Just to be sure I'll say that this and the next chapter will be rated M for, well you'll see.

Also always keep mind of the Author Note at the end of the chapters for news and anouncements in the future.

Chapter 37

The dog and Hitomi stared at each other. At first glance it didn' t seem really threatening, just one those cute Japanese dogs. But this one wasn't normal.

The kunai aside, it held a hatred in its eyes that she never thought she would see in an animal. And the bloodlust in its eyes. It was almost unnatural to her.

"Good boy, good boy." Hitomi said and backed away slowly, towards the lodge. Growling the animal followed her slowly, its little tail standing up straight.

"Come on, you don't want me. I'm just a simple girl that likes to hang around the forest." she said. "Whatever you're looking for is in the other direction, I'm sure."

But the dog ignored what she said as if it could smell her lie. And given the circumstances she was inclined to believe it could.

After a few more steps it finally had enough and with a snarl jumped at her. Hitomi dodged its attack by spinning to the side. But she had barely found her footing again as the next attack came. The dog ran past her, slicing at her legs with the kunai.

Hitomi let out a hiss as the blade cut through her jeans and broke skin. It wasn't deep but it still took her by surprise and she tumbled backwards. She scrambled to her feet as fast as she could and made for the door.

But the dog had beaten her to it and cut her off. Damn he's fast.

With incredible speed it lunged at her, intend to finish this quickly. As fast as she could she spun herself around and caught him with the heel of her right foot, slamming it directly into the side of its head and throwing it backwards. It landed hard on the ground. The kunai it had between its jaws had fallen to the ground as well when Hitomi had kicked the animal.

Hitomi watched it and it simply lied there. Had she killed it? A wave of guilt overcame her at the thought. She walked slowly towards it with the intention to check up on it.

Suddenly it was back on its feet and jumped at her, slamming her to the floor. Hitomi held out her hands to hold it off her but it was strong. Far stronger than it looked like. It snapped its teeth at her, intend to bite her in the neck.

The Karateka looked around desperately and spotted the kunai not lying too far off. She put all her strength into her right arm and managed to hold the dog at bay and made an attempt to grasp the weapon.

Come on! She thought as her finger tips brushed the handle. Little by little she pulled it closer until she could grab it.

"Sorry!" Hitomi said to the dog and rammed the blade into the side of the dog's head with all her might. With a sound of pain it came to a stop and all the strength left its limbs, making it sag on top of her. Hitomi pushed it off her, her breath going wild, and looked at the bloody weapon in her hand.

Her eyes widened and she flung it away from her. Oh god.

She knew it would have killed her if she hadn't killed it first, but still she couldn't help but feel guilty. Getting up from the floor she noticed that she had some blood on her jacket as well. A few drops of the dog's blood must have fallen on her after she struck it.

Hitomi frowned. Kill. She didn't like the word. Of course, she wasn't as naive to deny the possibility of it. Her father had taught her as much. That didn't mean that she liked it though.

Her time to dwell on the whole thing was cut short when two shadows jumped out of the trees right inside her angle of view.

Great, guess I don't have to ask Ayane anymore. Hitomi thought as the two men stood slightly hunched, their blades drawn in invert position. They wore simple, brown and kinda stereotypical Ninja clothes with a spider symbol on it.

They looked at the fallen dog, then at her. She couldn't even blink before they started running towards her, the cold steel of their blades shining in the moonlight. Hitomi dodged their attacks as fast as she could, but they quickly circled her, reducing the space she could move in significantly.

She barely managed to pull her arm away as the slash came, grazing her just enough to make her stumble to the side and leave her open for the knee that struck her in the face. Hitomi managed to stop herself from staggering backwards, grabbed the Ninja's leg and punched him hard in the face.

The Ninja was thrown back and Hitomi whirled around to see his companion slash at her. She crouched down as quickly as she could and felt the blade pass just above her head. Not wasting any time she rose and threw a punch against his wrist. With a cry he lost the grip on his sword and it fell to the ground.

Having lost his weapon he attacked her with his hands, but Hitomi could already see he was more proficient with a blade and blocked his attacks. And when she saw an opening she struck. Three punches in his gut, a knee to the face and, putting her whole strength in it, another strike to the face which sent him flying backwards and onto the ground, where he remained.

Hearing steps behind her she quickly grabbed the fallen sword with both hands and turned around. She used it to block the attack and sparks flew as they connected. The Karateka had no real idea how to use the Katana except from a few samurai movies that her mother had been into.

And there was this one move...

She put her whole weight against the sword and managed to push him off her, then entangled her blade with his, moved her arm in a wide arc and disarmed him, his sword flying through the air. Not wasting a second she threw the blade away and attacked him with her fists. She struck him in the chest with both of fists, dropped down and kicked his legs from under him before kneeling over him and punching him hard in the face, the back of his head cracking hard against the ground and knocking him out cold.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw that the first one struggled to get up and she ran over as quickly as she could. She made a dive towards him, turning slightly sideways, and did a roll, holding out her right leg and slamming it into his gut.

He made a chocking sound and then fell unconscious. Breathing hard Hitomi got up from the ground and dusted herself off, looking at the two Ninja she had just beaten.

That was...surprisingly easy. She would have thought they were going to give her more trouble than this. Maybe one of them had been lucky to break Ayane's arm. No way they were at her level.

Ayane! She needed to wake her up and get the hell away from here. She turned around and ran towards the building.

Head first into the chest of someone that had not been there a second ago. Slowly she turned her gaze upward to look into a pair of cold eyes staring down at her. They were blood red and it looked like the veins in them were faintly glowing. She took a slow step back, then another.

It seemed she found the one responsible for Ayane's condition.

He looked around at his fallen comrades then fixed her with his cold stare once more. "The Hajinmon." he said simply, his voice deep and having a reverberating sound. "Where is she?"

Hajinmon? She wondered. Does he mean Ayane?

Hitomi narrowed her eyes at him and clenched her fists. No way she would tell him where Ayane was.

With a cry she kicked at him three times, which he dodged every time with a grace that didn't match his appearance, then followed up with a series of punches, which he seemed to shrug of as if they were nothing.

He only stood there and flexed his neck, his face was hidden by the face mask but she was sure he was smirking underneath it.

Hitomi gritted her teeth and pulled her fist back before punching him hard. He stumbled back a little and Hitomi smirked to herself. Not that invincible, huh?

She spun around to give herself some momentum and aimed a flying kick directly at his head, but his hand shot up just moments before it connected and he grabbed her by her ankle. He pulled her up with unbelievable strength, dangling her upside down.

Before Hitomi could react his hand cracked across her face, followed by solid punches, one after another, into her abdomen and face. She could feel the bile rise up her throat and swallowed hard to keep it down. Out of any other option she struck out with her right fist and nailed him right in the jaw.

His head jerked to the side, then slowly turned back. And not even a second later she was spinning in the air as he threw her up. The kick that followed connected hard with her face and sent her flying backward. She hit the ground hard, landing on her right side, and slid across it. Hot, sharp pain ran through her side up to her brain as she came to a halt and she could taste the blood streaming out of her nose already covering her lips. She also felt that one of her back teeth had come loose from the kick.

The German tried to get up but only managed to fall face first into the dirt. Raising her head she saw the Ninja approaching his two comrades and waking them up.

"Get me that Hajinmon bitch." he told them. "We can use her as leverage against the Hayabusa and Tenjinmon Ninja."

STAY AWAY FROM HER! She screamed in her mind. With one last try she wanted to get up, but as soon as she had lifted herself from the ground her vision started to blur from the pain running though her body. Coupled with the exhaustion of the day her body did the only thing it could do right now.

Her arms gave out under her and everything around her became dark.

The black crow watched all this from a distance, its eyes glowing in the dark. Its head moved from one side to the other in a display of curiosity.

It would never guessed that the girl would be this good. She actually managed to land a hit on its newest little creation.

Curious indeed...

It seemed dark magic only went so far. They would need to act, and quickly.

At the very least the Hajinmon girl would buy them some time until they completes the ritual.

For a moment it considered using that other girl in the ritual. After all a demon had it' needs as well. And what was the soul of a young girl compared to the glory of one's clan?

An old woman cackled in its mind. Obaba, the witch of the Black Spider Clan.

After the Dragon Ninja had slain her in the graveyard of her clan her soul had been ripped apart and formed into a flock of demonic crows. But even with her body now completely destroyed she still guided her clan. As was her duty.

Obaba moved her feathered head to focus more on the girl. Intriguing.

She caught some movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to look what it was.

The last thing Obaba saw through this crow was the gleaming of cold steel and a pair of intense, bilious green eyes.

Man, Black Spider Ninjas sure suck, don't they?
Now seriously though, this whole thing here has it purpose for the story AND Hitomi and Leifang's relationship.

See you next week.