Part One: Slayer

         The girl had a sweet smile, full of joy and happiness.  Buffy looked up from her doodling and tried to hold back a sigh.  The girl practically screamed “vampire snack”.
         She stood in front of the class, practically bouncing on her toes.   Her eyes were innocent and hopeful, and bluer the anything Buffy had ever seen.  Her hair-do, though, took the cake.  Long golden hair was done up into two buns with streams hanging down to her knees.   Looks like a variation on the Princess Leia theme, Buffy thought with amusement.
         The teacher looked at the girl with a slightly flustered expression.  Mr. Parnell had led her in only a second ago, and the look on his face had been priceless.   “Class, I would like you to meet Sikeyno Yusawgee,” he said after taking a moment to collect himself, stumbling over the unfamiliar name.
         She frowned up at him, looking impossible cute as she did so.  Buffy had the feeling that everything the girl did was cute.  “Tsukino Usagi,” she corrected politely, the subtly different inflections hard for the American ear to catch.  “I am from Japan.  I hope we can be friends,” she said to the class, giving a slight bow.  Even though her words were simple, they spoke of a mastery of the English language, for she spoke quickly and with no trace of an accent.
         Japanese, huh? Buffy wondered.  Certainly doesn’t look it.
         “What’re you doing over here?” Xander asked rudely, ignoring the frown that Parnell directed his way.
         “I’m staying with family,” she answered, then giggled.   Again, she flashed an overly happy smile.  “I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet- Tokyo is a very busy area.”
         Buffy wanted to wring the girls’ slender neck.  With her thoughtless words, she’d managed to well and truly jinx herself.
         Tsukino slid into the seat that Parnell indicated, pulling out a pen.   Nibbling on it, she opened a book and proceeded to promptly fall asleep.
         Gotta admire that kind of nerve, Buffy thought to herself.  Still, her eyes clung to the snoring girl, unable to ignore the feeling that there would be trouble.

!@#$%^&*

         “New girl?  Why do I always get a creepy feeling when you start talking like that?” Xander asked.  “Sikeyno seemed really cute and sweet- hard to believe that she could be evil.”
         “I didn’t say that!” Buffy protested.  “I just meant that trouble is going to attack itself to her like a puppy.”
         “So your spidy sense is tingling?” Xander asked.
         Buffy rolled her eyes upwards.  She and Xander were sitting in the library, waiting for Willow to get out of her advanced Calculus class.  The door swung inwards, and the object of their conversation bounded in, skidding to a rather abrupt stop.   She smiled cheerily at the other teenagers.   “Hi!” she said with equal enthusiasm.   Buffy wondered how much Prozac the girl was on.
         “Hi!” Xander replied with the same bright tone.   “You’re Sikeyno, right?”
         “No, I’m Tsukino Usagi,” she replied with what sounded like a long-suffering sigh.
         Xander had the decency to blush.   “Sorry.  It’s hard to get the accent right.”
         “That’s ok.  Call me Usagi-chan, ne?” she said, using a bit of her native language for the first time.  “Could you help me find the librarian?  I need books for my classes.”
         The excuse that had first brought Buffy into Giles’ orbit.   It was enough to give her an uncomfortable feeling of deja vu, but Xander cut off her thoughts before the willies were able to overrun her.   “Sure.   Giles is in his office,” Xander said, leaving the two blondes alone.   Buffy looked at Usagi (why did she want to be called by her last name?) and studied her more closely.
         Usagi was wearing a VERY short skirt that showed off her impossibly long legs.   Soft shoes were on her feet, and she held herself well, though some of her movements were slightly off-balance.   She wore moon-shaped earrings that had stars dangling from them that brushed her delicate cheeks.   For some reason, the earrings really caught Buffy’s attention.  Amazingly gaudy, but for some reason, they seemed to fit.
         Giles walked out of his office before the silence had a chance to become awkward.   “You’re the new Japanese student, correct?”
         “Hai, Giles-sensei,” she answered with a slight bow.
         “Konnichiwa, Tsukino-san,” he said.   “I hope you enjoy your stay here in this crazed country.”
         She giggled.   “You’re not from here, are you?” she asked.
         “No, I’m from England, actually,” Giles said.
         “Land of tea and tweed suits,” Buffy couldn’t resist inserting.
         Usagi turned her attention to Buffy.   “You haven’t introduced yourself yet,” she pointed out.
         Buffy had to look down a little to meet Usagi’s eyes, an unusual experience for her.   Usagi was that short.   “I’m Buffy and this is Xander,” she said, waving a negligent hand in Xander’s general direction.
         Usagi smiled and began chattering away while Giles got her books.   Buffy learned that she had left four extremely close friends behind, kept a cat, and was head-over-heels in love with her boyfriend Mamo-chan, who just happened to be studying at UC Sunnydale.
         “One question for you,” Buffy managed to insert as Usagi paused for a breath.
         “Yes, Buffy-san?”
         “How do you speak English so well?  Aside from tossing in an occasional Japanese words, you have no accent.”
         Usagi turned bright red and Buffy watched as the girl broke out in a nervous sweat.  “Luna taught me, actually,” she said finally.
         Just the Giles returned, carrying a large stack of books.   Usagi groaned, but hopped over to collect them anyway.   “Arigatou,” she said, though a little bit of chagrin was in her voice.
 Giles smiled, recognizing a less-then-enthusiastic student.  “I hope you read English well.”
         The beads of sweat grew more pronounced on Usagi’s forehead, but then she laughed in an overly-loud voice.   “What I don’t get my Mamo-chan will explain to me,” she said cheerfully, then hugged the books to her chest.  Glancing down at her watch, Usagi’s eyes widened.   “Aiee!  I’m so late!” she shrieked, and then was gone.   Buffy stared at the doors which were still swinging violently on their hinges.
         “Why am I worried?” Xander asked rhetorically.
         Buffy threw him a nasty look.   “The girl might as well hang a sign around her neck saying, ‘Bite Me.’”

!@#$%^&*

         Buffy sat in the graveyard, one of her usual haunts.   She hadn’t staked a single vamp yet, and was getting bored.   She vowed that she’d wait fifteen more minutes, then head home.
         The wind was picking up.  She sighed, shutting her eyes briefly, wishing that things were still the same.... that Angel was still Angel, and that he was here, holding her the way she had loved so much.   His skin had always been cool, but that hadn’t bothered her.   Some vampires were warm, but that meant they had fed on the living recently- their warmth was borrowed in the most abhorable fashion.
         She was jerked from her reverie by a high-pitched scream.  Buffy was on her feet, running, knowing deep in her gut who had screamed.   She pulled up as soon as she was able to see what was happening.
         Angel.   As though her thoughts had summoned him, he stood there, his game face on, handsome in a macabre and deadly fashion.   She remembered kissing it softly, proving that she could see beyond the demon to the man within.
         Now, though, the same demon was in control, and at that moment, had his firm hand around Usagi’s slender throat.   The girl was squirming frantically and her eyes were wide, but she wasn’t panicking.   Buffy thanked God for small favors.
         “Angel,” she said firmly, stepping out of the darkness.
         He turned around and smiled playfully at her.   “Hello, lover,” he said, his smile still causing her stomach to turn over.   “Pretty, isn’t she?”
         Usagi managed to turn those incredible blue eyes of hers onto Buffy, confused.   There was a little bit of fear in them, fear of her.   “Buffy-san,” she managed to choke out through her clogged throat.
         “Put her down,” Buffy commanded.
         Angelus shook the girl, causing her teeth to rattle.   “I like blondes, though.   I think I’ll keep this one,” he said.   “It’s the hair.”  He ran a hand over one of Usagi’s golden ponytails.
         “I’ll give you a blonde,” Buddy growled, stepping forward menacingly.
         “Anytime,” Angelus answered.    He hoisted Usagi up so her feet were about two feet off the ground.   “Sorry, beautiful.”   With those words, he flung her into a gravestone that was ten feet away.   Usagi bounced off of it, then rolled over so she was crouching defensively, watching with wide eyes.
         Buffy was impressed by the girl’s stamina, yet still worried about her.   Usagi was tiny, and seemed very fragile.   “Run, Usagi!   Get away!”
         Usagi shook her head stubbornly.   “I won’t leave you alone!” she protested.   “Leave the gaki and we’ll both get out of here!”
         Buffy didn’t recognize the word Usagi had used, but decided against getting into an argument.   Angelus was ready for a fight, and unfortunately she couldn’t stake him with a witness.   So as much as it galled her to do so, Buffy ran over to the girl and yanked her completely to her feet.   “We’ll finish this later, Angel,” she promised in a grim voice.
         “I don’t see why we can’t finish it now... with the girl as the prize,” Angelus said.   “While you may be able to outrun me, I doubt the girl is capable of doing so.”
         Buffy felt a tug on her hand, and glanced at Usagi.  The girl was wearing a curiously serene smile.   “I’ll be ok,” the girl said.   “I believe in you.”   Her eyes shone with innocent faith.
         It was strange, but Usagi’s smile seemed to light up something inside Buffy that had been shadowed when Angelus had changed.   “Very well.   We fight,” she informed Angelus.   “Stay back, Usagi-chan, and if anything happens, tell Giles.”
         Usagi allowed herself to be pushed back, but her saucer-sized eyes remained locked on Buffy.   Angelus stepped towards the Slayer and the battle was met.
         Buffy hadn’t wanted to display her preternatural abilities in front of Usagi, but she had little choice in the matter; Angelus was going all-out, his blows raining down on her.   She spent the first minute blocking his punches with her forearms, encouraging him to fall into an easy rhythm.   Then, as his guard began to slip, she changed the dance by launching a front kick at him.   She hit him in the chest, sending him staggering backwards.    He growled and started towards Usagi, obviously intending on doing something nasty.
         Usagi, though, would have none of that.   She shrieked something in Japanese and threw a paper at his forehead.   The paper landed between his eyes and ignited.    Angelus screamed in pain.   “I- I really didn’t think that would work,” Usagi said in a startled voice.   “I guess Rei-chan owes me I-told-you-so after all.”
         Buffy wasn’t about to question small miracles.    She grabbed Usagi’s arm and pulled the girl past her.   “Let’s go!” she ordered.
         Usagi didn’t need to be told twice.    She started to high-tail it out of the cemetery.   Buffy, though, hesitated, looking at the recovering Angelus.   He was still on the ground, and she probably could stake him- yet she couldn’t bring herself to.
         Fate is a funny thing.   If she hadn’t turned around, she wouldn’t have seen him.   But she had.
         A man stood about ten feet from her, and by the expression on his face, he had witnessed the whole scene.  He was attractive, and Buffy wished she could see what color his eyes were.   Strangely enough, she felt she should know him- the sense of majesty that assaulted her was hard to resist.   That, though wasn’t what frightened her.
         His eyes met hers, though she still couldn’t make out their color.   Buffy could almost feel his alarm as he mouthed a word.   “Slayer.”
         She jerked back, forgetting about the vampire near her.    The man was the greater threat.   Buffy took a step towards him, but he dashed off with inhuman speed.
         Biting her lip, she turned to follow Usagi’s path.   This was definitely not a good thing.   Another unknown player had just entered the game of the Hellmouth.

!@#$%^&*

         Buffy caught up to Usagi outside of the school.   The girl was panting heavily and her knees were skinned, yet otherwise she seemed unharmed.   Buffy looked at the tired girl.   “What were you doing in the cemetery?” she asked.
         “Mamo-chan was going to be meeting me there,” Usagi replied between attempts to get more air into her lungs.    “Since we’re new in town, that was the only place that we found that was private.”   Her skin colored, and Buffy barely reframed from giggling.   It was obvious the two had been planning smoochies.
         Buffy’s amusement died unborn.   Usagi had gone to the cemetery because her boyfriend was there?   And there had been a man who had known that she was the Slayer?   Too many coincidences.  “Usagi-chan, I don’t know much about Japan, but Sunnydale is a dangerous place.   It’s not a good idea to be out by yourself.
         Usagi just giggled and looked at the other girl.   “I can take care of myself.”   Then her expression grew more concerned.   “I wonder where Mamo-chan is, though?” she said softly.
 Buffy could have given her a dozen possibilities, none of them pleasant.   “Why don’t you go home and call him?” she suggested.
         Usagi flashed the million-watt grin.   “Good idea!  Ja ne!”  Then she was off, her hair flying behind her.
         Buffy kicked a wall, and grimaced as part of it crumpled from her Slayer strength.   The girl had taken off before Buffy could offer to walk her home.    Her advice about not being alone had gone in on ear and out the other.
         With a sigh, she headed towards the school to re-arm.   Angelus was out of commission for the night, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other vampires out there, and there was a new player in the Hellmouth.   She wasn’t going to be getting much sleep tonight.

Next Up:  The Girl from Japan- Usagi Starts a New Life!
Tells how Usagi ended up in Sunnydale in the first place, why she can speak English fluently all of the sudden.... and a few other things..... ^_-
 

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