Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Going in Deep... ( Chapter 114 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

It is said that an idea, once raised, is a very hard thing to put down, and in a great many cases this means that ideas can lead to all sorts of interesting consequences. A notion can lead to speculation, which in turn leads to curiosity, and before too long desire takes over and the inquisitive soul within man can prompt one to experiment, to explore the possibilities raised by that question all the way to their most logical implications.

Indeed, it is also true that the longer you fight against an idea that has been lodged within your subconscious, the stronger that idea can come back to haunt you at a later date, and when such an idea plays upon your own natural inclinations, well…it was not altogether surprising that two such individuals, sharing the same thought, the same basic instincts, the same subliminal impulses, might at one time feel tempted to…experiment a little in order to determine if this idea has actual merit?

Indeed, such an idea might gain potency when one or more parties finds the avenue of release to be a little too tempting, and when prompted to act by circumstances…well…who in all rights would deny them the right to expand on the boundaries of their friendship, especially given the knowledge that other parties had come to the somewhat surprising conclusion that they were already "like that" in the first place?

So it was that a young woman named Natsumi found herself flat on her back completely nude atop the hood of a Subaru while her partner went down on her and started eating her out with a tongue intent on probing her loins like there was no better time for this in all creation.

"Ohh-KAMI!" Natsumi tensed, almost jumping at the electric jolt that was being sent up her spine by the lavish tongue-work of her best friend and longtime partner, Miyuki. The way the other girl was going down on her you would never imagine that it was their first time out as lovers, and definitely the first time that Natsumi had ever been with any woman, let alone to be sacrificing her precious virginity to one, and with only one thought in her mind…to screw Miyuki back as soon as it became her turn to lavish the tongue action.

Miyuki grinned even as she worked her tongue in deep and swirled around at the sensitive depths of her partner's love canal, being mindful to nuzzle Natsumi's clit even as she rubbed her whole face against the creamy thighs of her fellow police woman. This was heaven for her, the most natural and wonderful thing that she and her partner had ever done together, and it was making her wonder just why they had waited so long to get down to this sort of business. It was a stunning revelation to them both to learn that they could indulge in such hot, turgid passions, especially since it meant adding a whole new dimension to their relationship which neither one of them as yet were able to fathom.

In all the time that she had known Natsumi, Miyuki had been aware (at least on a subliminal level) that there had been a latent attraction for both of them, being young and fairly attractive women who shared many of the same interests, even granted that in other respects they were very different people. She had been impressed by Natsumi's bravery, tenaciousness and raw enthusiasm for life even when she had been forced to give the rookie cop her first ticket, but once they were assigned to one another…well…it was like discovering a long-lost sister. So swiftly had they bonded together then they formed a partnership that was shortly thereafter to become a department legend.

Of course neither one of them had been **interested** in quite that way (as they had so often insisted when grilled upon this very subject) at the time, especially given that Miyuki already had a crush on a handsome patrolman by the name of Kenny Nakajima. The handsome, courageous and all-around stud-muffin that Kenny embodied was her ideal of a perfect mate, and so it had seemed for the longest time that they might finally "get together" and do something fairly wicked that would insure that the two of them wound up as a permanent item. Natsumi had even encouraged their budding affair, and things seemed to be fairly well on track for a time there…right up until a few months ago, when Kenny put in for a transfer to another department.

For a time Miyuki had been fairly disconsolate over losing the prospect of a boyfriend, and she had even withdrawn into herself, falling back on old habits to fill her hours and keep her days in some manner of focus. Natsumi had been the one who stuck by her fiercely during those dark hours of despair and desolation, the one who had not given up on Miyuki, who had proven to be a true friend in every sense of the word, and the one towards whom Miyuki turned when at last resolved to seek elsewhere for her affections.

It was not an automatic thing (in spite of what many people had always insisted about them) that friendship had turned to thoughts of something decidedly…un-departmental…rather, it was the inspiration of other friends that had finally tipped the scales towards where the partners had decided to throw caution to the wind and just "go for it." Having friends who were quite openly bisexual was certainly the catalyst that had put the idea into their heads that this sort of thing might actually work out, but when the day at long last came where they both knew for certain that they were going to make love to one another it had only come after a long and intense inner struggle on of both their behalves. Deciding to make love to your best friend was, after all, a huge leap forward from merely sharing the same adventures, and they both knew that there would be consequences regardless of how the "experiment" turned out.

The plain truth of it was, however, that neither girl was willing to wait a single second longer, and so long had the urge been repressed for the both of them that when the moment finally came it was with the force of a tidal surge. They had a day off planned together, a simple trip to the country where they might find some private lodgings and…let nature take its course…one way or the other.

But patience-while a virtue-often comes with a very high price, and so it was that they knew they could not wait one second longer. Therefore they drove to the edge of town, to the one of the many Tokyo suburbs where this sort of activity might actually go unnoticed, and there drove off the main road to find a fairly sheltered alcove in the midst of a partial wilderness. Once there they had wasted little time stripping down and going at it, and now Natsumi was the primary beneficiary of their mutual animal rutting as Miyuki cunningly plied her tongue to the task of methodically driving the other woman crazy…a task at which she was excelling to a degree neither one of them could previously have imagined.

Miyuki-being an excellent mechanic-was a methodical type who always did her research in advance of undertaking a project. She had read books and magazine articles "boning up" on the art of female cunnalingus, and she knew exactly what to expect from tonguing another girl's snatch and what steps one should take to build up pressure without rushing into things with too much haste. She knew exactly which nerve endings to stimulate, just how to go about giving Natsumi the right amount of oral treatment that would hold her on edge while prolonging the act of arousal just shy of threshold. She was building up tension within her partner very nicely, getting a nasty thrill from tormenting her lover as she held Natsumi on the brink of her first orgasm, teasing the girl to get her to open up even further and on the whole taking great delight in forcing Natsumi to "bend" the hood of Miyuki's Subaru by thrashing and moaning and writhing like a madwoman. This was turning out to be everything Miyuki ever dreamed it could be and more, and yet Miyuki was in no hurry to finish it, finding a wonderful delight in her own prowess and relishing the sounds Natsumi made as the absolute height of feminine anticipation.

Natsumi for her part could not believe how wonderful it felt to surrender herself to Miyuki, to experience the kinds of joy that she had never known with a man, to be excited and held on the edge by the other girl's delirious tongue work, even as she felt the torments of intense need denied, being kept from climaxing by the vigorous foreplay indulged in by her cunning partner.

"KAMI-don't torture me like this!" Natsumi begged, "Let me cum, Miyuki-chan…I promise…I'll do anything…"

"Anything?" she heard Miyuki chuckle during a brief pause in their lovemaking, but then Miyuki plunged in and drove her tongue even deeper into Natsumi's snatch, at which point the young woman arched her back and threw her head back as if to supplicate the heavens for her release, so great was her need to finally climax…

All at once there came an enormous rumbling sound that startled both women and brought an immediate halt to Miyuki's oral action. Natsumi-already hearing the rush of her own blood pumping through her veins and eardrums-did not, at first, know what to make of the noise, but what she was primarily aware of was that her partner had stopped tonguing her, and given the frustrating way Natsumi was hovering on the edge this was an indignity beyond all toleration.

"Miyuki!" Natsumi all but shouted, "If you stop now, so help me, I'm going to shoot you-!"

"Listen!" Miyuki whispered intensely, glancing around, "Do you hear that?"

Natsumi propped herself up on her elbows and waited for her eardrums to stop throbbing then said, "Yeah? So it's a motorcycle…"

"Not just any kind of motorcycle," Miyuki hissed back, "I recognize it…that sound is distinctive…"

All at once they heard the rumble pass to within a hundred meters of their position, going up the back road that was leading from the coastal region and headed distinctively towards Nerima, and with a turn of their heads both girls could see a huge shadow moving in the distance from between the thick bowels of the trees that were lining the road here…a shadow that was the outline of an altogether familiar virtual giant.

"What the…?" Natsumi blinked.

"Well, as I live and breathe," Miyuki mused, "What is he doing back in town, and what business is drawing him back towards Nerima?"

"Maybe he just wants to visit the Tendos," Natsumi shrugged, "You know how they tend to attract the weirdoes."

"They do indeed have that penchant," Miyuki nodded, "I wonder…could there be a renewal of the sort of business that we should investigate? I know it is our day off, but…if something irregular is going on there that concerns our friend, Nabiki…"

Natsumi scowled, then impulsively reached down and grabbed her partner by her pony tail, gripping Miyuki by her hair and shoving her rudely up against Natsumi's loins.

"Uh-uh, no way are you and me going anywhere until we finish this, Miyuki!" Natsumi insisted, "Get back to work or I really will jam something up your butt, you got me?"

"Ah…I suppose Nerima could wait for a bit," Miyuki admitted, and in all truth she was just as eager to pick things up where she left off as Natsumi, and before too long she had her partner screaming in agony as she brought her off to the MOTHER of all climaxes, which would shortly prompt some well justified retaliation on Natsumi's part, and soon the both of them would be happily "rug-munching" in the classic 69 position…though, for the moment, that aspect is not immediately germane to this story…

"Hang on to your teeth, Kids!" Frank bellowed out over the roar of his trademark motorcycle, "It's gonna get a bit rough around this point."

"Rougher?" Nabiki asked a bit too tightly as she held on to the edges of the sidecar with white-knuckled determination.

"Hey, no problems big stuff!" Keiko grinned as she held on firmly to Nabiki, "Take your time, I'm in no hurry to be going anywhere!"

Ranma scowled as he glanced sideways and noticed exactly where the kickboxer's hands were presently located, and how Nabiki hardly seemed to notice that she was being fondled in such an intimate way by a randy Keiko taking full advantage of the distraction. His own grip upon the belt of the huge man-monster known as "Frank" tightened appropriately as Ranma resolved to make an issue of it later…but only after they got back home and checked up on Kasumi and Natsume.

"H-How fast are we going?" Nabiki asked, clearly trying not to sound too nervous, in spite of having every reason to be screaming her head off about the breakneck pace that they were setting over terrain that was not entirely level.

"Just under a hundred-sixty KPM," Frank replied, his deep rumbling voice easy to pick up even over the roar of his Monster, "Don't worry, I'll be mindful about your condition, just hold on when we take the curves, wouldn't want to lose anybody when we're this close to your home berg."

"Oh, I'm holding on all right, never fear," Keiko assured, somehow managing to leer from beneath her helmet.

"I know," Nabiki replied, "But do you mind not holding me so tight down there? Those aren't handlebars you're fondling, Kei-chan!"

"Oh, believe me, I'm well aware of that," Keiko assured with great enthusiasm, maintaining her firm grip on Nabiki's anatomy, much to the perverse discomfort of Nabiki, who did not actually physically find the handling part to be all that unpleasant so much as…inconvenient on an emotional level.

Oh yes, Ranma averred, he was definitely going to be making an issue of it just as soon as they dismounted. As it was he kept his focus on Kasumi, his adoptive older sister (or sister-in-law, as it were) whose safety and well being was of paramount importance, after which came any territorial claims that he might wish to dispute with a certain redhead whose penchant for fondling his wife was becoming a bit too annoying for his comfort…

Meanwhile, unknown to these and other interested parties, Kasumi was being confronted by yet another curious girl, the mysterious Miyu, whose sudden appearance within the Tendo kitchen was of great concern to these proceedings, especially in lieu of the casual way in which the self-styled "Vampire Princess" had just dispatched Nodoka Saotome off to dreamland with no more than a casual word of dismissal.

Kasumi was taking in the young-seeming girl with the bright red eyes and short-cropped brown hair and could not help observing that this Miyu person was an extremely attractive young thing, possibly younger looking than either Akane or Kurumi, yet dressed in a white silken outfit that was a bit of a cross between a school uniform and a priestess's Meiko outfit. Her legs were bare but for red laced ribbons that were wound about her calves and feet, the same ribbons that graced her arm and hair that made her seem oddly festive in spite of her somewhat regal bearing. A princess she most certainly did appear to be, and yet there was something about her eyes…old and wise beyond their years…that gave one the impression of maturity and depth more befitting of an elder.

As Kasumi studied the girl she was studied back in kind by Miyu, who saw a very attractive housewife in a long, pale-green dress whose brown hair was draped over one shoulder in a pony-tail, a yellow ribbon in her hair the only concession towards physical adornment. In spite of an absence of jewelry, this Kasumi certainly did have something odd about her bearing…a calming radiance that was quite extraordinary, and an astonishing lack of dark elements that Miyu was used to encountering in her affairs with either supernatural beings and/or humans. Her brown eyes lacked cunning, malice or guile, and seemed politely curious without being either probing or demanding, yet there was no mistaking the power of suggestion that was held within them. Were she not immune to such things herself Miyu had no doubt that she could be swayed by the girl's merest suggestion. As it was she was drawn by curiosity herself to know the true depths of this new Daywalker in her territory and intended to properly test her just to determine if she was worth all of this bother, especially to Dimitri.

"So," Miyu mused as she sat on the counter and absently rocked her feet back and forth while studying this Kasumi, "You are the one who Dimitri turned, the Master adept who knows nothing about her legacy or our traditions."

"Ah…well," Kasumi began, "It's true that I…have this problem because of my dealings with Dimitri-san…but…"

"But you did not voluntarily become what you now are," Miyu leaned closer, "You wish that you could go back to being the way you were before you turned. I sincerely wish that it was within the scope of my abilities to grant you what you wish, but…that is not within my nature."

"I…see," Kasumi paused to consider the young-seeming girl before her then said, "Lenore-san explained as much to me…she also said that you are a…Master Vampire? Perhaps you could give me some understanding of what that means and how it will affect my future?"

"I could give you some thought on what it means to be a Master," Miyu replied, "But as for the future, that, too, is outside my ability to predict. Simply put, a Master is the elite among the various tribes of our kind. The Loire whom you met earlier is of a lower stock than my own kind, the Shinma, while the Jezril tribe that Dimitri's mother hailed from are somewhat in the middle of social hierarchy. Far lower on the rung would the Nosferatu and Goya scum, the peasants who tarnish the very name of vampire among Breathers, are the ones to avoid as they are little more than beasts. Other tribal bloodlines vary in nature and the degree of vampirism that each clan manifests…but you will learn the rules concerning them in the course of time. Of more immediate concern is the question of what you intend to do with yourself now that you have been confronted with the truth of your new nature. Does learning that you are a drinker of blood make you feel different about your present lifestyle as a member of a family group? Or will you feel compelled to separate yourself from normal humans for the sake of your mutual protection?"

"I…don't really understand you," Kasumi admitted, "Are you saying that I must give up my family? I…I don't know if I can do that."

"What I am saying," Miyu said patiently, "Is that you must consider the possible implications of being a vampire among normal humans. You are a Daywalker, yes, and your need for blood is far less than a more common breed of vampire, but still, they are humans and you…are something more than human, and there is a larger gap between the two worlds than you might possibly imagine. I ask that you think well upon this before taking any course of action or making any decisions for the long-term future."

"I…I want to understand," Kasumi replied, pursing her lips before adding, "Do you have any advice for me? Is there some way that I can…balance what I am with having a family life? Or do I have to leave them all behind…which I do not want to do because I love my family very much and would be lost without them."

"I cannot advise you," Miyu replied sadly, "I have been a vampire for several decades now, but when I was as young as I yet appear I confronted the issues you now face and I…decided badly. My situation was not analogous to yours, however, since I was born a vampire…or rather I was born with the seed of vampirism within me. My family, you see, are hereditary Shinma hybrids, and I am the latest in a very old bloodline. My mother was part vampire yet hid this truth from me for the first fourteen years of my childhood. One day, shortly after puberty, I began to suffer the pangs of early bloodlust, and I turned on the day when I met my companion, Larva, upon drinking his blood and binding him to me. Yet before even this happened I…suffered a loss, one that determined the future course of my life…"

"You lost someone close to you?" Kasumi asked, "How very sad. I still remember when I lost my mother…"

"You are lucky that she died a natural death," Miyu replied, "Because I killed my mother…or rather, I drank her to death and absorbed her vital essence."

Kasumi was horrified, "But…why in heaven's name would you do such a thing?"

Despite herself Miyu glanced away, "I did not do it consciously, but my mother…had plans for me…ones that did not involve my living a normal existence. I was born due to a pact between her clan and the Shinma realms, and I was groomed from birth to become their Princess. Their intention was to place me upon a throne of skulls to rule the human world from the shadows as both symbol and regent. I chose to make a different pattern of my life rather than become the pawn of a darker power, and so I rule the night as a guardian of both human and Shinma realms, arbitrating a tentative peace that occasionally gets broken, in which case I put down the dissenters with such force as I deem needful."

"But…your own mother?" Kasumi could not help but be shocked at such an admission.

Miyu fixed the taller girl with a harsher stare and said, "I had a human friend once…she learned of my vampirism on the day when I first tasted blood, and for that my mother killed her and drained her of blood in order to preserve my secret. I knew then that my mother was capable of anything in the name of her ambition, and that is why I chose to drain her…not consciously but rather instinctively, as an act of love and self-preservation…"

"Love?" Kasumi marveled.

"Do you think that death is a cruel fate for those who trespass against the peace between the gods and the devils who rule our world from beyond the shadows?" Miyu asked, "I assure you, there are much worse fates than simply dying. My mother was a slave to the Shinma, she would never have been freed but for my action. I gave her release and freed her soul from the grip of the demons who corrupted her. I gave my mother peace, something that she would never have known had I not done what I did. That is why I cannot compare your choices to mine since you are under no such similar compulsions."

Kasumi stood and thought this over before giving Miyu an uneasy, "Do you…believe that I might become a possible threat to my family?"

"I think that the greater danger would be from your family rather than to it," Miyu replied, "Do you believe that they are capable of understanding what you are…and of accepting your altered nature? Many humans do have odd ideas about us, after all, and they might believe that you are under an evil curse and might choose to do for you what I did for my mother. They call it, 'giving us peace,' or releasing our souls from the curse of vampirism."

"Oh my," Kasumi thought that over, "I don't believe my family would do that to me…"

"Are you so certain?" Miyu glanced over at the unconscious Nodoka, "Because that one was ready to give you the coup while you were still Dimitri's servant. Given the chance to do it again, do you truly believe that she will abstain from using that sword of hers? And be mindful, one of the ways in which we can die most certainly would be by beheading."

Without consciously willing it so, Kasumi put a hand to her throat and considered the implications. She did indeed know her Aunt Nodoka very well, and the Samurai code that her aunt privately adhered to, and her aunt was a little too good with that katana of hers to harbor illusions regarding her willingness to use it. Would Nodoka truly believe that she would be doing Kasumi a favor by…chopping off her head? The very notion brought an involuntary swallow to the eldest Tendo sister as she soberly considered the likelihood of such an event and became uneasy at the very real prospect.

Miyu hopped off of the counter then stood looking up at the taller girl, giving Kasumi a frank expression before saying, "So this is the question you must ask yourself…do you trust that you can control your bloodlust, or might you not one day become a threat to your loved ones? You do not need to be an evil, soulless beast to yield to the temptation, you simply need a moment of weakness, an instant when the bloodlust within you gains the upper hand, and then…then you could be the instrument of tragedy for your loved ones. That is the burden that you must now carry, the weight on your soul that taints us all to one extent or another. Think you well on this before you grow too close to even the ones you love, for the call to blood within you is strong, stronger than you could ever even imagine. Deny that need and it just grows stronger…appease it and it become dormant for a time, yet still is there just lurking beneath the surface."

Kasumi gazed down into the eyes of the other girl then asked, "Why do you tell me this? Are you saying that I can't know happiness? That I cannot even trust the people I love? That I'm now a danger to them, that I might…hurt someone without meaning to?"

"I am trying to prepare you for the kinds of questions you must face in the very near future," Miyu replied, "I do this as a courtesy between Masters, to warn you that abiding among humans has risks that you may not have anticipated. You are not cursed to lead a life alone and apart, but because of what you are, you face special challenges that are not known by normal humans."

"Then…how do you live?" Kasumi asked, "Do you live apart from normal people? Are you alone? Don't you…have friends who care about you?"

Miyu arched an eyebrow and evidenced surprise at having the question turned back upon her, "I…choose to live among humans, but…I am not a part of their world. I protect them from the Shinma, but I also…prey upon the people I protect, taking what little I need to sustain my own health and only rarely killing those whom I deem to be…special cases."

"But…I couldn't live like that," Kasumi replied, "I love my family, and I enjoy being around people."

"You don't have to go live on a mountaintop somewhere and mortify yourself like a priest," Miyu insisted, "You can live a normal life…you can exist among people, but you have to learn the rules in order to survive. Daywalker or full Vampire, it is necessary for you to learn to adapt to both your strengths and limitations, and to be careful who you choose to associate with as the possibility of betrayal can come even from those you most trust. Lower your guard around the wrong person at the wrong moment and it could prove to be fatal."

"I…I don't believe you," Kasumi replied, "I cannot believe that a member of my family would ever want to harm me…"

"Oh no?" Miyu asked, "What of the one named Natsume?"

"Natsume?" Kasumi asked, "Why? What about her?"

"I think you already know the answer to that question," Miyu replied, "The Loire herself sensed it, that you sister has become the Slayer."

"Slayer…oh, yes, that…" Kasumi said uneasily, "Ah…well…I don't believe that Natsume herself really knows about that yet…"

"But she will find out," Miyu replied, "They always do, and I have fought with Slayers before. They are tenacious and dangerous fighters and some are quite fanatical. It all depends on the one who trains them, and on the Slayer herself, the choices she makes with her life, and the Watcher who guides her actions…"

"The Watcher?" Kasumi asked, "Who is that?"

"The Watchers are an organization of secret teachers and mystics who observe from the shadows and act only when they deem it in the best interest of humanity," Miyu explained, "They are normal human beings, but some have family ties going back for generations, and all of them are trained in mystical lore to keep watch upon the Darkstalkers who inhabit the shadows. All the better to train the Slayer to be their point woman, their agent for our destruction."

"Our destruction?" Kasumi repeated.

"Vampires are the natural targets of the Slayer," Miyu answered, "Not all vampires, of course, but those who come within the scope of their attention must beware their holy might and the power that guides their actions. Slayers kill vampires…sometimes without discriminating between the good and the bad, and that is what you must be on your guard against should this Natsume come to regard you as an enemy."

"An enemy?" Kasumi blinked, "Me? No, I cannot imagine such a thing…Natsume and I are sisters, we share the same blood…"

"Not any more you don't," Miyu replied, "And that is why you must be on your guard should this particular Slayer get it into her head that you are no longer Tendo Kasumi, no longer the sister she knew. Some Slayers have been known to get funny notions after all, and as yet I see no reason why this particular slayer should be any exception…"

"So, Doctor…" Natsume began, "What was so urgent that prompted you to have Kuno-sama and myself visit you within your clinic?"

"Is there something that you can tell us about Natsume-chan's condition, Tofu-Sensei?" Kuno asked, earning a mildly reproving look from his female companion.

"Oh...it's about a lot more than that, I assure you," Tofu left her side and at once went to one of his nearby bookshelves, pulling down a musty old tome and leafing through it as though he were attempting to locate something obscure in one of the passages. After several moments he stabbed a page with one finger, then went pale as he read the faint, archaic kanji script that had been written in faded inch. He swallowed once and said, "Oh Kami-sama..."

By now Natsume's concern was growing to an outright fever pitch of alarm and curiosity, and at once she said, "Is something the matter, Tofu-sensei? It's not...serious, is it?"

"Oh...it's serious all right," Tofu nodded without looking up, but then he seemed to recall her with a glance, at which point he added, "But not fatally so...at least...I don't think so anyway..."

"What?" Natsume blinked in increasing confusion.

"Are you peaking sense, man?" Tatewaki asked, "What means so foreboding an expression?"

"Er...nothing," Tofu slammed the book shut with a forcefulness that startled his patient, "It's just...my grandfather was also a doctor, like my father after him, and my great-grandfather was a more traditional sort of healer, which is where a lot of my family's Shiatsu techniques were pioneered..."

"Yes, but what does this have to do with me?" Natsume asked.

"Only that my great-grandfather's journal contains a reference to that particular birthmark you have on you, Natsume-san. It seems...a patient of his long ago had one just like it..."

"Yes?" Natsume replied, hoping to encourage him to become more forthright.

Tofu felt torn and conflicted as he saw the worried expression of the young girl before him. All of, what? Seventeen? And not even aware of her birthright! It was so manifestly unfair that for a moment he pondered the wisdom of telling her at all. Better not to have to confront the truth all at once...and yet...she had the right to know, and there really was no sense in keeping her in the dark about what he knew concerning the fate that had befallen her, poor creature.

Tatewaki saw the obvious conflict in the face of the normally unflappable family physician and said, "Doctor?" as if suspecting a dramatic revelation in the works.

Kuno turned his focus to the young man and said, "Tatewaki-kun…could you step outside for a moment and give us some privacy, please? I'll call you back in if there is anything dire to report."

Tatewaki was surprised at the request, but a glance towards his lady-love assured him that she was agreeable to the request, much though she seemed reluctant to have him leave her immediate presence. He was gentleman enough to understand the concept of discretion, however, and nodded once before taking his leave of the private examination room. He was more than a bit curious as to what had Tofu so upset about Natsume, however, so he resolved to remain within easy earshot…just on the off chance that he might be summoned back in another few moments.

Natsume was indeed concerned about Tofu's curious behavior, and she was equally reluctant not to have her Tatewaki at her side to offer his comfort and support, but a lifetime of conditioning in resolute stoicism made her face the doctor squarely as she waited for him to begin his explanation.

Tofu took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm going to have to reveal something to you...something that I've never told anyone, not even my mother, though she knew just about everything else about my father. You see...my family carries on a good many traditions from ancient times, and one of those family secrets is that we belong to a worldwide brotherhood, a secret society, and...well..." he held up his wrist and removed his wristwatch to show a mark that was engraved onto his skin there, "We call ourselves...the Watchers."

"The Watchers?" Natsume replied, "Who or what are they?"

"People like my family, who keep a close watch on the supernatural and try to stay on top when weird things happen to ordinary people," Tofu explained, "Things like spiritual or psychic attacks, alien phenomena or attacks by monsters such as werewolves, demons and...vampires."

"Vampires?" Natsume asked with lifted eyebrows.

"Vampires," he repeated with emphasis upon the word, "Creatures of the night who live by drinking human blood…much like that Dimitri character that we fought off a few weeks back, the one who kidnapped your sister."

"The fiend who took Kasumi hostage and tried to turn her against us?" Natsume nodded grimly.

"Exactly," Tofu replied, "The Watchers were founded long ago to monitor the activities of such unusual creatures. We are trained to observe but never to interfere unless absolutely necessary.

"You mean…you are keepers of occult lore?" Natsume replied, "Like spiritualists and psychic investigators."

"Somewhat, but our activities are a bit more broad than that," Tofu explained, "Mostly our group is interested in the activities of Immortal beings who walk among us undetected, but vampires are among the worst in that category, particularly those tribes that prey on mortal flesh without regard to the sort of rules imposed on their more civilized colleagues. The only time when we are authorized to become fully active and involved in dealing with this menace, however, is when we encounter the Slayer."

"The Slayer?" Natsume repeated, wondering why that word sent a chill running up and down her spine, but more of recognition than apprehension.

"The Slayer is the one mortal being who is capable of destroying vampires when they infest humanity like a plague," Tofu continued, "She is always a young girl of approximately your own age, still a virgin...at least at first, whose blood has never been quickened. When she awakens, she gains the abilities of the Slayer, which means increased strength and speed, heightened senses and alertness, almost perfect hand to eye coordination with agility and reflexes that are quite literally superhuman. Of course, as a trained martial artist you already possess many of these abilities, but…if I'm right and you are the Slayer, then all of your capabilities will be magnified well beyond your normal threshold."

"This is absurd!" Natsume protested, "How can I be this Slayer that you speak of?"

"No one knows why the Slayer is chosen," Tofu replied, "Only that the Powers that Be decide to make her the Chosen One at the time of her conception. That mark on your back is the sign of their decision, meaning that you've been a candidate your entire life without knowing your true destiny. The fact that you've been a wanderer is the reason why you haven't been discovered by us before now since, ordinarily, another Watcher might have spotted your mark and alerted the rest of us of your existence."

"I still do not see how I can be this chosen one you speak of," Natsume frowned, "I am just a martial artist, an ordinary girl with unusual skills that I have worked my entire life to master..."

"Not ordinary, hardly," Tofu replied, "No more than Kurumi, with her adapted metabolism that gives her the speed and appetite of a hummingbird. True, that was Grand Master Happosai's doing, but perhaps she was meant to be your protector as well as your sister..."

"My protector...Kurumi?" Natsume blinked.

"She may be a year younger than you, but she's quite formidable," Tofu replied, almost apologetic as he added, "The Slayer has a destiny, and it's not a very nice one. Where you go you walk alone, but sometimes a Slayer may have protectors and even powerful allies. I wish that I was wrong about this, but with what happened recently, that encounter with Dimitri may have helped to trigger your transformation. There is one way of being certain, though..." he picked up a metal bar and handed it to her, "Can you bend this?"

Natsume would normally have risen to the challenge, but now she frowned suspiciously at the bar, clearly reluctant to touch it as she said, "What will this prove if I do?"

"Just humor me, please," Tofu gently pleaded.

Natsume reluctantly took the metal I-bar in hand and then casually bent it double, her eyebrows rising as she did so. As if to confirm her suspicions, she took the two bent bars and bent them again between her fingers. At that point her eyebrows had vanished under her bangs as she stared with round eyes and said, "It was...so very easy..."

"That's incredible," Tofu exclaimed, "Your strength must be on a par with Ryoga's. I'd imagine the rest of your abilities have increased along with your strength, but the real test is this," he turned and went to a shelf, then pulled down a small ornate wooden box and uncovered the contents, then carefully removed a smooth, opaque, round-shaped stone that he passed along to Natsume, urging her to hold it between her hands, which she did obediently, even as she wondered why her skin was tingling from the contact.

"I don't see what this..." Natsume started to say when her eyes went wide once again, for the dark stone began to glow from within, reacting to her heat by turning ruby red in the center, like an eye opening to see the one who held it. Natsume started in horrified fascination for several moments, then she cried out in sharp pain as a spark passed from her hand to the stone, and at once she dropped it on the floor, sucking on her fingers.

"That's very odd," Tofu said in surprise, bending down to pick up the stone, which was no longer glowing, "Never saw it do that before. Guess it's harmless for most people but not so much for a Slayer."

"What...is it?" she asked, curious in spite of a faint aversion towards the object.

"A magical bloodstone," Tofu replied, "Very rare. This one's been in my family for generations. It's an enchanted artifact with all sorts of interesting properties that..."

"My love, what is amiss?" demanded Tatewaki as he came bursting into the room, staring wildly at every corner as though expecting the walls themselves to sprout enemies, his ever-handy bokken at the ready.

"Tatewaki-kun?" Natsume asked in surprise at his sudden appearance.

Tatewaki automatically turned to look back at the dark haired girl he loved, seeing puzzlement there along with signs of worry, yet nothing that appeared to be threatening her. Slowly he lowered his weapon to say, "My love…I thought that I heard you scream…"

"Oh, it was nothing, Tachi-kun," Natsume assured him with a faintly nervous chuckle, unaware that in doing so she was only adding to his anxiety since she had never chuckled like that for him before, let alone cracked a smile in such a suspiciously uneasy manner.

"Ah…I see," Tatewaki said, while not really seeing at all, glancing at Doctor Tofu before putting his bokken away and saying aloud, "My apologies for rushing in like this, Tofu-Sensei…"

"Not at all, Kuno-san," Tofu waved a hand in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, "I can see why you'd be so worried on behalf of your iinazuke, but I can assure you that's nothing wrong with her…at least…nothing that you need worry about for the present."

"I see," Tatewaki lied again, turning back to Natsume to add, "My love, I…"

All of a sudden the tall nobleman froze up with his face betraying astonishment and dismay. Natsume wondered why he was suddenly looking at her as though she had grown a second head, only to notice that his gaze was roving down the length of her body, which compelled Natsume to follow the line of his gaze and take in the curious fact that she was suddenly quite naked and without a stitch of clothing…

Tatewaki gaped in shock and disbelief at finding Natsume in the altogether, almost as if her clothing had up and dissolved on her without warning. His mind went into neutral as he sought to take this in by sheer automatic assimilation, and then his eyes did a very slow up-and-down inspection of Natsume's nakedness, seeing the woman that he loved in all of her magnificent, well-packaged glory. The blood rushed to his head at once then gushed out of the ruptured vessels of his sensitive nose as he fainted dead away with nary a whimper.

"Tatewaki-kun?" Natsume blinked as she looked down at his unconscious body.

"Poor guy," Tofu shrugged, "Guess some people just can't take looking at an attractive young woman for very long, eh?"

Natsume glanced down at herself, then hastily covered her breasts and crossed her long legs, doing a full-body blush that made her appear extremely crimson.

"AWK! What happened to my clothing?!?" she demanded.

"Huh?" Tofu blinked, then belatedly seemed to get the point of her question, "How very strange…I could have sworn that you were wearing clothes a second ago. I'm reasonably certain that I would have noticed seeing you undress…"

Natsume glared at the man and said, "Very funny, now tell me how you did this!"

"But I'm telling you that I don't know what you mean," Tofu insisted, "I wouldn't, even if I knew how, and I'm certainly not about to undress a patient by myself without her permission…unless she were unable to sign a release form."

"You mean you expect me to believe that my clothing just leaped off my body of their own volition?" Natsume demanded skeptically.

"Miss Kuno…what reason would I have for doing such a thing…even if I had the means," Tofu softly offered.

Natsume thought a moment about that then felt a renewal of her of her blushing and as she stood there with hands covering her breath she began to realize that the doctor could not be the guilty party, that someone else had had assaulted her while she was had been distracted by Tofu's explanations.

"Ah well," Tofu sighed as he knelt down over the fallen Tatewaki, "I'd better hit a few nerves to block the flow of blood up there or he could hemorrhage to death like that. Then we'll finish your examination so we can see for a fact what changes your body's undergone, young lady, after which...I need to make a few phone calls. To think a Slayer right should manifest here in Nerima..." he shook his head in mild confusion…

Meanwhile-unseen by either doctor or naked patient-a curious shadow flitted about the corners of the room, and a pair of sensuous lips drew back in a smile that was pure mischief, then flitted along among the shadows before emerging outside the clinic, at which point those shadows resolved into the form of a pretty young woman whose pallid complexion gave her a more than slightly unearthly appearance.

"So, that's the new Slayer, eh?" said the young girl (whose feet did not appear to be touching the ground at the moment), "Rather full bodied…and with some very nice curves. That should teach her to annoy my friends…speaking of which, I'd better find out what Lenore and Chloe are up to, the poor dears…"

Natsume, of course, was unaware of this and could only wonder about what had happened to make her clothing vanish so mysteriously like that, almost as if a ghostly hand had reached out and removed her things without her seeming to notice the slight breeze that this had caused her. Instead she tried to focus upon Tofu's words and what this surprising revelation might mean to her future, to say nothing of her relationship to Tatewaki, and-even more importantly-why it had been within Kasumi's presence that her new nature chose to manifest, and who was that strange girl who made Natsume's guts churn with so violent a reaction?

These mysteries confounded her, and yet her stubborn pride would not permit her to concede that she was out of her depth entirely. After all, if Nabiki could handle living with a curse that changed her into a man, then how could Natsume do less with the hand that fate had dealt her? As yet she did not know precisely what this Slayer business was all about, but she was determined to learn the answer in very short order, and then she would confront Kasumi and learn the truth regarding her adopted older sister.

But first there was Tatewaki to deal with, and much as the idea of nursing him in her lap was certainly quite appealing, she somehow doubted him awakening to find her naked would be the sort of thing the poor boy could handle, and surely not a sagacious move to secure him as a husband, though in all truth she would have been offended if he had not shown her a reaction...

Which then prompted an odd thought in Natsume's mind regarding Doctor Tofu. Granted the man acted with total professionalism around her, but it was mildly annoying to a woman's pride that the first man to ever see her naked was so overtly indifferent about it. Had she been Kasumi, however, then it would likely have been an entirely different matter. Kasumi could vamp Tofu without even trying on any day of the week...which did seem rather unfair as her sister was otherwise quite indifferent, possibly even entirely ignorant in regard to his affections. Would this change entirely should it be-as she suspected-that Kasumi was no longer entirely...human? And if so...then what would Natsume do about it? She loved her older sister, but if she had turned into some kind of a menace...

Well then, Natsume wold learn what this Slayer business was really all about, one way...or another...

Continued

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