The day was coming to an end at Kotobuki Boys School, and the students began to filter out of the campus gates. A thin young man strode hurriedly away, trying to escape the rest of his classmates as soon as possible.

But to no avail, a larger student emerging shortly from the campus, and bellowing at the wiry young man, "Oi, Kuonji!"

Tora-sempai. Ukyou Kuonji stopped in her tracks, and put a hand to her forehead. There was no escape from the all-seeing eyes of the bullying senior. She would have to face him, whether she wanted to or not.

But she would not allow him to see her weakness. She took a deep breath before turning on her heel to face him as he approached. "What is it, Tora-sempai?"

By now, the older boy had caught up, and had draped a more-than-brotherly arm over her shoulder, pulling her along with him. "Walk with me for a while, would you, Kuonji?"

It nearly occurred to Ukyou to ask if he was afraid of something, that he needed companionship so badly all at once, but such a comment might (deservedly) be interpreted as a taunt, and that might get her into a world of trouble and hurt. With as bland a voice as she could muster, she spoke: "What is it, sempai? Is something wrong?"

"You bet there's something wrong, Kuonji. I watched you changing after gym class this afternoon." Ukyou felt her face pale at that, but tried to put down the fear that rose up in her gut. She tried to imagine what she would think if she really were a guy…

"I didn't know you were into boys, sempai." Now her tone was taunting in earnest. She knew such an accusation, even in jest, would cause trouble for her. But the alternative was unthinkable for her.

"I'm not, Kuonji…chan." Tora spun her to face him, and clamped his free hand over her other shoulder. Ukyou looked quickly and desperately around her; she had not been paying attention to where they had been walking, as she had been trying to weigh Tora-sempai's words and actions. It turned out he had guided her to a secluded section of a nearby park, a grove surrounded by trees. They could not be seen from the street. The unthinkable was rapidly approaching. "You know, you just accused me of being a pervert, and yet here you are, a girl in a boys school, in the locker room with the rest of us, all hung out for you to see… so, who's the pervert now?"

Ukyou couldn't respond to that; it really hadn't occurred to her. She could care less about boys. After all, the last boy she had cared about… it was nine years ago, now… had… had… she couldn't bear to think about it. She had sworn off men, and to that end had, in effect, joined the enemy to hide from them. Now, she was about to be exposed…

…In a big way. Tora-sempai began to unbutton his fly. He took his… thing… out and waved it at the trembling girl. "Well? Whaddya think? You've seen it every day, all this semester, and I never thought it mattered, ne? But it did, didn't it? You ain't got one of these, do ya? Well…

"I'm gonna be real generous and give this one to you. How's that sound, Kuonji-chan?" Kuonji-chan. She'd never been addressed like that; she hadn't had the '-chan' diminutive attached to her name since… since that boy abandoned her. The last person to ever refer to her as a child, as a girl.

She found herself being thrown to the ground, landing hard on her ass. Tora-sempai knelt down in front of her, and reached for the waistband of her pants. He began to undo her fly, fumbling with the buttons much as he might with his real girlfriend's bra strap.

Ukyou's chi began to flare inside of her. Sempai or no, this was unforgivable. She reached for her spatula and swung…

…only to have her followthough stopped by Tora-sempai, who held onto the handle with a grip of iron. "Ah-ah-ah… I know how you fight, Kuonji-chan, and I'm not lettin' ya do that. Not until I've had my fun. Not until you find out what a real man feels like…" The smile on his face oozed menace…

…and then froze as he stared, slack-jawed, into the younger student's eyes. They had gone pure white, soulless, and furious. A rumble built up in Ukyou's throat that grew into a roar: "Toooooo-RAAAAA!!"

Her bare hands slashed at his head, and tore a good-sized chunk off of his face. The sempai fell on his face between her legs, and she hurriedly backed away. She could hear the murmur of her friends approaching, and she stood up; whether he was dead or not would not matter now. They would attend to him….

Disclaimer: All rights to characters, settings, and scenarios belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video.

Chapter 1

Ukyou Kuonji walked away from the grove of trees. Alone.

Behind her came sounds of chirping and howling, as if the unholy offspring of a coyote and a cicada were rejoicing over a freshly killed meal. Because that was what Tora-sempai had become.

Ukyou sighed as she proceeded to her job at a local okonomiyaki-ya. It looked as if she was going to have to change schools again.

In her short life, this had become something of a pattern: as soon as she was discovered, she would have to transfer out as quickly as possible; before the school's faculty figured her out. And so, over the last nine or ten years, she had slowly been making her way north and east, towards Tokyo. She was well aware of how all roads led to the capital, and if she was patient enough, the closer she got to Tokyo, the more likely she was to obtain news of the Saotomes' whereabouts.

It was always her fellow students who picked up on her first. Apparently, the adults that ran and staffed boys' schools throughout Japan were beyond entertaining the possibility that a girl might even try to attend, let alone fathoming the possible reasons why. But it was always best to leave before some fellow student squealed on her.

Not that Tora-sempai's punishment was a common occurrence. Usually, it wasn't a serious matter for her to be discovered; at one school she remembered quite fondly having been nicknamed 'Shun' after a character in a manga series that had garnered fans around campus at the time. Of course, once she heard that bets were being placed on her real gender, she was forced to transfer out again before some of the older boys resorted to strip-searches to find out.

Sometimes, it was only one boy in the whole school that figured her out: Tsubasa Kurenai had been like that. He had somehow picked up on her femininity almost from the day she enrolled in his school, and, not having much other opportunity to meet other girls, fell madly in love with her. His inimitable logic had concluded that, since she liked to cross-dress herself, the kind of boy she would like would have to be a cross-dresser too, and he proceeded to follow through on this conclusion. For his pains, he received a terrible reputation as a pantywaist, and a severe scorings regularly from his beloved Ukyou's combat spatula.

But she reckoned his presence more as a nuisance rather than a threat. It was what spared him from a much worse fate.

Because, as a lone girl amidst a pack of predatory boys, the ability she had to use deadly force could be sorely tempting…

"Tadaima, Mitsukuru-sensei!" Ukyou's face was a happy mask as she walked into the okonomiyaki-ya.

"Okaeri nasai, Ukyou-kun." Mitsukuru-san was a kindly older man that had all but adopted Ukyou since she had arrived in Magome. He had been impressed by his young charge's skill and understanding of the art of okonomi-yaki, and had trained her as best he could. Indeed, he had noted with some astonishment that Ukyou had learned almost anything he could teach her in very short order. "How was school today?"

At her mentor's question, her face fell. Her role as a boy was one thing, but as a rule, Ukyou was not good at telling lies.

Mitsukuru's face was sympathetic. "Bad day, huh? Classes, or…?"

"Bully… after school… tried to…" It was all Ukyou could do to keep from actually crying. Boys didn't cry, after all. Of course, boys don't get threatened with rape, either…

Mitsukuru walked around the counter, and placed his hands on Ukyou's shoulders. "There now, son. Bullies are a part of life, a part of growing up, I'm afraid. Fight them when you can, endure them when you must. It will pass, eventually…" He lifted Ukyou's chin to look him in the eyes. "I know you're strong enough to take care of yourself against them."

A sad little smile grew on Ukyou's face… the things Mitsukuru-sensei didn't know…

To be continued.

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: May 21, 2007