"Now, the thing is, I really do like this girl, Ruebin."

	"For the last time, you rusted rose pisshead," The latest 
relative of Sakazaki raised his fist, elderich power flowing from it 
per regulation. "My name is Matthew Ruinsower!"

	Ki artfully slide aside from the rolling wave of hellfire. He 
jabbed the end of his still-sheathed katana against the cousin's (Or 
was it `nephew' this time? Or maybe even `uncle', as were the times?) 
wrist, sending the boy sprawling away with his punch. The Steel Thorn 
swordsman jumped back to give them both distance. "Now, now, Ruebin. 
Steel may rust, but we keep good care of our garden. Where was I? Oh, 
yes, Yuri. As I said, I like her. Maybe she's not my ticket to world 
domination, maybe I won't even know her in four years, but I enjoy my 
time with her. And I think that says something in itself."

	Ruinsower came barrelling towards Ki. The rooftop didn't need the 
large neon sign to light it, since the Doombringers and their kinfolk 
tended to be small fireballs in and of themselves. Ki took a standing 
start and twirled through the air over his opponent's head. Ruinsower's 
growl cut through then night air like hot water on snow. Ki continued 
midair.

	"Sure, we aren't anything official. But a little while ago, I was 
a having a mental breakdown. Few people ever enjoy such a step up in 
life." He landed with barely a sound, while Ruinsower came to a halt 
that lifted up cement. Ki took a deep, relaxing breath. "This heart is 
the best thing that ever happened to me! I wish the rest of my family 
would think about it. I'd swear, Ruebin, even the air tastes 
spectacular."

	Ruinsower clasped his fists together and spun around on Ki. The 
smaller boy clubbed him in the face, already under his guard. The 
living inferno clutched his face, a broken nose pourng down his 
fingers. Ki sighed dramatically.

	"But now all this bloody business with the Mikagami's, with Yuri 
and her allegded lineage. All this investigating and probing and 
meetings just to test them out. Last week, they invited Old Hellstorm 
and Mrs. Mikagami over to consult them on the war. Pah! Really! Can't 
they just be amazed once in a while?"

	"You mocking brat." Ruinsower smiled through his blood. With an 
exaggerated gestured, his clapped his hands together. He pulled his 
hands apart slowly, lightning leaping between his palms. "You divulge 
the secrets of your clan and now you will still die. You are a foolish 
soldier!"

	Ki crouched almost to the ground. The blazing fingers trailed 
ozone where his head had been. He bounced up. The edge of his sheath 
caught Ruinsower in the windpipe.

	"You judge me before you know me, Ruebin." Ki smiled in 
anticipation. He loved his heart when it beat like this. "I'm not 
killing you for the sake of my clan. I get homework credit for this."

	In a snapping motion, Ki pulled away his sheath.

********

Dark Heart High
Netherworlds Educational Institution For The
Universal Propagation of Evil

Started by Mads
This Chapter by: Nicholas Callahan

Chapter Sixty-Four: Plotting 

********

The last few drops of blood stained the cut on her wrist.

	The girl was completely lifeless. Her skin was pale and dry, 
while what had been her blood had spilled over the sink and the 
bathroom counter. Her limbs sprawled out haphazardly on the floor of 
the girls' restroom. The remains of a razor, a solid metal razor meant 
for many uses, lay in pieces by the sink; the blade had landed next to 
her hand on the floor. An utter silence, both divine and biological, 
attended to the whole affair.

	Then the girl sat up, yawned, and swore.

	"There's got to be a way to screen them." Ryuji muttered to 
himself. "I hate getting the ones with poor eyesight." The girl fished 
around in her pockets, then pulled out an eyeglasses case. Putting the 
spectacles on, Ryuji inspected his new self in the mirror.

	"Not bad, I guess. Ravenlids always work." He tugged at the ear-
length hair. "The face is a little chubby. And the figure is a little 
lean. Ah, fudge it, it'll do. Now, if Craig got the call..."

	She gingerly pushed open the door and a duffelbag was shoved in 
her face. Craig stood in the hallway, clad in a t-shirt and jeans. "You 
are very lucky that Klein knows the Half-Tongue of Balouk."

	"Sorry about that. My cell wasn't meant to be cross-dimensional." 
Ryuji smiled apologetically and yanked the bag through the door. For 
fifteen tense minutes, Craig heard shuffling clothes and splashing 
water. After that, Ryuji emerged, fresh as a corpse could look. 
Electrical tape banded her wrists.

	Without a word, the two immediately made their way out of the 
high school building, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. They 
waded against the flow of teenagers who were coming in for summer 
classes. Odd looks and curiously glances bounced off of them as they 
slipped through the doors and quickly sped up their pace. Once they 
were a few blocks away, the let themselves relax and fell into a more 
casual gait.

	"Thanks for that, man." Ryuji said as the strolled into more 
commercial districts. "I know it was on short notice."

	"Right, right...But, geez, couldn't you have found something less 
conspicuous?" Craig asked.

	Ryuji rubbed the back of his head. "Well...I was in a hurry to 
get back to this world when I heard about the assignment. And after 
looking around for a while, I figured any corpse is a good corpse. 
Cremation is really becoming an epidemic, you know..."

	"Whatever." Craig looked Ryuji up and down. "What do you figure 
she was like? Just fed up with stuff, like Amy? Or always kinda 
superior and aloof, like Midori? Or maybe like Yuri, all sort of-"

	"Well, she had her reasons." Ryuji was looking over a piece of 
crumbled, tear-stained paper. She offered it to Craig. The boy 
tightened his lip and waved it away in a good taste. Ryuji shrugged and 
stuffed it in her pocket. "What's this all about, Craig? You're not 
usually one to wonder about this stuff..."

	"Just thinking about things. People. Normal people." He looked up 
into the sky. "Atsuko ran into Amakusa last week. He just came out of 
nowhere and offered her a place at the school, going on about some 
prophecy. Afterwords, Atsuko was completely in tears. Just being around 
Amakusa spooked her that badly. I mean, sure he's scary, but I don't 
think any of us thought of him as mind-numbingly terrifying. Amakusa's 
just, you know, the principal."

	Ryuji nodded. "I think I see where you're going with this."

	Craig glanced around at the people sharing the street. "I've 
never really thought how...different my life has been. Normal people 
were just things in the back of my mind, like hell dimensions and 
family history. Something you should think about, but you really only 
see every so often. But now there's Atsuko and...Geez, when she hears 
that someone's dead, her first reaction is to call the cops. She'd 
probably call what we just did `scavaging'."

	Ryuji glared at him.

	"Sorry, sorry...Have you seen the assignment yet?" Craig pulled 
out his own piece of paper. Ryuji shook his head. The knight read it 
aloud."All students entering their second year at Dark Heart High are 
required to commit one certifiable act of evil before the beginning of 
the new semester. Each act with be judged individually by the student's 
upcoming second year teacher, with emphasis on the use of resources 
and the difficulty of the act. The destruction of personal enemies will 
not be counted, although students may receive recognition for family 
undertakings provided their guardians contact the school to confirm 
this. Students may work in groups no larger than three.

	"I've got to face it, man." Craig finished. "I'm boned."

	Ryuji chuckled. "Is that what you're so worried about? Don't 
sweat it. So, do you think Yasuko will work with us?"

	"What? Yasuko?" Craig blinked in confusion. "No, no, you see, 
Yasuko can get someone with a chance in Hell to work with her. Or for 
her or whatever it is. It's what she does. I'm pretty sure she wants to 
graduate someday. In fact, what do you mean `us'? You're going to go 
off and do whatever evil accountant stuff you do, and I'm going to go 
and be the shame of my family. I thought that was obvious."

	"Right, so," Ryuji responded. "You were wrong. So, about Yasuko, 
do I call her or do you want to?"

	Craig glowered. "Stop being cute about it. We both know that I'm 
going to fail. Success isn't something that just happens when you need 
it to. There's no reason for you to-"

	Ryuji clapped her hand on Craig's shoulder, silencing him. The 
reanimated girl smiled, a kind of warm, confident, patronizing smile 
that you see in movies. Ryuji could see Craig in her mind's eyes. He 
could see Mordred and he could see the desperately clash of swords and 
the brother's look of frustration and the final, almost anticlimatic 
splash of blood. Ryuji could see this all and he could very clearly 
see that Craig was still standing right in front of her, as alive as 
ever. 

	She pulled a cell phone out of the dufflebag. "Craig, I have two 
questions for you. First of all, will you please shut up about failing 
out? And second of all, do you know Yasuko's number?"

				*	*	*

"You probably shouldn't scratch at it."

	"But it itches!"

	"Still, I mean," Yuri's face clenched as she tried to come up 
with a not-half-baked reason. "Is it ever good to scratch at something 
you get at the docter's?"

	"Argh!"

	Amy Angeleye tugged at the slip of paper firmly planted on her 
forehead. Her skin tugged back, still red where it touched the seal. It 
wasn't nearly as impressive as all of Bala's, but she never expected it 
to be. She just had hoped that it would look a little cool and a little 
threatening, like a tatoo or a piercing on the wrong place. Not, as it 
turned out, a normal ofuda doggedly drapped from the middle of her 
forehead to the bridge of her nose. As far as seals went, it certainly 
didn't appear to be holding anything back.

	"Maybe not." Amy conceded to her friend. She gave the paper a few 
more experimental tugs. "But I don't think it's just going to come off. 
It wouldn't be a proper seal if it did."

	Yuri giggled as Amy toyed with the seal. Like a blanket, the 
midday summer sun covered everything on the street between the downtown 
skyscrappers. The two of the stood on a crossing bridge, leaning on the 
railing and watching cars skim by. Yuri's hand listlessly clenched a 
large brown envelope. Yuri tapped Amy's arm and motioned to some nearby 
vending machines. "Come on, let's get out of the sun before you fry 
your brain."

	Amy hummed. She folded the paper over and pressed it against her 
forehead. "Maybe I could hold it down with something, like a hat or a 
bandana. I don't like having it wave around in the open."

	Yuri threw in her coins and got the reassuring rattle of soft 
drinks. She handed on to Amy, who smiled and plopped down in one of the 
few shadows left hanging at this time of day. Yuri sat down across from 
her. She placed her can carefully on the ground and opened the parcel.

	"Do we have to do that now?" Amy whined.

	Yuri twisted her lips. She agreed with Amy. "It's a homework 
assignment."

	"It's summer!"

	"It's a halfway done summer." Yuri corrected. She thumbed through 
the papers. "This can't be that bad. I mean, how many times have we 
fought to the death by now?"

	"Fine, fine." Amy acquiesced. "So, we can do three to a group?"

	Yuri looked over the top-most sheet. "That's what it it says."

	Amy sat up, sipping her drink thoughtfully. She batted the ofuda 
away from her eye. "Well, okay, there's you and me...that's two. I 
guess Ki isn't an option, since he's got a war to wage with the 
Doombringers." And good riddance, she silently added.

	Yuri rubbed her chin. "Craig and Yasuko usually work together on 
these things. And, all things considered, Ryuji would definitely be 
with them." She smiled knowingly.

	"So that leaves..." Amy ran the numbers through her head and knew 
that she wouldn't get an answer she liked. But it made too much sense. 
"Bala is our best bet."

	"Yeah, Bala." Yuri still didn't like that topic. Bala was a good 
friend and he was...He was a choice that made sense no matter how she 
looked at it and she had no good reason to be down about it. 

	Amy shrugged. "We need muscle, Yuri. And Bala will help. I'd be 
surprised if you weren't the first choice in his head when he saw 
this."

	"I know, I know." Yuri gazed off into traffic. "Nothing is wrong 
with Bala right now, it's just...things are complicated."

	You care for him, Amy thought. It was depressing, sometimes, how 
quickly her friends forgot what the name Angeleye meant.

	"There's something with Ki. It feels right, but at the same 
time...I feels like I've lost something." Yuri figeted her hands. "Like 
I'm looking through a crowd and I know someone's there, but I can't 
find their face."

	You know Ki doesn't make you happy, Amy kept thinking. But you 
know the feelings he has for you and you're straining to return them.

	"And Bala...Bala is just strange." Yuri went on. "With Bala, it's 
like he's just trying to act like he's love. And now, things have just 
ended, and they aren't the kinds of things that just start again."

	You wear your fear like a raincoat, Yuri. Amy stood up and 
motioned for Yuri to follow. "Be that as it may, we can't mope about it 
around here. You've know Bala's phone number, right?"

	Yuri nodded dejectedly and stood up. She felt mean for turning a 
cold shoulder, but Amy knew from experience that this wasn't the kind 
of thing you talked a person down from. If they never learned it on 
their own, then everything you could say to them was just petty words.

	Trying to kill the mood, Amy threw a genial arm over Yuri's 
shoulder. "Come on, it won't be so bad. It's just a school assignment. 
And, hey, it could be worse. I hear the second-years have to do it 
solo..."

				*	*	*

"I understand that this is as much me as it is you."

	"Damnit, Hikaru, we aren't having an argument! I'm holding the 
island of Ryukyu for ransom! That doesn't constitute an argument!"

	Hikaru Hikari glowed in his armor, despite the burn marks and 
dents. The knight stared up through the seven-story atrium, to where 
the bomb hung from the ceiling. A little below it an impromptu 
television screen framed Liza's angry face. He saw that the bomb read 
three minutes and felt optimistic, knowing that he had two minutes and 
fifty-nine seconds left. More than enough time.

	"All I'm saying is, I think this could be a major problem in our 
relationship if we don't confront it now." He shoved the business end 
of his bastard sword through the nearest Ramada-Style Death Drone. A 
second one, all spinning blades and laser saws, tried to come from his 
blindspot. He batted it away with his shield, then released a micro-
missile from under the metal plate. The floor was already littered with 
his efforts.

	Liza sighed through the video display. "Hikaru, this isn't about 
us. I'm just getting some school work done for the summer. I wish you 
could understand that you're crowding me right now."

	Hikaru thought about the irony of that statement as more drones 
amassed from the corners of the civic center. He let loose another 
volley of micro-missiles and turned a pleading, caring face up towards 
Liza. "That's the problem. We're both having some difficulties 
admitting that we both have responsibilities outside of each other. 
It's the couples who talk together who stay together."

	Liza ran her hand across her face in frustration. Hikaru saw 
there was no two ways about it and turned on the jet pack.

				*	*	*

There was a distinctive kicking at the door. Yuri sighed and opened it.

	"Hi! Sorry we're late. The trains were running behind schedule." 
Leilei and her ward swept into the Mikagami house. Yuri stepped to the 
side and let them through, avoiding Bala's eye. The boy noticed this 
with a twinge of what could have been regret and marched over to the 
living room without breaking stride.

	Amy was waiting for them on the couch. She gave a knowing look to 
Leilei, who just as quickly returned it. Before Yuri could settle 
herself with the assignment papers, Amy jumped to her feet with a half-
genuine smile. "You know what? I just remembered, I have this CD that 
Leilei lent me. In my bag. The one I put in Yuri's room. I'll just...go 
there."

	"Oh, right! The CD!" Leilei stopped herself from sitting. "Since 
it's my CD, I'll just go with you. To the CD. In Yuri's room."

	And like that the two of them were gone. Yuri blinked, still 
fixed on where the two of them had been. She wasn't confused. She was 
very, very unsure. Trying to put on the sweetest smile possible, she 
turned to Bala. "So, Bala...um...what have you been doing? Lately?"

	Bala was staring at the floor. He also clearly recognized the 
lurch they had been left in. He nodded over towards Yuri's playstation, 
under the family TV.
	
	"I see." Yuri could physically feel the conversation die. "So, 
does Leilei untie you or does she play RPGs for you or..."

	Bala stretched his leg out and kicked a dusty copy of Dance Dance 
Revolution. Yuri looked at it, then at Bala, and smiled. "You must be 
getting good at it."

	Bala smiled, just a little bit, out of pride.

	"Maybe I could come see you do it, sometime. I mean, if you want 
me to. Do you ever use the mall arcade?" Bala nodded enthuiastically. 
Yuri brightened. "Cool. I could come check you out, the next time I'm 
there with Atsuko and...and...Ki."

	Bala's features didn't darken. It was more like they took on a 
gray tint. Yuri wanted to swallow her words. "No, no, I didn't mean it 
like that! Just, you know, I'm at the mall and Ki's at the mall and 
we're still friends, but-"

	Bala shook his head. He kicked his bag open and tapped a toe on 
one of the notebooks. He gestured for Yuri to look at it. Carefully, 
telling herself that it wouldn't bite, she pulled it out and turned to 
the first page.

	I'm ashamed for how I've acted this past year, it read. I know 
that I ought to respect your choice.

	"No!" Yuri's head jerked up with shock. "It's not like that! Ki 
and I...we're just...it's just that..." Stop it, she told herself. 
You owe it to him to be honest. "Maybe...maybe it is like that. I do 
like Ki. I have been regularly seeing him, and I'm sorry to say it. I 
think...I think it has reached that point. Maybe." She lowered her 
head. "I'm sorry Bala."

	He nodded back to the notebook. She turned the page. A new 
message was written on that one.

	Don't be sorry, Yuri, it read. If it makes you happy, then I 
shouldn't argue. But may I still wear the earing?

	Yuri quietly closed the notebook. That was that, she told 
herself. She wanted to scream at him, but didn't know what for. He 
respected her decision, he didn't want to lose her friendship. It 
all seemed so right, what was the point of feeling bad? She could 
finally feel the covers closing on her first year at Dark Heart High.

	Without making a peep, she reached into her pocket. The cat charm 
glittered in the pale sunlight. Unsure of herself, she clipped it 
around her wrist. It was when she held it up to show Bala that she 
realized that her eyes were wet.

	Only his eye would ever tell you anything about Balabalalde. 
Right now, it glowed with thanks. And in the tiniest corner, the living 
apocalypse had the smallest of tears fighting to make itself known.



"I might be able to get it off for you." Leilei sat against Yuri bed, 
staring at the door. "It doesn't look too complex."

	"Nah." Amy watched her ward billow in the wind from Yuri's 
window. "It's for my own good. It doesn't really hold me back."

	Leilei turned her head to girl lying on the bed. "Oh?"

	"Yeah. Sure, it takes a little more `omph' to pull them off, but 
I've still got all the tricks I've learned this year." She looked 
vaguely at the door. "And the old eye still works like it always has."

	Leilei nodded expertly. "Why don't you just tell them? If you 
give your final word on it, how are they going to argue that you're 
wrong?"

	Amy pushed herself up from Yuri's bed. "Because then they start 
to think about it and there are parts they don't want to believe are 
true and then there's parts that they start to take for granted and 
they ruin it all for themselves. The last thing anybody needs to know 
is what they really feel about others."

	"That pretty mature to hear from a high school kid." Leilei 
smiled at her.

	"Yeah, Angeleye's grow up fast. Or we go insane." Amy looked 
through Leilei and the floor and the walls and straight at Yuri and 
Bala. And she smiled a little too sweetly.

				*	*	*

Yasuko lighted down on the old stone path that wound through the 
Maimsworth estate. Amongst the trimmed bushes and the ivy-choked 
statuary, a lone girl was waiting there, dangling a convience store bag 
between her legs. Waiting for her, Yasuko suspected. The sucubus 
sniffed the air experimentally, then dropped her guard.

	"Hello, Ryuji."

	"Yo." The merkla pushed off from the monument she had been 
leaning against and rocked onto her feet. The bag shifted about 
enticingly. "Thanks for coming. I half believed Craig when he said you 
would find someone you could just latch onto."

	Yasuko blushed. When Yasuko blushed, it was never out of shame. 
"I guess I've got a...reputation by now. There's just never enough 
horny idiots around when you need them."

	"I wouldn't worry about it. After the general exam, this is 
probably going to be a cakewalk." Ryuji turned and headed for the main 
house. Yasuko eyed the bag expectantly.

	"So, is that-?"

	"This?" Ryuji hefted the bag. "Just some snacks. Some pocky, a 
couple of sodas, a bag of cookies..."

	"Is that so?" Yasuko's eyes brightened. She jogged up and fell 
into place with the corpse. "That was thoughtful of you."

	Ryuji looked at her feet. She could hear Lily voice in the back 
of her mind, listing her hints. First and foremost, it's good to be 
honest... "I...er, got them because I thought you'd like them, Yasuko."

	Yasuko gave an easy, sidelong glance. "Oh, really. That's a bit 
forward for a guy like you."

	The nice thing about being a corpse is that you can't blush; 
everything just sinks to the bottom. Ryuji scrambled to remember what 
Lily said about something like this. Something about not going on the 
defensive.

	"It seemed worth a try." Ryuji quickly reviewed all the cheesy 
lines he had ever heard. "For a girl like you."

	Yasuko `hmph'ed. Leaning over, she slide her hand over Ryuji's, 
then yanked the bag from his grasp. She inspected the contents, smiling 
to herself. "Far better boys than you have tried, Ryuji. It's only a 
fair warning. Oh, butter pecans!"

	Ryuji suddenly realized that he had no idea whether or not things 
were going well. His mind raced, digging through the bits and pieces of 
Lily's voice that bounced around his ineffable being. The barest, 
weakest beginnings of a sweat tried to will themselves onto the 
cadaver. A single moment of weakness and her hand went to her pocket. 
He had, being the careful sort, made a note card.

	"Ah! Be confident!"

	"Yeah. Confident."

	Slowly, Ryuji looked up from the notes to Yasuko's face. She 
didn't seem angry, which was good, but she didn't seem forgiving, which 
was firmly in the realm of bad. If anything, the way she hooded her 
eyes, the way she twisted her lips, the way she lifted her cheekbones, 
she seemed thoroughly amused.

	"Yasuko, I can explain! It's just a little-"

	"You really are something." Yasuko shook her head 
condenscendingly. Ryuji paused, waiting for a sharp remark, when she 
laughed. She laughed loud and merrily and slapped Ryuji on the back. 
"If you really want to get between my legs that bad, Lily's got a set 
of them, too. And she's probably a Hell of an easier sell!"

	Ryuji blinked.

	"I'm just...just trying to be helpful." Yasuko wiped a tear from 
her eye as the laugh subsided. "Man, all this time and you never 
thought of going for the obvious option? Ever? I mean, trying to chat 
me up? Dating advice? I'm flattered, but I think you're making things 
more complex than they need to be. Believe me, I have full respect and 
good faith in your venture, when I tell you that a night of dancing and 
a few drinks with Lily will go just as far as months of pick-up lines 
with me. I guess this isn't common sense for everyone..."

	Yasuko stumbled towards the main house, stilling holding her 
chest as she tried to get a breath in here and there. She looked back 
at the merkla, bit her lip, then let loose a fresh burst of laughter. 
Ryuji could only watched, trying to sort out if he was crushed or just 
weirded out.

	They hadn't been any malice, contempt, or disgust. Just one girl 
having a good, honest laugh. And that may have been the worst part of 
all.

				*	*	*

"So, we agree that it would be best to start immediate." Yuri jotted 
the word "plans" across the top of the loose leaf paper. It was mostly 
for motivation. "Just so we have plenty of time to be foiled."

	Bala grumbled slightly under his wrappings. He firmly believed, 
like most high school students, that working under pressure was the 
same as breathing and standing upright.

	"So," Yuri tapped her pencil on the table. "What kind of plan are 
we looking for?"

	"It's got to have style and flare, I think!" Amy clenched her 
hand furiously. You could take this as passion. "People have to wake up 
in the morning and wonder what just happened. That'll be the only way 
to be sure we've passed!"

	Yuri blew out a thin stream of air. "That sounds good, but how 
would we do that? We're just a couple of kids when it comes to this. 
There are limits to the things we can do."

	Amy considered this. "Maybe we could do something with-"



	"-accounting." Yuri ventured. "Ryuji and the Unbidden swear by 
it. Like, we could force a local super market to go bankrupt or 
something."

	Leilei fixed her with the steady stare. "Assuming you had the 
skills for something like that, we were would we get the cash?"

	Yuri blushed. "I...ah...I still have some New Year's money..."

	"It's just too big." Leilei shook her head. "With something that 
big, you need a lot of time to-"



	"-find the Grave of Hastur!" Amy tried to explain to Bala. "It's 
been lost before there was a planet here!"

	Bala wobbled his head about noncommittally.

	"No, no, no!" Amy pressed. "I don't care what books your dad has 
lying around. I'm telling you, it just isn't happening!"

	"Amy's right." Yuri added. "I think that would be too grandoise 
for us. We need to think about something smaller, like-"



	"-wreaking havoc o'er the land." Amy read with a flat voice. She 
put the paper back down without comment.

	Leilei smiled uncertainly. Bala just couldn't understand why they 
couldn't see a good, productive idea when it was in front of their 
faces.

	Amy glowered. "No."

	"It's not like it isn't an alright plan." Yuri quickly added. "We 
just sorta lack...well, overwhelming destructive capabilities. My dad 
always says, to properly salt the Earth and raze the sky, the first 
thing you'd need is an army of-"



	"-zombie kitties." Amy was rolling on the floor with laughter. 
Bala desperately tried to not look Yuri in the face. Leilei pressed the 
point. "Really, Yuri? Zombie kitties?"

	"Well..." Yuri pushed her fingers together. "I was thinking that, 
you know, zombies work well. And kitties can get into really small 
places and not be noticed. So then we'd have a bunch of zombies who 
could get into really small places and not be noticed."

	Leilei held her forehead. Amy laughed even harder. "If you do 
that, Yuri, you might as well-"



	"-summon a demon?" Amy mused. "We could get it to blight 
something. Sure, that sounds basic, but if we just use a little 
ingenuity, we could do a lot with blighting."

	Yuri smiled sheepishly. She still remembered her first day of 
school. "Are you so sure?"
	
	Bala shook his head violently. He gestured around the group with 
his head, then blinked rhymically at Leilei. His caregiver read it 
easily. "Bala thinks that it's a sketchy idea. He says you can't be 
certain about how specific they'll be about you guys, personally, doing 
the 
evil."

	"He's right." Yuri quickly chimmed. "If we summon someone else to 
do the evil for us, we might as well-"



	"-`throw rocks at ducks' sounds like..." Amy paused. "I want to 
say stupid, but all I can come up with is that it's been done."

	"Not the way Bala throws them, it hasn't." Leilei boasted. The 
boy seemed ready to back this up. Yuri's face sickened at the thought.

	"No, no, like I said, we need originality." Amy said. "Now, what 
might be fun is-"

	"Wait." Yuri stopped her. She looked down at her hand, then a 
smile crept along her face. "We could...I think I know something we 
just might be able to pull it off. And I don't think anybody else would 
ever think of doing it."

	Amy and Bala stared at her. There was a twinkle in Yuri's eye, a 
light that wasn't normally there. She smelled of a brewing scheme.

	"You see..."
 
				*	*	*

Vice Principal Ibuki shifted uncomfortably on the chair. It was one of 
those vinyl-wrapped deals, the kind that felt like it should be 
relaxing but wasn't. Her short experience with Amakusa taught her that 
this was his way of dealing with the world in general.

	"I'm really quite surprised by this visit, Mrs. Ibuki. Especially 
at this time of night." Amakusa walked out of his kitchenette and sat 
down across from her, nursing a cup of tea. It was a small apartment, a 
little larger than cramped and sparsely furnished. All that seperated 
her from the Black Guard vetern was six feet, a low coffee table, and 
enough experience on both sides to know that this wasn't time for a 
battle. He looked out of the small rear window, where a pitch black 
darkness had swallowed up Tokyo.

	Ibuki spared a glance at his tea. She made a face in a dignified 
kind of way.

	Amakusa smirked and saluted her with the cup. "Oh, I'd offer you 
some, but you'd probably think it was poisoned. One benefits of black 
tea is that you can conceal a lot in the flavor. Now, why have you 
interrupted by Thursday night?"

	Ibuki pulled out a piece of xeroxed paper and layed it on the 
table. Amakusa looked it over intently. She asked. "Are you familiar 
with the Merlang codex?"

	"Yes, yes," Amakusa nodded. "But I prefer Lord Chan Tsu Ying's 
Hidden Poem of the Twelve Foreign Mountains. So much more local 
flavor."

	Ibuki's eyes widened in shock. She tried to not lose her 
composure. "Do you know what I'm here about, then?"

	"'A child of darkness and light.'" He quoted. "A novel subject, 
as far as mysticism goes, but it certainly has become popular recently, 
hasn't it?"

	"Then you know what may come, then. Can I count on your help?" 
Ibuki relaxed.

	"No."

	"What?" The old woman's face reddened as she bolted up. "But...if 
you know...You can't possibly be so irresponsible!"

	Amakusa shrugged. "I have plenty to fear, but then again, only 
the things you fear are worth doing."

	She dangerously narrowed her eyes. "I have no idea what you think 
you know, but this is no tool to be used. My granddaughter could bring 
far more crashing down than either of us care to contemplate."

	"Yes, she could." Amakusa kept his cool. "I am not being short-
sighted about this. I've been aware of this particular scenario for 
quite some time. At first, I thought it was just a bit of skuttlebutt, 
but now that it's unfolding before my eyes...You see, Mrs. Ibuki, a 
prophecy is not a set account. It is an equation or maybe, I could say, 
a recipie. And as with all recipies, if you understand the ingrediants, 
you can change them around and get something similar, but fundamentally 
different."

	If Ibuki was a cat, her hair would've been on end. "Are you 
implying that you engineered Yuri?"

	Amakusa laughed. It was unnaturally natural. "Of course not! I'm 
surprised that she even exists. But since she's alive and under my 
care, I won't be so quick to throw it all away. I think you must spend 
less time reading prophecies about her and more time watching her 
actions. Ms. Mikagami has shown a surprising capacity for evil."

	Ibuki stood up. "I've misjudged you, Amakusa. I thought you were 
an intelligent man. But now that you seem content to grasp Yuri as a 
weapon...Well, I eagerly await the day you cut off your own arm."

	He gestured to the door. The grandmother stamped up indignently, 
as much frustrated by his rude behavior as the crisis at hand. Amakusa 
merely smiled and congratulated himself.

	"'And it was over the statue of the sixth mountain that I saw her 
come, illuminated by the glory of the woman who's feet could tread on 
grains of corn and the river that flooded in dry weather, wedded to the 
disgrace of all. And all the theives bowed down in worship and all the 
governors trembled on their thrones, for the goddess was giving 
permission to open all locks and read all writings and fear no guards 
and cross all doorways.'" He quoted once again. "Oh, Mrs. Ibuki, I 
could never use such a power. A tool that refuses to be held is a 
terrible tool. But she will make a wonderful protegee."

				*	*	*

"Wait for it..."

	"Can you really see them?"

	"It's like watching airplanes. I can see where they are and where 
they're going. Assuming you're right about this, then they should all 
be security guards. None of them look out of the ordinary."

	"Where are they now?"

	"One's checking out the lobby, I think. One's looking through the 
offices near the top. Bala probably couldn't make that jump. I see 
one in the stairs I think. And one's staying still. He's probably 
watching the cameras."

	"Are you sure you can take them all?"

	Confident nod.

	"The one in the stairs, he's leaving them. I think...yeah, he's 
on one of the office floors now. There, he's close to the windows! 
Fifth floor! Go!"

	There were a few foot steps and a rush of air. Then Bala was 
airborn.


	The guard traced a lazy path through the cubicles. With the 
lights off, his flashlight illuminated everything, casting everything 
in a featureless white glow and shadows. He yawned and scratched the 
back on his head. It was just another night.

	Suddenly, someone came crashing through the windows and ploughed 
through the office furnishings before rolling to a stop. From the 
wreakage rose a young boy, just around high school age. Ofuda and 
bandages covered him from head to waist, while heavy chains 
complimented them with an aura of necessity. The guard could only the 
stare in fascination, so odd was the situation. The boy just stood 
there, staring at him with a single exposed eye. The eye looked 
expectant.

	Reason and procedure slowly, carefully, forced themselves on the 
guard's poor mind. Almost apologetically, he picked the walkie-talkie 
off of his belt and pressed the call button.

	"I have an intruder on...on floor five. Main office area...It's 
just...It's just some kid. Geez, he came through the window and-"

	"Some kid" closed a space of ten yards and kicked the guard in 
the face.


	 "One down."  Amy watched the auras of those inside the office 
building. At this distance, across the street on a neighborign office, 
their auras were all see could make out. And with the floodlamp that 
was Balabalade close to them now, it was becoming a bit more difficult. 
She strained against the ward and focused on the stationary dot of 
light in the basement. He was the important one, anyway.

	"Do you think Bala can handle all of them?" Yuri stood next to 
her. The smooth, tailored edges of the Myrmidion 3 glittered in the 
moonlight. If it wasn't for the jet black and evergreen coloring, 
she really would have been obvious. Amy was glad she personally had 
opted for a simple navy blue t-shirt, jeans, and a ski mask. Yuri's 
rapier hung by a loop of string over the small of her back, the blade 
wrapped in a length of cloth. Amy had Mistypuff assembled and ready at 
her feet, with two other hand guns jammed in her belt. They were a 
study in constrasts.

	"Yuri, Bala could handle a city bus." Amy sighed. She readjusted 
her sight and found her target was moving. "There we go. They might get 
a couple of weirdos on tape, but no one's going to be looking at us for 
now. What floor did your dad say this thing was on?"

	Yuri looked down at the nightstreet, then over at the building. 
Lights twinkled on her visor. "The seventh."

	"For something like that, I should be able to see it. I hope 
you're right about this." Amy fitted the shoulder strap for Mistypuff 
around her torso, clutching the rifle to her chest. "At your leisure."

	Yuri hugged Amy's waist from behind, lifting her off of her feet. 
She concentrated, feeling the curious detachment of the armor's 
strength enhancers. She jogged forward, then threw herself just over 
the edge. Catching the arch of her feet on the very corner of the roof, 
she coiled down over her knees, then pushed off. In unison, booster 
jets on her thighs burst to life. A Yuri-and-Amy sized lump sailed 
uncertainly between the two buildings, then clumselly broke through a 
window.

	She let Amy go the second she could see a solid flood. The other 
girl rolled to a stop amid broken glass, a wide-eyed look of panic 
covering her face. Yuri kept going through cubicle after cubicle until 
her 
shoulder skidded down on a desk. Armor or not, every bone across her 
back shoke in anger. She tried a few cautious breaths and decided that 
was good enough.

	Amy pulled herself to her feet and took a few drunken steps 
forward. Unclipping her rifle, she shifted through the wreckage as if 
solid ground was a new and wonderful thing for her. Amy took a few deep 
breaths and slapped her cheeks, telling herself to get a grip. She 
checked Yuri for a moment, then nodded content that the other girl was 
a just a bit rattled. Then Amy turned her attention to the far wall.

	Yuri groaned and pushed herself up. Despite gravities best 
efforts, she was in one piece and her armor gave her no excuse to rest. 
Amy was already searching the wall, rapping her knuckles against it 
here and there. Yuri shook her head, then retrieved her sword from 
where the landing had ripped it off. She rejoined Amy just as her 
friend's efforts yielded a hollow knock.

	"This is either it or we've just wasted a lot of time." Amy 
stated. "Yuri?"

	Yuri steadied herself. Taking the sword in hand, she started 
to hack away at the space Amy indicated. Soon, the drywall was a mess 
of cuts. Bring over a chair, Amy tore into the remains. As chunks of paint 
and plaster fell away, a small crawlspace was in plan sight. Amy 
gestured to Yuri, but the armored girl was catching her breath. 
So the psychic shrugged and went on in.

	"Yeah, this would definitely give me a blindspot."

	Yuri wiggled into the hole, the out of the otherside. She emerged 
into a ten-by-ten room. A circle of wards and seals dominated most of 
it, giving the two of them barely any room to stand. Yuri smirked, 
looking at the coal black shield that lay in the center of such 
protection.

	Amy slumped in defeat. "Wards for hiding and protecting. And 
powerful ones, too. I think even a human being who doesn't mean well 
would be repeled by these." Just to prove her point, Amy ran her hand 
along the edge of the wards as if it were a solid wall. Blue flames 
trailed from her finger tips.

	Yuri admired the construct. "Yeah. It's not surprising that even 
Dad couldn't get through all this. There used to be a shrine here, 
before the area was bought up by urban development. The original shrine 
priests were forced to cave eventually, so they struck a deal with the 
builders. They would sell for as cheap as they could afford on the 
condition that they could set up this room to contain the shield. This 
is a site of incredible spiritual power and almost all of it in focused 
on keeping this shield under lock and key."

	"Wait." The enormity of the statement sunk in on Amy. "You're 
dad's been trying to get at this? And he's been failing?!"

	Yuri nodded. "He gave up a little while back, after his fourth 
try. That's how I knew about all of this. Back when he was a general, 
he killed a rival demon and made this shield out of its body as a gift 
to his highest lieutenant. It really is a powerful weapon."

	"Interesting history aside, you know about this?" Amy was on the 
edge of hysterics. "Then why did we even just bother? This is out of 
our league. No even Bala could-"

	Yuri plucked a seal from the circle and crumbled it like a normal 
piece of paper. Amy's jaw worked fruitlessly for a few minutes.

	"I told you," Yuri assured her. "I've been thinking about this."


	Bala gracefully drove his heel into the abdomen of the last 
guard. Flipping the stunned man around around on his foot, the boy 
tossed him into a pile with the other three. Smirking under his 
bandages, he prodded the four men a few times to be sure, then nodded 
in satisfaction with his handy work.

	The sound of gathering sirens rose up from the street below. Bala 
peered through the windows at the police cars. His job, now, was to 
attract the attention of the local law enforcement. And during the time 
that he bought them, Yuri and Amy could make a break for it. Not 
entirely foolproof, but Bala would concede that calling attention to 
himself was a skill that came naturally.

	Then the hitch came. Or more accurately, it landed gracefully 
in the hole Bala had left.

	"Stop, evil doer! This office, this place of work, is built of 
the dreams and determination of all the workers here! They strive daily 
to raise their goals to the stars! It is not your place to set them 
back, to discourage their love! I will champion their cause and defeat 
you...you...you...Oh, hi, Bala."

	Lily Ringoshima sweated, just a little.

---------------------------

What's to say? If this is coherent, then maybe I deserve a little credit.
If this is coherent.

I guess I should thank Segev. The boy just put in one hell of an assist.

I ran into one major problem. I just couldn't figure out how to handle Ryuji's
gender. I'm still confused. Can you tell? The standard I used was that "she"
committed physical actions and "he" performed mental actions. I hope it
worked.

And as I write this, I still need a title.

-Nick Callahan (6/22/04)
"I wish I could have written for Magical Girl Hunters."

---------------------------

Craig carefully shifted through the papers laid on the floor. They came 
from everywhere: piles of loose leaf, canabalized notebooks, excess 
printer paper. Craig had started thinking and before he realized what 
was happening, Yasuko and Ryuji were writing like mad. By the end, 
their combined handwriting had dominated a small piece of the library 
floor. The young knight finished sorting the last of the papers and 
handed them to a waiting Klein.

	"Get someone to type these out and file them before lunchtime 
tomorrow. And leave a copy of the typed version in the west wing's 
dining room for me."

	Klein accepted the collective "Craig's Plans That Won't Work" and 
turned to leave. Craig looked up at the potrait of his grandfather, 
feeling the weight of the old man's eyes. He stopped Klein halfway out 
of the room.

	"Actually," Craig added. "Two copies. One on notecards. The kind 
I can keep in my pocket."