Yamato the Vampire Slayer 2
Ice
By the Empress of the Eclipse
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
"Tai, get out of the way!"
"I'm not in the - woah!"
Tai yelled as he banged into the nearest gravestone. Matt rolled his eyes and staked the vampire with easy precision.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm just great," Tai said, glowering darkly up at the night sky "Ju-u-st great."
Matt reached out to help his friend up but Tai pulled away and pushed himself up.
"I'm fine," he said with a small grin "No help needed, okay?"
"Next time I tell you to move," Matt suggested gently "Move, okay?"
"Stupid vampire," Tai muttered "Throwing me at the gravestone! It's cheating!"
"It's hardly cheating," Matt said "They are fighting for their lives you know."
"Yeah..."
Tai frowned.
"You aren't supporting them are you?"
"No! Don't be stupid! They're soulless creeps! I'm just saying, you can't really expect them to fight fair!"
Tai sighed and rubbed his arm, then grimaced in pain.
"Bastards," he muttered.
Matt shrugged.
"You know, you really don't have to patrol with me," he said "I know it must be hard, what with school and everything."
Tai rolled his eyes.
"Oh don't bother about that," he said "School. I can deal with that!"
Matt shrugged.
"I suppose so," he said after a moment "But only if you're sure..."
"I'm seventeen," Tai said "I know my own mind you know."
Matt sighed and kept walking, eyes searching the graveyard restlessly. He felt uneasy with Tai beside him. If Tai got hurt...
Matt couldn't help remembering the image of Tai crumpled in a cage, covered with bruises, face white as bones. It had scared him, scared him more than he liked to remember. Tai had never discussed what had happened to him in that cage.
What TK had done to him.
Matt pushed the thoughts away and smiled at Tai. Tai smiled back but it was a vague smile, not really attentive.
He'd been acting different with Matt for such a long while now and Matt barely noticed it any more. They just kept walking.
* * * *
"So that's the Slayer?" Zillah said thoughtfully.
She was lying on her new bed, kicking her heels together and staring boredly into a basin of water, in which she could see Matt and Tai walking together.
"He's no girl," she added "He's a boy. A very pretty boy but none the less..."
"There was a small accident with the calling."
The voice was soft and whispery, with a melodious under-tone. It came from everywhere and no where at the same time.
"I told you of the incident. He was born in the wrong form and when a Slayer who had already been replaced, died a second time, the magic order was disrupted. Therefore..." "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Zillah interrupted "Therefore the natural order of things was spoiled and little Slayer-Boy called summoned up, rather than the normal girl-power kick."
She sighed.
"Must be a bummer for him. My heart bleeds really."
There was a sort of chuckle.
"So," Zillah said "What am I going to do to him first?"
She tapped her fingers on the side of the basin for a moment, then grinned.
"Let's start small, shall we? Make his life a little....difficult."
Dipping her fingers into the basin, she raised them and let the water drip slowly back into the basin.
"Water - powerful element, give me leave to summon one of your many forms. Give me leave to use your energy for my will. Water - powerful element - come to this place as ICE!"
At the last word, the water in the bowl froze, catching Matt and Tai's forms in the distorted way that ice does.
Outside, it began to hail.
* * * *
"SHIT!" Tai yelled as the bullet hard hail stones started striking him "Hail!"
"Oh REALLY?" Matt snapped "You know, I hadn't noticed!"
"Ow!" Tai yelped "Ow, ow, ow, ow! It HURTS!"
"You'd better go home!" Matt yelled over the roar of the hail "I have to finish - OW! Jesus! - patrolling but there's no point YOU getting bruised too! And it'll only take a couple of minutes! Anyone with any sense will have run for it by now! Even vampires!"
Tai nodded.
"Thanks!"
"Wait!" Matt yelled "Have you got a cross or stake? In case..."
"Yeah, I'm all set!" Tai shouted back "See you!"
He turned and dashed off. Matt stared after him for a moment, then turned and kept moving, trying not to slip on the carpet of hailstones. The hail stones were horribly hard and he didn't like it.
And there was something...not quite right about it. He didn't know what or how he knew about it. But he knew. There was something a little bit wrong with the hailstorm.
'I'm being silly' Matt scolded himself 'Stop it Ishida! Just finish patrolling and get out of here!'
He kept moving, trying not to slip on the icy carpet that had already formed over the ground.
* * * *
The next day, it was still hailing.
"This is NOT normal," Matt said, staring out of the window "I knew it wasn't last night. Hail just doesn't last this long!"
He tried to phone Ms Fuyutsuki, only to discover that the phone lines were down. Sighing, he decided to walk down to see her.
She answered the door looking irritated.
"Ah, Yamato," she said "I'm guessing you think that this hailstorm is unnatural?"
"No kidding," Matt said rather crossly "How many hailstorms do YOU know that last for almost twenty-four hours."
"Actually, it's possible," Ms Fuyutsuki said "But rare. However, we shouldn't wait. The ice is going to cause terrible damage if it continues to fall this way."
"So what do we do?"
Ms Fuyutsuki smiled.
"You'd better go and visit Miss Aida again," she said.
Kaya Aida was a wicca that Ms Fuyutsuki knew. Matt had called on her services once before to stop some children having their life forces drained.
"I have to walk?" Matt groaned, looking out of the window.
"Looks that way," Ms Fuyutsuki said calmly "Off you go."
Matt walked the whole way. By the time he reached Miss Aida's apartment, he was actually bleeding where some of the hailstones had hit him.
"I know," Kaya said as soon as she saw it was him "And I can't."
"What?"
"I've already tried to send it away," Kaya said "It wouldn't go."
Matt groaned.
"Why?"
"It's powerful," Kaya said slowly, her eyes darkening "This is not natural Yamato. Whatever or whoever conjured this storm is very power and they did it for a reason. I don't know what but I know that they did. You should be on your guard."
"But what can I do about the hail?" Matt asked.
Kaya sighed.
"They may get bored and choose to remove it on their own," she said "Or if it's a demon, you can go and kill it. That would stop the hail."
"Good idea," Matt said.
He looked miserably at the hail.
"I need to invest in a suit of armour."
* * * *
It was still hailing when Davis closed the door to his room that night and carefully bolted it. As soon as he'd found out about Matt and vampires and demons, he'd bought himself a bolt for his door and got one of Jun's friends to fit it. His parents had been furious but Davis hadn't cared and had won the battle. It meant that he had more privacy. Which had come in very useful since he'd started studying spell books.
He removed one of the spell books from its hiding place behind his chest of drawers. He'd been studying them for a while now with great patience. Davis was dyslexic and found reading very, very difficult. But he'd persevered when it had come to these magic books. He was desperate to know about it so that he could try a spell for himself without risking accidentally turning himself into something horrible.
His perseverance had paid off. Davis was thinking that he was ready that night try and see if he could do something that night.
He frowned. He'd taken what Ms Fuyutsuki said to heart and studied the books very carefully, reading everything once, stopping for a while, then reading it again so he knew that he hadn't misread it. He knew that really, it was wrong to steal Ms Fuyutsuki's books and attempt to learn magic without her permission or any help. But the idea fascinated him. He knew that he wasn't very much use to Matt as he was and longed to be able to help in some way. And he was sure that even if he couldn't help Matt, he could use the magic to help people in other ways. Maybe it could cure his dyslexia or help people when they got ill. And he'd always loved the sound of magic, even before he'd known that it was real. He'd been practising some of the little things for weeks now but no actual spells or 'real' magic, just breathing exercises and things to do with the mind. But he'd decided that he was ready to try something new now.
Reaching over, he removed a longish pencil from the bedside table and put it on the floor in front of him. Closing his eyes, he listened to the hail drumming on his window and slowly breathed in and out, trying to focus and relax at the same time.
When he finally felt that he was relaxed and focused, he imagined the pencil slowly rising off the floor, rising so it was in front of his face and hovering there. Just remaining quite still and hovering there, held there by his mind.
Not quite daring to open his eyes, Davis pushed away the feelings of fear and imagined the pencil beginning to spin slowly and steadily, not falling, just remaining in the air.
Swallowing, he opened his eyes.
The pencil was hanging in the air, slowly spinning.
Davis laughed with delight, watching the pencil slowly spin. He'd done it! He could do magic! He'd DONE it!
The pencil kept spinning, slightly faster and more erratically now. Davis took several deep breaths until he felt focused again then raised the pencil higher and made it hover again, pointing outwards. Then he plucked it out of the air and reached under his bed where he kept the stakes he had, just in case. Maybe he could use his magic to wield stakes and kill vampires with.
Davis put the stake on the floor and looked at it. He wanted to try with his eyes open this time.
Slowly, the stake wobbled, then rose into the air. Davis grinned and tried to jab out with it. The stake dropped to the floor and Davis winced as a pulsing headache began behind his eyes. He suddenly felt exhausted. He didn't even bother to change, just kicked the stake under his bed and slid inside the covers, almost instantly falling into a very deep sleep.
* * * *
"I'm getting bored," Zillah said crossly "All this hail means I can't go anywhere!"
She stared out of the window.
"Why doesn't that stupid Slayer-Boy STOP it?"
"He is no match for my power."
Zillah scowled.
"Damn. Should have used mine, not yours. Meant to."
"Our powers are bound together. Your choice over which power is used for a spell is limited."
Zillah scowled.
"But I have one right?"
"Naturally."
"Humph. Well, anyway, it's a waste or everyone's energy. Okay, I'd best drop the hail and think of something new."
She walked over to the basin and put her hand on the frozen water.
"Water - powerful element - your assistance has been great. I thank you. You may depart."
The water unfroze and outside, there was an almost eerie silence as the hail stopped falling. Zillah sighed.
"Well, that sucked," she said "I'd best think of something better next time."
She tipped the water down the sink, frowning to herself.
"Just need to work out what..."
* * * *
Matt walked to Ms Fuyutsuki's the next day, alternately crunching through the ice and splashing through the water. Several children had been out making ice sculptures.
"That was weird," he told Ms Fuyutsuki "Why would anyone make a hail storm?"
"I don't know," Ms Fuyutsuki said slowly "It doesn't seem to have a purpose - except to cause a little disruption."
She frowned.
"No matter. If there was some sort of significance, then doubtless it will show itself."
Matt didn't find that idea all that reassuring. As far as he could see, leaving things hanging was not a good idea. But Ms Fuyutsuki knew (THOUGHT she knew) best and he wasn't going to argue.
He'd been awake most of the night listening to the hail.
* * * *
"Hey Matt!"
Matt looked over the road and saw Kari waving at him. She was standing with Iori and Yolei. Matt felt the usual pang at not seeing TK, then frowned.
"Where's Davis?" he asked, jogging up.
"Apparently he over-slept," Kari said with a small giggle "By the time he woke up, it was about 11:00 and in his own words 'he couldn't be bothered'."
"How do you know?" Matt asked.
"I phoned," Kari said "He answered the phone, called me some rude words for waking him up then told me."
Matt snorted.
"Trust Davis."
He grinned at Yolei and Iori who smiled back sort of uneasily.
"Hey," Matt said, suddenly remembering "Have any of you spoken to Mimi recently? I tried to phone her yesterday but she was engaged."
He saw the look that passed between Yolei and Kari before Yolei said "She's fine. I spoke to her last week."
"What was the look for?" Matt asked, his voice still uncaring.
An awkward pause. Matt began to feel worried.
"What?" he said "Come on, spill. What's going on?"
"Matt, can I talk to you aside for a second?" Kari asked.
Before Matt could protest, she had pulled him away from Iori and Yolei.
"What?" Matt said.
"Matt, Mimi's being...a little strange," Kari said awkwardly "Yolei's...told her about you being a Slayer and...well to be blunt, she doesn't believe you."
"Huh?"
Matt knew that his response was somewhat dense but he just couldn't understand it. Kari looked rather upset.
"Er...she doesn't believe you," she repeated "She thinks that this Slayer stuff is a load of baloney and we've all made it up to tease her."
"Oh," Matt said lamely.
He didn't know what else to say. It was something that he just couldn't quite grasp. What was he supposed to say?
"Sorry," Kari said.
"No. No, it's okay," Matt said "I...I guess that it's a little much to just expect her to believe without seeing what's happening. Tai didn't believe when it was in front of his face."
Kari just nodded. Matt got the strange impression that Kari wasn't telling him everything. But he didn't pry. Surely Kari wouldn't keep anything from him if it was very important?
"I'd better go," he said "I need to make sure the house is completely clean before Dad gets home. Otherwise I'll get another lecture about being at home all day and not doing any work. He doesn't know I'm mainly out at Ms Fuyutsuki's."
Kari nodded.
"See you later," she said.
Matt walked off. At the end of the road, he glanced back at Kari, Yolei and Iori. They appeared to be arguing. Kari looked very unhappy.
Matt kept walking, feeling very bothered by the whole thing.
* * * *
Tai was sitting on his bed, pretending to be doing his homework (he was actually reading a magazine) when Kari came in.
"Hey Kari," Tai said.
"Hey," Kari said. She looked troubled.
"What's up?" Tai asked, slinging his magazine aside.
"I was walking with Yolei and Iori and we ran into Matt," Kari said.
Tai raised his eyebrows and waited for her to continue, although he had a feeling he knew what was coming.
"I had to tell him about Mimi," Kari said "I think he was upset."
Tai nodded, but knew that wasn't the end of it.
"Kari?" he said when she didn't continue.
"Tai, we're going to have to tell him sooner or later," Kari said "Yolei would have told him today only I thought that one shock was enough."
"It probably won't come as much of a shock," Tai said "He can't complain."
Kari shrugged.
"Then why did you insist that we didn't tell him?" she asked.
Tai turned away.
"It's just...everything's pretty busy you know?" he said defensively "First him getting Called, then TK's death and then quitting school. You know, the guy needs a break!"
Kari sighed.
"He'll find out soon," she said "And he won't be happy."
"Believe me," Tai said "I know."
* * * *
Matt was sitting in the bathroom, looking at his hair.
For around three weeks now he'd keep it tucked up in his hat. It was now past his shoulders and a distinctly feminine style. Framing his face, it made him look more like a girl than ever before.
Scowling, Matt tugged at it. He'd noticed that the hat no long sat properly on his head. His hair was too long to tuck up underneath it without some sort of restraint.
It took Matt about half an hour to plait his hair and tuck it back under his hat. Now he looked like a boy again.
"Dammit!" Matt hissed "I AM a boy! I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy! Ken looks feminine and no one says he's a girl! I'm a boy!"
He banged his head angrily on the mirror, then stalked into his bedroom.
'I need to invest in more hats' he thought to himself 'This hat is getting manky. I wonder how you steal vampires things?'
Well, he had no money to spare. And the vampires were dead and therefore, no longer in need to any of the stuff that they stole of people.
Matt ignored the little voice inside him that said this was morally dubious and began packing a Slayer bag, ready for the nights patrolling.
At least it had stopped hailing.
End of Part 2.
Ice
By the Empress of the Eclipse
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
"Tai, get out of the way!"
"I'm not in the - woah!"
Tai yelled as he banged into the nearest gravestone. Matt rolled his eyes and staked the vampire with easy precision.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm just great," Tai said, glowering darkly up at the night sky "Ju-u-st great."
Matt reached out to help his friend up but Tai pulled away and pushed himself up.
"I'm fine," he said with a small grin "No help needed, okay?"
"Next time I tell you to move," Matt suggested gently "Move, okay?"
"Stupid vampire," Tai muttered "Throwing me at the gravestone! It's cheating!"
"It's hardly cheating," Matt said "They are fighting for their lives you know."
"Yeah..."
Tai frowned.
"You aren't supporting them are you?"
"No! Don't be stupid! They're soulless creeps! I'm just saying, you can't really expect them to fight fair!"
Tai sighed and rubbed his arm, then grimaced in pain.
"Bastards," he muttered.
Matt shrugged.
"You know, you really don't have to patrol with me," he said "I know it must be hard, what with school and everything."
Tai rolled his eyes.
"Oh don't bother about that," he said "School. I can deal with that!"
Matt shrugged.
"I suppose so," he said after a moment "But only if you're sure..."
"I'm seventeen," Tai said "I know my own mind you know."
Matt sighed and kept walking, eyes searching the graveyard restlessly. He felt uneasy with Tai beside him. If Tai got hurt...
Matt couldn't help remembering the image of Tai crumpled in a cage, covered with bruises, face white as bones. It had scared him, scared him more than he liked to remember. Tai had never discussed what had happened to him in that cage.
What TK had done to him.
Matt pushed the thoughts away and smiled at Tai. Tai smiled back but it was a vague smile, not really attentive.
He'd been acting different with Matt for such a long while now and Matt barely noticed it any more. They just kept walking.
* * * *
"So that's the Slayer?" Zillah said thoughtfully.
She was lying on her new bed, kicking her heels together and staring boredly into a basin of water, in which she could see Matt and Tai walking together.
"He's no girl," she added "He's a boy. A very pretty boy but none the less..."
"There was a small accident with the calling."
The voice was soft and whispery, with a melodious under-tone. It came from everywhere and no where at the same time.
"I told you of the incident. He was born in the wrong form and when a Slayer who had already been replaced, died a second time, the magic order was disrupted. Therefore..." "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Zillah interrupted "Therefore the natural order of things was spoiled and little Slayer-Boy called summoned up, rather than the normal girl-power kick."
She sighed.
"Must be a bummer for him. My heart bleeds really."
There was a sort of chuckle.
"So," Zillah said "What am I going to do to him first?"
She tapped her fingers on the side of the basin for a moment, then grinned.
"Let's start small, shall we? Make his life a little....difficult."
Dipping her fingers into the basin, she raised them and let the water drip slowly back into the basin.
"Water - powerful element, give me leave to summon one of your many forms. Give me leave to use your energy for my will. Water - powerful element - come to this place as ICE!"
At the last word, the water in the bowl froze, catching Matt and Tai's forms in the distorted way that ice does.
Outside, it began to hail.
* * * *
"SHIT!" Tai yelled as the bullet hard hail stones started striking him "Hail!"
"Oh REALLY?" Matt snapped "You know, I hadn't noticed!"
"Ow!" Tai yelped "Ow, ow, ow, ow! It HURTS!"
"You'd better go home!" Matt yelled over the roar of the hail "I have to finish - OW! Jesus! - patrolling but there's no point YOU getting bruised too! And it'll only take a couple of minutes! Anyone with any sense will have run for it by now! Even vampires!"
Tai nodded.
"Thanks!"
"Wait!" Matt yelled "Have you got a cross or stake? In case..."
"Yeah, I'm all set!" Tai shouted back "See you!"
He turned and dashed off. Matt stared after him for a moment, then turned and kept moving, trying not to slip on the carpet of hailstones. The hail stones were horribly hard and he didn't like it.
And there was something...not quite right about it. He didn't know what or how he knew about it. But he knew. There was something a little bit wrong with the hailstorm.
'I'm being silly' Matt scolded himself 'Stop it Ishida! Just finish patrolling and get out of here!'
He kept moving, trying not to slip on the icy carpet that had already formed over the ground.
* * * *
The next day, it was still hailing.
"This is NOT normal," Matt said, staring out of the window "I knew it wasn't last night. Hail just doesn't last this long!"
He tried to phone Ms Fuyutsuki, only to discover that the phone lines were down. Sighing, he decided to walk down to see her.
She answered the door looking irritated.
"Ah, Yamato," she said "I'm guessing you think that this hailstorm is unnatural?"
"No kidding," Matt said rather crossly "How many hailstorms do YOU know that last for almost twenty-four hours."
"Actually, it's possible," Ms Fuyutsuki said "But rare. However, we shouldn't wait. The ice is going to cause terrible damage if it continues to fall this way."
"So what do we do?"
Ms Fuyutsuki smiled.
"You'd better go and visit Miss Aida again," she said.
Kaya Aida was a wicca that Ms Fuyutsuki knew. Matt had called on her services once before to stop some children having their life forces drained.
"I have to walk?" Matt groaned, looking out of the window.
"Looks that way," Ms Fuyutsuki said calmly "Off you go."
Matt walked the whole way. By the time he reached Miss Aida's apartment, he was actually bleeding where some of the hailstones had hit him.
"I know," Kaya said as soon as she saw it was him "And I can't."
"What?"
"I've already tried to send it away," Kaya said "It wouldn't go."
Matt groaned.
"Why?"
"It's powerful," Kaya said slowly, her eyes darkening "This is not natural Yamato. Whatever or whoever conjured this storm is very power and they did it for a reason. I don't know what but I know that they did. You should be on your guard."
"But what can I do about the hail?" Matt asked.
Kaya sighed.
"They may get bored and choose to remove it on their own," she said "Or if it's a demon, you can go and kill it. That would stop the hail."
"Good idea," Matt said.
He looked miserably at the hail.
"I need to invest in a suit of armour."
* * * *
It was still hailing when Davis closed the door to his room that night and carefully bolted it. As soon as he'd found out about Matt and vampires and demons, he'd bought himself a bolt for his door and got one of Jun's friends to fit it. His parents had been furious but Davis hadn't cared and had won the battle. It meant that he had more privacy. Which had come in very useful since he'd started studying spell books.
He removed one of the spell books from its hiding place behind his chest of drawers. He'd been studying them for a while now with great patience. Davis was dyslexic and found reading very, very difficult. But he'd persevered when it had come to these magic books. He was desperate to know about it so that he could try a spell for himself without risking accidentally turning himself into something horrible.
His perseverance had paid off. Davis was thinking that he was ready that night try and see if he could do something that night.
He frowned. He'd taken what Ms Fuyutsuki said to heart and studied the books very carefully, reading everything once, stopping for a while, then reading it again so he knew that he hadn't misread it. He knew that really, it was wrong to steal Ms Fuyutsuki's books and attempt to learn magic without her permission or any help. But the idea fascinated him. He knew that he wasn't very much use to Matt as he was and longed to be able to help in some way. And he was sure that even if he couldn't help Matt, he could use the magic to help people in other ways. Maybe it could cure his dyslexia or help people when they got ill. And he'd always loved the sound of magic, even before he'd known that it was real. He'd been practising some of the little things for weeks now but no actual spells or 'real' magic, just breathing exercises and things to do with the mind. But he'd decided that he was ready to try something new now.
Reaching over, he removed a longish pencil from the bedside table and put it on the floor in front of him. Closing his eyes, he listened to the hail drumming on his window and slowly breathed in and out, trying to focus and relax at the same time.
When he finally felt that he was relaxed and focused, he imagined the pencil slowly rising off the floor, rising so it was in front of his face and hovering there. Just remaining quite still and hovering there, held there by his mind.
Not quite daring to open his eyes, Davis pushed away the feelings of fear and imagined the pencil beginning to spin slowly and steadily, not falling, just remaining in the air.
Swallowing, he opened his eyes.
The pencil was hanging in the air, slowly spinning.
Davis laughed with delight, watching the pencil slowly spin. He'd done it! He could do magic! He'd DONE it!
The pencil kept spinning, slightly faster and more erratically now. Davis took several deep breaths until he felt focused again then raised the pencil higher and made it hover again, pointing outwards. Then he plucked it out of the air and reached under his bed where he kept the stakes he had, just in case. Maybe he could use his magic to wield stakes and kill vampires with.
Davis put the stake on the floor and looked at it. He wanted to try with his eyes open this time.
Slowly, the stake wobbled, then rose into the air. Davis grinned and tried to jab out with it. The stake dropped to the floor and Davis winced as a pulsing headache began behind his eyes. He suddenly felt exhausted. He didn't even bother to change, just kicked the stake under his bed and slid inside the covers, almost instantly falling into a very deep sleep.
* * * *
"I'm getting bored," Zillah said crossly "All this hail means I can't go anywhere!"
She stared out of the window.
"Why doesn't that stupid Slayer-Boy STOP it?"
"He is no match for my power."
Zillah scowled.
"Damn. Should have used mine, not yours. Meant to."
"Our powers are bound together. Your choice over which power is used for a spell is limited."
Zillah scowled.
"But I have one right?"
"Naturally."
"Humph. Well, anyway, it's a waste or everyone's energy. Okay, I'd best drop the hail and think of something new."
She walked over to the basin and put her hand on the frozen water.
"Water - powerful element - your assistance has been great. I thank you. You may depart."
The water unfroze and outside, there was an almost eerie silence as the hail stopped falling. Zillah sighed.
"Well, that sucked," she said "I'd best think of something better next time."
She tipped the water down the sink, frowning to herself.
"Just need to work out what..."
* * * *
Matt walked to Ms Fuyutsuki's the next day, alternately crunching through the ice and splashing through the water. Several children had been out making ice sculptures.
"That was weird," he told Ms Fuyutsuki "Why would anyone make a hail storm?"
"I don't know," Ms Fuyutsuki said slowly "It doesn't seem to have a purpose - except to cause a little disruption."
She frowned.
"No matter. If there was some sort of significance, then doubtless it will show itself."
Matt didn't find that idea all that reassuring. As far as he could see, leaving things hanging was not a good idea. But Ms Fuyutsuki knew (THOUGHT she knew) best and he wasn't going to argue.
He'd been awake most of the night listening to the hail.
* * * *
"Hey Matt!"
Matt looked over the road and saw Kari waving at him. She was standing with Iori and Yolei. Matt felt the usual pang at not seeing TK, then frowned.
"Where's Davis?" he asked, jogging up.
"Apparently he over-slept," Kari said with a small giggle "By the time he woke up, it was about 11:00 and in his own words 'he couldn't be bothered'."
"How do you know?" Matt asked.
"I phoned," Kari said "He answered the phone, called me some rude words for waking him up then told me."
Matt snorted.
"Trust Davis."
He grinned at Yolei and Iori who smiled back sort of uneasily.
"Hey," Matt said, suddenly remembering "Have any of you spoken to Mimi recently? I tried to phone her yesterday but she was engaged."
He saw the look that passed between Yolei and Kari before Yolei said "She's fine. I spoke to her last week."
"What was the look for?" Matt asked, his voice still uncaring.
An awkward pause. Matt began to feel worried.
"What?" he said "Come on, spill. What's going on?"
"Matt, can I talk to you aside for a second?" Kari asked.
Before Matt could protest, she had pulled him away from Iori and Yolei.
"What?" Matt said.
"Matt, Mimi's being...a little strange," Kari said awkwardly "Yolei's...told her about you being a Slayer and...well to be blunt, she doesn't believe you."
"Huh?"
Matt knew that his response was somewhat dense but he just couldn't understand it. Kari looked rather upset.
"Er...she doesn't believe you," she repeated "She thinks that this Slayer stuff is a load of baloney and we've all made it up to tease her."
"Oh," Matt said lamely.
He didn't know what else to say. It was something that he just couldn't quite grasp. What was he supposed to say?
"Sorry," Kari said.
"No. No, it's okay," Matt said "I...I guess that it's a little much to just expect her to believe without seeing what's happening. Tai didn't believe when it was in front of his face."
Kari just nodded. Matt got the strange impression that Kari wasn't telling him everything. But he didn't pry. Surely Kari wouldn't keep anything from him if it was very important?
"I'd better go," he said "I need to make sure the house is completely clean before Dad gets home. Otherwise I'll get another lecture about being at home all day and not doing any work. He doesn't know I'm mainly out at Ms Fuyutsuki's."
Kari nodded.
"See you later," she said.
Matt walked off. At the end of the road, he glanced back at Kari, Yolei and Iori. They appeared to be arguing. Kari looked very unhappy.
Matt kept walking, feeling very bothered by the whole thing.
* * * *
Tai was sitting on his bed, pretending to be doing his homework (he was actually reading a magazine) when Kari came in.
"Hey Kari," Tai said.
"Hey," Kari said. She looked troubled.
"What's up?" Tai asked, slinging his magazine aside.
"I was walking with Yolei and Iori and we ran into Matt," Kari said.
Tai raised his eyebrows and waited for her to continue, although he had a feeling he knew what was coming.
"I had to tell him about Mimi," Kari said "I think he was upset."
Tai nodded, but knew that wasn't the end of it.
"Kari?" he said when she didn't continue.
"Tai, we're going to have to tell him sooner or later," Kari said "Yolei would have told him today only I thought that one shock was enough."
"It probably won't come as much of a shock," Tai said "He can't complain."
Kari shrugged.
"Then why did you insist that we didn't tell him?" she asked.
Tai turned away.
"It's just...everything's pretty busy you know?" he said defensively "First him getting Called, then TK's death and then quitting school. You know, the guy needs a break!"
Kari sighed.
"He'll find out soon," she said "And he won't be happy."
"Believe me," Tai said "I know."
* * * *
Matt was sitting in the bathroom, looking at his hair.
For around three weeks now he'd keep it tucked up in his hat. It was now past his shoulders and a distinctly feminine style. Framing his face, it made him look more like a girl than ever before.
Scowling, Matt tugged at it. He'd noticed that the hat no long sat properly on his head. His hair was too long to tuck up underneath it without some sort of restraint.
It took Matt about half an hour to plait his hair and tuck it back under his hat. Now he looked like a boy again.
"Dammit!" Matt hissed "I AM a boy! I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy! Ken looks feminine and no one says he's a girl! I'm a boy!"
He banged his head angrily on the mirror, then stalked into his bedroom.
'I need to invest in more hats' he thought to himself 'This hat is getting manky. I wonder how you steal vampires things?'
Well, he had no money to spare. And the vampires were dead and therefore, no longer in need to any of the stuff that they stole of people.
Matt ignored the little voice inside him that said this was morally dubious and began packing a Slayer bag, ready for the nights patrolling.
At least it had stopped hailing.
End of Part 2.