DISCLAIMER: Alas, still not mine.

((Author's Note! I know you guys are seeing the little c next to this story and thinking "wtf it's not finished!"... Or maybe you're not and this is just me being horribly egotistical. ^^ Either way, the story –isn't- over, it's just that the next instalment is going to be in the sequel. Natsuki the Vampire Slayer: Almost Human is the working title; so far I'm planning for that one to follow Natsuki's first year of high school. It will be a bit different from this first story in that we will be focusing a lot more on Natsuki's everyday life instead of just going through the years so fast. I hope that all of my readers will stick around for the next story which I'm personally really excited about. :-D K, enough from me, on with the show!))

Tokyo, Japan: August 1999

Natsuki woke up to a burning pain, biting down hard on her tongue to keep from crying out and alerting Midori. The muscles in her forearms felt like they were being ripped apart. This pain had started a couple days ago on her birthday. The only remotely good thing about this situation was that it was still summer break so she didn't have to try to go to school in this agony. She looked down at her scars and sure enough, the blackness that had started to appear in the scars on her arms was spreading outward from last night. The marks that she'd made on the edges of the black with marker had been passed. She ran her fingers lightly over the marks, noticing that they felt hot compared to the surrounding skin and were raised up when compared to the rest of the scar tissue. What's happening to me?

She clenched a fist in frustration, idly watching the cords of muscle under the scars move, wincing at the lingering pain. She had been afraid to tell anyone about the pain that she was feeling. Shizuru would just worry but not be able to do anything to help, and with her mother's depression really taking a turn for the worse this year the last thing Natsuki wanted was to be a burden to her friend. She had wanted to tell Midori or even Duran about her pain, but then she started worrying that it might be a sign that something was wrong with her Slayer powers.

There had probably never been a Slayer who received their powers as young as Natsuki had, and as far as she knew Slayers rarely lived very long after they were first called. She had read some of the Watcher diaries in Midori's collection, and it seemed that a Slayer got to live a few years after her calling if she was lucky. Natsuki had been a Slayer for eight and a half, nearly nine years now. Who knew what might happen to the powers after that long? Plus Natsuki wasn't even a normal Slayer, she was an experiment. Any number of things could have gone wrong during the ritual that weren't showing up until just now.

She sighed as she got up off of her futon, quickly throwing on her favourite midnight blue hoodie and some light blue cotton shorts before folding her futon up and putting it away for the day. She hoped that Midori wouldn't comment on her unusual summer attire again. The Watcher had seemed worried that her Slayer might actually be coming down with an illness when she had claimed that she was just cold two days in a row despite the hot temperatures.

Today she was going into the city to meet up with Yamada-sensei for coffee. This wasn't nearly as sketchy as it sounded, though Natsuki could understand why some might be sceptical. Still they had a strictly platonic and academic-type relationship, and being a Slayer, Natsuki wasn't really too worried about being taken advantage of by a rather out of shape middle-aged man.

They got together outside of school every week or two to discuss an English-language book that Natsuki had read and practice Natsuki's English conversation. She had Midori to practice with too, but Yamada-sensei spoke the American variety, and Natsuki wanted to get to know both. She thought maybe her current fascination with American English might have come from knowing that the current "real" Slayer was American, but she liked to think that she just had a genuine interest in learning.

Natsuki had been rather surprised her sixth year in elementary school to learn that Yamada had suddenly transferred to the exclusive private junior high school that Shizuru was attending. She was happy that the Fujinos' money could make that possible though, because she was quite happy to still have the kind librarian around to talk to at her new school when she needed a different perspective on something. He was currently tutoring Shizuru in economics a couple of days a week, and when Natsuki had continued to show an interest in English reading he had volunteered his time to help her as well.

Checking the clock on her dresser Natsuki decided that she had time to take a cold shower to try and cool the heat on her scars. Even the ones on her chest seemed to be burning, although they still looked the same as they ever did and fortunately were not causing her any pain. Stripping down she noticed idly how much more the remaining white parts of her scars stood out now since her skin had darkened from spending so much time outside in the sun this summer. Hirotaka and Midori had bought her a small cc dirt bike at the beginning of June "just because" and she had been riding it everywhere whenever she had spare time. Yamada-sensei had been a mechanic during his time in the Navy so he had helped her modify the performance in the engine such that the little bike could get up to about 70kph.

She allowed herself to enjoy the soothing cool water for about ten minutes before she got out to finish getting ready. Brushing small, gleaming white teeth she wondered if her canines had always been quite so sharp, grimacing as they made her think of a vamp. At least I'm tanned these days; signs of sunlight exposure definitely kill the whole vamp look. Getting dressed in black cargo shorts and a black t-shirt with a fully armoured Samus Aran on the front, Natsuki decided on armbands to cover up her scars today. Midori won't ask about that, she'll just figure it's some teenager thing she doesn't get.

Natsuki entered the kitchen to see that Midori was already awake and drinking coffee while checking a message board on the internet that she liked to frequent. Earlier this year she had bought the nice new desktop and set it up on the counter next to the seat she preferred to use. "Yo Midori." She greeted, grabbing a bagel and a can of soda out of the fridge. She briefly debated putting mayo on the breakfast bread, but decided that she would just go with the traditional crème cheese to avoid Midori's disgusted teasing.

"Slayer." The redhead greeted playfully, glancing up at the dark haired girl who was growing up so fast. Natsuki had grown another couple inches over the last year, her curves had filled out but at the same time her overall body fat had seemed to decrease giving her muscles more definition. She still had that same small, upturned nose and those big green eyes that made her so adorable though no matter how woman-shaped she was getting, Midori mused.

Natsuki plopped down on the stool next to her Watcher, moving it closer so that she could read the screen over her shoulder. "I still can't believe that there are message boards about demons and apocalypses online. How is it that everyone doesn't know the big secret if anyone with a computer can read about it that easy?"

Midori shrugged, "Well for one not that many people are really involved in the online message board community, at least not for any serious research. That's mostly just for nerds like me." She grinned at her Slayer, "Anyway, I think that most people would just assume that the people on our message boards are just crazy like the people who have message boards about how our world governments are actually controlled by some ancient alien reptilian race."

"What really?" Natsuki laughed.

"Yeaah... though from my correspondence lately with one of my online buddies RedWiccan, it's actually not as crazy as it sounds if you just say that they're demonic reptiles instead of alien ones. Apparently their mayor had made some deal with demonic forces of some kind to turn himself into an immortal snake demon." Midori commented absently as she went back to typing.

Natsuki just shook her head at the craziness of their world. Finishing her bagel she gave her Watcher a quick hug, "Hey, I'm going out to have coffee with Joseph."

The Watcher snorted, "Careful or I'm going to accuse you of having an old man fetish too." She laughed at the look of disgust on her Slayer's face.

"Eew. Don't worry Midori... he's all yours if you're interested." Natsuki grinned as she double checked that her backpack had the copy of Jurassic Park that they had been reading last week before putting on her leather jacket, gloves and boots and heading out. She grinned at the sight of her little dark grey and black Yamaha in the garage, excited as ever to take it out for a ride. She couldn't wait until she was old enough for a license for a full-size sportbike.

Natsuki loved the feeling of flying as she powered her bike down the open roads towards the city, accelerating into the curves and enjoying the rush as her knees almost brushed the blacktop. The streets became crowded as she reached the city, but Natsuki recklessly passed the nearly stopped traffic by riding her bike between lanes, grinning at the annoyed looks on the faces of drivers as she sped by. Soon she was chaining up her trusty little bike to one of the racks designed for light, small cc engines. She left her helmet chained with the bike, and headed at a leisurely pace towards the small coffee shop and bakery where she and Yamada held their meetings.

"Hey Joe." She said playfully as she sat down in the booth across from him, dropping her backpack with a loud thud on the bench next to her.

He rolled his eyes behind the round-framed glasses he was sporting these days, "Good to see you Natsuki."

She grunted in response, grinning rakishly as the attractive young waitress came over to take her order. She asked for an ice coffee with extra espresso and three of the daily special deli sandwiches with extra mayo. The waitress smiled shyly saying that her order would be about ten minutes before continuing on to the next customer. "I read the book."

Yamada nodded, "And, what did you think of it?"

Natsuki shrugged, "It was alright, but I liked the movie better."

He laughed, "And why is that? Plenty of people say they liked the book better."

"Eh, it had its good points too don't get me wrong. But actually seeing that guy getting eaten by a t-rex while he was sitting on the pot was classic. Oh, and having the girl being the one good at computer hacking was cool too. She was cute. I'd like to meet a girl who's that good with computers someday." Natsuki reached out and grabbed one of the sugar packets out of the container on the table and opened it, pouring its contents into her mouth.

Yamada grimaced slightly at the teen's actions, trying to gather his thoughts. "Well both the book and movie have some similar themes. What did you think the message about technology and science was?"

Green eyes stared into the distance as she thought back to her time as a lab rat. "I think it was saying that people should think really carefully about potential consequences before actually testing their theories. I don't really think he was trying to say that science is completely bad or anything either though, just use caution."

Yamada nodded, "And not only that, but there's always going to be something that you didn't think of in planning. They thought that they had plenty of excellent safety measures in place to prevent anything from going wrong, but there were things that they just couldn't have predicted."

Grabbing a napkin she began folding it as she tried to organize the next idea that had jumped out at her while reading the book. "Also something that was interesting was how they were making all of those comparisons between dinosaurs and birds. I thought it was neat how something that is extinct now could still have living descendants that we see every day." As she spoke about this she thought about vampires, maybe they were just shadows of whatever the demon was that had made them. What if they were just pigeons compared to the velociraptors of the past? She shivered.

Yamada spoke thoughtfully, "I'm no scientist myself, but from what I've read recent evidence supports the theory that some dinosaurs evolved into birds. You wouldn't really think it to look at those little sparrows eating crumbs outside, but if you go to the zoo and see some of the big parrots they have there you can really imagine it."

"Hmm. I'll have to get Shizuru to go with me while we still have summer break." She thanked the waitress who brought her coffee and took a gulp of the icy caffeine-rich treat. "I guess the other thing that had me thinking was how the dinosaurs they made weren't exactly the real thing."

Yamada looked puzzled, "What do you mean not the real thing? They seemed to look exactly like dinosaurs."

Natsuki nodded as she placed her rather clumsily made origami frog on the table, "They did look exactly like dinosaurs on the outside. Or maybe they didn't, since we don't really know exactly what they looked like do we? But that's not my point. Remember how they couldn't get enough DNA, so they ended up using frog DNA to fill in the gaps? So even if they looked almost like dinosaurs, they were something else."

Now Yamada's eyes lit up as he remembered that part, "Oh yeah, that was how the dinosaurs found a loophole to reproduce even though they were all supposed to be females. The frog DNA allowed them to change sexes or something like that."

"Yeah. But to me the thing that stuck out was that the scientists couldn't perfectly recreate the past, only an imitation of it." She picked at the frog with her hands, idly noting that her short fingernails were dirty already even though she'd showered only hours earlier. "Maybe they were even better than the dinosaurs from before since they could adapt in ways the original ones couldn't. But maybe there was something wrong with them too, like maybe they wouldn't live as long or something. Like since frogs don't have very long lifespans, maybe they would die of old age much sooner."

Yamada gazed at his mentee curiously, noting the thoughtful, almost sad look in those striking green eyes. He wondered what exactly was causing her to have such real worry. As far as he knew the concepts in Jurassic Park were only relatively implausible science fiction, but there was just something about how seriously Natsuki was taking this that said maybe she knew something. "I'm not really sure Natsuki, like I said I'm really not a scientist myself. I've read that the whole idea of pulling DNA out of mosquitoes like that wouldn't work anyway though."

The teen shook her head, dismissing th0at idea. "I understand that the details might be inaccurate, what I'm questioning is the other bits of DNA. Would they make it not even a dinosaur anymore?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I mean in all of the important ways they seemed to act like dinosaurs right? They were active at the right time of day, they hunted for food..."

Natsuki grinned at the waitress who brought her sandwiches, making a happy sound as she noted the adequate amount of mayo covering the sliced chicken. "So you think as long as they act basically like dinosaurs then that's what they are? Still though, when it counted they were something else."

Yamada reached over and took the paper frog from the table, "I don't really know. I guess if you really wanted to know the answer to that, you'd have to ask someone who knows a whole lot more about biology than I do."

"Thanks Joe." Natsuki mumbled around a mouthful of her sandwich. Really though, a biologist couldn't exactly answer her question, since it was a mystical ritual that made her into whatever she was. There were likely some similarities between biology and genetic manipulation and demonology and magic rituals, but she didn't know enough about any of it to even understand any answers someone might be able to give her. Maybe though she would see if anyone on Midori's message board might have some answers for her.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

It was early afternoon two days later when Natsuki finally got the opportunity to use the computer in their house without Midori being around. Apparently her Watcher had gone out for lunch and an afternoon movie with Yohko-sensei from the hospital. Natsuki was happy to hear that they were hanging out; her Watcher needed more friends closer to her own age.

Natsuki twiddled her thumbs as she waited for the modem to complete the connection to the internet, idly tapping her feet in time with the little noises it made. It used a second phone line that Hirotaka had set up for them so that they could use the internet however much they wanted without tying up their phone. Apparently he knew all about Natsuki's tendency to stay out late and how Midori loved to do research online but still needed for Natsuki to be able to reach her.

Once the modem made the connection, she quickly minimized the service provider window and opened up Netscape, checking Midori's bookmarks until she found the one for the demonology message board. Natsuki might not have been a total wiz on the computer like Lex from Jurassic Park, but she considered herself to be reasonably literate. She quickly logged out as Midori and set up her own account using her hotmail address, not wanting to try and fake being her Watcher in case anyone asked about this conversation she wanted to have later.

Logging into her hotmail account she grinned seeing the confirmation email already in her box. Ignoring the random spam, she clicked the message and activated the link and now she was set up as OokamiDuran. Navigating the different areas of the message board with some confusion, she finally just decided to make a post in the introduction board as that one was moderated by RedWiccan, Midori's contact who seemed to have some real world experience with demons.

Hey, I'm new to Hellmouth Online and just thought that I'd introduce myself. I'm OokamiDuran and as some of you guessed I'm from Japan. Anyway I got interested in demons when I ran into a vampire one night! I managed to stake it somehow and get away... I promise I'm not some techsavvy vamp who's infiltrated your boards as a way to pass the daylight hours. -.o

Anyway, I had a couple... I guess theoretical questions about demons and magic. Say someone had found a really old ritual but it had parts missing, so they just filled the missing bits with their best guess. If the ritual still worked could there be problems associated with that? Don't look at me like that I'm not planning on actually doing this, I was just wondering because I watched Jurassic Park this week and it made me wonder if maybe there were parallels to be found in Magic.

Thanks!

~OokamiDuran 3

Oh, if anyone has ICQ and wants to get in touch with me that way I'm 57-670-346. If you message me wanting to cyberz you will be ignored. Thx.

Natsuki sat down to wait, starting up a game of Minesweeper to help pass the time despite knowing there was no way that she would beat Midori's record times. About ten minutes later, ICQ blinked, letting her know she had a new message. Wow that was fast.

RedWiccan(35-593-730): Hey there! You're the one that posted the question on my message board right?

OokamiDuran(57-670-346): Ya that was me. Thanks for getting back to me so fast. That's cool that you have ICQ.

RedWiccan: Yah well, it was made by my people ya know? I figure I should represent. ;-)

OokamiDuran: ...wiccans?

RedWiccan: The Jews. :-)

OokamiDuran: Huh, I didn't know that... Anyway thanks again for contacting me, what with it being Friday and all. Dunno how late it is where you are...?

RedWiccan: Eh, hey no problem. I was gonna go out dancing with my friends tonight but that didn't pan out. My boyfriend's kindof out of town anyways so I just decided to stay in. And look! Here I am helping you! ...so it all worked out right?

OokamiDuran: lol, I guess. Sorry about your bf being out of town though.

RedWiccan: It's okay, he plays guitar in a band so he travels a lot. I don't mind as long as he's happy. Anyway to your question, what kind of ritual are we talking about exactly?

OokamiDuran: ...Would it matter? Just theoretically something so old that there wasn't really a good complete record of it.

RedWiccan: Well no not really, I was just asking because what the ritual was for might help me with thinking of what potential effects could happen from altering the spell. I like to think of Magic as being similar to a computer program you know? With lines of code? So if you know what the program is supposed to do, even if there are lines missing it's easy enough to see what you need to replace it with to get the desired functionality.

OokamiDuran: Huh, I've never heard someone describe magic that way before.

RedWiccan: Oh, yeah well... I'm kindof a computer wiz, so I sometimes say nerdy stuff like that...

OokamiDuran: Is that right? I was just talking with someone the other day about how girls who are awesome with computers are kindof hot. ^_-

RedWiccan: *blush* thanks. But anyway, I guess the problem that you could run across is that sometimes the new lines of code could interact with the old ones in unpredictable ways, like incompatibilities or something. Also, say the old code was written for an old Operating System or something that doesn't exist anymore. You might have to make modifications to the original code too for it to work right. With a magic ritual that could mean it called for ingredients that aren't available in modern times or are illegal, like yunno human body parts or something.

RedWiccan: You said you were in Japan right? Are you an international university student there or something? Your English seems really good.

OokamiDuran: Hah no... My guardian is half-British so we speak a lot of English at home is all.

RedWiccan: ;-P I see... I won't ask how old you are or anything then, don't want to get in trouble. Did ya have any other questions ya wanted answered?

OokamiDuran: There was one thing, but I'd want to make sure that you keep this to yourself. I'm nervous to share it with anyone, but I'm also worried about it.

RedWiccan: Don't worry; your secret is safe with me. :-)

OokamiDuran: Thank you. Just to warn you this might come off sounding a bit crazy. I'm only going to give the basic details that I'm worried about, since I worry about giving out too many things on the internet. Especially since we just met. No hard feelings though?

OokamiDuran: Alright... So a bunch of years ago, I got magically... infected I guess by a demon essence. It was a wolf-like demon, I dunno if that would be relevant. Anyway, for years there weren't any bad effects from it. But after my birthday last week, I have started having really sharp pains in the muscles under some of the old scars and they are changing colours. And kindof hot to the touch.

RedWiccan: Gosh... well are you okay otherwise? Because even if it is magically related, sometimes some of the physical symptoms can be treated by normal means. Like if you had a really bad fever you could take something for it. I mean the most important thing is that you're physically stable for now.

OokamiDuran: Yeah, nothing like that is happening, just the pain. Thank you for the advice there though, I didn't know that.

RedWiccan: heh, no problemo I'm here to help! Anyway... I dunno it sounds almost like transformation magic. See, my boyfriend I mentioned earlier? He's a werewolf. And he always says how the change is really painful. :-( But a bite or something would have effected you pretty much immediately from what I know. :-\

OokamiDuran: Transformation magic? Like I could be turning into some kindof demon or something?

RedWiccan: Hey, it's not as bad as it sounds. No really! Not all demons are evil. If you have someone there who can help you with the change you can live a perfectly normal life. Well, I mean depending on what kindof demon it is...

OokamiDuran: *sigh* I really hope that isn't what's happening. I do have someone here who would be able to help me, but I don't want to be a burden to her.

RedWiccan: Hey now. If she's someone who cares about you, being able to help you won't be a burden to her alright? Don't be afraid to ask for help. And I'm always willing to help if I can too, just drop me a PM on the boards alright?

OokamiDuran: Aak she just got home, so I gotta logoff. Thanks so much for your help. I added you on ICQ if that's alright? You seem pretty cool, and it's nice to have someone to talk to about this who doesn't think I'm crazy.

RedWiccan: Thanks, you too! Good luck, I hope you figure things out.

OokamiDuran(57-670-346)has logged off.

Natsuki quickly improperly powered down the computer by pulling the cord from the wall just as Midori was walking in the door from the dojo. "Hey Midori!" She greeted her voice at a higher pitch than normal.

Luckily Midori didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. She seemed to be in an extra cheerful mood actually. "Hey you! Hurry up! We've got naginatajutsu training with Shizuru this afternoon."

"Fine! Slave driver Watcher..." Natsuki grumbled playfully as she headed out to the dojo to get ready. She smiled to herself, looking forward to spending some time with Shizuru.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki growled as she squeezed the throttle harder on her bike, trying to get even a little more speed, laughing a bit as the engine complained loudly that it was already going as fast as it could. It had been ten days since the pain in her arms had started, and this morning when she had woken up she noticed that the old scars were now completely blackened. The only good sign that she could see was that they didn't hurt quite so much today, and the area was also much cooler. She hoped that she had just been worried over nothing. She still hadn't told anyone but RedWiccan about her problem.

She downshifted a bit as she came to a particularly sharp turn, bleeding off speed as she leaned into the tight curve. Tonight she was heading in to the city to deal with a slime demon that had been causing problems at one of the bus stops near the river. It was really close to a highway overpass too, and some of the homeless in the city that no one liked to admit existed had also been killed by the demon. She had her daishou blades strapped to her back and was ready for action. She didn't often get to use the katana and wakizashi pair, as openly carrying blades tended to get one some unwanted attention, so she was really looking forward to the chance. Still, she was a bit worried as she hadn't done any really heavy slaying since the pain started, just dusted the occasional vamp that didn't put up much fight.

It was late when she arrived at the bus stop, after midnight, and the streets around it were relatively deserted. Under the bridge about a half km away there were a couple of homeless men in tattered clothes leaning up against a concrete support. The Slayer surveyed the area, looking for any clues that might help her locate the slime demon. She glanced up, seeing the full moon peeking through, its soft white light being nearly drowned out by the light from the city reflecting off the clouds. She jumped her bike up onto the sidewalk, taking it offroad and closer to the rocky terrain along the river, keeping her speed slow hoping to look like good bait.

Hearing the sound of a bus approaching turned back to face the stop, her alert heightening as the bus screeched to a halt, its doors opening to allow several drunken looking business men to disembark. The men were laughing loudly and stumbling slightly as they made their way onto the sidewalk, with suit blazers draped across their arms and loosened, crooked neckties. One of the men was even still taking the occasional sip from a flask of something clearly strongly alcoholic. She followed them slowly at a distance, trying to keep the sound of her engine quiet enough that it wouldn't be easily heard over their conversation.

The trio had only made it about halfway to the bridge overpass when Natsuki saw an amorphous form oozing up from out of a nearby storm drain before slowly materializing into a hulking, vaguely humanoid form. Of course, it's always the sewer. She revved her engine, removing her hand not on the throttle to unsheathe the katana on her back, readying for what was likely to be a futile first strike. But hopefully it will at least get it focused on me.

The drunken men did turn around at the high whine from the dirtbike's engine, their eyes widening, two of them giving rather womanly screams of surprise at the sight of the slime demon lurking behind them. The demon had only taken another few steps toward them when the Slayer sped by, slicing her katana neatly through one gelatinous leg. She kicked the gearshift and used her weight to assist in whipping the bike around to face the demon, her katana still held out in front of her facing the large greenish brown creature.

As she suspected the demon simply gave a gurgling laugh as slime dripping from his body quickly healed the sliced limb. She cut her engine and dismounted her bike, gently laying it down on its side. "If anyone touches that bike, they're next after I take care of Slimey here. Understood?" She growled out, certainly not willing to let some drunk that she was sticking her neck out for steal her prized possession. The three drunken men just nodded frantically, backing away with wobbly steps from the demon, afraid to take their eyes off of it.

Natsuki sighed to herself as she drew her wakizashi. Bladed weapons weren't really ideal for dealing with a reconstituting demon like this one. Sometimes they did have a single solid weak spot though that if you broke it they couldn't reform anymore, usually somewhere obvious like in the eyes... which would be easy if the demon wasn't eight feet tall. She rolled her shoulders, adjusting the sword hilts in leather-gloved hands, her katana in her right and the smaller wakizashi in her left. "Alright Splat!" She called out to the demon, "Let's get this started, I've got places to be."

The demon gave its squelching, gurgling chuckle and lumbered towards her, leaving globs of dirty slime on the ground in its path. She looked over the demon again as he charged her, casually sidestepping him as he got too close, turning to face him. Great he's a Cyclops too, that just makes this even easier if I can figure out how to reach it. She dodged a slime ball thrown at her head as she ran in close, hissing slightly as another hit her leg, burning into the smooth skin on her shin and calf muscle. A powerful sweeping cut of the katana completely severed both legs at the knees, causing the demon to lose several feet of height while it flailed its arms, trying to rapidly reform. Natsuki never gave it the chance, staying on the offensive dancing around her opponent; rapidly slicing bits completely off until the eye was within easy reach of her blades, earning several more acid burns on her skin for her troubles.

Raising her swords she quickly sliced both in opposite directions through the great eye that exploded in a spray of grey jelly, cursing when she saw the magic core fall out of the demon to roll down the sidewalk. The current form of the demon collapsed to the ground sending dirty globs of slime splashing everywhere as the magic core seemed to increase its speed down the street hoping to get away undetected. Natsuki charged after it and quickly shattered the brittle object between her boot and the sidewalk's concrete, wincing as bits of sharp, dirty glasslike dust flew up at speed, slicing into her legs. Still she grinned with satisfaction as the object was reduced to little more than bits of dirt.

Natsuki looked back and laughed when she saw the three drunken men passed out side by side on the sidewalk. She put her swords in one hand and grabbed her bike in the other, dragging them under the overpass so that she could wash her blades off in the river before heading home. Just as she had finished washing them and was getting ready to climb back on her bike, she felt a sharp pain unlike any she had experienced since the night of the ritual burn through her arms. She cried out and stumbled over to lean against the concrete piling as she tried to fight off the blinding pain, the darkening of her vision. For once the Slayer's body refused to ignore pain and she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki opened her eyes, squinting at the glaring brightness of the sun overhead. She was leaning up against a rusty pale orange rock formation in the middle of a scrub desert. Hot packed white dirt and sand stretched horizon to horizon, interrupted by more of the rock formations along with the occasional scraggly brown shrub or tuft of grass trying desperately to survive in this harsh dry landscape.

She opened her eyes a bit more as they finally adjusted to the bright light and was not surprised to see Duran approaching from her right. She wondered idly how he could possibly be comfortable in this place with all of his fur. Because this is just a dreamscape.

Natsuki just rolled her eyes, she really knew that. How else could she have gotten here so quickly from... wherever she just was. It had been still dark there... she looked up at Duran sharply, "Is my body safe? I think I passed out somewhere dangerous."

Duran nodded, There are no demons around, and the meek ones who live under the bridge will not harm you. They were frightened by what they saw you do, and have retreated to another place for the night.

"Thanks Duran, it makes me feel better to know that you think about things like that whenever you bring me somewhere for a chat." Her voice was slightly sarcastic; she was annoyed that he waited until now. He wanted to talk to her just as she was in horrible pain? How could that be a coincidence? "I suppose this means you have some idea what's been happening to me the past week or so?"

The large wolf shifted from paw to paw, actually looking somewhat nervous as he turned large green eyes away from Natsuki to look at a small lizard sunning itself on a nearby rock. Your body is finally strong enough to be granted the rest of my power. I suppose that if you had been given your power at this age or a little later like a normal Slayer you would have been given the power all at once. As it was, you needed time to grow nearer to your adult size.

Natsuki nodded, her eyes narrowed in suspicion, "And you brought me here now to explain yourself? After I spent these last few days wondering if I was dying or turning into some kindof demon or something? Or worse losing my Slayer powers!"

The wolf let out a soft whine; I thought you would know that it was me. I didn't realize it would cause you to worry.

The Slayer let out a growl, "Of course it would. Being in horrible pain and old wounds changing colours are things that naturally cause most mortals to worry Duran." Seeing that the supernatural wolf clearly didn't understand where he'd gone wrong, Natsuki just sighed and let it drop. After all she was apparently still alive, and still had her Slayer powers. "So what did you want to explain again?"

Duran padded over and nosed her arm lightly, It would be easier if you just looked.

"Huh?" She questioned as she ran her eyes down her bare arm. It looked the same as always, only with the now completely dark scars... Or at least it did until her eyes reached her fisted hands. She blinked a few times, not quite believing what she was seeing. There, jutting out from between her knuckles were metal-tipped boneclaws. They were about four inches in length, tapering from just over half an inch in diameter at the base near her knuckles, down to razor-sharp points at their tips. The entire length of them from the tips coated with some metal, to the base where they disappeared into her hands was coated in a thin sheen of blood. A small amount of blood was still oozing out around their base. "Um... Duran?" She asked her voice at least an octave higher than usual, "Did you... turn me into Wolverine?"

The wolf bared his teeth, attempting to imitate a human grin, All of my demonic descendents have claws, I thought that my Chosen should as well.

"Uh... Thanks." She brought her right hand closer to her eyes to inspect her new claws more closely. "Not to sound ungrateful, but are they retractable or something? Because they could get in the way of normal human activities besides fighting. Not to mention make me really stand out in a crowd."

Duran nodded, If you just think of how you want them to move, they will. Just like any other part of your body really. He hesitated, The only thing I couldn't seem to fix is they will cause you pain when you extend them.

Natsuki shrugged, "As long as the pain isn't quite as intense as it was when they were growing in I can deal with it. I'm a Slayer; pain is something I live with."

For a moment green eyes met, the wolf's shining with sadness, Yes... I suppose you do know something of pain. A warrior's life will always have conflict. That is why I wanted to make sure I gave you this last gift. You will be tested soon.

The Slayer sighed, "I thought that might be the case. Most Slayers don't live as long as I have. I worry that I've just been lucky because none of the baddies really know I exist, since there's only supposed to be the One."

Duran's eyes twinkled, Indeed. Though it appears that the Powers' Chosen has shaken things up. She managed to die and yet still live. Now there are Two.

Natsuki blinked, "Two real Slayers?"

You are a real Slayer too. You are just not from the same family I suppose you could say. Don't be unsure of yourself or your abilities Natsuki. The wolf rested a gentle paw on his Chosen's back. It is only natural for a pup your age to question things, but don't question that. You are just as capable of being strong as they are.

"Thank you Duran." Natsuki yawned, her eyes feeling heavy. "I think... I have to go."

The wolf rubbed his warm nose against his Chosen's neck, Be safe. His eyes were sad as he watched the form of his Chosen slowly fade away.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki awoke with a start to the harsh sound of seagulls calling and the soft light of dawn. She groaned as she slowly sat up from her position slumped against hard concrete, her entire body hurt. She looked around, relieved to see that her bike was still lying on its side where she dropped it as she passed out. It didn't look too much worse for wear, though it seemed to have a bit of scraped paint she noted with a frown.

She blinked, suddenly remembering her dream with Duran. She looked down at her still gloved hands, but didn't notice any rip in the leather where claws could have come out. She carefully reached down and removed her gloves, shoving them into the pockets of the armoured leather jacket that lay on the ground beside her. Apparently she had been using it as a pillow. How did that happen when I was unconscious?

Gazing down at her hands, they looked the same as always. Her wrists would have been rather petite, but they were thickened by cords of muscle earned with years of wielding all manner of heavy weapons. Her palms were rough and calloused, and right now there was mud caked into the creases in the skin. Her fingers were short and thick with closely trimmed nails that were so dirty she might be mistaken for a vampire that had recently dug out of a grave. Both hands were liberally covered in scars of various sizes, some a fresh angry red others so pale they were barely visible unless you knew where to look.

They were a warrior's hands. But she still didn't see any signs of something as crazy as freaking claws. She slowly closed her fingers into fists, watching the small muscles in her hands moving under the skin, causing the veins and tendons to pop out in sharper relief. No claws. She thought back to her dream, trying to remember what Duran had said. That she just needed to feel that they were out? How was that supposed to feel exactly, it's not like she'd ever had claws before to know. What did Wolverine always do? Natsuki laughed, feeling more than a little insane as she thought about it that way.

Getting to her feet she let out a growl and punched her hands down at a forty-five degree angle, tensing all the muscles in her shoulders and arms. Then she bit down hard on the insides of her cheeks as she tried not to cry out at the sudden pain shooting down the muscles under her scars and into her hands. She winced at the sound of bones scraping against each other under her skin, and the sickening feeling of the soft tissue in her arms and hands ripping as something pushed through. Finally unable to hold it in, she let out the battle yell that she often used when charging into a nest of vamps, sending all of the nearby birds flying off chirping in panic.

Then the pain stopped. She looked down and there they were, dripping libations of her legendary Slayer blood onto the dirty concrete. Well fuck me. She brought her right fist up to examine the claws, and sure enough they looked just as they had in her dream. The hard gleaming metal on the sharp tips seemed silver in colour, though she couldn't tell if it was actually silver or some other metal. The base of each claw did indeed seem to be made of bone. She wondered idly if they would grow back if they somehow got broken off, even as she winced at how painful that would likely be.

Acting on a hunch she thought of withdrawing just the claws on her right hand, and was pleased to note that retracting them wasn't nearly as painful. Her eyes widened in surprise as the wounds the claws had exited through almost immediately healed over. Grinning she used the claws on her left hand and opened up some deep gashes on her right bicep, only to frown when they didn't heal over in a similarly speedy fashion. Bracing herself she reextended the claws on her right hand, pleased to note that while it was still rather painful, it wasn't nearly as excruciating as it had been the first time, smirking a little at the dirty thought that brought to mind. Looking back up at the sky she realized that she should hurry up and head home as it was already nearly midmorning.

She walked into the house thirty minutes later to see Midori sitting at the counter in front of the computer which was happily creating a variety of multicoloured plumbing on its monitor. She was dressed in her street clothes and there was a mug of cold coffee on the counter near her. She was probably trying to look like she hadn't been up all night worrying. It was a failed attempt though, because she was sound asleep, her glasses had fallen off her face as she snoozed, her head resting on her arms. Aaw, my poor Watcher. When she had first become a Slayer Natsuki had thought that she could never sit still again, but lately she found that she could enjoy being still if she was watching someone she cared about, especially Shizuru or Midori. She guessed it was because being able to see her loved ones safe and happy was one of the main reasons that she trained so hard to be a good Slayer.

Natsuki walked quietly up behind the slumbering redhead, wrapping her in a gentle hug. She nuzzled into her Watcher's neck, blinking in surprise when she realized the redhead smelled different than normal. "Midori." She called softly into her Watcher's ear, smiling as the woman just mumbled something and burrowed her face into her arms. "Come on Midori, you're gonna be sore if you sleep like that any longer."

"Huh, wha?" Hazel eyes opened slowly, blinking at the morning light flooding into the kitchen. "Oh Natsuki, you're home." She smiled sheepishly; looking up into her Slayer's shining green eyes. "I guess I fell asleep doing research."

The Slayer sighed softly, running her hand through the long red hair, liking how it looked falling over the older woman's shoulders, for once not tied back in a ponytail. "You were staying up late because you were waiting for me to get home." She grabbed her Watcher's glasses off the counter, playfully placing them back on her face. "I'm sorry I made you worry."

Midori just shook her head, "If you're okay, it's fine. What happened last night? Did you have trouble with that slime demon? I didn't think there was anything special about it..."

"No it wasn't that. Your research was spot on as always." Natsuki looked down at her Watcher's hands where they were picking at the cuff of the wrinkled white oxford shirt. "Something's been happening to me the past week or so that I haven't told you about because I didn't want to worry you." Sensing Midori's sharp glance even though she wasn't looking her in the eye, Natsuki hastily continued, "But I figured out that it's no big deal now anyway so I was worried over nothing, so we don't have to worry. I'm sorry I was out so late, it won't happen again."

Midori reached out and squeezed a muscled shoulder gently, causing the Slayer to raise guilty green eyes to her own. "Natsuki, you know that explanation isn't going to cut it right?" She asked softly, "You know I'm not going to yell at you don't you? I just want you to trust me. Let me help you."

Natsuki felt tears in her eyes at the pleading tone in her Watcher's voice, the weight of her worry from the last week finally catching up to her. It seemed like she was always getting things wrong, even though she knew Midori wanted to be able to help, she never wanted to share her problems because they made her feel like a burden. "I'm sorry." She backed away from her Watcher and slowly removed the leather glove from her left hand, holding her fist out over the cream colour counter top. "Stay back for a moment, I don't want to hurt you." She said without explanation. Taking a deep breath, she bit down hard on her tongue, holding her Watcher's eyes as she extended her claws, hearing Midori's surprised gasp and the quiet drip of her blood as it fell, darkening the light marble.

She then reached up with her right hand and pulled up the ripped sleeve of the black shirt she had been wearing so that Midori could see the change in her scars. "They started changing that to that colour ten days ago. Last night I passed out and had a Slayer dream about the claws and when I woke up this morning, I realized it wasn't just weird dream symbolism." She explained succinctly, leaving out the part about her panicked worrying and the excruciating pain. Natsuki quickly went to the sink and washed off the worst of the blood from the claws, ignoring the slight sting as the water splashed onto the open wounds. She then walked back over to Midori, slowly offering her left hand to her Watcher to examine. "And you thought I was just kidding about the Wolverine stuff." She quipped.

Midori just stared at the claws; her eyes alight with that scientific curiosity she got when she stumbled across a particularly interesting research topic. "Natsuki these are astounding! None of the Watcher diaries ever mentioned anything remotely like this."

The dark haired girl shrugged and spoke softly, "Well we've always known that I'm not exactly a Slayer. Just close enough."

The redhead gave Natsuki a soft kiss on her cheek, "As far as I'm concerned, you're the best Slayer. Until I met you I trained my whole life hoping that someday I could be a Watcher for a Slayer with even some of your dedication and skill. Natsuki, I've read Watcher diaries about Slayers who liked their calling, but didn't take training seriously and ended up getting killed because of it. Or Slayers who just trained even though they hated it, who thought that being Chosen was a horrible curse so they were always miserable even if they took their training seriously enough to do well. You though... you seem to really enjoy being a Slayer despite all the difficulties and risks, and you're so dedicated to bettering your skills. I'm not saying I don't worry about you all of the time, but Natsuki being your Watcher has truly been the most amazing thing in my life. You really make me proud Natsuki. Don't doubt yourself just because you didn't come by the destiny the traditional way." Midori pleaded her voice rough.

"Thanks Midori... I'll try to let that go." Natsuki sighed retracting her claws, and then smiled slyly as she thought of something to lighten the mood. "So, did you and Yohko-sensei have a good time last night?" She laughed as her Watcher blushed hotly, unable to find the right words to explain herself. Natsuki grinned, "Hey it's alright. I want you to be happy. And she's not even a senior citizen, so that's great."

Midori rolled her eyes, "You're really not going to ever let me live that down are you? It was just the one older man, and he was this super-intelligent mentor of mine who seemed to always have the answers to everything. You couldn't really understand at your age I guess."

Studying her Watcher's face carefully, Natsuki thought secretly that she just might understand, but she didn't want to say anything to make Midori feel awkward. "Hey, you wanna hang out for a bit while I play Final Fantasy VIII?" At Midori's indifferent shrug, Natsuki grinned. "Great! Just let me make the popcorn and stuff. You go lie down on the sofa and get comfy; I'll just sit on the floor." A half hour later Natsuki looked over from watching Rinoa tumbling helplessly through the dark vacuum of space to see that Midori was sprawled out on her back, sound asleep. She smiled sadly at the sight, noting with guilt how the little lines around her Watcher's eyes seemed deeper and that even in sleep she had a worried expression on her face. Natsuki reached out a hand to gently rub the bridge of the redhead's nose where she always got a wrinkle in her skin when worried, and then leaned in to kiss her cheek feeling better when Midori smiled in her sleep in response. I'm sorry I made you worry about me again. I promise I'll do better. She turned back to her game, feeling a flutter in her heart as Squall reached Rinoa just in time. She shivered as she remembered Duran's warning in her dream, and offered a silent prayer that she would always be just in time to save the ones she loved.

"The last thing she'll see is me protecting her."