The question was... well, direct. Good, he thought. Setsumi always seemed twitchy, as most people did when they talked openly about the Covenant. Retreating somewhere to talk was the first... well... sane idea he'd heard in a while.

There was something else that crossed David's mind. Returned to his civilian state, tucking the gun away inconspicuously, the young man started drifting after the lolita-clad senshi in the snow.

"If you are the real Mercury senshi, and not just some cosplayer out for a good time, then yes, I can trust you. Though... you will want to rally with Sophia or Amarissa, get the skinny from them." Scanning left and right as they passed a dumpster, David pulled the assault rifle away, ejected the mag and chambered round, ditching the weapon behind the dumpster and rubbish. Saving the high capacity magazines, he pulled his jacket off, and wrapped it around the girl's shoulders.

"I don't suppose Mr. Moon would listen to a man of god about skirt length and otaku fetish hell, would he?" Why was he blushing? Oh...right...

Setsumi didn't say much as they walked, however, her silence didn't last very long when she felt something warm being draped over her shoulders. Her big doe eyes blinked and she stopped. Her head jerked up and both eyes locked onto David with a concerned and yet shocked stare. He had given up his jacket, thus exposing him to the cold climate. A gesture she was highly unfamiliar with in reality, besides this was the kind of shit she would only see on television! Her face turned bright red like a tomato. This outfit was completely against her will! An now he had to point it out once again which brought her cheeks to a nice bright red shade.

" Right now I don't think skirt length is on his top priority list, now that his shop is shot up and now a possible crime scene." Setsumi sighed before reaching the end of the alley. The blush finally subsiding as she focused on a plan of action. Or at least a solution to the problem of getting to a safe location that wasn't crawling with police men and possible ' business hit men'. Un-fortunatly only one place came to mind...

With a deep breath Setsumi started to walk again, This time exiting the alley and onto the side street. " Follow beside me okay? " She nodded, letting David follow along side her down the street and even down the next block. The distance wasn't very far from the shop, but the building that they arrived at was rather old. It was a small two story apartment complex. " I know it doesn't look much, but if you are whom you claim to be. Then sadly this is the safest place right now for the time being. " Setsumi sighed, walking up to the apartment building and up the stairs to a door that had C1 on the door.

" Please take off your shoes when you come inside."

Setsumi nodded, opening the door to allow David inside. Her eyes scanning the area just in case anyone was watching as she closed the door behind them.

The apartment was clearly a studio room that was small, but pleasant and cosy. The entire place was spotless and smelt of lavender and jade. Setsumi would disappear into the bathroom to change, leaving David out in her home un-attended for a short while. If he were to look around he would see that the living room was also the bedroom. A small TV sat in the corner, a twin size bed pressed up against the wall, two wall complete wall spaces that was covered from floor to ceiling in books of different categories and genres. The books ranging from fantasy, sci-fi, to hacking and historical battle tactics. However what probably stood out in the place more than anything would possibly be the four 27' inch computer screens that stacked on top of a desk next to her bed.

" So mind telling me why you brought a gun into my work place? " Setsumi asked, stepping out of the bathroom in her regular every day clothing. Jeans and a t-shirt.

There was something about making Setsumi blush that amused David, but this time, he wasn't in the laughing mood. No, he didn't like the idea of some pervy old man making her wear something like that, nor scaring the living daylights out of her in some half-baked sanction job turned sour.

He followed along, placed his shoes carefully in the entry way of the apartment, and stood ramrod straight in the combination living room/bedroom as if on sentry duty. Studying his surroundings, David maneuvered around the bookshelves, glanced momentarily at the kitchen, and then noticed the computer. Monitors were hardly a measure of skill in the computing field, but they suggested a fascination and hobby that could prove useful, at least, if he could gather the SIGINT.

When she returned, Yinko's head swiveled, a slight trace of shadow cutting across the young man's face. In the spot of darkness, one of the blue eyes cut through the black, glinting like a predator. It was an odd combination, one side stoic, serene, the other, something... else.

"I didn't bring a gun to your workplace," David recanted. "I drew a gun after being ambushed, and used the force I deemed necessary in the first defensible position I could find, which just so happened to be your workplace." David tried looking away, but found his eyes tracing back to the girl, even as his body shifted away. "If there were a more defensible position I could take where I'd be less conspicuous, I wouldn't have been in your way."

"Besides," David grumbled, setting the Venusian artifact on the coffee table. "There is another question on the table. What cats have you been talking to lately?"

A brow raised and Setsumi shuffled her way to the kitchen as David talked. " You could at least warned me or something before hand . . . Like Hey Setsumi, I'm being followed and this place is about to turn into a gun zone, mind getting people out and to safety before it starts? " Setsumi responded, turning her head back to glance at David. He could of at least warned her. Seriously! How hard could it be to say ' Hey! guns are about to get involved get to safety! ' At least that is what she felt would of been more effective, but he did save her. So she couldn't be too mad at him.. However, her feelings seemed to pour out of her, agitated and some what jittery.

Setsumi sighed before turning around and leaning up against the kitchen cabinet with arms crossed. Her eyes wide like saucers when he asked her what cat she had been talking to. " So I really am not crazy..." She spoke to herself aloud. Happy at the fact she wasn't crazy, but concerned at the fact she was not the only one who had been chosen by these cats. Both eyes blinked twice and Setsumi took a deep breath.

" A black one. About a week ago..." She paused not really sure if he was messing with her or not, but then again what real reason did he have to mess with her? " The talking black cat told me I was Sailor Mercury.. What that means I have no clue. I've been trying to figure it out for a week straight. " She admitted, slightly embarrassed. Her eyes drawn over to the venusian artifact and curiosity took it's course. She moved over to the coffee table and examined it closely before reaching into her pocket and pulling out the mercury pen that the cat had given her.

"Luna," David sighed. "Yeah, she's the more level-headed, boring one, but she's okay." Seeing the girl pull out the stick, setting it on the table beside the Venusian knife, David tried to reach out to it slowly. Even without any formal training from Hino, or belief in the supernatural, he could feel... something. The transformation before, the control of water, now evidence she had talked to Luna, yes... she was the real deal.

"You're going to want to talk to Amarissa or Sophia," he started, pulling his hand away, putting the knife back in his pocket. "They know the background, but there are more of us than you'd think." Elbows in his knees, he leaned forward, hands gesturing as he tried to explain. "You're not crazy, you're not hallucinating, and no... the government doesn't like us all that much, so being quiet about the superhero thing is a good idea."

" Luna? " Setsumi pondered, before plopping herself down on the floor next to the coffee table. This was just all too much to handle. So she wasn't possessed, but there was something clearly not right about it. Magical talking cats just don't appear out of no where with out some documentation or sighting... Or would there be? Setsumi's nose scrunched up as she thought about the possible outcome of her entire situation. Her eyes tracing over the Venusian blade before he put it back into his pocket. Her brow arched in curiosity as she crossed her legs indian style and placed both hands flat on the coffee table.

" Sophia or Amarissa? You mean the girl back at the skating rink? Huh, I guess I can try and find her again..." She sighed before looking right up at David with a small smirk at the comment about keeping quiet. " Keeping quiet is easy...Plus, the government isn't scary if you don't get in their way or become involved. Or at least that is what I've learned from books and what I've experienced." Setsumi shrugged, glancing over his outer exerior before picking herself up off the floor.

" Are you hurt? I noticed you were limping a bit there outside." She asked in a polite manner.

"It's..." David started, feeling along his left side, frowning. It was an insult to be so easily wounded by someone like that wiry, middle-aged salaryman. "That salaryman got lucky... and I was stupid," he hissed. "It's not safe here, or anywhere. It's never safe..." How badly had he been hurt? He remembered tweaking his ankle near the stairway leading to the shrine, and somehow along the lines, something nicked him, a small trace of blood pooling against his shirt, aggravated by the struggle. GSW, perhaps? He wouldn't put it past him.

What was he thinking? This wasn't the sort of thing Memiko needed to hear. She needed to hear, "Oh, my day was boring, just volunteering reading to children, picking flowers for you in the park, and maybe renting a few chick flicks for a Saturday night." Instead, he brought home "I've turned your hometown into a warzone, and will shoot perfectly normal people right in front of you if they get in my way!"

When girls said they liked bad boys, they meant risky, dark and handsome looking boyband types, not internationally known war criminals.

Setsumi blinked twice at David's remark about the Salaryman getting lucky. Had he seriously been shot?! For a moment her heart raced with the thought of a bullet possibly lodged inside his torso. Then there was the thought of him bleeding out on the floor and dying in her apartment that sent her face into a fluster. Of course it isn't safe here! It's not safe anywhere with the salaryman knowing what David's face looks like. Plus people might have seen Yinko's - er - David's knight transformation! Oh this could be bad, real bad... Her brow twitched at the very thought. However that wasn't what bugged her the most this very moment. Oh no... It was the fact he was completely ignoring his own wounds!!

" Oh don't give me that bull crap. " Setsumi snapped, for once standing up and taking on a completely whole new persona. She stood in front of David on the other side of the coffee table. Her stance ridged and her head held high in confidence and in demand.However, it was only for a moment. Setsumi leaned in across the coffee table, reached out with the back of her right hand and tapped it agents his forehead. Such an outburst in her home would not be tolerated! So after her hand made contact with his forehead the confident Setsumi quickly vanished into a doe eyed trembling girl. Her face obviously horrified at the action she had just performed.

" I'm sorry!!" Setsumi gasped, bringing her hand back and running into the bathroom. Only vanishing out of the main room for a second to return with a small home medical kit. " Here, At least bandage yourself. Okay? If you will shoot perfectly normal people then why didn't you shoot me back at the coffee shop? hmm?" Setsumi questioned, setting the medical kit down on the coffee table and opening it up. Her fingers quickly picking and pulling out any supplies she needed to clean, bandage, and possibly stitch up a open wound. " Let me see your wound... Please?"

Watching, and, sadly, flinching as Setsumi reached out and tapped his forehead with the back of her hand, David Rhodes just stared. He continued staring as the girl suddenly ran away, only to come back, and start trying to pamper his wound. That was... odd, to say the least.

Hesitantly, he removed his black polo shirt, followed by the black t-shirt underneath. Inspecting the wound delicately, it wasn't serious, perhaps just a grazing, about a quarter of inch deep along a tangential path across his side. Glad it didn't nick anything serious, David still struggled cleaning and dressing the wound.

Pain, after all, was a detractor to any task.

But again, fumbling with the butterfly closure and peroxide-dipped cotton swab, the girl's proximity and the vulnerable nature of his situation set him on edge. They had talked, albeit vaguely, about the cats, the other senshi, and the dangers of revealing themselves. But still, the girl didn't know anything about him, about the mission, or the adversaries at large. Maybe... maybe it would be best to keep it that way.

"This is... a nice place," he started, trying to fill the void.

Setsumi burst into a fit of laughter before breaking it off into a chuckle. Her cheeks flushed from the fit of laughter as she dabbed at the wound with a cotton swab. Her hands perfectly protected behind latex gloves of course. With a another chuckle fit Setsumi glanced up at David. Her left free hand pushing up her glasses further up her nose. " You throw a fit and yet you flench at a harmless tap. You really are strange. " Setsumi smiled, turning her attention back to the wound.

It wasn't hard to dress a wound and bandage it up. Hell she nearly had 47 medical books in her make shift wall bookshelf. It didn't take long to remember the content she had read within the pages. Once she had placed the last bandage on his side, she sat back onto the coffee table. Her vibrant teal eyes were like pools of water as she locked eyes with David. A small smile parting her lips.

" Thank you. I've just moved in a few months ago. Working full time and going to school just to keep my own place is hard work. " Setsumi chuckled at herself, while reaching her hand back behind her head in complete embarrassment. " Oh, by the way. Don't over work yourself. Let yourself have time to heal. A injured man is a dead man in any form of 'battlefield'. " Setsumi noted, getting up and moving on over beside David. Plopping herself right down next to him she tucked her legs and feet up underneath her.

" So an actual warlord huh? So are you a conquer or a titan? Which pry tell do you classify yourself under? Call it curiosity or the fact I'm still shocked that someone that looks so young to be such a violent person or 'warlord'. I guess its because I never imagined myself running into one. " She smiled, resting her face within her hands while leaning over her lap in a thinking position. Her teal eyes locked on David in an observant stare.

She was... laughing? That was different. David wasn't expecting someone to laugh, especially at him. He was about to complain, to say that if she wanted to get shot and run for her life with a sprained ankle, then she could complain that he was strange.

Instead, he kept his mouth shut. He listened to her responses, and, although he thought she was taking it with a bit more humor and less seriously than she should, he did not complain.

Sitting next to him, it was different, odd, even, being that close to Setsumi. Seeing her relax, asking about "warlord life", as it were, David rolled his eyes.

"It's nothing like that," he started, putting a protective hand on his bandaged side. "I was fresh out of college, ready to join the Marines, and next thing I knew, the war broke out." Looking over at her, he blushed. "There was nothing glamorous, nothing 'fashionable' about it. The Camps were... hell doesn't exactly describe it, but... that's the easiest way to describe it... Hell..."

He thought about the little girl again, and the mom with the rock in her hands.

"Desperado... that's the better description," he answered quietly, his eyes drifting into the distance. "But... can we... not talk about it now?"

" I'm sure it was, Hell. "

Setsumi's tone was soft, barely above a whisper. Her eyes trailing away from David to the home kit medical box. Her breath steady as she exhaled through loosely closed lips. The girl just sat there with such stillness that one would think she was a figurine in her own home. " I don't know what you have been through, David. I honestly can't imagine what you've been through. I have no real knowledge of fighting, battles, let alone war. I've read countless books, articles, web blogs, and so on... However, something like that is far beyond my grasp of reality."

Setsumi's gaze lifted up to meet David's stone, serious eyes. " Glamorous, fashionable, Glorious, Heroic, Brave, they are all supporters of a title that you choose to carry. You say it's not 'Glamorous', however, some where someone holds the title you chosen in respect. Or you wouldn't be using the title of 'Yinko' to begin with." She smirked, picking herself up off her bed and moving over towards the window that over looked the front apartment entrance and side street.

" The police might be coming here soon... I did disappear from the shop leaving Mr.Moon behind. Most likely his mentioned my name to the police as the active employee during the 'mexican show down' displayed earlier..."

She paused before breaking her silence with a deep sigh, pushing her glasses up with her index finger. " Do you have some where to stay that you can look after your wounds? Or are you going to be Leeloo and I Korben Dallas?" She asked, a brow raised while she clasped her hands together.

"As long as no one else wants to negotiate," David couldn't resist answering. He stifled the chuckle as his ribs protested. "No, no fridge for me. Just... don't tell the cops anything? My arrival hasn't been... smooth sailing." Though, he didn't think he had to worry much about it. Setsumi wasn't the type to blab about that sort of thing, hiding Yinko away from the government.

Yinko... why did he still use that name? The girl brought up a good point. It was useless except as an intimidation tactic, and it obviously meant something to him, to mention he was a warlord. Though, it wasn't pride, necessarily. As much as he hated Sun Tzu and all the rhetoric about the "Tao" of this or that, how you had to have x amount of troops to win the appeasement of the ancestors, the message of intimidation to prevent war seemed relatively clear.

Of course, it was also preached by Clausewitz, Musashi, and others.

Was he really doing himself any favors, still playing the warlord card?

Working towards the door, he pulled his shirt back on, and found himself looking back at the girl. No, he couldn't think of that, not right now. It would wait until later... maybe, after things settled down.