jumped back and blocked with the pipe, or rather tried too. It was 
neatly cut in half and he looked at it for a moment. "Nice knife."

"Thanks," she said as she moved it over her head and started forward 
again.

Carrot spun around and crouched low as the blade slashed over his head at 
an angle. He poked out with half of the pipe and jammed it into her 
stomach hard. She was pushed back glaring at him hatefully for a moment. 

He tossed one of the two metal sections in his hand away and held the 
remainder in his hands like a sword. "Could you at least tell me what this 
is about? I'm pretty sure you've got the wrong guy."

"I'm positive I don't," she replied with a smirk on her face.

Carrot backed away from her slowly, looking for a chance to escape her. It 
wasn't going very well. He backed against the ledge and peered over the 
side. "Great."

"Backed yourself up into trouble again?" she said as she grinned at him 
and shifted her blade.

"Nah, but this is really going to suck," he replied as he tossed his 
makeshift weapon aside and flipped off the edge of the roof.

"What?" said the girl as she rushed over and peered down at the street.

Carrot had grabbed a clothesline, and was hanging about halfway down the 
next building with a painful look on his face. It was obvious that he'd 
hit the wall pretty hard. "Damn it," he grumbled as he slid down the 
remainder of the cord and let himself fall the rest of the way down the 
street. He looked up at the girl that was watching him and flipped her off 
before rushing away into the streets.

Kei growled and looked around the rooftop, there wasn't anything she could 
see that could help her go after him. "I've lost him. Damn it," she 
grumbled as she ran her fingers through her hair. She looked at her hands 
and sighed. "I need a bath, this is disgusting."

+++++++++++++++++

The senshi stood around a spot in the street, staring down at it in a sort 
of quiet contemplation.

Mercury pointed at the street and looked at her friends. "Here. I'm 
sensing residual energy here."

"So, there was a youma here then right?" asked Minako as she looked at her 
friends in confusion.

"Yes, it's the same energy pattern as when we kill one. Meaning that this 
one most likely died here," said Mercury as she looked at the screen. "It 
should linger for a few days, and then vanish completely."

"So, something killed one here?" asked Sailor Moon in confusion.

"Seems that way," said Jupiter as she walked over and looked down at the 
spot for a moment.

"Well, we can't be sure what killed it. They aren't above killing each 
other I'd think. It could have been another one," said Mars as she leaned 
against a nearby wall.

"It's been dead a while, a week I'd say," said Ami.

"So it probably isn't related to the one we just fought," said Jupiter as 
she looked at her and nodded.

Ami frowned and gave a slow nod in reply. "Still, something killed it, and 
it wasn't us. I don't know if I should be worried or relieved."

"Maybe it was Tuxedo Mask?" ventured Sailor Moon.

"I've never seen him actually kill one of these things," said Minako.

"It's possible though," pointed out Ami.

"Right!" said Sailor Moon defensively.

"Even if it is unlikely," continued Mercury casually.

"Hey!" snapped Moon.

"I'd say our friend from the slums is a more likely candidate," said 
Makoto as she looked at Usagi with a slightly annoyed frown.

"I agree," said Mars. 

Luna was sitting quietly on top of a garbage can up to this point. She 
looked at all of them. "He's dangerous, I don't like him."

"He isn't very nice," agreed Usagi.

"Maybe he is," agreed Ami. "It would be best if we avoid him."

"I agree," said a voice from the shadows.

The girls whirled around and gasped when they saw a familiar figure 
sitting quietly in the shadows, simply looking at them.

"What are you doing here?" cried Mars angrily.

"Wondering what the senshi are doing in my back yard," said Carrot as he 
looked at her calmly. He hadn't moved from his spot, and didn't seem 
likely to do so anytime soon.

"Who are you? What do you want?" said Jupiter as she stepped in front of 
Rei.

"My name is Carrot, I want you gone. I don't like you, you've been nothing 
but trouble for me since I first met you," he replied calmly as he leveled 
a small glare at the girls. "Now go away."

"Look here street trash!" snarled Rei as she started to move towards him. 
She jumped back in shock as a length of pipe appeared in the wall beside 
her suddenly.

The boy lowered his hand and narrowed his eyes at her. "Watch your mouth 
girl. I'm stuck in your godforsaken country. Probably for the rest of my 
life, but I don't have to like it. Keep your distance." Inwardly he was 
thinking to himself, "Man. I can't believe that worked! Cool!"

The girls all growled at him, but moved away.

"How dare you attack us!?" snapped Venus. "Don't you know who we are?"

"Should I care? If I had attacked her, she'd be impaled to the wall right 
now," said the boy casually.

Mars frowned at this, but nodded her head. If the boy had enough skill to 
throw something that fast and that hard, he would have a good aim to go 
with it. "I believe him."

The others looked at him and said nothing. It was obvious they were angry.

"Go away," he repeated coldly. "I don't want you around me. Every time I 
see you, I get attacked again."

"Come on," said Jupiter as she started walking away.

"I'm sure we'll meet again," said Mars as she nodded to him with an 
unspoken threat.

"That's what bothers me," he said as he returned her angry gaze. He 
watched them move away and smirked to himself. "See you around Rei," he 
muttered under his breath as he stood up and vanished into the darkness.
Sailor Mars spun around as if someone had grabbed her rear. Her eyes 
darted from one wall to the other, seeing nothing. 

"Is something wrong?" asked Mercury as she noticed the odd behavior.

"It's nothing, I'm just hearing things," she muttered as she turned back 
towards the exit with her friends.

++++++++++++++

Kei frowned as she sat in a hot tub with the old man. His eyes were closed 
and she simply sat in silence, waiting for him to speak.

After a minute or two, he did. "You say you've found him?"

"Yes, I met him earlier today. I could not defeat him," she said as she 
hung her head in shame.

"Hmmm. That is not surprising, considering what I've heard about this 
one," said the old man in reply.

Kei blushed angrily, her hatred boiling up inside her suddenly. "That 
bastard. I will kill him, he is not as skilled as he seems," she replied 
hatefully.

"Then why is he not dead?" said the old man.

"He was lucky," she said coldly. "Next time, he won't be."

"So it seems," said the old man with a nod. "I find luck is little more 
than skill and the ability to make the best of a situation."

Kei nodded as she looked into the bubbling water. The man was nude; it was 
disgusting. He was old enough to be her grandfather.

"I grow tired," he said as he put his hand behind her head and pushed her 
towards his crotch.

Kei grit her teeth in disgust, but took a breath and went under. After 
all, even as old as he was, he was still her master. She belonged to him, 
as her mother did, and her grandmother before her.

After a moment, she came up for air. The old man simply turned her around, 
and she gripped the side of the tub. The two guards standing beside the 
door of the bathroom turned out and walked away without a word as the old 
man started, completely ignoring them.

She frowned and said nothing as he went about his business. He probably 
thought of it as a perk of the job, the pig. She thought of it as a 
downside. Still, she was continuing a proud family tradition, one that 
would extend through her own family through the ages. In fact, this was 
probably the only part of the job she didn't like.

She smiled as she thought about the boy who had eluded her earlier. It was 
not a nice smile, her eyes had darkened visibly. He had been lucky, but he 
was also quite strong. She would enjoy killing him, not so much for the 
master, but for herself.

She looked up and frowned, her mother was standing in the doorway now. Her 
hair was tied up in a bun, and she wore a formal kimono. Her daughter had 
little doubt that there were several blades hidden away within the folds 
of the clothing.

"You failed?" she asked coolly.

"Yes," replied the girl. The old man still hadn't finished, and continued 
to hump her while ignoring the conversation in front of him.

"That is unacceptable," replied the woman coldly. 

"I know. I shall...repair that error," said the girl calmly.

"See that you do," said the woman as she turned away from her.

Kei felt her anger rising within her again. The porcelain under her 
fingers cracked visibly. She growled hatefully and simply remained 
motionless otherwise, waiting for the Oyabun to finish with her. "For this 
humiliation, you die," she thought to herself as the image of the boy's 
face formed in her mind again.

+++++++++++++

Carrot looked up at the moonlight. It was a cool evening, but it was 
starting to get warmer again. There was probably a month or so at least 
before he saw the last snow though. He turned away and moved back towards 
one of the pipes on the rooftop that would serve to keep him warm through 
the night.

He preferred sleeping on the rooftops, they were actually warmer than 
huddling against the ground in groups if you knew where to sit. You had to 
be careful though; if someone shut off what was generating the heat in the 
night, you could freeze to death in your sleep if you weren't careful.

As it was now, he had no particular plan. He would simply sit and look up 
at the sky for a while, until he started to nod off. He liked the 
rooftops; no one bothered him. He was alone; all the other bums preferred 
the alleys, often building fires to warm themselves. He admitted that it 
was better protection from the elements that way. Still, if he was lucky, 
he'd find an unlocked shed, or an open stairwell that he could catch some 
sleep in. People seldom checked those, especially in the dead of night. He 
knew where three such places were, and was planning on using one of them 
when he decided to finally turn in. It was only about a block away from 
where he was now.

He looked up at the sky, never noticing the gaze of someone else on him a 
short distance away.

"Maybe things will calm down a bit now?" he said with a small sigh to no 
one in particular. "Right, and monkeys might fly out of my butt."

+++++++++++++++++

A figure shrouded in shadow, leered at the boy as he lay across the 
rooftop. He shoved his long hair over his shoulder and chuckled to 
himself, resting his hand against his chin as he watched the boy.

"How, interesting," said the figure as he backed away. 

++++++++++++++++

TBC...

Dark, moody, and still fun. Oh well. See how this goes over, and decide 
what to do next I suppose. I'm plotting out a story line for this one now. 
I know basically what I want to happen, but I'm setting up a timeline. 
The Sailor Moon is Manga stories, not the Anime. It's set after Nephrite 
bites it. The manga is a bit more violent, and moodier than the Anime. 
It's also not as long. [Youma were much rarer in the Manga.]