"Relax your arm...now tilt forward." Mizuko stumbled as she attempted to comply. The bow trembled awkwardly in her hands as she shot the arrow, which fell to the ground in front of her.

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me, Sensei!" Mizuko pleaded instantly. The young woman standing beside her sighed.

"It's alright. Now try again." she said. She repositioned Mizuko's grip. "You need to keep the bow straight, and AIM for the target..." the woman said. "Good. Now release." Mizuko did as she was told. The arrow whizzed through the air and struck the target two rings from the bull's eye. The woman sighed and released her hold on Mizuko's arm.

"That's enough for today..." she mumbled after a moment. Mizuko sighed and undid her auburn hair from the priestess ponytail. She could tell who was more intimidating: her archery coach or Seichi.

"Sister Kikyo!" the archery coach and Mizuko turned as two young black haired girls ran over to them. Kikyo smiled at the younger of the two girls.

"Did you have any trouble, Kaede?" Kikyo asked.

The eight year old shook her head no. "Kagome and I found everything on the list!" she said happily, sounding proud of herself.

Kikyo smiled at her two sisters and then frowned as she turned back to Mizuko. "Our lesson's over for today. You may go home, Mizuko."

Mizuko nodded and slowly walked away from the archery fields. why she had taken up the bow as her weaponry of choice was unknown to her even now. It'd never made sense, since she had no talent whatsoever for it. Yet at times, she looked forward to her lessons with Lady Kikyo. Until she was scolded of course.

"Finished another blunder round?" Seichi asked, coming up behind her. Mizuko turned around swiftly and was again swallowed by his eyes. Half-concealed beneath his wavy black bangs, his once harsh, fear-inducing amythyst eyes now seemed softer...tame. "Do you find staring that amusing?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

Mizuko flinched away from him. His tone never changed.

"Sorry." she grumbled. She didn't like how insecure she felt around Seichi. Like he was the only one in this world with power. That she was completely helpless without him.

"Not bad..."

Mizuko turned to look at Seichi; he was staring at the target across the field. "You managed to hit the second ring. That's improvement." he said thoughtfully. Mizuko frowned.

"Since when are you kind? What do you want?"

"Is it wrong for me to compliment an old friend?"

"Yes. Cause usually that means you want something."

Seichi laughed. "Come now, Mizuko. have ever done that to you?" He saw her scowl and laughed harder. "Fine. From now on I won't say anything positive around you ever again. Would that suit you better?"

"Yes. Yes it would." Mizuko said confidently. Seichi shrugged.

"Fine. Then I guess you wouldn't care to know that they've rescheduled the Final Exam for tomorrow afternoon, since I can't say anything positive."

Mizuko nearly fell over. "They WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me?! And how is that POSITIVE?!!"

"Well for me it's positive." Seichi said with a sly grin.

Mizuko scowled and jabbed his ribs with her elbow. "Jerk." She grumbled. Seichi smirked.

"So...what do you plan to do now?" Seichi asked smugly.

"Suffer in silence." Mizuko said with bitter discontent. "Hey...um...have you heard from your dad lately?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.. Now Seichi was scowling.

"Yeah. He called last night." Seichi said bitterly.

"Oh. He's still on that business trip, huh? Don't you get lonely in that big, old mansion?" Mizuko asked. Seichi laughed, though it obviously was not from amusement.

"Please. Unlike you, I don't need the constant presense of humans."

"Then how come you take every opportunity to talk to me?" Mizuko asked smugly.

His uncaring expression remained unchanged. "If you're hoping for some sort of compassionate answer, it won't work." he said bluntly.

"Oh come on. Just admit that you enjoy my company." Mizuko taunted. Seichi smirked.

"You're good for stress relief, but that's about all."

Mizuko scowled and walked away from him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she thought she saw a flicker of pained confusion on his face. He didn't get why he was mad. Typical men. She hadn't expected an affectionate answer, but he could've said something more than that. They were like siblings. Best friends for as long as she could remember. Her parents had been friends wiht Seichi's father, and they'd instantly become close from the first moment they'd seen each other. Strangely, she couldn't remember anything about his dad, except that the guy was never home.

Maybe that was why Seichi was always in a bad mood. he claimed to detest human company, but maybe he just wanted to have someone around at home.

She sighed; there really was no evidence to support this. It was possible that Seichi found being an annoying bastard enjoyable. Slowly she made her way to her house. Right now she had more important things than 'Sei-bozu's' rude behavior to worry about: like the Exam tomorrow.

"Sir; the demons have overcome our northern defense." an elderly man said, slightly anxious. "At this rate, our city will be at risk of complete annihilation."

"We...await your judgement...sir..." another said.

A young man- barely in his 30's- sat at the very front of the long rectangular table. His long bony fingers were intertwined and his elbows rested on the table as he debated. It didn't last long.

"Send the graduates." he said simply. His voice was deep, and low in volume.

"But, sir! They're mere children! They've never been in battle!"

"Then this will be an excellent opportunity to introduce them to the career they're entering." the man said calmly. He stood up. "I believe you can handle the rest, gentlemen. Now. If you'll excuse me." he slowly made his way out the dimly lit meeting hall, leaving the speechless-and slightly disturbed- Senate to debate the Taishou's shocking solution.

Mizuko couldn't control her frantic heartbeat. All she could do was stare at the mirror. She was dressed in the Slayer's armor.

They had been told...that their final test would be an actual battle...against actual demons.

I...I can't. I can't do this! she thought, her confidence crumbling away with each passing second. I can't fight...!! There's no way one of MY arrows would actually hit! I'm going to die out there!

She jumped-and nearly hit the ceiling- when someone knocked on the door.

"Mizuko...? Are you ready to go yet?" Seichi asked impatiently. Mizuko tried to answer, but no words came out. her voice was paralyzed by her own fear. Seichi knocked again, and went inside when she still didn't answer. "Oh. If you're ready, why are you hiding in here?"

"I can't go out there." she said, her fear consuming her tone.

The smugness faded from his expression and was replaced by something rare for him...concern. "Get a hold of yourself, Mizuko. This is what you wanted."

"But I can't kill those things! I'll just get killed!"

"You're not going to die, Mizuko. I'll be right there next to you the whole time. Part of the test is also based on how well we work together. So as long as you don't wander off or do anything stupid, we'll both pass." he said with a teasing grin. It was like he was trying to get her to laugh or something.

Mizuko smiled half-heartedly. He reached over and handed her her bow and quiver. "Now let's get going. All we have to do is stop them from getting into the city, and we'll both go home. And maybe if you're good, I'll let you stop by that cafe you like so much on our way back."

"You'll...let me stop by?" Mizuko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. But only if you behave yourself." Seichi said.

Mizuko laughed dryly, and then followed Seichi out of the dressing hall. As they neared the front doors he grabbed his halberd from where it rested against the wall. Mizuko squinted against the bright sun as she stumbled to her place among the ranks of her class. Everyone seemed as nervous as she was.

Except Seichi. He was standing perfectly still, letting his halberd rest on his shoulder. She couldn't help but notice how vaguely cool he looked against the still rising sun. It wasn't like he wasn't good-looking.

He was well built, not the overdone body builder type, but just enough that you knew he'd "whoop your ass" in a fist fight. And with his large, jagged axe-headed pole-arm in hand, he'd "whoop" more than just that. His ebony hair had the faintest wave to it- a trait from his mother no doubt- and was just barely long enough for the wind to catch it. He could be very popular and admired by the girls at school...if it weren't for his sucky personality.

The small group around her began to disband, though Mizuko didn't notice until Seichi came over and lightly bonked her on the head.

"Earth to Mizuko. Time for us to get into position. They've spotted the demons." Seichi said.

Mizuko's heart started thundering again. It was finally time. She was going into battle, and now...there was no escape. No chance for her to walk away and go home...to safety.

"Seichi..." he turned to look at her. "What if...what if something goes wrong?" he looked at her for a long while, and then ruffled her hair.

"Did we already have this conversation? You're not going to die. I'll stay right next to you the whole time. So stop freaking yourself out." he leaned in towards her ear. "Or you'll turn into a wrinkly old hag by the time you're 30."

Mizuko glared at him and bonked Seichi on the head with her bow. Seichi chuckled quietly and then glanced ahead at the forest.

The ground beneath them began to rumble violently. Mizuko latched onto Seichi's arm to keep herself from falling over.

How convenient that they would have an earthquake now of all times. Or at least that's what Mizuko thought it was. Seichi was smarter than that. Suddenly, Seichi pulled her close to him and leapt to one side. She looked over in time to see a mass of swirling white and gold lights crash into the wall behind them. It buckled from the blast's power, then crumbled and gave way to the attack.

Even after Seichi had put her down, Mizuko refused to let go of him. She'd had no idea that they'd be this strong.

Seichi's eyes were beginning to regain their harsh nature. "Looks like our prey's finally decided to show up." he said with a smirk. He was going to enjoy this. Mizuko could tell just by looking at him. The aura that surrounded him was overpowering, intimidating, and seemed to affect everyone around them. The students screamed war cries as the attacking demons appeared from the forest. Mizuko stared at the creatures. They weren't more human than animal. Sort of a mixture of both, and there was no pattern in their appearances. Seichi ran forward and impaled one that had come too close to them.

Mizuko's eyes widened as Seichi quickly ripped his weapon out of the demon's body, a large spray of crimson blood erupted from the wound as the corspe fell to the ground.

She saw it within her mind. A mountainous demon with animal like features. Its cruel talons tearing through her flesh...

"Mizuko, snap out of it!" Seichi shouted at her. "This is not the time to be remenesing!"

Mizuko shook the thoughts away and aimed an arrow at a demon near Seichi. It struck between the beast's eyes.

"Good shot!" Seichi shouted to her. "Too bad Lady Kikyo didn't get to see that!"

Mizuko blushed at his sudden praise. "But I missed! I was aiming for its heart!!" she complained. then her eyes widened in horror. "Seichi, behind you!!" she shouted. He spun his halberd expertly, cleaving the head from the demon's body. Mizuko let out a squeak of fright as it fell to the ground.

"Thanks, Mizuko!!" he said as he went after another one. Mizuko loaded another arrow and fired. As long as she killed them before they could get close enough to attack her, she just might survive this!

She heard the rustling bushes a moment too late, and then felt a cloth over her mouth.

"Sleep for a bit." a rough male voice said. Mizuko struggled against his grip until her eyelids suddenly felt heavy. She slumped backwards agasinst her attacker and everything went black.

Seichi sliced through his target and looked over at Mizuko. She'd been too quiet. When he looked around for her, he saw she wasn't there.

How was that possible? She'd only been out of his sight for a minute at most, how could she have vanished in so little time?

"Mizuko?! Mizuko!!" Seichi shouted as he ran over to where he'd last seen her. There was no sign of a struggle. She'd simply vanished.

Damn it...Mizuko...