"Juno-nii, are we really gonna do it now?"
"Oui, mon petite croquette. Are you sure her friends won't interrupt us?"
"They won't! I left them with some of my friends. Serina has really bad taste in men. They were sooooo dumb!"
The girl's eyes fluttered open at the sound of her name. She had been knocked unconscious...but for how long? Turning her head, she saw her demon captors chatting away with their backs turned. Knowing that she had no chance in a fight with both of them, the girl planned her escape. Serina looked to her left. There was a forest several yards from where she lay. If she could just get there fast enough, she might be able to hide amongst the trees until she was reunited with Kurama and the others.
"Bira," Juno said as his expression turned cold. "You shouldn't talk about her that way. Those boys have just misled her, that's all."
The smaller demon became nervous and stepped back a bit. "I-I was just kidding, Juno-nii..."
Using their spat as a diversion, Serina sprang up from the ground and bolted as fast as her legs could go. The forest seemed so close until Juno materialized in front of her. She tried to turn and run around him but he grabbed her by the arm. The girl desperately tried to wriggle free but instead she was slapped to the ground by Juno's hand.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked. "I haven't gotten what I need from you yet."
"What..." Serina said, holding her bruised cheek."What could you possibly want from me?"
"Simple," The demon said. Kneeling down, his neon green eyes glowed as they met Serina's. "To take away your sadness and fear. To give you great power and watch you achieve beautiful things." He moved his hand to the girl's chin and tilted it up. "I want to make you one of mine, minette."
"I would never become a demon like you. You're a monster!"
Juno stifled a small laugh as he stood up. "That's funny," he said, "I think your brother said something like that, too. You remember that night, don't you?"
The dark haired girl began to shake. Her breaths became heavy as she tried to maintain her composure.
"Shut up."
"It was so tragic, the poor boy."
"Shut up!"
"I'm sure you wouldn't want the same fate to befall your comrades, ma cherie."
"Don't you dare-"
Juno silenced her lips with his pointer finger. "-Then you'll do as I say."
Reluctantly, Serina nodded. What could she possibly do to stop him? All this time she foolishly believed that she could somehow run away, but if it meant putting her new friends in danger then was it really worth it? The green eyed demon grabbed her hand and turned it upwards.
"Then let us begin. Bira, come have a taste."
The smaller blonde gave them a devilish grin that revealed her fangs. She kneeled beside them and lowered her mouth to Serina's wrist. Like two pointed needles, Bira plunged her teeth into the soft flesh and blood trickled down the girl's arm. Serina tightly screwed her eyes shut to try and block out the pain. The human girl inhaled sharply. She could feel the power, once taut in her chest, now receding. Icy sweat began to dampen her bangs. The demon continued to squeeze and suckle as her spirit became weaker.
"I know it might hurt now, minette," Juno comforted Serina as he stood up, "but once Bira has taken all of your spirit energy I'll make you feel brand new."
Without warning, a bright blue blast of energy came racing at the demons. It hit Juno square in the chest, knocking him down a few feet away. Bira retracted her fangs when she saw this. The young girl tried to call out to him but stopped short when a red blur slashed her face. She glided her fingers across her cheek and felt a warm sensation from the wound. Bira looked to see what had struck her. She spotted a single rose sticking out of the ground behind them.
"Kurama! Yusuke!" Serina shouted.
Sure enough, the spirit detective and the fox revealed themselves from behind some trees. Bira whipped her head back around, a surprised expression replaced with pure anger. Juno slowly rose to his feet while pieces of his battle torn shirt fell off of him.
"I thought you said these little boys were taken of!" he said to his younger partner.
Bira glared at the teenagers standing before her. "Wha-what did you do to my friends?!" she yelled.
"You call those zombies your friends?" Yusuke interjected. "You're one messed up kid, ya know that?"
Kurama pulled out another flower from his hair and held it by his chin."They will be returned safely to their parents soon."
Enraged, Bira released Serina from her grasp and charged towards Kurama with her dagger in hand. The red-haired fox transformed his rose into a long thorny vine. She vanished for a moment only to materialize behind him. Prediciting this, Kurama turned quick on his heel and thrashed his whip with calculated strokes. In theory, this would have permanently disabled the demon child had she not managed to avoid most of the attacks. Bira dropped her dagger and clutched her now torn up arm.
"I'll admit you're quite the foe," Kurama said with piercing green eyes. "But I have fought against a demon who is faster and more clever than you. He would never use the same trick twice, especially against me. Since you are older than him, you should know better."
Serina stumbled to her feet and began to walk towards her friends. This caught Juno's attention.
"We aren't finished here, minette!" he made a mad dash for the girl.
Before he could even touch her, Yusuke came between the two and hit Juno with a flying knee kick.
"Hey weirdo!" the raven haired punk yelled as he landed, "I thought we told you to play nice with girls!"
Wiping blood from his mouth, Juno chuckled. "So we meet again, Spirit Detective."
"Oh good, you're paying attention this time. Well, let's just get straight to the part where I beat your face in!"
With that, Yusuke and Juno danced into battle. Where Yusuke's punches were hard, Juno's kicks hit harder. Each blow bounced off of another and the two were at a standstill. The green-eyed demon laughed as he struck the teen against a nearby boulder. It was clear that Juno was toying with him, something that Yusuke had no patience for. The pissed off teen sprang up and pointed his thumb and index finger at his attacker.
"SPIRIT GUN!"
A familiar orb of blue energy was created from his hand and shot straight towards the demon. Juno side stepped the blast and resumed in hand to hand combat with the boy.
Serina marveled at the battle. Sure, she had sparred with Yusuke a few times but she had never seen him fight like this. Even Kurama had fought brilliantly using what she assumed was plant magic. Perhaps her energy, she thought, would be unique and powerful once she could control it. After all, she had already done the impossible by using it as a lantern in the old park attraction. Maybe there was still hope...
"Stupid boys! You've ruined everything!" Bira screamed. She swooped up her dagger with her working arm and ran as demonic energy pulsed through her. She lunged for the red-head's neck. Kurama ducked and thrust a blade of tangled vines from his sleeve through her torso. Bira coughed up blood and fell limp to the ground.
"Sister!" Juno yelled. He quickly dodged Yusuke's incoming punches and knocked him back into the landscape. Worriedly, the demon ran over and scooped up his fallen kin. Grabbing the dagger from her hand, Juno cut through the fox's weapon hitting the flesh beneath with one movement. Kurama jumped back clutching his injury as Juno backed away slowly.
"Kurama!" Serina exclaimed as she ran to aid him.
Yusuke also ran forward to join his friends."Where are you going? This fight isn't over yet!"
"This fight is over, detective. Your friend almost killed my little sister." he looked to his young companion, sadness in his eyes. Turning his gaze upon Serina, he spoke once more. "You'd do well to keep the ones you love safe, too, minette. " With those last words, Juno and Bira faded out as the red-orange sun began to set in the sky.
"Damn it." said Yusuke, "How many times is this guy gonna pull out that disappearing act on me?"
After a long day of shopping, Yuzuki had reached her final errand for the day. She walked up the long stone stairway and through the red gate. Her thoughts were racing one after another as she reached the final step. A rice paper door from the temple ahead slowly slid open and an elderly woman walked out, a steamy teacup in hand. Noticing Yuzuki's presence right away, she walked down to meet her.
"An unexpected visitor, I see," the old woman said before taking a long sip of her tea.
"Forgive me," Yuzuki bowed politely in apology, "but are you the one they call Genkai?"
"That'd be me. Who the hell are you?"
Yuzuki was taken aback by her crassness. "My name is Yuzuki Hidaka. I believe you know a young student of mine."
The old lady chuckled. "I'm a little old to be fraternizing with children, don't you think?"
"But you work with the Spirit Detective, don't you?"
Genkai took another long sip from her teacup. "Yeah, so what?"
The short haired woman furrowed her brow. "Then you must know my student Serina Demir. I know you are the one who has been willingly exposing her to danger. "
"Don't make me laugh," Genkai replied. "Danger will follow that girl no matter what."
"That is why I strive to protect her from it. However, that becomes difficult when your pupils keep showing up at my house. Especially when they are demons in disguise."
"So, you've met the fox boy. He's been kind to her," Genkai grinned smugly. "I still fail to see how I'm the one putting her in danger."
"I know that she has been coming here to seek your advice. Why do you want to meddle in our affairs?"
Genkai set her teacup down on one of the wooden steps and walked closer towards Yuzuki. "Let's be clear about one thing: Serina came to me for help. Do you even know what spiritual repression entails?"
"What?" This time Yuzuki was offended. "Of course I do!"
"Then, if you really cared for her," the old woman held out a finger, "why didn't you teach her to control her spirit energy? She's a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any minute and you have been coddling her as if she were helpless! "
"Serina can't control her spirit energy, she IS helpless! She doesn't even know that I have psychic abilites of my own!" The unruly woman argued. "I never asked her to be mixed up in all of this!I promised to give her a normal life here."
"She isn't NORMAL, you idiot. She has powers like you and I," Genkai raised her voice, "and thanks to your foolish emotions, she's even less prepared for who is already here!"
"What?!" Yuzuki exclaimed. "You don't mean Juno, do you?"
Before Genkai could explain any further, the young woman had run off. Yuzuki contemplated whether or not the old bat could even understand the pain that her student had gone through. The girl was brave, that much was certain, but she was under no circumstances a fighter. Racing towards home, she spotted Serina. Her pupil was just outside the front door. Yuzuki stopped to catch her breath. Relieved that she was safe, the woman walked up to her pupil and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Yu-Yuzuki-sensei!" Serina said jumping a bit as she turned around. "I didn't think you would be home yet!"
"Are you O.K?" Her docent asked as she closely examined her student. Yuzuki noticed that the girl's hair had bright white tips, her wrist was bandaged up, and the dress she was wearing was dirty with a large rip at the side. She looked back up at her face and saw a badly bruised cheek. "What happened to your face?"
Serina turned her eyes away from her teacher's. "I'm O.K, really. I just had an accident, that's all."
"It's all right. You don't have to lie to me anymore." Yuzuki consoled the girl, "I spoke with Genkai and I know what's really going on."
Serina's eyes opened wide. "What? How did you find out?"
"I've known for a long time," her teacher replied as she and the girl walked into their home. "In fact, there are many things I need to tell you, but right now we need to get out of here."
Serina followed her friend to the master bedroom. Yuzuki pulled out a suitcase and hastily stuffed it with basic necessities.
"Wait a second!" the girl said. "Why are we leaving? I still have school tomorrow!"
"Don't worry, your tuition is paid off for the rest of the semester. I'll just tell them we had a family emergency and had to leave town."
"You didn't answer my question..."
Yuzuki halted her packing as she sighed. "Look, you and I both know that Juno is here in the city. It's only a matter of time before he comes after you again."
Serina was surprised yet again. It seemed Yuzuki knew a lot more than what she had initially thought. Still, she couldn't just drop everything and leave now.
"I don't want to go."
"Don't be stupid, Serina. Go pack your things and we'll leave as soon as you're finished."
"I said, I'm not going!" The injured girl looked at her teacher with a bold stare. "I don't want to run away anymore!"
Yuzuki looked harshly at her battle worn friend. In that instant, she saw her aura grow like a fragile and wilted sapling into a newly blossomed flower. Her eyes softened, overcome with emotion. What Genkai said was right. Maybe she had been sheltering her for too long. The woman topped off her suitcase and locked it up tight.
"Serina," Yuzuki began, "you don't have to run away."
"So we can stay?" Serina looked a little relieved.
"No, you can stay. I have to go."
"Yuzuki, what are you saying?"
The curly haired woman grabbed her luggage and set it down in the living room."I know you can take care of yourself."
"But," Serina pleaded as she followed, "What am I supposed to do without you?"
"You said you don't want to run anymore, right? Then do the only thing that you can do. Prepare yourself to fight."
"I will! But I can't do this without you!"
Yuzuki walked over to her friend and placed both hands on each of her shoulders. She smiled genuinely as she looked into Serina's teary eyes.
"You have to."
At that moment, Serina felt a warm tingling sensation shoot through both of her arms making her entire body feel heavy. Her teacher's hands were glowing mint green. Though she tried to fight it, the girl quickly fell unconscious. Yuzuki pulled back her spirit energy and carried the passed out girl to the room upstairs.
"Forgive me." she whispered as she lay her student into bed.
