Disclaimer: I don't own Outlaw Star, though I wish on every star in the galaxy I did, so please don't sue me 'kay?

Note: Hey, guess what, I’m not dead!! ((-^) This is Chapter 4, where all of your questions will be answered . . . I hope. If I don’t explain some things here . . . well they probably won’t be explained at all, so if I screw up and miss something please tell me and I’ll fix it. Thanks, now on with the insanity, uh, I mean fic.

~ = flashback

Boutou Hoshi Ch. 4

By: Adakie aka Jim No Miko

Jim slowly clawed his way back to consciousness only to find two things, one of which he hadn’t known for a long time and one he was quite familiar with. The first was a feeling of warmth and comfort he remembered from back before the fire. The second . . . was pain.

"Nnn . . ."

"So you’re finally awake huh?"

He sat up quickly, wincing at the pain it caused, and looked around at unfamiliar surroundings. It was an apartment, and a very run down one at that. ‘Oh well, I guess I shouldn’t complain. After all, it’s warm, dry, and those idiots from the street can’t get me here.’ Turning his head to the side, he saw Gene sitting in a chain beside the small bed he was on. ‘Maybe I spoke to soon.’

"Huh? What - what happened?"

Gene grinned at him. "Oh, you don’t remember? Well, I guess that’s understandable, you were pretty delirious."

"Wha . . ."

The red-head laughed slightly. "You were rambling on and I had to knock you out. By the way, you were injured."

It was then that Jim noticed . . . he was cleaned up. His regular, ratty shirt and his pants, which had long since been torn into shorts, were replaced by a dark red shirt and a pair of light colored cargoes. Notable, they were at least three sizes to big for him, but at least they didn’t have holes in them. His arm was in a make-shift sling, and a bad cut on his leg had been bandaged. The finishing touch; a pair of cut, black gloves covered the disfigured flesh on the palms of his hands. Well at least something fit him.

"So, are you going to tell me who you really are?"

Jim gasped slightly, eyes wide. ‘Could this moron possibly . . . no, there’s no way.’ "I don’t know what you mean."

"That’s it, I’ve had just about enough of this." Gene leaned forward, a hard expression on his face. "I know you’re James Liaren." A fist suddenly contacted with his left cheek and before he knew it the kid had pushed him out of his chair and onto the floor. Their match was short lived however, because of his greater size and strength Gene quickly pined the small boy. "Hey what was that all about?! Huh . . ."

There were tears pouring from Jim’s eyes. "I . . I’m not him any more . . . I’m not!"

"Umm . . ." Gene wanted to say something, anything, but the boys eyes held him silent.

"Maybe I was once, but I’m not anymore. He’s dead."

The elder of the two regained his composure then, pulling back a little but still keeping his hands agents Jim’s shoulders just In case he tried anything. "Well what do I call you then? And why are you with that psycho b*tch?"

"She’s not a total b*tch, not really anyway." His eyes had a sort of distant look to them now. "Ya know, I remember the first time I met her. She was so different then, nice really." He turned away slightly. "It was after a big fight, a street brawl or something like that, I don’t know exactly . . . I just know I was really torn up. I remember, I was sitting in an alley somewhere, and I couldn’t move my shoulder at all. And then all the sudden there she was, just kneeling there and smiling at me. She held out a hand and put the other against this cut on the side of my face . . . she got blood on her fingers." He laughed a little, "I guess I should have taken that as a sign huh? Anyway, she asked if I had anywhere to go. I’d been sleeping in a crate for the past month, so I said no."

"And that’s how you met her?"

"Ya . . . that’s how I sent myself straight to Hell on Earth. Why am I telling you this anyway?!"

"Um, I . . uh . . . well what about that kid?"

Jim looked up at him, quizzically. "You mean Liko? Riakie’s had him since long before we ever met. I think he’s her little brother or something. He’s . . . well he’s sick. I don’t know exactly with what, but it’s really bad. I . . . well I think he’s dying."

"Dying? That little boy?"

"Ya . . . you see that’s why Riakie rescued me."

"Huh? I don’t understand."

"You see, she’s got to stay at the basement to take care of him, so she can’t go out looking for food or medicine."

"And that’s where you come in?"

"Right."

"And that’s why you were robbing that ambulance?"

"R-right."

"Huh." Gene got up and helped the boy to his feet. "Well, anyway, it’s getting kinda late so . . . "

"How long was I out?" Jim asked, cutting Gene off before he could finish.

"Oh that, a couple hours. You’ve been here since late afternoon. Anyway, go back to bed. I’ll see you in the morning." Gene said, turning to leave.

"Wait!"

He looked back over his shoulder. Jim was staring up at him, his face in an unreadable mix of emotions.

"I, uh, . . . I guess I should thank you . . . for taking care of me and all."

He smiled down at the boy. "Hey, don’t worry about it." And with that Gene closed the door behind him and made his way to the phone. He was really starting to regret his earlier actions. His hand hovered above the receiver. ‘Should I . . .’ The conversation from before replayed itself again in his mind.

~

"Hello, is this Mr. Kiedo?"

"That depends, who’s this?"

"Gene Starwind. Listen, I think I might have found the kid you’re looking for."

"You think?"

"Well ya, you see . . . I’m not exactly sure yet."

"Don’t try and pull a fast one on me Starwind, I heard about what you did to my team."

"Oh, so you know about that? Well, you see . . . they weren’t getting anywhere. You can’t leave such a delicate job to morons like them."

"So do you have the kid or not?"

"I, uh . . . I’ve got to go. Listen, I’ll get back to you."

*click*

~

He had already made too many mistakes. Gene knew he’d talked way too fast on the phone, and he’d probably also sounded nervous. And now he was considering calling again? ‘What was I thinking in the first place? Should I turn Jim in? It’s the only way to save my *ss, but . . . something about this just seems wrong. So do I tell him I got the wrong guy? Ya, I could but . . . what am I going to do?!’

He gave a defeated sigh. ‘There’s only one way out of this for me, and that’s to turn him in. Sorry kid, but I’ve got to.’ He quickly dialed the number before he changed his mind again.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi, this Mr. Kiedo?"

"Oh, so it’s you again Starwind. Well, are you sure?"

"Well . . . well you see . . ."

"Cut the cr*p Starwind, is your kid James Liaren or not!?"

"Hey, no need to yell buddy, I checked."

"And . . ."

"And . . . he’s not your guy. Listen, I can’t find him, I think he must have skipped town, maybe he stowed away on a ship or something. Sorry, but no dice."

He hung up quickly. ‘What the h*ll have I done?! Why didn’t I just tell him the truth?! Why the h*ll did I . . . ’ but he couldn’t get the image of Jim’s desperate eyes out of his mind. ‘Aw d*mn . . . I hate kids.’

~*~

Jim lay awake staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t sleep. ‘Why is this happening to me? Why am I here? Why do I trust him? I just don’t understand it.’ He turned over, his arm tumbling off the edge of the bed. ‘And why did I tell him all that stuff . . . I never told anyone that. Urr . . . why’s this happening!’ He slowly slid, oblivious, from the bed. "Ow!" ‘Aw d*mn it! That hurt, I . . . what?’ He spotted a vaguely familiar shape from underneath the bed frame. Curious, he pulled it out. ‘Yes! My bag! Oh that’s right, I found some medicine that ambulance that might just work . . . I have to get back to Riakie!’

~*~

Gene awoke early that morning, too troubled by the recent events to sleep till noon like usual. He yawned and made his way to the kitchen. ‘I guess I’ll go ahead and see if there’s anything to eat. I won’t make Jim eat my cooking. That’s too much of a torture even after what he’s put me through.’ After a few minuets of searching, he finally came to a decision. ‘I have to go shopping some times. Hum, maybe I _should_ cook, after all this entire thing _is_ that kid’s fault. Hehe, I guess I’ll just settle for a rude awakening instead.’

"Hey, Jim, are you up?!" There was no response. "Jim? Hey, come on kid, answer me! Grr, that’s it, I’m coming in!" He kicked the door in only to find . . . nothing.

Gene looked around frantically, but the boy wasn’t there. He’d apparently changed back into his normal cloths and left. ‘D*mn!’ He quickly looked under the bed for the bag he’d hid there, but no luck. The kid had found that too. ‘Double d*mn!’ Something white caught his eye and he reached for it. It was a piece of paper with a short message scribbled on it.

Thanks.

~ Jim Hawking

~*Owarii - End*~

Hehe, well I know that was probably far to cheesy, but it’s all I could think of to do. Don’t worry everyone, part 5 will be out soon, I promise!! Here, I’ll even give you proof ((-^)

Teaser for Ch. 5;

"How could you!?!"

"R-Riakie, I . . . I tried to get back! You have to believe me!!"

Her expression softened slightly and her cracked, dry lips curved into a little smile. She slowly, carefully traced the edge of the hook across his cheek.

"Oh Jim, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I believe you tried, it’s just that . . . trying isn’t good enough."