Mamono Hunter Jiro

by Mike Ching and Johann Chua

Chapter One

	The kendo dojo was empty save for two lone practitioners. The air 
was still enough to carry a deep sense of concentration between the two 
figures as they slowly circled each other.
	"HA!" 
	A blue streak cried out as it came down to successfully strike its 
relatively motionless white target on the head. The white figure staggered 
slightly back as he sought to regain his bearings.
	The two combatants stared each other down as the match proceeded. 
The whiteclad figure, had yet to score a hit on his opponent. One more hit 
on him would mean another straight victory for his sparring partner.
	"Okay, if I can get at _least_ one hit in, I'll consider that an 
improvement," he told himself candidly, yet without confidence.
	Steeling himself for an all or nothing lunge, he leapt with hope of 
scoring, but not the heart. His opponent managed to avoid his attack easily 
enough before landing the decisive blow.
	"HA!!!"
	The blow recoiled along Jiro's skull as the bamboo sword struck home.
	"That's enough for today, Jiro-kun." His instructor cum sparring 
partner could tell he was exhausted.
	"Hai," he reluctantly agreed. As much as he wanted to, he didn't 
have the energy to continue practice.
	"Cheer up. You just need to practice more." His instructor's 
cheerful voice and words were encouraging, but...
	"Sensei, how long was it before you managed to beat your father?" 
Jiro asked, curious about his teacher's first instructor.
	"Actually, I beat him when I was in kindergarten," came the sheepish 
reply, as she removed her helmet to reveal fiery red hair neatly bundled in
a long braid.
	Jiro did the same, showing off his own dark brown locks now glazed 
in a thin layer of sweat.
	"Oh great. I'm up against a master swordsman child prodigy," he 
groaned.
	"It was probably a freak accident. Then again, he hasn't been in 
this house for over 20 years," she added, doing little to boost what was 
left of Jiro's ego.
	Seeing the look of despair in his eyes she said, "But I'm glad to 
have you as a student. Everyone else gave up; you haven't. You should always 
remember that." The smile on her face seemed to calm the soul.
	After this bit of encouragement, Jiro felt his spirits rise.
	"Arigatou, Shidou-sensei."


	Walking home was pleasant this fine summer day. A gentle breeze kept 
Jiro cool as the sun was about to set. 
	"Mom will probably be on me again for being late," he thought as he 
reached the front gate.
	"Jirooo!  Don't tell me you've been practicing overtime _again_."
	"Okay, I won't tell you," he replied sarcastically.
	BASH. 
	Jiro's skull once again met the business end of a bamboo sword.
	"What have I told you about smart-aleck remarks like that? Now get 
yourself cleaned up before we have dinner." Nursing his already-sore head,
Jiro fumed silently into the house.
	Yohko Mano was quite serious when she needed to be, especially when 
it concerned Jiro.
	"Mom, can't you ever ease up a little? At least Grandma never bugs 
me about what time I come home..." Jiro tried to reason out as he nursed the
swelling on his head.
	"Your grandmother has very lax standards regarding behavior."
	"That's a mean thing to say about your own mother."
	"Well, it's true."
	"I heard that, Yohko!" came Sayoko Mano's somewhat aged but still 
alluring voice.
	"I forget what good hearing she has," Yohko moaned as she braced for 
another "chat" with her mother.
	As another little family discussion erupted, Jiro treated himself to a 
nice hot bath. Dinner followed with cold stares exchanged between Yohko and 
Sayoko, while Jiro tried to pay no attention to their dispute.
	"Mother, I expect Jiro to be home when I tell him. What if something 
happens to him?" Yohko fired off the first salvo.
	"You worry too much, Yohko. Jiro is perfectly capable of taking care of 
himself. I bet he was just out on a date with that cute kendo teacher of 
his," suggested Sayoko with a wink to Jiro.
	"Mother, not everyone thinks like you do." Yohko groaned.
	"What's wrong with that?" asked Sayoko with a touch of bewilderment. 
"Don't you think Shidou-sensei is cute, Jiro-chan?"
	"Erm, no comment," he replied. Jiro knew it was best to keep out of 
his mother and grandmother's little debates over him. His mother's cooking 
wasn't exactly the best he's ever tasted, but it was better than getting hit 
on the head. He'd had enough of that to last a lifetime...
	"Oh come on. She's very attractive and I know she likes you. I think 
it's a good idea for you to have some experience with an older woman."
	"Mother!!!"
	"Of course I've had experience with her," declared Jiro emphatically.
	"That's the spirit, Jiro-chan!" Sayoko cried out in glee.
	"Jiro...don't tell me...that you..." Yohko gasped in horror as she
waited for her son to continue.
	"We have kendo practice everyday, right?" Jiro replied, causing his 
grandmother to lose balance and his mother to sigh in relief.

	"Well, I'm off," Jiro cried out as he left for school. Breakfast was 
marked with somewhat warmer greetings between Mom and Grandma. Which was 
good news, otherwise Jiro would have had to sleep over at his friend Jin's 
house again.
	"So Jiro, how far have you gotten with Megumi?"
	Speaking of the devil...
	Jiro turned to see his friend Jin Ogawa, who was flanked by Asuka 
Kanzaki and Kouji Takahashi. The terrible trio, on schedule as always.
	"What do you mean by that?" replied a puzzled Jiro.
	"What do I...! Jiro, are you stupid or just dense?" Jin cried out.
	"I am _not_ stupid!"
	Jin turned to Asuka and said, "Yup, he's dense."
	"Not dense enough." Jiro remarked as he bashed Jin on the head.
	"Was that really necessary, Jiro?" inquired Kouji. "Jin may be a bit 
annoying, but he's harmless."
	"Yeah, everyone knows that, especially Maria," added Asuka.
	"What did you say?" a perturbed Jin asked of Asuka.
	"I said your girlfriend knows you're a wimp!"
	"Take that back!" demanded Jin as he wrestled Asuka to the ground.
	"Guys, we don't have time for this. We'll be late for class at this 
rate," Jiro attempted to calm down the two.
	"Later, Jiro. First I have to teach this pretty boy a lesson."
	"That's more than I can say for you!" retorted Asuka.
	"Why you...!"


	"So, Mano, I see you and your friends are late again."
	"Well sir, it was like this. Jin and Asuka were having a little 
discussion that...kinda got out of hand. Kouji and I tried to stop them."
	"Nice try Mano, but the four of you still get to clean the toilets 
this afternoon."
	"But sir! I've got kendo practice this afternoon," Jiro objected.
	"Tough. You should have thought of that before coming late to _my_ 
school. I don't care if you are the star of the kendo team. You're _still_ 
going to clean the toilets."
	As the principal turned to leave, Jiro couldn't help but thumb his 
nose at him. "Ever since he took over as principal...!!! Wearing shades and 
that beard... The nerve of him! Who does he think he is? The head of some 
secret government agency?"
	"Forget about it. Principal Ikari may be a lot of things, but the 
head of a secret agency?" Jin choked on his words as he started laughing.
	"Yeah, what else were you thinking? Like maybe our school is really a 
secret base for a giant robot?" Asuka suggested.
	"Don't be ridiculous. Next thing you'll tell me is that you three'll be 
the pilots," Jiro refuted.
	"But that would be kind of cool," Kouji remarked.
	Jiro moaned as he wondered how many toilet bowls he'd clean today.

	As they made their way to class, Jiro couldn't help but feel that 
this was a lousy time to be having his sixteenth birthday. "Maybe things'll look 
up tomorrow."
	"Oh, Jiro-kun, what happened?"
	Jiro turned to see a familiar, shy face radiating with concern.
	"We were just a little bit delayed. The principal ordered us to 
clean the toilets...again," he grinned from ear to ear. "Don't sweat it, 
Megumi-chan."
	"Asuka-kuuuun!" came a chorus of half-worried, half swooning 
bobbysoxers.
	"Are you all right?"
	"Did that nasty Jin do this to you?"
	"Just because he's not handsome is no reason to beat you up."
	"'Not handsome'?! Why if they weren't girls I'd..." fumed Jin.
	"You'd WHAT, Jin?"
	Jin turned around to say, "Oh, nothing Maria..." to his sometime 
girlfriend and fulltime conscience.
	Asuka reassured the girls as they hovered around him.
	"Now, Ai, Natsuko, Rei, it's not like I couldn't handle it."
	"Oh by the way, have you decided who you're going to date this 
Saturday? You promised you'd decide by today," Ai pouted.
	"Oh, that? It must have completely slipped my mind, heh heh," Asuka 
replied with a nervous smile as he snuck off to his seat.
	"Jiro-kun, I..." Megumi started to say, her hands clasped in a vise.
	"What is it, Megumi-chan?" asked a puzzled Jiro.
	"Oh, it's nothing... nothing, really. You should get cleaned up 
before our next class." She turned, carefully hiding her blushing expression 
and made her way to her seat.
	Outside the window, emerald eyes were watching. "Perfect."

	Lunchtime came, initiating a mad rush for sandwiches.
	Jiro was by now quite adept at maneuvering the cafeteria line, 
always making sure to get something for Megumi. They were going steady, 
after all. Besides, it made for good practice, dodging the horde of starving 
students...
	"Here you go, Megumi-chan," he said as he handed her a tuna salad.
	"Um, Jiro-kun, I..."
	"You what, Megumi-chan?"
	"About our date tomorrow..."
	"Don't worry about it. I got the tickets and everything."
	"No I mean, after the date, I think we should do something..."
	Megumi blushed brightly.
	"...special...for your birthday."
	"You mean..."
	Megumi hung on to Jiro's words, waiting for a sign he knew what she was 
planning.
	"...like stopping by the skating rink?"
	A huge bead of sweat rivuleted down Megumi's forehead.
	"No," she sighed, "I mean, we've been going steady for a while. 
Isn't there something you'd like us to do, together?" Her eyes sparkled with 
innocence at the sight of his face.
	"Well, we've never gone on a roller coaster together before," Jiro 
thought aloud.
	Megumi hid the look of exasperation on her face.
	"Never mind. It doesn't really matter now."

	After the rather disagreeable task of toilet cleaning, Jiro and Co. 
were on their way home, although he still had kendo practice.
	"Hey Jiro, don't you think Megumi was acting kinda weird today?"
	"Huh? What do you mean by that, Jin?"
	"You know... She comes up to you, tries to say something, but 
can't."
	"Maybe she's planning a surprise party for me," Jiro speculated.
	The loud clap that sounded was Jin's hand slapping his forehead.
	"Surprise par-- Oh come ON! Did you see the way she was blushing? 
I'll bet she's about ready to ask you to do it with her," declared Jin.
	"Do what?"
	"Jiro, when you reach this point in life, you're supposed to have 
certain...URGES... Unfortunately for you, it looks like your brain doesn't
seem to register what your hormones are telling you!" sighed Jin.
	"What's that supposed to mean?" A still-confused Jiro mumbled.
	"Geez, even _Kouji_ knows what we're talking about. Right, Kouji?"
	"Sure I do, but it's not like I'd walk up to a girl and..."
	"Of course not. But Jiro here doesn't even _get it_," Jin went on.
	"Jiro, how long have you been dating Megumi?" asked Asuka.
	"About a year. I never thought that she'd agree to steady with me 
just because I gave her a puppy..."
	"Yeah, right. Everybody knows she likes dogs. Especially beagles."
	"Really? I didn't know that."
	"There's a LOT of things you don't seem to know," Jin remarked.
	"Huh?"
	"Jiro, you bring new meaning to the word clueless," added Asuka.


	As Megumi made her way home, one thing weighed heavily in her mind: 
    	{Why can't I tell Jiro-kun that I want to... that I...}
    	She blushed brightly as the thought hit her consciousness.
    	{What am I thinking?!? WHY am I even considering it? I shouldn't 
even be thinking about... THAT sort of...at least not until I get married... 
And I can't believe I almost... Almost...}
    	A slight, soothing voice drew the fear out of her like a sieve.
    	"You poor, poor girl. Can't tell the boy you like you want to do 
it?"
    	"Who...who's there?" Megumi cried out, nervously looking around for 
the source of the mysterious voice. It sounded like a woman.
	"I'll help you any way I can in this matter. Consider me your new 
best friend." A strangely disturbing, subdued laugh followed.
	Megumi felt as if her own shadow had suddenly attacked her. It left 
her no time to scream. When it was all over, Megumi's brown eyes now had a 
faint green tinge about them. Her smile this time lacked any warmth it once 
had.

	The bed felt like ice as he roused. Jiro wondered what was wrong as he 
tried to make sense of the odd green fog in his room. There was the outline 
of a figure in the misty darkness, one he could barely make out. 
	"Megumi-chan?"
	The figure was indeed Megumi, as she slithered toward Jiro with a 
most seductive form. It reminded Jiro of a cat stalking a mouse.
	"Jiiiro...." Megumi's voice took a far less soft tone than the one 
Jiro had long grown accustomed to. "I want you Jiiiroo...."
	"Want...? Want for what, Megumi-chan?" Jiro stepped away from the 
bed as Megumi barely landed on it. "And why don't you have any clothes on?"
	"Oh Jiro-kun...you're such a tease..."
	"I am? Oh. Sorry..." Jiro turned to his closet and began to rifle 
through his clothing for something Megumi could wear.
	"I have an extra-special present for your birthday," Megumi cooed to 
Jiro.
	"Really? But I don't see anything..." Jiro said as he searched for 
the "present" Megumi was talking about.
	"Silly, I'm your present!"
	Jiro felt slender arms embrace him from behind, and Megumi's now 
silken voice speak.
	"Oh Jiro-kun... You don't know how much I've wanted to do this..."
	"Yeah, Principal Ikari doesn't even allow us to hold hands within 
five kilometers of HIS School..."
	Megumi's grip spasmodically tightened as she coughed in disbelief.
	"Oh, see? Here..." He fished a thick school jacket out of his closet 
and calmly donned it on Megumi's person. "If you don't watch it, Megumi-chan, 
you really WILL catch a cold..."
	Jiro sneezed, and suddenly found himself lying in his room, sans 
Megumi and the odd green fog. 
	"A dream..." Jiro muttered to himself. "Weird..."
	Not thinking twice about it, he once again nodded off to sleep.
	Outside, a green fog surrounded Megumi's form as she looked in the 
window.

	The next morning, Jiro discussed his unusual dream with his friends.
	"Let me get this straight. You dreamed that Megumi was naked in your 
room and you don't know what that means?!!" Jin cried out in exasperation. 
{Even in his dreams, Jiro can't score...}
	"Jiro, that seems like a pretty obvious dream to me," Kouji piped in.
	"Yeah. What guy _wouldn't_ know what to do with a naked girl in his 
room?" Asuka wondered aloud.
	"That's easy: Jiro!" Jin declared just before Jiro knocked him 
unconscious.

	Saturday night found Jiro to be in a very good mood. It was his 
birthday after all. A movie with Megumi, with a little extra something, 
perhaps, afterwards.
	
	As for the little "surprise" Megumi had in mind? He had no idea what 
it could be, not even as he pressed the buzzer to Megumi's residence.
    	The door slid open to reveal Megumi in the slightest of clothing, a
miniskirt and a blouse... Something about her choice of attire made Jiro 
feel odd... Almost uncomfortable...
	"Isn't it a bit cold to be wearing something like that, Megumi?"
	"Why? Don't you like it?" Megumi frowned slightly.
	"It's just that...I didn't think you liked wearing those kind of  
clothes."
	"Well, we should get to know each other a _lot_ better then, shouldn't 
we? Well, let's go!"
	Jiro was somewhat apprehensive; this wasn't the way he'd known Megumi to
act, and yet...
	Well, they say that when women change, they can _really_ change.
	The subway ride was uneventful, if somewhat tense. Several of the 
more adventurous passengers would no doubt have made a pass at Megumi in her 
somewhat risque attire, had it not been for Jiro's presence.
	Having made it to the movie theater, Jiro whipped out his reserved 
tickets. Which was just as well, as the line seemed to go on forever.
	"Starship Troopers XXIII," read the marquee. Jiro wondered when they 
would finally stop ripping off Heinlein's work. But as long as the effects 
were good, it didn't really matter.
	Caressed by shadows in the theater, Megumi was feeling very friendly 
tonight. "Jiro, do you feel anything...special right now?" she asked as she 
laid her head on his shoulder.
	"Well, I like you a lot, but I always feel that way."
	"You don't feel anything more than that?" Megumi pressed on while 
her hands crept around Jiro's hips. "You're right about my clothes: I feel 
cold. Hold me tight, will you?"
	"Sure." Jiro wrapped his arms around her, noticing that most every 
other couple was doing the same. {Isn't anyone watching the movie?}