Painting the Town Red
21 October, 1994
Kamurocho District
Shinjuku Ward
3:40 P.M.
Harry got off the train at the Shinjuku stop, and meandered around party district during the early afternoon. Taking the time, he bought a few city maps, as well as some tourist location maps. He did manage to get to Kamurocho, staring at what was essentially the Red Light District of Tokyo.
Trash piles were being cleared by garbage trucks, but the streets and sidewalks were filthy. The neon signs flickered, reflecting their cheap nature, and the only clean things in sight were the delivery trucks. Various club managers were helping to haul in supplies for the upcoming Friday Night, and nothing but the convenience stores and pachinko parlors were open.
Following the map, he made his way around (only getting lost a couple of times) to the Champion District. The small, cramped, walled-in 'district' held over a dozen tiny bars, each capable of holding no more than a dozen people.
Wandering for a bit, Harry finally found the sign marked Culture Shock, just across the way from Earth Angel. Seeing the Open sign out, Harry walked in.
Warmth flowed over him as he looked the place over. Dark, warm woods stood out as men dressed as women wandered around, polishing and cleaning the tables.
"Can I help you?" came a deep, masculine voice from his left. Harry turned to see a large man dressed in a women's kimono, 'her' eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"I hope so," Harry replied smoothly, having gotten all too used to crossdressers and transgender Ladyboys in Thailand. "I'm looking for someone named Mama?"
"That'd be me," 'she' replied, lighting a cigarette.
"Then I have letters for you," Harry stated, pulling the sheaf of envelopes out of his bags that Yakumo had given him.
Mama took the stack, and then smiled a little. "I'm glad he remembered to write," 'she' commented. "Come in, have a seat. Now," she began, once Harry was comfortably sitting in a booth as one of the hostesses brought him a glass of ginger ale, "how do you know Yakumo?"
"We became friends after having the same trainer," Harry admitted. "We found out that we have a lot of traits in common, so we just started hanging out."
"Interesting," Mama mused, sorting the letters into a chronological order. "How is his search going?"
"Um, I'm not sure how much I can tell you..." Harry edged out.
"Everything," Mama interjected confidently. "I remember the girl he brought in who made him immortal, and the demons that popped up South of Kamurocho. I also remember a lot of people suddenly not remembering all of that. I know about the Longs in Hong Kong, and about his father's work."
"Whew!" Harry breathed out. "Man, I hate having to edit stuff for people! Okay, it all started..."
Three hours later, Harry finally left Culture Shock, and the Champion District itself. He stopped for a bite at #1 Kyushu Star, and then returned to wandering a bit as the various clubs began to open.
He spent some time and money at Club Sega, and discovered that he was horrible at video games, but was passable at the UFO Catcher. The pachinko parlors really didn't catch his interest; it seemed like overly complicated gambling to him. The baseball center looked mildly interesting, but he didn't feel like that sort of workout.
Finally he caught sight of a sign which read, Muryo Annaijo, or 'Free Guidance Place'. His confidence vanished, however, when he saw the glamour posters of women on the walls, as well as how they ranked among the local Hostess Clubs.
"You don't look like you belong here," came a smooth voice from behind him. Turning, Harry saw a tall, rangy man with an ornate eyepatch. He was barechested, with a snakeskin coat, leather pants, and silver tipped cowboy boots. The edges of some sort of elaborate tattos could be made out on his chest.
"Ah, I was looking for a local directory," Harry stated. "Restaurants, stores, that sort of thing. Not... well, this," he ended, his hand gesturing all around him.
"Ah, I understand," the man replied, smirking under his thin moustache. "Do you have a local map?" Harry nodded, holding it up. "Let me see," the man began, pulling out a marker. Deftly, he quickly marked several points on the map, complete with names. "There you go. Local eating establishments and stores. We don't want someone your age just stumbling into the wrong area, now do we?" he asked with a wink.
Harry chuckled a little at the insinuation. "After where I've been, it wouldn't be tough for me to handle," he admitted a little ruefully. "But I do thank you, sir. I really appreciate your help."
"It was nothing. Oh, but where are my manners? Goro Majima, at your service," Majima introduced himself, complete with deep, courtly bow.
"Harry Potter, sir," Harry replied, bowing properly in the Japanese fashion. "I'm just passing through, so I figured I'd take in some of the local nightlife."
"Stands to reason," Majima smiled out. "But I would figure a young man like yourself would be more at home in Akihabara, rather than our little slice of heaven."
"Heaven's what you make of it," Harry replied with a shrug. "I found Roanapur to be heavenly, but most people wouldn't agree with me."
Majima's eye grew wide with barely suppressed delight at Harry's comment. "Oh, yes. Most would think a person unhinged with that kind of view. But if you did well in Roanapur, you'll do well in Kamurocho."
"Thank you, sir. And thanks again for your help."
A number of hours later, night had fallen, and the clubbing crowd was in full swing. Harry did notice several stark differences between Roanapur and Kamurocho. First, the strip club dancers only went down to their lingerie; in Roanapur, it was down to full nudity. Second, actual prostitution didn't exist here, preferring the teasing of the seemingly virginal Hostesses. Still, Harry leaned against a building in the center of Beam Street; he'd given his word, after all.
A little after eleven, the roar of motorcycles could be heard coming up the street. Knowing that the entirety of Kamurocho was off-limits to vehicle traffic with the exceptions of delivery trucks and high ranking Yakuza, Harry sunk deeper into the shadows, quietly casting his disillusionment charm.
A dozen Japanese motorcycles rolled up to a club, all of the riders dismounting. Harry saw a lot of leather strapping, but barely anything covering large sections of the bodies. One of them, the one who had ridden in at the head of the group, was seemingly sniffing around for something.
And then he let out an unearthly howl to the heavens, and the rest of his gang followed suit. Frowning, Harry mentally checked the calendar in his head before internally swearing that he'd somehow missed that tonight was the full moon.
His walking stick whipped out, and Harry began fast casting. Muggle repelling charms suddenly lined the street, followed by the spell to contact Japanese Magical Law Enforcement. Digging into his bag, he then paused as a feminine voice rang out from the rooftops.
"Your attacks on innocent club goers cannot go unpunished! I am the pretty sailor suited soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"
Harry finally picked out the figure against the skyline as it leaped down, axe-kicking one of the werewolves in the shoulder before landing. It went down, it's shoulder dislocated as the blonde girl landed, leg-sweeping another werewolf to the ground.
Unfortunately, Sailor Moon's rush was halted as a female werewolf lunged, bodily slamming her into a newspaper dispenser as another rushed in from the side to swipe at her, his claws opening up the side of her leotard as she screamed in pain, rolling away from the pair.
The leader strode up, chuckling in glee as he transformed, gaining nearly a foot in height and easily fifty pounds of muscle mass. "Well, Sailor Moon finally arrives," he growled out. "It'll be fun to see if a magical girl can be turned like we were."
"You know," Harry spoke, coming out of the shadows with his walking stick in one hand, and something that jingled in the other, "I never understood why werewolves were so feared in Europe."
The pack leader turned to look Harry over as three of his members pinned Sailor Moon to the pavement. "Because they fear power," he laughed out. "They are sheep, fit only to serve or be eaten! They fear the natural superiority of the lycanthrope!"
"Many apologies," Harry interrupted, "but actually I was wondering why you would be feared in Europe, when almost every person carries the perfect weapon against you and yours."
"Hah! Silver is rare, boy. Who carries it in Europe?"
"Everyone. Depulso," Harry intoned, tossing the fistful of British Sickles into the air before banishing them at the werewolves holding down a struggling Sailor Moon. The sickles broke the sound barrier, slamming into two of Moon's captors. Instantly, the wounds began to burn, and the werewolves rolled away, trying to stop the silver from burning them from the inside.
Knowing that this was his first real test after all of the training in Roanapur, Harry lunged, clearing himself from the claw range of the pack leader even as he sent a silent basher at the wolf's knees, flipping him ass over teakettle. Maintaining his momentum, Harry clubbed another wolf with his walking stick, the alchemically treated wood nearly indestructable as the magically accelerated swing sheared off the wolf's ear.
Inwardly thanking Lara (for the inspiration) and Yakumo (for the ki training), Harry focused his magic into his limbs, striking hard and fast, leaning away from various claws and jaws as if they were all moving in slow motion.
"Moon Tiara Action!" was shouted, and three werewolves screamed as the purifying disc slashed at their torsos. Harry saw the tiara reform on Sailor Moon's brow before she leaped back into the action, punching and kicking with her own mystically enhanced blows.
Within the first minute, eleven werewolves were down. Some unconscious, some bleeding out because their regeneration couldn't cleanse Harry's silver or Moon's tiara magic, and three encased in their own leather straps, transfigured into thick, iron chains to be animated into bindings.
Huffing slightly, Harry did start at the feminine squeak as the leader grabbed Moon from behind, one hand gripping her wrist, the other lifting her up by her waist.
"A wizard, eh?" the werewolf snarled, saliva dribbling down Sailor Moon's front from his muzzle. "Walk away, wizard," he spat, "or this one gets her reward for playing with real power."
Harry stepped back, silently casting several spells. The pack leader never saw the concrete street come free behind him, nor did he sense the near-golem reaching for him from behind. All he saw were Harry's fiery green eyes in the darkness.
He certainly felt it when he was engulfed from the rear, as liquid concrete flowed over him from behind, pulling his hands free from Sailor Moon even as concrete spikes pierced his chest before drawing him backwards, almost entombing him to the street.
"You okay, miss?" Harry asked, walking forward.
"Yes, I'm-" Moon groaned, clutching her side where she'd been speared into the newspaper machine.
"Look, the magical police will be here any minute," Harry began, "and I'm sure that-"
Moon's head snapped up, naked fear in her eyes. "No! I can't! No police!"
"I already called them before the fight started," Harry admitted. His head turned slightly even as Moon slowly groaned her way to her feet, and he sensed incoming apparations. Making a snap decision, he asked, "Can you trust me?" She hesitated for a split-second, before nodding. "Get in my bag," Harry finished, zipping it open. Moon hesitated for a moment, and Harry snarled, "Get in!" Moon dove in, and Harry sealed it up, switching it to the regular backpack.
Five people in suits appeared with loud CRACKS, all of them with a badge on their belts. One of them strode forward, saying, "I am Detective Okajima, Tokyo Magical Police."
"Harry Potter," Harry replied, his walking stick held up in one hand, his passport in the other. "Thank you for getting here when I called."
"Let Officer Danja record your spells," Okajima commented, even as he reached for Harry's passport.
Twenty minutes later, Harry was cleared of using Dark Magic (which was extremely illegal in Japan), and the incident was written up as Defense of Non-Magicals. A large van had also pulled up, and they were loading the werewolves into it with Harry's assistance.
"I have to say, Mister Potter," Okajima began wrapping up, "that I didn't think that anyone could cover the streets, alleys, and doors in repelling charms like that for a full block in each direction."
"It was all I could think of, sir," Harry replied, tucking away his cane and passport. "I figured that it was the best way to keep people away from the action."
"And Sailor Moon is gone again," Okajima sighed, shaking his head. "I really wish that girl would come talk to us. Two weeks ago, she and parties unknown took out a vampire on the edges of Juuban, and tonight it's werewolves in Kamurocho. Which way did she head again?"
"Southwest," Harry replied, pointing to the top of the building that she'd leaped off of. "She looked injured, maybe cracked ribs, but she still jumped three stories up."
"That's consistent with other reports we've had," Okajima admitted. "How long will you be in town, Potter?"
"Tomorrow I'm getting on a train to Hokkaido, but I'm planning on being back by Tuesday to wait for the International Portkey."
"Good to hear. We of the Tokyo Magical Police thank you for your assistance, and for helping capture this group. They've been tearing their way up and down Japan for months, blending in with random biker gangs. Since the gangs are non-magical, we couldn't move in without violating the Statute. Are you injured?"
"No, sir. Any hits were soaked up by my coat."
"Excellent. Good luck, Mister Potter."
"One thing." Okajima turned back to Harry. "In case I run into her again, could I get your card? Maybe I can talk her into at least contacting your people."
Okajima's business car was handed over, and with that the police left, and they left no sign that anything went amiss on the street. Sighing, Harry checked the local magical signatures before stepping into an alley, jumping up to one of the fire escapes, and making his way to the roof. There, he transfigured a hook, hung up his bag, and went inside.
Hanging his basilisk-hide coat on a rack inside, Harry went into the living room to see Sailor Moon flopped on his couch, her outfit no longer torn and dirty.
"Miss Moon?" Harry asked, sitting in a chair opposite her. "I gave the report to the police, and told them that you ran once the battle was over. Are you alright?"
"I'm okay," the beautiful, petite blonde replied. "My magic heals me up pretty quickly, but thanks for your concern."
"Are you hungry or thirsty?" Harry asked. "I am, and it wouldn't be any more trouble to cook for two than one."
"I'd like that, thank you," she replied with a soft smile, slowly getting up. "Although, do you have a restroom I can use?"
Fifteen minutes later, Moon was sitting at Harry's kitchen bar, devouring several servings of okonomiyaki like she hadn't eaten in days. Harry waited for her to slow down before asking, "So why didn't you want to wait for the police?"
"I... don't know who to trust," she admitted, sipping at her fresh tea (Yakumo had left a tin of it behind). "Youma have had a record of corrupting people, taking over their will to drain the life energy of people. How did you know where to find me?"
"You know a guy names Mousse?" She nodded. "He asked me to be here because he couldn't make it. Now, I admit that I'm not familiar with the word 'Youma', but I do know that those were werewolves."
Moon stared at him in shock. "Like, the ones in American movies? Teen Wolf, all that?"
"Not sure about that," Harry replied with a shrug, "but shapechanging and bloodlust under the full moon, silver burns them painfully, but not enough to kill, and the condition being transmitted through a bite are all signs of the condition. And I learned about them at my school for magic last term."
"So, not energy draining demons?" she asked, a bit of horror in her voice.
"No, people infected with a magical disease," Harry stated, getting up to grab a book off a shelf. "How's your English?"
"It's not great," she hesitantly admitted.
Harry cast a translation spell through his willow wand before sliding the book over. "Werewolves, as taught to me."
Moon's eyes scanned the information in Harry's Defense book, eyes widening. "I see," she murmured.
"Detective Okajima told me that the guy you and Mousse took out two weeks ago was a vampire," Harry continued, flipping the book to the correct page.
"There... seems to be a lot of things out there," Moon quietly admitted, sipping her tea again.
"So again, I don't know anything about these youma," Harry repeated, "but I do know that there are magical threats out there. Detective Okajima was very grateful that we took down this group; they'd been hiding among non-magical motorbike gangs, and the police couldn't simply wade in, spells flying."
"Why not?" Moon demanded, blue eyes blazing in anger as she slammed down her tea cup.
"There's a thing called the Statute of Secrecy," Harry explained, popping open his cold bottle of Ramune Soda, "and it states that non-magicals cannot know about magicals no matter what. To that end, most nations have their own magical police forces to handle magical crimes, but they can't freely act in non-magical areas. There's a lot more to it, but that's why tonight happened.
"So, why can't you bring in the police?" Harry asked gently, finally sitting down at the kitchen bar.
Moon sighed, hanging her head. "I didn't know they existed until tonight," she began to explain. "And even if I did, my advisor refuses to trust anyone not-" Moon stopped, her lips pursed, considering something for a moment.
Turning on the stool, she asked in a somewhat frantic, desperate tone, "I can trust you, right? I mean, we shed blood together, and a friend of mine trusted you enough to send you. Can I trust you?"
Harry smiled a little, straightening himself on his stool. "I am Harry James Potter, Head of the Ancient House of Gaunt, Head of the Ancient Line of Slytherin, Last Scion to the House of Potter, and newly anointed Sun King of Yamatai," Harry intoned, holding up the gauntlet on his left arm, and letting the lightning flow across his brow. "And I swear that whatever you tell me, from the moment you entered my backpack to the moment you leave, I will communicate to no soul on punishment of crippling pain for all my days, without your leave. So let this vow be scriven."
Moon gasped as the magical vow pulsed, and she suddenly knew that Harry could be trusted.
"Thank you," she breathed out. "Tell me, did you ever want to be a super hero?"
"No," Harry replied, a trace of sadness in his voice. "I only ever wanted the pain to stop."
Moon seemed not to hear him as she said, "I did. My idol, Sailor V, was in the newspapers and on television. I dreamed of rooftop chases with jewel thieves in the moonlight, of bringing criminals to justice, just like my idol. I dumped my allowance into the Sailor V video game, and ran everywhere because I was late so much.
"And then a talking cat gave me a magical brooch," she continued, gesturing to the brooch holding the ribbon on her chest together, "and I transformed into Sailor Moon. My first battle was against a youma, an energy draining demon that was threatening a friend of mine.
"After that, more Sailor Senshi were found, four more. We fought together against the Dark Kingdom and their youma, bonded like sisters," she continued, a sad smile on her face as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. "Finally, all of the Dark Kingdom's Generals were gone, and all that was left was their boss, Beryl, with Metalia backing her."
"What happened?" Harry asked as her voice trailed off in sorrow.
"There... There was a group of elite youma called the DD Girls. Each of them was as strong as twenty regular youma," she continued, her voice sad but calm as tears streamed down her face. "Each of my friends took on a DD Girl, and each of them died taking them down. They sacrificed themselves so that I could get to Beryl, save my boyfriend, and use a magical stone to exterminate Metalia. At the end, in the full power of the Silver Crystal, I wished that we could go back and be happy," she ended, sniffling as Harry slid her a box of tissues. "And suddenly, I woke up, late for school like usual. A year had been rewound, only there were no youma, and we were just ordinary middle school girls. And we were happy," she admitted, sadness shot throughout her voice.
"Until a month ago. Luna, my magical cat, had to reawaken me because I was being attacked. I understand why she did it," she continued, barely restraining sobs of grief. "She didn't want the Moon Princess to die, didn't want everything we'd gone through to be in vain. But there I was, my memories just flooding back in. Our sisterhood, the sacrifices, everything.
"I couldn't let Luna awaken the others," she admitted, blowing her nose. "I never want them to have to remember sacrificing themselves for me. I don't want them to remember dying. So now I go to school, do my homework. In the evenings I watch TV, because at least that won't leave me. And then I go on patrol. And I fight, and keep fighting. Because that's my life."
Moon trailed off, and Harry threw the scant details around in his head. "Do you mind if I ask a few questions?" Moon shook her head. "What's the Moon Princess thing about?" Harry began.
Over the next hour, Harry got the tale of young love thousands of years ago, a Moon Queen of a shattered kingdom sealing away an eldritch abomination in a sunspot, and sending the souls of her daughter, her daughter's bodyguards, and the Prince of Earth forward in time, as well as a pair of Moon Cats in temporal stasis to awaken them when the time was right. The high points of the further tales of the Sailor Senshi fighting to protect people from life draining monsters, to Moon trying out of sheer grief to kill herself and the Prince of Earth, just to make it all stop.
And then the wish, and Moon's reawakening. All of her grief poured out as collapsed into Harry's arms, the words not stopping as she bitterly wept over it all. Finally, her words trailed off, and she realized that the young man before her had held her, rubbed her back, and magically made her a fresh cup of tea even as he wiped away her tears.
After composing herself, Moon smiled a little, saying, "Thank you for letting me do that, Harry. I think I feel a little better for getting that out."
"Anytime," Harry replied with a small smile of his own as he sipped at a fresh cup of coffee. "I recently went through a lot of therapy for my own issues, so I know the good that can come from just talking to someone about stuff."
"Anyways, that's me and my story," Moon stated. "What do you think?"
"I think," Harry slowly began, "that you and your friends have been through hell. You all came through it stronger because you had each other, and now you're at something of a loss for direction. There's also two things that occur to me that I don't think you've considered."
Moon innocently blinked at that. "What did I miss?"
"First, you're not the Moon Princess." Harry held up a hand as Moon opened her mouth to object. "Please, hear me out. There's an old phrase: 'The King is dead, Long Live the King'. You're not the Princess you're the Queen," Harry continued, a bit of force in his voice. "You told me that the kingdom on the moon came back, and is still there. I'm betting that it's magically hidden, or else non-magicals would've spotted it by now. But with your moon-mom gone, the kingdom falls to you."
"You're right," Moon breathed out. "It didn't occur to me. We spent so long looking for the Princess that we never thought of after."
"Second point," Harry continued, "is a little more of a philosophical question. 'Just because something happened thousands of years ago, does that mean that is has to happen again today?'"
Moon frowned at that. "Please explain?"
"Your fellow Senshi. Today, they're like sisters, fellow warrior maidens. But during the Moon Kingdom, they were bodyguards, advisors, and tutors. That means that all of them were older than you back then. But today you're all the same age. The same goes for Endymion. Just because you two were in love thousands of years ago, does that mean you have to renew all of that today?
"You and your friends have whole new chance," Harry continued, "free of the expectations of the past. You are only as bound by the rules and laws of the Moon Kingdom as you want to be. And as the Moon Queen, those very rules are up to you.
"So, does that make sense?"
"It does," Moon murmured. "Too much... Oh, no! My transformation is fading!" she shouted, her body slowly being enveloped in light. "Don't loo-!" Her voice cut off as soon as she realized that Harry had already spun around, facing away from her as a blindfold was forming over his eyes.
Moon blinked, and then smiled. Harry had reacted instantly, preserving her identity. and then she remembered his vow.
"Harry?" she asked softly, nervously. "You can turn around. I don't mind; I trust you."
Harry turned back around, and Moon couldn't help but break out in laughter at the large googly-eyes on the front of the blindfold. "Are you sure?" Harry asked, smiling because he'd made her laugh.
"Absolutely," she replied, her voice full of warmth. Harry pulled off the blindfold, taking her in as if for the first time.
"My god, you're beautiful," Harry whispered, his voice full of awe as he looked her in the eye.
"Thank you," she murmured with a light blush. "I'm Usagi Tsukino. It's a pleasure to properly meet you, Harry Potter."
"Likewise," Harry absently breathed, before shaking his head. "Sorry, got caught up there."
"It's alright," Usagi replied, still blushing a little. "Say, what time is it?"
"A little after two," Harry replied.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed, jumping up. "I have to get home soon! I have school in the morning!"
"How do you usually get home?" Harry asked curiously.
"I run," Usagi admitted. "In my Senshi form, I can make it from Shinjuku to Juuban in about an hour."
"I think I can do better," Harry replied with a smile. Holding out his hand, he once more asked, "Do you trust me?"
Fifteen minutes later, Usagi dismounted Harry's broom atop the Game Center Crown Arcade. "Thank you so much, Harry," Usagi smiled out.
"You're very welcome," Harry replied. And then he grew a little nervous. "Would... you like to get together and hang out when I get back from Hokkaido? Get to know each other?"
"I'd really like that, Harry," Usagi replied, her smile lighting up the night.
"Fantastic. Oh, I forgot. Here is Detective Okajima's card. I did tell him that I'd give it to you if we met again. Also, could you do me a small favor?" Usagi nodded. "If you could call this number if I'm not back by Tuesday, it's set my mind at ease. Just tell them 'Harry Potter hasn't returned from Hokkaido', and they'll do the rest. When and where would you like to meet?"
"Here, at three on Tuesday?"
"It's a date," Harry replied, smiling happily before kissing the back of her hand and taking off.