Tokyo, Japan

Things weren't going so well for Adrain. This was his first time away from home and in a foreign country no less. Everything was different. The customs, the buildings, the language, the signs, everything. Sure, Adrian was fluent in Japanese and could understand things for the most part, but he'd never been so totally immersed in it until now. People talked faster and it took all his concentration just to keep up. Two conversations at once was almost impossible; yet, everyone he met seemed to want to talk to him all at the same time. Especially the girls. They all crowded around him asking him questions like, "What's America like, how old are you, whats your sign, what's your favorite color, what dorm do you stay in, what is your major, how long have you been in Japan," and more. It was the end of his first day and already Adrian was already more exhausted than he ever remembered being.

His breath was coming in gasps like he'd been running for a while, but he was used to this. He'd always been physically weak. Adrian hoped another blackout wasn't coming on. He paused and braced himself with his right arm against the wall and tried to recover. Already he felt his face flushing as his body pumped his blood more furiously trying to bring oxygen back to his weakening body.

"You shouldn't push yourself too hard Dark-kun," a soft voice said from behind Adrian. (Japanese is in italics) Adrian turned to see a girl from one of his lectures. What was her name again, Suzuhara-san? he wondered.

"I-I'll be ok. I've always had a weak constitution. I just need to..." Adrian let the sentence drop off as he leaned his back against the wall. The room was beginning to spin. It was getting worse.

"Dark-kun! Are you alright? Your face is red. We should go to the infirmary," Suzuhara said, the worry evident in her voice. Adrian just nodded and tried support his weight. His center of balance tipped and he fell forward. Suzuhara save him from falling by catching him and supporting him with her shoulders. "Let me help you, Dark-kun, she pleaded. Adrian nodded again and together they walked towards the infirmary. Even as he walked the world was still spinning and Adrian was markedly relieved when they reached the infirmary doors. Suzuhara opened the door and they trudged through. The nurse looked up, and seeing Adrian's state, rushed over to them.

"Oh my, I was afraid this might happen after reading your medical history. Here, lets lie down on the bed over here, the nurse said, taking Adrian from Suzuhara and laying him down on the bed. She placed a thermometer in his mouth and checked his heart beat. "Oh my, its really ticking in there. You definitely need some down time, she said, taking the thermometer from his mouth. "Well, you don't have a temperature. That's good. A little rest and you'll be right as rain. You just get some rest. I'm Hanami-sensei. Call me if you need anything, she said before drawing the curtain around the bed. "Thank you for bringing him Suzuhara-san, he heard Hanami-sensei say through the curtain.

"No, it was nothing. I'm just glad I could help, Suzuhara-san replied. "I'll be going now, my roommate will worry if I'm late." Adrian heard the door open and close then silence. He sighed inwardly as he looked up at the ceiling and tried to ignore the pounding of his heart in his ears. Yea, this is just great he thought.

As Yuko walked home she found she couldn't help thinking about the foreign exchange student. Dark-kun is kinda cute. I wonder if he has some kind of medical condition. Hanami-sensei said as much. I hope he feels better, Yuko thought to herself as she entered the subway station. The girls dorm she stayed in was in Harajuku which explained a lot about the clothes she usually wore out of school. Even though she was into sports, Yuko was a hardcore, gothic lolita girl. She was drawn to the contrast of dark and light colors.

Yuko pushed her way into the subway car and once again thought, this is what sardines must feel like. The doors slid closed and the subway lurched into motion. This is Dark-kun's first time in Japan. I wonder if I could show him around. It must be hard coming from another country. He might need someone to help with his condition too, Yuko thought to herself as the train rattled on. W-wait, what are you thinking Yuko. You just met him. You shouldn't be trying to force your way into his life. But he's just so cute and helpless. She sighed and shook her head. Once again Yuko's imagination was running away.

The man was standing beyond his target. His head was low, his sun shades pushed all of the way against his face. He smelled rotten, his breath was rancid and the clothes he was wearing were dingy. He cared little for the discomfort the people around him must have felt. That was of no importance to this person. Could he be considered a person just because he was in the body of one of these smelly, sickening people. He hated these people but they tasted so good when they were terrified. He may as well get rid of the girl in the process of things. A bunch of people that weren't terrified did nothing for his kind. A cramped subway in one of the most heavily populated cities on this miserable planet was going to be a wonderful place to start dinner. He could do away with the little woman on the subway and catch the stragglers as they attempted to escape the carnage.

The train was barely moving when it was shaken by an explosion and brought to a screeching halt. If it had been moving at speed it may have been derailed. Smoke billowed throughout the subway stop and screams signaled the quick retreat of its occupants. Some stuck around, just clearing the train, in order to watch. What they saw they would have a hard time believing and a harder time explaining.

The man was relieved, happy that all of the smelly humans were gone. He hated feeling enclosed, trapped. The walls, ceiling and floor of the train had survived his release of energy, a dome of pressurized energy quickly exploding from his center. The people hadn't. They were painted on the ceiling and walls of he train. The windows were gone, the metal buckled and the track beneath the train was destroyed. What flesh and blood hadn't painted the train had splattered along the walkway with a showering of glass shards. The man extricated from his black coat which was too large for him and let the coat fall into blood and bone. He smiled as he cracked his neck, letting a thin black blade form in his left hand. Why had be chosen such a scrawny, weak, cramped body to inhabit. No less, he was having fun. The doors were open now and the people were flowing out of the train, damned near killing one another in order to escape. The woman was still there. The man slashed the sword in mid-air, pressurized energy exploding away from the blade, smashing into the walls of the train as he slowly walked toward the woman as he sang, "The itsy-bitsy spider went UP," another blast, the water spout. DOWN," another blast, "came the rain and washed the spider OUT!" another blast. "There will not be a sun to come out for you pathetic fucking beings!" He set his sights on the woman he wanted. "Come here you!"

A massive explosion, screams and cries for help, debris of shrapnel slicing people open, and a crazed lunatic with Superpowers? Yuko thought. Her mind was almost unable to comprehend it. For some reason it seemed this man wanted her. What had she done? She'd never hurt anyone. It all just didn't make sense. Another thought came to mind as well. Where do I go now? All of the escape routes were now cut off by falling debris from the train and the man was drawing closer. Come here you! he screamed at her.

English? Yuko didn't expect this monstrous man to speak a foreign language for some reason. Luckily she knew enough English to be at least moderately fluent. Yuko started looking around for something, anything to defend herself with. That's when the ceiling of the train above her gave in to the strain and collapsed. She yelp and held her hands above her head as if to catch the falling metal. To this day she doesn't know what compelled her to do that, but it saved her live. Almost as if from nowhere she felt something in her hands. It felt like the hilt of a sword, but it was light as a feather. Wait, it is a feather! What the hell? The metal debris made contact with feather like blade and vanished. No not vanished, more like absorbed.

"Well that's convenient," Yuko said aloud as she rose to her feet. She didn't know where this feather sword came from, but she knew where it was going. Up somebody's ass. She raised the sword into a kenjutsu stance and faced her attacker. "Thank you kendo classes," she said under her breath as the man advanced toward her. Yuko smirked and lunged at her foe with a calculated slash. "Come and get it!" she yelled and brought the sword about horizontally. Had she been paying attention she would have noticed the blade was much larger than the train car was wide. If it had been a normal sword it would have been stopped by the walls of the car. Thankfully she was about to find out this sword was anything, but ordinary as it sliced through the side of the car like butter and kept going for her attacker.

The man was happy. He was getting some action. This little scrawny thing was wielding a sword much larger than what he'd have expected. The atmospheric pressure permeating that thing was enough to make any glory hound crack a smile. Tokyo wouldn't be a waste. It was ridiculous that he'd ever believed so.The girl charged forward with no hesitation but the way she sliced through the train car proved that she was a fresh release. He hated taking on fresh releases. They always acted out of instinct and had amazing capabilities and they fought outside of their natural abilities. He was probably going to fall against this little woman. It didn't matter, there would be plenty after him. His only regret was the fact that he hadn't paid enough attention to feel if the girl was released already. What a stupid mistake.
No matter. The man simply raised his blade lazily and pressed his right hand against the back of the blade. He held fast, tending his entire body and allowing the girl's blade to slam into his own. It was much heavier than he would have expected and the contact sent shivers through the weakening bones of this body. He needed the bones to be nice and pliable so that he could stretch them as he saw fit. It was almost time. He was almost free of this smelly-ass human carcass.
He was moved slightly by the impact, more so than he would have expected. He was slightly confused by this but he smiled, showing blackened, decayed teeth before cackling and releasing a sphere of pressurized energy around himself in order to push the girl away from him.

Their swords clashed and Yuko smiled when she saw her blade push her assailant back. She quickly took a defensive stance in case of retaliation, but instead got a burst of pressurized air sent towards her. Yuko felt her feet leave the floor as she flew backwards. She would have flown farther had she not brought her blade before her and dug it into the floor of the train car to slow her down. Even more happened than she calculated though for as she brought her blade into the path of the burst of energy it seemed to immediately dissipate as if it had never been. Yuko stared at her sword confused at its abilities. Seems I have more than a large feather, she thought to herself as she rose to face her attacker once more.

Yuko felt her adrenaline pumping and this time her attack came much swifter than before. Instinct took the place of thought as years of kendo practice took over. The girl moved quickly, closing the distance between her foe as fast as her feet would carry her. Much faster than she'd ever run before. Yuko raised her blade above her head, slicing through the already damaged ceiling, and bringing the huge blade down on her enemy with a yell of "Aaayyy"

The man was already moving forward when the girl stopped herself and hurried back toward him. She slashed into the ceiling, yelling like a mad woman. This was what he wanted. He loved the carnage, he lived for it, he needed it. he cared little for feeding on the humans like his brothers did but they could always work together. He wanted to kill, to destroy and that would help his brothers. All of the terrified faces standing in the corners and along the hallways, watching in fear, ready to flee at a moment's notice. They were all horrified and his brother would feed on them. He only ate when he was extraordinarily hungry. He just wanted to destroy. As the girl's blade neared him he yelled, "I want you to die!" He swung his blade up in order to deflect that of the girl but the weapon carried much more weight than he'd remembered, more power. The blade of his weapon vibrated with the impact and he had to push the scrawny muscles of that body into over-drive. That blade was going to break the body's arms if he kept this up. He released a burst between himself and the girl, sing the push to tear away from the girl. He moved so fast in creating the distance that loose debris and torn cloth from the seats swirled in toward him like a wind tunnel. He landed in a crouch, sliding away from the girl and he released the blade from his grasp.
As the sword turned into an oily film, melding with his flesh, seeping into the body's arm, the man stood erect. He thrust his hands in front of himself and released a roaring blast of force toward the young girl. He laughed maniacally, daring the girl to challenge him.

Once again Yuko was thrown backwards by an unseen force of air pressure only this one was more powerful and more sudden. Yuko flipped this way and that in the air as she flew backward not know where she would land. A passengers chair broke her flight as she crashed into it, tearing it from its bolts in the floor and toppling backward over it. Yuko groaned as she rose shakily to her feet to find another blast headed her way. This one roar through the train car dislodging seats, walls, and ceiling with its force. Yuko had nowhere to run, but her body seemed to know what to do. As the blast neared she lunged forward once again and swung her blade, cutting straight through this mans attack and closing distance at an alarming rate again. If she'd been rational at this point she would have known something was different about the way she moved. About her speed and strength. About how she still didn't have any broken bones after hitting that chair. But her mind was gone and instinct and adrenaline took its place. As she ran Yuko brought her blade to her side in a batojutsu stance. As she neared the man she leaped forward with all her strength and swung the blade as quick as possible in a horizontal slash.

It had worked before so there was no reason why a standard defense shouldn't have worked once more. The man simply lifted his blade in order to intercept the attack but the impact was bone shattering and that was exactly what happened. His left arm snapped near the wrist and her arm slammed into his side. The blade took the brunt of the attack but the man was taken off of his feet and thrown out of the car and onto the walkway. He slid to a stop before he grumbled and began to angrily get to his feet. He released his blade and reformed it in his right hand. If only this body were entirely dead, this woman would be dead. That was not the case. A broken left arm and broken ribs weren't helping either. He used the blade to aid him in getting to his feet but the woman was already nearing him.

The girl advanced, anger clear in her eyes. Normally Yuko was rather easy on the eyes if not beautiful, but this battle took its tole on her. Her normally snow white hair had so much dust in it from falling debris that it looked brown and was in a tangled and disheaveld mess. One of the ribbons holding her pigtails had been completely torn out, leaving her hair to fall down the left side of her face. Her creamy white skin had clumps of dust clinging to it here and there as if shed been rolling on the ground. Her black thigh length socks were torn to shreads and her serafuku had rips and tears all along it and showed a few glimpses of her sports bra. Had she been in a rational state of mind he might have been embarrassed, but her adrenaline only allowed her anger to show through.

"Damn you, I was having a perfectly good day until you showed up. I scored well on my exams, broke my track record and even met a cute boy, but then you had to go and ruin it. Now it looks like I just bathed in a sewer and I smell almost as horrid as you! You'll take responsibility for this won't you." Yuko shouted. It was more of a statement than a question. "I'll exact the price in blood!" She called as she lunged, once again quite fast, but his time jumped into the air, blade raised over her head, and brought the sword down with all her might.

It was a Goddamn mass manipulation Edge and he was going to die no matter what he did. At this point, even an energy discharge would be displaced by the blade. His final attack would be in vein and he would die. He was not okay with that. There were so many more Edges and Auras out there that he could do battle with. Another clash of blades with this woman would make her blade heavy enough to snap his weapon in two. It would take a long time for his blade to regenerate. Even if he attacked the woman with more pressurized energy she would just disrupt the energy with her weapon and it would obtain more mass. If he was Sel'Qua, if only he could modify gravity. That was a distant, pointless wish. The girl was upon him. She'd come fast. Though her attack was off-kilter and inexperienced it would have been insane to deflect it. That would have destroyed his remaining arm. He still wasn't ready. He wasn't going to be able to buy time either. She swung down at him with a powerful strike and he pushed free of the concrete walkway, the blade tearing into his body right beneath the chin, tearing into the center of his chin and slashing him from apple to navel. The blade slammed into the ground with such force that it cracked the concrete and sent up a plume of smoke. He took advantage, running up the reverse side of the blade while it was down and hurling himself backward, aiming to kick the girl in the chin. His landing would be terrible and he would fall just shy of the blade.

This is going to hurt a bit, Yuko thought as the man's foot came in contact with her chin. In an attempt to lesson the damage she loosened her muscles and leaned back with the impact, effectively rolling with the impact as her sensei had taught her. Still, the kick knocked Yuko from her feet and forced her to release her hold on the swords hilt. She landed roughly on her back and struggled to regain her bearings as her opponent landed. She had to get to her sword before he had time to recover. Yuko pushed herself to her knees and using her right foot pushed off the ground and dove for her sword.

He wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep or how long he'd slept, but Adrian figured it must have been at least a few hours as the sun was low in the sky when he awoke in the infirmary. He rose to a sitting position and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Adrian looked around for the nurse, Hanami-sensei, and saw her already heading his way.

" So, how are we feeling? she asked as she drew back the curtain around his bed. Adrian always thought it was a little strange how medical personnel always talked to you in plurals. He figured it made them seem more personal, as if they really cared. Maybe they did, but then Adrian also knew they were paid to care so he didn't put much stock in their sympathy.

"I'm feeling a little better now, thank you," Adrian replied.

"That's good to hear. You should hurry home now. It's getting rather late," Hanami-sensei said. Adrian nodded and pushed himself off the bed onto his feet. He knew he must have blacked out again, but he just shrugged it off. It happened to him so much that it had become the norm for Adrian. He said his goodbyes to Hanami-sensei before heading out of the infirmary. Adrian decided it was time to leave and so headed for the music to room to grab his guitar and school books he'd left there for his other elective lessons. The music sensei didn't seem to mind. After grabbing his belongings he left Tokyo U and decided to head for Tokyo tower since he was already near the center of the city anyways. He'd heard stories of the view from the top and on top of that there was supposed to be a great music shop located at the base. So Adrian turned toward the center of the city and made his way through the crowds of people returning home from work.

This was a last ditch effort. The woman was going to kill him, that was no doubt but at least he could destroy the train station in the process. He wasn't going to run. His kind didn't run from battle. And they believed that they were honorable, when they found a grand prospect they only fought one on one. This woman was worth fighting to the death. It didn't matter. There were so many more to proceed him. He lifted his blade and sent a thin blast of energy free in order to knock the weapon away. The woman was a fresh release. She probably didn't understand that she could break the blade down into its materials whenever she wanted to. But now, it was out of reach and he was heading toward her. The largest problem with Edges was the fact that they packed a punch, sword in-hand or not. With one good arm, he was going to be in trouble. He was never going to be rid of this body in time to kill this one.

As her sword slid away, Yuko grew more nervous. She realized he wasn't going to let her get to her weapon and could move it away with he strange enrgy he produced. Her only chance was to fight hand to hand, and she didn't like the thought of that. He stil had his weapon and without hers she would be unable to guard against either of his attacks. Her only option was to come on strong and fast so he did't have time to reacts. Yuko rolled out of her dive and onto her feet and turned to face her assailent. Hoping to surprise him she struck out with a right hook instead of going for her sword again. She just hoped she could avoid being stabbed.

As long as the girl didn't materialize her blade, as long as she continued fighting with her hands. He needed to kill her quick. She was fast, strong and agile and she was still brimming with power. She was still enduring her initial release capabilities. Blade raised, he moved in for a strike but a powerful blow landed against the left side of his face. Teeth were dislodged, bone shattered; he was turned away from the woman. He stopped, stepped away from her and growled low in his throat. He realized that his mouth hadn't filled with blood and the teeth came free much too easily. It was almost time. he was getting closer and closer. The brain in that body was still functioning and he was dazed from the blow. the body was giving out. He dropped to a knee and looked up at the woman. He was going to die. He couldn't even lift his weapon to strike at her.

As long as the girl didn't materialize her blade, as long as she continued fighting with her hands. He needed to kill her quick. She was fast, strong and agile and she was still brimming with power. She was still enduring her initial release capabilities. Blade raised, he moved in for a strike but a powerful blow landed against the left side of his face. Teeth were dislodged, bone shattered; he was turned away from the woman. He stopped, stepped away from her and growled low in his throat. He realized that his mouth hadn't filled with blood and the teeth came free much too easily. It was almost time. he was getting closer and closer. The brain in that body was still functioning and he was dazed from the blow. the body was giving out. He dropped to a knee and looked up at the woman. He was going to die. He couldn't even lift his weapon to strike at her.

As Yuko's fist collided with her attacker's face she felt bone and muscle give way under her knuckles. He backed up and fell to his knees, looking up and growling at her. This was her chance she thought. It had to end now. To try and facilitate that end, Yuko spun on her toes and brought her right foot into the air with a powerful roundhouse kick aimed at his head. She felt herself tiring and her adrenaline rush was dying down. If this attack didn't bring him down Yuko wasn't sure how long she would last afterward.

(Sorry its so short. I'd rather go with quality than adding redundant filler.)

Yuko

The sound of cracking bone and splattering blood rang out in the subway terminal as Yuko's foot crashed into the man's face and his skull caved. She came full around with her kick and her opponent went spinning sideways through the air and crashed into the ground arms and legs flailing, body flipping end over end before coming to rest a good five feet away. Yuko half expected the man to rise again, but he showed no signs of movement. Yuko sighed after a few minutes as she hadn't realized that she'd been holding her breath. She turned and went to retrieve her sword, placing both hands on the hilt and lifting it into the air. I wonder what I should do with this thing. I don't really want to get rid of it, but I can't just walk out of here with a giant, feather sword, she thought to herself. As soon as she thought of it the sword started dematerializing in her hands and Yuko almost panicked. "No, no no no no, oh no I broke it. Come back. Please don't disappear again!" Yuko cried and as if listening to her pleas the sword was once again whole. Yuko blinked at the sword and all at once it clicked. "It listened to me. Disappear! she said willing the blade to vanish and it did just that, disappearing as if it had never been. Yuko decided it was time to leave the terminal and headed up the stairs toward Harajuku hoping that no one had stuck around after everything that happened.


Adrian

Adrian was getting closer to Tokyo Tower and just passing Harajuku street when he noticed that things were strangely quiet. It was already dark and the street lights lit the way down the road. This is really weird. I've never heard of the street being completely clear in Tokyo. Even at night there are usually some people out, Adrian thought to himself. He looked around trying to see anyone around and when he came up empty he started getting nervous. There was usually a reason for things like this. Some kind of accident, an evacuation of the area, maybe the people ran from something; Adrian speculated with all of these possibilities. That's when he spotted someone coming out of the Harajuku subway terminal. It was Suzuhara-san from school. She looked like she'd been in a bar brawl and her clothes were torn to shreds. Without thinking twice Adrian ran across the street thinking to help her. "Suzuhara!" he called and she looked up at him startled and wide eyed. "What happened Suzuhara-san?" Adrian asked stopping in front of her.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I'm not sure if I believe it myself. I-It just all happened so fast," she told him and even as she talked Adrian could tell she was becoming more distraught and tears began forming in her eyes. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

"I was really scared Dark-kun!" she sobbed.

All Adrian could do is return the embrace and attempt to calm her down. "It's ok now. Your safe. Tell me what happened, Suzuhara-san," Adrian said trying to get her story from her as well as soothe her.

"Yuko," she replied.

"Huh?" Adrian asked dumbfounded.

"My name, call me Yuko," she said.

"Yuko it is then," Adrian replied.

Yuko didn't know why she broke down and cried now and not during the battle. Maybe it was seeing Adrian here after so much had happened and she wanted someone to comfort her. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush and fight or flight instincts that kept her fighting until the end before and now that they were done she was left to face the emotional implications of what had happened. Yuko didn't know, but that didn't matter now. All that mattered to her was that he was here and now she felt safe. He'd even agreed to call her by her first name. At least she'd managed to get closer to him even after all of this.

"You can call me Adrian then," he told her and she looked up at him trying to pronounce his name.

"Eii-dri-an, You have a difficult name. I'll just call you A-chan," Yuko replied. Adrian had to stifle his laughter. It was the first time someone had said his name was hard to pronounce. The nickname she gave him was kind of cute and he didn't mind that much.

"Alright, that will work. Now, I was headed for Tokyo Tower to visit the music shop there and see the sights. You should come with me. They have a clothing store at the base of the tower so you can be more presentable and we can walk and talk on the way there," Adrian suggested. Yuko nodded in return and they both started on their way. As they walked Adrian tried to get her to open up on what happened and gradually she began to talk about it. So as they made the journey she began relating her tale of a demonic manage with strange abilities that attack the subway station and how she fought him off with a huge, feather-like sword. He had to admit, it sounded insane, but she wouldn't make something like that up and in his experience he found there was always some kind of truth behind it. So he just listened as she filled him in.

-To be continued at Tokyo Tower, Japan-