Title: Calling on God
Author/pseudonym: Snarf
E-mail Address: zyren@wam.umd.edu
Rating: R
Pairings: J/B, again, pre-slash

Status: New, unfinished
Date:
Archive: if you want to
Archive Author: same
Archive email address: same
Series/sequel:
Other website: none, yet 

DISCLAIMER: These characters are not mine.  The Sentinel belongs 
to Pet Fly productions, UPN, etc.  Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Yu 
Watase, etc.

Again, this one's serious.  

SUMMARY: Jim and Blair go to Japan, where Jim gets a surprise (no 
sexual puns intended).

WARNING: Discussion of a rape.


	CALLING ON GOD

	Part 1

	"Mai agare Suzaku mirakuru"

	(Fly high Suzaku Miracle)


"Now, class, repeat after me," Haruka Sensei (trans: basically 
how you refer to teachers), the English teacher, droned out her 
words in a boring monotone.  It was all Amiboshi could do to stay 
awake.  But, he tried.  Tomorrow, he had a test.

He felt a tingleing sensation on his arm.  /Suboshi!/  He quickly 
unbuttoned his sleeve, hoping his twin wasn't in too much 
trouble.  He wasn't sure he could get out of English class.  Then 
again, he wondered if Haruka Sensei would even notice.  He rolled 
down his sleeve, reading the characters that were rapidly 
appearing on his arm.  His eyes widened in disbelief as he read.

/What year did the capitol of Japan change from Ido to Tokyo?/

	*****

/Hurry, brother, hurry,/ thought Suboshi as he tapped his pencil 
on his test.  He had hoped the exam would be multiple choice.  
Everyone else around him was busy scribbleing in answers, and 
Onsen Mark Sensei was giving him the evil eye.  He felt the 
familiar tingle on his arm.  /Finally!  Thank you, brother!/  He 
rolled down his sleeve, and read.  /You should have studied!/  He 
groaned inwardly.  /Thanks a lot, brother.  You're a lot of 
help./  Sighing resignedly, he started to scribble down answers, 
praying to whatever god that might be listening that he was 
right.

"Everyone hand in your tests!" Onsen Mark Sensei called out, 
tapping his hand on his desk.  

Wincing, Suboshi placed his in the pile, wondering if he would 
ever pass history class.  The bell sounded for lunch, and Suboshi 
resolved to have a talk about being nice to younger brothers with 
Amiboshi.

As he stood, a blonde girl walked over to him.  Yui Hongo, the 
most beautiful girl in his class, or at least so Suboshi thought. 
 He had tried to get up enough nerve to ask her out, but he could 
never find her alone.  She was always with other girls, and he 
couldn't stand being rejected in front of too many people.  /But 
she's coming here!  Now's my chance!/

Yui smiled at him as she approached.  "You're Suboshi Kitani, 
right?"

"Y-yes, yes I am!" He smiled awkwardly, unconsiously placing an 
arm behind his head.  /Wow, she actually knows my name!/

"You and I have clean up duty together this week.  I just wanted 
to make sure you knew." She smiled, then left to join a brown 
haired girl who had been waiting for her, Miaka Yuki.

/Clean up duty?  Alone, with Yui?/ Suboshi caught a glimpse of 
his twin right outside the door to his class.  /I need money!/ He 
raced outside.

"I told you you should have studied," Amiboshi admonished him as 
he came out of the classroom.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Suboshi waved that off.  "I need to borrow 
two thousand yen (note: about $20)."

"What for?" Amiboshi raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to ask her out today!  We have clean up duty together 
after school, but I forgot to bring money.  Please!  I'll pay you 
back when I get home, I promise!"

Amiboshi shook his head.  "You need to learn more responsibility, 
little brother.  See you later this afternoon!"  He walked away.

Suboshi frowned after him.  /And they say *he's* the nice one./

	*****

The final bell rang for school to end.  Suboshi stretched, 
yawning off the boredom of trigonometry. He saw his brother 
signal him from the doorway, and mildly wondered how Amiboshi 
travelled so fast through the school hallways.  Amiboshi had no 
teleportation powers that Suboshi knew of.  "Yeah?" Suboshi 
asked, warily as he approached his brother.

Amiboshi took his brother's hand, and pressed two bills into it. 
 Suboshi saw they were 1000 yen notes.  "Good luck," Amiboshi 
whispered, winking at his little brotber before departing.  
Suboshi stared after him, then looked in the classroom slowly 
emptying out.  Yui was doing some last minute chatting with her 
friends, Miaka and a few other people.  He gulped, shoving the 
notes into his pockets.  Today would be the day.

They worked well as a team: Yui straightened out the desks while 
Suboshi began to sweep.  His palms sweated as he went through 
various lines in his head, each one sounding dumber than the 
rest.  Finally, he blurted out, "There's a new Godzilla movie 
playing at the theater.  Do you want to go see it?"

Without thinking, Yui answered, "No, I don't like Godzilla 
movies."

"Oh." /Great.  You just made a fool of yourself, Suboshi./

Yui looked up, seeing his depressed face.  She had been debating 
for some time whether or not she should start going out again,  
considering what happened with Nakago.  /Nakago.  I wish I would 
never hear that name again!/ She closed her eyes against the 
tears of humiliation and grief.  /Why me?  Out of all the girls 
in Japan, why me?/

Suboshi noticed her distressed state, wondering what he should do 
about it.  There had been rumors around school that Yui had had 
some bad things happen to her, but no one knew what it was.  /It 
must be something awful if she still remembers it.  I wish there 
was something I could do to help./  "Are you okay?" he asked, 
walking towards her.

Remembering where she was, Yui quickly nodded, brushing back 
tears from her eyes.  "Yes, yes, I'm fine."  She looked up into 
concerned grey-blue eyes.  /He's actually worried about me.  
Maybe a movie would be a good distraction./  "What else is 
playing at the theater?"

/What else?  I have no idea!  Think!  What just came out?  La 
Blue Girl 7?/ He blushed. /Why would I want to take her to *that* 
kind of a movie?/  "I ... don't know.  But we could check!"

Yui chuckled at his hopeful face.  "Let's do that, then."

	*****

Jim and Blair had been met at Narita Airport by none other than 
Yokota.  He had given them their Babel Fishes, along with his 
usual sparse information, and dropped them off at a Mr. Akira 
Hongo's house, the man with whom they would be staying with while 
in Japan this time.

Akira Hongo was a slim man with a soothing voice, charming to a 
fault.  Jim noticed the pictures of kabuki that hung all around 
his home, mostly pictures of him with some sort of costume on, 
mostly women's costumes from the look of it.  "You like kabuki?" 
he asked, accepting the tea Hongo offered.

Hongo smiled.  "More than like.  I *am* kabuki.  I inherited the 
passion from my father, as well as the job. It really is too bad 
Yui is a girl, or I would have trained her as well."

"Yui is your daughter?" Jim asked, reverting to his questioning 
mode.  He suspected Yui was not Hongo's daughter; her picture 
barely resembled him and there would have been no confusion about 
her sire.  

Hongo shook his head.  "She is my niece, from my younger sister. 
 I have an older sister who has a couple of sons, but most of 
them aren't interested in even watching kabuki."

/That's clear.  Now down to buisness./ "Is there any way this 
Nakago could be her real father?"

Hongo shrugged.  "It is difficult to say."

"What do you mean?"

"My younger sister is sort of an... outcast in our family.  She 
just didn't belong, I suppose."

"So you ousted her?" Blair asked, shocked.  "What was she?  
Retarded or something?"  He ignored the frown he could feel 
eminating from Jim. 

"Let me just say she was too different," Hongo answered, 
maintaining a calm composure and smileing ever so agreeably at 
Blair.

"Different how?" Jim asked, emotion stripped from his features 
and voice.

"it is a rather personal matter," Hongo insisted, his hands 
starting to clench across his chest.  "And it has very little to 
do with my niece.  Indeed, the minute I learned my little sister 
was pregnant, I took her in."

Jim decided to let that go, for now.  Some secrets were not meant 
to be shared.  "And you didn't know who the father was?"

"She didn't say.  After Yui was born, I assumed it was an 
American.  After all, there aren't that many blonde Japanese."

Jim nodded.  "So you took in the girl.  What happened with her 
mother?"

Hongo shrugged. "She left.  I took care of Yui the minute she 
came out of the hospital.  I have taken care of her ever since."

"What about Nakago?"

"I know nothing about him.  He was a teacher at the local junior 
high school.  Yui perhaps saw him in private.  I knew nothing 
about this relationship until after the incident.  After that, 
Nakago took off for China, and no one has seen him since."

"So you know absolutely nothing about his relationship with Yui." 
 
"I'm afraid so.  You will have to ask her about that." Hongo 
closed his eyes.  "Poor sweet.  I *had* hoped to spare her this 
pain again, especially when it looks like she will be recovering 
from it.  I haven't told her about Nakago's possible return yet. 
 It will all be such a shock for her."

"You haven't told her?" Blair interrupted.  "She ought to know, 
at least!  I mean, what if he decides to try and attack her at 
school or something?"

Hongo blinked his eyes.  "He wouldn't attack her at school, it is 
too public a place.  And Mr. Yokota said they had a private 
survailence team around the school."  He glanced at his watch.  
"However, it is a little late.  She should be home by now.  
Perhaps she is with Miaka.  I shall give her a call, wait here 
please."

Jim heard Hongo's heart beat escalating, heard the minute false 
notes in his voice.  Though Hongo was worried, Jim himself felt 
no qualms, reassured that Yui was fine.  "Can you hear him from 
in here?" Blair whispered, Sentinel-soft.

Jim nodded.  "I don't think there's anything to worry about, 
though."

"What, are you crazy, man?  After everything you've heard about 
that Nakago character, you don't think he's gonna attack her at 
school?"

"I didn't say that, Chief.  All I know is there's nothing to 
worry about."

Blair shook his head, looking disbelieveingly at his Sentinel.  
Jim looked calm, but after living with him, Blair knew the many 
masks Jim could wear, especially when trying to hide a deep 
emotion.  /He sounds so sure of himself, though.  What's he 
hiding?/

Though he felt Yui was safe, Jim decided to listen in on the 
conversation, just in case his instincts were wrong.  He turned 
up the dials on his hearing, blurring out the noises of Blair's 
heartbeat and breathing, focusing in on Hongo's voice from the 
other room.  After exchangeing pleasantries, the young girl told 
Hongo that Yui wasn't with her.  Hongo's heart quickened, real 
fear crept into his voice.  "She isn't there," Jim told Blair, 
toning down his hearing as his voice boomed in his own ears.  
Maybe his instincts were wrong after all.

Blair's eyes widened, concern spreading on his face as well, as 
Hongo stepped out from the kitchen.  "Miaka said Yui did not go 
home with her," he said, straining to keep his voice level.  "Of 
course, Yui has other friends..."

"I'm going after her." Jim holstered his gun with a look that 
said he meant buisness.  "Where's the school?"

At that moment, the door opened, and two voices, one male and one 
female, filtered inside.  "I'm home!" the female one called out.

"Welcome back!" Hongo breathed a sigh of relief.  "It is Yui.  
She's safe."

"Who's she with?" Jim asked, keeping a hand on his gun.  It was 
definately a male scent, however, the voice was younger pitched, 
much like a teenager's.  Jim calmed, noting they were discussing 
a movie, and how the boy would rather have seen Godzilla.  After 
a brief conversation, they entered the living room.

Yui was even more lovely than her picture showed, and her hair 
had grown down to her shoulders.  The tawny haired young man with 
her was not Nakago, /Probably a classmate/ Jim thought, releasing 
his grip on his gun and sitting.  He thought about the feeling 
that he *knew* Yui was safe, then dissmissed it as coincidential.

"Good afternoon, Uncle!" Yui called out cheerily.  Then, she 
spotted Blair and Jim.  Her face paled and her eyes widened with 
fear.

Hongo smiled, acting as though nothing were wrong, his voice 
changing pitch (Jim noted) to soothe the girl.  "Well, you are a 
little late.  Who is this young man?"

"Suboshi Kitani, sir," the young man nervously bowed.  "I'm sorry 
for interuppting anything."

"No, no it's quite all right.  However, we do have guests..."

"Y-yes, of course.  Sorry." He looked hopefully at Yui.  "I'll 
see you at school tomorrow?"

She nodded, barely looking at him.  When the door had closed 
after he left, she asked, "What's going on here?"

"Perhaps you ought to sit down, child," Hongo took her gently by 
the shoulders and guided her to the couch.  "This is Detective 
James Ellison, from the Cascade Police Department in America.  
The other man is Blair Sandburg, his partner."

Yui greeted them, never taking her haunted eyes off Jim.  They 
pleaded "Please, please don't let me be right."  "Do you know my 
uncle from somewhere?" she asked, fiddleing with her skirt.

As Jim shook his head, Hongo placed a protective arm about her.  
"We're here because of someone you know: Nakago Furusawa."  The 
minute he spoke the name, she started to shake, biting her lips 
together.  Jim leaned closer to her, struggleing with the urge to 
protect and comfort fighting through his body.  He had to conduct 
buisness.  "We need to know what happened between you two."

"You don't have to tell us right now if you don't want to," Blair 
said.  "We can wait a couple of hours or so if you need time..."

"No," Yui interrupted, mentally telling her voice to remain 
steady.  "No, I'll tell you now."  She sat straight, eyes misting 
over with tears and harsh memories, clenching her fists together 
in her lap.  "It started three years ago, when I was in Junior 
High School.  Mr. Furusawa was teaching English at the time.  
When I saw him, I thought he could be my long lost father."

She drew a deep breath, and continued, her hands growing steadily 
tighter.  "He was very nice to me.  We went almost everywhere 
together.  We really did look like we were family.  And then..." 
her cobalt blue eyes clouded over, tears streaming freely now 
down her cheeks.

Hongo rubbed her back reassuringly, crooning softly under his 
breath.  She continued, "I went to his apartment one night, for 
help with an English assignment.  There were other people there: 
a woman and a child.  I told him I was sorry to disturb him, and 
turned to leave when he grabbed me and dragged me inside."

She took another deep breath, wringing her skirt and dropping her 
head down, choking out the next words.  "He... he said that I was 
going... going to do whatever *he* wanted... and I screamed... 
and... they didn't even *help* me..." she broke off, unable to 
continue.

Hongo wrapped his arms around her, soothing her gently, trying to 
alleiviate the pain.  "It is all right, child," he whispered, 
soft enough only for Yui and Jim to hear.  "Those nightmares 
can't haunt you now."

"I know it's hard for you," Blair leaned closer towards her, 
trying to send some sort of comforting karma to her.  "But if 
we're going to catch this guy and lock him up, we have to know 
everything that happened.  You don't have to go into great detail 
if you don't want to, but we have to know what occured in that 
room that night." 

Leaning against her uncle for support, clutching his shirt like a 
child, Yui continued in an unsteady voice, "I... d-don't 
remember... H-he g... grabbed me.  I tried to get away, I... 
something..." she closed her eyes, squinting as she tried to get 
past the block in her brain.  There was something missing, 
something lurking within the darkness of her mind, an answer 
slipping through her fingers.  As she neared it, the image of 
Nakago appeared.  Instinctively, she fled from it, lodging the 
answer back within the depths of her mind.  "I... I can't 
remember."

As Jim started to interrogate her further, Hongo gave him a 
warning look.  Jim was about to protest when Blair put a hand on 
his shoulder, shaking his head.  Jim reluctantly settled back 
into the couch.  "Well, whatever happened, Nakago is back in 
Japan."

Yui's eyes flew open in horror.  "Impossible," she whispered, 
retreating further into her uncle's embrace, looking more like a 
frightened child.

"It's okay," he reassured her.  "I'm here to make sure he doesn't 
do it again." Jim stared into her eyes, as if to permanantly 
drill the next words into her brain.  "I promise, he won't touch 
you again." 

"Dectective Ellison will be staying with us for a while," Hongo 
interrupted, smileing.  His voice somehow lifted the oppresive 
aura that had been constricting around the four.  "You will have 
nothing to worry about, I am sure."

Yui nodded, catching no words, hearing only the tone of her 
Uncle's voice soothing the wounds in her heart closed.

"Would you like to refresh yourself in a bath?" Hongo asked Jim 
and Blair.  "It must have been a long flight, and you both must 
be exhausted.  I can draw one for both you and your companion, if 
you wish to bathe together."

"We bathe seperately," Jim swiftly interrupted, a blush staining 
his face.

Hongo nodded.  "Then, which one of you goes first?"

"You go," Blair insisted, shooting Jim a mischeivious grin.  
"You're the one that needs it most."

"Thanks a lot, Chief," Jim muttered, half-heartedly smileing at 
the joke.  His main focus was on the young girl, now looking so 
lost and alone, even in the company of three men.  /Nakago won't 
touch her again./
	*****

Jim peeled off his clothes, tossing them in the corner of the 
bathroom.  /Poor girl.  What was that guy *thinking*?  He'll pay 
for this.  When I get my hands on him..../ Jim froze, both in 
thought and in body as he saw his reflection in the mirror of the 
bathroom.  On his hip was something blue, glowing, something he 
never remembered having.  He tore open the door to the bathroom. 
 "SANDBURG!"

Blair raced over to the bathroom, worried at the panic he 
detected in Jim's voice.  "What is it, man?"

"What the hell is this?!" Jim pointed at the thing shining 
brightly on his hip.

Blair's brow wrinkled in confusion, bending down to get a better 
look.  He flushed as he suddenly became aware of what he was 
doing, and that Jim's cock was mere inches away from whatever it 
was he was supposed to be investigating.  He swallowed, painfully 
aware that Jim would be able to detect any discrepancies in his 
behavior, willing himself not to be aroused.  "Uh, it looks like 
a chinese character," he answered through a dry mouth.

"So what is it doing on my hip?"

"I don't know man," Blair stood, keeping his eyes above chest 
level, hoping his Sentinel wouldn't detect the sudden swiftness 
of his beating heart.  "Do you remember getting a tattoo of some 
kind anywhere?  Maybe getting drunk and some buddies of yours 
pulled a prank on you or something?"

"It's never *been* there, Sandburg.  You think I wouldn't have 
noticed it?  For God's sake, it's *glowing*!" Jim's voice 
steadily raised, the shock mixing with a sudden heat rising in 
his body at the realization that Sandburg was seeing him fully 
nude.  And there was no mistakeing the animal magnetism in 
Blair's eyes, something Jim felt drawn to.  He felt uncomfortably 
hot.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Ellison?" Hongo floated up the stairway 
too quickly for Jim to think about grabbing a towel.

"It's nothing," Jim blushed, tearing his eyes away from Blair's, 
quickly slamming the door shut and locking it.  "I just..."

"He needed some shampoo," Blair provided, excuses glibly falling 
from his tounge.  "He needs a special kind, for a medical thing, 
and he forgot to bring it in with him, so I had to get it."

"Are you sure?  Do you need anything else, Mr. Ellison?" Hongo 
called out.

"No, no I'm fine!" Jim called back.  "Thanks!"  He heaved a sigh 
of relief as two pairs of footsteps pattered away.  He looked 
down again at the symbol, for which the Babel fish was providing 
an excellent reading for.  It read "Tail".

end part 1