Five years ago....

	Oe Kintaro stumbled backwards and fell, palms scraping on the 
asphalt as he tried to stop his fall. The taste of rust was on his 
tongue, and he licked his cut lip.
	He looked up, facing the boy who knocked him down, with a 
mixture of rage and frustration that made tears well up in his eyes.
	The ends of his bandanna fluttering in the wind, the boy looked 
down at him. "Had enough, wimp?" The boy chuckled as he was answered 
by a choking sob. "Don't you ever, EVER, touch me again, wuss, or 
you'll regret it."
	"C'mon, Tetsuo," the brown-haired boy said to the one in the 
bandanna, "Kintaro just patted you on the back."
	"Mitsuru," Tetsuo said, "stay out of this. He put his filthy 
hands on my leather jacket. No one touches Shima Tetsuo and gets away 
with it. Unless," he said as he walked over to the girl with the 
boyish haircut, "it's a piece like you. When I find that yen, I could 
give you everything you could possibly want. If you be my woman," he 
whispered.
	"Like hell," Nabiki said without looking at him.
	Tetsuo chuckled. "Oh, you'll change your opinion of me when I'm 
done with you. Just you wait."
	Bastard! thought Kintaro. One of these days, I'll beat the 
living shit out of you, and I'll make you wish you had never been 
born!
	"Tetsuo, back off," Mitsuru said. "Now."
	"Hey, whatever, man," Tetsuo said, raising his hands as if in 
surrender. "she's yours. Just... leave some for me when you're 
through, okay?"
	"THAT'S IT, YOU'RE FINISHED!" Kintaro screamed, rushing Tetsuo, 
knocking him to the ground. He pounded Tetsuo's face, over and over 
and over, his knuckles cut by Tetsuo's teeth.
	"That's right," chuckled Tetsuo through bloodied lips, "hit me! 
Hit me harder! Throttle the life out of me! I know you want to! Fight 
for the honor of the lady, boy scout!"
	"Shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP! You worthless piece of shit!" 
Kintaro screamed as he punched Tetsuo, again and again, until he swore 
his fists jarred from hitting bone.
	"Stop."
	Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice. Even Tetsuo 
turned, as if forced to by some implied authority in the speaker's 
voice, or tone, or diction...
	"This is pointless," Tezuka Shinobu said. No expression could be 
read from his voice, not even anger or annoyance, not in his voice, 
not in his face, not even in his eyes. He simply stared at Kintaro, 
and all of a sudden, Kintaro felt incredible shame wash over him.
	"You've lost control, Kintaro," Shinobu said, tone level. 
"You've lost."
	Kintaro stood up and bowed his head. "I know. But Tetsuo..."
	"I know what he did," Shinobu interrupted. "His goading wasn't 
meant for you, Kintaro."
	Kintaro saw Mitsuru's shake his head. Nabiki simply stared at 
Shinobu in wonder and awe, feelings Kintaro had himself, as he watched 
this thirteen-year old who had complete mastery of his own.
	Shinobu walked over to Tetsuo and extended his left hand, which 
Tetsuo took, all the while chuckling. "Nice leash you have on these 
dogs, Shinobu. I don't know how you do it. I..."
	Shinobu pointed a gun on Tetsuo with the right hand.

	Kintaro had never seen fear in Tetsuo's eyes before. 

	Shinobu just stood there, gun barrel on Tetsuo's forehead. He 
didn't say anything, didn't do anything else, he simply held the gun 
steady as he stared Tetsuo in the eye.
	No one spoke. No one moved. No one even dared breathe. Not even 
Tetsuo.
	A drop of sweat traveled down the underside of the gun barrel, 
under the trigger guard, and fell off the tip of the handle.
	Shinobu cocked back the hammer with his thumb. "Leave," he said.
	Tetsuo swallowed hard. "What?" he managed to blurt out.
	"I said leave."



Theme: In The Night - Key The Metal Idol Opening
			
	[Kintaro walks the city streets at night]

Wish I could believe
That you care for me that way
Mirror, mirror speak to me 
In the night
 
	[Kintaro passes Mitsuru, camera changes focus to Mitsuru]

Don't you think I know
This grief can't be cried away
In the tears I cry I see
Rainy day

	[Mitsuru under a lamp post]

Why can't I love you so sleep would come to me

	[Mitsuru close-up looking up at building]

With the eyes closed the mind has a perfect view

	[Zoom up to Nabiki on top of building, arms outstretched, eyes 
closed]	


It's

	[Nabiki]

Just

	[Mitsuru]

We

	[Kintaro]

Do

	[Tetsuo]

Lost in your arms I float away

	[Yen bill carried by the wind away from Nabiki]

Don't you know

	[Yen passes by Kintaro who chases it]

Once daylight comes I'm searching for you

	[Shinobu watches, shrugs, then walks away]

Y E N   T O W N

A TimeRunner Limited Fanfic Series

All trademarks contained within are property of their respective 
owners, used herein without consent for non-profit purposes.

*****
Chapter Two

The Present

	Kintaro sat by the window, waiting for sunrise. He took one long 
draw from his cigarette and exhaled it through his mouth and nose, and 
closed his eyes.
	"Himawari," he said out loud, to no one in particular.

	He opened his eyes, stood up, and walked over to the battered 
old piano on side of the room. He sat on the piano stool and idly 
played the C scale up and down with his right hand. 

	C D E F G A B C'. C' B A G F E D C. 

	He heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he said, not stopping.
	The door opened.	 "Um... Oe-san?"
	"What is it? What are you doing here so early?" he snapped. C D 
E F G A B C'.
	"Shima-san sent me to you, to learn." answered the man, 
nervously.
	Kintaro did not turn to look. "To learn," he repeated. C' B A G 
F E D C.
	He took another long draw from his cigarette, and sighed. "To 
learn." A- B C D E F G.

	=====

	Five years ago

	Kintaro let Shinobu pull him by the collar. "What did you gain 
from that, Kintaro?" Shinobu said, in a tone that might have suggested 
he was asking what Kintaro had for lunch.
	Kintaro did not answer. Kintaro never answered when he felt 
nothing he said or did would come out right.
	"Nothing." Shinobu finished, matter-of-factly. "You gained 
nothing."
	"Shinobu," Mitsuru started, but his sentence, whatever it was, 
would remain unfinished.
	"You gain nothing by taking an eye for an eye," Shinobu said.
	"I know," Kintaro said, ashamed to even look Shinobu in the 
face.
	"No." Shinobu said, letting him go. "No, you don't know."
	"Then what should I do? Tell me!" demanded Kintaro. "Do I simply 
let him walk away, unscathed, all the while letting him do whatever he 
wants?"
	"No." Shinobu started to walk away. "Not at all."
	"Then what?!"
	"Then," Shinobu said, still walking away, "you stop him, but 
with a more concrete goal than to get even for what he's done."
	Kintaro was dubious. "Like what? What purpose could be better 
than punishing him for the wrong he's done?"
	"Destroying him completely."
	As Kintaro watched, amazed, as Shinobu walked away, he heard him 
say, "Learn, Kintaro."



	=====

	The present

	"To learn," Kintaro repeated. He turned to face the newcomer. 
"To learn what?"
	"To learn the ropes, I suppose, sempai," he answered.
	"The ropes," Kintaro repeated, amusedly lighting himself another 
cigarette. "What is your name?" he asked.
	"Hasukawa Kazuya, sempai," the younger man replied.
	"Do you even know what the ropes are? No? Well, I'll teach you 
what I've learned," Kintaro said, standing up and pacing around 
Kazuya, "but if you learn more than Tetsuo wants you to, you answer to 
me. Tetsuo is not your boss anymore. I am. Do you understand?"
	"I understand completely, sempai."


	Nabiki awoke.
	The room was filled with the orange glow of sunrise. She was 
alone in the futon, and she sighed. She drew up the sheets to hide her 
nakedness as if it mattered, the way someone alone unconsciously did. 
She stood up to get dressed, turned around, and stopped.
	Mitsuru sat there, holding the box in front of him, crying.


	"What is in that notebook, sempai?"
	Kintaro's attention turned to the notebook tucked in his back 
pocket. "This notebook," he said, "contains everything I have learned 
ever since I started carrying it five years ago."
	"Everything? Surely you mean everything important you've 
learned, sempai."
	"No. Everything." Kintaro opened the notebook.
	Pages and pages of blessed information. Everything he had 
learned since was here, everything from natural science to bus 
schedules to contact numbers to old sayings was here. And every page 
had one word as its heading.
	'Learn'.

	"A wise man taught me that the most important lesson I would 
ever learn," Kintaro said, still looking at the battered leather-
covered notebook, "was that what I learned was never as important as 
learning itself."
	"What about wealth? What about fame? What about power? Aren't 
those important?" Kazuya asked, dubious.
	"Wealth?! Fame?! Power?! Is that what you want?!" snapped 
Kintaro. "Do you see that chest over there, Hasukawa?"
	"Y... yes, sempai."
	"If you want those things you mentioned, then take a million or 
two from it and run for office. And get out of my sight." Kintaro 
waved him off.
	Kazuya did not move. "No... No, I would rather not, sempai."
	"And why the hell not?" Kintaro said irritably. "You've already 
learned what's 'important' from me, so get out of here. And stop 
calling me sempai. I stopped being your sempai when you stopped 
learning."
	"No, sempai, I want to learn." Kazuya said weakly.
	"Learn? Learn what?" Kintaro said, barely containing the 
annoyance in his voice. "Fine. Let me tell you what Tetsuo sent you 
here to learn. I deal in drugs. I don't take them. That's number one. 
You do not test your own merchandise.
	"Number two," he continued, "I deal in guns, but I do not go 
around randomly shooting people. You do not kill off your customers, 
not even when they can't pay. Otherwise, how do you make a profit?"
	Kintaro felt like lying down and burying his head in his 
pillows, but he continued. "Number three. War is not genocide. You do 
not win by default if there is no one left to compete against. You 
only win when you completely and utterly defeat your enemy. Which is 
why there is a small rival gang presence in this city," Kintaro said, 
taking another long drag on his cigarette. "More people join us if 
we're winning, and we cannot win if we have no opponent." He exhaled. 
"That's it. Now go."
	Kazuya walked towards the doorway to leave. He stopped inside 
the doorframe and said out loud, without looking, "Sempai?"
	"What is it? What more do you want?" Kintaro said as he climbed 
into bed.
	"Teach me something Shima-san does not want me to know." Kazuya 
said, quietly.
	"Do you realize what you are asking me to do?" Kintaro said, 
sitting up and staring at Kazuya in surprise.
	"Yes," Kazuya said, rolling down his sleeve, revealing long, 
horrible gashes down his arm. "I am asking you to free me."
	

	The city reflected the morning sun's light, its cold streets 
untouched by the sun's warmth. The faceless crowds began to walk the 
streets, one single mass of humanity running the city that ran it. 
Some entered the buildings, some drove around the streets, some 
peddled their wares by the sidewalk.
	So many people, and not a living soul among them.


	Kintaro bandaged Kazuya's wounds, on his arms and legs and on 
his back. "I'm sorry, Hasukawa, I did not know," he apologized.
	"No, no, there was no way for you to know, sempai," Kazuya 
reassured him. "I just wanted to be free from him, and I figured that 
this was the way." He stared into the cup of tea Kintaro had prepared 
for him. "Then again, I used to get beaten up by him a lot before I 
joined him, and I thought that joining him would be the only way out. 
Boy, was I wrong," he said, picking up the cup and warming his hands 
on it.
	"Don't worry," Kintaro said, "I'm his right-hand man. As far as 
he's concerned, you're still on his side, and that I'll deal with 
you."
	"I really appreciate this, sempai," Kazuya said.
	"You're welcome," Kintaro said, smiling. "But in order for me to 
keep my end of the bargain, you must listen to what I have to say."
	"I'm listening, sempai," Kazuya said.
	"Everyone knows that the most powerful Yen Town in all of Yen 
Town is Shima Tetsuo, right? Everyone knows he has his fingers in so 
many pies, from drugs to guns to prostitution to local politics. 
Everyone is glad to have him and his almighty yen on their side, 
blinded by the promise of unlimited wealth as reward," Kintaro said.
	"Yes," Kazuya said. "I got this way because I learned the 
location of a yen bill, and I had not bothered to follow the ones who 
had it."
	"A yen bill? A REAL yen bill?" asked Kintaro.
	"Yes, sempai," Kazuya replied. "You seem surprised about it."
	"Well, you see," Kintaro explained, "I've never seen one."
	"Never?" Kazuya said in disbelief. "Me never seeing one I could 
understand, but you're the right-hand man of the head Yen Town Shima 
Tetsuo! Surely you've seen him handle one."
	"No, I haven't, and with good reason," Kintaro said, holding up 
a finger. "What not everyone knows, and what Tetsuo would kill you 
over if you knew, is that Shima Tetsuo, the most powerful Yen Town in 
all of Yen Town, does not have a single yen to his name."

	
	Mitsuru stared at the cursed thing in his hands. It felt like he 
carried the weight of the city in that one box. He could not let go of 
it, and he felt his arms tiring, and he knew that if the box fell 
straight into hell itself he would let it drag him down with it.
	"Mitsuru," he heard Nabiki say as she put his hand on his 
shoulder, "what's wrong? Why are you crying?" He realized that his 
cheeks were wet with his own tears.
	"The dream," he whispered.
	"What?" asked Nabiki, not comprehending.
	"The dream..." Mitsuru repeated. "Here it is. I hold the dream 
in my hands."
	"Yes, you do," Nabiki said. "With that, and with the yen my 
father left me, we can do anything we want."
	"No, you don't understand!" cried Mitsuru. "All my life I have 
wanted this, dreamed of this, spent sleepless nights thinking of this. 
And now that I have it... I have nothing left!"
	"No you don't!" Nabiki exclaimed.
	"Don't you understand?!" Mitsuru sobbed. "The dream is over!"
	Nabiki looked at Mitsuru for a moment. Then she sat down beside 
him and embraced him.
	"You have me," she said, and all of a sudden, Mitsuru felt more 
ashamed than he had ever felt in his entire life.
	He put his arms around her and held her tightly. "I'm so sorry," 
he said.
	"Don't be," Nabiki answered. "Don't be."

	As he shut his eyes, shut his eyes to the box, shut his eyes to 
the city, and lost himself in Nabiki's arms, in Nabiki's scent, 
Mitsuru heard her say something that made him fall in love with her 
all over again, something that reminded him of how much he admired 
her, even as he swore never to let her down again.
	"Dream another dream, Mitsuru. Dream another dream."



	To be continued...


	TimeRunner, January 9, 1997

=====
TimeRunner's Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/7482

icq: 7153134 (Keiichi)
=====

"The story grew in the most convoluted way, as many people will be
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twists and turns of the plot, some event suddenly seemed to illuminate
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