Notes: This one is rated T for violence


Meet the New Class – Student Number 27 – Kondo Kai


"Mommy?" the little white-haired girl said nervously as her mother rushed into the room. Her mother didn't respond; rather, she yanked a worn suitcase out from under the bed and upended its contents on the floor.

"Mommy? What's going on? Where's daddy?" Her parents had gone out together earlier.

"Not now honey. Go look under mommy and daddy's bed and get that black metal box, okay sweetie?" the woman replied as she pulled open a drawer and took up an armful of the neatly folded clothing inside.

When the girl returned a moment later with the small black box clutched to her chest, her mother had stuffed the suitcase to capacity and was struggling to latch it shut. "Mommy? What's wrong? Are we leaving again?"

A car screeched to a halt outside, and the little girl wandered to the window to see what was going on, but her mother snatched her away from the window and took the box from her.

"J-just be a good girl for a minute, hon. We're going on a trip," she said as she opened the box and began stuffing the bills it contained into her pockets. She gave the little girl several handfuls as well. "Put them in your pockets, okay? And don't tell anyone you have them. Put on your hat, sweetie."

The little girl looked up at her mother, her eyes wide and worried as she put on her favorite beret. "Yes, mama."

They could hear noises downstairs; people running up and down the hallways, mysterious banging sounds and the occasional startled shout or scream. Someone ran past out in the hallway and her mother froze for an instant, then rushed to the window and looked out. "Okay baby, we're going outside. Do you want to go outside?"

The little girl nodded hesitantly as she clutched her most precious treasure, a faded teddy bear with a big blue bow around its neck. "Mommy? Why are you going out the window? You told me to never go out the window, you said it's dangerous..."

The woman paused halfway through to see if it was safe, then stepped out completely onto the fire escape and set the suitcase on the platform. "It's okay this time; mommy is with you. Come on, quickly now!" She held out her hand.

The little girl hesitated at the window but, buoyed by the opportunity to do something that had previously been forbidden, she climbed out through the window and looked down over the safety railing around the fire escape platform. "Oooh, we're so high!"

"Yes dear," her mother said as she took up the suitcase and held out her hand. "Come along now, we're going down."

She let her mother lead her down until a sudden shout from above startled them both.

"Hey! There she is, on the fire escape! The abomination's with her!"

Her mother wasted no time in panic or denial; instead, she grabbed her daughter around the waist with her free arm hard enough to make her shout, climbed over the rail, and jumped the last thirty feet to the ground. She landed solidly on her feet, cracks radiating out in the pavement as she hit, and took off at a fast run, her daughter clinging to her with inhuman strength born more from the panicked, nervous look in her mother's eyes than the strange situation in which she now found herself.


Somehow, hiding among the crowds, they made it out of the city without being caught, and soon found themselves walking along a deserted road in the countryside, farmers' fields and distant mountains all that could be seen.

They had walked for hours, and the little girl was starting to get hungry. "Mama? Where are we going? I'm hungry..."

"We're going to visit..." The woman trailed off mid sentence as she ran through their options in her head. They were in a bad way; her husband was already captured or...or dead, and she had only the contents of the suitcase she was carrying and the remains of her life savings currently stuffed into the pockets of her pants and shirt. It couldn't be more than a few thousand US dollars, though her daughter probably carried just as much. It would be enough to buy passage on a ship, but what sort of ship would take on someone like her, a desperate woman on the run with a six year old child?

She thought about people she knew, people she could trust, places she could hide...there was little in this country she could rely upon; someone who had known the truth about them had turned traitor. The whole underground network was suspect; they had nowhere to turn. The first thing to do, as far as she could tell, would be to get out of the country. The Koreas, Mongolia, and beyond them Russia was what they would find to the north, while Vietnam, Laos, and other places were to the south. The highest magical authority in Russia had declared its distrust of oni, so north was out of the question. They had come up through Vietnam and their pursuers knew it, so that was out as well. They were nearly on the East coast, so leaving the country by heading west would take far, far too long. The only option left, as far as she could tell, was northeast over the sea, to Japan.

In Japan, they would find numerous magic associations. There were a lot of oni in Kyoto, she knew. They might be able to slip in and make a new place for themselves, unnoticed by the authorities or those chasing them...

"We're going to Japan," she said with a surety she hadn't thought possible only a moment before.

"Japan?" the little girl said, wrinkling her forehead. "With the ninjas?"

The woman couldn't help but smile. "Yes, ninjas and samurai and geishas, not to mention godzilla and mothra and giant robots that fight for the fate of the world!" she said, taking cues from the shows her daughter and husband liked to watch. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of her husband and she knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he was now dead. Those people wouldn't have let him live, not after they found out he didn't know where she had taken their daughter. She thought back bitterly to the way he had pushed her away and taken off running in order to catch their attention long enough for her to escape and go back to their cheap apartment for their daughter.

"Will I get a new name again?"

The woman looked at the concerned expression on her daughter's face and nodded. "Yes, 'fraid so. Let's see, you can be...Kai. That sounds cool, doesn't it?" she asked.

The little girl scrunched her forehead up in thought again. "Kai? Kai, Kai. Kai Kai Kai. Hmmm...Kai is good," she finally said seriously, nodding. She jumped out in front of her mother, stopped walking, and spun on her heel to face her, holding out her hand. "Hi! I'm Kai! Who are you?"

"Me? Why, if you're the beautiful princess Kai, then I must be the wonderful queen...Midori!"

Kai laughed and started walking again. "Hehe, Midori is a funny name!"

"It is? Hmmm," her mother said, putting on a thoughtful expression as she rubbed her chin. "Then how about Yumi? No? Then how about Mai? Tatsuki? That's no good? How is Michiru then? Tsukasa? That's it, I'll be Tsukasa!"

Kai twirled around with her arms held out to the sides. "Hehehe, you're so funny mommy!"

Her mother couldn't help but smile desperately. She dearly wanted to cry for the child; already her poor sweet little daughter had adapted to this sort of life, and could find such joy even while running for her life.


Booking passage on a smuggler's boat was a little daunting, but all it took was a broken arm or two once out at sea along with the promise of another wad of cash to make the crew leave them alone; they arrived in Japan with no further incident.

Upon arrival in Japan, Kai's mother traded half their savings for Japanese yen, gave Kai about a hundred U.S. dollars' worth, then divided the remainder of the American money between herself and Kai, for use in emergencies. Kai understood it all well enough; she had been through it before. Just...every other time, her father had been there with them.

As the days wore on, Kai came to understand that her father wouldn't be coming back and she stopped asking her mother about it, since even a six year old child could see the pain on the oni woman's face whenever she mentioned him. A month passed, then two, and they found themselves living off the grid in Kyoto.


The first time Kai saw a youkai, she didn't know what to think. The cat woman was very tall, and Kai knew she was coming before she could see her; something in the very air itself had seemed to resonate. Kai, not knowing any better, had run out onto the sidewalk from the small playground where her mother had left her to go and see what was making the air feel weird. She ran along the sidewalk and turned a corner, and there she was, a cat youkai looking at her curiously. Even though she was dressed like a regular human and had disguised her ears and tail, Kai knew exactly what she was. And by the way the woman looked at her, she knew exactly what Kai was as well. They stood looking at each other for a long, long moment before the youkai spoke.

"...I don't recognize you," she said curiously. "Are you from one of the branch families?"

"B...branch families? What's that?"

"You aren't, are you...they would never let you wander around like this. Where is your master?"

Kai blinked and cocked her head to the side. "Master?"

They stood there for a moment, looking at each other, and then the youkai woman was standing right beside her and took her by the wrist.

"Come with me, I'll find out where you belong."

Kai tried to jerk away, but only succeeded in pulling the youkai woman off balance. "L-let go! Let go of me!" The youkai woman's grip on her wrist was like iron, but Kai was an oni and, even at six years old, was as strong and tough as a full grown man. "G-get away!" She took in a deep breath, and screamed at the top of her lungs, startling the youkai woman enough to let go. Kai was off like a shot and found her frantic mother at the playground she had run from. She told her mother what had happened through frantic fits and starts, and they rushed home together to the small, dirty apartment they had only lived in for a short time.


They lived in fear for six weeks after that, only going outside when absolutely necessary to get food or other necessities as their savings dwindled, until the day someone knocked on the door. Kai's mother went to the door and was about to look through the peephole when it was kicked open. She let out a startled scream as the cat youkai woman from before stepped into the apartment and gave the room a quick once over. She looked down at Kai, huddling in the corner, and finally settled on Kai's mother.

"You are in danger here," she said. "There are strange men asking around about you. I don't know what you did, but..." she paused, looking back at Kai. "I don't think you two have done anything to merit what you would receive at their hands."

"What are you going to do with us?" Kai's mother asked helplessly. She was an oni, true, but the woman standing before her was a youkai, the traditional enemies of the oni, and a strong one at that.

"Me? Nothing. But...I will help you escape. My teacher would be disappointed in me if I didn't," she said, grinning crookedly as she glanced at Kai again. "I work with the Shinmeiryu; I am a member of their Guardian forces. Come with me, I can help you."


The sun had set by the time they arrived at a secret branch location that served as the base of operations for the small unit the youkai woman commanded.

The youkai woman opened the door and stepped inside, Kai and her mother following. Inside, they found two women seated at a table eating dinner. They looked up, alert and perfectly aware of what the newcomers were.

"Chiba, contact Mahora. Tell them to prepare for two refugees. Mizuhara, go out and watch for anyone suspicious," the youkai woman said as she swiftly walked through the room and opened a tall cupboard on the other side. She reached in and took out a katana, which she swiftly belted on.

Chiba and Mizuhara rushed to obey her orders, Mizuhara pausing only long enough to retrieve her own weapon from the cupboard before she, too, slipped outside.

Meanwhile, Kai and her mother stood in the center of the room, helplessly holding each other's hand.

"Are you gonna fight the scary guys?" Kai asked after a moment of watching the youkai woman gather various items. Her mother quickly shushed her.

"If necessary," the woman replied, not bothering to look up from the canned goods and other supplies she was stowing in a backpack. She hefted it experimentally and nodded, satisfied, then passed it to Kai's mother, who put it on hesitantly. "You two will be going to a city called Mahora; you should be safe there. At the very least they can make sure you will be well hidden if those men somehow follow you there."

"Please tell me, why are you doing this for us?" Kai's mother asked.

The woman paused, first aid kit in hand. "I have seen others hunted for what they are, and did nothing. I hope to make up, in some small way, for my past mistakes." She turned back to the backpack she was packing and put the first aid kit inside, then zipped it shut and gave it to Kai, who slipped it on without complaint. She smiled down at Kai for a moment, then looked up at her mother. "The wig isn't a good idea; you should use hair dye to hide the color of her hair and contacts for her eyes. Even with hair dye, the pink eyes are a dead giveaway. Everyone knows those old stories about the 'White Oni'. Some even believe them to be true."


Kai's mother pulled her closer. Kai looked up at her mother, confused. She wanted to hear more about the White Oni... The weird cat lady was talking again.

"We will go by car, since that will be harder to track. It should take about half a day if we travel quickly by little used roads. We can't trust the main roads." She knelt down so she could be at eye level with Kai. "Don't worry, I will make sure you're safe."

Kai nodded hesitantly and hid behind her mother.


They were attacked before they even reached the car.

The youkai woman swore viciously as her subordinates rushed to defend; she desperately wanted to join them, but she couldn't leave Kai and her mother to fend for themselves. They hurried to the car, where a large shape rose out of the darkness and lunged at them. The youkai woman drew her sword and sliced the shape in one quick movement, moving past even as it fell, uttering a strangled cry. She made sure Kai and her mother were inside, then started the car and quickly drove away, taking a roundabout route away from the site of the ambush in order to throw off pursuit. Thirty minutes later with no sign of anyone following, she finally allowed herself to relax and settled in for a long drive.


They made it to within sight of Mahora before their luck ran out. The youkai woman crested a hill to reveal two cars pulled across the road, blocking both lanes. She hit the brakes, but there was no time to stop and the car plowed into the roadblock at fifty miles an hour, sending it into a barrel roll.


The men watched as the mangled remains of the car came to a stop fifty feet away.

"Are they dead, I wonder...?"

"That would certainly make things easier," another man said as he drew a short, curved sword and tested the edge with his thumb.

A third man watched the wrecked car for a moment and swore.

The other two glanced at him. "What happened? Did you see something?"

"They're still alive," the third man, who seemed to be the leader, said as he drew his own sword, a beautifully crafted katana. "You, come with me. You," he said, looking at the second man, "contact the elder, tell him we've found them and to send backup to the city of Mahora immediately. If we don't stop them before they enter the wards, this may get ugly."

The two men spread out as they approached the car. Now that they were close enough, they could definitely see signs of life from within the wreckage. They had approached to within ten feet when one of the rear doors was kicked open and an oni woman crawled out, blood pouring from a cut on her forehead and obscuring her otherwise attractive face. Both of them recognized her of course, even with the blood; she was the one who had spawned the abomination.

The first man sneered and spat on the ground. "Disgusting." He stepped forward and grabbed her by one hand and jerked her away from the car, ignoring her feeble protests. She was covered in scrapes and bruises and blood from the wreck as she lay there where they had dragged her, too weak and hurt to fight back as the leader moved to stand beside her. "Sit her up," he instructed the other man, who pulled the protesting woman upright so she was more or less kneeling on the road. He nodded at his underling, who backed away, and in one swift, clean cut, chopped her head off.

A child began wailing, and they knew the abomination had survived the wreck. They were headed back toward the car when the whole thing lurched once, twice, three times, and then the driver side door broke off and clattered against the pavement as the youkai woman crawled out on hands and knees, dragging a sheathed sword behind her.

"The guardian's still alive," the first man said worriedly under his breath. His boss simply drew his katana and moved to stand fifteen feet away away from the woman, who climbed slowly and painfully to her feet.

"Get the abomination, make sure it's dead," the leader said to his underling.

"If you take one step toward that car, you won't even live long enough to regret it," the youkai woman growled, fury in her tone as she struggled to stay upright after such a rough end to their flight from Kyoto.

The leader motioned the man to go on anyway, but he hadn't taken more than a step or two when a dagger buried itself to the hilt in his forehead and he dropped to the ground, dead.

The leader darted forward to slice at her while she was off balance from the throw, but she easily slipped aside and returned his attack with one of her own that narrowly missed.

"Why are you protecting that abomination? It will bring destruction to the oni race," the man said as he tried to circle around.

"She is only a child, and that is only an old wives' tale! How could you kill others of your race so easily?" the youkai woman demanded.

"You know the legends! You youkai even have your own version! The white oni will bring destruction to the world! It is written!" he replied angrily as he attacked.

"SHE IS ONLY A CHILD!" the youkai woman shouted as she countered and pressed her attack.


Kai cried as she crawled out of the car, clutching her teddy bear to her chest, heedless of the blood staining it or the fact that her hat had fallen off, revealing her stubby little oni horns to the world. Her mother had just been killed before her eyes! How could they do that? How could they want to hurt her mommy? Why? She didn't know and couldn't understand why they would do something so terrible. How could they? Her mommy was a really nice person!

She saw the youkai lady fighting with one of the mean people and watched, horrified, as the man batted aside the youkai lady's sword and closed in. The two struggled for the upper hand for a moment, then the youkai lady dipped low and threw the man to the ground. She shot a quick look at the car, saw Kai standing there, and screamed at her. "Run! Get to the world tree, you can see it from here!" she shouted, pointing at the giant tree that had been the first part of Mahora they had seen while driving. "Someone who can help you is waiting there!"

Kai didn't need to be told twice; she turned and ran as hard as she could toward the city, crying as she went. She passed the buildings on the outskirts and the people who had come outside, curious about what was causing such a commotion so early in the day. She entered the city itself and ran from street to street as the buildings grew taller and closer together, ignoring anyone who called out to her. On and on she went, through twisting streets and open plazas, until suddenly a wide plaza opened before her, and in the center, the biggest tree she had ever seen. And, standing in front of that tree, a man in a suit and glasses, smoking a cigarette as he checked his watch.


Takahata looked up sharply as a little white haired girl ran out of a side street into the plaza and headed straight toward him, but his gaze shot right past her to focus on the two men in black suits chasing her. He recognized the little girl as an oni almost immediately; there was just something different about them when compared with normal humans, something about the way they moved, that gave them away if one knew what to look for. He walked calmly forward, gave the girl a confident smile and pointed at the tree as she ran past, and put his hands in his pockets as the two suited men slowed to a stop to face him.

"Get out of our way!" one of the men demanded.

Takahata took a long drag on his cigarette, held the smoke in for a moment, and slowly let it out in a thin stream. He dropped the cigarette to the pavement and crushed it, and only then deigned to speak to the two outsiders. "So it takes two men to chase down a little girl, does it?" he asked, his tone level and dangerous.

"She's a monster, an abomination!" the man who had spoken earlier said, almost spitting the last word.

Takahata cocked his eyebrow as he looked at them. "Looks like a scared little girl to me."

The second man, obviously the more level-headed of the two, put his hand up, silencing the first man before he he could make the situation any worse than it already was. He turned to Takahata and took on a reasonable tone. "We have reason to believe she is going to decimate the oni race. As you may imagine, we would like to avoid that."

Takahata looked at him coolly. "Oh? And if I were to step aside, how would you do that?"

The second man gave him a grim look. "We will execute her."

Takahata sighed and put his hands back in his pockets. "I see. I'm afraid that I have reason to believe she can be saved from that fate. I've seen it happen before, time after time," he said, smiling absently as his gaze drifted off into the distance for a moment. It snapped back the instant the angry man shifted his weight to draw his weapon. Iaiken took care of the rest.


Kai pulled her knees up to her chin beside the big tree and shut her eyes tight, her young mind still reeling over the horrible idea that her mommy, whom she loved very much and who had given her her favorite teddy bear, was dead. The very idea was just unreal; they had almost been safe and then suddenly-

-the thump as the head hit the road was shockingly quiet for such a horrific scene; the body remained kneeling for a moment before slowly toppling forward-

-suddenly her mommy just wasn't there anymore. And now...what? The youkai lady was nice, but she was probably dead too. She had said to go to the big tree, where someone would be waiting to protect her, but the man she found there had looked like a normal person, not someone that could help her...

The fight was brief, lasting mere seconds, the last sound being a strangled cry and the sound of a body hitting the ground. A moment later, she heard footsteps approach, and hunched lower.

"Where are the others?" a kind voice asked.

Kai hesitated for a moment, then opened one eye to peek at the man standing there. She quickly looked out at the plaza where the fight had taken place and saw the two scary men lying motionless on the ground. She looked up at the kind man, her eyes went wide, and her bottom lip started to quiver.

He knelt down beside her and she wailed and clamped onto his arm, burying her face into his sleeve as she cried her heart out, her bloodstained teddy bear held forgotten in her hand. He gently patted her head, taking care not to touch her sensitive oni horns, and she clung tighter to his arm.

A moment later, another set of footsteps approached and she looked up to see the youkai lady limping toward them, holding her left arm awkwardly. She paused a short distance away and nodded.

"Takahata."

The man smiled absently. "Ikari."

"I lost the other refugee in an ambush. Can you take custody of the girl?"

Takahata nodded. "We can find a place for her here; don't worry."

Kai looked from the youkai lady to the nice man and back.

Ikari looked at her and smiled helplessly. "I'm sorry, Kai." She moved to sit on the other side of the little girl, who quickly latched on her as well.

Takahata lit another cigarette, and the trio sat in relative silence as the people in charge of that sort of thing took the outsiders into custody and quickly removed any signs of combat.

"You people have become very efficient," Ikari said after a moment.

Takahata nodded. "We have to be."

"I need to get back to Kyoto; I left my people in combat."

Takahata nodded and helped separate the now-dozing Kai from Ikari's sleeve. "Good luck, and give Eishun my best," he said idly as he scooped Kai up as smoothly as any veteran parent had ever done. "I'll make sure she's safe."

Ikari nodded and turned away, and Takahata set off for the office of the headmaster of the girls' middle school. The old man might hold an odd post, but he carried far more weight in Mahora than anyone else. The old man had a soft spot for orphans, and had provided a home for more than one in the past. Takahata glanced down at Kai as she slept in his arms. Yes, this one would definitely need the support Mahora could provide. With any luck, she might even grow up to be a happy, well adjusted girl. In any case, she wouldn't be the one to lead the oni race to extinction; that much was easy to guard against.


Kondo Kai

Born - 12/5/1994

Height - 5'5"

Rock Club, Kendo Club

Likes – Music, drums, bubble wrap

Dislikes – Greedy people, cats

Roommate – Mori Kumiko

Little Known Facts – She has terrible eyesight due to albinism, and wears green contacts to hide her pink eyes.

Titles: Student Number 27, The White Oni, The Abomination

Close Friends: Kobayashi Ayumi, Watanabe Miyako, Kara Stride, Abe Aiko (after the events in Kyoto)

Enemies: The mysterious organization of oni who call her The Abomination


Notes: Kondo Kai, Sakurako's evil clone. Kai is the drummer for Ayumi's band; she uses a (mostly) Pearl brand drum kit put together from pieces she found in pawn shops and other disreputable places. As far as characters go, Kai is one of those who came into being in one piece, without needing many adjustments. Her appearance was mostly inspired by the character of Enju, the leader of a group of oni in the anime Wagaya no Oinara-sama, or Our House's Fox Deity, if you prefer the English name. You can find a picture of Enju on the website Anidb dot net if you're curious, and a (very) badly sketched picture of Kai herself in the Scraps section of my gallery on Deviantart, where I use the same screenname I use here. Being an oni, Kai is incredibly strong and tough, and has to be careful to keep from breaking things or accidentally hurting someone. Physically, she's of average height, with pale white hair that is usually dyed yellow or red, and green contacts to hide the fact that her eyes are pink. Due to her albinism, her eyesight is terrible. She's quite quirky and offbeat, and tends to wear a beret everywhere to hide her oni horns, which she keeps safely hidden, wrapped up in two balls of hair in a hairstyle much like Enju's. She is quite attractive and has unusually long legs for a girl in Japan, which she likes to show off by wearing shorts. She's an active and playful person, and enjoys playing pranks or just wandering around the city. She's considered to be quite cool and kind to others who are younger than her. Because of this, a lot of younger students look up to her, and a lot of teachers approve of her actions, though not her grades, which are usually average and often bad. She talks a lot and has a lot of shallow friends, but being talkative does not mean you are being open, and she finds she has a hard time trusting anyone, even the people she considers to be her best friends.

Appearances: First Appearance- Chapter 7 (Club Visits), Chapter 10 (Kyoto 2)


Kamo's Negi Love Chart

Motherly - 0

Sisterly - 12

Friendship - 9

Crush - 7

Love - 1

H - 3

Kamo's Comments: "Looks like she needs a good friend...do the right thing, aniki."


Haruna's Stat Chart

Friendliness - 13

Courage - 9

Attractiveness - 16

Intelligence - 13

Athleticism - 9

Instincts - 19

Anger - 11

Loner - 10

Outgoing - 12

Popularity – 15

Attributes – pretty, oni, albino, legs, drummer, talkative, prankster

Haruna's Comments: "This girl's got a barrel of issues, but hey, she's an oni. What can you do? Anyway, she'd make a powerful ally, especially since she seems to be the target of some sort of oni prophecy about an albino oni. She needs protection, I think...heh~ go for it!"


Comments From The Rest

Classmate Kobayashi Ayumi: "Kai's my best friend, so don't do anything you're going to regret, got it? Got it?" *deathglare*

Sakurazaki Setsuna: "Kondo-san is quite strong, even for an oni. She is, however, completely untrained... She needs to take her situation seriously and learn how to defend herself before she is attacked again. If someone gets hurt defending her, it will only make the situation worse."

P.E. Teacher Max Linell: "She doesn't take anything seriously, especially P.E. If I set the girls running laps, she's always walking by the start of her second lap."