Gaijin  
 
Part 10: I Will Survive

By Sean D'Anna
 
=====  
 
Carrot sat down on the floor at the 
small table that now resided in the 
middle of his floor. He had a small cup 
of tea in his hands and looked quite 
irritable. The fact that he looked that 
way more and more seemed to go unnoticed 
by his new roommate. She bustled about 
the room cheerfully; cleaning things 
that didn't really need cleaning. His 
attitude wasn't unusual, especially 
since he'd figured out that the Youma 
were trying to assassinate him along 
with the Yakuza. Life sucked in general 
these days. Then there was Mei Lin. 
 
"Oh! I should start dinner!" 
exclaimed the girl as she stopped 
dusting and moved over to the tiny 
refrigerator and microwave that rested 
in the corner. Most men wouldn't mind 
having a woman around to cook and clean 
for them. Some even insisted on it, 
Carrot found it somewhat annoying. 
 
"I hate my life." 
 
"That's nice! So, are we going to go 
and find the evil tonight?" asked the 
girl cheerfully as she pushed her 
glasses up onto her face as she turned 
to look at him. 
 
"No," he replied sourly. 
 
"We really should, I mean..." 
 
"The evil will find us on its own, 
believe me," he muttered as he put his 
forehead on the table and sighed. 
 
"Oh," said the girl as she blinked 
at his reply. "Are you sure?" 
 
"Unfortunately, yes," he responded 
as he picked his head up to glare at 
her. 
 
"Well, at least you don't have to 
face the darkness alone! Now you have my 
help!" 
 
"You couldn't beat a pile of shit," 
he replied as he put his head back down 
on the table. He sat upright again and 
frowned as he glanced around. "I'm 
bored." 
 
The girl looked at him again. "Are 
you sure you don't want to go searching 
for evil tonight?" 
 
"Yes, I'd go outside, but I know it 
will find me if I do," he responded with 
a small sigh. "Maybe I'll play a game?" 
He looked over at his television and the 
game system that had a small pile of 
disks stacked next to it neatly. 
 
There was a knock at the door and 
Carrot blinked. "Huh?" He stood up and 
walked over to open it. Gia was standing 
there looking at him with a grin on her 
face. "What's up?" 
 
"Well, aren't you cheerful today?" 
said the woman as she smirked at him. 
 
"Not really," he replied with a 
small shrug. "Did you want something?" 
 
"I'd like to talk with your 
girlfriend," said the woman with a 
slight smirk. 
 
"Oh. Hello Dr. Mizura," said the 
girl cheerfully as she walked up behind 
him and smiled. 
 
"Hello dear, why don't you come with 
me. The grouch will probably appreciate 
a little time alone." 
 
"The grouch would appreciate a lot 
of time alone actually," replied the boy 
as he snorted and turned away in 
disinterest. 
 
+++++++++++++++ 
 
"So, how are things with him 
lately?" asked Gia as she smirked at the 
girl sitting with her. 
 
Mei Lin sipped on the tea she had 
been given and sighed. "Fine I guess, he 
doesn't do much." 
 
Gia sighed and rolled her eyes. "I 
figured as much, that lazy bum. All he 
did before was sit around his apartment 
as much as he could. I had to twist his 
arm to get him to even get a job." 
 
"Really? He seems so...active." 
 
"Really? And he complains about me 
and Spike, that dog," said Gia with a 
small frown on her face. 
 
"He's always training, I've been 
here for a week and it seems that's all 
he does besides sitting around in front 
of the TV." 
 
Gia blinked at this. "You mean you 
haven't...?" 
 
"Haven't what?" said the girl 
obliviously. 
 
"Never mind," said Gia as she shook 
her head for a moment. 
 
"Okay," said the girl cheerfully. 
"He doesn't spend much time working 
though." 
 
"Yeah, it's sort of an easy job, he 
works with my boyfriend," said Gia with 
a small shrug. 
 
"What does he do anyway? He's never 
told me about it," said Mei Lin with a 
small frown of her own. 
 
"Really? He's sort of a delivery boy 
for a guy in the neighborhood. It pays 
pretty well," replied the woman with a 
small shrug. "I'm not sure of the 
details myself." 
 
The Chinese girl sighed and pushed 
her glasses onto her face a little more. 
Gia noted it as a nervous habit the girl 
had developed. She seemed somewhat 
anxious about him. "I wish I knew more 
about him." 
 
"He's certainly not the friendly 
type, I'm surprised to see a girl like 
you with him," said Gia. 
 
"He's really a very kind person," 
said the girl immediately. 
 
Gia almost choked on her tea, but 
managed to calm herself a bit. "Um, 
okay. I guess he's not all that bad." 
 
"Despite his gruff nature, he's a 
very gentle person. I've never seen him 
do more than raise his voice at me a 
little. Even then it's not bad." 
 
"Well, I certainly hope not!" said 
Gia with a slightly irritated frown. 
 
"He's supposed to be helping me 
though. I'm not sure what kind of powers 
he has, we need to destroy this evil 
that plagues Japan together." Mei Lin 
looked slightly irritated as she glanced 
at the wall that separated the two 
rooms. 
 
"Right," grumbled Gia with her frown 
growing a little wider. "Fight evil. I 
can't believe that pervert is taking 
advantage of..." 
 
"Huh? Why is fighting evil 
perverted?" asked Mei Lin in genuine 
confusion. 
 
Gia blinked at this, apparently this 
girl had no clue about what the boy was 
obviously doing to her! She was 
delusional! "Look, he's a boy right?" 
 
"Uh huh," said Mei Lin. 
 
"Don't you think he might be taking 
advantage of you? I mean, fighting evil? 
Come on! That little pervert! I can't 
believe he'd stoop to this!" 
 
"Do you really think he might take 
advantage of me?!" said the girl in what 
looked like worry. 
 
"You never thought about that?" said 
Gia as her jaw dropped. 
 
"My sister will be so jealous!" said 
the girl cheerfully. 
 
Gia's head hit the table in 
frustration. 
 
++++++++++++++++++ 
 
Carrot was blissfully alone, he had 
a huge grin on his face as he stretched 
out across the floor and deliberately 
toppled the neat stack of game disks 
that sat beside the game console. A bag 
of chips was strewn at his side, with a 
number of the chips spread out on the 
floor. He also had a soda without a 
coaster on the table. He was feeling 
quite rebellious at the moment. 
 
Suddenly he sat up and blinked. 
"Man, I'm so pathetic!" He hung his head 
and sighed. Without another word he 
cleaned up his mess and put a coaster 
under the can. "I wish, I wish, I wish, 
I had a spine." 
 
He glanced around the room and stood 
up, walking over to the closet. He 
opened it and sighed as the girl's 
clothes now took up more than half of 
the space in there. Gia had been rather 
generous in dumping a lot of old clothes 
off on her. The pair wore the same size 
almost, Gia was a little larger, but Mei 
Lin liked clothes that hung a little 
loosely. She was cute, but in a sort of 
dorky way. Carrot hadn't really thought 
about it much, it didn't matter how cute 
she was, and he just wanted to figure 
out a way to get rid of her. He could 
probably rationalize it and toss her 
out. He'd offered to pay for her flight 
home after all, and he didn't really 
need to do more. He couldn't bring 
himself to toss the girl back onto the 
street again though. Morals were 
annoying, he needed to see what he could 
do about that. 
 
He snorted as he shoved her clothes 
aside and pulled his dogi off its 
hanger. Getting a bit of exercise would 
do him some good. He changed clothes, 
not caring if she came in and saw him. 
With a quick jerk, he pulled the black 
belt tight and nodded to himself as he 
walked towards the door. He reached for 
it and paused just before he opened it. 
"What the hell am I thinking?" he 
muttered irritably as he grabbed the 
knob and jerked it open. He strolled 
outside and slammed it shut forcefully, 
full of determination. The rebellious 
feeling coursed through him again as he 
started down the hall. "I don't believe 
this!" he grumbled as he stopped 
suddenly and hung his head. "I really am 
this pathetic!" 
 
He turned on his heels and went back 
into the room, scrawling out a quick 
note. "Gone for some training to clear 
my head, be back later." He sighed and 
left it on the table before he walked 
out the door again feeling like a 
complete ass. "I really do hate my 
life." 
 
+++++++++++++++++++++ 
 
The park was quiet, there were 
couples off in quiet corners, and 
children playing happily nearby. It was 
blissful, serene, and had a lot of open 
space. Carrot ignored most of this of 
course as he found himself a nice patch 
of grass in the open to practice in. The 
place was about a block from his home, 
and it was away from the damn woman. She 
had an irritating habit of following him 
up to the roof and trying to converse 
with him while he was practicing. 
 
He was performing a Bo kata with an 
iron poll that he had found. He now knew 
that finding them was anything but a 
coincidence, and was growing more and 
more suspicious of their origins. The 
thought had even occurred to him that he 
might be creating them somehow, but he 
couldn't figure out how he was doing it 
if that was the case. It was a 
frustrating enigma for him, but one he 
had grown to accept. 
 
As he finished the exercise he 
smirked to himself as he realized that a 
small crowd had gathered to watch in 
the distance. No one got very close 
though, and he was mostly ignored. His 
practice was little more than atmosphere 
for the park than anything else. He 
wiped his brow with the sleeve of his 
dogi and relaxed his stance, it was 
rather nice out that day. The sun was 
shining, and there was a tiny breeze 
that rustled the treetops. He frowned 
suddenly as he realized that things had 
been going a little smoothly for him 
lately. "Well, let's see how long it 
takes. A thousand one, a thousand two, a 
thousand three..." 
 
"You!" 
 
Carrot cringed and hung his head 
with a heavy sigh. "Hello." His tone was 
deadpan as he turned around to face the 
girl that was staring him down angrily. 
 
It was Makoto, Sailor Jupiter, 
whatever she wanted to be called. He 
frowned as she simply glared at him 
hatefully. "What are you doing here?" 
 
"Practicing martial arts, are you 
blind, or just stupid?" he replied 
curtly as he returned her glare evenly. 
"Go away." 
 
"So, you think you're a martial 
artist do you?" she snorted as she 
glanced around. 
 
"Too many people around to 
transform?" he chuckled as he spun the 
pole in his hand and planted it into the 
ground firmly. It was a rather 
impressive pose really, he was quite 
proud of himself. 
 
"What would you know about the art?" 
she snorted in disgust. 
 
"Don't you go calling me a Gaijin 
half-breed," snorted Carrot irritably as 
he turned his head away. 
 
Makoto gaped at this. "How dare 
you?!" 
 
"I thought I told you to leave! If 
you don't want to be insulted, don't 
hang around," he replied calmly. "I'm 
having a good day, I don't need you or 
your half dressed friends to ruin it." 
 
"Well tough!" snapped the girl 
angrily as she stepped back away from 
him slightly. 
 
Carrot snorted. "I've never attacked 
you before. Why would I start now? Just 
get lost brat. Leave me alone." 
 
Makoto frowned at this and seemed to 
consider her options. "I should..." 
 
"What?" snorted Carrot. "Fine. I'll 
leave then." He turned away from her and 
started walking. 
 
"Where do you think you're going?!" 
cried the girl as she started after him. 
 
Carrot turned quickly, and the girl 
jumped back slightly in response to 
that. 
 
"You sure are jumpy," he commented 
idly as he looked her up and down for a 
moment. 
 
"I can't let you escape!" she 
snarled as she tensed her body. 
 
Carrot blinked at this and simply 
stared at her. "Escape?" 
 
"You threatened my friends!" 
 
"Only if they don't leave me alone, 
you're getting dangerously close to 
that, Kino," he replied as he narrowed 
his eyes at her. "Stop bothering me, and 
we'll get along fine." 
 
"I can't do that! You're dangerous!" 
she replied. 
 
"A snake only strikes if you provoke 
it," replied Carrot carefully. He was 
starting to get nervous, Makoto was a 
little too on edge for his liking. She 
seemed ready to attack him, not that he 
couldn't handle her as she was at the 
moment. It would attract a lot of 
unwanted attention, something that was 
already happening. 
 
Makoto paused to consider his words. 
"You're in league with the enemy aren't 
you? Admit it!" 
 
"What enemy? Who are they? What do 
they want?" he responded coolly. "Your 
paranoia is starting to grow 
bothersome." 
 
Makoto was at a loss at how to 
respond to that. "I...damn..." 
 
"See? Don't start accusing me of 
things you don't even know about 
yourself," he said as he turned to start 
walking again, only to find himself 
staring at another familiar figure. 
"Shit." 
 
"It's about time you got here!" 
growled Makoto. 
 
Carrot cursed under his breath. 
Makoto had been trying to stall him, and 
she'd succeeded admirably. "I can't 
believe I fell for this." 
 
"So. We've found you," said Sailor 
Mars with a vicious looking smirk on her 
face as she glared at him hatefully. 
 
"There goes my day," grumbled Carrot 
with a small sigh. "Don't you have a 
youma to fight or something, Hino?" 
 
Usagi appeared nearby to Rei with a 
small, frightened looking frown on her 
face. 
 
Ami walked up on the red clad 
senshi's other side. "He wasn't 
bluffing!" She looked almost as 
surprised as Usagi. 
 
"Great, the whole gang," grumbled 
Carrot as he noticed Minako move up 
beside Makoto. The brunette glanced 
around and started to back off. She 
wasn't transformed like her friends 
were. 
 
"What are you going to do? Attack me 
in the open?" he snorted as he glanced 
around. They were the center of 
attention in the park now. The crowd was 
steadily growing and the Senshi looked 
around. "That will do wonders for your 
image I'm sure." 
 
"Damn," growled Minako. 
 
"What's he talking about?" asked 
Usagi dumbly. 
 
"If we attack him now..." said Ami 
as she looked around at the crowd. "It 
will make us look very bad." 
 
"So what?" snorted Rei. 
 
"You don't get it do you? I haven't 
done anything," said Carrot as he 
smirked at her. "Attack me here, and 
you'll be the criminals." 
 
"He attacked Makoto!" said Rei 
irritably. 
 
"He never touched her," said Ami 
calmly. She looked angry and frustrated. 
 
"I'm leaving now," said Carrot as he 
started walking towards Usagi. She moved 
out of his way and blinked as he winked 
at her as he passed. 
 
"Wait!" snarled Rei. 
 
"There's nothing we can do right 
now," said Ami with a sort of calm 
coming over her. 
 
"Maybe we should just leave him 
alone?" ventured Usagi. "He really 
hasn't done anything." 
 
"What? Are you insane? He's 
dangerous! He knows who we really are!" 
said Rei as she whirled around and 
stared her down. "Meatball head!" 
 
"She might be right," said Ami. 
 
This caught the other girls by 
surprise. 
 
"He hasn't done anything yet," 
continued the girl. "I'm starting to 
believe he won't. He's a jerk, but he's 
never attacked us without provocation." 
 
"What? He attacked me!" snarled Rei. 
"You all saw that!" 
 
"You struck first," pointed out Ami. 
"We almost killed him for it." 
 
"What's with you all of a sudden?" 
asked Makoto. "Luna says..." 
 
"Luna said we shouldn't trust 
Usagi's boyfriend either," replied Ami. 
 
Usagi was somewhat perplexed by 
this. "Well..." 
 
"He's dangerous!" snarled Rei 
hatefully. "He has to be..." 
 
"What? Killed?" snapped Ami. "I'm 
not a murderer!" 
 
This silenced all the arguments. 
 
"I don't like him either, but the 
fact is he hasn't done anything." 
 
"That youma we saw him talking 
too..." ventured Rei. 
 
"He says he was turning him down," 
said Ami calmly. "I haven't seen 
anything that tells me it was a lie." 
 
"We decided he had to be destroyed," 
said Rei coolly. 
 
"We should discuss this elsewhere," 
said Ami as she noticed the crowd was 
starting to edge closer to them. They 
were still confused by the scene, and 
were muttering amongst themselves. "I'm 
sorry Rei, but as things are right now, 
I can't kill him." 
 
The girls dispersed and the crowd 
ambled around for a moment. Hidden in 
the branches of a nearby tree, Carrot 
frowned to himself as he took all of 
this in. "Well, things might be starting 
to go my way." He smirked to himself and 
watched the crowd below him for a time. 
"It's about fuckin time!" he muttered 
distastefully. 
 
After a few minutes, interest in the 
area dropped to zero, and he jumped down 
from his hiding place. "Not that this 
helps with my other problem much." He 
frowned and leaned against the trunk in 
thought. "Those Youma want me 
dead...why? What's the connection I'm 
missing here, first they want me, then 
they want me dead? Is it because I 
refused them?" It was a very real 
possibility, but it didn't sit well with 
him. He had a bad feeling it was more 
than that. 
 
He cocked his head and blinked for a 
moment after mulling over it. "Hey, you 
don't suppose that...nah! Couldn't be." 
He shook his head for a moment and 
laughed to himself. "I wonder who the 
hell else I'll run into today?" 
 
++++++++++++++++++++ 
 
"He's still alive," growled the 
Oyabun as he stared into the shadows of 
the corner of his office angrily. 
 
"He is not an easy target," replied 
the shadow that stood out of sight 
somewhere in the darkness. The blinds 
were closed on the window allowing more 
darkness to fill the room than normal. A 
small dim desk lamp was the only light 
in the room. 
 
"You said he'd be dead by now," 
growled the old man irritably. 
 
"We underestimated him," replied the 
shadow calmly. "It's a matter of time, 
that is all." 
 
"My organization won't stand for 
failure," said the old man icily. 
 
"You're a convenience, nothing 
more," replied the shadow calmly. "Don't 
go thinking we need you old man." 
 
"Enough of this pointless 
bickering," said another voice. It was 
old, and forceful. A smaller figure 
melted out of the shadows, he was a 
short and frail looking old man, but his 
fluid motions hinted at a hidden power. 
"Arguing about it won't solve the 
problem. We are working to correct it, 
but this man is more than he seems." 
 
"Obviously," replied the Oyabun. 
 
"I suspect Mitsuki is hiding 
something from me," said the old man as 
he turned to look at the other shadow. 
"I'm wondering if you know anything 
about that?" 
 
"What would we care?" snarled the 
Shadow in disgust. 
 
"Hmmm, I see," said the old man with 
a short nod. "Still, this boy bothers 
me. His skill is nothing to be scoffed 
at. Kasumi was almost inhuman in his 
ability. If he was able to defeat 
her..." 
 
"Heh, you suspect that he is with 
us?" said the other shadow calmly. 
 
"It had crossed my mind, but I feel 
it is unlikely," replied the old man 
with an equally even voice. "I don't 
trust you." 
 
The shadow said nothing in reply to 
this. 
 
"It doesn't matter, I will serve my 
duty to my clan, and my master," said 
the old man with a heavy sigh. 
 
"Tread carefully old man," said the 
other shadow icily. 
 
"The Youma, they are becoming 
bothersome as well," said the Oyabun 
suddenly. "My operations are suffering 
losses because of these things." 
 
"How so?" asked the shadow. 
 
"A few of our front operations 
were...taken over so to speak. Usually 
to set a trap for those girls that have 
been running around killing them. A few 
of our jewelry and money laundering have 
been targeted," said the old man with a 
rough snort. 
 
"I'll see what I can do about that," 
said the shadow. 
 
+++++++++++++++++++++ 
 
Carrot was walking home, it was a 
five minute trek, so what could go 
wrong? 
 
He paused in the middle of the 
street, a strange tingling sensation 
started on the back of his neck and he 
frowned. "What the?" he muttered as he 
scratched at it. It almost felt like the 
area had gone to sleep. "That's weird," 
he muttered to himself idly as he rubbed 
at it for a moment. He was standing on 
the sidewalk in the middle of town, a 
few pedestrians walked by and he stepped 
forward again. The tingling stopped for 
a moment, and then started again. Once 
again, he sidestepped and it faltered 
for a moment before starting all over 
again. "What the heck?" he muttered as 
he stepped from side to side for a 
moment. After a few seconds it remained 
constant. He blinked and ducked, and it 
stopped again, only to start again in 
the exact same place, he frowned as he 
realized that it moved slightly. It 
seemed to be shifting a tiny bit along 
the back of his neck, focused on a 
single point. "This is weird." He 
continued to move around, oblivious to 
the odd stares he was getting. After a 
moment something popped into his mind 
and he turned around. 
 
The sensation moved onto his face, 
and he shifted around a little more. 
"Okay, Carrot, your life is weird 
enough, this isn't what you're thinking, 
I'm sure of it." He tensed his body and 
moved around a bit more, jumping back 
and fourth now. The sensation was never 
more than a half second away though, and 
it always returned. This time it moved 
onto his chest, and upper torso as it 
seemed to try to keep up with his 
movements. He narrowed his eyes and 
searched around as he moved. "There!" 
His eyes moved up to a window nearby, 
and he saw a small glint of light. "Oh 
shit." 
 
He dove away and rolled behind a 
mailbox on the corner. His heart racing 
as he gripped the iron pole that he knew 
would be there. He turned his head and 
stared at the hole that now resided in 
the metal box just beside his neck. It 
was about two inches wide. "Sniper," he 
muttered to himself fearfully. "Man, 
this really sucks." 
 
+++++++++++++++++++ 
 
Akira growled as he adjusted his 
aim. He was in his late twenties and had 
slicked back black hair. He was wearing 
a three-piece suit, rather like that of 
a common salary man. "This is insane!" 
he said to himself as he glared through 
the sight of his rifle and tried to keep 
a bead on the target. He was leaning 
against the windowsill of an abandoned 
apartment. "Does he see me?" he muttered 
to himself as his target started to jump 
around. "Son of a..." The boy looked up 
at him and frowned, his eyes growing 
wide as he rolled away. He took the 
shot, and missed. "Shit! How the fuck 
did he notice me?" growled the man 
angrily. He stood up and shifted behind 
the window where no one could see him. 
The rifle was silenced, and no one 
seemed to notice the shot. 
 
"Son of a bitch, this kid is good," 
he growled as he peered down into the 
street and noticed that his target was 
gone. "Damn." He dismantled the rifle 
and put it back into the hidden 
compartment of the briefcase he had 
brought with him. It looked plain, and 
unimportant, yet another part of his 
disguise. He growled and grit his teeth 
as he backed away into the apartment and 
away from the window. He glanced down at 
the photo in his palm and snorted. It 
was a picture of Carrot, he had a staff 
in his hand and looked like he was in 
the middle of a fight, probably taken in 
the heat of a battle with someone from 
the organization. The fact that he was 
still alive at all told him that the job 
probably wouldn't be easy. He'd had a 
hell of a time finding an area where the 
boy passed regularly, and had spent the 
better part of a week waiting on him. 
 
He looked at the small cell phone 
that he had just taken out of his pocket 
and growled. He dialed the number he had 
been given and didn't wait for a 
response from the other end. "The target 
is still alive." He hung up and cursed 
under his breath. "Damn it." 
 
++++++++++++++++++++++ 
 
Carrot was pressed against a wall in 
an alley, waiting for the strange 
sensation to return in the shadows. It 
didn't and he simply waited in the 
darkness. "Well, ain't this peachy. 
Seems I've developed a Spider sense." He 
wasn't sure if this should annoy him or 
not. He gave a heavy sigh and sat down 
on the pavement for a moment, mulling 
over this new development. "It's kinda 
cool I suppose, but the fact that I seem 
to need it sucks. That was too close." 
He turned his head and looked down the 
alley. It looked like he'd have to start 
taking the long way home. It added 
another ten minutes to his walk, which 
wasn't good. It would probably be best 
to avoid the area for a while. He 
growled under his breath, assassins were 
annoying, and he had no clue how to deal 
with this kind of threat. "Shit. Damn 
them for being so inconvenient!" 
 
A year ago he'd probably think 
himself insane for thinking of people 
trying to kill him as annoying for 
merely making him go out of his way 
again. 
 
The boy sighed and hung his head. 
"Why the hell not?" He chuckled and 
started walking through the alley. "I'm 
turning into Spider Man, next thing you 
know, I'll be sticking to walls." He 
wouldn't be surprised if he managed it. 
 
If course, the sensation started 
again and he sighed as he jumped 
straight up into the air. This time it 
had been a straight line across his 
belly. 
 
Out of the darkness, a familiar arm 
with a familiar knife slashed at where 
he had been. Kei stumbled out of the 
shadows, having over committed herself 
to the strike. "Damn it!" she cried as 
he came down behind her and jabbed the 
pole in his hand into her back. 
 
Carrot stared at it for a moment 
after watching her fall over his 
shoulder. She was sprawled out flat and 
the pole held his interest more than she 
did. "I'm making these somehow." It was 
a sort of uninspired statement. It had 
appeared in his hand in midair. He 
pushed it aside as the girl stood up and 
glared at him. "Akira missed?" 
 
"If you mean the sniper, yeah," 
replied Carrot calmly. He looked more 
annoyed than anything else. 
 
"Akira never misses," she replied 
dumbly. 
 
"Well he did this time? Did you want 
something, or are you just trying to 
kill me again?" he said sourly as he 
glared at her for a moment. 
 
"Well, we could put it off for an 
hour or two if you'd like," said the 
girl as she gave him a sultry smile and 
pulled on the front of her gi, giving 
him a small peak at her cleavage. 
 
"We already discussed that, you're 
not my type," he responded as he pulled 
his pole into a defensive position in 
front of him. 
 
"Too bad," she said as she flicked 
her wrist at him and tossed the throwing 
star she had grabbed while teasing him. 
 
Carrot shifted his weight before she 
even moved, the new tingling sensation 
alerting him to the danger. The tip of 
his pole intercepted the weapon and it 
clattered to the ground at his feet. 
 
Kei noticed this and jumped back 
with her knife held ready. "You didn't 
used to be that fast." 
 
"You're getting predictable," he 
responded calmly. 
 
The girl narrowed her eyes at him. 
"So are you, how do you think we found 
you this time? We've been watching you 
in this area for a week." 
 
"Well, it's a learning experience," 
he replied calmly as he narrowed his 
eyes at her. 
 
Kei snorted and charged forward. 
 
Carrot felt the places on his body 
where the strikes were aimed and dodged 
around them with seemingly no effort. 
This was starting to be pretty cool in 
his opinion. Occasionally, he'd react 
too soon and the tingling would shift on 
his body as she corrected herself, he 
always had a half-second warning though 
and managed to avoid it. 
 
"You're reading my moves?" gasped 
the girl in shock as he jumped back away 
from her and landed on the ground near 
the wall. He was looking rather 
impressed with himself at the moment. 
 
"Maybe I am, you're just getting 
easier to deal with," he replied calmly. 
"Maybe I should thank you for all this 
training." 
 
"Smug bastard," she snorted 
irritably. "I'm really starting to like 
you. Too bad you have to die." 
 
"I'm starting to think that's a bit 
beyond you," he replied coolly. 
 
Kei turned red with anger, and 
Carrot's whole body started to tingle. 
"Uh oh," he said as his eyes grew wide. 
 
What followed was a rather nasty 
experience, Kei had pulled dozens of 
throwing weapons out of her clothes, and 
was flinging them at him relentlessly. 
He took quite a few light hits as he 
dodged desperately around them and 
jumped into he air, twisting his body to 
avoid the onslaught as he managed to use 
one of the wires hidden in his sleeves 
to swing along one of the walls. 
 
Unfortunately, Kei had been 
expecting this reaction this time, and 
she jumped onto the opposite wall, 
springing off of it with her knife held 
ready as he moved by. 
 
Carrot grunted in pain as the weapon 
caught his face. He fell to the ground 
clutching the wound painfully. Blood 
seeped through his fingers as he held 
the right side of his face and cried out 
in pain. "Augh! Damn it!" 
 
"I have you!" screamed the girl as 
she twisted after the strike and fell 
into him with the knife held forward. He 
screamed again as it sank into his left 
forearm for about an inch. 
 
Without thinking he pushed at her 
with his legs, shoving her off before 
the knife sank in any deeper. The girl 
stumbled back and quickly righted 
herself in a ready position. "At last!" 
 
Carrot jumped upright with a roar of 
anger and pain. He landed on his feet 
and glared at her, blood covering the 
right half of his face from the very 
nasty looking gash that now ran from his 
eyebrow to near the bottom of his cheek. 
"That hurt!" 
 
"It gets better," replied the girl 
with an evil looking smirk on her face. 
She started to edge forward and lunged 
again with the knife. 
 
Carrot grunted as he shifted to the 
side and swung his pole up at an angle, 
forcing her to stop and duck. He kicked 
off a nearby dumpster and flipped in mid 
air with his legs extended in what 
appeared to be a hooking kick aimed for 
her head. 
 
Kei moved under him, trying to stab 
upwards, but instead of a kick, Carrot 
twisted and punched her in the face with 
his free hand halfway through the flip. 
Kei was thrown into the wall from the 
force of the blow and he landed in a 
kneeling position with his staff held 
ready. 
 
Kei shook her head and managed to 
regain her senses rather quickly, while 
Carrot's mind moved into a familiar mode 
of thought. "Gotta get away! Gotta get 
away!" He was berating himself mentally 
as well, he'd gotten cocky, and it had 
gotten him nearly killed. He hated to 
think of what might have happened of the 
Senshi had called his bluff in the park. 
He'd probably be a half-frozen pile of 
ash right now. 
 
Kei jumped forward on the attack 
again, his new sense almost forgotten 
through the pain he was feeling at the 
moment. He managed to realize the 
feeling and jumped back away from the 
slash. She twisted and stabbed back 
after the arcing slice, forcing him into 
the wall. With a final thrust, she 
stabbed the wall as he ducked down under 
the strike and lashed out with his fist. 
 
The girl lurched forward with the 
wind knocked out of her for a moment. 
She growled angrily as he found yet 
another of those damn poles and held it 
offensively. He poked at her, and 
missed. 
 
"Your aim's off," she commented with 
a small chuckle. 
 
"I realize that," he responded 
icily. He edged back towards the center 
of the alley and started to move away. 
 
"Trying to run away? Why don't we 
just finish this?" she said calmly. "Or 
are you not so far beyond me as you had 
thought?" 
 
Carrot only growled in response to 
this. 
 
Kei jumped forward, closing the 
distance between them, or rather she 
tried too. 
 
Carrot snorted and threw the pole in 
his hands at her as she jumped forward. 
It slammed into her chest and she 
grunted in pain as she was thrown 
against the asphalt roughly. She coughed 
painfully as she struggled to breathe as 
her vision blurred. "Damn!" she managed 
to groan as he slashed at the air above 
her with her knife, hoping desperately 
to catch him as he tried to take 
advantage of the situation. After a 
moment she could breathe again, and she 
jumped up and searched around. Carrot 
was gone. "Son of a..." She pushed her 
hair up in frustration and paced around 
for a moment. "That bastard!" 
 
"Who's a bastard?" said a voice from 
behind her. She tried to turn to see who 
it was, but pain exploded across the 
back of her head as Carrot slammed his 
pole into her head like it was a 
baseball bat. She was knocked out cold. 
 
He spit onto the ground to the side 
as he kicked her over onto her back and 
smirked. "Heh, you ain't bad looking, 
but no way am I going to settle for that 
old guy's sloppy seconds." He kneeled 
down beside her and picked up the knife. 
"This has caused me a lot of problems 
from you." He flipped it over in his 
hands for a moment and smirked as he 
walked away and left her lying there. 
 
Once he was out on the street again, 
his smirk fell away as the throbbing 
pain in his face reminded him that he 
was injured. His adrenaline rush stopped 
with the force of a mach truck and he 
almost fell to his knees as he clutched 
at his face in agony. "Damn!" 
 
He staggered forward towards his 
home and frowned at the group he 
suddenly found himself facing on the 
sidewalk. The street was empty except 
for them, and it was starting to get 
late. "Twice in one day?" 
 
The senshi were no longer in their 
fuku, but they were all looking at him 
in a sort of numb horror. 
 
"Are you all right?" said Usagi. 
 
"Do I look all right to you?" he 
growled as he stared at her with his one 
good eye. His hand was pressed against 
his face in an attempt to slow the 
bleeding. 
 
"You're hurt! We should..." said the 
blond as she moved towards him. The 
others weren't sure what to do. 
 
"Get away from me!" he cried as he 
swiped at her and jumped back. Anger 
contorted his face and he suddenly 
realized something was wrong. 
 
The girls all froze in place. Usagi 
blinked at him and stood upright. 
 
"Oh shit..." muttered Carrot as he 
simply stared, unable to move. 
 
A long line of red started to form 
on the girl's neck. He simply stared in 
horror as Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon, 
made a gurgling noise and spit blood out 
of her mouth. She looked like she hadn't 
quite realized what had happened yet. 
 
"Oh god no," muttered Carrot as he 
continued to watch. The girl fell to her 
knees, looking at him in confusion. Her 
eyes asking him why he had done it. 
Slowly, he turned his head down towards 
the knife in his hand. He had almost 
forgotten it was there, blood dripped 
from the blade and he could only hear 
the pounding of his heart . "What have 
I..." Slowly, he turned his gaze towards 
the girl who was now lying face first on 
the pavement, and the growing pool of 
blood on the ground beneath her. 
 
"Usagi!" It was the first sound he 
heard, he wasn't even sure who had said 
it. 
 
Without another word, he jumped 
forward, rolling the girl onto her back. 
He planted the knife into the ground and 
punched Makoto dead in her face. He 
fumbled at the wound, wiping the blood 
away desperately. Pulling the girl back 
as her friends tried desperately to get 
to her. He felt hands pulling at him and 
jumped up suddenly. He performed a 
spinning kick that hit at least two of 
them. Pulling the injured girl a little 
further away from them he peered at the 
wound again. She was starting to turn 
blue. 
 
"She's choking on her own blood!" he 
realized at once, the artery wasn't 
severed. He looked up at the girls 
desperately as the managed to pry him 
away again. "She's suffocating you 
idiots!" he screamed as he broke free of 
them. "We have to get her to breathe! 
She's going to drown!" 
 
Muscling his way through them he 
rolled the girl onto her back again, and 
blood poured out of her mouth. :"What 
the fuck? What do I do?" he whispered 
harshly. 
 
Ami Mizuno was the one who finally 
came through. Carrot had knocked her 
away for a third time, and she had a 
nasty looking bruise on her face as she 
knelt beside her friend and made no 
attempt to subdue him this time. He was 
roughly pulled away by the others and 
Makoto and Rei shoved him against the 
wall roughly, finally bringing him under 
control. He simply looked on in a sort 
of fascinated horror as Ami took a dirty 
straw off the sidewalk and plunged it 
into the wound. Blood squirted out of it 
for a moment and then there was a sort 
of hissing sound. 
 
Carrot looked at the girl's face as 
she lay there. She was staring straight 
up into the sky, and worked her mouth 
open and closed as she tried to breathe. 
 
 
Finally pain exploded across his 
face again, Makoto punched him; he 
wasn't sure how many times he'd been hit 
in the end. Rei helped hold him against 
the wall with Minako taking his other 
side as the brunette laid into him with 
tears in her eyes. 
 
"Bastard! You killed her!" she 
screamed at him repeatedly. 
 
He simply stood there and took it, 
his head hung low as she beat on him. He 
didn't even try to stop her. 
 
Ami's firm proclamation stopped this 
though. "That's enough! We have to get 
her to a hospital!" she screamed. "I 
need help! I can't stop the blood! I 
need someone else to help me hold the 
wound! My hands aren't big enough!" 
 
Carrot felt hands leave his body and 
he almost fell to the ground. Someone 
managed to hold him upright and he 
raised his eyes enough to see Rei 
glaring at him. "I'm going to kill you." 
Statement, promise, he wasn't sure what 
it was. 
 
Makoto and Minako were both at 
Usagi's side with Ami giving 
instructions. The whole thing was 
little more than a blur to him. "You'll 
try." He wasn't sure if it was what he'd 
intended to say, or just a reflex. He 
realized at that moment that he really 
was an asshole. 
 
Rei jumped back, Carrot noticed 
Minako was rushing off, probably in 
search of a phone. 
 
"Mars Power Makeup!" 
 
Carrot was slumped against the wall, 
looking at Sailor Mars's legs for a 
moment. "How dare you?!" screamed the 
angry senshi. 
 
Carrot staggered to his feet and 
looked up at her. "I guess I'm going 
down, in a blaze of glory." 
 
This caught the raven-haired senshi 
by surprise and she stepped back. 
 
"Maybe I don't deserve to live 
anymore, but I'll die fighting," he said 
calmly as he rose his head upright and 
stared her down. His wound bleeding 
freely and giving him an air of 
intimidation he'd never intended. 
 
"Fine by me," said Rei as she moved 
her hands up to attack. "Mars Fire..." 
 
"Your attacks take too long for 
close combat!" he responded as he jumped 
forward and punched her in the chest. 
She staggered back, hurt by the blow. 
She didn't care though and kicked at 
him. He shifted and avoided the strike. 
 
Ami and Makoto watched the battle 
silently, neither one took their 
attention off the girl lying between 
them for more than a moment. "Hold on 
Usagi! Help is coming!" said Ami 
desperately. 
 
The girl simply continued to stare 
into the sky. 
 
Carrot growled as he jumped back 
into another alley. Mars was right 
behind him as he turned to face her. He 
had no intention of running away this 
time. 
 
"Bastard! Die!" screamed Mars as she 
extended her hand. "Fire Soul!" 
 
Carrot jumped up and caught the 
bottom of a fire escape ladder, he 
heaved himself up and grunted from the 
heat of the flames below him. 
 
"No you don't!" snapped Mars as she 
jumped up onto the first rung of stairs 
just behind him as he started to ascend. 
 
 
"Come on! Let's see if you've got 
what it takes!?" he snarled as he 
punched her again and pushed her back a 
little. She responded by kicking him in 
his legs. He stumbled a bit and fell 
against the metal staircase. He growled 
and flipped back as she tried to punch 
him. Her fist slammed into the metal and 
she grunted in pain. 
 
Carrot lashed out with a kick that 
managed to catch her face. They traded 
blows, all the way up to the top of the 
fire escape, and he jumped onto the 
roof. 
 
"We'll hunt you down and destroy you 
monster!" cried the girl angrily as she 
charged another ball of flames and shot 
it at him, not even bothering to shout 
its name. 
 
Carrot rolled away from the shot as 
a chimney exploded in a spectacular ball 
of fire. He pushed himself back onto his 
feet. Distance fighting wasn't very 
smart against Mars, and he knew it. He 
rushed forward, hoping to close the gap 
between them before she could retaliate 
with another fire attack. Halfway there, 
a familiar tingle came to him on his 
back. "What the?" 
 
Mars snarled as he charged her, 
suddenly he jumped sideways and she 
jumped back in shock. A mess of sharp 
looking throwing knives could be seen 
embedded where he had once been. 
 
"You're having one hell of a day," 
said Kei as she looked down on the pair 
from the edge of the roof, it was 
slightly elevated and she smirked at 
Carrot. "You shouldn't have left me 
alive." 
 
The boy frowned at her as he 
crouched low against the ground, a feral 
looking flame burned in the back of his 
good eye. He was growing weaker from the 
loss of blood, it still dripped down his 
face. "I've already killed once today. 
What's one more?" 
 
Kei chuckled. "Seems you're having 
some trouble with this one? What does it 
matter to me? As long as you're dead, 
I'm happy." She jumped down and eyed 
Mars for a moment. 
 
Rei frowned at the girl and looked 
back at Carrot again. "Who are you?" 
 
"Someone who has a problem with him, he 
stole my knife, and I want it back," 
said the girl as she gave the senshi an 
appraising frown. 
 
"Don't get in my way," said Mars 
calmly as she raised her palm again. 
 
"Wouldn't dream of it," agreed Kei 
as she produced a large number of 
throwing stars between her fingers. 
 
Carrot was backed against a wall as 
he glared at the pair. He was screwed, 
and he knew it. "Shit." 
 
Mars and Kei let loose at once, both 
throwing their respective attacks. The 
area covered was far too large for 
Carrot to jump over or move to either 
side to avoid. What he did, neither of 
the girls was expecting. He simply stood 
and leaned back, tumbling over the edge 
of the roof just before the attack hit. 
A huge pillar of flame blasted over the 
side, shattering the edge of the rooftop 
and sending a shower of debris into the 
street below. 
 
Carrot heard the pair cursing as he 
fell away, he flicked his wrist and sent 
a line into one of the nearby buildings, 
aiming for the street below. It was 
rather busy, but he thought he could 
manage a landing there. Of course, the 
double-decker bus that rounded the 
corner in the area he was planning on 
landing in didn't help matters either. 
It was loaded with tourists, and a 
little too high. He was going to hit it 
if he didn't react soon enough. He 
pulled himself a little higher on the 
line and grit his teeth as he passed 
over the top barely.. The line hit the 
low point of his swing, and he slammed 
into the back wall of the seating area 
on the roof. He lurched over it 
painfully and managed to hold on and 
pull himself back into the passenger 
area. He slumped to the ground and 
groaned in pain. The bus was stopped 
now, and tourists were all looking at 
him in shock. His face was covered in 
blood, his belly was on fire, and he was 
basically in a world of hurt, not to 
mention that he was probably now wanted 
for the murder of the girl who was 
supposed to save the world soon. 
 
He wasn't quite sure why he was 
laughing really. 
 
He turned his gaze upward as he 
staggered to his feet and looked up to 
the rooftop he had just swung from. A 
tour guide was standing on the other end 
of the bus, and he walked up to the 
woman and took the small microphone from 
her grip. She made no move to stop him. 
With a wide grin on his face he said 
something into it. 
 
"First I was afraid, I was 
petrified...." He then started to sing. 
"Kept thinkin I could never live without 
you by my side, but then I spend so many 
nights thinkin how ya did me wrong., and 
I feel strong, and I learned how to get 
along! And so you're back, from outer 
space. I just walked in to find you here 
with that bad look upon your face!" He 
started dancing, openly taunting the 
girls on the rooftop. "I should have 
changed that stupid lock! I should have 
made you lose your key! If I had known 
for just one second you'd be back to 
bother me! Oh, now go! Walk out the 
door, just turn around now, cause you're 
not welcome anymore! Weren't you the one 
who tried to hurt me with desire? Think 
I'd crumble? Think I'd lay down and die? 
Oh no not I! I will survive! As long as 
I know how to love I know I'll stay 
alive! I've got all my life to live, 
I've got all my love to give, and I'll 
survive! I will survive!" 
 
The bus started moving again and 
Carrot continued his song until Rei and 
Kei were out of sight. He chuckled and 
waited for the next stop and jumped off 
the top of the bus onto the street. "So, 
I guess I can go home now." 
 
++++++++++++++++++ 
 
"Ami..." Minako's voice was laced 
with worry. All of the girls were 
together, sitting in a waiting room. 
Tears flowed freely among them as they 
sat there in silence for the most part. 
 
Ami had just come back and looked at 
her friends. "She has a chance." The 
group was hoping for more, but it was 
better than nothing. "We can't do 
anything more here. We should go home." 
 
"I'm staying," said Mars calmly. 
 
"You can if you want, but we won't 
be able to see her for a few days at 
least. Her condition is not very 
stable," replied Ami quietly. "The 
doctor sound's hopeful." 
 
"That bastard dies," said Rei 
firmly. She glanced around at the 
others. 
 
Minako nodded slowly, Makoto with 
her. 
 
"Who was that girl with you?" asked 
Ami. She had a scowl on her face as she 
said it. The girl had stolen important 
evidence to the crime. They had spent a 
good part of the evening talking to the 
police. They had very little information 
to give them, and it frustrated her. 
 
Usagi's family was huddled together 
on the other side of the room. The group 
looked over to them and a silent 
exchange of glances sent out sympathy to 
them. It was obvious they didn't want to 
be bothered. The doctor had given them 
the news a few moments ago, and then 
passed it on to Ami. 
 
"I don't know who she was," said Rei 
coolly. "She said he stole her knife." 
 
Ami nodded and pushed it aside. "We 
all need rest, we've got a long day 
ahead of us if we're going to find him." 
 
The girls stood up and walked out of 
the hospital together. 
 
++++++++++++++++++++ 
 
Carrot was sitting in Gia's office. 
The woman was absolutely mortified when 
he had walked in. Stitches now lined the 
right side of his face. Fortunately his 
eye hadn't been damaged, but the wound 
would probably leave a nasty looking 
scar. 
 
"This is serious!" she snapped as 
she glared at him. "You need help! You 
can't keep this up!" 
 
Carrot frowned at her and sighed. "I 
can't go to the police." 
 
"Whatever this problem of yours is, 
its got to be better than dying!" she 
snapped angrily. 
 
Mei Lin was sitting in the corner 
silently. She looked slightly miffed, 
apparently Carrot had run off to fight 
evil without her. She did look worried 
though, it was a nasty wound. He didn't' 
seem too bad off, and the bleeding had 
mostly stopped by the time he had 
arrived. "You should have taken me 
along." 
 
"You'd have gotten me killed. You 
can't even beat a pile of shit, much 
less that crazy bitch Kei!" he snapped. 
He'd only told them what he thought they 
needed to know, and left out the senshi, 
and the sniper he'd run into while he 
was out. "Are you done yet?" he grumbled 
as Gia put in the last of the stitches 
and sat back. 
 
"Yes, I'm finished. She put a 
bandage over his eye and taped it down. 
The stitches weren't completely covered 
though and it was still pretty repulsive 
to look at. 
 
"Eew," commented Mei Lin. 
 
"Well, it feels worse than it looks. 
Come on, I'm hungry," he stood up and 
walked towards the door. 
 
Gia frowned as she watched the pair 
walk outside. She was getting more and 
more worried about the boy. Whatever he 
was involved in, it was serious. "That 
girl could get dragged into this. What 
can I do though?" She sighed and turned 
her eyes to the phone on her desk. 
 
She walked over and picked it up, 
dialing the number quickly. After a 
moment of silence she spoke up. "Hello? 
Spike? I want you to do me a favor..." 
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
 
TBC... 
 
Next Time: Hunted!