"How is she doing?" Troi asked.

	"She's asleep already, the poor girl," his wife replied.

	When their daughter had staggered down for breakfast ten 
minutes earlier, it had been clear to both her parents that she 
was not well.  Yuri had then had to excuse herself to go vomit in 
the washroom, and upon her return her mother had taken her 
upstairs and put her back in bed.

	"She was vomiting," Troi said.  "That's a sign of demonic 
possession.  I know a witch doctor who's a specialist in that."

	"No, dear.  Her head isn't spinning in circles.  I think 
it's just that twenty-four hour flu that's been going around."

	"Are you sure?  We wouldn't want to take the chance of it 
being something more serious and not getting treated in time."

	"If she isn't better by tomorrow, I'll take her to see a 
doctor.  But I'm sure she'll be fine."

	"Let's see... she had chicken pox when she was eight and 
soul-maggots when she was ten, so it can't be either of those," 
Troi muttered.

	"Really, Troi, all Yuri needs is some rest and to drink 
plenty of fluid."

	"I'll bring her up a glass of blood when she wakes up," Troi 
said, floating over to the refrigerator.

	"Orange juice would probably be better."

	"That's just as well," Troi said, looking inside the fridge.  
"We're out of blood again."

********************************************************* 


	                Dark Heart High 

	      Netherworld Educational Institution for  

	         The Universal Propagation of Evil           

	                 started by Mads  

********************************************************* 

Part Sixteen: Conversations!
by Nicolas Juzda

********************************************************* 


	"Today we are going to make invisibility serum.  I'm passing 
out the instructions now.  This is a complicated experiment, so 
please follow the directions carefully.  Craig and Yasuko, your 
normal partners both appear to be absent, so you two can work 
together."

	Craig glanced over at Yasuko.  She didn't seem to be happy 
at the teacher's pronouncement.  When it became apparent that she 
wasn't going to come over to him, he crossed the classroom and 
sat beside her.

	"What happened to your partner?" he asked.

	"I neither know nor care."

	"I hear that Yuri's sick," Craig said.  "She's who I 
normally work with in Chemistry."

	"Hopefully the tramp has something horribly painful and 
inevitably fatal," Yasuko replied.

	"You don't like her much, do you?" Craig asked.

	"Your deductive abilities stun me.  Truly, I am blessed to 
have been partnered with such a towering intellect."  The 
succubus began reading the instructions for the invisibility 
serum, ignoring Craig.

	"I don't like her much either," Craig said.

	"And here I thought your attempts to kill her were a sign of 
true friendship.  Will you stop blathering and do something 
useful, like lighting the bunsen burner?"

	Craig did as she said, turning on the gas and then saying a 
quick invocation to summon the spark of infernal fire that would 
set it burning.  "Ouch!" he cried, having left his hand too close 
to the flame.

	Yasuko rolled her eyes.  "No wonder you failed to eliminate 
the strumpet.  You can't even do a simple experiment without 
hurting yourself."

	"Hey," Craig protested.  "I've only made five failed 
attacks.  And one of them actually killed *somebody*, which I 
think makes it a partial success.  You've got to be up to seven 
or eight by now, and you haven't killed *anyone*."

	"Only six," the succubus corrected.  "I don't count the time 
she failed to show up at all."

	"Ah yes.  You actually went and issued an invitation to an 
ambush.  And then you're surprised when she doesn't show up.  
Really, Yasuko, even I'm not that dumb."

	"Do not address me in such a manner," Yasuko said coldly.

	"Why not?  We're both screw-ups, Yasuko.  The only 
difference is, I'm willing to admit it."

	Yasuko had no reply.  Instead, she began mixing ingredients.

	"Say, Yasuko," Craig said after a moment.  "I've got an 
idea.  Neither one of us is having much luck against Yuri alone, 
especially not with Ki and Bala interfering with things."

	Yasuko put the potion on top of the bunsen burner.  "Yes.  
Ki has been... troublesome."

	"So, what I'm thinking is, maybe if we worked together, we 
might have more luck."

	Yasuko turned to look at him incredulously.  "Me?  Work with 
you?"

	"I think it could work.  Come on, Yasuko, what have you got 
to lose?"

	The succubus actually seemed to be considering Craig's 
words, which made it unfortunate that he chose to emphasize his 
point by pounding on the counter in front of them.  The impact 
caused the beaker full of invisibility serum to fall over, 
spilling its contents onto the boy's black armour.

	It promptly became invisible.

	Armour does not keep the wearer cool under the best of 
circumstances, and the colour black retains heat.  So Craig's 
attire was stifling enough without additional layers underneath.  
That was why he wasn't wearing anything beneath his armour except 
a pair of underwear.  This situation might have been merely 
embarrassing, but the fact that his underwear was covered in 
little hearts upgraded it to mortifying.

	"Oh, dragonturds."

	Everyone looking in that direction broke out into peals of 
laughter.  Within seconds the rest of the class had turned to see 
what was so funny and joined in the hilarity.

	Craig, demonstrating uncharacteristic quick thinking, 
grabbed the potion the pair sitting behind him had been working 
on, and gulped it down, leaving nothing visible but a pair of 
floating underwear.

	"What have I got to lose?" Yasuko repeated.  "My dignity."

******


	The only real difference between math class at Dark Heart 
High and other institutions was that the material taught at the 
former was a little more advanced.  This was because multi-
variable calculus on trigonometric functions over the complex 
plane is already about as evil as anything you can find.

	Ki Tamaida was dividing his attention between the lecture 
and something far more important to him: The Plan.  More 
specifically, how recent events might force him to radically 
alter it.

	Yuri Mikagami had single-handedly defeated a half-dozen 
Sakura Art students in combat, and in the process had displayed 
some sort of mystic abilities.  Ki was striving to reconcile that 
with the girl he had thought he knew, the one he had been in the 
process of manipulating to serve his own ends.  But if she could 
do such things, why would she have needed him to save her from 
Yasuko, either yesterday or on any previous occasion?  Could she, 
in fact, have been manipulating him?

	It was not a pleasant line of thought for Ki.

	"Psssst," hissed the student sitting beside him.

	The scion of the Steel Thorn Clan turned to see a student he 
didn't recognize at first, a short boy with greasy black hair.  
Then the faint smell of decay gave away his identity.  "New body, 
Ryuji?" Ki asked.  He kept his voice quiet, so as not to attract 
the teacher's attention.

	"Yeah," the other boy responded, equally softly.  "Picked it 
up this morning.  The old one was getting pretty worn-out, and 
there's only so much you can do with make-up.  When your entire 
nose falls off, you need a bit more than some blush to cover the 
problem."

	Ki elected not to respond.

	"Listen, Ki, can I ask you something?  See, there's this 
girl I want to ask out, but I thought you might have prior claim, 
you know?"

	The scion of the Steel Thorn Clan frowned inwardly.  Bala 
was troublesome enough; he didn't need to deal with another rival 
for Yuri's affections, particularly not while still trying to 
sort out the new information about her.  Granted, a series of 
rotting corpses would probably not be the key to Yuri's heart in 
any event, but it was not a chance that Ki was willing to take.  
He began to consider how to dissuade Ryuji from pursuing her when 
the other boy continued.

	"I mean, I saw you dancing with Yasuko on Saturday, and I 
asked around and found out you guys used to date.  I just wanted 
to make sure it was over between you two before I did anything."

	Ki had to keep himself from laughing out loud.  "Yasuko?" he 
asked incredulously.

	Ryuji nodded.  "When we danced at the end of the night, it 
was like magic.  I think we really connected.  Say, are you all 
right?"

	Ki had begun to make choking noises.

	"Mr. Tamaida, would you like to be excused?" the teacher 
called.

	"No, I'm okay," Ki gasped.  "I just swallowed the wrong 
way."

	The teacher nodded and went back to explaining how to deduce 
the integral of an arc-tangent.

	"You think she felt the same way?" Ki asked softly when he 
had recovered his breath.  He remembered Yasuko's reaction to 
having to dance with Ryuji, and could barely believe that the 
Merkla demon had missed it.

	"I'm sure of it."

	"Listen, Ryuji, Yasuko likes to play hard to get," Ki said, 
trying to sound as earnest and helpful as he could.  He wasn't 
sure if he could work this into The Plan somehow or not, but this 
was too good an opportunity to annoy Yasuko to pass up.

	"That's... not exactly what I heard."

	"Oh, that's just with her casual flings," Ki said 
dismissively.  "With guys- or girls, for that matter- that she 
really cares about, she puts up lots of resistance.  Trust me.  
So don't be discouraged if she tells you she's not interested, or 
runs away, or dumps flesh-eating ants on you, or tries to force-
feed you acid, or puts a price on your head, or anything like 
that.  I went through all of that myself, and I've got the scars 
to prove it.  Just keep at it and you'll persevere."

	"Thanks."

	Ryuji had spoken a bit too loudly, and the teacher looked 
over at them.  "If my lecture is boring you gentlemen, perhaps 
one of you would like to solve this equation?"  He pointed at the 
scrawl of numbers and symbols that covered the blackboard.

	"No, sir."

	"Sorry, sir."

	"Very well.  Then I'll continue.  We must first consider 
whether the function is continuous..."

******


	Liza was the youngest person in the Advanced French class at 
Dark Heart High.  Everyone else was in their final year, but her 
facility with languages almost rivalled her scientific abilities, 
and she had been allowed to enroll in it.

	One of the reasons for this may have been that of the 
several foreign languages offered, French was the least popular 
among the student body, so the class had room.  Most students 
preferred to learn English, either form of Chinese, Lemurian, or 
the Cant Of The Sixth Circle.

	The lecture portion of the class had just come to an end, 
and the students were to pair off and practice what they had 
learned.  Liza looked around for a partner, and saw that one of 
the other students was approaching her.  This was unusual, since 
most of them tried to avoid interacting with her if they could.

	The girl was dressed all in black, and had an Ingram Mac-10 
at her side.  Liza recognized her, though they hadn't spoken 
before.

	"Is this seat taken?" the other girl asked, pointing at the 
chair next to Liza.

	"No."

	The other girl sat down.  "Let's see.  'Bonjour.  Comment ca 
va?'" she said.  She returned to speaking Japanese to add, "I 
have an offer for you."

	"'Bien.  Merci,'" Liza replied.  "What do you need?"  She 
rarely dealt with upperclassmen; most of the students who had 
survived long enough to become upperclassmen in the first place 
didn't need to rely upon gadgets or mystic relics.  But she 
wasn't going to pass up a sale.

	"'Par-ce que je vais vous tuer, je vais expliquer tous,'" 
the other girl said, continuing the prescribed set of phrases 
they had learned that day.  "Yuri Mikagami's medical records."

	"What?" Liza asked, surprised.  The other girl looked at her 
for a moment, waiting for her to say something in French.  
"'Quoi?'" she added, though it was not part of the current 
lesson.
	"You work in the Nurse's office.  They should be easy for 
you to obtain.  'Faites ce que je dit, et personne ne sera 
blesse.'"

	"Why do you want them?"

	"I don't.  Kashin does."

	"Okay, why does Kashin want them?"

	The upperclassman snorted.  "I thought you had a no-
questions-asked policy on your sales."

	"So far I haven't heard your offer."

	In reply, the other girl thumbed the safety off her gun.

	"Oh, please.  If I gave out freebies every time someone 
threatened me, I'd never turn a profit.  'Votre argent ou votre 
vie,'" Liza added, realizing they had stopped making any pretense 
of carrying out their lessons and worrying that their teacher 
might notice if she wandered by.

	"'Ils ont tous dit que j'etais fou!  Fou!'" the other girl 
responded before dropping back into Japanese.  "I hear the 
administration scared you into working at no charge."

	"You think that little gun makes you Akurei?  I sell weapons 
every day that make that look like a pea-shooter.  'Tu ne sais 
pas la defination de la mot "peur".'"

	"It's not size that counts; it's how you use it.  But how 
does fifty thousand yen sound?"

	"It sounds like you've got yourself a deal.  It might take 
me a day or two, though."

	The other girl nodded curtly, and they continued to practice 
their French without further incident.

******


	Sakazashi the Fifth, Doombringer, was washing his hands when 
Balabalalde walked up to the sink beside him.  The bandages that 
normally bound Bala were mostly gone, since Leilei untied him 
whenever he had to use the washroom, but his face revealed no 
more expression when exposed than it did when covered.

	"How's it going?" Sakazashi asked.

	Bala gave no sign that he had heard.

	"That well, huh?"
	Bala began to wash his hands.

	Sakazashi knew that the other boy never spoke, but he felt 
like talking and didn't much care if the conversation was one-
sided.  "You're always so glum, Bala.  You need to cheer up."

	Bala turned his head slightly away from the other boy.  Most 
students at Dark Heart High might have taken the hint, but then 
most students would have been terrified at just standing next to 
an unbound Balabalalde.  The Doombringer was one of the very few 
who had power on the same scale, so he wasn't worried.

	"Look at me, Bala.  I'm happy.  And do you know why?"

	Bala didn't answer.

	"Because I've got a girl, that's why."

	Bala put some soap on his hands.

	"No," Sakazashi said, as if Bala had spoken.  "Not Yasuko.  
That was last week.  I've moved on."

	Bala began to rinse off the soap.

	"I'm talking about Mandy.  We went out dancing last night.  
Man, can she dance!  Great footwork.  Then back to my place for 
some you-know-what."  Sakazashi wiggled his eyebrows.

	Bala picked up a paper towel and began to dry his hands.

	"Of course, she tried to eat me afterward," Sakazashi 
continued.  "But I like a little danger in my relationships.  It 
spices things up."

	Bala continued to dry his hands.

	"That's what you should do, Bala.  You need to get some.  
Hey, how about that Yuri chick you're always hanging around?"

	Bala's eyes narrowed.

	"Her body's not the greatest, but she's got a cute-"

******


	Several minutes earlier, in the hallway outside of the 
washroom, Leilei sat on the ground.  She was waiting for Bala to 
finish so she could tie him up again and take him to his next 
class.  She watched the various students as they walked (or 
slithered, or ambled, or whatever) by, seeing who she recognized.

	There was that banshee who was in History with Bala, and the 
blob of protoplasm who sat next to them in Home Ec, and-

	An upperclassman who was passing by suddenly stopped when 
she saw the pink-haired girl.  "You're Leilei."   It was not a 
question.

	"Yes."

	"My name's Midori."

	"I remember you," Leilei said.

	The upperclassman looked slightly taken aback.  "Have we 
met?"

	"I remember you from Junior High.  You're Ki's cousin."

	Midori smiled.  "Yes, of course."

	"Did you want to talk to me about something?"

	"I wanted to meet the girl who Ki asked to the dance.  You 
must be very special to him."

	"Well, I don't think it's me he's really after," Leilei said 
in a conspiratorial tone.  "I think he likes my friend Yuri."

	"Really?"  Midori raised an eyebrow, but Leilei thought the 
other girl's surprise didn't look quite genuine.  "What makes you 
say that?"

	"Oh, the way he acts around her."

	"That's rather vague."

	"For one thing, he hasn't tried to kill her."

	"Ah, then it must be love," Midori said drily.  Upon seeing 
that her sarcasm had annoyed Leilei, she hastily added, "Just 
joking.  Please go on."

	Leilei was about to reply, but at that exact moment Yasuko 
rushed past, almost tripping over the pink-haired girl.  
Following close behind her was a boy, shouting, "If you'd prefer 
I use a female body, that's no problem!"

	"What was that about?" Midori asked after the two runners 
had vanished around the corner.

	The pink-haired girl shrugged.  "Beats me."

	"So, you were telling me about Ki and Yuri."

	"He keeps coming to her rescue all the time," Leilei said.  
"I guess that could just be because he's friendly.  Except that 
how often is anyone at Dark Heart High 'just friendly'?  And, I 
mean, it's not like he's ever come out and said he likes her (not 
that I know of, anyway) but you can tell.  The way he looks at 
her... I just think he cares for her more than he wants to let 
on."

	"It sounds like he has quite a... weakness for your friend," 
Midori said.  "How interesting- I mean, how nice for him, for 
them.  I hope the two of them will be happy together."

	Leilei frowned.  "Yeah.  I want what's best for Yuri, but 
the thing is, I think Bala-"  She stopped suddenly, remembering 
that she barely knew the other girl.

	"Your friend Bala?" Midori prompted.

	"It's not important," Leilei said.

	"No, please tell me.  If it concerns my cousin, I want to 
know about it."

	Leilei looked doubtful.

	"Come on," Midori urged.

	Before the pink-haired girl could respond one way or 
another, the door to the washroom flew off its hinges and across 
the hall.  Also flying across the corridor was Sakazashi the 
Fifth, Doombringer.

	After colliding with the far wall and sliding to the ground, 
the boy stood up, apparently unharmed.  He dusted himself off 
slowly.

	Everyone else in the hallway started to run away as fast as 
they could, but Leilei and Midori were both too close to 
Sakazashi to get away in time.  If the Doombringer decided to do 
something particularly destructive, they were both finished.

	Fortunately for them, all the boy did was shout towards the 
washroom, "See, this is what I mean.  You're so tense, Bala.  
It's really not healthy."  Then he walked off, whistling.

	Within seconds of Sakazashi's departure, Balabalalde 
emerged, and Leilei quickly set to work rebinding him.  By the 
time she got around to thinking about Midori's question, the 
upperclassman had vanished.

******


	"Who are you going to send against Mikagami this weekend?"

	Kashin turned around to see Coach Truncheon standing behind 
him.  He had heard the big man's approach, but had continued to 
watch the various members of the fencing team as they engaged in 
their practice.

	"I haven't decided yet," said Kashin.  "Sai, maybe, or 
Craig."

	"Those are your two weakest members."

	Kashin nodded.  "I have no interest in seeing Yuri harmed, 
let alone killed.  Do you have any idea how annoying it is to 
keep track of all the equipment?  I certainly don't want to do 
it, and she's the only person who volunteered for the job."  He 
glanced over his shoulder at the various matches.  "I think that 
she should be able to handle either of them."

	"She'll do more than handle them.  She fought off half the 
Sakura Art team single-handedly."

	"So, if she kills either of them, it's no big loss.  Either 
way, it seems the best course.  Tamaida!" he shouted suddenly, 
one of the matches having caught his eye.  "I told you to be 
careful!  It's going to take Gregor days to grow that arm back!"

	"My apologies," Ki calmly called back.  "I was certain he 
would parry."  Then he and the other boy, now missing his left 
arm, resumed their match.

	"You have no idea what Yuri is capable of," Truncheon said.

	"I'm looking into the matter, actually," Kashin replied.

	"Put someone better against her."

	"Sir?  With all due respect, I really think it's in the 
team's best interest-"

	"And I really think it's in the school's best interest," 
Truncheon interrupted, "if you make this as hard as you can for 
her."

	Kashin's eyes narrowed.  For a second, he considered open 
defiance.  Then his sense of self-preservation kicked in.  "I 
will consider your advice."

	"See that you do," Truncheon replied, before exiting the 
gymnasium.

	The boy stood there, watching the fighters.  He really 
didn't want to risk harm coming to Yuri, not while she was an 
asset to the team.  But was it worth risking Truncheon's wrath?

	As he attempted to figure out a solution to this dilemma, he 
went back to giving a critique of the team's practice.  "Oh, 
great, Ki, now you've gone and cut his entire head off!  That's 
going to make him miss practice all next week!"

******

Author's Notes


	It has been brought to my attention that some people assumed 
the Duel of Blood would be in this part.  However, Amakusa 
clearly said it would happen on the weekend, and that's still a 
couple of days off.  Part 13 was set on a Monday, part 14 was on 
the next day and therefore a Tuesday, part 15 on the day after 
that and therefore a Wednesday, and finally this part on the 
Thursday.  I feel kind of silly explaining something so simple, 
but apparently it's necessary.

	For those who are curious, the French sections of the 
conversation between Liza and the girl with the Ingram translate 
to: "Hello.  How's it going?"  "Fine.  Thank you."  "Because I am 
going to kill you, I will explain everything."  "What?"  "Do what 
I say and no one gets hurt."  "Your money or your life."  "They 
all said I was mad!  Mad!"  "You don't know the meaning of the 
word 'fear'."  Anyone who complains that it disturbs the story's 
flow to throw words and phrases from a foreign language into an 
Impro part will thoroughly amuse me.

	My sources (because even though no one else cares, I do and 
these are my Author's Notes) follow.  Craig's Chemistry partner 
was previously seen to be Yuri in part 8 (though it was Ki in 
part 10).  Yuri defeated the Sakura Art team in part 14.  Ryuji 
danced with Yasuko in part 12.  Part 9 revealed that Ki and 
Yasuko dated at some point.  Liza's year I was unable to locate, 
but I don't think she's a senior; I'd peg her as a sophomore, 
myself.  She worked for free for Akurei in part 12.  Sakazashi 
had a fling with Yasuko after part 2.  Mandy was mentioned in 
part 12; she's a giant spider.  Part 12 is also when Leilei 
revealed she had heard of Midori but couldn't remember where; 
seeing her in person apparently jogged Leilei's memory.  Ki asked 
Leilei to the dance in part 10, and they attended in part 12.  
Truncheon's antipathy for Yuri dates back to part 2.

	Finally, Craig and Yasuko cited five and six failed attacks 
on Yuri, respectively.  Craig's five attacks were: the attempted 
sacrifice in part 1, the robo-dragons in part 4, handing her the 
wrong vial in part 8 (that one was so incidental that I debated 
whether to include it in my calculations, but I decided that 
Craig would), sending Sue to kill her in part 12 (the one that 
actually did kill someone, Ransha Yatara), and just taking a stab 
at her in part 13.  Yasuko's six attacks were: the confrontation 
in the cafeteria in part 2, the all-out fight on the roof in part 
3, the knives-and-snake deathtrap in part 9, the acid in part 12, 
the drugged custard in part 13, and the knock-out gas in part 15; 
she isn't counting the challenge that Yuri didn't show up for in 
part 2.  If I missed any, it is of course because they forgot.    
	The Exorcist was my only exterior source; two signs of 
possession therein were vomiting and the head spinning around.

	No pre-readers this time.  I'd like to take a second to 
thank Stranger and Smlee for their generous review of my previous 
part on the Message Board, and I'll thank in advance anyone who 
takes the time to review this part, positively or negatively.  
Finally, my thanks to everyone who read, and hopefully enjoyed, 
my three Dark Heart High parts.

Nicolas

Five Impro parts, no skips, and counting

******


	"Where is *clickclick* Mr. Maimsworth?" asked Aug-sensei.  
He was in charge of supervising detention that day.

	"Here I am!" Craig said.

	"Who *click* said that?"

	"I did."

	Some of the other students in the room snickered.  "Is one 
of you *clickclick* playing some sort of *click* prank?"  The 
other students shook their heads.  "Very well.  It *click* seems 
my sound detection *clickclick* systems are malfunctioning.  I'll 
have *click* to take them off-line.  But I'll still be 
*clickclickclick* watching you."

	"No, I'm just invisible," Craig said, but it was too late.  
Aug had turned off his ability to hear.

	"And if any of *clickclickclick* you see Maimsworth, tell 
him he now has an extra *clickclick* three days of detention," 
continued Aug.

	"Dragonturds," Craig moaned.

	It was fifteen minutes before he realized that he was 
actually free to leave.