Akuryou Taisan by Scott Delahunt Sailor Moon and related characters created by Naoko Takeuchi Phantom Quest Corp and related characters created by Juzo Mutsuki No trademark infringement on TOEI or Pioneer is intended This story Copyright 1997 by Scott Delahunt [This story takes place after Sailor Moon ? and Phantom Quest Corp episode 4.] The guard supervisor sat in the small security room, sipping his coffee. He was surrounded by monitors, displaying the views of dozens of cameras throughout Yayota's Tokyo headquarters. A junior security guard sat with him, studying the screens intently as picture after picture flipped. A burst of light grabbed the junior guard's attention. He manually switched back to the camera feed that captured the burst. The guard waited, and saw a second burst on the black and white monitor. "Chief!" the guard called. "There's something going on in the parking garage." The supervisor looked over the guard's shoulder at the monitor. "I don't see anything," he said. "This midnight shift is getting to you." "I saw something - There! There it is again." Another flash erupted across the screen. "Pan the camera around. Find out where it's coming from." "Right, Chief." The guard took control of the remote camera, letting it rotate slowly. Several more bursts of lights flashed across the monitor, each one brighter than the last. "I think that's where they're coming from, Chief," the guard announced. "There's nothing *there*." Both men blinked as another bright flash filled the monitor. "I know, Chief, but that's where it looks like the light's coming from." "I'll get someone to check it out. The camera must be starting to go. I'll fill out the requistion later." The supervisor returned to his desk and picked up his walkie-talkie. "Base to Patrol 17." -Patrol 17. What is it Chief?- "Looks like a broken camera on . . . " "Parking level four, section four," the junior guard supplied. ". . . on P4, section four," the supervisor relayed. "Give it a look-see for the requisition. Keep those paper-pushers happy." -Roger, Chief. 17 out.- "Kid, keep an eye out for 17. Tell me if you see anything. And record this." "Right, Chief." The guard located Patrol 17, another young man, on his way to level P4. On the monitor focused on the light show, only bright flashes appeared. Soon, the lone guard approached the section. -Patrol 17 to Base.- "Base here," the supervisor answered. "Is there a problem with the camera?" -You don't see what's going on here?- "All we have here are flashbulbs popping." -You gotta be kidding. There's a kid here in the middle of the fireworks.- "What kid? Tell me where to point the camera." -The camera's pointed right at her.- "We're still not seeing anything." -Chief, tell management to get new equipment. I'm going to talk to the girl.- "We'll keep the camera on you." -Roger, Base. Patrol 7 out.- On screen, the guard moved into the camera's view. His arms were opened wide, appearing to reason with whoever was down there. He grew more agitated as he approached. Suddenly, he stopped walking. The guard slowly started to back away. "Kid, get me a close up," the supervisor ordered. The camera zoomed in, but still could not see what the guard on the parking level did. Giving up, the junior guard pulled the view out. The guard on scene turned around, fear on his face. He ran several steps before falling. Flipping over on to his back, the look of fear turned into a look of terror. The guard's head snapped to the side, and bloody gashes appeared on his face. The supervisor called for police and an ambulance, then sat helplessly as his guard was mauled. -**- Hino Rei suddenly sat up in bed. She had felt something cross into her world, something malevolent. She wiped the sweat off her brow, then got out of bed. The feeling she had was brief, but strong. Strong enough to wake her at . . . She checked her clock. It was three in the morning. Rei changed into her temple robes. She lived at the Hikawa Shrine in Tokyo with her grandfather and his assistant, Yuuichiro. Trying to be as quiet as possible to avoid waking either, Rei slipped through the halls to the sacred flame. She knelt before the flame, and prayed. "Sacred flame, show me the disturbance that I felt," Rei intoned, as she concentrated on the brief feeling that woke her. The flames shimmered and slowly took form. A brief image of a downtown office building appeared. It was soon replaced by an image of a book. Rei tried to make out the title, but was unable to read it. The book looked old, though. There was a woodcut illustration of something on the cover, though again, Rei couldn't see of what. Frustrated, and aware of a major test in the morning at school, Rei returned to bed. -**- The alarm clock blared. Kisaragi Ayaka stirred under her covers. She reached out to pick up the clock and shut it off. Ayaka threw the clock to the floor, where it landed beside a pile of broken clocks sharing the same fate. She turned over and went back to sleep. A second clock's alarm rang. Again, Ayaka reached out to pick up the clock. She held it high, ready to dash it to the floor still ringing. Over the din of the alarm, Ayaka heard the door open. Without looking, she pitched the clock at the door. Ayaka heard a young girl scream just before a gout of flame washed over her bed. At least the alarm stopped ringing. Ayaka beat at the small fires in her bed. "I'm sorry, Ayaka-san," the girl apologized, bowing deeply. "I'm very sorry. Mamoru-kun sent me to tell you breakfast is ready." Rokugo Namami was a part-time student with Ayaka's company, You-Gen-Kai-Sya, and had the unfortunate ability to generate fire when frightened. Having put the fires out, Ayaka pulled the covers higher. "I'll be right there, after I'm dressed," she said. "You go ahead." "I'm really very sorry, Ayaka-san," Nanami repeated. She closed the door as she left. Nanami returned to the dining room, where Shimesu Mamoru sat eating his breakfast. "Is she up?" he asked. Blushing, Nanami answered, "Yes. She's getting dressed." She got a bowl of rice for herself and joined Mamoru. They were soon joined by Ayaka staggering into the dining room wearing a t-short and a pair of shorts. She brushed her red bangs out of her eyes as she dropped into a chair. Her hair fell on to the table. "Coffee," Ayaka mumbled. "We're out, Ayaka-san," Mamoru answered. Ayaka raised her head a few centimetres. "We can't be. I bought some with the last pay." "That was three weeks ago." "Three . . . weeks . . . ?" Ayaka swallowed dryly. "That job couldn't have been that long ago." "We'll need another job soon, Ayaka-san." Ayaka found the effort to sit back in her chair. "One will come up soon." The phone interrupted Ayaka, who blocked her ears as it rang. Mamoru got up from the table and answered the phone. "You-Gen-Kai-Sya," Mamoru said. There was a pause as he listened to the person on the other end, punctuating occaisionally with "yes" and "hmm-mm". "Well?" Ayaka asked, impatient. "Mamoru, who is it?" "Thank you, Detective, I'll tell her. Good-bye." Mamoru hung up the handset. He turned to face Ayaka. "That was Detective Karino. He wants you to meet him at the Yayota building downtown in an hour." "I told you a job would come up soon." -**- Rei's alarm clock woke her from a fitful sleep. She resisted hitting the snooze button and got out of bed. Stifling a yawn, she changed into her temple robes, then outside to begin her chores. As she swept the front entrance, she pondered over the feeling that woke her in the middle of the night. The fire reading should have been more conclusive. It was like the cause of the feeling had just disappeared. Maybe her friend, Mizuno Ami, could with finding the book. Rei decided to try to sketch what she saw of the book. Ami should be able to search with that. Rei finished sweeping and returned inside. She changed into her school uniform, ate, then left for class. As she walked down the stairs from the temple, she met a young woman heading up to the temple. The woman didn't seem to notice Rei. "Excuse me?" Rei said, trying to get the woman's attention. "May I help you?" The woman looked up, her face troubled. "Oh, sorry. I . . . I don't know. Is there someone at the temple I could talk too?" "My grandfather's awake," Rei answered. "He takes care of the shrine." "Do you live here, too?" "I help Grandfather with the chores." "My name is Yasutake Megumi," the woman introduced. Rei smiled. "Hino Rei." "Could I talk to instead?" I'd feel much more comfortable talking to a woman about my problem." Rei glanced at her watch. "I'm late for school," she said. "Can I talk to you after class?" Megumi looked crestfallen. "I can't. I have to work after class." Dejected, she slowly turned around around to go back down the stairs. "Wait," Rei called. "I'm not that late. If you can walk with me, I'll listen." Megumi smiled sadly. "Thank you." Rei and Megumi went down the temple's steps together. They walked in silence for a couple of blocks before Megumi said, "There's a guy I'm in love with." "I see . . . " Rei prompted. "I've loved him ever since we were in junior high. The problem is, he doesn't know. He barely knows I exist." "Have you tried talking to him?" Rei asked. "I have, but I don't know what to say to him. What if he rejects me? I couldn't live without him." "Have you tried writing him a letter?" "Many," Megumi answered. "They're all sitting in my desk drawer." She sighed.. "I'm almost desparate. I found a book and I'm trying a few things in it, but I'm not sure if any of it will work." "You have to try something," Rei said. "This guy will never notice you. Even if he doesn't return your feelings for him, he won't reject you." "Really, Rei-chan?" "Really. If he is worthy of your love, he won't be cruel to you." The two young women stopped in front of Rei's school. "I have to get inside. I'd be happy to help you more, Megumi-san." "Thanks. Thanks for listening." -**- Ayaka arrived at Yayota. She was quickly ushered by a uniformed police officer to the parking garage. There, she found Detective Karino. He led Ayaka past the yellow tape surrounding th crime scene. "Forensics has already finished here," Karino said. "They'll have a preliminary report this afternoon." "What happened? Was anyone hurt?" Ayaka asked. "A security guard. He's in IC right now, in a coma." "So why did you call me out here? So far, it's nothing that the police can't handle, right?" "There were witnesses to the guard's beating. They even taped it. Come with me to the Security Office and I'll show you the tape." The two left the crime scene and went to the cramped Security Office. Karine introduced Ayaka to the night security supervisor. After introductions, the supervisor invited Ayaka to sit down. "Sorry for the tight quarters," the supervisor said. "Most of the room is taken up by equipment. Watch that monitor on your right. I'll play what we taped last night." "What happened?" Ayaka asked. "It's easier to show you. I watched it happen, and I still can't believe what happened." The chief started the tape and fast-forwarded to when the lights started flashing on parking level four. Ayaka watched, mesmerized, as the guard was silently mauled. "Did the guard see anything?" Ayaka asked when the tape ended. "He saw something, alright. He never said what he saw that beat him up, but he also saw a girl down there. We apparently had the camera pointed right at her, but she never showed up on screen or on the tape." "When does the hospital expect your guard to recover?" Korino asked. "I'm still waiting to find out." "So why am I here?" Ayaka asked. "Yayota's PR department doesn't want an official police report. The less known, the better," the supervisor spat. "Me, I don't like any of my guys getting beat up like that, not with the perp getting away with it. I've talked to the head of Security, and he feels the same way; PR be damned." "I can pass on everything Department U has," Korino said. "It won't be much." "Four million yen," Ayaka stated. "One million in advance." The supervisor's jaw dropped. "I don't know if I can get that approved." "You want to find the one responsible for your guard's injuries, right?" "Yes . . . " "And so does your boss, right?" "Yes . . . " "Let him worry about it. I'll bring a contract by later. And if your boss has second thoughts, let him know that what happened last night wasn't a one-time-only event." "What?" Ayaka leaned forward in her chair. "Your guard was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wasn't the target." "You saw those marks, too," Korino said. "Barely. I could use any photos you got of them. I have a hunch that I want to follow up on." "I can't promise much on the photos, either. Someone tried to erase them." Ayaka stood up. "Let me know when your guard is able to talk to me," she said to the supervisor. "Det. Korino, can you keep the area cordonned off until I can examine it?" -**- Rei lost track of what her teacher was saying. Everyone in class was staring at her, waiting.