IN THE LAST PART OF WEH:

     Hiretsukan watched the teachers and students leave the school.  He smiled. 
It had been a good day.  He had been very productive.  Wesker, the potential 
loose canon was gone, he got to test out the school's security and trap system, 
and he could now use the footage from the security cameras to extort billions 
of yen from Parasol Corporation to fund school projects. That and a trip to 
Disney World.

     Hiretsukan cut loose with a "Dr. Evil-esque" laugh to end a beautiful day.
It was a good start to what was shaping up to a beautiful week.


***


	In another land, in another time...

     A fierce storm was building outside a castle in Coneria, the southern
continent of Luchs.  Many consider the sudden change in weather an ominous 
sign,
since the day before was sunny and bright, with nary a cloud in sight.  As a
result, none of the townsfolk dared to look out into the strong winds and
driving rain, staying indoors as much as possible.

     In the castle itself however, one of the inhabitants was not as inclined 
to do so.  The Mage-King Lukahn looked out from a window atop one of the castle 
towers, the west tower that houses the castle library.  It was very late in the 
evening, but he was not one who follows the hours, preferring to spend them in 
deep study and meditation rather than in other mundane matters. Sighing, he 
sadly shook his head, knowing the portents for what they are.

     "Soon, soon..." he muttered, gazing out towards the skies.  "The forces of
Lefein will come, and everything we worked hard for will be for naught."

     The only other inhabitant of the library glanced from the parchment he was
browsing and raised a bushy eyebrow towards the Mage-King.

     Lukahn chuckled, seeing his companion's quizzical response.  "Your
optimism always lightens my heart, my dear friend, and I thank you again for
sharing your frank opinions in the matter.  But the reality is more grim 
than even you ever thought possible.  The people of Lefein have become stronger 
with each passing day.  Our Dragons were slain to the last warrior in the front
lines, while our troops face devastation against their monstrous allies.  
The Fiends, the elite generals of Dark Queen Garland, are the most powerful
inhabitants that walk the face of Luchs.  None can stand against them and 
their followers..."

     The other one snorted.

     "The Warriors of Light?"  Lukahn shook his head.  "Sad to say, but they
failed to appear at the prophesied time.  Who knows what fate has befallen 
on them?  My friend, I am afraid that there is no other recourse..."

     Lukahn's companion was immediately at his side.

     Lukahn pursed his lips, frowning down at his friend.  "Don't whine, my
friend.  The spell necessitates the caster's demise due to the intense 
magical energies that are involved in the casting, but this must be done to 
stop the evils of Lefein from covering all the land.  I have lived over a 
hundred cycles, and I accept this end.  I am saddened not by my passing after 
the spell's conclusion, but the people I will be abruptly leaving behind.  As 
you are well aware of, I have no heirs..."

     He bent down to pat at his companion's head.  "...but hopefully my royal
advisors will be able to settle things by then, and decide amongst 
themselves the next course of action."  Lukahn looked into his friend's eyes. 

"But you will miss me, won't you?  I understand, my friend.  Of all my friends,
you are the closest of them all.  Perhaps these gifts I bequeath to you will 
suffice, and maybe you can move on in whatever future you may choose to make."

     Lukahn straightened up and looked up, his eyes staring into the distance.

     "For your faithful devotion, unswerving loyalty and unfailing service to
me and my kingdom, I, Lukahn, bestow upon you these three gifts:  The gift 
of Magic, to strengthen the power you already possess, and perhaps someday
surpassing even mine own; The gift of Immortality, a life eternal to 
continue your quest for knowledge and wisdom; and finally, the very thing you 
yearned for...  The gift... of Humanity."

     This was only a declaration, of course, not really a ritual of the magical
arts.  But even so, a change seemed to occur within the other one, as the
flashes of lightning from the raging storm outside reflected off the surface 
of the thick-rimmed spectacles balanced precariously over his canine snout.  
His eyes began to fill with tears as he was caught up with the emotions of the
moment.

     "I may pass away, but through these gifts I will live on through you."
Lukahn smiled at his pet dog.  "This is all for you, my friend.  What do you
say?"

	"Woof."


***


West Eastwood High

Part 10:  "It's Like Fireworks Season, Minus The Fuses."
(or, "Over Several Late days in the making")

Original concept by Eslington

This late portion by Signus Megido

The not as late part by Ranma X.


***


EARLIER, ON WEH:

	Hisashi Oyama was worried.

     He found it curious but not really serious that the creepy Wesker-sensei
had returned to teach science.  Nobody liked the guy while he was still
teaching, but dismissed it as yet another one of The Nameless One's quirks 
that motivated him to hire the weirdo in the first place.

     It was also quite strange that Ichiiro was absent for today, since  the
"norm" was usually punctual.  He would have eavesdropped on Aiko's thoughts, 
but with what happened between them months ago, he was hesitant on peering into 
her surface thoughts.  Fortunately, Saotome-sensei spared him the effort by 
asking Aiko himself.  She had no idea, of course, and Hisashi found himself 
glad of it, which he reflected was curious of him.

     Even so, his sense of danger kept blaring warnings at Hisashi for the rest
of the morning, making him tense and edgy.  He blamed it on his nervousness, 
as he still wasn't convinced of any danger about to occur.

     Until PE class.  That was when Hisashi heard an explosion from the
Chemistry labs, which to him sounded like a report from a rocket launcher.
Moments later saw Kaji-sensei breaking through the window of the building,
sailing over the heads of his class, and flying right out the school 
premises.

     Teashi-sensei immediately dismissed the class and headed towards the main
building, which was slowly closing down as students and teachers alike 
quickly poured out the doors.  After a moment's pause, Hisashi followed the 
cybered coach towards the main gathering.

     "All right, please tell me everything that's going on," Teashi-sensei was
asking Aiko as Hisashi reached the group.  She slowly began to narrate the
events that occurred in the Chem. lab, but it only took Hisashi a moment to 
scan the thoughts of those present to realize what had made them anxious.

     "Ichiiro..." Hisashi thought, worriedly looking over at the boarded-up
school building.


***


     "...And that is the current situation,"  Taeshi-sensei concluded as he
faced the gathered teachers.  "I recommend that myself and 
Bösekrieger-sensei infiltrate the school through the sewers and rescue the
students."

     Kent-sensei stepped forward.  "Ah'll come along with yah, if yah don't
mind.  Ah may not be able to fight with those there swords and axes, but 
give me three minutes and ah'll get the girls from mah car trunk."

     "Thank you, Mister Kent," B"sekrieger-sensei replied, turning to the
others. 
"So, anyone else who wanted to join?"  She sighed at the silence.  


"I take that as a no, then."

     Both Teashi-sensei and B"sekrieger-sensei nodded to the Texan, who grinned
widely as he went to get something from the trunk of his car.

     Teashi-sensei was grinning when he heard a slight cough behind him.
"Yes?"  He asked, turning around.  "Hisashi?"

     "Teashi-sensei?  Can I join your group?"  Hisashi asked.

     "Sorry, Mister Oyama, but we cannot," Bösekrieger-sensei replied.  "The
students' safety is our primary responsibility as teachers.  It just won't 
do for all of us if we'd put any more students in danger."

     "But...  But I..."

     "What you can do is organize the others to make sure none of Wesker's, er,
'pets', get out of the building," Teashi-sensei consoled.  "If any of them
escapes the premises, who knows what havoc they may cause in the city.  
We're counting on all of you..."

     Teashi-sensei's jaw dropped.  Hisashi turned around and saw Kent-sensei
with his 'girls'.  His jaw followed his teacher's lead moments later.

     "Howdy," Kent-sensei drawled, grinning all the while.  "Wah don'cha say ah
big 'ello t' mah li'l friends."


***


     It took a while for Hisashi to gather the most able fighters among the
students, but finally he managed to assemble a sizeable force capable of to
taking on whatever terrible monstrosity decided to crawl out the doors of 
the school entrance.

     By the time the main entrance doors slid open, the strongest fighters were
standing at the forefront, ready for anything, hideous or otherwise.

     However, they weren't ready for the sight of Bösekrieger-sensei carrying
Ichiiro over her shoulder, a cute green-haired girl hanging by her side,
followed by Kent-sensei carrying Kisaru in his arms and Teashi-sensei 
tagging behind them.  A cheer rang out from the assembled crowd at the sight of 
the teachers' success.

     "ICHIIRO!"  Aiko and the female body of Makoto called out, rushing to
Bösekrieger-sensei's side in an instant.

     Bösekrieger-sensei set Ichiiro down on a shaded area of the school grounds.

"Now you three better take good care of Mister Hoshino here, you hear?"

     "Yes, Ma'am," all three of the girls replied.

     With a chuckle, Bösekrieger-sensei strode purposefully back to the huddled
group.  "Now if you excuse me, I have a standing bet with Teashi-sensei who 
I have to beat."  Her eyes narrowed.  "How dare he claim that he can beat more
zombies than me?  He doesn't even..."

     The three girls blinked.  "Huh?"

     Aiko and Makoto-chan turned towards the newcomer.  "Hey...  Who are you,
anyway?"  Makoto-chan asked.

     Kraken visibly sweatdropped.  "Er, eh...  I'm Kraken Wsterfnend, an
exchange student from Lefein.  I just transferred here today."

     "Then would you mind telling us what is your relation to Ichiiro?"  Aiko
asked.

     Confused by the question, Kraken cutely shook her head.  "No, nothing...
er, I mean that he's just my guide here in this school.  Nothing more."

     "Oh, really?"  Aiko pressed on.

     "Really."  Kraken insistently replied.

     "Positive?"

     "Very."

     "Well, why are you hanging on to Ichiiro's arm then?"  Makoto-chan pointed
out.

     Sure enough, Kraken had unconsciously glomped on to Ichiiro's arm the
whole time.  She quickly dropped the appendage and scooted away, red-faced.

"Er, sorry, I... I..."  *I'm going to KILL Lich and Kary when I get my hands 
on them...* Kraken swore.  *...AGAIN.*

     Unfortunately, Ichiiro picked a bad time to return to consciousness.  The
worst part was not in waking up, but moaning out to a certain girl as he did 
so.

"Kraken-chan..."

     Kraken felt the now-familiar twitching at the back of her neck.

     All of Aiko's three eyes bugged out.

     At the entrance of the school, Makoto-kun facefaulted.


***


     And at another part of the school grounds, the water sprinkler turned on
inexplicably, drenching Natsume of all people.

     "Why me?!?"  the Raquae exchange student wailed to the heavens.


***


     "Kraken-chan..." Ichiiro repeated, just before his eyes started to focus.
He immediately regretted it, as the first thing he saw was the twin glares 
of both Aiko and Makoto-chan.  "...uh..."

     "Ichiiro..."  Aiko growled.

     Ichiiro backpedaled.  "Wait!  It's not what you think!  I can explain--"

     Now, to those who had been paying attention, they would have realized that
Ichiiro was lying under the shade of the tree when he woke up.  In trying to 
put some distance between himself and the girls, he inadvertedly slammed his 
head into the base of the tree trunk behind him.

     >WHAM!<

     Ichiiro mercifully went unconscious again, leaving the explanation for
another time.

     And leaving one fuming mad sayajin unkara, one upset Makoto, and one 
confused former-Fiend-turned-human.

     "This place is weird," commented Kraken to no one in particular.


***


     The male half of Makoto was currently with Hisashi and some of the other
students as they talked with a now-conscious Hagira as he filled them in on 
the events that happened while they were trapped inside the school.

     "So, did'ja get a good look at the Vice-Principals?"  One of the students
asked.

     Hagira shook his head.  "No... sorry, but it was too dark to make them
out."

     "See, Yukari?"  One of the students said to another.  "I told you The
Nameless One and his Goons are demons."

     "No way, Sayuko," the other student protested.  "I'm pretty sure they're
aliens.  I mean, Megumi did say that they aren't yoma..."

     "Hey, Makoto?"

     Makoto-kun turned around.  "Yes, Hisashi?"

     Hisashi looked concerned.  "You seem upset.  Is something the matter?"

     "Nothing...  nothing's wrong,"  Makoto-kun stared off into the distance.

     Hisashi followed his eyes, and saw the sight of a prone Ichiiro under a
tree with Aiko, Makoto's female body, and a girl he never saw before arguing
among themselves.  "Oh.  I see..."

      Then the first zombie stumbled out the door, and there was no more time
for introspection, only of battle.


***


     Okay, not really much of a battle.  More like a slaughter of the undead.
But then again, the zombies were already dead to begin with... but the 
Surreal Author digresses.


***


THE NEXT DAY:

     Ichiiro woke up with a splitting headache
"Oh man...What happened?" He asked himself as he quinted at the painful morning 
sun.

     Finally adjusting himself to his surroundings, he found himself in bed. 
His mother came in with a basket of laundry and said:

"Oh Good. You're awake finally. Do you feel alright Ichiiro?"

"Yes mom, though I think I could use an aspirin or two." He said. His mother 
smiled and replied.

"Okay. I'll get Kraken-san to bring it to you." SHe said as she put down the 
basket and stepped out of the room.

     Ichiiro sat there and thought for a few seconds. He tried to recollect his 
thoughts.
"Lesee....Sunday I played video games and read manga. Monday I...Monday 
Monday...I don;t remember...and who's this Kraken person anyways."

"Oh Ichiiro-san! You're feeling better. That's good." Kraken said as she 
enetered. Ichiiro snapped his fingers and said to himself,

"Oh yeah. The girl I was supposed to guide today, but then...hey wait! What are 
you doing here?!"

"I'm staying here a few days," Kraken said as she handed him an aspirin along 
with a glas of water.

"Wha?"

"Look, I need to make sure you're okay and besides, uh,  school is canceled 
today."

"Ah. What about your parents?"

"I live alone."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Nono," she stopped with surprised her. "It's okay.It was um...a while already."

"Oh," he said.

     Ichiiro looked at the blue-green eyed girl for a few seconds.
"Wow...so she's going to be around for a while huh?" Ichiiro thought to himself.

"So...do you want to do something?" Ichiiro asked.

"I suppose so, since you seem to be relatively fine."

"Yeah." He stood up from the bed and moved a limb in succession, testing to see
if he felt any pain.

"Nope, all fine." He said as he heard the doorbell from downstairs.

     A few seconds later, Emiko said, 
"Ichiiro. You're friends are here."

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute," Ichiiro said as he turned to Kraken.

"I'll see you downstairs."
 
"What do you mean? I'll wait until you're ready to come downstairs."

"Um, Kraken-chan...I..."

"What is it Ichiiro?"

"I kind of need to change my clothes."

"And?" Kraken asked, causing Ichiiro to sweatdrop and blush slightly. Kraken
blinked and said:

"Oh right. You are male and want your privacy. I understand." she smiled
lasciviously and left the room.

     Ichiiro slumped against the wall and said to himself,
"What the hell was that?"

     Outside, Kraken doubled over in disgust. She thought to herself.
"What the hell was that?! You are 'so' dead Lukahn."

***

     Ichiiro and Kraken came downstairs to find Aiko, and Makoto standing by, 
the male one wearing sunglasses and humming to himself as he listened to a 
Walkman, while the female one looked worried, but was tapping her feet to the 
beat of the music.

"Kraken?!" Aiko and Makoto said as the two women saw her.

"Oh. Good morning all." She smiled.

"H-hi." Ichiiro said as he waved weakly.

"Don't you have a home to go to?"

"This 'is' my home, sanjiyan," Kraken said, already annoyed. Makoto and Aiko
looked at Ichiiro in concern, disgust, and shock. Ichiiro shrugged and said:

"Hey, I was unconscious when she moved in!"

"Now now, you kids have a good time today and Ichiiro-"

"Yes?"

"Take care of Kraken. She hasn't been feeling well."

"Oh..Okay mom!" he said as the fivesome left to the outside world.

***

     They walked several blocks from Ichiiro's house in silence.
"Um, so...Kraken," the male Ichiiro asked, in an effort to make some neutral
conversation, "Where did you go to school before?"  
 
"Leifin Academy" Kraken said immeditaely, but silently cursed herself for not 
lying. 

"Oh? How did you like it there?" the other Makoto asked.

"It was uh, fine...More normal than here though."

"Any place is normal compared to West Eastwood, I've found," Ichiiro noted.

"You've only been here a few weeks Ichiiro!" Aiko impulsively protested.
"I think it's a very nice place."

"Yes, but that doesn't take away from the weirdness."

"Hmm, that's true..." Aiko said, lowering her voice.

     The group arrived at a park, where several of their classmates were there, 
enjoying the warm days of May.

"Wow. It's kinda crowded today," Ichiiro noted which elicited nods from the 
others. 

     A few moments later, Uta and Hisashi walked up to them.
"Hello Hosino-Kun. I'm surprised and rather glad that you are well again."
"[Wow. The entire group is here.]"
"Indeed Uta." Hisashi said as he waved and asked the group:

"Would you like to join us for today? We're just messing around, playing 
frisbee, baseball, or just sleeping the day off."

     The five people looked at each other and paused. Ichiiro looked at Hisashi
and smiled.

"Sure."

***

     The day was spent in quiet relaxation, games and all in all, a departure 
from mundane school life and even more so from the horrors they all had seen 
the day before.

     Ichiiro was laying down in the sun at the top of a green hill looking at 
the sky. Aiko and Makoto were lying down nearby talking. Ichiiro interjected 
into their conversation as he noted the sky.

"Wow...I feel really good right now. Wonder why I don't feel traumatized?"

"Hmm...That's a good question actually Ichiiro," Makoto noted.

"I like lying down here and all, but I want to be on the lake," Aiko noted.

     Ichiiro stood up and said, "Okay. let's go." The group moved towards the 
boat, except for Kraken. Ichiiro was halfway there when he turned back and saw 
her sitting down, muttering and pulling the grass from the ground.

"Um, Kraken? We're going on the lake. Let's go!"

"Why?" she asked flatly, looking at the ground.

"Well...it's fun. It's worth doing at least once," Ichiiro explained, smiling.

     Kraken stood slowly and shrugged. Ichiiro looked at the crowd alredy at 
the dock.
"Ah, We're really behind!" Ichiiro said as he ran down to the dock. Kraken
casually walked behind.  


***

     Ichiiro was sitting in a boat in the middle of the lake that was in the 
large park. He was rowing while Aiko and Makoto was in it. He was paddling 
alongside another boat rowed by Makoto which contained Kraken and Kyoto and
yet another boat which contained Hisashi and Uta.

"Um, Ichiiro, may I ask you a question?" Aiko asked

"Yeah? If it's about."

"What is going on?! Why is this Kraken girl all of a sudden here? And at your 
house on top of it!"

"Um, I think she said that she doesn't have family and...I don't really know.
She gets along with my mom very well, I'd guess."

"Hmm, okay then. Just don;t let her sway you or anything," Makoto said.

"What do you mean?" Ichiiro looked at her in confusion as he put down the oars.

"Um, nothing Ichiiro."
  

     A few meters away, Makoto was speaking with Kraken who explained her 
situation.

"So you're staying with Ichiiro since you have no other family nearby?"

"Yes. He's also my guide for school."

     Makoto smiled and nodded vaguely and Kyoto interjected:

"Wow. That's really Kawaii! As if it were from a shoujo manga. That's good. 
You'd make a good couple with Ichiiro."

     Makoto paled significantly and Kraken made a face suggesting her now human
insides were turning. 

Natsume, who was sunbathing lakeside was soaked by a large wave somehow 
created.

"When I see that bastard tomorrow, he is 'so' dead...."

***

     Also nearby Hisashi was keeping a silent watch over the others ad Uta 
smiled into the sky.

"Wow...I sense very mixed emotions. This should be interesting to witness. 
However, that Kraken girl is different."

"[What do you mean?]" 

"I can't tell for sure, but I get very mixed feelings, ranging from disgust and
contempt to adoration and contentment. It's almost as if she can't control 
herself."

"[That is strange. What may cause that?]"

"Who knows? Maybe she is just born that way..." Hishashi mused some more and
then said:

"Hey, Uta."

"[Yes?]"

"I'm hungry. Do you want to go get some lunch?" he asked. Uta nodded and 
Hisashi added:

"What do you want? Italian? Ramen? American?" He said as he began rowing the 
boat back to the dock. Uta kept silent looking at the sky.

"C'mon. Help me out here Uta. I'm not a mind-reader, y'know!"
***

     In the late afternoon, the group split up. Kraken went back home while Aiko 
and Makoto decided to go shopping. Ichiiro decided to go to Makoto's house and 
play some video games with him.

     Inside the living room, Ichiiro looked rather nervous as Makoto was again 
defeating him in a rousing game of PvP vs. KoF.

"Ah! How can you beat me with skull?!" 

"Well, I have l33t Skillz Ichiiro."

"Come again? I don't get you."

"Nobody does. I'm the wind baby."

"I see...." Ichiiro said and they kept playing in silence.

"So uh, how is everyone is taking the whole Kraken thing?" Ichiiro asked.

     Skull was losing to Iori as Makoto dropped his controller.

"Uh-Makoto?"

"Oh. Sorry...It was just..."

"You okay?"

"Y-Yeah. Aiko and I, I think, are taking it rather well."

"Oh. You know I really have nothing to do with it, it's just... you know."

     Makoto nodded as they kept playing. For the rest of the evening, 
they kept a comfortable silence. 

***
 
     That evening, Ichiiro returned home, humming a tune he had heard on the
radio. The sky was darkening and the stars were coming out slowly, glittering
subtly above the suburb.

     Entering his house, he yawned a bit and saw Kraken watching TV with his 
sister. They seemed to be talking a bit, though it was obvious Yuka dominted 
the conversation.

     He walked in and said, "Hey you two." He waves weakly and Kraken merely 
nodded at his prescence. He shrugged and went upstairs.

     Ichiiro was lying down in his bed and was thinking to himself.
"This is weird. It's all really weird isn't it. Ah, I don't know. Tomorrow's
another day and I feel tired." 

     Ichiiro shrugged as Kraken opened the door and approached him. She seemed 
flustered and a bit upset.

"Damn it!"

"What's wrong Kraken-chan?"

     Kraken froze. She had been thinking to herself about her present condition 
and her anger was apprently showing. She really would have loved to responded,
"This damn situation! You (censored) stupid (censored) (censored) of a
(censored)" However, she realized the inapropriateness of that statement and 
tried to think of something she could say to not make Ichiiro suspicious. 
She tried thinking of something natural, casual, something anyone would say 
and, all in all, normal.

"I'm not sure if I love you or not and it's driving me crazy!"

Needless to say, Freud would have a field day at this moment.

They both blinked.

Ichiiro stood up and looked at her.

"What?!"

"Uh..um..I" Kraken stuttered, trying to explain to Ichiiro and herself why she
had said what she said.

"Are you purposely trying to confuse me and my friends?!" He said as he grabbed 
her shoulder. Kraken let out a small scream of pain. Ichiiro, scared, promptly 
let go and she sat down.

"A-Are you okay?" I Ichiiro asked.

"F-Fine, it's just..." Kraken said as she pulled her shirt sleeve up,
revealing a multitude of deep purple bruises. Ichiiro blinked.

"What happened to you?"

"It's alright. It seems that when I get injured, I heal someone in proportion to
my wounds. That's why you felt better. I've been hurting all day, really, but
when you grabbed my arm, it was...painful," Kraken explained in an expression 
and tone of voice that made it appear as if she was surprised by the sensations.

"Oh. I see..." Ichiiro paled. He felt like a jerk and felt like jumping into
the largest hole possible. He stammered, "Um...is there anything I can uh, do 
to, uh, make it up to you?"

"It's alright Ichiiro. I'll live," Kraken said.

     Ichiiro nodded and Kraken exited the room. He sat down at his bed for a 
while and thought himself.

"She really healed me, by hurting herself? I-I mean...wow...I need to do 
something to make it up to her. Anything, but...." He shook his head and said,
"I'm tired. School is tomorrow and I don't even want to think about tomorrow 
now."

***

Author notes:

Bah. I'm losing it. I know I am. Anyways, it wasn;t until Monday that I 
actually was in spired enough to do this chapter. I think it was a bad funk 
following my less than average IFF parts. Oh well, too late to apologize.

Hope you like my back to basics ideas and simplistic thrid person narrative.

Apologies for not going too deep with Kraken, Lukahn, and Leifin, making 
Hisahi more of a watcher type character as well as potentially place him in 
a relationship with Uta.(I made it seem that way and I think its kinda cute.)

Again, thanks for Signus for letting me use part of his chapter 10 since I 
really did not want to write a followup to KiY's part(no offense, but I 
don't do well writing action sequences and while I don;t consider myself
a plot-Nazi, I do like the romantic and light comedy the series can provide.


Whatever, I'm tired. School is tomorrow and I don't even want to think about 
tomorrow now.

Ranma X.
drstupid@geocities.com

"Formating