More setup for the action to follow.  Please C&C.  It
really needs it.

**********************************************************************

This story has been written without the knowledge or approval of Kou 
Fumizuki - Hakusensha/ AIAO Project and Pioneer Animation.  It is for 
the enjoyment of Ai Yori Aoshi fans and written with respect for its
original creators and copyright holders.

**********************************************************************




                   The Wild, Wild East
                     By G.L. Sandborn
                             
                             
                 2   Arrested Developments
                             
                             
     Tina sighed contentedly.  It was certainly
  comfortable in her futon this morning.  All warm and
  snuggly, she could almost convince herself to stay in bed
  a little longer.  She couldn't remember her futon being
  so comfortable.  Of course, after stopping at her
  favorite bar on the way home from work last night, she
  really couldn't remember much of anything.
     Snuggling back against the source of additional
  warmth.  Whatever it was, it felt firm and cozy.  A
  contented sigh escaped her lips as she tucked the
  comforter closer around her body and wiggled her butt to
  find the perfect position.
     She was just dozing off when a soft groan sounded
  almost in her ear.  That wasn't right.  The groan
  certainly didn't come from her.
     Slowly, she reached behind her.  Her fingers brushed
  against soft fabric before encountering what could only
  be a firm, warm body.
     In a flash, she was out of the futon and on her
  knees a few feet away from whatever or whoever it was in
  her bed.  Silently gasping for breath, she blinked at the
  lump still under the comforter.  Who or what was in her
  bed?
     She tried to think back to what happened the night
  before.  She remembered being in a small bar with some
  guy, maybe an American.  At least, he spoke English like
  an American.  She recalled that much.
     Pulling her rumpled nightshirt tighter around her
  chest, she blinked and tried to remember what happened
  after that.  As hard as she tried, it always came back to
  that black hole in what should have been a critical part
  of her evening.  There were lots of drinks, a few noisy
  patrons, fowl-smelling cigarette smoke hanging heavily in
  the air, and a quiet but generous companion buying the
  drinks.  Was it possible that she did the unthinkable?
  Did she bring a stranger home to her room and the two of
  them ?
     Her eyes went wide.  She couldn't have.  Even drunk,
  she wouldn't have brought a man home to her bed.
     Her hand shook as she again reached for the
  comforter.  Terrified that he was one of those 'closing
  time Romeos' she had heard so much about, she swallowed
  hard and gripped the cover.  Slowly lifting it as she
  bent her head over to see better.
     "Oh, it's you," she mumbled in relief, dropping the
  comforter and sitting back on her shapely butt.  Like the
  mist evaporating in the morning, the previous night's
  activities came slowly into focus.
     The bar.  The reason she was there had more to do
  with caution than celebration.  She shook her head and
  blew out a deep breath.  They had ducked into the bar to
  make certain they weren't being followed.  When Steven
  told her to just act natural, she naturally tried to
  drink the place dry.  The fact he kept paying for the
  drinks only meant she could make a serious run at doing
  just that.
     Once he was satisfied they were no longer being
  followed, he helped her back out to the street.  She
  remembered how the cool evening air made the alcohol buzz
  in her head just a little better than on a warm night.
  They hadn't gone far before HE passed out.  Probably from
  loss of blood or shock or something, she remembered
  thinking.  It certainly wasn't from his drinking.  He had
  barely touched the one she insisted he have.  In any
  case, it wasn't easy getting him home.  He kept passing
  out.  She almost ended up throwing him over her shoulder.
  They would have probably made better time that way.  
     Once she got him back to her room in the servants'
  quarters of the mansion, it was really late.  Nobody was
  still awake.  She remembered dumping him on the floor
  over by her desk and throwing a blanket over his body.
  How he got in her bed, she'd rather not think about.
     She was still deciding what to do with him when she
  heard the doorknob rattle as someone was trying to open
  it.
     The door slowly opened on squeaky hinges.  In a
  flash, the futon seemed to erupt, the comforter flying
  one way and Steven the other.  There was a loud 'click'
  and everything in the room seemed to freeze.  
     Taeko Minazuki found herself nose-to-business end of
  Steven's handgun.  Her eyes quickly filled her glasses
  and then crossed to look directly down the barrel.  Her
  mouth dropped open allowing a tiny squeak to escape.  The
  pile of Tina's freshly washed laundry tumbled from her
  arms.  Before Tina could say or do anything, Taeko
  stumbled backwards, landing on her butt, her mouth
  working but nothing coming out but a few random squeaks.
  Eventually, one unearthly screech worked its way free as
  the girl scrambled on all fours down the hall towards the
  nearest exit.
     "Who was that?" Steven demanded, wobbling a bit as
  fresh blood trickled down his left arm.  The sound of the
  servants' quarters door crashing off its track echoed
  down the hallway.
     "That," Tina said, pointing to the now empty
  doorway,  "was our maid, Taeko."  Tina surveyed the
  disorderly pile that only moments before had been her
  neatly folded clean clothes.  "And what's with sticking
  that cannon of yours in her face?"
     Sheepishly, the man eyed the mess.  "A person in my
  business can't be too careful."  He blinked and shook his
  head like he was trying to clear his vision.  "I think...
  I think I got up too fast."  His eyes rolled back in his
  head and he collapsed with a loud 'thud' in the middle of
  Tina's formally clean laundry.
     "I wish you'd stop doing that," she said with a
  heavy sigh.
 
     Fifteen minutes later, after much confusion and
  running around, Steve Hunter's unconscious body was
  resting on the couch in the mansion's living room.  Aoi
  knelt next to him, pacing a cool, wet cloth on his head.
  She approached her task with all the care and concern she
  had often shown others in their little impromptu
  'family.'  Kaoru frowned at the stranger from behind the
  couch looking like a man unsure of just where he should
  be.  Taeko, now recovered from her fright, had no such
  uncertainties.  She hovered nervously in a nearby corner,
  apparently convinced the man was going to spring off the
  couch and poke that pistol in her nose again.
     "Miss Tina!" Miyabi Kagurazaki scolded in her best
  schoolteacher voice.  "How could you bring a strange man
  into this house?  Do you realize the danger to Lady Aoi,
  not to mention the rest of us?  You don't know a thing
  about him."
     "He tried to shoot me," Taeko whined.
     "It was probably an accident.  I doubt Tina would do
  anything to place our lives in danger," Kaoru said with
  an expression that suggested he had questions as well.
     "Well..."  Tina half-turned away from Kaoru,
  blushing madly.  Her index fingers nervously circled each
  other as she tried to think of how to explain Steven.
     "Of course she wouldn't," Aoi said calmly as she
  stood up.  Holding her hands together down the front of
  her, she turned to her governess.  "I'm quite certain
  there is a logical explanation."
     Tina swallowed hard when everyone turned her
  direction.  Her tale came in a single rush of words.  "I
  was just eating lunch at work and my stupid boss radioed
  me to bring the stupid wheelbarrow to the stupid bear
  exhibit only when I went to get it, I found a bunch of
  guys shooting at each other and they would have shot me
  but this man saved my life but got shot in the process
  and we had to make a run for it until we got to my
  favorite hiding place in the tunnels under the zoo where
  I bandaged his arm and he told me he was a government
  agent so I brought him here."
     A heavy silence fell over the room, as if her
  audience was trying to digest her story.  It was the kind
  of tale guaranteed to give a person heartburn.
     "There," Aoi said with a pained smile, "I knew she
  had a reasonable explanation."
     "You believe her?" Kaoru asked.
     "Of course not.  However, I am certain she believes
  what she told us is the truth and that is almost as good
  as the truth itself."
     Kaoru started to say something but hesitated as if
  trying to make some sense of what his fiancee had said.
     Miyabi, however, shook her head.  "Whatever the
  case, he's here now and we need to deal with that.  First
  of all, where is the weapon he used on Miss Taeko?"
     Tina pulled it out of the waistband of her shorts
  and held it up.  "Got it right here," she said with
  pride.
     "Please be careful with that," Miyabi said.
     "Oh, come on, Miss Manager.  I'm an American.  We
  know how to handle guns.  It's in our genes."  As if to
  prove her claim, she struck a Lupin-like pose and winked
  at Kaoru.
     The entire room, minus the unconscious Steve, jumped
  when the pistol discharged towards the ceiling.  Aoi
  covered her face with her hands, Kaoru half ducked with
  his arms wrapped over his head, and Taeko fainted in the
  corner.
     "Gimmie that!" Miyabi snapped, grabbing the pistol
  out of Tina's limp hand.
     "Ooops," Tina said weakly, looking at the ceiling
  and squinting to see where the bullet had gone.  "I
  wonder where it went."
     "Probably my office," Miyabi said with a sigh.  "It
  is directly above this room."
     Tina tried a nervous giggle but it wasn't working.
  Miyabi glared at her like she was considering how long it
  would take to throw all of Tina's valuables along with
  the girl herself out on the lawn.
     "I'm locking this up where it will be safe," Miyabi
  growled, holding up the pistol and removing the magazine
  like a veteran.  "In the mean time, we need to consider
  what to do with your Mr. Hunter."
     "Maybe we should turn him over to the police," Kaoru
  said, helping the groggy Taeko to her feet.
     "Or take him to a hospital," Aoi added.  "His arm is
  still bleeding."
     "Improper first aid," Miyabi said flatly, casting a
  frown Tina's way.  "We can take care of his arm but I'm
  not certain turning him over to the police is such a good
  idea."
     "Why?" Kaoru asked, leading the still trembling
  Taeko back over to the group.
     "A police investigation would surely mention Lady
  Aoi.  That would cause embarrassment to the Sakuraba
  Group.  We must avoid that at all costs."
     "Then "  Kaoru's voice faded as he considered what
  they could do that wouldn't involve Aoi's family name.
     Miyabi, however, had her own ideas.  "Miss Tina,
  since you are the one responsible for Mr. Hunter being
  here, he is your responsibility.  He will be moved to
  your room where he will remain until well enough to leave
  on his own."
     Tina was about to complain about the unfairness of
  it all but stopped herself under the property manager's
  steely glare.  "Yes, ma'am," she said, hanging her head.
  She really didn't want to share a room with a man.  Well,
  she might if it was Kaoru, but that really wasn't a
  reasonable option.
     "In the mean time," Miyabi said, casting her eyes
  towards the hole in their living room ceiling, "I'm going
  to see what damage Miss Tina did to my office and lock up
  this horrible weapon."  She held his pistol between two
  fingers like it was a dirty diaper.  "Lady Aoi will
  properly bind his wound.  Miss Minazuki will assist her.
  Miss Tina will clean the mess he made back in the other
  building."
     "What should I do?" Kaoru asked.  Tina desperately
  wanted to suggest he go with her but knew Miss Manager
  wasn't in the mood to take suggestions.
     "You better come with me," Miyabi said firmly.  "If
  that bullet went all the way through the ceiling of my
  office, I will require someone to check for a hole in the
  roof."
     With a sigh, Tina turned towards her room.  It
  wasn't her fault the big goof drew a gun on their maid.
  Sure, she knew he HAD a gun but who knew he'd use it on
  Taeko?  It was all so unfair.
     It took almost an hour to clean her room, put the
  servants' quarters door back on its track and tidy up the
  hallway.  She even spent a little time cleaning herself
  up before returning to the main house.
     She noticed right away that Steven was no longer on
  the couch in the living room.  Curious, she followed the
  sounds in the kitchen but found only Aoi and Taeko busy
  preparing breakfast.
     "You guys need any help?" she offered, hoping it
  would somehow make them forget her error in judgment.
     "No but thank you for offering," Aoi replied as she
  gently flipped over a small omelette in the skillet.
  "You can set the table, if you like."
     Eager to do anything to get back in everyone's good
  graces, Tina started pulling plates off the shelf.  "By
  the way, when did you move Mr. Hunter to another room?"
  she asked, almost as if in passing.
     Aoi and Taeko froze before slowly looking at each
  other.  "We didn't," Aoi said, her eyes wide with
  surprise.
     "Then..."  Tina set the plates back on the counter
  and frowned at the living room.
     Three heads poked around the corner of the doorway
  to see an empty couch and no sign of Mr. Hunter.  They
  slowly retreated back inside the kitchen.
     "Where did he go?" Aoi asked in a hushed voice.
     "Maybe he's stalking around somewhere in the house,"
  Taeko added, her balled fists held in front of her face.
     "What are you guys doing?"  Kaoru's voice from the
  stairs caused the three girls to squeal in fright, each
  striking a startled pose.  When Tina saw who it was, she
  sagged against the kitchen wall in relief.  Aoi
  practically ran to Kaoru's side, quickly followed by
  Taeko.  Kaoru found himself sandwiched between two
  trembling young ladies.
     "Karousama, please tell me you moved Mr. Hunter to
  another room," Aoi gasped, her wide eyes begging for an
  answer.
     "I was upstairs helping Miss Miyabi.  Is he
  missing?"  Kaoru glanced around the living room
  confirming their unwanted 'guest' was indeed absent.
     "He's gone," came Miyabi's voice from the top of the
  stairs.  "I saw him slip out the servant's door and run
  into the trees behind the house."
     Aoi and Taeko released Karou with obvious relief
  before shyly returning to the kitchen.  Tina sighed and
  shook her head.  "He probably didn't know I lived here.
  All he saw was the room I live in and he didn't get a
  very good look at anything last night because he kept
  passing out on me."
     "In any case, it is just as well he is gone."
  Miyabi descended the stairs, herding Kaoru ahead of her.
  "It solves our problem about what to do with him."
     
     Breakfast went quickly and much quieter than usual.
  While everyone was relieved that the strange American was
  gone, it was difficult to banish the horrible thought
  that he might just come back.
     Tina called in sick to work, figuring that way she
  would avoid having to answer any questions about what
  happened and why there were so many dead bodies back in
  the Animal Waste Recovery Facility.  The one under the
  pile of poop would have been tough enough.  The ones with
  bullet wounds would have been impossible.
     The day passed quickly for Tina.  She helped Taeko
  clean house and then cleaned again after the girl's
  multiple accidents.  Aoi in particular seemed happy to
  have the extra help.
     By evening, Kaoru returned from class in time for
  dinner.  Tina could tell by the more relaxed atmosphere
  that all were confident that Mr. Hunter was gone for good
  and nothing more would come from the incident.
     After dinner, while Taeko and Aoi cleaned the
  dishes, Tina convinced Kaoru to join her on the couch to
  watch a little television.  There was a particular nature
  show she was anxious for him to see because it was filmed
  in the same general area where she had been taking
  pictures three years ago.
     "Do you like sitting together like this on the
  sofa?" she asked, sliding lightly against him.  Teasing
  Kaoru was one of the side benefits of living there.  He
  always blushed in such a cute way.
     "Uh... sure, Tina."  Kaoru wiggled a bit as if to
  gain a little breathing room, something Tina wasn't going
  to let happen.
     She was just snuggling against Kaoru's arm when her
  show was interrupted by a news flash.
     "We have further information in the area's top story
  tonight," the reporter said with a grave expression.
  "Yesterday's shootout at the Nageyama Zoo left five
  people dead, one American and four yet unidentified men.
  Police are still investigating the incident and are
  anxious to interview one of the zoo employees."  Tina's
  zoo employee photograph filled the screen.  "Police wish
  to talk to this woman, Tina Foster, an American living in
  Japan who was known to be in the area when the shootout
  occurred.  She has not been seen since.  We will have
  more information as the story develops."
     Tina and Kaoru sat frozen on the sofa, their eyes
  wide.
     "But I didn't do anything," Tina gasped before
  throwing her arms around Kaoru's neck and burying her
  face in his chest.  She couldn't control her trembling.
  Being a gaijin wanted by the police was the worst thing
  that could happen to her in Japan.
     She felt a soothing hand on her trembling shoulder.
  "The reporter said they just want to ask you a few
  questions.  I'm sure you're not in any trouble.  After
  all, you said all you did was escape the shooting.  You
  couldn't help it if that man forced you."
     Tina's head shot up, her relief clear.  "Yes, that's
  it.  I was forced by that horrible man to help him escape
  the guys who killed his partner.  How was I to know he's
  a secret agent for the Americans?"
     "Uh... Tina.  I don't think you should tell them all
  that," Kaoru replied, still patting her shoulder.
     They both flinched when the doorbell rang.
     "I'll get it," Miyabi said as she descended the
  stairs.  She quickly crossed to the door and opened it.
  For a few moments she just stared at three large men in
  suits.  "Can I help you?"
     One of the men held up a picture of Tina.  "Police.
  Is she here?"
     Miyabi fought a grimace at the man's bad Japanese,
  reminding herself that policemen often came from the
  lower classes and probably didn't do well in school.
     "Yes," she replied in an even voice.  When none of
  the men responded, she asked, "Should I get her?"
     "Yes," the man with the picture said.
     Tina slowly disengaged herself from Kaoru's arms and
  drifted towards the door, her face downcast.  She glanced
  up a couple of times but only noticed that the two other
  men looked like attack dogs anxious to be let loose.
     Miyabi, however, wasn't quite ready to turn over her
  most troublesome resident.  "Can I get you some tea?  You
  can talk to her in the living room here."  She indicated
  the  large room with her hand.
     "No, we are taking her to..."  The first man's voice
  trailed off like he was searching for the proper words.
     "Headquarters," one of the other men finished.
     "Yes, headquarters where she will be interrogated--"
     "Questioned," the other man corrected.
     "Questioned, yes.  Only questioned, nothing else.
  No beating, torture, or hot things shoved up her--"
     He was stopped by the other man jabbing him in the
  ribs.  "Questioned.  That is all."
     Miyabi eyed the men with obvious suspicion.  "I
  see," she said slowly.  Her eyes went from the frightened
  Tina to the three expressionless men and back again, like
  she was deciding how best to handle this considering her
  primary responsibility to Lady Aoi.
     "I'll go," Tina said in a soft voice.  "I've already
  caused you enough trouble."
     "Don't worry, Tina," Kaoru said as he came up behind
  her.  "You'll be home in no time.  Just tell them the
  truth."
     Tina forced a sad smile his way, her hand rising as
  if to touch him only to be quickly snatched away.  "Let's
  go," she said, starting for the doorway.  The man in the
  middle stepped back to make room for her to pass.
 
     As the four trudged towards a waiting car, Miyabi
  slowly shut the door and frowned.
     "What's the matter?" Kaoru asked.
     Miyabi glanced at him and at Lady Aoi, standing just
  outside the kitchen holding a hand over her mouth in
  shock.  "I'm not sure," she finally admitted.  "This
  whole episode is most unusual."
     "How do you mean?"  Kaoru leaned over to look out
  one of the windows at the darkness, trying to pick out
  Tina's blond head among the three massive policemen
  hovering over her.  "The police just want to ask her a
  few questions.  I guess it is only proper they do that
  down at the police station."
     "That's just it," Miyabi replied with a frown.
  "Those policemen acted in a most unusual manner."  
     "How?" Aoi asked as she drifted towards the same
  window Kaoru was looking through.  
     "Whenever the police deal with a gaijin, they always
  ask to see the gaijin's alien registration card first.
  And if they take a gaijin into custody, they hang on to
  the card to discourage the prisoner from escaping."  She
  paused to look at the solid door in front of her.  "These
  men didn't even ask about her card."
     "Do you suspect...," Aoi gasped as she gripped
  Kaoru's arm.
     "I don't know but I have a very bad feeling about
  this," Miyabi replied.


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'