Mech Slayers part1: Ryoko sha
[The traveler.]

[[Authors notes]]
	In the beginning this story has two separate story lines. The
Traveler and the group. One is written more to the Mood of Danny Elfman
[Batman, Batman Returns, Beatle Juice.] and the other is more like Jhon
Williams [The Star wars and  Indiana Jones Trilogies]. 
	This one is the Elfman like score. It has a darker mood and Theme
to it. Both should be read together because the Characters will interact
together eventually. [Not directly for a very long time.] The story in
both will have some very dark moments, but I want to keep it pretty much
light. 	This is a long and involving story that is more
complicated than it looks in the beginning. [Kinda like Evangelion]. It
has been heavily influenced by allot of Anime and Manga, {Ranma 1\2, The
Slayers, Evangelion, El Hazard {TV}, Tenchi Muyo, Urusai Yatsura, The
Mermaid series(Scar, forrest, gaze...), Ninja scroll, Youma: curse of the
undead, Voltron, and even (To a small extent) Maison Ikkoku and Sailor
Moon. These first Chapters are similar to one in particular, but that
changes. At the time I wrote this I had only seen the first two episodes
of said Anime anyway, I hope to make enough differences to keep the two
well apart though. Allot of Anime in-jokes and other little {And a few
big things} things will appear along the way, [don't worry I won't use
Jusenkyo curses.] This is just pre stuff and I hope that you think you
know what I'm going to do this and that with certain characters because
your probably wrong. I love to do the unexpected. Kinda like Evangalion
again. This may seem formulated now but its going to be a wild ride. Hope
you enjoy!

P.S. I love C&C please give it to me! Good-bad-Flaming poop in a bag! any
feed back will do. Send to: Catbert25@juno.com
[[End authors notes]]
 

Part 1: Ryokaku.[Traveler.]
	Dan sat at his desk looking at his surroundings casually as class
crawled on in its slow and boring manner. He was an American and had
lived there his whole life, until about a month ago when he moved to
Japan. He had short brown hair and gray eyes. He was dressed in a school
uniform and had a pair of Dark sun glasses stuck in his collar. He sat at
his desk with that calm and relaxed manner that most Americans have.
"Boring." he thought.

	 He watched the students around him as they ignored the ramblings
of the teacher. She was an attractive woman in her late twenties with
short neck length brown hair. She seemed oblivious to the class as she
rambled on about some sort of equation or something. From the look of
things Dan realized that this was a regular occurrence. Dan watched her
for a moment and sighed. "I suppose that the novelty of her being cute
wears off after listening to this all year." he thought uncomfortably. He
noticed several of the girls were still staring at him. He had been here
about a month now and the novelty of a foreigner in the class was also
wearing thin for the students. Not that he minded, There were several
other transfer students around the school but he was the only junior.
	 He was aware that his Japanese was heavily accented and
preferred only to speak when he had to, he had almost always been that
way really. His Japanese wasn't bad though he was a much better speaker
than his father. He had been introduced to the world of Japanese
animation by a neighbor when he was about five and had been hooked ever
since. He had learned to speak and read Japanese in the following years
rather easily. He was actually kind of glad he moved here if only for the
T.V. and comics, he wouldn't have to wait six to eight weeks for them to
come in the mail when he ordered them.	
	He had moved to Japan last month with his father who had been
transferred here from the U.S. due to some merger or something. Not that
he ever saw him, he hadn't been the same since his mother had died. He
never called him son any more and treated him like an aquantence more and
more since that time.
	 He had also made it clear that he was not welcome in the home as
soon as he was of age. Dan thought about it rather dryly. His father was
not a cruel man and tried to be compassionate as he could about it. He
knew he could always depend on the man if he ever really needed him. But
he was a reminder for him about his wife. The woman he had lived for. He
seriously doubted if his father would live after he was gone. As it was
it seemed that he only allowed himself to exist to get him out of the
home on his feet out of some sort of sick sense of honor to his wife,
after that he would end it. 
	Dan woke from his depressing thoughts abruptly as the bell rang.
He got up and pulled his bag and his bokken from under the desk and
walked out the door. 

	Dan was a member of the Kendo club. He had joined the day after
he arrived at the school. The club treated him as an outsider and laughed
when he came in the room. They soon learned respect. He smiled at the
memory as he walked into the hall where practice was held. He had easily
defeated the Kendo team in a matter of minutes. Now they respected his
skills. In essence he was a respected outsider. He had always been an
outsider all his life he was used to it. There was a price to pay for
being an outsider. 

	Dan walked out into the School yard after practice and met
several large boys. "Well what have we here?" asked one of them as he
reached and stopped Dan in his trek home. 
	"What?" asked Dan casually. 
	"I think you don't like me." said another of the boys as the
group surrounded him. Dan looked around at his opponents, they had him
trapped. 	"Well it doesn't matter I never speak to you any way."
said Dan after resigning to his fate. The older boy tried to hide his
smile with false anger. 
	"You bastard!" he yelled and charged at Dan, he made no move to
stop him.

	Dan staggered into his home a half hour later and went straight
to his room. He knew no one else was there. He looked himself over in the
mirror on his door and smiled. The beating he was given was light as he
expected. The boys soon realized that Dan was not going to fight back and
went off in pursuit of more interesting targets. Dan sighed and smiled
slightly. He knew that no matter what Idiot teachers and parents tell you
the best way to deal with people like that in a situation where no one
was really going to be hurt but him was to let them do whatever till they
got board. There was a line most people wouldn't cross. The older boys
would have really hurt him if he had fought back and Dan didn't have a
chance of winning on his own. Allot of people thought that this
philosophy was cowardly, they could be right, but Dan preferred smart
over brave. 

	He went down into the Yard the next morning and began his Kata.
It was a fairly advanced Tai kwon do form. His father had taught him a
fair bit when he was younger before he took up Kendo and he was still
adequate. He wasn't a master or even advanced. If it had been only one
boy yesterday he would have been more aggressive in his own defense. He
would have had a chance at winning, but he didn't have a chance. The fact
was, those boys were from the Karate club. 
	He decided to meditate.  He sat in the yard and found his center
easily enough. He had two hours before school started and meditation
always calmed him. He had been taught by his grandfather while his mother
still lived. His grandfather was a bright old man who had practiced Tai
chi most of his life. He explained allot of things about chi to him in
his youth and often gave him lessons on meditation while he visited him.
He never tried to teach him the actual art of Tai chi mostly because he
didn't see him often enough to do so.

	 His grandparents followed their daughter in death. Not suicide
or any thing like that, they were old and their hearts could not take the
loss. His grandmother went first and his Grandfather followed a few
months later. "What a great life I've lead." he thought dryly. 

	A few days later he walked into the school gates casually as
usual, he doubted if those boys would bother him today, he wasn't
important enough. 	Today though he was greeted with a suprise. The
same boys from yesterday were harassing his teacher, and from the looks
of things they didn't know who she was. A slightly amused smile crossed
Dan�s face. "Boy are they gonna get it." he thought. Then the boys
slapped her and drug her back behind one of the smaller buildings on the
campus. Dan turned and glanced around him. No one else had seen. Dan
steeled himself, "They crossed the line." he said out loud angrily. "You.
Go get an administrator now, one of the teachers is in trouble. I'm not
kidding." he said sternly after gently turning one of the female students
by the shoulder.
	 A girl was more likely to take his request seriously. The girl
looked at him blankly for a moment. "I'll try to stop it and you get some
one here as fast as you can, behind that building." Dan pointed at the
building. The girl looked at him and nodded and then ran off.  He had
wasted time in doing that, but their was no point in being stupid. 

	Miss Itazura looked around and struggled in the arms of her
captors as the held her down and groped her clumsily. "Well ain't we the
pretty little girl?" said the large boy who seemed to be the leader. 
	"Don't worry little girl we'll have lots of fun." said the boy
with his hand over her mouth. She felt the tears burn her eyes as she
tried to struggle to get away.
	"Let her go." said a calm voice from behind the boys who turned
to face him. "She is a teacher you morons." said Dan as he stared at them
coldly.
"Well if it isn't the wimp." said the oldest boy to Dan with a moronic
grin as he placed his hand on the woman�s chest. "Too bad If you'd minded
your own business you wouldn't have had to die." he said with a small
amount of anger in his voice. 
	Dan smiled and looked at the woman calmly. "If you attack me
she'll get away, If you Ignore me I'll just get help. Either way you
lose." he said with a maddening calm.
	"Who's gone believe her? Its her word against the four of us."
said the older boy releasing his grip on Miss Itazura. The other two boys
compensated and managed to keep her down.  
	"Idiot, I just told you she was a teacher." replied Dan still
amazingly calm.
The other boys glanced at each other nervously and looked at the woman
they were holding down. "Hey she does look kind of old for a student."
said one of them. Itazura growled at him from under his hand.
	"We'll just have to get rid of her then." said the oldest boy
advancing on Dan.
	 Dan Rushed him and Knocked him down by sliding between his legs
and grabbing them as he passed. He kicked one of the boys holding the
teacher down and knocked him away. The other two boys reacted in suprise
and relaxed their grip on her to grab Dan. She pushed them off her
quickly and Dan positioned himself between her and the angry boys. She
grabbed his shoulder. 
	"Go I won't be able to suprise them like that again." he said to
her. 
	"But..." she said backing away. The boys carefully advanced on
the pair. 
	"Don't make this for nothing woman, I don't stand a chance
against all of them. Go now!" he said quietly. The boys stepped closer
more confident. Itazura turned and ran. One of the boys got careless and
tried to run after her only to get punched hard in the face. The boy fell
to the ground holding his mouth and cursed as Itazura got away.

	Principal Dunbar jogged around the corner followed by the young
girl Dan had instructed to get help. Itazura almost ran into them as she
ran towards the main building. "You've got to help him!" she said
frantically with tears streaming down her face. 
	"It seems you were right young lady, I apologize." said the
Principal with an angry and embarrassed face. The girl who had obviously
been crying seemed almost relieved.

	The eldest boy kneed Dan in the chest again. Dan was badly beaten
and tried to rise to his feet only to fall again. Almost five minutes had
passed since Itazura had escaped. Dan smiled as the karate club loomed
over him seemingly glad and assured of their victory. "How do you like
that wimp-boy?" said the youngest club member. 
	"As I said no one will believe her, there are four of us."  said
the eldest member as much to reasure his companions as to taunt thier
victim.
	Dan smiled and looked up from the ground as the eldest Boy turned
him on his back and stepped on his chest. "Do you really think I'd be
dumb enough to come back here with out sending for help first?" he said
to the boy with a sly grin. 
	"I don't see any help." said the boy as he sneered at Dan
increasing the pressure of that foot on his chest causing Dan's grin to
disappear. 
	"Thats because its standing behind you." said an angry male
voice.
	"C-coach." stammered the younger boys in unison. The boys turned
to see a large group of teachers and administrators standing behind them.
	"I'm afraid not even I can get you out of this one son. The
police are here to pick you up and I suggest you go with them." said the
principal to the eldest boy. "This is very serious."
	"D-dad?" stammered the eldest boy.
	Dan passed out thinking "Why am I not suprised?"

	Dan awoke a few hours later in a hospital bed and sighed as he
remembered what had happened. "Well that was fun." he commented dryly as
he winced in pain at his injuries. He looked around the room and noticed
several people were standing around him. "Don't you people have places to
be?" he asked looking at the Principal and Miss Itazura. 
	"I wanted to thank you." said the woman looking at him with tears
in her eyes. 
	"And I wanted to apologize to you for my son." said the principal
with a frown.
	Dan smiled painfully and rested his head on the small hospital
pillow. "Just do me a favor will you?" he said to them looking at the
light on the ceiling. "Don't tell anyone it was me Ok? I don't really
want something like this getting around." he said before he closed his
eyes and went to sleep.

He arrived at his house early the next day. He had not been seriously
injured, but the hospital insisted that he stay for some test. They had
found he was in excellent shape. Aside from allot of bruises and scrapes
he was fine and should be able to return to school.

	Two days passed before he went to school again. He walked out the
door to go and was suprised to see the girl that he had sent to get help
waiting for him. "Good morning." she said to him.

	She was a pretty girl, about sixteen years old. She was wearing a
school uniform and had shoulder length hair tied back in a pony tail. Her
hair was a dark purple color and here eyes were a very light blue. "What
can I do for you?" asked Dan as they walked towards the school together. 
	"Why?" she asked him.
	"Why?" he repeated sounding suprised.
	"Why not tell? You earned it." she said looking at him strangely.
	"Simple I don't want any one to know, because then they would
expect more from me." he said looking at her.
	"Is that the only reason?" she asked looking at him.
	"Do I need another? I like not being noticed unless I can control
it." he said calmly. 
	She looked at him and smiled. "Is that why you do Kendo?" she
said looking at him with a strange gleam in her eye. 
	"Could be..." Replied Dan.
	"My name is Achika." she said laughing.
	"Dan," he replied.
	"I know who you are, I follow professional Kendo. Your the
American champion." said Achika still smiling.
	"I'm suprised the Kendo club didn't recognize me, then again
Kendo isn't very big over there." commented Dan dryly.
	"One thing has been bothering me though, why didn't you use your
bokken?" she asked.
	Dan looked at her smiling oddly. "I didn't have it." he replied.
	"Huh, why not?" she asked him.
	"There was no practice that day." he said smiling and patting the
bokken on his shoulder. At that they entered the gates of the school and
went their separate ways. Unaware of the fate in store for the both of
them.
 
	

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