4:17 PM Well after the end of the school day, academic activities at Dark Heart High had now given way to physical. Clubs met. Sports teams practiced. Cheerleaders danced. Teachers, shuffling around in their classrooms, packed away coffee mugs and papers. In his office, Principal Amakusa eyed the clock, debating whether to leave early on this normal, relatively uneventful day. Vice-Principal Akurai soaked in a regeneration tank, recovering from his latest attempt on his boss's life. In the uber-spartan student-consoling center, a man by the name of Mr. Ikari sat at a desk, updating files on troubled students. In the corner of the office an old-fashioned record player played the Beach Boys backwards, revealing the hidden satanic message on the vinyl disc. Everything was peaceful, indicative of a day well spent. A light knocking interrupted Ikari's meditations. The counselor didn't bother looking up from his papers. "Come in, please." The door opened. A figure entered. The door closed. "Hello Mr. Ikari." "Mikagami?" the middle-aged man said to himself. "Yuri Mikagami?" The young teen averted her eyes, focusing on anything other than the man sitting across the room from her. "Is there something you'd like to talk about?" Yuri cocked her head to the side. "Well... yes. Yes there is." Counselor Ikari indicated for her to sit; she obliged him. "Well Yuri, I must say I expected to see you on my doorstep a bit sooner. Considering what you've gone through publicly this year, I imagine you could use someone to just talk to." "Thanks," she said, eyeing the floor. "So what's troubling you?" His pen clicked, the tip extending. "I understand you've had another round of assassination attempts recently." Yuri looked up. "Huh? No, not that." "Rivals in power seeking to dethrone you? Parents clamping down on your bid for citywide domination? Principal Amakusa-" "No, no," she insisted. "Nothing like that." "What is it then?" Yuri sighed, looking as if the weight of the world was pressing down on her shoulders. Slowly, she breathed in and out, relaxing the tension that had been building in her for weeks. "Boys." Counselor Ikari looked up from his notes. "Boys?" Yuri nodded. "Boys." ********************************************************* Dark Heart High Netherworld Educational Institution for The Universal Propagation of Evil (Founded by Mads) ********************************************************* Part Fifty-Five: Attractions! by Doublemint ********************************************************* "Boys," repeated Yuri, then adding after a moment's thought, "and a girl. 'Love', if you really want to get technical." Ikari scratched his bearded neck. "Hmmm. And what sort of problems are you having with your love interests?" "Eh... well," she sighed, "that's the thing: I don't really _have_ serious love interests. It's _them_ who're interested in me." "Fascinating. So the pursuers aren't picking up on your lack of romantic interest?" Yuri sank into her seat, exhausted. "I don't know... I'm just tired of people hurting themselves over me, asking me to decide things I don't even know myself." The counselor scribbled furiously on his notepad. "These boys-" "-and girl," she inserted. "-what exactly is your situation with each of them?" Yuri frowned. "What do you mean?" "Well," mused Ikari, "do each of these pursuers have similar traits, something that draws them to you?" The daughter of Hellstorm considered this question. "Well... no... I don't really think so. They're all pretty different except for being friends with me." Ikari nodded. "Hmm. Interesting." He flipped to a new page on his notepad. "Let's talk about these 'friends' of yours." "Where should I begin?" "Alphabetically, if you don't mind." She nodded. "Right. Well, first you'd have to start with Amy." "Are you gay?" Yuri blinked. "I'm sorry?" "My apologies," said Ikari, "that was a bit narrow of me. I meant to ask if you were bisexual." "What?!" "Are you attracted to men and/or women?" "N-no!" she exclaimed. "I'm not a... a lesbian. I just haven't found the right guy yet." "Are you sure? Have you ever had thoughts about other girls?" "No," said Yuri, firmly, "I honestly haven't." Ikari nodded. "So this girl who's interested in you has no chance whatsoever?" "Romantically? No." "Right. I just wanted to clear that up." Ikari coughed. "I'm sorry, what girl were we talking about?" "Amy, Amy Angeleye." Pause. "Both of them." Ikari raised an eyebrow. "Before you ask, 'no', I can't explain it. I don't even think Amy... the Amys... understand it themselves. Though you could consider one 'good' and the other 'evil', but that's where things get wacky." "Wacky?" Ikari asked, intrigued. "Could you give me an example?" "Well," the teen began, "today there was an incident after school. Again. It started when 'Evil' Amy offered to walk me home.... ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ "Crazy weather," chirped Amy, her blouse soaked through with sweat, "isn't it?" I nodded dimly. "Gym outside would be murderous. At least Truncheon lets us work inside. Not that indoor polar bearing is much better." This caused Amy to laugh. "Heh." I looked over at Amy and sighed. All day she had been happy. Happy Happy Happy Happy. I could count on Amy to change moods faster than an egg could fry on steaming blacktop. Ugh. It was hot today. "Say," said Amy, punching me playfully in the shoulder, "want to swing by the ice cream shop for some refreshment? My treat!" Ugh. Super happy Amy. "A treat?" the same voice asked. I thought this was weird at the time, I just didn't know how weird. "The only treat you'll be having, fiendish imposter, is the edge of my blade!" I looked up and did a double take. There stood Amy, another Amy, the _other_ Amy, dressed in a shabby gray business dress with a scimitar in hand. "Prepare to face justice," the transformed Amy shouted, "at the hands of Liberated Lady Warrior Angeleye!" I'll admit sometimes I wondered what kind of magical girl Amy used to be, now I don't. See, she's quite probably the world's only feminist magical girl. And yes, it's as stupid as it sounds. The Amy at my side, who I'll call Evil Amy for convenience's sake, whipped out two derringers from nowhere. She shouted 'Liar!' and began firing two-fisted at her duplicate. I'm not sure if Evil Amy was a good shot, or if Good Amy was just out of practice, but one bullet knocked the sword out of the other Amy's hand. I screamed. "Villain!" cried the one Amy. "Imposter!" shouted the other. The two threw themselves at each other, then fell to the earth in a flurry of close-range attacks. I watched as they traded scratches, headbutts, and bites with their counterparts. "Stop!" I shouted. "No Yuri," said one, pausing to punch her twin's head into the pavement, "I won't let her have you!" At this point Good Amy got the upper hand. She began to methodically, and enthusiastically, dissect her opponent with energetic blows. My friend was killing herself. I breathed in deeply, then jumped into the fray. I don't remember exactly what I said, or how I managed to yank a super-powered Amy away from Evil Amy, but I did separate the two. Afterwards I said something like, "She can't do anything to you." At that point it didn't matter; Good Amy suddenly sported the same brushes and cuts she had inflicted on her double. She passed out. There was a flash of black light. The two Amys were gone, replaced with a single, badly hurt one. That's when I realized I was crying. ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ "Amy's Mom came to the infirmary later and took Amy home. She didn't say too much, only that Amy wouldn't be in school tomorrow and that I should stay away from her." "Does Mrs. Angeleye consider you a 'bad' influence?" "Wha?" Yuri blinked. "No, I've never felt that at all. I think she meant it for Amy's safety, because of whatever's happening to her." Ikari nodded. "Understandable, especially considering the tricloptic nature of an Angeleye." He flipped to a new page on his note pad. "Now... let's move on to the next love interest." "Bala." "Ah," said Ikari, "the famous Balabalalde." "Yeah," she said softly, "'Balabalalde'." ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ Game Theory with Ms. Reitetsu is always interesting, almost as much as Basic Villainy 101. I'm not too good at chess but the class does give you an excuse to hang out with friends, even if you have to talk to them through insults and veiled death threats. Today I was supposed to play with Ki. I forgot he wasn't attending Dark Heart anymore. So instead I was assigned Bala as a partner. Bala glared darkly at me. "Um," I said intelligently, moving a pawn. He snatched away my pawn. I shifted nervously in my seat. "So...." His bishop took out my rook. This non-conversation went on for several minutes as Bala mechanically removed all my pieces from the board, leaving me with only my king and queen. I got the message. Ms. Reitetsu didn't interrupt or chide us for our lack of banter. I think she knew enough to not get involved. With a firm flick of his wrist, Bala sent my king flying off the board and across the room. "Well," I said, "that was a good game." Bala breathed out calmly. I looked down at the lack of folding chair by his feet. "Have you... er... heard anything from Leilei?" Bala breathed in. "Yeah," I said, filling the void. We sat together, waiting for class to end, with only the clatter of chess pieces breaking the silence. The bell rang. We left for different classes. ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ Ikari waiting for the younger girl to open up with more. She didn't. This quiet atmosphere persisted for several long seconds before Ikari ended it. "You have feelings for Bala." "M-maybe," she mused cautiously. "It's just I don't know what to really think of Bala; he's just so... so... _inconsistent_." "How so?" The teen leaned forward in her seat, closing the distance between herself and the counselor, and began speaking in a hurried voice. "See, back when school started Bala saved me from all sorts of assassination attempts. We became... friends, you might say. There was something between us, I can't really say what, but it was... good. Do you follow?" A nod. "Go on." "We did a lot of things together, once we went to the carnival. When Craig and Yasuko were going through their 'Assassinate Me' phase, Bala saved me from death I don't know how many times. It was nice. He got to know me. I got to know him. And Leilei. Sure, we had some disagreements, especially over my... er... 'relationship' with Amy, but things were still OK." "Then Bala was unwrapped for the first time." "At first... well... I didn't know what to think. He was pretty cute, and things were still basically the same as before. I thought we were going to... learn more about each other. But then came Melvin," she sighed, "my insane uncle. After the big fight with him, Bala got _really_ possessive. It turns out he's some sort of evil demigod who was fixated on me, but then, a couple of days later, he's all wrapped up again and suddenly everything's back to normal. But it *wasn't* because he had been lying to me about so many things beforehand and to top it off he... HE.... Ger!" Ikari eyed the fuming teen, sensing that she was withholding something vital. "Bala did something wrong again, didn't he?" "BALA _*PROPOSED*_ TO ME!" she shouted out angrily. "HE WANTED ME TO _MARRY_ HIM!" "And you told him... what?" "NO!" Yuri yelled at the Counselor. "'No'," she repeated more calmly, "I told him 'no'." Ikari adjusted his bifocals. "I suppose this proposal sort of came out of left field." "Pfft," huffed the teen. "'Left field' doesn't cover it, more like it came streaking out of orbit." He smiled. "Bala's proposal made you angry." Yuri sighed. "I'm a fifteen year old girl. I don't want to get married yet, I still have high school ahead of me. College. Business school." "Did you make it clear you weren't interested?" "Uh... well, not exactly." "But you did tell him 'no'?" Yuri hesitated. "I... I told him that I couldn't marry him because I was dating Amy." Ikari's pen stopped its furious scratching. "Wait... I thought you said-" "-I'm not dating Amy, regardless of what her evil duplicate might think," explained the teen. "I just couldn't tell Bala 'no' without a reason." "Why? Why need to justify your decision?" "Because Bala wouldn't understand my reasons. Sometimes I...." She stopped herself. "Nevermind." "Nevermind... what?" "I shouldn't say. I can't say." "Please." Yuri sighed. "Well, I... I have this picture in mind of Bala, and he's just a... a little boy wrapped up in toilet paper, playing dress- up." She bit her lip. "Pretending to be a real person." She fell silent. "In defense of Bala," Ikari injected cautiously, "he _is_ something of an otherworldly being. Normal human interaction and thought doesn't come easily to that type, if at all." The teen was shaken out of her guilt. "That's not an excuse!" Yuri exclaimed a bit louder than she'd have liked. Calming herself, she continued. "Bala and Leilei have been my best friends since I started at Dark Heart High. They should know better than to push me into a corner like that." "Do you love him?" Blink. "Excuse me?" "Do you love him?" "Who?" "Bala." "What kind of a question is that?" she asked. Ikari stroked his mustache. "A pertinent one." "I don't... know what to think of Bala," she answered. "I've made my feelings known to him, I think so at least. But every time I send out feelers he either ignores me, blinks, or turns into a demigod. Or all of those at once. Now, when things are finally getting back to normal (whatever that means anymore), he _proposes_ to me." Ikari mulled over this statement. "Does any of this anger stem from what happened with Amy?" "What do you mean?" "Well, you said yourself: Amy gave you an excuse for telling Bala no. Maybe you're transferring the anger you feel over being loved by so many people to Bala; he's obviously the least articulate of your love interests, thus un able to defen-" Yuri laughed. "I'm sorry," Ikari frowned, "did I say something funny?" "You obviously never met Ki." ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ The halls of Dark Heart High were empty of the students that normally choked its halls. I didn't like to linger after school, it's fine and all but nothing beats coming home after a long day. That plus the occasional scream coming from the air vents, they kind of set me on edge. It was a little after three thirty, Amy's Mom had just taken Amy home from the infirmary. I was feeling odd, so I took a walk though the halls. About the third time I passed the faculty center I ran into someone I totally did not expect. "Yuri," said Ki. I frowned. "Ki?" He smiled. "It's good to see you, Evil Tech wasn't the same." "What are you doing back here? I thought-" "-my family reenrolled me," he explained. "Apparently, blood is thicker than water when it comes to clan vendettas against powerful enemies." He paused. "And taking over Evil Tech impressed them." I blinked. "You what?" "I had to resign as principal though, something about separation of power or somesuch." He shrugged. "I stopped listening when Amakusa said he'd let me back in here. Anyway, I'll see you in class tomorrow." He turned to walk away. "Wait!" I shouted. "I'm confused. Did you say you took over Evil Tech?" He nodded. "You'd be amazed at what a few random acts of violence can do at a school used to stupid comic hijinks. I also have a new appreciation for the influence of A/V clubs." I blinked again, it was a bit much. "'kay. But why did your family agree to take you back? Don't you still have a heart?" The unimpressed, cool demeanor of Ki's face fell away, replaced by bitterness and anger. "I have my heart. So did Midori, but that didn't keep Seichorou from killing her." His hands tightened into fists. "Now our clans are at war and my duty is to see to their total annihilation." I didn't know what to say. I could see he was angry, hurt even, but I still didn't know what to say. So I filled the void. "I'm sorry." His eyes zeroed in on me. "Why should you be sorry? It's Midori who's dead, not me." "I-I know," I tried to cover. "But she was your cousin." "So?" I kept my mouth shut. Ki smiled. "It's good to see you again." He walked past me. "Catch 'ya later." Ki left. I had nothing to say. ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ Mr. Ikari whistled. "Wow, talk about issues." "I know!" agreed Yuri. "Every time he's around me I can't help but feel he's planning _something_. And, now that I think back on some of the things he's said and done, I can't decide which of his actions were real or staged. " She paused, then added quietly to herself, "Does he like me or does he just want me?" "I'd say both," Ikari said. "So far, out of the three you've mentioned, Ki easily earns the Oscar for Most Confused and Angsty Teenager. I'd have to study his case more, but it seems like the death of his cousin affected him somehow. He's probably dealing with it the best way he knows how: masking his emotions. He continued. "Just so you know, Steel Thorn Clansmen aren't known for their interpersonal skills," observed Ikari. "In my profession we use them as the textbook example of wolf pack mentality in humans; every member is loyal to one another but will still slit their mama's throat to be the Alpha. This Ki seems particularly ambitious; I would advise caution in the future." Yuri shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You make it sound like he's a monster." "In case you haven't realized it yet, we're all monsters here at Dark Heart High. Even you." "But sometimes Ki... well, he can be nice person." "Are you sure that isn't just confusion on his part?" The counselor peered at Yuri over his bifocals. "You mentioned he had a heart, but it seems that he has proven through his actions to be quite heartless indeed." She blinked. "Well, he... wait. No. No! I'm sorry, I didn't mean he had a heart in the emotional sense, he has a physical heart." Ikari frowned. "In his chest? Beating?" Yuri nodded. "Well," declared the counselor, "that's quite unusual for a clansman. I honestly don't know what to say." He looked at Yuri. "When did you realize your friend had, well, 'reacquired' his heart?" "A few days before he did." "Excuse me?" "Amy saw it first," she explained. "Apparently Ki did it under the influence of some drug, at least that's what he told me. Anyway, we assumed he _did_ know he had his heart back when he actually didn't." "And by 'we realized' you mean...?" Yuri shrugged. "Amy first, then she told me. I told Leilei and she told Bala. Later on, Ki told me when he came to ask for my help." "Hmm." Ikari nibbled on his pen. "And what did you say when he came to you for help?" "..." "What was that?" "Well, I, uh," Yuri's cheeks burned scarlet, "sort of... laughed at him." "Laughed at him?" The counselor frowned. "Why did you laugh at his request for help?" The teen cast her sight to floor. "I just... I thought it was Ki being Ki. Ki being manipulative. But it turned out he _was_ in serious trouble, the kind that might have killed him." "But why... oh," Mr. Ikari sat back in his seat, eyes focusing on some far off point. "That's the reason Ki was at Evil Tech, wasn't it? He was... what? Cast out of the Clan? And the death of his cousin brought him back into the fold." He nodded to himself. "I see. Fascinating." "Ki did seem sad about Midori's death," Yuri added quietly. Ikari folded his hands across his lap and regarded Yuri with an appraising eye. "Tell me, why do you think these things happen to Ki? Why does a trained assassin let his guard down here at Dark Heart High of all places?" "Well... I suppose he just had a run of bad luck." "I don't think so; someone as well-trained as Ki wouldn't let themselves be defeated time after time in the small increments this 'run of bad luck' would produce. Try again, and this time remember what you've learned here at Dark Heart High." Yuri frowned. "He's after something... me?" "You," declared Ikari, "but that fact was something you were already aware of, just not to what degree." Yuri stood up, heart racing. "But... why?" She ran a hand through her hair. "Why go so far, even if he just wanted to use me for some dumb plan? Why did he hurt himself?" "I think it would be obvious to you Yuri, it's the reason you came into my office." "He's in love with me," she whispered to herself in a voice mixed of awe and fear. "Oh gods, he's _actually_ in love with me." Ikari nodded. "They all are: Amy, Balabalalde, Ki. Each one loves you in their own way, however twisted it might be." "But why? Why me?" "Yuri, I do this for a living and I still can't explain love." He sighed. "The counselors at the schools around this area, good and evil alike, get together sometimes to talk about issues like this. See, it doesn't matter if you're a 'young' Elder God or the offspring of some mystical Lunar Goddess, you're all still teenagers. And, even if you treat it like a means to an end like we at Dark Heart High hope that you do, you're all still gonna have high school flings and crushes." He adjusted his bifocals. "Except unlike most teenagers, our kind can level whole city blocks when they feel confused or frustrated." "Er, I don't think I'll be leveling city blocks Mr. Ikari." "Excellent," he smiled in relief. "I didn't want to be the one to tell Principal Amakusa you needed to be terminated. A city-wide war between the schools is something we try to avoid." Yuri Mikagami chuckled nervously, hoping the older man was joking. "But I still don't know what I should do about Ki. And Bala. And Amy." She coughed. "Both of them." "Here's my advice: get to know these friends of yours better, find out what makes them tick, and take it from there. But if you do chose to involve yourself romantically with one of them, be sure to have a plan to deal with the reaction of the others. Love is possible at Dark Heart High; it's just messier than most everywhere else." The thoughtful silence following this statement was broken by the chirping of an alarm. Yuri glanced at her wristwatch and then looked again at the counselor. "Thank you Mr. Ikari, you've been great to talk to, but I've got to get going; my parents will be expecting me home soon." Ikari nodded. "If you have any more problems, love related or otherwise, please feel free to come to my office." He extended a hand clutching a shady-looking brochure. "Take this: it can help to answer some other questions you might have." "Sure." Yuri took the item. The title read: 'Sex Before Marriage: A How To Guide'. "Have a pleasant evening." The teenage girl nodded, closing the office's door behind herself. "You too, Mr. Ikari." The door closed. "Fascinating girl," Ikari said to himself, looking over the pages of hastily scrawled notes on his desk. Tenderly, the counselor added the papers to a blank vanilla folder. Checking cautiously over his shoulder, Ikari removed a small key from around his own neck. Reaching down to the bottommost drawer on his desk, he slid the key into its destined holder and twisted it. With a click the compartment unlocked, revealing a small set of dusty and web- choked folders. Each folder was carefully labeled with names like AMAKUSA, AUG, KUROSAWA, and TRUNCHEON. Blowing gently on its drying ink, Ikari placed MIKAGAMI among the illicit collection of files. "'Principal Mikagami'," he mouthed, trying out the words. "It does have a nice ring, doesn't it?" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Author's Notes: This was an 11th Hour chapter. I wrote it Friday after I realized I had no chance whatsoever of, or interest in, writing the biggie I planned for. Originally, Yuri was just gonna talk with Liza about her problems with Bala for a brief scene. I opened up Wordpad and started writing the scene, it turned into what you've just read. I figured Yuri needs to get some of this romantic angst off her chest. BTW, bits of my original outline survived in the Amy/Bala/Ki POVs scenes. Thanks to Segev and Nicholas Juzda for their prereading and comments. Extra special "God Bless You" to Lawrence Chu for the four-day extension when I had to leave this past weekend for my brother's out-of- state graduation. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Violet Ringoshima turned to her apprentice and partner Sakura; their newly captured prisoner's interrogation was about to begin. "Is everything ready?" Sakura nodded. "Yes." "Good," pronounced Violet, "but we can't afford to slip up this late in the game." The former Vice-Principal of Sakura Arts removed a pen and mini-notebook from her purse. Wetting her index finger, she flipped to the appropriate page and began reading. "Mystic wards?" "Check." "Spiritual wards?" "Check." "Duck tape and plastic wrap?" "Check and check." "Heat-resistant gloves?" "Check." "Welding visor?" "Check." "And finally, the welding torch?" "Check, plus I topped of the fuel." Sakura patted the tank. Violet nodded. "Excellent. We can now proceed." Sakura stopped the older woman. "What about you?" "Trust me, I don't make mistakes when it comes to this kind of thing." A sigh. "Whatever." With that the two women stepped into the next room, which was, oddly enough, the kitchen. Standing beside the kitchen table, Sakura eyed the long form stretched prone length-wise on it. The prisoner was covered by a thick tarp, one that Violet gripped with both hands. "This is it," she said to Sakura, who made no reply. Ringoshima pulled off the heavy covering and tossed it aside. "Hello," cooed Violet, "and welcome to my humble home." The prisoner was not amused. "Release me at once." The older woman shook her head. "No, not yet anyway." "I will tell you nothing." "Oh, I think you will," Violet nodded to Sakura, who flipped down her visor and ignited the blowtorch she carried. "Otherwise," continued the chief interrogator, "you're gonna end up as a set of cheap silver wear at my next garage sale." "You wouldn't dare...." "Oh," smiled Sakura, "she would." The older woman cracked her knuckles. "Now that we've all these unpleasantries crystal clear, I want you to tell us everything you know about Yuri Mikagami." "Where...." The Hammer of Justice hesitated, but only for an instant. "Where should I start?" "Well," mused Violet, setting pen to paper, "I've always been fond of 'In the beginning'...."