Title: Not a God Part 6 (Version 1.0)
Author: nIGHT rIDER
Email: ikari@wantree.net.au
Rating: G
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Arizuka was used to being feared by subordinates, although not
always with good reason. A strict and upright individual, he was a
great deal more flexible than other Chief Superintendants had been.
But it was not always a good thing to develop a reputation for being
flexible when one was at the pinnacle of his profession.
So he went out of his way to cultivate the persona of "Lord
Enma", the great Demon-King of Japanese mythology.... Everyone
feared a visit by "Lord Enma".... Stories would abound over
officers being sacked or transferred to remote locations after one
of his visits. True, he had had occasion to exercise a little
discipline here and there, but barely as much as would be stated on
the grapevine.
"Ah, Chief-Superintendent...." Arizuka turned as he stepped
up to the main desk, expecting no resistance to his intention to
walk through to the main office. The Captain of the Bokuto
Precinct, a tall, tanned and lazy-eyed figure and a one-time student
of Arizuka, stood beside him, doing his best to retain his sense of
calm in Arizuka's presence. "This is a most... unexpected
pleasure."
"Indeed." Arizuka adjusted his glasses. "I see the internal
alarm system is working perfectly in here. I didn't expect you to
emerge from your cave quite so quickly after my arrival."
The Captain smiled, nervously, his thin, dark moustache
twitching. "Actually, I was already here." He put his hands behind
his back. "May I be so bold as to ask the purpose of this visit,
sir?"
Arizuka smiled, shrugging. "I have a job for our favourite
pair of female officers... Tsujimoto and Kobayakawa. Something to
do with a young lady who is to receive a national award for
bravery, by the name of Tsukino Usagi...."
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BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON / TAIHO SHICHAUZO
NOT A GOD
by nIGHT rIDER (Assistance by DDFA)
Disclaimer - all characters pertaining to the series Bishoujo Senshi
Sailormoon and Taiho Shichauzo are owned by Takeuchi Naoko,
Fujishima Kosuke, Bandai, TBS, and Kodansya. All other characters
were thought up by me. Well, its true, isn't it?
Chapter 6
Living the Life
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>From the Personal Journal of Neo-Queen Serenity
(Tsukino Usagi I)
6/29/98
I have never really considered myself to be a "responsible"
person.... Well, I have been, in a way.... There are a lot of
things I have done throughout my life that can be categorised as
responsible, but I'd done those things more as a matter of course.
Either that or I'd been forced into them by destiny and a small,
dark blue-black cat.... But, in truth, I'd never expected anyone
to actually see me as being a responsible person.... How foolish
of me to think that way.
It seems I have been born into the position, and shall never
escape it.... Much of what I do is unconscious.... I'm a very
giving, caring individual, even if I do fail to think things
through, properly, when placed under stress.... I believe that
emotions are important, and have always lived my life based of that
theory.... Emotions are what makes you human. Without them...
well, it doesn't bear thinking about.
By being so emotional.... so caring, had meant that, whatever
my failings, a great many people had seen me in a positive light, no
matter what they would say about me to my face.... Usually it was
their attempt to balance out the ledger book.... To get me to
function intellectually as well as emotionally. But I'm not, and
never will be, someone like Ami.
She had sacrificed a lot of her emotions to play the gifted
child for her mother's sake.... Time soon erased much of her inner
abrasiveness (as well as my influence upon her), and she soon
discovered that her own mother was just as happy having a daughter
who could feel as well as think, even at the cost of the occasional
high grade. In return, she aided me in improving the WAY I
thought....
But I couldn't see it at the time.... I didn't consider
myself to be a good, responsible person because of all the criticism
I received. So, in a way, I rebelled against them, doing my best to
live a life for myself.... Have fun whilst I was still young, again
not realising that this open, caring attitude was having a positive
effect upon those around me.... (Or is that an aspect of my powers?
I've never really been able to work that one out).
The student counsellor at Junior High had written in a report,
after I had graduated to Senior High, that her workload had
increased threefold upon my absence.... She would have loved me to
have failed, as it would have given her a greater opportunity to
study my methods. She'd even written a thesis on the way I would
deal with people, which, much to my embarrassment, made mention of
the fact that I would occasionally barge in where angels fear to
tread.... like with new students that had bad reputations from their
old schools.... Of course, this will be my downfall one day, I'm
sure. Not everyone is as accommodating or as nice as Mako-chan was.
Anyway, my little piece of heroism had made the news, even
though it hadn't been THAT big a story.... I mean, come on....
People do that sort of thing, all the time, don't they? I couldn't
have been more wrong. Amazing as it may seem, especially when one
considers the way people treated me in my early school days, there
were those in positions of power and influence who considered what I
did to be going "above and beyond the call of duty". One of those
people was the Chief Superintendent of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police
Department, a man named Arizuka....
He is a very imposing figure, and a man of great dignity and
intelligence, as it turns out. A lot of people are very afraid of
him.... Not that I really saw him that way.... The first time I
saw him, I had this vision of him as a big, cuddly teddy bear....
Well, I did say I tend to run by emotion rather than thought.
Anyway, Arizuka had a plan for me, one that would change my
outlook on life, to a degree, and lead to one of those changes in
life that one never quite sees until it's smack bang in your face...
----o
The Chief was never comfortable with his old teacher....
Arizuka did his best to keep him on the back foot, making him
defensive and conscious of his every action, his every thought....
Memories of the time Arizuka had visited Bokutoo Station for an
inspection were still fresh in his mind.... The nightmare of being
lead away from the station, on the proviso of picking up the
Superintendent from the Head Office, when Arizuka had already left,
had made him sick for days afterwards. Despite his calm, casual
exterior, the Chief thought rather deeply about his little team of
officers.
And they were such a worry for him, too.... Bokutoo was no
ordinary police station.... It was generally considered to be the
dumping ground of weirdoes in the Metropolitan Police Force....
Nobody there were, for want of a better term, normal.... They were
the very extreme of every kind of person one could hope to meet....
And two of them were standing in his private meeting room, having
been requested by Arizuka for a particular purpose....
Tsujimoto Natsumi and Kobayakawa Miyuki were probably one of
the more effective all-female partnerships the Chief had under his
command.... And certainly the most flamboyant and vocal. They were
opposites in every way.... The short-haired, tomboyish Natsumi,
whose first encounter with Arizuka had been from within a locker
(and a memorable first encounter it had been, too) and resident
scooter-wizard, with her specially engineered Moto-Compo... And the
pigtailed Miyuki, more introverted in her feelings and emotions than
Natsumi, but one of the station's best pursuit drivers and
mechanics.... They made the perfect pair of opposites....
Their unconventional style of policing was what attracted
Arizuka to them.... Enough so that he had the pair act as a couple
of bank robbers to test the Tactical Response arm of the department.
And a good thing it was, too, for they totally creamed them, using
a mixture of inside knowledge and obsessive planning, backed up by
other members of the Bokutoo station.... It gave Arizuka the excuse
he'd wanted for shaking up Tactical Response.... Whilst Natsumi
and Miyuki had been ruthless in their execution of the bank holdup
plan, they had been nowhere near as ruthless, or as organised, as
real criminals would have been.
So it was only natural that he would choose them for what he
hoped would be a far easier assignment, and far more profitable to
the department....
"You want us to train a cadet ON DUTY?" Natsumi blinked in
disbelief as Arizuka sat, arms folded, nodding sternly.
"Indeed, I have been giving this some thought, for some time,
now.... But it has taken this recent event, with one of the younger
members of our community performing such an heroic act, to bring it
to fruition."
"But she's still a High School student...." Miyuki crossed an
arm over her front, rubbing her chin with her other hand. "She is a
little young, dumping her straight into real police duties might be
just a bit much...."
Arizuka looked up at the two standing female officers, biting
his lower lip as he thought. His gaze rendered their casual stance
a little less casual. "As I have said, I have been giving this some
thought. And I am not simply choosing her because of this one
act... All the assessments that have been made of her since she was
very young have pointed to the fact that she would make the perfect
public servant.... You can read the documentation for yourselves.
After all, I think it would be best for you to KNOW this girl before
you have to deal with her."
"Yes sir, but documents and reports are one thing, actually
dealing with the girl, as a person, is another." Miyuki frowned.
"You have read the reports of just about everyone who works within
this station.... I'm quite sure not all have met your expectations
of them.... Need I remind you of officers like Futaba-kun?"
Arizuka shivered for a moment. "Ah yes, Futaba.... One of
the MOST commended officers this station has.... I have... come to
accept the fact that we have a male officer who likes to dress as a
woman. Of course, in the most cases, it has been rather effective,
especially in cases of undercover work.... However, that is beside
the point...." Arizuka cleared his throat. "I suggest that, if you
REALLY want to get to know her, then I think you should talk to her
old teacher, and her school counsellor, like I have done. I'm quite
sure you shall be as convinced, as I have, that she would make the
perfect cadet officer, and one with a lot to offer not only the
Bokutoo Precinct but the police force as a whole."
"So... uh... When should we expect her to start here? I
mean, we'd like a little time to prepare for this, and all...."
Natsumi swallowed. Arizuka smiled at them, mischievously, making
the Chief groan in his seat, placing a hand across his eyes.
Arizuka looked across the small coffee table at his former student.
"What is wrong, my friend? Ah, I remember, now.... Should I
tell them, or should you?" Arizuka chuckled as the Chief sank lower
into his seat. Natsumi and Miyuki stared at him.
"Ch... Chief?" Natsumi quizzed him. He sighed and looked up
at the pair.
"The girl... Umm... Miss Tsukino... has not yet been
consulted about this...."
"SHE'S WHAT?" The jaws of the two female officers hit the
floor. "You're trying to tell us you've got all of this planned out
without even ASKING the girl, first?" Natsumi continued.
"Oh, I've had a few conversations with her mother over the
phone...." Arizuka crossed his arms and nodded. "A nice lady I
must say.... She was VERY receptive to the idea.... Said it would
certainly sort her daughter out."
"But.... what you're trying to say is.... That we... have to
tell her... ourselves?" Miyuki clutched the tie on the front of her
uniform, nervously. Arizuka smiled at her.
"Of course. That's why you were chosen for this.... You work
SO well with the kiddies." He laughed.
Natsumi and Miyuki facefaulted.
----o
>From the Personal Journal of Neo-Queen Serenity
(Tsukino Usagi I)
6/29/98
And now, the question....
What does one do with a Youma that patently presents no threat
to us, or the human race in general.... indeed, has some desire to
help us?
We have been, for so long, ready to kill and destroy such
creatures, safe in some knowledge that they aren't, somehow, real
forms of life. As we understand them.... but minions, puppets, of
some greater force, that created them. Arimus changed this point of
view.
She may have hated human beings, because of the way she had
been taught.... Nurture has a lot to do with the way people think,
and I'm quite sure that the Youma think the way they do because of
the atmosphere, the society, in which they were brought up....
However, despite this fear, this hatred, she wanted to help us....
And it was for one simple reason.
All Youma were dedicated to the cause of the General to which
they were assigned, and in some way, influenced telepathically by
the thoughts and feelings of those Generals.... Arimus belonged to
Nephrite, and everything that had happened to him, in those days
before his death, were transferred into the mind of the Youma he had
commanded, despite the fact that he had gone out of his way to
refuse them. From what I know of Nephrite's history, as told to me
by Arimus herself, Nephrite despised the necessity for beings such
as the Youma in their battles, preferring to rely on his own powers.
However, knowing this does not present the answer to the
original question.... What WERE we to do with Arimus? She could
disguise herself as a human, so that was no problem.... IF she had
the power to do so. In the campervan, within the junkyard, my
Senshi were faced with a Youma who had barely enough energy to stay
alive, let alone use any of the powers at her fingertips.... Had
she the use of those powers, it was likely she might have tried to
attack them when they had entered.... She IS a Youma, after all....
They couldn't leave her there, not in the state she was in,
that was for certain.... As Arimus drifted between consciousness
and delirium, an argument broke out between Mars and Jupiter....
Mars, as reactionary as she is wont to be, thought it would have
been better to leave Arimus where she lay.... She couldn't bring
herself to kill her.... The threshold between adversary and
compatriot had been crossed.
Jupiter was even more aware of this sense, and devised a plan
to smuggle Arimus across the city to her apartment.... There,
Arimus would be free of the prying eyes of those around her, and
given some opportunity to recover in peace.... if she was going to
recover at all....
----o
Jupiter and Venus stood on the side of the street, supporting
Arimus by each arm, whilst Mars attempted to hail down a taxi....
Not easy to do when one is drawing a small crowd of curious
onlookers.... It wasn't everyday that one would spot a gaggle of
Sailorsenshi trying to hail down a taxi cab in the middle of a busy
city street.
"Nothing to see here, move along." Mercury waved at the small
assembly, nervously, standing between Arimus and a few children who
were tugging at her skirt to see if it was real. "What are you
doing?"
"Are you a Sailorsenshi?" A young girl asked, innocently.
"Yeah, of course she is.... Just look at her." A boy,
standing next to her, prodded her in the side.
"They're so cool...." Another young girl tugged on her
bemused mother's coat tails. "Can I have a costume like theirs?"
"No you can't.... A normal sailorfuku is exorbitantly
expensive these days.... I'm sure what they're wearing is tailor
made...." The mother sniffed as she looked down at her daughter,
haughtily.
"Awwww...." The girl stuck her thumb in her mouth. Mercury
sweatdropped as all this went on.
"I'm terribly sorry.... We aren't the Sailorsenshi... Just
an.... an acting troupe.... on our way to a show.... Yes, that's
it." Mercury giggled, her hand behind her head. The small crowd
looked on dubiously.
"I still want a costume like theirs." The girl with her
mother said out loud. Mercury almost fell to the ground.
"Ano ne...." She jumped on the spot. "I said we are an
ACTING TROUPE. We aren't really the Sailorsenshi.... I'm just an
actress, understand?"
"So what about her, huh?" The boy pointed at Arimus. "Is she
one of your troupe, too?"
"Err... Yes.... But she isn't feeling well."
"She's got blue skin.... I could see it as you were walking
out from the alleyway." An elderly woman pointed at Mercury. "Blue
skin, I tell you.... That'd better be a good makeup job...."
"Well, I did say she wasn't feeling well." Mercury
sweatdropped again, realising how lame that sounded. "She's had a
tough time in the last few days, preparing for tonight."
"Hey, Sailormercury.... Can you show us a Mercury Aqua
Rhapsody or something.... I wanna see you doing something REAL
cool." The boy jumped up and down on the spot. Mercury groaned.
"Have you listened to a thing I've said?" She turned to
Jupiter, whispering aside. "Where is that damned taxi? This is
getting REAL hard to keep up...."
"It's here." Jupiter whispered back as Mars danced back onto
the kerb, a white taxi cab pulling up alongside them.
"I thought it'd never happen.... A dozen must have avoided
us since we arrived here." Mercury sighed and turned back to the
crowd, smiling. "Sorry, peoples, we've got to go.... Be sure to
see our stage play.... 'Mercury and the Four Seasons' I'm the
star, you know." Mercury bowed dramatically to the crowd, receiving
an applause. She was just beginning to get into the adulation thing
when Mars bopped her one over the back of the head and dragged her
into the front seat of the taxi.
"Mercury and the Four Seasons, indeed." Mars growled at the
inanely giggling Mercury. "Is that the best you could come with? I
would, at the very least, said something like 'Summer of the
Seventeenth Mars', or something like that.... Get arthouse, my
dear...." Mars slammed the door, peering into the back seat of the
taxi, where Jupiter and Venus were sitting either side of Arimus.
"How is she holding up?"
"Not too bad, all things considered." Venus rubbed Arimus's
hand. "She's terribly cold.... But that could mean anything with
a... Ummies.... Hello, Mister Taxi Cab Driver." Venus smiled at
the bemused driver, who stared from his seat at the cloaked figure
of Arimus.
"And uhh.... Where would you girls like to go? The Ginza?"
They all glowered at him. "What do you mean, the Ginza?"
Mars held up a fist, threateningly. Mercury managed to calm her
down.
"Now now.... It's not because of him that our show was
canceled...." Mercury pulled Mars back from the driver, who was
doing his best not to look down at the ample view of her legs,
lecherous old codger that he was....
"Just take us to this address...." Mars handed him a card.
He stared at it for a few moments, then shrugged.
"Very well...." He tuned back to the road , and grinned
evilly. "Time to bite the bitumen, my little beauty." With a
maniacal cackle, he planted his foot as hard as possible on the
pedal, his taxi screeching away from the kerb. Everyone in the taxi
went sprawling across the seats, not being given enough time to put
their seatbelts on.
"Oh great...." Venus whined from the back. "Of all the taxi
drivers we had to hail down, we end up with the taxi industry's
resident psycho...."
"I thought my bed was feeling awfully comfy this morning."
Jupiter sighed. "Remind me, next time to take heed of such omens."
----o
>From the Personal Journal of Neo-Queen Serenity
(Tsukino Usagi I)
6/29/98
It is only on the rarest of occasions that we meet up with
people who have abilities greater than our own.... The taxi driver
that my senshi hailed down happened to be an ex Toyota Japan Factory
touring car race driver, with a specially modified taxi complete
with twin turbocharged 3000cc V6 Mitsubishi motor and nitro
injection, just in case of emergencies.
I could guarantee that, if he didn't have them before, he
certainly now had a number of fingerprints and gouges in his seats
and dashboard.... But, one has to say, they reached Mako-chan's
apartment in record time, and quite safe, to boot.... at least
physically, if not mentally.
Arimus managed to take all of this in her stride, of course,
considering this was her first ride in a taxi, she wouldn't have
noticed any difference....
Meanwhile, whilst my senshi were enduring the concise and
abridged version of the World Rally Championship, I was travelling
home with Mama and Miki in a taxi that was travelling at a somewhat
more sedate pace.
Miki was quite excited, of course, glued to the window, taking
in all the sights of Tokyo in the early evening.... Watching all
the vehicles on the roads, the people of the streets. I was worried
she would suffer whiplash from the number of times her head was
zagging from left to right and back again.
Then she did something that surprised me. Not having yet told
her much (if anything) about Mamo-chan, she pointed something out to
me that she really shouldn't have been able to know....
----o
"Usagi-neechan." Miki held Usagi's sleeve, tugging on it
gently as she leaned against the window in the rear seat of the
taxi. Usagi, who was holding her so she wouldn't fall about as the
car moved, smiled at her.
"What is it, Miki-chan?"
"Is that where your boyfriend lives?" She pointed up to a
building of apartment blocks. Usagi frowned and removed her
protective glasses, squinting at the building, recognising it
immediately.
"Why.... Yes, it is! But.... How did you...?"
"Weren't you supposed to water his roses for him, Usagi-
neechan?" Miki blinked at her, innocently. Usagi snapped her
fingers.
"Of course.... I forgot about that." Immediately forgetting
the fact that Miki had asked a question about something she really
shouldn't have known that much, Usagi leaned forward and placed her
hand on her mother's shoulder, who was sitting in the front
passenger seat. Ikuko turned to her.
"What is it, Usagi-chan?"
"Mamoru's flowers.... I haven't watered them for a couple of
days, now.... I have to stop off, here.... It will only take a few
minutes." Usagi looked at her mother, hopefully. Ikuko shrugged
and turned to the driver, who glanced over at her.
"I don't see why not. This is my last job for the night....
I'll stop the meter until you get back." He smiled. "It'll give
me an opportunity to do my books for the afternoon. Save me from
having to do them back at the office."
Ikuko turned back to Usagi. "Looks like you get to water your
flowers, then." She giggled. "And Miki and I get to see inside
your Mamo-chan's private domain." Ikuko and Miki made ominous
noises to each other.
"Woah.... Mamo-chan's secret lovenest." Miki giggled.
"The dark pit of iniquity itself." Ikuko slapped her thigh.
"This SHOULD be amusing."
Usagi felt a large weight drop down on top of her shoulders...
END OF PART 6
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nIGHT rIDER ikari@wantree.net.au
Member of the AJAS Fanfic Circle
22nd September 1998