I swing at him, grunting when he catches my fist with a grin. "Looks like Yukimura isn't the only cockroach around here," he laughs, a wicked grin on his face. He squeezes my fist, and I feel my bones complaining, but he can't do anything to me. Nothing that will hurt, anyway.
Unhappy with my lack of reaction, he grabs a pair of scissors from Principal Takenaka's desk, ramming them into me just above my right collarbone. I wince as the blood pours out, ruining yet another shirt. My body half-shifts, and I swing at him with my demon strength, making him let me go.
Yanking the scissors out, I chuck them across the room as my strength returns to human levels. They fly through the window, shattering the glass, causing enough of a distraction that the three of us can run without getting caught.
We run as hard and as fast as we can, but at every new hallway, more of the infected people show up. There's no end to them. The three of us stumble upon a dead end, and we turn to face the hoard, me standing in front of the other two.
"You can't fight them by yourself," Botan says, a hand falling gingerly on my shoulder like she's afraid of hurting me. "I'm surprised you're still standing."
"Doesn't matter," I reply. "You gave me a job, and I'm doing it." Why am I being so stupid about this? What do I owe Keiko and Botan? Absolutely nothing, and yet, the thought of either of them getting hurt makes my heart clench. Why?
"Look, I'm the one these creeps are after," Keiko says. "Let me lead them to one side, and you guys can run." Wow, she's got guts. I guess she'd have to in order to keep Urameshi's attention.
"Now, Keiko," Botan replies. "We're all reasonably athletic girls. I'm sure we can find a way out of this."
"Honestly, I was hoping you wouldn't choose that option," Keiko says. I laugh, the motion stirring up all of my wounds. I hope my head doesn't start bleeding again; my shoulder won't seem to stop.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Botan asks, looking at Keiko.
She gives a grimace of a smile. "We separate on three." I wish I could think straight. My head feels like it's in a fog, and my human body is running out of strength. I have to keep pushing it until I can't anymore. For Botan and Keiko...and even for that idiot, Urameshi.
On three, Keiko runs to one side, and the people follow. I move with her, fending them off. Botan grabs the fire extinguisher, spraying all of the infected with it, and the three of us run once more.
My body half-shifts, but I keep moving, pushing more and more. We turn down a hallway to find Mr. Iwamoto once again. He's more insect than person with how annoying he is right now. He grabs Botan, lifting her high. She screams, struggling, but when I take a step to help her, my world spins, and it takes all my strength just to stay upright.
"Botan!" Keiko pulls her hand back and smacks the teacher so hard across the face that his head snaps to one side, and his body goes flying.
"A stellar hit, Keiko! You should fight on the boxing team!" Botan cheers, throwing out a victory sign with her fingers.
I chuckle as Keiko says, "I just hit a teacher."
"He deserved it," I pant, smiling.
"Come on," Botan says, and we keep moving. I'm pretty sure I'm running on sheer adrenaline right now. We're pursued, and one of the teachers manages to grab Keiko, another stupid pair of scissors in his hands. I've never wanted safety scissors in my school so badly since I've been here. He skims her arm, and she screams, Botan yanking the two of us toward a room.
We run inside, and she locks the door. "We're coming to get you, Yukimura," Mr. Iwamoto's voice sounds from the other side of the door. "Do you know what happens when you hit a teacher?" He shatters the glass in the window of the door, and the other teachers hit it, trying to break in.
"Well, we'd better think quickly," Botan says.
I look around the room, at a loss, until I spot a cabinet. "In there." I push Keiko, and she climbs inside, followed by Botan.
"What about you?" the blue-haired girl asks.
"I'll pass. I hate small, dark spaces. Besides, I've spent most of my life hiding." Giving them a smile, I close the door. I stand in front of it, arms crossed as the door to the room slowly but surely cracks.
The teachers step inside, smirking at me. "Time to get rid of a bad egg," Mr. Iwamoto says.
"I agree," I say as they get closer. The doors behind me bust open, and Keiko and Botan jump out, wielding brooms. Botan hands me one, and the three of us hit the people with all we've got in us. As they fall, we make a mad dash from the room.
"We have to get out of here," Botan cries.
"We're on the second floor," I grunt, my body growing heavier by the moment. "The stairs are just around the corner."
As we approach the hallway, I hear a sharp thwack as a metal pipe strikes Botan in the head. She falls into Keiko's arms, the pair sinking to the ground.
"Dammit," I grunt, standing in front of them. I don't have any energy left, but my body can still take a beating. I'm like the world's best punching bag. It's all I've ever been good for, and it's all I ever will be. At least now, it'll come in handy for someone other than myself.
I've done a lot of stupid, selfish things in my life, things I've regretted all this time. Maybe, here and now, I can make up for them, if only just a little. "Come on!" I scream at those gathered around us.
Mr. Iwamoto just laughs. "Time to exterminate the cockroaches." He punches me time after time, and I take the blows, trying not to laugh as tears fall.
"Stop!" Keiko screams, and suddenly, I feel this force emanate from her. It feels warm and safe, but it crackles like lightning. I can see Urameshi's stupid, smirking face as Iwamoto drops me to the ground, stepping back with a grunt of pain.
I pant, spitting blood as I force myself to my feet. "I hate you, you son of a bitch," I grunt, grabbing the still-reeling teacher and punching him as hard as I can squarely in the face. He goes flying, and I grin. "That felt...really good." I fall to the ground, my body convulsing once...twice...and then I gasp, coughing up a small Makai insect.
"You little shit!" I snarl, smashing it as hard as I can. It dissolves into nothingness, and I breathe raggedly, my body burning like every inch of me is on fire. It doesn't hurt...it's more...familiar. My healing powers are back.
I tap into my spirit energy, relieved. I reach over to where Keiko is still holding Botan. "Here." Touching her hand, I push as much as I can spare into her, and she blinks, eyes opening slowly.
"What…?"
"My healing powers," I grunt. "Which means…." Looking around us, there's nothing but passed out teachers, their skin back to its regular shade.
"Oh, what a relief!" Botan cries.
My communicator goes off, and I flip it open and choke on blood as a pair of green eyes meets mine. "Asaki!" Kurama looks up at me, surprised. "You're bleeding."
"Yes," I reply. "But everything has calmed down around here." I cough, blood dripping from my mouth. That's great. It's a good thing I'm not trying to impress him or anything. I'm no expert on trying to charm a guy, but I'm 90% sure blood coming out of one's mouth isn't attractive.
"We defeated the Saint Beasts, so all of the infected humans should return to normal."
"That's great!" I say, smiling weakly.
"We'll head back shortly. Will you meet us at Kuwabara's home?"
"I'll let Botan and Keiko know. I'm sure they can get us there." A shudder trips down my spine, and my eyes lose focus.
"Asaki, don't push yourself. You look half-dead."
"I might be," I reply, smiling dully. "I can barely reach my healing, and I don't have the strength to change into demon form. I'm stuck like this until I pass out." I laugh weakly. Kurama opens his mouth to speak, but I shake my head. "See you in a bit." I close the mirror before he can say anything else, looking up at Botan and Keiko.
"So, Yusuke's okay?" Keiko asks, eyes wide with tears. I nod, and she wraps her arms around me, crying. "I'm so glad." I grunt, and she immediately lets go. "Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's f-fine," I gasp. My healing is so weak after all of that, but it's better than nothing. "They're going to meet us at Kuwabara's."
"I can get us there," Keiko says. "Can you stand, Asaki?"
"Let's find out." I push myself to my feet slowly, but the world spins. Before I can fall, two pairs of arms catch me. "That's a no," I mumble to Keiko and Botan.
"Don't worry," Botan says. "We've got you."
I look into her purple eyes, surprised. Glancing over at Keiko, I'm impressed to find they have the same determined look on their faces. I hate depending on others, but I don't have much of a choice right now. "Sorry to trouble you," I mumble.
"You're no trouble, Asaki," Botan says. "You've more than proven yourself, in my opinion, and I'm so glad you were here to help me."
"Me too," Keiko says. "Thank you so much!"
Speechless, I laugh, tears falling from my eyes as the three of us slowly make our way out of the school and, presumably, to Kuwabara's.
When we get there, Kurama and Hiei are talking to a woman with straight brown hair. She hefts an unconscious Kuwabara on her shoulder, practically dragging him into the house. As we get closer, Keiko makes sure Botan and I are okay and then she runs over to an unconscious Yusuke being lowered to the ground by Kurama.
Botan helps me over to the group, as the woman comes back out of the house. She and Keiko grab Yusuke and start taking him inside as I sigh in relief.
"Well, good to see you're all okay!" Botan cheers.
"Okay" is one way to put it. Hiei looks fine, but Kurama looks tired, and there's a gash in his middle. My first thought is that maybe I can heal him, but even thinking makes me tired. I don't know why I haven't passed out yet. My body just refuses to give up.
"Hiei, do me a favor?" I ask. He raises an eyebrow, and I have a feeling he's getting ready to reject me, so I quickly follow with, "Hit me as hard as you can?"
"Asaki!" Kurama exclaims, and Botan gasps, but I maintain eye contact with the short demon. I wonder what's going on in his head and if he remembers the same things I do...the same trouble we used to get in.
"You don't have to ask me twice," he says, pulling back his fist. As it lands, I sigh in relief, my world going black.
...
I come to lying on a couch. It's the most comfortable thing I've laid on in ages, and it smells like cat. Sitting up slowly, it takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dark room, but when they do, I jump, startled by a figure leaning against a wall.
"There has to be a better way to do that," Kurama says, pushing off from the wall.
"Refresh my memory," I mumble, feeling a bit like I'm hungover without the pounding headache.
"Having Hiei knock you unconscious," he replies, his voice brittle. Oops. I've pissed off Kurama.
"It's not like it hurt," I grunt. "Usually, after taking a beating in human form, my body gives up and I lose consciousness. Which is great, because, like some sort of defense mechanism, I change back into a demon and my healing powers can go to work. For some reason, my human form refused to shut off, and I didn't have the strength to shift back myself."
He shakes his head. "I suppose I can only fault you so much for wanting relief, but forgive me for being a bit upset watching one of my friends hit the other that hard."
"Sorry," I reply, sighing. "Next time, I'll ask for half his strength. Or maybe you could sneeze on me. That might have done it." He smiles, but I can tell he didn't mean to. "By the way, where is the short hothead? I kind of want to hit him back now that I might be able to stand."
"He helped me get you inside and then left. You've only been out for a half an hour."
Thank goodness. I've spent a lot of time unconscious in my life, ranging anywhere between a couple of seconds and a few days. This could have been much worse.
"And the others?"
"Both upstairs, sleeping. I imagine Kuwabara will be up soon, but Yusuke will take a bit longer. Would you like to see them?"
I nod, and he offers me his hand. "I'm okay," I say, pushing myself to my feet without his help. I wobble a bit but manage to stay upright. Kurama seems a little taken aback, so I look away, my stomach unhappy. What could I do? I knew if I accepted his help, I wouldn't know why: because we're friends or because of what he's done for me. Until I can figure that out, until I'm certain I'm not doing him a disservice by hanging onto him like a weirdo, I can't do this.
Being selfish is second nature to me. I have to force myself to put others first, and I guess this is as good a start as any.
After a beat of silence, he turns, and I follow him up the stairs. About halfway up, I press a finger into his back, sending a jolt of healing energy through him. He doesn't react, but I know he feels it, and I quickly pull away, my face growing hot.
Dammit, Asaki, make up your mind. If my goal is to pull away from him, poking him in the back is the opposite way to do it. To be fair, my intent was to heal him, and I accomplished that with as little touching as possible. Grr to me.
We reach the top of the stairs, and Kurama knocks gently on the door to one room. "Come in," a woman's voice says.
We step inside to find Kuwabara sleeping in a bed, the woman with long hair sitting in a chair, a cigarette in her fingers. "Ah, the little red-haired girl is awake."
"Sorry to trouble you," I say, bowing low.
"No sweat. This guy told me you're a friend of my brother's. My name is Shizuru." She smiles lazily at me, and I'm impressed by how casual she is. Kuwabara seems to be going at 110 miles an hour all the time, but she's probably moving at 25, if even. Are they really related?
"Ah, yeah, we're classmates," I say, sighing. I walk over to Kuwabara's bed, frowning at his face. He doesn't look too rough, and I figure Kurama's right that he'll be better soon. Just for good measure I gently tap the blanket he's laying under twice, sending my energy into him.
"Shall we go see Yusuke now?" Kurama asks. I nod, stepping back, wondering if I shouldn't do more.
"Keiko and Botan are still in there," Shizuru says. "I keep telling them he'll be okay, but Keiko's pretty upset."
"I don't blame her," Kurama says as we leave. Kurama leads me to another door that he knocks on. No one responds, but he pushes the door open anyway.
"Ah, Asaki!" Botan gets to her feet as soon as I enter the room, running over to me. "It's good to see you're okay and on your feet."
"Um, thanks," I reply, feeling awkward. "Sorry about, um, passing out on you earlier."
"I really thought Hiei went a bit too far, you know! Even if it was to force you into your demon form. Scared me, honestly."
"I'm sorry!" I bow, but Botan just laughs.
"Don't worry about it, really. We're just glad you're okay." Botan grins, and I'm taken aback. Does she run on cheerfulness?
I look past her, wincing in sympathy at how beat-up Urameshi looks. Keiko is sleeping, kneeling on the ground in front of him, her face scrunched up. I wonder if she isn't worrying about him even in her sleep.
"He'll be all right." Botan says. "That boy is made of tough stuff!"
"He must be," I reply, walking over to him. Careful not to disturb Keiko, I kneel down too, raising a hand and lightly placing a finger on the boy's mouth. I push as much energy into him as I can muster, and his chest heaves, his breathing a little easier.
Getting to my feet, I turn to see two pairs of curious eyes. "The more nerves I'm touching when I heal, the more effective. It works through clothes and through the air, but to do the most good, physical contact is needed. The best way is either by touching someone's lips, where the most nerves are, kissing a part of their body, or kissing them on the mouth."
"That's something I'll have to make sure Koenma's aware of," Botan says, frowning. "Aren't you just something else."
I shrug. "I'm just happy to help."
"That's a different tune than you were singing earlier, you know."
She's not wrong. Even just yesterday, I'd decided I didn't want to be a hero anymore. When did that change? When people started depending on me. In the past few days, I've had people I was capable of looking after. How could I not? How could I just stand idly by?
Maybe the old me would have...the one who used to cower behind her father, who jumped at the slightest sounds, who used her anger to get back at the people who hurt her, and even some who didn't, when the first opportunity came. But, I feel different now, and if that different means I'm helping people, then why the hell not.
"In my defense, I'd just been bitten by one of those stupid insects, and I was on the tail end of kind of a long week."
"Well, regardless of the reason, I'll be sure to tell Koenma what a good job you've done! I'm certain he'll give you clemency after this."
"Yay, me," I reply, smiling wryly. "Though, the real question is, why wait until now to punish me for things I did ages ago?"
"Well, we couldn't find you," Botan replies. "After you ran away from your father's home, we lost track of you, and he was so influential we couldn't touch you under his protection."
Which pisses me off. I ball my hands into fists, breathing deeply. "Right." I let out my breath, trying to calm down. This isn't news to me. My father is as powerful as money can make a person. The idea that not even Spirit World could tango with him without ramifications is sickening, even if it worked in my favor this time.
"I'm going to go home," I say, turning to the door. "Thanks for everything."
"Oh, all right," Botan replies, sounding surprised.
"I'll walk you out." Kurama follows me, and I don't look back, even as we head down the stairs and to the door. "Asaki," he says, his hand finding my arm. I stop walking, his touch jolting me out of the dark paths my mind is wandering down. I turn to look at him, not quite meeting his eyes. "You're shaking."
"It's fine. I'm fine." I clench and unclench my hands, wishing he would stop looking at me like that, like I'm a puzzle he's trying to figure out. How would he feel if he knew the things I've been thinking tonight? Disgusted? Concerned? I don't even know what to hope.
"Those glasses," he says, breaking the silence. I had forgotten I was still wearing Botan's Specter Specs. Kurama reaches toward me, but I jerk back, like a startled rabbit. His eyes go wide, and my heart clenches at the hurt I see in them.
"Sorry. Um, th-they're not mine." I take another step back, my throat closing up a little. "H-have a good night." I turn, opening the door and running out into the night.
A/N: That was definitely a bit of a roller coaster. Botan is one of my favorite characters, and I like the way Asaki reacts around her. She hasn't been around anyone like her before, so all of their interactions are weird for Asaki. Thanks to everyone who's still reading! The next chapter is going to be a doozy, and I'm so looking forward to sharing it! Also, special thanks to ahyeon and GrimmaulDee for the reviews!
