Chapter Two - And Guys Think Girls Are Confusing?
"Stupid boy, seeming so nice, then turning into a idiot loser!" Shadra ranted in English. She kicked the opposing vampire hard in the stomach, sending him flying a few feet away in the dark alley.
"Being all bipolar on me!" The vampire leapt to his feet and came at her again, landing a hit on her shoulder. She turned, flowing with the blow and reducing the damage.
"Calling me crazy! Why don't you crawl under a rock, Bakura-kun!" She swung her fist with all her might against her opponent.
The vampire dodged backwards and stopped, a confused look on his face. "Uh… My name's Dave."
"Bakura, looking so kawaii—Your name's Dave? Isn't that a bit… not Japanese?" She stopped her attack.
"I'm visiting from the States," Dave said, as he lunged at her again. She dodged, and kicked him in the back. But with vampire strength, he regained his balance easily. "A sort of honeymoon with my girlfriend. New sights, exotic food." He motioned the brown-haired girl cowering behind a dumpster.
"Aw, that's nice," Shadra said. "Wish I had a boyfriend who took me places." They continued exchanging blows.
"Well, what about this Bakura?"
"Him?" her eyes widened in disgust. Dave took the opportunity to slash her across her upper arm, tearing through fabric and drawing blood.
"You said he was kawaii. That's cute, right?"
"Yeah. And he seemed all nice too for the first hour I knew him. Then…"
"He was a bastard. But that's probably only because he realised he had feelings for you and didn't know how to deal with them."
She looked questioningly at him.
"I was a psychologist when I was alive," Dave explained.
"The other girls will be all over him," Shadra said, stopping the fight. "I've done that before. It usually ends up with a lot of hate web sites with ugly 'Die-Shadra-Die' pictures on them."
"Excuse me?" the cowering girl asked in Japanese. "Maybe a little less chatting and a little more killing?"
"Sorry," Shadra said. She lunged at Dave, stake going for the heart. He spun so it struck his left shoulder.
"Well, it's nice to know there's one Slayer around here," Dave said. "It keeps things interesting."
Shadra stopped again, unconsciously deciding not to tell him she wasn't a slayer. "There's no Slayers here?"
"Nah," Dave said. "Kind of disappointing since Tokyo Slayers are famous for their martial arts skills."
"That's odd…"
Ryou's eyes snapped open as his alarm went off. He sat up quickly and turned it off. He looked blearily around the room, not recognising it. But as he gradually woke up, he realised that he must be in his new dorm room. Yeah, his luggage was beside the door.
That was strange… He remembered Bakura taking over before he could even reach the room. But why would his Yami bother to bring his luggage in? He checked on his dark's emotions, and found him asleep. So, it was safe to think that his Yami was changing.
Shadra stared at the computer. The computer stared at Shadra. Needless to say, computer class wasn't going all too well.
Shadra decided to glare at the computer. The computer might've returned it, except it wasn't even turned on.
The entire lab was humming, with students surfing around the net. So, everyone else was getting something out of the course, except her. Maybe by the end of the year, she might even be able to login. Dare to dream.
Well, what's the worst that could happen? She asked herself. She pressed the power button.
For a second, the computer didn't do anything. Shadra peered closer at it. It made a strange high whine. Her eyes widened. She knew what that meant.
She desperately tried to move backwards, but seeing as she was sitting in a chair, all that managed was to tip the chair open. The computer made an even higher whining sound, if that was even possible. She rolled off the chair and held it up as a shield.
KA-BOOM!
The computer sent off thousands of sparks.
Shadra anxiously peered over her chair shield. The moni—the thing that the stuff should up on had a cracked window thingy. The case for the hard drive dealie had broken into pieces, showing off burnt chips. The mouse had disappeared somewhere. And oh yeah, the teacher was going berserk. The great thing about being a Time Master.
"Oh my," a voice said behind her.
She looked up and saw Bakura leaning across the long computer table behind her.
"What did you do!" The teacher practically screamed as he came running up.
Shadra set down the chair, and looked up meekly. "I just turned it on, sir."
"You must have done more than that to make it explode!"
"It's true, sir," Bakura said.
The teacher turned his angry wrath upon the white-haired boy. Bakura shrank back.
Shadra's full attention was on him as well. He was sticking up for her? After how mean he was yesterday? He had called her a loony. He just didn't realise the magic in this world, including Balla's psychic speech. But did that give him any right to say so? No. She decided he was a Ryou now.
She turned her attention to the teacher. "I do have a terrible relationship with them," Shadra said, motioning the technology. She realised that the entire class were staring at the trio. And why not? Computers didn't explode everyday (unless she was around). "It says so in my permanent record."
The teacher didn't look impressed, but his wrathful expression had dimmed.
"I'll tutor her," Ryou offered. "So it won't happen again."
Yep, he was definitely a Ryou. Unless he was doing it to punish her later… She frowned and exhaled. She didn't like thinking such prejudices but she had learned a while ago that no one was what they seemed, and it usually turned out badly for her.
The teacher looked undecided, fingering the pink slips in his jacket pocket. Her eyes widened a fraction.
"Yeah!" she jumped in. "And I'll work extra hard and everything!"
He took a few minutes to think about it, his eyes rolled to the ceiling. "Fine," he said. "But—"
"If I cross out of line, it's through," Shadra finished. How many times had she heard that sentence?
The bell rang before the teacher could give retribute to her interruption. Phew, dodged another bullet. The way things were going, she wasn't make a very good impression. Though it was still better than last year. She shuddered mentally. First night she was there, she had made an arch nemesis out of the most powerful boy in the world. Eventually though, they had become friends.
She didn't notice Ryou coming around the long table, under he had grabbed her upper arm and hand to help her up. She winced.
A flash of recognition across Ryou's face. But in half a heart beat it had disappeared. Shadra wasn't even sure it had been there.
She tugged her useless skirt down. Stupid boarding schools… Why must they all have uniforms? And why must they try to make her wear a skirt? Shadra had to admit she was jealous of the guy's plain navy blue uniform.
"So, today after classes?" he asked as soon as had said thank you.
"For what?" Shadra asked as they walked out of the classroom.
"Tutoring."
"You were serious?"
"Yes."
"But—"
"Don't worry, it's easy to pick up."
Shadra seriously doubted that. If it was so easy, then her two friends, computer geniuses each, should have been able to teach her. But let him dream in his non-magical world.
Ryou leaned back in his desk while the history teacher lectured at the opposite side of the room. He allowed his mind to wander, as he had learned about 17th century Europe at his last school.
His eyes wandered to the only person he knew in this school, Miss Shadra Bellona. He was no stranger to oddities, yet he couldn't figure her out. She talked to herself, she blew computers up just by touching them, and she had a large bandage on her arm.
/Maybe she has a Yami… / Ryou thought.
/Pfff, impossible, / his own Yami replied. /She doesn't have a Millennium Item. /
/But that key, the one she always wears around her neck,/ Ryou said.
/Or maybe it's for fashion. I hear girls are kind of interested in that / Bakura sneered.
"Miss Bellona," the teacher snapped, jerking Ryou out of his conversation. "Which Hungarian Countess was charged for vampirism and being a werewolf? And which crimes did she commit?"
"Elizabeth Bathory [1]," she automatically replied. "And no crimes."
"I expected more from you," the teacher gloated. "The crimes were listed as torture and murder, among other more sadistic acts."
/I like her already, / Bakura said.
Ryou sweat dropped. His Yami scared him sometimes. Okay, most of the time.
"Oh, you meant the crimes she was charged," Shadra said.
"And I suppose with that little prodigy mind of yours, you have a great excuse already made up," the teacher said. "Do not be mistaken, I will not coddle you or praise you or give you great marks just for gracing us with your presence."
"For a history teacher, you sure don't examine the facts," Shadra said. "First of all, most of the witnesses were vague on their accounts, or where given in third person. Second, they didn't even allow Countess Bathory to testify. Third, any murderer, rapist, and psycho could have taken the stand to condemn her for the acts they committed."
The teacher opened his mouth to say something, but Shadra cut him off. "Her family has a history of mental problems, due to inbreeding. Pretty much everything from schizophrenia to seizures. In today's society, she would have been in a mental institution a long time ago. Then we must consider her upbringing, where cruelty to peasants was everywhere, and her noble upbringing didn't have all too many restrictions—"
"Enough!" the teacher said. "We are here to learn facts, not to play make believe. Elizabeth Bathory tortured 600 girls, and was charged for vampirism and werewolfism. End of story."
Shadra slumped in her desk, and the teacher continued on with the lecture.
/Aww, and I was starting to really get into that story, / Bakura said.
Scratch most of the time. Ryou wondered how he could sleep at night.
[1] Whether Elizabeth Bathory was innocent or not is still up for debate. Well, actually it isn't, because people are pretty sure she's guilty. But why she did it is still up. Those are real reasons. Also, Elizabeth Bathory would later inspire Bram Stoker's Dracula (she bathed in the blood of her victims to keep herself young looking). Oh, and Shadra doesn't believe that Elizabeth Bathory was completely innocent, she just said none to start her point off. And she probably wasn't a vampire or a werewolf.
Ryou entered the cafeteria just as Shadra hurriedly left. She looked upset, but he didn't have to long to think about it as he was jumped by a rather enthusiastic blue-haired boy.
"You're Ryou, right?" the boy asked.
Ryou, a little stunned, nodded.
"My name's Jake [2]," the bluenette said, as he grabbed Ryou by the arm and pulled him to a table.
Bakura snarled at the treatment, and muttered threats from his soul room. Ryou hoped to Ra that he'd calm down before doing something not so good.
"I found him!" Jake announced to the group of boys sitting around the table.
"About time," a brown-haired boy muttered. Ryou could easily compare this kid to his Yami right then.
"Don't mind Yarou," Jake said, gesturing to the brown-haired kid. "He's the floor Prefect, so we forced him to be here."
"You're the only new boarder on our floor this year, so we made a welcoming committee," another boy said. "I'm Kido, your next door neighbour."
"Hmph," a red haired boy said.
Jake and Kido sighed. "Menoda says that you pushed him in the hall for no apparent reason," Jake explained.
Seeing as how Ryou felt his Yami giving Menoda the evil eye, he knew it was true. And he knew, once again, that he would have to have to do the apologising.
"Sorry, I was just…" Ryou searched his head for a plausible excuse. "I had a head ache." Named Yami Bakura.
/Watch what you think, fool, / his Yami growled. Ryou winced. He had heard his Hikari's thoughts again. Why couldn't he put up a stronger mental wall?
"Whatever," Menoda said, before Yami Bakura had a chance to reply.
"Great, now we have two Yarou's," Kido said. He smiled nervously as both Yarou and Menoda glared at him. And Bakura made three, Ryou thought as quietly as he could. Since there wasn't any retaliation, he assumed his darker half hadn't heard.
"We made our special lunch for you!" Jake said, displaying a tin lunch box.
Ryou looked at the brown slop. They didn't expect him to eat that, did they? It didn't even resemble any food he'd ever seen. The boys were looking at him expectantly.
He hesitantly took the tin out of Jake's hands, and sat down. Taking the pair of chopsticks stuck in the box, his hand hovered over the food.
This has got to be a newbie prank, Ryou thought. But they looked so innocent. They had probably tried their hardest, it was the least he could do to try it.
Ryou took a bite, chewing exactly twenty-three times and then swallowing. Anyone who knew him well would have noticed his paler skin, the thoroughly fake smile, and that he was about to throw it back up.
"So how is it?" Apparently, these boys didn't know him that well.
"Delicious," Ryou said, all the time wondering where the nearest washroom was.
[2] Pronounced the Japanese way, Jah then Keh (Ja-Ke).
Shadra rubbed her eyes, hoping they weren't red anymore. She had business to discuss, and this definitely wasn't the way to appear.
She should've expected it. These sorts of things always had a way of going through the grapevine. But why did those girls have to be so cruel? She wasn't used to dealing with the finer gender. In her whole life, she only had three, no maybe four, girl friends. And they turned out to be stranger than she was. They had never teased her, or made fun of her.
But other girls were different. They were cruel, they were nasty, they were… Shadra couldn't choose the right word.
Give her demons any day, they had a reason for being evil.
And that's exactly what she got. Before slaying Dave last night, she had learned of this particular magic shop. Supposedly, one of the best in this neighbourhood. But from the outside, it didn't look so impressive. It merely took up a small shop, one floor. Feathers and candles and some ancient looking texts (which on closer examination, turned out to be manufactured that way) were displayed in the window.
Proudly in gold and purple, read the name 'Sinsin Occult Shop' in English. The kanji were written only in purple beneath a black pentagon. How stereotypical, Shadra thought.
She walked in through the door, hearing the bell jingling. As the bell settled, she heard strands of New Age music. Trivial items such as lucky rabbit feet and scented candles were displayed on the shelves and tables. A pile of books had been carefully laid out on the center round table (there always has to be round tables in magic shops). Shadra raised her eyebrow to one of the books. The shiny black cover and red pentagon made it look like a real spell book, as well as the name, Book of Shadows, but if any of that actually worked, she'd eat Balla. Her ex-roommate was a witch, and had bought the book but discarded it as soon as she had actually read it.
Shadra was having serious doubts about the store's reputation.
"Good afternoon," the clerk said in a fake Romanian accent. His nametag read Dragon. "Came in for a love spell? Or a way to curse for your tormentors?"
Forcing herself to forget the curse (Black Magick was so hard to work anyway), she asked, "Any information on Slayers?"
He gestured a bookshelf to the right. Buffy the Vampire Slayer everything! Her eyes jumped to a turquoise book cover. Oh… The Slayer Chronicles 3 in Japanese! She hadn't even known it was out in English. Wait, calm down. This wasn't what she was here for.
"Actual information on the Tokyo Slayers," Shadra said. "I know that you know what I'm talking about. I want to know who they were, how strong they were, and why they're dead."
"Oh, so you're in the biz," Dragon said, losing the accent. "Sorry, I thought you were a tourist," he said, eyeing her school uniform. She made a mental note to wear her demon-slaying clothes next time she visited the magic shops. He turned to the back of the shop, where the stairs going down were. She followed him.
"Unfortunately, they're what pay the bills around here. The demons, they think that they can just take whatever they want. Which is why my most of my valuable stuff is downstairs."
"But you shouldn't have any trouble," Shadra said. "You're a powerful wizard."
"How did—Oh, you sensed it. Yeah, those thieves get their just deserts in the end. Come along then."
The two descended to the lower level. The difference was phenomenal. Actual old books with actual spells in them lined many bookshelves. Tables (this time some were square) held priceless antiques, potion ingredients, and gems that shimmered with hidden power. Weapon cabinets stood against one wall; the metal and leather apparent through even the few doors left a jar. A real magic shop, although the presence of scented candles in one corner kind of scarred the image.
Everything seemed to be old. Except for maybe the security system half-hidden near the weapon cabinets.
"Brought the Furies all the way from Los Angeles to cast that," the wizard said. "Nobody can steal or damage anything down here."
"Aren't the Furies part of Angel?" Shadra asked.
Dragon gave her an odd look. "Just because the regular folk fictionalised them, doesn't mean they don't exist. The Furies are very powerful beings, with only the Masters as their better. As for living in Los Angeles, they like to be near David Boreanaz."
Shadra snickered. Just like the Furies on the show. But only the Masters being more powerful than the Furies, well that she had to file away in her memory.
"So you're looking into the Tokyo Slayers, eh?" Dragon continued, looking through a stack of books. "Can't say much about how they disappeared, no creature knows. For all we know, they could be vacationing in Hawaii."
"So they're not dead?" Shadra asked, leaning onto one of the tables. Big mistake, for the table tilted and a large crystal sphere came rolling off the table. Her hand dove, and clutched at the shiny surface.
"Maybe, maybe not. But something fishy is going on. Human murders have gone up by nearly forty percent."
At the last second, she managed to throw her foot out underneath the falling sphere. It plopped softly. Shadra sighed in relief before setting the sphere back onto the table in it's proper place.
"Wait, forty percent?" Shadra asked, now that her full attention could be on the wizard.
"Yep. And demon murders are up sixty percent."
The human murders were understandable, as with the Slayers, humans' greatest protectors, being gone, but demon deaths were up as well? If the Slayers were truly gone, who or what was killing the demon population off at such a high rate?
"Not even the Other Kin are safe," Dragon said. "Though they're harder to track."
Other Kin were Amaranthine, other worldly creatures, whose souls were born into human bodies. It was the one of two ways to cross the Gates into this dimension. The other being summoning (which explained why demons were in such high order in the first place). Vampires were sort of like Other Kin, because they were both half-human. Other Kin had an advantage over both demons and humans, as they had the better of two worlds. Quicker healing, increased speed, stronger muscles, as well as being able to blend in with humankind and be in the sun all day with no worries. Because of this, the news that even they were affected was terrible.
Dragon must have found the books he wanted because he let out a sound almost like a squeal. But much more manly. He grabbed a paper bag out from under the table (the Magick world has yet to discover plastic), and bagged four large volumes, the most that the poor bag could hold. Two other paper bags were needed as well.
"All the latest Watcher and Slayer diaries I've been able to pick up," Dragon said. Pick up as in buy them off scavenging demons.
He headed up to the first floor. It took Shadra a few seconds to realise what was going on before she walked up too.
"So why exactly do you need to know this?" Dragon asked as he rang up the charges.
It took Shadra by surprise. Why did she need to know? It wasn't her problem. Her job was to simply exist. But, she couldn't accept that mundane purpose even if it was saving the world from chaos. If she only had four or five years left, why shouldn't she do something worthwhile in between? Have some purpose that she chose.
"I'm a hero."
To be continued...