I steadied myself on trembling legs as we stared into the army of lifeless zombies Suzaku had sent after us. Yusuke`s hands hovered over me as I stumbled to at least arm`s length, desperate to remain as independent on the boy after he had carried up several flights of stairs.
I wanted him to know that I was capable and somewhat useful. I just wasn`t feeling myself. It had been fourteen years since the last time I`d really went after a threat to the Ningenkai or Reikai.
"It`ll be extrememly troublesome to break through them, they have no sense of pain or fear!" Kurama shouted over the groans of the plant people.
"Living puppets. This pansy piece of shit." I grumbled to Yusuke, who was about foaming at the mouth with rage at this point.
"Yukimura won`t last long if this goes on!" Kuwabara snarled, and my heart beat fast in my chest. I knew neither Yusuke nor I would ever forgive ourselves if something were to happen to Keiko because we simply weren`t fast enough.
I watched Yusuke roll up his sleeve, determined to obliterate the monsters with his entire reserve of reiki. The moron!
"Knock that off, Urameshi!" I reeled back and smacked his wrist with the back of my hand, which stung more in reaction than hurt him, "All you`ll do is waste it. We need to get up there so we can take Suzaku out already and end this!"
"And how do you suggest we do that, American?!" He bellowed into my face. I reached up and wiped the saliva that had flung from his lips and landed in specks atop my cheeks.
"Use your eyes, Yusuke," Hiei`s voice came from behind me, and we both turned to look at him.
"The window there, at the top."
Our eyes landed on the tallest tower before us, a single window yards above. He would never make it.
"Great idea, jackass." I shot at him, "How the hell is Urameshi going to get up there?!"
Hiei`s lips then turned down, a tad insulted that I had questioned his method of thinking.
"I have a good idea."
cradle robbers
can`t take the kid from the fight – ix
you`re a regular, decorated emergency.
the bruises and contusions will remind me what you did when you wake
I bristled, waiting for the signal. Kuwabara took off, Kurama shortly after him. I was next, sprinting full speed so that I could leap from Kuwabara`s broad shoulders to Kurama`s slimmer figure. The soles of my school loafers gripped the fabric of the Meiou uniform just barely. I was still managing to keep my balance when heavy boots dug themselves into my shoulders, sending shots of pain down my spine. I had just been French friend and was still in a lot of pain after Suzaku had scorched me nearly to death.
Yusuke`s foot stomped me between the shoulders as well and I shrieked in pain, collapsing onto Kurama`s shoulders below, listening to him "oof". He leaped from Kuwabara`s shoulders while I held my breath the whole way to the ground, where he lifted his arms to secure me as we landed among a hoard of plant zombies. At least he was good for something.
From my place atop Kurama`s shoulders I watched as Yusuke perched on the ledge of the window, waving down at us with a triumphant grin on his face. I sighed in relief.
"In seconds, Yusuke manages to go farther in the Makai than he ever has at Sarayashiki junior high." I shouted up to him through cupped hands. Yusuke scowled down at me before sticking his tongue out at me, disappearing from the window. Kurama shook beneath me with laughter while Kuwabara howled in delight.
I could feel my last bit of energy in my fingertips, forming a sharp arrow. I ended up stabbing the shit out of the plant people at such close range, my back to ginger boy wonder half the time. And by that I mean Kurama.
"More just keep coming," I huffed, desperately trying to keep up with the boys. I had to remind myself that even they had to be exhausted after battling the rest of the saint beasts without me. I would never admit to it aloud, but leaving the group had been a horrible idea. I was bordering on lightheadedness yet I wanted to jump the window with Yusuke and try to take on Suzaku again.
"I hope he`s alright." I said to Boy Wonder, who didn`t respond for a moment, clearing the surrounding radius of plant people for what seemed to be the hundredth time. It was as if the remains just revitalized themselves.
As he opened his mouth to speak, the ground below trembled and a surge of energy blasted through the roof of the tower. An energy that was unmistakably Suzaku`s. I felt heart beat out of my chest. Yusuke was just a kid, how was he expected to fight the beast that had paralyzed me with pain?
"I have to get up there!" I cried, stepping forward to push past the plant people. One of them grabbed ahold of my arm, and I turned, swinging a fist over my shoulder.
I planted my knuckles into the side of a familiar face.
I shrieked, watching Koenma stumble backwards a couple feet towards Kurama, who was still working hard to obliterate the rest of Suzaku`s plant army.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I reached out to him, hands hovering over the cheek he was cupping with his own. He grimaced as he turned his attention back to me, trying to ignore the bruising flesh on the side of his face.
"I`m getting you out of here!" He tried to use an authoritative voice, but I only ignored it. I shook my head from side to side,
"Yusuke`s in serious trouble, Koenma!" I pointed back to the crumbling tower, "I won`t leave him! Not now," I pleaded, watching his face distort into something… unreadable. Some inner turmoil started to boil over inside him. It was safe to say he hadn`t wanted me to go along in the first place.
"This isn`t your problem anymore!" He became angry, eyebrows knitting tightly together as his adult teeth clamped down on that ridiculous pacifier.
"You`re coming with me this instant!"
"This idiot had a choice?" I heard Hiei`s sour tone over Kuwabara`s battle cries. Kurama quietly took note of the situation as he took out another plant person. I could only imagine what kind of nonsense was churning over in his head about me. I heard Kuwabara take out another zombie from behind me, covering my back as I stayed put. I didn`t want to disobey the order I`d been given—but Yusuke had gone back for me when Suzaku had me under the gun, and I wouldn`t leave him in his time of need either.
"Elise," My name sounded so distant to me, I wasn`t identifying it in Koenma`s voice. I later wondered if it would have sounded worlds away if he`d called my by my first name. My instincts called me to go after Yusuke but my feet stayed planted on the ground amongst the commotion. I gnawed on my bottom lip as Koenma`s voice went in one ear and out the other. Whatever tactics he was using to try and convince me otherwise was bound to fail.
I met his chestnut colored eyes and I saw him give up on trying to get me to listen. I apologized silently for my actions before turning and plowing through the remaining plant zombies in my way before heading up the tower`s steps.
I climbed the winding stairs, tedious step after step taunting me. I became exasperated upon passing the window Urameshi had jumped into. My legs burned as I came to the landing where the bits of the roof that had caved in blocked my view of Suzaku.
My eyes searched for Yusuke from behind a sharp chunk of the ceiling which I hid behind. I found a lump of green on the floor a few feet away among the rubble.
His hand was reaching out for a strange pipe, a flute almost—what I assumed could have been controlling the insects in the Ningenkai. I held my breath which struggled to catch up with me after climbing the stairs for such a prolonged amount of time.
I straightened myself against the fallen edge of ceiling. Yusuke looked half dead, and Suzaku wasn`t in my line of sight. Yusuke was scrambling for the energy to crawl half an inch and destroy the flute. I decided that regardless of Suzaku`s whereabouts that I would move in.
"Suzaku, look, the girl you killed earlier!" The squawk of the obnoxious parrot gave away my position, and I bolted for the pipe on the ground in what seemed like slow motion. All these things played out before my eyes before I could react.
I saw Suzaku out of the corner of my eye as he stood struggled to get to his feet. Keiko and an unconscious Botan were on the screen behind him, battered up pretty badly. I felt myself snap my wide open mouth shut as I looked back to Suzaku, his target the same as mine. I leaped for the flute, my breath still stuck inside my lungs. I was closer to the flute, my fingers curling around it as a bright bolt shook the entire tower as it struck me. I watched, as if having an out of body experience, as I tumbled past Yusuke and onto the stone floor.
My eyes fixed on the shattered flute on the ground before me, the last image I retained before blacking out.
Elise,
I successfully convinced Jillian that you`re with Keiko.
She`ll be with Shiori and I for the next few days to eliminate
any suspicion.
You`re welcome.
I glared at Kurama`s handwriting as I laid on my side.
"Punk thinks he`s God`s gift to the world or something." I croaked out loud, his note only fueling the hatred I held inside for him.
The sunlight was streaming through the curtains, and my room had been left spotless. Jillian had probably been home when Kurama tried to bring me here. Wonder what he did with my body while trying to convince her to leave. No doubt she was furious with him. I noticed that my closet door had been left halfway open on the slider. Jillian always shut it after putting my laundry away. In any case it must have been difficult to convince her to just drop everything. I`m sure he threatened to call our father.
The thought of Jillian giving Kurama a hard time always made me a feel a tad bit better.
I swung my feet over the side of the bed and inhaled a big breath, trying to boost myself up as best as possible. I waited for the pain to set in but felt nothing. I could only have been out for a few hours. It was unusual for me not to come to after passing out.
My feet hit the carpet-which still had vacuum tracks on it. Jillian must have really been on a roll when Kurama picked her up. Which means she would have been furious for making her leave without getting to finish cleaning.
I was delighted by this, and highly anticipated making the phone call as soon as I had finished my business in the bathroom. As soon as I`d pulled my pants back on I booked it out of there without using the hand towel to dry my hands. I half ran to my door, ready to call Jillian and complain about where the hell she`d been and how unlikely it was for her to leave the place half finished so that she would get worked up on another fit for Kurama if he was home, and if not, he would have that ticking time bomb to deal with when he arrived.
I was interrupted on my way to the telephone by a frantic, firm knock on the door. I groaned and ignored it, making my way to the phone silently, waiting for whoever it was to leave me alone. Probably someone for Jill. It was always interesting how some of her admirers would find their way into the apartment complex without being buzzed in.
"Ume," His snarl came in a somewhat angry, but delicate. Unmistakably Koenma. I felt every nerve in my body tense up. I should have opened a window and jumped out of it. I would rather endure burning to death than what was about to happen.
Shaky hands unlatched the lock on the door, and as soon as the clack of the lock sounded, the handle turned and the adult form of the toddler about plowed me down in the entry way.
I stumbled backwards, out of his way—but he only continued to barrel towards me in a fit of anger. I`d never really seen him angry, just an exasperated by his job, sort of frustrated and irate mood. Never angry.
I fell back on to the polished, wooden floorboards. I winced, feeling where I was still sore from the other day.
"What the hell do you think you were trying to do?" He dove in, bearing down on me, reading out and gripping the collar of my pajamas so that he could get right up in my face and be "intimidating" Koenma.
"Don`t answer that!" He screeched as I opened my mouth to reply, "I can`t believe you would look me in the eye and directly disobey an order like that! What`s gotten into you, anyway?"
I was frozen. I`d never actually been yelled at by Koenma. It was strange. I was angered by it, wondering if he really thought he held something over my head the whole time.
The thought made my stomach churned. No, I hadn`t asked for a new life but would I have really denied it had I been given a choice of choosing life or death? I say I would choose the noble route but would I?
I could hardly believe that was the reason he was being 'mean' to me. I really had been developing some of Jillian`s habits. He was angry because he cared about me. I should have felt bad for disobeying orders.
"I`m sorry, I just," I began to clamor for a good excuse, refusing to make eye contact with him, "I just had to be useful, you know?"
I collapsed, resting my elbows on my knees and hanging my head.
"You`ve got to let that go already," His voice quieted down, and I looked as his feet turned away from me, towards the wall of windows facing downtown area.
"If you`re really concerned about your worth… Well, if you hadn`t played the martyr, I`m not sure if Yusuke would have been motivated to defeat Suzaku."
I lifted teary eyes from the floor to the prince, surprised, "You mean Yusuke killed Suzaku?"
"In a sort of fit of rage, yes," Koenma`s voice sounded un amused at the fact. I couldn`t really imagine Yusuke getting back up to his feet from where I`d tried to intervene. I couldn`t help but smile in a silly way. I felt nice that someone would get that riled up over little old me. Even Koenma`s scolding was a sign that he cared.
"You should not be smiling about that, Kimura!" The ruler turned back to me, hair standing on end when he realized I`d started laughing at him, overcome with joy, letting it sink in that we`d defeated the Saint Beasts.
I rose from my spot on the floor, flinging my arms around the seven hundred year old wonder, burying my face into the button up, blazer-get up he was wearing.
"I`ll do better next time!" My words were muffled by his shirt, but he tensed upon recognizing them.
"You will not—there won`t be a next time, Ume!" He continued to shout, "Damn it, don`t they teach basic listening skills in public schools? Do I need to remind you that you`ve been through elementary school twice now?!"
"You won`t be sorry!" I laughed, gripping him by the arms as I looked up at him with a grin plastered on my face.
"I was sorry a long time ago." He deadpanned, giving up on the subject for the time being. I laughed again, victoriously, before he wrapped his arms around me and pressed me against his chest once again.
I heard a rustling and turned to see Yusuke sitting up in Kuwabara`s bed. I smiled at him, happy to see that he had been recovering at a faster pace than I`d expected him to after his last fight with the final beast.
"Where am I?" He rasped
"Hey, you`re awake!" Kuwabara turned from his desk as well, excited to play his latest prank on Yusuke. He`d been planning it ever since he`d recovered from giving Yusuke some of his life energy. They two were really quite an interesting pair together.
"You`ve been sleeping for almost three days now." I informed Yusuke, leaning up against Kuwabara`s desk.
"Yeah, it`s a real mess at school! We`re on emergency break!" Kuwabara was excited to deliver this news. At least they wouldn`t be falling behind the rest in their class, including Elise.
"I`ve been asleep for three days…?"
I wondered how she was coming along after her run in with Suzaku`s lightening. I`d stopped by to check in on her a couple times, and she had been sleeping as soundly as Yusuke was.
Hopefully she would recover as soon as the boy did. Jillian wouldn`t stop whining about going home to get a pair of sandals to wear on the weekend beach trip she was taking with some friends. Surely if I went to retrieve them for her they would be the wrong pair. Not only that, but Jill was becoming rather curious lately about how "shady" I`d been being. I wondered if she grown suspicious of Elise yet.
"Wait! How are Keiko and Botan?!" He locked eyes with me, "Where`s Elise?!" He began to rustle the sheets, throwing them out of his way as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.
"Oh and Iwamoto is still being detained by the police!" Kuwabara went on, purposefully ignoring Yusuke`s questions. The boy looked helplessly to me, and I played along with Kuwabara, averting my eyes to the floor in a dramatic fashion, trying to appear as bleak as possible.
"And Takenaka-sensei hurt his head! He`s in the hospital—" "That`s not important!"
"Iwamoto`s been detained!" "You said that already!" Yusuke continued to raise his voice, not only in volume but in pitch as well.
"There`s this funny joke I need to tell you!" Kuwabara was truly taking his acting to a new level. I was impressed with how he seemed to be as frantic to change the subject as Yusuke was to get his answer.
"Kuwabara!" Yusuke looked broken now, desperate to get his answer, "Tell me Elise made it,"
Kuwabara now took my lead and sunk his eyes to the floor, and I turned away, unable to control my laughter now. It was amusing how worked up he was getting, in a cruel sort of way. I did pity him a little, Kuwabara was really dragging the prank out.
"He-hey," Yusuke stammered, brokenheartedly. I heard the springs of the mattress relax as he moved off the bed and grabbed Kuwabara by the shirt.
"How am I supposed to know if you keep your damn mouth shut?!" He shouted angrily, accepting that something was amiss, "Kuwabara! Tell me what happened!"
The door to Kuwabara`s room burst open, and Botan walked in with a big smile on her face, followed by a hesitant looking Keiko. Yusuke straightened, his mouth agape as the two girls stared at him from the doorway.
I watched as Yusuke`s brown eyes went from the brunette girl, and then to the other. He looked back at Kuwabara, who was busting up with laughter at his joke.
But I noticed that it wasn`t funny to Yusuke.
The boy stepped past the other two girls, looking out the doorway from left to right. Elise was missing from the group, and his question still remained unanswered as Kuwabara continued to howl with laughter at his desk.
Yusuke pulled back into the bedroom, a grim look on his face,
"Kurama, what happened to Elise?" He ignored Kuwabara`s laughter. I had expected the boy to pound his best friend`s face in for pulling such a terrible prank on him. His shoulders slumped as he looked to me for an answer.
I hesitated to answer, unsure of the words to choose. It would be cruel to tell him that she was fine, seeing as I was still unsure. I had planned on checking up on her after leaving the Kuwabara household.
When I didn`t give an immediate answer, Yusuke grit his teeth together before turning towards the door again.
"Yusuke," Keiko started, reaching out to grab his shoulder. Keiko hadn`t truly been informed of what had happened yet, but she offered to comfort him anyway. However, Yusuke only responded by grabbing her by the shoulders and moving her gently out of the way before disappearing through the doorway. We all stayed silent as we heard the front door slam shut behind him.
"Where is Elise?" Keiko asked, nervous as well now. Her eyes lingered on the window as she watched Yusuke`s figure round the corner.
"She`s still recovering," I answered now, "She wasn`t in very good condition."
I groaned when I heard another fist pounding on the front door. Koenma had left only a few minutes before, heading back to the Reikai to take care of some new files coming in after the Saint Beast case. I thought that I could relax for a minute, not that the Makai insects were no longer a problem and Keiko and Botan were safe, along with the other morons that had accompanied Yusuke and I to the Makai.
I prayed that the person standing behind my door was my sister, ready to pamper the hell out of me and complain about how much she can`t stand the infernal red head.
"Just a second," I called out, feeling my muscles ache slightly as I crawled off the couch. I had been fooled into thinking I was completely without pain. Maybe the endorphins had been running high because of how elated I was to be alive. Now I was really feeling the lightening.
Of course, as soon as I unlatched the door, it smacked into me without any notice, and this time I hit the wall before slinking to the floor. Of course, Yusuke`s hands grabbed my by the arms and held me up to him so that he too could get a chance to scream at me right in the face.
"Why did you do it?!" I was showered in saliva as Yusuke shouted at me, "Did you think I couldn`t do it?!"
"No, Yusuke!"
"Don`t you ever go and pull another stunt like that again, okay?!" He shook me violently back and forth in his hands, and I was ten times more terrified of him than I was of Koenma—with good reason,
"I didn`t think I would—" I started to explain, but was cut off,
"Hey! Promise me you won`t do it again!" He shook me harder, as if it would get me to say the words "I promise!" out faster.
"I won`t do it again!" I shouted back, wide eyed and scared that Urameshi would break my arms by simply applying just a little more pressure with his thumbs.
He huffed, catching his breath.
"Did you walk here?" I asked quietly, as he stared down at me with wide, petrified eyes. He looked at me as if he had fully expected I was dead.
"Yusuke?" I asked, quietly as he continued to catch his breath. His hair was disheveled to hell and he was still wearing the clothes he`d fought Suzaku in, which I came to find out was three days ago.
We`d both been out for three days. I was comforted by the thought that I was at the same recovery rate as Yusuke. At least it was one less thing to compete with him over.
The boy inhaled another large breath and exhaled laughter, becoming giddy as he let go of me and slumped against the wall next to me, leaving the door to my apartment still open as he held his side with laughter.
"I think I know how Keiko feels now," He paused to speak before starting up with more laughter. I looked over at him incredulously,
"I`m sure you haven`t the slightest clue how Keiko feels!" I scolded him now, irritated that he was laughing, poking fun at his childhood friend.
"You`re really something, Urameshi," I sneered at him as his body continued to shake with laughter.
"You and me both," He finally composed himself, giving me a wink.
I took one look at his beaten in face and snorted a laugh myself, starting another giggle fit between the two of us all over again.
