Yamato, the Vampire Slayer
The Calling
By the Empress of the Eclipse
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon and I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though I'd be happy to own either/both.
There's TAITO and there will be DAIKEN and there's Angel/Spike and some other pairings too. So it's YAOI and SLASH!!!!!!!!!
Yes all right, so Joss has said that Buffy's death will not call another Slayer but I've explained that later on, please cut me some slack, it's fanfic.
For Buffy fans who don't know anything about Japan, the last name always comes first (hence in the introductions, he's Ishida Yamato, rather than Yamato Ishida). Everything else you need will probably be explained. If there's something you don't get, say on your review and I'll explain in the next part. Thanks.
"This is impossible."
"But it is true. The signs are never wrong."
"This is completely unprecedented. He's male!"
"But it has happened. He is the new Chosen One."
"What shall we do?"
"We have no right to ignore the Calling. We must send somebody immediately."
"Who do you suggest?"
"I think a certain Ms Fuyutsuki will be best for this job. Call her and prepare her straight away.
* * * *
Matt Ishida walked out of school, trying not to hit people with his guitar case. He'd been supposed to have a band practise but owing to someone filling the practise rooms with about half a ton of jelly donuts, it was now impossible.
"That thing's a deadly weapon," Akemi remarked "You could murder someone and make it look like an accident."
"Only you'd think of that," Matt said.
"Sometimes, I wish I played the guitar," Akemi said thoughtfully.
"So do we," Istu said "Especially when you rope us into lugging your drum kit about!"
Everyone laughed. Matt shook his head. Sometimes he felt that being in a band was more trouble than it was worth, especially if the band were loopy.
"You lot are crazy," he said fondly.
"So are you!" came the chorus. Matt was always telling the band that they were insane and they were all used to it.
"So, you coming out tonight?" Akemi asked.
Matt shook his head.
"I'm falling behind in homework," he said "You remember Dad's lecture, if I want to waste time in a band, fine, but if it interferes with my school work - "
" - it'll have to go!" the band finished in unison. They'd all heard Mr Ishida's reel before.
"Aw come on Matt!" Akemi said "One night won't kill you! Please!"
"Nope," Matt said firmly "Akemi, you know what happens when I go out with you! It takes about a week for me to recover from it!"
The band all laughed. They were all accustomed to Akemi's 'nights out'.
"Oh all right," Akemi said sulkily "But you aren't getting out of it next time, so beware!"
Matt snorted.
"I'll see you guys later okay? Tai's got soccer practise and I agreed to wait."
"Ah, tagging after Taichi-chan again?" Gendo teased "Sometimes you're worse than Istu!"
Istu gave a haughty sniff.
"I never tag," he said "Sometimes I watch longingly and sometimes I follow around endlessly. But tagging is something that I have never yet done."
Matt blushed. He knew that Istu held a torch for him in the same way that he held a torch for Tai. Only Istu made no secret of his affection and only the band knew about Matt's feelings for Tai. Also, Matt was never quite sure how much of Istu's affection was real and how much was a joke, making it more complicated to judge.
"I'll see you later," he said, settling down on the steps.
"Bye Matt!" the band chorused before separating.
Matt took out some of his homework and began to work, knowing that Tai wouldn't be out for ages yet. He nearly always waited for Tai after soccer practise. He'd done it really ever since they'd left the Digital world four years back. He hadn't been completely head-over-heels in love with Tai then of course. But he'd always admired Tai in a sort of hero-worshipy thing. Not that you'd have guessed from the fights they'd used to have. Trying to save the world - well, two worlds really - was difficult, especially if you had a personality clash with the leader of the group.
He'd finished most of his homework when he felt a prickle go down his spine. Someone was watching him.
Matt looked up and realised who it was straight away. Well, it wasn't hard as she was standing right in front of him.
'She' was a woman about thirty-something years old with brown hair scraped back in a forbidding bun. She had stern looking grey-green and was looking at Matt in a scrutinising way that Matt didn't like. He began putting away his things quickly, preparing to go.
"Are you Ishida Yamato?" the woman asked.
"Yes," Matt said, then regretted it. He didn't mean to give this woman anything.
"I'm Fuyutsuki Ishiko," the woman said "You must come with me."
"Excuse me?" Matt said "I'm not going anywhere with you!"
"You must," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "Your destiny awaits you."
"My destiny?" Matt repeated "Um, I really think you've got the wrong person."
He wasn't certain but...well, this woman didn't look like someone who was involved with the Digidestined stuff and even if she was, the younger ones were the real set of Digidestined anyway.
"Maybe you want my brother or Davis or Iori or Ken," he suggested, naming the boys in the younger Digidestined group.
"No," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "I mean you. You are the Chosen One. You alone can stop them."
"Stop who?" Matt said uncertainly.
"The vampires."
Matt stared at Ishiko Fuyutsuki. She looked normal enough but she was obviously insane.
"Okay. Are you visiting from a hospital somewhere by any chance?" he asked, thinking that he could probably run away if she tried to grab him.
Ishiko Fuyutsuki gave him a slightly annoyed look.
"No," she said "I can understand that this must be difficult for you to believe. But you are the Slayer. I can prove it to you."
"Really?" Matt said.
"Meet me by the graveyard at 11:30," Ishiko Fuyutsuki ordered "I'll prove it to you there."
Matt knew that he should refuse. But something inside him was telling him to agree. It was like a part of him had been woken up by her words and was telling him to believe her.
"All right," he said at last "I'll see you there."
"Good," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "I'll expect you to be punctual. I can't abide lateness. Wear something you can move about in easily that won't hamper you. And come alone. Only you can know about this."
She turned and swept off, leaving Matt staring after her.
* * * *
At 11:30, Matt stood outside the graveyard. Ishiko Fuyutsuki was already there.
"Good, you're on time," she said "Come along. And have this."
She pushed something into Matt's hands. Matt looked at it. It was a long, pointed, wooden stake.
Ishiko Fuyutsuki led him to a freshly dug grave. Matt stood there, shivering. He wasn't sure if it was the cold air or something else but he couldn't stop quaking.
"What are we waiting for?" he asked.
"The vampire to rise," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said, sounding patient.
"This is stupid," Matt said "Vampires aren't real. No way is anything going to come out of that grave."
Ishiko Fuyutsuki ignored him. She was watching the grave.
"At last," she whispered suddenly.
Matt looked - and froze.
Two hands had emerged from the freshly dug earth. As Matt, watching, gaping with shock, a woman pulled herself out.
But she wasn't normal. Her face was twisted, grotesque. And Matt could see her elongated teeth. She looked at him with yellow eyes and then smiled. Matt could only stand there, frozen to the spot with horror. The vampire lunged at him. Matt yelped and dodged blindly, stumbling over a low gravestone. The vampire lunged again and Matt only just managed to roll away.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God..."
"Stop mewing like that and fight her! Use your stake!" he heard Ishiko Fuyutsuki shout.
Matt stumbled to his feet, looking at the stake in his hand. As the vampire lunged again, he shoved blindly, knocking her to the ground. Dropping to his knees beside her, he blindly jabbed. There was a disgusting sound of the stake entering flesh and the vampire moaned. Matt realised that he'd missed the heart and continued blindly stabbing, trying to remember where the heart was from his biology lessons. The vampire swiped at him, catching him on the cheek with her fingernails. Matt yelled and gave a violent stab. The vampire moaned, then exploded into dust. Matt jerked backwards, staring at the dusty grass.
"You see?" Ishiko Fuyutsuki said quietly from behind him.
Matt stared. He was still gripping the stake in his hand. There was blood on it, he saw, blood from all his misses. Abruptly, the memory of the stake sinking into flesh came back to him, the strange sound of it sinking in. Doubling up, he was violently sick on the place where the vampire had died.
"Oh God, this isn't real, it's not real..."
He huddled there, clutching the stake in his hands, needing something real to connect him to the real world. He felt like he was floating, looking down at himself crouching on the ground.
"Yamato Ishida, don't you dare pass out!"
He blinked and came back to his own body with a thud. Ishiko Fuyutsuki was glaring at him. Her face softened slightly when she saw the panic in his eyes.
"Come along," she said gently "We can't talk here. Come back to my apartment and I'll explain everything there."
Matt slowly got up and let her lead him away.
* * * *
The apartment was sparsely furnished but there was an oddly homely feeling to it. Matt drank the tea that Ishiko Fuyutsuki gave him. She sat opposite him.
"Are you ready to hear?"
Matt nodded. Ishiko Fuyutsuki began to explain.
"The world is older than you know and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the Earth and made it their home, their Hell. In time, they lost their purchase on this reality and the way was made for mortal animals, for man. What remains of the Old Ones now are vestiges, certain magics, certain creatures. And vampires. The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was human form possessed - infected - by the demon's soul. He bit another and another...and so they walk the Earth, feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out and the Old Ones to return. But as long as there have been vampires, there has been a Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires and stop the spread of their evil."
Matt blinked.
"Huh? One girl?"
"Yes. The Slayer has always been female. So has it always been, so shall it always be," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said.
"I'm not a girl," Matt said.
"No," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "But you should have been."
"Excuse me?" Matt said.
"This is completely new and has never happened before," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "But you Yamato Ishida, you should have been a girl. You are a girl trapped in a boy's body."
"WHAT?"
"You are a transsexual," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said.
"I am not!" Matt yelled "I am not a girl trapped in a boy's body! You haven't got a clue what you are talking about you crazy old witch!"
"Less of that!" Ishiko Fuyutsuki snapped "I know that this must be a shock but there's no need for that sort of reaction. It is the truth. Surely you must have had some suspicions?"
"No! It's not true!"
But Matt felt a twinge of doubt. He had been noticing recently that he was looking more and more feminine. He'd always been rather feminine in fact, right from when he was little. He'd always been prettier than the average boy. Not handsome. Pretty. And something in him had always made him keep his blonde hair long and style it painstakingly. And then there was the fact that he liked guys rather than girls...
"No," he said "No, no, no! I am not transsexual! I'm not a girl! I am a guy!"
Ishiko Fuyutsuki shook her head.
"This is the first time this has ever happened," she said "If it wasn't for the unique circumstances of your calling, I don't believe that it would have been possible at all. However, what with things being as they are..."
"Unique circumstances?" Matt asked.
"As I said earlier, normally, there is only one Slayer in all the world. When one Slayer dies, the next one is called. The Slayer whose death called you was called Buffy Summers. Some years ago, she was drowned but she was revived by a friend. However, her death activated the next Slayer. When that Slayer died, another Slayer was activated. This meant that there were two Slayers all the time. However, recently, Buffy Summers died again. The Watchers Council assumed that her death would not activate another Slayer as she had already left the chain. But Buffy Summers always liked to be controversial and her death activated you. Normally, the magic would have realised that you were in a male body and would have cut you out. However, as Buffy had already left the chain, the magics must have been unbalanced. Hence your calling."
Matt rubbed his face.
"Miss Fuyutsuki..."
"Ms if you please."
"Ms then. If there's another Slayer, why can't she do it and leave me alone?" he asked.
Ms Fuyutsuki gave a thin-lipped smile.
"Because the other Slayer is in an American prison," she said coolly.
"Prison!"
"She killed somebody in the line of duty and the went off the rails," Ms Fuyutsuki said "Eventually she handed herself in, seeking redemption. She will probably be in jail for the rest of her life."
Matt stared at her.
"Besides, it is not our policy to ignore anyone who has been Called," Ms Fuyutsuki said "You could do terrible things with the Slayer strength if you were not trained to it."
Matt wasn't really listening. He was trying to make sense of everything.
"So if I hadn't been called, they'd have been no Slayer?"
Ms Fuyutsuki smiled again, rather unpleasantly.
"If you hadn't been called, an assassin would have been dispatched to deal with Faith," she said.
Seeing Matt's shocked stare, she shrugged.
"We're fighting a war here Yamato. We can't afford weakness. And there must always be an active Slayer."
Matt swallowed painfully.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Didn't I tell you? I'm your Watcher. Every Slayer has a Watcher. The Watcher prepares the Slayer, teaches her, trains her for whatever she might come across."
"What if I don't want to be the Slayer?"
"You have no choice. You have been activated. You already are a Slayer."
Matt shuddered.
"No," he said "I can't do this. I can't. You've got the wrong person. I'm not a Slayer. I can't do this."
"Oh I don't know," Ms Fuyutsuki said "You dealt with that vampire very well. True, it was rather sloppy but I think with practise - "
"I don't want to practise!" Matt cried "I don't want to be good at that!"
"All the other Slayers have grown used to staking vampires and killing other unpleasant things. You will too," Ms Fuyutsuki said.
Matt shook his head.
"Not me. I never will," he said "I can't do it!"
"Will you turn your back on the world?" Ms Fuyutsuki asked "With Buffy Summers dead and Faith in jail, you are the only one standing between the world and it's destruction."
Matt's shoulders drooped. Watching him, Ms Fuyutsuki knew that she'd got him. Matt would take the responsibility, just as every other Slayer had done before him.
"I want you here tomorrow at 4:30," she said crisply "We must start your training straight away."
"I have band practise," Matt said.
"Not anymore," Ms Fuyutsuki said "You have training with me. You'll have to cancel. Your band is not important."
"It is to me," Matt said "I need to practise so we can get famous when I'm grown up."
He didn't see the flash of pity on Ms Fuyutsuki's face. It was gone by the time he looked at her again.
"Never-the-less, I'm expecting you here at 4:30," she said "I run a tight ship and I expect you to obey my orders. I'll work you hard and I won't take excuses. But I'll make you a good Slayer. And that will keep you alive."
Matt nodded his head.
"Right. Great."
Ms Fuyutsuki stood up.
"Tomorrow at 4:30 then," she said.
Matt walked out in a daze. He walked home slowly, forgetting to be quiet when he sneaked in. Luckily, his father slept like a log and didn't wake up. He examined the scratches on his face. They weren't very deep and he decided to say that he'd fallen into a bush. He changed without even thinking about it and collapsed into the bed, shivering. He wondered if it was true that vampires could only come in if invited. Maybe if he went to sleep, tomorrow he'd wake up and this would just be a bad dream.
Maybe.
He didn't see the man staring at him through his window, or hear the thump as he dropped down to the pavement.
The man walked down the street and into an alley where another man was waiting.
"Well?"
The first man snickered slightly and lit up a cigarette.
"Buffy did like to do things differently. The Slayer's a boy!"
"What? That's impossible!"
"But true. Unless you know any sixteen year old girls with no breasts and a co - "
"Thank you, I believe you."
"Looks pretty girly though. Bet he gets called all sorts at school."
"That'll soon stop when he gets his Slayer strength up."
"Very true."
The first man took a deep drag on his cigarette.
"So what do you want to do?" the second man asked "Hang around for a while?"
"D'you really think that the new Watcher is going to appreciate that?"
"No. But you wanted to come here."
"True."
They stood in silence for a while. The first man stubbed out his cigarette with a sigh.
"Let's stay for a while," the second man suggested "Keep our eye on things. It's not going to go away."
"Right you are Peaches," the first man said cheerfully "We'll watch him for a while."
"Now that's decided, can we get back to the hotel?"
"Sure."
They walked off together into the darkness.
The End of Part 1.
The Calling
By the Empress of the Eclipse
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon and I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though I'd be happy to own either/both.
There's TAITO and there will be DAIKEN and there's Angel/Spike and some other pairings too. So it's YAOI and SLASH!!!!!!!!!
Yes all right, so Joss has said that Buffy's death will not call another Slayer but I've explained that later on, please cut me some slack, it's fanfic.
For Buffy fans who don't know anything about Japan, the last name always comes first (hence in the introductions, he's Ishida Yamato, rather than Yamato Ishida). Everything else you need will probably be explained. If there's something you don't get, say on your review and I'll explain in the next part. Thanks.
"This is impossible."
"But it is true. The signs are never wrong."
"This is completely unprecedented. He's male!"
"But it has happened. He is the new Chosen One."
"What shall we do?"
"We have no right to ignore the Calling. We must send somebody immediately."
"Who do you suggest?"
"I think a certain Ms Fuyutsuki will be best for this job. Call her and prepare her straight away.
* * * *
Matt Ishida walked out of school, trying not to hit people with his guitar case. He'd been supposed to have a band practise but owing to someone filling the practise rooms with about half a ton of jelly donuts, it was now impossible.
"That thing's a deadly weapon," Akemi remarked "You could murder someone and make it look like an accident."
"Only you'd think of that," Matt said.
"Sometimes, I wish I played the guitar," Akemi said thoughtfully.
"So do we," Istu said "Especially when you rope us into lugging your drum kit about!"
Everyone laughed. Matt shook his head. Sometimes he felt that being in a band was more trouble than it was worth, especially if the band were loopy.
"You lot are crazy," he said fondly.
"So are you!" came the chorus. Matt was always telling the band that they were insane and they were all used to it.
"So, you coming out tonight?" Akemi asked.
Matt shook his head.
"I'm falling behind in homework," he said "You remember Dad's lecture, if I want to waste time in a band, fine, but if it interferes with my school work - "
" - it'll have to go!" the band finished in unison. They'd all heard Mr Ishida's reel before.
"Aw come on Matt!" Akemi said "One night won't kill you! Please!"
"Nope," Matt said firmly "Akemi, you know what happens when I go out with you! It takes about a week for me to recover from it!"
The band all laughed. They were all accustomed to Akemi's 'nights out'.
"Oh all right," Akemi said sulkily "But you aren't getting out of it next time, so beware!"
Matt snorted.
"I'll see you guys later okay? Tai's got soccer practise and I agreed to wait."
"Ah, tagging after Taichi-chan again?" Gendo teased "Sometimes you're worse than Istu!"
Istu gave a haughty sniff.
"I never tag," he said "Sometimes I watch longingly and sometimes I follow around endlessly. But tagging is something that I have never yet done."
Matt blushed. He knew that Istu held a torch for him in the same way that he held a torch for Tai. Only Istu made no secret of his affection and only the band knew about Matt's feelings for Tai. Also, Matt was never quite sure how much of Istu's affection was real and how much was a joke, making it more complicated to judge.
"I'll see you later," he said, settling down on the steps.
"Bye Matt!" the band chorused before separating.
Matt took out some of his homework and began to work, knowing that Tai wouldn't be out for ages yet. He nearly always waited for Tai after soccer practise. He'd done it really ever since they'd left the Digital world four years back. He hadn't been completely head-over-heels in love with Tai then of course. But he'd always admired Tai in a sort of hero-worshipy thing. Not that you'd have guessed from the fights they'd used to have. Trying to save the world - well, two worlds really - was difficult, especially if you had a personality clash with the leader of the group.
He'd finished most of his homework when he felt a prickle go down his spine. Someone was watching him.
Matt looked up and realised who it was straight away. Well, it wasn't hard as she was standing right in front of him.
'She' was a woman about thirty-something years old with brown hair scraped back in a forbidding bun. She had stern looking grey-green and was looking at Matt in a scrutinising way that Matt didn't like. He began putting away his things quickly, preparing to go.
"Are you Ishida Yamato?" the woman asked.
"Yes," Matt said, then regretted it. He didn't mean to give this woman anything.
"I'm Fuyutsuki Ishiko," the woman said "You must come with me."
"Excuse me?" Matt said "I'm not going anywhere with you!"
"You must," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "Your destiny awaits you."
"My destiny?" Matt repeated "Um, I really think you've got the wrong person."
He wasn't certain but...well, this woman didn't look like someone who was involved with the Digidestined stuff and even if she was, the younger ones were the real set of Digidestined anyway.
"Maybe you want my brother or Davis or Iori or Ken," he suggested, naming the boys in the younger Digidestined group.
"No," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "I mean you. You are the Chosen One. You alone can stop them."
"Stop who?" Matt said uncertainly.
"The vampires."
Matt stared at Ishiko Fuyutsuki. She looked normal enough but she was obviously insane.
"Okay. Are you visiting from a hospital somewhere by any chance?" he asked, thinking that he could probably run away if she tried to grab him.
Ishiko Fuyutsuki gave him a slightly annoyed look.
"No," she said "I can understand that this must be difficult for you to believe. But you are the Slayer. I can prove it to you."
"Really?" Matt said.
"Meet me by the graveyard at 11:30," Ishiko Fuyutsuki ordered "I'll prove it to you there."
Matt knew that he should refuse. But something inside him was telling him to agree. It was like a part of him had been woken up by her words and was telling him to believe her.
"All right," he said at last "I'll see you there."
"Good," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "I'll expect you to be punctual. I can't abide lateness. Wear something you can move about in easily that won't hamper you. And come alone. Only you can know about this."
She turned and swept off, leaving Matt staring after her.
* * * *
At 11:30, Matt stood outside the graveyard. Ishiko Fuyutsuki was already there.
"Good, you're on time," she said "Come along. And have this."
She pushed something into Matt's hands. Matt looked at it. It was a long, pointed, wooden stake.
Ishiko Fuyutsuki led him to a freshly dug grave. Matt stood there, shivering. He wasn't sure if it was the cold air or something else but he couldn't stop quaking.
"What are we waiting for?" he asked.
"The vampire to rise," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said, sounding patient.
"This is stupid," Matt said "Vampires aren't real. No way is anything going to come out of that grave."
Ishiko Fuyutsuki ignored him. She was watching the grave.
"At last," she whispered suddenly.
Matt looked - and froze.
Two hands had emerged from the freshly dug earth. As Matt, watching, gaping with shock, a woman pulled herself out.
But she wasn't normal. Her face was twisted, grotesque. And Matt could see her elongated teeth. She looked at him with yellow eyes and then smiled. Matt could only stand there, frozen to the spot with horror. The vampire lunged at him. Matt yelped and dodged blindly, stumbling over a low gravestone. The vampire lunged again and Matt only just managed to roll away.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God..."
"Stop mewing like that and fight her! Use your stake!" he heard Ishiko Fuyutsuki shout.
Matt stumbled to his feet, looking at the stake in his hand. As the vampire lunged again, he shoved blindly, knocking her to the ground. Dropping to his knees beside her, he blindly jabbed. There was a disgusting sound of the stake entering flesh and the vampire moaned. Matt realised that he'd missed the heart and continued blindly stabbing, trying to remember where the heart was from his biology lessons. The vampire swiped at him, catching him on the cheek with her fingernails. Matt yelled and gave a violent stab. The vampire moaned, then exploded into dust. Matt jerked backwards, staring at the dusty grass.
"You see?" Ishiko Fuyutsuki said quietly from behind him.
Matt stared. He was still gripping the stake in his hand. There was blood on it, he saw, blood from all his misses. Abruptly, the memory of the stake sinking into flesh came back to him, the strange sound of it sinking in. Doubling up, he was violently sick on the place where the vampire had died.
"Oh God, this isn't real, it's not real..."
He huddled there, clutching the stake in his hands, needing something real to connect him to the real world. He felt like he was floating, looking down at himself crouching on the ground.
"Yamato Ishida, don't you dare pass out!"
He blinked and came back to his own body with a thud. Ishiko Fuyutsuki was glaring at him. Her face softened slightly when she saw the panic in his eyes.
"Come along," she said gently "We can't talk here. Come back to my apartment and I'll explain everything there."
Matt slowly got up and let her lead him away.
* * * *
The apartment was sparsely furnished but there was an oddly homely feeling to it. Matt drank the tea that Ishiko Fuyutsuki gave him. She sat opposite him.
"Are you ready to hear?"
Matt nodded. Ishiko Fuyutsuki began to explain.
"The world is older than you know and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the Earth and made it their home, their Hell. In time, they lost their purchase on this reality and the way was made for mortal animals, for man. What remains of the Old Ones now are vestiges, certain magics, certain creatures. And vampires. The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was human form possessed - infected - by the demon's soul. He bit another and another...and so they walk the Earth, feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out and the Old Ones to return. But as long as there have been vampires, there has been a Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires and stop the spread of their evil."
Matt blinked.
"Huh? One girl?"
"Yes. The Slayer has always been female. So has it always been, so shall it always be," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said.
"I'm not a girl," Matt said.
"No," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "But you should have been."
"Excuse me?" Matt said.
"This is completely new and has never happened before," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said "But you Yamato Ishida, you should have been a girl. You are a girl trapped in a boy's body."
"WHAT?"
"You are a transsexual," Ishiko Fuyutsuki said.
"I am not!" Matt yelled "I am not a girl trapped in a boy's body! You haven't got a clue what you are talking about you crazy old witch!"
"Less of that!" Ishiko Fuyutsuki snapped "I know that this must be a shock but there's no need for that sort of reaction. It is the truth. Surely you must have had some suspicions?"
"No! It's not true!"
But Matt felt a twinge of doubt. He had been noticing recently that he was looking more and more feminine. He'd always been rather feminine in fact, right from when he was little. He'd always been prettier than the average boy. Not handsome. Pretty. And something in him had always made him keep his blonde hair long and style it painstakingly. And then there was the fact that he liked guys rather than girls...
"No," he said "No, no, no! I am not transsexual! I'm not a girl! I am a guy!"
Ishiko Fuyutsuki shook her head.
"This is the first time this has ever happened," she said "If it wasn't for the unique circumstances of your calling, I don't believe that it would have been possible at all. However, what with things being as they are..."
"Unique circumstances?" Matt asked.
"As I said earlier, normally, there is only one Slayer in all the world. When one Slayer dies, the next one is called. The Slayer whose death called you was called Buffy Summers. Some years ago, she was drowned but she was revived by a friend. However, her death activated the next Slayer. When that Slayer died, another Slayer was activated. This meant that there were two Slayers all the time. However, recently, Buffy Summers died again. The Watchers Council assumed that her death would not activate another Slayer as she had already left the chain. But Buffy Summers always liked to be controversial and her death activated you. Normally, the magic would have realised that you were in a male body and would have cut you out. However, as Buffy had already left the chain, the magics must have been unbalanced. Hence your calling."
Matt rubbed his face.
"Miss Fuyutsuki..."
"Ms if you please."
"Ms then. If there's another Slayer, why can't she do it and leave me alone?" he asked.
Ms Fuyutsuki gave a thin-lipped smile.
"Because the other Slayer is in an American prison," she said coolly.
"Prison!"
"She killed somebody in the line of duty and the went off the rails," Ms Fuyutsuki said "Eventually she handed herself in, seeking redemption. She will probably be in jail for the rest of her life."
Matt stared at her.
"Besides, it is not our policy to ignore anyone who has been Called," Ms Fuyutsuki said "You could do terrible things with the Slayer strength if you were not trained to it."
Matt wasn't really listening. He was trying to make sense of everything.
"So if I hadn't been called, they'd have been no Slayer?"
Ms Fuyutsuki smiled again, rather unpleasantly.
"If you hadn't been called, an assassin would have been dispatched to deal with Faith," she said.
Seeing Matt's shocked stare, she shrugged.
"We're fighting a war here Yamato. We can't afford weakness. And there must always be an active Slayer."
Matt swallowed painfully.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Didn't I tell you? I'm your Watcher. Every Slayer has a Watcher. The Watcher prepares the Slayer, teaches her, trains her for whatever she might come across."
"What if I don't want to be the Slayer?"
"You have no choice. You have been activated. You already are a Slayer."
Matt shuddered.
"No," he said "I can't do this. I can't. You've got the wrong person. I'm not a Slayer. I can't do this."
"Oh I don't know," Ms Fuyutsuki said "You dealt with that vampire very well. True, it was rather sloppy but I think with practise - "
"I don't want to practise!" Matt cried "I don't want to be good at that!"
"All the other Slayers have grown used to staking vampires and killing other unpleasant things. You will too," Ms Fuyutsuki said.
Matt shook his head.
"Not me. I never will," he said "I can't do it!"
"Will you turn your back on the world?" Ms Fuyutsuki asked "With Buffy Summers dead and Faith in jail, you are the only one standing between the world and it's destruction."
Matt's shoulders drooped. Watching him, Ms Fuyutsuki knew that she'd got him. Matt would take the responsibility, just as every other Slayer had done before him.
"I want you here tomorrow at 4:30," she said crisply "We must start your training straight away."
"I have band practise," Matt said.
"Not anymore," Ms Fuyutsuki said "You have training with me. You'll have to cancel. Your band is not important."
"It is to me," Matt said "I need to practise so we can get famous when I'm grown up."
He didn't see the flash of pity on Ms Fuyutsuki's face. It was gone by the time he looked at her again.
"Never-the-less, I'm expecting you here at 4:30," she said "I run a tight ship and I expect you to obey my orders. I'll work you hard and I won't take excuses. But I'll make you a good Slayer. And that will keep you alive."
Matt nodded his head.
"Right. Great."
Ms Fuyutsuki stood up.
"Tomorrow at 4:30 then," she said.
Matt walked out in a daze. He walked home slowly, forgetting to be quiet when he sneaked in. Luckily, his father slept like a log and didn't wake up. He examined the scratches on his face. They weren't very deep and he decided to say that he'd fallen into a bush. He changed without even thinking about it and collapsed into the bed, shivering. He wondered if it was true that vampires could only come in if invited. Maybe if he went to sleep, tomorrow he'd wake up and this would just be a bad dream.
Maybe.
He didn't see the man staring at him through his window, or hear the thump as he dropped down to the pavement.
The man walked down the street and into an alley where another man was waiting.
"Well?"
The first man snickered slightly and lit up a cigarette.
"Buffy did like to do things differently. The Slayer's a boy!"
"What? That's impossible!"
"But true. Unless you know any sixteen year old girls with no breasts and a co - "
"Thank you, I believe you."
"Looks pretty girly though. Bet he gets called all sorts at school."
"That'll soon stop when he gets his Slayer strength up."
"Very true."
The first man took a deep drag on his cigarette.
"So what do you want to do?" the second man asked "Hang around for a while?"
"D'you really think that the new Watcher is going to appreciate that?"
"No. But you wanted to come here."
"True."
They stood in silence for a while. The first man stubbed out his cigarette with a sigh.
"Let's stay for a while," the second man suggested "Keep our eye on things. It's not going to go away."
"Right you are Peaches," the first man said cheerfully "We'll watch him for a while."
"Now that's decided, can we get back to the hotel?"
"Sure."
They walked off together into the darkness.
The End of Part 1.