Disclaimer: I'm sure you guys know that FB or BtVS isn't mine.
Sorry it took longer to update, but I had this chapter all ready and I couldn't get to the log-in screen, it kept saying it was a bad request, but I could go anywhere else on Fanfiction.
Chapter Five: 'S' is for Slayer
Motoko Minagawa had a simple routine everyday. Get up, dress, eat, go to school, go back to the dorm room, do her homework, worship Yuki, and research the forces of evil.
She hadn't known anything about them until Mai had come to her and told her what they were doing.
Mai's voice broke through her thoughts. "Motoko, Motoko, you won't believe what I have to tell you!"
Mai --Motoko didn't address her as Number 2 anymore, since they were no longer officially part of the Yuki Fan Club-- was wearing her frog hat.
She had started living in Motoko's dorm room since she dropped out of school at the beginning of her third year, received her GED, and went to the university with Motoko. She had done this because Rika Aida had become the president, after intentionally failing her third year in order to repeat it.
Rika's ideas of protecting Yuki clashed violently with Mai's and Motoko's. Thus, Mai left. She had been extremely creeped out by what Rika had suggested they do to better serve Prince Yuki.
"Yes, Mai?" She stood up from her bed, accidentally knocking over the few demonology books she had. She had found them in the oddest places, and when she really thought about, wasn't it kind of… obvious that supernatural creatures existed? Anything else she needed to know, she found on the Internet. She prided herself on her Internet surfing skills. Motoko stopped that train of thought and went back to focusing on Mai. She sensed her urgency. Something bad had happened.
"They did it. They turned themselves. And they have Yuki!"
No. It cannot be so, she thought, feeling faint.
She never thought they would do this. Go this far, after everything she had told them! After hearing what Mai's first report months ago, she had gone back, to tell them that it wouldn't work, that it wouldn't protect Yuki. They hadn't listened, and now, Yuki was in their grasp. She did not want to think of what they were scheming to do with him.
There was only one course of action.
She had hoped that she would never have to do this, but for Yuki…she would destroy the world. Just not the one she lived in, of course. She wasn't that obsessed. An alternate universe would be where she drew the line.
"Then we have no choice. We must contact a Slayer, and hope she can save him."
…
"But where could he be?" Tohru frantically asked. She had been repeating that for the past few hours, after they had gotten back from school. Hì¥Á3M 33ð¿3333333333333ﾏB33
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3tupid. He may be hurt now, because of that. Because of me!" Tohru was really working herself into a state. Who knew she could take her responsibilities so seriously? But then again, consider her housekeeping job.
"Who may be hurt?" Rin's voice came through as she floated into the room.
Oh no. What do I say?
Tohru was saved from answering by Kyo.
"That damn rat went and got himself lost and he might be hurt. Huh, I bet he'll be easier to beat now."
"Kyo, that's not nice. Yuki could be seriously hurt right now!" Tohru reprimanded.
"Yuki's lost? Okay, well, I'll see what I can do. It's not like I haven't had to go off looking for Haru before. Yuki will be a lot easier to find, I bet." Rin went off to do whatever she does.
"Well, Hatori, don't you have, like, underground contacts or something?" Kyo asked.
Hatori took a sip of coffee. "Why do you ask, Kyo? Do you want to find Yuki?"
"Only because I can't beat that damn rat if he's dead!"
"Well, I do have some contacts, but it might be hard to find something for awhile. I'll get on it after training."
"We have to do something right away! Every second could mean the difference between life and death! Please, Hatori!"
Hatori thought for a minute and sighed. "Very well. Kyo, start training Tohru. I believe she's finished her homework." Tohru nodded emphatically. "Stop when it's time for her to go to work, and escort her home afterwards."
Hatori got up and left the room. Kyo looked at Tohru.
"Come on, let's get going. Hatori found some crossbows, so that should be fun."
…
Hatori couldn't believe the possibility of his cousin being injured or dead, and probably kidnapped at the very least. He was the rat! In most situations, Yuki could have taken care of himself, and since he wasn't anywhere to be seen, that suggested the supernatural had a hand in this. If only Yuki had believed them! Or stayed a minute longer.
He sighed, and continued driving the car that he and Kana had bought together. What great memories. Some of the only ones he could look back on without regret, grief, or guilt.
There would be only one contact he could talk to that would have any good info. All others were unreachable for the time being.
He pulled into the parking lot of the Kamyia, a demon bar. The demons in there would be able to sense the vengeful dragon spirit in him, and thus would leave him alone. Good.
Walking in he had to take a minute to adjust to the difference in light. Most demons had no need for light, so if the owners could save some money on something…
The only light came from the bar, where the human bartender was. Why were they always human? He wondered distractedly. He walked up and sat down. "O'Doul." He ordered. The bartender nodded, and went to get the non-alcoholic drink.
Hatori looked around, and noticed that he wasn't the only human in the quiet bar. A young woman sat five seats down from him. She looked like she was a university student.
By then the bartender had come back with his drink. Hatori took it and nodded his thanks. "Is Dar'en here?" He asked. At this the women looked up at him, a little startled.
The bartender nodded. "Do you want me to get him?"
Before Hatori could answer the girl interrupted.
"Are you looking for him?" the girl asked. "So am I."
Hatori turned to the bartender. "Not just yet." The Bartender shrugged and went to some other customers. Hatori then looked at the girl. "Really? May I ask why?"
"I'm looking for a Slayer, preferably living somewhere around here."
"I see. Why do you need a Slayer?" Hatori was a little surprised.
"I need help finding and rescuing someone, and a Slayer is the only one with the power to do it. Why are you here?"
"I also need to find someone, who was possibly kidnapped by vampires or demons. At least I hope he was kidnapped. I don't want to think of the alternatives."
"Maybe we could help each other. If you can help me locate a Slayer, I'll share some good sources with you, who are just as good at finding people as Dar'en, but a lot cheaper."
"Sounds good." He held out his hand. "Hatori Sohma."
Motoko took his hand. "Motoko Minagawa. Sohma, huh?" She murmured the last part, "Who are you looking for?"
"My cousin, Yuki Sohma."
"Yuki? That's who I'm looking for! What a strange coincidence."
"But, how…how did you know he was gone? It hasn't even been 24 hours!"
"Let's just say I used to be the Yuki-Fan Club President and have some good sources concerning him."
What, is she stalking him or something?
"Well, I can get you a Slayer, but you have to help me find Yuki."
"Really? I know who kidnapped him, but I don't know where they took him."
"Who took Yuki?"
"Some of Yuki's fan-club girls, namely the current President Rika Aida, her Number One, and a couple other important members. They learned of vampires and such, and decided that to protect him better they had to become undead. Now they have kidnapped him. I tried to tell them not to, but they wouldn't listen to me. Now, where's that Slayer?"
Girls sure can get obsessed, can't they? Poor, poor Yuki.
"She's Tohru Honda," From Matoko's shocked expression he assumed that they were acquainted. "I take it that you know her?"
"Indeed, I do. Slayer, you say? Who knew she had it in her?"
"Seems that's everyone's opinion."
"Well, she'd better use it to her advantage. The less people who know what she is, or even suspect, the better. But Tohru Honda? Hmm…once I left high school, I started reevaluating my opinion of her. She'll be a great Slayer. And perfect for the job."
"What do you mean?"
"She lives with Yuki, thus knows him. This brings up a double point. 1.) She will be much more motivated to rescue him from the clutches of evil and 2.) The Fan-vamps hate her since she lives with said Yuki. Doubled with their soul-less state, they'll let their hatred get in the way of logical thinking, and eventually make a mistake. They aren't very bright to begin with, you see. Understand?"
"Yes."
"Good. So, when can we meet Tohru?"
"We?"
"Me and Mai. She was the old Number 2, and the reason I learned about demons. She's my best source of information, right before my message board. Then I have my demon contacts."
"Message board?"
"Yeah, the Cross and Stake. Really good, actually."
Something clicked in Hatori's mind. No way. "Is your board name YukiGirl?" He questioned tentatively.
Motoko looked surprised, then smiled. "Yes. Who are you?"
Apparently, yes way. "DragonDoc666."
"REALLY?" She squealed. "That's SO cool." Then she appeared to reconsider her outburst, and blushed. "Sorry, but I never thought I'll actually meet one of the board members in the flesh."
"That's okay. I always liked your messages. I never found anything wrong with them, but they always struck me as being rather like essays."
"Yeah, looks like college has really influenced my writing. So when can we go?"
"Well, I wanted to talk to Dar'en, but I think I've got all the information I'm going to need today."
"Yeah, but we are going to have to wait for Mai—"
The rest of her sentence was cut off by a yelling match between two patrons of the bar. One was human, and the other a vampire.
The human, a woman who was facing him, had bright, cheerful brown eyes and shoulder-length black curly hair upon which rested…a green frog hat.
The vampire was obviously not Japanese.
"Well, then just tell me what I want to know! It's not that difficult."
Motoko sighed. "While Mai might be a great source for information, once she gets annoyed, then she doesn't do to well. Looks like we might have to step in before she gets killed."
She stood up, and drew a stake from inside her jacket. Hatori caught a glimpse of a sheathed dagger.
She walked up to the fighting pair, and right before the vampire was about to grab the girl— Mai— and drain her dry, Motoko staked him.
"Mai, you really need to learn some survival skills."
"Sorry," Mai murmured.
"Let's go, I got a lead on a Slayer." She motioned Hatori and Mai to follow her out, while glaring daggers at the patrons still looking at them.
Once outside, she asked if he had a car.
…
"Tohru, I know you're upset about Yuki, but you really need to concentrate! If you want to rescue him, you have to learn how to fight."
Right after Hatori left to meet his contact, Kyo and Tohru went out to Shigure's backyard, out of view of the house, to try training.
"Try" being the key word.
Tohru was barely able to concentrate, and refused to allow herself a moment's respite from her suffering. Regardless of her distress, however, she acknowledged that Kyo was correct. "Okay. Fight."
"Good." Kyo handed her a crossbow. "I've never used one of these before, but I think they work like this—" His explanation was cut short when the bolt he had been loading launched towards Tohru. She snatched it out of the air before it struck her in the chest.
"Nice catch," Kyo said after a brief silence. "I guess I accidentally pulled the trigger. Sorry." He blushed and handed the crossbow to Tohru. "Maybe you'll have better luck."
Tohru held the crossbow gingerly.
"Um…you know, I think it would be better if we did martial arts training and left this until Hatori gets back."
Kyo looked relieved and nodded his consent, but before they could put the crossbow away Shigure poked his head out from inside the house.
"So that's where you are! I can't seem to find anyone in this house… is that a crossbow? Those things are dangerous if you don't know how to use them, you know." He paused, a smile slowly breaking across his face. "I'll teach you! This will be so much fun. Schools just don't teach the important stuff anymore."
Tohru and Kyo merely stared at him as he approached them and retrieved the crossbow from Tohru, loaded it, and in one fluid motion raised it and fired it at a tree 30 feet away, hitting the bull's eye of the target Hatori had mounted on it earlier that day.
Kyo blinked. "How the hell does he know how to use a crossbow?"
Tohru looked surprised for a moment before smiling brilliantly. "That was amazing, Shigure! When did you learn to use one?"
Shigure looked sheepish. "Oh, not important! Now, which one of you is going to be my eager young pupil?"
Kyo jumped in before Tohru could speak. "Me, but don't start thinking that it's because I want to kill Yuki from a distance or anything. Why would you think Tohru wants to use one of these? She just came out to remind me to do my homework."
Shigure looked at Tohru, who, upon receiving Kyo's pointed glare, nodded in agreement. "Now that I've reminded him, I'll go back inside. Have fun, you two!"
Tohru retreated inside the house, but stayed by one of the windows, so that she could observe without being seen. Shigure began giving Kyo lessons.
After twenty educational minutes, Tohru became aware that Hatori was approaching the house, and that if she didn't hurry she was going to be late for work. To compound her problems, she realized that she hadn't started dinner yet, either.
OOOOOOHHHHHHHH NNNNNNNOOOOOOOO!
Tohru rushed around the house with superhuman speed, getting ready for work and shoving some sort of meat into the oven. She had shouted her good-byes to Shigure and Kyo and was out the door as Hatori's car pulled to a stop in front of the house. Hatori and two other people Tohru thought she would never see again stepped out to join him.
"Hatori! What's happening? Why are Mai and Motoko with you?" It occurred to Tohru that she was rambling, so she stopped herself and said, "Oh, I'd love to talk, but I have to get to work. I might get fired if I'm late again!"
"Don't worry, Tohru. Get in the car. I'll drive you." Hatori turned to the two people standing behind him, "Get back in. We'll discuss things on the way." He glanced around, frowning. "Where's Kyo?"
"He's in the backyard. Shigure's teaching him to use a crossbow, so I'm assuming he'll show me how to use it later." Tohru ran to the car and got in.
Hatori's lips twitched, and as he walked towards the backyard he called over his shoulder, "I'd forgotten Shigure could use a crossbow. I'll go borrow his student, then."
A few minutes later they were all crammed into the car and driving towards Tohru's location of employment.
(End Chapter 5)
Once again, thank you to all my wonderful reviewers. You people make the sun rise in the west and set in the east!
References: The Cross and Stake is actually the name of one of my favorite BtVS sites. I haven't been there in quite a while, so for all I know it's disappeared into the annals of the internet, but it was pretty nifty back in the day. In the year 2001, I used it exclusively for Season 6 spoilerage.
Motoko doesn't really know any fighting skills other than the simple staking and using the dagger to look intimating. Her part is more of the resident researcher than frontline fighting, but I love her character too much not to include her in the story.
And Mai is a character from the anime (Who shows up in, like, one episode, but I thought she was perfect for this), so no OC.